SOTU FactCheck Compilation

Politifact has one out already, as does AP.

Here’s the highlights:

We’re putting many of his claims to the Truth-O-Meter, as well as some of the responses by Republicans. We’ll be updating this story as we add them.

• We found Obama was exaggerating the impact of the Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance when he said it would “open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign companies – to spend without limit in our elections.” We rated that Barely True.

• Obama was pretty much on the mark with his claim that he had opened White House visitor logs. We rated that one Mostly True.

• Obama incorrectly described his “revolving door” policy on former lobbyists being barred from policy jobs in his administration.

• Obama exaggerated the role that “pay as you go” policies had on the budget in the 1990s.

• Obama earned a Full Flop on our Flip-O-Meter for supporting a spending freeze, which he opposed during the campaign.

• Obama was right that 95 percent of working families have gotten a tax cut.

• He earned a Mostly True for his claim that the nation had a $200 billion budget surplus at the start of the Bush administration and that Obama inherited a $1 trillion deficit.

From Hot Air:

The other whoppers:

• Spending freeze – The AP points out that it will save less than 1% of predicted deficits over the next ten years — and that Obama scoffed at such a plan when John McCain proposed it in 2008.
• Health care – Obama said the Democratic plan would allow people to keep their insurance and their doctors, but the bill doesn’t guarantee either.  Their plan has massive cuts to Medicare Advantage, which would definitely affect coverage of a large portion of America’s seniors and disabled.
• Lobbyists – Obama has not “excluded” lobbyists from his administration; he’s hired over a dozen for key posts, and the AP notes seven of those waivers were for White House posts.  Obama called for restrictions on lobbyist contributions, but those already exist.
• Two million jobs saved through Porkulus – The CBO puts the theoretical range between 600K and 1.6 million, but also cautions that the methodology of estimating jobs “saved or created” is “uncertain.”  The last detailed numbers the White House produced totaled 650,000 — and were found to be highly inaccurate.
• Openness: “Obama skipped past a broken promise from his campaign — to have the negotiations for health care legislation broadcast on C-SPAN “so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies.” Instead, Democrats in the White House and Congress have conducted the usual private negotiations, making multibillion-dollar deals with hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and other stakeholders behind closed doors. Nor has Obama lived up consistently to his pledge to ensure that legislation is posted online for five days before it’s acted upon.”

But this is the best:

“Congress passes budgets, not the President, and the last three budgets came from Democrats.  In three years, they increased annual federal spending by $900 billion, while the admittedly profligate and irresponsible Republican Congresses under George Bush increased annual federal spending by $800 billion — in six years.  And during the last three years before taking office as President, Obama served in the Senate that passed those bills, and he voted for every Democratic budget put in front of him.”

I would advise Obama to get a polygraph for his speechwriters, but he’s deliberately trying to deceive you. He knows what the results would be.

Unlimited Assistance, Unlimited Hypocrisy

With the holidays now behind us, I am looking forward to getting back in the daily news grind.

This morning, the first story I heard left me fuming: “U.S. promised unlimited financial assistance to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac“- WAPO

“The Christmas Eve announcement by the Treasury Department means that it can continue to run the companies, which were seized last year, as arms of the government for the rest of President Obama’s current term. But even as the administration was making this open-ended financial commitment, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac disclosed that they had received approval from their federal regulator to pay $42 million in Wall Street-style compensation packages to 12 top executives for 2009. The compensation packages, including up to $6 million each to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s chief executives, come amid an ongoing public debate about lavish payments to executives at banks and other financial firms that have received taxpayer aid. But while many firms on Wall Street have repaid the assistance, there is no prospect that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will do so.”

Are you starting to see a pattern yet? Prior to Christmas Eve, President Obama has already spent more in his first year than any other president in our nation’s history.

Let’s just recall what Obama said (transcript) just two weeks before this unlimited bailout:

“But even as we dig our way out of this deep hole, it’s important that we address the irresponsibility and recklessness that got us into this mess in the first place. Some of it was the result of an era of easy credit, when millions of Americans borrowed beyond their means, bought homes they couldn’t afford, and assumed that housing prices would always rise and the day of reckoning would never come. But much of it was due to the irresponsibility of large financial institutions on Wall Street that gambled on risky loans and complex financial products, seeking short-term profits and big bonuses with little regard for long-term consequences. It was, as some have put it, risk management without the management. And their actions, in the absence of strong oversight, intensified the cycle of bubble-and-bust and led to a financial crisis that threatened to bring down the entire economy…”

Notice how he blames you. It’s not Fannie and Freddie’s fault. It’s your fault the housing market tanked because you bought a home you couldn’t afford. When my wife and I purchased our first home, the sales lady gave us every line in the book to hook us. And not only that, but they gave us a brand-new home with just stated income and a credit score. It was probably the same for you.

