Obama's 2012 Secret Weapons Against GOP: Centrism & Civility

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Obama’s Positions Himself For 2012


President Obama this month has sustained the momentum he gained in December by playing the role of Political Strategist, world leader and, in the last week, the nation’s healer.

He’s avoided engaging Republicans in debate over the difficult choices ahead, allowing the opposition to come under pressure and preserving himself for the State of the Union Address on Jan. 25.

The chess moves began the day after Obama returned from a two-week vacation in Hawaii. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs announced he was leaving the day Republicans took control of the House.

The following day, Obama announced the arrival of a New White House Chief of Staff: Bill Daley, a Centrist Democrat and CEO.

The changes appeared somewhat unscripted, but the White House had been some time in planning them. The effect of the timing was to keep Republicans from dominating the news cycle at a time when they expected to get their best, and easiest, coverage.

But the changes also kept the White House press corps from pressing the administration on the kinds of questions that Republicans began facing immediately after the New Year, such as what spending they intended to cut, and what they planned to do about the nation’s deficit and debt.

The personnel moves positioned Obama in the eyes of Politicos as a political force, already maneuvering to set up his reelection team for the 2012 campaign. And in the eyes of the general public, the hiring of Daley moved him closer to the center.

Besides that, the White House successfully kept its head down, leaving Obama to assume his role as world leader. Prior to Saturday’s shooting in Arizona, this week was set to be a contrast between House Republicans holding a symbolic but toothless vote to repeal the president’s health-care law, and Obama hosting a series of heads of state for visits.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy came Monday, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri visited on Wednesday, and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is set to arrive Friday.

Vice President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Afghanistan and Iraq this week.

Then Chinese President Hu Jintao is set to come next Wednesday to the White House for a highly anticipated state visit.

The White House, and congressional Democrats, were prepared to start hearkening back to Obama’s words on Air Force One en route back to Washington about the new GOP majority: “They are going to play to their base for a certain period of time, but I’m pretty confident that they’re going to recognize that our job is to govern.”

Once through next week, Washington’s attention would turn to the upcoming State of the Union speech, and the White House could begin playing the expectations game without really saying much about the contents of the address.

But then a 22-year old gunman shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others outside a Tucson super market, nearly killing the Democratic congresswoman and taking the lives of six others who were there to meet their representative on a Saturday morning.

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The incident – as horrific and as unwelcome as it was – has had some political impact. One of the biggest is that it pushed the president forward into a difficult but broadly appealing role of national unifier.

Obama’s speech Wednesday in Tucson was widely acclaimed by conservatives as a master stroke, a moment of true political leadership. The president’s approval rating became higher than his disapproval rating this week for the first time since July, standing at 49 percent in favor and 46 percent against, according to the Real Clear Politics poll average.

The White House on Thursday was clearly viewing the speech as a potentially seminal moment for the nation, and by extension for Obama’s presidency.

“I think there are moments in our history — Oklahoma City, the Challenger accident, what happened in Arizona — that are important for the president to talk to the nation about, and to help be part of the process of celebration and healing. I think that’s how he approached – that’s how he approached this,” Gibbs told reporters.

Conservatives, when asked about the turn of events, downplayed the impact it will have on the inevitable showdowns between the president and Republicans over spending cuts, raising the debt limit and reforming entitlements. These are all things that have to happen to one degree or another. But each side has different visions for what those actions will look like.

Like the president, Republicans in Congress have attempted to make it through this prelude period in January without putting much skin in the game. They have tried to do this by subsisting mostly on the pomp of a new Congress and by putting forward a few PR-savvy measures, such as cutting congressional office budgets.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Virginia Republican, attempted to put some of the pressure for fiscal decisions on the president.

“Once we get to the State of the Union, I can tell you, I expect this president to put some action behind the words that he has been using. Number one, I am looking to see some significant spending cuts proposed by the president that we can work on together,” Cantor said the day before the GOP took control of the House.

But it is clear that Obama has been more successful so far than Republicans — who suffered a series of gaffes their first week before the Arizona shooting — in positioning himself for battles ahead.


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Sources: Chicago Mag., Daily Caller, Huffington Post, MSNBC, White House.gov, Youtube, Google Maps

GOP Leaders vs Obama's Earmarked, Omnibus Spending Tax Bill: Chicago Politics

Attacks From Right Take Toll On Obama's Tax Plan


A growing chorus of conservative criticism is prompting some House members to rethink the $850 billion package of tax cuts and extended jobless benefits that President Barack Obama negotiated with top Republicans in Congress.

The attacks are unlikely to derail the measure, which gets a final vote Wednesday in the Senate, to be followed by a debate and vote in the House. But they underscore the difficulty of building centrist coalitions after an election in which tea party conservatives ousted many Democrats and some veteran Republicans who were seen as too willing to compromise with opponents.

Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and the Tea Party Patriots have denounced the tax plan, which previously was criticized mainly by liberals as a giveaway to the wealthy. The new reproach from conservatives is that the package would swell the federal debt while failing to make permanent the tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 by then-President George W. Bush.

Congressional insiders still predict the tax plan will pass in some form before Jan. 1, when almost every American's income tax rates would go up if a new law isn't in place. But House passage this week seems a bit less certain than before, and Obama's supporters are watching anxiously to see how many opponents on the right will join those on the left.

