April 23, 2011

"Obama Raises Celebrity Cash, But Trip Goes Off Script."

NPR reports:
During a fancy breakfast at San Francisco's St. Regis Hotel, donors at one table stood up and complained in song: "We paid our dues/Where's our change?"

... On Wednesday night at the big San Francisco rally, Obama said... "I know there are times where some of you have felt frustrated because we haven't gotten everything done as fast as we wanted"...

People in the audience started to shout: Gay marriage! Clean energy! Single-payer health care!...

"See there. Case in point, right? All right. See, I knew I'd open up this can of worms," the president said...

73 comments:

pauldar said...

If I only had 76,000 dollars to throw away I too could have sang the President my song, only, my song would would have been about something quite different

Unknown said...

did he just call them worms? i thought that's what he called conservatives!

Bartender Cabbie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bartender Cabbie said...

Some of those on the far left seem to think that just because a "liberal" was elected then things would automatically go their way. Childre!! The don't seem to understand the give and take of politics in the real world. Many of these celeb types are not smart enough to be hired as a personal arse wiper anyway. Their opinions are worth less than those of the local high school student working part time as a stock clerk.

John henry said...

Pauldar:

It did not cost them $76m to buy the table. Reports are that the event was not well attended and those who signed up later got a bargain price.

The singing table cost $5,000 for the whole table

John Henry

Freeman Hunt said...

"F-A-I, L-E-D, That's what we want our state to be!"

They would have needed pom-poms though.

Michael K said...

He is working on shoring up his left with some of his recent attacks on Ryan, etc. That would be OK if it wasn't for the fact that the country is in dire trouble. He is all tactics and he isn't very good at that.

Bob Ellison said...

Reminiscent of that time when someone sang the same song to George Bush, and the audience started shouting, "Flat tax! Secure border! Zero corporate income taxes!"

Michael said...

Our president is thin skinned. Incompetent. And a dipshit.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Someone said to me the other day "America is like a boxer on the ropes struggling to stay upright but its leaders are in a state of denial".

Anonymous said...
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ricpic said...

Didn't the boy wonder run on this can of worms? The gall of his base to want to have their can of worms and eat. Why that's reserved for the king!

ricpic said...

eat it

Anonymous said...

How about pink unicorns?

Liberals should get those, too.

Anonymous said...

The list is growing:

Gitmo: still open. FAIL

Troops Still in Iraq: 48,000. FAIL.

Troops Still in Afghanistan: 124,000. FAIL.

Third war started. Drone- killing of Muslims in Libya: 23. FAIL.

Patriot Act: Renewed. FAIL

Gays in military: Still required to not tell. FAIL.

Unemployment and underemployment: 20%. FAIL.

Foreclosures: Rising ... to 3 million in 2011. FAIL

Wall Street Fatcats: record bonus payouts. FAIL.

Main Street: No credit. FAIL.

AIG CEO: Paid millions. FAIL

GE: Still owes the US $30 billion. Pays no income tax. FAIL.

Chrysler: Out of business. FAIL.

States suffering budget deficits: 44. FAIL.

States increasing taxes: 44. FAIL.

Illinois income tax rate hike: 66% FAIL

Gay Marriage: Still against. FAIL

Illegal immigrants: Won't deport 'em. FAIL

ObamaCare: ruled unconstitutional! FAIL.

Why would any Democrat want to nominate this failure again? Shouldn't Hillary be given a chance?

Unknown said...

Obama: poor dear, stop whinning, you're here coughing up cash, that's enough "change" for me. Are you going to vote Republican? (wink, wink, oink, oink)

Unknown said...

The irony is that the City by the Bay is the one that designated him a Lightworker (I still don't know what that is supposed to mean).

Well, maybe he is. Slow but sure, he's making everybody hate him.

PS Ut, you forgot GE profits jumped 77% this quarter while not paying any taxes.

Also, having taken over GM in defiance of the Constitution and the will of the people and run it his way, Little Zero is going to divest his ownership, throwing under the bus those 3 million jobs the Lefties told us only Conservatives would allow go down the drain, with a considerable loss to the taxpayer.

MadisonMan said...

Whiners.

They are everywhere.

Cedarford said...

"Clean energy, gay marriage, single payer care. Now!"

Liberals are like children screaming at the adult for their version of "Pizza! Ice cream! Money for the Mall"....Where Obama and government replaces parents in dishing out the begged for free goodies.

(Not that far Right people are immune from their own childlike pleas - Please cult Goddesses Palin and Bachmann - we want more wars to help people, less taxes, don't touch my military, social security, or medicare though!!)

I do notice the absolute absence of any blubbering by the SF Lefties about "dead hero soldiers" now that Obama has 3 wars going. Or any talk about GITMO or "precious dead murdered Talibani babies butchered extrajudicially by the tyrant President launching missiles at them". Which suggests the whole while they were on their precious little terrorist rights lovefest and demanding to pose next to coffins arriving at Dover and putting up their cute little fake cemeteries for the "Dead Heroes" - the Left and the Progressive Jewish dominated media never cared about that. Or the "victims" they championed.

It was all to serve the anti-Bush narrative.

Alex said...

How's that dead-cat bounce working for Obama?

Derve Swanson said...

He gave us drones over Africa...

What more do these people want??

Unknown said...

Cedarford said...

...

(Not that far Right people are immune from their own childlike pleas - Please cult Goddesses Palin and Bachmann - we want more wars to help people, less taxes, don't touch my military, social security, or medicare though!!)

You've been taking the Kos trolls way too seriously. A lot of conservatives want out of A-stan and think Libya was a really bad idea, and plenty who take Rand Paul's ideas on entitlements to heart.

Try again.

RuyDiaz said...

*Sigh*

PS Ut, you forgot GE profits jumped 77% this quarter while not paying any taxes.

That is because GE use a carryforward; they had lost money in a previous year, and they used the credit this tax year. It is a tax deduction available to all businesses. There is nothing nefarious about it.

Anonymous said...

Freeman, having lived in Seattle for many years, I assure you the actors don't look at Obama as a failure, but simply the first step toward social justice, speaking truth to power, equality etc. He's their best shot, but the converted don't even realize this, so they punish him. It's really that bad.

Much like the notorious Robert Cook,many would dismantle most everything that functions in our society if they had their way, punish their enemies, become the authoritarians many of them are inside... before they'd even stop to think what they're doing.

It will be fun to watch Obama court them to get re-elected, and I hope it happens a visibly as possible, so many undecideds will see what their vote has really gotten them.

Jeanne Patterson said...

The blood in my veins turned to ice last night when I heard on the radio that at one event some people were chanting "5 1/2 More Years".

Alex said...

3 more terms for King Obama. mmm mmm mmm Barack Hussein Obama.

RuyDiaz said...

This is the most chilling sentence from the article:

In Reno, he announced that the Justice Department will investigate fraud and manipulation in the oil and gas markets.

The bunch of highly credentialed morons around the President, and the President himself, actually believe this crap. It is not a cynical move; they actually believe that high gas prices are the result of a conspiracy by refiners or retailers, and not the result of market forces and OPEC opportunism.

Pardon the blasphemy, but JESUS. FRIGGING. CHRIST.

LilyBart said...

This is the most chilling sentence from the article:

In Reno, he announced that the Justice Department will investigate fraud and manipulation in the oil and gas markets.


Its like we're in some Randian novel.

Carol_Herman said...

You mean you can "buy" gay marriage with chump change? Or change to a chump?

The health care "thing-y" once it was opened, destroyed Nancy Pelosi.

Obviously, though Nancy Pelosi and Kloppenhoppen now represent ALL democrapic female candidates.

ONE: Not in touch with reality.

TWO: Bogus botox. Erases their poker tells, or so they think.

Given that in 1776 when we first formed a new government, the idea took hold that candidates should mud-wrestle, or compete for their posts.

Sure. You can score this game! It is always in play. Back around 1898, by a fluke, the first Progressive ended up in the White House. His name was Theodore Roosevelt. Then, Taft came in. And, coming back from a safari, where he was shooting elephants, Teddy Roosevelt came back to the States, and tried to wrest the presidential nomination from the incumbent Taft.

Here's how the whole 20th Century went down: Winner. Democraps. Losers: Republicans. Progressives? Big winners! Even though one of the republican losers, HARDING, selected President Taft (who was now an ex-president), to sit in one of the nine supreme court seats.

FDR wins. HATES the conservative supreme court. And, tries a "court packing" manuever around this, by trying to increase the seating at the supreme-O's small table. (This failed.)

But FDR had 4 terms. And, enough time to switch ALL those seated robed wonders to the new "ethic."

The first four are rather famous. Each one was liberal. But none of them shared a map, together. Arriving at various liberal destinations ... and, basically, changing the laws as we know them. To this day.

The good news is that the democraps have run out of talent.

The bad news? Well, no one wants a republican who is also a politician. We've seen this give rise to strangers.

So, it wasn't only the wild west that got changed when strangers strode into town.

We've seen Perot. Heck, we've seen Woodrow Wilson (in books). And, we're gonna see Trump.

Usually, at horse races the horses way outside have little change galloping to victory. Call it "The Center" however ... and this changes everything.

Martha said...

RuyDiaz said: This is the most chilling sentence from the article:

In Reno, he announced that the Justice Department will investigate fraud and manipulation in the oil and gas markets.


Fox News headline said it all: Obama Calls for Investigation of Supply and Demand

RuyDiaz said...

Martha;

The thing is... OPEC is a Cartel. They actually engage on an open conspiracy to increase oil prices, and succeed to a large extent. They announce cutbacks and quotas. They crow when oil prices go up....

And Eric Holder's Justice Department wants to investigate refiners and retailers.

(Stream of invective omitted.0

Unknown said...

RuyDiaz said...

*Sigh*

PS Ut, you forgot GE profits jumped 77% this quarter while not paying any taxes.

That is because GE use a carryforward; they had lost money in a previous year, and they used the credit this tax year. It is a tax deduction available to all businesses. There is nothing nefarious about it.


Keep your sighs to yourself, pal.

Not all of us are financial mavens. This was, nonetheless a big bone of contention for many (WSJ, The Wrap), the sale of NBC and Universal being the featured issue.

Roger J. said...

We have a jug eared idiot running the country and doing a damn poor job of it--

Oh well--we get what we vote for

back to my austrian lessons--and next semester I will be taking geography to learn about the 57 states

Der Hahn said...

But Trip Goes Off Script

Nice of them to finally admit that the majority of his encounters with the voting public are staged.

John henry said...

If Obama is going to investigate speculation and manipulation in the oil market (probably in gold too) he should ask his friend Bill Clinton.

I suspect, based on circumstantial evidence since it is a rather opaque Swiss company, that the oil prices are being raised by the former Marc Rich and Company. Now called Glencore.

You may remember Marc Rich. He was the felon that Clinton pardoned the day before he left office.

Glencore has a huge IPO coming out in the next few weeks. One of the largest in history. Their business is oil and commodities. The higher the price, the more Rich et al (Including Willie?) will rake in.

I predict significantly lower oil prices by 30-60 days after the IPO pops.

John Henry

DADvocate said...

Anything other than "worship me and give me money" is off script for Obama.

gk1 said...

2 years into his term and he's getting heckeled by his own base. Not good.

I'm Full of Soup said...

And AG, Eric Holder, was the WH counsel who rubber stamped the Marc Rich pardon in the last days of Clinton's presidency.

Steven said...

The irony is that the City by the Bay is the one that designated him a Lightworker (I still don't know what that is supposed to mean).

Lightworker? That's just like a Lightbringer, only organized by a union.

SteveR said...

He will be renominated and they will vote for him.

AllenS said...

It's beyond my comprehension why anyone would still support this man. And that includes the right and left side of politics.

RuyDiaz said...

edutcher;

This is what happened:

1) The NYT runs a hit piece on GE.

2) Lefty blogosphere repeats the inuendo.

3) GE CEO attempted to set the record straight through a letter to the New York Times, but the inuendo continued.

You, among many others, continued to repeat the inuendo, only in this case turned it against Obama.

The information is available on the internet to those willing to look for it. You don't need to be a financial maven to understand it. I fully stand behind the sigh.

Anonymous said...

Ut, as usual, you’re cherry picking your evidence. What about these indisputable facts of his successes:

Garden planted at the WH: Done

Putting those overreaching hanger-oner Brits back in their place: Done

Finally apologizing to the world for America’s past arrogance and sins: Done

Bowing and scraping to foreign dictators: Done

Killing several dangerous pirates: Done

Two strokes off his golf handicap: Done

Mayor Rahm!: Done

A cash infusion of $800B to friends and supporters under the guise of stimulus: Done

Wagging finger at Wall Street bank officers and board members: Done

Done

Subverting the rule of law in the priority hierarchies of the car company bankruptcies: Done

Subverting the rule of law by ignoring Federal Court rulings: Done

Subverting the rule of law by selective enforcement by race: Done

Mending U.S. race relations with a stiff garden beer party: Done

Pretending that America is still a good credit risk: Done

Conning the younger generation to pay even more for the insatiable baby boomers extravagance and entitlements: Done

This has, by any account, been a very busy term.

Martha said...

According to Forbes.com,

"There is no need to repair to conspiracy to answer the question about why gasoline prices are going up. The loss of Libyan crude--about 2% of global supply--has reduced the amount of oil available in the market and gasoline prices track global crude oil prices.

Prices must necessarily rise to reduce global oil consumption because we can't consume what isn't there. How much do prices need to rise to reduce oil consumption by 2%? It takes a big increase in gasoline prices to get us to drive even a little less. Economists estimate that prices must rise anywhere from 10 to 20 times the percentage reduction in quantity to reduce demand enough to equal the lower supply. Thus for a 2% supply reduction, prices must rise between 20% and 40%. Average gasoline prices have risen 20% since early February, on the low end of what economists predict.

So put away the torches and pitchforks."

Obama calls for Commissions to investigate the rising debt, rising gas prices or for that matter any looming problem/disaster because he has no idea or will to actually solve any problem.

Automatic_Wing said...

Wait, I thought Obama viewed high gas prices as good thing. Supposed to bring on a glorious future where we all bike to work and take solar powered high speed trains when we want to go out of town. Something like that.

Unknown said...

I guess it's those awful speculators causing the 12% unemployment in CA. The liberal elite inside the tent didn't notice that, or they just kept it to themselves in the presence of El Jeffe?

TosaGuy said...

I would support a tax hike on just the people in that room.

It can be called the "Hope and Change Tax"

Anna said...

Will the DoJ investigate Ken Salazar about his moratorium on Gulf of Mexico drilling? That had an impact on domestic oil production and contributed to a rise in unemployment.

Because Holder runs the DoJ, such an investigation will not happen. As a result, the gangster government of Obama will continue - punishing those out of favor while protecting cronies.

AllenS said...

Talk is cheap... unless it's obama opening his mouth.

WV: cycar

That what he wants YOU to drive.

Rumpletweezer said...

A real leader would be preparing everyone for shared sacrifice. What is he doing? He's preparing the battlefield space for "us" versus "them." He's a damned fool. And we're damned fools for having elected him.

PaulV said...

RuyDiaz said...
*Sigh*

PS Ut, you forgot GE profits jumped 77% this quarter while not paying any taxes.

That is because GE use a carryforward; they had lost money in a previous year, and they used the credit this tax year. It is a tax deduction available to all businesses. There is nothing nefarious about it.

4/23/11 10:40 AM

Double sigh RuyDiaz! You fell for GE proproganda. They have made money during recession.
GE has reportedpositive earning for quite some time. They use other means to avoid paying taxes.
LINK to see facts
http://www.dailyfinance.com/earnings/general-electric-company/ge/nys/actuals-estimates

I'm Full of Soup said...

Testing 1 2 3. Is this thing on?

Chip S. said...

OK AJ...

Wait, I thought Obama viewed high gas prices as good thing.

Only if they're high because of taxes or cap'n trade. Otherwise, somebody's stealing the tax base from under O's nose.

Cedarford said...

"AllenS said...
It's beyond my comprehension why anyone would still support this man. And that includes the right and left side of politics."

=============
It depends.
If you are in the half of the US population that no longer pays income taxes but want free goodies from those who do, he is a rational choice.
If you are in the tens of millions in government employee unions local, state, Federal - Obama is definitely for you.

The rest of the populace is going to do a wait and see on who the Republicans come up with as an alternative.

It's not like the country's huge fiscal problems started with Obama. You can take many back to not just the failed Presidency of Dubya and his fiscal recklessness - but to Reagans supply side voodoo economics, Clinton's free trade globalism, and LBJ's Great Society entitlements.

It's not like Obama got us in interminable wars that were supposed to be brief and not cost us much. That was Dubya and the Neocons. Obama added a stupid war, but McCain was eager for war with Iran, war with US troops helping "noble Georgians" fighting Russians, and loves Obama's new Libyan war.

If the Republican Base comes up with a Palin or Bachmann - the idependents shift Democrat in droves. Just like they did facing the guaranteed dismal, war-hungry McCain candidacy.

Brian Brown said...

the Justice Department will investigate fraud and manipulation in the oil and gas markets.

Yeah, a bunch of objective observers who are economic geniuses in that crowd!

Note that Obama doesn't mention his bombing of Libya and its effect on oil futures...

The Crack Emcee said...

Trip Goes Off Script?

How many times do I have to tell him:

When you're in San Francisco, stay on the bitter clingers!

Sheesh.

As for for the rest of you, I already explained the Lightworker thing.

Double sheesh. (Even if Steven did get it right.)

Fred4Pres said...

I guess those lefty contributors were not in on the joke.

james conrad said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
james conrad said...

Mr. O has gotta go, he's just not getting the job done. There is more to being a president than reading a script off a tele-prompter, who knew?

AllenS said...

C4--

I made $13,348 last year. I paid $303 in Federal taxes.

Don't tell me us poor people don't pay taxes. I don't know where this bullshit comes from.

Anonymous said...

I still do not understand why as a Nepalese who is a US citizen, working for a defense contractor I have to show my birth certificate before taking every new assignment. If I run for office - any office - then I can get elected. Then I show nothing. Is this right?

vbspurs said...

America's Politico wrote:

If I run for office - any office - then I can get elected. Then I show nothing. Is this right?

If we're talking about Obama and his blasted birth certificate, that's false.

Dr Chiyome Fukimi (appointed by Republican Governor Lingle to be director of the Dept of Health in Hawaii) saw the original BC in October 2008, then later in in 2009.

Everything checked out, including the doctor who delivered the Obama baby.

Honestly, what a silly topic.

vbspurs said...

-Fukimi +Fukino.

vbspurs said...

James Conrad wrote:

Mr. O has gotta go

If we can set this to an I Like Ike-type campaign ditty, it could prove to be effective at rallies.

OTOH, look what Drill baby Drill has got us so far -- $5.00 gas.

Known Unknown said...

I still do not understand why as a Nepalese who is a US citizen, working for a defense contractor I have to show my birth certificate before taking every new assignment. If I run for office - any office - then I can get elected. Then I show nothing. Is this right?

America's Politico goes off script, too.

Known Unknown said...

OTOH, look what Drill baby Drill has got us so far -- $5.00 gas.

Where are we drilling that we weren't 2 years ago?

I am anxious for an answer.

vbspurs said...

EM, you misunderstand. I meant that a "catchy" (maybe, okay maybe not) slogan got us precisely no where WRT to drilling.

Toad Trend said...

Gimme gimme gimme

WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!

(the sound emanating from the gullet of Obama voters country-wide).

Toad Trend said...

Did the teleprompter crash again?

Its truly precious how Zero reflexively defaults to the hackneyed demagoguery of the left.

A sight to behold.

EnigmatiCore said...

It is not a cynical move; they actually believe that high gas prices are the result of a conspiracy by refiners or retailers, and not the result of market forces and OPEC opportunism.

Why on earth would there be gas stations in Florida near the airports with prices above $5.00 a gallon, when here in the sticks and far away from easy delivery we are at $4.00? They were talking about it on the news today.

The gouging is a drop in the bucket, but that does not mean we should let it slide.

Anonymous said...

In what way is the proposition "there is gouging near the airport but not elsewhere" less mysterious than "the market price is $5.00 near the airport but not elsewhere"?

Saint Croix said...

And AG, Eric Holder, was the WH counsel who rubber stamped the Marc Rich pardon in the last days of Clinton's presidency.

That's frickin' hilarious. Eric Holder investigates and finds that Marc Rich is manipulating oil prices. So he writes a memo and Obama has to pardon him again.

Lance said...

we haven't gotten everything done as fast as we wanted

He claimed (in 2009) he didn't want single-payer healthcare, after having promised (in 2008) he would impose single-payer healthcare.

"Uh, Mr. President, there's smoke coming from your pants..."