Saturday, February 28, 2009

ReadTheBill.org

ReadTheBill.org has a simple and reasonable request for all of our law makers; read the bill before you vote on it. More specifically they want Congress to post all bills online for three days (72 hours) before they are debated and then voted on. They reason that this would be sufficient time for the public and the representatives to digest and understand the measure.

This is a good idea provided their is a vote around potential. If there is a legitimate emergency that requires a quick vote; let them first go on record that they need to pass the bill within that 72 hour window, then vote on it.

Video embedded below.


Read The Bill from Sunlight Foundation on Vimeo.

Obama's Chief Vetter Has a Tax Problem

In a cliche, who will vet the vetters, Obama is facing another tax issue. This one is coming from the man who his supposed to ensure that Obama does not have any more tax issues with his pick's, his chief vetter. Obama's chief vetter and White House general counsel Gregory Craig's tax issues come courtesy of his wife. Specifically his wife's apparently unreported home business. Instead of putting an end to the controversies, Craig has now added to them.

More at http://gawker.com/5161837/obamas-chief-vetter-has-his-own-tax-problem.

HP Shuts Down Upline

Hewlett-Packard (HP) is shutting down Upline, their online back up storage service. This is being seen more as a being crowded about by competition as apposed to a tough economy issue. Users are being given until March 31 to retrieve their data before it is erased. HP is also giving its users a full refund, not a pro-rated one.

More info at http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10173136-2.html.

City Hall Tea Party Protest (NYC)

I just got back from the Tea Party Protest over at City Hall (NYC). The Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=52722302332) has 200+ confirmed guests. I was not in the best location to gauge the turnout, but it seemed like the real number was over 300.

If this movement is going to be successful it must be focused. You will see in the videos later (uploading now) that some of the speakers were seemingly "out there" including one who suggested that Obama was Hitler and going to gas the Jews. I spoke to her later and she said that all she meant was the Obama was not going to help them (the Jews) and is not going to help Israel. Leaving aside the issue in its entirety, the Tea Party is not about Jews or Israel, it is about taxing and wasteful spending.

The opponents of this movement are going to zero in on anyone they can label a "crazy" to discredit the whole movement. Leaders of the various Tea Parties have to do a better job in controlling the message and maintaining the theme. Do not get me wrong, this group did a pretty good job, but there were a few that got through.

I generally really do not like people using kids in protest that are two young to understand what is going on. In this type of protest however, it is important to see who the decisions we make today will ultimately effect.

Pictures embedded below.

From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures


From 2-28-2009 NYC Tea Party Protest - Pictures



You can find all the rest at http://picasaweb.google.com/BermanPost.com/2282009NYCTeaPartyProtestPictures#

Videos from the event coming soon.

Update:
I am not sure what is going on with the videos, but they are not uploading like they should be. I am still working on it. You should be able to see them as they upload at http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=videos&search_query=bermanpost&search_sort=video_date_uploaded. The first video is a pan shot of the crowed when it was about 1/3 of its size (as it was filling up). The second is the event creator. Each one after that is another speaker from the crowd.

Update 2:
The videos are about half way done. I also just wanted to clarify my position on the Tea Parties. Simply put, I support them. I am a conservative; small government, low taxes, personal responsibility... . The critical remarks are because hiding form the problems or mishaps will not make them go away. Even if we try to ignore them, our opponents will not. We need to take an honest look at each event, figure out what went well and not so well, and then use what we learn for the next event. This event was an over all success. It was put together in less then a week, attracted hundreds of supporters, and everything went smoothly. That said, there were a few speakers who really should not have spoken or were drawn off topic. There were also a few signs there that should not have been such as one shirt which basically declared Obama was the anti-Christ. We have a message and we should not make it easy for our opponents to skew that message by focusing those distractions.

Update (3/1/2009):
Here is a play list of all the videos I took from the event. After a early pan shot (of the crowd about a third full), each video is a speaker in chronological order. It starts with the host and then each speaker from the crowd. I missed one toward the end, and after getting a few more missed the last 5 minutes or so.

Video embedded below.



Update (3/1/2009) 2:
I posted all of the videos individually at Berman Post: City Hall Tea Party Protest (NYC) Videos if you want specific clips instead of the play list.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Obama to Overturn 'Conscience' Rule

Obama to is going to overturn the 'Conscience' rule. It is under the guise of "clarification" but anyone looking at the issue can see it goes way beyond that. Clarifying is making something more clear, not changing the meaning. While Obama has not officially done anything he is expected to reverse the rule.

The rule passed by G. W. Bush in his final few months in office allows health care workers to deny abortion counseling (or other family planning services) if it violates their moral beliefs.

It is not clear to me how you can force someone to do something which they believe will condemn their soul to eternal damnation. Lawsuits just seem to pale in comparison. The greater potential concern is religious hospitals and charities choosing to shut down instead of be forced to comply. Those that stay open will likely be forced to either comply and go against their religious beliefs or be sued and forced to shut down. I do not have any figures on hospital coverage and how it would change if all the religious based or back ones shut down. Something tells me it would leave a number of gaping holes in some areas.

One last thought; has anyone else noticed that Obama has dropped all his abortion related news on Fridays? Does he really think that he can sweep abortion issues under the rug just by timing the releases?