"The longer we wait, the harder it's going to be," said Rep. Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican who is leaning against the package. He said House leaders probably are close to assembling enough support to pass it, but many GOP lawmakers are hearing from constituents who follow commentators such as Limbaugh.

The radio talk show host says the package should cut taxes, not leave them at the Bush-era levels.

The group Tea Party Patriots also urges the tax package's defeat. The legislation was crafted in secret, the group's petition says, and it fails to kill the estate tax, a goal of many hard-right groups.

But other tea party groups, including Freedomworks, support the tax compromise. Freedomworks, headed by former House Republican Dick Armey, says conservatives should be pleased to see the Bush tax cuts extended for another two years when Democrats still control Congress and the White House.

The tax cut debate is splitting Republicans at several levels. Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney criticized the plan Tuesday in a column for USA Today.

"Given the unambiguous message that the American people sent to Washington in November," Romney wrote, "it is difficult to understand how our political leaders could have reached such a disappointing agreement." It will add nearly $1 trillion to the national debt, he said, "when we are already drowning in red ink."

Another possible presidential contender, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., defended the tax measure in a Senate speech Tuesday. To oppose it, he said, "is to advocate for a tax increase," because a congressional impasse would allow all the Bush-era tax cuts to expire as scheduled on Jan. 1.

A new, more Republican Congress would probably restore them next year retroactive to Jan. 1, but workers might still see smaller paychecks for weeks or months because of higher withholdings reflecting the higher pre-Bush tax rates and smaller credits and deductions for children, college tuition and other expenses.

The Obama-backed plan would extend all those tax cuts, for rich and poor alike, for two years. It would trim Social Security payroll taxes and extend unemployment benefits for a year. It also would continue a number of tax breaks for business investments.

The plan restores the estate tax at a lower level -- 35 percent and exempting the first $5 million -- than many Democrats want. House Democratic leaders are weighing efforts to increase the rate to 45 percent and exempt only the first $3.5 million when the measure reaches their chamber.

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, who negotiated the tax package with the White House, warned Tuesday that it is "not subject to being reopened."

House staffers in both parties say no firm count of likely votes for the tax measure has been taken. One top Democratic aide guessed that perhaps 100 Democrats would support the measure. That would require Republicans to provide more than half the votes to reach the 218 needed for passage.

Conservative groups opposing the tax measure include the Club for Growth. Other influential critics include Republican Reps. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, a tea party favorite; Jeff Flake of Arizona, a prominent critic of pork barrel spending; and John Campbell of California, a certified public accountant.

Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote a widely discussed article last week saying Obama's plan would be a political coup for his 2012 re-election hopes, because the expensive package would stimulate the economy enough to bring down unemployment.

Prominent conservative supporters of the tax package include House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Americans for Tax Reform.

Boehner, who will become House speaker when the new Congress convenes next month, would suffer a big setback if the tax package fails. The criticism from the right clearly makes him and his allies nervous.

Boehner told CBS' "60 Minutes" that he refuses to say he compromised with the White House, preferring to say they found "common ground."

On tax and spending questions, House Republicans "are on a pretty short leash," Boehner said. "If we don't deliver what the American people are demanding, they'll throw us out of here in a heartbeat."

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Revolt: Republicans Angry About Omnibus Spending Bill Decry 'Total Mess'

Republicans poring over a 1,924-page overarching spending bill proposed by Democrats to cover the rest of the fiscal year are threatening to grind the legislation to a halt, citing massive earmark spending, which, if passed, would be enacted into law without debate in the full Senate.

Two sources who spoke to Fox News are describing the legislation as "a total mess."

But the head of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, said he believes the legislation must pass.

"The twelve bills included in this package fulfill the Congress' most basic responsibility, to exercise the power of the purse," he said in a statement. "This measure reflects a year's worth of work by members of both parties. Together, we have closely scrutinized the president's budget request, held hundreds of hearings, thousands of meetings, and asked literally tens of thousands of questions to each and every federal department and agency seeking justification for how taxpayer dollars are being spent."

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, responded in a statement, saying that after neglecting to pass a budget, "today we learn Senate Democrats now want to sandwich them together, totaling almost 2,000 pages, and jam them through in the waning moments of this lame duck session before anyone can read them. This political end-around reveals just how quickly my colleagues across the aisle have already forgotten the voters' message in November."

Though none of the spending bills has passed the Senate, all the individual appropriations bills have been through the full committee process. In an afternoon release, the Appropriations Committee website listed all of the requested earmarks, winnowed into separate categories that go into making up the 12 separate annual spending bills.

In total, thousands of earmark requests are listed. The financial services earmark chart, for instance, lists 220 earmark requests from dozens of lawmakers, mostly in the House, each worth anywhere from $50,000 to $2.4 million. The largest sum was requested by Inouye and his Hawaii colleague Sen. Daniel Akaka for "Bank on USA" demonstration projects" in their state. The projects are designed to give underserved communities greater access to financial institutions.

Elsewhere, the Department of Defense earmark list, mostly requests by senators, is 29 pages long and individual requests more often are worth $2 million to $5 million each. In that list, Inouye's requests total more than $159 million, including $21 million for a Hawaii Federal Health Care Network. Cornyn's defense spending earmarks total nearly $16 million.

The list was released after a Republican policy lunch that a source said was devolving into pandemonium.

"All hell is breaking loose," the source told Fox News, noting that Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina were expected to insist the omnibus bill be read in its entirety by the clerk on the Senate floor before a vote is held. They also were expected to seek debate on all earmarks and any amendments.

