Barack Obama is well on his way to taxing the dog squeeze out of the achievers, the business owners, the wealthy - the people who create the jobs in this country. Starting in 2011, over the next 10 years, Obama is proposing almost $1 trillion in tax increases. And you wealth-envy types can rest your pretty little heads .. he is going to increase taxes on those evil rich people you so love to hate. Jake Tapper from ABC News has the breakdown:

1) On households making more than $250,000:

• $338 billion from turning back the Bush tax cuts.
• $179 billlion by reducing the limits on itemized deductions
• $118 billion by increasing capital gains taxes

Total: $636 billion/10 years

2) On evil businesses:

• $17 billion comes from bringing back the Superfund taxes
• $24 billion fromtreating tax carried-interest as income
• $5 billion by codifying "economic substance doctrine"
• $61 billion from repeal of the LIFO accounting practice
• $210 billion from international enforcement, reform deferral, other tax reform
• $4 billion - information reporting for rental payments
• $5.3 billion from excise tax increases on Gulf of Mexico oil and gas
• $3.4 billion from repealing the expensing of tangible drilling costs
• $62 million from repealing the deductions for tertiary injectants
• $49 million from repealing passive loss exceptions for working interests in oil and natural gas properties
• 13 billion by repealing manufacturing tax deductions for oil and natural gas companies
• $1 billion by increasing to 7 years geological and geophysical amortization period for independent producers
• $882 million through eliminating advanced earned income tax credit

Total: $353 billion/10 years

There are people who actually believe that Obama is going to succeed in his quest to return economic prosperity to our country through taxation. There are also people who believe that wet streets cause rain. These people are commonly called "idiots."

OK, sure ...sometimes I might go a bit far on the air just to elicit a response. This wasn't one of those times. I'm talking about yesterday, when I was discussing the ramifications of Obama's extremely popular tax increases on the evil, disgusting rich. Sixty-four percent of the businesses, companies, corporations, partnerships ... call them what you will ... that actually hire people in this country are categorized as small businesses. These are businesses that report their incomes on personal tax returns. Personal returns ... not corporate returns. Are you following the numbers here? Sixty-four percent of job providers are small businesses and they employ well over 70% of all people with jobs. What's more these small businesses are creating 80% of all of our economy's new jobs. Now .. the kicker ... hopefully you already know this. These small business owners are the very targets of Obama's tax increases.

Now I've been a small business owner, and I've represented many more as an attorney. I'm telling you that when these business owners experience a reduction in their income as a result of these tax increases they are going to look for a way to cut their expenses. One of the ways many businesses will cut expenses is to cut jobs. They will fire people.

Who to fire? Longevity counts, so does job performance. You'll want to take this opportunity to send smokers to the unemployment lines ... and you might want to look at employees with tattoos. Lord knows nobody else wants to. But let's say it comes down to tiebreaker time. All elements are equal - but someone has to go. Now is the time to teach your employees that actions have consequences. If one of your employees on the bubble voted for Obama, that should make your decision for you. Tell him or her that they made a choice to vote for someone who made it clear that your taxes were going to go up. You're not going to take the hit. It was their decision, not yours, and they take the hit. Here's a box, put your stuff in it and get out. Maybe you can go get a worthy, honorable poor person to hire you.

Again ... actions have consequences. This isn't a liberal position. It isn't a conservative position. It's reality.

Obama released his budget yesterday. Okay, I know it sounds boring, but stick with me. There is a section of the budget entitled "Inheriting a Legacy of Misplaced Priorities." Oh how The Chosen One likes that "inherited" word. For those of us who paid attention while Obama was on the campaign trail, this kind of wealth-envy rhetoric won't come as a shock to you. But now that the American Idol, Entertainment Tonight, YouTube crowd has put this man in charge .. statements like these are now included in our President's federal budget.

"While middle-class families have been playing by the rules, living up to their responsibilities as neighbors and citizens, those at the commanding heights of our economy have not. They have taken risks and piled on debts that while seemingly profitable in the short-term, have now proven to be dangerous not only for their individual firms but for the economy as a whole. With loosened oversight and weak enforcement from Washington, too many cut corners as they racked up record profits and paid themselves millions of dollars in compensation and bonuses. There's nothing wrong with making money, but there is something wrong when we allow the playing field to be tilted so far in the favor of so few."

Capitalism is evil. There's nothing wrong with making money .. as long as you don't make more than the government thinks you should make. Just why is it that Obama can never find any government role in any of this? Well .. that's simple. I've said it before ... but Obama is absolutely and completely in love with government. Clearly Obama has no need for the services of a fertility clinic .. but if that were to change they would send him into that little room at the clinic not with a girlie magazine, but with a copy of the Federal Register.

A fist bump to the Tennessee GOP for coming up with this one. Looks like you can buy your own at their website.

Barney Frank, with his mouth full of marbles, managed to mutter something very telling. In an interview, which is actually from October of last year, Barney had this to say in regards to the idea of an economic stimulus bill:

"Yes, I believe later on there should be tax increases ... Speaking personally, I think there are a lot of rich people out there whom we can tax at a point down the road and recover some of this money."

Can anybody tell me what has my boxers in a bunch? Read it again. Did you catch the phrase "recover" some of this money? What's the premise there? The premise is that this money belonged to the government, and somehow these evil rich people got their hands on it. Now it's time for Slobbering Barney and his band of super-heroes to go out there and get the people's money back. That, in fact, is exactly what these government goons think. They believe that all wealth belongs to "the people;" that means to the government .. and that they are on some holy quest to go out there and get that money back from the crooks and wealthy criminals who have stolen it from worthy Americans.

While we are on the subject of incompetent politicians. Nancy Pelosi actually said that Republicans should not be upset with Obama for raising taxes on the wealthy in order to pay for government healthcare. In fact, the Republicans should be thanking Obama, according to Nancy, because if it were up to her .. she would have raised taxes a lot faster.

And then if that wasn't bad enough, Nancy uses this line .. which is just so typical for Democrats: "It's not about raising taxes ... It's about ending a tax cut."

Are you buying this, folks?

This is the typical type of email I have been receiving lately. You've heard me talk about people who call up can complain every time I don't call Barack Obama "President Obama" .. Look, folks. It's in the AP style guide. You refer to the guy once as President Obama, and then after that you are free to call him Obama, Mr. Obama, etc. But here we go with the emails complaining that I am not a good American because I don't call him President Obama! We won't bother to edit this one ... that way you can get a clearer idea of the intellect that went with the comment:

Name: peter wilson
Subject: your mouth!!
When I emailed you last week I was stating that you should recognize that you have a president no matter what you say or think and he does deserve being addressed as such.You and your fellow sheep,hennity,limbough,who regularly say lies about the president have forgotten that the man has only been in power just over a month and is trying to get the country out of the hole your pal Bush dropped us in.Give the man a chance keep your mouth shut about him and support him as you should if you consider yourself a good american.This is not a racial thing,your the one who keeps harping on about racism,once again showing your ignorance.

Peter had to cut his email short because the delivery man from his local rent-to-own store showed up on his doorstep.

ABC 6 in Byron, MN had a little TV contest. Can we start out today's reading assignments by joining ABC 6 in congratulating the winner? OK .. moving right along now.

The Senate voted 87-11 to prohibit the FCC from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine. Now, how about that localization issue? Trust me, folks .. this isn't the end.

Another Obama tax increase will come in the form of pollution caps. And guess where the revenue from this scheme is going to go .. "tax cuts" for poor people.

Dick Morris says that Barack Obama is spreading panic. As Rahm Emanuel said, never let a good crisis go to waste. And is exactly what Obama plans to do.

Just what we need, the Democrat party being even more liberal. Bloggers and unions are teaming up to make sure this happens.

Joe Biden said that 400 people a day lose their jobs in Louisiana. Eh, wrong. Let's try that one again, Joe. Wait ... forget it. We all know that nobody messes with Joe.

How can Obama claim that his budget will allow for $2 trillion in savings over 10 years? Easy, by not spending money on wars that we won't be in.

What details about healthcare reform are included in Obama's budget plan? Well, not a lot.

According to the Black Chamber of Commerce, the union card check bill is going to cost blacks their jobs. Oh goodie! Let's make this a race issue!

Victor Davis Hanson points out that times are tough .. but this certainly isn't 1932.

Bill Ayers is going to speak at the University of Colorado, and the student groups want the University to waive the $3,000 speaking fee. They say the fee is a restraint on their free speech! God save us from college students.

This editorial is coming out of Detroit? Obama can't win the war on business ...

Eric Holder says that the Obama administration is going to reinstate a ban on assault weapons that expired during the Bush administration.

Washington DC is one step closing to gaining its "right to a vote." The Senate has passed the bill, and it is expected to easily pass the House.

In California, red light camera tickets can be issued by companies with illegal contract arrangements.

If you want an outrageous single mother, welfare, asinine government story .. then read this from the UK.

I know I spent all day talking about Obama's address to Congress yesterday, when most of you probably wanted to talk about the fact Michelle Obama wore a freaking sleeveless dress to the speech. Who cares!

But for today, I think we should spend 4 1/2 hours debating whether or not the Obama's have made the right choice for their first dog. It's going to be a Portuguese water dog.

Any takers? Come on! The dog has an afro! No calls? Ok great. Moving right along .....

The Heritage Foundation has issued a report on Obama's mortgage cramdown bill, officially known as The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act. This is the one that would allow bankruptcy judges to reduce the principal owed on a mortgage. Just call this a wealth transfer from mortgage lenders to irresponsible home buyers. Irresponsible home buyers, it seems, vote Democrat. You know this is a lousy idea, I know it's a lousy idea, Rick Santelli knows it's a lousy idea .. and here comes the Heritage Foundation to assure us that .. yes .. it is a lousy idea. Here are just a few ways they believe this cramdown bill is going to actually hurt the housing market:

Raise mortgage costs. Cramdowns would add additional risk that mortgages will not be repaid as the contract requires. Lenders must charge for that added risk, and experts estimate that the additional costs would raise mortgage rates by as much as two full percentage points or substantially increase required down payments. (This, by the way, is exactly what I was telling you earlier this week). These added costs would fall hardest on moderate-income and first-time homebuyers, who have a higher risk of defaulting on a mortgage. This will price many families out of the housing market. Obama will blame the lenders, and the people who can't buy homes will continue to vote Democrat.

Further undermine the value of mortgage-backed securities. Banks and other investors are already facing heavy losses because mortgage-backed securities have lost much of their value because of uncertainties about whether the mortgages will be paid. The language in H.R. 1106 increases this uncertainty. Investors will be at risk of both foreclosure and cramdowns that reduce the earnings of these securities. Many (if not most) cramdown mortgages will later go into foreclosure. Since investors have no idea what this new provision will do to the value of their securities, prices will drop further.

Fail to help many homeowners. Only one-third of all Chapter 13 filers complete the process successfully and get the fresh start that bankruptcy promises. The other two-thirds "pay court fees, pay attorney's fees, pay fees to the bankruptcy trustee, invest time and money to restructure their financial affairs, and then wind up with nothing more than temporary relief. It is therefore not surprising that a substantial number of Chapter 13 filers--nearly one-third--go on to file for bankruptcy again." Once a deadbeat always a deadbeat. But .. and this is important ... they will continue to vote Democrat. That's because they're ignorant.

In Barack Obama's address to Congress, he made a point of emphasizing education. He pointed out that our education system is failing. I wonder what his first clue was? Could it be the kid at his Starbucks who couldn't make change when the computerized cash register went on the blink?

Well ... "failing" probably isn't the right word here. Perhaps these schools are doing exactly what they were designed to do. I've said on the air how much I would like for all Americans to become aware of at least two things. One, this country is not, nor was it ever designed to be a democracy. Two, our government schools were not designed to really educate our children. I know you're not going to believe me here, and there is scant chance that you're going to take the chance top do the research yourself; but if you do you will find writings and statements from the very people and organizations who developed our system of government education - a system later mimicked by the Soviet Union - making it clear that the true goal behind this education system was not to truly educate children. The goal was to teach our children just enough that they would make good employees for industry and good government subjects. So, when it comes to our government education system, I wouldn't say that it is failing .. In fact, I would say that it is doing exactly what it was meant to do. Just look around you. There is no shortage of citizens who could do anything but work for someone else, and be obedient little Democrat voters. By the way ... these are the people the unions are after with their card check bill.

Read on .............. more on schools.

That's the word. Obama is going to introduce a $4,000,000,000,000 federal budget for consideration by his myrmidons in the Congress. How nice. Are you starting to understand that this narcissistic menace is just as dangerous as we told you he was going to be?

Yesterday, the Democrats in the House passed this $410 billion omnibus spending bill. Now it is on to the Senate. This is the same bill that has a $200,000 earmark for a "tattoo removal violence outreach program" in Los Angeles, California. This is your tax dollars paying for a tattoo removal machine to help gang members remove signs of their past. Yeah .. Ok.

As if it couldn't be any more asinine then funding tattoo removal for gang members, the Democrats managed to insert a provision into the bill that would end the school choice program in DC. As of right now, students in DC can use federal funds to attend private schools of their choice. But the Democrats don't want this because it puts the educational futures of students in the hands of parents and families .. not the government. So it is no surprise that the Democrats want to kill the program. One caveat though. DC Democrats do NOT want to end the program. They've seen it work. They know their constituents want the program to continue. Doesn't matter. Democrats need to make sure that our system of education continues to fail our children. If education works where in the hell do they find future Democrat voters? Democrats want to be seen as the heroes of education, but this will be done by throwing more money at the problem and making people more dependent on government.

THAT'S what Democrats call educational reform.

If you are a small business owner and you are looking to make it in this economy, some of you may be forced to lay off workers. Then the tough part .. who do you lay off? I'll make it easy for you. Find the person who is late to work. Bingo. There you go. Ice story ... some calls to say they can't make it in. Move them to the front of the list.

I say this to you only because I just read that one out of every five workers in the United States are late to work at least once a week. That, my friends, is pathetic. And one out of every ten workers are late at least twice a week! Can you guess the most common excuse?

Traffic.

Others include lack of sleep and getting children ready for school or daycare. Look, folks, I understand that things happen. But a person who is not willing to get to work in the dark and drive home in the dark .. much less show up on time .. is not the kind of employee you need to keep around. Especially during times like these.

We are going to get more details on this today, but Obama wants to spend $634 billion over the next 10 years to implement a government healthcare system.

I didn't watch Obama's address on MSNBC, but did any of your catch this "oh God" moment from Chris Matthews, just as Bobby Jindal was about to speak? Here's the video.

What earmarks did Obama cabinet members add to this omnibus spending bill?

Joe Biden, the guy in charge of making sure that our stimulus dollars are spent wisely, couldn't remember the "number" for the government-run website set up to track how stimulus money is spent.

Senator James Inhofe says that Obama's plans to put caps on carbon pollution are equivalent to a huge tax increase.

This comes from our friends at the Cato Institute: Is Libertarianism a Sign of Mental Illness?

You know that things must be bad when Robert Byrd criticizes a president of his own party, saying that Obama's appointments of "czars" amounts to a power grab by the executive branch.

A recent government study found that the taxpayers pay twice as much for Medicare treatment in Miami compared to San Francisco.

House Minority Leader John Boehner says that the Republicans want to work with Barack Obama but there is one hollow-eyed hippy from Haight-Ashbury in the way.

When Mitt Romney decides to sell some of his homes, the Politico reports it as "shedding some of his rich-guy trappings ..."

Did you hear about the teen beauty queen that was busted for underage drinking? I'm sure the parents are using the line "she's a good kid that just got caught up in the wrong crowd."

The octomom has made it, folks. Yep. She has been offered a million dollars to make a porn video. Meanwhile, Nadia Suleman is afraid that the hospital isn't going to release her babies until she can prove that she can take care of them. Well there's a concept!

Astronomers believes that there may be 100 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way.

And now for a list of America's Worst Intersections ...

Bored on your computer? Why not protect our border!

Yeah .. I watched it. There was no doubt that President Barack Obama was going to do a great job of delivering a speech. That's his forte. So, how do you judge a great speech? By the delivery or by the content? On delivery President Smooth Talker gets an A.

On content? Well, if you're a believer in big government; if you big on wealth envy; if you think that government does everything well and private businesses do everything poorly; if you think that banks are the focus of all that is evil in the modern world; if you don't believe that Islamic terrorism is a true threat to our safety .. in short, if you believe that America is great because of government, then the speech gets an A as well. If, on the other hand, you believe that America is great because of the dynamic created by free people working under the rule of law in a system based on economic liberty ... then the speech a D --- D for demagogue.

As I was watching the speech I opened a Word document. I just sat there typing when the mood hit. Here - unedited - are the notes I made as President Smooth Talker was doin' his thang. Remember ... this is real time ... and I had a little Bailey's on the rocks sitting there next to me.

It seemed that the focus of Obama speech last night was to convey the message that all of the economic problems faced by this country were created by evil banks and criminal CEOs "disappearing on private jets." This was classic leftist populism. Us vs. them. The ordinary people engaged in mortal combat with the monsters of capitalism --- and government is here to save you.

This was an "America is great because of government" speech ... and the message was that more government we have the greater America will be. Obama has his finger on the pulse of the people. People want more government. They want the government to provide them with the basic necessities of life. The age of self-reliance is waning - the age of government dependency is on the rise.

When this country first began to flourish historians and social scientists took note. They traveled from Europe to the United States to witness this miracle first hand. They studied what was working and what was not .. and they put their thoughts on paper. Its really too bad some of those writings aren't explored in today's government schools - but I can understand why that is so. There seemed to be one universal warning that was sounded by many of these scholars: Once the American people figure out they can use the ballot box to reach into someone else's pocket .. we're screwed. Well, the American people have figured that out ... and Obama is their champion. The question now is how do you manage to take a population that is dependent on their ability to use the government as an instrument of plunder to want to once again stand on their own two feet?

As I said ... Obama wasn't willing to put any of the blame on the government for any of the problems we're facing. I guess placing blame on the entity you believe makes America great isn't the right thing to do. For Obama and government fans everywhere the blame rests solely on capitalism and the evil private sector ... especially bank CEOs.

Terence Corcoran is a columnist and editor of Canada's Financial Post. He is one of Canada's leading business writers. Here's an excerpt from a recent column. If you voted for Obama this might mean nothing to you. Then again, you're never too old to learn:

"How convenient it is to blame bankers and CEO compensation for triggering the crisis, especially for politicians and regulators. Charging bankers with greed and incompetence gets politicians and bureaucrats off the hook for what is now clearly a global systemic failure. . . . [I]f the U. S. Fed sets low interest-rate polices, and the U. S. government, through agencies, is promoting and subsidizing mortgage lending, it is not the role of the bank alone to grasp the full systemic risk being created by the incentive structure created by policy. Nor can each individual bank be expected to understand the full range of risks being undertaken by all banks all over the globe. . . . Understanding systemic failure on this scale requires much more than name-calling and cheap accusations aimed at markets and bankers and capitalism in general"

Makes perfect sense to me. Much more so than blaming banks and CEOs for all that is wrong with our economy. Obama loves government. You don't blame your lover for your problems.

The Democrats are just doing what we all knew they would do if they ever regained control in Washington. We knew what Democrats were about:

• Wealth confiscation and redistribution
• Centralized power in Washington
• Combating individualism
• Promoting the collective
• Strengthening labor unions
• Weakening business management
• Demonizing CEOs
• Condemnation of capitalism and economic liberty.
• Ending self-reliance
• Promoting government dependence

We knew all of this, and yet we did the unthinkable and put them in our nation's driver's seat. We're now getting what we asked for. There will be more. Little goodies like imputed income and ETIs (Economically Targeted Investments) are quite probably on the way.

But ... the Republicans. We knew what Democrats are, and they have only reinforced our thoughts since they took power. Our real problem here is that we didn't know what the Republicans were. We actually put these people in office thinking that they were going to cut the size and the cost of government. We thought we could rely on them to be defenders of economic liberty and limited government. We couldn't have been more wrong. They promised to get rid of the useless Department of Education. They didn't. Instead, they doubled federal spending on education. They were going to get rid of the Commerce Department. They didn't. When it came to pork spending and big government the Republicans proved themselves to be the equal of Democrats. They even managed to create a grand new welfare entitlement program that will speed our course to bankruptcy; the prescription drug program.

The point here is that it is somewhat useless to slam Democrats for being Democrats. We knew the Democrats were snakes when we picked them up. Someone should have warned us about the Democrats. Oh, wait! Someone did! Well, you should have been listening. Democrats didn't con us. Democrats didn't fool us. They may have fooled the ignoranus voters who bought this "Change You Can Believe In" crap .. but not us. It was the Republicans who conned us. We didn't think they would turn out to be Democrats with nicer suits ... but that became our reality.

Perhaps with all of the gloom-and-doom language preceding passage of the Obama/Pelosi government enrichment bill you didn't hear about this little goodie. It seems that this so-called "stimulus" bill also has a little present in it for labor unions. Under Pelosi's bill any stimulus-funded construction project will have to either hire union labor or pay whatever workers are hired union wages.

Now there's stimulus you can believe in: Paying inflated wages to construction workers on government projects is really going to propel our economy into growth mode virtually overnight.

It was only a matter of time before we got to this point. And it took Northern Trust Corporation to do it. That is the evil corporation that has sent John Kerry on a mission to make sure that he is seen as a watchdog for the taxpayer!

Here's the set up. Northern Trust is a bank based out of Chicago. It received $1.6 billion under the government's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). According to the bank, it did not seek TARP assistance, but it agreed to participate in the program at the request of the Treasury Department. The TARP funds were essentially forced on Northern Trust. Northern Trust has made it clear in corporate statements that TARP "funds are not allocated to operating expenses, including marketing, advertising, corporate sponsorship or charitable activities."

Back in the fall of 2007, the bank signed a five-year contract to sponsor the Northern Trust Open, which is a PGA tour event. We are talking about a year before TARP even existed, okay folks? On February 19th-22nd .. just last week .. the bank held its second annual golf tournament. Phil Mickelson won, for anyone that cares. The event included parties and concerts and goody bags from Tiffany's. Does it look bad? Yeah. But is that the whole story? Of course not.

Then comes John Kerry, Barney Frank and the rest of the wealth-envy crowd. They are upset with the "extravagant spending practices of U.S. banks" that receive taxpayer money. John Kerry actually pulls out this line, "Americans who play by the rules are losing their jobs and struggling to pay their mortgages ... It's an embarrassment that this legislation is necessary, but some companies clearly need a reality check to get their priorities straight so taxpayer money is used to get their house in order and not to pay for lavish parties."

