Yep sure did, if they can't get them cleared the right way then he not the person for that office.

What a mess and it's getting worse everyday.

I bet the people who voted for this clown wished they had voted for the American instead.

"This recess appointment is an insult to the American people," Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said in a statement. "Dr. Berwick is a self-professed supporter of rationing health care and he won't even have to explain his views to the American people in a congressional hearing. Once again, President Obama has made a mockery of his pledge to be accountable and transparent."

The whole Obama Administration is becoming "an insult to the American people".

• From the AJ's lawsuit of Arizona
• to the promise of Securing our Borders
• to the court halls of the Black Panthers case of violating the Voters Rights Act
• to the "terrorist camp" closing at Gitmo
• to the BP oil disaster (why wasn't the Head of MMS taken to court ??)
• to the passage of the Mandated Universal Health Care Single Payer Reform
• to the EPA declaring CO2 is hazardous to your health
• to "we gotta pass it and pass it now" $ 868,000,000,000 Stimulus bill ($ 400,000,000,000 remains in the slush fund)
• to curtailing the Space Program but asking for more Muslim participation
• to the takeovers of GM, Banks, Student Loans
• to the Wall Street bail out
• to the bailouts of the teachers, police, and firefighters (Unions) [Financial Reform Bill]
• to the "looking down upon" our allies
• to the continuous campaigning trips/town hall meetings
• to the continuous parties at the Party House (Don't break anything)
• Et al, et al.......

You were voted into office.....the voters were wrong, dead wrong.....and you will be voted out in 2012 but not before your Progressive Friends in the Congressional halls are voted out this November:

• http://biggeekdad.com/2010/01/america-rising/

Of one thing we can be sure, Obama's appointments will be of more enemies of America, its values and way of life. And , by the way, these recess appointments, I recall when the Left railed against them when Bush made them. I believe one was Bolton. If we don't hear them doing so here then we have but more evidence of the double standard Democrats.

Recess appt's r only good until the next election cycle, yet, by then millions of those on Medicare will probably be dead.

Here comes the "healthcare rationing" that the dems made a big joke about right before they passed the healthcare reform act!

Can you say "death panels"?? We all know Barney Frank and Chris Dodd can say it!!!

Oh please, the insurance companies ration our healthcare everyday, and not just to Medicare recipients. Why aren't any of you up in arms over that? This guy's agenda is going to be cutting out the fluff and streamlining processes to SAVE money.

And besides I do think that too many Americans waste too much money on trying to stay alive for only a few precious days/weeks, when that money could be better spent on end-of-life care (i.e. hospice). There comes a point where medical science has done the best it can do, and a person needs to accept the inevitable. That money could be better spent on someone in the beginning stages of an illness that could be saved.

Determining when to stop 'trying' is a contentious issue, but it is one that we do need to discuss and come to a solution on. If Obama had to make this appointment and bypass the Senate in order to get someone into the position, then so be it. I'm soooo sick and effing tired of all these politicians playing the effing politics, instead of actually doing the damn job we voted them in to do. Quit playing games, and get the people into office to do the job. I don't care what this guy's political affiliations are, if he has the experience to get the job done, then let him get to it.

KY,

He's a PEDIATRICIAN.................he doesn't have the experience to get the job done.

As far as your opinion about people spending too much money trying to stay alive, maybe your doctor should just let you die next time you get sick.............after all, you wouldn't want to waste your (or the taxpayers) money! Maybe your doctor can just refer YOU to hospice then we wouldn't have to hear your ridiculous opinion about who's life should or shouldn't end.

THE COMMUNITY ORGANIZER IN CHIEF SNEAKS ANOTHER RADICAL LIBERAL PROGRESSIVE IN!!!!

The "Rationing Machine" AKA Dr. Donald Berwick. Another socialist leaning Liberal Progressive being snuck in the back door of the White House by the "Transperency King" Obama. This incompetent POTUS is bordering on treasonous, totally disregarding not only We The People but now even ignoring the Constitutional channels of appointment to control 1/6th of the US economy.

Berwick endorses an agenda that includes support for massive government rationing and his support of using health care bureaucracy to redistribute wealth. He has been quoted as saying,,,,

“Any health care funding plan that is just, equitable, civilized and humane must, must redistribute wealth from the richer among us to the poorer and the less fortunate. Excellent health care is by definition redistributional.”

Where the hell is my good friend USARogue who has been screaming that the Obama Health Care Reform bill is really a socialist scam for Health Care Redistribution. How right he was!

The history of Berwick is plainly obvious by his time at NHS (National Health System) in the UK. He compared the wonders of British health care to a U.S. system that he described as trapped in “the darkness of private enterprise.” Berwick was referring to a British health care system where 750,000 patients are awaiting admission to NHS hospitals. The government’s official target for diagnostic testing was a wait of no more than 18 weeks by 2008. The reality doesn’t come close. The latest estimates suggest that for most specialties, only 30 to 50 percent of patients are treated within 18 weeks. For trauma and orthopedics patients, the figure is only 20 percent.

Robert Goldberg, vice president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest describes Berwick's comparisons regarding the near defunct NHS and the US system as conflicting,
“It may not be joyous or just or configured correctly, but for nearly every disease, particularly cancer, stroke, and heart attacks, Americans live longer and healthier than the English because of better care.”

Berwick blatantly supports the "collective" approach to society and government must be the only provider of all of societies needs. As he stated in 2008, “The hallmarks of proper financial management in a system, are government policies, purchasing contracts, or market mechanisms that lead to a CAP on total spending, with strictly limited year-on-year growth targets.” That way “rational collective action overrides individual self-interest.” This sure does sound like socialism to me. But I'm sure the Liberal Progressives will just find another name for it so as not to frighten us OR themselves!

So, the "rational collective action overrides individual self-interest.” Which means what is best for the masses, or collective, is more important than the individual needs. If someones treatment is a burden on the collective then the individuals treatment will be refused.

And yet many in our country, notably the Liberal Progressive's somehow see socialized medicine as better. Yes, we will add 30 million new patients to the public dole, physicians are already leaving their professions early in hoards, hospitals and doctors are drastically reducing the amount of Medicare/Medicaid patients they will see. And yet somehow the proponents of this system feel that rationing, or as you Liberals love to berate so much "death panels", won't exist. Of course we won't have "death panels" they'll be called something "nice".

Oh wait, NICE is the UK's own National Institute for Clinical Effectiveness. NICE is responsible for determining whether or not the life-extending benefits a patient receives are worth the cost to the government.

And guess what Andrew Berwick calls this institution?

A GLOBAL TREASURE!

Dam Tired, nobody takes the matter of death lightly. I will likely face death sooner rather than most due to a neuro condition that I have. I am quite prepared towards the end to say "I'd rather go quietly at home with my family, than be hooked up to machines and IVs and popping drugs with who knows what side effects". That is not to say that I would give up easily, just that quality of the life remaining is more important. That is what people need to come to realize. Besides, I'm not leaving my family hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical debt, after my death, just so they could have a few more days or weeks from me, it's not worth it.

Remember, there is only one thing guaranteed in life and that's our inevitable death.

Regardless if you voted for him or not, you and very few others have pointed out true FACTS! The truth being told is that the position has been open for YEARS! There should be outrage in that.

KyEngineer points out TRUTH in how insurance companies ration day in and day out. Ask yourself (if you have insurance), how many tests did my doctor order that are not going to tell him anything more than they already know? I know for a FACT that it is done all of the time. The most profitable unit in almost every hospital is the lab. Without insurance, those "just in case" tests are never ordered.

Those that list all of these things that Obama has done, fail to remember that he just played the hand that he was dealt. The majority of those issues were on the table before the election. John McCain would have had little choice to do anything different.

People, stop allowing the media pundits to drive you one way or another. Start doing your own independent research of those that you are voting for. When someone (by the way it is ONE word) says something outlandish about a candidate, GO LOOK FOR YOURSELF!

There was nothing keeping them from asking for the hearings to be scheduled - then they could have taken their shots at him.

KY,

Your decision about your life ending is your own business..............Just like other people's choices are their own business. Nobody has the right to ration anothers care. This Harvard loser that Obama is about to appoint SHOULD HAVE HIS HEALTHCARE RATIONED.........NOW.......Then let's see how he feels about it! Read up on his background, then put two and two together.................You will find he has been a major player in the destruction of our healthcare system over the last 25 years!

This is not uncommon at all. Probably every past President has done this at one time or another. What is coming to light is that BO, even with the majorities he has, can't get his agenda through. I don't believe we've seen the end of HCR yet. SECONDLY, the Supreme court didn't appoint Bush President. All the court did was tell the Dems that you can't keep counting the votes until you get the result you're looking for. Hanging chad, pregnant chad, chad-chad, what a joke, an act of desperation. Wonder how many millions they blew on that one?

Wow, all this hate is keeping you guys up late at nite, look at the post times.

You are blaming him for your own local disability, you'll be laying off your fireman and police here soon. Then who you going to blame?

Blame game, always someones elses fault.

RED, still means "Commie" to me, cold war commies.

If it looks like a birch, walks like a birch, talks like a birch, then.....................heres Johnny!

Are you stupid or what (do not answer I am reading your response). Did you bother to check to see how many recessions Bush made in his 8 years in office - he made 171 recessions. So, again if it looks like its stupid, walks like it is stupid, talks like it is stupid, then stupid you all must be. Hidden racism.

