The Opinionator

Who Is John Galt?

It would appear that a lot of people want to know the answer to that question. Sales of the Ayn Rand classic, "Atlas Shrugged" have soared in the face of Obamanomics, tripling over this time last year.

H/T: Instapundit

Obama's Budget Numbers; Read 'Em And Weep

Here is a Reuters story breaking down the Obama budget. Excerpts:

Obama will forecast a budget deficit of $1.75 trillion in the current fiscal year 2009.

That is equivalent to 12.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), making it the highest deficit as a share of the economy since World War II.

And,

Obama will propose boosting tax collection from about 16 percent of the economy this year to 19 percent in 2013.

Obama would allow some of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts enacted under his predecessor George W. Bush to expire on schedule for those making more than $250,000 a year. That would include allowing the highest U.S. income tax bracket to rise from 35 percent to more than 39 percent.

Finally,

Obama's budget pencils in the possibility that he may request an additional $250 billion to help fix the trouble U.S. financial system.

There is also these revenue sleights of hand,

Obama's budget will include a 10-year, $634-billion reserve fund to help pay for his proposed healthcare reforms.

Half of the reserve would be paid for with new revenues and the other half would be funded by making the current system more efficient, for example by requiring competitive bidding in some areas of the Medicare program for the elderly.

The 10-year reserve fund would help finance Obama's promised expansion of U.S. healthcare, one of his major campaign promises, but would not fully cover the final expense of the reforms...

Obama's budget includes hundreds of billions of dollars in revenues starting in 2012 and spread out over many years from a greenhouse gas emissions trading system.

We thought he was Carter redux. Now we know.

Happy Monday!

I should be posting something new this evening but until then, enjoy this musical interlude!

Mr. Holder, We're The Irony Police And You Are Under Arrest

Attorney General Eric Holder, a black man working for a black President, calls Americans a nation of cowards regarding race. Mr. Holder, tell that to the roughly 350,000 Union soldiers that died in battle or of disease freeing the slaves. Tell that to the civil rights workers killed in Mississippi. Tell that to the voters that voted for Barack Obama despite his race. In fact, tell it to the millions of people who voted for Barack Obama precisely because of his race. Says this oracle of wisdom,

"Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards," said Holder, nation's first black attorney general.

Note the irony of that passage, "nation's first black attorney general". But there is more,

"If we are to make progress in this area, we must feel comfortable enough with one another and tolerant enough of each other to have frank conversations about the racial matters that continue to divide us."

Make progress in this area? How about electing a black president? Is that progress? A common theme among Obama and his supporters is an incredible lack of gratitude. No wonder they do not love this country and feel it needs to be fixed in order to be lovable. Ingrates!

Iraqi Police Host A Motivational Speaker!

A soldier delivers a message to a bunch of worthless Iraqi cops. Thanks to Little Green Footballs for turning me on to this gem! Warning, definitely NSFW!

The "Bill Moyers Journal" Episode You Won't See

That would be the one in which he is exposed as a homophobe and a liberal hypocrite. In this Washington Post story, it is revealed that Moyers was interested in the sexuality of White house staff members. It is remarkable that a "tolerant" liberal like Moyers was interested in this information. Especially since any staffers revealed to be homosexual in the FBI investigation would be asked to resign from the administration. In particular, he was interested in Jack Valenti, later to become president of the Motion Picture Association of America.

Not so remarkable is Moyers' claim that his memory is "unclear" on this issue. Weak sauce Mr. Moyers. Nor is the revelation that the democrats were turning loose the FBI to dig dirt on Americans. 

The next time you see Moyers on a crusade against a person or organization, just remember what a hypocrite he is and ask yourself who the hell he is to sit in judgment of others.

(H/T: Drudge Report)

Updated With Video: Chicago Traders Mock Obama Mortgage Bailout On Air; Santelli Calls For Chicago Tea Party!

CNBC's Rick Santelli sets them up and the traders respond with mockery to Obama's "Bail Out The Losers" mortgage plan. Covered in Awesome Sauce!

Day By Day Nails It

"Stimulus" Guts Welfare Reform

Dan Riehl at Riehl World View posts about what the media in Europe is saying about the gutting of Welfare Reform in the Stimulus Bill. As he points out, we are not likely to see anything like this in our Obama-cessed media outlets. From the TOL article Riehl links to,

Even Mickey Kaus, a prominent liberal blogger, has denounced what he describes as the “get more people on welfare” provisions of Obama’s bill. Writing at Slate, the political website, Kaus said: “Lack of jobs isn’t a reason to loosen work requirements . . . Have the Dems never heard of ‘workfare’?

“Give recipients useful community service work, and if they do the work, then they get the [welfare] cash.”

Duh!

Happy Valentine's Day For Iraqis

Despite those that cling to any detonation of a suicide bomb as proof that somehow we have failed in Iraq, here is another bit of good news via Reuters of all places, that we have succeeded.

Iraqis open arms to romance as violence fades

Thanks to Drudge.