Remember the movie, Little Shop of Horrors, when Rick Moranis’ nerdy character finally found a way to be popular, with help from a man-eating plant who demanded to be fed? Even though Moranis saw how evil this monster was, his wanting to be popular overrode any pangs of conscience he felt toward feeding it.

And we all know how that turned out:

Well, in that vein, with regard to the DNC and their pet monster ACORN, life is imitating art:

WASHINGTON – During consideration of H.R. 3126, legislation to establish a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee voted to pass an amendment offered by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) that will make ACORN eligible to play a role in setting regulations for financial institutions.

The Waters amendment adds to the CFPA Oversight Board 5 representatives from the fields of “consumer protection, fair lending and civil rights, representatives of depository institutions that primarily serve underserved communities, or representatives of communities that have been significantly impacted by higher-priced mortgages” to join Federal banking regulators in advising the Director on the consistency of proposed regulations, and strategies and policies that the Director should undertake to enforce its rules.

By making representatives of ACORN and other consumer activist organizations eligible to serve on the Oversight Board, the amendment creates a potentially enormous government sanctioned conflict of interest. ACORN-type organizations will have an advisory role on regulating the very financial institutions from which they receive millions of dollars annually in direct corporate contributions and benefit from other financial partnerships and arrangements. These are the same organizations that pressured banks to make subprime mortgage loans and thus bear a major responsibility for the collapse of the housing market.

I guess the dems just can’t help it, can they? After complaint upon criminal complaint launched against ACORN, Maxine Waters still has the chutzpah to offer them a place at the table for regulating the financial industry.

Ain’t corruption grand?

Connie Hair on Human Events reports:

The bill certified for “reconciliation” is the Ways & Means version of H.R. 3200 that was passed out of committee before the August break, and before it was read aloud at town hall meetings across the country and blasted by voters across the country.

It contains all of the horrors previously exposed: federal funding of abortion, coverage for illegal aliens, comparative effectiveness, healthcare rationing, deep cuts to Medicare. Everything the American people overwhelmingly reject.

No amendments were allowed at the hearing and no debate. Rangel told Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), the ranking Republican on the committee, that he would not have preferred to do it this way, but leadership — i.e., Speaker Pelosi — forced his hand.

Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. By so obviously thwarting the will of a vast majority of the American people, It would appear to that the democrats are quite willing to relegate themselves into a permanent minority, if it will advance America’s downward spiral into the bowels of their great socialist experiment.

They want it that bad.

The ends, after all, justify the means.

(via KOSMOSNET)

Many, if not most of you may have heard about the woman of whom I am proud to have as my Minnesota 6th District Congresswoman, Michele Bachmann, who is continually under assault for doing what she does best, speaking the truth. As of now, there is a ton of money pouring into her opponent’s coffers from big unions, Moveon.org, George Soros and others. As a result, Congresswoman Bachmann is asking for our help:

“Everyday, it must seem that Washington just isn’t listening to you. In fact, it must seem they’re doing their best to work against your interests. Those of us who call ourselves Republicans, or worse yet conservatives, are denigrated as crazy, nuts, wacko, extreme, racist, fill in your derogatory adjective. They say we’re more interesting in stopping progress than in making reforms. The White House refuses to work with Fox News, saying it is a “wing of the Republican party.” This isn’t conjecture; these are the words of the Communications Director of the White House.

You and I know the truth: We’re not being obstructionists. The problem is that the proposals coming out of Washington – from cap-and-trade to bailout mania to socialized medicine – are simply bad public policy. We don’t believe that government is inherently evil, set out to destroy the hopes and aspirations of its citizens, no matter how some media outlets portray us. We realize that an unchecked government can get too big for its own good. And,we know that right now in Washington, this Administration and this Congress have forgotten the tried and true principle of our founding – that the government works for the people, not the other way around.

They seem intent on plowing forward with their agenda no matter how many town halls you speak at or tea parties you attend.

Look around and you’ll see the warning signs about the plummeting value of our dollar. Overseas, the sharks are circling and calling for a reevaluation of the prominent spot the dollar has long enjoyed. Yet, Washington continues to spend and spend and borrow and spend with no regard to our skyrocketing debt and annual deficits. Something has got to give.”

Republicans have put forth alternatives to every proposal — and our alternatives won’t break the bank. When we’re lucky, they get lip service from the Democrat majority. More often, they don’t even get a debate. And this from a majority that promised to end partisan bickering and bring true transparency to the legislative process!

They have an agenda of their own and they’re on a path to increase spending as well as the size and scope of government on every issue. They’re out to protect their friends — like ACORN — regardless of what it costs you and what it will cost our nation’s future.

Don’t give up! I hear you. And, there are others in Congress who hear you, too. Today, let’s send a message to Washington that they can’t ignore. I promise to keep speaking the truth for all of you, but I need your help to do it. Is it worth just a few minutes of your time and a few dollars to make sure Washington gets the message that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH?

Ms. Bachmann is one person in Washington who isn’t afraid to loudly proclaim that our current socialist ’emperor’ has no clothes. If you agree with this, please let Ms. Bachmann know by supporting her with a generous contribution.

“Watch money. Money is the barometer of a society’s virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent but by compulsion, when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing, when you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods but in favors, when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you, when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice, you may know that your society is doomed.”

– Francisco d’Anconia
“Atlas Shrugged” 1957,
by Ayn Rand
via Capitalism

A libertarian acquaintance of mine and I share a number of views in common; we are both for smaller and less intrusive government, as well as the right to pursue happiness in ways of our own choosing.

Where my libertarian acquaintance and I part ways is the question of abortion, and a woman’s so-called right to choose whether or not to maintain the developing life inside her womb. Although this acquaintance is personally pro-life, she appears to think that it is not necessarily the role of government to dictate whether a woman must carry a baby to term.

I wrote,

“I can get behind much of what you believe in.

Except for the abortion part.

You see, my right to do what I want with my fist ends with your face.

And the right of what a person can do with his or her body ends when that person’s choice interferes with another innocent person’s God-given right to live, no matter what station in life or life stage one finds oneself. (read it in the preamble to the Constitution)

The woman’s so-called right to “choose” is not a question of freedom. It goes much deeper than that. It’s a question of one’s fundamental right to exist. When that is called into question, the right to “freedom” is moot.”

Yes, one has a right to engage in the behavior that may or may not produce a life. But one does not have a right nor necessarily the freedom to escape dealing with the consequences of one’s choices, especially when that choice impinges on another’s primary and fundamental right of existence.

Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, was demonstrably a racist eugenicist:

The aim of the program was to restrict—many believe exterminate—the black population. Under the pretense of “better health” and “family planning,” Sanger cleverly implemented her plan. What’s more shocking is Sanger’s beguilement of black America’s crème de la crème—those prominent, well educated and well-to-do—into executing her scheme. Some within the black elite saw birth control as a means to attain economic empowerment, elevate the race and garner the respect of whites.

Margaret Sanger, one of the founders of the Malthusian Eugenics movement, thought it a wonderful idea to “do away” with the “undesirables” of society. Unlike Dr. Martin Luther King, who dreamt of the day when little black children and little white children could walk hand in hand, Margaret Sanger (did I mention she was the founder of Planned Parenthood?) dreamed of the day when little white children would be walking hand in hand with each other–with no black children to be found.

And the story in today’s AP looks like Margaret Sanger’s “dream” (to others, a nightmare) is coming ever closer to fruition:

LONDON (AP) – Giving contraceptives to people in developing countries could help fight climate change by slowing population growth, experts said Friday.

More than 200 million women worldwide want contraceptives, but don’t have access to them, according to an editorial published in the British medical journal, Lancet. That results in 76 million unintended pregnancies every year.

If those women had access to free condoms or other birth control methods, that could slow rates of population growth, possibly easing the pressure on the environment, the editors say.

Sounds eerily like…

(Magaret Sanger and fellow eugenicists)… espoused racial supremacy and “purity,” particularly of the “Aryan” race. Eugenicists hoped to purify the bloodlines and improve the race by encouraging the “fit” to reproduce and the “unfit” to restrict their reproduction.

Which, when you think of it, is the liberal elitists’ position on everything. In their mind, their status of being the “enlightened” ones makes them uniquely entitled to the spoils of the world, while the unwashed masses should be happy to live in squalor. While Nancy Pelosi and Algore can have their personal jetliners to jet themselves and their families to points unknown, the rest of the plebian masses can take public transportation. While Rosie O’Donnell can travel with an armed body guard, she seeks to deny the 2nd Amendment right of self-protection to the plebiscite. While Margaret Sanger and her ideological descendants think that they, the enlightened, are entitled to live, the great ‘unwashed masses’ beneath them are a waste of resources and thus are not only expendible, but actually have a duty to curb their numbers.

At any rate, you get the picture.

And the more you look at it, the more the picture begins to look like Dorian Gray.

It was Barack Hussein Obama who once crowed about America’s supposed arrogance toward its allies, while on foreign soil:

President Barack Obama has offered an apology for the Bush era, declaring that America had “shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive” towards its allies.

President Obama said the US had “failed to appreciate Europe’s leading role in the world”

Physician, heal thyself:

WARSAW, Poland – Poles and Czechs voiced deep concern Friday at President Barack Obama’s decision to scrap a Bush-era missile defense shield planned for their countries.

“Betrayal! The U.S. sold us to Russia and stabbed us in the back,” the Polish tabloid Fakt declared on its front page.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski said he was concerned that Obama’s new strategy leaves Poland in a dangerous “gray zone” between Western Europe and the old Soviet sphere.

Perhaps Barack Hussein Obama, when pondering “Europe’s leading role in the world,” may also ponder that it was Eastern Europe, at one time under the claws of the Russian bear, that was instrumental in breaking the back of Soviet despotism and expansionism, and perhaps they know a thing or two of which they speak.

Yet the arrogance of “The One,” and his administration knows no bounds. But don’t take my word for it. Take the word of our new “regulatory czar“:

“Why is the executive not permitted to construe constitutional ambiguities as it sees fit?” asks Sunstein. “The simplest answer is that foxes are not permitted to guard henhouses … but who is the fox?”

He concludes “the executive should usually be permitted to interpret (law) as it reasonably sees fit.”

“The allocation of law-interpreting power to the executive fits admirably well with the twentieth-century shift from common law courts to regulatory administration if the governing statute is ambiguous,” he writes.

In other words, in Sunstein’s opinion (and no doubt the opinion of his boss, as well), Obama and his administration should have free rein to interpret laws as fits their fancy on a particular day; because, after all, they’re smarter than you, and smarter than the courts.

Hopenchange, baby.

Bush administration policies made it tough on tyrants. Saddam Hussein was toast. Mohammar Khadaffy, seeing the writing on the wall, suddenly turned into a good guy. Even Kim Jong Il thought twice about beating his chest and preening his trollkin hair in touting his nuclear capabilities.

Yep, to paraphrase a rap song, during the Bush administration, it was hard out there for a tyrant.

Enter Barack Hussein Obama: Since his inauguration, Ponyang has re-started its nuke program, Ghadaffi is now supporting Iran’s nuclear program, and Iran is…well, kicking its thermonuclear program into full gear.

Ain’t it a caution as to the difference nine months can make, now that Barack Hussein Obama is doing his level best to make the world safe for tyranny…

President Obama dismayed America’s allies in Europe and angered his political opponents at home today when he formally ditched plans to set up a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

The project had been close to the heart of Mr Obama’s predecessor, President Bush, who had argued before leaving office in January that it was needed to defend against long-range ballistic missile attacks from rogue states such as Iran and North Korea.

But it had hobbled relations with Russia, which considered it both a security threat and an unnecessary political provocation in its own backyard.

This of course, comes on the heels of this news:

VIENNA — Experts at the world’s top atomic watchdog are in agreement that Tehran has the ability to make a nuclear bomb and is on the way to developing a missile system able to carry an atomic warhead, according to a secret report seen by The Associated Press.

The document drafted by senior officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency is the clearest indication yet that the agency’s leaders share Washington’s views on Iran’s weapon-making capabilities.

It appears to be the so-called “secret annex” on Iran’s nuclear program that Washington says is being withheld by the IAEA’s chief.

The document says Iran has “sufficient information” to build a bomb. It says Iran is likely to “overcome problems” on developing a delivery system.

At any rate, since Putin and the neo-Soviets in Russia got their way, at the very least, Obama’s decision to pull a Nancy will reap dividends in getting Russian cooperation, right?

Not so fast, appeasement breath:

“Those who are talking about a concession to Russia are primarily those who are looking for a bargaining chip in seeking extra dividends of some kind from us,” said Dmitry Rogozin, the Russian envoy to NATO, in remarks carried on the Interfax news agency. “In actual fact, the Americans have simply put their own mistake right. And we are not duty-bound to pay for someone to put their own mistakes right.”

The Obamateur makes the world less hostile to tyrants, destabilizes the balance of power, and continues to weaken the United States to the point of impotence in the process.

A socialist utopian trifecta.

There. Don’t you feel safer, now that hopenchange is here?

I knew that there was something #fishy about this AP Story regarding the Portsmouth, NH Obamacare rally, featuring the Chief Snake Oil Salesman, himself:

The White House had been ready for an unruly reception from opponents of overhauling health care. There was no sign of that, perhaps because of the makeup of the day’s crowd or out of traditional deference for the president.

Obama’s push came amid a string of disruptive health care town halls nationwide that have overshadowed his message and threatened to derail support in Congress. Indeed, Republican-turned-Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter faced hostile questions, taunts and jeers earlier Tuesday as he tried to explain his positions at a town hall in Lebanon, Pa. Voter fears of a government takeover of health care were on stark display.

Some lawmakers, holding forums during Congress’ August recess, have gone so far as to replace public forums with teleconferences or step up security to keep protesters at bay.

But the Democratic president faced no outbursts.

The encounter was so friendly, in fact, that by the end Obama was even asking for skeptical questioners to come forward — to no avail.

Of course, to the clueless AP state-run media, there was nothing #fishy about this happenstance. But to anyone with a google search engine, the reasons were obvious:

On Monday dozens of workers — including White House staffers — spent hours setting up the high school auditorium for Obama’s forum, which is only open to those members of the public who secured tickets. Organizers would not disclose how many tickets were issued.

John Moran, 71, of Nottingham was among the many who went to the school to pick up tickets for an event marking Obama’s first trip to the Granite State since he took office in January.

Moran, a Democrat, said he is a strong Obama supporter who was thrilled when he got a call notifying him that he would have two tickets for today’s Town Hall forum.

The Nottingham resident said his wife — who will also be attending — was even more excited with the chance to see Obama live.

“She is really tickled. You should have seen her … she was jumping up and down,” Moran said.

Moran said he has a couple questions in mind if he is called on at the forum with one of them being how the president intends to get health insurance companies to work with him to reform health care.

He said he hopes Obama’s plan will push for a more proactive approach to healthy living that involves coverage for preventive health care like screening and exercise.

Kathleen O’Brien, 64, and Jean Sanders, 66, both of Atkinson, said they will be sitting on stage for the event as they worked on Obama’s campaign beginning in 2007.

On Monday they both went to the high school to pick up tickets and their excitement was more than evident.

“He is as good as everyone says he is. The last person I worked this hard for was Robert Kennedy,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien wore an American flag-style scarf around her neck and a lanyard carrying several Obama pins.

She said she’s read most of Obama’s reform bill concerning health care, but still wants more information.

“I want to hear as much as possible about the plan,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien and Sanders said they spent the weekend calling those who were selected in the lottery to receive tickets.

Sanders said some people sounded like they had just won a fortune when they were informed they would be able to attend the forum and hear Obama speak first-hand about his plan.

“It was unbelievable,” Sander said.

Now here’s the real ‘laugh-a-minute’ quote:

O’Brien said she is sure many “hecklers” will be outside Portsmouth High School trying to derail reform, but she said anyone paying attention to the specifics of the plan will support what Obama is trying to do. She balked at those who say the plan is not in the best interest of senior citizens.

“He is actually protecting seniors,” O’Brien said.

Now that’s Astroturf you can believe in.

The Nannystate is in full force in Nevada:

LAS VEGAS — A Nevada newspaper says it has been served a federal grand jury subpoena seeking information about readers who posted comments on the paper’s Web site.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Tuesday that its editor, Thomas Mitchell, plans to fight the request, which the newspaper received after reporting on a federal tax fraud case against business owner Robert Kahre.

The subpoena seeks the identities and personal information about people who posted comments on the story. The newspaper said prosecutors told the judge in the case that some comments hinted at acts of violence and the subpoena was issued out of concern for jurors’ safety.

Mitchell said anonymous speech is “a fundamental and historic part of this country.” The newspaper would consider cooperating if specific crimes or real threats were presented, he said.

[SNIP]

The newspaper said it received the subpoena June 2, a week after its story describing the government’s case against Kahre, a Las Vegas construction company executive accused of paying contractors with gold and silver U.S. coins based on the precious metal value of the coins but using the much lower face value of the coins for tax purposes. Kahre and the other defendants have pleaded not guilty.

The story drew nearly 175 online comments by Monday night, most in support of Kahre and critical of the government and jurors and attorneys in the case.

One commentator said: “The sad thing is there are 12 dummies on the jury who will convict him. They should be hung along with the feds.”

Another called Damm a “socialist, fascist Mormon” and a “Nazi moron.”

The comments are written under pseudonyms. Along with the real names of people who posted comments, the subpoena asks the newspaper for the writers’ gender, birth date, physical address, telephone number, Internet service provider, IP address and credit card numbers.

Just sayin…