Palin Passes Obama In Approval Ratings

Palin Approval Rating: 47%

Obama Approval Rating: 46%

Good news/bad news...good for Palin, bad for Obama

As Sarah Palin blankets the media on a whirlwind book promotion tour, the former vice-presidential contender is clearly back on America’s radar screen. Despite being characterized by many as a divisive force in her party and the nation, Americans are much more likely to give Palin a positive rating (47 percent favorable) than another prominent female leader — Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (28 percent favorable). Moreover, about six in 10 Americans (61 percent) think Palin has been treated unfairly by the press, according to the latest Fox News poll.

My view is that the press in general has been extraordinarily antagonistic towards ALL women seeking high office. The only exception is Nancy Pelosi, who has been treated by the MSM to a favorable degree that highlights the poor treatment of Mrs. Palin, Mrs. Clinton and others.

Why Palin Has The Left Foaming At The Mouth

Mrs. Palin has everyone on the left foaming at the mouth because she is the epitomy of everything the femisitic left has desired for all women of this country. A supportive loving husband, a good family, a family business…and then a successful political career, and is literally a beautiful woman to boot. Unfortunately, as a conservative she is literally rejecting their basic premise…that successful, liberated women are Democrats…that in a nut shell is why they hate her.

Journalistic Mysogyny

Just read a couple of posts on blogs that I would not have thought, ever in a million years, would comment derisively on a left leaning weekly glossy magazine. Bogth mediamatters.com and hulabuloo, left, to far left organizations are slamming Newsweek for the abysmal choice of cover photographs.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/gamming-up-works-by-digby-joan-walsh.html

Joan Walsh was just on MSNBC this morning arguing that it was sexist to put Palin on the cover of Newsweek in her running shorts, when she obviously didn't pose in that particular outfit for that particular cover. Others on the show disagreed, saying that Palin just happens to be a politician who has nice legs. I think Joan is right, especially considering what is being said about the Palin Phenomenon among the village media in general:

That's just for starters on hullabaloo. Digby goes to great lengths to rightly hammer Newsweek.

Media matters is even worse...

Newsweek should worry more about how to solve its problem with sexism
November 17, 2009 3:16 pm ET by Julie Millican

There are a lot of legitimate reasons to criticize Sarah Palin, her new book, and her policies, but you don't have to stoop to sexism to do it. Newsweek's November 23 issue, however, does just that by publishing on its cover a photo of Palin in short running shorts and a fitted top, leaning against the American flag. Making matters worse is the equally offensive headline Newsweek editors chose to run alongside the photo -- "How Do You Solve a Problem like Sarah?" -- presumably a reference to the Sound of Music song, "Maria," in which nuns fret about "how" to "solve a problem like Maria," a "girl" who "climbs trees" and whose "dress has a tear."

Needless to say, I was very surprised at both their headline, but the lead paragraph as well.

The treatment that Hillary Clinton (whom sometimes I used to think of as being the anti-christ...prior to the advent of Barack of course) has treated horrendously by the MSM during the run up to the primaries. Once actually voting started, major media's utter bias toward Barack Obama began to genuinely shine through, so much so, they utterly failed to vet him at all during the campaign.

On the other hand, their "vetting" of Mrs. Palin has been minute. It continues to this day with AP wire service devoting 11, ELEVEN journalists to use a fine toothed comb on Mrs. Palin's book. My question is, how many did they assign to Mr. Obama's two books? Any at all. I cound't find any record of any.

So, my hat is off to Media Matters and Digby of Hullabaloo for their posts. Thank you both for standing up and doing the right thing.

The GOP Needs New Leadership

It's well past time to clean house in the GOP leadership, both that which is elected, and appointed to the RNC. They have all lost touch with reality inside the beltway. That mentality led to the loss of the "permanent majority" in 2006 and further losses in 2008. It's time to break out the brooms and bring in some new people who haven't lost sight of what the GOP is supposed to stand for. We are NOT democratic lite, we stand for smaller, more efficient government (no that's not redundant idiocy--government CAN be made more efficient if it's run as a business), a stronger more responsible foreign policy (Teddy Roosevelt was right--speak softly and carry a big stick), eliminating those government departments that have become Federal Jobs programs--Education (give the money saved as proportional block grants to the states) for example.

In other words offer this country a genuine alternative to what the socialist now in control of the the Legislative and Executive branches of our government are offering, not just a watered down "Dem-Lite". We are NOT socialists by history, there is a reason why our forefathers came to this country. Was it not to for those who had a choice, but to escape the disasters that Europe, Africa, Asia and Central/South America have become? Or was it merely to turn America into the mirror image of the rest of the world. If the rest of the world despises us so much, why then, do they desire in such huge numbers to come here?

