When Barack Obama fired Gerald Walpin he thought that it was going to be business as usual. He thought that he could just do whatever the hell he wanted to and nobody would question him, but the Gerald Walpin story is not going away.

  Barack Obama fired Gerald Walpin because he had uncovered corruption in one of Obama favorite organizations– AmeriCorps. This organization was also being run by one of Barack Obama’s friends and donor– former NBA star and current mayor of Sacramento Kevin Johnson. He fired him for clearly political reasons. Gerald Walpin was doing his job but when that job found that a Barack Obama friend and donor  was corrupt Obama decided to punish the messenger instead of the criminal.

  Barack Obama fired Gerald Walpin without the proper 30 day notice required under the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008– a bill that he was a co-sponsor of as senator. He also did not give a detailed reason to congress about the firing– also required by law. He basically said he fired Gerald Walpin for being a senile old man.

  Yesterday a congressional report was released that confirms Barack Obama may  used his position as president to help a political ally when he fired Gerald Walpin. These charges must be examined, there must be an investigation. Surely if the president has done nothing wrong he will welcome an investigation to clear his name.

  Gerald Walpin has asked for a congressional hearing on his firing and hopefully this congressional report will be the first step towards providing justice for Gerald Walpin.

  In a move that proves Walpin was right, AmeriCorp is in the process of paying back SOME of the money that he uncovered had been misused. But Walpin is still without his job and AmeriCorps is still not on the hook for the whole amount and nobody has been held accountable for the corruption–other that Gerald Walpin.

  The more the global warming alarmists speak, the more irrelevant they become. By attributing every catastrophe under the sun to global warming they have marginalized their effectiveness. So much so that I haven’t even bothered to write about some of their more ludicrous, asinine, and outrageous claims. But along came this story, it is so asinine that I just can’t help but write about it.

  According to the story, global warming is going to turn women into prostitutes. Women of the Philippines and other poor countries will be forced into prostitution because the rising seas will destroy the farmland, so women will have to find work elsewhere, many will turn to prostitution.

  In an effort to convince the world that the effects of global warming are far reaching and that the very existence of mankind is in jeopardy the global warming alarmists have over-played their hand. They are now bordering on insane.

  There were many people out there who were still undecided about the effects of global warming, but with the claims of the alarmists getting more and more outrageous they are actually driving undecided people away from the movement. The alarmists just don’t know when to shut up.

  The global warming alarmists feel that the more disasters and calamities that they pin on global warming the more people they will win over to their movement, but recent polls how us just the opposite. Global warming skepticism is growing and the alarmists have nobody to blame but themselves.

  The alarmists have pushed the envelope too far and have driven people away from their movement. More and more people are beginning to realize that the alarmists are nothing more than a bunch of fear mongers.

    I started writing this post before it was known that Mary Landrieu had accepted a $100 million bribe for her vote on healthcare reform. While it now seems pointless to fight this legislation anymore because the end result will be passage no matter how much bribe money Harry Reid has to offer I have decided to post in anyway.

  The one and only victory that conservatives can claim in the battle over the healthcare reform bill that came out of the House of non-Representatives was on the issue of federal funds being used for abortions. Other than that victory the battle was a complete failure and now Harry Reid is attempting to take that one victory away from conservatives.

  The senate version of the bill has language in it that will provide federal money for abortions. So much for trying to work in a bipartisan manner. The senate version of the bill states that at least one public option must contain federal subsidies for abortions.

The relevant language says: “The Secretary shall assure that with respect to qualified health plans offered in any Exchange established pursuant to this title—(I) there is at least one such plan that provides coverage of services described in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (B); and (II) there is at least one such plan that does not provide coverage of services described in subparagraph (B)(i).”

The clause “(i)” of “subparagraph (B)” referred to in this passage defines those types of abortions currently banned from receiving federal funding under the Hyde Amendment. The Hyde Amendment bans federal funding for all abortions except those done in cases of rape, incest and a threat to the life of the mother. So, the language of Sen. Reid’s health care bill mandates that at least one health insurance plan available to people buying health insurance with federal subsidies cover those abortions that are currently prohibited from receiving federal funding under the Hyde Amendment.

  But the news doesn’t get any better when you read that under the senate version of the bill anybody who enrolls in a government run plan– which will be the only option once the government completes the total takeover of the healthcare industry– will be required to pay a monthly abortion fee to subsidize abortions.

