Is Obama Scorching The Earth?

Tonight I was watching the Charles Adler Show on Sun TV News (on the Internet since Telus still doesn't carry Sun News in my cable package), and the theory was proposed that the President of the United States "wants a train wreck" on this debt ceiling issue so that he can blame financial collapse on the Republicans in the next election. While this is a clever theory and sounds nice, I have trouble believing that Obama is that stupid. If there is an economic collapse because congress and Obama could not agree on a settlement, guaranteed it will hurt Obama's chance at re-election. Congress has a more recent mandate from the people as the Democrats were dealt a devastating blow from voters. Obama is the one demanding more money than the American government can afford to spend, so if talks collapse he absolutely will receive a substantial amount of blame for what happened.

The only thing that makes sense to me is that Obama believes he has substantial political capital to spend after killing Bin Laden and he knows that Obamacare can't survive without substantially increasing how much the USA can go into debt. I don't think he's trying to scuttle negotiations in order to blame it on the Republicans, I think he's desperate to move forward with his spending policies and is willing to spend what political capital he has from killing Osama to make sure he can pay for Obamacare. If he is indeed trying to scorch the earth in order to blame his opponents, then he's an idiot. If the economy collapses, the sitting President cannot avoid responsibility for the catastrophe.

When I watched the video below, I laughed so hard that I cried....

Republicans On Guard

It was nice to see a new Congress sworn in the United States yesterday, as the Republicans take control of the House from Democrats, breaking up their monopoly in the legislative and executive branches of government. Do I think that the Republicans are going to do anything substantive? Probably not because the Dems still have the Whitehouse and Senate. Any Meaningful reforms will be subject to a possible veto, so this victory is most significant for blocking Obama's funding. It forces the Democrats to shift their policy back to the center if they want to get it funded. This victory is more preventative than constructive, but I celebrate it none the less.

Who Deserves Credit For Republican Victory?

Here is a great subject for tomorrow's poll question; which pundit deserves the most credit for the overwhelming Republican victory in the latest midterm elections? Was it Glenn Beck? Bill O'Reilly? Laura Ingraham, Dennis Miller? Which if any individual should take the most credit for what happened yesterday? Or does Obama himself deserve credit for the wave of populist opposition against his party? Obama's own former Senate seat was won by a Republican. If the people who first elected Obama to represent them in Washington have no abandoned the Democratic party, they have big problems.

Tuesday, November 2nd, the end of Nancy Pelosi as majority leader of Liberals in the American House of Representatives.

Republicans Crush Democrats

Tuesday's midterm elections in the United States saw the Democrats lose the most seats of any party in one election since 1948. The Congress is now overwhelmingly Republican, while the Senate came down to the wire and was retained by the Dems. The best news of the night is that Nancy Pelosi is no longer the Speaker of the House, the 3rd in line to be President. Christine O'Donnell (the dabbler in witchcraft) who won a hotly contested primary after a last minute endorsement by Sarah Palin (against the advice of Karl Rove) was crushed by 16% on a night when 60 Democrats lost their seats.

Barak Obama's former senate seat went Republican, along with a number of stunning upsets. CBC ran the headline "America Divided" for its election coverage that started before polls had been closed. Sure, when the Democrats have the momentum they are overjoyed by the "hope-A-dope", but when the pendulum swings back Republicans, the headline is "America Divided". Way to go CBC. California voted down the legalization of marijuana. The state level elections were an even larger sweep for Republicans, who now control a majority of the country's governorships.

America Votes!

As we speak the American people are voting for representatives to the Senate and Congress, and I would like to wish the Republican Party the best of luck. I don't like all of their candidates, but a Democrat monopoly on power is a very bad thing for Canada. They need checks and balances to Obama and Pelosi's vision of Utopian society. I am even cheering for Christine O'Donnel to win Delware, even if I don't believe she was the ideal candidate. Karl Rove knows his electionomics.

Fire A Democrat

Today's poll question; which Democrat up for election in the November midterm elections in the United States would you most like to see in the unemployment line. According to polling numbers, House majority leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority Harry Reid are the two most unpopular representatives in the United States. Yes, I know that we would all love to see Obama collecting EI, but we have to wait another 2 years for that opportunity. At least if one or both chambers flip, the Democrats will lose monopoly control over the executive branch of the world's most powerful government.

The elections are in 13 days. I am very excited to see the results, and I finally have Fox News in my cable package to watch events unfold. By the way, I loved Glenn Beck when he was on CNN and Arguing With Idiots is a great book, but when did he become a televangelist? I get a bad vibe when I watch him now. I think when South Park ripped into Beck was the beginning of the end. That is still one of the funniest episodes of South Park I have ever seen, next to maybe the Dogg the Bounty Hunter episode.

The Difference Between Liberals And Conservatives

I don't know who wrote this, but my father forwarded it to me yesterday. It is a fantastic comparison on the difference between Liberals and Conservatives.

If you ever wondered which side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!

If a Conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one. 
If a Liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

If a Conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.
If a Liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.

If a Conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a Liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.

If a Conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A Liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a Conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.

If a Conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A Liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced.

If a Conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
A Liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.

If a Conservative reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have a good laugh.
A Liberal will delete it because he's "offended".

Obamanomics Dragging Down Canada

Canada unexpectedly lost jobs in the month of September, and the primary cause was a contraction of exports to the United States. Any slowdown of the world's most powerful economy has an immediate impact on Canadian production. I have not heard any complaints lately about the "buy American" policy that the Democrats inserted into their stimulus package, so it is difficult to say if any of those proposed trade barriers have actually been erected or enforced; and if they have contributed to the decline in our exports to America.

The Democrats have had two years with control of the Oval Office and both houses to introduce reforms to fix the problems that caused the 2008 meltdown. The issuing of mortgages and credit to people who would not be able to pay them back created a critical mass of toxic debt that crashed financial markets. Stimulus programs are like giving morphine to a patient in critical condition and long-term the patient won't recover unless you concurrently fix the problem that sent them to the emergency room. The Dems claim to have overhauled the financial system, so we will see if it works...but I wouldn't hold my breath...

A second recession in Canada would undoubtedly favour the Liberal Party, and a failure of Obama's economic policies would certainly cause a second recession. Ergo, the Canadian Liberal Party should be cheering for the failure of Obamanomics.

November Election

There will be an election in November, just not in Canada. Midterm elections are fast approaching south of the border, and this round will prove to be interesting. Can the Democrats hold on to control of all three executive branches? Will the Republicans be able to take back one or both of the Senate or Congress? That is today's poll question; what do you expect the outcome to be? If a Republican can win Massachusetts, then truly no Democratic seat is safe, except maybe Pelosi in San Fransisco. Can the new Republican wicca win Delaware?

I don't study American electoral math with the same detail as I do Canadian, but if I had to guess the most likely outcome is that the Republicans will take one of the Senate or Congress but not both. It is difficult to see them winning the Senate but not Congress where every seat is up for grab. If I had to assign a probability to each possible outcome, it would be as follows and bear in mind this is just an educated guess:

Republicans win only Congress 35%
Republicans win both 30%
Democrats win both 25%
Republicans win only the Senate 10%

When the power shifts too far to one side, it always swings back, it is all just a matter of when it starts.

Cleaning Up Oil: Above Obama's Pay Grade

The latest oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may have destroyed an entire ecosystem for a generation, but that's not Obama's problem. As Barak likes to say when deflecting tough questions, "that's above my pay grade". It is the oil company's responsibility to clean it up, not the American government. Or is it only the job of the Feds to save their soil from disasters if Republicans are in power? It is quite a common tactic of the Obama administration to blame other people for their problems. I'm sure they will even find a way to slam George Bush for their own response to the disaster.

I also thought it was a little rich to have Sarah Palin slam Obama's lack of response by accusing him of being too close to "big oil". As Governor of Alaska, Palin might have been closer to big oil than any Governor outside of Texas in the history of the country! I am not of the opinion that big oil is evil, and I would never have criticized Palin for doing so much business with big oil, I just find it to be a particularly opportunistic form hypocrisy. She is exploiting a disaster to score a few political points. It is not unlike Bob Rae protesting the Canadian government for proroguing Parliament, when as Premier Bobby prorogued nearly every year and for longer durations.

On the other hand, considering she quit her job after less than half of one single term, she didn't have enough time in office to fully exploit her own ties to big oil.

The United States set to begin funding foreign abortions?

Newsflash to the United States, according to the Liberal Party of Canada, Hillary Clinton has now promised to include funding of foreign abortions into future G8 policy initiatives. Today Canadian Liberals are claiming vindication for their failed foreign abortion initiative because Hillary Clinton made a statement about family planning; and leader Mike Ignatieff seems to have reclaimed his righteousness to demand our tax dollars fund foreign abortions. Even if Hillary personally believes that we should be paying for African abortions, she never said that was going to become American foreign policy. Canadian Liberals and Evan Soloman disagree.

