From Wisconsin to Libya

Why Walker took on unions' power

“Why is Scott Walker so afraid of collective bargaining?” asks Christian Schneider in the new edition of Wisconsin Interest. The answer, he writes, “can be found in the rise of the state’s teachers unions.”....

.....Gov. Gaylord Nelson radically changed Wisconsin in 1959 when he permitted public-sector unionization, but AN INFLECTION POINT NEARLY AS IMPORTANT WAS THE 1977 MEDIATION-ARBITRATION LAW THAT STEMMED FROM THE BITTER 1974 TEACHERS STRIKE IN HORTONVILLE. It ended public-sector strikes, but it also empowered a kind of pattern bargaining that let unions do a number of public budgets. That’s why the per-pupil spending line shifts to a radically steeper slope at that point.

Writes Schneider:

“Consider that in the 16 years prior to Hortonville, AVERAGE STATE PER-PUPIL SPENDING INCREASED 6.7% PER YEAR. POST-STRIKE, IT JUMPED TO 9.6% PER YEAR in the 16 years following the Hortonville clash.”

Schneider details the techniques, but the underlying reality is that collective bargaining has worked well for unions -- and wretchedly for taxpayers. They’ve slowly enriched the one at the expense of the other. He writes:....

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/118535169.html

Some interesting facts here. 6.7% increases will double what you spend in approximately 11 years. 9.6% increases doubles spending in 7.5 years. That is a huge difference which will break any system even a governmental one.



Tyranny of the Minority

Statehouse walkouts are not without precedent. In fact, they are a reasonably common occurrence. But they are largely symbolic gestures -- an attempt to demonstrate the minority's outraged disapproval of the majority's agenda. SELDOM DO THEY GO ON FOR DAYS, AND UNTIL NOW, NEVER HAVE THEY BEEN LEGITIMATE ATTEMPTS TO UNDERMINE THE ENTIRE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS BY GRINDING THE OPERATION OF GOVERNMENT TO A HALT.

Yet that is exactly what the Wisconsin Democrats attempted, and what their Indiana counterparts are still shamefully perpetrating. What is taking place in the Indiana Statehouse is far from a mere regional or petty statewide issue; IT IS A DIRECT ASSAULT ON THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS THAT DESERVES NATIONAL ATTENTION AND COLLECTIVE, BIPARTISAN SCORN. For while the Wisconsin constitution allowed the Republicans a procedural recourse to rectify the stalemate (something they employed when it became apparent the Democrats could not be lured back by compromise), Indiana Republicans have no such option.

For those who may be unaware, Indiana Statehouse Democrats staged a walkout a month ago to deny the large Republican majority the ability to enact legislation opposed by public and private union bosses - specifically right-to-work and public education reform laws. THE DEMOCRAT CAUCUS FLED ACROSS STATE LINES TO ILLINOIS (WHERE ELSE?), AND HAVE BEEN HOLED UP IN A HOTEL DEMANDING CONCESSION AFTER CONCESSION TO EARN THEIR RETURN. But even after capitulating to their juvenile fit and pulling the right-to-work law off the table, Republican leaders have been unsuccessful in luring the Democrats back to work.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/03/democrats_tyranny_of_the_minor.html


Perhaps it is time to make the unexcused failure to attend a certain number of sessions an offense punishable by ejection from the elected office the lawmaker is in.



Gorelick considered to head the FBI

The Obama administration reportedly is considering former Clinton administration official Jamie Gorelick, among others, to become the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The Wall Street Journal’s Evan Perez first reported the news last week, citing “U.S. officials” familiar with the situation.

GORELICK SERVED AS VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION (FANNIE MAE) WHEN THE GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED ENTERPRISE BEGAN BUNDLING SUBPRIME LOANS INTO SECURITIZED FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS. Prior to that, she served as deputy attorney general in the Clinton Justice Department under then-Attorney General Janet Reno from 1994 to 1997.

http://nation.foxnews.com/fbi/2011/03/23/woman-tied-911-fannie-mae-obamas-fbi-shortlist

Here’s a Democrat who hasn’t shown much in the way of ethics or good judgment and she’s being considered to head the FBI. Somehow it doesn’t surprise me from this administration.



Is Libya a stalemate?

IT'S THE NIGHTMARE SCENARIO: A STALEMATE. THAT IS WHAT BARACK OBAMA AND HIS 'COALITION OF THE UNWILLING' ARE FACING IN LIBYA, A U.S. OFFICIAL HAS WARNED.

The prediction came as Western warplanes hit Libya for a fifth night last night - but still failed to stop Muammar Gaddafi's tanks shelling rebel-held towns or dislodge his armour from a strategic junction in the east.

GADDAFI'S TANKS ROLLED BACK INTO MISRATA UNDER THE COVER OF DARKNESS AND BEGAN SHELLING THE AREA NEAR THE MAIN HOSPITAL, residents and rebels said, resuming their attack after their guns were silenced in daylight hours by Western airstrikes.....

....As the killing went on in Libya, anxiety is growing in Washington.

Unless Western forces take some kind of decisive action WE COULD BE FACING A FIGHT TERRIFYINGLY SIMILAR TO THE ONE THE U.S. HAS FOUGHT FOR NEARLY A DECADE IN AFGHANISTAN: with the U.S. military bleeding billions, an incalculable cost in human life, and negligible results.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1369444/Libya-War-Obama-needs-order-surge-Gaddafi-mission-stalemate.html#ixzz1HW73Fyk2

It is time to give back the “Peace Prize.”



Why the GOP is Obsessed with 'Leadership'

Leaders do not operate in a vacuum. When they make strategic adjustments, their opponents do too. President Obama has prompted just such a pivot by Republicans.

THEY'RE CRITICIZING HIM NOT FOR THE DECISIONS HE'S MADE BUT FOR THE ONES HE HASN'T, and the ones he delayed. They are attacking him not as a liberal ideologue but as a man in full flight from any ideological definition. IF THEY ONCE SAID HIS PLANS WERE TOO BIG, THEY ARE NOW ASKING IF HE HAS ANY PLANS AT ALL….

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/03/24/why_the_gop_is_obsessed_with_leadership_109333.html


EJ Dionne is missing the point. Obama is acting as was feared he would react: like an amateur. All those promises of resetting our relationships abroad, getting those “axis of evil” countries to come to the bargaining table have not simply not happened, but the opposite seems to have happened. Obama is a foreign policy disaster.



Obama’s Presidency Still Hangs By a Thread

What a difference nine days makes—or not. Because the Obama presidency is again hanging by a thread, but this time the thread is not the result of inaction. It is, rather, THE RESULT OF TAKING ACTION SO INCOMPREHENSIBLE AND INCOHERENT THAT EVEN OBAMA’S OWN PEOPLE ARE FINDING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO DEFEND OR EXPLAIN (thus the already notorious coinage yesterday of the term “kinetic military action” to describe the firing of 170 missiles and the destruction from the air of Libyan facilities).

As of now, there’s no reason anyone would cast a vote in 2012 directly based on what happens in Libya. But handling something this peculiarly means THE PRESIDENT IS ON THE VERGE OF CONVINCING ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE THAT HE’S EITHER NOT THE MAN THEY VOTED FOR (ON THE LEFT) OR THAT HE’S IN OVER HIS HEAD (not only people who dislike him already but independents who took a chance on him in 2008).

And there are other gloomy portents on the horizon. Rasmussen Reports revealed yesterday that 23 PERCENT OF AMERICANS THINK THE COUNTRY IS ON THE RIGHT TRACK. The right-track number is among the most important in all of polling; IF IT’S NOT AT LEAST ABOVE 40 AT THE TIME OF AN ELECTION, AN INCUMBENT PRESIDENT DOES NOT HAVE A PRAYER OF WINNING A SECOND TERM. It’s a very long time (in polling terms) till Election Day 2012, but without question, Obama has a climb ahead of him.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/03/24/obamas-presidency-still-hangs-by-a-thread-but-for-a-different-reason/

Unless Obama changes soon, the American public will be convinced that he is not presidential material and he will be voted out of office.


