On the surface, that must seem impossible.  I mean, some budgetary authority to spend money must have come from somewhere, or the U. S. would not be paying their bills (which we are, albeit with alot of borrowed money).  Majority Leader Reid and President Obama have accomplished this with ongoing Continuing Resolutions, where the keen eye and sharp knife (or wild-swinging axe) are nowhere to be seen.

Senator Reid has not allowed the Senate to pass a budget, because the votes would be difficult for some of his majority.  Not all Democrat members of the U. S. Senate are wild about the ongoing debt we are accumulating and might oppose a Democrat budget, handing the Majority Leader an embarassing defeat.  On the other hand, if Republicans could peel off some of these Democrats, they might be able to pass a budget more in keeping with the House Republican budget.  This would put more liberal Dems in a tough spot, wanting to vote against a more austere (this is a highly relative use of the term here, to be sure) budget, but knowing voters might not appreciate those who vote against a smaller government budget this fall.  That’s no good for Mr. Reid’s politically, either.

So, Harry Reid has chosen to do nothing.  President Obama, while skewering the Congress, refers only to Repubican obstructionist tactics, conveniently failing to mention his Majority Leader’s historic abdication of responsibility.  The lamestream media, of course, takes the President’s lead and hasn’t camped outside of Harry Reid’s office demanding an explanation for his inactivity.

So, if I were advising GOP U.S. Senate candidates running againsts Democrat incumbents this fall, I would have them spend nearly all their TV ad budget pounding away at the failure of the majority to perform their most important task, adopting a budget.  It has been over 1,000 days since the Senate Democrats allowed a budget to come to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

This is beyond spectacularly irresponsbile behavior by Mr. Reid and the Senate Democrats.  If they are allowed to maintain a majority beyond next January, it will mean we just don’t have enough serious persons in this country who vote in elections.

It is this possibility which is most potentially hazardous to our country’s future.  And, smiling HarryReid of The Thousand Days, continues to do nothing.

“Conservative” Newt Gingrich, with the government facing $1 T annual deficits as far as the eye can see, is calling for a big spending increase in NASA’s budget to put a colony on the moon…cue Frank Sinatra’s hit tune and make your own joke here…

Newt Gingrich has taken his typical scorched earth approach to attacking Mitt Romney, ostensibly so he who emerges from the GOP primaries will be battle-tested for the supreme contest against President Obama…but, will it leave Mitt Romney so weakened that a narrow win becomes a narrow loss?…

as this page predicted some weeks ago, Florida will be the key primary, Mitt Romney will win the FL primary and be a nera-lock, failing the emergence of a new entrant, to win the GOP nomination in Tampa in August…

I wish I felt better about that …

Hilary Clinton announced she is going to be resigning as Secretary of State before President Obama’s first (and, hopefully, only!!) term ends.  She said she wanted to write, teach, travel…but, didn’t say anything about golfing with husband Bill…or doing anything else with him, for that matter…

Rep. Barney Frank, D.,MA, is getting married…guess we can assume it’s not for the sex…

Barack Obama has stated “millionaires” should pay at least 30% in federal income taxes annually…notice, as is always the case for liberals, however, he has not stated what he believes is “fair” for the maximum amount of income tax the highest brackets should pay…

New England opened as a 3 1/2 point favorite for next weekend’s Super Bowl, but it almost immediately came down to 3 points…and, has stayed there; if things don’t change, would be very tempted to tease the number to 9, tease the over/under down to 49 and take the NY Giants and the over….

unless you have to go to work there, take a bus or cab to downtown Indianapolis for the next 10 days…

and, if you don’t already have St. Elmo’s reservations, fugetabout it, unless you are a very big NFL name…

I am a member of golf’s 99%.  I play golf, but have not yet made it to the professional level.

I have played for over 40 years, but have not put in the practice time and study to be the best.  I also may lack the necessary skills to achieve at that level. 

However, I now feel I should be paid by the successful professionals for trying.  It isn’t fair those players who have worked harder, studied the game, have better equipment, are stronger, have practiced longer and more productively and are more skilled should make all that money. 

Oh, sure, they have charities that they give lots of money to, but I am sure they write that off their taxes every year to reduce paying their fair share of tax?  Is that fair, either?

The most skilled and successful of the golfers should pay for my golf, buy me new equipment and give me some of their winnings.  The entire system should be changed to accommodate me!

Let’s occupy a golf course and demand those that are better at what they do pay for those of us who aren’t as good.  Whining should get us something, at least media attention and sympathy from the liberals.

