Wednesday, March 30, 2016

A "Failed Democracy" Here?

Scalia laid it on the line:  the 'roll over play dead' Congress is a grave problem.

...From the back of the room, I asked Justice Scalia whether, notwithstanding Windsor’s limited precedential value, the threat to the separation of powers from “executive non-enforcement” had grown critical. In the wake of Windsor, had it become easier for the president not only to decline to defend laws that he found objectionable, but to decline to enforce laws that he found objectionable? It is, after all, one thing for the president to refuse to defend a law because he considers it unconstitutional. It is quite another for the president to refuse to enforce a law because he considers it bad policy—which is precisely what President Obama has tried to do with respect to federal immigration and drug law. Was there any basis, I asked, upon which the Supreme Court might rule on the constitutionality of executive non-enforcement?

It all depends on Congress, Justice Scalia responded—and “if Congress doesn’t do its job and challenge the president,” he said, “what we have is a failed democracy.” The blow landed. The room fell silent. The moderator called for a break....

Well, yes.

Consider again the spineless, supine, scared little bunnies in Congressional "leadership" over the last several years (and before, for that matter.)  They regularly cave in to Obama on matters great and small, just as they did with GWBush. 

The revolutionaries now aiming their fire at Paul Ryan have a case, argued by Antonin Scalia.  Let's hope that the ballot-revolution is the only one we'll need.

The Donald's New Constitution

The Donald has declared that "Security, Healthcare, and Education" are the 'top three functions' of the FedGov.

Seriously.

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

The Donald Gets Whacked

Hey, Donald!!  There's an old saying which begins "Bullshit walks...."

Somewhere along the line you have to get serious, or just admit that you are NOT serious.

Rumor: Paul Ryan to be Primaried

The Wash Times reports:

A wealthy businessman with tea party ties confirmed Sunday that he is mounting a primary challenge to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, saying that after donating to the Wisconsin Republican’s past campaigns he feels “betrayed” by the speaker on trade deals and immigration.

The businessman, who is not yet revealing his identity, promised that his run will “shake up the establishment in a profound way,” according to a political consultant close to the prospective candidate.

The emergence of a viable Republican challenger in Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District is the culmination of a monthslong recruitment effort by tea party activists who say they were double-crossed by Mr. Ryan when he passed a $2 trillion spending package late last year.

Paul Ryan has some very serious credibility problems.  It's about time that he was held accountable for his back-and-forthright 'conservatism,' particularly on budget matters.  After all, he was Chair/Budget and Chair/Ways and Means during the time that Obozo got damn near anything he wanted. 

Ryan may blame Obozo, and that's true.  But Ryan stood aside and watched--or aided and abetted Obozo--rather than take any meaningful actions.


Sunday, March 27, 2016

A Good Man Gets a Seminary

Despite the zeitgeist, we find good news in North Carolina!

Radical Islam and The Larger War on Judaeo-Christian Civilization

As usual, Andy McCarthy has it right.  But he's only half-right.

...It is simply, undeniably, a fact that some Muslim mosques and surrounding communities are hotbeds of Islamic supremacism, a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam that holds that Muslims must struggle against non-believers — by force and by all other means –- until Allah’s law (sharia) is established throughout the world. Islamic supremacism is not the only way of construing Islam, and millions of Muslims reject it. This, however, does not undo the remorseless fact that millions of Muslims accept it, that it is a mainstream construction of Islam (it is, for example, the Islam of the Muslim Brotherhood), and that it has a considerable following in the West....

So?  Well....that means that some of the mosques in the USA are radical-Muslim friendly, and the people attending those mosques are to be watched, carefully.

McCarthy also mentions another, larger, dimension of the problem:

...The challenge we face is not merely jihadists. They constitute the forcible factions of Islamic supremacism. There are other cohorts. Islamic supremacism self-describes as a civilizational alternative to the West. It pulls every cultural and political lever to introduce and codify sharia — the same goal jihadists pursue. This means the jihadist threat arises and thrives within a larger support system of ideological sympathizers. Though not terrorists themselves, these Muslims provide moral and material support to the jihad — very much including their silent acceptance of jihadists in their midst....

All that Islam stuff happens to constitute a war against the fading Judaeo-Christian civilization  existing in the West.  (But not only in the West; parts of Africa, the Philippines, and India are also noticeably Judaeo-Christian.  It is not a co-incidence that radical Islam is causing trouble there, too, just as Israel is the principal target in the Middle East.)

Here's the part that McCarthy, tragically, misses:  Judaeo-Christian civilization is largely running on fumes in the West.  Secular humanism has overlaid and nearly extinguished its predecessor, with materialism being the point of its spear.   Secular humanism is also at war with Judaeo-Christian civilization.  See this essay for lots more.

