QUOTE OF THE WEEK: CHRIS MATTHEWS: “I have one small tweak to make today to what the president said today. He should stop saying that giving people tax cuts is giving people money. It's their money. A tax cut is when the government doesn't take our money. It's an important distinction. He talked today, for example, about people getting a check today from the government in the form of a tax cut. That's not the way it works. If tax rates are kept lower, it's a matter of the check going to the government being smaller. Again it's an important distinction.”
OK, what have you done with the real Chris Matthews?
1) Colbert appearance causes mixed feelings
Comedian Stephen Colbert’s scheduled appearance on Capitol Hill Friday elicited mixed reactions from lawmakers, with some grateful for his participation and others incensed he had been invited in the first place.
…At the hearing, the late-night talk show host will appear in the form of his fictional character, an anchorman also named Stephen Colbert, whose stated goal is to get at the “truthiness” of the news. The comedian often stays in character throughout public appearances.
His testimony will mark the second time that a fictional character has spoken before Congress (“Sesame Street’s” Elmo was the first).
As news of Colbert’s appearance spread Wednesday afternoon, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) tweeted, “What a joke. All the serious issues [we have], and we have Colbert as an ‘expert witness.’ ”
See: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/120695-colbert-appearance-causes-mixed-feelings-on-capitol-hill
1a) Fox's Megyn Kelly: 'What The Hell Was Stephen Colbert Doing In Congress?' (VIDEO)
1b) Pelosi: It’s “great” that Colbert testified before Congress
Just the right thing to say on a day when trust in the legislative branch is not only at an all-time low, but almost 10 points lower than the previous all-time low. There’s your legacy, Nancy.
Be honest. You’re going to miss her next year. Just a little.
Leaving her weekly press conference, Pelosi told reporters she thought it was appropriate for Colbert to appear as a witness, “He’s an American. He comes before the committee. He has a point of view.”
Pelosi added, “It can bring attention to an important issue like immigration. I think it’s great.”
I’m mighty curious to know what the limiting principle on that boldfaced bit is. Congress deals regularly with “important issues” that deserve more public attention, and celebrities can deliver public attention like no one else, so — what? Obligatory A-listers at every hearing? The One can’t sell “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan,” but hand Jerry Seinfeld a mic and put him in front of a brick wall backdrop and we might yet see those drain-circling numbers for ObamaCare start to float.
See: http://hotair.com/archives/2010/09/24/pelosi-its-great-that-colbert-testified-before-congress/
2) How Obama Thinks (long but worth your time)
Barack Obama is the most antibusiness president in a generation, perhaps in American history. Thanks to him the era of big government is back. Obama runs up taxpayer debt not in the billions but in the trillions. He has expanded the federal government's control over home mortgages, investment banking, health care, autos and energy. The Weekly Standard summarizes Obama's approach as omnipotence at home, impotence abroad.
…More strange behavior: Obama's June 15, 2010 speech in response to the Gulf oil spill focused not on cleanup strategies but rather on the fact that Americans "consume more than 20% of the world's oil but have less than 2% of the world's resources." Obama railed on about "America's century-long addiction to fossil fuels." What does any of this have to do with the oil spill? Would the calamity have been less of a problem if America consumed a mere 10% of the world's resources?
…The President continues to push for stimulus even though hundreds of billions of dollars in such funds seem to have done little. The unemployment rate when Obama took office in January 2009 was 7.7%; now it is 9.5%. Yet he wants to spend even more and is determined to foist the entire bill on Americans making $250,000 a year or more. The rich, Obama insists, aren't paying their "fair share." This by itself seems odd given that the top 1% of Americans pay 40% of all federal income taxes; the next 9% of income earners pay another 30%. So the top 10% pays 70% of the taxes; the bottom 40% pays close to nothing. This does indeed seem unfair--to the rich.
… But we have been blinded to his real agenda because, across the political spectrum, we all seek to fit him into some version of American history. In the process, we ignore Obama's own history. Here is a man who spent his formative years--the first 17 years of his life--off the American mainland, in Hawaii, Indonesia and Pakistan, with multiple subsequent journeys to Africa.
…It is certainly not the American dream as conceived by the founders. They believed the nation was a "new order for the ages." A half-century later Alexis de Tocqueville wrote of America as creating "a distinct species of mankind." This is known as American exceptionalism. But when asked at a 2009 press conference whether he believed in this ideal, Obama said no. America, he suggested, is no more unique or exceptional than Britain or Greece or any other country.
…What then is Obama's dream? We don't have to speculate because the President tells us himself in his autobiography, Dreams from My Father. According to Obama, his dream is his father's dream. Notice that his title is not Dreams of My Father but rather Dreams from My Father. Obama isn't writing about his father's dreams; he is writing about the dreams he received from his father.
…As he put it, "We need to eliminate power structures that have been built through excessive accumulation so that not only a few individuals shall control a vast magnitude of resources as is the case now." The senior Obama proposed that the state confiscate private land and raise taxes with no upper limit. In fact, he insisted that "theoretically there is nothing that can stop the government from taxing 100% of income so long as the people get benefits from the government commensurate with their income which is taxed."
3) Morning Bell: Six Months Closer to Repeal
Before Obamacare was passed six months ago today, former President Bill Clinton promised a leftist horde at the Netroots Nation convention: “The minute the president signs the health care reform bill, approval will go up, because Americans are inherently optimistic.” Fast forward to last Sunday, when, after Meet the Press host David Gregory played a clip of Clinton’s promise, the former President responded: “I was wrong (emphases mine).”
It is rare in Washington that a politician admits they were so very, very wrong about such a huge issue, but the evidence that the American people have completely rejected Obamacare is overwhelming. Rasmussen Reports, Gallup and CNN all put opposition to Obamacare somewhere between 56% and 61%. The law is so toxic that hardcore leftists locked in tough election fights like Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) ignore the law altogether in the health care section of their campaign websites.
Anyone who has been following the news since Obamacare’s passage already knows why the law is so unpopular: billion dollar employer losses, exploding spending estimates, higher health care costs, fewer doctors, fewer choices, fewer jobs, etc.
See: http://blog.heritage.org/2010/09/23/morning-bell-six-months-closer-to-repeal
4) Congress Punts on Taxes
Democrats Put Off Showdown on Bush Cuts Until After November Election
With time running out to plan for 2011, the delay raises uncertainty for small businesses and individual taxpayers over their future liabilities. It also sets up a titanic battle over taxes after the election.
If returning lawmakers don't pass legislation by Dec. 31, the expiration date of the cuts, tax rates would rise not only on income, but also on estates, capital gains and dividends. Important corporate tax credits and relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax also are up for renewal.
Democratic leaders and President Barack Obama made the proposal to extend the middle-class tax breaks a centerpiece of their midterm campaign strategy. They now face the possibility their members are vulnerable to Republican charges that they have failed to prevent taxes from rising for almost everyone.
Congressmen from both parties said the toxic politics of taxes and the crush of issues to be resolved increased the likelihood all the Bush-era breaks, including those for higher earners, would be extended at least for a year or two. But Mr. Obama could still veto such a bill.
See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703384204575509793142421332.html
4a) Trust in Legislative Branch Falls to Record-Low 36%
PRINCETON, NJ -- A record-low 36% of Americans have a great deal or fair amount of trust and confidence in the legislative branch of government, down sharply from the prior record low of 45% set last year. Trust in the judicial branch and trust in the executive branch also suffered sharp declines this year but remain higher than trust in the legislative branch.
…Trust in the legislative branch was highest, at 71%, in May 1972, and remained generally high from that point to the mid-2000s. It then dropped to 50% in 2007, 47% in 2008, and 45% in 2009, all record lows at the time they were measured. This year's 36% legislative confidence rating marks still another record low, and is the lowest trust level in any of the three branches of government in Gallup's history.
See: http://www.gallup.com/poll/143225/Trust-Legislative-Branch-Falls-Record-Low.aspx
4b) House Republicans Unveil 'Pledge to America,' Call for Tax and Spending Cuts
House Republicans on Thursday rolled out their "Pledge to America," a sweeping conservative agenda that calls for reining in federal spending, permanently extending all of the Bush tax cuts, and repealing President Obama's signature health care law.
…The plan is divided into five policy areas: the economy, government spending, health care, government reform and national security. Republicans are calling for, among other things, a reduction in federal spending to fiscal 2008 levels except for national security, cite constitutional authority when introducing legislation, and require all bills to be posted online three days before votes.
But the plan didn't delve into specifics on critical issues, such as how it will "put government on a path to a balanced budget. It also steers clear of social issues.
