ArtLindsey.com

“When the Senate takes up a jobs bill later this month or early in February, the debate will center on whether it really will create jobs and be worth plunging the government tens of billions of dollars further into debt.

Republicans scoff at the “Jobs for Main Street Act” title that House Democrats put on their $174 billion package last month. They refer to it as “son of the stimulus,” the $787 billion economic recovery plan of nearly a year ago that they say was ineffective at producing jobs.”

How does the old saying go? “Repeating the same behavior over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity”, or something like that?

Well, that’s exactly what this is. Are there any sane people left in the world? Does anybody remember when they told us that the stimulus package would stop unemployment at eight percent? That didn’t happen, did it? Our government has turned into a remake of the scene from the Steve Martin classic “The Jerk”. You know, the part where he says, “I have this remote control and that’s all I need!”
However, instead of a remote control, our government says that all it needs is just another $174 billion in borrowed/printed money.

Somebody stop the world and let those of us with math skills off, please.

It is beyond obvious at this point that capitalism has been completely scrapped in favor of cracking open Monopoly boxes and handing out money. Anybody with even a rudimentary education in economics and history will tell you that this is completely counterproductive to our free market system, and that it is in fact our free market system that has made America the most powerful and prosperous nation in the history of mankind.

Jobs cannot be created by handing out money arbitrarily. For an economy to remain strong, money most circulate, and that circulation must be spurred by demand. The best way to create demand is by cutting taxes, which would by definition necessitate a cut in government spending. (Agreed, this is a pipe dream, but it is what should happen.)

When you strip away all of the econo-speak, our system is fairly simple. It basically works like this:

Essentially, when money is given back to consumers, “consumption” increases. When consumption increases, demand increases. When demand increases, businesses must expand to meet the demand, and when businesses expand, that means jobs. Real jobs. The kind of jobs that the market sustains on its own, and not the kind of overpriced, phony “shovel ready” job that only lasts a few weeks because there is no demand for what they supposedly produce, and consequently disappear because the artificially created money runs out.

It’s a proven system, and it has worked every single time it’s tried. Yet there are some in positions of power who seem convinced that a government-controlled economy is better, despite all of the historical evidence to the contrary.

Perhaps we should coin a new phrase:

You can send politicians to Washington, but you can’t make them think.

Popularity: 37% [?]

On her Christmas in Washington special on ABC last night, Oprah Winfrey asked President Obama to grade himself.

“Good, solid B-plus,” the president said.

Explaining, he said, “we have inherited the biggest set of challenges of any president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt
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“We stabilized the economy, and prevented possibilities of a Great Depression or a significant financial meltdown. The economy is growing again.”

“We are on our way out of Iraq. I think we’ve got the best possible plan for Afghanistan.

“We have reset our image around the world.”
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Well, who here feels better now? I know I certainly do
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President Obama’s fondness for referring to himself is well documented, but this is one of his most stunning displays of arrogance yet. The proper answer to this question is, “That is not for me to decide. That is up to the American people.

This is why we don’t grade ourselves in school. (At Least not yet, but who knows. It may not be far down the road. First, teachers aren’t allowed to use red pens, so it seems logical that “self-assessment” may soon follow.) According to a New Rasmussen poll, Obama’s approval rating has dipped to 44 percent, and it should be noted that this is one of the fastest drops in US presidential history.

Now, I don’t know about any of you, but when I went to school, if I saw a “44” on my paper, that meant I got a big, fat “F”. In fact, I had to get a “90” to even get a “B”.

How can a man who approved a $787 billion spending bill (which for all intents and purposes has failed) sit idly by as congress is about to approve nearly another $2 trillion in spending? Seeing that the only “successes” that his administration can seem to tout is that “we didn’t lose as many jobs this month as last month”, shows that he lacks basic math skills. Such a claim is not an indication off success in a sane world. Logic would dictate that at some point, the job loss numbers would have to decrease simply because we are running out of jobs to lose. Somebody has to work. If nobody worked, society would collapse.

So, if by “stabilizing the economy” he means holding the unemployment numbers at a nice bouncy, round number like 10 percent, then yes, he is doing an outstanding job. If by “resetting our image” he means bowing and scraping to every would leader he can get a photo-op with, he’s earned a spot on the Dean’s List.

President Obama is so disengaged from reality that he either doesn’t hear what comes out of his own mouth or worse yet, the multiple failures he has presided over or instigated are perceived as achievements in eyes, regardless of what the data may suggest.

He has turned America into a poorly controlled science fair project, and the media that he has a “teacher’s pet” relationship with is giving him a passing grade.

One could argue that this is akin to cheating, and in the end, cheaters always get caught, don’t they?

Popularity: 48% [?]

According to the Politico’s Ben Smith, who is relaying information from Public Policy Polling, it would appear, as per their study, that 44 percent of Americans would prefer having George W. Bush as president for a third term than to have Barack Obama in office.

This is definitely an interesting conversation piece, assuming that the poll is indeed accurate. Ben Smith does not cite any source data for the poll, That will certainly raise the eyebrows of skeptics, but at the same time, President Obama’s approval rating is in fact hovering around 46 percent, so for the sake of argument, let’s examine this based on face value.

In the short time President Obama has been in office, in a matter of speaking, he himself has labeled his term in office as the “Not My Fault” presidency. He has continually discusses situations he has “inherited”, and seems to have no problems pointing fingers, particularly when it comes to matters of spending.

Obama often cites President Bush’s extravagant spending, in turn blaming it for the county’s financial straits; however, he seems to lack the basic math skills to realize that he himself has taken the Bush deficit and more than doubled down on it within his first year in office. Engaged Americans are smarter than this, and they see right through it.

Whether you like him or not, George W. Bush took ownership of his presidency. While he was often quieter than a lot of his supporters had wished, he had no problem stepping up when the chips were down. Remember when Bush took flak for his grammatically incorrect “I’m the decider” comment when he offered his support to then-secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld? The media had a heyday with that, as it always did, continuing to its never-ending quest to prove that W. was an idiot.

However, poor grammar notwithstanding, people seemed to miss the point. George W. Bush, while he is a man with many faults, had the spine to stand up and say “This is mine. This is all on me.” The only times Obama seems to use the word “ I” is when he is he is so quick to remind us that “I won” or “I inherited this”, in an effort to quickly assert that whatever has befallen the country on a given day certainly wasn’t his fault. President Obama operates in a never-ending “CYA” mode, which makes him more akin to TV’s “Steve Urkel”, who often said, “Did I do that?”

So when you look at it, this poll may have something to it. In all honesty, George W. Bush was far from a conservative president. But at the same time, he took responsibility for his office and the path of his nation, even when his decisions were unpopular. While some of his policies were indeed deeply flawed, Bush carried himself as a leader, and with dignity.

Could it be that President Obama’s ego is finally beginning to wear on the American public? One wonders how long America will tolerate a man who demands to be adored, yet can’t deliver, and then refuses to take responsibility for his ineffectiveness.

Popularity: 49% [?]

RICHMOND, Va. — A 90-year-old Medal of Honor recipient can keep his 21-foot flagpole in his front yard after a homeowner’s association dropped its request to remove it, a spokesman for Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said Tuesday.

Thank goodness. It’s nice to know that some order of sanity can still be maintained out there. What have we come to when homeowners associations are even entertaining the notion of American flags being code violations, let alone actually petitioning to have one removed from a decorated veteran’s home?

It boggles the mind to think that some people actually find one of the greatest symbols of freedom in the history of the human race to be an eyesore. How can this be when the flag is an icon of the one place on Earth where you actually have the right to complain about anything you want without fear of retribution? Wanting to see it removed is rather self-defeating, and well, stupid, isn’t it?

Why is it considered “patriotic” by some to show dissent or to burn a flag, yet to display a flag is interpreted as “offensive” ? Those two things just don’t add up, and one would most likely be hard-hard pressed to find an instance where the display of an American flag actually lowered property values, would they not?

We could spend countless hours debating the usefulness and the true nature of homeowners associations, but that’s not really the point, here. The greater point is that we’ve lost our collective minds. Men like Colonel Van T. Barfoot should be eternally celebrated, not hassled with such trifling things. This man served his country with honor and distinction. He should not be treated as a vandal. It is shameful, and disrespectful to the United States Armed Forces as a whole, and freedom-loving Americans everywhere.

The fact that something like this escalates to the point where White House press secretary Robert Gibbs is forced to comment on it, saying the whole thing was “silly”, once again aids credibility to the argument that common sense in America is in fact dead. Yet, at the same time, Robert Gibbs should be praised for actually getting something right for a change.

Maybe there is “hope” after all.

Popularity: 50% [?]

Just when you think it’s safe to read the news, people are already talking about the 2012 presidential campaign. Not that this is really news in itself, because as we all know, the 2008 campaign seemed to start about 16 years too early, and by the time we got to the ballot boxes, it’s safe to assume that a lot of us felt like we had just gone the distance with Rocky Balboa.