It is no small irony that materialism was made possible by the J-C civilization, in sharp contrast to the societal/economic achievements of Islamic nations.  It is a suicidal irony that the 'leaders' of the West's reigning secular humanism are assaulting what remains of its parent culture, with (e.g.) abortion and gay 'marriage' being its landmark victories in the US.

This is a dark time, indeed--with only that Paschal candle serving as the light.

He Is Risen, Indeed!!





Victimae paschali laudes, immolent Christiani
Agnus redemit oves; Christus innocens Patri reconciliavit peccatores.
Mors et vita duello conflixere mirando:  dux vitae mortuus, regnat vivus.

Dic nobis Maria, quid vidisti in via?

Sepulcrum Christi viventis, et gloriam vidi resurgentis,
Angelicos testes, sudarium et vestes!!  Surrexit Christus spes mea, praecedit suos in Galilaeam.

Scimus Christum surrexisse a mortuis vere!!  Tu nobis, victor Rex, miserere!

Amen.  Alleluia!

Saturday, March 26, 2016

UW-Mad To Spend Tax $$ on Microaggressions

Here's your money, in the toilet.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has pledged to hire more counselors in the wake of students claiming the state’s flagship university is fraught with microaggressions and racial bias.

“I’m accelerating the hiring of additional student support counseling services … for student mental health issues related to diversity and climate,” Chancellor Rebecca Blank recently announced to the campus community. Incoming freshmen will also receive some sort of “cultural competency” training under new diversity initiatives detailed by Blank on March 15....

Special Snowflakes in Bucky Badger Red.

How very sweet.

More "Noooo Yaaaawk Values": The NFL and NBA

The NBA announced that their All-Star game might not be played in Charlotte, NC, because North Carolina has passed a new law:

...requiring people to use public bathrooms that correspond to their biological sex....

A few days ago, the NFL threatened Georgia that if it passed a religious-freedom law, the NFL would pull its Super Bowl from Atlanta.

So the NBA loves perverts and the NFL hates the Little Sisters of the Poor, eh?

Both organizations are headquartered in New York City.  That's where #BankoTrump "makes deals."

You've been warned.
 

Friday, March 25, 2016

Ryan Redux? REALLY??

This is plain silly.

...The argument for choosing a non-candidate is simple: After a bitter primary and war at the convention, the GOP would need a clean slate headed into the fall. Trump fans won’t turn out for Cruz as nominee because they’d regard him as having stolen the nomination. Cruz fans won’t turn out for Trump because they think he’s a boorish liberal who’s destroying the conservative movement. The only way to take the edge off of those hard feelings is to placate each side by not letting the other side’s champion win....

...So what might happen, as Podhoretz says, is the delegates will opt for someone like Ryan who’s broadly acceptable to traditional Republican voters and personally likable enough that he’d attract some swing voters — and then they’ll just hope for the best....

Women of ......a certain age......will swoon. 

That's about it.

RedState Predicts Cruz in Wisconsin

An ex-resident of Wisconsin predicts Cruz will out-poll Trump in Wisconsin.

Well, maybe. 

His thesis is that the (R) voters--following Sykes and Belling--will fall into line and vote Cruz.  That part may be true, but he forgets that Trump, a demagogue and slimeball, gathers his support from disaffected Democrats.

And in the Wisconsin primary, one can be a (D) but vote on the (R) ticket.

There are a few other observations in his essay and in the combox which are shaky.  1)  Someone there thinks that Tommy Thompson, the master of borrow-and-spend, actually has influence with Conservatives.  Wrong.  2)  The essayist opines that Grothmann is a 'rock-solid' conservative.  Wrong.  Grothmann is a party-line voter who has no problems at all voting centrist when he is told to do so.  3)  He thinks the state supreme court race will favor Cruz.   Not necessarily.  Why?  That race is non-partisan; voting on that will NOT prevent a (D) from voting for Trump--and the Left knows that they must GOTV on that race, meaning that there will be plenty of (D) voters in the booth who can pull the TrumpkinKoolAde lever, too.

All-in-all, he may be right; Cruz may well prevail.  But I'm not betting the house on it.  Demagogue sleazeballs have won before.




Thursday, March 24, 2016

#BankoTrump Won't Beat Hillary, Either

The Donald, a serial bankruptcy practitioner (thus, #BankoTrump) has had an impact on the (R) Party. 

He would have another impact if nominated:  the Party would lose, yyyuuuuuuuuuuge, to HRC.


Pepsi, Visa, Exxon: More Equal Than Little Sisters

Everything you need to know about Obama, Reid, and Pelosi is right here:

...Meanwhile, some other health plans have been “grandfathered” in and are not subject to the mandate. These include plans offered by ExxonMobil, Chevron, Visa Inc. and PepsiCo.

Furthermore, the U.S. Military includes a family insurance plan that does not offer the mandated services.

And, according to the website, one in three Americans do not have a health plan that satisfies the mandate. The Little Sisters say that since so many employers are offered exemptions under various justifications, there is no reason that they should not receive a religious exemption as well....--Catholic News Service quoted at LifeNews.com

The objective of the Left is to demolish religion and families.  Period.

Therefore, the objective of religion and families should be to demolish the Left.  Fair is fair.


Dump Novack in Waukesha

It's very clear:  the current Waukesha County Clerk, Kathleen Novack, is an incompetent boob.

Aside from her arrogance and incompetence, Novack is impetuous and flat-out opposes the Wisconsin Constitution.

Vote for Gina Gresch.  Novack should retire on her IRS pension.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Belloc, the Prophet. This Ain't Pretty

If you think that what's happened in Paris and Brussels is a shock, you haven't read Belloc.

...During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the Mahommedan world fell under a kind of palsy. It could not catch up with our rapidly advancing physical science. Its shipping and armament and all means of communication and administration went backwards while ours advanced. At last, by the end of the nineteenth century, more than nine-tenths of the Mahommedan population of the world, from India and the Pacific to the Atlantic, had fallen under the Government of nominally Christian nations, especially of England and France. 

On this account our generation came to think of Islam as something naturally subject to ourselves. We no longer regarded it as a rival to our own culture, we thought of its religion as a sort of fossilized thing about which we need not trouble. 

That was almost certainly a mistake. We shall almost certainly have to reckon with Islam in the near future. Perhaps if we lose our Faith it will rise....H. Belloc, 1938 quoted at 1 Peter 5

Well, pace my Lut'ran pals, Europe began losing its faith when Luther (et.al., Zwingli, Henry VIII, Calvin) rose in rebellion against the Church.  If you disagree--and I expect you will--then PJBuchanan has a few words for you:

...Consider the idols to which European Man has burnt incense since losing his faith: Darwinism, Marxism, Bolshevism, fascism, Nazism, now globalism — the idea of a secular paradise where mankind’s needs are met by the state and people spend their lives consuming cultural and material goods until the time comes for the painless exit....

You Prot friends need not remind me that Catholics, too, have fallen for this hogswallop; all it proves is that Catholics can lose their faith without (formally) leaving the Church.

Meantime, Paris, Brussels, and coming to a theater near you.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Rubio: "Let It Burn"

Well, well.

For the last several months, some on the Right have muttered that they will simply 'let it burn' when the Party elders decide to nominate another flaccid, gutless centrist (R) and the Hildebeeste.  That is to say, they would sit it out, erect a middle finger, and walk away from the conflagration sure to follow.

Apparently Marco Rubio is of that mindset, too.

...in recent weeks, within Cruz’s camp, talk of a joint ticket has run rampant. Utah Republican Mike Lee, one of two senators to endorse Cruz, has emerged as an outspoken supporter of a unity ticket — and as a potential broker. The freshman senator, according to several sources briefed on the talks, has reached out repeatedly to Rubio to gauge his interest, but has been rebuffed....RedState quoting Politico

Some might be silly enough to say that The Donald is not a 'flaccid centrist.'  That's true, as far as it goes.  Unmentioned is the fact that The Donald has no principles whatsoever.  He has been on both sides of any material issue except one:  the issue of Big Gummint.

There, The Donald stands tall.  He wants more of it.  Lots more.  And don't bother The Donald with niceties about the Bill of Rights, either.

Meantime, the Earnest Young Man has turned into a sulking 6-year-old.  Huh.

Monday, March 21, 2016

The Cruz/Trump Debate, Clarified

Courtesy of Cold Fury, the discussion is moved to another level.

Be sure to read the link to Porretto's piece, which is found in the combox.

Related:  last night's Bill Cunningham broadcast.  He interviews an author who names the Nine Worst US Presidents (and Carter ain't one of them, IIRC.)


Saturday, March 19, 2016

Reality Check on US-Based Manufacturing

For the last several months, the decline in US manufacturing has been in the headlines.  The usual suspects have blamed "labor costs" because that's what they are told to say.  In reality, a well-run manufacturer's direct labor-cost is only about 5% of the total cost of the goods.

(Yes, I said 5%.  I'll accept quibbling about that--but the number will not change significantly.)

When an influential writer then went on to carpet-bomb what remained of the corpse of domestic manufacturing, there was a reaction. 

This essay digs a little deeper.

...the reality is that since the year 2000 when Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China went into effect, [Bill Clinton signed that treaty] five million manufacturing jobs have been lost, according to data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
 
What’s more, the nation’s Gross Domestic Product growth has not exceeded 4 percent since that same year.  In fact, GDP growth hasn’t exceeded 3 percent since 2005 making the past decade the worst for economic growth since the Great Depression....

