Barone writes a short and very clear essay on the political crisis now emerging.
Last graf:
Polls and recent election results tell us that racial minorities and the so-called "educated class" -- the people who expect their kind will administer centralized institutions -- still take the side of the Progressives. Most Americans, however, are rejecting the path of dependence and are intent on declaring their independence once again.
Indeed.
On a closely-related topic, RedState:
The left seems to think that Congress can do whatever the heck it wants to do on any issue. What they forget is that Congress actually only has 18 things it is allowed to do under the constitution. That’s it. It is not so general as to give Congress plenary power to do anything it wants. It never has.
...which happens to be ANOTHER argument for Court invalidation of ObamaCare (specifically, the "insurance mandates" which do NOT fall under established Commerce Clause jurisprudence.)
...Consequently, we have gone beyond a point where you can sit down and read the constitution and really understand what the heck Congress can and cannot do. And this is coupled with burgeoning statism at the local, state, and federal level with little restraint — elections being nearly irrelevant given gerrymandering, campaign finance laws, and the extremely high re-election rates even when 89% of the country says we should throw the bums out.
Yup.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Final Ruling: The ObamaCare Tax IS Enforceable
Jacobson is on the case.
Not being a tax lawyer, I was hesitant to go out on a limb and say the JCT was flat out wrong, but I feel a little more comfortable now saying the JCT was wrong because some tax professors agree with my assessment that the JCT was wrong.
While there are some limitations on collection procedures, the mandate is enforceable by the IRS.
That would contradict the statement of the Joint Committee on Taxation.
But since that Committee is composed of Congressmen, we know that they didn't read the f&^%ng bill in the first place...so their opinion is un-informed, strictly speaking.
Not being a tax lawyer, I was hesitant to go out on a limb and say the JCT was flat out wrong, but I feel a little more comfortable now saying the JCT was wrong because some tax professors agree with my assessment that the JCT was wrong.
While there are some limitations on collection procedures, the mandate is enforceable by the IRS.
That would contradict the statement of the Joint Committee on Taxation.
But since that Committee is composed of Congressmen, we know that they didn't read the f&^%ng bill in the first place...so their opinion is un-informed, strictly speaking.
Agents Provacateurs: The (D) Congress
So to review, class: Who started the fight?
Regardless of whether you favored or opposed the health care legislation passed this week, do you think the methods the Democratic leaders in Congress used to get enough votes to pass this legislation — were [they] an abuse of power, or were [they] an appropriate use of power by the party that controls the majority in Congress?
Abuse of power 53%
Appropriate use of power 40%
No opinion 7%
58% of Independents thought it was an abuse of power.
--Gallup
It's not really a stretch to use the terms 'violence' and 'abuse of power' almost interchangeably. The only difference: Rahm-A-Jamming a bill through Congress is not physical violence.
Tell that to the father whose 12-year-old daughter had "consensual" sex with a 24-year-old scumbag.
Go ahead. Try.
Grim ponders a bit on the question of revolutions.
Regardless of whether you favored or opposed the health care legislation passed this week, do you think the methods the Democratic leaders in Congress used to get enough votes to pass this legislation — were [they] an abuse of power, or were [they] an appropriate use of power by the party that controls the majority in Congress?
Abuse of power 53%
Appropriate use of power 40%
No opinion 7%
58% of Independents thought it was an abuse of power.
--Gallup
It's not really a stretch to use the terms 'violence' and 'abuse of power' almost interchangeably. The only difference: Rahm-A-Jamming a bill through Congress is not physical violence.
Tell that to the father whose 12-year-old daughter had "consensual" sex with a 24-year-old scumbag.
Go ahead. Try.
Grim ponders a bit on the question of revolutions.
That "Drill Decision" From Obama? Fuggedaboutit
We were a bit skeptical when the announcement was made.
For good reason.
...as a result of the Obama decision, the Interior Department will spend several years conducting geologic and environmental studies along the rest of the southern and central Atlantic Seaboard. If a tract is deemed suitable for development, it is listed for sale in a competitive bidding system. The next lease sales — if any are authorized by the Interior Department — would not be held before 2012.
Saudi Arabia will be pleased--as will the Commie tinpot in Venezuela.
Co-incidence, I'm sure.
More from Gateway:
The Obama Administration plan would discard the 2010-2015 Outer Continental Shelf lease plan that had been set in motion by the previous Administration and delay the implementation of their new plan until 2012. This new two-year “Obama Moratorium” (2010-2012) would almost certainly delay any new exploration in areas previously under moratoria until after the president’s entire term. The president’s plan would then keep several areas off limits, including the Pacific coast from Mexico to Canada, the Atlantic coast north of Delaware, parts of Alaska, and the most promising areas of the Gulf of Mexico.
Against the will of the American people and Congress, the Administration is essentially unilaterally reinstating the drilling ban for an additional two years, signaling to markets that supply will not expand, thus raising prices.
Like I said, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.
HT: Yankee
For good reason.
...as a result of the Obama decision, the Interior Department will spend several years conducting geologic and environmental studies along the rest of the southern and central Atlantic Seaboard. If a tract is deemed suitable for development, it is listed for sale in a competitive bidding system. The next lease sales — if any are authorized by the Interior Department — would not be held before 2012.
Saudi Arabia will be pleased--as will the Commie tinpot in Venezuela.
Co-incidence, I'm sure.
More from Gateway:
The Obama Administration plan would discard the 2010-2015 Outer Continental Shelf lease plan that had been set in motion by the previous Administration and delay the implementation of their new plan until 2012. This new two-year “Obama Moratorium” (2010-2012) would almost certainly delay any new exploration in areas previously under moratoria until after the president’s entire term. The president’s plan would then keep several areas off limits, including the Pacific coast from Mexico to Canada, the Atlantic coast north of Delaware, parts of Alaska, and the most promising areas of the Gulf of Mexico.
Against the will of the American people and Congress, the Administration is essentially unilaterally reinstating the drilling ban for an additional two years, signaling to markets that supply will not expand, thus raising prices.
Like I said, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.
HT: Yankee
US Growth: Not In Line With ObamaBudget Predictions
Remember that the Obama budget--which imposes massive deficits on the country--is based on economic growth north of 4%/annum for the next few years.
It is an alarming, jaw-dropping conclusion. The U.S. standard of living, says superstar Northwestern University economist Robert Gordon in a new paper, is about to experience its slowest growth “over any two-decade interval recorded since the inauguration of George Washington.” That’s right, get ready for twenty years of major-league economic suckage. It is an event that would change America’s material expectations, self-identity and political landscape. Change in the worst way.
HT: Ace
It is an alarming, jaw-dropping conclusion. The U.S. standard of living, says superstar Northwestern University economist Robert Gordon in a new paper, is about to experience its slowest growth “over any two-decade interval recorded since the inauguration of George Washington.” That’s right, get ready for twenty years of major-league economic suckage. It is an event that would change America’s material expectations, self-identity and political landscape. Change in the worst way.
Now it’s not so much that the Great Recession will morph into the Long Recession. More like ease into the Great Stagnation. As Gordon calculates it, the economy will average only 2.4 percent annual real GDP growth over that span vs. 3 percent or so during the previous 20 years. On a per capita basis, the economy will grow at just a 1.5 percent average annual rate vs. 2.17 percent between 1929 and 2007.
Not only will many people be eating grass-flavored soup for the next 20 years or so; the deficit will grow MUCH faster than ObamaBudget projections b/c tax revenues will simply suck.HT: Ace
Jim Doyle: A Continuing Enterprise of Lying
Doyle is proving the old adage that 'you know when a lawyer is lying....his lips are moving.'
Sad, because by and large, lawyers are honest folk.
Gov. Jim Doyle said Tuesday that he wasn't to blame for the closing of a bridge in the Zoo Interchange, saying the order of road projects in southeastern Wisconsin was decided before he became governor in 2003.
Oh, REALLY?
Donald Reinbold was the project director on the Marquette, started in 2004 and finished in 2008.
Other than that, Doyle's just another lawyer--whose father would disown him.
Sad, because by and large, lawyers are honest folk.
Gov. Jim Doyle said Tuesday that he wasn't to blame for the closing of a bridge in the Zoo Interchange, saying the order of road projects in southeastern Wisconsin was decided before he became governor in 2003.
Oh, REALLY?
Donald Reinbold was the project director on the Marquette, started in 2004 and finished in 2008.
"The intent was to continue right on with the Zoo, and all that changed when Gov. Doyle was elected," Reinbold said. "The priorities changed."
Congestion, traffic volume, the importance to commerce and the deterioration of the aging bridges all made the Zoo Interchange work a priority, he said in a telephone interview. Nearly 345,000 vehicles pass through the busiest interchange in the state on an average day.
A liar, a fraud, and a thief.Other than that, Doyle's just another lawyer--whose father would disown him.
Milwaukee JS Reporters Don't Read the NEWS
Here's the operative graf from a story in today's JS:
Documents made public last week as part of a Wisconsin lawsuit show that the Vatican's top doctrinal office, led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, declined to defrock Murphy after being asked by then-Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland to do so in 1996. The decision was first reported by the Journal Sentinel in 2008 but drew international attention last week when lawyers in the case released the latest records to The New York Times.
Unfortunately, that is absolutely false.
As was revealed in the ACTUAL news, Rembert Weakland asked Rome to quit the prosecution after Rome (and Rembert) had initiated the action.
We're waiting for a retraction, but not holding breath.
Documents made public last week as part of a Wisconsin lawsuit show that the Vatican's top doctrinal office, led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, declined to defrock Murphy after being asked by then-Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland to do so in 1996. The decision was first reported by the Journal Sentinel in 2008 but drew international attention last week when lawyers in the case released the latest records to The New York Times.
Unfortunately, that is absolutely false.
As was revealed in the ACTUAL news, Rembert Weakland asked Rome to quit the prosecution after Rome (and Rembert) had initiated the action.
We're waiting for a retraction, but not holding breath.
Appeal of DC Gun Restriction Ruling is Likely
The beat goes on.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina found that the new regulations were crafted to make the streets safer and aren't so restrictive that they violate the Second Amendment guarantee of a person's right to own a gun for self-defense.
Not likely that his opinion will prevail.
The judge ruled that the District's handgun registration process, which requires owners to submit fingerprints and allow police to perform ballistics tests, is constitutional. He also upheld a city ban on most semiautomatic pistols.
...The city requires that legally registered revolvers be kept unloaded and either disassembled or secured with trigger locks, unless the owner reasonably fears immediate harm by an intruder in the home. Each resident can register one pistol a month, and registrations expire after three years.
It's overly burdensome (ballistics tests are pure BS), it eliminates the most popular self-defense weapon (the semiauto handgun) and 'disassembled or locked' is just asinine.
But hey, Federal judges are really smart, especially when they have US Marshals sitting in their courtrooms.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina found that the new regulations were crafted to make the streets safer and aren't so restrictive that they violate the Second Amendment guarantee of a person's right to own a gun for self-defense.
Not likely that his opinion will prevail.
The judge ruled that the District's handgun registration process, which requires owners to submit fingerprints and allow police to perform ballistics tests, is constitutional. He also upheld a city ban on most semiautomatic pistols.
...The city requires that legally registered revolvers be kept unloaded and either disassembled or secured with trigger locks, unless the owner reasonably fears immediate harm by an intruder in the home. Each resident can register one pistol a month, and registrations expire after three years.
It's overly burdensome (ballistics tests are pure BS), it eliminates the most popular self-defense weapon (the semiauto handgun) and 'disassembled or locked' is just asinine.
But hey, Federal judges are really smart, especially when they have US Marshals sitting in their courtrooms.
New Offshore Oil Leases?
Perhaps Obama has figured it out and taken some advice from Sarah Palin.
U.S. President Barack Obama will today announce proposals to allow oil and natural-gas drilling off U.S. coastlines in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico when he delivers a speech on energy security.
U.S. President Barack Obama will today announce proposals to allow oil and natural-gas drilling off U.S. coastlines in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico when he delivers a speech on energy security.
Obama will propose allowing exploration off the coast of Virginia and, if a Congressional moratorium is lifted, in the Gulf of Mexico 125 miles (201 kilometers) off the coast of Florida, according to an administration official speaking on the condition of anonymity.
I suspect that one will have to read the fine print carefully. This is NOT the direction Salazar/Energy wanted to go.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Almost Like the NYSlimes WANTED to Lie About Ratzinger
Belling does a public service and highlights this article, written by the PROSECUTING JUDGE (Fr. Brundage) in the Fr. Murphy brouhaha.
...We proceeded to start a trial against Father Murphy. I was the presiding judge in this matter and informed Father Murphy that criminal charges were going to be levied against him with regard to child sexual abuse and solicitation in the confessional.
...In the summer of 1998, I ordered Father Murphy to be present at a deposition at the chancery in Milwaukee. I received, soon after, a letter from his doctor that he was in frail health and could travel not more than 20 miles (Boulder Junction to Milwaukee would be about 276 miles). A week later, Father Murphy died of natural causes in a location about 100 miles from his home
The "newspaper of record" did NOT contact Fr. Brundage about this story. The "newspaper of record" also didn't bother with the truth.
...Almost all of my quotes are from a document that can be found online with the correspondence between the Holy See and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. In an October 31, 1997 handwritten document,
...The problem with these statements attributed to me is that they were handwritten. The documents were not written by me and do not resemble my handwriting. The syntax is similar to what I might have said but I have no idea who wrote these statements, yet I am credited as stating them.
Perhaps a slimeball attorney slipped those into the pile?
...in the documentation in a letter from Archbishop Weakland to then-secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone on August 19, 1998, Archbishop Weakland stated that he had instructed me to abate the proceedings against Father Murphy. Father Murphy, however, died two days later and the fact is that on the day that Father Murphy died, he was still the defendant in a church criminal trial.
Well, isn't THAT interesting? Abp Weakland was the one who wanted to 'call it off.'
Abp. Weakland. My, my, my.
...We proceeded to start a trial against Father Murphy. I was the presiding judge in this matter and informed Father Murphy that criminal charges were going to be levied against him with regard to child sexual abuse and solicitation in the confessional.
...In the summer of 1998, I ordered Father Murphy to be present at a deposition at the chancery in Milwaukee. I received, soon after, a letter from his doctor that he was in frail health and could travel not more than 20 miles (Boulder Junction to Milwaukee would be about 276 miles). A week later, Father Murphy died of natural causes in a location about 100 miles from his home
The "newspaper of record" did NOT contact Fr. Brundage about this story. The "newspaper of record" also didn't bother with the truth.
...Almost all of my quotes are from a document that can be found online with the correspondence between the Holy See and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. In an October 31, 1997 handwritten document,
...The problem with these statements attributed to me is that they were handwritten. The documents were not written by me and do not resemble my handwriting. The syntax is similar to what I might have said but I have no idea who wrote these statements, yet I am credited as stating them.
Perhaps a slimeball attorney slipped those into the pile?
...in the documentation in a letter from Archbishop Weakland to then-secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone on August 19, 1998, Archbishop Weakland stated that he had instructed me to abate the proceedings against Father Murphy. Father Murphy, however, died two days later and the fact is that on the day that Father Murphy died, he was still the defendant in a church criminal trial.
Well, isn't THAT interesting? Abp Weakland was the one who wanted to 'call it off.'
Abp. Weakland. My, my, my.
Minnesota's Pride: FrankenStupid
Just watch the video.
By the way---you didn't know that ObamaCare requires jungle gyms, or 'break time' for lactating mothers, right?
HT: Moonbattery
By the way---you didn't know that ObamaCare requires jungle gyms, or 'break time' for lactating mothers, right?
HT: Moonbattery
Health Insurers to Pay for Pre-Exist'g/Children
Noted by JustOneMinute:
Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services, sent AHIP president Karen Ignagni a letter Monday pledging to issue new regulations in coming weeks to clarify that insurers must take applications from sick children starting in September. "Now is not the time to search for non-existent loopholes that preserve a broken system," Ms. Sebelius said.
Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services, sent AHIP president Karen Ignagni a letter Monday pledging to issue new regulations in coming weeks to clarify that insurers must take applications from sick children starting in September. "Now is not the time to search for non-existent loopholes that preserve a broken system," Ms. Sebelius said.
AHIP said de-linking the requirement to insure sick children from the law's mandate that everyone buy health-insurance coverage, which goes into effect in 2014, could drive up prices in the meantime. But the group said it would do whatever HHS tells it to do.
In fact, QueenNancy, the Legislative Genius, wrote the law poorly and there WAS a 'loophole' in the coverage mandate.
But health-insurers (like utilities---hint, hint, hint) don't give a rat's patoot about coverage mandates because so long as ALL of them operate under the same mandate, there will be no price competition at all.
IOW, bend over and begin to kiss.
Napolitano: FAIL
Big Sister fails.
A rancher in New Mexico was shot and killed on his ranch on Saturday presumably by a drug smuggler coming in from Mexico.
....He radioed home that he had come across some Mexicans, one of them in need of care. He requested that his brother contact the Border Patrol to send assistance. That was the last that was heard from him. When he didn’t come home around noon, the family began looking for him. He was found by helicopter in the middle of the night. Both he and his dog had been shot.
Homeland "Security." The department that makes sure your Granny is not carrying boob-bombs and that anti-abortionists are on the "watch" list.
Drug dealers murdering US citizens on US soil---not so much.
A rancher in New Mexico was shot and killed on his ranch on Saturday presumably by a drug smuggler coming in from Mexico.
....He radioed home that he had come across some Mexicans, one of them in need of care. He requested that his brother contact the Border Patrol to send assistance. That was the last that was heard from him. When he didn’t come home around noon, the family began looking for him. He was found by helicopter in the middle of the night. Both he and his dog had been shot.
Homeland "Security." The department that makes sure your Granny is not carrying boob-bombs and that anti-abortionists are on the "watch" list.
Drug dealers murdering US citizens on US soil---not so much.
Monday, March 29, 2010
(D) Brand Sinking Hard and Fast
Hooboy.
To give you a sense of how startling it is for the GOP to actually lead on the generic ballot, revisit this Gallup piece from November comparing major electoral waves to the generic ballot polling that preceded them. The Democrats almost always lead; even in the red tide of 1994, the final generic ballot showed the parties even at 46/46. What does that mean for this year? Well, Gallup constructed the following statistical model to try to predict Democratic gains or losses.
(Click on the link to see the table if you like. If you don't like, then note that in the table, the (D) folk retain only ~185 seats in the House with that 44 poll-level.)
So unexpectedly low is 44 percent that they didn’t even bother to model it. Although the results are clear enough: If these numbers held on election day, you’d be looking at upwards of 60 seats flipping.
The Indies are fired up and pissed off.
To give you a sense of how startling it is for the GOP to actually lead on the generic ballot, revisit this Gallup piece from November comparing major electoral waves to the generic ballot polling that preceded them. The Democrats almost always lead; even in the red tide of 1994, the final generic ballot showed the parties even at 46/46. What does that mean for this year? Well, Gallup constructed the following statistical model to try to predict Democratic gains or losses.
(Click on the link to see the table if you like. If you don't like, then note that in the table, the (D) folk retain only ~185 seats in the House with that 44 poll-level.)
So unexpectedly low is 44 percent that they didn’t even bother to model it. Although the results are clear enough: If these numbers held on election day, you’d be looking at upwards of 60 seats flipping.
The Indies are fired up and pissed off.
Things That Only the Intellectualoids Can Believe
It is damn difficult to convolute thought to this extent.
Last November, the bishops received a briefing on some conclusions researchers have derived from their report, “The Nature and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States.”
They say the crisis has nothing to do with homosexuality.
Margaret Smith, a data analyst, said researchers believe “the idea of sexual identity [should] be separated from the problem of sexual abuse.” She insists that no connection has been found “between homosexual identity and an increased likelihood of sexual abuse.” This was seconded by the study’s principal investigator, Karen Terry: “Someone can commit sexual acts that might be of a homosexual nature, but not have a homosexual identity.”
And rainfall has nothing to do with cloud-cover.
Last November, the bishops received a briefing on some conclusions researchers have derived from their report, “The Nature and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States.”
They say the crisis has nothing to do with homosexuality.
Margaret Smith, a data analyst, said researchers believe “the idea of sexual identity [should] be separated from the problem of sexual abuse.” She insists that no connection has been found “between homosexual identity and an increased likelihood of sexual abuse.” This was seconded by the study’s principal investigator, Karen Terry: “Someone can commit sexual acts that might be of a homosexual nature, but not have a homosexual identity.”
And rainfall has nothing to do with cloud-cover.
Yup. HealthCare Premiums WILL Go Up, Soon
Healthcare premiums have been rising at about 7%/annum for the last several years in Wisconsin.
That will continue, and likely the number will be even higher.
Will insurance premiums go up?
The answer is yes, and some of the things that will drive those premiums are significant additional taxes the industry will ultimately have to pay in the first year. --Ron Williams, CEO/Aetna
What? You expected that the insurers would simply take the Zyklon gas and die?
That will continue, and likely the number will be even higher.
Will insurance premiums go up?
The answer is yes, and some of the things that will drive those premiums are significant additional taxes the industry will ultimately have to pay in the first year. --Ron Williams, CEO/Aetna
What? You expected that the insurers would simply take the Zyklon gas and die?
Globaloney Lie # 56,735
Ooooops.
The Gulf Stream does not appear to be slowing down, say US scientists who have used satellites to monitor tell-tale changes in the height of the sea.
So England will not turn into a frozen wasteland.
HT: Ace
The Gulf Stream does not appear to be slowing down, say US scientists who have used satellites to monitor tell-tale changes in the height of the sea.
So England will not turn into a frozen wasteland.
HT: Ace
Threaten a Congressman, Get Arrested
Apparently the guy put his threat on YouTube--not too smart.
“Remember Eric…our judgment time, the final Yom Kippur has been given. You are a liar, you’re a Lucifer, you’re a pig, a greedy fucking pig, you’re an abomination, you receive my bullets in your office, remember they will be placed in your heads. You and your children are Lucifer’s abominations.”
That was directed at Eric Cantor, a Republican.
"Not too smart" in spades: the perp's an Obama donor.
HT: Ace/Malor
“Remember Eric…our judgment time, the final Yom Kippur has been given. You are a liar, you’re a Lucifer, you’re a pig, a greedy fucking pig, you’re an abomination, you receive my bullets in your office, remember they will be placed in your heads. You and your children are Lucifer’s abominations.”
That was directed at Eric Cantor, a Republican.
"Not too smart" in spades: the perp's an Obama donor.
HT: Ace/Malor
Utah Loads the Guns Against the Feds
This will be interesting to watch.
Fed up with federal ownership of more than half the land in Utah, Republican Gov. Gary Herbert on Saturday authorized the use of eminent domain to take some of the U.S. government's most valuable parcels.
Fed up with federal ownership of more than half the land in Utah, Republican Gov. Gary Herbert on Saturday authorized the use of eminent domain to take some of the U.S. government's most valuable parcels.
Herbert signed a pair of bills into law that supporters hope will trigger a flood of similar legislation throughout the West, where lawmakers contend that federal ownership restricts economic development in an energy-rich part of the country.
...Initially, the state would target three areas for the use of eminent domain, including the Kaiparowits plateau in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which is home to large coal reserves.
Many people in Utah are still angry that then-President Bill Clinton's designated the area as a national monument in 1996, a move that stopped development on the land and greatly pleased environmentalists as he ran for re-election.
The Grand Staircase nationalization was actually a payoff to the Red Chinese because after Escalante couldn't be developed, the PRC wound up with the largest comparable-coal deposits in the world.
As we know, Red Chinese money (laundered, of course) rescued Clinton's bid for the Presidency early in his primary campaign.
Anyhoo, Utah expects a court fight soon.
Good.
GM, the Banks, Now the Internet
Erickson warns about the FCC's "net neutrality" plot.
Phase one, Net Neutrality, includes no plans to regulate content, just routing. But just as the FCC regulates content on television and radio, most famously in the case of the Janet Jackson Super Bowl show, so too will it be able to regulate content on the Internet should Net Neutrality be the law of the land.
...Comcast has taken the FCC to court, arguing that the FCC’s current reaches into Internet regulation go beyond the statutory powers the FCC has been granted. In fact, those who watch this industry closely tell me that the federal courts at this point are almost sure to rule in Comcast’s favor.
Phase one, Net Neutrality, includes no plans to regulate content, just routing. But just as the FCC regulates content on television and radio, most famously in the case of the Janet Jackson Super Bowl show, so too will it be able to regulate content on the Internet should Net Neutrality be the law of the land.
...Comcast has taken the FCC to court, arguing that the FCC’s current reaches into Internet regulation go beyond the statutory powers the FCC has been granted. In fact, those who watch this industry closely tell me that the federal courts at this point are almost sure to rule in Comcast’s favor.
Genachowski has a plan though. It’s one you may have heard of before: Deem and pass. The backup plan the FCC has, in the event that the courts rule that the FCC no longer has the authority to regulate information services on the Internet, is to deem that ISPs are no longer information providers, and then re-pass the same regulations that the courts just threw out, then pass Net Neutrality on top of that. Once that happens, the government will be taking over another sixth of the economy.
