Florida Judge Rules Health Care Law Unconstitutional.

The individual mandate IS declared "unseverable" hence making the entire law unconstitutional and void.

A U.S. district judge on Monday threw out the nation's health care law, declaring it unconstitutional because it violates the Commerce Clause and surely reviving a feud among competing philosophies about the role of government.

Judge Roger Vinson, in Pensacola, Fla., ruled that as a result of the unconstitutionality of the "individual mandate" that requires people to buy insurance, the entire law must be declared void.

"I must reluctantly conclude that Congress exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the act with the individual mandate. That is not to say, of course, that Congress is without power to address the problems and inequities in our health care system. The health care market is more than one-sixth of the national economy, and without doubt Congress has the power to reform and
regulate this market. That has not been disputed in this case. The principal dispute
has been about how Congress chose to exercise that power here," Vinson wrote.

BTW, Read the ruling, the injunction is functionally enacted.

For those that have commented that only if they had included a "severability clause" all would be right with the world. Not so....The individual mandate is the foundation of Obamacare, pull that out and the entire behemoth castle of cards collapses.

Overwhelming majority of Americans in both parties tell GOP to heed the 'tea party'

Interesting for sure.

Remember that Constitution-citing "tea party" rabble that puzzled the media so terribly last year and helped dump so many deaf Democrats from the House of Representatives in November?

Turns out, an overwhelming percentage of adult Americans think Republicans should take heed of the upstart movement's positions and concerns as they plot to dump President Obama and even more Democrats come the 2012 election, now just 645 days away.

A new Gallup Poll out this morning finds that 71% of Americans, even many who do not think highly of the "tea party," say it's important that Republicans should take the its positions into account.

Sunday Funny

Man pulls own gun on armed robbery suspects

Another crime thwarted by a legitmate gun totin civilian.A Chattanooga man says he pulled his own weapon on armed robbers.

He was unloading his car from a trip, Monday night, on Williams Street, when two black men approached him.

The first suspect walked past him but turned back and put a gun to the victim demanding his keys. A second victim approached him and said something, then punched the victim in the face.

The victim said after being hit, he stumbled back and dropped his keys, then pulled out his own gun. As he did so, the first suspect grabbed the keys, walked into the street and fired. The suspects says he returned the fire and retreated into his home.

Once inside the victim called police. Officers were not able to locate the suspects.

The Anti-Reagan

Nancy Reagan should sue.

Himalayan glaciers not melting because of climate change, report finds

Himalayan glaciers are actually advancing rather than retreating, claims the first major study since a controversial UN report said they would be melted within quarter of a century. Researchers have discovered that contrary to popular belief half of the ice flows in the Karakoram range of the mountains are actually growing rather than shrinking.

The discovery adds a new twist to the row over whether global warming is causing the world's highest mountain range to lose its ice cover.

It further challenges claims made in a 2007 report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that the glaciers would be gone by 2035.

Although the head of the panel Dr Rajendra Pachauri later admitted the claim was an error gleaned from unchecked research, he maintained that global warming was melting the glaciers at "a rapid rate", threatening floods throughout north India.

Unchecked my shiny butt, more like fabricated. It's time for Railroad Engineer Pachauri to get back to his signal-box.

Initial jobless claims climb 51,000

That dang economy being "stubborn" again.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits rose last week, signaling the roller coaster ride for the job market has not come to an end.

There were 454,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended Jan. 22, the Labor Department said Thursday.

That was up 51,000 from the 403,000 claims filed the week before, and much worse than the 410,000 claims economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected.

Plus: Durable Goods Fall 2.5% vs Estimate for Up 1.5%.

Quote of The Day

In response to Obama's repeated reference at the SOTU to spending as "investment's".

If it’s an investment, I want to see the prospectus for expected return based on past performance.

Thanx henkster @FR.

Tax Hikes Chase Jimmy John's From Illinois

Using the Michigan template we here in Illinois are in big trouble. Are only hope is If Lake Michigan swallows up Chicago.

