If you were paying attention during the National Handwringing, you'd notice what the MFM has not. (It's only the size of a 6,000 lb. elephant, after all....)
...This morning, we have been trying to come up with some counteroffer
to my friend’s [Mitch McConnell] proposal. We have been unable to do
that.
I have had a number of conversations with the president, and at this stage we’re not able to make a counteroffer....
Reid has been on the sidelines because his party is NOT entirely composed of Marxists. He cannot get them behind the SCOAMF's plan, and he cannot let them vote on a common-sense plan because it will look a lot like the House's original position.
HT: Zippers
Monday, December 31, 2012
Who's Afraid of the Fiscal Cliff?
Really--it's not that big a deal, outside of the AMT and Medicare.
(Did you ever wonder why Congress NEVER 'fixes' the AMT with a permanent inflation-indexing law? Think "Campaign Contributions." The scumbags are consistent, anyway....)
Medicare is an easy one-target fix, too.
As to DOD cuts: even after they are fully implemented---which they won't be---DoD spending will still be greater as a percentage of GDP than they were just after VietNam.
(Did you ever wonder why Congress NEVER 'fixes' the AMT with a permanent inflation-indexing law? Think "Campaign Contributions." The scumbags are consistent, anyway....)
Medicare is an easy one-target fix, too.
As to DOD cuts: even after they are fully implemented---which they won't be---DoD spending will still be greater as a percentage of GDP than they were just after VietNam.
Those Damn Facts....
The NYPD released info on murders (2011 stats.)
...Blacks were 23% of the NYC population but 68% of the homicide victims; 38% of all victims were black males aged 16-37; 86% of black male victims aged 16-21 were shot.
On the other side, 59% of suspects were black. 83% of black suspects had a black victim.
Among all suspects, 34% were aged 16-21; 41% were aged 22-37.
And a stat I would like to know more about: 42% of suspects and 38% of victims had prior arrests for drug sales or possession. ...--quoted by JustOneMinute
Well, THAT is foundation for removing guns from middle-aged Americans whose drug-use is .......ahhh.....aspirin and Viagara, no?
...Blacks were 23% of the NYC population but 68% of the homicide victims; 38% of all victims were black males aged 16-37; 86% of black male victims aged 16-21 were shot.
On the other side, 59% of suspects were black. 83% of black suspects had a black victim.
Among all suspects, 34% were aged 16-21; 41% were aged 22-37.
And a stat I would like to know more about: 42% of suspects and 38% of victims had prior arrests for drug sales or possession. ...--quoted by JustOneMinute
Well, THAT is foundation for removing guns from middle-aged Americans whose drug-use is .......ahhh.....aspirin and Viagara, no?
The Behind-Leader
Obozo's not going heavy on gun control.
...In an interview with David Gregory on “Meet the Press,” Obama said he would await the recommendations of his gun control task force and present a package of gun control proposals. But he said, “We’re not going to get this done unless the American people decide it’s important and so this is not something that’s going to be a matter of me spending political capital.”...
That tells you that the polls are against "control". And it reminds you that Obozo has about zero testosterone.
Remember, Obozo did not "lead" on ObozoCare, either. That was strictly a Nancy-and-Harry deal, although Obozo was very happy to snatch the credit in the end.
...In an interview with David Gregory on “Meet the Press,” Obama said he would await the recommendations of his gun control task force and present a package of gun control proposals. But he said, “We’re not going to get this done unless the American people decide it’s important and so this is not something that’s going to be a matter of me spending political capital.”...
That tells you that the polls are against "control". And it reminds you that Obozo has about zero testosterone.
Remember, Obozo did not "lead" on ObozoCare, either. That was strictly a Nancy-and-Harry deal, although Obozo was very happy to snatch the credit in the end.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Spot 'Em the First Quarter....
Yah, well. When you give almost ANY pro football team the first 15 minutes, y'all are in trouble.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Eat the Rich, Yah Hey!!
Where does all that charity funding come from?
Nevadans with a net worth of more than $1 million make up only 0.2 percent of the state’s population but account for more than 27 percent of its reported charitable contributions, according to a report from The Private Bank by Nevada State Bank. --Fox News quoted at Badger
Good thing that Obozo's plan will limit charitable deductions, eh? That way those charities will have to hit everybody else for a change.
Nevadans with a net worth of more than $1 million make up only 0.2 percent of the state’s population but account for more than 27 percent of its reported charitable contributions, according to a report from The Private Bank by Nevada State Bank. --Fox News quoted at Badger
Good thing that Obozo's plan will limit charitable deductions, eh? That way those charities will have to hit everybody else for a change.
Scary Magazine (High Clip) Theory
Since a number of radiomouths of the 'conservative' bent have been squishy about "scary magazines", this short sentence might help their cogitative faculties:
Magazine size is irrelevant, since the shooter was unimpeded (which is the core problem anyway).
Then again, it may not help them. But it ought to help you.
HT: The Captain
Magazine size is irrelevant, since the shooter was unimpeded (which is the core problem anyway).
Then again, it may not help them. But it ought to help you.
HT: The Captain
Friday, December 28, 2012
Think This Is Possible?
The first really big contingency is this one:
...Let us imagine for a moment that sweeping a sweeping gun control bill similar to the one currently suggested is passed by the House and Senate, and signed into law by a contemptuous President....
That would be Feinstein's Folly. There is no question in my mind: it will not pass--not in its current form, and not even if highly watered down.
But if it does....
...Tens of millions of Americans will refuse to comply with an order that is clearly a violation of the explicit intent of the Second Amendment. Among the most ardent opposing these measures will be military veterans, active duty servicepersons, and local law enforcement officers. Many of these individuals will refuse to carry out what they view as Constitutionally illegal orders....
...After a number of carefully-planned, highly-publicized, and successful raids by the government, one or more will invariably end “badly.” Whether innocents are gunned down, a city block burned to ash, or especially fierce resistance leads to a disastrously failed raid doesn’t particularly matter. What matters is that when illusion of the government’s invincibility and infallibility is broken, the hunters will become the hunted...
No matter how it ends, it ends badly.
...Let us imagine for a moment that sweeping a sweeping gun control bill similar to the one currently suggested is passed by the House and Senate, and signed into law by a contemptuous President....
That would be Feinstein's Folly. There is no question in my mind: it will not pass--not in its current form, and not even if highly watered down.
But if it does....
...Tens of millions of Americans will refuse to comply with an order that is clearly a violation of the explicit intent of the Second Amendment. Among the most ardent opposing these measures will be military veterans, active duty servicepersons, and local law enforcement officers. Many of these individuals will refuse to carry out what they view as Constitutionally illegal orders....
...After a number of carefully-planned, highly-publicized, and successful raids by the government, one or more will invariably end “badly.” Whether innocents are gunned down, a city block burned to ash, or especially fierce resistance leads to a disastrously failed raid doesn’t particularly matter. What matters is that when illusion of the government’s invincibility and infallibility is broken, the hunters will become the hunted...
No matter how it ends, it ends badly.
Huh! Imagine That!!
People have not only read my blog. They actually took my advice.
Ammunition Stock levels have fallen by more than 90% from the pre-Election Day levels. Less than 10% remains available. --Insurrection quoting Traction Control
Now for the Evil Capitalist trick: selling dear what I bought cheap.
HAH!!
Ammunition Stock levels have fallen by more than 90% from the pre-Election Day levels. Less than 10% remains available. --Insurrection quoting Traction Control
Now for the Evil Capitalist trick: selling dear what I bought cheap.
HAH!!
Here's a Remedy!! Gun-Free Zones!!
We all KNOW that gun-free zones make everyone inside them safer, right?
Of course. Herbie Kohl thinks so, just like the majority of Congress who passed the law. So it must be true.
Gun Free Zones are supposed to protect our children, and some politicians wish to strip us of our right to keep and bear arms. Those same politicians and their families are currently under the protection of armed Secret Service agents. If Gun Free Zones are sufficient protection for our children, then Gun Free Zones should be good enough for politicians. --MoonBattery quoting a W H petition
Works for me!
Of course. Herbie Kohl thinks so, just like the majority of Congress who passed the law. So it must be true.
Gun Free Zones are supposed to protect our children, and some politicians wish to strip us of our right to keep and bear arms. Those same politicians and their families are currently under the protection of armed Secret Service agents. If Gun Free Zones are sufficient protection for our children, then Gun Free Zones should be good enough for politicians. --MoonBattery quoting a W H petition
Works for me!
Two Years' Hard Time for David (Dodo) Gregory?
The twit-for-brains on NBC (maybe CNN? ABC? ...who knows?) appears on national TV breaking a law. It's on videotape, and everything.
Now we're advised by his cohort twit-for-brainers that 'he did not INTEND to break the law.'
But that's not what the anti-gun law says.
I know. If he were a black or Hispanic schmuck from the inner core, he'd still be in slam without bail, awaiting indictment.
But he's not. He's a rich white guy with good hair.
Now we're advised by his cohort twit-for-brainers that 'he did not INTEND to break the law.'
But that's not what the anti-gun law says.
I know. If he were a black or Hispanic schmuck from the inner core, he'd still be in slam without bail, awaiting indictment.
But he's not. He's a rich white guy with good hair.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
I'm Gonna Have to Get Some of These
Didn't know they were out there, but a New York politician-ette says they are: "heat-seeking bullets."
Off to Cabela's!!
HT: MoonBattery
Off to Cabela's!!
HT: MoonBattery
ObozoConomy
Oh, it could have been worse, I guess. Could have gone negative.
...MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse reported a 0.7% increase in holiday sales as compared to last year. The number was a disappointment as the general consensus expected sales to rise by up to 4.0%. Instead, the modest uptick represented the slowest growth in four years...
That would be less than 25% of expected growth.
Four years of rolling up debt, increasing costs-of-regulation, and total uncertainty over huge tax increases, and that's what you get.
...MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse reported a 0.7% increase in holiday sales as compared to last year. The number was a disappointment as the general consensus expected sales to rise by up to 4.0%. Instead, the modest uptick represented the slowest growth in four years...
That would be less than 25% of expected growth.
Four years of rolling up debt, increasing costs-of-regulation, and total uncertainty over huge tax increases, and that's what you get.
Only TSA
There must be a "prove you're stupid" test to advance in TSA, right?
..the former TSA screener also rails against the federal agency’s more ridiculous policies, including the ban on snow globes.
..the former TSA screener also rails against the federal agency’s more ridiculous policies, including the ban on snow globes.
“The entire ban on snow globes was just another of the
many intelligence-insulting rules that I was often forced to follow
during my time at TSA. Imagine having to look, year after year, into the
faces of innocent children and tell them and their parents that their
Pretty-Princess-in-a-Blizzard snow globe has to go into the trash. “But
why,” little Angie would ask, puppy dog pouting, tears trembling,” he
writes....
I remember hearing about that particularly inane piece of jackassery.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Monday, December 24, 2012
Rent-Seeking Truth-in-Labeling
Found at PowerLine:
...Even the Washington Post has come out against renewing the PTC. Here’s my suggestion: the American Wind Energy Association should change its name to the Fatuous Attempt to Rob Taxpayers, or FART for short....
The Dead Condors Club endorses that, too.
...Even the Washington Post has come out against renewing the PTC. Here’s my suggestion: the American Wind Energy Association should change its name to the Fatuous Attempt to Rob Taxpayers, or FART for short....
The Dead Condors Club endorses that, too.
Christmas Begins!
Yah, it's only Christmas Eve.
But this is worth hearing now.
That work was commissioned by Paul Salamunovich's Los Angeles Master Chorale. Paul was a student of Roger Wagner and both are KCSGs.
It's a large-form Christmas carol and one can argue that it's become a classic less than 20 years after its premiere. How good is it? Well, Robert Shaw (Atlanta Symphony & Chorus) recorded it, too. If both Shaw and Salamunovich put it to recording, it's good. Very good.
While you listen, here's a bit of reading-accompaniment, written by a pal of Willy Shakespeare:
THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST
By Saint Robert Southwell
Behold the father is his daughter's son,
The bird that built the nest is hatch'd therein,
The old of years an hour hath not outrun,
Eternal life to live doth now begin,
The word is dumb, the mirth of heaven doth weep,
Might feeble is, and force doth faintly creep.
O dying souls! behold your living spring!
O dazzled eyes! behold your sun of grace!
Dull ears attend what word this word doth bring!
Up, heavy hearts, with joy your joy embrace!
From death, from dark, from deafness, from despairs,
This life, this light, this word, this joy repairs.
Gift better than Himself God doth not know,
Gift better than his God no man can see;
This gift doth here the giver given bestow,
Gift to this gift let each receiver be:
God is my gift, Himself He freely gave me,
God's gift am I, and none but God shall have me.
Man alter'd was by sin from man to beast;
Beast's food is hay, hay is all mortal flesh;
Now God is flesh, and lies in manger press'd,
As hay the brutest sinner to refresh:
Oh happy field wherein this fodder grew,
Whose taste doth us from beasts to men renew!
Both cadged from Chant Cafe.
But this is worth hearing now.
That work was commissioned by Paul Salamunovich's Los Angeles Master Chorale. Paul was a student of Roger Wagner and both are KCSGs.
It's a large-form Christmas carol and one can argue that it's become a classic less than 20 years after its premiere. How good is it? Well, Robert Shaw (Atlanta Symphony & Chorus) recorded it, too. If both Shaw and Salamunovich put it to recording, it's good. Very good.
While you listen, here's a bit of reading-accompaniment, written by a pal of Willy Shakespeare:
THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST
By Saint Robert Southwell
Behold the father is his daughter's son,
The bird that built the nest is hatch'd therein,
The old of years an hour hath not outrun,
Eternal life to live doth now begin,
The word is dumb, the mirth of heaven doth weep,
Might feeble is, and force doth faintly creep.
O dying souls! behold your living spring!
O dazzled eyes! behold your sun of grace!
Dull ears attend what word this word doth bring!
Up, heavy hearts, with joy your joy embrace!
From death, from dark, from deafness, from despairs,
This life, this light, this word, this joy repairs.
Gift better than Himself God doth not know,
Gift better than his God no man can see;
This gift doth here the giver given bestow,
Gift to this gift let each receiver be:
God is my gift, Himself He freely gave me,
God's gift am I, and none but God shall have me.
Man alter'd was by sin from man to beast;
Beast's food is hay, hay is all mortal flesh;
Now God is flesh, and lies in manger press'd,
As hay the brutest sinner to refresh:
Oh happy field wherein this fodder grew,
Whose taste doth us from beasts to men renew!
Both cadged from Chant Cafe.
The "Let It Burn" Position
Instead of allowing The Tanned One to boehn the republic and himself with more self-negotiations away from principles, why not Let It Burn?
...The time to reduce the deficit is now, before a real fiscal crisis emerges, one that makes Greece look like a picnic.
By leaving town and letting America go over the fiscal cliff, Republicans don’t have to vote for tax hikes that they justly oppose. Economically counterproductive spending, like the unemployment benefit extension, will come to an end. And an enormous amount of irresponsible accounting gimmickry, like the annual wrangling over the Medicare “doc fix,” will end also....
...President Obama has insisted that he would be happy to go over the fiscal cliff in order to ensure that the wealthy pay more in taxes. The responsible thing for Republicans to do is to let him.
Of course, Boehner will blow this--but it's also required that Boehner pin the tail on the SCOAMF for 'the cliff.'
...The time to reduce the deficit is now, before a real fiscal crisis emerges, one that makes Greece look like a picnic.
By leaving town and letting America go over the fiscal cliff, Republicans don’t have to vote for tax hikes that they justly oppose. Economically counterproductive spending, like the unemployment benefit extension, will come to an end. And an enormous amount of irresponsible accounting gimmickry, like the annual wrangling over the Medicare “doc fix,” will end also....
...President Obama has insisted that he would be happy to go over the fiscal cliff in order to ensure that the wealthy pay more in taxes. The responsible thing for Republicans to do is to let him.
Of course, Boehner will blow this--but it's also required that Boehner pin the tail on the SCOAMF for 'the cliff.'
Sunday, December 23, 2012
"Active Shooter" Defense Satirized
Believe it or not, some dingbat had suggested that schoolchildren be taught to 'throw anything you can find' at an active school shooter. It's supposed to help, ya'know.
You can look it up; I won't.
So The Onion decided a little satire would be fun.
According to reviews this week of Kathryn Bigelow’s thriller Zero Dark Thirty, which chronicles the 10-year hunt for Osama bin Laden, the film’s climactic scene features a team of U.S. Navy SEALs shrieking in terror as they gradually kill the al-Qaeda leader by throwing a variety of nearby objects at him. “The mood is tense and silent as SEAL Team Six infiltrates the infamous Abbottabad compound, but then all hell breaks loose when bin Laden emerges from behind a door, causing the whole squadron to start yelling wildly as they pelt him with shoes, cups, and flimsy pieces of drywall,” wrote New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis, who mentioned that the hectic five-minute sequence shows bin Laden stumbling around with his head stuck in a sweatshirt thrown by one of the SEALs, bashing into various fixtures and shouting, “Ow, ow!”
If even The Onion gets it, .......
Nevermind.
You can look it up; I won't.
So The Onion decided a little satire would be fun.
According to reviews this week of Kathryn Bigelow’s thriller Zero Dark Thirty, which chronicles the 10-year hunt for Osama bin Laden, the film’s climactic scene features a team of U.S. Navy SEALs shrieking in terror as they gradually kill the al-Qaeda leader by throwing a variety of nearby objects at him. “The mood is tense and silent as SEAL Team Six infiltrates the infamous Abbottabad compound, but then all hell breaks loose when bin Laden emerges from behind a door, causing the whole squadron to start yelling wildly as they pelt him with shoes, cups, and flimsy pieces of drywall,” wrote New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis, who mentioned that the hectic five-minute sequence shows bin Laden stumbling around with his head stuck in a sweatshirt thrown by one of the SEALs, bashing into various fixtures and shouting, “Ow, ow!”
If even The Onion gets it, .......
Nevermind.
Help for MSM
HT: MoonBattery
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Tolkien and Jack Ryan
Umnhh....not as strange as you may think.
Long essay here about JRRTolkien's works. Very short excerpt:
...when Frodo asks Gandalf how the Ring came into his possession, Gandalf answers: “Behind that there was something else at work, beyond any design of the Ring-maker. I can put it no plainer than by saying that Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker. In which case you also were meant to have it. And that may be an encouraging thought.” In Unfinished Tales, Gandalf declares that what one calls chance is really one’s will accepting Ilúvatar's direction. When Elrond calls the council to order, deciding what to do with the Ring, he says: “Called, I say, though I have not called you to me, strangers from distant lands. You have come and are met here, in this very nick of time, by chance as it may seem. Yet it is not so. Believe rather that it is so ordered that we, who sit here, and none others, must now find counsel for the peril of the world.” ...
Compare Jack Ryan: "There is no such thing as co-incidence."
And--just so you get it--there is no such thing as co-incidence.
Long essay here about JRRTolkien's works. Very short excerpt:
...when Frodo asks Gandalf how the Ring came into his possession, Gandalf answers: “Behind that there was something else at work, beyond any design of the Ring-maker. I can put it no plainer than by saying that Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker. In which case you also were meant to have it. And that may be an encouraging thought.” In Unfinished Tales, Gandalf declares that what one calls chance is really one’s will accepting Ilúvatar's direction. When Elrond calls the council to order, deciding what to do with the Ring, he says: “Called, I say, though I have not called you to me, strangers from distant lands. You have come and are met here, in this very nick of time, by chance as it may seem. Yet it is not so. Believe rather that it is so ordered that we, who sit here, and none others, must now find counsel for the peril of the world.” ...
Compare Jack Ryan: "There is no such thing as co-incidence."
And--just so you get it--there is no such thing as co-incidence.
Household Income? Individual Income?
Kinda lengthy, not-too-technical.
Explains the "rich are richer" vs. "not really" analyses pretty well.
Core of the item (but not the only stuff you should read) includes this:
[First, as to the claim that 'median income' is only up 3.2% over the last 30 years:]
....PETHOKOUKIS: 3.2% over 30 years is bupkis.
BURKHAUSER: That’s stagnation. And that’s what they call it: the middle class has stagnated over the last 30 years. And that statement is correct. But what does that statement mean, and how do you put it in the context of how the typical American has done in the last 30 years? Is it true that we haven’t increased at all in the last 30 years in our ability to consume things?
Okay, so let’s–and this is the fun part of the puzzle. Let’s no longer take the tax unit as the unit of analysis. Now let’s look at the household. And you go from a gain of 3.2% over that period to a gain of 15.2%. And that happens because the number of tax units per household has been rising over that 30-year period. There are a lot more people living together and sharing everything except a marriage certificate.
Hmmmmm.
Can IRS and Census (CPS) data--seemingly disparate in results--be reconciled?
...people have argued that you can’t actually use the CPS to look at the tails of the distribution, and therefore, Piketty and Saez, even though their data has problems, those problems are less than the problems in the CPS. The thing that took us 4 years to do was to show people: No, that’s not true. We can actually get very close to the levels and trends that they get in the IRS data using the CPS data
Following that graf is a discussion of transfer-payments, which pump up HHI to around a 29% gain in the 30-year period.
Then this:
...the last change is to talk about this growing share of earnings that comes in non-wage compensation, and also the fact that Medicare and Medicaid have been growing also. So, as an example of how important it is to think about in-kind transfers as well as in-cash transfers, and to think about the value of health insurance for employees as well as their wages, we are able to estimate the employer share of employer-provided health insurance to workers and the insurance value of Medicare and Medicaid to lower-income people who are getting those benefits. And when you do that, it goes from 29.3% to 36.7%. So, we are really talking about a difference from 3.2% in the way Piketty and Saez are thinking about things in tax units, to 36.7% if we simply include the value of health insurance as well as do the other things that we’ve talked about
Well, now. There's an interesting discussion point, assuming that your typical Leftoid is capable of rational discussion.
Explains the "rich are richer" vs. "not really" analyses pretty well.
Core of the item (but not the only stuff you should read) includes this:
[First, as to the claim that 'median income' is only up 3.2% over the last 30 years:]
....PETHOKOUKIS: 3.2% over 30 years is bupkis.
BURKHAUSER: That’s stagnation. And that’s what they call it: the middle class has stagnated over the last 30 years. And that statement is correct. But what does that statement mean, and how do you put it in the context of how the typical American has done in the last 30 years? Is it true that we haven’t increased at all in the last 30 years in our ability to consume things?
Okay, so let’s–and this is the fun part of the puzzle. Let’s no longer take the tax unit as the unit of analysis. Now let’s look at the household. And you go from a gain of 3.2% over that period to a gain of 15.2%. And that happens because the number of tax units per household has been rising over that 30-year period. There are a lot more people living together and sharing everything except a marriage certificate.
Hmmmmm.
Can IRS and Census (CPS) data--seemingly disparate in results--be reconciled?
...people have argued that you can’t actually use the CPS to look at the tails of the distribution, and therefore, Piketty and Saez, even though their data has problems, those problems are less than the problems in the CPS. The thing that took us 4 years to do was to show people: No, that’s not true. We can actually get very close to the levels and trends that they get in the IRS data using the CPS data
Following that graf is a discussion of transfer-payments, which pump up HHI to around a 29% gain in the 30-year period.
Then this:
...the last change is to talk about this growing share of earnings that comes in non-wage compensation, and also the fact that Medicare and Medicaid have been growing also. So, as an example of how important it is to think about in-kind transfers as well as in-cash transfers, and to think about the value of health insurance for employees as well as their wages, we are able to estimate the employer share of employer-provided health insurance to workers and the insurance value of Medicare and Medicaid to lower-income people who are getting those benefits. And when you do that, it goes from 29.3% to 36.7%. So, we are really talking about a difference from 3.2% in the way Piketty and Saez are thinking about things in tax units, to 36.7% if we simply include the value of health insurance as well as do the other things that we’ve talked about
Well, now. There's an interesting discussion point, assuming that your typical Leftoid is capable of rational discussion.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Newt Goes Nuts
Gingrich is a bomb-thrower, and a reasonably good thinker. But not always.
Newt Gingrich blames the Republican party for fostering a corrosive culture that produced Romney as its candidate. The former House Speaker argued that the GOP has grown stale and introverted, putting itself on the wrong side of history on issues like immigration and painting itself into a corner on others, like gay marriage.
On gay marriage, Gingrich says that Republicans can no longer close their eyes to the course of public opinion. While he continues to profess a belief that marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman, he suggests that the party (and he himself) could accept a distinction between a “marriage in a church from a legal document issued by the state” — the latter being acceptable...
Wrong.
"Public opinion" is not a determinant of right action--at least not in and of itself.
Newt would be well-advised to work on leadership skills, not Political Think.
Newt Gingrich blames the Republican party for fostering a corrosive culture that produced Romney as its candidate. The former House Speaker argued that the GOP has grown stale and introverted, putting itself on the wrong side of history on issues like immigration and painting itself into a corner on others, like gay marriage.
On gay marriage, Gingrich says that Republicans can no longer close their eyes to the course of public opinion. While he continues to profess a belief that marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman, he suggests that the party (and he himself) could accept a distinction between a “marriage in a church from a legal document issued by the state” — the latter being acceptable...
Wrong.
"Public opinion" is not a determinant of right action--at least not in and of itself.
Newt would be well-advised to work on leadership skills, not Political Think.
Time to Primary Sensenbrenner? (Part Two)
We mentioned 'primary-ing' Sensenbrenner earlier.
And he keeps asking for it, louder and louder.
Yesterday he (along with Ryan) were happy to vote for Boehner's tax increase--unlike actual Conservatives who recognized that Boehner's "Plan B" was all give and no get.
To give Ryan the benefit of the doubt, he voted with Mr. Suntan to keep his chairmanship--from which he can fight another way and another day.
Sensenbrenner doesn't have that excuse.
And he keeps asking for it, louder and louder.
Yesterday he (along with Ryan) were happy to vote for Boehner's tax increase--unlike actual Conservatives who recognized that Boehner's "Plan B" was all give and no get.
To give Ryan the benefit of the doubt, he voted with Mr. Suntan to keep his chairmanship--from which he can fight another way and another day.
Sensenbrenner doesn't have that excuse.
Boehner Failed
This about sums it up.
...Before last night’s vote, we faced two possible outcomes; either we go over the cliff (which is not even such a cliff because rates could always be extended retroactively) or Boehner was going to cave on 90% of what Obama wanted. The same thing applies now. Boehner was never going to stand by his plan. And if it was worth voting for Boehner’s plan, which according to their logic represented a tax cut for 99.81%, then it was worth voting for Obama’s plan, which, by the same logic is a tax cut for 99% of taxpayers.
This all gets back to the issue of trust, not the issue of compromise. Most of us would be willing to compromise on some level if we knew there would be some point at which Boehner would hold the line and fight for his own position.
The honorable thing for Boehner to do is tocommit hara-kiri resign the Speaker's chair.
...Before last night’s vote, we faced two possible outcomes; either we go over the cliff (which is not even such a cliff because rates could always be extended retroactively) or Boehner was going to cave on 90% of what Obama wanted. The same thing applies now. Boehner was never going to stand by his plan. And if it was worth voting for Boehner’s plan, which according to their logic represented a tax cut for 99.81%, then it was worth voting for Obama’s plan, which, by the same logic is a tax cut for 99% of taxpayers.
This all gets back to the issue of trust, not the issue of compromise. Most of us would be willing to compromise on some level if we knew there would be some point at which Boehner would hold the line and fight for his own position.
The honorable thing for Boehner to do is to
Thursday, December 20, 2012
The Busybodies' Make-Work Plan (ObozoCare)
Egads.
Remember the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) law within Obamacare requiring all food chain restaurants with 20 or more locations to post calorie information on menus and menu boards? The FDA now wants to extend this law to grocers, convenience stores and even customizable food chains like Domino’s.
Domino’s [restaurants will be required to] post calorie information for its 34 million different pizza and other menu combinations?
OMB estimates 15 million man-hours' work will be required to meet FDA's Busybody reg. That may be just for Domino's. Then there's MickeyD's, BurgerWhopper, KFC.....
Remember the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) law within Obamacare requiring all food chain restaurants with 20 or more locations to post calorie information on menus and menu boards? The FDA now wants to extend this law to grocers, convenience stores and even customizable food chains like Domino’s.
Domino’s [restaurants will be required to] post calorie information for its 34 million different pizza and other menu combinations?
OMB estimates 15 million man-hours' work will be required to meet FDA's Busybody reg. That may be just for Domino's. Then there's MickeyD's, BurgerWhopper, KFC.....
The SCOAMF in Lights
Really...this yutz is POTUS? Kermit the Frog would be better.
President Obama’s initial offer [...] consisted of “at least $4 of tax increases to $1 of spending cuts.”
Non-starter. So what's his Plan B?
...He is now offering a new threshold of $400,000 and lowering his 10-year tax revenue goals from the $1.6 trillion he had argued for a few weeks ago.--quoting USAToday
But that's not the whole story:
...he is now asking for a new debt limit that would last two years, putting its renewal beyond the politics of a 2014 midterm election...
That timing is just co-incidence, of course.
His spending is larger than that of FDR during WWII in constant dollars. If he actually has a plan, then there's only one conclusion to be drawn: he wants to BK the country.
That creates a crisis, and as they say, 'never let a crisis go to waste.'
President Obama’s initial offer [...] consisted of “at least $4 of tax increases to $1 of spending cuts.”
Non-starter. So what's his Plan B?
...He is now offering a new threshold of $400,000 and lowering his 10-year tax revenue goals from the $1.6 trillion he had argued for a few weeks ago.--quoting USAToday
But that's not the whole story:
...he is now asking for a new debt limit that would last two years, putting its renewal beyond the politics of a 2014 midterm election...
That timing is just co-incidence, of course.
His spending is larger than that of FDR during WWII in constant dollars. If he actually has a plan, then there's only one conclusion to be drawn: he wants to BK the country.
That creates a crisis, and as they say, 'never let a crisis go to waste.'
Buy. More. Ammo.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Don't Like Being Lisa Jackson? No Problem!!
Seems like the Big Kahoona of EPA prefers to go anonymous when emailing.
...the head of one of the most active and heavy-handed regulatory agencies in the federal government does a bunch of her business with colleagues on an e-mail address, that while it’s a .gov address, has no obvious connection to the EPA administrator herself.
She's "Richard Windsor" in her alternate life.
...Chris Horner, author of “The Liberal War on Transparency,” who discovered the alias e-mail, said the government acknowledged last week there are 12,000 “Richard Windsor” e-mails addressing the war on coal, cap-and-trade issues, global warming regulation and other issues of public import. Competitive Enterprise Institute sued for access to the e-mails, and the administration will have to release them, several thousand per month, starting in January, Horner said.
Prolific little anonymous, eh?
...the head of one of the most active and heavy-handed regulatory agencies in the federal government does a bunch of her business with colleagues on an e-mail address, that while it’s a .gov address, has no obvious connection to the EPA administrator herself.
She's "Richard Windsor" in her alternate life.
...Chris Horner, author of “The Liberal War on Transparency,” who discovered the alias e-mail, said the government acknowledged last week there are 12,000 “Richard Windsor” e-mails addressing the war on coal, cap-and-trade issues, global warming regulation and other issues of public import. Competitive Enterprise Institute sued for access to the e-mails, and the administration will have to release them, several thousand per month, starting in January, Horner said.
Prolific little anonymous, eh?
Did Charlie Sykes.....??
Sorry--I only heard his lead-in to the segment.
But during the lead-in he said that .223 rounds were 'high-powered' (they are not) and that 'multiple-round magazines' should be banned.
The .223 is called a "mouse gun" by many members of the US military.
He also said something to the effect that military-pattern rifles are not 'hunting weapons.' Umnhhhh...really?
Rifles patterned on the M-1 and its descendant, the M-14, are commonly used as hunting weapons, as are AK-pattern rifles. They have smaller magazines than the AR/M-16/M-4, true. And I'll agree that a hunting rifle does not need a 100-round magazine.
But then, the 2A is not about hunting, is it?
But as we learn below, ARs are not "assault weapons" as defined by the US military.
So please correct me if I'm wrong. If Charlie merely was doing a setup--so as to knock down the straw-men--well, good on him.
If he was not, is he serious?
But during the lead-in he said that .223 rounds were 'high-powered' (they are not) and that 'multiple-round magazines' should be banned.
The .223 is called a "mouse gun" by many members of the US military.
He also said something to the effect that military-pattern rifles are not 'hunting weapons.' Umnhhhh...really?
Rifles patterned on the M-1 and its descendant, the M-14, are commonly used as hunting weapons, as are AK-pattern rifles. They have smaller magazines than the AR/M-16/M-4, true. And I'll agree that a hunting rifle does not need a 100-round magazine.
But then, the 2A is not about hunting, is it?
But as we learn below, ARs are not "assault weapons" as defined by the US military.
So please correct me if I'm wrong. If Charlie merely was doing a setup--so as to knock down the straw-men--well, good on him.
If he was not, is he serious?
DC Circuit Slaps Up Obozo/Sibelius
Well, this is pretty clear.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius cannot enforce the Obamacare contraception mandate as it is written, but must follow through on a promise to rewrite the rule to accommodate religious liberty, a federal appeals court ordered.
... “There will, the government said, be a different rule for entities like the appellants . . . We take the government at its word and will hold it to it,” the judges wrote. They ruled that the Obama administration must rewrite the regulation by August 2013 and provide updates to the court every 60 days.
Reminds everyone of the District Court's words:
...“There is no, ‘Trust us, changes are coming’ clause in the Constitution,” Judge Brian Cogan wrote in his ruling in favor of the Archdiocese of New York two weeks ago. “To the contrary, the Bill of Rights itself, and the First Amendment in particular, reflect a degree of skepticism towards governmental self-restraint and self-correction.”...
A skepticism which significantly underestimated the craven powerlust of the current Statist-in-Chief.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius cannot enforce the Obamacare contraception mandate as it is written, but must follow through on a promise to rewrite the rule to accommodate religious liberty, a federal appeals court ordered.
... “There will, the government said, be a different rule for entities like the appellants . . . We take the government at its word and will hold it to it,” the judges wrote. They ruled that the Obama administration must rewrite the regulation by August 2013 and provide updates to the court every 60 days.
Reminds everyone of the District Court's words:
...“There is no, ‘Trust us, changes are coming’ clause in the Constitution,” Judge Brian Cogan wrote in his ruling in favor of the Archdiocese of New York two weeks ago. “To the contrary, the Bill of Rights itself, and the First Amendment in particular, reflect a degree of skepticism towards governmental self-restraint and self-correction.”...
A skepticism which significantly underestimated the craven powerlust of the current Statist-in-Chief.
Defining "Assault Rifle"
Let's use the US military's definition.
Assault rifles are short, compact, selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between submachinegun and rifle cartridges … Assault rifles have mild recoil characteristics and, because of this, are capable of delivering effective full-automatic fire at ranges up to 300 meters.
Now, for those of you who are challenged by such complex words and sentences, a breakdown.
...assault rifles have at least three characteristics: (1) capable of selective fire (which includes fully automatic fire), (2) fire an intermediate cartridge, and (3) mild recoil.
So. If we were to purchase an AR in .308 (e.g.), even that "mild recoil" condition would go away.
The .223 cartridge is not too popular with US troops in Afghanistan because it is simply not powerful enough to take down enemies at 300++ yards--something that the AK-pattern rifle can do with its .308-equivalent chambering. For that matter, the AK is not exactly "short."
Note carefully that the military description does not include any reference to the number of rounds in a magazine.
HT: Captain
Assault rifles are short, compact, selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between submachinegun and rifle cartridges … Assault rifles have mild recoil characteristics and, because of this, are capable of delivering effective full-automatic fire at ranges up to 300 meters.
Now, for those of you who are challenged by such complex words and sentences, a breakdown.
...assault rifles have at least three characteristics: (1) capable of selective fire (which includes fully automatic fire), (2) fire an intermediate cartridge, and (3) mild recoil.
So. If we were to purchase an AR in .308 (e.g.), even that "mild recoil" condition would go away.
The .223 cartridge is not too popular with US troops in Afghanistan because it is simply not powerful enough to take down enemies at 300++ yards--something that the AK-pattern rifle can do with its .308-equivalent chambering. For that matter, the AK is not exactly "short."
Note carefully that the military description does not include any reference to the number of rounds in a magazine.
HT: Captain
State Department Playing Patty-Cake, Yup
It took three grafs before the Slimes quoted the text:
"Systematic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department resulted in a Special Mission security posture that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place," the panel said.
This is not exactly News. And--by the way--no one will get their ass fired over this, either.
...the board determined that no individual officials ignored or violated their duties and recommended no disciplinary action. But it also said poor performance by senior managers should be grounds for disciplinary recommendations in the future.
After all, what's a few dead Americans when we have Patty-Cake games, high tea, and dinners to attend?
"Systematic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department resulted in a Special Mission security posture that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place," the panel said.
This is not exactly News. And--by the way--no one will get their ass fired over this, either.
...the board determined that no individual officials ignored or violated their duties and recommended no disciplinary action. But it also said poor performance by senior managers should be grounds for disciplinary recommendations in the future.
After all, what's a few dead Americans when we have Patty-Cake games, high tea, and dinners to attend?
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Fairy Tales
A very good definition.
The essence of fairy-stories is that they satisfy our heart's deepest desire: to know a world other than our own, a world that has not been flattened and shrunk and emptied of mystery. To enter this other world, the fairy tale resorts to fantasy in the literal sense. It deals with phantasms or representations of things not generally believed to exist in our primary world: elves (the older word for faires), hobbits, wizards, dwarves, Ringwraiths, wargs, orcs, and the like. Far from being unreal or fantastic in the popular sense, these creatures embody the invisible qualities of the eternal world -- love and death, courage and cowardice, terror and hope -- that always impinge on our own visible universe. Fairy-stories "open as door on Other Time" Tolkien writes, "and if we pass through, though only for a moment, we stand outside our own time, outside Time itself, perhaps." Hence Tolkien's insistence that all fantasy-creations must have the mythic character of the supernatural world as well as the historical consistency of the natural world. The question to be posed for fantasy as also for many of the biblical narratives is not, therefore, "Did these things literally happen?" but "Does their happening reveal the truth?"
--Vox quoting his combox contributor
Compare GKChesterton: "Fairy tales are more than true--not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."
Or compare this commentary on GKC's thoughts on fairy tales:
There are thousands of years of the fairy tale tradition, but the folks who have the most to say about it are those who defended it through the period we now call modernity (very roughly, from the Enlightenment until the 1960s) — the rise of scientific fatalism. The fairy tale is a protest against the Enlightenment, for the writers and defenders of fairy tales like Chesterton (and C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Madeleine L’Engle after him) were writing worlds of magical refuge in the midst of modernity. Without the magic of the fairy tale, the magic of life disappears in a morass of strictly rational, naturalistic facts, theories, propositions, experiments, and arguments. The fairy tale frees us from the law-based, unchangeable world of the scientific fatalist, where explanations are everywhere but wonder is lost.
Indeed.
