Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Why is this guy still office...? Dodd ought to be in jail...

Sen. Dodd, D-Conn., slashed aviation security funding for pet constituency
By: Mark Hemingway
Commentary Staff Writer
Washington Examiner
12/28/09 12:24 PM EST

Now that our attention is focused on airline security measures thanks to the failed airline attack on Christmas Day, it's worth mentioning that one Senator took money away from aviation security to line the pockets of a constituency that supported his presidential campaign in a big way.

Back in July, Senator Chris Dodd, D-Conn., proposed an amendment reducing aviation security appropriations by $4.5 million in favor of firefighter grants -- a notoriously inneffective program. In fact, the money was specifically "for screening operations and the amount for explosives detection systems." The amendment was also sponsored by Sen. Lieberman, D-Conn., and Sen. Carper, D-Del., but Dodd deserves to be singled out here because the firefighters union is a pet constituency of his. In 2007 he campaigned all through Iowa with the firefighters union. It was one of the few distinguishable features of Dodd's ill-fated presidential bid.

The text of the amendment is here.

Monday, December 28, 2009

The War Against the Wannabe Rich

I could not say it any better....

The War Against the Wannabe Rich

Why the war against the productive classes who want to be rich?

Maybe it is because they are not as numerous as the proverbial middle class. Perhaps they do not earn our empathy that is properly accorded to the poor. They surely lack the status and insider connections that accrue to the very rich.

Yet continue to punish and demonize them, and the country will grind to a halt - as we are seeing now.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

What is wrong with Washington D.C.?

Too Many Democrats in Washington
By Peter Ferrara on 12.23.09 @ 6:08AM
The American Spectator

Great (rather long) Article. I like how it ends....

For over 25 years, John Goodman at the National Center for Policy Analysis has articulately advocated these and other reforms liberating patients to exercise maximum freedom and control over their own health care, doctors and hospitals to innovate to provide better and lower cost care, and employers to provide better deals to their workers at lower costs. Jim Frogue at Newt Gingrich's Center for Health Transformation, Merrill Matthews at the Council for Affordable Health Care, and Greg Scandlen at the Heartland Institute have similarly provided innovative, pathbreaking leadership on health policy that would truly help working people and the poor on health care.

But instead the American people suffer with too many Democrats in power who don't understand any of this, and won't listen to any new ideas from anybody. Harry Reid clearly has no idea what he is talking about on the issue. Nancy Pelosi as usual is lost in her own dream world. Florida Congressman Alan Grayson and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse cannot even talk sensibly on the subject. Only the American people can fix this, and they can start by demanding resignations from those who have not been honest with them. This includes those who now plan to vote against the bill after voting for it, claiming they were against it all along.
I wish more of the media would cover the realistic options to this plan. I believe if more people knew there were REAL options available they would be storming D.C.! It is now likely too late....

A Christmas Address for the ages....


Merry Christmas!

Another idiotic opinion by another idiotic Thomas Friedman

The Copenhagen That Matters
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: December 22, 2009
NYT

Comparing Denmark to the U.S. is so stupid I don't know where to begin.
Let's see:
Population: Denmark 5.5 million USA: 330 million

Area: Denmark 16,640 sq mi USA: 3,794,101 sq mi

That is just the beginning... I don't know how people give this man any credence at all. Somehow this guy is considered an intellectual elite. What a joke. Thomas Friedman is a moron and this article just proves it.

No more "Public Option"....Whoopee!!!

Harry Reid Turns Insurance Into a Public Utility
The health bill creates a massive cash crunch and then bankruptcies for many insurers.
DECEMBER 22, 2009
THE WALLSTREET JOURNAL
By RICHARD A. EPSTEIN

As Harry Reid's 2,000 page health-care bill is being rammed through the Senate, most of the public debate has been focused on its expanded coverage, its now defunct public option, and its high taxes. Lost in the shuffle has been its intensely coercive requirements on health insurance issuers, especially in the individual and small group markets. Taken together, these restrictions are likely to drive them out of business and run afoul of the constitutional guarantee that all regulated industries have to a reasonable, risk-adjusted, rate of return on their invested capital.

The perils of the Reid bill are made evident in a recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report that focused on the bill's rebate program, which holds that once an insurance company spends more than 10% of its revenues on administrative expenses, its customers are entitled to an indefinite statutory rebate determined by state regulatory authorities subject to oversight by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Defining these administrative costs is a royal headache, but everyone agrees that they are heaviest in the small group and individual markets, where they typically range between 25% and 30%, without the new regulatory hassles.