Think of it as "Hush Rush" on the Intertubes.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Health Care IS a Right!
Well, here it is!!
Article 42. Citizens ...have the right to health protection.
This right is ensured by free, qualified medical care provided by state health institutions; by extension of the network of therapeutic and health-building institutions; by the development and improvement of safety and hygiene in industry; by carrying out broad prophylactic measures; by measures to improve the environment; by special care for the health of the rising generation, including prohibition of child labour, excluding the work done by children as part of the school curriculum; and by developing research to prevent and reduce the incidence of disease and ensure citizens a long and active life.
And you KNOW where Obama & his gang found it:
Article 42 of the Soviet Constitution
Almost word-for-word....
HT: St Louis
Article 42. Citizens ...have the right to health protection.
This right is ensured by free, qualified medical care provided by state health institutions; by extension of the network of therapeutic and health-building institutions; by the development and improvement of safety and hygiene in industry; by carrying out broad prophylactic measures; by measures to improve the environment; by special care for the health of the rising generation, including prohibition of child labour, excluding the work done by children as part of the school curriculum; and by developing research to prevent and reduce the incidence of disease and ensure citizens a long and active life.
And you KNOW where Obama & his gang found it:
Article 42 of the Soviet Constitution
Almost word-for-word....
HT: St Louis
When in the Course of Human Events
Chris Muir's starting to get a bit forceful.
(Catch it today--Sunday--or you won't catch it.)
HT: Eggster
(Catch it today--Sunday--or you won't catch it.)
HT: Eggster
"What's In ObamaCare" Is Deleterious to Some
Oh, yah. Mandated calorie-count information posted on EVERY menu, menu-board, and drive-thru menu, if you have 20 or more locations.
Davanni’s, a local pizzeria-sandwich restaurant with 22 locations around the Twin Cities, will now have to comply with this mandate. A caller to my Saturday show (who wished to remain anonymous) told my radio partner Mitch Berg during a commercial break that it will cost Davanni’s approximately $200,000 to comply with the new mandate — just to start. Every menu change will require Davanni’s to have the new or modified items re-analyzed, which means that Davanni’s will probably resist adding new options for their customers. Meanwhile, larger chains with more economy of scale for such efforts such as Pizza Hut can do the tests once for all of their locations, keeping their prices lower for their customers
Or they could simply close 3 locations.
Davanni’s, a local pizzeria-sandwich restaurant with 22 locations around the Twin Cities, will now have to comply with this mandate. A caller to my Saturday show (who wished to remain anonymous) told my radio partner Mitch Berg during a commercial break that it will cost Davanni’s approximately $200,000 to comply with the new mandate — just to start. Every menu change will require Davanni’s to have the new or modified items re-analyzed, which means that Davanni’s will probably resist adding new options for their customers. Meanwhile, larger chains with more economy of scale for such efforts such as Pizza Hut can do the tests once for all of their locations, keeping their prices lower for their customers
Or they could simply close 3 locations.
Ravitch is Wrong
Borsuk interviews a woman who is, suddenly, very controversial.
Ravitch wrote that she got caught up in the enthusiasm for what choice was expected to accomplish in Milwaukee, but, by the mid-2000s, "I didn't see any evidence that the voucher schools and the charter schools were making public schools better."
Ravitch's observation is fair--MPS has certainly not "improved" since choice (etc.) became available here.
But the "choice (etc.)" schools can NOT "improve" public schools. They can only improve the education of their own students.
And they have.
Only MPS can improve MPS. Not "choice" schools, not charter schools.
Milwaukee, in the strongly revised opinion of Diane Ravitch, is almost a textbook example for showing that the prediction that the tide of school choice will lift all educational boats is wrong.
"One might wonder about how much (Milwaukee Public Schools) is coming apart at the seams because of the competition," Ravitch said in a telephone conversation. "The competition was supposed to make things better."
A few years ago, Ravitch was a prominent voice for that latter sentiment. But in a way that has caused a stir in education circles nationwide, she now has come down emphatically in the opposite camp when it comes to private school vouchers, charter schools and the testing-based accountability regimen that is at the heart of the No Child Left Behind education law.
OK. How come?Ravitch wrote that she got caught up in the enthusiasm for what choice was expected to accomplish in Milwaukee, but, by the mid-2000s, "I didn't see any evidence that the voucher schools and the charter schools were making public schools better."
Ravitch's observation is fair--MPS has certainly not "improved" since choice (etc.) became available here.
But the "choice (etc.)" schools can NOT "improve" public schools. They can only improve the education of their own students.
And they have.
Only MPS can improve MPS. Not "choice" schools, not charter schools.
Another TEA Party Appearance, I'm Sure
Commenting on the horrific mess Doylet created with the 894/45 bridge-fall-down, a Wauwatosa cop says:
"I think frustration is probably a kind term," he said of drivers' likely reaction to facing two months of traffic-clogging detours. "People may be out there throwing bricks before too long."
Tomorrow, the MSM will be pointing to TEA Party members.
"I think frustration is probably a kind term," he said of drivers' likely reaction to facing two months of traffic-clogging detours. "People may be out there throwing bricks before too long."
Tomorrow, the MSM will be pointing to TEA Party members.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
As You Might Expect, the Crowd Count Differs
From Searchlight, NV:
Crowd estimates from 9,000 – 30,000+ people for today’s Tea Party Express “Showdown in Searchlight” event featuring Governor Palin.
Members of the press corps estimated the crowd size between 9,000 – 14,000 but the security and crowd control firm working the event estimated 30,000+.
Representatives from the security firm indicated they would be happy to confirm their estimates with interested members of the press, and based their estimates on their history of crowd control for other such public events.
FoxNews guy on-scene estimated 10,000+. AP runs with 7,000.
HT: McCain
Crowd estimates from 9,000 – 30,000+ people for today’s Tea Party Express “Showdown in Searchlight” event featuring Governor Palin.
Members of the press corps estimated the crowd size between 9,000 – 14,000 but the security and crowd control firm working the event estimated 30,000+.
Representatives from the security firm indicated they would be happy to confirm their estimates with interested members of the press, and based their estimates on their history of crowd control for other such public events.
FoxNews guy on-scene estimated 10,000+. AP runs with 7,000.
HT: McCain
Interest Rate Ruminations
Ticker goes bananas.
To put this in context you can look at the interest expense of The Federal Government. You will note that despite debt going up a lot in Fiscal 2009 the interest expense went down - a lot (about 15%.) But this year interest expense, if it tracks the five months thus far in the books, will rise from $383 billion to $434 billion, a 13% increase - almost erasing the "gains" from the zero interest-rate policy.
During the Clinton Administration, long rates were high, so Treasury stopped selling 30-year bonds and 'went short,' emphasizing T-Bills and T-Notes--short-term debt (out to 10 years or so.)
It's possible that in the future, long rates will be favorable compared to short, (and that TurboTimmy will figure that out), and Treasury will go back to issuing 30-year bonds.
Of course, Timmy will tip Goldman Sachs first. Somebody's gotta profit from that!
To put this in context you can look at the interest expense of The Federal Government. You will note that despite debt going up a lot in Fiscal 2009 the interest expense went down - a lot (about 15%.) But this year interest expense, if it tracks the five months thus far in the books, will rise from $383 billion to $434 billion, a 13% increase - almost erasing the "gains" from the zero interest-rate policy.
On September 30th 2009 the outstanding debt was $11.909 trillion dollars. That is an average interest coupon across the entire float of the public debt of 3.22%.
Now consider what happens if short rates go back to the 5% range - a historical reasonable point, and long rates go into the 7% range (a point that this chart's inverted head-and-shoulders, by the way, says is likely within the next two years):
[Chart here]Assuming Treasury continues to try to shove toward the short end of the curve, a strategy that exposes it to extreme amounts of rollover risk, the average coupon would likely rise to about 5.5%.
This would drive interest expense to $780 billion by September 2011.
Note that if historical averages hold, Treasury would take in roughly $1.2 trillion in personal income taxes. Interest expense would rise to consume approximately 2/3rds of that amount.
The key phrase is 'assuming that Treasury continues to .....shove toward the short end...'During the Clinton Administration, long rates were high, so Treasury stopped selling 30-year bonds and 'went short,' emphasizing T-Bills and T-Notes--short-term debt (out to 10 years or so.)
It's possible that in the future, long rates will be favorable compared to short, (and that TurboTimmy will figure that out), and Treasury will go back to issuing 30-year bonds.
Of course, Timmy will tip Goldman Sachs first. Somebody's gotta profit from that!
PRC to go "Bust"? The Plutonium of Credit Growth
Well, bust follows boom...
Ritholtz. a "financial blogger", draws attention to an article by Abelson which is not a favorable review of PRC's situation.
It also contains a very good retrospective on the US recession.
“Such debacles usually start, Edward has found, with a compelling growth story. Another feature is a blind faith in the competence of the authorities. The ignominious list includes: excessive capital investment; a surge in corruption; easy money; fixed- currency regimes; rampant credit growth; moral hazard; precarious financial structures; and rapidly rising property prices powered by dodgy loans. Of these, rapid credit growth is the most important leading indicator of financial instability, followed by an asset price bubble.
That red-highlighted phrase is very significant, because it identifies the 'third leg' of the boom/bust cycle. Fiscalists (like Keynes) don't mention credit growth much, if at all. Monetarists (like Friedman) reference it, but only indirectly--monetary growth COULD result from credit growth, but more often is mentioned as a Fed policy item.
But as we've seen, (and Ticker repeats endlessly), it's "rapid credit growth" which was the plutonium in our last bomb.
Ritholtz. a "financial blogger", draws attention to an article by Abelson which is not a favorable review of PRC's situation.
It also contains a very good retrospective on the US recession.
“Such debacles usually start, Edward has found, with a compelling growth story. Another feature is a blind faith in the competence of the authorities. The ignominious list includes: excessive capital investment; a surge in corruption; easy money; fixed- currency regimes; rampant credit growth; moral hazard; precarious financial structures; and rapidly rising property prices powered by dodgy loans. Of these, rapid credit growth is the most important leading indicator of financial instability, followed by an asset price bubble.
That red-highlighted phrase is very significant, because it identifies the 'third leg' of the boom/bust cycle. Fiscalists (like Keynes) don't mention credit growth much, if at all. Monetarists (like Friedman) reference it, but only indirectly--monetary growth COULD result from credit growth, but more often is mentioned as a Fed policy item.
But as we've seen, (and Ticker repeats endlessly), it's "rapid credit growth" which was the plutonium in our last bomb.
Reid's Boyzzz Attack TEA Party Bus, Breitbart; Even More Lefty Violence!
Gee. I thought only uncivilized goons threw stuff.
Supporters of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid staged a counter-protest today in Searchlight, Nevada, the Senator’s hometown. Reid supporters gathered just down the road from the launching point of the Tea Party Express tour, and when Breitbart happened upon them, he was met with threats of violence. At least one protester threw an egg at Brietbart, missing him. Eggs were also thrown at the Tea Party Express bus.
Oh, that's right. The (D) folks ARE uncivilized goons.
And only the Right advocated mass murders:
Dem Mouthpiece Alan Grayson: “Get Rid of Republicans Entirely”
And only Conservative radio personalities savor the deaths of the LeftOWackies:
Liberal radio host Mike Malloy called for the death of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly on Friday’s Show.
Of course, Mike Malloy and Ed Schultz have an audience of .......what........5?........ actual adults, which explains why nobody noticed their facilitation and/or advocacy of violence and death.
Supporters of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid staged a counter-protest today in Searchlight, Nevada, the Senator’s hometown. Reid supporters gathered just down the road from the launching point of the Tea Party Express tour, and when Breitbart happened upon them, he was met with threats of violence. At least one protester threw an egg at Brietbart, missing him. Eggs were also thrown at the Tea Party Express bus.
Oh, that's right. The (D) folks ARE uncivilized goons.
And only the Right advocated mass murders:
Dem Mouthpiece Alan Grayson: “Get Rid of Republicans Entirely”
And only Conservative radio personalities savor the deaths of the LeftOWackies:
Liberal radio host Mike Malloy called for the death of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly on Friday’s Show.
Of course, Mike Malloy and Ed Schultz have an audience of .......what........5?........ actual adults, which explains why nobody noticed their facilitation and/or advocacy of violence and death.
(D) Lords Demand 'Splainin' from AT&T, Cat, Deere, Verizon
The Obergruppenfuhrers want to put on a show trial. Court of Star Chamber in session!
