Does anybody recall Laura and George darting off on date nights once a month during his Bush’s presidency, let alone the first few months? I didn’t think so… If this was a Republican flying around on the taxpayer’s money they would surely be reprimanded by the media until the rest of the gullible masses began to agree (just like the media did with GW).
The Obama’s are the epitome of hypocritical elitists. They obviously have no regard for those who are struggling just to make ends meet if they feel that flying to NYC, which cost the taxpayers somewhere between a total of (my guesstimate range) $24,000 – $68,000, for dinner and a show on Broadway, is acceptable. (Just so you understand where the costs come from – AF1 costs about $68K to operate for an hour, the Obama’s excuse was using Marine 1 for part of the time before switching to use AF1 to land at Kennedy, but all the secret service, body guard protection, and entourage is quite costly as well):
Times Square was even more frenetic than usual, as throngs of pedestrians — certainly including many tourists — lined several blocks waiting to catch a glimpse of Mr. and Mrs. Obama. The presidential date night began with a late-afternoon flight from Andrews Air Force Base, with Mr. Obama wearing a dark blue suit (no tie), and Mrs. Obama a black cocktail dress and a sleek updo, holding a turquoise clutch.
They landed at Kennedy International Airport at 4:45 p.m. and after taking a quick helicopter ride to Lower Manhattan, the presidential motorcade snaked its way up to Blue Hill, a restaurant off Washington Square Park that specializes in cuisine from the Hudson Valley. (It sounded like the choice of Mrs. Obama, who favors local food.)
Hours before the show began, the Secret Service cordoned off the entire block of 44th Street between Avenue of the Americas and Broadway, where the Belasco is located.
You could just as well have a nice date night at home renting a movie and having a couple glasses of wine.
It just irks me that here is a man and woman who campaigned about being more like the average American, understanding the strife of oppressed communities, but when elected become the jet-setting duo who have no respect for the current economic turmoil, unemployment rates, or the looming national bankruptcy our country may be facing.
Word has it that they went to see ‘Wicked’ in honor of Michelle MaBelle’s personality and of the couple taunting the lowly classes who have to work to survive.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry, who obviously is not American, makes more of an effort to visit the regular folks and pay his respects to those who lost their lives in 9/11. Prince Harry visited Ground Zero this weekend and laid a wreath at the site in memoriam for the British men and women who lost their lives that day. He also visited a school in Harlem, the Fire Station in NYC that has the most fatalities, etc. But BO finds it more important to go to a Broadway show. Prince Harry, who has served overseas surely knows the cost and sacrifice of one’s own life for the many who will be saved from terrorism…
The U.S. and U.K., after the American Revolution have managed to be two of the greatest and longest allies on the international stage. Not only are the two countries allies, but they also seem to follow hand-in-hand when it comes to politics and economics. The U.K. however, is probably 10 years ahead of the U.S. if the U.S. continues to swing to the left and implements more socialist policies…
There are striking similarities in the operations of British parliamentary elections and the American electoral college. Both systems effectively determine their nation’s executive leadership: the American system by means of an electoral college which translated popular votes cast for President into winner-take-all state blocs of electors which actually elect him, and the British system by means of single-member constituencies for the election of individual MPs which, in the aggregate, likewise determine the British chief executive. Following a British general election, the MPs serve as functional equivalents of presidential electors in determining who is to be the Prime Minister: electors by voting for their party’s nominee for President and MPs by their support for the leader of their party in forming his (or her) government.
The structures of both electoral systems – the “winner-take-all” blocs of state electoral votes in America and the “first-past-the-post” or “plurality-winner-takes-the-seat” in Britain – almost always ensure that the presidential candidate or party running first in electoral support will enjoy a considerable bonus in electoral support will enjoy a considerable bonus in electoral votes or Commons seats. In the British election of 1987, for example, Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party won 42.4% of the national vote and with it received 57.5% of the seats in the House of Commons.
