Obama's SOTU 2012: Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

Annnnd we're back! It's been tough finding the time to update this blog in the midst of President Obama's multiple failed policies, multi-pronged war on America and his gaffe-tastic Vice President, but such is life.

Luckily, videos like the one below make it easy to condense the monstrosity known as Obama's State of the Union address into one concise post:

Obama-Backed Solar Company Lays Off Many of Its Employees

VP Joe Biden looking at things.

Another failure from Obama's green jobs stimulus boondoggle:

Willard & Kelsey Solar Group LLC laid off about 40 people indefinitely at the beginning of January until changes to its production line are completed, a company official said Monday.

Michael Cicak, the company's chief executive officer and chairman of the board, would not say when the changes would be completed or when the laid-off employees could return to work.

"We have some technical people in here improving the efficiency of the assembly line," Mr. Cicak said, adding that the Perrysburg-based facility still has about 30 employees.

He said Willard & Kelsey has a little more than 80 employees when it's fully functional.

The start-up company has been plagued by a series of production and staffing delays since it was formed in 2008. It has received millions of dollars in government loans and tax breaks and has been toured by high-profile officials such as Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, and former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland.

Source: Toledo Blade via HotAir

Obama Declares War on the Constitution (Richard Cordray Edition)

President Obama has left the golf courses of Hawaii. Our little wannabe despot is back and he's on a warpath. His target? America.

President Barack Obama bypassed the U.S. Senate and summarily installed Richard Cordray, the former Ohio attorney general, as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday.

Hours later, Obama filled three vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board, possibly the only agency Republicans dislike more than the consumer bureau.
The White House called these “recess appointments,” even though Congress technically wasn’t in recess. In doing so, the president is playing with fire. He risks an election-year legal challenge that could hamstring the consumer bureau and several other financial regulators whose pending confirmations will probably now stall. The president’s authority -- and that of future executives -- to fill administration posts without Senate approval may be limited by the courts. We think Obama risks too much to make what is largely a political point -- that he, more than the Republican Party, stands by American workers and consumers.

Source: Bloomberg

And here's the rub:

The Constitution clearly gives the president the power to make appointments when the Senate is in recess. The issue, then, is what makes a recess a recess? The Congressional Research Service in December said decades of congressional practice and Justice Department opinions have backed the position that the Senate should be out of session for more than three days before the president can make a recess appointment.

Lawmakers have resorted to holding so-called pro forma sessions every third day while Congress is out of town to block undesired appointments. Like much of what happens in Washington, the sessions are make-believe events in which the Senate is gaveled into business but conducts no real work. Senate Democrats during the second term of President George W. Bush were especially adept with this stratagem.

White House lawyers have concluded that the pro forma sessions don’t prevent Obama from making appointments. We think the president, who is making confrontation with congressional Republicans a major theme of his re-election effort, is choosing politics over principle, and playing dangerously with the Constitution’s checks and balances, in choosing to tell the Senate when it is and is not in session.

Source: Bloomberg

And here's how Obama stands to benefit by creating a political atmosphere that is even more divided and hostile than the one he has cultivated for three years:

The appointment, moreover, will surely heighten the clash between Obama and Congress over a full-year extension of the payroll-tax cut for workers and unemployment insurance for the jobless, endangering the recovery. The president also needs Congress’s cooperation on pending Federal Reserve Board and other bank-regulator nominations.

Source: Bloomberg

More Obama Corruption... Featuring Valerie Jarett

Add Courtney Dupree to the ever expanding list of Obama's corrupt fat cat financial supporters:

Courtney Dupree was convicted of vastly overstating the billings of his Long Island City-based lighting company GDC Acquisitions in order to fraudulently obtain a loan from Amalgamated Bank.

Dupree, 42, sat stone-faced as the verdict was read in Brooklyn Federal Court. He faces up to 30 years in prison and has to pay back at least $18 million.

...

Dupree was done in by a mountain of paperwork, which prosecutors said proved he was a crook, and by testimony from cooperating witnesses who were involved in the scheme.

...

Dupree, who attended the elite Wharton School of Business, was a rainmaker in Democratic circles.

In 2008, Dupree hosted a $1,000-a-ticket fund-raiser for Barack Obama at his Broad St. apartment that was attended by top aide Valerie Jarrett.

His company counted NBC Universal and Goldman Sachs among its clients.

Source: NY Daily News

Another Electric Car Failure for Obama

Hey, remember when it was revealed that the Chevy Volt - Obama's favorite car - was a potential death trap?

Turns out Obama has another favorite car. It's called the Karma and it's also a death trap:

An electric vehicle manufacturer that received a $529 million loan from the Energy Department is recalling 239 vehicles.

The Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Thursday that the company, Fisker Automotive, will recall its Karma vehicles made between July 1, 2011, and Nov. 3, 2011, because of a faulty electric battery component that could cause a fire.

“Within the high-voltage battery, certain hose clamps may have been positioned incorrectly during assembly. If positioned incorrectly, the batter compartment cover could interfere with the hose clamps, potentially causing a coolant leak from the cooling hose,” NHTSA said in its recall notice Thursday.

“If coolant enters the battery compartment, an electrical short could occur possibly resulting in a fire.”

The Energy Department issued a $529 million loan to Fisker in April 2010 for the development of its plug-in electric vehicles.

Source: The Hill via HotAir

Obama Steps Up His Support For Illegal Aliens

The Obama administration's war on border enforcement continues:

As states across the nation ramp up their efforts to catch illegal immigrants, the Obama administration on Thursday launched a new free hotline for people busted on violations to get help.

The hotline, run by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, is available 24/7 for detained individuals to phone if they think they “may be U.S. citizens or victims of a crime.”

The hotline will have translation services available in several different languages. ICE personnel will gather the caller’s information and send it to a field office for immediate action, according to the press release.

Source: Politico

Immediate action? Why the rush? Isn't this the same president that unilaterally suspended 300,000 deportation cases this past August? Whatever happened to those cases? Are they still suspended?

Let's recap: If you're in the US illegally, the Obama administration will use taxpayer money to help you fight the law enforcement authorities who have detained you. If that fails, they'll suspend your case.

Happy New Year!

Obama's Golf Game Keeps Soldiers From Their Families on Christmas

Note: This footage is from a previous golf outing in Hawaii.

President Obama loves to golf and he loves to spend other people's money. Unfortunately, he's not very good at either of those things.

This past week, Obama managed to play his 90th round of golf since he took office:

After an hour of hiking, President Obama Monday got down to the serious business at hand, heading out to golf for the second day in his first three days of vacation. He was back on the course at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

With this one, Obama reaches a new milestone, having gone golfing 90 times in less than three years as president. That’s about three months of golf, given that the excursions generally take about five hours – much of the useful portion of the day.

Source: White House Dossier via HotAir

Apparently the presence of our weak-kneed "leader" isn't going over too well with the military families who have had to sacrifice so Obama can spend his days sucking down cigarettes on a golf course:

“You also have to understand that, a lot of people were unable to get to their homes during Christmas Eve, Christmas and even today. That’s a major inconvenience for families trying to enjoy their holiday. Also all of those guys out there missed out on Christmas, leaving their wives and children at home alone so the President can play golf. It may not affect you, or be important to you, but to the families affected it’s a sensitive subject and frankly I feel that people are allowed to be upset by that. You are entitled to your own opinion, but you really should consider expressing your opinion in a different way. Cursing and calling people names isn’t respectable.”

“Because he’s here, I didn’t get to see my husband all weekend, on our baby girl’s first Christmas, so he can have his vacation. So when I can’t get to my house because he wants to play golf it just adds insult to injury and yeah, gets on my nerves. I agree that it’s a sensitive subject for some of us who are more effected by his being here.”

“I was so angry! They blocked off my driveway… -_-”

“It takes him forever to play too because he isn’t good at it either lol!”

“hahahahahahaha i hate when hes here. last year her and the kids where at the big park (which is across from my house) and i couldnt even turn onto mokapu! they wouldnt let you walk over either! i actually feel really bad for the kids”

Source: MelissaBlogs.com