Even Dem pollsters are clueless

  So Stan Greenberg, Democrat pollster married to a Democrat congresswoman, has an article in today's NY Times. It's pretty remarkable, really, in its insight into what's bothering the electorate and its also pretty remarkable in its abject failure to process what's bothering the electorate and how to remedy it.
  Greenberg identifies some of the same problems tea partiers have identified but seems clueless about resolving these issues. 
  Basically Greenberg says we need to continue the course Obama has set us on: raise taxes to put off the massive deficit he's charged up, make illegals legal but be more transparent.
  What Greenberg simply doesn't see is that people who operate from a deceitful basis are not capable of reforming themselves without some kind of spiritual overhaul.
  Here's some of what Greenberg has polled and observed as recorded in today's NY Times:

GOVERNMENT operates by the wrong values and rules, for the wrong people and purposes, the Americans I’ve surveyed believe. Government rushes to help the irresponsible and does little for the responsible. Wall Street lobbyists govern, not Main Street voters. Vexingly, this promotes both national and middle-class decline yet cannot be moved by conventional democratic politics. Lost jobs, soaring spending and crippling debt make America ever weaker, unable to meet its basic obligations to educate and protect its citizens. Yet politicians take care of themselves and party interests, while government grows remote and unresponsive, leaving people feeling powerless.

  So what, Greenberg ruminates, do we do to return confidence to the people about the government, which no one trusts anymore, and about the politicians who take care of themselves?
  He says government needs to change:

In our surveys and media work for Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign, we found that only if people thought a candidate was going to change government in fundamental ways — starting with welfare and reinventing government — would they give permission to spend their money. 

  What kind of change are we talking about here? Isn't that Obama's whole shtick? And what's the solution for Democrats, according to Greenberg?

The Democrats have to start detoxifying politics by proposing to severely limit or bar individual and corporate campaign contributions, which would mean a fight with the Supreme Court. They must make the case for public financing of campaigns and force the broadcast and cable networks to provide free time for candidate ads. And they must become the strongest advocates for transparency in campaign donations and in the lobbying of elected officials. 

  Oh, where to begin. 
  Apparently Mr. Greenberg is unaware that the Obama campaign is thought to have taken contributions from overseas, illegally. They accepted prepaid cards. It was impossible to trace the donations. 
  Some "donors" were even surprised to learn they had "donated" thousands of dollars to the Obama campaign, a fact that only mildly interested the MSM, who lamented that the questionable donations were the source of "headaches" for Obama's machine.
  Apparently Greenberg's unaware that the Obama administration chose not to use e-Verify donations to its campaign, to the degree that now their campaign is under investigation by the FEC. Roll Call:

A few weeks before the election, the RNC alleged that Obama's campaign accepted donations from foreign nationals, received contributions that had exceed limits and submitted fictitious donor names to the agency. The status of this investigation is unknown, though the FEC confirmed it received the complaint.

Obama campaign officials said they have made significant efforts to track down elusive donor information for some of its contributors. In many situations, it has chosen to make large refunds or give any questionable money to the government.

In fact, the Obama campaign has returned more money than any other campaign.

This sum is not just the most of any campaign; it is greater than all other similar spending by House, presidential and political action committees put together during the 2010 cycle. The Obama campaign paid the Treasury Department $232,000 at the end of 2009 for "disgorgement of unverifiable contributors" and another $182,000 in June 2010 for "uncashed checks." 

  In fact, the campaign, early on in 2008, was receiving an "unusual" number of under $200 contributions. Newsmax covered it at the time. Here is just one contributor's record:

In a letter dated June 25, 2008, the FEC asked the Obama campaign to verify a series of $25 donations from a contributor identified as “Will, Good” from Austin, Texas.

Mr. Good Will listed his employer as “Loving” and his profession as “You.”

A Newsmax analysis of the 1.4 million individual contributions in the latest master file for the Obama campaign discovered 1,000 separate entries for Mr. Good Will, most of them for $25.

In total, Mr. Good Will gave $17,375.

Following this and subsequent FEC requests, campaign records show that 330 contributions from Mr. Good Will were credited back to a credit card. But the most recent report, filed on Sept. 20, showed a net cumulative balance of $8,950 — still well over the $4,600 limit.

  In fact, some suggest that the Obama campaign paid to have the security features turned off. Lots of questions exist about just how Mr. Obama got his astonishing $750 million. 
  If Mr. Greenberg wants to get to the root of the problem with Mr. Obama's administration, he might try being honest with himself and others.
  The problem isn't raising taxes; the problem is that Mr. Obama is a patently dishonest individual.

Today's Second Debt Ceiling Update

There will be no vote tonight. Heritage Foundation and Freedom Works oppose the compromise while on the left Bernie Sanders the socialist senator from Vermont call it immoral. Neither Boehner nor Pelosi seem to be able to line up enough votes to pass the present bill. Put plainly everyone hates it. Republicans are especially upset because the enforcement "triggers" would gut the defense budget that has already been deeply cut. The triggers would also have the same effect on Medicare and Democrats are loath to endorse that. Conventional wisdom is that Boehner got a better deal than the one he had agreed to with Obama before Obama demanded more revenue.
Update
It could be the President may have to accept a short term debt ceiling rise and very short term at that. It would be days not weeks. Sounds something like what we heard about the Libyan war but in this case ones assumes both sides can agree on an outcome. The debt limit would be raised by attaching it to a defense construction bill that has been reported out of committee. All that would be needed would be to amend it with a few pages of text raising the debt limit and put it up for a vote. On the stalled agreement now before the House these points emerge:
$2.8 trillion in deficit reduction with $1 trillion locked in through discretionary spending caps over 10 years.
The Super Committee with 6 members from each party must report precise deficit-reduction proposals by Thanksgiving.
The Super Committee would have to propose $1.8 trillion in spending cuts to achieve that amount of deficit reduction over 10 years.
If the Super Committee fails, Congress must send a balanced-budget amendment to the states for ratification. If that doesn't happen, across-the-board spending cuts would go into effect and could touch Medicare and defense spending.
No net new tax revenue would be part of the special committee's deliberations.

A Rubio-Ryan Ticket

The most recognized hispanic politician in the county is Marco Rubio. He is, going away, everyone's first choice for vice president. He would easily carry Florida and deeply cut into the Democratic dominated hispanic vote. He is arguably the most charismatic politician on the seen today. As we wait for updates from debt ceiling debate enjoy the FoxNews team's day dream of a Rubio-Ryan ticket.

The Great Mancession

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Everyone who listens to NPR knows by now that women and minorities are hit hardest by recessions. Not true. Despite the recent job gains for men since early 2010, the recession has still had a disproportionately and significantly negative effect on men compared to women, and it's not even close. For every 100 jobs lost by women since January 2008, men have lost 192 jobs, so it's still very much of a "mancession," despite the recent "hecovery."

Debt Ceiling Update

Details of the new debt ceiling plan suggest that the biggest problem the Tea Party Republicans will have is keeping a straight face while they argue Boehner+, as the proposed plan is called, doesn't go far enough. Did we get everything we wanted? No just somewhere between 60 and 98 percent. Again let's stipulate everything we know about this deal comes from inside sources and there maybe something that will jump out and bite. The Boehner+ plan calls for immediate cuts of $900 billion. Then the second tranche (yes, I had to look it up. From the French word slice. a portion or installment, esp of a loan or share issue) would entail a super committee that would be tasked with procuring another $1.5 billion in cut by Thanksgiving and passed by Christmas. Failure to do so would trigger immediate and severe across the board spending cuts. The balanced budget amendment is tied into the package too but it's not clear at this point how it would work. Check back for more details.

You're gonna pay!

Moody's Goes Tea Party

It will be interesting to see how the reputation of the bond rating agencies fares in Washington in the next few days. They have been cited as the voice of reason, dispassionate and professional students of the bond market, and all around smart guys. Never mind that they missed the World Com, Enron, and Lehman Bothers implosions they were still the people to go to for sound advice. Now the agencies have gone Tea Party! Today Moody's said that the "limited magnitude" of spending cuts advanced by any plan are too meager to assure the country's AAA rating. It also strengthened the GOP's argument that the world would not end on August 2nd.

"If the debt limit is not raised before August 2, we believe that the Treasury would give priority to debt service payments and could thus postpone a potential debt default for a number of days,"

If the Democrats still controlled the House Henry Waxman would have them before his committee Monday morning while he subpoenaed every email sent or received since the days of the dial-up modem. If an agreement is not reached soon I would expect to see them called before the Senate. In the meantime they have given every Republican congressman a sound reason to kill any bill that does not cut at least $4 trillion over ten years.

Paul Ryan Destroys Reid Bill

Congressman Paul Ryan destroys the Reid plan with its phony Afghan war savings. The Reid plan which actually only cuts $917 billion over 10 years show phony saving of $1.3 trillion by not fighting the Afghan war at surge levels for the next 10 years.

The truth about spending and the budget

  The Connie Mack "penny plan" proposes that the government cut 1% a year on expenditures.
  This is quite reasonable, right? Who wouldn't want to pass this plan?
  The truth is--and this is something you never hear from liberals and big spenders--that every government program is projected to increase about 7.5% every year. 
  This is built into the budget and one of the obvious reasons that tea partiers want the feds to get their spending under control. Obviously this is unsustainable; obviously something has to stop.
  The "penny plan" would get spending under control, as it would cut 1% a year for 7 years and then limiting the rate of growth to 18% of the GDP:

MACK: That's right. 

HANNITY: So we're going to only cut 1 percent next year. We won't increase have the projected 8 percent. We're going to cut 1 percent this year, 1 percent next year, every year 1 percent and then get to a balanced budget in eight years.

  One of the problems with lying to people is that your lies catch up with you, just like the lie about taxes being in a social security "lockbox." Ha. What a joke. Recently Al Sharpton had a caller, an Obama supporter, actually challenge him about this money and the fact that social security recipients might not get paid. Radio Equalizer:

VIRGIL IN ATLANTA: That money (social security) comes out of the taxpayer’s money for them to put aside. That money is set aside in a lockbox and for them to have at the time of their retirement and for things of that nature. That has nothing to do with that unless he has (Sharpton interrupts)

Berwick appointment to expire

  Donald Berwick, who loves the death panels of the British health care system called the NHS, has been Obama's recess appointment for running the health care system. His appointment is ready to expire, even as the NHS rejects health care for British citizens in favor of saving money. Hot Air:

Speaking of which, the biggest fan of the NHS here in America is coming to the end of his recess appointment. Donald Berwick still runs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), having never even bothered to complete his Senate questionnaire or start a confirmation hearing. His recess appointment will run out in a few days, after Congress recesses for the month of August, unless the Senate stays in session to prevent other recess appointments by Barack Obama. Obama renominated Berwick last year for the position, but 42 Republicans signed a letter in March of this year pledging to block a confirmation, prompting Democrats to give up on Berwick.

However, Obama has not put anyone else forward for this position, which means that the post will go vacant in a few days … unless Obama issues another recess appointment for Berwick. Will Obama keep a man who cheers a system with the “death panels” that the White House insists it doesn’t want? We’ll soon see.

  The Hot Air article is about the fact that NHS is delaying surgeries for people to get them to pay for it out of their own pocket. 
  NHS recently announced cataracts, knee and hip replacements and tonsil removals are now considered "cosmetic" by some bureaucrats, and are to be avoided. 
  Government health care:

Hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery and removal of tonsils are among a list of ‘non-urgent’ operations being rationed by the cash strapped NHS in a bid to drive down costs by billions.

Two thirds of England’s Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) are now limiting treatments they deem to be of ‘low priority’ in efforts to save over £1million each, an investigation has revealed this week.

Rubio Guns Down Kerry

When's the last time you felt like standing up and clapping for something you heard on C-Span? Senator Marco Rubio is interrupted by Senator John Kerry and proceeds to mow him down like a hay field. I wish this guy would run for president.

