Ben Johnson, Floyd Reports

Barack Obama is pushing his tax cut plan today in Cleveland. His speech is not expected to have any new components; he merely picked the Ohio city to highlight his duel with Republican leader John Boehner. Although he’s selling his newfound support for tax cuts in an effort to take the issue away from Republicans, his economic program gives with one hand and takes back with the combined grasping power of the entire IRS. He hopes his tax cuts will allow small businesses to add enough jobs to bail him out of his impending Double Dip recession, so he can get back to portraying them as the enemies of the State.

The newborn tax-cutter claims he is pro-business, floating new tax cuts allowing firms to write off 100 percent of new equipment investments for just over a year, from this week until the end of 2011. News reports vary, but Obama claims this will total $200 billion over ten years. Given his projections for the cost of ObamaCare, one should take this with a generous grain of salt.

Businesses have long sought the tax incentives Obama now disingenuously advances. But the way he has proposed them will do nothing to advance the health of the economy for severa reasons. Few firms will invest in new ventures when they are not selling their current products. The proposal, like his commitment to staving genocide away from Iraq, is also time-limited. After the tax deducation expires in 2012, business will not know what to expect, and uncertainty is a greater barrier to investment than virtually any other.

Economists Left and Right oppose the plan. Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics said, “The tax breaks won’t be a game-changer.” The chief economist of the National Federation of Independent Business explained one reason why this is: “If you give a small-business guy $20,000, he’ll say, ‘I could buy a new delivery truck but I have nobody to deliver to.’ ”

Politically, it combines the worst of all worlds: ineffective and temporary tax cuts coupled with new deficit spending to help his union buddies. Not surprisingly, neither side of the aisle is happy. Columnist A.B. Stoddard of The Hill wrote Obama’s plan is so disastrous it “sounds like a Republican campaign ad.” Republicans have pronounced it DOA. His fellow Democrats are running in horror. The New York Post reported that Robert Gibbs, grasping for straws, “ultimately acknowledged that officials at least hope it will spur job growth as early as next spring.”

There is an enormous reason to believe none of these benefits will materialize. Obama has vowed he will let the “Bush tax cuts” expire for those making more than $250,00 a year, drastically raising taxes on small business owners who file individul tax forms. On January 1, 2011, their tax rate will increase to almost 40 percent — nearly matching Obama’s approval ratings. Rep. John Carter, R-TX, struck a memorable metaphor: “Offering $200 billion in narrowly targeted business tax cuts and new deficit spending while yoking taxpayers with a $3.8 trillion January tax hike is like a carjacker offering taxi fare before he rides off in your car.”

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John Hawkins, Townhall.com

1) Remember the stimulus bill? Republicans strongly opposed it and said it wouldn’t work. Democrats said it would revive the economy and keep unemployment under 8 percent. So, what happened? Democrats shoved through a bill that cost $1.1 trillion when you add in the interest. It cost more than the Marshall Plan, the Louisiana Purchase, and putting a man on the moon — combined. The result? The economy didn’t take off, the unemployment rate is still at 9.6 percent, and Democrats are calling for…you guessed it, another stimulus bill.

2) Perhaps the biggest problem with the economy right now is that businesses are so afraid of what the government will do that they’re stockpiling cash instead of spending it. Having a pro-market, Republican Congress that will oppose tax hikes, red tape, and damaging new legislation will reduce uncertainty and help give businesses the confidence they need to start hiring and expanding again.

3) While he was campaigning, Barack Obama promised to cut the deficit in half, but in his first 100 days alone, he quadrupled the deficit. As if that wasn’t bad enough, his budget blueprint adds more, “debt than all previous presidents — from George Washington to George W. Bush — combined.” No civilization in human history has spent like America has over the last two years of Democratic rule and unless we can get more Republicans in office, this country’s economic future is going to be deader than King Tut and uglier than a 7 day old chunk of roadkill.