People fail to recognize that Physicians HAVE to order all these tests to protect themselves from lawsuits brought by greedy lawyers whose only agenda is to make themselves rich when the patients rarely see any money won in lawsuits. God forbid they should miss something and the patient turns around and sues him! The members of congress are all greedy lawyers, trying to help their fellow greedy lawyers! Its a vicious cycle that needs to be broken, but no one wants to break it!

Oh well this happens a lot. Such as Bolton at the UN. Congress always has power to change the law if they so choose. I'm not so fond of parliamentary tricks either. I do take arms with politicians voting on a blatant violations to the constitution. And I really dislike when they ignore the eneumerations act and abuse the interstate commerce act!

So this is the first time???? Why didn't you call on bush's impeachment for the same thing? Hint...politics.

The government spent its time making insurance companies look like evil monsters... and then made a whole bunch of new rules to make it fair... or something like this. The reform the government passed was not a health care reform, it was a health insurance bill. And it's rather sad that people are stuck in the mindset that if they don't have insurance they can't get health care, when just 20 years ago... the mindset was... 'you either pay a health insurance company to manage the cost of health care, or you take the money you would pay for insurance and put it in a bank account in case you get sick'. And thus... people have ceased to rely on themselves and become dependent on others.

The government should have stepped in to take the frivilous expenses out of medical care... and changed the aspects that are grossly affected by examples as you mention FedupwithFed.

As for Obama skipping the confirmation for the time being... yeah, it's been used by the other party... and yeah, I don't really care that he did it, but I also realize that the reasons behind the move were strictly political and more or less not by definition an issue of an "emergency". The transparent thing to do... if Obama truly had confidence in how right his health insurance bill was... was to do the confirmation. He's allowed the GOP to make themselves look foolish when he's known he was right... which infers that he recognizes how bad things are out of whack with that bill.

Go figure. This is the only way he can get ANY of his programs 'on line', bypass Congress and just go ahead and make it law, etc, etc.

Time to depose this POS poser.

Patrick111710, the MSM will sweep this under the rug like every thing else he does. It'll be pushed aside and forgotten in a week, I'm surprised they reported this little tidbit at all.

True, this is not the first time, nor the only President to make these recess appointments...BUT...keep in mind the HC bill was cobbled in secret, then like it or not, shoved down our throats...on our dime. Now, once again, we are being handed a pig in a poke, with no discussion or examination being allowed. Must be something Obama doesn't want revealed or dissected in the daylight about this person. The HR bill stinks, and now again, we smell a rat.

KyEngineer said, "Oh please, the insurance companies ration our healthcare everyday, and not just to Medicare recipients. Why aren't any of you up in arms over that?"

Please! That is a very lame argument. You don't have a clue about rationing until you're on Medicare. Everything is rationed, even necessary medical tests. And now that $500 billion has been cut from Medicare, recipients will have to be denied a lot more than that.

I suspect that many seniors won't receive any care except pain medication (like the president suggested in a speech.)

Dude that actually is a real presidential perk- how about you take a government class and learn what the president can and can not do. You might be surprised. Multiple presidents from both parties use this perk often- its not new nor is it surprising given the republicans have put a blanket no policy on everything he's done so far- even if its something they normally would like or agree on.

implementing the president's plan to cut $500 billion out of Medicare

I'm curious. Why isn't OB cutting $500 billion from the free HANDOUTS?

Also being appointed Wednesday are:

—Philip E. Coyle III as associate director for national security and international affairs at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

—Joshua Gotbaum as director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

Is this also without Senate hearing?
Is Joshua Gotbaum going to guarantee the Pensions of THE PEOPLE, or just the Government?
And his other "appointee", Philip E. Coyle III...is this another one he is "sneaking in" under radar? For what? To help OB loosen the borders some more, since he is so against the Arizona Immigration Law?

Ntangbl

KyEngineer points out TRUTH in how insurance companies ration day in and day out. Ask yourself (if you have insurance), how many tests did my doctor order that are not going to tell him anything more than they already know? I know for a FACT that it is done all of the time. The most profitable unit in almost every hospital is the lab. Without insurance, those "just in case" tests are never ordered.

Are you aware that you just contradicted yourself? If you have insurance and they are running more tests than those without insurance, it is the doctors rationing the healthcare of the uninsured, not the insurance companies.

KYengineer - while I agree that people spend too much on treatments that only prolong the inevitable, don't you think that should be the person's decision to make, not the doctor or insurance company's?

KyEngineer:

This guy's agenda is going to be cutting out the fluff

Yeah, like meds to keep people alive. Wheelchairs for those that have lost the ability to walk. Foley catheters for those w incontinent issues. U know, the "fluff". Not to mention, cuttin' back on mental health services, funding for those in "old folks homes". "fluff". Not to mention hospital beds... I mean, who needs a hospital bed!!!

I wonder if anyone at MSNBC or other lame stream media will use Berwick's quote about rationing?

“We can make a sensible social decision and say, ‘Well, at this point, to have access to a particular additional benefit [new drug or medical intervention] is so expensive that our taxpayers have better use for those funds.’ We make those decisions all the time. The decision is not whether or not we will ration care—the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.”

i HAVE questionj for all of you who think this is ok. Can you explain to me why my mother who is on Medicare was told to go to the emergency room becuse she had a blood test two weeks prior and Medicare will onky allow one blood test per quarter? She has blood clots in her legs and is already in blood thinning medication and yet she had to waste tax payers dollars on going to the emergency room becuase her doctor could not bill medicare for these services????? This woman worked her whole life and this is what she gets back for her hard work to this country? What a shame.

Yep, mindless haters without a shred of historical knowledge at out in full force here.

Guess no one paid attention to the reference in the article that observed Presidents of both parties have used recess appointments as a tool to get around Congressional obstruction. George W. Bush did, many times.

Obama is most certainly no "tyrant," not a "socialist," and far and away one of the better Presidents of this century. George W. has a solid claim on "worst in history," Reagan on leading the "most corrupt Administration in history," and of all the major criminal scandals in Presidential Administrations - EACH ONE was under a Republican.

To the character who commented that he thinks many folk should have "voted for the American:" I presume you mean the waffling, foreign-born John McCain. A McCain-Palin Administration in this current economic climate would be a disaster of global proportions. You ultra-right birthers are simply not of this planet.

wow you are a dumbass, I bet almost all of you riping on the president watch and listen to Fox news too. I am not a Dem. but what the Rep has been doing for the past year 1/2 is absurde, "lets just threaten to fillabuster everything" Rep. are so out of touch with everything and spread lies and lies and lies. Do some research and then come talk to the public you jackass.

Ahhh don't ya just love the transparency of king ob.

He is a liar. I knew that. All you liberals are just learning it.

Please remember how you wasted your vote and 4 years of this great county in 2012.

What’s the big deal here? This is simply business as usual for chairman Obama which is selecting people for advisory panels, cabinet positions, agency heads, etc. based on ideology rather than competency. I think the latest example of this is that idiot head of NASA.

To all of you justifying it because other presidents did it, you really need to listen to right wing media. Bush got slammed for using this process. Just acting like the right didn't care when the right did it is outright lying. If it was wrong to you when Bush did it, don't defend Obama when he does it & decides not to "change" the way the gov't runs business and decides against "transparency". It's a really bad argumentative tactic. It shows you have no facts to back up your president, only diversions.

For those of us who have met Berwick and known of his work for years, the following may be informative...

In March of 1999, Ann Berwick completed a 28-kilometer cross-country ski race in Alaska. Three months later, she could barely walk. For Ann, an environmental lawyer almost unbounded in her love of hiking and skiing and everything outdoors - she and Don had climbed Mount Rainier together - this sudden loss of mobility was terrifying. Worse still was not knowing what was causing it or how much worse it might get.

Don used his many connections to get her the best care possible. Ann would spend about three months hospitalized in some of the nation's most respected health facilities, mainly Brigham and Women's Hospital as well as the Mayo Clinic and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. Don checked out of his work at IHI (Institute of Healthcare Improvement) to help manage his wife's care. It became clear early on that no one would be able to tell Ann much more than that she was suffering from some kind of rare autoimmune spinal-cord problem. It also became clear that all those problems with health care Don had spent the last decade complaining about were even worse than he thought.

"I was not surprised," he says, "but I was shocked."

There were medication errors. One morning, a neurologist warned that Ann shouldn't get a certain kind of drug. By that afternoon, someone had given it to her. Another medication was discontinued by her doctor on her first day of admission, but the nurses continued to bring it every night for the next two weeks. Later, her doctors decided to put her through chemotherapy to try to stop the deterioration of her condition. "Time is of the essence," her doctor told her. The first dose was given 60 hours later. She was to get a single dose of the extremely dangerous chemotherapy drug daily for five days.

On the third day, the nurse came in and hung up the intravenous bag and started to put it in. "The bag said `Number 2,' " Berwick recalls. "But it was the third dose. I was there. I had seen the others. I told the nurse. She just assumed I was wrong. If I had been 10 years old, she would have been patting me on the head, saying, `I know, I know, don't worry, honey.' I almost wanted to grab her by the lapels and say, `Listen! I know something!' " (The nurse eventually checked the record, and agreed.)

He and Ann also saw how profound the system's amnesia is. He estimates she came into contact with about 100 doctors in three months. How could she get effective care when it was painfully clear that almost none of the doctors were comparing notes?

They also saw unbelievable waste, much of which would ultimately show up on their hospital bills.

With some notable exceptions, the people they came into contact with seemed to be trying their best to provide good care. It was the system that made that impossible.

Ann's condition eventually improved, and she slowly regained her ability to walk, though she still has considerable pain. For that turnaround, the Berwicks are extremely grateful. Still, the illness remains shrouded in mystery. "If I had stayed in a lovely hotel and been waited on hand and foot for three months, maybe I would have gotten better faster," Ann says. "It would have been more pleasant, much cheaper, more fun. I had two really major medical interventions. They may have saved my life or maybe were just terribly invasive and didn't do anything. We just don't know."

What Don did come away knowing was that, if this was how the best hospitals were capable of performing, how bad must the average care be? "My wife's care made me angry - angry at very, very good people," he says.

So here's what Don Berwick did about it...

See the rest at... www.saynotocaps.org/newsarticles/The%20Revolutionary.html

What is revolutionary about Don is that Don thinks problems through and gets down to root causes and improves the process. Needless to say, those making money from those mistakes, or willing to pass the costs along unchallenged are terrified by this. "Evidenced-based Medicine" works.

I find it absolutely astounding this fixation for former president Bush that so many posters have. It looks like every time Obama does something underhanded, shady, unethical, illegal or controversial (which happens almost daily) the Bush haters emerge from under their respective rocks ranting and blaming Bush for something/anything in an attempt to shift attention from Obama. These people are ideological zombies who would be characterized by Lenin as useful idiots.

It's called the judicial process. Recess appointments are allowed if the Senate refuses to act. President Obama's predecessor used the recess appointment process as well. Be consistent with your criticism.

Thank you, qudrcps. That's good information. My own considerable personal experience with our "best health care system on earth" through my wife's thirteen month battle with cancer was similar. Those good conservatives who defend our current morass and knock any effort to fix it have likely never had a first-hand experience with what it is we need to change. I suppose as long as it doesn't affect you, it's easy to scream about socialism, death panels, bogeymen, and the end of life as we know it, all in the name of loyal partisan politics.

Health care is rationed today in the interest of profit and share prices, with a blind eye toward quality of life or care. Those who think this is the way it should be are off the rails, and would probably scream the loudest should they face the awakening they should dread.

King George appointed John Bolton as U.N. Ambassador in August 2005, after having been blocked by the Senate. Bolton was Bush's 106th recess appointment.

"Obama said in a statement Wednesday. "These recess appointments will allow three extremely qualified candidates to get to work on behalf of the American people right away."

Medicare has been without an administrator since 2006,

No administrator for 4 YEARS, but B.O. did this during a recess so that they "can get to work for the peopl right away"? What a joke, his only concern is his personal agenda. His arrogance and elitism are immeasurable, yet again treating U.S. citizens like they are dolts incapable of seeing past his emppty words. Remember how, according to him, his healthcare takeover actually granted us a new right?

All hail dictator Obama and his co-commander Filipe Calderon.

Some one need to tell him he is not king, or dictator he is President, It's time for a real change impeach him before we have no country and he can take most of Congress with him.

Ah, yes, because no Republican president would do an end-run like this and make recess appointments.

Yah.

Bush Jr. made 171 recess appointments. U.S. Court of appeals judges. U.S. representative to the Univted Nations. Ambassadors. Deputy commissionar of the Social Security Administration.

Look it up, folks, presidents since George Washington have done it. (Washington appointed a Chief Justice of the US in 1795.)

So what a lot of you are saying is the because Bush did it, it's ok that Obama does it too? Sounds like a ringing endorsement for Bush's presidency and the success it was.

Give me a break....just because it's been going on in politics doesn't mean we should be accepting it any longer. Isn't that what Obama's "hope and change" was about? I haven't seen anything but business as usual and the same corrupt BS that's been happening in Washington for way too long.

Wake up people and look at this move as well as a lot of his other "parliamentary procedure" moves that he's slipping through. He just appointed posts that will control the healthcare of 1/3rd of this country, and another that will oversee the already outrageous government pensions without allowing the elected representatives to review the credentials of these two people.

Not that our elected representatives are much more trustworthy, but circumventing the constitution and system of checks and balances yet again shows that Obama his no regard for the rights of those that elected him.

YOU BUFFOONS ALL NEED TO FORGET ABOUT THE RECESS APPOINTMENT AND SEE THE CANDIDATE!!!

Recess appointments are common, the concern you all need to have is WHO is being snuck in by this method. Berwick is a dyed-in-the-wool socialist hell bent on redistributing wealth. Your useless rants about who had how many recess appointments is just more politicizing rather than factualization.

What would another 4-6 weeks of waiting have changed anyway?

So what a lot of you are saying is the because Bush did it, it's ok that Obama does it too? Sounds like a ringing endorsement for Bush's presidency and the success it was.

No, what I'm saying is that darn near every President has done it. Bush's presidency, which landed is in multiple wars and a recession which is going to take a long time to recover from, will go down in history as one of the worst.

And, if y'all knew how these things worked, you'd realize that the Senate WILL review these appointments. Yes, it'll be awhile... however, the thought of the Grand Obstructionist Party holding the office which "will control the healthcare of 1/3 of this country" hostage to their whining is enough to make me shiver.

Not that our elected representatives are much more trustworthy, but circumventing the constitution

You DO realize that this type of appointment is specifically ALLOWED by the constitution, right? Article II, Section 2.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

As someone who has cancer I can say that I am not happy about this appointment, nor am I happy with the healthcare bill. I am, however, quite happy with my insurance company. My particular type of cancer does not involve chemo. One of the drugs of choice costs over $7,000.00 a month. My insurance requires I pay $48.00. I am not on the medication yet, but have been approved.

The thought of having my choice of care left up to someone else is disturbing. I see in the post by qdrcps that this man went more than the extra mile to get the help for someone he loved. Will he do the same for me or will he say - sorry - that med is way too expensive?

In reading his views, I'd say I'll be on the too bad too sad list, like those in the UK that were initially denied access to this medication because of the cost. Not until there was a world wide uproar, initiated by the support groups, were the rules changed. Of course, lives were lost in the interim.

Now, will the healthcare bill address those costs? NO. Let's make sure to send a big thank you to Harry Reid. Big pharma is actually paying for ads for his re-election in NV as we speak. Cheap payback for the sweet deal they got.

If there is one upside to having cancer it is that I probably won't be around long enough to see the total collapse of this once great nation.

Gerry...The recess appointment of Bolton was a TEMPORARY appointment. I don't think that is what Obama has in mind for this appointment he's making. He and Congress knew 3 mos. ago about this, yet waited until they were on recess to avoid any scrutiny. Once again, we the people are having the door slammed in our faces. Somebody give Obama and his groupies a dictionary so they look up the word transparancy.

Uh..Aggie....Just for clarity....a recess appointment CAN'T be anything more than a temporary appointment. It still needs to be approved before the end of the next Congressional session.

And yes, Bolton was a temporary appointment. He was also, however, appointed AFTER FAILING to be confirmed in his confirmation hearings. So, just to be fair, let's not pain that as a somewhat more benign situation.

Rainkiss

You DO realize that this type of appointment is specifically ALLOWED by the constitution, right? Article II, Section 2.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

Did that vacancy occur during the period the Senate was in recess? That's what article II, section 2 allows for.

This was a 5 day recess and the vacancy did not happen during it. Unconstitutional appointments.

There is nothing about this Illinois politician that doesn't scream corrupt, from his illegal alien aunt, him offering senate candidates jobs to abandon their candidacy, his support of the Mexican presidents criticism of one of the states he represents, the closed door dealings with BlueDog democrats to get their votes on the HC bill...the list goes on and will grow.

voiceontheleft...Be that as it may, at least Bolton DID have confirmation hearings. Pass or fail, the public and the entire House had the chance to evaluate him. With this Obama appointment, it was conveniently shelved until the recess and then slipped in. No confirmation hearings and we know precious little and have learned NOTHING in depth about him. Transparancy circumvented...again.

Aggie,

Yes, Bolton was screened for confirmation--and rejected. You're saying someone we've already said "no" to is better than someone we haven't vetted yet? While I don't support the recess appointment period, i find it difficult to swallow that somehow someone we have already screened and determined to not fit the bill is better than someone who has yet to be screened. In one case you're hiring someone who we've already determined isn't qualified or right for the position; in this case, at the very least, we just haven't evaluated their fitness for the position yet.

And by this slight of hand, we never will.....

Since the majority in the house has been and is Democrat, and Bolton was put up by Bush, no doubt that explains why Bolton wasn't passed.

And by this slight of hand, we never will.....

I keep seeing this argument... You DO realize that Congress still reviews recess appointments, and is perfectly capable of removing an individual if they are found not suitable for the office, right? Comments like this weaken your position, as they are blatantly untrue. (Bolton, for example, was not confirmed and, as required, resigned the position.)

Way to dance around the point, Aggie.

Hey, President Bush never did anything like this...oh, wait. Yes, he did.

In fact, over two terms, he made 171 recess appointments. Considering that Republicans had veto proof majorities for six years, that's a lot of recess appointments.

Some of the more significant appointments:

- He appointed two US appeals court judges during Senate recesses

- He made a recess appointment of John Bolton to serve as U.S. representative to the UNited Nations.

- He appointed Sam Fox to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium

- He appointed Susan Dudley to to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the Office of Management Budget

- He appointed Andrew Biggs to serve as Deputy Commissioner of the Social Security Administration.

So, where is the outrage from the posters to this discussion thread at George W. Bush for doing the exact same thing?

(Silence. The sound of crickets chirping in the distance.)

The problem is not with President Obama's recess appointments. The problem is your partisan perspective on the behavior.

