Just observations here, not "science." And yes, I'm not a Romney fan...
1) He is Clintonesque in his poll-driven/focus-group campaign. He campaigned as a 'progressive' (RINO) in Massachusetts--and governed pretty much that way--but now that the country's mood has shifted, so has Mitt.
2) He strikes me as far too professional--too calculated and ..ummmm...slick...to be real. I don't doubt that the guy is a good guy--someone you and I would love to have as a neighbor. But in campaign-mode, he comes across as just a bit chilly, like HRC.
Except HRC is the very picture of cold and calculating and no, I wouldn't want HER as a neighbor.
There you have it.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Yoo--Hoo!! Calling AG Van Hollen!!!
Van Hollen seems to be too busy to defend the First Amendment.
The state attorneys general of Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas filed suit today in U.S. District Court, arguing that the mandate violates both the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. All seven plaintiffs are Republicans.
Not Wisconsin. Nope. Can't take the time for that. Nope.
Seven states filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration today seeking to overturn the mandate that religious employers provide contraception, sterilization, and abortifacients to their employees as part of their health care plans.
Not Wisconsin. Nope. Can't take the time for that. Nope.
Now the Propaganda and Spin: Obozo Goes Into Campaign Gear
Over the next several months, we'll hear a lot of agit-prop, spin, and lies from Obozo.
One example: his energy bullcrap.
...Today, the national average for one gallon of unleaded gasoline is $3.57, which is 18 cents higher than a month ago, according to AAA. In Florida, where he spoke, the average price per gallon is $3.68. The speech comes less than a month after Obama rejected the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would have run from Canada through the midwest to the Gulf of Mexico.
“Under my administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years,” Obama told the audience at the University of Miami. “That’s why we have a record number of oil rigs operating right now – more working oil and gas rigs than the rest of the world combined.”
Sounds real good. But Obozo's claiming what ain't his.
The increase in domestic drilling was almost entirely in areas for which the Obama administration exercised no authority, as oil production on federal land declined by 11 percent in fiscal year 2011, according to a study by the Institute on Energy Research (IER), a free-market energy think tank. But oil production on state lands increased that year by 14 percent and increased by 12 percent on private lands.
(Damn good thing he did NOT have authority, or we'd be paying $25.00/gallon for gas.)
Half-true:
...However, FactCheck.org said that foreign-oil dependence has been declining since 2005, when President George W. Bush was in office. It went on to cite the same Energy Information Administration report from 2011 that said, “There is no single explanation for the decline in U.S. oil import dependence since 2005. Rather, the trend results from a variety of factors. Chief among those is a significant contraction in consumption. U.S. oil product deliveries declined by 1.7 million barrels per day (bbl/d) to 19.1 bbl/d in 2010, from 20.8 million bbl/d in 2005.”
More Obozo-nomics will result in even LESS imported fuels!! And make the Great Depression look like a picnic, too....
Of course, Obozo has done his best to turn off the lights in the USA:
[Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute:]
“Today, 85 percent of the outer-continental shelf has been placed off limits once again. When he took office, there were proposals on the table to open up opportunities in those areas,” Gerard told CNSNews.com. “Today, in the Rocky Mountains, the leasing has gone down 70 percent since taking office. We now have 10 federal agencies, departments, looking at the technology of hydraulic fracturing, which has really opened up this vast game-changer both in natural gas and oil in the United States.”
Election Day. Election Day. Election Day. Election Day. Election Day.
One example: his energy bullcrap.
...Today, the national average for one gallon of unleaded gasoline is $3.57, which is 18 cents higher than a month ago, according to AAA. In Florida, where he spoke, the average price per gallon is $3.68. The speech comes less than a month after Obama rejected the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would have run from Canada through the midwest to the Gulf of Mexico.
Sounds real good. But Obozo's claiming what ain't his.
The increase in domestic drilling was almost entirely in areas for which the Obama administration exercised no authority, as oil production on federal land declined by 11 percent in fiscal year 2011, according to a study by the Institute on Energy Research (IER), a free-market energy think tank. But oil production on state lands increased that year by 14 percent and increased by 12 percent on private lands.
(Damn good thing he did NOT have authority, or we'd be paying $25.00/gallon for gas.)
Obama also told the Miami crowd that foreign oil dependence is down under his watch.