President Obama, at Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, pounded away at those awful bastards who aren’t paying their fair share of taxes.  So, he really got after the 40+ % of those who pay no federal income tax whatsoever each year?  No, his enemy Tuesday night, as it often is, are persons making more than $ 1 M annually.  Sadly, when actual legislation gets introduced, Mr. Obama’s math problems are revealed, as he thinks $ 220,000 annually is a “million.”

Well, President Obama HAS to pound away at rich people, because he has NO intention whatsoever of cutting government spending nor reforming so-called ‘entitlement’ programs (is there a single government term that upsets conservatives more than that?  not for me there isn’t!).  So, he has to pretend our deficit problems can somehow be solved by making the rich “pay their fair share.”  This despite the fact OMB estimates are a return to the Clinton year tax rates would generate about an extra $ 75 billion annually.  This against an annual Obama projected deficit of $ 1,000 billion annually for as far as the eye can see.  Won’t do much good, will it?

No, Washington has a spending problem.  So, working in concert with Mr.Obama, the Federal Reserve has announced cheap money for another 2 years.  Why?  The Fed appointees say it’s because they are quite concerned unemployment is going to stay above 8.5% indefinitely.  I suspect  it has to do more with the fact that Washington D. C. spending isn’t going to drop one bit and they worry advancing interest rates and rising inflation would be the death knell for our economy.  Better then to kick the can down the road…again…and, again…

Democrats are not alone.  Today, Newt Gingrich is calling for a U. S. base on the moon.  Not coincidentally, he is making this reommendation in Florida, near the launch sites for NASA, a few days in front of the Florida Republican presidential primary.  You gotta admire Newt.  It isn’t just everyone with the cahones to so baldly pander to voters.  If we’re gonna have a base on the moon, Newt sounds like a good first governor.

And, fiscal conservatives ably up to making the case (Daniels, Christy, Rubio, Ryan, maybe others) sit on the sidelines.  Now, no matter what, this just will never make any sense to me.

I cannot recall where I first heard that or to whom I should accredit that statement but I was sure thinking about those words last night watching Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels draw a bright line distinction between the conservative vision for America and whatever fantasy it was President Obama was talking about last night.

Governor Daniels had done enough spade work investigating a run for the presidency to know he would have been very well-funded and may well have assumed the Mitt Romney mantle of the establishment candidate.  However, his wife and four daughters have a very different vision of their future and it does not include round-the-clock Secret Service protection for the rest of their lives.  So, Mitch won’t run.

However, that did not prevent the establishment GOP leadership from having the rare good sense to choose the Indiana Governor to deliver their response to Barack Obama’s State of the Union address last night.  Governor Daniels gave a version of the stump speech I’ve heard a few times now, one he was once honing for a presidential campaign.

The Hoosier chief exec pointed out our current entitlement programs are not sustainable.  Simple math, he said, precludes serious persons from thinking otherwise.  Yet, he pointed out, the status quo is exactly what President Obama and prominent Democrats continue to recommend for Medicare and Social Security.  Governor Daniels pointed out nearly 1/2 those under 30 in our country are without a job currently and the President just vetoed, for the moment, anyway, the Keystone Pipeline project, which would have employed thousands.  President Obama vigorously contended America is the world’s leader, respected in capitals around the globe.  Governor Daniels pointed out if our spending habits in Washington, D. C. don’t soon change, we will look like Europe’s dreary economies, dragged down by a mountain of debt

In other words, the America President Obama  sees is divorced from reality and Governor Daniels is issuing a wake up call…as I dream of the debate that might have been.

Furthermore, the paper stated a U.S. – Israeli joint missle exercise, planned for two years, had recently been cancelled, because the U. S. pulled out.

So, it might charitably be said, the differences in how seriously the U.S. and Israel interpret ongoing Iranian efforts to develop a nuclear weapon are becoming more clearly visible.  The Obama administration, who last week tasked Tim Geithner to Europe (didn’t read or hear much about this from the lamestreams, did you?) to try and get Turkey and China on board for more strict sanctions against Iran (this failed, both miserably and overtly), continues to pretend some sort of sanctions will convince Iran to deter its nuclear ambitions.  The Israelis, whose proximity to Iran makes them much more sensitive to the dangers of an Iranian bomb, are no longer willing to engage in such fantasy.

All sorts of U. S. politicians, including both candidate and President Obama, have said Iran having a nuclear weapon is intolerable.  Israel apparently believes the time for faith in the canard of sanctions deterring Iranian intent has passed.

What does President Obama think?  Is it an important enough story for coverage by the same media who get a thrill running up their leg when Mr. Obama speaks?  Or, since this issue puts the Obama administration in a difficult spot, should this issue just be ignored, for as long as possible, allowing for eventually reporting whatever happens along with the belief President Obama “just didn’t have any choice” for whatever choice he might make?  Apparently, for the time being, the elite, lefty lamestreams are taking a pass (at the suggestion of the administation?).

