Barney Frank wants to control your pay

The government has successfully put a limit on top executives working in firms receiving bailout money. Now Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) wants more control in how all employees of these firms are paid:

But now, in a little-noticed move, the House Financial Services Committee, led by chairman Barney Frank, has approved a measure that would, in some key ways, go beyond the most draconian features of the original AIG bill. The new legislation, the "Pay for Performance Act of 2009," would impose government controls on the pay of all employees -- not just top executives -- of companies that have received a capital investment from the U.S. government. It would, like the tax measure, be retroactive, changing the terms of compensation agreements already in place. And it would give Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner extraordinary power to determine the pay of thousands of employees of American companies.

The purpose of the legislation is to "prohibit unreasonable and excessive compensation and compensation not based on performance standards," according to the bill's language. That includes regular pay, bonuses -- everything -- paid to employees of companies in whom the government has a capital stake, including those that have received funds through the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP, as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The measure is not limited just to those firms that received the largest sums of money, or just to the top 25 or 50 executives of those companies. It applies to all employees of all companies involved, for as long as the government is invested. And it would not only apply going forward, but also retroactively to existing contracts and pay arrangements of institutions that have already received funds.

In addition, the bill gives Geithner the authority to decide what pay is "unreasonable" or "excessive." And it directs the Treasury Department to come up with a method to evaluate "the performance of the individual executive or employee to whom the payment relates."

Again, once the government gets a taste of new power, it never relents in grabbing more.

Oh please, not another .gov website!

The Treasury Department announces FinancialStability.gov:

a website dedicated to bringing transparency and clarity to the immensely complex problems in the financial system and the President’s plans to address them.

If Geithner cannot explain it on TV, how can he explain it on a website? I'd rather all that money, time, and energy spent on creating this website used someplace else. Seriously, how many .gov sites do we need with this administration?!

Harold and Kumar go to White House

How about that for a Hollywood blockbuster? It's starting to look that way with Harold Koh, nominated by President Obama to be the State Department's legal advisor, and talks of the White House perusing top Muslim Americans for a high ranking government position.

But this is no comedy. Before his nomination Harold Koh was dean at Yale Law School, but once he enters the State Department as one of the government's top lawyers, he'll have powers to be feared because he'll be the one forging international treaties and agreements with foreign nations.

His beliefs are worrisome and even anti-American:

Koh has called America's focus on the War on Terror "obsessive." In 2004, he listed countries that flagrantly disregard international law -- "most prominently, North Korea, Iraq, and our own country, the United States of America," which he branded "the axis of disobedience."

He has also accused President George Bush of abusing international law to justify the invasion of Iraq, comparing his "advocacy of unfettered presidential power" to President Richard Nixon's. And that was the first Bush -- Koh was attacking the 1991 operation to liberate Kuwait, four days after fighting began in Operation Desert Storm.

Koh has also praised the Nicaraguan Sandinistas' use in the 1980s of the International Court of Justice to get Congress to stop funding the Contras. Imagine such international lawyering by rogue nations like Iran, Syria, North Korea and Venezuela today, and you can see the danger in Koh's theories.

Koh, a self-described "activist," would plainly promote his views aggressively once at State. He's not likely to feel limited by the letter of the law -- in 1994, he told The New Republic: "I'd rather have [former Supreme Court Justice Harry] Blackmun, who uses the wrong reasoning in Roe [v. Wade] to get the right results, and let other people figure out the right reasoning."

Worse, the State job might be a launching pad for a Supreme Court nomination. (He's on many liberals' short lists for the high court.) Since this job requires Senate confirmation, it's certainly a useful trial run.

Be scared. Be very scared. The nomination of Harold Koh needs to be a flashing, bright blip on the political radar!

Did the NYT break federal election law by killing "game changer" piece about ACORN-Obama?

It's no wonder that The New York Times is losing subscribers by the boatload and needing to sell its office spaces for cash with such questionable journalistic practices:

A lawyer involved with legal action against Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) told a House Judiciary subcommittee on March 19 The New York Times had killed a story in October that would have shown a close link between ACORN, Project Vote and the Obama campaign because it would have been a “a game changer.”

Heather Heidelbaugh, who represented the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee in the lawsuit against the group, recounted for the committee what she had been told by a former ACORN worker who had worked in the group’s Washington, D.C. office. The former worker, Anita Moncrief, told Ms. Heidelbaugh last October, during the state committee’s litigation against ACORN, she had been a “confidential informant for several months to The New York Times reporter, Stephanie Strom.”

Ms. Moncrief had been providing Ms. Strom with information about ACORN’s election activities. Ms. Strom had written several stories based on information Ms. Moncrief had given her.

During her testimony, Ms. Heidelbaugh said Ms. Moncrief had told her The New York Times articles stopped when she revealed that the Obama presidential campaign had sent its maxed-out donor list to ACORN’s Washington, D.C. office.

Ms. Moncrief told Ms. Heidelbaugh the campaign had asked her and her boss to “reach out to the maxed-out donors and solicit donations from them for Get Out the Vote efforts to be run by ACORN.”

Undeniable evidence of the NYT being the liberal mouthpiece of Democrats. Mainstream media at its leftist best. Who would want to read this biased trash? The death of journalism indeed!

Next target: Sarah Palin

The Democrats are leaving Rush Limbaugh alone now, perhaps after realizing that targeting him only helped him gain more listeners. Who's their next target? Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, of course!

I'm predicting another Democratic backfire. People are tired of this crap from the Democrat "strategists." Stop wasting time "strategizing" and start doing something productive, like fixing the economy or something. The majority of Americans know that this is just a way to divert attention away from the real issues, and they will not fall for it. No matter how people view Gov. Palin, they still know that their immediate needs are: pay mortgage, job security, and feed the family. And hearing the Democrats blabber about Palin this and Palin that does not help them.

Please move on, you Democrat strategizermeisters.

Obama courts Muslim Americans for administration

There's a secret (until now) book of resumes of top 45 Muslim Americans being submitted to the White House because President Obama may want to staff his administration with a few Muslims. To promote religious reconciliation, I'm sure.

Wait, I thought we're not supposed to hire based on a preference of race, gender, or faith?

Thank you for a blog milestone!

Dear Readers,

I want to write a quick note to thank you for pushing this blog's pageviews to over 1,000 since its inception in September 2008. Compared to other conservative blogs out there this is nothing as they command thousands of visitors per hour, but to us this is kind of a big deal...

We are definitely encouraged by your continued support. We are glad to be doing our part in the growing conservative revolution! As always, your comments and feedback are welcomed, and please help us spread the word, too.

