Video: Gov. O’Malley v.s. Sen. Sessions On ABC’s ‘This Week’

Maryland’s Socialist, pro-illegal immigrant Governor Smarmy O’Malley had all his ducks in a row, Sunday morning on ABC’s This Week, starting right off with these hackneyed WH supplied talking points — “we need a “balanced approach”,  “investing in the future”, tea party “extremism”, “obstructionism”. Like most Dems, he was long on focus group approved talking points, but short on substance. After Sessions responded with facts and figures, O’Malley tried to pivot to jobs, while schizophrenically slamming Republicans for “worshiping at the altar of the false gods of tax cuts” – WTF?:

Sessions:

“When you have a Democratic Senate that will not produce a budget – 830 days without a budget – a president who submitted the most irresponsible budget in history, who is continuing to talk about spending and investing more, whose Secretary of Education was demanding a 13% increase in the Department of Education next fiscal year, beginning October 1st, you know we’re in denial.”

 

“The president is going to have to look the American people in the eye and tell them we are on an unsustainable course…And if he asks us to reduce spending by 10% across the board, all departments and agencies, congress would rally to him in a bipartisan way. But if he’s going to deny we have a crisis, he’s not going to have bipartisan support.”

On Taxes:

“Raising taxes is what the president’s balanced plan means. That’s plain to every American by now. The Administration wants to raise taxes so they can permanently implant a larger level of spending. We’ve got to bring spending down, not increase the burden on the private sector.”

 

On Jobs:

“The debt is pulling down growth and costing us jobs. The debt-to-GDP ratio that is now 100 percent is hammering our economy…that’s why we’re having the unexpected decline in growth that we’ve seen the first half of this year.”

I wish he had noted that Republicans in Congress are and have been willing to reform the tax code and close tax loopholes.

 

On the ‘Super-Committee’:

“I do believe that committee can function and be successful in the limited goal we’ve given them. S&P is saying it is not enough. It’s only about $2 trillion in cuts or a little over, when we’re going to increase our debt in the next ten years by $13 Trillion. So that’s why they’re concerned. The plan is insufficient, even if successful.”

I also wish Senator Sessions had pushed back on O’Malley’s anti-tea party smears with something along the lines of:

“Excuse me, but those people happen to represent all Americans who want to see deep cuts in spending, a balanced budget passed by Congress, and an end to government regulations that are strangling the economy, AKA THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS. You smear them at your own peril sir. They will remember all of these spurious attacks in 2012 and will be out in full force.

The reason why it’s so important to push back on this particular bit of Dem message coordination, (I  disagree with Sir Charles on that point), is because Dems know that if they repeat a lie often enough, a substantial number of people will eventually believe the lie. Thus the constant drumbeat: “Tea party extremist, tea party radical, tea party terrorist, tea party suicide bomber…” etc. They are looking ahead to 2012, and want the general public to view the tea party as anti- American thugs.

Absurd, I know.

 

Sessions has done a great job defending the tea party in recent days, so we’ll forgive him for this one oversight.

O’Malley ended on this totally made up “historic economic fact”: “A modern economy requires modern investments to create jobs, and that’s what we need to be about.” In other words, a government command/control, over regulating,  top-down economies – picking winners and losers…….. creates jobs. History (and common sense) shows us precisely the opposite.

Why do Maryland voters keep voting for this guy?

Your Sunday Hymn: Amazing Grace

A piano solo of the classic hymn, “Amazing Grace”, beautifully played by Dr. Eric J. Littleton, “performed in a completely different arrangement specifically designed to draw attention to the melody in a fresh way”

Amazing Grace Lyrics:

Video: Neil Cavuto Interviews Ron Paul on S and P Downgrade 8-6-11

Neil Cavuto interviews Ron Paul in this Fox News special report on the S&P downgrade.

UPDATE: Via Newsbusters: Hat tip Charles B. for graphic

Geithner 4/2011: “No Risk” U.S. Will Lose AAA Credit Rating – 8/2011: Standard and Poor’s Lowers America’s Long-Term Rating To ‘AA+’ – Longterm Outlook Negative (With Updates)

A synopsis of S & P’s analysis:

• We have lowered our long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’ and affirmed the ‘A-1+’ short-term rating.
• We have also removed both the short- and long-term ratings from CreditWatch negative.
• The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government’s medium-term debt dynamics.
• More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating on April 18, 2011.
• Since then, we have changed our view of the difficulties in bridging the gulf between the political parties over fiscal policy, which makes us pessimistic about the capacity of Congress and the Administration to be able to leverage their agreement this week into a broader fiscal consolidation plan that stabilizes the government’s debt dynamics any time soon.
• The outlook on the long-term rating is negative. We could lower the long-term rating to ‘AA’ within the next two years if we see that less reduction in spending than agreed to, higher interest rates, or new fiscal pressures during the period result in a higher general government debt trajectory than we currently assume in our base case.

You can read their full report at the link.

Turbo Tax-Timmy said there was no chance that would happen just a few months ago:

The Hill reported  04/19/11 10:33 AM ET:

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Tuesday there is “no risk” the U.S. will lose its top credit rating amid a new analysis that revised its outlook on American debt to “negative.”

Geithner took to the airwaves of financial news networks to push back against a report Monday by Standard & Poor’s that lowered its outlook on U.S. debt to “negative,” reflecting political uncertainty over whether lawmakers will reach an agreement to address long-term debt.

There is no chance that the U.S. will lose its top credit rating, Geithner said, forcefully disputing the notion that S&P or other ratings services might downgrade U.S. bonds from their current AAA rating.

“No risk of that, no risk,” Geithner said on the Fox Business Network.

It should be noted that Republicans always were willing to “increase revenues” by closing tax loopholes etc, but the tax hikes Dems wanted to put on the $200,000-$250,000 club, AKA, small businesses, AKA job producers, killed the deal.

As Cantor explained in the The Wall Street Journal, today:

Somewhat surprisingly, Mr. Cantor was in fact prepared to bargain on about $20 billion in higher taxes on “the shiny balls of the millionaires, billionaires, jet owners and oil companies” that Mr. Obama so often mentioned in public. “If they wanted to be able to claim the win on that,” Mr. Cantor says, he wanted net revenue neutrality in return, by lowering the corporate income tax rate or perhaps enacting an even larger tax reform. In effect, he was calling Mr. Obama’s bluff on “cheap politics.”

In private, however, the debate always returned to the status of the top marginal rate for individuals earning over $200,000 and $250,000 for couples—aka the Bush tax cuts for people who do not own private aircraft. Mr. Cantor argued that some large portion of the income that flows through the top bracket comes from “pass-through entities”—that is, businesses—and “to me, that strikes at the core of what I believe should be the policy, and that is to provide incentives for entrepreneurs to grow.”

By contrast, he says, “Never was there ever an underlying economic argument” from Democrats. “It was all about social justice. Honestly, one of them said to me, ‘Some people just make too much money.’”

Make no mistake. The US lost its AAA credit rating because of the Marxist thinking on Capital Hill, and in the White House.

Hot Air reported, last night:

The GOP was planning to push their message for a balanced-budget amendment during the August recess. The downgrade will help that effort, but I wonder after this whether we’ll have an August recess after all. Is Congress really going to sit back for another four weeks while the economy tries to cope with this news?

UPDATE:

Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama: Downgrade Tim Geithner! Tell him he must go NOW.

Sign the petition: Time to Fire Timothy Geithner

The Market Ticket:And So It Begins…..

Mediaite: Neil Cavuto Challenges Rep. Kucinich On The Economy: ‘Why Are [Corporations] Responsible And Not You Guys?’

Video at link.

Nile Gardiner: America’s debt downgrade is a damning indictment of President Obama’s Big Government disaster:

Since President Obama took office in January 2009, the United States has embarked on the most ambitious failed experiment in Washington meddling in US history. Huge increases in government spending, massive federal bailouts, growing regulations on businesses, thinly veiled protectionism, and the launch of a vastly expensive and deeply unpopular health care reform plan, have all combined to instill fear and uncertainty in the markets. Free enterprise has taken a backseat to continental European-style interventionism, as an intensely ideological left wing administration has sought to dramatically increase the role of the state in shaping the US economy. The end result has been a dramatic fall in economic freedom, sluggish growth, poor consumer confidence, high unemployment, a collapsing housing market, and an overall decline in US prosperity, with more than 45 million Americans now reliant on food stamps – that’s over one seventh of the entire country.

18 Countries with a higher credit rating than the United States:

Country	Rating	Outlook	Date	Ref.
Australia	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
Austria	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
Canada	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
Denmark	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
Finland	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
France	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
Germany	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
Guernsey	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
Hong Kong	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
Isle of Man	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
Liechtenstein	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
Luxembourg	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
Netherlands	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
Norway	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
Singapore	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
Sweden	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
Swiss Confederation	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
United Kingdom	AAA	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
Belgium	AA+	Negative	Jul 2011	[2][3]
New Zealand	AA+	Stable	Jul 2011	[2][3]
United States of America	AA+	Negative	Aug 2011	[4][5]

MORE:

Philip Klein, Washington Examiner: Obama won’t escape blame for credit downgrade

When Obama came into office, he argued that we needed deficit spending to boost the economy, so he passed a $800 billion stimulus package. Then, in one of his first supposed pivots to the deficit, he convened a ‘fiscal responsibility summit’ in February 2009. But that actually turned out to be part of a different pivot altogether. It was during that summit that then White House Budget Director Peter Orszag declared, “health care reform is entitlement reform.”

And so, for the next 13 months, Obama spent all of his energies trying to get health care legislation across the finish line. The end product was a plan that, according to both the Congressional Budget Office and actuary for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, did not bend the health care cost curve down.  Let’s even set aside the argument over the accounting gimmicks that were employed to obtain a CBO score that showed modest deficit reduction. The reality is this: the law used money raised through tax hikes and Medicare cuts that otherwise would have been available for deficit reduction, to instead expand Medicaid by 18 million beneficiaries and create a massive new health care entitlement.

Tine Korbe, Hot Air: Huckabee: Trump should replace Geithner

Ed made the case this morning as to why Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner must go (and he should!), but, so far, little discussion has focused on who his successor should be. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee decided to start that ball rolling with a sensational suggestion. Political Ticker reports:

Amid calls by the GOP for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s resignation, one Republican is offering an unorthodox choice for a potential replacement.

“Ask Donald Trump to be Treasury secretary,” Mike Huckabee said on Fox News Channel.

The former Arkansas governor elaborated: “Have Donald Trump take the job for 90 days. It’s a game changer.”

Linked by Michelle Malkin, The TrogloPundit, Right Wing News, and  All American Blogger, thanks!

Hat tips: Charles B. and Brian B.

Video: NRA Files Suit Over New ATF Gun Reporting Requirement

The top story at the NRA website:

The NRA and two Arizona gun dealers have filed a lawsuit against BATFE in the U.S. District Court for D.C. over an illegal measure requiring Federally Licensed Firearms Dealers (FFLs) in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas (the states bordering Mexico) to report the sale of two or more rifles to the same person within a 5-day period.

Wayne LaPierre talked about the lawsuit and the Operation Fast and Furious mega-scandal (which, believe it or not, some in the MSM is trying to blame on the NRA) in this show,  recorded 8/04/11.

“They want a fight with the NRA, by gosh, they got it!” NRA Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre speaks with Cam Edwards and Ginny Simone in studio about the NRA’s lawsuit against BATFE over the Obama Administration’s illegal gun reporting requirement. The measure, which requires Federally Licensed Firearms Dealers (FFLs) in border states to report anyone purchasing two or more long guns in a five-day period, was implemented without Congress or the approval of the American public. An immediate injunction has been filed to keep BATFE from enforcing this rule in the meantime.

LaPierre calls for both the ATF and the DOJ to be “scrubbed from top to bottom.”

Ace has more:

“Oh My:” ATF Almost “Single-Handedly” Responsible For Arming Drug Cartel For “War;” Mexican Officials Lied to Left and Right About Massive US Government Arms Smuggling to the Cartels

Former White House Counsel Files Complaint With IRS: Pull Media Matters’ Tax-Exempt Status

As reported by The Politico, last March, the far left, Soros-funded, Media Matters is preparing for what its founder, David Brock, described  as an all-out campaign of “guerrilla warfare and sabotage” aimed at the Fox News Channel.

Fox Business reports in the second of a three-part series that C. Boyden Gray, former White House counsel to President George W. Bush, has filed a civilian complaint with the IRS against the nonprofit Media Matters regarding their tax exempt status, which many of us have been questioning for years.. The complaint, filed on July 27, demands that the agency yank Media Matters’  tax-exempt status.

Citing a pattern of “unlawful conduct,” Gray writes in his petition, which FOX Business has obtained, that the nonprofit has “executed a partisan strategy” in violation of U.S. tax law as it exists “no longer to educate the public but, rather, to declare ‘war on FOX,’” Gray says, quoting from an interview its founder, David Brock, gave to the website Politico.

Also unlawful, Gray says, is the nonprofit’s reported goal to “disrupt” the commercial interests of News Corp.

(News Corp. is the parent of FOX News and FOX Business.)

None of these activities are sanctioned, or even found, in nonprofit tax law, Gray says, adding in an interview with FOX Business: “I filed the complaint pro bono. I have no official ties with FOX News or News Corp., the company doesn’t pay me a dime, I’m not on its payroll, and no one there asked me to do this. I filed it on my own.”

