More Journalistic Dishonesty

More often, the firm (Goldman Sachs) — whose lobbyists and outside lawyers include Washington luminaries like Richard A. Gephardt, the former House majority leader, and Ken Duberstein, the former Reagan administration official — has relied largely on intermediaries because politicians are worried about being associated with it, government and industry officials said. (NYT, 4/29/10)

Loved this curious omission in an article about Goldman Sachs. The Times points out that Duberstein worked in the Reagan administration, but neglects to mention something about Dick Gephardt. What could it be? Oh, of course! He’s a Democrat!

Quote of the Week
Top 10 reasons why the White House lies awake at night: The economy is reviving but employment is not. Solution: Attack Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck. The White House knows that every day the media is writing or talking about their man's cat fights with conservative celebrities, it isn't doing stories about "Depression-like" unemployment.
(Daniel Henninger, WSJ, 4/29/10)

Shilling for Obama

The most intriguing findings in the Washington Post-ABC News poll published Wednesday are the barest hints of a possible upturn for the Democrats. They suggest that, while the political climate remains tilted strongly in the direction of the Republicans, the next months will be crucial in shaping what ultimately happens in November.

The Post-ABC survey found no dramatic changes in the overall atmosphere. (Washington Post, 4/28/10)

This is what the Washington Post considers newsworthy. The barest hints?

Thirty-nine percent said the policies pursued by Obama have made the economy better as compared to 26 percent who said they had made things worse. (Another third -- 32 percent -- said that Obama's policies had had no effect.) (Washington Post, 4/28/10)

The Washington Post could – if they were not completely in the tank for Obama – written: 58% of respondents said that Obama had no effect or made things worse!

Make Up Your Mind
Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), on his party-switch:"Well, I probably shouldn't say this. But I have thought from time to time that I might have helped the country more if I'd stayed a Republican." (Washington Post, 4/28/10)

Memo to Specter: We don’t want you back!

Goldilocks Capitalism

RedStateVT watched some of the testimony of various Goldman Sachs executives before Senator Carl Levin yesterday. It’s always a hoot watching sanctimonious politicians pontificate before the cameras. Levin noted how Goldman had made billions on its mortgage trades; well it seemed like billions of times. All of which somehow reminded us of previous hearings on the AIG failure. So it seems like Dems don’t like corporations to either make or lose billions of dollars. Which is kind of how they want the world to work, e.g. no winners and no losers, everything even, all outcomes pre-ordained.

On the topic of Goldman Sachs, we are apparently supposed to believe that it was entirely coincidental that the SEC brought charges against the firm and that the hearings were scheduled right as Obama and the Dems pitch financial reform. Is this transparent attempt to influence public opinion the transparency that Obama talked about?

Up to His Eyeballs
“We are as vulnerable as we are today in the waning days of April 2010 as we were in the fall of 2008,” said Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and chairman of the banking committee, who is the primary sponsor of the bill. “Nothing has changed, except, of course, jobs have been lost, homes have gone into foreclosure, retirement incomes have evaporated, housing values have declined.” (NYT, 4/27/10)

RedStateVT reminds readers (once again) that Dodd is effectively being run out of town, in no small part due to his sweetheart mortgage deal with Countrywide. He hopes you forget. We won’t let that happen.

Street Fight
Why is Obama waging such unprincipled war on the tea party people? Because, at last, the Republicans have come up with an activist base to counter the ravages of the likes of Acorn and Moveon.org. The GOP is coming up with a ground game and it scares the daylights out of the Democrats. (Dick Morris, 4/20/10)

Catch-Up

Fox and the Chicken
Jon Stewart is going after Fox News again. The hysterically funny Stewart’s hysterically funny punch line is basically to say “F*** Fox News” which causes his hip studio audience to break up in hysterics. Hysterical!

Down on the Border
Arizona has enacted new legislation to combat the rampant illegal immigration which threatens this border state. Obama’s response is to warn ominously that the Feds will be watching for civil rights violations. God forbid someone should be asked to produce their birth certificate to prove they are a U.S. citizen. Oh, wait a minute….

Obama’s Priority #1
….that is, after health care, financial reform, immigration, cap and trade, etc.

But the unemployment rate -- it may be the most recognizable economic indicator -- has held steady at 9.7 percent for the past three months, and 15 million Americans remain out of work. By the White House's own estimates, as well as those of many independent economists, that rate isn't expected to fluctuate more than a few tenths of a percent through the end of 2010. (Fox News, 4/27/10)

Those Things He Does

President Obama has – in RedStateVT’s view – a very curious personality trait. Obama acts at times in an almost defiant way toward the public. We could cite his push for his version of health care reform notwithstanding obvious and significant public opposition. But let’s put aside the political and cite two other examples. On opening day for the Washington Nationals, Obama steps out to the mound and promptly whips out a Chicago White Sox hat. Why? It was such an odd and unpresidential gesture that it cannot be explained in any rational way. What audience is Obama playing to….White Sox supporters who already know that he is a fan? For this, he is willing to antagonize Nationals fans, to what end? The second example is Obama’s response to the question of race on his census form. With a black father and a white mother Obama checks off “African American” instead of the obvious choice “mixed race.” Again, what is the rationale? Does Obama think that he has to show his ‘bona fides’ to African Americans? We’ll resist the temptation to play amateur psychologist any more than we have here, but there is another term that comes to mind…..narcissism. Leave it at that for now.

More Unpresidential
While it takes two to tangle, we think the hyper-polarization owes more than a little to Mr. Obama's own rhetorical habits. More than any President in memory, Mr. Obama has a tendency to vilify his opponents in personal terms and assail their arguments as dishonest, illegitimate or motivated by bad faith.

If the President and his advisers are wondering why his approval ratings are falling even as the economy is recovering, they might look to his own divisive conduct and the contempt he too often shows for anyone who disagrees with him. (WSJ, 4/22/10)

But will he give the $1M back?
Addressing leaders of New York’s financial giants, including Goldman Sachs, Mr. Obama described himself as a champion of change battling “battalions of financial industry lobbyists” and the “withering forces” of the economic elite. (NYT, 4/22/10)

Just the Facts

Will Obama Return the Money?
According to Federal Election Commission figures compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, Goldman Sachs’ political action committee and individual contributors who listed the company as their employer donated $994,795 during 2007 and 2008 to Obama's presidential campaign, the second-highest contribution from a company PAC and company employees. (CNN.com, 4/21/10)

Dems loved to run around shouting the catch-all phrase “Halliburton” during the Bush years. Opponents of President Obama now have their response.

Good News!
The head of activist group ACORN came to a federal court Tuesday to observe a legal fight over its funding and said the group was on "life support" after waves of bad publicity and an attempt by Congress to cut off its money. (FoxNews.com, 4/21/10)

Andrew Breitbart for President!

South Poll
In North Carolina, a state that Obama won 49.7% to McCain’s 49.4%, Rasmussen reports that 57% disapprove of the job Obama is doing (with 51 percent "strongly" disapproving), while 42% approve.

Not to worry, those numbers should correct after the stimulus kicks in…scratch that…after the benefits of health care reform kick in…scratch that…after they pass financial reform…

Stop Making Sense

As a service to loyal followers, RedStateVT will occasionally tune in to the liberal media to keep current on what the other side is thinking. Last week, we watched Hardball with Chris Matthews who had as a guest, union godfather Andy Stern. Stern was apparently doing a victory lap after recently being honored as the most frequent visitor to Obama’s White House. Stern’s SEIU, of course, provides the street muscle for the Democrat Party. There must have been a time in the past when Matthews was an objective journalist. But then he lost it over George Bush and later developed a man-crush on Obama. In any event, here is Matthews ranting about……we’re not sure what:

MATTHEWS: What happened to America? These guys are making four billion dollars a year as hedge fund managers and nobody can figure out what they do. Whereas, the little guy starting a business—I don‘t care if it‘s a bakery a or movie studio, you don‘t see them making any money anymore. The money is going to the guy who is chopping and chopping.

What about that? You‘re a big labor. You‘re a big thinker. Are we ever going to get the money to go to the person who starts the business and works 60 hours a week and sweats it out, comes home at midnight exhausted? Is that guy or woman ever going to get their money again? (Chris Matthews, Hardball, 4/15/10)

So, Matthews apparently thinks the hedge fund guys are cheating some poor baker. As we have said in the past, there are some people you just can’t talk to. If Matthews wants to know, the thing that makes America great is that the little guy can start his own business, work hard, and achieve success. This is a foreign concept to some who think the government has to provide for all.