General Motors is now Government Motors

There is a troubling trend in the relationship between American companies and the American government since Obama took office. Companies are failing, but also failing to enter bankruptcy, a norm in a healthy capitalist society. Rather, the federal government prefers to provide loans and inject capital into them, in turn prolonging the suffering of the firms and of the taxpayers as well. And because of these government funds, now it owns shares of companies, and is even dictating how to run them, on Wall Street and in Detroit.

The latest casualty is General Motors, once an American -- no, global -- icon. Rick Wagoner is now an ex-CEO, to be replaced by COO Fritz Henderson at the demand of the White House. Yes, you read it correctly: it's the President that's telling G.M. how to operate now. Welcome to the new Detroit, folks.

The auto industry has roots so deep in Detroit, Michigan that I wouldn't be surprised one bit if the White House starting handpicking the mayor and governor for the city and state! Heck, just annex Michigan into another federal jurisdiction! Washington, D.C. is still the capitol, but Detroit, D.C. can be where the federal government runs businesses.

More about the unconstitutional bailout legislation

There has been a lot of interest in the constitutionality of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) and the TARP funds. I see a lot of Internet searches about this. George Will has a very good piece in the Washington Post about this topic:

By enacting it, Congress did not in any meaningful sense make a law. Rather, it made executive branch officials into legislators. Congress said to the executive branch, in effect: "Here is $700 billion. You say you will use some of it to buy up banks' 'troubled assets.' But if you prefer to do anything else with the money -- even, say, subsidize automobile companies -- well, whatever."

FreedomWorks, a Washington-based libertarian advocacy organization, argues that EESA violates "the nondelegation doctrine." Although the text does not spell it out, the Constitution's logic and structure -- particularly the separation of powers -- imply limits on the size and kind of discretion that Congress may confer on the executive branch.

One of the beauties of the U.S. Constitution is separation of the three branches of power: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. With EESA, Congress is giving the president unconstitutional powers by allowing him to write the specifics of the law, i.e. how the money is to be appropriated. That should be Congress' job!

Taxpaying citizens like you and I ought to be enraged by this! It's evident that we have a lazy Congress bowing to the demands of a fear-mongering President. And now the next two or more generations of Americans are to pay for the astronomical debt -- bought up by the billions by Communist China. The consequences of ignoring the Constitution is grave...

City cancels tea party

The Cape Coral, Florida, city council cancels the tea party planned at Jaycee Park on April 1. For what reason? Too many people may show up, and the organizer, Lynn Rosko, is unwilling to get the required insurance for an event with 500 or more attendees anticipated.

First, the city council thinks there's going to be over 500 participants. Therefore it is requesting insurance. Would the city council reimburse the insurance fees if less than 500 shows up?

Second, it's a public park. Shouldn't taxpayers feel free to use a park facility they paid for? And by the way, taxes pay for the salaries of council members?

Third, thanks to the Internet here's information about Cape Coral's mayor and city council. Politely call them and email them as they deserve to hear your opinion on this matter.

Go Merkel, go!

British P.M. Gordon Brown plans to present a "Global New Deal" to G20 leaders, suggesting a $2 trillion stimulus to end the recession. He and President Obama can definitely be buddies, and maybe the Global New Deal ought to include efforts to remove the DVD region codes so that Brown can view those gifted movies from Obama. However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel already showing some backbone to criticize Brown's plan, and there are other leaders who agree with her (e.g. Spanish finance minister Pedro Solbes).

All I can say is, "Well done, ma'am!" Maybe Merkel can talk some sense into our spending-happy President...

Video of Biden's daughter doing cocaine?

There is trouble in the domestic front -- V.P. Joe Biden's family and by extension, the White House family. Somebody has video of Ashley Biden, or somebody who resembles her, at a party enjoying a few lines of cocaine.

If the video is truly evidence of Ashley's drug use, then we can expect the standard "children are off limits" spin from the W.H. and the Second Family. I predict the mainstream media burying this story. We're likely going to see another fine example of media double standard: Remember how the media portrayed the Bush twins' college drinking? Or how about the pregnancy of Gov. Palin's daughter? The media had field days with those stories -- nothing was off limits then.

It is unfortunate that the children of politicians also come under the spotlight, but it is even more unfortunate that the mainstream media would tirelessly pursue certain stories to advance their (and the liberal pols they support) agenda than some others.

Conservatives leading in tweets

Liberals may have a strong grip on the mainstream media, but conservatives are dominating Twitter usage, notably with the most popular #tcot hashtag. Conservative tweets are gathering so much steam that liberals are paying attention and trying to counter the #tcot wave. Thanks to the efforts of Republican strategist Michael P. Leahy, there's even a site for the #tcot community, Top Conservatives On Twitter (now also part of our Reading List).

If you have not jumped onto the Twitter bandwagon, please reconsider and join the millions of conservative Twitterers in an ongoing stream of conversation about the economy, foreign policy, national security, and much more!

(And remember to follow us @AsianConsBlog.)

World's most dangerous city

The world's most dangerous city -- Washington. That's according to Tony Blankley writing in Human Events:

But Washington's threat to the nation and the world is from more than acts of crass political expediency -- hardly an unknown phenomenon in any nation's capital.

I am struck -- and chilled to the bone -- by the fact that in the face of this perhaps unprecedented economic storm, both political parties (with, of course, several individual exceptions) are reflexively and unthinkingly sticking to their normal economic and policy nostrums.

He makes a very good point. The actions of politicians in Washington not only impact the lives of Americans, but very well also the lives of others in the world. It is unfortunate that they do not use their powers wisely.

Clinton blames U.S. on Mexican drug war

Is Hillary Clinton secretary of state to Mexico? She goes to our neighbor to the south and spews junk like this:

"Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade. Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the death of police officers, soldiers and civilians."

Although she is 100 percent correct in pointing out our inability to stop weapons trickling across the border. Maybe it's time for tougher immigration enforcement and border security! I cannot believe it took the violent Mexican drug cartels to force Washington to just think about defending our borders.

Collapse of Eastern Europe?

Many of these nations are staunch U.S. allies, so seeing their governments collapse because of the global economic meltdown is somewhat troublesome. The latest to fall is the Czech government, although it wasn't due to the economy. However, Hungary, Latvia, and Ukraine aren't so lucky and has had to approach IMF for funds.

Charities not keen to Obama tax plan

President Obama is putting the tax squeeze on high income earners and may inadvertently harm the chances of charities. The President doesn't think higher taxes would impact charitable donations. Ignorance at its best.

Charities are already suffering in this down economy. Families are spending less and giving less, too. Obviously one would take care of immediate family needs before charitable givings. If the President wants to tax more, it's only common sense that less money would go to charities because less money is left in the taxpayer's wallet.

California: save the planet, ban black cars

Only people in the Left Coast can come up with such insanity. Official state government study here.

I propose doing more: force automakers to use reflective paint for all Californian automobiles. That'll save the planet (even though it'll destroy people's eyesight).

Already talk of a flailing presidency

Fred Barnes is brutally honest in his latest column, "Five Signs of a Flailing Presidency." Will Obama and his team take note?

Surprise! Another nominee withdraws

I'm starting to think that the Obama administration is one that has the least cabinet members or other high ranking officials. Today we have Jon Cannon withdrawing his name for consideration as the Deputy Administrator for the EPA. Why? Well, maybe some shady deals happened when he was a board member of America's Clean Water Foundation.

I won't be surprised if Obama fails to completely fill his cabinet posts by the end of his four-year term...

Resignation letter from an AIG executive

From Jake DeSantis, Executive V.P. of AIG Financial Products, to Edward Liddy, CEO AIG, with love. Here is an excerpt:

After 12 months of hard work dismantling the company — during which A.I.G. reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009 — we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn. My intent is to keep none of the money myself.

I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so. Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid. Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down.

You and I have never met or spoken to each other, so I’d like to tell you about myself. I was raised by schoolteachers working multiple jobs in a world of closing steel mills. My hard work earned me acceptance to M.I.T., and the institute’s generous financial aid enabled me to attend. I had fulfilled my American dream.

I started at this company in 1998 as an equity trader, became the head of equity and commodity trading and, a couple of years before A.I.G.’s meltdown last September, was named the head of business development for commodities. Over this period the equity and commodity units were consistently profitable — in most years generating net profits of well over $100 million. Most recently, during the dismantling of A.I.G.-F.P., I was an integral player in the pending sale of its well-regarded commodity index business to UBS. As you know, business unit sales like this are crucial to A.I.G.’s effort to repay the American taxpayer.

Is this any surprise? Because of the government witch hunt, Wall Street is losing honest, hardworking, seasoned executives like Mr. DeSantis. New York City will no longer be a beacon of capitalism, but a swamp of mediocre bureaucrats treading about. If $500,000 is the most money one can make in Wall Street, who would even want the job? The pay sucks, and the work hours are long.

Mr. DeSantis, I feel sorry for what you (and your family) had to go through recently. Best wishes in your next endeavor. We can only hope you choose to remain in the U.S. as a productive worker instead of joining other firms overseas.

Obama tries to be a great communicator

The grueling 2008 presidential campaign and was full of surprises. I don't think there's ever been such a dynamic campaign season in past history. We saw the coronation of Hillary Clinton fizzle as the junior senator from Illinois with a thin resume, Barack H. Obama, charmed and talked his way into the White House.

In the beginning it was all about the Iraq War and by association, the War on Terror. This was an easy shot for Obama, just keep talking about the "unjust" war and voters will gravitate toward the candidate. It was a good strategy and it made sense politically, but more importantly it was working. But as luck would have it, subsequently the economy faltered and everybody's eyes were on Wall Street.

In my view candidate Obama was ready to deal with the War in Iraq, but clueless about saving the economy. I'm starting to believe that his team made extra efforts in strategizing the anti-war platform without paying much attention to the economy, thinking that the War would dominate headlines throughout the campaign season and that the War would be Americans' #1 concern.

Ooooops. Big oooooops.

America won the Iraq War, albeit with great casualties -- not just the fallen soldiers, but also for some politicians. Obama swears in as President in January, and now he's faced with a much tougher issue: the economic recession. This problem cannot be tackled by withdrawing troops or cutting military spending. This problem requires seasoned, talented cabinet members, and it is fought with policies and negotiations instead of bullets and tanks.

I believe he saw the presidency as a career goal and nothing else. He cares not for America, but for his own fame. How else could you explain his obsessive and excessive use of the Teleprompter? Or appearing on TV shows? Or calling prime time press conferences? It seems that this man worries more about his own image and polling numbers than anything else. Has he realized yet that sometimes doing the right thing isn't popular?

President Ronald Reagan was a citizen's president and a great communicator. Obama definitely inspires to be like Reagan, but he is struggling big time. Both are charismatic, charming, great orators. So what made Reagan so effective but Obama so jaded?

It's something deep within, my friends. Reagan was truly passionate about defeating communism, defending America, and inspiring Americans. And Obama? He looks like a college student hoping to pass a public speaking course.

A shimmer of hope in New England for GOP

For the first time in a long time, Republicans may be able to make a dent in the Democratic stronghold of the Northeast region in 2010:

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) is now somewhat vulnerable, no thanks to his association with the recent AIG compensation fiasco. Republican challenger former Rep. Rob Simmons can definitely put up a good fight.

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) is trailing Republican challenger Chris Christie, a former U.S. Attorney, in the latest Quinnipiac poll by nearly 10 points.

And in New York, there's going to be plenty of action. March 31 is a special election for Gillibrand's old House seat, Scott Murphy (D) vs. Jim Tedisco (R). I know that Tedisco has been gaining momentum in the blogosphere and Twitterspher!

Gov. Paterson (D-NY) may be in trouble if former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) commits to a gubernatorial campaign.

Then there are some House races worth following: Michael Arcuri (D-NY) vs. Richard Hanna (R-NY) and John Hall (D-NY) vs. Greg Ball (R-NY).

Countrywide memos detail VIP loans to Democrats

Now we can see the juicy details of the Countrywide sweetheart loans to various Democratic politicians... Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) releases a report titled "Countrywide's Systematic and Successful Effort to Buy Influence and Block Reform" which contains emails and memos about these mortgage deals.

Here's an excerpt from the Washington Times:

Countrywide's CEO Angelo Mozilo granted sweetheart mortgages to a number of influential lawmakers including Connecticut Democrat Chris Dodd, who is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Democratic Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota. E-mails obtained by government investigators show Countrywide employees often discussed the political influence wielded by "Friends of Angelo" as grounds for granting the discounts.

Seriously, some of these Democrats need to just resign and pick a different career! They're already cozy with the banks and mortgage companies, why not find a job there?

Newspapers as nonprofits

Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) proposes legislation to allow struggling newspapers to operate as nonprofits similar to public broadcasting stations. Revenues would be tax-exempt and they wouldn't be allowed to make political endorsements. Sounds like a workable idea, but I wonder if it could be executed in the real world.

The mainstream newspapers are so saturated with liberal reporters and journalists that it'll be near impossible for a nonprofit newspaper to be unbiased politically.

And even if this doesn't sound like a true bailout in the Wall Street sense, it's still going to impact the taxpayer's wallet. These newspapers are struggling because nobody wants to read them. By allowing them to become nonprofits, they still need money to operate, and without enough subscribers, that's still a problem. Then what? Will the government subsidize them then?

In today's tough economic time about every business is struggling, but not every one of them is asking for help. The newspaper business is like any other business. If you cannot turn a profit to stay in business by conserving cash and evolve your business model, you may not deserve to be in business considering there are no consumers.

Gov. Palin testing waters for 2012 run?

There has been reports of robocalls to Iowa and New Hampshire residents polling about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Nobody knows who is behind this, but I'm sure the governor will know about the results. Is America ready for Palin after her defeat alongside Sen. John McCain?

The trouble with Palin has been her narrow audience base. She's a big hit with conservatives, but in order to win votes you have to be a big hit with the majority, not just the base crowd. The only way I can see her presidential dream come to fruition is for the current administration to screw up big time. And I mean BIG TIME. That means President Obama puts us in a much worse position than even now. Yes, this financial mess is bad, but it has not punched a hole in Obama's popularity yet. It hasn't been six months yet, so who knows what the next 3.5 years will bring?

Additionally, Republicans have a good chance at regaining seats in the 2010 elections. Expect to see rising stars, and therefore, potential Palin opposition, within the GOP after the 2010 momentum. Palin would have to re-evaluate her chances then.

Administration wants expanded authority to seize firms

Not wasting a good crisis, indeed! Team Obama could seek more power for the Treasury Department to seize non-bank financial companies like insurers, hedge funds, etc. Currently only banks can be seized by the government.

This is a dangerous path. What's next? Nationalization of the oil companies?

Obama's army? Where?

Over the weekend President Obama activated his army of supporters, Organizing for America, to help push his budget plan. The news received some press coverage, but really not so much compared to his campaign days. Even a lot of Democratic Congressmen didn't know about it. That tells you how much attention Obama and his dedicated army are getting.

Time's are a-changing. Many have come to realize that President Obama is a mere mortal after all, like most of us: uncomfortable with public speaking (hence the Teleprompter), makes bad jokes (especially about the physically challenged), and laughs a lot when nervous (ref. "60 Minutes" interview).

Another top Democrat in tax trouble

Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) will be investigated for claiming his Maryland home as his primary residence in order to save nearly $4,000 in state and county taxes. What's really troubling is the fact that he is the second-ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee which is in charge of our tax legislation.

Latest Obama foreign policy gaffe

British P.M. Gordon Brown shouldn't feel so bad receiving DVDs from President Obama which, by the way, don't play in the U.K. thanks to anti-piracy measures. He should be glad he's not in French President Nicolas Sarkozy's shoes.

What describes President Obama better? Rookie president of the year? The political virgin? Barack "On no!" Obama?

I'm proud to be American, but right now our President's embarrassing me a little bit...

Not good for Obama: Even the NYT mentions 'Katrina' and 'Obama' in the same sentence

An NYT op-ed calls it Obama's "Katrina moment." Not a good sign at all.

As much as author Frank Rich gives readers a good run-down of the events leading to the current circus (with clowns Tim Geithner, Jay Leno, Edward Liddy, Chris Dodd, and President Obama himself), he ultimately shows his liberal side:

As the nation’s anger rose last week, the president took responsibility for what’s happening on his watch — more than he needed to, given the disaster he inherited. But in the credit mess, action must match words. To fall short would be to deliver us into the catastrophic hands of a Republican opposition whose only known economic program is to reject job-creating stimulus spending and root for Obama and, by extension, the country to fail. With all due deference to Ponzi schemers from Madoff to A.I.G., this would be the biggest outrage of them all.

Yes, beware of the evil Republicans and their rejection of massive government spending to create jobs! Of course, the truth is we don't need more government jobs. We need jobs in the private sector, and President Obama and his Democrats' spending binge does not help businesses create jobs.

More so, conservatives and Republicans are not rooting for Obama's failure! We all want a strong and free America. What we want to see fail are Obama's over-the-top spending bills! History has shown that we simply cannot spend our way out of this recession. Congressional Republicans have made their stand against these spending bills, but they are still passed because of the Democrats' majority.

Iran to Obama: Go pound sand

In a nice friendly gesture, President Obama on Friday delivered a Nowruz greetings video to Iranians ("Islamic Republic of Iran"), hoping to positively redefine Washington-Tehran relations. So what do the leaders of the "Islamic Republic" think?

Maybe just a bit short of a New Yorker's "Go f*** yourself!"

Nobody to blame but the Democrats

How many Republicans voted for the stimulus bill? None.

Now it's widely known that the multi-billion dollar stimulus bill contains verbiage to allow executives to keep their bonuses, it's time for the Democrats to be accountable.

The bill is 1,000 pages or so, and granted, some honest Democrats admitted they didn't read over the whole thing. But then there are lawmakers like Dina Titus (D-NV) who was either too embarrassed to admit to that, or she did in fact read every page and allowed the executive bonus provision to pass.

Either way, the Democrats and the Democrats only are on the hook for this. And now they want to pass a bill to tax these bonus recipients at 90%. Clearly, they admit to their incompetency by even drafting the CYA bill.

This is how our legislative branch works now? Take no time to review and debate a bill, pass it in a hurry, and if lawmakers don't like something in it just write up another bill to make things OK?

What a sorry state our Congress has become, especially those in power.

Gov. Palin says no to half of federal stimulus money

Gov. Palin of Alaska will refuse nearly half of federal stimulus money, standing firm to keep state government small. The state Democrats, of course, say her actions aren't for the sake of Alaskans, but for her Washington political ambitions.

I applaud Gov. Palin and other governors like her who doesn't want Washington to engineer their states' future!

Top NM Democrat sentenced

Manny Aragon (D-NM) now is going to prison to serve a 67-month sentence for corruption. Don't expect the mainstream media to jump on this. Especially the fact the he's a Democrat. Oh well, if he had not been sentenced, maybe he could've gotten a position in Obama's cabinet. I hear that Geithner needs some help...

Congress passes law to tax TARP company execs

In the latest development stemming from the AIG executive compensation mess, Congress passes a bill to tax at a higher rate of executives and employees of companies receiving TARP funds. The Democrats are eager to clean up this mess, therefore wasting no time to draft this legislation and put it to a vote.

But aside from the glaring tactic of political distraction, this piece of legislation should be a cause of concern for everyday Americans. Congress is essentially wearing the hat of a judge, determining who is guilty, and using confiscatory tax rates as punishment.

Andrew Grossman at The Heritage Foundation has a very good analysis:

Whether the legislation before Congress is a bill of attainder, and therefore unconstitutional, is a difficult question not susceptible to any certain answer under existing judicial precedent. But whatever the answer, the legislation does raise strong constitutional concerns animated by the purposes of the prohibition on bills of attainders. The legislation (H.R. 1586), as introduced by Rep. Charles Rangel (D–NY), would apply to income received in 2009 and thereafter by employees of companies receiving more than $5 billion in federal bailout funds, as well as to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The bill defines a new class of income, "TARP Bonus," that consists of any compensation payments in excess of a periodic wage and any income for such employees in excess of $250,000, or $125,000 for married individuals filing separate returns. Under the legislation, any "TARP Bonus" would be taxed at a 90 percent rate.

Article I, § 9, of the Constitution states: "No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed." The prohibition has several purposes. First, it enforces the Constitution's separation of powers, thereby protecting individual rights. The judiciary, not the legislature, is the branch that judges the application of the law to specific individuals and entities, resolving the disputes before it on an individualized basis and ensuring that each case is afforded due process. For Congress to adjudge specific parties guilty and due certain punishment would necessarily intrude on this power. The result, as the Framers well knew from the country's colonial experience, would be legislative tyranny: Britain's parliament regularly enacted laws naming or describing particular individuals and sentencing them to death for some asserted infraction, usually treason.

And that's just the start. Read the whole thing... Congress may be crossing its boundaries here.

Enemy combatants coming to a neighborhood near you

Attorney General Eric Holder says to expect some suspected terrorists in your friendly neighborhood:

Attorney General Eric Holder said some detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may end up being released in the U.S. as the Obama administration works with foreign allies to resettle some of the prisoners.

Mr. Holder, in a briefing with reporters, said administration officials are still reviewing individual cases of the approximately 250 detainees to determine which will be put on trial and which may be released to comply with plans to close the detention facility by next year.

Get that warm and fuzzy feeling about your government yet? I bet somewhere in Congress there's a Democrat thinking up a bill to provide government-subsidized foreclosed housing to these detainees, and wrap that in a fancy economic stimulus package.

Actually, I have no problem with this if these Gitmo detainees are released into the neighborhoods of Pelosi, Reid, etc.

Pelosi the real un-American

Enforcing existing immigration laws is un-American? That's what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told a group of both legal and illegal immigrants and their families:

"Who in this country would not want to change a policy of kicking in doors in the middle of the night and sending a parent away from their families? It must be stopped....What value system is that? I think it's un-American. I think it's un-American."

She's a career politician who's risen to the top as the historic first female House Speaker. She ought to know that being American means living within the rule of law on American soil. For those legal immigrants she spoke to, what will they think? Legal immigrants have to fight through the bureaucracy, paperwork, fees, and wait years just to become a U.S. citizen. Nobody enjoys that process, but it's the path that must be taken if you truly want to be eligible to carry a U.S. passport and participate in America's elections.

Illegal immigrants are un-Americans. Does Pelosi want to be labeled that way too with her careless remarks?

Stimulus bill allowed executive bonuses

The fury over AIG executive bonuses is now snowballing towards the White House, Congress, and all those in between who'd voted for the stimulus bill. Apparently the infamous stimulus allowed for executive bonuses that so many are ticked off about. And the man who's receiving most of the finger pointing? None other than Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), who happens to be the top recipient of AIG political contribution (then Sen. Obama is #2). Sen. Dodd is being blamed for inserting the executive compensation clause into the stimulus bill, and believe it or not, he's blaming Obama for requesting it!

Oh goodie, in-fighting among top Democrats...

Anyone with a "D" next to their written names is staying as far away from this mess as possible. Nobody wants to be near Sen. Dodd, Tim Geithner, or even President Obama these days. What AIG CEO Edward Liddy went through recently is nothing compared to what's going to happen in the Hill.

There's been calls for Geithner's resignation. I'm sure these calls are going to turn into a chorus pretty soon.

Selling policies to Americans on late night talk show

The first black presidential candidate of a major political party. The first black president. Soon he'll be the first sitting president to appear on a talk show. (Yes, another historic event! Now go on with your lives, please.)

Jay Leno and his producers would be proud. Clearly the White House thinks Obama supporters are the young, hip, night owls and couch potatoes, and by doing the Leno interview he'll be more effective in pushing his expensive and expansive policies. Well, good luck with that now that a lot of these supporters are also jobless and upside-down on their mortgages...

The majority of Americans have no desire for more bailouts. If Obama and his Democrats cannot understand this and continue to push their anti-capitalistic agenda, it will backfire on them as soon as 2010.

Obama's email fail

Remember when Obama enlisted his campaign army to push his massive budget? The same army that helped him into the White House?

Well, John Caldwell at The Next Right does some math and gives us a glimpse of Obama's massive email FAIL.

More calls for Geithner's resignation

First, it was Rep. Connie Mack (R-FL). Now Rep. Derrell Issa (R-CA) also calling for the Treasury Secretary's resignation:

“As one of the chief architects of the AIG bailout, Secretary Geithner was in a position to do what any lender of the last resort would do – negotiate concessions from AIG. Secretary Geithner either didn’t know about the bonuses, and was grossly negligent, or he did know and failed to bring this to the President’s attention. Either way, the end result has been a significant waste of taxpayer dollars and he should take immediate responsibility and resign.”

I have the feeling that there will be more...

AIG a top Obama political contributor

This whole show from President Obama and his crew on the AIG bonuses sickens me. Not only has the administration showed its anti-capitalistic nature with executive pay limits and crying foul about bonuses, but the mainstream media isn't covering the fact that AIG contributed big money to Sens. Chris Dodd and Barack Obama.

Now the W.H. claims it didn't know about these bonuses until March. But wait, I thought this administration is all about transparency! The government gave monetary aid to AIG last fall. Is the W.H. saying that nobody keeps track of any of this money?

What about Fannie and Freddie bonuses?!

Enough about AIG. Let's move on to Fannie and Freddie, and the reported half-a-million dollar bonuses for four executives. This whole bailout deal stinks to high heaven!!!

Teleprompter blunder

This is what happens when you don't rely on your brain and instead focus on the teleprompter...

Obama wants private insurers to pay for wounded vets

The economy is bad, but President Obama is heartless to charge for treating wounded veterans, hoping to generate $540 million. Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion comes out of a meeting with the President all ticked off:

The Commander, clearly angered as he emerged from the session said, "This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ' to care for him who shall have borne the battle' given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm's way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America's veterans!"