Then follows a partial list of causes:

...It is the fault of government policies that dictated that incandescent light bulbs could not be sold in the United States, so General Electric (which lobbied for the ban) could close the Virginia plant that made those bulbs and replace it with one in China that makes the federal government mandated ones.

It is the fault of environmental regulatory policies that turned timber mill towns in the Northwest into ghost towns, and are currently in the process of shutting down coal mines and industries related to the coal business shuttering the life blood of towns all over Appalachia. 

And it is the fault of a corporate tax system that makes it undesirable to invest in building things here in America. ...

Oh, yes, there's more!  Regulatory predators such as EEOC create expense, too.  How about the cost of the Fair Labor Standards Act?  (OK--you think a 40-hour week is luxurious?  Change the FLSA!)  Or take OSHA.  Yah, all those safety thingadoodles cost money.  (You don't like the costs?  Repeal OSHA!!)

And we haven't even started on State and local gummint rules, regs, taxes, and fees.

This is Big Gummint, and it is why The Donald is succeeding.  He is playing to the large crowd of people who have been hammered by job losses (without telling them that he will do not one damn thing to change it other than 'build walls.')

HT:  ColdFury

Friday, March 18, 2016

Dirty Harry Reid. But Where's McConnell?

The Slimeball of the Senate strikes again.

Senate Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid refuses to say why for months he has blocked a bipartisan bill designed to ensure inspectors general access all of the official documents they need to fight waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government.

How "bi-partisan" is the bill?  Both Wisconsin senators are co-sponsors.

But there's a curious paragraph late in the story:

...Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , a Kentucky Republican, hasn’t brought the measure back to the floor in the months since Reid’s blocking maneuver. A McConnell spokesman said no vote is scheduled before the current session draws to a close....

Isn't THAT interesting?  Reid is certainly corrupt.

So why is McConnell playing along?

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Cdl. Dolan--Really?

It is reported that Cdl. Dolan laments the laxity of Lenten observance by Catholics.

So where was Cdl. Dolan when Bud Selig scheduled Opening Day on Good Friday?

Yes, I know that Selig is not a Catholic--but did then-Abp. Dolan utter a public peep?  Did Abp. Dolan relax the Good Friday fast/abstinence for Brewer fans?

Hmmmmm?

For that matter, my memory is cloudy--but didn't Abp. Dolan issue a "pass" on Friday observances when St Patrick's Day fell on that weekday?

McConnell Should Kiss Cruz' Ass

A lying scumbag who also happens to be a US Senator says that Ted Cruz should 'apologize' to the lying scumbag for Cruz' having called him a lying scumbag.

The lying scumbag should kiss Cruz' ass in Gimbel's window.

Trump Is the Smartest Guy Trump Knows

Well, then, that's settled.

There's a benefit here:  No advisors, no leaky electronic correspondence.  We can also save a lot of money by simply closing the State Department. 

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

"There Will Be Riots", Donald?

Well, when you have your riots, Donald, will all the women get forced to the ground by that skinny little jackwad-ski campaign manager of yours?



What We Need Is More Public Transportation!

We all know that there is not enough public transportation.  There are far too many people who take their own cars to work every day, polluting stuff, and killing off fish, chipmunks, and trees everywhere. 

The solution is so obvious:  force everyone into sardine cans which are so clean, so pure, so perfect for all, that those who resist will be terminated everyone will LOVE it.

You say that could be a problem?  Then you don't believe in HopenChange and you are a resister and will be terminated.

That is all.

Ryan's New "Budget Blueprint": Another Fraud on Taxpayers

Paul Ryan, fresh from his Sanctimony Screed of Sunday, released his Republican Blueprint for the budget.

Note very well:  this is not 'the budget.'  This does not go to Obozo's desk.  This is simply a resolution-form which outlines Republican ideas for the budget.

And it's another Bush/Boehner/McConnell/Ryan slop-fest.

Want to know how Trump does it?  Ask no more.


What Happened in Brown Deer?

It's only one witness--so far--but this could be trouble.

A man shot Monday afternoon by police following an incident on a Milwaukee Country Transit System bus was unarmed, a witness said....

...the witness said the man refused to put his hands behind his back for handcuffs and was pushed to the ground by a female officer. When the man continued to struggle, the witness said she heard a pop and saw the female officer putting her service weapon back into its holster....

The Milwaukee PD is investigating the incident and so far has been very tight-lipped about its findings.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Priggish Paul Ryan Whistles Past His Cemetery

Priggish Paul Ryan goes for the sanctimony award while daintily dancing around the real problem.

...“I guess I’d make two points about these…this violence in these rallies. First, there’s obviously an effort by some in the left to shut down these rallies and to stir unrest. We should never condone that. We have a long history of peaceful protest, but creating this kind of drama isn’t good for anybody and it’s unacceptable. At the same time I think the candidates–I think the candidates need to take responsibility for the environment at their events. There’s never an excuse for condoning violence or even a culture that presupposes it.

“We just need to reject, not only violence in very clear terms, but I think you’re right about the tone of the campaign. Look, people are angry. People have looked at the last seven years and they are understandably very anxious, very frustrated and hurting....

Nice try, Paul.  Up to "seven years" you were doing OK.

Want to go for the whole truth next time, Paul?  How about the misbegotten failure called "nation-building"? Or the horrific Federalization of education called "No Child Left Behind"?  Or about blowing a fiscal hole into Medicare with a new drug benefit?

And about those 'seven years,' Paul--how about the Top Ten Betrayals you, Boehner, and McConnell engineered in the "last seven years"?

Put your priggish sanctimony where the sun never shines, Paul.  

Is the EPA a Predator?

Below we note DHS' perversion.

Here we note EPA's predation.

Ain't Big Gummint wonderful??

Obama administration officials called the Gold King Mine disaster in Colorado an “accident,” but an analysis from The Daily Caller News Foundation of government documents and public statements makes clear the disaster was anything but accidental.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intentionally opened up the abandoned mine, which unleashed 3 million gallons of toxic waste into nearby rivers that residents of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and the Navajo Nation depend upon for drinking water.
...

Well.  What difference, at this point, does it make?

How D.H.S. Perverts Research

Norm Matloff (a D-voting guy) is a professor of statistics at U.C. and has a large body of work concerning immigration policy, particularly the H1-B corner of that world.  His research is clear and compelling:  the "best and brightest" line is .....well......poppycock.  It's an excuse to import and hire cheap labor and put US citizens out of work, or in the case of college grads, keep them from getting work in the first place.  Think 'Disney'.

D.H.S., guided by large-money lobbyists from Intel, Google, Facebook (and others) could not disprove his research.

So they perverted it.

This is what you get when the Government is too large and too distant.  It does not serve the interests of its own population; it serves political aims and friends.  This is "crony capitalism" or "the D.C. Cabal."

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Tommy Stays Off the Rails

JSOnline carries a headline to the effect that Tommy Thompson 'thinks' the Senate should hold hearings on an Obozo SCOTUS nominee. 

There's a reason that Tommy got whomped in that Senatorial election.  Tommy just hasn't figured it out yet, and (obviously) never will.

Right Order, Not Trump, Is the Target

Trump rallies in Chicago, St Louis, and Dayton have been targets of the Left.

Trump is only the current excuse for the Left.  You can--and should--expect this sort of violence to follow the (R) Presidential nominee no matter who it is after the convention.  "Trump" is merely the current excuse.

The attack is on Right Order, just as it has been for centuries.  As it pertains to recent US politics, this is a replay of the Chicago (D) convention riots but wearing different t-shirts, and it is now--just as it was then--only a small minority of actors.  They begin with repulsive tactics such as spitting and screeching, and--if those are not enough--they escalate to violence.  (We had a foreshadowing in Wisconsin during the Act 10 period.)

The entire objective is to provoke retaliatory action.  Some Trump supporters have unwittingly(?) cooperated with The Left and given them exactly that.  Trump himself is confused about what's at play here--he thinks it's all about The Donald.  He's wrong.  It's about Right Order.

And it will not cease soon.

UPDATE:  This woman gets it, too.




It's About Time, Right?

Disappointing that Wisconsin is NOT on this list.

...Elected officials in 10 states have proposed legislation that would opt their states out of daylight saving time including Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington. ...

The time-shift was a fuel-saving tactic originating during WWI, and revived for WWII.  LBJ and Tricky Dick kept it alive, and the Moronic Congress of 2005 made it eight months long.

In Wisconsin, the Farm Lobby has fought to keep it because at one time, tractors did not have headlights (!!).  (At one time, tractors did not have onboard GPS or air-conditioned cabins, either.)

Regulating toilet-flushes, refrigeration agents, 'healthy' diets, automobiles, lightbulbs, and sleep patterns.  The Petty Dictators of D.C. revel in their silly sanctimonies.

The Wisconsin Pubbies, led by Scott Walker, have shown that the zeitgeist, even one originating in the 1910's, is fine with them.  They are well behind the curve on this issue, too.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Bizarre PJ Media Story

Somebody named Rod Kackley writes a confused story about a very clear decision in Alabama.

This much IS clear:

“Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act,” Moore wrote in his order that was issued Jan. 6.