If the clerk follows the pace of last year's reading of the health care bill -- 53 pages an hour -- it will take almost 40 hours to read the omnibus bill.



A spokesman for Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky responded that "all hell is not breaking loose just yet. But I'm sure there will be a robust conversation."

In a news conference, McConnell compared the omnibus bill to the health care legislation last year, calling it a big bill arriving amid cold weather and no one knowing exactly what's in it.

On top of Republican angst, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., also is revolting against the Democratic-sponsored bill, saying she will not support an omnibus spending bill unless it includes an amendment proposed by McCaskill and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., that calls for a three-year cap in discretionary spending. Democratic leaders told McCaskill on Monday that they would meet a one-year gap, which she rejected, according to sources familiar with the conversations.

But sources said Inouye was confident he had the votes needed to get the legislation passed and sent to the House.

The fiscal year runs from Oct. 1-Sept. 30. Currently, a continuing resolution, the stopgap measure to keep government operational until a budget is passed, is set to expire on Saturday. If another CR or the bill itself isn't passed and signed into law by President Obama by then, the government will shut down.

On the House side, Republican leader John Boehner is apparently warning that if the Senate sends over the bill as it is, "We will work to kill it." House Democrats had hoped to file a year-long CR at the previous year's rates.

Opponents of the package are finding support among conservative groups who describe the legislation as a Democratic attempt to lock in 2010's $3.5 trillion budget for the next year without allowing any spending cuts.

"Despite the dire fiscal crisis the nation faces, with a $13.8 trillion national debt that cannot be paid, and in spite of the American people who are demanding action to cut spending, Congress is busy voting to kick the can for yet another year. A vote for the continuing resolution is a vote for another trillion dollar-plus deficit, and that is simply unacceptable to all Americans. Any politician in Congress that has ever promised to reduce the deficit should vote 'no' on this continuing resolution," Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson said in a statement Tuesday.

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Earmarks Used To Lure Support For Tax-Cut Bill


In the spirit of the holiday season, President Barack Obama's tax-cut deal with Republicans is becoming a Christmas tree tinseled with gifts for lobbyists and lawmakers.

There are ethanol subsidies for rural folks, commuter tax breaks for their cousins in the cities and suburbs, wind and solar grants for the environmentalists - all aimed at winning votes, particularly from reluctant Democrats.

The holiday additions are being hung on the big bill that was Congress' main reason for spending December in Washington, long after the elections that will give Republicans new power in January. The measure will extend Bush-era tax cuts, averting big tax increases for nearly all Americans, and keep jobless benefits flowing.

Republicans generally liked that agreement, worked out by Obama and GOP leaders. Democrats generally didn't, hence the add-ons.

It's expected to come to a decisive vote next week, at a total cost by the latest congressional estimate of $857.8 billion.

Almost $5 billion in subsidies for corn-based ethanol and a continuing tariff to protect against ethanol imports were wrapped up and placed on the tree Thursday night for farm-state lawmakers and agribusiness lobbyists. Environmentalists won more grants for developers of renewable energy, like wind and solar.

For urban lawmakers, there's a continuation of about-to-expire tax breaks that could save commuters who use mass transit about $1,000 a year.

Other popular tax provisions aimed at increasing production of hybrid automobiles, biodiesel fuel, coal and energy-efficient household appliances would be extended through the end of 2011 under the new add-ons.

The package also includes an extension of two Gulf Coast tax-incentive programs enacted after Hurricane Katrina to spur economic development in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.

While the add-ons may have won more votes for the Obama-GOP deal in the Senate, their potential impact is less clear in the House, where Democrats have criticized the package as a tax giveaway to the rich.

There's the possibility the added goodies will have opposite the intended effect for some lawmakers. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said the add-ons could turn his fiscally conservative colleagues against the bill.

"You don't want to be accused out there of supporting stimulus three," he said. "It will knock some votes off in the House, but more than anything, it will show the voters out there that things haven't changed with Republicans."


Sources: AZ Central, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC

House Leadership Battle: Clyburn Accepts 3rd Rank Deal

Deal Ends Democratic Leadership Fight


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has struck a deal that ends the leadership fight for the number two slot in the new House minority, multiple senior Democratic sources tell CNN.

Under the compromise, current House majority leader Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer will become the Democratic whip, which will be the number two spot in the new Democratic minority.

South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn agreed to end his bid for that spot and instead hold a new, third-ranking leadership post that will be created for him. In a letter to Democratic colleagues on Saturday, Pelosi said she plans to designate him "Assistant Leader."

In a statement Saturday, Clyburn -- an African-American -- said it was important that the party's House leadership represented "the diverse views, backgrounds and experiences of our membership." The new structure, he said, "honors the diversity and fosters the unity" of House Democrats.

"I believe this resolution allows us to begin the journey back to a stronger and more resilient majority," said Clyburn, the current majority whip and a congressman since 1993.

When the Democrats become the minority party in the House they lose the position of Speaker, a shift that left Hoyer and Clyburn jockeying for the House minority whip position.

Hoyer also released a statement Saturday, saying he would look forward to serving as the Democratic whip.

"Since the election last week, I have made clear my belief that it was important for my friend Jim Clyburn to continue serving our Caucus as the third ranking Member of our Leadership," he said.

The deal allows Rep. John Larson of Connecticut to keep his post as Democratic caucus chairman and Rep. Xavier Becerra to remain as the vice chair of the Democratic caucus.

Speaker Pelosi revealed the deal in a somewhat cryptic statement late Friday night.

"Should I receive the honor of serving as House Democratic Leader, I will nominate Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina to the number three leadership position," Pelosi said.


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Sources: CNN, Media Matters, MSNBC, Politico, Youtube, Google Maps

"I Will Not Comply"! Rush Limbaugh & John Hood vs Obama's Health Care

John Hood's "I Will Not Comply" Column Gets A Rush Mention


John Hood, president and chairman of the John Locke
Foundation, got his named called on Rush Limbaugh's radio show Wednesday.

The foundation quickly took to promoting the column that Limbaugh cited. Hood wrote that he "will not comply" with a health care reform bill that is passed without a vote.

Some Democrats have hinted that they could use a parliamentary maneuver that Republicans say would allow the health care bill to pass without members actually voting on it directly.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not planning to recognize such a result as legally binding. I’m not going to pretend to obey any dictates from federal health-care bureaucrats that have never been authorized by a constitutional vote of both houses of Congress.

I will not submit to any extra-constitutional order to dismantle the consumer-driven health plan I have set up for my employees.

I will not comply. If the government tries to make me comply, I’ll sue. And I’ll win.

This is not (yet) a banana republic where constitutions are seen as inconvenient impediments to the rule of the despot.

This is not (yet) a European-style welfare state where some powerful parliament can exercise legislative, executive, and judicial power all in one stroke.

This is a constitutional republic in which government power is divided, its exercise is strictly limited, and our rights are not some generous gift of those in power, to be withdrawn at their whim, but are instead a permanent check on their power.



















John Hood: I Will Not Comply


I’ve been arguing the case against ObamaCare for more than a year. I’ve argued that it will raise costs, reduce freedom, and Federalize the funding and regulation of a sixth of the nation’s economy. I’ve also pointed out that it is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of why medical costs are rising, and would destroy the only trend working against health care inflation – the rise of consumer-driven health care.

But now, I’ve lost my passion for continuing the debate. I’ve lost my motivation to identify the bill’s flaws and failures. I’ve even lost my anger at the arrogance of Washington politicians who think they know best how to manage my medical care and rearrange my personal finances.

Why? Because it’s becoming clear to me that I and other critics of ObamaCare have already won the intellectual battle. We’ve already succeeded in informing the public about the particulars of the bill, and the public now strongly opposes ObamaCare. The more President Obama shouts into his microphone, the more the public comes to oppose his plan. There is no conceivable way that the president or the leaders of Congress can legally enact their legislative monstrosity.

Instead, they are going to cheat.

They are going to employ some kind of legislative trickery to pretend to pass a bill that, they now realize, will never become law through constitutional means. They may use the now-infamous Slaughter Rule, which would allow House members to claim to have voted to amend the objectionable Senate bill without actually having passed it through the House. Or they’ll come up with an even-zanier scheme, including a subsequent reconciliation process in the Senate designed to overcome the very filibuster they’ve used to block conservative bills and nominees in the past.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not planning to recognize such a result as legally binding. I’m not going to pretend to obey any dictates from federal health-care bureaucrats that have never been authorized by a constitutional vote of both houses of Congress. I will not submit to any extra-constitutional order to dismantle the consumer-driven health plan I have set up for my employees.

I will not comply. If the government tries to make me comply, I’ll sue. And I’ll win.

This is not (yet) a banana republic where constitutions are seen as inconvenient impediments to the rule of the despot. This is not (yet) a European-style welfare state where some powerful parliament can exercise legislative, executive, and judicial power all in one stroke. This is a constitutional republic in which government power is divided, its exercise is strictly limited, and our rights are not some generous gift of those in power, to be withdrawn at their whim, but are instead a permanent check on their power.

If the House fails to hold a straightforward vote on the Senate bill that was passed a couple of months ago, that bill can neither become law nor be amended by future congressional action. It will have died. There will be no ObamaCare bill, no new taxes or regulations, and no unconstitutional mandate that Americans buy health plans approved by politicians.

The president and his allies may claim otherwise, but that won’t change the reality of the situation. If they command the rest of us to pretend they have passed the bill, I will not comply.

You shouldn’t, either.


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Sources: John Locke Foundation, Carolina Journal, Rush Limbaugh.com, McClatchy Newspapers, Google Maps

Rush Limbaugh Psycho Talk: "Obama Using Haiti To Appease Black Voters"

"Pres. Obama is using the Haitian Earthquake crisis to appease America's Black Community".

Rush what's wrong with you?

If America had a White President in the oval office he would still be sending Aid to Haiti.

Rush you picked the wrong time to throw a Political Punch.

Its never good to use Human suffering to win partisan "brownie points".

Pres. Obama helping Haiti in wake of their recent disaster to satisfy Black Voters indeed!











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Sources: Rush Limbaugh.com, AP, Newsbusters, Media Matters, Youtube, Google Maps

Rush Limbaugh Released From Hawaiian Hospital

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Limbaugh Released; No Heart Trouble Found



Conservative talk radio show host Rush Limbaugh said Friday that tests show nothing wrong with his heart after chest pains hospitalized him earlier this week.

