The new House majority INCURRED THE WRATH OF THE MEDIA BY REFUSING TO CHANGE THE NAME OF THE REPEAL BILL and ignoring their calls to "wait a bit longer" before bringing it up for a vote. In fact, the Republicans had the temerity to give the "REPEALING THE JOB-KILLING HEALTH CARE LAW ACT" pride of place in their vote schedule. This affront has inspired a spate of "news" stories claiming that the GOP has misled the public concerning Obamacare's effect on unemployment. The REPUBLICANS HAVE, ACCORDING TO THESE ARTICLES, MISREPRESENTED A CBO REPORT THAT SUGGESTS THE NEW LAW WILL ELIMINATE 650,000 JOBS. A typical example is an AP "fact check" piece that includes this priceless quote from economist Paul Fronstin: "CBO ISN'T SAYING THAT THERE IS JOB LOSS AS MUCH AS THEY ARE SAYING THAT FEWER PEOPLE WILL BE WORKING."
http://spectator.org/archives/2011/01/21/a-natural-born-job-killer
I put this one in my blog simply for the fact check quote. It is a gem.
Everything starts with repeal
Suppose someone - say, the president of United States - proposed the following: We are drowning in debt. More than $14 trillion right now. I'VE GOT A GREAT IDEA FOR DEFICIT REDUCTION. IT WILL YIELD A SAVINGS OF $230 BILLION OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS: We increase spending by $540 billion while we increase taxes by $770 billion.
HE'D BE LAUGHED OUT OF TOWN. And yet, this is precisely what the Democrats are claiming as a virtue of Obamacare. During the debate over Republican attempts to repeal it, ONE OF THE DEMOCRATS' MAJOR TALKING POINTS HAS BEEN THAT OBAMACARE REDUCES THE DEFICIT - AND THEREFORE REPEAL RAISES IT - BY $230 BILLION. Why, the Congressional Budget Office says exactly that.
Very true. And very convincing. Until you realize where that number comes from. Explains CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf in his "preliminary analysis of H.R. 2" (the Republican health-care repeal): "CBO anticipates that enacting H.R. 2 would probably yield, for the 2012-2021 period, a reduction in revenues in the neighborhood of $770 billion and a reduction in outlays in the vicinity of $540 billion."
As National Affairs editor Yuval Levin pointed out when mining this remarkable nugget, THIS IS A HELL OF A WAY TO DO DEFICIT REDUCTION: A RADICAL INCREASE IN SPENDING, TOPPED BY AN EVEN MORE RADICAL INCREASE IN TAXES.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/20/AR2011012003687.html
Krauthammer points out the idiocy of the left’s argument regarding not repealing healthcare because it will increase the deficit, but if goes right along with the argument the left used against extending the tax cuts for those making over $250,000 per year. The problem the Feds have is spending, not taxing.
House GOP begins long drive to dismantle Obamacare
Everyone knows House Republicans (along with three Democrats) voted Wednesday to repeal Obamacare. But fewer people know what those same House Republicans -- this time, with 14 Democrats -- did Thursday.
BY A VOTE OF 253 TO 175, THE GOP DIRECTED KEY HOUSE COMMITTEES TO REPORT ON WAYS TO LOWER HEALTH CARE PREMIUMS, ALLOW PATIENTS TO KEEP THEIR CURRENT HEALTH PLANS, INCREASE ACCESS TO COVERAGE FOR THOSE WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS, AND DECREASE THE PRICE OF MEDICAL LIABILITY lawsuits. In other words, the committees are beginning work on replacing the House-repealed Obamacare with Republican health policies.
Repeal got a lot of press coverage. Replacement got far less. If they needed any reminding, GOP lawmakers are learning that controlling the levers of power in the House doesn't mean controlling the media narrative on health care. "DEMOCRATS WANTED TO CHARACTERIZE REPEAL AS DRACONIAN, IGNORING THE FACT THAT WE DO HAVE VERY, VERY POSITIVE ALTERNATIVES," says Rep. David Dreier, chairman of the House Rules Committee. "It's been difficult for us to get that [message] out there. We said repeal and replace, and we're in the process of replacing."
http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/01/house-gop-begins-long-slog-dismantle-obamacare#ixzz1BgOKxzfC
Repeal and replace will be a very attractive alternative to Obamacare, but you've probably not heard anything about the replace part.
Fighting the “Climate of Hate” Venezuelan Style
ANY VENEZUELANS who believe that President Hugo Chávez has committed a crime and resort to the Attorney General Office to seek prosecution of the Venezuelan president WILL GO FROM COMPLAINANT TO DEFENDANT, as provided for in two judgments issued by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ).
The Supreme Tribunal of Justice authorized the Public Prosecution Office, led by Luisa Ortega Díaz, to DISMISS TWO CASES FILED BY HENRY RAMOS ALLUP AND RAFAEL MARÍN, TWO LEADERS OF VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION PARTY ACCIÓN DEMOCRÁTICA (Democratic Action); and by retired Navy Vice Admiral Iván Carratú and retired Colonel Pedro Soto against Chávez. Additionally, THE TOP COURT "INSTRUCTED" THE PUBLIC PROSECUTION OFFICE TO "INITIATE A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION AGAINST THE COMPLAINANTS."
http://english.eluniversal.com/2011/01/20/en_pol_esp_anyone-accusing-chav_20A5014571.shtml
This certainly will cut down on the negative language used against Hugo Chavez. This is how the rule of law becomes lawless.
Rep. Bishop takes heat over Breitbart videos about black farmers settlement
VIDEOS FEATURING TWO GEORGIA FARMERS THAT ARE BEING CIRCULATED ON THE WEB by conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart HINT THAT BISHOP, OF ALBANY, MAY HAVE KNOWN ABOUT POSSIBLE FRAUD IN LAST YEAR'S SO-CALLED "PIGFORD" SETTLEMENT between the government and black farmers who claimed that a Department of Agriculture farm loan program discriminated against them.http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/rep-bishop-takes-heat-810415.html
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE IMBIBING," BISHOP SAID of the two farmers after watching the videos. "I'm just perplexed and shocked."…..
…..In the new Breitbart videos, South Georgia farmers Eddie Slaughter and Willie Head complain that Bishop, who also is an African-American, did nothing when they asked him to investigate the Pigford settlement.
SLAUGHTER AND HEAD SAY THEY AND OTHER FARMERS SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN A BETTER DEAL, AND THAT MORE SETTLEMENT MONEY WENT TO LAWYERS AND PEOPLE WHO AREN'T FARMERS THAN TO THEM AND OTHER ACTIVE FARMERS
Perhaps this is worth a congressional investigation (not Bishop but the settlement).
Poll: Most Say Deal With Deficit Now
Most Americans believe the massive federal budget deficit is a very serious problem that will create hardships for future generations, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll.
SIXTY-FOUR PERCENT SAY THEY ARE VERY CONCERNED THE DEFICIT WILL CREATE HARDSHIP IN THE FUTURE, AND ANOTHER 26 PERCENT ARE SOMEWHAT CONCERNED. Just eight percent say they are not concerned.
FIFTY-SIX PERCENT SAY THE DEFICIT NEEDS IMMEDIATE ACTION, while 38 percent say efforts to address the deficit can wait until the economy has improved. Republicans and independents were more likely to push to deal with the deficit now, while Democrats were more likely to say it can wait.
So how do Americans propose to address the deficit? BY CUTTING PROGRAMS, NOT RAISING TAXES. Sixty-two percent would prefer to cut programs from which they benefit, including 81 percent of Republicans. Just 29 percent want taxes raised, including 42 percent of Democrats.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20029119-503544.html
This isn’t news, but it does give you a measure of the dissatisfaction.
Criminalizing free speech by exploiting the Arizona tragedy
THE PROGRESSIVE ELITES ARE TIRED OF HAVING TO ANSWER QUESTIONS FROM THE CITIZENS ABOUT THEIR POLICIES. They feel that only they have the knowledge and power to make decisions for us. Questioning their policies is an act of rebellion that cannot be tolerated. CIVILITY MUST BE INTRODUCED WHICH MEANS POLITELY GOING ALONG WITH THE STATUS QUO ELITE'S AGENDA. Any strong disagreement about pending laws would be seen as hostility against these elected progressives.
REPRESENTATIVE BOB BRADLEY (D.-PA.) PLANS TO INTRODUCE A BILL TO CRIMINALIZE NOT ONLY LANGUAGE BUT ALSO IMAGERY SUCH AS THE CROSSHAIRS ON A MAP BY SARAH PALIN. The Democratic Council used the same imagery in 2004. The government subjectively will have power to decide who to prosecute or who to ignore. Freedom of speech protection would become arbitrary and capricious. This would never pass in present day America but shows their arrogance.
On a parallel front, other prominent progressives such as LOUISE SLAUGHTER (D.-N.Y.) AND JAMES CLYBURN (D.-S.C.) WANT TO GIVE THE FCC (FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION) THE POWER TO CONTROL THE NEWS THAT THE PUBLIC WOULD BE ALLOWED TO HEAR. They realize to be effective, state propaganda must silence the opposition, a necessary element of a government to totally control the populace.
