President Obama has finally decided to take the reins and steer this healthcare debate. Next Wednesday he is going to address a joint session of Congress. This will be the first address to a joint session of Congress since President Bush gathered the clowns together after the 9/11 ISLAMIC terrorist attacks.

Clearly, Democrats in Congress haven't done all that great of a PR job when it comes to selling their healthcare plan. The hope is that PrezBO still has enough star power left to muster some support. Is he going to advocate a government option? Probably not. At this point, too much is riding on the success or failure of healthcare reform - the remainder of Obama's presidency, for example -- and a government option seems absolutely doomed for failure. That's a good thing because the government option was merely a not-so-suave way of getting to single-payer, and single payer means absolute government control.

There's that word again! CONTROL! My guess is that whatever you hear from Mr. Government next week, control of your health care will be hidden in the details. This, after all, is the goal. At the end this is all an exercise aimed to making sure that Democrats never lose control of the congress again. To get that sort of a grip on power they need an inseparable grip on you. Controlling your access to and paying for your health care would do it. So ... onward.

As soon as Obama plays his cards we'll get back into the game.

By the way ... did I mention that the 9/11 attackers were MUSLIMS?

Are we ready to chill out about Obama's speech to the nation's government school children next week? Is there a potential for a disaster? Sure there is, but I think it's unlikely. Obama isn't going to go on the classroom tubes and tell the kids to "go home and tell your folks to call their elected officials and tell them to support my health care plan. If you don't, you're gonna die." The White House says that the purpose of the speech is for PrezBO to "address the students on the importance of taking responsibility for their success in school." Who in the world wouldn't want this message delivered to our students? Do you think you would have had your panties in a wad if it was George W. Bush delivering the same message to the students?

Obama is in a position to do some good here. Many of these school children look up to him. They have no awareness of his flirtations with Marxism in college. They don't understand his complete lack of experience as he stood for election last year. They just know that he's the president, and that's important. Young black students see him as an incredible roll model. If he delivers them a positive message about personal responsibility we're all the better off for it.

All this doesn't mean we sleep through his speech. Let's watch carefully to see if there is any pro-big government propaganda that needs to be addressed. Until then ... find something else to get all worked up over.

To say that Americans are "extremely displeased" with Congress right now would be an understatement. Poll numbers right now are at one of their lowest points in more than two decades, according to the Pew Research Center. Only 37% of Americans express favorable views of Congress.

The real test will be ... can this dissatisfaction take us through the 2010 election? You can hoot and holler all you want, but where your voice ultimately counts is in the voting booth. If you've calmed down by then all of this is worth exactly nothing. Right now you are upset because these politicians want to usurp more power over your lives, take more money away from you and expand the size of our already massive federal government. This isn't going to change by 2010. What IS going to change is your vigilance, if you let it.

If you decide next year that every member of congress needs to be replaced, EXCEPT YOURS, then the problem continues.

In the healthcare debate in the United States, we have been hearing a lot of people use this phrase "death panels." Take that for what it is worth, but the overall message should be that government-run healthcare will lead to rationing. When rationing takes place, people who are elderly and/or terminally ill are likely the first to be denied care. Any panel that makes decisions on who can and who cannot receive a certain health treatment can, in effect, be a death panel.

That seems to be exactly what is happening in the UK under their National Health Service. The Telegraph of London received a letter from a group of experts. These are doctors working under the National Health Service. They claim that terminally ill patients are being wrongly judged as "close to death" and thusly being forced to die.

The scheme is called the Liverpool Care Pathway, and it was originally designed to reduce patients from suffering in their final hours. In 2004, this method was recommended by the Government's health scrutiny body and has gradually been adopted by hundreds of hospitals in England.

When it comes to political appointments, Barack Obama has done one heckuva job. Wouldn't you say? Here's just another fine example. Obama's green jobs czar is a man by the name of Van Jones. He is a civil rights, human rights, and environmental activist. Take a listen to some of the comments Jones had to say about white environmentalists in January of 2008.

Did you catch that?

"Because they don't have a racial justice frame ... white polluters steered poison into minority communities."

Also, earlier this year Jones told an audience that Republicans are blocking Barack Obama's proposals because they are "a**holes." He calls that "a technical, political science term."

Certainly elevating the level of debate there, isn't he? This is the self-described "post-partisan" president appointing jerks like Van Jones to positions of (God help us) power. He's a bigot and doesn't belong in a taxpayer funded job.

John Stossel explains how we have a bunch of economic illiterates running the show in Washington.

Obama and the Perfect Storm. This from Karl Rove

That huge wildfire that's eating SoCal? It could have been prevented with a controlled burn months ago. Environmental nut-jobs stopped it.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says that he will not vote for healthcare reform if it requires increasing taxes or deficit spending. Well there goes that plan.

We already knew the White House estimates a $9 trillion deficit. What they didn't tell us is that this number was based on brisk economic growth for a solid decade.

The government may "restrict fast food establishments near school grounds and public playgrounds" in order to combat childhood obesity. Because what else are parents for?

Could Barack Obama get another Supreme Court justice to nominate soon? There are rumors that John Paul Stevens is close to retiring.

A new poll shows that a majority of independent voters now disapprove of Barack Obama's handling of the presidency.

It's been six months since Congress passed the economic stimulus plan. The question is ... how's it working out for ya?

Government school parents are upset that this video called "I Pledge" is being shown to their children.

How is a British liquor company benefiting from US taxpayer stimulus money? I'll tell you how ...

NO! HE DIDN'T!!!

Federal grant money for the upcoming census is being awarded to Barack Obama's old pals at the Woods Foundation.

When conservatives top the chats of the New York Times bestsellers lists, don't expect the mainstream media to cover it.

Wow, you people in Tucson really turned out for healthcare townhalls with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Introducing professional Tweeters.

I'm shocked that this wasn't a woman complaining about a bare-bottomed statue being "inappropriate."

What is "rescission" in the heath insurance industry?