Dissention in Washington

Book Details Dissension in Obama Economic Team

A new book claims that President Obama’s response to the economic crisis was hampered by a White House economic staff plagued by internal rivalries, a domineering chief adviser and a Treasury secretary who dragged his feet on enforcing decisions with which he disagreed.

The book, by Ron Suskind, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, quotes White House documents that say MR. OBAMA’S DECISIONS WERE ROUTINELY “RE-LITIGATED” BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL, LAWRENCE H. SUMMERS. Some decisions, including one to overhaul the debt-ridden Citibank, were carried out sluggishly or not at all by a resistant Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, according to the book.

Mr. Suskind quotes from two memos for the president in which Pete Rouse, a senior White House aide, wrote, “THERE IS DEEP DISSATISFACTION WITHIN THE ECONOMIC TEAM WITH WHAT IS PERCEIVED AS LARRY’S IMPERIOUS AND HEAVY-HANDED DIRECTION OF THE ECONOMIC POLICY PROCESS.”

A copy of the book, “CONFIDENCE MEN: WALL STREET, WASHINGTON, AND THE EDUCATION OF A PRESIDENT,” published by HarperCollins, was obtained by The New York Times before it officially goes on sale on Tuesday. The White House declined to comment on Mr. Suskind’s account, which he said was based on interviews with more than 200 people, including the president.

The book offers a portrait of a White House operating under intense pressure as it dealt with a cascade of crises, from insolvent banks to collapsing carmakers. And it details the rivalries among figures around the president, including Mr. Summers; Mr. Geithner; the former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel; and the budget director, Peter R. Orszag.

In this rough-and-tumble environment, the book reports, FEMALE STAFF MEMBERS OFTEN FELT BRUISED. At a dinner with Mr. Obama in November 2009, several top female aides — including Anita Dunn, who was the communications director, and Christina Romer, the chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers — told the president about being talked over in meetings by male colleagues or cut out altogether.

Ms. Romer, the book says, once passed a note to Mr. Summers threatening to walk out of a dinner with Mr. Obama and outside economists after the president polled his guests for their recommendations but failed to recognize her…

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/us/politics/suskinds-confidence-men-details-recession-dissension.html?_r=2&ref=politics

 Dissention on the economic team?  Actually as poorly as Obama has done on the economy I don’t know whether that is good news or bad.

Solyndra:  A Chicago Scandal?

The Solyndra scandal cost at least a half-billion public dollars. It is plaguing President Barack Obama. And it's being billed as a Washington story.

But back in Obama's political hometown, THOSE OF US FAMILIAR WITH THE CHICAGO WAY CAN SEE SOMETHING ELSE IN SOLYNDRA — SOMETHING THAT THE WASHINGTON CROWD CALLS "OPTICS." IN FACT, IT'S NOT JUST A WASHINGTON SAGA — IT HAS ALL THE ELEMENTS OF A CHICAGO CITY HALL STORY, EXCEPT WITH MORE ZEROS….

…..SO FORGET OPTICS. WHAT ABOUT SMELL? IT SMELLS BAD, AND IT'S GOING TO SMELL WORSE.
Or, did you really believe it when the White House mouthpieces — who are also Chicago City Hall mouthpieces — promised they were bringing a new kind of politics to Washington?

THIS IS NOT A NEW KIND OF POLITICS. IT'S THE OLD KIND. THE CHICAGO KIND.

And now the Tribune Washington Bureau has reported that the U.S. Department of Energy employee who helped monitor the Solyndra loan guarantee was one of Obama's top fundraisers.

FUNDRAISING? CONTRACTS? IMAGINE THAT….

http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=&to=en&a=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chicagotribune.com%2Fnews%2Fcolumnists%2Fct-met-kass-0918-20110918%2C0%2C3951633.column

The scandals are starting to pile up.  It’s going to be a nasty and interesting campaign in 2012. 

Here’s what modern fascism looks like

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is giving city workers an important health choice: enroll in a new wellness plan, expected to be unveiled Friday, or pay a higher premium.

The price if they don't enroll: $50 a month.

The program includes an initial screening that focuses on preventative care for asthma, heart disease and diabetes. City employees would then receive wellness training to achieve long-term health goals, including weight loss.

Smokers wouldn't be penalized, but they would be encouraged to quit. Advisers overseeing the program will monitor progress on a bimonthly basis, and those who reach their goals could see their health care premiums reduced.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Shape-Up-or-Pay-Up-Emanuel-129945248.html#ixzz1YJ6DyDrP

This is what modern fascism looks like.  It is heavy handed government demands done only “for your own good.”  It is the opposite of freedom and allowing people to be treated like adults.   And it is the hallmark of the Democrat Party. 

Obama:  2008--New Media Savvy-- 2012—Nothing but a Joke.

In 2008, reporters gushed about the Obama campaign's brilliant use of the Internet and social media. In the run-up to 2012, a high-profile effort by the re-election campaign to counter critics has become an online bulletin board for jokes at President Obama's expense.

Obama for America, the official campaign organization, RECENTLY ROLLED OUT ATTACKWATCH.COM. The website allows visitors to file reports when someone criticizes the president or his policies and purports to provide "the facts" to counter such "smears." The site's Twitter feed is attracting plenty of reports, but not necessarily the kind that campaign staff was expecting.

A user identified as Jon G. announced: "THERE'S A NEW TWITTER ACCOUNT MAKING PRESIDENT OBAMA LOOK LIKE A CREEPY, AUTHORITARIAN NUTJOB: @ATTACKWATCH." Another user identifying himself as Matt Cover tweeted, "SOMEONE TOLD ME THE STIMULUS DIDN'T KEEP UNEMPLOYMENT BELOW 8%. THAT'S NOT TRUE, IS IT?"

Another concerned citizen reported, "I SAW 6 ATM'S IN AN ALLEY, KILLING A JOB. IT LOOKED LIKE A HATE CRIME!" The site's Twitter page recently featured so many zingers aimed at the president that IT WAS HARD TO FIND ACTUAL OBAMA SUPPORTERS WHINING ABOUT HIS CRITICS. One tweeter noted that "THE GOP WON SEATS IN NY AND NV . . . I SUSPECT INTERFERENCE BY SANE PEOPLE . . . CHECK THAT OUT PLEASE." Another said, "HEY KIDS, ARE MOMMY AND DADDY TALKING BAD ABOUT OBAMA? BE SURE TO REPORT THEM AT #ATTACKWATCH."

One movie buff referenced the current Obama scandal over a bankrupt solar energy company that received federal loans: "SOLYNDRA GREEN IS PEOPLE!"…

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903927204576575252760990660.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_MIDDLESecond

This is not what the Obama Administration wanted or expected.  Rather than cowering people who criticize the President it appears it is encouraging them. 

Tax Increases Republicans could live with

…Were I a Republican senator or representative, I would be agitating to repeal THE "EISENHOWER TAX CUT" ON THE MOVIE INDUSTRY AND RESTORE THE EXCISE TAX. I think I would also look at IMPOSING SIMILAR TAXES ON SALES OF DVDS, PAY-PER-VIEW MOVIES, CDS, DOWNLOADABLE MUSIC, AND RELATED PRODUCTS.

I'd also look at the tax and accounting treatment of these industries to see if they were taking advantage of any special "loopholes" that could be closed as a means of reducing "tax expenditures." (Answer: Yes, they are.)

America, after all, is facing the largest national debt in relation to GDP that it has faced since the end of World War II, so a return to the measures deemed necessary then is surely justifiable now….

….Because much of their value to their employers comes from their prior government service, I think that the taxpayers deserve a share of the return, say IN THE FORM OF A 50 PERCENT SURTAX ON ANY EARNINGS BY POLITICAL APPOINTEES IN EXCESS OF THEIR PRIOR GOVERNMENT SALARIES FOR THE FIRST FIVE YEARS AFTER THEY LEAVE OFFICE.

Some would say that a 75 percent tax on "revolving-door profiteers" would be more appropriate, and I'm certainly willing to entertain arguments to that effect; I'd also like to extend this to members of Congress, but I don't think Congress would ever pass that bill….

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2011/08/sunday-reflection-why-gop-should-give-obama-higher-taxes-he-wants#ixzz1YK7Huauq

Glenn Reynolds came up with these and I agree that these are tax increases I could live with.  Here’ are a couple of more ideas.  Congress should be subject to the highest tax rate in the tax code on all of their salary.  A tax surcharge for deficit spending could also be effective.  I would also take away the tax exempt status from Labor Unions.  They are the only advocacy group that can donate money to political campaigns while keeping their tax exempt status. 

A Letter About President Obama

History Unfolding—A Letter Written by Historian David Kaiser When Barack Obama Was Elected

I am a student of history. Professionally, I have written 15 books on history that have been published in six languages, and I have studied history all my life. I have come to think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is simply a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes these exist, but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus..

Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it.. Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about ten to fifteen years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two.

WE DEMAND AND THEN CODIFY INTO LAW THE REQUIREMENT THAT OUR BANKS MAKE MASSIVE LOANS TO PEOPLE WE KNOW THEY CAN NEVER PAY BACK? WHY?

We learned just days ago that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has "loaned" two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms. That is our money. Yours and mine. And that is three times the $700 billion we all argued about so strenuously just this past September. Who has this money? Why do they have it? Why are the terms unavailable to us? Who asked for it? Who authorized it? I thought this was a government of "we the people," who loaned our powers to our elected leaders. Apparently not.

WE HAVE SPENT TWO OR MORE DECADES INTENTIONALLY DE-INDUSTRIALIZING OUR ECONOMY... WHY?

We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving. STUDENTS BY AND LARGE CANNOT WRITE, THINK CRITICALLY, READ, OR ARTICULATE. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why?

We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it simply wants marriage to remain defined as between one man and one woman. Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?) WE HAVE CORRUPTED OUR SACRED POLITICAL PROCESS BY ALLOWING UNELECTED JUDGES TO WRITE LAWS THAT RADICALLY CHANGE OUR WAY OF LIFE, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic. To what purpose?

Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, social security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government. Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and I know precisely what I am talking about) - the list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth.. It is potentially 1929 x ten...AND WE ARE AT WAR WITH AN ENEMY WE CANNOT EVEN NAME FOR FEAR OF OFFENDING PEOPLE OF THE SAME RELIGION, WHO, IN TURN, CANNOT WAIT TO SLIT THE THROATS OF YOUR CHILDREN IF THEY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO.

And finally, WE HAVE ELECTED A MAN THAT NO ONE REALLY KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT, WHO HAS NEVER RUN SO MUCH AS A DAIRY QUEEN, LET ALONE A TOWN AS BIG AS WASILLA , ALASKA .. All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders? No? Oh, of course. The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe are more important.)

Mr. Obama's winning platform can be boiled down to one word: Change.. Why?

I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now.

This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, OBAMA WILL DIVIDE US ALONG PHILOSOPHICAL LINES, PUSH US APART, AND THEN TRY TO REALIGN THE PIECES INTO A NEW AND DIFFERENT POWER STRUCTURE. Change is indeed coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again.

And that is only the beginning..

As a serious student of history, I thought I would never come to experience what the ordinary, moral German must have felt in the mid-1930s In those times, the "savior" was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing. What they should have known was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory. Conservative "losers" read it right now.

And there were the promises. Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and frowned and waved a lot. And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his "brown shirts" would bully and beat them into submission. Which they did - regularly. And then, he was duly elected to office, while a full-throttled economic crisis bloomed at hand - the Great Depression. Slowly, but surely he seized the controls of government power, person by person, department by department, bureaucracy by bureaucracy. The children of German citizens were at first, encouraged to join a Youth Movement in his name where they were taught exactly what to think. Later, they were required to do so. No Jews of course,

How did he get people on his side? He did it by promising jobs to the jobless, money to the money-less, and rewards for the military-industrial complex. He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe , and across the world. He did it with a compliant media - did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and .... . ... change. And the people surely got what they voted for.

If you think I am exaggerating, look it up. It's all there in the history books.

So read your history books. Many people of conscience objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and ridiculed. WHEN WINSTON CHURCHILL POINTED OUT THE OBVIOUS IN THE LATE 1930S WHILE SEATED IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS IN ENGLAND (HE WAS NOT YET PRIME MINISTER), HE WAS BOOED INTO HIS SEAT AND CALLED A CRAZY TROUBLEMAKER. HE WAS RIGHT, THOUGH. AND THE WORLD CAME TO REGRET THAT HE WAS NOT LISTENED TO.

Do not forget that Germany was the most educated, the most cultured country in Europe . It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities. And yet, in less than six years (a shorter time span than just two terms of the U. S. presidency) it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors.. All with the best of intentions, of course.. The road to Hell is paved with them.