Never let a crisis go to waste to silence the opposition and push your agenda. MOIRA LIASSON OF NPR HAS SUGGESTED THAT CALLING PEOPLE SOCIALISTS, FASCISTS OR COMMUNISTS ARE INCENDIARY TERMS THAT SHOULD BE REPRESSED TO HAVE CIVIL POLITICS. This is absurd since these are defined terms, and politicians refer to themselves using these words
http://www2.hernandotoday.com/content/2011/jan/20/202023/criminalizing-free-speech-by-exploiting-the-arizon/news-opinion-editorial/
Free speech is the keystone to democracy. The latest attacks upon it in the name of civility are truly frightening.
What government waste?
THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USDA) IS TEACHING FARMERS HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN “CARBON MARKETS” DESPITE THE FACT THAT SUCH MARKETS DO NOT EXIST and Congress – in rejecting cap and trade legislation last year – has refused to create them.
DEPUTY SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE KATHLEEN MERRIGAN MADE THE ADMISSION AT THE WORLDWATCH INSTITUTE’S 2011 STATE OF WORLD SYMPOSIUM Wednesday, saying that one of the ways USDA was dealing with climate change was to teach American farmers how to participate in “carbon markets,” the technical term for a cap and trade program.
“[USDA] will show farmers clearly and directly how they can benefit from participating in carbon markets,” Merrigan said. “It’s got to go from the drawing board to the boardroom.”
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/federal-government-teaching-farmers-part
It appears the government has money to burn. Oops won’t that accelerate AGW?
More global warming news
THE COLDEST AIR OF THE WINTER SO FAR HAS ARRIVED OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND MIDWEST AND WILL CAUSE TEMPERATURES TO PLUMMET IN THE NORTHEAST IN THE WAKE OF TODAY'S DISRUPTIVE SNOWSTORM.
The wave of arctic air may lead to frozen pipes in some households and eventually broken water mains in some communities.
Furnaces and heaters will be working hard in coming days, and you will get the bill for it later in the month.
Actual temperatures may do no better than the single digits for highs today in Chicago and Milwaukee.
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/44721/deep-freeze-gripping-midwest-a-1.asp
I posted this since the warmist claim cold weather is proof of global WARMING. Hmmmm.
Big new wind turbines too close together, says top boffin
A top American fluid-dynamics boffin says that NEW, LARGER WIND TURBINES NOW GOING INTO SERVICE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO BE PLACED MUCH FURTHER APART - which will have serious implications for the amount of energy produced by wind farms of the future.
The latest wind farms now going into service use huge turbines with rotor diameters in the 100m range, expected to offer large outputs. But according to engineering professor and fluid dynamics expert Charles Meneveau of Johns Hopkins University, there's a problem....
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/21/wind_turbines_too_close_together/
Bigger apparently is not necessarily better.
Exceptionalism, Faith and Freedom: Palin’s America
….Palin is thus on firm ground when SHE LINKS “THE UNDERSTANDING THAT WE ARE AN EXCEPTIONAL NATION” WITH THE OBSERVATION, MADE BY DE TOCQUEVILLE, THAT IN AMERICA “THE SPIRIT OF RELIGION AND THE SPIRIT OF FREEDOM [ARE] INTIMATELY UNITED.” “The Founders,” she declares, “deliberately and self-consciously constructed a government based on the belief that religion was at the root of the personal and public virtues necessary to sustain freedom.”
IN HER VIEW, WE ARE FREE AND EQUAL BECAUSE AS CHILDREN OF GOD WE HAVE AN INHERENT DIGNITY THAT IS INVIOLATE: “We are free as a consequence of being made in the image of God.” In statements like this, Palin brings together her argument for a certain form of politics (“to govern ourselves locally without waiting for any central authority to show us the way”), her claim of American exceptionalism (“we have managed to be, for the most part, the moral and upright people that our Founders hoped we would be”), her grounding of democracy in religion (the equality of men and women follows from their status as God’s children) and her admiration for Jefferson Smith, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King and Frank Capra.
There is then a unity to the book, but it is not one Palin proclaims or works out discursively. Rather, the unity is conveyed by the quotations that carry the argument, long (sometimes two-page) quotations from an impressive variety of authors, quotations that are strong in isolation and even stronger when they are laid next to one another. THE BOOK IS REALLY AN ANTHOLOGY. The author does not present herself as controlling or magisterial; she gives her authorities space and then she gets out of the way. HER PERFORMANCE MIMES THE BOOK’S LESSON: RATHER THAN ACTING AS A CENTRAL AUTHORITY, SHE LETS INDIVIDUAL VOICES SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES. Humility is not something Palin is usually credited with, but here she enacts it by yielding the stage as others proclaims the truths she wants us to carry away…..
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/exceptionalism-faith-and-freedom-palins-america/
Getting praise for her new book in the NY Times seemed to be quite a coup. The reviewer (Stanley Fish) is a man of the left, but a bit different than many on the left. Anyway I thought you might want to look at getting this book.
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