USA Debt Ceiling Raised, Yet Global Markets Collapsing?

Hold on a minute, I thought all the experts were telling us that if the USA did not raise their debt ceiling, they would lose their AAA credit rating? And yet, the debt ceiling went up, and the credit rating still went down? What kind of madness is this? Now global stock markets are plunging, despite Obama reaching a deal to drive the United States deeper in debt? How is this even possible? Maybe just maybe, the answer to a debt crisis is not going deeper in debt? Obama should be on the phone with Stephen Harper asking him for advice, because his administration as been leading the American economy into the abyss. Obama is in over his head, and he needs help.
Canada is in comparatively great shape, but if the United States collapses we will feel the pain because we sell so much to our southern neighbours. I'm just responding to all those who said the debt ceiling had to be raised to maintain America's credit score, but you did and the rating fell anyway. Good work. Taking out new credit cards to solve the problem of maxing out your previous credit cards doesn't solve any damned problem.

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....

Canada Does Not Agree With Obama On Israel

The Canadian government is not going to follow Barak Obama's lead in demanding that Israel return to 1967 borders, and I applaud my government for doing so. If Obama thinks that returning the Golan Heights to Syria and sharing Jerusalem with Hamas is going to lead to long term peace, that is wishful thinking at best and depraved disregard at worst. The Syrians are a brutally repressive regime who used the Golan Heights (a strategic military position) multiple times attempting to conquer and destroy the state of Israel. By about the 3rd invasion of Israel by Syria through the Golan Heights, I'd say the Syrians forfeited their right to that territory. 3 strikes and you're out! I'm also not so sure that the people who live there would want to go back to Syrian control after 45 years. Maybe you haven't noticed, but when people rally in opposition to Assad, they end up dead.

Returning to the 1967 borders also includes giving half of Jerusalem back to the Arabs, which would be a logistical nightmare. Is Obama also demanding right of return? What if I told Obama that Texas should return to its pre 1836 border with Mexico. We should move hundreds of thousands additional Mexicans into Dallas and Houston and put them under the control of the Mexican government. Mexico has a legitimate historical claim to Texas. Why isn't Obama addressing this? I'm outraged!

We should be seeking sanctions and punishment against Assad's regime in Syria, not seeking to give them more land and put more people under their repressive rule. Hamas remains the elected government of Palestine, and I really don't see how these two sides are going to peacefully share a metropolis. That could go to hell in a hurry.

Ignatieff-Obama Not Invited To Royal Wedding

The Prime Minister of Canada has been invited to attend the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29th, and left off the guest list are Barak Obama and the leader of Canada's so called "natural governing party" (meanwhile the King of Bahrain has been invited). One has to wonder if Iggy, who spent so much of his adult life living in England, is a little jealous. Maybe that's why he's so keen on forcing an election in March, in a vain attempt to win an invitation as Canada's PM? I expect attending the royal wedding would be a higher priority to Iggy Pop than actually governing the country. He's in this for his own personal glory, for the parties, for the attention. A royal wedding is a perfect vehicle for Iggy's vanity. He thrives in an elitist environment.

Harper Visits Washington

The Prime Minister of Canada is visiting Washington, and on the agenda is negotiating a deal to cut down on border travel wait times to ensure an efficient flow of goods and services between our two nations. The Liberals are declaring this to be a loss of sovereignty and demanding that the PM take this to parliament before it has even been negotiated. I have no problem with parliament voting on the final deal, but our dysfunctional legislature should not be conducting international negotiations. Let Harper and Obama work something out, then decide if it is good or bad. Will the Liberals throw their beloved Messiah to the south under the bus for short term political maneuvering?

Barney Fife over at CTV news expects this to be the number one issue if there is a spring election, bigger than business taxes and airplanes. I would just like to see the end product of negotiations before I decide if it is good or if it will destroy Canada as we know it.

Harper-Obama Conspiring On Border Security

Oh oh, don't look now but the "Big Bad Wolf" is suddenly being accused of secretly working with American President Barak Obama on a deal for border security, and Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay was quite pissed off about it in Wednesday Question Period. It would appear that the days of the Liberals fawning over the "Big O" are over, and Stephen Harper working with him on Prime Ministerial matters is suddenly evil and wrong. How great that Parliament is back!? I get to watch clowns like Martha Martha Martha proclaim what a detriment it is to our sovereignty to have a Prime Minister and President negotiating a deal on the borders that could provide tremendous benefit to our economy and travellers.

Oh well, it gives me something to write about. Thanks Marcia...I mean Martha...

"Bill Gates knows full well what's wrong with the F-35s"

I am still waiting for Microsoft founder Bill Gates to tell us what's wrong with the F-35 fighter jets. Ignatieff enlightened us that Bill Gates, the US Secretary of Defense knows full well whats wrong with them. I was unaware that Bill had been appointed to Obama's cabinet, but I'll take Iggy literally at his word rather than out of context. Being that I have a tremendous amount of respect for Bill Gates as a business man and technological innovator. I would love to hear his opinion on the F-35s just as soon as he's willing to do so.

Alberta Ardvark put together a great clip of the incident and how it was cut out of a CTV news broadcast.

Obama Borrowing Harper's Policies: Corporate Tax Cuts

Tonight Barak Obama gave his state of the union speech in Washington, and I was pleased to see him borrow quality economic policy from the Harper government, lowering the corporate tax rate. The Liberal messiah looked north for advice on how to help repair the American economy. Ironically the Liberals up here have decided to focus their vitriol on corporate tax cuts, which is now also Obama policy. Granted it always needs to be pointed out that this is only becoming policy in Canada because it was originally supported by the Liberals. They are now campaigning ferociously against a policy position that they supported last year.

Isn't it ironic, don't you think?

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

I support equal rights among all citizens regardless of race or sexual preference, including the right to military service. I am not convinced however that openly gay people in the military is going to "strengthen national security" as Barak Obama says. It was almost comical how big of a deal Obama made over this legislation, like he had just torn down the Berlin wall.

Is this going to boost recruitment? Is there suddenly going to be an influx of new recruits by making a tiny fraction of soldiers more comfortable? There will be many soldiers who are not comfortable sharing such an intimate living space with homosexuals, and regardless of whether that is right or wrong, it is likely to deter some people from serving. Gays should be allowed in the military, but I believe that don't ask don't tell served a useful purpose.

Obama Takes One In The Mouth

Yesterday at a Whitehouse pick-up basketball game, President Barack Obama took a "hard foul" in the mouth that opened up a gash requiring 12 stitches. That makes me wonder, did the Secret Service take down the offending player? Jesus Christ, why doesn't at least one agent run up and down the court with him? Hell Obama's entire team should be made up of Secret Service agents! Have they started running profiles of the offender in the media yet? Was a disgruntled staffer trying to get payback for Obamacare?

I doubt we'll ever know the whole truth... :)

G20 Can't Agree

Several months after the leaders of Earth's most prosperous nations left Toronto, they were embracing the Stephen Harper message that we need to cut deficits and Canadianize world banking. Now they have met in Seoul Korea and are deeply divided on what to do about the current currency conflicts sprouting up among developed nations. It was a bit of a shocker to see the Prime Minister defending Obama's "quantitative easing" initiative, which has drawn significant criticism from the international community. Our PM is at the G20 conference defending the US federal reserve decision to buy $600 billion of their own debt (like using the visa to pay off the mastercard).

Canada is in a great position regardless of what monetary policy emerges from this G20 conference, but if the American economy tanks, they will drag us down with them.

Bill Maher: "Independents Schizophrenic"

I just finished watching Friday's edition of Real Time with Bill Maher, where Billy is presenting the thesis that independents voted Republican because Obama was not left wing enough. He thinks that the issue that cost Obama the most votes was his failure to stick to the "public option" in his healthcare bill. In his monologue he called independents schizophrenic, like that is going to help Democrats in 2012...insult the swing voters and hope they vote for you next time. As I've said before, there are some pundits who are only effective at what they do when the people they don't like are the government. Maher loses an edge when he is trying to defend a President that he supported, but insulting the people who you need to vote for your guy in two years is not a smart move.

Government Creating Jobs

After listening to some of the left wing commentary after Obama's massive defeat in midterm elections, the blame seems to be that he did not create enough jobs. It got me to thinking, how exactly should government be "creating jobs"? The government will get the blame if there are a loss of jobs, but other than overpaid jobs working for the government, how do we expect our elected officials to engage in the job making business? There are stimulus projects which take tax dollars and spreads it among workers, but that generally leads to deficits. In a market collapse it can serve the same purpose of providing morphine to a critically injured patient, but it doesn't fix anything.

The best way that the government can create jobs is to create a competitive business environment that encourages growth and employment. The best way for the government to create jobs is not for them to create more government jobs, it is to free business to hire more workers. So if the Dems lost Congress because their pundits claim Obama did not create enough jobs, what do they think Barry should do going forward?

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.

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.

Did Obama Interfere In Canada's Security Council Bid?

In the lead up to Canada's failed bid for a seat on the Security Council, the American delegates did not campaign for Canada or do anything to help rally support for another North American seat. According to a former American United Nations spokesperson this was not an accident, but rather an executive order. The charge is that the American delegation was ordered to do nothing to help Canada win a seat. It is unclear whether this order came from the Oval Office, but what is clear is that the United States did nothing to help us win the seat.

"U.S. State Department insiders say that U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice not only didn’t campaign for Canada’s election but instructed American diplomats to not get involved in the weeks leading up to the heated contest. With no public American support, Canada lost its bid to serve. That gives the EU more than 25% control of the body and a strong voting block to ensure EU priorities become global priorities."

Iggy Needs A Teleprompter

Somebody had better tell the Liberal Party that they need to get their gaffe prone leader on a teleprompter lickity split. It is becoming increasingly apparent that this man's intelligence and charisma have been vastly overrated, and Donolo would be well advised to take a cue from the Obama people putting Iggy on prompter for the rest of his public appearances. It is much easier to be a great public speaker when getting all words spoon fed to the candidate from the war room. I have even seen Obama addressing kindergarten students with his teleprompters!

Also somebody had better tell the Liberals that if they are going to get indignant about prorogation and not being allowed to do their jobs, it would be smart to actually show up to work when Parliament is in session. Most of the shadow cabinet had a better attendance rate during their anti-prorogation workshops than they did when Parliament was in session.

Get your leader on a teleprompter and show up to vote on legislation. That is my advice today for the Liberal Party of Canada.

Obama, Unleash The Fury!

Barack Obama has bungled this oil spill as bad or worse as the Bush administration screwed up after Hurricane Katrina. But that's okay, because Obama is furious! Obama and the oil spill remind me of Tom Green feeding the snake in the movie Road Trip. Tom Green symbolizes Obama, the snake is BP, and the mouse is the oil spill. Obama has been taking a lot of criticism for his lack of effort in containing the spill, and he is trying to convince everyone that he is really pissed off, and that makes everything okay. All the world's problems can be solved with hypnotic speeches, provided that he has his teleprompters. I still remember the time I saw him address school children with the aid of his teleprompters.

The difference between Katrina and this oil spill is that the oil has contaminated thousands, if not millions of square miles of ocean habitat, and will affect millions of Americans for a generation. I think it is time that we choose a nickname for this catastrophe and Barak's response. All people have to do is say "Katrina" and it immediately elicits a poor memory of George Bush. Obama's chances at a second term are as contaminated as Louisiana marsh land.

Obama, You've Got A Problem

When this oil spill crisis first became recognized as a crisis, President Obama quickly deferred clean-up and containment responsibility to the oil company that operated the rig. Instead of sealing off the broken pipe, they spent a month trying to salvage a way to harvest the oil. That failed, as thousands of barrels were pumped into the gulf coast on a daily basis for a month. Now that a month has passed, the oil company is finally shifted its strategy to sealing the leak instead of harvesting the oil. Sometimes what's best for the oil company isn't what's best for the millions of people who live along the gulf coast, where "tar bubbles" are now expected to float ashore with relative frequency for a generation.

Well done Mister President. As more and more people are calling this Obama's Katrina, finally today a month later he announced new measures and initiatives that are a month too late. The oil has already reached the shore, but a month later Obama is going to send hundreds of thousands of miles of boom nets to contain it? What does that do for the thousands of acres of fragile marsh lands and costal habitats that have already been contaminated? Maybe the people who made the mess should not have been the people who he abdicated responsibilities to at the beginning of the crisis.

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.