NEA Hitting the Porcelain Tube. *Snif*

Almost enough to make you cry, eh?

...With five weeks to go before the union’s annual representative assembly, NEA is painting a financial and membership picture that delegates could scarcely imagine just a few short years ago. Last year, NEA secretary-treasurer Becky Pringle warned the assemblage, “We have to assume we haven’t hit bottom yet.” Having constructed the union’s budget for the next two years, she will be able to repeat that warning.

According to multiple sources within the NEA leadership, the union is reporting a loss of 150,000 members over the past two years, and is projecting a further loss of more than 200,000 members over the next two years. The total reduction in revenue to the national union over the years 2010-2014 amounts to $65 million – about one-sixth of its original budget.

And the Wisconsin membership numbers will drop dramatically over the next 2 years, too.

The Left and Mad Dogs

We're seeing something that is very ugly.

It's from the Left--specifically, supporters of Obozo.

And it will not end well.

VanderSloot and Stevens--not to mention Buchanan, Limbaugh, Beck, and Riley--were just the beginning. 

Now we have the "SWAT" attacks against Conservative bloggers.

The mad dogs are loose, and they are funded very handsomely by "secret" sources.  Well, not TOO secret; Tides Foundation is named.  Soros is a suspect, to nobody's surprise.

And to nobody's surprise, neither Obozo nor his personal defense attorney (a/k/a the Attorney General) have uttered a peep about it.

'Drones Good', He Says, Adding That 'Privacy Good, Too'

McDonnell of Virginia eventually remembered the 4th Amendment--but he still has logic problems over "productivity".

Police drones flying over Virginia would be "great" and "the right thing to do" for the same reasons they are so effective in a battlefield environment, the state's chief executive said Tuesday. 

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, says he is open to any technology that makes law enforcement more productive. The use of drones, which was recently endorsed by the police chiefs of Fairfax County and D.C., would make better use of valuable police resources.

I highlighted 'more productive' for a reason.  Meantime,

McDonnell added Tuesday it will prove important to ensure the state maintains Americans' civil liberties, such as privacy, if it adds drones to its law enforcement arsenal.

Any substantive thought on that issue, Gov?  Like, for example, HOW 'privacy' might be ensured?

I didn't think so.

Back to "productivity":  the term means 'more work-product with same or less headcount'.  Are the DroneHeads telling us that they'll cut the headcounts in police agencies?  Or maybe just cut the pay and benefits?  Do they really mean to say that more drones = less cops?

I didn't think so.

Big Gummint, Small Growth: Sun Rises in the East

No surprise to anyone.

Using tax to GDP and spending to GDP ratios as a proxy for size of government, regression analysis can be used to estimate the effect of government size on GDP growth in a set of countries defined as advanced by the IMF between 1965 and 2010. …As supply-side economists would expect, the coefficients on the tax revenue to GDP and government spending to GDP ratios are negative and statistically significant. This suggests that, ceteris paribus, a larger tax burden results in a slower annual growth of real GDP per capita. Though it is unlikely that this effect would be linear (we might expect the effect to be larger for countries with huge tax burdens), the regressions suggest that an increase in the tax revenue to GDP ratio by 10 percentage points will, if the other variables do not change, lead to a decrease in the rate of economic growth per capita by 1.2 percentage points. The result is very similar for government outlays to GDP, where an increase by 10 percentage points is associated with a fall in the economic growth rate of 1.1 percentage points. This is in line with other findings in the academic literature. …The two small government economies with the lowest marginal tax rates, Singapore and Hong Kong, were also those which experienced the fastest average real GDP growth.  --Center for Policy Studies (England) quoted by Dan Mitchell

Mitchell has been saying the same thing (and demonstrating it) for years; his article has additional cites and links.

Barrett: 'Rights, But No Money' for Union Members

This is interesting:

...Barrett also responded Sunday to Gov. Walker’s claim that Barrett has no clear plans after taking office.
“My plan is to introduce a special session and work with the Legislature to restore collective bargaining rights and rights for workers.  Workers will continue to pay more toward their pension and healthcare, but I believe that they should have the right to organize and bargain. Then over the next six to seven months, we’ll work to create more jobs,” Barrett said....

As I recall, public employees HAVE the 'right to organize' even under Act 10.

So Barrett won't give the money back?  My, my, my.

Bishops Should Prepare to Lose Their Suit

Well, here's a cheery note......

...There's a very good reason why the ACLU and its Supreme Court enablers like William O. Douglas, William Brennan, John Paul Stevens, David Souter, and Sandra Day O'Connor serve up their free-exercise-for-atheists burgers on establishment clause buns: in an establishment clause dispute, there's no need to prove coercion or present empirical evidence of any kind.  Speculation will do just fine.  Gin up an advisory opinion that a concealed purpose to endorse religion is trampling non-adherents' free exercise rights, and bingo! -- case closed.  No real-world effect need apply.

 

Real free exercise suits are a whole different ballgame.  To help put the establishment clause on steroids, the Court found it useful to starve the free exercise clause into a kick-sand-in-my-face weakling.  So it would be almost shocking to see a free exercise complaint about something besides unemployment benefits -- a social justice issue that pushes its very own progressive hot button -- actually succeed...

... A laughably narrow definition of "inculcate" -- one that mirrors Obama's habitual substitution of "freedom of worship" for "freedom of religion" -- seems to be the cause of this misalignment.  If the Supreme Court's progressives have done nothing else, they've worked overtime to sell the notion that virtually any religious expression that might possibly be construed as an "endorsement" of religion "inculcates" religion by coercing religious minorities....

Here's the nut of it:

...Any Catholic organization that refuses to provide coverage for contraceptives, abortion, and sex-change operations for religious reasons is by definition inculcating religion.  The Supreme Court told us so, because as the mandate's defenders have dutifully reminded us, denying such coverage in the name of moral conscience not only "endorses" religion, but "coerces" hapless women to be Catholics....

And THAT'S how the bastards plan to win.

Until they meet the REAL resistance, of course.....