Obama locked out of Oval Office

President Obama had some unexpected trouble at the White House on Wednesday: HE COULDN'T GET INTO THE OVAL OFFICE.

After returning from a five-day trip to Latin America, President Obama returned to the White House to find that some of the doors to the Oval Office were locked tight.

Staff at the White House appeared not to have known that the the president had returned early from his trip and HADN'T UNLOCKED THE DOORS, ACCORDING TO AN ABC NEWS AFFILIATE IN WASHINGTON.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/151659-obama-locked-out-of-oval-office


If Obama and the democrats are superstitious, this is not a good sign for 2012.


Obama’s Libyan Intervention Has Lowest Approval of Any Military Op Polled by Gallup in 4 Decades

President Barack Obama’s intervention in Libya’s civil war has not only failed to win the approval of a majority of the American people, according to a Gallup poll conducted Monday, it also earned the lowest public approval rating of any U.S. military operation polled by Gallup over the past four decades.

In fact, IT WAS THE ONLY U.S. MILITARY INTERVENTION POLLED BY GALLUP THAT RECEIVED LESS THAN MAJORITY APPROVAL FROM AMERICANS.


“The 47% of Americans approving of the action against Libya is lower than what Gallup has found when asking about approval of other U.S. military campaigns in the past four decades,” said Gallup's analysis of the poll.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-s-libyan-intervention-has-lowest-p-0

Nothing this man does seems to go right.



Political insiders don’t think the public knows what it’s doing

When it comes to policy, the political class doesn’t have a lot of faith in the public’s IQ. In the latest National Journal Political Insiders Poll, A SOLID MAJORITY OF POLITICAL OPERATIVES—59 PERCENT—SAID THE PUBLIC DIDN’T “KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THE ISSUES FACING WASHINGTON to form wise opinions about what should be done.” There was a sharp partisan difference between the two parties: By more than a 2-to-1 margin, Democratic Insiders believed the public didn’t “know enough,” while a slight majority of Republicans thought they did.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/six-of-ten-political-insiders-believe-public-is-ill-informed-20110324

Doing some simple math, you can see the authors oversampled Democratic insiders (63%) to Republicans insiders (37%). If you do the math with the numbers mentioned that what it would take to have 59% be the percent that doubted the American public knowledge and wisdom at the polls.

Why you shouldn't want to be a Democrat

Who Do You Trust?

According to Rasmussen Reports, likely voters continue to trust Republicans over Democrats on all the major issues. I suggest that it's THE RECENT CONSERVATIVE, TEA PARTY PHILOSOPHY OF LESS SPENDING / LOWER TAXES WHICH HAS GENERATED POPULAR SYMPATHY FOR THE GOP - and that they should follow the public's lead if they wish to retain their good graces

http://nlt.ashbrook.org/2011/03/who-do-you-trust.php


Looking at the graphic, things do not look good for the Democrats.


Editorial: President Obama’s Crony Capitalism

LEADERSHIP: Obama critics were quick to link U.S. loans for Brazil oil to benefits for his investor pal George Soros. There was no link in this case, but considering how this president operates, it's no wonder suspicions ran high.

The president's announcement that HIS ADMINISTRATION WOULD LEND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO DEVELOP BRAZIL'S OFFSHORE OIL RESERVES LEFT MANY AMERICANS FLABBERGASTED.

After all, HE HAD ISSUED TWO DRILLING MORATORIUMS IN U.S. WATERS AND THEN WAS DECLARED IN CONTEMPT OF COURT FOR DEFYING A FEDERAL JUDGE WHO ORDERED THE MORATORIUMS REVERSED. Some wondered if the president wasn't intentionally acting against U.S. interests….

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/566837/201103221841/Crony-In-Chief.htm

An interesting editorial and one that does deserve to be read. It appears we have a case of Presidential NIMBY Don’t miss it.