This is the dumbest thing I've read this month. I like how two of the 9 numbered complaints are just exclamations.

You go fella. You go out there and fight for your NO WAY.

Just something to consider--John Bolton is and was a forceful advocate for the best interests of the United States, something that BHO and a majority of Democrats appear not to understand. Pray Psalm 109:8 for them every day.

You people are nuts. Your Jesus would have condemned Bolton for the lying warmonger he is.

All this Noise is based on Republican gaming that uses out-right lies, half truths, and distortions. Superstitious people are easily incited to believe this junk because they are easily swayed via their own fears and angers. Is it because they are too lazy to research a subject on their computer machines? Cannot get over a lost election, act like adults and come together after elections like Americans do? Why would anyone give up their individuality so others can use their whipped up angers and hate for their own purposes rather than for the good of the country? Why would anyone chose party over country or try to bring their own government to a stand-still with 2 wars, a colossal environmental crisis, and a very slow economic recovery happening? I don't see anything patriotic about it at all!

What is so wrong with rational, in-touch, solution-focused thought? No one is perfect, of course - none of us are. But healthy behavior takes a good look in the mirror now and then and enables a person to recognize when he/she is not using balanced thought and when they are letting themselves be manipulated. There's always that nagging feeling that something is just not quite right and those who manipulate are quick to use it for their purposes rather than for the good of an individual.

Many who are addicted to the political gaming drama have lost touch with what is healthy entertainment and are addicted to the drama that pits people against each other and gives them a false feeling of superiority. Many become trolls - paid and unpaid.

Whatever! The Noise is becoming self-defeating and very tedious, very tiring for those subjected to it. It has strengthen my resolve to never vote Republican again - they want us to live in their romanticized '40's and '50's! That was light years ago in our world! Is it that there are some who are intimidated by the growth of populations and society and they are feeling left behind so they lash out at others in order to make themselves feel better? Whatever it is, their behavior is the kind that causes others to avoid the ones who practice it. Hopefully, the fad of being argumentative for argument's sake is beginning to enter a phase of becoming a guide for those who wish to associate with the healthier segments of our population. Thankfully, there is the "Ignore This Author" option; it saves much time and enables good posts to shine!

Do all of you really believe there are only two sides to every story? Liberal, Conservative; it does not matter. We are dealing with big-time Statists and Corporatists in office right now. There is more to the political spectrum than just left-right. I think it's time we wake up to that fact.

Honestly, how can you excuse this behavior by explaining how Bush Jr. did it? Does that make it right? Was Bush the paragon of political decisions? I just don't understand. A response like that is so incredibly shortsighted.

dorrit,

Best comments I've read...kudos

The congressional pay raises did not pass. Congress voted not to take a pay raise in light of the recession. We are not guaranteed a 3% COLA. It is determined by the inflation rate in the 3rd quarter of 2010 compared to the 3rd quarter of 2009. The COLA will be determined under the law and has not been calculated. Neither Congress nor the President can change the COLA determined by the Social Security Administration under current law. Know the truth before you write up some vast imaginary plan to change the country to your personal liking.

And that formula for the COLA for seniors does NOT take into consideration the disparity between several cost factors that have the biggest effect on those seniors and some that have little effect on seniors. If a factor that most seniors would not be as concerned with (like clothing) would override a factor that they are concerned about (like medical costs, food), then they get screwed. Check out the cost of having to put a parent into either assisted living or nursing home care. The best price we've been able to find so far for my mother and still have quality care is $3200/month in a tiny studio.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm

Table A. Percent changes in CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): U.S. city
 average

                                  Seasonally adjusted changes from
                                          preceding month
                                                                          Un-
                                                                       adjusted
                              Nov.  Dec.  Jan.  Feb.  Mar.  Apr.  May   12-mos.
                              2009  2009  2010  2010  2010  2010  2010   ended
                                                                       May 2010

 All items..................    .2    .2    .2    .0    .1   -.1   -.2      2.0
  Food......................    .1    .1    .2    .1    .2    .2    .0       .7
   Food at home.............    .0    .2    .4    .1    .5    .2    .0       .3
   Food away from home (1)..    .2    .1    .1    .1    .0    .1    .1      1.1
  Energy....................   2.2    .8   2.8   -.5    .0  -1.4  -2.9     14.7
   Energy commodities.......   3.0   1.6   4.9  -1.3  -1.0  -2.1  -4.8     27.0
    Gasoline (all types)....   2.7   2.3   4.4  -1.4   -.8  -2.4  -5.2     27.0
    Fuel oil (1)............   7.4    .0   6.1  -2.4    .7   2.3  -1.4     27.1
   Energy services..........   1.1   -.3    .0    .5   1.4   -.5   -.5      1.1
    Electricity.............   1.2   -.2  -1.1   -.5   2.1    .7   -.4       .7
    Utility (piped) gas
       service..............    .9   -.7   3.5   3.9   -.7  -4.4  -1.0      2.3
  All items less food and
     energy.................    .0    .1   -.1    .1    .0    .0    .1       .9
   Commodities less food and
      energy commodities....    .2    .1    .1   -.1   -.1   -.3    .1      1.1
    New vehicles............    .5   -.2   -.5    .1    .1    .0    .1      1.9
    Used cars and trucks....   1.9   2.2   1.5    .7    .5    .2    .6     16.2
    Apparel.................   -.3    .4   -.1   -.7   -.4   -.7    .2      -.6
    Medical care commodities
       (1)..................    .1   -.1    .7    .8    .4    .2    .1      3.4
   Services less energy
      services..............    .0    .1   -.2    .1    .1    .2    .1       .9
    Shelter.................   -.2    .0   -.5    .0   -.1    .0    .1      -.7
    Transportation services     .5    .3   -.3    .4    .4    .4    .4      4.3
    Medical care services...    .3    .2    .5    .4    .3    .3    .0      3.4

   1 Not seasonally adjusted.

Hey Kevin,

You picked the wrong horse, admit it and move on.

Since you are so proud of your president, please drop him a note and tell him to secure our borders.. kk thanks.... (that's when he has time in between golfing and spending my kids, kids, kids, kids money)

patrick-

FACT - your GOP is responsible for almost ALL our national debt --- and this during relatively good economics times!

this does not excuse excess now after what your president left us but it certainly nulls any comment from the GOP peanut gallery...

try and be honest with yourself.

FACT-democrats controlled congress since 2006. It is your entitlement policies that cost us.

FACT---it is both parties that have run our debt up. This 2 party system is not working. We need a new electorial procedure, and we need it now!

The Green Party is looking better and better every day!

I swear that people here are more concerned about the color and letter beside ones name rather than looking at things wholely and sensibly to make a descision as to whether it's crap or not.

The Health Insurance Bill was crap. This recess appointment... is a proceedural step designed for emergencies... is this an emergency? maybe at the moment it is... but we've had over a year to get the spot filled. Is this a political move... you bet, the author didn't try to direct you away from that. What should this mean to all you people... is that if the President was as confident about this Insurance Bill as he has portrayed and stated over and over... and over again, then it is confusing that he would hide from an opportunity to continue discussing and showing its merits. And I know somebody will mention fear mongering and lies of the GOP... but completely ignore that the Democrats use the same tactics. Oh, and here is the other tell that Obama has... when he's confident he is right... he has allowed the GOP trip over themselves with some success. Obama recognizes how unsightly the bill has become, and how displeased a significant portion of the population is. At this point... this appointment is all politics - - - a continuation of "Business as Usual".

Well stated rat poison.

The biggest cause of our national debt is the DOD and our military/industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about before he left office, not the entitlement programs.

FACT-democrats controlled congress since 2006. It is your entitlement policies that cost us.

VETO POWER.

any argument that can be refuted in 2 words isn't worth it's weight in @!$%#.

...scorched earth policy... treason.... obstructionism... an unprecedented degree... I normally change channels at this point, Major Cassius Starbuckle...

The other party does not have the RIGHT to do what ever they wish. They are still bound by the principle that their powers are derived from the people. It doesn't matter which party is in there. No the 2 party system doesn't work. There is nothing in the Constitution that say we can only have 2 parties, nor that one of them should have absolute power if they win. Pull you head out from where the sun don't shine and see the light.

Dan: . The Republicans have made a calculation that their electoral prospects will be improved if they block everything the President and the Democrats try to do,

Could it be because a MAJORITY of Americans WANT them too?

Funny how it is not only the GOP saying "NO", but also a vast majority of America and growing............

Oh and just because you win an election, it DOES NOT give you the right to DICTATE! Obama works for US, and come November his reign comes to an end!

We absolutely understand OBama has the responsibility to govern. We also recognize he is not King and does not RULE all of us. Recess appointments circumvent the democratic process and are wrong byu either party. I want my government back.

You have to be a frigging idiot==OBAMA has screwed up this country ever since he got to D.C.

Why is anyone surprised at this point?? I mean really? This administration has not been transparent as it said it would. In fact doing many, many things behind closed doors away from the watch-full eyes I suppose. A health care bill shoved down the throat of Americans who overwhelmingly did not want it and the idiot Pelosi stating "well, I guess we will have to pass it to see whats in it". Really? And don't start pointing fingers saying Bush did this or Clinton did that. My kids do that..stop it. Stick with the issue of today, the here and now and focus on the problems. The POTUS does not have the experience or knowledge to hold the position he assumed or fulfill the obligations required of him.

Thank you.

