The Republican Thread

[EvilMonkey]

Really? Googling the phrase "Obama politifact fact check" is beyond your capabilities?

How about 'Where is this level of fact check from a supposedly neutral mainstream media outlet on Obama?' if there ever is one, it is after the fact when it is too late to matter. Hell if they just covered Biden with half as much zeal, he would come across dumber than the public seems to remember Dan Quayle, however you spell that. But that might look bad to have THAT on the ticket.

[lostfan]

How about 'Where is this level of fact check from a supposedly neutral mainstream media outlet on Obama?' if there ever is one, it is after the fact when it is too late to matter. Hell if they just covered Biden with half as much zeal, he would come across dumber than the public seems to remember Dan Quayle, however you spell that. But that might look bad to have THAT on the ticket.

I really thought Biden's tendency to say really stupid s*** was common knowledge... he'd been in the Senate for what, like 30 years by then? At the time the articles I read when Obama picked him had whole sections about the fact that Biden was a human gaffe machine. Like the one about him saying you couldn't go into a Dunkin' Donuts without having a slight Indian accent

[EvilMonkey]

I really thought Biden's tendency to say really stupid s*** was common knowledge... he'd been in the Senate for what, like 30 years by then? At the time the articles I read when Obama picked him had whole sections about the fact that Biden was a human gaffe machine. Like the one about him saying you couldn't go into a Dunkin' Donuts without having a slight Indian accent

But where is the follow up? Palin makes those comments, it leads on every channel for a week. Biden does it and you get ' He always says s*** like that, that's just Joe'. No commentary about how it makes him stupid, or unfit for office, it just gets tossed out then tossed aside.

[southsider2k5]

But where is the follow up? Palin makes those comments, it leads on every channel for a week. Biden does it and you get ' He always says s*** like that, that's just Joe'. No commentary about how it makes him stupid, or unfit for office, it just gets tossed out then tossed aside.

 

And one of them actually is in office... That is the sad part.

[southsider2k5]

An odd little story. It is funny to see someone like John Lennon grow up and turn conservative.

 

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/28/lenno...lican-assistant

 

John Lennon was a closet Republican, who felt a little embarrassed by his former radicalism, at the time of his death - according to the tragic Beatles star's last personal assistant.

 

Fred Seaman worked alongside the music legend from 1979 to Lennon's death at the end of 1980 and he reveals the star was a Ronald Reagan fan who enjoyed arguing with left-wing radicals who reminded him of his former self.

 

In new documentary Beatles Stories, Seaman tells filmmaker Seth Swirsky Lennon wasn't the peace-loving militant fans thought he was while he was his assistant.

 

He says, "John, basically, made it very clear that if he were an American he would vote for Reagan because he was really sour on (Democrat) Jimmy Carter.

 

"He'd met Reagan back, I think, in the 70s at some sporting event... Reagan was the guy who had ordered the National Guard, I believe, to go after the young (peace) demonstrators in Berkeley, so I think that John maybe forgot about that... He did express support for Reagan, which shocked me.

 

"I also saw John embark in some really brutal arguments with my uncle, who's an old-time communist... He enjoyed really provoking my uncle... Maybe he was being provocative... but it was pretty obvious to me he had moved away from his earlier radicalism.

 

"He was a very different person back in 1979 and 80 than he'd been when he wrote Imagine. By 1979 he looked back on that guy and was embarrassed by that guy's naivete."

[Cknolls]

Pssst. The word of the day is CORPORATE JETS.......... My wife just went to South Africa on the biggest corporate jet, but pay no attention to that, you cannot have s*** food here it tastes better 10000 miles from America. And hell it only cost several hundred grand.

[GoSox05]

An odd little story. It is funny to see someone like John Lennon grow up and turn conservative.

 

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/28/lenno...lican-assistant

 

 

Or maybe he didn't.

[Balta1701]

Tim Pawlenty's campaign reportedly raised a very weak $4.2 million in the last quarter. Mittens, for example, is expected to come in at $15-$20.

 

Ouch.

 

The Huntsman campaign, which was late to the game getting started, took in $4.1 million, but $2 million of that was a personal loan from Huntsman.

[mr_genius]

As I predicted, Obama's stimulus spending was a total failure.

 

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-...job_576014.html

 

The report was written by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors, a group of three economists who were all handpicked by Obama, and it chronicles the alleged success of the “stimulus” in adding or saving jobs. The council reports that, using “mainstream estimates of economic multipliers for the effects of fiscal stimulus” (which it describes as a “natural way to estimate the effects of” the legislation), the “stimulus” has added or saved just under 2.4 million jobs — whether private or public — at a cost (to date) of $666 billion. That’s a cost to taxpayers of $278,000 per job.

