We are witnessing Obama attempting to become a dictator and seize power right before our very eyes.
Obama will make every attempt to bypass our (elected) Congress and run through “executive orders” as he sees fit.
And nobody is calling for impeachment, especially those in Congress whose power is being usurped. Something has to be done before it’s too late….
Obama to Dems: I’ll act with or without Congress
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has told Senate Democrats he plans to use his executive authority to act in 2014 when Congress stands in his way.
Obama met with senators from his own party Wednesday at the White House. The White House says Obama and Democrats discussed proposals to raise the minimum wage and efforts to pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul. Education initiatives and jobs measures were also on the agenda.
The White House says Obama wants to work with Congress to make progress, but will also act on his own to get things done.
The meeting was the first such session of 2014 and comes two weeks before Obama is set to deliver his State of the Union address.
The senators left the White House without speaking to reporters.
ARE WE IN THE MIDST OF A SILENT COUP?
Mark Levin opened his show today livid over Obama’s announcement that he will ignore the legislature and use his pen to write executive orders. He says the separation of powers are the key to our Republic and yet today Obama just announced that he would assume lawmaking powers via executive orders.
Mark Levin says what’s going on here is that we are witnessing a gradual, quiet coup:
He’s just announced that he is going to assume lawmaking powers. He does not recognize the majority in the House of Representatives. I don’t know how much more clearly he can say it. You know what this is folks? This is a gradual, quiet coup. That’s what is taking place. It’s gradual. It’s quiet, in the sense that it’s non-violent. But it’s a coup!
John Boehner holding up a copy of the US Constitution …Bwwwahhhhh…surely you jest?
Excuse me while I go puke..
and lest we forget MLES!
If we had a functioning government (granted, a tall order), Obama would have been impeached long ago. He has certainly given Congress plenty of reasons for doing so. The fact that they haven’t even tried should tell you all you need to know.
Americans are simply too lazy and ignorant to understand what is happening. They’ve been dumbed down by the government schools, bribed with “free” shit, and are too occupied by mindless pop culture and glitzy sporting events to care about how their rights are being trampled, their money is being debased, and their jobs off-shored.
Normally, I’d anticipate torches, pitchforks, and hangings in the public square for those who have destroyed the country. But no. It’s going to take an economic implosion to wake the masses. When the power grid goes down, the shelves are empty, and tanks are in the streets, maybe they’ll realize they’ve become prisoners in their own country.
http://thepeoplescube.com/peoples_resource/image/thumb/28753
The Tea Party is calling for impeachment and has been for (at least) the past year.
Senior British advisor: Obama ‘incapable,’ ‘crazy’…
Senior UK Defense Advisor: Obama Is Clueless About ‘What He Wants To Do In The World’
Sir Hew Strachan, an expert on the history of war, says that the president’s strategic failures in Afghanistan and Syria have crippled America’s position in the world.
President Obama is “chronically incapable” of military strategy and falls far short of his predecessor George W. Bush, according to one of Britain’s most senior military advisors.
Sir Hew Strachan, an advisor to the Chief of the Defense Staff, told The Daily Beast that the United States and Britain were guilty of total strategic failure in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Obama’s attempts to intervene on behalf of the Syrian rebels “has left them in a far worse position than they were before.”
The extraordinary critique by a leading advisor to the United States’ closest military ally comes days after Obama was undermined by the former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who questioned the President’s foreign policy decisions and claimed he was deeply suspicious of the military.
Strachan, a current member of the Chief of the Defense Staff’s Strategic Advisory Panel, cited the “crazy” handling of the Syrian crisis as the most egregious example of a fundamental collapse in military planning that began in the aftermath of 9/11. “If anything it’s gone backwards instead of forwards, Obama seems to be almost chronically incapable of doing this. Bush may have had totally fanciful political objectives in terms of trying to fight a global War on Terror, which was inherently astrategic, but at least he had a clear sense of what he wanted to do in the world. Obama has no sense of what he wants to do in the world,” he said.
The coup occurred with the federal reserve. This is a cumulation of planned action toward a goal of socialism. It took a hundred years to pull it off.
Obama and NSA to the American People (and Congress): F@ck Off
Submitted by George Washington on 01/15/2014
Americans want NSA spying reined in.
But a poll from November showed that only 11% of Americans trust Obama to actually do anything to rein in spying.
We were right to be skeptical …
Today, Obama announced his fake “reforms” … and he’s not doing anything but putting lipstick on the same ‘old pig.
The New York Times notes that Obama’s “reform”:
Largely codifies existing practices.
The Times points out that the reform is meant to placate NSA critics, without actually challenging national security agencies:
The emerging approach, described by current and former government officials who insisted on anonymity in advance of Mr. Obama’s widely anticipated speech, suggested a president trying to straddle a difficult line in hopes of placating foreign leaders and advocates of civil liberties without a backlash from national security agencies. The result seems to be a speech that leaves in place many current programs, but embraces the spirit of reform and keeps the door open to changes later.
The Times includes a revealing quote:
“Is it cosmetic or is there a real thumb on the scale in a different direction?” asked one former government official who worked on intelligence issues. “That’s the question.”
The answer should be obvious.
This is – once again – Obama saying “trust me” … without changing anything.
