Signs of the Obama Recovery More Clear Every Day

Despite the continued drum beat of RepubLIEcans that the stimulus package has failed, saying it over and over again doesn't make it true. Though less then 50% of the stimulus funds have yet to be spent its clear positive effect on the economy is becoming very clear.

Housing Values are recovering every month.

2009 will be the best year on Wall Street since 2003 with 20% gains.

Gas prices remain significantly lower then previous highs during the last administration.

The Federal tax rate is at its lowest point in 70 years, with 95% of Americans receiving a tax cut in 2009.

And the most lagging indicator is beginning to show signs of recovery. New jobless claims numbers show the lowest amount since 2000, and continuing jobless claims have dropped to the level at the beginning of the year. Finally a survey of employers shows a significant percentage plan to increase their hiring in 2010.

So despite the RepubLIEcans trying to do everything to obstruct and deny the real solutions put in place by the Democrats and the Obama administration, the hard work by our leaders have shown clear positive results.

It may be hard for some to realize real solutions have taken time, as opposed to short term false band aids typical of Republican administrations. So they can try to continue their lies and false claims of higher taxes and economic failure, when it will soon be clear to all Americans that it was Republican leadership and policies that brought our country to the brink of economic disaster and it was democrats who fixed their mess.

A Decade of Failure leads to a Decade of Hope

This decade began with a failure of the basis of our Democracy, elections being in doubt. Despite clear and documented irregularities in the 2000 Presidential election the Supreme Court stopped a recount that could have determined who was actually elected President.

On September 11, 2001 Americans were horrified as we saw that there was a failure in security. We were not protected by the oceans from attack. We found out that our government and President failed to respond to clear warnings that could have prevented this disaster.

In March of 2003 their was a failure of leadership and honesty, as the world and Americans were horrified that a President of the United States lied to its citizens to lead us into war with Iraq. We learned there were no weapons of Mass Destruction, and we had attacked a country that though impudent militarily due to no fly zones and sanctions, who had not attacked us and had nothing to do with 9/11.

In 2004 once again the world and American were horrified as we learned that our Country was torturing Prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Later we sat in disbelief as we heard our President and Vice President defend waterboarding. There was a failure to live up to the morals our nation had always held dear. We would never be looked on the same by the world again.

Election day 2004, our frustration grew as once again our ability to hold fair elections were in doubt. There was clear manipulation by the Secretary of State in Ohio to alter the voting results. Resources were shifted, voting machines were proven to be inaccurate, yet once again a winner was declared without knowing for sure who actually got the most votes.

August 29 2005, perhaps the most clear failure of the decade. We watched in horror as an American City drowned after Hurricane Katrina. We watched as there was a clear inability of our government to respond to a disaster that they saw coming for weeks. We had been lead to believe that our Homeland Security had been improved yet Katrina proved quite the opposite. The world watched in horror as the Country they depended on to help respond to help the world in such disasters couldn't help itself.

September 15, 2007 a failure of disastrous proportions became evident in our economic system. We found that all the protections placed on our financial institutions after the Great Depression had been gutted to allow such a disaster again. We saw banks failing, record foreclosures, jobs being lost at staggering rates, and we saw a President in the waning days of his term trying to wait out the clock to avoid having to deal with the reality of the mess.

November 4, 2008 The decade of hope began. So many believed including myself that this country could not move beyond race to elect an African American President. There was even fear the election system problems would again put the will of the people in doubt. Yet as we sat there in campaign headquarters, or in our homes that night and watched the images from Grant Park in Chicago. The feeling of utter pride and joy in our nation, in our democracy was gushing. I cried that night as all the frustrations about the failures of the previous 8 years felt somehow washed away. My faith was being restored in our nation and the leaders of the future. The America I loved, I believed in, was back.

We have seen in the final year of the decade that restoring hope is not easy. It is not done in one election. The damage of the failures of the previous 8 years was deep, it was going to take a lot of work, a lot of hard decisions to fix it. Americans are understandably skeptical. It will take continued successes by our President to earn their trust once again. We must do what we can to help with that success by continuing to vote for Congress People and Senators that are leaders not obstructionists. We must make our voices heard, we must shout out the successes that are made. When we are not happy with something we also must communicate the desires we have to our leaders to do more.

The 2000's were indeed a decade of failure, but I have belief in the wisdom and the leadership of President Barack Obama. Therefore I have no doubt, the 2010's will be not only a decade of hope, but a decade of success for our nation.

Dick Cheney continues to root for Terrorists

In Cheney's most recent anti American rant he has shown his clear disappointment the attempt by the Nigerian terrorist failed. He once again used it to bash the Obama administration with some dribble that they don't see terrorism a war. But did he condem the attack itself? No.

Cheney says they don't see it as a war, oh really?

Who was it that has finally made the decision to send enough troops to do the job in Afghanistan? Yes that was Obama.

Who was it that ordered drone attacks on Yemen on terrorist bases that killed leaders on November 3, Indeed Obama again.

Under who's administration did a smilier attack get thwarted a month ago in Somalia Yes that too was the the Obama administration.


On the other hand who released from Guantanamo two leaders of al qaeda in Yemen that are taking credit for this attack and may have ties to the Fort Hood shooting. Wait that was the Bush Administration.

Hmm is almost like they not only hope for a terrorist attack for political reasons but assisted. Naw, couldnt be.

Has the Political Media Lost Their Minds?

A few months ago no matter what political reporter you listened to or read the underlying theme was the impending death of the Republican Party. Now these same people on Politico, MSNBC and others are talking about the sinking ship of the Democratic Party.

They do this with a Democratic President who has succeeded in delivering or working toward the vast majority of his campaign promises. They do this as a Health Care Bill is about to be passed, something that no President or Congress has been able to do over decades. They do this as the there are continuing signs every day that the economy is recovering further validating the job the President and Congress has done. They seem not to notice that the group with the lowest popularity rating in the polls are Congressional Republicans. They poll significantly lower then Democrats and way lower then the President.

They seem to have forgotten the taking over of the Republican Party by the Glenn Becks, the Rush Limbaughs, the Sarah Palins and the Tea Baggers. They forget that in the last actual election of a congressional seat, the republican was defeated despite the fact that seat had been in GOP hands for over a century.

This up and down story line has proven to me these poltical "experts" can be believed as much as the local weatherman can be in his long range forecasts.

The next congressional election is 10 months away. In that time President Obama and the democrats will have more successes regardless of how many hurdles the GOP tries to put in front of them. The Tea Baggers and the Right wing wackos will continue to scare off moderates, and Sarah Palin will continue to open her mouth and confirm to even more people her lack of intelligence. That and with continued economic recovery and thus better unemployment numbers, things look quite good for the next 10 months.

Though the Republicans will try to deny each and every success of the Democrats, the facts will be there. As long as we on the left continue to get the facts out in every way we can, we will do just fine in November 2010.

Top 10 Republican Lies of 2009

Though Republicans have used misinformation, distortion and lies to achieve their political motives for decades. To me 2009 seems like a banner year for such lies. So what follows is what in my opinion were the biggest lies of 2009. First let me say that since the creation of this blog I have always worked hard to find the truth and to call out those that lie. It seems in this era one even has to define what truth means. To me a truth is a fact. It is verifiable and objective. It is not open to opinion. The following list are in fact all lies, what is open to opinion is whether they were the biggest lies.



10. There is a liberal media bias. This lie is not new, it is what those like Fox and Rush Limbaugh use to justify their incredible bias. The reality is the true bias appears obviously on Fox News, Talk Radio and so called Christian Broadcasting and bias is far right. On the left there is Air America Radio and a few other smatterings of Liberal Talk like Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz. But try to find it on your radio dial sometime. The right has been successful with their ownership in most radio networks and advertiser boycotts to keep it from being on any major radio stations. On television there is MSNBC, at least in the evenings. The rest of the main stream media is all owned and controlled by huge corporate interests, if anything their bias is to the right.

9. Americans don't want health reform. One reason Barack Obama was elected was his stance on health reform. In addition when Americans are polled on what is actually being put into legislation they are overwhelming for it. Yet with all the misinformation and lies put out by big insurance and the republicans for greed and political reasons, there is understandably confusion among the electorate.

8. Barack Obama is not a Citizen of the United States. Yes this lie is stupid, has been proven false again and again, and should be laughed at. Yet there are still those that promote this lie to this day. What is sad, it includes Congressmen, Senators and even Sarah Palin.

7. Obama is the most partisan President in History. The facts prove he is quite the opposite. Even with their clear announced intentions to fight every thing President Obama does, even with their attempts to block, stop and not give a single vote to any legislation that is being worked on on behalf of the American People, the President has compromised anyway much to the distress of the left. The Stimulus package was way smaller then most on the left wanted and the Health Care Reform bill does not have a public option in any form. This is compromise, this is bipartisan ship. He has done so even knowing not one Republican will vote on the legislation no matter what is in it.

6. The Health Care Bill was Rushed. This lie is laughable. It was 40 years ago Senator Edward Kennedy gave his first speech on the floor on the need for Health Care Reform. All we have heard about since last summer is Health Care Reform. It has dominated Congress, the news and many Americans lives. Republicans have successfully delayed it, stalled it, put obstructions in the way for months. This bill has not been rushed it has been dragged out way too long at the peril of the thousands of Americans that have died do to lack of insurance these past months.

5. The Stimulus was a failure. Really now? Did I miss the second great depression we were heading toward? Am I missing soup lines, food rationing, massive closures of retail stores? Am I missing thousands of boarded up banks and financial institutions? Is the auto industry gone? No of course not the stimulus, the TARP and other things implemented by President Obama and his economic team stopped the bleeding from the deep wounds left by the Republicans and George W. Bush. All with less then 1/2 the Stimulus money being actually spent to date. From here is all up.

4. Health Care Reform is going to pay for abortion with Tax dollars. No, it never was, it never will. From the very beginning the Hyde Amendment which prevents the use of federal funds being used for abortions was affirmed in the language of the Health Care bills. There was never any attempt to take that out. . This was a lie plain and simple to confuse and delay the bill, period.

3.Obama is raising your taxes. This is the easiest lie to verify yet the one most believe. Look at your damn paycheck for God's sakes. YOUR TAXES HAVE GONE DOWN! In fact the federal tax rate is at its lowest rate in 70 years. The only people even in danger of a tax hike are those that make over $250,000 a year that is less that 5% of the country. So Teabaggers protest all you want, but the facts are the facts, taxes have not gone up.

2.ACORN has committed illegal acts. This lie has been very successful by the right. It resulted in legislation voted on by many Democrats to cut funding for programs that were run and bid on in a fair process by ACORN. The fact is after numerous investigations and court hearings ACORN has been proven innocent. There was no election fraud, there was no mortgage fraud, there was no assistance in setting up illegal operations. In fact the only crime that has been committed was by those Con artists that created and falsified a slanderous movie.

1. Death Panels. Though most Americans do not believe this one, it was however perhaps the most sick, and most ignorant lie of the year. It was brought to America by that lovable brainless barbie doll, Sarah Palin. It wasn't long after it was picked up by the Tea baggers, The ignorant Palin wanna bees like Jeanette Moll and unfortunately some people that have actually been elected to Congress. This lie was horrible because it scared many elder Americans for no reason whatsoever.

Ok that's my list, feel free to add more in the comments I may have missed.

I know I left out some obvious ones like, Fox is a news organization and Sarah Palin has an IQ above 10, but had to stop it somewhere.

Our President Shows his Leadership Once Again

Today our President spoke to leaders of the world showing that finally America has a serious leader that is working to actually solve real problems. After years of Republicans playing political games and denying scientific fact at the peril of our planet, at long last we are working with the rest of the world.

Below is the full remarkable speech by the President that all Americans should be proud of.

Placing the Blame Where it Belongs

There is a lot of frustration in this country right now for various reasons. First of all the economy. Everyone knows without a doubt President Obama inherited a mess. We were heading into a depression, possible bank failures, and the loss of thousands and thousands of jobs. We came within weeks of losing the American Auto Industry. We are impatient, we want things to be fixed overnight. We want our jobs back, we want normalcy and we want change to prevent greed from doing this to us again. Yet it seems little is changing fast enough for our tastes

Then there is Health Care. Thousands are continuing to lose their coverage every day. Those of us that have it are constantly hit with sticker shock as our premiums continue to go up. Then we try to readjust our budgets again and again to cover health expenses that are not covered and that we didn't expect. Yet we grow weary of the seemingly endless debate and are losing hope anything of value will be done.

Then there are the wars. 8 years in Afghanistan, still working to get out of Iraq. We may be getting out of Iraq yet we still hear almost daily of another bombing or troop death. In Afghanistan we are aware of a situation so complicated that its hard to see what can be done.

Then there is the deficit something most of us really don't truly understand yet we try to apply common sense to it and get worried. We know it can't be good, but we want everything solved too, so that costs money.

With all this frustration it is not surprising Obama's poll numbers are showing it. Yet lets look at what is actually happening right before our eyes every day. On one side we have a President that clearly sees and is working to find real solutions to the very real problems that are in his inbox. He is bringing in advisers and the smartest people available to him to work toward solutions.

He put in place a stimulus package that is less then 50% spent. Though we would like instant change, real problems take real solutions that take time. The Health Care Bill is nearing completion. Does it have everything anyone wants? No. Does it have things some don't want, Yes. But this is 40 year battle, it was not going to be easy and it hasn't been. Yet improvement is about to happen. Iraq is coming to an end, no ifs ands or butts. Afghanistan is still a mess that is going to take real effort and real soldiers and real hard work to improve. He is working to do that with thought, with reflection, and with all the information available. He is also doing it with a vision and a plan to bring it to an end.

So what has the other side done. What have they done to improve the economy, what have they done to improve health care, what have they done to solve any problem whatsoever that our Country faces? Nothing. They instead have made political games and sour grapes their purpose. They have clearly no desire to solve our nations problems but instead criticize, obstruct and play partisan games. They are putting their desire for Obama to fail over the needs of their country. They have made health care reform almost impossible, they are fighting to protect the greed of the banks over the needs of a stable economy. They are doing everything from screaming theories about Obama's birth place, to distortions about health care proposals to outright lies.

They scream socialisim and that the government is trying to take over the banks and the auto industry yet remain silent when clearly TARP worked, the banks are paying back the government with a profit even GM says it will pay back its loans by June. Will the Republicans ever give Obama credit for all that has worked? What do you think?

Conservative money and media goes into organizing fake grass roots protests, that are simply racist uniformed dog and pony shows. Based on no facts whatsoever. They protest taxes when taxes are actually at the lowest rate in 70 years, they protest the deficit when its their party that took our nation from surplus to deficit. They shout hate and false attacks daily. This solves America's problems how?

Then there is the left. We had high expectations for Obama. After 8 years of utter frustration finally hope. But were those expectations too high perhaps. But on the other hand are we heading in the right direction? Is Obama broken a single campaign promise? No. Everything he campaigned on he is working toward. There have been no flip flops whatsoever. Yes it is taking longer then we would hope, But again, real problems take real solutions. If they were easy to solve they would have been already.

So where should we place the blame? It's quite clear it belongs in the squarely in the hands of the Republican Party.

Thank God we do have a President of strength and vision that is fighting to actually solve the real problems rather then trying to score short term political points. Because of this, for the first time in a long time, I have hope in a better future for our nation, both in the short and even more so in the long term.

Acorn Vindicated. Constitution Restored

Despite the briefly successful attempts by Faux News, Republicans with some Democrats to trash the Constitution of the United States with an illegal and immoral witch hunt of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, known as ACORN, An independent prosecutor has completed his investigation and found no illegal activity by the organization or its employees. In fact it found that the widely distributed videos are edited and fudged to make things appear much worse then they were. This fraudulent attempt by Faux News in itself is criminal and at the least immoral. Once again it is proven that Faux news has no interest in fact and is not a news organization at all but rather an advocacy group that will say anything and do anything to push their agenda.

Full Report of Independent Investigation

In addition the McCarthy like action by Congress in an uniformed knee jerk reaction to this false reporting by Faux News has been enjoined by Judge Nina Gershon of the U.S District Court in Brooklyn New York. She found the action by Congress to be very likely an unconstitutional act and has granted a preliminary injection until the case can be fully heard.

It is quite clear the attacks on ACORN are false and motivated by the right and Fox News to stop an organization that has been a helpful factor in helping the urban poor and minorities maintain their rights to vote and own property. This is just as disgusting as the racially motivated attempts to keep minorities from voting that occurred prior to the civil rights act and the voting rights act not only in the south but throughout the country.

I expect this kind of behavior from Faux News and the Republicans but for Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and Congressman Zack Space to go along and vote with them on this unconstitutional act is disappointing at best.

The Judges Ruling

I am full of Pride in Our President Today

Never have I felt more pride in the leader of our country then I am today. His speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize is one that spoke great truth and vision to the world. Our President expressed the deepest moral basis for foriegn policy that most of us deep down believe. He talked about not only America's role in making the world better and more peaceful, but our ongoing responsibility as well.

He spoke of the the existence of evil and the unfortunate need that does exists for force. Yet he spoke of the hope and work that must be done by all nations to move to lessen the violence and evil between peoples both between and inside nations.

He spoke of a future where the threat of nuclear weapons are reduced, where religious wars were not tolerated. Where religion can be used for its fundamental moral purpose rather then to be distorted to spread hate and violence.

This speech was a momentous event that will often be read throughout world history. It saddens me that there will be those who's cynicism and petty partisanship will cause them to miss this moment and miss feeling the incredible pride that every American should have today in Our President.

The Text of the Speech