Since the onset of the Great Recession, nearly every state has experienced budget shortfalls. Most have recognized the need to cut spending and restrain government employee benefits rather than raise taxes. Not all do, however: As reported last week, Illinois is going the opposite direction with massive tax hikes on individuals and businesses.

Immediately upon the announced tax hike, governors in surrounding states began pleading with Illinois job creators to come somewhere where they will be wanted. Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri governors had press releases and media appearances outright thanking the Prairie State representatives for incentivizing their residents to leave. On the other hand, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn congratulated the Legislature for passing the increase, and when asked about businesses leaving, responded, "Lots of luck to them, but that's not going to happen."

Jimmy John Liautaud begs to differ.

Liautaud is the founder of the Champaign-based Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches, which now has more than 1,000 stores around the country. He has started gathering information on other states, with an eye toward relocating the chain’s corporate headquarters.

"All they do is stick it to us," Liautaud said, adding that the Illinois Legislature "snuck [the tax increase] through," and that the governor showed "a clear lack of understanding" about a measure that left businesses feeling "pummeled."

Home Prices Still in Free-fall

You can forget about the economy recovering untill this trend is reversed.

Home prices are falling across most of America's largest cities, and average prices in eight major markets have hit their lowest point since the housing bust.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released Tuesday fell 1 percent in November from October. All but one city, San Diego, recorded monthly price declines.

Eight others sank to their lowest levels since prices peaked in 2006 and 2007: Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Las Vegas, Miami, Portland, Ore., Seattle, Tampa, Fla., and Detroit, which saw the largest drop at 2.7 percent from the previous month.

Terror attack kills 35 at Moscow airport

Tea Party, Amish, Palin, Rush?

A spokeswoman for Moscow's busiest airport says 35 people have been killed by an explosion in its international arrivals hall.

Domodedovo Airport spokeswoman Yelena Galanova made the statement Monday on Russia's NTV television.

Other officials put the death toll at 31 and said about 130 people were injured in the explosion Monday afternoon. President Dmitry Medvedev said it looked like a terror attack and the state RIA Novosti news agency said the blast may have been set off by a suicide bomber.

No Birth Certificate but He’s told it’s written down on a Posted Note

Most of you regular readers know that I am anything but a "birther" but I'll say this, the more that I know the more I'm beghinning to question Obama's birth status.

After his flamboyant claim of being only man in America to look his fellow countrymen in the eye and state factually that Barry Hussein Soetoro was indeed born in the U.S.A. the Governor of Hawaii has investigated the president’s birth certificate only to find that what he thought was real is a thing of hearsay and political legend.

Nevertheless, he is told the fact that the president was born was actually written down somewhere deep within the recesses of the Hawaiian archives. His investigation at least uncovered that much. Something is written down? And it actually exists in the archives written down somewhere? Okay governor then show us that!

Rush Limbaugh weighed in on this incredible story of national political subterfuge and obscured political sedition on last Friday. A story ignored by the Diane Sawyer—Katie Couric Media except to mischaracterize patriots and constitutionalists by the Leftwing pejorative, “birthers.”

Sunday Funny

Olbermann Out

Good bye, see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya...

Broadcast blowhard Keith Olbermann's countdown has finally come to an end.

The liberal lip of MSNBC was unceremoniously dumped by the peacock network last night in a major shakeup that set tongues wagging across the broadcast world.

Olbermann, in the middle of a four-year $30 million contract reportedly set to last until 2012, announced that last night's edition of his prime-time "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," would be his last.

Unions see sharp membership declines again

Union membership down yet union revinues continue to increase, go figure.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The nation's labor unions saw another steep decline in membership last year, even as the economy showed signs of recovery and job losses slowed.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that unions lost 612,000 members in 2010, dropping the unionized share of the work force to 11.9 percent from 12.3 percent in 2009. That follows a loss of 771,000 workers in 2008, continuing a steady decline from the 1950s when more than a third of workers belonged to unions.

The news comes as union officials are pressing President Barack Obama and other leaders to invest more money in infrastructure projects like repairing highways and bridges to help stimulate the economy and create new jobs. That plea is meeting stiff resistance from Republicans intent on cutting spending sharply to pare back the rising national debt.

Texting fountain lady's problems bigger than YouTube fame

Appears this dirtbag already had an attorney on retainer.

As Stacy Stutz, some lady I know from Facebook, just said: "It's all fun and games until it goes viral on YouTube" ... and you cry about it on TV and hint at launching a lawsuit, and the Streisand effect kicks in.

"In the hours that followed Cathy Cruz Marrero's appearance on 'Good Morning America' today to talk about the fall and its aftermath, she was in court for a status hearing on charges of five felony counts, including theft by deception and receiving stolen property," reports ABC News.

Turns out Marrero's been out on $7,500 bail since 2009, after being charged with running up more than $5,000 in purchases on a co-worker's credit card. No wonder she had a lawyer handy.

Marrero's next court date is April 21, and she's facing about six months of house arrest and electronic monitoring, according to the Reading Eagle. So all y'all talking about how if she just shut up and went on with her life, nobody would know it was her in the fountain —maybe six people recognized her — are more right than you realized. While it's unknown how many people knew about her theft charges, we all sure know about it now.

The GOP's Health-Care Offensive Has Just Begun

The Democrat leadership is whistling through the graveyard as this bill is in for one very bumpy ride in both the legislature and the courts.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid described this week's House vote to repeal and replace ObamaCare as "partisan grandstanding." Other Democratic congressmen called it "a political scam," "unfortunate" and "fruitless." Liberal pundits described it as "useless" and "meaningless." All of which confirms that the GOP is on the right path.

Republicans said during the election campaign that they would take this vote. Seasoned Democratic observers like pollster Pat Caddell believe that opposition to ObamaCare helped drive turnout and draw independents into the Republican column. The GOP would have deeply damaged its credibility if it failed to follow through on its pledge.

Moreover, the fight against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, of which this week's vote is but the opening round, once again focuses public attention on the law's flaws. Virtually every claim the Obama administration has made on its behalf is turning out to be untrue...

Steele: “I Know How Caesar Felt”

Oh good grief. Steele brought himself down with his innumerable gaffes and RINO panderings, he has only himself to blame.

This past weekend, RNC Chairman Michael Steele lost his bid for reelection. Sitting down with FrumForum as he ponders his next move, perhaps the thing that gets the garrulous Steele most quiet is a mention of his successor, Wisconsin State Republican Chair Reince Priebus.

He had a good laugh about his portrayal on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart – as a blue Sesame Street character with a penchant for ending words with ‘-izzles’ and ‘-ibbles’.

“Jon Stewart. I have not done his show, but I’d love to do his show at some point,” the former RNC chair says. Guffawing, he tells me he has never uttered the word ‘O-bibble-care’.

But things get serious real quick when he’s asked about Reince Priebus. Steele had appointed Priebus to a coveted job on the RNC: general counsel. Priebus later turned his back on Steele when he decided to make his own bid for the Chairmanship.

Sen. Richard Lugar to seek re-election in 2012

He epitomizes what's wrong with the Senate, he needs to GO!

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican Sen. Richard Lugar plans to seek a re-election in 2012.

Lugar spokesman Mark Helmke said Tuesday that Lugar plans to run a vigorous campaign and is committed to winning a seventh term representing Indiana in the Senate.

Rasmussen : GOP now trusted on all top 10 issues

Now let's see if they can keep it.

Republicans officially assumed control of the U.S. House of Representatives this month, and voters now trust the GOP more than Democrats on all 10 of the most important issues regularly surveyed by Rasmussen Reports including the economy, health care, taxes and national security.

The last time voters trusted Republicans more on all 10 issues was late August. But this shows a sharp contrast from two years ago when Democrats were trusted more than Republicans on most issues. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Republicans were trusted more on seven out of 10 issues in December and eight out of 10 in October just before Election Day.

Ricky Gervais too funny for Hollywood

The guys a jerk but you've gotta love the fact that at least he's an equal opportunity offender.

"I warned them."

Returning Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais did indeed let it be known that he wasn't going to hold back in skewering Hollywood's most famous celebrities. And, in what will undoubtedly be his last hosting gig for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (and, who knows, maybe any Stateside awards) he didn't disappoint.

But in the process of making searingly funny jokes at more than just the obvious targets (Charlie Sheen, Mel Gibson, the HFPA itself), the heat he put into the punch lines might have made him more of the story than the actual winners.

And yet, it made for compelling -- if sometimes wince-inducing -- television. Given the staid lameness of most awards shows -- hello, Emmys -- at least he kept those who are not in the industry laughing uproariously. (His "I warned them" line came after a particularly funny joke about Hugh Hefner's new fiancee, complete with physical comedy and facial expressions).

Sunday Funny

Sources: Steele Took Deal For Endorsement

Steele, classy to the very end.

Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele dropped his bid for a second term on Friday after being offered a lucrative deal in exchange for his endorsement, sources on the committee tell The Hotline.

Steele dropped out of the race for chairman after four ballots on Friday and threw his support to Maria Cino, a former Bush administration official who finished third in the race. Steele endorsed Cino from the stage after ending his bid, a rare public announcement in a contest marked more by quiet member-to-member conversations.

That endorsement came at a cost, according to committee insiders. As candidates jockeyed for position, Steele sat down with aides to both Cino and former RNC co-chairman Ann Wagner in search of a deal. Eventually, Cino allies offered Steele a deal that would have been more lucrative than the chairman's salary, the sources said. The RNC chairman makes $224,500 a year.

Reince Priebus Will Win RNC Chair

Reince Priebus has 80 votes after 6 rounds of voting. The next closest is Mario Cino with 40. It takes a total of 85 to secure confirmation.

Priebus is the most conservative of the lot and is my first choice.

New jobless claims post biggest jump in 6 months

No worry's, the “summer of recovery” will soon be upon us.

(Reuters) - U.S. jobless claims jumped unexpectedly last week to their highest level since October, suggesting the labor market is still in a rut despite signs of improvement in the economy.

The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits rose to 445,000 from an upwardly revised reading of 410,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said on Thursday. It was the biggest one-week jump in about six months, confounding analyst forecasts for a small drop to 405,000.

A Labor Department official noted the rebound occurred following the holidays, which may have hindered reporting of new claims and created a backlog.

Continuing claims retreated sharply to 3.88 million from 4.13 million, a potentially encouraging sign. However, the total number of Americans on benefit rolls, including extended benefits under emergency government programs, jumped to 9.19 million from 8.77 million.

Generic Congressional Ballot: Republicans 47%, Democrats 36%

How the GOP acts in the next 6 months will tell if this holds or not.

Generic Congressional Ballot Generic Congressional Ballot: Republicans 47%, Democrats 36% Monday, January 10, 2011 Email to a Friend AdvertisementRepublicans hold an 11-point lead over Democrats on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending January 9, 2011. That’s up one point from last week and six points from the week before. It's the widest gap between the two parties since right before Election Day.

New Rasmussen Reports telephone polling finds that 47% of Likely U.S. Voters nationwide say they would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate, while 36% would choose the Democrat instead.

Last week, Republicans posted a similar 45% to 35% lead over the Democrats. The week before the election, support for Republicans peaked at 51%, the highest level of support either party has enjoyed in the last two years but has tapered off since then.

Republicans lead by 20 points among men but by just three among women. The GOP holds a 21-point lead among voters not affiliated with either major political party.

Anyone wonder why the Democrat party wants to promote the breakup of the nuclear family? Single mothers are 3 times as likely to vote for a Dem compared to a married women in a stable home.

Ill. lawmakers pass 66 percent income tax increase

If it wasn't for my two 12 year olds in school, I'd be out of here. Expect what little business in this state that still exists to leave en-masse.

Democrats in the Illinois Legislature on Wednesday approved a 66 percent income-tax increase in a desperate and politically risky effort to end the state’s crippling budget crisis.

The increase now goes to Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who supports the plan to temporarily raise the personal tax rate to 5 percent, a two-thirds increase from the current 3 percent rate. Corporate taxes also would climb as part of the effort to close a budget hole that could hit $15 billion this year.

The higher taxes will generate about $6.8 billion a year, Quinn’s office said — a major increase by any measure. In percentage terms, 66 percent might be the biggest increase any state has adopted while grappling with recent economic woes.

It will be coupled with strict 2 percent limits on spending growth. If officials violate those limits, the tax increase will automatically be canceled. The plan’s supporters warned that rising pension and health care costs probably will eat up all the spending allowed by the caps, forcing cuts in other areas of government.

UPDATE: Kids don't care! We moved in 7 years ago, we sure as he!! can move out, and we're gonna! Next door into Indiana.... here we come.

Photoshop of the Day

For all diehard Twilight Zone fans of which I am one.

Liberals Can't Fight The "Magic Powers" Of Evil Talk Radio!

This article nails it, worth a read.

After 72 hours of nonstop liberal “analysis” in the wake of the Arizona shooting, I’ve finally figured out what we have to do:

Shut down all the Targets.

Yes, really.

A chain of superstores whose logo is right off a firing range - are you crazy? If a single set of crosshairs on a single Sarah Palin Web site can get 19 people shot or killed, having hundreds of storefronts advertising target practice is inviting a nationwide massacre!

Why even the name “Target” itself is dangerous. Never mind that you really just wanted to take advantage of their special on Tide.

And henceforth the mere utterance of the phrase “We’re targeting Democrats for defeat” by a Tea Partier can cause people to grab their guns and start blasting.

And after we replace all the Targets with “Disarm-Marts,” we’ll have to do something about “steak bombs” - which, come to think of it, do stage a direct assault on your arteries - and then let’s tackle “attack ads.”

Monday Funny

Austerity from Moonbeam? We shall see.

Media Matters Calls On Murdoch To Rein In Beck, Palin

You bet, the solution to the murderous acts of an insane anarchist is the infringment on free speech. Perhaps we ought to also try this approach with terrorists....Oh wait, we're already doing that.

In a letter delivered to News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch Monday afternoon, and obtained by TPM, Media Matters founder David Brock says the time has come for Fox News to take responsibility for its programming. Specifically, Brock is calling on Murdoch to make Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck tone down their rhetoric on threat of termination -- or to be complicit in acts of political violence.

"Beck and Palin are two of Fox's most recognizable figures," Brock writes. "Before this heartbreaking tragedy in Arizona, you were either unwilling or unable to rein in their violent rhetoric."

But now, in the wake of the killings, your network must take a stand.

You have the power to order them to stop using violent rhetoric, on and off of Fox's air. If they fail to do so, it is incumbent upon you to fire them or be responsible for the climate they create and any consequences thereof.

The Final Word on the Gifford's Shooting Blame Game

How pathetic that the left as a matter of genetic prediposition must blame someone for the bad things that happen to themselves individually or their collective movement. The left has always had a problem with the acceptance of personal responsiblity and it has never been more evident than after yesterday's massacre.

The blood had not dried from the horrific shootings in Tuscon before the like of Paul Krugman, dKos, Rep Linda Lopez, and a host of others including Fox began to subtly and not so subtly brand the shooter as a right wing tea partier or at least motivated by said. Absolutely no evidence of that existed or yet exists, but damn the facts, full speed ahead. As Rahm Emanuel so succinctly stated, "never let a good crisis go to waste", they didn't.

While most on the right prayed for Gabrielle Giffords and all the victims and families, the Turkey Vultures on the left were busy scavenging the dead and critically injured on CNN, MSNBC, and anywhere else someone would give them a forum to spew their poisonous venom. It became evident early on that the victims were far less important to the left than using them for cannon fodder to attack the right and particularly the Tea Party. Shameless partisan politics at it's worst, it's beyond shameless.

The bottom line is that the shooter Jared Loughner was one very screwed up individual. A Nihilist, his leanings actually appear to be somewhat leftist but his writings and rantings are so totally confused and disjointed that we may never know where his political allegiance really lies. Suffice it to say that any conjecture on his motivations is so highly speculative that it is far beyond the pervue of anyone to comment intelligently on that subject. And untill the facts are known, it's just the worst kind of agitprop.

I just hope the majority of Americans are astute enough to see it for what it is.

Sunday Funny

Couple abort twin boys in desperate bid for IVF girl

My wife and I have twin boys. These crazy, stupid, sick fu&%ers ought to be shot.

A COUPLE so desperate for a baby girl that they terminated twin boys are fighting to choose the sex of their next child.

The couple, who have three sons and still grieve for a daughter they lost soon after birth, are going to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to win the right to select sex by IVF treatment.

They say they want the opportunity to have the baby daughter they were tragically denied.

An independent panel, known as the Patient Review Panel, recently rejected the couple's bid to choose the sex of their next child using IVF.

They have gone to VCAT in a bid to have that decision overturned.

VCAT recently ruled that it has the power to review the Patient Review Panel decision. It will hear the couple's case in March.

So determined are the couple to have a girl that they recently terminated twin boys conceived through IVF.

Pelosi: Dems intend to win back the House

Yea, that's righ,t the same Nancy Pelosi who said "there's no way" the Dems would lose the House in November.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is signaling she doesn't plan to stay in that diminished job very long.

The top House Democrat and 70-year-old former Speaker suggested Thursday night she has no goal short of winning the chamber back for her party.

"We are in a little bit of a sparse mode right now. I didn't realize we would be," Pelosi told CNN's John King, who noted her "sparsely decorated" new office. " I've had other work to do than to [laughter] … because I don't plan to stay here that long."

Pelosi moved out of the Speaker's office and into minority leader headquarters after Republican John Boehner (Ohio) was sworn in as Speaker earlier this week.

Democratic Party ID Drops in 2010, Tying 22-Year Low

"Independents increasing affinity for the GOP" is what's truely significant.

PRINCETON, NJ -- In 2010, 31% of Americans identified as Democrats, down five percentage points from just two years ago and tied for the lowest annual average Gallup has measured in the last 22 years. While Democrats still outnumber Republicans by two points, the percentage identifying as independents increased to 38%, on the high end of what Gallup has measured in the last two decades. These results are based on aggregated data from 21 separate Gallup and USA Today/Gallup polls conducted in 2010, encompassing more than 25,000 interviews with U.S. adults. Gallup has computed annual averages for party identification since 1988, when it began conducting most of its polls by telephone.

The Gallup Daily tracking poll, initiated in 2008, shows similar party identification figures for 2010 -- 32% Democratic, 28% Republican, and 37% independent. The tracking data also show the same trend toward declining Democratic identification coupled with greater increases among independents than Republicans.

While there is usually some year-to-year variation in party identification at the aggregate level, the changes are typically not large. Thus, the five-point drop in Democratic identification over the past two years, from the party's 22-year high of 36% (tying the 1988 figure) to its 22-year low of 31%, is notable.

Wily Old Dems Take on Whippersnapper Republicans

Interesting.

Curious fact, unearthed by Gerald Seib of The Wall Street Journal. The average age of Republican House members in the new Congress convening this week is 54.9, younger than the Republicans' average age in the previous Congress, 56.5. But the average age of House Democrats has risen, from 58 to 60.2.

That can be explained partly by the high turnover in the 2010 election. Many younger Democrats, first elected in 2006 or 2008, fell by the wayside. The old bulls from 65 percent-plus Democratic districts survived. Meanwhile, many young Republican challengers won.

But the results are historically anomalous. Going back to the Congress elected in 1950, there has never been more than a 2.8-year difference in the average age of House Republicans and House Democrats. The difference in this Congress is 5.3 years, almost double that.

The picture is similar on the Senate side of the Capitol, where the average age of Republicans is 61.4 and the average age of Democrats is 63.1. That's as wide a margin as in any Senate since the one produced by the election of 1982.

Chavez Wants Penn, Stone or Bill Clinton for Next US Ambassador

Terrific idea, only two conditions.....You take all 3 and you keep them.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sought to end a diplomatic stand-off with the United States on Tuesday by suggesting it name Bill Clinton, actor Sean Penn or director Oliver Stone as its envoy to Caracas.

In the latest flare-up between the ideological foes, Washington withdrew the visa of Venezuela's ambassador last week in retaliation for Chavez's rejection of President Barack Obama's nominated ambassador to Caracas.

U.S. diplomat Larry Palmer had criticized Venezuela's government, saying morale in its military was low and there were clear ties between members of the Chavez administration and leftist rebels in neighboring Colombia.

In a televised speech late on Tuesday, Venezuela's firebrand president said he had come up with a solution.

Next Obama chapter: Change coming to White House

More rearranging of the deck chairs...

WASHINGTON -Retooling for a re-election run, President Barack Obama is shaking up his senior leadership team to deal with the new realities of his term: The era of big legislation is over, a massive campaign effort needs energy and people, and the White House is taking a toll on those who run it.

Obama's press secretary, Robert Gibbs, is likely to leave that job, and his interim chief of staff, Pete Rouse, may go, too. Those departures would significantly alter the management of the White House and the way it explains itself to the world.

In the coming days and weeks, Obama is also expected to have a new chief economic adviser, a new senior political counselor, and two new deputy chiefs of staff.

Collectively, the moves reflect that change is coming to the White House in ways that will alter the dynamic of the place — and, in turn, will influence the agenda affecting the nation. The vice president's office is in for its own new leadership, with its chief of staff, Ron Klain, leaving to run an investment company.

House Vote To Repeal ObamaCare Set for January 12

This is all for show, the way to kill Obamacare is by defunding in peices

The House Rules Committee is set to meet on Thursday, to begin a process that will culminate in a vote to repeal ObamaCare on January 12th.

Senate Democrats saw the Republicans pouring on canvas and loading their guns, so they decided to fire a warning shot across their bow. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and four members ofhis caucus produced a letter warning House Speaker John Boehner they would block any effort to repeal the legislation. This is not unexpected, but if Reid manages to keep ObamaCare’s tentacles wrapped around America’s throat until 2012, copies of that letter will start turning up in Republican campaign ads. Voters compelled to choose between keeping ObamaCare or purging Democrats from the Senate might not find that a difficult choice.

Majority of RNC against Michael Steele

Good, the man was a monumental disappointment.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele faces an all-but-impossible path to reelection this month, as a majority of the RNC’s 168 members indicate that they will not support the controversial chairman for another term.

A weeklong canvass of the party’s governing board by POLITICO revealed 88 members who have decided not to vote for Steele, either opting to support one of his opponents or simply ruling out Steele as a choice in the race.

Fifty-five members, some of whom have endorsed one of Steele’s challengers, have signaled that they will not support the chairman under any circumstances. An additional 33 pledged their support elsewhere.

Just as telling, not a single member of the committee said that Steele was their second choice in the race – a grave indicator in a contest likely to be decided in multiple ballots.

Detroit...The Once Great City in Ruin

The ruined Spanish-Gothic interior of the United Artists Theater in Detroit

More pics HERE.

Obama spends nearly half his presidency outside Washington, plans to travel more

The less time he spends in Washington, the better.

On "Meet the Press" December 26, top White House adviser Valerie Jarrett said President Obama's "biggest regret" is that the severity of the economic crisis forced him to "spend almost every waking hour in Washington focusing very hard on solving "that crisis"

But it turns out Obama has already spent nearly half his presidency outside Washington. As of January 2, Obama has been president for 712 days. According to figures compiled by CBS News reporter Mark Knoller, who serves as a sort of unofficial White House record-keeper, Obama has spent 339 of those days -- nearly 48 percent -- outside Washington.

According to Knoller, Obama has spent 176 days on domestic trips, 70 days on foreign travel, 58 days on vacation, and 35 days at Camp David. (You can add a couple more vacation days to the total before the president returns from his break in Hawaii.) Nevertheless, Jarrett claimed that Obama has had to spend "almost every waking hour in Washington" since taking office. The truth is more like half of that.

New Years Morning Breakfast

Happy New Years to all. Giving the wife a special treat this New Year....a Stone Crab Meat omelet. It's capitalistically rich and decadent so Michelle O will probably have the food police knocking on my door.

Please post your planned New Years non politically correct culinary indugences.

Idiotic Quote of the Year

Katie Couric:

‘Maybe We Need a Muslim Version of “The Cosby Show”‘