Obama has repeatedly promised to change policies started in the Bush administration. But – instead of reforming them – he’s reaffirmed them … and made them worse than ever.
Obama and the NSA have lied over and over again. They have told the American people (and Congress) to f@ck off.
The real message they are sending is:
We hold the power … So we’re going to keep doing what we want, and you can’t do anything to stop us.
NSA to Congress: F@ck Off
We’ve shown that the NSA has been spying on Congress for some time.
The NSA has never denied that it’s spying on Congress. Instead, the NSA first said:
Members of Congress have the same privacy protections as all US persons.
And Friday, NSA chief Keith Alexander wrote a letter to Senator Bernie Sanders saying that the NSA cannot reveal whether the agency has been targeting members of Congress in its metadata collection because doing so would violate privacy provisions accorded to civilians in the program:
The telephone metadata program incorporates extraordinary controls to protect Americans’ privacy interests. Among those protections is the condition that NSA can query the metadata only based on phone numbers reasonably suspected to be associated with specific foreign terrorist groups. For that reason, NSA cannot lawfully search to determine if any records NSA has received under the program have included metadata of the phone calls of any member of Congress, other American elected officials, or any other American without that predicate.
Obama doesn’t need Congress or public support, he has the NSA, and the Department of “Justice” (DOJ), and the IRS, and several other government agencies under his control. And all has to do is push the FEMA button to seize ultimate power and suspend further elections.
Not surprisingly, fear of government and abuse of power now outweighs economic issues:
Americans Still See Government As Their Biggest Problem
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/16/2014
While the “economy in general” and “jobs” remain a close second (with the latter rising rapidly despite a plunging – and entirely useless – unemployment rate), Americans polled by Gallup still see the number 1 problem facing the US is “dissatisfation with government; poor leadership and abuse of power.” Compared with a year ago, mentions of government are up slightly; but mentions of healthcare, on the other hand, have quadrupled — from 4% in January 2013 to 16% today!
As Gallup sums up:
The issues that concern Americans at the start of 2014, and as Obama prepares to deliver the second State of the Union address of his second term, are similar to those Gallup measured in December, and not wildly different from those last January. While the top five issues today also figured prominently in January 2013, their relative positioning has shifted in ways that could affect how Obama frames his message. Concern about unemployment, while up slightly from December, is the same as it was a year ago, and both the economy and problems with government remain top issues. At the same time, concern about healthcare is up, likely resulting from issues with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act.
I dont recall tears Boehner decrying GWB issuing Executive orders.
Also dont forget congress gave up its right to declare war duriing this guys term as senate majority leader.
Screw the Donk and Derms.
Neither one is a solution to the problems they create.
The issue of authoritarianism isn’t about President Obama alone. It’s about citizens allowing the big money special interests who control BOTH DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS to exploit them by continuing to re-elect republicans and democrats.
Any abuse of power or exploitation of citizens (their rights plus opportunity to prosper) is directly a consequence of citizens who refuse to completely reform government by replacing the current political status quo with independent representatives owned by big special interests.
The media wants everyone to believe the fight is between democrats and republicans. It is NOT. The fight is about Congress, the President, and big special interests VS middle class taxpayers.
Unless voters are willing to replace both republicans and democrats, most only undermine themselves and their future.
In 2010 millions of American tea-party constitutionalists, to include the GOP’s Christian base, united in a remarkable grass-roots effort to rein in our unbridled federal government and return it to its expressly limited constitutional confines. As a result, an unprecedented number of counter-constitutionalist lawmakers (read: liberal Democrats) were swept from office.
The Obama administration wasn’t going to take this lying down. Whether it was by tacit approval or via direct order remains largely immaterial. The president quickly and unlawfully politicized the Internal Revenue Service, using it as a weapon against his political enemies. In an explosive scandal that continues to grow, the Obama IRS was caught – smoking gun in hand – intentionally targeting conservative and Christian organizations and individuals for harassment, intimidation and, ultimately, for political destruction.
Not only has Obama faced zero accountability for these arguably impeachable offenses, he has since doubled down. With jaw-dropping gall, his administration has now moved to officially weaponize the IRS against conservatives once and for all.
Despite the furor over the IRS assault on conservative groups leading up to the 2012 elections, this man – a despotic radical who’s turned our constitutional republic into one of the banana variety – has quietly released a proposed set of new IRS regulations that, if implemented, will immediately, unlawfully and permanently muzzle conservative 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations and their individual employees. (The 501(c)(4) designation refers to the IRS code section under which social welfare organizations are regulated).
The new regulations would unconstitutionally compel a 90-day blackout period during election years in which conservative 501(c)(4) organizations – such as tea-party, pro-life and pro-family groups – would be banned from mentioning the name of any candidate for office, or even the name of any political party.
Here’s the kicker: As you may have guessed, liberal lobbying groups like labor unions and trade associations are deliberately exempted. And based on its partisan track record, don’t expect this president’s IRS to lift a finger to scrutinize liberal 501(c)(4)s. Over at a Obama’s “Organizing for America,” the left-wing political propaganda will, no doubt, flow unabated.
These Orwellian regulations will prohibit conservative 501(c)(4) organizations from using words like “oppose,” “vote,” or “defeat.” Their timing, prior to a pivotal election, is no coincidence and provides yet another example of Obama’s using the IRS for “progressive” political gain.
Although these restrictions only apply to 501(c)(4) organizations for now, under a straightforward reading, they will also clearly apply to 501(c)(3) organizations in the near future.
Mat Staver, chairman of Liberty Counsel Action – one of the many conservative organizations to be silenced – commented on the breaking scandal: “One of the core liberties in our constitutional republic is the right to dissent,” he said. “But desperate to force his radical agenda on the American people, Barack Obama and his chosen political tool, the IRS, are now trying to selectively abridge this right, effectively silencing their political adversaries.”
Specifically, here’s what the proposed regulations would do to conservative groups and their leaders:
Prohibit using words like “oppose,” “vote,” “support,” “defeat,” and “reject.”
Prohibit mentioning, on its website or on any communication (email, letter, etc.) that would reach 500 people or more, the name of a candidate for office, 30 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election.
Prohibit mentioning the name of a political party, 30 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election, if that party has a candidate running for office.
Prohibit voter registration drives or conducting a non-partisan “get-out-the-vote drive.”
Prohibit creating or distributing voter guides outlining how incumbents voted on particular bills.
Prohibit hosting candidates for office at any event, including debates and charitable fundraisers, 30 days before a primary election or 60 days before the general election, if the candidate is part of the event’s program.
Restrict employees of such organizations from volunteering for campaigns.
Prohibit distributing any materials prepared on behalf a candidate for office.
Restrict the ability of officers and leaders of such organizations to publicly speak about incumbents, legislation, and/or voting records.
Restrict the ability of officers and leaders of such organizations to make public statements regarding the nomination of judges.
Create a 90-day blackout period, on an election year, that restricts the speech of 501(c)(4) organizations.
Declare political activity as contrary to the promotion of social welfare.
Protect labor unions and trade associations by exempting them from the proposed regulations.
Continued Mat Staver: “We would be restricted in promoting conservative values, such as protecting our constitutional rights against these very kind of Executive Branch infringements.
“We would even be prohibited from criticizing the federal bureaucracy. If this new set of regulations goes into effect, Liberty Counsel Action – all conservative 501(c)(4)s for that matter – will be forbidden to ‘oppose’ or ‘support’ anything in the political arena and we’ll be prohibited from conducting our ‘get-out-the vote’ campaigns or issuing our popular voter guides.
“Further,” continue Staver, “individual employees of conservative groups will be banned from speaking or messaging on incumbents, legislation, and/or voting records – or speaking on the nominations of judges or political nominees being considered by the Senate. This also includes taking on state and local politicians.”
“These are the same tactics used by the Obama administration to illegally target conservative 501(c)(4) organizations during the last two election cycles, only now the strategy has been greatly intensified and formalized.
“You may recall that former President Richard Nixon was famously forced to resign for improperly using Executive Branch assets for political purposes.
“Rather than preparing a solid defense to confront these serious allegations, a brazen Barack Obama has chosen instead to reconfigure his illegal tactics into a set of ‘regulations’ on nonprofits, opening the door for an IRS crackdown on select organizations,” Staver concluded.
Indeed, once caught abusing his executive authority to target the very U.S. citizens he’s sworn to serve, even a nominally honorable man would immediately reverse course, resign and accept the consequences of his illegal actions.
But we’re not talking about an honorable man.
We’re talking about Barack Hussein Obama.
Any citizen who doesn’t make government reforms happen by finding (or helping to develop and elect) independent political candidates is someone who must be financially benefiting from the current political-big special interest status quo.
But the current political-big special interest status quo is destroying the middle class. So those who support the current corrupt political system are not only helping to weaken our country by weakening the middle class but they undermine themselves too.
We cannot avoid economic collapse via lies and propaganda about economic “recovery”. The truth is that more citizens face hardship and poverty as more businesses lay off workers or don’t hire while national and personal debt keep rising and we keep outsourcing most good jobs to other countries BECAUSE OF BAD TRADE DEALS LIKE NAFTA, TRANSPACIFIC PARTNERSHIP, KORUS, and others. We’ve lost almost 6 million jobs since 1993.
Just as Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme collapsed, the US government – federal reserve scheme must also collapse at some point too perhaps triggered by the baby boomer retirement peak approaching in the next seven years, or the bursting of the enormous Bond market, Derivatives, and student loan bubbles.
Citizens either have the guts to make reform happen to save their own and their children’s future – or go down with the ship.
I have almost no earthly way to know whether (or when) Obama is exceeding legal authority with his executive orders. If underlying legislation has granted the executive broad authority in implementing said law, then he has the authority. If it hasn’t then he doesn’t. I know that Obamacare granted the Secretary of HHS broad authority to waive provisions, grant exemptions, etc. Did Obamacare similarly authorize the president to delay portions of the law? I don’t know. I haven’t read the damned law. Neither have any reporters. There has been a lot of braying about Obama’s use of executive orders. I suspect he’s exceeded his legal authority on many occasions, but I won’t take Mark Levin’s word for it, no matter how much I might enjoy Levin’s rants. In most cases, assessing the legality of an Obama executive order would take a careful analysis of law by a team of trustworthy non-partisan lawyers. That’s not the kind of analysis we get from the media or from partisans on either side. If congress delegated their authority to the executive branch, then they fucked up.
