To conserve, put a window air conditioner in your car

  This report from the New York Post and Malkin has been out for several days, but in recognition of the heat wave, I thought I'd mention it again.
  Are you hot?
  Did you know liberals want you to get rid of your air conditioning?
  Or at the very least, air condition homes in developing nations because that'd be fair?
  It seems an impossible task, no?
  Well, not if you do it Nanny Bloomberg's way.
  Just get a room air conditioner, hook it up to a power source and put the room air conditioner in your car window!
  Voila! Or as some journalists write, viola.
  Why would you do something so cumbersome, awkward, environmentally unfriendly and just downright stupid?
  Because New York City has a 3 minute idling law, that's why! And Nanny Bloomberg does not like to get into a hot car, just like Barack Obama doesn't like his office too cold in the winter and, above all, we want to keep happy our politicians who make all these regulations!
  What's really incredible about this video are the New Yorkers at the end who aren't shocked, surprised or even disgusted by this display. They're so stupid compliant....They've grown so accustomed to stupid laws that they just dumbly say, "Gee, I dunno. Prolly it's ok, if they think so," they being anybody in charge.

Liberals continue to insult, divide country

  Not to sound too provincial, but I keep wondering how low the Obama campaign and its people can go. I mean, I live in Northwest Ohio where people are basically civil to one another so when I see tweets like the ones emanating from the DNC and Obama, I just really have to pinch myself that any political campaign is willing to resort to these tactics as if there will be no voter blowback.
  I don't know anyone on the right who would act like that toward their opposition, though I do know one young man who sincerely believes whole-(or "cruel") heartedly that people over 60 should be denied health measures as a means to cut health care costs. They're old and should be gotten out of the way, according to him. Wonder if that would apply to his parents too, or would the congressional exception have to be made for someone so...special as his parents.
  DNC executive director said this when he heard about the ruling: It's constitutional, Bitches."
  The DNC's media director tweeted this: Overheard in the office: "TAKE THAT MOTHER******S!!"— 
  Bobby Jindal's excoriation of the ruling brought out the vicious loonies.
  There's undoubtedly more filth to exemplify my point but it reaches a place where all you're doing is flailing against the evil that is the Left.
  Suffice it to say that these people reveal their hearts. One can only go on so long like this without reaping what he's sown.
  And back to The One who is the root of it all, who calls for "civility" while at the same time telling his Obamabots to bring a gun to a fight and fight like hell with those with whom they disagree. 
  You know. 
  The One who claims he wants to unite Americans while at the same time calling for the obliteration of his enemies, whom he constantly vilifies in every way possible.
  After having levied the hugest tax in history, his people are running around com explaining that Obamacare is NOT a tax, regardless what the Supreme Court said.
  Cuz, you know, the executive branch rules all, right? They live by their own standards, not the rule of law.
  And they continue their arrogant selfish vicious ways, campaigning around the country at taxpayer expense.
  JammieWearingFool has the goods on the cost to the taxpayers in one small town in New Hampshire. The townfolk refused to pay for security for the Preezy's visit:

Last week the Obama crew demanded that Karl Rove and his Crossroads group should reveal their list of private donors, ironically just hours before claiming executive privilege to try and continue the cover-up of the Obama-Holder Fast & Furious scandal. So isn’t it curious that while on his daily fundraising binge Monday, Obama himself had someone privately foot the tab for security at a New Hampshire stop after the locals decided they’d had enough of this freeloader campaigning on the public dime.

  Wouldn't it be interesting if every town refused to provide security for the Preezy? 
  What would happen then, I wonder?
  There's an adage.
  What goes around comes around.
  We'll see how long the American people put up with this.
  I'm thinking we're nearing a voter explosion.
  UPDATE: AND White House salaries have increased. They're hiring ever more aides also.
  Guess there's no recession in the White House, huh.

Sheldon Adelson Honors Disabled Veterans

Most readers remember that Sheldon Adelson was a strong backer of Newt Gingrich in the GOP primary. Now he and his wife, Mary, have already donated $10 million to Romney's super PAC, Restore Our Future, with the possibility his donation could reach $100 million. That is not the extent of his generosity. Every year for the past 7 years Sheldon Adelson  hosts a bunch of disabled vets at his hotel for a long weekend. They are given (free of charge) the best rooms, best food, everything. He flys them in and flys them out. During their stay, they don't want for anything. These celebrations are never advertised in advance.

The Fast and Furious Minnesota Connection

Democrats insist that Congressman Darrell Issa is remiss because he failed to call Bush era Attorney General Michael Mukasey to testify in the Fast and Furious investigation.. Eric Holder testified that Mukasey was privy to gun walking during the Bush administration but like much of what he and his DOJ has asserted he had to retract it. If Issa really wants to get to the bottom of this, perhaps he should call Bill Clinton's AG, Janet Reno. Kevin Diaz of the Star Minneapolis Tribune  reports that George Gillett Jr. is cooperating with Issa's committee. Gillette was a supervisor in the Phoenix office during Fast and Furious but acquired his proficiency in delivering guns to criminals in the Twin Cities in 1996 when he was a street agent.
During that unnamed operation the ATF successfully placed about 150 weapons in the hands of street gangs vis a vis straw buyers, frequently young girls with no criminal record who could easily pass background checks. Oh yes, the Clinton era glory days of law enforcement that featured stellar examples of law enforcement brilliance such as the siege of the Branch Davidians and the sniper shooting of Vicki Weaver as she held her infant in her arms at Ruby Ridge could hardly look worse if was discovered they had a mini Fast and Furious.

Obamacare; Still a BFTax

Yesterday's Supreme Court decision left me devastated but it's beginning to look as if it may be a Phyricc victory. The Romney campaign raised $4.6 million by Friday morning from 26,000 donors. The much shown interview by George Stephanopoulos with Obama insisting that the individual mandate was not a tax might be spun into a "read my lips" moment.

Michelle Obama; Defender of the Faith

Our faith journey isn’t just about showing up on Sunday for a good sermon and good music and a good meal. It’s about what we do Monday through Saturday as well, especially in those quiet moments, when the spotlight’s not on us, and we’re making those daily choices about how to live our lives.

