Over at Political In sur rec tion he has taken to having people send in pictures of bumper stickers.  Here are some of my favorites.

What’s new Today

Our #1 story looks at the culture of corruption that can be found with the stimulus package Obama gave away right after his inauguration.  #2 show a bit more corruption with Nancy Pelosi. 

1.  Culture of Corruption

A top campaign contributor to former Rep. Ron Klein (D-Fla.)—the Obama bundler who once registered, then deregistered and now “never registered as a lobbyist for Spirit Airlines—won stimulus grants and contracts worth nearly $18.5 million, White House records show. Florida Turbine Technologies (FTT), an engineering and development firm headquartered in Klein’s district, received a total of $18,459,277 in federal funding as part of the 2009 stimulus package, which Klein supported.

The Jupiter, Fla., company and its top executives were major contributors to Klein’s campaign during his two terms in Congress from 2007 to 2011, according to a database maintained by the Center for Responsive Politics. CEO Shirley Coates Brostmeyer and her husband Joe Brostmeyer, the company’s president, gave a combined $14,200 to Klein’s campaign while he was in office. The FTT political action committee added another $15,000.

When Klein mounted his unsuccessful reelection bid against Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) in 2010, FTT and its employees were the third-largest contributor to Klein’s campaign, giving nearly $20,000.

Shortly after Congress passed the $787 billion stimulus package, Klein’s office prepared a “How to” guide to the stimulus for constituents. “In the weeks since this bill’s passage, I have worked closely with local elected officials, business leaders, and other members of the community to ensure that South Florida is fully prepared to secure and use its share of the federal funding quickly and efficiently,” he wrote.

His district ultimately received hundreds of millions of dollars. The money directed to FTT came in the form of three “clean energy” grants from the Department of Energy totaling $8.1 million, and a Defense Department contract worth $10.4 million for the creation of “adaptive versatile engine technology.”…

http://freebeacon.com/obama-bundler-earmarked-stimulus-money-for-donors/

Political payoffs were the real meaning of the stimulus.  When liberals cite figures of jobs created they are using formulas which say if the government spends x it will result in y to z number of jobs.  It’s baloney. 

2.  Pelosi might have skirted House ethics rules on campaign solicitations

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) might have briefly run afoul of congressional ethics rules at a Capitol press conference on Thursday when she made a statement that could be construed as a solicitation for campaign contributions.

The Democratic leader was holding a briefing to promote a campaign finance disclosure bill when she said she was “asking people to contribute to us, if they want to elect more reformers to Congress.”

House ethics rules prohibit members of Congress from soliciting campaign donations in House office buildings, including the Capitol Visitor Center, where Pelosi was speaking. A section of the U.S. criminal code also prohibits fund-raising in federal buildings.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/209859-pelosi-may-have-skirted-ethics-rules-with-comments-on-campaign-donations

It appears leftists don’t have much of a sense of fair play. Playing by the rules is only done if the rules favor them. 





Things are getting interesting

What’s new Today

Our #1 story discusses the controversy over Obama’s “recess” appointments.  #2 brings up a point that you may not have thought of.  #3 is a ten photo essay capturing the sense of the Occupy Movement.  #4 has a video of Nancy Pelosi’s reaction to a reporter asking her if O was throwing her and the rest of congress under the bus.  #5 is an update on the Wisconsin recall of Scott Walker.  #6 talks about a new religion in the UK while #7 points out why we can be optimistic about the future.

1.  Obama’s “Recess Appointments” a Sign of Weakness

President Obama’s executive power-grab this week — making four “recess” appointments when the Senate  isn’t in recess — is a mark not of his strength, but of his relative weakness. He is asserting an authority he does not possess through the Constitution because he has precious little personal authority left to assert.

He had it and he lost it, and he can’t figure out how to get it back — so he’s just going to take it.

“When Congress refuses to act, and as a result hurts our economy and puts people at risk, I have an obligation as president to do what I can without them,” Obama said Wednesday as he trumpeted his installation of Richard Cordray as head of his new consumer-activism bureau.

This is rhetoric designed to thrill liberals and Democrats, who (like all partisans and ideologues) love what they take to be the “good fight,” and don’t particularly care how it’s waged. That’s true even if they spent eight years screaming about supposed unconstitutional actions on the part of the Bush administration, every one of which had a far firmer foundation in constitutional law than Obama’s unprecedented action this week….

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/this_power_grab_sign_of_weakness_B95SE4zOZsyjuJxn63PSEO#ixzz1ig7OblQW

Unconstitutional and illegal (Cordray’s job calls for a Senate Confirmation in the law itself). 

2.  Are Obama’s Recess Appointees Tax Evaders?

Sharon Block and Richard Griffin - President Obama's Democratic likely illegal recess appointees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) - may not have paid their federal taxes in recent years. Either one or both of them may be subjects of criminal investigations. There is even the possibility that one or both of them have substantial conflicts of interest that will prevent them from serving honestly.

Odds are neither Block nor Griffin is guilty of any of these things, but the U.S. Senate has no way of knowing for sure because both of them failed to fill out the required paperwork for their confirmation hearings before Congress, according to Lachlan Markay, a reporter for the Heritage Foundation's Scribe.

One of the key sources of information for that paperwork is the full FBI background check that is conducted on all presidential nominees in preparation for the Senate confirmation process.

"Neither Griffin nor Block had even submitted the required paperwork to the committee,"

Markay said, quoting Senate Health Education, Labor and Pension Committee sources.

"That paperwork includes a background check, 'which addresses whether taxes are paid and if the nominee is facing any pending civil or criminal investigations,' according to the committee. 'This also ensures that there are no conflicts-of-interest before being confirmed for the position….'”

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/are-obamas-democrat-nlrb-appointees-tax-evaders/296951

It is apparent that Obama doesn’t think he is subject to the rule of law. 

3.   John Hawkins Captures the Occupy Wall Street Movement in 10 Pictures

http://rightwingnews.com/photoshops/the-2011-occupy-movement-in-10-pictures/

Which photo do you think best captures the spirit of the movement (for me #10 is hard to top).

4.  Pelosi asked if Obama is throwing Congress Under the Bus

To mark the one year anniversary of the GOP takeover of the U.S. House, Democratic leaders held a press briefing on jobs and the economy.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) answered a reporter's question about the Obama 2012 Re-Election campaign’s efforts to criticize congress, something that would essential throw congress ‘under the bus’ and put Obama at odds with.

http://nation.foxnews.com/nancy-pelosi/2012/01/05/reporter-rattles-pelosi-says-obama-plans-throw-congress-under-bus

Let me see if I have the right.  Obama who has been president for 3 years plans to run against the Washington establishment when in fact he personifies the Washington establishment.  How stupid do the Democrats think the voters are? 

5.  Update on Walker Recall Effort

A judge ruled Thursday that the state Government Accountability Board needs to take more aggressive action to vet recall signatures that are expected to be submitted in two weeks against Gov. Scott Walker and other Republican office holders.

The ruling by Waukesha County Circuit Judge J. Mac Davis came in a case filed Dec. 15 by Walker's campaign committee and Stephan Thompson, executive director of the state Republican Party, asking Davis to order the accountability board to seek out and eliminate duplicate and fictitious signatures and illegible addresses in recall petitions.

Davis, who refused to enter injunctions in the case, based his decision on his interpretation of state law, more than on equal protection arguments brought up by the Republicans. He also said that the board must take "reasonable" efforts to eliminate such signatures.

Kevin Kennedy, director and general counsel of the board, said after the hearing that his organization would have to discuss the decision to see what it needed to change in procedures already in place.

In court, Kennedy testified that entering signatures into a database to look for duplicates could take eight extra weeks for his staff, and could cost $94,000 for software and outside help.

Steven M. Biskupic, attorney for the Republicans, argued that not catching invalid signatures violated the constitutional rights to equal protection of people who chose not to sign recall petitions.

He also cited a media report that one man claimed he'd signed recall petitions 80 times, and submitted a petition from last summer's attempt to recall Sen. Jim Holperin (D-Conover), in which the accountability board allowed a "Bugs Bunny" signature to be counted. Kennedy said the signature was counted because Holperin didn't follow the proper procedures for challenging it.

In issuing his ruling, Davis said, "Counting the signature of Bugs Bunny is something only lawyers could try to make seem OK."

