100 Days and Awful in (Almost) 100 Ways

100 Days and Awful in (Almost) 100 Ways
Laura Hollis
Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Obama has now been in office 100 days. Let’s review his record, shall we? So far, the Bringer of Hope, Change, Peace, Administrative Transparency, Bipartisanship, Fiscal Responsibility, International Admiration, Multilateral Accord, and generally Unprecedented Competency has:

1. Insisted that his administration would have strict rules about lobbyists.

2. And then changed his mind.

3. Nominated former Senator Tom Daschle to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, and then accepted Daschle’s withdrawal after it was discovered that Daschle owed over $100,000 in back taxes.

4. Nominated Tim Geithner to be Secretary of the Treasury. Geithner was confirmed despite revelations that he owed $25K in back taxes.

5. Nominated Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson for Secretary of Commerce, only to have Richardson withdraw because of controversy over campaign financing.

6. Nominated U.S. Senator Judd Gregg for Secretary of Commerce, who later withdrew over fundamental disagreements with Obama over his economic policies and plans to politicize the U.S. Census by bringing it under White House control.

7. Nominated pro-abortion Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. Sebelius received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from notorious late-term abortionist Dr. George Tiller.

8. Nominated Hilda Solis to be Secretary of Labor, who was confirmed despite revelations that her husband owed back taxes.

9. Nominated Harold Koh to be legal adviser to the State Department. Koh advocates “transnationalism,” a theory that calls for considering other countries’ laws when interpreting American legal disputes.

10. Nominated Dawn Johnson, former legal counsel for the National Abortion Rights Action League, to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Johnsen is perhaps best known for her argument before the Supreme Court that abortion should be legal because unwanted pregnancy was tantamount to involuntary servitude.

11. Appointed an African-American Attorney General who has called America “a nation of cowards” on matters of race.

12. Promised that his any bill signed by him would be reviewable for at least five days before signing it.

13. And then signed a $787 billion “stimulus” bill without providing five days for the public to review the 1100+ page document.

14. Oh, and this also applied to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.

15. And the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009.

16. And the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009.

17. And the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009.

18. And the Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2009.

19. (While we’re on the subject...) ...promised that his “stimulus” bill would contain no pork barrel spending.

20. Signed the “stimulus” bill with billions of dollars in pork barrel spending.

21. Assured Caterpillar workers that his economic “stimulus” would save their jobs, only to be contradicted by Caterpillar’s CEO, who advised that more layoffs were coming.

22. Took over an American car company and kicked out its CEO.

23. Promised “green” cars, even though they are money-losers for the automakers, American demand for them is not substantial and, due to complex state and federal regulations, many Americans can’t get them.

24. Announced a plan to take the United States $10 trillion dollars into debt in the next 10 years.

25. Launched a failed policy to help homeowners who purchased houses they could not afford.

26. Informed banks that took TARP money that they would be prohibited from repaying the money.

27. Moved to nationalize banks by taking common (voting) stock in them.

28. Supported legislation that would permit the federal government to set the salaries of executives in the private sector.

29. And tax them at 90%, a textbook violation of Article One of the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against Ex Post Facto laws and Bills of Attainder.

30. Sent the Dow Jones plummeting virtually every time he opened his mouth to announce another policy, program, or initiative.

31. Proposed nationalizing the American health care system, a program that has resulted in skyrocketing costs and rationing everywhere it has been tried.

32. Insulted Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of England with the return of the bust of Winston Churchill, cheap gifts, and ineptitude during his visit to the United States.

33. Insulted England generally when a low-level State Department employee said that England was “nothing special,” that they are “just the same as the other 190 countries in the world” and they they “shouldn’t expect special treatment.”

34. Bowed obsequiously before the King of Saudi Arabia.

35. Informed the German-speaking Austrians know that they speak “Austrian.”

36. Apologized for American “arrogance” in Strasbourg, France – a country where nearly 10,000 American servicemen and women are buried at Normandy American Cemetery alone.

37. Handed over control of the American financial system to an international consortium of foreign bankers.

38. Went to Europe to ask for assistance for a war in Afghanistan, and got nothing.

39. Received an economic chastisement from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

40. Failed to impress French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

41. Prompted the President of the European Union to call his economic policies “the road to hell.”

42. Proposed international control over nuclear fuel.

43. Promised that he would support Armenia in its claims of historical genocide.

44. And then didn’t.

45. Revoked the “Mexico City Policy,” freeing up federal monies for agencies that counsel or provide abortions in foreign countries

46. Signed a presidential memorandum authorizing the expenditure of federal funds to destroy distinct human individuals so that their genetic material can be used for scientific experimentation.

47. Nominated Harry Knox, a gay activist who referred to the Catholic Church as a “discredited army of oppression,” to his Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

48. Threatened to revoke “conscience” protection for American medical professionals who do not wish to take part in abortions.

49. Been spanked by the Vatican, which rejected the appointment of Caroline Kennedy as Ambassador to the Vatican because of her pro-abortion views.

50. Killed a federally funded scholarship that rescued 1700 students a year from the District of Columbia’s abysmal public schools and allowed them to attend private schools like Sidwell Friends, the school his own daughters attend, as a political payoff to the teachers’ unions.

51. Embarrassed himself by insulting the Special Olympics on national television.

52. Announced nearly a billion dollars in aid for Hamas, a terrorist organization committed to the destruction of Israel.

53. Virtually ignored a long-range missile launch by Communist dictator Kim Jong Il.

54. Sent Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Russia with a “reset” button that actually said “overcharged.”

55. Through Clinton, informed the Chinese that human rights violations would not be an impediment to trade.

56. Nominated Leon Panetta, someone with no intelligence experience, to run the CIA.

57. Banned the term “war on terror” and substituted “overseas contingency operations.”

58. Through his DHS Director Janet Napolitano, replaced the words “terrorist attacks” with “man-caused disasters.”

59. Promised to close the terrorist holding facility on Guantanamo Bay

60. Released a report from his Department of Homeland Security, revealing that his administration thinks the real threats to American safety and security are returning American veterans, American conservatives, American advocates of limited government, defenders of the United States Constitution (particularly the Second Amendment), and Americans united for the protection of human life.

61. Released CIA memoranda revealing interrogation techniques used to extract information about planned terrorist acts against the United States.

62. Promised that members of the intelligence community who kept the country safe from terrorist attacks for the past eight years would not be prosecuted.

63. And then changed his mind.

64. Stated the U.S.’ intention to attend Durban II

65. And then changed his mind. (OK, he gets points for this flip-flop.)

66. Announced that the U.S. would seek a seat on the utterly discredited “Human Rights Council” of the United Nations.

67. Endured an anti-American diatribe from a Daniel Ortega, a Communist dictator, and said virtually nothing in rebuttal.

68. Glad-handed Hugo Chavez, the de facto dictator of Venezuela.

69. Supported new ways to implement the same objectives as the radioactive “Fairness Doctrine” to reduce the impact of talk radio.

70. Pretended not to know anything about the nearly 1 million Americans protesting high taxes and out-of-control spending at the April 15th tea parties.

71. Wants to increase taxes for people making charitable contributions.

72. Downplayed the role of Christian beliefs as foundational to the country.

73. Announced that he would be taking over credit card companies’ interest rate policies, as well.

74. Proposed new “cap-and-trade” regulations on emissions, which would cripple many American energy companies, and are projected to cost the average American family over $3000 a year in additional energy costs.

75. Supported the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation which would deny union members the right to secret ballots in union elections.

76. Took his wife out to dinner on Valentine’s Day. In Chicago. Via Air Force One.

77. Flew a chef in from St. Louis to make pizzas.

78. Hosted gala events at the White House on Wednesday nights.

79. Glared, snapped at or otherwise chastised reporters who dare to challenge the party line or deviate from the day’s scripts.

80. Displayed an embarrassing dependence upon his Teleprompter.

81. Supported legislation that would institute mandatory “voluntary” service.

82. Used Mexican gangs and their terrorist activity to threaten lawful gun ownership in the United States, despite evidence refuting his specious claims.

83. Asked Georgetown University to cover up visible signs, seals and references to Jesus Christ during his speech there. (And isn’t it interesting? The absence of those references, coupled with stained glass backdrop here, make Obama look like the religious leader.)

84. Allowed Air Force One to be flown low over Manhattan, accompanied by an F-16 – for a photo opportunity. (Hey – your plane, your responsibility.)

85. through 99. Has left at least that many positions unfilled in Treasury, State, Defense, Education, and Health and Human Services. (Okay, I am cheating, but come on – isn’t 86 enough???)

100. And finally, still refuses – to release his long-form birth certificate, his passports, his college or his law school records.

When I started this column, I thought it would be impossible to find anything close to 100 disastrous decisions in as many days. Wrong. Wasn’t our last President accused of being a spendthrift, bumbling, out-of-touch, elitist idiot? If any other President made this many blunders or potentially catastrophic errors, the press would be circling the White House with torches. As it is, the sum total of their defense of Obama seems to be “Nyah, nyah, nyah, Bush was bad.” So, let’s see, because Bush was a cowboy, Obama can be a cowboy who can’t ride? Because Bush spent ridiculous amounts of money and left us in debt, Obama should spend more and leave us utterly bankrupt? Because Bush was viewed as a buffoon in Europe, Obama is justified in being viewed as a pompous ignoramus? This President is anti-life, anti-business, anti-entrepreneur, anti-capitalist and anti-American. If this is the “change” that’s been forced down our throats in the first 100 days, I seriously question whether we can survive the remaining 1361.



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