America Ball Land: 07/16/09

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Obama's Mid East Policy is a Major Failure

at 2:37 AM Posted by The NWO - A Manifesto

President Obama is facing a major crisis in the Middle East, a crisis of his own doing. Every element of his Middle East plan has gone to hell in a hand-basket. Obama's overall philosophy has been the only way to bring peace to the area (and win the War on Islamic Fascism) is to have all of the complicated solutions to all the complicated issues worked out all at once.

To that end he tried to

Outreach to the government of Iran
Outreach to the government of Syria
Force Israel into what he perceives is a minor concession so he can appear "neutral" in the conflict.
Force the Arab nations (not the PA) to make a minor concession to Israel to appear serious in wanting to normalize relations with the Jewish State
If all of the above works, the Arab States will pressure the PA toward an agreement and the US will pressure Israel toward an agreement.

Let's take a look at what happened:

Outreach to Iran: Even before the Iranian election Ahmadinejad was slapping away the outstreached hand of the US. In May the Iranian Tyrant said:

"Alongside the resistance and steadfastness, we must also strive to create a new world order; otherwise new oppressive regimes will emerge." He called the West's fundamental values "inhuman and belonging to past decades," adding: "They [i.e. the Westerners] are trying to open new doors with the keys to old locks, without noticing that, today, it is the humane and divine path that is the code to opening the locks of humanity. They are decades behind, and can be described, in two words, as politically retarded... The philosophy and order that emerged after World War II have come to the end of their road, and [the West] is unable to offer solutions for the world's problems, since its thinking is based on discrimination and on [undermining] security." Source MEMRI

With the post-election violence, Iran's position has hardened.

Outreach To Syria: The relationship between Iran is unbreakable right now. Until Iran acts "Friendly" neither will Syria. Just today Sky News aired an interview with President Obama where he said that he will continue to try and engage Syria but "There are aspects of Syrian behavior that trouble us and we think that there is a way that Syria can be much more constructive on a whole host of these issues."

Force Israel into a minor concession: What the President and his advisers perceived as a minor concession, a settlement freeze, was not perceived by Israel as a minor concession. This was a major error by the administration. Their insistence for a freeze and the constant public berating of the Jewish State has turned the Israeli population against Obama, and strengthened the hand of Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.

His public blasting of Israel has weakened his support among American Jews who initially "bought into" his pledge that he was a "friend" of Israel. Especially when the news came out that Obama was breaking a pledge made to Israel by the Bush administration.

At the same time the administration miscalculation has given ammunition to the Palestinians, who prefer the status quo to any peace negotiations. President Abbas has declared that he would not resume negotiations until there was a settlement freeze:
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says he will not resume peace talks with Israel until there is "a complete halt to settlement activities." In an interview published Sunday with the Egyptian weekly October, the PA president insisted that a halt to construction in West Bank settlements was not a Palestinian condition, but rather a condition set by US President Barack Obama.

Force the Arab nations (not the PA) to make a minor concession to Israel: The President assumed that the "moderate" Arab nations would help him out by making a minor gesture of peace to Israel. But the Arab states are unwilling to make a gesture. From their point of view the Saudi peace plan, which will result in the end of Israel as a Jewish State, is the only concession they are willing to make until everything else is decided.

So where does all this leave Obama's Middle East policy? In ruins. While the US continues to press Israel for a settlement freeze, the administration is impotent because every element is falling apart. Syria and Iran aren't looking for engagement. He has turned the Israeli populace against him and strengthened the hand of Prime Minister Netanyahu. At the same time he as eroded his own support among American Jews and other US friends of Israel. He cannot count on support of the Arab League nations and has given the President of the Palestinian Authority and "out" from re-entering negotiations.

Any US pressure on Israel will remain only on a "verbal" level; there will be no sanctions or loss of aid. The administration has come to the realization that it cannot punish Israel because even if there was a compromise on settlements, the other side is not going to embrace peace. President Obama's misjudgment of Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab States will soon lead to the President putting the Middle East on the back burner so he can concentrate on efforts that have a chance to succeed.

Read More...

[Source: YID With LID]

Obama Using Dick Cheney To Cover For His Own Failings

at 2:04 AM Posted by The NWO - A Manifesto

Mary Matalin hits Barry head-on:

A one-time aide to former Vice President Dick Cheney suggested Sunday that recent reports about Cheney and the CIA are a distraction designed to avert attention away from the policy struggles of the Obama administration.
�This is very suspect timing,� Republican strategist and former Cheney adviser Mary Matalin said Sunday on CNN�s State of the Union. �The president�s agenda is almost in shambles. His [poll] numbers are dropping. Isn�t it coincidental; they gin up a Cheney story.�

Matalin also said that the Executive branch has some authority under the nation�s intelligence laws to not disclose information to Congress under certain circumstances. �The more people that know, the more it leaks . . . and then the enemy knows what it is,� Matalin said of details about other intelligence programs that were leaked to the media.
�Every time they get in trouble . . . they dredge up a Darth Vader story,� Matalin also said, making a reference to past comparisons between Cheney and the villain in the �Stars Wars� movies.

Obama driving the debt car

at 1:26 AM Posted by The NWO - A Manifesto

Awesome video illustration on the federal budget deficit and the shrieks about Bush and the shrugs over Obama. Who says math can’t be fun?

*cross posted @

Democrats unveil US healthcare reform plan

at 12:49 AM Posted by The NWO - A Manifesto

Democrats, backed by Obama, propose plan to tax the wealthy to pay for expansion of government-run healthcare

Democrats in the US congress plan to sting wealthy Americans with a massive tax increase in order to fund a broad expansion of government-provided healthcare, facing powerful opposition from Republicans and the healthcare industry who warn of a costly government takeover of the health system.

Leading Democrats, backed by Barack Obama, have unveiled a plan that would tax the richest 2 million Americans to fund a $1tn effort to provide healthcare to most of the 46 million Americans who now lack health insurance.

The plan would impose a surtax of as much as 5.4% on families earning $350,000 (�213,000) a year and individuals making more than $280,000. The plan's backers hope it will extend coverage to 37 million through subsidies and government health insurance coverage.

"The status quo on health care is not an option for the United States of America," Obama told a group of nurses today. "It is threatening the financial stability of our families, our businesses, and government itself. It is unsustainable."

Broad agreement exists across the political spectrum that the US healthcare system is in a wretched state. With no universal public programme akin to Britain's National Health Service, Americans rely on a patchwork of employee-provided healthcare, government programmes for the poor, elderly and veterans, and costly private health insurance coverage. Americans spend one out of every six dollars on healthcare - roughly twice as much per capita as other industrialised nations - but lag behind in life expectancy, infant mortality and other health indicators.

"There's not anybody in America that's an adult that doesn't have some horror story about somebody that lost their lives, lost their home, lost their jobs, lost their insurance," New York congressman Charles Rangel, a senior Democrat, said.

An overhaul of the US healthcare system was one of Obama's top campaign promises. US presidents since Harry Truman following the second world war have attempted to revamp the system but have faced entrenched opposition from powerful hospital and doctors' groups and insurance companies.

Bill and Hillary Clinton's effort in the early 1990s failed amid an insurance industry advert campaign that warned the government would take over health decisions from doctors and patients.

Key to Obama's proposed reform is a health plan provided by the government that would be available to all Americans on a sliding fee scale.

Opponents, including some within Obama's own Democratic party, say that would harm the lucrative market for private health insurance. Another provision would reshape the private market by creating a clearinghouse for health insurance products. The entire programme is expected to cost more than $1tn over ten years. Obama hopes to have legislation finalised by August.

"If you lose your job, change your job, or start a new business, you'll still be able to find quality health insurance you can afford," Obama said. "If you have a pre-existing medical condition, no insurance company will be able to deny you coverage. You won't have to worry about being priced out of the market. You won't have to worry about one illness leading your family into financial ruin."

Opponents have rallied against Obama's proposals, warning of rationed care, long waits for treatment, bureaucratic meddling in the doctor-patient relationship, and massive government borrowing to pay for it all.