Half-true:
...However, FactCheck.org said that foreign-oil dependence has been declining since 2005, when President George W. Bush was in office. It went on to cite the same Energy Information Administration report from 2011 that said, “There is no single explanation for the decline in U.S. oil import dependence since 2005. Rather, the trend results from a variety of factors. Chief among those is a significant contraction in consumption. U.S. oil product deliveries declined by 1.7 million barrels per day (bbl/d) to 19.1 bbl/d in 2010, from 20.8 million bbl/d in 2005.”
More Obozo-nomics will result in even LESS imported fuels!! And make the Great Depression look like a picnic, too....
Of course, Obozo has done his best to turn off the lights in the USA:
[Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute:]
“Today, 85 percent of the outer-continental shelf has been placed off limits once again. When he took office, there were proposals on the table to open up opportunities in those areas,” Gerard told CNSNews.com. “Today, in the Rocky Mountains, the leasing has gone down 70 percent since taking office. We now have 10 federal agencies, departments, looking at the technology of hydraulic fracturing, which has really opened up this vast game-changer both in natural gas and oil in the United States.”
Election Day. Election Day. Election Day. Election Day. Election Day.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Another "House Bigot" in Obozo's Gang
Seems that Obama has gathered every pro-death bigot-bozo into his circle.
The book—"Human Ecology: Problems and Solutions"—argued that the United States government had a “responsibility to halt the growth of the American population.”
That is so profoundly wrong, on so many levels, that it is near-impossible to address it.
We could start with this, however: "So what (if they have 'lower' IQ's?"
There is a reason that the term "average" exists, Mr. Holdren.
Social Security's going broke and an alleged 'innerlekshul' proposes that less people should pay the bill?
Holdren proves that bigots are really, really, really stupid.
John P. Holdren, the top science adviser to President Barack Obama, wrote in a book he co-authored with population control advocates Paul and Anne Ehrlich that children from larger families have lower IQs.
That is so profoundly wrong, on so many levels, that it is near-impossible to address it.
We could start with this, however: "So what (if they have 'lower' IQ's?"
There is a reason that the term "average" exists, Mr. Holdren.
Social Security's going broke and an alleged 'innerlekshul' proposes that less people should pay the bill?
Holdren proves that bigots are really, really, really stupid.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Obozo: "We Don't Need No Steeenkin' Defense!!"
Seems that the Twit-in-Chief has all sorts of stupid ideas.
...Mr. Obama has directed the Defense Department to come up with plans for reducing the U.S. nuclear arsenal by as much as eighty percent. Evidently, he is prepared to take such a step unilaterally in order to encourage by our example other nations to join in his longstanding ambition to “rid the world of nuclear weapons.”
Umnnnhhhh.....
...It is not just that President Obama is blindly driving for ideological reasons the numerical evisceration of U.S. nuclear forces. As Congressman Turner pointed out earlier this month in introducing legislation aimed at holding the administration to commitments made during the consideration of the New START Treaty in 2010, the administration is also walking away from its promises to modernize what remains of our deterrent. Over time, the practical effect of combining the draconian nuclear cuts Mr. Obama seeks and his failure to arrest and reverse the atrophying of the obsolescing arsenal will leave us functionally disarmed.
Wait, wait!!
We can always throw mercury-laden lightbulbs at the enemy!!!
...Mr. Obama has directed the Defense Department to come up with plans for reducing the U.S. nuclear arsenal by as much as eighty percent. Evidently, he is prepared to take such a step unilaterally in order to encourage by our example other nations to join in his longstanding ambition to “rid the world of nuclear weapons.”
Umnnnhhhh.....
...It is not just that President Obama is blindly driving for ideological reasons the numerical evisceration of U.S. nuclear forces. As Congressman Turner pointed out earlier this month in introducing legislation aimed at holding the administration to commitments made during the consideration of the New START Treaty in 2010, the administration is also walking away from its promises to modernize what remains of our deterrent. Over time, the practical effect of combining the draconian nuclear cuts Mr. Obama seeks and his failure to arrest and reverse the atrophying of the obsolescing arsenal will leave us functionally disarmed.
Wait, wait!!
We can always throw mercury-laden lightbulbs at the enemy!!!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Ron Paul: "Liberating" Money, Too
Back in the good old days, Lefties stole things and called it "liberating" them.
Seems like Ron Paul has a 'liberating' problem.
...James' recollection and new documents obtained by Roll Call suggest Paul was aware that he was often being reimbursed twice for individual flights. In all, Roll Call found 26 flights in which several layers of documentation show double payments: credit card statements that detail the ticket purchases, a payment to Paul from his taxpayer-funded House account for reimbursement of a flight and Federal Election Commission records or copies of checks that verify a second payment from a separate group for the same flight....--AmSpec quoting Roll Call
Prolly all 'clerical errors,' ya' know.
Seems like Ron Paul has a 'liberating' problem.
...James' recollection and new documents obtained by Roll Call suggest Paul was aware that he was often being reimbursed twice for individual flights. In all, Roll Call found 26 flights in which several layers of documentation show double payments: credit card statements that detail the ticket purchases, a payment to Paul from his taxpayer-funded House account for reimbursement of a flight and Federal Election Commission records or copies of checks that verify a second payment from a separate group for the same flight....--AmSpec quoting Roll Call
Prolly all 'clerical errors,' ya' know.
A $10 Million 'Contingent Liability' for Duke Power Shareholders
Duke Power is publicly traded, and has just assumed a $10 million contingent liability.
...Duke Energy is subsidizing the Democratic National Convention by guaranteeing a $10 million line of credit for the convention.
...Duke has lobbied for and stands to profit from the sort of cap-and-trade policies President Obama supports, as well as other Obama green-energy subsidies. Specifically, Duke has pocketed $230 million in taxpayer money from Obama's stimulus, according to the Washigton Free Beacon's Andrew Stiles.
We await the Left-o-Wacky noise about "corporate contributions to politicians".
...Duke Energy is subsidizing the Democratic National Convention by guaranteeing a $10 million line of credit for the convention.
We await the Left-o-Wacky noise about "corporate contributions to politicians".
The Perverted "Theology" of the Media
In sum, the Boob Schieffers of the MFM actually do worship a god: the State.
Here’s the primary belief animating Big Media theology: nothing happens unless the federal government does it. Pre-natal care only happens if the taxpayers finance it, or insurance companies are mandated to perform it for “free.” Kids will only receive an education if Jimmy Carter’s Department of Education and the teachers’ unions provide it. The Earth will only receive proper stewardship if Big Government – centralized even beyond Washington, D.C. – compels it.
Organized religion is acceptable to the media only when it reinforces these goals, or at least refuses to challenge them. That’s why the same people who are working hard to build a narrative that Santorum is unfit for high office because he’s a harbinger of incipient theocracy have absolutely no problem with Barack Obama using religion to justify redistributionist liberalism. In fact, they grow very angry when they think a liberal’s religious sincerity is challenged, even obliquely. The only thing that enrages them nearly as much is a conservative whose religious sincerity is apparent. It’s all about showing the appropriate degree of deference to the proper Ultimate Authority.
Even Thomas Jefferson--a Deist who had no love whatever for organized religion--would not have swallowed that line of crap.
The Dismal ObozoConomy
That stimulus really, really worked, no?
Today Gallup reports that mid-February unemployment was 9%, up from the 8.3% of January....
HT: RedStates
Monday, February 20, 2012
Why the Santorum Surge?
Santorum is giving Romney a run for his money--of which Romney has a lot. And the Republicans should be damned happy about that.
Why?
In his first surge, in the last days of Iowa caucus campaigning, Santorum shot into the lead on the strength of a platform that featured appealing positions on jobs, on taxes, on national defense, as well as the social positions for which he is well known. Alone among Republicans, Santorum spoke at length about the decline of U.S. manufacturing and the problems of American workers who don't have college degrees. ("The best speech he ever gave was the speech he gave in Iowa on caucus night," says the Democrat.) Those positions, along with his dogged determination on the stump, caused many Republicans to give him a serious look.
What that prominent Democrat does NOT say directly is this: Santorum is rising because he believes what he says. He believes that manufacturing is critical to a healthy economy. He believes that family formation is critical to the future of the country. He believes that every human life is sacred.
It's what's called 'the strength of convictions.' Most voters are sick to death of the BS and foofoodust of such as Obama and the back-and-forthright Romney and they 'get' that the country is headed over the cliff if we have another 4 years of the crapola.
Will "social issues" kill Santorum in the general?
Nope.
...social conservatism has had a winning track record for the GOP since 1968.