It is not the concern of the Alabama Supremes whether this will "calm" the debate over the inane and illicit SCOTUS Obergefell ruling, no matter the headline of the essay.

Nor is the Alabama Supreme Court concerned with the opinion of ACLU or SPLC.  (Thank God.)

They merely upheld the Alabama Constituion.  In contrast, Scott Walker ignores the Wisconsin Constitution on this question; that sort of 'clarifies' the matter, ain'a?

Thursday, March 10, 2016

It Is Good To Be a Lefty Hypocrite!

The best way to remain a billionaire is to oppress the worker class.

At least, that seems to be the belief of one Nick Hanauer.

Who--by the way--wants to force OTHERS to pay $15.00/hour in minimum wage.

See?

Is The Donald Stupid, or a Liar?

Well, one could say "serial exaggerator" instead of liar, I suppose.

See, "serial exaggeration" is actually his M.O. in real life.  But that does not eliminate "utterly stupid."

Wednesday, March 09, 2016

Will Obama Send Troops to Alabama?

This is very interesting.


...Today, in a 170-page ruling, the Alabama Supreme Court rejected the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage opinion by issuing its own Judgment in favor of Liberty Counsel’s Petition for Mandamus. In the petition, Liberty Counsel demanded on behalf of its Alabama clients – Alabama Policy Institute (“API”) and Alabama Citizens Action Program (“ALCAP”) – that the state’s probate judges obey Alabama’s Constitution and laws. On March 4, 2015, the Alabama Supreme Court ordered the probate judges to immediately cease issuing same-sex marriage licenses...

And the Alabama Supremes confirmed that order last week.

10th Amendment v. CrazyCourt's Kennedy!!
Today, in a 170-page ruling, the Alabama Supreme Court rejected the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage opinion by issuing its own Judgment in favor of Liberty Counsel’s Petition for Mandamus. In the petition, Liberty Counsel demanded on behalf of its Alabama clients – Alabama Policy Institute (“API”) and Alabama Citizens Action Program (“ALCAP”) – that the state’s probate judges obey Alabama’s Constitution and laws. On March 4, 2015, the Alabama Supreme Court ordered the probate judges to immediately cease issuing same-sex marriage licenses. - See more at: https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/03/why-the-gay-marriage-legal-battle#sthash.nL0XkPR9.dpuf

Does Paul Ryan Have Any Credibility?

Not ONE 'budget reform' since 2011.  In fact, nothing but increased spending.

That was during Ryan's Budget and Ways/Means reigns.

Should he blame it all on McConnell?  Obozo?

Or just admit that he's a master of FooFooDust Blowing?

While the Republican budget was supposed to preserve the BCA spending levels for 2016, that was not the plan for 2017.  Instead, the Republican budget promised to cut spending even further.  Whereas the BCA set a cap of $1.04 trillion in spending for 2017, the Republican budget demanded $1.013 trillion – a $27 billion dollar cut. 
What did the Republicans deliver?  Not only did they completely capitulate on the budget of $1.013 trillion for 2017, but they surrendered on the BCA levels too!  In December 2015, they made an agreement with Obama to increase the 2017 statutory cap levels to $1.07 trillion. In other words, the Republican balanced budget that promised us $27 billion in cuts for 2017 instead gave us $57 billion in spending increases relative to the budget ($30 billion more relative to BCA levels).
- See more at: https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/03/republicans-postpone-the-budget#sthash.6bVzS2Do.dpuf

Tom Friedman, WSJ Share Communicable Disease

When you find the Wall Street Journal and Thomas Friedman on the same page (cough), the conclusion is clear:  New York City disease.  That's closely related to DC Disease and Silicon Valley Disease.

All of those can be cured by a 20-year life experience in, say, West Virginia, or Central Missouri.

Idaho: FBI Under Investigation

Seems that some "elite unit" FBI types fired a couple of rounds and tried to cover it up.

If the story related here is true, those Feebs should be drummed out of the service.  But then, Horiuchi, who assassinated a mother holding her infant....

Time for the Earnest Young Fellow to Quit

Rubio, every inch the Earnest Young Fellow, has not won squat, but is spending a lot to do so.

Time for him to go quietly into the night.

Monday, March 07, 2016

Very Weak Credit Growth

Another little straw in the wind.

Against expectations of a $17 billion surge, US consumer credit grew at just $10.5 billion - the weakest and biggest miss since March 2013. The biggest driver of this disappointment was an actual contraction in revolving credit (down $1.1 billion) for the first time since Feb 2015....

That was for January.  In addition, December's growth was revised downward.

HRC's Candidacy in One Sentence

Grim's summation:

...The appeal to self-as-victim, in the hope of aligning other self-described victims behind her, is the core of her political stance....

Well said.