4)The Democrats seem hellbent on taking over as much of the private sector as possible. In a relatively short period of time, our government has taken over much of the banking industry, auto industry, health care industry, and student loans. There are currently no viable plans to get out of any of these industries either. This sort of Sovietization of the American economy can only end badly. After all, look what similar policies did to the Soviet Union.

5) In the middle of a recession, the Democrats in Congress still seem to be on track to enact the largest tax increase in American history by allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire. Here we are with a struggling economy and businesses that are afraid to move because they can’t be sure of what the Democrats will do, and Pelosi, Reid, and Obama still haven’t addressed this massive tax hike. How incompetent. How short-sighted. How foolish.

6) “Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’ The answer is yes, that’s what I’m telling you.” — Joe Biden

7) Our economy is no longer suffering from the recession. At this point, the economy is suffering from the policies the Democrats put in place that were supposed to create a “recovery.”

8) I don’t mind a president taking a vacation now and then or playing a little golf, but Barack Obama has taken it to a ridiculous extreme. The man has already played more golf in two years than George W. Bush did in his whole presidency. Is he planning to try out for the PGA after he gets out of office? And what’s with the never ending vacationing? It’s like the presidency is a distraction from taking time off for this guy. Wait, is that the phone ringing? Oh, it’s Marie Antoinette. She is just calling to say that Obama needs to show more sensitivity to the people during tough economic times.

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Lt. Col. Buzz Patterson, Human Events

When I was first named to serve at the side of President Bill Clinton and carry the nuclear “football” containing the nation’s nuclear capability as a young Air Force officer, I was proud and grateful. Over the next two years, however, my experiences in the Clinton White House turned my gratitude and awe into shock, revulsion, and sorrow as I experienced the cavalier and self-serving way Clinton went about the business of running our country. I wrote my first book, Dereliction of Duty, documenting our former President’s contempt for the military, his indifference to important issues except insofar as they served his own political or personal purposes, and his failure to accept his responsibilities as our commander-in-chief. Indeed, it is my sincere belief that the dereliction of duty and negligence of Bill Clinton paved the way for the tragic events and deaths of September 11, 2001.

Now, tragically, I see history repeating itself with the presidency of Barack Obama. Only this time the conduct and dereliction of Obama and his administration are on pace to result in devastation of a much larger scale than that even of 9/11. In only a year and a half in office, Obama has not only reversed many of the successful accomplishments of his predecessor which have kept us safe; he’s done it at lightning speed. In doing so, Obama is clearly placing the United States in an increasingly vulnerable and threatened condition. As I hoped to accomplish in writing Dereliction of Duty, I again caution my nation in my new book, Conduct Unbecoming: How Barack Obama is Destroying Our Military and Endangering Our Security.

In Barack Obama we have elected a foreigner. He is a stranger in our midst. No, not in the fact that he was born in Hawaii and spent some years growing up in Indonesia, nor is it about his race, but in his approach to the land that he governs—the United States of America. We have elected a leader who is more comfortable bowing to the Japanese Emperor Akihito, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and Chinese President Hu Jintao, then he is in embracing the character, the integrity and the exceptionalism of America—and defending the land that he calls home.

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Kevin “Coach” Collins, Coach Is Right

Again we get a clearer picture of things by following the money. It rarely fails to show us when to trust, and when to be suspicious. Since the issue of building a mosque practically on the grounds of the hole that used to be the World Trade Center has arisen, those who have never really had America’s best interests at heart have been forced to take a stand and show their true colors.  The most recent “American” group to show its “love” for the Constitutional rights of our enemies is VoteVet.org.

VoteVet.org’s statement of support for the construction of a mosque just two blocks from Ground Zero can be traced back to the dedicated America hater George Soros by way of the America hating MoveOn.org.  Soros gives millions to MoveOn, which in turn funds phony left-wing fronts like VoteVet.org. (VVo) It really isn’t very complicated.

In part, VVo’s statement of support to those seeking to build the victory mosque said, “In fact, building your community center is about as pro-America as one can get.” Who could make such a foolish statement?

Who is connected with VVo?

The magnanimous nature of VVo’s statement of support begs some questions about who these people are. Here’s a list of some of those involved in this phony group.

• Founder Jon Soltz was a YearlyKos convention panelist in 2007.
• Board member Jason Flom, no record of military service but is a board member of George Soros’ Open Society Institute.
• Douglas J. Band, Board member connected to Hillary Clinton through his close relationship with Bill Clinton…

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Ben Johnson, Floyd Reports

The cornerstone of Obama’s Labor Day speech before a union audience was a $50 billion transfer of wealth from taxpayers to Big Labor. Porkulus 3.0 will not create jobs for years (if at all), but it will raise gasoline prices

Aside from taking time to feel sorry for himself, Obama unveiled a proposal to spend $50 billion on roads and infrastructure, which he promised “will not only create jobs immediately, it’s also going to make our economy hum over the long haul.”

His administration immediately admitted he lied. A senior Obama official, who would speak only anonymously, said: “We’re not like trying to put out an idea today that in October 2010, this is going to create a lot of jobs. This is not what this is.”

The Washington Times added, “Senior administration officials said measures for economic progress will take effect mostly in the long run and likely will do little to lower the 9.6 percent unemployment rate anytime soon.” (Emphasis added.) Even if it is passed, “Congress might not authorize funding for the six-year plan until after November and that no more jobs will be created until 2011.”

Most of those jobs would be staffed by the people behind him on the stage: union thugs and Democratic Party donors. The AFL-CIO and SEIU together have devoted $88 million to the 2010 midterms, which is $20 million more than unions spent in 2008. They have already spent $14 million in California alone to support Democrat Jerry Brown. Obama’s payback to the unions is by no means coincidental.

However, the plan Obama is selling to cure unemployment today (“immediately”) will not be in effect fully until after his second term (or, we pray, his successor’s first).

Reading the fine print reveals something else: the price tag is not really $50 billion….

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Ben Johnson, Floyd Reports

Seeing his popularity diminishing before his eyes, Barack Obama sought comfort in the steely arms of Big Labor yesterday. The most criticism-averse president in history whined that it was “special interests” who opposed his agenda — and these people were not very nice. Looking deliberately into the camera, he tried out a down-home phrase to show solidarity with the union rabble. “They talk about me like a dog,” said the Cornpone Kenyan. “That’s not in my prepared remarks,” he lied, “but it’s true.”

By recent standards, he’s lived a charmed life. His left-wing friends in the anti-(American) war movement are not in the streets comparing him to Hitler or calling for his assassination. Glenn Beck’s crowds gather to pray.

But there may be a reason he receives less than universal adulation, even occasionally scathing remarks about his job as president: he deserves them, and a Hell of a lot more.

This president has elevated members of the radical Left to the heights of power. He selected “Green Jobs” czar Van Jones, the 9/11 Truther and Marxist, who also believed Hurricane Katrina might be an inside job. His current Science Czar, John Holdren, has written in support of compulsory abortion for American woman and absorbing our national soveriegnty into “A Comprehensive Planetary Regime.” The man entrusted with enforcing justice, Eric Holder, once sought Bill Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich, believes America is “a nation of cowards,” and is busy dragging tough sheriffs to court while letting Black Panthers get off scot free.

Obama has placed the most precious document in our nation, the Constitution, at the whim of judicial activists. His followed up his first Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, who believes convicted felons should have the right to vote, with Elena Kagan, an outspoken advocate of supplanting the U.S. Constitution with foreign law. Kagan’s judicial heroes include Cass Sunstein, Thurgood Marshall, and insane Israeli Aharon Barak.

No one on the Left, however extreme, is unwelcome in the Obama White House. He has accepted at least $50,000 from Democratic bundler and Code Pink founder Jodie Evans, who has since enjoyed close personal access to Obama and other White House personnel.

His closest advisers are, if it is possible, further Left than he is….

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Brian Fitzpatrick, WorldNetDaily

Fired Inspector General Gerald Walpin is asking that his lawsuit challenging his abrupt and apparently illegal dismissal by the Obama administration be reinstated – and he wants a new judge assigned to the case.