We see that in the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus didn't’t limit his ministry to the four walls of the church. He was out there fighting injustice and speaking truth to power every single day. He was out there spreading a message of grace and redemption to the least, the last, and the lost. And our charge is to find Him everywhere, every day by how we live our lives.... Timothy Cardinal Dolan   Michelle Obama

Gee we didn't know Michelle felt that way. Her husband frequently misstates freedom of religion with "freedom to worship" essentially limiting religion to what is preached on Sunday. The first lady was speaking to African Methodist Episcopal Church whose position on the contraceptive mandate and gay marriage is not known.

Whew. Awkward Today Show moment

  I have to say watching Ann Curry's crackup on The Today Show is like watching Network news or something.

  Apparent to me when I watched this video, which I confess made me belly laugh, are the following:

• Curry wasn't expecting to be canned from the show.
• Everyone's awkwardly watching, unsure of her mood or what she'll say next. You can almost feel the producer standing next to the camera men as they pan the couch, shouting, "OMG! Be ready to cut and go to commercial!"
• Curry's emotions are running wild which might lead one to believe she was surprised, unprepared and informed fairly recently (like 2 minutes ago) that this is her last day on the job.
• The reach across from the other chick is awkward, as Morales pulls Curry's arm toward her in a power move.
• Does Curry look soooo excited at the prospect, at her creaky age, of jumping out of airplanes again? Does THAT sound like a promotion? I think not.
• Be sure to watch the end, where Morales hovers trying to get her last on screen hug in but can't quite manage it. 

  Oh, to be a fly on the wall when those cameras cut out. One can only imagine the iciness of the now deposed anchor and the new chick in town, sitting in Curry's seat, still warm from the body. Ha.  Network news sure is a cutthroat business. Keeping all those prima donnas happy costs a lot with not much reward, considering the Today Show's ratings. 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

  Not having the least amount of interest in the show, I didn't watch the end, but NY Daily News says this happened:

After she finished and the show broke for local news, the team skipped its usual wrap-up walk out on the Rockefeller Center plaza.
The cameras went right back to the studio, where Guthrie was in the seat Curry had occupied. They went straight into promotion for the 9 a.m. hour.

  The Daily News, which is running a post mortem retrospective of Curry's career, also complains that no official announcement was made that Guthrie was her replacement:

The “Today” co-host saga took an almost surreal turn Friday morning, with Savannah Guthrie slipping into Ann Curry’s old chair and everyone around her, including the network, acting as if nothing had changed.
Curry had reluctantly left the show Thursday, and Guthrie has been widely reported to be her successor as NBC attempts to reinvigorate a show that has been losing ground to ABC’s “Good Morning America.” 

  Voila! Curry's gone, replaced with a younger, better looking version of a tv news anchor. 

Starting now, premiums increased? Blame Obama

  Speaking of gloating, perhaps we have all seen by now the disgraceful t-shirt using the euphemism for the F*** word promoting the President of the United States' signature legislation:

  The blogosphere has lit up with reaction to the abominable SCOTUS decision yesterday, including mockery trying to make conservatives look stupid.

  Here is a picture which reveals the maturity of the critical individuals. Reminder: this person is not a Navy Seal nor is she in high school:

  We have Obama and/or his campaign claiming health care is a BFD and "this one [POTUS] got it done," regardless of the single party thuggery and protest of the people. More over at Twitchy.

  The moonbats are also celebrating a "win" for Ted Kennedy, the drunkard leach whose ham fisted wealth elevated him to a place of arrogant privilege and dishonest politics.

  So today's reaction is mixed. Conservatives are trying to find silver linings, but some are more realistic about what actually happened yesterday.

  Some are worried that the health care law will become more popular now that it's been ruled constitutional.

  Many say it is the defining issue of the campaign; certainly it's energized opposition to Obamacare. Romney's already raised 4.3 million dollars from 43,000 small time donors since yesterday.

  There's another aspect I haven't heard mentioned round the web yet.

  Obama claimed people's health care costs have increased greatly recently, yet made no mention of Obamacare as the cost. He and his minions act like we should all celebrate because women don't have to pay a co-pay for their personal exams and the like.

  Does no one mention that rates are going UP because of Obamacare?

  Another election wedge issue will be the constantly rising health care costs.

  Every single and multiple time health care costs increase, in addition to the new taxes which will take place to pay for this, in addition to the Medicare cuts which are already taking place to pay for the undocumented health care moochers, Obama and the liberals will be blamed for it.

  So here we go.

  Insurance increased?

  Blame Obama.

  Shortage of health equipment?

  Blame Obama.

  Can't find a doctor?
  Blame Obama.

  This may prove to be Obama's signature legislation after all.

SCOTUS ruling was the worst thing that could happen for Obama

Shenandoah says this about today's ruling:

Actually, we won on almost all accounts. 

The Obamacare rulings have strengthened the Right's November election possibilities considerably - in my humble opinion 

The contempt vote was a no-brainer and the Black Caucus walkout showed how juvenile those folks can be when you take their ball. 

The ruling on lying about your country's service, war decorations, etc. was the only ruling that I disagree with as a whole... 

   I 'm not sure I can say we "won" today but the more I think about it and read, this situation isn't entirely bleak.
  How many times today did stations play the Obama snarkdown of George Stephanopoulous claiming the mandate was not a tax? Again Obama is proven to be a liar.
   The right and the TEA PARTY are energized and not going away but it's difficult to dismiss the discomfiting feeling that lawlessness is prevailing in this country. 
  The people can vote on and pass Prop 8 in California, but a gay judge can overrule it? 
  The people can en masse despise this destructive health care law, come to DC to protest, collect signatures (millions!) and this monstrosity goes forward because a few hundred people who will never have to live with it decide it's "good for the American people"?
  George Will says this fact that this hideous legislation was ruled a tax is a gift. 
  And Timothy Dalrymple has a completely different take from the prevailing wisdom in Five Possible Silver Linings in the Obamacare Decision including the fact that a tax is much easier to overturn in the Senate requiring only 51 votes rather than the 60 required to break a filibuster.  (Read the whole thing.)
  Dalrymple also says this defines the election, focuses it around this mess alone. It would've been great to have even the mandate struck and we could mock Obama for having wasted his entire presidency on pursuit of something no one wanted. Now, instead he has provide us with the same directive, the same focus the same goal that we've had for years.
  What a great incentive to hop on the Romney train.
  Considering Dems seem to be buying tickets too, for the Romney train, maybe there'll even be visitors named Conscience and Principle. At the least Expediency will be there
  Let's face it. Everyone hates this bill. Doctors are distraught; patients are angry.
  Wow. We might even call it an early October surprise." 

Obama gloats, continues to divide, holds self pity party

  The unthinkable has happened with the Supreme Court's upholding of Obamacare.
  It is difficult to understand how Justice Roberts can live with this destruction of health care as we know it. Obama minions have already declared that cutbacks, regardless the salesmanship of Obamacare, are coming for those over 60 and those under the age of 5. 
  Now Obama has chosen to hold a press conference in which he said repeatedly, "I" "I" "I" did this (this being pushing Obamacare through in spite of the American people's anger and rejection.)
  It's unnerving, really, that this arrogant narcissistic man could stand in front of cameras and talk, once again, about himself and how valiant he was to push through something so unpopular; his assumption was that he knew best.
  Not Americans.
  Obama's tone of self pity, rationalization and self justification was remarkably worse than usual.
  Mean spirited, petty, and whipping out the useful idiot's story of how much he/she suffered without Obama's help was pretty much par for the course; in short, he blew his opportunity to actually bring the people together in an extremely stressful time.
  Obama claimed resistance to this debacle was political.
  In fact, it certainly is.
  But most of all, resistance to this health care debacle derives from intelligent informed decisions and the realization that nothing is free, the government never runs programs efficiently and this law reaches into every aspect of our lives.
  There aren't enough doctors, hospitals. One seventh of the hospitals in this country will NOT abide by the abortion mandate, instead willing to shut down over principle.
  What Obama could have done is try to bring the people together, acknowledge their FEAR over this monster and assume some mantle of humility.
  Yet no.
  The alternative at this point is Mitt Romney.
  Think of the last few elections. Overwhelmingly the American people have reinforced the conservative ideals.
  That is what will happen this fall, though we must fight the Chicago machine that is currently in office.
  Money helps.
  Contribute today and regularly whatever you can to support candidates who will stand for the Constitution and the principles of this great country.
  We must speak up. Resist we much.
  Be civil we must, unlike the opposition.

Biden; I'm not middle class anymore

What? Middle class? Not me; I'm beyond that. Joe Biden explains he's not middle class anymore. During the last campaign one would have thought he was born in a welding shop in Scranton.

Feds: Put down that twinkie!

  In yet another mandate, a federal panel is demanding that health insurance pay for "counseling" for obese patients.
  Boston Herald:

In a move that could significantly expand insurance coverage of weight-loss treatments, a federal health advisory panel on Monday recommended that all obese adults receive intensive counseling in an effort to rein in a growing health crisis in America.

  Of course, no one knows how this will work. The article goes on to complain that doctors do not have the time or ability to run counseling sessions for a year or more but such meetings are necessary because it's not fair that most people's doctors haven't told them they're fat.
  Like, seriously, most people in this country really do not know that it's unhealthy that they have twinkies, doughnuts and Big Macs stuck between the folds of fat under their bellies.
  The Herald quotes a concerned doctor:

He cited a recent study that found that more than half of all obese patients had never been told by their physician that they needed to lose weight. “That’s just not fair to the patient,” said Der-Sarkissian, who leads Kaiser’s adult weight management efforts in Southern California. 

“You have to diagnose the patient and have the discussion, even if the patient doesn’t really want to hear it,” he said.

  It isn't "fair" that no one's mentioned that, since you can't move without a motor, you might be too fat.
  Here's the thing. The government always operates the same way.
  They want a new regulation, so they find an appreciative greedy party who will be willing to prostitute their organization for a few bucks to parrot what the government wants in the way of rules for the public.
  Like the EPA's onslaught on talk radio, in which they have sad little child actors sobbing about how they can't breathe because of asthma and how they feel like they're fish out of water. Designed to engender sympathy, the EPA solemnly announces that, if even one child (or person) is helped, then we have to _______.
  James Taranto of the WSJ who reports that, in case you haven't noticed, we haven't had a major airplane collision in ten years. One would think this is good news, Taranto says, but no. The "rule makers" are upset because they want to pass more regulations to make flying yet more regulated and, um safer, and this might be difficult, considering no one's currently hysterical about air safety:

The second paragraph explains: "The benefits of aviation rules are calculated primarily on how many deaths they may prevent, so the safest decade in modern airline history is making it harder to justify the cost of new requirements." 

Then comes one of the most wonderful quotes we've ever encountered, from William Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation: "If anyone wants to advance safety through regulation, it can't be done without further loss of life."

  Writing new and additional regulations and then hiring people to enforce them and punish offenders is mother's milk to government employees.
  Let's look at a couple which were passed this week which you may have missed in the flurry about SCOTUS's striking down of Arizona's lack of regulations.
  Did you know that Putt Putt mini golf is now a federally regulated sport? Slopes are now "limited" so that wheelchairs can be used. 
  At least one workout machine in gyms must be set to be accessible for wheelchairs (????).
  Saunas have to have enough room for fat people to turn around, which will probably result in the closing of saunas at some clubs and gyms.
  Also small horses must be allowed as use as service animals just like service dogs. You might wonder why, but a look at the photo over at CNS explains why the federal government is showing dhimmi magnanimity toward horses as opposed to just dogs. Muslims find those dogs you sleep with unclean. Thus, horses.
  The feds did specify if the horse poops on the floor, you can ask it and its owner to leave.
  The feds' regulation that all public and hotel pools have a wheelchair lift into the pool has caused great consternation among owners, considering that not enough of such gizmos were either available or affordable.
  Still, Thomas Perez of the Department of Justice is extremely proud of this administration's achievements.

As I consider the department’s accomplishments to date, and our plans for the future, I continue to take my inspiration from people with disabilities and their families,” Perez said in Baltimore. 

“These individuals express the harm of segregation and the value of integration more eloquently than any lawyer’s brief ever could.  They are the heroes of this civil rights movement.”

  J. Christian Adams resigned from the DOJ, citing Perez as the reason for the DOJ's dropping of the Black Panther's intimidation of voters in Pennsylvania.
  I retreat to my couch and Twinkie.

