I made it through a few minutes of the SOTU speech; family members dragged me away from the television, protesting that my shouting was bothering them.
Since the trauma of actually watching a few minutes of that debacle, I keep hearing snippets of news reports of the lies Obama told to the public.
It's as if these people live in an alternate universe. Standing up, cheering when Biden scratched his nose, waving their arms as if Obama had something wildly inspirational.
It was a nauseating display, really.
Dressed in couture, carefully Botoxed, chauffeured, groomed, perfumed and pampered, this select group of people have ruined health care, ruined the economy, over-regulated every aspect of American life and continue to decimate our children's future while preening for the cameras, applauding and glad handing one another as if they were long lost lottery winners who've finally cashed in their tickets.
They get to DC and forget who put them there and pay the bills, although some districts like San Francisco want all they can get out of other taxpayers.
In the 2014 SOTU, Obama offered up his same old shtick, jutting jaw, 74 references to himself, as if he's the only American to rise up from, what. The middle class to high office. Certainly not poverty.
He of the lilting voice, occasionally strained and high pitched, the Spoiled One earnestly called out the same community organizer non-answers, the same victimhood of select groups, the same insults he's been foisting on the public for years.
I won't enumerate the frustrations conservatives have been dealing with in recent years: the accusations of hate & racism, the IRS harassment, the government hounding of ordinary citizens as if we are criminals, the increased use of technology to snoop in every aspect of life.
Well, this is the plan. Overwhelm the system until it breaks. We know they're doing this with every social service they can inflate.
It's pretty obvious at this point that that is also the plan they're working on conservative citizens: overwhelm them, inundate them, throw fear of everything possible at them until they give up, break and cower in the corners of their homes.
One might think that is also what the Republican party has been doing to the conservative wing of the party. Apparently they enjoy being in the minority so much that they're willing to run the same kind of mushy candidates they have in recent years. It's easier to be in the minority because you still get the same perks without having the responsibility of making your base angry.
Well, somehow the RINOS like Priebus, Boehner and, yes, PAUL RYAN think if they dump the most motivated sector of their party that will actually show up to vote, they're going to win the presidency.
They're trying to play us for fools, as they've tried before.
We've been quiet, I think, but the immigration issue is inflammatory enough to wake the dead.
Are you NUTS, GOP?
Are you INCOMPETENT, Reince Priebus?
And you DO need to be replaced, John Boehner.
Do these elected elites honestly think when only 3% of the public is concerned about immigration reform that it's an issue that will win them anything?
And what's the point of issuing an edict that Republicans are eager to work with the most divisive, mean-spirited, Leftist president in the history of these United States, particularly in his last 2 years?
Ya can't fix stupid.
But you can vote it out, dammit.
Which is what we'll do. Like the Scott Brown election, when times get desperate enough, as they are with Obamacare, even Democrats can vote for an alternative.
And you can bet the Tea Party, which has no "elite" as Schumer said, will show up to vote.
Just a reminder, DC.
The Tea Party is a state of mind, not a party.
And the state of mind is about saving this country, not destroying it.
No wonder Henry Waxman et al are getting out of DC.
We areTHE RESISTANCE.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Income inequality vs gender equity?
Did women's lib cause income inequality? If you accept the premise that women's lib propelled millions of women into high paid careers and that those women tend to marry high paid men it's not hard to see how that would skew family income. I'm of the opinion that income inequality has always existed and counter to Obama's contention it is not at an all time high. Furthermore the high earners are not the same people from year to year. Most of the income of those who earn more than a million dollars per year come from stock trades and very few are able to repeat that year in and year out. In many cases it's a once in a lifetime event. In an earlier post I reported that the Utica boom created 550 millionaires in Carroll County, Ohio. Most of that wealth was generated from leasing property for exploration and was received when the property owners signed the lease. It will not happen again so Obama need not wring his hands about all wealth in Eastern Ohio.
Returning to the power couple, not only do rich marry rich they also stay married. Successful marriages correlate with wealth maybe because divorce is too expensive at those levels but nevertheless the rich tend to stay married.
Returning to the power couple, not only do rich marry rich they also stay married. Successful marriages correlate with wealth maybe because divorce is too expensive at those levels but nevertheless the rich tend to stay married.
Democratic edge is slipping away
This is an incredible! The graphic shows the decline in the advantage Democrats hold in party identification by state. In 2008 they had a 30 state advantage. Today the advantage is 3. While the trend is encouraging it does not necessarily assure the Republicans success. Notice that in 2010 the Democrats enjoyed a 12 state advantage which did not stop them from losing 7 Senate and 63 House races. Over the same time the number of competitive states increased from 10 to 19. These data are generated by a Gallup survey begun in 2008 and may differ from voter registration.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
RFID chips promise an exciting future; maybe too exciting
RFID (radio frequency identification) chips have been around for close to a decade. Their best use is in inventory control where they surpass the conventional bar code because they do not have to be in close proximity to the scanner-just within radio range. Imagine being able to open the rear doors of a 40ft trailer filled with Levis and being able to identify every pair without even entering the trailer. Like the bar code the rfid chip reaches the zenith of its power when it is configured with a database. Suppose this pair of Levis finds its way into a Costco or Walmart store. With the rfid chip sewn into the waist band at the factory, probably somewhere in the the Philippines or Indonesia, the stocker or clerk can know the retail price, the store's cost, waist, length, color, location and time of production.
Now it gets interesting! As you check out each item is scanned at the register. All you see is the price but the scanner records other selected data which are used to compile a customer profile on you. Just as Amazon sends you email when items similar to what you purchased go one sale Walmart, Costco, Target et al will be able to target you with individualized advertising. At sometime in the future you'll walk into a Walmart, pass a large flat screen panel, and be known instantly by the rfid chip on the credit card in your pocket or purse.
"Hello, Mr. Smith thank you for coming to Walmart. Please find your favorite Levis in aisle 19. We've noticed your belt size has increased two inches over the last year. You may want to consider going with a relaxed fit pair of Levis or Wrangler jeans. Currently we have in stock 4 Levi and 7 Wrangler jeans in your size. Also, we are pleased to tell we have your favorite Planters Lightly Salted Cashew Halfs on sale, today only, for $4.98 and if you worry about those extra inches on your waist you may want to peruse our stock of Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig meals in aisle 4. Again thank you for shopping at Walmart."
With woman this could get dicey to the point of sexual harassment as intimate apparel sizes would also be recorded and telling, in effect, a woman that her ass is getting bigger might lead to worse consequences than loss of customers. Retailers will need to use caution here and that's before it has to deal with the transgendered crowd.
The beauty of this system of the future, aside from personal security concerns, is after a rfid chip is affixed to all merchandise there will be no need to check out or even flash your credit card. Simply pick up your purchases, walk past the scanner, and every item in your cart will be charged to the credit card in your pocket.
Just as friend or foe transponders on aircraft cannot be turned off since they are powered by the radar waves they receive; rfid chips cannot be turned off as they are powered by the energy from the scanner. Most likely billfolds of the future will have a faraday cage built into them. In the video below the demonstration uses a low power scanner. A higher powered scanner could be used from across the room or across the street. It's a brave new world!
Now it gets interesting! As you check out each item is scanned at the register. All you see is the price but the scanner records other selected data which are used to compile a customer profile on you. Just as Amazon sends you email when items similar to what you purchased go one sale Walmart, Costco, Target et al will be able to target you with individualized advertising. At sometime in the future you'll walk into a Walmart, pass a large flat screen panel, and be known instantly by the rfid chip on the credit card in your pocket or purse.
"Hello, Mr. Smith thank you for coming to Walmart. Please find your favorite Levis in aisle 19. We've noticed your belt size has increased two inches over the last year. You may want to consider going with a relaxed fit pair of Levis or Wrangler jeans. Currently we have in stock 4 Levi and 7 Wrangler jeans in your size. Also, we are pleased to tell we have your favorite Planters Lightly Salted Cashew Halfs on sale, today only, for $4.98 and if you worry about those extra inches on your waist you may want to peruse our stock of Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig meals in aisle 4. Again thank you for shopping at Walmart."
With woman this could get dicey to the point of sexual harassment as intimate apparel sizes would also be recorded and telling, in effect, a woman that her ass is getting bigger might lead to worse consequences than loss of customers. Retailers will need to use caution here and that's before it has to deal with the transgendered crowd.
The beauty of this system of the future, aside from personal security concerns, is after a rfid chip is affixed to all merchandise there will be no need to check out or even flash your credit card. Simply pick up your purchases, walk past the scanner, and every item in your cart will be charged to the credit card in your pocket.
Just as friend or foe transponders on aircraft cannot be turned off since they are powered by the radar waves they receive; rfid chips cannot be turned off as they are powered by the energy from the scanner. Most likely billfolds of the future will have a faraday cage built into them. In the video below the demonstration uses a low power scanner. A higher powered scanner could be used from across the room or across the street. It's a brave new world!
Republicans looking forward to midterms
What do Republican like? They like football and elections. What do Democrats like? The Academy Awards, the Olympics, and World Cup Soccer.
This Pew Research survey shows that Democrats are not looking forward to the midterm elections but the Academy Awards, the Winter Olympics, and the World Cup, well, that's something to cheer about. Lots of exciting people too! Billy Jean King and Meryl Streep are so cutting edge. The Awards are almost as glamorous as the State of the Union Speech but also a bit more substantive.
This Pew Research survey shows that Democrats are not looking forward to the midterm elections but the Academy Awards, the Winter Olympics, and the World Cup, well, that's something to cheer about. Lots of exciting people too! Billy Jean King and Meryl Streep are so cutting edge. The Awards are almost as glamorous as the State of the Union Speech but also a bit more substantive.
No justice, no debt limit hike
As of late Republican leadership is slowly finding itself. Like a man coming off a three day bender it's beginning to shake off the pain and smell the coffee. Looking at the clock its sees that the debt limit is fast approaching and has begun to wonder if abject capitulation is the course that will forever endear it to to the voters who were promised so much and have seen so little reform. Before it dives headlong into an esoteric discourse on the positive effects of infinitesimal budget cuts when projected over 10 years one hopes someone will remind them that talking a good game on election day may not be enough if they have failed to deliver on what its base wants most. Justice.
Yes, justice. Someone is going to have to tell messrs McConnell and Boehner that we no longer believe them. It has been 263 days since Lois Lerner admitted that the IRS was illegally targeting Tea Party groups for illegal and unconstitutional abuse yet in spite of their promises and half hearted efforts it may just a well be day one. In fact they have lost ground. The FBI has stated the despite not looking into the matter it has found no criminal activity. The DOJ has appointed an Obama hack from the politicized Civil Rights Division whose sole contribution to the investigation has been to add an appearance of impropriety. The IRS is about the business of codifying its malfeasance into new regulations and Senator Chuck Schumer has urged it to do more mayhem to the rule of law.
