President Obama Still Sitting On His Hands as Troops Wait For Reinforcements

Hey, remember when I wrote about President Obama's dithering on whether or not to send more troops to Afghanistan? That was two months ago. At the time of that writing, on October 1, it had already been a month since General McChrystal's request for more troops had been leaked to the pubic. Now, three months after that first request, President Obama has still not made up his mind about what he will do. Despite the recommendations of his military brass, President Obama has decided to host state dinners and golf instead.

This isn't just the musings of your humble blogger. No it appears that troops all over Afghanistan are waiting for assistance from their brothers and sisters in uniform. This from The Washington Times:

A Washington Times reporter and photographer spent much of October - the deadliest month for American troops there thus far - with U.S. Army soldiers in southern Afghanistan, who spoke openly of the need for more boots on the ground, the more and sooner the better.

"We need more troops," said Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Paul Rabidou, 24, stationed at a small combat outpost in the Maywand district. "It's just as simple as that."

The Blackwatch unit - Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, with the 5th Stryker Brigade - arrived at the outpost Sept. 13. Since their arrival, they have lost three soldiers and two civil-affairs officers. Bombings have destroyed three of their four Stryker vehicles.

But don't worry Tusk readers, because President Obama is expected to announce an increase in troops (a "surge" some people may call it) of about 30,000 to 40,000. Hey, why I believe that's just about how many General McChrystal said he needed three months ago! Hold on a second, and I'll double check. Why, yes! Yes, it is! Thank you, Mr. Obama, for taking 90 days to make sure you really had your thumb completely up your ass before doing precisely what your generals told you was needed to begin with. Kudos, sir. You are a paragon of military genius. Truly.

Wadda schmuck.

Texas vs. California

I came across an article during my daily google search for "why texas is awesome." (That was a joke, I only do that about once a week.) The article, written by Olsen Ebright, Jonathan Lloyd and Jenna Briand, lists the "top 10 reasons" California is better than Texas. Written on November 2 of this year my first thought was why an article of this sort would need to be a collaborative effort between three journalists; especially since this scathing rebuttle will be written by only me, and be totally effective at that. But I digress.

Among the best reasons given are the following uber-convincing "facts"(I'm not making this up):

Number 10 - "People want to come here."

Number 8 - "Our waistlines are under control."

Number 6 - And I quote; "Our governor can beat up your governor."

Number 4 - "Plenty of eyecandy"

Number 1 - "Texas isn't home to George W. Bush"

As you can see, the list is a real intellectual masterpiece. Don't worry, though, I think I can manage responding to this without pointing out that Californians are leaving in droves to come to Texas. I can do it without mentioning that Texas is now viewed as the model of how to run a state. I'll even refrain from using silly (but true) arguments like "Texas doesn't have earthquakes". No, I don't have to do any of those things because it really boils down to this:

"Journalists" in Texas aren't writing pitiful, pansy-ass, laugh-out-loud hillarious articles begging Texans to stay here. Jealous much?

How The GOP Got Her Groove Back

There is a tendancy, perhaps, to believe that the Repulican party has had little to do with it's recent surge in popularity. One would be misguided, however, to overlook the steely discipline and "return to principles" the GOP has undergone since the great Democrat takeover. Still, you have to admit that the blunders of our amateur-in-chief have certainly helped. His daily (and I do mean daily) fuck ups are piling on, leaving onlookers either deathly nauseated or utterly confused.

As of this post, there have been three polls in the last week showing our gallant leader with an approval rating under 50%: Gallup, 49, Rasmussen, 45, FNC, 46. Most importantly within the data is the the glistening jewel of hope amid the numbers of the Rasmussen poll. Not only is his approval rating at 45%, but The One's disapproval numbers are at a whopping %54. That leaves President Hopenchange with an approval index of -9 points. Ouch, Barry. Ouch.

Alas, he has brought it all upon himself. Three months (Three months! Three! One, two, three!) after General McChrystal asked for additional troops, President Obama has finally decided to send 34,000 soldiers to Afghanistan to reinforce our military there. Or (to measure time the same way liberals preferred to measure time during the Iraq war) three months and about 170 dead U.S. soldiers who died waiting for the President to quit dithering and make a decision. This is change we can believe in.

Or maybe the change comes in a Healthcare reform bill opposed by 56% of Americans:

The big takeaway from the internals is, as always, independent voters. They are looking a lot more like Republicans on this issue. Where Republican voters oppose ObamaCare 83/13, independents aren’t far behind at 70/23. Self-described moderates have fled as well, opposing ObamaCare by almost exactly the overall topline, 55/39.

