The debate approaches

AAA HMS Obama

What we know about Obama and what we don’t know about Romney

We know what Mr.Obama is and what he stands for:

(1) He is for apologizing to the rest of the world for our freedoms of speech and for our power and prosperity.

(2) He is an indolent President who has not even submitted a budget for three and a half years;

(3) He loathes the oil and gas sector of the society.

(4) He wants to make as much of the country as possible dependent on the federal teat.

(5) He unequivocally believes in unilateral nuclear disarmament.

Univision breaks story on Fast and Furious

Although Democrats seem to think they own the Hispanic vote, Univision, the Spanish Network first actually did a thorough interview with President Obama and now has broken a story on Fast and Furious which the MSM seems to treat as radioactive.

Obama and the Truth:  Strangers in the night?

President Obama has a habit and that habit is failing to tell the truth.  But he has gotten by with it all of his life and it now is just who he is.

In another article, Hugh Hewitt gives you the “tells” of when Obama is about to dissemble the truth.  The first tell is a pattern of "ahs" and "uhmms" which are as embarrassing as they are revealing.

What did Obama do when America was attacked by terrorists?

This is a powerful ad.

Is Sweden a Socialist Success Story?

From 1980 through 1997, Sweden's government spent more than all other advanced economies as a fraction of GDP.  It peaked at 68% of GDP in 1993, an all-time record for advanced economies.

And how did that "socialism" work for Sweden?  Its economy grew only 1.4% per year from 1980 to 1993, when the U.S. was growing 3.0% per year.  And over those last five years, 1988-1993, it stopped growing altogether -- 0% growth.  It fell farther behind the U.S: from 81% as rich to 72% as rich.  Its debt grew to 70% of GDP.

In short, government spending in Sweden had the effect that free-market types always predict: slow growth and high debt.  Government spending does not stimulate; it stifles, and it sticks our kids with the bill.

Where have all the Manufacturing jobs gone?

They’ve gone unfilled. 

The consultant company Deloitte surveyed the industry and found 600,000 perfectly good jobs going unfilled because of a lack of "soft skills."

BTW, soft skills include getting people who can pass a drug test. 

Harvard educated Killer sentenced to life without parole

A Harvard educated professor at the University of Alabama who killed three colleagues and who the MSM tried to associate with the Tea Party has been sentenced to life without parole for these killings.  Rather than a Tea Party member, Amy Bishop was described lifelong liberal who was obsessed with President Obama. 

DNC spokesperson predicts Romney will win Denver Debate

"Mitt Romney has had a lot more time to debate, the president has not debated in the past four years in terms, of a campaign debate. I think the president will hold his own, but he's not known for sound bites. And these are 60 second, 90 second responses."

Not to mention Obama won’t have his teleprompter there.  

They are also trying to inoculate the President’s performance raving about how good Romney is in debates as well as indicating

The Problem with Polls

If, as even left-wing think tanks agree, Democratic voter registration is in decline, why are pollsters assuming that the electorate will largely resemble the messianic “hope and change” outpouring that elected Barack Obama? And if they are wrong about the turnout model, does that mean their forecasts showing the president cruising to re-election are also incorrect?

Ohio is not alone. An August study by the left-leaning think tank Third Way showed that the Democratic voter registration decline in eight key swing states outnumbered the Republican decline by a 10-to-one ratio. In Florida, Democratic registration is down 4.9 percent, in Iowa down 9.5 percent. And in New Hampshire, it’s down 19.7 percent.

So the polling models have a greater percentage of Democrats in them while the number of Democrats is declining.  Go figure.

Hugo Chavez endorses Obama

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez gave a surprise endorsement to Barack Obama on Sunday - and said the U.S. leader no doubt felt the same. "I hope this doesn't harm Obama, but if I was from the United States, I'd vote for Obama."  When he said the US leader no doubt felt the same, he was saying Obama would endorse him (Chavez) as well.  This makes two endorsements from Communists (or former communists) as Vladimir Putin also endorsed Obama.

Ten Questions Obama should answer at the Debate

I found these questions to be excellent.  Here’s an example of just one of them.

Can you today guarantee that Iran will not have acquired a nuclear weapon by the time you finish a second term in office?

Economist pick Romney

Nine of 17 top economists surveyed by CNNMoney picked Romney when asked who's election would help the economy grow more. Only three picked Obama. 

But the remaining five made no pick, with several suggesting neither would provide much of a lift to the sagging economy. 

"Obama doesn't really understand business and Romney doesn't really understand how to govern. So pick your poison," said Gary Rosenberger of EconoPlay, one of those surveyed who refused to give a pick.

Obama’s foreign policy coming apart

It was just a few weeks ago at the Democratic national convention that Obama confidently declared that “al Qaeda is on the path to defeat and Osama bin Laden is dead.” And yet, on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, al Qaeda struck again against our lightly guarded consulate in Benghazi, where ambassador Chris Stevens was murdered — an attack, it now turns out, the United States had ample reason to suspect was coming.

Especially bothersome were the Egyptians chanting that there are 1 billion Osamas.  We may soon be asking, “who lost North Africa.”

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s cameraman seeks political asylum

Another embarrassment for the Iranians as Hassan Gol Khanban, who was part of the 140-person entourage that accompanied the Iranian president to New York, has announced via his New York City-based lawyer, Paul O'Dwyer, that he is seeking asylum in the U.S.

Is Soros panicking?

It appears George Soros is spending big time trying to keep Mitt Romney from beat Barack Obama in November. 

The Libertarian Case for Mitt Romney

We have a younger Obama on tape, saying that welfare recipients and “the working poor” are a “majority coalition.” And don’t fool yourself into thinking that by “welfare recipients” he just means the huddled masses getting their “Obama bucks” and food stamp billions and disability checks. Under Obama, Wall Street is a welfare queen, too. So is our banking system. Half our domestic auto industry is on the take, too. Obama has gutted work requirements for individual welfare recipients, and gutted the profit requirement for big business and big banking and big finance.

The masses won’t give up their checks, and the crony capitalists won’t suffer any competition. The squeeze is on, and you’re in the middle of it. That’s the Permanent Progressive Majority.

This squeeze fundamentally transforms what America means, and what it means to be an American — from citizen to subject. It took a century to take us this far along the Progressive path to a Technocratic State of high-tech feudalism, but we’re almost at the end of the line. Another four years is probably all that’s needed to get there.

The darkness gathers

Obama wasn’t ready

During an appearance on Morning Joe, Tuesday, Newsweek editor Tina Brown made an off-hand remark about Barack Obama, conceding that the politician "wasn't ready" to be President. Brown has previously attacked Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives for daring to oppose the Obama

While discussing whether New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will change his mind and run for President, the former New Yorker editor blurted, "ACTUALLY, I JUST HOPE HE DOESN'T, BECAUSE IN THE END, YOU KNOW, HIS TREMENDOUS MISGIVINGS, MAYBE HE IS RIGHT. I MEAN, WE HAD THIS WITH OBAMA. HE WASN'T READY, IT TURNS OUT, REALLY."

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2011/09/27/tina-brown-obama-wasnt-ready-be-president#ixzz1ZCyiPyqz

Here’s the bad news for Democrats, he never will be ready.  Obama has had the wrong kind of background to become a successful executive.  He’s not known failure and has never had to take inventory of himself and grow.  He constantly goes back to making speeches as that’s the only thing he has ever done and it’s worked for him in the past.  Obama might be able to grow if he were in his thirties and had just failed as a first line supervisor. 

Former American Express CEO:  Grandson knows more about capitalism than Obama

Laura Ingraham spoke with former American Express CEO Harvey Golub today, and he had some harsh words for President Obama on his handling of the economy.

On President Obama’s understanding of business:

"HIS UNDERSTANDING OF CAPITALISM AND FREE MARKETS AND HOW FREE PEOPLE OPERATE IN FREE MARKETS IS LESS THAN MY OLDEST GRANDSON’S. IT IS EVIDENT IN ALMOST EVERYTHING HE DOES."

http://nation.foxnews.com/harvey-golub/2011/09/27/ex-amex-ceo-my-grandson-knows-more-about-capitalism-obama

I think Bo probably knows more about capitalism than does Obama. 