  This means that people who are opposed to abortion will be forced to pay for the abortions of others. For some reason the senate and the House find it meaningful that all Americans have to fund abortions, I am not sure why the healthcare reform bill took on this issue in the first place but it seems evident that they are adamant that abortions should be federally funded.

  While, under the senate version of this bill, elective surgery such as Botox will be taxable it seems to me that elective surgery such as abortions should also be taxed. Let the people who get abortions pay a tax on the abortions. But instead, the people who want the abortions will get them for free while many people who oppose abortion will have to pay for them.

  Is it just me or is this a major contradiction? 

  If you are opposed to the healthcare reform bill the prospects look bleak. It is hard to imagine any plausible scenario in which the bill will be defeated when you read a story like this one.

  One wavering Democrat, Mary Landrieu, basically accepted a $100 million bribe for her vote. In order to gain Senator Landrieu’s vote Harry Reid wrote into the legislation $100 million in government subsidies to any state that suffered from a natural disaster in the last seven fiscal years. It just so happens that Mary Landrieu’s state of Louisiana is the only state that qualifies for these subsidies thanks to hurricane Katrina.

  This is nothing more than a bribe and it is blatantly obvious that the intent was to win over Landrieu’s vote on healthcare reform and it has worked as she has now stated that she will vote for the healthcare reform bill.

  As debate on this bill continues tomorrow we can rest assured that if the senate needs more votes in order to pass this bill that more bribes will be offered. There is no way that we can stop this bill under such circumstances. In a way we would be better off just to give in and accept the outcome before Harry Reid adds more incentives to wavering politicians on both sides of the aisle.

  Harry Reid has shown that he will stop at nothing in order to gain the votes that he needs to pass this bill regardless of what the people want. This bill os going to pass whether we like it or not, there is no use fighting it any more.

   Nebraska senator, Democrat Ben Nelson, is has joined the ranks of Joe Lieberman and is threatening to filibuster the senate’s version of the healthcare reform bill.

  Ben Nelson’s has different issues that he wants resolved before he agrees to vote for the bill than does Joe Lieberman. While Joe Lieberman opposes the public option Ben Nelson does not want federal funds to be used for abortions.

  This bill is now moving at breakneck speed through the senate. Harry Reid introduced the 2,000 page bill on Thursday and he has scheduled ten hours of debate followed by a vote on Saturday.

  This is reckless and dangerous, how can anyone be expected to vote on a 2,000 page bill just two days after it was introduced? Nobody can possibly know everything that is in this bill. It is more than irresponsible to vote for something of this magnitude without knowing all of the details.

  It is encouraging to see these two men come out and openly oppose the bill knowing the danger it could have on their careers in the senate. It is also encouraging to note that they have problems with different aspects of this bill. This could tell us that the bill could be in a little trouble and that its passage isn’t yet guaranteed.

  Hopefully others will join Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman if for no other reason than to slow down the process and to make time to actually read the bill. We have seen the failure of the nearly trillion dollar, 1,000 page stimulus bill with most of the money going to non-stimulating pet projects and used for political favors, and this bill is double the size page-wise and vastly more dangerous over the long haul. 

  If Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman hold firm, this bill could face a difficult road ahead even with the RINOs in the senate, and we all know who they are, who just cannot be trusted.

  It is now being reported that Harry Reid will take a “test vote” on healthcare reform this Saturday. He is refusing to predict whether he will gain the 60 votes needed to pass this bill while stating that he will not use reconciliation to pass the bill with a simple majority.

  The news that Harry Reid will not use reconciliation, at least not yet, is certainly good news as reconciliation would be an abuse of power. I would almost be willing to bet that Harry Reid does not yet have the sixty votes needed and I would also be willing to bet that he knows that he doesn’t have the votes.

  So why is he taking this “test vote?” Well, to test the waters of course. I believe that Harry Reid wants to find out which senators oppose this bill and to get the votes on record. Once he officially knows which senators he needs to persuade he will then have a better grasp on what it will take to pass this monstrosity.

  He will then begin negotiating with these senators until he has the votes to pass healthcare reform. I think that vote this vote will provide him the opportunity to see exactly where the bill stands and what he will have to add to or take out of the bill in order to gain passage.

  This bill is getting closer and closer to passage every day and Saturday will be a telltale sign of how close the senate is to passing it. It appears as though this bill’s fate lies with just a few senators. If the vote is close enough I predict that instead of negotiating with the dissenting senators Harry Reid will apply pressure and threaten them with reprisals if they do not fall in line.

  There are still several Democrats who haven’t made up their minds and then there is Joe Lieberman who says he will filibuster this bill if it includes a public option so the key may lie with the pseudo-Republicans Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, and John McCain. If these senators vote in favor of the bill I don’t see where it can be stopped.

  Saturday’s vote will be a clear sign on how close this bill is to passing. Hopefully it will go down in flames but it is getting close to critical mass. In the end a healthcare reform bill will pass, and we know that it will be bad, we just have to hope that it will be as less bad as possible.

  The key to the 2010 elections lies in the independent voters. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out and I am not stating anything that isn’t probably widely known. But Barack Obama and the Democrats have to be concerned about the independent voters in 2010 and beyond.

  The independent voters swung towards Barack Obama in the 2008 election, they are the ones who in the end got Barack Obama elected. The problem for the Democrats is the fact that independent voters are abandoning Barack Obama and the other Democrats in droves. We saw the first signs of this in the elections earlier this year. Voters who supported Obama in 2008 voted for the Republicans in the recent elections. While the national Democrats tried to write this off as the elections being decided on local issues the fact is that they are souring on Barack Obama. Recent polls tell us that this is true.

  Hard line Democrat and Republican voters can be counted on to hold true in next year’s elections so the recent news on independents has to be troubling to the administration.

  Here are some recent polling results taken with independent voters:

just 14 percent of independents approve of the job Congress is doing

Democratic incumbents trailing Republicans among independent voters by double-digit margins in competitive statewide contests in places as varied as Connecticut, Ohio and Iowa

A CBS News poll Tuesday showed the president’s approval rating among unaligned voters falling to 45 percent — down from 63 percent in April.

In Virginia, Republican Bob McDonnell won a 65 percent to 34 percent victory over Democrat Creigh Deeds among independents in a state where President Barack Obama split the independent vote 49 percent to 48 percent against Republican John McCain just one year earlier

In New Jersey, Republican Chris Christie won a 58 percent to 31 percent victory over Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine among independents — a stark contrast to Obama’s 51 percent to 47 percent win among independents in 2008

  If the independent voters continue this trend it could spell big Republican and conservative victories in 2010 and 2012. The tide is turning, independent voters are disgruntled with the Obama administration and Democrats cannot win without them.

  We can expect a continued push by Obama to implement his radical far left agenda before the 2010 elections while he still holds a majority in congress. If he fails to implement his agenda next year his chance may be lost. At least I hope that is the case.

  The administration is at a crossroads; Obama can either move to the center and try to win back disgruntled independents or he can push even harder to force his radical agenda on an unwilling American people while he still holds majorities in congress.

  As I stated above I expect him to pursue the latter course. If this is the case we have to give Obama credit for one thing, he is willing to risk his political future and he is also willing to say to hell with his and other Democrats’ re-election prospects for the chance to pass an agenda that he must obviously believe in wholeheartedly if he is willing to risk his future and his party’s future.

  We have the chance to stop him, most other Democrats may not be willing to risk their political future to pass Barack Obama’s agenda. They may be looking at these poll numbers and they may start to rethink their undying support for Obama. This is the one chance that we have to slow Obama’s agenda.

  If these numbers continue to fall at this incredible rate, support for Obama’s policies will drop within his own party as Democrats begin to look out for themselves politically. And that has to be troubling to Obama.

  We can still take this country back and return to true American ideals, we just have to hope that we can minimize the collateral damage and Democrats who long to stay in power just may be the key in doing so if they just pay attention to these latest poll numbers.

  I have focused on the Democrats in this post but the liberal RINO Republicans had better take heed in these numbers also, they are not safe either and we are watching them. So are the independents.

  Barack Obama has finally admitted what everyone, except those on the far left, already knew; GITMO will not be closing in January or any time soon for that matter.

  He is now saying that he hopes to close down the detention center sometime next year. No promises though, he is refusing to set another deadline– I guess he learned his lesson about setting unreasonable deadlines on this issue. Of course he is already claiming that it is not his fault that he may not close down GITMO next year, he is already blaming congress.

I’m not going to set an exact date because a lot of this is also going to depend on cooperation from Congress

  While it may be true that congress denied him the funding to close down GITMO by the end of this year, and may deny him the funds to do so next year, the fault still lies with Obama. They are denying him these funds because he does not have a plan. He signed this executive order without studying the situation and is only now admitting that it is “also just technically hard.” He should have thought about that before he recklessly signed the order to close GITMO. He could have spared himself of this embarrassment. But he was too interested in throwing the far left a bone and so he signed the order assuming he could figure out how to implement it afterwards. Even the Democrat controlled congress would have nothing to do with that foolish notion.

  What I find the most interesting about this revelation is how the same  far left that was clamoring for the closure of GITMO is suddenly silent on this issue now that it Barack Obama that failed them.

  I made the argument previously, after hearing an old man telling another man that his doctor denied him the Swine flu vaccine because of his age, that the healthcare rationing that can be expected once the government controls healthcare has already begun.

  Maybe I was over-reacting to one old man’s story, but then again maybe I wasn’t. Maybe that was the beginning of healthcare rationing after all. And in light of the new government released guidelines on mammograms I have to wonder if the rationing of healthcare is about to kick into high gear.

  According to the government’s findings, women should not receive their first mammogram until the age of fifty, ten full years after the current age of recommendation. Is this being done as a purely cost cutting measure? It would seem so, after all let us not ever forget that Obama once said instead of giving an old man a pacemaker he may be sent home with an aspirin under his healthcare plan.

  The cost cutting has to come from somewhere if we are to add 40 million people to the system and this could be the opening salvo. Am I over-reacting to this? I don’t think so, the most troubling part to me is that the government agency that released this report is also telling women not to self-examine themselves because it might cause them undo anxiety.

  What could possibly be wrong with a woman checking herself for lumps other than the fact that if she finds something she will go to the doctor and it will cost money that wouldn’t have been spent if she had not checked herself?

  Throughout the presidential campaign and the healthcare debate it has been argued that Americans need to get healthier and need to do more to prevent a possible traumatic health event from occurring in their lives. We have been told that a key element to bringing down healthcare costs would be to do more to prevent something from happening rather than treat it after it happened.

  But now we have the government telling women that there is no need to worry about self-examinations and preventive care and early detection. This seems to be at odds with what we have been told about healthcare.

  It seems to me that the government has decided to cut down on a procedure that they find too costly, but the only thing that this could cut down on is the survival rate of those with breast cancer. We have been told for years that the key to breast cancer survival, and all cancer for that matter, is early detection but now the government is telling us not to worry about it; it may cause too much anxiety.

  I just find it too much of a coincidence that in the middle of the healthcare debate we have a government panel suddenly claiming that American women are doing too much to make sure they don’t get cancer. This sure seems like the beginning of rationing to me.

  Are we suddenly going to see more reports from this panel claiming that Americans are going overboard on preventative maintenance? I wouldn’t be surprised.

  The rationing of healthcare to cut down on the costs may have already begun.

  The federal government seems to be reporting erroneous jobs created or saved numbers in order to make the stimulus look more succesful than it is instead of the failure that it actually is. What other conclusion can you come to after reading this article which highlights such inconsistencies as the government spending money in congressional districts that don’t exist?

  This article lists millions of dollars in spending that was sent to congressional districts that do not exist creating a few hundred jobs. Leaving aside the huge amount of money spent to create so few jobs, one is left to wonder if those jobs actually exist considering the districts do not.

  Naturally the government is not taking the blame for fudging the numbers, intentional or not, they are instead blaming the recipients of the money for providing the wrong information.

Some recipients clearly don’t know what congressional district they live in, so they appear to be just throwing in any number

  Even if that statement is true and the Obama administration isn’t purposely inflating the job numbers as I think that he is, is it any less disturbing that the government officials who are receiving and disbursing the money don’t know what congressional district they are in?

  That thought may be more disturbing because I always expected Obama to fudge the job numbers;  he started using the “jobs saved” terminology because it would be too hard quantify actual jobs saved. But to think that those who are in charge of spending the stimulus money don’t even know what district they represent is just too frightening to ponder.

  So, the options are; either the government is skewing the jobs created or saved numbers, or the officials who are receiving the money are inept and irresponsible. I ask you which is worse.

  And these people want to run our healthcare system.