Obama and Libya

DEEP DIVISIONS BETWEEN ALLIED FORCES CURRENTLY BOMBING LIBYA WORSENED TODAY AS THE GERMAN MILITARY ANNOUNCED IT WAS PULLING FORCES OUT OF NATO OVER CONTINUED DISAGREEMENT ON WHO WILL LEAD THE CAMPAIGN.

A German military spokesman said it was recalling two frigates and AWACS surveillance plane crews from the Mediterranean, after fears they would be drawn into the conflict if NATO takes over control from the U.S.

The infighting comes as a heated meeting of NATO ambassadors yesterday failed to resolve whether the 28-nation alliance should run the operation to enforce a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone, diplomats said.

YESTERDAY A WAR OF WORDS ERUPTED BETWEEN THE U.S. AND BRITAIN AFTER THE U.K. GOVERNMENT CLAIMED MUAMMAR GADDAFI IS A LEGITIMATE TARGET FOR ASSASSINATION.

U.K. government officials said killing the Libyan leader would be legal if it prevented civilian deaths as laid out in a U.N. resolution.

But U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates hit back at the suggestion, saying it would be 'unwise' to target the Libyan leader adding cryptically that the bombing campaign should stick to the 'U.N. mandate'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1368693/Libya-war-Germans-pull-forces-NATO-Libyan-coalition-falls-apart.html#ixzz1HRkVNqHf

We’ve evidently gone from the “world’s policeman” under Bush, to the “Keystone Cops” under Obama.



Biden on Libya?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adpa5kYUhCA

I’m waiting to see if Joe is a man of his word or not.



Cantor’s Pro-Growth Call

ECONOMIC GROWTH OVER THE PAST TEN YEARS HAS BEEN LESS THAN 2 PERCENT ANNUALLY. And this is a mighty soft economic recovery going on right now, following the very deep recession.

So it’s appropriate enough that Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor unveiled a strong pro-growth economic plan at Stanford’s Hoover Institution this week. Cantor is afraid the Republican budget-cutting message is a little too austere, so HE’S ATTEMPTING TO BALANCE THE NECESSARY BUDGET CUTS WITH A PRO-GROWTH, TAX-AND-REGULATORY REFORM MESSAGE.

Cantor focuses especially on getting business tax rates down to at least 25 percent. He also PROPOSES A TAX HOLIDAY TO REPATRIATE THE FOREIGN EARNINGS OF U.S. COMpanies. So many CEOs have made the same argument. And this was done successfully in 2004-05. IF ENACTED, MAYBE $1 TRILLION IN CASH WILL FLOW BACK HOME FOR NEW INVESTMENT AND JOBS

.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/262922/cantor-s-pro-growth-call-larry-kudlow


This is one of those proposals the Democrats will be willing to 'cut off our noses to spite their face' about.



Obama Budget Nominee Admits Current Budgets Higher than Bush Debt

THOUGH PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA HAS REPEATEDLY SAID HE INHERITED A FISCAL MESS FROM HIS PREDECESSOR GEORGE W. BUSH, Obama’s nominee to be the deputy budget director conceded to a Senate panel last week that none of Bush’s budgets had as high a debt as Obama’s budgets.

During the Senate confirmation hearing on March 17, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, grilled Heather Higginbottom – who was nominated last January to be deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget – about THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION’S CLAIMS THAT THE PRESIDENT’S 10-YEAR BUDGET PROPOSAL DOES NOT ADD TO THE NATIONAL DEBT.


“In years 8, 9 and 10 it [Obama’s budget proposal] goes up every year and reaches approximately $900 billion from $600 billion, as a low point in the entire 10 years,” Sessions said. “THE HIGHEST DEBT BUSH EVER HAD WAS $450 BILLION. YOU DON’T HAVE A SINGLE YEAR WHEN THE BUDGET FALLS BELOW $600 BILLION DO YOU?....

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-budget-nominee-admits-current-budg

I don’t think President Obama is very good with numbers.



Book Review: Manning Up: How the Rise of Women Has Turned Men into Boys,"

…."MEN MAY BE JERKS," MY HUSBAND LIKES TO OCCASIONALLY DECLARE, "BUT WOMEN ARE INSANE." I hate to admit it, but he's right-and anyone who has spent two years living in a sorority house filled with alpha girls (I'm raising my hand) can attest that this is true.

WOMEN ARE LIKELY GOING NUTS FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS. For instance, it's quite tiring and stressful, not to mention impossible, to try to have the brilliant job, the perfect family, shiny hair and manicured hands. Some women say they want total "equality" but still want guys to pick up the check. BUT PERHAPS ANOTHER REASON WOMEN ARE LOSING IT IS THAT THEY'RE REPEATEDLY TOLD THAT THEY'RE NO DIFFERENT THAN MEN-and many believe it, particularly in the realm of sex…..

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/03/23/men_may_be_jerksbut_women_are_insane__109324.html

Here’s a book that seems worth looking at.



Bottle Deposits and the Grim Truth

….THE FREQUENCY WITH WHICH ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES BACKFIRE SHOULD GIVE PAUSE FOR THOUGHT. Biofuels were meant to protect the environment and combat global warming -- in fact it destroys rainforests and causes greater CO2 emissions than conventional fuel.

Saving water was meant to protect natural resources, but it just drives up water bills. BANNING THE LIGHT BULB WAS SEEN AS A MILESTONE ON THE PATH TO CARBON NEUTRAL LIVING IN EUROPE -- BUT CHINA HAS BEEN CRANKING UP ITS MERCURY PRODUCTION TO SATISFY DEMAND for the alternative energy saving bulbs.

In the fight to protect the environment, IT MAY BE TIME TO PAUSE AND ASK ONESELF: WHAT IS REALLY HELPING, AND WHAT ISN'T? And to admit at times: sorry, we were wrong. But it doesn't work like that. ENVIRONMENTALISM KNOWS NO DOUBT. THE IDEA IS NEVER WRONG, THE PROBLEM IS ALWAYS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,751469-7,00.html

It is becoming more and more evident that the cures the left comes up with are frequently worse than the disease they are trying to end. AGW is just one example.

Statistics can be interesting

http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html


Here’s a fascinating look at statistics in which preconceived notions are skewered and a very enjoyable way.

The Ongoing Debate over Public Unions

Peggy Noonan on what’s going on in the debate about Public Unions

When you step back and try to get a sense of the larger picture in the battle between the states and their public employee unions, two elements emerge. ONE SEEMS SMALL BUT COULD PROVE DECISIVE, AND THE OTHER IS BIG AND, IF I'M SEEING IT RIGHT, CARRIES SIGNIFICANT IMPLICATIONS.

The seemingly small thing is that the battles in the states, while summoning emotions from all sides, are not at their heart emotional. YES, A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE WAVING PLACARDS, BUT IT'S ALSO TRUE THAT SUDDENLY EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT NUMBERS; the numbers are being reported in the press and dissected on talk radio. This state has a $5 billion deficit; that state has projected deficits in the tens of millions. One estimate of New Jersey's bill for health and pension benefits for state workers over the next 30 years is an astounding $100 billion—money the state literally does not have and cannot get. THE VERY FORCE OF THE MATH HAS THE HEARTENING EFFECT OF SQUEEZING IDEOLOGY RIGHT OUT OF THE STORY. It doesn't matter if you're a liberal or a conservative, it's all about the numbers, and numbers are sobering things….

….The big thing that is new has to do with the atmospherics of the drama….

….THE TEACHERS UNION WENT TO WAR. They said, "Christie is trying to kill the unions," so they tried to kill him politically. THEY SPENT MILLIONS ON ADS TRYING TO TAKE HIM DOWN.