The Democrats who won, including even Barack Obama in 2008, did not play up social liberalism in their campaigns. In 1992 Bill Clinton was a death-penalty advocate who promised to “end welfare as we know it” and make abortion “safe, legal and rare.” Social issues have come to the fore on the GOP side in two of the past six presidential elections—in 1988 (prison furloughs, the Pledge of Allegiance, the ACLU) and 2004 (same-sex marriage). “Those are the only two elections since Reagan where the Republican Party has won a popular majority,” Mr. Bell says. “It isn't coincidental.” --CC quoting Taranto/WSJ
Fuggedabout the "senior Republican Senator" remarks. Santorum can win this.
Why?
In the opinion of this Democrat, Santorum has misunderstood why he has surged ahead of Mitt Romney in recent days. "He was beating Romney because he was the conservative alternative, not because he was the social conservative alternative," the Democrat says. "The deeper in he wades, the more he is going to have to walk it back in order to be in a position where he can actually win the presidency. His strength as an alternative has nothing to do with social policy."
What that prominent Democrat does NOT say directly is this: Santorum is rising because he believes what he says. He believes that manufacturing is critical to a healthy economy. He believes that family formation is critical to the future of the country. He believes that every human life is sacred.
It's what's called 'the strength of convictions.' Most voters are sick to death of the BS and foofoodust of such as Obama and the back-and-forthright Romney and they 'get' that the country is headed over the cliff if we have another 4 years of the crapola.
Will "social issues" kill Santorum in the general?
Nope.
...social conservatism has had a winning track record for the GOP since 1968.
Fuggedabout the "senior Republican Senator" remarks. Santorum can win this.
Forced Prenatal Testing? Yup. The Reich Demands It!
This is not just a matter of a sonogram.
...On the campaign trail in Ohio Saturday, Santorum said, "Free prenatal testing ends up in more abortions and therefore less care that has to be done because we cull the ranks of the disabled in our society." Asked about his statement during an appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday morning, Santorum held his ground. "The bottom line is that a lot of prenatal tests are done to identify deformities in utero and the customary procedure is to encourage abortions," he said. "This is what goes on in medical rooms around the country. And yes, prenatal testing, amniocentesis does, in fact, result more often than not in this country in abortions."
First off, it's not "free." With that out of the way....
Santorum's absolutely correct. ObozoCare requires amniocentesis; it would no longer be elective. And Santorum's also correct that when a deformity is detected, abortion is suggested.
We should add that, in cases where the baby is born with a grave deformity, it is also suggested that 'feeding and hydrating the baby' is a waste of time and money.
To the Statists, individuals have no rights. Only the State has rights.
...On the campaign trail in Ohio Saturday, Santorum said, "Free prenatal testing ends up in more abortions and therefore less care that has to be done because we cull the ranks of the disabled in our society." Asked about his statement during an appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday morning, Santorum held his ground. "The bottom line is that a lot of prenatal tests are done to identify deformities in utero and the customary procedure is to encourage abortions," he said. "This is what goes on in medical rooms around the country. And yes, prenatal testing, amniocentesis does, in fact, result more often than not in this country in abortions."
First off, it's not "free." With that out of the way....
Santorum's absolutely correct. ObozoCare requires amniocentesis; it would no longer be elective. And Santorum's also correct that when a deformity is detected, abortion is suggested.
We should add that, in cases where the baby is born with a grave deformity, it is also suggested that 'feeding and hydrating the baby' is a waste of time and money.
To the Statists, individuals have no rights. Only the State has rights.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
"Businessman"? MItt's Olympic "Success"
Well, looky here, Jed....
“One of Mitt Romney’s greatest accomplishments, one of the things he talks about the most, is how he heroically showed up on the scene, and bailed out and resolved the problems of the Salt Lake City Olympic Games,” Mr. Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, told an audience at a hotel ballroom here.
Pointing out that the Romney campaign has been attacking him over earmarks in Congress, Mr. Santorum added: “Does the word hypocrisy come to mind?” He also noted that one of Mr. Romney’s supporters this year, Senator John McCain, had criticized the taxpayer money provided for the Games.
Romney makes it seem as though the "post-9/11" earmark was all about security. He's half-right.
Come to think of it, he's half-right all the time. And half-left, too.
“One of Mitt Romney’s greatest accomplishments, one of the things he talks about the most, is how he heroically showed up on the scene, and bailed out and resolved the problems of the Salt Lake City Olympic Games,” Mr. Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, told an audience at a hotel ballroom here.