In view of the indisputable fact that the administration has stonewalled two congressional committees and appointed a partisan hack to investigate the partisan IRS the Republicans should not allow the federal government to borrow one dime until an independent prosecutor who would be acceptable to the Republican caucuses of both houses has been appointed. Democrats will fall on their swords for Planned Parenthood, NPR and the all the illegitimate offspring of ACORN but Republicans lack the fortitude to protect their own candidates. I'm speaking of Christine O'Donnell and Joe the Plumber both of whom have had their tax information leaked to the press but it does not stop with the candidates. Frank VanderSloot, a major contributor to a Romney super PAC was subjected to two IRS audits — one focusing on his personal finances, the other related to his business interests — and a Labor Department audit of one of his businesses. Sarah Palin's father has been subjected to 6 harassments by the IRS.
If the Republican Party cannot even secure for its supporters something as basic as the protections promised by the constitution it deserves neither our respect nor our support.
Yes, justice. Someone is going to have to tell messrs McConnell and Boehner that we no longer believe them. It has been 263 days since Lois Lerner admitted that the IRS was illegally targeting Tea Party groups for illegal and unconstitutional abuse yet in spite of their promises and half hearted efforts it may just a well be day one. In fact they have lost ground. The FBI has stated the despite not looking into the matter it has found no criminal activity. The DOJ has appointed an Obama hack from the politicized Civil Rights Division whose sole contribution to the investigation has been to add an appearance of impropriety. The IRS is about the business of codifying its malfeasance into new regulations and Senator Chuck Schumer has urged it to do more mayhem to the rule of law.
In view of the indisputable fact that the administration has stonewalled two congressional committees and appointed a partisan hack to investigate the partisan IRS the Republicans should not allow the federal government to borrow one dime until an independent prosecutor who would be acceptable to the Republican caucuses of both houses has been appointed. Democrats will fall on their swords for Planned Parenthood, NPR and the all the illegitimate offspring of ACORN but Republicans lack the fortitude to protect their own candidates. I'm speaking of Christine O'Donnell and Joe the Plumber both of whom have had their tax information leaked to the press but it does not stop with the candidates. Frank VanderSloot, a major contributor to a Romney super PAC was subjected to two IRS audits — one focusing on his personal finances, the other related to his business interests — and a Labor Department audit of one of his businesses. Sarah Palin's father has been subjected to 6 harassments by the IRS.
If the Republican Party cannot even secure for its supporters something as basic as the protections promised by the constitution it deserves neither our respect nor our support.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Walk For Life San Francisco rally stretches more than a mile!
It's not hard to see why the Democrats are going nuts. They have Obamacare to wear like an albatross, they have the NSA spying revelations, and now they find themselves on the losing side of the abortion issue. The pro life movement is getting larger to be sure but it's getting younger every year. The younger generation that showed so much promise isn't buying Obamacare, is outraged to find big brother in its iPhones and Xboxes, and is now going pro life. This post by AP caught my eye, largely I think, because it is innocent of the usual liberal media bias.
Update:
A massive and diverse crowd of protesters rallied in front of City Hall before marching down Market Street to Justin Herman Plaza for the 10th annual "Walk for Life West Coast." They chanted "Pro Life" and carried signs that read "Defend Life" and "Women deserve better than abortion."Walk For Life San Francisco just uploaded this video. It appears to have been produced earlier but if more video becomes available I'll post it here.
On Wednesday, thousands of abortion protesters participated in the annual Walk for Life rally in Washington, D.C. on the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, one of the Supreme Court's most intensely debated decisions.
San Francisco police did not immediately provide an official crowd estimate, but at one point marchers stretched across more than a mile of Market Street, the liberal city's main thoroughfare.
Update:
Wendy Davis hates children
Certainly I might be extrapolating a bit with that headline but, to quote a famous politician, what difference does it make, considering that Wendy Davis herself, the latest Leftist to run for office, extrapolated a great deal in her so-called biography, which Hoosierman discusses here.
The Harvard trained lawyer claimed she's learning her "language needs to be tighter" when she lies; apparently she missed that course at Harvard.
Wendy Davis, if you'll recall, strapped on a urine catheter and stood for 11 hours filibustering in front of the Texas Senate to try to maintain late term abortions.
Now, I know y'all know what a late term abortion is, but the details of it are particularly gruesome. A late term abortion, which most Americans agree is a pretty hideous and unacceptable procedure, allows the doctor and "mother" to actually kill the child/fetus from 20 weeks.
The left wing Politifact claims she doesn't actually believe in late term abortions but Breitbart notes that Politifact cites what it wants to support its "facts":
Putting aside the devotion of a man who paid her college bills, raised her first daughter as his own, it's hard to conceive the "love" of a "mother" who has now pulled those daughters out of her handbag to put them on display for her campaign for governor.
Oh, there's no doubt she's an attractive female; it's just that once you get past the surface, it's hard to see any human other than an utterly opportunistic selfish one.
Then there's the whole "Stand with Wendy" campaign in response to her opponent's paraplegic condition and repeated comments that he hasn't "walked in [her] shoes," in addition to Project Veritas's explosive video of her campaign workers making fun of Abbott because he's in a wheelchair.
It appears now that campaign mantra is no political malapropism but rather a plan to discredit Abbott because he "isn't good looking"and is "in a wheelchair."
Desperate Davis has moved on to promising an expansion of gun rights in Texas, now claiming her "origins" story is off limits for anymore questions. Yeah, that'll do it. Snap. All the lies are gone! Learned from the best, it seems.
And, oh, there's that little problem of her claiming in court that she has mental health problems.
And that her husband (who had custody of her two children, one of whom was biologically another man's) had to get a restraining order on her.
Apparently it's not a big deal to Leftists when lawyers lie in court. Our legal system doesn't mean much anymore, since we have a DOJ that persecutes and prosecutes citizens who disagree with their politics.
Why the interest in Davis, you might ask? Who cares about an obscure candidate running for office in one of the largest states in the country? Because Leftists are trying to turn Texas blue.
So, yeah.
Wendy Davis hates children.
It's pretty obvious...from her biography.
The Harvard trained lawyer claimed she's learning her "language needs to be tighter" when she lies; apparently she missed that course at Harvard.
Wendy Davis, if you'll recall, strapped on a urine catheter and stood for 11 hours filibustering in front of the Texas Senate to try to maintain late term abortions.
Now, I know y'all know what a late term abortion is, but the details of it are particularly gruesome. A late term abortion, which most Americans agree is a pretty hideous and unacceptable procedure, allows the doctor and "mother" to actually kill the child/fetus from 20 weeks.
The left wing Politifact claims she doesn't actually believe in late term abortions but Breitbart notes that Politifact cites what it wants to support its "facts":
PolitiFact even points out that in 2009 and 2011, Davis voted "against state legislation requiring women to get sonograms before having an abortion." And twice, including the bill she infamously filibustered, Davis voted against bans on late-term abortions.
The loophole Davis jumps through is the ole' "health of the mother" ploy -- and despite her voting record, PolitiFact is happy to greases that loophole.Pile the whole late term abortion support on top of the fact that Wendy Davis chose to give her two children, one of whom had a different father, to her second husband because it wasn't a "good time for [her] right now," and you see the picture of a woman who really doesn't have much of an affinity for children.
Putting aside the devotion of a man who paid her college bills, raised her first daughter as his own, it's hard to conceive the "love" of a "mother" who has now pulled those daughters out of her handbag to put them on display for her campaign for governor.
Oh, there's no doubt she's an attractive female; it's just that once you get past the surface, it's hard to see any human other than an utterly opportunistic selfish one.
Then there's the whole "Stand with Wendy" campaign in response to her opponent's paraplegic condition and repeated comments that he hasn't "walked in [her] shoes," in addition to Project Veritas's explosive video of her campaign workers making fun of Abbott because he's in a wheelchair.
It appears now that campaign mantra is no political malapropism but rather a plan to discredit Abbott because he "isn't good looking"and is "in a wheelchair."
Staff are seen on camera making statements such as “Since he's in a wheelchair and most the slogans are "Stand with Wendy" and "Stand with Texas Women", isn't that amazing to think of? He's in a wheelchair and we want to stand with Wendy?”Watching that video is excruciating, particularly listening to the laughter about Abbott being unappealing because he's handicapped.
Desperate Davis has moved on to promising an expansion of gun rights in Texas, now claiming her "origins" story is off limits for anymore questions. Yeah, that'll do it. Snap. All the lies are gone! Learned from the best, it seems.
And, oh, there's that little problem of her claiming in court that she has mental health problems.
And that her husband (who had custody of her two children, one of whom was biologically another man's) had to get a restraining order on her.
Apparently it's not a big deal to Leftists when lawyers lie in court. Our legal system doesn't mean much anymore, since we have a DOJ that persecutes and prosecutes citizens who disagree with their politics.
Why the interest in Davis, you might ask? Who cares about an obscure candidate running for office in one of the largest states in the country? Because Leftists are trying to turn Texas blue.
So, yeah.
Wendy Davis hates children.
It's pretty obvious...from her biography.
Friday, January 24, 2014
Ohio pro gun group shoots down concealed carry permit national database
How quickly things change! Fox News put up this post Newspaper chain plans 'state-by-state' concealed weapon databases detailing how Civitas Media which operates newspapers in 12 states including 38 in Ohio was going to compile a national database of concealed carry permit holders. The database would be compiled from state databases which are accessible through Freedom of Information Act requests.
In an email to the Buckeye Firearms Association Civitas Media's director of content Jim Lawitz downplayed the significance of his "big brother" journalistic undertaking, comparing it to his company's investigation of increased heroin use. One doubts if lawful gun permit holders will be flattered by that comparison.
In an email to the Buckeye Firearms Association Civitas Media's director of content Jim Lawitz downplayed the significance of his "big brother" journalistic undertaking, comparing it to his company's investigation of increased heroin use. One doubts if lawful gun permit holders will be flattered by that comparison.
Civitas Media editorial report – Jan. 13- Jan. 17As news of the database was spread through Fox News, The Daily Caller, Ammoland, and the Drudge Report, Civitas Media, probably contemplating a deluge of cancelled subscriptions, relented. On the homepage of its web site appeared this "Letter from the president"
From Jim Lawitz
We are launching two enterprise projects across our newsrooms this month. The first will deal with the creeping influence of heroin in our communities. The deadly drug has quietly taken over, reaching across all age groups and eclipsing meth as the recreational drug of choice. The second project examines the explosion of "conceal and carry" gun permits across the U.S. Through public records act requests, we will attempt to build state-by-state databases that list those who have the right to carry a concealed weapon.
Statement from the CEOSee, nothing to the story. It just was a poorly crafted internal memo which was somehow confirmed in an email to the Buckeye Firearms people but their director of content doesn't know what he's talking about. Hats off the the Buckeye Firearms Association!
Civitas Media never had any plans or intentions of publishing in print or online lists of holders of “conceal and carry” permits. Nor will Civitas Media develop databases of permit holders. A poorly crafted internal memo meant to highlight editorial discussions and planning incorrectly indicated that such a database was being planned; it has been considered and rejected.
RINOs make good lovers
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As of late, the media has found no inconsistency in accusing the principled Governor Christie of unprincipled political dirty tricks. Christie deserves everything he gets and news that the Obama Justice Department has served his re-election campaign with a subpoena should surprise no one. It is indeed remarkable that the DOJ never saw fit to investigate former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine for stealing billions of dollars from his customers' accounts. The matter has resulted in a civil suit brought not by the DOJ but rather the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
"Corzine bears responsibility for MF Global's unlawful acts," the lawsuit said. "He held and exercised direct or indirect control over MF Global and Holdings and either did not act in good faith or knowingly induced these violations."
Corzine bears responsibility for unlawful acts but Christie is the one holding the DOJ warrant.
Know something? I don't give a damn.
Very Few Say Own Representative Deserves Re-Election
There is ample history to prove that the midterm elections in a president's second term do not go well for administration's party. It's sometimes called the 6th year curse. In 2006, the 6th year of George Bush's term, the Republicans lost control of both the House and the Senate. The Republicans lost 6 Senate and 30 House seats. In that year only 39% of Gallup respondents thought that most members of congress deserved reelection. In the blowout of 2010 just 30% of the population felt that way. And today? It's almost twice as bad. The latest Gallup poll shows only 17% of the population thinks we should keep the present congressional membership.
Gallup comments;
The 17% of voters who now say most of Congress deserves re-election is well below the roughly 40% threshold that has historically been associated with major electoral turnover. With this in mind, Congress could be in for a major shake-up. Judging by net seats lost in an election as a percentage of the overall number of seats, 2010, 1994, and 2006 register as the top three recent elections. All of these years had election-year averages of 41% or fewer voters saying most of Congress deserved re-election, with the Republican-wave election of 2010 registering the lowest, 30% -- still 13 percentage points higher than the current reading.
There is a tsunami building and the prime causes of voter disaffection are Obamacare and a government that the public views as too large and too powerful. This may turn out to be a rerun of 2010.
Gallup comments;
The 17% of voters who now say most of Congress deserves re-election is well below the roughly 40% threshold that has historically been associated with major electoral turnover. With this in mind, Congress could be in for a major shake-up. Judging by net seats lost in an election as a percentage of the overall number of seats, 2010, 1994, and 2006 register as the top three recent elections. All of these years had election-year averages of 41% or fewer voters saying most of Congress deserved re-election, with the Republican-wave election of 2010 registering the lowest, 30% -- still 13 percentage points higher than the current reading.
There is a tsunami building and the prime causes of voter disaffection are Obamacare and a government that the public views as too large and too powerful. This may turn out to be a rerun of 2010.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Disgusting ! Wendy Davis supporter mocks Greg Abbott's handicap
Imagine the fun these people could have had with FDR! A Wendy Davis supporter finds it uproariously funny that GOP gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott is a paraplegic.
Couldn't we just poison their water?
Now as far as Taiji is concerned, this is where we could some real life saving stuff. Drones Over Taiji ! A few drone attacks w/ hell-fires
— Peter Henry Fonda (@iamfonda) January 22, 2014
Mr. Easy Rider is upset over the annual Taiji porpoise hunt but I'm inclined to give him a pass. It was Barack Obama who first found humor in the killing of innocent people with predator drones when he joked about sending drones after the Jonas Brothers. Peter may want to run the idea by big sister, Hanoi Jane, who has been rated by Michelle Obama, estranged wife of Barack Obama, as a beautiful, engaged, politically savvy, sharp woman.
Aetna may pull out of Obamacare
Noting that only 11% of Obamacare enrollees were uninsured prior to buying insurance on the public exchanges Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini warned of double digit rate increases for 2015.
As a result of the higher rates Aetna may withdraw from the exchanges next year.
"We see only 11 percent of the population is actually people that were firmly uninsured that are now insured. So [it] didn't really eat into the uninsured population."Using the HHS number of 2.2 million that means that for all the expense and pain Obamacare only managed cut into the uninsured population by less than 250,000. One must assume that the remainder of enrollees were buying their own insurance without subsidies but are now subsidized but may still have greater out of pocket cost for inferior coverage.
As a result of the higher rates Aetna may withdraw from the exchanges next year.
"Are they going to be double-digit [increases] or are we going to get beat up because they're double-digit or are we just going to have to pull out of the program?"Aetna has been chary of participating in Obamacare and only sells into 15 markets.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Republican David Jolly leads in must win race for Democrats
Washington pollster and pretty damn savvy political guru Stuart Rothenberg writes;
The Republican candidate David Jolly is excruciatingly unremarkable. He was once Congressman Young's chief of staff before turning lobbyist. While Sink has two statewide races under her belt Jolly has no electoral experience, while Sink has $1 million in cash Jolly has $140,000, while Emily's List endorses Sink and has begun mailing out brochures no national organization has stepped up for Jolly. The NRCC did run $100,000 in anti-Sink ads after she received her party's nomination but outside funding has not flowed to Jolly.
Jolly has one thing going for him, Sink's support for Obamacare. Obamacare is not popular with any segment of the population but it's almost anathema to the over 65 demographic where one national poll finds 53% of them support outright repeal. In Florida's 11th district 26% of residents are over 65. In a special election with lighter turnout than a presidential election 30% of the votes may be cast by the over 65 set.
The first poll in gives the unremarkable Jolly a 4 point edge over the exalted Alex Sink. Jolly takes 46.9% to Sink's 42.8% with 4,4% going to Libertarian Lucas Overby. This could be fun!
It’s rare in politics that anything other than a presidential contest is viewed as a “must win” — but the special election in Florida’s 13th District falls into that category for Democrats.This race conjures up a feeling of deja vu and fond memories of Bob Turner's 2011 upset win of Anthony Weiner's seat after the congressman took early retirement following his Twitter scandal. This time instead of fielding a state senator with modest political skills the Democrats have gone with their heaviest hitter, Alex Sink. Sink was elected to Florida's office of Chief Financial Officer in 2006. In 2010 she ran for governor and lost to Rick Scott by a mere 61,550 votes out of a total 3.5 million votes cast. She starts the campaign with over $1 million on hand and has been able to fund raise nationally in previous elections.
A loss in the competitive March 11 contest would almost certainly be regarded by dispassionate observers as a sign that President Barack Obama could constitute an albatross around the neck of his party’s nominees in November. And that could make it more difficult for Democratic candidates, campaign committees and interest groups to raise money and energize the grass roots.
Fundamentally, the district, left vacant by the death of longtime Republican Rep. C.W. Bill Young, looks competitive but has a slight Democratic tinge. Barack Obama carried it 52 percent to 48 percent in 2008, but he had a more narrow victory four years later, when he won 50 percent to 49 percent.
The Republican candidate David Jolly is excruciatingly unremarkable. He was once Congressman Young's chief of staff before turning lobbyist. While Sink has two statewide races under her belt Jolly has no electoral experience, while Sink has $1 million in cash Jolly has $140,000, while Emily's List endorses Sink and has begun mailing out brochures no national organization has stepped up for Jolly. The NRCC did run $100,000 in anti-Sink ads after she received her party's nomination but outside funding has not flowed to Jolly.
Jolly has one thing going for him, Sink's support for Obamacare. Obamacare is not popular with any segment of the population but it's almost anathema to the over 65 demographic where one national poll finds 53% of them support outright repeal. In Florida's 11th district 26% of residents are over 65. In a special election with lighter turnout than a presidential election 30% of the votes may be cast by the over 65 set.
The first poll in gives the unremarkable Jolly a 4 point edge over the exalted Alex Sink. Jolly takes 46.9% to Sink's 42.8% with 4,4% going to Libertarian Lucas Overby. This could be fun!
Scrap the corporate income tax
The idea of eliminating the corporate income tax was put forth in a NYT editorial published on January 5 of this year. Sadly this bold idea has generated little buzz either in the media or on the web. The author,
Laurence J. Kotlikoff, is a professor of economics at Boston University. He is a respected academic with a pretty much mainstream political bent; not one of those supply siders that your mother warned you about. Some may even call him a liberal but whatever label one chooses to apply to him his idea is both bold and timely.
President Obama speaks of "expenditures through the tax code" meaning tax loopholes written to benefit favored constituencies. His problem is not with the slimy process but rather which constituencies will be favored. Elizabeth Warren, Henry Waxman, Tom Harkin and those who know best which groups should be punished are oblivious to the plight of the employees of firms that are out of their favor and seek to put moral vindictiveness in the form of higher taxes. Capital has legs and the wealthy can move to friendlier tax environments but the stiff who works on the line cannot leave and pays the tax in the form of lower wages.
In 2012 the corporate tax produced $351 billion in revenue, less than 10% of total tax revenues but it extracted a burden horrific on middle class households in the forms of lower wages and higher prices. The revenue lost from the elimination of the corporate could be made up by increasing the personal tax level slightly. On the other hand a President Rand Paul could find $351 billion in budget cuts before breakfast.
Using neoclassical economic assumptions without extreme supply side or demand side projections Professor Kotlikoff's model predicts;
I sincerely hope this is not the last post I write on this subject. The Tea Party is missing a huge opportunity if it does not get behind this reform.
In recent decades, American workers have suffered one body blow after another: the decline in manufacturing, foreign competition, outsourcing, the Great Recession and smart machines that replace people everywhere you look. Amazon and Google are in a horse race to see how many humans they can put out of work with self-guided delivery drones and driverless cars. You wonder who will be left with incomes to buy what these robots deliver.Don't expect that lobbying to be done by the K Street lobbyists. It would put their livelihoods on the line. The state of Maryland has the largest per capita concentration of millionaires of any state and that wealth does not come from dredging oysters out of the Chesapeake. It is because of this band of political insiders that the corporate tax code is unfair, unwieldy, and inefficient, a relic from the days of William Howard Taft. It was a progressive attempt to punish the wealthy before there was a personal income tax. It's chief victim has been the middle class and it has proven to be powerful campaign fund raising tool for members of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees who write the tax code.
What can workers do to mitigate their plight? One useful step would be to lobby to eliminate the corporate income tax.
President Obama speaks of "expenditures through the tax code" meaning tax loopholes written to benefit favored constituencies. His problem is not with the slimy process but rather which constituencies will be favored. Elizabeth Warren, Henry Waxman, Tom Harkin and those who know best which groups should be punished are oblivious to the plight of the employees of firms that are out of their favor and seek to put moral vindictiveness in the form of higher taxes. Capital has legs and the wealthy can move to friendlier tax environments but the stiff who works on the line cannot leave and pays the tax in the form of lower wages.
In 2012 the corporate tax produced $351 billion in revenue, less than 10% of total tax revenues but it extracted a burden horrific on middle class households in the forms of lower wages and higher prices. The revenue lost from the elimination of the corporate could be made up by increasing the personal tax level slightly. On the other hand a President Rand Paul could find $351 billion in budget cuts before breakfast.
Using neoclassical economic assumptions without extreme supply side or demand side projections Professor Kotlikoff's model predicts;
Fully eliminating the corporate income tax and replacing any loss in revenues with somewhat higher personal income tax rates leads to a huge short-run inflow of capital, raising the United States’ capital stock (machines and buildings) by 23 percent, output by 8 percent and the real wages of unskilled and skilled workers by 12 percent.An across the board 12 percent increase in real wages! We have not see anything like that since the hay days of the 60's.
I sincerely hope this is not the last post I write on this subject. The Tea Party is missing a huge opportunity if it does not get behind this reform.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Democrat district goes Republican
A Republican won a special election in Arkansas, whch was held last Tuesday in a district that has never been held by a Republican. He won 57% of the vote.
From Powerline:
From Powerline:
The race centered on the issue of whether to continue the Arkansas’ “private option” plan to expand Medicaid. [SNIP]
Cooper’s resounding win in a traditionally Democratic corner of the state is good news for Tom Cotton and bad news for Mark Pryor. It speaks not only to the dramatically declining fortunes of Democrats in Arkansas, but also to the unpopularity of anything related to Obamacare. Without Pryor’s vote, Obamacare would not have been enacted.Powerline has an analysis.
Let's Move. Not.
And here's the proof the campaign is floundering. We resort to celebrities, as usual.
I don't like her. It's true.
But this "Let's Move" video is weird, juvenile and egotistical, reminiscent of the "work" of seventh graders, like all videos produced by this bunch.
Plus I have to say, there's something distastefully inappropriate about hauling all those males in to surround your ladyship, especially after all the recent rumors about the reason for Michelle's extended Hawaii vacation and the state of the First Marriage.
I don't like her. It's true.
But this "Let's Move" video is weird, juvenile and egotistical, reminiscent of the "work" of seventh graders, like all videos produced by this bunch.
Plus I have to say, there's something distastefully inappropriate about hauling all those males in to surround your ladyship, especially after all the recent rumors about the reason for Michelle's extended Hawaii vacation and the state of the First Marriage.
Public Skeptical of NSA Reforms. 73% Say they Will Make No Difference
I'm of the opinion when the public becomes disenchanted with a politician it tunes him out. Why bother to listen to what Obama has to say about reforming the NSA when there is no reason to believe he will carry out his stated goals? If he announced that if you like your metadata you can keep it (private) would he be credible? I think it is for this reason that only 8% of the population has heard much about the President's proposed changes and 73% of them do not see them making a difference.
Not surprisingly party loyalty comes into play but a small plurality of Democrats disapprove of the NSA spying. The approve/ disapprove breakdown finds Republicans 37% approve, 56% disapprove, Democrats 46% approve 48% disapprove, independent support is in line with Republican's support with 38 % approving while 56% disapprove.
The survey was conducted by Pew Research January 15-19, 2014 among a national sample of 1,504 adults, 18 years of age or older, living in all 50 U.S.
Wendy Davis showcases the sleazy side of Feminism
Attacks won't work. Mine is the story of millions of Texas women who know the strength it takes when you're young, alone and a mother. (2/4)
— Wendy Davis (@WendyDavisTexas) January 20, 2014
It's not the attack ads from Greg Abbott's campaign that have Wendy Davis doing damage control today but rather a damning article in the
Dallas Morning News that reveals what an incredibly gold digging slut the Democratic candidate for Texas governor actually is. Scarlett O'Hara was a Girl Scout compared to this tramp. When Wendy Davis met Jeff Davis she was not living in a trailer park as her highly fictionalized biography states but was living with her daughter in an apartment. The trailer park thing fascinates me. When Davis relayed that she once lived in a trailer park she became a true feminist success story. When Paula Jones lived in a mobile home she was called trailer trash. Jeff Davis, 12 years older than Wendy, was a successful lawyer when they met. She was attending Texas Christian University on an academic scholarship, Pell grant and student loans. “It was community resources. We paid for it together,” said Wendy.
Jeff Davis paid for her last two years at TCU and then cashed in his 401K to send her through Harvard Law School. He cared for her daughter and their daughter while she at Harvard. After graduation they practiced title law together briefly then Wendy moved out a leaving Jeff to care for the kids again.
And timing! What timing!
“It was ironic,” said Jeff. “I made the last payment, and it was the next day she left.” He was referring to the loan debt she had incurred at Harvard. And guess who took care of the kids again? The original divorce filing contained allegations of adultery on Wendy's part but there is no mention of it in the final settlement that left Jeff, once again, to care for the daughters from both her marriages. Wendy just isn't into to parenting. “She said, ‘I think you’re right; you’ll make a good, nurturing father. While I’ve been a good mother, it’s not a good time for me right now.’”
Was there ever a good time for Wendy to be a mother?
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Oh! the humanity...of Obama
Over at The New Yorker, we find another shameless love letter to Leftists, this time (again) Barack Obama. Valerie Jarrett is depicted as showing "high mindedness" and Obama as a well-mannered, earnest achiever whose dreams of making America whole through his steady leadership have been dashed, along with his disapproval of football. (Gee, a man's man disapproving of footbal? One can't imagine.)
You know the Remnick column is deeply felt because it waxes on about the difficulty of Obama having his dreams of being a uniter dashed; Obama's human, Remnick writes, as exhibited by:
Really? Mr. Remnick is obviously a Leftist.
If he weren't, he'd know why so many of us are offended, from the continual affronts to religious liberties, the expansion of government rates while individual rights are curtailed to the repeated insult after outright insult of conservatives, their values and their beliefs.
And here's the biggest laugher of all, in which Remnick presents Obama as someone who has actually tried not to offend, regardless of his habitually derogatory remarks about red staters with whom he disagrees.
Witness that Obama wanted a "post=partisan era," one in which everyone got along.
He dreamed, did Obama, and dreamed big, dreamed of an America where no one fought and only the public good was considered in policy making. He was "forced" into relinquishing that beautiful dream by "grubby" battles by people who are overcome with resentment.
I confess I stopped reading Remnick's saccharine love story at page four of an obscene eighteen pages.
But The One isn't so popular these days, so the formerly mainstream media, whose credibility approaches Pravda's, often chooses to attack the opposition, ie the Christie "scandal" while focusing on the conservative obsession concerning the Benghazi deaths, not the deaths themselves.
Employing Saul Alinsky tactics( perfectly exhibited here) to the right wing means the press frames everything to promote Democrats, particularly Leftists.
Thus the press shifts away from the sinking Obama to gushy, plummy articles about Michelle! who they claim remains popular in spite of rumors of reported discomfort in the Obama marriage and the disappointing results of her Move On and food initiatives.
So here's the propaganda gushery from an objective media who pilloried Nancy Reagan and ignored Laura Bush. Consuming anything at these links will convince you you're wrong about Michelle! if you don't like her.
God save the Republic.
You know the Remnick column is deeply felt because it waxes on about the difficulty of Obama having his dreams of being a uniter dashed; Obama's human, Remnick writes, as exhibited by:
Obama worried his lip with his tongue and the tip of his index finger.
Obama chewed furtively on a piece of Nicorette.
...he seemed efficient but contained ...
Obama bruised some feelings once or twice with remarks about “fat-cat bankers” and “reckless behavior and unchecked excess,” but, in general, he dares not offend.Really?
Really? Mr. Remnick is obviously a Leftist.
If he weren't, he'd know why so many of us are offended, from the continual affronts to religious liberties, the expansion of government rates while individual rights are curtailed to the repeated insult after outright insult of conservatives, their values and their beliefs.
And here's the biggest laugher of all, in which Remnick presents Obama as someone who has actually tried not to offend, regardless of his habitually derogatory remarks about red staters with whom he disagrees.
And yet Obama still makes every effort to maintain his careful, balancing tone, as if the unifying moment were still out there somewhere in the middle distance.He tried, tried so hard, Remnick says, but those Republicans would have none of it.
Witness that Obama wanted a "post=partisan era," one in which everyone got along.
He dreamed, did Obama, and dreamed big, dreamed of an America where no one fought and only the public good was considered in policy making. He was "forced" into relinquishing that beautiful dream by "grubby" battles by people who are overcome with resentment.
His biggest early disappointment as President was being forced to recognize that his romantic vision of a post-partisan era, in which there are no red states or blue states, only the United States, was, in practical terms, a fantasy. It was a difficult fantasy to relinquish. The spirit of national conciliation was more than the rhetorical pixie dust of Obama’s 2004 speech to the Democratic National Convention, in Boston, which had brought him to delirious national attention. It was also an elemental component of his self-conception, his sense that he was uniquely suited to transcend ideology and the grubby battles of the day. ...[SNIP]
The Republican Party is living through the late-mannerist phase of that revolution, fuelled less by ideas than by resentments. The moderate Republican tradition is all but gone, and the reactionaries who claim Reagan’s banner display none of his ideological finesse. Rejection is all. Obama can never be opposed vehemently enough.
The dream of bipartisan coöperation glimmered again after Obama won reëlection against Mitt Romney with fifty-one per cent of the popular vote.Who are those people, those who are so angry with Obama? Those who are resentful and probably racist? Why, of course, they are described perfectly in Alinsky terms:
The popular opposition to the Administration comes largely from older whites who feel threatened, underemployed, overlooked, and disdained in a globalized economy and in an increasingly diverse country.Apparently older whites are the primary unemployed group of disgruntled Americans, notwithstanding that young people can't find jobs and that Black unemployment rates are "consistently twice than whites."
I confess I stopped reading Remnick's saccharine love story at page four of an obscene eighteen pages.
