Where Are My Keys?

I must say I'm surprised..

If Hillary! does accept the job of Secretary of State, I'll be very surprised.  She would have to give up her seat in the Senate, and then serve at the will of the President.  That means she could get fired at any time, for any reason.  I'm not saying that Obama would bring her on, only to get rid of her, but she does have some exposure as SoS that she doesn't have as a Senator.  It's not like she needs the SoS position to increase her visibilty..

By staying on in the Senate, she is insulated from an Obama Administration, and is in a great spot if he winds up being a one-term President.  The Media loves the notion, because in their view, it brings the PUMAs back in the fold.

I'm having a hard time understanding how this is a good move for Hillary!.

Let the Big Three go the way of the Edsel.

David Harsanyi takes a look at U.S. Auto industry, and why the Government should stay out of it.

Yet, if you happen to listen to backers of a car bailout, you may be led to believe that the Tahoe is a pillar of American life. "It is critical that the nation understand this isn't just a Michigan problem, that one in 10 jobs in the country are impacted by the auto industry," Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm recently proclaimed in an interview.

We're still going to buy cars, Madame Governor, but perhaps we will buy them from companies that have the temerity to say "no" to unions and crushing legacy costs associated with them. These corporations may not even be headquartered in Michigan.

Nancy Pelosi is worried that if General Motors declares bankruptcy, the union will lose power and executives will make off like bandits. So she would like taxpayers to help General Motors pay for the nearly 450,000 retirees who live off extravagant pensions and free medical care.

Now, unions claim they simply want "working" families to make livable wages. But Dr. Mark J. Perry, a professor of economics and finance in the School of Management at the Flint campus of the University of Michigan, calculates the average compensation for employees of the Big Three auto companies at $73 an hour. The U.S. employees of Toyota are at $48 — a 52 percent differential.

Read the whole thing.

Could Barack Obama work for Barack Obama?

The Obama transition team has a 63 question application for prospective employees.  Let's look at a few, and see how Obama would have to answer them, shall we?

8.  Briefly describe the most controversial matters you have been involved with during the course of your career.  Sitting in a church run by a racist, bigoted, America-hating clergyman.  Being actively involved with an unrepentant terrorist.  Getting a sweetheart real estate deal from a convicted felon.

12.  Please provide text and or audio from any speeches you have given.  Please see the LA Times for this.

18.  Please list any dealing with any financial institutions.  Please see Chris Dodd for information about lobbying donations from Freddie and Fannie.

61.  Have you ever had any association with an individual or organization that might be used to impugn your character? See Ayers, William;Rezko, Tony; Wright, Jeremiah, Khalidi, Rashid.

Isn't it ironic that the man who "pooh pooh's" guilt by association in his own relationships, will use guilt by association to disqualify others for employment?

Finally.

From David Harsanyi:

For decades, we've dealt with shattered expectations and broken promises. That stinker Herbert Hoover guaranteed "a car in every garage." Lyndon Johnson pledged to wipe out "poverty." Bush the Father said "no new taxes" with a passion that made his broken pledge doubly infuriating.

With this in mind, I was aghast to learn that Barack Obama was attempting to tamp down expectations for his presidency. Obama can't tamp down expectations; he is an expectation.

Listen, when Scarlett Johansson tells you "we can," you know it's true.

Americans, though, are sticklers for promises. Surely, they are looking forward to lower taxation. Obama pledged to cut taxes "for 95 percent of all working families." (Forget those irritatingly successful Americans who are apparently not "working.") Obama also promised to eradicate "capital gains taxes for the small businesses" and start-ups that "create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow."

Now, I hate to be the skunk at the party, but I have more use for a low- tech job of yesterday — a mechanic, for instance — than, say, another gadget that allows me to twitter while driving 85 mph. "Jobs of Tomorrow" has a nice sci-fi ring to it, but is Washington the best venue to decide what these jobs will be? I guess it's about faith, not questions.

So I have faith that Obama will keep his word and investigate this bloated federal budget left by King George "line by line" — despite the absence of a line-item veto. After all, what's procedure to a man who can promise everything?

Obama asserts that he will pay for "every dime" of his trillions in new spending "by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow."

No more loopholes. No more deficit spending. No more cheats. With these new dollars, Obama will fund fantastic new programs and turn around this massive failure we call the United States. "Finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education" and "Finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American."

Finally.

Obama would like to mandate 50 hours of community service per year for middle and high school students and create some kind of creepy internal national army of do- gooders.

This will allow us to shed our status as slack-jawed yokels and rejoin the enlightened world. They love us. We love them. Well, apart from those greedy Chinese and Indians who are stealing our jobs . . . oh, and the Colombians, too.

Thankfully, Obama promised lower energy prices and, "in 10 years," we can "finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East."

Why hasn't anyone ever promised that before? Yes, the entire 8 percent of oil we obtain from the Middle East can now be sold to China or India, making absolutely no difference in price or level of production. Thank goodness for populism.

Anyway, Obama has promised five million new, high-wage jobs in renewable energy and to stop global warming so we won't need oil for long. Obama promises more nuclear power, as well — after some polling data assured him we like the sound of it. Obama also has promised that the "central" focus of his new nuclear policy will be "eliminating all nuclear weapons."

It's a little unclear if he means our nuclear weapons or the arsenal of (soon enough) Iran, Pakistan and Russia. No worries; Obama has promised to have a face-to-face and give these folks a what-for should anyone misbehave.

So, you see, we're all here for you, man. Americans and the world. We can't let you forget your promises. Waiting won't be easy. It's difficult to be patient when you sit on the cusp of Utopia.

Please don't mess with expectations; just bring it on home.

Remember your roots.

President-elect Obama.

Congratulations to the Senator from Illinois.  You've made history tonight.  I'm guessing that campaigns will follow his model for some time to come.

Every Republican is a Washington Redskins fan tonight.

Here's why:

Since 1936, the Redskins are 17-1 in determining the result of the upcoming election. Here's how it works: If the Redskins win their last home game before the presidential election, the incumbent party remains in office, which would be McCain and the Republicans in 2008. If the Redskins lose their last home game before the election, the other party takes office, which would be Obama and the Democrats in the event that the Steelers win this year.

 

Think this will play well in coal-producing States?

Unbelievable:

The senior vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association called Obama's comments "unbelievable."

"His comments are unfortunate," Chris Hamilton said Sunday, "and really reflect a very uninformed voice and perspective to coal specifically and energy generally."

Hamilton noted other times Obama and vice presidential candidate Joe Biden have made seemingly anti-coal statements.

"In Ohio recently, when Joe Biden said 'not here' about building coal-fired power plants -- this is exactly what will happen," Hamilton said. "Financing won't be directed here. It will all go aboard for plants elsewhere in the world. The United Sates is importing more coal today from Indonesia, South Africa and Colombia than we ever have.

"If we're going to create a situation where coal-fired power plants are at that much of a disadvantage, there will be new ones built. But as Biden said, just not here."

Republican presidential candidate John McCain's state director said Obama's statements are troubling, especially for West Virginians.

"I think this clearly shows the attitude the Obama-Biden ticket has toward coal," Ben Beakes said Sunday. "Rhetoric is cheap, but behind closed doors what they tell their supporters - that's what we have to take as gospel.

"They're definitely not friends of coal."

So do you support the Minuteman Project, Senator Obama? Should they get Federal funds? +++UPDATE+++ +++UPDATED AGAIN+++

We keep learning so much from the Junior Senator while he's on the campaign trail.  Piker, you ready to take up arms to defend the Country, like your esteemed leader says we should have?

+++UPDATE+++

Here are a few more questions that no one in the Media will think to ask:

1. How will this Civilian National Security Force (hereafter CNSF) be just as powerful as men with guns, artillery, ordnance, war ships and aircraft?
2. What will make the CNSF “just as strong” as the U.S. Marine Corps?
3. How will this CNSF implement national security policy?
4. Since the 2009 budget includes just over half a trillion dollars for defense spending (The Captain’s Journal supports this, and calls for even more), and since it is judged that this CNSF be “just as well funded” as the military, where will this half a trillion dollars come from?
5. Finally, if he didn’t really mean that this CNSF would be the beneficiary of half a trillion dollars (to do with we don’t know what), then why did he say so?

+++UPDATED AGAIN+++

After reading this post, I think it's a little clearer what Obama's intent is.  It's not to have Blackwater-style militias roaming the streets, but to fund groups like AmeriCorps and others to the level of what the military gets.

So the next logical question is this:  Will an Obama Administration cut the size and scope of the Military, and then reallocate those funds to his CNSF?  Or will the cost of having funding equal to what the Military has now result in a tax hike?  For some reason, I don't think those questions will be asked in the next 72 hours.

We are really going to get a wake-up call on Jan 20th, if Obama wins.

A few things on Auntie Zeituni..

First off, if the information on her immigration status was gained illegally, the people responsible need to be punished.  I'll do a post in a minute on the similarities/differences (as I see them) in Joe v. Auntie.  So save those comments for that post.

Second, how was someone who has been "flagged" for deportation able to be on public assisstence in Boston for the last four years?  This is what drives us on the Right CRAZY, when it comes to Government entitlement programs.  Here you have someone who is in the Country illegally, using tax dollars for housing  (and most likely medical care, food, etc.).

Third, it was reported that Auntie had donated $260 to Obama's campaign.  Those funds are illegal for Obama to accept, as Auntie is not a citizen of the U.S.  Additionally, where did she get the $$ from?  If she has that kind of disposable cash laying around, why are taxpayers subsidizing her rent?  +++UPDATE+++ The donations were made in three $5 increments, two were made for $25, and it is unclear on the other donations.

Michelle Malkin notes one of her commenters has a great moment of clarity in Obama-think:

QUESTION II, from commenter tony4951: “So let me get this straight. Millionaire Obama doesn’t use his wealth to help his poor illegal alien Aunt get out of public housing, but if I complain about Obama wanting to raise my taxes to ’spread the wealth around’ I’m the selfish one?”