The "Preference Cascade" in Wisconsin

Interesting concept, here applied to Obozo.

What I believe we are seeing here is the beginning of a “preference cascade,” a term made popular by Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit fame. It’s a fascinating concept, applied originally to the process by which oppressive governments fall.

A large population can be dominated by a small group only by persuading all dissenters that they stand alone. Most of their fellow citizens are portrayed as loyal to the regime, and everyone around the dissident is a potential informer. A huge dissident population can therefore be suppressed, by making them believe they’re all lonely voices in the wilderness… until the day they begin realizing they are not alone, and most people don’t support the regime. The process by which dissent becomes seen as commonplace, and eventually overwhelming, is the preference cascade.
. . .
That’s what began happening over the past couple of weeks: a large number of people discovered it’s okay to strongly disapprove of Barack Obama. His popularity has always been buttressed by the conviction – very aggressively pushed by his supporters – that disapproval of his personal or official conduct is immoral. You’re presumptively “racist” if you disagree with him, or at least a greedy tool of the Evil Rich, or a “Tea Party extremist.”  --McCain quoting Hayward

It's gradually becoming clear that simple smears of opponents won't hold the "masses" in check.

We see something similar in Wisconsin, where--while there was plenty of enthusiasm and energy for gathering and giving signatures on the recall petition, that enthusiasm has ebbed.  Thus, we see Barrett sliming Walker instead of running a campaign based on substance.

The reality--that this is all about Public Employee Unions' selfishness (and feeding the coffers of the Democrat Party)--is crystallizing.

Watch the polling numbers.  I don't think they're frozen at a 5-point spread.

The Real Chris Christie: Left of Romney (!!)

I'd heard rumbles about Christie before this, and it was clear that he is a blowhard (albeit sometimes a lot of fun to watch.)  But "blowhard" doesn't really cover it; Christie is a lefty RINO, left of JFK by a country mile, and perhaps even to the left of Diamond Jim Doyle.

Andy McCarthy puts a fork in him. 

Let's hope that Walker doesn't bring him back to Wisconsin.

Another Armed Fed Agency

You know that the FBI, Border Patrol, IRS, and DEA have lotsa gun-totin' employees.  So do some TSA folks, by the way.

Here's a surprise:  so does the Food and Drug Administration.

(You never know when some damn food-runner in that '55 hot-rod Lincoln will go speeding from the farm directly to the farmer's market, eh?)

So Sen. Rand Paul did something about that.

Paul introduced an amendment that would disarm Food and Drug Administration bureaucrats and accomplish several other goals.

“I’m troubled by images of armed agents raiding Amish farms and preventing them selling milk directly from the cow,” he said in a Senate floor statement posted online. “I think we have bigger problems in our country than sending armed FDA agents into peaceful farmers’ land and telling them they can’t sell milk directly from the cow.”

Seems that the paranoia begins with the Feds, not with the populace.

The Back-and-Forthright Obozo

Neat little video here, describing the reality of Obozo vs. the horsecr*p image.

Get Outta Europe!!

Doesn't surprise any actual Conservative:

The Rasmussen polling organization is out with a shock poll that the entire Washington establishment needs to study: 51 percent of voters surveyed said they wanted all US troops out of Europe, now. Only 29 percent favored keeping the troops where they are...American Interest quoted at Vox

But the usual War Party Pubbies will be spinning furiously.  The War Party Democrats will (VERY quietly) agree with them, too.

After all, it's perfectly logical to defend the US in Czechoslovakia, right?

Why Not Arm the Spy Drones?

Seems like the Sheriff lives in his own little cocoon.

The Federal Aviation Administration has allowed several police departments to use drones across the U.S. They are controlled from a remote location and use infrared sensors and high-resolution cameras.

Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in Texas told The Daily that his department is considering using rubber bullets and tear gas on its drone.

“Those are things that law enforcement utilizes day in and day out and in certain situations it might be advantageous to have this type of system on the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle),” McDaniel told The Daily.

We'll say it again:  Buy More Ammo

"Just a Few Clerical Errors" ---Really?

Seems that ChooChoo Tommy's town has more problems than the "official reports" mention.

When Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn touted the city's fourth-straight year of falling crime in February, hundreds of beatings, stabbings and child abuse cases were missing from the count, a Journal Sentinel investigation has found.--JS quoted at Human Events

It's the Worker's Paradise, doncha know........except there's no work there, either.

Who Writes These Lines??

There's a comic genius someplace around 1600 Pennsylvania...

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, speaking with reporters on Air Force One on Wednesday, said that President Barack Obama “has demonstrated significant fiscal restraint and acted with great fiscal responsibility” and that “federal spending is rising at its slowest pace since Dwight Eisenhower brought the Korean War to an end in the 1950s."

Uhhmmmmnnnnn...

OK.  Carney's next claim will be something about Obozo ensuring that the sun rises every morning.

Meantime:  Federal spending has been >24% of GDP in every year that Obozo's been President--and recall, friends, that GWB did NOT SIGN the '09 budget--Obozo did on assuming office.

Only other >24% year in the entire history of the US?  1946.

"Barrett's City" Policy: We Are the Lords; YOU Are the Serfs

In Tom Barrett's city, being right will cost you.

Few things can ruin your night in Milwaukee like returning to where you parked and finding a ticket.

[This is the result]...of a flaw in Milwaukee parking ticket policy.
   
That policy pushes parking checkers to write tickets the city is going to throw out anyway.

Ziolkowski's black Volkswagen was a big target for parking checkers in 2011, after its overnight parking permit was lost in the mail.

Parking checkers wrote her tickets 27 times over five months even though her car showed up on their computers as having a valid permit.

It's not a "flaw."  The policy was deliberately designed and implemented by Barrett's administration--and now the morons are DEFENDING it with the old "S*&^ happens" line.

What's the remedy?

The Victims of Barrett will spend up to SIX HOURS proving that the ticket was bogus.

Another alternative?  Just pay the ticket and STFU.

There is a third possibility, of course, but let's not discuss it here.

The FAIL-in-Chief

Frankly, the wheels are coming off.

Arkansas and Kentucky (D) primary results are in, and they look like West Virginia's.

Ed Rendell bailed out, as did Cory Booker.

Wanna bet that Barrett told Obozo not to show up in Wisconsin during the recall campaign???

Warning Sign From CBO

Not really surprising, as other indicators have also flashed the yellow light....

The U.S. economy will probably tip back into recession next year if Congress fails to address an impending “fiscal cliff,” the Congressional Budget Office said. 

The nonpartisan agency said in a report yesterday that the economy would contract at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in the first half of 2013 if lawmakers allow the George W. Bush-era tax cuts to expire as scheduled and $1.2 trillion in government spending cuts to take effect in January.

So.  The Democrat Congress (and, of course, the Obozo) have managed to spend so damn much, and contract so much debt, that CBO is telling us that a combination of tax increases AND spending reductions will trigger another recession.

IOW, the Elite Ruling Class--composed of whores re-election giveaway artists and spineless herd-members of both parties--has sailed the US economy into Hobson's sea.

Throw ALL of 'em out.  While we're at it, deport ALL of them, too.  There must be a prison island someplace.

Nuking Obama, First Sortie

Some ads are absolutely terrific--like the VW commercial with the little kid suddenly 'starting' the car, or the old Miller Brewing "Christmas Card" horse-and-sleigh ads.

Here's another one.

Buh-Bye, Barry....

"Nothing To See Here. Move Along." --Signed, MFM

Not that anyone's surprised, or anything.

The evening news broadcasts all but spiked the largest legal action in history to defend our constitutionally protected religious freedom. The May 21 editions of ABC’s World News and NBC’s Nightly News refused to report the fact that 43 Catholic dioceses and organizations filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Obama administration. CBS Evening News gave this historic news a mere 19 seconds of air time.

This is the worst bias by omission I have seen in the quarter century history of the Media Research Center. Every American knows about the Chinese communists withholding for 20 years the news that the US had landed on the moon, because it reflected poorly on the government. Our US media today are no different. They are now withholding news from the American people if it is harmful to the re-election of Barack Obama.

This IS the 'Religion News story' of 2012, not to mention the most significant First Amendment (religious freedom) case in at least the last two years, if not 20. 

But not to the MFM.

HT:  FrZ

Contempt for the Law Itself

Eventually, the Snuffalupagous Bunch will be rewarded as normal Americans begin to have complete and utter contempt for "the law."

...House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is looking to build support for a draft contempt of Congress resolution for Attorney General Eric Holder regarding Issa’s investigation of the “Fast and Furious” gun-smuggling operation.

...Speaker John Boehner expressed support for the effort last week but stopped short of endorsing the contempt resolution, saying, “All options are on the table.”

“Chairman Issa and members of his committee are doing a good job,” the Ohio Republican said. “I’m supporting their efforts to hold those people in the Justice Department accountable.”

Behind the scenes, Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have expressed reservations about the political impact of holding Holder in contempt.

Hundreds of dead Mexican nationals, and at least a couple of our own Border Patrol are dead due to Holder's incompetence; Holder refuses to provide the documents (which likely lead to the Oval Office); and Boehner, the spineless super-twit, worries about "Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacism."

Bozo.

HT:  Arms/Law

Friends of Holder

Nicely summarized:

...Attorney General Eric Holder allowed the New Black Panthers to walk free after intimidating white voters at the polls, said nothing when the black supremacists announced a bounty for George Zimmerman, and was conspicuously silent when they called for a race war against the whites, chanting “kill a cracker for Trayvon”.  Now, King Samir Shabazz, the National Field Marshall for this “all black army formed to kill whitey”, has said whites “should be thankful we’re not hanging crackers by nooses…yet, yet, yet”.  He, also, has “wet dreams about killing the go*damn cracker”....

This guy needs a press agent.

HT:  Gateway

What You Don't Know Won't Hurt HIM

HT:  AOSHQ

The Chicago "Co-Incidence"

The news story that the Chicago cop-shop raided an apartment and found bomb-making materials....

....well, the REST of the story surfaces today.  All 'co-incidence', of course.

A resident of the Chicago apartment raided by police in an alleged terror bust related to the city’s NATO summit is the spokeswoman for Occupy Chicago, WND has learned.

Zoe Sigman, a top leader of Chicago’s Occupy movement, claimed in a radio interview yesterday that she was “110 percent sure” the police trumped up claims of confiscating Molotov cocktail equipment in her home as part of a planned attack on President Obama’s Chicago headquarters and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s home.

Yah, well.  Maybe the cops made it all up--and maybe they didn't.

Sigman conceded she was not present during the time of the police raid and claimed that she didn’t know the protesters she allowed to stay in her home.

 Ms Sigman also has memory problems.

Asked by Klein whether she was a member of Occupy, Sigman replied: “There are really no members of Occupy. I went to Occupy in the past.”

Sigman, however, is one of the most publicly identified Occupy Chicago leaders.

She is quoted in scores of recent news reports as Occupy Chicago’s spokeswoman.

Uh-huh.

Actually, Capitalism Works

The Filthy Capitalist Dogs help the Green Weenies.

For profit.

...The chief operating officer of oil services company Ferus Inc. bought two vehicles to test liquefied natural gas and reckons switching from diesel may cut 22 percent from his fuel bill, or about $1 a gallon. At the moment, Calgary-based Ferus uses mobile tankers to refuel his trucks, which cost about C$100,000 ($99,000) more than conventional vehicles, adding expense to a project that’s about saving money. A Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) project will make it easier to fill up.

... In addition to being cheaper, natural gas burned in trucks emits as much as 25 percent less carbon dioxide, as well as almost eliminating particulate matter and sulfur dioxide produced by diesel-powered vehicles, according to the Calgary- based Van Horne Institute. Using natural gas, a fuel where North America is self-sufficient, would also cut demand for imported crude oil.

