Obama Fail Blog | A Fail Blog for the Obama Administration

Obama's SOTU 2012: Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

2012-01-26T06:27:00.003-05:00

Annnnd we're back! It's been tough finding the time to update this blog in the midst of President Obama's multiple failed policies, multi-pronged war on America and his gaffe-tastic Vice President, but such is life.

Luckily, videos like the one below make it easy to condense the monstrosity known as Obama's State of the Union address into one concise post:

Obama-Backed Solar Company Lays Off Many of Its Employees

2012-01-18T06:53:00.005-05:00

VP Joe Biden looking at things.

Another failure from Obama's green jobs stimulus boondoggle:

Willard & Kelsey Solar Group LLC laid off about 40 people indefinitely at the beginning of January until changes to its production line are completed, a company official said Monday.

Michael Cicak, the company's chief executive officer and chairman of the board, would not say when the changes would be completed or when the laid-off employees could return to work.

"We have some technical people in here improving the efficiency of the assembly line," Mr. Cicak said, adding that the Perrysburg-based facility still has about 30 employees.

He said Willard & Kelsey has a little more than 80 employees when it's fully functional.

The start-up company has been plagued by a series of production and staffing delays since it was formed in 2008. It has received millions of dollars in government loans and tax breaks and has been toured by high-profile officials such as Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, and former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland.

Source: Toledo Blade via HotAir

Obama Declares War on the Constitution (Richard Cordray Edition)

2012-01-05T07:36:00.002-05:00

President Obama has left the golf courses of Hawaii. Our little wannabe despot is back and he's on a warpath. His target? America.

President Barack Obama bypassed the U.S. Senate and summarily installed Richard Cordray, the former Ohio attorney general, as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday.

Hours later, Obama filled three vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board, possibly the only agency Republicans dislike more than the consumer bureau.
The White House called these “recess appointments,” even though Congress technically wasn’t in recess. In doing so, the president is playing with fire. He risks an election-year legal challenge that could hamstring the consumer bureau and several other financial regulators whose pending confirmations will probably now stall. The president’s authority -- and that of future executives -- to fill administration posts without Senate approval may be limited by the courts. We think Obama risks too much to make what is largely a political point -- that he, more than the Republican Party, stands by American workers and consumers.

Source: Bloomberg

And here's the rub:

The Constitution clearly gives the president the power to make appointments when the Senate is in recess. The issue, then, is what makes a recess a recess? The Congressional Research Service in December said decades of congressional practice and Justice Department opinions have backed the position that the Senate should be out of session for more than three days before the president can make a recess appointment.

Lawmakers have resorted to holding so-called pro forma sessions every third day while Congress is out of town to block undesired appointments. Like much of what happens in Washington, the sessions are make-believe events in which the Senate is gaveled into business but conducts no real work. Senate Democrats during the second term of President George W. Bush were especially adept with this stratagem.

White House lawyers have concluded that the pro forma sessions don’t prevent Obama from making appointments. We think the president, who is making confrontation with congressional Republicans a major theme of his re-election effort, is choosing politics over principle, and playing dangerously with the Constitution’s checks and balances, in choosing to tell the Senate when it is and is not in session.

Source: Bloomberg

And here's how Obama stands to benefit by creating a political atmosphere that is even more divided and hostile than the one he has cultivated for three years:

The appointment, moreover, will surely heighten the clash between Obama and Congress over a full-year extension of the payroll-tax cut for workers and unemployment insurance for the jobless, endangering the recovery. The president also needs Congress’s cooperation on pending Federal Reserve Board and other bank-regulator nominations.

Source: Bloomberg

More Obama Corruption... Featuring Valerie Jarett

2012-01-01T16:21:00.004-05:00

Add Courtney Dupree to the ever expanding list of Obama's corrupt fat cat financial supporters:

Courtney Dupree was convicted of vastly overstating the billings of his Long Island City-based lighting company GDC Acquisitions in order to fraudulently obtain a loan from Amalgamated Bank.

