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THE FOUNDATION

"As on the one hand, the necessity for borrowing in particular emergencies cannot be doubted, so on the other, it is equally evident that to be able to borrow upon good terms, it is essential that the credit of a nation should be well established." --Alexander Hamilton

The Beggary Secretary goes to China

EDITORIAL EXEGESIS

"It's never a good sign when you want to borrow money and your potential lender laughs in your face. But that's exactly what happened to U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on his recent trip to China. What prompted the laughter? His remarks during a speech at Beijing University, in which he told the audience, apparently intending to reassure them about their investments in U.S. Treasuries, 'Chinese assets are very safe.' ... Equally risible were these comments from Geithner shortly before departing for China: 'No one is going to be more concerned about future deficits than we are,' he told reporters as he prepared for two days of talks with concerned Chinese finance officials. Obviously, he was showing off his comedic chops, since even that line was delivered deadpan. He also insisted the U.S. is 'committed to a strong dollar' -- not exactly apparent when you look at the U.S. budget. ...China's finance officials, many of them educated at the best U.S. business schools, can do the math. And it isn't very pretty. Next year, the U.S. runs a deficit of $1.8 trillion -- or nearly 13% of GDP. Last year's deficit was $455 billion. The deficits will slowly come down from that $1.8 trillion, but not by much, according to the White House's own forecasts. Geithner says he hopes to slash the deficit as a share of GDP from 13% to 3% by the end of the decade. But those projections of declining deficits depend highly on the rosy scenario cooked up by the White House for the economy. They expect the economy, for instance, to expand 3.5% next year, 4.4% in 2011, 4.6% in 2012 and 3.8% in 2013. They might be right, but if they are, they'll be in the minority. Virtually no private sector forecaster expects the economy to grow that fast. Over the next 10 years, the U.S. will rack up another $9 trillion in deficit spending -- money that will have to be borrowed from someone -- perhaps the Chinese, or maybe strapped and overtaxed U.S. consumers. Another $1.1 trillion is planned as a possible down payment on nationalized health care. Add to that the $2 trillion at least that the Federal Reserve is spending, and government is on the hook for close to $13 trillion. Given that the White House has built into its projections just $989 billion in added taxes, its clear the deficits will get big and stay that way for years. One trip to China by our top bond salesman may not be enough." --Investor's Business Daily

THE DEMO-GOGUES

Belly laugh of the week: "Consistent with the goal of clearly limiting the government's role as a reluctant equity owner but careful steward of taxpayer resources, the Obama Administration has established four core principles that will guide the government's management of ownership interests in private firms." --White House press release on GM's bankruptcy **"Limiting the government" and "Obama administration" don't belong in the same sentence.

And repeat: "We are acting as a reluctant shareholder because this is the only way to help GM succeed. ... Our goal is to get GM back on its feet, take a hands off approach and get out quickly." --Barack Obama

Government Motors: "GM's management team ... has worked tirelessly to produce a plan that meets the strict standards I laid out at the beginning to streamline GM's brands, clean up GM's balance sheet and make it possible for GM to compete and succeed. ... What we are not doing -- what I have no interest in doing, is running GM." --Barack Obama, CEO of GM **If you aren't running GM, then why are you making this announcement?

Hope 'n' Change: "Difficult days lie ahead. More jobs will be lost. More plants will close. More dealerships will shut their doors and so will many parts suppliers. But I want you to know that what you're doing is making a sacrifice for the next generation." --Barack Obama

Because elections are next year: "If we don't get it done this year we're not going to get it done." --Barack Obama on health care

Gag reflex: "This man is extremely smart -- he can communicate. But the best part of Barack Obama is his heart is bigger than any heart in the world." --Sen. Harry Reid (D-Love Boat)

INSIGHT

"Today, when a concerted effort is made to obliterate this point, it cannot be repeated too often that the Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals -- that it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government -- that it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen's protection against the government." --author Ayn Rand (1905-1982)

"There is no safety for honest men, but by believing all possible evil of evil men, and by acting with promptitude, decision, and steadiness on that belief." --Irish statesman and author Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

"One of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the great struggle for independence." --American historian Charles A. Beard (1874-1948 )

UPRIGHT

"This week, the president [declared], 'What we are not doing -- what I have no interest in doing -- is running GM.' It was during the same speech in which he announced that the federal government was forcing GM into bankruptcy, deciding what creditors should get (regardless of what bankruptcy law says), and taking a 60 percent stake in the company." --columnist Jacob Sullum

"Obama is fond of calling upon Americans to make sacrifices -- or rather, he is fond of forcing Americans into sacrificing themselves at a time and place of his choosing. Heroic sacrifice requires volunteerism, or at least an element of extraordinary choice; Obama's sort of sacrifice ... names the time and the place, and you are expected to put your neck on the altar." --columnist Ben Shapiro

"The Constitution of the United States set out to limit the powers of the federal government, but judges have greatly eroded those limitations over the years, and the dispensing of bailout money has allowed the Obama administration to exercise powers that the Constitution never bestowed." --economist Thomas Sowell

"By definition, government that works will be limited because government will not reach into areas in which it has no constitutional business." --columnist Cal Thomas

"When government gets this intertwined with the private sector, when it makes decisions not based on neutral economic criteria but by what is at best guesswork about the allocation and valuation of vast amounts of capital, bailout favoritism and crony capitalism are inevitable." --political analyst Michael Barone

"We are a nation of laws. Lawless violence breeds only more lawless violence. ... By word and deed, let us teach that violence against abortionists is not the answer to the violence of abortion. Every human life is precious." --Princeton University professor Robert P. George

DEZINFORMATSIA

Missing the details: "The abortion debate turns deadly. A doctor known for performing late-term abortions gunned down at church." --ABC's Diane Sawyer **What do you mean "turns deadly"? As if abortion hasn't been deadly for 50 million babies since Roe v. Wade...

Untruth in labeling: "Let [abortionist] George Tiller's murder be the last straw. It is time for America's pro-choice majority to stop standing idly by as extreme so-called pro-life advocates murder obstetrician-gynecologists (OB/GYNs) who are providing women with the legal right to terminate pregnancies. I am careful to note I am referring here to EXTREMIST pro-life advocates, people who refer to abortion as 'baby-killing' and other inflammatory rhetoric. I am explicitly not referring to mainstreamers who object to abortion due to religious beliefs, but who refrain from using inflammatory speech." --PBS's Bonnie Erbe

Blaming O'Reilly?: "The anti-abortion group Operation Rescue denounced the killing, but today its founder, Randall Terry, fueled the fire. ... On the Internet, questions from critics of commentator Bill O'Reilly about his blunt remarks regarding abortion and Dr. Tiller." --NBC's Janet Shamlian

On the courts: "It takes about two months for [law] students to figure out that judges make law, and the next two and a half years to figure out how and why to make the best case for your version of it. But don't tell anyone that around Supreme Court confirmation time." --columnist Susan Estrich

ABC parrots White House: "The White House says that the stimulus plan is already starting to have an effect on job creation. And they listed a bunch of the jobs in their new report, '100 Days, 100 Projects.' ... Critics have long said the administration overstates the impact of the stimulus. ... Without question, the stimulus is having an affect on some job creations." --ABC's Jake Tapper

Newspulper Headlines:

Hey, Nice Shot!: "N. Korea Defiantly Fires 6th Missile, Slams U.N." --FoxNews.com

There Wouldn't Be Much Point in Launching Used Ones: "US Officials: North Korea May Launch New Missiles" --Associated Press

We Blame Global Warming: "Why Is the Earth Moving Away >From the Sun?" --NewScientist.com

What Kind of Sap Would Hope for That?: "Mortgage Rates Surge, Sap Hopes" --The Wall Street Journal

Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control: "Peasants' Revolts Threaten Political Class" --Financial Times

News You Can Use: "How to Survive in a World Ruled by Robots" --MSNBC.com

Bottom Stories of the Day: "Chicago Alderman Is Indicted" --The Wall Street Journal

(Thanks to The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto)

VILLAGE IDIOTS

Sycophant files: "I think that President Obama is the greatest president in the history of all of our presidents and that he can do no wrong in my book. ... Everything you ask me about President Obama I'm just going to say it's the greatest thing ever. I love the guy!" --actor Denis Leary

Non Compos Mentis: "The president has the right to select who he wants [for the Supreme Court]. He doesn't have to get it cleared from Congress, Senate or anybody... No president before this has come under this kind of scrutiny ... before the committee hearings even begin." --Air America radio host Montel Williams **Judicial nominees ARE subject to Senate confirmation.

Hate speech: "The people, by and large, who stand in front of these [abortion] clinics every day have their own agenda, and that agenda is to do away with abortion in whatever way they can. The election of Barack Obama put them in a corner. They're losing, and the only way they see to take care of this is to kill us. This is just the first of what I foresee as many more." --Birmingham, Alabama abortionist Diane Derzis on CNN

Hate speech II: "Clearly the anti-abortion people will stop at nothing, including assassination, to impose their will on other people. ... So we don't have to invade other countries to find the terrorists. They're here killing doctors who do abortions. The difference between -- the main difference between the American anti-abortion movement and the Taliban is about 8,000 miles." --abortionist Warren Hern on MSNBC

Mr. Bill: "The great thing about not being president anymore is I can say whatever I want, about anything. Of course [now], nobody really cares what I say. And now I have the worst of all worlds -- my wife has become the secretary of state, so no one really cares what I say -- unless I mess up." --Bill Clinton

SHORT CUTS

"President Obama said Monday the U.S. won't be involved in GM operations. He swore he doesn't want to run a car company. The next day the dashboard warning light in my Buick came on telling me to check the engine and turn off Rush Limbaugh or else." --humorist Argus Hamilton

"Ever since last November, many Americans have been ready for free health care, free day care, free college, free mortgages -- and, once you get a taste for that, it's hardly surprising you're not ready for gainful employment." --Mark Steyn

"I believe [Osama bin Laden is] still out there someplace. I'm sure the current administration will continue to search for him. ... The important thing is that I don't think he can have much impact in terms of managing an organization because that link between Obama [sic] and the people under him is pretty fragile. I don't think he has the capacity to do as much harm as he did at one point, but we ought to still continue to chase him." --former Vice President Dick Cheney confusing (wink, wink) Obama with Osama

"Dick Cheney clearly drives the liberal media nuts. As much as they'd like to bask in the glow of the new and glorious Obama Era, they simply cannot achieve that requisite state of Nirvana with Cheney around. They spent eight long years packaging Cheney as some evil and deadly combination of Darth Vader and the Ebola virus. Now they can add to the descriptors a new title: Count Dracula. The man refuses to die." --Media Research Center founder and president Brent Bozell

Jay Leno:

[Did] you see that video online of the wind knocking down Joe Biden's teleprompter at the Air Force graduation? See, that's when you know you're talking to too much -- when even Mother Nature goes, "Shut up. Okay? Just shut up."

At a fundraiser in Beverly Hills, people paid $30,000 to attend a dinner and a discussion with President Barack Obama. The subject of the discussion? The struggling economy.

[There was] one awkward moment -- as Obama was entering the Beverly Hilton, he bumped into John Edwards, who was sneaking out.

President Obama was here in Los Angeles [last] week to bring his message of change to Hollywood. And, really, is there any place in America that loves change more than Hollywood? The place that brought you four "Terminator" sequels, 10 "Police Academy" movies and 29 "Star Trek" films. This town runs on new and innovative ideas.

*****

Veritas vos Liberabit -- Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis! Mark Alexander, Publisher, for The Patriot's editors and staff.

(Please pray for our Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm's way around the world, and for their families -- especially families of those fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, who granted their lives in defense of American liberty.)