So what legislation is he talking about? Under John Kerry's legislation, which would go into effect March 1st, a TARP recipient could not "host, sponsor, pay for conferences and events and pay for holiday or entertainment events for the year in which they receive TARP funds." You can seek a waiver from the ... government ... for an event that the TARP recipient believes would be directly related to the operation of business. If you violate this restriction, the TARP recipient would have to reimburse the government taxpayers for the cost of the event and pay a $100,000 fine per violation.

Barney Frank is already calling on Northern Trust to refund the taxpayers for the golf tournament.

It seems like every day I read countless stories about government's inability to do anything with efficiency or common sense. And it is your tax dollars that pay the price. So now, for your enjoyment, I have a few examples that I have gathered just from the last day.

-A middle school in California spends $10,000 a year to teach advanced Spanish to students who are already fluent in Spanish.

-Newspapers in Minnesota are getting a $238,000 grant to retrain their staffs on how to use the Internet.

-The federal government is going to fund a $5 million national media campaign to promote the benefits of married life to young adults.

-It took five Nebraska state employees to assemble a Sony PlayStation (bought by your tax dollars), which they then proceeded to play on state time.

-Remember the story about Clayton County bus drivers who were told to wear uniforms in order to prevent terrorists from hijacking school buses?? Clayton County decided to buck up $18,000 for the uniform shirts, but now refuses to pay $75,000 for the pants.

-And how about this $410 billion omnibus bill filled with 9,000 earmarks .. Jamie Dupree has an extensive list of earmarks, which you can read on his blog. But just to get you started, here are some other earmarks highlighted on Michelle Malkin's blog:

• $200,000 for "Tattoo Removal Violence Prevention Outreach Program," pg. 283
• Maine lobster earmark in the omnibus, pg. 173
• $5.8 million earmark for the "Ted Kennedy Institute for the Senate...for the planning and design of a building & an endowment," pg. 232
• and National Council of La Raza, $473,000 earmark from Sens. Bingaman and Menendez, pg. 212.

Aren't you glad that you have government to spend your earned wealth so wisely?

Laura Ingraham ... behind the scenes at her short-lived Fox News Channel TV show."  Hey ... I emphathize.  Tough to do a one-hour TV show when you are most of the content.

This woman is sounding a lot like Hillary Clinton .. we have to get rid of this "me" culture and focus on the "we." Well an author by the name of Alyssa Katz is writing a book about how we got into this mortgage crisis.

I can sum that one up for you pretty quickly: irresponsible homebuyers.

That didn't take long .. but back to this quote from Alyssa Katz. She says, "We have to give up this illusion that it's about you and me. We have to accept, sort of blindly, the notion that we have to do this for the sake of the nation. Whether you're lucky and get aid or you already lost your home and you're screwed, we're all in this together."

Accept "blindly" ... "we are all in this together" .. if you are "lucky" .. these phrases should scare the pants off of you.

Neal,

At work today I was talking with a man I work with when he started talking about all the things PresBO was going to do for us. I was working outside and he went into his office. You were on WDBO so I took a portable radio into the office, put it on your show and told him he needed to listen to you. About 45 minutes later he came out holding his head saying he had to stop listening because it was all making too much sense and he couldn't believe what was really happening to the country. One dose, 45 minutes and he now knows the painful truth.

I'll keep the radio for the next one I hear. Long time listener , Harold

Here's a concept .. you actually say something positive about the economy, and the stock market rebounds! Did anyone hear PrezBO say anything good about capitalism last night? No? I didn't' think so.

Big oops for Al Gore. Looks like Big Al was stretching the truth a bit about some global warming research. I just can't hide my surprise here.

Hilda Solis is set to be our next Labor Secretary. The labor unions have tingles up their legs. So does Hilda.

Roland Burris is still a Senator. His fellow Illinois Senator Dick Durbin has apparently asked Burris to resign. Burris said no. The Black Congressional Caucus is, of course, screaming racism. Big surprise there.

The Obama administration is well on its way to putting the government in charge of your healthcare. Here are some down and dirty facts on how they can do this with little public fanfare.

Americans are not serfs in need of a czar .. so why does the Obama administration insists on a healthcare czar? I'll tell you why .. because they want to make you more dependent on government. You haven't picked up on that yet?

A California politician wants to increase tax revenue by taxing his state's largest cash crop: marijuana. Good idea!

This is a great column about what is missing from Obama's housing plan .. common sense.

The Democrats are one step closer to ensuring a full voting member of Congress for Washington DC. Is this even constitutional? Does that even matter?

The Supreme Court upheld a state law that has the unions all gunched up .. it is a state law banning local governments from letting workers use payroll deductions to fund political union activities.

An investigation found that United Nations management of environmental protection programs is "completely out of control and approaching chaos." That's about what I expect from the UN.

When the nation is in crisis, guess which city's economy actually grows? You've got it .. Washington DC.

Apparently the New York Times believes that the Obama administration is separate from "the government." Who knew?

The idea of a gun buy-back program is such a joke to me. But officials in New York City thought it would be a good idea.

A man gets hit by a truck while helping a woman cross the street. As if being in intensive care wasn't bad enough, the guy was given a ticket for jaywalking.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden found time to sit down and chat with George Clooney this week in the White House. I'm sure Clooney had a lot to offer. Celebrity president being advised by celebrities. Just great.

Just what we need, more excuses for laziness ... Working long hours 'puts us at higher risk of dementia.'

Some of you might have heard this for the first time as I read it during the information overload hour today. So here it is in all its glory for your linking and forwarding pleasure:

To All My Valued Employees,

There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy doesn't pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is the changing political landscape in this country.

However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests.

First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a back story. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You've seen my big home at last years Christmas party. I'm sure; all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life.

However, what you don't see is the back story.

I started this company 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living apartment was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you.

My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business -- hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.

Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a modest $50K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting the Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling through the Goodwill store extracting any clothing item that didn't look like it was birthed in the 70's. My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business with a vision that eventually, some day, I too, will be able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had.

So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9am, mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at 5pm, I don't. There is no "off" button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have the freedom. I eat, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to my hip like a 1 year old special-needs child. You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden -- the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations... You never realize the back story and the sacrifices I've made.

Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bail-out all the people who didn't. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for.

Yes, business ownership has is benefits but the price I've paid is steep and not without wounds.

Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you why:

I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don't pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my "stimulus" check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.

The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check? Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country.

The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you'd quit and you wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's nuts. Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy.

Here is what many of you don't understand ... to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black-hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.

When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the poor of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you can keep.

So where am I going with all this?

It's quite simple.

If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple. I fire you. I fire your co-workers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child's future. Frankly, it isn't my problem any more.

Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire. You see, I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.

If you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about....

Signed,

Your boss

John Taylor Gatto came up in conversation with a caller today. If you ever wanted details on why government education is bad, he is the author for you. Just to make it easy for you, here's a link to his books on amazon.com. 

Oh yeah .. just can't wait. I'm sure this whole economic plan is going to be heavy with reliance on economic liberty and the free market.

We'll be watching and have much to say about this tomorrow ... but my guess is that the stock market is going to hate it. A man who's sense of alienation in college sent him into the embrace of Marxist professors and student groups, is going to tell us of his grand plans tonight. Cancel my reservations at McDonalds.

This week we are going to see this "cramdown" bill come up for debate. We are probably talking Thursday. But this is the bill that would allow judges to erase or reduce the principal amount of a mortgage for borrowers who file for bankruptcy. In other words ... you buy a house for $225,000. You borrow $200,000 from a third party (individual, bank, mortgage lender .. whatever) to give to the person who sold you the house, along with $25,000 of your own. The third party lender takes a security interest in your home to cover any losses in case you fail to pay them back. Then you go deadbeat and file bankruptcy. The judge then rules that you don't have to pay all of the $200,000 you borrowed from the third party back ... and what's more, the third party cannot rely on their security interest in your home to make themselves whole. Pretty nifty, huh?

Now ... how will the mortgage lenders react to this? Do you know what PMI is? That's private mortgage insurance. When you don't put enough money down on your home the lender may make you pay premiums for PMI. This insurance policy will pay off the lender if you bail on your loan, the lender forecloses, and you home doesn't bring enough at auction to cover the amount you still own the lender. People don't much like paying PMI ... but it has been part of the game if you put less than 20% of the purchase price down. Well, let me introduce you to a derivative of PMI. This may be called PBI. Private bankruptcy insurance. This will be an insurance policy that the lender will take out to cover them in case you go bankrupt and the judge says that you can keep your home and you don't have to pay all of the loan back. Guess who is going to pay the premium for this insurance? That would be you .. another little goodie added to your mortgage payment. Add 'em up. A nice fat little extra added to your monthly payment to cover the lender if they foreclose on you and don't get enough at foreclosure to cover the amount you still owe, and another fat little extra added to your monthly payment for insurance to protect the lender in case you go bankrupt and the judge reduces the balance you owe and lets you keep the house. Either way ... borrowers who fully intend to pay their mortgage and have little likelihood of going bankrupt are going to have to cover part of the tab for the deadbeats out there.

There is another possibility. Maybe the government will make PBI illegal. Then the lenders just hike the interest rates to cover the potential losses from these cramdown provisions. Who knows! Maybe they'll create PBI and hike the interest rates as well! Or maybe they'll just tighten up the credit requirements to the point that if you even give a hint of the smell of someone who might someday go bankrupt you won't be able to get a loan. How could you emit this odor? Credit card balances, instable job history, too much available credit ... there are many ways.

Seems like a good time to be looking into owning apartments and rental homes again.

The last couple of weeks when Barack Obama and the Democrats had to have their government growth bill passed IMMEDIATELY, or the county was going to tumble into a depression or some sort of economic catastrophe from which we might never recover. This, by the way, is Obama's "hope over fear" talk. We needed to spend money on laptops for teachers, waterslides in Arkansas, butterfly gardens and other goodies from the political wish list or our country is going down the tubes.

Now they have their government-growth bill. All should be hunky-dory, right? Well ... no. Now Obama has suddenly realized the enormous economic burden he and his big-government Democrat fellow travelers have placed on our children and grandchildren. Yeah, convenient that they worry about this AFTER the bill is passed, and not before. Obama says, "If we confront this crisis without also confronting the deficits that helped cause it we risk sinking into another crisis down the road ... We cannot simply spend as we please and defer the consequences to the next budget, the next administration or the next generation."

So his solution? His immediate solution is to give the states $15 billion within the next few days to help them pay Medicaid payments to the poor. Now stop right there and explain to me how this is considered economic stimulus? Are these the same people that are going to go out there and start creating some jobs for their communities and providing paychecks? No. Didn't think so. But when Obama suddenly becomes concerned about spending a deficits, his first move is to give hand outs to poor people.

Some of these Medicaid payments will no doubt be spent on necessary medical care. Much of the payments will be wasted on Medicaid patients who bring their children to a hospital emergency room for a scratch that could be treated with a CVS visit and a Band-Aid. In Atlanta some of our more-sterling residents like to spend Medicaid money to get a free ride downtown. How? They call 911 and say the magic words ... "I'm having trouble breathing." Here comes a fire truck, paid by for the taxpayers, and an ambulance, paid for by Medicaid, to haul her downtown to the local charity hospital. They tote her into the emergency room where she gets lost in the shuffle. She walks out a door and disappears - downtown with her free ride. She'll pay for a cab home because this "I'm having trouble breathing" scam doesn't seem to work well both ways.

Now, his long term solution? Make the evil rich and the businesses pay the price now. Don't ya just love how they have managed to turn things around? After the money has been promised, now the deficit is an issue. Now we must obsess about the deficit and worry about the future of our grandchildren, therefore we must increase taxes in order to reduce the deficit by half.

Remember, in Obama speak .. "letting the Bush tax cuts expire" is just the new way of saying "tax increases."

And for all of the concern over increased government spending, the Democrats are going to unveil an appropriations bill today that adds $20.5 billion to Bush's domestic spending requests from last year.

Obama cares far more about making sure that Democrats never again lose power than he cares about the next generation. The key? Create a culture of government dependency. We're there.

Don't remember who sent this one to me. It just has a tombstone on it ...

RIP Capitalism

July 4, 1776

January 20, 2009

Love it.

CNN did a report on all of the poor people who went out and bought houses that were beyond their means .. and now they are expecting the taxpayers to bail them out. Here's the part of the CNN interview with a homeowner in foreclosure:

ACOSTA: Like countless other Americans, Garcia admits she and her husband bought more house than they could afford, but she says the lender made the purchase all too easy. Now her mortgage is worth more than her house.

(on camera): How much was the house when you bought it?

GARCIA: Eight hundred.

ACOSTA: Eight hundred thousand dollars?. And how much is the house worth?

GARCIA: Right now, it's like $675,000 on the market.

Yeah, it's all the lenders fault. This loon over-extended herself and now can't pay the tab .. and it is everyone's fault but hers. Blame someone else and then expect government to come to the rescue. This woman and her husband need to be renters. We have far too many people like Sra. Garcia and her husband with their names on deeds in this country.

And if that interview wasn't bad enough, check out this Fox Business News interview with the executive director of the New York branch of ACORN. The whole interview is worth a read or a listen. It is laughable - the stupidity of this woman who genuinely believes that we have a right to a house in this country. Yes .. I said stupidity. You can fix ignorance. Here's just a short snippet:

Bertha Lewis: Housing is a right.

Stuart Varney: It is not a right.

Bertha Lewis: Yes it is.

Stuart Varney: I've read the Bill of Rights, I've read the Constitution, no where does it say that housing is a right.

Bertha Lewis: Yes it is.

Stuart Varney: Can you show me? Which page? Which line?

Bertha Lewis: Well we have the right to the pursuit of happiness.

Stuart Varney: You have a right to a house? Where does it say that?

Bertha Lewis: If you're a hard working American and you pay your taxes and you do the right thing you do have a right to protect your home.

How long ago was Katrina? Make that about three and one-half years since that nasty little blow to New Orleans.

Some of you in New Orleans may wonder what happened to my show. I'm not on the air there any more. It seems that the owner of the radio station that carried my show didn't appreciate the things I had to say about New Orleans residents after Katrina. No problem .. it's his station. Has happened before - will happen again.

What was it I said about New Orleans? Prolly something it about being a city infested with parasites ... human parasites. Odd, isn't it, that two million could get on the National Mall for Barack Obama's inauguration without any public transportation, but 80,000 couldn't get out of New Orleans with four days warning and busses and trains running.

Anyway .. heard a startling report Monday.

Three and one-half years after Katrina there are still 17,000 former New Orleans parasites living in hotels and motels. They've been there for 42 months .. and just can't seem to find a way to get out and get their own housing. Not only that, but there are still another 8,000 people living in temporary housing who can't claw their way out as well. How would YOU define these people? Sterling citizens? Worthy Americans? No ... they're human parasites. They are the people who made New Orleans the most welfare-dependent people in this country .. the people who brought New Orleans its sky-high crime rates ... and now Obama has given these people another 60-day extension in their hotels, motels and temporary housing.

Change you can believe in?

Joe Biden is going to be one of the people overseeing how the $787 billion government growth bill is spent. I feel better already.

Hillary Clinton has upset the human rights activists when she said that economic issues currently outweigh human rights concerns with China.

Harry Reid says that increasing government ownership in Citibank shouldn't be called "nationalization." He says it should be called "protecting the taxpayers' interests." Harry Reid should be called a "former Senator."

Are American taxpayers going to be paying for British jobs if the US government increases its ownership stake in Citigroup?

The Prime Minister of the UK thinks that the world needs a global New Deal. Do these people really believe that more government is the solution to our problems? Why, yes! They do!

This is not good news .. in 2009, the federal deficit will be larger as a share of the economy than at any time since World War II.

The Supreme Court has decided to hear the case of whether or not the government can maintain an 8-foot-tall cross in the Mojave National Preserve. With everything else we have to deal with in this country, couldn't we just tell the ACLU to call off its attack on Christianity for a while as we try to deal with some other more pressing problems?

Yesterday the stock market plunged to levels we haven't seen since 1997. But we have change and hope! The market just loves our new president, doesn't it?

The Justice Department has ruled that enemy combatants being held in foreign facilities in Afghanistan have no US constitutional rights.

The unions just can't wait for the Democrats to pay up on their promises to pass the card check bill. And guess who is working hard to make sure that the bill gets passed ... ACORN!

Baltimore police have started arresting ACORN activists for breaking into foreclosed homes and refusing to leave.

There is so much wrong with this story .. but we will start with the idea that painting over a sign that says "one nation under Obama" is "racist."

Will somebody please tell this AP writer what is wrong with this statement in a story about the Massachusetts healthcare system: "The law guarantees virtually free insurance for the poorest of the poor .."

Here's a little fun fact .. the people assigned to Obama's Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry don't actually own American cars. Well, very few of them at least.

Government waste and abuse .. the taxpayers of New York spent $500,000 on a ferry boat that is useless. I'm so surprised.

Montana is really fighting for states' rights and gun ownership rights. Hope it works out for them.

We saw this one coming .. the House has a bill a that outlines the dangers of having primates as pets. Glad to see we are focusing on the important issues.

According to this story out of Asheville, North Carolina, "breast-feeding is a civil right."

Documenting the lardassification of America .. an obese man had to be taken to court in a U-Haul.

Jamaica has instituted new rules that ban any song or music video that depicts sexual acts or glorifies gun violence, murder, rape or arson. Where are they going to get their music videos?

Do Americans want to live in a neighborhood with Starbucks or McDonalds?

Would you hire this woman? 6,000+ piercings.

You can bet your buns that I'll be talking about this one on the air tomorrow .. now that the Democrats have passed their government growth bill, the logical step is to raise taxes on the filthy rich.

Is Obama sending mixed messages about government spending? You betcha.

The US taxpayers could soon own up to 40% of Citigroup. We're moving closer and closer towards nationalization of the banks.

Last week we talked about the idea of a mileage tax. For those of you who didn't like it, you can rest easy ... Obama has nixed the idea.

After last week's cartoon, Race pimp Al Sharpton now wants the FCC to investigate the New York Post's parent company.

In New York, the definition of a "millionaires" tax is slowly creeping downward. Anything government can do to get its hands on more of your earned money.

I'm sure that the global warming crowd will fail to mention the fact that the supposedly shrinking arctic ice was being measured by faulty censors sensors.

Tomorrow night, Obama will make his first address to Congress. But the real story seems to be the guy the Republicans have chosen to make a response speech .. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

A US researcher has been given a $1.9 million grant from the Department of Defense to study facial expressions.

An inmate is filing a lawsuit claiming that the jail has interfered with his satanic religious practices.

Apparently eye ball tattoos have become so popular that the state of Oklahoma wants to make them illegal.

Now here is something you may not hear anywhere else on talk radio. We're going to talk about the "N" word here for a moment. The word is bad news .. especially if you happen to be white. The word has been anything but banned in black culture however ... until now. Rappers and others in the black community now have another word. "President." Instead of "This is my n______ right here," it's now "This is my president right here." There is even a group out there called President Please --- a movement to replace the N-word with the word "president." Now the group itself seems to be serious, however there is a great video out there from New York 1 interviewing people in Harlem and the use of the word "president". Check it out below. No problem here. Isn't this replacing a very negative word with a positive one? Sounds good to me. But I do have a prediction here. My guess is that it won't be too long before --- and no, I'm not kidding here --- it won't be long before the use of the word "president" when referring to a black person will be considered to be racist .. unless, of course, you're a president.

By any realistic measure President Obama has been less than a sterling success. Obamabots don't really have a lot to brag about five weeks into his administration. Sure, there's plenty of time to turn this thing around ... and we'll wait for that to happen.

In the meantime we've noticed an interesting trend in our email. I'm told by our email staff that we're getting dozens of emails a day slamming me for not using the word "President" every time I refer to Obama.

Give it a rest.

Accepted journalistic standards (and I'm making no claim here to being a journalist) state that you use the word "president" the first time you refer to the president in a story. Thereafter the last name is fair, as is the word "Mr." This, of course, will make no difference to the complainers. If I don't say "president" every time I say Obama I'm clearly a racist. I guess I'll just have to learn to deal with that.

Did you happen to catch CNBC's Rick Santelli yesterday? Glorioski! Was that refreshing. Here's the video of Santelli yesterday on the floor of the Chicago Exchange. If you can't watch the video - and you really should -- here's a taste of what he had to say about Obama's home mortgage plan: "The new administration is big on computers and technology - how about this, President and new administration? Why don't you put up a Web site to have people vote on the Internet as a referendum to see if we really want to subsidize the losers' mortgages, or would we like to at least buy cars and buy houses in foreclosure and give them to people that might have a change to actually prosper down the road and reward people that could carry the water instead of drink the water."

Clearly the market agreed with those sentiments. The Dow Jones tumbled to a six-year low yesterday .. and as I write these notes for today's show the futures index shows another bad day for investors.

Because most Americans get their news from Entertainment Tonight, comments like these are bound to get more media attention than people who .. dare I say .. know what they are talking about. And this comment comes from actor Sidney Poitier, who believes that the government should cap all CEO salaries in the United States. The Obama administration plans to cap CEO salaries of any bank receiving bailout funds at $500,000 a year. We are talking about taxpayer money. But according to Hollywood, this cap should apply to all CEOs, including those in Hollywood.

According to the Hollywood social elite, capitalism is evil. Working hard at creating or running a business and making a profit is considered evil. It is the government's role to redistribute this wealth by capping CEO pay so that there will be more money out there for people who don't have a job or who don't have the job skills or work ethic to make the big salaries. Does that make ANY sense? What people in this country fail to realize is that these CEOs run businesses that provide jobs which provide paychecks. People also need to understand that if the people with the skills to manage large businesses can't be paid what they're worth in our economy, they'll simply find another economy in which to sell their services. I guess you can't expect those educated by government to understand something this complicated.

But don't go telling that to the average American, who is more inclined to take political advice from George Clooney and the likes of Sidney Poitier.

Meanwhile, what does Wall Street have to say about the pay restrictions? Well, as you can imagine, the financial industry is less than thrilled.

What the heck, it's Friday, right?

This should make you feel really great .. the United Nations is now saying that Iran has enough enriched uranium to build one nuclear bomb. Quick! Barack! Go over there and talk to these people!

When it comes to home foreclosures, is it that people can't pay or they won't pay? The Economist explores this one.

Just over half of Americans support the economic stimulus bill. When it comes to Democrat versus Republican, seems that support is pretty much down party lines. The people who support it expect to get something from it. The magic of legal plunder.

The new chairman of the Republican National Committee says that the GOP needs a "hip-hop" makeover.

This writer thinks that it is laughable that Republicans are the ones fretting about the enormous cost of this government growth bill. He has a point.

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has been a staunch opponent of this stimulus bill. But it looks like he is going to take the money anyway.

You know it is bad when even the media picks up on the fact that Democrats have suddenly struck a different tone on Hurricane Katrina and funds to rebuild.

And you know that you have done something wrong when Jimmy Carter endorses your economic stimulus plan. If Carter likes it there just has to be something gravely wrong with it. Maybe there are funds in there for Hamas and Hezbollah.

Here's a stupid government law of the day: the state of Pennsylvania wants new or expanding farms to get state approval for an odor-management plan, to prevent their neighbors from smelling the farm.

An inmate in federal prison has filed a $23 million lawsuit claiming that NASCAR is responsible for his criminal activity.

Hamas has written an open letter to Barack Obama, and gave it to John Kerry to deliver to the president.

This story from Great Britain should sound pretty familiar: Britain faces years of tax rises as bank bailouts add £1.5 TRILLION to public debt.

In case you missed this one, the president of the Czech Republic compared the European Union to the Soviet Union.

In these economic times, Chicago wants to install stoplight countdowns for drivers, which could cost upwards of $45,000 per corner.

If you've already eaten your breakfast, I'm sorry. It might be hard to keep down when reading this column by Kathleen Parker about her ride on Air Force One with the Obamas.

It looks like the responsibility apple doesn't fall far from the tree. As you well know, the octomom lives with her mother, who owns the house they live in. The mother stopped paying mortgage payments on the house and she has filed for bankruptcy.

Obama said what? [warning: bad language] We're not suggesting you use these as ringtones or anything...

My friend Clark Howard has prostate cancer. He told me several weeks ago. He told his audience yesterday. He's going to come out of this just fine. Why? Because he and his doctors caught this thing some time ago through a routine PSA test. They've been monitoring the situation and now is the time to act. Clark is going to be fine ... but that's only because he was proactive in protecting his health.

What about you. Apparently men don't like to go to doctors. Seems a bit idiotic to me. If going to the doctor is such a problem for you, then you can just pop into one of these testing centers you'll find around town. Ask for a simple PSA blood test. What do you have to lose? A few minutes and a few bucks? What do you have to gain? How about your life.

An odd thing about Clark's prostate cancer: It's going to save a lot of lives without costing one. Men are going to hear Clark talking about his situation - and just maybe they'll discover a problem before it gets out of hand.

Atlanta area folks, get a free prostate cancer screening in Cumming February 28th.

Well there goes my fun ... but then again, maybe not! I was really looking forward to Congressional hearings and the whole bit. But White House spokesman Ben LaBold told FoxNews.com that Barack Obama opposes any move to bring back the Fairness Doctrine.

Well then somebody ought to inform Congress and the FCC that this is the official stance of the administration. But remember, the key nowadays is to rename things. Like "tax cuts" is the new name for "welfare." Or "economic stimulus" is an excuse for "government spending." If it is so easy to re-brand a welfare check as a "tax cut," how difficult could it be to re-brand the Fairness Doctrine? Remember that comment from a Democrat congressman earlier this week? The goal of some Dems, including Henry Waxman, is to bring back the Fairness Doctrine but not actually call it the Fairness Doctrine.

Here are two possibilities:

1. "Localization." Most of the talk shows that cause the Democrats such headaches are syndicated. Instead of the Fairness Doctrine, all the Democrat-controlled FCC has to do is announce a new policy that requires radio stations serving certain sized radio markets to make 50%, 70% or more of their prime time programming local. Syndicated radio programs like Limbaugh and Hannity aren't local. In order to save their licenses to operate these radio stations would have to get rid of one show or the other and substitute local talk show hosts who don't quite have the impact on national policy that the big dogs do. Mission accomplished.
    
2. Create a radio version of the "Community Reinvestment Act" that would require radio stations to program for their specific communities rather than the population at large. This law would permit various community groups, like ACORN, to monitor the programming of radio stations in the area and file complaints with the FCC when the programming isn't to their liking. While it is true that community groups can do that now, the new regulations would give their complaints added weight in determining license renewal.
    
3. Create local boards to oversee radio stations. Politicians, naturally, would appoint these boards which would be made up largely of community "activists." These boards would have extraordinary access to station policies and documents regarding decision-making processes. These boards would have great influence on FCC license-renewal processes and would, therefore, become de-facto program directors.

Fairness Doctrine? They don't need no Fairness Doctrine. There are plenty of ways they can shut down talk radio. Perhaps Obama does actually have an appreciation for the concept of free speech when it comes to talk radio ... but I see nothing in his history or current actions that would tell us that.

Well ... Barack appoints a black Attorney General .. and he gets right down to business; talking about race. What a surprise. Eric Holder is one Obama appointee that really slipped under our radar as the country grew more outraged over this government growth bill. So now the guy is our Attorney General. He's the first black Attorney General. And apparently he isn't going to let us forget it.

Holder made a speech to Justice Department employees yesterday in honor of Black History Month. He indicated his belief that the American workplace is pretty much integrated, but that Americans are still self-segregated on the weekends and in their private lives. Apparently there is something wrong with free people choosing those whom with they wish to associate.

A question before we move on .. as long as no one is being harmed in the process, what is the big deal? People have the freedom to choose who they associate with in their private lives. I hope that this does not insinuate that the government should make sure people of various races are hosting barbeques together on the weekends like they do on television commercials

But back to his speech. Holder says, "Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards."

Wow, now there is a pretty blunt statement. He says that average Americans simply do not talk enough with each other about race. Allow me a little input here. I've been talking for a living for about 40 years ... so perhaps I can put a little light on this subject.

Let's say that I go on the air today to talk about the anti-achievement policy that so permeates urban black communities. What if I resurrect some of those stories from sources such as Time Magazine detailing the anti-learning culture in America's urban high schools. Learning, you know, is a white thing. Across this country there are young black men and women who won't study, won't answer questions in class, won't do homework, and won't try to do well on tests because their friends will think they're trying to "act white."

What if I were to gather some statistics detailing the fact that blacks commit violent crimes way out of proportion to their percentage of the population? How do you think that is going to go over?

Now just why would I bring these subjects up on my show? I like to illustrate that these problems are not race-based, they're culture-based. I like to show that some people get outraged when these problems are based on culture rather than race. Why? Because if you're part of the problem you can change cultural mores - but you can't change your color. Showing these problems to be culture-based erases black's claims to victimization.

Trust me ... I try to bring these things up on the air, and I'm a racist. Nation of cowards? Hardly. There are a lot of people who are ready to address these issues - but as soon as they do the "racism" word is pulled out. End of conversation.

Race pimp Al Sharpton had quite a day yesterday. When he woke up yesterday morning and opened up the New York Post, he knew it was going to be a great day. He got up, put the racial chip on his shoulder, and marched to the nearest news outlet to express his outrage over this editorial cartoon.

Here's what Al Sharpton had to say: "The cartoon in today's New York Post is troubling at best, given the racist attacks throughout history that have made African-Americans synonymous with monkeys. One has to question whether the cartoonist is making a less than casual inference to this form of racism when, in the cartoon, the police say after shooting a chimpanzee, 'now they will have to find someone else to write the stimulus bill.' Being that the stimulus bill has been the first legislative victory of President Barack Obama (the first African American president) and has become synonymous with him it is not a reach to wonder whether the Post cartoonist was inferring that a monkey wrote it?"

Now admittedly, Al Sharpton wasn't the only one outraged by the cartoon. The new New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said that she found the cartoon "offensive and purposefully hurtful." And a New York City Councilman has called for a boycott of the New York Post.

Now .. what was my point again? A chimp gets shot. Someone puts that chimp into an editorial cartoon because of all of the news coverage. Race pimp Sharpton crawls out from under his log ... and the "racism" thing starts up. Par for the course.

This insipid woman and all of the publicity she's getting is starting to bug me just a wee bit. Single mother. Fourteen children. No job. A parasite on the butt cheeks of those far more responsible than her. This just isn't right.

Every state out there has an agency that looks out for children who are deprived. This agency in California should get to work. They should investigate the Octowomb's household and living condition. They should make a determination as to whether or not these children will be deprived living in that household. If Nadya Suleman can't show that she is capable of providing for these kids on her own or through her family then the solution is obvious and simple. Take the kids away from this fool and put them up for adoption.

Do it as soon as they come out of the hospital. These kids deserve a lot more than this moonbat for a mother.

Yesterday on the program I reviewed some of the things I wrote many years ago in a document titled "The Democrats Secret Plan for America." In that column I detailed what the Democrats would try to accomplish if they were ever to get control of the House, Senate and White House again. As I was going though the items in that column I mentioned that the Democrats haven't yet gotten around to paid family leave. Well, it turns out that I was wrong. The Democrats have, indeed, hit that issue just as I said they would. An astute listener brought to my attention the fact that the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act has been re-introduced into this Congress by Democrat Virginia Senator Jim Webb. Webb says. "The legislation we've introduced today is an issue of fairness for federal employees ... It is our goal to ensure that the federal government, the nation's largest employer, maintain policies that support strong families and set an example for the private sector." How do you do that? You do that by paying people not to work just because they've had a baby.

Read that again folks. "Set an example for the private sector." How long will it take for the Dems to force that foolish idea on the free market?

The Federal Reserve sharply downgraded its projections for economic performance this year, saying that the economy will shrink and unemployment will rise. Wait! What about the great and wonderful stimulus bill?

Now that the stimulus package has been passed, we get a list of random things that could be bought for $787 billion.

What can we expect from this government growth bill? The Congressional Budget Office says lower wages for American workers. Who cares. As long as these people are made more dependent on government the mission has been accomplished.

So now what happens with Roland Burris' Senate seat in Illinois? Constitutional scholars are working on that one.

Rep. Phil Hare, a Democrat from Illinois, is the first member of Congress to officially call for Burris to give up his seat. Wait! Burris is black! Doesn't that make Hare a racist?

Unfortunately, analysts say that Norm Coleman will "need a miracle" in order to win the Senate race in Minnesota. The world-class jerk is going to become a Senator.

GM is trying to stick the Swedish taxpayers with the bill for its failing Saab unit. Funnily enough, the Swedes aren't having it.

Now that the stimulus battle is over, some Republicans in Congress are OK with the idea of their districts receiving a lot of money for pork projects.

In laying out his plans for the housing market, Obama says that we need to be responsible for our own actions and live within our means again. Now there's a concept. Too bad it doesn't apply to congress.

About a month into his administration, how would you describe Obama's governing style?

In the latest on the California budget battle .. Republican state senators were upset that their minority leader agreed to tax hikes . So what did they do? Removed him from power.

This statistic may explain a few things about the upcoming generations: one third of college students expect to be awarded a B just for showing up to lectures. Entitlement culture at its best. And our government schools aren't helping things.

What's the point of writing a story about train workers who refuse to wear their new uniforms because the blouse is see-through .. if you don't have any pictures to show us. Then again, this story is from Great Britain. So maybe that is a blessing.

Barack Obamamania has hit Brazil .. a nude Brazilian dancer has decided to paint her body with the image of Barack Obama for Brazil's Carnival festival. And here, for your viewing pleasure, is a profile of the dancer, Viviane Castro.

Some GOP governors are considering turning down the stimulus funds. 

Put down your coffee, gather the office mates around, and have a good laugh with this one!

We'll just make this simple. If Roland Burris, the new Democrat Senator from Illinois, were a Republican ... he would be burnt toast. As it is you have to work to find the media even referring to this character as a Democrat.

You do know the story, don't you? After Blago appointed him to fill Obama's Senate seat Burris was called back to Illinois to testify before a state Senate committee looking into Blago's corruption. While under oath Burris said that he had not had discussed making any payments to Blago with any of Blago's staff, including his brother. Then Burris discovers that the feds have a tape of him discussing a campaign donation with Blago's brother. Don't you just hate it when that happens? So ... time for a little CYA. Burris suddenly wants to submit an affidavit to the Illinois senate expanding his testimony. Since they have him on tape he had better fess up and tell them that he talked to Blago's bro about some money.

This is called perjury. We learned while Bill Clinton was president that only Republicans like Scooter Libby are punished for perjury. Democrats get a pass. Let's see if it works this way for Burris.

• The Dow at a 10-year low.
• A tax cheat running the IRS
• Another tax cheat as the Chief of Staff
• A trillion-dollar plus federal deficit
• Over one-half of voters relieved of any federal tax liability
• Government mandated limits on executive compensation
• Three failed attempts and still no Commerce Secretary
• Tom Daschle rides his free limo into the sunset - after paying taxes he evaded.
• The White House performance czar turns out to be a tax cheat also
• Lobbyists hired to work for the Obama Administration
• The census gets politicized
• Double government spending in one year
• The word "freedom" fades into obscurity
• Increasing home loan mortgage rates across the board
• Millions of Americans made dependent on government
• Moving unionization-by-intimidation forward
• Welfare checks become "tax cuts."
• Illegal aliens free to work on taxpayer-funded "stimulus" projects
• Welfare reform reversed, states ordered to increase welfare roles
• Move to silence critical talk radio shows
• Selling Senate seats
• Obama books in religious sections of book stores
• More government workers, not private sector jobs
• A government bureaucracy to intrude on doctor/patient relationships
• Stage set for medical services rationing
• Annual welfare checks for middle income families

Some people, the Investor's Business Daily, for instance, think that Obama delayed the signing of the government stimulus bill one day so that he could go to Denver and talk up the "green" provisions of the bill. So .. on the day this grand disaster is signed, our new president talked green. Oh, to be sure, he had something to say about jobs. To be specific, he had this to say: "Green energy that can create countless well-paying jobs." Countless? Wow! Now that's going to be something! If anything will solve our economic downturn "countless" jobs would sure do it. We're going to employ America building windmills and solar panels. Wow! Am I ever relieved. Everything is going to be just fine.

You do know that most of this money isn't going to hit the economy for around two years, don't you?

A listener asked me this question last week. Fair enough. If (and God help you if it ever happens) I was the one making the decision, what would I do to stimulate our economy? Well .. here would be some of my first steps:

• Say something positive about the power of the free market system
• Call for immediate passage of the FairTax
• Lower the top tax rate to 20% while waiting for the FairTax to pass
• Immediately eliminate capital gains taxes
• Declare a tax amnesty to allow all American funds invested abroad to come to work in our economy with no tax consequences
• Cut the corporate tax rate significantly. Having the world's second-highest corporate tax rate doesn't exactly make us a magnet for new businesses and jobs.
• Repeal Sarbanes-Oxley
• Declare a tax holiday of from four to six months where the federal government forgives all individual income and payroll taxes.

There's more to be done for sure ... but the goal here is to get the economy moving NOW, not two years from now. The big problem with all of the steps outlined above, of course, is that they empower the private sector and individuals, not government and politicians. The goal here is to grow our economy, not our government.

Now ... aren't you glad I'm not up there making any decisions?

Here's a crow using bait to catch fish.

President Obama has another grand rescue coming our way. Today he will announce a $50 billion home rescue plan. The goal will be to slow down or prevent more home foreclosures. The plan? Well PrezBo really knows how to present a policy proposal to the American people. Listen to this: He wants to "encourage services and lenders to do the right thing." Eureka! Why didn't anyone else think of this! Problem solved! Just tell the lenders to do the right thing! No wonder we made this guy our leader.

There are some specifics. Obama wants lenders to modify interest rates and payments to make it easier for some homeowners to get back on their feet. OK, that sounds doable --- for borrowers that didn't lie through their teeth to get their loans and who bought their homes with some reasonable expectation of being able to pay for them. For homeowners who had no job history, no credit rating, and who lied about income on their home loan applications ... no deal. They should have been renters ... and renters they should become.

Here's the dangerous part of Barack's plan --- other than the spending of another $50 billion that is. He wants to give bankruptcy judges the power to reduce the principal balances due under some loans. This is nothing less than pure theft.

Until the mortgage market went into the toilet I was a private mortgage lender. I've already had to take one home back from a borrow who was unable (or just refused) to pay. Thankfully I only have one borrower on the brink right now. What would it mean to me if that borrow declared bankruptcy and some bankruptcy judge came along and said (for example) "Mr. Boortz, I'm reducing the principal amount of Mr. Sternfaulter's loan by $50,000." Well, simply put .. this would mean that the judge has just seized $50,000 from me. Taken. Confiscated. Seized. Stolen. Call it what you will .. but $50,000 is gone.

Why are bankruptcy judges now prohibited from reducing the principal amount due under a home loan? That would be because it makes it easier for people to buy homes. Lenders are assured that at least they will get their principal balance back .. through loan repayment, a bankruptcy arrangement or foreclosure. But what happens is lenders can't be assured of at least getting their principal back? They would face bigger potential losses. How do you prepare for increased potential losses? You charge more for your product in order to create a reserve that would cover those loses. How do you do that? Higher interest rates. Higher interest rates would make it more difficult for you to buy a home .. not to mention more expensive.

Great plan, PrezBO.

This is a fun CNN blooper. Talk about your Freudian slips...

Barack Obama signed over your grandchildren's economic future yesterday. He signed this government growth bill into law. And as if that wasn't bad enough ...

Did you happen to hear what Obama's press secretary, Robert Gibbs, had to say about the stimulus? On Air Force One, on the way to Denver to have Obama sign the bill that just HAD to be passed by Congress over four days ago, Gibbs said, "I think the president is going to do what's necessary to grow this economy .. While there are no particular plans at this point for a second stimulus package .. I wouldn't foreclose it."

Well that didn't take long. Wasn't this stimulus package supposed to take care of it? Yet on the very day PrezBO signs it we hear talk of another one! Haven't we grown government enough for a while? How much will the next stimulus cost .. two trillion? We've already squeezed universal healthcare and the possibility of government Internet regulation into this current bill, what Democrat dreams and schemes can we come up with next?

Wall Street didn't seem to feel too confident about the stimulus bill either. The Dow Jones dropped almost 300 points, close to its lowest levels in more than a decade.

I told you about how the final stimulus bill does not include a provision that would force employers receiving stimulus money to use E-verify. In other words, they can hire illegal immigrants using your tax money as "economic stimulus" and send that money right back to Mexico, or Guatemala, or what have you.

There happens to be one man in the White House that helping their cause... Rahm Emanuel. You may remember that Obama's first legislative victory was passage of this SCHIP bill. And apparently Rahm Emanuel was the one who "cleared the path for increased benefits for legal immigrant children and pregnant women in the State Children's Health Insurance Program." The president of La Raza says that that the SCHIP bill would have never happened if it wasn't for Rahm, after he warned that the bill would not be signed without the immigration benefits. He even went as far as to say that "SCHIP can be viewed as a down payment on what will be forthcoming from the Obama administration."

And this move of the Census from the Commerce Department to the White House, it was only after Hispanic groups protested the fact that Judd Gregg was going to hurt their cause. And Rahm Emanuel was set to be the White House point person for the Census.

And then when it comes to this economic stimulus bill, the Politico reports, "Hispanics and business groups managed to delete from the final bill House language that would have forced employers receiving stimulus money to use E-Verify."

Illegals sending stimulus money out of the country. Still more change you can believe in.

In my book "Somebody's Gotta Say It" I mentioned the idea of a Tenth Amendment commission. This is perhaps the most widely abused amendment. And for those of you who are government educated, here's a little reminder of what we are talking about:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

And this government growth bill, signed into law yesterday by Barack Obama, is only further proof that our imperial federal government is intent on growing bigger and bigger. With that growth, the states lose more power over issues that should be left up to them .. like education.

Some states are really starting to catch on. In Oklahoma, a state Representative has proposed a resolution calling for the reassertions of Oklahoma's sovereignty under the 10th Amendment. House Joint Resolution 1003, authored by Rep. Charles Key, serves as "Notice and Demand to the federal government, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers."

It seems like such a simple concept. But for many who become life-long politicians, government isn't guided by the principles of our Founding Fathers and the Constitution .. government becomes a source of power, income and influence.

The EPA did an about-face on an issue. In December, the Bush administration distributed a memo stating that the EPA would not further limit emissions from coal-fired power plants. Well, toss that memo in the trash bin. Now the EPA says that it would reopen the possibility of regulating carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants.

This reminds me of Obama's comment on the campaign trail, "So, if somebody wants to build a coal plant, they can -- it's just that it will bankrupt them, because they are going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted."

I guess it was only a matter of time. Hey, maybe we could call this regulation an "economic stimulus" as well?

The jury has spoken on this case in Texas. Roger Barnett is a rancher who owns 22,000 acres of private and leased land on the Arizona-Mexican border. When 16 illegal aliens came onto his property, he approached them with a gun and a dog, rounded them up and turned them over to the US Border Patrol.

Here comes to the Mexican American Legal Defense Education Fund, which sues Barnett for $32 million for civil rights violations and infliction of emotional distress.

Well you will be glad to know that the jury ruled that Barnett did not violate the "civil rights" of the illegal aliens. But .... the jury did award $78,000 in actual and punitive damages to six of the illegal aliens on claims of assault and emotional distress. Isn't that just wonderful? You defend your property and suddenly you're forking over big bucks because you caused some degree of emotional distress in the people you find trespassing.

All things considered, Congressional job approval leapt from 19% to 31% from January to February. Are we talking about the same US Congress that just drafted this lame excuse for a government growth bill?

Gee, who didn't this one coming. GM and Chrysler need more of your tax dollars.

Oh goody, here we go again: Roland Burris now acknowledges attempting to raise money for ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

We are going to send 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan this spring and summer. Afghanistan is now Obama's war. Good luck with that.

Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were released from prison yesterday. They have been sitting in prison for two years, for shooting an illegal alien drug smuggler.

Liberal talker Bill Press says that he wants the Fairness Doctrine because, "I want to make money at it, and I want to be heard."

Here are some more of the details on this Texas financial firm that was invaded by the Feds yesterday, accused of an $8 billion fraud scheme.

And which political party do you think benefited big time from donations from this Texas financier? I'll give you a hint, it starts with Democrat.

You may not be shocked by this one: Muslim TV network founder who beheaded his wife received an award from CAIR .... He founded his network to show Muslims in a positive light. Yeah ... this ought to do it.

Speaking of this Muslim beheading, it looks like women's groups are actually taking a stand on this one.

Ok, here's your daily wealth envy story. This one from Southern California: Wealthy cities discovering they're not recession-proof.

Young people still seem optimistic about their futures in the United States. Too bad that I can't share their optimism. They are young. They don't know any better.