Obama Underwater by 12; Gallup

Oops! Obama's poll numbers continue to slide. Yesterday this blog celebrated the President's 40% approval rating. Today while maintaining the support of 40% of the voters Obama has pissed off another 2% to put him at -12% in the daily Gallup tracking poll. Does hope and change work when you're upside down?

Sharpton At MSNBC; A Quid Pro Quo?

When the question is asked, is Al Sharpton a good fit for MSNBC? The obvious answer is, of course not he's black. Why the hell would the last bastion of white liberal elitism want to sully it's perfect record of barring any black journalist from an anchor position to accommodate a mope like Al Sharpton? As deep throat said, "you got to follow the money". Brian Stetler of the New York Times notes; " Rarely, if ever, has a cable news channel employed a host who has previously campaigned for the business goals of the channel’s parent company." What does Mr. Stetler mean? It may well be that Al Sharpton did not get his anchor's chair on sheer talent but rather as a quid pro quo he extracted from Comcast Communications, the parent company of MSNBC. Before the FCC would approve Comcast's acquisition of NBC it sought an opinion from Al Sharpton's National Action Network, an amalgam of race hustlers who earn a good living shaking down businesses in the name of social justice.

Mr. Sharpton threw his organizational weight behind the Comcast bid for NBC twice, first in his letter to the F.C.C. in May 2010, which said that his group had “for several years” had a “productive, honest and open dialogue at the highest levels of the company,” referring to Comcast, “and we are confident that this positive relationship will continue to prosper after the joint venture is approved.”



In December 2010, in the final stretch of the merger review, Mr. Sharpton reaffirmed his support when the National Action Network and other African-American leadership groups signed on to a diversity action plan with Comcast. The plan included a commitment by Comcast to seek “the expanded participation of minorities on its news and public affairs programming.”



To that end, Comcast said it would consider suggestions from its newly established diversity councils, including the National African American Diversity Council. That council includes Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, the chairman of the National Action Network, but not Mr. Sharpton.

MSNBC naturally denies that Sharpton's employment is the result of a deal but even its own standards, however lamentable they maybe, Sharpton just doesn't cut it. His voice is strained and strident, his grasp of the issues is farcical, and his opinions are imbecile. It looks as if Sharpton took Comcast beyond his company's idiotic slogan "Lean Forward" to its logical progression "Bend Over".

Obama's War On Jobs

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Even in the best of times there are limits to what the US economy can do. One would never know this if one listened only to the left who actually have more faith in the private sector than do conservatives. All things are possible if only the proper mandates are in place. The latest manifestation of this confidence are the fuel efficiency mandates issued just this week. There are the costs that accompany Obamacare. Add in the additional costs of compliance to OSHA, Disability Act, Family Leave, and a host of other regulations that are industry specific. Then add in the still murky uncertainty of of Dodd-Frank the economy begins to wane. Enter then the job killing shock troops of the EPA and the NLRB deliver the coup de gras.

And the results are:

• Merk cuts 13,000 jobs.





• Cisco cuts 6,500 jobs.





• Borders cuts 11,000 jobs.





• Boston Scientific cuts 1,400 jobs.





• Goldman Sachs cuts 1,000 jobs.





• 
  
  General Electric announces it will move its X-ray division to China. This is the same GE that was classified as a bank so it could participate in the TARP bailout and borrow from the Fed window at 0% interest, that has extracted billions from the Obama administration in "green energy" subsidies, that paid $0 income taxes in 2010 and whose CEO, Jeffery Immelt serves as chairman of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

As yesterday's GDP numbers attest, (2nd quarter GDP growth 1.3%) these are not the best of times. Job losses are expected in the beginning of a recession but not during the recovery phase. The business environment is so bad that business simply can not produce jobs. This is more than bad policy this is a moral disgrace. When millions of American workers are deliberately unemployed by an effete and idle intellectual class patience ceases to be a virtue. When even a government owned auto company must invest in Mexico rather than in the United State, as did GM, putting profits for the UAW above the good whole country then the business climate is too hostile for an economy to grow.

Putting Our Debt In Perspective

This is a clever video from the powerline blog. It gives the viewer easy to understand examples of the proportion of the debt to the popular targets that the left always cites as the real villians.

I posted this video earlier. Charles Krauthammer puts the much maligned corporate jet tax loophole into perspective. Note. The corporate jet deduction was last extended in the stimulus bill.

 

 

Recovery In Slow Motion

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There isn't much to say. The charts say it all. Mercifully the charts don't reflect today's grim economic news. In the second quarter the economy grew at an annual rate of 1.7 percent. If that wasn't bad enough the first quarter's GDP growth was revised downward to 0 .4%. Knowledgeable economist and even some Democratic economist are now worried that the economy will plunge back into recession. Remember a recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of no economic growth. Here's hoping you enjoyed last year's summer of recovery because it looks like we may see a long, cold, winter of discontent.

Obama At 40% Approval

The story we hear endlessly from our friends inside the beltway is fighting on the debt limit will insure an easy win for Obama in 2012. Not so fast. Today in the Gallup daily tracking poll Obama is underwater by ten points. Forget the polls showing Obama doing better Boehner in handling the debt ceiling debate. Boehner's seat is safe Obama would lose if the election were held today.

Tea Party: Not For Sale

Megan McCardle over at The Atlantic has it figured. "The ban on earmarks seems to be helping drive our legislative process into a ditch, and the repairs are going to be more expensive than the earmarks were. That doesn't seem like a good bargain."

We heard endless rants by mindless pundits that earmarks only accounted for a few billion dollars. Would never reduce the deficit. Just a waste of time. A Tea Party talking point. Now Ms McCardle writes about the unintended consequences of good government and how it doesn't work. What has McCardle and the rest of the media and the Democrats so agitated is the fact that the Tea Party Congressmen can't be bought. Boehner can't call in a freshman congressman and promise him a new airport for his tiny home town and do a deal. Now he can bring him in and offer him a slice of pizza and try to make his sale. And It just gets worse! Many of these people don't give a damn if they are re-elected if they can only stop the spending. A promise of a future committee chairman won't make the sale either because these guys don't want to make a career of Washington. Most of the smart money thought that, if given time, Boehner could round up enough votes for last night's vote. Wrong! What McCardle et al don't understand is these people ran on principle and for a change we have people in Congress with principles. Ain't that a shame?

Where Are The (Steve) Jobs

Everyone already knew that Barack Obama was no Steve Jobs but up until now they probably though his organization could raise more cash than Jobs'. Not so anymore.BBC is reporting that the US Treasury Department says that the country has an operating cash balance of $73.7billion. Apple on the other hand places its net reserves at $76.3 billion. BBC speculates that Jobs is hoarding cash for a statigic acquisition. Where are the Jobs?

Buck Up

If you have money in the market the next few days are likely to be painful. The latest GDP numbers are horrendous. The Consumer Price Index shows impending inflation for even those who don't buy groceries or gasoline. The Boehner plan has stalled and likely will die. Suck it up and console yourself with the secure knowledge that this is the beginning of the end of Obama and the ruling class. People in the media, yes the same media that demeaned you and the Tea Party are in abject panic. Enjoy their panic but ignore their commentary. Already we are beginning to hear comparisons to 2008 and the meltdown that brought in the present regime. Keep your head and just resolve yourself to adhere to your principles. Regardless of whether the debt ceiling debate is resolved or not by the August doomsday the bond rating agencies will likely downgrade US debt. That will be and awful and painful blow to our national pride. Our great country that defeated the Axis powers in WWII, that presided over the fall over the USSR has been done in by a socialist president. The electorate will not forgive this failure. Even an affable but ineffective President Bush had his polls driven into the low thirties by a financial panic. An arrogant and condescending Obama will fare worse. This is the fight we've been waiting for let's make the most of it.

Is Nikki Haley not really Indian?

  Can things get any more absurd? Now Dems are accusing Nikki Haley, governor of South Carolina, as...something. Using her race to win? From the Washington Examiner:

Her parents emigrated from India and Haley was born in Bamberg County, S.C., a county split between whites and blacks. Born Nimrata Randhawa, she frequently credits her different heritage with helping her get beyond race and finding problems that many have in common.

South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian said the 2001 document the party unearthed shows the 39-year-old Haley plays on her race for political convenience.

"She can't even tell the truth about her racial heritage," Harpootlian said.

  So what does this mean? That Haley ISN'T Indian? She's 100% Indian and an American!
  That she filled out "white" because she resented, at that time, being labeled and felt that was getting beyond race?
  Or that the information was copied from her license? Or that when she filled out her license info, the clerk assumed she was, what, just American because she didn't have an accent?
  Political convenience? Herman Cain's really benefited, right? He's mocked as an Uncle Tom.
  Harpootlian is implying that she's not really minority enough, just like Marco Rubio is a "traitor to Hispanics" and Sarah Palin "isn't a real woman."
  That if she were really a minority, she'd use that status to advantage herself as a liberal.
  This race card use simply has to stop. It's ridiculous. People are people; they often disagree. Just because they disagree does not mean they should be mocked or accused of being liars.
  Or whatever.
  This is ridiculous.
  Did I say that already?
  Ridiculous.

Pseudo religionist attacks Christianity

We've seen it all, with this Norway shooter. Sally Quinn, whose reputation as a "faith editor" at the WaPo suffers badly, is insisting that the Norway shooter WAS and IS a Christian. Big Government:

“Well I say the guy’s a Christian! He talks about Jesus Christ our Lord, he actually says ‘I am a Christian …’

Dana Loesch says: 

I’m still trying to figure out how a woman who sounds unfamiliar with Scripture, who bedded her husband while he was still married (I guess she missed that commandment) in a public scandal, came to be regarded as an authority on faith. That she assumes prominence under the WaPo mast is due to her husband, WaPo publisher Ben Bradlee, than anything else. When she’s not likening child labor to her parents forcing her to clean her room or insulting Catholics by taking communion (she isn’t Catholic) and afterwards remarking something to the effect of it making her sick, she’s insisting that a mass murderer – who openly wrote of his distaste for faith,” not being religious,” and not “having a personal relationship with God” — represents a faith of which she demonstrably knows very little.

Social Security Must Be Paid

Most people suspect that Obama is blowing smoke with his threats to withhold Social Security checks if the debt limit is not raised and most people are right. Even voter fraud beneficiary, Senator Al Franken has brought his limited intellect to the debate. Senator Franken seems to think that the securities held by Social Security Administration are just IOU's. The treasury bonds are unmarketable and are counted as part of the US debt ergo the Social Security Administration is stuck with these notes which he says are just pieces of paper. Senator, what is it about "full faith and credit" that you don't understand? Let's see what the tax professor blog has to say;

"Social Security’s trustees, in particular its Managing Trustee, Treasury Secretary Geithner, are entitled to demand that those bonds be redeemed – cashed in – by the Treasury to whatever extent is necessary to provide the money to pay benefits. Because the principal amount of those bonds is part of the debt that is subject to the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, every dollar of principal paid to redeem the bonds creates room under the ceiling for the Treasury to borrow more money from the public. Enough could be borrowed back to replace all but a tiny fraction of a percent of the money used to redeem the bonds (all but the very small amount of interest that would have accrued since the semiannual interest was paid on June 30). In effect, the Social Security trust funds’ bonds would be replaced with bonds owed to the public. Nothing would be added to the total debt, and the trust funds’ bonds would be used for their intended purpose: to guarantee that benefits are paid."

The good professor goes on to say that it would take very little money coming in to fund Social Security for a very long time. Until the economic downturn more money was paid into Social Security than it paid out. Now the cash flow is negative but only slightly so. If for instance Social Security paid out $60 billion in one month and only took in $58 billion it would only deplete the account by $2 billion. That's not a very good way to run a retirement fund but considerable interest is earned on the $2.7 trillion it hold in US debt. No Senator Franken, this is not some little shell game you can quit. The demographics are against Social Security, as they are Medicare, and in its present form it is unstainable but that does not negate its legal standing. It, like China is a creditor of the US government and it must be paid. The professor goes on;

"The trustee of a private pension trust who refused to make pension payments, despite having ample trust assets, would rightly be held to account. Do the President and the Secretary believe that the $2.7 trillion in bonds held by the Social Security trust funds do not in fact stand behind the benefits that seniors and others are entitled by statute to receive?"

Can anyone imagine Franken and Obama in a SNL skit trying to make their arguement? That might be funny on TV but not in real life.

What The Tea Party Wants

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The Washington Post attempted to contact every one of the more than 650 Tea Party groups scattered throughout the country. They asked the groups what were its most important concerns. I would have serious concerns about the Post's methodology but here are the results.

Boehner to ruin Halloween!!!!!

  In response to John Boehner's attempts to temporarily lift the debt ceiling as opposed to White House wishes that the whole dang thing be moved past the Obama re-election hopes, the White House is again resorting to lofty arguments and intellectual logic to make their point that the debt ceiling needs to be raised permanently.
  They are doing this by complaining that Boehner will be ruining the Halloween (aka holiday) season with nasty disagreements about how much more debt we should go into as a country.
  Here's the quote:

“Happy Holidays America: Boehner plan would have the debt ceiling all over again during the holiday season, which is critical for the economy,” White House deputy spokesman Dan Pfeiffer declared today at 9.50 a.m

  And this from the WaPo:

Under the Boehner bill, we will be right back into this debate during the holiday season, which is the most important time in the year for our economy.

On MSNBC this morning, top Obama adviser David Plouffe made a similar claim, pointing out that the Boehner plan would ensure that “this whole debt ceiling spectacle” will be “repeated again a few montsh from now over the holidays.”

“The debt ceiling debate would ruin Christmas,” Plouffe said. He was apparently ad-libbing the line, but now it’s found its way into the White House’s official talking points.

  We tea partiers cannot bear the thought of ruining Halloween for our White House friends.
  We know their costumes are already ordered.
  Complete with masks and all.

Fineman:tea partiers trying to destroy "social compact"

  No, Mr. Fineman, you don't speak for tea party people and you don't know what you're talking about. From Chris Matthews' increasingly ridiculous MSNBC show which nobody watches except conservatives so they can get mad, The Daily Caller:

“The Tea Party people are saying, ‘We want to secede from that society. And the way to do it is to draw the line on spending and taxes, to starve the federal government so that it loses power, so that we aren’t part of the social compact anymore.’ And that’s the real argument that’s going on, and the Congress as an institution is incapable of dealing with that kind of fundamental argument, which given the entitlement age and welfare state age, which is why you have the super committees and super-duper committees and the smaller and smaller ring of people attempting to decide something,” Fineman said.

  Tea partiers are NOT trying to get rid of Social Security and Medicare. The Dems are doing a pretty good job of that themselves, considering Medicare will be out of money in 2016 and Social Security is officially in the red this year.
  Honestly how stupid is this "reasoning." A good number of tea partiers are at or close to retirement age, when they will be forced to rely on Medicare and/or Social Security. Does it make sense that they'd try to get rid of it? And does it make sense considering that DEMS are the ones who are confiscating $500 billion from Medicare to enable Obamacare? 
  No tea partier suggested that.
  And no one has said that they want to *kill* government or anything.
  What they want is that government assume its proper role, which is a support system rather than control system.
  In this absurd interview, Matthews even suggested that race was the rationale for tea partiers' resentment of huge bloated ever larger obese always hungry system we have in place now:

“This sounds like — I spent two years in southern Africa — [it] sounds like what the whites talked about doing,” Matthews said. “Eventually going into some circle, like Custer’s Last Stand against the United States.

  How on earth do these people survive on television with those soooo wrong points of view? 

Fast And Furious Linked To White House-Video

In a previous post we provided the transcript of the Fast and Furious operation where it revealed that special agent in charge William Newell had emailed Kevin O'Rielly who worked for NRC in the White House. Today we can provide the video which is even more credible than the transcript. After viewing these videos ask yourself what is the probability that a BATF field supervisor would just happen to have a friend who worked in the White House. Then ask yourself if Newell and O'Rielly were just old friends, as Newell implies, how did O'Rielly know what case Newell was working on. In the first video In the first video Congressman Raul Labrador probes Newell about his communications with the White House.

 

 

Later in the hearing Congressmen Trey Gowdy and Darrell Issa pick up the question again.

 

If I had to guess I would guess Kevin O'Rielly will be the Howard Hunt of Operation Gun Runner. 

Dems swear to default on debt they racked up

  A reminder: Democrats were in charge of Congress since 2007. They had super majorities for the first 2 years of the Obama presidency until the public threw many of them out of office.
  Now, rather than actually trying to deal with the tremendous debts and unsustainable entitlements being promised around the country, they've vowed to default:

All 53 Senate Democrats signed a letter tonight to House Speaker John Boehner saying essentially that they would rather the US default on its debt than pass the House GOP plan that would cut spending and force another vote next year.

  Many of these same (23) Senate Democrats vowed to pass a balanced budget act when Republicans were in charge. 
  Not apparently now.
   This kind of irresponsibility is so partisan that it's breathtaking. Gateway Pundit.
  Gettin' tired of all this whinin' and screwin' around and threats.

Bush left a $450 billion deficit. From Gateway Pundit, the current deficit is:

Kick his a$$

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The problems with electric cars

...are summed up magnificently (and, I might add, hilariously) here at Confederate Yankee:

Several of the biggest obstacles to the wide-spread proliferation of all-electric vehicles—which circa July, 2011 means the Nissan Leaf--are these simple facts:

(1) Battery technology limits range to a maximum of about 50 miles which virtually requires drivers to adopt unrealistic techniques, such as carrying only a driver, little or no cargo, using no accessories—such as air conditioning, radio, turn signals, headlights—that drain electrical power, and accelerating and driving very slowly. Absent such methods, less range is a certainty.

(2) Charging times are excessive. A full charge takes as long as 12 hours, and virtually never less than eight with a fast charger which costs $2000.00, not including installation. And charging times are variable. It's not always exactly eight hours, but virtually never less.

  Read more here. 

Why did Politico delete passage from story on Fox?

  Some interesting points over at Politico in the article about Ed Henry questioning Obama spokesman Carney, who accused Henry of making a scene because he's working for Fox but is sort of defended by the Politico reporter:

Henry, who hardly pulled punches when he sat a few seats over for CNN, chided Carney, "That's not what I'm doing. You know better than that."

   Interesting, also, is the fact that Politico originally had written into the story something like, "Fox News producers and reporters, who are some of the most respected in the business, will be taking over the White House Correspondents next year..." blah blah blah
  The original story was posted around 4:15, but then altered at 7:33 to say this, leaving out the previously mentioned passage:

Next year, Henry takes over as president of the White House Correspondents Association -- meaning ever closer dealings with the administration.

  Why would they do this? Hmmm? Was the writer intimidated by someone, not to admit that Fox News IS respected in the media, something most of us would never know?
  Interesting. 

Dems go wild with accusations

  Typical of this White House and this DNC chair, bad perm Wasserman Schulz is accusing Republicans of trying to be "dictators."
  Why is this typical of this crew?
  Because at the same time liberals are calling on Obama to ignore the Congress and the 14 amendment and set the debt ceiling himself, something Clinton encouraged him to do and something he said his lawyers told him not to.
  At the same time, Obama himself has remarked that he'd like to not have to be bothered to confer with anyone else. That it'd be a lot easier for him to just go it alone.
  Here are the accusations by this gaffe prone woman from Politico:

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Wednesday that House Republicans are trying to impose “dictatorship” through their tactics in the debt-ceiling negotiations. She said the GOP rhetoric could “spark panic and chaos,” which she called “potentially devastating” to the economy.

  And, yes, chaos is what will happen because Obama can't make up his mind what to do, by all accounts.  
  This week numerous Dems and RINOs have felt comfortable accusing conservatives of being "tea party hobbits," "vitriolic," "right wing extremists," "terrorists," "hostage takers," "not caring about our country," wanting to "shoot Obama," "destructive," "cult," "fringe"......on and on it goes.
  Why?
  Because conservatives want a balanced budget.
  They want this country to not spend more than it takes in.
  They want to leave something to the children of this country.
  

Thank You North Carolina

Look what the Tea Party found in North Carolina. With a star studded freshman class that includes such notables Representatives as Allen West, Kristi Noem, and Joe Walsh it's easy to overlook many of the lesser know freshmen such as Trey Gowdy from North Carolina's fourth congressional district. In a previous post Congressman Gowdy's questions were transcribed but this video shows the Congressman at work. He goes after Special Agent in Charge William Newell like a barracuda. Remember William Newell admitted emailing Kevin O'Rielly of the National Security Counsel information about Fast and Furious. Although this blog did not claim that this implicated the White House in F&F the Weekly Standard did! They wrote Bombshell: White House Knew About ATF Gunrunning Scandal I posted the video below not so much as part of the F&F investigation but rather to showcase one of the lesser know members of the fresh class. Watch it and enjoy. Thank you North Carolina!

Dick Lugar Losing In Poll

Senator Dick Lugar is losing to Tea Party backed candidate Richard Mourdock in a new poll sponsored by the Club for Growth. Mourdock beats Lugar 34 to 32 percent with 34 percent undecided.

What If Sarah Palin Had Said This?

What if Sarah Palin had said this? She would get blamed for everything from Congresswoman Gabby Gifford's injuries to the Norway massacre. It's different when a member of the Democratic leadership says it.

"I think we’re playing Russian roulette with the nation’s credit-worthiness. Unfortunately, all the chambers seem to be loaded on the House side. They want to shoot every bullet they have at the president.”

NSC Linked To Fast and Furious

In yesterday's post we stated that the IRS, the DEA, and ICE were all "full partners" in operation Fast and Furious. Today we can add evidence that knowledge of this case, if not complicity, extends to the National Security Council. BATF special agent in charge William Newell was questioned about an email he sent to Kevin O'Reilly Director of North American Affairs of the National Security Council that began with "you didn't get it from me" Rep. Raul Labrador and William Newell had this exchange;

LABRADOR: Special Agent Newell, do you know who Kevin O'Reilly is?

NEWELL: Yes, Sir.

LABRADOR: What's the nature of your relationship with him?

NEWELL: I've known Kevin for ‑ I'd say probably 10‑12 years?

LABRADOR: How often do you communicate with him?

NEWELL: Oh, I haven't communicated with him in a while but probably three or four times a year or something like that. Or maybe ‑ maybe more depending on him reaching out to me.

LABRADOR: Isn't it a little bit unusual for a special agent in charge of an ATF field division to have direct email contact with the national security staff at the White House?

NEWELL: He's ‑ he's a friend of mine.

LABRADOR: How many times did you talk to him about this case?

NEWELL: The specifics of this case? I don't think I ‑‑ I mean ‑‑ I don't think I had one specific conversation with him about the specifics of this case.

LABRADOR: OK. Who ...

ISSA (?): Would the gentleman allow me to help him a little? Not that you need it, but could you take the word specific out and ‑ and answer the general ‑‑ did you talk to him about this case?

NEWELL: I might have talked to him about this case. Yes, Sir.

ISSA(?): Do you know when that was?

NEWELL: It was probably ‑‑ I ‑‑ as I recall I think it was during the summer ‑‑ it might have been the summer or early fall of 2010.

Later the line was picked up by Rep. Trey Gowdy;

GOWDY: Let me ask you this. When you begin a sentence, "You didn't get this from me..." what does that mean to you?

NEWELL: Just means that didn't get it from me.

GOWDY: Well, but that's kind of a pleonasm, isn't it, because you are getting it from them? So it's a ‑‑ what do you mean by that, "You didn't get this from me..."? I'm referring to your e‑mail to Mr. O'Reilly

NEWELL: Well, obviously Mr. O'Reilly (ph) was a friend of mine and it's ‑‑ it's ‑‑ I shouldn't have been sending him that, obviously, I recognize that, it being a friend.

GOWDY: But what do you mean, "You didn't get this from me..."? Does that mean you should not have been talking to him about it?

NEWELL: Not that I shouldn't have been talking about. He's a friend of mine. He asked for information and I provided it to him.

GOWDY: Well, then, why wasn't it appropriate for you to give it to him? Why would you preface it by saying, "You didn't get this from me..."? Was it an improper communication?

NEWELL: No, it wasn't an improper communication.

GOWDY: Well, then, why would you preface it by that?

NEWELL: It's ‑‑ he's been a friend of mine for a long time and he asked me for information. So I gave him information that ‑‑ it's probably an improper use of the term or phrase.

As more information becomes available you will find it on this blog.

<>

Republicans Make Huge Gains Among White Voters

Pew has a new voter identification poll out. I've been meaning to write about it for a few days but more important things kept popping up. The upshot of the poll is that the Republicans have made huge gains among white voters. In 2008 the Republicans held only a 2 percent advantage among white voters. In the recent poll that number is 13 percent. The Republicans made a very modest inroad with blacks, managing to shave the 88 percent Democratic affiliation to 86 percent. The enormous lead the Democrats enjoyed among
the Millennial generation -- those born after 1980 has been more than cut in half. This was the supposedly the new emerging Democratic super majority. In 2008 they identified with the Democrats by a margin of roughly 2 to 1. Today 52 percent identify with the Democratic party and 39 percent lean Republican. In all this good new there is one caveat that should make the Republicans a bit more sanguine in their celebration. The percent of voters who actually identify themselves as Republicans has remained flat at 28 percent. The gains have come from independents who lean Republican. On the other hand flat is better than losing voters as the Democrats went from 38 percent to 34 percent among all voters. Now both Democrats and independants claim 34 percent of all voters. I encourage you to read the full report.

IRS, DEA, ICE Partners In Fast and Furious

I'm not familiar with Congressman Pat Meehan, a Republican from Pennsylvania, but he certainly knows how to question a witness. In the video the William Newell, former head of the Phoenix ATF field office reveals that the IRS, the DEA, and ICE were all full partners in operation Fast and Furious.

Man Robbed Twice In Five Minutes By The Same Robber

Sometimes things just go all wrong. A man takes some money out of his pocket and a thief grabs it and takes off. So the man gets on his bicycle and chases him down. They scuffle. Then the thief takes his billfold. The poor man is robbed twice in 5 minutes by the same robber. More

No Behring Breivik Is Not A Fundamentalist Christian

Now we are reduced to importing our common sense from Canada. The speaker understands the value of freedom . He was smuggled out of Hungary in a back pack during 1956 revolution.

Boehner Plan Cuts $6 Billion in 2012

Grover Norquist is happy with the Boehner plan. As everyone knows Norquist is a one issue man. If it increases taxes he's against it. If it lowers taxes he is probably for it. Ok score the Boehner plan a plus on taxes. Now about the cuts. Whatever it may do in the out years Boehner's plan cuts only $6 billion from the 2012 budget. Obama has increased discretionary spending by 84% in his presidency. It was the wanton waste of the stimulus bill that provided much of the angst that gave birth to the Tea Party. A bold plan would put this spending back to 2008 levels.

Politics is art not science. It forces the players to moderate from the ideal to the realistic. Winning big in this battle is not good if the result the loss of the 2012 election. Still $6 billion seems pretty lame. Readers can read more at the Hill and make up their own mind on the Boehner plan.

Shovel Ready Jobs For China

Jeffrey R. Immelt is President Obama's chairman
of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. He is also the CEO of General Electric, the same GE that was considered to be a bank so it could participate in the TARP bailout and corporate welfare boondoggle, the same GE that paid no corporate taxes last year, the same GE that laid off 21,000 worker since Immelt became CEO. Jeffery Immelt is the tall gray haired fellow sitting next to Obama when Obama, in Howard Davidowitz's words, "was laughing like a hyena" at the failure of the stimulus bill. So what has the Chairman of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness done for you lately? He is moving GE's X-Ray division to China. Hope and change!

Family Planning Gone Crazy

Some things only last so long. We all make sure we have the latest expiration date when we buy a gallon of milk Why? Because it will go sour. But what does a country do with a population policy that paid a huge short term dividend but now is about to go sour? With its one-child policy China has tricked nature into providing it with huge productivity gains; gains that lifted 100's of millions of Chinese out of dire poverty, but soon it will be time to pay the piper. Like Jabez Stone in the "Devil and Daniel Webster" China has struck a Faustian bargain and soon there will be the devil to pay. China introduced its one-child policy in 1979. Some argue that had China left well enough alone it would have enjoyed moderate success with out the impending bust. With the advent of contraception all developed countries have lowered their fertility rates. China probably would have done the same but with the one-child policy it accelerated the decline in fertility. As the ratio of dependants to workers lessened per capita productivity increased dramatically. Currently China has about three people working to support one dependant, either a child or an older person. It is reaping a “demographic dividend”.

In a recent post I argued that China will get old before it gets rich. From 2000 to 2010 the percentage of the population under 14 dropped from 23 to 17 percent. And that population is gender skewed. There are 120 male for every 100 female Chinese and in some villages that ratio may be as high as 150 to 100. Still like many American politicians who came of political age in the '70's, Chinese politicians cling to outmoded policy as if it were bold and new. One can dream that the US can right its ship when that generation dies, or more likely, is driven from power but China's fertility rate is so low that it cannot sustain itself and its governmental folly will be felt for a hundred years.

The China that Paul Krugman, the Enron advisor, praises has been barbaric in its enforcement of it one-child policy. Before the enlightenment in 1997 they punished violators by tearing down their houses for breaching the one-child policy. Now they confiscate the children. Local officials take “illegal children” and pack them off to orphanages where they are put up for adoption. Foreign adoptive parents pay $3,000-5,000 per child and the bureaucrats collect a kickback. Untold millions of female fetuses have been aborted, some 30 million Chinese men will never find wives and at some point female Chinese will become brood sows, have as many children as possible maybe get a one day maternity leave since China will need every worker and every mother. Yes there is the devil to pay.

IMF; Raise The Debt Ceiling

With friends like the International Monetary Fund the US doesn't need many enemies. The IFM is the latest entity to lecture the US on the need to get its budget act together.
It is "critical" that the United States get its debt levels under control for the good of its own economy and others, the International Monetary Fund said Monday, reports the Hill. The IMF said later in the report that not raising the $14.3 trillion debt limit would "have disastrous consequences for the U.S. and global economy."

Of course even though the US provides $27 billion to the IMF annually it doesn't show up on the budget. The IMF is the same international agency that brought us Dominic Strauss-Kahn once thought to be a rapist now apparently just Euro trash. We should all be grateful that the IMF takes the time to offer this free advice. It really doesn't have to because its sitting on 90.5 million troy ounces of gold.

Thanks IMF. We'll try to do better.

Boehner Briefed Rush On Debt Ceiling Plan

This will surely drive the crowd at MSNBC nuts. Rush listeners will already know that Speaker John Boehner briefed radio talk show great, Rush Limbaugh, on the bill that is now working its way through the House. What's the saying? "If you want good water sometimes you have to go to the head of the stream". This was Boehner's second call to Limbaugh. He called in Friday while Rush was on air to deny that a deal had been struck with the White House.

Obama's speech is a NON-unifier

   Secretaries, corporate jets, skyrocket, Republicans, huge tax hike.
  As usual, we have class warfare. Rather than CUT, The One's trying to pit conservatives who want to moderate the spending against the rest of the country.
  Obviously he wants the debt ceiling raised until after the 2012 election, after which he can raise it willy nilly.
  Wow. It's really hard to understand how we can spend and spend and spend.....
  I never expected this president to be a unifier, but I must say it's really disappointing that he continues to pit American against American.
  It's not just not unifying.
  It's destructive.

BATF, FBI Allowed Felons To Buy Guns

Senator Charles Grassley, the Senate Judiciary partner in the Gun Runner investigation, publicly declared his theory about the true purpose of the operation.  “My suspicion is they don’t like the Second Amendment the way it is, and they are going to do everything to hurt guns and restrict guns.  So they could have been building a case for that.  But I can’t prove that.”

This blog has long ago drawn that conclusion. Gun Runner was a deliberate conspiracy by people in the Obama to undermine the Constitution, specifically the second amendment to that Constitution. A Constitution that Obama has sworn to protect and defend. Two points:

• The US Embassy in Mexico was obviously kept in the dark in respect to Gun Runner. The embassy was feeling heat from the Mexican government and tried to prod the BATF into action but to no avail. Quoting from the L A Times;
  
  "This was a shout-out from the embassy in Mexico," said the government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. "The embassy knew something was awry when all these guns started showing up down there. But they were kept in the dark. They didn’t understand why the guns kept getting through and ending up at so many Mexican homicides."
  
  
  
  The cable was sent to the State Department in Washington, and copied to some 50 officials, including then-U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual and Darren D. Gil, then the ATF attaché in Mexico City.


• Someone inside the FBI is probably a felon. FoxNews correspondent,William La Jeunesse, whom we have previously cited on this blog dug into the background of two of the twenty men arrested in a roundup in Phoenix, At that time La Jeunesse reported that all but one of those arrested were released the next day. But being a dedicated reporter he dug further and found two of the small time hoods had criminal records. Criminal records, yet they were able to purchase firearms even after the mandated FBI checks were run. Someone in the FBI had to allow that to occur. When he was presented with La Jeunesse's discovery Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., a former federal prosecutor and a member of the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee responded, "You cannot sanction the violation of federal law by enabling or co-enabling prohibited persons, which includes felony convictions, from purchasing firearms,"
  
  
  
  

Below is a video of the latest report.

 

Obama admin wages war on breathalyzers

So we ban certain substances, and then we declare that he's suffering (because we banned the substance and,) therefore, we need ...more  money? Big Government...this is real..empathy...

Well, things do get more confused with his own administration guilty of escalating a war on these breathalyzers or inhalators or gassificationators. You see, the best and cheapest inhalers have been phased out because their propellants are Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), substances targeted as ozone depleting substances. Replaced with extraordinarily powerful greenhouse gases, incidentally. Necessitating a…war on coal-fired electricity. Wash, rinse, repeat. 

Anyway, regardless of what one believes about ozone depletion, CFCs from inhalers were a trivial contributor and should have been permanently exempted from these regimes until something just as good and just as affordable came along. They weren’t, and it hasn’t. Look, a squirrel…er…a coal-fired power plant providing reliable electricity to drive our economy more cleanly than ever imagined. Attack! 

So, yes, this was a war begun and also waged with asinine rigidity by Obama’s predecessors. But never quite so cynically. First, see this from Obama’s FDA: 

The only over-the-counter asthma inhaler sold in the United States will no longer be available next year as part of an international agreement to stop the use of substances that damage the environment.

We were such fools....

...to think that the terrorist attacks were launched by Islamic extremists, according to Bruce Bawer at WSJ:

Damn. What fools we were. There we were deluding ourselves after the USS Cole, and the Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam bombings, and the Madrid train bombings, and 7/7, and the ‘Mumbai’ Massacre and the shoebomber plot and the Heathrow plot and the LAX plot and the New York car bomb plot and the Fort Hood massacre and, oh, yeah, 9/11 that the world’s greatest terrorist threat came from Islamists who love death even more than we love Coca Cola. But this in fact was all just a red herring, brought about by the racism and Islamophobia of conservatives and libertarians and Tea Partiers to distract anti-terrorism resources from the real menace: Right-wing extremists like themselves.