More info at http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-na-conscience27-2009feb27,0,4299014.story?track=rss and http://theanchoressonline.com/2009/02/27/obama-your-conscience-means-nothing-to-me

Silly Names

TheBabyWebsite.com put together a list of names belied to be legitimate that could be defined as silly. If you have trouble understanding the humor, just say the name (first and last) out loud.

http://www.thebabywebsite.com/article.1792.Silly_Names.htm

"BRITAIN'S MOST BIZARRE NAMES


Barb Dwyer

Pearl Button
Hazel Nutt
Ray Gunn
Helen Back
Stan Still
Jo King
Lee King
Terry Bull
Mary Christmas
Max Power
Paige Turner
Sonny Day
Tim Burr
Teresa Green
Will Power
Anna Sasin
Chris Cross
Doug Hole
Justin Case
Barry Cade

AMERICA’S BIZARRE NAMES


Anna Prentice

Annette Curtain
Bill Board
Carrie Oakey
Dr Leslie Doctor
Dr Thoulton Surgeon
Dr Payne
Les Plack
Priti Manek
Dr Sumey
"

US GDP Declined 6.2% in The Final Three Months of 2008

US GDP declined 6.2% in the fourth quarter of 2008. This revised figure is not only higher then originally thought, but higher then the predicted revised number. You can read more about the numbers at http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/gdp-revised-decline-62-fourth/story.aspx?guid={F68D38CA-2BAE-45B0-A247-760432E0BF1A}&dist=msr_11.

On the topic of horrible economic news, this February was by some measures the worst in 75 years. More bad news can be found at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123573389322793621.html.

Pork Brains In Milk Gravy Has 1170% of Your Daily Cholesterol Per Serving

Pork Brains In Milk Gravy has 1170% of your daily cholesterol per serving!

Worst food product ever?

http://consumerist.com/5161202/the-worst-food-product-ever-may-have-been-found

"Honk if You're Paying my Mortgage"



http://www.tngop.org/contribute/incentive

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Obama to Pull Combat Troops From Iraq by August 2010

Obama said that he is planning to pull combat troops from Iraq by August of 2010. That is three months slower then he promised during the campaign. Although all the "combat troops" would be withdrawn, between 35,000 and 50,000 "support troops" would remain. As of now, All troops must be withdrawn by December 31, 2011 because of an agreement made during the Bush administration.

More at :
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/26/obama.troops/index.html
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/26/obama-set-date-ending-iraq-war

Senate Votes to Gives DC a House Vote

The Senate passed a bill that gives the District of Columbia (Washington DC) a vote in the House. The vote was 61-27 mostly along party lines with two Democrats voting no and six Republicans voting yes.(http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00073).

Beyond the blatant political move of giving the strongly Democratic DC a voting member in the House, the bill is blatantly Unconstitutional. The Constitution says that House representatives shall be picked by "people of the several states"; DC is not a state. The bill adds two seats, one to DC and the other based on the population of the states. For the next two years that would be Utah. After the census in 2010 that seat could be transferred away based on the count. Utah was/is largely expected to pick up a seat in 2010 without this bill.

Given the politics, the House will almost certainly pass it and Obama has already promised to sign it into law. It would then likely be up to on of the states to bring a Constitutional challenge against the bill arguing that it diluted their voting power. I can not think of a good legal argument that could be used nor have I come across one meaning the Supreme Court would probobly strike it down.

If they want to give DC a vote legally, they need to either amend the Constitution or make DC a State. They could also merge DC in to one of its surrounding states for purpose of voting for representation.

More at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/26/AR2009022601678.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR.

Reason TV Salutes "Real Man of Genius: Joe Biden"

Reason TV Salutes "Real Man of Genius: Joe Biden"

Video embedded below.




In related news; Joe Biden - "You Know The Website Number?"

Video embedded below. (From http://ace.mu.nu/archives/283407.php#283407)

Obama's 2010 Budget - $3.552 Trillion

Obama's 2010 budget clocks in at over $3.5 trillion. In addition to his budget, Obama purposed changes which will result in spending totaling just under $3.94 trillion this year. This would result in a record $1.75 trillion deficit for the current fiscal year. The deficit is predicted to be $1.17 trillion for fiscal 2010. The numbers are just staggering. If you have the time and desire, you can find the budget at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/fy2010_new_era/A_New_Era_of_Responsibility2.pdf.

More info at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE51O6JA20090226?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews&rpc=23&sp=true
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/toby_harnden/blog/2009/02/26/25_57348__what_barack_obamas_budget_will_cost_each_taxpayer
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aY8vuevw1NKs
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96JCFLG1&show_article=1
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/4841292/Barack-Obama-unveils-staggering-trillion-dollar-budget.html

Update:
In case anyone is wondering how we are going to pay for this, I am not sure anyone really knows. My guess is higher taxes combined with printing money once countries/organizations/people stop lending to us. This all goes back to my fears regarding inflation and American losing its AAA credit rating.

In case you think that the richest 2% of Americans can just anti up a little more and cover it, if you took 100% of what they had it would not be enough. You would need to take every taxable dime of anyone earning more than $75,000 to be able to cover the costs. These are all based on 2006 numbers (the most recent data set available) and given the current economic down turn almost certainly represent an overshoot (as in better results then we should expect). More number crunching at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123561551065378405.html?mod=rss_opinion_main.

Senate Voted on The Fairness Doctrine

There were two important votes regarding the Fairness Doctrine in the Senate today. The Senate passed a bill 87-11 that prohibits the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine (http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/senate-tunes-out-fairness-doctrine-2009-02-26.html). No Republican voted against the measure, and Kennedy (D-MA) did not vote (http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00071). This is good news, but do not start celebrating just yet.

If the Democrats want to revise the Fairness Doctrine they will do it under a different name and system. That system will most likely be Localism. In that vein, the Democrats passed the Durbin Amendment 57-41 completely along party lines. Republicans all voted against it, Democrats and Independents all voted for it, again with Kennedy (D-MA) not voting (http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00070). What does it do; "Durbin Amdt. No. 591; To encourage and promote diversity in communication media ownership, and to ensure that the public airwaves are used in the public interest.". This looks like an opening salvo in the battle for Localism to me. More at http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/02/fairness-doctrine-on-senate-floor-dems.html.