Our elected leaders have come to care more about remaining in office and passing out financial favours to their campaign donors than about what is good for the country. It's well past time to pass an amendment that limits the number of terms in office ANY Representative, Delegate or Senator can hold. It's time to limit the number of days per year that Congress sits in session. Their endless sessions produce huge bills that no one can genuinely comprehend until after they are enacted and the disaster that they are can be fully realized.

The men and women who founded this country never envisioned that we would have a class of professional politicians. Even a quick reading of the Federalist Papers, by James Madison, et al, gives a sense that their intention was that new men and women would come forward every few years to SERVE in Congress, then return home to their businesses and farms, not life-long tenures. Most of the men and women serving in the present Congress have never actually worked outside of politics in their lives.

It's time to sweep them away and bring in new leadership who actually can comprehend what running a business really means. Because running the government has become a means to an end...larger budgets and more people sucking on Uncle Sam's hind tit is not the answer. Throw the bums out.

2012: Obama May Not Run For Reelection?

In an interview with CNN (is that one of the "good" networks?) Mr. Obama said, and I quote:

"You know, if - if I feel like I've made the very best decisions for the American people and three years from now I look at it and, you know, my poll numbers are in the tank and because we've gone through these wrenching changes, you know, politically, I'm in a tough spot, I'll - I'll feel all right about myself," Obama told CNN's Ed Henry.

"I said to myself very early on, even when I started running for office, I don't want to be making decisions based on getting re-elected, because I think the challenges that America faces right now are so significant," the president also said.

"Obviously, if I make those decisions and I think that I'm moving the country on the right direction economically, in terms of our security interests, our foreign policy, I'd like to think that those policies are continued because they're not going to bear fruit just in four years."

One can only hope that his numbers will tank so badly that he goes the route Lyndon Johnson went...and DOESN'T seek reelection. On the other hand, this man is as arrogant as Jimmy Carter who references his historic defeat by Ronald Reagan as being "retired from office" instead of admitting he was kicked out on his bum. I doubt seriously that Mr. Obama will take the voluntary route. I suspect that it will take his being thumped at the polls before he leaves office.

SEIU Working For America

Nick Balzano, who is president of the local SEIU thugs, has informed the Allentown City Council that the union will probably be filing a Federal work related grievance against the city for allowing a boy scout to clear a 1,000-foot path within the city limits.

In pursuit of an Eagle Scout badge, Kevin Anderson, 17, has toiled for more than 200 hours hours over several weeks to clear a walking path in an east Allentown park. Little did the do-gooder know that his altruistic act would put him in the cross hairs of the city's largest municipal union.

Not only is SEIU beating up people who are attempting to utilize their first amendment rights to peacefully object to proposed government policies, but now, they are going to persecute a young man who is trying to fulfill a Boy Scout Merit Badge. It just doesn't get much lower than this now does it.

Stimulus Funds At Work For You

What do you say when a politician...swallows his foot? This is priceless:

Now, no plan is perfect. And I can't stand here and promise you that not one single dollar will slip through the cracks. But what I can promise you is that we will do everything in our power to prevent that from happening, which is why we're building on the provisions in the Recovery Act to forbid the use of these funds to build things like dog parks.

Kathrine Mangu reports that this was built just down the street from her house...with stimulus funds: You guessed it...a dog park.

Fact Checking Health Care Bill Numbers

Jeffrey H. Anderson of pajamasmedia.com has pulled together the following facts and figures. Once you peruse these figures, it will become obvious that none of the Democrat's proposals will in fact reduce costs. They will just as Medicare/Medicaid did, significantly raise the costs of health care.

According to the census, the real number of uninsured Americans is 28 million: 46 million, minus nine million non-citizens, minus nine million people on Medicaid who were falsely tallied as uninsured.

17: The percentage of the United States gross domestic product (GDP) that’s currently being spent on health care, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

21: The percentage of U.S. GDP that would be spent on health care in 2019 under the House health bill, according to CMS.

3.4: The percentage increase in U.S. health care spending in 2019 under the House health bill’s coverage provisions (in relation to projections under current law), according to CMS.

60 billion: The number of American tax dollars that Medicare loses each year to fraud, according to 60 Minutes and the Washington Post.

8.3 billion: The combined profits last year, in dollars, of America’s ten largest private health insurance companies, according to Fortune 500.

830 billion: The combined profits, in dollars, that America’s ten largest private health insurance companies would make — at the rate of last year’s profits — over 100 years, according to Fortune 500.

1.009 trillion: The costs, in dollars, of the Senate Finance Committee health bill in the seven-year span from 2014 to 2020, according to the CBO.

90: The percentage of Americans who already have health insurance, according to the census.

95: The percentage of Americans who either have health insurance or make more money than most Americans, according to the census.

31,000: The number of dollars that the Senate Finance Committee health bill would spend by 2020 for every American that it would remove from the ranks of the uninsured, according to the CBO.