And it backfired. THEY DIDN'T KILL HIM, THEY MADE HIM. Chris Christie is a national figure now because THE TEACHERS UNION DECIDED, in an epic political drama in which arithmetic is the predominant fact, TO IGNORE THE MATH. They also decided to play the wrong role in the drama. They decided to play the role of Johnny Friendly, on whom more in a moment.

IF THE UNION LEADERS HAD BEEN SMART—IF THEY'D HAD A HEART!—they would have held a private meeting and said, "Look, the party's over. We've done great the past 20 years, but now taxpayers are starting to resent us, and they have reason. They're losing their benefits and footing the bill for our gold-plated plans, they don't have job security and we do, taxes are high. WE HAVE TO BACK OFF."…..

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


I don’t always agree with Peggy Noonan, but I always love the way she writes. This is an outstanding look at the politics of what is going on today. Noonan insightfully compares the teacher’s union to Johnny Friendly the union leader from On the Waterfront. This is a must read.

Greenspan Says Government ‘Activism’ Hampering U.S. Recovery

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said A SURGE IN U.S. GOVERNMENT “ACTIVISM,” INCLUDING FISCAL STIMULUS, HOUSING SUBSIDIES AND NEW REGULATIONS, IS HOLDING BACK THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY.

Increased bond issuance by the Treasury Department crowds out borrowers with the weakest credit ratings, Greenspan said in an article in International Finance, published on the Web today. AT LEAST HALF OF THE SHORTFALL IN COMPANIES’ CAPITAL SPENDING “CAN BE EXPLAINED BY THE SHOCK OF VASTLY GREATER GOVERNMENT- CREATED UNCERTAINTIES EMBEDDED IN THE COMPETITIVE, REGULATORY AND FINANCIAL ENVIRONMENTS” since the failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEHMQ) in 2008, Greenspan said.

Greenspan’s conclusions fit with his long-held free-market ideology and may aid Republican lawmakers who argue that cutting federal spending now will help spur job growth. Critics including members of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission have said Greenspan’s failure to regulate the mortgage market last decade helped fuel the housing bubble whose bursting precipitated the financial crisis

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-03/greenspan-says-surge-in-government-activism-is-hampering-u-s-recovery.html


Simple economics which the left doesn’t seem to have an idea about.



While Obama seeks new ideas, his bureaucrats stifle them

Nearly a year ago, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and his health care policy team came up with a SIMPLE WAY TO SAVE THE STATE'S MEDICAID PROGRAM A LOT OF MONEY. WHY NOT HAVE MEDICAID RECIPIENTS AND APPLICANTS HANDLE THEIR PAPERWORK ONLINE? Using e-mail and a special Web site rather than paper, Herbert calculated, would save Utah about $6.3 million a year. "IT SEEMED LIKE A NO-BRAINER TO US," SAYS THE GOVERNOR.

The problem was, going paperless required a rules waiver from the Department of Health and Human Services. And that's where the idea ran into a brick wall.

"We tried for eight months to get the waiver," says Herbert. HHS delayed and delayed and delayed -- and then finally said no. "The denial we got back from the secretary of HHS was by e-mail, of all things," Herbert says, pausing a second for the listener to take it in. "The irony is rich."

http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/03/while-obama-seeks-new-ideas-his-bureaucrats-stifle-them#ixzz1FdagCB7k

Bureaucracy is not intelligent and fast moving. This should not surprise anyone.


Democrats and Unions In Bed Together? Of course.

Here’s a video from a TV station in Wisconsin that found why collective bargaining with public unions is a corrupt practice when you have Democratic politicians involved in it.

http://powip.com/2011/03/madison-mayor-colluded-with-unions/


THE LOAN ARRANGER

I was looking for some information for my post Bussing In Outside Agitators and came across this bit: Deadbeat Union's $90 Million Debt from 21 May 2010. Interesting.

IN 2007, THE SEIU OWED BANK OF AMERICA NEARLY $95 MILLION.


BY THE END OF 2008, SEIU OWED MORE THAN $156 MILLION IN TOTAL OUTSTANDING LIABILITIES. Only six years prior, its liabilities were $8 Million. And we're not even addressing their debts to other banks, like $15 Million with Amalgamated Bank.

