Friday: Good news and bad news

Wisconsin budget fix in action

As changes to collective bargaining powers for public workers take effect today, THE KAUKAUNA AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT IS POISED TO SWING FROM A PROJECTED $400,000 BUDGET SHORTFALL NEXT YEAR TO A $1.5 MILLION SURPLUS due to health care and retirement savings.

The Kaukauna School Board approved changes Monday to its employee handbook that require staff to cover 12.6 percent of their health insurance and to contribute 5.8 percent of their wages to the state’s pension system, in accordance with the new collective bargaining law, commonly known as Act 10.

“THESE IMPACTS WILL ALLOW THE DISTRICT TO HIRE ADDITIONAL TEACHERS (AND) REDUCE PROJECTED CLASS SIZES,” School Board President Todd Arnoldussen wrote in a statement Monday….

http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20110629/APC0101/110629072/Story-documents-Kaukauna-schools-project-1-5M-surplus-after-changes?odyssey=tab|topnews|img|FRONTPAGE

This isn’t the way the NEA is looking to reduce class sizes.

Class warfare: Good or bad for the economy

Obama — how good he is at healing wounds and bringing us together!

As one observer put it: "The president may think most Americans agree with him rich people should have their taxes raised, BUT HE SEEMS TO BE UNAWARE OF THE LINK BETWEEN JOB CREATION AND THE LEVEL OF TAXATION ON BUSINESSES AND BUSINESS OWNERS."

Not that his message is coherent: "BUT THE CORPORATE JET TAX BREAK TO WHICH OBAMA WAS REFERRING – called “accelerated depreciation,” and a popular Democratic foil of late – WAS CREATED BY HIS OWN STIMULUS PACKAGE."

Now, punditry is an art, not a science. But let's mimic science here.

We conservatives contend Obama's liberal rhetoric and plans discourage investment and growth.
Look at FDR's class warfare rhetoric. "THE FORGOTTEN MAN" BY AMITY SHLAES IS ONE GOOD LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED. FDR LIKED RIPPING THE WEALTHY; AND THEY RESPONDED BY SITTING ON THEIR MONEY. THUS A PROLONGED DEPRESSION.

Look, the rich already have their money. And, duh, they're good with it. And money is darned handy. Especially when elections season rolls around. They'll protect the money they have, and they'll enjoy it….

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/opinion/outside-observer/article_cfef29c8-a2ab-11e0-a4b7-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1Qkna4cyN

It appears the more the Democrats do, the worse things become.

The Real Story of the Budget

One can learn quite a bit just from looking at federal spending over time. The history of our relationship with our government can almost be summarized in a graph.

Spending 3 in pictures

Lesson 10. Obama, the Democrats, and most media mislead on a daily basis.

PRESIDENT OBAMA RECENTLY SAID, "BUT WE CAN'T SIMPLY CUT OUR WAY TO PROSPERITY." Why not? That's what Presidents Reagan and Clinton did.

Obama also said, "I won't return to the failed theories of the last eight years." If he meant Bush's theory of compassionate conservatism that led to government spending growth, OBAMA NOT ONLY RETURNED TO THAT, HE DOUBLED DOWN AND DOUBLED DOWN AGAIN. Why didn't he imitate Clinton instead of Bush? Anyone who says we must spend 24% of GDP or more, or else we all die, hopes YOU WILL IGNORE ALL OUR HISTORY PRIOR TO OBAMA. Anyone who says if we try to cut spending, it will kill us, hopes you will ignore the 1983-2000 period of our history. That period of "austerity" happened under Presidents and Congresses of both parties, and resulted in the greatest sustained period of economic growth since the Great Depression. Anyone who says we live in some kind of laissez-faire free-market economy hopes you ignore the first 140 years of our country's history and the 700% growth in government (as a fraction of the economy) since 1930.

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

This article is well worth your time to read.

Bipartisan study confirms: default in Geithner's hands

The Bipartisan Policy Center released a Debt Ceiling Analysis today showing that EVEN IF CONGRESS DOES NOT RAISE THE DEBT CEILING BY AUGUST 2ND, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WOULD STILL HAVE ENOUGH INCOMING REVENUE TO PAY: ALL INTEREST ON TREASURY SECURITIES (THUS AVOIDING DEFAULT), ALL SOCIAL SECURITY OBLIGATIONS, ALL MEDICARE AND MEDICAID OBLIGATIONS, ALL DEFENSE CONTRACTOR BILLS, ALL VETERANS PAYMENTS, AND ALL ACTIVE DUTY TROOPS, AND STILL HAVE ALMOST $7 BILLION left over for other items.
The report does note that "inflows and outflows do not match up well and are quite lumpy," but they do assume that "Treasury would nonetheless be forced to attempt to prioritize payments despite the difficulty of doing so." Overall, federal spending would be cut by 44 percent for the month of August which would cause "widespread uncertainty as decisions are made day by day."

http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/06/bipartisan-study-confirms-default-geithners-hands#ixzz1QllwJbp6

I guess August 2 isn't a drop dead date after all. 

The Death Spiral Begins

Democrat racism

The standard meme from the left is that only the Republicans are racists. Here we see a Democrat using a racists appeal to keep her seat in congress.

Prepare to be disgusted as you see this liberal Democrat fire up her Spanish-speaking base by telling them that "the Vietnamese and the Republicans are trying to take away this seat."

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/09/027289.php

Obama heckled in New York?

President Barack Obama was heckled multiple times during his speech at a Democratic fundraiser in one of the country’s most Democratic cities.

Demonstrators held signs that said “Broken Promises” and interrupted his
speech to protest AIDS funding and the stalled repeal of “don’t ask, don’t
tell,” the policy banning gays from serving openly in the military that Obama
has promised to lift.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/42585.html#ixzz10LWc6OA4

In my 20 reasons the Dems would lose big in November this was one of them.

Democrats Fear Blowout Effect in Battlegrounds

This story reminds me of the scenes in the movie Airplane where Robert Stack keeps saying, ”this was the wrong time to give up ‘smoking, etc.’” I’m sure Sestak and a lot of Democrats must be feeling that way.

With polls showing Republicans well-positioned to win the Senate and
gubernatorial contests in both Ohio and Pennsylvania, House Democratic
strategists are increasingly worried about the downballot drag the top of the
ticket could have in the two battleground states.

Quinnipiac University released polling over the past week that
found Republicans ahead by double digits in the gubernatorial races in both
states and in the Ohio Senate contest. In the Pennsylvania Senate race, former
Rep. Pat Toomey (R) led Rep. Joe Sestak (D) by 7 points in a poll released
Wednesday.

Democrats are worried that the enthusiasm gap among voters in the
two states could be exacerbated if it appears by Election Day that Republicans
are headed for blowout victories in the marquee races.

"There's no question it's a problem. When the top of the ticket is
hurting, it absolutely makes it more difficult for a Democrat in a swing
district to win," said a Democratic strategist who has worked in both states.
"Voters will be looking at the gubernatorial race and going, 'If [Ohio Gov. Ted]
Strickland is down 10 points, why the heck am I going to go out and
vote?'"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20100923/pl_cq_politics/politics000003737693;_ylt=AhcH5s3.v7G_5AafKi1SPh34R9AF;_ylu=X3oDMTJxdG1jaDU5BGFzc2V0A2NxLzIwMTAwOTIzL3BvbGl0aWNzMDAwMDAzNzM3NjkzBHBvcwM3BHNlYwN5bl9wYWdpbmF0ZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3

QEc2xrA2RlbW9jcmF0c2ZlYQ

AP-GfK Poll: Independents as upset as Republicans

More bad news for the Democrats—Independents are also mad

In an Associated Press-GfK Poll this month, 58 percent of independents and
60 percent of Republicans said politics is making them angry, compared with 31
percent of Democrats who said so. About 7 in 10 independents and Republicans
were disgusted, compared with 4 in 10 Democrats, and independents and
Republicans were likelier than Democrats to be disappointed, depressed and
frustrated.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100923/ap_on_el_ge/us_ap_poll_irritated_independents;_ylt=Ai1wU81u3XugNFSzRUZFqtas0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTQ1YmxyNWU2BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwOTIzL3VzX2FwX3BvbGxfaXJyaXRhdGVkX2luZGVwZW5kZW50cwRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzcEcG9zAzQEcHQDaG9tZV9jb2tlBHNlYwN5bl9oZWFkbGluZV9saXN0BHNsawNhcC1nZmtwb2xsaW-