Majorities of both men (61%) and women (52%) among likely voters now oppose ObamaCare. Every age demographic except 18-29 year olds oppose it by majorities ranging from 58% to 65%. Every income demographic except the under-$20K group opposes it by a majority, even the heretofore sympathetic $100K+ demo, which opposes it 58/41 — with 50% strongly opposed.

It alost makes me sad for Mr. Obama, except not really because I completely hope his healthcare bill flops like a fat guy at a diving contest.

Maybe it's not Afghanistan or healthcare that is causing independents to flock to the GOP by a 24-point margin. Maybe Americans are disgusted and appalled that tens of billions of dollars in stimulus money went to congressionsal districts that do not exist!!! That's right. Even though there are 435 congressional districts, the government-run economic recovery website lists 875...more than double the actual amount. Perhaps its the fact that the guy in charge of Obama's "Recovery Board", Early Devaney, says he is not able to certify that the jobs "created or saved" listed on the administration's recovery.org website are accurate. In fact, at least 10% of the jobs listed are phony. That includes over 90,000 (and counting) phantom jobs that newspapers have found so far, to say nothing of the 60,000 jobs the administration itself slashed from the report for not being able to justify the numbers.

Maybe it's one bow, after another, after another.
I used to call the administration a clown car, but it's really more like a gas chamber where accountability, logic, reason and class go to die.

Fiasco: Healthcare Showdown Underway in the House UPDATE: Bill passes 220-215; 39 Dems vote No, 1 GOPer votes Yes

Debate opened today in the House of Representatives on the Democrats' proposed healthcare reform bill with the intention of voting on the 2,000 page proposal sometime Sunday - or later. Who knows? After all, the Democrats are in charge of this so, ya know, whenever.

The House version under consideration currently contains mandates that everyone buy insurance with stiff penalties if you don't. Those Americans not willing to comply with the government's mandates on health insurance will be made to pay up to $250,000 in fines or face as much as five years in prison, which is precisely the kind of gentle nudging one expects from liberals hell-bent on seeing their Utopian society come to fruition on the backs of their fellow citizens. Congressman Dave Camp, the ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee fills us in on some important details:

Today, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail. The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.

In response to the JCT letter, Camp said: “This is the ultimate example of the Democrats’ command-and-control style of governing – buy what we tell you or go to jail. It is outrageous and it should be stopped immediately.”

With a price tag of a nice and tidy 2.6 trillion dollars according to the Heritage Foundation, one might wonder how we're going to pay for all of that. But don't worry! If we do our patriotic duty and pay more taxes then we can well cover the cost of our socialized healthcare debacle. I mean, hey, it works in Canada, right? I mean, er...nevermind:

After more than a decade of public healthcare with mandatory coverage, so many Canadian doctors have left the practice and so many young people have entered other fields that Canada ranks 26th of 28 developed nations in its ratio of physicians to population. Once, Canada ranked among the leaders in the number of physicians, but that was before government healthcare drove doctors out of the practice in droves.

The fundamental fact is that we cannot cover 36 million new patients without more doctors and nurses, much less with the declining census of medical professionals the Canadian experience points to. A recent survey of doctors by the Pew Institute found that 45 percent of all practicing doctors would consider retiring or closing their practices if the Obama healthcare bill passes. This scarcity of medical personnel heightens the likelihood of draconian rationing, lengthy waiting lists and lower-quality medical care for all of us, particularly for the elderly.

But, honestly, why should grandma undergo a necessary life saving surgery when she can just take a pain pill and die quietly at home? I mean, right? I guess that's Democats' idea of "cost saving measures". Not that there's anything wrong with a good vicodin from time to time, but I'd hardly call this sort of healthcare "rational".

But there is reason to be hopefull, my dear Tusk readers. As of this post, fully 35 Democrats oppose this legislation, according to Congressman Eric Cantor of Virginia. Although that is short of the 41 Democrat "no's" needed to defeat it, it is still a good start. And remember, the bill still has to pass the Senate, where Tom Coburn of Oklahoma may force a reading of the full bill that could literally take months to complete. As Hot Air points out, the bill could quite literally filibuster itself.

And this is what it boils down to ladies and gentlemen; the democrats' manic obsession with controlling the most essential and personal aspects of your life. If you fail to comply with their clumsily mapped out formula of the "good life" then you are subject to massive fines or even jail time. This is the essence of freedom under their regime. It is a system in which the most basic and fundamental liberties are stripped from the citizen, wrapped in a nice little bow and handed to the government. If you think stopping them from taking it is hard now, wait until you see how hard it will be to get that freedom back once (if) we lose it.

I've said it once, and I will say it again: Vote Republican, and everything will be ok.