The Sanchez Report

Obama Refuses To Change Course

So here we are, one day later, digesting the State of the Union and my opinion hasn't changed. The President has essentially told the American people that he's going to stay the course and try harder to ram through his policies. It's disheartening to listen to the President give a speech that is drowning in denial. The White House has caved in to the far left view that the Massachusetts Senate race was in some way an endorsement of their policies. The spending will continue and the attacks on the private sector will only intensify as the President tries to convince voters that he is a populist. Mr. President, please hire some adults who know a thing or two about the economy. You've surrounded yourself with academics and politicians who don't have a clue about how the real world operates. God help us!

From the Wall Street Journal:

So much for all of that Washington talk about a midcourse change of political direction. If President Obama took any lesson from his party's recent drubbing in Massachusetts, and its decline in the polls, it seems to be that he should keep doing what he's been doing, only with a little more humility, and a touch more bipartisanship.

Mr. Obama's economic pitch also differed little from last year, when the jobless rate was 7.2%. He offered a spirited defense of the stimulus, though the jobless rate is now 10%, and he promised more of the same this year, especially on "green jobs." He also offered some minor if welcome tax cuts for small business, and $30 billion in handouts for "community banks" to be able to lend more.

Yet at the same time, he couldn't resist more banker baiting, and he promised that he's determined to see tax rates rise for millions of Americans next year when the Bush rates are set to expire. He also pushed more exports while saying he'll raise taxes on some of our biggest exporters, otherwise known as multinationals that "ship our jobs overseas." Mr. Obama believes he can conjure jobs and a durable expansion from the private sector while waging political war on its animal spirits. It can't be done.

This reflects a larger problem, which is his belief that economic growth springs mainly from the genius of government. Thus Mr. Obama presented a vision of an economy soaring to new heights on "high-speed railroad" and "clean energy facilities" and 1,000 people making solar panels in California. He seems not to appreciate that what really drives growth are the millions of risks taken each day by millions of individuals, far from the politicking and earmarks of Congress or the Department of Energy.

The Media's Silence In Pittsburgh Is Deafening

From Accuracy In Media:

For months, the liberal media have been warning America that "right-wing extremists" and "tea partiers" are whipping the country into an anti-government frenzy that inevitably will result in violence, but their at best irrational and at worst manufactured fears have not been warranted.

Hundreds of thousands of government critics marched on Washington on Sept. 12 and caused not one bit of trouble. Rest assured that any incidents would have been plastered all over the media if they had occurred.

Contrast that with what happened Thursday at the G20 meeting of economic leaders in Pittsburgh. Police had to fire pepper spray and smoke at left-wing anarchists who haven't a clue how to conduct a peaceful protest, but the trouble has barely made the news. The Huffington Post celebrated the protests with a vote-on-your-favorite photo contest that included shots of the street thugs.

Read entire post here

How's That $780 Billion Stimulus Package Working Out?

From PowerLine:

Another month has gone by, so it's time to check up on how the "stimulus" bill is doing. Innocent Bystanders has updated its invaluable chart, which shows the actual unemployment rate compared with the rates projected by the Obama administration, with and without passage of the "stimulus" bill; click to enlarge:

On Thursday, Joe Biden announced that the stimulus bill is working even better than had been expected. Biden's dissociation from reality is nearly complete, but one wonders: aren't there any journalists who are capable of looking up the administration's predictions and asking Biden fact-based questions? Or is that considered too much work?

California: Plenty Of Blame To Go Around

In case you've been wondering who is to blame for the mess in California, I found this article that pretty much sums it up. One caveat, the article does not go far enough to place blame on those who have controlled the Assembly and Senate for much of the past forty years, namely the Democrats. After all, they're the ones who are responsible for spending and have grown the annual budget from roughly $70 billion twelve years ago to nearly $150 billion today. The entire article can be found on Forbes.com:

The findings:

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Terminator came to power with the support of much of the middle class and business community. But since taking office, he's resembled not the single-minded character for which he's famous but rather someone with multiple personalities.