Arab Spring's War on Women

  An idealist blonde British young journalist suffered a horrific sexual attack in Egypt during the Arab Spring's "moving and captivating experience." During the attack she, who admits she does not believe in God, prayed, "Please, God. Make it stop."
  During her ordeal at the hands of many, many men which she endured for hours, Egyptian women looked at her and looked away, as if she deserved what she got.
  As if they could do nothing. As if these women ascribed to the philosophy of sexual abuse these men were perpetrating on her.
  This kind of abuse of women is well documented among Arab countries, where women complain of repeated insults, unwanted gropings and disrespect not only by family members, but by men they do not even know. This is commonly accepted by the culture, in addition to some countries' honor killings, beatings and murder of women for ridiculous reasons.
  What is most poignant and somewhat discouraging about this woman's account, which mirrors the widely reported attack of Lara Logan last year, is that she seems to place no blame on the evil forces at work. Indeed she resolves that the incident will not deter her from writing about women's roles in the beautiful Egypt she has come to know and love.
  Some activist groups estimate that 2/3 of women are daily subjected to sexual harassment, though not of the horrific nature reported above. Logan admitted that Egyptian women had confessed to her that it is not unusual to be sexually groped by strangers on the bus.
  It is astounding that leftists will make no moral judgments about behavior such as this.
  It is astounding that leftist pundits claim this is really an "Arab Spring" that is improving Egyptian culture.
  It is astounding that these same people revile American culture, claiming that you're racist if you want voters to present IDs to vote or sexist if you want to advance a candidate who is male for merit rather than a female on gender.
  Where's the widespread condemnation of this abuse?
  Where's the administration's denunciation of such a "war on women"?
  Over here, it's a war on women if you want women to pay for their own contraception.
  Yet we hear nothing when sexual abuse of the most vile kind is heaped on women in Arab countries.
  And we continue to heap money on the governments of countries who do this, saying little or nothing about the abuse of women, Christian and gays.
  This country may not be perfect but it sure ain't in an Egyptian Arab Spring.
  Thank God Almighty.

Stranger Than Fiction Or Maybe It Is Fiction, Jesse Jackson Jr Suffering From Exhaustion

It seems that the scourge of the entertainment industry, exhaustion, is spreading to the political class. Democratic Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.has been diagnosed by members of his staff as suffering from exhaustion. Voters, many of whom regularly work 12 hour days may look askance at this diagnosis but there is a growing body of opinion in the PR community linking exhaustion to the dreaded chronic fatigue syndrome. The fact that Jackson has been on medical leave for two weeks would seem to suggest that this is no ordinary hangover. It brings to mind the undiagnosed disorder for which former Congressman Anthony Wiener sought medical treatment following an embarrassing disclosure of Wiener's online activities.
Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., said he saw Jackson just before the week-long recess and that he “seemed fine.”
“He was joking, like he usually does. He was laughing. He was his usual self,” according to Davis, who said he and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus noticed Jackson’s absences from votes last week.
Davis said he saw the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the lawmaker’s father, at a Father’s Day event on June 17 and the elder Jackson made no mention of his son’s situation.
Of course Father's Day is a contentious time of the year in the Jackson household and it could be the senior Jackson had simply forgotten his son's debilitating affliction. The arrest of Raghuveer Nayak, a close Jackson political ally on federal fraud charges may be a contributing factor to the Congressman's malady.

Rep. Jim Matheson Will Vote Against Holder

Not only has Utah Democratic Congressman Jim Matheson voiced his option to skip the convention he has announced he will vote to hold Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. “It just compounds the tragedy when both sides play politics instead of releasing the facts. The Terry family, the public and Congress deserve answers.”
An unknown number of Democrats will defect. Thank the NRA for this. After the National Rifle Association announced that the contempt of Congress vote would be used in its tabulation of Congressional ratings a growing number of House Democrats have declared their intention to cross party lines on this vote. Let's face it, in Utah and many red states, the NRA plays a lot better than Obama.

Steny Hoyer Expects Some Democrats to Defect on Contempt Of Congress Vote

Now that the National Rifle Association has put its dog in the fight do not be surprised to see 20 to 30 House Democrats vote to hold Eric holder in contempt of Congress. A large defection of Democrats from swing states who value their NRA endorsements would give the White House fits, allow Congressman Darrell Issa to claim his position enjoyed bipartisan support and further drive the media coverage of a story that has gone virtually unreported for 18 months.
The chief Democratic House head counter, Congressman Steny Hoyer of Maryland, declined to tell reporters how many defections he expected, but acknowledged that some in his party might be inclined to put their own political futures ahead of Holder's. Last week the NRA let it be known that the upcoming contempt of Congress vote would count when it tabulated legislator's voting records.

Ohio Predicted to Drill 2837 Utica Wells by 2015

According to Rhonda Reda, executive director of the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program Ohio will see a big ramp up in drilling activity by 2015. The director also made these exciting predictions;
Based on the estimated 2,837 wells that will have been drilled by 2015 oil companies will have paid out $1.6 billion in royalties to landowners, schools businesses and communities.
The industry could reinvest about $14 billion on new exploration and development by 2015.
Between 2011 and 2015, the industry will help create and support more than 204,520 jobs statewide due to the leasing, royalties, exploration, drilling production and pipeline construction activities for the Utica Shale formation in Ohio.

Ms Reda made these remarks at a recent Tuscarawas Oil and Gas Alliance Summit at Kent State University's Tuscarawas campus.

Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes

"Drink to me only with thine eyes and I will pledge with mine" Ben Johnson Barack Obama

In an post earlier today I laid out some of the questionable and quixotic behavior people exhibit when feeling financially pinched. True to form the Obama campaign was quick to illustrate just how strapped for cash it's becoming In a "thanks a lot, couldn't do it without you but take it easy on the liquor" missive from Obama for America Chief Operating Officer Ann Marie Habershaw’s office wrote:
“ You guys are out there knocking on doors, making calls, and working hard to re-elect the president. You deserve a thank you.”
“And don’t forget,” she concluded, “I see the hotel bills, too, so don’t break in to that minibar.”
In other words they deserve a thank you but not a drink. Ms Habershaw is a real morale builder.

Can We Sell Plasma for Obama?