“It was a disaster that could have been avoided if we’d had clearer rules of the road for Wall Street and actually enforced them.”

How about clearer rules for the federal government? How about Obama takes his hands off the cookie jar? Our government is bankrupt yet they give a blank check to these companies which in turn will give its execs $6 million in bonuses. If you don’t care, you should. The money is coming from your account.

Lastly- my liberal friends love to echo Obama’s blame game of “I inherited this economy”. They bash Bush for the bank bailout. They forget, however, or maybe just don’t know that Obama himself voted for it. Hello? Bueller? Anyone? The man loves spending your money in the name of “recovery”. This is why he voted for it,”This is what we need to do right now, to prevent the possibility of a crisis turning into a catastrophe.”- Obama

(You should revisit my earlier post- The Time is Later)

UPDATE: I just wanted to post this again. I think it’s relevant.

Obama in 2009

NY Post’s, Matt Welch, has a very emotional article out yesterday. I say emotional for two reasons: one- if you supported Obama through the election, shed tears of joy at the inauguration, and defended every action (or inaction for that matter) for his first year, I believe those people are now shedding tears of absolute disappointment and dismay as the Obama bubble has finally burst. Two- if you have, all along, disdained our so-called leader, you are ecstatic that the masses are finally waking from their Hopenchange stupor.

Undead ’60s warhorse Tom Hayden got the ball rolling in early December with his dramatic announcement in The Nation that, with the president’s decision to increase troop levels, “It’s time to strip the Obama sticker off my car.”

Time to strip that sticker indeed and replace it with this one…you know act like you were the voice of reason all along.

Liberal historian Garry Wills joined the anguished chorus. “My wife and I had maxed out in donations for him. Our children had been ardent for his cause,” Wills wrote. “And now he betrays us.”

And what about health care?

Less hysterical but no less disappointed was former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, who wrote in the Washington Post Thursday that “Any measure that expands private insurers’ monopoly over health care and transfers millions of taxpayer dollars to private corporations is not real health-care reform.”

Robert Samuelson said, “Barack Obama’s quest for historic health care legislation has turned into a parody of leadership. We usually associate presidential leadership with the pursuit of goals that, though initially unpopular, serve America’s long-term interests. Obama has reversed this.”

Good thing we elected a man who was going to change business as usual. Michelle Malkin has been kind enough to offer the Demcare Bribe List: Part 1 and Part 2

It’s one thing if a Fox News poll has Obama’s approval under 50%. It’s another when EVERY SINGLE POLL IN THIS COUNTRY has Obama under 50%. If for no other reason, isn’t it enough that Obama has spent more money in his first year than ANY PRESIDENT IN OUR ENTIRE HISTORY!? And today he has the audacity to offer the $127 billion in cut in the deficit in the first TEN years of this health care “reform” as a good thing! That’s barely a speck of what he spent on the $787 billion Stimulus this year!

Anyway, I’m ecstatic. The Obama bubble has burst. Merry Christmas to me.

Update:

The NY Times on Sunday said, “Nasty charges of bribery. Senators cut off midspeech. Accusations of politics put over patriotism. Talk of double-crosses. A nonagenarian forced to the floor after midnight for multiple procedural votes. In the heart of the holiday season, Senate Republicans and Democrats are at one another’s throats as the health care overhaul reaches its climactic votes. A year that began with hopes of new post-partisanship has indeed produced change: Things have gotten worse.”

Rock for South Sudan

In November 2007, I was able to go to southern Sudan. A local pastor, Charles, painted a very vivid picture of what it was like during the civil war prior to the 2005 peace treaty. Looking out at the field before us, he replayed just one instance of troops invading the village- lines of soldiers, shoulder to shoulder, coming in on each side. The people are defenseless in this village. Their tukuls provide little protection. While exploring one afternoon, I discovered some sort of explosive roped off in the grass that failed to explode. The people would cover their roofs with brush and branches to conceal them from the planes.

