Conservative Happenings

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Sex, money and lies: ‘Culture of Corruption’ boomerangs on Democrats as scandals blossom nationwide

The Democratic Party is battling scandals from New York to San Diego and from city hall to Capitol Hill, as the party finds itself on the defensive over embarrassing lapses ranging from sexual misconduct to multiple scandals ensnaring the Obama administration.

President Obama on Wednesday denounced what he called “phony scandals” and “an endless parade of distractions” blocking progress on the economy and other issues, but critics say the controversies underscore the missed opportunities for the president and his party to live up to pledges to clean up politics and break traditional patterns of money, influence and privilege in government.

PHOTOS: Eye-popping excuses in American political scandals

The scandals have spanned the spectrum from a Democratic mayor in San Diego accused of being unable to keep his hands off his female aides to charges that the administration put the Internal Revenue Service on the trail of its political enemies.

One of Congress‘ most famous Democratic names, the scion of Jesse Jackson in Mr. Obama’s home city of Chicago, was just sent to prison for converting campaign funds to personal use. In Detroit, the ex-mayor and the wife of longtime House Judiciary Committee member John Conyers Jr. have fallen to corruption scandals, while the son of former Democratic Party Chairman Ron Brown admitted last month to bribery charges as a city councilman in the nation’s capital.

Via: Washington Times

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Homeland Security's Future Home: A Former Mental Hospital

Chris Mills frequently gives tours of St. Elizabeths Hospital, a former mental institution where the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is building a $4.5 billion headquarters. It’s the largest construction project in the District of Columbia since the Pentagon was completed in 1943. So there’s a lot of ground to cover. Mills prefers to chauffeur his guests around the place in a golf cart.

A cheerful 55-year-old with a neatly trimmed mustache, Mills, who is managing the project for DHS, tells visitors to look out for animals. There are loads. Herds of deer, a flock of wild turkeys, and a bald eagle reside in the fenced-in facility. They might not last long outside. St. Elizabeths is located in Anacostia, one of D.C.’s toughest neighborhoods. But they have little to fear inside the high-security fences. “It’s like the wild kingdom in here,” Mills says with a chuckle.

Then he’s off in his golf cart with his passengers. His boss, Jeffery Orner, DHS’s chief readiness support officer, who oversees all of the department’s real estate, has come along for the ride. There’s a DHS public-relations person on board, too. She sits in the back, smiling and saying nothing. Everybody is wearing hard hats and DHS safety vests.

Via: Bloomberg Business Week

DEMS OFFER FREE 'I HEART OBAMACARE' STICKERS

Democrats seem to be making peace with the probable "train wreck" of ObamaCare's implementation. The DCCC, which assists Democrats running for the House, is offering free "I 'Heart' ObamaCare bumper stickers. The organization even took to twitter to advertise and promote its efforts.

The DCCC has over 112,000 followers. Just 31 retweeted the message. This could be an ominous sign for Democrats. In a recent poll, just 36% of Americans believed the law would help the middle-class.

Even a perfect implementation of a law as complex as ObamaCare would spark some level of confusion, misunderstanding, and pain. Unfortunately, the implementation of ObamaCare is very far from being perfect. Already, Obama has delayed two important components of the law, the most significant being the delay of the employer mandate.

The employer mandate delay will drive even more people into the federal and state health insurance exchanges, which are scheduled to open on October 1. Because of coverage mandates in the law, premiums for individuals will be higher than those currently offered.

Those premiums could skyrocket if young and healthy people decide against purchasing the expensive insurance. The fine for failing to buy insurance is just $92 in the first year.

The DCCC deserves some points for accepting their fate on the law. I don't expect a lot of Democrat candidates to scoop up their bumper stickers, however.

Via: Breitbart

The Inequality President

The rich have done fine under Obamanomics, not so the middle class.

President Obama made his fourth or fifth, or maybe it's the seventh or eighth, pivot to the economy on Wednesday, and a revealing speech it was. We counted four mentions of "growth" but "inequality" got five. This goes a long way to explaining why Mr. Obama is still bemoaning the state of the economy five years into his Presidency.

The President summed up his economic priorities close to the top of his hour-long address. "This growing inequality isn't just morally wrong; it's bad economics," he told his Galesburg, Illinois audience. "When middle-class families have less to spend, businesses have fewer customers. When wealth concentrates at the very top, it can inflate unstable bubbles that threaten the economy. When the rungs on the ladder of opportunity grow farther apart, it undermines the very essence of this country."

Then the heart of the matter: "That's why reversing these trends must be Washington's highest priority. It's certainly my highest priority."

Which is the problem. For four and a half years, Mr. Obama has focused his policies on reducing inequality rather than increasing growth. The predictable result has been more inequality and less growth. As even Mr. Obama conceded in his speech, the rich have done well in the last few years thanks to a rising stock market, but the middle class and poor have not. The President called his speech "A Better Bargain for the Middle Class," but no President has done worse by the middle class in modern times.

By now the lackluster growth figures are well known. The recovery that began four years ago has been one of the weakest on record, averaging a little more than 2%. And it has not gained speed. Growth in the fourth quarter of 2012 was 0.4%. It rose to a still anemic 1.8% in the first quarter but most economists are predicting even slower growth in the second quarter.

Via: The Wall Street Journal

Limbaugh Slams Obama’s Economic Speech: ‘There’s Something Pathologically Wrong Here’

RUSH: We have a couple of sound bites from Obama, as he’s out in Galesville, Illinois, blaming Washington for paying not enough attention to the economy. We’ve actually got one, two, three, four, five, six sound bites here. We’ll get the last two that I want to play for you right now. This is Obama talking about his vision for rebuilding the economy.

OBAMA: With this endless parade of distractions and political posturing and phony scandals, Washington’s taken its eye off the ball. And I’m here to say this needs to stop. There are Republicans in Congress right now who privately agree with me on a lot of the ideas I’ll be proposing. I know because they’ve said so. But they worry they’ll face swift political retaliation for cooperating with me.

RUSH: Oh, jeez. Folks, I can’t react to this without… there’s something pathologically wrong here. In the first place, “Washington has taken its eye off the ball, and I’m here to say this needs to stop.” Now, I mentioned, I told you I heard that bite, I heard him say it live. He is Washington! This is the Limbaugh Theorem. He’s articulating it himself. It’s coming out of his own mouth. He’s out there in Illinois claiming Washington hasn’t been paying enough attention to the economy. They’ve been looking at the IRS. They’ve been looking at Benghazi. They have been looking into Obamacare, and they haven’t been working on the economy, and (imitation) “I’m here in Illinois to make sure that they refocus in Washington,” as though he has had nothing to do with it.

Via: Daily RushBo