It’s still an empty lockbox - The Washington Post

Last week, President Obama’s budget chief, Jack Lew, took to his White House blog to repeat his claim that the Social Security trust fund is solvent through 2037. And to chide me for suggesting otherwise. I had argued in my last column that the trust fund is empty, indeed fictional."

Charles Krauthammer - Et tu, Jack Lew?

Everyone knows that the U.S. budget is being devoured by entitlements. Everyone also knows that of the Big Three - Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security - Social Security is the most solvable.

Back-of-an-envelope solvable: Raise the retirement age, tweak the indexing formula (from wage inflation to price inflation) and means-test so that Warren Buffett's check gets redirected to a senior in need."

CBO: Obama budget worse than projected on 10-year deficit - The Hill's On The Money

The Congressional Budget Office on Friday released its analysis of President Obama’s 2012 budget proposal and found it does less to rein in deficits and the debt than the administration had estimated.

CBO estimates Obama's plan would produce 10 years of deficits totaling $9.5 trillion. By 2021, it would increase the debt held by the public to 87 percent of gross domestic product."

Biden mentions rape in criticizing Republicans - TheHill.com

Vice President Joe Biden, speaking at a fundraiser in Philadelphia Friday, compared Republicans in Congress to people who excuse rapists by blaming their victims.



The vice president, known for speaking his mind and at times putting his foot in his mouth, said that Republicans who want to cut spending while at the same time cutting taxes for the wealthy are similar to rape apologists."

Dane County judge halts collective bargaining law - JSOnline

Madison -- Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi issued a temporary restraining order Friday, barring the publication of a controversial new law that would sharply curtail collective bargaining for public employees.

Sumi’s order will prevent Secretary of State Doug La Follette from publishing the law until she can rule on the merits of the case. Dane County Ismael Ozanne is seeking to block the law because he says a legislative committee violated the state’s open meetings law.

Sumi said Ozanne was likely to succeed on the merits."

KUHNER: The enemy within - Washington Times

Radical Islam threatens American democracy. It is slowly subverting America from within and without. If it is not stopped, U.S. civilization is doomed.

For decades, Europe has been in the grip of an Islamist assault. Largely ghettoized Muslim populations have become dangerously alienated from the European mainstream. From Paris to Hamburg, Germany, radicalized imams preach the virtues of global jihad. Subway systems in London and Madrid have been bombed; hundreds of civilians have been slaughtered. Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered."

Budget-busting station named for Biden - Washington Times

As a thank-you to its most famous customer, Amtrak is renaming the train station in Wilmington, Del., after stimulus “sheriff” Vice President Joseph R. Biden — after the project received $20 million in stimulus money and came in $5.7 million over the initial announced budget."

Japan tsunami and earthquake: 30 children sit silent in classroom after parents vanish | Mail Online

Even amid the carnage and despair of Japan's tsunami victims, the plight of the 30 children at Kama Elementary School is heartbreaking.

They sit quietly in the corner of a third-floor classroom where they have waited each day since the tsunami swept into the town of Ishinomaki for their parents to collect them. So far, no one has come and few at the school now believe they will.

Teachers think that some of the boys and girls, aged between eight and 12, know their fathers and mothers are among the missing and will never again turn up at the gates of the school on the eastern outskirts of the town, but they are saying nothing."

Palin Doctrine Emerges as Arab League Echoes Her Demarche on Libya - March 16, 2011 - The New York Sun

The call by the Arab League for Western military intervention in an Arab state — in this case asking that a UN “no-fly zone” be imposed over Libya – is not only without precedent but it puts in formal terms what Governor Palin stated three weeks ago should have been America’s response to the political and humanitarian crisis now unfolding there."

Express Yourself :: Barack Obama: The Weakest President in history?

INEFFECTUAL, invisible, unable to honour pledges and now blamed for letting Gaddafi off the hook. Why Obama’s gone from ‘Yes we can’ to ‘Er, maybe we shouldn’t’..."

Sam Kazman: How Washington Ruined Your Washing Machine - WSJ.com

In 1996, top-loaders were pretty much the only type of washer around, and they were uniformly high quality. When Consumer Reports tested 18 models, 13 were 'excellent' and five were 'very good.' By 2007, though, not one was excellent and seven out of 21 were 'fair' or 'poor.' This month came the death knell: Consumer Reports simply dismissed all conventional top-loaders as 'often mediocre or worse.'

How's that for progress?"

Rove: The GOP Race Is Underway - WSJ.com

Political junkies are complaining that the Republican presidential contest is off to a slow, even debilitating, start. No GOP candidate has even declared or filed an exploratory committee. Meanwhile, Democrats crow that the slow-forming Republican race is a boon for President Barack Obama."

Continuing Resolution | GOP Leadership Fuming at Conservative 'No' Votes on 3 Week CR | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment

GOOD for the 54!!!!!!!!!! All anyone is doing is going around and around again!

GOP leaders and much of the mainline party caucus that voted for a three-week continuing resolution Tuesday are fuming at the 54 conservative Republicans who voted no — and the right-wing activists who cheered them on.