“The President thinks the way to address the malaise in the economy is to give another $26 billion to the long-term unemployed, shown to produce new jobs by ‘independent economists’ (we know who that is) according to the President. If you borrow $26 billion from China and give it to consumers, it probably does have a positive impact, but does nothing to fix the economy or encourage labor force participation or improve the labor force.”
Bill Dunkleberg
“I believe the set aside their law, as and when they wish. Their law no longer has rightful authority over us. All they have over us then, is tyranny. And I will no longer live under than yoke…”
Captain Jack Winthrop, Militia Commander
Last Of The Mohicans
I’m beginning to think the solution to this African POS is a Raufoss MK211 at about 1500m.
ragman,
Many of us have thought the same, but it’d cause more problems than it would fix. The entire month of February would become a permanent federal holiday in Obama’s honor. I keep hoping an asteroid would take out Obama & Biden at the same time.
ISKA: I respect your comment and opinion………but, I have been around for a long fucking time and I never thought I would see someone like this occupying the White House. He is 100X worse than Joe “bite Me” on a bad day. He is a racist POS and is Hell-bent on dividing our country along racial lines.
Administrator says:
“The President thinks the way to address the malaise in the economy is to give another $26 billion to the long-term unemployed, shown to produce new jobs by ‘independent economists’ (we know who that is) according to the President. If you borrow $26 billion from China and give it to consumers, it probably does have a positive impact, but does nothing to fix the economy or encourage labor force participation or improve the labor force.”
Well fuck, it worked for Chavez, right? (not so well for his successor, though. Chavez picked a good time to croak.
As was observed decades ago and has been reaffirmed many times since then,
““GOD LOOKS AFTER DRUNKS, FOOLS, AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”
Don’t worry, be happy… we’ll be alright.
I have this print on my wall (along with The Nation Makers)….
Whenever I hear about Obongo becoming Emperor and Grand Potentate for Life, I look at it and take heart…
Here It Comes: Obama Considering Executive Order To Raise Minimum Wage
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/16/2014
Moments ago The Hill reported that what many thought was absolutely impossible, may in fact become a reality: President Obama is considering issuing an executive order (#394,039,993,837?) to raise the minimum wage for Federal Workers… and in the process – with the help of that other central planner par excellence Bern-ellen – lap all those other Banana republics that everyone so enjoys making fun of.
AWD
Obama and Boehner, pictured in your post, made the list of the “Ten Most Corrupt Politicians of 2013.” Obama tops the list as he has acted as a one-man Congress rewriting entire sections of federal law on his own. It looks like he will continue his role as dictator in 2014 using his pen and his phone.
Boehner is battling a drinking problem, breaking down in tears after too many glasses of wine, often showing up for work under the influence. It is well known in D.C.(District of Criminals) circles that the Ohio politician “likes his booze.”
When Democrat Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House, she banned smoking in many buildings, including the Capitol Hill Club, which is a favorite GOP hangout. So Boehner, who was House Minority Leader at the time, went to the Democratic Club, which was a hold out from the no-smoking rule, and wound up drinking with his political enemies just so he could smoke!
Our system is fundamentally broken. Both major parties are two sides of the same coin. Not a dime’s worth of difference separates them. Secrecy and back room deals substitute for a free and open process. I truly believe that all members of Congress are taking bribes to look the other way. That’s why they don’t care about their voters.
What they do care about is taking care of their political careers and taking care of their big donors. It takes enormous amounts of money to win national elections in America, and members of Congress are not about to do anything that will threaten the gravy train.
I like my booze, too, but I must have started off with more brain cells than did Boehner. He’s itching to pass an open borders amnesty like the one passed by the Senate last summer.
Obama could kill and eat babies in the rose garden and the self serving whores in the senate would not impeach him. Our only hope is the other whores in SCOTUS. It is not going to happen. That is why there will be violence and retribution in the crisis to come in the next 10 years. It just depends on who has the most balls , who gets the retribution.
Above all else be armed. Remember the politicians.
Irak – If you moth brains, like Billy, think the 2nd Amendment guns owners stand a chance against the Feds, wise-the-fuck up. AWD pointed out that Obama has the NSA, the DOJ, the IRS, and FEMA camps. I’d add the military, the police and more to the list. Don’t expect me or anyone except your soon-to-be ex-wife to visit your ass in prison after you’ve taken to the ramparts and suffered for it.
Jackson – Steve Hogan’s got it right… dumb dipshits get taken advantage of. Steve Hogan – “Americans are simply too lazy and ignorant to understand what is happening. They’ve been dumbed down by the government schools, bribed with “free” shit, and are too occupied by mindless pop culture and glitzy sporting events to care how their rights are being trampled, their money is being debased, and their jobs off-shored.”
– SS – I’m agreeing with this guy more and more – especially about getting smart and not electing Rs and Ds. SS – “It’s about citizens allowing the big money special interests who control BOTH DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS to exploit them by continuing to re-elect Republicans and Democrats”.