The CBO concluded that this one restriction turned the Reid bill into "an essentially governmental program." In other words, the targeted health insurers would become de facto public utilities whose profits are gutted when the huge compliance costs under the Reid bill are piled on top of the hefty costs inherent in running a labor intensive health-care insurance business. [emphasis mine]


Great, they took out the "public option", but destroyed the private insurers....

The government?

Is this really their plan?

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Another confidence builder....

Pentagon delays new "bunker buster" bomb

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A "bunker buster" bomb with more than 10 times the explosive power of its predecessor will be put into service by the United States next December, six months later than previously scheduled, the U.S. Defense Department told Reuters on Friday.


Especially when set against the backdrop of this news...

Iran testing new generations of centrifuges

TEHRAN (FNA) - Iran is testing new generations of home-made centrifuges for enriching uranium, a senior Iranian nuclear official announced.

""At present we have included the new generations of centrifuges in our (uranium) enrichment activities and these new generations (centrifuges) are passing necessary tests rapidly,"" Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said in an exclusive interview with FNA.

Salehi explained that Iran's nuclear scientists are currently testing two advanced models of home-made centrifuges named IR3 and IR4, and added, ""Hopefully we can use the new generations of centrifuges by the end of the next (Iranian) year (early 2011) and after removing all flaws and problems.""

Add to all that news this wonderful confidence builder:

Obama's Iran Policy Falls Short
Gordon G. Chang, 12.18.09, 12:01 AM EST
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton isn't impressed. She's not alone.

Diplomats say the darnedest things. Take our secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. This week, she blurted out the following about America's Iran policy: "I don't think anyone can doubt that our outreach has produced very little in terms of any kind of a positive response from the Iranians."

Whether she was criticizing the ayatollahs or the Obama’s is hard to tell--Mrs. Clinton reportedly dislikes both groups intensely--but it is undeniable that she has put her finger on something. The United States, unfortunately, has had little influence over the Iranian leadership this year. Obama's campaign pledge to meet the world's top despots, including the ones dwelling in Tehran, has not in fact generated good will in Iran's abhorrent theocracy.

And the finale....

....unless Obama changes course, Iran will get the bomb. And once the ferociously aggressive and deeply insecure clerics put their hands on an atomic weapon, it is virtually certain the world will never be the same. Almost all the assumptions we make about geopolitics today could--and probably will--become obsolete.

Here's a real confidence builder...

Not enough money to buy U.S. securities...

Harder to buy US Treasuries
Created: 2009-12-18 0:13:35
Author:Zhou Xin and Jason Subler

It is getting harder for governments to buy United States Treasuries because the US's shrinking current-account gap is reducing supply of dollars overseas, a Chinese central bank official said yesterday.

The comments by Zhu Min, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, referred to the overall situation globally, not specifically to China, the biggest foreign holder of US government bonds.

Chinese officials generally are very careful about commenting on the dollar and Treasuries, given that so much of its US$2.3 trillion reserves are tied to their value, and markets always watch any such comments closely for signs of any shift in how it manages its assets.

China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange reaffirmed this month that the dollar stands secure as the anchor of the currency reserves it manages, even as the country seeks to diversify its investments.

In a discussion on the global role of the dollar, Zhu told an academic audience that it was inevitable that the dollar would continue to fall in value because Washington continued to issue more Treasuries to finance its deficit spending.

He then addressed where demand for that debt would come from.

"The United States cannot force foreign governments to increase their holdings of Treasuries," Zhu said, according to an audio recording of his remarks. "Double the holdings? It is definitely impossible."

"The US current account deficit is falling as residents' savings increase, so its trade turnover is falling, which means the US is supplying fewer dollars to the rest of the world," he added. "The world does not have so much money to buy more US Treasuries."

China continues to see its foreign exchange reserves grow, albeit at a slower pace than in past years, due to a large trade surplus and inflows of foreign investment. They stood at US$2.3 trillion at the end of September.

A real confidence builder. Can anyone say inflation?

It's official: This POTUS is a loser....



Olympics:
Obama loses gamble -- Chicago out of Olympics contention

Climate Change:
Low targets, goals dropped: Copenhagen ends in failure

His Base:
President Obama Loses His Base: He Just Ran Out of Slack

Even his cool:
An Angry President Obama loses his cool as Copenhagen freezes

Loser.

SOLD: Ben Nelson screws the U.S.

SOLD: Sen Ben Nelson's bribe.
By Publius
BigGovernment.com

This is a great take on the most recent corruption of the most corrupt congress EVER! These people have no shame. 49 states will now be subsidizing Nebraska's expanded Medicaid. All so the most corrupt congress can ram a bill no one wants down our throat. Sick and sad.

"Progressives" Pro Israel? Really?

This is a good analysis....

Media Matters: Progressives Take A Courageous Stand Against Israel

...of this article:

Progressives Speak Out On Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
December 18, 2009 5:07 pm ET by MJ Rosenberg
Media Matters Action



Let me add that all you need to know about the Palestinian - Israeli conflict:

If you took away all the Palestinian's weapons, Israel would live peaceably alongside their neighbors.

If, however, you took away the Israelis’ weapons, the Palestinians would overrun Israel and slaughter the Jews.

Therefore, it is Israel who has the moral high ground. Of course, as an evangelical Christian, I have a vested interest in Israel as a nation.

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Copenhagen climate summit in disarray after 'Danish text' leak

"It is being done in secret. Clearly the intention is to get [Barack] Obama and the leaders of other rich countries to muscle it through when they arrive next week. It effectively is the end of the UN process," said one diplomat, who asked to remain nameless.


Why should thus suprise anyone? It is how the democrats are running this country!

Copenhagen climate summit in disarray after 'Danish text' leak
Developing countries react furiously to leaked draft agreement that would hand more power to rich nations, sideline the UN's negotiating role and abandon the Kyoto protocol

The so-called Danish text, a secret draft agreement worked on by a group of individuals known as "the circle of commitment" – but understood to include the UK, US and Denmark – has only been shown to a handful of countries since it was finalised this week.


Chicago politics comes to Copenhagen...

The new Saul Alinsky "Rules for Radicals"...?

Listen to Your Mother: Stand Up Straight! How Progressives Can Win (Seven Locks Press, 2007).

Here is a great expose' regarding the left's new manual for taking control of the issues.

The author is Robert Creamer, who used to be the leader of Citizen Action/Illinois. He also founded its predecessor, Illinois Public Action and is the husband of Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). Creamer resigned from Citizen Action/Illinois after the FBI began investigating him for bank fraud and tax evasion at Illinois Public Action. He was convicted in 2006 and sentenced to five months in federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, plus eleven months of house arrest. This is when he wrote the new progressive manual Listen to Your Mother: Stand Up Straight! How Progressives Can Win (Seven Locks Press, 2007).

Excerpts:

He also lays out a “Progressive Agenda for Structural Change,” which includes a ten-point plan for foisting universal health care on the American people in 2009:

•“We must create a national consensus that health care is a right, not a commodity; and that government must guarantee that right.”
•“We must create a national consensus that the health care system is in crisis.”
•“Our messaging program over the next two years should focus heavily on reducing the credibility of the health insurance industry and focusing on the failure of private health insurance.”
•“We need to systematically forge relationships with large sectors of the business/employer community.”
•“We need to convince political leaders that they owe their elections, at least in part, to the groundswell of support of [sic] universal health care, and that they face political peril if they fail to deliver on universal health care in 2009.”
•“We need not agree in advance on the components of a plan, but we must foster a process that can ultimately yield consensus.”
•“Over the next two years, we must design and organize a massive national field program.”
•“We must focus especially on the mobilization of the labor movement and the faith community.”
•“We must systematically leverage the connections and resources of a massive array of institutions and organizations of all types.”
•“To be successful, we must put in place commitments for hundreds of millions of dollars to be used to finance paid communications and mobilization once the battle is joined.”

Creamer adds: “To win we must not just generate understanding, but emotion—fear, revulsion, anger, disgust.”

Is there a regulation revolution brewing...?



Is there a regulation revolution brewing...?

Let's hope so....

Friday, December 04, 2009

Job summit, job schmummit.... What a farce!

Eric Cantor, House Minority Whip released a "Common Sense Proposal for Job Creation" yesterday, while our President met with "industry leaders", academia and union officials "talked about the jobless recover".

Sadly, you can tell by who wasn't on the list what the goal of the "Job Summit" really was.

Not on the list: US Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business, and National Manufacturing Association.

On the list: Andy Stern - President of the Service Employees International Union, United Steel Workers union president, Teacher's union president, Anna Burger - SEIU, and (of course) big Obama donors...

Now BHO is out in full campaign mode trying to distract and obfuscate the entire subject. This is a man that is out of control an in way over his head. I only hope we, the people can keep this country together long enough to get him out of power!

Thursday, December 03, 2009

Max Baucus slipped up and disclosed the REAL cost of Healthcare....

So here is a graph no democrat wants you to see, but somehow it made it into the ether:



SEN. MAX BAUCUS (D-MT): “Just for a second -- health care reform, whether you use a ten-year number or when you start in 2010 or start in 2014, wherever you start at, so it is still either $1 trillion or it's $2.5 Trillion, depending on where you start…” (Sen. Baucus, Floor Remarks, 12/2/09)

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