Matt Mayer from the Buckeye Institute reports:

President Barack Obama, joined by Ohio governor Ted Strickland, came to Ohio today to continue his permanent campaign on health-care legislation. His campaign events during the 2008 presidential race attracted crowds of thousands of Ohioans; this time, President Obama managed a crowd of about 200 people. With his negative approval numbers in Ohio (44 percent approve, 52 percent disapprove), it isn’t much of a surprise that few showed up to hear him once again talk about health care.

If you read the whole article linked above, you’ll find that Ohioans are, like most Americans, more interested in the economy and jobs. A fact reinforced by this snippet from another report.

The president’s Strongsville speech began much the same as it did in Shaker Heights — with raucous cheers and applause.

“I love you,” someone shouted — the same as in July. “I love you back,” Obama said before he was introduced by the sister of a Medina County woman who won the president’s attention in recent weeks.

But this time, hecklers called out, “What’s your plan?” and “We want jobs,” during his speech. That didn’t happen last year.

Also consider that the fact that a certain Ohio Democrat decided not to show up…

Representative John Boccieri, Democrat of Ohio, whose vote on major health care legislation could be crucial to the outcome, will not be attending President Obama’s health care rally on Monday in Strongsville, Ohio, not far from Mr. Boccieri’s own district, a spokeswoman said.

Mr. Boccieri is focusing instead on a major infrastructure announcement this morning at Akron-Canton Airport, where the chief of the Federal Aviation Administration, Randy Babbitt, delivered a $16.6 million check for a runway extension and improvement project.

Of course, there was one group who showed up in big numbers. Protesters.

It clearly doesn’t. So why are we doing it?

“A prison complex 150 miles from Chicago will house Gitmo detainees, the Obama administration will announce Tuesday.”

“A senior administration official tells ABC News that on Tuesday the administration will announce that President Obama “has directed  that the federal government proceed with the acquisition of the Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Illinois to house federal inmates and a limited number of detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.”

“Thomson Correctional Center is a  maximum security prison that opened in 2001 but has never been fully utilized because of state budget issues.”

“Information from the state of Illinois indicates that Thomson Correctional Center is a Level 1 adult male maximum-security facility comprised of 1,600 cells and eight housing units, none of which are currently used. The facility is on 146 acres and is currently surrounded by a 12-foot exterior fence and 15-foot interior fence — which includes a dual sided electric stun fence.”

“Closing the detention center at Guantanamo is essential to protecting our national security and helping our troops by removing a deadly recruiting tool from the hands of al Qaeda,” the official said. “Tomorrow’s announcement is an important step forward as we work to achieve our national security objectives.”

Yeah, right.

The answer to my question above is simple. We’re doing it because Obama is beholden to his base to close Gitmo. Obama and his base are putting their political agenda ahead of national security.

Let me say that again. Obama’s success is more important to them than America’s national security.

John McCormack at the Weekly Standard just published a memo being circulated by Republicans on Capitol Hill regarding the decision. It’s well worth a read…

“Having failed to bring the Olympics to Illinois, President Obama will give Illinois an odd replacement gift just in time for the Holidays—al Qaeda terrorists from the Guantanamo detention facility. In announcing this decision, there still remains no explication of how closing Guantanamo makes America safer. Quite to the contrary, unnecessarily importing al Qaeda terrorists into the United States 1) gives them more legal protections, including Constitutional rights, than they have now at Guantanamo, 2) increases the chances they may be released into the country, and 3) in exchange for these significant costs, does not appease the Democratic base, and certainly will not appease al Qaeda.”

Read the whole thing.

UPDATE: Silly me! I didn’t know bringing Gitmo to Illinois was a jobs program!

Why?

Not because of unemployment, not because of the economy, not because of the war in Afghanistan.

No. They’re meeting to discuss the one agenda item that’s lowest on the list of most Americans…

ObamaCare!

“WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will huddle with Senate Democrats on Sunday in a special meeting to discuss health-care legislation.”

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) has kept the Senate in a rare weekend session as senators try to complete work on a health-care bill before Christmas.”

“President Obama will meet with the full Democratic caucus at 2 p.m. EST Sunday, a spokesman for Sen. Reid said.”

“On Saturday evening, Senate Republicans forced Democrats to vote in favor of cutting billions from providers of home care for older people as partisan debate flared.”

“Democrats were meeting behind closed doors to try to reach agreement on how to structure a government-sponsored insurance option, one of the most controversial issues for Democrats in the debate. Mr. Reid has asked a group of 10 Senate Democrats to try to strike a compromise on the issue. The group includes proponents of a strong public plan like Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D., W.Va.) and Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio), and senators pushing for a more limited version including Sens. Tom Carper (D., Del.) and Mark Pryor (D., Ark.).”

“Several centrist Democrats have said they will not support the version that is in the bill now pending before the Senate. That public plan reimburses based on rates negotiated with health-care providers, and allows states that do not want to participate to opt out.”

Let the free market be free.

Governor Phil McCrackin (D) of the great state of New Dakota, says President Obama’s stimulus plan is working and has created thousands of new jobs for his state, particularly in the capital city of Fantasia which sits on the border of neighbor state, Old Hampshire.

ABC Reports similar findings in other areas:

“Here’s a stimulus success story: In Arizona’s 15th congressional district, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that’s what the Web site set up by the Obama administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says.”

“There’s one problem, though: There is no 15th congressional district in Arizona; the state has only eight districts.”

“And ABC News has found many more entries for projects like this in places that are incorrectly identified.”

“Late Monday, officials with the Recovery Board created to track the stimulus spending, said the mistakes in crediting nonexistent congressional districts were caused by human error.”