Most of us have lived through some hard times and sometimes I think I have had more than my share of the personal introspection and self loathing that comes with living on the ragged edge of pecuniary decency brings. With a low bank balance the tendency to be frank about ones personal fortunes gives way to socially acceptable half truths such as "We honestly cannot agree on whether to vacation at Jackson Hole or Pennyrile State Park so we'll just stay home this year." or "I'm not buying a new television until I can find one that made in the states." Friends accept these little falsehoods because they are good friends and good people who often have been visited with financial adversity themselves.
There are telltale signs of a sinking bank balance. Desperate people do desperate things such as scrapping out the chain link fence to raise cash or marching the wife and kids to the plasma bank and no matter the how stiff the upper lip those of us looking on know. Our good friends, the Democrats have fallen on hard times and one of the telltale signs is the Obama Registry where they ask that wedding gifts be substituted with a contribution to Obama. It doesn't get more desperate or downright tackier than that. Another sign is the convention in Charlotte. For the second time this year they have had to pare back the celebration. First they announced in January that they would cut it short by one day to "celebrate the area". Celebrate the area? What's to celebrate? This is Charlotte, North Carolina for crying out in a bucket! Maybe if they had chosen Wheeling or Paducah or even Muncie we could believe them but Charlotte? The poor dears think nobody knows. Normally one would add "let them keep their dignity" but in their case dignity has been long gone. The second cut back at Charlotte was announced a few days ago when they stated they would have to cancel the kickoff festivities at Charlotte Motor Speedway citing the logistical problem of transporting the delegates the 18 miles to downtown. To my knowledge the Speedway was 18 miles out of town last year and the year before that. Citing a party ban on direct contributions from corporations, the host committee says it has raised less than $10 million, well short of its $36.6 million goal. Less than $10 million? How much less than ten million? Again with the little white lies!
We have pointed out that 7 super delegates have elected not to attend the convention. At first we thought it was because they were upset with Obama now the real reason is evident. The party is too broke. The super delegates know this and they are helping the team by staying home and, one hopes, selling plasma for Obama.

Funny stuff around the campaign

  One funny thing that's been happening with regularity is that conservatives keep hijacking the Obama hashtags over at Twitter. Some of the Obama Fund Raising Ideas were pretty boffo. The thread seems to have been pulled, oddly enough. Ha.
  Now there's #QuestionsthatstumpMitt. Mmmm, that seems to be gone too.
  And #RomneyInTwoWords.
  Funny in a sickening sort of way is this video the Obamas have put up about their love life, inviting you, yes, YOU to accompany them on their next date.
  If you win the trip to have a date with them for your lousy 3 bucks, the trip is worth almost 5,000 dollars. What the Obamas don't mention is that you'll have to pay taxes on that 5 thousand smackers. Wow. What a steal.
  Here's the video; don't throw up. You can read some of the "Obamas are so cute" comments over there. 

Arizona: a win or a loss?

  Having been gone all day and only hearing snippets of the Supreme Court's ruling on Arizona's immigration law, it was pretty confusing when I tuned in to hear a few minutes of Rush angrily denounce the ruling and then later to read all the disturbance in the conservative blogosphere.
  A look around the web reveals that many liberals too are upset and think the ruling was an affirmation of the demand to "show your papers" if authorities believe you are an illegal immigrant.
  Here's a rundown:
  Powerline:

The Supreme Court’s decision strking down, on preemption grounds, major portions of an Arizona law designed to help that State cope with the massive and unlawful influx of aliens is an affront to federalism and to common sense.

  Legal Insurrection:

While it is true that the feds want to undermine Arizona as completely as possible, as they always have since SB 1070 was passed, I think the more correct headline should have been:
BIG SIS TO SUP CT: DROP DEAD!
Keep in mind the Supreme Court’s holding.  The Court unanimously held that there was nothing unlawful on its face with §2(B), and based on what currently was known, it could not be presumed that the law would be applied in a manner which would conflict with federal law (emphasis added): 

Bloomberg: 

In doing so, he might have given us a glimpse of some political gamesmanship behind closed doors at the court in the run-up to Thursday’s expected opinion on President Barack Obama’s signature health-care reform law.

  Washington Times is most impressed that the court upheld the section Obama was most eager to banish ("Obama loses on issue of police immigration stops"):

But all eight justices upheld the provision allowing police to check the status of those they had “reasonable suspicion” were in the country illegally, and then report their identity to federal authorities. The federal government could then decide whether it wanted to pick up and deport the illegal immigrants, or let them go.
In 2010, when Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the law, Mr. Obama andMr. Holder both said they thought that provision would lead to racial profiling. 

Newsbusters reports that ABC went for the propaganda:

The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the law requiring Arizona law enforcement to check the immigration status of those they suspect are illegal is “very disappointing and very dangerous,” represents “a very sad day for the Hispanic community” and “will only create more persecution and discrimination” while “the last hope is gone.” 

  For me, it is clear that...nothing is clear.
  Let's just hope for a clear win on Obamacare. 

Public Disses Obama Executive Privilege by Two to One Margin

How's that executive privilege working out for Obama? Not so well. By a margin of 56% to 29% respondents in a Hill Poll disapprove of Obama's assertion of executive privilege to block Congress from viewing the DOJ records in the Fast and Furious cover up investigation. Republicans are over sampled in this poll but even allowing for that it's a clear miss for Obama. Chin up, Mr President! This may be your high point of this week.

Rasmussen Poll Finds Support for Obama Soft and Uncertain

The latest Rasmussen poll won't calm Democratic nerves as they wait for the Supreme Court to shoot down Obamacare and for the Congress to vote Eric Holder in contempt. It's shaping up to be a brutal week for Obama. Rasmussen finds Romney leading Obama 48% to 43% but 41% say they are certain to vote for Romney while 7% say they could change their minds. Only 35% of the sample stated they are certain to vote for Obama and 8% could change their minds.

Rick Perry and Another Comparison To Watergate. "If that’s not Nixonian, then I don’t know what is.”

I knew there was a reason I liked this guy. Governor Rick Perry spells it out. " I mean, with Watergate, you had a second-rate burglary. And now you have a president who is using his executive privilege to keep that information from Congress. If that’s not Nixonian, then I don’t know what is.” The distinction that has yet to be made in the media that clashes between Congress and Presidents Clinton and Bush did not involve violent crimes. Yes, there always the contention that an investigation would show criminal action but in this instance the murder of a border agent is not in dispute. The wrong doing does not have to be uncovered it is known a priori. Brit Hume was first to make the comparison to Watergate. The next escalation will be when Perry and others begin to refer to this as the Fast and Furious cover up which is exactly what the executive privileged documents deal with.

"Watergate With A Toe Tag"

"Imagine being so down and out that you have to deter people from talking about the economy with the news that you are an accessory to murder."

White House Guests Flip Off Reagan and the Public

The White House has condemned this churlish behavior but only after it became public. Of course no one in the White House had any inkling that the low life rabble they had invited to the country's epitome of national pride could behave so poorly but the Obama administration is not responsible. "While the White House does not control the conduct of guests at receptions, we certainly expect that all attendees conduct themselves in a respectful manner. Most all do," Shin Inouye, a White House spokesman, said. "These individuals clearly did not. Behavior like this doesn’t belong anywhere, least of all in the White House."  To hell you say! "Most all do" is not good enough. Obviously the invited guests seem incapable of controlling their own behavior and the Obama White House says it doesn't. So who should? George Bush? And since when is a person not responsible for his guests? Try that excuse at your local VFW post, Masonic Lodge, or Eagles and you and your guest will be out on the sidewalk. Maybe they could celebrate a black mass in the East Room just to make sure the point is well taken. The fact is, the President is incapable of keeping of simple decency in his own residence, let alone the country, and no, Mr President, another hypocritical speech on tolerance, diversity, and understanding is not in order. What is called for, is a public apology to the American people for this act of civic sacrilege and a personal apology to Nancy Reagan.

Two Guys Singing About How They Dislike Obama

I have no information about his video other than it was written in about 30 minutes which shouldn't surprise anyone. I like the sentiment.

Fast and Furious Through the Eyes of Bill Whittle

Secret Service Grabs Silverware Before Obama Speaks

If this had happened during he Bush administration I can imagine the media outrage. It seems that Obama and the Secret Service are racing to lower limits of deportment, ethical conduct, and simple competency. In the past the Secret Service didn't hook up with hookers or get into bar room fist fights and managed to at least project an aura of horse sense. When Obama addressed National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials the Secret Service confiscated the knives and forks before Obama entered the room. It's understandable that a group of largely Democratic politicians would have more than its share of felons but one would think that at some point common sense and simple politeness would prevail. Then again Secret Service answers to Janet Napalitono so the Hispanic politicians should count themselves lucky that they didn't have a full body pat down. The fact that this didn't happen the day before when Romney addressed the same group suggests the Secret Service doesn't care if someone sticks a salad fork in Romney.

Wow. Some famous folks are sure actin' crazy.

  This post is not meant to be an ad hominem (or feminem) attack. Well, actually none of our posts are; we attack policies, philosophies of governing, ineffectiveness, greed and corruption.
  Veering slightly off course, however, is, shall we say, this post is about observations of the behavior of certain individuals, most of which is personal. Thus the concern.
  Anyway I've been wondering what's up with a couple of American society's older females.
  Like Madonna.
  Is she going nuts? Or senile?
  She's touring the world with a 200 person entourage which admittedly is less than Michelle Obama's but the rider attached to her appearances includes stuff like 20 international phone lines and roses that have 6 inch stems cut. One wonders if she throws a tantrum if one of the roses has a 5 inch stem.
  Anyway she made quite a fuss flashing her nipple on stage. Well, she didn't really FLASH it considering there's video of it and she does it quite slowly. 
  At another stop, she flashed her thong. Known for her rigorous workout routine, apparently she wants people to know how great she looks for her age.
  Now she's hiring a team to scrub her room after she leaves so that no one gets her DNA, which is probably all over the place, considering her penchant for sexual encounters.
  What I'm saying is she's acting nuts. Desperate. Fearful of aging and jealous of Lady GaGa.
  Next on the train to CrazyVille is Nancy Pelosi.
  Seriously, Nancy? You could have had Karl Rove locked up in the Capitol prison? How much more off the rails can you get than to claim that?
  Power hungry? Well, we've always known that.
  But to claim she had the privilege, power and ability to do that is nuts.
  Then to try to make the claim that the Republicans are after Eric Holder because HE'S attempting to stop voter suppression is the most convoluted incorrect lack of reasoning one could imagine.
  Trying to purge the voter rolls of dead and illegal voters is voter suppression? This was always a tenuous talking point but to actually try to build an argument against investing Holder on THAT tenuous talking point is not only absurd, it's a house built on sand.
  To be honest, her EYES are looking kind of weird lately. Like crazy. Sure, Botox does strange things to one's eyes but sheesh! When she opens her mouth, there's not much doubt that something' really strange is join' on behind those windows to the soul.
  Last, of all the passengers on the Crazy Town train we have to point out that Barack Hussein Obama is not exactly looking rational.
  Trickle up economics? Uh huh. Yeah. Focus on the least productive, the most greedy and dependent and THEY'RE going to build the country's economy?
  He's selling the kitchen sink, tweeting for "fundraising ideas" and selling himself 6 times a day to the highest bidders, generously inviting a $3 yokel in to party with the rich.
  His rhetoric is shrill and desperate.
  And to exert executive privilege to shut down an investigation into Eric Holder when both Holder and Obama claim they knew nothing about Fast & Furious to begin with? Obama read about it in the paper?
  Come on!
  Yep.
  Step right up. Get your tickets to CrazyTown because that's where those folks are headed.
  Too much privilege. Too much fine food. Too much isolation from the stinky folks. Too much of themselves.

EPA Exposes Test Subjects to Carcinogens

Three doctors, two employed by EPA and one by the University of North Carolina are accused of intentionally exposing test subjects to inhalable pollutants that the agency considers both cancer- and death-causing. Steve Milloy, publisher of Junk Science has filed a complaint with the North Carolina Medical Board. This is clever.
“During these experiments, the study subjects were intentionally exposed to airborne fine particulate matter (“PM2.5”) at levels ranging from 41.54 micrograms per cubic meter to 750.83 micrograms per cubic meter for periods of up to two hours,” Milloy wrote to Dr. Ralph C. Loomis, president of the NC Medical Board. “…the EPA has determined that PM2.5 is ultrahazardous — i.e., that exposure to even low levels of PM2.5 are potentially lethal within hours of exposure and that no exposure to PM2.5 is safe.
“The EPA also believes that PM2.5 is carcinogenic to humans.”
Only the EPA thinks this level of exposure to particulate matter is dangerous but they should have to follow their own rules.

As our nation invests in science and innovation and pursues advances in biomedical research and health care, it’s imperative that we do so in a responsible manner... Barack Obama

.

The Growing List Of Democratic Convention No Shows

While non-incumbent candidates don't get "super delegate" status at the Democratic convention usually most Democratic office seeker would sell their souls to revel with Obama and the boys. Add two more names to the MIA list for the Democratic convention. Sue Thorn who is running for congress in West Virginia says count her out. "She quit her job (with the West Virginia Education Association) to be a full-time candidate," stated her spokesman "It is her priority to campaign at that time." Good girl, Suzie! We like dedication. Bet you cultivated that trait at the teacher's union.
Charlie Wilson won't be going to Charlotte either. You remember Charlie? He used to be an incumbent up until 2010 in Ohio's 6th district. He called himself a Blue Dog and was defeated in 2010 by bill Johnson. Anyway Charlie has "existing campaign events" that preclude his presence at the convention. He really should buy a calendar.

David Ogden Video Reveals DOJ Knew About Fast and Furious in 2009

It's obvious that congressional Democrats think that the public is so gullible that it will believe that Eric Holder stopped a flawed program called Fast & Furious that had been started during the Bush administration and that Congressman Issa is both Monday morning quarterbacking and heading a fishing exhibition to hang the Obama administration on some technicality or some minor oversight. Furthermore Obama knew nothing of the operation and is extending the power of executive privilege to protect future presidencies from overzealous congressmen. Obama's lackadaisical leadership and obsessions with golfing and fund raising might give some reason to think he has plausible deniability on any issue but he ordered Fast & Furious back in 2009.
First some background. In 2005 the ATF began Operation Gun Runner. Everyone serving in the Congress at that time should have been aware of it as it underwent the usual budgetary scrutiny. Operation Fast & Furious pertains only to Project Gun Runner's Phoenix office. It's was subset of Gun Runner. It is simply untrue that Eric Holder knew nothing about Fast and Furious until a few weeks before his May 3 2011 testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and government.
Read the July 5, 2010 memo.
Read the "It's a tricky case" email.
Read the memo to AG Holder from Asst. AG Lanny A. Breuer.
As the following video will show Operation was funded in the Stimulus Bill (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). It will show further that Deputy Attorney General David Ogden knew very much about it. Unless he was freelancing it fair to assume his boss knew as nuch as he did. Ogden must have been pretty proud of this presser since an almost verbatim accounting of DOJ at the border is given in testimony before Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs on March 25, 2009.You can see that C-Span video here. He appears about 1:08 into the video.

A fair viewing of this video should convince anyone that DOJ knew damn well what was going on. It was a major shifting of assets to the southwest United States. In the C-Span video Senator Joe Lieberman frets to Secretary Napalitono that this increase is unsustainable. Eric Holder was in up to his eyeballs.
But Obama didn't know the details of the operation. He would have if he had talked to his National Security Advisor. We first posted this video on July 28 of last year. The president's party has flooded the media with false assertions and just plain lies since Fast and Furious burst back into the news. This investigation has been going on for almost 18 month and had Holder cooperated in the beginning it would not be an election year issue. Fast and Furious will eventually land someone in jail.

Fast & Furious vs Operation Wide Receiver: Not similar

  Naturally Obama is considering his options regarding the Fast & Furious scandal.
  Naturally his favorite option is blaming it on Bush.
  Howso, you ask idly, completely uninterested in the story or answer, considering Operation Wide Receiver under Bush was ended in 2007 and marked "Never Again" by those who participated in it.
  Though Obama, whose "administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government," knows nothing about Fast & Furious, he invoked executive privilege to prevent the F & F documents from being transparently revealed. 
  Unfortunately for Obama, Wide Receiver had nothing to do with F & F. Fortunately for Obama, Wide Receiver offers talking points, the truth being no object

•   Wide Receiver was a joint project between ATF & the Mexican government. 
•   Far fewer guns were involved in Wide Receiver, as opposed to F & F.
•   The guns in Wide Receiver were chipped with RFID and tracked by our and the Mexican government.
•   The RFID chips were discovered by the cartel; their removal meant that the entire operation went sour. Thus, "Never Again."
• The purpose behind Wide Receiver was to track cartel activity and to arrest those individuals for illicit activity.
• Wide Receiver operated from Phoenix only.
• 40 weapons were found in one cartel operator ALONE.
• About 250 (?) weapons were involved in Wide Receiver. Over 2500 were believed to be involved in Fast & Furious.

OTOH, Fast and Furious was instigated with a completely different purpose and no oversight:

• Fast & Furious began in 2009, 2 years AFTER Wide Receiver.
• Fast & Furious guns were NOT chipped.
• F & F guns were NOT even tracked.
• The purpose behind
• 300 Mexican citizens died under F & F; 1 American border agent died.
• Even Holder has renounced the Wide Receiver "connection" with F & F.
• In F & F, the guns kept "ending up in one cartel's" hands.
• Obama told a group of people, including Sarah Brady, that his attempt to subvert the 2nd amendment would be "under the radar." They would be working on it, he promised.
• Almost 2,000 AK47 type guns were involved in F & F. 
• No one was fired under F & F; personnel were moved.
• Fast & Furious was linked to at least ELEVEN crime scenes.
• The ATF videotaped AK47s being "walked"

  In fact, according to CBS News in March of 2011, there was widespread concern among both border agents and gun sellers, so much so that they protested to their higher ups, who replied,"  "If you're going to make an omelette, you've got to break some eggs."

  So it turns out ATF not only allowed it - they videotaped it.

Surveillance video obtained by CBS News shows suspected drug cartel suppliers carrying boxes of weapons to their cars at a Phoenix gun shop. The long boxes shown in the video being loaded in were AK-47-type assault rifles. 

Documents show the inevitable result: The guns that ATF let go began showing up at crime scenes in Mexico. And as ATF stood by watching thousands of weapons hit the streets... the Fast and Furious group supervisor noted the escalating Mexican violence. 

One e-mail noted, "958 killed in March 2010 ... most violent month since 2005." The same e-mail notes: "Our subjects purchased 359 firearms during March alone," including "numerous Barrett .50 caliber rifles.

Andrew McCarthy at NRO refutes the comparison:

In sum, the Fast & Furious idea of “trace” is that, after violent crimes occur in Mexico, we can trace any guns the Mexican police are lucky enough to seize back to the sales to U.S. straw purchasers … who should never have been allowed to transfer them (or even buy them) in the first place. That is not law enforcement; that is abetting a criminal rampage. 

  Fast & Furious wasn't about tracing weapons and criminals; it was about releasing illicit guns into the wild. 
  It's pretty clear at this point that there were different purposes for Wide Receiver and Fast & Furious.
  NRO:

By the time Cornyn was done drawing this stark contrast between Wide Receiver and Fast & Furious, Holder was reduced to conceding, “I’m not trying to equate the two.” That is big of him given that the two cannot be equated. But the attorney general seemed fine with the effort to equate them — to make them one and the same — when it was Schumer asking the questions. Expect the effort to continue. “Bush did it” may be a tired defense, and in this instance a preposterous one, but it’s the one the Democratic base loves to hear.

  Juan Williams, whom I usually respect, looked totally disgusting and lame tonight on The Five claiming people die in war, thereby justifying Fast & Furious.
  The purpose of Fast & Furious was to create new restrictions on buying guns:

ATF officials didn’t intend to publicly disclose their own role in letting Mexican cartels obtain the weapons, but emails show they discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called “Demand Letter 3″. That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or “long guns.” Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information.

  In fact, several of the gun shop sellers were so concerned about who bought them that they said they only sold them because the ATF encouraged them to. 
  Thousands of the weapons remain at large today.
  Rush sums up the differences here:

The Obama Registry; Presidential Panhandling

Some things must be seen to be believed. The above screen capture comes from barackobama.com. and it is one of those things. This is the audacity of despair, not hope. Where do we go from here? Selling tomatoes from Michelle's White House garden? Mr. President, does your campaign accept food stamps? Do not, I repeat, do not. let anyone tell you that this campaign is not desperate. This guy is running around like a man with a paper ass and no fire insurance.

No, Fracking Won't Drain Lake Erie

Essentially pushing a biased report that would otherwise go unread The Toledo Blade is citing a ridicules assertion by the National Wildlife Federation that fracking will pump Lake Erie dry. " Laws in Ohio and Michigan will not adequately protect the Great Lakes basin from huge water withdrawals to fuel an expected shale oil and natural gas drilling boom, a report from the National Wildlife Federation charged Thursday"
Oh please, are they telling us that the drilling industry is going to lower the level of Lake Erie either by direct withdrawals from the lake or its feeder streams? It takes about 8 million gallons to frack a well. Typically that water which, is contaminated with brine, is used several times before the saline content reaches unmanageable levels then it is disposed of by injecting it into deep wells drilled for that purpose. Eventually we can expect to see evaporation facilities replace injection wells as the incipient industry matures. In that case the water would be returned to the atmosphere in the form of water vapor with all contaminates extracted. If we believe the NWF and the Blade, Lake Erie will be trucked to central and pumped underground. Give us a break!

Romney The Cold Warrior

The Obama campaign spent $37 million more last month than it took in. Of course to man who isn't concerned about deficits that's a trivial matter. The campaign knows that in several battleground states it is already being out spent three to one. There is a plausible theory floating around the web that originated with BuzzFeed. Call it Romney's Cold War Strategy. The idea is to force Obama to spend himself in oblivion just as Reagan forced the the old USSR into collapse. By spending in blue states that are not usually heavily contested the Romney campaign is forcing the Obama campaign to make expenditures it did not anticipate just to hold on to its disgruntled  blue state support. Romney, with the aid of friendly PAC's, can easily afford to spend while Obama cannot. "It’s just like the Cold War. They’re going to force Obama to spend himself into oblivion — while trying to peel off constituencies like the Eastern Bloc,” said a Democratic strategist, citing lingering vulnerability with blue collar workers and potential Republican gains with hispanics. “The only question is which [constituency] will be the first domino.”
As I have stated recently, the Obama campaign expects the GOP and its PAC's to spend an astounding $1.2 billion this campaign. According to Republican consultant Rick Wilson, "He can run deficits all he wants as president, but there is no Federal Reserve to print more money for campaigns."
The campaign must feel a sinking feeling as it spends at an unsustainable rate while the President continues to decline in the polls. Over the past two weeks Obama's approval number has declined 7 percent to 43 percent in the Gallup daily tracking poll. Democratic pollster Stuart Rothenberg now rates Obama as a slight underdog reversing his prediction of 5 months ago when the economy was rebounding and the Republican primary was raging. If the cold war model is scary what would a Romney "march to the sea" campaign be? A sortie into blue coast New Jersey abetted by Governor Christie, or into shaky Connecticut or Delaware would force the Obama campaign to make ad buys in the expensive big media markets of Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. I like this theory!

EPA fines for non-existent substance

  The oil industry continues to be under attack by Obama's EPA, which is singlehandedly attempting to redefine business and commerce in the USA.

 In general, this administration has lived in the past concerning energy. Walk, bicycle, windmills, the sun..these are not "progressive" in terms of energy production.
  But now it appears Obama's administration is moving toward the future, a future that hasn't happened, requiring the oil industry to purchase and incorporate into their products a non-existent substance.
  The EPA  is fining the oil industry for not including cellulose ethanol into the gasoline mixture sold in this country.
  To compensate for the fact that no cellulose ethanol is available for mixture, the EPA is fining the oil industry, dismissing their protests as "not of central relevance."

  From the Times Dispatch:

Here's a case in point. The Obama administration's U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has refused the oil industry's request to stop fining the industry for failing to blend cellulosic ethanol in gasoline. As the American Petroleum Institute (API) has pointed out, no cellulosic ethanol is available, even according to EPA's own data. 

Yet under the Clean Air Act, the EPA required the industry to add 5 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol to the nation's gasoline pool in 2010 and 6.6 million gallons in 2011. This year EPA is requiring 8.65 million gallons.

  Though you may not realize it, each summer and winter one of the reasons gas prices rise is that "seasonal gasoline transition" changes required by the EPA causes gas prices to rise in fall and summer. Naturally the consumer ultimately pays for this.
  Now we learn that we'll be paying for something that doesn't exist.