Limbaugh spoke at a Honolulu news conference shortly before being released from The Queen's Medical Center, where he was rushed Wednesday during a vacation. Doctors said he did not have a heart attack or heart disease.

"The pain was real, and they don't know what caused it," Limbaugh said.

Asked whether he was taking painkillers, Limbaugh said no.

His medical problems have attracted attention in the past. In 2003, he acknowledged an addiction to pain killers for severe back pain and took a five-week leave from his radio show to enter rehab.

Limbaugh couldn't resist a few political comments in the short press conference at the hospital. He said he got the best health treatment in the world "right here in the United States of America."

"I don't think there's one thing wrong with the United States health system," Limbaugh said.

Caller after caller to his show Thursday sounded their well-wishes, asked to simply say "ditto" — a traditional Limbaugh catchword — so they could get on with questions and comments on social and government issues on the national talk show. Friday's show was a Best of Rush special.

Americans in a poll last month called Limbaugh America's most influential conservative voice, and more than 14 million people hear him at least once a week, making him the nation's highest-rated broadcaster.



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Sources: MSNBC, Google Maps

Rush Limbaugh Hospitalized In Hawaii For Chest Pains! In Serious Condition!

(KITV) Rush Limbaugh Rushed To Honolulu Hospital


Conservative radio talk host Rush Limbaugh was rushed to a Honolulu hospital on Wednesday afternoon with chest pains, sources told KITV.

Paramedics responded to the call at 2:41 p.m. at the Kahala Hotel and Resort.

Limbaugh suffered from chest pains, sources said. Paramedics treated him and took him to Queen's Medical Center in serious condition.

He was seen golfing at Waialae Country Club earlier this week. The country club is next to the Kahala Hotel and Resort.

The radio show host had been in the islands during the holidays. Coincidentally, his visit comes at a time when two of the nation's most powerful Democrats, President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are also staying in Hawaii.

In 2001, Limbaugh received a cochlear implant after he suddenly lost hearing due to autoimmune inner ear disease. Limbaugh underwent treatment in 2003 for an addiction to prescription painkillers, including Lorcet, Norco and hydrocodone.




(MSNBC) Rush Limbaugh Taken To Hospital


A Honolulu television station is reporting that conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been taken to a hospital with chest pains.

KITV reported Wednesday that paramedics responded to a call at 2:41 p.m. from the Kahala Hotel and Resort where Limbaugh is vacationing.

The station, citing unnamed sources, said paramedics treated Limbaugh and took him to The Queen's Medical Center in serious condition.

Queen's spokeswoman N. Makana Shook says the hospital is unable to comment on the report.

Television station KHON quoted unidentified sources saying Limbaugh was taken from the hotel in an ambulance.

Limbaugh was seen golfing at Waialae Country Club earlier this week. The country club is next to the Kahala Hotel and Resort.


Previous Health Problems

Limbaugh reported about eight years ago that he had lost most of his hearing, saying it was caused by an autoimmune inner-ear disease. He had surgery to have an electronic device placed in his skull to restore his hearing.

In 2006, he faced a single charge involving prescription fraud after a three-year investigation of drug use. Under a plea deal, the charge was dropped in return for Limbaugh continuing treatment.

Prosecutors began investigating Limbaugh in 2003 after The National Enquirer reported his housekeeper’s allegations that he had abused OxyContin and other painkillers. He soon took a five-week leave from his radio show to enter a rehabilitation program and acknowledged he had become addicted to pain medication. He blamed it on severe back pain.

Prosecutors seized Limbaugh’s medical records after learning that he received about 2,000 painkillers, prescribed by four doctors in six months, at a pharmacy near his Palm Beach mansion. The investigation was held up as prosecutors and his lawyer battled in court over whether the records were properly seized.



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Sources: KITV, MSNBC, Google Maps

Tiger Woods vs Rush Limbaugh: Interracial Dating

NOTE:

I am in no way offended by Tiger Woods' preference of White Women.

I also have nothing personal against Interracial Dating or Interracial Marriages.
In fact I couldn't care less.

If a Black Woman chooses to date a White guy and he makes her happy, fine.

By the same token if a Black Man chooses to date a White woman and she makes him happy, that's cool too.

So everyone out there angry at Tiger for his "Jungle Fever", stop hating!




Rush Limbaugh on Tiger Woods affair scandal: 'Choice of females' hurting the "Black frame of mind"


If you believe Rush Limbaugh, African-Americans are suffering from a collective malaise brought on by anger at President Obama's economic policies -- and the white women of the Tiger Woods scandal.

On Tuesday's edition of "The Rush Limbaugh Show," the right-wing radio firebrand sounded off on "the black frame of mind" and the disappointment he claims the African-American community feels toward the Obama presidency.

"The black frame of mind is terrible. They're depressed. They're down -- Obama's not doing anything for 'em. How is that hoax and change workin' for ya? They're all livid," Limbaugh said.

Blacks are "upset" and "feel abandoned" by Obama and, he added, "I'm sure Tiger Woods' choice of females [is] not helping 'em out with their attitudes there, either."

Audio was posted on the Web site of Media Matters.

That the women involved in the Tiger Woods affair allegations are all white has been widely discussed in the black community -- and Woods' already-shaky standing among many African-Americans has taken a bludgeoning.

Last week, Woods was repeatedly a punch line on radio host Tom Joyner's nationally syndicated program

"Thankfully, Tiger, you didn't marry a black woman. Because if a sister caught you running around with a bunch of white hoochie-mamas," a parody song played on Joyner's show suggested, Woods would have been castrated.

The song went on, "The question everyone in America wants to ask you is, how many white women does one brother waaant?"

Limbaugh is no stranger to the intersection of race, sport and scandal.

The cigar-chomping shock jock earned nation-wide notoriety for his remark on an NFL pregame show that African-American Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb generated favorable press coverage because of his race -- not his talent on the gridiron.

"I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well," Limbaugh said. "There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve."

Outcry over his comments prompted his resignation from the ESPN show "Sunday NFL Countdown."

Earlier this year, his reputation for spewing racial invective scuttled his attempt to become a co-owner of the St. Louis Rams.

He was dropped from a group making a bid for the team after black NFL players pointed to his track record of racially provocative commentary.

The investor group called him a "complication and a distraction."

Limbaugh fired back that he was a victim of "Obama's America" and "race hustlers."

"So Obama's America is quite possibly going to include the National Football League, and pressure from Obama, the Congressional Black Caucus and other places might be brought to bear on the owners," he said.




Tiger's Thing for White Girls

Tiger Woods has gone and disfigured his perfect image by cheating on his beautiful, white wife with another beautiful white woman. As a young black woman myself, who also prides herself on being a card-carrying feminist, I suppose I should be outraged by his infidelity on many levels—naturally, the most “important” being that yet another black man has abandoned the race and succumbed to the wanton ways of those dirty white women who lurk in the shadows trying to steal our men.

The second reason I suppose I should take a stand against Tiger and include myself in the media frenzy that has set out to dismember his already-struggling marriage is that he had the audacity to destroy his picturesque family unit in the first place. I mean, his two beautiful children now have many a glossy tabloid to prove that, alas, their father might be a god to the game of golf, but between the sheets he’s nothing more than a man.

But the truth is that I just don’t care.

Consider the reported roster of women, if you will: Cori Rist, a 31-year-old he met in a nightclub to whom he allegedly devoted a cool six months of extramarital sex. Porn star Holly Sampson, whose work includes Descent Into Bondage and Diary of a Horny Housewife. And of course, Jaimee Grubbs, the 24-year-old shot girl who took her story directly to Us Weekly, most likely making a considerable amount of cold hard cash for her “honesty.”

Yes, they are all white. But then, Tiger himself declared that he was, “Cablinasian,” and not in fact African American in the first place, so the fact that he would clutter his little black book with blondes is hardly news. Not to mention that these women also all hold jobs that demand a particular amount of sex appeal—the more they flirt, the better they get paid. What was Tiger going to do? Moderate a debate between his wedding ring and his penis over his moral obligation to his wife, all while getting lap dances from a young, free-spirited barmaid or even greater pleasures from a woman who played a Horny Housewife? I think not. I’m not saying it’s right; I’m just not saying I’m surprised.

The controversy over black men lusting after white women has been woven into racial discourse (and spurred rant after rant) since before slavery was abolished in 1865, thus forcing the modern debate around this otherwise harmless reality into deeply sensitive and shameful territory. After all, it was only 1955 when Emmett Till was murdered for whistling at a white woman. This conversation about black men and white women is still a sore subject. All the more reason to have it.

I asked Rolake Bamgbose, an off-air reporter for ABC News who happens to be a stunning Nigerian woman, what she thinks. “Some men want things the way they want it, and for some reason think that black women strive for too much control, are too confrontational or ‘aggressive,’" she says. "But I look at my ladies of all shades of black around me and I don't see that. So then I'm led to think those men have fallen subject to their own interpretations of exaggerated stereotypes of black women that always have been and continue to be perpetuated in movies, television, and advertisements... Once I've gone there I have to let it go and think it’s them that have the problem, and for them, I feel sorry.”

For others, like Aixa Weekes, fashion editor for Giant magazine (who happens to be another black beauty herself), the root of black male desire for white women betrays shades of trophyism. “I think the root of this nature dates back to slavery. We as blacks, then Africans were stripped away from our homeland... physically, emotionally and psychologically abused, left scarred.

And even after centuries of progression we are to believe that being light is better, having coarse hair is a curse, and ending up with a white woman may be a prize.” Does that make Tiger’s apparent predilection for white women wrong? “I don't feel there is anything wrong with black men dating white women, but when a black man makes that his preference, it becomes an issue.”

I tend to agree with various points made by both women, particularly that black women get a bad rap for being “aggressive” when in fact, most opinionated women of any race are unfairly considered rude. I also think much of the psychology behind black male lust for white women is based in our complicated history. Like Jim Crow taught us all, black folks were meant to mingle with their own while white folks were told to do the same, right?

Wrong. We do not live “separate but equal” anymore, and as dedicated as I am to informing the world that black history is actually American history, I will not use Emmett Till’s death against a modern black man who finds love with a white woman. Compatibility is hard enough to come by without tossing racial exclusivity into the mix.

I consider myself a modern feminist—a woman who accepts (and critiques) the world in all its tainted glory. I did not think Janet Jackson should have apologized for showing her nipple during the Super Bowl, whether it was a mistake or not. And I will not say that I won’t root for Tiger when he’s back on the golf course and another man is making headlines for cheating on his beautiful wife—black or white.

Of course Tiger could have done the “right thing” and kept his distance from the after-hours parties, bought Sampson’s DVD instead of bedding the “real deal,” and read the Bible each night before bed—in other words, he could have indulged the fantasy the world had about what he does when he hangs up his clubs. But he didn’t. He went out, met a few girls, and got caught. Textbook prophesy for a young, attractive athlete. At least he didn’t beat his wife like Mike Tyson did.

We live in a complicated world, driven by human desire. The only people who need to wag their finger in Tiger’s face live in his own home. The rest of us simply need to tuck the tabloids back on the shelf and focus on our own lives. You never know, his lovely wife could have cheated first. After all, blondes have more fun.



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Sources: The Daily Beast, NY Daily News, Google Maps

Rush Limbaugh Dropped From St. Louis Rams Bids

(Al Sharpton To NFL: "No Rush!")

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

Reports: Group will drop Limbaugh from Rams bid


Looks like the Rush Limbaugh/NFL controversy may not last too long.

The group that is trying to buy the St. Louis Rams plans to drop the outspoken radio show host and conservative commentator, according to multiple published reports Wednesday. There is no definitive timeframe as to when the move will happen, according to ESPN.com.

News of Limbaugh being dropped from the investing group, which is led by St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts, comes a day after several prominent NFL figures, including commissioner Roger Goodell, expressed concern about the prospects of Limbaugh becoming part-owner of an NFL franchise.

Goodell on Tuesday labeled some things Limbaugh has said in the past as "polarizing comments that we don't think reflect accurately on the NFL or our players."

Goodell seemed to be referring to Limbaugh's 2003 comment about the Eagles' Donovan McNabb. On a Sunday Night Football broadcast on ESPN, Limbaugh said, "I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well."

"I have said many times before that we are all held to a higher standard here," Goodell said Tuesday. "I think divisive comments are not what the NFL is all about. I would not want to see those kind of comments from people who are in a responsible position within the NFL. No. Absolutely not."

Also Tuesday, Colts owner Jim Irsay said he would not vote to approve Limbaugh as an NFL owner.

"I, myself, couldn't even consider voting for him," Irsay said at an owners meetings. "When there are comments that have been made that are inappropriate, incendiary and insensitive ... our words do damage, and it's something that we don't need."

Prospective owners must be approved by 24 of the league's 32 teams.

Several players have also voiced their concern over Limbaugh's potential ownership position, and NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith, who is black, urged players to speak out against Limbaugh's bid.

While Limbaugh did not have any comment in response to the reports he would be dropped from the investing group, he did address the overall situation on his radio program Wednesday.

"I'm not even thinking of exiting," Limbaugh said. "I'm not even thinking of caving. I am not a caver. None of us are. We have been betrayed by too many who have caved. Pioneers take the arrows. We are pioneers. It's a sad thing that our country over 200 years old now needs pioneers all over again, but we do."

The Rams updated the league on their potential sale on Tuesday but specific bidders were not discussed, Goodell said.

Sources: MSNBC, NFL Fox Sports, Wikipedia

Rush Limbaugh's St. Louis Rams Bid, Al Sharpton Or NFL Fans...Who Wins This Battle?

(Al Sharpton To NFL: "No Rush!")

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Sharpton-Jackson attack Limbaugh’s Rams bid


The Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson attacked the bid by Rush Limbaugh to buy the St. Louis Rams on Monday, saying the conservative radio host’s track record on race should exclude him from owning an NFL team.

Sharpton sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, arguing that Limbaugh has been divisive and “anti-NFL” in some of his comments.

Jackson said in a telephone interview that Limbaugh had made his wealth “appealing to the fears of whites” with an unending line of insults against blacks and other minorities.

“The National Football League has set high standards for racial justice and inclusion,” Jackson said. “He should not have the privilege of owning an NFL franchise — and it is a privilege.” The Civil Rights leader said he’s had contact with numerous players and ex-players concerned about the bid.

Limbaugh shot back at Sharpton on his radio show.

“Now, this saddens me as well this disappoints me,” he said. “I know Rev. Sharpton. Sharpton is better than this. He knows better than this. You know, I didn’t judge Al Sharpton’s fitness to be in radio when he wanted to earn an honest living for once, given his well-documented past as the author of the Tawana Brawley hoax. I believe in freedom and I also don’t discriminate.”

Limbaugh said last week that he is teaming up with St. Louis Blues hockey team owner Dave Checketts in a bid to buy the Rams. He has declined to discuss details of the offer, citing a confidentiality agreement.

In 2003, Limbaugh worked briefly on ESPN’s NFL pregame show. He resigned after saying Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback succeed.

Transcripts posted on the radio host’s Web site also say that on a January 2007 show, Limbaugh commented: “The NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.”

Asked about Limbaugh’s bid to purchase the winless Rams, McNabb said: “If he’s rewarded to buy them, congratulations to him. But I won’t be in St. Louis any time soon.”

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league is aware of the concerns voiced by Sharpton and Jackson.

“It is very early in the process and no transfer of ownership of the Rams has been presented to the league for review,” Aiello said.

The latest complaints came a day after executive director of the NFL Players Association, DeMaurice Smith, urged players to speak out against Limbaugh’s bid.

“I have asked our players to embrace their roles not only in the game of football but also as players and partners in the business of the NFL,” Smith said in a statement Sunday. “They risk everything to play this game, they understand that risk and they live with that risk and its consequences for the rest of their life.

“We also know that there is an ugly part of history and we will not risk going backwards, giving up giving in or lying down to it.”

Players on the 0-5 Rams, who were routed by the Minnesota Vikings 38-10 on Sunday, tried to distance themselves from the controversy.

“I’m paying attention, but I’m not even touching that one,” running back Steven Jackson said. “Because if I start touching it I might go somewhere I don’t want to go.”

Defensive end Chris Long said he just heard Monday that Limbaugh was part of a group seeking to purchase the team. His reaction: “Oh, is that the guy on the radio?”

Reminded of Limbaugh’s statements about McNabb, Long seemed to disapprove while adding he didn’t care who owned the team.

“I mean, those weren’t great comments at all,” Long said. “But it’s not my job to really comment on that.”

Defensive end Leonard Little, the last remaining player from the Rams’ Super Bowl championship after the 1999 season, didn’t want to talk about it.

“We’ve got a lot more things to worry about than who’s going to be our owner,” he said.




Goodell should say no to Limbaugh


It's a publicity stunt Roger Goodell should've shut down within minutes of its launch.

Rush Limbaugh as NFL owner is an unfunny joke. But the kingpin of talk radio counted on the sarcasm to fly over most of our heads and for television executives to ignore the absurdity and milk the controversy for ratings.

What he didn't know is how the NFL commissioner would react.

Well, now we have our disappointing answer. Given an opportunity to add equal-opportunity credibility to his clean-up-the-image-of-the-league campaign, Goodell has stood motionless on a busy airport runway.

And here come the Left Brothers — Al "747" Sharpton and Jesse "DC 10" Jackson — barreling in for a landing on top of Goodell's dome. And this time every black person with an ounce of common sense and self-respect is riding shotgun with Jesse and Al, who have justifiably voiced their displeasure with Limbaugh's ownership bid.

I'm not mad at Limbaugh. He expresses no shame to the game he's been running for two decades. He's an opportunistic, race-baiting, anti-black entertainer. The popularity of the gangsta element of hip-hop music culture has allowed Limbaugh to proudly claim that his form of entertainment is mainstream.

I'd say we're less than 24 hours from Limbaugh playing the Jay-Z card. Brother Jay owns a piece of the New Jersey Nets and has a library of rap tunes spewing the same kind of black-degrading lyrics, phrases and stereotypes that have made Limbaugh rich enough to buy a chunk of the St. Louis Rams.

This is a brilliant publicity stunt. After taking down challenger Sean Hannity during the election season, Limbaugh is now in an ultimate fight with Glenn Beck for the prestigious and lucrative crown of right-wing racial divider.

Having failed as an NFL commentator, Limbaugh understands the power of football. He realized announcing his intention to buy the Rams would feed the sports and political talk-show monsters. He figured if things hit just right, he might land the cover of Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine.

He never had a doubt that he'd smoke out Al Sharpton.

I spent last week and this weekend dodging this issue. People asked me via e-mail and Facebook if I had an opinion, and I declined to comment. My boss at FOXSports.com begged me to write a column, and I told him I had nothing to add to the discussion.

I didn't want to play Limbaugh's game. This is a (freaking) publicity stunt. I assumed that Goodell would quickly put an end to this lunacy.

In the name of improving the image of the NFL, Goodell has smacked every black and white player who has crossed paths with law enforcement.

Rush Limbaugh would be devastating to the NFL brand. Just as it has in the past seven days, his style of racial politics would upset employees and take attention away from the games.

This is the major difference between Rush and Jay-Z. Beyonce's boyfriend raps a bunch of dumb, racist, sexist (spit) but serious people don't take Jay-Z or his music seriously. Jay's expression of self-hatred does not bother NBA players, NBA fans or remotely overshadow what transpires on the court.

That would not be the case for Limbaugh. He would be a nightmare. He would make Marge Schott seem like Jimmy Carter, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X rolled into one package.

Here are two quotes from the best-of Rush Limbaugh racist collection:

"You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray (Dr. King's assassin). We miss you, James. Godspeed."

And ...

"Let's face it, we didn't have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: Slavery built the South. I'm not saying we should bring it back. I'm just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark."

You can argue the comments are presented out of context and were meant as jokes. Then I'd argue that Limbaugh needs to get on the comedy-club circuit and out of the business of attempting to influence presidential politics. Limbaugh wants to be taken seriously.

OK, let me bring Goodell's hypocrisy all the way home.

Do you think Goodell would allow Michael Vick to go on radio and crack jokes about dogs?

"Let's face it, I didn't dogfight for several years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: We made a lot of money with Bad Newz Kennels. I'm not saying I'd do it again. I'm just saying it had its merits. For one thing, there was a lot less dog poop on the streets."

If Michael Vick said those words on radio, Goodell would rebuke Vick's comments within minutes and kick him out of the NFL within 24 hours.

We all know the atrocities of human slavery. Can an NFL owner with 30 to 40 black players and a 10 percent black fan base make a living cracking jokes about the abuse and torture of black people?

It's unfortunate and troubling that Roger Goodell needs time to think about this.

I wish I could say it's surprising. It's always easiest to castigate, penalize and shun the people outside your group. Goodell primarily represents a consortium of rich white men who apparently can't quite muster the courage to stand up to one of their own.



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Sources: MSNBC, NBC Sports, MSN Fox Sports, NY Daily News, Seattle Times, BBC, Baltimore Suns, Footblog, Google Maps