Scary Reality! What if George Bush . . .

Phil Smith, Florida Reader / Guest Article: More Scary Reality!
If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?

If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan's holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?

If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, the Emperor of Japan and the Mayor of Tampa would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent "Austrian language," would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?

If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current in paying their income taxes, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had stated that there were 57 states in the United States, would you have said that he is clueless.

If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to "Cinco de Cuatro" in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?

If George W. Bush had mis-spelled the word "advice" would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potatoe as proof of what a dunce he is?

If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on Earth Day, would you have concluded he's a hypocrite?

If George W. Bush's administration had given the okay for Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually get what happened on 9-11?

If George W. Bush had created the position of 32 Czars who report directly to him, bypassing the House and Senate on much of what is happening in America, would you have approved.

If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of any major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had then taken actions or failed to take action on the national debt which is projected to be $20 Trillion in five more years (2015), would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had mis-spoken the military word "corps" as "corpse" instead of as "core": Military Corpse, Navy Medial Corpse, etc., would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had taken actions and prevented corrections that resulted in over 10% of Americans being unemployed in January 2010, would you have approved?

So, tell me again, what is it about Barack H. Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can't think of anything? Don't worry. Obama has done all the above items in 14 months. -- Just imagine, he has 2 years 9 months before the 2012 elections. Maybe you can reflect by then on his "not so impressive" accomplishments.

Maybe this is why some person or persons in Minnesota paid to put up the "Miss Me Yet" George W. Bush billboard pictured below and as reported on by the leftist NPR and The Huffington Post:

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H/T ARRA News Service

Sarah Palin's Palm Pilot

Update on prior story: Sarah Palin campaigned for Texas Governor Rick Perry and revealed her latest Palm Pilot. Her latest note on her hand: "Hi Mom."

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ARRA News Service

Economic Platform for the State of Florida (Blueprint for Economic Success)

by Yomin Postelnik, Candidate FL House District 91: Just over two years ago, I started the Business Growth Trends project to help small businesses stay afloat and small business owners learn to recognize where potential was found. Many of the articles and advice are still available on www.BusinessGrowthTrends.com. I encourage every business owner to go through the archives for expert advice on almost all aspects of running a business.

South Florida’s unemployment levels are above the national average. Given all that the State of Florida has to offer small business, this is hard to believe. It’s nothing short of insane that we haven’t managed to do more about this.

Small business used to be the bedrock of our jobs market. And we were a lot better off when it was. The State of Florida has more to offer budding businesses than almost any other state in the nation. As Michigan and New York falter under high taxation and shrinking growth, Florida should be absorbing the lion’s share of business emigration. But we’re not. And here’s why:

LOOK WHERE THE PROBLEMS LIE – AND FIX THEM

1) We Don’t Ask for Business: First and foremost, the major problem that challenges Florida’s economic expansion is so simple that everyone misses it. Decision makers in corporate boardrooms, when discussing relocation, think of Arizona and the opportunities presented there. They discuss New Mexico’s unused resources, and so on. Florida isn’t brought to the table. In fact, people in the Northeast and in states like Michigan still think of Florida as being synonymous with hurricanes, even though our natural disasters are far less of a problem than those faced by other states.

We need to change this dynamic. Other countries, with far less favorable business and taxation environments, advertise in business magazines and on well watched business shows. Their advertising pays off.

Few states in the nation have as favorable a business structure as Florida does and few places in the world can offer as much talent for employers to choose from. But nobody knows about it. Worse, those who do don’t think of it.

Targeted ads, that list all of what Florida has to offer, to Michigan based businesses and other areas from which business is fleeing, will pay off. It will change the dynamic and get people talking. It will get corporate boards and decision makers talking. That, in turn, breeds results.

2) Incentives: Tax breaks to C corporations that wish to move into recession stricken areas (areas with an unemployment rate of greater than 10% or that have seen a 15% drop in economic activity) will be the deal clincher in garnering new business to Florida.

3) Education: Business skills and financial literacy need to become a part of Florida’s public high school curriculum. I wrote a course on this subject, which was approved by the Broward County School Board and used by the United Way. We need to ensure that some kind of business knowledge is taught in Florida schools, in ways that students can relate to. Doing so has the added benefit of giving students clear reasons to finish school and to avoid crime.

4) Energy/Untapped Resources – Key to Florida’s Economic Development: Florida Atlantic University has been working on developing energy from the ocean. Wave technology as well as other natural water based forms of energy technology are areas that must be developed. The Northeast has used water-based electricity for decades and FAU and its Center for Ocean Energy Technology are leading the way in making this resource more efficient and reliable.

Ocean based energy is renewable, clean and cost effective. Its development should go in tandem with all other forms of sustainable and sensible energy development, including oil drilling (especially given the fact other nations are already drilling as closely to our shores as they can, without the protections to our coasts that we would enact).

Energy, agriculture and health innovation are key to the redevelopment of Florida’s economy and to bringing jobs to the state. There’s no reason why anyone should be moving away from Florida. We can easily harness our potential and revitalize the state.

5) Transportation vs. Wasteful Spending: Transportation projects need to make sense, be cost effective and streamline traffic in areas where congestion is an actual problem. Pure jobs creation projects can focus on other areas, first among them teaching – which is an investment in Florida’s future. Streamlining of transportation and solidification of existing bridges and similar structures are necessary works. We just have to be careful and sensible about where resources are spent.

Construction efforts can be augmented by using alternative sentencing for non-violent offenders. Doing so would not only save costs to the struggling construction industry, it would prevent first time offenders from become career criminals, leave them with hope and incentive to change and punish only the criminal, as opposed to the criminal’s family. It’s a recipe for a better society, plain and simple. And as always, doing the right thing makes economic sense too.

Government cannot and should not take over the free market. Not now and not ever. What government can do is use common sense free market principles to bring business and jobs to the state. This is what I propose to do.

All in all, we need to get back to the same small business based economy that helped propel America and the State of Florida to economic greatness. Civic mindedness and personal responsibility, not to mention passion and ingenuity, are best fostered in a climate of small business. As we struggle to come back to our founding principles of faith, family and good neighborliness, small business has an integral role to play in the above.

AND I’LL DO MY PART – AS A CANDIDATE AND THEN AS YOUR REPRESENTATIVE

I didn’t wait to get elected (or even want to get elected) when I wrote a business literacy / motivational course for teens to stay in school and got it approved by the school board. I’m not going to wait to get elected to do my part in helping alleviate South Florida’s unemployment crisis either.

A week and a half ago, I announced a Jobs Fair for the district, along with a list that immediately blasts offers to jobseekers. I encourage everyone who can to take part. Employers get in front of politically/civically inclined applicants and prospective employees are quickly made aware of job options within the district and its surrounding areas. . . . [More Details]

Surprise Seats Up For Grabs

President Obama and Vice President Biden both come from very blue Democrat states, yet the seats they vacated upon entering the executive branch are leaning towards the Republican candidates in the latest polls. While Republicans are expected to pick up seats at the midterm elections some are now questioning whether they take control outright in what would a political shocker. CBS reports GOP Eyes 2010 Senate Takeover

Beyond Illinois and Indiana, Democratically-held Senate seats in Pennsylvania, Colorado, Arkansas and Nevada -- where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid faces a tough race -- could be very competitive, according to Salvanto's analysis.

Republicans cheered when North Dakota Democrat Byron Dorgan announced his surprise retirement, giving Republicans a good chance for another pick up. It was also good news for the GOP when Vice President Joe Biden's son Beau announced he would not run for his father's old Senate seat, leaving Republican Rep. Mike Castle the best-positioned candidate to win in Delaware. Democrats are now backingNew Castle County Executive Chris Coons to run against Castle.

"I predict to you that Chris Coons is going to surprise the devil out of them," Joe Biden told MSNBC. Castle, however, soundly beat Coons in the most recent polls, the Hill reports.

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President's and Vice President's Senate Seats Could Both Be Picked Off By Republicans

White House Worried About Illinois

Excerpt from the NYT Illinois Senate Race Worries Democrats Anew

CHICAGO — Alexi Giannoulias, the treasurer of Illinois and a basketball-playing friend of President Obama’s, won the Democratic primary here on Tuesday for the Senate seat once held by Mr. Obama. But his victory was hardly the free throw some had expected, setting off a new round of worrying among Democrats that the reliably Democratic seat might be picked off by Republicans in November.
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In an Illinois Primary Race, Victory Is Self-Declared (February 4, 2010)

With four others on the ballot, Mr. Giannoulias won 39 percent of the Democratic vote, or, as Republicans preferred to describe it on Wednesday, lost 61 percent of it. A little-known former federal prosecutor who had never run for office, David Hoffman, came within six percentage points of Mr. Giannoulias.

With much on the line here, including the symbolism of the president’s home state possibly slipping away, some Democrats were concerned that the party had played into the game plan of the Republicans, who chose Representative Mark Steven Kirk, a centrist-leaning suburbanite who hopes to appeal to the state’s independent voters and even some moderate Democrats.

Already Wednesday morning, the National Republican Senatorial Committee had issued a Web video mocking Mr. Giannoulias, 33, for what it described as questionable loans made by his family’s bank, his ties to Rod R. Blagojevich, the indicted former governor of Illinois, and more.

“Is this change we can believe in?” the video asks.

Mr. Obama called Mr. Giannoulias to congratulate him on his victory, aides said, but despite the friendship, the White House indicated in the past that it had reservations about his candidacy. At one point, White House officials tried without success to recruit another Democrat, Lisa Madigan, the state attorney general, even after Mr. Giannoulias had made his aspirations clear.

Mr. Obama, who endorsed no one in the primary, has pledged to party officials to do what he can to help keep the seat in Democratic hands. But aides said the president would invest his time and efforts in races across the country and not necessarily devote more attention to the contest for his former seat.

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White House Worried About Senate Race in Illinois

Giannoulias Shady Connections

Alexi Giannoulias

Kirk to Go After Illinois Senate Seat

From Chicago Sun-Times Whole nation will be watching brutal campaign

"We all know that over the past year a quiet despair has descended on the State of Illinois," Kirk said. "A governor arrested, a senator seat disgraced, corruption rampant, unemployment rising and families struggling. The people of Illinois now see the arrogance of a one-party state."

On Tuesday night, the NRSC issued a Web ad highlighting Giannoulias' ties to Blagojevich and felon Tony Rezko titled, "Making Tony Soprano Proud."

Kirk is a five-term congressman from the north suburban 10th district with a Democratic tilt. Giannoulias started framing Kirk as a "Washington insider" Tuesday night and talking about job creation.

Giannoulias is the opponent the Republicans wanted. The Illinois Senate campaign will be unfolding at the same time Blagojevich's corruption trial starts this summer. Giannoulias starts the campaign against Kirk wounded by the primary.

Giannoulias, a basketball player -- he has shot hoops with Obama -- has the confidence of a jock and could needle Kirk. Kirk comes off like the smartest guy in the class and wants everyone to know it. Neither Giannoulias nor Kirk should be underestimated.

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Fight Brewing for Illinois Senate Seat

President Obama Bows to Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio

RedState: “The mayor of Tampa isn’t a Third World potentate, totalitarian dictator, or terrorist leader so I can’t understand why Obama would be in full-bow mode. Is bowing now the standard way the President greets people these days? Is he misoriented, for some reason, and thinks Tampa is a terrorist stronghold or an enemy of the United States? Does the US owe Tampa a boatload of money and the bow just good business practice?”

Fox News: "But Iorio told Fox News Obama was just being a gentleman. 'It's hard for me to believe that this is such a major issue," she said. "It is an unusual photograph, but ... I wish people could all meet President Obama face to face, but he is a kind and sincere and gracious individual and you really see that when you meet him.'"

Obama’s previous bows to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Japan’s emperor Akihito drew the right’s ire, with conservative pundits accusing the president of inappropriately cow-towing to foreign leaders.

2010 Senate - Florida - Rubio Leads By 12 Points

A new Rasmussen Reports poll shows Marco Rubio leading Governor Charlie Crist by 12 points. Yes,  12 points!! This is a reversal of titanic proportions and we must do everything we can to make sure Governor Crist does not make a comeback.

Marco Rubio started the race last year polling in single digits and the Republican establishment in Washington said he had no chance. But now he's leading the race and is in a strong position to win this important Senate seat for conservatives.

Governor Crist is down in the polls but he still has a significant fund raising advantage and appears to have plans to empty his war chest on negative ads attacking Rubio. Help us give Marco Rubio the ammo he needs to fight back on February 10. February 10 is the one-year anniversary of the day Governor Crist campaigned with President Obama for the $787 billion stimulus bill. It's the day he compromised our principles for political gain. 

Everybody knows the union bosses' names...

...at the White House. The folks at the National Right to Work have put together this video emphasizing the Obama White House's unnaturally close relationship with big labor's bosses. This is a clear violation of the President's campaign promise to keep lobbyists out of positions of influence in his administration. Of course, he's already broken that promise many times over.