Blog @ MoreWhat.com

So how is the President doing so far? He has some quiet time to think about that as he finishes his ten day vacation. Some have complained that while millions of Americans are unemployed or underemployed Barack Obama should not be playing golf and taking vacation.

The President opposes SB1070 in Arizona and signs legislation to spend $600 million on border security while his Justice Dept sues Arizona over a state law that others are considering for their own states.

Porkulus spending and bailouts have done nothing to improve the economy. Mostly they have provided payoffs for unions representing teachers and other public sector employees. Conflict inside the White House has Obama’s economic team in turmoil. Romer, the leader of Obama’s economic council is leaving.

As if the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan and controversy over Gitmo and civilian trials for terrorists were not enough trouble on the left for Obama he weighs in on the ground zero mosque and further splits his party.

Obamacare is not the winner Democrats portrayed. Since passage of the bill in late night sessions during Christmas last year the White House has spent much time defending the legislation. Something you would not have to do if the idea had any merit.

Just about everything is going wrong for the liberals who control the White House and Congress. As the midterms approach this November and every indication suggests a sweeping defeat for Democrats President Obama returns to the only strategy he knows. Blame someone else for your failures.

Once again President Obama is blaming George W Bush and the GOP for our current economic problems. Is the GOP responsible for our current economic and fiscal problems? Or is the economy now President Obama’s problem?

The GOP shares the blame for where we are. But that does not let the Democrats off the hook. If you seek the office of POTUS as Barack Obama did you have to know what you’re getting into. If you claim it’s the other guy’s fault and you’re the one to fix it you just signed on to do just that. If you fail it is a lame excuse to continue blaming others.

Here’s a flashback provided by The Hill on Barack Obama taking ownership of the US economy in 2009.

During a July 14, 2009, address in Warren, Mich., Obama said, “Now, my administration has a job to do, as well, and that job is to get this economy back on its feet. That’s my job. And it’s a job I gladly accept. I love these folks who helped get us in this mess and then suddenly say, ‘Well, this is Obama’s economy.’ That’s fine. Give it to me. My job is to solve problems, not to stand on the sidelines and carp and gripe.”

Notice the phrase, ‘these folks who helped get us in this mess’. A stark contrast to other statements by the President that shift all the blame on others. And it would be correct. Both Democrats and Republicans share responsibility for what goes on in Washington, D.C. and the topic of governance.

What the President does not say is something all liberals avoid. Entitlements are the single largest drain on financial matters in the US. It is the bulk of the budget year in and year out. Those problems belong to Democrats. FDR, LBJ and other Democrats ushered in budget busting programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. In the current mess Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, The Community Reinvestment Act and corruptocrats like Chris Dodd and Barney Frank have directed the banking industry to lend to those who cannot repay the loans.

Mr President, as you blame the GOP for all our ills you should check your own party’s backyard and what they have done to bring us to this point. Adding Obamacare to the other failing programs mentioned above is not our way out of this.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

First of all here’s how the employment, or unemployment picture is painted. From the month of June 2010 the report was dismal but expected by anyone with a brain.

The Labor Department’s monthly employment report released Friday shows the U.S. economy shed more jobs than it created last month - a net loss of 125,000 jobs - the first monthly job loss of the year. Despite the net decline, the nation’s unemployment rate inched lower in June, falling 0.2 point to 9.5 percent.

The private sector added more than 80,000 workers to their payrolls last month, better than the previous month, but not enough to offset the loss of more than 200,000 temporary census jobs.

Hey Mr President and VPOTUS how’s that stimulus plan working out for you?

U.S. employment dropped for the second straight month in July as private employers did less hiring than hoped and more than 140,000 people who were hired temporarily for the nationwide census were let go. The figures are giving rise to pessimism about the nation’s economic recovery.

The Labor Department reported Friday that private employers added 71,000 jobs in July, well below the nearly 200,000 needed each month to reduce the unemployment rate. It’s a big indicator that the U.S. labor market and the economy at large are slow to recover from recession.

And you have to know that anticipated tax increases as well as Obamacare worries are keeping employers from going forward with any plans for investment and hiring. How does one plan for the risk/reward analysis of business decisions when the current administration continues to add debt and spending to an already burdened economy.

It will be nearly two years of the Obamanation as the 2010 elections get underway. The Democrats will try but can no longer blame someone else for their failures. After the GOP fall from grace and now the liberal letdown one might expect POLS would learn the hard lessons. But history would indicate that’s a long shot.

Drain the swamp in 2010. In other words, throw the bums out and repeat as necessary. We cannot last much longer without effective leadership. And the numbers continue to support the house cleaning strategy.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

The news, that portion which merely provides data, would seem to support the notion that liberals are wrong and conservatives are right. The items below are presented as cases in point.

Yes, these stories are cherry-picked. But there are more bleak stories than positive ones. Even the good ones are usually accompanied by the fact the government is providing artificial boosts to the economy which are increasing public debt and serving no useful purpose.

Here are four stories about housing, foreclosures and government intervention. In July banks took over homes at a record pace. Obama is giving $3 billion to unemployed homeowners. Unemployment is given credit for a fall in home prices at the same time another report claims housing prices are rising due in part to government tax credits for homebuyers.

The rest of the world is not doing as good as some would like you think. Japan saw lower than expected machinery orders along with lower exports, wholesale prices and a generally gloomy picture on recovery. In the UK consumers are pulling back as food and fuel prices rise and budgets fall. The EU’s 16 countries saw only a 0.2% growth rate in the first quarter.

While liberals resist common sense approaches like that of Gov Christie in New Jersey who tackled a severe deficit without raising taxes places like California are finding out daily the folly of a nanny state of mind. Not only do most Californians lean hard left but now their paychecks are proving them wrong. The liberal mindset has seen their pay fall for the first time since WWII. Will they ever learn?

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Decades of mismanagement contributed to the mortgage meltdown in recent years. The information that supports the notion government sponsored home buying is a bad idea keeps piling up. Like the fact that Freddie Mac, one of many GSEs or government-sponsored enterprises, is required to pay the US Treasury a dividend. This quarter Freddie’s ten percent annual dividend payment to the Treasury is $1.3 billion. And Freddie is asking for $1.8 billion in additional aid to cover losses. The taxpayer continues to be scammed.

Current economic conditions and the challenge they pose for the housing market found the leader of Freddie stating the following:

“With that in mind, we continue to focus on the quality of the new business we are adding to our book to be responsible stewards of taxpayer funds.”

Sir, if you were not doing it before how do you expect anyone to believe you now?

On Thursday, Fannie Mae asked for an additional $1.5 billion after posting a $3.13 billion loss, although its losses shrank dramatically in the second quarter, down from $11.5 billion in the first quarter.

And yet those in government are talking ‘overhaul’ rather than abandoning this disaster looking for a place to happen. It would make more sense on many issues that we return to values of years past. As for homebuying a return to successful lending policies of the past may inspire a return to the kind of behavior that rewards hard work and discipline.

You want a house? Come back when you have twenty percent down. Have some skin in the game and commitment to doing the right thing long term. If you cannot afford twenty percent you need to work on that problem. Like raising yourself up and expect it may be the next generation that reaches the goal of home ownership. But you have to start somewhere.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

It takes some work to push the rhetoric aside to focus on the real information and find leadership. A few recent items in the media demonstrate the point. The first item was rather shocking. Peggy Noonan actually expressing something that makes sense. The sad part is you must read past her continued dismissal of the Tea Party to find it.

‘The problem for the Democrats, however, is not a new Contract With America, or the Tea Party. Their problem is Chris Christie.’

She adds, ‘The public thinks we’re sinking as a nation. They want to know someone has a plan to help. The most promising leader in that respect is Mr. Christie, the New Jersey governor, who just closed an $11 billion budget gap without raising taxes.’

Those excerpts are from a column at the WSJ on July 30, 2010. Forget that Noonan thinks the Tea Party and other conservatives have ideas that are too radical if only because few have had the stones to express them in many years. That is why the following excerpt from a piece by Perry Bacon, Jr. has a title that says it all.

Rep. Ryan pushes budget reform, and his party winces

Viewing him as a rising star in the party, Republicans in Congress often talk up Rep. Paul Ryan as a potential governor, senator or House leader. The lanky, youthful-looking congressman from Wisconsin has begged off, citing his young children and limited desire to spend all his time raising campaign money.

Instead, Ryan is running a campaign of a different sort, one his party has so far refused to adopt: He is determined to persuade colleagues to get serious about eliminating the national debt, even if it means openly broaching overhauls of Medicare and Social Security.

With that in mind understand that establishment POLS like John Boehner have said the GOP will unveil the party agenda after the August recess. The Democrats love calling the GOP the party of ‘no’ simply because they oppose the liberal agenda and use the few tools available to the minority party.

