OBAMA PROMISES STILL EXPIRING: “President Obama used his recess-appointment power to place four former federal lobbyists in top policy jobs. Obama's maneuver dodges a Senate floor debate and sweeps under the rug an inauspicious milestone: The appointment of the 50th lobbyist to a policymaking job by a president who claims he's ‘excluded’ them.”

NOVEMBER IS COMING - even in relatively apolitical states.

WELL, IT SOUNDED GOOD INITIALLY: Obama to open offshore areas to oil drilling for the first time ... if the Senate is willing to get on board with global warning legislation.

STUPIDITY, DUPLICITY, AND HYPOCRISY? Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s attorney general produced a stampede of criticism from the usual suspects by “advis[ing] the state’s public colleges that they don’t have the authority to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, saying only the General Assembly has that power.”

Cuccinelli’s response:

A review of the law and the opinions of no less than five of my predecessors — Democrats and Republicans alike — demonstrated that any decision regarding the creation of a specially protected class belongs exclusively to the General Assembly. A public university simply lacks the power to create a new specially protected class under Virginia law. …

As a legal matter, this statement of Virginia law has not been seriously challenged. While issues related to sexual orientation are among the most emotional and controversial, they do not change this fundamental proposition of Virginia law. My now well-publicized letter simply stated the current state of Virginia law; it did not advocate for any particular legislative position. Should the General Assembly change the law, my advice will be consistent with it.

The General Assembly has considered and defined the protected classes for purposes of nondiscrimination statutes. It has specifically defined unlawful discrimination at educational institutions. The Virginia Human Rights Act states that it is the policy of the commonwealth to “safeguard all individuals within the Commonwealth from unlawful discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, or disability, in places of public accommodation, including educational institutions.” In addition to this affirmative statement, the General Assembly has on numerous occasions, including this session, considered and rejected creating a protected class defined by sexual orientation. No state agency can reach beyond such clearly established boundaries.

Nothing I have said or written authorizes unconstitutional discrimination against any person. My letter in no way addresses the legislative issue of including sexual orientation in non-discrimination policies. I believe that our colleges and universities do not illegally discriminate against any class of persons. Likewise, I do not believe they can or will after my restatement of Virginia law.

The people of the commonwealth, through their elected representatives, determine Virginia’s laws. I cannot bend the law to fit a particular outcome, no matter what a person or group might wish, myself included. I have simply stated what is and is not currently permissible under the laws of Virginia. That is my job as attorney general.

I’m posting Attorney General Cuccinelli’s response in full for the simple reason that I’m tired of being assumed to be a gay-bashing homophobe simply because I believe that the law 1) applies to everyone and that 2) unlike some of the extreme liberal persuasion, it is not discretionary.

Stupidity, duplicity, hypocrisy? Draw your own conclusions.

YOU MIGHT GET MEDICARE ...

(via Dilbert)

... if you pass your SRR. [Defense-speak -- like political-speak -- is such a lovely language for concealing motive.]

WHILE BARACK OBAMA has taken the undisputed lead in the race for the Worst President Ever, Jimmy Carter can take solace in the fact that he will continue to be known as the Worst President of the 20th Century.

FIRST, DO NO HARM. Second, sue the government. A group of nearly 5,000 American physicians is filing suit to stop the mammoth new law dead in its tracks.

When you’ve lost the doctors, you’ve lost health care reform.

EVEN THOUGH - in a mere 14 months - President Obama has clearly taken an overwhelming lead in the race to be the the worst President ever, Jimmy Carter can take solace in knowing that his ranking as the worst President of the 20th century will go unchallenged.

EVERY OBAMA STATEMENT COMES WITH AN EXPIRATION DATE. Here’s the list. Warning: it’s lengthy.

HOPE’nCRINGE? The basic issue of health care reform was simple: Who decides? The Democrats' answer: The government.

During the Clinton health care debate, Wall Street analyst Kenneth Abramowitz opined: "Right now, health care is purchased by 250 million morons called U.S. citizens." It was necessary to "move them out, reduce their influence, and let smart professionals buy it on our behalf."

Yep. We’re morons. And we are governed by lesser morons (known as idiots).

MALLARD FILLMORE comments on my education post.

THE OBAMACARE “BOUNCE” fell flat. Here’s the data from the Rasmussen Obama Approval Index polling. This first chart shows the “bounce” in approval following passage of the health care reform legislation. It didn’t last, but there was a 10 point rise in the president’s (dis)approval index.

More interesting is the second chart, where the bounce is dissected in the inset. Note that President Obama’s strong disapproval numbers (red line) hardly changed. What happened was that almost all the bounce came from the disengaged – those voters who either mildly approve or mildly disapprove the president’s performance.

Hardly a strong showing for ObamaCare.

WELCOME TO THE NANNY STATE

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) administer a program called “Communities Putting Prevention To Work" (CPPW). The program gives out “stimulus” grants to states and local communities which have outlined how they plan to engage in a handful of “evidence-based” prevention strategies dubbed MAPPS, short for “Media, Access, Point of purchase/promotion, Price, and Social support and services.” In all honesty, however, “MAPPS” might as well mean “Make the American People Pay for our Schemes.”

While descriptions for some of the latest projects funded under the program sound almost laughable -- what exactly do you think they mean when they talk about “increasing point-of-decision health prompts at stairwells and elevators in public venues”? -- it becomes abundantly clear that this is a concerted effort to advance government control over our consumption decisions when reviewing the CDC’s guideline document for grantees.

Strategies listed range from outright product bans, over zoning, to media and advertising restrictions for “unhealthy” foods and drinks and tobacco products. And when Delaware receives more than $1 million to “educate leaders and decision-makers about the benefits of increasing the price on other tobacco products,” Oregon receives $3 million to “support a policy proposal to increase tobacco price,” your “stimulus” dollars are likely going towards hiring lobbyists to promote tax increases (which by the way would seem to violate one of CDC’s own lobbying restrictions).

And we’re paying stimulus money for this!

FALLEN STAR: Fifteen phony products won the “Energy Star” label from the U.S. government certifying them as energy efficient. Among them: a gasoline-powered alarm clock and a space heater with an “air room cleaner” that was actually a space heater with a feather duster and fly strips attached.

Soon to come – ratings for medical devices. Would you be comforted knowing your heart’s pacemaker was “Energy Star” rated?

LEFT OR RIGHT? Scroll through the photos; then decide.

DEMOCRATS HAVE KICKED THROUGH THE DOOR; now they are contemplating what to plunder.

THE STATE OF THE DEMOCRAT UNION: Democrats may have fallen back in love with Barack Obama, but Nancy Pelosi is the woman who really won their hearts. She went from 12 percent strong approval to 20 percent strong approval in six weeks.

Oh, my.

THE COMMONERS ARE REVOLTING



As a matter of fact, we are. November is coming.

WHY WOMEN DIDN’T WRITE THE CONSTITUTION. Maybe we’d be better off today if they had.

54-34? WOW. “Only 34 percent of Florida voters support the new [ObamaCare] law while 54 percent are against it, according to the poll. Opposition is significantly strong among two crucial blocs: those older than 65 and voters with no party affiliation.”