This is ridiculous and shameful and illustrates how the Obama team views the military. If my taxes are to be raised to fund Obama's crazy spending, one thing I wouldn't mind is paying for the medical treatment of wounded soldiers. Forget Geithner's recovery plan (if any)! At least make my money useful by helping a wounded vet!

Philadelphia politics similar to Chicago

Former Pennsylvania state senator Vincent Fumo (D) is guilty of all 137 counts against him in a federal corruption trial. Hmmm, the fall of a corrupt Democrat. I wonder how much coverage this gets in the mainstream media?

A tax cheat as Treasury Secretary and a thief as CIO

Team Obama has some serious problems in its vetting process. The person tapped by the W.H. to be the federal government's CIO, Vivek Kundra, is apparently a professed thief based on a 1997 criminal record.

On second thought, maybe Washington will suit him just fine...

We're now on Twitter!

Oh yes, it was bound to happen.

AsianConservatives.com blog is now on Twitter. Follow us here.

Looking forward to the new interactions!

Democrats want federal regulation of all food safety

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) is introducing Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (H.R. 875) to transfer states' food regulatory powers to a new federal agency, the Food Safety Administration (FSA) under Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). So far all the bill's sponsors are Democrats. Big surprise there.

For a minute you may think, "Great idea! I'm all for food safety!" But you see, food safety is just a guise to establish yet another federal agency to obstruct normal business through regulation and bury hardworking farmers in tons of paperwork. Not to mention it will take away food regulatory powers of states. Where in the Constitution does it mention the federal government needing to regulate the country's foods?

This bill will destroy the private farms and small food service companies nationwide. Then it's the big corporations which have the legal, political, and monetary resources that will survive and thrive. How is that any good for the consumer? Personally, I'd like more choices of where my groceries come from.

Flipping Emanuel's seat to red

The special election to fill the House seat IL-5 vacated by Rahm Emanuel is on April 7, 2009. It is Rosanna Pulido (R) vs. Mike Quigley (D). Unfortunately, the Illinois GOP isn't giving her the attention and support she deserves, so it's up to us to spread the word. Turning this seat to red would definitely rub the Democrats the wrong way, and who wouldn't want to do that?!

We wish Ms. Pulido good luck!

Cramer gets grilled

Recently Jon Stewart has been vocally criticizing CNBC in their part in this economic meltdown, and unfortunately Mad Money host Jim Cramer has become the unofficial spokesperson of the network. He appears on The Daily Show for an interview. Even the W.H. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announces how he enjoyed the grilling.

I won't debate that CNBC could've done a better job with journalistic research, but I think too much blame has been put on the network. And I am sure that CNBC had either guests or other anchors/reports who's brought up contrarian views based on company fundamentals, and that Stewart's team probably picked only old clips it could use against Cramer et. al. The bottom line is that the stock market is the world's largest casino! Play at your own risk. Just like a casino, corporations aren't going to tell you how to beat the "house"... Many of these Wall Street CEOs outright lied to reporters and journalists, and unless you're an investigative reporter, you're not going to dig deep into their corporations to find dirt about their balance sheets and whatnot.

In addition, Mad Money is always prefaced with a disclaimer telling viewers to conduct their own research and that Cramer's opinions are his own. So why beat up on Cramer about it? He should be regarded as a TV entertainer foremost.

Stewart and his producers know that some folks despise Wall Street and its allies during these difficult times, and that picking on CNBC and the like would certainly bump up ratings. Really, there's nothing to see here.

FBI raids office of D.C. CTO

The FBI is searching the office of Washington, D.C. CTO as part of an ongoing investigation. Yusuf Acar, an information systems security official from the office, has been reportedly arrested by federal agents. The ougoing CTO, Vivek Kundra, is appointed by the President to be the CIO of the federal government.

Are there more skeletons to be found?

How the Marines view W. and O.

This video clip says a lot.

Ooops, another withdrawal: Chas Freeman

President Obama's pick to chair the National Intelligence Council, Chas Freeman, decides against taking the job.

With the rate these appointments are nominated and withdrawn, the President may not have a full cabinet until the next election... The sad thing is that Democrats control Congress and these nominees just exit even before their hearing.

Is there another reason these people so willingly withdraw without putting up a fight? Personally I think a lot of these folks no longer have the desire to work in the Obama administration after getting a glimpse of Team Obama in action.

Criticizing GOP RFP is counterproductive

A few days ago the GOP released an RFP asking for bids to revamp its website. Since the RFP's release, the blogosphere -- both left and right -- is filled with criticisms about the effort. Erick Ericson of RedState thinks it's "RNC Fail" and predicts GOP's "Technology Death"; The Next Right has its share of disapprovals. Hooray! More juicy stuff for the Leftobloggers to write about!

Okay guys, I know you and people you know can do a much better job with the RFP and with creating a kick-ass GOP site. So can the high school student who lives across the street. That's beside the point...

The Republican Party realizes it is behind in today's technologies and from the RFP, at least it knows what's out there. Are we helping it to get there? Or are we just pounding its face some more? The GOP doesn't need any more embarrassing blog posts. It's already been through the valley of embarrassment after the 2006 and 2008 elections. And with the election of Steele to chair the RNC, selection of Gov. Jindal to rebuke President Obama's address, and putting out this RFP, we know the GOP is serious about regaining influence and power. Let's help it get there constructively, online.

But my opinion is that it has to take much more than a fancy new website. The conservative movement is alive and well. The GOP must understand that it needs to reach out to the pundits and bloggers supporting the conservative movement. Show that the party cares about the ordinary citizens who spend their own money, energy, and time to spread the conservative word. The party is not alone.

Wikipedia becomes liberal mainstream media

Is there a White House staff member who monitors the President's Wikipedia entry 24x7? WND reports that attempts to insert questions about his eligibility and factual information about the President such as his relationships with domestic terrorist William Ayers and controversial pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright have been almost instantly scrubbed and in some instances, the poster being banned by Wikipedia:

When the user "Jerusalem21" tried to repost the entry about Obama's eligibility a second time, another administrator removed the material within two minutes and then banned the Wikipedia user from posting anything on the website for three days.

Wikipedia administrators have the ability to kick off users if the administrator believes the user violated the website's rules.

Over the last month, WND has monitored several other attempts to add eligibility issues to Obama's Wikipedia page. In every attempt monitored, the information was deleted within minutes and the user who posted the material was barred from the website for three days.

What about Ayers and Wright? No mention of them in the entry:

The entire Wikipedia entry on Obama seems to be heavily promotional toward the U.S. president. It contains nearly no criticism or controversy, including appropriate mention of important issues where relevant.

