Reverend Obama: God Wants Us To Put People Back to Work or Something

File under what is Bush said this? Of course we all know a Republican invoking God in the public sphere is greatly frowned upon by the secular left. But cloaking yourself in religion is peachy keen if you're a shameless Democrat looking to raise taxes.

Stumping for his jobs bill today, President Obama invoked a unique source of support: God.

Obama's theological appeal came while protesting that House Republicans have ignored his $447 billion American Jobs Act, even while approving legislation re-affirming "In God We Trust" as the national motto.

"That's not putting people back to work," Obama said during a jobs speech at a bridge in Washington, D.C. "I trust in God, but God wants to see us help ourselves by putting people back to work."

"There's work to be done, there are workers ready to do it," Obama added, also criticizing House Republicans for debating a memorial coin to celebrate baseball.

Yes, how trivial of Republicans to spend on minute on something like baseball. We all know how much the deeply religious Obama hates sports of all kinds.

House Republican aides said the baseball and the "In God We Trust" items were procedural matters that took less than 20 minutes -- and that the GOP-run House has also passed some 20 pieces that would promote job creation through reduced regulations and tax changes.

"At this point, the White House will create any sideshow they can to distract from the fact the House has sent jobs bill after jobs bill over to the Democrat-run Senate, only to see them collect dust," said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Speaking of God, how's Obama's search for a new church been coming since he left Rev. Wright's flock in 2008?

Obama: The Economy 'Is Always My Responsibility'

After three years of blaming Bush, is he ready to accept responsibility for his own economic disaster?

WCCO-TV correspondent: "When I finally did have a chance to talk to President Obama one-on-one, I asked him at what point does the economy become his fault and not his predecessor's?"

President Barack Obama: "It's always my responsibility. I'm less interested in allocating blame then just making sure that we're taking every step we need to, to move the economy forward. And, you know, traditionally after big financial crises like this the economy takes a longer time to heal and we've seen some progress. In the private sector, we've seen over two million jobs created and this year alone, over a million jobs created. But, it's just not enough yet to have an impact on everybody who needs help out there."

He just can't tell the truth. There have been 1.6 million private sector jobs lost since he was coronated.

Obama: Corzine is 'Our Wall Street Guy'

It's safe to say these two are joined at the hip, although the way the media is reporting the downfall of Jon Corzine's MF Global, you wouldn't even know Corzine's a Democrat, let alone one of Obama's top campaign honchos. So it's worth noting this story from July.

President Obama is desperately putting his Wall Street stock in an unlikely old buddy.

The beleaguered president has recruited former Goldman Sachs head honcho Jon Corzine to shore up re-election funds from the banking industry, which is furious over Obama's financial regulations.

Corzine, the former governor of New Jersey who was blasted out of office by Republican Chris Christie in 2009, has attended secret meetings with the president and has been working on Obama's 2012 campaign for months, The Post has learned.

The Democrat, who now leads Manhattan-based brokerage MF Global, has been tasked with scraping up the very little banking-industry support Obama can still get.

And, like any good executive, Corzine is looking out for his own bottom line.

Success could resuscitate his political career with a top post -- such as treasury secretary or a key ambassadorship -- if there is a second Obama term.

Obama campaigned heavily for Corzine in his failed re-election bid, calling him "our Wall Street guy."

Corzine's name popped up on an attendance list for a controversial and secret White House sit-down with leaders of New York's financial sector late last month. He has also aggressively worked the phone lines and the cocktail-party circuit.

And in the last few months, Corzine hosted a high-end fund-raiser at his Fifth Avenue home for Obama.

He even secretly organized a meet-and-greet at the Four Seasons for key finance-industry execs and Obama's new chief of staff, former banker Bill Daley.

Where are the good government types screaming from the rooftops about Obama's deep connections with this man facing, to put it mildly, a very uncertain future? Can you imagine if such a close pal and fundraiser for Bush was up to his neck in problems and whose company is under investigation after $700 million went missing? Where are those noble souls "occupying" media attention to demand a perp walk for Obama's good buddy?

Naturally, Corzine's former stenographers at the Star Ledger are crestfallen over the downfall of the guy they shamelessly supported while he was buying a Senate seat and later the governorship. Laughably, in his support they trot out corrupt former Senator Bob Torricelli, who was forced from office back in 2002.