But The One isn't so popular these days, so the formerly mainstream media, whose credibility approaches Pravda's, often chooses to attack the opposition, ie the Christie "scandal" while focusing on the conservative obsession concerning the Benghazi deaths, not the deaths themselves.
Employing Saul Alinsky tactics( perfectly exhibited here) to the right wing means the press frames everything to promote Democrats, particularly Leftists.
Thus the press shifts away from the sinking Obama to gushy, plummy articles about Michelle! who they claim remains popular in spite of rumors of reported discomfort in the Obama marriage and the disappointing results of her Move On and food initiatives.
So here's the propaganda gushery from an objective media who pilloried Nancy Reagan and ignored Laura Bush. Consuming anything at these links will convince you you're wrong about Michelle! if you don't like her.
Time Mag: Can anyone stop Hillary ?
AARP: Happy 50th Birthday, Michelle Obama
The New York Times: A First Lady at 50, Finding Her Own Path and "Glamorous Mystery Woman"So there ya go. It's all I can take for today. One can only hope that the anonymous informants over at Ulsterman are right and this bunch is on their way out the door.
Outlet Shoppers: Michelle Obama Fashion Icon
People: [Michelle] is dancing into her fifties.
Washington Post: A First Lady for the Ages
ABC: 50 ways to celebrate Michelle Obama's birthday
God save the Republic.
Is Harry Reid on his way out?
A mysterious blogger named Ulsterman has speculated about many developments in the Obama administration and Democrats. He/she has been right about many things, including the all-out Chicago thug approach to politics as it developed as Obama became more of a loser in the eyes of the public.
Of course, it's dangerous and often foolish to believe anonymous sources but this rumor is particularly schadenfreudelicious.
Harry Reid's erratic and malicious behavior has become increasingly bizarre over the years. Now Ulsterman says the Clintons are at the bottom of a push to get rid of him. And not just the Clintons, but various Democrats who realize how destructive the Obama---all about meeee---influence has been to their party.
It's worth reading and watching for the political machinations as we approach the elections later this year. Read here.
One can only imagine who would take his place.
UPDATE: Ulsterman says watch for the clues. Right on cue, Leahy excoriates the NSA, claiming the government is trying to control the American people.
Of course, it's dangerous and often foolish to believe anonymous sources but this rumor is particularly schadenfreudelicious.
Harry Reid's erratic and malicious behavior has become increasingly bizarre over the years. Now Ulsterman says the Clintons are at the bottom of a push to get rid of him. And not just the Clintons, but various Democrats who realize how destructive the Obama---all about meeee---influence has been to their party.
It's worth reading and watching for the political machinations as we approach the elections later this year. Read here.
One can only imagine who would take his place.
UPDATE: Ulsterman says watch for the clues. Right on cue, Leahy excoriates the NSA, claiming the government is trying to control the American people.
My eyes bleed! watching an Obamacare marathon
I must admit when I predicted that watching Leftists beclown themselves as they drink the nectar of power I never thought it would be so agonizing and such an assault on the sensibilities.
If you can ignore the viciousness of some of what's happening such as the comments of Governor of the People of New York except if they're pro-life, pro-2nd amendment or pro traditional marriage Andrew Cuomo, it's almost funny because it's so unbelievable.
If you have a really sick, juvenile sense of humor, you hate true comedy, and you're into cult worship, you might really love the way Covered California---utilizing an $80 million federal grant---chose to advertise Obamacare in a six hour display of what can only be described as breathtaking, bearing in mind that this is an appeal to young people.
You'll note Covered California disable the YouTube comments for this performance.
You might remember other attempts to advertise Obamacare included appealing to our higher instincts with Brosurance and Hosurance models posing with kegs of beer and Susie & Nate: Hot to Trot! Let's get physical!
My friends, put aside any aversion you might have for Richard Simmons' hairplugs, his baggy red tights and muck luck black ankle shoes.
Take pleasure with the purposely androgynous young person yukking it up with Simmons. It's the latest fashion to appear to have no gender and, above all, Covered California wants to be fashionable. (Update: Apparently it's called pansexual. Who knew?)
And really, really dig the serpentine performance of the guy in the mom jeans who ducks and quivers with joy just to be in the presence of the famed Richard Simmons, at one point laying his head near, of all things, Richard Simmons's crotch.
At best, these "performances" by the "actors" make junior high videos look stately.
At worst, they whiff of those distasteful, tipsy, giddy 8 mm filmstrips of covertly sexual group antics filmed in the aunt's basement in the fifties.
Some quotes from the "performances" are included for your reading pleasure.
My friends, this is comedy gold.
If you can ignore the viciousness of some of what's happening such as the comments of Governor of the People of New York except if they're pro-life, pro-2nd amendment or pro traditional marriage Andrew Cuomo, it's almost funny because it's so unbelievable.
If you have a really sick, juvenile sense of humor, you hate true comedy, and you're into cult worship, you might really love the way Covered California---utilizing an $80 million federal grant---chose to advertise Obamacare in a six hour display of what can only be described as breathtaking, bearing in mind that this is an appeal to young people.
You'll note Covered California disable the YouTube comments for this performance.
You might remember other attempts to advertise Obamacare included appealing to our higher instincts with Brosurance and Hosurance models posing with kegs of beer and Susie & Nate: Hot to Trot! Let's get physical!
My friends, put aside any aversion you might have for Richard Simmons' hairplugs, his baggy red tights and muck luck black ankle shoes.
Take pleasure with the purposely androgynous young person yukking it up with Simmons. It's the latest fashion to appear to have no gender and, above all, Covered California wants to be fashionable. (Update: Apparently it's called pansexual. Who knew?)
And really, really dig the serpentine performance of the guy in the mom jeans who ducks and quivers with joy just to be in the presence of the famed Richard Simmons, at one point laying his head near, of all things, Richard Simmons's crotch.
At best, these "performances" by the "actors" make junior high videos look stately.
At worst, they whiff of those distasteful, tipsy, giddy 8 mm filmstrips of covertly sexual group antics filmed in the aunt's basement in the fifties.
Some quotes from the "performances" are included for your reading pleasure.
My friends, this is comedy gold.
I drink my own sweat.Enjoy, as those twenty somethings so often say. Enjoy.
Get covered.
I'm gonna get sick! IS there a vomit bag like on the airplane?
Get covered and this could be YOU!
Who knew health insurance could be so much fun?
How do ya get outta here?
New Jersey ranked last in 3 financial metrics
Long term fiscal solvency, which I view as the most important, was one of five financial metrics the study addressed. New Jersey ranked last in 3, 36th in 1 and 39th in another. Here is the grim news:
- Ranking of states by cash solvency. New Jersey 36.
- Ranking of states by budget solvency. New Jersey 50
- Ranking of states by long-run solvency. New jersey 50
- Ranking of states by service level solvency. New Jersey 39
- Ranking of states by fiscal condition. New Jersey 50
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Magic and Mourning would have been perfect pitchmen HillaryCare
Do these people have Hootie and the Blowfish on their iPods? I'm speaking of the White House staff people who enlisted Magic Johnson and Alonzo Mourning to peddle Obamacare to the critical younger population upon which the Democrats have seen fit to bet the country's healthcare future. Magic Johnson? To many members of the 18 to 34 demographic Johnson's claim to fame is testing HIV positive. He retired abruptly during the 1991 season meaning that oldest members of the Obamacare key demo were under 12. But he's trendy and young people relate to him. Yes, and at 54 he is older than the sitting president. I remember the effect Joe DiMaggio had on my thinking when I was a young man to the point that I've yet to buy a Mr.Coffee or a bottle of Grecian Formula. Give us a break!
At 43 Alonzo Mourning is well out of the key demo but if one enjoys hearing middle aged men talk about their operations I suppose he brings something to the party. I would rank Mourning as a outstanding player but never a super star. Had he had not blown a kidney he would not be in the White House rolodex. To be fair to the White House the now generation is short on heroes. Alex Rodriguez at 38 and Peyton Manning at 37 are too old to help the Obamacare risk pool. I guess it up to Miley Cyrus and I for one think she is ideally qualified to speak for the Obama White House.
At 43 Alonzo Mourning is well out of the key demo but if one enjoys hearing middle aged men talk about their operations I suppose he brings something to the party. I would rank Mourning as a outstanding player but never a super star. Had he had not blown a kidney he would not be in the White House rolodex. To be fair to the White House the now generation is short on heroes. Alex Rodriguez at 38 and Peyton Manning at 37 are too old to help the Obamacare risk pool. I guess it up to Miley Cyrus and I for one think she is ideally qualified to speak for the Obama White House.
Hillary fired from Watergate committee for lying and unethical behavior
It looks as if the opposition research on Hillary Clinton is in high gear. News that Hillary Clinton was fired from her staff job with the House Judiciary Committee that was investigating Watergate first surfaced in 2008. The Daily Koz posted a link to it at Talking Points Memo but the story never got much traction. While most are aware of Hillary's career at the Rose Law firm it has also come to light that the former First Lady made the list of "famous failures" with Governor Jerry Brown and John F. Kennedy Jr. who all hold the distinction of flunking the DC bar exam.
To the question, why was she fired?
“Because she was a liar. She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer. She conspired to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality” said Jerry Zeifman
Okay, so nobody is perfect and besides that she redeemed herself by making it big in cattle futures.
Dan Calabrese writes;
I'm not going to steal the entire post. You may read it here. The upshot of the story is that Hillary and others tried to make the argument that Richard Nixon was not entitled to counsel should articles of impeachment be filed. Justice William O. Douglas reigned from to the Supreme Court after impeachment proceeding were begun against him but he did have legal counsel. The thinking was that if Nixon lawyered up his lawyer would put E. Howard Hunt, the mastermind of the Watergate break in on the stand. Hunt was a covert operative during the Kennedy years and was privy to an assignation plot hatched by the Kennedy CIA to kill Castro and Hunt would make Kennedy's idyllic Camelot look like something akin to the reign of Bloody Mary.
I've decided to reprint a piece of work I did nearly five years ago, because it seems very relevant today given Hillary Clinton's performance in the Benghazi hearings. Back in 2008 when she was running for president, I interviewed two erstwhile staff members of the House Judiciary Committee who were involved with the Watergate investigation when Hillary was a low-level staffer there. I interviewed one Democrat staffer and one Republican staffer, and wrote two pieces based on what they told me about Hillary's conduct at the time.