The Tea Party demonstrates voter outrage and a call for the return to common sense governing. Chris Christie and Paul Ryan demonstrate the kind of leadership that is lacking but nonetheless what our country needs. So how surprising is it that liberal icons like Paul Krugman would criticize someone like Paul Ryan and look the fool doing it?

Paul Krugman’s latest New York Times column, in which he calls Rep. Paul Ryan a charlatan and his Roadmap for America plan a fraud, is unusally partisan even by Krugman’s standards.

The reference above is a good example of how silly Krugman looks. But you can simply use your favorite search engine and the terms ‘krugman’ and ‘ryan’ to find more. Ryan’s rebuttal to Krugman is linked with an excerpt below.

Krugman’s detour on ‘Roadmap’ to solvency
By Paul Ryan
Aug. 7, 2010

Despite watching European welfare states collapse under the weight of their own debt, those running Washington are leading us down precisely the same path. With the debt surpassing $13 trillion, we can no longer avoid having a serious discussion about how to address the unsustainable growth of government.

Unfortunately, rather than make meaningful contributions to this conversation and bring solutions to the table, Democrats have attempted to win this debate by default. Relying on demagoguery and distortion, the left would prefer that entitlements - often labeled the “third rail” of American politics - remain untouchable, and the column by Paul Krugman of The New York Times is indicative of the partisan attacks leveled against the plan I’ve offered, a “Roadmap for America’s Future.”

Voters of any political stripe should have the sense to support leaders like Paul Ryan and Chris Christie. We dismiss the value of their leadership at our own peril.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

There are those who favor tax cuts and reduced government spending. There are those who favor uncontrolled spending and tax increases. Those on the right promote tax cuts. Those on the left promote tax increases.

Those on the right do not oppose spending for constitutional requirements like national defense. Those on the left enjoy defining what spending for the general welfare includes.

The liberal majority in the US Congress backed by a Democrat in the White House have passed legislation in this session like healthcare for everyone regardless of ability to pay. And there is the recent extension of unemployment benefits that begs the question at what point do the employed stop subsidizing the unemployed. But then really it’s all borrowed money anyhow so we should understand the nation is broke.

But even news reports out today as in many days gone by will not convince the majority of a need to stop spending. Continuing to borrow money for their agenda on the backs of the wealthy now and future generations to come will fail.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency over California’s finances last week and ordered three days off without pay per month for tens of thousands of state employees. The state’s government is projected to run out of cash no later than October should its budget stalemate persist as expected.

The poster child state for economic ruin will run out of cash. How’s that for reality? And most of the other states are in serious trouble as well. If any state is surviving right now it is probably only a matter of time before their fate mirrors California.

The 50 states have racked up a record $2.4 trillion in bond debt during the economic downturn – the highest level of state and local indebtedness in history, economic analysts warn. State and local bond debt now consume a whopping 22 percent of the nation’s annual Gross Domestic Product – a bigger slice of the economic pie than ever before, say experts.

Here’s another hint for President Obama that he will ignore:

CBO Warns Obama: Exploding US Debt a Huge Risk

Many have said the current situation is the worst since the Great Depression of the late twenties and most of the thirties. Do we really have to experience a full fledged depression before America’s so-called leaders wake up and smell what they’re selling?

The GOP went a little nuts the last time they had the majority and spent way too much. Then the GOP was invited to become the minority at the ballot box. Now the Democrats are following that game plan and taking it to new levels of the absurd. November 2010 is the next opportunity to throw the bums out.

Voters have to do this every two years from now on until POLS learn. Do the right thing or find another job. Hopefully one not paid for with taxpayer dollars.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Ruth Marcus wrote a piece last week entitled, ‘Why Congress should let the Bush tax cuts expire.’ There is very little right and too much wrong in her column. Who is Ruth Marcus?

Ruth Marcus is an editorial writer for The Post, specializing in American politics, campaign finance, the federal budget and taxes, and other domestic issues. She writes a weekly column that appears on Wednesdays.

The best thing about the column is the use of one of Bush 43’s best quotes.

“The people of America have been overcharged, and, on their behalf, I’m here asking for a refund,” Bush told Congress in February 2001.

Marcus claims ‘the social security surplus was spent.’ If Marcus specializes in the federal budget and taxes you might expect her to know what the CBO knows about social security and other government trust funds. They are ‘accounting mechanisms.’ Meaning there is no little piggy bank where everyone’s SSI benefits are waiting for their retirement.

Marcus uses references from the OECD, the OMB and Alan Greenspan to make her points. A breakdown of who pays taxes in the US may have been a more efficient choice. From the IRS via the National Taxpayers Union one fact is clear.