Former U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli, who was close with Corzine, said the former governor has had his share of troubles over the years.

"Jon has suffered a series of very difficult professional blows, and I know professional difficulties affect him deeply and personally,’’ he said. "The wound of being fired from Goldman Sachs never healed."

The defeat in politics, though, may have been easier for him to accept than the failure of MF Global, said Torricelli. Politics, he pointed out, was only an adopted avocation.

"In some ways this is probably more difficult," said Torricelli. "It’s a heart-breaking situation."

Actually, it seems more like a criminal situation, Bobby. You'd know all about that.

Obama Allegedly Declared 'Tobacco-Free'

No, he hasn't quit smoking. This just means you're paying for his cigarettes.

President Obama is in good health and is tobacco-free, according to a medical report released by the White House.

Obama's examination was performed by Navy captain and Physician to the President Dr. Jeff Kuhlman. His assessment of the president's healthy was released Monday.

Kuhlman reported that Obama eats well, has a healthy weight, is tobacco free and is physically active. Kuhlman also reported that Obama, "On occasion drinks alcohol in moderation."

In the past, advisers said that Obama had been working to quit smoking.

The media rarely if ever mentions his smoking habit, unless it's a story claiming he no longer smokes. Besides, we've got more urgent concerns like Herman Cain's campaign manager smoking in an ad.

Funny how the White House is so eager to release such a report now but still keeps his student records well hidden.

Famed Member of the 1% and Obama Bundler Runs Brokerage Firm Into Bankruptcy

Looks like Jon Corzine has done for his firm what he did for the State of New Jersey.

Besieged broker MF Global is expected to file for bankruptcy today after a frantic effort over the weekend by CEO John Corzine to strike an out-of-bankruptcy appeared to come up came up short, The Post has learned.

The embattled broker dealer run by the former New Jersey governor is expected to sell some of the company’s assets in a complicated transaction to rival Interactive Brokers Group, a move that must receive the blessing of a bankruptcy judge, according to people familiar the situation.

It is expected that MF Global’s holding company will file for bankruptcy while other units, including one that clears fixed-income trades, will open its doors for business this morning, sources added. Early this morning, MF shares were halted in trading, with news pending.

A number of terms were still being hammered out early this morning and elements of the deal could still change.

The bankruptcy and planned sale to a rival would end one of the most harrowing weekends on Wall Street since Lehman Brothers on Sept. 15, 2008 imploded on worries that it was choking on toxic mortgage debt.

Three years later, Corzine — a former Goldman Sachs CEO — was pounding the phones this past weekend in an attempt to secure a white knight to purchase all or parts of MF Global after concerns about the broker-dealer’s exposures to some $6.3 billion in European sovereign debt decimated its shares in a wild week off trader for the firm that saw it lose three-quarters of its equity value.

Precisely how much Interactive Brokers Group would be shelling out to purchase parts of MF Global is unclear.

According to a Wall Street Journal report early this morning, it could be as much as $1 billion.

Whatever the number neither shareholders of IBG nor creditors are expected to be happy.

For Corzine, 64, a bankruptcy would be another knock on his reputation after choosing to dial up European risk at MF Global when other larger firms had grown weary.

Corzine is not expected to stay on at MF Global — an embarrassing outcome for a Wall Street titan who led Goldman Sachs before being ousted in 1999.

After that disaster he spent hundreds of millions to buy himself a Senate seat and then the governorship before being crushed by Chris Christie.

Remember, Barack Obama has been considering his for his next Treasury Secretary.

Corzine had occasionally been touted in the media as a possible Treasury Secretary in an Obama administration, perhaps replacing current incumbent Timothy Geithner, and following in the footsteps of his former Goldman rival Henry Paulson.

He's currently one of Obama's top fundraisers.

Update: Looks like Corzine will be getting a nice payday for destroying this company. Wall Street Occupiers were unavailable for comment.

DealBook reported that Corzine's severance package could allow him to walk away with around $12 million.

$12 million for joining a company and, in two years, flying it into a mountain.

Quick, someone go tell Occupy Wall Street.

Barack Halloween Pic?

I don't know for sure. I have trouble recognizing his mom with her clothes on. (NSFW)


Safe link here.