Dupree, 42, sat stone-faced as the verdict was read in Brooklyn Federal Court. He faces up to 30 years in prison and has to pay back at least $18 million.

...

Dupree was done in by a mountain of paperwork, which prosecutors said proved he was a crook, and by testimony from cooperating witnesses who were involved in the scheme.

...

Dupree, who attended the elite Wharton School of Business, was a rainmaker in Democratic circles.

In 2008, Dupree hosted a $1,000-a-ticket fund-raiser for Barack Obama at his Broad St. apartment that was attended by top aide Valerie Jarrett.

His company counted NBC Universal and Goldman Sachs among its clients.

Source: NY Daily News

Another Electric Car Failure for Obama

2011-12-31T10:57:00.002-05:00

Hey, remember when it was revealed that the Chevy Volt - Obama's favorite car - was a potential death trap?

Turns out Obama has another favorite car. It's called the Karma and it's also a death trap:

An electric vehicle manufacturer that received a $529 million loan from the Energy Department is recalling 239 vehicles.

The Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Thursday that the company, Fisker Automotive, will recall its Karma vehicles made between July 1, 2011, and Nov. 3, 2011, because of a faulty electric battery component that could cause a fire.

“Within the high-voltage battery, certain hose clamps may have been positioned incorrectly during assembly. If positioned incorrectly, the batter compartment cover could interfere with the hose clamps, potentially causing a coolant leak from the cooling hose,” NHTSA said in its recall notice Thursday.

“If coolant enters the battery compartment, an electrical short could occur possibly resulting in a fire.”

The Energy Department issued a $529 million loan to Fisker in April 2010 for the development of its plug-in electric vehicles.

Source: The Hill via HotAir

Obama Steps Up His Support For Illegal Aliens

2011-12-30T07:01:00.004-05:00

The Obama administration's war on border enforcement continues:

As states across the nation ramp up their efforts to catch illegal immigrants, the Obama administration on Thursday launched a new free hotline for people busted on violations to get help.

The hotline, run by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, is available 24/7 for detained individuals to phone if they think they “may be U.S. citizens or victims of a crime.”

The hotline will have translation services available in several different languages. ICE personnel will gather the caller’s information and send it to a field office for immediate action, according to the press release.

Source: Politico

Immediate action? Why the rush? Isn't this the same president that unilaterally suspended 300,000 deportation cases this past August? Whatever happened to those cases? Are they still suspended?

Let's recap: If you're in the US illegally, the Obama administration will use taxpayer money to help you fight the law enforcement authorities who have detained you. If that fails, they'll suspend your case.

Happy New Year!

Obama's Golf Game Keeps Soldiers From Their Families on Christmas

2011-12-29T06:32:00.004-05:00

Note: This footage is from a previous golf outing in Hawaii.

President Obama loves to golf and he loves to spend other people's money. Unfortunately, he's not very good at either of those things.

This past week, Obama managed to play his 90th round of golf since he took office:

After an hour of hiking, President Obama Monday got down to the serious business at hand, heading out to golf for the second day in his first three days of vacation. He was back on the course at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

With this one, Obama reaches a new milestone, having gone golfing 90 times in less than three years as president. That’s about three months of golf, given that the excursions generally take about five hours – much of the useful portion of the day.

Source: White House Dossier via HotAir

Apparently the presence of our weak-kneed "leader" isn't going over too well with the military families who have had to sacrifice so Obama can spend his days sucking down cigarettes on a golf course:

“You also have to understand that, a lot of people were unable to get to their homes during Christmas Eve, Christmas and even today. That’s a major inconvenience for families trying to enjoy their holiday. Also all of those guys out there missed out on Christmas, leaving their wives and children at home alone so the President can play golf. It may not affect you, or be important to you, but to the families affected it’s a sensitive subject and frankly I feel that people are allowed to be upset by that. You are entitled to your own opinion, but you really should consider expressing your opinion in a different way. Cursing and calling people names isn’t respectable.”