For example, the current paragraph on Obama's religion contains no mention of Wright, even though Obama's association with the controversial pastor was one of the most talked about issues during the presidential campaign.

That paragraph states: "Obama explained how, through working with black churches as a community organizer while in his twenties, he came to understand 'the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change.' He was baptized at the Trinity United Church of Christ in 1988 and was an active member there for two decades."

Ayers is also not mentioned, even where relevant.

Blatant censorship, even if by other Wikipedia volunteer users. Wikipedia has now lost its credibility and officially is a tool for the liberal mainstream media.

Nominees also withdraw in second-tier positions

Poor Timothy Geithner. The Treasury Secretary is working alone, day and night, in the fight to straighten out the economy. He has no deputy secretary, no under secretaries, and no deputy under secretaries.

Annette Nazareth, the expected pick for deputy secretary, has withdrawn her name. So has Caroline Atkinson, Geithner's choice for undersecretary for international affairs.

The U.S. Treasury Department is probably one of the most stressful work places today. But could it also be that people are reluctant to work for an admitted tax cheat?

Obama, Democrats' attack on life

The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) failed to come out of subcommittee in 2004, but now Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) is ready to give it another go considering the bill's former Senate co-sponsor, Barack Obama, is president. The other Senate sponsor is Barbara Boxer (D-CA) who intends to introduce to the Senate a similar bill.

FOCA would make federal law to protect abortions established by Roe vs. Wade in 1973. The bill defines abortion as a "fundamental right" that cannot be denied or interfered by government. That sort of language would nullify existing state laws which require parental notification and ban certain procedures.

Some Roman Catholic bishops are threatening to close 624 Catholic hospitals if FOCA becomes law. Who could blame them? Abortion is terminating a life, denying a new life any chance of survival, an act of murder. Catholics, and followers of other faiths, simply won't allow it.

The Democrats better watch carefully what they're doing with the re-introduction of FOCA. This is a pro-death bill, inked in words to harm a helpless life. President Obama ought to be ashamed of himself for being one of the sponsors. His view about when life begins is on public record, during a Q&A with Paster Rick Warren:

Well, I think that whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade. But let me just speak more generally about the issue of abortion because this is something I — obviously, the country wrestles with...

So here's a guy who's not even sure about when life begins, yet he sponsors a bill to force physicians and health care workers to abort life. Isn't there something wrong with this picture?

Be reminded of the Declaration of Independence, the document that started what is America:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Life is the first of our "unalienable rights," my friends! Our Founding Fathers were God-fearing men, and from that had the wisdom to create this profound historic document.

How are the politicians -- or any person -- be one to judge life? From Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV):

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Nationalized "green" power grid

Green technology is great. There's nothing wrong with harnessing wind and the sun to power our nation. I'm all for encouraging the private sector to do all that R&D and trade those kilowatts. But Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) wants a nationalized "green" power grid which the federal government dictates where to put it and how to pay for it.

The Democrats wants to ration health care. Now it wants to ration electricity?!

Are you starting to see the perils of this administration and the liberal Democrats? Wake. Up. NOW.

FDIC asks for bailout, now taxpayers insure themselves

The FDIC is out of cash and will get $500 billion. So now us taxpayers are paying our own money to insure ourselves. If this doesn't convince you that we have a really screwed up economy, I don't know what will.

Surprise! Another Obama nominee withdraws

Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN is no longer interested in working as the Surgeon General in Obama's administration. He doesn't like the pay cut and having to report to two bosses.

Obama's nominations are becoming more entertainment than politics...

Obama gifts DVDs to British PM Brown

Okay, no matter how you spin this, it's totally embarrassing for Americans. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown gives the President a very, very thoughtful gift:

During his historic trip to Washington, Gordon Brown gave Barack Obama an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet - once called HMS President.

The unique present delighted Mr Obama because oak from the Gannet's sister ship, HMS Resolute, was carved to make a desk that already takes place in the Oval Office in the White House, after being presented by Britain to the US in 1880.

And what does the Prime Minister get in return?

Twenty-five classic American movies on DVDs. Seriously?

Teleprompter... don't leave the (White) House without it

The Great Orator is also a great teleprompter user, even after entering the White House.

Not that there's anything wrong with it...

Cramer unloads on the White House

Uh oh, I think the White House, especially Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, is going to regret ever picking on Rush Limbaugh and Jim Cramer. In his latest column, Cramer gives the W.H. a piece of his mind, even disclosing that he'd previously contributed to the Democratic Party and had voted for Obama. Now he's a vocal critic of Obama and his economic policies, and it's not pretty...

Something stinks at the Fed

Whatever happened to the promised transparency in providing billions of bailout money to troubled banks? Bloomberg News, like many of us, wants to know more about how the money is spent, but the Fed is refusing to release any details, citing "trade secrets." Something definitely doesn't smell right in this whole business...

Confused moderate-conservatives

Voter's remorse. Is that what David Brooks of the NYT is really saying?

Those of us who consider ourselves moderates — moderate-conservative, in my case — are forced to confront the reality that Barack Obama is not who we thought he was. His words are responsible; his character is inspiring. But his actions betray a transformational liberalism that should put every centrist on notice. As Clive Crook, an Obama admirer, wrote in The Financial Times, the Obama budget “contains no trace of compromise. It makes no gesture, however small, however costless to its larger agenda, of a bipartisan approach to the great questions it addresses. It is a liberal’s dream of a new New Deal.”

Moderates now find themselves betwixt and between. On the left, there is a president who appears to be, as Crook says, “a conviction politician, a bold progressive liberal.” On the right, there are the Rush Limbaugh brigades. The only thing more scary than Obama’s experiment is the thought that it might fail and the political power will swing over to a Republican Party that is currently unfit to wield it.

Those of us in the moderate tradition — the Hamiltonian tradition that believes in limited but energetic government — thus find ourselves facing a void. We moderates are going to have to assert ourselves. We’re going to have to take a centrist tendency that has been politically feckless and intellectually vapid and turn it into an influential force.

Obviously, Brooks is an Obama Kool-Aid drinker, probably getting all his news from fine media outlets like CNN and MSNBC. I'm sure he's a smart gentleman, graduated from University of Chicago and previously worked at several reputable media companies. But even an average American like Joe The Plumber knew Obama's agenda: wealth redistribution and social welfare. Is it really so hard to see through Obama's socialism soul?

And moderate-conservative? Come on, make up your mind. Be a real conservative, or just follow the liberal zombies.

Is the White House wise to target Limbaugh?

The Democrats think they've got Rush Limbaugh where they want him. Apparently this all started when James Carville and Stanley Greenberg ran an poll in October to discover that Limbaugh was hugely unpopular among the younger voters. The conservative talk show host continued his criticisms against Obama even after his election, and now top Democrats and the White House see a golden opporunity to paint him as the leader of the GOP, while brushing aside RNC Chairman Michael Steele.

First I got to ask: Why are the Democrats marginalizing Mr. Steele, a fine black politician who's worked his way up to earn the respect of his peers to lead the Republicans during these troublesome years for the party? The Democrats ought to be ashamed of themselves!

While the Leftosphere is cheering on the latest assaults on Limbaugh, the Rightosphere is welcoming this classic battle of Liberalism vs. Conservatism. On the liberal corner of the ring, there is the mainstream media, the White House, the Democratic Congressmen and Senators, and all the crazies who start their day with coffee and Huffington Post. The other corner of the ring sits one of radio's giants, commanding an audience of millions on a daily basis, and not to mention his great contribution to the conservative movement.

Will it be a fair fight? Of course not. But that doesn't matter. Battles are never fought fairly, and only the strong will survive.

Most conservative bloggers are betting on Limbaugh crushing the opposition like an ant. If the Obama White House was a business, then it'd probably suffer the same fate as Air America. To me this pick-on-Rush strategy is a miscalculation on the White House's part, and the Democrats are just going to convert more folks into Rush's army. The economy hasn't gotten better and probably won't get any better during the Obama presidency, and people are going to realize that perhaps wanting Obama to fail was a valid point...

Obama to name tech advisor as FCC chair

Julius Genachowski, a former Harvard Law School classmate of the president and technology adviser during Obama's campaign, will be named to chair the Federal Communications Commission. The position requires a Senate confirmation, so let's hope there aren't any skeletons in the Genachowski closet (especially unpaid taxes).

Gibbs vs. Cramer

W.H. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs seems to be getting more and more questions about TV personalities dissing the President's economic policies. The latest comes from CNBC's Mad Money host Jim Cramer where he calls Obama's budget plan "the greatest wealth destruction I've seen by a president."

Ouch. The capitalists at CNBC seems to be getting on the White House's nerves lately. Just a few weeks ago it was Rick Santelli, surrounded by traders on the floor, who blasted Obama's mortgage rescue plan.

And how does Gibbs spin Cramer's criticism? Says Gibbs:

If you turn on a certain program it's geared to a very small audience. No offense to my good friends, or friend at CNBC. But the President has to look out for the broader economy and the broader population.

Jim Cramer has a very small audience? What comes out of Cramer's mouth can move markets. Well, I guess Obama has the same influence as it seems everytime he opens his mouth, the Dow dips a few hundred points...

Palin foe gets Fed job

Remember Alaska State Sen. Kim Elton (D)? He's one of the politicians who led the investigation of Gov. Palin during the presidential campaign. The investigation was over whether Palin improperly dismissed a public safety commissioner who refused to fire her sister's state trooper ex-husband. She was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Now Elton is Director of Alaska Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior. Not a bad reward for leading the charge against one of Obama's opponents, eh?

Medvedev's pre-emptive strike againt Obama

There are whispers in Washington about the President planning to negotiate with Russian President Medvedev on Iran where the U.S. will abandon missile shield installation in Eastern Europe if Moscow cooperates on pressuring Tehran.

But now it looks like Medvedev ain't playing.

Well, what couldn't be a more clearer indication of the need for the missile shield? Russia is aggressively looking for partners to dethrone America as the leading superpower, and that includes warming up to China, Venezuela, and Cuba. Why is Obama even considering such a huge concession in return for Russia's alliance against Iran?

Wall Street having doubts about the Savior

We all know Main Street isn't happy about President Obama and his economic policies so far, but one has to wonder how Wall Street sees him. A lot of these bankers and hedge fund managers voted for Obama, thinking he'd be more like Clinton. Now there's a sense of voters' regret...

BofA chief regrets taking government aid

CEO Ken Lewis now says it was a "tactical mistake" to ask the government for $20 billion to absorb Merrill Lynch because now Bank of America appears to be in the same crappy category as Citigroup.

I blame President "Doom & Gloom" Obama. He probably scared the wits out of Lewis. And now look at the consequence.

Maybe he can learn from U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis instead, who tells the truth about TARP.

White House picks a fight with Limbaugh

The fact that W.H. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is commenting on Rush's remarks at CPAC shows that the Obama team is still afraid of the conservative radio talk show host. Okay, either that or Gibbs is trying to stir up the liberals and their media outlets to paint conservatives as hardcore anti-Obama nuts.

Yes, we are!

Sen. Bunning threatens own GOP

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) isn't too happy with his leadership discouraging him to run for re-election in 2010. Allegedly the Senator from Kentucky is threatening to resign and allow the state's Democratic governor to appoint a replacement. God forbid if that happens because we'll be looking at a Democratic super-majority of 60 seats in the Senate. The GOP definitely doesn't need a distraction like this right now...

Another Obama nominee nailed by taxes

This is becoming absurd! Ron Kirk, the President's pick for U.S. Trade Representative, failed to pay nearly $10,000 in taxes according to the Senate Finance Committee.

Next?

Rising inequalities in America?

Here's more evidence of liberals high on President Obama's multi-trillion dollar budget proposal. E. J. Dionne of the Washington Post griping about inequalities:

The central issue in American politics now is whether the country should reverse a three-decade long trend of rising inequality in incomes and wealth.

Politicians will say lots of things in the coming weeks, but they should be pushed relentlessly to address the bottom-line question: Do they believe that a fairer distribution of capitalism's bounty is essential to repairing a sick economy? Everything else is a subsidiary issue.

Dionne and many liberals seem to lack a clear understanding of capitalism. Capitalism works when the individual has the will and opportunities to work hard and accumulate wealth. Everyone can have the same opportunities, but not everyone has the will. Liberals tend to forget this facet and bring in the government as the Great Equalizer. That is socialism, not capitalism.

Capitalism is never fair because there will always be lazy punks who make the wrong decisions and waste their talents. Socialism wants to be fair, but that means taking money from the responsible members of society and feeding it to the lazy punks. No, thanks.

Government, please just stay out of the way. All I want is economic freedom and opportunities to work for my wealth.

CNN and TIME shed light on important issues facing our nation

Why is there any surprise that mainstream media outlets like CNN and Time are losing audience?

I mean, CNN has a health piece about the First Lady's tone arms.

Time, on the other hand, feels compelled to inform readers about what cola Team Obama prefers.

CNN and Time, I'd like two minutes of my life back please.