The Bloom is Off the Rose

Remember when Obama was talked about in glowing terms? Remember when his supporters talked about how he would improve our image overseas, how he would bring jobs to America, how he would bring unity to a shattered nation? As we read the headlines below, we get the feeling that some people are realizing that we got a pig in a poke:

• The end of the road for Barack Obama? – Barack Obama seems unable to face up to America’s problems
• Dan Rather: ‘Articulate’ Obama Couldn’t Even ‘Sell Watermelons’
• Star Matt Damon is disappointed in President Barack Obama
• George Soros tells CNN: I’m not satisfied with Barack Obama
• Poll shows Obama, Dems losing ground: majority of Americans say the United States is less respected in the world than it was two years ago
• Payrolls fall by 36,000; U.S. jobless rate steady at 9.7%
• Indonesian students protest Barack Obama’s visit

TAKE THE PILL! TAKE IT! TAAAAAKE IT!

When George W. Bush wanted to reform Social inSecurity, he spent a few weeks flying around the country giving townhalls to drum up support. The people weren’t crazy about the idea, so Bush wisely dropped the issue. Now, We the People are more opposed to the federal takeover of healthcare than we were of Social Security reform, and the prez continues to try and shove the poison pill down our throats. When he’s not putting on a dog-and-pony show with doctors in White House-supplied white coats, he’s calling for the Senate to use a procedure called reconciliation to pass healthcare with just 51 votes… something he called “a vehicle designed for deficit reduction and fiscal responsibility has been hijacked to facilitate reckless deficits and unsustainable debt” when he occupied one of Illinois’ two Senate seats in 2005. But rules don’t matter to this White House. Campaign promises don’t matter. As is the norm in Chicago-style politics, the only thing that matters is winning. Bloomberg News executive Washington editor Albert Hunt urges Obama to “go Chicago-style on healthcare“, and it looks like the president is taking heed. After all, bribes are just business-as-usual to Obama & Company. Is it mere coincidence that the brother of one of the Democrat opponents of the healthcare bill has been nominated for judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit? We think not.

And with headlines like these from the socialist healthcare hell that is England, is it any wonder the White House has to resort to bribes?

• Stafford Hospital caused ‘unimaginable suffering’, at least 400 deaths linked to appalling care
• Up to 1,200 needless deaths, patients routinely neglected, staff bullied to meet targets
• National Health Service turned blind eye to conditions, rewarded cost cuts
• Neglected by ‘lazy’ nurses, man, 22, dying of thirst rang the police to beg for water

Does a Republican Congress Create More Jobs?

Matthias Shapiro over at politicalmathblog.com digs into data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and creates another excellent post. The short version: