Health Care Reform is Dangerous Territory for Obama

(CNN) -- We know what the president wants when it comes to health care reform. We know what Sen. Ted Kennedy and Rep. Henry Waxman want. And we know what interest groups really want from any health care reform effort.

But what do the American people want when it comes to comprehensive health care reform?

Stanford University, in a new comprehensive study, has tried to find out. Its Center on Longevity commissioned a huge qualitative and quantitative study to dig deeper into what the people really want from health care reform.

The study included discussions among professors and other experts, small-business owners and human resource managers. Stanford's pollsters then did an online survey of more than 2,000 registered voters, getting their reactions to six detailed proposals: three on cost containment and three on access.

What the study found suggests that the Obama administration should tread carefully when it plots its legislative strategy on health care.

For example, most people are pretty satisfied with their own health care. According to the survey, although 68 percent believe that the health care system does not work well for the public at large, 62 percent of Americans feel that it works well for them personally. - CNN Story

GOP to Take on Obama - Honeymoon is Over!

Republican

National Committee Chairman Michael Steele vowed Tuesday that the GOP will confront President Barack Obama more aggressively and directly, regardless of his popularity in the polls.

“We are going to take the president head-on. The honeymoon is over. The two-party system is making a comeback, and that comeback starts today,” Steele said in remarks to an RNC meeting in Maryland.

“The president is personally popular. Pity the fool who paid for a poll to figure that out,” Steele said. “So…what’s the loyal opposition to do with this popular president? We are going to speak truth to power. We are going to speak directly, and we are going to take him on.”

Steele said that he has heard from many advisors suggesting that he take on less popular Democrats than the president, but the RNC chair said that the party will no longer “avoid confronting” Obama. - Politico Story

Senate Puts Brakes on Gitmo Closing

President Barack Obama's promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison suffered a blow Tuesday when his allies in the Senate said they would refuse to finance the move until the administration delivers a satisfactory plan for what to do with the detainees there.

As the Senate took up Obama's request for money for military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Democrats reversed course and said they would deny the request for $80 million for the Justice and Defense departments to relocate the 240 detainees at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They would also indefinitely bar the government from transferring of any of the facility's prisoners into the United States, though the ban could be relaxed in subsequent legislation.

A vote is expected Wednesday on an amendment by Sens. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and James Inhofe, R-Okla., that would put the restrictions in the war-funding measure. - ABC News Story

People are opening their eyes and seeing that maybe Obama the Mesiah isn't the great savior after all. You can't just swoop in and say no to everything that your predecessor did without a plan.

Milwaukee Police Form Task Force in Serial Killings

(CNN) -- Police in Milwaukee are working to track down a serial killer linked to at least seven unsolved homicides dating back more than two decades, authorities said.

Law enforcement officials in the Wisconsin city have matched the unknown man's DNA with seven women -- six prostitutes and a runaway involved in the drug trade. The deaths occurred between 1986 and 2007.

"Six of the victims were women who were working as prostitutes -- high-risk behavior that makes them vulnerable to crime," authorities said.

Police believe the killer had sex with the runaway, but she was killed by someone else.

The developments have prompted officials to form a local, state and federal task force to investigate the homicides. A state lab is working to determine whether the DNA of at least 23 other slain prostitutes matches that of the killer.

"In the past, we might have linked some of these homicides through their method of operation, but theory has given way to technology," said Edward Flynn, the Milwaukee police chief. "Within the last couple of weeks, we have been able to confirm a link."

Flynn, who described the killer as an "unknown suspect who conducts his business in secret," said the investigation would require tips from the community. - CNN News Story

Pelosi Still Taking Heat - Leading Dems Defending Her

ABC News’ Rick Klein and Dean Norland report: Leading House Democrats are lining up to defend House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her widely publicized dispute with the CIA -- while Republicans turn up the pressure on her to retract her accusation that intelligence officials lied to her.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 House Democrat, said today that Pelosi continues to enjoy “solid” support within the caucus. He voiced full support for her side of the story -- attempting to put to rest suggestions of a split inside of Democratic leadership.

“I believe the speaker. I believe the speaker when she says that she was not specifically briefed on the types of -- very polite term -- enhanced interrogation techniques, that were being employed,” Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters at his weekly press briefing.

“Republicans are going to stay on it as long as you guys keep printing it, as long as it keeps to be a television item,” he added. “Not about the substance, but about the distraction. As long as you want to feed on it, the Republicans will continue to feed you. That's the way it is.”

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader John Boehner is demanding that Pelosi either produce evidence that the CIA misled Congress about interrogation techniques, or retract her accusation. - ABC News Story

Democrats Backtracking on Gitmo

Senate Democrats threw cold water on President Obama's plans to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center Tuesday, pulling money for the closure from a $91 billion war spending request and publicly opposing the transfer of any detainees to U.S. soil.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats not only oppose the release of detainees into the United States but also oppose the transfer of detainees to U.S. prisons.

"We will never allow terrorists to be released in the United States," he said, adding: "Part of what we don't want is for them to be put in prisons in the United States. We don't want them around in the United States."

On top of that, Senate Democrats decided to pull $80 million from the war spending request -- money Obama had requested to close the detention facility by Jan. 22, 2010.

Reid spokesman Jim Manley later walked back part of Reid's statement.

"He's not going to do anything until we get a plan from the president." Manley said. He said "the leader is leaving the door open to detainees being transferred to American prisons, should the administration put forward a plan to do so."

Reid's comments nevertheless revealed how uneasy Democrats are with the yet-to-be released details for a closure plan. When asked about the change in tone, a senior Senate Democratic leadership aide said, "Members of the caucus were sick of getting walloped by Republicans over this phony, made-up issue." - FOX News Story

Maybe there are some people ready to put a stop to some of the Stupidity in Washington. You just can't fix Stupid.

Obama Refuses to Meet with Nevada Governor

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons has been denied a meeting with President Obama when he is in town next week to attend a fundraiser for Sen. Harry Reid at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

Gibbons had demanded a sit-down meeting following Obama's controversial statement that companies shouldn't book trips to Las Vegas if they have received federal bailouts and claims statements he made that were critical to Nevada and have caused economic damage to convention business and tourism business in the Silver State.

In a statement Gibbons put out Monday, the governor said Obama's quote that "you can't get corporate jets. You can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer's dime" was seen by many as an insult to Las Vegas and as a message to companies across the nation to stay away from Las Vegas for corporate meetings and conventions.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reports over 400 conventions and business meetings scheduled to take place in Las Vegas recently have cancelled. These cancelled events translate into 111,800 guests in Las Vegas and over 250,000 "room-nights." The cancelled conventions and meetings have cost the Las Vegas economy over $100-million, not including gaming revenue, according to the statement from Gibbons' office.

"I am disappointed at the hypocrisy shown by this Administration," Gibbons said. "President Obama is coming to Las Vegas later this month for a political fundraiser, but he will not help the struggling families in Las Vegas and Nevada who are out of work because of his reckless comments. President Obama is coming to Las Vegas to raise campaign cash for Senator Harry Reid, apparently our money is good enough for the President, but our tourism, jobs, and economic future are not. This is politics, pure and simple, President Obama stood for change, but all he has done is brought negative economic change to Nevada." - FOX News Story

This isn't a big shock to anyone who has followed this Administration since they began their Campaign. If you speak out against Obama, then you will pay. They will hold up funding or refuse any of your requests or do whatever they can to blackmail you.

Obama is not a good leader. He is a dictator of sorts, he will dictate to you what you should and shouldn't do, and if you don't fall into line then you will be shunned.

Change you can believe in.

Democrats Stand Behind Pelosi

WASHINGTON (CNN) –As congressional Republicans continued Monday to stoke the flames over Speaker Nancy Pelosi's accusation the CIA lied to her about waterboarding, House Democrats appeared to be standing behind their leader.