Here's the narrative from PowerLine:
Caterpillar said Obamacare will cost it an additional $100 million in the first year; Medtronic warned that the new tax on its products "could force it to lay off a thousand workers;" Verizon told its employees that it "will likely have to cut healthcare benefits to offset the new costs;" and AT&T announced that it will record a $1 billion non-cash expense in the first quarter and "will be evaluating prospective changes to the active and retiree health care benefits offered by the company." These announcements are the tip of the iceberg; hundreds like them will follow as Obamacare becomes a reality.
Congressional Democrats, evidently stung by the bad publicity, are trying to strike back
Yup. Waxman (D-Despicable) sent a nastygram to the CEO of AT&T. (Similar letters to Cat, Deere, Verizon...)
In the letter (click on the link, click on the letter for larger size), Waxman expresses confusion (!) because 'Obamacare is supposed to REDUCE health-premiums'; further, AT&T's announcement "conflicts with independent analyses [of Obamacare]".
Therefore, Waxman (with his lapdog Stupak) ordered AT&T to produce a slew of documents, including emails, from ANYONE with the title V-P on up, and send them to Waxman's committee. The CEO is also 'invited' to attend the hearing.
One wonders if "Go Pound Sand" is acceptable in response.
Here's the narrative from PowerLine:
Caterpillar said Obamacare will cost it an additional $100 million in the first year; Medtronic warned that the new tax on its products "could force it to lay off a thousand workers;" Verizon told its employees that it "will likely have to cut healthcare benefits to offset the new costs;" and AT&T announced that it will record a $1 billion non-cash expense in the first quarter and "will be evaluating prospective changes to the active and retiree health care benefits offered by the company." These announcements are the tip of the iceberg; hundreds like them will follow as Obamacare becomes a reality.
Congressional Democrats, evidently stung by the bad publicity, are trying to strike back
Yup. Waxman (D-Despicable) sent a nastygram to the CEO of AT&T. (Similar letters to Cat, Deere, Verizon...)
In the letter (click on the link, click on the letter for larger size), Waxman expresses confusion (!) because 'Obamacare is supposed to REDUCE health-premiums'; further, AT&T's announcement "conflicts with independent analyses [of Obamacare]".
Therefore, Waxman (with his lapdog Stupak) ordered AT&T to produce a slew of documents, including emails, from ANYONE with the title V-P on up, and send them to Waxman's committee. The CEO is also 'invited' to attend the hearing.
One wonders if "Go Pound Sand" is acceptable in response.
Zapped By Doyle's Electric Bill
You noticed that your electric bill's gone up, eh?
On March 24, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission approved a $48.1 million rate increase that will tack another 2 percent onto the 7 percent increase that Wisconsin Energy customers saw added to their bills in January. The latest increase is related to higher natural gas prices. The previous rate increase was related to constructing wind farms.
And that's only the beginning.
Doyle and his legislative Band of Bozos want "renewable" energy to be 25% of the total energy production by 2025. Not good news:
The cost of producing one kilowatt hour of electricity from wind turbines is between 10 and 11 cents, which is more than twice as much as the cost of nuclear power at 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour. Compared to coal-fired power plants, the cost of one kilowatt hour from wind is almost twice as much as coal at 6 cents.
The Company will have to increase its 'renewable' energy by 500++% to meet The Doylet's 25% mandate. You don't have to be a math-major to figure out that you're going to get zapped and spit nickels when the bills arrive.
--Source: BizJournal
On March 24, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission approved a $48.1 million rate increase that will tack another 2 percent onto the 7 percent increase that Wisconsin Energy customers saw added to their bills in January. The latest increase is related to higher natural gas prices. The previous rate increase was related to constructing wind farms.
And that's only the beginning.
Doyle and his legislative Band of Bozos want "renewable" energy to be 25% of the total energy production by 2025. Not good news:
The cost of producing one kilowatt hour of electricity from wind turbines is between 10 and 11 cents, which is more than twice as much as the cost of nuclear power at 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour. Compared to coal-fired power plants, the cost of one kilowatt hour from wind is almost twice as much as coal at 6 cents.
The Company will have to increase its 'renewable' energy by 500++% to meet The Doylet's 25% mandate. You don't have to be a math-major to figure out that you're going to get zapped and spit nickels when the bills arrive.
--Source: BizJournal
Take It Back!! Begins Today in NV
McCain reports from Ground Zero: Searchlight, NV., birthplace of a known 'land developer' and Alzheimer's victim.
6,000 to 10,000 expected today.
Don't forget: Milwaukee on April 6th, and Madistan on April 15th!!
6,000 to 10,000 expected today.
Don't forget: Milwaukee on April 6th, and Madistan on April 15th!!
Obama The Insulting Child
Actually, Obama did not merely "not eat" with Netanyahu.
Benjamin Netanyahu was left to stew in a White House meeting room for over an hour after President Barack Obama abruptly walked out of tense talks to have supper with his family, it emerged on Thursday.
I'm not a reflexive Israel-backer. To me, the first question is "what's in the national interests of the USA?", so if our interests are furthered, or not harmed, then we can proceed.
Having said that, I am absolutely unable to understand how Obama can "demand" that the Israelis stop building apartments in Jerusalem. The Palestinians generally live in eastern Jerusalem, and the building is going on in west/northwest parts of the city.
WTF??
This is not an issue in which the USA "has interests", period. One might argue that it is part of a 'larger picture,' I suppose. But even then, we should tell the Palestinians to pound sand over apartment buildings and find a day job, or something.
Legal Insurrection has a very interesting take. Evidently the combox for his post on the Netanyahu insult has been almost radioactive.
I think the reaction to Obama's treatment of Bibi Netanyahu hits home because it was so personal in nature, and because it epitomized how the American people have been treated by Obama and the Democrats, with arrogance and disdain.
Very interesting, indeed. At least Bibi knows how WE feel...
HT: Grim
Benjamin Netanyahu was left to stew in a White House meeting room for over an hour after President Barack Obama abruptly walked out of tense talks to have supper with his family, it emerged on Thursday.
I'm not a reflexive Israel-backer. To me, the first question is "what's in the national interests of the USA?", so if our interests are furthered, or not harmed, then we can proceed.
Having said that, I am absolutely unable to understand how Obama can "demand" that the Israelis stop building apartments in Jerusalem. The Palestinians generally live in eastern Jerusalem, and the building is going on in west/northwest parts of the city.
WTF??
This is not an issue in which the USA "has interests", period. One might argue that it is part of a 'larger picture,' I suppose. But even then, we should tell the Palestinians to pound sand over apartment buildings and find a day job, or something.
Legal Insurrection has a very interesting take. Evidently the combox for his post on the Netanyahu insult has been almost radioactive.
I think the reaction to Obama's treatment of Bibi Netanyahu hits home because it was so personal in nature, and because it epitomized how the American people have been treated by Obama and the Democrats, with arrogance and disdain.
Very interesting, indeed. At least Bibi knows how WE feel...
HT: Grim
ObamaLegacy in Picture!
Deeeeeeeep River, our budget's under water,Deeeeeeeep River Lord!
We're goin' to insolvency forever.....
HT: Gateway
Green Jobs, Not Here
Oh, well. Not even force-fed money from the Treasury can keep some firms from biting the hand that feeds them.
BP will close its solar-panel manufacturing plant in Frederick, the final step in moving its solar business out of the United States to facilities in China, India and other countries.
Just 3 1/2 years ago, in an announcement widely hailed by Maryland officials and promoters of "green jobs," BP unveiled a $70 million plan to double output at the facility and erected a building to house the production lines.
But on Friday the company said it would lay off 320 workers and keep only a hundred people involved in research, sales and project development.
The whole industry of "green" is economically-governed by tax incentives; unless the taxpayer (Fed and State) coughs up mucho .........ahhhh.......long green....., the prices for the products (such as windmills and solar-collectors) are simply non-competitive.
That's not all. Without that taxpayer long green, the COST of energy generated by these contraptions is ALSO non-competitive.
Ask any WE ratepayer.
HT: AmSpecBlog
BP will close its solar-panel manufacturing plant in Frederick, the final step in moving its solar business out of the United States to facilities in China, India and other countries.
Just 3 1/2 years ago, in an announcement widely hailed by Maryland officials and promoters of "green jobs," BP unveiled a $70 million plan to double output at the facility and erected a building to house the production lines.
But on Friday the company said it would lay off 320 workers and keep only a hundred people involved in research, sales and project development.
The whole industry of "green" is economically-governed by tax incentives; unless the taxpayer (Fed and State) coughs up mucho .........ahhhh.......long green....., the prices for the products (such as windmills and solar-collectors) are simply non-competitive.
That's not all. Without that taxpayer long green, the COST of energy generated by these contraptions is ALSO non-competitive.
Ask any WE ratepayer.
HT: AmSpecBlog
More ObamaLegacy: Super-Debt!!
It's no wonder that the 10-year USTreasuries are paying more in interest. Looking at the trend-line following the Fed monetization of October 09, we see increase in the interest rate.
And that could get a LOT worse.
President Obama's fiscal 2011 budget will generate nearly $10 trillion in cumulative budget deficits over the next 10 years, $1.2 trillion more than the administration projected, and raise the federal debt to 90 percent of the nation's economic output by 2020, the Congressional Budget Office reported Thursday.
To Obama, spending money's no big deal, no matter the consequences. For the rest of us, well, your mileage may vary.
The federal public debt, which was $6.3 trillion ($56,000 per household) when Mr. Obama entered office amid an economic crisis, totals $8.2 trillion ($72,000 per household) today, and it's headed toward $20.3 trillion (more than $170,000 per household) in 2020, according to CBO's deficit estimates.
This sort of crap is what represses the economy, folks.
And that could get a LOT worse.
President Obama's fiscal 2011 budget will generate nearly $10 trillion in cumulative budget deficits over the next 10 years, $1.2 trillion more than the administration projected, and raise the federal debt to 90 percent of the nation's economic output by 2020, the Congressional Budget Office reported Thursday.
In its 2011 budget, which the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released Feb. 1, the administration projected a 10-year deficit total of $8.53 trillion. After looking it over, CBO said in its final analysis, released Thursday, that the president's budget would generate a combined $9.75 trillion in deficits over the next decade.
A trillion here, a trillion there, what's the big deal? OMB released a heavily-massaged number that even CBO couldn't swallow.To Obama, spending money's no big deal, no matter the consequences. For the rest of us, well, your mileage may vary.
The federal public debt, which was $6.3 trillion ($56,000 per household) when Mr. Obama entered office amid an economic crisis, totals $8.2 trillion ($72,000 per household) today, and it's headed toward $20.3 trillion (more than $170,000 per household) in 2020, according to CBO's deficit estimates.
This sort of crap is what represses the economy, folks.
One More Time on Fr Murphy, Cdl. Ratzinger, Etc.
From Rome, a news story. We learn here that Rembert Weakland (laudably) wanted to yank Fr. Murphy's collar despite the Canon Law's statute of limitations.
We also learn that there was a LONG gap between the first complaint and a Canon Law proceeding against Murphy. At the same time, we learn that immediately following the first complaint, Murphy was sent into exile, (more or less.)
It all began on May 15, 1974, when a former student of St. John's School for the Deaf presented a denunciation on abuses done to him and to other boys by Father Lawrence Murphy between 1964 and 1970, but -- as has been reported -- after an investigation, the judge in charge filed the case. The Diocese of Milwaukee instead immediately removed Father Murphy, with a temporary permission for reasons of health (until November 1974) which, however, became definitive. A letter of the Diocese of Superior in 1980 explains that Father Murphy lived in Bounder Junction, Wisconsin, in his mother's house, continuing, however, to exercise his priestly ministry helping the local parish priest.
In 1974, Wm Cousins was Archbishop of Milwaukee. He retired in 1977.
In the meantime, however, the denunciations to the Diocese of Milwaukee multiplied and between July and December of 1993. Father Murphy was subjected to four long interrogations by those in charge of the archdiocese assisted by expert psychologists in pedophilia. A clinical picture emerged of a "typical pedophile," recommending psychological treatment for sexual obsessions and also pastoral/spiritual support, in addition to a restriction in his ministerial activity. Evident from the reports of the interrogations is that there were 29 denunciations of boys: Father Murphy admitted "contacts" only for 19 of the boys involved. Demonstrated in subsequent documents is that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee continued in its investigations seeking to speed up the reality and the breadth of the facts, and on July 17, 1996, Bishop Rembert Weakland wrote to the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, requesting help with the case of Father Murphy and of -- not connected -- another priest, accused of sexual and financial crimes.
Bishop Weakland made reference to the denunciation of 1974 and explained, however, that only recently had he come to the knowledge of the fact that certain sexual crimes occurred during the sacrament of confession, so he officially asked a priest of the diocese, Father James Connell, to conduct an in-depth investigation (the decree is of December 1995). An obstacle to ascertaining the facts -- said bishop Weakland -- was the understandable reticence of the boys and of the community of St. John's School to make public embarrassing circumstances. Bishop Weakland turned to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to have clarification on the jurisdiction in this case of "crimes of solicitation" (canon 1387), whether it belonged to the diocese or to the congregation.
So. The first allegation is made in 1974, and a large number were made "between July and December 1993." Weakland apparently began a formal investigation in late 1995, and contacted Ratzinger's CDF in 1996. That contact with CDF was made because of a related crime, 'soliciting sex during the sacrament of confession', and Weakland's letter only inquired regarding a technical jurisdictional matter: who should prosecute the 'solicitation' offense.
This raises a question: what was going on between 1974 and 1995? We know that Murphy had been yanked from St John's School and sent to live with his mother in the Superior Diocese. What we do NOT know is if there was a civil/criminal complaint filed in 1974, or for that matter, in 1993, after the 'large number of complaints' to the Archdiocese.
From subsequent documents it would seem that the letter never arrived on Cardinal Ratzinger's desk and of the then Archbishop [Tarcisio] Bertone, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In any case, in the absence of a reply, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee went ahead and on Dec. 10, 1996, informed Father Murphy that on Nov. 22, ecclesiastical criminal proceedings were opened against him with a court-created ad hoc. The request of the accusation was the "destitution of Father Murphy from the clerical state."
(In other words, "defrock" the SOB.)
The problem that was posed, however, was that of the prescription of crimes committed, for which the norm of Canon Law would have impeded to proceed. [Statute of limitations.] But the archbishop of Milwaukee was determined to single out an exception to the canon taking into account the physical and psychological situation of the victims, an intention endorsed later by Archbishop Bertone in the letter of March 24, 1997. At the end of 1997, the process then passed to the Diocese of Superior, but the president of the court was the same as that of Milwaukee, Father Thomas Brundage. Evidenced clearly from the documents presented by The New York Times was the intention of the ecclesiastical authorities of Milwaukee and Superior to proceed in the most expeditious way possible to come to an act of justice and reparation for the victims and the community of St. John's School.
We learn above that Rembert wanted an exception to the Canonical SOL--a laudable move on his part!!!--and that CDF agreed to it. We do NOT know whether Ratzinger was informed on this move, which was endorsed by Bertone.
In the meantime, Father Murphy wrote a letter to Cardinal Ratzinger (Jan. 12, 1998), requesting the annulment of the process entrusted to him because the Instruction of 1962 provides for undertaking criminal action within a period of 30 days from the moment in which the accusation is presented. [One part of the SOL.] Father Murphy asserted, among other things, in addition to being repentant that he was gravely ill and in any case had been living in retirement for 24 years, for which he requested at least not to be reduced to the lay state.
On April 6, 1998, Archbishop Bertone wrote to Bishop Fliss of Superior, in the name of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, explaining that -- after having examined the affair carefully -- there was no fixed period for criminal action as invoked by Father Murphy, so that the process could continue even if -- added Bertone -- it is right to take into account article 1341 of the Code of Canon Law according to which a criminal sanction must be commuted only after having verified that it is not "possible to obtain sufficient reparation for the scandal, the re-establishment of justice, the emendation of the offender" with other means.
IOW, CDF said "Go ahead with the trial, the SOL objection raised by Murphy (the 30-day requirement) does not apply in this case."
Bishop Fliss answered Archbishop Bertone on May 13, affirming that, in keeping with what the congregation indicated, there was the necessity of a prosecution of Father Murphy taking into account the gravity of the scandal and of the great pain inflicted on the Catholic community of St. John's School.
We arrive then at May 30 when there was a meeting in the Vatican between Archbishop Bertone, the undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Father Gianfranco Girotti, and the American prelates concerned with the case. Evident from the minutes of the meeting is that in the congregation there were doubts about the feasibility and opportuneness of the canonical process, given the difficulty of reconstructing the events that happened 35 years earlier, above all that which concerned the crime in the confessional, and given that no other accusations resulted for the period from 1974 onward. Hence Bertone, at the conclusion of the meeting, summarized the two essential lines to be held: a territorial restriction for the priestly ministry (in practice, Father Murphy had to stay in Superior) and decisive action to obtain the priest's repentance, including the threat of "resignation from the clerical state."
IOW, it was decided to keep Murphy in the Superior Diocese AND, if he did not repent, to threaten him with 'defrocking.'
The bishop of Milwaukee wrote again on Aug. 19 to Archbishop Bertone to update him on the measures taken to activate the lines indicated by the congregation, and to inform him of the fact that his diocese would continue to be responsible for the expenses to maintain the therapies for the victims of sexual abuses. In the end, Father Murphy died on Aug. 21, closing the case definitively.
http://www.zenit.org/article-28769?l=english
We also learn that there was a LONG gap between the first complaint and a Canon Law proceeding against Murphy. At the same time, we learn that immediately following the first complaint, Murphy was sent into exile, (more or less.)
It all began on May 15, 1974, when a former student of St. John's School for the Deaf presented a denunciation on abuses done to him and to other boys by Father Lawrence Murphy between 1964 and 1970, but -- as has been reported -- after an investigation, the judge in charge filed the case. The Diocese of Milwaukee instead immediately removed Father Murphy, with a temporary permission for reasons of health (until November 1974) which, however, became definitive. A letter of the Diocese of Superior in 1980 explains that Father Murphy lived in Bounder Junction, Wisconsin, in his mother's house, continuing, however, to exercise his priestly ministry helping the local parish priest.
In 1974, Wm Cousins was Archbishop of Milwaukee. He retired in 1977.
In the meantime, however, the denunciations to the Diocese of Milwaukee multiplied and between July and December of 1993. Father Murphy was subjected to four long interrogations by those in charge of the archdiocese assisted by expert psychologists in pedophilia. A clinical picture emerged of a "typical pedophile," recommending psychological treatment for sexual obsessions and also pastoral/spiritual support, in addition to a restriction in his ministerial activity. Evident from the reports of the interrogations is that there were 29 denunciations of boys: Father Murphy admitted "contacts" only for 19 of the boys involved. Demonstrated in subsequent documents is that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee continued in its investigations seeking to speed up the reality and the breadth of the facts, and on July 17, 1996, Bishop Rembert Weakland wrote to the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, requesting help with the case of Father Murphy and of -- not connected -- another priest, accused of sexual and financial crimes.
Bishop Weakland made reference to the denunciation of 1974 and explained, however, that only recently had he come to the knowledge of the fact that certain sexual crimes occurred during the sacrament of confession, so he officially asked a priest of the diocese, Father James Connell, to conduct an in-depth investigation (the decree is of December 1995). An obstacle to ascertaining the facts -- said bishop Weakland -- was the understandable reticence of the boys and of the community of St. John's School to make public embarrassing circumstances. Bishop Weakland turned to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to have clarification on the jurisdiction in this case of "crimes of solicitation" (canon 1387), whether it belonged to the diocese or to the congregation.
So. The first allegation is made in 1974, and a large number were made "between July and December 1993." Weakland apparently began a formal investigation in late 1995, and contacted Ratzinger's CDF in 1996. That contact with CDF was made because of a related crime, 'soliciting sex during the sacrament of confession', and Weakland's letter only inquired regarding a technical jurisdictional matter: who should prosecute the 'solicitation' offense.
This raises a question: what was going on between 1974 and 1995? We know that Murphy had been yanked from St John's School and sent to live with his mother in the Superior Diocese. What we do NOT know is if there was a civil/criminal complaint filed in 1974, or for that matter, in 1993, after the 'large number of complaints' to the Archdiocese.
From subsequent documents it would seem that the letter never arrived on Cardinal Ratzinger's desk and of the then Archbishop [Tarcisio] Bertone, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In any case, in the absence of a reply, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee went ahead and on Dec. 10, 1996, informed Father Murphy that on Nov. 22, ecclesiastical criminal proceedings were opened against him with a court-created ad hoc. The request of the accusation was the "destitution of Father Murphy from the clerical state."
(In other words, "defrock" the SOB.)
The problem that was posed, however, was that of the prescription of crimes committed, for which the norm of Canon Law would have impeded to proceed. [Statute of limitations.] But the archbishop of Milwaukee was determined to single out an exception to the canon taking into account the physical and psychological situation of the victims, an intention endorsed later by Archbishop Bertone in the letter of March 24, 1997. At the end of 1997, the process then passed to the Diocese of Superior, but the president of the court was the same as that of Milwaukee, Father Thomas Brundage. Evidenced clearly from the documents presented by The New York Times was the intention of the ecclesiastical authorities of Milwaukee and Superior to proceed in the most expeditious way possible to come to an act of justice and reparation for the victims and the community of St. John's School.
We learn above that Rembert wanted an exception to the Canonical SOL--a laudable move on his part!!!--and that CDF agreed to it. We do NOT know whether Ratzinger was informed on this move, which was endorsed by Bertone.
In the meantime, Father Murphy wrote a letter to Cardinal Ratzinger (Jan. 12, 1998), requesting the annulment of the process entrusted to him because the Instruction of 1962 provides for undertaking criminal action within a period of 30 days from the moment in which the accusation is presented. [One part of the SOL.] Father Murphy asserted, among other things, in addition to being repentant that he was gravely ill and in any case had been living in retirement for 24 years, for which he requested at least not to be reduced to the lay state.
On April 6, 1998, Archbishop Bertone wrote to Bishop Fliss of Superior, in the name of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, explaining that -- after having examined the affair carefully -- there was no fixed period for criminal action as invoked by Father Murphy, so that the process could continue even if -- added Bertone -- it is right to take into account article 1341 of the Code of Canon Law according to which a criminal sanction must be commuted only after having verified that it is not "possible to obtain sufficient reparation for the scandal, the re-establishment of justice, the emendation of the offender" with other means.
IOW, CDF said "Go ahead with the trial, the SOL objection raised by Murphy (the 30-day requirement) does not apply in this case."
Bishop Fliss answered Archbishop Bertone on May 13, affirming that, in keeping with what the congregation indicated, there was the necessity of a prosecution of Father Murphy taking into account the gravity of the scandal and of the great pain inflicted on the Catholic community of St. John's School.
We arrive then at May 30 when there was a meeting in the Vatican between Archbishop Bertone, the undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Father Gianfranco Girotti, and the American prelates concerned with the case. Evident from the minutes of the meeting is that in the congregation there were doubts about the feasibility and opportuneness of the canonical process, given the difficulty of reconstructing the events that happened 35 years earlier, above all that which concerned the crime in the confessional, and given that no other accusations resulted for the period from 1974 onward. Hence Bertone, at the conclusion of the meeting, summarized the two essential lines to be held: a territorial restriction for the priestly ministry (in practice, Father Murphy had to stay in Superior) and decisive action to obtain the priest's repentance, including the threat of "resignation from the clerical state."
IOW, it was decided to keep Murphy in the Superior Diocese AND, if he did not repent, to threaten him with 'defrocking.'
The bishop of Milwaukee wrote again on Aug. 19 to Archbishop Bertone to update him on the measures taken to activate the lines indicated by the congregation, and to inform him of the fact that his diocese would continue to be responsible for the expenses to maintain the therapies for the victims of sexual abuses. In the end, Father Murphy died on Aug. 21, closing the case definitively.
http://www.zenit.org/article-28769?l=english
Friday, March 26, 2010
Legacies: Obama and Doyle
Oh, yes, Obama has a legacy already.
For more than a year, analysts have been warning that record sized debt sales by the US Treasury were at odds with a 10-year yield sitting comfortably below 4 per cent. This week, the yield on 10-year notes jumped from 3.65 per cent to a peak of 3.92 per cent on Thursday. On Friday it was 3.87 per cent.
....“The spotlight on Greece only helped to reveal that the US’s kitchen – with Federal and state budget balances – was itself full of cockroaches,” says William O’Donnell, strategist at RBS Securities.
Doyle's leaving a $multi-billion "structural deficit" AND the State will be facing enormous new Medicaid obligations due to ObamaCare.
And as mentioned earlier, Obama's new budget is truly mind-boggling in the fiscal sense, with some projecting US debt reaching up to NINETY percent of GDP.
Think otherwise? Then explain this:
The fact that German Bunds have outperformed both Treasuries and gilts in recent months highlights this increasing worry over public debt. Germany’s budget deficit is much lower than the US and UK and inflation there is also expected to remain low.
There's no wonder in my mind that some people are inclined to threaten congresscritters. I don't agree that such a course is productive--in fact, it is counter-productive--but the blithe disregard for fiscal reality shown by Obama and The Doylet certainly is cause for grave concern.
For more than a year, analysts have been warning that record sized debt sales by the US Treasury were at odds with a 10-year yield sitting comfortably below 4 per cent. This week, the yield on 10-year notes jumped from 3.65 per cent to a peak of 3.92 per cent on Thursday. On Friday it was 3.87 per cent.
....“The spotlight on Greece only helped to reveal that the US’s kitchen – with Federal and state budget balances – was itself full of cockroaches,” says William O’Donnell, strategist at RBS Securities.
Doyle's leaving a $multi-billion "structural deficit" AND the State will be facing enormous new Medicaid obligations due to ObamaCare.
And as mentioned earlier, Obama's new budget is truly mind-boggling in the fiscal sense, with some projecting US debt reaching up to NINETY percent of GDP.
Think otherwise? Then explain this:
The fact that German Bunds have outperformed both Treasuries and gilts in recent months highlights this increasing worry over public debt. Germany’s budget deficit is much lower than the US and UK and inflation there is also expected to remain low.
There's no wonder in my mind that some people are inclined to threaten congresscritters. I don't agree that such a course is productive--in fact, it is counter-productive--but the blithe disregard for fiscal reality shown by Obama and The Doylet certainly is cause for grave concern.
Even MORE on Ratzinger vs. the Homosex Pedophiles
All the way from England.
"What of the role of Pope Benedict? When he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith he led important changes made in church law: the inclusion in canon law of internet offences against children, the extension of child abuse offences to include the sexual abuse of all under 18, the case by case waiving of the statue of limitation and the establishment of a fast-track dismissal from the clerical state for offenders. He is not an idle observer. His actions speak as well as his words." ---Abp. V. Nichols, quoted by D. Thompson
Charlie Sykes is of the opinion that Rembert Weakland, disgraced homosexual former Archbishop of Milwaukee, is perfectly happy to put the current Pope into a bad light. No surprise: Rembie despises Ratzinger.
We agree with Charlie that Rembert's correspondence with Ratzinger about Fr. Murphy, a homosexual-pedophile, was ........ohhhh.........about 20 years too late.
COULD Ratzinger have done more?
Possibly, but it's hard to see how. He ordered Weakie to initiate a Canon Law proceeding against Murphy and it started 3 months after Weakie's letter.Yes, he called it off. [Ed.: see above post--the trial was NOT 'cancelled.']
Bp. Morlino, writing in Madison, does not name names but presents avery clear picture instead:
"In order to be responsible for something, one has to have the authority to do something about it. And the very people who want to make the Holy Father responsible for everything heinous in the sexual misconduct scandal are the least likely to accept the Pope’s authority in any matter. They are the most disobedient people, in general. Yet they want to lay all the responsibility at the Pope’s feet. That simply makes no sense and we should not be fooled."
"Disobedient", eh?
Nicely done, Your Excellency.
"What of the role of Pope Benedict? When he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith he led important changes made in church law: the inclusion in canon law of internet offences against children, the extension of child abuse offences to include the sexual abuse of all under 18, the case by case waiving of the statue of limitation and the establishment of a fast-track dismissal from the clerical state for offenders. He is not an idle observer. His actions speak as well as his words." ---Abp. V. Nichols, quoted by D. Thompson
Charlie Sykes is of the opinion that Rembert Weakland, disgraced homosexual former Archbishop of Milwaukee, is perfectly happy to put the current Pope into a bad light. No surprise: Rembie despises Ratzinger.
We agree with Charlie that Rembert's correspondence with Ratzinger about Fr. Murphy, a homosexual-pedophile, was ........ohhhh.........about 20 years too late.
COULD Ratzinger have done more?
Possibly, but it's hard to see how. He ordered Weakie to initiate a Canon Law proceeding against Murphy and it started 3 months after Weakie's letter.
Bp. Morlino, writing in Madison, does not name names but presents a
"In order to be responsible for something, one has to have the authority to do something about it. And the very people who want to make the Holy Father responsible for everything heinous in the sexual misconduct scandal are the least likely to accept the Pope’s authority in any matter. They are the most disobedient people, in general. Yet they want to lay all the responsibility at the Pope’s feet. That simply makes no sense and we should not be fooled."
"Disobedient", eh?
Nicely done, Your Excellency.
The Doylet-Flush: 45/894
Into the Doylet sinks the State of Wisconsin.
State authorities closed the bridge that carries traffic northbound on Highway 45 through the Zoo Interchange shortly before 11 a.m. Friday, fearing that overweight trucks could collapse the deteriorating span.
Roughly 42,000 vehicles a day will be detoured off the major northbound route for nearly two months, until a replacement for the bridge can be finished.
In 2005, Doylet (at the request of Barrett) vetoed $38Million to fix that interchange.
I think Jim in-the-Doylet should retire someplace other than Wisconsin.
State authorities closed the bridge that carries traffic northbound on Highway 45 through the Zoo Interchange shortly before 11 a.m. Friday, fearing that overweight trucks could collapse the deteriorating span.
Roughly 42,000 vehicles a day will be detoured off the major northbound route for nearly two months, until a replacement for the bridge can be finished.
In 2005, Doylet (at the request of Barrett) vetoed $38Million to fix that interchange.
I think Jim in-the-Doylet should retire someplace other than Wisconsin.
Cat, Deere, and $4.15 BILLION More Coming
So Cat takes a $100MM charge, Deere takes another $125MM...and it ain't over.
“Although the changes don't go into effect until 2013, companies say they have to take the charge to earnings now, to reflect the loss of the future tax deductions. In all, the S&P 500 companies will take a combined hit of $4.5 billion to first-quarter earnings, estimates David Zion, an analyst with Credit Suisse.” --WSJ, quoted by Beltway
That's $4.5BN in lost wage/salary increases, or machinery/equipment purchases, or R&D expenditures, or health coverage.
That's ObamaCare!
“Although the changes don't go into effect until 2013, companies say they have to take the charge to earnings now, to reflect the loss of the future tax deductions. In all, the S&P 500 companies will take a combined hit of $4.5 billion to first-quarter earnings, estimates David Zion, an analyst with Credit Suisse.” --WSJ, quoted by Beltway
That's $4.5BN in lost wage/salary increases, or machinery/equipment purchases, or R&D expenditures, or health coverage.
That's ObamaCare!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Prison for Failure to (Self-) Health-Insure? Nevermind
Too competent by half, I guess.
VerumSerum has the pertinent language. Should someone NOT purchase mandated health insurance, the IRS will assess penalties, interest, etc. But:
The penalty applies to any period the individual does not maintain minimum essential coverage and is determined monthly. The penalty is assessed through the Code and accounted for as an additional amount of Federal tax owed. However, it is not subject to the enforcement provisions of subtitle F of the Code. The use of liens and seizures otherwise authorized for collection of taxes does not apply to the collection of this penalty. Non-compliance with the personal responsibility requirement to have health coverage is not subject to criminal or civil penalties under the Code and interest does not accrue for failure to pay such assessments in a timely manner.
--Joint Committee on Taxation
So.
There is even MORE reason to 'fail-to-purchase' insurance until you're in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. And even MORE reason for insurers to go BK.
And even LESS reason to re-elect the boobs who wrote this crap.
VerumSerum has the pertinent language. Should someone NOT purchase mandated health insurance, the IRS will assess penalties, interest, etc. But:
The penalty applies to any period the individual does not maintain minimum essential coverage and is determined monthly. The penalty is assessed through the Code and accounted for as an additional amount of Federal tax owed. However, it is not subject to the enforcement provisions of subtitle F of the Code. The use of liens and seizures otherwise authorized for collection of taxes does not apply to the collection of this penalty. Non-compliance with the personal responsibility requirement to have health coverage is not subject to criminal or civil penalties under the Code and interest does not accrue for failure to pay such assessments in a timely manner.
--Joint Committee on Taxation
So.
There is even MORE reason to 'fail-to-purchase' insurance until you're in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. And even MORE reason for insurers to go BK.
And even LESS reason to re-elect the boobs who wrote this crap.
"Your" 401(k)? Wrong, Sucka!!
Ol' Andy Stern of SEIU fame (the purplethugs) has a request.
One of the nation's largest labor unions, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), is promoting a plan that will centralize all retirement plans for American workers, including private 401(k) plans, under one new "retirement system" for the United States.
That means that your 401(k) will be sucked into the Gummint's maw and re-distributed to folks whose Union pension plans are unable to pay out on their promises.
(They just got $10Bn out of ObamaCare).
You read that right. The "reconciliation" HEALTHCARE bill includes a $10Bn gift to Union pension plans which are underwater.
One of the nation's largest labor unions, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), is promoting a plan that will centralize all retirement plans for American workers, including private 401(k) plans, under one new "retirement system" for the United States.
That means that your 401(k) will be sucked into the Gummint's maw and re-distributed to folks whose Union pension plans are unable to pay out on their promises.
(They just got $10Bn out of ObamaCare).
You read that right. The "reconciliation" HEALTHCARE bill includes a $10Bn gift to Union pension plans which are underwater.
That Gunshot Through Cantor's Office Window?
Well, Hell's Bells, NOW we know why all the violence!
Barack Obama is warning supporters that the general election fight between him and John McCain may get ugly, but the Illinois senator is vowing not to back down.
Barack Obama is warning supporters that the general election fight between him and John McCain may get ugly, but the Illinois senator is vowing not to back down.
“If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun,” Obama said at a fundraiser in Philadelphia Friday, according to pool reports.
Obviously, someone took B Hussein Obama seriously and brought a gun.
We're certain that Obama will disavow all that sort of talk.
"Spitting"? Nope. Try Again...
Ace makes short work of Cleaver's BS.
...Rep. Cleaver then walked back the claim to someone "allowed" his spit to land upon his very dignified personage.
...Rep. Cleaver then walked back the claim to someone "allowed" his spit to land upon his very dignified personage.
By which he means he was a victim of Say It Don't Spray it, a Class D Felony, though it becomes Aggravated Say It Don't Spray It, a Class C Felony, when "enhanced" by a racial motive.
Another Member of Royal Congress, or whatever.
Obama Is Iran's Ally--Following GWB's Tactics
Unique perspective from "Spengler."
...In a March 16 “Spengler” column for Asia Times Online, I quoted State Department officials’ on-record invitation to Iran to play a major role in Afghanistan. Getting Iran involved IS the administration’s “exit strategy.” Obama wants an ALLIANCE with Iran. And that’s why he picked a fight with Netanyahu over the non-issue of apartment construction in a part of North Jerusalem that every draft piece [sic] plan agrees will remain Israeli. If Israel hits Iran’s nuclear capacity, the deal is off.
But it was GWB who initiated the alliance.
I do not believe any formal understanding is in place, but the probable outcome is that Washington will refrain from military action to forestall any Iranian nuclear arms developments, while Tehran will refrain from disrupting Washington’s constitutional Potemkin Village in Iraq. Tehran thinks strategically, as befits a country with a government newly elected by an overwhelming majority, while Washington thinks politically. President George W Bush is struggling to persuade the American public of the wisdom of his nation-building scheme in Iraq, and badly wants the Iranians to keep their hands in their pockets. Iran is prepared to do so as long as America keeps its opposition to its nuclear program within the confines of the diplomatic cul-de-sac defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency. --Spengler, October 2005
Spengler's prognosis of the situation is not very encouraging.
...In a March 16 “Spengler” column for Asia Times Online, I quoted State Department officials’ on-record invitation to Iran to play a major role in Afghanistan. Getting Iran involved IS the administration’s “exit strategy.” Obama wants an ALLIANCE with Iran. And that’s why he picked a fight with Netanyahu over the non-issue of apartment construction in a part of North Jerusalem that every draft piece [sic] plan agrees will remain Israeli. If Israel hits Iran’s nuclear capacity, the deal is off.
But it was GWB who initiated the alliance.
I do not believe any formal understanding is in place, but the probable outcome is that Washington will refrain from military action to forestall any Iranian nuclear arms developments, while Tehran will refrain from disrupting Washington’s constitutional Potemkin Village in Iraq. Tehran thinks strategically, as befits a country with a government newly elected by an overwhelming majority, while Washington thinks politically. President George W Bush is struggling to persuade the American public of the wisdom of his nation-building scheme in Iraq, and badly wants the Iranians to keep their hands in their pockets. Iran is prepared to do so as long as America keeps its opposition to its nuclear program within the confines of the diplomatic cul-de-sac defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency. --Spengler, October 2005
Spengler's prognosis of the situation is not very encouraging.
Isely's Pushing the Wrong Agenda
I met Pete Isely a number of years ago. Pleasant guy, and (at the time) he had a very sensible cause: get the pedophiles out of their collars and into prison.
Who could argue with that? I certainly didn't.
Somewhere along the line, Pete's been co-opted by people who are not as sensible as Pete was. They have a markedly different agenda: they are gunning for the Pope, and Isely's been duped.
"The goal of Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, was to keep this secret," [Isely] said, flanked by photos of others who say they were abused and a poster of Ratzinger. "We need to know why he (the pope) did not let us know about him (Murphy) and why he didn't let the police know about him and why he did not condemn him and why he did not take his collar away from him."
UPDATE: the first complaint came in in 1974. It is not yet clear whether ANY civil/criminal complaints were filed in this matter.
The second question is: why the Hell does Isely complain that Ratzinger 'did not inform Milwaukee police and the Milwaukee DA'? Did we not have an Archbishop right here in Milwaukee at the time? Or an auxiliary Bishop (or two)? Since the local DA was a Catholic and his wife worked at a Catholic high school, it shouldn't have been too hard to find McCann's home phone number, right? IIRC, one could also find a listing for "Milwaukee County Office of District Attorney" if you wanted to reach McCann during the day. He'd probably take a call from Rembert Weakland.
Finally, Isely complains about "secrecy." He's right: the Vatican did want to keep the matters confidential, but not for the reasons Isely (and his pals) want you to believe. The Vatican kept these things confidential for the protection of the victims AND as a guard against unwarranted calumny of the priests. Canon Law is like American jurisprudence--innocent until proven guilty, and all that stuff. As you will also see (below), Canon Law has a statute of limitations--just like lots of States in the USA.
This is exactly the same as the practice at the local newspaper: they do NOT publish the name of someone charged with incest (e.g.) to protect the child. Similarly, the local newspaper does NOT publish the names of arrested suspects until charges have been filed.
Yes, the newspaper knows all about libel--unless it's the Church which does not publish names.
Charlie Sykes is right. Something about this story smells funny.
Has anyone called E. Michael McCann about this? Anybody? Bueller?
More here from Airstrip One (England...)
I do, however, get the very strong feeling that the Pope’s enemies, including his enemies in the Church, are trying desperately hard to discover serious complicity on his part in a child abuse case. Because that would be just so convenient, wouldn’t it?
Thompson cites the CNS story, which has a few interesting facts, too. Like the following:
Archbishop Weakland wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger about the case in 1996 because he thought it might involve "solicitation in the confessional," a sin which because of its gravity involved the doctrinal congregation.
Later in 1996, the doctrinal congregation told Wisconsin bishops to begin a canonical trial of Father Murphy, the Times article said. But it said that process was halted after Father Murphy wrote directly to Cardinal Ratzinger, saying that he had repented and was in poor health, and that the allegations went beyond the church’s own statute of limitations for such crimes.
UPDATE: As it turns out, the trial was NOT "halted."
Also worth noting:
Vatican officials who spoke on background said the New York Times story was unfair because it ignored the fact that, at the urging of Cardinal Ratzinger himself, new procedures to deal with priest abusers were put in place in 2002, including measures making it easier to laicize them.
At some point in time, the JS will stop using NYSlimes stories as "fact-based."
Who could argue with that? I certainly didn't.
Somewhere along the line, Pete's been co-opted by people who are not as sensible as Pete was. They have a markedly different agenda: they are gunning for the Pope, and Isely's been duped.
"The goal of Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, was to keep this secret," [Isely] said, flanked by photos of others who say they were abused and a poster of Ratzinger. "We need to know why he (the pope) did not let us know about him (Murphy) and why he didn't let the police know about him and why he did not condemn him and why he did not take his collar away from him."
Church and Vatican documents showed that in the mid-1990s, two Wisconsin bishops urged the Vatican office led by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - now the pope - to let them hold a church trial against Murphy. The bishops admitted the trial was coming years after the alleged abuse, but argued that the deaf community in Milwaukee was demanding justice from the church.
Ratzinger was not a member of the Congregation for Clergy (which is directly responsible for priests in the overall sense), nor the Congregation for Bishops. He was head of Congregation for Doctrine. So the first question is "Why did Weakland write to Cong. Doctrine rather than Clergy or Bishops?" (The answer is below, in the CNS News story.) It is very important to note that Ratzinger's Congregation did NOT have full control of priest-pedophile issues until 2002, by the way. (Noted below is the fact that Ratzinger himself won for CDF the ability to laicize priests convicted under Canon Law.)UPDATE: the first complaint came in in 1974. It is not yet clear whether ANY civil/criminal complaints were filed in this matter.
The second question is: why the Hell does Isely complain that Ratzinger 'did not inform Milwaukee police and the Milwaukee DA'? Did we not have an Archbishop right here in Milwaukee at the time? Or an auxiliary Bishop (or two)? Since the local DA was a Catholic and his wife worked at a Catholic high school, it shouldn't have been too hard to find McCann's home phone number, right? IIRC, one could also find a listing for "Milwaukee County Office of District Attorney" if you wanted to reach McCann during the day. He'd probably take a call from Rembert Weakland.
Finally, Isely complains about "secrecy." He's right: the Vatican did want to keep the matters confidential, but not for the reasons Isely (and his pals) want you to believe. The Vatican kept these things confidential for the protection of the victims AND as a guard against unwarranted calumny of the priests. Canon Law is like American jurisprudence--innocent until proven guilty, and all that stuff. As you will also see (below), Canon Law has a statute of limitations--just like lots of States in the USA.
This is exactly the same as the practice at the local newspaper: they do NOT publish the name of someone charged with incest (e.g.) to protect the child. Similarly, the local newspaper does NOT publish the names of arrested suspects until charges have been filed.
Yes, the newspaper knows all about libel--unless it's the Church which does not publish names.
Charlie Sykes is right. Something about this story smells funny.
Has anyone called E. Michael McCann about this? Anybody? Bueller?
More here from Airstrip One (England...)
I do, however, get the very strong feeling that the Pope’s enemies, including his enemies in the Church, are trying desperately hard to discover serious complicity on his part in a child abuse case. Because that would be just so convenient, wouldn’t it?
Thompson cites the CNS story, which has a few interesting facts, too. Like the following:
Archbishop Weakland wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger about the case in 1996 because he thought it might involve "solicitation in the confessional," a sin which because of its gravity involved the doctrinal congregation.
Later in 1996, the doctrinal congregation told Wisconsin bishops to begin a canonical trial of Father Murphy, the Times article said. But it said that process was halted after Father Murphy wrote directly to Cardinal Ratzinger, saying that he had repented and was in poor health, and that the allegations went beyond the church’s own statute of limitations for such crimes.
UPDATE: As it turns out, the trial was NOT "halted."
Also worth noting:
Vatican officials who spoke on background said the New York Times story was unfair because it ignored the fact that, at the urging of Cardinal Ratzinger himself, new procedures to deal with priest abusers were put in place in 2002, including measures making it easier to laicize them.
At some point in time, the JS will stop using NYSlimes stories as "fact-based."
False-Flag: Carnahan (Liar/D) of Missouri
Widdle Wusty Carnahan claims, to a happily-swallowing Press, that he was "threatened" by a coffin near his yard in St Louis area.
Want the actual facts on that?
After our prayer service we took our coffin and went and prayed on the sidewalk outside of Russ Carnahan’s home.
The whole story, with pix, at the link.
Want the actual facts on that?
After our prayer service we took our coffin and went and prayed on the sidewalk outside of Russ Carnahan’s home.
The whole story, with pix, at the link.
False Flag Ops......
Who's making all those threats, calling all those names, and breaking windows?
Well, so far, we don't know.
But there's no good reason to believe that it is Conservatives, and tantalizing bits of information, combined with historical pattern-of-practice, which lead prudent people to be agnostic--or to point to the Left's insurgents.
For the last year, the media have been desperately trying to hang the "racist" tag around the Tea Party movement as a way to discredit it. This past weekend, they would seem to have finally succeeded.
The McClatchy newspaper chain, whose slogan is "truth to power," launched an opening salvo on Saturday, March 20 with the inflammatory headline -- its exact words -- "Tea party protesters scream 'nigger' at black congressman." That is "protesters" in the plural who "scream" a racial epithet, "nigger," at a particular "congressman."
This one headline contains one perilously uncorroborated accusation and three conscious fabrications, beginning with the identity of the "congressman" in question. So much for "truth to power."
Cong. John Lewis DID NOT HEAR the 'n' word...
...and if that word WAS used, it was not a "chorus" of protesters who used it....
In fact, nobody on the scene seems to have heard the term, and multiple videotapes (some taken by Congressional aides/flaks) do NOT pick it up.
Further, there was no "arrest" of anyone; there was a detention/release, after a Congresscritter was 'unable to identify' his "attacker." (Maybe that "attacker" was one of his allies, hmmmmm?)
In addition, there are reports of threatening phone calls, cut propane-gas lines, and a broken window in a Congresscritter's home-town office. None of the perps have been identified.
We are aware, however, of the documented pattern-of-practice of the Left. They bomb buildings (UW, anyone?) and plot to bomb soldiers' dances (Ayers & Co.). They rough up peaceful demonstrators (Green Bay/Gore Campaign and St Louis street-peddler.) They credibly threaten violence, forcing folks like Ann Coulter and David Horowitz to cancel appearances.
Insurgents utilize "false-flag" ops all the time. The nature of insurgency requires lies and deception. It's very helpful to have a cooperative press, of course, which makes insurgency in America so damned easy to pull off.
BeerBiker thinks the same way.
Well, so far, we don't know.
But there's no good reason to believe that it is Conservatives, and tantalizing bits of information, combined with historical pattern-of-practice, which lead prudent people to be agnostic--or to point to the Left's insurgents.
For the last year, the media have been desperately trying to hang the "racist" tag around the Tea Party movement as a way to discredit it. This past weekend, they would seem to have finally succeeded.
The McClatchy newspaper chain, whose slogan is "truth to power," launched an opening salvo on Saturday, March 20 with the inflammatory headline -- its exact words -- "Tea party protesters scream 'nigger' at black congressman." That is "protesters" in the plural who "scream" a racial epithet, "nigger," at a particular "congressman."
This one headline contains one perilously uncorroborated accusation and three conscious fabrications, beginning with the identity of the "congressman" in question. So much for "truth to power."
Cong. John Lewis DID NOT HEAR the 'n' word...
...and if that word WAS used, it was not a "chorus" of protesters who used it....
In fact, nobody on the scene seems to have heard the term, and multiple videotapes (some taken by Congressional aides/flaks) do NOT pick it up.
Further, there was no "arrest" of anyone; there was a detention/release, after a Congresscritter was 'unable to identify' his "attacker." (Maybe that "attacker" was one of his allies, hmmmmm?)
In addition, there are reports of threatening phone calls, cut propane-gas lines, and a broken window in a Congresscritter's home-town office. None of the perps have been identified.
We are aware, however, of the documented pattern-of-practice of the Left. They bomb buildings (UW, anyone?) and plot to bomb soldiers' dances (Ayers & Co.). They rough up peaceful demonstrators (Green Bay/Gore Campaign and St Louis street-peddler.) They credibly threaten violence, forcing folks like Ann Coulter and David Horowitz to cancel appearances.
Insurgents utilize "false-flag" ops all the time. The nature of insurgency requires lies and deception. It's very helpful to have a cooperative press, of course, which makes insurgency in America so damned easy to pull off.
BeerBiker thinks the same way.
TouchTMJ Copywriter: Call Your Office
Radio ad for TMJ4 Weather includes the following:
"...weather can turn Wisconsin roads into a parking lot."
Really?
ALL the 'Wisconsin roads'--all at once--become "a parking lot"?
Or should the nominative plurals agree, e.g., '....roads into parking lotS'?
I can tell you didn't have Sr. Mary Rosarybeads for elementary-school grammar.
"...weather can turn Wisconsin roads into a parking lot."
Really?
ALL the 'Wisconsin roads'--all at once--become "a parking lot"?
Or should the nominative plurals agree, e.g., '....roads into parking lotS'?
I can tell you didn't have Sr. Mary Rosarybeads for elementary-school grammar.
Despite Warnings, McCann Failed to Prosecute--UPDATED
The JS buys into the New York Slimes' attack-dog sleight-of-hand.
But we re-wrote the headline to reflect the reality in Milwaukee.
In 1996, Ratzinger failed to respond to two letters about the case from Rembert G. Weakland, Milwaukee's archbishop at the time. After eight months, the second in command at the doctrinal office, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, now the Vatican's secretary of state, instructed the Wisconsin bishops to begin a secret canonical trial that could lead to Murphy's dismissal.
Eventually, that trial was cancelled because the Church also has a canon-law statute of limitations.
And as was recently revealed, Ratzinger didn't really get control of canon-law priest-prosecutions until 2002. But never mind...
Here's the graf which should have gotten the headline:
Murphy...also got a pass from the police and prosecutors who ignored reports from his victims, according to the documents and interviews with victims.
Anybody call Mike McCann for comment? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?
UPDATE: "During the mid-1970s, some of Father Murphy's victims reported his abuse to civil authorities, who investigated him at that time; however, according to news reports, that investigation was dropped," said Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi. "The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was not informed of the matter until some 20 years later."
That would be the mid-1990's.
So I repeat: has anyone contacted E. Michael McCann about this?
But we re-wrote the headline to reflect the reality in Milwaukee.
In 1996, Ratzinger failed to respond to two letters about the case from Rembert G. Weakland, Milwaukee's archbishop at the time. After eight months, the second in command at the doctrinal office, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, now the Vatican's secretary of state, instructed the Wisconsin bishops to begin a secret canonical trial that could lead to Murphy's dismissal.
Eventually, that trial was cancelled because the Church also has a canon-law statute of limitations.
And as was recently revealed, Ratzinger didn't really get control of canon-law priest-prosecutions until 2002. But never mind...
Here's the graf which should have gotten the headline:
Murphy...also got a pass from the police and prosecutors who ignored reports from his victims, according to the documents and interviews with victims.
Anybody call Mike McCann for comment? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?
UPDATE: "During the mid-1970s, some of Father Murphy's victims reported his abuse to civil authorities, who investigated him at that time; however, according to news reports, that investigation was dropped," said Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi. "The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was not informed of the matter until some 20 years later."
That would be the mid-1990's.
So I repeat: has anyone contacted E. Michael McCann about this?
Good Luck With That, JB
JB VanHollen wants to sue over ObamaCare's "mandate."
Good luck with that.
In order to sue, he has to get an OK from either the (D)-controlled Assembly, the (D)-controlled Senate, or the Doylet, a notorious Obama co-conspirator.
Oh, well.
Good luck with that.
In order to sue, he has to get an OK from either the (D)-controlled Assembly, the (D)-controlled Senate, or the Doylet, a notorious Obama co-conspirator.
Oh, well.
Surprise! Wisconsin Tax Revenues Down Again
Wisconsin's Dep't of Revenue reports are a bit late. Usually, they report revenues about 3 weeks after the end of a month.
This time, they lumped January AND February together. No matter; it's not good news.
All figures are compared to FY 2009.)
FY 2010 Individual Income tax (to date): OFF 6.1%
FY 2010 Sales/Use Tax: OFF 6.9%
FY 2010 Corporate tax: UP 34%
FY 2010 Excise Tax: UP 15.4%
FY 2010 Other Tax: OFF 5.8%
TOTAL FY 2010 General Purpose Revenues: OFF 3.7%
Altogether, revenues are OFF by about about $275 MILLION from FY '09.
Reminders: "Corporate Tax" is up partially due to the 'unified tax' provision. That's about $100MM that will not go into R&D, wage and salary hikes, or plant/machinery/equipment investments.
Excise taxes on tobacco were significantly increased by the Legislature.
"Other" tax includes real-estate transfer fees.
And the BIGGEST reminder: 2009 is an "easy" comparison. (There was a recession, remember?) A better comparo would be 2008, or 2007...
This time, they lumped January AND February together. No matter; it's not good news.
All figures are compared to FY 2009.)
FY 2010 Individual Income tax (to date): OFF 6.1%
FY 2010 Sales/Use Tax: OFF 6.9%
FY 2010 Corporate tax: UP 34%
FY 2010 Excise Tax: UP 15.4%
FY 2010 Other Tax: OFF 5.8%
TOTAL FY 2010 General Purpose Revenues: OFF 3.7%
Altogether, revenues are OFF by about about $275 MILLION from FY '09.
Reminders: "Corporate Tax" is up partially due to the 'unified tax' provision. That's about $100MM that will not go into R&D, wage and salary hikes, or plant/machinery/equipment investments.
Excise taxes on tobacco were significantly increased by the Legislature.
"Other" tax includes real-estate transfer fees.
And the BIGGEST reminder: 2009 is an "easy" comparison. (There was a recession, remember?) A better comparo would be 2008, or 2007...
Cat Writes Down $100Million for ObamaCare; FoMoCo Next?
So Cat announced that it would take a provision of $100MM for tax liabilities connected to ObamaCare this quarter.
It had to do with retiree-pharma benefits.
That may mean that Ford Motor Company will have a similar provision announcement coming up.
It had to do with retiree-pharma benefits.
That may mean that Ford Motor Company will have a similar provision announcement coming up.
It's the SPENDING, Stupid!! Part 55,465
Terry Jeffrey:
....the Congressional Budget Office's analysis of President Barack Obama's new fiscal 2011 budget proposal, [...] predicts a massive escalation in government debt that could change our way of life forever.
"They literally crash the U.S. economy, if these kinds of deficits that he's proposing persist," Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, told me...
How bad IS it?
...During President George W. Bush's eight years in office, federal spending averaged 20.4 percent of gross domestic product, and annual budget deficits averaged 3.4 percent. Under Obama's new proposal, federal spending will average 24.1 percent of GDP over the next decade and annual deficits will average 5.2 percent.
Under Obama's plan, the federal government will never again see an annual deficit as small as the $458.5 billion of 2008. His smallest annual deficit would be $724 billion in 2014. After that, the annual deficit would head ever higher and never look back, passing the $1 trillion mark again by 2018, and reaching $1.25 trillion by 2020, the last year calculated by the CBO.
The interest will be ......um..........significant.
....the Congressional Budget Office's analysis of President Barack Obama's new fiscal 2011 budget proposal, [...] predicts a massive escalation in government debt that could change our way of life forever.
"They literally crash the U.S. economy, if these kinds of deficits that he's proposing persist," Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, told me...
How bad IS it?
...During President George W. Bush's eight years in office, federal spending averaged 20.4 percent of gross domestic product, and annual budget deficits averaged 3.4 percent. Under Obama's new proposal, federal spending will average 24.1 percent of GDP over the next decade and annual deficits will average 5.2 percent.
Under Obama's plan, the federal government will never again see an annual deficit as small as the $458.5 billion of 2008. His smallest annual deficit would be $724 billion in 2014. After that, the annual deficit would head ever higher and never look back, passing the $1 trillion mark again by 2018, and reaching $1.25 trillion by 2020, the last year calculated by the CBO.
The interest will be ......um..........significant.
AbortoCare in High School
Well, why not?
A Seattle mother is furious after learning that her 15-year-old daughter was sent by her school's health center for a secret abortion, reports ABC-affiliate KOMO.
A Seattle mother is furious after learning that her 15-year-old daughter was sent by her school's health center for a secret abortion, reports ABC-affiliate KOMO.
The mother, identified only as “Jill,” says her daughter was given a pregnancy test at Ballard High School's Teen Health Center, which came back positive. Rather than informing the parents, she said, the center gave the girl a pass and put her in a taxi for the abortuary, all during school hours.
"They just told her that if she concealed it from her family, that it would be free of charge and no financial responsibility," Jill said.
After all, the woman is only the MOTHER. What does SHE have to say about this?
WAY Too Much Credit to Obama
The London Daily Mail reports:
Nearly a quarter of Republicans believe the Democrat president 'may be the Antichrist', according to a survey.
Sorry. That's giving Obama WAY too much credit.
Tinpot-dictator wannabe, yes. Anti-Christ? No.
Nearly a quarter of Republicans believe the Democrat president 'may be the Antichrist', according to a survey.
Sorry. That's giving Obama WAY too much credit.
Tinpot-dictator wannabe, yes. Anti-Christ? No.
Federal Coercion, Phase Two
It's good to be in DC, the seat of all knowledge and wisdom.
Just ask Ray LaHood.
“Today, I want to announce a sea change,” LaHood wrote. “People across America who value bicycling should have a voice when it comes to transportation planning. This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized.”
LaHood’s policy statement not only called for this change to take place in programs funded by the federal government, but also said the federal government would “encourage” state and local governments to do the same in their own programs.
You WILL walk or ride a bicycle. Sieg Heil!!
Yes, he telegraphed it:
On May 21, LaHood told reporters at the National Press Club that the “Partnership for Sustainable Communities’ his department had formed with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Housing—sometimes known as the “livability initiative”--was designed to “coerce” people out of their cars.
So far, no announcement of prison-time for offenders, like with ObamaCare.
Just ask Ray LaHood.
“Today, I want to announce a sea change,” LaHood wrote. “People across America who value bicycling should have a voice when it comes to transportation planning. This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized.”
LaHood’s policy statement not only called for this change to take place in programs funded by the federal government, but also said the federal government would “encourage” state and local governments to do the same in their own programs.
You WILL walk or ride a bicycle. Sieg Heil!!
Yes, he telegraphed it:
On May 21, LaHood told reporters at the National Press Club that the “Partnership for Sustainable Communities’ his department had formed with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Housing—sometimes known as the “livability initiative”--was designed to “coerce” people out of their cars.
So far, no announcement of prison-time for offenders, like with ObamaCare.
What Democrats Really Stand For
Here's a partial list of amendments which Democrats REJECTED:
Allowing states to opt out of the provisions of the health care bill (Democrats will force it down your throat)
No erectile dysfunction medications for sex offenders (Democrats like their sex offenders virile)
Allowing states to opt out of the provisions of the health care bill (Democrats will force it down your throat)
No erectile dysfunction medications for sex offenders (Democrats like their sex offenders virile)
Medicare savings must be used to extend life of Medicare (Democrats don't really care about Medicare)
To ensure that the president, cabinet members, all White House senior staff and congressional committee and leadership staff are purchasing health insurance through the health insurance exchanges established by the health care bill (Some animals are more equal than others)
To exclude devices for persons with disabilities from the medical device tax (Disabled, schmisabled. They'll pay the price!!)
To eliminate the sweetheart deals for Tennessee, Hawaii, Louisiana, Montana, Connecticut, and frontier States (Gives a whole new meaning to the term 'welfare State,' eh?)
HT: WaExaminer
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Grim Notices the First Thing
Grim is a Democrat. It's useful to remember that when you read his essay (excerpted here).
Anyone who wants to complain about the rise of violent rhetoric among opponents of the law should recognize that the law is what first threatened violence. Throwing people into prison is violence. Extracting money from people under threat of throwing them into prison is violence. It was this law that decided to make "health care" into the kind of issue that we resolve, not with the market by other free private decisions, but through violence and threats of violence.
Indeed.
There's a LOT more in his essay, all thoughtful and well-reasoned, including references to the Revolution and the Stamp Act...
Read it!
Anyone who wants to complain about the rise of violent rhetoric among opponents of the law should recognize that the law is what first threatened violence. Throwing people into prison is violence. Extracting money from people under threat of throwing them into prison is violence. It was this law that decided to make "health care" into the kind of issue that we resolve, not with the market by other free private decisions, but through violence and threats of violence.
Indeed.
There's a LOT more in his essay, all thoughtful and well-reasoned, including references to the Revolution and the Stamp Act...
Read it!
Oratory Lives!
We've mentioned Cong. Thad McCotter before. He is really, really good.
The best way to absorb oratory, of course, is by listening (go to the link.)
But here's a taste of the speech, in pixels:
...As families lose their jobs, their homes, and their dreams for their children; as our troops fight and sacrifice in foreign fields for our liberty and security, President Obama’s obsessive-compulsive pursuit of an abominable government takeover of health care has defied the public’s objections, despoiled this, “The People’s House,” and further alienated Americans from their representative government.
As President Obama’s campaign mantra of “hope and change” has degenerated into “tax and hate,...
(snip)
...Such hubris threatens not only our health care system but it tears the social fabric and political contract of our Nation. Instead of working for a more perfect Union, the President’s ideological obstinacy exacerbated the disorder and divisions within our Nation, and wrought a crisis of consent—one that puts America’s exceptional experiment in human freedom and self-government on the precipice of implosion.
To do so the President has the power, but not the right. ...
Jefferson and Lincoln, call your offices.
The best way to absorb oratory, of course, is by listening (go to the link.)
But here's a taste of the speech, in pixels:
...As families lose their jobs, their homes, and their dreams for their children; as our troops fight and sacrifice in foreign fields for our liberty and security, President Obama’s obsessive-compulsive pursuit of an abominable government takeover of health care has defied the public’s objections, despoiled this, “The People’s House,” and further alienated Americans from their representative government.
As President Obama’s campaign mantra of “hope and change” has degenerated into “tax and hate,...
(snip)
...Such hubris threatens not only our health care system but it tears the social fabric and political contract of our Nation. Instead of working for a more perfect Union, the President’s ideological obstinacy exacerbated the disorder and divisions within our Nation, and wrought a crisis of consent—one that puts America’s exceptional experiment in human freedom and self-government on the precipice of implosion.
To do so the President has the power, but not the right. ...
Jefferson and Lincoln, call your offices.