We have seen Mr. Obama’s “leadership” style long enough to know no matter what they might be doing behind the scenes, this is likely to play out with the U. S. appearing to be a spectator reacting to events rather than leading.

Let us just pray that somehow the Obama administration is very competently managing this crisis behind the scenes.  I wish I thought there was one chance in a thousand this was true.

It still looks like things are set up for Mitt Romney, warts and all, as the most likely GOP nominee.  The establishment, still a force within the Republican Party, will not allow for a Newt Gingrich nomination.  However, it is appearing increasingly likely the conservative wing of the party (still its dominant wing) will simply not agree to a Romney nomination, either.

The one guy who definitely isn’t going anywhere is Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who seems likely to make it to the convention with around 10 per cent of the delegates.  Whether this will be enough for Dr. Paul to dictate platform planks, or anything else, is unclear, but he speaks now mostly of “leverage” when asked about Tampa (site of the GOP nominating convention).

If, indeed, Mr. Romney, wobbling dangerously as I write this, can hang on to win in Florida, then the poorly-funded Gingrich and Santorum might fade away.  But, if Mr. Gingrich can win in Florida, then it’s game on, as Mr. Santorum said the night of the Iowa caucuses (before he even knew he’d won!). 

Now, conservatives would like a better candidate than either Mr. Gingrich or Mr. Santorum.  The establishment would MUCH rather have had Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels.  But, unless no one can make it to Tampa with a majority (still unlikely, if somewhat more likely than it was 2 weeks ago), Mr. Romney probably prevails.

Now, what could Messrs. Gingrich, Santorum and/or Paul do to change that?  Probably, nothing.  But, aha, what could Mr. Romney do to change that calculation?  Probably alot, without having to do too much.

If former Governor Romney continues to be unable to explain how Bain Capital works, is tripped up by his explanation, whatever it might be, is for having money in the Caaman Islands or seems more stilted and uncomfortable in debates, GOP primary voters, fearful of losing to Barack Obama in the fall, will abandon him.  Even the establishment, unwilling to fight and die with a true conservative, will abandon Romney under such circumstances.

Then, and only then, we may see a late entry or even an untested candidate presented to the convention as the solution to the problem.  The problem?  A second Obama administration, unshackled by concerns about getting re-elected.

It is that nightmare which is playing front and center in the mind of each and every Republican primary voter this year.

I am giddy with anticipation of the stark contrast between Barack Obama’s upcoming State of the Union address and the GOP response, coming from Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels…oh, how I wish they would have had a chance to debate this fall…

instead…Mitt Romney’s apparent inability (initially, anyway) to explain his tax records, defend the concept of capital gains taxes being lower than rates on regular income, etc. are most disconcerting.  Obama’s best shot is to make this election about something other than his economic record and Romney seems to be opening up just that opportunity for him…

Doesn’t Romney have anyone on his staff smart enough to have anticipated this?  If not, then they are way, way unprepared for the $ 500 M of negative ads the Obama campaign is about to unload upon him…

it has become popular to write about the demise of the Tea Party…but, if moderate Mitt Romney loses to Barack Obama, conservatives will NEVER again support any GOP candidate not vetted by us…ever…

the arguments made by party regulars to conservatives in favor of Romney pretty much begin and end with his “electability.”  If you make that promise, you had surely better deliver…

Newt Gingrich will win South Carolina by several points tomorrow and, as this page stated some weeks ago, on January 29th, Florida will be where things both begin and end..

just a couple words about the NBA, which is being largely ignored (as it should be) by most sports fans…I am getting a tremendous laugh (often indeed out loud!) reading the breathless reports about the return of “Knicks Basketball,” as if it were some sort of iconic style of play that had marked the NBA for decades.  The Knicks are around .500 for the year…yo, East Coast media self-appointed elites:  dial it back, just a touch….or not, I don’t care…you guys are a hoot!!

Well, 2-2 is the ledger from this page’s NFL picks last weekend, running the season total AGS to 23 – 16.  The missed call on the Baltimore Ravens’ win over Texas was particularly painful, as the Ravens couldn’t quite cover 7 1/2 points, winning 20-13.  As a friend of mine says, that 1/2 point has killed more men than Cecil B. DeMille…

Oh, well, while I am hoping against hope for an all – Harbaugh Super Bowl here in Indy, both will have a tough slog to get there.  San Francisco is hot and at home.  Their opponent, the N Y Giants, are hot, but on the road, clear across the country.  The Forty Niners are 2 1/2 point favorites.  I will suggest the Niners in the most tentative of nods…

Baltimore should be able to run the ball against New England and their defense is their calling card.  But, their defense is aging and got nicked up pretty good last weekend, so I will take the offensive juggernaut that the NE Patriots have been at home this year and give the 7 1/2 points to the Ravens….

