That Sinking Feeling

They are busily rearranging the deck chairs, but the Obamatanic is rapidly going down:

Simply put, Democrats find themselves heading into a midterm election that looks as grisly as any the party has faced in decades. It isn’t hard to find Democratic pollsters who privately concede that the numbers they are looking at now are worse than what they saw in 1994.

The race-by-race outlook confirms the dire forecasts. Cook Political Report House Editor David Wasserman points out that at this point, 32 Democratic incumbents are running even or behind their Republican challengers in one or more public or private polls. At this point in 2006, when Republicans lost control of Congress, only 11 GOP incumbents were running even or behind.

Privately, some Democratic pollsters say that they are routinely seeing districts where Democratic incumbents are running only even with relatively unknown GOP challengers. In other districts where the Republican challengers are reasonably well known, the incumbents are often running 5-10 points behind, a rather extraordinary development at this point.

In the Senate, while the odds still favor Democrats holding on to a narrow majority, it is not only mathematically possible for the GOP to capture a majority this year, but it has become plausible. The odds of Democrats capturing even one currently Republican-held seat appear to be getting longer. Meanwhile, Republicans are running ahead or roughly even in 11 Democratic-held seats, one more than necessary for control of the Senate to flip. It’s still a tall order but not crazy to say that Republicans will win the Senate.

That’s Charlie Cook’s take – and you really need to read it all. I’m guessing here – and I apologize to Mr. Cook in advance if I am wrong here – but I suspect that Cook is seeing numbers unlike any he has seen before. I’ve seen Cook get more and more bullish on Republicans – and bearish on Democrats – as the weeks have passed. I fully expect that Cook has been seeing it for a while now, but has not been sure how to interpret these unprecedented numbers. These are numbers that are so bad, it defies all conventional wisdom.

I think this is going to be a horrendous election for Democrats. I think that the election will be one for the books – one that pundits will be pointing to for years. Decades. Possibly centuries.

Don’t think 1994, think 1876 at a little valley of the Little Bighorn River. That’s the model for this election.

Garryowen, Democrats.

Time To Listen To Your Doctor, America

Sometimes, you have to – if you want to have any quality of life:

To counter this election-year ruse, my colleagues and I at Docs4PatientCare are enlisting thousands of doctors in an unorthodox and unprecedented action. Our patients have always expected a certain standard of care from their doctors, which includes providing them with pertinent information that may affect their quality of life. Because the issue this election is so stark—literally life and death for millions of Americans in the years ahead—we are this week posting a “Dear Patient” letter in our waiting rooms.

The letter states in unambiguous language what the new law means:

“Dear Patient: Section 1311 of the new health care legislation gives the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and her appointees the power to establish care guidelines that your doctor must abide by or face penalties and fines. In making doctors answerable in the federal bureaucracy this bill effectively makes them government employees and means that you and your doctor are no longer in charge of your health care decisions. This new law politicizes medicine and in my opinion destroys the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship that makes the American health care system the best in the world.”

I’m guessing that Dr. Scherz is off any Democrat’s Christmas card list – or non-denominational holiday card list, depending on the political correctness of the lawmaker.

Read the whole piece. Dr. Scherz has a powerful message. If any of you go to the doctor’s office and see one of these letters, post a comment. I’ll be on the lookout for one when I go see my doctor next week.

All The Booze That’s Fit to Fry

Deep fried beer. No, really. Patent pending.

Did Health Care Reform Kill The Democrat’s Majority?

Jay Cost says yes. Or it was at least the decisive blow to their political dreams:

Partisans on both sides tell themselves stories about why they’re up, why they’re down, and why the other side is where it is. These stories usually contain at least a grain of truth, but they also help encourage ideologues in the face of an impending rejection by the electorate. Democrats ignored the political problem of health care in the fall and winter – arguing that Martha Coakley and Creigh Deeds were bad candidates, that voters had been turned off by the health care bill because of the process, and that they would come around once the many benefits kicked in. Now, they’re pointing to the economy as the only significant reason why the party is in trouble.

It would be difficult for any strong partisan to admit that such an accomplishment was so deeply unpopular. Yet the polling is pretty unequivocal on the relationship between the Democrats’ fortunes and the health care bill. It was during the health care debate that the essential building block of the Democratic majority – Independent voters – began to crumble. It was evident in the generic ballot. It was evident in the President’s job approval numbers. It was evident in Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.

The damage was serious, in my opinion. I said so at the time. I still believe it.

I suspect that this November will be one for the record books. There will be a lot of Democrats – at all levels of government – out of work shortly after election day.

But we all still have to remain focused, too. Don’t be distracted by the antics of the Obots in the media, just add their lies and distortions to the long list of reasons you fully intend to vote their idol’s enablers out of office for good.

Camp Obama

Apparently, Kathleen Sebelius is either completely ignorant of the connotation or simply does not care. Because she cheerfully announced that the administration has a lot of “reeducation” to do on the won’s health care “reform”.

With a number of polls showing a sustained level of opposition to the Democrats’ health care reform efforts more than five months after passage, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the Obama administration has “a lot of reeducation to do” heading into the midterms.

While some surveys – namely the Kaiser Family Foundation monthly tracking poll  – have suggested an uptick in support for the reforms, most other surveys continue to show a steady level of opposition to the new law that remains higher than the favorable opinions of it.

“Unfortunately, there still is a great deal of confusion about what is in [the reform law] and what isn’t,” Sebelius told ABC News Radio in an interview Monday.

With several vulnerable House Democrats touting their votes against the bill, and Republicans running on repeal, Sebelius said “misinformation given on a 24/7 basis” has led to the enduring opposition nearly six months after the lengthy debate ended in Congress.

“So, we have a lot of reeducation to do,” Sebelius said.

Presumably, the razor wire will be green at the new summer camps.

Seriously, can this bunch of the “best and brightest” that the won has surrounded himself with be any more clue proof? The soviets adored the word “progressive” and were quite famous for their “reeducation” summer camps (though they lacked the green razor wire).

The bright side of this is that given their “success” to date on education, their “reeducation” efforts should bring out the voters in droves – just not in the way they hoped.

Just another Obackfire.

Via Memeorandum.

How Bleak Is That Valley?

Well, it might be even more unpleasant to be a Democrat up for election in November. There’s this, for example:

Forget conventional wisdom: Republicans have a real shot at taking control of the Senate, as well as the House, in the U.S. midterm elections.

“This is going to be a massive election like 1974, except it will happen to the Democrats this time,” says Bill McInturff, a leading Republican pollster, alluding to the Democratic landslide more than three-and-a-half decades ago. “The Senate is in play.”

The economy is killing Democrats even in states doing comparatively well. The economic stimulus and bailout of the auto companies — successes in the eyes of most detached analysts — are unpopular.

Most unpopular was the Wall Street rescue, whatever disaster it may have averted.

Most Democratic candidates voted for these measures, a reason the party may lose 10 seats and control of the Senate.

Please do go over and read just how bad it is out there right now for the Senate Democrats. It ain’t pretty.

But, wait! There’s more:

Republicans lead by 51% to 41% among registered voters in Gallup weekly tracking of 2010 congressional voting preferences. The 10-percentage-point lead is the GOP’s largest so far this year and is its largest in Gallup’s history of tracking the midterm generic ballot for Congress.

Believe it or not, that’s the bright spot for the Democrats in the poll results. It gets much, much worse:

Republicans are now twice as likely as Democrats to be “very” enthusiastic about voting, and now hold — by one point — the largest such advantage of the year.

As always, a lot can happen between now and November. But I have a feeling that it really is not going to get better for the enablers of the won. And the more the Ozealots in the press corpse try to spin, lie, denigrate and attempt to abuse those who differ with the won, the worse it will actually be when election day rolls around.

This one could well be biblical.

Report From Behind The Dead Horse

The New Hampshire Union Leader Gets with the metaphor I have been using here for quite some time. They mention the events of 1876 at the Little Bighorn River and the Democrats in November:

Peering from behind his dead horse at the charging Sioux, Lt. Col. George Custer might have thought to himself, “This doesn’t look good.” President Obama, peeking over his golf clubs at the American political landscape two months before this fall’s elections, might understandably form the same thought.

Consider:

– In Massachusetts this summer, Democratic candidates in swing districts are portraying themselves as fiscal conservatives who oppose high taxes and runaway government spending, The Boston Globe reported last week.

– Democrats in Washington don’t want to talk about the bills they passed since Obama took office. “In an effort coordinated with the White House, congressional leaders are urging Democrats to focus less on bragging about what they have done — a landmark health-care law, a sweeping overhaul of Wall Street regulation and other far-reaching policy changes — and more on efforts to fix the economy and on the perils of Republican control of Congress,” the Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month.

I have never seen anything like the political landscape as it stands now, two months away from election day. I know the Obama wing of the media is trying desperately to pump some semblance of life into the Democrats and are twisting every story when they are not telling outright lies.

I suspect that election day is going to be a lot – a real lot – worse for the Democrats than the “analysis” of the left-leaning media is letting on.

I fully expect some “safe” seats for the Democrats to fall to their challengers.

The protestations by Democrats that everything will be fine for them are sounding increasingly desperate. The “Recovery Summer” has become a bad punchline as the economy appears to be tanking. I hear people who have never before expressed political views to me who are right up on the latest political news – and are furious at Washington.

Those people fully intend to vote.

And they do not intend to vote for Democrats.

Remember A vote for any Democrat – at any level of government – is an endorsement of what they have done to us already and are trying to expand upon.

Take back the municipal governments, take back the state legislatures, take back the state house, take back Congress – both houses. We cannot vote against the won this time – but we can take out his enablers, allies and would be tools.

A Message To The “Elites”

Ignore this at your own risk.

This is a huge turnout. Forget the minimal numbers being reported by the Obama wing of the MSM. Forget the attempts to demonize and denigrate the people who attended. This is a strong message to the self-proclaimed “elites” that the times, they are a changin’.

If the “elites” are too stupid to get this message, so be it.

But I bet there are a lot of very, very nervous politicians right now. The Obama wing can’t spin this enough to hide the truth. It’s too big. Those who attended or watched will get the truth out. And the already failing left wing media will suffer even more losses to their almost completely exhausted trust capital.

No, they have actually been in a truth deficit for quite some time, haven’t they? Well, this attempted spin might finally put them into junk bond status.

“Recovery Summer” Churns On

Hey, “only” 473,000 people filed for first time unemployment checks last week! Talk about green shoots! Talk about recovery!

Talk about “experts” on crack:

“Given that business sales rebounded  in July after two months of decreases, companies may hold on to more employees, if not hire more,” he said. “So it’s conceivable that that latest decline in jobless claims will be the first in a series of such declines.”

Must be all that “successful” stimulus kicking in:

CBO predicted that in the fourth quarter of 2010 the unemployment rate would be 8.7% without the stimulus, and between 6.8% and 8.1% with the stimulus package. We haven’t reached the fourth quarter of 2010 yet, but it doesn’t look as if our 9.5% unemployment rate will decline to even the baseline of 8.7% in the next few months, let alone to 8.1% or 6.8%.

One major flaw in the CBO models is the expectation of full employment over the next decade. Unbelievable as though it may sound, in March 2009 CBO wrote, “The effect on employment is never estimated to be negative, despite lower GDP in later years, because CBO expects that the U.S. labor market will be at nearly full employment in the long run.” Try telling that to the 14.5 million unemployed.

Rather, employers’ willingness to hire varies dramatically depending on the costs of employment. The readiness of Americans to look for work is influenced by the ease of finding jobs, as well as by after-tax income, which is affected by tax rates. The increases in taxation and borrowing, both present and future, required to fund the deficit can have negative effects on employment.

When the stimulus package was enacted in February 2009, the labor force participation rate, the percentage of Americans who say they are working or looking for work, stood at 65.6%. Last month it was 64.6%, a full percentage point lower. After some fluctuations, over a million Americans have withdrawn from the labor force since April 2010.

Read both pieces. Then decide what recovery you want to participate in. The Obama-Biden hallucination or the one where you realize that you are being played for a sucker by the Democrats.

Obamanomics does not work. Trillion dollar plus deficit spending does not work. Over-regulation and over-taxation does not work. “Spreading the wealth around” does not work.

Growing the economy, creating jobs and cutting grossly overpaid and obscenely benefited government employees are the only answers.

A vote for any Democrat – at any level of government – is a vote for them to continue their insane spendaholic tendencies.

Time to recover, America. Time to recover America. Vote them out.

Tsk, Tsk. You Americans.

The Obama administration denigrates America and Americans in a report to the United Nations:

This morning, the U.S. State Department announced that the U.S. had submitted its “Report of the United States of America”  to the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights. This report was submitted as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) conducted by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). In November, the U.S. Administration will formally present the findings of its report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Judging from the content of the U.S. report, that November presentation will consist of much wailing and gnashing of teeth over the inadequacy of America.

Read the whole thing to get a feeling for the wailing and gnashing of teeth over America – and American’s – shortcomings in the view of the won.

I am, frankly, tired of this near continuous America-bashing coming from someone who is supposed to – constitutionally – be looking out for the best interests of this nation.The report from the Heritage Foundation ends like this:

When reading the UPR report, the salient words of Alexander Hamilton should come to mind. In Federalist No. 6, Hamilton warned Americans not to listen to “visionary or designing men, who stand ready to advocate the paradox of perpetual peace” and who wish to “soften the manners of men.” If someone can honestly believe that perfection and peace is possible through politics, then that person, according to Hamilton, “must be far gone in Utopian speculations.” It would appear that the White House is fundamentally dissatisfied with life on planet earth, and the United States of America, in particular. Yet, there are things government can do, and things government cannot do. The Obama Administration should focus on the former, and stop lamenting the absence of utopian peace on earth.

Obama was not elected to be the buddy of the world. He was – for better or worse (yeah, I think it was worse) – elected to be the president of this nation. It is about time he started acting like it.

Tea Leaves

Not looking good – despite the attempts to spin it in the most positive light possible:

Some neutral observers and senior strategists within the party have begun to believe that the national political environment is not only similar to what they saw in 1994 — when Democrats lost control of the House and Senate — but could in fact be worse by Election Day.

A quick look at the broadest atmospheric indicators designed to measure which way the national winds are blowing — the generic ballot and presidential approval — affirms the sense that the political environment looks every bit as gloomy for Democrats today as it did 16 years ago.

“President Obama’s job [approval] number is likely to be as bad or worse than [Bill] Clinton’s when November rolls around, the Democratic generic-ballot advantage of plus 12 to plus 15 in 2006 and 2008 is now completely gone, and conservatives are energized like 1994,” said Stu Rothenberg, an independent political analyst and editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, a well-read campaign tip sheet.

The generic ballot — would you vote for an unnamed Democrat or an unnamed Republican? — is either similar or worse for Democrats (depending on which poll you look at) than it was in 1994.

Cillizza does his best to paint this as not that bad. But the individual polls are only a snapshot – the trends are disastrous.

They’ve already followed their leader into the valley. It’s too late for them to fix things up with the voters. They lied, cheated and played tricks to get their agenda passed.

Now they get to pay for it. Voters are angry – more importantly independent voters are angry. The payback will be biblical. There is only one poll that counts. That one will be in November.

Hey! It’s Recovery Summer!

Eight banks were taken over by the FDIC yesterday. That brings the total for 2010 to 118 – and the FDIC is predicting that the total for this year of recovery will be even higher than it was last year (2009 total was 140).

ShoreBank Corp., the Chicago lender operating under a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. cease-and- desist order for 13 months, and seven other banks were shut by regulators as 2010 bank failures climbed to 118.

ShoreBank’s 15 branches, including those in Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit, will open as Urban Partnership Bank, according to statements from the FDIC.

“The good news is that the bank, under this new management, will still be there and serving the South Side community,” said Dory Rand, referring to Urban Partnership’s William Farrow. Rand is president of the Chicago-based Woodstock Institute, a non-profit that studies community lending. “They have made the South Side a decent place to live and work and do business.”

Regulators also closed four banks in California, two in Florida and one in Virginia. All eight closures cost the FDIC’s deposit-insurance fund $473.5 million, the agency said yesterday. This year’s bank failures will surpass last year’s total of 140, FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said last month in a Bloomberg Television interview.

Wow. Recovery summer is just chugging along, isn’t it?

The only recovery this summer is the people who are admitting that Obama lied to them and that Obamanomics is a complete disaster for America. They are taking the first step toward recovery. The next step is to vote the Democrat Obama-enablers out in November. Remember – a vote for any Democrat – at any level – will send a signal to the Democrats that they are getting away with their agenda. Send a message at every level – vote them all out. Local, state and Federal. Vote them out.

Welcome to the effort to recover our nation.

Oh Crap! They’re Not Buying It!

Quick! Change the lies!

Politico has obtained and published a confidential messaging-strategy presentation that essentially admits ObamaCare supporters are losing the battle for public opinion.  The presentation was delivered to professional leftists  by the left-wing Herndon Alliance, based on public opinion research by Democratic pollsters John Anzalone, Celinda Lake, and Stan Greenberg, in a forum organized by the left-wing group Families USA,  “one of the central groups in the push for the initial legislation.”  It is a stark admission that the public has not warmed to the new health care law, despite predictions that they would do so.

Gee, what a surprise. The people found out what’s in it – and they hate it.

Charlie Cook is going to be ‘way low in his prediction.

“I think Republicans are going to get the House back,” he said flatly in a conversation taped for WSJ.com’s “Big Interview” segment, which will be posted on the site Friday morning.

To be precise, Republicans need to win 39 Democratic seats to get control of the House, and Mr. Cook’s current estimate is that they are in line for a 35- to 45-seat gain. “But frankly, I think we’re being very conservative with that,” he added. “The odds of it being higher than that range are a lot better than lower.”

Actually, I suspect that he’s hedging a bit here because even he can’t quite believe how big this wave will be. What I am seeing and hearing from people right now appears to indicate that this will be a lot worse for Democrats than any conventional wisdom would predict. You have to read between the lines of most press reports these days, since the press is still largely in the tank for Obama and the left. But the signs are ugly. And the words I am hearing from regular folks who are not normally political portend a very, very bleak election day for anyone with a (D) after their name.

The negative coattails at the national/state level will even make it hard for local candidates.

Personally, I’ll be quite happy to see a lot of (D)unemployed after this November. They deserve to be, unlike the millions suffering from their policies, spendthrift habits and economic idiocy.

Renounce the Democrat Obama-enablers and repeal ObamaCare.

Vacationer-In-Chief

Yep, a half million Americans filed for unemployment last week during Obama’s “Recovery Summer”. That can only mean one thing for the won: Time for a luxury vacation on the millionaire’s playground of Martha’s  Vineyard! He might even do some “work” there!

President Barack Obama is planning to hike, laze at the beach and visit an ice cream parlor or two while vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard, but his spokesman realizes world affairs may interfere.

Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters Tuesday aboard Air Force One that “the president is definitely going to spend a little time recharging his batteries.” Obama and his family arrive Thursday on the island off Massachusetts.

But Burton joked that the White House press corps should “think that this is going to be the hardest that they will have ever have worked in their entire lives.”

Oh, the humanity. That poor press corpse. They’ll have to chase the won from one ice cream parlor to another and might get sand in their shoes at the photo-op for the beach play!

You poor, newly unemployed can at last take comfort in the wall-to-wall “news” of the first family “recharging” their batteries while you fill out forms and wait for your check!

Doncha feel better already?

Thank heavens for Hope and Change!

Just What Do They Expect, Anyway?

Once again, the numbers are “unexpected”. Once again the “experts” are surprised.

Of what use are “experts” who are wrong almost all of the time? (Except to the Weather Service, of course.)

First time filers for unemployment hit 500,000 last week. A big raise from the (upwardly revised, yet again) numbers from last week. And the “experts” are stunned. Again. For the what, the 300th time?

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly climbed to a nine-month high last week, yet another setback to the frail economic recovery.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 500,000 in the week ended August 14, the highest since mid-November, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast claims slipping to 476,000 from the previously reported 484,000 the prior week, which was revised up to 488,000 in Thursday’s report.

A Labor Department official said there was nothing unusual in the state level data. The data covered the survey week for the government’s closely watched employment report for August, scheduled for release early next month.

“There are some technical factors out there and the seasonal factors seem to be pushing it up a little bit. But given the trend of claims it looks like the economy ran into a wall in August,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-MitsubishI UFJ in New York.

Gotta love that. Nothing unusual in half a million fellow Americans needing to file for their first unemployment checks.

What do the “experts” think? That the job fairy is going to appear and make everything peachy keen? One wave of the magic job wand and unemployment disappears!

They’ve been drinking “Recovery Summer” flavored Kool-Aid from the won’s kitchen?

It’s about time the “experts” entered the real Recovery Summer program. Admitting that Obamanomics is the problem is the first step, folks. Businesses are shedding jobs before ObamaCare kicks in – they have to if they are to survive. (Wait until companies begin shedding medical coverage for retirees – and they will, you can take that to the bank.)

Wait until the full scope of the radical changes Obama and his Democrat enablers kicks in folks. You think it’s bleak now? These are good times compared to what’s coming.

Our one hope is to kick as many of Obama’s enablers to the curb in November as possible. It’s something you can help accomplish. Get involved. Get moving.

Unemploy the right people. Or the left people, actually.

Via Memeorandum.