Gryffn Musings

Obamalism: a political/social/economic philosophy that combines socialism, collectivism and redistribution of your money wrapped around a killer smile.

Welcome, Mr. President, to your new reality. One, BTW, you did not inherit. One that you created. One that We, The People reject.

Despite Obama's defiant assertion that he would rather be a "really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president," he seems to be ready to cave, just like Clinton.

Angry voters are fed up with a left-wing, job-killing, anti-business agenda. In every demographic — racial, gender, age, ideological affiliation — Obama's popularity is down.

Blaming Bush no longer works. Obama indeed inherited a sluggish economy, with a large debt and deficit. His solution? Increase both!

Obama did not inherit the $800 billion-plus "stimulus" plan or various subsequent ones.

Obama did not inherit a "sweeping" financial regulation of Wall Street that leaves in place Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Community Reinvestment Act, the primary cause of the housing meltdown.

Obama did not inherit government takeovers of the automotive companies. He did that.

Obama did not inherit a massive "green jobs" initiative, in which private companies refused to invest. Yet Obama is taking your money and doing exactly that.

Obama did not inherit ObamaCare, a monstrosity that even he no longer claims will "bend the cost curve." Instead he forced this upon us. It adds 30 million Americans to the ranks of the insured, will decrease the number of doctors, and put beaurocrats in charge of your health care to the point of telling you what drugs and procedures you may and may not have. He ignored obvious measures to improve accessibility and affordability, like allowing us to pick from insurers across state lines.

With the arrogance of a community organizer for whom "profit" is a four-letter word, Obama expected merely to wave his hope-and-change wand and — voila! — companies would continue to operate as they did before. They would make no adjustments to reflect the new costs imposed on them.

Large insurers recently announced large premium increases. They are dropping certain policies, like those for children only, because ObamaCare requires the acceptance of those with pre-existing illnesses. When insurance companies announced increased costs and/or reductions in policies, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius summoned her inner Fidel Castro: "There will be zero tolerance for this type of misinformation and unjustified rate increases." No wonder they kept Gitmo open; health care dissidents have to be "re-educated" somewhere.

Obama said: "If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period. No one will take it away. No matter what." But employers are now asking for larger copays or offering more restrictive plans. Some will drop them altogether and pay the fine.

Several states filed lawsuits to declare unconstitutional ObamaCare's mandate that every American man, woman and child have health insurance. With a four-conservative/four-liberal/one-swing-vote Supreme Court, the mandate could be struck down for violating the commerce clause. No mandate, no ObamaCare.

It's been one quite expensive and, to an unknown degree, irreversible teachable moment. As for Obama, he doesn't get it. Leftists seldom do. But for most voters, the fog has lifted.

Obamalism does not work.

The Obamas at an Arab fund-raiser

Today is the 9th anniversary of 9/11. We should clearly see that the Israelis are our only ally in the region and consequently, we must support them here at home.

As Israeli and Palestinian peace talks resumed in Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that Palestinian recognition of Israel as the Jewish homeland is an essential condition for peace. Completely reasonable, but don't hold your breath, especially with the Obama administration's attitude toward Israel.

Can you believe we're even having a discussion about Israel's right to the land six-plus decades and numerous wars after the modern Israeli state was restored to the Jews?

It's bad enough when misfit countries oppose Israel's right to existence and always demonize Israel while downplaying the Palestinians' misdeeds, but it's shocking and disturbing when the president of the United States abuses our greatest ally in the Mideast.

It's mystifying that so many Jewish people in America have been so tolerant of Obama's behavior toward Israel, almost as if in denial, but what more evidence do we need?

Obama is an anti-Semite, anti Jewish. Check this –

Obama's official campaign website, Organizing for America, allowed a post entitled "How the Jewish Lobby Works."  Yup, let's blame it all on the Jews.

The post said: "No lobby is feared more or catered to by politicians than the Jewish Lobby. If a politician does not play ball with the Jewish Lobby, he will not get elected, or re-elected, and he will either be smeared or ignored by the Jewish-owned major media." NewsBusters cited numerous other links to similar anti-Jewish posts on the website, showing this was not an isolated event.

Remember the 20 years with Rev. Wright's anti-Jewish rants.
 
Hillary Clinton denounced Israel's treatment of Palestinians in Gaza while ignoring the many Palestinian sins against Israel.

Obama demands that Israel negotiate with Syria — a primary sponsor of Hezbollah — just two days after Syrian foreign minister Walid Mueller praised a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling Israel "the most cruel and repressive racist regime."

Obama made us return to the U.N. Human Rights Council, which the Bush administration had left nine months before because the council had incessantly condemned Israel while ignoring the abuses of Mideast dictatorships.

Obama snubbed Netanyahu and announced he would discontinue the established practice of hosting Israeli prime ministers when they are in Washington.

Obama's Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, adopted the controversial 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which called for Israel to withdraw from east Jerusalem, the entire West Bank and Golan Heights and also for Israel to accept the influx of millions of foreign Arabs as Israeli citizens as part of the "right of return." Mideast expert Caroline Glick says this would mean "Israel would effectively cease to be a Jewish state."

Vice President Biden engaged in a public temper tantrum and harshly "condemned" Israel for not bowing to the administration's demands.

So, how can Senator Obama be pro-Israel and have so many anti-Israel buddies? Well, one prominent Palestinian-American will tell you that Obama is hiding his true feelings toward the Jewish State.

Ali Abunimah is a pro-Arab journalist and founder of the Electronic Intifada website. He will tell you that Senator Obama is full of crap when he says that he is pro-Israel: "If disappointing, given his historically close relations to Palestinian-Americans, Obama's about-face is not surprising. He is merely doing what he thinks is necessary to get elected."

It all boils down to the destruction of Israel, and that is the wagon Obama has hitched his star to.

Everyone, not just American Jews, needs to wake up.

D Limbaugh, Townhall
 

The longer President Obama refuses to acknowledge the direction of our nation's economy the greater the coming depression will be. For someone who has had the advantages of an Ivy League education, he seems to be an excessively poor student of history.

– President Obama is ignoring the very real direction the nation is headed.
– He is purposefully ignoring the impact his looming historic tax increases will have.

He just does not want to see the relationship between his economic ideas and the current pessimism that pervades the business sector. Just what are they teaching in Economics classes in those Ivy League institutions?

So this week, Obama played the numbers game again. He said that August saw jobs growth of 67,000. But there are problems with that figure…

Even if this number was real (which it is not) it would be a miniscule number of the 14,885,000 unemployed (1 in 10 Americans) plus another  23,768,000 who are underemployed (working but not earning enough for basic needs – 1 in 5 families).

But that 67,000 number isn't even real!  114,000 people were added to the unemployment lines in August and the net jobs lost for the month sat at 54,000.

This "summer of recovery" is a farce and bold-faced LIE.  238,000 more jobs disappeared.  What kind of "recovery" is that? More people out of work!

He keeps saying we are moving in the right direction. Job loss and economic grow in a downward trend is the "right direction"? Is he dumb or is he deliberately plotting the destruction of our economy? Neither option is good.
At the rate of this "recovery" another 317,333 workers will lose their jobs by the end of the year.

Adding to the problem, now Obama wants the largest increase in taxes. In less than 120 days President Obama's plan to add a collective 18.6% to the federal tax burden will continue the economic downward spiral into record breaking depression-era territory.

And remember he repeatedly said–on the campaign trail–that he should be elected expressly to prevent the nation's economy from complete deterioration.

He also lied about no tax increases ("one single dime") for those making less than $250,000.

As of Jan 01 2011, President Obama will raise all five income levels of tax categories between 3-5%.

That's a whole lot of dimes.

– Townhall

President Obama has a weakness for thinking in categories — compartmentalizing. For someone who provokes swoons among liberals for his great intellect, he has repeatedly evidenced an unsophisticated, one might even say simple-minded, view of the world: Workers good; bosses exploitative. Borrowers good; lenders bad. Patients good; insurance companies bad. Again and again, the president and his spokesmen have justified their expansions of government power as efforts to help those who "through no fault of their own" find themselves in difficulties.

Most politicians drag this "I'll take care of you" rhetoric out during campaigns, but Obama has institutionalized it in policy.He has a veritable Ph.D (piled high and deep) degree in it.

One of those piles — the Home Affordable Modification Program — was a total failure.

Recall that in February 2009, President Obama proposed to solve a "crisis unlike we've ever known." It wasn't, the president insisted, that anyone had made poor decisions — [of course not - let's not confuse the people with "accountability" here].

"It begins with a young family … They save up … They choose a home that feels like the perfect place to start a life. They secure a fixed-rate mortgage at a reasonable rate, and they make a down payment, and they make their mortgage payments each month. They are as responsible as anyone could ask them to be." But then someone loses a job, a spouse has his or her hours cut, or a child becomes sick.

Um, isn't that called "Life"?  Life happens as a result of the decisions we make. Such a simple concept which frees us because we know we are in charge of our lives. Don't like your circumstances? Make different choices.

We live on the planet Earth, not in a bubble. One cannot protect people from"Life" — or their decisions — or the consequences of such decisions.

Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (SIGTARP for those who speak Washingtonese) blasted the program in a July report:

"Treasury's refusal to provide meaningful goals for this important program is a fundamental failure of transparency and accountability that makes it far more difficult for the American people and their representatives in Congress to assess whether the program's benefits are worth its very substantial cost.

"The American people are essentially being asked to shoulder an additional $50 billion of national debt without being told, more than 16 months after the program's announcement, how many people Treasury hopes to actually help stay in their homes as a result of these expenditures, how many people are intended to be helped through other subprograms, and how the program is performing against those expectations and goals. Without such clearly defined standards, positive comments regarding the progress or success of HAMP are simply not credible, and the growing public suspicion that the program is an outright failure will continue to spread.

In contrast to the Obama morality play, the foreclosure crisis was not a conspiracy of the rich and powerful against dutiful homeowners reliably making their monthly payments. It was the result of multiple stupidity by government, bankers, and individuals. Obama's instinct to insulate people from the consequences of their bad decisions (and yes, sometimes bad luck) amounts to subsidizing failure. The results are coming in daily — persistent high unemployment, an anemic recovery, and billions upon billions of wasted taxpayer's money.

– based upon article by Mona Charen

There are multiple reasons that 24+ percent of Americans believe President Obama is a Muslim: he is always on the campaign trail for Islam. He proselytizes for Islamic goals and dreams like a member of the faithful.

He endlessly recounts his background to establish his street creds with the Muslim world. "I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims," he told a Muslim audience in Cairo. "As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk. … I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed."

And it is true. Our memories from the youngest ages stay with us and always feel familiar and like "home." In this regard he is a Muslim and identifies with Islam.

One could argue whether this was preferable to the hatred emanating from Rev Wright's so-called "church" and Liberation Theology Marxist teachings. When did Jesus ever spew hatred? When did he ever claim that anyone different form Him was putrid, unclean and could not be touched? When did He call for the eradication of other religions?

The answer is never and there is your major difference between Christianity and Islam. One calls for forgiveness and love. The other calls for hatred and conquest.

While Obama continues to proclaim to the Muslim world, "I am on your side" and heralding his Muslim parentage on Muslim soil, speaking of Islam's "revelation," talking about living in a Muslim country, Americans scratch their heads in confusion.

In Cairo, Obama said his job as president of the United States is to "fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear." Is that his job as President of the United States? How about dumping the idiot economists you have their and really bring jobs back?

Obama's bow to the navel of the Saudi king, the leader of the most Sharia country, where women cannot drive, have to be swathed in black with only eyes showing, should raise a warning flag.

American leaders do not bow before foreign leaders. Period. But not only did Obama bow, he specifically bowed to the leader of the Muslim country where Mecca lies. Why?

Then the White House ridiculously attempted to claim that the bow never happened in the first place. As if we never saw it.

Obama has consistently sided with Muslims against American allies. He has thrown Israel under the bus while supporting the idea of a "contiguous" Palestinian state, which by definition would mean splitting Israel in half.

He has barred Israel from taking action against Iran even as Iran goes nuclear.

He has backed a UN resolution condemning Israel's nuclear weapons and ignoring Iran's.

He has supported Raila Odinga, a radical Muslim politician in Kenya who has pledged to rewrite Kenya's Constitution to recognize Shariah as the only true law and establish Shariah courts in every Kenyan divisional headquarters.

He has abandoned Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, an anti-Islamist in Bangladesh who has been imprisoned and prosecuted for supporting Israel's right to exist.

He has endorsed the mosque two blocks from Ground Zero despite the fact that the imam of the proposed "bridge-building" mosque is a radical Islamist who refuses to condemn Hamas and believes that the United States is responsible for 9/11.

He has endowed NASA with the glorious mission to "find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science … and math and engineering." Oi vey.

Oh, I guess we gloss over the fact that the Arabs took the concept of numbers and zero from India. But I digress.

Obama may not be a practicing Muslim, but he is a sellout to the radical Muslim world.

No wonder we are confused.

– based upon Townhall article by Ben Shapiro

According to that bastion of fairness, CNN.com, some of the criticism of first lady Michelle Obama is driven by white resentment of the “uppity Negro.”

C'mon. Only Democrat Harry Reid uses the word “Negro” any more. Secondly, this is the 21st century and still there are those who continue to talk about race as if it were 1955. Liberals stuck in the past?

Last February, in a speech to honor Black History Month, Attorney General Eric Holder remarked that Americans of all colors should stop avoiding an honest discussion of race in America. Said Holder: "Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards."

What exactly does he want?

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