ObamaFest

Obama Reappoints Bernanke Before Playing the Back Nine

Nate Jastrow — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:12:00 GMT

Bernanke brings his bear market to the Vineyard.

It's tough being off of the evening news for a week, so it was either reappoint Bernanke or bomb Libya.

Since bombing Libya calls for a necktie, President Obama threw a blazer over his golf shirt and reappointed Ben Bernanke to another term running the Federal Reserve. We get it, Mr. President, you're on a working vacation. That's some weak-ass showmanship. You're like that guy in our office who sends out emails whenever he works late - just so everybody knows he worked late.

Bernanke's current term doesn't even expire until FEBRUARY 1, 2010.

In the Obama White House, style is not only beating substance, it's pitching a shutout.

Goldman Sachs Capo Orders Crew to Lay Low After Big Score

Nate Jastrow — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:12:00 GMT

The Lufthansa job was like looting a parking meter compared to what Goldman Sachs pulled off. Now, goodfella Lloyd Blankfein is asking his people to lay low after the U.S. Treasury score:

Goldman Sachs Group Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein told employees to avoid making high profile purchases, the New York Post said, citing sources.

Blankfein, who first asked employees to avoid large purchases late last year, has stepped up his campaign in recent weeks, a source told the paper.
"This is a sensitive time for us, and (Blankfein) wants to make sure that we're not being seen living high on the hog," the paper quoted an anonymous Goldman executive as saying.
Goldman has faced a torrent of unwanted publicity recently including an unflattering story in Rolling Stone magazine, which accused the bank of having a key role in various market bubbles stretching back to the1920s. A Goldman spokeswoman declined to comment to the paper.

Dodd & Conrad - Lock 'em Up!

Nate Jastrow — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:31:00 GMT

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FILE - In this March 19, 2009 file photo, Senate Banking Committee Chairman...

FILE - In this Jan. 8, 2009 file photo, Senate Budget Committee Chairman...

FILE - In this March 7, 2008 file photo, Angelo Mozilo, founder and former...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite their denials, influential Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad and Chris Doddwere told from the start they were getting VIP mortgage discounts fromone of the nation's largest lenders, the official who handled theirloans has told Congress in secret testimony.

Both senators have said that at the time the mortgages were being written they didn't know they were getting unique deals from Countrywide Financial Corp., the company that went on to lose billions of dollars on home loans to credit-strapped borrowers. Dodd still maintains he got no preferential treatment.

Dodd got two Countrywide mortgages in 2003, refinancing his home in Connecticut and another residence in Washington. Conrad's two Countrywide mortgages in 2004 were for a beach house in Delaware and an eight-unit apartment building in Bismarck in his home state of North Dakota.

Robert Feinberg,who worked in the Countrywide's VIP section, told congressionalinvestigators last month that the two senators were made aware that"who you know is basically how you're coming in here."

"You don't say 'no' to the VIP," Feinberg told Republican investigators for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, according to a transcript obtained by The Associated Press.

Obama Statement on Michael Jackson Death

Nate Jastrow — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:50:00 GMT

CBS News reports that the President Obama is still deciding on whether to issue a statement regarding the death of Michael Jackson.

The stumbling block appears to be White House speechwriter Jonathan Favreau's inability to find a euphemism for "molester."

"It's a tough one," admits Favreau, "Rahm wants me to put lipstick on this pig, but, to be honest, I feel like I'm putting lipstick on an innocent child's teddy bear -- an act Mr. Jackson would refer to as 'foreplay'."

Obama Knees Constitution in the Nuts

Nate Jastrow — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:48:00 GMT

The ObamaFest intern said it best, "When I'm President I'm naming Rachel Maddow the Bullshit Czar."

Obama Goes to Bat for Corrupt SEIU Union

Nate Jastrow — Sat, 09 May 2009 16:24:00 GMT

During President Kennedy's administration, Democrats fought for working men and women by going after corruption in organized labor. Here's another reminder that Camelot aint coming back:

California is on the ropes, and the state could run out of money in July. The budget approved in Sacramento in February includes spending cuts and record tax increases. While everybody is feeling the pain, President Obama wants to be the aspirin for the powerful Service Employees International Union and the SEIU members who have been asked to take pay cuts in the new budget:

"The Obama administration is threatening to rescind billions of dollars in federal stimulus money if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers do not restore wage cuts to unionized home healthcare workers approved in February as part of the budget.

The wages at issue involve workers who care for some 440,000 low-income disabled and elderly Californians. The workers, who collectively contribute millions of dollars in dues each month to the influential Service Employees International Union and the United Domestic Workers, will see the state's contribution to their wages cut from a maximum of $12.10 per hour to a maximum of $10.10."

The back story is how corrupt the SEIU is in general, and how pervasive corruption is in this specific program:

"Loose oversight and bureaucratic inertia have allowed fraud to fester in a rapidly expanding multibillion-dollar state program that provides personal caregivers to the impoverished elderly and disabled. Hundreds of reports of scams and swindles are going without investigation.

Prosecutors and program administrators across the state say they are alarmed by the ease with which people are taking advantage of the program, In Home Supportive Services.

In one case, a social worker, her brother and her grandson in Los Angeles County are accused of bilking the In Home system out of $77,000 over three years, billing for care that was not provided. The social worker was simultaneously collecting pay for her full-time state employment. The case is awaiting trial.

In Fresno County, officials used $650,000 in county funds to create the state's only active In Home Supportive Services fraud investigations unit. Prosecutors say they routinely find cheating on time cards, prisoners reporting they are providing care while locked up and recipients of the service concocting disabilities to get relatives on the state payroll."

With a tough road ahead, America is closely watching which battles President Obama chooses to fight. The ObamaFest Team is discouraged to see him taking care of political i.o.u.'s at the expense of a state teetering on bankruptcy.

Jack Murtha Sabotages Obama

Nate Jastrow — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:12:00 GMT

The Washington Post reports that this is a great time to be a relative of Pennsylvania Rep. Jack Murtha.

Yet last year, Murtech received $4 million in Pentagon work, all of it without competition, for a variety of warehousing and engineering services. With its long corridor of sparsely occupied offices and an unmanned reception area, Murtech's most striking feature is its owner -- Robert C. Murtha Jr., 49. He is the nephew of Rep. John P. Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who has significant sway over the Defense Department's spending as chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee.

The ObamaFest Team knows that Republicans will exploit the Democrats' tolerance for crooks like Murtha in next year's elections. And they should. Mr. Murtha has been saying, "Fuck You" to the American taxpayer for thirty years. President Obama's agenda will rot from the inside unless Eric Holder and the Justice Department put Mr. Murtha where he belongs: in an orange jumpsuit.

Louis Caldera: "Ay Dios Mio!"

Nate Jastrow — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:17:00 GMT

"Could we get Annie Leibovitz to shoot some
M1 tanks rolling down Wall Street?"

After a long career spent bumbling out of the spotlight, Louis Caldera finally managed to fuck-up in front of the whole world.

The mastermind behind Air Force One's terror flight over Manhattan, Caldera represents everything wrong with a political system that rewards a man for his surname, rather than his accomplishments.

Caldera in a nutshell:

1) Served in the Army on active duty for only six years, mostly based at Fort Dix, New Jersey. This was good enough for President Clinton to appoint Caldera Secretary of the Army in 1998. The ObamaFest Team likes our Army leaders to have real experience, preferably guys who have heard things like, "Incoming!" instead of, "Yo, I got your salute right here!"

2) Served in the California Assembly for six years, chairing the Banking and Finance Committee, the Revenue and Taxation Committee, and the Budget Committee. Caldera left California with the highest taxes in the nation and, amazingly, the biggest deficits.

3) Took a high paying, do-nothing job as Vice Chancellor for University Advancement (?#!*?) for the Cal State University System, where they were happy to see him move on when the University of New Mexico needed a Latino to serve as its President.

4) Served on the board of directors for IndyMac bank, the bank created by Angelo Mozilo and his cronies at Countrywide Financial. From Wikipedia:

"IndyMac’s aggressive growth strategy, use of Alt-A and other nontraditional loan products, insufficient underwriting, credit concentrations in residential real estate in the California and Florida markets, and heavy reliance on costly funds borrowed from the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHL and from brokered deposits, led to its demise when the mortgage market declined in 2007."

Schemes like IndyMac rely on political influence, and Caldera was a well compensated part of the equation.

Hindsight is 20/20, but Caldera is exactly the kind of guy you don't give an office in The White House. But if you insist on a hire that gives you a little Latino window dressing, don't give the guy the federal credit card and the authority to spend $328,835 on a photo shoot.

Obama's Latest Bushism: Air Force One Buzzes Manhattan

Nate Jastrow — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:45:00 GMT

Bushism / bushizem / n. 1 An act or statement, originating in the Executive Branch of American government, notable for its lack of nuance and common sense. 2 Preposterous blunder.

Obama to Homeless Dogs: "Drop Dead!"

Nate Jastrow — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:09:00 GMT

"Don't worry about me, Mr. President,
tomorrow I'm going to some youth in Asia."

The ObamaFest Team expected shit like this from Joe Biden. He screwed over the dog world when he got his German Shepherd from a breeder. Then, typical Biden bullshit, he promised to get another one from a shelter -- hasn't happened yet.

But we took Mr. Obama at his word when he said he would go to a shelter where there are plenty of "mutts like me." Well, there's one little hypo-allergenic mutt still stuck in a cage because Mr. Obama went with a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog, a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy.

Reports the Christian Science Monitor:

Abbie Moore of Adopt-a-Pet.com isn’t forgiving. “This is truly a missed opportunity to set a pet-adoption trend among Americans. “If Obama had adopted a pet from a shelter, it could have been the turning point for the pet-overpopulation problem in this country. With pet relinquishment up 20 to 30 percent due to the poor economy, pets in shelters can use all the help they can get.”
While Dog magazine’s Ryan O’Meara says this is just more of the same. “When he was resoundingly elected to office we were promised change. But, it seems, true to type the new American president is a politician at heart so should we really have expected anything different?”

Even more pointed is the criticism by Dr. Jana Kohl:

"The author of “A Rare Breed of Love,” Kohl wrote the story of her poodle named Baby who she rescued four years ago. Baby not only had her vocal chords removed with scissors but lost a leg due to the years of abuse at the hands of a breeder.
So outraged was she at Baby’s story, she decided to write a book calling attention to puppy mills.
Her strategy was to get people with a microphone to appear in the book. So she set off to Capitol Hill and Hollywood where she found plenty of supporters. People like Paul Harvey, Steven Tyler, Bill Maher, Jim Cramer, and a host of politicians – Republican and Democrat.
One of those politicians that agreed to meet with her was then-Senator Obama. Touched by Baby’s story, he then agreed to a photoshoot and, according to a press release promoting her book, pledged to Kohl that when he brought a dog home for his family, it would be a rescue dog – not one from a breeder.
So, this weekend’s announcement that the president opted to accept a puppy as a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy (via a breeder) and not to go to a shelter or rescue center has left Kohl upset.
“I feel like he’s made a mockery out of the book and the things I wrote about him,” Kohl told the Vote Blog. “I read what I said about him and it makes me cringe.”
Kohl said that his decision is not only heartbreaking for her, but destructive because of what she sees as the domino effect.
“This will fuel the breeding industry which will fuel the puppy mill industry, which will increase homeless dogs at shelters, and increase the numbers of dogs euthanized every year,” she said.
“To add insult to injury, during these tough economic times it is incredibly insensitive and elitist of them to do this, ” she said. “People are tearfully turning in their pets to shelters because they can’t afford them anymore. We see it on news all the time.
“How can they be so out of touch?” she asked.
What about the fact that the president will donate to the DC Humane Society to make up for it?
“That’s baloney,” Kohl said. “It’s farcical. They’re donating money to urge people not to do what they did.”"

"Election's over. Somebody get this mutt off of me!"

California Not the Model for ObamaCare

Nate Jastrow — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:22:00 GMT

Senator Mark Leno: "It's not fraud as long as I get my share."

Every so often California State Senator Mark Leno stops dying his gray hairs just long enough to say something imbecilic.

Case in point: The L.A. Times Evan Halper did a fine investigation of the rampant fraud in California's $5.5 billion program for in home health care for seniors:

"Loose oversight and bureaucratic inertia have allowed fraud to fester in a rapidly expanding multibillion-dollar state program that provides personal caregivers to the impoverished elderly and disabled. Hundreds of reports of scams and swindles are going without investigation.