Dumbass – Look into it you dumbasses. Recent hand-wringing complaints (the last 12 years) go back to the Neocons Project For The New American Century and… Well, I’m a big fan of JQ and TBP, one of my Fab Five website,s and I don’t want to piss off the Administrator by bringing up ___ , so I’ll leave it at that.
Anonymous – Not every Anonymous is me and … ah, who cares.
I see all of this as just a fractal. The president doesn’t want to do his job. The congress doesn’t want to do its job either. Corporations, especially banks, just want something for nothing and the people no longer want to work or participate in the democratic process. It is a systemic failure from the top all the way down to the very bottom.
What this says to me, anyways, is that all bets are off and that no one is willing to invest the time or the energy to maintain the old system. Our current society has become too complex to maintain but no one has the courage to admit it.
This can not continue for much longer.
But who will fight back: the Repubs? They spent 8 years giving W. even more power than he demanded–the “Imperial Presidency”, oblivious to the fact that the other party might get in.
Oh wait, it didn’t matter–it’s all one party simply with sides wings spouting opposite rhetoric.
Anon @ 23:08
Sorry about your balls… and your lack of character, intestinal fortitude, your cowardice and the sneering condescension you use to put down others.
Some folks were born with the good and wholesome qualities of the rugged individualist. And others.. well, then there’s you.
Enjoy your chains and shackles… I might end up dead, but at least I won’t be wearing them.
Get serious bitchez…
Speaker Boehner to US Senate: ‘Get Serious’ About Passing NDAA
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20131203/DEFREG02/312030022/Speaker-Boehner-US-Senate-Get-Serious-About-Passing-NDAA
The Republican party is past disgusting.It has achieved an everlasting plateau of incessant revulsion…..but, but …I’m sure if you just vote in the right (flea party) candidates,,,phhhttttt
http://www.dailypaul.com/151063/john-boehner-discussing-ways-to-prevent-ron-paul-from-becoming-chairman
Quote:
Five GOP leadership aides, speaking anonymously because a decision isn’t final, say incoming House Speaker John Boehner has discussed ways to prevent Paul from becoming chairman or to keep him on a tight leash if he does.
If Boehner, who will help determine who gets to chair subcommittees as early as Dec. 8, rejects Paul, he may have to contend with thousands of grassroots supporters and dozens of younger lawmakers who see Paul as a hero.
It’s never too late, there’s always hope for the return of christ. Even if all else fails.
If I die before the return, so be it. There’s lot’s shittier places to be than in the grave. And there is still hope, even there. Even if I’m wrong, I’m no worse off than I was without hope. So, I’ll take what’s behind door #1, HOPE, fight to the death to practice truth and to keep the faith of God.
fuck that asshole John Boner (which is how his name should be spelled and pronounced because he is a dick, all he does is fuck shit up and have liquid come out of his head).
Obama is a flaming turd made of hair and indian food but it isn’t like Boner is pro-freedom or pro-Constitution; that isn’t even worth a laugh.
He had the gaul to post that pic on his facebook page and people are responding appropirately by calling him a “traitor” and asking if he means what he says why hasn’t the impeachment process been started.
Boner is nothing but another politician who isn’t mad about a president with dictatorial powers, he is made that the dictator isn’t a Rethuglican. nothing but political posturing.
Congress is worth than worthless.It is despicably worthless …but at pretend and extend they are the best puppets that corporate money can buy.
Why Congress Is Held in Contempt
By Patrick J. Buchanan
“I’ve got a pen,” said President Obama early this week.
“I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions … that move the ball forward.”
“When I can act on my own without Congress, I’m going to do so,” the president added Wednesday at North Carolina State.
Thus did Obama signal that he will bypass Congress and use his executive powers to advance his agenda of national transformation.
This dismissal of Congress has gone almost unprotested. In an earlier age it might have evoked talk of impeachment. But not now.
For though Congress may be the first branch of government in the Constitution, with the longest list of enumerated powers in Article 1, its eclipse has been extraordinary.
Congressional powers have eroded or been surrendered. The esteem in which Congress is now held calls to mind Emily Dickinson: “It dropped so low in my regard/I heard it hit the ground.”
Congress boasts a 13 percent approval, a surge from its all-time low of 9 percent last fall before the budget deal.
While ex-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates expressed disappointment in Obama and Hillary Clinton in his book “Duty,” and was dismissive of Joe Biden, his view of Congress dripped with venom:
“Uncivil, incompetent in fulfilling basic constitutional responsibilities (such as timely appropriations), micromanagerial, parochial, hypocritical, egotistical, thin-skinned, often putting self (and reelection) before country — this was my view of the majority of the United States Congress.”
At Congressional hearings, Gates says he was “exceptionally offended by the constant, adversarial, inquisition-like treatment,” and lines of inquiry that were “rude, insulting, belittling, bullying, and all too often personal.”
Admirers of Obama, Hillary and Biden have all come forward to defend them. Where are the defenders of Congress from this searing indictment by Gates? Almost nowhere.
What happened to Congress? Not so long ago, school children were taught more about Sens. Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster than many of the presidents of that pre-Civil War era.
High among the causes of Congress’ decline has surely been the loss or surrender of its constitutional powers — to presidents, the Supreme Court and a federal bureaucracy Congress itself created.
