Obama's bubble

The Obama Bubble

President Obama, entirely lacking in business experience, could learn something about branding from the high tech sector. AT THE DAWN OF THE TECH BUBBLE, STARTUPS BEGAN TO REALIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF BRANDING -- CREATING MARKET AWARENESS OR "BUZZ" ABOUT A COMPANY AND ITS PRODUCTS. As is common with trends, branding became a fad. Small companies soon were shifting large portions of their product development budgets to Super Bowl ads and stadium naming rights. WHEN MANY PRODUCTS INEVITABLY FELL SHORT OF THEIR BUZZ, COMPANIES PRODUCING THEM WERE WEAKENED AND THE TECH BUBBLE BURST.

It's a good allegory for the 21st century US presidency. Like many pre-bubble tech nerds, President Bush apparently believed that self-promotion would cheapen the Office of the President, so he did little of it. For instance, when competitors attacked his Social Security privatization plan, he didn't defend it, even though he was right and his demagogic opponents were wrong. In terms of political branding, the Bush administration was pre-bubble.

NOW WE HAVE A PRESIDENT THAT, AS THEY SAY IN BUSH'S TEXAS, IS ALL HAT AND NO CATTLE. With a quarter-page résumé, HE IS LITTLE MORE THAN A BRAND NAME. And like the tech bubble, THE OBAMA BUBBLE IS IN DANGER OF BURSTING, DESPITE HIS PLAN TO SPEND ANOTHER BILLION CAMPAIGN DOLLARS INFLATING IT OVER THE NEXT 14 MONTHS….

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/08/the_obama_bubble.html

Obama was sold like snake oil to the public. He was the fix for all our ills. The MSM, rather than pointing out the serious deficits in his resume, gave him free advertising for his claims. 2012 will not be like that.



President Obama Calls His Own Actions Irresponsible and Unpatriotic

CNSNews points out that during a campaign speech on July 3, 2008, then-candidate Obama said:
The problem is, is that the way Bush has done it over the last eight years is TO TAKE OUT A CREDIT CARD FROM THE BANK OF CHINA IN THE NAME OF OUR CHILDREN, DRIVING UP THE NATIONAL DEBT FROM 5 TRILLION FOR THE FIRST 42 PRESIDENTS — NUMBER 43 ADDED 4 TRILLION DOLLARS BY HIS LONESOME, so that we now have 9 trillion dollars of debt that we are going to have to pay back — $30,000 for every man, woman and child. THAT’S IRRESPONSIBLE. IT’S UNPATRIOTIC.

President Obama has added another $4 trillion all by his lonesome. In just two and a half years, no less. That’s $ 46,930 for every man, woman, and child.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/275494/president-obama-calls-his-own-actions-irresponsible-and-unpatriotic-peter-kirsanow

I’ll bet Obama is thinking how much easier it was when he didn’t have a record but only a lot of promises and accusations.

Policy Chart: Illinois Loses Most Jobs in the Nation

In a trend that continues to worsen, more ILLINOISANS FOUND THEMSELVES UNEMPLOYED IN THE MONTH OF JULY.

Illinois lost more jobs during the month of July than any other state in the nation, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report. AFTER LOSING 7,200 JOBS IN JUNE, ILLINOIS LOST AN ADDITIONAL 24,900 NON-FARM PAYROLL JOBS IN JULY. The report also said Illinois’s UNEMPLOYMENT RATE CLIMBED TO 9.5 PERCENT. This marks the third consecutive month of increases in the unemployment rate.

Illinois started to create jobs as the national economy began to recover. But just when Illinois’s economy seemed to be turning around, LAWMAKERS PASSED RECORD TAX INCREASES IN JANUARY OF THIS YEAR. SINCE THEN, ILLINOIS’S EMPLOYMENT NUMBERS HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT DECLINE.

http://www.illinoispolicy.org/news/article.asp?ArticleSource=4362

I think they have the balanced approach working for them.

No Green Jobs, But Plenty of Red Ink

It wasn’t enough to preside over the first-ever downgrade of America’s credit rating. Now the Obama administration is downgrading America’s energy supply as well. “We’ll invest $15 billion a year over the next decade in renewable energy, creating five million new green jobs that pay well, can’t be outsourced and help end our dependence on foreign oil,” candidate Barack Obama promised in the fall of 2008. But why stop there? Why not claim that you can heal the planet - whatever that means - and control the ocean levels too? Oh yeah, he did....

... So, how well have President Obama’s “green jobs” initiatives fared?

The president recently toured Johnson Controls Inc., A MICHIGAN COMPANY THAT RECEIVED $300 MILLION FROM “OBAMA’S STASH” TO CREATE - DRUMROLL, PLEASE - A WHOPPING 150 JOBS. Do the math: That’s $2 million per green job. And this is the company the White House chooses to showcase? Evergreen Solar, a Massachusetts company, also received stimulus money, but the White House that is “the most open and transparent in history” won’t say how much, only that EVERGREEN IS “HOPING TO HIRE 90 TO 100 PEOPLE.” INSTEAD, IT DECLARED BANKRUPTCY AND SHIPPED 800 JOBS OVERSEAS. Well, so much for green jobs.

Should we be surprised? During the campaign, MR. OBAMA HELD UP SPAIN’S GREEN INITIATIVES AS A BLUEPRINT FOR AMERICA. WE NOW KNOW THAT THE SPANIARDS LOST 2.2 ACTUAL JOBS FOR EACH “GREEN JOB” THEY CREATED. SOME BLUEPRINT.

Consider ethanol. The government takes billions of dollars from people with actual jobs to prop up the ethanol industry. THE TRIFECTA OF ETHANOL’S CORPORATE WELFARE INCLUDES A 45-CENTS- TO 55-CENTS-PER-GALLON SUBSIDY, A MANDATE THAT FORCES SUPPOSEDLY FREE AMERICANS TO BUY THE INDUSTRY’S PRODUCT AND AN ANTI-COMPETITIVE TARIFF ON ETHANOL IMPORTS TO PREVENT CONSUMERS FROM PURCHASING IT AT A LOWER PRICE....

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/23/energy-obamanomics-no-green-jobs-and-plenty-of-red/

Hostility added to stupidity gives you the Left’s energy plans.

Obama keeps falling in the polls

Editorial: As Failures Grow, Obama Blames Others

Politics: In his weekly radio address and elsewhere over the weekend, PRESIDENT OBAMA BLAMED REPUBLICANS FOR "HOLDING BACK" THE RECOVERY BY BLOCKING HIS STILL-MIA JOBS PLAN. This wins the prize for Oval Office hubris
.
HE'S EVEN QUESTIONING THE "PATRIOTISM" OF GOP LEADERS ON THE HILL, claiming they're putting politics above country. "They're more interested in the politics of it than they are in solving the problem," he complained…

…The most ideologically rigid president in history then accused Republicans — who control just a third of the Pennsylvania Avenue power corridor — of "rigidity" in refusing to raise taxes in a recession…

…You can't appreciate the heights of this cynicism without looking at Obama's 2006 memoir, "The Audacity of Hope," where HE BLAMED BUSH AND REPUBLICANS FOR "ANEMIC JOB GROWTH," "FLATLINING WAGES" AND NOT MAKING "TOUGH CHOICES TO CONTROL SPENDING." All the horrible things he said came from GOP policies back then are umpteen times worse now under his own policies.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/582345/201108221840/Look-In-Mirror-Mr-President.htm


Kind of makes you wonder what Jobs Plan are the Republicans blocking (have you seen any plan?). But let’s review; Obama the candidate was against extending the debt limit, anemic job growth, and failing to make tough spending choices. Apparently Obama the candidate would not like Obama the President.


Obama’s debt

Swallow all liquids in your mouth before reading any further.

Updated numbers for the national debt are just out: It's now $14,639,000,000,000.
When Barack Obama took the oath of office twice on Jan. 20, 2009, CBS' amazing number cruncher Mark Knoller reports, the national debt was $10,626,000,000,000.

That means the debt that our federal government owes a whole lot of somebodies including China HAS INCREASED $4,247,000,000,000 IN JUST 945 DAYS. That's the fastest increase under any president ever.

Remember the day the Democrat promised to close the embarrassing Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility within one year? THAT DAY THE NATIONAL DEBT INCREASED $4,247,000,000. AND EACH DAY SINCE THAT THE FACILITY HASN'T BEEN CLOSED.

Same for the day in 2009 when Obama flew all the way out to Denver to sign the $787 billion stimulus bill that was going to hold national unemployment beneath 8% instead of the 9.1% we got today anyway? Another $4,247,000,000 that day. And every day since, even Obama golfing and vacation days.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/08/obama-national-debt.html

$4 trillion reasons not to vote Democratic in 2012.



Obama’s Approval Hits New Low of 44% With Hispanics

In the same week that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that her department was going to review the cases of 300,000 illegal aliens in deportation proceedings and allow “low priority” cases to stay in the country and receive work permits—a move House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith called a “back door amnesty”—PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S APPROVAL DROPPED TO AN ALL-TIME LOW OF 44 PERCENT AMONG HISPANICS, according to Gallup polling data released today

THAT IS A DROP OF 41 POINTS FROM THE SPRING OF 2009, when Obama’s approval among Hispanic Americans peaked at 85 percent (in the weeks that ended April 26, 2009 and May 17, 2009).

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/back-door-amnesty-backfires-obama-s-appr

Marco Rubio may make a fine VP candidate.



Gallup: Obama hits an all time low in Approval

ONLY 38 PERCENT OF AMERICANS SAY THE APPROVE OF THE WAY BARACK OBAMA IS HANDLING HIS JOB as president, according to Gallup's daily tracking poll released today (which averages the president's approval over Gallup's previous three days of polling).

That is the lowest that Obama's approval has been in the daily tracking poll since he was inaugurated in January 2009.

54 percent of Americans in Gallup's daily tracking poll said they disapprove of the way Obama is handling his job as president. That ties the president's highest level of disapproval in the poll. Disapproval of Obama also rose as high as 54 percent in the 3-day period of Aug. 11-13.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/obamas-approval-takes-vacation-drops-all


I’m starting to read some about the possibility of Obama doing an LBJ and dropping out of the race in January. It is possible, but it’s awfully hard to leave that way. I think he will stay in and be beaten like a drum in the general election.

It’s the spending, stupid!

It’s conventional wisdom in Washington to blame the federal government’s dire financial outlook on runaway entitlement spending. Unless we rein in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the conventional wisdom goes, the federal government is headed for disaster.

That’s true in the long run. But what is causing massive deficits now? . . . The bottom line is that with baby boomers aging, entitlements will one day be a major budget problem. But today’s DEFICIT CRISIS IS NOT ONE OF ENTITLEMENTS. IT WAS CREATED BY OUT-OF-CONTROL SPENDING ON EVERYTHING other than entitlements. The recent debt-ceiling agreement is supposed to put the brakes on that kind of spending, but leaders have so far been maddeningly vague on how they’ll do it.

This issue could be an important one in the coming presidential race. Should Republicans base their platform on entitlement reform, or should they focus on the here and now — specifically, on undoing the damage done by Obama and his Democratic allies? IN COMING MONTHS, THE ANSWER WILL LIKELY BECOME CLEAR: ENTITLEMENTS SOMEDAY, BUT FIRST THINGS FIRST.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/08/spending-not-entitlements-created-huge-deficit

It's not a revenue problem.  It's a spending problem. 


A Plan or an Outline of Some Ideas?

Last Monday, President Obama made news by promising to give a speech in September detailing, "A VERY SPECIFIC PLAN TO BOOST THE ECONOMY, TO CREATE JOBS AND TO CONTROL OUR DEFICIT."


But has that "very specific plan" already been downgraded to an outline?

That is, at least, the impression I got watching Obama advisors Robert Gibbs and David Axelrod on yesterday's Sunday morning shows.

"THE PRESIDENT IS GOING TO OUTLINE a short-term plan to accelerate the economy," Axelrod said on ABC's This Week, "in the face of the hits we've taken, because of the Arab Spring and oil prices, because of the Japanese earthquake, because of Europe that have slowed down economic growth.

On Meet the Press, Gibbs used similar language, "THE PRESIDENT IS GOING TO OUTLINE some ideas, the president has outlined ideas every day he's been in the White House."

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/obamas-specific-plan-now-just-outline


This isn’t surprising. A plan can be scored by the CBO. An outline can be interpreted anyway the defender of it wants. The problem with this administration is that all they had when they came into office was an outline and that’s all they still have.


Florida's Governor Promotes His Texas Colleague's Higher Ed Vision

Texas Governor Rick Perry's controversial higher education platform may be coming to a college near you -- if you're at a college or university in Florida. The Orlando Sentinel reports that Florida's governor, Rick Scott, has been sharing the philosophical framework for PERRY'S PERFORMANCE-BASED VISION FOR PUBLIC COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES -- the Texas Public Policy Foundation's "Seven Breakthrough Solutions" -- with candidates he is considering for trustee positions. "It does get the conversation going," Scott told the newspaper, REFERRING TO IDEAS LIKE CREATING "SEPARATE BUDGETING AND REWARD SYSTEMS FOR TEACHING AND RESEARCH, MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO REWARD EXCEPTIONAL INDIVIDUALS IN EACH AREA," and ALLOCATING STATE AID THROUGH VOUCHERS FOR STUDENTS IN PLACE OF INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT. Faculty leaders in Florida are not excited about the potential export from the Lone Star State. "People are just mortified by it," said Tom Auxter, president of United Faculty of Florida, the statewide faculty union. "The devil is alive and well in those details."

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/08/23/qt#268500


Why is it that teachers at all levels absolutely reject any kind of accountability even if it means the potential for higher remuneration?



Economists back spending cuts over tax increases

THE MAJORITY OF ECONOMISTS SURVEYED BY THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR BUSINESS ECONOMICS BELIEVE THAT THE FEDERAL DEFICIT SHOULD BE REDUCED ONLY OR PRIMARILY THROUGH SPENDING CUTS.


The survey out Monday found that 56 PERCENT OF THE NABE MEMBERS SURVEYED FELT THAT WAY, while 37 PERCENT SAID THEY FAVOR EQUAL PARTS SPENDING CUTS AND TAX INCREASES. The remaining 7 percent believe it should be done only or mostly through tax increases.

As for how to reduce the deficit, NEARLY 40 PERCENT SAID THE BEST WAY WOULD BE TO CONTAIN MEDICARE AND MEDICAID COSTS. Nearly a quarter recommended overhauling the tax system and simplifying tax rates and exemptions. About 15 percent said the government should enact tough spending caps and cut discretionary spending.

The latest survey by the NABE was conducted in the two weeks ending Aug. 2, the day that the Senate passed and President Obama signed legislation to cut spending by more than $2 trillion and raise the nation's debt ceiling.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/44226011

So much for balance. I’ll bet we would see a different outcome if you did a survey of academic economists. Of course it was Obama’s team of academic economists who dusted off Keynes and put us on the fast track to insolvency.


It’s not easy being green and it’s not very smart either

…For most of the last few years the White House and its supporters have been saying it's about all three. But that's never been true. IF WE WANT ENERGY INDEPENDENCE (and I'm not sure why we would) or if we want to reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern oil (a marginally better proposition, given that Canada and often Mexico supply the U.S. with more oil than Saudi Arabia), WE WOULD MASSIVELY EXPAND OUR DOMESTIC DRILLING FOR OIL AND GAS AND OUR USE OF COAL OR CARBON-FREE NUCLEAR. That would also create lots of jobs that can't be exported (YOU CAN'T DRILL FOR AMERICAN OIL IN CHINA, BUT WE CAN, AND DO, BUY LOTS OF CHINESE-MADE SOLAR PANELS).

As for the windfall in green jobs, that has always been a con job.

For instance, BARACK OBAMA CAME INTO OFFICE INSISTING THAT SPAIN WAS BEATING THE U.S. IN THE RUSH FOR GREEN JOBS. NEVER MIND THAT IN SPAIN — WHERE UNEMPLOYMENT IS NOW AT 21% — THE GREEN JOBS BOOM HAS BEEN A BUST. One major 2009 study by researchers at King Juan Carlos University found that the country destroyed 2.2 jobs in other industries for every green job it created, and the Spanish government has spent more than half a million euros for each green job created since 2000. Wind industry jobs cost a cool $1 million euros apiece.

The record in America has been no better, Obama's campaign stump speeches notwithstanding. The NEW YORK TIMES, WHICH HAS BEEN TOUTING THE GREEN AGENDA IN ITS NEWS PAGES FOR YEARS, ADMITTED LAST WEEK THAT "FEDERAL AND STATE EFFORTS TO STIMULATE CREATION OF GREEN JOBS HAVE LARGELY FAILED, government records show." Even Obama's former green jobs czar concedes the point, as do other leading Democrats, including Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles….

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-goldberg-green-20110823,0,4353091.column

The only secure thing you can say about going green is that it costs a lot of green. It’s a technology that isn’t there, yet our pro-science progressives don’t seem to understand that.

Obama strangles the Energy Sector

LAST WEEK, THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FOUND ITSELF IN A LEGAL BATTLE WITH EXXON OVER THE LARGEST FIND IN THE COMPANY'S HISTORY, A FIELD OF OVER 1 BILLION BARRELS OFF THE COAST OF LOUISIANA. This represents 5% of total U.S. oil reserves and there's supposed to be a lot more out there. The Marcellus Shale field in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Maryland contains between 160 and 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Out in North Dakota, Montana, and Saskatchewan, THE BAKKEN DEPOSIT IS ESTIMATED TO CONTAIN FROM 10-40 BILLION BARRELS OF OIL EQUIVALENT ACCORDING TO INDUSTRY EXPERTS. This doesn't include large deposits in Colorado, Wyoming, and elsewhere. Even if Bakken comes in at the low end it, represents another 40-50% increase in onshore American oil reserves.

In the meantime, THE OIL COMPANIES DRILLING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO ARE STILL REPORTING INCREDIBLE DELAYS IN RE-OPENING EVEN THE INSHORE OIL RIGS. Offshore fields have become almost impossible to develop despite the incredible size of some of these discoveries. The government shut down even the inshore oil fields in the Gulf after the Deepwater Horizon disaster last year. The Department of the Interior just announced the first auction of oil leases since the Deepwater Horizon tragedy in April of last year, to be held in December. THE GULF PROVIDES 29% OF AMERICA'S OIL AND 13% OF OUR NATURAL GAS.

A report released in July by LA Senator David Vitter noted THE DEPARTURE OF 10 DEEP-WATER RIGS, THE IMMINENT DEPARTURE OF SEVERAL MORE, AND THE DIVERSION OF 8 MORE SINCE THE MORATORIUM WAS DECLARED IN MAY 2010. Each of these projects ranged from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars in investment. Many of those rigs are on their way to the vast 50- to 80-billion-bbl Lula oil field off the Brazilian coast. It is interesting to note that the Export-Import Bank is loaning $10 billion to Petrobras, the Brazilian oil company, to invest in their offshore oil industry. Funny timing.

THE ADMINISTRATION HAS ALSO DONE ITS BEST TO STALL DRILLING BOTH ON THE NORTH SLOPE AND IN THE COOK INLET IN ALASKA. While talking about exploration, new pipelines, and improved practices, the reality is that every roadblock possible is being placed in the way of increased production. Last year, Fenton Associates, the public relations agency for many environmental groups, boasted that they had shut down drilling in Alaska.

"DRILL, BABY, DRILL" HAS BEEN REPLACED BY "CHILL, BABY, CHILL."

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/08/obamas_real_energy_policy.html

This administration is actually hostile to businesses and indirectly to jobs for the American people. If Obama thinks about jobs the first thing when he wakes up and the last thing when he goes to sleep, he is either an economic illiterate or such an ideologue that he is willing for you to lose your job to attain his desired end.

From Nihilism to Progressivism

Maxine Waters: "Go To Hell"

SO MUCH FOR DIALING BACK THE RHETORIC, RIGHT?

On Saturday in Inglewood, Calif., Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters had some harsh words for the tea party.

“I’m not afraid of anybody,” the California congresswoman told constituents in footage that appeared on ABC affiliate KABC in Los Angeles, not backing down from comments made about President Obama earlier in the week. “This is a tough game. You can’t be intimidated. You can’t be frightened. And as far as I’m concerned — the tea party can go straight to hell.”

http://dailycaller.com/2011/08/21/maxine-waters-the-tea-party-can-go-straight-to-hell/#ixzz1VlEFKJMm

Two things here: First, this kind of a statement will work well for her if her ethics trial ever happens and if it comes in not in her favor (a built in excuse—they only found me guilty because I speak out). And second, I’m sure if any of the TEA Party people go “straight to hell,” Maxine will be there to welcome them.


Another Republican Superstar

UNLESS THERE IS ANOTHER SUPERSTAR RUNNING, JOSH MANDEL, WHO IS SEEKING TO REPLACE SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-OHIO), MAY BE THE MARCO RUBIO OF THE 2012 SENATE CAMPAIGN SEASON. “Mandel looks maybe half of his 33 years, but he’s already accomplished more in his decade-long career in public service than many politicians have in a lifetime. He’s a MARINE CORPS VETERAN who served two tours in Iraq. A former city councilman in Lyndhurst, a suburb of Cleveland, he led the fight for the first property tax rollback in the county’s history. AS A STATE LEGISLATOR, HE WON LANDSLIDE VICTORIES IN A HEAVILY LIBERAL DISTRICT. WHEN HE RAN FOR STATE TREASURER, HE GOT MORE VOTES THAN GOV. JOHN KASICH. . . . Mandel estimates he’s knocked on more than 25,000 doors in various elections and worn out multiple pairs of shoes doing it. He plans to knock on another 100,000 doors over the course of his Senate campaign.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/morning-bits/2011/03/29/gIQAjnh5UJ_blog.html#pagebreak

Look around at the two parties and see who has the up-and-coming legislatures. The Democrats seem tired and old and their few young “stars” have disappointed (Obama) or self destructed (Weiner).



The Inevitable Descent From Progressivism to Nihilism

MERRIAM-WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY DEFINES "NIHILISM" THUSLY: A) A VIEWPOINT THAT TRADITIONAL VALUES AND BELIEFS ARE UNFOUNDED AND THAT EXISTENCE IS SENSELESS AND USELESS; B) A DOCTRINE THAT DENIES ANY OBJECTIVE GROUND OF TRUTH AND ESPECIALLY OF MORAL TRUTH.

Perhaps it is indelicate of me to notice, but it would seem THE DEFINITION OF NIHILISM IS INTERCHANGEABLE WITH THE DEFINITION OF PROGRESSIVISM. One may quibble with the notion that progressives do not consider existence senseless and useless (as long as one ignores the wholesale abandonment of religion by large portions of the secular left), yet witnessing the British riots of last week, and the ongoing flash mob attacks perpetrated here in America, it becomes impossible to ignore the fact that the abandonment of traditional values and beliefs, coupled with the denial of any objective truth, could lead to the conclusion that existence itself is senseless.

This is not to say that the thugs tearing up their own societies are dystopian philosophers. Far from it. If there is one over-riding element that links this type of mass mayhem together it is the sheer thoughtlessness of the participants. THEY REVEL IN MAYHEM, BUT NOT OUT OF A COMMITMENT TO A WORLDVIEW, OR A "GREATER CAUSE." From the most egregious examples of murder, muggings, burning police cars and grand larceny, to the stealing of candy and soda from a 7-11, THE COMMON THEME IS IMMEDIATE SELF-GRATIFICATION.
Nothing more, nothing less….

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0811/ahlert.php3

Back in the 19th Century, Friedrich Nietzsche declared that "God was dead."   It wasn’t a announcement of truth so much as a warning. He looked at the state of affairs in the 19th Century and lamented what the future would be in the 20th Century with the decline of religion and the morality it afforded society. And the 20th Century certainly provided us with a huge lesson with Godless ideologies being responsible for over 100 million deaths. We are now getting a look at what the future with leftism in charge looks like and it isn’t pretty.


Obama and his Anti-Business Agenda

....In fact, the OBAMA ADMINISTRATION’S ANTI-BUSINESS, HYPER-REGULATORY, PRO-TAX AGENDA has fueled economic uncertainty and sent the message from the administration that “we want to make it harder to create jobs.” There is no other conclusion for policies such as THE NEW ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGULATIONS, INCLUDING THE “TRANSPORT RULE,” WHICH COULD ELIMINATE THOUSANDS OF JOBS, OR THE OZONE REGULATION THAT WOULD COST UPWARD OF $1 TRILLION AND MILLIONS OF JOBS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY OVER THE NEXT DECADE.

The administration’s new maximum achievable control technology standards for cement are expected to affect nearly 100 cement plants, setting over-the-top requirements resulting in increased costs and possibly thousands of jobs being offshored. There is the president’s silence as the NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD SEEKS TO PREVENT BOEING FROM OPENING A PLANT IN SOUTH CAROLINA THAT WOULD CREATE THOUSANDS OF JOBS. Such behavior, coupled with the president’s insistence on raising the top tax rate paid by individuals and small businesses, has resulted in a lag in growth that has added to the debt crisis, contributing to our nation’s credit downgrade.

The debt crisis threatens our long-term future: the ability of our children and their children to have the same opportunities to succeed that this and previous generations enjoyed. Republicans passed a budget this spring, written by Rep. Paul Ryan, that would address our challenges head-on by putting in place common-sense reforms to manage our debt over the short and long term....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/removing-the-obstacles-to-economic-growth/2011/08/18/gIQAYa26UJ_story.html

If you are wondering why Obama doesn’t seem to be able to help with jobs, we know despite his rhetoric, his thumb is on the scale and it’s costing us jobs.


