Obama's TR Moment

What’s new today

Story #1 has Dr. Krauthammer hammering BHO.  #2 show BHO claiming an unemployment insurance extension and extending the tax cut on Social Security will create more jobs than the Keystone pipeline (estimated jobs 200,000).  Since both of those are extension, I’m not sure how they will create any new jobs!  #3 has Republicans questioning a two month gap in information about SC Justice Kagan.  #4 is my teaching moment today.  A very interesting discussion of the role of government.  #5 is something to keep your eye on.  Will Hillary challenge Obama?  #6 has Peggy Noonan looking at Newt Gingrich.  Another article worth your viewing and look at my comments as well. #7 is an article of fracking.  Here’s a environmentalist nightmare.  It appears to be completely safe and delivers fossil fuels that are relatively clean, but somehow they just can’t back it.  #8 is a repudiation by PolitiFact of a Jon Stewart claim about Christmas.  #9 is a fun look at 19 of life’s little victories. 

1.  Obama Explains it all to You

In the first month of his presidency, Barack Obama averred that IF IN THREE YEARS HE HADN’T ALLEVIATED THE NATION’S ECONOMIC PAIN, HE’D BE A “ONE-TERM PROPOSITION.”

When three-quarters of Americans think the country is on the “wrong track” and even Bill Clinton calls the economy “lousy,” how then to run for a second term? Traveling Tuesday to Osawatomie, Kan., site of a famous 1910 Teddy Roosevelt speech, Obama laid out the case

It seems that HE AND HIS POLICIES HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CURRENT STATE OF THINGS. Sure, presidents are ordinarily held accountable for economic growth, unemployment, national indebtedness (see Obama, above). But not this time. RESPONSIBILITY, YOU SEE, LIES WITH THE RICH.

Or, as the philosophers of Zuccotti Park call them, the 1 percent. For Obama, these rich are the ones holding back the 99 percent. THE “BREATHTAKING GREED OF A FEW” IS CRUSHING THE MIDDLE CLASS. If only the rich paid their “fair share,” the middle class would have a chance. Otherwise, government won’t have enough funds to “invest” in education and innovation, the golden path to the sunny uplands of economic growth and opportunity.

Where to begin? A country spending twice as much per capita on education as it did in 1970 with zero effect on test scores is not underinvesting in education. It’s mis-investing….

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamas-campaign-for-class-resentment/2011/12/08/gIQApYDagO_story.html

Krauthammer once again nails it.  Obama is a member of the political class with only good intentions in their heart so anything that goes wrong is not their fault. 

2.  Obamanomics:  Oh-Oh. 

… President Obama said that he will delay his vacation and keep Congress in session until the passage of his desired payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits extension -- two proposals that Obama said would create more jobs than the Keystone XL pipeline that his administration recently delayed.

"I would not ask anyone to do something I'm not willing to do myself," Obama said when asked if he would go on vacation while keeping Congress in Washington D.C. "We are going to stay here as long as it takes [to get unemployment extended and pass the payroll tax cut]."

As Obama called for passage of those bills, he also responded to a recent Republican push to require him to approve the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada. "HOWEVER MANY JOBS MIGHT BE GENERATED BY A KEYSTONE PIPELINE," HE SAID, "THEY'RE GOING TO BE A LOT FEWER THAN THE JOBS THAT ARE CREATED BY EXTENDING THE PAYROLL TAX CUT AND EXTENDING UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE."

For the record, it is estimated that Keystone would create about 200,000 jobs.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/12/obama_echoes_pelosi_-_unemployment_benefits_create_jobs.html#ixzz1g2PBvciE

Obama must go.  The man is delusional. 

3.   GOP Questions Two Month Gap on Kagan’s history

The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee said Thursday the Obama administration is fueling speculation about Justice Kagan ’s impartiality because IT WON’T TURN OVER DOCUMENTS DETAILING HER ROLE IN CRAFTING THE LEGAL STRATEGY TO DEFEND THE HEALTH CARE LAW.

Rep.Lamar Smith, the committee chairman, told Attorney General Eric Holder   that emails show Justice Kagan took an interest in the case in January 2010, when she was solicitor general, and he demanded to know WHAT ROLE SHE PLAYED BETWEEN THEN AND MARCH 2010, when President Obama tapped her to sit on the high court.

“The issue is how involved was she in health care discussions between Jan. 8 and March 5. Just as President Nixon had an 18½-minute gap, does Ms Kagan have a two-month gap?” Mr. Smith said.

Conservative groups have called for Justice Kagan to recuse herself from ruling on the health care case, which the Supreme Court last month said it will consider next year.

Mr. Smith has requested a fuller explanation of Justice Kagan’s role. HE SAID THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT DENIED HIS REQUEST, BUT NEVER CITED ANY LEGAL PRIVILEGE TO WITHHOLD INFORMATION.