“Because he’s here, I didn’t get to see my husband all weekend, on our baby girl’s first Christmas, so he can have his vacation. So when I can’t get to my house because he wants to play golf it just adds insult to injury and yeah, gets on my nerves. I agree that it’s a sensitive subject for some of us who are more effected by his being here.”

“I was so angry! They blocked off my driveway… -_-”

“It takes him forever to play too because he isn’t good at it either lol!”

“hahahahahahaha i hate when hes here. last year her and the kids where at the big park (which is across from my house) and i couldnt even turn onto mokapu! they wouldnt let you walk over either! i actually feel really bad for the kids”

Source: MelissaBlogs.com

Merry Christmas from the Obama Propaganda Hipsters

2011-12-23T07:08:00.000-05:00

Yosi Sergant would be so proud of lame hipster propaganda videos like this:

Cowardly Eric Holder Accuses Critics of Racism

2011-12-22T11:02:00.000-05:00

For a blog like this, Eric Holder is the gift that keeps on giving. Witness:

Attorney General Eric Holder accused his growing chorus of critics of racist motivations in a Sunday interview published in the New York Times. When reached by The Daily Caller Monday morning, the Department of Justice provided no evidence to support the attorney general’s claims.

Holder said some unspecified faction — what he refers to as the “more extreme segment” — is driven to criticize both him and President Barack Obama due to the color of their skin. Holder did not appear to elaborate on who he considered to make up the “more extreme segment.”

“This is a way to get at the president because of the way I can be identified with him,” Holder said, according to the Times. “Both due to the nature of our relationship and, you know, the fact that we’re both African-American.”

The White House hasn’t returned requests for comment on whether President Barack Obama agrees with his top law enforcement officer’s allegations of racial motivations.

Source: Daily Caller

Of course, an Holder's incendiary comments and the White House's cowardly refusal to address them wouldn't be complete without a weak attempt to explain it all away, days later:

That is a complete distortion of the attorney general’s comment. His comments both in the article and elsewhere made clear that he believes much of the criticism launched against him [is] unfortunately the typical Washington gotcha game. A simple reading of those comments show he was referring to how he is identified with the president given their close relationship and all they share in common, including their ideology. The position of the attorney general has been a target for partisan attacks, and, given the critical work that this attorney general is doing at the Department of Justice, it’s no surprise that some are engaging in such tactics. His critics rightly view the attorney general as a progressive force, and, given our current political environment, there will be those who use any opportunity to score political points.

Source: HotAir

Who's the coward now?

Regulation of the Day: EPA'S Lisa Jackson Gives America Coal For Christmas

2011-12-22T06:55:00.004-05:00

Lisa Jackson, Destroyer of Worlds

That title may be a bit misleading. Actually, the high priestess of the EPA is once again attempting to kill the coal industry:

Ah, transparency. Clearly concerned to achieve maximum visibility, the Environmental Protection Agency officially released a whopper of a rule the Wednesday before Christmas. How kind of environmental officials!

This afternoon, the EPA announced regulations that will require power plants to reduce emissions of mercury and other toxics within the next three years. In other words, the rule targets coal-fired power plants. Sure, coal is a “dirty” form of energy and, yes, it is a fossil fuel, but, unfortunately, these regulations will cost the country too much to justify.

According to Scott Segal, the director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, this rule — commonly known as the Utility MACT rule (MACT stands for “maximum achievable control technology”) — is the most expensive air rule the EPA has ever proposed in terms of direct costs.

“Utility MACT will undermine job creation in the United States in several different ways,” Segal explained. “It will result in retirement of a significant number of power plants and either fail to replace that capacity or replace it with less labor-intensive forms of generation. It will increase the cost of power, undermining the international competitiveness of almost two dozen manufacturing industries, and it will reduce employment upstream in the mining sectors. All told, it is anticipated that the rule will result in the loss of some 1.44 million jobs by 2020. While some jobs are created by complying with the new rule, the number and quality of those jobs is far less than those destroyed. We estimate that for every one temporary job created, four higher-paying permanent jobs are lost.”

