Hold on to your wallets

The Role of Clouds in Climate

This was very interesting. It is a beautiful video talking about the influence of clouds on climate change.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4XYxL66O_s&feature=player_embedded#!



Climate Bill proposed

In the meantime, the Kerry-Liebermann bill has been unveiled.

“The global temperature “savings” of the Kerry-Lieberman bill is astoundingly small—0.043°C (0.077°F) by 2050 and 0.111°C (0.200°F) by 2100. In other words, by century’s end, reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 83% will only result in global temperatures being one-fifth of one degree Fahrenheit less than they would otherwise be. That is a scientifically meaningless reduction.”

So why would we do it? It lets Washington control a lot more of our lives and this is something progressives find irresistible.

Financial Reform

The Senate today rejected a proposal by Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., to impose a minimum 5% down payment for virtually all home mortgages. The amendment to the broader financial regulatory overhaul bill, which failed 42-57, would have required income verification and an assessment of borrowers’ ability to repay.

FHA requires 3.5% down and has said if they raised that to 5% they would lose 40% of their business. I do remember when anything less than 20% required title insurance which was an extra X dollars per month.

Shouldn't we be reforming Freddie and Fannie as we reform the financial sector of the country. As I've said before Fannie and Freddie were the Typhoid Mary of the financial meltdown that happened in 2008. It appears until the Democrats are no longer in charge you won't have any serious reform.

Women and Pay

While the average earnings for women still lag behind those of men, they're turning the tables in the most exclusive corporate club of all. A new report from Bloomberg News, the leading provider of business news worldwide, shows that women who head the nation's largest companies are earning substantially more than their male counterparts. Their average annual pay over the last few years? Just over $14 million dollars.

"That means women earned 40 percent more than men in 2009," says Alexis Leondis of Bloomberg.

Fiscal Reality

With the advent of the Trillion dollar plus ANNUAL deficit in Washington, the rest of the world is actually trying to deal with unsustainable spending. We've seen the riots in Greece where public employees revolted against the idea of austerity, but Spain has just followed suit and the socialist government there is cutting civil service pay by 5%.

In the USA, New Jersey Govenor Chris Christie is leading the way.

"Upon taking office Christie declared a state of emergency, signing an executive order that froze spending, and then, in eight weeks, cutting $13 billion in spending. In March he presented to the Legislature his first budget, which cuts 9 percent of spending, including more than $800 million in education funding; seeks to privatize numerous government functions; projects 1,300 layoffs; and caps tax increases."

Of course the teachers' union is up in arms, but Christie may be showing the rest of the country what needs to be done and how to do it.

http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/ab-stoddard/97603-nj-gov-sets-tone-for-us

If you want to have some fun, I just found this on Foxnation. Watch Christie tell it like it is to a "thin skinned reporter." Great fun. I'm starting to see a good Republican bench for the 2012 Presidential contest assemble.

http://www.thefoxnation.com/gov-chris-christie/2010/05/13/must-watch-gov-christie-destroys-thin-skinned-reporter