It should come as no surprise that the two political systems are similar, mainly due to the fact that the United States was formed from immigrants of The United Kingdom and their knowledge of government stemmed from British politics. However, the advantage was carrying with them the aspects of that government that they saw faulty.
Throughout history Britain and the U.S. have gone hand-in-hand and have seemed to have followed parallel paths.
In World War I the UK and the US both took desperate measures to maintain wartime production levels. During the great depression the U.S. was hit the hardest, but Europe and the U.K. also suffered various repercussions due to the depressed economy of America, just not as bad as today because the global economy was not as intertwined back then.
The Reagan revolution in the early 80′s took place after another economic downturn when liberals were put in charge of the United States’ government. The same event took place in the United Kingdom when Margaret Thatcher of the Conservative Party was ushered into office. She took over after the Labour party was through demolishing their markets. Both Margaret Thatcher and Reagan were against socialism and forms of government that reflected policies that provided for more government control and less freedoms for individual citizens. Both leaders were able to implement conservative principles and legislation that put their economies back on track and permitted years of prosperity, GPD growth, etc. When people were reaping these benefits they forgot where they came from and became complacent and spoiled. They were spoiled to the point of electing those same individuals/party members that believed Government could resolve all the problems of society or at least the PERCEIVED problems of society. This political cycle has been ongoing throughout history, and probably won’t stop any time soon – which is why I am hopeful for 2010.
One minister sketched the skein of long-standing political contacts that Brown has in Obama’s administration, including Larry Summers, Robert Reich and Timothy Geithner: “I think Obama will feel very strongly drawn to back Brown … you can’t underestimate how much the development of the new Democrat projects and the new Labour projects of the early nineties are intertwined. Many of Obama’s closest advisers are Brown’s mates – they have looked up to Gordon for a long time. I think there will be a lot of pressure to help Gordon’s position.”
If Obama’s cabinet members truly do look up to Gordon Brown and we see what is currently occurring in Britain than we have a lot of hard times ahead of us. Gordon Brown and his labour party have enacted frivolous fiscal policies, horrible national security decisions and have put their country in a precarious position for years to come. The U.K. is estimated to have one of the lowest GDP growth rates in the next few years and they are experiencing a lot of turmoil due to hate speech laws and the lax immigration policies of middle eastern extremists.
Margaret Thatcher recently made a statementabout the Labour party and the current state of her country, which is a big deal since Lady Thatcher rarely speaks publicly these days due to health issues and old age. Instead of using Labour in her statements I will replace it with Democrat:
Thatcher rarely speaks publicly now; her concerns were relayed last week by Lord Lamont, the former chancellor in an interview in the political current affairs magazine Holyrood. “I can tell you exactly how she feels,” he said. “Mrs Thatcher is appalled by the current situation, very concerned about it indeed. I spoke to her very recently and her attitude is: this is how it always ends with Labour Democrats.”
Another close friend of Thatcher said the former leader believed Brown Obama had spent beyond Britain America’s means. “It’s an absolutely accurate description of every Labour Democrat controlled government since the war,” he said. “They have always left office with a huge economic crisis – the public finances in a terrible state and the economy in disarray. She feels strongly about it because she came to power in 1979 after the Callaghan (Substitute Reagan for Thatcher and Carter for Callaghan) government had to go to the IMF. She sees it as a repeat of history.
“Her general view would be that you have to have prudent economic management,” he continued, “and although BrownObama has used the word ‘prudence’ ad nauseam, it has only ever been a word, not an action.
“I have talked to her over the past five or six weeks, and her view is exactly what Norman [Lamont] said. This is what always happens. It always ends in disaster when you have a Labour Democrat government.”
In another post I also wrote about this scenario and what is currently taking place – again I will substitute where I wrote about Labour and use Democrat (as if looking into a crystal ball):
The national debt since the New Labour Democrat party took control has risen to over 49% of GDP and still growing. The budget deficit is deepening, the tax yield is falling and therefore taxes are increasing, and unemployment is at historic levels.