Newspeak on the Left

…The great Danish philosopher, SØREN KIERKEGAARD, ONCE POINTED OUT THAT, IN THE WAY WORDS ARE USED IN THE MODERN ERA, ALL ASSERTIONS TEND TO SUGGEST THEIR OPPOSITE. This has certainly been the case with Democrats. When Bill Clinton asserted that he had never had sex with "that woman," it meant that he most certainly had, and just about everyone in America understood it -- eventually, at least.

Since then, liberals have crossed the line into full-blown duplicity, if not delusion. WASTEFUL SPENDING IS ROUTINELY CALLED "INVESTMENT," CRUSHING REGULATIONS ARE MERE "OVERSIGHT," WHILE VAST NEW TAXES ARE "NECESSARY REVENUE ENHANCEMENTS." If Obama ever starts shipping Americans who disagree with him off to the gulag, he'll probably call it a "destination club."

As for now, in the wake of the debt ceiling debate, DEMOCRATS ARE INSISTING ON THEIR WILLINGNESS TO COMPROMISE. It is the Republicans, held hostage by the Tea Party, who refuse to do so, or so they say. DEMOCRATS WANT A REASONABLE, BALANCED APPROACH -- one that "works for the American people." They want to compromise on spending, on taxes, on health care, on regulation, and on every other issue of the day. They are just about the nicest folks in the country, while Republicans are rigid ideologues, unwilling to bend an inch.
That may not sound like bipartisan talk, but Democrats have an answer for that one, too. It's conservatives in the GOP who are "holding them hostage." CONSERVATIVES ARE TRYING TO "WRECK THINGS" BY INSISTING ON A BALANCED BUDGET. IF THEY WOULD JUST GET BACK TO BUSINESS AS USUAL, DEMOCRATS WOULD NOT HAVE TO CALL THEM OUT….

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/08/liberal_compromise.html

Using Kierkegaard’s definition we know that the TEA Party is actually made up of patriots. We also know that the general populace is not buying the language used by the Democrats unless you want to buy what they are selling. Most Americans don’t.

The Left's Use of Science

Watching the news the other night I saw a woman cue her son to ask Governor Rick Perry three questions. First she told her son to ask him “How old is the Earth.” Next she told him to ask, “Do
you believe in evolution?” Finally she asked, “Why are you against science?”

There is smugness on the left wanting to believe that the RIGHT IS ANTI-SCIENCE WHILE THE LEFT IS PRO-SCIENCE.  The questions the woman told her son to ask are the favorite used by the left. They feel smugly superior to the yahoos who believe the Bible literally. But is the left REALLY pro-science? 
It’s difficult to claim to be pro-science when the left is pro-politically-correct science.
“Want to scare a liberal? Mention nuclear power plants, genetically modified fruits, new pharmaceuticals, food irradiation, or guns with plastic frames.” Question the possibility of the current ability for renewable to replace fossil fuels or that the science of climate change is not settled and you will hear howls from the left. Add to that questioning the differences between the sexes or among the races and you will find yourself branded as a sexist or a racist.

Looking at Climate change is a great example of the ignorance of the left in regard to science. The left likes to talk about how Climate Scientists agree that global warming is caused by man and is very serious. There are a couple of problems with that. First, there’s never been a poll like that. Polls generally state that the climate is warming and that mankind plays a role. The quantification of this is something that is missing (how much it is warming and how big a role mankind has in it). Second, climate scientists are not the final word in what is going on with the climate. Climate scientists are like general practitioners in medicine. But the climate is a very complex and chaotic system. There really aren’t any scientists who are fully versed on everything they need to know to make a diagnosis. So besides the “climate scientists” you need mathematicians, physicists, astronomers, geologists, atmospheric physicists, etc. In fact, climate scientists are probably the weakest field you can find as most schools house their climate science schools along with their meteorology schools.

The left also wants us to believe the science as far as climate change is settled. The use of “consensus” and the use of the ARGUMENTUM AD VERECUNDIAM, the appeal to authority, along with the argument that the science is settled is hardly scientific. And in regard to climate change it is far from settled. There is so much we don’t know to even pretend that it is settled is anti-science. SCIENCE DOES NOT ADVANCE THROUGH “CONSENSUS”; and as Einstein could have told him, science is not a numbers game. WHEN HITLER COMMISSIONED THE BOOK 100 AUTHORS AGAINST EINSTEIN, EINSTEIN COOLLY REPLIED THAT IF HE WERE WRONG, ONE AUTHOR WOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH

So why does the left say this? Here is what some leftists have to say about climate change.
We’ve got to ride the global-warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, we will be doing the right thing in terms of economic policy and environmental policy.”
- Quote by Timoth Wirth, U.S./UN functionary, former elected Democrat Senator from Colorado
Complex technology of any sort is an assault on human dignity. It would be little short of disastrous for us to discover a source of clean, cheap, abundant energy, because of what we might do with it.”
- Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute

“Unless we announce disasters no one will listen.”
- Sir John Houghton, first chairman of IPCC

It brief, what the left is talking about is not science, but a TOOL OF CAMPAIGNING WARFARE,  in which truth is the first casualty. The left is not pro-science. They are attempting to use science to control the masses much as governments have tried to use religion in the past.

More bad news this time in Pennsylvania

Obama’s approval rating in Pennsylvania 35%

No Democrat since Harry Truman in 1948 has won the presidency without Pennsylvania. President Obama may get the chance to break that streak next year as those bitter clingers in Pennsylvanians are turning their back to the One Term President. The Morning Call in Allentown reported: “PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, WHO POLITICAL EXPERTS SAY WILL NEED A WIN IN PENNSYLVANIA TO RETAIN THE WHITE HOUSE, DIPPED TO 35 PERCENT APPROVAL AMONG THE STATE’S REGISTERED VOTERS, ACCORDING TO A MUHLENBERG COLLEGE POLL RELEASED FRIDAY.”

That is down from 48% approval in the same poll in March. IN LESS THAN 6 MONTHS, OBAMA’S POPULARITY HAS PLUMMETED 13 POINTS IN PENNSYLVANIA.

http://blogs.dailymail.com/donsurber/archives/40582

What should be truly frightening if you are an Obama supporter is that democrats generally do better among registered voters than among likely voters. 

Obama’s policy to lose a lot of coal jobs

OVER THE NEXT 18 MONTHS, THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY WILL FINALIZE A FLURRY OF NEW RULES TO CURB POLLUTION FROM COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS. Mercury, smog, ozone, greenhouse gases, water intake, coal ash—it’s all getting regulated. And, not surprisingly, some lawmakers are grumbling.

Industry groups such the Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned utilities, and the American Legislative Exchange Council have dubbed the coming RULES “EPA’S REGULATORY TRAIN WRECK.” THE REGULATIONS, THEY SAY, WILL COST UTILITIES UP TO $129 BILLION AND FORCE THEM TO RETIRE ONE-FIFTH OF COAL CAPACITY. Given that coal provides 45 percent of the country’s power, that means HIGHER ELECTRIC BILLS, MORE BLACKOUTS AND FEWER JOBS. The doomsday scenario has alarmed Republicans in the House, who have been scrambling to block the measures. Environmental groups retort that the rules will bring sizeable public health benefits, and that industry groups have been exaggerating the costs of environmental regulations since they were first created.

So, who’s right? This month, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, which conducts policy research for members of Congress, has been circulating a paper that tries to calmly sort through the shouting match. Thanks to The Hill’s Andrew Restuccia, it’s now available (PDF) for all to read. And the upshot is that CRS is awfully skeptical of the “train wreck” predictions.

First, THE REPORT AGREES THAT THE NEW RULES WILL LIKELY FORCE THE CLOSURE OF MANY COAL PLANTS between now and 2017, although it’s difficult to know precisely how many. FOR GREEN GROUPS, THAT’S A FEATURE, NOT A BUG…

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/getting-ready-for-a-wave-of-coal-plant-shutdowns/2011/08/19/gIQAzkZ0PJ_blog.html

These people in Washington are faced with a crisis and they seem to be intent on going to the battlefield and bayoneting the wounded.

Taxing the Rich Won't Solve Deficit, Says Tax Foundation

Taxing millionaires and billionaires more – a position advocated by billionaire Warren Buffett and President Barack Obama – won’t make much of a dent in the national debt or the record federal budget deficits, a new study finds.

“EVEN TAKING EVERY LAST PENNY FROM EVERY INDIVIDUAL MAKING MORE THAN $10 MILLION PER YEAR WOULD ONLY REDUCE THE NATION'S DEFICIT BY 12 PERCENT AND THE DEBT BY 2 PERCENT,” THE NON-PARTISAN TAX FOUNDATION’S DAVID LOGAN WRITES.

“There's simply not enough wealth in the community of the rich to erase this country's problems by waving some magic tax wand,” said Logan.

Buffett, in an August 15 op-ed in the New York Times said it was time to stop “coddling” the wealthy and called on Congress to raise taxes on those making $1 million or more.

“But for those making more than $1 million -- there were 236,883 such households in 2009 -- I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in excess of $1 million, including, of course, dividends and capital gains. And for those who make $10 million or more -- there were 8,274 in 2009 -- I would suggest an additional increase in rate,” Buffett wrote.

“My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress,” wrote Buffett.

However, according to the Tax Foundation study written by Logan, EVEN TAXING THE NATION’S MILLIONAIRES AT 50 PERCENT – EVEN ELIMINATING LOOPHOLES AND DEDUCTIONS – WOULD ONLY REDUCE THE DEFICIT BY 8 PERCENT AND THE NATIONAL DEBT BY 1 PERCENT.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/warren-buffett-s-tax-solution-won-t-solv

Tax the rich is a nice slogan, but it doesn’t begin to solve the problems we have.  Raising taxes on the rich is like putting bandaids on someone who was seriously hurt in a car accident. 

Illegals get a break from Obama

Thought for Today

On why you shouldn’t compare Obama’s spending to that of a drunken sailor.
As one drunken sailor pointed out, “WHEN I RAN OUT OF MONEY, I STOPPED SPENDING.”




Obama to deport illegals by ‘priority’

Bowing to pressure from immigrant rights activists, the Obama administration said Thursday that IT WILL HALT DEPORTATION PROCEEDINGS ON A CASE-BY-CASE BASIS AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO MEET CERTAIN CRITERIA, such as attending school, having family in the military or having primary responsible for other family members’ care.
The move marks a major step for President Obama, who for months has said he does not have broad categorical authority to halt deportations and said he must follow the laws as Congress has written them.

But in letters to Congress on Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she does have discretion to focus on “priorities” and that her department and the Justice Department will review all ongoing cases to see who meets the new criteria.

“This case-by-case approach will enhance public safety,” she said. “Immigration judges will be able to more swiftly adjudicate high-priority cases, such as those involving convicted felons.”…

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/18/new-dhs-rules-cancel-deportations/

Ah, deciding which laws to enforce and which laws to ignore. Now all of this isn’t necessarily bad, but shouldn’t congress change the law?

How many other laws is the Obama Administration Violating?

… On October 25, 2010, HHS NEW MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR JULIA EISMAN SENT AN EMAIL TO OGILVY SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT IMANI GREEN, READING, "Given the high performance, we're wondering if we should we consider reallocating resources from the lesser performing words and PUT MORE $$ TO ‘OBAMACARE’ - AT LEAST FOR THE NEXT 7 DAYS." SEVEN DAYS FROM OCTOBER 25, 2010, WAS NOVEMBER 2ND, ELECTION DAY.
"There is nothing special about November 2nd other than the fact that it was Election Day," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told The Examiner. "What possible reason could the Obama HHS have for maximizing their propaganda dollars in the seven days before Election Day other than to elect Democrats? THIS SEEMS TO BE A BLATANT VIOLATION OF THE HATCH ACT, among other laws. Congress needs to get on the ball and investigate," he concluded.

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/obama-hhs-caught-campaigning-democrats

Keeping track is getting difficult because there are so many.



Reagan Was Right

On Thursday, the Dow was off about 500 points in the first hour, presumably based on fears of European bank and sovereign failures.

The talking heads on CNBC were beside themselves, rationalizing what was happening and what should be done -- the Federal Reserve should initiate QE3, more fiscal stimulus should be used, etc. etc. ALL SPOKE OF THE NEED FOR GOVERNMENT SOLUTIONS AND QUICK ACTIONS.

By 10:30 I could take no more of "the government must do something." GOVERNMENTS CANNOT SOLVE THIS PROBLEM. THEY CAUSED IT! INTERVENING WILL ONLY MAKE THE PROBLEM WORSE.

There is an inherent problem in government, all governments. It leads to situations like the current one and then progresses to much worse. This problem, discussed below, eventually leads to the collapse of economies if not civilizations….

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/08/political_parisitology.html

Government is not the solution. Government is the problem. RR had it right.


Kerry’s chief defender loses his Silver Star

… On March 16, 1969, Wade Sanders was a junior-grade Navy lieutenant serving under Captain Roy Hoffmann, the senior commander for all Swift boat operations in Vietnam. In 2004, after retiring as a Rear Admiral, Hoffmann took the lead in forming the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. When QUESTIONS AROSE ABOUT SANDERS' SILVER STAR IN 2009, THE NCIS CONTACTED HOFFMANN, WHO AGREED TO REVIEW HIS RECORDS AND PROVIDE A DEPOSITION.

Privately, HOFFMANN HAD ENTERTAINED DOUBTS ABOUT THE AWARD FOR SEVERAL YEARS, SINCE HE FIRST NOTICED A SILVER STAR ON SANDERS' JACKET AT ADMIRAL ELMO ZUMWALT'S FUNERAL IN 2000. Hoffmann had no idea where the award had come from. He was certain that he would have known about any engagement that qualified for such a high-level decoration.

During the investigation that followed, THE NAVY WAS UNABLE TO SUBSTANTIATE THE MISSION THAT SANDERS' CITATION DESCRIBED -- THERE WAS NO AFTER-ACTION REPORT, NO MEDICAL REPORT, NO OFFICIAL RECORD OF ANY KIND. Hoffmann also discovered that the Swift boat Sanders claimed to have used was not available on the date of the purported engagement, having been temporarily assigned to a nearby Inshore Undersea Warfare Group (IUWG).

"...and the processing of the award itself"
The revocation of Sanders' Silver Star is an extremely rare event. Doug Sterner, curator of military awards for MilitaryTimes.com, told the Navy Times that he was not aware of any similar action by the Navy in more than 90 years….

…Navy sources told reporters that Sanders was responsible for what they referred to as "administrative errors" in the creation of the award, and said that HE "MAY HAVE LIED."
Other veterans familiar with the case question whether the Navy awarded a Silver Star to Sanders in the first place. THEY BELIEVE HE FABRICATED THE DOCUMENTATION WHILE HE WAS A HIGH-RANKING PENTAGON OFFICIAL, IN A POSITION THAT WOULD HAVE OFFERED READY ACCESS TO HIS OWN PERSONNEL FILE. Sanders was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Reserves by President Clinton on July 22, 1993, and remained in the job until 1998.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/08/did_kerrys_swift_boat_hatchet_man_fake_his_own_silver_star.html

There’s a lot more in the article. As a former Navy man, I was curious about how this could have come about. It appears Sanders had no honor.


McDonnell announces $544.8 million budget surplus

GOV. BOB MCDONNELL (R) ANNOUNCED THURSDAY THAT VIRGINIA HAS FINISHED ITS FISCAL YEAR WITH A SURPLUS OF $544.8 MILLION THROUGH HIGHER-THAN-EXPECTED TAX REVENUE AND SAVINGS.

Last month, McDonnell announced that the state had a surplus of $311 million on June 30, the close of the year, but Thursday told legislators his administration has been able to save an additional $234.1 million.

Virginia law calls for the bulk of the money to be put into the state’s rainy day fund and spent on K-12 education, transportation and Chesapeake Bay cleanup.

McDonnell has proposed giving some of the unspent balance to sheriff’s offices across the state and to localities hit by recent tornadoes in southwest Virginia, as well as shoring up the pension system.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-politics/post/mcdonnell-announces-5448-million-budget-surplus/2011/08/18/gIQATrITNJ_blog.html?wpisrc=nl_buzz

See what happens when you come to your senses and elect a Republican?

Obama’s 2012 Strategy

… Obama may be preparing unexpected policy wonders at Martha’s Vineyard, but he cannot change the fact that he made a bad bet. In 2009, he assumed that a staggering economy would recover in a normal cyclical fashion, just in time for his reelection. So he spent his political capital on the largely irrelevant issue of health care. Now he wants to become the jobs candidate, mainly through the repetition of the word “jobs.”…

… For voters, however, this prospect is daunting. Obama’s least attractive public attributes are his peevishness and blame-shifting. Do we really have to endure a presidential campaign based on those traits?

And this strategy must be a comedown for at least some of the idealists who elected Obama in the first place. Following expectations few presidents have raised as high, Obama has transformed into the most typical of politicians. There is little distinctive, elevated or inspirational about his message or his tactics. And this adds an unwanted accomplishment: the further political disillusionment of a nation.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-obama-faces-an-uphill-run-for-reelection/2011/08/17/gIQAk0IWOJ_story.html

Hope and Change is being replaced by “Blame and Attack.” Obama and the Democrats are in a position where they can’t win if they run on the actual issues and their record. So this is a “Hail Mary” strategy in which they are down to the final two minutes and are 24 points behind.


Not Living Up to the Hype

Flanked by a cadre of local political leaders, MAYOR CHUCK REED OF SAN JOSE USED A RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY FOR A SOLAR POWER COMPANY LAST WEEK TO TALK UP THE PROMISE OF THE GREEN ECONOMY.

Mr. Reed called the opening of the new headquarters of SolFocus, which produces large, free-standing solar panels, an “enormously important” development for the city’s economy.

“Clean technology is the next wave of innovation that Silicon Valley needs to capture,” the mayor said, noting that the SAN JOSE CITY COUNCIL HAD COMMITTED TO INCREASING THE NUMBER OF “GREEN JOBS” IN THE CITY TO 25,000 BY 2022. San Jose currently has 4,350 such jobs, according to city officials.

But SolFocus assembles its solar panels in China, and THE NEW SAN JOSE HEADQUARTERS EMPLOYS JUST 90 PEOPLE.
In the Bay Area as in much of the country, the green economy is not proving to be the job-creation engine that many politicians envisioned. President Obama once pledged to create five million green jobs over 10 years. Gov. Jerry Brown promised 500,000 clean-technology jobs statewide by the end of the decade. BUT THE RESULTS SO FAR SUGGEST SUCH NUMBERS ARE A PIPE DREAM.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/19/us/19bcgreen.html?_r=1

I liked the referral of the green jobs as a pipe dream. The term “pipe dream” comes from the 19th Century and alluded to dreams that came to people who smoked opium. The whole “green energy” movement needs to be asked, “What are you folks smoking?”

The more we look....

Obama’s delusions

…Reality, however, is pulling the campaign in a much different direction. The collapse in people's confidence in President Obama's ability to "manage" the US economy suggests that the president's "control of the narrative" (as political consultants might say) of the coming campaign is at best diminished and at worst lost. PEGGY NOONAN HAS WRITTEN ANY NUMBER OF COLUMNS EARLIER THIS YEAR SAYING THAT THE NATION'S ELECTORATE WAS TUNING PRESIDENT OBAMA OUT. THAT JUDGMENT NOW SEEMS PRESCIENT. IT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAS HAPPENED. AND IT'S GETTING WORSE.

There are a number of reasons why this is so, but principal among them has been the OBAMA TEAM'S WILLFUL MISREADING OF THE FACTS ON THE GROUND. Told by the Massachusetts electorate (in the special election to fill the seat of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy) to STOP FOCUSING ON HEALTH CARE AND START FOCUSING ON JOB CREATION SCHEMES, THE ADMINISTRATION WENT FULL STEAM AHEAD ON HEALTH CARE. Told by Jacksonian American voters and his most able and experienced national security advisors to NOT GET INVOLVED IN LIBYA, OBAMA BLUNDERED INTO THE "DAYS, NOT WEEKS" WAR. Faced with mounting alarm about the huge increase in national debt (to say nothing of unfunded liabilities), OBAMA PROPOSED EXACTLY NOTHING TO DEAL WITH IT; IN THE SHORT TERM, THE MEDIUM TERM OR THE LONG TERM. It's been a while since we have seen an Administration so completely out of step with the American electorate.

Perhaps most disconcerting of all, reality-wise, THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF IMAGINED THAT HE WAS GOING TO RUN A RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN THAT REPRISED THE REAGAN "MORNING IN AMERICA" CAMPAIGN OF 1984. He really thought that the turnaround would begin in earnest in 2011 and expand into 2012, thus enabling him to say that he had seen us through the worst and was now leading us to a great and glorious future…

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-obama-collapse-accelerates-2011-8#ixzz1VOyvpGwI

Obama thought he could spend his way to prosperity. This is a progressive’s dream—the free lunch. I remember how frustrated Bill Clinton was when his advisors told him he couldn’t have a huge stimulus and needed to rein in spending.


How to Scare Voters

“It’s been a long, tough journey. But we have made some incredible strides together. Yes, we have. But the thing that we all ought to remember is that as much as good as we have done, precisely because the challenges were so daunting, precisely because we we were inheriting so many challenges, that WE’RE NOT EVEN HALFWAY THERE YET. WHEN I SAID ‘CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN’ I DIDN’T SAY ‘CHANGE WE COULD BELIEVE IN TOMORROW.’ NOT CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN NEXT WEEK. WE KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO TAKE TIME BECAUSE WE’VE GOT THIS BIG, MESSY, TOUGH DEMOCRACY,”

President Obama said at a campaign fundraiser in Chicago on Wednesday night [August 3]….

http://legalinsurrection.com/2011/08/if-this-is-halfway-there-can-you-imagine-what-there-will-be/

Now this is scary. He actually believes he will be reelected. I did like the question that the author asked, “If this is “halfway there,” can you imagine what ‘there’ will be?”

Whose Idea Was Martha’s Vineyard?

WHOEVER IN THE WHITE HOUSE DECIDED ON ANOTHER FIRST FAMILY VACATION AT MARTHA’S VINEYARD MUST BE UNHINGED, coming as it does (a) after previous jaunts to places like Vail and Costa del Sol, and serial golf outings; (b) in the midst of tough economic times and bipartisan acknowledgment that national cutbacks for the vast majority of Americans are in order; (c) ON THE HEELS OF THREE YEARS OF CLASS WARFARE AND ANTI-WEALTH DEMAGOGUERY OF THE “FAT-CAT,” “UNNEEDED INCOME,” “SPREAD THE WEALTH” SORT; and (d) during a presidential approval slide that seems to be based, at least in part, on the fact that the president’s usual rhetoric has nothing to do with reality, that he suggests one thing while doing quite another….

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/274842/whose-idea-was-marthas-vineyard-victor-davis-hanson

He really made a mistake here. Martha’s Vineyard and the mansion he is staying at screams to the rest of us, “Let them eat cake.” There’s a new O in Obama’s brand: “Out of touch, Out of bounds, and Out of his mind.”


California’s problem? Not Taxing Businesses Enough

Taking a break from leading his city down the path of economic decline, THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES LECTURES THE STATE ON HOW TO SQUEEZE MORE TAX REVENUE OUT OF BUSINESS.

Given his track record, ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA hardly seems the one to give advice on how to get California moving again. His city, where he's been chief executive for six years, has been a drag on the state. ITS JOBLESS RATE (13.9% IN 2010) PUTS IT AT NO. 44 WORST AMONG THE NATION'S 50 LARGEST CITIES.

But to this mayor, leading a once-booming city deeper into decline must be some sort of credential. So there he was at the state capital on Tuesday, delivering a heavily promoted speech to the Sacramento Press Club on schools, the state budget and, most pointedly, taxes.
He made no bones about it: CALIFORNIA'S PROBLEM IS THAT ITS BUSINESSES ARE UNDERTAXED, AND THAT REAL LIBERALS NEED TO GO AFTER CORPORATE WEALTH MORE AGGRESSIVELY.
"Progressives have to start thinking — and acting — big again," he said. He proceeded to attack a favorite progressive target, the California property tax system created in 1978 by the voters through Proposition 13.

As many have before him, he called for a split-roll system in which only homeowners would continue to enjoy full Prop. 13 protection. As he put it, "PROP. 13 WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE A CORPORATE TAX GIVEAWAY, BUT THAT IS WHAT IT HAS BECOME."

That depends on your definition of a "giveaway." BUSINESSES IN CALIFORNIA PAY MORE THAN $30 BILLION A YEAR IN PROPERTY TAXES. ALL BUSINESSES TAXES COMBINED (including corporate income, excise and gross receipts, licenses and individual income tax on business income) IN CALIFORNIA COME TO $85.4 BILLION. NEW YORK IS A DISTANT SECOND AT $60.9 BILLION….

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/581806/201108171839/More-More-More.htm

To Progressives there is never enough money for their programs. The problem is always people and businesses are under taxed. The problem they have is when they raise taxes, people and business flee the state. We need something like serfdom to keep people in place. Now there’s a progressive idea if I’ve ever heard of one.



The Dems don’t get it: It’s All About Obama

SENATE DEMOCRATS ARE INCREASINGLY CONCERNED THAT BARACK OBAMA’S CAMPAIGN MONEY MACHINE IS SUCKING UP SO MUCH CASH THAT IT WILL CUT INTO THE PARTY’S AGGRESSIVE CAMPAIGN TO HOLD ON TO THE SENATE NEXT YEAR, SEVERAL DEMOCRATIC SOURCES SAY.

Democratic senators have already pressed Obama campaign officials — including campaign manager Jim Messina — not to lock up the richest Democratic donors, but the presidential campaign declined to make such a promise…

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/61601.html#ixzz1VOU0Y6n4

Now this is really a sad story. The Democrats will not be able to hold the Senate and Obama is going to lose the presidency. So which group should pour the most money down the drain? I would posit the Senate Democrats. They may be able to salvage a seat or two that they would otherwise lose.