Those whose incomes are in the top 50% nationwide pay more than 95% of US income tax. Those in the bottom 50% pay less than five percent.

The part where Marcus almost gets it is demonstrated in the excerpt below.

I expressed frustration a few weeks back with the denialism among some liberal Democrats about the need to curb entitlement spending and the conviction that simply socking it to the rich would solve the fiscal problem. But the Republican position seems even more intransigently divorced from reality. Perhaps there is some magical point at which Republicans might accept the reality that the government needs more revenue than it is currently set to take in — but I haven’t heard it yet.

Yes, liberals do not want to reduce or eliminate entitlements.
Yes, liberals want to redistribute wealth.
No, the government DOES NOT need more revenue.

Entitlements account for the majority of the federal budget. Government spending will always exceed the ability to pay for it. That is one reason why goverment must be limited. And it is why the government does not need more revenue. It needs to end the spending spree.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Sunday seems as good a time as any for another rant about media and the news. Like anyone else who struggles to keep up with what is going on in the world I have my routine. As much as it bothered me Google News was one stop regularly checked for a cross-section of stories from the MSM. Could they leave it alone. Of course not for as useless as it was to begin with they decided to make it worse.

I stopped relying on Google as a search engine with the advent of Ixquick. Seems we should spread the traffic around and while Ixquick is not perfect it is a reasonable alternative and may get better if we use it and submit suggestions for improvements.

This was another day in an effort to alter my news scanning routine. And it was the cause of another lament on the state of media or MSM and content. A roll of the dice so to speak selected USA Today as the first stop. Without a one stop aggregation of news to view from around the planet I was trying a few quick hits for headlines, etc.

Gannett, the owner of USA Today and too many other print sources allows their navigation bar on the main page to highlight part of what is wrong. While the top navbar features general categories of topics like news, travel and money the second navbar suggests what is ‘essential’.

Markets, scores, games, lotteries, video, photos, opinion, blogs, subscribe, classifieds and jobs make the list. After ‘markets’ which seems to indicate business information the rest is not essential nor necessarily worthwhile.

Hey, I have nothing against Chelsea Clinton and I hope she and her husband have a wonderful life. I honestly mean that. But when Chelsea is the obvious big splash on a typical MSM front page and the most popular reads for the USA fishwrap feature three stories about Chelsea and one about the disfunctional Jersey Shore television series something comes to mind. Actually many things come to mind but here’s the second one. (The first was who reads the MSM and why?)

87% Feel Media Covers Celebrities Too Much

Eighty-seven percent (87%) of Americans feel the media pays too much attention to celebrities, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. But 84% of Adults also admit that Americans pay too much attention to celebrity news and not enough attention to news that has real impact on their lives.

Just one percent (1%) do not think media outlets cover celebs enough, while nine percent (9%) say the coverage is about right.

That may explain why traditional media sources are failing. The one and nine percent figures above may reflect the number of people attracted to the trash most media outlets publish or broadcast.

BTW, the rest of USA Today’s front page was populated with other useless or redundant coverage on items that are common knowledge. And of course they offered unwavering support with their coverage of things Obama and liberal.

Fortunately I can get along with the critical content of my routine. The trustworthy sources I use for the bulk of what is important do not fail me. But trying to cover it all and make judgments about decisions to be made is still a challenge and too time consuming.

Too bad so many in the media world refuse to address this simple problem. But then that is not what most of them are about. If their biz model of catering to the lowest common denominator and filling that demand with cheap stories to present is no longer a golden goose you might expect they would change. Or maybe they’re just waiting for their bailout from the Obamanation.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Some good news just keeps coming. A testament to the fact big government, bailouts, stimulus and other liberal dreams are not necessary nor wise.  In February this blog pointed to the success of Ford amid troubles all over the auto industry. It seems the old slogan ‘Ford has a better idea’ is once again noteworthy. They never took a bailout and are experiencing a string of very successful quarters.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Ford posts another quarterly profit as sales climb
07/23/10 5:40 PM

With its two longtime Detroit rivals still finding their way after spending time in bankruptcy last year, Ford, which never took government bailout money, extended its success story.

Not like the NAACP calling the Tea Party phenomenon racist or multiple blunders related to the employment of Shirley Sherrod were not enough to fuel more race debates but now another hot button is pushed.

It seems there’s an IG report describing the methods used in determining which dealerships would cease to be after Obama took over government motors, etc.  Besides criteria like how new the dealership or its importance to wholesale parts distribution at least two other factors were considered.  If the dealership was minority or woman-owned.

At first you might say ‘that is reasonable’.  But you may not be considering the fact that successful businesses not meeting the criteria may understandably take offense to such an arbitrary selection process.

And you can also see if the situation was reversed how offended all the liberals would be. That is why criteria based on anything other than the numbers, meaning financial success, is not the way to go.  Let performance be your guide.

If you had 100 dealerships and were forced to eliminate 20 other than keeping a presence in all markets the best performers should stay regardless of ownership demographics. But then that is just common sense talking. Some think we should make those decisions based on personal preferences or other bias rather than impersonal data like performance and viability.

But coming from an administration willing to take over the private sector their action on this is no surprise. Rather than economic survival based on free market principles their preference is to choose the winners and losers.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Read the rest here. (click)

If you are looking for another reason to vote against tax and spend liberals, here it is.

Sen. John Kerry, who has repeatedly voted to raise taxes while in Congress, dodged a whopping six-figure state tax bill on his new multimillion-dollar yacht by mooring her in Newport, R.I.

That opening paragraph from the Boston Herald says it all. ‘Repeatedly voted to raise taxes while in Congress’ yet denies the state of Taxachusetts their due. And of course the senator’s chief of staff denies the mooring location was selected to avoid paying the tax.

As the article states, Kerry is skirting a Massachusetts sales tax of 6.25%. The same sales tax ordinary citizens are required to pay and likely cannot avoid. If Kerry and his rich wife can afford a MULTI=MILLION dollar plaything paying a 6.25% sales tax should be no problem. If you can pony up $7 million plus for the boat you can afford to pay the tax.

For instance, those paying a similar duty after purchasing an automobile have little choice but to pay it. And the car, truck or other vehicle is probably a necessity rather than a luxury.

When the liberals once again target the public for the cap and trade burden let’s see if Senator John Kerry stands to profit from carbon credit exchanges like Al Gore and friends. John Kerry’s leader, Barack Hussein Obama said their will be no taxes on those earning under $250K. Will Kerry once again vote for increasing taxes when his leader promised not to do so?

That’s really a rhetorical question since Obamacare and other legislation passed by Dems with purchased votes already place new burdens on taxpayers. By increasing the national debt and deficits or directly raising taxes for specific items the Obama Administration and their liberal allies in Congress have broken any campaign promises about no tax increases.

Come November 2010, throw the bums out. Repeat as necessary.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Once again the community organizer-in-chief engages in exactly what he claims his political opposition is doing… playing politics. In the very same week HIS party’s financial legislation was passed with the help of three GOP Senators; Collins, Snowe and Brown the President has the audacity to charge Republicans of blocking his agenda.

Mr President, if you cannot pass legislation with a majority of Democrats in both houses of Congress it is not the fault of the GOP. The rules of Congress have been developed over a long period of time. Like everything else in Washington, DC politics is at play and the game has all POLS, including you, putting that first.

If the sixty vote requirement for passing legislation obstructs YOUR agenda you might consider it’s the agenda’s fault not the GOP or Democrats who are not crazy about it.

The programs you claim will help are exactly that - programs. That means more government spending more taxpayer money and increasing deficits and the national debt. Even your own commission has agreed with the majority of Americans. We cannot continue spending, raising deficits and increasing debt.

How long do you think the unemployed should continue to receive benefits on the backs of other taxpayers? How long do you think the government should be using taxpayer money for bailouts, takeovers and stimulus bills that stimulate nothing except more public sector waste?

If you had simply reinstated legislation that had been repealed, e.g., portions of Glass-Steagall rather than wasting time and money on YOUR financial reforms we would be better off. At the very least that simple step could have been implemented easily, was already tested and worked when it was previously in place for many years.

But I suppose that is one of ‘those misguided policies’ you express in your weekly address. And yes, Mr President, some people live off public sector money like unemployment benefits as long as they are available. That goes for scammers of supplemental social security money, Medicaid and just about any public assistance ‘program’.

Here’s one for you Mr President. How about extending the tax cuts that are about to expire? How about removing the added burden of Obamacare from the small businesses you claim to be worried about? How about reducing the nearly three quarters of each budget dedicated to entitlement ‘programs’?

You might consider all those ways of saving money, improving the economy, reducing spending and waste. Or you can continue to blame the GOP for your own failures.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

The de Rothschild’s fortune may be a publicly unknown quantity but theories abound on its size. It has been estimated by some as in the trillions and some accounts place it in the hundreds of millions when at first the dynasty was born.

David de Rothschild may not be your typical or average limousine liberal. With the size of the family fortune a whole new label may be required. But what de Rothschild shares in common with the long car lefties is an affection for anthropogenic global warming.

Why is it that well-heeled individuals take a Hollywood approach when telling the rest of us how to live? Is it possible that those who shoulder the burden of living with massive fortunes the rest of us can only dream about have no clue? It would make more sense if those short on targets for their fortunes invested in practical solutions to the issues they embrace.

But that would illuminate the real story. It is not about AGW or any real issue. It’s about them and their personal interests.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

from VOA News….

A British adventurer is spreading his own message in a bottle by crossing the Pacific Ocean aboard an 18-meter catamaran made of thousands of plastic soda bottles.

David de Rothschild’s unusual boat is his way of drawing attention to the plastic polluting the world’s oceans while also showcasing a solution. The 31 year old hopes to inspire followers with the boat he calls the “Plastiki.”

Global mission

“We’re on a mission to beat waste,” says de Rothschild. “The Plastiki project is really trying to showcase that waste is inefficient design and that we can reuse everyday materials and rather than them ending up in landfill, or in our oceans, or being incinerated and ending up in our atmosphere, we can repurpose and build items that can be reused so we can close the loop.”

After reading a United Nations report about the huge swirls of plastic trash in the oceans, the British banking heir thought up the expedition to draw attention to the problem.

The name Plastiki echoes the Kon-Tiki, the raft that Norwegian anthropologist and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl built to cross the Pacific in 1947.

His grandson, Olaf Heyerdahl, was one of six crew members on the first leg of the Plastiki voyage, from San Francisco to Christmas Island.

For President Obama the honeymoon has long since past. The first 100 days analysis of each new American president is more common these days since ‘honeymoon’ characterizations may have faded with frequent two term administrations like Reagan, Clinton and Bush 43. The question in either case was how long will it take for the promises of a campaign to be discarded after election.

Hope and change was as pathetic a slogan as one might hear from a snake oil salesman. But the distinction between the ambitions of a community organizer and a seller of dubious liniments can no longer be defended.

With the midterm elections approaching Democrats prove the pundit forecast predicting the probability of the GOP retaking the congressional majority. Rather than a carnival atmosphere liberals appear as cannibals feeding on their own to redirect blame for their failure to govern properly.

Democrats are having a jolly good time beating up the White House.

You can see why. President Obama has caused the party to squander a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reclaim permanent majority status.

An example of how bad things are for Dems in the report above has this little tidbit:

Out in Iowa, the Democratic Governors’ Association spent money on mailers trashing Republican gubernatorial candidate Terry Branstad for being too much like Obama on health care.

Who’s selling the snake oil now? But it gets better.

WASHINGTON — Republicans are outraising Democrats in nearly a dozen open Senate races, increasing their hopes of significantly narrowing the Democrats’ majority in November.

Money as the root of all evil is not a phrase lost on politics. The idea that he who has the most money wins may be a subject for debate given the strength of the tea party and new conservative candidates. But outdoing your opponents on fundraising suggests more people support you than your opponent.

What else does the money game offer POLS?

WASHINGTON — A Republican lawmaker says documents show more senators and staff members than previously known received sweetheart mortgages from the former Countrywide Financial Corp., based on their perceived ability to help the company.

It wasn’t just Chris Dodd or Kent Conrad who took perks from Countrywide. This is no different than money from lobbyists or other special interest powerbrokers. Then there’s vote selling (bribes) like Cornhusker Cash (Sen Ben Nelson), the Louisiana Purchase (Sen Mary Landrieu) and the following:

GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts voted for the bill after Democrats agreed to drop a provision to raise $19 billion by imposing fees on banks.

It’s not quite that innocent. Collins, Snowe and Brown received perks for their states as the price paid for their vote to pass the bill. How is that different from Dodd or others taking perks from Countrywide in exchange for political favors?

That’s right. Throw the bums out. Repeat as necessary.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Porkulus has been one of the most absurd political disasters in our lifetime.  The remainder of the liberal agenda will bring more of the same. Hope and change is coming in November 2010.

Here’s a report highlighting some of the stupidity of PORKULUS.

Stimulus fails, Blue States hardest hit

ProPublica’s “Recovery Tracker” has an interesting chart listing how much federal stimulus funding went to each state, juxtaposed with that state’s rate of unemployment from 2008 to 2010. Remember, the main purpose of President Obama’s $850 billion stimulus package was to “save or create jobs,”