Shady

Obama, Geithner Get Low Grades From Economists U.S. President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner received failing grades for their efforts to revive the economy from participants in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey. The economists' assessment stands in stark contrast with Mr. Obama's popularity with the public, with a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll giving him a 60% approval rating. A majority of the 49 economists polled said they were dissatisfied with the administration's economic policies. On average, they gave the president a grade of 59 out of 100, and although there was a broad range of marks, 42% of respondents rated Mr. Obama below 60. Mr. Geithner received an average grade of 51. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke scored better, with an average 71. WSJ

My feeling is that they're absolutely referring to fiscal conservativism. As for Meghan McCain, who is she to be saying anything? She's the daughter of a Senator, who's what, 20 years old? What kind of weight does she carry on any issue? If Meghan McCain is considered a Republican, then is Sasha Obama considered a Democrat?

A large part of the problem also stems from the "mark to market" accounting rule, which has contributed greatly to the undervalued assets. This has been weighing banks down, and it needn't be so. Hopefully this will be addressed soon, but apparently Obama wants to solve every other problem before finance, and all at the same time.

China February Auto Sales Rise 25% After Tax Cuts March 10 (Bloomberg) -- China vehicle sales surged 25 percent in February, the first gain in four months, after the government cut taxes on some models, helping the country extend its lead as the world’s largest auto market this year. Bloomberg It's a sad commentary when China is running more free-market captialist economic policy than Obama. Instead, what do we have? Huge tax increases proposed. Is there anyways American's can swap Barack Obama for Hu Jintao?

Not a tax cheat, at least that we know of, but Obama's lost another appointee. Freeman's out A statement from ODNI just now: Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair announced today that Ambassador Charles W. Freeman Jr. has requested that his selection to be Chairman of the National Intelligence Council not proceed. Director Blair accepted Ambassador Freeman’s decision with regret. Link

Obama must know there's a problem when even people like Jack Welch and Warren Buffett are very unimpressed with his handling of the economy. The main criticizm seems to be that he's trying to fix every problem, all at once, when the consensus is that the financial sector needs to be addressed first. His scatter-shot approach has been more than a little unnerving. I can't figure out why Obama's being so stubborn, other then it must be linked to his chief-of-staff insisting that "a crisis is a terrible thing to waste."

Ok, so Prime Minister Brown arrives in Washington to continue the special relationship between America and Britain. Brown, following tradition, presents Obama with some special gifts. A pen holder made from an anti-slave ship, a framed commission for the HMS Resolute, and a first edition Churchill biography. Obama then presents his gift to Brown. 25 dvds. Yep, 25 dvds. No, I'm not making this up, 25 dvds. To my special friend Gordon, 25 DVDs The Prime Minister gave Mr Obama an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet. The unique present delighted Mr Obama because oak from the Gannet's sister ship, HMS Resolute, was carved to make a desk that has sat in the Oval Office in the White House since 1880. Mr Brown also handed over a framed commission for HMS Resolute and a first edition of the seven-volume biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert. Link And if this wasn't enough... Barack Obama sends bust of Winston Churchill on its way back to Britain A bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned to George W Bush from the Government's art collection after the September 11 attacks, has now been formally handed back. The bronze by Sir Jacob Epstein, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds if it were ever sold on the open market, enjoyed pride of place in the Oval Office during President Bush's tenure. But when British officials offered to let Mr Obama to hang onto the bust for a further four years, the White House said: "Thanks, but no thanks." Link Stay classy Mr. President!

The only thing that's worse than high experience and terrible policies, is zero experience and terrible policies...cough...Obama...cough.

Not only his words, but his disasterous policies that have scared the crap out of business and investors.

Charlie Rangel cornered and questioned about his corruption. Priceless. Someone needs to remind him, that he's paid by the taxpayers, so it is their business. A-hole.

Exactly. The definition of torture has been changed, to now include, sleep deprivation, and even playing loud music. I can understand why tapes would be destroyed, especially when the goal posts have been moved after the fact.