Mr. Holder told the committee they tried to wall off Justice Kagan from conversations once they knew she was under consideration for the Supreme Court.  

“My memory is, whenever we had conversations about the health care bill, then-Solicitor General Kagan was not present,” he said.

But MR.SMITH SAID THAT WALLING OFF WOULDN’T HAVE OCCURRED UNTIL MARCH, LEAVING THE TWO-MONTH GAP HE QUESTIONED.

Mr.Holder also again declined to cite a specific legal privilege that would allow him to withhold documents or prevent committee investigators from interviewing department employees about Justice Kagan’s involvement. Instead, the attorney general said he has “separation of powers” concerns.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/8/gop-questions-two-month-gap-kagans-health-care-inv/

4.  The Role of Government

….Public Choice Theorists, like Nobel Laureate James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, provided an alternative view of government that was consistent with that of the Founders. THEY SAW GOVERNMENT AS JUST ANOTHER INSTITUTION IN THE SENSE THAT IT IS POPULATED BY SELF-INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS. As such, it would be an active player in the economy and society to the extent possible.

So long as these individuals could benefit from outcomes, GOVERNMENT COULD NOT BE AN HONEST BROKER. IN THEIR VIEW, THOSE WHO "SERVE" ARE NO DIFFERENT FROM THE "GREEDY" BUSINESSMAN WHO POLITICIANS REGULARLY CONDEMN.

This view of human nature drove the Founders to develop The Constitution, The Bill of Rights and the separation of powers in an attempt to contain misbehavior by government. Public Choice theory is merely a modern intellectual affirmation of what our educated Founders knew two and one-half centuries ago.

GOVERNMENT IS NECESSARILY RUN BY SELF-INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS UNTIL WE DISCOVER A WAY TO BREED AND ELECT ANGELS. FRIEDRICH HAYEK, AMONG OTHERS, ARGUED THAT A BIASED PROCESS ATTRACTS AND ENABLES THE "WORST" TO SUCCEED IN GOVERNMENT. (See "The Road to Serfdom" for his reasoning).

Passive and unbiased government is not impossible, merely highly improbable. Noble phrases like "public service" should be seen as modern day examples of what Nock saw as self-serving propaganda.

What Does This Mean?

Public Choice theorists deal with the difficulties of providing the proper incentives and disincentives to prevent self interest from exploiting positions in government. Charles R. Anderson recently used a taxonomy that is consistent with Public Choice and history. HE DESCRIBED TWO ORIENTATION OF GOVERNMENT -- PRINCIPLED VERSUS PRAGMATIC.

Mr. Anderson's description of the two follows:

1) A government which is HIGHLY LIMITED BY PRINCIPLE IN POWER AND SCOPE TO THE PURPOSE OF PROTECTING THE EQUAL, SOVEREIGN RIGHTS TO THE INDIVIDUAL TO LIFE, LIBERTY, PROPERTY, the ownership of one's own mind and body, and the pursuit of personal happiness. This is the legitimate government envisioned by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

2) A so-called PRAGMATIC GOVERNMENT NOT RESTRICTED BY PRINCIPLE TO A LIMITED SCOPE AND WITH FEW POWERS WHICH IS INCLINED TO BESTOW SPECIAL PRIVILEGES ON SPECIAL INTERESTS. Such a government may be a democracy, an oligarchy, a one-party state, or a dictatorship and IT MUST OF NECESSITY TRAMPLE THE RIGHTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL BECAUSE OUR PERSONAL INTERESTS ARE TOO DIVERSE FOR GOVERNMENT TO FOSTER ALL OF OUR INTERESTS. It must pick which interests it will favor and which it will suppress. It violates the principle that government should do no harm….

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/12/government_of_the_elites_by_the_elites_and_for_the_elites.html#ixzz1g2MjJpVf

Somehow when someone goes to work for the government they become chaste and good.  And if they leave government they become stupid and evil.  Just look at John Corzine as an example. 

5.  Will Hill Challenge O?

Jimmy Carter was not just defeated by Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election. Carter, the president who could easily be confused with his own floppy sweater, WAS FIRST KNOCKED DOWN BY SMILIN' TED KENNEDY, who was entitled to be president because he was a Kennedy. (Don't ask, this is how Democrats think.) Kennedy ran against Carter because the other Democrats were less prone to suicide than they are today. They still lost big.

OBAMA STARTED THE FIGHT THREE YEARS AGO, IN THE MINDS OF FEMINISTS, BY TARRING HILLARY AND BILL AS "RACISTS." Today we are getting media leaks from the Clintons: “I don’t know what the future holds” said Bill the other day, going wink, wink, nudge, nudge, and looking sincere. LIBERAL SNITCH PAUL BEDARD SAID IT MORE CLEARLY IN THE US NEWS BLOG: HILLARY CAMPAIGN CONSPICOUSLY EMERGES.

This could become a grudge match. You can call smear good and honorable Americans with the racist brush all you want, but just don't call another Demagogue a racist. It's not polite. They have ways of making you pay. And feminists are the nastiest of them all. Harvard's left feminists ate President Larry Summers for breakfast one day. And

Hillary's supporters have been boiling with rage since she lost to the Chicago Machine….

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/12/a_hillary_grudge_match_with_bam.html#ixzz1g2PzhLBT

Democrats tend to hope there is a bloody fight between Newt and Mitt and perhaps a third party run by Ron Paul.  But right now, the more likely third party candidate would be Bloomberg and if Hillary gets into it with O, expect a blood bath. 

6.  Noonan on Gingrich

….That's the problem with Newt Gingrich: IT'S ALL TRUE. It's part of the reason so many of those who know him are anxious about the thought of his becoming president. It's also why people are looking at him, thinking about him, considering him as president.

ETHICALLY DUBIOUS? TRUE. INTELLIGENT AND ACCOMPLISHED? TRUE. Has he known breathtaking success and contributed to real reforms in government? Yes. Presided over disasters? Absolutely. CAN HE LEAD? YES. IS HE ERRATIC AND UNRELIABLE AS A LEADER? YES. Egomaniacal? True. Original and focused, harebrained and impulsive—all true. ..

 … Republicans on the ground who view Mr. Gingrich from afar, who neither know nor have worked with him, are more likely to see him this way: "WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON TO ACTUALLY CUT GOVERNMENT? WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON WHO ACTUALLY LED A MOVEMENT THAT BALANCED THE FEDERAL BUDGET? . . . THE LAST TIME THERE WAS TRUE WELFARE REFORM, THE LAST TIME GOVERNMENT WAS CUT, GINGRICH DID IT." That is Rush Limbaugh, who has also criticized Mr. Gingrich.

And that is exactly what I've been hearing from Newt supporters who do not listen to talk radio. They are older voters, they are not all Republicans, and when government last made progress he was part of it. THEY HAVE A VERY PRACTICAL SENSE OF POLITICS NOW. The heroic era of the presidency is dead. They are not looking to like their president or admire him, they just want someone to fix the crisis. The last time helpful things happened in Washington, he was a big part of it. SO THEY MAY HIRE HIM AGAIN. ARE THEY PUT OFF BY HIS SCANDALS? NO. THEY THINK ALL POLITICIANS ARE SCANDALOUS….

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203413304577086824255350642.html

Noonan raises a red warning flag but also explains Newt’s appeal.  In reading this it makes me think of Steven Jobs.  Fired from Apple he came back to save the company and created a new future that went way beyond Apple.  He appears to not have been the nicest person around or the easiest to work for, but he was genius.  Could Newt do the same thing especially since we need the country fixed?  Is he worth the gamble? The Republicans will have a big say in this because whoever the Republicans nominate will be the next president of the United States. 

7.   Fracking:  The left tries to make a Mountain out of an Ant Hill

Hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") is the process used by the energy industry to extract immense deposits of oil and natural gas from deep geologic formations that only a few years ago were unreachable. It involves injecting a solution of water and chemicals far underground, typically thousands of feet below groundwater supplies. FRACKING WAS FIRST USED IN OKLAHOMA IN THE 1940S AND IN THE YEARS SINCE HAS BEEN EMPLOYED IN MORE THAN A MILLION OIL AND GAS WELLS ACROSS THE NATION. There is NOT A SINGLE INDEPENDENTLY DOCUMENTED INSTANCE OF GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION BY FRACKING ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY, a fact that was confirmed as recently as May by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson during congressional testimony.

So why did the EPA announce Thursday in a draft report that CHEMICALS "LIKELY" ASSOCIATED WITH FRACKING WERE FOUND AT A DRILLING SITE NEAR PAVILION, WYO.? Big Green activists who are determined to stop fracking will loudly proclaim from every media rooftop in coming days that there is now "proof" that fracking endangers drinking water across America. Here's what these ideologically blinded zealots won't tell you:

The next two sentences in the EPA announcement quoted in the opening paragraph state: "EPA also re-tested private and public drinking water wells in the community. The samples were consistent with CHEMICALS IDENTIFIED IN EARLIER EPA RESULTS RELEASED IN 2010 AND ARE GENERALLY BELOW ESTABLISHED HEALTH AND SAFETY STANDARDS." By "below," the EPA means that chemicals in the groundwater do not exceed acceptable health and safety standards….

