We’ve all heard Obama’s personal proclamation of socialist belief, and now we see how much Obama made in 2009:

In a stump speech in Quincy, Illinois, President Obama suggested that “I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money.”

Obama made almost $5.5 million last year, most of which came from book royalties according to his tax return.

This comes on top of the other millions of dollars Obama received in previous years. The fact that Obama has been in the public spotlight as a politician has undoubtedly had an impact on the royalties of his two books as well.

Living in Vegas it is hard not to consider the possibility of that one pull of the lever dropping millions of dollars in to your lap. It does happen – someone has three dollars burning a hole in their pocket, they drop it in to Megabucks and, presto!, they’ve hit for $15 million or some such. Odds are probably better you’ll get struck by lightening, but it does happen. And with such thoughts comes the immediate follow-on: what would you do with it?

Not being rich, most of us have no conception of what to do with a million dollars. We’re happy if at the end of the week we’ve got an extra $100 free and clear to go out to dinner, or see a movie, or something like that. When regular folks ponder such a thing, it usually comes down to pay the bills, pass out some to family and friends and, very often, give a lot to charity. You see, most of us don’t need tens of millions of dollars to be happy – and, in fact, having that amount of money is destructive…makes a person start to think their poop don’t stink.

So, quite honestly, there is a point when a person has made enough money. That point is where a person is debt free, owns their home, has at least a couple year’s supply of money in the bank and a secure retirement account. Beyond that, its all gravy – and probably poisonous gravy, at that. So, on the face of it, nothing wrong with Obama’s statement. Except for one thing.

You see, he’s not talking about his own money – he’s talking about the money others are making by the sweat of their brow. He’s justifying taking ever larger amounts of other peoples’ money – and, worse than that, taking the money from the most productive part of our citizenry at the time when they are doing the most good for our society, as a whole.

President Obama is free to live his morality – once he’s paid for a house, secured a retirement, got a reserve in the bank and set up his daughters for college, then it would be a wonderful thing if he gave away every additional cent. But he has no business telling other people what to do with theirs – and it is actually immoral for him to suggest that the government has a claim on anyone’s surplus wealth.

Here is the poll – and the conclusion:

Most Americans have heard about Arizona’s tough new immigration law, and they generally support it. The law was passed partly in response to a lack of federal action on the issue. Since the Arizona bill became law, congressional Democrats have considered taking up the issue in the coming weeks, though this initial read on public opinion toward the Arizona law suggests Americans may not necessarily back an attempt to supersede or otherwise undermine it.

Which is why, all of a sudden, Democrats are saying they want the comprehensive immigration reform bill to be long on security, short on amnesty. While the DNC meme shooting through the MSM is that the GOP has got itself in a pickle over this issue, the reality is that the American people by and large support the bill – and the more they hear about it, the more they tend to like it.

You see, when liberals try to make a thrill of horror go down our backs by saying, in effect, “the bill allows cops to question people if they think they’re illegal”, this tends to provoke a “well, that’s good” response. Of course, the law doesn’t really do that – it merely allows the cops to determine the immigrant status of anyone detained for other crimes. But that is at this juncture entirely besides the point.

Anyone who lives in any community with a large illegal population knows precisely who the illegals are – where they hang out, what they tend to do for a living, and all that (yes, long domiciled illegals are harder to spot as they are more integrated in to American society – but they are also not really the problem). As we, the people, know where the illegals are and have always kinda wondered why the cops don’t round them up, when we hear that a law will do that, it seems like a good idea.

What this ultimately amounts to is the final breakdown of the old media’s ability to control the debate. This loss of power was on display during the previous debate on comprehensive immigration reform, but it was temporarily muted by the part the MSM played in helping Obama win in 2008 (it wasn’t really that big a role, but it appeared so given the slavish devotion to Obama on the part of the MSM).

But its all gone, now – the DNC/MSM has tried to sell a narrative which has it that border security is another “third rail” in American politics. That to demand such is proof of racism and will consequently destroy support among hispanics who are set to become all-powerful in American politics in a decade or two. That hispanics never will be as powerful as all that is neither here nor there – the DNC/MSM sold the idea and the elite bought it, including a lot of GOP elite, which is why we saw some immediate grovelling to the DNC/MSM-meme about the Arizona law from prominent GOPers.

But the people aren’t buying it. Border security is not about race – heck, its not even so much about illegal immigrants, themselves. It is about enforcing the law. Its absurd to have laws on the books and not enforce them – and the resultant criminality rampant on the border just emphasizes this…and makes popular support for security all the stronger.

This issue will work to the GOP’s very strong advantage as we approach November. And the more the left tries to demagogue the issue, the better it will get for the GOP.

UPDATE: A clear explanation of the law.

UPDATE II: BUYcott Arizona.

Al Gore, hypocrite:

Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, have added a Montecito-area property to their real estate holdings, reports the Montecito Journal.

The couple spent $8,875,000 on an ocean-view villa on 1.5 acres with a swimming pool, spa and fountains, a real estate source familiar with the deal confirms. The Italian-style house has six fireplaces, five bedrooms and nine bathrooms.

I’m sure he’ll recycle to reduce his carbon footprint…

Politico notes the trend:

Polls show at least four candidates favored by the National Republican Senatorial Committee would lose their primaries if the elections were held today. And five other committee-preferred candidates are entangled in competitive contests that are far from sure bets.

In the early stages of the election cycle, the NRSC’s ability to lock in top-tier talent like Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, former Connecticut Rep. Rob Simmons, Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in California appeared to be huge wins for the party, not to mention shrewd political plays.

But now, GOP primary fields in some of the most competitive Senate races in the country have been turned upside down.

Crist is just the first careerist insider to be given the boot. Others will follow – and it is to be hoped that the GOP powers-that-be will learn the lesson: don’t get involved in a primary fight. Don’t try to pick the candidates for the party faithful: let the party faithful pick the candidates.

The Democrats are being much slower on the uptake here – as a for-instance, it looks like the party will successfully shove Specter down the throats of Pennsylvania Democrats…and I’m betting that Specter gets crushed in November (if, on the other hand, Specter loses, then the GOP candidate will probably win…but in a very tight race). The time of the elite is over in America – a new Era of the People has dawned.

God bless it.

Poll: Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Obama Who?) continues to lose support.

If we have a recovery, then why has Clark County, Nevada suffered a 14.9% drop in taxable sales so far this fiscal year?

Poll: 57% of Arizonans say we should welcome immigrants. 76% say we should secure the border. 64% back the new immigration law in Arizona. This is a winning issue for the GOP – if we cast it, properly, as a matter of justice for all. It is unjust to allow people to illegally cross the border. It is unjust to turn a blind eye to the ruthless exploitation and abuse of the illegals as they cross the border. It is unjust to have a pool of illegal workers in the US to be used as sweated labor at the expense of both illegals and citizens. Get it? Justice requires a secure border – and we can win on that.

Britain’s PM Brown probably just lost himself the election – and turned the immigration issue in to a hot topic in Britain as much as its become in the United States.

Is Crist trying to get Donks to dump Meeks? Could be – if the Crist promises to caucus with Democrats, it might be worth their while to toss aside their almost-sure-loser candidate. And a victorious Crist might be the difference between a majority and minority status in the Senate come January. Of course, that is assuming Crist could win…

The horrible abuse of migrants…in Mexico. The whole immigration issue is not what liberals think it is.

Suspended, liberal priest upset about the conservatism of Los Angeles’ new Archbishop. Cry me a river.

New corporate buzz word: “Crowd Sourcing”. It doesn’t work in your favor, American worker.

Top Ten Democrat party slogans.

Did I mention they are stupid? I mean really, really stupid?

Like this, if you took all the liberals in the world, mashed them in to one person and then tacked on one conservative, you’d double their IQ.

Don’t believe me? Well, here’s my proof:

The kneejerk haters need to do a little research before they reflexively call for boycotts. The uninformed pantywaists who haven’t the slightest clue about Arizona’s new law are running around calling for boycotts far and wide and have now called for a boycott of Arizona Iced Tea.

Just one problem: It’s made in New York. Talk about weapons-grade stupidity.

If you click the link, you’ll see quotes from exceptionally stupid liberals – including one calling it the “drink of fascists”. In other news along these lines, the Mayor of San Francisco has ordered a boycott of city-paid travel to Arizona – I mean, seriously, how much official travel is there between the two places?

This is getting rather insane – and funny. It is going to backfire on the liberals – they are taking it entirely too far and making themselves objects of ridicule.

As we have already had lots of demonstrations on the immigration and look to have a lot more over the next days and weeks, we’ve put together a hub for videos of the events. We’ll be updating as appropriate and are determined to provide a platform for the story the MSM simply won’t properly cover.

The news:

At times, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter has wondered if he should have stayed a Republican.

For three decades, Specter prided himself on being a coalition builder, relishing a self-appointed role as a liaison striving to find the moderate solutions to liberal and conservative extremes.

Now as a Democrat, that role has vanished. For that reason alone, Specter has questioned his storied party switch.

”Well, I probably shouldn’t say this,” he said over lunch last month. ”But I have thought from time to time that I might have helped the country more if I’d stayed a Republican.”

Translation: “I’m about to get creamed, heck I might even lose the primary…if I had stayed Republican, I could have suckered them in to backing me for another 6 years.”

Arlen, Arlen, Arlen – if you had been a Republican when it mattered, you could genuinely have helped the country. The one time we actually, crucially needed you to do the right thing, you cut us off at the knees and handed victory to the most absurd, tax-and-spend liberalism we’ve seen in a generation. That isn’t coalition building – that was cynical opportunism.

You thought Obama and the Dems would remain popular through 2010 and this was your means of ingratiating yourself with the left.

Well, you got what you wanted, tiger. Now, how does it taste?

Looks like he might:

Republican Florida Governor Charlie Crist has decided he will run as an independent in the race to fill the Florida U.S. Senate seat, Crist allies tell Fox News. The official announcement is scheduled for Thursday at 5pm ET in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The Senate campaign has been rough and tumble for Crist, he was once the front-runner — but in recent months began trailing his GOP opponent, Tea Party favorite and former Florida State Speaker Marco Rubio. Rubio has been able to turn a 30-point deficit in the polls into a 30 point lead over Crist.

Crist has said that under no circumstance would he drop out of the race, saying he will do what is best for the voters of Florida. The governor says Republicans in Washington want him to stay in the Republican party but voters in Florida have told him they want him to run as an independent.

No, Charlies, what the voters of Florida have told you is that they don’t want you in the United States Senate. But, you are an opportunist and a political climber, so you can’t imagine yourself not being in high office…clearly losing your Senate bid, you seem to be settling on a desperate bid for even the slightest chance of staying in public office.

Which makes you precisely what we’re sick of in the United States – and especially in our Republican party. You still have a small window of opportunity to do the honorable thing and either continue to fight for the GOP nomination or graciously bow out to the man who is beating you. Or, you can prove yourself worthless.

Your choice.

Greek bonds rise to ruinous levels, money flees to the US dollar and gold. Good for our dollar, good for people investing in gold. Bad sign for the global economy. The EU banksters might stop the bleeding, but it won’t matter in the long run.

Democrats are betting that comprehensive immigration reform will drive a high hispanic turnout in their favor in November. Probably will, I imagine – but it will also drive turnout for people opposed to anything which even remotely smacks of amnesty. We’ll see who outnumbers whom, I guess. It also won’t do anything to dampen down the TEA Party movement, which is all about reigning in irresponsible government…such as a government which wants to grant amnesty to illegals.

Per Rasmussen, 63% of “other” in Arizona back immigration bill. As Rasmussen breaks it out as white, black and “other”, the presumption is that “other” may include a lot of hispanics. Maybe the Donk theory here is cockeyed? Perhaps hispanic Americans and legal immigrants are also rather tired of the rampant criminality on the border courtesy of non-enforcement of border security? Only time will tell.

Another Obama “town hall”, another crowd stacked with Obamaniacs. Yawn. Old hat – we’re never going to expect Obama to actually confront his critics.

Obama the bully. I won’t go that far – but he’s clearly got an enemies list mentality and doesn’t like it at all when someone challenges him.

Did Obama Administration hide report showing ObamaCare’s true costs? Well, I guess we’ll never have existential proof – but we’d have to figure they did.