“He heroically bailed out the Salt Lake City Olympic Games,” he then added, “by heroically going to Congress and asking them for tens of millions of dollars to bailout the Salt Lake Olympic Games. In an earmark.”
Romney makes it seem as though the "post-9/11" earmark was all about security. He's half-right.
Come to think of it, he's half-right all the time. And half-left, too.
20,000 XL Jobs Killed by Obozo: Twice That Coming in Med Supply Ind'y
Best sharpen up your burger-flipping skills and move to a resort area where Queen Michelle or King Obozo like to visit.
...Mass.-based Zoll Medical Corp., which makes defibrillators and employs some 1,800 workers in the U.S. and around the world, says the medical device tax will cost the company between $5 million and $10 million a year. Its profit in 2009 was $9.5 million. “Running our company at close to break even would not be a sustainable position for us,” CEO Richard Packer said in a public statement, “so we will be forced to look at alternatives.”
Those “alternatives” include cutting payroll, cutting R and D and passing on the costs to patients, of course. Industry estimates put the tax-induced job losses at 43,000. So far, the number-crunchers at 1600 Pennsylvania are mum on the number of potential jobs — and lives — destroyed by the medical innovation death tax.
Plenty more stories of other firms contemplating either serious cutbacks OR simply moving out of the US altogether.
HT: Malkin
...Mass.-based Zoll Medical Corp., which makes defibrillators and employs some 1,800 workers in the U.S. and around the world, says the medical device tax will cost the company between $5 million and $10 million a year. Its profit in 2009 was $9.5 million. “Running our company at close to break even would not be a sustainable position for us,” CEO Richard Packer said in a public statement, “so we will be forced to look at alternatives.”
Plenty more stories of other firms contemplating either serious cutbacks OR simply moving out of the US altogether.
HT: Malkin
Steyn Nails It, Again
Steyn gets this issue very well. At the end of this post, I'll give you another example of death-by-Obozo.
...I notice that in their coverage NPR and the evening news shows generally refer to the controversy as being about “contraception,” discreetly avoiding mention of sterilization and pharmacological abortion, as if the GOP have finally jumped the shark in order to prevent you jumping anything at all. It may well be that the Democrats succeed in establishing this narrative.
But anyone who falls for it is a sap. In fact, these two issues — the Obama condoms-for-clunkers giveaway and a debt-to-GDP ratio of 900 percent by 2075 — are not unconnected. In Greece, 100 grandparents have 42 grandchildren — i.e., an upside-down family tree. As I wrote in this space a few weeks ago, “If 100 geezers run up a bazillion dollars’ worth of debt, is it likely that 42 youngsters will ever be able to pay it off?” Most analysts know the answer to that question: Greece is demographically insolvent.
...The United States faces a mildly less daunting arithmetic. Nevertheless, the Baby Boomers did not have enough children to maintain mid-20th-century social programs. As a result, the children they did have will end their lives in a poorer, uglier, sicker, more divided, and more violent society...
We note that the common (MFM,economist and libertarian) yappaflappa about the Japanese "lost decade" wholly ignores the FACT that Japan, too, is on a path of self-extinction through contraception--as is Greece, Italy, and Germany.
By the way, if you think my children are going to support YOU, you are nuts. They know what I meant when I said "Buy More Ammo."
HT: Fr Z
...I notice that in their coverage NPR and the evening news shows generally refer to the controversy as being about “contraception,” discreetly avoiding mention of sterilization and pharmacological abortion, as if the GOP have finally jumped the shark in order to prevent you jumping anything at all. It may well be that the Democrats succeed in establishing this narrative.
...The United States faces a mildly less daunting arithmetic. Nevertheless, the Baby Boomers did not have enough children to maintain mid-20th-century social programs. As a result, the children they did have will end their lives in a poorer, uglier, sicker, more divided, and more violent society...
We note that the common (MFM,economist and libertarian) yappaflappa about the Japanese "lost decade" wholly ignores the FACT that Japan, too, is on a path of self-extinction through contraception--as is Greece, Italy, and Germany.
By the way, if you think my children are going to support YOU, you are nuts. They know what I meant when I said "Buy More Ammo."
HT: Fr Z
Beauty, Spirit, Liturgy
Fairly lengthy essay here which raises an important point: it ain't just "body and soul." It's body, intellectus, and ratio.
The loss of the "spirit"--or intellectus--after the Enlightenment also led to the loss of the sense of beauty; thus the circus-tent church, or Picasso, or Schoenberg's dodecaphony--topped only perhaps, by Glass' unending nothingness.