 

In other words, the government could simply have cut a $100,000 check to everyone whose employment was allegedly made possible by the “stimulus,” and taxpayers would have come out $427 billion ahead.

 

 

[kapkomet]

No, you're wrong. The only way it would have worked is if it were 2 to 3 times bigger then it was.

 

[southsider2k5]

No, you're wrong. The only way it would have worked is if it were 2 to 3 times bigger then it was.

 

I think I am going to adopt that one too.

 

The banking sector would have been just fine if they were two to three times bigger. They would have easily been able to absorb the losses then.

[NorthSideSox72]

As I predicted, Obama's stimulus spending was a total failure.

 

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-...job_576014.html

Well of course, as you illustrate here, it was not a total failure. Total failure would mean no jobs. What it was, was an inefficient, hacked-together hodge podge that created less value than it cost to create. Basically, it was a typical government operation.

 

Of course, I should point out, this argument also illustrates the danger of people who think tax cuts will miraculously result in growth - remember, a significant portion of the stimulus bill was in fact tax cuts.

 

[Cknolls]

«ongre~~ of tfJ niteb

ilsl)i gton,

July 5,2011

VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION

The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.

Attorney General

u.s. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20530

Dear Attorney General Holder:

t, teg

Yesterday, Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson participated in a transcribed

interview regarding Operation Fast and Furious and related matters with both

Republican and Democratic staff. He appeared with his personal counsel, Richard

Cullen of McGuire

Woods LLP. His interview had originally been scheduled through the

Justice Department to occur on July 13 in the presence of DOJ and ATF counsel. As you

know, however, under our agreement Department witnesses who choose to attend a

voluntary interview with their own lawyer are free to exercise that right rather than

participate with counsel representing the Department's interests.

After being made aware of that provision of our agreement, Acting Director

Melson chose to exercise that right and appeared with his own lawyer. We are

disappointed that no one had previously informed him of that provision of the

agreement. Instead, Justice Department officials sought to limit and control his

communications with Congress. This is yet another example of why direct

communications with Congress are so important and are protected by law.1

1 Specifically, no officer or employee may attempt to prohibit or prevent "any other officer or employee of

the Federal Government from having direct oral or written communication or contact with any Member,

committee, or subcommittee of the Congress" about a matter related to his employment or the agency "in

any way, irrespective of whether such communication or contact is at the initiative" of the employee or

Congress (emphasis added). Moreover, the prohibition also applies to any officer or employee who

"removes, suspends from duty without pay ... any other officer or employee of the Federal Government ...

by reason of any communication or contact of such other officer or employee with any Member,

committee, or subcommittee of the Congress." Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, P.L.111-117, 123

Stat. 3034, § 714 (2010), as continued by §1104 ofP.L. 112-10- which extends the funding levels, as well as

"the authority and conditions provided in such Acts," through September 30, 2011. See generally,

Attorney General Eric Holder

July 5,2011

Page 2 of5

Acting Director Melson's cooperation was extremely helpful to our investigation.

He was candid in admitting mistakes that his agency made and described various ways

he says that he tried to remedy the problems. According to Mr. Melson, it was not until

after the public controversy that he personally reviewed hundreds of documents relating

to the case, including wiretap applications and Reports of Investigation (ROIs). By his

account, he was sick to his stomach when he obtained those documents and learned the

full story. Mr. Melson said that he told the Office of the Deputy Attorney General

(ODAG) at the end of March that the Department needed to reexamine how it was

responding to the requests for information from Congress.

According to Mr. Melson, he and ATF's senior leadership team moved to reassign

every manager involved in Fast and Furious, from the Deputy Assistant Director for

Field Operations down to the Group Supervisor, after learning the facts in those

documents. Mr. Melson also said he was not allowed to communicate to Congress the

reasons for the reassignments. He claimed that ATF's senior leadership would have

preferred to be more cooperative with our inquiry much earlier in the process.

However, he said that Justice Department officials directed them not to respond and

took full control of replying to briefing and document requests from Congress. The

result is that Congress only got the parts of the story that the Department wanted us to

hear. If his account is accurate, then ATF leadership appears to have been effectively

muzzled while the DOJ sent over false denials and buried its head in the sand. That

approach distorted the truth and obstructed our investigation. The Department's

inability or unwillingness to be more forthcoming served to conceal critical information

that we are now learning about the involvement of other agencies, including the DEA

and the FBI.

