Mean Street: Obama's Classless Class Warfare
By Evan Newmark, WSJ Blogs...

After alienating most white Americans (a dismal 38% approval rate in July), President Obama and his White House gang are launching a fresh "pitchfork and torches" assault on Republicans and America's "rich."

Just consider last week's speech by our mild, wonkish Treasury of Secretary. The only weapon Tim Geithner has probably ever wielded is his HP12C calculator.

But even he's discovered Robespierre's guillotine spirit in ruling out any extension of the Bush tax cuts for American families making over $250,000.

The extension would benefit, he said... "only the top two percent of Americans, who earn on average $800,000 per year...We live in one of the richest economies of the world. But one in eight Americans is on food stamps... The most affluent 400 earners in 2007 -- who earned an average of more than $340 million dollars each year -- paid only 17% of their income in tax, a lower rate than many middle class families."

This is the dry language you'd expect from a career bureaucrat. But beneath his arch tone is real class war demagoguery.

America's rich may make an "average" of "$800,000 per year." But averages are distorting. What is the "median" rich American making?

The richest 400 earners may pay "17% in income tax a year", but what is the rate paid by the majority of America's 2 million "wealthy" earners?

Geithner's not saying. That's because his rhetoric isn't designed to elucidate. It's designed to stoke an election-year agenda.

In his speech, Geithner trots out the predictable "fairness" argument -- that higher tax rates on higher earners magically produce a more "fair" society. Geithner doesn't say what exactly constitutes a "fair" tax policy -- because even he knows that nobody knows.

From World War II until the mid-1970s, the U.K. considered income tax rates of 95% "fair" for hundreds of thousands of its citizens. This fairness almost killed the British economy until Margaret Thatcher thankfully came along.

At least, the British had a long history of inherited wealth to excuse the national impulse for "fairness". But here in the U.S., our rich tend to have the durable, if inconvenient, trait of being self-made.

Of the 40 billionaires in last week's "Giving Pledge," I counted only two (David Rockefeller and Ted Turner) whose fortunes weren't entirely of their own making. To me, this suggests something extraordinary and peculiarly ummm… "fair" about American capitalism.

But wait. It gets even worse. The main thrust of Geithner's argument against extending the tax cuts is its symbolic threat to U.S. austerity. Basically, he says, the bond market would freak out and destroy the U.S. "recovery" if America's rich kept their tax break.

Here is how Geithner put it: "The world is likely to view any temporary extension of the income tax cuts for the top two percent as a prelude to a long term or permanent extension. That would hurt economic recovery by undermining confidence that we are prepared to make a commitment today to bring down our future deficits."

It's remarkable that Geithner could deliver this stuff with a straight face. The Obama White House has spent a year and a half bashing banks, insurers, oil companies, George Bush and the "rich." Our national debt today is over $13.3 trillion. The Obama administration is racking up $1.4 trillion annual deficits.

And Geithner is worried that China won't buy our bonds because of a tax extension that would cost the Treasury a whopping $33.5 billion in 2011. That's right. Were talking about 2.3% of the 2011 deficit and less than 0.8% of all 2011 spending. It's a rounding error.

Extend the cut to ten years and the cumulative cost climbs to $680 billion. Scary? Not really. It's still over $100 billion less than Obama's much-ballyhooed stimulus.

A one-year extension certainly can't be a make or break number because just yesterday the House approved kicking in an extra $26 billion to save jobs for the teachers unions.

Don't worry, said President Obama in the Rose Garden. The $26 billion "is fully paid for, in part by closing tax loopholes that encourage corporations to ship American jobs overseas."

It's hard to see how "closing tax loopholes" on U.S. companies puts them in the hiring mood. Just as it's hard to see how jacking taxes on America's 2 million "rich" will put them in the spending mood.

The White House knows this -- and that's why it's back to class warfare. Losing the battle on the economy is one thing. Getting slaughtered at the ballot box is quite another.

