Dear 52

Hugs and Kisses,

The 48

FLOTUS – "Let Them Eat Cake"

Without an official role, FLOTUS has determined that she needs 26 staffers to attend to her every need. The tab for the taxpayers comes to $1,750,000 per year. In stark contrast, the former First Lady, Laura Bush, employed 4 staffers – two were part-time.

Via Paul L. Williams, Canada Free Press

How things have changed! If you’re one of the tens of millions of Americans facing certain destitution, earning less than subsistence wages stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart or serving up McDonald cheeseburgers, prepare to scream and then come to realize that the benefit package for these servants of Miz Michele are the same as members of the national security and defense departments and the bill for these assorted lackeys is paid by John Q. Public:

1. $172,2000 – Sher, Susan (CHIEF OF STAFF)
2. $140,000 – Frye, Jocelyn C. (DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF POLICY AND PROJECTS FOR THE FIRST LADY)
3. $113,000 – Rogers, Desiree G. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND WHITE HOUSE SOCIAL SECRETARY)
4. $102,000 – Johnston, Camille Y. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE FIRST LADY)
5. Winter, Melissa E. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY)
6. $90,000 – Medina, David S. (DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY)
7. $84,000 – Lelyveld, Catherine M. (DIRECTOR AND PRESS SECRETARY TO THE FIRST LADY)
8. $75,000 – Starkey, Frances M. (DIRECTOR OF SCHEDULING AND ADVANCE FOR THE FIRST LADY)
9. $70,000 – Sanders, Trooper (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF POLICY AND PROJECTS FOR THE FIRST LADY)
10. $65,000 – Burnough, Erinn J. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY SOCIAL SECRETARY)
11. Reinstein, Joseph B. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY SOCIAL SECRETARY)
12. $62,000 – Goodman, Jennifer R. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF SCHEDULING AND EVENTS COORDINATOR FOR THE FIRST LADY)
13. $60,000 – Fitts, Alan O. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ADVANCE AND TRIP DIRECTOR FOR THE FIRST LADY)
14. Lewis, Dana M. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT AND PERSONAL AIDE TO THE FIRST LADY)
15. $52,500 – Mustaphi, Semonti M. (ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY TO THE FIRST LADY)
16. $50,000 – Jarvis, Kristen E. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR SCHEDULING AND TRAVELING AIDE TO THE FIRST LADY)
17. $45,000 – Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE FIRST LADY)
18. Tubman, Samantha (DEPUTY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR,SOCIAL OFFICE)
19. $40,000 – Boswell, Joseph J. (EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY)
20. $36,000 – Armbruster, Sally M. (STAFF ASSISTANT TO THE SOCIAL SECRETARY)
21. Bookey, Natalie (STAFF ASSISTANT)
22. Jackson, Deilia A. (DEPUTY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE FIRST LADY)

“In my own life, in my own small way, I have tried to give back to this country that has given me so much,” she said. “See, that’s why I left a job at a big law firm for a career in public service, “ Michelle Obama

5 Points – Truth is a Stubborn Thing in Healthcare

Please snitch on me! Email this post to flag@whitehouse.gov

Jenny, an ‘executive director’ at the Democrat National Committee emailed me today. Before I discuss this email, I have to know – was Monica Lewinsky an ‘executive director’ as well??

She gets right to the madness:

The truth is, it’s a sham. These “grassroots protests” are being organized and largely paid for by Washington special interests and insurance companies who are desperate to block reform. They’re trying to use lies and fear to break the President and his agenda for change.

Hmmm…can you name just ONE Washington special interest group or insurance company that is funding the Tea Party Rally and Health Care Town Hall debates? You wouldn’t lie about something this serious? Wouldn’t it be in the best interest of the nation to expose these nebulous groups you have mentioned by name? Since you obviously know who they are, please share that information, so together we can call them out. It’s all about credibility and trust, right, Jenny?

Health insurance reform is about our lives, our jobs, and our families — we can’t let distortions and intimidation get in the way. We need to expose these outrageous tactics, and we’re counting on you to help. Can you read these “5 facts about the anti-reform mobs,” then pass them along to your friends and family?

Health INSURANCE Reform? Wasn’t it just yesterday called “Health CARE Reform”? You wouldn’t want this to be seen as a bait and switch tactic. That would not be the way to engage the trust of people when you distort your agenda in such a blatant and easily seen way. You want people to believe you Jenny, because you wouldn’t use misleading statements to get your point across, right, Jenny?

5 facts about the anti-reform mobs

1. These disruptions are being funded and organized by out-of-district special-interest groups and insurance companies who fear that health insurance reform could help Americans, but hurt their bottom line. A group run by the same folks who made the “Swiftboat” ads against John Kerry is compiling a list of congressional events in August to disrupt. An insurance company coalition has stationed employees in 30 states to track where local lawmakers hold town-hall meetings.