Prosecutors and program administrators across the state say they are alarmed by the ease with which people are taking advantage of the program, In Home Supportive Services.

Government funds are flowing in so quickly, with such limited oversight, that prosecutors say it is common for the state to send paychecks to scam artists claiming to be caring for someone who is dead. Or claiming to be caring for a relative or friend faking a disability. Or claiming to be providing care during the same hours they are working elsewhere."

So at this point any politician with an ounce of integrity would say something like, "With all of the taxes that we require our citizens to pay,it is incumbent upon us to make sure that that money is spent wisely and honestly."

But what does Leno say about the rampant abuses: "Seeing as we seemed to have misplaced $50 billion in the rebuilding of Iraq, it's an amazingly low figure."

The ObamaFest Team just barfed in our throats. To call Leno a scumbag would be an insult to both scum and to bags. His excuse for fucking over health care is cost overruns in Iraq?!? Great non sequitur, douche face.

The real meat of the story, of course, is the union angle:

"Some critics of the program say politics has blocked efforts to combat fraud. The program has become a steady source of revenue for the Service Employees International Union, among the most powerful interest groups in the Capitol, as well as a second union, the United Domestic Workers of America.

Under the program, people receiving care are entitled to hire whom they wish at government expense. Most hire their relatives, because family members are often the most appropriate to provide the needed round-the-clock feeding, changing, bathing and other care. Wages range from $8 to $14.68 an hour, depending on the county. Those workers are required to pay monthly union dues that total millions of dollars. The SEIU, for example, collects nearly $5 million a month from its 223,000 In Home system members.

The unions donate heavily to the campaigns of Democrats who control the Legislature and organize get-out-the-vote efforts on their behalf."

Senator Leno should just come out and admit that there's nothing better than a program that, under the guise of helping...

...actually pads the bank accounts of:

...and eventually finances the re-election of:

Mad Money's Jim Cramer: The Neville Chamberlain of the Financial Crisis

Nate Jastrow — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:13:00 GMT

Wells Fargo posted a profit for the 1st quarter of '09. The ObamaFest Team thinks Jim Cramer's ejaculatory praise is premature:

“This is a serious, serious game changer,” Cramer said.

The government’s stress test had been created to see which banks would most likely rebound if given federal help. Now that some banks are showing signs of strength, there is probably little need for Washington to inject more cash into struggling institutions.
Cramer predicted that Wells Fargo would earn between $2.30 and $2.35 a share in 2010, saying that the stock deserves an 11 or 12 price-to-earnings multiple. He thinks WFC will climb to $26.

"Cramer's analysis will go down," predicted the ObamaFest CFO, "with Neville Chamberlain's claim of 'Peace for our time' after the British Prime Minister went to Munich and gave Hitler the Sudetenland. Cramer learned absolutely nothing from his Daily Show beatdown!"

Our CFO points to the data compiled by Mr. Mortgage:

"NOTE – actual March foreclosures reported next week by the popular foreclosure services like RealtyTrac will show a sizable drop vs. Feb because foreclosures lag notices. Foreclosures in March are a result of NTS’s when many banks/servicers were on hold in Jan/Feb. But in March NTS’s surged — I will have a preliminary report out this week on the total statewide and national counts. BE CAREFUL - the popular reports released next week will also show a large increase in total foreclosure notices so total foreclosure activity may be relatively flat. Market reaction will be dependent upon how this is reported in the press.
The bottom line is that there is a massive wave of actual foreclosures that will hit beginning in April that can’t be stopped without a national moratorium — this wave is so big I would not put it past them trying it."

We aint seen nothing yet.

There's Something About Barry

Nate Jastrow — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 06:17:00 GMT

Everybody is piling on President Obama for his "Special Olympics" gaffe.

The ObamaFest Team wants America to keep things in perspective. What's in a man's heart is more important than the awkward phrases that slip from his mouth. President Obama loves "those goofy bastards" as much as anybody:

Pete Stark Caught Snorting Illegal Tax Break

Nate Jastrow — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:47:00 GMT

California Congressman Pete Stark fights the giggles
after eating a plate of tax-scam brownies.

