Barack Obama's decision to play golf on Memorial Day was disrespectful and hardly presidential

The foreign press doing the American MSM's job once again.

Can you imagine David Cameron enjoying a round of golf on Remembrance Sunday? It would be inconceivable for the British Prime Minister to do so, and not just because of the usually dire weather at that time of the year. Above all, it would be viewed as an act of extremely bad taste on a day when the nation remembers and mourns her war dead. I can’t imagine the PM even considering it, and I’m sure his advisers would be horrified at the idea. And if the prime minister ever did play golf on such a sacrosanct day he would be given a massive drubbing by the British press, and it would never be repeated.

Contrast this with President Obama’s decision to play golf yesterday, Memorial Day, for the 70th time during his 28-month long presidency.

A Day of Honor

Pic of the Day

Andrew Sullivan Shocks Chris Matthews: Palin Can Beat Obama

Yes she can.

Andrew Sullivan this weekend seemed to shock Chris Matthews when he said that former Alaska governor Sarah Palin could actually beat President Obama in next year's elections running as the "principled candidate" representing "this grassroots movement of cutting government down to size."

Maybe even more surprising, Time's Joe Klein seemed to agree telling the host of "The Chris Matthews Show," "You were around in ’79 and ’80 as I was. Did you see many people in the Carter administration think that Ronald Reagan could beat Jimmy Carter?"

Government Blames Banks for Housing

Typical failed liberal administration, blame anyone but themselves for poor performance.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Nun blames banks for "holding onto huge cash reserves" as the primary reason for the latest plunge in housing. He also cites the weather, oil prices, a temporary soft patch, and everything but motherhood and apple pie.

Pending home sales fell in April with regional variations following increases in February and March, with unusual weather and economic softness adding to ongoing problems that are hobbling a recovery, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, dropped 11.6 percent to 81.9 in April from a downwardly revised 92.6 in March. The index is 26.5 percent below a cyclical peak of 111.5 in April 2010 when buyers were rushing to beat the contract deadline for the home buyer tax credit.

The data reflects contracts but not closings, which normally occur with a lag time of one or two months.

Photoshop of the Day

Palin to Launch National Tour

Sarah Palin has as much or more name recognition than anyone in the field. Waiting untill everyone is sick to death and dejected with the pathetic field of candidates on the Republican side and then jumping in late is brilliant strategy in my opinion.

Palin’s plans are sure to roil a Republican presidential field that had appeared to be taking shape. Her appearance with Rolling Thunder, a gathering of Harley-riding veterans, appears designed to cement her ties with blue-collar voters and underscores the threat she poses to other candidates who had hoped to appeal to the same conservative-leaning constituency.

Among them: former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who officially launched his campaign this week; ex-Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., who has set an official campaign launch for June 6, and Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., who raised $240,000 just over 24 hours on Thursday before heading to Iowa, where she will headline a Friday GOP fundraiser. Bachmann had to cancel plans to attend another Republican Party dinner in Des Moines on Thursday because of a House vote. She has said she will announce her presidential intentions in June.

Crawford indicated to National Journal that any announcement about Palin’s plans may be months away. Last week, in an interview with Fox News, Palin said that her timetable will be dictated by legal filing deadlines, the first of which falls in October, when Utah requires candidates to file for its presidential primary ballot.

Supreme Court upholds Arizona employer sanctions law

SCOTUS beotch slaps the ninth circuit. One would think this would be a no-brainer but then again, 4 Supreme Court justices are quite similar in temperament to the ninth.

Under Arizona's 2007, Legal Arizona Workers Act, commonly called the employer-sanctions law, a business' license can be revoked or suspended for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. The law also requires Arizona employers to use a federal electronic system, called E-Verify, that validates the Social Security numbers and immigration status of new hires.

The ruling comes months after Arizona appealed a federal court ruling that blocked key components of a second, more controversial Arizona immigration enforcement law, known as SB 1070.

That law makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally. A federal judge has blocked parts of SB 1070 from taking effect, and debate over its constitutionality is expected to reach the Supreme Court.

In Thursday's 5-3 decision, the justices ruled that the employer-sanctions law falls within existing federal law and within the Arizona's authority to license business.

Durables Fall More Than Expected

So much of this is dependent on the depressed new/resale housing market. Until that shows some decent improvement everything else will languish.

Durable goods orders were down 3.6% in April, compared with expectations of a 2.2% decline. Last month’s gain was revised up to 4.4% from 4.1%.

This is one more piece of evidence lining up on the side of those seeing a slowdown in the second quarter (and maybe beyond). The upward revisions to March’s numbers do ease the sting a touch, but this could bring down some second-quarter GDP forecasts.

The National Embarrassment Strikes Again

Video HERE.

Ouch.

AARP's ObamaCare Endgame Revealed

AARP is not interested in Seniors, they're interested only one thing, self perpetuation.

We now have a clear picture of the treachery in which AARP has engaged since President Obama took office. The Daily Caller reports that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has granted Medigap policy sellers, including the American Association of Retired Persons, exemption from ObamaCare-mandated federal supervision of insurance premium hikes. "Medigap" is an industry term for a type of coverage that helps pay medical costs not covered by Medicare.

Non-Medigap insurers, not exempted from ObamaCare's rate reviews, must justify rate increases. In effect, the HHS exemption gives AARP the ability to generate profits not achievable by non-exempted competitors.

It's important to remember that AARP helped push ObamaCare through Congress by contributing to a $121 million advertising campaign and paying for millions of dollars worth of Washington lobbying. AARP has betrayed the seniors whose interests the organization allegedly protects and positioned itself to make billions after playing along with the Obama administration's corporatist favoritism.

Gallup: 61 Percent Say All or Most Abortions Should Be Illegal

Well at least 61 out of 100 Americans still have a semblance of conscience.

Sixty-one percent of American adults—including some who describe themselves as “pro-choice”—told Gallup in a survey conducted May 5-8 that abortion should be illegal in all or most circumstances.

The Gallup survey, published today, asked 1,018 American adults whether they considered themselves “pro-choice” or “pro-life” on abortion. It also asked: “Do you think abortions should be legal under any circumstances, legal only under certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances?”

For those who answered that abortion should be “legal only under certain circumstances,” Gallup asked the follow-up question: “Do you think abortion should be legal in most circumstances or only in a few circumstances?”

Forty-nine percent told Gallup they were pro-choice and 45 percent said they were pro-life, marking the first time since May 2008 that the percentage of Americans describing themselves to Gallup as pro-choice exceeded the percentage describing themselves as pro-life.

Scott Brown a 'no' on Ryan budget

Just solidifying his RINO bonafides.

GOP Sen. Scott Brown (Mass.) said Monday he won't support Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget when it comes up for a vote in the Senate.

Brown, a centrist who is running for reelection in 2012, said that Ryan's plan helped jumpstart a necessary debate, but that Ryan's Medicare reforms go too far.

"While I applaud Ryan for getting the conversation started, I cannot support his specific plan — and therefore will vote 'no' on his budget," he wrote in a Politico op-ed.

Supreme Court judge [Kagan] suspected of deception during confirmation hearings

Unfortunately nothing will likely come of this.

A Washington, DC-based public-interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption reported on Friday that its officials have obtained documents suggesting US Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan helped coordinate the Obama administration’s legal defense of the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) while she served as Solicitor General.

During her confirmation, Kagan claimed she was not involved in the Department of Justice (DOJ) preparations for legal challenges to Obamacare. Moreover, the Supreme Court justice did not recuse herself from the High Court decision in April 2011 when she and other Justices refused to “fast-track” the Supreme Court review of Virginia’s lawsuit challenging Obamacare.

Student defies ACLU at graduation, leads public prayer

Remember, the prohibition of religion is NOT freedom of religion!

A student who objected to prayer being part of Bastrop High School's 2011 graduation ceremonies enlisted the help of the American Civil Liberties Union. However, another student whose role was to call for a moment of silence during Friday's ceremony led the audience in prayer despite the ACLU objections.

The News-Star of Monroe said the ACLU had urged Bastrop Principal Stacey Pullen to ensure that prayer not be on the program.

But senior Laci Rae Mattice, when it came time for the moment of silence, drew cheers and applause when she said, "I want to ask for the Lord's blessings upon us."

She then led the audience in the Lord's Prayer, "if they wanted to."

Pullen said Mattice had been instructed not to mention religion and only observe a moment of silence. It was unclear if the prayer would result in any legal action.

Morehouse Parish Superintendent Tom Thrower, who attended the event, had little to say on the matter.

Kloppenburg Loses Again

Witchiepoo will likely try everything in the book but this thing is over.

With the weeks-long recount complete, unofficial numbers confirm that state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser narrowly defeated Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg in the April 5 election.

But the battle may not be over yet, as Kloppenburg mulls whether to challenge the results in court.

And if a legal contest goes on long enough, attorneys say it could delay efforts to swear Prosser in for a new term on Aug. 1, leading to a temporary vacancy on the closely divided high court.

Final recount numbers submitted to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board show Prosser with 7,006 more votes than Kloppenburg.

Nord Des Lignes They Say No Way

The present Canadian administration knows the score on this one.

The Harper government is refusing to join the United States in calling for a return to 1967 borders as a starting point for Mideast peace, a position that has drawn sharp criticism from Canada’s staunch ally Israel.

At a briefing ahead of the upcoming G8 summit in France, federal officials said the basis for the negotiations must be mutually agreed upon.

AARP Gets An Obamacare Waiver

Expectedly shocking.

The Daily Caller has learned that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rate review rules, which it finalized on Thursday, exempt “Medigap” policy providers, like the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), from oversight when such providers increase payment rates for their supplemental insurance plans.

Insurance providers who aren’t exempt from Obamacare’s rate review rules are required to publicly release and explain some health care payment rate increases.

The AARP is the nation’s biggest seller of Medigap policies, or supplemental healthcare plans that add onto what Medicare won’t cover for seniors. The senior citizens interest group advocated for Obamacare to include an attack on Medigap policies’ biggest competitor, Medicare Advantage.

Hamas: Obama speech a complete failure

Obama yet again hitches our plowhorse to another crapwagon.

The Hamas movement called US President Barack Obama's Mideast policy speech a "complete failure," saying it was like "throwing sand in the eyes of the public."

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri claimed the speech lacked content, adding that his organization "is opposed to intervention in our internal affairs." Abu Zuhri urged the Palestinian Authority to dismiss the speech, and emphasized the need to "coordinate the stances of Palestinian forces against the American arrogance."

Obama promises one billion and 50M tons of wheat To Middle East

Great, now Arab farmers can use their crop to produce ethanol

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will announce this week a new aid plan for the Middle East and North Africa that U.S. officials say will be far bolder than previous American economic assistance to the region.

Mr. Obama will outline the plan, which could include debt cancellation and a reprogramming of financial aid the U.S. already provides to countries like Egypt, in a speech he is scheduled to deliver Thursday at the State Department.

Whatever aid he announces, though, is unlikely to assuage Arab governments, which had been hoping the White House would push forcibly for a resumption of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. The president’s aides say his speech will focus only briefly on the issue.