In My Orbit....
While Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio Governors battle with public-sector union entrenchment, MIA Democrat representatives, and bloggers playing dirty tricks, President Obama takes his below-50 percent approval self to Cleveland, Ohio, as part of his Win the Future (WTF) tour.
I think there's a covert conservative on the White House PR staff, because someone really should have warned him about the "WTF" moniker. Not even Mr. "Hope and Change" will be able to repackage that one.
But that's the process he's in, as that approval rating keeps dipping, nobody likes his anemic budget, and 2012 looms on the horizon. Obama has now changed his stance on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and has instructed Holder to stand down. The smoke and mirrors presidency keeps rolling along.
But many are squinting through the haze and can still see clearly. Republican lawmakers have the budget, and especially Obamacare in their sites, set to blow it out of the water and dismantle its public mandate.
Dr. Lloyd Krieger writes in the Wall Street Journal, Obamacare is already damaging Healthcare:
"System-wide, collectivization will be dismantled only by limiting the power of government agencies to determine what care gets funded. That means new legislation to supersede Section 1311 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which requires herding everyone into "qualified plans" and forcing doctors (via fines, penalties and nonpayment) to follow care guidelines determined by the secretary of Health and Human Services."
Yet another federal ruling has come down the pike, and this the Judge upholds the right of the government to its individual mandate. Another Fed Judge Upholds Healthcare Reform.
Jonathan Cohen of TNR practically crows, "See?! See?!" as he praises Judge Kessler for giving a detailed and reasoned ruling, comparing it to that other ruling by Judge Vinson, which he and the rest of the left roundly condemned. With all this push and pull, it is inevitable that the Supremes will decide this one. God help us all.
And in Sweet Home Chicago, there's a new kid in town... sort of. Rahm Emmanuel has bought won the Mayoral race and will replace Richard M. Daley when he retires. May the corruption continue.
As usual, John Kass shoots straight from the hip in The City wanted a strongman--and it got one. The killer quote:
"What Tuesday's victory prevents is outside examination of the City Hall books. That lack of scrutiny is what Mayor Richard Daley wanted, after two decades of spending Chicago into near-bankruptcy with all that cronyism and favoritism.
"Emanuel's victory completes an interesting switcheroo, with Rich Daley announcing his retirement, Rahm stepping down as White House chief of staff, and mayoral brother Billy Daley stepping into Rahm's old job.
"Some might call it cynical. But with a 2012 presidential re-election campaign under way, others might call it smart politics the Chicago Way."
The 2012 Election season promises to get more and more interesting. Time to break out the popcorn.