Casting doubt...

Doubt is never hard to come by when you're talking about the Obama Administration's foreign policy. (Bonus doubt points: White House spokeshole Jay Carney lies about it with a straight face.)



Riiiiiight.

“Stunned” by White House’s dishonest rhetoric on equal pay…

Is anyone actually "stunned" by the Obama Administration's lies these days?

When the current administration isn't busy trying to divide Americans along race or economic lines, it plays the gender card.

Today's Presidential pep rally.     (via White House Instagram)

Today's White House efforts, namely to call attention to a specious view that most women are not earning a fair paycheck (because of their gender), has been dismissed by large numbers of economists. In addition, it's also been undercut by the administration's own actions: It doesn't pay women staffers at the same level that it does male staffers.

Of course, this is nothing new. The Bliss Index has reported on this fact, time and again. But the news sure surprised the news folks. Check out the following video:



From The Cato Institute's online magazine, Reason: "White House Press Secretary Jay Carney doesn't like when you apply the same logic governing wages in private businesses to his employer's own payroll. As President Obama prepares to sign an executive order addressing the gender gap in federal contractors' wages, critics have pointed out that female White House staffers make an average of 88 cents for every dollar male staffers earn."

The article by Elizabeth Nolan Brown continues: "Carney protested that this was misleading, because women and men holding similar positions at the White House are paid equivalent salaries. Because women outnumber men at the lowest levels of the employee chain, however, the average female salary at the White House is lower. Carney is right: It is misleading to average the salaries of men and women in widely varying positions and then use this as evidence that women are being discriminated against. That women disproportionately make up lower-paid positions may point to some broad, systematic gender bias, past or present, but it doesn't equate to outright sexist behavior on an employer's part."

Read more here... 

Debbie Downer surrenders...

Just last week, Florida Democratic hack and DNC leader Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) was repeating the lies/"messaging"/hopes of the Obama Administration regarding the Affordable Care Act roll-out.

Now that those lies have come undone and been widely discredited, the messaging has moved from "too much traffic!" to, "well, it doesn't look good."

As noted, observer Dan McLaughlin Tweeted, "This is what it looks like when something becomes so indefensible [that even] the last hacks give up."

So on the Obamacare mess, Debbie -- and her fellow hacks -- have effectively surrendered.

One victory at a time!

Benghazi...lingers.

Gregory Hicks, the former Deputy Chief of Mission in Libya who testified before Congress about the 9/11 attacks on an American diplomatic facility earlier this year, believes he has been “punished” for speaking out about the Obama administration’s response the night of the attack. He said he believes at least two of the Americans lost that night could have been saved in the United States had responded in time.

Hick said he will continue to talk about the attacks because “the American people need to have the story” of what took place that night and the four Americans who were lost in the attacks “should be remembered.” He also believes that former Navy SEALS Ty Woods and Glen Doherty, who died eight hours after the initial attack on the diplomatic mission, could have been saved.

While Hicks still remains on staff at the State Department, he has not been reassigned a post since being called back from Libya. In a statement to This Week, the State Department said Hicks was not removed from Libya due to statements about the Benghazi attacks and is working on reassigning him. (--Andrew Johnson, National Review Online's "The Corner")

Benghazi: It ain't goin' away...

Hillary Clinton and "Smart Diplomacy"

In a 2011 interview on CBS' "Face The Nation," just days after Syrian troops had opened fire on peaceful protesters, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended Syrian despot Bashar Al Assad as a "different leader" from his murderous, autocratic father and called him a "reformer."



Yeah, about that...

New information on the IRS scandal

After months of digging, toiling, and hectoring, it appears we are now on-track to learn what the IRS (reportedly at the behest/direction of the White House) did to harass Tea Party members, conservatives, Republicans, and their respective donors.

And we'll learn why.

And we'll learn who was behind it...all.

Just remember -- these things take time.



Here we go...

We're baaaack...

The Bliss Index (blog edition) is back after a long hiatus. As our way of saying "hello," again, we present the following meditation on the current administration...

Wimpy...

Obama: 'Couldn't be prouder of the job' Susan Rice has done

According to TPM LiveWire, "Wednesday, President Barack Obama took the opportunity to praise United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice. 'Susan Rice is extraordinary,' Obama said in a response to a question shouted from a reporter. 'Couldn't be prouder of the job she's done.'"

Well, she did take the Benghazi heat off him.

That's some fine work there! As the brouhaha over U.S. UN Ambassador Susan Rice continued, it appears MSNBC got their Rices wrong. If you'll notice in the lower left of the screen shot below, former Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice has been confused with Susan Rice.

It could happen to anyone...right?

It pays to know the right people: "According to a report from OnEarth, which cites U.N. ambassador Susan Rice’s financial-disclosure reports, the potential secretary of state nominee holds significant stakes in several Canadian oil companies and banks that would benefit enormously from the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The construction of the pipeline was blocked by the State Department earlier this year, but, if nominated and confirmed as secretary of state, Rice would be involved in the postponed approval process. Rice, whose net worth is estimated around $33 million, owns between $300,000 and $600,000 worth of stock in TransCanada, according to her 2011 financial disclosure report. TransCanada is the original developer and sole owner of the Keystone Pipeline project. The company has already started building the southern section of the pipeline, and continues to seek government approval to build the northern portion."

(h/t: NRO's The Corner)

"The American public? We could take 'em or leave 'em." - "In response to a question from reporter Major Garrett on whether the Obama administration's mishandling of Benghazi raises 'core questions of basic competency,' press secretary Jay Carney revealed that Barack Obama 'is not particularly concerned' about whether Susan Rice misled the American people."

I guess we missed the 2012 election slogan: "Re-elect me and I won't give a @#$%!"




From The Bliss Index' Econ 101 class: Remember, one of the first lessons is, "Money goes where it's treated best." The latest example - "Two-thirds of millionaires left Britain to avoid 50 [percent] tax rate: Almost two-thirds of the country’s million-pound earners disappeared from Britain after the introduction of the 50 [percent] top rate of tax, figures have disclosed." 

California, are you paying attention? (Probably not.)

In case you were wondering: Yes, the dog is edible. (Which wouldn't be the first for Mr. Obama...)

'nuf said...