Go to the article for links.

No wonder this is do or die for the public sector unions. It is another f*n economic bubble. I guess we can add "public sector union union bubble" to its corollary "the lower education bubble".

NO WONDER THE LEFTIES HAVE BEEN ON ABOUT "SUSTAINABLE" FOR YEARS. NOTHING THEY HAVE BEEN DOING IS SUSTAINABLE.

Think about what it means for the unions if they can no longer service their debt or get shares of the company handed to them to collateralize their debt? Kaput. That's what.

http://www.classicalvalues.com/archives/2011/03/the_loan_arrang.html


Interesting and devastating for the Democrats. If their meal ticket is out of money, it will be interesting to see what they try to do to bail them out (and in turn get them into good enough shape to continue to fund democratic campaigns). And just when they need to do this, we have the Republicans swept into power in the House and across the country in state houses.


History of Public Sector Unions and Collective Bargaining

The image is inescapable. The Boston Police Strike of 1919, the ultimate vision

of public employee strikes. Stores looted, people robbed, mobs running loose,
and a governor tersely stating: “There is no right to strike against the public
safety by anybody, anytime.” Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge fired all
striking police officers and called in the National Guard to restore order.

http://www.davidpietrusza.com/nys-public-unions.html


With all the misinformation out there this is a valuable read to see what the history actually is.



If you see a Democrat Senator from Wisconsin, please call the police

One of the reasons Wisconsin Republican senators voted to place warrants on what are now called the fugitive Democratic senators is THAT AT LEAST SOME OF THOSE DEMOCRATS -- the same ones who vowed to stay out of state until they prevail in the controversy over Gov. Scott Walker's budget proposal -- HAVE IN FACT BEEN RETURNING TO WISCONSIN FOR PERSONAL VISITS.

"We know that certain senators have been coming back on the weekends and spending time with their families or coming back at night," Republican Sen. Randy Hopper told me Thursday night. In an interview with Fox News' Greta van Susteren, Majority Leader Sen. Scott Fitzgerald said much the same thing. "THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT THE DEMOCRATIC SENATORS HAVE BEEN SNEAKING BACK AND FORTH," FITZGERALD TOLD FOX, "and some being as bold as to stay overnight in their own homes."

After Thursday's action in the Senate, coming back to Wisconsin will be considerably riskier for the 14 Democratic fugitives. "THEY WILL NOW HAVE WARRANTS ON THEM THAT IF THEY COME BACK INTO THE STATE AT ALL, LAW ENFORCEMENT WILL HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO DETAIN THEM," says Hopper

http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/03/wisconsin-gop-fugitive-dems-are-making-secret-visits-home#ixzz1FdxLCIrP

This will be interesting. Will unionized police officers enforce the warrant or will they turn a blind eye?


Global Warming Alarmists Flip-Flop On Snowfall

Sitting in on a March 1 Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) press conference regarding global warming and heavy snowfalls, I COULDN’T HELP FEELING LIKE THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE QUESTIONING MAFIA CAPO FRANK PENTANGELI IN GODFATHER II. The chairman, listening incredulously as Pentangeli contradicts a sworn written statement he had earlier given to the committee, waves the written statement in the air and protests, “We have a sworn affidavit — we have it — your sworn affidavit…. Do you deny that confession, and do you realize what will happen as a result of your denial?”

THE UN INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC) THIRD ASSESSMENT REPORT was as straightforward as Frank Pentangeli’s earlier confession that he had killed on behalf of Michael Corleone. “MILDER WINTER TEMPERATURES WILL DECREASE HEAVY SNOWSTORMS,” IPCC REPORTED.

That was in 2001. Now, however, with an unprecedented number of major winter snowstorms hitting the northeastern U.S. during the past two winters, THE ALARMISTS ARE CLAMMING UP AND CHANGING THEIR TUNE FASTER THAN TOM HAGEN CAN FLY IN VINCENZO PENTANGELI FROM ITALY TO AID HIS BROTHER IN HIS TIME OF TROUBLE

.

http://blogs.forbes.com/jamestaylor/2011/03/02/global-warming-alarmists-flip-flop-on-snowfall/


We all know now that what the climate scientist meant to say was that if we had fewer heavy snowstorms or more heavy snowstorms it means that global warming is happening. They are sounding more like Bernie Madoff rather than actual scientists.



Krauthammer: The incomprehensibility of the Left

Voices around the world, from Europe to America to Libya, are calling for U.S. intervention to help bring down Moammar Gaddafi. YET FOR BRINGING DOWN SADDAM HUSSEIN, THE UNITED STATES HAS BEEN DENOUNCED VARIOUSLY FOR AGGRESSION, DECEPTION, ARROGANCE AND IMPERIALISM.

A STRANGE MORAL INVERSION, considering that Hussein's evil was an order of magnitude beyond Gaddafi's. Gaddafi is a capricious killer; Hussein was systematic. Gaddafi was too unstable and crazy to begin to match the Baathist apparatus: a comprehensive national system of terror, torture and mass murder, gassing entire villages to create what author Kanan Makiya called a "Republic of Fear."

Moreover, THAT SYSTEMIZED BRUTALITY MADE HUSSEIN IMMOVABLE in a way that Gaddafi is not. BARELY ARMED LIBYANS HAVE ALREADY SEIZED HALF THE COUNTRY ON THEIR OWN. Yet in Iraq, there was no chance of putting an end to the regime without the terrible swift sword (it took all of three weeks) of the United States.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/03/AR2011030304239.html



Judge to Obama: Appeal the ruling or stop implementation

Roger Vinson, the U.S. federal judge who ruled Obamacare unconstitutional in its entirety, has ruled again on the health-care law. ON THURSDAY, JUDGE VINSON ISSUED A STAY ON HIS EARLIER RULING THAT THE LAW COULD NOT BE ENFORCED. In doing so, he sent a clear message to the Obama administration: Appeal my decision to a higher court or stop implementing the law.

When Judge Vinson ruled on Jan. 31 that the health-care law was unconstitutional, the administration followed up by filing a motion for clarification rather than filing an official appeal. Vinson’s ruling criticized the administration for that action.

“During the four-plus weeks since entry of my order, the defendants have seemingly continued to move forward and implement the act,” Vinson wrote. “While I believe that my order was as clear and unambiguous as it could be, it is possible that the defendants may have perhaps been confused or misunderstood its import.”

Now, VINSON HAS GIVEN THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION AN ULTIMATUM TO EITHER STOP IMPLEMENTING THE LAW, OR APPEAL IT — presumably to the Supreme Court. It is unclear what will happen if the administration ignores that order.

http://dailycaller.com/2011/03/03/judge-who-declared-obamacare-unconstitutional-sends-message-to-white-house-with-second-ruling/#ixzz1FeY6O2HE


It appears the Obama Administrations decision to pretend Judge Vinson didn’t rule on Obamacare is now at an end. In fact, it appears it was a stalling tactic. Time to put up (appeal it) or shut up (stop implementing it).



NASA Satellite Rocket Launch Fails, Lands In Ocean

A rocket carrying an Earth-observation satellite plummeted into the Pacific Ocean after a failed launch attempt Friday, the second-straight blow to NASA’s weakened environmental monitoring program.

The Taurus XL rocket carrying NASA’s Glory satellite lifted off early Friday morning from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, but fell to the sea several minutes later. The same thing happened to another climate-monitoring satellite two years ago with the same type of rocket.

During a news conference Friday, officials explained that a protective shell atop the rocket did not separate from the satellite as it should have about three minutes after launch. That left the Glory spacecraft without the velocity to reach orbit.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2011/03/04/nasa-rocket-probably-in-ocean-after-failed-launch/


This story is almost prophetic. As AGW is crashing and burning in the science, so too is the satellite that NASA was planning on using to monitor global warming. Seems appropriate.