Vol. 09 No. 35
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THE FOUNDATION
"Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom." --John Adams
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
Big Brother Will Educate Your Children Now
It's like 1984 all over again
Tuesday, Sept. 8, is the first day of classes in many schools across the Fruited Plain -- and Barack Hussein Obama will use his presidential bully pulpit to interrupt the very start of classroom studies with an unprecedented nationwide speech to students, from pre-school to K-12. Schools technically have the option to show the broadcast from the White House Web site or on C-SPAN, but then again, the ratio of Democrats to Republicans in public education is at least 3-to-1, making forced viewing more likely.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan wrote in a letter to school principals, "The President will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning. He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens."
The truly troubling part of this episode of "Everybody Loves Barack" is that the Department of Education posted "helpful" lesson plans to be used before, during and after Obama's speech.
One idea included in the initial lesson plan was for students to "write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president." Uproar ensued, however, and that was changed. Now students can "write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals." Slightly altered, but students are still encouraged to discuss what "the president wants us to do."
We have a different take for teachers. Back in October, when charged that he was a socialist, Obama explained what he meant by "shared responsibility," saying, "I don't know what's next. By the end of the week [John McCain will] be accusing me of being a secret communist because ... I shared, I, I, I, I shared my, uhh... I shared my peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Of course, Obama wasn't and isn't proposing to share his sandwich. Instead, he promises to confiscate your sandwich and give it to someone else whom he deems more worthy.
At the same time, Obama said of McCain's opposition to tax hikes, "You know I, I, I don't know when, when, uh, when they decided they wanted to make a virtue out of selfishness." This from the guy who, between 2000 and 2006, gave a whopping two percent of his income for charitable purposes.
So, if teachers break down Obama's real philosophy, they will have plenty of fodder for truthful discussions of his nefarious plots against all things American, without his propaganda drivel. Then again, on "Obama Cult of Personality Day," responsible parents may opt out of this "teachable moment" and just call their kids in sick.
This Week's 'Alpha Jackass' Award
"So much of the debate about President Obama has been politicized in an effort by some to delegitimize his presidency. This is clearly much ado about nothing. We're talking about the president of the United States speaking to school kids. Why wouldn't schools want this to happen? That's why our kids are so dumb today, because they don't want to have basic common sense in the classroom." --CNBC contributor Keith Boykin, trying to de-link the upcoming Obama Big Brother speech to school children from good ol' American horse sense
ObamaCare on Shaky Ground
After giving instructions to America's children, Barack Obama will turn his attention to the children on Capitol Hill -- those occupying seats in Congress. In a prime time address to Congress on Wednesday, Sept. 9, the president will focus on ramming through ObamaCare as soon as possible. Aside from the State of the Union, or the traditional first address by a newly elected president, such speeches before Congress, to date, have been rare. Indeed, the last one was on Sept. 20, 2001, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
According to White House adviser David Axelrod, Obama's speech will be "more prescriptive" on what the administration is looking for in the bill. "Now hang on a second," says Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto. "We know July was a long time ago, but we distinctly remember back then that the administration was demanding that Congress pass ObamaCare before the August recess. And the president is only now getting around to telling us what ObamaCare even is?"
One thing that ObamaCare may not feature overtly is a public option, despite Obama's previous claims that the legislation "must include" such a provision. But, as we warned two weeks ago, this apparent concession is a bid to get the bill through the Senate, only to add it back in the House-Senate reconciliation conference. Democrats are certainly reeling from a scorching August, suffering burns from their constituents at town hall meetings, not from supposed global warming. So the appearance of concessions helps take heat off Democrats in red states. But bear that in mind as debate moves forward and congressmen once again drink the bewitched waters of the Potomac River. After all, with wild-eyed ObamaCare supporters biting off the fingers of opponents, Democrats need to produce results, sooner rather than later. Public option or not, this horrendous legislation will be a foot in the door to single-payer, government-run health care.
Speaking of protests, here are two videos from the week:
"It ain't [America] no more, okay?" -- Fairfax County (VA) School District Police Officer Wesley Cheeks Jr. tells a protester that he can "charge [him] with whatever I want to" because the protester has an anti-ObamaCare sign the officer doesn't like.
U.S. Soldier Demands Apology From Senator Claire McCaskill at Town Hall -- a soldier explains the difference between his keeping of his oath to support and defend, and McCaskill's eagerness to break that oath.