A 17-year-old thinks that he can run the city of Centerville, Iowa. Let us know how that works out for you.

A California professor says that he has found Osama bin Laden using the same techniques used to track endangered species. That sounds about right.

Hey, looks like we've got a little home grown slave labor situation in Iowa. What's wrong, were the illegals too expensive?

Illinois is trying its best to strip guns out of the hands of citizens. While lawmakers know that they can't overtly do this .. because of this pesky little thing called the Second Amendment .. they know that enough government regulation will eventually destroy an industry.

So Illinois is considering a law to require gun owners to maintain a policy of liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 ... this is HB0687, the Firearm Owners ID-Insurance bill:

"Amends the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. Provides that any person who owns a firearm in this State shall maintain a policy of liability insurance in the amount of at least $1,000,000 specifically covering any damages resulting from negligent or willful acts involving the use of such firearm while it is owned by such person. Provides that a person shall be deemed the owner of a firearm after the firearm is lost or stolen until such loss or theft is reported to the police department or sheriff of the jurisdiction in which the owner resides. Provides that the Department of State Police shall revoke and seize a Firearm Owner's Identification Card previously issued under this Act if the Department finds that the person to whom such card was issued possesses or acquires a firearm and does not submit evidence to the Department of State Police that he or she has been issued in his or her name a liability insurance policy in the amount of at least $1,000,000 specifically covering any damages resulting from negligent or willful acts involving the use of such firearm while it is owned by such person. Effective January 1, 2010."

When your goal is absolute control over the population controlling the population's access to weapons is crucial. These politicians know that guns legally owned by law-abiding citizens are not the problem. Remember that government has one power that the rest of us do not have .. government, and only government, can use force to accomplish its goals. We should always be very wary of any politician who exhibits fear at the thought of private citizens having the ability to defend themselves.

I've been saying this for years, but the global warming movement is not about saving the environment. It is a giant ponzi scheme to redistribute wealth. And when it comes to the UN, that means redistributing wealth around the world.

That leads me to this .. yesterday the United Nations called on rich nations to create "Global Green New Deal." In order to restart the world economy, the United Nations thinks that the best approach would be for richer nations to spend taxpayer dollars on the environment, climate change and poverty reduction.

How much are we talking? At least 1% of the GDP of each rich nation. The United Nations Environment Program report says, "Reviving the world economy is essential, but measures that focus solely on this objective will not achieve lasting success." That should sound familiar to some of you.

Never let a good crisis go to waste. Looks like the UN is taking a page from Rahm Emanuel's book.

A nifty little fight going on in the Georgia General Assembly about whether or not Georgians should be allowed to buy alcohol on Sunday. Right now you can have a drink if you go to a restaurant on Sunday - in certain jurisdictions - but only after 12:30. The politicians figure that this gives the Baptists time to get home from church. However, if you decide at the last minute to have some friends over for dinner or brunch on Sunday you are not allowed to go buy a bottle of wine.

What has finally driven the political class to consider ending this stupid blue law? Money, of course. They want the tax revenues from Sunday alcohol sales. Frankly I don't believe that it would result in any significant additional revenues .. but I do believe that the state should not be controlling the behavior of one group of citizens to appease another ... the church-goers.

When I first moved to Georgia in the late '60s the Blue Laws were in full force. How bad was it? Well ... you could go to visit a sick child in the hospital on Sunday, but you couldn't stop anywhere and buy that child a teddy bear or a toy? Why not? The Baptists were going to church .. that's why not.

In times past bootleggers provided a lot of funding to keep Sunday alcohol sales down. I wonder if they're in the mix this time.

The Boortz staff has tried to track this story back to sources ... admittedly, it's pretty sketchy, so bear that in mind as you read. The poll results are real, as is the desire of many on the left to shut down talk radio. After all, if you can't beat 'em, shut 'em down. The stuff about Henry Waxman? No solid source .. but this really sounds just like good ole Henry. Anyway ...

The latest Rasmussen polls show that 38% of Americans believe the government should resurrect the Fairness Doctrine - require radio stations to offer equal amounts of liberal and conservative commentary. This is almost a ten point drop from last August when 47% of Americans said that the government should require radio to be "balanced."

And while Jamie Dupree and others believe that there is no chance of the Fairness Doctrine being reimposed .. I'm not so convinced. Heck, I HOPE that the government holds hearings and dabbles with the idea of bringing it back. The immediate result will be more listeners for talk radio. Some will go away again, many will stay. We have a good beat and we're easy to dance to.

According to this report, senior staff working for the acting FCC Commissioner met with policy and legislative advisers to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman. Why is that? Because they wanted to discuss ways that the committee can create openings for the FCC to reimpose some form of the Fairness Doctrine, without calling it the "Fairness Doctrine."

Apparently Henry Waxman is also interested in imposing some sort of "balance" on the Internet as well. Wow, even better news for me .. I'll have my radio show and this website for the government to "balance"!

A Democrat committee member (who remains nameless) says that the stimulus package may have opened a door for regulation of the Internet. He says, "The FCC and state and local governments also have oversight over the Internet lines and the cable and telecom companies that operate them. We want to get alternative views on radio and TV, but we also want to makes sure those alternative views are read, heard and seen online, which is becoming increasingly video and audio driven. Thanks to the stimulus package, we've established that broadband networks -- the Internet -- are critical, national infrastructure. We think that gives us an opening to look at what runs over that critical infrastructure."

Didn't I mention that politicians just love to control things? I think I may have said that somewhere before.

Last fall, the media and Congress panned the executives from the Big Three auto companies when they showed up to Washington in their private jets to beg for taxpayer money. At that same time, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration spent $123,000 of taxpayer money to charter a private jet to Bogota, Colombia. Oh and the Drug Enforcement Administration already has 106 planes that could have been used instead. Apparently the plane that usually would have flown the administration was grounded for scheduled maintenance at the time.

Pretty much par for the course, isn't it? What's good for the government and political class is not necessarily good for private citizens. Me? I look for excuses to use my Marquis Jet card ... usually on trips further than I want to fly my Mooney. What fun it is to tweak the wealth-envy crowd.

This article is coming from the Guardian in the UK, of all places: "The president is popular for now - but while his stimulus package is being hailed as a victory, no one truly believes it will work." Well isn't that special.

Well we could have seen this one coming .. China is trying to figure out ways to diversify out of the dollar. Wait! If China isn't going to buy all of the debt we're producing .. who will? Bangladesh?

Al Franken wants to be called "Senator-elect." Who is he kidding? For those of you who don't know ... and I'm speaking from personal experience here ... if Franken is sworn in as a Senator he will, hands down, be the biggest jerk in Washington.

How are the states going to spend their "economic stimulus" money? New York Daily News has a list of some of the more inane bailout projects.

New York Gov. David Paterson asked 130,000 state workers to give up their pay increases because of the budget crisis, but then gave raises of as much as 46% to more than a dozen of his staffers.

Meanwhile, New York is going to be receiving a "tidal wave" of tax dollars (more than any other state) thanks to this government growth bill. And this is something to be happy about?

Times are tough for every state. Kansas has suspended income tax refunds and may not be able to pay its employees on time. You don't pay your income tax in Kansas and they come take your stuff. If Kansas doesn't give you your refund can you take their stuff?

The National Education Association teamed up with a website to produce a book of children's hopes for the Obama presidency. Excuse me while I misplace my breakfast.

How much is it going to cost the taxpayers to fix the Manhattan Supreme Courthouse, which is inscribed with an incorrect quote from George Washington?

Regulating carbon dioxide "pollution" .. what does this mean for smaller states like Vermont? Yep, more tax money down the drain. All in the name of global warming.

For all of you suffering from wealth envy .. you'll hate this story about a Miami banker who gave $60 million of his own money to employees as bonuses.

When in doubt, tax the small business owners .. that is what Oregon is considering - increasing taxes 1,900% on beer produced by Oregon brewers.

When the ethanol industry goes belly up, who comes to the rescue? The evil oil industry!

A South Carolina sheriff has decided that he isn't going to charge Michael Phelps. Good ... he was looking like a real fool for a while.

What is the worst food that you can eat if you are worried about global warming?

He died, they lied: teens lied about teens alcohol use. Hey, they actually refer to Garrett Reed as a "student" rather than an "athlete" this time!

Liberal commentator and Clinton pal has a few words for SC Governor Sanford.

Let's see, vote against the government spending bill, then praise all the money it's going to bring to your state. What?

At 10:35am ET, we'll have a special segment with Washington Correspondent Jamie Dupree for in depth coverage of the stimulus bill. Make sure you're following his blog for the latest information.

Also, Newt Gingrich will join us at 11:05am ET for a chat.Go by and visit his site americansolutions.com.

General Motors is asking for billions more in bailout money ... and the news yesterday was that talks with auto worker's unions about contract concessions have failed. Which surprises you more?

(A) The fact that GM is back at the taxpayer teat

(B) The fact that the United Auto Workers don't want to be a part of the solution?

Get back to me when you figure that one out, would you?

First .. remember this. This whole so-called "stimulus" bill is the largest government spending bill in the history of the U.S. Government. Would you have expected anything less from a Democrat-controlled Washington DC?

The Democrats just had to have this stimulus bill passed by Friday. I still think it is because Nancy Pelosi had to make sure it was passed before she jetted off to Italy .. but the Democrat House broke a promise by voting on the bill without giving the public and the media 48 hour to review the darn thing. We were told that they just couldn't wait another minute. Had to do it NOW! They had to have it NOW, my friends, so that it could be signed into law before the people really started to figure out what this was all about - the growing of government - and that our economy may well be improving without this hideous bill.

Now another broken campaign promise. During the "Change You Can Believe In" campaign Obama told us that he would never sign a critical piece of legislation until the American people have had five days to read it, ask questions about it and understand it. That promise is no longer operative. He said that to get elected --- but he certainly never met it. Obama will sign this disaster tomorrow in Denver.

Denver? Yeah ... Denver. He sure is enjoying that Air Force One bit, isn't he?

We already knew that Barack Obama wants to limit executive pay to $500,000 for executives of companies receiving bailout funds. As Obama put it, the compensation restrictions would only apply to banks that receive "exceptional assistance."

But thanks to Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, that is not exactly how it is worded in the government enhancement bill that will be signed into law tomorrow. The bill will limit executive bonuses on all banks that receive bailout money .. not just those receiving "exceptional assistance." The rules written into the stimulus bill also apply retroactively to companies that have received TARP money. And when it comes to those evil corporate bonuses, Chris Dodd has a plan for those too .. although any bonuses included in contracts before February 11th will not be affected.

Here's the deal:

"Under the new restrictions, top executives can only collect bonuses no larger than one-third of their annual salary. And those bonuses must be given in the form of restricted stock options that executives could not cash in on until their company's bailout money was repaid to the government ... In terms of how many executives would be impacted by the rules in the stimulus bill: The restrictions would only apply to the highest-paid employee for companies receiving less than $25 million in government funds, but they would impact senior executives and at least the 20 next most highly paid employees at companies receiving $500 million or more in TARP funds."

Now the Obama administration says that it wants Congress to change parts of the executive compensation provisions included in the stimulus. Obama is apparently angry that Chris Dodd is trying to "one up" him with even more restrictions on executive compensations.

Whatever happens with the bonus provisions of the bill one thing is certain .. these restrictions ill insure that the affected companies cannot go into the marketplace to find the best available executive talent to bring their companies back to profitability. But the wealth-envy crowd will be happy.

Included in this government growth package is a provision calling for the creation of a national health database. This is a campaign promise from Barack Obama, and he is going to pay off in the name of "economic stimulus."

But let's jump across the pond for a moment to see how Great Britain is handling its computerized medical records database. Oh wait, what's this? The boss of a National Health Service hospital has condemned the government database, saying that it has led to fewer patients and has cost over $14 million in unnecessary expenses.

This doesn't matter to Democrats. They aren't gunning for government healthcare because of your health. They are doing it to make sure that you are dependent on the government and therefore dependent on them. Wake up, folks. This is not going to work out well for any of us.

They're really cranking up the language out there. Jerry Brown, the California Attorney General, was on Michael Savage's talk show last week pushing the idea. Governor Moonbeam (or whatever they call him this week) actually said "A little state control never hurt anybody." Now that's a nice little Democrat. Democrats love state control. Only government is bright enough to do these things ... not the private sector, and certainly not the people. No Democrat in his right mind would ever let the public decide what they wanted to listen to on radio.

Let me clue you in on something. If any leftist or Democrat ever tells you that the Fairness Doctrine is about restoring some sort of balance .. that person is lying in your face. The Fairness Doctrine is about destroying syndicated talk radio .. nothing less.

Try this: I want you to pay a visit to the Media Matters website. Media Matters is an organization that has dedicated itself to the destruction of conservative talk radio. In fact, the Clinton/Soros myrmidons at Media Matters are setting up the infrastructure they need to launch a full-scale attack on talk radio as soon as the Fairness Doctrine is reinstated. Now if you were to ask these folks what they're up to, they would tell you that they're just about fairness and balance. Again .. they're liars. They're lying straight to your face.

Click this link. You're going to see the Media Matters website in the background with a dialogue box in the center. "Join our Team Today!" it says. "Help us hold the media accountable." The box reads "Send me Media Matters newsletters and action alerts." Then come the sign-up spaces. Action alerts? Well, they ask for your first and last name - but that's voluntary. They then require your email address and zip code. Now just why would they want your zip code? Well ... let me tell you.

On their main page Media Matters says "Over the next few months, we'll be developing new tools to help you take action on both the national and local levels." What kind of action? Complaining to individual radio stations and making equal-time demands, that's what kind of action.

Media Matters is building a database of radio stations around the country that carry their two main enemies, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. I'm probably not important enough for them to waste the time building a database for me. Perhaps that's a good thing. But I'll guarantee that they have a list of Hannity radio stations .. and that list includes all of the zip codes in the signal coverage area for each radio station. Here's how they will use that information:

After implementation of the Fairness Doctrine Media Matters staffers and volunteers will monitor what's being said by Hannity. (We'll stick with Sean for this example). As soon as Hannity voices an opinion on a controversial issue - like socialized medicine - Media Matters will get into their database and send emails to members of their "action network" in virtually every Hannity zip code. These "action network" members will be encouraged to call their local Hannity radio station and demand, pursuant to the Fairness Doctrine, time to express an opposing viewpoint. The radio stations will be forced to interrupt programming to present a constant stream of these "opposing" sound bites or risk losing their licenses to operate. In just a matter of days these radio stations will be completely fed up with the constant stream of Media Matters (and other organizations, to be sure) generated demands for equal time. They'll start dropping these syndicated shows like hot coals. This may turn out to be good for local talk talent ... but it will kill syndicated talk radio. That, after all, is the ultimate Democrat goal. They know they can't succeed in the genre, so destroy those who can.

Should be interesting.

Things are getting heated in Memphis, Tennessee where a newspaper decided it would be a good idea to publish all the names and information of gun owners in the state. The Commercial Appeal's Web site now lists all those in Tennessee who have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

The outcry from the public has been so huge, that the paper felt the need to defend its decision. I thought that you might enjoy a few of the reasons why the paper supports the need to know who in your neighborhood is a handgun owner:

• A mom might now check the list to see if the parents at her kid's sleep-over next door had a concealed weapon permit. If so, maybe it would be worth talking to them to make sure the gun is locked up.
  
• A school official, concerned about whether teachers were bringing guns onto school grounds, might check the list to see whether anyone on the staff has a permit to carry, and then have a discussion about it.
  
• Business people who sell goods and services that might be of interest to those who carry concealed weapons might use the list to generate new leads.
  
• But there is one overriding, enduring reason the permit-to-carry list needs to be public. Once a concealed weapon is pulled out at a shopping center, a hospital or a business, what happens next with that gun becomes a matter of public concern to everyone.

Hey ... I have an idea here. Why doesn't this same newspaper publish a list of all people who have communicable diseases? How about a list of people with HIV? Maybe some mother would be a little concerned about her child spending the night at a friend's home where mom and dad have full-blown AIDS. Maybe a school official might like to know which teachers are HIV positive, and which are not.

We know the reason, don't we? The newspaper is philosophically opposed to people owning and carrying guns ... and this is a way for them to fight back.

That would be government school bus drivers, by the way. They're all going to be dressed up in khaki pants, blue blazers and red shirts. This is happening at a time the school is laying off workers due to budget shortfalls. Also .. just in case you didn't know ... this school lost its accreditation last year, generally because its being run by a bunch of idiots. The cost of these snazzy uniforms? About $75,000. Now of course when a government official comes up with an asinine idea like this, they have to have a reason. So ... here's your reason. The uniforms will prevent school bus hijackings. Now does Clayton County have a history of school bus hijackings? Nope. Can't think of one .. but when a hijacker does happen to come along he will most certainly be frightened off by the uniformed drivers.

Clayton County is losing students hand over fist. There are actually some parents there who don't want their children attending unaccredited schools. These uniforms should bring them back. They will turn the looser cruiser into a party bus!

As a regular reader of Nealz Nuze, I am sure that you will quickly realize what is wrong with the logic of rapper T.I. Here's the set up .. T.I. believes that Obama's plans to raise taxes on people making over $250,000 would be good for our economy because it will create jobs: "I think it may create jobs, absolutely ... I mean with more tax money, there will be more money there for government jobs to pay more employees."

T.I. --- this brilliant icon of the Hip Hop culture --- seems to believe that jobs are only created by government. The private sector has nothing to do with it. I'm sorry, all you Hip Hop folks out there ... but this man is profoundly ignorant. He may be able to scowl real good ... after all, you can become a successful rapper without a good scowl ... and he may be able to rhyme to something that loosely resembles a beat ... but when it comes to job creation he couldn't tell you the difference between one of his gold chains and a dog leash. What do you want to bet T.I., which stands for Terminally Ignorant, has an entourage? He probably has about ten men with a few females thrown in following him everywhere he goes. He pays them to tell him what a stud he is, fold his clothes, wipe dead bugs off the Bentley windshield and keep tract of his bling. He's not smart enough to understand that he, not the government, created those jobs. This fool just can't understand that its those evil people making over $250,000 that create more jobs in this precious place known as the private sector. If they are paying more in taxes, then they will have less money to pay employees, which means fewer jobs.

But don't tell this to a government-educated thug. To him, and to a vast majority of people in this country, they believe that it is government that creates wealth and jobs. Oh ... and they're Obama voters.

No .. it can't be? Newsweek put Obama on their cover how many times in the last year? Now they run a story that treats Obama as something other than a deity? Traitors! How dare them? This man cannot be allowed to fail!

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says, "I would not take off the idea of nationalizing the banks."

Harrison Schmitt walked on the moon. No dummy. He says that this who global warming scam is a tool to increase government control over our lives. Golly ...seems I've heard that somewhere else. Wonder where?

Who got last minute gifts in the stimulus bill? Yeah, like it was going to pass without some extra pork thrown in there.

So .. you want to be an airline gate agent?

Back up to the government trough .. the auto industry, which has until tomorrow to submit plans to show how they repay billions in taxpayer loans. Do you think there will be plans? Yeah .. the plan is to ask for more money.

As of right now, it looks like GM is seriously considering Chapter 11 as an option.

Tom Daschle is out as health czar, so who does the Obama administration turn to fill his shoes? Rahm Emanuel's brother. Yeah .. that makes perfect sense.

So you say that Obama won't re-impose the Fairness Doctrine? His administration surely won't answer the question nowadays.

Couldn't news like this been pointed out before the stimulus vote? A multibillion-dollar construction project in the Northwest isn't going to create a lot of jobs for many years.

The Obama administration is warning that Americans shouldn't expect instant miracles from this government growth bill. You mean Obama isn't going to give everyone a house?

The GOP wants an investigation of Illinois Senator Roland Burris on possible perjury charges, and they want him to resign immediately. Did Blago ask Burris for some cash for the seat?

Love the title of Mark Steyn's column: The Obamateur Hour. He's right. We thought it would be cool to put a rant amateur in the White House; someone with no measurable experience whatsoever. Good luck.

Even if governors don't want the bailout money, the Democrats in Congress have made sure that the states will get it anyway.

Add another Democrat to the list of Fairness Doctrine supporters: New York Congressman Maurice Hinchey.

This from Oklahoma: A new ordinance unanimously approved by the Norman City Council will require residents to prove, in a court of law, they did not litter, rather than having the city attempt to prove they did.

Tax cheats in the Obama administration could make it more difficult for the IRS to enforce the law. Now that is change even I can believe in.

All things considered, Obama's approval ratings are still above 60%. That's because the average American doesn't know any better.

Could the legalization of marijuana save the California economy?

Just what this country needs .. another octuplet mother on welfare.

A Yale professor thinks that "investigative journalism" around the world should be supported by national endowments.

Last week we got the story of the 13-year-old boy who became a father. Now it turns out that he might not be the dad, because the skank mother of the child (who is 15-years-old, by the way) was sleeping with as many as eight other boys at the time.

This should send your pucker factor up a bit. This L.A. Times columnist says that Al Qeada wants to target America's economy and it wants to prove it can defeat us. I don't know about you ... but I sure feel good about Obama being in the White House right now ... what with all that experience he has and all.

What would a Creation Science Fair be like? Here, this might give you an idea.

Get a load of Channing Preston's 4 month old. This kid is going to turn out okay!

Of particular concern to gun owners are sections 13101 through 13434 of HR 1, which would set up the infrastructure to computerize the medical records of ALL AMERICANS in a government-coordinated database.

True, the bill doesn't mandate that the data will be in a giant computer under the Oval Office. But it does mandate that your medical records be reduced to a computerized form which is available to it in a second.

This it would do by establishing a National Coordinator for Health Information Technology - tasked with, among other things, "providing information to help guide medical decisions at the time and place of care." ...

But of even greater concern to gun owners is the fact that a government-coordinated database (which government can freely access) will now contain all records of government-provided and private psychiatric treatment -- including, in particular, the drugs which were prescribed.

Remember last year's "NICS Improvement Act" otherwise known as the Veterans Disarmament Act? This law codified ATF's attempts to make you a prohibited person on the basis of a government psychiatrist's finding that you are a "danger" -- without a finding by any court. Well, roughly 150,000 battle-scarred veterans have already been unfairly stripped of their gun rights by the government.

But people who, as kids, were diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder... or seniors with Alzheimer's... or police with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder... or people who are now theoretically covered by the new law... these people have, generally, not suffered the consequences of its sanctions YET. And the chief reason is that their records are not easily available to the government in a central, easily retrievable, computerized form.

Name: Sandy

Subject: You

I happened to listen to your radio broadcast this 2/12/09 and could not believe your MEAN mouthing and demeaning of our President of the United States. You are hateful and belong with the Big Mouth group of Limbaugh, Colvert, and Hannity - the meanest and most hateful people on TV. Hopefully, Debbie Stabenaw will get her way and get rid of all of you. Good Riddance and I will never listen to your BIG MOUTH again. Where you get your information must be the airways to the Devil.

Did you know that retail sales were up last month after six months of decline? There are more signs that the economy might be improving without the help of the stimulus bill. Democrats are in a rush to get this thing passed before the people realize it may actually not be needed - at least not at this level.

The National Intelligence Director says that the economic crisis is at the top of the list of security threats to the United States.

The CEO of Caterpillar recently said that if the stimulus bill passed, his company would re-hire some of its laid off workers. Well it turns out that the CEO is on Obama's economic advisory board. You scratch my back .......

Not that he really matters anymore, but Bill Clinton has thrown his hat into the Fairness Doctrine ring, calling for "more balance" on the airwaves. That's a good little Democrat, Bill.

NPR doesn't want its name to be listed on commentators that appear on the Bill O'Reilly show on Fox News.

Almost 70% of Americans feel that they could a better job on the economy than Congress.

When Michael Moore wants to make a film about the financial crisis, where does he turn to for expert advice? The Daily Kos!

Tough times for government budgets .. tough enough for Berkeley's public arts program to pay an artist $196,000 to create dog statues. Government funded artwork. Gotta love it.

Democratic Senate campaign Chief Robert Menendez says that the GOP should be afraid of losing more seats in the 2010 elections. Yeah, right. Not after this mess.

Canada wants a passenger bill of rights. Airlines would have to pay customers $500 per person for every hour they are stuck on a plane on the tarmac.

We've got a nanny state alert .. a business owner was told to remove flower pots sitting outside her store because they were "three inches too far onto the pavement" and someone could trip over them.

The union representing a mail carrier in Buffalo, NY claims that one of their members was threatened with suspension because he chose to take sidewalks on his route rather than cutting through lawns.

Arkansas is considering a bill that would allow people to carry concealed handguns into churches.

In Tacoma, Washington 1,600 people have applied for a single job as a Tacoma water meter reader.

Inmates at the Des Moines County jail in Iowa may have to start paying for toilet paper in efforts to save $2,300 a year of taxpayer money.

Government officials in Gloucester, Massachusetts are trying to pass off this spelling mistake as deliberate. Are you buying it?

After fires that devastated the country, Australia now has to worry about how much CO2 was emitted because of the fires. Give me a break here.

This 61-year-old police sergeant took matters into her own hands when she suspected that another woman had stolen her wallet. Gotta love it.

Hotels in St. Petersburg (we are talking Russia, folks) are facing fines for "price fixing" after increasing their prices during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Well .. it really never was an economic stimulus plan. It is now and always has been a government growth and Democrat job insurance plan. But now the Democrats have come up with a new name. Democrats love coming up with new names. Welfare checks are now "handouts." Government spending is now "investing." And that brings us to the new name for this government growth project. The bill is now the "Recovery and Reinvestment Plan."

Just so you know. You do want to keep up with Democrat newspeak, don't you?

My real approach to the government growth bill this morning is "What the hell, they're going to do what they want to do, and we have no power to stop them." Yeah ... a big shout-out and thank you to our ignoranus voters who thought it would be a good idea to put the big-government, Social-Democrat Party in complete control in Washington DC. Way to go. Thanks a pant-load.

Somehow Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the Democrats in Congress have managed to make this government growth package go from bad to worse. It seems as though their main goal was not in the details, but in making sure that they got the total number under $800 billion ... they assume that $789 billion is an easier number for the public to stomach. Yeah, right. It sure feels a lot better to me. Trouble is, with debt service this is still well over one trillion dollars. That's alottazeros.

What we got in the end was a bill that is two-thirds spending and the rest are "tax cuts". The "tax cuts," of course, are government handout checks. Welfare. For the most part, these spending projects are funding the Democrat platform: green energy, universal healthcare, "tax cuts" for the middle class and poor. Obama's signature "Making Work Pay" tax credit is going to provide an extra $13 a week in take-home pay. $13 whole dollars! What are you going to buy with that?? That's $1.86 a day! Now you get out there and spend that extra two bucks (almost) a day to get our economy moving again, you hear?

Meanwhile, tax credits for new home purchases and cars has been wiped off the map. But don't worry, those people who aren't paying income taxes are going to have an extra $13 in their pockets!

California Congresswoman Maxine Waters .. arguably the dumbest member of Congress ... grilling Bank CEOs. The pinnacle of absurdity.

Yesterday a 24-year old caller asked me what he should do. He had ambition and ability - and was uncertain to plan his future. I really hated my response to this man. I hated it because I hated to hear the words coming out of my mouth. I told him to find a better place to live. If he wanted a future of government control and dependency, the United States might be the place for him. But if he wanted a place where he could use his talents, his education and his work ethic to reach for success and one day become wealthy ... he needed to find another place.

I'm still upset with my answer .. but I'm still sticking with it. Sad.

Barney Frank is becoming more of a laughing-stock with each passing day. Well ... maybe not to people educated by government. It's hard to take the guy seriously with all those marbles in his mouth .. but when we can actually focus on his words, he is becoming increasingly comical. Get a load of this. This is the latest from the mind of Barney Frank. He had this to say to financial industry CEOs during the House Financial Services Committee hearing:

Let me ask you, on the incentive, and I'm glad to see that you're not, many of you are not taking bonuses. But I have to say this: if you believe in bonuses, then is that something bad? I mean, I guess, you've gotten bonuses over time. If in good times you were told you weren't going to get a bonus, what part of your job would you not do? I mean, if you weren't getting a bonus, would you like leave early on Wednesday? Or would you take longer lunches? Would you bypass a certain class of investors? I guess that's, you say, and somebody said, well, your incentive comes in shares that align your interests with that of the company's. Here's one of the problems: why in the world do some of the most highly-paid talented people who have jobs that are fun. Let's be clear, not always fun, this is not amusement park time. Why do you need to be bribed to have your interests aligned with the people who are paying your salary? And this is part of the problem. I know it's a problem at the lower end who get bonuses and that's been built into their compensation. But at your level, again, why do you need bonuses? Can't we just give you a good salary, or give yourselves a good salary, you're in charge of that -- and do the job? This notion that you need some special incentive to do the right thing troubles people.

Make no mistake .. Barney Frank is, at his core, a raving anti-capitalist. His rant against the concept of bonuses is designed to pander to the wealth-envy crowd, a cabal that has gained followers and strength that I've never seen in my 40 years of talk radio. Slobbering Barney will be one of Obama's main allies as we move to a government-controlled (that would be "fascist") economy.

We'll have to check with Jamie Dupree to see if this made it into the government growth agreement between the House and Senate. But in the version passed by the Senate, financial institutions that have received bailout money and paid executive bonuses would be required to compensate the taxpayers.

The amendment included in the bill would penalize companies that paid bonuses of more than $100,000 to executives after the company received bailout funds last year. The companies would be required to repay any portion of that bonus over $100,000 within four months or be hit with an excise tax of 35% on the portion above $100,000.

This amendment, by the way, was co-sponsored by Republican Sen. Olympia Snow of Maine. It is estimated that it could raise as much as $3.2 billion.

Let me say this again ... and I'll try to write more slowly so the government-educated among you can understand this.

We'll form this wonderful lecture on the economics of bonuses as a question:

The Dynamic Investment Bank is having a rough time. Projections are that DIB will lose about $5 billion dollars this year and will have to lay off as many as 2000 employees. You have a well-earned reputation as a financial turn-around artist. Many companies are trying to hire you. You tell DIB that there is no way you can avoid any losses this year, and some layoffs are inevitable. But you do think that you can save the company a lot of money and a lot of good employees. Here's the deal you want. In addition to a good salary, at the end of the year you want one-quarter of one percent of the amount by which you reduce that projected $5 billion loss. DIB agrees. At the end of the year the company has lost not $5 billion, but $2 billion and is on its way to profitability next year. What's more, you only had to lay off about 400 employees.

Now ... you have earned a bonus of $7,500,000. Should you get it? Should that revolting Barney Frank have the option of penalizing DIB if the bonus is paid?

What happened, did hell freeze over?

Barney was on a roll yesterday. Someone must have slipped something into his Metamucil .. but Barney really went after the financial CEOs for complaining about government restrictions. And then we get this line: they will be out of the "driver's seat" when the economy turns around.

Now there's incentive to work hard to turn your companies around!

He goes on to say, "They have to convince people that they've learned enough from the mistakes they've made so that we can work together going forward with them not in the driver's seat, but inevitably playing a role so we can fix things."

Isn't that so nice of the government to allow these companies to "play a role" in the economic recovery of this nation? And if the company executives aren't in the driver's seat .. who is? Why GOVERNMENT, of course!

Name: clemon
Subject: a party scorned
 
you people are pitiful disgusting & sometimes funny.you lost the election,get over it.you said nothing about bush spending like crazy tht helped get us in ths mess so give our guy a chance to screw up,you did nothing to get the ball moving so sit on the side lines whr we put you & quit ur whining.socialism doesnt sound so bad to me,hell!it can't be no worst thn wht we had the last eight yrs.you also don't sound too intelligent always whining about those who want entitlements.you've been in ths world 63 yrs & im 54,you should know thr always hv been & will be those people as well as god said the poor will always be here.the more you rant & rave about thm the more they multiply.and you always call us democrate voters stupid.tell me ur excuse for puting & idiot in power for eight yrs.

Dick Morris says that we have the three Benedict Arnolds of the GOP to thank for their support of the government growth package. The only way to thank them will be to vote them out of office.

If you are in the Congress and you want to put on a little show for the audience .. be sure to ask the evil rich CEOs if their companies currently own a private jet.

After Republicans continue to question Tim Geithner on his financial bailout plan, one Republican Senator determined that Geithner basically doesn't have a clue.

Leon Panetta has been given the thumbs up to head the CIA.

Republicans have chosen Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal to deliver the G.O.P.'s response to President Obama's first speech to Congress later this month.

The mayor of Las Vegas wants an apology from Obama for saying that CEOs can't use taxpayer money to buy trips to Vegas. The mayor says that it has hurt his tourist-driven economy.

Just bringing you another story from the wonderful world of government healthcare .. 22 people in India lose their eyesight after "free" surgery at a state-owned clinic.

A state trooper in Iowa has been suspended for 30 days after forwarding an email showing mug shots of people wearing Obama t-shirts. He referred to Obama as having "quite a fan base." By the way, he was at home and off-duty when he forwarded the email.

Mark Cuban has come up with his own version of an economic stimulus that relies on entrepreneurs, hard work and ingenuity, rather than government. What a concept!

When Australia tries to come up with a solution for its recent rash of fires - controlled burns - guess who is opposed to the idea? Environmentalists! They say that controlled burning is a "threat to biodiversity."

The editor and publisher of an English-language paper in India have been arrested on charges of "hurting the religious feelings" of Muslims.

South Carolina is trying to decide whether or not the state health insurance plan can charge obese employees higher premiums. And this is even up for debate?

Illinois is considering a bill to ban governors from putting their names on signs and billboards paid for with state money. Gee, I wonder why they felt the need to pass this one.

The city of Boston wants to track how many miles you drive inside the city. This can't lead to anything good.

Madison, Wisconsin is considering an ordinance that would fine drivers for unsafely opening their car doors.

Graduation ceremonies for elementary school children? Give me a break.

One out of every three smokers say that they will quit smoking if it would protect the health of their pet. What about the other two who said no?

Yesterday we were supposed to get the grand financial plan from Obama's tax-cheating whiz-kid Tim Geithner. And what we got was a bunch of grandstanding, but not a lot of details. Here's one good line: "We're will have to try things we've never tried before." Wait! Isn't that what brung us to this hideous dance with all these ugly partners in the first place?

Let's see ... we'll start out by making millions of home loans to people who have no credit, no steady job history, and certainly not enough income to pay the loan back. We'll make these loans to people who should be renters. We've never tried that before on such a large scale .. let's see how that works out for us.

Here's something else we haven't tried before. Let's pass a law - we'll call it the
Community Reinvestment Act. This will be a really nifty way for the government to interfere in the free marketplace. We'll set up some urban gangs who can make sure local banks make bad loans to favored minority groups .. or they'll get spanked by the federal government. Let's see how THAT one works out for us.

Once we have those two programs we haven't tried before in place, we'll keep interest rates artificially and illogically low for far too long. Yeah, let's follow this monetary policy that virtually every sane economist not working for the government thinks is a grave mistake because voters like low interest rates. That ought to work out really well.

So now our tax-cheat Treasury secretary wants to try some more things we haven't tried before? Well, you may think that this message brings great hope, but it would seem that the stock market didn't like that one bit.

If you want to see just how this gang of leftist statists want to change this country some new details can be found here.

The reason we don't have more details has to be because they really don't know how the hell they're going to pull this off. It's just going to be stuff we haven't tried before. No chance for letting people work, thrive and then spend their own money.

Yesterday Obama came down to my neck of the woods .. my second home, that is .. to Southwest Florida. Our savior descended from the clouds yesterday to make his sales pitch on this government growth package. Here a few moments I want to make sure you heard about.

The first one is Henrietta who asked Obama for her own kitchen and her own bathroom. That's right ... she came to a presidential rally and asked the president for a home. I'm sure that Henrietta's situation is less than ideal. She's homeless. She's homeless with her 37-year-old son living with her. What's that all about? But it just goes to show that there are people out there who really believe that Barack Obama is the one that is going to put a roof over their head and gas in their cars and food on the table. You just have to ask him for it and he will give it to you. This is why they voted for him. OK .. this woman is having a rough time. We really don't know how she got there ... though it's a good bet that she is a victim of little more than her own decisions. What she, and most of the other people at that rally, don't understand is that Obama cannot give her one thing that he doesn't first take away from someone else. In reality this woman was asking PrezBO to take a home away from some who had worked for and earned it, and give it to her. Scream all you want my backwards leftist friends ... but you know this to be true.

Henrietta's story does have a happy ending, thanks to a citizen that offered her a home. Chene Thompson is the wife of Florida State Representative Nick Thompson. After hearing about Henrietta's situation at the townhall, Chene offered Henrietta a house that she had bought after law school. By the way, Florida State Representative Nick Thompson is a Republican. The story fails to mention that. Fox News failed to mention that this morning as well. Just guessing, but if Henrietta's benefactor was a Democrat you would see that in virtually every story about her.

And then there was Julio, the college student who was upset that his job at McDonald's doesn't provide him with adequate benefits. By the way, if this kid is the future of America then help then you need to start checking up on airfare to Singapore. But back to Julio's plight. Julio has been working for the same McDonald's for over four years ... and says he can't find a better job. Now four years ago our economy was cooking, and Julio couldn't do better than McDonalds? Well, Obama said that his economic stimulus plan is going to help Julio in three ways. First, Julio will benefit from the tax breaks by offsetting his payroll taxes and letting him keep more of his McDonald's salary. That means that Julio is going to get a free ride for Social Security and Medicare ... making those two programs welfare ... for Julio. Then, Julio is going to get better health benefits from his employer because the government is going to "reform the healthcare system so that you will have access to healthcare in your job." Obama's final point is that we, the taxpayers, are going to give Julio a refundable tax credit for his tuition. Just remember that according to Barack Obama, a "refundable tax credit" is the new label for a government handout. More welfare for Julio.

Oh and Florida Governor Charlie Crist was there to introduce Obama. He also happens to be a supporter of this government growth bill. I know a lot of conservative Floridians who are upset by this one.

Oh yeah, and here's that guy about to wet himself over the opportunity to ask Obama a question:

Yesterday on the floor of the Senate, Chuckie Schumer said something that I'm afraid may be true. In debating the economic stimulus bill (which passed the Senate yesterday) he said, "To all the chattering class, that so much focuses on those little tiny, yes, porky amendments .. the American people really don't care." At first when I heard him say this windbag say that Americans really don't care about these "porky" amendments, I was irate. And for anyone who is reading this right now, or a regular talk radio listener, you are probably irate as well.

Then I stop to think for a bit. After all, Schumer is talking about the masses of government-educated people? Haven't I been saying some of the same things about these dumb masses for years? If you think that government is your savior, why worry about pork? Maybe the biggest thing the American people are worried about is that the pork will be spent somewhere else. Nobody seems to oppose a government spending program that puts someone else's money into their pocket.

So, I'm afraid that Chuckie is right .. the average American doesn't care about the billions and billions of dollars are government is getting ready to spend, thanks to the future taxpayers of this country. They are either waiting for Obama to give them a house or find them a better job ... or they're fretting over last night's episode of American Idol and checking the mailbox for their latest issue of People Magazine .. or stealing their neighbor's. Some are also worried about whether or not Angelina is pregnant again .. and we know it's not my child, so I could really care less.

Schumer's quite a piece of work, isn't he? Oh and don't you just love the fact that he refers to the billions of dollars in pork barrel projects .. that won't stimulate the economy .. as "little tiny porky amendments"? Just again, here's a reminder of the little tiny tax dollars that will be spent on lead paint hazard reduction and watershed rehabilitation.

We now know that the purpose behind Obama's grand plan to computerize all medical records is ... ta da! .... CONTROL! The so-called "stimulus" bill actually has provisions in it that will establish a couple of new federal bureaucracies that will monitor and eventually interfere in your relationship with your doctor in some rather profound ways.

While there may be value in having all of your medical records computerized, I do have this question. Couldn't Americans do this on their own if they wanted to? Just how hard would it be to set up some sort of website that would offer you the chance to put all of your medical records on an encrypted Internet file that could be accessed everywhere?

The problem here is that the government has an ulterior motive. It's not about cost savings. It's about control and coercion.

Now wait, who is the vicious SOB?

Judging by the comments surrounding this story, it has the wealth envy crowd pretty riled up. As you may know, Circuit City is going Tango Uniform. The last of its stores are in the process of being liquidated, and the company says that incentive bonuses are needed in order to keep the 154 executives around before the company is dissolved. So Circuit City has proposed that 16 of its executives split $2.3 million in bonuses if they achieve all of their targets and stick around until the deal is done. Then, and this is what really gets to people, Circuit City wants $750,000 to give as discretionary bonuses to non-management workers. We are talking about a company with tens of thousands of employees.

The only good bonus is a bonus that shows up in YOUR paycheck.

I mentioned this one yesterday, but never got around to it on the air. Did you hear about Joe Biden's speech in Munich the other day? Talk about projecting a weak American image to the rest of the world.

Dick Morris has another great column. This one is about Hillary Clinton's shrinking influence in Washington. Gotta love it.

From the Financial Times: P.J. O'Rourke says that Adam Smith is getting the last laugh right now.

The Financial Times also wants to know: Has Barack Obama's presidency already failed? Well .. someone show me where the successes are!

We talked about this one this morning: Fox News reporter arrested for child porn. Oh wait, this isn't the first time.

How many jobs must a successful stimulus create? That's a question that top Senate Democrats can't answer.

The House has decided that it is going to take one for the team and forgo their annual pay raises next year.

The FBI has raided the offices of a defense lobbying firm that has close ties to Democrat Rep. Jack Murtha. Murtha, by the way, is a reprobate.

Here's the story of an illegal immigrant who bought a one-way ticket back to Guatemala because of the poor US economy. See ya!

The Post Office is increasing the price of stamps, yet again. There's a complete waste of a government operation. Oh ... and do we know yet whether or not Saturday delivery is going away?

A government school student in Denver could be expelled for having her drill team replica rifles in the seat back of her car on school grounds. This is how we raise and educate future leaders.

A rare photo of the "end" of a rainbow. No, you aren't about to click on something witty. It literally is the end of a rainbow.

In a recent Gallup Poll, 67% approve of President Obama's handling of the stimulus. Are you kidding me?

You want to have the pants scared off of you? Read this piece by Betsy McCaughey on health care in the stimulus plan. Oh, and Tom decided to call and tangle with the Talkmaster about health care. If you missed it, listen here.

Listening to clips from PrezBO's Presser last night I could swear I heard President Obama say that "only government is big enough to solve this problem." Only government, huh?

What did I tell you? What was I saying throughout the entire presidential campaign? Barack Obama is absolutely in love with government. He eats, sleeps and breathes government. When he dreams, he dreams of government. When he fantasizes, he fantasizes of a relationship with government. He has blown-up copies of the Federal Register glued to the ceiling over his bed so that he can go to sleep with visions of government in his mind. To Obama there is no problem that can't be solved by more government. In fact, there is no problem that shouldn't be solved by more government. Health care? Government. The heartbreak of Psoriasis? Government. Acne? Government. America is great because of government. More government will make America greater. Anyone who thinks that America accomplished greatness through the dynamic of a free people working together under the rule of law in a system of economic liberty is pure nuts. It was government. Always government.

And now we have an economic crisis ... caused by government ... and only government is big enough to solve the problem.

It looks like the press conference last night was just exactly what we expected it to be. If we don't turn to government for a solution ...if we don't massively expand the reach of government ... if we don't double the cost of government ... if we don't bow down at the altar of government ... we're doomed. 

Well .. yesterday we got what we expected. The Senate cleared its last procedural hurdle yesterday thanks to Republican Senators Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter. These people are the definition of RINOs - Republicans in Name Only. The only chance that you now have of setting them straight would be not to re-elect them when the time comes. By then, this pork-barrel Democrat dream bill will be so far out of your minds. Many seasons of American Idol will have passed.

It's not over. It'll pass today and then the House and the Senate will get to sit down and noodle this thing out. Watch for the cost to go up. Oh ... and don't believe that the figures you get from Washington on how much this monster is going to cost. There's a little thing called "debt service." You see, when this bill is passed we don't have the money to fund it. That money will have to be printed by the U.S. Treasury. Then it has to be put into circulation. To get the money into circulation the Treasury will sell Treasury securities. The people who buy those securities expect to make money on them. The money they expect to earn is the debt service. That debt service will take the cost of an $800 billion government expansion bill and push it well above one trillion dollars. Do you want to see the zeros? Here you go. $1,000,000,000,000. Looks good, doesn't it? Your children are going to be paying this back ... if we're still here to pay it back.