Now, of course we all know about Mitt, Huck, Pawlenty, and possibly Newt. That crew comes with the territory. However, it seems that some people may have really lost their minds. How, you might ask?

Well, from the looks of things, it would appear that former Vice President Dick Cheney has been christened as the GOP’s last great hope, or some such thing. Sure. Why doesn’t somebody stop the world so the sane people can get off now, Okay?

It started off as nothing more than a flippant “Cheney 2012” comment made by his daughter Liz on Fox News a few weeks ago, and for some reason there was another outbreak of speculation over the weekend.

While one must concede that anything is possible, (look who’s in charge now) an honest broker must admit that such a scenario is highly unlikely.

It’s not that Cheney doesn’t have the “street cred” with conservative voters. He does. He has decades of service under his belt, and during his tenure as Vice President, he was far more articulate and concise than his boss ever was, and who can forget the even-tempered lashing he gave to Senator John Edwards in the 2004 Vice Presidential Debate? If you combine all of these things with his current spate of TV appearances where he has been substantively critical of the Obama Administration, Cheney would indeed make a fine GOP candidate in 2012.

However, there is just one tiny little problem with all of this:

Dick Cheney has made it quite clear that he has no aspirations for further office.

While it is certainly true that politicians often change their minds, and are known to lie like rugs on occasion, a presidential run for Dick Cheney in 2012 is hard to imagine.

In all honesty, why would he want to? The media has painted such a horrible picture of the man, how could he possibly get elected? We all know how disconnected a large portion of the electorate is. How could he possibly overcome the mountain of bad press that has been piled onto him over the years? He really can’t, regardless of his qualifications. Nothing short of a national educational miracle could undo the perception of Dick Cheney. It’s a pretty safe bet that a 68 year old man who has survived four heart attacks knows that, too. He doesn’t need the aggravation.

All of this speculation is obviously well intended, but it’s really nothing more than a waste of time. Again, Vice President Cheney would be a solid candidate on his merits, but the press has made him un-electable. More than that, if he really was the GOP’s and conservatism’s only hope, why didn’t a “Draft Cheney” movement begin before now? This is too little, too late.

Oh, the perils of a of a crappy news week.

We now return you to the Tiger Woods Channel.

Popularity: 35% [?]

Two uninvited guests inexplicably “crashed” President Barack Obama’s first state dinner on Wednesday night, and the incident has left many scratching their heads as to how this could have happened.

The couple, Michaela and Tareq Salahi, who are reportedly auditioning for a Washington D.C. based reality show were able to gain access to the party when protocol was not maintained at the Secret service checkpoint.

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At this point, it is easy to imagine the sheer volume of comedy this will produce for late night television hosts, and conservative pundits such as this one. The “we were a second away from Joe Biden being the leader of the free world” jokes are too numerous to even fathom. And yes, the First family’s penchant for partying is well documented. We can go on and on about the stream of protocol blunders ranging from DVD’s and iPods, to bowing indiscriminately and buzzing New York City in Air Force One. While those incidents are certainly perceived as bad by a good portion of the public, in most cases the most damage that is done is that the president and his country gets a bit of a red face, and somebody gets fired because of said incident’s possible impact on future electoral maps.

This, however, is much more serious than any of that.

No matter which side of the political ideological spectrum we fall on, the President of the United States is in fact the most powerful man in the world. Whomever holds that office, whether you had a stake in electing the person or not, and political policies notwithstanding, the president should be protected at all costs.

It goes without saying that the Salahi’s should be brought up on federal charges, and the Secret Service agents responsible for this “mishap” should be immediately investigated and fired.

These are serious times we live in. We are engaged in two wars which we must win, while we are also trying to somehow prevent a madman from wiping a tiny nation known as Israel from the face of the earth. These things are no laughing matter. Western civilization itself could hang in the balance.

Every day, there is at least one story in the news that will make any engaged American question their safety, yet our government and its supposedly unlimited resources fell flat on its face when it came to ensuring the safety of the one man who I many ways holds the keys to ours.

One couldn’t even classify this as unacceptable. This is downright frightening. It’s one thing to have to endure lapses in judgment that occasionally make the Obama administration look like its perpetually getting “pantsed” on the playground, but what if a future lapse in judgment, (by whichever department commits it) ends in something much more tragic and leaves a lasting scar on the American psyche?

Apparently, nobody’s thinking about that. Somebody should.

Popularity: 18% [?]