It strikes me that such a neglect as a result of the Enlightenment should result in a cultural decline as well as a liturgical decline is made all the more understandable when one considers the role of the intellectus, or spirit, in the apprehension of beauty. In the first part of her little essay Beauty, Contemplation and the Virgin Mary, Sister Thomas Mary McBride, OP describes succinctly in just a few paragraphs, the traditional understanding of beauty and how man apprehends it. She draws on the Latin medievals and states that beauty illuminates the intellectus, describing the apprehension of beauty as the 'gifted perfection of seeing'. Then echoing Caldecott in the connection between intellectus and spirit says: 'In the light of the above, this writer would suggest that the proper place of beauty is in the spirit.'
An appropriate active participation in the liturgy is one that engages the full person in order to encourage within us the right interior disposition. Any participation in the liturgy that does not engage body, soul and spirit therefore does not engage the full person.
Many have described the liturgical music landscape following VatII as "pragmatic"; in some cases, the music almost seems to have been written by a committee.
B-16 has mentioned "beauty" as a very important quality in liturgy (and its music) at least a dozen times while Pope and Cardinal. There's a reason for that.
The loss of the "spirit"--or intellectus--after the Enlightenment also led to the loss of the sense of beauty; thus the circus-tent church, or Picasso, or Schoenberg's dodecaphony--topped only perhaps, by Glass' unending nothingness.
It strikes me that such a neglect as a result of the Enlightenment should result in a cultural decline as well as a liturgical decline is made all the more understandable when one considers the role of the intellectus, or spirit, in the apprehension of beauty. In the first part of her little essay Beauty, Contemplation and the Virgin Mary, Sister Thomas Mary McBride, OP describes succinctly in just a few paragraphs, the traditional understanding of beauty and how man apprehends it. She draws on the Latin medievals and states that beauty illuminates the intellectus, describing the apprehension of beauty as the 'gifted perfection of seeing'. Then echoing Caldecott in the connection between intellectus and spirit says: 'In the light of the above, this writer would suggest that the proper place of beauty is in the spirit.'
An appropriate active participation in the liturgy is one that engages the full person in order to encourage within us the right interior disposition. Any participation in the liturgy that does not engage body, soul and spirit therefore does not engage the full person.
Many have described the liturgical music landscape following VatII as "pragmatic"; in some cases, the music almost seems to have been written by a committee.
B-16 has mentioned "beauty" as a very important quality in liturgy (and its music) at least a dozen times while Pope and Cardinal. There's a reason for that.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Greta Should Stick to the Lost Girl Stories
Greta VanSusteren beclowned herself last week with her attack of Santorum over an old one-liner told by a Santorum backer.
(Andrea Mitchell attempted to top VanS's idiocy, and there are reports of some clueless dolt reporter-ette actually wondering aloud "....how does that work?")
Maybe Greta should get back to covering missing girls in the Caribbean, or borrow a sense of humor from McCain.
(Andrea Mitchell attempted to top VanS's idiocy, and there are reports of some clueless dolt reporter-ette actually wondering aloud "....how does that work?")
Maybe Greta should get back to covering missing girls in the Caribbean, or borrow a sense of humor from McCain.
Friday, February 17, 2012
You Just Don't Know What's Important, You Rubes, You....
PowerLine says it very well.
...You know that Obama’s acting OMB Director, Jeffrey Zients, appeared before the Senate and House Budget Committees to defend the budget and encountered rough sledding. Among other things, Senator Jeff Sessions asked Zients whether the president’s budget increases spending compared with current law, and Zients was unable or unwilling to answer the question. You know that Tim Geithner followed Zients to the Senate Budget Committee hearing room, and he, too, was unable to say whether Obama’s budget increases federal spending. (It does, both in comparison with current law, as represented by the Budget Control Act, and in absolute terms, by 46% from FY FY 2012 to FY 2021.) You know that the administration’s claim that its budget contains $2.50 in spending cuts for every dollar in tax increases is ridiculous. You know that, despite his confusion on other points, Geithner testified for the second year in a row that President Obama’s budget is “unsustainable.”
So, every newspaper in America must be on top of this explosive story, right? Actually, no. Every newspaper in America is absorbed with Rick Santorum’s views on birth control.
The MFM: a protection-racket.
