Pennsylvania: White House

November 8, 2009 - 11:58 am

Jack Kelly Sunday

Not much fact-checking in this week's column by Jack Kelly.

There IS this:
But if you're one of the 84 Democrats who represent districts carried either by George W. Bush in 2004 or John McCain last year, the time to ponder this is before casting a potential career-terminating vote on health-care "reform." [emphasis added.]
That's a bit of a cheat, isn't it? I mean why include the districts of House Democrats carried by Bush in 2004 if only to beef up the number of "Dems at risk"?

Especially since there were only 49 Democratic House Districts voting for McCain in 2008.

I guess Jack really doesn't think anyone will check his work.

September 7, 2009 - 10:21 pm

Obama Speech Deconstructed!

The White House has released the text of the president's speech to the nation's school kids tomorrow.

After carefully reading the speech, I must now publicly admit that I am convinced, as God himself is my witness, that Barack Hussein Obama is indeed going to be using his taxpayer funded bully pulpit to indoctrinate our nation's most precious asset, the youth of today, into his atheistic socialist ideology.

Two socialist themes are woven through the text. Keep in mind these two ideas; collectivism and Marx's old adage "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."

I mean how do you explain away this paragraph as anything OTHER than socialist indoctrination? Look at this paragraph:
We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems.

August 21, 2009 - 09:45 am

One More Reason To Read Krugman

From today's NYTimes:
According to news reports, the Obama administration — which seemed, over the weekend, to be backing away from the “public option” for health insurance — is shocked and surprised at the furious reaction from progressives.

Well, I’m shocked and surprised at their shock and surprise.
Me, too.

Krugman goes on to describe progressives' reaction and the nature of the "public option", how it's supposed to lower costs and how the "co-ops" are a sham.

But here's the important stuff:
But there’s a point at which realism shades over into weakness, and progressives increasingly feel that the administration is on the wrong side of that line.

August 15, 2009 - 05:20 am

AP Article on Netroots Nation Quotes Both Political Junkies

From ABC News, the article opens with:
They wish he'd done more in his first eight months, but the liberal bloggers who helped propel Barack Obama to the White House are far from giving up on him.

Gathered in Pittsburgh for the annual Netroots Nation convention, they say they're not disappointed. At least not too disappointed. Yet.David and I were interviewed separately. I was right outside the convention center -- OK, I was smoking a cigarette -- when the AP writer (Ramit Plushnick-Masti) approached me. Later on, I had met up with David inside and we were hanging with the P-G folks and the reporter saw me and I pointed out my co-blogger to her.

We're on page 2.

I will add that I said "the Great Progressive Hope" instead of just "progressive."

Also, notice that the article appears under Technology & Science and not Politics.
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August 5, 2009 - 02:53 pm
NEWS FEED: Policy Blog

Is Dissent Still the Highest Form of Patriotism?

It seems that the President is very upset that people are actually questioning his health care plan. So much so that the White House wants to be informed of any forwarded emails, blog posts, or any “casual conversations” that could be taken as opposition to their health care overhaul plan.

What's more, those of you who object to government-run health care have been labeled "extremists" by AFL-CIO. They accuse citizens that are concerned about government run healthcare of using mob rule to disrupt town hall meetings and community forums set for the congressional recess. Senator Durbin also thinks that the people voicing their opinions in townhalls represent a very small portion of the populous that are puppets of evil insurance companies, and that, in reality, there is no dissent.

August 5, 2009 - 11:19 am
NEWS FEED: Tony Phyrillas

Obama spies are watching you

Chilling post by Jeff Emanuel at RedState.com about the network of informants Obama has set up to spy on fellow Americans who resist his socialist agenda. This is only the beginning of the totalitarian state Obama and his followers want to set up.

From Emanuel's post:
If you see anybody publicly opposing President Obama's plan to implement a government-centric overhaul of the health care system, the White House wants you to report that person (or persons) ASAP.

From the White House Web site:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care.

August 4, 2009 - 04:59 am

G-20 Summit Venues

From the White House Office of the Press Secretary:
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens:

The President and First Lady look forward to welcoming leaders, their spouses and officials to Pittsburgh at the city’s Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. After welcoming the leaders and spouses, President Obama and world leaders will remain at the conservatory for a working dinner. Known as “the Green Heart of Pittsburgh,” Phipps’ earth-sheltered Welcome Center was the first LEED-certified building in a public garden. Its newest addition, the Tropical Forest Conservatory, is the world’s most energy efficient conservatory and is the only conservatory powered by a solid oxide fuel cell.

July 23, 2009 - 10:12 am

TODAY: Rally for Clean Energy, Not Coal

Sorry for posting this so late, but if you happen to be downtown today:

Rally for Clean Energy, Not Coal
Thursday at 12 p.m.
6th Avenue & William Penn Place, Pittsburgh PA

From MoveOn:

Will Arlen Specter stand up for the Clean Air Act?

The House passed an energy bill which would roll back a key provision of the Clean Air Act that limits global-warming pollution from dirty coal plants.1

Now it's the Senate's turn to write an energy bill, and we've got to stop them from making the same mistake.

So MoveOn members are gathering in Pittsburgh on Thursday at 12 p.m. to call on Sen. Specter to save the Clean Air Act and switch America to a clean energy economy.

July 11, 2009 - 11:44 am

More on Bush's Criminal Behavior

From the AP via Talkingpoints memo:
The Bush administration authorized secret surveillance activities that still have not been made public, according to a new government report that questions the legal basis for the unprecedented anti-terrorism program.
And:

The report describes the program as unprecedented and raises questions about the legal grounding used for its creation. It also says the intelligence agencies' continued retention and use of the information collected under the program should be carefully monitored.

Many senior intelligence officials believe the program filled a gap in intelligence. Others, including FBI, CIA and National Counterterrorism Center analysts, said intelligence gathered by traditional means was often more specific and timely, according to the report.

June 30, 2009 - 06:19 am

Obama and the LGBT Community

From Salon.com:
The last time the president of the United States marked gay pride month with anything official at the White House, it was June 2006. George W. Bush decided to throw the weight of his office behind a proposal to amend the Constitution to ban gay marriage. After all, the fate of Western civilization hung in the balance. "Our policies should aim to strengthen families, not undermine them," Bush said at the time. "And changing the definition of marriage would undermine the family structure."

On Monday, 40 years and a day after the Stonewall riots began to bring the gay rights movement into the mainstream, Barack Obama took a slightly different tack.