Charles

tukul

In March 2008, John Mark McMillan, Aaron Strumpel, and Travis Aicklen set out to make a difference in southern Sudan. They rocked for water. Scheduling eight shows in California, these bands used their giftings and musical abilities to promote a need, or better yet, a response. Every night, Travis would talk about what he experienced in southern Sudan (we went together). He would tell the crowd, “You spend your money on worthless things. People who were going to die are going to live because you gave.” And they did. They gave generously. Two weeks and eight shows later, $26,000 was raised. Since that time, one well has been dug with two more on the way (last I heard).

Rock for Water Crew

our well

Travis and I in Sudan

The NY Times just published this story: Violence Grips South Sudan as Vote Nears (PLEASE READ)

In the past, these rivalries occasionally became violent, with maybe a few warriors killed on each side. But the recent attacks seem more like infantry maneuvers. In one massacre this March, 17 villages were besieged and more than 700 people killed, according to United Nations officials….Diing Akol Diing, a county commissioner near Duk Padiet, keeps pictures of victims on his computer: Children with bullet holes in their chest. Old women curled up in pools of blood. Emaciated militia fighters in smart new camouflage.

“This is madness,” he says.

He clicks on a photograph of a dozen people wrapped in blankets, buried in a ditch.

“Mass graves?” he says. “We’ve never had mass graves.”

******

There is just a year until the peace treaty expires. It sounds like the north is preparing. It sounds like the south is scared, hoping to hold out, hoping for independence. It sounds like we need to rock again- not for water, but for the people- for their hopes, for their freedom…for their very lives. The world learned of Darfur too late. Let’s not let this happen with the south. Let’s not wait until another 2 million men, women, and children are dead. Let us help to give them voice. Let us proclaim their story. Let’s Rock for South Sudan.

I’m not sure what to do. I just want to help and I want you to help, too. Are you in?

If so, watch this video from Journeyman Pictures. If not, watch this video from Journeyman Pictures. (August 2006)

This video is from June 1993 and will give you some context.

Bow Wow Wow Yippie Yo Yippie Yay

Classic, classic, classic…

“Obama’s handshake/forward lurch was so jarring and inappropriate it recalls Bush’s back-rub of Merkel…”The bow as he performed did not just display weakness in Red State terms, but evoked weakness in Japanese terms….The last thing the Japanese want or need is a weak looking American president.”

Sweet video of other world leaders knowing enough to SHAKE HANDS!

 

$1.8 trillion is MORE than $61 billion

Republican plan for health-care reform: $61 billion

“For the 87% of Americans who have insurance and who overwhelmingly like the system, this is a much better prescription for real cost savings, and without the heavy government intervention that threatens the liberty and economic stability of Americans.  The only people disadvantaged by this plan are those pursuing ObamaCare out of ideological animus towards the private market.”

Democrat plan for health-care reform: $1.8 trillion

“The CBO reports that, in their true first 10 years, the House bill would cost $1.8 trillion, and the Senate bill would cost $1.7 trillion. Pelosi would raise Americans’ taxes by $1.1 trillion over that period, while Reid would hike them by $1 trillion.”

Anyone acting like health care in and of itself is a RIGHT to be paid and provided for by taxpayers has been intellectually swindled by big government nonsense. It is comparable to praying for world peace; biblically, it’s not reality. How about ALL OF US get behind reform that actually makes sense? Would that not be better for our country, for the ill, and for those who can honestly not afford private health insurance? (Which is not 47 million– I don’t care how much the left spins it).

Work smarter, America.

The Ups and Downs (but in reverse)

MEDICAL COSTS UP….JOB CREATION DOWN

In case you’re confused, medical costs are suppose to decrease under the proposed legislation and job creation is supposed to increase.

“The nation’s medical costs will keep spiraling upward even faster than they are now under Democratic legislation pending in the House, a report from government economic experts concluded Wednesday.”

Does the White House have a reason for this? Of course they do, “The Obama administration immediately challenged the analysis, saying it is out of date because the House bill is being rewritten to bring costs under tighter control and will be merged eventually with other House legislation and a Senate bill.”