Shell eventually plans to deploy LNG technology to power trains, ships and mining industry engines. Gas overtook crude oil to account for more than 50 percent of the company’s production for the first time this year. It expects to expand the use of LNG as a transport fuel beyond North America to Europe, China, Latin America and Australia.

Not to worry.  The Obozoites will find a way to demolish this, too.

The Usual Suspects, The Usual Silliness

...and I use "silliness" instead of a more appropriate term.

A few dozen academics at Marquette University signed a letter which displays their near-total lack of understanding of the Constitution. 

Not to mention their naive and mindless swallowing and regurgitation of the usual propaganda that a small reduction in Federal expenditures will lead to starvation of the poor and/or the end of health-care for the same folks.

Faculty-lounge dreams from their fathers, I guess.

Corn-A-Holing Your Engine

From the Detroit Bureau, we get this.

A new study suggests the federal government’s decision to increase the amount of ethanol in gasoline could have “adverse results,” which several industry trade groups say translates into the likelihood it could wreck some engines.

...The study suggests that using 15% alcohol at the pump can result in a wide range of engine problems, including valve damage, loss of compression, diminished performance and lower fuel economy.

Noting that older vehicles and most powered equipment were not designed to tolerate a higher level of ethanol, Mitch Bainwol, the president and CEO of Auto Alliance, warned that “many vehicles on the road today are at risk of harm from E15. The unknowns concern us greatly, since only a fraction of vehicles have been tested to determine their tolerance to E15.”

So.

The benefits of Corn-A-Hole consist of the following:  higher prices for food staples in Third World countries (meaning they could starve); and damaged or blown engines in automobiles and power equipment.

So far, they're batting 1.000!!!

Just What We Need: Even MORE "Protected" Land

DNR's fetish for buying land in Wisconsin persists regardless of who is Governor.

When Diamond Jim Doyle left office, the State of Wisconsin owned about 1/6th of the land in the State.

Now it will own even more!!  How very nice.

The Department of Natural Resources says its agreement to buy 100 square miles of forest in northern Wisconsin would be the state's largest land conservation purchase.

The DNR has a tentative agreement to spend about $17 million on land in four counties owned by Lyme Timber Co. of Hanover, N.H. The purchase protects the property from future development. The approximate 67,000 acres are located primarily in Douglas and Washburn counties, with smaller parcels in Bayfield and Burnett counties.

Governor Walker and Ms. Stepp are.....umnnnhhh......out of step here.  There was no good reason for Doyle's acqusitions, and "protecting....from development..." remains a questionable expenditure today.

The New Red State

Looks about right.

HT: AOSHQ

Radioactive Obozo

Seems that Obozo can't find any friends this election season.

The United States Senate rejected President Obama’s 2013 budget yesterday by a unanimous vote of 99-0, bringing the nation one step closer to “Taxmageddon,” a $484 billion tax hike slated to begin on January 1st.

... It is not a coincidence that our nation has suffered from recurring debt limit and spending shutdown crises since Democrats in Congress have failed to produce a budget.

More and more it looks like 'a certainty' that Obozo will replace Jimmuh Carter as the most toxic US President in history.

One Blackrobe Who Gets It!

Nice to note that some judges still understand the Constitution, unlike the Congress-slime Ruling Class.

...U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan yesterday ruled in favor of a group of writers and activists who sued President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the Defense Department, claiming a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law Dec. 31, puts them in fear that they could be arrested and held by U.S. armed forces. 

The complaint was filed Jan. 13 by a group including former New York Times reporter Christopher Hedges. The plaintiffs contend a section of the law allows for detention of citizens and permanent residents taken into custody in the U.S. on “suspicion of providing substantial support” to people engaged in hostilities against the U.S., such as al-Qaeda. 

“The statute at issue places the public at undue risk of having their speech chilled for the purported protection from al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and ‘associated forces’ - i.e., ‘foreign terrorist organizations,’” Forrest said in an opinion yesterday. “The vagueness of Section 1021 does not allow the average citizen, or even the government itself, to understand with the type of definiteness to which our citizens are entitled, or what conduct comes within its scope.”

But it DID allow the Gummint (and Gummint twits) to protect itself from outraged, insolent, PO'd citizens.

Whassamatta that?

The Mostly Conservative Sensenbrenner

Far too long as 'part of the Club' for Jim Sensenbrenner?

Heritage Action's scorecard raises a few questions about his voting record on spending matters

Sensenbrenner also has a problem getting off his ass and co-sponsoring legislation to cut spending.

Maybe he should take his lottery winnings and retire, eh?

Throw ALL of 'em Out!!

The usual crap from Congressional Republicans.

....check out these conservative amendments that failed–and by how much they failed:

• Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) – 1% across-the-board cut to discretionary spending. Defeated 160-251.
• Paul Broun (R-GA) – A 3% cut to all salaries and expenses—as well as administrative costs—in the bill, for a total savings of $847 million. Defeated 137-270.
• Paul Broun (R-GA) – 12.2% across-the-board cut, exempting US Marshals, FBI, and NASA. Defeated 105-307.
• Paul Broun (R-GA) – Cuts $15 million from the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery program. Defeated 168-239.
• Jeff Flake (R-AZ) – Cuts the National Science Foundation to fiscal year 2008 levels, for a total savings of $1.2 billion. Defeated 121-291.

Oh, yes--there are more.

And yes, Virginia, there IS an Establishment.   It's called the Ruling Class.

From 48 Viewers to 23: CNN

Slowly but surely eating their own seed corn.

So Bob Tyrrell, founder and editor-in chief of a magazine now 45 years on the American scene, selected in the 1970s by Time magazine as one of the rising stars in American media, recently interviewed on Sean Hannity's Fox and radio shows, and by Mark Levin, and with his recent talk on the book to the Manhattan Institute carried by C-SPAN -- is out at CNN.

 

Why?

Because in the course of the Great American Debate he has a book calling Barack Obama a "Stealth Socialist" -- based on an actual record in the White House. A record that manifests all manner of socialist behavior, from buying General Motors with taxpayer money, to dishing even more taxpayer bucks to favored companies like Solyndra -- and that's before one gets to Obamacare and the socialist saga of the imaginary Obama heroine named Julia, who is feted with cradle-to-grave socialism.