Back in the 70's the only guy on Capitol Hill with better coke than Charlie Wilson was Pete Stark. While he may have cleaned up his act, he still needs a sponsor to call when he begins jonesing for an illegal tax credit.

March 19 (Bloomberg) -- A senior member of the U.S. House’s tax-writing Ways and Means Committee from California has been taking advantage of a tax break for a home in Maryland that he claims as his principal residence.
Representative Pete Stark, the second-ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means panel, in 2007 and 2008 saved a total of $3,853 in state and Anne Arundel County taxes on a Maryland waterfront home that he claims as his primary residence, according to Maryland tax disclosures.

As the ObamaFest Intern likes to point out, saving four grand must have warmed Mr. Stark's heart, making him nostalgic for the days when that kind of scratch could buy a public servant half a kilo of high society.

AIG Thanks Chris Dodd for Bonus Money

Nate Jastrow — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:23:00 GMT

Senator Dodd sends a message to the
American Taxpayer.

Any anger about the AIG bonuses should be directed at Senator Dodd. From FOXBusiness:

"While the Senate constructed the $787 billion stimulus last month, Dodd unexpectedly added an executive-compensation restriction to the bill. That amendment provides an “exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009,” which exempts the very AIG bonuses Dodd and others are seeking to tax. The amendment is in the final version and is law.
Also, Sen. Dodd was AIG’s largest single recipient of campaign donations during the 2008 election cycle with $103,100, according to opensecrets.org."

The ObamaFest intern once asked how Senator Dodd can sleep at night. Now we know: the man slumbers on a mattress stuffed with hundred dollar bills.

Senator Dodd Stumbles Toward Prison

Nate Jastrow — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:28:00 GMT

By now some agency must have a wire up on Senator Dodd. He's the Clay Davis of Capitol Hill.

"Chris Dodd an honest man? Sheeeeeee-iiiiit"

If the "Friends of Angelo" offense wasn't enough to warrant jail time (it was, btw), the newly revealed "Cottage-gate" scandal should do the trick. A quick summary of the facts uncovered by the Hartford Courant:

-In 1994 Dodd buys a third interest in an Irish estate valued at $160k. William Kessinger bought the other two thirds. Kessinger's business partner is longtime Dodd buddy Edward Downe Jr. (In 1986 Dodd purchased a Washington condo with Mr. Downe).
-In 1993, Downe pleads guilty to felony crimes of insider trading and securities fraud. In 1994 he pays the SEC $11 million in criminal penalties.
-In 2001, Senator Dodd successfully lobbies President Clinton to pardon Mr. Downe before leaving office.
-In 2002, Mr. Kessinger sells his two thirds of the estate to Mr. Dodd for $127k, even though the price of homes in Ireland quadrupled in the eight years since they bought in - meaning the estate's market value is over $640k!

The Wall Street Journal sums up Cottage-gate thusly:

"Mr. Dodd is busy these days blaming everyone else for the real-estate bubble and financial meltdown. But he owes his constituents and the Senate an honest accounting of his Galway property over the past 15 years. If its value grew with the rest of the area, he needs to explain why Mr. Kessinger handed it over for a song, why that isn't an unreported gift under Senate rules, and what role Mr. Downe might have played as a middleman.
More broadly, Connecticut voters might want to know why their senior Senator has hung around for years with Mr. Downe, the kind of financial scoundrel Mr. Dodd spends so much time denouncing."

The ObamaFest Team loathes a system that allows the Bernie Madoffs and Chris Dodds of the world to walk among us. Cuff 'em.

Richard Shelby: More Earmarks than Van Gogh

Nate Jastrow — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:04:00 GMT

Senator Richard Shelby (second from left) happily buries future generations
of Americans in massive debt.

Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama continues to use his ill-fitting dentures to bite away at the American Dream.

Last year Shelby opposed the Federal government bridge loan for US-owned auto companies, saying:

"We don't need government - governmental subsidies for manufacturing in this country. It's the French model, it's the wrong road. We will pay for it. The average American taxpayer is going to pay dearly for this, if I'm not wrong." However, foreign-owned auto manufacturers Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Toyota, and Hyundai received approximately $788 million in government subsidies in the cities of Vance, Lincoln, Huntsville, and Montgomery in Shelby's home state of Alabama, according to analysis by Good Jobs First. Good Jobs First executive Director Greg LeRoy pointed out that "while proposed federal aid to the Big 3 would take the form of a loan, the vast majority of subsidies to foreign auto plants were taxpayer gifts such as property and sales tax exemptions, income tax credits, infrastructure aid, land discounts, and training grants."

This year Shelby abandoned common decency and supported the $410 billion spending bill once he was able to weasel 64 earmarks worth $114 million into the legislation. Included is $819k for a catfish genome study at Auburn University.

"Earmarks? I don't even
have ears!"

Shelby might spin his perfidious vote by pointing out it's small potatoes in today's spending environment. But The ObamaFest Team reminds America that no snowflake ever feels responsible for the avalanche.

Wesley Clark Declares War on Rain Forest

Nate Jastrow — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:13:00 GMT

"I love the smell of corporate largesse in the morning."

Wesley Clark's new gig shilling for Big Agra puts him at odds with planet Earth. As co-chair of the lobbying group Growth Energy, Clark is trying to perpetuate and expand the ethanol hoax.

Most of the ethanol in the U.S. is blended with gasoline to create E10 -- gasoline with 10% ethanol. Clark is lobbying for a mandate of 20% ethanol.

As with all Corporate Welfare, there are negative unintended consequences. Ethanol drives down fuel economy and damages automobile engines and pollution control systems.

Even more damning, ethanol takes corn out of the world's kitchens, driving up food prices and forcing poorer countries to destroy timber and rain forests in order to plant crops. Global warming follows. Deploying a battalion of lobbyists won't change these facts.

The ObamaFest Team says to Mssrs. Archer, Daniels, Midland and Clark, "Stand down."

Peter Orszag is Steny Hoyer's Bitch

Nate Jastrow — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:56:00 GMT

Orszag testifies to the the size of the shit
sandwich Steny Hoyer is making him eat.

Obama's Budget Director Peter Orszag made his Sunday talk show debut and floundered under George Stephanopoulos's not-so-tough questioning. Orszag danced awkwardly around every question, clinging to his talking points the way Jeff Van Gundy gripped Alonzo Mourning's calf. Most embarassing for Orszag was his refusal to attack the pork-laden $410 billion spending bill making it's way towards the White House because it is "last year's business."

Last year's business? If it passes this year, if the President signs it this year, if it affects us this year and many years to come, how is it "last year's business?" What we're really seeing is political cowardice in the face of a bristling Congress. Leading the charge is House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who came right out and said:

“I don’t think the White House has the ability to tell us what to do.” And the majority leader was quick to point out that before he hit the campaign trail, Obama was serving the people of Illinois in the Senate — and obtaining federally-funded projects himself. “The president, of course, had earmarks, as you’ll recall, not last year but the year before,” Hoyer said.

Hoyer said that members of Congress have a responsibility to provide funding for their districts.

“’Earmarks’ are a pejorative term,” he argued.

Rep. Hoyer reminds President Obama that whoring is
all Congress knows, adding "If you want to deal with
men of honor, Mr. President, you'll need to build yourself
a fucking time machine. Build it in my district, by the way,
and I'll see that it's funded."

Evan Bayh 1, Hillary Clinton 0

Nate Jastrow — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:29:00 GMT

Last summer, Senator Clinton withheld endorsing Senator Obama until she received Obama's promise to pick a running mate who is "Non-Presidential," meaning somebody who is either too old or too incompetent to run for President in 2016, criteria that fit Joe Biden like a pair of cosmetic surgeon's gloves. This left Evan Bayh outside of the Obama tent, presumably a poor place to demonstrate leadership and to ready the world for a Bayh administration.

BUT WAIT!

Senator Bayh fired the first salvo of 2016 today with his op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal calling for an Obama veto of the bloated spending bill making its way through Congress.

"This week, the United States Senate will vote on a spending package to fund the federal government for the remainder of this fiscal year. The Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 is a sprawling, $410 billion compilation of nine spending measures that lacks the slightest hint of austerity from the federal government or the recipients of its largess.
The Senate should reject this bill. If we do not, President Barack Obama should veto it."

The ObamaFest Team welcomes any voice in Washington that advocates an end to business as usual, and we continue to hope that the loudest such voice will come from The White House.