It's really pretty easy. Let's go through the process step-by-step:

1. Obama, the first YouTube, People Magazine, American Idol, Entertainment Tonight president is elected by a celebrity-worshiping mob.
2. Rahm Emanuel tells the PEBO that there's an economic crisis and reminds him that it is a political crime to let a good crisis go to waste. Let's get busy and take advantage of this mess.
3. Obama wants to get off on the right foot with Congress, so he makes a call to Nancy Pelosi and tells her to come up with an economic stimulus bill and to let it all out because this is the era of anything goes. There's a crisis to be taken advantage of here.
4. Pelosi spreads the word to the House Democrat Caucus: "The new president has given us a green light. Get me a list of all of the spending dreams and schemes you've had over the last decade by noon Thursday. You snooze, you lose.
5. A Texas Congressman comes up with a true economic stimulus plan; a tax holiday. Just suspend the collection of all personal federal income taxes and payroll taxes for five months. Let the people who earned the money spend it. Democrats aren't interested in this plan because it does not enhance their power, and they don't particularly like the idea of people knowing how much they actually make.
6. Pelosi and her flying monkeys assemble the Democrat spending dreams into one 700+ page $800 billion monstrosity that not one member of the congress will ever read and presents it to the nation as an "economic stimulus bill."
7. Obama tells the nation that we face economic catastrophe and the possible destruction of our country if Pelosi's government-expansion bill isn't passed. The sky is falling. We're doomed!
8. People show up at Obama rallies in Elkhart, Indiana and Ft. Myers, Florida thinking that Obama is going to be handing out checks and jobs.
9. Three Republican Senators, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe and Arlen Specter surprise not one single person in the free world by climbing all over each other to sign on with the Democrats ... again ... in support of the bill.
10. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office issues a report which essentially says that the so-called "stimulus plan" is a fraud and will not work. Nobody listens.
11. The mainstream media generally ignores the CBO report because their investment in Obama is so overwhelming that they simply cannot allow him to fail. Their credibility is at stake.
12. Our children and grandchildren are saddled with a debt and future inflation that will insure a standard of living for them that will never match the standard their parents enjoyed.
13. So many people are removed from the federal tax roles by Obama's phony "tax cuts," (which are really government handouts) that Democrats are confident that they'll remain in power for ever more.
14. The enemies of America throw a party.
15. Those who love America hold a wake.

Have you seen this Vermont Teddy Bear commercial on TV? Yeah .. .the one with the three buxom babes oohhhing and ahhhing over a teddy bear one of their boyfriends sent her. In the background you see some guy .. at work .. wearing a white undershirt. What the hell is going on here? Did they run out of actors when they filmed this commercial? Did they have to go to the sound truck and pull some redneck out from behind his audio board to play this office dude? Would anyone in their right mind really go to work in an office wearing a white undershirt? Doesn't Boortz have anything more weighty to worry about?

I understand someone out there has drawn a cartoon showing those geese headed toward the engines of that U.S. Airways A320 Airbus that landed in the Hudson. The geese are wearing turbans. OK ... someone be a good listener and send me a copy. I just love the insensitivity.

Hmm...it's not a cartoon, but maybe this is it.

While bickering about this Democrat pork bill, the White House has pulled a fast one on us .. but it is something that could have major consequences for future political elections, federal spending and more.

Just last week Obama named Republican New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg to be his secretary of commerce. This is the cabinet position originally offered to Bill Richardson, who shaved his beard for nothing. But within days of naming Senator Gregg, the White House decided to take control of the census away from him.

Usually the director of the Census Bureau reports to the secretary of Commerce. But not anymore. The director will report directly to the White House .. and in this case, Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Partisan himself, will apparently be the White House point person.

So what happened? Every ten years, the census generally causes controversy - particularly over the practice of "sampling", which the Democrats just love. Sampling is when mathematical estimates are used to count people, rather than a physical headcount. The reason the Democrats like "sampling" is because they fear that urban residents and immigrants are going to be neglected in the census count if they conduct a physical headcount. And why do the Democrats want to make sure that every urban resident and immigrant is counted? Because they more likely to vote Democrat! But more on that in a minute ....

So Judd Gregg happens to oppose sampling. He also voted, back in 1995, for a Republican budget that potentially would have eliminated the Commerce Department. And back in 2000, Gregg fought with President Clinton over a request for "emergency" funding for the census. Black and Hispanic leaders were particularly upset over this one. PrezBo or somebody in his administration didn't seem to like the fact that these minority groups were upset. So the shift was made.

Now the big question .. why do we care? Why does this really matter? Well, the census matters for a few reasons, but basically it determines the redrawing of congressional districts based on the results. I bet you that government schools teach students about gerrymandering - the politically corrupt mechanism by which politicians redraw district lines in order to maximize one party's political clout and minimize the opposition. You might remember the infamous case of Tom Delay after the 2000 census. Maybe this move from the White House is payback? But if it were up to me, this whole mess could be solved pretty easily - make congressional districts as geographically cohesive as possible. No need for this census crap. No need to count the number of Latinos or blacks or Democrats or Mormons or Wiccans. No need mangle the Constitution with this pathetic excuse for drawing congressional district.

Another reason why we need to care .. your tax dollars. Yep, the census also determines the allocation of federal funds. Your district has a large population? A lot of poor people? Immigrants? You can bet that more money will be coming your way.

Back in 2001, President Bush transferred the power to adjust population figures from the census to the secretary of commerce from the Census Bureau. The argument here was that government bureaucrats should not be making the decisions that could affect future political elections. Instead, those decisions should be made by politicians. In this case it was the secretary of commerce.

So who wins in this little power grab? Rahm Emanuel and the Democrat party. Rahm Emanuel - the man who ran the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee in 2006 and helped the Democrats regain control in Congress. That's the man who we are going to have in charge of retooling our congressional districts.

Pretty clever.

That's kind of a silly question. The Constitution is clearly just a celebratory inconvenience nowadays. But for those of you who are government educated, we are going to refer to the Constitution for a moment .. so pay extra attention. You might learn something.

The census is written into the Constitution. In Article I, Section 2 the US Constitution orders that "The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct."

Now, a question. Which branch of government is outlined in Article I of the Constitution? Any takes? If you guessed the Legislative branch, then give yourself a pat on the back.

Now, the next question .. if the census is set forth in Article I of the Constitution and not Article II (that would be the Executive branch) .. how did it end up under the Commerce Department in the first place? And how can the Obama White House now claim control? Is this White House power-grab as legal?

The "9/11 was an inside job" crowd better dust off the gear .. you are being called to duty. Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy (who also happens to be the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee) wants a US "truth commission" to investigate the Bush administration. Leahy says that he wants the commission as a way to heal the "sharp political divides under former President George W. Bush and to prevent further abuses." He wants this truth commission to be set up similar to the one in South Africa that conducted investigations during the apartheid era.

So far, this is just Patrick Leahy spewing rhetoric and getting the moonbats all hyped up. We'll see if anyone in the Obama administration or other members of Congress are interested in the charade.

Today at 11am we get more details on the Obama administrations plans to rescue the financial industry. My guess .. move closer to nationalization.

Dick Morris has some useful information on our culture of debt, and how it is dangerous.

Thought you might enjoy this from a former Obama campaign organizer and former congressional speech writer: Obama Isn't Who I Didn't Think He Was. But He Might Be.

Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman is going to run for governor of California. Then she can liquidate that mess and sell it on eBay.

Obama is on the road promoting his stimulus package, and must have forgotten the fact that he has already been elected. There is no longer a need to point out how many houses you own.

While in Indiana, it seems that people were more interested in talking about Obama's tax-cheat appointees .. didn't anybody screen these people for PrezBO? Oh and do you think I'll get my chance to have a beer with Obama?

Harry Reid is getting tough. He says that if Congress doesn't finish up with this economic stimulus bill, they won't get a Presidents Day recess. Yeah, like that should be anyone's main concern right now. Spank those naughty elected officials.

How about this government bureaucrat .. the environmental minister of Northern Ireland banned a climate change ad campaign because he says it is "nonsense" to suggest that you can save the world by turning off your lights.

In the UK, the environmental czar thinks it would be a good idea to ration air travel in order to reduce carbon emissions. Well that was only a matter of time. Coming soon to America?

Senator Claire McCaskill demonstrates her brilliance yet again, by declaring that the stimulus bill represented important federal spending priorities needed to "make-up for a starvation diet under the Bush Administration." Government spending doubled under Bush. That's a starvation diet?

Another brilliant senator .. John Kerry is concerned about tax cuts because people would be "free to invest anywhere that they want if they choose to invest." Ya don't say!

How has government healthcare reform slipped into the economic stimulus bill? Maybe it's Tom Daschle's farewell present.

Just what Louisiana needs .. a porn star for a Senator. Apparently this is serious.

When in doubt, tax the millionaires. This is what one Democrat in New York wants to do. Don't you just hate those evil, rich bastards? Aren't you glad you work for a poor person?

I couldn't have said it better myself: We're moving close to 'a savior-basedeconomy.'

You should talk to George Bartusek. He was arrested for having a ménage a trois. In public. In his car in a grocery story parking lot. Before you start to feel a little jealous, you should read the rest of the story. With pics!

So ... tell me folks. Just how is this most liberal U.S. Senator, 183 days in the Senate before becoming a presidential candidate; no experience, no accomplishment, hope over fear product of the corrupt Chicago political machine working out for you so far? Not all that hot, huh? Oh well, you pays your money and you takes your chances.

Ahhhh ... another Boortz I Told You So. Actually, my I Told You Sos are not all that special .. anyone literate person with an ounce of rational thought capabilities can figure these things out. As soon as Barack Obama started yammering about limiting executive compensation for companies receiving bailout money we knew this was on the way ... and here it is, courtesy of Barney Frank. According to an article from Financial Week, Barney Frank said that curbs on executive pay could be extended to all businesses. Oh, how he would live that.

This news is going to be golden to the wealth-envy crowd out there. Lordy, how they love the idea of the government coming along and spanking those evil corporate executives who make all that money. If you talk to some of these people you will learn that they believe that virtually every corporation out there is failing and that the reasons for these failures are corrupt and overpaid executives.

Here's the report:

"Congress will consider legislation to extend some of the curbs on executive pay that now apply only to those banks receiving federal assistance, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said.

'There's deeply rooted anger on the part of the average American,' the Massachusetts Democrat said at a Washington news conference today.

He said the compensation restrictions would apply to all financial institutions and might be extended to include all U.S. companies."

Yeah .. deeply rooted anger. How dare those people pay attention to their education. How dare those rich bastards take chances, work 80 hours a week, pay attention to their decisions and stick their necks out. Who do they think they are?

I saw a report on a Ft. Myers television station over the weekend about people lining up and waiting overnight in Ft. Myers for a chance to get tickets to Obama's appearance there tomorrow. They interviewed one man who lost his job and his home. He had been working in a pawn shop for the last 12 years or so, and was let go. He somehow thinks that Barack Obama is going to get him another job. Now let's think about this hard-driving pawn shop clerk for a while. For twelve years he worked behind that counter .. and all of this time he never took any initiative to prepare himself or to work for something better? No community education? No training courses? No putting on some nice clothes on your day off and looking for a better job ... say at a Wal-Mart? No second job to build a savings account? Now I'm going to catch some hell for this, but how many six-packs and cartons of cigarettes do you think this guy bought over the past 12 years. How much money would that amount to today if he had put it into a savings account? Well, finally he's doing something. He's going to go fawn at the feet of Barack Obama.

Before we move on, here's some more reading for you. Alan Brinkley is a history professor at Columbia ... a somewhat liberal university. He wrote this column for The Wall Street Journal entitled "Railing Against the Rich, A Great American Tradition." Barney Frank ... American Traditionalist.

On Friday night we got a "compromise" stimulus plan in the Senate. For those of you who are brave, Jamie Dupree has the entirety of this Senate stimulus bill for you to peruse. I read somewhere that the bill is something like 778 pages long .. which means that it is costing us over $1 billion per page. That's just a bit more than Congressman John Linder and I earned with The FairTax Book. As expected, the two Maine RINOS, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe are saying yes to this monstrosity. Arlen Specter is joining in .. not to anyone's real surprise.

Part of this Senate compromise bill (thanks to Sen. Ben Nelson and Sen. Susan Collins) includes the elimination of pork-barrel projects that are not considered "stimulative." Now, we will leave it up to you to decide whether or not they accomplished that goal. After all, this Senate compromise bill is still $7 billion more than the House version.

If things go according to plan today, the Senate could end debate on the bill and pass the thing tomorrow. Then the Senate and House would have to caucus to come up with a compromise bill .. remember that the Senate and House versions of this bill are very different. The Democrats are insistent on this bill being on Obama's desk and ready to sign by President's Day. That's in one week, folks. One week to rush this thing through the Senate, noodle it out between the House and Senate, and have it ready for Obama to sign.

Do any of you find this just a bit disconcerting? Our economy is in trouble. Arguably some sort of government action might be necessary to speed up recovery .. and we have these people we would hope would take this thing seriously rushing to pass an $800 billion bill that will profoundly affect generations to come .. and to pass it in time for it to be signed by some holiday. Do these people want to be taken seriously or not?

I just want you to stop for a second and think back to the November election. There was a point in time when the Democrats had a serious shot at getting 60 senators for their party. Imagine if we had given the Democrats an absolute free pass on the largest spending bill in history. No need for all this "bipartisanship" and "compromise" .. although I think we can hardly call all of this "bipartisanship."

This bill is going to harm our country. It is going to harm your children and grandchildren. Barack Obama clearly does not know what he is doing - no surprise considering his lack of experience - and has turned our economy over to people like Nancy Pelosi who want nothing more than to grow their own power. The "change we can believe in" turns out to be a transition from a market economy to a government controlled economy. You're not going to like how this turns out.

One of the items that got the boot in this "compromise" Senate bill was $50 billion from new federal grants for state education aid. And the teachers unions are furious. The National Education Association is threatening to lower the scores of Collins and Nelson because of their amendment.

From the way things are sounding in the White House, it is doubtful that these cuts will actually stick. Top White House economic aide Larry Summers says that support for education and local government is key in this bill. He says, "There's no question that what we've got to do is go after support for education and there are huge problems facing state and local governments and that could lead to a vicious cycle of layoffs, falling home values, lower property values, more layoffs, and we've got to prevent that."

This money wasn't there to support education, Mr. Summers. It was there to support teacher's unions and you know that to be true. Besides ... can somebody please explain to me how spending billions of dollars on government education is going to stimulate our economy within the next 2 years? You're right ... it wouldn't.

Even with the Senate cuts, colleges and students are going to clean up big time. I should say government colleges and government students.

And can somebody please tell me what is wrong with this .. this quote comes from an Associated Press report:

"If the infrastructure spending survives, it would likely prioritize colleges with high minority enrollments, schools rebuilding from disasters like Hurricane Katrina, and energy-saving projects. It may also take steps to make sure community colleges get their fair share, and private colleges--such as Roosevelt--are hoping the final version will allocate some to their sector, too."

Clearly this is not about growing our economy .. it's about pandering to favorite Democrat special interests. Big surprise there.

According to the New York Times, Obama called the three Republicans senators who agreed to compromise on this economic stimulus bill. We learn that PrezBO called them to "thank them for their patriotism in helping advance the bill at a critical time."

Patriotism, huh? The majority of the people in this country don't like the Democrat's plans to spend away their grandchildren's' futures. But according to Barack Obama, getting his bill passed quickly makes you a patriot. Not, questioning how the money is spent or making sure that it is actually going to stimulate the economy ...

Obama has issued another executive order that has received relatively little media attention, considering this massive economic spending bill. But his latest order was to mandate the government use of union labor for large-scale federal construction projects. This repeals an executive order from President Bush, and restores the old rule as per the Clinton administration.

Again .. no surprise.

Basically, any construction project that receives federal funds would be required to sign union-only project labor agreements. That means that contractors must negotiate with union officials, recognize union wages and benefits and abide by collective bargaining agreements. How's this going to work out for us?

The Associated Builders and Contractors has already come out against the executive order. The organization claims that union-only project labor agreements increase construction costs between 10% and 20%. It also says that it discriminates against the 84% of construction workers that chose not to join a labor union.

Have they forgotten who's in charge here? Remember "he" won!

You know it's bad when even the Associated Press notices Obama's partisan rhetoric on this economic stimulus bill.

Please read this one from Stanford economist John B. Taylor. "How Government Created the Financial Crisis."

Tomorrow we are going to get the Obama administration's new plan to aid the financial sector. We were supposed to get the plan today ... but Obama wanted to make sure we were focused on the economic stimulus bill. I'm virtually pregnant with anticipation.

Obama's chairman of his Economic Recovery Advisory Board is also an official of a think-tank that opposes Obama's economic stimulus plan.

You may not believe this --- yet --- but as soon as you get your precious nationalized health care, you can get ready for health care rationing. It will simply be unavoidable.

Obama is going to participate in town hall meetings this week to better explain the economic stimulus package. I can't wait for this. I wonder if there will be teleprompters?

John McCain is calling the Democrat's economic stimulus plan "generational theft." That's a good way to put it. Where the hell was this type of rhetoric during the campaign?

Al "The Liar" Sharpton led a little protest outside of Bernie Madoff's mansion over the weekend, demanding "equal justice for the rich and poor." Can you believe people pay attention to this freak?

The Washington Times has some advice for Barack Obama when it comes to this "Buy America" policy in the economic stimulus bill.

Bad news for Al Gore, 54% of American voters believe that the media is overhyping the dangers of global warming. Golly .. ya think? OwlGore is an ignoranus.

The unions are stepping up their fight to make sure that their gal Rep. Hilda Solis is confirmed as secretary of labor.

Should "bonuses" be re-labeled as "incentives"?

Well when it comes to Wall Street bonuses, here's an article from the Wall Street Journal that is bound to upset some wealth-envy types: Greed Is Good.

Did you hear that Obama has nominated a "porn lawyer" as his deputy attorney general? Yep, this has the Christian conservatives in a knot.

The latest cover of Newsweek magazine is turning some heads by proclaiming: We are all socialists now. Sorry .. don't count me in on this one.

Where has the bailout money gone? Here's a rundown .. not that it will make you feel much better.

Are your children being indoctrinated into the ways of "going green" in their government schools?

Voters in Zurich have decided to break with Swiss policy and end tax breaks for rich foreigners.

The graffiti artist who created the Obama "Hope" poster was arrested over the weekend. Love those Obama supporters.

I'd say these sound like pretty good parents, except they send their kid to a government school.

That is according to our President Barack Obama (PBUH).  When it comes to this stimulus legislation .. he has had enough "debate" and he has decided that the "time for talk is over."  Tell that to our children and grand children who will be paying for this legislations for generations.

Odd, isn't it?  This is the president who wanted to engage in unconditional talks with the Islamic goons who want us dead, but doesn't want to talk with the American people about this government expansion bill. 

Let me tell you what's going on here - though you probably already realize it.  This president is on the verge of losing his first great legislative push.  This could set the tone for his presidency for quite a while. Passing this bill is essential to the status of his presidency, not so much to the future of our country.

Yesterday Obama actually said that if we don't pass his huge government growth and citizen dependency bill right now our country might never recover from this economic crisis.  Just wondering, but did FDR ever even suggest that World War II could mean the end of our Republic?  I don't think so.  Well ... different strokes, I guess.

We have yet another moonbat senator to add to the list: Michigan Democrat Senator Debbie Stabenow.  This woman thinks that right now would be the perfect time to bring back the Fairness Doctrine.  Interviewed on a talk show yesterday, Stabenow said, "I think it's absolutely time to pass a standard. Now, whether it's called the Fairness Doctrine or something else - I absolutely think it's time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves. I mean, our new president has talked rightly about accountability and transparency. You know, that we all have to step up and be responsible. And, I think in this case, there needs to be some accountability and standards put in place."

If Stabenow gets her way we could expect these hearings as soon as this year.

Me?  Thanks for asking.  I'm loving this.  I welcome the hearings - and I relish a Democrat-led attack on talk radio.  Can you say "more listeners?"  With more listeners come higher ratings, and with higher ratings come higher prices for advertising .. and with more money comes ...well, you connect the dots.  There is one problem though, since the hearings will be conducted by Democrats you can rest assured that the list of witnesses will be tightly controlled.  It is highly doubtful you'll hear any testimony from experts who can tell these hacks that leftist talk radio fails simply because people can't stand listening to that dogsqueeze.  Left wing talk radio, with a few exceptions such as Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller, does not get ratings. Two viable hosts cannot keep the genre afloat.  No ratings - no advertising.  Therefore it loses money.  How simple is this?  Look ... the left-wing talk radio station in Washington DC, for goodness' sake, just flipped formats.  This station even used "Obama" in its title.  If left-wing "Obama" talk radio can't make it in DC, where can it succeed?  Well, there's always Madison, Wisconsin. 

Oh and by the way, this might be of some slight interest to you.  Stabenow is married to the co-founder of TalkUSA Radio network and is now the Vice President of ... wait for it .. Air America.

Of all liberal arguments for government control, this is perhaps one of the easiest to destroy.

Since the era of mass communications despots have realized that one of the keys to absolute power was control of the means of communication.  Our founding fathers didn't do today's politicians any favors with the First Amendment.  There is really nothing the power-hungry political class can do about newspapers because of that troublesome little guarantee of "freedom of the press."  Clearly our framers intended for a prohibition of any control over the means of communication.  Back then there were only two means of communication .. writing and the spoken word.  Both were covered in the First Amendment.

Later came broadcasting .. and with broadcasting came the realization that a new means of mass communication was coming; a means of mass communication not specifically referenced in the Constitution.  So .. time to exert some control.  But wait!  You need an excuse!  Well, let's try this.  We'll develop this concept of "the public's airwaves" and use that concept to legitimize government control. 

Public's airwaves?  What does that mean?  Just what is it the public owns here?  Does the public own the electromagnetic waves that travel through space at close to the speed of sound?  Why?  Did the public pay to produce those electromagnetic waves?  Find me the budget item for "procurement and propagation of electromagnetic waves" in any appropriations bill.  Light is also an electromagnetic wave, and light also comes to us through the airways.  Where's the government department that controls light?  When you speak you produce sound waves that travel through the public's airwaves. Where's the government department that regulates your conversation?  Oh, wait .. that First Amendment problem again.  But there are universities with speech codes ... so there's hope. 

Politicians like to use the excuse of "scarcity" to regulate broadcast frequencies.  Scarcity?  In Atlanta there is one newspaper, but 30 radio stations.  The broadcast spectrum could handle dozens more.  Where's the scarcity?  If there's a scarcity it's in newspapers.  Maybe that's where the regulations ought to go .. .but, again, there's that pesky First Amendment. 

