Tag: budget

Big Sky Democrat says Obama’s statistics are blue sky

max baucusBuried deep in the Associated Press’ excellent analysis of the president’s economic “stimulus” program was this little gem that most of the media has chosen to ignore.

Senator Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, challenged Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner last week.

“You created a situation where you cannot be wrong,” the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said.

“If the economy loses 2 million jobs over the next few years, you can say yes, but it would’ve lost 5.5 million jobs,” Baucus contined. “If we create a million jobs, you can say, well, it would have lost 2.5 million jobs. You’ve given yourself complete leverage where you cannot be wrong, because you can take any scenario and make yourself look correct.”

The natives are restless. The Indians are jumping the reservation. There’s trouble in River City. And AP analyzed it correctly for once.

Source: AP

AP dispenses healthy, but unexpected dose of reality: Obama plan faltering

associated press logoA just-released Associated Press analysis is a dramatic departure from the liberal claptrap we’ve come to expect from the wire service.

“President Barack Obama offered his domestic-policy proposals as a ‘break from a troubled past.’ But the economic outlook now is more troubled than it was even in January, despite Obama’s bold rhetoric and commitment of more trillions of dollars.”

“And while his personal popularity remains high, some economists and lawmakers are beginning to question whether Obama’s agenda of increased government activism is helping, or hurting, by sowing uncertainty among businesses, investors and consumers that could prolong the recession.”

“Although the administration likes to say it “inherited” the recession and trillion-dollar deficits, the economic wreckage has worsened on Obama’s still-young watch.”

“Every day, the economy is becoming more and more an Obama economy.”

Read the entire analysis. It’s actually honest enough to quote doubting Democrats who are buying neither Obama’s line of reasoning nor line of bull.

Lin: AP Analysis

Two Three more people bail out of the bail-out team

Team Obama just can’t seem to set its starting line-up. Nominees, potential nominees, and rumored nominees continue to drop like flies.

Annette Nazareth, a former commissioner with the SEC, made “a personal decision” and pulled her name from consideration to be Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s top aide.

Then, in a huge blow to TV viewers around the world, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, said he no longer wanted to be considered for the Surgeon General job because of “personal reasons.”

Seems to us that “personal reasons” has now become Liberalese for “I haven’t paid my taxes for the last seven years?”

UPDATE: Now a third potential member of Obama’s team has bailed. Caroline Atkinson, nominee for undersecretary of international affairs, has also withdrawn from consideration.

McCain rips everyone on earmarks — Obama, Democrats and Republicans

During the presidential campaign, the compliant liberal press believed every word Barack Obama said. Or at least they pretended they did. They assured us that when their man was elected president, he would do as he promised by eliminating earmarks and emasculating lobbyists.

Oops. Turns out there are 9,000-some earmarks in the “stimulus” bill. And lobbyists go to see the document before members of the House and Senate did.

John McCain doesn’t like it and went ballistic on the floor of the senate yesterday. “If it sounds like I’m angry,” he roared, “it’s because I am.”

His anti-earmark oratory was the kind of speech that’s rarely heard in the Senate. McCain hurled invective at President Obama, Democrats and Republicans and he used words that are equally rare in the Washington, DC gentlemen’s club known as the U.S. Senate.

“I just went through a campaign, Mr. President, where both candidates promised change in Washington, promised change from the wasteful, disgraceful, corrupting practice of earmark, pork-barrel spending,” McCain seethed. “So what are we doing here? Not only business as usual, but an outrageous insult to the American people.”

If the Arizona Republican had shown this kind of fire on the campaign trail, he might be president today.

Watch the entire five-minute video. For once, John McCain seems a lot more like “Mr. Smith goes to Washington” and a lot less like Captain Queeg.

I HATE THE MEDIA ™
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