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/136773423.html

It’s about time something like this happened.  I especially like the judge’s comment about the Bugs Bunny signature.  The financial argument doesn’t hold weight since the cost of a recall election would be far more than the $94,000 it would cost to check to see if there should be such an election.

6.   A New Religion

Can the gospel of file sharing really be recognized as a religion? In Sweden it can.

In the midst of a worldwide debate about Internet piracy, Swedish authorities have granted official religious status to the Church of Kopimism, which claims it considers CTRL+C and CTRL+V (shortcuts for copy and paste) to be sacred symbols, and that information is holy and copying is a sacrament.

The Church was founded by philosophy student Isak Gerson, who is also the self-appointed spiritual leader of the movement.

In a statement on the church's website, he says its religious roots stem back to 2010 and that it formalized a community of file sharers that already has been "well spread" for a long time.

"The community of kopimi requires no formal membership," he writes. "You just have to feel a calling to worship what is the holiest of the holiest, information and copy."

(For those who are unaware, kopimi is pronounced "copy me.")

According to the Church of Kopimism website, church services consist of "kopyactings," whereby the "kopimists" share information with each other through copying and remixing.

Bertil Kallner of Sweden's Financial and Administrative Services told the Swedish newspaper Gagens Nyheter that a religious community could "basically be anything."…

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2012/01/file-sharing-recognized-as-a-religion-in-sweden.html

Looking at this, it appears you could be members of this church and the act of reading this blog is a religious activity. 

7.   As AGW Dies:  Bullish on the Future

Let me give you some reasons why I'm so bullish.

1. THE SHALE GAS MIRACLE. I know I keep banging on about it but it cannot be stressed enough. It's called the Shale Gas miracle because it's so ruddy miraculous. What the world economy needs more than anything right now is cheap, abundant, accessible energy. Shale gas is it.  I'd go so far as to say that it's our single best hope of averting a new Great Depression. One of the key tenets of the green religion is that in order to preserve "scarce resources" for "future generations" we must reduce our consumption of fossil fuels (by, inter alia, artificially raising their prices) and forcing ourselves to use more expensive, inefficient renewables. The arrival of shale gas makes this argument much less persuasive. Hardcore greens may not see it, for their commitment to renewables is theological rather than practical. But everyone else will, and that's what counts.

2. THE COLLAPSE OF RENEWABLES. Renewable energy – "pretend energy", "faux energy" or "alternative-to-energy", as it ought more properly to be known – is an economic, environmental and socio-political disaster. It ruins economies, destroys jobs, kills wildlife, uglifies the countryside. Some of us have been saying this for a very long time but for the message to get through to Joe Average you need something a bit more spectacular than a few snarky blog posts. Thankfully God – who hates renewables at least as much as he loathes Mother Gaia, but probably not quite as much as he despises Al Gore, is bored rigid by the Hon Sir Jonathon Porritt or is perpetually gobsmacked by George Monbiot – has come to our rescue. First He created the Solyndra disaster; then the BrightSource disaster; now, in His wisdom, it has been His pleasure to smite FirstSolar. Perhaps one shouldn't gloat. No doubt it is a bad, sad thing when companies go under taking billions of taxpayer dollars with them. But that, in a way, is the point. The money our governments have poured into the renewable Ponzi scheme has been squandered – and seen to be squandered – on such an epic scale that even the most purblind, state-addicted, left-leaning voter can have failed to notice that something isn't quite right here; that maybe next time it might be an idea to let the market pick energy winners rather than leave it to government, which patently hasn't a clue.

3. WE'RE ON THE LYING LIARS' CASE. As we saw in Climategate and Climategate 2.0 the Warmist establishment – and that's everyone from the climate "scientists" at the CRU to the IPCC to the Royal Society to the EPA to the entire Obama administration – is so slippery and devious it makes Wormtongue look purer than Sir Galahad. But these days they're so discredited that their bluster, appeals to authority and outright lies just don't seem to work any more. Take this brilliant analysis by Tim Worstall of some unutterable hogwash produced by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC). They're lying. He shows they're lying. Thank you Tim!

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100127634/ha-ha-warmist-losers-for-you-the-war-is-over/

One day I was visiting my granddaughter.  We came back to the house and she pointed out the “pretend owl” they had in their garden.  Even a three year olds know what pretend is.  Why don’t liberals? 

