Obama Fail Blog | A Fail Blog for the Obama Administration

AP: Obama Is a Global Disappointment

2012-05-12T10:22:00.000-04:00

The global progressives aren't happy with President Obama's incompetence:

In Europe, where more than 200,000 people thronged a Berlin rally in 2008 to hear Barack Obama speak, there's disappointment that he hasn't kept his promise to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, and perceptions that he's shunting blame for the financial crisis across the Atlantic.

In Mogadishu, a former teacher wishes he had sent more economic assistance and fewer armed drones to fix Somalia's problems. And many in the Middle East wonder what became of Obama's vow, in a landmark 2009 speech at the University of Cairo, to forge a closer relationship with the Muslim world.

In a world weary of war and economic crises, and concerned about global climate change, the consensus is that Obama has not lived up to the lofty expectations that surrounded his 2008 election and Nobel Peace Prize a year later. Many in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America were also taken aback by his support for gay marriage, a taboo subject among religious conservatives.

Source: AP via Drudge Report

MSM Highlights Obama's War on Women (in Afghanistan)

2012-05-11T07:03:00.001-04:00

The MSM is on Obama's case for ignoring women's rights issues... in Afghanistan.

Hey, at least they're criticizing him for SOMETHING:

Shortly after sending U.S. troops to Afghanistan in October 2001, President George W. Bush focused so intently on freeing Afghan women from the shackles of Taliban rule that empowering them became central to the United States' mission there.

...

But Obama rarely speaks about that progress, delegating discussion of women's rights to his secretary of state and other top diplomats so he can focus on narrower goals for Afghanistan: uprooting the militants there and getting out.

Obama's lack of overt attention to Afghan women has led many to fear their hard-fought gains will slip away as the United States hands off security responsibility to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, with ever-present Taliban leaders still holding sway in much of the countryside.

Women's issues are not on the formal agenda at the NATO summit the United States will be hosting in Chicago later this month. Afghanistan is poised to send an all-male delegation.

Suzanne Nossel, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said it was "really worrying" that Obama only made a passing reference to women on his trip to Afghanistan last week, when he affirmed a general need "to protect the human rights of all Afghans - men and women, boys and girls."

Obama's choice of words also was noticed in Afghanistan, which remains a conservative and male-dominated Islamic country. Gulalai Safi, a female member of parliament from northern Balkh province, said it was "somewhat of a shame" that he did not use the visit to underline women's rights.

Amnesty is calling on Obama to spell out a plan to preserve the gains for women since the fall of the Taliban, which from 1996 to 2001 barred Afghan girls from schools and kept women from working and from leaving their homes unless they were accompanied by a male relative or spouse and were covered in a head-to-toe burqa.

For more than a year, the White House has been pursuing, with little success, reconciliation talks involving the Islamist group that could give it a share of power in Kabul.

"When you are negotiating with the Taliban, ensuring the rights of women is not a simple matter," Nossel said. "In that sense you can understand why they are not talking about it but that is why it is doubly worrying."

Source: Chicago Tribune

Whoa! They even mentioned Obama's dangerous dealings with the Taliban AND they note that the Taliban is an ISLAMIST organization. Where were these reporters during the fiasco in Egypt?

Gaffe Alert: Obama Sometimes Forgets About the Magnitude of the Recession

2012-05-11T06:56:00.002-04:00

I don't know which is worse - if his "sometimes I forget" line was on the teleprompter or if he ad-libbed it:

Obamanomics Continues to Fail (May 2012 Edition)

2012-05-05T10:19:00.001-04:00

President Obama's failed economic policies continue to fail:

The U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs in April, dropping the unemployment rate to 8.1 percent, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday.

Much of the decrease from 8.2 percent was due to large numbers of people dropping out of the workforce.

The Labor Department said the private sector added 130,000 jobs but the number of government jobs continues to shrink.

...

University of Maryland economics Professor Peter Morici said the unemployment rate fell in April "because another 522,000 adults quit looking for work and are no longer counted."

He said, "More than four-fifths of the reduction in unemployment has been accomplished by a dropping adult labor force participation rate -- essentially, persuading adults they don't need a job or the job they could find is not worth having."

Chief economist Chris Williamson at the Markit research firm called the report, "Another big disappointment for the U.S. economy in the form of another month of weak hiring."

Source: UPI

Elizabeth Warren, Anti-American "Native American"

2012-05-05T10:10:00.001-04:00

More problems for Obama's first choice to head up the unconstitutional Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Elizabeth Warren:

It appears that Democrat U. S. Senate Candidate Elizabeth Warren had some trouble determining her minority status during her early days as a law school professor. In the late 80s and early 90s, Warren described herself as Native American and listed herself in the Native American "minority" section of law school directories.

However, after joining the faculty at Harvard, Warren's minority status disappeared from her professional marketing. Critics and opponents have speculated that Warren claiming minority status helped her get a place with the Harvard faculty but Warren says she doesn't "recall" using her formerly claimed minority status as a selling point during interviews. Because of Warren's lack of clarity, her Republican opponent -- Scott Brown -- is making the most of a potentially damaging revelation.

Warren told The Boston Herald that knowledge of her lineage was passed down through family "lore" and that is where she claimed knowledge of her status. As strange as it sounds, that's a very reasonable explanation. Records of marriages, births, and race weren't as meticulously kept during the turn of the century as they are today. Although I am a blue-eyed blonde, I've been told all my life that I have Cherokee blood because my great-great grandmother was Cherokee. We don't actually know, however, if this was the case because my great grandfather and great-great grandfather were a little fuzzy on the details.

Source: Breitbart

2012-05-04T17:50:00.000-04:00

From the idiots who brought us the Nazi-esque citizen snitch website, "Attack Watch":

When the Obama campaign unveiled its fictional character Julia, officials hoped she might become a household name to show how the president's vision for the United States would benefit millions of Americans, especially women.

Instead, she is getting attention from Republicans who hope to use her to symbolize what they see as Mr. Obama's failures: An overreaching government.

According to the Twitter analytic Topsy, #Julia has been mentioned more than 20,000 times in the past two days as Republicans have been gleefully attacking Julia with their own interpretation of what she represents.

In "The Life of Julia," the Obama campaign released a web slideshow that takes the viewer through the life stages of a fictional woman named Julia. At age three, a slide says Julia is enrolled in the government Head Start program, which says presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney would slash. Later in life, the web tool says Julia received cheaper student loans, a Pell Grant and a tax credit. She benefited from the health care law and in her older years, Julia received Medicare and Social Security.

To Republicans, she represents a society increasingly dependent on government handouts.

Source: CBS News

Investigation: Obama Deal With Drug Companies

2012-05-04T17:41:00.002-04:00

Obamacare + Corruption + Delay Tactics = More of the same from Team Obama:

Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and Merck & Co. (MRK) are being pulled into an expanding congressional investigation about the agreement drugmakers reached with the Obama administration to support the Democrats’ overhaul of the U.S. health-care system, according to three people familiar with the talks.

The probe began last year, with Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee seeking documents from an industry trade group, said the people, who aren’t authorized to speak publicly. When that group didn’t cooperate, the panel decided to target Pfizer, the world’s biggest drugmaker, along with Merck, Amgen Inc. (AMGN), Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and AstraZeneca Plc (AZN), said one of the people.

The Republicans last month began negotiating directly with the companies in e-mails, calls and meetings demanding documents and information outlining what the industry agreed to with President Barack Obama in 2009 and 2010, when the law was being worked on in Congress.

Michael Burgess, a Representative from Texas, said he’s been frustrated by a lack of cooperation. “This has been like pulling teeth, trying to get information,” said Burgess, a Republican working on the panel’s investigation, in a telephone interview.