Source: HotAir

On one hand, we have all of the failed green energy initiatives that the president has been pushing, funding and propping up. On the other hand, we have Lisa Jackson unveiling massive regulations on proven sources of energy when she thinks nobody is paying attention.

Hope! Change!

Did Obama Give an Early Christmas Gift to Iran?

2011-12-15T06:02:00.002-05:00

When a US drone went down inside Iran, President Obama could have destroyed it, thus saving highly sophisticated technology from falling into the hands of Iran and - eventually, probably - China and Russia.

But Obama didn't make a decision. He was weak. And foolish:

Corruption Update: Obama Admin's Ties to Jon Corzine

2011-12-15T05:54:00.004-05:00

Despite what you're not hearing from the MSM, disgraced former New Jersey governor Jon Corzine has close ties to the Obama administration:

Source: HotAir

Of course, Corzine's stunning loss to Chris Christie in the 2009 NJ gubernatorial election was an early sign that voters were not going to buy into Obama's soon-to-be-failed governing style of high taxes and soft tyranny.

Video: Why Obama's Stimulus Failed

2011-12-12T05:53:00.002-05:00

If you've been wondering why Obama's stimulus was a miserable failure, you need to see this video:

As economist Veronique de Rugy says at the end of the video, “The main lesson of the stimulus is creating jobs is a very complex process and, certainly, it can’t be directed by a top-down institution that pretty much fails at everything it does.” Bingo.

Source: HotAir

Lightsquared Update: Obama-Backed Company is Bad for the Military

2011-12-10T13:32:00.004-05:00

Democrat fat cat and Obama supporter Philip Falcone

In September, we learned that the Obama administration pressured Air Force general William Shelton to change his testimony to make it more favorable to Lightsquared - a wireless broadband provider led by Democrat fat cat Phillip Falcone.

We later learned that President Obama actually INVESTED in Lightsquared and his administration granted FCC waivers allowing Lightsquared to operate.

At issue was whether or not Lightsquared's new satellite wireless service would disrupt military GPS systems. Shelton thought it would and the Obama administration knew that would hurt Falcone. So they pressured the general and tried to cover it up.

Now, we know that General Shelton's concern over LightSquared's impact on the military was justified:

Philip Falcone’s proposed LightSquared Inc. wireless service caused interference to 75 percent of global-positioning system receivers examined in a U.S. government test, according to a draft summary of results.

The results from testing conducted Oct. 31 to Nov. 4 show that “millions of fielded GPS units are not compatible” with the planned nationwide wholesale service, according to the draft seen by Bloomberg News.

“LightSquared signals caused harmful interference to majority of GPS receivers tested,” according to the draft prepared for a meeting next week of U.S. officials reviewing the LightSquared proposal. “No additional testing is required to confirm harmful interference exists.”

Source: Business Week

I can't wait to see how the Obama administration spins this one!

Obama Admin Calls Terrorism "Workplace Violence"

2011-12-08T06:12:00.003-05:00

Remember this?

The Obama administration has had a rocky relationship with Americans when it comes to Islamist terrorism. They're so busy toeing the line between their own anti-American sentiment and their spineless adherence to politically correct symbolism that they sometimes forget how out of touch their belief system is with that of normal Americans. For instance:

Sen. Susan Collins on Wednesday blasted the Defense Department for classifying the Fort Hood massacre as workplace violence and suggested political correctness is being placed above the security of the nation's Armed Forces at home.

During a joint session of the Senate and House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday, the Maine Republican referenced a letter from the Defense Department depicting the Fort Hood shootings as workplace violence. She criticized the Obama administration for failing to identify the threat as radical Islam.