It is one thing to say that maternal health should include abortion, but it is a bridge entirely too far to say that we should pay for them abroad. That will never become American foreign policy, so how in the hell is the statement she made vindication for Liberal demands that we fund foreign abortions? Soloman interviewed Bev Oda today, and he completely misrepresented Clinton's statements. Solo was representing that this is something that the United States intends to do through a G8 initiative rather than just Hillary stating her own beliefs. If you watch her statement she was smiling and in great spirits until the question was asked, then she looked down, her face went dark, and she stated her belief.

As Kory Teneycke asked on the Soloman Show, it will be interesting to see if and how quickly backlash from this spills over the border into the United States. I'm sure the country will be really excited to start paying for African abortions. Curbing African population growth likely excites many Liberals, but it's not something I expect to get much traction in the center. What would it say about a country if they were to adopt a more aggressive abortion policy abroad than it has at home?

There's Nothing About Hillary...

...that I agree with these days. Hillary Clinton's recent foray into Canadian politics is growing tiresome and I am excited she's leaving my country. According to Terry Milewski, Hillary has re-opened the abortion debate in Canada by saying that she believes that safe abortion should be part of maternal health plans. What Terry didn't focus on was how she said that funding foreign abortions should not be Government foreign policy. Terry says that even if you thought the debate ended with the Liberal Opposition Day debacle, well Hillary has opened it up yet again. This despite the fact that she was not promoting funding foreign abortions, which was the whole point of the Liberal O-Day motion!

She also criticized our planned exit from combat operations in Afghanistan as a means of attempting to bully us to extend our presence. If I personally had a vote on the matter I would choose to extend our mission, though I would have our forces moved back up to Kabul. But I don't think being critical of Canada is going to win any hearts and minds, and getting tough talk from Hillary makes me less likely to want to assist our ally in their endeavour. What she should have done was talk about how fantastic our military is and how they won't be able to get by without us. That would have been more effective than being hyper-critical.

Of course she started off her visit by "blasting" our Government for not inviting more countries to the G8 foreign minister's meeting. I counted 8 foreign ministers at the big table. To be fair, should we just invite representatives from every country in the world to attend G8 meetings? Is that why they happen, so the whole world can be here? I would agree that the G20 should take higher priority than the G8, but how often are hosts of G8 foreign ministers meetings criticized for not inviting more countries? I can't imagine that happens a whole lot. Next time let’s not invite Hillary and see how she takes it.

Strombolopolis Lands Clinton Interview?

I am no fan of the CBC, but I would like to think that when foreign dignitaries come to town that they have better talent to interview the likes of Hillary Clinton than Strombo. Seriously? Clinton's people call the CBC for an interview, and the powers that be selected Strombo for this task? He's a rodeo clown! Should our diplomats be interviewed by misfits on American television like Sinbad or Danny Bonaduce? I don't mind the man having a job on television, but when I watch him interview the Secretary of State of the United States of America, I bow my head in shame. I'm not ashamed of Canada, just our tax funded public broadcaster for yet another bonehead decision.

That Hillary had just finished "blasting" Canada earlier in the day only contributes to my shame. I suppose it is possible that she was assigned Strombo in RESPONSE to her harsh statements. Like she was going to get Manbridge, the CBC decision makers saw the comments and decided "screw it, give her Strombo". It's possible.

Obama to request Canada extend Afghanistan mission?

In the aftermath of the Liberal failed maternal health motion, the subject in Question Period today was back to Afghanistan. I know that several members of the opposition are opposed to our war in Afghanistan, but what happens when Prophet Obama asks Canada to extend our mission with our allies? Ignatieff admits to being one of Obama's biggest fans, so how will he respond to such a request? Today in Question Period Iggy wanted to know if we would be extending our mission, though I did not hear him state whether or not he would like to grant Obama's request. This isn't George Bush's war anymore; it is now Obama's war.

Thomas Mulcair appeared to have downed too many cans of Red Bull before his questions in the House today, as he screamed at the government to give him a yes or a no. The answer, military operations will cease in 2011 and the US State Department has yet to file any request. This entire conversation stems from an article in the Globe and Mail. According to Ibbitson:

The U.S. government will ask Canada to keep as many as 500 to 600 troops in Afghanistan after this country’s military deployment in Kandahar ends in 2011.