Source: Bloomberg

Obama Dated a Composite Girl and Ate a Dog

2012-05-03T19:29:00.000-04:00

Via the UK Telegraph:

There was a brief media firestorm yesterday when Vanity Fair broke the news that Obama’s famous “New York girlfriend” was a fiction. She appears in his 1995 memoir, Dreams From My Father, described in some detail by her appearance, voice and mannerisms. But a new biography of Obama – with an excerpt published in Vanity Fair – “reveals” that she was actually an amalgam of several different women. Politico immediately ran with “Obama: 'New York girlfriend' was composite” and Drudge headlined with “Obama Admits Fabricating Girlfriend in a Memoir.” Coming hot on the heels of the news that the Pres once ate a dog, his weirdo factor seems to have hit the roof.

Obama Declares War on ObamaCare (Until He's Re-elected)

2012-04-23T15:55:00.003-04:00

Looks like President Obama is working hard to mask the damage caused by his policies, just in time for his reelection campaign:

Call it President Obama’s Committee for the Re-Election of the President — a political slush fund at the Health and Human Services Department.

Only this isn’t some little fund from shadowy private sources; this is taxpayer money, redirected to help Obama win another term. A massive amount of it, too — $8.3 billion. Yes, that’s billion, with a B.

Here is how it works.

The most oppressive aspects of the ObamaCare law don’t kick in until after the 2012 election, when the president will no longer be answerable to voters. More “flexibility,” he recently explained to the Russians.

But certain voters would surely notice one highly painful part of the law before then — namely, the way it guts the popular Medicare Advantage program.

For years, 12 million seniors have relied on these policies, a more market-oriented alternative to traditional Medicare, without the aggravating gaps in coverage.

But as part of its hundreds of billions in Medicare cuts, the Obama one-size-fits-all plan slashes reimbursement rates for Medicare Advantage starting next year — herding many seniors back into the government-run program.

...

This political ticking time bomb could become the biggest “October Surprise” in US political history.

But the administration’s devised a way to postpone the pain one more year, getting Obama past his last election; it plans to spend $8 billion to temporarily restore Medicare Advantage funds so that seniors in key markets don’t lose their trusted insurance program in the middle of Obama’s re-election bid.

The money is to come from funds that Health and Human Services is allowed to use for “demonstration projects.” But to make it legal, HHS has to pretend that it’s doing an “experiment” to study the effect of this money on the insurance market.
That is, to “study” what happens when the government doesn’t change anything but merely continues a program that’s been going on for years.

Obama can temporarily prop up Medicare Advantage long enough to get re-elected by exploiting an obscure bit of federal law. Under a 1967 statute, the HHS secretary can spend money without specific approval by Congress on “experiments” directly aimed at “increasing the efficiency and economy of health services.”

Source: NY Post

Video: The Essence Obama Fail Blog in a Four Minute Video

2012-04-23T15:54:00.002-04:00

Obama Admin Welcomes Muslim Brotherhood to the White House

2012-04-05T06:47:00.005-04:00

This shouldn't surprise anyone. After all, it was President Obama's linguine-spined cheerleading-from-the-rear that made it clear he supported the Muslim Brotherhood's takeover of Egypt's government:

White House officials held talks with representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood in Washington this week, as the Islamist group threw itself into the fray in Egypt's presidential election.

The meeting on Tuesday with low-level National Security Council staff was part of a series of US efforts to broaden engagement with new and emerging political parties following Egypt's revolution last year, a US official said.

Source: Yahoo

Don't forget, Obama's Director of Intelligence James Clapper has describe the Brotherhood as a "secular organization."

In short, Obama's bungling of the situation in Egypt classifies as a major failure, any way you slice it:

Obama Admin Forces Military to Disarm in Afghanistan

2012-03-17T09:45:00.002-04:00

The Obama administration has finally found a use for the war in Afghanistan - as a grand stage upon which our military is forced to bow... metaphorically speaking, of course:

Less than a week after a US staff sergeant allegedly massacred 16 civilians in Kandahar, American soldiers were banned from bringing guns into a talk by Mr Panetta at a base in Helmand province.

Around 200 troops who had gathered in a tent at Camp Leatherneck were told "something had come to light" and asked abruptly to file outside and lay down their automatic rifles and 9mm pistols.

"Somebody got itchy, that's all I've got to say. Somebody got itchy – we just adjust," said the sergeant who was told to clear the hall of weapons.

Major General Mark Gurganus later said he gave the order because Afghan troops attending the talk were unarmed and he wanted the policy to be consistent for all.

"You've got one of the most important people in the world in the room," he told the New York Times, insisting that the decision was unrelated to Sunday's killings. "This is not a big deal."

However, US troops often remain armed even when their Afghan colleagues have been asked to lay down their weapons and the incident is believed to be the first time they were stripped of guns during an address by their own secretary of defence.

Source: UK Telegraph

And of course, there is a weak explanation for all of this:

General Gurganus told reporters later that he had wanted a consistent policy for everyone in the tent, and that “I wanted to have the Marines look just like their Afghan partners,” noting, “You’ve got one of the most important people in the world in the room.” He insisted that his decision had had nothing to do with the massacre; later, defense officials said the decision had had nothing to do with the truck at the airfield.

Source: NY Times

Obama Continues His Assault on the Catholic Church (St. Patrick's Day Edition)

2012-03-17T09:36:00.002-04:00

What better way to celebrate a major Christian holiday than by announcing that your war on the Catholic church will continue, unabated?

If you are Barack Obama, there is no better way.

The administration this afternoon released its “Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on preventive services policy.” Translation: President Barack Obama and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are moving forward with their controversial contraception mandate, which requires even religiously affiliated employers to provide their employees with insurance that covers contraception — even if those employers object to contraception on religious grounds.

Source: HotAir

Obama Failure Watch: International Approval Trumps Congressional Approval

2012-03-08T07:09:00.004-05:00

An "international legal basis":

Scary stuff... And it's even scarier when you consider that Eric Holder recently asserted that the Obama admin has the authority to kill American citizens living overseas without due process:

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. asserted on Monday that it is lawful for the government to kill American citizens if officials deem them to be operational leaders of Al Qaeda who are planning attacks on the United States and if capturing them alive is not feasible.

“Given the nature of how terrorists act and where they tend to hide, it may not always be feasible to capture a United States citizen terrorist who presents an imminent threat of violent attack,” Mr. Holder said in a speech at Northwestern University’s law school. “In that case, our government has the clear authority to defend the United States with lethal force.”

While Mr. Holder is not the first administration official to address the targeted killing of citizens — the Pentagon’s general counsel, Jeh Johnson, did so last month at Yale Law School, for example — it was notable for the nation’s top law enforcement official to declare that it is constitutional for the government to kill citizens without any judicial review under certain circumstances. Mr. Holder’s remarks about the targeted killing of United States citizens were a centerpiece of a speech describing legal principles behind the Obama administration’s counterterrorism policies.

“Some have argued that the president is required to get permission from a federal court before taking action against a United States citizen who is a senior operational leader of Al Qaeda or associated forces,” Mr. Holder said. “This is simply not accurate. ‘Due process’ and ‘judicial process’ are not one and the same, particularly when it comes to national security. The Constitution guarantees due process, not judicial process.”

Source: Outside the Beltway

Now, I'm all for targeting terrorists who we are at war with. But the Obama administration has shown a consistent reticence to use terms like "war" or "victory," opting instead to use terms like "overseas contingency operation."

Furthermore, the Obama administration - specifically, Eric Holder - has been incapable of using terms like "terrorist" or "radical Islam." Remember this?

