A stern warning from Obama to Qaddafi

Barack Obama, acting in his capacity as Spectator-in-Chief,  used all the power and majesty of the Oval Office in which he sits to shake his finger at Moammar Gadhafi and threaten to do something really, really nasty if the Libyan dictator didn't behave. Hiding behind the skirts of the United Nations, Obama threatened "all necessary measures" to protect Libyans and said the United States would help set the stage "for the international community to act together." Wow. Gadhafi responded by withdrawing offers of a cease-fire and promptly kicking the cr*** out of the rebels in renewed fighting.

As part of the US response, the USS Bataan Amphibious Ready Group will deploy to the Mediterranean by March 23 (well after all the rebels are likely to become martyrs,)  relieving the USS Kearsarge Amphibious Group. Not to cast aspersions on the fine men and women in those battle groups, who are more than up to the task of taking on any and all trouble, but where are the carriers? As yet another example of the Obama regime's competence, no US carrier group is deployed in the Mediterranean, for the first time since, oh maybe WWII,  despite a revolution in Egypt, civil war in Libya, unrest in Tunisia, Jordan, Yemen, and Iran. 

Gadhafi's  response was to be expected. He knows (they all know) that the Pretender-in-Chief is no Ronald Reagan, who airmailed missiles to Gadhafi's mailbox after the Libyan instigated disco bombing in Germany that killed American servicemen in the 80s. That was about the last we heard of the Libyan Colonel, until this rigmarole.

So after sitting on the sidelines while the Iranian elections were stolen by  I'manutjob, making all the wrong moves and sending the wrong messages on Egypt (and probably losing a valuable ally), NCAA Brackets Obama finally decides to do a little something. A very little. 

The other day I complained that Obama had time to worry about basketball. Sometime I don't know when to shut my mouth.

Bay Area Council urges California legislature to work with Brown

The Bay Area Council, a business group made up of 275 of the San Francisco area’s largest firms, today called on the state legislature to find a way to work with Governor Jerry Brown, and close the state’s $26.6 billion budget deficit. In a letter faxed to each member of the Senate and Assembly in Sacramento, the group urged members to “embrace the spirit of compromise.” The Council last week endorsed Brown’s plan after a meeting between Brown and the group’s executive committee (see story). Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of the Council, said at the time that not everything Brown proposed was to the group’s liking.   “Our members don’t like the higher taxes, which run counter to expanding business and jobs in the state.  But on balance, we need to be part of the solution and we support the Governor’s proposal overall.” 

Continue reading on Examiner.com. 

House GOP takes on skyrocketing gas prices

March 10th, 2011 6:25 pm PT

 House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) at a press conference today announced what he called an “American Energy Initiative,” legislation that would encourage more oil-and-gas exploration, streamlining of the permit process to  allow  the first new nuclear reactors in decades to be built, and legislation to block the EPA’s climate-change regulations. With prices at the pump up more than ten percent in just one month, Boehner criticized the Obama administration’s policies on energy, saying that the administration has “consistently blocked” domestic energy production. The GOP has criticized the Obama administration for preventing the resumption of deepwater drilling projects that the White House halted after last summer's BP oil spill.

 “As gas prices go up” said the Speaker, “the cost of everyday life goes up. It costs more to drive to work, it costs more to buy groceries, or just to get the kids to school.”

Continue reading on Examiner.com: House GOP takes on skyrocketing gas prices - San Francisco Conservative | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-san-francisco/house-gop-takes-on-skyrocketing-gas-prices#ixzz1GJfmwiad

Higher gas prices will cost Americans $700 more this year

March 10th, 2011 5:35 pm PT

The Energy Department said on Wednesday that the dramatic increase in the cost of oil on world markets will cost Americans over $700 more this year. According to a Reuters story, the department’s Energy Information Administration said:

The average U.S. household will spend about $700 more for gasoline in 2011 than it spent last year, bringing total motor fuel expenses up 28 percent to $3,235, based on an annual pump price of $3.61 a gallon.

The department said that it expects the average retail cost to rise again, and to hit $3.71 during the peak driving season as the public takes to the road this summer, almost a dollar more than last year’s summer price. The rapidly increasing cost of fuel has spurred action in the House of Representatives, where Speaker John Boehner announced an “American Energy Initiative” at a news conference this afternoon (see story).  Boehner said he plans to quickly move legislation through the House that would “encourage more oil-and-gas exploration.”

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Higher gas prices will cost Americans $700 more this year - San Francisco Conservative | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-san-francisco/higher-gas-prices-will-cost-americans-700-more-this-year#ixzz1GJfHV6rP

California voters test new primary rules today

• March 8th, 2011 4:25 pm PT

In last November’s election California voters approved a ballot measure, Proposition 14, under which only the two candidates receiving the most votes  ̶  regardless of party  ̶  would advance to the general election.   Proponents claimed the new system would force candidates to moderate their views, though there is no evidence of that in states where it’s been implemented. The likely result, as I pointed out in an earlier column, is the institution of one party rule in most of the state, and the elimination of third party candidates. The new primary system effectively creates Republican ghettoes, California’s minority party –its political Jews–allowed to keep to themselves, under the supervision of the Gauleiters of the state.  

Today’s election for the Fourth Assembly District in Alpine county marks the first application of this absurd system. The least populated of California’s counties, the Sierra Nevada district is heavily Republican. A field of eight candidates is vying for the seat vacated by Republican Ted Gaines, who was elected to the Senate, and only one Democrat is listed. Oddly enough, his name is at the top of the non-alphabetical list of certified candidates in Secretary of State Debra Bowen’s declaration.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: California voters test new primary rules today - San Francisco Conservative | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-san-francisco/california-voters-test-new-primary-rules-today#ixzz1GJeWDBIz

California budget talks collapse

• March 7th, 2011 5:48 pm PT

The five Republican state senators who have been negotiating with California’s Democratic Governor Jerry Brown have thrown in the towel, declaring that the talks have reached an impasse. In a letter from the five to the governor that was released today, the senators said that Brown had engaged them in talks in a serious manner, but that it was clear he was unable to get what they called “other stakeholders” to agree to reforms necessary to “create jobs, require responsible state spending, eliminate abusive pension practices, and implement meaningful governmental reforms.” The state faces a shortfall of over $25 billion, and Brown, in his second stint in the governor’s office, is proposing a combination of budget cuts and tax increases and tax extensions to close the gap.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: California budget talks collapse - San Francisco Conservative | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-san-francisco/california-budget-talks-collapse#ixzz1GJe3i1Ju

Brown budget proposal gets endorsement from business group

March 5th, 2011 2:39 pm PT
California Governor Jerry Brown met with the Executive Committee of the Bay Area Council and picked up the group’s endorsement of his budget proposal. Emerging from a meeting at the Bank of America building, Council CEO & President Jim Wunderman termed the talks tough, but refreshing and honest. “California’s budgets of the recent past have violated every principle of fiscal responsibility by conjuring up billions of dollars in fake revenues and pushing hard decisions off until ‘next year.’  The day of reckoning has finally arrived, and the only way through it is with a spirit of shared sacrifice and grownup behavior.” Wunderman went on to say that not everything Brown proposed was to the group’s liking.   “Our members don’t like the higher taxes, which run counter to expanding business and jobs in the state.  But on balance, we need to be part of the solution and we support the Governor’s proposal overall.”

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Brown budget proposal gets endorsement from business group - San Francisco Conservative | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-san-francisco/brown-budget-proposal-gets-endorsement-from-business-group#ixzz1GJdbPmuE