CEO of Coke:  America has forgotten what really works

THE UNITED STATES IS BECOMING LESS BUSINESS-FRIENDLY THAN CHINA, Coca-Cola’s CEO said Tuesday, citing what he saw as political paralysis and a flawed tax structure.

Coke CEO Muhtar Kent told the Financial Times that U.S. states don’t fight one another for investment opportunities, while Chinese provinces clamor to compete for foreign investments. “IN THE WEST, WE’RE FORGETTING WHAT REALLY WORKED 20 YEARS AGO. IN CHINA AND OTHER MARKETS AROUND THE WORLD, YOU SEE THE KIND OF ATTENTION TO DETAIL ABOUT HOW BUSINESS WORKS AND HOW BUSINESS CREATES EMPLOYMENT,” he said….

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/64521.html#ixzz1ZD9Uhw4C

This administration is clueless as to how the world really works.  But they will find out how democracy works in about 13 months. 

Wall Street switching support

President Obama's rhetorical war against Wall Street "fat cats" and his efforts to enact sweeping reforms of the financial sector haven't exactly endeared him to top financial industry executives.

Now it appears the WALL STREET DONORS WHO HELPED FUND OBAMA'S SUCCESSFUL 2008 BID ARE SHIFTING THEIR CAMPAIGN CASH ELSEWHERE.

Per Bloomberg’s Johathan Salant, at least 100 donors who previously supported Obama in 2008 haven't written a check to his re-election campaign and ARE INSTEAD SUPPORTING MITT ROMNEY'S 2012 BID. The shift has helped Romney raise more than twice as much from Wall Street as Obama has so far this election cycle….

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-wall-street-donors-shift-support-romney-181657957.html

This is a blow to Obama’s goal of $1 billion campaign fund.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Obama takes federal funding this time.  I think his funding will be drying up as time goes on.

The Coming Jobs War

In his new book, The Coming Jobs War, Gallup CEO James Clifton defines what he calls an “all-out global war for good jobs.” Clifton envisions A WORLD-WIDE STRUGGLE FOR NEW, STEADY EMPLOYMENT, WITH THE LOOMING THREAT OF “SUFFERING, INSTABILITY, CHAOS AND EVENTUALLY REVOLUTION” FOR THOSE WHO FAIL TO SECURE NEW ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES….

….Not surprisingly “recession-proof” fields such as health care and education expanded some 11% over the past five years. More inexplicably, given its role in detonating the Great Recession, the financial sector expanded some 10%.

But the BIGGEST GROWTH BY FAR HAS TAKEN PLACE IN THE MINING, OIL AND NATURAL GAS INDUSTRIES, where jobs expanded by 60%, creating a total of 500,000 new jobs. While that number is not as large as those generated by health care or education, the quality of these jobs are far higher. The average job in conventional energy pays about $100,000 annually — about $20,000 more than finance or professional services pay. The wages are more than twice as high as those in either health or education.

Nor is this expansion showing signs of slowing down. Contrary to expectations pushed by “peak oil” enthusiasts, overall U.S. OIL PRODUCTION HAS GROWN BY 10% since 2008; the IMPORT SHARE OF U.S. OIL CONSUMPTION HAS DROPPED TO 47% FROM 60% IN 2005. Over the next year, according to one recent industry funded study, OIL AND GAS COULD CREATE AN ADDITIONAL 1.5 MILLION NEW JOBS….

http://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2011/09/27/gassing-up-why-americas-future-job-growth-lies-in-traditional-energy-industries/

We need jobs.  We need energy.  I don’t think the left can add one plus one in this case.

Obama’s jobs plan: $447 billion for one decent month of employment growth

The headline is “Obama Jobs Plan May Prevent 2012 Recession.” But the story Bloomberg published, based on its survey of economists about the president’s $447 billion proposal, is best summarized by the second paragraph:

The legislation, submitted to Congress this month, WOULD INCREASE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT BY 0.6 PERCENT NEXT YEAR AND ADD OR KEEP 275,000 WORKERS ON PAYROLLS, THE MEDIAN ESTIMATES IN THE SURVEY OF 34 ECONOMISTS SHOWED. The program would also lower the jobless rate by 0.2 percentage point in 2012, economists said.

For those keeping score at home, that’s a “jobs plan” THAT COSTS MORE THAN $1.6 MILLION PER JOB. If the president wants to spend taxpayer dollars to provoke demand-side job creation, he would be better off holding a lottery and giving $10,000 apiece to 45 million people.

http://blogs.ajc.com/kyle-wingfield/2011/09/28/obamas-jobs-plan-447-billion-for-one-decent-month-of-employment-growth/

Obama doesn’t have a clue on how to help the economy to create jobs.  His solutions are overpriced, under achieving, and short lived.  The best jobs bill would be for him to resign. 

A serious plan to replace Obamacare

…THE BIG PROBLEM AFFLICTING OUR HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IS SKYROCKETING COSTS. The Kaiser Family Foundation reported this week that in 2011, premiums for employer-based health insurance shot up 8 percent for individuals and 9 percent for families over 2010. As Ryan noted in his speech, "IF YOU LOOK AT OUR DEBT-AND-DEFICITS PROBLEM, IT REALLY IS A HEALTH CARE SPENDING PROBLEM." Health care spending accounts for 25 percent of the U.S. budget (excluding interest payments), and within decades that number will grow to 45 percent.

OBAMACARE STANDS TO MAKE THINGS WORSE BY IMPOSING A NEW LAYER OF SUBSIDIES AND REGULATIONS ON TOP OF AN ALREADY BROKEN SYSTEM. Obama's solution to the problem of costs rests with 15 bureaucrats (his Independent Payment Advisory Board) charged with rationing care.

Ryan wants to change the government policies that insulate the health care consumer from nearly all costs, thus distorting incentives for doctors and patients alike. Price signals, a staple of any functioning free market, have been muffled in health care, where third parties (insurers and the government) PAY ROUGHLY 88 PERCENT OF HEALTH CARE COSTS, UP FROM 52 PERCENT IN 1960. Because patients don't pay the bills, most of them have no idea how much services cost, let alone what they are worth. This leaves doctors and hospitals in a competitive vacuum where price and value bear little relation to one another.

"Instead of top-down price controls imposed by 15 bureaucrats at IPAB," Ryan said, "let's try bottom-up competition driven by 300 million consumers." RYAN CALLS FOR A UNIFORM TAX CREDIT FOR EVERYONE TO PURCHASE HEALTH INSURANCE. THIS WOULD IMMEDIATELY END SEVERAL PROBLEMS CREATED BY THE PREVAILING EMPLOYER-BASED INSURANCE SYSTEM, which offers fewer options, traps many Americans in jobs they would rather leave and causes many to over-insure themselves. For government health care programs, Ryan expanded on the plan he outlined in his House-passed budget, which promotes greater freedom and flexibility than Medicare or Medicaid currently offer….

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/2011/09/serious-plan-replace-obamacare#ixzz1ZF2Mq7RM

A serious conversation sans the political name calling is what we need now.  Would it be possible for us to have this discussion?  We have to. 

Hugo Chavez:  Mr. Goldfinger

Over the past decade, Hugo Chávez has radically altered Venezuela's economic landscape. Executing a pernicious, politically driven nationalization program, THE GOVERNMENT HAS SYSTEMATICALLY TAKEN OVER KEY SECTORS. In doing so, Chávez stripped private industry and its investors -- not to mention political opponents -- of infrastructure, private property, and profits. SINCE 2002, ALMOST A THOUSAND COMPANIES HAVE BEEN SEIZED. For socialists and statists the world over, this is something of a guide, a graduate seminar in confiscation and class warfare. But for the rest of us, it remains a lesson in economic decay and failed leadership.

The takeover of gold mining operations should surprise no one. With gold commanding upwards of $1,600 dollars an ounce, the industry is highly profitable. And it is the profit of private enterprise which Chávez endeavors to exploit for his ends. As the dictator himself once said, "WE CAN'T HAVE SOCIALISM IF THE STATE DOESN'T HAVE CONTROL OVER ITS RESOURCES!"…

….Under state control, oil activity is well off 1998 levels -- the year before Chávez took office. In 1998, oil output was 3.3 million barrels per day; now it is 2.25 million. As the Economist noted earlier this year, the dictator plundered PDVSA, "packed it with loyalists, starved it of investment, and used it for social spending." Under these corrupt conditions, further decline in the oil sector seems certain. In need of a new source of revenue, gold nationalization, then, is just another warped Marxist scheme to raise money. BUT STATE CONTROL OF MORE OF THE ECONOMY WILL MAKE MATTERS WORSE.

Venezuelans live under a socialist system that is, as Foreign Policy reminds us, "replete with widespread inefficiencies, declining production and rampant shortages." THE DISMANTLING OF PRIVATE ENTERPRISE AND A DECADE OF ANTI-BUSINESS POLICIES HAVE MADE FOR AN EVER-WEAKENING CORE AND DIMMING PROSPECTS. And more of the same will just bring more misery.

As usual, the people who suffer the most under socialism are the poor. They account for 60%  of all Venezuelan households. For them, prospects are bleak. HOUSING AND FOOD SHORTAGES ARE EVER-PRESENT WHILE ELECTRICAL BLACKOUTS ARE ROUTINE. The minimum wage, in real terms, is falling also, at its lowest point under Chávez. It has declined more than 35% since 1980.

Worse still, INFLATION IS NEARLY 30% AND CLIMBING. The government's latest round of currency devaluation hasn't improved matters, either. The devaluation triggered immediate upward pressure on the cost of basic goods, placing further strain on the populace, but particularly on the 28% who currently live in poverty.

THIS IS A SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS FOR A COUNTRY AWASH IN OIL AND MINERAL WEALTH. But as long as confiscation, corruption, and class warfare continue under the banner of "permanent revolution," the condition of the poor will only deteriorate as corrosive policies drive out capital and destroy business.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/09/hugos_gold_finger.html

Venezuela was once a prosperous and free country. Socialism came and now it isn’t anymore.

Tuesday: Did Obama save us from a Depression?

Politics

Did Obama save us from a Depression?

“....The conclusion is that in claiming to have staved off a Depression, THE WHITE HOUSE AND ITS SUPPORTERS SEEM TO BE ENGAGING IN A BIT OF HISTORICAL REVISIONISM.

Economists weren't predicting a Depression.

White House economists forecast in January 2009 that, even without a stimulus, unemployment would top out at just 8.8% — well below the 10.8% peak during the 1981-82 recession, and nowhere near Depression-era unemployment levels.

The same month, the CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE PREDICTED THAT, ABSENT ANY STIMULUS, THE RECESSION WOULD END IN "THE SECOND HALF OF 2009." The recession officially ended in June 2009, suggesting that the stimulus did not have anything to do with it.

The data weren't showing it, either.

The argument is often made that the recession turned out to be far worse than anyone knew at the time. But VARIOUS INDICATORS SHOW THAT THE ECONOMY HAD PRETTY MUCH HIT BOTTOM AT THE END OF 2008 — A MONTH BEFORE PRESIDENT OBAMA TOOK OFFICE.

MONTHLY GDP, FOR EXAMPLE, STOPPED FREE-FALLING IN DECEMBER 2008, long before the stimulus kicked in, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. (See nearby chart.) MONTHLY JOB LOSSES BOTTOMED OUT IN EARLY 2009 WHILE THE INDEX OF LEADING ECONOMIC INDICATORS STARTED TO RISE IN APRIL.

The stimulus timing is off.

WHEN THE RECESSION OFFICIALLY ENDED IN JUNE 2009, JUST 15% OF THE STIMULUS MONEY HAD GONE OUT THE DOOR. And that figure's likely inflated, since almost a third of the money was in the form of grants to states, which some studies suggest they didn't spend, but used to pay down debt…

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=575847&p=1

This is bad. Take away Obama’s claim of keeping us out of a Depression and he doesn’t have much to run on.

It’s been a good week in Wisconsin

So the state's deficit is fixed, its finances are honest for the first time in about a decade, public services are trimmed but not decimated and no taxpayers were skinned to make it happen. ALL IN ALL, IT'S BEEN A GOOD WEEK FOR WISCONSIN, ESPECIALLY ITS HARD-PRESSED, MIDDLE-CLASS TAXPAYERS.

And, if I might get political, the FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THE AGE OF WALKER HAVE LEFT CONSERVATISM IN A SURPRISINGLY SOLID CONDITION IN WISCONSIN.

You might not know that from the theatrics in Madison - the fringe of tents, the bucket-drummers in the rotunda, the activists telling Progressive magazine it's time to make the state "ungovernable."
But that all is precisely theatrics, a show, a tale. The reality is that in our purple battleground of a state, conservative ideas now hold the high ground. Let us count the signs:

THEY'RE WINNING. Scott Walker, Democrats told us all last fall, was a budget-cutting, union-busting, smaller-is-better (eww!) conservative. Voters responded by electing him - and, to boot, not merely Republican but conservative Republican majorities in the Legislature.

When Walker broke the usual low taxes vs. good services impasse by cutting the price we pay for public-sector labor, unions turned the Supreme Court race into a de facto referendum. They spent every milliwatt of power they had - and lost. We'll see if they do better in upcoming recalls (my bet is they don't take the state Senate), but on a clean pair of votes about the state's direction, voters picked conservatism....

http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/124108689.html

Wisconsin has a long history of progressive politics. This shift to the right is a huge problem for the left if it holds.


After surgery, Chavez faces troubles in Venezuela

While President Hugo Chavez has been recovering from pelvic surgery in Cuba, HIS TROUBLES AT HOME IN VENEZUELA HAVE BEEN ACCUMULATING.

On top of 23 percent inflation and growing government debt, worsening blackouts have emerged as a serious dilemma, forcing Chavez's government to announce rationing measures including rolling power outages in some parts of the country.

Chavez is increasingly focused on shoring up support ahead of his 2012 re-election bid, and some analysts say his domestic woes seem to be limiting his international reach in Latin America.
"PRESIDENT CHAVEZ IS GOING THROUGH A VERY DIFFICULT TIME," said Maria Teresa Romero, a professor of international studies at the Central University of Venezuela. "He's not the same Hugo Chavez he was four, five years ago…."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_VENEZUELA_CHAVEZS_WOES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-06-19-13-24-39

Here is some good news for a change.

Climate

Study details significant sea level rise

Sea level has been rising significantly over the past century of global warming, according to a study that offers the most detailed look yet at the changes in ocean levels during the last 2,100 years.
The researchers found that since the late 19th century — as the world became industrialized — SEA LEVEL HAS RISEN MORE THAN 2 MILLIMETERS PER YEAR, ON AVERAGE. THAT'S A BIT LESS THAN ONE-TENTH OF AN INCH, BUT IT ADDS UP OVER TIME.

It will lead to land loss, more flooding and saltwater invading bodies of fresh water, said lead researcher Benjamin Horton whose team examined sediment from North Carolina's Outer Banks. He directs the Sea Level Research Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania.

The predicted effects he cites aren't new and are predicted by many climate scientists. But outside experts say the research verifies increasing sea level rise compared to previous centuries.
Kenneth Miller, chairman of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Rutgers University, called the new report significant.

"This is a very important contribution because it firmly establishes that the rise in sea level in the 20th century is unprecedented for the recent geologic past," said Miller, who was not part of the research team. MILLER SAID HE RECENTLY ADVISED NEW JERSEY GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE THAT THE STATE NEEDS TO PLAN FOR A SEA LEVEL RISE OF ABOUT 3 FEET BY THE END OF THE CENTURY.....

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20110620/US.SCI.Rising.Sea/

Another hockey stick of sorts. However what makes this truly foolish is Dr. Miller warning Chris Christie to prepare for a 3 foot rise by the end of the Century. Two millimeters per year would give you a rise of less than 16 inches in a Century.

Jobs and other important things

Natural Born Job Killer

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.

"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

http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/rep-bishop-takes-heat-810415.html

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.