You be the judge. However, estimated costs of government programs are ALWAYS lower than they turn out to be. “Washington has just run a $1.4 trillion budget deficit for fiscal 2009, even as we are told a new health-care entitlement will reduce red ink by $81 billion over 10 years. To believe that fantastic claim, you have to ignore everything we know about Washington and the history of government health-care programs.”

Secondly…

“While President Obama claimed the result of his stimulus bill would be the creation of 3.5 million jobs, the Nation has already lost a total of 2.7 million – a difference of 6.2 million jobs.  To see how stimulus has failed your state, see the table…”

Lastly, here’s a great (short) video on our increasing deficit (under Obama, not Bush).

This is What We Get

First, the world learns that our President has only talked with General McChrystal ONCE in seventy days:

“”I’ve talked to the president, since I’ve been here, once on a VTC ,” Gen. Stanley McChrystal told CBS reporter David Martin in a television interview that aired Sunday.

“You’ve talked to him once in 70 days?” Mr. Martin followed up.

“That is correct,” the general replied.”

Some say this is due to the chain of command. Fine. But let’s keep that same principle in place when the President HIMSELF wants to fly halfway around the world to bid for the Olympics to be in his hometown. It’s not like he would do it for say…Los Angeles or Dallas. It was political. How grand to end his presidency (IF he is reelected) with the Olympics in his backyard?(That’s a big IF by the way). If there is a chain of command in these military contexts, there should be another underling (not the President) to make the bid. He obviously has bigger fish to fry. So what if the leaders from the other countries making bids went? We’re supposed to be the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. That doesn’t mean we act like elitists, but it does mean we remain aware that the world looks to us, relies on us. We set the stage. This…of course, seems to be fading.

And now, Obama is apparently furious that McChrystal has his own opinion based on EXPERIENCE!

In London, Gen McChrystal, who heads the 68,000 US troops in Afghanistan as well as the 100,000 Nato forces, flatly rejected proposals to switch to a strategy more reliant on drone missile strikes and special forces operations against al-Qaeda.

He told the Institute of International and Strategic Studies that the formula, which is favoured by Vice-President Joe Biden, would lead to “Chaos-istan”.

When asked whether he would support it, he said: “The short answer is: No.””

What was he supposed to say? Nothing? No comment?

———–

This is what we get for electing a man with no experience in such matters, trusting him as our Commander in Chief. He follows procedure with a war but yet takes the time to personally bid for the Olympics? Priorities would be nice. Especially when it cost over $1,000,000 to make the bid.

———–

SIDE NOTE: This isn’t all that funny, but it’s nice to see him taking some shots for once.

SNL

NEA I say more?

“If the NEA wants to go into policy activism, then it should become a private foundation with private funding, and Congress should cut it loose.” (Hot Air)

“Did the White House initiate the conference call-cum-political pep rally? Or did the NEA, an independent agency, spontaneously politicize itself?” Chicago-Tribune

I think this is just the beginning of an emerging trend in the Obama Administration. ACORN a non-profit, “non-partisan” organization is on the ropes. Today, it seems another organization receiving federal (tax payer) funds has been exposed of advocating for Obama and his agenda. As said Ed Morrissey from HotAir, if you want to support and advocate for a particular party or politician, do it on your own dime!

Spread the word. Don’t let this come to fruition: “You’re going to see a lot more of us in the next four and hopefully eight years.” -Buffy Wicks, Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement

I’m curious to know if things like this (federally-funded, non-partisan organizations pulling weight) transpired under George W. If it did, it’s still shameful. If not, that really says something about the way Obama does business. (Just like he ran his ’95 Senate campaign in which he was able to kick everyone else off the ballot). Let me know.

Remembering Abul K. Chowdhury

In order to do justice to the life and memory of Abul K. Chowdhury (age 30) and to Project 2996, I set out to discover as much information as I could about this man. Sadly, I was able to find very little. Fortunately, however, I believe what I found is enough.

There seem to be certain moments, memories, or words spoken by an individual that reveal just who they really are.

Abul was a family man, married to Young Kim just months prior to 9/11. He also had four sisters and a brother with whom he shared the responsibility of caring for their parents. His brother, Qaisar, said of he and Abul’s relationship, “We two brothers, we help the whole family. We two brothers are like two arms.”

This simple analogy reveals just who Abul was: an upright and generous man, willing to give of himself for the benefit of another.

Rest in peace, Abul.

(Further reading)