CNBC's Macke: Obama Holding Dow Back 2,000 Points as Markets Sag "It would if not for an administration that has created a country full of 330 million people who all want to make $249,000 a year, less they want to become one of the ‘wealthy,' who apparently the government hates," Macke said. "If this administration can get their act together and be pro-business to support the idea of success instead of penalizing it - that would be one thing that would get me excited." Video At least there's a bit of positive news here. If Obama would change his tune just a little, the market could bounce back pretty quickly. Unfortunately, there seems to be a complete lack of confidence in his ecnomic policy team, mostly Tim Giethner, who should have never been nominated. He's a complete disaster as Treasury Secretary. Larry Summers would have been a far better choice. On a side note, we should probably add Jeff Macke's name to the White House enemies list. He'll probably be targeted monday by Robert Gibbs. Along with Santelli, Cramer, and Limbaugh. And just for the record, Jim Cramer is a life long Democrat, who supported Barack Obama, donated the maximum amount an individual can donate by law, and has given money to Democrats for most of his life.

A great column on Tim Geithner's hypocrisy. For sheer chutzpah, it would be hard to top the scene on Capitol Hill yesterday. As Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner vowed to go after wealthy Americans who shield money in tax havens, the man wielding the chairman's gavel in the House Ways and Means hearing was Democrat Charlie Rangel. Perfect together. Geithner and Rangel are two peas in a pod when it comes to dodging their own taxes, and neither is embarrassed about demanding others pay up. Geithner now preaches the religion of regulation in the financial markets, yet, in his former job, he was supposedly standing guard at the epicenter of the meltdown. As chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, he was the central bank's eyes and ears on Wall Street. Apparently he was blind and deaf, to judge how the banks marketed toxic junk. Meanwhile, Geithner's personal tax history is shocking for a man now in charge of the Internal Revenue Service. His tax delinquencies, with interest and penalties, came to about $43,000, some of which he paid when he was audited in 2006 but most of which he didn't pay until he knew Obama would give him a job. I wonder how the agents who audited him feel about working for him? Daily News

Wrong. John McCain would not be raising capital-gains taxes in the middle of one of the worse bear markets in history. And you can bet his stimulus bill would have been smaller, targeted, and temporary, and composed of actual stimulus, and not filled with pork. He'd also not be raising taxes in general.

The Dow finished down 280 pts today. How low does everyone think Obama will drive the markets down after he's finished implementing his leftwing agenda? I'm thinking the bottom is probably somewhere around 5000. Hope n change. *edit* Sorry, I should have referred to the market as the "daily tracking poll", just the way Obama referred it yesterday. Someone really needs to explain to him that it's much more than a "daily tracking poll." Friggin idiot.

Looks like you're not the only one thinking OMG. Former Governor and Senator of Indiana, and possible Obama VP pick Evan Bayh also agrees. A Democratic senator says no to a huge federal spending bill. <--- his title, not mine The Senate should reject this bill. If we do not, President Barack Obama should veto it. The omnibus increases discretionary spending by 8% over last fiscal year's levels, dwarfing the rate of inflation across a broad swath of issues including agriculture, financial services, foreign relations, energy and water programs, and legislative branch operations. Such increases might be appropriate for a nation flush with cash or unconcerned with fiscal prudence, but America is neither. The solution going forward is to stop wasteful spending before it starts. Families and businesses are tightening their belts to make ends meet -- and Washington should too. Spending should be held in check before taxes are raised, even on the wealthy. Most people are willing to do their duty by paying taxes, but they want to know that their money is going toward important priorities and won't be wasted. But the bloated omnibus requires sacrifice from no one, least of all the government. It only exacerbates the problem and hastens the day of reckoning. Voters rightly demanded change in November's election, but this approach to spending represents business as usual in Washington, not the voters' mandate. WSJ I couldn't agree with him more. A spending bill that increases by 8% over last year, with 8000+ earkmarks is not change we can believe in, it's business as usual. And if Democrats pass this legislation, they're gonna have a tough time explaining the importance of spending millions of dollars on pig odor research in these economic times, 2 and 4 years from now.

Team Obama Targets Private Citizen By February, Carville and Begala were pounding on Limbaugh frequently in their appearances on CNN. Neither Democrat would say so, but a third source said the two also began pushing the idea of targeting Limbaugh in their daily phone conversations with Emanuel. Conversations and email exchanges began taking place in and out of the White House not only between the old pals from the Clinton era but also including White House senior adviser David Axelrod, Deputy Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Woodhouse. The White House needed no more convincing after Limbaugh’s hour-plus performance Saturday, celebrated on the right and mocked on the left, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he re-stated his hope Obama fails. “He kicked this into full-gear at CPAC by reiterating it,” said a senior White House official of Limbaugh. By Sunday morning, Emanuel elevated the strategy by bringing up the conservative talker, unprompted, on CBS’s “Face the Nation” and calling him the “the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party. Politico Some scary stuff, making Nixon look like a piker. Also, add Santelli and Cramer to the list. And I'm sure more names will follow during the rest of Obama's term.

Exactly! Just like Nixon's enemies list. Except that it's not secret anymore.

Looks like Jim Cramer was the new media target for the Obama Administration. Today, during his White House breifing, Robert Gibbs decided to question Cramer's authority to criticize the Obama economic plan. I don't think I've ever seen White House press secretary's ever specifically target, by name, journalists who disagree with a particular Administration. It must be a new tactic. A chill wind is beginning to blow across America, and anyone who doesn't follow lock-step with the Messiah, will be publicly criticized by his minions.

Obama was the one who made the news with his housing plan. And last time I checked, it was a constitutional right to criticize the President's policy. If you have a substantive problem with the critique, then so be it, but contrary to popular belief, the Messiah is falilble once in a while. Again, attack the message, but stop attacking the messenger, especially with proven lies.

Yeah, except it's a tax bill from 10 years ago, not one given to him for the first time, for this fiscal year.

It wasn't. Your rant is wrong, and has been proved wrong, and I suggest you apologize. CNBC: Santelli not tied to political Web site NEW YORK (AP) — CNBC says reporter Rick Santelli is not connected to a Web site that used his name to promote a series of political protests against President Barack Obama. Santelli's name was stripped from headlines on the home page of http://www.reteaparty.com Monday after its operator was made aware of CNBC's dissatisfaction. The site was operating within 24 hours after the reporter's self-described rant on Feb. 19, when he said the president's plan to help people in danger of home foreclosure was "promoting bad behavior." Anthony Astolfi, a California Web developer who was active in Republican Ron Paul's 2008 presidential campaign, said he stayed up all night putting the "reteaparty" Web site together. He and others online are using Santelli's statement to promote a Boston Tea Party-style protest against the government plan. Using Santelli's name was the most effective way of drawing attention to his site, Astolfi said. He denied it was an attempt to mislead people into believing Santelli supported what they were doing. AP Not only that, but Playboy has taken down their story off their website. If you follow the original story link, it now sends you to a page stating "We're sorry, we couldn't find the page you requested." Playboy It serves you right for getting your "news" from porno magazines.

Trade nominee Ron Kirk agrees to pay back taxes WASHINGTON – Ron Kirk, nominated as U.S. Trade Representative in the Obama administration, owes an estimated $10,000 in back taxes from earlier in the decade and has agreed to make his payments, the Senate Finance Committee said Monday. The committee said the taxes arise from Kirk's handling of speaking fees that he donated to his alma mater, and for his deduction of the full cost of season tickets to the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team. AP Now beyond humorous, and beyond absurd.

I will do no such thing. What I'm blaming Obama for, is a massive increase of waste and fiscal irresponsibility, a continuation of Bush policy, but on steroids. And, destructive economic policy, that is an attack on the private sector, and an attack on business, large and small, and the exact opposte thing to do in a deep recession. He's more fixated on implementing a big government agenda than he is on fixing problems. And Obama is making things worse. You're trying to silence me. Classic fascism. Classic totalitarianism. Classic Stalinism. No, America is not a fascist state. Sorry, but that's hyperbole.

I'm gonna have to agree with both of you.