Sources inside and outside the government say the formal request is expected toward the end of this year through NATO. The troops would act as military trainers and would most likely be located in Kabul. The deployment would not involve putting Canadian troops in harm’s way, but could nonetheless set off a rancorous national debate among Canadians and especially within the Liberal Party.

No specific request has been raised in meetings between Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Defence Minister Peter MacKay. But officials in the departments of State and Defence have advised their Canadian counterparts that an “ask” is coming.

My own preference is to stay in Afghanistan with our NATO allies until Osama Bin Laden is captured or killed. To pull out before we defeat the force that attacked us does not to me feel like a victory. Yet if public opinion has shifted against our participation, then who am I to argue with consensus? Okay, I may argue, but I will not oppose ending our combat role in 2011 as has always been the Government's position.

Obamacare 2010: The Day After Yesterday...

The day after yesterday's passing of Obamacare, author Mark Steyn wants to wish everyone in the world a Happy Dependence Day! I just finished listening to his interview today on the Dennis Miller Show, and be warned that the outlook is grim. Mark is convinced that this will be fatal and cannot be repealed, so don't listen if you are looking for a good mood booster. However if you want a breakdown of what happened yesterday, I recommend listening to the Steyn and Krauthammer interviews on the Dennis Miller Show. You can download for free on iTunes, or visit Miller's website.

In this new era of bipartisan politics promised to us by Barak Obama, we have now witnessed the passage of one of the largest social reform packages in the history of America; and not only did zero Republicans vote for the bill, but 34 Democrats voted against it. David Frum is calling it a massive defeat for Republicans, but I'm trying to think what else they could have done. Not only did they all vote in unison, but 34 Dems voted with Republicans against the bill! Just because Obama and Pelosi had the audacity to go forward with an unpopular plan, that doesn't mean conservatives failed. In fact the pundits were successful in shifting public opinion significantly away from this policy.

The American people didn't vote this up in a referendum; the Democrats just went ahead even if it split their own party. Can it be repealed? I don't know. Do I think this plan is going to be a catastrophic financial disaster? Absolutely. Do I know what is going to happen next? Absolutely not. That debate is out of my hands.  I just know that in Canada health care consumes an enormous amount of our budget, we have to wait a long time for treatment, and if you get cancer your probability of mortality is much higher in Canada.

"Tell me why you like Obama"

The immortal words of Chick Willis from his musical ballad "why you like Obama" where he proclaimed "he'll bring down the oil prices so we all can afford to ride...everybody that has a car out there knows that Barak Obama is a driver's friend!" Oh really? Refusing to drill offshore and taxing carbon is going to reduce oil prices? So when Obama was elected, world crude oil prices were hovering under $50 per barrel. They currently stand at just under $90 per barrel. So the nearly doubling of crude oil prices is a driver's friend? Thank you Chick Willis for your economic forecasting ability.

As a driver, I don't consider Obama to be my friend. Let's inhibit oil production from Canada's oil patch, Canada being the largest supplier of crude to the United States, and that should make it cheaper for Californians to drive to Vegas? Got it. You're wrong, but I get your point. My opposition to the President is not based on colour or religion; but rather my intense academic study of Adam Smith and Karl Marx. Although it was before I launched my blog, I proclaimed in the summer of 2008 that I was concerned that Obama was channeling Marx, and nothing that I have seen in the year plus of his reign of power has changed my mind. He is an ideologue, and as the wise philosopher Jim Lahey once said "a shit leopard can't change his spots."

"Bring down the oil prices"? What do you call it when you instead double them? The good news for Canada is that if Obama keeps driving up oil prices, as a net producer, goodbye deficits!

Mentally ill man infatuated with Joe Biden

I would like to know who was in charge of Joe Biden's security at the Opening Ceremonies, where an obsessed Biden fan got to within 12 paces of Joe before being stopped and apprehended by two RCMP officers. Any screeners who let the man through with false credentials should be dismissed from security screening for the remainder of the Games. The two RCMP officers should be applauded for correctly recognizing the obsessed fan and keeping him away from Joe Biden. The mentally ill are drawn to Joe Biden and Barak Obama like magnets, and we should have been prepared for this contingency!"

The man will not be charged.  He has already been sent back to the psychiatric hospital with the rest of the obsessed Biden fans.

Obama Partying Like It's 1984!

This week I decided to rent the film 1984 with Richard Burton to remind myself of this pillar of political literary opinion. When my class read the book in school, I was not interested. I just skimmed the Coles Notes and moved on. I had never seen the film version, and it took all of thirty minutes for me to see several parallels with modern Liberalism. Now all I can see is President Obama and the Democratic Party who want to inflate and grow "Big Brother". Who'd have predicted that this Orwellian torpedo fired at the right wing would one day mirror what the Liberal movement would eventually become?

Obama's most passionate supporters closely resemble that audience of people in the opening sequence in their actions and published opinions. How delicious the irony that the Liberal movement would one day become the very same caricature that they painted of their opponents once upon a time? They promote big government like Orwell, food rationing, they promote controlling the message like Orwell, and they basically predict 2010 like it is 1984.  Perhaps we should have a modern Liberal writer like Mike Ignatieff write a book titled 2084?

Here are some of the quotes directly from the film:

"April 4th, 1984.


I think to the past or to the future, to an age where thought is free; from the age of big brother, from the age of the thought police, from a dead man, greetings."


"Watch me. There brother, that's what I want. Anyone under 45 is perfectly capable of touching his toes."


"The proletarian won't count, they're animals"


"Double plus good this. Do you know, I don't think there's a single piece of meat in this stew? Looks like meat, tastes like meat, it isn't meat at all. Double plus good."



"Freedom is slavery! Ignorance is strength! A triumph of will power over the orgasm! As a rally of the anti-sex league in Victory Square tonight held to celebrate a 50% decrease in civil marriages"

On that note, might I plug a fantastic book by Jonah Goldberg? It ties everything together. Oh, and the indoctrination of children in this film is equally disturbing, yet the focus of modern Liberals.

Nationalizing Industries to Reduce Deficits

In the wake of President Obama's state of the union address, the assertion that bothers me the most is that nationalizing health care is going to be an economic benefit and lead to deficit reduction; as though there exists a mystical aura of trickle down government health care. To suggest, as many left wing pundits have, that freeing business from the burden of providing health insurance and transferring the burden to taxpayers is going to have a net positive effect on GDP and deficit size is ludicrous.

There are legislative options for reducing insurance costs that do not include nationalizing the industry. The government rarely does anything more fiscally efficient than the private sector, but if you allow market collusion and impede the competition between competing providers, there will be a net loss in both efficiency and of mutually beneficial transactions. I do not subscribe to the hardcore Ron Paulish Libertarian ideology of "remove any and all rules and regulations which govern economies and industries." There are instances where state intervention and regulation can increase the social good. Fighting against collusion, corruption, and many other potential ethical liabilities are a good thing.

I thought it was telling that today Evan Soloman was running video footage of Scott Brown's acceptance speech over the caption "Death of Conservatism: Republicans have become too ideological". That's right, Republicans winning a Senate seat in the Liberal stronghold of Massachusetts that has not elected a Conservative Senator in 30 years is a clear sign that Conservatism is dying due to their extreme ideology. Granted, that is the type of partisan spin that I have come to expect from Evan Soloman and the CBC.

For more on Obama's state of the union address, I turn you over to the excellent analysis of Kelly McParland.

Belinda Stronach; Bill and Tie's Excellent Adventure!

I was aware of the social relationship between former President Bill Clinton and former Tory MP Belinda Stronach, but it was not until today that I learned Team Hillary sent a squad of "private investigators" to formally investigate the allegations of a romantic relationship in the event that this became an issue during a Presidential campaign. For some reason, Bill Clinton's word was insufficient for Team Hilary and thus a crew of Magnum PI’s was required to determine if Bill was bedding Belinda. At least one of them drew the conclusion that yes indeed they were getting it on. This information was brought to me by the writers of a book called Game Change. If you click on the link below and buy a copy from Amazon, I get a commission.

I will refrain from making jokes about Tie Domi's "sloppy seconds", but it is interesting how Belinda was spending a lot of time with Bill Clinton at the same time as she was spending a lot of time with Tie. There would appear to be an overlap in the time periods of her romantic affairs with Tie Domi and Bill Clinton, two married men. I am generally agnostic on the matter of infidelity, and neither am I critical of Belinda's virility. I just think that this is all very interesting, that's all.  I'm not ashamed to admit that once upon a time I was smitten with Belinda.  If anything I'm a little bit jealous.