While it's hard to make any sensible excuse for this "public's airwaves" nonsense, our roads and highways are another matter.  Clearly the roads and highways are paid for by the people .. by all of us.  Clearly a case can be made for public ownership of the roads and highways.  And just guess how your newspaper gets to you every day.  That's right, over the public's roads and highways.  Same for the U.S. Mail, magazines ... pretty much everything you have in your home.  Everything, that is, except for the sounds and pictures that come over your radios and televisions. 

That's not my opinion ... that comes directly from the Congressional Budget Office.  The CBO says that Obama's economic stimulus package will actually hurt the economy more in the long run than if we did absolutely nothing.  Again .. this is from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.  The bill would help create small economic stimulation in the short term, but our government will be up to its eyeballs in debt that within a few years it would crowd out private investment.  What happens when this occurs?  Well, this will lead to a lower GDP over the next 10 years.  We are talking between a 0.1 and 0.3 reduction in GDP.

But the immediate satisfaction of building butterfly gardens, frisbee golf courses and eco-friendly dog parks is mostly what the Democrats are concerned about.  

Remember ... this bill is not about bringing our economy back, it is about growing government.  Democrats have been dreaming of this chance to grow government and increase government dependency since Clinton lost his mojo in 1993.

A proposed amendment to the stimulus bill would require that any company receiving bailout funds only hire American workers.  Senators Chuck Grassley and Bernie Sanders (Socialist) proposed the amendment.  It would prohibit businesses from hiring H-1B visa holders.  We are talking about highly skilled employees.

Grassley says, "With the unemployment rate at 7.2 percent, there is no need for companies to hire foreign workers through the H1-B program when there are plenty of qualified Americans looking for jobs ,,, If banks are going to be getting TARP money -- American taxpayer money -- then they should be hiring American workers."

Where is it going to stop.  First we tell the companies how much they can pay their executives.  Then we tell them that they can only hire American workers .. even if these specialized H-1B workers would be able to perform skills that could save their companies millions and/or save jobs.

This Grassley guy has had it out for these H-1B visa workers for a while.  Remember just the other day when he asked that Microsoft stop hiring these workers.  Well now he is using the power of government to make it into law.

By the way ... do any of you know you call an economic system where business and industry is privately owned but controlled by government?  Fascism, in case you care.

This quote comes from Texas Republican Rep. Pete Sessions .. no doubt, liberals are going to have a fun time with this one.  See if any of you can make any sense at all out of this.  I sure can't. 

"Insurgency, we understand perhaps a little bit more because of the Taliban," Sessions said during a meeting yesterday with Hotline editors. "And that is that they went about systematically understanding how to disrupt and change a person's entire processes. And these Taliban -- I'm not trying to say the Republican Party is the Taliban. No, that's not what we're saying. I'm saying an example of how you go about [sic] is to change a person from their messaging to their operations to their frontline message. And we need to understand that insurgency may be required when the other side, the House leadership, does not follow the same commands, which we entered the game with."

Probably not the smartest idea to compare your party and its tactics to the Taliban.

If you chose one article to read, make it this one.  "Why 'Stimulus' Will Mean Inflation." 

Barbara Boxer and Lindsey Graham got into a heated debate yesterday over bipartisan ship on this stimulus bill.  Graham says, "If this is the change you can believe in, then America's best days are behind her."  Sadly, he's right. 

Another bailout.  Now US auto parts suppliers want $20.5 billion in taxpayer money.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has decided that he doesn't want to release his "wish list" of pork-barrel projects for economic stimulus.  I'm so glad I had the opportunity to flip this jerk off several years ago. 

Firms that have already received bailout money will not be required to submit to executive salary caps. Look for the exodus of executive talent. 

Some news from the Supreme Court .. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has pancreatic cancer.  They got it early .. and we wish her well. 

Yesterday I told you about Obama's Labor secretary nominee Hilda Solis .. it also turns out that her husband was having tax issues, but now those have been settled.  He owed these back taxes for over ten years ... then paid them when his wife made it to the big time.

Another "stimulus" .. wireless and Internet services want their part of the economic stimulus so they can provide high-speed Internet access to rural and poor neighborhoods.

Judd Gregg is expected to be confirmed as Obama's secretary of commerce .. and yet the administration won't let the guy be in charge of the 2010 census.

Today Obama is going to name the members of his Economic Recovery Advisory Board.  Sadly, Karl Marx isn't available. 

Here's some news for you.  Companies that received bailout money spent over $114 million on lobbying and campaign contributions last year.

Democrats are upset with Dick Cheney because he says that closing Gitmo and ending waterboarding could lead to another 9-11 scale attack.  Yeah .. the truth is always painful, right?

House Democrats say that they are ready and eager to introduce the card check bill for consideration.  That's according to George Miller.  My guess?  It's going nowhere.  It was easy for Democrats to support this monstrosity when they knew it wouldn't pass.  Look for excuses now. 

Russia and Iran are up to no good .. Russia is planning to start up a nuclear reactor in Iran by the end of the year.

Obama wants to make sure that your microwave isn't using too much electricity.  He has instructed the Energy Department to set rules for home appliances by August.  Are home inspections for errant microwaves next?

Our local paper, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, really has a hang up over athletes.  Here's yet another headline: "Athlete was robbed, killed to help pay rent."  Not a person ... an athlete.  A God. 

How about getting paid $93,803 to do absolutely nothing.  Only government ...

I hope that New York City did not spend any taxpayer money to investigate why New York smelled like maple syrup from time to time.  I'm not holding my breath. 

A state senator in Maine wants to prohibit smoking on beaches in state parks.  I saw some smokin' flat-bellies on the beach in Naples last weekend.  Hope he doesn't mean them.  Gotta get your thrills somewhere.

It's one thing to hold a conference on this global warming scam .. it's another to hold it when it is negative six degrees outside.

An update on the WWII veteran who froze to death when the power in his home was shut off .. turns out that the man left his entire estate to the local hospital.

Here's a mugshot that is unfortunately not safe for work.  You probably know where we are going with this ...

Not that the average American has a clue .. but Congress, are you listening? According to the latest Rasmussen polls, only 37% of Americans now support the economic stimulus bill.

That means that 43% are opposed and the rest can't tell their head from a hole in the ground.

But consider this ... a stimulus plan that includes only tax cuts is now more popular that then economic stimulus plan being offered by Democrats in Congress. Compared to the 37% who support this Democrat spending bill, 45% of Americans favor a tax-cut only plan. Why is this? Because Americans know that they would spend the money better than any politician in Washington. But, of course, this is something that is never going to happen. And the reason is simple: power. These Democrats in Washington are not really interested in stimulation the economy. They are interested in making sure that they get to spend the money to fund their pork barrel projects and future campaign commercials. Money in the hands of the American who earned it simply does not translate into power for politicians in Washington. It's just that simple. Maybe I need to say that again ... louder this time:

Tax cuts ... letting people keep the money they earn and spend it how they like ... does not translate into more power for politicians in Washington. They grow their power by spending your money .. not the other way around.

Again .. it's so simple. Maybe the American people are figuring this out.

Yesterday, Barack Obama officially set the bar on what the government considers "excessive" pay. He capped the salary of any executive working for a company that receives bailout money at $500,000. Obama said, "In order to restore our financial system, we've got to restore trust. And in order to restore trust, we've got to make certain that taxpayer funds are not subsidizing excessive compensation packages on Wall Street." So there you go. We have a figure to judge who is receiving excessive compensation, according to the government.

As you can imagine, Wall Street was less than pleased. And those on Wall Street and the business community are worried about exactly what you would think: a talent exodus from the financial sector, which will lead to a delay in the recovery. And just what have I been telling you since last week?

Patrick O'Hare of the independent research firm Briefing.com says that the salary limit is "still a hefty sum to be sure, and the spirit of the order certainly has popular appeal, but it's a slippery slope when the government puts restrictions on how much an individual can earn in the private sector ... Also, the order itself strikes us as a disincentive for financial firms to reach out for aid, which will just prolong the recovery for the sector and the economy."

Slippery slope indeed. I guarantee you that this is going to spread. Wealth envy is, in my opinion, at an all time high in this country, and politicians are surely going to want to capitalize on this. So you can expect these restrictions on executive compensation to spread to sectors of the private economy that are not seeking bailout money. This will be accomplished by punishing corporations who pay executives more than the government-approved maximum through our tax code. Political hacks are getting kudos now for virtually every attack on the private sector. This is one tactic they won't be able to ignore. The government-educated American people see that their president is doing something about those evil, greedy CEOs who are making money while the rest of you suffer.

And you know how I sometimes like the read the comments on different news stories. Well this opinion piece actually came out of the UK, Obama's bank error: it is boards that should determine pay not governments. And the very first comment, must be from a Brit because he obviously has no clue what is going on. The comment reads: "Journalists opinion is irrelevant, President Obama is doing what the American people support 100%, it's called democracy." One-hundred percent? Ya don't say! Maybe that is what your liberal news sources are telling you over in the UK. And oh, by the way, I don't know what Britain is teaching you (and I assume you went to a government school) but America is not a democracy. In fact, that statement from the British moonbat illustrates just why a democracy is so dangerous and our founding fathers warned us away! So, my Brit friend, your definition of what constitutes a democracy - Obama doing what the American people (supposedly) support 100% -- just demonstrates how blatantly ignorant you are. Thank God you don't have a vote in this country.

Today at 2pm a Senate committee is going to vote on the nomination of Obama's labor secretary, California Democrat Rep. Hilda Solis. As of right now, her nomination is being blocked in the Senate. Any guesses as to why?

Well to start .. though this not why she is being blocked .. Hilda was a co-sponsor in 2007 of this asinine card check bill, otherwise known as the "Employee Free Choice Act." This would essentially destroy secret ballot union elections in this country. She was also the co-sponsor of another bill that would force states to allow public safety officers to form unions.

But here's where it gets interesting. At the time that Hilda was co-sponsoring all of these union bills, she was the board member of a pro-union organization called American Rights at Work. This organization had been lobbying Congress to pass these bills .. the very ones that she was responsible for co-sponsoring. And not only was Hilda a director of this organization, but we have now come to find out that she was actually the treasurer. She was in charge of all of the spending by this organization. And if that isn't bad enough, she did not reveal this information on any House financial disclosure forms.

So here we have a woman, nominated by Barack Obama to be the Secretary of Labor. She co-sponsors two union bills in the House. At the time that she is working - basically as a lobbyist -- to get these bills passed in the House, she is also the treasurer of a lobbying group that is working to gain support for her co-sponsored legislation. And then on top of it all, she kept her involvement in the lobbying firm a secret. That was until now, that she is nominated to be secretary of labor.

The Weekly Standard has more details, but here is yet another appointment by Barack Obama that isn't passing the smell test.

Slobbering Barney Frank has a message for you bankers out there: people hate you. No, seriously. He said Tuesday during a briefing of his agenda, "People really hate you, and they're starting to hate us because we're hanging out with you. And you have to help us deal with that." He also returns to these evil corporate jets, which have become the newest target for the wealth-envy crowd. He says, "Oh, and they need to not buy $50 million corporate jets if they're getting taxpayer funding, either ... They've got to lean over backwards not to offend people."

Offend people? Slobbering Barney is talking about not offending people?

A little kid all hopped up on drugs after a visit to the dentist. Poor little guy. You know this video will embarass the hell out of him some time in the future.

Doom and gloom .. Obama says that the financial crisis will turn into "a catastrophe" if the bill isn't passed quickly. The quicker it passes, the less time you have to oppose it. Obama, of course, is afraid the American people are going to catch on to what's really happening before he can sneak this bill through. Remember the "don't let a crisis go to waste" line?

Well it's official, folks. Obama signed the Children's Health Insurance bill, which extends health insurance to millions of "low income" children, some of whom are in families earning over 300% of the poverty level. This is the camel's nose.

I got a lot of emails yesterday saying that I should take a look at this clip of Harry Reid claiming that our income tax system in this country is voluntary. Why bother? We all know Reid is a jerk.

Obama claims that this economic stimulus bill will create or save at least 3 million jobs. Where is he getting that figure from? His top economic advisors, who admits that the jobs estimate carries "considerable uncertainty." Besides, what's 3 million jobs when we're losing 500 million a month?

I brought this up yesterday on the program, but would someone please tell me how giving money to Filipino veterans who aren't even US citizens is going to stimulate the US economy??

Nancy Pelosi "isn't sure" whether or not we are inevitably going to need another bank bailout.

Charles Rangel is facing questions about why he failed to disclose any royalty income earned on his 2007 memoir. Another scandal for Rangel.

For taxpayers .. and some non-taxpayers .. here's a quick break down of who could get what tax breaks under the economic stimulus plan.

Bank of America has decided that it is going to sell its corporate jets. Barney Frank is slobbering in delight.

A judge in Brazil has ruled that a television is considered an "essential good."

Saudi Arabia says that 11 men that were released from Guantanamo Bay are now on Saudi Arabia's most-wanted list.

Obama has had a rough couple of days here .. as this article says, Welcome to the major leagues, President Obama. And this is coming from the San Francisco Examiner!

The biggest opponent of green energy projects included in the economic stimulus plan? The NIMBY crowd.

The DC City Council unanimously passed an ordinance that requires motorists to de-ice their cars before driving.

To close the budget gap in Florida, what is the logical thing to do? Increase the cost of speeding fines. What about slow drivers? Can we increase the fines on them too?

And for the big news of the day: Obama has not smoked at the White House. It's been two weeks, folks.

Is this just a joke or is it racist? You decide.

Your "aww" moment for today: a hero dog saves another dog hit in the road. Don't worry, there's a happy ending! 

Well now, that certainly didn't take all that long, did it? Nearing the end of yesterdays program we got word that Nancy Killefer was out. I thought that maybe she was being tossed to the wolves by Obama as a sacrificial lamb to give them something to chew on. Not so. She was a domino .. not a lamb .. and the next to fall was none other than the man with the Sally Jesse Rafael glasses, Tom Terrific himself, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Lordy, what a shame. Then later in the day we find out even more about Daschle ... OMG, he flew on private jets! In case you don't know flying on a private jet is a political and economic crime of the first order ... unless you're a jock or an entertainer.

Now the Democrats are really concerned about one big prize -- their baby - nationalized healthcare. Ted Kennedy was supposed to be a leader in Congress for universal healthcare - with Daschle working right alongside. Kennedy is ill .. and Daschle is going to have to go back to earning about three big ones a year as a lobbyist who really isn't a lobbyist. Now who is going to run the socialized medicine show?

Oh and I love this .. immediately after Daschle withdrew his nomination, we had major news networks like MSNBC suggesting that Americans are going to blame the Republicans for "taking down" Tom Daschle. Oh yeah, that's right. It's those evil Republicans behind this whole thing. Karl Rove was orchestrating the entire scenario from a bunker deep under the mountains of West Virginia. In the world of liberal politics a liberal is never responsible for his own actions or, in Daschle's case, political demise.

A question from a listener yesterday. Now that he's not going to be the HHS Secretary, does he get his $140,000 back? How must Daschle feel? He paid those back taxes for nothing!

As a parting kick in the pants, we'll go ahead and share with you this Tom Daschle ad from 1986. Gee, what happened to driving an old clunker around himself?

Earlier in the week, I told you about the brain-dead idea from Missouri Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill. She wants to put a limit on the executive compensation that can be paid by any company that is receiving bailout funds. That cap would be set at $400,000 a year, the same salary as President Obama.

It seems like the Obama folks rather like the idea! We're hearing this morning that Obama and the Democrats are now devising new executive compensation restrictions on banks that receive bailout funds. We are told to expect the exact details as soon as this week. Reports are that executives would be limited to $500,000 in annual compensation under the new rules. There would also be prohibitions on severance packages for certain top level executives and bonuses will be in the crosshairs as well.

These new rules are certain to do two things. First, as I explained earlier this week, the new rules will make it tough for these financial institutions to recruit or to keep the executive talent they so badly need to turn their companies around so that they can once again become profitable. As these rules loom on the horizon you be assured that many of the top executives in these companies are looking to bail - and head to industries where the government isn't limiting their compensation. Secondly, people wallowing in wealth envy will think that this is just wonderful .. those evil rich people are getting just what they deserved .. and Democrats will gain their undying loyalty.

I've been telling you this for years, folks. This whole global warming scam is nothing more than a front for wealth distribution and anti-capitalist activism. Democrats have come up with a great way to do accomplish those goals .. carbon credits. Charge companies and/or people for their carbon output and then let the government use that money to redistribute as it likes.

Now, thanks to California Senator Barbara Boxer, we have a clearer picture of what that could mean very soon. Boxer released a letter detailing the basic principles that will be included into this absurd global warming legislation. Plans are for Congress to take this on soon. We are talking weeks, not months. Democrats know they need to move on this while a substantial portion of the American people still buy this man-made global warming nonsense. Some people actually think this is a crisis, and you need to remember that the Obama Administration believes that no crisis should be allowed to go to waste. So now let's all take a look at these principles for global warming legislation:

1. Reduce emissions to levels guided by science to avoid dangerous global warming. (The science, of course, will come from government-paid scientists who know that their funding depends on continued global warming alarmism.)

2. Set short and long term emissions targets that are certain and enforceable, with periodic review of the climate science and adjustments to targets and policies as necessary to meet emissions reduction targets.

3. Ensure that state and local entities continue pioneering efforts to address global warming.

4. Establish a transparent and accountable market-based system that efficiently reduces carbon emissions. (No .. establish a system that efficiently redistributes wealth and weakens capitalism.)

5. Use revenues from the carbon market to:

- Keep consumers whole as our nation transitions to clean energy;

- Invest in clean energy technologies and energy efficiency measures;

- Assist states, localities and tribes in addressing and adapting to global warming impacts;

- Assist workers, businesses and communities, including manufacturing states, in the transition to a clean energy economy;

- Support efforts to conserve wildlife and natural systems threatened by global warming; and

-Work with the international community, including faith leaders, to provide support to developing nations in responding and adapting to global warming. In addition to other benefits, these actions will help avoid the threats to international stability and national security posed by global warming.

6. Ensure a level global playing field, by providing incentives for emission reductions and effective deterrents so that countries contribute their fair share to the international effort to combat global warming.

Oh yeah ... just had to include that "fair share" phrase in there. A real favorite for Democrats. It means nothing, but the great unwashed really like it.

I hope that you noticed three particular parts of this letter. First of all, the fact that revenues from this government-created carbon market will go towards protecting species that are threatened by global warming. Why do you think the environmentalists were so insistent on declaring polar bears a threatened species due to global warming, even while their numbers are increasing? That would be because now they will have a steady source of income in which to fuel their efforts! Also, this government-created carbon market will be used to aid other countries. Here we go with the wealth redistribution - carbon revenues from companies in the United States would be collected and redistributed to "provide support" to developing nations. And if #6 on this list doesn't convince you .. then you don't know your head from a hole in the ground.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was giving a speech at a business conference yesterday. This is when some moonbat protestors decided to bust into the ballroom and tell Bloomberg what they really think about this economic crisis.

Here's the mentality of these moonbat protestors: Read this statement:

"Instead of reaching out to the poor, the homeless and others that are most affected by the economic downturn, Mayor Bloomberg has invited the CEOs of major corporations to reverse the city's worsening economy -- some of the very people responsible for making the poor decisions that provoked this current economic crisis .. This is what democracy looks like."

Are you as impressed as I am by the brilliance of these protestors? Just amazing! Why don't we just turn the economic recovery over to them? Wait! We already have!

Later, Bloomberg did address the protestors' comments. He said to reporters, "If you don't like wealthy people or successful profit-making businesses, you're not going to have a city ... We want to attract those people here. That's where we get the money to help those who are less fortunate."

OK, I'm going to give you a break here. I'm not going to go on a rant about this asinine "less fortunate" phrase. Gawd, how I hate that phrase. Achievers were just lucky, the rest of you were not. Yeah .. that's how it works.

Here's the video. The protest begins about 50 seconds in.

We're going back to the days before 1986 again. Many of you don't remember this, but before the tax reform act of 1986 you were allowed to deduct the interest you paid on a car loan - or any loan, for that manner - from your taxable income. You could also deduct the sales tax. Well those deductions are coming back! Yup ... it looks like the Democrats - with some Republican help -- are going to bring back these deductions to get automobile sales moving again.

But wait! Would this tax deduction apply to everyone? Are you kidding to me? Have you forgotten that it's the Democrats in charge right now? Nope. The deductions would only exist for people making under around $125,000 a year. Forget this nonsense about equal protection under the law ... and remember the goal of the Democrat party. People likely to vote Democrat must have all federal tax liabilities of any type eliminated. This is how you create good loyal Democrat voters.

As I've said before, hopefully you aren't surprised.

Who is trying to increase the price tag of the economic stimulus bill? You guessed it .. lobbyists. Big surprise there.

Obama decided to take a break from the White House yesterday and read books to children at a local charter school. Charter school? Isn't this going to torque the teacher's unions a bit? Why not go to a regular government school where, after all, the kids likely can't read the books on their own?

Apparently the $825 billion wasn't enough for Democrats who wanted $25 billion more for highways, mass transit, and water projects. Luckily the Republicans were able to stop this one.

On February 11th, CEOs from banks that received bailout money will be appearing before Congress to explain how they spent the funds. This ought to be interesting.

Anyone want to take a wag at how many homeowners have taken advantage of slobbering Barney's brainchild .. the Hope for Homeowners Act?

Tax incentives to buy a car as part of the stimulus? Well, not if you have a household income of over $250,000 a year.

Two car companies actually saw their sales increase in January. Any guesses?

Eric Holder says that he will prosecute Wall Street crimes but he isn't planning any "witch hunts."

Yesterday it was Bank of America in the news, now it is Wells Fargo that is catching flack for an upcoming casino junket in Las Vegas for its top mortgage officers. Companies aren't allowed to reward accomplishment any more. That is so un-Democratic.

The new regulations on lead that are going into effect February 10th .. yeah, Congress probably didn't think about the huge effect it is going to have on businesses (particularly small businesses) when it passed this doozy.

A rare piece of good news from this stimulus .. yesterday the Congress managed to strip Hollywood of its economic stimulus. Listen today and I'll tell you why they just had to do this. It has something to do with people making over $500,000 a year.

Did you know that Venezuela's Hugo Chavez sends 90,000 barrels of oil a day to Cuba in exchange for health workers, sports trainers and .. wait for it.. zoo animals??

Speaking of Cuba and oil .. it plans to resume oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. Cuba can do that. We can't. We have Democrats. Cuba doesn't.