Can you name one out-of-district special-interest group or insurance company? I keep track of my local representatives Town Hall meetings on a regular basis – no need for an unnamed ‘insurance company’ to deploy employees for this purpose and I am quite capable of spreading the information far and wide thanks to the WWW. You might of heard of it and Al Gore claims to have invented it. Every rally of concerned citizens that I have attended has a different flavor and home made signs; nothing that would indicate the work of a professional, as you alluded to Jenny:

Unlike sponsored mobs with uniform, professionally printed signs – all of whom voted for your messiah..err..boss Barack Obama. (Please note the spelling – it must have been embarrassing for you when your own colleagues misspelled his name during a recent trip to Russia)

This same group mobbed a woman, ripped the U.S. Flag out of her hands and tore it to pieces in front of her – you can read about it here, It is important to keep things in context, right, Jenny? Oh, you should know that ‘swiftboat’ is a term meaning to reveal the truth about a politician running for office. I can see why that word makes you so very uncomfortable.

I’m not the only one who can see the grass root effort behind the Tea Party and Health Care rallies, my good friend Raoul has a keen insight into this issue:

2. People are scared because they are being fed frightening lies. These crowds are being riled up by anti-reform lies being spread by industry front groups that invent smears to tarnish the President’s plan and scare voters. But as the President has repeatedly said, health insurance reform will create more health care choices for the American people, not reduce them. If you like your insurance or your doctor, you can keep them, and there is no “government takeover” in any part of any plan supported by the President or Congress.

Fed frightening lies from their elected representatives about healthcare is truly terrifying, as this is all about trust, right Jenny? If this is not a government takeover, then why is the government involved at all? Why does this healthcare scheme require a healthcare commissioner that is selected through advice and consent of the Senate? Why will citizens be fined by this government if they are deemed to have inadequate health coverage? Why are businesses, large and small, being levied fines by this government for not offering the government option to their employees? True healthcare reform will begin when there is less government regulation and more free market choices for healthcare consumers. You say there is no government takeover, yet the bill says otherwise, as pointed out by citizens in townhall meetings across the nation. Is it fair to say Point #2 is misleading to the point of lying?

3. Their actions are getting more extreme. Texas protesters brought signs displaying a tombstone for Rep. Lloyd Doggett and using the “SS” symbol to compare President Obama’s policies to Nazism. Maryland Rep. Frank Kratovil was hanged in effigy outside his district office. Rep. Tim Bishop of New York had to be escorted to his car by police after an angry few disrupted his town hall meeting — and more examples like this come in every day. And they have gone beyond just trying to derail the President’s health insurance reform plans, they are trying to “break” the President himself and ruin his Presidency.

Nazism is a good association to Obama’s policy: German Workers Party Demand 21 states: “The State has the duty to help raise the standard of national health by providing maternity welfare centers, by prohibiting juvenile labor, by increasing physical fitness through the introduction of compulsory games and gymnastics, and by the greatest possible encouragement of associations concerned with the physical education of the young.” Is this administration a modern day incarnations of the Germany Workers Party? I’d say no, but they certainly borrow a lot of policies from them.

A rep hanged in effigy? Say it ain’t so! That would never occur with a Democrat supporter, right, Jenny?

Is this where you stole…er…borrowed the Nazi reference, Jenny? Democrats and their supporters wouldn’t ever make the connection between Bush and hitler, right Jenny?

What is extreme are the numerous baseless and nameless allegations being thrown about in this email. We don’t want to scare people with untrue statements, that is what the Republicans do, right, Jenny?

4. Their goal is to disrupt and shut down legitimate conversation. Protesters have routinely shouted down representatives trying to engage in constructive dialogue with voters, and done everything they can to intimidate and silence regular people who just want more information. One attack group has even published a manual instructing protesters to “stand up and shout” and try to “rattle” lawmakers to prevent them from talking peacefully with their constituents.

Another unnamed ‘attack group’ – if you have the information that will shed light on this group, why not share it with concerned citizens? These non specific allegations are beginning to sound more like rumor mongering that the truth, Jenny.

By ‘rattle’ you mean something like this, Jenny?

5. Republican leadership is irresponsibly cheering on the thuggish crowds. Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner issued a statement applauding and promoting a video of the disruptions and looking forward to “a long, hot August for Democrats in Congress.”

If the Democrats can’t stand the heat, I’d tell them to get out of the frying pan. It is apparent by this email that the Dems have no answers to our healthcare concerns and are more interested in obfuscations and demonization of average citizens who present tough questions to their elected officials. Consider this for a moment, if this plan is so good and rock solid, why is the White House encouraging Americans to snitch on family, friends, coworkers or even strangers regarding any “fishy” opinion on health care reform?

It’s time to expose this charade, before it gets more dangerous. Please send these facts to everyone you know. You can also post them on your website, blog, or Facebook page.

Yes, please post this blog on your website, blog, or FaceBook page – don’t forget Digg and Twitter as Jenny did!

Now, more than ever, we need to stand strong together and defend the truth.

Yep, this is what I’m all about, Jenny. Thanks for playing!

Jen O’Malley Dillon
Executive Director
Democratic National Committee

Facts are Stubborn Things in HealthCare

Obama in his own words expressing his goal of a single payer government controlled healthcare system:

The White House had a hissy fit. In true bully fashion they trotted out a rebuttal video and a call to report any one talking about or posting unfavorable opinions regarding the disastrous Obamacare. I took the liberty, as long as it lasts, to screen cap the Whitehouse.gov page displaying the video and the not so veiled threat:

From the White House:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

I have already emailed a list of ‘fishy’ websites and groups posting inaccurate information regarding healthcare – I’m sure you can think of many more – Kos, HuffPo, Daily Beast, The Celtic Diva, IVAW, IAVA…etc

Don’t know what to say? Here is a great template – feel free to use:

flag@whitehouse.gov

date:Tue, Aug 4, 2009

subject: misinformation about healthcare

mailed-by: midnightbluesays.com

I came across this site http://whitehouse.gov it’s spreading a lot of misinformation about healthcare.

It is interesting to note that as much as the left screamed that their voices were being silenced by the Bush Administration, you never saw this type of ‘snitch on your neighbor’ behavior from the White House.

Pic Of The Day

Via Weasel Zippers:

Obama please help us defend our constitution and freedom. Do not support the next Chavez.

Poor people, they don’t understand it is people in the video below that voted for and support Obama. He won’t cross his voter base, no matter what happens in Honduras.

The Real Cost of Cap & Steal

Robert Zubrick takes a hard look at the reality of the Dem backed Cap and Trade scheme – it is not pretty folks:

According to a report issued by the Environmental Protection Agency in April, by 2015 the price of carbon emission indulgences required by the bill for industries to operate could be expected to run between $13 and $17 per ton of CO2 emitted.

They are calling them ‘indulgences’ – where have we heard that before? Paging Martin Luther – STAT! It figures liberals embrace religion only when I pertains to taxation.

The United States emits about 9 billion tons of CO2 per year. Therefore, at a rate of $15/ton fee for emission indulgences, the bill would impose a tax of $135 billion per year on the nation. Divided by the U.S. population of 300 million, that works out to a cost of $450 per year levied on every American man, woman or child, or $1,800 for a family of four. While for wealthy individuals like Al Gore such an impost might represent a mere pittance, for working families struggling hard to make ends meet it would be a very significant burden.

Not to mention people living on fixed incomes (the elderly or disabled) – a job in a ‘green’ industry is not in the cards for these individuals to offset the crippling cost of ‘indulgences’.

So a tax of $15 per ton of CO2 emitted is equivalent to a tax of $45/ton on coal. The price of Eastern anthracite coal runs in the neighborhood of $45/ton, so under the proposed system, such coal would be taxed at a rate of about 100 percent. The price of Western bituminous coal is currently about $12/ton. This coal would therefore be taxed at a rate of almost 400 percent.

Pennsylvania will get royally screwed by this increase in costs. Increased unemployment and increased taxation on Pa residents who still have a job. This is a lose/lose all around for Pennsylvania. But hey, we’re just a bunch of racist rednecks, right?

So a $15/ton tax on CO2 emissions will also cause an increase in the price of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel on the order of $0.22/gallon. This will not only hit consumers’ pockets, but increase transport costs throughout the economy, thereby disabling businesses and increasing unemployment levels still more. While harming the economy, such a gas tax will do nothing material toward the truly essential goal of decreasing America’s dependence on foreign oil. Indeed, the bill’s dramatic hikes in electricity costs will have the opposite effect, since only 3 percent of America’s electricity is derived from oil, and by forcefully increasing electric power costs, the bill will actually discourage adoption of electric means of transport, including mass-transit systems today and potentially plug-in hybrid cars in the future.

Note this horrendous piece of ….legislation does NOT cut all dependence on foreign oil – just reduces it a smidgen.

If you tax these things, you tax food, and by no small amount. A $15/ton CO2 tax would increase fertilizer production costs directly by about $60/ton, with the cap-and-trade bill’s increased transport costs inflating the burden still more.

To get a sense of what it would mean for farmers to abandon fertilizer, it is only necessary to go to the supermarket and compare the price of the “organic” produce, grown without chemical fertilizer, to the regular produce, which, while just as nutritious, typically costs less than half as much. It is one thing for wealthy organic food buffs to voluntarily pay such high prices for their food — that is their right. But to impose such costs for basic groceries on everyone else, and particularly the poor, as part of a largely symbolic effort to try to change the weather, is self-indulgent in the extreme.

That poor elderly retiree on a fixed income will have to chose between light or food with this bill. Obama was not kidding about cap&steal and its deleterious effect on our economy:

Massive Tax Increase Passed House

We are screwed and so is the environment. An unread tax bill is forced on American citizens – again.

In the meantime, the EPA has been found to have actively suppressed information that exposes the EPA’s reliance on unverified data to support its greenhouse gas as a public endangerment issue.

H/T CEI. Unlike your elected democrat representatives – here is your chance to read the censored study

Conservatives are supportive of responsible environmental stewardship that does not require destroying our economy or culture.

Going green is good – right? Forgetting for a moment that there is no empirical evidence to support that ‘going green’ has had a sustained impact on the environment.

Well, going green seems to have a positive effect on China’s economy – one of the countries exempt from Kyoto.

The Audacity of Obstruction

Grassley presses the Obama administration on Watchdogs

Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) this week suggested that the Obama administration is attempting to interfere with investigations conducted by government watchdogs and said he will continue to press the White House for information regarding the recent dismissal of Gerald Walpin, the inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service. “I kind of get the impression that there’s kind of a crusade early on in this administration to, how would you say it, short circuit inspectors general,” Grassley said earlier this week during an interview.

Apparently it is too uppity for Walpin to actually do his jo b – auditing. Especially when there is a suspicion of corruption, how dare he!

How dare Obama obstruct justice.

Dems To Raise Taxes and Revoke Heatlh Care Coverage

Welcome to Obamacare. I am one of 120 million who would lose healthcare coverage under Obamacare. I am not a statistic, but a woman and a voter, and I did not vote to lose my quality healthcare coverage.

I just read a quote from CQ Today via Roy Blunt regarding the additional taxes that will be levied to support this debacle of a health scheme. It was exactly what Pa Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz is in favor of adding, as noted during a conference call last night:

But those taxes are coming. “Among the top ideas circulating in the House are broad-based taxes, such as a surtax on the adjusted gross income of top earners, a higher Medicare payroll tax and a value-added tax. Narrower ones, such as taxes on sugary drinks and alcohol, also have some support.” Some are even talking about taxing your current health care.

What to see the future of Obamacare? See: Hawaii Ending Universal Healthcare

Higher taxes, poor quality healthcare and loss of coverage, that is Obamahealthcare.

ObamaCare by the Numbers

852 – Pages in the bill

120 million – Number of individuals who could lose their current coverage as a result of the

government-run plan reimbursing at Medicare rates created in the bill, according to non-partisan

actuaries at the Lewin Group

4.7 million – Number of jobs that could be lost as a result of taxes on businesses that cannot afford to

provide health insurance coverage, according to a model developed by Council of Economic

Advisors Chair Christina Romer

$88,200 – Definition of “low-income” family of four for purposes of health insurance subsidies

Trillions – New federal spending, which likely could exceed the $1.6 trillion reported price tag of Senate

Finance Committee Chairman Baucus’ legislation

32 – Entitlement programs the bill creates, expands, or extends

48 – Additional offices, bureaus, commissions, programs, and bureaucracies the bill creates over and

above the entitlement programs listed above

1,367 – Uses of the word “shall,” representing new duties to be carried out by federal bureaucrats and

mandates on individuals, businesses, and States

$10 billion – Minimum loss sustained by taxpayers every year due to Medicare fraud; the government-

run health plan utilizes the same ineffective anti-fraud statutes and procedures that have kept

Medicare on the Government Accountability Office’s list of high-risk programs for two decades

$1.75 billion – Mandatory spending on home visitation services that would educate parents on “skills to

interact with their child”

Zero – Prohibitions on government programs like Medicare and Medicaid from using cost-effectiveness

research to impose delays to or denials for access to life-saving treatments

2017 – Year Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will be exhausted – a date unchanged by the

legislation, which re-directs savings from Medicare to finance new entitlements for younger

Americans

On June 23, in a conference call, Congresswoman Alyson Schwartz proposed a ‘sugar’ tax to help pay for this monstrosity of a healthcare plan. The Dems plan to give you everything – especially the bill for everything. Think about that the next time you buy a Rita’s Water Ice or Diet Coke – then again they may become a luxury the average American cannot afford.