Things Are Looking Up

According to Rasmussen...

Consumer Confidence Reaches Highest Level Since November

After five days of steady gains, consumer confidence is now at its highest level
of 2009. In fact, confidence is now at the highest level since the morning after
Barack Obama was elected President in November.
The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures consumer confidence on a daily basis,
moved up another point on Sunday to 67.0.

I guess things are starting to look up. Now who will take the credit? Will it be President George Bush or will it be President Obama? What do you think?

I don't really care either way. As long as things start to get better and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, it's alright by me.

Obama Administration Is Open to Taxing Health Benefits

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is signaling to Congress that the president could support taxing some employee health benefits, as several influential lawmakers and many economists favor, to help pay for overhauling the health care system.

The proposal is politically problematic for President Obama, however, since it is similar to one he denounced in the presidential campaign as “the largest middle-class tax increase in history.” Most Americans with insurance get it from their employers, and taxing workers for the benefit is opposed by union leaders and some businesses.

In television advertisements last fall, Mr. Obama criticized his Republican rival for the presidency, Senator John McCain of Arizona, for proposing to tax all employer-provided health benefits. The benefits have long been tax-free, regardless of how generous they are or how much an employee earns. The advertisements did not point out that Mr. McCain, in exchange, wanted to give all families a tax credit to subsidize the purchase of coverage.

NYT

What a fucking hypocrite. Fuck you, Obama. Keep this shit up and you can kiss 2012 goodbye.

Obama considering plan to make vets pay own insurance

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance.

This is real nice. Obama supports some sort of national health care system, but wants to force our veterans to pay for service related injuries? Sounds contradictory to me. What happened to supporting our troops? One of the reasons our veterans join the service in the first place was for the great benefits.

Charging for service-related injuries would violate "a sacred trust," Veterans of Foreign Wars spokesman Joe Davis said. Davis said the move would risk private health care for veterans and their families by potentially maxing out benefits paying for costly war injury treatments.

This plan sounds more like a Republican's than a Democrat's to me. Usually the Republicans are the ones sending our young men and women off to war and then neglecting the veterans when they come home.

So much for positive change, eh? More like change for the worse. Change this, change that. All these troops are left with is fucking pocket change and Obama wants them to pay for their own work related injuries. Real fucking good. Fuck Obama. I hope the Dumbocrats have enough balls to vote against this bullshit plan.

"I believe that veterans with service-connected injuries have already paid by putting their lives on the line," Murray said in her remarks. "I don't think we should nickel and dime them for their care."
Eleven of the most prominent veterans organizations have been lobbying Congress to oppose the idea. In the letter sent last week to the president, the groups warned that the idea "is wholly unacceptable and a total abrogation of our government's moral and legal responsibility to the men and women who have sacrificed so much."

Amen.

Obama says 'I screwed up' with vetting of tax-tainted appointees

President Barack Obama abruptly abandoned his nomination fight for Tom Daschle and a second major appointee who failed to pay all their taxes, fearing a lingering ethics dispute would undercut his claims to moral high ground and cripple his presidency in just its second week.

"I screwed up," Obama declared.

"It's important for this administration to send a message that there aren't two sets of rules — you know, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes," Obama said near the end of a day of jarring developments, little more than 24 hours after he had said he was "absolutely" committed to Daschle's confirmation.

"I'm frustrated with myself, with our team. ... I'm here on television saying I screwed up," Obama said on NBC's "Nightly News with Brian Williams." He repeated virtually the same words in interviews with other TV anchors.

Mercury

It's nice to finally have a president who isn't afraid of admitting his mistakes. Former President Bush didn't have the cajones to admit he made a mistake or even utter the most honest of words: "I screwed up."

President Obama

Good luck, Mr. President!

Sarah Palin needs to go home/Future of the GOP

Is anyone else getting tired of hearing about Sarah Palin? All I hear is Palin this, Palin that. Why is she giving interview after interview? I heard that she is still giving her stump speech in interviews. Doesn't she know that she lost the election? Is she trying to make up for the lost opportunities during the campaign? She said she wished she gave more interviews during the campaign. Then why the hell didn't she?

Doesn't Palin still have a job in Alaska to attend to? Last I checked she was still Governor of Alaska. Why the hell isn't she doing her job? I wonder what her approval rating in Alaska is right now. Who is running the state, anyway? It's no surprise that the residents are wearing pins that say "Where's Sarah?"

I am tired of hearing this nonsense about the Republicans nominating Palin for President in 2012. Are the Republicans seriously considering this? One of the main reasons why McCain lost was because of Sarah Palin. Didn't they get the memo? As many as 60% of voters said that they thought Palin wasn't qualified to be President. Is it possible she'll be considered Presidential material in four years? Maybe. She's probably trying to redeem herself with all these interviews. But people aren't going to forget the blunders she made during the 2008 campaign.

Why are we even talking about this, anyway? Has anyone heard from Geraldine Ferraro lately? I didn't think so. What about John Edwards? Oh yeah, him. He ran in 2004, and lost, tried again in 2008 and what? You guessed it. He lost. Sure, let Palin run in 2012. If Palin is all the Republicans have to offer, then that's fine with me. It will seal President Obama's second term.

Would someone please tell Sarah that the people in Alaska want their Governor in Lipstick back? And tell her to forget about a Presidential run in 2012, it would be a waste of her and the Republican's time.

The Republicans should go with Bobby Jindal. He looks like a promising candidate for the future of the GOP. But I think they should probably hold him until 2016, because more than likely, Obama will win his second term. I mean, if we couldn't get rid of Bush in 2004, what makes you think we'll get rid of Obama in four years? 2016 is the year the Republicans just might have a chance at reclaiming the Presidency. They should run Jindal then. For 2012, I guess they could stick Tim Pawlenty in there for laughs.