Many saw the move by conservatives, galvanized by a closed-door speech by former GOP Conference Chairman Rep. Mike Pence, as a pointless protest vote that weakened House Speaker John Boehner’s hand in negotiations with top Democrats on spending cuts."

US backing for world currency stuns markets - Telegraph

ALL the doomsayers that have been ridiculed for being worried about JUST this event.....what does the Drive By media have to say now???
I am shocked and not shocked....NOTHING these people do is surprising. Especially if it HURTS the USA!

US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner shocked global markets by revealing that Washington is 'quite open' to Chinese proposals for the gradual development of a global reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund."

patriots - Adrian Peterson a slave to his own arrogance - WEEI | Kirk Minihane

Amen.........................

I guess the first thing I'd like to know about Adrian Peterson, Modern Day Slave is this: Which route on the underground railroad did he take to get from Minnesota to Los Angeles to film that cameo on an episode of 'Entourage' last year?"

The American Spectator : Hands Off the Obamacare Slush Fund

Speaker of the House John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and House Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy have consistently blocked efforts by Reps. Steve King and Michele Bachmann to defund the so-called 'Obamacare slush fund' via the continuing resolution or House spending bills, despite being told by House Republican leadership staff that they could do so under current House rules."

American Thinker Blog: Power Corrupts

Recently J. Robert Smith wrote a blogpost arguing that the panic-driven coverage of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant illustrates an aversion to risk bordering on the, well, psychotic (my words, not Mr. Smith's). I would agree to a point, but I fear he has only elucidated part of the truth."

Geithner says Congress must raise debt limit | Reuters

Congress has to do it. There's no alternative,' he said in response to questions at a House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee.

He repeated a warning that it would be have 'catastrophic' consequences for the economy if the debt ceiling was not raised and the country defaulted on its debt obligations."

U.S. Debt Jumped $72 Billion Same Day U.S. House Voted to Cut Spending $6 Billion | CNSnews.com

This is insanity............

(CNSNews.com) - The national debt jumped by $72 billion on Tuesday even as the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution to fund the government for just three weeks that will cut $6 billion from government spending."

A Glowing Report on Radiation - HUMAN EVENTS

With the terrible earthquake and resulting tsunami that have devastated Japan, the only good news is that anyone exposed to excess radiation from the nuclear power plants is now probably much less likely to get cancer.

This only seems counterintuitive because of media hysteria for the past 20 years trying to convince Americans that radiation at any dose is bad. There is, however, burgeoning evidence that excess radiation operates as a sort of cancer vaccine."

Obama flaunts openness award | POLITICO 44

According to his public schedule, Obama has four behind-closed-doors meetings from 10 a.m. to 3:05 p.m.: his daily briefing, a talk with the USAID administrator, a session with senior advisers, and a huddle with his defense secretary. All of the meets are in the Oval Office, and all of them are “closed press,” the White House says."

Housing starts see biggest drop since 1984 - Yahoo! Finance

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Housing starts posted their biggest decline in 27 years in February while building permits dropped to their lowest level on record, suggesting the beleaguered real estate sector has yet to rebound from its deepest slump in modern history."

Right Direction or Wrong Track - Rasmussen Reports™

Just 22% of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right direction, the lowest level of confidence found since before President Obama’s inauguration in January 2009.

According to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken the week ending Sunday, March 13, 72% of voters now say the country is heading down the wrong track, also at its highest level since before the inauguration."

Obama Heads to Rio Sunday; Maximum Security Awaits - Kenneth Rapoza - BRIC Breaker - Forbes

I am soooooo happy they are getting a vacation....Heck! They haven't had one in what - a month????

The Obama family will also take in the sights in Rio. A trip to Corcovado mountain, where the Christ the Redeemer statue stands (France gave us Lady Liberty, gave Brazil Jesus) is supposedly on the itinerary. What trip to Rio would be complete without it? If they do make it to the top of the mountain, they will do so with an entourage of secret service and Brazil’s Elite Squad, known as BOPE."

Barack Obama's lack of leadership -- John Podhoretz - NYPOST.com

"Obama the Invisible" - how very apt....

Where is the president? The world is beset. Moammar Khadafy is moving relentlessly to crush the Libyan revolt that once promised the overthrow of one of the world's most despicable regimes.

So where is the president?"

Eminent Domain Abuse in Mount Holly, NJ | The Institute for Justice

Your home stolen by your local government.....coming soon....this is ridiculous!

Township officials in Mount Holly have been systematically dismantling the Gardens, a close-knit community of row houses that up until recently was home to more than 300 families. Since 2003, the Township bought more than 200 homes under the threat of eminent domain."

NRA Refuses to Meet With Obama on Gun Control | The Blaze

Gun Control Alert!

On Tuesday, officials at the Justice Department met with gun control advocates, answering President Obama’s call to put aside “stale political debates” to begin “a new discussion” on ways to better enforce and strengthen America’s existing laws in the wake of the Jan. 8 shooting in Tucson. Missing from the dialogue, however, was the National Rifle Association (NRA) who pointedly responded to the president’s invitation: thanks, but no thanks."

TSA Admits Bungling of Airport Body-Scanner Radiation Tests | Threat Level | Wired.com

Hey! Don't worry about Japan melting down - your local Airport is doing it for you!

The Transportation Security Administration is re-analyzing the radiation levels of X-ray body scanners installed in airports nationwide, after testing produced dramatically higher-than-expected results."

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson compares NFL owners' treatment of players to 'modern-day slavery' in an online interview - TwinCities.com

I LOVE Football. I can't imagine another strike. I cannot imagine this coming dreary winter of 2011 without Tom Brady every Sunday - HOWEVER...they should ALL be smacked! This comment made my hair catch fire!

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson compared NFL owners' treatment of players to 'modern-day slavery,' according to an online interview published Tuesday by Yahoo! Sports.

Yahoo's Doug Farrar, who conducted the interview Friday with Peterson, removed that comment from the story later Tuesday, explaining on Twitter that he wants to give Peterson the chance to provide context."

Al Franken: ‘They're coming after the Internet’ - Mike Zapler - POLITICO.com

The world has literally ( and physically! ) spun off it's axis...and this clown is worried about Comcast and Netflix....let Comcast and Netflix duke it out themselves....what now...Netflix Bailout???? Government control of the internet is NOT A GOOD THING People!

The real end for Comcast is to put Netflix out of business entirely,' Franken said, because of the threat that Netflix's streaming video business could pose to Comcast's cable franchise. 'In the end, the American people will end up paying a lot more for worse service.'"

President Obama’s Trivial Pursuits | The Blog on Obama: White House Dossier

I have no issue with the President relaxing. However, can you imagine if this was GWB? The hypocrisy is astounding.

The Middle East is afire with rebellion, Japan is imploding from an earthquake, and the battle of the budget is on in the United States, but none of this seems to be deterring President Obama from a heavy schedule of childish distractions.

The newly installed tandem of White House Chief of Staff William Daley and Senior Adviser David Plouffe were supposed to impart a new sense of discipline and purpose to the White House. Instead, they are permitting him to showcase himself as a poorly focused leader who has his priorities backward."

John Kerry’s Government Slush Fund Recipe | FrontPage Magazine

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., has once again earned his nickname: Thurston B. Howell III. He’s elite, effete and so hopelessly out of touch with reality that his latest solution to America’s fiscal profligacy is … more fiscal profligacy, of course, Lovey! On Tuesday, Kerry introduced a $10 billion infrastructure bank bill that would engineer yet another federal taxpayer boondoggle benefiting Big Labor and favored Big Business interests."

Common-Sense Meltdown | FrontPage Magazine

An old joke in conservative circles takes the gloomy occasion of the world’s end to make an amusing point about media coverage. On the eve of Armageddon, the Wall Street Journal’s headline announces: “Planet’s Demise Imminent; Dow Plummets.” Us Weekly’s cover reads: “Earth Extinction: Who Will Lady Gaga Be Wearing?” The headline in the New York Times? “World to End; Women and Minorities Suffer Most.”"

CNN‘s ’Reliable Sources‘ Finds Beck’s The Blaze Reporting on NPR Story Reliable | The Blaze

This has got to just kill CNN......

You can read The Blaze story CNN’s “Reliable Sources” is featuring here."

‘We Insist!’: Conservatives Shout Down AIDS Activists Trying to Crash Bachmann Speech | The Blaze

That damn memo on civil discourse just keeps getting misplaced - who knew!?!?!

In a surprise clash of conservative activists versus liberal activists, advocates for the president’s global AIDS plan crashed Rep. Michele Bachmann’s carefully choreographed speech to a gathering of New Hampshire Republicans.

As the Minnesota lawmaker spoke to the GOP state committee on Saturday in Nashua, a line of liberal activists burst into a chant and waved signs that read, “Michele Bachmann, We Insist! End AIDS treatment waiting lists.”"

King-Bachmann Pledge: Vote ‘No’ on Any CR That Permits Obamacare Funding | CNSnews.com

Representatives Steve King (R.-Iowa) and Michelle Bachmann (R.-Minn.), two of the leading congressional proponents of the Tea Party movement, have taken a pledge and are asking all other House members to join them in it.

Its terms are simple: The member vows to vote “no” on any continuing resolution that permits any funding for the implementation of Obamacare."

PROMISES, PROMISES: Little transparency progress

And they destroyed GWB for far less...makes ya wonder what he's got to hide......

WASHINGTON -- Two years into its pledge to improve government transparency, the Obama administration handled fewer requests for federal records from citizens, journalists, companies and others last year even as significantly more people asked for information. The administration disclosed at least some of what people wanted at about the same rate as the previous year."

Many Outraged Over Prayer Service Held Before Tests � CBS Baltimore

Exactly WHO is outraged? If the students aren't "required" and/or "Forced"....who cares....?

The American Civil Liberties Union is crying foul, for organized prayer in the public school."