Hope Has Changed

Two Dick's & Obama's Vitamin Police

Newsmax reports that Dick Durbin and Dick (Richard) Blumenthall, both Democrat Senators, submitted a bill in July to reclassify vitamins and supplements to place them under the management of the Food And Drug Administration.  The bill was issued within days of the FDA floating new guidelines that would subject the currently affordable supplement market to the same testing and reporting regime as any other drug.

Long story short, if the regs went into place the vitamin shelf at the store would be emptied until supplement makers submitting test results to the FDA and the products were approved.  And the added cost for battling the bureaucracy and testing regime?  You'd be paying the added costs when the products went back on the shelf, if they ever did.

Oddly enough, big Pharma is already equipped to deal with the testing and administrative hurdles, and fully prepared to fill the void created by Democrat meddling and Obama's FDA.  But you'd still be paying though the nose.

One example suggested by the Newsmax article is the very popular Omega-3 fish oil supplement.  A month supply today is probably $18.00, more likely less.   GlaxoSmithKline already has an FDA approved Omega-3 product , but it starts at about $240.00 per month.

So the Democrat/Obama FDA move immediately topples the low cost competition and hands the market share to big Pharma, while pricing most working American's out of the supplement market entirely.  What was once readily available and competitive becomes an expensive closed market for the rich and well connected.

Democrats are the party of regular Americans?  Not likely.   Crony capitalism, corporate socialism, elite political class --you bet!

Cross Posted: Two Dick's & Obama's Vitamin Police

Are There Fast And Furious Links To David Hartley's Murder?

Has the Obama department of Justice lost interest in the murder of David Hartley because it could lead back to Fast and Furious?

Hartley was gunned down while Jet Skiing with his wife Tiffany on Falcon lake in Texas.  The lake borders Mexico.  A boat from the Mexican side opened fire, killing David. 

Fast and Furious or Gunrunner, was an ATFE operation funded by the Stimulus Bill, that was designed to get US guns into the hands of Mexican cartels around the time the Democrat congress and White House began pimping the meme that US guns were the weapon of choice for Mexican drug gangs and violence on both sides of the border.

About a year later David Hartley was killed on his vacation.  A year after that and his wife still has no answers.

Tiffany, who was jet skiing with her husband but escaped herself, spoke before members of congress (in Texas) about issues relating to her case and border security. And Judicial Watch has stepped in to assist her in dogging the White House and agencies under its authority to release information relevant to the case.  This is necessary because the Department of Justice and the Department of State have lost interest in solving the murder.

The timing strikes me as suspicious.  I would not be surprised to discover that David Hartley is dead because of Guns the Obama administration let walk into the hands of violent Mexican Drug gangs. 

Original Gunrunner funding Bill HR495 (111th Congress) Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX)

Funding rolled into Obama signed Stimulus Bill

Holder was talking about it after.

Recent document dump provides more ties from WH to F&F

(H/T Big Government, PJ Tatler, Free Republic, Hot Air, GraniteGrok)

Cross posted:  Are There Fast And Furious Links To David Hartley's Murder?

Did Reid & Obama Try to Use FEMA To Milk Taxpayers?

From Heritage.  This is the timeline of events related to the Democrat narrative blaming Republicans for blocking disaster relief. (See also Women and Children hit hardest.)

Turns out Reid knew FEMA had adequate funds but put on his floor show anyway.  So once again.  Why does anyone trust these people?  Why?

Here's the timeline from Heritage - On the Jump!

Aug. 31: Responding to Republicans’ insistence that any hike in disaster aid funds be offset, FEMA Director Craig Fugate insists that the agency has enough money to sustain operations. “We don’t know what’s coming down the line, but what I do know is we have funds to continue response, rescue operations and immediate needs and that’s been our focus,” Fugate says.

Sept. 9: President Obama requests $500 million in emergency appropriations for FEMA’s disaster aid funds. Republicans maintain that the money be offset with cuts elsewhere in the budget.

Sept. 15: The Senate approves a measure offered by Reid to immediately grant FEMA an additional $500 million for disaster aid for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

Sept. 20: Reid asks the White House whether FEMA actually needs additional funds to sustain its disaster aid operations. “The White House was non-committal,” according to Politico.

Sept. 22: The House of Representatives approves a continuing resolution that hikes FEMA disaster aid by $1 billion, and offsets the cost with $1.5 billion in cuts to a pair of Energy Department​ programs.

Sept. 22: Reid convenes Senate Democrats to discuss their position on the House measure. “The caucus decided it would fight the GOP proposal and try to make the case that the offsets were unfair and would cost jobs,” according to Politico.

Sept. 23: Reid insists that FEMA “will run out of money on Monday. I repeat: Monday.”

Sept. 24: Fugate contacts Reid to inform him that the Monday date was inaccurate. Other administration officials reportedly called Reid’s office to express confidence that FEMA could make it through the year.

Sept. 26, 12:30 p.m.: FEMA confirms that it has the funds to sustain disaster aid operations through the end of the fiscal year. As of Monday morning, it had $114 million on hand for the week, and said it could find another $40 million originally marked for longer-term projects.

Sept. 26, 3:30 p.m.: Reid takes to the Senate floor to slam Republicans for “block[ing] FEMA from getting the resources it needs to help disaster victims.”

Sept. 26, 7 p.m.: The Senate passes the continuing resolution with no additional FEMA funding for this fiscal year. Reid says it “will provide suffering Americans from Missouri to Vermont the resources they need to piece their lives back together.”

The sequence of events raises serious questions that deserve answers, most importantly, What did Obama and Reid know, and when did they know it? Reid’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

(H/T Heritage.org)

Bill Blocked By Dem Senators Beholden to Big Oil and The Rich

More bad news for Obama.  His job killing/Jobs bill does not have enough votes in the Democrat majority Senate because there are Democrat Senators who will not raise taxes on the rich nor punish oil companies.  That is the word from Dick Durbin, as reported by Hot Air.

Obama still the smartest guy in the room?  He creates a campaign fluff bill to beat opponents with and it is so bad his own party becomes an obstruction.  That has not nor will it ever stop him from claiming otherwise.  He's the titular head of the demolition party and the truth will not obstruct his pursuit of absolute power.

But the truth is that Democrat obstructionists continue to stifle the Obama Jobs agenda. 

Maybe they can find some time to object to all the other bad provisions, like allowing the unemployed to file discrimination lawsuits against job creators who do not hire them.  Kathy 'Lawsuit' Sullivan must be making her forehead like the folks in the old V-8 commercials over that one.  Great way to stop people from hiring, of course.

"Looking to hire?"

"Nope. Company is big enough."(Make too much and Obama makes you a target anyway)

Job creation at it's Democrat best, suppressing the thing it claims to help. But hey, maybe it does do what it is supposed to.  Millions of unemployment recipients created or saved!  Look its another Obama Conga Line (pictured above).  Practice for liberal price controls with hours long waits for gas and food.  Socialism, the great equalizer: everyone's life sucks except the ruling class Progressives, the corporatist Immelt's, leftist entertainers, and the Union bosses.

Or maybe those Democrat obstructionists blocking Obama are on to something?