….The facts remain as they were stated by Jackson in May: The EPA has not yet documented a single case in which fracking caused groundwater contamination.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2011/12/here-comes-another-rush-judgment-fracking/1987696#ixzz1g2U1y97F

Fracking is safe.  We have more than 1,000,000 wells fracked and there is absolutely no evidence of environmental damage even when there have been accidents.

8.   Jon Stewart on Christmas—Funny but Wrong

The Rhode Island controversy over Gov. Lincoln Chafee's decision to call the decorated spruce tree in the State House rotunda a "holiday tree" instead of a "Christmas tree" spilled over to Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" program on Dec. 6.

During a segment on the “Tree Fighting Ceremony” that focused on Fox News' assertion that there is a culture war against Christmas, Stewart said, "Perhaps you'd prefer to celebrate Christmas the way our Founding Fathers did."

Then he cut to a video clip from a documentary from the History channel cable network that stated: "On Dec. 25, 1789, the United States Congress sat in session and continued to stay open on Christmas Day for most of the next 67 years."…

… The web page "Dates of Sessions of the Congress, 1789-present" says that the last session of 1789 for both the House and the Senate was Sept. 29. By the time Christmas came around, Congress had been out of session for nearly three months. Both bodies reconvened on the first Monday in January 1790.

The web page also shows that there were three years from 1789 to 1857 when Congress had a formal recess that extended over Christmas Day. But that doesn't mean they were on the job on Dec. 25 during all the remaining years.

To find out, we went through the journals that were the predecessors of The Congressional Record.

So how many times did the House and Senate meet on Christmas Day during the first 68 years of Congress?

Once each….

http://www.politifact.com/rhode-island/statements/2011/dec/09/jon-stewart/comic-jon-stewart-says-early-congress-met-most-chr/

9.   19 Everyday Victories that you can Enjoy

1.      Whenever I’m waiting for the bus and it stops so that the door is right in front of me.

2.      Getting that popcorn kernel unstuck from in between my gum and tooth.

3.      Go to public bathroom and it’s empty!

4.      When I’m approaching a red light and don’t have to brake before it turns green again…

http://cavemancircus.com/2011/12/07/19-minor-everyday-victories-that-are-way-enjoyable/

What’s your favorite?  Keep reading there are 15 more.

Republicans will kill kids with their spending cuts claim Democrats

PBS hires Ann Coulter

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced today, in the first of a series of stunning announcements, that ITS TELEVISION SUBSIDIARY THE PUBLIC BROADCASTING SYSTEM (PBS) WILL BE REPLACING THE DEFUNCT BILL MOYERS JOURNAL WITH A NEW WEEKLY PROGRAM, ANN COULTER'S FAR OUT JOURNEY.

The Coulter show is one of several dramatic changes to the public broadcasting network composed of PBS and its corporate sibling National Public Radio (NPR). The changes are the result of major upheavals in the wake of the firing of NPR commentator Juan Williams and covert 60 Minutes-style videos from journalist James O'Keefe showing NPR executives entertaining financial offers from "donors" they believed to be representing the Muslim Brotherhood. The shift in approach is also a direct consequence of the Republican and Tea Party victories in the U.S. House and Senate in the 2010 elections.

http://spectator.org/archives/2011/04/01/pbs-hires-ann-coulter-levin-an


Expect to hear howls from the left about this. Even though they claim PBS is not biased, the audience for PBS likes it just the way it is, that is, without conservative input.



Obama gets transparency award—in secret

President Barack Obama accepted an award for making the government more open and transparent in secret.

The White House even left the event off the President’s public schedule, so no one knew about it and requests for journalists to cover the meeting by those attending were turned down.

‘To have such a meeting not be transparent is the height of irony. How absurd can that be?’ said one participant, Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, which keeps tabs on the White House Office of Management and Budget.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1372184/Barack-Obama-awarded-prize-transparency-closed-doors.html#ixzz1IGumiJjj

Somehow this seems apropos.



Live Mikes and Democrats

Politicians are notorious for the use of canned talking points. So when New York Sen. Chuck Schumer stuck his foot in his mouth on a conference call this week by admitting that he was simply parroting what Democratic Party chiefs had told him to say about the Tea Party, it wasn't as shocking as some made it out to be.

SLOPPY, YES. JAW-DROPPING, NO.

Schumer was caught on tape explaining to his fellow Democrats WHY HE FAVORS CHARACTERIZING SPENDING CUTS PROPOSED BY THE GOP AS "EXTREME" AND "DRACONIAN."

He proceeded to elaborate: "I ALWAYS USE THE WORD 'EXTREME'; THAT'S WHAT THE CAUCUS INSTRUCTED ME TO DO THE OTHER WEEK."