Members of Congress are getting a bit antsy about the FBI's decision to cut off relations with CAIR. What's the problem with the FBI cutting off relations with a Hamas front group?

The city of Seattle thinks that now would be a great time to spend $400,000 of taxpayer money on a graffiti artist project.

In South Florida, hundreds of people waited in line to apply for a job as a firefighter. Send them to Atlanta. We need some firefighters up here who will actually work.

Want to volunteer to pick up trash along the side of a highway? Yeah, not unless you have permission from the government.

Duncanville, Texas issued 45,000 red-light citations in 2008 .. in a city that only has a population of 38,500.

How much are the taxpayers in the UK paying to send their children to government schools for "free"?

You're kidding me, right? Tom Daschle is trying to tell the American people that he didn't know that he was supposed to pay taxes on the value of that limo and chauffer provided to him by the company that hired him as a lobbyist. He thought it was a "gift from a friend." He was working for that friend. He was getting paid! And he sits there and wants you to believe that the car and driver was a gift? "Oh yeah, I was on the payroll all right, but this car and driver was a gift." Come on, now. You're kidding me, right? How many millions of Americans have company cars - maybe not limos, but company cars - who know that every year they have to pay taxes on the value of that benefit? And Tom Daschle didn't know? He didn't know .. yet mysteriously he suddenly found out about the unpaid taxes just before PrezBO named him to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services? You're buying this?

Now what would you call a change in the Senate whereby a presidential nominee with a history of cheating on his taxes would have no chance for confirmation, to a status whereby all the nominee has to say was "it was a mistake" and he's home free? What do you call it when the new Treasury Secretary .. ultimately in charge of the Internal Revenue Services .. forgets to pay taxes right up until the time that he's nominated by Obama? I'll tell you what that is ... that, my friends, is Change You Can Believe In.

Barack Obama says that we should not let "very modest differences" get in the way of the Democrats massive spending bill, otherwise known as the economic stimulus bill. It's funny that Obama would consider the differences between government spending a tax cuts "very modest." Do I really need to explain the fundamental differences between the plans the Democrats have proposed and those supported by Republicans? I didn't think so.

Jamie Dupree has done a top notch job of combing through this Senate economic stimulus bill .. I'll give you a little taste of what he found, and you can check out his blog for a lot more details. But this, according to Democrats, constitutes economic stimulus:

• $350 million to develop and maintain a "broadband inventory map" at the Department of Commerce (that's Jamie's favorite)
• $1.375 billion for "Rural Water and Waste Disposal"
• $1 billion for the 2010 Census
• $150 million for the Office of the Federal Detention Trustee
• $50 million in aid to combat Internet Crimes Against Children
• $1.4 billion for water projects for Indian tribes
• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas
• $2.1 billion on energy efficiency in government buildings
• $600 million to buy high fuel economy vehicles for the federal government
• $240 million for "Alteration of Bridges"
• $55 million for Historic Preservation in Park System
• $150 million for facilities at the Smithsonian
• $100 million in Aging nutrition services
• $400 million for screening and prevention of STD's, including HIV
• $1.5 billion for "Homelessness Prevention Fund"

Keeping all of these pork barrel projects in mind .. and by the way, that doesn't even scratch the surface of what is actually in this bill .. Obama says that he would be willing to scale back some of his spending plans in order to win Republican support. He said that he would remove any proposals which were not directly aimed at job creation.

OK ... let's parse that a second. Job creation? Most of Obama's stimulus plan is "work" creation, not job creation. These temporary construction and infrastructure projects don't create jobs, they create work. When you're finished sprucing up those government offices at the Department of Agriculture that work disappears. Ditto for landscaping around the National Mall. Also - where Obama's spending plan does create jobs they're generally government jobs, not private sector jobs.

Just a few weeks ago I told you about a hearing with the chairman of the joint committee on taxation. He was there to testify on behalf of the economic stimulus package. And when he is asked how many jobs this plan is expected to create, the guy didn't have an answer. Amazing.

How do you modify the stimulus plan? Start with each of the projects above. Then move on to every project that focuses on government work instead of private sector jobs. How do you do that? Pretty easy, actually. You put more money into the hands of the private sector - businesses large to small - to create jobs. The way to do that is through tax cuts. Not phony welfare checks you call tax cuts, but actual tax cuts. Right now the corporate tax rate in the U.S. is the second highest in the industrialized world. Do you think that is how to work toward business and job growth? If you do, you're a Democrat.

George Orwell couldn't have written this scenario with more skill.

It was bad enough when we, with no small amount of help from the media, allowed politicians to change the word "spend" to "invest." If you'll notice, when a political hack talks about spending taxpayer money on some vote-buying project he'll use the word "investing." Through focus groups these politicians figured out that people react more positively to the word "invest" than they do "spend." Everybody, after all, thinks that investing is good, while spending may be not so good. So the media let the politicians get away with that one.

The next political project was to deal with another word that has a negative connotation for many Americans. That would be "handouts." Many Americans still have this odd idea that people ought to earn what they have. Bring on the focus groups again, and Democrat media sycophants as well. From this point on we're going to call government handouts "tax cuts." Y'all have that? We are now at the point where we actually call government handouts "tax cuts."

So here we go into the last presidential campaign. Obama starts to yammer about "tax cuts for 95% of Americans," and the media falls right in line, just as most of us knew they would. What Obama was really talking about was ... you guessed it ... handouts. The bulk of these "tax cuts" go to people who pay absolutely no income taxes at all. They are welfare checks. If you really want to get technical they are payments for services rendered. The services - in case you really are having a rough time engaging your brian today - are performed in voting booths.

When someone actually does step forward and call these handouts what they are .. and points out that most of the people receiving them don't pay taxes anyway, the Democrats rush forward to say "What about payroll taxes?" We're talking Social Security and Medicare Taxes here, and yes, the Democrats would like to get as many of their voters relieved of the burden of paying these taxes as well. These payroll taxes are, in reality, premiums paid for a defined benefit. Once you relieve people of the responsibility of paying these taxes then Social Security and Medicare programs become welfare. So - chose your poison, Democrats. Either the phony "tax cuts" are actually welfare or the label applies to Social Security and Medicare for your middle and lower income supporters.

What we have proven here is that, with the help of the media, the American people - or a good hunk of them anyway - can be led around by the nose pretty easily.

I've been getting a lot of emails about this Bank of America Super Bowl party. And a lot of you are outraged over it. To sum up .. Bank of American sponsored a five-day Super Bowl event known as the NFL Experience. They basically set up a huge tent just outside the Super Bowl stadium and filled it with games and entertainment and lots of Banks of America logos.

But, as ABC News points out ... Bank of America has received $45 billion in federal bailout funds. How much did this event cost? Somewhere in the tens of millions, if you consider the fact that Bank of America is an NFL corporate sponsor.

The bank says that the sponsorship is a "business proposition" and part of its "growth strategy." Also note that the papers for this NFL Experience were signed last summer, before Bank of America received any bailout funds. The bank says that it was legally required to fulfill its contract.

I really don't think this is as cut-and-dried as some of the critics want to make it. This is marketing. We want these companies who have received bailout money to thrive, to grow, to flourish. We want them to be able to pay that money back to the taxpayers someday. Can Bank of America grow without marketing? Without advertising? Did the Super Bowl bash attract any new customers? Did it improve the image of Bank of America with the Super Bowl fans?

And ... most important ... do we leave these marketing decisions up to politicians and the great unwashed?

One of Barack Obama's first acts as president was to close down Guantanamo Bay within one year. Now just two weeks later, we get this from Obama: he is worried that the detainees freed from Gitmo are going to return to a life of terrorism and attack the United States.

Oh, so now you tell us! What was your first clue, Mr. President? Funny how the responsibilities of the actual office will override campaign rhetoric, isn't it?

And yet Obama says that he closed the prison because it was a matter of upholding US values and law.

I just love it when a politician thinks that he knows what is best for a company that isn't his and isn't controlled by the government. Yet, he insists on getting involved anyway. In this case, I am talking about Republican Iowa Senator Charles Grassley. Grassley is upset that Microsoft is going to lay off employees, but some of the employees keeping their jobs will be foreigners. The horror! Grassley says that it is "imperative" that Microsoft give job priority to US citizens over foreigners with H-1B visas. He goes on to say, "Microsoft has a moral obligation to protect ... American workers by putting them first during these difficult economic times."

Nope ... Microsoft has an obligation to protect the interests of its shareholders by retaining the best workers and letting the marginal ones go. Microsoft has a moral obligation to obey the laws of the United States. Microsoft has no moral obligation whatsoever that would require it to sack a good worker and keep a marginal employee just because he's an American citizen.

Are we seeing another hint at how government might want to control business in the American "free market" here? This guy is a Republican?

How long will it be before Democrats resurrect their idea of economically targeted investments? Oh, you don't know what ETIs are? Well you had to be paying attention to the early years of the Clinton Administration to remember these little goodies.

Here's your explanation. The unions wanted a bone from the Democrats for all of their help in getting Clinton elected. Someone came up with the idea of the government telling you where you could and could not invest the funds in your pension plans and 401Ks. In government-speak, the politicians would provide a list of companies in which you could invest your pension and 401K funds .. and companies that were forbidden. How were these decisions made? The approved companies had to be "union friendly." This would mean that companies like Wal-Mart would be off limits for your pension and 401K investments, as would any other company that has managed to resist unionization.

My guess is that we'll see this idea popping up in Congress again pretty soon.

A survey conducted back in August has just been released .. and it isn't looking good for Obama's tax-cheating cabinet officials. Nine out of every ten Americans say that it is "not at all" acceptable to cheat on your taxes. The survey came, ironically, from the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board. Only 9% of respondents said that it was ever OK to cheat on your taxes.

Gotta love this survey question ... 72 % agreed of respondents said that it is "every American's civic duty to pay their fair share of taxes." Don't you just love that phrase, "fair share"? And this question came from the IRS!

Obama is going to require banks to boost lending to consumers and companies if they receive bailout money. Maybe he'll tell them who they must loan to as well.

The Senate began debating Eric Holder's confirmation yesterday. This corrupt former Clinton official will skate through. Yep, see, we called it. He was confirmed.

Obama is standing by his choice of Tom Daschle as secretary of Health and Human Services, despite the fact that he is a tax cheat. More Change You Can Believe In.

Chris Dodd decided that now would be a good time for him to finally release the documents pertaining to his Countrywide mortgages. Why? Because the media is hammering him.

Barack Obama is going to have a little face-to-face time with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.

A liberal talk station in Washington DC called OBAMA 1260 has already kicked the bucket. Awww ... too bad. Another failed left-wing talk station. What a surprise.

So who were the House Democrats that voted against the economic stimulus bill? You may not be surprised to hear that most of them come from districts that supported John McCain for president.

Is another liberal activist group going to receive $90 million in the form of economic stimulus?

We have a story about someone being offended! In Great Britain, a cricket team can't name itself "the Crusaders" ...in case it offends Muslims and Jews.

Webguy and Cristina tell me we've been getting a lot of emails with people worried that Obama wants the military pledge a loyalty oath directly to him, and no longer to the Constitution. It is satire, folks. A joke.

Apparently Barack Obama is replacing "Hail to the Chief" with some less official music choices. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says, "He's not a 'Pomp and Circumstance' kind of guy." More Change.

Belinda is even more outraged now that this mother of octuplets is being offered book deals and TV show interviews. Come on folks, you're not surprised, are you?

Experts in Australia say that the government should be able to remove fat children from their homes.

Red light cameras are used to generate more money for government. Someone in Italy took that to a new level.

Google is unveiling a program called Google Ocean that will allow you to explore shipwrecks and reefs.

And for the real news story of the day ... did Barack Obama call Jessica Simpson fat?

Apparently, Joe the Plumber is now an economic advisor for the GOP. Hey, he really is a jack of all trades, isn't he?

Really, that's a serious question. Now I know that some people suffer tragedies related to mental disease and brain injuries .. but beyond physical disasters like these .. just how stupid can a human being be? I'm not talking "ignorant" here. I'm talking brain-dead stupid. I'm talking about Missouri Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill. McCaskill was, by the way, a national co-chair of Obama's presidential campaign.

McCaskill is riding the wealth-envy bandwagon right now. Last week she had some unkind things to say about executives on Wall Street. That's fine. There are certainly some Wall Street executives who have earned some unkind remarks. But McCaskill goes beyond merely pandering to the wealth envy crowd. She has a suggestion. She wants to put a limit on the executive compensation that can be paid by any company that is receiving bailout funds. That limit should be equal to Barack Obama's salary; $400,000 a year.

OK ... let's try to noodle this thing through a bit. Let's say that congress passes a law which caps executive compensation at $400,000 a year for any company receiving bailout funds. Now these companies are in trouble. There have shareholders and employees who are looking to corporate leadership to save their jobs and their investments by turning their companies around and putting them on a path to profitability. The chief executives of these companies are going to have to be experienced and knowledgeable innovators. They will be making decisions that are difficult to the extreme. People with these executive skills are in high demand. There are headhunting firms out there who earn hundreds of thousands of dollars from just one company find just the right person with the right combination of experience and executive talent to lead. People with this talent don't go cheap ... and they certainly don't go for $400,000 a year.

So McCaskill gets her executive compensation limit ... and what happens? Qualified executives run like hell for the companies that aren't receiving bailout money. Why go through the anguish of working under close government control and interference while trying to turn around a company in dire trouble for $400,000 a year, when you can take a job with a company that it doing just fine outside of all of this government interference for three times that much?

McCaskill's brilliant idea is to tell the companies receiving bailout money that they won't be allowed to hire the best executive talent out there. And this woman is a U.S. Senator. God help us all.

Then there is this letter that appeared in the Sunday edition of the Naples Daily News. Give it a read .... Feel the wealth envy.

Did you notice the key phrase that point to a severe case of wealth envy on the part of this writer? We have MBAs who "don't belong to country clubs." Right there we know that this writer is driven by jealousy. Someone out there has something that he doesn't have ... and that's just not right.

What's worse ... he thinks that you can get qualified MBAs to work for $100.000 a year ... the types of MBAs who are qualified to run the nation's largest financial institutions. Oh ... and 9/11 was a phony emergency and Iraq was all about Halliburton.

Terry Coppens ought to apply for a job on McCaskill's staff.

This week the Senate will be debating this $900 billion economic stimulus package. At least, that is what they call it. It reads more like a Christmas list for Democrat supporters, constituents and donors. Last week, not one Republican in the House voted to support the bill. And the way things are shaping up, we could possibly see the same happen in the Senate. Over the weekend, senior Republican senators warned that Republicans would be unlikely to support the bill without major changes. Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona says that Republican support for the stimulus is eroding and that "major structural changes" are needed in order to win support. He says, "You have to start from scratch and reconstruct this." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell doubts that the bill would be able to pass the Senate in its current form.

Still -- Democrats want this thing passed and waiting for Obama to sign no later than mid-February. It's already February 2nd, folks. Are you going to get in the game and start putting some pressure on your Senators? Jamie Dupree says that Congress isn't getting the type of groundswell opposition that they have seen in the past. This is no time for apathy. This is your children's and grandchildren's future we are talking about. This trillion-dollar-plus Democrat dream fulfillment bill will hamstring what's left of our free market economy for decades to come. Do you think this incredible level of spending is going to end after just one or two years? Well sit forward on your rent-to-own furniture and try to think about this. How in the world do these free-spending Democrats tell their voters two years from now that the handouts are going to stop? How do they tell all the workers on their temporary "raking leaves in National Forests" jobs have ended and now they have to actually go get a real job in the private sector? Hint: They won't. They will want to keep power .. and power comes from votes ... and votes come from government largesse. There will be more spending bills like this one to follow. More debt. Larger government and a economy limping along on low-grade corrosive government fuel.

We just went through this with Obama's treasury nominee Timothy Geithner .. and now we have yet another Obama appointee who has failed to properly do his taxes: Tom Daschle. At least Daschle will not be the head of the IRS, but he will most likely be our secretary of Health and Human Services.

OK .. here are the details on the latest tax cheat the Obama wants to serve in his administration ... a tax cheat the Democrats are eager to confirm.

First ... Daschle has some rather strong feelings about people who cheat on their taxes. Back in 1998 Obama's choice for HHS Director put a little statement on the Congressional Record. Ready? Here you go: "Make no mistake, tax cheaters cheat us all, and the IRS should enforce our laws to the letter."

Now that we have an idea about Tom Daschle's opinon of tax cheats ... let's look at just how diligent he was about paying his taxes.

When he left the U.S. Senate in 2005 - involuntarily - Daschle went to work as an advisor to an investment firm. By "advisor," of course, we mean "lobbyist." Now ... how many of you get a company car? If you do you will know that you are expected to pay income taxes on the value of your personal use of that car. If you're going to claim some business use you had better have it documented - mile by mile. Back to Daschle. As part of his compensation for his "work" for the investment firm Daschle he had the use of a .. get this .. limousine and a chauffeur! Somehow Daschle forgot to claim this as income on his tax returns for three years. Then along comes Obama to talk about a cabinet-level job with Daschle and suddenly Daschle's knowledge of tax issues becomes more clear. He files an amended tax return claiming the $255,256 value of the limo and driver for three years. He also suddenly "remembers" that he had received about $83,333 in consulting fees in 2007 that somehow didn't make it to his tax return, as well as some phony charitable contributions amounting to another $14,963. He coughs up about $140,167 in back taxes and interest and now everything is supposed to be just hunky dory.

By his own words, Daschle has "cheat(ed) us all." So does our Senate reward him by making him the Director of Health and Human Services? Well, Daschle has yet to be confirmed ... but PresBO has made it clear that all is forgiven and he wants him on board in the Cabinet.

What was all of that we were hearing from Democrats about corrupt Republicans over the past eight years?

We were told that we had to bailout the auto companies (aka. auto workers union) so that we could save an industry that provides a lot of jobs to American workers. In fact, that auto companies went as far as to say that our country would be sent into a depression if we didn't save their companies.

So the taxpayers gave them a bailout. And guess what? They are coming back for more. Billions more. And guess where that money is going?

GM investments in Brazil.

Yep, you read that correctly. An article from the Latin American Herald Tribune reports that GM is going to invest $1 billion in Brazil "to avoid the kind of problems the U.S. automaker is facing in its home market." And according to the president of GM in Brazil, this funding will be coming from the bailout money from the US taxpayers.

I wonder what kind of problems they're talking about avoiding? Probably union problems .. but do the GM officials have the cajones to say that?

Guess who is in line for the next bailout? Rental car companies! Why a bailout for rental car companies? Well, it seems that they ran rolled with some sort of a sweetheart deal with the auto companies for years .. but now they can't find anyone to buy their rental cars, and they can't get credit to buy new cars.

So they are turning to you, the taxpayers, to receive bailout money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to buy new cars. In fact, this has already been cleared by the House of Representatives. They included a clause in a recent bill that would allow the government to back loans to rental car companies.

You will greatly appreciate some of this letter that is floating around the Internet. It is called, "Tax Solution to Wretched Greed." And the brilliant genius who came up with this gem is a man by the name of Joel S. Hirschhorn. Oh and guess what? The guy is a university professor. That will sound about right once you hear what he has to say. This oughta be good. Here's a little taste ...

Here is the solution that the overwhelming majority of Americans should demand: A law should be immediately passed that imposes a new special federal income tax of 99 percent on all income in excess of $500,000 annually for single taxpayers and $1 million for couples, starting for 2008 income. Call it a greed tax. Call it justice. Call it getting even for too many years of uncontrolled greed that has given the nation nothing but economic injustice and inequality, and given capitalism a very bad name. Call it a sensible way to raise federal revenues to help offset the cancerous national debt ...

Enough already. Drastic action is needed to achieve some justice. With all the attention on the Obama stimulus plan based on spending money the nation does not really have or can afford, it is appropriate to use this proposal to raise more revenues. Tax greed!

Here's another candidate for a spot on McCaskill's staff. Limit income in this country and watch our talent head overseas to work against the American economy instead of for it.

University professor. It figures.

Yes, that's Goatee, not Goatse. We wouldn't subject you to Goatse.

The Republicans have elected a new National Chairman - former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele. One of his first statements was to point out that the GOP lost its way in the 1990s and expanded the size of government.

Congressman Jeff Flake brings up a very suspicious rule included in the economic stimulus bill that could prevent earmark challenges.

Iran says that Obama's offer to talk shows that America's policy of domination has failed and Western ideology has become passive.

A question floating around the Internet this weekend ... Is Obama's post-partisan politics dead on arrival?

Outrageous: Milwaukee Public Schools will get $88.6 million from this economic stimulus bill for new construction, "even though the district has 15 vacant school buildings, a large surplus of property and no plans for new construction."

The other day we told you about Congressman David Obey's son getting billions of dollars in stimulus for his national parks program .. check out how Obey's office is handling the report.

This is not good news .. while the private workforce is losing jobs, the number of people working for the government is growing.

Obama is considering appointing a Republican senator to his cabinet .. but apparently this will not affect the delicate balance in the Senate as his replacement will be a Republican.

The White House is looking for ways to control the commercial use of Obama's image.

A ranking member of the GOP wants to reconsider stimulus funding for the National Science Foundation after it was discovered that top staff members spent most of their days surfing the Internet for porn.

I'll admit that we have been pre-occupied with this economic stimulus bill lately .. and for good reason. But something that is quietly slipping by is the slow implementation of government healthcare, thanks to the Democrats.

Canada and other nations are concerned about the "Buy American" requirement of the economic stimulus bill.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus is at it again .. saying that global warming is a hoax. Gotta love it.

Great Britain's green advisor says that couples who have more than two children are being "irresponsible" because they are creating an "unbearable burden" on the environment.

How is California's experiment with "green jobs" working out? Well .. judging by their current financial woes, I'd say not so well.

Government schools in Pittsburgh are delaying school for 2-hours this morning because of the Super Bowl last night.

Bruce Springsteen is upset that he made a deal with Wal-Mart to exclusively sell his album because Wal-Mart is "anti-union" and Bruce Springsteen is a bed-wetting liberal.

And now for the biggest story of the day .. Michael Phelps has been caught smoking marijuana.

Speaking of marijuana, Barack Obama's half brother was arrested in Kenya for possession of marijuana.

Do you think someone in the newsroom got fired for this one? You gotta see it. It's hilarious.

In case you care, YouTube has set up a channel where you can view and vote on Super Bowl ads.

Are you the cool parent that lets kids drink at your house? In Georgia, a woman has been charged for doing just that after a kid died after drinking at her house then driving. With mugshot. And here are Neal's thoughts on the story from last week.