Our # 1 story is a review of the book Throw Them All Out. It tells the story of Warren Buffet and how crony capitalism works. #2 relates how certain democrats are scared to death that Obamacare will be struck down by the court. #3 talks about the lack of enthusiasm among young voters for Obama. In 2008 they were voting for hope and change and being part of history. It turns out the change wasn’t what they hoped for. #4 is a fun parody of what Obama’s theme song may be in the 2012 election. #5 is Dr. Krauthammer’s take on Obama’s comments about the country, the electorate, etc. It seems they aren’t tough love, but contempt. #6 talks about Gingrich’s rise to the top. I think the actual battle is now between Gingrich and Romney and as I’ve said before either one will beat Obama. #7 tells of OWS eviction in New York, and I have a clever suggestion for the owners of Zuccotti Park. Geron Corporation is cutting back on stem cell research in #8. Find out the particulars in the story. #9 relates how Paul Krugman is trying rewriting history.
1. Throw Them All Out
In the wake of the $700 billion TARP bailout, WARREN BUFFETT APPARENTLY SHAPED A PLAN TO CLEAN UP TOXIC ASSETS THAT TREASURY SECRETARY TIM GEITHNER LATER ADOPTED–RESULTING IN MASSIVE PROFITS FOR BUFFETT.
That’s the latest bombshell revelation from investigative journalist and Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer’s sensational new book, Throw Them All Out.
According to Schweizer, after the bailout bill’s passage, Warren Buffett sat down and wrote then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson a four-page private letter laying out a plan to clean up the toxic assets plaguing numerous financial institutions. BUFFETT PROPOSED SOMETHING HE CALLED A “PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP FUND.” FOR EVERY $10 BILLION THE PRIVATE SECTOR INVESTED, BUFFETT SAID THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD PUT UP $40 BILLION.
After Paulson’s exit, incoming Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner tweaked the plan and rolled it out in March 2009. But according to quarterly reports from Buffett’s holdings company, Berkshire Hathaway, BETWEEN THE TIME THE BILLIONAIRE CRAFTED HIS PLAN AND GEITHNER ADOPTED IT, BUFFETT QUIETLY PURCHASED 12.4 MILLION SHARES OF WELLS FARGO STOCK AND 1.5 MILLION SHARES OF U.S. BANCORP. Once the government unveiled its “Public-Private Investment Program,” bank stocks jumped, resulting in large profits for Buffett.
How much Buffett profited is hard to calculate, since there’s no way to know what his purchase price was. But prior to the government adopting Buffett’s plan, Wells Fargo had been trading at roughly $20 a share. In the weeks after Geithner’s announcement, the stock jumped to $30 a share. Likewise, U.S. BANCORP WENT FROM $8 IN FEBRUARY 2009 TO MORE THAN $20 A SHARE BY MAY.
Schweizer’s revelations contradict the image Warren Buffett has worked hard to create as that of a folksy, grandfatherly figure who stays above the political fray and rarely gets mired in the muck of partisan politics. Indeed, Throw Them All Out UNCOVERS OTHER ALARMING ACTS OF APPARENT CRONY CAPITALISM PERFORMED BY THE SO-CALLED “ORACLE OF OMAHA.”
For example, Schweizer examines Buffett’s intense private lobbying efforts and deftly-timed stock buys that leveraged TARP bailout monies to CREATE UP TO $3.7 BILLION IN WINDFALL PROFITS FOR BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY.
In September of 2008, Buffett invested $5 billion in the over-leveraged investment house of Goldman Sachs, having obtained impressive terms: Berkshire Hathaway would receive preferred stock with a 10% dividend yield, and the option to buy another $5 billion at $115 a share….
http://biggovernment.com/whall/2011/11/15/capitol-cronyism-obama-backer-warren-buffett-helped-shape-bailout-rules-then-made-massive-profits-from-them/
Isn’t Warren Buffet the hero of the Democratic Party?
