The Bottom Line ?

High powered words from the president last night

“We have to recognize that we face more than a deficit of dollars right now,” he said. “We face a deficit of trust….. deep and corrosive doubts about how Washington works that have been growing for years.”

The deficit seems to be running a bit high in the commander and chiefs own party. With a government bailout of Wall Street while unemployment sits in double-digits and stalled healthcare talks. Most of the Dems are worrying about one thing now.

Getting re-elected.

Can Obama pull them together after they saw what happened in Massachusetts to Ted Kennedy's seat? Highly unlikely. It seems the same magic that got Obama elected does not extend to his coat tails. Even before his State of the Union address the rank and file were bitching and moaning.

"Somewhere along the line, the White House lost its way, instead of focusing on solutions to help America's families wade through the wreckage of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, Washington has wasted valuable time wrestling with partisan politics in an effort to rush through drastic reforms that do not directly address our most immediate needs."

Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Ouch

Meanwhile House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Politico that defense spending, which Obama had exempted from his three-year spending freeze, should be subjected to the same discipline. "We're not here to protect defense contractors," she said.

Double Ouch

They had it all, control of the House, Senate and the Presidency.

They promised so much, health care for all, an end to partisan politics, transparency in government…..

Is it just me or does it seem like they just lost the grasp on all of it?

Fact Checking The State of the Union

OBAMA: Drawing on classified information, he claimed more success than his predecessor at killing terrorists: "And in the last year, hundreds of al-Qaida's fighters and affiliates, including many senior leaders, have been captured or killed — far more than in 2008."

THE FACTS: It is an impossible claim to verify. Neither the Bush nor the Obama administration has published enemy body counts, particularly those targeted by armed drones in the Pakistan-Afghan border region. The pace of drone attacks has increased dramatically in the last 18 months, according to congressional officials briefed on the secret program.

OBAMA: He called for action by the White House and Congress "to do our work openly, and to give our people the government they deserve."

THE FACTS: Obama skipped past a broken promise from his campaign — to have the negotiations for health care legislation broadcast on C-SPAN "so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies." Instead, Democrats in the White House and Congress have conducted the usual private negotiations, making multibillion-dollar deals with hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and other stakeholders behind closed doors. Nor has Obama lived up consistently to his pledge to ensure that legislation is posted online for five days before it's acted upon.

Disclaimer: MSNBC Does the Fact Checking here

Extreme Home Makeover Buffalo

A crowd estimated over 2000 converged on Shea's Performing Arts Center on Sunday for what may have been one of the area's largest community screenings of a TV show in history.

With more than 6,300 people and 53,544man hours of hard home fixing work, the city of good nieghbors shattered the Extreme Home Makeover's show record for volunteers.

Another part of the neighborhood project was Buffalo Reuse deconstructing two homes and hauling away tons of building parts to be used for construction and renovation of other homes.



Program Director Michael Gainer says the event last night and the overall project show what people can do working together.

People from around the world will have seen a side of Buffalo they probably never witnessed before. While Buffalo is third-poorest city in the nation, its right up at the top when it comes to heart.