2. The Public Sector

Who needs an economy when you have fat pensions and almost unlimited political power? That's the mentality of California's 356,000 workers and their unions, who make up the best-organized, best-funded and most powerful interest group in the state.State government continued to expand in size even when anyone with a room-temperature IQ knew California was headed for a massive financial meltdown. Scattered layoffs and the short-term salary givebacks now being considered won't cure the core problem: an overgenerous retirement system. The unfunded liabilities for these employees' generous pensions are now estimated at over $200 billion.

3. The Environment

In California today, everyone who makes a buck in the private sector--from developers and manufacturers to energy producers and farmers--cringes in fear of draconian regulations in the name of protecting the environment. The activists don't much care, since they get their money from trust-funders and their nonprofits. The losers are California's middle and working classes, the people who drive trucks, who work in factories and warehouses or who have white-collar jobs tied to these industries.

4. The Business Community

This insanity has been enabled by a lack of strong opposition to it. One potential source--California's business leadership--has become progressively more feeble over the past generation. Some members of the business elite, like those who work in Hollywood and Silicon Valley, tend to be too self-referential and complacent to care about the bigger issues. Others have either given up or are afraid to oppose the dominant forces of the environmental activists and the public sector.

Theoretically, according to business consultant Larry Kosmont, business should be able to make a strong case, particularly with the growing Latino caucus in the legislature. "You have all these job losses in Latino districts represented by Latino legislators who don't realize what they are doing to their own people," he says. "They have forgotten there's an economy to think about."

5. Californians

The last hope lies with those of us still enamored with California. We have allowed ourselves to be ruled by a motley alliance of self-righteous zealots, fools and cowards; now we must do something. Some think the solution is reining in citizens' power by using the jury pool to staff a state convention, as proposed by the Bay Area Council, or finding ways to undermine the initiative system, which would remove critical checks on legislative power.

Latest Rasmussen Poll: Obama's Numbers Continue To Crash

The latest Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll can not be good news for the White House. President Obama's latest job approval numbers among likely voters has fallen to a new low of 49% with 51% disapproving of his job performance. This is just another sign of the erosion that this White House has seen in recent weeks. The President's left wing agenda is running into a brick wall of Independents and Republicans who represent the center-right majority of Americans.

From Rasmussen Reports:

Overall, 49% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Today marks the first time his overall approval rating has ever fallen below 50% among Likely Voters nationwide. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove.

Eighty-three percent (83%) of Democrats continue to approve of the President’s performance while 80% of Republicans disapprove. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 37% offer a positive assessment. The President earns approval from 51% of women and 47% of men.

These updates are based upon nightly telephone interviews and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. Most of the interviews for today’s update were completed before the President’s nationally televised press conference on Wednesday night. The first update based entirely upon interviews conducted after the press conference will be released on Sunday.

It is important to remember that the Rasmussen Reports job approval ratings are based upon a sample of likely voters. Some other firms base their approval ratings on samples of all adults. President Obama’s numbers are always several points higher in a poll of adults rather than likely voters. That’s because some of the President’s most enthusiastic supporters, such as young adults, are less likely to turn out to vote.

Obama Feeling The Heat: "You're Going To Destroy My Presidency"

President Obama is starting to feel the heat. I suspect the President has never experienced push back in any way shape or form. He has been accustomed to getting his way throughout his brief public career. His adoring fans and media have hung onto his every word, but this love affair has been disrupted. Not only are his poll numbers falling, but he doesn't even have the support of his own party in Congress. Just six months into his presidency and he is already concerned about his legacy. In a recent meeting with a Democrat Congressman, he was candid in expressing his concern about the lack of support of his healthcare plan by stating " You're going to destroy my presidency."

From Congress Daily:

A telling episode recounted by Senate Finance ranking member Charles Grassleyreveals the Obama administration might be more worried than they are letting on that a Republican senator's comparison of the healthcare overhaul to Waterloo might be dangerously close to the truth.

Grassley said he spoke with a Democratic House member last week who shared Obama's bleak reaction during a private meeting to reports that some factions of House Democrats were lining up to stall or even take down the overhaul unless leaders made major changes.

"Let's just lay everything on the table," Grassley said. "A Democrat congressman last week told me after a conversation with the president that the president had trouble in the House of Representatives, and it wasn't going to pass if there weren't some changes made ... and the president says, 'You're going to destroy my presidency.' "

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Read article here

Shock Poll: Rasmussen Shows Obama and Romney Tied 45-45

From Drudge:

RASMUSSEN 2012 poll released at 10:30AM ET

Obama 45% Romney 45%
Obama 48% Palin 42%

CBO Director: The Federal Budget Is On An Unsustainable Path

The Director of the Congressional Budget Office confirmed what most of us already knew. Namely that the federal budget is on an unsustainable path. I'm sure the White House isn't happy with having another credible source weigh in on their reckless spending.

From the CBO Director's Blog:

Under current law, the federal budget is on an unsustainable path, because federal debt will continue to grow much faster than the economy over the long run. Although great uncertainty surrounds long-term fiscal projections, rising costs for health care and the aging of the population will cause federal spending to increase rapidly under any plausible scenario for current law. Unless revenues increase just as rapidly, the rise in spending will produce growing budget deficits. Large budget deficits would reduce national saving, leading to more borrowing from abroad and less domestic investment, which in turn would depress economic growth in the United States. Over time, accumulating debt would cause substantial harm to the economy. The following chart shows our projection of federal debt relative to GDP under the two scenarios we modeled.

   

 

Read entire post here

Obamanomics Is Moving Us In The Wrong Direction

The great Larry Kudlow once again articulates why the Obama economic plan is leading us down the road to economic demoralization.

From Townhall.com:

There’s no question that current government policies for taxes, spending, and regulation are causing the U.S. to lose competitiveness in the global race for capital, prosperity, and growth.

Of course, China has been moving in the direction of free-market capitalism for years. To some extent, this shows the positive benefits of America’s free-trade policies and its open-mindedness in helping nurture not only China growth, but also middle-class prosperity worldwide.

But what’s particularly galling about Obamanomics is that we may well be losing our competitive edge with Europe. While Europe is ever so slightly moving toward Reagan and Thatcher, the U.S. is shifting toward an overtaxed and overregulated model that smacks of François Mitterrand. That’s something no one should want to tolerate.

Heavy government controls at home, along with an income-leveling social policy couched in economic-recovery terms, is no way to run a railroad. At the simple stroke of a computer key, world investment flows to its most hospitable destination. That includes a reliable currency. But in President Bush’s last year and President Obama’s first, the U.S. has become a less-hospitable destination for global capital. That should worry everybody.

Read entire post here

Perhaps The Dems Are Having Second Thoughts About Zelaya

Suppose President Obama was in his second term and decided that he wanted to stay in office indefinitely. Let's further suppose that he was insisting on pushing forward with a referendum to amend the constitution so that he could become a dictator. Let's say that the Supreme Court ruled that such a vote was illegal and that the Congress was opposed as well. Imagine that the opposition not only consisted of other political parties, but also his own Vice-President and leaders of his party. Imagine if he called on Hugo Chavez to illegally ship ballots to our country to force this vote. To make matters worse, imagine President Obama organizing a mob to storm the facility that was holding the illegal ballots. Stay with me, the story gets better. Now, let's say that under our constitution, the Supreme Court was allowed to order an arrest and in fact they ordered that the President be arrested in order to preserve democracy and the rule of law. This is exactly what happened to President Zelaya in Honduras and yet our President decided to line up in support of this wannabe dictator along side the likes of the Castro Brothers, Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega and every other Marxist in Latin America.

Apparently, the Democrats in Congress are starting to realize the fallacy of their ways and are back-peddling on their support of Zelaya. Too bad the mainstream media is not following their lead. they continue to report the situation in Honduras as a military coup.

From HotAir:

The Obama administration jumped quickly into the fray over the removal and expulsion of president Manuel Zelaya from Honduras, calling the action a “coup” and demanding his reinstatement.  Fellow Democrats in Congress followed suit, but The Hill reports that they may be changing their minds.  Suddenly, they have begun acknowledging the crimes Zelaya committed and stopped calling for his return to office.

Maybe the national media can finally follow suit and report the entire story on the Honduran crisis.  While the Hondurans made a big mistake in forcibly exiling Zelaya, they had ample reason to arrest him and try him for several violations of their constitution.  It’s entirely possible to criticize the manner of Zelaya’s removal while still recognizing the necessity of protecting the nation from a dictatorship in its nascent stages.

Read entire post here