25: The percentage by which the Senate Finance Committee bill — now in the hands of Senator Reid — would cut Medicare payments to doctors in 2011, according to the CBO.

0: The percentage that the Senate Finance Committee bill would raise doctors’ Medicare payments back up at any point in the future, according to the CBO.

98.3: The percentage of the Senate Finance Committee bill’s “ten-year” costs that would hit during the last six years of that period, according to the CBO.

1.7 trillion: The number of dollars that the Senate Finance Committee bill would cost in its real first ten years (2014-2023), according to the CBO.

1.0 trillion: The number of dollars that Americans’ taxes would be raised under the Senate Finance Committee bill in its real first ten years (2014-2023), according to the CBO.

900 billion: The approximate number of dollars that the Senate Finance Committee bill would siphon out of Medicare and spend elsewhere in the bill’s real first ten years, according to the CBO.

2017: The year in which the Medicare Hospital Trust Fund is currently projected to become insolvent even if no one siphons any additional money out of it, according to the Medicare Trustees Report.

740 billion: The increase in federal deficits in the Senate Finance Committee bill’s real first ten years (2014-2023) if it doesn’t follow through on its scheduled cuts to Medicare (including doctors’ payments) and other federal programs, according to the CBO.

50: The percentage of Americans who think that they would personally pay more if the Democrats pass a health bill, according to a poll published this month by the Economist.

9: The percentage of Americans who think that they would personally pay less if the Democrats pass a health bill, according to the same Economist poll.

28: The number of dollars that the Senate Finance Committee bill would spend in its real first decade for every dollar that the House Republican bill would spend in its real first decade, according to the CBO.

1: The number of proposed health bills that the CBO says would reduce Americans’ health insurance premiums (the House Republican bill, which would reduce them by up to ten percent).

The best solution is to allow market forces to work by;

A. Eliminating barriers to portability and allowing the 1300 or so health insurance companies to compete against one another across state lines, and

B. Implementing Tort Reforms to significantly reduce both the number and the scope of malpractice suits that are brought to courts, and

C. Removing the tie in to employment for health insurance.

By implementing three rather basic reforms to the current system, we would bring down the costs of health insurance by roughly 25%. That would automatically broaden the base of coverage to roughly 95% of the population. Unfortunately, as these are fairly simple solutions to a complex problem, Congress will of course implement a plan that is both complex and vastly more expensive and derogate much more intrusive powers to the Federal Government, Hope and Change...

The Constitution of the United States

The Constitution of the United States
Preamble Note
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

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Article I - The Legislative Branch Note
Section 1 - The Legislature

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Section 2 - The House

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

(Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.) (The previous sentence in parentheses was modified by the 14th Amendment, section 2.) The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five and Georgia three.

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

Section 3 - The Senate

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, (chosen by the Legislature thereof,) (The preceding words in parentheses superseded by 17th Amendment, section 1.) for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; (and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.) (The preceding words in parentheses were superseded by the 17th Amendment, section 2.)

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

Section 4 - Elections, Meetings

The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Place of Chusing Senators.

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall (be on the first Monday in December,) (The preceding words in parentheses were superseded by the 20th Amendment, section 2.) unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.

Section 5 - Membership, Rules, Journals, Adjournment

Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member.

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

Section 6 - Compensation

(The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.) (The preceding words in parentheses were modified by the 27th Amendment.) They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.

Section 7 - Revenue Bills, Legislative Process, Presidential Veto

All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

Section 8 - Powers of Congress

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and Post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Section 9 - Limits on Congress

The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

(No capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.) (Section in parentheses clarified by the 16th Amendment.)

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.

Section 10 - Powers prohibited of States

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

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Article II - The Executive Branch Note
Section 1 - The President Note1 Note2

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

(The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not lie an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; a quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two-thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice-President.) (This clause in parentheses was superseded by the 12th Amendment.)

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

(In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.) (This clause in parentheses has been modified by the 20th and 25th Amendments.)

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Section 2 - Civilian Power over Military, Cabinet, Pardon Power, Appointments

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

Section 3 - State of the Union, Convening Congress

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

Section 4 - Disqualification

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

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Article III - The Judicial Branch Note
Section 1 - Judicial powers

The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

Section 2 - Trial by Jury, Original Jurisdiction, Jury Trials

(The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority; to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party; to Controversies between two or more States; between a State and Citizens of another State; between Citizens of different States; between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.) (This section in parentheses is modified by the 11th Amendment.)

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

Section 3 - Treason Note

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

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Article IV - The States
Section 1 - Each State to Honor all others

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.

Section 2 - State citizens, Extradition

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

(No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, But shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.) (This clause in parentheses is superseded by the 13th Amendment.)

Section 3 - New States

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

Section 4 - Republican government

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

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Article V - Amendment Note1 - Note2 - Note3
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

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Article VI - Debts, Supremacy, Oaths
All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

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Article VII - Ratification Documents
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.

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Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth. In Witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names. Note

Go Washington - President and deputy from Virginia

New Hampshire - John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman

Massachusetts - Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King

Connecticut - Wm Saml Johnson, Roger Sherman

New York - Alexander Hamilton

New Jersey - Wil Livingston, David Brearley, Wm Paterson, Jona. Dayton

Pensylvania - B Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robt Morris, Geo. Clymer, Thos FitzSimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouv Morris

Delaware - Geo. Read, Gunning Bedford jun, John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jaco. Broom

Maryland - James McHenry, Dan of St Tho Jenifer, Danl Carroll

Virginia - John Blair, James Madison Jr.

North Carolina - Wm Blount, Richd Dobbs Spaight, Hu Williamson

South Carolina - J. Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler

Georgia - William Few, Abr Baldwin

Attest: William Jackson, Secretary

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The Amendments Note
The following are the Amendments to the Constitution. The first ten Amendments collectively are commonly known as the Bill of Rights. History

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Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

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Amendment 2 - Right to Bear Arms. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

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Amendment 3 - Quartering of Soldiers. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

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Amendment 4 - Search and Seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

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Amendment 5 - Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings. Ratified 12/15/1791.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

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Amendment 6 - Right to Speedy Trial, Confrontation of Witnesses. Ratified 12/15/1791.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

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Amendment 7 - Trial by Jury in Civil Cases. Ratified 12/15/1791.

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

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Amendment 8 - Cruel and Unusual Punishment. Ratified 12/15/1791.

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

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Amendment 9 - Construction of Constitution. Ratified 12/15/1791.

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

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Amendment 10 - Powers of the States and People. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

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Amendment 11 - Judicial Limits. Ratified 2/7/1795. Note History

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.

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Amendment 12 - Choosing the President, Vice-President. Ratified 6/15/1804. Note History The Electoral College

The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;

The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;

The person having the greatest Number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.

The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

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Amendment 13 - Slavery Abolished. Ratified 12/6/1865. History

1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

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Amendment 14 - Citizenship Rights. Ratified 7/9/1868. Note History

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

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Amendment 15 - Race No Bar to Vote. Ratified 2/3/1870. History

1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

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Amendment 16 - Status of Income Tax Clarified. Ratified 2/3/1913. Note History

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

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Amendment 17 - Senators Elected by Popular Vote. Ratified 4/8/1913. History

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

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Amendment 18 - Liquor Abolished. Ratified 1/16/1919. Repealed by Amendment 21, 12/5/1933. History

1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

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Amendment 19 - Women's Suffrage. Ratified 8/18/1920. History

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

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Amendment 20 - Presidential, Congressional Terms. Ratified 1/23/1933. History

1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.

4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.

5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.

6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.

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Amendment 21 - Amendment 18 Repealed. Ratified 12/5/1933. History

1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

3. The article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

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Amendment 22 - Presidential Term Limits. Ratified 2/27/1951. History

1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President, when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

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Amendment 23 - Presidential Vote for District of Columbia. Ratified 3/29/1961. History

1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct: A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

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Amendment 24 - Poll Tax Barred. Ratified 1/23/1964. History

1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

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Amendment 25 - Presidential Disability and Succession. Ratified 2/10/1967. Note History

1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

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Amendment 26 - Voting Age Set to 18 Years. Ratified 7/1/1971. History

1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

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Amendment 27 - Limiting Congressional Pay Increases. Ratified 5/7/1992. History

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

Obama's Approval Slides...

An excellent article in RCP on Mr. Obama's slide in approval ratings. As that graph shows, all 8 polls show roughly the same RATE of downward slope. The only real difference is in their polling samples. All show the virtually the same decline. Jay Cost believes that the GOP will be able to hammer Mr. Obama even further down.

What will be interesting to watch next year is whether the President's job approval slides further as the campaign begins in earnest. Will the Republican argument against Obama and the Democrats - once it hits the airwaves - damage the President's standing further?

Personally, I believe that Mr. Obama, with the able assistance of Mr. Reid in the Senate, and Mrs. Pelosi in the House will be able to vastly reduce his approval rating down by at least 10 points. If the Democrats are successful in seizing control of health care as well as passing the very destructive "Cap & Trade" bill, I suspect that this years sliding numbers will be considered "the good old days."

The National Debt = $38,974.34 Per Person

You now owe the US government $38,974.34. Each of your children owe this amount as well. I didn't make that much this year so far...Think about it that's more than the average income for the people of the United States. We hit the debt limit yesterday at 3:01 p.m. when the total debt amounted to $12,031,299,186,290.07.

This latest milestone in the ever-rising journey of the National Debt comes less than eight months after it hit $11 trillion for the first time. The latest high-point is not unexpected, considering the federal deficit for the just-ended 2009 fiscal year hit an all-time high at $1.42-trillion – more than triple the previous year's record high. Much of the increase in the deficit and debt is attributed to government spending outpacing revenue – both exacerbated by the recession and the government response to it – including hundreds of billions in bailouts and stimulus spending and tax cuts along with decreased tax revenues due to rising unemployment.

It's only now, now that this huge figure has been reached, after spending a record $2 trillion dollars this year, that Mr. Obama has begun to speak about bringing the rising deficit and debt under control.

Honestly, it's a little late for that. Of course, having lost the moderate independents, he may be getting a little nervous. After all, he doesn't want to go down in history like Mr. Carter...and James Buchanan as being one of the worst presidents in our history. Another point to keep in mind, all three are Democrats.

"I intend to take serious steps to reduce America's long-term deficit – because debt-driven growth cannot fuel America's long-term prosperity," he said in remarks prepared for delivery to the leader's meeting last Sunday at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

I don't think that the country will buy him as a spend thrift now. Not after he's spent $700 billion on TARP, $300 billion buying Chrysler and GM, $800 billion on the "stimulus package" (which has mightily little stimulus in it). It may very well be a matter of too little, too late.

The "Stimulus Package" would have been better unspent, but if it was deemed absolutely necessary, then it should have been spent on infrastructure projects instead of being portioned out to favoured constituencies and state governments. But as a tax, tax and then spend Democrat, that sort of thing would never have occurred to any of the Democrats presently inhabiting capitol hill these days. Not that the GOP is any better. I think we are well past time to limit the terms of all politicians in elective office, not just the president.

Why Isn't Obama A Better President...

From Jennifer Rubin of Commentary Magazine's Contentions Blog. Her comments are insightful and far better than anything I can come up with.

First, the punditocracy confused credentials with knowledge or smarts. A Harvard Law degree does not necessarily confer on one the insight that even if we can try KSM in courtroom, we shouldn’t. Obama seems not at all familiar with the operation of free markets. He has only a dim grasp of how we won the Cold War. And it’s quite apparent that whatever credentials the president possesses, they didn’t enable him to perceive the motives of the mullahs.

Second, even intelligent and well-schooled people can be poor managers, bad decision makers, and indecisive leaders. They can be narcissistic and passive-aggressive. They can be impervious to constructive criticism. Indeed, these are the very qualities that have tripped up the president. And very smart people, come to think of it, may be susceptible to many of these faults because they believe they’re so darn smart.

And finally, as Ronald Reagan said, “The trouble with our liberal friends isn’t that they are ignorant; it is that they know so much that isn’t so.” In other words, they have a set of views at odds with the way the world operates (meekness will endear us to our enemies, terrorists will be impressed with American legal procedures), the American political scene (the public wanted a lurch to the Left), and basic economic realities (you can load mandates and taxes on employers without impacting employment). These views are a great impediment to a successful presidency.

This isn’t an argument against smart or well-educated people being president. But it is a reminder that being so darn smart isn’t everything,

When someone can say something with more eloquence that I, I want too disseminate it as widely as possible. Comments?

Why Try The 9/11 Terrorists?

The Obama Administration is attempting to bait and switch once again. The 1st time was when Mr. Obama ran for president as a "moderate" despite having the most liberal record in the US Senate as well as the Illinois Senate as well as being a protege of William Ayers, the founder of the Weatherman Underground terrorist organization. Now, his administration is attempting to change the present news narrative from Health Care Seizure which is very likely to fail under continued public scrutiny, to that of a trial of the terrorists for planning and executing the attacks on New York City and the World Trade Center.

The more the public learns about the health care bills under consideration before Congress, the less they are liked. A majority of Americans now say that government has no business attempting to provide health care for America. Additionally, by switching the debate to the 9/11 terrorists, it becomes an indictment of the Bush Administrations use of vigorous interrogation techniques on the terrorists themselves. This will provide yet another venue for America to "look bad" before the world and show just how wonderful "The One" is...yeah right.

A civil trial in which the rules of evidence demand that the prosecution provide the defense with all the information that it has acquired through the course of it's investigation. In this instance, the prosecution will have to provide the defense with a myriad of secret information on how the US has been able to either infiltrate Al Queda or how our government has been able to kill the leadership of that terror organization.

This will in effect, make America far less safe and much more open to further attacks...which may very well be what the Obama Administration has decided. After all, the NY Times (a primary supporter of Mr. Obama) has often published secret information on US intelligence gathering techniques...with the net result that we have been less and less able to hunt down those members of Al Queda.

UPDATE: From James Taranto of the WSJ:

You have to wonder if the Obama administration and its supporters bothered to think through the implications of their decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other enemy combatants as civilians. An immediate effect, and one that will only be strengthened by an actual trial or trials, is to bring 9/11 back into the public consciousness. That can't be good for President Obama...Yet the political pressure for a conviction will be immense. "Anything short of slamdunk convictions will empower the president's critics," opines Devlin Barrett of the Associated Press. Not only that, but an acquittal would put the administration in the position of having either to free a dangerous terrorist or to hold indefinitely someone who has been acquitted--either way, a disastrous failure for the administration's antiterror policies. The judiciary will not be immune to these pressures. No trial judge will want to be known as the Lance Ito of 9/11. More importantly, appeals judges--including Supreme Court justices--will surely hesitate to let KSM off on a technicality. But one man's technicality is another's violation of due process; and the corollary of treating KSM like ordinary criminals is treating ordinary criminals like KSM.

David Obey (D-WI) Blast White House For Stimulus Blunders

Finally, a Democrat is actually speaking out on the failure of the "Stimulus Package". Mr. Obey actually has the temerity to confront the Obama Administration over misspent funds from the porkulus bill.

Rep. Dave Obey (D-Wis.), who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, took the administration to task for pervasive errors on the Web site designed to monitor disbursement of the stimulus funds. He called those errors "outrageous." "Credibility counts in government and stupid mistakes like this undermine it. We've got too many serious problems in this country to let that happen," Obey said in a statement. "Whether the numbers are good news or bad news, I want the honest numbers and I want them now."

The best claim made by the Obama Administration on jobs saved is from an Arkansas cemetery that says it's saved 50 jobs by purchasing a $1000.00 lawnmower.

The runner up...Missouri's 14th Congressional District has saved 5 jobs at a cost of over $600,000. On the other hand, I defy you to FIND the 14th Dist in Missouri. Then of course is the case of Arizona's 9th District.

Here's a stimulus success story: In Arizona's 9th Congressional District, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that's what the website set up by the Obama Administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says.
There's one problem, though: There is no 9th Congressional District in Arizona; the state has only eight Congressional Districts. There's no 86th Congressional District in Arizona either, but the government's recovery.gov Web site says $34 million in stimulus money has been spent there. In fact, Recovery.gov lists hundreds of millions spent and hundreds of jobs created in Congressional districts that don't exist.

These are the successes that the Obama Administration is touting in it's efforts to "save jobs" for America. I have a better plan, lets find 499 people in Washington new jobs next November.

CPUSA's Wish List from 1963

I found the following in the comments on the above link...

29. Mr. UnPC:

This list of 45 Communist goals appeared in the Congressional Record on January 10, 1963. The list is taken from The Naked Communist, by Cleon Skousen (who began his intensive study of communism during his 16 years with the FBI). The list confirms the “line” being pursued in Communist publications in this country, such as The Worker, the People’s World, and a number of front publications. The checklist provides an interesting opportunity for each individual to determine how much enemy medicine he/she buys himself/herself, and to observe the sources, both national and local, from which it is merchandised in quantity. Distribution in quantity is based on the theory that a few-grains-of-poison occasionally might kill us, but larger doses repeatedly can be positively lethal. At least we ought to know what it is we are asked to swallow. This list shows the depth of the Communist effort to subvert the United States.

Current Communist Goals:

1. United States acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. United States willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament by the United States would be demonstration of moral strength.
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the United Nations.
8. Set up East and West German as separate states in spite of Khrushchev’s promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the United Nations.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the United Nations.
11. Promote the United Nations as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the UN as by Moscow. Sometime these two centers compete with each other as they did and do in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the United States Patent Office.
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teacher’s associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, and policy-making positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward, and meaningless forms”.
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art.
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling it “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity, as normal, natural, and healthy.
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch”.
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violated the principle of “separation of church and state”.
29. Discredit the United States Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to co-operation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the United States Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man”.
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of United States history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the “big picture”. Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any Socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture, education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand or treat.
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political, and social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

Now...how many can you identify as having been achieved? You'll surprise yourself if you read them all carefully. I'm pretty shocked at how many have been...

Mr. Obama: It's the Economy Stupid

Mr. Obama has in the past 12 months managed to squander his immense popularity. He's gone from a 60+ percent approval rating to a 53% opposition to all of his economic policies.

The president’s approval numbers have dropped 20 points in nine months and only a third of the electorate think the country is now headed in the right direction. The Obama “hope and change message,” rapturously conveyed by an adoring lapdog media during the campaign and in the first few months of his presidency, looks as if it has the staying power of a one-night stand with the electorate. Unemployment, the single most important concern of Americans in nearly every survey, now exceeds 10%, despite assurances from the president and leaders in Congress that the $787 billion stimulus package would keep the unemployment rate from going higher than 8%. A tiny portion of the stimulus money was directed at infrastructure spending, but it did not address the areas of the economy where unemployment was highest. In China, almost all the stimulus spending was on infrastructure investments, and their economy is booming again.

The vast majority of the Obama Stimulus package went to pay off Democratic constituencies. That money was squandered on beer and pretzels...for all the effect that it's had on the economy. But this president and this Congress just don't have a clue. Next year sure will be interesting. After all...next month this president, and his adoring press will have a "jobs summit" that will accomplish just about as much as the stimulus...nothing, but window dressing. The newest figures for the deficit from last month is a staggering $176 billion. When you add this to the $1.4 trillion deficit so far for this year as well as the $12 trillion in accumulated public debt many Americans are now very wary of an additional federal spending package of a trillion dollars in ten years for government run health care if, indeed, the cost doesn't exceed that.

Last Month the federal government spent $311 billion and collected $135 billion in revenues. In other words, revenues covered 43% of spending and 57% needed to be borrowed. Lots of Americans may not be very good at math, but they know these numbers are unsustainable.

It's becoming obvious that the Chinese aren't going to continue to finance our national debt much longer. If they won't who will? Our great grand children? Their great grand children? It's going to take at least 100 years to pay off the national debt, if it's ever possible to do so. I don't think it is. Eventually, all those bonds that we've sold to finance it will have to be paid back...what are we going to do then?

Obama's Bow

Mike Ramirez Cartoon

College Feet Ball

my beloved FSU Seminoles won today...whew...hopefully, when they meet UF after turkey day...they don't get blownout too badly

Another Great Vid

If you thought that orignality died years ago, you were WRONG!! This young lady is awesome! follow the link and watch her videos.

her handle is:

sweetafton23
on youtube.com...take a look she's original and ... really pretty to boot...lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tjC0mYfcrg&feature=player_embedded

I guess it doesn't hurt that I think she's absolutely adorable! If I was 20 years younger I'd be chasing her around to get her number...but that's not important...she really has talent...far more than I ever hoped I could have...or had...she's great...watch her vids dammit!

UPDATE: her name is Molly Lewis...and dammit, I wish I was 20 years younger, she's adorable

Originality Hasn't Died

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tjC0mYfcrg&feature=player_embedded#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mf7cQfhJSA&feature=player_embedded

this young lady is cool...and take a look at her vid's...wish I had her talent.

Pomplamoose

I can't begin to praise the originality of the band Pomplamoose...their self produced and edited video's on youtube.com are awesome...once upon a time...my bestest friend tried to tell me we were this good...we weren't but these guys are! they are awesome!

SOMEONE PLEASE SIGN THIS GROUP...their talent is awesome@

An Interesting Point

comment # 16 from the thread on PJmedia about whether or not the GI's from Fort Hood deserve the purple heart or not...

The Obama decision to try the terrorists in a New York civil court is such a blatantly evil decision that it leaves me stunned. It is an anti-American decision. It has nothing to do with justice; nothing. It is a purely political decision.

1) Those on the left are defending it as ‘it will showcase the value of the American Justice system. Rubbish.
The American justice system is not now and has never been at question. There is therefore no need to defend it.
AND – that’s their only defense! A non-issue!

2) So, what’s it really about? It is one thing only. It’s a political strategy with ONE agenda. One agenda.

This has two parts: part one is to Bash Bush; this will satisfy the blood lust of the leftist crowds who are feeling let down by Obama’s weakness in their Pet Values of gay marriage, attacking the CIA.

Its other part is to make the American people feel guilty by showcasing America as The Cause of Islamic jihadism.
Result? Vote for post-Bush Obama.

3) Therefore, it is really a political strategy to DIVERT attention from the disasters of Obama’s presidential reign: his deficit, his pork-stimulus, his cap-and-trade, his health care..all of which are bankrupting America and doing nothing positive.

It’s a political strategy to counter the growing voices of the Town Halls, the Tea Parties (whom Obama himself denigrates by calling them TeaBaggers)..The Tea Parties are growing, are continuing, and that massive Tea Party in Washington, which the Obama Gang are pretending didn’t happen…has deeply worried them.
This is their response to the Tea Parties, the Town Halls, more and more open criticism, to FOX, to the American people who Dare To Criticize the Great Master, Obama.

4) What does he do with their criticism of Him?

He puts the American people on trial. That’s what he does.

They’ll manipulate the MSM so that this is ALL that will be talked about, the evil Pre-Obama regime…and the disasters of the Obama regime will barely get any air time.

5) Then, there’ll be the threats against America as this trial incites jihadists around the world. This trial will scream from the Islamic Press pages – and be used to recruit more and more terrorists.

There’ll be threats; there’ll be even attacks. These will be used as evidence of the Evils of the Bush era, and Obama will give noble speeches: ‘We Have Changed; This is Post-Bush; there is No Need to Attack Us. Oh..and Vote For Obama.

6) And think about it – the COSTS. Millions and millions, paid by the American taxpayers, for the lawyers for these terrorists. Millions for the security of them. Millions as well, for the security of New York. And what about the jurors? Will they and their families receive death threats from jihadists around the world?

A political campaign..paid for, not by the Democratic Party but by the American people.

Obama has done more to divide the American people than any president. He used race during his campaign, and continues to do so. He’s divided them politically, with his administration rejecting bipartisn work.

He’s cut Congress off from the people. Congress is supposed to represent the people and therefore, they must READ and DEBATE bills. Obama denies them this duty and insists that they pass His bills without reading or debating them. He treats Congress as his rubber stamp..not as the representatives of the People. The people have no representation anymore.

Personally, I think that Islam is fundamentally anti-Western Civilization. It's a religion that is rooted in the 7th Century and unless it under goes a fundamental change (a la The Reformation of Christianity) it will end up being a civilizational war that will last decades if not centuries. If it goes that root, then it's eventual extermination is the only result that will be viable to to survival of our civilization. I hope and pray that this isn't the direction chosen by our adversaries, because there are, out there...a great many reasonable people who are Muslims and only desire to live in peace...not all Muslims are terrorists, but unfortunately, many terrorists are Muslims. That is the story of the early 21st Century. Toward the end of the last century, many terrorists were communists and their sympathizers (the various incarnations of the "Red Brigades", etc). That has changed, but until Muslims themselves rise up and oppose those who wage Jihad on their behalf...this struggle will continue for many years to come.

More in U.S. Say Health Coverage Is Not Gov’t. Responsibility

More Americans now say it is not the federal government's responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage (50%) than say it is (47%). This is a first since Gallup began tracking this question, and a significant shift from as recently as three years ago, when two-thirds said ensuring health care coverage was the government's responsibility.

This is a huge turnaround from even last year where 56% wanted to replace the current system and the more than 60% who desired a change in 2006. What has occurred since then? An enormous bill that will literally wreck the current system and replace it with government run health care inside of 10 years. More importantly, 61% now desire to retain the current system, while only 32% desire to toss it out.

Health care in this country does need some sort of overhaul. However, throwing out the baby with the bath water won't improve the system. What needs to be done is to allow genuine competition. In other words remove the barriers that the various states have erected to protect favoured companies and allows unfettered competition. Additionally, tort reform must be accomplished despite the fact this is a favoured constituency of the Democratic party (i.e. John Edwards friends).

Without limiting in some way the huge lawsuits for malpractice, costs will never, ever come down. Do victims of medical incompetence deserve compensation? Certainly, but there must be some sort of limits upon what is permitted. I suspect that next fall, if the bills presently before Congress are passed and signed into law, there will be a lot of surprised politicians packing up in Washington next December.

Obama To Focus On Deficit In SOTU Address

According to Politico.com, the Obama Administration is planning January's SOTU address to be focused on deficit reduction. This is the equivalent to a heroin addict saying they'll quit tomorrow, but only after getting one last big fix. In just nine months this administration has spent more than the Clinton Administration spent in 8 years of office.

Additionally, there is no evidence Democrats are willing to aggressively cut the biggest parts of the budget, such as entitlement programs and defense. Former President Bill Clinton told Senate Democrats at their policy lunch this week that one of the biggest reasons to finish health care is to allow Obama to focus on economic concerns next year – in part with more spending. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said afterward that Clinton had advised getting health care out of the way to “clear the tables and allow the focus to be on jobs and education and infrastructure.” None of that is free.

This concern will be difficult for the country to swallow especially after this Democratically controlled Congress has passed the four largest spending bills in our history, the stimulus package, the TARP bailouts, the health care seizure and "cap & trade" bill that they plan to use to address global warming.

All of these bills have, or will add a huge amounts to the deficit and concomitantly to the debt. The only way at this point to balance the budget with this legislation will be to pass tremendous tax increases. During a period of economic down turn, tax increases are the death knell to recovery. Additionally, there is no reason to believe that Democrats are considering cuts to the most expensive parts of the budget, such as entitlement programs which are already underfunded as it is. They've already imperiled defense spending by reducing spending of inventories of spare parts, and training.

So, I think that next year, instead of a recovering economy what we will face is one that will grow steadily worse as Congress and this Administration continue to spend like drunken sailors. Mr. Obama certainly won't veto ANY spending bills that allow Democratic Congressmen to say "look what I'm bringing home to you". On the other hand, during the past election campaign, he did state unequivocally that he was for "income redistribution". America, brace yourselves, it's going to be a rough year.