On Cross-Examination
"They're not at the center of the great debate over what the president and his allies call the 'reform' of American health care. Nor are they even at the periphery. But health savings accounts -- remember them? -- are still alive and growing. ... [However,] the reform schemes pushed by Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress would almost surely mean the end of HSAs. Even without well-funded government coverage to compete with private insurers, the proposed insurance 'exchange' at the heart of the Democratic plans would require something similar, a top-of-the-line private plan, from its participants. It would have no place for cheap, basic plans that -- like true insurance -- cover just the big costs and require policyholders to pay out-of-pocket for routine care and drugs. And if the exchange doesn't kill HSAs, Congress could do the job by axing the tax-deductibility of HSA contributions. So would this be all that great a loss? With just a sliver of the public occupying the HSA niche, wiping out HSAs wouldn't change the current landscape much. But the future landscape might be much different, and not for the better. Letting HSAs die would preclude real reform -- by which we mean reform that actually cuts costs without rationing by government or corporate bureaucrats." --Investor's Business Daily
Hope 'n' Change: Obama Holds Fiscal Line on Federal Raises
During his seven-plus months in the Oval Office, Barack Obama has requested and signed a number of budget-busting measures. However, he is drawing the line on federal pay increases for 2010 by reducing the increase from a planned 2.4 percent down to 2 percent (don't Democrats usually call that a cut?) -- a whopping 17 percent reduction in the employee raises. In a statement to Congress, Obama revealed he had budgeted only $19.9 billion for pay increases, an amount corresponding to the 2 percent hike. Conversely, raising the federal payroll by the full 2.4 percent would have cost taxpayers $22.6 billion.
Looking at the spending liberals are proposing in new government programs like cap-n-tax and government-run health care, being miserly in this case is enough to make us recall the phrase, "penny wise and pound foolish." It goes without saying though that even a 2 percent raise would look great to private-sector workers who took pay cuts this year, or, at best, saw no increase in their salary. Then there are those whose jobs have disappeared under the Obama regime -- another 216,000 more in August alone (unemployment stands at 9.7 percent, a 26-year high).
Meanwhile, Partnership for Public Service, a think tank, conducted a survey of 35 federal agencies and concluded that the federal government needs to hire at least 270,000 more workers for "mission-critical" jobs in the next three years. No doubt Obama will be glad to oblige.
Gore Invented It ... Will Obama Control It?
A bill pending in the Senate has aroused controversy from civil liberties groups who say the prospect of government control of the Internet in case of a "national emergency" leaves the door open for blatant political shenanigans. S. 773 was heavily revised after its introduction earlier this year but remains vague on what would constitute a "cybersecurity emergency," where private computers could be forcibly disconnected from the Internet by none other than Obama. A second provision allows the federal government to certify "cybersecurity professionals" who would be the only ones allowed to be "provider(s) of cybersecurity services to any Federal agency."
Should S. 773 pass, Obama would "direct the national response to the cyber threat" if necessary for "the national defense and security." Isn't this the same guy who called for his sycophants to report "fishy" health care information to flag@whitehouse.gov, all while spamming the American people? Supporters compare the power this bill gives to the president with that of George W. Bush ordering the grounding of aircraft after 9/11. One major difference: There are travel alternatives to aircraft; we have no viable substitute for the Internet.
New & Notable Legislation
It seems that cap-n-tax isn't quite as popular as some Democrats would have us believe. Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and John Kerry (D-MA) announced that the legislation will be postponed in the Senate for up to a month. Apparently, they don't have the requisite 60 votes, despite a 60-seat Democrat super-majority plus five or six spineless Republicans. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) admitted last month, "I have to be honest with you. As a whip, I count the votes and I count the days in the week, and I look at this rulebook in the Senate and think this is not an easy lift. I think we can still do it, but it's a question of timing." The House passed the bill by a razor-thin margin in June, and even then only after weeks of browbeating and backroom deals to coerce a few Blue Dogs into toeing the party line. Lo and behold, there is a glimmer of hope after all.
New! Tervis Travel Lid
We love these new travel lids for our popular 17 oz. Tervis mugs and think you will too! Lids slide open and closed. Pick the color you like best to match your mug! Red, green, blue and navy lids are top-rack dishwasher safe.
From the Left: Racial 'Justice'
The Justice Department is planning to hire more than 50 new civil rights lawyers whose job will be to target "racism" in America. So much for Barack Obama's post-racial presidency. Indeed, it seems that Eric Holder's contemptible job as Attorney General is to politicize and racialize "justice," both by investigating the good guys at the CIA for protecting America over the last eight years and now by rooting out (read: making up) "racism."
Naturally, to liberals, racism is a one-way street. In February, Holder, who is black, said, "[I]n things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards." He continued, "[W]e, as average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race." Now, thanks to Holder, some folks can look forward to talking more about race -- from within a Justice Department interrogation room.
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