http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/incompetence/ en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:17:46 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417770/posts Something has gone horribly wrong with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. The 1.6 million local and state government workers and retirees who rely on the pension giant should be deeply worried. State taxpayers who are going to have to bail out CalPERS should be infuriated. In area after area, CalPERS has been a disaster. •Public policy. The 1999 state law that led to an orgy of retroactive pension spiking by government agencies only passed because of Cal-PERS’ insane assurance that a perpetually rising stock market would always cover the cost of sharply increasing benefits. CalPERS is thus directly culpable... San Diego Union - Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417770/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:17:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416830/posts President Obama yesterday pulled his head out of the sand long enough to promise a thorough review of US se curity practices after the near-suicide bombing of a commercial airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day. Then he stuck it right back in. Obama, in a brief address from Hawaii, did manage to utter the "T" word: "A full investigation has been launched into this attempted act of terrorism." But he refused to define the nature of the threat. Nor did he fire Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano -- a pity, because if any government official ever earned the boot, it's... NY Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416830/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:52:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415809/posts A "miracle on Christmas Day" prevented nearly 300 people from being killed by a terrorist attack aboard a transcontintental flight, but failure to connect the dots could be the United States' Achilles heel, the top senator on the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee said Sunday. Sen. Joe Lieberman said a lack of communication was the key factor behind the terrorists' success on on Sept. 11, 2001, and could be the reason for the failure to thwart a future attack. The independent Connecticut senator said accused bomber Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian man charged with trying to set... Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415809/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:06:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415758/posts Despite mounting evidence of a sophisticated international plot to bring down a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day, the man charged in the thwarted attack — who was on U.S. officials' radar for years — was never considered a sufficient threat to keep from flying. The alleged Christmas Day terrorist had been in one of the U.S. government's largest terror databases since November, when his father brought him to the attention of embassy officials in Nigeria. But Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab came to the attention of intelligence officials months before that, according to a U.S. government official involved in the investigation. The... Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415758/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:11:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414319/posts Recent surveys have indicated that junior officers in the U.S. Army (and Marine Corps) still feel a lot of dissatisfaction with the quality of senior leadership. This disconnect between junior officers, and their commanders, has been around for more than a decade. It's gotten worse with a war on, because, unlike past wars, there has not been widespread removal of battalion and brigade commanders who did not perform well. Alas, that is not new either. Even in Vietnam, there was a similar situation. This, despite the fact that, in some divisions, the commander did remove battalion and brigade commanders who... Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414319/posts#comment Thu, 24 Dec 2009 07:06:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2393850/posts This man is deranged and should be held criminally responsible for the death of every troop while he parties and dithers. tammybruce.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2393850/posts#comment Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391613/posts China , Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Pakistan... US president Barack Obama ran through the gamut of nations as he articulated another elegant Asia policy speech in Tokyo this week. Conspicuous by its absence was India. Was India not on his radar? Or was it such a close ally that he skipped naming it at a public function? It left New Delhi wondering. Just two days later, bam! He did something even more astonishing by acquiescing in a Chinese demand to let Beijing assume the role of a monitor in South Asia, an area where China is seen by India as... The Times of India (New Delhi, India) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391613/posts#comment Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:44:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389924/posts SEOUL -- President Barack Obama will not announce his decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan before the Thanksgiving holiday, senior aides said on Thursday. The news came as the president greeted 1,500 troops at Osan Air Base in South Korea, just before boarding Air Force One and heading back to Washington after an eight-day Asia trip... Obama arrived on the base 3:19 p.m. local time (1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time), and received a rousing welcome from 1,500 troops in camouflage uniforms, many holding cameras or pointing cell phones to snap pictures. "You guys make a pretty good photo op,"... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389924/posts#comment Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:07:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2384568/posts President Obama does not plan to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, pushing instead for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government, a senior administration official said Wednesday. That stance comes in the midst of forceful reservations about a possible troop buildup from the U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, according to a second top administration official. In strongly worded classified cables to Washington, Eikenberry said he had misgivings about sending in new troops while there are still so many questions about the leadership... CBS News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2384568/posts#comment Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:06:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2384491/posts WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama does not plan to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, pushing instead for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government, a senior administration official said Wednesday. That stance comes in the midst of forceful reservations about a possible troop buildup from the U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, according to a second top administration official. In strongly worded classified cables to Washington, Eikenberry said he had misgivings about sending in new troops while there are still so many questions... Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2384491/posts#comment Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:17:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2377416/posts It has been one year since The One became our president. Most polls today put his approval rating right about at his margin of victory of a year ago. But when people are asked about his policies, rather than his personality, well, even CNN can't spin these numbers. Patriot Room http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2377416/posts#comment Tue, 3 Nov 2009 15:34:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2376617/posts Barack Obama: Media Sweetheart and Golf Addict by Brian Darling (more by this author) Posted 11/02/2009 ET Barack Obama enjoys wide support from his liberal friends in the media. That allows them to ignore the growing discontent average Americans hold toward a leader who promised so much and has delivered so little. Politico and CBS News reported last week that the president has played 24 rounds of golf this year. Yet no media outlet has accused Obama of spending too much time on the greens and not enough time in the Oval Office. Pelosicare Unveiled As the Senate continues to... Human Events http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2376617/posts#comment Mon, 2 Nov 2009 16:53:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2375203/posts How can the government pretend that it can manage, overhaul, streamline and reform the health care system in the United States when it can't even deliver enough flu shots to prevent a pandemic? We have seen the H1N1 virus coming for over a year. It is no surprise that much of America needs vaccination. It was no secret that the flu season was approaching. But, now that it is upon us, we find ourselves pathetically short of shots. One year ago, the government told us that we would have hundreds of millions of vaccinations available. Then, over the summer, the... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2375203/posts#comment Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:52:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2372924/posts And They Want to Be Our Health Care Providers http://www.wiseandfrugalgovernment.blogspot.com In 2002, Caltrans (California Department of Transportation ) began the construction of a new eastern span of the Bay Bridge. The estimated cost was $1.3 billion dollars. The plan? To rebuild rather than retrofit the span after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 caused a section of the bridge to collapse. After a series of delays and cost overruns the bridge is now expected to be complete in 2013 at a total cost to taxpayers of $6.3 billion. Just $5 billion or 384% over budget. That was before the break... Constitutional Guardian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2372924/posts#comment Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:16:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2370970/posts BRATISLAVA - Corruption, doubts over Afghan leadership and faltering public support have emerged as the main stumbling blocks to a demand for more North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) troops in Afghanistan. NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, had wanted NATO defense ministers meeting in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava on Thursday and Friday last week to agree to raise troop numbers in Afghanistan. The United States and NATO troops commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has asked for 40,000 more troops. Rasmussen made energetic appeals to NATO states to endorse the general's plan, which also calls for a shift in... Asia Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2370970/posts#comment Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:22:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2368027/posts A simple ... search of Michal Preclik's name turns up an Interpol wanted poster from his native Czech Republic. So where was he arrested? In Nebraska's maximum-security prison, where he was not an inmate, but a guard. Preclik had worked at the prison for a year and his arrest came just two months after officials at Tecumseh State Correctional Institution promoted the 32-year-old to corporal. Prison officials learned last month that he was wanted on suspicion of drug and fraud crimes. "This is just unbelievable that the state of Nebraska is hiring international criminals," said state Sen. Heath Mello of... ap http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2368027/posts#comment Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:29:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2362984/posts WASHINGTON -- The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment insurance has fallen to the lowest level since early January, a sign the labor market is slowly improving. The Labor Department said Thursday that first-time claims for jobless benefits dropped to a seasonally-adjusted 514,000 from an upwardly revised 524,000 the previous week. The fifth decline in six weeks was below Wall Street economists' forecasts of 525,000, according to Thomson Reuters. The four-week average, which smooths fluctuations, fell for the sixth straight time to 531,500. Economists closely watch initial claims, which are considered a measure of layoffs and the... Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2362984/posts#comment Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:13:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2354516/posts As the media and political observers pick over the remains of the failed Olympics-bid debacle, the debate has boiled down to this: Will it be a temporary embarrassment for the president or a long-term problem, an emblem of overreach and underachievement? There is more to this than simply predicting the toll it will take on Obama. Both the rebuff and the Obama team’s stunned reaction have stripped the veneer from the Obama mystique. Suddenly, the entire country realizes that that there is no “master plan” behind what Obama does. In fact, there may be no plan at all. Obama’s frosty... Commentarymagazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2354516/posts#comment Sun, 4 Oct 2009 11:40:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2348358/posts With four months left to meet its self-imposed deadline for closing the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Obama administration is working to recover from missteps that have put officials behind schedule and left them struggling to win the cooperation of Congress...Today, officials are acknowledging that they will be hard-pressed to meet that goal. The White House has faltered...because of the legal, political and diplomatic complexities involved in determining what to do with more than 200 terrorism suspects at the prison. But senior advisers privately acknowledge not devising a concrete plan for where to move the detainees and... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2348358/posts#comment Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:18:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2347845/posts An expert in U.S. politics says a climate agreement in Copenhagen is unlikely. President Obama’s speech to the United Nations is a clear indication that the United States cannot deliver at the United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen in December until the health reform is in place. And as long as President Obama’s health reform package remains to be passed by Congress, the United States will not enter into any climate agreement, according to Copenhagen University’s expert in American politics Mads Fuglede. “There are two things that fill the American debate right now – health reform and the financial crisis.... Politiken (Denmark) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2347845/posts#comment Fri, 25 Sep 2009 04:14:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2344052/posts This just looks bad. Really bad. The New York Times Company has been required to reveal startling management incompetence, an inability to correctly apply its own executive compensation scheme to the top two figures in the company, overpaying the bosses. Publicly-traded corporations like the Times must file a Form 8K within four days of various events, so the details of the screw-up are now on the record. The company filed the 8K following the end of trading yesterday. A summary of the substance is here. The American Thinker Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2344052/posts#comment Sun, 20 Sep 2009 09:05:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2315909/posts President Obama complains about misinformation out from the opponents regarding the health care debate, however, it seems he is a major source of misinformation himself. Here is a brief and by no means exhaustive examination of President Obama’s comments at just one town hall meeting. (transcript of town hall) Mischaracterizing Senator Isakson of GA over end of life legislation. It turns out that I guess this arose out of a provision in one of the House bills that allowed Medicare to reimburse people for consultations about end-of-life care, setting up living wills, the availability of hospice, et cetera. So the... The Publius Forum http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2315909/posts#comment Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:25:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2313260/posts There is a lot of invective being flung around by liberals and conservatives these days regarding the each other’s motivations. We hear accusations of “un-American”, unpatriotic, astro-turfing, the police accused of acting stupidly, etc. All of these invectives are nothing more than an attempt to sidestep the legitimate concerns of people asking questions instead of properly showing leadership by addressing the concerns. It seems some people confuse leadership with salesmanship. A leader who expects people to follow them must engender trust for that to happen; clearly hurling invectives at the followers doesn’t engender trust. A salesman is expected to narrowly... The Publius Forum http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2313260/posts#comment Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:41:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2313023/posts There is now not even a hint of an effort to make the narrative on Afghanistan consistent. From the AP: President Barack Obama’s national security adviser did not rule adding more U.S. forces in Afghanistan to help turn around a war that he said on Sunday is not now in crisis. James Jones, a retired Marine general with experience in Afghanistan, said the United States will know “by the end of next year” whether the revamped war plan Obama announced in March is taking hold... captainsjournal.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2313023/posts#comment Tue, 11 Aug 2009 01:40:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2310246/posts The U.S. government must fundamentally redefine the struggle against terrorism, replacing the "war on terror" with a campaign combining all facets of national power to defeat the enemy, John O. Brennan, President Obama's senior counterterrorism adviser, said Wednesday. Previewing what aides said will be the administration's most comprehensive statement to date on its long-term strategy to defeat al-Qaeda and other violent extremists worldwide, Brennan said in an interview that the United States will maintain "unrelenting" pressure on terrorist havens, including those near the Afghan-Pakistani border, in Yemen and in Somalia. However, Washington must couple the military strikes that have depleted... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2310246/posts#comment Fri, 7 Aug 2009 04:06:41 GMT