White House Open to Global Currency?

Last night, President Barack Obama expressed confidence in the dollar and declared: "I don't believe that there's a need for a global currency."

Normally, that would settle the issue. But in the past 24 hours two of Obama's top economic advisers have signaled an openness to such a new global currency -- in one form or another. What's going on?

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/03/white_house_open_to_global_cur.asp

To GIVE and To SERVE: The $6 Billion National Service Boondoggle

Maybe it's just me, but I find federal legislation titled "The GIVE Act" and "The SERVE Act" downright creepy. Even more troubling: the $6 billion price tag on these bipartisan bills to expand government-funded national service efforts.

Volunteerism is a wonderful thing, which is why millions of Americans do it every day without a cent of taxpayer money. But the volunteerism packages on the Hill are less about promoting effective charity than about creating make-work, permanent bureaucracies and left-wing slush funds.

The House passed the "Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act" — or the GIVE Act — last week. The Senate took up the companion SERVE Act Tuesday afternoon. According to a Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Senate bill (S.277), it would cost "$418 million in 2010 and about $5.7 billion over the 2010-2014 period."

Like most federal programs, these would be sure to grow over time. The bills reauthorize the Clinton-era AmeriCorps boondoggle program and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973.

The programs have already been allocated $1.1 billion for fiscal year 2009, including $200 million from the porkulus package signed into law last month. In addition to recruiting up to 250,000 enrollees in AmeriCorps, the GIVE/SERVE bills would create new little armies of government volunteers, including a Clean Energy Corps, Education Corps, Healthy Futures Corps, Veterans Service Corps, and an expanded National Civilian Community Corps for disaster relief and energy conservation.

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/michelle/malkin032509.php3?printer_friendly

Teleprompter King

GLENN: I saw the Barack Obama speech last night anytime telling you blood shot out of my eyes which did -- first of all, let me just, may I have an ADD moment here before we get into the meat and potatoes of everything. Is it bothering anybody else about the TelePrompTer? The TelePrompTer is really, really, really bothering me only because I have never seen -- I mean, we're looking for a guy who's real, who's himself, who's just like -- well, I got news for you, gang. I do three hours a day without a TelePrompTer. You know, the president is worried about, you know, well, one word can, you know, trip him up. Well, you don't think people like me or Rush or Sean are worried about that as well? You don't think people in talk radio know that there are people that have been hired to transcribe every word I say to be able to distort it, to take it out of context and use it against me.

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/23188/

EU Presidency: Obama Plans 'a Way to Hell'

A top European Union politician on Wednesday slammed U.S. plans to spend its way out of recession as "a way to hell."

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, told the European Parliament that President Barack Obama's massive stimulus package and banking bailout "will undermine the stability of the global financial market."

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,510445,00.html

The Incredible Shrinking Dollar

The one thing tonight is a question: why?

Why is no one in the media or government speaking out when huge U.N. countries — like China, Russia and France — publicly attack the U.S. dollar and support dropping it as the world's currency?

Maybe it's because most people simply don't understand the consequences of what that would mean for America.

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/23146/

NRSC launches direct attack on Obama

Republicans are increasingly trying to create a wedge between President Obama and Candidate Obama in a growing campaign to undermine his ambitious agenda.

In advance of his primetime news conference Tuesday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee unveiled an ad, entitled, “Change We Can Believe In?” that attacks Obama for flip-flopping on spending, taxes, earmarks and his handling of the lavish bonuses for AIG. The internet ad takes Candidate Obama sound bites and contrasts comments made by broadcast journalists suggesting the opposite.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/20417.html

Obama Upgrade: Teleprompters Swapped for Giant TV Monitor for News Conference

He read that opening statement from one massive TV monitor from the back and middle of the East Room. White House officials removed the normal glass teleprompters that usually are positioned on both sides of the podium. That change likely a reaction to the focus on the President's heavy use of teleprompters.


http://www.breitbart.tv/html/304123.html

Brawl over Obama budget brews in Congress

Barack Obama is preparing for one of the toughest fights of his young presidency as Congress begins work on a budget that may trim his spending plans but back his healthcare, energy and education proposals.