Charlton Heston said it best. We have no great leaders at the present time. We have a lot of good men trying to do a goodjob. IF you're the sitting President when a recession hits, you'll take the blame. If you're there when it ends you'll get the glory. It should be known by everyone that HCR will cost us trillions of dollars is added government spending. Right now, the top end cost for insuring a high risk individual is about $11,000 a year. How many people can afford that? Guess who'll pay for the part they can't pay for. Most folks don't hold BO responsible for the spill, but they hold him responsible for the action or lack there of since the spill? He or any President can appoint anyone at anytime they choose. That's the way the games played. Blaming Bush won't get this spill stopped or cleaned up. Blaming Bush will not get government spending under control or this economy back in line. Bush may have left a big deficit, but BO put the icing on the cake.

So saying "yes, yes yes!" to every idea is something mature and responsible?

So saying "no, no, no, to every idea is mature and responsible.

I said the same thing when Bush did it. I'm not Rep or Dem I'm American how is that. I vote for the President but he also said all this crap would stop and it has not so. I am very sorry I voted for him. He was just telling everyone what he knew we wanted to hear.

Dont just blame the Republicans, they are ALL at fault. Vote them ALL out of office, lets start fresh.

OCD, tell the 15+MILLION unemployed and worried about keeping a roof over their head and food on the table how the "sky isn't falling".........

Or the 900,000+ that have been given foreclosure notices thus far this year, how the "sky isn't falling".........

Or the soldiers fighting overseas having to choose between going to prison or defending themselves, how the "sky isn't falling"..........

you realize dont you when the repubs are in thewhitehouse the dems in DC do all they can to stop stuff cause they also refuse to let it be easy if they are not in charge so it is the old pot you need to stop calling the kettle black

alexander: any party would do this, whether it was a third party or a democrat or republican. It's called politics and it isn't pretty.

eric it is a classic statement of mine that the worst thing man ever came up with is politics so i fully agree

For those who think totally replacing those in Congress is going to solve any problems, think again. No matter who you elect, you will quickly find that they turn coat as soon as they are sworn into office. Just look at those freshmen in office right now.....and that goes at all levels of government. Have they made any positive changes?

It is clear the government no longer functions as a government for the people which it is elected to serve. I don't blame obama entirely as these problems have been going on for some time. But, he has done the most damage in such a short amount of time and completely ignored the people of this nation and what is in their best interest. Just a thought...

Or maybe we should get rid of all parties in general? THat way we can focus on the person rather than the party all the time.

I like Obama but one of the major hangups with him are the same hangups that many of our presidents have had to face. That is being the party system in itself. I also don't like the thought of third parties I want NO PARTY AT ALL. Just the politician and their policies forget the distractions.

And beware of the multi-millionaires seeking those offices. Ask yourself why a person would spend $15M of their own money for a job that pays less than $200K. What is their hidden agenda? Whose interests are they going to be looking out for? That is the only reason I would vote for Mr. Greene in SC if I lived there.....he would not be there because of a lot of money behind him. Would he make a good senator? No, I don't think so and that would be a good reason to cast a NO VOTE, telling him and DeMint that neither one is worth your vote.

Do you realize that there are a lot of children out there who ask their parents for ridiculous things and the parents have to constantly say no? I think that reflects more on your idiotic opinions rather than "gop obstructionism". Sometimes you gotta stop your children from burning themselves with matches just like you gotta stop liberals from spreading the concept of mediocrity.

Yeah, my child asked to give welfare to the health insurance corporations and also to help out BP oil by making them not liable for any of their actions. I had to tell him NO. It was a tough decision but someone had to do it!

Mark D:

The only "child" here is you and the mediocrity you're sensing results from the constant refrain of "no we can't" that daily underestimates Americans' ability to weather this storm of Republican making! I am absolutely amazed at the mental midgets that not only constantly predict the demise of life as we know it, but seem to want that to happen just so they can be "right." This country came through a Great Depression because of the New Deal, and we will come through this patch if we use our resources to support our infrastructure and working class instead of the obscenely bloated coffers of corporations and the very wealthy. Please, give MY hard-earned tax dollars to the struggling single mother who will spend them at the local grocery for a can of infant formula or a loaf of bread, or to the parent who will use them to hang onto insurance for his/her kids after Big Business downsizes his/her job, NOT to some rich @$$^#le who thinks he/she is somehow better than the working stiff that makes this country function. (I wonder just how many "second homes in the Hampshires" Bush's tax cuts paid for while working Americans slowly saw our way of life slip into decline?) But the only way ANYTHING will get done is if we overcome the grade school petulance of the dead weight Republicans who seem to have forgotten that they are supposed to actually work for their constituents, NOT just decorate the congressional chambers with their sour pusses.

wrong. the gop is saying no to your unaffordable entitlements. the party of give me what belongs to other, motivated individuals is vastly outnumbered. you idiot mooch lemmings who think this appointment is a good thing are nuts or that needy. this guy is for... wait for it....RATIONING!!!!!you will not have good healthcare if you get any at all. you have been duped. it was and still is opposed in a ... wait for it...BIPARTISAN WAY!!!!

They also said no to the ' pay as you go' bill. No entitlements just pay for what want and if we can't pay don't do it. I wonder why they said no?

Dear Holy Cow:

Can anyone tell us why the Senate has had the request for a hearing on Dr. berwick's appointment since April and has not scheduled a hearing date?

BTW, Mr. Bush Jr. didn't hesitate to use recess appointments, either. They are not unconstitutional. They just irritate the Senate.

Steelchaser - No we can't tell you why. The Democrats control the Senate so they can schedule a hearing any time they want. Since they haven't they obviously must not want one.

'

Obamas picks are so radical that the congress doesnt even want to have hearings on them, it just makes them look too weird and extreme, this was one of them.

Obamas picks are so conservative he makes George Bush look like Ralph Nadar. Please...why don't you just admit that you love his policies (he thinks exactly like you do). It's just that he's the wrong color for your needs right? LOL!

Martine- stop being a racist.This is about an appointment- stop playing the race card.I don't care what color you or he are- but am mightily resentful race is being shoved in my face for bad behavior, lack of leadership, armtwisting that he never did, lack of oversight of MMS, Obamacare
Man spends like a drunken sailor- we will all bear the costs
And actually, he is not conservative, just slow or sneaky

It's just that he's the wrong color for your needs right?

Really? Why is it that someone always has to bring in the race card? It isn't like white people were screaming racist against anyone of any skin tone other than white when people didn't like Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan or any of our previous presidents. The truth is, people can dislike him for his policies and ideals without ever thinking of the color of his skin.

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recess_appointment)

A recess appointment is the appointment, by the President of the United States, of a senior federal official while the Senate is in recess. The U.S. Constitution requires that the most senior federal officers must normally be confirmed by the Senate before assuming office. However while the U.S. Senate is in recess the President can act alone by making a recess appointment. To remain in effect a recess appointment must be approved by the Senate by the end of the next session of Congress, or the position becomes vacant again; in current practice this means that a recess appointment must be approved by roughly the end of the next calendar year. Recess appointments are authorized by Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which states:

“
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

While the majority in power does set hearing schedules, a single senator can (and they repeatedly do) put a secret hold on any action they want to stop. That is one senate rule that needs to be abolished and declared unconstitutional. You think the president is acting like a king or dictator? I do not believe our founding fathers ever wanted ANY one individual to have that kind of power, either in the executive or the legislative branch.

Dear Powman:

Perhaps you have too much time spent listening Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and the Tea Bag Express. Can you actually show anyone a person who has had to wait five months for heart bypass surgery and ***document*** that assertion?

Racist ramblings and trying to foment a class war do not make the writer of such things appear cogent nor educated.

To be fair, steelchaser, no one could find a documented case of such a long wait for such a dire surgery happening under "Obamacare" since none of the laws or regulations that make up the policy have actually come into effect yet.

Which is yet another issue that I have with the hysterical rhetoric against it--"they" claim there is evidence of it not working, but it isn't even in place yet.

Steelchaser, I went in for an MRI, and was told I had to do several other procedures first, and they would schedule me one in SIX MONTHS!

I ended up paying cash for the procedure ($1500) and was diagnosed with a torn MCL.

Ever felt how bad a torn MCL is? Six months is a loooong time to deal with that pain.

P.S. Voice, this administration enacted it early, so no more waiting til 2014 and no more taxes being saved to subsidize it. HELLO increased deficit!

MadWorld, you must be in an area with only a few MRI machines or something. I have a neuro condition that requires me to have MRI checkups every year. I've never waited for more than 2 weeks for an MRI after my doctor requests it. You said 'I had to do several other procedures first' which tells me that they wanted to use other tests/means to figure out the problem - which would possibly cost far less money.

Obama the great elected official is trying to repair this country as fast as he can but it is damn hard after 8 failed years of BushEnomics. Though health care is not what we wanted (thanks to Republicans and Dixiecrat resistance and obstructionism) but that's what you are going to get thanks to you and your kind.

Obama is the most level headed man to ever hold office in this country. It was founded by our fore fathers who told us that all men are created equal. The Obama lovers are the ones who have been laid off first, since everyone knows that they let the top wage earners go first. The ones left still working are the anti-union people willing to work for minimum wage, thus creating a gap that must be satisfied by drawing food stamps and emegency room medical attention.

Research has shown that the Red States are the poorest ones and enjoy the biggest bulk of all the social entitlement programs. Obama is a free thinker and is not afraid to socialize programs that are not working. Most educated people are now of the realization that capitalism is not working and it is an outright failure. Witness the unprecented rise of power in communist China. A single paying medicare system would go a long way toward equalizing the playing field when it comes to global competition for American based corporations. None of the other civlized nations of Europe and the like expect the companies to provide health care for their employees. That expectation in itself sounds totally socialist to me (doesn't it?)

He obtained his college degree because he was bright and articulate and not because his daddy padded the endowment department like Dubya's did.

powman= post was great til you brought color in- try not to

Really??? what percentage of whites are on the 'entitlement" payroll 89%.....check your facts before making it a white and black issue. Entitlements were in place BO came on board. Fact is I grow up in a neighborhood that taught us 'if my brother is in trouble so am I". So rather than blame everyone lets all get rid of entitlements by opening small business and hiring people who are on welfare or underpaid?

rescue -- I think the wish was that Obama fail at his plan to impose socialism on us. You share that wish don't you? As to both parties doing the same thing, remember Obama saying we needed -- Change. If he's just doing the same thing then he broke his promise. Remember the promise of the most transparent administration ever? Did that include recess appointments?

Rush said"He hope the presidents policies fail." That is not quite the same as saying he hopes the president fails. He is all of our president. We hope he does not fail-but his policies are failing all of us at a great cost.

Rush said he hopes the presidents agenda fails, not that he hopes he would fail at reviving the economy. What he was saying, in essence, is that he disagrees with his agenda and hopes he does not succeed at pushing it through. No different than anyone else who dislikes any politicians agendas and hopes they don't push them through or are not re-elected.

This is really no different than Glenn Beck stating his opinion of what Obama is and what his plans are and saying he hopes he is wrong.

Both these people are radio/talk show personalities, they give their opinions. You can either chooose to listen to them and look for the truth in them and agree with them, or you can not like them and change the station/channel.

natedom -- Right, just as the Left opposed the agenda of Bush and hoped for its failure so the Republicans oppose the agenda of Obama and hope for its failure. The Democrats are such hypocrites and dealers in double standards. It's fine for them to oppose Republican views but not for Republicans to oppose theirs. Fair analysis is last on their list of priorities. This is one of the reasons they deserve to lose and lose big in the upcoming elections.

Gary, You are wasting your time trying to point out what the left did during the Bush years. The lefts mind is made up and you are just confusing the issue with facts. I however, thought you post was spot on.

Nah, he just ordersthe head of nasa to spend space money on improving islamics in space. Geeze, the guy is so blatant at times and people here sit in denial. Oh and by the way, did you read what the head of state records in Hawaii said this week? NO RECORD of Obama's birth in hawaii-none. Worse, there has been no social security card issued to him either even though he carries one from connecticut.

Wow, Carol, that's pretty serious stuff. Can you please link it so I can read up on it too? I hate not being in the know.

POWMAN....HERE IS HIS OWN WORDS...HOW MANY TIMES DOES HE NEED TO TELL YOU......HE IS A MUSLIM ? Here you GO.....

Watch IT ALL.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCAffMSWSzY&feature=player_embedded#!

He knows MORE about the KORAN than he does about America or our Constitution.....He is a MUSLIM....get OVER IT......He coddles them......He loves them....HE IS ONE OF THEM.....

Uhm, go to the al-jazeera website, memri.org, and just about every responsible news source. It was posted early hours on Tuesday.

Carol,

Thanks for the heads up, though I cannot find the information that you say I can verify on either of those sites. I WAS able to find an article with that information on WND, though the article was a bit spurious in it's content, in that the information did not come from the "head of state records" but from someone who was a supervisor for a section of the board of elections during the 2008 election cycle, who readily admits that he did not actually have ACCESS to any database that would allow him to verify his assertions. As much as i would like to give it the benefit of the doubt, so much of it is written in a very "tabloid like" style--from assertions stated as questions to avoid the accusation that and actual statement was made, to unidentified sources, to an unconnected main source on the record who can only offer what he admits quite openly is simply his opinion. To be honest, I could very easily believe this article was 100% newsworthy, sourced and accurate if what i really wanted to do was believe it because it was already what i wanted to believe, but as a legitmate, convicning, and opinion swaying source, it doesn't work.

As for the Youtube video, I don't believe anything hat heavily and obviously edited and cobbled together. It's equivalent to The Simpson's episode where the 6 O'Clock news edited Homer's hour long interview about the babysitter's allegations of sexual harassment into a thirty second, heavily edited and spliced statement that made him look like a massive, babysitter-groping pervert. It's bad rhetoric and deception bordering on outright lying.

And this is why I have trouble being persuaded to accept your side of the argument, because the information that is presented ot me as "evidence" is so spurious that it persuades me not at all. Give me real news, real evidence, and not "this guy who new that guy who worked there for awhile and overheard so-and-so say the who's-his-name was behind the whole thing." I don't need something as damning as Watergate tapes, but it would be nice to have something that's at least as credible as the end of a Scooby Doo episode.

VOICE------------ Uhhuh and if Obama stoodup on the top of the WASHINGTON MONUMENT and proclaimmed that he was not an american citizen, you would find a reason not to believe it.

See, you're not using proper logical reasoning. When someone points out that the sources being presented as "evidence" don't hold up as solid evidence, you assert that the fault is not with the evidence, but the person's willingness to listen to or accept it. Yet I pointed out clearly why the evidence was not acceptable. One presents a non-credible, unconnected source who, by his own admission, is simply stating his opinion and backing it up by saying the "general rumors" he has heard support his belief. The other attempts to take micro-sound-bites and extrapolate them into some sort of actual argument. You can't assert the he "quotes the Koran directly" then have a series of points of him saying "the Koran says..." without actually showing what he says it says (because then you are NOT showing him quoting the Koran), and then, additionally, even if what followed was direct quotation from the Koran (which, judging by the fact that those portions are edited out of the mix, provides reasonable doubt), quoting a text does not show that you are a follower of it. I quote Mark Twain in class all the time, even though I don't agree with a lot of his ideas.

It bothers me to see EITHER side (or ANY side, since I think there really are more than two sides at play in this), use invalid sources and attempt to twist it into some sort of logical and sound reasoning. I felt the same way when Rather was caught doing the report on Bush's service record without any actual valid evidence. The time spent screaming and banging on pulpits over utter trivialities like "is he a secret Muslim?" or "is he a closet communist?"is a great deal of diverted energy that could go into creating or arguing for better policies, better governance, and a better America. Even, perhaps, the vetting and positioning of an actual, better candidate rather than attempting to simply tear the current office-holder down based on non-policy, non-action-based issues and personal attacks.

Think about the line of reasoning here: did it make sense in '88 when there was the great debate over whether the first George (HW) Bush was from Maine or Texas? Did that effectively inform his policy decisions at all? What about the uproar in the early 60's over the idea of a CATHOLIC (of all things) being elected into the Oval Office?

For Obama to be both a secret Muslim as well as an actual non-citizen (or even only ONE of those options), and still make it through the entire vetting process to become President of the United States would require such a massive, bi-partisan, inter-state, national effort at every level of government--from local, to state, to federal--that it would be impossible for it to not explode all over the headlines of every paper. It would require puppet masters at the highest levels of government to keep the whole scheme on the rails, and for there to be no serious opposition or investigative efforts partaken by anyone to hold together. We live in a country where something as lowly as a state governor can't even hire a prostitute without being caught and resigning--IT AIN'T POSSIBLE. There is ZERO probability that the non-citizen and/or closet Muslim accusations can actually hold up, because the amount of conspiracy and complacency throughout the entire system simply does not exist. There would have to be buy-in from Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Conservatives, Liberals, Moralists, the apathetic, the histrionic, the media, governmental offices......it simply is not possible. And cobbled together evidence like that which the attempt is being made to pass off as "credible" or "persuasive" as these two pieces are, does NOTHING to convince me, or even the most radical Obama detractor who is still in possession of a logical brain, otherwise.

If even a SHRED of credible evidence existed, the likelihood that it would not have come to the fore during the election campaign is low. The likelihood that it would not have come to the fore and resulted in immediate impeachment proceedings by the second year of his presidency is nil.

So rather than ranting and raving about fantasies, lets actually sit down and start hammering out what's actually wrong with the policies and the actions he has taken, because, even as a supporter, I thin there is still PLENTY of room for criticism in those areas.

I have no intention of doing anything with the inept liar, in the white house except to encouramy elected official to do everything they can to obstruct him, iunntil,we caremove enough of his accomplice, to render him powerless..

There can be no question in mind of any any rational person, that, his aim is wealth redistribution.

He has a picture in his mnd of the county, that he considers ideal and he intends to bring that into being, regardless of the will of the people.

This is one more instance of doing as he like, with out regard for the electorate.

The best thing he has done is energize the conservatives in this country.

We will repeal the insurance farce within days of removing OBama from office, then it is going to get very ugly for that portion of the country that has lived off of the taxpayers for so long.

Many of the parasitical programs will go by the wayside.

The parasites, have gone too far, this time, they finally found that proverbial"last straw".

I am in absolutely no way a supporter of Obama. However, I have never bought into the whole, "Obama was not born here" theory. My doubt to the reliability of this theory was definitely confirmed when I saw the heading "Obama not born in United States, or Obama has no Birth Certificate" or something along those lines on Globe Magazine while in line at the grocery store, after all, I am going to assume anything published in Globe is the exact opposite of the truth.If he wasn't born here, and it is proven, then we are stuck with Biden for the next couple of years and I sincerely doubt anyone could think that would be a better choice.

