Barney and Barack: Both will be unemployed in January 2013

What’s new today
Stories #1 and #2 talk about Barney Frank.  It first looks at if his decision to retire bodes ill for the Democrats and the second story looks at how Barney chose to bow out—it wasn’t pretty.  Articles 3 through 5 are all about BHO.  #3 discusses how Obama may wake up thinking about jobs but he seems to kill them when a real one comes into sight.  #4 looks at all the illusions Obama has dashed in his three years in office.  #5 talks about the demographics vs the economics of the 2012 election.  #6 tells the story of a man who kidnapped a family and is now suing them for breach of contract.  It appears the Occupy Movement is alive in the state pen as well as Wall Street.  Want to learn the three inconvenient truths plaguing the OWS movement?  Read #7.  Back in 2008, the Republicans had their Joe the Plumber.  It appears the Occupy Movement has their Joe the Puppeteer.  READ all about it in #8.

1.  Reading the Barney Frank tea leaves

Less than a year ago, Nancy Pelosi was forced to move across the second floor hall of the Capitol, leaving behind the magnificent speaker’s balcony that overlooks the National Mall.

WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF RETAKING CONTROL OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. GROWING MORE REMOTE BY THE DAY, the California Democrat will have to get used to the east-front view of parked cars and the visitors’ center entrance as her Democratic colleagues abandon ship.

Barney Frank announced Monday that he’s giving up a 30-year hold on his congressional seat, citing a new district and being more effective outside of politics as his motivation. The Massachusetts Democrat is walking away from his position as the ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee, which he had chaired when the Democrats were in the majority.

Rep. Peter Roskam, the chief deputy whip, thinks there’s more to the story. “IF THE SENIOR DEMOCRAT THINKS THAT HE’S ON THE CUSP OF RETURNING TO THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF ONE OF THE PREMIERE COMMITTEES IN THE HOUSE, HE’S GOING TO STAY,” the Illinois Republican told The Washington Times in an interview. And Mr. Frank is not alone leaving Mrs. Pelosi’s charge.

So far, 16 MORE DEMOCRATS HAVE ANNOUNCED THEY ARE GIVING UP THEIR SEATS IN 2012. Half are running for higher office, and the rest are just bidding adieu to politics. “Senior Democrats are voting with their feet,” said Mr. Roskam. “They see that President Obama’s promise of 2008 has just faded incredibly quickly. They figured out that the 2012 cycle is likely to be another wave election similar to what we saw in 2010.” So far this cycle, no House Republican is retiring from politics….

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/29/nancy-pelosis-office-without-a-view/

While you hear some democrats talk about retaking the House, it ain’t going to happen in 2012.

2.  Barney the Bully

The morning after his retirement announcement, Rep. Barney Frank scored an interview on NBC’s Today Show, gaining the opportunity to act as an elder statesman in front of a TV audience of millions. INSTEAD, THE MASSACHUSETTS DEMOCRAT CHOSE TO QUARREL WITH THE INTERVIEWER….

… Guthrie asked for his response to those who take his retirement as a sign that the Democrats won’t win control of the House in 2012.

“I WISH WE COULD TALK SUBSTANCE SOMETIMES IN THE MEDIA,” FRANK COMPLAINED. “I know that’s against, kind of, apparently, the rules.” He went on to say that “I have decided not to serve until three months before my 75th birthday. I guess I don’t understand why that is so hard for people to grasp.”

The amiable Guthrie tried again. How does he feel about the worsening tone in Washington?

“WELL, YOU EXEMPLIFY WHAT I THINK IS A CHANGE IN THE TONE,” FRANK SAID. “YOU’VE MANAGED TO ASK ALL SORT OF NEGATIVE QUESTIONS. . . . IT’S ‘GOTCHA’ JOURNALISM. It’s ‘gotcha’ politics. And it does lessen our chances to get things done.” …

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/barney-the-bully-congressman-franks-other-legacy/2011/11/29/gIQAEX979N_story.html

Barney Frank exemplifies what is wrong in politics today.

3.   Does President Obama wake up thinking of Jobs?

… one oil company, Conoco Phillips, has said it will go after the oil and gas in the NPRA, estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey to hold 2.7 billion barrels of oil and 114.36 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

TO GET IT OUT, CONOCO PHILLIPS WANTS TO BUILD A ROAD BRIDGE AND PIPELINE OVER THE COLVILLE RIVER ON THE EDGE OF THE NPRA TO GET DRILLING SUPPLIES IN AND THE OIL AND GAS OUT.

The Army Corps of Engineers, backed by the usual environmental suspects, says A PIPELINE UNDER THE RIVER, WHICH IS FROZEN HALF THE YEAR, IS PREFERRED EVEN THOUGH THE OIL COMPANY HAS SAID IT WOULD BE LESS SAFE.

The oil firm argues that since the pipeline will carry a mix of oil, gas and water, it would be at greater risk of corrosion and leaks under the water. An above-ground pipeline would be easier to monitor and maintain.

But Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who has impeded domestic energy production anywhere he can on environmental grounds, supports the Corps' decision.

The Environmental Protection Agency has designated the Colville River as an aquatic resource of national importance. The Army Corps of Engineers used that as an excuse when deciding on the bridge proposal. "We should minimize the harm to the environment," says Col. Reinhard Koenig.

http://news.investors.com/Article.aspx?id=593183&p=1

It appears when Obama wakes up thinking of jobs, he’s thinking of how he can stop them. 

4.  Obama 101:  Few presidents have dashed so many illusions as Obama.

In the last three years, the president has taught us a great deal about America, the world, and himself.

Before Obama, many Americans still believed in massive deficit spending, whether as an article of fairness, a means to economic growth, or just a lazy fallback position to justify an out-of-control federal government. BUT AFTER THE FAILURE OF A NEARLY $800 BILLION “STIMULUS” PROGRAM — INTENDED TO KEEP UNEMPLOYMENT UNDER 8 PERCENT — NO ONE BELIEVES ANY MORE THAT AN ALREADY INDEBTED GOVERNMENT WILL FOSTER ECONOMIC GROWTH BY TAKING ON ANOTHER $4 TRILLION IN DEBT. In other words, “stimulus” is mostly a dead concept. The president — much as he advised a barnstorming President Bush in 2005 to cease pushing Social Security reform on a reluctant population — should give it up and junk the new $500 billion program euphemistically designated as a “jobs bill.” The U.S. government is already borrowing every three days what all of America spent on Black Friday.

OBAMA HAS ALSO TAUGHT US THAT PROMINENT GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION INTO THE PRIVATE SECTOR OFTEN MAKES THINGS WORSE, AND INVITES CRONY-CAPITALIST CORRUPTION. Nearly three years into this administration, it is striking how seldom Barack Obama brags about Cash for Clunkers, the Chrysler and GM bailouts, or Solyndra. He either is quiet about them or sort of shrugs, as if to say, “Stuff happens.” EVEN CREATIVE BOOKKEEPING CANNOT MASK THE FACT THAT THE AUTO-COMPANY BAILOUTS (BEGUN, TO BE SURE, BY THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION, BUT MADE WORSE UNDER OBAMA) WILL PROVE A HUGE DRAIN ON THE TREASURY. No one even attempts any more to convince us that we will like Obamacare once we read the legislation, or that it will save us costs in the long run, or that it will cheer up businesses so that they will invest and hire. All that was dreamland, 2009, and this is reality, 2011, when WE HEAR ONLY “IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE.”…

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/284333/obama-101-victor-davis-hanson

In fact, the motto for 2012 should be, “It Could Have Been Worse:  And It Will Be If You Reelect Obama.”

5.  Is Obama Toast in 2012?

The latest report  from Ruy Teixeira and John Halpin of the progressive Center for American Progress contains a thoughtful examination of President Obama's re-election chances. There's an awful lot packed into the 60 pages of text, but the basic thrust is as follows: WE SHOULD EXPECT THE NON-WHITE SHARE OF THE ELECTORATE TO GROW AT LEAST 2 PERCENT FROM THE 2008 ELECTION, PADDING OBAMA'S BASE LINE. IF HE CAN HOLD SERVE AMONG EITHER THE WHITE WORKING CLASS OR COLLEGE-EDUCATED WHITES, HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO PULL OUT A VICTORY, EVEN AMID TROUBLED ECONOMIC TIMES.

In truth, the report is substantially less bullish on Obama's re-election chances than some of the articles analyzing it have suggested.  IT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THE PRESIDENT HAS A “TIGHT NEEDLE TO THREAD” AND THAT “AMERICANS WILL BE OPEN TO REPLACING PRESIDENT OBAMA WITH AN EVEN-TEMPERED, NONTHREATENING GOP LEADER FOCUSED ON THE ECONOMY.” In other words, the triumphalism of Teixeira’s “Emerging Democratic Majority” argument of the early 2000s is decidedly tempered throughout the report, and with good reason. After all, the GOP just won its second-largest share of seats in the House of Representatives since 1928, with an electorate that had the second-smallest share of non-Hispanic white voters in history. In retrospect, those repeated “last gasps” of the GOP coalition (1994, 2002, 2004, 2010) look a lot more like “steady breathing.”

But the optimistic tones in Teixeira and Halpin’s piece need to be tempered even further. The “demographics versus economics” debate that Teixeira and Halpin suggest will determine the outcome of the next election isn’t a 50-50 proposition. IT IS WEIGHTED HEAVILY TOWARD THE ECONOMICS SIDE, AND I THINK IT’S UNLIKELY THAT DEMOGRAPHICS WILL SAVE THE PRESIDENT. There are three critical observations here:

1.      The minority population may not grow substantially from 2008 through 2012….

2.      Obama will have a difficult time winning either white working-class voters or upscale whites.

3.      Winning minority voters and white voters is something of a zero-sum game.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/11/30/obamas_2012_chances_and_democratic_demographic_dreaming_112221-2.html

This is an interesting article that describes why the “permanent majority coalition” envisioned by Teixeira and Halpin is most likely a childish dream. 

6.  Another One of the 99 Percenters

A Colorado man who is serving a nearly 11-year sentence for KIDNAPPING A NEWLYWED KANSAS COUPLE, STEALING A VEHICLE AND FLEEING FROM AUTHORITIES IN 2009, IS NOW TRYING TO SUE THAT COUPLE FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT.

In his lawsuit, 25-year-old Jessie Dimmick of Aurora, contends that after breaking into Jared and Lindsay Rowley's Topeka-area home while fleeing police, HE AND THE COUPLE REACHED A LEGALLY BINDING, ORAL CONTRACT THAT THEY WOULD HIDE HIM FOR AN UNSPECIFIED AMOUNT OF MONEY. Dimmick, who is representing himself, is seeking $235,000.

"As a result of the plaintiffs breech (sic) of contract, I, the defendant suffered a gunshot to my back, which almost killed me. The hospital bills alone are in excess of $160,000, which I have no way to pay," Dimmick wrote in his civil suit filed last month in Shawnee County District Court.

In Sept. 2009, Dimmick was leading authorities in a chase that ended with Dimmick crashing a stolen vehicle in the Rowleys' yard.

He was wanted for questioning about the murder of Colorado man Michael Curtis, who had been found beaten to death in a motel earlier that month.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/jessie-dimmick-is-suing-h_n_1119317.html?ncid=webmail4

Sounds like a story the OWS could get behind. 

7.  Three Inconvenient Truths for OWS

Occupy Wall Street supporters are claiming credit for at least one political accomplishment: ELEVATING THE ISSUE OF INCOME INEQUALITY TO THE TOP OF THE NATIONAL CONVERSATION.

The Occupiers are right about American incomes: They've definitely grown more unequal. But THIS FACT PRESENTS THREE INCONVENIENT TRUTHS FOR THE OCCUPY WALL STREET MOVEMENT…

… What makes this truth inconvenient is that the proposed remedy — tax these haves and redistribute that income to the have-nots — has an upper boundary. Indeed, blue states such as CALIFORNIA AND NEW YORK, WHERE THESE SUPERSTAR EFFECTS ARE MOST PRONOUNCED, ARE ALREADY TRYING TO REMEDY INEQUALITY WITH SOME OF THE HIGHEST STATE INCOME TAXES IN THE COUNTRY, AND THEY HAVE BUMPED UP AGAINST THE LIMITS OF ECONOMIC REALITY.

It's telling that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been a staunch critic of new tax increases, including on the wealthy, saying recently that "YOU ARE KIDDING YOURSELF IF YOU THINK YOU CAN BE ONE OF THE HIGHEST-TAXED STATES IN THE NATION, HAVE A REPUTATION FOR BEING ANTI-BUSINESS — AND HAVE A ROSY ECONOMIC FUTURE."…

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-schulz-occupy-20111130,0,7958755.story

Read on if you want to see what the other two inconvenient truths are.  The Occupy movement seems to be fading rapidly. 

8.  OWS has their Joe the Puppeteer

Earlier this month, the left-wing magazine the Nation highlighted Joe Therrien as a symbol of the Occupy Wall Street movement. A New York City public school drama teacher, Therrien was frustrated with the shortcomings of the school system. So he quit his job and "set off to the University of Connecticut to get an MFA in his passion — puppetry." Three years and $35,000 in student loan debt later, Therrien returned home, only to find he couldn't land a full-time job. Apparently, a master's in puppetry doesn't provide the competitive edge in the marketplace he'd hoped for.