The essence of fairy-stories is that they satisfy our heart's deepest desire: to know a world other than our own, a world that has not been flattened and shrunk and emptied of mystery. To enter this other world, the fairy tale resorts to fantasy in the literal sense. It deals with phantasms or representations of things not generally believed to exist in our primary world: elves (the older word for faires), hobbits, wizards, dwarves, Ringwraiths, wargs, orcs, and the like. Far from being unreal or fantastic in the popular sense, these creatures embody the invisible qualities of the eternal world -- love and death, courage and cowardice, terror and hope -- that always impinge on our own visible universe. Fairy-stories "open as door on Other Time" Tolkien writes, "and if we pass through, though only for a moment, we stand outside our own time, outside Time itself, perhaps." Hence Tolkien's insistence that all fantasy-creations must have the mythic character of the supernatural world as well as the historical consistency of the natural world. The question to be posed for fantasy as also for many of the biblical narratives is not, therefore, "Did these things literally happen?" but "Does their happening reveal the truth?"
--Vox quoting his combox contributor
Compare GKChesterton: "Fairy tales are more than true--not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."
Or compare this commentary on GKC's thoughts on fairy tales:
There are thousands of years of the fairy tale tradition, but the folks who have the most to say about it are those who defended it through the period we now call modernity (very roughly, from the Enlightenment until the 1960s) — the rise of scientific fatalism. The fairy tale is a protest against the Enlightenment, for the writers and defenders of fairy tales like Chesterton (and C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Madeleine L’Engle after him) were writing worlds of magical refuge in the midst of modernity. Without the magic of the fairy tale, the magic of life disappears in a morass of strictly rational, naturalistic facts, theories, propositions, experiments, and arguments. The fairy tale frees us from the law-based, unchangeable world of the scientific fatalist, where explanations are everywhere but wonder is lost.
Indeed.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Obama Paints Irony in Blood Red
The most vicious abortion-pusher in the US:
...we come to realize that we bear responsibility for every child, because we’re counting on everybody else to help look after ours, that we’re all parents, that they are all our children.
This is our first task, caring for our children. It’s our first job. If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right. That’s how, as a society, we will be judged.
And by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we’re meeting our obligations?
Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm?
[...]
Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?
How about just a chance to live, Mr. President?
...we come to realize that we bear responsibility for every child, because we’re counting on everybody else to help look after ours, that we’re all parents, that they are all our children.
This is our first task, caring for our children. It’s our first job. If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right. That’s how, as a society, we will be judged.
And by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we’re meeting our obligations?
Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm?
[...]
Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?
How about just a chance to live, Mr. President?
Sunday, December 16, 2012
And Here It Comes!
As more details emerge, it becomes clear that the Connecticut shooter was mentally ill. All of us have offered prayers for the parents, the faculty and staff, and their survivors.
But some have to offer more.
...A bill to restrict the use and sale of weapons like the high-powered Bushmaster .223 that coroners said had killed many of the children at Sandy Hook, would be introduced in the next session of the US Congress, promised senior Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein “It will ban the sale, the transfer, the importation and the possession. Not retroactively but prospectively. And it will ban the same for big clips, drums or strips of more than 10 bullets,” she told NBC News, adding that she expected Mr Obama to support the bill....
There is no logic to Feinstein's offer, of course. She would like us to forget that the Democrat Party was responsible for the "liberating" of the mentally ill a couple of dozen years ago, which allowed this deranged killer to do what he did. And the MSM laps up the terminology: "high-powered" is a laugh when one compares the .223 to common hunting rounds like the .308 and .30-06 or any of the "magnum" offerings in almost any cartridge.
(There are instances where derangement is obvious, and there are instances where the individual is simply a murderer. Let's leave that for another discussion. Having read a lot about the CT. killer, it seems clear that he is a genuine mental-illness type.)
A business associate who is a hunter went into a rant about 'multiple-bullet magazines' following this tragedy. So I asked him why his 4-round semi-auto .30-06 was acceptable whereas a 10-round semi-auto .223 (AR-15) was not, and he told me--in effect--that more-than-4-round magazines should be banned.
As if killing only 4 kids instead of 20 was ......I dunno.....more civilized?
Sorry. That doesn't pass the logic test any more than does Feinstein's proposal. So now we'll have to endure another 6-12 months of asinine argumentation--all because the Democrats shut down the asylums.
But some have to offer more.
...A bill to restrict the use and sale of weapons like the high-powered Bushmaster .223 that coroners said had killed many of the children at Sandy Hook, would be introduced in the next session of the US Congress, promised senior Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein “It will ban the sale, the transfer, the importation and the possession. Not retroactively but prospectively. And it will ban the same for big clips, drums or strips of more than 10 bullets,” she told NBC News, adding that she expected Mr Obama to support the bill....
There is no logic to Feinstein's offer, of course. She would like us to forget that the Democrat Party was responsible for the "liberating" of the mentally ill a couple of dozen years ago, which allowed this deranged killer to do what he did. And the MSM laps up the terminology: "high-powered" is a laugh when one compares the .223 to common hunting rounds like the .308 and .30-06 or any of the "magnum" offerings in almost any cartridge.
(There are instances where derangement is obvious, and there are instances where the individual is simply a murderer. Let's leave that for another discussion. Having read a lot about the CT. killer, it seems clear that he is a genuine mental-illness type.)
A business associate who is a hunter went into a rant about 'multiple-bullet magazines' following this tragedy. So I asked him why his 4-round semi-auto .30-06 was acceptable whereas a 10-round semi-auto .223 (AR-15) was not, and he told me--in effect--that more-than-4-round magazines should be banned.
As if killing only 4 kids instead of 20 was ......I dunno.....more civilized?
Sorry. That doesn't pass the logic test any more than does Feinstein's proposal. So now we'll have to endure another 6-12 months of asinine argumentation--all because the Democrats shut down the asylums.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Single-Payer Health, Single-Lender Biz Loans?
The medium-term objective of ObozoCare is to eliminate health insurance companies and self-insured plans. Won't be too hard to do, and when it's done, the only "insurer" remaining will be the FedGov.
Hey, if you like the Post Office....
Anyhoo, that's not the only game of Monopoly being played by the Obozo Cabal.
President Obama’s Consumer Financial Protection Board, led by a ‘recess appointee’ installed when the Senate was actually in session, has blocked 150,000 jobs and made it difficult for lower-income Americans to access credit, according to a new House report.
... “Already, according to estimates, the CFPB has increased the cost of consumer credit by a total of $17 billion and depressed job creation by about 150,000 jobs.”
The report explains that Dodd-Frank rules, which the CFBP develops and implements, are making it difficult for small business owners to borrow money needed for their companies.
“Access to traditional credit sources has become increasingly strained for many small businesses owners,” the report explains. “[A]s a result of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (the Card Act),20 which the CFPB is in charge of implementing, interest rate spreads for credit card loans have increased, making it more difficult for eligible borrowers to access the capital they need for their businesses.”...
Well, financing a biz on your MasterCard isn't the best idea anyway. But wait, there's more!!
...mortgage lending has dropped and new regulations are causing small banks and lenders to close. “In addition, small lenders and community bankers are especially overwhelmed by the onslaught of ‘red tape,’” according to the Committee. “As the regulatory requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act continue to be implemented, more and more small banks are closing or being sold to large competitors.”
Pretty soon the only remaining small-biz lender will be the SBA.
*Shock*
Hey, if you like the Post Office....
Anyhoo, that's not the only game of Monopoly being played by the Obozo Cabal.
President Obama’s Consumer Financial Protection Board, led by a ‘recess appointee’ installed when the Senate was actually in session, has blocked 150,000 jobs and made it difficult for lower-income Americans to access credit, according to a new House report.
... “Already, according to estimates, the CFPB has increased the cost of consumer credit by a total of $17 billion and depressed job creation by about 150,000 jobs.”
The report explains that Dodd-Frank rules, which the CFBP develops and implements, are making it difficult for small business owners to borrow money needed for their companies.
“Access to traditional credit sources has become increasingly strained for many small businesses owners,” the report explains. “[A]s a result of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (the Card Act),20 which the CFPB is in charge of implementing, interest rate spreads for credit card loans have increased, making it more difficult for eligible borrowers to access the capital they need for their businesses.”...
Well, financing a biz on your MasterCard isn't the best idea anyway. But wait, there's more!!
...mortgage lending has dropped and new regulations are causing small banks and lenders to close. “In addition, small lenders and community bankers are especially overwhelmed by the onslaught of ‘red tape,’” according to the Committee. “As the regulatory requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act continue to be implemented, more and more small banks are closing or being sold to large competitors.”
Pretty soon the only remaining small-biz lender will be the SBA.
*Shock*
A Tax-Evasion Kerfuffle for SEIU?
You all recall that an SEIU organizer allegedly voted illegally in Wisconsin.
*Shock*
But there's a bit more to the story which is also quite serious.
....prosecutors appear to be investigating a tax discrepancy revealed by Haynes’ bank records. According to the SEIU, Clarence Haynes’ last day of work was May 5, 2011. He received two large payments in the weeks after May 5, totaling just over $75,000 as part of what prosecutors believe to be a severance package. But from January to May 2011, subpoenaed Bank of America records reveal Haynes received regular wages “of about $1,800 to $1,900 from SEIU directly deposited into his account.” At issue is the fact that Clarence Haynes’ 2011 W2 tax form subpoenaed from the SEIU shows $0 in wages earned by Haynes, perhaps suggesting that Haynes did not report the $75,000 payment or regular wages as taxable income.
It's more than that. If SEIU paid the guy and did not report the payment on the W-2, that means that SEIU has some 'splainin' to do. Especially when you consider the next line in the story:
...according to U.S. Department of Labor documents, Clarence S. Haynes earned a total package of $142,444.00 from the SEIU in 2011 as a Senior Organizer...
I'd love to hear the SEIU's story on this one.
*Shock*
But there's a bit more to the story which is also quite serious.
....prosecutors appear to be investigating a tax discrepancy revealed by Haynes’ bank records. According to the SEIU, Clarence Haynes’ last day of work was May 5, 2011. He received two large payments in the weeks after May 5, totaling just over $75,000 as part of what prosecutors believe to be a severance package. But from January to May 2011, subpoenaed Bank of America records reveal Haynes received regular wages “of about $1,800 to $1,900 from SEIU directly deposited into his account.” At issue is the fact that Clarence Haynes’ 2011 W2 tax form subpoenaed from the SEIU shows $0 in wages earned by Haynes, perhaps suggesting that Haynes did not report the $75,000 payment or regular wages as taxable income.
It's more than that. If SEIU paid the guy and did not report the payment on the W-2, that means that SEIU has some 'splainin' to do. Especially when you consider the next line in the story:
...according to U.S. Department of Labor documents, Clarence S. Haynes earned a total package of $142,444.00 from the SEIU in 2011 as a Senior Organizer...
I'd love to hear the SEIU's story on this one.
Friday, December 14, 2012
The Ten "Cannots"
Interesting history to these bullet-point "Cannots". You can read the story here, but I'll post the "Cannots":
It's also why John Boehner is NOT a Conservative.
- You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
- You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
- You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.
- You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
- You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
- You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
- You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
- You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
- You cannot build character and courage by destroying men’s initiative and independence.
- And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.
It's also why John Boehner is NOT a Conservative.
The Great Choo-Choo Fail
In the fairyland of Leftism, Choo-Choos create wealth, not to mention beautiful unicorns and happy marriages, strictly above-average children, strong women, and handsome men. Besides that, 'the rain may never fall 'till after sundown.....'
In reality?
...An estimated $8.7 million would help pay off a $9.6 million debt, an amount that includes interest, from the tax district used to help pay for the renovated downtown Intermodal Station, 433 W. St. Paul Ave.
The Common Council and Barrett approved that district in 2005, with the city providing $6 million for the $15.8 million project. The station is owned by the state of Wisconsin, which leases it to Los Angeles-based Wilton Partners. Wilton subleases space to Amtrak and Greyhound Bus Lines.
The station's value has declined dramatically, from $14.8 million in 2009 to $4.6 million in 2012. Most of its office and retail space remains vacant, according to a Department of City Development report. Also, expected housing developments near the station failed to happen, the report says. As a result, the financing district is generating a lot less tax revenue than expected.
Gee. What went wrong?
In reality?
...An estimated $8.7 million would help pay off a $9.6 million debt, an amount that includes interest, from the tax district used to help pay for the renovated downtown Intermodal Station, 433 W. St. Paul Ave.
The Common Council and Barrett approved that district in 2005, with the city providing $6 million for the $15.8 million project. The station is owned by the state of Wisconsin, which leases it to Los Angeles-based Wilton Partners. Wilton subleases space to Amtrak and Greyhound Bus Lines.
The station's value has declined dramatically, from $14.8 million in 2009 to $4.6 million in 2012. Most of its office and retail space remains vacant, according to a Department of City Development report. Also, expected housing developments near the station failed to happen, the report says. As a result, the financing district is generating a lot less tax revenue than expected.
Gee. What went wrong?
What Really Killed the Closed Shop?
As usual, PJBuchanan presents a provocative populist case. What killed the closed shop was not just Union intransigence. Not by a long shot.
Too bad that Buchanan didn't go far enough in his analysis--but it's worth looking at.
...Who are the collective killers? Like the murder on the Orient Express, just about everyone on the train.
First came automation.
... A second blow came with the postwar rise of Germany and Japan. Their plants and equipment were all newer than ours. Their wages were far lower, as they did not carry the burden of defending the Free World. Under our defense umbrella, they began to invade and capture our markets.
And Uncle Sam let them do it.
... A third blow to Big Labor, concentrated in the Frost Belt, came from the Sun Belt.
... But the mortal blow to American unions came from globalization.
If they could move factories out of the U.S.A., they would be free of union demands, wage-and-hour laws, occupational health and safety laws, environmental laws and civil rights law. By outsourcing, they could produce for a fraction of the cost of doing so in the U.S.A.
Buchanan doesn't even mention the tax rate differentials, which are very significant. And he doesn't mention that post-George Meany, much of the regulatory burden was imposed with Union encouragement (or at their demand.)
...The corporate establishment and political establishment shook hands, the deed was done, and the fate of U.S. industrial unions sealed. So came NAFTA, GATT, the World Trade Organization, MFN for China, free trade with all.
And with globalization came trade deficits unlike any the world had ever seen, a loss of one-third of U.S. manufacturing jobs in the last decade, a U.S. dependence on foreign-made goods almost as great as in colonial days, the enrichment of our corporate and financial elites beyond the dreams of avarice, and the decline and fall of the house of labor.
Unions are dying because, in America, economic patriotism is dead.
What is Buchanan missing?
Pat could have mentioned that the Greed Factor--or Materialism--was shared by all the parties, unions, management, and Governments. The national interest is rarely best-served by spending-and-debt, as we are learning. Even Keynes knew that.
But we resist the wisdom of Ben Franklin's "penny" quote, and will resist it until we become Greece.
Then what?
Too bad that Buchanan didn't go far enough in his analysis--but it's worth looking at.
...Who are the collective killers? Like the murder on the Orient Express, just about everyone on the train.
First came automation.
... A second blow came with the postwar rise of Germany and Japan. Their plants and equipment were all newer than ours. Their wages were far lower, as they did not carry the burden of defending the Free World. Under our defense umbrella, they began to invade and capture our markets.
And Uncle Sam let them do it.
... A third blow to Big Labor, concentrated in the Frost Belt, came from the Sun Belt.
... But the mortal blow to American unions came from globalization.
If they could move factories out of the U.S.A., they would be free of union demands, wage-and-hour laws, occupational health and safety laws, environmental laws and civil rights law. By outsourcing, they could produce for a fraction of the cost of doing so in the U.S.A.
Buchanan doesn't even mention the tax rate differentials, which are very significant. And he doesn't mention that post-George Meany, much of the regulatory burden was imposed with Union encouragement (or at their demand.)
...The corporate establishment and political establishment shook hands, the deed was done, and the fate of U.S. industrial unions sealed. So came NAFTA, GATT, the World Trade Organization, MFN for China, free trade with all.
And with globalization came trade deficits unlike any the world had ever seen, a loss of one-third of U.S. manufacturing jobs in the last decade, a U.S. dependence on foreign-made goods almost as great as in colonial days, the enrichment of our corporate and financial elites beyond the dreams of avarice, and the decline and fall of the house of labor.
Unions are dying because, in America, economic patriotism is dead.
What is Buchanan missing?
Pat could have mentioned that the Greed Factor--or Materialism--was shared by all the parties, unions, management, and Governments. The national interest is rarely best-served by spending-and-debt, as we are learning. Even Keynes knew that.
But we resist the wisdom of Ben Franklin's "penny" quote, and will resist it until we become Greece.
Then what?
Wisconsin Crony Capitalist Makes the News
You'll recall the name here. She's a vicious partisan Lefty who purchased her influence, and used the influence to further her own interests through specification-elimination techniques: that is, her firm just happened to have what ObozoCare requires. Coincidence, I'm sure.
(By the way, you won't find a Union label on her products, either. There's a reason for that: she runs a 'churn and burn' sweatshop.)
...Buried in the trillion-dollar stimulus law of 2009 was an electronic medical records "incentive" program. Like most of President Obama's health care rules, this top-down electronic record-sharing scheme is a big fat bust.
...The program was originally sold as a cost-saving measure. In theory, modernizing record-collection is a good idea, and many private health care providers have already made the change. But as with many government "incentive" programs, the EMR bribe is a tax-subsidized, one-size-fits-all mandate.
...$4 billion has already gone out to 82,535 professionals and 1,474 hospitals, and a total of $6 billion will be doled out by 2016. But the feds' reckless profligacy, neglect and favoritism have done more harm than good.
...No one is actually verifying whether the transition from paper to electronic is improving patient outcomes and health services. No one is actually guarding against GIGO (garbage in, garbage out). No one is checking whether recipients of the EMR incentives are receiving money redundantly (e.g., raking in payments when they've already converted to electronic records). No one is actually protecting private data from fraud, abuse or exploitation.
...You know who is benefiting from the initiative? Put on your shocked faces: Obama donors and cronies.
Billionaire Judith Faulkner, Obama's medical information czar and a major Democratic contributor, just happens to be the founder and CEO of Epic Systems — a medical software company that stores nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population's health data.
Yup. The crony (or just crone) who forced her general contractor to quit his Wisconsin Manufacturer's and Commerce Board position, and who spent a gazillion on Diamond Jim Doyle.
Oh, there's another outfit which also happens to be a Favored One: a U of Chicago bunch (read: Moochie and Jarrett.)
(By the way, you won't find a Union label on her products, either. There's a reason for that: she runs a 'churn and burn' sweatshop.)
...Buried in the trillion-dollar stimulus law of 2009 was an electronic medical records "incentive" program. Like most of President Obama's health care rules, this top-down electronic record-sharing scheme is a big fat bust.
...The program was originally sold as a cost-saving measure. In theory, modernizing record-collection is a good idea, and many private health care providers have already made the change. But as with many government "incentive" programs, the EMR bribe is a tax-subsidized, one-size-fits-all mandate.
...$4 billion has already gone out to 82,535 professionals and 1,474 hospitals, and a total of $6 billion will be doled out by 2016. But the feds' reckless profligacy, neglect and favoritism have done more harm than good.
...No one is actually verifying whether the transition from paper to electronic is improving patient outcomes and health services. No one is actually guarding against GIGO (garbage in, garbage out). No one is checking whether recipients of the EMR incentives are receiving money redundantly (e.g., raking in payments when they've already converted to electronic records). No one is actually protecting private data from fraud, abuse or exploitation.
...You know who is benefiting from the initiative? Put on your shocked faces: Obama donors and cronies.
Billionaire Judith Faulkner, Obama's medical information czar and a major Democratic contributor, just happens to be the founder and CEO of Epic Systems — a medical software company that stores nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population's health data.
Yup. The crony (or just crone) who forced her general contractor to quit his Wisconsin Manufacturer's and Commerce Board position, and who spent a gazillion on Diamond Jim Doyle.
Oh, there's another outfit which also happens to be a Favored One: a U of Chicago bunch (read: Moochie and Jarrett.)
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Down the Tubes WIth Boehner
Oh, yah. The very, very, very tanned Boehner leads the charge!
...CNSNews.com reported that there is little difference between proposals laid out by Boehner and the White House, according to a report from the Committee for a Responsible Budget.
Obama’s proposal outlines $1.6 trillion in tax hikes with $50 billion more in government spending, which will put the debt at 73 percent of GDP by 2022.
Boehner’s plan of $800 billion in tax increases and approximately $1 trillion in spending cuts will place debt at 72 percent of GDP.
Evidently Boehner has given up on defending the national interest.
The real game happens when the House votes on the Boehner suicide pact. Will Sensenbrenner be allowed to vote "nay" to preserve his hide? Who else?
Will Paul Ryan?
...CNSNews.com reported that there is little difference between proposals laid out by Boehner and the White House, according to a report from the Committee for a Responsible Budget.
Obama’s proposal outlines $1.6 trillion in tax hikes with $50 billion more in government spending, which will put the debt at 73 percent of GDP by 2022.
Boehner’s plan of $800 billion in tax increases and approximately $1 trillion in spending cuts will place debt at 72 percent of GDP.
Evidently Boehner has given up on defending the national interest.
The real game happens when the House votes on the Boehner suicide pact. Will Sensenbrenner be allowed to vote "nay" to preserve his hide? Who else?
Will Paul Ryan?
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Buffett, Senile?
Warren Buffett may be ultra-rich. But he's also ultra-confused.
...Buffett was a signatory of an open letter released Tuesday that called for a lower starting point for the tax and a higher taxation rate, beginning at 45 percent.
"We believe it is right to have a significant tax on large estates when they are passed on to the next generation. We believe it is right morally and economically, and that an estate tax promotes democracy by slowing the concentration of wealth and power," the 33 signers wrote in the letter released by the campaign, United for a Fair Economy.
Of course, "democracy" has nothing to do with wealth or poverty. And the USA is not a "democracy," it's a republic, because the Founders weren't fool enough to establish a "democracy."
Seems like Category Errors is a required course for Socialists.
...Buffett was a signatory of an open letter released Tuesday that called for a lower starting point for the tax and a higher taxation rate, beginning at 45 percent.
"We believe it is right to have a significant tax on large estates when they are passed on to the next generation. We believe it is right morally and economically, and that an estate tax promotes democracy by slowing the concentration of wealth and power," the 33 signers wrote in the letter released by the campaign, United for a Fair Economy.
Of course, "democracy" has nothing to do with wealth or poverty. And the USA is not a "democracy," it's a republic, because the Founders weren't fool enough to establish a "democracy."
Seems like Category Errors is a required course for Socialists.
Worried About Revolution?
Interesting take on the gun-grabber crowd.
...gun control zealots panic over the number of American purchasing firearms. These sad individuals seem utterly terrified that the 200+ million firearms and untold billions (if not trillions) of rounds of ammunition in civilian hands will be used against an increasingly invasive and lawbreaking government.
Ladd Everitt, communications director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) in particular freaked out last night when he sarcastically asked if the Obama Administration was guilty of tyranny, and I provided a dictionary definition, of the word, which is “the arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power,” and then pointed out the undeniable fact that the Obama Administration arbitrarly ignores written law as a matter of policy, which fits that definition precisely.
A hysterical Everitt then called me a “traitor” and “insurrectionist pro-gun activist” for providing that dictionary definition, and pointing out dozens of news articles by news organizations that prove that definition fits.
These men and those like them seem desperately worried that a massive armed uprising against the federal government could be imminent, and have put a considerable amount of time into thinking about (and no doubt losing sleep over) the possibility of that happening.
What we have here is a case of projection. Ask Steve Crowder about violence in the cause of tyranny.
...gun control zealots panic over the number of American purchasing firearms. These sad individuals seem utterly terrified that the 200+ million firearms and untold billions (if not trillions) of rounds of ammunition in civilian hands will be used against an increasingly invasive and lawbreaking government.
Ladd Everitt, communications director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) in particular freaked out last night when he sarcastically asked if the Obama Administration was guilty of tyranny, and I provided a dictionary definition, of the word, which is “the arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power,” and then pointed out the undeniable fact that the Obama Administration arbitrarly ignores written law as a matter of policy, which fits that definition precisely.
A hysterical Everitt then called me a “traitor” and “insurrectionist pro-gun activist” for providing that dictionary definition, and pointing out dozens of news articles by news organizations that prove that definition fits.
These men and those like them seem desperately worried that a massive armed uprising against the federal government could be imminent, and have put a considerable amount of time into thinking about (and no doubt losing sleep over) the possibility of that happening.
What we have here is a case of projection. Ask Steve Crowder about violence in the cause of tyranny.
Too Big To Be Prosecuted
Long story short, HSBC's criminal executives and managers will not be prosecuted for openly, blatantly, and willingly assisting drug cartels in laundering money. Nor will the bank be prosecuted for criminal activity.
However, HSBC shareholders will pay a billion-dollar fine.
After all, if HSBC gets hit with a criminal conviction, it will no longer be licensed to operate in the US, and that simply would be awful. Or something.
Some animals are more equal than others.
However, HSBC shareholders will pay a billion-dollar fine.
After all, if HSBC gets hit with a criminal conviction, it will no longer be licensed to operate in the US, and that simply would be awful. Or something.
Some animals are more equal than others.
The "CRA Did It" Question
Barry Ritholtz has always been a reasonably reliable left-oriented guy and he's paid a lot of attention to the "CRA" noise.
Here he tells us about new research into the question.
In brief:
1) CRA lending did NOT cause more bank losses, nor did it have significantly more defaults/foreclosures.
2) Mortgage losses (defaults/foreclosures) were generated by third-party brokers, not banks.
When CRA was passed, the Banks fretted--but you cannot find evidence that CRA was the cause of bank failures in the 1976-1985 timeframe, folks. It ain't there. You CAN find evidence that large-scale real-estate developments were the cause of many bank failures, particularly after the tax-reform acts of the mid-eighties. But those were not loans to homeowners.
The problems leading to the '08 bust were almost exclusively generated by mortgage-broker firms (which, admittedly, were often subsidiaries of banks and S&L's.)
Here he tells us about new research into the question.
In brief:
1) CRA lending did NOT cause more bank losses, nor did it have significantly more defaults/foreclosures.
2) Mortgage losses (defaults/foreclosures) were generated by third-party brokers, not banks.
When CRA was passed, the Banks fretted--but you cannot find evidence that CRA was the cause of bank failures in the 1976-1985 timeframe, folks. It ain't there. You CAN find evidence that large-scale real-estate developments were the cause of many bank failures, particularly after the tax-reform acts of the mid-eighties. But those were not loans to homeowners.
The problems leading to the '08 bust were almost exclusively generated by mortgage-broker firms (which, admittedly, were often subsidiaries of banks and S&L's.)
"We Were Stupid"-- (D) Senators
'Whaddya mean, 'were' stupid?" --US taxpayers
...now the health-care-industry lobbies that supported this subsidy-and-mandate-laden bill are lobbying to kill the cost-controls that offset the costs of its subsidies. All sorts of providers are lobbying to kill the Independent Payment Advisory Board. And the medical-device industry has convinced two Democratic Obamacare-backing Senators to try to kill the medical device tax...
Those would be Klobuchar and Franken, the comedy team from Minnesota, who suddenly realized that Medtronics is a Minnesota company.
...now the health-care-industry lobbies that supported this subsidy-and-mandate-laden bill are lobbying to kill the cost-controls that offset the costs of its subsidies. All sorts of providers are lobbying to kill the Independent Payment Advisory Board. And the medical-device industry has convinced two Democratic Obamacare-backing Senators to try to kill the medical device tax...
Those would be Klobuchar and Franken, the comedy team from Minnesota, who suddenly realized that Medtronics is a Minnesota company.
Immelt's Heroes
Immelt, Crony Capitalist Friend-of-Obozo, admires the ChiComs because, after all, Statism 'works.'
Yup.
...The mayor of the Chens’ village, Zhang Jian, who was responsible for Chen Guangcheng’s imprisonment, was reportedly enraged by the escape and sent a nighttime search party to raid the home of Chen’s brother, Chen Guangfu. When Zhang’s men arrived, they began savagely beating the Chen family and ransacking the home.
...Chen Kegui was convicted and sentenced on Nov. 30 by the Yinan County People’s Court in Shandong province. The Court found him guilty in a hastily-arranged afternoon trial from which his family was barred. The trial was held without notifying Chen Kegui’s attorneys, who said they found out about it only after they started receiving calls about it from the media, according to Ding Xikui, one of Chen’s lawyers.
Of course, the guy could have created an anti-Muslim internet film that nobody watched.
Yup.
...The mayor of the Chens’ village, Zhang Jian, who was responsible for Chen Guangcheng’s imprisonment, was reportedly enraged by the escape and sent a nighttime search party to raid the home of Chen’s brother, Chen Guangfu. When Zhang’s men arrived, they began savagely beating the Chen family and ransacking the home.
...Chen Kegui was convicted and sentenced on Nov. 30 by the Yinan County People’s Court in Shandong province. The Court found him guilty in a hastily-arranged afternoon trial from which his family was barred. The trial was held without notifying Chen Kegui’s attorneys, who said they found out about it only after they started receiving calls about it from the media, according to Ding Xikui, one of Chen’s lawyers.
Of course, the guy could have created an anti-Muslim internet film that nobody watched.
Think the Ethanol Scam Is Bad? Read On!
Yes, the ethanol mandate is crony capitalism. But that's not the end of the bidding war for farmers' re-election contributions.
...Ironically, in the same deal where both parties plan to raise taxes on those who pay the most taxes, they want to renew and augment farm subsidies to rich farmers. Democrats in the Senate are pushing for a new shallow loss program, which extends the coverage of crop insurance from catastrophic benefits to a guarantee of 90% of the farmer’s annual revenue. The idea that the government could guarantee members of a specific profession 90% of their income, especially when food prices are so high...
Large farms --corporate farming-- are squeezing out the '40 acres and a cow' gang by a variety of taxpayer-funded programs. Crop insurance is only one of the fraud-laden schemes by which you support these guys.
...Ironically, in the same deal where both parties plan to raise taxes on those who pay the most taxes, they want to renew and augment farm subsidies to rich farmers. Democrats in the Senate are pushing for a new shallow loss program, which extends the coverage of crop insurance from catastrophic benefits to a guarantee of 90% of the farmer’s annual revenue. The idea that the government could guarantee members of a specific profession 90% of their income, especially when food prices are so high...
Large farms --corporate farming-- are squeezing out the '40 acres and a cow' gang by a variety of taxpayer-funded programs. Crop insurance is only one of the fraud-laden schemes by which you support these guys.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
The Utterly Crass Immelt
The man's middle name is "Monetize." And to hold him as a Hero of Capitalism is to hold Goebbels as a Hero of Socialism.
"China is changing," said CBS host Charlie Rose. "It may be being stabilized as we speak. What does that mean for China and what does it mean for the United States? Should it change expectations?"
"It is good for China," said Immelt. "To a certain extent, Charlie, 11 percent is unsustainable. You end up getting too much stimulus or a misallocation of resources. They are much better off working on a more consumer-based economy, less dependent on exports. The one thing that actually works, state run communism a bit– may not be your cup of tea, but their government works." --quoted at Weekly Standard
Yes, especially inliquidating dealing with "extra" human lives.
If the Left-O-Wacky critics of eeeeeeeeeeeeevil Capitalism have a licit complaint, it is underlined and made operative by Immelt's execrable materialist remark. The man should be forced to resign.
"China is changing," said CBS host Charlie Rose. "It may be being stabilized as we speak. What does that mean for China and what does it mean for the United States? Should it change expectations?"
"It is good for China," said Immelt. "To a certain extent, Charlie, 11 percent is unsustainable. You end up getting too much stimulus or a misallocation of resources. They are much better off working on a more consumer-based economy, less dependent on exports. The one thing that actually works, state run communism a bit– may not be your cup of tea, but their government works." --quoted at Weekly Standard
Yes, especially in
If the Left-O-Wacky critics of eeeeeeeeeeeeevil Capitalism have a licit complaint, it is underlined and made operative by Immelt's execrable materialist remark. The man should be forced to resign.
Union Guy Is Right
From a story about a Racine union-guy who's unhappy about Free Association rights in Michigan:
...we learned that just getting together and doing laps around the Capitol isn’t going to stop committed politicians from doing what they want to do.”...
No s*&^, Sherlock.
Ever hear of ObozoCare?
...we learned that just getting together and doing laps around the Capitol isn’t going to stop committed politicians from doing what they want to do.”...
No s*&^, Sherlock.
Ever hear of ObozoCare?
Monday, December 10, 2012
Your Dictatorship Shows Its Teeth
Have I reminded you to buy more ammo lately? Christmas is coming, after all.
It turns out that ObamaCare makes an essential part of its regulatory scheme—an $800 billion bailout of private health insurance companies—conditional upon state governments creating the health insurance “exchanges” envisioned in the law.
This was no “drafting error.” During congressional consideration of the bill, its lead author, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), acknowledged that he intentionally and purposefully made that bailout conditional on states implementing their own Exchanges.
Now that it appears that as many as 30 states will not create Exchanges, the law is in peril. When states refuse to establish an Exchange, they are blocking not only that bailout, but also the $2,000 per worker tax ObamaCare imposes on employers. If enough states refuse to establish an Exchange, they can effectively force Congress to repeal much or all of the law.
That might explain why the IRS is literally rewriting the statute. On May 24, the IRS finalized a regulation that says the law’s $800 billion insurance-industry bailout will not be conditional on states creating Exchanges. With the stroke of pen, the IRS (1) stripped states of the power Congress gave them to shield employers from that $2,000 per-worker tax, (2) imposed that illegal tax on employers whom Congress exempted, and (3) issued up to $800 billion of tax credits and direct subsidies to private health insurance companies—without any congressional authorization whatsoever.
TurboTimmy is no stranger to lawbreaking, of course. But now he gets to do it to the citizens, not to the Gummint.
HT: Ticker
It turns out that ObamaCare makes an essential part of its regulatory scheme—an $800 billion bailout of private health insurance companies—conditional upon state governments creating the health insurance “exchanges” envisioned in the law.
This was no “drafting error.” During congressional consideration of the bill, its lead author, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), acknowledged that he intentionally and purposefully made that bailout conditional on states implementing their own Exchanges.
Now that it appears that as many as 30 states will not create Exchanges, the law is in peril. When states refuse to establish an Exchange, they are blocking not only that bailout, but also the $2,000 per worker tax ObamaCare imposes on employers. If enough states refuse to establish an Exchange, they can effectively force Congress to repeal much or all of the law.
That might explain why the IRS is literally rewriting the statute. On May 24, the IRS finalized a regulation that says the law’s $800 billion insurance-industry bailout will not be conditional on states creating Exchanges. With the stroke of pen, the IRS (1) stripped states of the power Congress gave them to shield employers from that $2,000 per-worker tax, (2) imposed that illegal tax on employers whom Congress exempted, and (3) issued up to $800 billion of tax credits and direct subsidies to private health insurance companies—without any congressional authorization whatsoever.
TurboTimmy is no stranger to lawbreaking, of course. But now he gets to do it to the citizens, not to the Gummint.
HT: Ticker
The Problem With Ayn
There was a good reason that Bill Buckley tossed Ayn Rand from the Conservative movement.
Smoke, Fire, More Taxes
Looks like SCOAMF is preparing to evade Congress, again.
("We don't NEEEEEEEEED your steeeenkin' Constitution.")
. Several recent signs:
This will slam residents of those States which heat their homes and it will slam farmers. It will also slam those who use their cars to commute to work.
("We don't NEEEEEEEEED your steeeenkin' Constitution.")
. Several recent signs:
- In 2010, the Treasury Department commissioned a National Academy of Science study of the best ways to “green” the tax code. The report was originally due in September, but an extension has been granted until early 2013.
- International banking and financial services giant HSBC Holdings Plc expects the Obama Administration to implement a $20/ton carbon tax (plus 6% per year increase) in its second term, to serve as “revenue enhancement” and as a replacement for the ill-fated Cap-and-Trade scheme.
- The Treasury Department’s Office of Environment and Energy has given the Heisman treatment to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Competitive Enterprise Institute for its emails and economic analysis relative to carbon tax proposals. CEI has filed suit in an effort to compel disclosure.
This will slam residents of those States which heat their homes and it will slam farmers. It will also slam those who use their cars to commute to work.
Sunday, December 09, 2012
The Old Testament on Our pResident
Leave it to Fr. Rutler to find the appropriate quotation.
...Our culture is enduring a severe test of itself. If Christ does not govern minds and hearts, mere humans will volunteer to do it, and they will do it badly. When the Judges of Israel could think only about their own existence with reference to how other people existed apart from divine regimen, they wanted a human king. Samuel warned them: “He will take the best of your fields, vineyards, and olive groves and give them to his officials…. He will tithe your flocks, and you yourselves will become slaves” (1 Samuel 8:14, 17). These days, he will take a lot more than ten per cent....
Umnnnhhhh, yah.
Actually, the essay is about Advent, widely ignored by all, including most Catholics.
...Our culture is enduring a severe test of itself. If Christ does not govern minds and hearts, mere humans will volunteer to do it, and they will do it badly. When the Judges of Israel could think only about their own existence with reference to how other people existed apart from divine regimen, they wanted a human king. Samuel warned them: “He will take the best of your fields, vineyards, and olive groves and give them to his officials…. He will tithe your flocks, and you yourselves will become slaves” (1 Samuel 8:14, 17). These days, he will take a lot more than ten per cent....
Umnnnhhhh, yah.
Actually, the essay is about Advent, widely ignored by all, including most Catholics.
When Regulators Meet (Armed) Resistance
SCOAMF and his cabal understand the difference between citizens and serfs.
Citizens are armed.
Because SCOAMF knows that Congress won't give him what he wants in the 'gun' area, he intends to re-write the regulations through BATFE.
It will be very interesting indeed to see how BATFE intends to enforce their new reg, no?
Citizens are armed.
Because SCOAMF knows that Congress won't give him what he wants in the 'gun' area, he intends to re-write the regulations through BATFE.
It will be very interesting indeed to see how BATFE intends to enforce their new reg, no?
Saturday, December 08, 2012
Well, Yah!! Go Over the "Cliff"
As Barry 'splains, it's really not a big deal, except to the MFM and a number of bloodsucking politicians (principally SCOAMF and his cabal.)
...The term refers to the deal that Congress made in late 2011 to temporarily resolve the debt ceiling debate. The “sequestration,” as it is known, calls for three elements: tax increases, spending cuts and an increase to the payroll tax (FICA). The Washington Post’s Wonkblog has run the numbers and finds “$180 billion from income tax hikes, $120 billion in revenue from the payroll tax, $110 billion from the sequester’s automatic spending cuts and $160 billion from expiring tax breaks and other programs.”
That is a not-insignificant amount of money, but it is hardly the end of the world. To put this into context, it is a little less than the TARP bailout for Wall Street in 2009 and somewhat less than the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, President Obama’s stimulus package. An educated guess puts this at about $600 billion to $700 billion out of a $15 trillion U.S. economy. I’d ballpark that at about 4 percent of the GDP, or 0.50 percent of the forecasted GDP growth of 2 percent for calendar year 2013.
The term “fiscal cliff,” popularized by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, is really a misnomer. As several analysts have correctly observed, the effects of sequestration are not a Jan. 1, 2013, event. The impact of the spending cuts and tax hikes would be phased in over time. A fiscal slope is more accurate. Additionally, as students of history have learned, single-variable analysis for complex financial issues is invariably wrong. Because of the inherent complexity of economies and markets, we cannot adequately explain or predict their behavior by merely looking at just one variable.
Meh. Taxes go up. Shock!!
Gummint expenditures go down? Nope. It's all smoke-and-mirrors; the "down" is from the ever-increasing 'baseline.' So Gummint expenditures will NOT go down.
Shock!!
...The term refers to the deal that Congress made in late 2011 to temporarily resolve the debt ceiling debate. The “sequestration,” as it is known, calls for three elements: tax increases, spending cuts and an increase to the payroll tax (FICA). The Washington Post’s Wonkblog has run the numbers and finds “$180 billion from income tax hikes, $120 billion in revenue from the payroll tax, $110 billion from the sequester’s automatic spending cuts and $160 billion from expiring tax breaks and other programs.”
That is a not-insignificant amount of money, but it is hardly the end of the world. To put this into context, it is a little less than the TARP bailout for Wall Street in 2009 and somewhat less than the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, President Obama’s stimulus package. An educated guess puts this at about $600 billion to $700 billion out of a $15 trillion U.S. economy. I’d ballpark that at about 4 percent of the GDP, or 0.50 percent of the forecasted GDP growth of 2 percent for calendar year 2013.
The term “fiscal cliff,” popularized by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, is really a misnomer. As several analysts have correctly observed, the effects of sequestration are not a Jan. 1, 2013, event. The impact of the spending cuts and tax hikes would be phased in over time. A fiscal slope is more accurate. Additionally, as students of history have learned, single-variable analysis for complex financial issues is invariably wrong. Because of the inherent complexity of economies and markets, we cannot adequately explain or predict their behavior by merely looking at just one variable.
Meh. Taxes go up. Shock!!
Gummint expenditures go down? Nope. It's all smoke-and-mirrors; the "down" is from the ever-increasing 'baseline.' So Gummint expenditures will NOT go down.
Shock!!
It's Called "Tax Avoidance"
The headline here:
Evil Corporation Manipulates System to Steal Money From Benevolent Government to Further Enrich Its Bloodsucking Shareholders
...is correct, if you ascribe to the ObozoCommie point of view.
Too bad it's his BFFs at the WaPo, eh?
Evil Corporation Manipulates System to Steal Money From Benevolent Government to Further Enrich Its Bloodsucking Shareholders
...is correct, if you ascribe to the ObozoCommie point of view.
Too bad it's his BFFs at the WaPo, eh?
Your Friendly Local Banker/Scammer
Huh. Here's a little-known part of TARP which (again) leaves the taxpayer on the hook.
...a part of TARP was the so called TAG program. What it did was remove the cap on insured deposits without limit as long as there was no interest being paid on the account. Now tell me who is paying interest bearing checking anymore? So in other words, TAG now makes the federal taxpayers liable for another 1.4 trillion dollars in deposits. Like TARP, it was supposed to be a temporary measure to calm bank depositors, but it was extended in Dodd Frank and now the bankers (who love it of course) are racing to get it extended....--FreedomLine quoting a source
Even if your bank DOES pay interest on your account (look closely, it's hard to find), it is common for banks to require commercial borrowers to maintain X% of their line-of-credit in a non-interest-bearing account.
You're insuring all those against a bank failure--which lowers the cost of doing business for banks. And they most certainly need less "costs", right?
...a part of TARP was the so called TAG program. What it did was remove the cap on insured deposits without limit as long as there was no interest being paid on the account. Now tell me who is paying interest bearing checking anymore? So in other words, TAG now makes the federal taxpayers liable for another 1.4 trillion dollars in deposits. Like TARP, it was supposed to be a temporary measure to calm bank depositors, but it was extended in Dodd Frank and now the bankers (who love it of course) are racing to get it extended....--FreedomLine quoting a source
Even if your bank DOES pay interest on your account (look closely, it's hard to find), it is common for banks to require commercial borrowers to maintain X% of their line-of-credit in a non-interest-bearing account.
You're insuring all those against a bank failure--which lowers the cost of doing business for banks. And they most certainly need less "costs", right?
LEO's Gone Very Bad
Two lengthy items, both at McDaniel.
First, the DA's malfeasance in the Zimmerman case.
Second, the Las Vegas cop-shop coverup of the murder of Erik Scott.
There's no reason to think that other LEO's aren't capable of this; think the Feds at Ruby Ridge.
First, the DA's malfeasance in the Zimmerman case.
Second, the Las Vegas cop-shop coverup of the murder of Erik Scott.
There's no reason to think that other LEO's aren't capable of this; think the Feds at Ruby Ridge.
Terrorist? No Problem!! You Can Live Here!
Someone could talk about "output" of Gummint employees. Here's a sample:
An Arizona congressman is asking federal officials why the man suspected of detonating a bomb outside the Arizona Social Security Administration office in Casa Grande was allowed to live in Arizona despite being classified a person who had engaged in “terrorism-related activity.”
Rep. Paul Gosar, R-AZ, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Wednesday with specific questions about the status of 47-year-old Abdullatif Ali Aldosary.
Aldosary on Tuesday was ordered held in jail pending a preliminary hearing. Investigators said instructions on how to construct an explosive device, bomb-making materials and chemicals were found in his Coolidge home after a small explosion outside the building in downtown Casa Grande on Friday morning.
DHS' "output" includes the "work product" of TSA, known for Granny-grabbing and harassing tourists who bring Disney memorabilia home for grandchildren.
Evidently it does NOT include tossing mad bombers with Muslim monikers out on their ass.
An Arizona congressman is asking federal officials why the man suspected of detonating a bomb outside the Arizona Social Security Administration office in Casa Grande was allowed to live in Arizona despite being classified a person who had engaged in “terrorism-related activity.”
Rep. Paul Gosar, R-AZ, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Wednesday with specific questions about the status of 47-year-old Abdullatif Ali Aldosary.
Aldosary on Tuesday was ordered held in jail pending a preliminary hearing. Investigators said instructions on how to construct an explosive device, bomb-making materials and chemicals were found in his Coolidge home after a small explosion outside the building in downtown Casa Grande on Friday morning.
DHS' "output" includes the "work product" of TSA, known for Granny-grabbing and harassing tourists who bring Disney memorabilia home for grandchildren.
Evidently it does NOT include tossing mad bombers with Muslim monikers out on their ass.
On the Other Hand....
Unemployment in the private sector is somewhere around 7.7% and the number of working-age Americans who are working continues to shrink.
But there's a bright spot!!!
The unemployment rate for civilian government workers plunged from 4.2 percent in October to 3.8 percent in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as government added 35,000 to its taxpayer-funded payrolls during the month.
So. There are 143 million people who have jobs. 20 million are Gummint workers (assuming that they actually do something and that whatever they do is useful to the Republic.) Sustainable? You'll find out.
But there's a bright spot!!!
The unemployment rate for civilian government workers plunged from 4.2 percent in October to 3.8 percent in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as government added 35,000 to its taxpayer-funded payrolls during the month.
So. There are 143 million people who have jobs. 20 million are Gummint workers (assuming that they actually do something and that whatever they do is useful to the Republic.) Sustainable? You'll find out.
Friday, December 07, 2012
The Unemployment Report: It's Worse Than That
As usual, Ticker finds a problem.
The working-age population went from 243,983 to 244,174 (thousands), an increase of 191,000 working-age people. But the total number of employed people fell from 144,039 (thousands) to 143,549, a loss of 490,000 actual employed people!
The spread is even worse, of course -- closer to 3/4 of a million workers, because you must account for the population increase as well.
Not to mention the 'disappeareds' from the workforce--the ones who just gave up.
The working-age population went from 243,983 to 244,174 (thousands), an increase of 191,000 working-age people. But the total number of employed people fell from 144,039 (thousands) to 143,549, a loss of 490,000 actual employed people!
The spread is even worse, of course -- closer to 3/4 of a million workers, because you must account for the population increase as well.
Not to mention the 'disappeareds' from the workforce--the ones who just gave up.
"No Cost" ObozoPlan. Unicorns, Too!!
We've mentioned that the stench is beginning to emerge from the ObozoCare sewer. Here's a bit more.
President Obama’s health care overhaul contains a tax that will drive up premiums for individuals, families, and even Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, according to a new study released by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP).
Obamacare “imposes a new sales tax on health insurance that starts at $8 billion in 2014, increase to $14.3 billion in 2018, and will continue to increase each year,”...
...individuals buying insurance outside a company policy will pay an extra $2,171 over 10 years, or $5,140 over ten years if they buy a family plan. Employees at small businesses that do not self-insure will see their premiums rise $2,794 for individual plans and $6,883 for family policies....
And of course, Obozo smacks the elderly around, too!!
...AHIP expects Medicare Advantage premiums to rise by $3,604 over ten years. Why? “[F]or each dollar paid in taxes, an additional $1.54 in premiums must be collected,” the study suggests.
Remember when the SockPuppet brigade told you that 'because everyone is forced to participate, the prices will go down'?
They were idiots then. Now they're idiots with a lot less money, too.
President Obama’s health care overhaul contains a tax that will drive up premiums for individuals, families, and even Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, according to a new study released by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP).
Obamacare “imposes a new sales tax on health insurance that starts at $8 billion in 2014, increase to $14.3 billion in 2018, and will continue to increase each year,”...
...individuals buying insurance outside a company policy will pay an extra $2,171 over 10 years, or $5,140 over ten years if they buy a family plan. Employees at small businesses that do not self-insure will see their premiums rise $2,794 for individual plans and $6,883 for family policies....
And of course, Obozo smacks the elderly around, too!!
...AHIP expects Medicare Advantage premiums to rise by $3,604 over ten years. Why? “[F]or each dollar paid in taxes, an additional $1.54 in premiums must be collected,” the study suggests.
Remember when the SockPuppet brigade told you that 'because everyone is forced to participate, the prices will go down'?
They were idiots then. Now they're idiots with a lot less money, too.
NY Fed District Judge: "No 'Trust Gummint' in Constitution"
The suit shall proceed.
...After announcing the mandate in February, the Obama administration had announced a “safe harbor” that would prevent the mandate from applying to certain religious employers until August 2013.
However, Judge Brian Cogan slapped down the “safe harbor” argument, saying, “the First Amendment does not require citizens to accept assurances from the government that, if the government later determines it has made a misstep, it will take ameliorative action.”
“There is no, ‘Trust us, changes are coming’ clause in the Constitution,” said the judge. “To the contrary, the Bill of Rights itself, and the First Amendment in particular, reflect a degree of skepticism towards governmental self-restraint and self-correction.”
Umnnhhhh, yah. For a leading example of double-dealing/untrustworthiness, see Boehner, John.
...After announcing the mandate in February, the Obama administration had announced a “safe harbor” that would prevent the mandate from applying to certain religious employers until August 2013.
However, Judge Brian Cogan slapped down the “safe harbor” argument, saying, “the First Amendment does not require citizens to accept assurances from the government that, if the government later determines it has made a misstep, it will take ameliorative action.”
“There is no, ‘Trust us, changes are coming’ clause in the Constitution,” said the judge. “To the contrary, the Bill of Rights itself, and the First Amendment in particular, reflect a degree of skepticism towards governmental self-restraint and self-correction.”
Umnnhhhh, yah. For a leading example of double-dealing/untrustworthiness, see Boehner, John.
Unemployment Down, Dropouts Up
The headline rate is 7.7%.
The dropouts? 540,000, making a total of 88 million++ who have given up looking for work.
Ergo, the participation rate is now back down to 63.6%.
Welcome to the No Future Obozo Economy!!
The dropouts? 540,000, making a total of 88 million++ who have given up looking for work.
Ergo, the participation rate is now back down to 63.6%.
Welcome to the No Future Obozo Economy!!
Wow. Michigan Goes Right-to-Work
Both houses of the Michigan (!!!!!) legislature passed right-to-work bills yesterday; the Governor of the State has indicated he'd sign them.
There was violence in the state capitol; the cops arrested 8 of the Usual Suspects.
One of the two bills is specific to public employees; the other covers 'anyone else.'
(Obozo "remains opposed" to the right to work, of course, but the Pantywaist pResident couldn't take time from his golf schedule to help the UAW, SEIU, and AFSCME defeat the legislation. Tells ya something, no?)
Can Wisconsin be far behind?
There was violence in the state capitol; the cops arrested 8 of the Usual Suspects.
One of the two bills is specific to public employees; the other covers 'anyone else.'
(Obozo "remains opposed" to the right to work, of course, but the Pantywaist pResident couldn't take time from his golf schedule to help the UAW, SEIU, and AFSCME defeat the legislation. Tells ya something, no?)
Can Wisconsin be far behind?
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
St. John Cardinal Newman on Liturgy
The whole sermon is necessary reading, but this excerpt is a gem:
...In these times especially, we should be on our guard against those who hope, by inducing us to lay aside our forms, at length to make us lay aside our Christian hope altogether. This is why the Church itself is attacked, because it is the living form, the visible body of religion; and shrewd men know that when it goes, religion will go too. This is why they rail at so many usages as superstitious; or propose alterations and changes, a measure especially calculated to shake the faith of the multitude. Recollect, then, that things indifferent in themselves become important to us when we are used to them. The services and ordinances of the Church are the outward form in which religion has been for ages represented to the world, and has ever been known to us. Places consecrated to God's honour, clergy carefully set apart for His service, the Lord's-day piously observed, the public forms of prayer, the decencies of worship, these things, viewed as a whole, are sacred relatively to us, even if they were not, as they are, divinely sanctioned. Rites which the Church has {78} appointed, and with reason,—for the Church's authority is from Christ,—being long used, cannot be disused without harm to our souls. Confirmation, for instance, may be argued against, and undervalued; but surely no one who in the common run of men wilfully resists the Ordinance, but will thereby be visibly a worse Christian than he otherwise would have been. He will find (or rather others will find for him, for he will scarcely know it himself), that he has declined in faith, humility, devotional feeling, reverence, and sobriety. And so in the case of all other forms, even the least binding in themselves, it continually happens that a speculative improvement is a practical folly, and the wise are taken in their own craftiness.
Therefore, when profane persons scoff at our forms, let us argue with ourselves thus—and it is an argument which all men, learned or unlearned, can enter into: "These forms, even were they of mere human origin (which learned men say is not the case, but even if they were), are at least of as spiritual and edifying a character as the rites of Judaism. Yet Christ and His Apostles did not even suffer these latter to be irreverently treated or suddenly discarded. Much less may we suffer it in the case of our own; lest, stripping off from us the badges of our profession, we forget there is a faith for us to maintain, and a world of sinners to be eschewed."
Tell us again how rock'n'roll fits into his vision.
...In these times especially, we should be on our guard against those who hope, by inducing us to lay aside our forms, at length to make us lay aside our Christian hope altogether. This is why the Church itself is attacked, because it is the living form, the visible body of religion; and shrewd men know that when it goes, religion will go too. This is why they rail at so many usages as superstitious; or propose alterations and changes, a measure especially calculated to shake the faith of the multitude. Recollect, then, that things indifferent in themselves become important to us when we are used to them. The services and ordinances of the Church are the outward form in which religion has been for ages represented to the world, and has ever been known to us. Places consecrated to God's honour, clergy carefully set apart for His service, the Lord's-day piously observed, the public forms of prayer, the decencies of worship, these things, viewed as a whole, are sacred relatively to us, even if they were not, as they are, divinely sanctioned. Rites which the Church has {78} appointed, and with reason,—for the Church's authority is from Christ,—being long used, cannot be disused without harm to our souls. Confirmation, for instance, may be argued against, and undervalued; but surely no one who in the common run of men wilfully resists the Ordinance, but will thereby be visibly a worse Christian than he otherwise would have been. He will find (or rather others will find for him, for he will scarcely know it himself), that he has declined in faith, humility, devotional feeling, reverence, and sobriety. And so in the case of all other forms, even the least binding in themselves, it continually happens that a speculative improvement is a practical folly, and the wise are taken in their own craftiness.
Therefore, when profane persons scoff at our forms, let us argue with ourselves thus—and it is an argument which all men, learned or unlearned, can enter into: "These forms, even were they of mere human origin (which learned men say is not the case, but even if they were), are at least of as spiritual and edifying a character as the rites of Judaism. Yet Christ and His Apostles did not even suffer these latter to be irreverently treated or suddenly discarded. Much less may we suffer it in the case of our own; lest, stripping off from us the badges of our profession, we forget there is a faith for us to maintain, and a world of sinners to be eschewed."
Tell us again how rock'n'roll fits into his vision.
This Is NOT a Problem in Madison
St. John Cardinal Newman:
“. . . I fear we lack . . . firmness, manliness, godly severity. I fear it must be confessed, that our kindness, instead of being directed and braced by principle, too often becomes languid and unmeaning; that it is exerted on improper objects, and out of season, and thereby is uncharitable in two ways, indulging those who should be chastised, and preferring their comfort to those who are really deserving. We are over-tender in dealing with sin and sinners. We are deficient in jealous custody of revealed Truths which Christ has left us. We allow men to speak against the Church, its ordinances, or its teaching, without remonstrating with them. We do not separate from heretics, nay, we object to the word as if uncharitable; and when such texts are brought against us as St. John’s command, not to show hospitality toward them, we are not slow to answer that they do not apply to us.”
The Bishop of Madison, WI (preceded in kind by the Bishop of Lincoln, NE), does not have the problems that Newman describes.
Were there another 430 US Bishops who were like them!
“. . . I fear we lack . . . firmness, manliness, godly severity. I fear it must be confessed, that our kindness, instead of being directed and braced by principle, too often becomes languid and unmeaning; that it is exerted on improper objects, and out of season, and thereby is uncharitable in two ways, indulging those who should be chastised, and preferring their comfort to those who are really deserving. We are over-tender in dealing with sin and sinners. We are deficient in jealous custody of revealed Truths which Christ has left us. We allow men to speak against the Church, its ordinances, or its teaching, without remonstrating with them. We do not separate from heretics, nay, we object to the word as if uncharitable; and when such texts are brought against us as St. John’s command, not to show hospitality toward them, we are not slow to answer that they do not apply to us.”
The Bishop of Madison, WI (preceded in kind by the Bishop of Lincoln, NE), does not have the problems that Newman describes.
Were there another 430 US Bishops who were like them!
How About Straight-Up Cash Welfare?
An interesting idea.
...Some have ruefully remarked that it would be far more efficient to hand out the entirety of the government dole as cash money, reducing (but of course not eliminating) the vast government welfare bureaucracy in favor of simple, direct wealth transfer via monthly check. There are all sorts of reasons that’s not going to happen. The government welfare bureaucracy does not want to be reduced; the public would react with outrage at the size of those monthly checks, since Food Stamp Nation’s benefits are often worth more than a middle-class salary; the power of government to control its dependents would be dissipated; and the architects of Food Stamp Nation do not trust their dependents to spend cash money wisely. --ColdFury quoting Hayward
There are other reasons. The phone companies who are the REAL beneficiaries of ObozoPhones, and the debit-card processors who are the REAL beneficiaries of the 'non-cash' benefit payment systems have hired very expensive lobbyists and the finest legislators money can buy (yes, I know that pond-scum is not usually expensive, but...)
Carney oughta spend a day with Hayward. It could be dynamite.
...Some have ruefully remarked that it would be far more efficient to hand out the entirety of the government dole as cash money, reducing (but of course not eliminating) the vast government welfare bureaucracy in favor of simple, direct wealth transfer via monthly check. There are all sorts of reasons that’s not going to happen. The government welfare bureaucracy does not want to be reduced; the public would react with outrage at the size of those monthly checks, since Food Stamp Nation’s benefits are often worth more than a middle-class salary; the power of government to control its dependents would be dissipated; and the architects of Food Stamp Nation do not trust their dependents to spend cash money wisely. --ColdFury quoting Hayward
There are other reasons. The phone companies who are the REAL beneficiaries of ObozoPhones, and the debit-card processors who are the REAL beneficiaries of the 'non-cash' benefit payment systems have hired very expensive lobbyists and the finest legislators money can buy (yes, I know that pond-scum is not usually expensive, but...)
Carney oughta spend a day with Hayward. It could be dynamite.
The Suntan Defined
Other McCain:
...let me posit that John Boehner is NOT a sellout, a tool, a double agent, a doddering buffoon, a sad little throne-sniffer, a spineless sycophant, a Ruling Class meat puppet, and an obsequious piece of work.
It's what he said, but definitely NOT what he meant.
...let me posit that John Boehner is NOT a sellout, a tool, a double agent, a doddering buffoon, a sad little throne-sniffer, a spineless sycophant, a Ruling Class meat puppet, and an obsequious piece of work.
It's what he said, but definitely NOT what he meant.
You WILL Pay that Student Loan!
The sophisticated racketeering system between colleges and the Feds, which has given a Gold AmEx card to the colleges, is now entering Phase 3.
...In an attempt to streamline the whole process, a soon-to-be-introduced bill would replace the current system of debt collection with automatic payroll deductions tied to the borrower’s income....
Well, it'll certainly increase the number of 1099 employees, until such status is outlawed.
HT: Vox
...In an attempt to streamline the whole process, a soon-to-be-introduced bill would replace the current system of debt collection with automatic payroll deductions tied to the borrower’s income....
Well, it'll certainly increase the number of 1099 employees, until such status is outlawed.
HT: Vox
Esenberg's Right
The Perfessor puts it correctly. To Obozo, this is NOT about "the 1%". It's about everybody else paying a helluvalot more.
...the President has an aggressively ambitious view of what the state can do. It can reorder industries and engage in more substantial redistribution of income that it does today.
But you can't have that kind of state without substantial tax increases on the middle class. No European state does it. We can't either...
...Thus comes the beauty part of the "fiscal cliff." The Democrats can help themselves to a substantial tax increase by doing nothing. To be sure, they'll have to live with sequestration for a while...
The Plan is to make everyone dependent on the Gummint. And it's working!!
...the President has an aggressively ambitious view of what the state can do. It can reorder industries and engage in more substantial redistribution of income that it does today.
But you can't have that kind of state without substantial tax increases on the middle class. No European state does it. We can't either...
...Thus comes the beauty part of the "fiscal cliff." The Democrats can help themselves to a substantial tax increase by doing nothing. To be sure, they'll have to live with sequestration for a while...
The Plan is to make everyone dependent on the Gummint. And it's working!!
Yup. Gummint Workers Don't Really Work Too Much
In line with the post below (see especially the link to the RoJo proposals), we have documented and verifiable evidence that taxpayers are being hosed for about $100 Bn/year++ in Gummint payrolls.
ONE HUNDRED BILLION++ per YEAR.
...What we found was that during a typical workweek, private-sector employees work about 41.4 hours. Federal workers, by contrast, put in 38.7 hours, and state and local government employees work 38.1 hours. In a calendar year, private-sector employees work the equivalent of 3.8 more 40-hour workweeks than federal employees and 4.7 more weeks than state and local government workers. Put another way, private employees spend around an extra month working each year compared with public employees. If the public sector worked that additional month, governments could theoretically save around $130 billion in annual labor costs without reducing services.
Of course, that would require actual "management" and "oversight." Given what we know about Congress and the State Legislature, no Gummint employee is at risk.
ONE HUNDRED BILLION++ per YEAR.
...What we found was that during a typical workweek, private-sector employees work about 41.4 hours. Federal workers, by contrast, put in 38.7 hours, and state and local government employees work 38.1 hours. In a calendar year, private-sector employees work the equivalent of 3.8 more 40-hour workweeks than federal employees and 4.7 more weeks than state and local government workers. Put another way, private employees spend around an extra month working each year compared with public employees. If the public sector worked that additional month, governments could theoretically save around $130 billion in annual labor costs without reducing services.
Of course, that would require actual "management" and "oversight." Given what we know about Congress and the State Legislature, no Gummint employee is at risk.
How to Win the Spending War
The Tanned One and his sockpuppet New Jersey hack-pal will not read, (nor likely understand) this essay. Too bad. Quin Hillyer and Senator RoJo have already done the homework.
...Fiscal conservatives should cherry-pick all the least defensible spending items and package them with a great big (figurative) ribbon, with a full-court public relations press [...]. For the first set of savings, it ought to be relatively easy to find items whose elimination (or serious reduction) would not only cause no public backlash, but would actually be celebrated by clear majorities. Tens of billions of dollars of domestic discretionary spending probably meets this criterion.
Examples include: ...Rain forest laboratories in the Farm Belt. Experiments involving shooting cats in the head to re-prove medical findings first announced in the 19th Century. All sorts of narrow-interest museums in decidedly odd places.
By the way, have you noticed that the Stupid Party keeps referring to "entitlement cuts"? Please underline Stupid.
Why not start with "Indefensible Spending", or "Stupid Government Tricks"? We all know that entitlement reforms are necessary, but not enjoyable.
However, the entire US population would RELISH a 100% cut in "Bridge to Nowhere" spending, and--for that matter--over-compensation of over-hired, unnecessary, redundant, Gummint employees.
...Fiscal conservatives should cherry-pick all the least defensible spending items and package them with a great big (figurative) ribbon, with a full-court public relations press [...]. For the first set of savings, it ought to be relatively easy to find items whose elimination (or serious reduction) would not only cause no public backlash, but would actually be celebrated by clear majorities. Tens of billions of dollars of domestic discretionary spending probably meets this criterion.
Examples include: ...Rain forest laboratories in the Farm Belt. Experiments involving shooting cats in the head to re-prove medical findings first announced in the 19th Century. All sorts of narrow-interest museums in decidedly odd places.
By the way, have you noticed that the Stupid Party keeps referring to "entitlement cuts"? Please underline Stupid.
Why not start with "Indefensible Spending", or "Stupid Government Tricks"? We all know that entitlement reforms are necessary, but not enjoyable.
However, the entire US population would RELISH a 100% cut in "Bridge to Nowhere" spending, and--for that matter--over-compensation of over-hired, unnecessary, redundant, Gummint employees.
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