Obama Proposes $989 Billion in New Taxes Over a Decade

Obama just proposed $989 billion in new taxes over the course of a decade starting in fiscal year 2011. The number includes increased taxes from letting the Bush tax cuts expire, a raise of capital gains tax, and eliminating itemized deductions. That is just under a Trillion dollars of increased taxes. Not a trillion total, and increase of a trillion.


http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/02/obamas-budget-a.html

"1) On people making more than $250,000.

$338 billion - Bush tax cuts expire
$179 billlion - eliminate itemized deduction
$118 billion - capital gains tax hike

Total: $636 billion/10 years

2) Businesses:

$17 billion - Reinstate Superfund taxes
$24 billion - tax carried-interest as income
$5 billion - codify "economic substance doctrine"
$61 billion - repeal LIFO
$210 billion - international enforcement, reform deferral, other tax reform
$4 billion - information reporting for rental payments
$5.3 billion - excise tax on Gulf of Mexico oil and gas
$3.4 billion - repeal expensing of tangible drilling costs
$62 million - repeal deduction for tertiary injectants
$49 million - repeal passive loss exception for working interests in oil and natural gas properties
$13 billion - repeal manufacturing tax deduction for oil and natural gas companies
$1 billion - increase to 7 years geological and geophysical amortization period for independent producers
$882 million - eliminate advanced earned income tax credit

Total: $353 billion/10 years
"

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The 'Real' Jindal

Watch this clip of Governor Jindal on the Today Show. He shook off what ever was bothering him yesterday in good fashion. Be sure to watch it to the end because he saves two nice shots for the last minute.

Video embedded below. (From http://wizbangblog.com/content/2009/02/25/whoever-kidnapped-the-real-bobby-jindal-returned-him-this-morning.php)

House Approves $410 Billion Spending Bill 245-178

The House approved the $410 Billion Spending Bill (Berman Post: $410 Billion Spending Bill Propose by House Democrats) today with a vote of 245-178. The vote was mostly along party lines with 16 Republications defecting and voting for it, and 20 Democrats defecting and voting against it. Four from each party did not vote. More at http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll086.xml.

This grows the federal budget 8.2% while at the same time the family budget grew only 1.3%. For anyone keeping track, this brings the total to just under $1.2 trillion of House approved spending in less then two weeks, not including the extra costs from interest. More at http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/02/25/house-approves-billion-spending.

Update (2/26/2009):
An earmark in this bill lists Obama as a supporter. This dates back from before he was elected President but still does not look good when a person who took a no earmark pledge is found to have an ear mark in a recent bill. They plan on editing Obama's name out; not getting rid of the earmark, removing his name from the list of supporters. More at http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003061639.

Obama Wants $634B Over Ten Years For Health Care as a Down Payment

Obama is expected to ask this Thursday for $634B over a decade for health care as a down payment; Down Payment. Estimates suggest that the real cost may be well over a trillion dollars over the course of the next decade.

More at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090225/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_budget.

Chris Matthews Whispers "Oh God" as Jindal Emerged to Give The Republican Response to Obama's SOTU

Chris Matthews whispered "Oh God" as Jindal emerged to give the Republican response (Berman Post: The Republican (Jindal's) Rebuttal) to Obama's State of the Union speech (Berman Post: Obama's First State of the Union Speech) apparently not realizing that his mic was hot (on) and live.

Most took it as a shot from a person and a network (MSNBC) that is seen as heavily bias toward Obama and the Democrats. Mathews says he was referring to the decor in the background; sure he was. Jindal was invited onto Mathews' Hardball tonight but declined.

Video embedded below. (From http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/02/msnbc_oh_god.html)



More at http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/msnbc/oh_god_book_ii_chris_matthews_responds_109651.asp.

Update:
Forgot to mention Matthews "Outsourcing" crack referring to Jindal. "Outsourcing", Jindal being of Indian decent, some took the crack as an insult or worse.

Video embedded below.

Katie Couric - "There’s the White Guy"

Katie Couric said "There’s the White Guy", referring to Biden last night before Obama's First State of the Union Speech (Berman Post: Obama's First State of the Union Speech). She said it in what was likely meant as a sort of humerus tone while describing the diversity at play (Black President, Female Speaker...). Still, "The White guy" seems a bit racially insensitive. They keep telling us the proper barometer is to replace the subject and see how it sounds. Well, how do you think people would react if someone said "There's the Black Guy"? Not very well most would imagine. Since Couric said "White Guy" instead of "Black Guy" the calls for condemnation will likely by mute.

Video embedded below. (From http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=285713)

Republican Study Committee Response to Obama's First SOTU Speech

Representative Tom Price (R-GA) made his own video response to Obama's First State of the Union Speech (Berman Post: Obama's First State of the Union Speech). He is the Chairman of the Republican Study Committee Chairman (http://rsc.price.house.gov). The audio is not the best quality so if you need the transcript head over to http://hotair.com/archives/2009/02/25/video-the-republican-congressional-response.

Video embedded below.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The Republican (Jindal's) Rebuttal

The Republican rebuttal to Obama's First State of the Union Speech (Berman Post: Obama's First State of the Union Speech) was given by Bobby Jindal. His message was good, but his presentation left something to be desired. You could cut him some slack for nerves as this is probobly the largest audience and one of the most important speeches of his political life thus far. Still, it was hearing Obama's first major speech at the Dem convention in 2004 which convinced me he would be on the ticket in 2008 (Berman Post: Election Day 2008).

I still think Jindal has a good shot at the Republican ticket in 2012 if he wants it (Berman Post: Predictions for the 2012 Election).

Full transcript available at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/02/full-text-of-go.html.

Video embedded below.

Obama's First State of the Union Speech

The speech was as you would expect. Obama is a good speaker, but there was nothing really ground breaking here. His biggest mistake was stepping on Pelosi's line (happens at 5:40 in the video). Line stepping reminiscent of the mishap during his inaugural address (Berman Post: President Obama's Inaugural Address). Still, one flop in almost an hour, especially given his effectiveness as a public speaker, is not that bad.

Full transcript available at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/02/obama-text-spee.html.

Video embedded below.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon (Democratic) on The Stimulus

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon (Democratic) talks about the stimulus. When asked about the stimulus he said that Missouri kids and grad kids can pay off the debt. At least he is honest about it; except for the "if".

Video embedded below. (From http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/02/missouri-dem-governor-admits-missouri.html)

$410 Billion Spending Bill Propose by House Democrats

House Democrats have purposed another $410 billion in spending in a new bill. The bill has thousands of earmarks which account for nearly $4 billion in the bill. This would be about an eight percent increase in spending over the last fiscal year. (More at http://finance.yahoo.com/news/House-Democrats-propose-410B-apf-14450221.html)

Republicans were apparently not consulted in the construction of the bill (more at http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=30826).

$50 million for United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The UNFPA participates in forced abortion and sterilizations in China as part of the enforcement of their one child policy. (More at http://www.lifenews.com/int1097.html.)

Head over to http://michellemalkin.com/2009/02/23/9000-earmarks-in-the-410-billion-omnibus-spending-bill-gang-tattoo-removal-maine-lobster-la-raza-more for some of the more eyebrow raising ear marks. She also has the number at 9,000 costing some $5 billion from the bill.

Video - "Bailout Prize Patrol"

Funny video which takes an anti bailout stance. Full disclosure, I had some dealings with one of the people in the video; nice guy.

Video embedded below. (From http://www.right.org/bailout/main)

Monday, February 23, 2009

Video - "We Don’t Wanna Put in"

Let me show you Georgia's Eurovision Song Contest entry. The song by Stephane and 3G is called "We don't wanna put in". You may remember that a little while back Russia invaded Georgia (Berman Post: Russia Invades Georgia).

The song is a clear shot at Putin. We don't wanna Put-in; sounds like Putin. Listen to the song and the message is clear. People more familiar with Eurovision say that this song actually has a shot at winning. What could be better then a Georgian song taking a shot a Putin winning the Eurovision Song Contest? A Georgian song taking a shot a Putin winning the Eurovision Song Contest being hosted in Moscow in front of an audience of more than 100 million Europeans.

Video embedded below. (From http://www.siberianlight.net/we-dont-wanna-put-in-georgias-eurovision-video)

Stuart Varney Rips ACORN Chief to Shreds Over Reclaiming Foreclosed Homes

No introduction necessary, just watch the clip.

Video embedded below. (From http://hotair.com/archives/2009/02/23/video-fox-news-host-rips-acorn-chief-over-reclaiming-foreclosed-homes)

Rick Santelli Catch up

In a week Rick Santelli has shot to major prominence from his message of responsibility striking a nerve in what is being referred to as the tax payer rebellion or the American Tea Party. In case you missed anything, let this post catch you up. It will do that by embedding or linking to his important videos in chronological order starting with his first and ending with the last.

The video that started it all; his rant an outrage that people were going to be forced to pay for their neighbor's mortgage after they bought houses they could not afford can be found at http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1039849853.

After that he went on the Today Show.
Video embedded below.


Lets not forget about this one.
Video embedded below.


Then Gibbs (White House Spokesman) went after him.
Video embedded below.


Santelli responded to Gibbs on Hardball.
Video embedded below.


He responded again and ripped up the bill.
Video embedded below.


You should watch them all if you have not seen them yet.

$900 Million for Gaza?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to ask for $900 Million to give to Gaza to help them "rebuild". Why the quotes? Clinton may honestly believe the money will be put toward the estimated $2 Billion it will cost to rebuild Gaza in the wake of the most recent Israel-Hamas conflict. If history is anything to go by, it seems safe to say that a nice size junk of that money will end up going to rearm Hamas.

Of course, even if the money all magically goes toward rebuilding, that would free up Hamas money that may otherwise go to rebuild to be used for rearming purposes. Not even considering our own economic woes which should hinder us regardless, do we really want to throw a billion dollars to terrorists who's charter reflects their desire to "push the Jews into the sea"? Israel is still our ally, right? Hamas is not interested in making sure the Jews go for a swim so they do not over hear, they would like to commit a genocide. Would like is not totally accurate. Are trying to commit a genocide is more in line. Hopefully, Congress will block this.

More at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1066381.html.

For more "throwing Israel under the bus" news, read http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/22/obama-israel-holocaust-durban-opinions-contributors_united_nations.html. It talks about the US's involvement in the UN's Durban II "anti-racism" conference. This sounds all well and good, but that could not be further from the truth. It is a long article, but worth the read through.

To keep consistent with my analogies; the US has thrown Israel in front of the bus but has an opportunity to swerve until April 20. The longer we wait, the more other people we would have to "run over" to avoid Israel. Given the type of people we are dealing with here, getting involved in the first place was a mistake, not objecting at key moments was an even bigger mistake, and the failure to swerve and siding with these people would be a yet bigger mistake.

US Market Indexes Fall to 1997 Levels

US Markets have hit levels not seen since 1997; read pre Bush levels. These are lows we did not see even at the worst of the Dot Com bust. These are the lowest levels in almost twelve years. There was a roughly 3.5% drop across the board.

Guess that markets do not like all these bailouts and talk of nationalizing the banks?

More at http://finance.yahoo.com/news/US-major-stock-market-indexes-apf-14441182.html and http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/index.html?Intro=intro_markets.

The Rasmussen Consumer Index also sunk to a low never seen before in the seven year history of the index (more at http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/indexes/rasmussen_consumer_index).

Sunday, February 22, 2009

The Crisis of Credit Visualized

The video does a great job showing exactly what happened that caused the economic credit crisis we are in. They totally ignore the political side of it which is impotent in understanding why it happened, but for the economic understanding alone it is worth watching.

Videos embedded below. (From http://right.org/bailout/videos)

Part One


Part Two

Sweden Bans Israeli Taekwondo Team

When Dubai blocked an Israeli tennis player from entering the country preventing her from playing in a tournament that was bad (more at http://www.fanhouse.com/news/main/wta-fines-dubai-organizers-roddick-pulls/353153?bId=&tId=353153&bpId=%2F&sort=3&pg=1). Still, as bad as that was there was a tinge of "this is just another Middle Eastern Arab country taking a shot at Israel". It is bad, but unfortunately not unexpected.

Now Sweden has effectively banned the Israeli Taekwondo Team. They said that 10,000 Muslims members of an organization would try to attack them. Giving in to the mob veto tends to only make it worse. Head over to http://www.mererhetoric.com/archives/11275472.html for more info and videos of some of the earlier mob vetos the police granted them.

Very Gradual Change We Can Believe In

Nice picture with a great caption.

Picture from http://www.mikero.com/blog/2009/02/20/more-darwin (hat tip to http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/32844_Gradual_Change_We_Can_Believe_In). Head to http://www.zazzle.com/darwin2009 to purchase the image on a variety of products.

Picture embedded below.



Saturday, February 21, 2009

John Gibson Talks About The Doctored Video Smear

John Gibson talks about the doctored video smear against him on his radio show. Here is the clip.

Video embedded below. (From http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=282693)




Past related posts:
Berman Post: Gibson Smeared by Huffington Post Using a Doctored Video, Have Since Issued an Apology

ACORN Breaks Into Foreclosed Home

ACORN is trying to encourage civil disobedience telling people who had their homes foreclosed to break back into their former houses. They brought some cameras along for the one you will see. Slight snafu here; besides breaking into a house that no longer belongs to them, they were breaking into someone else home as the house had already been resold.

Video embedded below. (From http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=282693)











 

Obama's Signature

Everything you want to know about Obama's signature, and some things you probobly never thought to ask, courtesy of a CNN report.

Video embedded below. (From http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2009/02/18/moos.oddball.signature.cnn)

Friday, February 20, 2009

Bird Thought Extinct Seen, Photographed, Then...Eaten!?!

A quail thought to be extinct was found and photographed before being sold at market for food. Worcester buttonquai is native to the island of Luzo (Philippines).

This qualifies as bizarre. Evidence of the survival of the species comes in the form of a bird on its way to the dinner plate as food. Besides possibly killing the last of a species for a small bite, you would think that the person who caught it could have made more money selling it to some institution.

The type of bird is said to be cryptic and unobtrusive meaning it could survive else where. After all, it was thought to be extinct once and that was proven false. Other members of the species could be out there undetected by man, or undetected by anyone in the know enough to understand that their knowledge is worth reporting.

Photo and more available at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/02/090218-extinct-bird-photo.html.

Gibson Smeared by Huffington Post Using a Doctored Video, Have Since Issued an Apology

The Huffington Post used a doctored video to smear John Gibson. Once the fact that the video was not real they issued an apology.

Apparently what happened was that MediaBistro.com posted the video of a Fox News clip because it contained references and mentions a monkey "with a bright blue scrotum". What they did not realize was at the video had been altered right at the end. The Huffington Post picked up the clip to highlight that last part not knowing it was not real. They essentially accused John Gibson of making a racist comment, saying that he was comparing the black Attorney General (Eric Holder) to a monkey.

Before calling someone a racist, remember to check your sources.

First the fake, doctored video. The fake part is right at the end.
Video embedded below. (From http://iusbvision.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/huffington-post-creates-fake-video-to-accuse-fox-news-of-racist-comments)




Here is the original, unaltered video.
Video embedded below. (From http://homepage.mac.com/mkoldys/blog/rex256797662.html)




More at http://homepage.mac.com/mkoldys/blog/rex256797662.html, http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/fncs_john_gibson_responds_to_doctored_clip_109216.asp, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/19/john-gibson-compares-eric_n_168377.html, and http://iusbvision.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/huffington-post-creates-fake-video-to-accuse-fox-news-of-racist-comments.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn Says Burris Should Resign

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn says Senator Burris should resign. He is the latest in a growing chorus of officials calling for inquiries, explanations, or out right resignations. Quinn wants a special election to decide who should replace Burris, who himself replaced Obama in the Senate. All of this stems from information that recently came to light regarding possible fund raising efforts of Burris for Blagojevich.

There are some questioning if the information was purposely hidden until after the stimulus/bailout bill vote to ensure its passing. While we may never know the answer to that question, it seems likely that Burris will not go down without a fight.

More at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29302412.

Netanyahu Gets The Nod From Peres to Try to Form The Government

Israeli President Shimon Peres has asked Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu to form the next government. Netanyahu is expected to be able to form the government without much difficulty. The question is if it will be a narrow coalition with just the center-right to right parties, or if they will be able to pull in Kadima making for a broader coalition. He now has six weeks to secure a coalition with at least 61 seats. If he succeeds he will become Israel's next Prime Minister.

More at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304835900&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5772433.ece, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1065790.html, and http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3674886,00.html.

Republicans Will Cancel The Bailout Bill if They Takes Back Congress in 2010

Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX) announced last night that if the Republicans take back Congress in 2010 they will stop the spending from the Bailout. That is, any money not spent from the bill which could by up to 60% of the total, would not be spent.

Video embedded below. (From http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/02/rep-gohmert-says-republicans-will.html)




Mean while, the Republicans are still going after the Democrats on the Stimulus/Bailout.

Video embedded below. (From http://hotair.com/archives/2009/02/20/video-fighting-the-stimulus-after-the-fact)

Thursday, February 19, 2009

This Guy Has Some Cohones

This guy has some cohones. Pun definitely intended. See the link to understand.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2246717.ece?OTC-RSS&ATTR=News

Inflation on The Rise

As stated previously, my biggest fears with all these bailouts was the government losing its AAA rating and a spike in inflation. It now appears that the spike in inflation has started. Wholesale inflation took its biggest jump in six months. The inflation increases broken down by sector tends to be higher then predicted.

Ben Bernanke (Federal Reserve Chairman) dismissed concerns that the governments efforts to fight the economic crisis. He added that the Fed could act to reverse the trend after the marks rebound and the crisis has been dealt with. Bernanke said this would all happen before inflation became a problem.

Somehow this is not very reassuring to me. The government fixes are what is causing the inflation. The inflation has a dampening effect on the fixes. All the while there is this race of sorts. It is a race against against the ticking clock of inflation. Wait to long, inflation spirals out of control, and we will be facing a new crisis that will make us long for the "good old days" of the last crisis.

More at http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Wholesale-inflation-takes-apf-14410311.html.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Death From Above - Bird Catches A Fish

Watch the video of a bird dropping out of the sky into the water to catch a fish.

Video embedded below. (From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/15/amazing-video-of-fish-bei_n_167116.html)

Obama Opposes Reviving The Fairness Doctrine

In his first definitive statement since becoming President, Obama came out against reviving the Fairness Doctrine. This is good news. Some are concerned that while ruling out the Fairness Doctrine, Obama might try to back door the policy in another way such as Localism. We will have to see what happens, but for now at least all seems quite on this front.

More at http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/18/white-house-opposes-fairness-doctrine.

Chimpanzee Rips Victim's Face Off

In a horrific story, a Chimpanzee who was involved in show business attacked his owner's friend. The Chimpanzee is said to have ripped her face off and her hands. When the police showed up they did not know that the victim was female. The cops shot and killed the Chimp after it cornered one of the police in their car. You can hear the horrific 911 call made by the owner at http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/02/17/2009-02-17_911_tape_captures_chimpanzee_owners_horr-2.html.

Video embedded below.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Universal Cell Phone Charger by 2012

The Groupe Speciale Mobile Association pledged to have a universal charger for cell phones by 2012. GSMA represents more the 750 cell phone operators. The micro USB plug will likely become the universal standard. Beyond positive environmental effects, it promises to reduce a lot of hassle and headaches in the average house hold.

More at http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/ptech/02/17/cellphone.chargers/index.html.

Obama to Send 17,000 More Troops to Afghanistan

Obama is going to send about 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan. General David McKiernan, US commander in Afghanistan, had asked for 30,000 more troops. Think Iraq surge strategy but for Afghanistan. The additional troops represent an increase of more than 50% from the slightly more than 30,000 troops there now.

More at http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090217/D96DJ2V80.html.

Burris Admits Fundraising For Blagojevich

Burris now admits setting up a fundraiser effort for Blagojevich. This is at least the fourth version of his story. He went from no contact, to friends on unrelated matter, to saying no when asked for money, to now agreeing to help fund raise. Now he is being investigated. This is definitely not the end of the story, which could end with Burris being removed from office. It kind of sounds like he was paying for that "F***ing valuable seat".

More at http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/02/burris-unscripted-more-details-about-blagojevich-contacts.html, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-burris17feb17,0,6841138.story, and http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2009/02/il-sen_burris_backtracks_reid.html.

Obama Signs The Stimulus (Bailout) Bill

Obama signed the bailout bill into law today. The markets reacted badly taking a tumble across the board (more at http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/17/business/18marketsA.php). There is already some rumblings about a second stimulus (More at http://www.pottsmerc.com/articles/2009/02/17/news/doc499b1285a1910545536246.txt). How much money are we going to throw at this? If we keep heading down this road the United States could lose its AAA credit rating. If that happens; well, lets just hope that does not happen. When you consider that the federal obligations now exceed GDP of the world, it could be time to worry (More at http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=88851).

http://www.recovery.gov has gone live if you are interested in seeing the Official Governments info page on the bailout.

The one thing that still gets me is that if this bill was so important and had to be passed so quickly that no one including our representatives had a chance to read it, why did Obama wait a few days until today to sign it?

Videos embedded below.



Monday, February 16, 2009

DNA Could be Used to Create Rough Facial Sketches

DNA evidence has been used to clear and convict criminals, but it needs a sample to match against. It used to be that the only help DNA evidence was resided in its comparisons to other taken samples. You can test the suspects DNA against the DNA you found at the crime scene. It could not help you figure out who to test. That may now be changing. New technology may soon allow the use of DNA to create a facial sketch. The sketch could then be used to help find a suspect worth testing further.

More at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1146503/DNA-left-crime-scene-used-create-picture-criminals-FACE-say-scientists.html?ITO=1490.

Michael Phelps Will Not be Charged

Sheriff Leon Lott held a press conference and said that Michael Phelps will not face drug charges. He said that there was not enough evidence to charge anyone at the party. This should be the end of any potential legal fall out for Phelps.

Video embedded below.



Past related posts (chronological order):
Berman Post: Michael Phelps Caught Smoking Cannabis?
Berman Post: Michael Phelps Admits Picture Was Legitimate
Berman Post: No Punishment For Michael Phelps
Berman Post: Kellogg Dropping Phelps Over Photo
Berman Post: Phelps Suspended From Competition For Three Months
Berman Post: Michael Phelps Speaks

Sunday, February 15, 2009

British And French Nuclear Submarines Collide in The Atlantic

French and British nuclear submarines collided in the Atlantic. Such collisions are rare, but do happen from time to time. Both nuclear powered subs were carrying nuclear weapons. The accident happened about a week and a half ago.

Light does not penetrate into the deep water so subs use Sonar or sound to hear. At the same time the sub is listening for potential adversaries, it does everything it can to remain silent as to remain undetected by those adversaries. The effect can be likened to blind men tip towing around a large field trying to hear the others while remaining silent themselves. If both succeed at remaining quite, collisions can result. Despite the vastness of the ocean, the same thing can and does happen.

More at http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2240543.ece.

Fun With Photos From Soldiers in Iraq

Check the link: http://blogs.dailymail.com/donsurber/2009/02/12/the-best.

My favorite is the one with the dog spotting for the sniper.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Blagojevich Solicited Burris For Campaign Donation Before Appointing Him

It is being reported that Blagojevich’s brother asked Burris for $10,000 campaign donation before Burris was appointed Senator by Blagojevich. Burris now admits this, but did not reveal it while under oath before the Illinois House impeachment panel. He did not donate the money asked for in this specific solicitation.

More at http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/blagojevich/1431222,CST-NWS-blago15.article.

Obama About to Drop Sanctions On Iran?

There is word that under Obama, companies that do business with Iran that help their missile or nuclear programs will no longer face sanctions. The reasoning is that the sanctions are hindering the talks and to not seem to be having much of an impact on the programs.

If they are not working there are still reasons to keep them. Just because the sanctions are not hindering the programs does not mean that you should lift them resulting in a possible boost to the programs. It is also among the strongest an clearest messages a country can send that does not involve military action.

The goal still seems to be preventing Iran from going nuclear, the difference here being a tactical change. With the tactical change, success or failure now lay squarely with Obama.

More at http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/02/breaking-intelligence-report-obama-to.html.

Financial Attack On 9-11-2008 Triggered The Economic Crisis!?!

On the anniversary of 9/11 there was an electronic run on the banks to the tune of $550 Billion dollars with in two hours before it was shut down. If it had not been stopped it could have rises to $5.5 Trillion by 2:00pm. The Treasury tried to stem the tide by pushing $150 Billion into the system, but they had to shut down the system to stop the drain. If it had succeeded the draw down on the money market system would have crashed our economy that day and the world within 24 hours after that. Unreal!

How is it that this is the first we are hearing about this? The video explains why what happened played out the way it did with the first bailout.

Who did this? When you pull hundreds of billions of dollars out of the money market system it is going to make noise, and clearly it did. Still, where did all that money go and who or what was behind it?

This can not be the end of the story. More when available.

More at http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/02/tight-before-the-election-of-president-hussein-an-electronic-run-on-the-banks.html and http://www.capitalismgonewild.com/2009/02/electronic-run-on-banks-550-billion.html.

Video embedded below. (From http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/02/rep-kanjorski-drops-bomb-us-financial.html.)

Friday, February 13, 2009

Senate Passes Bailout 60-38

Minutes ago the vote on the bailout concluded with the supporters reaching that all critical 60th vote. Three Republicans voted for the bill. The rest voted against it. All the Democratic votes were for the bill (Kennedy did not vote as he was to sick to go to DC). All that is left is for Obama to sign it.

More at http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/13/stimulus/index.html.

Barack Obama License Plates

In case you have run out of common items to buy with Obama's face on them but are still itching for more, you can now get an Obama license plate. The plates are good for 60 days (only through April 17) at a cost of $50. This is an Illinois "special event" plate. If you want one, head over to https://secure.netsolhost.com/ila.org/obama/index.html.

More at http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1429527,illinois-barack-obama-license-plates-021309.article.

Hamas Turned Medicine Bottles Into Grenades

In what has to be among the best examples of no good deed goes unpunished, Hamas turned medicine bottles donated to Gaza residents from Israel in humanitarian aid efforts into grenades before returning them to the Israelis. You read that right; Hamas took Israeli delivered humanitarian aid medicine bottles, filled them with explosives, and used them as grenades. Just unbelievable.

More at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1233304770155.

House Passes Bailout 246-176

The House passed the bailout bill today; likely without a single member reading the bill. One can hardly call them lazy, the roughly 1,100 page bill was handed to them late Thursday and they voted today. Someone calculated a required read speed of 650ish words a minute, every minute, to have read the whole bill. If they are reading that fast for that long it is hard to believe they would really be comprehending it. In bills like these (and really like any), a single sentence or word shift can have a significant effect. The bill passed without a single Republican voting for it and seven Democrats voting no and one voting present. You can see the vote break down at http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll070.xml. I do not care if you support the bailout in the current form, but you can not tell me you approve of your representative voting on something without even reading it. Is that really to much to ask for?

More at http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96AU3H80&show_article=1, http://cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=43478, http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2009/2/12/congressional-offices-dont-have-the-stimulus-bill-lobbyists-do.html, and http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=30697

Thursday, February 12, 2009

What News Anchors do During Commercial Breaks

Curious about what news anchors do while you are watching the commercials? Check the video for the answer.

Video embedded below. (From http://hotair.com/archives/2009/02/12/video-the-ultimate-media-palate-cleanser.)

Obama Moves Census From The Commerce Department to The White House

Obama has put the Census under White House control. This is taking it away from the Commerce Department. Well, taking away may be the wrong terminology, but they are transferring over all control of the Census from the Commerce Department to the White House.

Counting heads every decade is extremely important and mandated by the Constitution. Even the appearance of politicization of the Census is disturbing. More on this as it develops.

More at http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/09/gop-sounds-alarm-obama-decision-census-white-house.

Video embedded below. (From http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/02/2010-census-will-be-under-rahm-emanuels.html.)

Senator Gregg Withdrawas Form Consideration of U.S. Commerce Secretary

Senator Judd Gregg (Republican) has withdrawn from consideration to become Commerce Secretary. Part of his reasoning was Obama's removal of the Census out of the Department of Commerce putting it under White House control. The other reason has to do with conflicts of ideology in the economic sphere.

More at http://www.drudgereport.com/flashgg.htm and http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/02/12/white-house-decisions-almost-humiliated-gregg-says-source.

Video embedded below.

Israel Election Results

The final tally gives Livni's Kadima party 28 seats with Netanyahu's Likud coming in a close second with 27 seats. To become Prime Minister in Isreal, you must be able to form a ruling coalition representing more than half of the 120 seats in the Knesset (Israel's Parliament). Kadima is a moderate left party while Likud is moderate right. Despite Kadima having the most seats, Likud has a much better chance of putting together a ruling coalition. That is because right wing parties took more seats then left wing parties 65 to 55.

Israeli President Shimon Peres must now ask one of them to try to form a ruling coalition. By tradition, the President asks the person leading the party that won the most seats. Given the ideological break down of the seats, for the first time in Israeli history the President might not follow that tradition and ask Netanyahu to try and form a ruling coalition.

By most accounts Avigdor Lieberman's hawkish Yisrael Beiteinu may be the deciding factor. They came in third with 15 seats.

More then 72% of Israel's eligible population voted.

More at http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3670896,00.html and http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090212/ts_nm/us_israel_election.

CEO of Caterpillar Contradicts Obama on Bailout Rehiring

Shortly after President Obama announced that passing the bailout bill would lead to Caterpillar rehiring some of the workers they have recently laid off, the CEO of Caterpillar announced that this was not true. The CEO said that even with the bailout they will still probobly have to have more lay offs. Owens (the CEO) does support the bill, but says it is a bit light on heavy construction.


More and a video available at http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/02/doh-caterpillar.html.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Deal Reached on Bailout Bill

A deal has been reached on the Bailout bill. This is impressively fast, and perhaps even more impressive is that the total cost is lower then either the Senate or House bill. The new total is $789 billion, still an astronomical number by any metric. It appears that the Republicans were more or less frozen out of the negotiations but Snowe and Collins were consulted.

More at http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/11/america/12stimulus.php and http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=30667.

Collision in Space

In what is very likely a first, and accidental satellite to satellite collision has taken place in nearly 500 miles up. A Russian communications relay station spacecraft Cosmos 2251 has been non operation for a decade. It collided with a functioning United States commercial satellite owned by Iridium, Bethesda, Md. The company said that their service will not be interrupted because of overlay set up in case one of the satellites went dark. The two debris clouds do not appear to be a threat to the International Space Station, but it will take a couple of days to get a clear picture of the debris.

More at http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0902/11iridium and http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123438921888374497.html.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Emanuel a Tax Cheat?

Is Emanuel (Obama's chief of staff) a tax cheat? Apparently Emanuel did not paid taxes on the free lodging he received over the course of five years. If the free lodging is considered imputed income then should have paid taxes on it.

More at http://gawker.com/5150768/conservatives-find-next-obama-tax-cheat-in-rahms-basement.

Senate Approves Bailout 61-37

The bailout passed the Senate today to no ones great surprise (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/10/senate-approves-billion-economic-recovery-package). The stocks took a tumble. The indexes were off about 4% (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Wall-St-tumbles-on-bank-plan-rb-14312204.html;_ylt=AjIcmPrZlKfhaVPch6p9wEG7YWsA). The blame for the toumble in the media is on Geithner's newly unveiled plan, or lack there of (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1a2106a6-f773-11dd-81f7-000077b07658.html).

Mean while, Schumer Says Americans do not care about the pork in the bill.

Video embedded below. (From http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/02/dem-pork-orgy-schumer-says-americans.html.)

Gibbs - Obama Will Meet Hannity for a Beer

Could a Hannity interview of Obama be in the works? It certainly would be something to see.

Video embedded below.

Monday, February 9, 2009

"…It’s not a stimulus package, it’s not pork! It’s a job patronage system…"

"…It’s not a stimulus package, it’s not pork! It’s a job patronage system…"! If this is true its presents a freighting prospect. The notion that the Democrats are using this economic crisis to lodge them selves into a permanent majority. I tend to lean more toward the pork side of the scale with some thank yous to their constituents. The measure for me will be in the timing of the spending. The more front loaded it is (within the first year) the more I will believe that it is intended as stimulus. Major spending in the middle zone (two to three years) the more pork like it will appear. Significant spending in year four from this bill would have me more considered about the political intent behind it.

Video embedded below. (From http://www.preparetobeoffended.com/democrats-smoking-gun-revealed.)

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