Even Bubba Gets It

BubbaBill Clinton took a break from chasing young stuff and blurted out the truth:  Obozo's 'recovery' is just "pretty pictures."

In fact, even the notoriously Leftish Rag, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, admitted that last month's 'job gains' were largely centered in barista and retail categories.  Not exactly high-dollar stuff, that.

We are amused by the hard-line manufacturers (hint:  autos) who look at the numbers and declare that sales MUST go up--while they whistle past the ugly stats which tell us that 64% of car "sales" are either leases or are using SEVEN-year loans.

At some point, the music stops and someone's going to be short of a chair.....

Can Even Ted Cruz Take Down the Leviathan?

Ted Cruz--unlike The Donald--seems to be firmly opposed to The Leviathan now cozily ensconced in D.C.  But one wonders if even Ted Cruz can take down enough of that monster.

Besides the rogue Warren-animal discussed below (CFPB), we have FCC and FTC.  Why are they relevant today?

Ask Google's execs:  somebody made sure that Google will live long and prosper.

...“The head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s Wireline Competition Bureau offered a long-awaited peek this week inside the thinking behind the agency’s forthcoming privacy rules for broadband….The bureau chief repeated the rules will only apply to (Internet Service Provider) ISPs – edge providers like Google, Amazon, and Facebook will stay within the realm of the (Federal Trade Commission) FTC.”

Get that? The FCC is about to drop the hammer on ISPs – severely proscribing what they can do with the data they collect. While leaving completely alone Google – to continue their HUGE data-selling business-as-usual....

Demolition of The Leviathan may take a helluvalot longer than eight years, even for an Administration equipped with chainsaws and tactical nukes--and willing to use them.

The Warren/Obozo Shakedown Racket

A few years ago, Obozo and Elizabeth Warren drove the creation of the "Consumer Financial Protection  Bureau".  This parasitic entity resides in the office of the Federal Reserve Bank and is (deliberately and completely) shielded from Congressional oversight and funding.

Thus, it is able to shake down car- and home-mortgage lenders, and do so with completely fabricated "evidence" of 'discriminatory practices.'

Frankly, I'm no fan of the banks who managed to purchase "Too Big to Fail" designation from the FedGov.  That abuse is one of the hundreds of reasons that most (R) congress-slime should be driven from office and tarred & feathered.

But creating an un-Constitutional agency with an agenda which is openly anti-business?  That's not a solution.  It's pure (D) race-politics.  Again.

Sunday, March 06, 2016

The Problem With Early Voting

There is a local RadioMouth who promotes 'early voting,' loudly and proudly.

He never acknowledges that such voting can be a big, big, problem.

Now, we'll admit that the Cruz/Trump disparity in 'early' vs. 'election day' results is not a National Concern.  But the disparity is real, and--in all likelihood--had an impact on the win/lose totals.

The personal convenience of certain RadioMouths should not really take precedence over a fully-informed vote.

CF Industries, Bob Arzbaecher....What?

There's something of a brouhaha boiling in Louisiana which brings a Milwaukee name to the fore.

A group of ironworkers and riggers working in Louisiana have been told to remove American flags from their trucks or be terminated.

The decree came from those in charge of the CF Industries fertilizer plant expansion in Donaldsonville, La., on Thursday....

To be fair, there is a bit of confusion at CF over all this:

...BizPac Review reached out to Chris Close, director of corporate communications at CF Industries, who stressed that the men were subcontractors and not employees, but he admitted he had no immediate knowledge of the situation....


Well, then.  Google "CF Industries" and who pops up as a Board member?

Robert C. Arzbaecher has served as chairman of the board of Actuant Corporation, a manufacturer and marketer of industrial products and systems, since 2001 and as president and chief executive officer of the corporation from 2000 until January 2014. From 1992 until 2000, he held various financial positions with Applied Power, Inc., Actuant's predecessor, the most recent of which was chief financial officer....

There must be some explanation, right, Bob?

HT:  Weasel Zippers

Thursday, March 03, 2016

Trump, the Real Estate Genius? Not!

So far, Trump's biggest success is narcissism and blowhard-ery.

He certainly isn't good at real estate deals.

“Mr. Trump has underperformed the real estate market by approximately $13.2 billion, or 57%,” since 1976, says John Griffin, a finance professor at the University of Texas, who compared Trump’s stated net worth with four decades of returns on the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITS FNER, +0.29% Index."....Quoted at RedState

One suspects he's running because he needs the cash-flow of a Gummint job.


Charlie, What I Don't Get....

Charlie started early this morning by pre-emptively defending Paul Ryan's complete bend-over to Obozo's budget demands.  Charlie used the usual excuse:  "We can't over-ride the veto."

Uh-huh. 

So Ryan didn't even bother to try.