Media Matters did not return calls or emails for comment over a month-long period.

Gray, who now runs his own law firm in Washington, D.C., says: “I have never seen any tax-exempt organization getting into the kind of partisan activity Media Matters is now engaging in.”

Gray says he has “known” the nonprofit’s founder, Brock, “favorably,” but filed the IRS complaint “because of the potential abuse of tax-exempt funds.”

He adds: “No one would begrudge what they’re [Media Matters] doing with non-exempt funds, but it’s different when they have tax-exempt status — it’s like a government stamp of approval because of this government subsidy.”

The petition arose after Gray had written an opinion piece about the Media Matters controversy in June for the Washington Times.

Gray cites as evidence in his IRS complaint Media Matters’ reported attempt to disrupt News Corp.’s purchase of BSkyB, a British satellite broadcaster, and its efforts “to turn regulators in the U.S., U.K. and elsewhere against the network.’”

And Gray writes that aside from Media Matters’ “unsupportable attempt to tie FOX News to the Republican Party, the fact that Media Matters equates FOX News” with the GOP shows the nonprofit’s “own partisan intent.”

And sure to ignite further debate, Gray says the nonprofit’s activities do “not merely violate” the tax code, they also raise “grave first amendment concerns,” because the government is subsidizing “Media Matters’ attacks on FOX News’ speech, and FOX News employees’ speech,” all “antithetical to the First Amendment,” Gray says.

Read the rest at Fox Business.

-

A couple of weeks ago, after C. Boyden Gray, in his Washington Times’s piece called for  Media Matters’ tax exempt status to be revoked, John Sexton of Verum Serum noted that Doug Schoen,  a Democratic contributor to Fox news, had unintentionally admitted to, and built upon what Gray had written.

 Schoen had personally sat down with MMFA head David Brock and confirmed that his focus was not education but political advocacyfor one party:

-

I had breakfast with Media Matters founder David Brock about 6 months ago to talk about his efforts to strengthen the Democratic party– efforts that I fully support and believe are necessary.Brock was compelling in arguing that he would like to see the Democratic Party develop a different, more inclusive message for the 2012 election, recognizing that the Party in large part, had failed in 2010 because they did not present a positive and affirmative case to the electorate– an argument that I could only agree with.Brock also made clear that he saw his mission to try to the best of his ability to counteract Republican fundraising efforts, that had frankly exceeded in substance and sophistication, those of the Democrats…Brock also made it clear to me that his focus was on the party, and providing and creating a level playing field for it and its advocates, rather than positioning himself as exclusively or even primarily as a media critic.

-

From its inception, MMFA has been a far left political operation. However, so long as they restricted themselves to media criticism they were able to skate by on the public dime. Now that MMFA is training liberal politicos for media appearances and starting a fundraising campaign (also for liberals) any fig leaf of neutrality is gone. The entire organization is as partisan as it could possibly be and should have it’s 501(c)(3) status revoked.

 As Sexton also noted last Spring, Media Matters isn’t getting the results you would think they would for the millions it receives from left wing donors like their #1 Sugar Daddy, Soros:

According to web traffic evaluator, Quantcast, Politico averages 5.6 million monthly unique visitors, Media Matters a mere 646,200. Even if you give Media Matters the benefit of the doubt and double that number, they are still doing a fraction of the traffic of sites its size (at 1.3 million, it would still be far smaller than little Mediaite, with ten times the staff). That’s something that clearly should have been pointed out in the story.

With 90 employees and a $15 million annual budget, Media Matters’ traffic is about 6x what ours is (only 3x our best month). In case you’re wondering, our annual budget here at VS is $900.  Oh, and we issued zero corrections last year which makes us 24x as accurate as Media Matters.

The new Fox News Show, The Five, discussed the issue on its debut show, a couple of weeks ago. Greg Gutfeld’s take on who the “real victims” are in all this comes at 1:55.

See also:

Andrew Breitbart interviewed on America’s Radio News: Andrew Breitbart: Media Matters Funded by George Soros and They Want to Silence Their Critics:

Andrew Breitbart talks with Chris and Lori of America’s Radio News about Media Matters waging war on Fox News, and his controversy with former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod. Andrew Breitbart is a conservative blogger, activist, and founder of Breitbart.com and Breitbart.tv.

RELATED:

Big Journalism: Blood Money: How SEIU and Media Matters Stole Justice from Kenneth Gladney

Thursday Linkfest: Bus Tour Edition

As you no doubt know, as soon as Obama finishes counting his birthday money, he’s doing a hard pivot (for the umpteenth time) towards jobs, and is launching a bus tour throughout the Midwest at taxpayer expense! Jim Hoft asked a very good question: If Obama Administration Really Expects to Create Jobs Why Is Labor Secretary Solis Speaking at Anti-Capitalist Rallies?

Secretary of Labor Solis spoke atthe anti-capitalist, corporate-hating NPA event in March. Notice in the picture that the democracy arrow is pointing in one direction and the corporation arrow is pointing the other direction.The NPA is a radical anti-capitalist community organizing group linked to the SEIU. The group holds radical rallies against US businesses and business owners. The group also terrorizes children. And, of course, the group is also directly linked to Barack Obama.

The White House was so proud of the fact that Secretary Solis spoke at this socialist rally that they posted the news on their blog.

I think Obama’s bus tour calls for a photoshop contest. Here’s my submission:

Send me your submissions.

RCP: Krauthammer: Talking About Deficit Helps Obama Hide Record On Jobs:

Video at link: Steve Hayes says the “Empathizer in Chief’s bus tour is meant to show his empathy for the American people, and bring Independents who voted for him in 2008 back into his fold. Krauthammer says jobs is not an issue Obama can win on, but then again, neither is  the debt.

As Obama launches his tour, House Republicans are still asking Obama, “where are the jobs?”:

Michelle Malkin: The Steve Urkel-ization of the economy, redux

Apropos of today’s stock market plunge, increasing concerns about a double-dip recession, continued bond market gloom, anemic jobs numbers and skyrocketing layoffs, I thought it only fitting to resurrect the graphic of Obama’s Steve Urkel-ization of the economy.

Weasel Zippers: Report: Obama Administration Added $9.5 Billion Worth Of Government Regulations During July Alone…

Many House and Senate conservatives are reviving their battle against federal regulations, claiming that the president hasn’t stopped issuing job-killing rules during the debt ceiling fight. “While Washington and Americans have been focused on the debt ceiling, the Obama administration has continued to roll out more crushing red tape,” said a spokesperson for Wyoming Republican Sen. John Barrasso, who’s been championing the regulation fight.

American Power:Obama Isn’t Working, and He’s Only Halfway There:

Here’s an interesting news mashup. Turns out President Obama spoke to supporters in Chicago on Wednesday night, a DNC fundraiser and 50th birthday celebration. See RCP, “Obama: “We’re Not Even Halfway There Yet” (via Legal Insurrection). Added: A Memeorandum thread now.