Climate change enlightenment was fun while it lasted. But now it's dead

Here’s more “news” that really isn’t news. I follow this topic closely. The volume of articles is way down a sure sign of the death spiral for AGW.

The closer it comes, the worse it looks. The best outcome anyone now
expects from Cancun this December is that some delegates might stay awake during the meetings. When talks fail once, as they did in Copenhagen, governments lose interest. They don't want to be associated with failure, they don't want to pour time and energy into a broken process. Nine years after the world trade
negotiations moved to Mexico after failing in Qatar, they remain in diplomatic
limbo. Nothing in the preparations for the climate talks suggests any other
outcome.

But nobody cares enough to make a fight of it. The disagreements
are simultaneously entrenched and muted. The doctor's certificate (death
certificate) has not been issued; perhaps, to save face, it never will be. But
the harsh reality we have to grasp is that the process is dead.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/sep/20/climate-change-negotiations-failure

Dahlia Lithwick: It’s “Weird” for a Senator to Consider the Constitutionality of Legislation

Here’s an interesting piece. Should the Republicans consider whether a bill is Constitutional?

David Bernstein reminds Dahlia Lithwick that each member of the House and Senate takes an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States.

Lithwick in Slate

O’Donnell explained that “when I go to Washington, D.C., the litmus
test by which I cast my vote for every piece of legislation that comes across my
desk will be whether or not it is constitutional.” How weird is that, I thought.
Isn’t it a court’s job to determine whether or not something is, in fact,
constitutional? And isn’t that sort of provided for in, well, the
Constitution?

Short answer: Senators swear an oath to uphold the Constitution. Of
course they are obligated to determine whether a bill they are considering is
constitutional. Where did Lithwick get the idea that courts, and only courts,
should be concerned with the constitutionality of legislation?

http://volokh.com/2010/09/22/dahlia-lithwick-its-weird-for-a-senator-to-consider-the-constitutionality-of-legislation/

Poll surprise of the day: Barney Frank in trouble?

The Sean Bielat campaign has declared themselves within reach of unseating
Barney Frank in Massachusetts’ 4th CD, one of the presumed safest districts for
Democrats in the nation. The poll, conducted for the campaign by
OnMessage, shows Frank falling below the 50% mark despite the D+14 composition of his constituency. Bielat comes within nine points, even though the poll shows that he still badly trails in name recognition.

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/09/22/poll-surprise-of-the-day-barney-frank-in-trouble/

Here’s another take on it.

Frank knows better. He does not underestimate Bielat, nor will he
underestimate the real negatives that he faces.

Why will President Clinton give the endorsement, and not President
Obama or another Democratic leader? Frank needs to separate himself from the
economic policies of the Obama adminstration in which he has been a major
player, and associate himself with the economy of the Clinton years. Further,
Frank surely remembers that in the Democratic presidential primary of 2008,
Hillary Clinton soundly beat Obama, and that Obama’s highly publicized visit to
Massachusetts to endorse Coakley was not effective. Frank is even running away
from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, even though he has until recently been their
champion in Congress.

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/is-barney-frank-nervous-bill-clinton-coming-to-rescue-in-ma/ \

This may explain Frank’s conversion from Fannie and Freddie’s biggest defender to someone calling for its dismemberment. Barney Frank was one of the main culprits in the financial crisis that the Democrats like to blame on the Republicans and Wall Street.

Democrats blame the First Amendment for their impending losses.