Contrast the blubbering Ryan with this guy:

Joe Morici joined the Army right out of high school. After serving his country as a sergeant in a medivac unit for a year in Afghanistan, he came home and he went to work for CVS.

He recently managed a store in Beltsville, Maryland. He says Friday morning his military instincts kicked in when two robbery suspects entered the business. Those instincts got him fired.

Police say the suspects took narcotics from the pharmacy's safe. Morici says fearing for the safety of his customers and co-workers, he pursued the suspects to the front door where one of the suspects attacked him with this screwdriver.

Morici says, "He tried to hit me again with the screwdriver. I disarmed him of the screwdriver, while having the other guy pinned against the one door."

Morici says he even managed to retrieve most, if not all, of the stolen pills during the struggle. The suspects got away....

Morici got fired for that move.  Yes, you read that correctly--he was fired by CVS.

Ryan cries about his circumstances (and Sykes repeats the blubbering.)

Other people act and do what's right.

HT:  Moonbattery
Joe Morici joined the Army right out of high school. After serving his country as a sergeant in a medivac unit for a year in Afghanistan, he came home and he went to work for CVS. - See more at: http://moonbattery.com/?p=69517#sthash.Oy5lRuaV.dpuf

Wednesday, March 02, 2016

Steyn's Excellent Question

Here's a 'think' question which Trumpkins have brought about.

...In the British House of Commons, there are currently 11 parties represented, plus four independents. In the Canadian House of Commons, there are five parties. In New Zealand, seven. When The Washington Post's Michael Gerson warns that a Trump nomination would break apart the Republican Party, the implication is that the health of the Republic depends on maintaining the same two parties of the Civil War era for all eternity. Why?

The answer is obvious, of course:  because with only TWO parties, each of them has more money and influence than either of them deserve.

Doh.

Trumpism/Rovianism: The Plot?

Interesting little theory here that Rove & Co. are perfectly happy with Trump because they are scared to death of Ted Cruz.

Given what we know of Rove, it's plausible.

Saletan Is Wrong About Trumpism

Saletan is regarded as some sort of political guru.  What he actually is is.wrong.  That's not a surprise:  Saletan swims in the DC/NYC/West Coast ocean of over-educated twits who haven't a clue.

...The delusion that Obama caused Trump has been building since last year. This week, it reached the last bastion of rationality on the right: New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. Douthat has a long track record of fairness and good sense. When the madness infects even him, it’s time to clear the air. No, Obama didn’t cause Trump. What caused Trump was the GOP’s decision to negate Obama in every way, and thereby become the party of Trump....

The Establishment GOP has given Obozo every damn thing that Obozo wanted; and where the Establishment failed to do so, SCOTUS moved in to make up the difference.  THAT is why Trump--who is a marginally-successful real estate developer with bad hair but a massive ego, has succeeded in seducing people who are utterly disgusted with BOTH Republicans and Democrats.

Unfortunately, Saletan's "wisdom" is swallowed whole by Party Poobahs and the MSM.

Angelo Codevilla: Right, Again. And It's Bad

This guy Codevilla should be given a medal for his works on America.

Short, to-the-point, and accurate...

...Civics classes used to teach: “Congress makes the laws, the president carries them out, judges decide controversies, and we citizens may be penalized only by a jury of our peers.”

Nobody believes that anymore, because no part of it has been true for a long time. Barack Obama stopped pretending that it is. During the twentieth century’s second half, both parties and all branches of government made a mockery of the Constitution of 1789. Today’s effective constitution is: “The president can do whatever he wants so long as one-third of the Senate will sustain his vetoes and prevent his conviction upon impeachment.”...

Yes.  And current "leaders" in Congress were present for that abortion of the Constitution; many of them were active participants in the crime.

...Obama has been our first emperor. A Donald Trump presidency, far from reversing the ruling class’s unaccountable hold over American life, would seal it. Because Trump would act as our second emperor, he would render well-nigh impossible our return to republicanism....

We observed a few months back, that Trump is just another Obozo, but with bad hair.  They do not completely share policy positions, but their M.O. will be near-identical.  Sad to say, we can expect Congress, including the current "leaders," to continue their moral jackwaddery.  It's what they do.

...Neither Obama nor Trump seem to know or care that cycles of reciprocal resentment, of insults and injuries paid back with ever more interest and ever less concern for consequences, are the natural fuel of revolutions—easy to start and soon impossible to stop. America’s founders, steeped in history as few of our contemporaries are, were acutely aware of how easily factional enmities deliver free peoples into the hands of emperors. America is already advanced in this vicious cycle....

For those of you who are particularly dense, I'll repeat this:

Sad to say, we can expect Congress, including the current "leaders," to continue their moral jackwaddery.  It's what they do.

HT:  Grim