Therrien joined Occupy Wall Street, constructing giant puppets and "figuring out how to make theater that's going to help open people up to this new cultural consciousness. It's what I'm driven to do right now."…

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-goldberg-culturewars-20111129,0,4107012.column

This is a good example of the divide between the OWS and Middle America.  Joe Therrien left a good job, took on $35,000 in debt and got a degree which allows him to entertain people and earn a meager living and he doesn’t think that’s fair.  He should have a good living from his puppetry.  I’m sure his parents wanted him to get a degree that would have insured his future but Joe didn’t listen to them then and I have no idea what he was thinking when he got his MA degree. 

What we have today is a great number of college graduates who got degrees where there are simply too many people vying for the jobs the degrees prepared them for.  In the meantime “skilled” trade jobs go unfilled. (Hint) This isn’t the fault of the 1%.   

Have Democrats lost their mind?

What’s new today

Stories #1 through #3 relate what we can look forward to in the 2012 election.  #1 lets us know it will be nasty.  #2 tells of how the Democrats are jettisoning the working white man.  #3 explores this move further as the Democrats look to try and become a majority minority party.  #4 discusses the possibility of a third party candidate. #5 related Barney Franks role in the financial crisis. #6 tells of how Barney beat back the repeated warnings by the Bush Whitehouse regarding Fannie and Freddie.  #7 tells how the TEA Party is under investigation after complaining about different treatment they received vs OWS in Richmond VA.  #8 talks of the connection between Hollywood and Hypocrisy.  Even the word Hypocrisy comes from the greek word hypokrisis which means play acting. Our final story #9 explains why Kagan should recuse herself from SCOTUS deliberation on Obamacare. 

1.  Get Ready for a Nasty Election

YOU COULD ALMOST HEAR THE HANDS RUBBING TOGETHER IN GLEE IN PRESIDENT OBAMA’S POLITICAL SHOP AT THE FAILURE OF THE CONGRESSIONAL SUPERCOMMITTEE. How the president’s politicos must welcome a new count in the indictment against the “do-nothing Congress.”

The phrase famously originates from the 1948 presidential election, when Harry Truman used it to lambaste a just-elected GOP Congress and claw his way to an upset re-election victory.

Hopeful Democrats think “GIVE ’EM HELL, BARRY” CAN USE THE 1948 TEMPLATE TO OVERCOME

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/ugly_way_to_win_OjIpYxDtvDI3p6byDTRa1M#ixzz1f6TFJRoX

It’s a plan, but it isn’t likely to work.  It’s the economy stupid. 






     2. Obama Jettisons the Old Democratic base

Bear in mind that the group that is being jettisoned was once the backbone of the Democratic Party, just as the big business/country club sets were once the backbone of the Republican Party.

I can’t speak for the rest of the country, but from what I’ve seen around here, THE WHITE WORKING CLASS IS QUITE USED TO FEELING ABANDONED. LIBERALS ARE SEEN AS THE SORT OF PEOPLE WHO WOULD NEVER GET THEIR HANDS DIRTY AND WHO DISDAIN BLUE COLLAR JOBS OF ANY KIND, instead gravitating towards elite positions at universities or jobs in government or public policy where they can tell their inferiors what to do. While the universities are filled with the latter, local community colleges are inundated with white working class kids seeking to obtain for themselves what they failed to get from the public schools: basic literacy and numeracy — and job skills which are of actual use in the real world.

Aside from the irony that anyone with a high school degree should have to go to college in order to learn to read and write, A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF A VALUABLE REAL-WORLD SKILL IS WELDING. Public school teachers (who reflect the view of the educrat class) tend to hold such “dirty” and “dangerous” work in disdain, and they steer kids away from it. GUIDANCE COUNSELORS ATTEMPT TO PUSH THEM INTO UNIVERSITIES WHERE THEY GO INTO A LIFETIME OF DEBT FOR WORTHLESS DEGREES THAT IMPART ZERO JOB SKILLS. But some of the kids are smarter than that. They realize that if you have a skill that is worth something in the real world, you can actually feed your family.

They also know something that the Occupy movement (often holders of useless degrees) has missed: that THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM’S INSTITUTIONAL BIAS AGAINST PROMOTING REAL WORLD SKILLS HAS LED TO SHORTAGES — IN SOME INSTANCES NOT OF JOBS, BUT OF SKILLED WORKERS TO FILL THEM. SUCH AS WELDERS. JAY LENO EXPLAINS.

http://classicalvalues.com/2011/11/the-war-between-useless-and-useful/

But you’ll have to follow the link to see Jay.  This is a crisis we’ve inflicted on our children.  Everyone shouldn’t go to college, but everyone should be educated.  It’s time to bring back shop.

3. The Emerging Democratic Minority

Back in 2002, JOHN JUDIS AND RUY TEIXEIRA PUBLISHED A BOOK TITLED "THE EMERGING DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY," IN WHICH THEY ARGUED THAT DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS WERE THE DEMOCRATS' FRIENDS--specifically, that the donks were fated to benefit from rising numbers of "minority voters, including blacks, Hispanics, and Asian-Americans; women voters, especially single, working and highly educated women; and professionals," while "the ranks of white working-class voters will not grow over the next decade," spelling trouble for the GOP.

If history had stopped in 2009, they would have been able to claim vindication. Republicans made modest congressional gains in the 2002 and 2004 elections, and George W. Bush was re-elected decisively though not resoundingly. But 2006 wiped out the GOP's congressional majorities, and 2008 bolstered those of the Democrats. Barack Obama achieved the biggest popular-vote majority of any president in 20 years and of any Democrat in 44 years--that is, since before Kevin Phillips published "The Emerging Democratic Majority," (1969) to which the Judis-Teixeira tome was a rejoinder.

But then in 2010, the tide shifted back. REPUBLICANS MORE THAN MADE UP FOR THEIR 2006-08 HOUSE LOSSES AND WON 24 OF 37 SENATE CONTESTS. THE DEMOCRATS HELD THEIR SENATE MAJORITY, BUT LARGELY BECAUSE 40 OF THEIR SEATS, WON IN 2006 OR 2008, WOULD NOT BE CONTESTED UNTIL 2012 OR 2014.

As 2012 approaches, Teixeira has dusted off his decade-old thesis. He and John Halpin have produced A REPORT FOR THE LEFT-LIBERAL CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS TITLED "THE PATH TO 270: DEMOGRAPHICS VERSUS ECONOMICS IN THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION." The argument is that "demographics" are on President Obama's side, while "economics" are not. (One might summarize the latter point this way: "If we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose.")…

…THERE ARE TWO PROBLEMS WITH TEIXEIRA AND HALPIN'S "ECONOMICS VS. DEMOGRAPHICS" analysis--one economic and one demographic. For the first, consider Edsall's list of "voters who have gotten ahead on the basis of educational attainment": "professors, artists, designers, editors, human resources managers, lawyers, librarians, social workers, teachers and therapists."

Notice anything missing? THIS LIST EXCLUDES NOT ONLY BLUE-COLLAR WORKERS BUT ALSO MOST PRIVATE-SECTOR BUSINESSMEN AND WHITE-COLLAR EMPLOYEES. The only group here that comes mostly from corporate America is "human resources managers"--people whose job consists largely of complying with government employment regulations.

In other words, THE ECONOMIC GROUP THAT IS MOST PRO-OBAMA CONSISTS OF THOSE WHO MAKE THEIR LIVING, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, OFF GOVERNMENT. To some extent, this group's interests are at odds with those of Republican-leaning private-sector workers. But only to some extent. WHEN GOVERNMENT GETS SO BIG AND INTRUSIVE THAT IT SUPPRESSES ECONOMIC GROWTH, IT HURTS THE PUBLIC SECTOR TOO. THE WORST THING A PARASITE CAN DO IS TO KILL ITS HOST….

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204262304577068390695355660.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_MIDDLETopOpinion

The Democrats are in a high stakes game.  Abandoning part of your base is always risky and it appear the Democrats are giving up being the party of the working man to being the party of the government supported man.   

     4. A third Party Candidate? 



Despite the Democrats salivating over the possibility of one of the Republican hopefuls running as a third party and syphoning votes away from the Republicans, the likelihood is almost nil that any would do it (funding and desire eliminates them).  So who should be wary of a third party candidate?



…SELF-FUNDING WOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM FOR NEW YORK CITY MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG. The multi-billionaire media mogul could easily follow the Perot model and launch a national campaign. This would hardly be a Republican nightmare, however, despite Bloomberg's occasional affiliation with the GOP. There are few Republicans who would rush to the side of a notorious gun-control advocate who has pursued government mandates on salt use in restaurants and restrictions on outdoor smoking. Bloomberg's most likely impact would be on northeastern states such as New York and Connecticut, two Democratic strongholds in which Republicans wouldn't contend otherwise. BLOOMBERG COULD ALSO DRAW VOTES AWAY FROM OBAMA IN RUST BELT STATES LIKE PENNSYLVANIA AND OHIO, WHICH WOULD FATALLY WEAKEN OBAMA'S ALREADY SLIM CHANCES OF WINNING A SECOND TERM.

OF ALL THE INDEPENDENT BID POSSIBILITIES, BLOOMBERG'S IS THE MOST LIKELY — or at least the least unlikely. Bloomberg took aim at Obama’s lack of leadership in the super committee debacle last week, perhaps signaling some consideration of a run for the White House. He could build an organization nearly overnight with his own funding, and Bloomberg might gain traction among those on the center-left and traditional Democratic donors on Wall Street who have grown disenchanted with the class warfare adopted by the Democratic Party, perhaps especially after the incitement of the Occupy movement — which Bloomberg also recently and repeatedly criticized.

IF WE SEE A SIGNIFICANT INDEPENDENT RUN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE NEXT FALL, IT MAY WELL BE THE DEMOCRATS WHO HAVE THE MOST TO FEAR FROM IT.

http://theweek.com/bullpen/column/221866/democrats-should-fear-a-third-party-challenge-in-2012/2

     5. Loved by media, Barney Frank Helped Cause Financial Crisis

Establishment media are swooning over the unexpected departure of ultraliberal Barney Frank. BUT THIS "CHAMPION OF THE LITTLE GUY" ACTUALLY HELPED CAUSE THE MORTGAGE DISASTER, THEN KEPT THE SYSTEM BROKEN.

'Congress will now be a little dumber," was the kind of nonsense we heard from the mainstream liberal media after Frank, D-Mass., former chairman of the House Banking Committee, said no to running for re-election next year.

Formally reprimanded by a heavily Democratic House on a 408-to-18 vote in 1990 for ethics offenses regarding his financial relationship with a male prostitute, Frank has for decades been a fast-talking, acidic presence in House debates.

But HE WASN'T SMART ENOUGH TO REALIZE THAT THE POLITICALLY CORRECT POISONING OF MORTGAGES WOULD LEAD TO A CALAMITY RIVALING THE GREAT DEPRESSION. "I, LIKE MANY OTHERS, DID NOT SEE THE CRISIS COMING," FRANK SAID MONDAY.

He sure didn't. BACK IN 2003, WHAT DID HE SAY WHEN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION PROPOSED WHAT THE NEW YORK TIMES DESCRIBED AS "THE MOST SIGNIFICANT REGULATORY OVERHAUL IN THE HOUSING FINANCE INDUSTRY since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago," including a new agency to supervise Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

FRANK SAID: "THE MORE PEOPLE EXAGGERATE THESE PROBLEMS, THE MORE PRESSURE THERE IS ON THESE COMPANIES, THE LESS WE WILL SEE IN TERMS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING." Fannie and Freddie, of course, are those corrupt public-private hybrid monstrosities that gave lots of mortgages to people with horrendous credit ratings.

After 1996's welfare reform, liberals like Frank found other ways to redistribute wealth. Yet even after the politicization of mortgages led to the financial crisis, last year's Dodd-Frank reform kept "too big to fail" and other defects in our federally mismanaged banking system

http://news.investors.com/Article/593006/201111281824/liberal-frank-leaves-legacy-of-financial-failure.htm

Barney Frank was bright, but not smart.  His protection of Fannie and Freddie have cause untold heartache for many Americans.  If your house in underwater, you can thank Barney.  But when he announced his retirement, the stock market did go up over 290 points. 

      6. The White House Warned Congress about Fannie Mae Freddie Mac 17 Times in 2008, Alone

The White House attempts to set the record straight:

(I’m copying this post from the White House webpage in it’s entirety because I want people to read the whole thing).

FOR MANY YEARS THE PRESIDENT AND HIS ADMINISTRATION HAVE NOT ONLY WARNED OF THE SYSTEMIC CONSEQUENCES OF FINANCIAL TURMOIL AT A HOUSING GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED ENTERPRISE (GSE) BUT ALSO PUT FORWARD THOUGHTFUL PLANS TO REDUCE THE RISK THAT EITHER FANNIE MAE OR FREDDIE MAC WOULD ENCOUNTER SUCH DIFFICULTIES. President Bush publicly called for GSE reform 17 times in 2008 alone before Congress acted. Unfortunately, these warnings went unheeded, as the President’s repeated attempts to reform the supervision of these entities were thwarted by the legislative maneuvering of those who emphatically denied there were problems.

2001

April: The Administration’s FY02 budget declares that the size of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is “a potential problem,” because “financial trouble of a large GSE could cause strong repercussions in financial markets, affecting Federally insured entities and economic activity.”

2002

May: The President calls for the disclosure and corporate governance principles contained in his 10-point plan for corporate responsibility to apply to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (OMB Prompt Letter to OFHEO, 5/29/02)…

http://nicedeb.wordpress.com/2008/09/21/the-white-house-warned-congress-about-fannie-mae-freddie-mac-17-times-in-2008-alone/

But remember Barney was telling us "the more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."









     7.  TEA Party to be Audited after Complaining about Treatment

Two weeks after the Richmond Tea Party delivered an invoice to Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones for costs incurred for previous rallies, we received a letter from the City of Richmond formally stating that the city is auditing our Tea Party. Coincidence? This audit is an obvious attempt to intimidate and harass us for standing up against the unfair treatment and discrimination against our Tea Party.

First some back story: as reported on the front page of the Richmond Times Dispatch, THE RICHMOND TEA PARTY DELIVERED AN INVOICE FOR CHARGES INCURRED IN OUR PREVIOUS THREE TAX DAY RALLIES AT KANAWHA PLAZA because Mayor Jones chose to allow Occupy Richmond protesters to convene in the same park for two weeks.

The Mayor not only allowed the Occupiers to break the law, but he visited them in the city-owned park. “Jones said that as a ‘child of civil rights’ and protests, he had allowed the group to remain in the park but understands his mayoral responsibility to uphold laws of the city,” reported the Richmond Times Dispatch.

APPARENTLY HIS MAYORAL DUTIES INCLUDED PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT FOR A GROUP HE SYMPATHIZES WITH IDEOLOGICALLY AT THE EXPENSE OF THE TAXPAYERS.

The blog Virginia Right reported that the city provided services such as portable toilets, trash pickup, etc. The incomplete invoices obtained from the city totaled $7,000. This was only a portion of the actual costs to taxpayers because the costs of police, helicopter and incarcerations were not included. ALSO NOT ACCOUNTED FOR WAS THE 24-HOUR POLICE PROTECTION OF THE MAYOR’S HOME AFTER THE OCCUPIERS MOVED THEIR CAMP NEXT DOOR TO THE MAYOR’S HOUSE. The Richmond Tea Party, conversely, paid for all services for our rallies, including the police, portable toilets, park fees and permits, amounting to approximately $8,500….

http://biggovernment.com/cowens/2011/11/28/richmond-city-audits-local-tea-party-after-standoff-with-mayor/

Coincidence?  Probably not. 

     8. Hypocrisy and Hollywood

Some of the most outspoken critics of the "income disparity" that exists within the free-market capitalist system can be found in Hollywood, where you'll also happen to find some of the most prosperous beneficiaries of the very system they criticize. What Hollywood so conveniently ignores is the mammoth "income disparity" and gluttonous (by their own standards for others) behavior within its own industry.

THE ORIGIN OF THE WORDS "HYPOCRISY" AND "HYPOCRITE" COMES FROM THE GREEK WORDS HYPOKRISIS, WHICH IN PART MEANS "PLAY-ACTING," AND HYPOKRITES, WHICH IN PART MEANS "PLAY-ACTOR." It's ironic that hypokrites engaged in the art of hypokrisis have no problem amassing enormous piles of wealth while at the same time hypocritically denouncing the capitalist system that enabled them to create that wealth in the first place. Evidently, it's greedy to be wealthy only if you earn your millions while on the outside of their tiny elitist circle of privilege….

…PERHAPS IT'S TIME HOLLYWOOD QUITS THE ACT AND STARTS LIVING BY THE FAR-LEFT SOCIALIST IDEAS IT EMBRACES AND HAS BEEN PREACHING FOR SO LONG. Here are a few ideas that, if implemented, can help save the denizens of Hollywood from the stigma of being hypocrites as defined today.

First: many of the high rollers in Hollywood claim that it's not "fair" that a CEO makes upwards of 700 times the amount of the average worker within a corporation. But a lead actor or actress can make well in excess of $100K a day during a movie shoot, while someone like the prop guy most likely makes little more than $100 a day. IF HOLLYWOOD ELITES TRULY HAVE A PROBLEM WITH "INCOME DISPARITY," THEY SHOULD LEAD BY EXAMPLE -- I.E., STOP "TAKING" SO MUCH INCOME FOR THEMSELVES AND START SPREADING THAT WEALTH EQUALLY AMONGST ALL OF THOSE "EXPLOITED" WORKERS INVOLVED IN THE PRODUCTION OF THESE MOVIES. Since they condemn what others outside their industry do with their earnings, I think it's fair to ask: do they really need to have multiple mansions, dozens of cars, and monthly $150K parties? There's no need to wait for government to force these changes upon them. They are free to start their ascent from the depths of hypocrisy at this very minute….

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/11/hollywood_hypocrisy_in_the_hypokrisis_industry.html#ixzz1f5mPRT9R

These are the folks who are part of the 1% but have no qualms about visiting OWS protests and get feted for it.  They are getting paid so much more than the teachers or police or even factory workers get, when what they do is make believe. 





     9. Kagan should recuse herself

…As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and three of his Senate Republican colleagues wrote in a Nov. 18 letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, a justice should withdraw from any case in which he or she "HAS SERVED IN GOVERNMENTAL EMPLOYMENT AND IN SUCH CAPACITY PARTICIPATED AS COUNSEL, ADVISER OR MATERIAL WITNESS CONCERNING THE PROCEEDING OR EXPRESSED AN OPINION CONCERNING THE MERITS OF THE PARTICULAR CASE OR CONTROVERSY." The law further stipulates that recusal is appropriate whenever a justice's "impartiality might reasonably be questioned."

As McConnell and his three colleagues - Sens. Jon Kyl of Arizona, Charles Grassley of Iowa and Mike Lee of Utah - point out to Holder, RECENTLY RELEASED EMAILS SUGGEST THAT JUSTICE ELENA KAGAN'S INVOLVEMENT AS U.S. SOLICITOR GENERAL IN THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION "MAY SATISFY BOTH REQUIREMENTS FOR RECUSAL." Frankly, we think the GOP senators are understating what those emails reveal about Kagan's efforts in the campaign for Obamacare, even though she claimed before the Senate Judiciary Committee during her confirmation hearing that her role as not "substantial."

For example, in January 2010, two months before Kagan became aware of her possible nomination to the Supreme Court by President Obama, HOLDER'S UNDERLINGS BEGAN PREPARING THEIR DEFENSES OF OBAMACARE. KAGAN WAS "HEAVILY INVOLVED" IN THAT PLANNING, ACCORDING TO AN EMAIL FROM NEIL KATYAL, DEPUTY SOLICITOR GENERAL. In another email, Katyal explained that he had spoken with Kagan earlier in the day about a Justice Department working group on Obamacare defense preparations and said "ELENA WOULD DEFINITELY LIKE OSG [OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR GENERAL] TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS SET OF ISSUES." KAGAN WOULD BE BROUGHT INTO THE WORKING GROUP'S DELIBERATIONS "AS NEEDED." Since the key issue facing the working group was preparing legal defenses that would be presented by the solicitor general, it is inconceivable to think that official would be excluded from such deliberations….

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2011/11/kagan-should-recuse-herself-obamacare-deliberations/1955541#ixzz1f6ZOx5LJ

Kagan needs to stand up and be recused. 

End of an Error?

What’s new today

Our # 1 story tells of how Obama is trying to raise money, increase the number of “contributors” by selling everything from coasters to chopping boards (never used—at least not to cut spending).  #2 looks at the psychological reasons for Obama’s behavior. #3 relates how some parts of the country have a boom which is giving rise to man camps for needed employees.  #4 talks about Politico.  It seems that this is an online “news” organization that is giving private bloggers a bad name.  #5 shows us that Ron Paul may actually be right.  #6 explores whether the Democrats have a chance to take back the House (see the parallel of the Indianapolis Colts winning the Super Bowl).  #7 relates how the HIRE portion of a Democratic bill appears to have all the makings of actually being a FIRE bill.  #8 looks to see if liberal actually think it is Unconstitutional to amend the Constitution.  #9 looks at the Education Bubble. 

1.  For Sale: If you can’t buy the candidate you can buy a bumper sticker

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S CAMPAIGN TEAM HAS PUT TOGETHER A WEBSITE TO REMIND US WHAT THE YULETIDE SEASON IS TRULY ALL ABOUT — GETTING HIM RE-ELECTED. So they’ve decided to offer Americans a collection of special decorations for the “holiday” season...

...And don’t worry about messing up your furniture with water stains because the Commander-in-Chief also has a line of glass coasters.

But if you’re sipping a Martini, why not just throw a backyard barbecue?

And President Obama has just what you need — a “Fired Up and Ready to Grill” apron, a six-pack presidential cooler, and a nifty Commander-in-Chief cutting board to chop up your White House veggies.

But wait — there’s more….

http://nation.foxnews.com/president-obama-birth-certificate/2011/11/27/obama-selling-martini-glasses-and-spatulas-campaign-cash#ixzz1exgVYUEs

The sales of this merchandise counts as a contribution to the campaign which boost the numbers of contributors and decreases the size of the contribution giving the appearance of more populous and widespread support.

2.  The Psychological Foundation of Obama’s Political Problems

In June 1985, Flora Lewis wrote in the New York Times that then-President Ronald Reagan said he had pounded the walls in frustration over the hostage crisis in Beirut. Given what we know about Reagan, it's not hard to believe that he would resort to such measures to express his rage.

Now try to imagine Barack Obama similarly venting his frustration at the Republicans taking his agenda hostage for political gain. Hard to visualize, isn't it?

That's no accident. SINCE BEING ELECTED PRESIDENT, OBAMA HAS CONSISTENTLY DISPLAYED A COOL DEMEANOR, ONE THAT HAS CONFOUNDED MANY OF HIS FORMER SUPPORTERS. His detachment has led many to think that he is oblivious, disinterested, even frightened of direct confrontation. The latest instance has been his passive observation of the failure of the Super Committee, which has spurred pundits and politicians from both sides of the aisle to accuse him of lacking the fire to be president. MSNBC news host Chris Matthews, once one of the president's biggest fans, recently placed direct blame for the country's malaise on the President's lack of emotional leadership. “There's nothing to root for,” he complained.

The fact that the President has failed to address, hands-on, such a critical problem should make us realize that HIS RELUCTANCE TO TAKE CHARGE IS NOT A COGNITIVE ISSUE, BUT A PSYCHOLOGICAL ONE. It's not that Obama doesn't understand what he ought to be doing—it’s that THE STRUCTURE OF HIS PERSONALITY WON'T ALLOW HIM TO CONSTRUCTIVELY ADDRESS THE PROBLEM….

http://www.tnr.com/article/97758/obama-insular-psychology

An interesting article, but the equivalent of the articles you see advertised on the cover of women’s magazines. Fluff, but interesting fluff. 

3.  Man Camps

As much as the drilling rigs that tower over this once placid corner of the prairie, the two communities springing up just outside of town testify to the galloping pace of growth here in oil country.

THEY ARE CALLED MAN CAMPS — TEMPORARY HOUSING COMPOUNDS SUPPORTING THE OVERWHELMINGLY MALE WORK FORCE FLOODING THE REGION IN SEARCH OF REFUGE FROM A STORMY ECONOMY….

…Confronted with the unusual problem of too many unfilled jobs and not enough empty beds to accommodate the new arrivals, North Dakota embraced the camps — typically made of low-slung, modular dormitory-style buildings — as the imperfect solution to keeping workers rested and oil flowing.

But now, even as the housing shortage worsens, towns like this one are denying new applications for the camps. IN MANY PLACES THEY HAVE COME TO EMBODY THE DANGER OF GROWING TOO BIG TOO FAST, CLUTTERING FORMERLY IDYLLIC VISTAS, STRAINING UTILITIES, OVERBURDENING EMERGENCY SERVICES and aggravating relatively novel problems like traffic jams, long lines and higher crime….

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/us/north-dakota-oil-boom-creates-camps-of-men.html?_r=3&hp=&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1322474684-OWEe0jLXhooRS8ts+Hs6rQ

Ah, leave it to the NY Times to point out every silver lining has a cloud.   

4.  Politico and the Facts

On Sunday evening, October 30, Politico broke the story that two women had complained about Herman Cain while at the National Restaurant Association. IN THAT FIRST WEEK, POLITICO RAN SEVERAL DOZEN STORIES ABOUT THE ACCUSATIONS WITHOUT TELLING US WHAT THE ACCUSATIONS WERE, while characterizing the accusations as sexual harassment.

During the subsequent three weeks, the name of one of the accusers in the Politico story, Karen Krauhaar, was released, but she has refused to release details  of the accusations she made, despite initially indicating she would do so, and it turns out this was not her only mployment complaint. Another accuser with a dubious background, Sharon Bialek came forward, but she was not part of the original Politico story and her supposed corroboration also was suspect. While the media regularly referred to 4 or 5 accusers, we only knew the names of two of them and only knew the accusations of one of them.