See Mitt’s new ad at the link.

See also: Doug Powers at Michelle Malkin: Obama at Birthday Party/Fundraiser: We’re Not Even Halfway There Yet

Should we be surprised that  TOTUS made an appearance at the “Empathizer in Chief’s” birthday party?

Matthew Boyle, The Daily Caller:Obama’s 50th birthday party full of political folly, union resentments:

President Barack Obama’s decision to hire non-union workers to staff his birthday-party fundraiser isn’t sitting well with Big Labor, and Obama’s upcoming milestone has inspired a series of running jokes on Twitter.

Weasel Zippers: One Year Ago: Geither Declared “Welcome To The Recovery”…

Weasel Zippers: Pop Quiz: What do all these pics share in common?

Hint: Does the man ever sit with both feet on the floor?

Hot Air: Debbie Wasserman-Schultz: “We’ve really begun to turn the economy around”

If this sounds familiar, it’s because she said the same thing — verbatim — two months ago, before we found out that “turning the economy around” means adding 18,000 jobs a month. No worries, though: Jay Carney reassured America this afternoon that there’s no threat of a double-dip recession.

How’s that auto bailout working out? Seton Motley at Big Government’s been keeping an eye on it and doesn’t like what he sees: Bailed Out GM CEO Akerson – The Taxpayers’ Worst Nightmare

If you are the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a company that has received $50 billion in federal bailout coin, there are certain things that you realistically shouldn’t say or do.

Both from a substantive policy and an optics perspective, you should walk a pretty straight line until We the People are made whole.

Behold General Motors (GM) CEO Dan Akerson – a man who obviously doesn’t adhere to this philosophy.

As we said back in March, Akerson is a foundational part of the Washington, D.C.-Wall Street crony capitalism nexus.

Akerson is not – and never has been – a car guy.  He himself said so.  What is he?  He is a DC-connected, Wall Street hedge fund big coin guy.

Akerson’s immediately preceding gig was Managing Director and head of Global Buyout for the incredibly inside-the-Beltway-connected Carlyle Group.

This hip-joined relationship with the federal Leviathan means Akerson’s a cardboard cutout for the real CEO of Government Motors – U.S. Treasury Secretary (and yet another fellow DC-Wall Streeter) Tim Geithner.

And from all we have since seen, Akerson is one giant toe on the Huge Government, Obama Administration line.

We have for the last several weeks witnessed the federal government engage in a debt ceiling debate.  The warped focus throughout has been “How will this affect Wall Street?”

Almost never has it been “How will this affect taxpayers?”

In the end, We the People are being force fed a deal that pleases Wall Street – and leaves the taxpayers on the hook for another $10 trillion.

Government Motors – under Akerson – is similarly situated.  The absolute last thing about which they seem to care is We the People.  We stand to lose between $11 and $13 billion on our generous – conscripted – GM bailout.

And we get the distinct impression that Akerson couldn’t care less.

Bob McCarty Writes:Flight 93 Memorial Still Resembles Victory Mosque As 10th Anniversary of 9-11 Attacks Draws Near

Rep. Joe Walsh has a message for Democrats, particularly, the Vice President:

Linked by Michelle Malkin in Buzzworthy, thanks!

Report: Democrat and Republican Leaders Asked Obama To Leave The Room During Debt Negotiations

Graphic via Granny Jan and Jihad Kitty

You’ll want to read this entire Hill piece about how John Boehner negotiated the debt deal: How Boehner escaped disaster. It paints a picture of a patient,  unflappable, good-natured and forebearing man not prone to using threats and intimidation even in the face of rebellion within the ranks. While I may not be completely thrilled with the result of his efforts, I have no doubt in my mind that he is a decent man, who operated in good faith in difficult circumstances.

That is more than can be said about the miscreant who currently resides in the White House. His aggressive, and unreasonable approach to negotiations turned off not only his Republican counterparts, but apparently his Democrat allies, as well.

While dealing with the challenges of his own conference, Boehner was also waging battles with the White House and Senate Democrats.

GOP aides and lawmakers, speaking on background, portrayed Boehner as the calm negotiator who repeatedly exasperated President Obama.

Boehner last month asked the networks to televise his response to Obama’s address to the nation, a request which infuriated the White House, Republican sources said.

On July 23, they claim, the White House called Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), telling her not to participate on a call with Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Pelosi informed Reid, who declined to participate, and the call was canceled, the Republican sources said. (A Pelosi spokesman could not be reached for comment.)

Later that day, the four leaders met with Obama at the White House. At one point, GOP officials said, the Democratic and Republican leaders asked Obama and his aides to leave the room to let them negotiate. 

A tentative deal was subsequently struck, but Obama privately threatened to veto it, the sources said.

That corresponds somewhat with what “White House Insider” had to say a couple of days ago, on what lawmakers were saying about Obama’s role in the negotiations.

The one thing that almost everyone did agree with was how “idiotic”, “moronic”, “pathetic”, “self-serving”, “arrogant”, and “scary” President Obama’s role was during the process.  Those are actual descriptions used against the president, and most of them came from Democrats. Everyone stunned over how little Barack Obama understands about anything.  Told Harry Reid came out of a meeting with Obama over the weekend “visibly shaking” he was so angry at how little the president seemed to care about the process and related details of the agreement, and how flip and dismissive he was toward Senator Reid.  “Just get something for me to sign Harry…”  The primary concern of the Obama White House was the possibility of the debt ceiling issue carrying forward into the 2012 election cycle.  The president and his people made that abundantly clear to anyone who would listen time after time after time.  

Today, Captain “Don’t Call My Bluff” Kick-A$$ is celebrating his 50th birthday in Chi-town in that huge birthday-bash/fundraiser he’s throwing for himself. Have you ordered your $150 Obama Birthday Host Pack, yet? No? (Update: Obama birthday pack page now gone – wonder if they sold any?)…

Perhaps a more palatable alternative for those of you in the Chicago area would be the “Jobs Bash” which has been organized  to counter  Obama’s Birthday Bash.

Publius Forum has the particulars:

WHAT: President Obama plans to celebrate his big 50th birthday this Wednesday at the historic Aragon ballroom on Chicago’s north side with additional satellite fundraisers being held around the country. But the President may be in for another unexpected surprise: A “Jobs Bash” just steps away from the upscale fete in his honor.

On Sunday’s premiere of “The Victory Sessions” with Stephen Bannon on TalkRadio 790 KABC and streamed live with Larry O’Connor, editor-in-chief of Breitbart.tv , “Tea Party Report” contributor William J. Kelly issued a call for people – conservative, independent, and tea party supporters and leaders – to come to Chicago for the President’s birthday and have a “jobs bash” of their own.

“Barack Obama is only concerned about one job and that is his own. He is in town for a birthday fundraiser after sending a debt limit deathblow to American businesses,” said Kelly.

To that end, Kelly is helping to organize the first Tea Party “Jobs Bash: 2011.” He is calling on the unemployed and the underemployed to come out and bring their resumes and business cards to “Job Bash 2011” and call on the President to own up to the high U.S. unemployment figures – currently at 9.2 %.

WHERE: The Green Mill (across from the Aragon Ballroom)
4802 North Broadway Street
Chicago, Illinois

WHEN: Wednesday, August 3, 2011 — Jobs Bash” reception begins at 3pm.

Forget it, WHD’s  Keith Koffler says – won’t work:Who wants to hire a bunch of terrorists?

Of course, no one likes to hire terrorists, unless the company is specifically in the terrorism business, so my thought is this is really just an attempt to RUIN the president’s birthday party.

But it will never work. Since there will be terrorists on hand, the Transportation Security Administration will be out in force to take everyone’s clothes off, making it even more difficult for the terrorists – I’m sorry, Tea Partyers – to get hired.

More than 97 percent of people who get jobs, according to a recent Pew Survey, have their clothes on during the job interview.

“This is a big f*cking deal,” said Joe Biden, who recently coined the term “terrorists” for Tea Party members. “If they try to enter during the piñata breaking event, in which I plan to participate, I’ll stop whacking the piñata, start whacking the terrorists, and then go back to whacking the piñata.”

Several Tea Party activists contacted said they were really scared.

Hat tip: Gateway Pundit

Linked By Michelle Malkin in Buzzworthy, and Bits Blog, thanks!

Video: Brian Terry: Semper Fidelis & Honor First

Brought to you by The Committee on Government Oversight and Reform:

WASHINGTON, DC – House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) today released a video – “Brian Terry: Semper Fidelis & Honor First” – to honor U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, who lost his life on December 15, 2010 after being shot in the line of duty in Rio Rico, AZ. Chairman Issa introduced the Brian A. Terry Memorial Act of 2011 last week to rename the Bisbee, AZ Border Patrol station in honor of Agent Terry.

 

Where do we find such men?

 

In December 2010, Agent Terry was shot and killed while on patrol 14 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border near Rio Rico, Ariz., during an armed confrontation with suspected criminals. Prior to joining the U.S. Border Patrol, Agent Terry served in the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a police officer in Michigan.

Agent Terry’s murder is linked to Operation Fast and Furious, a reckless program where federal law enforcement agencies knowingly allowed the trafficking of illegally purchased weapons into Mexico, arming drug cartels. The Oversight and Government Reform Committee is conducting an ongoing investigation to determine which U.S. officials are responsible for creating and authorizing the deadly program.

 

Tea Party Groups To Tour Wisconsin In Support Of Republicans Facing Recall Elections

This should be interesting, given how popular the tea party is with the Democrat Media Complex at the moment, and how closely Wisconsin’s left wing unions and activists work with the party.

Via Conservatives 4 Congress,

CNN reports:

Two of the nation’s prominent tea party groups will merge for a Wisconsin bus tour in support of six Republican state senators facing recall elections.

Tea Party Nation and Tea Party Express will kick off their four-day “Restoring Common Sense” tour Friday, holding rallies in multiple cities and defending Republicans who supported Gov. Scott Walker’s controversial bill that curbed collective bargaining rights for state employees earlier this year.

“The tea party stands for fiscal responsibility, and Republican Senators in Wisconsin stood firm for those principles,” said Amy Kremer, chair of Tea Party Express. “Now they are under attack for doing the job they were elected to do. It is critical that we support and defend them from these undeserved attacks and in that effort we are proud to be joined by our friends at Tea Party Nation.”

The next round of recalls, scheduled for Aug. 9, is part of a summer long series of elections pitting six Republicans and three Democrats against challengers. An incumbent Democrat already won the first election in July.

If three Republicans can’t keep their seats, then the GOP will lose control of the state legislature and Democrats could be poised to overturn Walker’s budget reforms.

The Campaign To Defeat Barack Obama have been on the ground in Wisconsin for about a month, now, working with Tea Party Express to do rallies in every affected district and rally conservatives to go to the polls.

More about the tour, HERE.

See the new ad and contribute online – HERE.

Two more  ways you can help via Amy Kremer of The Tea Party Express:

1st – For people all across America, if you use Facebook then we urgently need you to go to the Wisconsin Tea Party Express Event Page and RSVP your attendance (even if you can’t physically make it to a rally) to this effort.  And here’s the important point, we then need you to click “Select Guests to Invite” and invite all your conservative, pro-tea party friends to this event so you can help us get the word out and build “buzz” for this effort.  Here’s the link to the Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=212310648820458

2nd – Everyone’s help is needed to help us raise the money to pay for this effort.  Besides the costs of the tour (gas for a tour bus is exorbitantly expensive), we also have to pay for our TV and radio ad campaign to back this effort up.

We’re realistically looking at having to raise $50,000 within this next week.  You can support this effort by making a contribution – HERE.

A commenter at a left-wing Badger State site groused:

There will be a lot of no-good, stinkin’, vile and anti-democratic shenanigans going on in the next week. Expect Breitbart types at the Joe The Bummer/Tea Party tour this weekend, hoping to film someone from the counter rallies screaming obscenities.

Don’t do it. You’ll end up on Youtube.

Lol, yup. Like this unhinged schlub, captured by Rebelpundit at The Madison Tea Party with Sarah Palin. (Psssst: The tea party far outnumbered the protestors, that day, by the way):

Lefty-counter-protesters would do well to take his advice.

See also:

Legal Insurrection: Wisconsin, next week is Recall Week

Schedule for Restoring Common Sense Tour: August 5th – 8th:

Charlie Crist Donates To Allen West’s 2012 Opponent

And not for the first time, either. The term “RINO” is too good for this guy:

Former Gov. Charlie Crist certainly has plenty of friends and enemies across Florida, but we now know who he’s a fan of in the 2012 elections: congressional candidate Patrick Murphy.

Murphy — a Democrat who’s touted having the highest fundraising totals of any congressional challenger in the current election cycle — is the most recent recipient of Crist’s cash since Sen. John McCain’s unsuccessful presidential bid in 2008.

According to Murphy’s filings with the Federal Election Commission, Crist has given two $1,000 checks to the Murphy campaign committee — one at the end of March, the other at the end of June.

Murphy announced his candidacy last March, calling West a “right-wing extremist”:

“I’m not going to stand by while right-wing extremists like Allen West divide us,” Murphy said.

Murphy — a CPA and vice president of Coastal Environmental Services, an affiliate of Coastal Construction — is billing himself as a public-spirited businessman and one of the nation’s “Green Contractors.”

Murphy was registered “Republican” until January, 2011 as The Shark Tank reported on June 22:

As a followup to our piece on Democrat candidate for Congress Patrick Murphyand his campaign disclosure problems, a subsequent search of the Miami Dade Supervisor of Elections records shows that Murphy was a registered Republican in Miami-Dade county from 2004 up until January of 2011 and he cast his vote in the 2010 elections as a registered Republican.  Murphy changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat mere months ago- on January 10, 2011, according to the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections.

Murphy is running for Congress in Congressional District 22, which spans over both Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Murphy is now a resident and registered voter  in Broward County, but interestingly enough, he is not eligible to vote within the county according to the Broward Supervisor of Elections.

It is possible that Murphy has conflicting voter registration information in both Miami-Dade and Broward counties that is preventing him from being eligible to vote in the county where he currently resides.

Hat tip: Charles B.

The Latest On Fast and Furious: DOJ Doubles Down – Promotes ATF Honchos In Charge Of Gunwalker

William McMahon

In a move that clearly suggests that the DOJ plans to double-down in its cover-up and whitewash of Fast and Furious, their disastrous gunwalking mega-scandal with a body count, they’ve promoted Former ATF Special Agent in Charge, Phoenix Field Division; William McMahon to ATF Deputy Assistant Director for Field Operations. This promotion, among others, is being seen by whistle-blowers within the ATF as an attempt to charge “full speed ahead on its defense-slash-deflection of Gunwalker.”  And ominously for whistle-blowers,it appears that some of the people directly responsible for this project are now in a positions to “slit their throats.”

Clean-up ATF.Org is a forum where anonymous ATF agents share information and compare notes, an absolute treasure-trove of information for people following this trainwreck. A regular poster who goes by the handle “old school” posted this warning to fellow members at the site:

 I think management may have indeed already learned who some of us anonymous members are. I have no doubt computer hacks have been assigned to discover our identities. I am no tech guy but I know lots of things can be done. It would not surprise me for illegal methods to be used in this endeavor also. I have had received some very unusual comments from some managers lately, comments that were a little too close and too coincidental to my posts. I feel completely confident and comfortable with my postings but we know how the retaliation works. Revenge is a dish best served cold, right?

His post on the shocking  staff changes:

George Gillett is slated to be named as the ATF Liaison to the United States Marshall’s Service. Another poor decision with a magnitude of idiocy that is nearly incomprehensible. He is universally disrespected, has a documented history of failed management and discipline and was a leading proponent of Fast and Furious. He will ruin whatever is left of ATF’s relationship with the USMS.

McMahon in essence received a promotion. ATF’s OPRSO (Internal Affairs) is the highest level of integrity review in the Bureau. They have given the keys to that car to a person who has displayed self-admitted incompetence and refused any accountability for Fast and Furious beyond an admission that he did not review reports closely enough on the case. He has no integrity but now he will be judging everyone else’s. Plus, he has supervised and protected SAC John Torres for years, one of ATF’s biggest criminals. Prepare for the already low esteem of IA to sink deeper regardless of how well Chait props him up (see below).

David Voth was promoted to the Chief of the Tobacco Program after he extorted the agents in his group by giving them the ultimatum of going along with his plan to run guns into Mexico or leave ATF for another job.

Mark Chait who was instrumental in Fast and Furious and Castaway is the guy making these promotions and announcing them in a way where he praises McMahon in his new position (from Chait’s email), “I would also like to extend the same thanks to Bill [McMahon] for his leadership and work with the Western Region field divisions and IAO. While we will miss his guidance in FO, I know he will take the same professionalism and dedication he has shown us and direct that into his new position at OPRSO.”

Julie Torres who was asleep at the wheel during Castaway will remain in her spot and, she was overheard stating her intention to get to the bottom of CleanUpATF and ask DOJ to investigate the anonymous participants.

Good luck with that Jules. 1) Whistleblowers are given the privilege of being anonymous and, 2) there is a document called the Constitution and its First Amendment is the Freedom of Speech.

Even in the midst of our agencies biggest crisis in history Chait and his people can’t even do the wrong thing right. He is dangerous in his arrogance that he can make statements like that and moves like he has in the face of his involvement in F&F.

Given the recent promotions, Bill Newell should soon be Director. Being on the verge of a perjury indictment won’t dissuade Chait and Melson’s clowns. If Newell isn’t indicted quickly then DOJ better pardon the convictions of Bernie Maddoff, Scooter Libby, Kwame Kilpatrick, Marion Jones and Barry Bonds. They were all recently convicted of perjury. How can a federal agent not be held to the same standard of any other American? Maybe because he is covering for his bosses and that buys him some grace from DOJ and Eric Holder. That’s the only thing I can come up with.

At Sipsey Street Irregulars, Mike Vanderboegh is digging into the background of former ATF Special Agent in Charge, Phoenix Field Division, Bill Newell’s White House contact,  Kevin O’Reilly.  He describes the info coming his way as “anecdotal yet useful” in Sipsey Street Exclusive: The O’Reilly Factor. The Obama “political Rasputin” who just happened to be emailing “Gunwalker Bill” Newell:

Typical, and reinforced by other accounts except on one major point, is this from a source with long government experience:

O’Reilly is a very left-wing operator. Has wide and long contacts with the “CHANGE” gang, Axelrod and Emanuel. . . (He is) a “One World” true believer, who has in the past three years, become close to U.S. Amb. to U.N. Susan Rice. This gives him an entree to the scab-suckers @ U.N.

The fact that he is in the N.S.C. is very troubling. The fact that he has so much juice … is dangerous !

He has John Donilan’s ear… which makes him the political Rasputin who gets to whisper the last thing into The N.S.C. Advisor’s ear before he talks to POTUS. He has some long-standing relations with Fmr. CIA’s John Brennan (Now Counter-terrorism Guru @ N.S.C.) but can’t pin it down to a time and place. May have been during the
election run-up in 2008.

He was a player in forcing Adm. Dennis Blair to resign as Director of National Intelligence, I am told. He made a reputation for himself as a very crafty … and clever. A staffer up on the Hill, who has a lot of Juice with left wing crowd.

(MBV Note: Probably refers to O’Reilly’s time as a Pearson Fellow in the office of Illinois Senator Dick Durbin.)

My sources tell me that he was the “MOLE” inside the N.S.C. who pulled the rug out from under the best National Security Advisor we’ve had in a long, long time; Gen. Jim Jones, USMC (Ret). He under-mined the General and was rumored to being the leak
at the White House on some very key matters, such as Troop “Surge” in Afghanistan, the McChrystal mess and the embrace of the Obama-labeled “Arab Spring” bullshit. . .