Fool! Idiot! Moron! ... Geithner, that is...

"Conquerors build temples at significant sites of the conquered! Always have; always will.
Don't any of you get it?

Watch Pete here and you'll see why our country is leading its citizens into serfdom.

NJ Judge rules it's not rape when a Muslim forces himself on his wife!

Recently, an ABC News story scoffed at the Oklahoma referendum going to the voters that prohibits the courts from using sharia law in their decisions. The implication was that there is no need for this.

Really?

Jihad Watch reported on Saturday that a New Jersey judge ruled that a Muslim man, accused of forcing non-consensual sex on his wife, was not guilty because of his religious beliefs.

Here is the portion of his ruling that should leave no doubt that Islamic sharia law is penetrating America:

"This court does not feel that, under the circumstances, that this defendant had a criminal desire to or intent to sexually assault or to sexually contact the plaintiff when he did. The court believes that he was operating under his belief that it is, as the husband, his desire to have sex when and whether he wanted to, was something that was consistent with his practices and it was something that was not prohibited."

In other words, the husband's belief in sharia law trumps New Jersey criminal law. The husband did not commit a crime because he was acting according to sharia law.

Fortunately, an appellate court had the good sense to overturn this absurd decision. But don't let anyone tell you we don't need to worry about sharia law being imposed on us here in America! Or on Muslims who don't wish to be subjected to it.

I'll just go with this comment published in response...

So . . . You think you know quite a bit about Obama and his band of thieves. Read on and see just how little you know. All of this comes together in the last part... a must read.

This is an interesting story put together from various articles and TV shows by the British Times paper. It shows what Obama and his friends are really all about. It's not hope and change, it is money.

I warn you, the first part is a little boring, but stick with it. The second part connects all the dots for you (it will open your eyes). The end explains how Obama and all his cronies will end up as multi-billionaires. (It's definitely worth the read. You will not be disappointed).

A small bank in Chicago called SHOREBANK almost went bankrupt during the recession. The bank made a profit on its foreign micro-loans (see below) but had lost money in sub-prime mortgages in the US. It was facing likely closure by federal regulators. However, because the bank's executives were well connected with members of the Obama Administration, a private rescue bailout was arranged. The bank's employees had donated money to Obama's Senate campaign. In other words, ShoreBank was too politically connected to be allowed to go under.

ShoreBank survived and invested in many "green" businesses such as solar panel manufacturing. In fact, the bank was mentioned in one of Obama's speeches during his election campaign because it subjected new business borrowers to Eco-litmus tests.

Prior to becoming President, Obama sat on the board of the JOYCE FOUNDATION, a liberal charity. This foundation was originally established by Joyce Kean's family which had accumulated millions of dollars in the lumber industry. It mostly gave funds to hospitals but after her death in 1972, the foundation was taken over by radical environmentalists and social justice extremists.

This JOYCE FOUNDATION, which is rumored to have assets of 8 billion dollars, has now set up and funded, with a few partners, something called the CHICAGO CLIMATE EXCHANGE, known as CXX. It will be the exchange (like the Chicago Grain Futures Market for agriculture) where Environmental Carbon Credits are traded.

Under Obama's new bill, businesses in the future will be assessed a tax on how much CO2 they produce (their Carbon Footprint) or in other words how much they add to global warming. If a company produces less CO2 than their allotted measured limit, they earn a Carbon Credit. This Carbon Credit can be traded on the CXX exchange. Another company, which has gone over their CO2 limit, can buy the Credit and "reduce" their footprint and tax liability. It will be like trading shares on Wall Street.

Well, it was the same JOYCE FOUNDATION, along with some other private partners and Wall Street firms that funded the bailout of ShoreBank. The foundation is now one of the major shareholders. The bank has now been designated to be the "banking arm" of the CHICAGO CLIMATE EXCHANGE (CXX). In addition, Goldman Sachs has been contracted to run the investment trading floor of the exchange.

So far so good; now the INTERESTING parts.

One ShoreBank co-founder, named Jan Piercy, was a Wellesley College roommate of Hillary Clinton. Hillary and Bill Clinton have long supported the bank and are small investors.

Another co-founder of Shorebank, named Mary Houghton, was a friend of Obama's late mother. Obama's mother worked on foreign MICRO-LOANS for the Ford Foundation. She worked for the foundation with a guy called Geithner. Yes, you guessed it. This man was the father of Tim Geithner, our present Treasury Secretary, who failed to pay all his taxes for two years.

Another founder of ShoreBank was Ronald Grzywinski, a cohort and close friend of Jimmy Carter.

The former ShoreBank Vice Chairman was a man called Bob Nash. He was the deputy campaign manager of Hillary Clinton's presidential bid. He also sat on the board of the Chicago Law School with Obama and Bill Ayers, the former terrorist. Nash was also a member of Obama's White House transition team.

(To jog your memories, Bill Ayers is a Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He founded the Weather Underground, a radical revolutionary group that bombed buildings in the 60s and 70s. He had no remorse for those who were killed, escaped jail on a technicality, and is still an admitted Marxist).

When Obama sat on the board of the JOYCE FOUNDATION, he "funneled" thousands of charity dollars to a guy named John Ayers, who runs a dubious education fund. Yes, you guessed it. The brother of Bill Ayers, the terrorist.

Howard Stanback is a board member of Shorebank. He is a former board chairman of the Woods Foundation. Obama and Bill Ayers, the terrorist, also sat on the board of the Woods Foundation. Stanback was formerly employed by New Kenwood Inc., a real estate development company co-owned by Tony Rezko.

(You will remember that Tony Rezko was the guy who gave Obama an amazing sweet deal on his new house. Years prior to this, the law firm of Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland had represented Rezko's company and helped him get more than 43 million dollars in government funding. Guess who worked as a lawyer at the firm at the time. Yes, Barack Obama).

Adele Simmons, the Director of ShoreBank, is a close friend of Valerie Jarrett, a White House senior advisor to Obama. Simmons and Jarrett also sit on the board of a dubious Chicago Civic Organization.

Van Jones sits on the board of ShoreBank and is one the marketing directors for "green" projects. He also holds a senior advisor position for black studies at Princeton University. You will remember that Mr. Van Jones was appointed by Obama in 2009 to be a Special Advisor for Green Jobs at the White House. He was forced to resign over past political activities, including the fact that he is a Marxist.

Al Gore was one of the smaller partners to originally help fund the CHICAGO CLIMATE EXCHANGE. He also founded a company called Generation Investment Management (GIM) and registered it in London, England. GIM has close links to the UK-based Climate Exchange PLC, a holding company listed on the London Stock Exchange. This company trades Carbon Credits in Europe (just like CXX will do here) and its floor is run by Goldman Sachs. Along with Gore, the other co-founder of GIM is Hank Paulson, the former US Treasury Secretary and former CEO of Goldman Sachs. His wife, Wendy, graduated from and is presently a Trustee of Wellesley College. Yes, the same college that Hillary Clinton and Jan Piercy, a co-founder of Shorebank attended. (They are all friends).

Because many studies have been exposed as scientific nonsense, people are slowly realizing that man-made global warming is nothing more than a money-generating hoax. As a result, Obama is working feverishly to win the race. He aims to push a Cap-and-Trade Carbon Tax Bill through Congress and into law.

Obama knows he must get this passed before he loses his majority in Congress in the November elections. Apart from Climate Change he will "sell" this bill to the public as generating tax revenue to reduce our debt. But, it will also make it impossible for US companies to compete in world markets and drastically increase unemployment. In addition, energy prices (home utility rates) will sky rocket.