The only markets in Britain’s America’s economy that have seen job growth in the last 10 years are the public sector, the banking and financial services industry and construction…
New Labour Democrats continue to spend money that the country does not have and it continues to implement heavy restrictions and regulations on the economy. The debt to GDP ratio continuously rises, as has AmericaU.K.’s since the 1970s (after we rid ourselves of the gold standard). The United Kingdom and The United States have both made pacts with the devil, whereby, they have played with the economy and fiddled by implementing heavy government regulations as well as “sauteing the books” just enough to distort the markets and create devastating bubbles and hybrid securities that grew tentacles throughout all sectors of the free markets.
Now think about what happened with ENRON, do we remember SOX compliance? SOX compliance, otherwise known as Sarbanes-Oxley, is still used today and it has created major profit losses at companies due to the red tape and number of auditors required to implement it. The jobs created by SOX are similar to that of the U.K., where 1.25 million public-sector jobs were created along with pension plans.
Growth in public-sector jobs, though, ultimately depends on growth in tax revenues from the private sector, which contracts – this becomes a vicious circle. At some point the private sector will contract so much because of the dominance of the public sector that the public sector will be unable to survive with a lack of adequate funding.
This spells disaster for years to come…
Daniel Hannan of the U.K. Conservative Party continues to hit the nail on the head and makes remarks very similar to how many conservatives in the United States feel.
Not only are the policies seemingly intertwined, but the corruption and fraud in big government is also quite similar. We have various members of congress, non-profits, and lobbyists that are under investigation or have already been indicted for corruption. The most striking parallel is in regards to the Speaker of the House of Commons – Michael Martin just stepped down as the Speaker due to the debacle with the expenses filed by several MPs in the parliament. Nancy Pelosi has been making various flubs and quite frankly she could also have made impeachable offenses by intimating that the CIA lies and misleads and stated she was not briefed on the interrogation methods. It will only be a matter of time to see if the parallels remain and as Mr. Martin stepped down, so will Nancy.
Sixteen people banned from entering the UK are “named and shamed” by the Home Office.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she decided to make public the names of 16 people banned since October last year so others could better understand what sort of behaviour Britain was not prepared to tolerate.
The list includes hate preachers, anti-gay protesters and a far- right US talk show host.
Dr Yunis Al-Astal Hamas MP and dean of Sharia studies at The Islamic University of Gaza. Al Astal is claimed to have decreed that global Islam has to take over America’s dominance. He also decreed that killing Jews was relevant in our times.
Mike Guzofsky
Jewish militant, also known as Yekutiel Ben Yaakov. Hosted the internet TV show “Voice of Judea” and is considered to be engaging in unacceptable behaviour by fermenting terrorist behaviour and provoking others to commit terrorist acts.
Stephen Donald Black
American white nationalist and founder of the Stormfront internet forum. He was a grand wizard in the Ku Klux Klan and a member of the American Nazi Party in the 1970s. He was convicted in 1981 for attempted armed overthrow of the Dominican government.
Eric Gliebe
President of the racist record label Resistance Records, with sales of $1m a year and whose groups promote the idea the US should be divided by race, sexual preference and religious creed.
Artur Ryno and Pavel Skachevsky
Last year a Russian court sentenced the group of skinheads led by Ryno and Skachevsky to between six and twenty years in prison. The court issued the ruling on the basis of the jury verdict, which found the seven group members guilty of 20 racially-motivated murders and 12 attacks.
Wadgy Abd El Hamied Mohamed Ghoneim
Muslim cleric suspected of terrorist ties. Deported from the US in 2004. He said: “I came to this country in peace. I did not come here to scare anybody.”
Abdullah Qadri Al Ahdal
Preacher considered to be engaging in unacceptable behaviour by seeking to foment, justify or glorify terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs and fostering hatred that might lead to inter-community violence.
Michael Alan Weiner
Michael Alan Weiner, better known by his pseudonym Michael Savage, is an American radio host, author, and conservative political commentator. Some, including Savage himself, have characterized his views as conservative nationalism. He claims that liberalism and same-sex marriage are degrading American culture.
Safwat Hijazi
Islamic preacher. Issued a fatwa sanctioning “the killing of any Jews who visit Egypt or any other Islamic country.” He said later it was only “in reference to Israeli soldiers”.
Amir Siddique
Preacher. Considered to be engaging in unacceptable behaviour by fomenting terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs.
Abdul Ali Musa
Muslim activist and director of Masjid Al-Islam in US. Member of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (ICIT) and a well-known speaker around the world. His name was previously Clarence Reams, and he was born in Arkansas in 1945. Considered to be engaging in unacceptable behaviour by fomenting and glorifying terrorist violence.
Samir Al Quntar
Samir Kuntar is a Lebanese militant and a former member of the Palestine Liberation Front. In 1979, at the age of 16, he participated in the attempted kidnapping of an Israeli family in Nahariya that resulted in the deaths of four Israelis and two of his fellow kidnappers. He spent nearly three decades in prison before being released on July 16, 2008 as part of an Israel-Hezbollah prisoner swap.
Nasr Javed
Kashmiri militant group leader. Considered to be engaging in unacceptable behaviour by seeking to foment, justify or glorify terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs.
Fred Waldron Phelps Snr and Shirley Phelps-Roper American pastor and leading spokesman of Westboro Baptist Church. Considered to be engaging in unacceptable behaviour by fostering hatred that might lead to inter-community violence in the UK. The 79-year-old and his daughter are barred for their anti-gay comments.
However, it is important to note that communists, dictators, black liberation theologists and preachers, black nationalists, black panther groups, national socialists and other statists on the left are all welcome to enter. Just no right-wingers! I was also surprised to see that Muslims were actually included in an English list… It appears that Gordon Brown’s administration is taking a page right out of Obama’s playbook!
Does this mean that Obama is banned for not advocating gay marriage either?
Why would you only single out a particular individual on the radio? Are there not plenty of others that hold those same views? And why would you bar someone from the country who just has an opinion that is different from other peoples’. If he feels that gay marriage is degrading American culture than what is the big deal – is he not allowed to feel that way? Can he not believe what he wants as long as he is not violent? He doesn’t incite violence either… This sounds more fascist to me than anything else. England says you must hold a particular view/opinion or else!
Paging Winston Churchill, England is about to pull another Neville Chamberlain – unfortunately, so is the United States!
Bill Ayers, Reverend Write, Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan, Ted Turner and Jane Fonda are all on their way to England as we speak – they will be welcomed with open arms! I heard Code Pink is piloting the plane.
The economy shrank at a worse-than-expected 6.1 percent pace at the start of this year as sharp cutbacks by businesses and the biggest drop in U.S. exports in 40 years overwhelmed a rebound in consumer spending.
The Commerce Department’s report, released Wednesday, dashed hopes that the recession’s grip on the country loosened in the first quarter. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a 5 percent annualized decline.
The national jobless rate is now at a quarter-century high of 8.5 percent and is expected to hit 10 percent by the end of this year. It will probably rise a bit higher in early 2010 before starting to slowly drift downward. Still, the Fed predicts unemployment will stay elevated into 2011, and economists don’t think it will return to normal — around a 5 percent jobless rate — until 2013.
I predict it to get much worse if we pass amnesty, universal health care and continue this spending to increase the public sector and ignore the private sector. In order for us to pull ourselves out of this mess we must focus on tax cuts, manufacturing companies, energy and other private sector companies that create and produce.
Forbes estimates that in 2009 The United States will see a dip in GDP growth of nearly 3% overall and only an increase of <2% in 2010.
That is not a positive net effect and due to the fact that we no longer produce as a country and our imports heavily outweigh our exports, we will maintain a very stagnant if not depressing economy for years to come.
In fact, the countries that will experience the most growth in the next two years are the emerging economies of India, China, South Africa, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia. Russia, Thailand, Australia, and Israel should also fare pretty well.
Barack Obama could take a lesson from Britain if he wanted to learn a thing or two about history and economics simultaneously.
When New Labour came to power in the U.K., the party inherited a strong economy. During Margaret Thatcher’s tenure as PM, she was able to retire Britain’s national debt and abolish its income tax. But, after more than a decade of retaining power, New Labour has binged on spending and has put England’s economy in ruins.
The national debt since the New Labour party took control has risen to over 49% of GDP and still growing. The budget deficit is deepening, the tax yield is falling and therefore taxes are increasing, and unemployment is at historic levels.
The only markets in Britain’s economy that have seen job growth in the last 10 years are the public sector, the banking and financial services industry and construction… Sound familiar?
New Labour continues to spend money that the country does not have and it continues to implement heavy restrictions and regulations on the economy. The debt to GDP ratio continuously rises, as has America’s since the 1970s (after we rid ourselves of the gold standard). The United Kingdom and The United States have both made pacts with the devil, whereby, they have played with the economy and fiddled by implementing heavy government regulations as well as “sauteing the books” just enough to distort the markets and create devastating bubbles and hybrid securities that grew tentacles throughout all sectors of the free markets.
Now think about what happened with ENRON, do we remember SOX compliance? SOX compliance, otherwise known as Sarbanes-Oxley, is still used today and it has created major profit losses at companies due to the red tape and number of auditors required to implement it. The jobs created by SOX are similar to that of the U.K., where 1.25 million public-sector jobs were created along with pension plans.
Growth in public-sector jobs, though, ultimately depends on growth in tax revenues from the private sector, which contracts – this becomes a vicious circle. At some point the private sector will contract so much because of the dominance of the public sector that the public sector will be unable to survive with a lack of adequate funding.
This must be a case of those “so-called terrorists” from Pakistan that Helen Thomas was talking about! This would have been one heck of a “man-made disaster” as Janet Napolitano would also say. Glad to know that we have our “Overseas Contingency Operation” intact and ready to go!/Sarc.
Sources told The Daily Telegraph that the arrests of 12 men in the north west of England on Wednesday were linked to a suspected plan to launch a devastating attack this weekend.
Some of the suspects were watched by MI5 agents as they filmed themselves outside the Trafford Centre on the edge of Manchester, the Arndale Centre in the city centre, and the nearby St Ann’s Square.
Police were forced to round up the alleged plotters after they were overheard discussing dates, understood to include the Easter bank holiday, one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.
“It could have been the next few days and they were talking about 10 days at the outside,” one source said. “We had to act.” Police are now engaged in a search for an alleged bomb factory, where explosives might have been assembled.
If such a plot was carried out, it would almost certainly have been Britain’s worst terrorist attack, with the potential to cause more deaths than the suicide attacks of July 7, 2005, when 52 people were murdered.
Officials have now determined that the attack was being orchestrated by militant Pakistani’s involved with Al-Qaeda and were using students and the student visa system to attempt the latest attack.
Suspects being questioned today after one of the biggest anti-terror operations since the July 7 attacks exploited lax student visa regulations to enter the UK from Pakistan, Whitehall sources said yesterday.
As police continued searches in Liverpool, Manchester and Clitheroe, Lancashire, after the raids on Wednesday, the Home Office said student visa checks had been tightened in the last fortnight because of widespread abuses of the system.
There are concerns inside government and the security services that the 11 Pakistani nationals being held in the north of England could have gained entry on student visas in order to form a sleeper cell. Gordon Brown talked of the police having foiled a “very big terrorist plot”.
The operation which led to the arrest of the men, along with one Briton who is said to have roots in the same tribal area, was rushed forward after the country’s top anti-terror officer carried papers under his arm detailing the raids as he walked into 10 Downing Street in full view of photographers.
Apologising for the blunder, Bob Quick, the Met’s head of specialist operations, resigned from his post yesterday. His departure reignited tensions over the running of the force after London mayor Boris Johnson broke the news of the resignation on BBC Radio 4, angering the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, and Scotland Yard.
