Throw Them All Out

What’s new today

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.”…

http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/legal-challenges/193583-dems-fear-obama-will-lose-the-case

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.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/us/politics/students-lose-enthusiasm-to-fight-for-obama-again.html?_r=1&hpw

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)

http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/political-humor-obama-releases-theme-song-for-2012-campaign/

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."

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/11/14/krauthammer_obama_has_ill-concealed_contempt_for_america.html

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….

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-goldberg-newt-20111115,0,1620130.column

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….

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2061670/Occupy-Wall-Street-The-end-Riot-police-clear-protesters-Zuccotti-Park.html#ixzz1dmVWG2TL

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….

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/stem-cell-pioneer-geron-exiting-such-research-laying-off-staff-to-focus-on-cancer-drug-tests/2011/11/14/gIQA7V26LN_story.html

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. 

Democrats jumping off the cliff

Politics

The real cause of the financial crisis

If you want to understand how government intervention screws up markets and damages an economy, there are two new publications worth reading. FIRST, PICK UP A COPY OF RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT, A NEW BOOK BY GRETCHEN MORGENSON OF THE NEW YORK TIMES, AND JOSHUA ROSNER, AN EXPERT ON HOUSING FINANCE….

… But government intervention in housing is not limited to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A NEW REPORT FROM PEW LOOKS AT THE PANOPLY OF TAX PREFERENCES FOR THE INDUSTRY, AND ANALYZES THE IMPACT ON OVERALL ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE. There are parts of the report I don’t like, such as the term “subsidies,” which implies that tax distortions are a form of government spending, but I fully agree THAT TAX PREFERENCES HARM THE ECONOMY BY CAUSING CAPITAL TO BE MISALLOCATED…

http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/if-truth-in-labeling-is-important-the-housing-crisis-should-be-stamped-made-in-washington/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

You’ll not see this many places because the culprits are well connected democrats who were simply trying to do good and lining their pockets at the same time.

The original amateur hour

….This weekend, as America celebrated Independence Day, A STATUE OF PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN WAS UNVEILED IN LONDON. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others were on hand for the dedication. The bronze statue sits in the same park as a statue dedicated to the memory of Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was dedicated in 1989 by the Iron Lady herself, Margaret Thatcher. The Reagan statue is part of the world-wide celebrations celebrating the centennial of Reagan’s birth.

That night, a dinner was held in honor of Reagan. It capped a day of events that celebrated the life and extraordinary achievements of the 40th President of the United States. YET, MISSING FROM THE DINNER – CLEARLY THE BIGGEST EVENT OF THE DAY – WAS UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR LOUIS SUSMAN. While he did host a VIP breakfast that morning, Susman was absent from the grandest event, where speeches were given and the memory of Reagan was put forth – reminding everyone of his impact, and his legacy.

Once again, OBAMA AND HIS CRONIES CAN’T THINK THEIR WAY OUT OF A RIPPED-OPEN PAPER BAG.. . .

Second, WHAT COULD THE AMBASSADOR TO ENGLAND HAVE ON HIS SCHEDULE THAT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ATTENDING A CELEBRATION AND COMMEMORATION OF A US PRESIDENT? ISN’T THIS, IN PART, PART OF THE JOB? When a foreign country goes out of its way to honor your country, doesn’t that give you a unique leverage that should be capitalized on? Doesn’t it follow that the only way to capitalize on it is to actually be there?

From all reports, Susman was not sick, stricken with illness or involved in a really intense game of Farmville. HE SIMPLY DIDN’T SHOW UP, as the representative of the United States, to an event honoring one of the greatest presidents in US history.

http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/07/05/screw-reagan/

Stupidity, thy name rhymes with Osama.

Democrats jumping off the cliff?

…. But how can our Democratic friends be persuaded to jump off a cliff like a herd of buffalo? Aren't Democrats all supposed to be creative individualists doing their own thing? Ann Coulter in Demonic thinks not. She gently reminds us THAT OUR LIBERAL FRIENDS HAVE HAD A WEAKNESS FOR THE MADNESS OF CROWDS AND MOB RULE EVER SINCE THEIR FAVORITE FOREIGNERS, THE FRENCH, MADE THE PARIS MOB INTO A PLAYER IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. Remember how the mob eventually bayed for the blood of thug dictator Maximilien Robespierre? "There goes the dirty maximum," they jeered, WHEN MAX'S ECONOMIC POLICY OF PRICE CONTROLS HAD FAILED TO CURB PRICES OR DELIVER BADLY NEEDED STIMULUS DURING THE QUANTITATIVE EASING OF THE 1790S. Of course Democrats don't call their thuggish activists "mobs." They call them "peaceful protesters."

Maybe there is no need for Republicans to stampede the Democrats next year. In December 2012, as we view the steaming heap of sacred cows that stampeded to red ruin off the Progressive Cliffs, it need not be the work of cunning neo-Rovian political operatives. The Democrats' peaceful protesters may stampede themselves over the cliff. Look how many cliffs they have already jumped off since 2009.

First the REID-PELOSI CONGRESS STAMPEDED OFF THE STIMULUS JUMP, then REID AND PELOSI CHASED THEIR HERD OVER THE OBAMACARE CLIFFS. Then the Wisconsin State Senate Democrats stampeded off to Illinois while their supporters milled around in an angry mob in the Madison state capitol. Now, to cap it all, President Obama is trying to frighten a skittish Congress all riled up about the debt ceiling and stampede it over the Tax Jump….

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/07/democrats_heading_for_the_cliff.html

Never interrupt your opponents when they are digging themselves into an even deeper hole.

Big Government isn't necessarily good government

An elderly Upper East Side woman claims a sanitation agent chased her, threatened her with arrest and slapped her with a ticket for putting day-old newspapers in a city trash can.

Darbe Pitofsky, 83, said she was on her way for a cup of coffee around 6:30 a.m. on June 25 when she threw a brown bag filled with old papers in a city litter basket near her apartment on East 71st Street.
She said A SANITATION WORKER QUICKLY JUMPED OUT OF HIS VEHICLE AND DEMANDED HER INFORMATION TO WRITE A SUMMONS.

“I froze,” Pitofsky told 1010 WINS’ Carol D’Auria. “He just frightened the hell out of me, scared me to death, I was terrified.”

She said THE WORKER DEMANDED A FORM OF IDENTIFICATION AND THREATENED TO “PUT HER AWAY” IF SHE DIDN’T COMPLY.

Pitofsky said it took the worker 25 minutes to write the summons and when she complained that it would cost her $100, she said he threatened to make it $300.

A representative for the Sanitation Department said street baskets are for pedestrian use only but added Pitofsky can challenge the ticket if she thinks there has been a mistake.

Litter baskets across the city are marked with stickers that read “no household trash” or “no business trash,” along with a warning of a $100 fine for violation. The Sanitation Department has a platoon of enforcement agents tasked with enforcing litter basket laws….

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/07/05/elderly-upper-east-side-woman-says-sanitation-worker-chased-ticketed-her-for-using-city-trash-can/

Let’s see if I have this correct. A senior citizen tries to do the right thing and not litter and gets accosted and intimidated by a sanitation worker for putting trash into a trash can. And the sanitation worker demanded identification which Democrats tell me intimidates voters. The explanation is that this trash basket is NOT for household or business trash. I’m not sure what’s left but I am convinced that big government is STUPID government.



Economy

Uh oh: GM backlog looking a lot like 2008

“Is GM falling into old, bad habits?” asked one industry analyst when the backlog data for General Motors was made public yesterday. The bailed-out automaker now has a growing inventory in its truck lines of 122 days worth of sales, nearly twice that of its non-bailout domestic competitor Ford Motors for similar lines. With sales flattening in the auto market, GM has now returned to the high inventory of its pre-bailout condition…

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/07/05/uh-oh-gm-backlog-looking-a-lot-like-2008/

The GM bailout was more of a bailout of the UAW rather than the manufacturer. It was designed to save the union contract at the taxpayer’s expense. Crony labor relations.

When Noble economists go ideological

… NO ONE EVER SAID "REGULATION IS ALWAYS BAD," EXCEPT A FEW DEMOCRATS WHEN THEY WANT TO SLANDER CONSERVATIVES. Good regulation is part of the Rule of Law applauded by the Right. Only bad regulations are bad, and there are plenty of them.

No one ever said "WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE BANKER'S IS GOOD FOR AMERICA." Here Krugman seems to be making a play on a famous comment Charlie Wilson's made in 1955 when he was president of General Motors. Wilson is said to have said -- What's good for General Motors is good for America. But there's one problem. WILSON NEVER SAID THAT. WHAT HE ACTUALLY SAID WAS QUITE THE OPPOSITE -- WHAT'S GOOD FOR AMERICA IS GOOD FOR GENERAL MOTORS. It was a statement of acquiescence that the Left twisted to look like one of arrogance. ARE WE TO BELIEVE THAT THE NOBEL PRIZE WINNING ECONOMIST DIDN'T KNOW THAT?

NO ONE EVER SAID TAX CUTS, OR THE LACK THEREOF, HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE 2008 FINANCIAL CRISIS. Very few voices have called for tax cuts since 2008. What the Right argues is that raising taxes during periods of recession can be disastrous. IF THE BUSH TAX RATES HAD NOT BEEN EXTENDED, TAX RATES WOULD BE HIGHER IN 2011 THAN IN 2010. ONLY A DEMOCRAT COULD CALL THAT A TAX CUT.

Why should anyone believe that handing even more money to corporations, no strings attached, would lead to faster job creation?

…."OUTRAGEOUS TAX LOOPHOLES" IS SUCH AN OFT REPEATED MANTRA OF THE LEFT THAT IT SHOULD BE HYPHENATED. A LOOPHOLE IS AN UNINTENDED PATH OF AVOIDANCE. WHAT KRUGMAN IS ALLUDING TO IS THE ACCELERATED RATE OF DEPRECIATION OFFERED AS AN INCENTIVE FOR INVESTMENT IN EQUIPMENT. IT WAS PART OF THE STIMULUS PACKAGE PROMOTED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA. IT'S NOT A LOOPHOLE; IT WAS VERY MUCH INTENDED.

That only covers the first 3 paragraphs of Krugman's article. It's enough….

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/07/krugmans_con.html

It seems to me the left gets what they want and when what they wanted goes south, they try to blame it on the right.


Obamacare

Obamacare Tragedy Primed To Further Explode the Deficit

President Obama bludgeoned Obamacare through Congress on the claim, backed by CBO, that it would not add to the deficit, even though it adopts or wildly expands three entitlement programs. As I discuss in my new book,America’s Ticking Bankruptcy Bomb, CLOSE ANALYSIS OF THE CBO SCORE AND ADDITIONAL NEW DATA INDICATES THAT, QUITE TO THE CONTRARY, OBAMACARE WILL LIKELY ADD $4 TO $6 TRILLION TO THE DEFICIT OVER ITS FIRST 20 YEARS, AND POSSIBLY MORE….

http://spectator.org/archives/2011/07/06/obamacare-tragedy-primed-to-fu#

This is a must read piece. Obamacare besides demanding we buy a product, appears to be ready to slam the deficit. It must be repealed.

Climate

Abstract:

The conventional explanation for controversy over climate change emphasizes impediments to public understanding: Limited popular knowledge of science, the inability of ordinary citizens to assess technical information, and the resulting widespread use of unreliable cognitive heuristics to assess risk. A large survey of U.S. adults (N = 1540) found little support for this account. ON THE WHOLE, THE MOST SCIENTIFICALLY LITERATE AND NUMERATE SUBJECTS WERE SLIGHTLY LESS LIKELY, NOT MORE, TO SEE CLIMATE CHANGE AS A SERIOUS THREAT THAN THE LEAST SCIENTIFICALLY LITERATE AND NUMERATE ONES. More importantly, greater scientific literacy and numeracy were associated with greater cultural polarization: Respondents predisposed by their values to dismiss climate change evidence became more dismissive, and those predisposed by their values to credit such evidence more concerned, as science literacy and numeracy increased. We suggest that this evidence reflects a conflict between two levels of rationality: The individual level, which is characterized by citizens’ effective use of their knowledge and reasoning capacities to form risk perceptions that express their cultural commitments; and the collective level, which is characterized by citizens’ failure to converge on the best available scientific evidence on how to promote their common welfare. Dispelling this, “tragedy of the risk-perception commons,” we argue, should be understood as the central aim of the science of science communication.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1871503

So rather than ignorance being the major obstacle for climate change alarmists, it appears knowledge is. Those in the know don’t buy what the alarmists are selling. The conclusion of the report is teaching science in a neutral way, without understanding the students’ political orientation, can backfire, in that their knowledge may make them more skeptical. In other words, we need to manipulate the way we teach science so we don’t have this problem. It seems to fall in line with those who call on the press not to print both sides of the story since it only confuses people.

The Culture

That’s racist!

….But what's the joke? We don't find out until a 14-year-old-boy says it plainly: "I THINK I OR OTHER PEOPLE JUST SORT OF DO IT AS A WAY OF MOCKING PEOPLE WHO ARE OVERLY SENSITIVE ABOUT RACE ISSUES."

Bingo!

NPR COULD HAVE DONE THE WHOLE STORY IN 30 SECONDS. But instead it spent more than five minutes trying to grapple with A WONDERFUL YET UTTERLY INCONVENIENT TRUTH FOR THE OSTENTATIOUSLY LIBERAL NETWORK: YOUNG PEOPLE JUST AREN'T AS UPTIGHT ABOUT RACE AS THEIR PARENTs, never mind their grandparents, are. And, by the way, the days of segregated swimming pools and neighborhoods haven't merely "yielded" to "more subtle forms of discrimination"; THEY'VE YIELDED TO -- WAIT FOR IT -- LESS DISCRIMINATION.

No, racism hasn't vanished. And the legacy of racism still has a long half-life.
But THE SIMPLE FACT IS "THAT'S RACIST" IS THE SORT OF THING THOSE DARN KIDS TODAY SAY TO MAKE FUN OF THEIR AGING GEN X AND BABY BOOMER PARENTS.

It's also a common joke among conservatives, precisely because we're used to being called racists for the weirdest things. If I write on Twitter something about how I don't like "Obamacare," some fellow right-winger will immediately respond with some variant of "that's racist!"

And that's the joke. And the people who've spent the last few decades screaming, "THAT'S RACIST," NOT AS A PUNCH LINE BUT AS A HEINOUSLY UNFAIR ACCUSATION OR IN AN ATTEMPT TO BULLY PEOPLE, DON'T SEEM TO GET THAT THE JOKE IS ON THEM….

http://townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/2011/07/06/thats_racist_as_a_punch_line/page/full/


The left’s most potent weapon has been downgraded to a punch line.

Tuesday: From energy to vegans

Politics

South Texas: Energy and jobs

….The economic transformation is the result of a new drilling method, hydraulic fracturing, combined with horizontal drilling, that allows companies to extract oil and gas from impermeable layers of shale. Major industry players have joined the Eagle Ford project, including Anadarko, Range Resources and Shell. Chesapeake Energy of Oklahoma City signed a multi-billion dollar deal with the Chinese state-owned oil company to raise cash to drill in the shale.

No solid estimate of likely production has been made, but THE AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE SAID THE FIELD SHOULD YIELD BILLIONS OF BARRELS OF OIL. THE PROJECT ALREADY SUPPORTS 12,600 FULLTIME JOBS, AND BY 2020 COULD ACCOUNT FOR $11.6 BILLION AND NEARLY 68,000 JOBS IN A 24-COUNTY AREA, according to study in February by the University of Texas' Center for Community and Business Research….

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110612/ap_on_re_us/us_gas_drilling_boom_towns

Wealth comes to the have-nots. If the left had their way, these people would still be struggling.

Energy and the Economy

Texas has always been known for its oil, but the black stuff has been overshadowed recently by the ‘game-changing’ shale gas boom in the state and across the rest of the country. The Barnett, Woodford, Haynesville, and Eagle Ford shales all contain significant and commercially viable deposits of gas, which has attracted a number of drillers to these formations, looking for a piece of the action. All this attention has, however, also turned up a surprising amount of oil in a place that has been drilling steadily for over one hundred years. ANALYSTS NOW BELIEVE THESE NEW DISCOVERIES IN TEXAS AND OTHER STATES COULD SIGNAL THE BEGINNINGS OF ANOTHER OIL BOOM IN THE UNITED STATES, AND IMPORTANTLY, HELP WEAN THE ECONOMY OFF OF IMPORTED FOREIGN OIL.

http://resourceinvestingnews.com/17554-shale-oil-to-set-off-us-oil-boom.html

The biggest problem standing in our way is not technology but politics. The left has been warning us about peak oil and the need for renewable energy (where there are all kind of technological problems). This doesn’t fit their world view.


Meanwhile “Unexpectedly” nothing seems to be working out

….I also believe that journalists and members of the Obama Administration are not the only people who are surprised. LOTS OF “OBAMA FAITHFUL,” WHO WERE QUICK TO EMBRACE HIS ECONOMIC RHETORIC AS THE 2008 CRISIS UNFOLDED, ARE NOW GENUINELY SHOCKED THAT THINGS HAVEN’T WORKED OUT.

President Obama, of course, ran a successful campaign by portraying himself as the “un-George W. Bush” candidate. While painting his actual opponent John McCain as a “carbon copy” of Bush back in 2008, Mr. Obama was able to rhetorically juxtapose his policies on just about everything – economic matters included – with President Bush’s policies, and A MAJORITY OF VOTERS WENT WITH THE GUY WHO WAS OFFERING “CHANGE.”

THE FLAWED ASSUMPTION that many of our fellow Americans made – an assumption that many are still making today – is that PRESIDENT OBAMA’S POLICIES MUST BE GOOD, BECAUSE THEY’RE DIFFERENT FROM THOSE OF HIS PREDECESSOR. This assumption not only entails a lack of knowledge of both Presidents, but it also entails some horribly wrong-headed assumptions about economics, itself.

Stop and ask some of the Obama die-hard’s. You’ll find many of them still juxtaposing Bush with Obama, and their conclusion is simple: “Obama good, Bush bad.” And from this they often try to derive thoughts on economic policy, which frequently end up looking something like “government good, business bad.”

THINK ABOUT IT. IT’S A FAIRLY COMMON BELIEF THAT “UNDER BUSH THE ECONOMY WAS UN-REGULATED, AND THAT’S HOW OUT-OF-CONTROL BUSINESS PEOPLE DROVE US OVER THE CLIFF. But now that it’s regulated, things can only get better.” President Obama still reiterates this theme, in a variety of different ways.

OF COURSE, THE IDEA THAT OUR ECONOMY IS, OR WAS “UN-REGULATED,” IS UTTER NONSENSE….

http://townhall.com/columnists/austinhill/2011/06/12/the_government_is_always_good_economy/page/full/

This piece is a good one to dissect the left’s rhetoric about the problem being the lack of regulations. In fact, the only area where a lack of regulations was a prime cause of the economic disaster was Fannie and Freddie.

Russ Feingold: "This game's not over until we win."

He was trying to stir up the crowd in Walkerville today.

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2011/06/russ-feingold-games-not-over-until-i.html

Isn’t this the definition of a political gaff, that is, a politician says something that is true?


Everyone just might have underestimated Mitt Romney.

Serious competitors for the Republican presidential nomination have dropped out of the running. ROMNEY HAS FLEXED HIS FINANCIAL MUSCLE WITH A $10 MILLION-PLUS ONE-DAY FUNDRAISING HAUL. Most of all, his narrow, economy-focused message appears to be resonating amid growing alarm about the unemployment rate – which rose above 9 percent the day after Romney declared his campaign.

And in one poll, an ABC News/Washington Post survey released last week, Romney actually led President Barack Obama by 3 percentage points. That’s the best general election showing any Republican has had in a long time.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/56793.html#ixzz1PA4SOwqc

As Ann Coulter said when asked if she would support Romney if he got the Republican nomination, “I would vote for Charlie Sheen against Barack Obama.” Stand by… we are in for a lot of “unexpected” polls, news, etc. where Obama will be way behind the Republican.

Weiner politics shows the Weiner isn’t a winner for Democrats

"Anthony Weiner needs to resign so that he can focus on his family, focus on his own well-being," Wasserman-Schultz said on Sunday’s "Meet the Press."

AT A BASIC LEVEL, THE DRIVE TO PUSH WEINER OUT IS SMART POLITICS FOR DEMOCRATS. After all, before his troubles began to come to light Memorial Day weekend, they were on something of a roll. Opposition to the Medicare plan championed by Republicans had unified their caucus, provided a winning issue in a special election in upstate New York, and was looking more and more like a ticket to gains in next year’s House elections. BUT NO IS TALKING MUCH ABOUT PAUL RYAN AND MEDICARE NOW. IF WEINER WOULD JUST GO AWAY, MAYBE THEY COULD GET BACK TO THEIR "ALL MEDICARE, ALL THE TIME" STRATEGY.

But the outrage being expressed is also highly selective. This becomes clear when you compare Weiner’s problems to those that his New York colleague, Charlie Rangel, recently faced….

http://www.salon.com/news/anthony_weiner_dny/index.html?
story=/politics/war_room/2011/06/13/weiner_selective_outrage
Salon seems to think this is odd that politicians would be political.


Paul Krugman: The Prophet of Socialism

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR’S EYES DARTED BACK AND FORTH IN FEAR, AND HER MOUTH TWISTED IN DISGUST, BECAUSE SHE COULD SEE WHERE THIS WAS GOING. A guest on her Sunday-morning political talk show, ABC’s This Week, was getting dangerously overexcited, and something very regrettable was about to happen….

…..Cut to Amanpour’s horrified face. Cut back to the guest. Then it happened.
The guest said, “SOME YEARS DOWN THE PIKE, WE’RE GOING TO GET THE REAL SOLUTION, WHICH IS GOING TO BE A COMBINATION OF DEATH PANELS AND SALES TAXES.”

It was all the more horrifying because the guest was not a conservative, not an opponent of Obamacare. This guest was an avid liberal, A PARTISAN DEMOCRAT, AND AN ENTHUSIASTIC SUPPORTER OF GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE. HE WAS ENDORSING DEATH PANELS, NOT WARNING ABOUT THEM. He was saying death panels are a good thing. And it was even more horrifying because of who this guest was. This was no fringe lefty wearing a tinfoil hat, churning out underground newspapers in his parents’ basement. This was an economics professor at Princeton, one of the country’s most prestigious universities. This was the winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, the highest honor the profession can bestow. This was a columnist for the New York Times, the most influential newspaper in the world. THIS WAS PAUL KRUGMAN, LIVE, ON NATIONAL TELEVISION, ENDORSING GOVERNMENT CONTROL OVER LIFE AND DEATH. AND WHILE WE’RE AT IT, LET’S RAISE TAXES ON THOSE WHO ARE PERMITTED TO LIVE.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/269428/paul-krugman-prophet-socialism-donald-luskin

Sarah Palin had it right. Paul Revere did warn the British about the colonials and Paul Krugman warned us that Sarah Palin was correct about “Death Panels.”

Over the Weekend on Talk Shows

Miss the political talk shows because the weather was so nice. You can read what happened here.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/13/best-political-quotes-of-the-weekend-13/



Climate


Where’s the Heat?

GLOBAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS HAVE RISEN EVEN FASTER DURING THE PAST DECADE THAN PREDICTED BY THE UNITED NATIONS INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC) AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES. According to alarmist groups, THIS PROVES GLOBAL WARMING IS MUCH WORSE THAN PREVIOUSLY FEARED. The increase in emissions “should shock even the most jaded negotiators” at international climate talks currently taking place in Bonn, Germany, the UK Guardian reports. But there’s only one problem with this storyline; GLOBAL TEMPERATURES HAVE NOT INCREASED AT ALL DURING THE PAST DECADE.

The evidence is powerful, straightforward, and damning. NASA satellite instruments precisely measuring global temperatures SHOW ABSOLUTELY NO WARMING DURING THE PAST THE PAST 10 YEARS. This is the case for the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes, including the United States. This is the case for the Arctic, where the signs of human-caused global warming are supposed to be first and most powerfully felt. This is the case for global sea surface temperatures, which alarmists claim should be sucking up much of the predicted human-induced warming. THIS IS THE CASE FOR THE PLANET AS A WHOLE.

IF ATMOSPHERIC CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS ARE THE SOLE OR PRIMARY DRIVER OF GLOBAL TEMPERATURES, THEN WHERE IS ALL THE GLOBAL WARMING? We’re talking 10 years of higher-than-expected increases in greenhouse gases, yet 10 years of absolutely no warming. That’s 10 years of nada, nunca, nein, zero, and zilch.

http://blogs.forbes.com/jamestaylor/2011/06/08/ten-years-and-counting-wheres-the-global-warming/

This is a big problem for the alarmists. Global Warming was their ticket to control, but in the end they couldn’t control what nature did.

Health

I started eating meat again...

YES, THIS FROM THE GUY WHO ONCE SAID THAT MEAT EATERS ARE BAD PEOPLE.

I guess that must make me a bad person.

Well, unlike many other carnivores, I'm at least cognizant of the fact that I'm exploiting animals for my own well-being. While I have made the move to a diet that contains meat, I am not completely at peace with it. I am fully aware and respectful of the fact that the meat on my plate comes at at price, that being the life of another animal.

But I have my reasons. MY DECISION TO EAT MEAT AGAIN WAS DRIVEN BY HEALTH CONCERNS. I was a vegetarian for over ten years and I did so primarily for ethical reasons. It was in the last several years of being a vegetarian, however, that I grew increasingly concerned about my health. An increasing number of studies started to point at the importance of meat protein and animal fat—not to mention the perils of soy (which was a staple for me). Moreover, MY PERFORMANCE AT THE GYM WAS STALLING. MY ENERGY LEVELS WERE CONSISTENTLY LOW AND I WAS MAKING VERY LITTLE GAINS. This was an indication to me that something wasn't right.

So, after a decade of avoiding meat, I was curious to see if a reintroduction to animal protein could change the situation. I SWITCHED TO THE PALEO DIET AND WITHIN THREE MONTHS MY BMI WENT DOWN FROM 17% TO 12% AND I GAINED NEARLY TEN POUNDS OF MUSCLE MASS. I was astounded. And add to that an improved sense of well-being, mental clarity and energy— I was sold. My experiment with eating meat exceeded even my own expectations…

http://www.sentientdevelopments.com/2011/06/so-i-started-eating-meat-again.html

Sunday: The economy

Economy
Drill, baby, Drill

Once again the fraudulent message from the environmental activists in the EPA is being echoed by a willing media, claiming DRILL HERE DRILL NOW WON'T HAVE AN EFFECT ON GAS PRICES WHEN THERE IS IRREFUTABLE EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY. Where is the proof you ask? CURRENTLY THERE IS ONE COMMODITY THAT HAS NOT ADJUSTED WITH INFLATION, IS NOT TIED TO THE DEVALUATION OF THE DOLLAR, NOR FOLLOWS THE RISE IN GOLD AND OIL.

America's Natural Gas is trading at 2003 rates and when adjusted for inflation is closer to 2000 rates. Why? Because MULTITUDES OF AMERICANS ARE DEVELOPING THIS VAST RESOURCE NOT A HANDFUL OF MULTINATIONAL CONCERNS. They are bringing an abundant supply of American energy to the market; in New York State alone we have over 3000 gas wells.

Drill here drill now works! American ingenuity in energy technology has fostered a boom in natural gas prospecting. HUNDREDS OF SMALL TO MEDIUM SIZE AMERICAN ENERGY COMPANIES ARE CREATING TENS OF THOUSANDS OF GOOD PAYING JOBS DEVELOPING AMERICAS VAST NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS, LEADING THE WAY FOR THIS ENERGY OF THE FUTURE….

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/06/drill_here_drill_now_works_-_because_it_already_has.html

With the economy in the shape it is in and with the Democrats out of tools and ideas how to bring the economy back, this is a no brainer. Declare war on importing foreign oil and open up everything to drilling. Not only will it decrease our dependence on foreign oil, it will create good high paying American jobs while it pumps up the dollar. It will bring about prosperity that will spread to housing, manufacturing, etc. And for the Global Warming doomsayers, your warnings keep failing to come true so why should anyone listen to you.   Meanwhile back at the ranch, the Obama administration continues their war on energy.

Administration blocks restart of massive oil pipeline, citing leaks

THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SAID FRIDAY THAT A MASSIVE PIPELINE CARRYING OIL ACROSS MUCH OF THE UNITED STATES MUST REMAIN SHUT DOWN UNTIL FEDERAL REGULATORS ARE SATISFIED THAT IT CAN OPERATE WITHOUT FUTURE LEAKS.

TransCanada’s Keystone pipeline leaked twice last month, fueling opposition to a pending expansion of the project, which is undergoing a wide-ranging federal review.

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/164719-administration-blocks-restart-of-massive-oil-pipeline-citing-leaks

This administration is simply anti-conventional energy.

Dow longest losing streak in 7 years

U.S. STOCKS FELL THIS WEEK, SENDING THE DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE TO ITS LONGEST STREAK OF LOSSES SINCE 2004, AFTER WORSE-THAN-ESTIMATED REPORTS ON JOBS AND MANUFACTURING fueled concern earnings growth will slow.

All 10 Standard & Poor’s 500 Index groups dropped, with declines exceeding 1.3 percent. Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NWL) sank 15 percent, leading declines in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, after cutting its profit forecast. J.C. Penney Co. and Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (SWK) slumped more than 6 percent as investors sold companies tied to economic growth. General Motors Co. (GM) andFord Motor Co. (F) decreased at least 4 percent after sales growth missed projections.

The S&P 500 lost 2.3 percent to 1,300.16, the biggest weekly decline since August. Its five-week losing streak is the longest since 2008 and puts the index at its lowest level since March. The DOW FELL 290.32 POINTS, OR 2.3 PERCENT, TO 12,151.26, ALSO POSTING A FIFTH-STRAIGHT WEEKLY SLUMP

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-04/dow-falls-in-longest-slump-since-2004-amid-concern-about-economy.html

According to Obama and his administration this is just a headwind.

NYT: In blow to economy, hiring hits the skids

After several months of strong job growth, U.S. hiring slowed sharply in May, suggesting the economy may be running out of steam once again.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the nation added 54,000 nonfarm payroll jobs last month, after an increase of about 220,000 jobs in each of the three previous months. The gain in May was about a third of what economists had been forecasting. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, edged up to 9.1 percent from 9.0 percent in April.

"THE ECONOMY CLEARLY JUST HIT A BRICK WALL," said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics. "IT'S ALMOST AS IF IT CAME TO A COMPLETE STANDSTILL."

While most analysts do not believe that the country will slide back into a recession — which would technically mean that the economy would start shrinking again - they acknowledge that with such low levels of hiring, THE RECOVERY IS BARELY PERCEPTIBLE TO MANY AMERICANS.
In Washington, today's hiring challenges have been receiving less attention than tomorrow's fiscal ones. But a week of dismal news on manufacturing, housing and car sales may pivot the discussion. Some pressure is building on the Obama administration and Congress to delay federal spending cuts, which economists say will weigh down the fragile recovery. LIBERAL GROUPS HAVE RENEWED THEIR CALLS FOR MORE AID TO THE STATES AND MORE AGGRESSIVE ACTION FROM THE FEDERAL RESERVE.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7594995.html#ixzz1OOVZZiOH

The statement about liberal groups calling for mare aid to the states demonstrates the old adage that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results being the definition of insanity.


Krugman on the deficit
…On March 25, Krugman wrote:

Two years ago, faced with soaring unemployment and large budget deficits -- both the consequences of a severe financial crisis -- MOST ADVANCED-COUNTRY LEADERS SEEMINGLY UNDERSTOOD THAT THE PROBLEMS HAD TO BE TACKLED IN SEQUENCE, WITH AN IMMEDIATE FOCUS ON CREATING JOBS COMBINED WITH A LONG-RUN STRATEGY OF DEFICIT REDUCTION.

Progressives like Krugman treat unemployment with massive doses of government spending -- such things as stimulus and Keynesian pump priming, which make the deficit all the worse. KRUGMAN HAS LONG INSISTED THAT THE OBAMA'S TRILLION-DOLLAR STIMULUS WAS MUCH TOO SMALL TO MAKE THE NEEDED DIFFERENCE. But right after the 2006 election, when the Democrats took back Congress, Krugman advised:

DEMOCRATS SHOULDN'T SPEND POLITICAL CAPITAL TRYING TO BRING THE DEFICIT DOWN. ... given a choice between cutting the deficit and SPENDING MORE ON GOOD THINGS LIKE HEALTH CARE REFORM, THEY SHOULD CHOOSE THE SPENDING. ... Should [the Democrats] use the reclaimed revenue to reduce the deficit, or spend it on other things? The answer, I now think, is to spend the money...and let the deficit be. ... In the long run, something will have to be done about the deficit. But given the state of our politics, now is not the time.

THIS ADVICE CAME AT A TIME WHEN AMERICA HAD "FULL EMPLOYMENT." So it's natural to wonder if for Paul Krugman there is ever a right time to tackle the deficit.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/06/paul_krugman_the_lesser_of_two_evils.html


I think the democrats should change their name to Deficits R Us and Krugman should give back his Nobel Prize.

Editorial: Jobs Slump — It's The Policy, Stupid

Recession: Two years into a "recovery," the unemployment rate leaps to 9.1% and just 54,000 new jobs are created. Is this just "bumps on the road to recovery," as the White House insists, or something more dangerous?

THIS HAS BEEN THE MOST MISERABLE RECOVERY IN MODERN HISTORY. Not only are there not enough jobs being created, but also the economy itself looks to be stalling.
Gross domestic product grew a paltry 1.8% during the first quarter, and most economists expect something similar for the second quarter. Double dip? It's possible.

As we noted earlier last week before the new jobs data came out, THE U.S. IS ALREADY IN A GROWTH RECESSION — DEFINED AS AN ECONOMY THAT'S GROWING TOO SLOWLY TO KEEP UNEMPLOYMENT FROM RISING.

Yet the Obama administration is crowing about its accomplishments as if slowing growth and rising joblessness have nothing to do with its bad policies.

"THE INITIATIVES PUT IN PLACE BY THIS ADMINISTRATION — such as the payroll tax cut and business incentives for investment — HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO SOLID EMPLOYMENT GROWTH OVERALL THIS YEAR, but this report is a reminder of the challenges that remain," said Austan Goolsbee, Obama's top economic adviser.

"Solid employment growth"? SINCE THE END OF LAST YEAR, JOB GROWTH HAS AVERAGED 130,500 A MONTH — ABOUT THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ENTER THE WORKFORCE EACH MONTH. That's not "solid" enough.

By the way, the unemployment rate has been below 9% for just five months since Obama took office — and three of those months were in the first 12 weeks of his presidency, before his policies took effect….

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/574400/201106031900/US-Jobs-Hole-Just-Got-Deeper.htm

If Goolsbee actually believes what he is saying he is delusional. But as neuroscientist Earl Miller explains "The brain is very good at deluding itself."

Greenburg warns the Democrats to face the real economy

A prominent Democratic pollster has a blunt warning for the Party: Despite a turn in economic growth and job creation statistics, AMERICANS PERCEIVE NO CHANGE IN A "REAL ECONOMY" OF REDUCED WAGES AND BENEFITS.

On Thursday, Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg briefed reporters on results from a recent series of focus groups, one-on-one interviews and a national survey of likely voters all sponsored by Democracy Corps, the organization Greenberg founded with campaign consultant James Carville.
THE RESULTS SHOW THAT BACKWARD-LOOKING CAMPAIGN MESSAGES ABOUT WHO IS TO BLAME FOR THE RECESSION OR WHETHER THE RECOVERY EFFORTS ARE SUCCEEDING ARE DOOMED TO FAILURE. Instead Greenberg is urging Democrats to look forward, embrace the ongoing economic hardship and propose solutions that target perceived greed and unfairness.....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/03/pollster-stan-greenberg-w_n_870585.html

It’s the economy stupid! The problem is after $5 trillion in deficit spending and an $861 billion stimulus, it’s Obama’s and the Democrat’s economy.

More bad news for Obama

Obama Administration punishes reporter for using multimedia

The hip, transparent and social media-loving Obama administration is showing its analog roots. And maybe even some hypocrisy highlights.

WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS HAVE BANISHED ONE OF THE BEST POLITICAL REPORTERS IN THE COUNTRY FROM THE APPROVED POOL OF JOURNALISTS covering presidential visits to the Bay Area for using now-standard multimedia tools to gather the news.

The Chronicle's Carla Marinucci - who, like many contemporary reporters, has a phone with video capabilities on her at all times - PULLED OUT A SMALL VIDEO CAMERA LAST WEEK AND SHOT SOME PROTESTERS INTERRUPTING AN OBAMA FUNDRAISER AT THE ST. REGIS HOTEL.

She was part of a "print pool" - a limited number of journalists at an event who represent their bigger hoard colleagues - which White House press officials still refer to quaintly as "pen and pad" reporting…..

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/bronstein/detail?entry_id=87978#ixzz1Kty5fGY2

So this is Obama’s definition of transparency? She’s banned and other journalists were threatened if they reported the fact she had been banned.



Obama approval all time low: second straight week

President Barack Obama’s weekly approval rating remained at its all-time low for the second straight week, according to the Gallup poll.

IN THE WEEK OF APRIL 11-17 AND AGAIN IN THE WEEK OF APRIL 18-24, 43 PERCENT OF THE AMERICANS POLLED BY GALLUP SAID THEY APPROVED OF THE JOB OBAMA WAS DOING AS PRESIDENT.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-s-approval-remains-all-time-low-se

There’s still plenty of time until the next election, but do you see anything that demonstrates Obama is growing and getting better? It appears to be just the opposite.



Pennsylvania: Keystone for Democrats

If you're looking for ways to boil the 2012 presidential race down to its simplest form, here's one of the easiest: IT'S NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO ENVISION ANY WAY BARACK OBAMA CAN WIN RE-ELECTION NEXT YEAR IF HE LOSES PENNSYLVANIA. No Keystone State, no second term. It really is that simple.

As of right now, THINGS ARE LOOKING DICEY FOR THE PRESIDENT IN PENNSYLVANIA. Two weeks ago, the Democratic polling firm PPP released a survey showing the president's job approval rating at just 42% among Pennsylvania voters.

Yesterday, Quinnipiac University confirmed PPP's findings with a survey of their own conducted in Pennsylvania last WEEK SHOWING AN IDENTICAL JOB RATING OF 42% FOR THE PRESIDENT - A NEW LOW FOR OBAMA SINCE TAKING OFFICE.

Worse still for the president, for the first time the Quinnipiac poll found A MAJORITY OF PENNSYLVANIA VOTERS SAYING THAT OBAMA DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE RE-ELECTED.

The numbers show a sharp decline in Obama's standing in the Keystone State over the last nine weeks - particularly among Independents. In the last Quinnpiac survey, taken in mid-February of this year, Independents approved of the job Obama was doing as president by a net 4-point margin, 50 to 46. TODAY THEY DISAPPROVE OF THE JOB HE'S DOING BY A NET 20-POINT MARGIN, 37 TO 57.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/04/29/the_keystone_to_obamas_re-election_109702.html


This is a disaster for the Democrats.



Americans Are Ready to Take On the Deficit


A

reader pointed out these remarkable numbers from a Washington Post/Pew Research Center poll conducted April 21-25. Respondents were asked whether they think the federal budget deficit is a major problem that must be addressed now; a major problem that should be addressed when the economy improves; or not much of a problem:

MAJOR PROBLEM THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED NOW: 81%

Major problem that should be addressed when economy improves: 14%

Not much of a problem: 1%

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/04/028919.php

Again this is not good news if you are a partisan democrat. It appears fear mongering will not work against this as an issue.



Don’t Blame Speculators for Oil Prices

http://www.pjtv.com/?cmd=mpg&mpid=174&load=5344


Some interesting stats on how we can bring down oil prices now.



Paul Krugman’s name is mentioned at town hall to hearty laughter

http://jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/2011/04/leftwing-drone-cites-nobel-prize.html


What is truly remarkable is the amount of laughter when a liberal uses Krugman’s name to try and discredit a Freshman Republican representative at a town hall meeting.



Paul Ryan receives standing ovation

Paul Ryan received a standing ovation Thursday afternoon during the Q&A part of his meeting with constituents at a high school auditorium in a suburb of Milwaukee.

Ryan faced a larger number of hecklers at this event than previous ones, but they were just a sliver of the max capacity crowd. The vast majority of those present stood and applauded Ryan after one constituent rose to thank the congressman for producing his plan to rein in the federal budget

Paul Ryan received a standing ovation Thursday afternoon during the Q&A part of his meeting with constituents at a high school auditorium in a suburb of Milwaukee.

Ryan faced a larger number of hecklers at this event than previous ones, but they were just a sliver of the max capacity crowd. The vast majority of those present stood and applauded Ryan after one constituent rose to thank the congressman for producing his plan to rein in the federal budget

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/video-paul-ryan-gets-standing-ovation-town-hall-meeting_558453.html




The Birther Networks

...As it turns out, ONE WAS 35 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO HEAR ABOUT THE BIRTHER ISSUE ON CNN OR MSNBC THAN ON FOX NEWS DURING THE WEEK OF APRIL 11 THROUGH 17, when Obama was touting his budget. The cable network most often railed against as the birther-enabler was least likely - by far - to even mention the issue.....

... the following breakdown of birther stories as a percentage of total coverage for each cable news channel:

- Fox News: 0.4 percent

- MSNBC: 9.2 percent

- CNN: 5 percent

MSNBC devoted 23 times as much airtime as Fox to cover the birther issue. CNN devoted 12.5 times as much. So, as mentioned above, one was 35.5 times more likely to see a birther story on Fox's competition than on FNC itself.

http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/lachlan-markay/2011/04/28/study-msnbc-and-cnn-covered-birther-issue-far-more-fox-news#ixzz1Ku73Jt1b

Obama claimed that he had to give up his birth certificate because “this was a "distraction" from "real issues" and therefore "silliness.” It’s funny which network(s) fed their partisan viewers a steady diet of this silliness.



The Obama Lie that flamed the birther story

... For the last two years or more, many in THE BIRTHER COMMUNITY KNEW THAT OBAMA'S "MULTICULTURAL IDEAL" WAS BASED ON A LIE. Knowing that Obama was capable of lying about the first two years of his life, they had no reason to believe he was telling the truth about his birth, especially given the lengths he had gone to in order to protect his birth certificate.

FOR THEIR PART, THE MAJOR MEDIA -- ALMOST TO A PERSON -- WERE DOING EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER TO PROTECT THE LIE. This was unprecedented on the sunny side of the Iron Curtain. The birthers had absolutely no reason to believe the media….

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/04/the_obama_lie_that_drove_the_b.html

An interesting look at Obama’s childhood compared to the story he told in his 2004 Democratic Convention speech. Sometimes the story isn’t really THE story.



Obama trying to make America Great!

The budget is out of control because of THE THING THAT OBAMA SAYS MAKES AMERICA GREAT: ENTITLEMENTS. Who knew that giving money to the shiftless and lazy is the way we are supposed to measure ourselves?

Apparently America is at the pinnacle of its greatness, because we are giving it all away. According to this report, 50% OF AMERICANS ARE RECEIVING ENTITLEMENTS, AND MORE SHOCKING IS THIS REPORT THAT SHOWS THAT AS MANY AS 62% OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE RECEIVING THEM. I can understand 10% of Americans receiving entitlements, because conservatives are sensitive to the plight of the underprivileged, despite the lies from the lunatic left. But 50% just helps me understand how many lazy leftoids there are -- you know, people who believe that they are entitled to our money

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/04/obamas_brand_of_greatness_for.html

I was shocked by the fact that 62% of illegals are getting handouts.





















Tornadoes whipped up by wind, not climate: officials

US meteorologists warned Thursday it would be a mistake to blame climate change for a seeming increase in tornadoes in the wake of deadly storms that have ripped through the US south.

"If you look at the past 60 years of data, the number of tornadoes is increasing significantly, but IT'S AGREED UPON BY THE TORNADO COMMUNITY THAT IT'S NOT A REAL INCREASE," said Grady Dixon, assistant professor of meteorology and climatology at Mississippi State University.

"It's having to do with better (weather tracking) technology, more population, the fact that the population is better educated and more aware. So we're seeing them more often," Dixon said.

But he said IT WOULD BE "A TERRIBLE MISTAKE" TO RELATE THE UP-TICK TO CLIMATE CHANGE.

http://www.france24.com/en/20110428-tornadoes-whipped-wind-not-climate-officials

But of course the alarmists will relate this to climate change. You see them on the TV trying to connect tornadoes to climate change to prove a theory that is falling into disrepute.