I published these pieces back in 2008 for North Star Writers Group, the syndicate I ran at the time. This was the most widely read piece we ever had at NSWG, but because NSWG never gained the high-profile status of the major syndicates, this piece still didn't reach as many people as I thought it deserved to. Today, given the much broader reach of CainTV and yet another incidence of Hillary's arrogance in dealing with a congressional committee, I think it deserves another airing. For the purposes of simplicity, I've combined the two pieces into one very long one. If you're interested in understanding the true character of Hillary Clinton, it's worth your time to read it.
As Hillary Clinton came under increasing scrutiny for her story about facing sniper fire in Bosnia, one question that arose was whether she has engaged in a pattern of lying.
The now-retired general counsel and chief of staff of the House Judiciary Committee, who supervised Hillary when she worked on the Watergate investigation, says Hillary’s history of lies and unethical behavior goes back farther – and goes much deeper – than anyone realizes.
Hillary and others removed the papers germane to the Douglas impeachment and then Hillary wrote a brief challenging Nixon's right to counsel as if the Douglas papers did not exit. Of course Nixon resigned and the brief was never adopted by the committee but Hillary was fired and not given a reference.
My own thinking is that I'm not surprised but even if the Calabrese accusation could be proven scandals come with an expiration date. If, as many suggest, national politicians also come with a "sell by" date Hillary's is past due. John McCain and Bob Dole add credence that theory. Hillary has been on the national stage since 1992 and is more than a little shopworn. I don't see her going anywhere and as she would say, "What difference does it make at this time?"
Friday, January 17, 2014
Obama dips into 30's again
Whoops! Obama dropped back into the 30's in the latest Gallup tracking poll. Only 39% of respondents approve of the job he is doing while 53% disapprove.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Treading water In the Obamacare risk pool
You spend a year constructing a better mouse trap and now the complaint is it catches too many mice and only mice. One law that Obama cannot circumvent is the law of supply and demand. That law says in effect as price rises demand drops and as price declines demand increases. We have heard ad nauseam the counter factual cant that Obamacare is market based. It may be a good talking point and may be more palatable than saying it's a centrally planned, mandated, scheme that advantages some at the expense of others but market based it is not. The price is lower for the advantaged and higher for those who are disadvantaged meaning the price is too high for the latter group. The plan advantages the older at the expense of the younger, the sick at the expense of the healthy, and women at the expense of men and surprise! It has too many older, sicker, women. What rational person would have predicted a different outcome?
We have, at best, a very sketchy demographic breakdown of the enrolled population and the gender breakdown has yet to be revealed but every success story the administration has paraded about has been a woman. Of course men have enrolled in the plan and with family plans the gender bias cancels out but I'll predict that single women will purchase insurance much more so than single men simply because the plan is skewed to favor them. It's long been a Democrat contention that charging women the actuarially based cost of health insurance is sexist while ignoring the fact that women pay lower premiums on auto and life insurance. The issue, as contentious as it is, may never be addressed by the administration but it certainly will be by insurance company actuaries when they compute next year's premiums.
The sicker are advantaged because insurers may not refuse to write a policy if the applicant has a pre existing condition. They do not need to be coaxed into the plan but their insurance is subsidized by the healthy in the form of higher premiums.
The enrollment numbers released Monday confirm that the risk pool is more adverse than expected. Fifty-five percent of the enrollees are between the ages of 55 and 64. Enrollees in the 18 to 34 demographic are missing in action. To have a healthy insurance pool Obamacare must have from 38% to 40% of it enrollment in this age bracket. It has 24%. The administration counters that it will launch a massive ad campaign to ensnare the recalcitrant little brats. Yes, and if Dewalt Corporation announced it would target teenage girls to purchase its line of framing nailers they would be laughed into bankruptcy. The power of adverting has its limits. One can not sell a dead horse to everyone.
By any measure the young are the least able to carry the burden of the nation's healthcare. Obamacare is a massive redistribution scheme but there is no consideration given to the individual's ability to pay. In some markets even after subsides are added in families are on the hook for 10% of after tax income. Labor force participation has declined not only because older workers have left the market but because younger workers have not entered it. In the past both husband and wife entered the labor market now couples frequently marry with only one bread winner, usually the husband.The demographic earns less because fewer members are working.
From a Fox News post:
We have, at best, a very sketchy demographic breakdown of the enrolled population and the gender breakdown has yet to be revealed but every success story the administration has paraded about has been a woman. Of course men have enrolled in the plan and with family plans the gender bias cancels out but I'll predict that single women will purchase insurance much more so than single men simply because the plan is skewed to favor them. It's long been a Democrat contention that charging women the actuarially based cost of health insurance is sexist while ignoring the fact that women pay lower premiums on auto and life insurance. The issue, as contentious as it is, may never be addressed by the administration but it certainly will be by insurance company actuaries when they compute next year's premiums.
The sicker are advantaged because insurers may not refuse to write a policy if the applicant has a pre existing condition. They do not need to be coaxed into the plan but their insurance is subsidized by the healthy in the form of higher premiums.
The enrollment numbers released Monday confirm that the risk pool is more adverse than expected. Fifty-five percent of the enrollees are between the ages of 55 and 64. Enrollees in the 18 to 34 demographic are missing in action. To have a healthy insurance pool Obamacare must have from 38% to 40% of it enrollment in this age bracket. It has 24%. The administration counters that it will launch a massive ad campaign to ensnare the recalcitrant little brats. Yes, and if Dewalt Corporation announced it would target teenage girls to purchase its line of framing nailers they would be laughed into bankruptcy. The power of adverting has its limits. One can not sell a dead horse to everyone.
By any measure the young are the least able to carry the burden of the nation's healthcare. Obamacare is a massive redistribution scheme but there is no consideration given to the individual's ability to pay. In some markets even after subsides are added in families are on the hook for 10% of after tax income. Labor force participation has declined not only because older workers have left the market but because younger workers have not entered it. In the past both husband and wife entered the labor market now couples frequently marry with only one bread winner, usually the husband.The demographic earns less because fewer members are working.
From a Fox News post:
The real Pajama Boy has a 50 percent chance of being unemployed or underemployed, on average is laden with thousands of dollars of student-loan debt, and is increasingly likely to still live at home with his parents. For this “young invincible,” hot chocolate and health care are probably the last things on his mind.Throw in the additional costs of an essential date plan for his smart phone and the need to rollover the lease on his Subaru Outback every 3 years aside from the monthly rental and his financial health is anything but invincible. Obamacare advocates may argue that Pajama Boy is an unfair caricature of an entire generation but he is their caricature. In fact it's a self portrait. This is not the generation JFK said would bear any burden and pay any cost. This is the generation that has been conditioned to expect the most from government. This is also the generation Obama, Reid, and Pelosi bet would save Obamacare. They may want to tweak the mouse trap.
And yet, in the modern liberal paradigm, Pajama Boy is less concerned with finding a job, getting married, or buying a house than he is with extracting benefits from the government — in this case, health care. Pajama Boy is a far cry from the Marlboro Man or Rosie the Riveter.
Snubbing Christie comes easy to Springsteen
Governor Chris Christie got what he deserved. The New York Times called it a "very public snub". As my taste run more to bluegrass, about the only genre of popular music that still demands instrumental virtuosity, I'm less than impressed to learn that Springsteen is ranked
the 96th Greatest Guitarist ever by Rolling Stone. Ninety-sixth! Of course Springsteen didn't make it with his guitar and I can understand his appeal to millions. He is estimated to have sold more than 120 million albums worldwide. If you are left of center it's trendy just to mention his name because just his knowing name confers an intimate membership on the speaker to the small cadre of, say 50 million or so fans, who hunger and thirst for social justice. Yes, Springsteen speaks for the common man but his appeal is to yuppies. From The Atlantic:
The Boss has made it clear he has no love for him but Christie but is a freaking groupie
Had Christie been a recent convert to Springsteenism one might think he more than deserved the backhand but the governor has attended a mind numbing 129 Springsteen concerts. Talk about a narrow range in taste! Did he ever throw his boxer shorts on stage? This Fallon-Springsteen skit must have hit Christie like a Wrecking Ball.
We are in a luxury suite at the Prudential Center—the Rock—in downtown Newark, the sort of suite accessible only to the American plutocracy, from which Springsteen seems to draw a surprisingly large proportion of his most devoted fans. (I know of three separate groups of one-percenters who recently flew in private jets to see Springsteen perform at Madison Square Garden.) Certainly not many residents of Newark could afford such a box, and the shrimp and steak that come with it.
The Boss has made it clear he has no love for him but Christie but is a freaking groupie
Despite heroic efforts by Christie, Springsteen, who is still a New Jersey resident, will not talk to him. They’ve met twice—once on an airplane in 1999, and then at the 2010 ceremony inducting Danny DeVito into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, where they exchanged only formal pleasantries. (Christie does say that Springsteen was very kind to his children.) At concerts, even concerts in club-size venues—the Stone Pony, in Asbury Park, most recently—Springsteen won’t acknowledge the governor. When Christie leaves a Springsteen concert in a large arena, his state troopers move him to his motorcade through loading docks. He walks within feet of the stage, and of the dressing rooms. He’s never been invited to say hello. On occasion, he’ll make a public plea to Springsteen, as he did earlier this spring, when Christie asked him to play at a new casino in Atlantic City. “He says he’s for the revitalization of the Jersey Shore, so this seems obvious,” Christie told me. I asked him if he’s received a response to his request. “No, we got nothing back from them,” he said unhappily, “not even a ‘Fuck you.’”
Had Christie been a recent convert to Springsteenism one might think he more than deserved the backhand but the governor has attended a mind numbing 129 Springsteen concerts. Talk about a narrow range in taste! Did he ever throw his boxer shorts on stage? This Fallon-Springsteen skit must have hit Christie like a Wrecking Ball.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Detroit's police chief shocks the Left
The mayoral election in Detroit had a positive outcome: Detroit has been run by Democrats since 1962 (and yet, of course, take no responsibility for its woes and bankruptcy) and elected another Democrat --Mike Duggan-- last fall, but one whose business credentials are encouraging.
Many of Detroit's mayors, and indeed its city council members, are known for corruption, bizarre behavior and an assumption that the world owed them however many pennies they could scoop up like an episode of Milky's Party Time, only they weren't scooping pennies, if you know what I mean.
Recently appointed Detroit Police Chief James Craig also offers a breath of fresh air to beleagured Detroits.
Craig served 28 years in the LAPD, moved to Maine and then to Cincinnati, winding up currently in Detroit. He shocked the Democrat world by declaring that Detroit, whose crime rate dropped by 7% in 2013, would be safer with more respectable citizens carrying guns to ward off the crimes of carrying thugs.
Craig's plan is this:
Councilman Cushingberry got caught driving away from a strip bar with an empty alcohol bottle and billows of marijuana smoke drifting from his vehicle. Cushingberry complained he was stopped by police because he was "driving while black," even though the officers were racial minorities (not in Detroit).
Those officers called their supervisor when they realized they had a hot one on their hands; that supervisor arrived and, of course, let Cushingberry off, who then let loose on his Facebook page about how mean the police are.
Craig was interviewed by Frank Beckmann on WJR the other day: he adamantly refuted the councilman's charges, establishing that there will be no favors for politicians anymore, a practice he said he could only assume was routine since these kinds of things happen "naturally."
Honestly, listening to Chief Craig sounded like one of us out here in Tea Partyland.
Let's hope he keeps it up.
Many of Detroit's mayors, and indeed its city council members, are known for corruption, bizarre behavior and an assumption that the world owed them however many pennies they could scoop up like an episode of Milky's Party Time, only they weren't scooping pennies, if you know what I mean.
Recently appointed Detroit Police Chief James Craig also offers a breath of fresh air to beleagured Detroits.
Craig served 28 years in the LAPD, moved to Maine and then to Cincinnati, winding up currently in Detroit. He shocked the Democrat world by declaring that Detroit, whose crime rate dropped by 7% in 2013, would be safer with more respectable citizens carrying guns to ward off the crimes of carrying thugs.
Craig's plan is this:
A 10-percent drop in overall crime, five-minute 911 call response time and a 70-percent clearance rate for homicides were listed on the action plan. The department also will hire 150 new officers by mid-year and deploy detectives in each of the city's 12 police precincts, according to Craig.Even more encouraging is Craig's attitude toward the hoity toities that populate the clownish city council.
Councilman Cushingberry got caught driving away from a strip bar with an empty alcohol bottle and billows of marijuana smoke drifting from his vehicle. Cushingberry complained he was stopped by police because he was "driving while black," even though the officers were racial minorities (not in Detroit).
Those officers called their supervisor when they realized they had a hot one on their hands; that supervisor arrived and, of course, let Cushingberry off, who then let loose on his Facebook page about how mean the police are.
Craig was interviewed by Frank Beckmann on WJR the other day: he adamantly refuted the councilman's charges, establishing that there will be no favors for politicians anymore, a practice he said he could only assume was routine since these kinds of things happen "naturally."
Honestly, listening to Chief Craig sounded like one of us out here in Tea Partyland.
Let's hope he keeps it up.
Sharyl Atkisson's computer & the NSA
So we learn that the NSA has the ability to hack into computers which are not connected to the internet. Not to worry, the ruling elites claim. We only use this technology on our enemies.
From The Daily Mail:
Do we just....trust them?
From The Daily Mail:
I might remind my reader/s that Sharyl Attkisson made mention of exactly this circumstance last June:The Times cited NSA documents, computer experts and U.S. officials in its report about the use of secret technology using radio waves to gain access to computers that other countries have tried to protect from spying or cyberattacks.The agency has planted most of the software through getting access to computer networks, but has also used a secret technology that allows it entry even to computers not connected to the Internet, the Times said, citing U.S. officials, computer experts and documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
“There were just signs of unusual happenings for many months, odd behavior like the computers just turning themselves on at night and then turning themselves back off again,” she said.Sooooo.....what are we to think?
Do we just....trust them?
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Say it ain't so! Octomom charged with welfare fraud
Who would have ever dreamed that "Octomom" Nadya Suleman was a welfare chiseler? The single mother of 14 could get 6 years. Yesterday the Los Angeles DA's office announced Suleman did not disclose income she collected while on public assistance. She was not immediately arrested but was ordered to appear in court Friday. Prosecutors are expected to ask for $25,000 bond. It seems Octomom had put 30 grand into her private stash without bothering to tell her social worker.
The versatile entertainer has appeared in at least one porn flick, had a nude dancing gig in a Florida strip club, and at the apex of her stunning career squared off against the legendary Amy Fisher in a celebrity boxing match. True, she is no Tonya Harding but the pride of Portland didn't have 14 kids when she was in the ring.
"While applying for public aid, the mother of 14 children allegedly failed to disclose that she was also getting checks for personal appearances and residuals from videos," the district attorney's office said in a statement.
Go girl!
Monday, January 13, 2014
Rick Snyder, Terri Lynn Land lead in early polling
A new Michigan poll of likely voters gives Governor Rick Snyder and Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land early leads in their respective races. Snyder leads his probable opponent
former Rep. Mark Schauer 47% to 35%. It should be noted that incumbent candidates who do not get to 50% in a poll have cause to worry especially when the opponent has never run for statewide office and is known to only 25% of the voters.
Terri Lynn Land leads Congressman Gary Peters 44% to 36% in her bid to win the seat of retiring Senator Carl Levin.
In other polling only 35% of respondents approve of Obama's job performance and only 33% favor Obamacare. Voters approve of Michigan's right to work law by a 46% to 41% plurality, something I never thought I would see in my lifetime. This post is a bare bones summation of the poll for more information follow the above hypertext links.
Terri Lynn Land leads Congressman Gary Peters 44% to 36% in her bid to win the seat of retiring Senator Carl Levin.
In other polling only 35% of respondents approve of Obama's job performance and only 33% favor Obamacare. Voters approve of Michigan's right to work law by a 46% to 41% plurality, something I never thought I would see in my lifetime. This post is a bare bones summation of the poll for more information follow the above hypertext links.
Ohio settles suit with True the Vote, Judicial Watch
The state of Ohio has settled a lawsuit brought by True the Vote and Judicial Watch. Part of the press release from Judicial Watch reads;
As part of its Election Integrity Project, Judicial Watch found that voter rolls in a number of states contained a great number of registrations for individuals who were ineligible to vote. Judicial Watch notified a dozen states that they must clean up their voter registration lists or face lawsuits. Judicial Watch and True the Vote subsequently filed lawsuits against election officials in Indiana and Ohio, and prompted the state of Florida and other states, without litigation, to remove thousands of ineligible voters from state registration lists. According to independent research published by Pew Charitable Trusts in February 2012, approximately 24 million active voter registrations throughout the United States – or one out of every eight registrations – are either no longer valid or are significantly inaccurate.The settlement requires Ohio to:
- To participate in the State and Territorial Exchange of Vital Events (STEVE) to obtain out-of-state death information.
- To participate in the Interstate Voter Registration Cross-Check program administered by the Kansas Secretary of State to identify registered voters who have moved out-of-state.
- To use Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles data to identify registered voters who move within Ohio, with frequent updates being sent to local officials.
- To use an online voter registration change of address website to encourage voters to keep their registration information current.
- To conduct a special, monthly, duplicate registration elimination program, within defined technical thresholds, for all Ohio County boards of election voter lists.
- To keep online, and available for public access, a current voter registration list.
- To require the county boards of election to send accurate survey information to the Secretary of State’s Office, to be compiled and forwarded to the Election Assistance commission for its NVRA-related surveys
- To use reasonable efforts to promote the expanded use by recent college graduates of Ohio’s online voter registration change of address system, including education to remind college graduates to keep their voter registration addresses and information current and to request necessary updates; and to endeavor to coordinate these activities in conjunction with Ohio’s colleges and universities.
- To direct boards of election to send confirmation notices annually to voters who may be inactive; and to query boards of election on a regular basis as to whether this direction is being followed.
No glass ceiling! keep your sex chat website, your escort service, and your college administrator job
If a male college administrator were running a phone sex, escort service, peep show enterprise feminists would discover a culture of sexism that threatened not only women but the entire university system but when the offender is a woman, the university can find no wrong doing and the woman keeps her $68,000 per year job.
Resa Cooper-Morning did all of that but the University of Colorado can do little but wring its hands.
‘The University does not condone Ms. Cooper- Morning’s activities, but under the law, there are limits on actions that employers can take regarding off-duty conduct of employees. In the absence of additional information, Ms. Cooper- Morning remains employed by the University.’Let me see if I have this right. High schools monitor social media sites to track down students who bully other students away from school but the University of Colorado sees nothing wrong with an employee pimping herself out as long as she does it on her own time.
Most NJ voters think Christie knew of Bridgegate, feds probe Sandy relief spending
A majority of New Jersey
voters think it’s likely Governor Chris Christie was aware of the Fort Lee traffic lane closures before they happened according to a Rasmussen poll. The poll finds that 54% of likely New Jersey voters believe it’s at least somewhat likely that Christie was aware that traffic lanes onto the George Washington Bridge were being closed as retaliation for the mayor of Fort Lee’s refusal to support the governor’s reelection while 36% think it is unlikely.
As one would expect on a extremely partisan issue there is a huge partisan split in the polling results as 75% of Democrats think it likely that Christie knew while 34% of GOP voters think he did as well as 46% of independents. Regardless of these findings I expect Christie to survive as governor but crippled as a candidate barring new revelations.
Moving to the latest scandal, CNN reports that Christie is the target of an inspector general investigation regarding expenditures of federal monies from the Hurricane Sandy relief fund. In the probe, HUD auditors will examine New Jersey's use of $25 million in Sandy relief funds for a marketing campaign to promote tourism after Sandy decimated the state's coastline in late 2012. The issue is, the governor featured himself and his family in ads to promote tourism on the damaged Jersey Shore. How Obamaesque!
Update: The Obama administration approved of the "Stronger than the Storm" ads. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan even praised their effectiveness when he testified at a senate hearing.
As one would expect on a extremely partisan issue there is a huge partisan split in the polling results as 75% of Democrats think it likely that Christie knew while 34% of GOP voters think he did as well as 46% of independents. Regardless of these findings I expect Christie to survive as governor but crippled as a candidate barring new revelations.
Moving to the latest scandal, CNN reports that Christie is the target of an inspector general investigation regarding expenditures of federal monies from the Hurricane Sandy relief fund. In the probe, HUD auditors will examine New Jersey's use of $25 million in Sandy relief funds for a marketing campaign to promote tourism after Sandy decimated the state's coastline in late 2012. The issue is, the governor featured himself and his family in ads to promote tourism on the damaged Jersey Shore. How Obamaesque!
Update: The Obama administration approved of the "Stronger than the Storm" ads. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan even praised their effectiveness when he testified at a senate hearing.
SECRETARY SHAUN DONOVAN: “…There has been an effort in a number of states, not just in Sandy, but historically as well in many, many prior storms to encourage economic development and we did see a small amount of CDBG money that was used for an economic development campaign to encourage people back to the beaches…The evidence that we have seen is that those campaigns are effective in growing economic development in those areas and therefore they actually reduce the cost of recovery to the federal government…The Community Development Block Grant is a very flexible program. This is clearly within the legal boundaries of what Congress has determined the program can be used for and it was demonstrated to us that this could be an effective tool and actually lower the cost to the federal government.” (Senate Homeland Security & Government Affairs Subcommittee Hearing on Hurricane Sandy, 11/6/13)
Friday, January 10, 2014
Support for Obamacare continues to sink-Gallup
Two thirds of Americans say that Obamacare has not affected them personally but they don't like it much anyway. According to the latest Gallup poll support has continued to erode to its lowest point ever. Only 38% of respondents approve of Obamacare while 54% disapprove. These data are in line with the Real Clear Politics average of polls which has Obamacare underwater by 15.5% with 39.8% approval juxtapose 55.3% disapproval.
Furthermore respondents think Obamacare will only make things worse.
Furthermore respondents think Obamacare will only make things worse.
Obamacare risk pool "more adverse than previously expected."
The lesson to take away from the Obamacare enrollment numbers is that the Obama Administration is pretty good at selling health insurance to sickly people. While HHS has treated enrollment data as something akin to the nuclear codes that cannot be shared with the public Humana Inc released this guidance:
Health insurer Humana Inc said on Thursday that it projected its enrollment mix in private plans through the exchanges created by President Barack Obama's healthcare law will be, "more adverse than previously expected."In other words Obamacare is largely a high risk pool. As the "more adverse than previously expected" mix is reflected in next year's premiums the public can expect to be treated to a new round of sticker shock. When the healthier enrollees are priced out of the market the mix will become more adverse. This is the so called "death spiral" or in more graphic prose, the swirly.
Humana attributed the enrollment trend to regulatory changes allowing people to remain in previously existing plans not sold on the exchanges. Obama proposed allowing insurers to keep selling plans that did not comply with the Affordable Care Act after political fallout that he was not keeping his promise that people can keep insurance plans if they like them.
Job creation at 3 year low
Disregard the 6.7% unemployment rate on which the media will want to focus. Today's employment numbers were a horrendous disaster. The unemployment rate dropped from 7% to 6.7% because than labor force
participation rate dropped by to 62.8 percent, tied for its lowest reading since 1978. In the month of December the economy added a paltry 74,000 jobs, less than half of the projected 200,000. Another bad sign: Hours worked edged down slightly, to 34.4 hours per worker. One month does not a trend make but falling off a cliff such as in this case will cause economists to openly question the strength of the alleged recovery. Today's job creation numbers were the worse in three years.
Christie press conference underscores Obama's flaws
I have mixed emotions about the Christie incident. I listened to much of the press conference and was impressed with his blunt directness and willingness to take the barbs thrown at him from the press.
Indeed there were many barbs, barbs that Christie deserved but that he handled.
Hoosierman may be right in that Christie knew of the mess caused by the bridge barrier; as he himself said, it's his responsibility.
As I wrote yesterday, this political corruption that directly affects the lives of taxpayers is inexcusable, both in the Obama and Christie administrations.
What I did not note yesterday was something Rush said early in his program; how do the administrations of powerful individuals set the tone that their employees feel comfortable treating people like this, whether at the knowledge of their boss or not?
Christie explained that 65,000 employees work under him and he cannot know what each is doing; is this not the greatest rationale for smaller government?
And the two who were dismissed by Christie were not just any employees but members of Christie's inner circle.
Today the right leaning media is lamenting that the other media like CBS et al have already devoted 17 times more coverage to "Bridgegate" than the IRS scandal in 6 months.
This is the point. The behavior of the media--actually doing its job as they did yesterday--is so blatantly obvious that even the casual observer can see they view themselves as an extension of the government.
But beyond that thought, does not the media's behavior also reveal how empty and vacuous this administration is?
Imagine if the media did the same job with the Obama administration as they did yesterday with Christie's.
Imagine. That's what we're missing.
No, to my mind the Christie story isn't about Christie. I don't want him to be the nominee; he isn't conservative and his administration now has the same rank whiff of the Obama administration. ("Don't you know who I am?")
The Christie story underscores what an utterly bad leader Obama is, the Obama we know who refuses to answer questions directly, who makes excuses for anything that goes wrong, who is rarely queried by any media and when he is he responds with petty spitefulness, whose advisors include the likes of Al Sharpton, and who refuses to take responsibility for his or his administration's actions.
To my mind, the Christie scandal isn't about Christie.
It's about big government.
It's about abuse of power.
And it draws quite a contrast between a selfish man who hides from the public while abusing them and a man who--right or wrong-- actually participates in the process of leadership.
Indeed there were many barbs, barbs that Christie deserved but that he handled.
Hoosierman may be right in that Christie knew of the mess caused by the bridge barrier; as he himself said, it's his responsibility.
As I wrote yesterday, this political corruption that directly affects the lives of taxpayers is inexcusable, both in the Obama and Christie administrations.
What I did not note yesterday was something Rush said early in his program; how do the administrations of powerful individuals set the tone that their employees feel comfortable treating people like this, whether at the knowledge of their boss or not?
Christie explained that 65,000 employees work under him and he cannot know what each is doing; is this not the greatest rationale for smaller government?
And the two who were dismissed by Christie were not just any employees but members of Christie's inner circle.
Today the right leaning media is lamenting that the other media like CBS et al have already devoted 17 times more coverage to "Bridgegate" than the IRS scandal in 6 months.
This is the point. The behavior of the media--actually doing its job as they did yesterday--is so blatantly obvious that even the casual observer can see they view themselves as an extension of the government.
But beyond that thought, does not the media's behavior also reveal how empty and vacuous this administration is?
Imagine if the media did the same job with the Obama administration as they did yesterday with Christie's.
Imagine. That's what we're missing.
No, to my mind the Christie story isn't about Christie. I don't want him to be the nominee; he isn't conservative and his administration now has the same rank whiff of the Obama administration. ("Don't you know who I am?")
The Christie story underscores what an utterly bad leader Obama is, the Obama we know who refuses to answer questions directly, who makes excuses for anything that goes wrong, who is rarely queried by any media and when he is he responds with petty spitefulness, whose advisors include the likes of Al Sharpton, and who refuses to take responsibility for his or his administration's actions.
To my mind, the Christie scandal isn't about Christie.
It's about big government.
It's about abuse of power.
And it draws quite a contrast between a selfish man who hides from the public while abusing them and a man who--right or wrong-- actually participates in the process of leadership.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Hoosier homegrown terrorist? Indiana guardsman arrested with 48 bombs
This story has not received a lot of attention. It seems a little out of the ordinary for a national guardsman with a top secret clearance to have a car full of bombs, a bullet proof vest and a map of a Navy SEAL training facility but it gets more bizarre.
Andrew Scott Boguslawski has civilian employment as a groundskeeper at
Muscatatuck Urban Training Center (formerly known as the Indiana Farm Colony for Feeble Minded Youth) in south-central Indiana but is also a member of the Indiana National Guard where he does
intelligence analysis and has top-secret clearance.
On New Years Day Boguslawski was motoring through Ohio when he was stopped outside of Columbus for doing 85 in a 70. As the trooper was handing him his ticket he noticed the suspect had pistol between his legs. He arrested the subject and a search of the auto turned up 48 small bombs and a remote control detonator. He was charged in Madison County with one count of manufacturing explosives, a second-degree felony. Read more at the Columbus Dispatch which apparently is the only media outlet to find the story worth reporting.
On New Years Day Boguslawski was motoring through Ohio when he was stopped outside of Columbus for doing 85 in a 70. As the trooper was handing him his ticket he noticed the suspect had pistol between his legs. He arrested the subject and a search of the auto turned up 48 small bombs and a remote control detonator. He was charged in Madison County with one count of manufacturing explosives, a second-degree felony. Read more at the Columbus Dispatch which apparently is the only media outlet to find the story worth reporting.
A slightly different take on Bridgegate
As evidence that like minded people occasionally see things differently contrast this post to my partner's previous post. I think we both view the unwarranted disruption of traffic on the George Washington Bridge as tantamount to the barricading of the World War Two Memorial by Obama. We part company, however, on the behavior of the media. For the most part I feel that up until now Christie has gotten pretty good press coverage. This speaks to his ability to control narrative and to do clever pr, something every successful politician must do but frankly he overplayed his hand. I viewed the early attempted humor by the governor that he placed the traffic cones as crass. I could almost hear Obama saying "phony scandal" in the background. Unlike the Obama scandals there is damning email evidence here of wrong doing that cannot be misinterpreted. When those email became public we got this;
This behavior is not representative of me or my Administration... Damn it, that behavior was the Christie Administration in action unless the governor considers his deputy chief of staff to be an outsider. It may or may not be indicative of Christie's support but it's hard to find anyone in his party coming to his defense. Did the governor know? Of course he knew. We have all worked at various jobs and intuitively we all knew when something out of the ordinary cropped up to immediately ask guidance from the next person up the chain until it went to the top. If the governor was completely in the dark on this matter, if he has been deceived by everyone on his staff, he should ask his attorney general to investigate and haul them all before a grand jury. Are we to believe that a former US attorney does not know how to get to the truth? I am full sick and tired of investigations that go nowhere.
I have not defended Tea Party office holders or candidates when they were wrong and I damn sure will not start defending RINO's who find themselves in well earned ignominy. Many readers will remember that I dissed a very likeable and charismatic Tea Party favorite, Joe Walsh when I learned he was $100,000 behind on his child support. Character counts and now is the time for Chris Christie to show his.
“What I’ve seen today for the first time is unacceptable. I am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was I misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge. One thing is clear: this type of behavior is unacceptable and I will not tolerate it because the people of New Jersey deserve better. This behavior is not representative of me or my Administration in any way, and people will be held responsible for their actions.”Does the governor use the same press people as Obama?
This behavior is not representative of me or my Administration... Damn it, that behavior was the Christie Administration in action unless the governor considers his deputy chief of staff to be an outsider. It may or may not be indicative of Christie's support but it's hard to find anyone in his party coming to his defense. Did the governor know? Of course he knew. We have all worked at various jobs and intuitively we all knew when something out of the ordinary cropped up to immediately ask guidance from the next person up the chain until it went to the top. If the governor was completely in the dark on this matter, if he has been deceived by everyone on his staff, he should ask his attorney general to investigate and haul them all before a grand jury. Are we to believe that a former US attorney does not know how to get to the truth? I am full sick and tired of investigations that go nowhere.
I have not defended Tea Party office holders or candidates when they were wrong and I damn sure will not start defending RINO's who find themselves in well earned ignominy. Many readers will remember that I dissed a very likeable and charismatic Tea Party favorite, Joe Walsh when I learned he was $100,000 behind on his child support. Character counts and now is the time for Chris Christie to show his.