MAKING THE GRADE: Obama's spending practices out of control

Here are some grades for news happenings and the newsmakers behind them in our ongoing feature: "Making the Grade."

Obama's focus on the rich is sending all of us to the poor house

Grade: F

Courtesy photo / President Obama

Oh, come on. Does Prsident Obama have a paper bag over his head? America is headed toward financial disaster and Mr. O. thinks we should raise taxes on the “rich” and cut spending by some miniscule amount. This isn’t a solution; it’s a prescription for disaster. Congress needs to pass Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) plan to reduce our debt by trillions and put us on the path to a balanced budget. Our taxes are more than adequate to run the government once it is right-sized. It’s Congress that has “deficit attention disorder.”

Hospital wastes taxpayer dollars on attorneys

Grade: F

Photo by NSBNews.net / Daytona Beach-based Circuit Judge Richard Graham

But maybe that should be an “A” because they are soooo good at it. The disastrous out-of-the-sunshine merger between New Smyrna Beach’s Bert Fish and the Adventist Hospital System has been “unwound” at a cost of over $600,000 to taxpayers and could top $2 million once Circuit Judge Richard Graham rules on awarding of attorney's fees for the plaintiffs. Why was it ever a good idea to merge a community hospital, supported by local taxpayers, with a private entity in the first place?

Bob Graham wants more civics classes

Grade: A

Courtesy photo / Bob Graham, Former Florida Governor and U.S. senator

Former Democrat Senator/former Governor Bob Graham spoke to the Pelican Bay Club and stressed the need for students to learn about our system of government and those who made America great. The drive current on the curriculum largely ignores “dead white men” in favor of feel good, everybody gets along.

Obama needs to provide birth certificate

Grade: C

Courtesy photo by FactCheck.org / Hawaii stamp on Obama certificate.

I can see both sides of this story. If Mr. O. wasn’t born here, every single bill or executive order would be null and void. That has a lot of appeal to me. If he was born here, he has jerked the American people around for three years by not producing his long-form birth certificate. Florida has passed an Arizona-style law that mandates anyone who runs for office must produce a birth certificate. Good.

© Sally Gillies / NSBNews LLC 2011

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