Source: FoxNews

This isn't surprising, especially if we remember Obama's history of kowtowing to radical Islam:

We remember how Obama and Van Jones joined forces to forever distort the memory and meaning of September 11 by re-branding it as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.
We remember how the Obama administration renamed the War on Terror to the "Overseas Contingency Operation."
We remember how President Obama prefaced his remarks on the terrorist massacre at Fort Hood with a "shout out" to Dr. Joe Medicine Crow.
We remember when President Obama stalled the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed trial by changing the Manual for Military Commissions via executive order in 2010.
We remember how President Obama celebrated a Ramadan dinner by publicly supporting plans for a victory mosque at Ground Zero.
We remember that Eric Holder's announcement that he would grant a civilian trial to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York City.
We remember that Holder lied when he claimed NYC law enforcement officials supported his plan to grant civilian trials to terrorists in NYC.
We remember that Holder's law firm represents (or has represented) 17 terrorist detainees at Guantanemo Bay.
We remember Eric Holder's rhetorical gymnastics when asked to say the words "radical Islam."
We remember how hard Obama has tried to shut down Guantanemo Bay and grant civilian trials and/or transfer terrorists to US prisons.
We remember that the White House has shared classified information with Hollywood in order to release an Obama-Osama propaganda film just in time for the 2012 election.
We remember how Obama needed 16 hours to "sleep on it" when he was given the choice to take out Bin Laden.
We remember how the Obama administration has put Israel on a terror watch list.
We remember how James Clapper claimed the Muslim Brotherhood was a secular organization that has "eschewed violence."
We remember Eric Holder's crusade to investigate and prosecute CIA interrogators for the death of a terrorist in their custody.
We remember how President Obama refused to release the Bin Laden death photo because he feared offending radical Muslims.
We remember how Obama then went arranged a series of photo ops to brag about the death of Bin Laden.

Eric Holder, Fast and Furious and Demand Letter 3

2011-12-07T19:02:00.004-05:00

Is the Obama administration rife with incompetence or is it just hellbent on dismantling America, one embarrassing incident at a time?

Today, we have evidence of the latter:

Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation "Fast and Furious" to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales.

ATF officials didn't intend to publicly disclose their own role in letting Mexican cartels obtain the weapons, but emails show they discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called "Demand Letter 3". That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or "long guns." Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information.

On July 14, 2010 after ATF headquarters in Washington D.C. received an update on Fast and Furious, ATF Field Ops Assistant Director Mark Chait emailed Bill Newell, ATF's Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of Fast and Furious:

"Bill - can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks."

On Jan. 4, 2011, as ATF prepared a press conference to announce arrests in Fast and Furious, Newell saw it as "(A)nother time to address Multiple Sale on Long Guns issue." And a day after the press conference, Chait emailed Newell: "Bill--well done yesterday... (I)n light of our request for Demand letter 3, this case could be a strong supporting factor if we can determine how many multiple sales of long guns occurred during the course of this case."

This revelation angers gun rights advocates. Larry Keane, a spokesman for National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry trade group, calls the discussion of Fast and Furious to argue for Demand Letter 3 "disappointing and ironic." Keane says it's "deeply troubling" if sales made by gun dealers "voluntarily cooperating with ATF's flawed 'Operation Fast & Furious' were going to be used by some individuals within ATF to justify imposing a multiple sales reporting requirement for rifles."

Source: CBS News

Did Obama Admin Hide Details on Chevy Volt Fires?

2011-12-05T19:33:00.004-05:00

Remember when it was revealed that Obama's precious Chevy Volt was prone to battery fires after collisions?It seems the Obama administration may have hidden that hot topic from the media in attempt to save the Chevy Volt's sagging sales figures:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crashed a Chevrolet Volt back in May, the car's lithium-ion battery burst into flames in June, and the agency acknowledged the fire to the public and launched a safety investigation in late November. Why the six-month time-lapse?
Joan Claybrook, a consumer advocate who ran the NHTSA from 1977 to 1981 has an answer. She told Automotive News the delay was "because of the fragility of [Volt] sales."

