Boehner: Obama Will Work With Putin, But Not GOP?

A valid question

(The Hill) The Speaker contrasts the White House’s policy on Syria with its stance on debt-limit negotiations.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) released a Web video on Thursday seeking to contrast the White House’s willingness to work with the Russians to find a diplomatic solution in Syria against President Obama’s declaration that he won’t negotiate with Republicans over the debt limit.

“The Obama administration on working with Congress to address the debt and deficit,” the ad says, before cutting to a montage of Obama and senior members of his staff saying they will not negotiate over the country’s debt ceiling.

“The Obama administration on working with Putin on Syria,” the ad continues, before cutting to pictures of Obama looking chummy with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Why is the Obama administration willing to negotiate with Putin on Syria … But not with Congress to address Washington’s spending problem?,” text from the ad asks.

Let’s be fair, John. Obama needed Putin to save his bacon after setting a “red line”, then not having the fortitude, nor plan, nor backing of Congress and the American People, nor any international partner other than France willing to participate in military action. Nor did his silver tongue do its job in convincing anyone to change their minds. Obama backed himself into a corner of his own making, one in which Obama looked weak and ineffective, especially when he played golf twice, and Obama latched on to the Putin plan like a guy in Great White infested waters latches on to a life line. It was all about Saving Obama. With most of the negotiations outsourced to John Kerry and others. Negotiating with the GOP? Obama doesn’t see anything in it for Obama. Plus, that’s, you know, work.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

Read: Boehner: Obama Will Work With Putin, But Not GOP? »

Avast! Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day 2013!

Talk Like A Pirate Day
Illustration by Ghergich & Co.

That’s right, mateys, it’s International Talk Like A Pirate Day! Aaaaaar!

Read More »

Read: Avast! Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day 2013! »

Strange: Law Stopped Aaron Alexis From Purchasing Scary Looking Rifle, Instead Bought “Law Enforcement Syle Shotgun”

I wonder if Piers “Musket” Morgan will mention this on his show tonight for his 10 viewers? And, shockingly, this appeared in the NY Times. The content editors must have started their cocktail hour early

The suspect in the killing of 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday test-fired an AR-15 assault rifle at a Virginia gun store last week but was stopped from buying one because state law there prohibits the sale of such weapons to out-of-state buyers, according to two senior law enforcement officials.

But, don’t worry, the editors popped back in to make sure that you know the shotgun is super scary by adding a bit of hysteria in paragraph 2

Instead, the suspect, Aaron Alexis of Texas, bought a law-enforcement-style shotgun — an 870 Remington pump-action — and used it on Monday as he rampaged through the navy yard, said the officials, who requested anonymity because the investigation was continuing.

While it is certainly used by law enforcement and military, that’s because it is the most popular shotgun sold, great for shooting, hunting, and self defense, affordable, and easy for all to use, including law enforcement, and is exactly what VP Joe “Buy a shotgun” Biden recommended

The lawyer, J. Michael Slocum, said in an e-mail that Mr. Alexis bought a Remington 870 Express 12-gauge shotgun and about two boxes of ammunition, or about 24 shells.

Apparently, this is what a “law-enforcement-style shotgun” now looks like, so we apparently need to ban all of them.

Well, maybe the Times finds the black, or, gulp, camouflage versions to be super scary.

Read: Strange: Law Stopped Aaron Alexis From Purchasing Scary Looking Rifle, Instead Bought “Law Enforcement Syle Shotgun” »

If All You See…

…is an evil can of beer releasing deadly carbon pollution into the atmosphere, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Right Wing News, with a post on illegals receiving huge Welfare benefits.

Read: If All You See… »

Walgreens, Other Companies Dump Insurance Due To ObamaCare

I bet you’re really, really surprised

(Forbes) Walgreen and another 17 large employers are turning to a new concept of giving them money to buy health benefits via private online marketplaces known as exchanges.

Aon Hewitt, the large employee benefits consultancy, said Walgreens will be the largest employer thus far to join its Aon Hewitt Corporate Health Exchange, bringing more than 160,000 eligible employees to such coverage in 2014. Aon Hewitt said it could not yet disclose the others coming into the exchange in 2014.

What’s going on is this creates a private exchange, which will include Sears, Darden Restaurants, and other companies, as a way of dumping their employees off company purchased and managed health insurance plans. They’ll give a subsidy to the employees and send them on their way, putting most of the cost in the hands of the employee. Whether this will allow the companies to avoid the Obamacare penalty/tax is unknown at this time.

(Weekly Standard) In short, the move is to protect Walgreens from Obamaacre. “Rising health-care costs and a climate of change brought about by the new federal health law are prompting American corporations to revisit the pact they’ve long had with employees over medical benefits. … Aside from rising health-care costs, the company cited compliance-related expenses associated with the new law as a reason for the switch,” as the Wall Street Journal reports.

As Ed Morrissey notes regarding the video from CBS This Morning available at Hot Air and the Weekly Standard link: “CBS This Morning’s Jill Schlesinger calls this “a big deal,” and points out that this gets Walgreens and other corporate employers off the hook for compliance costs.”

Meanwhile, The Lonely Conservative notes that Obama thinks all you Obamacare haters are just dead wrong about how terrible his signature legislation is.

Read: Walgreens, Other Companies Dump Insurance Due To ObamaCare »

Waxman Brings Warmist To Testify About Climate Change, Mentions May Snow

Say, how’d all these believers in Hotcoldwetdry travel to Washington?

(Climate Progress) Tuesday marked the first time that individuals impacted by climate change had a chance to come before Congress and tell their stories, according to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), who helped co-founded the Safe Climate Caucus. Six people with personal stories and one scientist spoke as part of Waxman’s 28-member group, formed this year to raise awareness about climate change and push back on Republican opposition to new environmental rules. (snip)

“We’re getting all the wrong weather at the wrong time,” Russell said. “July was the coldest ever in Iowa and now September is the hottest. We had the worst snowstorm in two years in May and now we’re back in drought. The joke in Iowa is what month will show up in October?”

Um, OK. Greenhouse gases that “trap” heat made it cold and snowy? Probably because someone took a fossil fueled trip.

Hugh Fitzsimmons, a bison rancher and beekeeper from Texas spoke about the double impact of man-made climate change, resulting in drought, and the man-made water crisis caused by water used for hydraulic fracturing around his home near the Rio Grande. The devastating drought and heat of the summer of 2011 caused Fitzsimmons’s bison to give birth to only seven babies, rather than the usual 70 or more.

“Denial is not just a river in Egypt,” said Fitzsimmons. “In Texas oil and gas are exempt from water regulations and nobody will listen to you when you try to tell them what’s happening. It’s like the poet Gary Snyder said — nature bats last.”

Did Fitzsimmons ride a bicycle or walk to Washington? It looks more like he’s not a very good farmer, unable to plan and execute when weather happens, and, like any good Liberal, blames Mankind (mostly Other People) for his faults.

Read: Waxman Brings Warmist To Testify About Climate Change, Mentions May Snow »

Politico: You Know What Obama’s Really Awesome At?

Initially, when I ran across this article at Memeorandum and started reading it, it seemed to be a typical Politico portrait of just how super-awesome Obama is

And what’s right with President Obama?

Barack Obama is a man of different talents, instincts and interests than Clinton. But now that Washington is in pile-on mode — including us — it’s not a bad time to remember that there are some reasons why he is among the most talented politicians of his generation.

Recent bad headlines have not diluted his enduring personal and political assets, and, so long as he occupies the White House, there is no other person with more power to set the national agenda.

In that spirit, here’s a roster of what’s still right with Obama:

  • His personality (strange, because he’s been called cold and aloof by the people who know him, though we have to admit it he can really turn it on out on the campaign trail)
  • His normality (it’s apparently normal to take expensive vacations to fancy shmancy places while Americans suffer)
  • His enemies (he likes to create them. A lot of them)
  • His party (a bunch of raving nutjobs who’ve made abortion their primary political stance)
  • His luck (well, I’ll admit the guy has quite a bit of this)

In thinking about this, though, notice what is left out: anything relating to an ability to be the Chief Executive. Nothing about competence, a serviceable background, financial savvy, honor, realism, ability to work with and play well with others, no leadership or management skill, doesn’t understand when to stop. If you look at any list of what makes a great business leader, particularly a CEO, Obama barely has any of those qualities or others for a person at the top. And he sure hasn’t learned anything in his 4+ years.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

Read: Politico: You Know What Obama’s Really Awesome At? »

Grist Proposes The “No Deniers Rule”

If the science was so sound then they could stand up to a little scrutiny and debate

A “No Deniers Rule” for Solutions Companies (skipping all the way to the end)

If companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple refuse to give to Denier politicians and organizations like those laid out in our “Dealing in Doubt” report, then those people will quickly learn that if they want the support of America’s vanguard companies, they can’t be on the wrong side of climate history. No Deniers Allowed.

Then users and employers of Google, Facebook, and others would be able to stay proud of all that those companies have done for clean energy, without worrying that the companies are undermining that work by helping keep climate deniers like Inhofe in power.

The writer is Phillip Radford, the executive director of Greenpeace USA. Head on over to Google, Yahoo, or Bing and search “Greenpeace hypocrisy”. You’ll have lots of material to go through. Like this.

Read: Grist Proposes The “No Deniers Rule” »

California Church Given $5000 In Taxpayer Money To Push Carbon Exchange

Funny how the liberal trope of “separation of Church and State” disappears when left wing politics are in play, wouldn’t you say?

(Santa Monica Mirror) A local church hopes to make climate change easier to understand for people in and out of Santa Monica. With a little financial help from the City Council, the Church in Ocean Park might be taking one step closer to its goals.

At the request of Mayor Pro Tem Terry O’Day and Council members Ted Vazquez and Ted Winterer, Santa Monica’s elected panel approved a $5,000 allocation to the Church in Ocean Park last Tuesday to support its “California Climate Change Exchange,” or CCCX.

“It is an education program that broadens our understanding of climate change,” O’Day said.

Anyone want to take bets on whether they will provide a balanced view? The prices on the California carbon market collapsed (like they have around the world) and they’ve actually had to postpone/cancel auctions because so few companies were willing to purchase the carbon permits.

Read: California Church Given $5000 In Taxpayer Money To Push Carbon Exchange »

If All You See…

…is a wonderful planet healing bike, the perfect way for Other People to get to work, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Fire Andrea Mitchell, with a post on the crazy statement by the family of Aaron Alexis.

Read: If All You See… »

Pirate's Cove