The Role of DEA, FBI, and Other Agencies

When confronted with information about serious issues involving lack of

information sharing by other agencies, which Committee staff had originally learned

from other witnesses, Mr. Melson's responses tended to corroborate what others had

said. Specifically, we have very real indications from several sources that some of the

gun trafficking "higher-ups" that the ATF sought to identify were already known to

other agencies and may even have been paid as informants. The Acting Director said

that ATF was kept in the dark about certain activities of other agencies, including DEA

and FBI. Mr. Melson said that he learned from ATF agents in the field that information

obtained by these agencies could have had a material impact on the Fast and Furious

Government Accountability Office, "Department of Health and Human Services-Chief Actuary's

Communications with Congress," B-302911 (Sep. 7, 2004) (discussing the history and background in

support ofthe government-wide prohibition on attempts to prevent direct communications with

Congress). As you know, obstructing or impeding a Congressional inquiry is also a criminal violation

under 18 U.S.C. § 1505.

Attorney General Eric Holder

July S, 2011

Page 3 ofS

investigation as far back as late 2009 or early 2010. After learning about the possible

role of DEA and FBI, he testified that he reported this information in April 2011 to the

Acting Inspector General and directly to then-Acting Deputy Attorney General James

Cole on June 16, 2011.

The evidence we have gathered raises the disturbing possibility that the Justice

Department not only allowed criminals to smuggle weapons but that taxpayer dollars

from other agencies may have financed those engaging in such activities. While this is

preliminary information, we must find out if there is any truth to it. According to

Acting Director Melson, he became aware of this startling possibility only after the

murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and the indictments of the straw purchasers,

which we now know were substantially delayed by the u.s. Attorney's Office and Main

Justice. Mr. Melson provided documents months ago supporting his concerns to the

official in the ODAG responsible for document production to the Committees, but those

documents have not been provided to us.

It is one thing to argue that the ends justify the means in an attempt to defend a

policy that puts building a big case ahead of stopping known criminals from getting

guns. Yet it is a much more serious matter to conceal from Congress the possible

involvement of other agencies in identifying and maybe even working with the same

criminals that Operation Fast and Furious was trying to identify. If this information is

accurate, then the whole misguided operation might have been cut short if not for

catastrophic failures to share key information. If agencies within the same Department,

co-located at the same facilities, had simply communicated with one another, then ATF

might have known that gun trafficking "higher-ups" had been already identified. This

raises new and serious questions about the role of DEA, FBI, the United States

Attorney's Office in Arizona, and Main Justice in coordinating this effort. Nearly a

decade after the September 11th attacks, the stovepipes of information within our

government may still be causing tragic mistakes long after they should have been broken

down.

Efforts to Oust Melson

In the last few weeks, unnamed administration officials have indicated to the

press that Acting Director Melson would be forced to resign. According to Mr. Melson,

those initial reports were untrue. Regardless of what we might have thought before

about how he should handle a request to resign, we now know he has not been asked to

resign. We also now have the benefit of hearing his side of the story and will have a

chance to examine what he said and compare it to the other evidence we are gathering.

However, that will take some time.

Attorney General Eric Holder

July 5,2011

Page 4 ofS

Mr. Melson served as the First Assistant to the U.S. Attorney in the Eastern

District of Virginia for 21 years, from 1986 to 2007. That is a career position. After the

controversy over the firing of the U.S. Attorneys, he took over the Executive Office for

U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA). He indicated that he was asked to convert to a non-career

Senior Executive Service (SES), a politically appointed position, in order to speed the

hiring process, and he agreed. However, his former position at EOUSA is currently

filled by a career SES employee, Marshall Jarrett. As you know, for civil servants, the

distinction between career and non-career status is significant.

In 2009, he said he was asked to take over as Acting Director of the ATF. Acting

Director of the ATF is by its nature a temporary job. According to Mr. Melson, he was

willing to serve the Department with the understanding that after a short tenure as

Acting Director, he would return to a position as a career senior executive elsewhere

within the Department.

However, two days after he told Acting Deputy Attorney General Cole about

serious issues involving lack of information sharing, the Wall Street Journal reported

that unnamed sources said that Melson was about to be ousted.

The revelations about Operation Fast and Furious have focused intense scrutiny

on the ATF. It has no doubt taken a toll on the agency and the good people who work

there. Much of that damage has occurred because the Department prevented ATF from

being more forthcoming and responsive to questions from Congress. This is the context

in which Mr. Melson decided to submit to an on-the-record interview with private

counsel, pursuant to our agreement with the Department.

Technically, Mr. Melson no longer enjoys the due process protections afforded to

career officials. Given his testimony, unless a permanent director is confirmed, it would

be inappropriate for the Justice Department to take action against him that could have

the effect of intimidating others who might want to provide additional information to

the Committees.

We hope that the Department will take a much more candid and forthcoming

approach in addressing these very serious matters with the Committees. If other

important fact witnesses like Mr. Melson have a desire to communicate directly with the

Committees they should be informed that they are free to do so. They should also be

notified that if they are represented by personal counsel, they may appear with personal

counsel rather than with Department lawyers.

Any decision about Mr. Melson's future with the Department would need to be

justified solely on the basis of the facts and the needs of the agency, rather than on his

decision to speak to us. We encourage you to communicate to us any additional

significant information about any such decision so that we can work together to ensure

Attorney General Eric Holder

July 5,2011

Page 5 of5

that it would not impede our investigation. For now, the Office of Inspector General is

still conducting its review, and we are still conducting ours. Knowing what we know so

far, we believe it would be inappropriate to make Mr. Melson the fall guy in an attempt

to prevent further congressional oversight.

Darrell Issa, Chair an

Committee on Oversight &

Government Reform

U.S. House of Representatives

cc:

Sincerely,

Charles E. Grassley, Ranking M

Committee on the Judiciary

United States Senate

The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member

U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight & Government Reform

The Honorable Patrick Leahy, Chairman

U.S. Senate, Committee on the Judiciary

 

 

 

 

SHHH. Nothing to see here move along. Nothing political at all in this Dept. of Justice. These guys make the Bushies look like angels.

[southsider2k5]

Gotta retain that top talent! Love the holiday weekend news dump

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington...aries-soar.html

 

No recession for Obama's 454 White House aides: They'll make $37,121,463 this year

July 5, 2011 | 4:14 am

 

Democrat president Barack Obama addresses his staff in the Oval Office-file

 

In his numerous fund-raising and policy speeches around the country these days, President Obama often bemoans the difficult economic times and uncertainties afflicting millions of Americans, including the nearly 14 million still seeking work unsuccessfully.

 

The Democrat argues that his administration needs more time to straighten out the economic mess left by somebody else, who's been gone almost 900 days now.

 

But good news this morning: The challenging Obama era and 9.1% national unemployment rate do not include the 454 people now helping President Obama do presidential things.

 

This crowd is being paid a total of $37,121,463 this year. That's up seven staff members and nearly $4 million from 2008, the last year of George W. Bush's presidency.

 

Fully 141 Obama aides -- or nearly one-in-three -- earn more than $100,000 a year. That's also up from the 130 with that scale salary in Bush's last year.

 

Twenty-one Obama aides earn the top-dollar $172,200.

 

The staff names and salaries report, required annually by Congress, was released on Friday by the White House. The timing, however, was probably an accident because last Friday most Americans were not watching the news closely and were thinking of not working for a three-day holiday weekend.the Obamas wave to White House partygoers 7-4-11

 

Because Americans would no doubt be pleased to know of the Obama staff's economic success amid the bleak national scene for so many others, we saved the information for today, when most Americans who are still employed are back at their own jobs and can share the joy.

 

The 2011 White House salary report does not include mention of the 41 unidentified Obama staff members who owe the Internal Revenue Service $831,000 in back taxes. That report came out last fall (Scroll down for the link.)

 

The report comes as Republicans and Democrats, led from behind by Obama, appear stalemated in closed-door negotiations over a package deal to raise the national debt limit by Aug. 2 and begin spending cuts to tame the $14.2-trillion national debt, up 35% since Obama's inauguration. Obama maintains a deal must include new revenues to cover the rising costs of government.

 

Having Chicago connections appears to be useful for obtaining the maximum $172,200 salary from the Illinois ex-state senator Obama, who is paid $400,000 a year, almost twice the amount paid to Joe Biden for doing whatever he does. But he's only from Delaware.

 

The top paychecks include:

 

Chief of Staff William Daley, who is the brother of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, who just retired and left the top Democratic-machine job there to Rahm Emanuel, who was Obama's chief of staff and before that held the Chicago House seat of Rod Blagojevich, who had given it up to become governor of Illinois, which he no longer is due to impeachment and, now, conviction on 17 counts of fraud.

 

The Daleys' father, Richard J. Daley, was also a longtime Chicago mayor whose operatives provided Illinois' crucial electoral votes to elect John F. Kennedy president back in 1960 before Obama was born.

 

Valerie Jarrett has a White House title as long as Chicago's winters (senior advisor and assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs and public engagement). Before this, she was a chief of staff for the most recent Mayor Daley and hired an assistant named Michelle Robinson, who went on, of course, to become Mrs. Barack Obama, whose chief of staff also earns the top $172G paycheck.