One of Pelosi's closest allies in the House, Connecticut Democrat John Larson, acknowledged to CNN that the Speaker's news conference last week could have been better, but insisted there hasn't been any fallout among Democrats.

"Perhaps it wasn't one of her best press conferences. But certainly everyone in this caucus stands behind her to be the lead in our caucus. I don't know if it could have been done better or not, but our caucus is entirely behind her, " Larson said.

Several Democratic sources tell CNN that privately, some congressional Democrats are baffled by Pelosi's decision to escalate the controversy last week by going after the CIA.

But Larson, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, also said he's spoken to members over the weekend and that they are "solidly behind the Speaker." - CNN

That is exactly the Problem in Washington, even when the person flat out lies, cheats, steals or whatever they stand behind them. By God, get out there and hold them accountable. There isn't going to be change in Washington until 'We the People' make change. People like Pelosi need to be booted to the curb, Oh YES there are Democrats and Republicans that need to be kicked right out on their butts.

Obama's Stimulus Story - Now the Truth

Early this year, as the U.S. Congress prepared to debate a $787 billion spending bill that's better known as the stimulus plan, President Barack Obama claimed that immediate action was necessary to prevent unemployment from skyrocketing.

"Experts agree that if nothing is done, the unemployment rate could reach double digits," Mr. Obama said in a January 24 radio address. "If we do not act boldly and swiftly, a bad situation could become dramatically worse." The same month, his economic advisors released a report saying that, without the stimulus, unemployment would hit around 8.5 percent by April 2009, and 7.8 percent with it.

We know what happened next: a Democratic Congress quickly approved the legislation. But what may not be as obvious is that even with the stimulus, current unemployment is far worse than the Obama administration had predicted: it's already 8.9 percent.

In the last few days, a marked-up version of that chart has rocketed around economics and public policy blogs, with some administration critics arguing it showed the stimulus was unnecessary. (For perspective, the stimulus' generous $787 billion is roughly 60 percent of the total revenue that the IRS collects each year from Americans' personal income taxes, or almost seven times the entire GDP of New Zealand.) - CBS News Story

Obama sold his bill of goods to everyone who thought he was the Great Mesiah. Without his bold plan and swift action things were going down the crapper. It was all Bush's fault and he was here to save us all from the Evil Doer George W. Bush.

Well, now we know, he is just another Politician that is full of it up to his eyes. He got the Billions of our dollars and threw them right down the crapper. Who is going to save us next?

GM Bondholders Getting the Shaft?

You keep reading about the GM bondholders holding out, slowing up the works, gumming the wheels of progress. Ninety percent of us must agree by May 26 to a swap deal for GM common stock or else the company files for bankruptcy. Forget bloated union contracts, foreign competition and decades of decline -- it's the bondholders that will drag down GM. Unless we take one for the team.

It's a real hustle down the aisle for a deal that, as a former Miami resident I can say, blows like a hurricane. And though Chapter 11 bankruptcy seems unavoidable, weary bondholders -- it's been a rough ride, people -- are expected to leap in front of each other to swap out our notes for stock shares that may soon be meaningless.

Oh yes, there's also an under-publicized 1-for-100 reverse stock split attached to the offer. And the company rounds down each fractional share while converting your notes. The well-publicized 225 shares for every $1,000 of principal actually ends up being two shares. Two shares, not 225.

Such a deal!

Here's my personal slice of the choices facing GM bondholders. If you see me on the street, feel free to buy me a beer and commiserate over my losses.

In 2006, I inherited GM promissory notes with original principal value of $62,500. Some of them dated back to the 1940s, when my grandfather the banker scraped up the bones to invest in the rising auto company. The market value on the bonds, what I could get for selling them in 2006, was about $40,000. - CBS News Story

This is Obama's America. Screw the man who has propped up these fledgling car makers for years and reward the Unions that have helped drive them into the ground. Makes perfect sense to me!?