Tough choices for Colts fans in the AFC.  Who would you rather see come to Indianapolis and play in the Super Bowl:  a team you hate (New England) or a team that hates you and your city (Baltimore)?

Two weeks to go until Indy’s Super Bowl…which I will predict will be an enormous smash hit and Indy will get another Super Bowl (in addition to its many already guaranteed NCAA Mens Basketball Final Fours, which may be a  bigger deal) in the future….

The Obama administration yesterday put a halt (at least temporarily) to the Keystone Pipeline project that was to run oil from Canada down to our Gulf refineries.  While the Obama administration was careful yesterday to say this was not a final decision, that there could be a re-application that would be more sensitive to the area in Nebraska that seems the center of the environmental impact controversey.

However, administration personnel admit this may take some 18 – 24 months, even though TransCanada’s CEO hoped for an expidited review that could allow for “an in-service date of late 2014.”  This does not sound like folks singing from the same hymnal.

In this spectacularly bald sop to the environmental wackos who live exclusively among the Democrats, Mr. Obama laid bare for all to see his real concern about jobs for middle – class Americans:  zero.  One can almost still see Mr. Obama thundering away at the Congress to pass his $ 400 billion ”jobs bill” just a few months ago.  Not only that, but President Obama said the American people demanded this be done right away.  I guess a couple tenths of a percentage drop in the unemployment rate was sufficient for the President to lessen his concerns about additional employment in our country.

The other really sad fact at play here is the Nebraska plain which seems to be the center of the environmentalists’ worries already has 25,000 miles of pipe running through it!  It would seem their concern for that area’s mileu is a bit late in coming.

If I were advising the Republican Party (which I most definitely am not; they will be getting no more opportunities to reject my counsel after pretending they wanted to have it), I would be running ads showing Mr. Obama’s September words and his January actions.  I would run these nearly non-stop.  This is the opportunity to re – direct the spotlight from Mitt Romney’s stammering about his income and tax rate (which affects only the Romney family, not the rest of us) to the vaccuous space between the ears of those in the Obama administration tasked with hatching ideas for more new jobs.

Mr. Obama has again demonstrated his lack of understanding the role more non – Middle East, cheap energy has in stimulating our economy.  This country simply cannot reward President Obama’s lack of knowledge with another four year term in November.

If there are sufficient numbers of environmental wackos and those dependent upon suckling at the government teat to re – elect Barack Obama, it will mean those of us who work and pay taxes officially have no hope.

The Obama administration has steadfastly denied reports of ‘Death Committees’ as part of their new ObamaCare plan.  A call from a neurosurgeon on the Mark Levin radio show suggests a very different story.  He is lying or the Obama folks are.

The first thing to point out is I cannot vouch for the neurosurgeon’s identity or story.  For all I know, it was David Axelrod calling from Chicago.  Who knows…

But, this guy who called Mark Levin’s show maintained he was a neurosurgeon who had just returned from a meeting in Washington, D. C.  At that meeting, he was exposed to new (yet unpublished) “rules” from HHS about what kind of care persons beyond age 70 would get after an intracerebral catastrophe.  They would get “comfort care.”

The neurosurgeon seemed to next say that he was informed some sort of ‘ethics committee,’ not composed of physicians, but administrators, would get together to decide what form of care was appropriate in individual instances.  Now, this sounds an awful what like Sarah Palin was pilloried for calling ‘Death Committees,’ doesn’t it?

Now, keep in mind, these committees won’t be meeting at 2 a. m., when grandma hits the ER door, having been found down at home and unable to move her left side (or worse!).  When the CT scan of the brain shows alot of blood up there, normally they’d go off for an arteriogram and then to the OR.  I don’t know what HHS is suggesting happens at 2 a.m….sit on ‘em ’til the administrators have had their morning coffee and danish and can meet and decide what to do?  Who knows?

The neurosurgeon had some other highly disconcerting news from the American Assn. of Neurosurgery program he had just attended in D. C.  He states HHS referred to patients as “units.”  Wow.  Don’t take my word for this.  Go to YouTube and type in “neurosurgeon call to Mark Levin” and this will pop right up.

Now, make no mistake.  The ObamaCare folk know the only way the government can control costs, once they wrest control of the entire health care industry, is to decrease demand for services.  One way to do that is to simply not allow some things we are doing today to be done.  Now, those advocating so strenuously for a “public option” won’t admit to this, at least not yet.

But, either the neurosurgeon from Chicago is lying or the ObamaCare folks are.  History says it’s the politicians who aren’t telling the truth.