Keep reading…

RELATED:

Sipsey Street Irregulars ties in the Democratic media complex’s coordinated outrageous smears against the tea party with the “International Gunrunner Regime” in this disquieting post: The International Gunrunner Regime’s devaluing of language in order to devalue their opponents. Preparatory to what, exactly?

…to what do we attribute the Democrats collectivists’ devaluing of words like “Jihad” and “terrorist” when they apply them to their certainly non-violent political opponents? Why do they use, as Klemperer called them, “poison words” when speaking about the Tea Parties?

Klemperer’s book not only documents how the Nazis used words to marginalize, dehumanize and ultimately justify killing their opponents, it also demonstrates that, in the words of the Wikipedia reviewer, “resistance to oppression begins by questioning the constant use of buzzwords.”

The characterization of Tea Party activists as “terrorists” is ludicrous to anyone who knows one in person. Surely, even the people who are using these words must understand how over the top they are when used to describe the blue-haired old ladies who bake cupcakes to raise money for conservative candidates. Don’t they?

Or do they? Something else must surely be going on here.

Psychological projection or projection bias is a psychological defense mechanism where a person subconsciously denies his or her own attributes, thoughts, and emotions, which are then ascribed to the outside world, usually to other people. Thus, projection involves imagining or projecting the belief that others originate those feelings. — Wikipedia.

Klemperer writes with great irony about the ability of Nazi murderers to ascribe murderous intent to their victims. I rather think that is what is going on here.

Tuesday’s hearing has been posted in it entirety on Youtube. You can watch here, here, and here.

Canadian coverage of the scandal, here.

Video: Senator Jeff Sessions On Piers Morgan Defends The Tea Party, Says He’ll Vote No On Debt Limit Increase

Ranking member of the Budget Committee, Senator Jeff Sessions, told Piers Morgan that he would not vote for the debt ceiling bill, although he respects the people who worked on it, and it makes progress towards reducing spending, (although less than we need). He says they put language in the bill that undermines the ability to have a budget next year, which would be the third consecutive year without a budget, so no thankee.

Asked about the recent  left-wing attacks on the tea party, Sessions quipped that “the Tea Party have been called ‘terrorists’; I would just say they put some terror in the hearts of the big spenders.”

Sen. Sessions took to the Senate floor tonight to announce his opposition to the debt limit deal set to be voted on in the Senate tomorrow.

He acknowledged that the spending cuts contained in the package represent a modest step in the right direction, he laid out serious concerns with the legislation, including:

* The fact that the bill was first introduced at 3 a.m. this morning, yet will be voted on by noon tomorrow–leaving little time to review or even read the bill

* The bill “deems” budget resolutions for the next two years, effectively allowing Senate Democrats to continue ignoring their basic, statutory responsibility to pass a budget plan for the nation

* The bill sets up a special joint committee that will recommend a deficit reduction package that can only be debated for a short time, and cannot be amended.

RELATED:

 

 

Gateway Pundit: Sarah Palin: “To Being Called a Terrorist by the Vice President Is Quite Appalling and Quite Vile” (Video)

Reactions To The Debt Deal (UPDATE: Joint Committee NOT REQUIRED To Recommend 1.5 Trillion In Deficit Reduction)

Reactions from the right on the debt deal reached in Washington, last night, run the gamut from the WSJ’s “A Tea Party Triumph”,

The tea partiers pride themselves on adhering to the Constitution, which was intended to make political change difficult. Yet in this deal they’ve forced both parties to make the biggest spending cuts in 15 years, with more cuts likely next year. The U.S. is engaged in an epic debate over the size and scope of government that will play out over several years, and the most important battle comes in the election of 2012.

Tea partiers will do more for their cause by applauding this victory and working toward the next, rather than diminishing what they’ve accomplished because it didn’t solve every fiscal problem in one impossible swoop.

to Glenn Beck’s “We’ve just been betrayed by Washington”:

Republicans and Democrats have just negotiated away the future of our children behind closed doors. The big compromise on Capitol Hill features elaborate triggers, tranches, Hornswogglers, Snozzwangers, Super Duper Commissions that will make the Snozzberries taste like Snozeberries, and a whole bunch of other convoluted gibberish that will, no doubt, come with loopholes and create entire new bureaucracies. What it doesn’t do is fix the problem.

I’d like to know how Glenn Beck thinks we can  get everything we want when Republicans hold only the House and we’re dealing with Democrat Socialists in the Senate and White House. It’s true that newly elected Republicans have a mandate. Obama doesn’t care about their mandates, and he doesn’t care about the constitution. He thinks he has his own mandate. That’s what Boehner and Mitch McConnell have to deal with.

Jed Babbin at The American Spectator walks us through what led to the current deal: Slippery Weasels, Deals, and Triggers:

McConnell was in the driver’s seat for two reasons. First, House Speaker John Boehner was double-crossed by Obama and rightly walked away from negotiating with Obama two weeks ago, but his plan to cut a deal with Nancy Pelosi​ and Harry Reid was — as I pointed out at the time — bound to fail. When it did, and after Boehner’s own attempt at a solo solution was blocked by House conservatives, Boehner was so weakened that McConnell was forced to step in. Second, because the “notoriously subdued” McConnell (as the Washington Post characterized him yesterday) proved able to flush the president out of the tall grass that he’s been hiding in for months.

McConnell, as he said repeatedly this weekend, was negotiating with the only person who can sign a bill into law. “If we get a deal,” he said yesterday, “the president will be supporting it.”

We know a lot about the deal, and part of that knowledge is that neither Boehner’s plan nor Reid’s will be the result.

***

Newsmax interviewed Gover Norquist, who  Loves the Deal: Obama Big Loser:

“The deal proved that we can cut spending without trading away tax hikes,” Norquist says.

He adds that the deal is no passing congressional fad, but a milestone in Capitol Hill thinking about spending and taxes.

Norquist says that Obama is the big loser in this deal:

“Obama’s internal polling must scare the heck out of him,” Norquist says. “He caved on the key Republican demands: no tax hike, spending cuts equal to the debt ceiling increase.”

White House Dossier’s Keith Koffler says that  Obama has agreed to hold national security hostage.

According to the White House, the deal would potentially impose $850 billion in cuts to the Defense Department – $350 billion now, and another $500 billion in automatic cuts if a special committee can’t agree on anything by the end of the year. Additional cuts would come out of other national security spending.

Obama earlier this year had proposed to cut $400 billion from Defense, a bad idea that has somehow gained general acceptance. Now the president is prepared to try to force the special committee to come up with a plan – and avoid the automatic cuts – by holding our national security hostage.

Here’s what incoming Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said last week about such defense cuts, before he knew they would be part of the debt ceiling deal:

Based on the difficulty of achieving the $400 billion cut, I believe $800 billion would be extraordinarily difficult and very high risk.

Forget what Dempsey says – as our president  and Congress evidently did. It doesn’t take an expert in military planning to understand that you don’t vastly decrease defense spending during a time of war and while overseas threats are growing.

Fox News has the reactions of presidential candidates Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, and John Huntsman – all but Huntsman give it a thumbs down.

UPDATE:The Foundry: *Even the Fakery is Fake: Joint Committee is NOT REQUIRED to Recommend $1.5 Trillion in Deficit Reduction:

The “Budget Control Act of 2011″ (BCA) contains provisions for a joint committee of Congress, whose supposed job it is to make recommendations to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion.  But the legislation does not require the joint committee to do that job.  It is merely a “goal” of the joint committee to recommend at least $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction, but even if the committee fails to do so, the Congress will give expedited consideration anyway to whatever is in the joint committee bill.  The Congressional Budget Office letter of August 1, 2011 scoring the legislation noted that the joint committee is merely “charged with the goal of reducing the deficit by at least $1.5 trillion between 2012 and 2021.”

We know that proposing $1.5 trillion is the intended job of the joint committee, because a slide from Speaker Boehner’s office (marked “Updated: July 31, 10:35 pm EST”) says the agreed-on framework “creates a 12-member Joint Committee required to report legislation by November 23, 2011 that would produce a proposal to reduce the deficit by at least $1.5T over 10 years.”

But sometime between the Speaker’s slide at 10:35 p.m. and the House Legislative Counsel’s draft of the “Budget Control Act of 2011″ (marked “August 1, 2011 (12:04 p.m.)” and posted on the House Rules Committee Website) somebody made the decision that the joint committee does not actually need to propose $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction.  Because the actual legislation does not require the joint committee bill to recommend $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction for the bill to get expedited consideration in Congress.

FreedomWorks Issues Letter Urging House Members to Vote Against Boehner Plan

The Tea Party activist group FreedomWorks has issued what they’re calling a ‘Key Vote “NO” letter’ to all members of the U.S. House of Representatives, urging them to vote against the revised Boehner bill, which attempts to avoid crisis by reducing the deficit and raising the debt ceiling.

The letter says the House Speaker’s plan “still fails to fundamentally change the way Washington spends. Anything less than that, FreedomWorks cannot and will not support.”

FreedomWorks instead pushes Republican lawmakers to stick to the “Cut, Cap and Balance’ bill passed in the House earlier this month. “We will be engaging our activist network of over 1.4 million grassroots volunteers… to remind Speaker Boehner and the rest of the Republican establishment that the “Cut, Cap, and Balance Act’ is both good politics and good policy.”

Business Insider has live coverage of today’s vote: Democratic Press Conference Cancelled, Boehner Appearance Postponed, As Vote-Counting Continues

latest update:

2:53pm | Opposition mounting?

The Congressional Progressive Caucus will hold a 4pm news conference on the debt deal. Yesterday, Chairman Rep. Raúl Grijalva put out a scathing critique of the bill.

See also:

The Other McCain: Congress Expected to Vote on Debt Deal Today; Left, Right Spin It in Blame Game

The Rhetorican:

How did we get here? You can blame the whole mess on cynical Democrats like Harry Reid, who could have raised the debt ceiling while in control of Congress last year. But they simply didn’t want to, preferring to play politics with the nation’s finances instead.

RELATED:

Dick Morris: OBAMA FACING LANDSLIDE LOSS – DICK MORRIS TV: LUNCH ALERT!

Nile Gardiner, UK Telegraph: Barack Obama’s vulgar Twitter spamming campaign is a classless act of desperation by the US president:

One would have thought the leader of the free world might have better things to do with his time than spam Twitter with highly partisan tweets that quickly became a major annoyance, the online equivalent of receiving voluminous amounts of junk mail through the post. With the United States facing the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression due to towering mountains of federal debt (much of it racked up by his own administration), the president should be actively thinking of ways to reduce the size of government, cut the budget deficit and spur job growth, instead of flooding social media with politically charged propaganda.

As the president’s approval rating slips to a dismal 40 percent in the latest Gallup poll, the spin-obsessed White House only looks further out of touch with reality in a nation where 75 percent of likely voters believe the country is moving down the wrong direction.

P/Oed Patriot: Obama: “This Has Been A Long And Messy Process”

Watch Obama’s video message to his minions (OFA), thanking them for all the hard work they did spamming Congress in letters, phone calls, emails, and tweets.

Doug Powers at Michelle Malkin: Debt Deal Watch; Update: Boehner Having Trouble Rounding Up Enough House Votes

Frances W Poretto weighs in with:  No, No, 240 Times No:

Your Curmudgeon has concluded that the debt ceiling must not be raised — that the federal government must be constrained to spend only what it can gather in normal revenues, regardless of any appropriations bills that militate to the contrary. Here are his reasons:

Keep reading.

UPDATE:

HOT AIR: Open thread: House vote to finally put America out of its misery; Update: Trouble getting votes? Update: Gabby Giffords returns to D.C., will vote yes; Update: Bill passes, 269-161

Linked by Michelle Malkin in Buzzworthy, thanks!

Video: Herman Cain at Smart Girl Summit, 2011: “This Economy Doesn’t Need Compromise, It Needs An Injection!” (Updated with Q and A)

2012 presidential candidate, Herman Cain was the closing speaker at Smart Girl Summit in St. Louis, July 29-30 where he came in a close second behind Michele Bachmann in the SGS straw poll.

Among other things, Cain said (as President), he would ask congress to send him legislation that they could pass in the first 90 days that would lower the top corporate and personal  tax rates to a maximum of 25%. Secondly, he would sustain taxes on foreign repatriated profits – we have nearly $3 trillion dollars offshore. And the reason that money doesn’t come back home is real simple – companies are avoiding double taxation. He says companies are not talking about growth, they’re talking about survival. Thirdly, he wants to take the capital gains tax rate to zero.

Most important, he’d like to make these changes permanent.

After he passes the first phase of his agenda, he would like to totally replace the tax code with the FAIR Tax.

Cain also called for elimination of the Environmental Protection Agency which drew a great deal of applause from the audience.

Part One:

Part Two:

I had to switch to my iphone for the second half of Mr. Cain’s speech because my camera ran out of batteries.   He choked up several times as he told the heart-rending story of a 14 year old girl and her brother who ran away from an abusive household and had to live on the streets before being adopted by a tea party leader in Reno. Wait til you hear the girl’s reason for becoming a conservative.

He then spent some time talking about how to deal with the illegal immigration problem, which he would like to return to the states.

UPDATE:

Herman Cain visited the bloggers lounge to take some questions after his speech. You don’t want to miss Adam Sharp’s rapid-fire barrage of impertinent questions starting at about 4:38:

See also: Sharp Elbows:Explosive – Hard Hitting Video From Smart Girl Summit 2011

SharpElbows.Net Brings The Heat To Smart Girl Summit 2011