But back to Politico.

AFTER HUNDREDS OF ARTICLES AT POLITICO, WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE SPECIFIC ACCUSATIONS AGAINST HERMAN CAIN WHICH GAVE RISE TO POLITICO’S ORIGINAL REPORTING: NOTHING.

AFTER HUNDREDS OF ARTICLES AT POLITICO, WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE SPECIFIC EVIDENCE AGAINST HERMAN CAIN WHICH GAVE RISE TO POLITICO’S ORIGINAL REPORTING: NOTHING.

Truly incredible.

http://legalinsurrection.com/2011/11/its-been-four-weeks-since-politico-broke-the-story-of-accusations-against-herman-cain/

Politico seems to be saying, “Trust us, it was truly bad.”  Politico is giving the internet bloggers a bad name with charges like this. 

5.  Maybe Ron Paul is Right

Many people have expressed dismay and disgust over the Federal Reserve.

Beyond Ron and Rand Paul, Rick Perry, a growing number of other conservative public figures and commentators are beginning to not only raise question about the practices of the Federal Reserve, but also its very legitimacy.

THE RECENT FOIA REQUESTS BY BLOOMBERG FINALLY UNCOVERED THE STAGGERING AMOUNT OF AMERICAN TAXPAYER MONEY THAT WAS SPENT BY THE FEDERAL RESERVE- IN SECRET MIND YOU- DURING 2008-2009. In fact, the Federal Reserve blatantly lied to the American public, saying initially the amount was approximately $500 billion, when in fact THE GROSS AMOUNT OF MONEY TOTALED OVER ONE TRILLION DOLLARS.

That's right folks. 1.2 trillion taxpayer dollars spent in secret and with no accountability or oversight by elected representatives. That alone is an outrage and should put people in jail.

Moreover, to make matters even worse, we now know THAT MUCH OF THIS TAXPAYER MONEY WENT OVERSEAS. WHILE AMERICAN CITIZENS WERE GETTING HIT WITH FORECLOSURES, HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WERE SENT TO BAIL OUT FOREIGN BANKS, INCLUDING MANY IN EUROPE THAT ARE CURRENTLY FOUNDERING. If and when those banks fail, that will impact our nation as well. As Bloomberg journalists Keon and Kuntz note in the August 21^st 2011 expose:

It wasn't just American finance. ALMOST HALF OF THE FED'S TOP 30 BORROWERS, MEASURED BY PEAK BALANCES, WERE EUROPEAN FIRMS. They included Edinburgh-based Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, which took $84.5 billion, the most of any non-U.S. lender, and Zurich-based USB AG, which got $77.2 billion. Germany's Hypo Real Estate Holding AG borrowed $28.7 billion, an average of $21 million for each of its 1,366 employees.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/11/federal_reserve_shennanigans.html#ixzz1ezgevg2M

We’ve been the sugar daddy to Europe since World War II.  Isn’t it time they stood on their own two feet?

6.  Can the Democrats take back the House?

… Let’s start with the basics. One pretty much has to assume Barack Obama wins re-election before we can speculate about Democrats making big gains in the House. This looks to be somewhat shy of a 50-50 proposition right now. EVEN IF THE PRESIDENT DOES WIN, HOWEVER, HISTORY SUGGESTS THAT HE WON’T BRING ALONG MANY NEW DEMOCRATS WITH HIM. SINCE THE HOUSE GREW TO 435 SEATS IN 1912, THERE HAVE ONLY BEEN TWO OCCASIONS WHERE THE PARTY OF A PRESIDENT ENGAGED IN A RE-ELECTION EFFORT HAS PICKED UP 25 OR MORE SEATS: 1948 AND 1964.

Moreover, Democrats enter the election season at a real disadvantage, vis-à-vis Republicans at a similar point in 2010. That year, there were almost 70 Democrats representing Republican-leaning districts (those with a Republican Cook Partisan Voting Index, or PVI); it was from the ranks of these Democrats that most of the Republican pickups occurred. This time, however, THERE ARE ONLY 19 REPUBLICANS IN DEMOCRATIC-LEANING DISTRICTS TO BEGIN WITH. This also doesn’t account for redistricting, which has tended to make Democratic seats bluer and Republican seats redder so far this cycle.

TO ACTUALLY PUT 100 REPUBLICAN SEATS INTO PLAY, DEMOCRATS WOULD HAVE TO PUT EVERY R+7 (that is, a district that has, on average, voted seven points or more Republican than the country as a whole over the last two presidential elections) or less DISTRICT INTO PLAY. Even in a year like 2010, Republicans didn’t come close to putting all of the D+7 or less seats into play.

That’s really the Democrats’ problem. THE SEATS ARE NOW PRETTY WELL SORTED BETWEEN THE PARTIES: Republicans occupy the Republican-leaning seats, while Democrats occupy the Democratic seats. The playing field has just shrunk. When you consider the natural Republican advantage in the House -- the median seat is presently an R+2 -- you understand the enormity of the Democrats’ task, absent yet another tsunami.

Finally, remember that the generic ballot is the best indicator we have of the mood of the country today, but that doesn’t mean it is a great indicator. After all, you don’t vote for “generic Republican,” you vote for a particular representative. Because the parties don’t field competitive candidates in all -- or even most -- districts, a lot of people who might wish to vote for a Republican or Democratic challenger won’t end up doing so. In other words, it is one thing for an independent in Northern Ohio to decide that he or she would like a Republican in Congress. It’s quite another to go to the polls and pull the lever for an obscure candidate, about whom the voter had heard little except that he had re-enacted World War II battles on the Nazi side, instead of 14-term Rep. Marcy Kaptur. This is probably why THE GENERIC BALLOT HAS TENDED TO OVERSTATE PARTISAN GAINS OVER THE PAST FEW CYCLES (INCIDENTALLY, THE GENERIC BALLOT IS ABOUT A POINT BETTER FOR DEMOCRATS RIGHT NOW THAN IT WAS AT THIS POINT IN THE 2009-10 CYCLE)….

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/11/21/democrats_have_an_uphill_climb_to_retake_the_house_112125.html

There are some in the Democratic camp that seem to be smoking something.  Taking back the House isn’t going to happen and Obama will not win reelection. 

7.  From HIRE to FIRE

Buried in an ostensible jobs bill signed by President Obama last year is A LITTLE-NOTICED JOB-DESTROYING GOVERNMENT REGULATION THAT THREATENS TO TRIGGER A MASSIVE OUTFLOW OF CAPITAL FROM THE AMERICAN ECONOMY.

The U.S. economy is in bad shape. Many want the federal government to fix it -- to end the deficits, create jobs, and get America back onto the track of growth and stability. President Obama came to Washington with great promises: to restore international respect for the United States and to bring back the jobs. When signing the HIRE Act of 2010 on March 18, 2010, President Obama said:

A consensus is forming that, partly because of the necessary -- and often unpopular -- measures we took over the past year, our economy is now growing again and we may soon be adding jobs instead of losing them. The jobs bill I'm signing today is intended to help accelerate that process.

NOW THE HIRE ACT OF 2010 CONTAINS A TIME BOMB CALLED FATCA (FOREIGN ACCOUNT TAX COMPLIANCE ACT), WHICH HAS INDEED ACCELERATED A PROCESS. Unfortunately that process is not job-generation, but job-destruction caused by an exodus of capital from the United States. Investment means jobs; a departure of investment capital means job losses. THUS, THE HIRE ACT IS REALLY THE "FIRE ACT."

FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) is the brood of FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Report). FBAR requires that U.S. persons divulge foreign accounts to the Treasury Department, but few knew about or ever complied with it.  To stanch the bleeding of U.S. capital into secret bank jurisdictions like the Cayman Islands and Switzerland, Congress introduced FATCA into law as part of the HIRE Act. FATCA requires that foreign financial institutions (FFIs) reveal the accounts of U.S. persons to the IRS. THE FFIS WILL THEN HAVE TO COLLECT TAX WITHHOLDINGS FOR THE IRS FROM THESE CLIENTS. If by January 1, 2014 the FFI is unwilling to reveal its U.S. clients' accounts, the IRS will impose a punitive 30% withholding on all payments to the FFIs, on dividends, interest, and gross sales of stocks, bonds, and financial derivatives.

Let's suppose that a foreign investor trades stocks on a U.S. exchange, but his broker is FATCA non-compliant. ONE DAY HE BUYS 10,000 SHARES OF XYZ AT $25 PER SHARE, AND THE NEXT DAY, HE TAKES ADVANTAGE OF A NICE UPTICK OF $1.00 IN XYZ AND SELLS AT $26 PER SHARE. He makes a tidy profit of $10,000. But because his broker is non-compliant, the IRS now withholds 30% -- not of the profit, but of the gross proceeds of the sale! SO THE CLIENT NOW RECEIVES THE SUM OF $260,000 MINUS 30%. THE FOREIGN INVESTOR IS UNHAPPY BECAUSE HIS $250,000 INVESTMENT HAS BECOME $182,000. If he wants his money back, he must file a U.S. tax return.

No investor would accept such conditions. Hence, an FFI must either comply with the invasive regulations of FATCA or simply abandon the U.S. markets….

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/11/fatca_a_ticking_time_bomb_for_the_economy.html#ixzz1ezxbR1mD

The left have all these wonderful ideas.  The problem is they never work as intended.  The law of unintended consequences strikes again.

8.  Newsflash for Liberals: It is not Unconstitutional to Amend the Constitution

SOMEONE RUSH A COPY OF THE CONSTITUTION OVER TO POLITICO'S NEWSROOM, AND MAKE SURE REPORTER REID EPSTEIN READS ARTICLE V, WHICH SPECIFIES HOW TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION.

Pitched with a snarky tweet, "The GOP presidential candidates all love the Constitution, except the parts they want to change," this Politico article tries to make Republican presidential candidates look hypocritical for simultaneously (1) calling on Congress and the President to operate within the confines of the Constitution, and (2) invoke Article V of the Constitution to propose amendments.

Here's the heart of Epstein's case:

THE SAME CANDIDATES PROMISING TO APPOINT STRICT CONSTRUCTIONIST JUDGES CLEARLY THINK THE FRAMERS, FOR ALL THEIR WISDOM AND FORESIGHT, FORGOT A FEW THINGS, WHICH THEY NOW WANT TO TACK ON WITH AN ARRAY OF PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS THAT WOULD BULK UP THE DOCUMENT.

This article embodies two maladies of the mainstream media that Ramesh Ponnuru pointed out on another occasion also afflicts the Left: (1) they don't really understand conservative arguments; and (2) they don't really understand the Constitution.

The article's premise is not only false, it's so laughably a caricature of GOP candidates you would be forgiven if you thought it was coming from the mouth of Paul Begala or Jay Carney:

To hear the Republican presidential candidates tell it, the U.S. Constitution is the guiding light of democracy, a bedrock document so perfect and precise that it shouldn’t be challenged, interpreted or besmirched by modern-day judges.

YOU KNOW WHAT POLITICO REPORTER EPSTEIN FAILED TO INCLUDE IN HIS 1,200-WORD OPUS? A SINGLE QUOTE FROM A SINGLE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE TO THE EFFECT THAT THE CONSTITUTION IS "PERFECT" OR THAT IT SHOULDN'T BE "INTERPRETED." I'm not saying no conservatives believe in a divinely ordained and perfect Constitution. I'm saying Epstein never actually establishes these candidates do…

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/amending-constitution-not-unconstitutional

The left loves straw man arguments.  It allows them to write 1200 words that make other liberals feel good and superior, while not really addressing what the right is saying. 

9.  From Instapundit November 28, 2011—Education Bubble

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: The Root Cause of Market Failure in Higher Education (see link at the bottom). “In a world turned upside down, CHINA’S RULERS WANT TO MAKE SURE THE YOUNG CADRES THEY EDUCATE AT THE PEOPLE’S EXPENSE ACTUALLY FIND JOBS IN THE PRIVATE ECONOMY. Here in the U.S., where outstanding government guaranteed student loans have recently passed the $1 trillion mark, education policy is geared not toward maximizing the employability of graduates, but toward garnering votes for politicians. . . . ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF CAREER TRAINING, LIKE APPRENTICESHIP IN TRADES THAT REMAIN IN DEMAND – because, after all, you can’t fly in Chinese plumbers – get no social respect. This despite the fact that skilled plumbers, with a little hustle, can out-earn most liberal arts majors. . . . Too many aspiring young museum curators can’t find jobs? THE PRAGMATIC CHINESE SOLUTION IS TO CUT PUBLIC SUBSIDIES USED TO TRAIN MUSEUM CURATORS. The free market solution is that only the rich would be indulgent enough to buy their kids an education that left them economically dependent on mommy and daddy after graduation. THE PROGRESSIVE AMERICAN SOLUTION IS TO SEEK INCREASED PUBLIC FUNDING TO BUILD MORE MUSEUMS.”

http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2011/11/28/the_root_cause_of_market_failure_in_higher_education_99387.html

I found the Progressive solution to be sadly true.  Price is a signal and right now there are too many museum curators and not enough plumbers.  I recently posted an article about over 600,000 manufacturing jobs that are going begging because we don’t have the workers with skills to fill them.