...You know that Obama’s acting OMB Director, Jeffrey Zients, appeared before the Senate and House Budget Committees to defend the budget and encountered rough sledding. Among other things, Senator Jeff Sessions asked Zients whether the president’s budget increases spending compared with current law, and Zients was unable or unwilling to answer the question. You know that Tim Geithner followed Zients to the Senate Budget Committee hearing room, and he, too, was unable to say whether Obama’s budget increases federal spending. (It does, both in comparison with current law, as represented by the Budget Control Act, and in absolute terms, by 46% from FY FY 2012 to FY 2021.) You know that the administration’s claim that its budget contains $2.50 in spending cuts for every dollar in tax increases is ridiculous. You know that, despite his confusion on other points, Geithner testified for the second year in a row that President Obama’s budget is “unsustainable.”
All of the above would seem to be big news. The United States is hurtling down a road that leads to the collapse we now see in Greece and other European countries. President Obama has no plan to deal with the nation’s debt crisis, other than to hold the accelerator firmly to the floor. And, in order to facilitate Obama’s fiscal recklessness, his administration has lied freely about its own budget. (Sorry, there isn’t any nice way to put it.)
The MFM: a protection-racket.
The Reich's Education Takeover
The Statist-in-Chief is not only trampling the First Amendment. The Tenth is also on the block.
It was not a conservative but the Democratic former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Joseph Califano, Jr. (an aide to both Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter), who warned that “In its most extreme form, national control of curriculum is a form of national control of ideas.” To protect against such dangers, local control of public education always has been a touchstone of the American system.
So?
...without statutory authority, the authors explain how the Obama administration has begun issuing “waivers” of expensive federal mandates, along with providing cash grants, in return for adoption of national standards. The administration then defines the national standards in such a way that only one initiative actually fits the definition – namely, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), a supposedly voluntary national effort that easily morphs into a form of compulsion.
The constitutional, statutory and philosophical abuses by the Obama administration continue piling up. Last week, two of the top former lawyers for the federal Department of Education released a peer-reviewed report showing the administration violating or evading three separate federal laws by pressuring states to adopt a national core curriculum. Those laws exist for good reason: Control of educational content by the national government risks creating a national system of indoctrination, without local recourse to diversity of thought.
So?
...without statutory authority, the authors explain how the Obama administration has begun issuing “waivers” of expensive federal mandates, along with providing cash grants, in return for adoption of national standards. The administration then defines the national standards in such a way that only one initiative actually fits the definition – namely, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), a supposedly voluntary national effort that easily morphs into a form of compulsion.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Inane Laws of the Bush Era, Part 22,354
Never let it be said that we coddle GWB here.
Congress created the [student] loan forgiveness program in 2007 to encourage graduates to enter the public service field. In exchange for that service, the remaining balance of student loans would be considered repaid after 120 full payments.
To qualify for the loan forgiveness, one must now work for a federal, state or local government agency or organization, including public water, bridge or housing districts, or nonprofit organizations designated as tax exempt by the Internal Revenue Service.
Public services that also qualify for the loan forgiveness include emergency management, military service, public safety, law enforcement services; public health services; public education, public library services; school library and other school-based services; public interest law services, early childhood education; public service for individuals with disabilities and the elderly.
IOW, join AFSCME or SEIU and you're out of college-debt in 10 years. (The military exemption is perhaps the only halfway reasonable exemption.)
Granted, Bush had a (D) Congress to fight....
Congress created the [student] loan forgiveness program in 2007 to encourage graduates to enter the public service field. In exchange for that service, the remaining balance of student loans would be considered repaid after 120 full payments.
To qualify for the loan forgiveness, one must now work for a federal, state or local government agency or organization, including public water, bridge or housing districts, or nonprofit organizations designated as tax exempt by the Internal Revenue Service.
Public services that also qualify for the loan forgiveness include emergency management, military service, public safety, law enforcement services; public health services; public education, public library services; school library and other school-based services; public interest law services, early childhood education; public service for individuals with disabilities and the elderly.
IOW, join AFSCME or SEIU and you're out of college-debt in 10 years. (The military exemption is perhaps the only halfway reasonable exemption.)
Granted, Bush had a (D) Congress to fight....
"Tax." "No, Fee." "No, Tax!!!" "No, It's a Fee!"
That's the Obozoites describing the money you'll have to pay for ObozoCare.
And yes, it DOES make a difference.
And yes, it DOES make a difference.
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