As Democrats head for what promises to be a midterm election fiasco of
historic proportions, a pre-emptive excuse has begun to circulate: It’s all
because of Citizens United. Team Donkey fans claim the January 21 decision, in
which the Supreme Court overturned restrictions on the political speech of
corporations, triggered a flood of negative advertising by what President Obama
calls “shadowy groups with harmless-sounding names.”

http://reason.com/archives/2010/09/22/ad-rage

Well, it’s better than putting the blame upon themselves or having tirades about how “stupid” the voters are. Wait a minute, that’s probably next.

Another sign of impending doom for the Democrats

Six weeks before the election, President Obama couldn’t fill the
ballroom at the Roosevelt Hotel, despite cheap tickets on offer. And then he was
met by hecklers.

Who would have thought that six weeks before a cliffhanger
election, President Obama would have to reach down to the D list to fill a room
to listen to him? Most of us low rollers arrived early to see President Obama up
close and personal. Our tickets for the general reception at the Roosevelt Hotel
in New York were only $100. Some thought the email invitation was a joke. Some
bought tickets for $50 from their desperate Democratic committeeman. Some bought the same day.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-09-23/obamas-fire-sale/

Warren Buffett to CNBC: "We're Still In a Recession"

Warren Buffett tells CNBC that by his own "common sense" definition, the United States is "still in a recession."

42 Days to Go!

Republicans Gain Ground Among Independents

A new comprehensive national survey shows that independent voters—who voted for Barack Obama by a 52%-to-44% margin in the 2008 presidential election—are now moving strongly in the direction of the Republican Party. The survey, conducted by Douglas E. Schoen LLC on behalf of Independent Women's Voice in late August, raises the possibility of a fundamental realignment of independent voters and the dominance of a more conservative electorate.

Today, independents say they lean more toward the Republican Party than the
Democratic Party, 50% to 25%, and that the Republican Party is closer to their
views by 52% to 30%. This movement comes in spite of independents' generally
negative views of the GOP—a majority of independents (54%) view the Republicans unfavorably, compared to 39% who have a favorable impression. (The poll also revealed that 48% of independents were either "sympathetic to or supporters of the tea party.")

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703904304575497762602678210.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

Lots of statistics here basically showing the Democrats have lost the independents vote anyway you look at it. This is one of the big reasons November 2nd will be a nightmare if you are a supporter of Obama and the Democrat Party.

67% of Political Class Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction, 84% of Mainstream Disagrees

Here is an example of why there is so much anger and confusion in the election this year. The political class and the MSM keep talking about how the TEA Party is a negative for the Republicans. Yet poll after poll shows that Independents view the TEA Party favorably and the Republicans are significantly ahead of the Democrats in generic polls. This gap between the elites and the voter should bring about a tsunami this November which may change politics for the next generation.

The gap is just as big when it comes to the traditional right
direction/wrong track polling question.

A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 67% of
Political Class voters believe the United States is generally heading in the
right direction. However, things look a lot different to Mainstream Americans.
Among these voters, 84% say the country has gotten off on the wrong
track.

“The American people don’t want to be governed from the left, the right
or the center. The American people want to govern themselves," says Scott
Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports. “The American attachment to
self-governance runs deep. It is one of our nation’s cherished core values and
an important part of our cultural DNA.”

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/august_2010/67_of_political_class_say_u_s_heading_in_right_direction_84_of_mainstream_disagrees

Federal Pay Still Inflated After Accounting for Skills

From the Heritage Foundation

The Heritage Foundation has conducted two separate studies that both
reach the same conclusion: Federal employees are paid substantially more than
comparably skilled private sector workers. Defenders of the federal pay system,
including the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), have mischaracterized
The Heritage Foundation's analyses by suggesting they ignore skill differences
between the public and private sectors, resulting in an "apples to oranges"
comparison. On the contrary, Heritage has carefully accounted for skill
differences, always comparing apples to apples.




While federal employees do earn more partially because they are more
skilled than the average private sector worker, controlling for skills does not
eliminate the federal pay premium. Depending on the methodology employed, the
average federal employee receives as much as 22 percent more in wages than an
equally skilled private sector worker. Including both wages and benefits,
overpaying federal workers costs taxpayers approximately $40–50 billion per
year.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703376504575491861627732550.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTSecondBucket

Somehow when I read the story above I’m reminded of Jack Nicolson’s speech in the movie “A Few Good Men.” When he said, “I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then question the manner in which I provide it. I prefer you said thank you, and went on your way,” Do you get the feeling that is what the public unions think?

The TEA Party from A to Z

What would we do without the Tea Party? For well over a year, this
rollicking muster of citizens—mocked and feared in equal measure by the
Democrats and, indeed, by many Republicans—have offered more than just
whizz-bang political entertainment. Starting out as a loose-knit posse of loudly
disaffected conservatives, the movement has become better organized and
improbably daring; in fact, it is now a full-blown political uprising. As we gird our national loins for the mid-term elections in November, here is a brisk primer on the movement.

A is for anger, the jet-fuel of a movement that Nancy Pelosi, in a rare moment of wit, pooh-poohed as Astroturf (i.e., not grassroots). …..

B is for Glenn Beck and Andrew Breitbart, the two gaudiest Tea Partiers in the American media, and for Scott Brown, the Massachusetts senator whose astonishing election to Ted Kennedy’s seat in February was the earliest indication that the Tea Party amounted to more than just a rabble …..

Y is for young, which Tea Partiers are not. A NYT
poll found that 75% of Tea Partiers are over 45, 29% over 64, and only 7% under
30 years of age. One thing the movement’s members tend to have in common,
irrespective of age, is a petit-bourgeois fondness for yard signs. My favorite:
“Remember, November 2, 2010: Take Out the Garbage.”

Z is for the zeitgeist, which in our unhappy nation at present happens to mean,
alas—on both left and right—zero tolerance for views with which we
disagree.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-09-18/tea-party-an-a-z-guide-to-a-militant-movement/3/

Kind of a fun read.

The end of the Pelosi Era?

The Washington Post's Paul Kane and Karen Tumulty have a big story this morning about Democrats fleeing the speaker:

Democrats from a number of states, including Texas, Ohio and North Carolina,
are running away from Pelosi in a harsh political climate. Distancing one's self
from the speaker is nothing new for many Democrats, including [Rep. Chet]
Edwards, but the number of incumbents criticizing the party House leader is
larger than it has been in past election cycles—and the volume of their
criticism is louder.More than a few Democrats have said they are wavering on
supporting Pelosi as their leader next year. At least four House Democrats are
running ads stating their opposition to the speaker's agenda, and one Democrat
running in Tennessee called for her resignation.

Everything is going south for the Democrats. Much like Napoleon’s grand armee it appears the Democrats got too ambitious and went too far left. The results for Napoleon was Of the 690,000 men that comprised the initial invasion force of Russia, only 93,000 survived.

http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-gaggle/2010/09/20/the-end-of-the-nancy-pelosi-era.html

Don’t the rubes know the recession is over?

WASHINGTON – The longest recession the country has endured since the
Great Depression ended in June 2009, a group that dates the beginning and end of
recessions declared Monday. The NBER, a panel of academic economists based
in Cambridge, Mass., said the recession lasted 18 months. It started in December
2007 and ended in June 2009. Previously the longest post World War II downturns
were those in 1973-1975 and in 1981-1982. Both of those lasted 16 months.


The four quarters since they said the recession ended growth rates


1.6 5.0 3.7 1.6


The four quarter since they said the recession ended growth rates
for Reagan’s recession


0.3 5.1 9.3 8.1

So the recession may be over, but it sure doesn’t feel like it.

Even Chris Matthews knows the difference between a tax cut and a government check.

“I have one small tweak to make to what the president said today -- he
should stop saying that giving people tax cuts is giving people money. It`s
their money! A tax cut is when the government doesn`t take our money. It`s an
important distinction.


He talked today, for example, about people getting a check from the
government in the form of a tax cut. That`s not the way it works. If tax rates
are kept lower, it`s a matter of the check going to the government being
smaller. Again, it`s an important distinction.”

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2010/09/20/matthews-scolds-obama-stop-saying-cutting-taxes-giving-people-money-its-their-money#ixzz109CwBghO