1.) ‘Rightwing Judy Garland’ extends olive branch to the gays — Conservative pundit Ann Coulter spoke to a group of reporters and some gays this past weekend at the Homocon 2010 event in New York City (the Big Adam’s Apple). “In a speech to about 150 GOProud supporters who gathered at the home of billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel in New York City, Coulter acknowledged that gays could play an important role in the conservative movement, but was clear about her continued opposition to gay marriage,” reports the The Daily Caller’s Chris Moody. “I thought I’d try to talk you out of gay marriage…I will warn you that I have never failed to talk gays out of gay marriage,” Coulter told the room of gay marriage advocates. Coulter dismissed all civil-rights-related gay marriage questions by informing the audience of affluent effeminates that being gay is not the same as being black, unless one is both black and gay, in which case the 14th Amendment only protects the black half. Or something! Anyway: The gays loved most of Coulter’s spiel, especially the jokes about Pres. Obama being a Kenyan (LOL).
2.) Americans hate Obamacare for different reasons — Two polls culled very different results from the American mush this weekend, with an AP poll showing many Americans hate Obamacare because it is not socialist enough, and a Politico/GWU poll finding that Americans just flat-out hate Obamacare. “Overall, 30 percent favored the legislation, while 40 percent opposed it, and another 30 percent remained neutral,” reports the AP of its own poll. However, the wire service also found that “Americans who think the law should have done more outnumber those who think the government should stay out of health care by 2-to-1.” Confused? Don’t be, ostrich salami on the Serengeti Volkswagon blu-ray. As for Politico’s poll results: “By a 13-point margin, voters are down on the health care law. In an especially troubling sign, more than half of self-identified independents — 54 percent — have an unfavorable opinion of the law, compared with just 38 percent who have a favorable opinion.” Tell yourself how you really feel, America!
3.) Small business bill will work miracles, according to people who clearly cannot do math — “President Obama will sign a $42 billion bill to aid small businesses Monday. The bill seeks to create thousands of jobs and will offer about $12 billion in tax breaks,” reports CNN, which also reports that “the measure is also expected to create 500,000 jobs, according to a summary of the bill from the Senate.” If those numbers sound out of whack to you, it is because Congress credits the original stimulus with creating three to six times as many jobs (1.5-3 million) at a cost to taxpayers of$867 billion. What do you want to bet that the real reason Congress has disallowed the expression “mentally retarded” is to take the joy out of mocking their poor math skills?
4.) California paper turns on Boxer — Sen. Barbara Boxer’s hometown rag, the San Francisco Chronicle, ripped her a new one this past weekend: “Boxer, first elected in 1992, would not rate on anyone’s list of most influential senators. Her most famous moments on Capitol Hill have not been ones of legislative accomplishment, but of delivering partisan shots. Although she is chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, it is telling that leadership on the most pressing issue before it – climate change – was shifted to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., because the bill had become so polarized under her wing.” OUCH! While the Chronicle declined to endorse a candidate for Senate, it did lambast the Boxer campaign for cheap shots against Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina: “Boxer’s campaign, playing to resentment over Fiorina’s wealth, is not only an example of the personalized pettiness that has infected too much of modern politics, it is also a clear sign of desperation.” OMG, ouch again!
5.) Obama wants to read your Facebook, watch you Skype with your friends — “[National security] officials want Congress to require all services that enable communications — including encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct “peer to peer” messaging like Skype — to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order,” reports the New York Times. “The bill, which the Obama administration plans to submit to lawmakers next year, raises fresh questions about how to balance security needs with protecting privacy and fostering innovation. And because security services around the world face the same problem, it could set an example that is copied globally.” In other words, this is a huge deal, and if we mess it up, the whole world will mess it up too.
6.) The banks won’t stop failing — “The largest number of bank failures in nearly 20 years has eliminated jobs, accelerated a drought in lending and left the industry’s survivors with more power to squeeze customers,” reports the Wall Street Journal, and yet here we are: the vast majority of us breathing, eating, sleeping without too much discomfort, even though all these banks are failing. How many, exactly? “Some 279 banks have collapsed since Sept. 25, 2008, when Washington Mutual Inc. became the biggest bank failure on record.” While it might seem apropos at this point to excoriate the Obama administration for letting the banks fail, it’s actually not such a bad thing. “The upside of failures is that they can represent a healthy cleansing of a sector that grew too fast, with bank assets more than doubling to $13.8 trillion in the decade that ended in 2008. Many banks that failed were opportunistic latecomers. Of the failed banks since February 2007, 75 were formed after 1999, according to SNL Financial.” If only we had thought this way two years ago!