2. Dems fear Obama will lose the case
Democrats on Capitol Hill are worried that the Supreme Court will rule against President Obama’s healthcare reform law.
Over the last couple weeks, congressional Democrats have told The Hill that THE LAW FACES DANGER IN THE HANDS OF THE SUPREME COURT, which The New York Times editorial page recently labeled the most conservative high court since the 1950s.
While the lawmakers are not second-guessing the administration’s legal strategy, some are clearly bracing for defeat.
“Of course I’m concerned,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). THE JUSTICES “DECIDE FOR INSURANCE COMPANIES, THEY DECIDE FOR OIL COMPANIES, THEY DECIDE FOR THE WEALTHY TOO OFTEN.”…
And worst of all they decide for what is actually written in the Constitution much too often. Don’t they realize they need to alternate their decisions between liberal and conservatives??
3. Enthusiasm for Obama Wans Among the Young
FOR MUCH OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2008, BARACK OBAMA’S CAMPAIGN WAS EMMA GUERRERO’S LIFE. She was one of a dozen volunteers who showed up at an Obama campaign office here every night, taking time from her studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to be part of what she still remembers as the most exciting period of her life.
It was largely because of Ms. Guerrero — and hundreds of other college students like her across the country — that Mr. Obama assembled a formidable machine that helped him roll to victory in 2008, a triumph that included putting Nevada into the Democratic column for the first time in 12 years.
“WE DID EVERYTHING,” SHE SAID. “WE WENT CANVASSING. PHONE BANKING. CLEANING THE OFFICES. TAKING OUT MY BOSSES’ DRY CLEANING. WHATEVER THEY NEEDED. It was such an amazing time because we all believed and wanted him to get elected.”
Ms. Guerrero said that she did not blame Mr. Obama for the 13.4 percent unemployment rate that has gripped this state, and that she was still likely to vote for him. But as she looks to graduation this June and her job hunt ahead, the emotion she feels is fear, and SHE CANNOT IMAGINE HAVING THE TIME OR SPIRIT TO WORK FOR MR. OBAMA.
“I don’t think I could do it anymore,” she said. “That campaign was an amazing experience. But I don’t think I’m in the same mind-set anymore. HE HASN’T REALLY ADDRESSED THE YOUNG PEOPLE, AND WE HELPED HIM TO GET ELECTED.”
Running for Hope and Change is a lot different than running with an actual track record. And that track record isn’t very good.
4. Obama Theme Song (Parody)
A well done parody. Enjoy.
5. Krauthammer on Obama
Syndicated columnist and FOX News contributor Charles Krauthammer responds to President Obama calling the U.S. “lazy.”
"Well, no one is asking him to go out there and asking him to be a jingoistic cheerleader. But when you call your own country 'lazy' when you are abroad and you call it unambitious and soft when you're home, I THINK WHAT YOU ARE SHOWING IS NOT TOUGH LOVE, BUT ILL-CONCEALED CONTEMPT," Krauthammer said on FOX News' "Special Report."
"OBAMA IS READY TO BLAME EVERYBODY EXCEPT HIMSELF FOR THE LOUSY ECONOMY. And the lack of investment. Look, why are people reluctant to invest? We have the highest corporate tax rate in the world, in the industrialized world. Obama has spoken about it. It's the one issue on which the Republicans would have agreed on lowering that rate, eliminating loopholes. In three years in office, he's done nothing. HE HAS AN NLRB TRYING TO SHUT DOWN A $1 BILLION PLANT BOEING HAS CONSTRUCTED, AS A FAVOR TO OBAMA'S UNION ALLIES. People look abroad and say this isn't a place I want to do business. ITS HIS ISSUES, HIS OVER-REGULATION OVER TAXATION AND ALL THE RED TAPE HE HAS ADDED. And now he blames Americans' laziness. I think it's unseemly."
"Well, no one is asking him to go out there and asking him to be a jingoistic cheerleader. But when you call your own country 'lazy' when you are abroad and you call it unambitious and soft when you're home, I THINK WHAT YOU ARE SHOWING IS NOT TOUGH LOVE, BUT ILL-CONCEALED CONTEMPT," Krauthammer said on FOX News' "Special Report."
"OBAMA IS READY TO BLAME EVERYBODY EXCEPT HIMSELF FOR THE LOUSY ECONOMY. And the lack of investment. Look, why are people reluctant to invest? We have the highest corporate tax rate in the world, in the industrialized world. Obama has spoken about it. It's the one issue on which the Republicans would have agreed on lowering that rate, eliminating loopholes. In three years in office, he's done nothing. HE HAS AN NLRB TRYING TO SHUT DOWN A $1 BILLION PLANT BOEING HAS CONSTRUCTED, AS A FAVOR TO OBAMA'S UNION ALLIES. People look abroad and say this isn't a place I want to do business. ITS HIS ISSUES, HIS OVER-REGULATION OVER TAXATION AND ALL THE RED TAPE HE HAS ADDED. And now he blames Americans' laziness. I think it's unseemly."
BHO like most liberals blame their failures on others. What they don’t realize is that their solutions most frequently aggravate the problems rather than solve them.
6. Gingrich Rises to the Top
… Gingrich has been relentlessly seducing GOP voters in the debates. Mitt Romney may have been winning on points and technicalities, but GINGRICH HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY WINNING THE CROWDS.
Moreover, he's been deftly using the debates to develop a sales pitch to GOP voters. His REAGANESQUE REFUSAL TO ATTACK FELLOW REPUBLICANS HAS BEEN APPRECIATED, as has his more mercenary determination to ridicule the media by pouncing on stupid — and sometimes not-so-stupid — questions from debate moderators.
But the core of his strategy has been to plant a question in the minds of Republican voters. The question he wants them to ask is, "Whom would you most like to see debate Barack Obama?"
In each debate, he keeps mentioning how he wants to challenge the president to as many Lincoln-Douglas-style debates as possible. And if the presidential baloney won't march into the Gingrichian grinder? WELL THEN, THE GRINDER WILL COME TO THE BALONEY. GINGRICH VOWS TO FOLLOW OBAMA ON THE STUMP, OFFERING RAPID RESPONSE AFTER EVERY PRESIDENTIAL UTTERANCE.
IT'S A BRILLIANT TACTIC. Watching Gingrich walk onto the debate stage, it's like seeing a great beast returned to its natural habitat. They should play "Born Free" whenever he comes out from behind the curtain.
The tactic works because THE UNIFYING CONVICTION AMONG HARD-CORE REPUBLICAN VOTERS IS THAT OBAMA IS BOTH OVERRATED AND FULL OF IT, A MAN PRETENDING TO BE PRESIDENTIAL AND INTELLECTUAL rather than the real thing (ironically, Gingrich has long been the subject of similar criticisms). Gingrich's promise to goad Obama into a fair fight is beyond tantalizing….
I’m one of those people who would love to see an Obama Gingrich debate. Quite frankly I would see Romney or Gingrich winning, but I would see Gingrich making mincemeat out of BHO.
7. OWS Evicted from Zuccotti Park
Up to 1,000 riot police launched a dramatic raid early this morning on Occupy Wall Street as Mayor Bloomberg finally lost patience with a protest camp that has become a global movement's focal point.
MORE THAN 70 PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED AS POLICE STORMED THE CAMP AT ZUCCOTTI PARK IN MANHATTAN, NEW YORK, IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT - where some protesters have been since it was set up in mid-September.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the park was evacuated overnight to 'reduce the risk of confrontation' - but major clashes were seen and the evicted protesters are now regrouping nearby.
First daylight pictures showed the New York City park that had become the symbol of an international anti-capitalist movement was deserted apart from a handful of security guards.
As police lines moved in, THERE WERE CHANTS OF 'WHOSE PARK? OUR PARK' AND 'NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER' - HOWEVER PROTESTERS HAVE BEEN TOLD THEY CAN RETURN ONCE THE PARK IS CLEANED….
Actually this is a private park. It would seem with the protester having over $500,000 in the bank, they should be paying rent to stay there. How about $10,000 per night?
8. Geron Corporation laying off employees cutting back on stem cell research
THE COMPANY DOING THE FIRST GOVERNMENT-APPROVED TEST OF EMBRYONIC STEM CELL THERAPY IS DISCONTINUING FURTHER STEM CELL WORK, A MOVE WITH STARK IMPLICATIONS for a field offering hope of future medicines for conditions with inadequate or no current treatments.
Geron Corp., a pioneer in stem cell research that has been testing a spinal cord injury treatment, said late Monday THAT IT’S HALTING DEVELOPMENT OF ITS STEM CELL PROGRAMS TO CONSERVE FUNDS. It is seeking partners to take on the programs’ assets and is layingoff much of its staff….
… Scarlett said his company will keep a core group of employees from its stem cell operations through the end of 2012’s second quarter.
“Stem cells continue to hold great medical promise,” he said in a statement, adding that Geron is recognized as having “among the most innovative, comprehensive and advanced cell therapy programs in the world,” which should help it in discussions to find partners to whom it can transfer the programs.
Geron in October 2010 began testing an embryonic stem cell therapy called GRNOPC1 in patients with recent spinal cord injuries. It will stop enrolling new patients but will continue to follow those currently participating….
Liberals always claim to be the believers in science, but when John Edwards said: “If we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve will get up out of that wheelchair and walk again.” It demonstrates that perhaps the word “believer” is exactly what liberals are.
9. Is Krugman a Historian, and Economists or a Writer of Fiction?
KRUGMAN REJECTS the idea that “Europe’s woes reflect the failure of welfare states in general, and that Europe’s crisis makes the case for immediate fiscal austerity in the United States”.
It’s true that all European countries have more generous social benefits — including universal health care — and higher government spending than America does. BUT THE NATIONS NOW IN CRISIS DON’T HAVE BIGGER WELFARE STATES THAN THE NATIONS DOING WELL — if anything, THE CORRELATION RUNS THE OTHER WAY. Sweden, with its famously high benefits, is a star performer, one of the few countries whose G.D.P. is now higher than it was before the crisis. Meanwhile, before the crisis, “social expenditure” — spending on welfare-state programs — was lower, as a percentage of national income, in all of the nations now in trouble than in Germany, let alone Sweden.
Oh, and Canada, which has universal health care and much more generous aid to the poor than the United States, has weathered the crisis better than we have. The euro crisis, then, says nothing about the sustainability of the welfare state.
Krugman cites Sweden as an example of a social welfare success in Europe, but fails to mention two important points. Firstly, in recent years, SWEDEN HAS BEGUN ROLLING BACK THE WELFARE SYSTEM AND GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE WHILE ADOPTING IMPORTANT FREE MARKET REFORMS. Secondly, Sweden decided to stay out of the eurozone, another key reason why it has so far kept out of the financial mess engulfing southern Europe. As Johnny Munkhammar, a Swedish member of parliament noted in a piece for The Wall Street Journal in January, SWEDEN OWES ITS SUCCESS NOT TO WELFARE STATISM BUT TO REFORMS THAT HAVE INCREASED ECONOMIC FREEDOM, INCLUDING GREATER COMPETITIVENESS IN THE PROVISION OF HEALTH CARE AND OTHER PUBLIC SERVICES:…
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100117124/paul-krugman-is-rewriting-history-now-that-the-eurozone-beloved-by-us-liberals-is-going-down-in-flames/
Not mentioned in this article is what’s going on in Canada (the article was more on the EU, but Krugman mentions it). “The Canadian government has set a high priority on reducing the economic burden of taxation. In a context of fiscal surpluses, it has been: markedly reducing corporate income and capital taxes; providing more personal tax relief especially at lower incomes and above all for saving; and cutting the federal value added tax (GST).” At the same time, the Canadian government is cutting back on spending on healthcare.
