So the Dems on Capitol Hill are complaining that the White House is not providing the kind of leadership on Health Care that they want to see.

Frustration is mounting among Capitol Hill Democrats over what they say is the White House’s lack of direction in how to resolve a potentially crippling impasse in health care reform negotiations.

In particular, aides working on reform in both chambers are disappointed that President Obama has failed to push House lawmakers to get on board a strategy to pass the Senate’s bill on the condition that it would be revised at a later date. They point out that outreach from the administration has been standard if not perfunctory, even after last week’s critical loss in the Senate election in Massachusetts.

“We’re growing pretty frustrated,” said one Democratic Hill aide. “We wish he would push harder on the House and explain to them that this is their only real political option.”

The sentiments were echoed in on-the-record comments from several senators themselves, who have lately been more prone to publicly criticize and second-guess White House strategy.

You would think that Democrats in Congress would see the writing on the wall. President Obama wants Health Care but he also wants to be able to blame Congressional Democrats when the American people see what this bill actually does. Obama wants to be able to pass the anger off to Congress so he is keeping his distance.

In this entertaining video created by Talking Points Memo, we see a cock-sure Obama reassuring anyone who will listen that Health Care will be passed in 2009. At one point he draws a comparison to the movie Thelma and Louise referencing the scene where they drive off the cliff together. Well, Mr President, I think its safe to say that this week you drove the health care car off the cliff with Scott Brown pushing you from behind in his truck!

Wall Street bonus time is upon us and the shameless Obama “populist witch hunt smear machine” that we have all come to know over the past year is getting warmed up. As if on queue, from almost every corner of the media, journalists came forth, pitchforks in hand. In their columns, blogs and on their viewer free shows they grumbled: “How outrageous that these greedy Wall Street fat cat bankers are getting bonuses when the people on Main Street who funded their rescue languish in a state of unemployment.”

The New York Times reported breathlessly:

Bank executives are grappling with a question that exasperates, even infuriates, many recession-weary Americans: Just how big should their paydays be? Despite calls for restraint from Washington and a chafed public, resurgent banks are preparing to pay out bonuses that rival those of the boom years. The haul, in cash and stock, will run into many billions of dollars.

Industry executives acknowledge that the numbers being tossed around — six-, seven- and even eight-figure sums for some chief executives and top producers — will probably stun the many Americans still hurting from the financial collapse and ensuing Great Recession.

Goldman Sachs is expected to pay its employees an average of about $595,000 apiece for 2009, one of the most profitable years in its 141-year history. Workers in the investment bank of JPMorgan Chase stand to collect about $463,000 on average.

Additionally, Christina Romer, who chairs the White House Council of Economic Advisers, appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union and chided government-assisted financial firms that plan to provide massive bonuses to workers. “For heaven’s sake, people, it does seem really ridiculous,” Romer said.

Given the assistance the financial sector received to rescue them from collapse, Romer said she hoped they “would have some sense” as they consider bonuses.

Banks did get tax payer assistance. In fact, the banks were forced to take tax payer assistance. There was no option. But, the agreement was clear: once the money was repaid, there would be no additional oversight in regard to compensation. So the banks, one by one and as quickly as possible, repaid the money. Mogan, Goldman, Citi, et al. were again free to compensate as they deemed appropriate.

But something was missing in all the heated write ups about compensation. What about Fannie and Freddie? Logic would lead one to believe that because these two firms lost so much taxpayer money, 111 billion so far, they must not be eligible for bonuses.

And that, dear reader, is where you would be mistaken.

The executives at Freddie and Fannie are getting large pay packages, very large packages. 10 times larger than the average compensation package being paid at Goldman Sachs.

From the Wall Street Journal:

A release from the Federal Housing Finance Agency that also fell in the Christmas Eve forest reports that, after presiding over a combined $24 billion in losses last quarter, Fannie CEO Michael Williams and Freddie boss Ed Haldeman are getting substantial raises. Each is now eligible for up to $6 million annually.

Freddie also has one of the world’s highest-paid human resources executives. Paul George’s total compensation can run up to $2.7 million. It must require a rare set of skills to spot executives capable of losing billions of dollars.

Where is Treasury’s pay czar when we actually need him? You guessed it, Fannie and Freddie are exempt from the rules applied to the TARP banks. The government gave away the game that these firms are no longer in the business of making profits when it announced that the CEOs will be paid entirely in cash, though it is discouraging that practice at other big banks.

That’s great news for the executives at Freddie and Fannie. No pesky stock to deal with. Cash only. I guess when you consider that the stock is worthless it makes sense. Another positive for these two men is the fact that while the other institutions currently under the purview of the pay czar have to meet revenue and performance targets, these men don’t need to deal with those kinds of annoying details.

Also from the Wall Street Journal:

The government has directed both companies to pursue money-losing strategies by modifying mortgages to prevent foreclosures. Most of their losses are still coming from subprime and Alt-A mortgage bets made during the boom, but Fannie reported last quarter that loan modifications resulted in $7.7 billion in losses, up from $2.2 billion the previous quarter.

The government wants taxpayers to think that these are profit-seeking companies being nursed back to health, like AIG. But at least AIG is trying to make money. Fan and Fred are now designed to lose money, transferring wealth from renters and homeowners to overextended borrowers.

Handsomely compensated to lose our money? Some people have all the luck…unfortunately, it’s not the US Taxpayer.

Under normal circumstances, I would classify this duplicitous behavior as utterly shameful. But after observing the Obama administration for the past year, this type of slimy behavior is filed in the “just another day at the office” category. It’s unfortunate that we have a community organizer in the Oval Office who is a master at creating populist outrage. It’s even more unfortunate that there are useful idiots among the American citizenry who buy into the lies and deception that our dear President is selling.

Following the near miss terrorist incident on Christmas day, I think its high time that we all stopped with the politically correct garbage and get serious. Forcing passengers to stay in their seats for a hour before the plane lands is a pathetic response to a serious threat.

What’s needed here is profiling, lots of it!

It seems strange to me that everytime I go through airport security, the TSA agents are searching people who look nothing like any terrorist I’ve ever seen. I know that may offend some of the delicate sensibilities of the people on the left. If that’s the case, tough. If you need to be offended in order to save lives, so be it. If you do find yourself offended by that statement, consider yourself part of the problem.

Doesn’t the TSA know what your typical terrorists looks like? Of course they do, they are just hamstrung by political correctness. They have no say in the matter. Some higher up came up with the rules. I can picture it now, after hours of “intense” meetings at the expense of you and me, some worthless bureaucrats have come to the conclusion that forcing us to soil our seats in the last hour of the flight is the answer. Bravo!

Just as an aside, dont we have an entire unit inside the FBI the focuses solely on profiling? They examine a crime, look for similarities with other crimes and try to build a profile of the possible perp? We pay these people large sums of money to perform this service for us. But, when it comes to terrorists, almost all of whom are Muslim, we dont have the ability to profile?
The policy is misguided, naive and dangerous. America is trying to battle these terrorists with one hand tied behind her back and blindfolded. God give us strength.

What do you think?

I’ve been listening to the conservative punditry over the past couple of days and I’m a little surprised by the outrage over the decision to put KSM on trial in NYC. Rush Limbaugh dedicated almost all of his first hour to this topic yesterday and Mark Levin made the case last week as to why this decision spits in the face of American legal precedent. The problem is that Rush and Mark are applying logic to this matter. They’re using history and facts to support their arguments. That’s all well and good but don’t expect to see Obama and the Attorney General playing on the same “history and facts” field. They can’t play on that field. If they did, they would lose.
This administration has clearly demonstrated that they have no respect for legal precedent, the founding documents or anything else that real red white and blue Americans cherish. If their actions over the last 11 months have not convinced anyone paying attention of that fact, we truly are doomed. I totally understand the frustration being expressed by Rush and Mark but we are talking about Eric Holder and Obama. What do you really expect from 2 men who think that the United States is the problem in the world? This trail is the perfect way for Obama and Holder to put America and the Bush administration on trial. The latest word is that KSM may actually represent himself. And why not? I would do the same if I were in his position. Since this case will be tried in a civilian court, KSM will have access to highly sensitive information that he otherwise would never get near. Talk about gathering information about your enemy! I’m sure Jihadists around the globe are laughing themselves silly watching the United States give away it most guarded secrets to the man who coordinated 9/11….all thanks to President Obama.
This actions of this administration have been both frustrating and infuriating since their early days in office. People voted for a man they didn’t know or understand and the media is largely to blame. All of this was clear to see based on the relationships that Obama held.
2010 needs to reverse the tide on this madness. Obama must lose his majorities in Congress or I fear irreconcilable damage will be done. Lets hope that whatever damage is done can be corrected or reversed once these people lose power.