Also, keep in mind that Eric Holder has made a living off of defending Islamic terrorists:

It's also interesting to note that the administration that has consistently fought to close Guantanemo Bay - a holding facility for radical Islamic terrorists - is suddenly proud to proclaim that they can kill terrorists - US citizens, no less - without Congressional consent or due process.

So now, we're to believe Eric Holder and President Obama are suddenly gung-ho in the quest to rid the world of radical Islamic terrorists and we need to accept their self-proclaimed right to do so without Congressional consent.

Riiiiiight....

Obama Failure Watch: Obama's Latest Apology (Afghanistan Edition)

2012-03-03T10:31:00.004-05:00

The saga of President Obama's latest apology has all the makings of a classic Obama failure:

Obama projecting weakness on the world stage
Another Obama apology
US soldiers being put in harm's way - and killed - directly because of Obama's mismanagement of a dangerous situation
Obama giving himself credit for being a great leader

And if you think THAT'S bad, it seems that Obama's Afghanistan apology has made it difficult for him to apologize to Pakistan. Apparently, the administration was just about ready to issue a formal apology for targeting terrorists in Pakistan with drone strikes. For now, the Pakistan apology will have to wait.

Great job, Mr. President!

ObamaCare Costs Up $111 BILLION DOLLARS!

2012-03-03T10:23:00.003-05:00

Who's ready for some more bad news about the skyrocketing costs and predictably epic mismanagement of ObamaCare?

Cost estimates for a key part of President Obama's health care overhaul law have ballooned by $111 billion from last year's budget, and a senior Republican lawmaker on Friday demanded an explanation.

...

Administration officials say the explanation lies in budget technicalities and that there are no significant changes in the program.

The revised numbers, buried deep in the president's budget, stumped lawmakers and some administration officials for most of the week. At a congressional hearing Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who is in charge of carrying out the health care law, indicated she was unaware of the changes.

At issue are subsidies that will be provided under the health care law to help middle class people buy private coverage in new state insurance markets that will open for business in 2014.
Last year's budget estimated the cost of the aid to be $367 billion from 2014-2011. This year's budget puts it at $478 billion over the same time period.

"This staggering increase ... cannot be explained by legislative changes or new economic assumptions, and therefore must reflect substantial changes in underlying assump
tions regarding the program's ... costs," Camp wrote Friday in a letter to Sebelius and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.

Republicans say they're concerned that either the estimated cost of the insurance has gone up, or that the administration has determined many more people will be losing employer coverage and going into the new government-subsidized markets, which will be called exchanges.

Administration officials say the big increase from last year's estimates is no cause for alarm and that the administration is not forecasting an erosion of employer coverage or higher insurance costs.

Source: FoxNews

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN BILLION DOLLARS?

Nothing to see here. Move along...

Regulation of the Day: Obama Shuts Down Five Coal Plants in PA

2012-03-01T18:53:00.004-05:00

Remember when then-candidate Obama promised to bankrupt coal plants? Ever since then, he's unleashed the EPA's Lisa Jackson on power plants and entire industries, in an effort to make his promises come true.

Looks like everything is going according to plan:

GenOn Energy Inc. plans to close five of its older coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania over the next four years.

The company, based in Houston, said Wednesday that tough new environmental rules make it unprofitable to operate the plants, which generate a total of 3,140 megawatts of electricity. The plants are in Portland, Shawville, Titus, New Castle and Elrama. Two plants in Ohio and one in New Jersey will also be closed. The company said the timeframes are subject to further review based on market conditions.

Source: HotAir

Score one for Lisa Jackson! Actually, score FIVE for Lisa Jackson!

Steven Chu: Anti-Energy, Anti-American

2012-03-01T18:46:00.004-05:00

You've got to hand it to Energy Secretary Steven Chu. He may be an anti-growth egghead, but he isn't afraid to discuss his anti-American ideology. In the face of rising gas prices, Chu choo chooses to focus instead on government-funded green energy boondoggles:

“We agree there is great suffering when the price of gasoline increases in the United States, and so we are very concerned about this,” said Chu, speaking to the House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee. “As I have repeatedly said, in the Department of Energy, what we’re trying to do is diversify our energy supply for transportation so that we have cost-effective means.”

Chu specifically cited a reported breakthrough announced Monday by Envia Systems, which received funding from DOE’s ARPA-E, that could help slash the price of electric vehicle batteries.

He also touted natural gas as “great” and said DOE is researching how to reduce the cost of compressed natural gas tanks for vehicles.

High gasoline prices will make research into such alternatives more urgent, Chu said.

“But is the overall goal to get our price” of gasoline down, asked Nunnelee.

“No, the overall goal is to decrease our dependency on oil, to build and strengthen our economy,” Chu replied. “We think that if you consider all these energy policies, including energy efficiency, we think that we can go a long way to becoming less dependent on oil and [diversifying] our supply and we’ll help the American economy and the American consumers.”

Source: Politico

Obama Wages War on Military Families, Unions Unaffeced

2012-02-28T05:56:00.003-05:00

Question: What happens when President Obama's anti-military orientation collides with his lust for socialist healthcare?

Answer:

The Obama administration’s proposed defense budget calls for military families and retirees to pay sharply more for their healthcare, while leaving unionized civilian defense workers’ benefits untouched. The proposal is causing a major rift within the Pentagon, according to U.S. officials. Several congressional aides suggested the move is designed to increase the enrollment in Obamacare’s state-run insurance exchanges.

The disparity in treatment between civilian and uniformed personnel is causing a backlash within the military that could undermine recruitment and retention.

The proposed increases in health care payments by service members, which must be approved by Congress, are part of the Pentagon’s $487 billion cut in spending. It seeks to save $1.8 billion from the Tricare medical system in the fiscal 2013 budget, and $12.9 billion by 2017.

Many in Congress are opposing the proposed changes, which would require the passage of new legislation before being put in place.

“We shouldn’t ask our military to pay our bills when we aren’t willing to impose a similar hardship on the rest of the population,” Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and a Republican from California, said in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon. “We can’t keep asking those who have given so much to give that much more.”

Administration officials told Congress that one goal of the increased fees is to force military retirees to reduce their involvement in Tricare and eventually opt out of the program in favor of alternatives established by the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

Source: Free Beacon via Drudge Report

Geithner: Americans Need to Pay for the Privilege of Being American

2012-02-25T15:27:00.003-05:00

Talk about a perversion of the concept of patriotism. Timmy Geithner - the diminutive egghead who can't figure out how to pay taxes himself - would like you to know that you should be paying for the "privilege" of being an American:

Tapper vs. Carney on Obama's Tyrannical Instincts

2012-02-24T11:15:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday! Here's a video of Jake Tapper lighting up Jay Carney over the Obama Administration's aggressive policy towards honest journalism. Keep in mind, President Obama thinks information is bad for democracy:

video platform video management video solutions video player

Note to Maura Liasson: You're a professional. Act like it!

Joe Biden Visits Road Island

2012-02-23T23:10:00.002-05:00

Another gem from Joe Biden and the idiots working in the Obama Administration:

The vice president is hitting the road — to what the White House wrote as “Road Island,” mistakenly spelled R-O-A-D instead of R-H-O-D-E.

A release outlining Joe Biden’s plans for the week showed him traveling to Providence in misspelled “Road Island” on Thursday for a campaign event. The vice president is scheduled to visit Boston and Manchester, N.H., on the same day. No misspellings there.

An updated schedule sent out by the White House on Monday night noted the correct spelling of the state.

Source: Washington Post

Road Island, huh? Must be one of the 57 states.