Excerpts:

Thanks to the work of the Center for Security Policy Director Frank Gaffney and the writing of Andrew McCarthy of the National Review Institute, there has emerged a compelling reason to vote against Kagan's confirmation as a Supreme Court justice: Her support for Shariah Law while she was dean of the Harvard Law School.

At Harvard, Elena Kagan "proceeded to forge the law school's 'Islamic Finance Project."" It's purpose, according to McCarthy, was "to promote Shariah compliance in the U.S. financial sector."

Indeed, when Harvard President Larry Summers -- now in the Obama administration -- accepted a $20 million donation for the creation of a program of studies of Islam's history and Shariah Law, Kagan raised no objection. The donation came from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a billionaire investor whose contribution of $10 million to the Twin Towers fund was refused by New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani because bin Talal had blamed the 9-11 attack on American foreign policy. Harvard Law School now has three Saudi-funded institutions devoted to the study of Shariah.

Kagan, as a Supreme Court justice, will be required to rule frequently on possible applications of Shariah law in the United States. She has already noted that she welcomes "good ideas wherever they originate" and is open to applications of foreign law to the interpretation of U.S. statutes and common law. In fact, a lawsuit seeking to ban Shariah Compliance Funds in banks that accepted TARP money (as violating the First Amendment separation of church and state) is now making its way up to the Supreme Court. Kagan cannot be trusted to rule dispassionately on this case, nor can we rely on her to exclude Shariah law from American jurisprudence.

For this reason -- if for no other -- senators should vote no on her confirmation.

ah, Barack, would you please elaborate on that one?

Great video... watch both items that are discussed!

Columnist John Fund says you'll never guess who's funding ads critical of Obama's agenda. And, Columnist Mary Anastasia O'Grady looks into whether the just-passed Dodd-Frank financial reform measure is a quota bill.

excerpt....

We saw how entrepreneurs are being discouraged from offering solutions, and when offered, are met with months of red tape. We observed a claims process begging for transparency. Overall, we witnessed the need for a strong political leader that can be held accountable for the keystone-cop federal effort.

Ineptitude. Incompetence. Inattention. We heard these themes consistently as we traveled across the Gulf, but perhaps the best description came from a local Louisiana official who told our team that the federal response was "stuck on stupid." Indeed.

Obama for offshore drilling in Brazil

This is a perfect example why many refrain from watching the news on ABC, NBC, CBS, or MSNBC.

[Today] on a segment of the "Glen Beck Show" on FOX (Fox Cable News) was the following:

"Today, even though President Obama is against off shore drilling for our country, he signed an executive order to loan 2 Billion of our taxpayers dollars to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company (which is the 8th largest company in the entire world) to drill for oil off the coast of Brazil ! The oil that comes from this operation is for the sole purpose and use of China and NOT THE USA ! Now here's the real clincher...the Chinese government is under contract to purchase all the oil that this oil field will produce, which is hundreds of millions of barrels of oil"..

We have absolutely no gain from this transaction whatsoever!

Wait, it gets more interesting.

Guess who is the largest individual stockholder of this Brazilian Oil Company and who would benefit most from this? It is American BILLIONAIRE, George Soros, who was one of President Obama's most generous financial supporter during his campaign.

If you are able to connect the dots and follow the money, you are probably as upset as I am. Not a word of this transaction was broadcast on any of the other news networks!

NASA Chief: Next Frontier Better Relations With Muslim World

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a recent interview that his "foremost" mission as the head of America's space exploration agency is to improve relations with the Muslim world.

Though international diplomacy would seem well outside NASA's orbit, [Ya think???] Bolden said in an interview with Al Jazeera that strengthening those ties was among the top tasks President Obama assigned him. He said better interaction with the Muslim world would ultimately advance space travel. [How, pray tell??]

"When I became the NASA administrator -- or before I became the NASA administrator -- he charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science ... and math and engineering," [Start by listing Nobel Prizes in those fields, maybe? How can Bolden increase that number?] Bolden said in the interview.