Positive reports on job creation through the stimulus bill are expected later this week from the states of Noregon, New Connecticut, South Wyoming and Westconsin.

I’m just asking…

S.E. Cupp and Kimberly Guilfoyle appeared on Hannity last night to discuss Obama, unemployment, bailouts and more.

The economy is tanking, unemployment has reached 10.2 percent and General McChrystal continues to wait for an answer on his request for additional troops in Afghanistan, yet the House Democrats convened a special Saturday night session to pass ObamaCare.

All of this is outrageous enough on its own. What’s worse? President Obama used the murder of American soldiers at Fort Hood to rally Democrats to vote for ObamaCare.

“President Obama invoked the Fort Hood shootings in an emotional appeal to Democrats to pass health care reform today, contrasting the sacrifices of soldiers with political positioning.”

“The impassioned pitch to the entire Democratic caucus came hours before the House vote tonight on the signature issue of Obama’s presidency, with Democratic leaders struggling to keep members from conservative districts on board.”

“He was absolutely inspiring. In a very moving way, he reminded us what sacrifice really is,” said New Jersey Rep. Rob Andrews, estimating the persuader-in-chief turned several votes.”

“Sacrifice is not casting a vote that might lose an election for you; it is the sacrifice that someone makes when they wear the uniform of this country and that unfortunately a number of people made this week,” said Andrews.”

Ann Althouse summarizes this perfectly:

“I’m trying to imagine the political environment that Washington Democrats occupy. A President glibly lays out that analogy, and it is received — without any wincing or taint of disgust — as awesome inspiration. These are the minds that will be making decisions for us for quite a while.”

Big hat tip to Dan Riehl.

This month, unemployment hit 10.2 percent, the highest it’s been since 1983.

“WASHINGTON — U.S. unemployment rose by more than expected in October to hit its highest level in more than 26 years and employers cut more jobs than forecast, a sign the labor market continues to struggle as the economy emerges from its deep recession.”

“The unemployment rate, calculated using a survey of households as opposed to companies, rose by 0.4 percentage point to 10.2%, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast an increase to 9.9%.”

What is the Democratic leadership in Washington doing about this? They’re convening a Saturday meeting to hurry the passage of ObamaCare.

“Obama might meet with House Democrats on Saturday, but House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters via conference call this morning that floor debate could be delayed while the whip team lines up more votes. Hoyer said a final vote could take place Sunday or Monday.”

“Hours later, however, Pelosi told reporters that she plans to plow ahead toward a vote sometime Saturday. Asked where she had the votes for final passage, Pelosi said: “We’ll see when we go to the floor.”

Byron York of the Washington Examiner notes that Pelosi has put Democrats between a rock and a hard place. Do they side with her or their constituents?

“The thing that Pelosi has going for her right now is that a lot of her members are more afraid of her than they are of their constituents,” says the GOP insider. He notes that Pelosi has plenty of weapons to make life miserable for members who cross her — “any benefits the member can have for the remainder of this Congress, the kind of support they’ll have going into next year’s election, and if they lose, what kind of post-Congress opportunities they will have.” All could be endangered by a vote against the health care bill.”

“It’s a bad choice. But in the end, Pelosi can’t fire them. The voters can.”

The New York Times continues its downward spiral:

“The New York Times plans to eliminate 100 newsroom jobs — about 8 percent of the total — by year’s end, offering buyouts to union and non-union employees, and resorting to layoffs if it cannot get enough people to leave voluntarily, the paper announced on Monday.”

I feel bad for the employees as Americans who are losing their jobs but I can’t resist pointing out that FOX News is hiring.

A Chicago businessman named James Andrews had a great idea. Open a hot dog stand, hire mainly ex-convicts who often have trouble finding jobs and call the place “Felony Franks.”

The business is doing extremely well, is enjoyed by local residents and Mr. Andrews has received thousands of job applications. Yet there are two people in Chicago who are criticizing his efforts.

First, there’s Father Michael Pfleger, who famously mocked Hillary Clinton (in a church) by saying:

“And she said, ‘Oh, damn. Where did you come from? I’m white. I’m entitled. There’s a black man stealing my show.”

Second, there’s Alderman Robert Fioretti who was disappointed to find out the Olympics were not coming to Chicago.

“Ald. Robert Fioretti, 2nd, whose ward would have included many Olympic facilities, said he was shocked by the decision. “It’s geo-political forces that were beyond our control,” he said, citing a perception that U.S. actions triggered the worldwide recession.”

Why do they have a problem with Felony Franks? One would think that in America’s current economic environment, anyone who can successfully create jobs would be praised for the efforts. Apparently not.

The Wall Street Journal reports “Slaw and Order”

“An alderman has refused Mr. Andrews permission to hang a new sign or build a drive-through lane. A pastor accused the restaurant owner, who is not an ex-convict, of “pimping out” the community. Members of a neighborhood association have vowed to stay away from Felony Franks until the name is changed and the décor — including paintings of cartoon hot dogs in prison stripes — is removed.”

“I don’t understand it,” Mr. Andrews says. “I really don’t.”

“The 64-year-old businessman has long employed ex-convicts at his main business, a company that supplies paper goods to restaurants.”

“He says he thinks people deserve a second chance and felons need stable jobs so they don’t add to homelessness. He thought of opening a hot-dog stand three years ago while driving past one. The name “Felony Franks” just popped into his head, he says.”

So here you have a small business owner, creating jobs for people who have a harder time finding work than anyone else, and he’s being accused of “pimping” the community by Obama’s favorite Catholic priest. Here you have an entrepreneur trying to stimulate a local economy and the local Alderman is playing politics over the damn store sign.

I ask again. Is there anyone connected to Obama who approves of small businesses that create jobs?

Video from the WSJ: