Today (February 17, 2010) is the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s signing of the $787 billion stimulus bill, and the administration is putting on a hard sell for the American people. There will be a White House reception today to mark the anniversary. Later this week, Vice President Joe Biden and various cabinet secretaries will fan out across the country to host dozens of rallies touting the stimulus package’s success. Exactly what are they celebrating?

• President Obama told the American people that Congress had to pass the Democrat stimulus bill in order to keep unemployment from rising above 8%. After hundreds of billions of dollars were spent, unemployment hit 10% last year and remains near that figure today. On the most critical measurement of success laid down by the president, the bill is an abject failure. STRIKE ONE!
• In promoting the stimulus, President Obama promised us that the funds would be spent on timely, “shovel ready” projects. In spite of the financial emergency that necessitated the biggest spending bill in American history, if not world history, just one third of the stimulus funds have been spent. So much for “shovel ready.” More than 2.5 million Americans lost their jobs last year, while most of the stimulus money intended to “save or create” jobs went unspent. STRIKE TWO!
• President Obama promised us that the stimulus funds would not be wasted, and he named Vice President Biden “stimulus czar.” We now know hundreds of millions of stimulus dollars were spent to create jobs overseas. We learned that thousands of jobs were created in places that don’t exist. President Obama promised that 90% of the stimulus jobs would be created in the private sector. An analysis by the New York Times found “the data suggests that well over half of the jobs claimed so far have been in the public sector.”But, wait – there’s more. USA Today reports that billions of stimulus dollars are being spent on programs so inefficient or redundant that even Barack Obama wants to cut or eliminate them! Presumably, Joe “the Stimulus Czar” Biden knows the president’s budget priorities. How did you miss that, Joe? STRIKE THREE!

I could go on, but it’s not necessary. While the administration celebrates this colossal failure, the American people know better. Last week, a New York Times/CBS News poll found that six percent of Americans thought the stimulus bill had created jobs. And, no, that’s not a typo – just six in one hundred Americans believe the $787 billion bill did what it was supposed to do.

Instead of doing a victory lap around the country on the taxpayers’ dime, Obama and Biden ought to be apologizing for the biggest boondoggle in history. Instead, they are having a Marie Antoinette moment – while millions of Americans have lost their jobs, Obama is spending their money to create jobs overseas and grow the government. Now he wants to tell us what a great deal this has been!

I know there are some signs of growth and improved economic activity — “green shoots,” as economists like to call them. This is not proof that “Obamanomics” works. No matter how badly Washington wastes your money, our economy remains very vibrant. There are millions of entrepreneurs and hard working men and women who get up every day, go to work and do their best for their families. They invest, they work hard and they succeed in spite of government, not because of it. Sadly, that is a lesson that Washington liberals seem incapable of learning.

A few days ago I expressed my strong disagreement with the Obama Administration’s gutting of the U.S. space program to go back to the moon. I believe the decision puts the U.S. further down the path of national decline.

In an excellent column by Charles Krauthammer today, I was reminded that I missed one of the most disturbing results of this decision. By the end of 2010 we will have no U.S. manned space program. We will be earth bound. Russia has agreed to ferry astronauts from other countries, including the U.S., into low-earth orbit until the end of 2012. The space race that we won under JFK and Nixon is now being conceded to Russia and China.

Krauthammer writes, “Today the manned space program will die for want of $3 billion a year – 1/300th of last year’s stimulus package with its endless make-work projects that will leave not a trace on the national consciousness… Fifty years ago Kennedy opened the New Frontier. Obama has just shut it.”

Okay, folks, you have to sit down for this one. President Obama just did an interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek that was astonishing for its sheer audacity. He actually claimed that his administration has promoted a “fundamentally business-friendly agenda” and he said that he and his top officials are “fierce advocates” of free enterprise. No, this isn’t an early April Fool’s joke.

The president went on to say, “You would be hard pressed to identify a piece of legislation that we have proposed out there that, net, is not good for businesses.” Really? Not even one? I’ll take that challenge.

• How about promising to let the Bush tax cuts expire? I know Obama thinks this only hits the “rich,” but according to one report, Congress’ “Joint Committee on Taxation expects half of the revenue raised by the tax increase to fall on businesses that are taxed as individuals.”
• How about the government takeover of healthcare? House Democrats passed a socialized medicine bill that costs more than $1 trillion. It was paid for with a big tax hike that would negatively affect 60% of small businesses.
• How about cap and trade? The Obama Administration admits that this is a huge tax increase on families that would kill jobsbecause businesses would also face much higher electricity and transportation costs.
• How about his constant bashing of businesses? The CEO of Loews Corporation, which owns hotels, said Obama’s anti-business rhetoric did “a good job of killing” the travel industry. He added, “The criticism that took place of group travel was really a death knell for the industry. It’s easy for the politician to get the sound bite. What they are doing with those sound bites is putting maids and bellmen out of work.” Not to mention workers in related industries like restaurants and airlines.

I could go on, but that wouldn’t be fair. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.

Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs mocked Sarah Palin during his daily press briefing by writing a “grocery list” on his hand with the words, “milk, bread, eggs, hope, change.” Maybe the rest of us should write little notes on our hands like “9.7” and “$1.6 trillion.” When folks ask us what that means, we can explain that they are “reminders of Obama’s accomplishments – 9.7% unemployment and a record budget deficit for one year.”

Surprisingly, Gibbs’ little stunt failed to impress its intended audience – the usually sympathetic White House press corps. According to an Associated Press report, “Many in the room, where President Obama had spoken just moments before about the need for bipartisanship, groaned at the political shot.” Can you imagine the reaction if any Bush administration official had been so petty?

Whatever you may think about her, Palin has clearly gotten under the White House’s skin. Notice that they’re not mocking any other prominent conservative. I wonder why this White House seems so threatened by the former governor of Alaska?

Here’s another stunning example of President Obama’s refusal to reverse course after a mistake. You may recall that the administration announced it would transfer the accused 9/11 plotters, currently held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from military custody to the civilian courts and hold their trial in New York City, site of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil. There was a tremendous backlash from the people and local politicians that had the administration back peddling fast. The notion of 9/11 terror trials near Ground Zero was seemingly put to rest.

But Couric broached the subject during her Super Bowl pre-game interview, and Obama said, “I have not ruled it out, but I think it’s important for us to take into account the practical, logistical issues involved. I mean, if you have a city that is saying no, and a police department that is saying no, and a mayor that is saying no, that makes it difficult.”

That’s just like his response to socialized medicine. Even with overwhelming liberal majorities, Congress can’t get it done. The American people said no in town hall protests last summer. They’ve said no in poll after and poll since then. And Massachusetts voters shouted “Don’t you dare!” and denied Obama his cherished Senate supermajority. But Obama hasn’t gotten the message. Far from the “audacity of hope,” that’s the audacity of arrogance.

By the way, while the president is still pursuing the idea of civilian trials for admitted terrorists, I’d like to observe again that three Navy SEALS accused of giving a high profile terrorist a fat lip are being tried in a military tribunal – the same tribunals that Obama and his allies say would be unfair for terrorists. In what bizarre world do jihadists get more constitutional rights than our brave soldiers?

Media elites and pointy-headed leftwing intellectuals are having spasms this morning over Sarah Palin. What set them off this time? A liberal blogger discovered that Gov. Palin had written some “cheat” notes on her hand to use during her speech at the Tea Party convention this weekend. Every commentator in the country is using the incident to denounce her as stupid, non-intellectual, un-presidential and unserious. By the way, the “reminders” on her palm were “Energy,” “Cut taxes” and “Lift America’s spirits.” Oh the horror!

Of course most of the media talking heads continue to think that Obama is just the smartest, coolest guy that has ever occupied the Oval Office. Most of them thought it was silly when we raised questions about why our Harvard-educated president couldn’t say “Good morning” without his co-president – the Teleprompter. And even with the teleprompter, Obama manages to display serious ignorance. In a speech last week, he told a story about a Navy corpsman apparently not realizing that the “p” and the “s” in “corpsman” are silent. Twice, with the teleprompter, Obama pronounced the word as “corpse man.” Now there’s a job I wouldn’t want.

The media and the Left desperately want America to think that only liberals are smart. I remember how Reagan was mocked unmercifully because he used note cards during his speeches. The media had nothing but contempt for Dan Quayle. And, of course, George W. Bush was constantly presented as a buffoon.

“Poor little stupid Sarah Palin,” they are all saying. She wrote “Energy” on her hand to remind herself to bring up the need for more drilling. She wrote “Cut taxes” because she believes that is how to get our economy moving. She wrote “Lift America’s spirit” because she knows America needs inspiration.

Our president doesn’t write notes on his palm. He “knows” that limiting drilling is a great idea while we grow more dependent on people who hate us. He “knows” that raising taxes on families and small businesses is just the thing to do when the economy is on the ropes. And he is too busy apologizing for America’s sins and bashing businesses to think about lifting our spirits.

So who is the stupid one?

The Obama Administration announced yesterday that it will “donate” $40 million of your tax money to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to assist the Palestinians. A recent report commissioned by the European parliament disclosed that the UNRWA labor union had selected Hamas, the Palestinian terror group, to oversee UNRWA’s Gaza facilities. As a result, Canada announced recently that it would no longer fund the UN agency. We shouldn’t be funding them either. Not $1 of your money should go directly or indirectly to jihadist groups like Hamas. If Obama is looking for some money to apply to the gargantuan budget deficit, this $40 million is an easy place to start. But we know this decision won’t be reversed, because this president still thinks “peace” can be bought in the Middle East, and he is committed to a Palestinian State no matter what the costs.

Is a U.S.-Iran war on the horizon? President Obama has wasted a year trying to coax Iran to the negotiating table to discuss its nuclear program. Every overture he has made to Ahmadinejad has ultimately been rejected, but only after Iran exploited the potential for negotiations to buy more time to continue its nuclear work. The clock continues to tick, and U.S. troops in the Middle East, Israel and friendly Arab states all face a growing threat.

This weekend a story leaked that the Obama Administration is now accelerating the deployment of additional military assets into the Persian Gulf to try to counter possible Iranian threats and missile attacks. (Many of these plans started under President Bush.) Aegis cruisers are being stationed off the Iranian coast. U.S. anti-missile systems are being deployed in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. There is also a rush to upgrade defenses for oil terminals in Saudi Arabia and a plan to triple the size of a 10,000-man “protection force” in that country.

Is all of this a sign that the administration has given up on stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons and is now simply going to try to contain Iran? Is it to reassure shaky U.S. allies that fear Iran will dominate the region once it is clear the mullahs have a nuclear capability? And why the leaks to major newspapers now? Some cynics might suggest all of this is nothing more than the White House trying to convince the public that Obama is tough enough to be commander-in-chief.

Whatever the explanation, Obama’s policies up to now have failed to stop Iran and have cost the U.S. valuable time in dealing with a growing threat to our strategic interests.

In an ABC interview last night, President Obama said something publicly that he has been saying behind the scenes in Washington for some time, and it explains a lot. Obama told Diane Sawyer, “I’d rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president.” It’s an odd statement when you think about it. If you are a “really good” president, then you’re guaranteed to get a second term. Let me translate Obama’s statement for you.

The only way a president gets defeated is if he does a lot of things that the American people really don’t like. Things like wildly out-of-control spending, promoting abortion-on-demand, massive cap and trade energy taxes, granting foreign terrorists constitutional rights, socialized medicine, redefining marriage, and takeovers of major industries such as Government Motors.

In Obama’s mind, these are all really good things, and those who object are just too stupid to know what’s good for them. It’s this mentality that explains why Obama continues pushing for his socialized medicine scheme even after the stunning results in Massachusetts last week, and in spite of polls showing that nearly 60% of voters oppose it.

Yesterday, President Obama went on the attack against two favorite enemies – corporate greed and Wall Street. Obama stepped up his rhetoric against banks and financial firms, attacking large salaries and bonuses yet again and proposing a new bank fee. The president’s revisionist history regarding the cause of the financial crisis was astonishing. It was matched only by his over-the-top pitchfork populism. Here’s a sample:

“We want our money back, and we’re going to get it.  And that’s why I’m proposing a Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee to be imposed on major financial firms until the American people are fully compensated for the extraordinary assistance they provided to Wall Street.  If these companies are in good enough shape to afford massive bonuses, they are surely in good enough shape to afford paying back every penny to taxpayers.”

The deception is breathtaking! Sure a number of big banks got bailouts, but most have repaid those loans with interest. And those still in debt to Uncle Sam are answering to the “pay czar,” who is capping salaries and bonuses. Most of the money owed to the American people is owed by the unions for the takeover of General Motors and Chrysler. But instead the president wants to pick winners and losers. The winners are his union buddies, and the losers are [the] now-profitable banks.

But if the president is so upset about extravagant pay and bonuses and so committed to protecting the taxpayer, where is his outrage at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? The president is so concerned about the $120 billion shortfall in the TARP program, but Fannie and Freddie have put the taxpayers on the hook for $2 trillion. Meanwhile, the top executives at these government-run outfits are getting $42 million in compensation, with bonuses of $2 million!

I’m pleased to report that 70 conservative members of Congress are demanding that the administration hold executives at Fannie and Freddie to the same standard to which they hold other private firms. But don’t hold your breath. Over the years, Fannie and Freddie executives have been major donors to liberal candidates (with Barack Obama being one of their top beneficiaries), and they have been run by well-connected liberals like Rahm Emanuel and Franklin Raines.

Rather than intimidating and investigating Big Business, we need to stop punishing success, stop picking winners and losers and start investigating Big Government!