You can't make it up....

We note that the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is having trouble with earnings (i.e., readership = ad revs) too.

Maybe they should go the CNN route. 

Oh, wait.....P-Mac's already gone!

The Good News, the Bad News

Well, here it is in one sentence!

The Green River Formation, a largely vacant area of mostly federal land that covers the territory where Colorado, Utah and Wyoming come together, contains about as much recoverable oil as all the rest the world’s proven reserves combined, an auditor from the Government Accountability Office told Congress on Thursday.

Since it's "mostly Federal land," it will stay right where it is--under the ground--until Obozo & Co. are completely, totally, wholly eliminated from any Federal office anyplace.

Follow the Money, Folks

Nothing that you couldn't have guessed.

Puls:  ...The CO2-climate hysteria in Germany is propagated by people who are in it for lots of money, attention and power.

factum: Is there really climate change?

Puls: Climate change is normal. There have always been phases of climate warming, many that even far exceeded the extent we see today. But there hasn’t been any warming since 1998. In fact the IPCC suppliers of data even show a slight cooling.

factum: The IPCC is projecting 0.2°C warming per decade, i.e. 2 to 4°C by the year 2100. What’s your view?

Puls: These are speculative model projections, so-called scenarios – and not prognoses. Because of climate’s high complexity, reliable prognoses just aren’t possible.---quoted at PowerLine

Coin-chasing Krauts aren't alone.  There's GE, GM, the Corn-a-Holers, the WindmillWonders....

Plenty of places to spend taxpayer dollars, eh?

School's Out for the Summer--and Out for Barrett, Too

Gee.  It'll be a tough go for Mayor Milk-Carton.

....While some devoted kids will definitely file for absentee ballots, a great many won't be aware of the rule changes until it is far too late for them to vote. That will cost the Democrat dearly in counties like LaCrosse and Dane, not enough to flip either by a longshot but to make beating Walker's non-school non-city margin harder to top.

I currently project an 84,000 vote margin out of Dane for Barrett, and a nearly-identical one out of Milwaukee. Waukesha alone will nearly tie out Milwaukee, so Barrett and the Democrats need every last student vote they can get out of Dane and counties like LaCrosse, with no room for error.

The fat lady ain't sung yet, but she's doing arpeggios.

The Democrats: Same Crap, Different Year

This cycle, it will be all raaaaaaacism, all the time, courtesy of Soros and Heinz-Kerry's Tides Foundation.

The gays are already in the back of the bus--and may be under it before November.

Wobbles of Wind Power = Potential Disaster

BBV's Deek has a short course on pushing electricity down the wires.

To maximize the Power (P) from an electric generation plant, Voltage (E) and Current (I) must be "in phase".  That is, the sinusoidal peaks and valleys must line up.  They do by design (within certain limitations to account for reactive load [VARS]).  But when operating more than one generating unit on the same grid, the units must both be "in phase" with each other.  That is a slightly trickier proposition, but not difficult.  With one unit already locked on the grid, the oncoming unit's speed is varied so it is slightly "faster" than the grid.  The grid normally runs at 60 hertz, so the incoming might be running at 60.02 hertz.  When the phases line up, the unit is locked into the grid.  By locking it in slightly faster, it picks up some of  the electrical load and maintains stability of the grid (in very simple terms).

Yah.  So?

Wind power has no such ability.   ....varying windmill speed to parallel units between an area with a 20 mph wind speed and a 10 mph wind speed can't be easy.  An the variation in wind speeds makes it that much more difficult.

Yah.  So?

...Spinning reserve must be maintained in order to pick up when either of the "green" sources falter.  Having run a plant providing that spinning reserve, I assure you it can get exciting in a hurry.  As an example, a large 1000MW nuclear unit tripped off-line and took another 1000 MW unit with it.  My available 150 MW units along with several others on the grid attempted to pick up that load.  It was a**holes and elbows in the control room as grid frequency swung wildly, nearly hitting the point of cascading failures all the way down the grid.  At the same time, we started to fire up one "hot standby" unit and two "cold-iron" units.  It seemed like an eternity before the grid stabilized.

Might be a very good time to invest in home standby generators, folks.

No Endorsement, No Surprise

The Pubbies fail to endorse.

After a roll call vote at the Republican State Convention in Green Bay, none of the party’s candidates for U.S. Senate will get the party’s official endorsement.

... After three rounds of roll call votes at the state convention at Shopko Hall in Green Bay, none of those candidates earned enough votes to seal the party’s endorsement.  One of candidates needed to get 60% of the vote.  Jeff Fitzgerald came closest with 52%...

Hovde got the least votes, Thompson the second-least.

Much more from Lakeshore!

Reading his take (he was there, he's part of the in-crowd) leaves one with the impression that Real Estate Developers (who also own Kaerek Homes and 'the Christian-based company', by the way) are still just that:  real-estate developers.  So what was Don Taylor THINKING?

Hmmmm.

The Obozo Slime Machine

Nice, 2-minute refutation of the Slime Machine.

This is America, huh?

The Organizer, Again

AOSHQ missed the real bet here.

As leader of the free world President Obama will be used to making speeches to millions of people around the globe. 

So he might have felt the occasion was a little beneath him yesterday when he stopped off in Reno, Nevada, to deliver an address outside a couple's garage. 

In what could be a disastrous photo opportunity for the President's campaign, Mr Obama spoke to a handful of people in the crucial swing state.---AOS quoting Mail Online

The AOS analysis is that Obozo's handlers blew it; the 'connecting with ordinary Americans' thing doesn't befit the office.

Flawed analysis.  Speaking to a dozen or two people is Obama's forte.  That's what 'community organizers' do. 

Of course, 'organizing' the entire US of A will take a lot longer than 'organizing' 100 square blocks of Chicago.

The "Press" vs. Ace of Spades

The actual contributor here is "CAC", an AOSHQ reporter.

...Last Tuesday, with the help of a few carefully selected cheeseheads, we reported returns from Wisconsin for the recall primary. The method used wasn't even off the ground, but was successful enough for me to notice several glaring differences between what the #AOSHQDD had and the official Associated Press numbers. None of these were inaccuracies on our end. The differences resulted from a chronic delay in Dane County (Madison), Waukesha County, and others for a substantial part of the evening, and there is no reason to doubt we will see the same thing on the night of the recall.

... The simpler explanation which became glaringly obvious was poor reporting by the AP. 

Dane County reported all of its returns quickly and in substantial chunks through the evening: at about 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 95%, and 100% in, roughly. The time delay between the Dane County Clerk uploading the information and the Associated Press listing the numbers ran as much as an hour to an hour-and-a-half apart. There was no holding back of votes, just the reporting by the press. The same went for Waukesha, which updated at a surprisingly fast rate Tuesday. Even when all votes had been counted and uploaded, there was a sizable delay in reporting on the AP's part. In fact there was a delay in reporting nearly 30% of the statewide result....

But the taverns around the county offices were busy, no doubt.

The Polls vs. The Polls

The pollsters find that gay "marriage" is supported by a majority of US citizens--except for racial minorities, who do not support it.

OK.

The polls that count, however, tell a different tale:  the voters of 32 States have rejected gay "marriage."

Imagine that.

Another Picture of ObozoNomics

See that red dot WAAAAY up there over the title-line?

That's what headline unemployment would be if the labor force participation rate were the same as when Obozo took office.  (Yes, that's adjusted for retirements.)

Boy, that Stimulus really, really, really worked well, ain'a?

HT:  AOSHQ

The Blue State Blues

Something we can see right here in Wisconsin.

...when it comes to the economic recovery, there has been a clear difference. It turns out that blue states have done worse economically than have red states under President Obama, according to an IBD analysis of various government economic data.

 

IBD compared average job growth, unemployment, changes in housing prices, per capita income and GDP growth, and gas prices for the 22 states that voted for John McCain in 2008 and the 28 states that voted for Obama .

On every indicator but one, blue states have done worse, on average, than red states.In addition, IBD looked at the economic performance of 11 states that Real Clear Politics lists as tossups for the 2012 presidential election. Many of these purple battleground states have fared far worse than the country as a whole during the past three years.

Lemmeeeseee, heah, Gomer.  Let's compare the City of Milwaukee's fortunes with the REST of Wisconsin since Walker was elected.

Or not, if you're Milk-Carton Tom.

The Big Switch (Again): ObozoPolitics

Well, well.

In fact, Obama has not “evolved”—he has changed his position whenever his political fortunes required him to do so. Running for the Illinois state senate from a trendy area of Chicago in 1996, he was for gay marriage. “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages,” he wrote in answer to a questionnaire back then. In 2004, he was running for the U.S. Senate and needed to appeal to voters statewide. So he evolved, and favored civil unions but opposed homosexual “marriage.” In 2008, running for president, he said, “I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage.” Now in 2012, facing a tough reelection campaign where he needs energized supporters of gay “marriage” and has disappointed them with his refusal to give them his support, he is for it. To paraphrase John Kerry, he was for it before he was against it before he was for it again.

Even Mitt Romney hasn't done two 180's on any one issue.

Fresh From Lugar Disaster, Daniels to "Help" Tommy

Daniels doesn't really get it, does he?

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) is throwing his support behind former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson's (R) Senate bid, the latest good news for Thompson and latest sign that Daniels has no problem bucking Tea Party groups.

Daniels will attend a Milwaukee fundraiser with Thompson on June 25, according to an invitation to the event obtained by The Hill.

Maybe Mitch thinks of himself as an "adult."  After all, with GWB, he spent a s*&^load of his grandchildren's money, right?

Here's Daniels' last endorsee--Lugar--being gracious after being slammed by Mourdock:

...In effect, what he has promised in this campaign is reflexive votes for a rejectionist orthodoxy and rigid opposition to the actions and proposals of the other party. His answer to the inevitable roadblocks he will encounter in Congress is merely to campaign for more Republicans who embrace the same partisan outlook. He has pledged his support to groups whose prime mission is to cleanse the Republican party of those who stray from orthodoxy as they see it.

This is not conducive to problem solving and governance. And he will find that unless he modifies his approach, he will achieve little as a legislator.

Really?

On the other hand, if Mourdock and RoJo simply block the Socialist and Socialist-Lite (R) bozo initiatives, they will have rendered a service far greater than that of Spend-a-Holics like Lugar.

Buh-bye, Dickie.

NC: Thirty-One

The thirty-first State to do so:

North Carolina voters passed a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage, making it the 29th state to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

The Associated Press declared Amendment 1 passed. With 39 percent of precincts reporting, the measure has 58 percent support.

I expect Obozo's "evolutionary thinking" on the question to evolve backwards quickly.  He HAS to win N.C. to win the election in November, you know.

Another One Bites the Dust

Nice career.  Glad you are retired.

Republican foreign policy elder statesman Sen. Richard Lugar, 80, first elected to the Senate in 1976, was defeated in the Indiana primary Tuesday by state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who was backed by conservatives ranging from the National Rifle Association to local Tea Party activists to the Washington-based fiscal conservative group the Club for Growth.

Mourdock scored a landslide victory, winning more than 60 percent of the vote with almost all precincts reporting.

RINOs are becoming extinct.  They may be "the adults in the room" in P. Noonan's estimation, but they have screwed their grandchildren.  Noonan should look up the term 'adult' before she writes again.

Prison Ain't Enough for This Cretin

Channel 12:

Steven Sommer, 38, is accused of breaking the legs of each of his nearly 3-month old triplet daughters after being frustrated while changing their diapers.

The criminal complaint lists at least ten fractured bones that were likely caused "by a twisting force."

Sommer told investigators that he likely twisted the girls legs five or six times. He told investigators the babies would, "Cry to the point that they would lose their voice as their faces turned red in pain and agony."

Rusty Butter Knife Treatment, then skin the bastard and pour salt on him.

Massachusetts Out-Does NYC's Bloomberg

The Nag of New York has been (temporarily) out-done by the Mommies* of Massachusetts...

School fund-raisers shall not include baked-goodies items beginning August 1st.

The kids are too fat, you see, and school bake sales are a MAJOR THREAT TO THE CHILLUNS!!

*(Thanks to Katie Falk for the "mommie dearest" meme.)

And What of the Banksters?

Peter Schweitzer of "Throw Them All Out" fame asks a question.

....The SEC has accused a number of banks including JP Morgan, Wachovia Securities, UBS,  and Bank of America, of “fraudulently” rigging municipal bond auctions by “entering into secret arrangements with bidding agents to get an illegal ‘last look’ at competitors’ bids.”  And they won bids because “the bidding agent deliberately obtained non-winning bids from other provides,  and it facilitated bids rigged for others to win by deliberately submitting non-winning bids.”   All of these investment houses faced civil charges and paid fines.  Meanwhile those fixing [homeowners' association] elections or residential foreclosure auctions go to jail.

Why these two levels of justice? Could this disparity simply be a case that the big banks will fight charges more aggressively, thus making criminal prosecutions more difficult?  Maybe.   But it also undoubtedly has something to do with the fact that the top leadership at DOJ is drawn almost exclusively from White Collar Criminal Defense Practices at large firms that represent the very firms that Justice is supposed to be investigating. Covington and Burling,  the firm from which both Attorney General Eric Holder and Associate Attorney General and head of the criminal division Lanny Breuer hail, has as its current clients Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, ING, Morgan Stanley,  UBS,  and MF Global among others. Other top Justice officials have similar connections through their firms.

Couldn't possibly happen in Holder's operation, could it?  /sarcasm

The Bright Spot in ObozoNomics

The Statist in the White House is good for something.

...Precise figures on firearms sales don't exist. But based on the number of calls made to the FBI and Wisconsin Department of Justice for background checks related to firearms purchases, more guns are being sold this year than ever.

The number of calls to Wisconsin's handgun hotline set a record in February, with nearly 16,000 calls. So far this year, the hotline has handled more than 53,000 calls. That's on pace to far eclipse 2011, when the hotline handled just shy of 90,000 calls for the full year.

Nationally, calls for firearms purchases using the FBI's instant criminal background check system totaled nearly 1.2 million in March, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry trade group. The number is up 20% over a year ago and marks the 22nd straight month-over-month increase, NSSF said.

Good.  Think that Obozo gets the hint?

Tommy Can't Quit 'Em--the Taxes, That Is

Hovde noted a Tommy-ism:

At a U.S. Senate candidate forum earlier this week, Governor Tommy Thompson was asked about government spending.

His response?

RAISE TAXES.

...Just minutes later in a classic example of political double speak from a Washington insider, Governor Thompson claimed he had never advocated for a fee on drilling but instead wanted a permitting process.

Or maybe Tommy forgot that Big Oil is already taxed (fee-ed) for every damn thing they do.

Just like residents of SE Wisconsin, who are paying for Selig's playground to this very day.

 

The Short Take on the Left

This is not exactly news, but it's concise:

...in every historical epoch in Western civil society there have always been some conservatives. Over the next three decades Russell [Kirk] and I found that this fact was so distasteful to Marxists, liberals, and their allies among so-called ‘neo-conservatives,’ that they totally disregarded the evidence in the tradition of Burke’s politics. Either out of invincible ignorance or moral perversity, they revealed a willful genius for self-deception. In order to denigrate the conservative tradition and deny it intellectual respectability, they claimed that American conservatism is of very recent origins, that it is centered in a mindless religious fundamentalism or jingoistic patriotism, and that it is devoted wholly to defending the status quo, especially the selfish interests of the business community. For more than three decades this has been the constant strategy of those at war with the conservative tradition, and it is a technique that will undoubtedly be used into the future.”--Peter Stanlis

Can you spell "Campaign v. Walker" and "Campaign v. Romney"?

HT:  ImagConserv

The Short Take on Conservatism

Found over at Stacy's place:

Michael Oakeshott hit the nail on the head when he said: “To be conservative, then, is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss.”

Short, (and a touch insufficient), but accurate.

The Mommy Wannabe: Kate Falk

Owen reminds us of ALL that is wrong with the Left.

What If They Gave a Speech and Nobody Listened?

Yah, well, the Smarmy Self-Worshiper gave a speech, and thousands chose not to show up.

Campaign kick-off, eh?

The (Manufactured) "Bp. Jenky Crisis"

So.

Did that Bishop really call Obozo a 'Hitler' or 'Stalin'?

In the late 19th century, Bismarck waged his ‘Kulturkampf,’ a Culture War, against the Roman Catholic Church, closing down every Catholic school and hospital, convent and monastery in Imperial Germany.

Clemenceau, nicknamed ‘the priest eater’, tried the same thing in France in the first decade of the 20th Century.

Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care.

In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama — with his radical, pro-abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path.

Umnnhhhh.....

There's a reason that the MFM is losing readers, viewers, and money.

"Woopsie!!! We Forgot About Medicare!!"

The Obozo Boyzzzz are gaming the system (again.)

Medicare's payment system, the unseen but vital network that handles 100 million monthly claims, could freeze if President Barack Obama's health care law is summarily overturned, the administration quietly informed the courts.

Oh?  When did THIS become a Constitutional/legal argument? 

In papers filed with the Supreme Court, administration lawyers warned of "extraordinary disruption" if Medicare is forced to unwind countless transactions that are based on payment changes required by more than 20 separate sections of the Affordable Care Act....

This reeks (as does most of the Obozo Administration's activity) of politics.  Think Florida.

"No Vote Fraud," Chapter 34,557

Gee.  I wonder where this could be.

...In the largest county in Wisconsin, only 709,854 people are adults eligible to vote, but a stunning 954,008 names are on the registration lists.

Certainly not the County named after the City with 7 years' increases in taxes (of the last 8), unemployment up the wazoo, a 20++ decrease in property-values over the last 4 years, a HS graduation rate in the lower 60's, and a Mayor still LIVING in the '60's?

No.  Couldn't happen there. 


HT:  AmSpec

A New Playground Downtown?

This has been kicked around for a few years.

U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, the owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, said Friday that the time is now to find a way to finance and build a new multipurpose arena to replace the Bradley Center.

To his credit:

...he said he was willing to make a personal financial commitment toward a new facility, an amount he noted would not be insignificant.

The Bradley Center--at 20 years of age--is just too old for the NBA's revenue demands.

So.  What's on the menu for the taxpayers?

The Staples Center was only $375 million.  Of course, it's privately financed and owned.

The Miami Heat play in a comparatively cheap building--only $275 million (2012 dollars).  Publicly owned, but getting old.  It's 12, ya' know.  Beginning to dodder.

The Bulls play in a privately-owned, horrendously old (20 this year) center.  About $275 million to build in 2012 dollars.

By the way:  recall that Miller Park was a $400 million dollar project, right?

Who owns one-third of Miller Park?  And what was paid for that .33333 ownership?

The Economy Is Still Bad. Maybe Even Worse.

Two items of note:

1)  Labor-force participation is at its lowest rate in 30 years; it's now >88,400,000.  More:  3.638 million more people (according to the BLS) in the country compared to 12 months ago, but there are 141,995 - 139,661 or 2.334 million more people employed.  That is, on a working age non-institutionalized population-change-subtracted basis we have lost 1,304,000 jobs compared to the same point one year ago.  --Ticker

2)  ECRI's smoothed annualized growth rate index dropped below zero today, allowing for a possible recession in the next 12 months or so.

ObozoNomics!!  What COULD we do without it??

"STFU" by Secret Service Whim

Video at the link; here's some text:

...Under this law the secret service members are able to discriminate against those people who carry signs which may offend, challenge, or dissent from the person's political views of whom they're protecting. It is one thing to make sure that the President or any person who has secret service protection isn't harmed in any way, shape, or form but to give the secret service agents carte blanche authority on what they perceive to be acceptable speech is absurd, an example of government overreach gone wild in the name of so-called safety, and clearly a violation of our civil liberty, namely our God-given right to free speech that isn't supposed to be able to be taken away by our government officials....

Of COURSE Congress passed it.  They expect to broaden the reach to include Congress-slime so they, too, will be "protected" from the rabble (a/k/a "citizens" or "voters".)

But there is no "ruling class."  Just remember that while you're in the gulag.

Your VERY Nosy Car-Insurance Company

Interesting line of thinking here.

...This legislation — already passed by the Senate and likely to be passed by the House — will impose a legal requirement that all new cars made beginning with the 2015 models be fitted with so-called Event Data Recorders (EDRs). These are the “black boxes” you may have read about that store data about how you drive — including whether you wear a seat belt and how fast you drive — ostensibly for purposes of post-accident investigation.

OK, so?

...First, the EDRs could be — and almost certainly will be — tied into your vehicle’s GPS. (Most new and late model cars, conveniently, already have this, too.) Then data about your driving can be transmitted — as well as recorded. To whom? Your insurance company, of course.

Ever hear of a "two-edged" sword?

...it’s really for the sake of revenue — the government’s and the insurance company’s. Your rates will be “adjusted” in real time, for every incident of “speeding” or not buckling up. It’ll be so much more efficient than using cops to issue tickets. After all, so many fishes escape! With an EDR in every car, no one will escape. Your “adjusted” premium will be waiting for you when you get home...

Wait, wait!  There's more!!

...EDRs tied into your car’s GPS will give them — the government and/or corporations — literal physical control over (hack) “your” vehicle. This is not conspiracy theorizing. It is technological fact. Current GM vehicles equipped with the same technology about to be mandated for every vehicle can be disabled remotely. Just turned off. All the OnStar operator has to do is send the appropriate command over the GPS to your car’s computer, which controls the engine....

Under the Constitution (as originally written), you do not have a "right to privacy," although there is a ban on Gummint-al 'search' activity not connected to a crime or suspicion thereof. 

Hmmmm.

Big Labor, Big Money--All for Big Taxes

Wow.

...Big Labor both inside and outside of Wisconsin pouring just over $7 million into the effort to recall Governor Scott Walker and four GOP state senators. In the 2011 recall campaign combined total spending by unions and progressive groups reached $14.7 million, or just over twice what labor unions alone have managed to raise or spend in what is the opening round of the effort to knock out Governor Walker less than two years into his term.

Special Interests for Taxing.

Show Obozo the MONEY!

Factoid:

...this is the president who, according to political scientist Brendan Doherty, has appeared at more fundraisers in three and a half years than his six predecessors did in 35 years. 

Now that's an accomplishment!

President Coward

Big talk yesterday about 'choking off Al Quaeda (in just one tiny hellhole, not the other 50 they occupy).

Little limp-d*&^ today:

...The American agreement that sends Chen back from the U.S. Embassy is a craven capitulation to Chinese Communist thuggishness.  What should have been done? The United States ought to have demanded that China also provide safe haven for Chen's family and offered asylum to all of them within the United States. The Obama administration ought to have made clear that the fate of this family is of paramount importance, and that it will continue to highlight their situation...

Hides behind the crowds he incites.  Hides behind Team Six.

Tommy Thompson's Doddering Old Guard

Hmmmm.

...According to several people I’ve spoken to on the ground there, the Wisconsin GOP is getting ready to disqualify hundreds of tea party activists as delegates to the state convention.

...the GOP “Credentials Committee” met and tried to disqualify new delegates who signed up after county caucuses (signing up after the county caucuses is permissible under Article XIII, Section 4 of the Wisconsin GOP’s constitution). The motion was defeated 7 to 5 with 4 absences. Now the state GOP wants to re-fight this fight tonight and get the 4 absentee committeemen to show up.

Tommy can ram his ballpark up his butt--not to mention his 100% increase in State employees.

The Election

....OR you could vote against him.