As for him being a Muslim, why does it matter if he is? You do all realize that not all Muslims are standing in line to join Al Qaeda and fly a plane into a building right? There are many peaceful Muslims in this world. Besides, I am pretty sure he has admitted that his mother practiced the Muslim faith and that his father was a Muslim. Being raised by a Muslim mother certainly does not make him Muslim. I was raised by a Catholic mother and a Lutheran father, the only church I have been to since becoming an adult (with the exception of funerals) is a presbyterian church. I find it funny that people are either blasting him for being a Muslim, or blasting him for being tied to radical evangelist ministers. Either way, neither make him what the most extreme believers are. Being catholic did not make Kennedy a pedophile, even though we have learned recently that apparently many of the priests are.

Quote whatever you like but listen to ODUMBO's words he said himself in speech and in book about his prayers 5 times a day, you ought to search truth. Does it matter? you can't see his ushering muslim sharia law into the country? You people are really sad. Yes, yell racist whenever you run out of facts. He attended muslim elementary school that has no effect? You have never seen true birth certificate but that's ok too, the country gave up ;law ever since he started campaigning. Really feel sorry for the country, there are too many propoganda media followers.

Bush took away civil liberties? are you kiddiing? Obama has done more to do that just in the last few months! he has less respect for the rule-of-law, your freedoms and this nation's understanding of inalienable rights, unless of course you are a blackpanther or an islamic terrorist than many other presidents.

Geek you really want to KNOW how Obama administration feels about the "middle class".....and you want to know why MANY of us dont have JOBS? Cause Obama picks and chooses the races and the neighborhoods who get help.....HE IS USING ALL THIS AS A POLITICAL PLOY......

Listen to how they say the middle class doesnt have time to care they are getting screwed over.....? Nice huh? Notice how they are going to PICK AND CHOOSE who to help with the STIMULUS MONEY WE ARE ALL PAYING ? Nice huh?

This man HATES AMERICA.....GET IT? HE HATES AMERICA AND HER PEOPLE......His GOAL is to DIVIDE and to DESTROY......ITS ALL ABOUT HIM.....GET OVER IT AND ADMIT IT !!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZMyUTXdjTA

THIS IS WHY SOME PEOPLE ARENT GETTING JOBS.....AND THIS IS WHY HE DONT CARE ABOUT THE MIDDLE CLASS......THIS IS OBAMA'S ECONOMIC ADVISOR SPEAKING......GET IT ? THIS VIDEO IS FROM 2009.....THIS MEANS.....THIS HAS BEEN THEIR AGENDA ALL ALONG !!!!!! NOT TO HELP EVERYONE WITH JOBS....JUST SOME...... SEE ?

Just keep talking Char...the Democratic party loves people like you. They show the ignorance and the racism that seethes just beneath your pseudo religious and patriot exterior.

GEEK---------- Doing something for the people , is that what you said?

Would that be the 460 billion he cut from Medicare, or would that be the unconfirmed appointment of a doctor who wants to use denial of services to seniors as an economy measure.

GEEK/MARTINE---------- You bet , civil liberties, would that be like the Justice Department decision, not to prosecute when the perpetrator is black and the victim white?

Okay we are all racist. So?

Wolf, wolf, wolf.

Run out of facts trot out the "Bush did it" and "you're a racist"

What civil liberties did Bush take away from us?

char I just viewd this video and it is a very disturbing piece of evidence of blatant foul racism!!!!!!!Makes me so ashamed of our govt.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/01/22/robert-reich-keep-stimulus-money-away-from-skilled-workers-and-white-male-contractors/

rescue dogs...I'm in the medical profession ( higher than a masters ) and I can tell you that Powman is not wrong at all. There is going to be tremendous waits. Cling to your leader all you want, but you guys are clueless ( or just to damn stubborn to admit you're wrong).

Mark - It would be good to re-post your comment without the grammatical and spelling errors (there are going to be tremendous waits ... too damn stubborn), so people will take it more seriously. Just a suggestion. :-)

MarkD, are you saying you are a doctor?

'm in the medical profession ( higher than a masters )

Or are you just lying?

I have yet to see a statistic to support your claim that "most Americans want it repealed," but I would love to see some data on it, even if it backs your assertion up totally.

I believe, at least from anecdotal information, though I admittedly do not have the actual numbers to back it up, that many people--both supporters and detractors of the bill--don't actually know what the bill provides for. That at least seems to be the case with the wild and varied claims made on each side as to what the bill will actually do.

Well Voice, just wait until after the fall elections. you will see that attempt to repeal go forward and be successful. There are plenty of facts and logical deductions made that can tell anyone with a brain and the desire to see,all the deep flaws in the healthcare bill. How do I know? My state is the poster child for that bill and we are a wreck up here already.

OK, Carol. I'm game, please enumerate the top five major flaws in the bill--the most egregiously bad choices. I would like to understand what the other side feels about this based on actual, verifiable-through-research fact, rather than just empty rhetoric about socialism or national bankruptcy or whatnot. Please tell me what is broken with it so i can stand on your side too, because the knowledge I have of it--which i will profess is probably not as thorough as it could be--doesn't sway me to believe it is the wrong step at this point in time.

voiceontheleft: check out www.rasmussenreports.com for percentages of Americans who want ObamaCare repealed. 63% favor repeal of Obamacare; 41% think it will be done.

Thank you, Amos, that at least provides some statistical evidence that there is, in fact, a significant portion of the country that wants to see the law repealed.

Now what i wish we could find out, which is more difficult because it is not as easily defined as a quantifiable answer, is what the reasoning is for wanting to see the law repealed. Is the drive for repeal fueled by knowledge of the actual provisions of the bill, or by the inflated rhetoric that each side of the debate has used to uphold their position? If these 61% are opposed to it because of the actual content of the bill, then there is an obvious mandate here from the people that something needs to be done. Do this 61% agree that government shouldn't be involved in health care legislation at all? Do they think the current legislation goes too far? Do they believe it doesn't go far enough? What limits would they like to see placed on it? Do they want to see the entire effort for government driven health care reform scrapped (which, according to polls, would be a major about-face from earlier this year when the majority of the nation said something--without a specific definition--needed to be done), or do they think this is simply the wrong legislation?

That's the thing--it's a much more complex issue than an either/or. If you say, "Should there be health care reform?" and 70 percent of the population says, "Yes," that doesn't mean that they think they need YOUR version of health care reform.

And so then we come to the legislation we have at hand, and I won't base whether I support it or not on whether or not the majority of my fellow Americans support it. I need something tangible that I can point to to say whether I agree with repeal or not, and once again we move to the second half of my request: five tangible problems, egregious errors, draconian provisions, or whatnot that make this legislation unsupportable and the wrong choice for America now. I am, as I said earlier, wide open for persuasion, but i need sound reasoning.

Finally...a voice of reason in a sea of mental troglodytes. A great eloquent speech, full of admirable qualities, but unfortunately lost on the reasoning power available to their simple minds.

Why is it that Obama "seems sneakier"? A clear sign of racial bias!

Bias because he is sneaky, nope.Just down to earth.This is a man who has singularly a lot to say at some times- then tries to sneak things in on a recess.Were he really proud of this appointment- would be another speech.Didn't miss one, did I?

Why is it that Obama "seems sneakier"? A clear sign of racial bias

How? How is this a clear sign of racial bias?

Did I miss the day in school where we were taught that people that are half-black and half-white are sneaky? Does it apply to all mixed races or just Kenyan-American people? I would really like to know because I work with a few people from Kenya and up until this point I have believed they were being honest and straight-forward. Should I suspect them of always lying and being sneaky just because they are Kenyan, or does it not apply to them because they are not mixed?

natedom: I am certain that as a rule bi-racial individuals (black/white) are no more "sneaky" than whites or any other race for that matter. Obama just happens to be the exception to the rule :). And that has nothing to do with his father being Kenyan. Sorry!

Amos - that is exactly what I was getting at. I was asking how someone calling him sneaky was clearly a racial bias. Unfortunately, sarcasm tends to be lost in these posts.

Yep, exactly. I've been getting stuff from the Coffee Party that looks pretty good. I say vote them all out and get people in there that are reasonable and will get things done. Enough stagnation already!

hahaha the coffee party, you goofballs.

I don't agree with most Liberals (or a ton of conservatives for that matter) but Here Here!!!

Personally, I think we should scrap them all and start all over with intelligent people who are truly experts in their field and are not simply puppets of the political parties. Unfortunately, that won't happen.

voiceontheleft

Finally someone who actually wants proof, rather than neurotic paranoia, to research the issues for ourselves and make an educated and impartial decision regarding the health care issue. I don't blame our elected president using this method to seat someone. Since our elected president has taken office he has been stonewalled on everything. If this country goes down the tubes as they fear, we will only have to concede that it is a result of the opposing party. Our elected president is off the hook since everything he tries to do is shot down. Doesn't matter what the issue, it calls for an automatic NO.

we should get rid of the 2 or 3 party thing and just put everything on a website and cast one vote for each person. Then the majority of the people will say what is in or out and the thieves won't have anything to do with it.

Sigh......and we now return to our regularly scheduled program of hysterics and inflated, hyperbolic rhetoric. :(

Nope just the bad news that is in front of your face every day. Plenty of facts concerning his willfull disregard for the rule-of-law in just about every area he has control of. The DOJ, the census bureau, the epa, the dept. of labor(oh that is a good one-sending MILLIONS of tax $$ to illegals in Wa, Or, and CA) you can feel good about this but i don't.Oh and don't forget the perverse abuse of the rule-of-law in the (loser) suit againsrt Arizona for its efforts to uphold the law.

OK, so tell me what these facts are. Please. Don't just throw out some topics--please tell me, what, specifically, he has done wrong. I am open to persuasion, but you have to understand, I'm a comp teacher and I spend day in, day out, reading arguments--I don't buy anything without tangible support or valid rhetoric. And please don't tell me to just look at up as I now, since it has been repeatedly told to me, that there is such a vast liberal bias in the media that i can't honestly believe any of the things i read through news sites. So, please, and I am being serious, tell me what the real, tangible things are that make you feel Obama is such a bad President, because, so far, while he has done some things I do not necessarily agree with, I don't see any of them being much different than previous administrations--it seems to be same game, new player. I don't think that that's good, but I don't think it spells the end of America either.

I just did. FACT: Holder's DOJ is right now being investigated for the Black Panthers dismissal of outright criminal acitivity concerning voter intimidation., the Dept. of Labor just granted millions to "displaced workers" in Wa, Or, and CA. these workers being illegals who cannot work becasue of the e-verify crackdown. And of course the aggregious suit against Arizona which is in essence the federal government suing it's own laws. how about Obama taking over the NON-POLITICAL census office-somehting no preisdent has ever done due to the corruption involved in such a takeover in manipulating data, and using the informnation for gaining power and control. geeze, it's something new each day. Oh how about the latest weirdness? ORDERING the new head of NASA to make building relations with Islamics a priority-HIS WORDS! But hte truly bad thing about this man is his arrogant refusal to see the value and worth of capitalism in allowing free men to achieve their dreams. His spending is unsustainable and already a clear failed perpsective on the most basic of economic principals. even the europeans are deeply troubled by his actions and congress' actions.

Carol, everything you've stated is an opinion and irrational ones at that.

VULCAN----------- No it is not an opinion that a lwyer who worked for the Deparment of Justice has stated that they were told that the DOJ, would not try cases where blacks were accused of a crime and the victim was white.

Come on talk racism to us some more.

There are three groups of people gathering money and information, Holder, Janet Napalitano and Barak Obama are likely to be hauled in front of a Grand Jury in February of 2013.

Holder, malfeasance in office, the Black Panther Case, failure to prosecute the people engaging in criminal conspiracies, the declaring of sanctuary zones for criminal aliens, certainly Obama will be implicated in those.

Then there is the matter of the absolutely egregious, battering the US Bankruptcy Code took at the hands of Obama and Ron Gettlemen.

I wonder if we have ever had a Noebel Peace Prize winner in the federal penitentiary system, before?

Yup, that was Stalin's assertion, Hitler's assertion and of course FDR's failed assertion. What you dont seem to understand for example, is Jindal is absolutely correct. Shallow drilling is very safe, deep water drilling can be safe when done right. BP defied the rules and requirements for safe drilling and we all pay the price. Jindal is also correct when he points out the big government incompetence, arrogance and outright stupidity. Obama worships big centralized government and refuses to see the merits and successes of small local government, and private business. Obama has no respect for the constitution fo the united state-he said so! This is HIS quote from a 2007 NPR interview. "I believe the Constitution of the United States to be a flawed document." he doesn't believe it needs to be changed through the rule-of-law through the amendment process but done gradually by perverting it in court with liberal justices eroding it's correct context until it becomes what he wants it to be-a socialistic doctrine. he said, "I envision a swedish style socialism for the United States." THAT is your obama.

Actually, I liked Rudy G myself, but he was too moderate for the GOP. I am registered GOP, but do get disgusted with their tactics as well. I like what the Tea Party is supposed to stand for, but they seem to get lost in their own message somehow. I agree, we need more moderates in office. We need more term limits as well. We need to keep these guys from getting entrenched in Washington.

The teaparty is far from lost in their message. they are clear and focused on the very most basic requirements of a functioning first world society and economy. The libs are of a third-world mentality with no ability to see the logical outcome of their childish behaviors.

Carol, do you ever actually go back and read the content of your posts? I mean, seriously, if I string them together one after the other, it's like a script from any one of several neocon "infomercials" (I refuse to dignify such shows with any other title). Please, just take a few moments, read through your posts, and try to remember when any of the ideas you espouse were your own original thoughts! I mean it! See if even you can identify anything that isn't a neocon talking point. Good God, woman! You have a brain ... try using it for something more than a tape recorder!

Amen SpiritDance!

BRUCE--------- Well sunshine, i think most of us areb som disgusted with the inept quasi socialistic liar inn the white house, that we would cheerfully vote for Minnie Mouse, if she were running against Barack Obama.

I thought George Bush was a buffoon and a terrible president, and it absoluely appalls me, that I would take him back immediately, given the chance.

Bruce, the only thing Obama is trying to do is become President of the Muslin World.Do you really trust anything this guy is saying or doing. He has done nothing but lie to the American people from day one. Just look at what they have done so far, and the Appointments he's made that no one can contest.

I know all the Administrations have not been perfect but this one you have to admit is way out of control. They have the most corrupt, and sneaky people in power. Obama needs to be taken down a peg or two and realise he doesn't control the World.

Steve we shouldn't be at all surprised about this appointment, Obama has been waiting for recess to get this guy in. After all he fits right in with the rest of the Socialist Thugs in his Administration. Just wait until Our Employers start dropping our Insurance plans and dumping everyone into the Government plan. Maybe then people might wake up and say "I guess Obama Lied" or when Grandma is refused surgery because the cost out ways more than they think her Quality of life will be.

Sad to think this is where we are headed.

They are in my state of WAshington which is the poster child for this mess that will be the dysfunctional norm for the nation. It was jusrt decided that no more arterial stents will be put in if you are on the state's insurance, no more pain pumps post op either. Just think, if Bill Clinton had to have his heart surgery here, he woud have been denied and would have died.

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/05/AR2006120501264.html > "The stents, tiny drug-secreting mesh tubes used to prop coronary arteries open, appear to carry a small but significantly increased risk of causing blood clots, compared with older "bare metal" versions. That may boost the patients' chances of suffering a heart attack or dying, according to the studies, including one released yesterday." The new generation of arterial stents are potentially unsafe,

• http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/sports/27painpump.html > "Last Friday, an Oregon jury awarded nearly $5.5 million to a chondrolysis patient, and at least a dozen cases are expected to go to trial this year." Chondrolysis is a devastating condition that can require joint replacement surgery and lead to a lifetime of unrelenting pain. More and more evidence is coming out every day linking it to pain pumps. Pain pumps are potentially unsafe.

Of course, you can make much more political hay out of Washington's move if you claim it's some nefarious plot to institute death panels! And surely, the medical experts that made the decision are all on Obama's payroll. That's the only possible reason they would block the usage of such devices. It has absolutely nothing to do with the recent revelations about the very serious problems associated with them.

Spirit,

You left out one VERY important point. The Lawyers on those cases received over 85% of the judgement awarded on "legal fees". This is all about the Lawyers making money.

Also note key phrases, "appear to carry a small but significantlyincreased risk" What that means is that if say 1/10ths of a % of patients have problem with the Metal ones ( that's 1 out of 10000), and 2/10ths of a % have it with the others ( that's 2 out of 10000). That is a small, but significant increase.

Further it "appears" that means the problem could be cause by something beside the stent, just that is what the researcher decided was the cause. Same thing for the "Pain pumps". Do you even know what they are?? If you knew anything about medicine you would know that only VERY sick people in SEVERE pain get them. These are two example of why we need Medical TORT reform if we are going to have true Health Care reform.

How silly. they just don't want their grandchildren to be paying for it. They also don't want China to own us in ten years due to the fact that the libs simply cannot live within their means and quit running up unpayable debts. it is selling our kids into slavery.

We're gonna find out if we can survive without Social Security, because in case you didn't notice, people are having to retire later in life because of the situation with SS, and by the time I get to retirement age (I turn 31 in two months,) there will be no money to give to me.

KOKOMO---------- Block everything at the risk of the people? That what you said, sunshine?

Most republicans consider themselves people.

The ones that expect some one else to pay for their insurance, could reasonably, be considered vampires. So, is, what you are saying, the republicans won't hold still while the vampires feed?

Might wat to look around, those businesses, that Obama and yourself were going to rob, for the insurance farce, umm, they are leaving the US at an ever increasing rate.

Sometme when we have a couple of days to kill, I'd really like to get together, with Obama and yourself and y'all explain to me why you thought buiness would just stay here and pay.

Aw shucks, almost forgot, the last quarter of 2009 saw more that double the number of people cede their citizenship and leave the USA, than in all of 2008, taking large amounts of our investment capital, with them.

Dang it, seems like no one wants to buy your insurance.

Kokomo- actually at inception of s.s. as well as Medicare- they were not intended to be what you live on.It is sad that in todays economy,they will be, as well as that their infrastructures will all have changed.Who wants to be part of the great experiment of Obamacare?

The allegations that former first ladies from previous administrations had smaller staffs is Fiction! - at least in the cases of Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton. This is simply and completely false and easily proven so. For example, Jackie Kennedy had a staff of 40 (not 1), and Hillary Clinton had 20 plus another 15 interns and volunteers (not 3), according to The White House Museum. First Ladies have had a staff ever since Caroline Harrison's niece served as social secretary in 1889, but it wasn't until 1978 (many years after Mamie Eisenhower) that PL95-570 was passed authorizing "assistance and services . . . to be provided to the spouse of the President in connection with assistance provided by such spouse to the President in the discharge of the President's duties and responsibilities."

but Chris you've got me on the Chief of staff thing Laura Bush COS Anita McBride made only $168,000!