His unknowing moment of honesty EXPOSED HOW THE LEFT IS STILL DESPERATELY TRYING TO SLANDER THE TEA PARTY, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge its members' concerns and respect their opinions, unwilling to stop mocking them (as, for example, with the tired "tea bagger" label).

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/columnists/tantaros/index.html

It seems that when Democrats don’t know others can hear them they say what they really think and mean, and it doesn’t work out too well for them.



Obama’s choice: The False Choice

It’s time to retire the false choice.

As a rhetorical device, particularly as A POLITICAL RHETORICAL DEVICE, THE FALSE CHOICE HAS OUTLIVED ITS USEFULNESS, IF IT EVER HAD ANY. The phrase has become a trite substitute for serious thinking. It serves too often to obscure rather than to explain….

…. THE FIRST, A PARTICULAR OBAMA SPECIALTY, IS THE “FALSE” FALSE CHOICE. Set up two unacceptable extremes that no one is seriously advocating and position yourself as the champion of the reasonable middle ground between these unidentified straw men.

Thus, Obama on health care, stretching back to the presidential campaign: “I REJECT THE TIRED OLD DEBATE THAT SAYS WE HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN TWO EXTREMES: GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE WITH HIGHER TAXES — OR INSURANCE COMPANIES WITHOUT RULES DENYING PEOPLE COVERAGE,” he said in 2008. “That’s a false choice.” IT’S ALSO A CHOICE THAT NO ONE — CERTAINLY NO OTHER POLITICIAN — WAS PROPOSING.

Or Obama on financial reform: “WE NEED NOT CHOOSE BETWEEN A CHAOTIC AND UNFORGIVING CAPITALISM AND AN OPPRESSIVE GOVERNMENT-RUN ECONOMY. That is a false choice that will not serve our people or any people.” Again, please find me the advocate of either extreme….

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/presidential-myth-the-false-choice/2011/03/31/AFvoZRBC_story.html?hpid=z5

As long as this is simply a rhetorical device, President Obama’s uses, it is of little consequences. What is of concern is whether or not he actually believes this himself.

Krauthammer’s Take: Obama on Energy

From Wednesday night’s Fox News All-Stars.

On President Obama’s speech on energy policy:

"You’ll notice he picked an odd number as his starting point as a way to measure the one-third reduction. He said ‘WHEN I WAS SWORN INTO OFFICE,’ AND YOU ASK YOURSELF, WELL, WHY WOULD HE PICK THAT NUMBER INSTEAD OF TODAY’S? It’s because on the day he was sworn into office we imported 11 million barrels a day. Well, because of recession and other causes it’s now 9.7 [million]. SO WE’RE A THIRD OF THE WAY TO HIS GOAL AS OF TODAY WITHOUT HIM HAVING LIFTED A FINGER."

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/263608/krauthammers-take-nro-staff


So Obama takes credit for the recession when it’s in his interest to do so, but blames Bush for the bad parts. I guess he really is just another politician.



Obama would ignore Congress if they tried to curtail Libya actions

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), who asked Clinton about the War Powers Act during a classified briefing, SAID CLINTON AND THE ADMINISTRATION ARE SIDESTEPPING THE MEASURE’S PROVISIONS GIVING CONGRESS THE ABILITY TO PUT A 60-DAY TIME LIMIT ON ANY MILITARY ACTION.

“They are not committed to following the important part of the War Powers Act,” he told TPM in a phone interview. “SHE SAID THEY ARE CERTAINLY WILLING TO SEND REPORTS [TO US] AND IF THEY ISSUE A PRESS RELEASE, THEY’LL SEND THAT TO US TOO.”

THE WHITE HOUSE WOULD FORGE AHEAD WITH MILITARY ACTION IN LIBYA EVEN IF CONGRESS PASSED A RESOLUTION CONSTRAINING THE MISSION, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during a classified briefing to House members Wednesday afternoon.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/263582/clinton-congress-obama-would-ignore-war-resolutions-daniel-foster


They told me if I voted for McCain, the government would end up in military adventures where they would ignore the Constitution and the congress if they wanted to limited them—and they were right.



Just Say No

This oral testimony (around 25 minutes) by ARNOLD KLING, A FORMER FREDDIE MAC ECONOMIST AND NOW MY COLLEAGUE AT THE MERCATUS CENTER, IS A MUST-WATCH. Speaking before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, he urged Congress to “just say no,” to more government involvement in the housing market.

ANY SCHEME TO BRING A GOVERNMENT GUARANTEE IS COMPARABLE TO BUILDING A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT ON TOP OF A FAULT LINE.

The best part is when Kling explains that “IT WOULD BE NAÏVE TO THINK THE PRIVATE SECTOR ALWAYS GETS THINGS RIGHT. BUT EVEN MORE NAÏVE TO THINK GOVERNMENT COULD GET IT RIGHT. THE GOVERNMENT IS CAPTURED BY SPECIAL INTERESTS.” As evidence, he points to the other witnesses on the panel: Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, and Michael Berman, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association. Both institutions would benefit from a government guarantee on mortgage-backed securitizations, which is one option under consideration. The chairman was obviously upset with Kling, but I thought it was priceless.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/263574/just-say-no-veronique-de-rugy


How true this is. Special interests are always trying to get government to do their bidding. Government is neither efficient nor effective, it is political.



USAID Official claims Republicans budget cuts will kill 70,000 Kids

House Republicans offered delayed outrage to President Obama's point man on U.S. development and humanitarian missions, who testified before Congress this week that A BUDGET PLAN HOUSE REPUBLICANS PASSED LAST MONTH WOULD LEAD TO 70,000 KIDS DYING.


USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah told the House Appropriations State and Foreign Ops subcommittee on Wednesday that the budget plan, which would cut $61 billion in federal spending, would lead to the deaths of 30,000 kids in a malaria control program that would have to be scaled back, 24,000 from a lack of immunizations and 16,000 from a lack of skilled attendants at birth.

"There's a way to do this that does not have to cost lives and we're very focused and very much want to work with the committee to identify a path forward that can allow us to be effective at doing so," he said. SHAH IS SEEKING $59.5 BILLION IN FUNDING FOR HIS AGENCY, UP 22 PERCENT, OR $10.7 BILLION, FROM THE CURRENT LEVEL.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/04/01/obama-official-gop-budget-kill-70000-kids/


Here is someone who obviously believes the best defense is a good offense. In the current budget situation he is asking for a 22% increase!!! Looking at history, the USAID budget in 2006 was $20.7 billion which increased 25% over the previous six years. If USAID were granted what they asked for here, that would amount to a 187% increase over the last six years. When the Democrats tell you about dire consequences in cutting the budget, understand they are not telling you the truth.

Healthcare and civility

House Passes Repeal of Healthcare

HOUSE REPUBLICANS PASSED A BILL TO REPEAL PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S HEALTH CARE PLAN Wednesday, taking their first major step toward rolling back the massive overhaul that has dominated the American political landscape for almost two years.

THE VOTE WAS 245 TO 189, AND UNANIMOUS GOP SUPPORT GAVE THE VOTE THE SAME PARTISAN FEEL OF THE MARCH VOTE TO PASS THE LAW, underscoring once again the hardened political lines of the health care debate. Only three Democrats backed the repeal, a smaller number than Republicans had once predicted.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47831.html#ixzz1BZQStlHx

A partisan vote to be sure, but the repeal passed by much more than the original bill passed by.  The reason for this is that the Democrats knew voting for it would hurt moderate democrats and Pelosi let some vote against it.  Evidently voting for repeal will not hurt Republicans.

Democrat show his civility: Compares Republicans to Nazis

The newfound civility didn’t last long. POLITICAL RHETORIC IN CONGRESS DOESN’T GET MUCH NASTIER than the words of one House Democrat during the debate on repealing the health care law.


In an extraordinary outburst on the House floor, REP. STEVE COHEN (D-TN) INVOKED THE HOLOCAUST TO ATTACK REPUBLICANS ON HEALTH CARE and compared rhetoric on the issue to the work of infamous Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.

“They say it's a government takeover of health care, a big lie just like Goebbels," Cohen said. "YOU SAY IT ENOUGH, YOU REPEAT THE LIE, YOU REPEAT THE LIE, AND EVENTUALLY, PEOPLE BELIEVE IT. LIKE BLOOD LIBEL. That's the same kind of thing. And Congressman Cohen didn’t stop there.

The Germans said enough about the Jews and people believed it--believed it and you have the Holocaust. We heard on this floor, government takeover of health care. Politifact said the biggest lie of 2010 was a government takeover of health care because there is no government takeover," Cohen said.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/01/abc-news-jonathan-karl-reports-the-newfound-civility-didnt-last-long-political-rhetoric-in-congress-doesnt-get-much.html


Blood libel anyone? How absolutely irresponsible and just plain stupid. I guess Cohen is going for the Grayson award for outrageous speech.



Sheila Jackson Lee Says Repealing ObamaCare Violates Constitution

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Texas, said on Tuesday afternoon that repealing the national health care law would violate the Constitution.

Arguing that the Commerce Clause provides the constitutional basis for ObamaCare, Jackson Lee said repealing the law by passing Republicans' H.R. 2 VIOLATES BOTH THE FIFTH AMENDMENT'S RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS AND THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT'S EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE.

“The Fifth Amendment speaks specifically to denying someone their life and liberty without due process," she said in a speech on the House floor moments ago. "That is what H.R. 2 does and I rise in opposition to it. And I rise in opposition because it is important that we preserve lives and we recognize that 40 million-plus are uninsured

http://spectator.org/blog/2011/01/18/shelia-jackson-lee-says-repeal


The more I heard from Congresswoman Lee, the more I think we need to go beyond reading the Constitution to actually having classes on it for our Congress people. Unless I’m reading this wrong, it appears Ms. Lee is calling for Obamacare to take the 5th. One of the comments on this story said: “I'm a lawyer and reading that "analysis" made me nauseous. Never has so much stupidity been put into so few words.”

Two thirds of Doctors Surveyed see a decline in quality of care under Obamacare

Nearly two-thirds of U.S. doctors surveyed fear healthcare reform could worsen care for patients, by flooding their offices and hurting income, according to a Thomson Reuters survey released Tuesday.

The SURVEY OF MORE THAN 2,900 DOCTORS found many predict the legislation will force them to work harder for less money.

"WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE QUALITY OF HEALTHCARE IN THE U.S. OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, 65 PERCENT OF THE DOCTORS BELIEVED IT WOULD DETERIORATE WITH ONLY 18 PERCENT PREDICTING IT WOULD IMPROVE," Thomson Reuters, parent company of Reuters, said in a statement.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41149280/

Perhaps Rep Cohen should read this before he libels Repubicans.

The answer that no one wants to take seriously: the debt ceiling

For months, some political leaders and commentators have argued that failure to raise the debt ceiling would necessarily cause the U.S. to default on its debt. President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors chairman, Austan Goolsbee, recently warned, "If we get to the point where you've damaged the full faith and credit of the United States,that would be the first default in history caused purely by insanity. I don't see why anybody's talking about playing chicken with the debt ceiling."


In fact, IF CONGRESS REFUSES TO RAISE THE DEBT CEILING, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL STILL HAVE FAR MORE THAN ENOUGH MONEY TO FULLY SERVICE OUR DEBT. Next year, for instance, about 6.5% of all projected federal government expenditures will go to interest on our debt, and tax revenue is projected to cover about 67% of all government expenditures. WITH ROUGHLY 10 TIMES MORE INCOME THAN NEEDED TO HONOR OUR DEBT OBLIGATIONS, WHY WOULD WE EVER DEFAULT?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703954004576089963912388314.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop


This is the dirty little secret no one wants to public to know about. If we didn’t raise the debt ceiling government would have to cut spending by 33%. That would be a very difficult cut to take, but in the last three years, government has increased spending by 30%. Maybe it isn’t so ominous after all.  It also explains why the Republicans will have a lot of leverage with Obama.  Obama and the Republicans know that failure to raise the debt ceiling will not cause a default.

The gathering storm

Illinois is caught in a trap of its own making, agreeing with unions (the Democrat base) to pay EXORBITANT AMOUNTS OF RETIREMENT AND HEALTH BENEFITS TO PUBLIC EMPLOYEES THE STATE CANNOT AFFORD. Governors in nearby states are inviting Illinois residents and businesses to move from Illinois. No doubt many will accept those invitations, taking their money and their jobs with them.


States that have had enough have Republican governors who are committed to reducing spending and taxes.


In his State of the State address last week, INDIANA REPUBLICAN GOV. MITCH DANIELS PROPERLY TOOK CREDIT FOR POLICIES THAT HAVE PLACED HIS STATE AMONG THE FINANCIALLY STRONGEST IN THE NATION: the lowest property taxes in the country and matching spending to income by eliminating "nice to do" programs, focusing instead on "must do" ones.


Daniels noted, "Elsewhere state government payrolls have grown, but here, we have the nation's FEWEST STATE EMPLOYEES PER CAPITA, fewer than we did in 1978."


He said that during the current recession "AT LEAST 35 STATES RAISED TAXES, BUT INDIANA CUT THEM. Since '04, the other 49 states added to their debt, by 40 percent; WE PAID OURS DOWN BY 40 PERCENT." Other states went into the red, he said, but in Indiana "our savings account remains strong, and our credit AAA."

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2011/01/tale-two-parties-and-their-priorities#ixzz1BWLG7Y95


You will be reading about this more and more in the next 21 months. This, along with healthcare are the issues that will determine the 2012 election.

'I WISH I COULD'

 Just as a new report details how state-run media networks have used the Arizona shootings to attack conservative voices (by an eight-to-one ratio), ONE LIBERAL HATE-TALKER HAS DECIDED TO DOUBLE-DOWN ON HIS NOTORIOUSLY-EXTREME RHETORIC.

Syndicated/ XM-Sirius Satellite-based MIKE MALLOY, no stranger to Radio Equalizer readers, spent part of last night's show defending his violence fantasies and even REVEALED A NEW ONE: A DESIRE TO CHOKE RUSH LIMBAUGH TO DEATH.

In the past, Malloy's "fantasies" have targeted Dana Perino, Matt Drudge, Dick Cheney and many others. As conservative hosts have come under fire by left-wing media outlets over the past week, Bill O'Reilly and others have called attention to Malloy's greatest hits, leading to Mike's on-air "explanation

http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com//

Malloy is a poster child for “hate radio.” Here are a couple of his tirades.

I HAVE A GOOD NEWS TO REPORT; GLEN BECK APPEARS CLOSER TO SUICIDE - I'M HOPING THAT HE DOES IT ON CAMERA; suicide is rampant in his family, and given his alcoholism and his tendencies towards self-destruction, I AM ONLY HOPING THAT WHEN GLEN BECK DOES PUT A GUN TO HIS HEAD AND PULLS THE TRIGGER, THAT IT WILL BE ON TELEVISION, because somebody will capture it on YouTube and it will be the most popular video for months. -- Mike Malloy



THE REAL INTERNAL TERRORISTS ARE THE REPUBLICANS, I mean, isn't that clear? RUSH LIMBAUGH IS A BIGGER THREAT TO THIS COUNTRY THAN OSAMA BIN LADEN. He's a bigger threat than anybody that the CIA can invent. He's a bigger threat than any terrorist that ever leveled its sights against the United States, Limbaugh is, SO WHY ISN'T HE ARRESTED AND SENTENCED FOR TREASON?... -- Mike Malloy



Why We're a Divided Nation

By Walter Williams

Some Americans have strong, sometimes unyielding preferences for Mac computers, while most others have similarly strong preferences for PCs and wouldn't be caught dead using a Mac. Some Americans love classical music and hate rock and roll. Others have opposite preferences, loving rock and roll and consider classical music as hoity-toity junk……WHEN'S THE LAST TIME YOU HEARD OF ROCK AND ROLL LOVERS IN CONFLICT WITH CLASSICAL MUSIC LOVERS, or Mac lovers in conflict with PC lovers, or football lovers in conflict with golf lovers? IT SELDOM IF EVER HAPPENS. When there's market allocation of resources and peaceable, voluntary exchange, people have their preferences satisfied and are able to live in peace with one another.

Think what might be the case if it were a political decision of whether there'd be football or golf watched on TV, whether we used Macs or PCs and whether we listened to classical music or rock and roll. EVERYONE HAD TO COMPLY WITH THE POLITICALLY MADE DECISION OR SUFFER THE PAIN OF FINES OR IMPRISONMENT. Football lovers would be lined up against golf lovers, Mac lovers against PC lovers and rock and rollers against classical music lovers. PEOPLE WHO PREVIOUSLY LIVED IN PEACE WITH ONE ANOTHER WOULD NOW BE IN CONFLICT…..

….The best thing the president and Congress can do to reduce the potential for conflict and violence is REDUCE THE IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT ON OUR LIVES. Doing so will not only produce a less-divided country and greater economic efficiency, but greater faith and allegiance to the vision of America held by our founders — a country of limited government. Our founders, in the words of Thomas Paine, recognized that, "GOVERNMENT, EVEN IN ITS BEST STATE, IS BUT A NECESSARY EVIL; IN ITS WORST STATE, AN INTOLERABLE ONE."

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/williamns011911.php3?printer_friendly

It amazing how simple this solution is and how intolerable it is to those on the left.

AGW is dead: warmists answer, change the definition of alive

What Eschenbach says is so pure and simple and obvious you’d need to be as dumb as Chris Huhne not to get it:

THE THEORY LINKING MAN-MADE CO2 WITH DANGEROUS GLOBAL WARMING IS DEAD. It has been falsified. It has run smack bang into a “null hypothesis.” It has met its Waterloo. It has bought the farm. It has gone for a Burton. It has cashed in its chips, fallen off its perch, gone south, gone west, shuffled off this mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the Choir Invisible. MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING HAS CEASED TO EXIST…..

… What Eschenbach focuses on, though, is TRENBERTH’S ABSURD DEMAND that THE “NULL HYPOTHESIS” ON AGW THEORY BE REVERSED. That is, instead of having to prove AGW exists, what PEOPLE SHOULD NOW BE REQUIRED TO PROVE THAT IT DOESN’T EXIST. (!)….

…. The reason for this is that “Climate Change” has long since abandoned any connection it had now with actual science. IT IS AN IDEOLOGY. A RELIGION. A PSYCHOPATHOLOGY....

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100072360/warmists-we-cant-win-the-game-so-lets-change-the-rules/


Watching what is going on is like watching Bret Farve this past year for Minnesota. At one time he was great. Now he’s a shadow of his former self. Trenberth and the other high priests of AGW now preach a pathetic doctrine and try to back it up with fraudulent data. It is sad.