Bob's Political Digest July 29 2009

Real Clear Politics has some interesting poll numbers.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/28/a_russian_reign_of_terror_97647.html
Obama’s job approval: Approve 54.7% Disapprove 40.7%. Direction of Country: Right Direction 36.3%, Wrong Track 55.8%. Generic Congressional vote: (That is, which party are you likely to vote for for Congress). Democrats: 39.7% Republicans 36%. Congressional Job Approval: Approve 28%, disapprove 62.7%.

So let’s see. So a strong majority thinks we are on the wrong track, and approves of the job the guy taking us on that track is doing. And more than two-thirds of the people disapprove of the job the Democrat-controlled Congress is doing, but more of them are going to vote for continued Democrat control than to change.

Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve. ~George Bernard Shaw

A Post-Racial President? By Dr. Thomas Sowell. A must-read.
http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2009/07/28/a_post-racial_president
Excerpt: Those of us who want to see racism on its way out need to realize that others benefit greatly from crying racism. They benefit politically, financially, and socially.
Barack Obama has been allied with such people for decades. He found it expedient to appeal to a wider electorate as a post-racial candidate, just as he has found it expedient to say a lot of other popular things-- about campaign finance, about transparency in government, about not rushing legislation through Congress without having it first posted on the Internet long enough to be studied-- all of which turned to be the direct opposite of what he actually did after getting elected.

Hoven's Index: Obama's First Six Months
http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/07/hovens_index_obamas_first_six.html
An interesting scorecard. Must read.

Morality and Charlie Rangel’s Taxes
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203946904574300013592601036.html#printMode
Excerpt: Ever notice that those who endorse high taxes and those who actually pay them aren’t the same people? Consider the curious case of Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel, who is leading the charge for a new 5.4-percentage point income tax surcharge and recently called it “the moral thing to do.” About his own tax liability he seems less, well, fervent.

Health Care Questions Obama Can’t Answer
http://www.hermancain.com/news/press-opinion-072709.asp
Rather than the lapdog mainstream media doing its job and challenging the president on his assumptions and assertions, they play “run and fetch” with whatever the president says. Since they didn’t do their jobs, here are a few real questions for starters.

US Soldier Demands Apology From Senator Claire McCaskill at Town Hall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y98HxYbsdBM
Boy been to school.

Has Rodney King Moved to Cambridge? A balanced viewpoint.
http://townhall.com/columnists/HarryRJacksonJr/2009/07/27/has_rodney_king_moved_to_cambridge
Excerpt: First of all, it is obvious that the president overstepped his boundaries in calling the Cambridge policeman “stupid.” As the leader of all the people, he should not have become so partisan or emotionally involved with his comments about his friend, Dr. Gates. Secondly, it is also obvious that the Cambridge police sergeant, a racial profiling trainer, overacted in his response to the world famous professor. There is somehow another subtle overstepping of appropriate boundaries, when a professor is arrested in front of his own house. Thirdly, as I looked at the police report, I could not help but think that the professor spoke in a very haughty, condescending manner to the police officer. Ironically, the professor’s hubris may well have been worse than any racial stereotype that he felt the officer had invoked.

Another on-line poll
http://news.aol.com/article/obama-approval-ratings/578736
Hard to say if these are worth voting in, but I do.

We've Figured Him Out
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/07/24/weve-figured-him-out
Good, short column by Ben stein. You have to scroll down—opens to a blank page.

Jerusalem Protest Against Barack Obama, USA Settlement Policy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNI99UBYg0U
Jews against BO. Unfortunately, they don’t vote here.

GOP's teachable moment on the risks of Obamacare
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/GOP-teachable-moment-on-the-risks-of-Obamacare-8028107-51819127.html
Pick your average member of the House of Representatives, one who has a lot of work to do but hasn't been deeply involved in crafting the massive health care makeover bill. Who knows more about what's in that bill -- Mr. Average Democrat, or Mr. Average Republican? Bet on the Republican. For weeks now, GOP lawmakers have been studying the Democratic health care bill, and for months before that, they studied preliminary Democratic plans. Many rank-and-file Democrats, on the other hand, have been so ill-informed about what their leadership has been doing that it was only last week, when the party offered a five-hour class on the bill's contents, that some members began to grasp the details.

Who’s afraid of the big, bad Chinese aircraft carrier?
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Whos-afraid-of-the-big-bad-Chinese-aircraft-carrier_07_28-51819122.html
Excerpt: At the center of the discussion is usually the Chinese purchase of the Varyag, a 65,000-ton carrier. Many analysts draw significance from the reports that the formerly Russian ship has been renamed Shi Lang, after the Ming Dynasty admiral who conquered Taiwan in 1681. The Shi Lang is reputed to be just the start, with the Chinese reportedly planning to build another two aircraft carriers by 2015 and two more by 2020. But a little reality check may be in order. First, their “new” carrier is not all that new. Actually, the Varyag was first laid down back in 1985. Originally planned for the Soviet fleet, it was never completed. Instead, at the Cold War’s end, it was scrapped of all its electronics and engines and sold off to be a floating casino. Even if the Chinese can refurbish it, at best they will be getting an old, untested ship that carries only a third as many planes as a U.S. carrier.

Lessons from Massachusetts
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18251.
Excerpt: The state was able to get the federal government to pay for much of these new costs, but even with that help, state government spending has increased 42 percent since 2006. The Massachusetts program has cost about one-third more than projected when the law was passed. Before the Massachusetts health insurance reform plan was implemented in 2005, total per capita health care spending in the state was 33 percent above the national average. In just two years under the Massachusetts reforms, from 2005 to 2007, health care spending per capita rose an additional 23 percent.

Union Pensions in the Red
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18254
The plans have the funding to pay for the officers, but not the rank and file. Must have learned that trick from Congress!

Venezuela’s Brain Drain
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/internationalist/archive/2009/06/27/venezuela-s-brain-drain.aspx
Fleeing leftwing tyranny. Imagine that. What a surprise.

Doctor on Racist Obama Email: "I Sincerely Apologize"
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/07/doctor_on_racist_obama_email_i_sincerely_apologize.php?ref=fpa
While I’m not a fan of the president’s efforts to make government the controlling factor in our lives—more than it already is—but I do not forward things that could be considered racist, including the image this doctor forwarded, which has been sent to me several times. Not only are they wrong, they help the statists by allowing them to picture BO as a victim. My Senate Floor leader, the late Sen. John Parker, used to say that, “It’s always an advantage to a public man to be the victim of an outrage.” Let’s not give them clubs to beat us with.