That's a strong accusation. In six words, she implied that the NHTSA held off on its public report to protect its sister agency General Motors (oh, I'm kidding) from any hit the Volt might take to its already creaky sales. (This past October, before the fire was made public, Jalopnik wondered whether the Volt was a bona fide sales flop.)

Source: Jalopnik

If there's one thing you can count on with the Obama administration, it's that this theory is entirely plausible.

Obama Admin Hijacks Thanksgiving & Homeland Security

2011-11-22T21:26:00.003-05:00

Hey, remember when the Department of Homeland Security was focused on keeping Americans safe from terrorism, especially during the holiday travel season?

This is a bit of a departure from the standard DHS fare:

The Department of Homeland Security is taking any threat seriously during the Thanksgiving holiday, including the ominous threat to our national security posed by turkey fryers.

"How dangerous can turkey fryers be?" asks a warning issued on the official DHS Twitter account. "Make sure the turkey is completely thawed before placing in a fryer, or this may happen."

The department linked to an ominous video highlighting the dangers of deep frying a turkey.

"Use turkey fryers outdoors at a safe distance from buildings." the DHS tweeted, "Never use turkey fryers in a garage or on a wooden deck."

Source: Washington Examiner

Obama Suffers Major Defeat in Virginia

2011-11-14T08:21:00.000-05:00

I don't have much to add to this:

Of all the noise of this week's state election results, what mattered most for Election 2012 came out of Virginia. It was the sound of the air leaking out of the Plouffe plan.

...

The Obama campaign has held some 1,600 events in the state in the last half-year alone. Only last month Mr. Obama hopped a three-day bus trip through Virginia and North Carolina. Obama officials keep flocking to the state, and Tuesday's election was to offer the first indication of how these efforts are succeeding.

...

Every Republican incumbent—52 in the House, 15 in the Senate—won. The state GOP is looking at unified control over government for only the second time since the Civil War. This is after winning all three top statewide offices—including the election of Gov. Bob McDonnell—in 2009, and picking off three U.S. House Democrats in last year's midterms.

Topline figures aside, what ought to really concern the White House was the nature of the campaign, and the breakout of Tuesday's election data. Mr. Obama may have big plans for Virginia, but the question is increasingly: him and what army?

Source: Wall Street Journal

Obama Awards Donor With $433 Million No-Bid Contract For Questionable Drug!

2011-11-13T11:12:00.000-05:00

Fat Cat.

Who's up for a good old-fashioned Obama administration corruption update?

Over the last year, the Obama administration has aggressively pushed a $433-million plan to buy an experimental smallpox drug, despite uncertainty over whether it is needed or will work.

Senior officials have taken unusual steps to secure the contract for New York-based Siga Technologies Inc., whose controlling shareholder is billionaire Ronald O. Perelman, one of the world's richest men and a longtime Democratic Party donor.

When Siga complained that contracting specialists at the Department of Health and Human Services were resisting the company's financial demands, senior officials replaced the government's lead negotiator for the deal, interviews and documents show.

When Siga was in danger of losing its grip on the contract a year ago, the officials blocked other firms from competing.

Siga was awarded the final contract in May through a "sole-source" procurement in which it was the only company asked to submit a proposal. The contract calls for Siga to deliver 1.7 million doses of the drug for the nation's biodefense stockpile. The price of approximately $255 per dose is well above what the government's specialists had earlier said was reasonable, according to internal documents and interviews.

Source: LA Times

Michelle's Makeup Artist Earns $15,000 Per Day!

2011-11-12T22:05:00.004-05:00

It looks like Michelle Obama has been spending quite a bit of money on the services of high profile makeup artist Derrick Rutledge:

Rutledge is the man behind the look of some of the world’s most famous names. A leading makeup artist, he gets as much as $15,000 for a day’s work and boasts a coveted client list, including two of the nation’s most photographed faces, Michelle Obama and Oprah, as well as singers such as Patti LaBelle, Shirley Caesar and CeCe Winans. Just last month, his work was on the covers of Essence and AARP, which featured Obama, and O, which featured, obviously, Oprah.