Obama will meet fellow Democrats in the Senate on Wednesday to try to shore up support for a budget blueprint that likely would increase the deficit more than initially estimated by the White House -- it was forecast at $1.4 trillion for next year.


http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USTRE52G3OX20090324

Grassley: Budget freeze to stop 'socialism'

The top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee on Monday said an across-the-board freeze on federal spending is needed to reel in President Obama´s massive budget plan, signaling a more active Republican stance in fighting the president's agenda.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, also said the president is pursuing a "socialist" form of government that will stifle the free market.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/24/grassley-urges-budget-freeze-on-socialist-trend/print/

Bernanke: I Wanted to Sue AIG to Halt Bonus Payments

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Tuesday that he tried to prevent American International Group from paying out lavish bonuses, and even asked that the company be sued to halt the payments, but was advised against it.

Bernanke told lawmakers at a tense House Financial Services Committee hearing that he found it "highly inappropriate" for the bailed-out insurer to pay $165 million in bonuses to the very division that was "the primary source of AIG's collapse."

He said he was told the payments could not be stopped because of contractual obligations -- but he was also warned that legal action, which he wanted to pursue, could end up awarding the same employees more money in punitive damages.

"I then asked that suit be filed to prevent the payments," Bernanke said. "Legal staff counseled against this action on the grounds that Connecticut law provides for substantial punitive damages if the suit would fail. Legal action does have the perverse effect of doubling or tripling the financial benefits to the (employees)."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/24/bernanke-says-wanted-sue-aig-halt-bonus-payments/

Our enemies sense weakness

President Obama's stewardship of the national security portfolio to date amounts to a wrecking operation, a set of policies he must understand will not only weaken the United States but embolden our foes. After all, the communist agitator Saul Alinsky, a formative influence in Mr. Obama's early years as a “community organizer,” made the following Rule No. 1 in his 1971 book “Rules for Radicals” — “Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/24/our-enemies-sense-weakness/print/

Global Warming Is Running Out of Hot Air

The coldest winter in a decade in many places, with snow in unlikely cities such as New Orleans, has deflated some of the hot air in global warming. And a heavy snowfall that paralyzed Washington, D.C., upstaged a mass demonstration scheduled to promote global warming.

Nevertheless, according to Al Gore and the mainstream media, "the debate is over" proving that global warming exists, that humans are causing it and that "science is settled."

But 680 of the world's leading scientists, economists and policy analysts, who met March 8-10 in New York City for the second Heartland International Conference, beg to differ. The title of the conference expressed their doubts: "Global Warming: Was It Ever Really a Crisis?"

These authorities assert that scientists worldwide do not agree that global warming is human induced (in scientific lingo, anthropogenic). They do not even agree that the Earth is still warming.

Many scientists and other observers have come to realize that global warming is no longer a question of science but is all about politics and money. Their slogan, cap-and-trade, was best explained by House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, as "a carbon tax that will increase taxes on all Americans who drive a car, who have a job, who turn on a light switch."

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?print=yes&id=31198

Obama nudges Congress to empower regulatory units

President Barack Obama says he hopes "it doesn't take too long" to convince Congress to approve new authority to oversee financial firms.

The administration is pushing the idea of an overarching regulator, such as the Federal Reserve, to have the ability to take over nonbank financial entities whose failure could topple the entire financial system.

Obama spoke to reporters about the matter in the Oval Office Tuesday after meeting with visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Obama heads to London next week for a meeting on the global crisis with the leaders of the Group of 20 major world economies.

http://www.breitbart.com/print.php?id=D974GU800&show_article=1

Grassley: Obama budget step toward 'socialism'

President Obama's budget of tax hikes to pay for massive new spending programs is a "trend toward socialism" that will stifle a creative free market, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee said in an interview Monday.

Sen. Charles Grassley, Iowa Republican, also criticized the new president for going back on campaign promises to run an open and transparent government, citing Mr. Obama's use of a presidential "signing statement" on the recent stimulus law unilaterally cutting back protections for federal whistleblowers.

"I'm just telling you a president who said he was going to be the most transparent president, the most open president ought to stick with it," Mr. Grassley told reporters and editors at The Washington Times. The signing statement was "completely contrary to what he said in the campaign."

While saying he was open to working with the new president on key agenda items such as health care, the five-term conservative lawmaker directly attacked Mr. Obama on a number of fronts, from his handling of the economic crisis and relations with Congress to taking time to predict the winners of the college basketball tournament live on national television.

"We should just be asking the president to not be a showman, to be on ["Tonight Show host Jay] Leno or other things that detract from what he's doing, like bracketing the NCAA game. Those are distractions," he said.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/23/grassley-obama-budget-step-toward-socialism/print/

YOU'RE PROBABLY A TERRORIST IF....

You're probably a terrorist if you supported former presidential candidates like Ron Paul, Bob Barr, or Chuck Baldwin. The guy with the flip-charts doesn't count. Yet.

You're probably a terrorist if you're against the New World Order, the North American Union, and those united numbskulls, the UN. Reading Tom Clancy novels doesn't help your case.

You're probably a terrorist if you're against abortion, against illegal immigration, and against gun control. If you're just against paying taxes you could be a terrorist unless you're a member of the presidential cabinet or a congressional representative, then you're excused.

http://www.naplesnews.com/blogs/observation_post/2009/mar/22/terroristdefentry/

I Am Asking You to Trust Yourself

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/23097/

U.S. Seeks Expanded Power to Seize Firms

The Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, according to an administration document.

The government at present has the authority to seize only banks.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/23/AR2009032302830_pf.html

Glenn Beck - Another sign you are in a militia: Congressman Paul

GLENN: From Radio City in Midtown Manhattan, third most listened to show in all of America. Hello, you sick twisted freak. Welcome to the program. My name is Glenn Beck. Mr. Ron Paul, Congressman Ron Paul is with us now. Congressman, are you now or have you ever been a member of the libertarian party?

RON PAUL: Boy, that's a tricky question. If I answer honestly, could I be in trouble? That's the big question.

GLENN: Well, I wanted to know if you answer yes to that and you happen to have a Ron Paul bumper sticker on your car, you're definitely a militia member.

RON PAUL: Uh-oh. Well, since this is a public record, I have to tell you the truth. Yes, I have been a member.

GLENN: Are you -- do you have a Ron Paul bumper sticker on your car?

RON PAUL: Yes, I do.

GLENN: Oh, boy.

RON PAUL: That too --

GLENN: You just stay on the phone. We're tracing the call right now. You just stay on the phone.

RON PAUL: Yeah, but you may be traced as well for bringing up the subject.

GLENN: I know. Oh, I know they are tracing my calls.

RON PAUL: You better be careful, too.

GLENN: Listen, Congressman, there was this story that came out last week about Missouri where they did this study on who's a militia member, and there were some pretty remarkable things in there. For instance, if you have a Ron Paul bumper sticker on your car, that's a sign. If you talk about the Constitution, if you're against the United Nations, if you've ever passed along cartoons against the FBI, ATF or IRS, that's another sign. I mean, it's -- this is insane.

RON PAUL: You know, they are really taking on something. I don't know how they can handle this. Hopefully this will awaken the American people because I think I saw a poll the other day where 25% of the American people now think the UN is not a good idea and we should be out of it. What are they going to do? Round us all up or what?

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/23082/

Soon there may be nobody left to lend to America

Anyone who thought Ben Bernanke and his Federal Reserve Board colleagues were out of ammunition received a rude, or pleasant, shock last week. Rude, if you worry that a few extra trillions sloshing around the economy might one day trigger a wave of inflation; pleasant, if you worry that the economy is sinking fast, and the Obama administration and Congress haven’t a clue what to do about it.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article5950258.ece?print=yes&randnum=1237825448457

Judge Blocks Rule Permitting Concealed Guns In U.S. Parks

A federal judge yesterday blocked a last-minute rule enacted by President George W. Bush allowing visitors to national parks to carry concealed weapons.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by gun-control advocates and environmental groups. The Justice Department had sought to block the injunction against the controversial rule.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/19/AR2009031902801_pf.html