As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice: I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong by closing my eyes, having another latte, and ignoring what is transpiring around me..

I choose to believe the evidence. No doubt some people will scoff at me, others laugh, or think I am foolish, naive, or both. To some degree, perhaps I am. But I have never been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe-and why I believe it.

I pray I am wrong. I do not think I am. Perhaps the only hope is our vote in the next elections.

David Kaiser

Jamestown , Rhode Island
United States

Barack Obama has been President now for 32 months.  Much of the fears Dr. Kaiser talked about have come to pass.  Fortunately we are a democracy and not a dictatorship.  We have another 14 months to go, but at that time we will be able to say “We’ve made a mistake, but that is over now.” 

Solyndra and other Democrat headaches

Are the Democrats likely to lose their Jewish block of voters?

…The reason is that there are two distinct groups of Democratic Jews, with almost nothing in common. They have coexisted peacefully for many decades, staying together for the sake of their "child," the beloved Democratic Party. But WITH OBAMA IN OFFICE, THE DIFFERENCES ARE STARTING TO BECOME IRRECONCILABLE.

One notable example of the coming apart of the once reliable Jewish voting bloc is the recent election in New York. STRANGELY ENOUGH, A REPUBLICAN WON HANDILY FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME IN ALMOST A CENTURY. BUT EVEN MORE BIZARRE, THE WINNER OF THE JEWISH VOTE IS A CATHOLIC AND THE LOSER A JEW, IN THE MOST HEAVILY JEWISH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT IN AMERICA.

To add to the strangeness, the previous occupant of the House seat was also Jewish, that hunk-of-burning love, Anthony Weiner. And former New York Mayor Ed Koch, Jewish, lifelong bachelor, and liberal, endorsed the Catholic, Bob Turner, over the more experienced Jewish Assemblyman, David Weprin.

Clearly this election was about more than a House seat in New York. THE JEWISH VOTERS WERE ALSO MAKING A STATEMENT ABOUT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY'S THROWING ISRAEL UNDER THE BUS…

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/09/jew_versus_jew.html

Things just aren't looking sunny for the Democrats.



What Obama Can No Longer Do

…IN TRUTH, OBAMA IS OUT OF ARROWS. His quiver is bare, because he came into office as a rhetorical president without much experience or any ideas other than growing even bigger a tired big government. And NOW THE PUBLIC REALIZES THAT BOTH THE SPEECHES AND THE BIG SPENDING DO NOT WORK. The result is that we collectively know what the president cannot any longer say — and it proves far greater than what he can say. He is well past the point of Jerry Ford’s WIN buttons or Jimmy Carter’s fist-pounding malaise speech.

OBAMA CANNOT JAWBONE INTEREST RATES DOWN — THEY ARE ALREADY AT NEAR-ZERO on passbook accounts. Obama cannot ask the EPA to shut down any more powerhouses or the NLRB to try to close any more new manufacturing plants. OBAMA CANNOT REALLY ASK FOR ANY MORE BIG BORROWING PROGRAMS — NOT AFTER RUNNING UP $5 TRILLION IN NEW DEBT AND GETTING LITTLE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN RESPONSE. The bogus vocabulary of “stimulus,” “shovel-ready,” and “investments” provokes laughter; it does not ensure an unemployment rate no higher than 8 percent. He cannot, with a straight face, appeal to the collective wisdom of Geithner, Goolsbee, Orszag, Romer, and Summers — or quote the predictable shrillness of Paul Krugman on the need for ever greater debt. Those academic arrows were long ago shot in vain. IN TRUTH, EVERY CLASSICAL KEYNESIAN REMEDY HAS BEEN TRIED, AND WE ARE LEFT ONLY WITH THE HARD WORK OF TRIMMING REGULATIONS, TALKING UP BUSINESS, PRODUCING MORE FOSSIL FUELS, AND RETURNING TO BUDGET DISCIPLINE, thrift, greater productivity, and radical reform of the tax code and entitlements. What Obama might say on all that, his ideological training and shrinking base will not allow him to say — as we saw from his shunning of his own Simpson-Bowles commission.

OBAMA CANNOT GIVE ONE MORE SPEECH ON “CIVILITY.” HE HAS DONE THAT FOR THREE YEARS — ONLY TO VIOLATE HIS OWN DIRECTIVES BY URGING VOTERS TO “PUNISH” OUR “ENEMIES” AND DEMONIZING THOSE WHO MAKE OVER $200,000 AS CULPABLE “MILLIONAIRES AND BILLIONAIRES,” “fat cats,” and owners of “corporate jets.” To oppose Obama is to be a “hostage” taker. The nation got Obama’s accustomed calls to cool the partisan invective while Jimmy Hoffa and Maxine Waters were slurring tea-party members as “son of a bitches” and telling them to “go straight to Hell” — confident that Barack Obama’s collective morality does not apply to them. THE RESULT IS THAT ANOTHER APPEAL TO “CIVILITY” WOULD NOW AT BEST EARN LAUGHTER.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/277090/obama-s-quiver-empty-victor-davis-hanson

Obama promised to change the tone in Washington. He promised to bring us together. He promised to change America. Unfortunately the only promise his has kept is the third one and the way he has changed America is not what the voters wanted.

What? California's Dianne Feinstein in poll trouble too?

Oh, no! Another Democratic senator in possible election trouble for 2012.
And from California already?

A new Field Poll just released this morning brings news that California's Sen. Dianne Feinstein is -- how can we put this in a liberal kind of way? -- approved by 41% of voters who want to see her reelected next year.

Unfortunately for her, more voters (fully 44%) disapprove of her continued employment in the U.S. Senate after 2012.

In blue California that makes for about a magnitude 5.2 quake.

The same poll finds that only 41% approve of Feinstein's job in Washington, while 39% disapprove.
That 41 approval number is the lowest the former mayor has ever had in her 20 years of no longer really living in California

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/09/dianne-feinstein-field-poll-oops.html

Obama’s in trouble and it isn’t just the top of the ticket that is in trouble. Even in solidly blue states, the Democrats are going to face tough elections. The question this raises is there enough political money to go around for the Democrats to be competitive? I doubt it.



Solyndra Update

Via Andrew Stiles at NRO, here’s another new e-mail from January of this year illustrating why I’m amazed the White House would take the political risk of first throwing half a billion dollars at Solyndra and then agreeing to restructure the loan on less favorable terms to keep the company going awhile longer. EVEN THEIR OWN OMB GUYS SAW THE ICEBERG COMING. Why didn’t the Energy Department turn the ship when it had a chance?

Although the decision has already been made for OMB not to play an active role in determining what to do with Solyndra, the Director/S-1 meeting tomorrow might present an opportunity to flag to DOE at the highest level the stakes involved, for the Secretary to do as he sees fit (and be fully informed and accountable for the decision). Although optics are generally out of our lane, it may be worthwhile for the Director to privately make this point to the Secretary:

Given the PR and policy attention Solyndra received since 2009, the optics of a Solyndra default will be bad whenever it occurs. WHILE THE COMPANY MAY AVOID DEFAULT WITH A RESTRUCTURING, THERE IS ALSO A GOOD CHANCE IT WILL NOT. IF SOLYNDRA DEFAULTS DOWN THE ROAD, THE OPTICS WILL ARGUABLY BE WORSE LATER THAN THEY WOULD BE TODAY. At that point, additional funds have been put at risk, recoveries may be lower, and QUESTION WILL BE ASKED AS TO WHY THE ADMINISTRATION MADE A BAD INVESTMENT, NOT JUST ONCE (WHICH COULD HOPEFULLY BE EXPLAINED AS PART OF THE CHALLENGE OF SUPPORT INNOVATE TECHNOLOGIES), BUT TWICE (WHICH COULD EASILY BE PORTRAYED AS BAD JUDGEMENT, OR WORSE). In addition, the timing will likely coincide with the 2012 campaign season heating up, whereas a default today could be put in the context of (and perhaps even get some credit for fiscal discipline / good government because the Administration would be limiting further taxpayer exposure) letting bad projects go, and could make public steps it is taking to learn lessons and improve / limit future lending.

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/09/15/ap-on-solyndra-wh-ignored-at-least-three-watchdog-reports-criticizing-energy-departments-loan-controls/

Fraud, bad judgment, ideological motivations—all these are becoming clearer and clearer. What didn’t the Administration know and when did they decide not to know it?

The New Politically Correct Racism

THE CAMPUS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ERUPTED THIS WEEK AFTER THE RELEASE OF TWO STUDIES DOCUMENTING THE HEAVY USE OF RACE IN DECIDING WHICH STUDENTS TO ADMIT TO THE UNDERGRADUATE AND LAW SCHOOLS. The evidence of discrimination is undeniable, and the reaction by critics was undeniably dishonest and thuggish.?

The Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO), which I founded in 1995 to expose and challenge misguided race-based public policies, conducted the studies based on an analysis of the university's own admissions data. But the university was none too keen on releasing the data, which CEO obtained through filing Freedom of Information Act requests only after a successful legal challenge went all the way to the state supreme court.?

It's no wonder the university wanted to keep the information secret. THE STUDIES SHOW THAT A BLACK OR HISPANIC UNDERGRADUATE APPLICANT WAS MORE THAN 500 TIMES LIKELIER TO BE ADMITTED TO WISCONSIN-MADISON THAN A SIMILARLY QUALIFIED WHITE OR ASIAN APPLICANT. The odds ratio favoring black law school applicants over similarly qualified white applicants was 61 to 1.?...

… Egged on by inflammatory comments by university officials, student groups organized a flashmob via a Facebook page that was filled with propaganda and outright lies about CEO wanting to dismantle their student groups. MORE THAN A HUNDRED ANGRY STUDENTS STORMED THE PRESS CONFERENCE AT THE DOUBLETREE HOTEL IN MADISON, where CEO president Roger Clegg was releasing the study.?

The hotel management described what took place in a press statement afterward: "Unfortunately, when escorting meeting attendees out of the hotel through a private entrance, STAFF WERE THEN RUSHED BY A MOB OF PROTESTORS, THROWING EMPLOYEES TO THE GROUND. THE MOB BECAME INCREASINGLY PHYSICALLY VIOLENT WHEN FORCING THEMSELVES INTO THE MEETING ROOM WHERE THE PRESS CONFERENCE HAD ALREADY ENDED, filling it over fire-code capacity. Madison police arrived on the scene after the protestors had stormed the hotel."?...

http://townhall.com/columnists/lindachavez/2011/09/16/racial_preferences_in_wisconsin

The left has always been racists. The target of their racism has changed, but they continue to seek preferences based on the color of a person skin. And when it comes to thuggery, it isn’t the TEA Party that resorts to violence. It’s the left.

Good News

EAST LANSING -- A Michigan State University research team has developed a laser that could detect roadside bombs -- one of the deadliest enemy weapons encountered in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The laser, which has comparable output to a simple presentation pointer, potentially has the sensitivity and selectivity to canvas large areas and detect improvised explosive devices (IEDs) -- weapons that account for around 60 percent of coalition soldiers’ deaths.

http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2011/09/msu_develops_laser_to_detect_r.html

This is one of those things you’ve probably said, “Why don’t they come up with something like this?” Well they have.

Scandals start piling up in the Obama Administration

Officials hope to approve more loan guarantees

THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION IS MOVING TO FINALIZE AS MANY AS 15 LOAN GUARANTEES FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY COMPANIES BEFORE THE STIMULUS PROGRAM ENDS ON SEPT. 30, and Republicans are questioning whether that could lead to more failures like Solyndra Inc., a company that filed for bankruptcy and may leave taxpayers on the hook for a half-billion-dollar loan.

The loan guarantees essentially make it easier for the companies to get financing as the government guarantees repayment in the event of default. IN SOLYNDRA'S CASE, THE LOAN CAME FROM THE GOVERNMENT ITSELF, BUT PRIVATE BANKS OFTEN PROVIDE THE FINANCING.

A spokesman for the Energy Department said the department won't take any shortcuts during the approval process.

"We will only close the deals that are ready to close on Sept. 30," said spokesman Damien …

http://www.chron.com/business/article/Officials-hope-to-approve-more-loan-guarantees-2171675.php

Hmmm, do loan guarantees sound like something the is shovel ready? This is part of the reason the stimulus has failed so badly, because the Democrats have used it not to stimulate the economy but to stimulate their donors. Can anyone say “good money after bad and scandal?”


Obama disapproval soars

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S DISAPPROVAL RATING HAS SOARED TO 54 PERCENT IN VIRGINIA, a battleground state the Democrat took from the Republicans to win the White House in 2008 and will likely need to carry next year to win re-election, a new poll released Thursday shows.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, based on telephone interviews with 1,368 registered voters from Sept. 7-12, found that ONLY 40 PERCENT APPROVED OF THE PRESIDENT'S PERFORMANCE, down from 48 percent in the same survey in June….
http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Poll-Obama-disapproval-soars-to-54-percent-in-Va-2171819.php#ixzz1Y1uY4Ntj

With everything that is going on, I keep wondering who in the world are these 40% who approve of Obama’s performance? I mean you can be loyal, but truthfully do you really think he’s doing a good job????

James Carville’s advice to Obama: Panic!
People often ask me what advice I would give the White House about various things. Today I was mulling over election results from New York and Nevada while thinking about that very question. WHAT SHOULD THE WHITE HOUSE DO NOW? ONE WORD CAME TO MIND: PANIC.

We are far past sending out talking points. Do not attempt to dumb it down. We cannot stand any more explanations. Have you talked to any Democratic senators lately? I have. IT'S PRETTY DAMN CLEAR THEY ARE NOT HAPPY CAMPERS.

This is what I would say to President Barack Obama: THE TIME HAS COME TO DEMAND A PLAN OF ACTION THAT REQUIRES A COMPLETE CHANGE FROM THE DIRECTION YOU ARE HEADED.

I don't know how else to break this down. Simply put:

1. FIRE SOMEBODY. NO -- FIRE A LOT OF PEOPLE. This may be news to you but this is not going well. For precedent, see Russian Army 64th division at Stalingrad. There were enough deaths at Stalingrad to make the entire tea party collectively orgasm….

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/09/14/opinion/carville-white-house-advice/index.html

Listening to Nancy Pelosi is a lot like listening to Baghdad Bob.  "It's no big deal." according to her.   Old snakehead comes through with the truth. 


DeMint: Obama is “a Venture Socialist”

…VAN SUSTEREN: Have you given up on him personally?

DEMINT: I don't think the president understands free market economics. And I know -- I don't mean to be insulting to the president, but everything he does is central planning right out of the textbooks of what socialism is. And that's a hard thing to say about an American president, but there's nothing he's done that actually encourages a free enterprise, really, market capitalism.

He is really a venture socialist. He talks about government investment, everything he does. And so again, I don't like to be disrespectful to our president, but this president is moving America in the wrong direction. He's made things much, much worse. And we need to minimize the damage….

http://nation.foxnews.com/jim-demint/2011/09/15/demint-obama-venture-socialist-who-doesnt-understand-free-market-economics

I think this is a good observation. Obama’s view of creating jobs is that of a venture socialist. The problem is that when he’s wrong we all get the bill and when he’s right, his friends get the reward.
The Fall Guy

SUDDENLY, LIBERAL OP-ED WRITERS ARE TRASHING -- EVEN LAMPOONING -- BARACK OBAMA AS A ONE-TERM PRESIDENT ("ONE AND DONE").

Centrist Democrats up for re-election in 2012 openly worry about inviting a kindred president into their districts, lest the supposed new pariah lose them votes.

LEFT-WING THINK TANKS, ENVIRONMENTALISTS AND ACADEMICS VENT THEIR ANGER AGAINST OBAMA FOR SUPPOSEDLY BEING TOO SOFT ON REPUBLICANS, and too ready to compromise with right-wingers. But what really caused the left-wing falling-out, less than three years after the hope-and-change crush on Barack Obama?

For now, polls.

Obama's popularity has plummeted to little more than 40 percent approval. Suddenly, Democrats worry that the public anger could be contagious. It might infect them as well -- in the way a sinking George W. Bush hurt congressional Republicans up for re-election in 2006.

YET THE LEFT CANNOT FAIRLY BLAME OBAMA. After all, he rammed through on a strictly partisan vote THE CENTURY-OLD LIBERAL DREAM OF A FEDERAL TAKEOVER OF HEALTH CARE -- something that Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton never could do. KEYNESIANS NEVER DREAMED THAT A PRESIDENT COULD ACTUALLY BORROW $5 TRILLION FOR DOMESTIC SPENDING IN LESS THAN THREE YEARS.

The Obama administration even tried to shut down a brand-new Boeing aircraft plant on the shaky argument that the company might thereby be hiring fewer union workers somewhere else. For environmentalists, OBAMA KEPT OIL PRODUCERS OUT OF NEW FIELDS IN ALASKA, THE AMERICAN WEST, THE GULF AND OTHER OFFSHORE SITES. Hundreds of billions in borrowed federal money went to failed "wind and solar" plants in an effort to jump-start "millions of green jobs."

THE OBAMA REVOLUTION UNDER THE RADAR WAS EVEN MORE INSIDIOUS. Open-borders activists were promised that the government would not bother illegal aliens unless they were wanted for felonies. Never before has THE UNITED STATES JOINED A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT IN SUING ONE OF ITS OWN STATES -- in the fashion that both the Justice Department and Mexico have either filed or joined suits seeking to overturn Arizona's immigration law…
http://townhall.com/columnists/victordavishanson/2011/09/15/obama_becomes_the_fall_guy

And seriously the left thinks Obama is unpopular because he didn’t go left enough. Sometime you feel these people are not simply ignorant, but they are delusional as well.

White House Pressure for a Donor?

The Pentagon has worried for months that a project backed by a prominent Democratic donor might interfere with military GPS. Now Congress wants to know if the White House pressured a general to change his testimony.

The four-star air force general who oversees air force space command walked into a highly secured room on capitol hill a week ago to give a classified briefing to lawmakers and staff, and dropped a surprise. Pressed by members, GEN. WILLIAM SHELTON SAID THE WHITE HOUSE TRIED TO PRESSURE HIM TO CHANGE HIS TESTIMONY TO MAKE IT MORE FAVORABLE TO A COMPANY TIED TO A LARGE DEMOCRATIC DONOR...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/09/15/lightsquared-did-white-house-pressure-general-shelton-to-help-donor.html

Another scandal

Economy should render Obama speechless

IN SOCIETIES GOVERNED BY PERSUASION, POLITICS IS MOSTLY TALK, SO LIBERALS’ IMPOVERISHMENT OF THEIR VOCABULARY MATTERS.

Having damaged liberalism’s reputation, they call themselves progressives. Having made the federal government’s pretensions absurd, they have resurrected the supposed synonym “federal family.” Having made federal spending suspect, they advocate “investments” — for “job creation,” a euphemism for stimulus, another word they have made toxic.

BARACK OBAMA, A PITILESSLY RHETORICAL PRESIDENT, CONTINUES TO GRAB THE NATION BY ITS LAPELS BUT THE NATION IS NO LONGER LISTENING. This matters because ominous portents are multiplying….

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view/2011_0915economy_should_render_obama_speechless/

Obama is floundering. His rhetoric has always been the way he’s solved problems talking people into doing things his way. But it isn’t working because what he’s talked people into doing in the past isn’t working. Perhaps he should read James Carville’s advice.


Solyndra and the Party of Science

… SO FOR THE PRICE OF TURNING A FAT CHUNK OF WEST TEXAS (10,000 SQ Miles) INTO A TANNING SALON YOU’D PRODUCE — 0.32% OF AVERAGE DAILY ENERGY CONSUMPTION, OR ABOUT THREE HOOVER DAMS. And that’s assuming you could build the (massively expensive) distribution network.

There is solar tech that is more efficient than the stuff Solyndra produced (shock! horror!), as you will see if you click through the “thin film” link above. But this “concentrated photovoltaic” stuff, which uses super-expensive optics to focus sunlight at silicon crystals that take a lot of time to grow, is not in production in any great scale. It’s also currently much more expensive.

Let’s take it a step further and imagine WE COULD COVER NOT 10,000 BUT A MILLION SQUARE MILES OF THE FRUITED PLAIN — AN AREA ROUGHLY FOUR TIMES THE SIZE OF TEXAS — with 20 percent efficient cells. Then you’d produce 3,366,984,543 kWh/day, which is still just 31.6 PERCENT TOTAL CONSUMPTION. And the cost, of course, would be astronomical.

Speaking for myself, I FIND THIS SORT OF “SCIENCE” A BIT MORE RELEVANT TO THE POLICY DISCOURSE THAN RICK PERRY’S THOUGHTS ON SPECIATION, considering the U.S. taxpayer is now on the hook for billions in subsidies to Solyndra and its like. But I’m funny like that…

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/277248/solyndra-and-party-science-daniel-foster

The party of science is really the partly of science party. They like science when it supports their ideology.


Union Statistics: What You May Not Know

The folks at UnionFacts.com have a ‘vital statistics‘ page that provides some good information about unions that many Americans may not know. Here is just some of the information:

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

ANNUAL DUES PAID TO UNIONS: $8,217,838,676
TOTAL UNION ASSETS: $8,804,794,935
TOTAL SPENDING
REPRESENTATIONAL ACTIVITIES: $4,081,097,858
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES: $579,624,489
EXTERNAL CONTRIBUTIONS: $321,121,214
OVERHEAD: $3,905,927,269
UNIONS THAT FAIL TO PASS DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AUDITS: 92%

http://www.laborunionreport.com/portal/2011/09/union-statistics-what-you-may-not-know/

What interesting is the $321,121,214 in external contributions. It’s no wonder the Democrats roll over for the unions in negotiations.

Defending the Constitution

…He reiterated concern by others that people are pinning their hopes on the Supreme Court to strike down Obamacare, rather than Congress or the White House-- while he'd love to see the healthcare boondoggle shut down, Pestritto cautioned that the very fact that we are looking to the courts to be the heavyweight and support the Constitution is part of the problem. The professor hit the nail in the head towards the end of the session: "MOST OF POLITICS TODAY IS A FIGHT BETWEEN THE TWO UNELECTED BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT: THE COURTS AND THE BUREAUCRACY…."

http://nlt.ashbrook.org/2011/09/pestritto-on-the-constitution.php

The last statement is a frightening one but true. We need to get back to being ruled by the Constitution rather than how it is going right now.

The global warming theory left him out in the cold.

DR. IVAR GIAEVER, A FORMER PROFESSOR WITH RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND THE 1973 WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS, ABRUPTLY ANNOUNCED HIS RESIGNATION TUESDAY, SEPT. 13, FROM THE PREMIER PHYSICS SOCIETY IN DISGUST OVER ITS OFFICIALLY STATED POLICY THAT "GLOBAL WARMING IS OCCURRING." The official position of the American Physical Society (APS) supports the theory that man's actions have inexorably led to the warming of the planet, through increased emissions of carbon dioxide.

Giaever does not agree -- and put it bluntly and succinctly in the subject line of his email, reprinted at Climate Depot, a website devoted to debunking the theory of man-made climate change.
"I resign from APS," Giaever wrote.

Giaever was cooled to the statement on warming theory by a line claiming that "the evidence is incontrovertible."

"In the APS it is ok to discuss whether the mass of the proton changes over time and how a multi-universe behaves, but the evidence of global warming is incontrovertible?" he wrote in an email to Kate Kirby, executive officer of the physics society.

"THE CLAIM … IS THAT THE TEMPERATURE HAS CHANGED FROM ~288.0 TO ~288.8 DEGREE KELVIN IN ABOUT 150 YEARS, WHICH (IF TRUE) MEANS TO ME IS THAT THE TEMPERATURE HAS BEEN AMAZINGLY STABLE, AND BOTH HUMAN HEALTH AND HAPPINESS HAVE DEFINITELY IMPROVED IN THIS 'WARMING' PERIOD," HIS EMAIL MESSAGE SAID….

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/14/nobel-prize-winning-physicist-resigns-from-top-physics-group-over-global/#ixzz1Y39J6gk6

Headwinds for Obama--Make that a Hurricane

Disaster looms for O in 2012

Republican Bob Turner’s victory in the closely watched special election to replace disgraced Rep. Anthony Weiner delivered an unmistakable message to President Obama: Be afraid, be very afraid, of what’s coming down the pike in 2012.

That a Brooklyn-Queens district where Democrats outnumber Republicans 3 to 1 could swing to a GOP candidate who was outspent and outmanned -- and where unions poured in enormous resources in the final hours -- doesn’t bode well for a president facing re-election in a queasy economy.

Public Policy Polling minced no words when it reported Sunday that Assemblyman David Weprin, handpicked by Democratic leaders as their so-called sure-shot candidate, was undone by a president whose approval rating in the district came in at a dismal 31 percent….

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/disaster_looms_for_in_G1cGiO8AMtBl9uwQn0M2TO#ixzz1XvdmcDAJ

The headline says it all. The Democrats will try to spin this, but facts are facts. In a heavily democratic part of New York, a Republican has taken Weiner’s seat. You might call this a “Weiner warning” for democrats down the ticket next year.


Do the Democrats’ Special Election Losses Mean Anything?

….One crude way to forecast the results you might expect to see out of a House race is through ITS PARTISAN VOTING INDEX, OR P.V.I., A MEASURE OF HOW THE DISTRICT VOTED RELATIVE TO OTHERS IN THE PAST TWO PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS ....

REPUBLICANS HAVE OVERPERFORMED THE P.V.I. BASELINE BY AN AVERAGE OF 7 PERCENTAGE POINTS ACROSS THE FOUR RACES. That squares with what we saw in 2010, when Republicans won the popular vote for the House by an aggregate of 7 percentage points.
If you don't count Hochul's victory in May — a very different political environment— then REPUBLICANS HAVE OUTPERFORMED EXPECTATIONS BY AN AVERAGE OF 14.6 POINTS IN SPECIAL elections over the past two months.

As to why Democrats are underperforming recently, it's no mystery to most people: President Obama. As Politico reports:

Even before the polls closed, the recriminations — something short of panic, and considerably more than mere grumbling — had begun. ON A HIGH-LEVEL CAMPAIGN CONFERENCE CALL TUESDAY AFTERNOON, DEMOCRATIC DONORS AND STRATEGISTS COMMISERATED OVER THEIR DISAPPOINTMENT IN OBAMA. A SOURCE ON THE CALL DESCRIBED THE MOOD AS “AWFUL.”

“People feel betrayed, disappointed, furious, disgusted, hopeless,” said the source ...

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/09/do_the_democrats_special_elect.html

Good news if you are a Republican. This puts a number on it.


Even Republicans Rejected Info on Obama’s Past

…Nevertheless, I think there is something broken in our media and campaign system. I do not think most independents or conservatives understand, or fully appreciate, the tremendous advantages the left derives from having the mainstream media serve as the fully paid, completely sympathetic, Dan Rather-level opposition research team of the Democratic Party. IT IS A SYSTEM THAT METHODICALLY IGNORES DAMAGING INFORMATION ABOUT FLAWED CANDIDATES LIKE SEN. JOHN EDWARDS AND REP. ANTHONY WEINER, WHILE ELEVATING MINOR ERRORS AMONG REPUBLICANS TO THE STATUS OF WATERGATE INVESTIGATIONS….

…I think recognition of this problem should be the first step in taking systematic action to prevent flawed Democrat candidates from winning office. In the meantime, I predict that we will see more examples of media failure as the left dominates the muckraking journalism profession while the right seems too dependent on a small handful of seemingly obscure, overworked journalists and -- as my case illustrates -- unconnected and often baffled citizen activists.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/09/even_republicans_rejected_info_about_obamas_past.html

An interesting article by a classmate of Barack Obama who tried in 2008 to let people know the truth of Obama’s past. I’ve posted the conclusions of his article and thought it fit in well with at least part of what happened in New York in Weiner’s seat.

Conservative Nabs Naming Rights to ‘American Jobs Act’ After Obama Delay

President Obama repeatedly asked members of Congress to pass the American Jobs Act last week. But WHEN NO DEMOCRAT FILED OBAMA’S BILL AFTER HE PRESENTED IT TO CONGRESS, A CONSERVATIVE CONGRESSMAN SWIPED THE NAME FOR HIS OWN LEGISLATION.
The American Jobs Act introduced in the House of Representatives looks quite different from the version President Obama outlined in his speech to Congress. Instead of hiking taxes on working Americans to pay for another stimulus, Rep. Louie Gohmert’s (R-TX) legislation offers a tax cut.

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/09/14/conservative-nabs-naming-rights-to-american-jobs-act-after-obama-delay/

If it weren’t for bad luck, BHO wouldn’t have any luck at all.

Blast From Paul Krugman's Past: "Social Security Is A Ponzi Scheme And Will Soon Be Over"

It is one thing (what thing that is we are not sure, but we have heard others say it, so like all good lemmings we will say it too) for Rick Perry to call Social Security a ponzi scheme. After all he is some crazy, foaming in the mouth conservative, as uber-Keynesian liberal Paul Krugman may call him. And that's fine. What confuses us, however, is WHY SOCIAL SECURITY WOULD BE CALLED A PONZI BY THE SAME LIBERAL NOTED PREVIOUSLY: NONE OTHER THAN PAUL KRUGMAN HIMSELF.

Exhibit A, from a distant 1997, which perhaps one would have expected to remain buried:
Social Security is structured from the point of view of the recipients as if it were an ordinary retirement plan: what you get out depends on what you put in. So it does not look like a redistributionist scheme. IN PRACTICE IT HAS TURNED OUT TO BE STRONGLY REDISTRIBUTIONIST, BUT ONLY BECAUSE OF ITS PONZI GAME ASPECT, IN WHICH EACH GENERATION TAKES MORE OUT THAN IT PUT IN. WELL, THE PONZI GAME WILL SOON BE OVER, THANKS TO CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS, so that the typical recipient henceforth will get only about as much as he or she put in (and today's young may well get less than they put in).

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/paul-krugman-social-security-ponzi-scheme-and-will-soon-be-over

It was so much easier to lie about what you said in the past when there wasn’t an internet.

Nothing new here folks, move along

Republican wins Democratic New York House seat

With the outcome of his own reelection effort 14 difficult months away, PRESIDENT OBAMA SUFFERED A SHARP REBUKE TUESDAY WHEN VOTERS IN NEW YORK ELECTED A CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN TO REPRESENT A DEMOCRATIC DISTRICT THAT HAS NOT BEEN IN GOP HANDS SINCE THE 1920S.

Bob Turner, the winner, cast the election as a referendum on Obama’s stewardship of the economy and, in the state’s Ninth Congressional District, which has a large population of Orthodox Jewish voters, the president’s position on Israel.

With 75 percent of the precincts reporting at press time, Turner had a commanding lead, with 53 percent of the vote, compared with 47 percent for Weprin.

TURNER, 70, A RETIRED CABLE TV EXECUTIVE WHO HAS NEVER SERVED IN ELECTIVE OFFICE, DEFEATED DEMOCRATIC STATE ASSEMBLYMAN DAVID WEPRIN, 55, WHO HAS TWO DECADES OF EXPERIENCE IN PUBLIC SERVICE, to fill the seat left vacant when Anthony Weiner (D) resigned in disgrace in June after more than 12 years in the House.

The defeat came as Republicans trounced Democrats in another special House election Tuesday, in northern Nevada, where Republican Mark Amodei led Democrat Kate Marshall, 56 percent to 39 percent almost from the start.

In both contests, THE GOP PULLED AHEAD BY LINKING THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE TO OBAMA AND HIS HANDLING OF THE ECONOMY. Both Republican contenders urged voters to “send a message” to the president….

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republican-wins-democratic-new-york-house-seat/2011/09/13/gIQAoos5QK_print.html

You will hear a lot of excuses and finger pointing away from the President regarding this, but this bodes ill for this administration in the coming election.


Back to the Future?

Those who are impressed by words seem to think that President Barack Obama made a great speech to Congress last week. But, when you look beyond the rhetoric, WHAT DID HE SAY THAT WAS FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT HE HAS BEEN SAYING AND DOING ALL ALONG?

Are we to continue doing the same kinds of things that have failed again and again, just because Obama delivers clever words with style and energy?

Once we get past the glowing rhetoric, what is the president proposing? MORE SPENDING! ONLY THE WORDS HAVE CHANGED -- FROM "STIMULUS" TO "JOBS" AND FROM "SHOVEL-READY PROJECTS" TO "JOBS FOR CONSTRUCTION WORKERS."

If government spending were the answer, we would by now have a booming economy with plenty of jobs, after all the record trillions of dollars that have been poured down a bottomless pit. Are we to keep on doing the same things, just because those things have been repackaged in different words?...

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/09/13/back_to_the_future_111307.html

This really is Obama’s green jobs bill. It’s just recycled stimulus.


Perry’s Ponzi Point

RICK PERRY HAS GOTTEN A LOT OF HEAT FOR DESCRIBING THE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM AS "A PONZI SCHEME," AND HE DESERVES IT. The Texas governor owes a big apology to Charles Ponzi. Sure, Ponzi fleeced investors, but THEY AT LEAST HAD A CHOICE ABOUT PARTICIPATING. SOCIAL SECURITY OPERATES ON A COMPULSORY BASIS.

In other respects, though, Perry has a point. In a Ponzi scheme, new investors have to be continually recruited in order to provide fat returns to earlier investors. It works fine until you have so many investors to pay off that you can't find enough new ones to cover the cost.

Social Security is like that. It used to be a comfortable arrangement for all, because there were so many workers paying in and so few retirees getting checks. In 1950, there were 16 workers for every beneficiary. But today, there are about three workers. In 20 years, the ratio will be 2 to 1. A sweet deal has gone sour….

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-socialsecurity-20110913,0,6514632.story#start

It's funny to watch liberals defend SS from the charges it isn't a Ponzi Scheme.  If you tried to set something up like it in the private sector, you would be thrown in jail. 


Obama tries a do-over

…With these three warnings, RIVLIN ANTICIPATED EVERYTHING THAT THE OBAMA WHITE HOUSE AND THE DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS WOULD DO WRONG OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS.

First, instead of passing a targeted antirecession package, CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS CRAMMED THE STIMULUS BILL WITH SPENDING ON EVERYTHING FROM HEAD START AND PELL GRANTS TO HIGH-SPEED RAIL AND RENEWABLE-ENERGY PROJECTS. The hope was that the legislation would do more than just kickstart a recovery: It would lay a new foundation for the economy, with an electric car in every garage and a Solyndra solar panel on every roof. The result, predictably, was A BILL THAT LOOKED LESS LIKE A TEMPORARY EXERCISE IN CRISIS MANAGEMENT AND MORE LIKE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S PERMANENT WISH LIST….
….Finally, instead of pivoting from the Recovery Act to deficits and entitlement reform, the DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY SPENT ALL OF ITS POST-STIMULUS POLITICAL CAPITAL TRYING TO PUSH BOTH A COSTLY NEW HEALTH CARE ENTITLEMENT AND A CAP-AND-TRADE BILL THROUGH CONGRESS. Both policies were advertised, intermittently, as deficit reduction, but neither came close to addressing the real long-term drivers of the nation’s debt…

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/12/opinion/the-presidents-do-over.html?_r=1&src=recg

This is an interesting piece on where the Democrats went wrong. In addition I think the huge increase in government regulations is pulling the economy down rather than lifting it up. In fact whatever stimulus you should have gotten from the stimulus bill has been offset by added uncertainty due to the regulations, the healthcare law, and generally hostility Obama and the Democrats have toward business and success.


Wonder why the Schools are failing many students?

WONDERING WHETHER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE TRULY INDOCTRINATED IN THE LEFT WING AGENDA? Well, wonder no more. They are; and it's worse -- far worse -- than you can possibly imagine…

… In the section entitled "AMERICA'S FREEDOM FIGHTERS":

• Eight pages are spent covering the life of Frederick Douglass
• Five pages on Susan B. Anthony
• Six pages on Mary McLeod Bethune,
• ZERO PAGES ARE DEVOTED TO THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

In fact, the entire Civil War is described only as a backdrop to the lives of Frederick Douglas and Mary McLeod Bethune….

http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2011/09/holy-crap-inside-3rd-graders-social.html

Wonder why our children don't know history?  They aren't being taught history--at least not real history. 

Friday: Obama's New Jobs Plan (A Satire)

Obama’s New Jobs Plan

Due to the current financial situation caused by the slowdown in the economy, Obama has decided to implement a scheme to put workers of 50 years of age and above on early, mandatory retirement, thus creating jobs and reducing unemployment.

This scheme will be known as RAPE (Retire Aged People Early).

Persons selected to be RAPED can apply to DOL (Department of Labor) to be considered for The SHAFT program (Special Help After Forced Termination).

Persons who have been RAPED and SHAFTED will be reviewed under the SCREW program (System Covering Retired-Early Workers).

A person may be RAPED once, SHAFTED twice and SCREWED as many times as the DOL deems appropriate.

Persons who have been RAPED could get AIDS (Additional Income for Dependents& Spouse) or HERPES (Half Earnings for Retired Personnel Early Severance).

Obviously persons who have AIDS or HERPES will not be SHAFTED or SCREWED Any further by this administration.

Persons who are not RAPED and are staying on will receive as much SHIT (Special High Intensity Training) as possible.   Federal funds are available to aid in getting the SHIT out to everyone who is eligible. The Federal government has always prided itself on the amount of SHIT they give our citizens.

Should you feel that you do not receive enough SHIT, please bring this to the attention of your Congressman, who has been trained to give you all the SHIT you can handle.

Sincerely,

The Committee for Economic Value of Individual Lives (E.V.I.L.)

PS - Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas and oil, as well as current market conditions, the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off.