5) Applause for Ahmadinejad
He was greeted by applause when he walked into the United Nations General Assembly, and applauded again, even after questioning 9/11 and claiming that the American government may have been behind the attack.
That’s right, applauded after questioning the motivation for the terrorist attacks, who was responsible for them, and essentially suggesting they were a U.S. plot.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made a variety of claims over the years during his appearances here, but he never has gone this far when talking about 9/11.
During his General Assembly address, the Iranian President called for a “U.N. fact finding group” to investigate 9/11.
He also said that ”the majority of the American people as well as most nations and politicians around the world” believe that “some segments within the U.S. government orchestrated the attack to reverse the declining of the American economy and its grips on the Middle East in order to save the Zionist regime.”
Before his speech, the Obama administration must have had high hopes that Ahmadinejad would have listened to the offers of diplomacy as presented by the administration and its allies on the Security Council. Members of the U.S. delegation remained in their seats. In years past, only what is called a “low-level note taker” has often been posted behind the little plastic “United States” sign, when Ahmadinejad took the stage.
On Tuesday, when Ahmadinejad spoke during the global summit on poverty, the American delegation remained even as he predicted the defeat of capitalism.
But true to form, he quickly went over the line with his 9/11 remarks and that prompted the U.S. diplomats, and others, to get up and walk out.
See: http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/09/23/applause-for-ahmadinejad/
5a) UN: Delegates Walk Out as Ahmadinejad Hints US Gov't Behind 9/11
United States delegates to the United Nations walked out in the middle of a speech by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Thursday, as the Iranian leader floated a theory that elements within the US government orchestrated the September 11, 2001 attacks on America.
“A propaganda machine began to work” after 9/11, he said. “It was said that some 3,000 people were killed on 9/11, for which we were all very saddened, but in Afghanistan and Iraq hundreds of thousands have been killed” since then, he accused, referring to the American sponsored battle against terrorism in those countries.
Ahmadinejad said that there were “three viewpoints” regarding who was behind the 9/11 attack: The first, he explained was that a very sophisticated terrorist group did it. The second was that “some segments within the US government orchestrated the attack” to reverse the declining US economy and in order to save "the Zionist regime." This view, Ahmadinejad said, was the one most widely held among the nations of the world. A third opinion was that the attack was carried out by a terrorist group, but that the American government took advantage of the situation.
When Ahmadinejad reached the second “theory,” US delegates walked out. Ahmedinejad went on to call for an "independent" UN investigation of the 9/11 massacre.
See: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/139756
6) Israeli building slowdown ends; settlers celebrate
REVAVA, West Bank – Jewish settlers released balloons and broke ground on a kindergarten in celebration Sunday as a 10-month construction slowdown expired, while U.S. and Israeli leaders tried to figure out how to keep Palestinians from walking out of peace talks over the end of the restrictions.
After the slowdown ran out at midnight, there was no Palestinian statement about the future of the talks. The Palestinians asked for an Oct. 4 meeting of an Arab League body to discuss the situation, possibly giving diplomats an extra week to work out a compromise.
Minutes after the expiration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the Palestinians not to walk away, but instead to maintain constant contact "to achieve a historic framework accord within a year." In a statement, Netanyahu said his "intention to achieve peace is genuine."
And maybe if the enemies of Israel would stop calling for it annihilation, and the press and the rest of the world would stop talking of the West Bank as if it wasn’t Israel’s land, peace could be achieved.
See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100926/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians
7) Two of Obama's closest advisers among those likely to leave in White House shuffle
In his nearly two years in office, President Obama has relied on a very small clique of advisers that serves as his most trusted sounding board on politics and policy.
Members of his staff describe Obama as wary of outsiders and reluctant to widen his inner circle. As one of his advisers bluntly put it, the president "doesn't like new people."
Like it or not, he will soon be surrounded by them as an expected staff shuffle will deprive Obama of two of his closest aides and an influx of replacements will take their places within the West Wing.
The inner circle - Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, senior advisers David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett, press secretary Robert Gibbs and Vice President Biden - is breaking up, or at least breaking open. Emanuel is widely expected to run for mayor of Chicago, and Axelrod is likely to leave this spring to prepare for Obama's 2012 reelection effort.
Obama will soon lose other top advisers. His chief economic adviser, Lawrence H. Summers, announced that he will return to Harvard, where he is a professor; Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina is expected to join Axelrod in Chicago; and national security adviser James L. Jones is said to want out by the end of the year.
See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/22/AR2010092206741.html
8) Angle-Reid debate is no debate at all
On September 23, 2010, Faith Lutheran Junior/Senior High School hosted the debate between Sharron Angle, Republican candidate for senate, and Harry Reid, the incumbent Senator.
The debate wasn’t a debate at all, as Reid videotaped his responses to questions presented by moderator Mitch Fox, Producer and Host of Nevada Week in Review. Apparently, Reid took the Faith Lutheran stage for a pre-debate recording two weeks earlier, where, in the comfort of a quiet theatre, he was able to give rehearsed answers to Fox’s questions on camera.
Angle, on the other hand, had the integrity to show up in person, and was required to answer the same questions as Reid in a room full of heckling Reid supporters. Despite press coverage to the contrary, only Angle had to face the obnoxious interruptions of Reid’s supporters. In fact, Fox addressed the audience several times because the cheers from Angle supporters, and the jeers from Reid supporters cut into her 30 minutes of talk time.
…Reid's Canned Response
Reid gave answers that suggested he has provided opportunity, resources, and finances to the state; ignoring his part in the state’s record high unemployment, record foreclosures, and record bankruptcies. He touted what he believed to be his legislative successes, including his support of Obamacare, with no indication he was even aware the majority of Nevadans do not support the road Reid has travelled us down (emphasis mine).
On health care reform, Reid stated that in, “…three to five years everyone will have insurance just like I have,” ignoring the glaringly obvious fact that none in Congress will have to succumb to Obama’s socialist-styled health care. He further insulted the audience of about 800 attendees, by calling social security the most successful program we’ve ever had.
“It’s only possible to create that climate if we have a government that’s friendly to businesses,” Angle affirmed. “We want permanent full time jobs for the future.” She also explored the need to kill the death tax stating, “A climate of lower taxation and less regulation would create jobs.”
Angle aroused her supporters when she declared, “We have the finest healthcare system in the world!” She discussed the need to separate the issue of health care with insurance costs, stating the problem comes with cost. Angle criticized Obamacare for not dealing with the cost of insurance. Making her stand clear, Angle stated, “The first thing I would do as your Senator is call for the repeal of Obamacare (emphasis mine).”
See: http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-las-vegas/angle-reid-debate-is-no-debate-at-all
8a) Sharron Angle Repeatedly Interrupted and Heckled by Reid Supports at Forum (video)
…Classiest moment: Reid supporters cackle scornfully when Angle describes her son's demoralization after failing kindergarten.
UPDATE-- A fair question from a Lefty emailer: How is this rude treatment of Angle any different than the hostile circus atmospheres many Democrats faced at town hall meetings last summer?
I’ll tell you how it’s any different. Democrats were getting heckled at town hall meetings for having voted against the will of the people. Sharron isn’t elected yet. She hasn’t voted against the will of her constituency.
8b) Sharron Angle Accuses Political Opponents Of Staging Town Hall Brawl
Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle is calling conspiracy on some unfortunate events at her town hall meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that turned the meeting into an ad hoc episode of Jerry Springer. Discussing the brawl with national radio host Jerry Doyle yesterday, Angle argued that “there were two women that were actually looking for a fight, trying to get that to be the top news story.” Wonder who sent them?
Asked for her comments on the brawl, Angle called the whole thing a Saul Alinsky tactic by her opponents (though she doesn’t cite Sen. Reid specifically), and argues that the people fighting were intending to distract media attention away from her platform views. “You don’t want the news to talk about the debate,” she explained, “… they staged a fight. It’s the way I felt that it was going and there were two women that were actually looking for a fight.”
See: http://www.mediaite.com/online/sharron-angle-accuses-political-opponents-of-staging-town-hall-brawl/
8c) Harry Reid’s botched battles
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hoped the defense policy bill would help make a final pre-election argument for Democrats while energizing the base on gay rights and immigration.
But what he got was a failed vote and a mix of frustration and disappointment from the people he was trying to help. The stalled defense authorization bill — one of the last major Senate votes before November’s elections — was emblematic of the Nevada senator’s struggles to cut deals with the GOP while still pleasing core Democratic constituencies.
The disappointment was widespread.
Gay rights groups were upset that the process Reid employed may have undermined progress in repealing the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy prohibiting gays from serving openly in the military.
Hispanic groups were disappointed that they couldn’t even get a vote on a narrow piece of comprehensive immigration reform — an amendment known as the DREAM Act that would have enabled citizenship for illegal immigrant students in exchange for government or military service.
And Democrats on both sides of the Capitol are unhappy that a debate on gay rights and immigration distracted yet again from issue No. 1: jobs.
“The issue for me has always been jobs,” said Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.). “That’s the issue. How do we put people back to work?”
See: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/42519.html
9) DISCLOSE Act Fails in Senate Vote (another of Harry Reid’s botched battles, a victory for free speech, AND an answer to prayer)
Update: Today, the Senate voted on the DISCLOSE Act — which would have required organizations involved in political campaigning to disclose the identity of large donors and would have barred foreign corporations, large government contractors, and TARP recipients from making political expenditures.
Public interest groups and Democratic Senate staffs had pressured Maine Republicans Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, the most centrist members of the GOP, to support the bill. But neither ended up crossing the aisle.
See: http://washingtonindependent.com/98373/senate-battles-over-disclose-act-as-vote-nears
10) Teachers Union, The NEA, Recommends its Members Read Saul Alinsky’s “Rules For Radicals”
You send your kids to Public School everyday trusting that those who influence them for more hours a day than you do, are honest, trust worthy and are only interested in teaching the ABC’s and 123's.
Well for most teachers I believe that is the case, but for those in the NEA who are involved in “Grass Roots” organizing, they may have been influenced by a little more than reading, writing and arithmetic.
According to the NEA website, the Radical Communist Saul Alinsky’s Book, “Rules for Radicals” is recommended reading to all of their members :
” of our Association who are involved in grassroots organizing, especially Association Representatives (ARs) — also known as building reps or shop stewards — and leaders at local affiliates”
…It would be one thing if a teacher read it on their own, but for an organization that has such influence over your children to recommend such a radical piece of literature to their members so that it may help them with their jobs as a Member of the NEA is disturbing….at the very least.
And: http://www.nea.org/tools/17231.htm
11) Chris Christie confronts disrespectful heckler
Another "enlightened," "pro-tolerance" liberal who was hurling non-stop smears and personal attacks at California GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman Wednesday unexpectedly found himself face-to-face with New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who confronted him for yelling that Whitman looked like Arnold Swarzenegger in a dress.
From The Upshot:
"You want to yell? Yell at me, but don't give her a hard time," Christie said into his microphone. But Christie didn't stop there: "It's people who raise their voices and yell and scream like you that are dividing this country," he said. "We're here to bring this country together, not divide it." The audience roared with cheers and applause.
As we saw with Ronald Reagan, it is those who confront liberalism and all its adolescent stupidity who find the country uniting enthusiastically behind them, not those who try to "reach across the aisle."
See: http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-national/chris-christie-confronts-disrespectful-heckler
12) New Ad: Fiorina Slams Boxer‘s ’Say Senator’ Demand
In the California Senate seat battle, Carly Fiorina has released a new ad poking fun at Barbara Boxer’s infamous “say Senator instead of ma’am” line.
In case you missed it, last June Boxer awkwardly called out General Michael Walsh during a Senate hearing for calling her ma’am instead of Senator (an odd request considering military members are programed from day one to address superiors as sir and ma’am). “I worked so hard to get that title,” she told the General.
Fiorina replays the moment in her new ad, while claiming “I’ll really go to work, to end the arrogance in Washington”:
See: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/new-ad-fiorina-slams-boxers-say-senator-demand/
13) Bono's ONE foundation under fire for giving little over 1% of funds to charity
Bono's anti-poverty foundation ONE is under pressure to explain its finances after it was revealed that only a small percentage of money it raises reaches the needy.
The non-profit organisation set up by the U2 frontman received almost £9.6million in donations in 2008 but handed out only £118,000 to good causes (1.2 per cent).
The figures published by the New York Post also show that £5.1million went towards paying salaries.
14) Obama's aunt: 'You have the obligation to make me a citizen'
BOSTON — President Barack Obama's aunt, who lived for years illegally in Boston, said in her first interview since being granted asylum that the United States has an "obligation" to grant her citizenship.
"If I come as an immigrant, you have the obligation to make me a citizen," Zeituni Onyango told WBZ-TV in an interview that first aired Monday.
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