Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste

“There are hundreds of millions of Americans that grew up without a Department of Education. And certainly, an argument can be made that they’re better educated than people that have been around since 1977, when that department was created,”

Despite its 13% approval rating…

Despite its 13% approval rating there are those who are hailing the 111th Congress for its myriad legislative ‘accomplishments.’ Not surprisingly, many of those touting those ‘accomplishments’ are the very members of Congress who voted for the legislation in the first place. … Americans should expect better results from the 112th Congress, that is, if the newly-elected representatives heed their electoral mandate: less spending, lower taxes and limited government. But Americans should also be aware that even if Congress stays in line, President Obama can still pursue a big government agenda with more regulations from unelected bureaucrats. As the president said when the Democrats lost the House and failed to enact cap-and-trade, ‘I’m going to be looking for other means to address this problem.’ America, look out.”

– Heritage Foundation

Raising America’s Debt Limit

“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.”

-Then Senator Barack Obama on the government’s proposal to raise the debt ceiling in 2006.

I guess it’s only a sign of leadership failure when someone other than Barak Obama is president. Interesting how hypocrytical our president is and how he twists things to suit his political needs.

People do not trust Barack Obama to lead them.

What the midterm elections proved is that the American people do not trust Barack Obama to lead them. And trust, that magic five-letter word, is the most important element in the relationship between a nation and its government. … The scars from the financial crisis are still raw and unhealed; unemployment is a cruel scourge; and there are terrible threats to the country’s internal and external security, with the future overshadowed by emerging superpowers and competitors. And there is no one to trust. The U.S. has all kinds of problems. But its biggest over the course of the next two years is how to find a leader who will inspire through character and integrity, vision and resolution, courage and judgment the belief, faith and confidence that Americans have always warmly given to the right person — someone they can trust.

historian Paul Johnson