Obama's solution vs American Needs

What’s new Today

Our #1 story shows us the USA is still a great country.  Americans are much more interested in growth and opportunity than in redistribution.  #2 talks about Iran and its saber rattling.  #3 looks at the story about Nancy Pelosi’s daughters comments that her mother wants to retire but her donors don’t want her to.  #4 is appropriate for the coming banning of the standard 100 watt light bulb. 

1.  Voters want Growth, Not Redistribution

"A 2008 election widely regarded as heralding a shift toward the more government-friendly public sentiment of the New Deal and Great Society eras seems to have yielded just the reverse."So writes William Galston, Brookings Institution scholar and deputy domestic adviser in the Clinton White House, in the New Republic. Galston, one of the smartest political and policy analysts around, has strong evidence for this conclusion.

He cites a recent Gallup poll showing that WHILE 82 PERCENT OF AMERICANS THINK IT'S EXTREMELY OR VERY IMPORTANT TO "GROW AND EXPAND THE ECONOMY" and 70 percent say it's similarly important to "increase equality of opportunity for people to get ahead," ONLY 46 PERCENT SAY IT'S IMPORTANT TO "REDUCE THE INCOME AND WEALTH GAP BETWEEN THE RICH AND THE POOR" and 54 percent say this is only somewhat or not important.

In addition, by a 52 to 45 percent margin, Americans see the gap between the rich and the poor as an acceptable part of the economic system rather than a problem that needs to be fixed. In 1998, during the high-tech economic boom, Americans took the opposite view by the same margin.

As Galston notes, these findings suggest that OBAMA'S MUCH PRAISED SPEECH AT OSAWATOMIE, KANSAS, DECRYING INEQUALITY, "MAY WELL REDUCE HIS CHANCES OF PREVAILING IN A CLOSE RACE." Class warfare politics, as I have noted, hasn't produced a Democratic presidential victory in a long, long time.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/12/29/voters_want_growth_not_income_redistribution_112569.html

Obama and the left see the pie as fixed and therefore distribution is the only issue.  In fact, even though the rich have gotten richer over the past 30 years, so has everyone else. 

2.  Iran’s Threat to Close Straits of Hormuz

…Iran's navy does not have the size for a sustained physical blockade of the Strait, but DOES HAVE MINE-LAYING AND MISSILE CAPABILITY TO WREAK SOME HAVOC, ANALYSTS SAID.

"It wouldn't be a cakewalk" for Iran, said Caitlin Talmadge, a George Washington University professor who has written about the Strait of Hormuz. "IF TEHRAN REALLY WANTED TO CAUSE TROUBLE, IT COULD."

But the BAHRAIN-BASED U.S. FIFTH FLEET IS NEARBY AND KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON IRAN'S ACTIVITIES IN THE STRAIT. Mine-laying or missile activity would not go undetected and would likely generate a U.S. response.

The Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday that "any disruption will not be tolerated." That came after Iran's navy chief said closing the Strait of Hormuz "is really easy... or as Iranians say, it will be easier than drinking a glass of water." ..

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45813538

Iran would be fools to do this.  It would supply the rationale to bomb and take out Iran’s nuclear capabilities just before they become a nuclear power.  

3.   Pelosi is staying, but not for the Children’s Sake

Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of House Minority Leader and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, told Big Government this week that her mother wants to leave Congress–and that she remains in Washington only at the behest of her campaign donors.

During a telephone interview, Ms. Pelosi–speaking from a friend’s home in New York City–described her mother’s predicament:

SHE WOULD RETIRE RIGHT NOW, IF THE DONORS SHE HAS DIDN’T WANT HER TO STAY SO BADLY. They know she wants to leave, though. They think she’s destined for the wilderness. She has very few days left. She’s 71, she wants to have a life, she’s done. It’s obligation, that’s all I’m saying.

http://biggovernment.com/jsshapiro/2011/12/29/exclusive-nancy-pelosis-daughter-my-mom-wants-to-leave-congress/

What is the definition of a political gaffe?  It’s when a politician tells the truth.  Here it is a politician’s daughter.  Pelosi is staying for her “DONORS!!!!!”  She didn’t say for the children or even her constituents, but the people who donate money to her.  This does seem to coincide with Karl Rove’s prediction that she and Harry Reid will leave their leadership roles in 2012.

4.  Beating the Man

This is just too good.

Many of you know that in a few days the federal ban on conventional incandescent light bulbs will go into effect. And while House Republicans included a provision in a recent spending bill that will block funding for the ban's enforcement, it's said that it will have little effect; manufacturers have prepared for the new standards and will no doubt abide by the law. So does this mean we'll be forced to buy more expensive LED (light emitting diode) or CFL (compact fluorescent light) bulbs, the latter being those squiggly things said to be loaded with mercury? Not if we follow the lead of German businessman Siegfried Rotthaeuser.

After the European Union banned conventional incandescent bulbs, Rotthaeuser's entrepreneurial spirit was sparked. He started selling another product: heatballs.

What's a heatball? According to this Teutonic Knight of Freedom and Light, it is a "small heating device" that compensates for the loss of heat a home experiences when conventional light bulbs are swapped for more energy efficient ones.

At his English-version website, Rotthaeuser points out the convenience of his invention, writing, "A HEATBALL® is not a light bulb, but fits into the same socket!"

He then touts the new product as "The most original invention since the electric light bulb!" and explains, "Although a heatball is technically very similar to a light bulb, it is a heater rather than a source of light." Elaborating, he also states, "By using heatballs, the heating effort of a normal house is effectively assisted. A heatball is a source of heat. Or do you use your toaster as a desk lamp?"

A businessman with a conscience, however, Rotthaeuser also believes in truth in advertising. He thus is forthcoming about a certain unintended byproduct of his heating element, writing, "During its use as a heater, HEATBALLS have an unavoidable emission of light in the visible spectrum." Pity that. But if heatballs are anything at all like incandescent light bulbs, they should be very efficient little space heaters, indeed.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/12/upset_about_big_brothers_ban_on_incandescent_bulbs_buy_a_heatball.html#ixzz1i1iPsH6Z

Always good to warm your house in the winter time. 

Why isn't it working?

What’s new today

Our # 1 story is an excellent look at Keynesian economics and why it isn’t working.  #2 has one of Obama’s cabinet secretaries demeaning the TEA Party and using a sexual slur in referring to them. #3 tells the story of how the Russians have tried to get a spy into close connection with the Obama Administration.  #4 relates how Nancy Pelosi thinks Boeing should either unionize their new plant in South Carolina or shut it down.  I guess you have to be a union member to have a job in Nancy’s America.  #5 shows how despite what you hear from the left, school teachers make more than their counterparts in private industry and if you include fringe benefits, a lot more.  #6 shows the hypocrisy in the left.  While the OWS are out protesting Wall Street, we see Fannie and Freddie executives getting millions in bonuses even after the Federal government has had to come up with hundreds of billions in bailouts.  Finally in #7, we find that the British government is cutting the subsidy to solar in half and the predictions are that the industry will fold as a result. 

1.   Four Reasons Why Keynesians keep getting it Wrong

…FIRST, BIG INCREASES IN SPENDING AND GOVERNMENT DEFICITS RAISE THE PROSPECT OF FUTURE TAX INCREASES. Many people understand that increased spending must be paid for sooner or later. Meanwhile, President Obama makes certain that many more will reach that conclusion by continuing to demand permanent tax increases. HIS DEMANDS ARE A DETERRENT FOR THOSE WHO DO MOST OF THE SAVING AND INVESTING. Concern over future tax rates is one of the main reasons for heightened uncertainty and reduced confidence. Potential investors hold cash and wait.

SECOND, most of the government spending programs redistribute income from workers to the unemployed. This, Keynesians argue, increases the welfare of many hurt by the recession. What their models ignore, however, is THE REDUCED PRODUCTIVITY THAT FOLLOWS A SHIFT OF RESOURCES TOWARD REDISTRIBUTION and away from productive investment. Keynesian theory argues that each dollar of government spending has a larger effect on output than a dollar of tax reduction. But in reality the reverse has proven true. PERMANENT TAX REDUCTION GENERATES MORE EXPANSION THAN INCREASED GOVERNMENT SPENDING OF THE SAME DOLLARS. I believe that the resulting difference in productivity is a main reason for the difference in results….

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204777904576651532721267002.html?mod=rss_opinion_main

Well worth your time to read the entire article. 

2.   Carrying Water for Obama, Hilda Solis Picks a Fight with the Tea Party

With the team behind President Barack Obama targeting the Sunshine State in their bid for a second term in 2012, the White House sent U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to speak to the Florida Democratic Convention on Saturday.

A day after Vice President Joe Biden told the convention at Walt Disney World that Obama needed to carry Florida to win in 2012, SOLIS ATTEMPTED TO RALLY DEMOCRATS FOR THE ELECTIONS AND URGED THEM TO PUSH FOR THE OBAMA JOBS PLAN WHICH, with Republicans controlling the U.S. House, has no chance of passing Congress.

Speaking at a luncheon event on Saturday, Solis carried water for Obama, bashing Republicans and praising the administration’s economic policies.

Solis offered harsh words about conservatives. Looking at 2012, SOLIS SLAMMED THE TEA PARTY MOVEMENT, CALLING THEM “TEABAGGERS” and promising the Obama administration will take them on.

http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/carrying-water-barack-obama-hilda-solis-picks-fight-tea-party

These people are simply ignorant bigots.  Calling TEA Partiers what she did is the equivalent of a racial slur.  It’s time for Solis to resign. 

3.   Russian Spies come close to infiltrating Senior Obama Administration

The FBI rounded up a network of deep-cover Russian spies last year after the group came close to placing an agent near a Cabinet official in the Obama administration, a senior FBI  counterspy said Monday as the bureau released once-secret documents on the case.

Frank Figliuzzi, assistant FBI director for counterintelligence, did not identify the Cabinet official, but OTHER U.S. OFFICIALS SAID IT WAS SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON.

Mr. Figliuzzi said in an interview that the FBI decided to end its more than 10-year-long counterspy investigation of the network because of concerns that THE SPIES WERE “GETTING VERY CLOSE TO THEIR OBJECTIVE.”

“These 10 Russian officers were sent to the U.S. on a specific mission to get close to U.S. policymakers and leaders in our government,” he said, noting that one had developed a friendship with someone close to a Cabinet official.

Mrs. Clinton’s spokesman at the time the case broke, P.J. CROWLEY, SOUGHT TO DISTANCE HER FROM THE CASE, BUT DID NOT DENY THAT SHE WAS THE PERSON MENTIONED IN COURT PAPERS. “There is no reason to believe that the Secretary of State was a special target of this spy ring,” Mr. Crowley said in an email….

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/31/fbi-says-russian-spies-got-close-to-cabinet/

The lesson here is that we need to be ever vigilant. 

4.   Nancy Pelosi:  Government should shut down non-union manufacturing

In an interview late last week, House Minority Leaeder Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told CNBC that BOEING SHOULD EITHER UNIONIZE ITS PRODUCTION FACILITIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA, OR SHUT THEM DOWN ENTIRELY.

“Do you think it’s right that Boeing has to close down that plant in South Carolina because it’s non union?” asked host Maria Bartiromo. Pelosi’s reply: “Yes.”

THE MINORITY LEADER QUICKLY ADDED THAT SHE WOULD RATHER IT SIMPLY UNIONIZE AND STAY OPEN. BUT BARRING UNIONIZATION, BY PELOSI’S REASONING, IT SHOULD SIMPLY SHUT DOWN…

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/11/01/pelosi-heck-yeah-the-government-should-shut-down-that-scab-plant-in-south-carolina/

Freedom and liberty aren’t Democratic values at least they aren’t if you believe what former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said. 

5.   Public school teachers make more than private sector workers

We can already hear the anguished, angry protests of the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers. But our headline captures the essence of an important new study being released today by Jason Richwine of the Heritage Foundation's Center for Data Analysis and American Enterprise Institute's Andrew Biggs. RICHWINE AND BIGGS FOUND THAT WHEN PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS AND PRIVATE SECTOR WORKERS ARE COMPARED OBJECTIVELY ON THE BASIS OF COGNITIVE SKILLS -- RATHER THAN YEARS OF SERVICE OR EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT -- THE EDUCATORS ENJOY HIGHER COMPENSATION -- contrary to the claims of union officials in public debate and in negotiations with school boards.

This is seen most dramatically WHEN WORKERS SWITCH FROM NON-TEACHING JOBS TO TEACHING JOBS. SUCH A MOVE TYPICALLY RESULTS IN A WAGE INCREASE OF APPROXIMATELY NINE PERCENT. "TEACHERS WHO CHANGE TO NON-TEACHING JOBS, ON THE OTHER HAND, SEE THEIR WAGES DECREASE BY ROUGHLY 3 PERCENT. This is the opposite of what one would expect if teachers were underpaid," Richwine and Biggs said….

…"More generous fringe benefits for public-school teachers, including greater job security, MAKE TOTAL COMPENSATION 52 PERCENT GREATER THAN FAIR MARKET LEVELS, equivalent to more than $120 billion overcharged to taxpayers each year. Teacher compensation could therefore be reduced with only minor effects on recruitment and retention," Richwine and Biggs conclude….

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2011/10/public-school-teachers-make-more-private-sector-workers#ixzz1cSZmj9ZL

This certainly puts a hole in the underpaid, overworked meme by the NEA. 

6.   Crony Socialism at Work at Fannie And Freddie

The Obama administration’s efforts to fix the housing crisis may have fallen well short of helping millions of distressed mortgage holders, but THEY HAVE LED TO SEVEN-FIGURE PAYDAYS FOR SOME TOP EXECUTIVES AT TROUBLED MORTGAGE GIANTS FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC.

The FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY, THE GOVERNMENT REGULATOR FOR FANNIE AND FREDDIE, APPROVED $12.79 MILLION IN BONUS PAY AFTER 10 EXECUTIVES FROM THE TWO GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED CORPORATIONS LAST YEAR MET MODEST PERFORMANCE TARGETS TIED TO MODIFYING MORTGAGES IN JEOPARDY OF FORECLOSURE.

The executives got the bonuses about two years after the federally backed mortgage giants received nearly $170 billion in taxpayer bailouts — and despite pledges by FHFA, the office tasked with keeping them solvent, that it would adjust the level of CEO-level pay after critics slammed huge compensation packages paid out to former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines and others.

Securities and Exchange Commission documents show that Ed Haldeman, who announced last week that he is stepping down as Freddie Mac’s CEO, received a base salary of $900,000 last year yet took home an additional $2.3 million in bonus pay. Records show other Fannie and Freddie executives got similar Wall Street-style compensation packages; Fannie Mae CEO Michael Williams, for example, got $2.37 million in performance bonuses.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/67292.html#ixzz1cSeBDJnJ

This is a major scandal.  The cause of most of the economic problems remains unchanged and even the compensation packages are completely out of whack with the real world.  It’s time to dissolve Fannie and Freddie. 

7.   UK cuts Solar Subsidy

HUNDREDS OF SOLAR COMPANIES ARE LIKELY TO GO BUST BY CHRISTMAS AFTER THE DEPARTMENT FOR ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE CONFIRMED IT IS LOOKING TO HALVE SUBSIDIES FOR NEW PANELS.

Greg Barker, minister for climate change, said the "feed-in tariff" subsidies are currently too generous, because the cost of installing solar panels has fallen.

The proposed cuts, due to come into force from December, will see the amount earned from each panel fall FROM 43.3P PER KILOWATT HOUR OF SOLAR POWER TO 21P. This will save energy customers around £23 a year - or £700m in total - because the subsidies are funded through electricity bills.

However, the industry warned that many home owners and companies may immediately back away from the flagship scheme because IT WOULD NOW TAKE UP TO 25 YEARS TO EARN BACK THEIR INVESTMENTS.

Gaynor Hartnell, chief executive of the Renewable Energy Association, said: "The installation rate is likely to fall drastically, and many of the 25,000 newly-employed in this industry may end up joining the dole queue."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8859934/Government-accused-of-destroying-25000-green-jobs.html

This is the problem with green energy.  It is unreliable and expensive.  Without subsidies it is unworkable.  So when people talk about cutting government subsidies to all energy, it’s a good idea and it means the death of solar and wind energy.