Lady Michelle Sells Her Body for $5,000 a Pop

2012-02-18T11:33:00.003-05:00

Serial vacationer and amateur food critic Michelle Obama is once again disgracing the role of First Lady:

Question: What would you pay to have your photo taken with first lady Michelle Obama, she of the ripped arms and healthy diet?

If you said 5 grand, well, you’re in the ballpark, because the First Spouse is headed to Boston next month to do a parade of grip-and-grins with local Demmies, Obama-ophiles, fitness freaks, Dougie aficionados and anyone else who can pony up the dough.

The first lady is doing two events in town, a panel discussion with representatives from the left-leaning Emily’s List, NARAL and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health at the Institute of Contemporary Art on March 9. A ticket to that event can be had for the bargain basement price of $500.

But the “formal dinner and photo opportunity” with Mrs. O that follows is the big ticket item: $5,000 a head (or $2,500 for preferred seating and no pic).

Source: Boston Herald

Shocker: 85% of Small Business Owners are NOT Hiring

2012-02-17T07:18:00.004-05:00

Given President Obama's War on Small Business, this should come as no surprise. But apparently, Gallup thinks this is more of a "gray area" issue with no real culprit:

The debate over why U.S. small-business owners aren't hiring more aggressively tends to hinge on whether overall business conditions, including a lack of growth and revenue, are the primary culprit as opposed to the potential cost of healthcare and government regulations. Apparently, both sides of the debate are correct.

Given this difficult operating environment, it is not surprising that many small-business owners also worry about potential new healthcare costs and government regulations. While small businesses are always finding ways to deal with their changing operating environment, including government regulations and healthcare, these added challenges can be seen as exacerbating an already uncertain and difficult situation. In turn, they become additional reasons to hold back on hiring.

Source: Gallup

Of course, President Obama's failed policies and penchant for over-regulation have slowed, stalled or prevented any economic recovery that may have taken place. Heck, Lisa Jackson, the High Priestess of the EPA, is practically a one-woman Economic Uncertainty Machine.

So where's the "debate," Gallup?

Green Energy Failure Update: $4 Billion Went to Obama-Connected Lobbyists

2012-02-17T07:11:00.002-05:00

Willard and Kelsey. Solyndra. Fisker Automotive. The Chevy Volt. Weatherization overspending.

The Obama administration is no stranger to overspending on failed green energy programs and gimmicks. To add insult to injury, we now find out that much of the money being funneled to failed technology was being arranged by Obama-connected fat cats:

During the next three years, the department provided $2.4 billion in public funding to clean-energy companies in which Wagle’s former firm, Vantage Point Venture Partners, had invested, a Washington Post analysis found. Overall, the Post found that $3.9 billion in federal grants and financing flowed to 21 companies backed by firms with connections to five Obama administration staffers and advisers.

Obama’s program to invest federal funds in start-up companies — and the failure of some of those companies — is becoming a rallying cry for opponents in the presidential race. Mitt Romney has promised to focus on Obama’s “record” as a “venture capitalist.” And in ads and speeches, conservative groups and the Republican candidates are zeroing in on the administration’s decision to extend $535 million to the now-shutteredsolar firm Solyndra and billions of dollars more to clean-tech start-ups backed by the president’s political allies.

White House officials stress that staffers and advisers with venture capital ties did not make funding decisions related to these companies. But e-mails released in a congressional probe of Obama’s clean-tech program show that staff and advisers with links to venture firms informally advocated for some of those companies.

David Gold, a venture capitalist and critic of Obama’s investments in clean tech, said that even if staffers had been removed from the final decision-making, they had the kind of inside access to exert subtle influence.

“To believe those quiet conversations don’t happen in the hallways — about a project being in a certain congressman’s district or being associated with a significant presidential donor, is naive,” said Gold, who once worked at the Office of Management and Budget. “When you’re putting this kind of pressure on an organization to make decisions on very big dollars, there’s increased likelihood that political connections will influence things.”

Source: Washington Post via HotAir