A Washington Times editorial published Sept. 1 suggests that District Judge Richard W. Roberts has not presided over Walpin’s case with professional impartiality.

The editorial details extensive personal and professional ties between Roberts and Obama Attorney General Eric Holder, the boss of the Department of Justice lawyers defending the administration against Walpin’s suit.

According to the Times, Roberts and Holder have been close personal friends for decades.

Roberts worked for Holder in the Department of Justice during the Clinton administration, and Holder helped Roberts ascend to the federal bench in 1998.

White House Special Counsel Norman L. Eisen removed Walpin from his office as inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Services in June 2009.

The dismissal came several months after Walpin submitted two reports that proved highly embarrassing to the Obama administration.

The more prominent report found that Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, a Obama supporter, had misused more than $800,000 in federal grant money while running a Sacramento charter school, St. HOPE Academy. The government subsequently suspended Johnson’s eligibility for receiving federal funding.

Obama’s attorney fired Walpin without providing Congress the written explanation and the 30 days notice required by the Inspector General Reform Act – a law co-sponsored by then-Sen. Obama to protect inspectors general from political interference and retaliation. Walpin sued to be reinstated.

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Kevin “Coach” Collins, Coach Is Right

A spokeswoman for the Treasury Department insists “No American taxpayer funds will be used to support [a]  Kabul Bank.” Let’s hope this is one promise from these people we can count on because there will be serious consequences if Obama reverses himself.

The banks in Afghanistan must be controlled by the United States or our allies so they do not fall under the influence of the Taliban who will use sharia law to run them instead of accepted banking principles. Under sharia the terrorist Taliban will pull out 2.5% of every dollar handled by Afghanistan’s banks.

What Shari’a banks would look like

Shari’a banks run on the principles of Islam in every single aspect of their activities.

These banks would; charge no interest; avoid any speculative transactions; introduce and collect the Islamic tax called zakat and; discourage any production of tangible assets offensive to Islamic values.

In its purest state Islam is a huge redistribution scheme under which the zakat serves as a way to extract money from faithful Muslims to create the image of being a charitable religion. There is no choice for adherent Muslims when it comes to paying their zakat. Its monitory nature means a zakat can not justifiably be called an act of charity.  Since zakat is 2.5% of a Muslim’s annual wages, lots of dollars would pass through Islamist bankers’ hands which would turn them into paymasters of terror.

The men who would be Afghanistan’s banking advisory board….

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Dr. Paul Kengor, The Center for Vision and Values

I got the email in late afternoon. “In a major liberal initiative to curtail discussion of President Obama’s religious identity,” the email began, “over 70 Christian leaders and denominational heads have signed a letter saying that questions about the religious philosophy of the president of the United States should be ignored and suppressed by the major media.”

This couldn’t be correct. No doubt another internet hoax by the vast right-wing conspiracy. I wasn’t taking the bait.

Rather than hit delete, however, I took a moment to open the hyperlink. Lo and behold, the letter (click here), signed by over 70 self-described “Christian pastors and leaders,” proclaimed:

[W]e are deeply troubled by the recent questioning of President Obama’s faith…. [T]he personal faith of our leaders should not be up for public debate…. Therefore, we urge public officials, faith leaders, and the media to offer no further support or airtime to those who misrepresent and call into question the president’s Christian faith.

Likewise remarkable was the letter’s appeal to political neutrality. “This is not a political issue,” the pastors insisted.

The letter was posted at the website of Eleison Group, whose president, Burns Strider, offers faith-based political advice to Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi. Signers include Jim Wallis, who is synonymous with faith and politics, widely known for his group Sojourners and bestseller God’s Politics.

Most striking is the letter’s stunning demand that the media offer no airtime to anyone questioning the president’s faith, even as this president has arguably the most unconventional faith profile of any president in history, understandably creating confusion among the public.

No airtime? Obviously, such a demand presents a host of thorny considerations, beginning, of course, with the First Amendment.

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The Daily Caller