Consider this. Under Article 1, Congress is entrusted with the power to “regulate commerce with foreign nations.”
With the exception of slavery, there was not a more divisive issue before the Civil War than the tariff question.
In the Jacksonian era, South Carolina almost seceded over the tariff, and Andrew Jackson threatened an invasion.
Today, Congress first surrendered to the executive the authority to negotiate trade deals, and then passed fast track, denying itself the right to amend those treaties. Congress has restricted itself to a yes or no vote on what the executive negotiates.
The transnational corporations that finance campaigns are delighted.
But as a consequence of NAFTA, GATT, and the WTO, a third of U.S. manufacturing jobs and a huge slice of our manufacturing base have been shipped overseas, and we have run $10 trillion in trade deficits since Bush I.
The stunning industrial decline of the United States has been matched in two centuries only by the USSR.
Congress was granted the power to “coin money” and “regulate the value thereof.” But in 1913, Congress transferred that power to the Federal Reserve.
With the Fed as its steward, the dollar’s purchasing power had fallen to that of a couple of pennies in 1913. And the Fed was responsible for the stock market bubble that bought on the Great Crash of 1929 and Great Depression, and the real estate and stock market bubbles that brought on our own Great Recession.
Yet, the Fed is untouchable.
Though Congress was granted exclusive power “to declare war,” our last declared war was in 1941.
Obama today draws “red lines” and tells nations not to cross them or we bomb, and announces to the world that, in dealing with Iran, “all options are on the table,” meaning war.
But when did Congress authorize Obama to wage war on Iran? Never.
Nor did Congress authorize Bill Clinton to bomb Serbia.
While Congress was granted the power in the Constitution to restrict the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, that court has been on an ideological tear, remaking America without a nod to Congress.
The court has created new rights for criminal suspects out of thin air. It ordered all states to integrate public schools, even if that meant forced busing by race across cities. It declared abortion and homosexual relations to be constitutionally protected rights.
Congress often complained, but almost always did nothing.
Congress has behaved more timidly than the Court, whose justices serve for life. And unlike the president, Congress cannot act decisively or speak with a single voice. It’s a cacophony.
Sundered by party and ideology, with 535 members, and rules and regulations that inhibit decisions and impede action, Congress appears a 19th-century anachronism at sea in a 21st-century world.
Who looks to Congress today as the bulwark of our liberties?
The Best of Patrick J. Buchanan
Regardless the empty rhetoric mouthed between the two teams of fake wrestlers, the Empire plows on and over anything and everything that either deliberately or inadvertently gets in it’s way.
And all the neocons and neolibs cheer and vote in unison..
http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/01/nick-turse/blowback%E2%80%A8/
134 Chances for Blowback
Although elected in 2008 by many who saw him as an antiwar candidate, President Obama has proved to be a decidedly hawkish commander-in-chief whose policies have already produced notable instances of what in CIA trade-speak has long been called blowback. While the Obama administration oversaw a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq (negotiated by his predecessor), as well as a drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan (after a major military surge in that country), the president has presided over a ramping up of the U.S. military presence in Africa, a reinvigoration of efforts in Latin America, and tough talk about a rebalancing or “pivot to Asia” (even if it has amounted to little as of yet).
The White House has also overseen an exponential expansion of America’s drone war. While President Bush launched 51 such strikes, President Obama haspresided over 330, according to research by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Last year, alone, the U.S. also engaged in combat operations in Afghanistan, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen. Recent revelations from National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden have demonstrated the tremendous breadth and global reach of U.S. electronic surveillance during the Obama years. And deep in the shadows, Special Operations forces are now annually deployed to more than double the number of nations as at the end of Bush’s tenure.
In recent years, however, the unintended consequences of U.S. military operations have helped to sow outrage and discontent, setting whole regions aflame. More than 10 years after America’s “mission accomplished” moment, seven years after its much vaunted surge, the Iraq that America helped make is in flames. A country with no al-Qaeda presence before the U.S. invasion and a government opposed to America’s enemies in Tehran now has a central government aligned with Iran and two cities flying al-Qaeda flags.
A more recent U.S. military intervention to aid the ouster of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi helped send neighboring Mali, a U.S.-supported bulwark against regional terrorism, into a downward spiral, saw a coup there carried out by a U.S.-trained officer, ultimately led to a bloody terror attack on an Algerian gas plant, and helped to unleash nothing short of a terror diaspora in the region.
Obama whistles “Little Pink Houses” at cabinet meeting…
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/what-is-president-obama-whistling-116981827909
There’s a black man with a black cat livin’ in a black neighborhood
He’s got an interstate runnin’ through his front yard
You know he thinks that he’s got it so good
And there’s a woman in the kitchen cleanin’ up the evenin’ slop
And he looks at her and says, “Hey darlin’, I can remember when
You could stop a clock.”
Oh but ain’t that America for you and me
Ain’t that America somethin’ to see baby
Ain’t that America home of the free
Little pink houses for you and me
There’s a young man in a t-shirt
Listenin’ to a rockin’ rollin’ station
He’s got greasy hair, greasy smile
He says, “Lord this must be my destination.”
‘Cause they told me when I was younger
“Boy you’re gonna be president.”
But just like everything else those old crazy dreams
Just kinda came and went
Well there’s people and more people
What do they know know know
Go to work in some high rise
And vacation down at the Gulf of Mexico
Ooh yeah
And there’s winners and there’s losers
But they ain’t no big deal
‘Cause the simple man baby pays for the thrills, the bills,
The pills that kill
Come join me and be a proud member.
Obama admission: I’m a terrible communicator and can’t convince anyone that my policies make sense
While many pundits have correctly pointed out that Barack Obama’s latest public statements sound like those of a Third World dictator, that’s not the only takeway.
“One of the things that I’ll be emphasizing in this meeting is the fact that we are not just going to be waiting for legislation in order to ensure Americans are provided with the help that they need. I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone. And I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward.
One of the things I’m going to be talking to my cabinet about is how do we use all the tools available to us, not just legislation in order to advance a mission that I think unifies all Americans.” – Obama
While Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton each were able to work with a Congress controlled by the other party to achieve significant accomplishments, Obama has all but admitted his failings.
I can’t convince anyone that I’m right. I can’t work with the other party. I have no persuasive skills. I’m a horrible communicator. And, because I’m a failure, I refuse to work within the confines of the Constitutional structure.
I don’t play well with others.
I’m a tiny little child and no one else can play with my toys.
Doug Ross
I don’t believe you can compare the congress that Reagan had to deal with with this one. For better or worse, the political atmosphere today seems to me much more poisonous than it was back then. TP O’Neill was a horse trader. There are none of his variety around today.
Reagan was a conservative fraud and a bankster tool, just like the entire republi-puke party leadership..Who do you think appointed Alan Greenspan?
These facts established, all we need to finish this remonstrance is for some mealy mouthed asshat to cap it off with ” but at least Reagan didnt….
https://mises.org/daily/5009/The-Reagan-Fraud-and-After
During his eight years in office, Ronald Reagan increased federal spending by 53 percent, added a quarter of a million new civilian government employees, escalated the War on Drugs, created the “drug czar’s office,” and lowered the value of your 1980 dollar to 73 cents. His Republican successor, George Herbert Walker Bush, further increased taxes, further increased federal spending, and “managed to knock thirteen cents off the value of your dollar in just four years.”
We are at war with the most dangerous enemy that has ever faced mankind in his long climb from the swamp to the stars, and it has been said if we lose that war, and in so doing lose this way of freedom of ours, history will record with the greatest astonishment that those who had the most to lose did the least to prevent its happening.
–Ronald Reagan, 1964
We should declare war on North Vietnam. We could pave the whole country and put parking strips on it, and still be home by Christmas.
Ronald Reagan
ref Doug Ross’s incessant Republican bent spew..What has Congress denied Obama that he should resort to executive order to accomplish?…certainly the party of stupid hasn’t been successful in blocking any Obama initiative…or is it the party of bitchez …I may have misspoke.
Some inside from whitehousedossier.com, run by a guy that regularly covers the WH and Obama:
“He has no famous chums in Congress. He has few relationships of any sort with lawmakers. Really what he wants to do is make his decisions in the Oval Office, have a few meetings, give some speeches on college campuses and high schools, and play golf. And then send Jay Carney out to talk about how Republicans are intransigent, politically motivated hacks who don’t even wear deodorant.”
and
“I’ve mentioned before, I covered both the Clinton and Bush White Houses. Routinely, with each of them, there was line of cars on the West Wing driveway belonging to members of some committee or faction of Congress that had dropped by to meet the president. If they wanted the gathering to remain below the radar, they “snuck in” the side door, and then the camera guys who were always in a position where they could see the entrance there told us about it.
With Obama, almost never. Nothing. No meetings. If you ask around on Capitol Hill, no phone calls either. Obama, expostulating about the uncooperativeness of Republicans, does nothing to get them to cooperate. It’s not in his character. And then he attacks them for his own paucity of results. He’s like a high school football player who never comes to practice and then whines that he’s warming the bench.”
Read the whole thing. I have been pounding this drum for a long time.
There is nothing worse than a narcissistic psychopath except perhaps a narcissistic psychopath that is isolated, friendless and then ignored.
God help our country.
“There is nothing worse than a narcissistic psychopath except perhaps a narcissistic psychopath that is isolated, friendless and then ignored.”
Obama hits the trifecta: psychopath, narcissist and sociopath, the most dangerous kind of sicko there is. He’s got to be stopped….
Profile of the Sociopath
This website summarizes some of the common features of descriptions of the behavior of sociopaths.
Glibness and Superficial Charm
Manipulative and Conning. They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible. They appear to be charming, yet are covertly hostile and domineering, seeing their victim as merely an instrument to be used. They may dominate and humiliate their victims.
Grandiose Sense of Self
Feels entitled to certain things as “their right.”
Pathological Lying
Has no problem lying coolly and easily and it is almost impossible for them to be truthful on a consistent basis. Can create, and get caught up in, a complex belief about their own powers and abilities. Extremely convincing and even able to pass lie detector tests.
Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt
A deep seated rage, which is split off and repressed, is at their core. Does not see others around them as people, but only as targets and opportunities. Instead of friends, they have victims and accomplices who end up as victims. The end always justifies the means and they let nothing stand in their way.
Shallow Emotions
When they show what seems to be warmth, joy, love and compassion it is more feigned than experienced and serves an ulterior motive. Outraged by insignificant matters, yet remaining unmoved and cold by what would upset a normal person. Since they are not genuine, neither are their promises.
Incapacity for Love
Need for Stimulation
Living on the edge. Verbal outbursts and physical punishments are normal. Promiscuity and gambling are common.
Callousness/Lack of Empathy
Unable to empathize with the pain of their victims, having only contempt for others’ feelings of distress and readily taking advantage of them.
Poor Behavioral Controls/Impulsive Nature
Rage and abuse, alternating with small expressions of love and approval produce an addictive cycle for abuser and abused, as well as creating hopelessness in the victim. Believe they are all-powerful, all-knowing, entitled to every wish, no sense of personal boundaries, no concern for their impact on others.
Early Behavior Problems/Juvenile Delinquency
Usually has a history of behavioral and academic difficulties, yet “gets by” by conning others. Problems in making and keeping friends; aberrant behaviors such as cruelty to people or animals, stealing, etc.
Irresponsibility/Unreliability
Not concerned about wrecking others’ lives and dreams. Oblivious or indifferent to the devastation they cause. Does not accept blame themselves, but blames others, even for acts they obviously committed.
Promiscuous Sexual Behavior/Infidelity
Promiscuity, child sexual abuse, rape and sexual acting out of all sorts.
Lack of Realistic Life Plan/Parasitic Lifestyle
Tends to move around a lot or makes all encompassing promises for the future, poor work ethic but exploits others effectively.
Criminal or Entrepreneurial Versatility
Changes their image as needed to avoid prosecution. Changes life story readily.
Guest Post: Hitler’s Economics & Why You Should Know A Thing Or Two About Them
Submitted by Chris Rossini via The Mises Economic blog,
Hjalmar Schacht was Hitler’s economic guy. According to Wikipedia, Schacht: ”became a supporter of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, and served in Hitler’s government as President of the Reichsbank and Minister of Economics. As such, Schacht played a key role in implementing the policies attributed to Hitler.”
Now, we all know what happened to Hitler. But what about Schacht?
On June 9, 1947 Henry Hazlitt would write in Newsweek:
Nazism was defeated in war. Hjalmar Schacht, the Nazi economic wizard, is in jail.
So Hitler was dead, and his economic guy went to jail
But what about the economic ideas that the two would implement together? What happened to them?
Hazlitt continues:
But when Schacht and his surviving comrades survey the world today, they must feel consoled. Intellectually Schachtism has conquered Europe. The system of price control, wage control, profit control, interest control, exchange control, foreign-trade control, bilateral treaties, rations, priorities, allocations, quotas, with a special license required for almost every more, and with a mounting currency inflation hidden and repressed by these devices – this is Schachtism. And this is the system which nearly every country in Europe has now embraced.
So the ideas did not die, nor were they confined to a jail cell. Each and every one of those ideas, were not only embraced by Europe, but by the U.S. as well!
Hitler’s foreign policy aspirations may have been defeated by the war. However, the same cannot be said about his economic policies. Those ideas would be embraced and implemented by the victors of the war!
More than any other system of ideas, it is Fascism that should be #1 on the Libertarian priority list to debunk and persist against. The governing elites are well aware that even they can’t sustain themselves under a system of Communism. However they do believe that Fascism is their golden chalice.
What is Fascism?
Lew Rockwell has the answer:
Fascism is the system of government that cartelizes the private sector, centrally plans the economy to subsidize producers, exalts the police state as the source of order, denies fundamental rights and liberties to individuals, and makes the executive state the unlimited master of society.
Does that sound like America today? Do I even have to ask?
We are all involved in the struggle of Liberty vs. Fascism.
HZK-With Obama, almost never. Nothing. No meetings. If you ask around on Capitol Hill, no phone calls either.
Bullshit. Just because the Uncle Obamey’s meetings aren’t covered by the butt sucking tingle legs posing as a press-corp doesn’t mean he isn’t following masters’ orders to the letter. The Magic Negro’ didn’t appear out of an ethereal mist emanating from Barney Franks bunghole , flush with billions of dollars and political capital oozing out the assess of every money bagging cockswiller in DC to not have someones lard greasing up his ass.He didn’t build himself on his own.
No, Opoundme most certainly has meetings and a plan.It’s just that the American people aren’t privy to those, but you can bet your overstretched hemorrhoids that the Rethuglicans and their counter cunts on the other side of the aisle most certainly are.Regardless how much the Repugs dim-witted cheerleaders decry Sir Pimpkins , it really is all about mind over matter…they don’t mind and you don’t fucking matter.
Bet on it.You’ll not hate yourself so much later.
@Admin 4:48
Hjalmar Schacht was fired by Hitler when things started downhill and tried at Nuremberg. He was one of three who were acquitted. He became economic advisor to Indonesia??.
I see all the negitve comments about Barry Obamaha. So how did this guy get elected twice ???
Why don’t the talk show people do something and quit their crying !!! Shawn Hanity , Mark Lavine Rush. I don’t support Obamaha,just tired of hearing all the crying !!! They sure make alot of money over Americas demise !!!