 

This year, the one before Obama's attempted reelection, he reduced his staff by 15 people and $1.7 million.

 

Some White House aides have already returned to Chicago as campaign employees, including political strategist David Axelrod, who helped elect the most recent Mayor Daley, as well as, briefly, Sen. Obama and then President Obama. Axelrod also made the top salary when he had to live in Washington.

[StrangeSox]

Gotta retain that top talent! Love the holiday weekend news dump

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington...aries-soar.html

 

You're mocking your own meme?

[The Sir]

Obama administration takes credit for South Sudan's independence, South Sudanese thank George W. Bush.

 

Ouch.

 

They are facing tremendous challenges even after having been freed from the north, but I wish them all the best. I hope Salva Kiir gains a reputation as an honest, incorruptible leader with respect for his nation's constitution and the democratic process, and that he avoids the kleptocratic, violent methods of so many previous leaders on that continent. Good luck, South Sudan.

 

On a less serious note, I do wish they chose a more interesting name. South Sudan, really? Nubia would have been cool, although I think historically that region is described as being farther north. Either way, I sort of dislike directional state names. North and South Dakota, East Timor, South Sudan...

[southsider2k5]

I had totally missed this story.

 

http://www.ihatethemedia.com/obama-screams...re-by-netanyahu

 

The guy who’s supposed to be the coolest President is history lost his cool after being publicly humiliated by Benjamin Netanyahu.

 

This is our favorite story of the week. Maybe the month. Hands down. Nothing else even comes close.

angry-obama

 

"What the f@ck! What the f@ck! What the f@ck!" Not exactly "Four score and seven years ago," but probably the best we can expect from this President

 

NewsFavor has details of the President’s outburst:

 

Shortly after the photo-op meeting and “working lunch” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the one that saw President Obama openly chastised by the Prime Minister for Obama’s earlier public comments regarding wanting to see Israel return to its 1967 borders, the president verbally “went off” on Richard Daley in the private study area that adjoins the Oval Office. President Obama’s verbal attack was clearly heard by numerous staff up and down the West Wing hallways.

 

The essence of the president’s rage and embarrassment can best be summed up with him yelling out very loudly, “What the f-ck was that!?” That phrase was apparently repeated a number of times in the span of about five minutes, a time period in which Obama’s voice became “louder and louder” and culminating in Obama exclaiming, “Never again! Do you understand me? Never again!” Any response by Bill Daley back to the president, if given, was not overheard.

 

Do you think anyone in the Obama administration sees the irony in Obama using the words “Never again!” in this situation?

[Balta1701]

Huh? Richard Daley and Bill Daley are the same, interchangeable people?

[The Sir]

"What the f@ck! What the f@ck! What the f@ck!" Not exactly "Four score and seven years ago," but probably the best we can expect from this President

 

What that was, Barry, was a weak American leader making an outrageous and unfeasible demand of one of our closest allies that got almost zero support from his own people, and then promptly getting the crap embarassed out of him by what is currently the world's greatest leader. God bless you, Mr. Netanyahu, and God bless Israel.

[southsider2k5]

I'm still waiting for all of the HuffPo stories about being "Presidential"

[Balta1701]

What that was, Barry, was a weak American leader making an outrageous and unfeasible demand of one of our closest allies that got almost zero support from his own people, and then promptly getting the crap embarassed out of him by what is currently the world's greatest leader. God bless you, Mr. Netanyahu, and God bless Israel.

Yup, an outrageous and infeasible demand. Which is why every other President has made the exact same statement. God bless you Mr. Bush, and Mr. Obama for following the exact same policy.

[Balta1701]

I'm still waiting for all of the HuffPo stories about being "Presidential"

Did GWB get that after the "Major league A-hole from the NYT" remark on the campaign trail? Did Dick Cheney become less than VP material for having that same outburst, except in public, on the floor of the Senate?

[southsider2k5]

Did GWB get that after the "Major league A-hole from the NYT" remark on the campaign trail? Did Dick Cheney become less than VP material for having that same outburst, except in public, on the floor of the Senate?

 

That is sure what we got fed by the left. Funny how after a month, this hasn't been talked about by the same group. This hasn't even hit the networks.

[The Sir]

Yup, an outrageous and infeasible demand. Which is why every other President has made the exact same statement. God bless you Mr. Bush, and Mr. Obama for following the exact same policy.

 

I didn't say anything about GW's policy. As far as I'm concerned, he was wrong too.

 

I'm in agreement with Allen West. The Palestinians do not deserve a state. Period.

[southsider2k5]

How have I not seen this site before...

 

http://www.ihatethemedia.com/white-house-c...wo-million-jobs