Getting Harder and Harder To Pick Winners and Losers

Pop quiz time boys and girls. Are the people listed below part of the Occupy Wall Street rabble or the latest losers, er winners of dinner with Michelle and her husband.

Ken Knight works for the U.S. Postal Service in Chandler, Ariz.; Casey Helbling owns a small business in Minneapolis; Wendi Smith of Corydon, Ind., is identified by the campaign as an artist and retired professor; and Juanita Martinez is a retired teacher from Brighton, Colo.

They are actually the totally random winners of a dinner date with the SCOAMF through the little campaign competition they held. The original asking price for a lottery ticket was $5 but due to lack of interest the price was lowered to $3. Seems that just like everything else associated with this administration it too was subjected to a downgrade.

The article did pique my curiosity in one regard. Notice the name Casey Helbling who is identified as a small business owner. Well I was curious why they didn't identify the business or at least what sector it was in so I fired up the handy dandy search engine and in about 10 seconds found his Twitter account along with his website for his business. He is a software developer who prides himself on using 'Green' technology and promoting 'Green' causes and after browsing his Twitter history a flaming feel good liberal who love grassfed beef and gluten free food. Oh and is married to his brother.

I am sure the Secret Service presence will be a little tighter with a postal employee headed their way.

I am sure everybody joins me in congratulating these common Americans for getting a chance to eat with the President and his wife. It's just I bet the meal won't be prepared by Paula Deen.

But Biden will be a no-show. He’s en route to Saudi Arabia on a diplomatic mission.

SF Chron: Obama WH Has a 'Nixonian Quality'

We have to vehemently disagree with the leading editorial voice in America's most liberal city. This president is far, far worse than Richard Nixon.

The Obama White House's restrictions on media access to its fundraising events makes a mockery of its claim to be the most transparent administration in history.

If anything, there is almost a Nixonian quality to the level of control, paranoia - and lack of credibility - this White House has demonstrated on the issue of media access to President Obama's fundraisers.

Bay Area reporters will not be allowed inside the W Hotel today when the president meets with hundreds of contributors paying $7,500 or more to attend. Only Washington-based journalists were allowed in the pool - continuing a disturbing trend by this White House to severely limit access to fundraisers. Even former President George W. Bush, hardly a champion of transparency, allowed local reporters to cover his fundraising events.

Worse than Nixon, worse than Bush. Next thing you know they'll be talking Hitler.

Meanwhile, former Obama supporters were on hand protesting near one of the Campaigner-in-Chief's 437 fundraisers this week.

In a powerful display of profound disappointment with President Obama, some of the Democratic Party's biggest donors gathered Tuesday - not inside his tony San Francisco fundraiser at the W Hotel, but outside on the sidewalks carrying signs in protest of his policies.

"I don't even know what he stands for," said Susie Tompkins Buell, a co-founder of the Esprit clothing company and one of the most generous Democratic Party donors in the nation - instrumental in backing such powerhouse progressive organizations as the Democracy Alliance and Media Matters.

Wait, I thought Media Matters was an tax-exempt independent group (cough, cough)?

In case you had any doubt remaining he's 100% in campaign mode, Obama made sure to reinforce that image Tuesday. Nobody else is capable of caring for the children other than The One. Isn't he Onederful?
Not everything was sunshine and baby kisses for the Obama Nation, however. Fortunately, America's Daddy was long gone by the time Oakland police started tear-gassing his supporters last night.

Transparency: Obama Freezes Out Local Reporters From SF Fundraiser

What is he so afraid of, getting a tough question?

President Obama is scheduled to appear before hundreds of donors at a $7,500-a-plate noontime fundraiser today at San Francisco's W Hotel - but not a single local reporter will be allowed inside to cover his only stop in the area, the White House said Monday.

Coverage instead is being restricted to a small pool of Washington-based reporters - a move that is a sharp departure from the practices of past administrations, political observers said.

Three former top White House press aides called the move insular and politically short-sighted. And some press watchers said it is hypocritical for an administration that Obama promised would be "the most transparent in history."

The White House declined Monday to say why no local reporters would be allowed to attend today's event, nor whether the ban on local media was part of a new national policy.

"As per usual, the White House traveling press pool will cover the President's remarks at his Bay Area campaign event and a transcript of his speech will be circulated to local and national media outlets," White House spokesman Adam Abrams wrote in an e-mail response to The Chronicle.

But barring local reporters from presidential events is not usual at all, according to veterans of past White House press operations and longtime Bay Area journalists.

Until recently, The Chronicle and other Bay Area papers including the Oakland Tribune and the San Jose Mercury News regularly served as local pool reporters in their home regions, feeding coverage of events to other media. Local journalists generally know big-monied donors and political players best.

Nicolle Wallace, a former press secretary to Republican President George W. Bush, called the ban "idiotic ... inexplicable on the politics side, let alone the press side."

"For a Democrat to go to San Francisco and not invite the local press is like George W. Bush going to Crawford, Texas" and doing the same, she said. "This is a place where people want to be reminded about what they love about the guy."

Chris Lehane, a former spokesman for Democratic President Bill Clinton, was also baffled by the move, saying they always had local pools.

"It's not only the right thing to do in terms of respecting the Fourth Estate, but it typically translates into better press coverage," he said. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that access results in the occupying of more real estate in the newspaper and on television."

Just imagine if Bush pulled such a pussy move.

"It seems the Obama campaign has calculated that taking a small hit from political reporters being denied access is a safer course of action than opening the event to reporters and cameras and risking an embarrassing YouTube moment," said former longtime KTVU-TV political editor Randy Shandobil.

Senate Rejects Obama Once Again

The failed president fails once again. Time to move on, Bammy, nobody's buying this jobs for teachers, cops and firemen nonsense. If you were so interested in them you'd have taken care of it when you had the chance during 2009 and 2010.

Despite a campaign-style push this week by President Barack Obama, the Senate on Thursday scuttled pared-back jobs legislation aimed at helping state and local governments avoid layoffs of teachers and firefighters.

Obama's three-day bus tour through North Carolina and Virginia — states crucial to his re-election race next year — didn't change any minds among Senate Republicans, who killed Obama's latest jobs measure with delaying tactics just as they killed his broader $447 billion jobs plan last week.

Thursday's $35 billion measure combined $30 billion for state and local governments to hire teachers and other school workers with $5 billion to help pay the salaries of police officers, firefighters and other first responders. The White House says the measure would "support" almost 400,000 education jobs for one year. Republicans call that a temporary "sugar high" for the economy.

Despite the negative vote, Obama and his Democratic allies are acting like they've found a winning issue in repeatedly pressing popular ideas such as infrastructure spending and boosting hiring of police officers and firefighters. The sluggish economy and lower tax revenues have caused many teachers' jobs to be cut over the past several years.

Indeed, it's a poor acting job.

According to the AP-GfK poll, Obama's party has lost the faith of the public on handling the economy. In the new poll, only 38 percent said they trust Democrats to do a better job than Republicans in handling the economy, the first time Democrats have fallen below 40 percent in the poll. Some 43 percent trust the Republicans more.

They can campaign on this all they want, but it's not going to pass. The free ride is over.

If he wants to pay for any more of his boondoggles, pay for it from this risky scheme.

Chicken Barry: Obama Avoids 'Occupiers' While in NC

What are you so afraid of, Mr. President?

President Obama has taken nearly every opportunity lately to express support for the “Occupy Wall Street” protesters, but he failed to meet with some of the movement’s activists when he had the chance on his Southern bus trip.

A group of “Occupy” activists in Greensboro, N.C., asked for a meeting with the president, who stayed overnight Monday in a local hotel. But Mr. Obama didn’t bite.

White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters traveling with the president that the White House communications staff had no contact with the “Occupy Greensboro” movement. Apparently, that left some of the activists frustrated.

“About 50 people protested as Obama’s motorcade made it’s way to the Proximity Hotel,” Ben Lassiter, a member of Occupy Greensboro, wrote on the group’s Facebook page. “As he passed the chant was, ‘Hey Obama, I’m no fool, I know you’re a corporate tool.’”

Meanwhile, the folks from Wall Street, now Public Enemy Number One thanks to Obama's divisive rhetoric, have had enough.

The execs asked the lawmakers: “What are you doing? Do you even understand some of the things that they’ve called for?” said another lobbyist with financial services clients who is a former Democratic Senate aide.

Democrats’ friends on Wall Street have a message for them: you can’t have it both ways.

President Barack Obama and other top Democrats are parroting the anti-corporate rhetoric running through the Occupy Wall Street protests, trying to tap into the movement’s energy but keep the protesters at arms’ length.

But many bankers aren’t buying the distinction. And some financial services lobbyists and industry insiders say the liberal line will make swing givers think twice before opening their checkbooks this year.

“Most Wall Street guys, they feel like they’re going to be burned in effigy,” said Anthony Scaramucci, managing partner of SkyBridge Capital, who gave to Obama in 2008 but is now fundraising for Mitt Romney. Some moderate donors, who have given to both parties, “fled from Obama in his support of the Wall Street protests,” he said.

But remember, they're just like tea partiers. Obama says so himself.

Obama: Violent OWS Protests Just Like the Tea Party or Something

Except for his astroturfed stunt being endorsed by the ChiComs, Hugo Chavez, Iranian mullahs, Mumia Abu-Jamal, frothing anti-Semites, the Communist Party, Nazis, and bums defecating on police cruisers, well, sure, they're just like the Tea Party.

President Obama, who has become a target of the Occupy Wall Street protests sweeping the country, today embraced the economic frustration voiced on the streets and said in an exclusive interview with ABC News that his vision for the U.S. economic system is best suited to resolve protesters’ concerns.

“I understand the frustrations being expressed in those protests,” Obama told ABC News senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper in the interview to air this evening on ABC News “Nightline” from Jamestown, N.C.

“In some ways, they’re not that different from some of the protests that we saw coming from the Tea Party. Both on the left and the right, I think people feel separated from their government. They feel that their institutions aren’t looking out for them,” he said.

Tea partiers also had a beef about Obama driving us off the cliff with his reckless spending, yet his OWS supporters actually want more spending.

“The most important thing we can do right now is those of us in leadership letting people know that we understand their struggles and we are on their side, and that we want to set up a system in which hard work, responsibility, doing what you’re supposed to do, is rewarded,” Obama said.

A couple of other minor differences: I never recall any tea partiers being arrested by the hundreds and tea partiers had a defined set of goals. Tea partiers have been demonized relentlessly by Obama and the left while this group of far-left anarchists have been endorsed and in some cases organized by the same media.

But yeah, outside of that, I can hardly tell them apart.

H/T John E.

As Obama Arrives, Virginia Democrats Flee: 'They’re Trying to Save Their Skin'

Obama's contrived taxpayer-funded campaign tour swings into Virginia today and elected Democrats are running for the hills, deathly afraid of being seen with the increasingly toxic failed president.

President Obama arrives in the state Tuesday as part of three-day North Carolina and Virginia bus tour to talk about the economy, but it’s not clear how many Virginia Democrats will be with him.

As we reported today, Democratic state legislators are none too eager to support Obama, let alone be seen with him.

The state’s top Democrats will be not be around, either.

Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner will be in Washington, where Congress is in session.

Tim Kaine, former governor and Democratic National Committee chairman, is spending the day in Northern Virginia, in part to help legislative candidates who are on the ballot next month. Kaine, now a candidate for the U.S. Senate next year, appeared with Obama at the University of Richmond in August.

It's not like they'd have that far to travel. If he weren't so deeply unpopular, they'd be rushing in for the photos ops.

More here.

“The last thing they want to do is be tied to the hip of an unpopular president,’’ Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) said. “If he wanted to help these Democrats, he would stay far away from Virginia. They’re trying to save their skin.”

Maybe Obama Doesn't Understand His Party Controls the Senate

A sure-fire way to win over support for your tax increase plan. Insulting the people you need supporting it.

President Obama launched a three-day bus tour through two states critical to his 2012 reelection campaign by kicking Senate Republicans for blocking his jobs bill, saying he is breaking up his plan because "maybe they just couldn't understand the whole thing at once."

Speaking in Asheville, N.C., Obama challenged Congress to pass his $447 billion jobs bill in "bite-sized pieces," stating with legislation to provide funding to cash-starved states to pay for teachers, police officers and firefighters.

The president said that in blocking his bill, Senate Republicans — he did not mention the two Democratic 'no' votes — "said 'no' to you."

Bite-sized pieces, huh? Funny, but last month David Axelrod said quite the opposite.

The White House won’t accept an “a la carte menu” approach by Congress to President Barack Obama’s jobs bill, top strategist David Axelrod said Tuesday.

I guess the “a la carte menu” is now offering bite-sized pieces.

Whatever the case, the public wants no part of it, so you know what you can do with your bite-sized pieces, champ.

Obama Bus Tour Will Ensure 'the Interests of 99 Percent of Americans ... is Well Represented'

As Barack Obama embarks on another staged tour on his Canadian-made bus, he's apparently planning to co-opt language from the lunatic fringe Occupy Wall Street movement. Imagine our surprise.

Reports over the weekend said that the Obama campaign is looking to capitalize on the movement, and Earnest's remarks on a conference call Sunday seemed to support those reports.

Earnest said that as Obama travels this week, the president will "continue to acknowledge the frustration that he himself shares" with Wall Street.

And using the popular refrain from the Occupy crowds, Earnest said that Obama will ensure “the interests of 99 percent of Americans… is well represented”

At the end of the trip, Earnest said, "the message will be clear: Pass the bill this week to protect the job of a North Carolina teacher, or come down here, look her in the eye and explain to her why protecting" tax cuts for the wealthy is more important than passing the jobs bill.

What's he so frustrated with Wall Street about? Nobody's ever received more money from there than him.

Obama Begins Distancing Himself From ObamaCare

What's a guy to do when he's mired at a 38% approval rating? Why, abandon his signature achievement, of course.

The Obama administration says it is unable to go forward with a major program in the president's signature health care overhaul law — a new long-term care insurance plan.

Officials said Friday the long-term care program has critical design flaws that can't be fixed to make it financially self-sustaining.

Gee, maybe they should have read the bill before they passed it.

But a central design flaw dogged CLASS from the beginning. Unless large numbers of healthy people willingly sign up during their working years, soaring premiums driven by the needs of disabled beneficiaries would destabilize it, eventually requiring a taxpayer bailout.

It's unclear whether the program can be salvaged. Congressional Republicans are committed to repealing it.

This pretty much says it all (via John E.):

Update: John E. notes this from last month. Very curious.

They knew it was a lie. Their actuaries told them so. The math was clear. They didn't care. If CLASS goosed the numbers for the broader bill -- thus helping secure the historic power grab they'd been salivating over forever -- these Statists were thrilled to adopt an "ends justifies the means" mentality. And that, my friends, is how the White House and Democrats manipulated the CBO score, lied their asses off to the American public, and passed their unaffordable, unwanted healthcare monstrosity under deliberately false pretenses. This. Crew. Must. Go.

It's Come to This: Obama Now Hawking SEIU Merchandise on Twitter

Could this guy be any more low rent? Seriously, the President of the United States is now pimping out Joe Biden can holders?

Notice it says Workers United at the bottom. Guess who that is.

Workers United, SEIU is a union of 150,000 workers in the US and Canada who work in the laundry, food service, hospitality, gaming, apparel, textile, manufacturing and distribution industries. Workers United is a new union with a 100 year heritage, and includes members from predecessor unions like the ILGWU, ACTWU, UNITE and UNITE HERE.

Sniveling Obama to Fox's Ed Henry: 'I Didn't Know You Were a Spokesperson for Mitt Romney'

Is it possible to be any more think-skinned than the petulant manchild in the White House?

whoa - POTUS to @EdHenryTV: "I didn't know you were a spokesperson for Mitt Romney."

I guess having 99.8% of the White House press corps in your back pocket just isn't enough. But he did use spokesperson, not spokesman, so I'm sure the rest of his stenographers won't mind such churlishness.

What a douchebag.

It actually gets more pathetic.

after chiding @EdHenryTV for asking him to respond to Romney critique, POTUS didn't answer Romney critique

There's a reason he's known as the SCOAMF.

Video via Breitbart.


Note there's little laughter. Then he starts stuttering like the schmuck he is.

It's Never Obama's Fault

Barack Obama showed up to a sparse gathering in Pittsburgh the other day and was ridiculed by Matt Drudge, who contrasted a huge crowd from 2008 with the meager attendance from his appearance.

Naturally, it's not Obama's fault. Nothing ever is. The fact he's hugely unpopular has nothing to do with it at all. What we've got here is someone voluntarily throwing themselves under the bus.

An Allegheny County labor leader said on Wednesday he's to blame for unfilled seats during President Obama's speech to about 300 people in a South Side union hall.

At least 50 seats in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 5 hall were empty when Obama took the stage about 2:15 p.m. Tuesday to pitch the jobs plan that senators later rejected. Obama toured the IBEW's training center, met with members of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and delivered a 25-minute speech pushing for passage of his jobs bill.

Allegheny County Labor Council President Jack Shea said he misjudged the seating capacity and didn't invite enough people. Several floor seats that were supposed to be filled remained empty because, he said, about 45 people took spots behind the president's podium.

"I guess you can blame me for that," Shea said. "I have people mad at me now because I didn't invite them."

The sight of empty seats makes for unwanted visuals for the re-election campaign of a president who became known in 2008 for filling arenas. Television reports ran shots of the empty seats, and Republicans seized on a photo a Tribune-Review reporter posted on Twitter. A Republican spokesman e-mailed the photo to reporters beneath another photo of a packed 2008 Obama campaign rally at Mellon Arena.

"If a president is in town, you can get a lot of folks to come. That's not a problem, so I take them at face value if they say they just miscalculated," said Muhlenberg College political scientist Chris Borick. "Any time a president speaks, if there are visuals of empty seats, it's alarming. 'Why wouldn't a room where the president is giving a talk not be full?' is a reasonable question."

You know whose fault it really is? Republicans!

"I think, like a lot of groups on the left, there were high expectations for President Obama, and some of those expectations haven't been met," Borick said.

Shea said union members blame Republicans and conservative Democrats for the setbacks.

"I have not seen (a drop in enthusiasm) in our ranks yet. I have seen our people understanding that Obama, as he's been president, everything he's tried to do, (Republicans) have tried to stop him," Shea said.

Middle-Class Warrior Quaffs a Guinness While His Props Go Domestic

Prior to hanging out with his millionaire and billionaire pals in Orlando Tuesday night, self-proclaimed middle-class warrior Barack Obama arranged for a photo op at a local Irish eatery. The carefully choreographed event for the cameras included some alleged out of work construction workers. Thes were probably those temporary workers that helped pave the Obama Parkway. Anyway, Obama patted himself on the back for being a champion of the little guy and even arranged for his downtrodden pals to have some Budweisers.

So what does the idiot order up for himself? Why, an imported beer, of course.

President Obama visited Orlando late today to collect campaign cash and tout his doomed $447 billion jobs bill while sipping beer with four unemployed construction workers.

Slumping in the polls and facing roadblocks on Capitol Hill, where his job bill stalled in the Senate later in the evening, Obama urged about 400 supporters at a downtown Sheraton hotel to summon "that same sense of urgency we had in 2008. Let's meet this moment."

Obama proclaimed himself a "warrior for the middle class" in his remarks at the Sheraton, where attendees paid between $44 and $250 to see the president.

He told the crowd that America is a nation of "rugged indivualists." But, he added, "there's always been this other thread in our history that says we're all connected, we're in this together. There are some things we can only do together as a nation."

Rugged individualists? Hmmm. Where have I heard that before?

Obama and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer then stopped by the Harp and Celt Restaurant and Irish Pub, where they drank Guinness stouts while meeting for about 30 minutes with four out-of-work laborers, who drank Budweisers.

So these poor bastards, obviously unemployed because of Obama's economic disaster, have to settle for some bottled Buds while The One has himself a pint.

Real stuff of middle-class warrior legend right there.

After crushing his imported stout, Obama then got back to reality, where he rubbed elbows with his millionaire pals.

The president next headed to a $1,500-a-head fundraiser in nearby Lake Mary at the home of attorney John Morgan, whose firm recently hired former Gov. Charlie Crist. The host committee for the Lake Mary event included NBA veteran Grant Hill, basketball Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers and former baseball star Ken Griffey Jr.

Obama later revealed how heartbroken he was over the two-week delay to the NBA season. What the heck is a rugged individualist to do when he doesn't have his precious basketball?