The NASA administrator was in the Middle East last month marking the one-year anniversary since Obama delivered an address to Muslim nations in Cairo. Bolden spoke in June at the American University in Cairo -- in his interview with Al Jazeera, he described space travel as an international collaboration of which Muslim nations must be a part.

"It is a matter of trying to reach out and get the best of all worlds, if you will, and there is much to be gained by drawing in the contributions that are possible from the Muslim (nations)," he said. He held up the International Space Station as a model, praising the contributions there from the Russians and the Chinese.

Please, see also for reference, my recent Letters at http://www.plusaf.com/letters/obama.htm !!!

... and a big Amen from me!

Addendum, 07.16.2010....

from an email from a friend... Thanks, Wendie!

NASA to Put Muslim on Moon Using Muslim Technology by Scott Ott .... via Scrappleface

(2010-07-08) -- The White House today announced a bold new program consistent with NASA's top priority to help Muslims "feel good about their historic contribution in science and math and engineering," as the space agency's chief, Charles Bolden, recently told al Jazeera TV.

Echoing the words of President John F. Kennedy in March of 1961, President Barack H. Obama told a joint session of Congress, "I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal of landing a Muslim on the Moon, and returning him safely to Earth using only Muslim technology."

According to Mr. Bolden, NASA engineers are already "close to testing" a solid rocket booster powered by combustible animal dung, and operated according to principles discovered by Ibn Al-Haytham Islam's best-known scientist, who died in 1039 A.D..

While President Kennedy put a 10-year deadline on his moon-landing challenge, President Obama said he hopes to achieve this new daring goal "before the millennium is out."

Meanwhile, the chief researcher at Yemen's Muslim World University welcomed the president's announcement, and offered his colleagues' assistance in "targeting the moon landing so that the Muslim astronaut could plant the flag of Islam precisely on the lower tip of the lunar crescent, offering him a clear view of that really big star."

In http://www.breitbart.tv/pelosi-unemployment-checks-fastest-way-to-create-jobs/ Pelosi states that extending unemployment payments yet again is "the fastest way to create jobs", because people immediately spend the money. She then goes off on a rant with the made-up red herring about how people who oppose this legislation are saying that the only people who want unemployment benefits are those who don't want jobs.

I often am forced to really wonder what color the sky is on the planet that Pelosi inhabits. Indirect transfer of tax money (ie, the money you and I give to the government) to WalMart and the oil companies and the big banks and the utility companies (which is where the bulk of the money goes, for food and clothing and gas and mortgage and utilities) does not create any jobs at all! And as far as I know, no one has said that people on unemployment don't want jobs, it is that they can't find them.

This woman is simply delusional.

In a bid to stem taxpayer losses for bad loans guaranteed by federal housing agencies Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) proposed that borrowers be required to make a 5% down payment in order to qualify. His proposal was rejected 57-42 on a party-line vote because, as Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) explained,

"Passage of such a requirement would restrict home ownership to only those who can afford it."

I can't add anything to this.

Actually, I can... The quote isn't real, although given the economic ineptitude of most Congress people, it sure was believable! Here's the facts, ma'am, at Snopes.com.

The Obama administration has been holding behind-the-scenes talks to determine whether the Department of Homeland Security can unilaterally grant legal status on a mass basis to illegal immigrants, according to Fox News.

The source for this bombshell -- which could ignite a national uproar given that a majority supports tougher laws against illegals -- is an unidentified former Bush administration official who spoke with at least three people involved in those talks.

The issue was raised publicly by eight Republican senators who wrote to the White House on Monday to complain that they had heard the administration was readying a "Plan B" in case a comprehensive immigration reform bill cannot win enough support to clear Congress, according to Fox.

The White House would not confirm or deny the claim. But the former Bush official said the discussions are real.

"The administration at the very minimum is studying legal ways to legalize people without having to go through any congressional debate about it," the source said, calling the senators' claim credible. "Whether somebody pulls the trigger on that, that's another issue."