Source: Washington Post

Add Chevy Volt to the List of Obama's Failures

2011-11-11T19:25:00.001-05:00

Remember when President Obama bet the farm on unproven green energy and poorly designed green cars?

Turns out, it was all a big failure. The latest news is that Obama's precious Chevy Volt is prone to catching fire:

General Motors will buy a Chevrolet Volt back from any owner who is afraid the plug-in extended-range electric car will catch fire, the company's CEO told the Associated Press today.

U.S. auto-safety regulators are examining the safety of lithium-ion batteries that power all plug-in electric vehicles after a General Motors Co. (GM) Chevrolet Volt caught fire, people familiar with the probe said.

President Barack Obama’s goal of putting 1 million electric vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015 is part of his strategy to reduce dependence on foreign oil. Nissan is among companies that have received financing assistance from the U.S. Energy Department and European Investment Bank to develop electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries. GM in January withdrew a request for $14.4 billion in U.S. loan guarantees.

Source: Bloomberg

Obama Says Banks Have No Right to Profit

2011-10-09T08:44:00.002-04:00

Another salvo in Obama's war on American business...

The following is an exchange between Obama and George Stephanopoulos, referring to Bank of America's new $5 fee:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Can you stop this service charge?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, you can stop it because it-- if you-- if you say to the banks, "You don't have some inherent right just to-- you know, get a certain amount of profit. If your customers-- are being mistreated. That you have to treat them fairly and transparently." And-- and my hope is is that you're going to see a bunch of-- the banks, who say to themselves, "You know what? This is actually not good business practice." Banks can make money. They can succeed, the old-fashioned way, by earning it. By lending to small businesses.

I guess we're supposed to look past an American president dictating how and how much a bank can profit and focus instead on the lip service paid to "small businesses."

Keep in mind, Obama's fat cat buddy Warren Buffett now owns a pretty hefty chunk of Bank of America. This new fee comes roughly one month after Buffett bailed out BofA to the tune of $5 billion. Maybe this $5 fee is low-hanging political fruit for Obama, put there by Buffett? Who knows?

Oh My: Warren Buffett Doesn't Endorse the Buffet Tax!

2011-09-30T11:42:00.006-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, President Obama executed a perfect "Reverse Alinsky": He used his good buddy Warren Buffett as an example of a rich fat cat that needed to have his taxes raised. By using Buffett, Obama was able to demonize the rich by hiding behind someone he claims as a friend. Genius move.

BUT... It seems that even though Buffett is perfectly willing to be made an example of, he doesn't quite support Obama's plan to raise taxes on those making over $250,000:

Skip ahead to the 4:00 mark...

CNBC: "Are you happy that the way it is being described. Is the program that the White House has presented a million dollars and over your program? "

Warren Buffett: "Well, the precise program which will -- I don't know what their program will be. My program would be on the very high incomes that are taxed very low. Not just high incomes. Somebody making $50 million a year playing baseball, his taxes won't change. Make $50 million a year appearing on television, his income won't change. But, if they make a lot of money and pay a very low tax rate, like me, it would be changed by a minimum tax that would only bring them up to what other people pay."

CNBC: "Does that mean you disagree with the president's new jobs proposal which would be paid for by raising taxes on households with incomes of over $250,000."

Buffett: "That's another program that I won't be discussing. My program is to have a tax on ultra-rich people who are very tax rates. Not just all rich people. It would probably apply to 50,000 people in a population of 300 million."

Source: RCP

Obama: America Has Gotten Soft

2011-09-29T22:52:00.002-04:00

Our mom-jeans-wearing, girl-throwing, Kobe-steak-eating president thinks WE are soft.

Nice gaffe, Mr. President: