The Foundation

“[W]hen all government, domestic and foreign, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another.” –Thomas Jefferson

The Demo-gogues

What he said: “When I look back on what we’ve accomplished in the last 18 months – preventing the country sinking into a great depression, stabilizing the financial markets, saving the U.S. auto industry, oh, and, by the way, passing health care – I’d say that’s a pretty good track record. But until the unemployment rate is down and the economy is where it needs to be, I’m not going to be satisfied.” –Barack Obama

What he meant: “When I look back on what we’ve accomplished in the last 18 months – scaring voters about the country sinking into a great depression, regulating the financial markets into submission, taking over the U.S. auto industry, oh, and, by the way, ramming health care down your throats – I’d say that’s a pretty good track record. But until the unemployment rate in the public sector is down and the economy is where it needs to be – utterly dependent on government – I’m not going to be satisfied.”

CLass warfare and lies: “I don’t see any reason why we should renew a tax cut that only gives a tax cut to the wealthiest people in America, increases the deficit and doesn’t create jobs. That doesn’t make any sense.” –House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Consummate Demo-gogue: “I understand the frustration of people in Arizona, but what we can’t do is demagogue the issue, and what we can’t do is allow a patchwork of 50 different states, or cities or localities, where anybody who wants to make a name for themselves suddenly says, ‘I’m going to be anti-immigrant, and I’m going try to see if I can solve the problem ourself.’ This is a national problem.” –Barack Obama

A little “Yoda” speak: “Drain the swamp we did, because this was a terrible place.” –Nancy Pelosi (D-Dagobah), who suggests we ignore the corruption of Reps. Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters

The fundamental issue: “I think that there are very few constitutional limits that would prevent the federal government from rules that could affect your private life. … The federal government, uh, yes, can do most anything in this country.” –Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), who will no doubt be re-elected by the lemmings in his district

Editorial Exegesis

“The federal government, according to Democratic Rep. Pete Stark, can do anything it wants. If there are indeed no checks on the state’s power, as the congressman claims, then the state is a tyrant. Stark, who represents San Francisco’s East Bay area, let the left’s secret slip when he told constituents at a July 24 town-hall meeting in Hayward that he believes ‘there are very few constitutional limits that would prevent the federal government from rules that could affect your private life.’ His response came in reply to a constituent’s thoughtful question about the federal health care overhaul. … ‘How can this law be constitutional?’ she asked. ‘But more importantly than that, if they can do this, what can’t they?’ Stark, as arrogant, dismissive and evasive as always to the people he’s ‘served’ for 37 years, said that ‘the federal government can do most anything in this country.’ His opinion on government power is shocking enough. But even more surprising is that the congressman would be so forthcoming in a public forum. The political left, which is grounded in progressive ideology, has long worked to hide from the public its agenda to use the government to impose its will on the country. … In their core, progressives believe they have the answers to society’s problems and are eager to force them on the state’s subjects, even if doing so violates the natural rights that the Constitution guaranteed would be protected by a republican style of government. Stark is right: Washington has the power to do whatever it wants. But it doesn’t have the moral authority, either in constitutional law or in the realm of human decency. When it crosses into the dark region where it does most anything it wishes, it’s become a tyrant.” –Investor’s Business Daily

Upright

“How one answers these questions depends, fundamentally, on one’s belief about the role of government and its relationship to and impact on the economy. Is government the greatest engine of economic growth and prosperity or should the fate of America’s financial future be determined by the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of the American people?” –columnist Ken Connor

“Democrats are preparing to let the George W. Bush tax cuts on high earners – on investors and job creators – expire. They want more revenue to feed the government beast. Most voters take a different view. They want to put government on a diet. To slim it down, make it more lithe and limber, and stop it from choking off the recovery of the private sector economy.” –political analyst Michael Barone

“These are truly extraordinary times. With every passing day, we are witnessing what can only be called the People versus the Government. The distrust and disdain Americans of all political persuasions feel toward the White House and Congress is extraordinary.” –columnist Alan Caruba

“Both recent and future budget deficits have been blamed largely on the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, and to a lesser extent on the war on terrorism, but the data contradict these myths. In reality, spending is almost exclusively the problem.” –Heritage Foundation’s Brian Riedl

“Our liberties depend on our preserving the integrity of the Constitution and the mechanisms it established to deter tyranny. To the extent we dismantle those safeguards, we imperil our freedoms. When the political class is filled with those who are ideologically committed to certain political ends irrespective of the legality of the means used to achieve them, our system of checks and balances breaks down, which is one reason John Adams warned, ‘Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.’ November’s elections cannot come fast enough.” –columnist David Limbaugh

“At this moment, two of their [Democrat] leaders from a supposedly disadvantaged minority are about to be tried for ethical transgressions (read: thievery) even Congress couldn’t sweep under the rug. Never mind that these transgressions mostly exploit the very minority these people purport to represent. It’s part of the game. Convince minorities they should act like victims. Extort guilt payments from the majority and keep the change. Meanwhile, nothing improves for the minority because it would interrupt the system.” –columnist Roger Simon

“When some black Obama voters exclaim that they wish to have a dialogue with whites, it means they want an open opportunity to accuse their fellow Americans of being prejudiced.” –columnist Marie Jon

Coast Guard Birthday

On Aug. 4, 1790, the U.S. Coast Guard was created by Congress, which authorized Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton to build a small fleet of 10 cutters to protect the coast. The Coast Guard continues to serve a critical role under the Department of Homeland Security and we at The Patriot Post offer our thanks for a job well done. Happy Birthday and Semper Paratus! Please visit the Patriot Shop for a great selection of items bearing the Coast Guard’s insignia.

Dezinformatsia

Pay no attention to your tax rates: “The idea that the average American is overtaxed is a nice piece of populist pandering. In fact, federal taxes as a percentage of the economy are at their lowest level since the Truman administration. … The simple facts are these: All of the Bush tax cuts were unaffordable. They were an irresponsible act of hubris enacted during an economic boom.” –CNN host Fareed Zakaria, also an editor at Newsweek, which just sold for $1 – far more than it was worth

The BIG Lie: “Our own polling shows that voters are preferring Democratic ideas, generically, to Republican ideas on a lot of big issues like the economy.” –ABC’s George Stephanopoulos

Softball questions: “Do you feel sometimes like your administration is not given the credit it deserves?” –CBS’s Harry Smith to BO

Crying racism: “Now, the investigation of such powerful people, like Rangel and Maxine Waters, have a lot of people talking. The reaction in Washington seems to be centered on whether the two House members are guilty or not, but back home, in their respective districts, some of their constituents aren’t so sure justice is being done, and some are openly questioning why two high profile African-American House members are coming under such tough scrutiny. Do you think that black members are being targeted unfairly by the Ethics Committee?” –CNN’s Don Lemon to Al Sharpton (It MUST be race; it can’t be that these two people are crooks.)

“[A]re black lawmakers being singled out by the ethics watchdogs on Capitol Hill? New charges of racial bias.” –MSNBC’S Andrea Mitchell

Newspulper Headlines:

Breaking News From 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009: “Democrats Still Taking Aim at Bush” –Politico.com

Is That Higher or Lower Than ‘Present’?: “Obama Gives Himself a Grade of ‘Incomplete’ After 18 Months” –CNN.com

Questions Nobody Is Asking: “Which Obama Is the Good Obama?” –The New Republic website

Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control: “Bosses Can’t Stop Workers Goofing Off” –MediaPost.com

Too Much Information: “Obama’s in Love With Drones” –WND.com

Bottom Stories of the Day: “Rioters Scare French Cops” –News24.com (South Africa)

(Thanks to The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto)

Village Idiots

Trying to have it both ways: “What the president believes is the best strategy for the country is to extend the tax cuts that go to more than 95 percent of Americans, more than 95 percent of small business.” –Treasury Secretary Timothy “Tax Cheat” Geithner, while advocating that the top 5 percent – that would include many small business owners – face a major tax hike

A head-spinning lie: “If you look again at what [Barack Obama is] proposing, he keeps the overall size of government at a very modest level, lower than what was in the Bush administration, comparable to what President Reagan presided over.” –Tim Geithner

It ain’t Mayberry: “1965, lot of good things came out that year, like Medicare. This year, like always, we’ll have our guaranteed benefits. And with the new health care law, more good things are coming … free check-ups, lower prescription costs and better ways to protect us and Medicare from fraud.” –actor Andy Griffith in a TV ad for ObamaCare

Hazing Arizona: “I’ll tell you what we have to do about [Arizona’s] SB 1070: We have to be active. We have to actively protest. I will yell and I will scream louder and I will hold you and we will hold each other and we will peaceably protest this state. Because if it wasn’t for all of you immigrants this country wouldn’t have [expletive].” –Lady Gaga before her concert in Phoenix

Short Cuts

“You expect Republican politicians to criticize Democratic administrations and vice versa. But when Democrats start criticizing Democratic administrations, that is news. Someone once said that the headline ‘Dog bites Man’ is not news, but ‘Man bites Dog’ is. We are now starting to get ‘Democrat bites Democrat’ news.” –economist Thomas Sowell

“In these tough and turbulent economic times, we need to look for small things we can be thankful for. For example, I am thankful President Obama is not a lifeguard, as I believe he would toss concrete blocks to drowning swimmers instead of life preservers. Why do I believe that? His economic policies are drowning our economy, leaving many Americans unemployed or underemployed, and he knows it.” –rocker Ted Nugent

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is the world’s worst cleaning lady. How has she fulfilled her vaunted promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and preside over the ‘most ethical Congress in history’? By shrugging her shoulders, downplaying the gravity of myriad ethics charges against corruptocrat Democrat Rep. Charlie Rangel and waiting for the ‘political chips’ to ‘fall where they may.’ Imagine a custodial service that fixed toilet clogs by letting the overflowing waste and polluted waters ‘fall where they may.’” –columnist Michelle Malkin

“Nancy Pelosi said that when it comes to cleaning up government, the Democrats have drained the swamp. The only problem with that is what’s left after you drain the swamp: snakes everywhere.” –comedian Jay Leno

“Headline of the story: ‘Democrats scatter Monday as Obama comes to town.’ You know, I really wish we could all get away from this president as easily as the Democrats apparently can.” –radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh