Wayne LaPierre, unfettered by the principled but deceased Charlton Heston, has gone DC Native in a big way, making a pact with Satan's mistress Pelosi over restraint of speech, and now endorsing some wacko Lefty in Minnesota.
Well. NRA can go its way, and Actual Conservatives--who value the entire Bill of Rights as a unit, un-severable, will probably go another way.
Like to Gun Owners of America.
BuhBye, Wayne.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Teh Won Finds That Nobody Really Cares for Him
Fame is even more fleeting with Obama than with others.
“POTUS got on stage at about 5pm after Biden introduced him, and urged the crowd to chant the president’s name.
That is to say, Biden had to implore the crowd to chant...
“A note on the crowd: According to Deputy Managing Director/Director of Operations, Jazelle M. Jones, the crowd count was 18,500. Pool, as well as several other reporters expressed some skepticism at that count, but pool was told that there was an overflow somewhere. Pool asked an officer and he said that the area right in front of where Obama was speaking, had a maximum capacity of 11,000.” --Pool reporter quoted at Gateway
The Thrill Is Gone.
“POTUS got on stage at about 5pm after Biden introduced him, and urged the crowd to chant the president’s name.
That is to say, Biden had to implore the crowd to chant...
“A note on the crowd: According to Deputy Managing Director/Director of Operations, Jazelle M. Jones, the crowd count was 18,500. Pool, as well as several other reporters expressed some skepticism at that count, but pool was told that there was an overflow somewhere. Pool asked an officer and he said that the area right in front of where Obama was speaking, had a maximum capacity of 11,000.” --Pool reporter quoted at Gateway
The Thrill Is Gone.
The Waukesha County Budget
There's been a lot of dust raised over the Waukesha County budget presented by Dan Vrakas, the County Executive. (Linked above is the summary.)
He increases the tax levy by ~2%.
Vrakas, in his summary, makes the case that the County is very efficiently run and that its prop-tax burden is light.
OK.
There are other factors, among them that Waukesha County does not have its own sales tax--unlike the County immediately to its east, e.g.
And Vrakas mentions that the State imposed more "unfunded liabilities" on the County this year, forcing revenue-raising to the County level.
OK.
But leaders don't settle.
I think it was Belling who suggested that Vrakas could have found $1 million someplace and thus have presented a ZERO tax-increase budget. That might have been a challenge, and I suppose it's possible that Vrakas tried and simply could not find the million bucks.
But he's spending $267 million, meaning that all he had to find was one-half of one percent.
Is it that difficult?
He increases the tax levy by ~2%.
Vrakas, in his summary, makes the case that the County is very efficiently run and that its prop-tax burden is light.
OK.
There are other factors, among them that Waukesha County does not have its own sales tax--unlike the County immediately to its east, e.g.
And Vrakas mentions that the State imposed more "unfunded liabilities" on the County this year, forcing revenue-raising to the County level.
OK.
But leaders don't settle.
I think it was Belling who suggested that Vrakas could have found $1 million someplace and thus have presented a ZERO tax-increase budget. That might have been a challenge, and I suppose it's possible that Vrakas tried and simply could not find the million bucks.
But he's spending $267 million, meaning that all he had to find was one-half of one percent.
Is it that difficult?
Stage Two of the MERS Mess--Coming Soon...
So.
40 State AG's are investigating the fraudulent-mortgage-foreclosure mess called "MERS."
It's just a 'technicality,' you understand.
But wait! There's more!
Remember that all those mortgages--both good and bad--were rolled into "CDO's"?
The CDO note holders will have potential claims stemming from the interruption of non-performing loan processing. Think breaches of the trust servicing agreements and allegations of "gross negligence or willful misconduct", the latter being magical legal hurdle in these types of agreements. However, the much more troubling aspect, is the growing realization that the various pools of securitized mortgages may never have been properly assigned, transferred and recorded at inception. If this turns out to be the case, game over--the noteholders will have to be made whole (here we will be expanding into the universe of securities "underwriter" liability).
Your friendly local mortgage broker/banker is not sleeping well at all.
For good reason.
HT: ZeroHedge
40 State AG's are investigating the fraudulent-mortgage-foreclosure mess called "MERS."
It's just a 'technicality,' you understand.
But wait! There's more!
Remember that all those mortgages--both good and bad--were rolled into "CDO's"?
The CDO note holders will have potential claims stemming from the interruption of non-performing loan processing. Think breaches of the trust servicing agreements and allegations of "gross negligence or willful misconduct", the latter being magical legal hurdle in these types of agreements. However, the much more troubling aspect, is the growing realization that the various pools of securitized mortgages may never have been properly assigned, transferred and recorded at inception. If this turns out to be the case, game over--the noteholders will have to be made whole (here we will be expanding into the universe of securities "underwriter" liability).
Your friendly local mortgage broker/banker is not sleeping well at all.
For good reason.
HT: ZeroHedge
ANOTHER Civics Quiz
This is a little more challenging than some tests which are floating around.
But not THAT much more; I managed to score 29/30.
Knowing Owen reads this, I'd expect him to best that miserable performance...
HT: Grim's Hall
But not THAT much more; I managed to score 29/30.
Knowing Owen reads this, I'd expect him to best that miserable performance...
HT: Grim's Hall
Anti-Competitive Practices of WEA's Health Insurance Arm
The teachers' union (WEA) has a health insurance relative.
That health insurance relative is the high-cost provider. And if a school district seeks competitive bids for a health insurance package, WEA plays nasty.
“In seeking meaningful bids from such insurance carriers, a school district often must provide
the district’s medical claims experience. As such, it is necessary for the school district to obtain
its claims experience from the district’s current health provider.
“For those districts participating in WEA Trust’s health insurance pools, WEA has a practice
of ousting school districts from the health insurance pool when a district requests its individual
medical claims experience. Elimination from the pool means that that district’s premiums are
determined based on the district’s individual claims experience, which could cause insurance
premiums to increase dramatically.
“Many school districts choose to avoid the risk of significantly increasing their insurance
costs. As a result, such districts are forced to remain (with WEA Trust) without knowing
whether less costly health insurance is available.” --Lathrop & Clark, attorneys-at-law. (See PP 12-13 in PDF pagination.)
That's not all. WEA also will withhold claims information from the districts, meaning that another bidder must "bid blind"--not knowing what the claims history has been.
Needless to say, other insurers are not enthused.
Jo also points out the cost differences, which are large.
And yes, that's Jim Doyle's handiwork.
That health insurance relative is the high-cost provider. And if a school district seeks competitive bids for a health insurance package, WEA plays nasty.
“In seeking meaningful bids from such insurance carriers, a school district often must provide
the district’s medical claims experience. As such, it is necessary for the school district to obtain
its claims experience from the district’s current health provider.
“For those districts participating in WEA Trust’s health insurance pools, WEA has a practice
of ousting school districts from the health insurance pool when a district requests its individual
medical claims experience. Elimination from the pool means that that district’s premiums are
determined based on the district’s individual claims experience, which could cause insurance
premiums to increase dramatically.
“Many school districts choose to avoid the risk of significantly increasing their insurance
costs. As a result, such districts are forced to remain (with WEA Trust) without knowing
whether less costly health insurance is available.” --Lathrop & Clark, attorneys-at-law. (See PP 12-13 in PDF pagination.)
That's not all. WEA also will withhold claims information from the districts, meaning that another bidder must "bid blind"--not knowing what the claims history has been.
Needless to say, other insurers are not enthused.
Jo also points out the cost differences, which are large.
And yes, that's Jim Doyle's handiwork.
Dollar Devaluation, Next Phase
The value of the USDollar depends on a few factors, one of them being 'inflation.'
Inflation occurs when there are more and more dollars chasing goods. And it appears that Bernanke's Federal Reserve is going to print up another boatload of dollars.
The weak employment report all but guaranteed QE2 will be announced on November 3rd. The "whisper" number is for an announcement of an initial $500 billion in purchases of long term Treasury securities over the following six months.
"So?" sez youse. "Fed holds T-bonds, whassa diff to me?"
If you purchase petroleum products--including fuel and plastic goods--or anything made with corn, soybeans, wheat, or oats, you'll become very familiar with "the diff" in the near future.
Notice that Ticker's price-charts on those food commodities show the rises beginning around July of this year. That's approximately when rumors of QE (quantitative easing) 2 (the second round) began to surface.
So far, petroleum has held steady around $75-$80/bbl.
So far.
Inflation occurs when there are more and more dollars chasing goods. And it appears that Bernanke's Federal Reserve is going to print up another boatload of dollars.
The weak employment report all but guaranteed QE2 will be announced on November 3rd. The "whisper" number is for an announcement of an initial $500 billion in purchases of long term Treasury securities over the following six months.
"So?" sez youse. "Fed holds T-bonds, whassa diff to me?"
If you purchase petroleum products--including fuel and plastic goods--or anything made with corn, soybeans, wheat, or oats, you'll become very familiar with "the diff" in the near future.
Notice that Ticker's price-charts on those food commodities show the rises beginning around July of this year. That's approximately when rumors of QE (quantitative easing) 2 (the second round) began to surface.
So far, petroleum has held steady around $75-$80/bbl.
So far.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
You Think Your 401(K) Is YOURS? Think Again!
While you're buying more ammo, you might start buying a few guns. Diversity is good!
Democrats in the Senate on Thursday held a recess hearing covering a taxpayer bailout of union pensions and a plan to seize private 401(k) plans to more "fairly" distribute taxpayer-funded pensions to everyone.
...under the GRA system government would seize private 401(k) accounts, setting up an additional 5% mandatory payroll tax to dole out a "fair" pension to everyone using that confiscated money coupled with the mandated contributions.
And as to the taxpayer-funded handouts to union pension plans:
...the Casey bill from Sen. Bob Casey (D-Penn.) is a new entitlement program that would set up a permanent bailout of the union multi-employer pension plans that are desperately underwater through a new "fifth fund" at the government Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Casey’s bill would create a line item on the federal budget through the PBGC to fund these union pension bailouts annually...
One example is the Central States (Teamster) pension fund, which has been in trouble for Mafia connections and worse-than-dismal investment schemes for at least 40 years. That fund, by the way, had Brookfield connections--starting with the old Alioto's on the Bluemound.
Democrats in the Senate on Thursday held a recess hearing covering a taxpayer bailout of union pensions and a plan to seize private 401(k) plans to more "fairly" distribute taxpayer-funded pensions to everyone.
...under the GRA system government would seize private 401(k) accounts, setting up an additional 5% mandatory payroll tax to dole out a "fair" pension to everyone using that confiscated money coupled with the mandated contributions.
And as to the taxpayer-funded handouts to union pension plans:
...the Casey bill from Sen. Bob Casey (D-Penn.) is a new entitlement program that would set up a permanent bailout of the union multi-employer pension plans that are desperately underwater through a new "fifth fund" at the government Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Casey’s bill would create a line item on the federal budget through the PBGC to fund these union pension bailouts annually...
One example is the Central States (Teamster) pension fund, which has been in trouble for Mafia connections and worse-than-dismal investment schemes for at least 40 years. That fund, by the way, had Brookfield connections--starting with the old Alioto's on the Bluemound.
All Obama, All the Time (In HIS Opinion)
B Hussein wants a big (D) vote total on 11/2
“Don’t make me look bad, now,” he quipped.
This vote will determine Congressional representation, if I recall correctly...
As to making him look bad: what, we need redundancy now?
“Don’t make me look bad, now,” he quipped.
This vote will determine Congressional representation, if I recall correctly...
As to making him look bad: what, we need redundancy now?
More Liturgy Wonkery
For about 99% of my 3 readers, this will be a lot of 'inside baseball.'
But it's important, and the points are made well.
But it's important, and the points are made well.
Ticker's 3-Point Takedown of the WSJ
Now and then the Wall Street Journal gets caught in its own BS.
This was one of them, and their collective head will be delivered back to them (FedEx) on Tuesday or so.
The Journal thinks that the Banks should get either their money OR the house. After all, they lent the money (sorta) and the home-owner didn't pay them back.
But the Journal took a step too far when it also endorsed running the foreclosures without the 'actual legal paperwork' stuff.
Enter Ticker:
Has anyone considered that if we no longer have a rule of law and we no longer have due process that there are 330,000,000 Americans who just became empowered, under the very standards put forward by The Journal's Editorial Board, The Banks and our Government, to issue their own declaratory judgments and carry out their own sentences?
Damn, that makes for a tough question. Blankfein & Geithner or my next-door neighbor.
Hmmm.
Don't bother me while I think about this, dammit.
This was one of them, and their collective head will be delivered back to them (FedEx) on Tuesday or so.
The Journal thinks that the Banks should get either their money OR the house. After all, they lent the money (sorta) and the home-owner didn't pay them back.
But the Journal took a step too far when it also endorsed running the foreclosures without the 'actual legal paperwork' stuff.
Enter Ticker:
Has anyone considered that if we no longer have a rule of law and we no longer have due process that there are 330,000,000 Americans who just became empowered, under the very standards put forward by The Journal's Editorial Board, The Banks and our Government, to issue their own declaratory judgments and carry out their own sentences?
Damn, that makes for a tough question. Blankfein & Geithner or my next-door neighbor.
Hmmm.
Don't bother me while I think about this, dammit.
The Milwaukee County BK Report
Looks like Walker was right: Milwaukee County is in deep doodoo.
Surprise!!
The local non-Gummint bigwigs (the Greater Milwaukee Committee) commissioned a report on 'What To Do With This Pig Called Milwaukee County' and lo! behold! it found:
"Milwaukee is facing unprecedented fiscal and structural challenges, including a growing cost of healthcare and pension benefits that is projected to take EVERY DOLLAR of the County's property tax levy by 2016," the draft report says.
Tom Ament and AFSCME leaders were not quoted in Bice's bombshell story.
Barrett wants to indict Walker with the report. (Barrett is backed by AFSCME in the election.)
Walker, for his part, says that he has managed to ameliorate the situation to some degree, but his recommendation?
"I've suggested for the last couple of years that when you have the only county in the state that is fully incorporated, a better long-term solution is to eliminate that extra layer and find a replacement for that."
Not a bad idea.
But even more significant to AFSCME and Ament is the talk of allowing Milwaukee County to go bankrupt.
...local governments need state authorization before they can file for federal bankruptcy, Nixon [a BK lawyer from Green Bay] said. Wisconsin does not permit its local governments to go bankrupt.
And if the County goes BK, it's possible that it will shed its pension/healthcare agreements in the process.
Hoooboy.
Surprise!!
The local non-Gummint bigwigs (the Greater Milwaukee Committee) commissioned a report on 'What To Do With This Pig Called Milwaukee County' and lo! behold! it found:
"Milwaukee is facing unprecedented fiscal and structural challenges, including a growing cost of healthcare and pension benefits that is projected to take EVERY DOLLAR of the County's property tax levy by 2016," the draft report says.
Tom Ament and AFSCME leaders were not quoted in Bice's bombshell story.
Barrett wants to indict Walker with the report. (Barrett is backed by AFSCME in the election.)
Walker, for his part, says that he has managed to ameliorate the situation to some degree, but his recommendation?
"I've suggested for the last couple of years that when you have the only county in the state that is fully incorporated, a better long-term solution is to eliminate that extra layer and find a replacement for that."
Not a bad idea.
But even more significant to AFSCME and Ament is the talk of allowing Milwaukee County to go bankrupt.
...local governments need state authorization before they can file for federal bankruptcy, Nixon [a BK lawyer from Green Bay] said. Wisconsin does not permit its local governments to go bankrupt.
"Is this a shortcoming? It hasn't been historically," said Nixon... "Would it be prudent to fill that gap, given what we know about the underfunding of pension liabilities? Probably."
In other words, Milwaukee County's problems are directly tied to its pension/healthcare promises to the union.And if the County goes BK, it's possible that it will shed its pension/healthcare agreements in the process.
Hoooboy.
Saturday, October 09, 2010
In Contrast to Bp. Morlino, We Have....
Roma Locuta brings us the .....ahhh......marketing savvy of some guy named DeLambo in Cleveland.
“If joy and inspiration are related to instrumentation - and Roozen says they are - what is preventing us from incorporating drums and guitars in our Sunday worship? Catholic leaders often criticize contemporary music. They associate it with non-denominational, mega churches. They say that people attend such churches because they want to be entertained. That is not my experience. People attend these churches because the music is expressive and emotive. The music enables them to participate. They come away feeling like they have truly prayed and worshiped God. ‘Joyful’ and ‘exciting’ are accurate descriptors of this style of music.”
Umnnnhh. This guy's only excuse is that he lives in Cleveland, which is home to the Rock'N'Roll Museum. Obviously, his thought pattern is affected by the invisible waves emitting therefrom.
First off, DeLambo has no idea whatsoever why people are attracted to the 'megachurches,' but "the music" is NOT first on the list. It may not even be fourth. It MAY influence people to remain there, but only a blindered musician could make the mistake that DeLambo does.
And blindered he is.
For the rest of the objections--and there are plenty--see this link.
“If joy and inspiration are related to instrumentation - and Roozen says they are - what is preventing us from incorporating drums and guitars in our Sunday worship? Catholic leaders often criticize contemporary music. They associate it with non-denominational, mega churches. They say that people attend such churches because they want to be entertained. That is not my experience. People attend these churches because the music is expressive and emotive. The music enables them to participate. They come away feeling like they have truly prayed and worshiped God. ‘Joyful’ and ‘exciting’ are accurate descriptors of this style of music.”
Umnnnhh. This guy's only excuse is that he lives in Cleveland, which is home to the Rock'N'Roll Museum. Obviously, his thought pattern is affected by the invisible waves emitting therefrom.
First off, DeLambo has no idea whatsoever why people are attracted to the 'megachurches,' but "the music" is NOT first on the list. It may not even be fourth. It MAY influence people to remain there, but only a blindered musician could make the mistake that DeLambo does.
And blindered he is.
For the rest of the objections--and there are plenty--see this link.
Are You a Patriot? Or Just a Nationalist?
Joe Sobran was a thinker. As a result, he was not welcome by the War Party/NeoCon movement.
And the War Party/NeoCons still are fearful and consequently dismissive of those who question the US' foreign policy--which, you might have noticed, has resulted in almost continuous war since the first Bush.
Southern Avenger, via St Louis Catholic, took some excerpts of Sobran's thought. They're worth knowing, as the TEA Party's next move will soon be made.
And the War Party/NeoCons still are fearful and consequently dismissive of those who question the US' foreign policy--which, you might have noticed, has resulted in almost continuous war since the first Bush.
Southern Avenger, via St Louis Catholic, took some excerpts of Sobran's thought. They're worth knowing, as the TEA Party's next move will soon be made.
On Chant and Liturgical Music: Bp. Morlino
Interesting note in the Madison Catholic newspaper, written by Bp. Morlino.
I find myself almost forced to mention the workshop on Gregorian chant which the diocese sponsored last Friday night and Saturday morning. For me it was one of those benchmark events since I have been in the Diocese of Madison. Easily over 80 people were in attendance — we were almost too large a group for the venue to which we were assigned — and the presentations by Fr. Robert Skeris, of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, a master presenter and scholar in the area of Church music, were both profound and excellent. His enthusiasm stirred a great deal of enthusiasm among those present.
And after about two and a half hours of practice, those present were able beautifully to sing the whole Mass (Novus Ordo) in Latin, using Gregorian chant. The beauty of this kind of prayer impressed itself on all of us who were there and made the Church’s preference for Gregorian chant seem much more reasonable, and the chant itself seem much more “doable.”
When we think of Gregorian chant as our prayer at Mass, not something that somehow accompanies our prayer but which embodies in sound the prayer itself, we start to think very differently about Church music in general.
That's the meaning of the phrase "pars integralis" used by the Council to refer to music in the liturgy. It's NOT a 'decoration', nor an 'accompaniment.' It IS prayer.
Conversely, that music (and/or text) which is NOT prayer is not 'liturgical.'
This is certainly part of the renewal of the liturgy that we are seeking to accomplish in preparation for the First Sunday of Advent 2011, when we will begin to use the new English Translations of the Roman Missal, but it is also to recover the kind of sacramental attitude with which all of us should approach our full, active, and fruitful participation in the liturgy. Much more needs to be said about this, and indeed, much more will be said about it in the days ahead.
One suspects that the Bishop will be asking his Diocese's church musicians to reflect at length on their offerings.
That's a good thing.
I find myself almost forced to mention the workshop on Gregorian chant which the diocese sponsored last Friday night and Saturday morning. For me it was one of those benchmark events since I have been in the Diocese of Madison. Easily over 80 people were in attendance — we were almost too large a group for the venue to which we were assigned — and the presentations by Fr. Robert Skeris, of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, a master presenter and scholar in the area of Church music, were both profound and excellent. His enthusiasm stirred a great deal of enthusiasm among those present.
And after about two and a half hours of practice, those present were able beautifully to sing the whole Mass (Novus Ordo) in Latin, using Gregorian chant. The beauty of this kind of prayer impressed itself on all of us who were there and made the Church’s preference for Gregorian chant seem much more reasonable, and the chant itself seem much more “doable.”
When we think of Gregorian chant as our prayer at Mass, not something that somehow accompanies our prayer but which embodies in sound the prayer itself, we start to think very differently about Church music in general.
That's the meaning of the phrase "pars integralis" used by the Council to refer to music in the liturgy. It's NOT a 'decoration', nor an 'accompaniment.' It IS prayer.
Conversely, that music (and/or text) which is NOT prayer is not 'liturgical.'
This is certainly part of the renewal of the liturgy that we are seeking to accomplish in preparation for the First Sunday of Advent 2011, when we will begin to use the new English Translations of the Roman Missal, but it is also to recover the kind of sacramental attitude with which all of us should approach our full, active, and fruitful participation in the liturgy. Much more needs to be said about this, and indeed, much more will be said about it in the days ahead.
One suspects that the Bishop will be asking his Diocese's church musicians to reflect at length on their offerings.
That's a good thing.
Cicero on Gay "Marriage", Abortion, and Natural Law
Turns out that some things never change.
True law is right reason in agreement with Nature. . . . it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands, and averts from wrong-doing by its prohibitions. And it does not lay its commands or prohibitions upon good men in vain, although neither have any effect upon the wicked. It is a sin to try and alter this law, nor it is allowable to attempt to repeal a part of it, and it is impossible to abolish it entirely. We cannot be freed from its obligations by Senate or People, and we need not look outside ourselves for an expounder or interpreter of it. And there will not be different laws at Rome and at Athens, or different laws now and in the future, but one eternal and unchangeable la will be valid for all nations and for all times, and there will be one master and one rule, that is, God, over us all, for He is the author of this law, its promulgator, and its enforcing judge.
Cicero was no Christian, by the way...
HT: Imaginative Conservative
True law is right reason in agreement with Nature. . . . it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands, and averts from wrong-doing by its prohibitions. And it does not lay its commands or prohibitions upon good men in vain, although neither have any effect upon the wicked. It is a sin to try and alter this law, nor it is allowable to attempt to repeal a part of it, and it is impossible to abolish it entirely. We cannot be freed from its obligations by Senate or People, and we need not look outside ourselves for an expounder or interpreter of it. And there will not be different laws at Rome and at Athens, or different laws now and in the future, but one eternal and unchangeable la will be valid for all nations and for all times, and there will be one master and one rule, that is, God, over us all, for He is the author of this law, its promulgator, and its enforcing judge.
Cicero was no Christian, by the way...
HT: Imaginative Conservative
After 67 Years, He Quits "Science" Society
Hal Lewis bails out of American Physics Society.
...The giants no longer walk the earth, and the money flood has become the raison d’être of much physics research, the vital sustenance of much more, and it provides the support for untold numbers of professional jobs. For reasons that will soon become clear my former pride at being an APS Fellow all these years has been turned into shame, and I am forced, with no pleasure at all, to offer you my resignation from the Society.
HT: BeerBiker
...The giants no longer walk the earth, and the money flood has become the raison d’être of much physics research, the vital sustenance of much more, and it provides the support for untold numbers of professional jobs. For reasons that will soon become clear my former pride at being an APS Fellow all these years has been turned into shame, and I am forced, with no pleasure at all, to offer you my resignation from the Society.
It is of course, the global warming scam, with the (literally) trillions of dollars driving it, that has corrupted so many scientists, and has carried APS before it like a rogue wave. It is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist. Anyone who has the faintest doubt that this is so should force himself to read the ClimateGate documents, which lay it bare. (Montford’s book organizes the facts very well.) I don’t believe that any real physicist, nay scientist, can read that stuff without revulsion. I would almost make that revulsion a definition of the word scientist.
Not to worry. AlGore will replace him after he gets his massage.HT: BeerBiker
Snickering Sand Beetle Trumps Border Security
Who cares what bug-breeding streambed serves as a superhighway for terrorists?
Interior Department, that's who.
There are some things that the Border Patrol simply cannot do near suspected Snickering Sand Beetle bug-breeding grounds.
A draft Government Accountability Office (GAO) report has confirmed what The Examiner has been reporting since February: federal land managers are actively preventing the Border Patrol from sealing the southern border with Mexico.
Good to know that the priorities are in order.
HT: Examiner
Interior Department, that's who.
There are some things that the Border Patrol simply cannot do near suspected Snickering Sand Beetle bug-breeding grounds.
A draft Government Accountability Office (GAO) report has confirmed what The Examiner has been reporting since February: federal land managers are actively preventing the Border Patrol from sealing the southern border with Mexico.
Good to know that the priorities are in order.
HT: Examiner
Friday, October 08, 2010
Hoo Rah! Shut It Down!!
Well, it seems that at least one guy gets it.
Should he win the seat, Miller pledges to be a different kind of Republican. “I’m not going to be a co-opted senator, I can tell you that much,” he begins. “That’s the mandate of Alaskans: to get things done and to change the direction of D.C.”
Nonetheless, he says he’s impressed by the party’s leadership and its potential incoming freshman class. “I think there’s an understanding that the mood of the nation has changed in such a way that there is not going to be toleration of business as usual. If that means shutting down the government, so be it. I mean, we’ll do what it takes,” he says. --quoted at AOSHQ
Not only shut it down. Shut off the payrolls, too.
Should he win the seat, Miller pledges to be a different kind of Republican. “I’m not going to be a co-opted senator, I can tell you that much,” he begins. “That’s the mandate of Alaskans: to get things done and to change the direction of D.C.”
Nonetheless, he says he’s impressed by the party’s leadership and its potential incoming freshman class. “I think there’s an understanding that the mood of the nation has changed in such a way that there is not going to be toleration of business as usual. If that means shutting down the government, so be it. I mean, we’ll do what it takes,” he says. --quoted at AOSHQ
Not only shut it down. Shut off the payrolls, too.
"Whore?" Or Just Another (R) Giveaway Artist?
Verum Serum goes past the headline and gets to the bottom line.
What this call suggests is that, behind the scenes, union endorsements are based on one simple fact, who will do most for unions’ bottom line...
...honestly, I’d like to see someone ask Whitman how she got this endorsement and what, if anything, she has promised in return.
Put another way, Whitman was the FIRST whore into the door. Brown didn't even get sloppy seconds.
What this call suggests is that, behind the scenes, union endorsements are based on one simple fact, who will do most for unions’ bottom line...
...honestly, I’d like to see someone ask Whitman how she got this endorsement and what, if anything, she has promised in return.
Put another way, Whitman was the FIRST whore into the door. Brown didn't even get sloppy seconds.
Non-Cost Regulation: NannyBoobsie LaHoodsie
We could skip the news and just go to BUY MORE AMMO, but here's the story.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he believes motorists are distracted by any use of mobile phones while driving, including hands-free calls, as his department begins research that may lead him to push for a ban.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he believes motorists are distracted by any use of mobile phones while driving, including hands-free calls, as his department begins research that may lead him to push for a ban.
LaHood, whose campaign against texting and making calls while driving has led to restrictions in 30 states, says his concerns extend to vehicle information and entertainment systems such as Ford Motor Co.’s Sync and General Motors Co.’s OnStar.
Go ahead. Make my day, Ray.
HT: Agitator
Do You Like Eating? Red Flags Flying
Besides the EPA's ambition to eliminate beef-cattle from the US, there are a few other troubling signals.
In Oats. Wheat. Corn. Soybeans.
In Oats. Wheat. Corn. Soybeans.
Kerr: Courts Will Uphold ObamaCare
Hmmm.
I should add that, in my view, what district courts do with the individual mandate is essentially irrelevant for all but political purposes. The issue in this case is legal, not factual, and an appeal is guaranteed. This means all of the district court decisions are just for show, and the real issue is whether any circuit court panels will get a majority to vote against the mandate, survive en banc challenge, and therefore create a split that prompts Supreme Court review. I personally doubt they will, and I would guess that the Supreme Court won’t review the issue without a split. If the Supreme Court does take the case it seems like a likely 8–1 to me, with Justice Thomas dissenting.
Kerr thinks that The Regime's achievement will survive, and if I read him correctly it won't even be a race.
OK. Back to Square One:
I should add that, in my view, what district courts do with the individual mandate is essentially irrelevant for all but political purposes. The issue in this case is legal, not factual, and an appeal is guaranteed. This means all of the district court decisions are just for show, and the real issue is whether any circuit court panels will get a majority to vote against the mandate, survive en banc challenge, and therefore create a split that prompts Supreme Court review. I personally doubt they will, and I would guess that the Supreme Court won’t review the issue without a split. If the Supreme Court does take the case it seems like a likely 8–1 to me, with Justice Thomas dissenting.
Kerr thinks that The Regime's achievement will survive, and if I read him correctly it won't even be a race.
OK. Back to Square One:
BUY MORE AMMO!!
O'Donnell Ad #2
O'Donnell's first ad in this series was a little shaky, albeit well-produced, and she set the "I'm You" theme--declaring that she is NOT a witch.
This is the second, and she bodyslams her opponent while displaying that radiant charming smile.
The Delaware race is NOT over.
HT: Gateway
This is the second, and she bodyslams her opponent while displaying that radiant charming smile.
The Delaware race is NOT over.
HT: Gateway
No Tax Increase for <$250K, But Then There's ObamaCare
Even if The Regime keeps its 'no tax increase for those earning less than $250K' promise (not very likely at all), you can earn less than HALF of $250K and be smashed by ObamaCare.
It's a Financial Death Panel to go hand-in-hand with his Geezers' Death Panel.
HT: Sykes
It's a Financial Death Panel to go hand-in-hand with his Geezers' Death Panel.
HT: Sykes
Filburn, Again. Leviathan Rising in ObamaCare
At some point in time, there will be a revolution honoring Roscoe Filburn.
A federal judge has ruled that it is constitutional to force individuals to purchase health insurance, a central pillar of ObamaCare. To be clear, the decision was in response to a suit brought by the Thomas More Law Center, which is separate from the two larger suits brought by dozens of states.
That case was Wickard/Filburn, an atrocious abuse of judicial power which supported an even more atrocious abuse of Executive power, which has led to the Leviathan Regime-State we now enjoy (/sarcasm)...
This is not regarded as an important sign, but will be a consideration as the main-line cases get underway.
HT: AmSpec
A federal judge has ruled that it is constitutional to force individuals to purchase health insurance, a central pillar of ObamaCare. To be clear, the decision was in response to a suit brought by the Thomas More Law Center, which is separate from the two larger suits brought by dozens of states.
U.S. District Court Judge George Steeh of the Eastern District of Michigan, a Bill Clinton appointee, argued that the federal government does indeed have the power under the Commerce Clause to impose the individual mandate to purchase health insurance.
Citing the Roosevelt-era case that extended the Commerce Clause to regulate a farmer growing wheat for his home consumption, ...That case was Wickard/Filburn, an atrocious abuse of judicial power which supported an even more atrocious abuse of Executive power, which has led to the Leviathan Regime-State we now enjoy (/sarcasm)...
This is not regarded as an important sign, but will be a consideration as the main-line cases get underway.
HT: AmSpec
"Recovery"? Still Looking for One
There's a big difference between the US Gov's unemployment numbers and those of ADP, as AOSHQ's Geoff shows in its post (from which I lifted the above graph.)
But that's not as significant as the graph, which is the "broad" unemployment measure (U-6) Over 940,000 people have been added to the 'involuntary part-time' category in the last couple of months.
THAT impacts demand, which impacts corporate spending.
Did We Mention Regulatory Costs? Part 5
This stuff just falls off trees today.
Wisconsin, ever the leader in reg/tax costs, seeks NEW reg-cost applications!!
And we have a NanoNanny!
Companies in Wisconsin and around the world are developing new ways to manufacture teeny, tiny structures measured in atoms and molecules that are finding their way into consumer products ranging from hockey sticks to sunscreen. Are there risks? The state legislature’s special committee on nanotechnology is attempting to understand the highly technical and fast-advancing field and determine what regulatory role, if any, the state should play.
Hmmmmmmm.
...the bright minds toiling in nanotech labs are crafting structures out of more benign materials such as carbon. The danger lies in what the new structures, microscopic nanotubes or spherical “buckyballs,” could do if inhaled or ingested by humans.
....munch, munch, munch a bunch of nano carbon strings.... Doesn't scan.
Not to worry. For nano, Wisconsin has a nanny!!
“We don’t know yet what the long-term effects on humans could be. The research’s just not there,” says State Rep. Terese Berceau (D-Madison), who serves on the special nanotech committee and has been the legislature’s most vocal member on the issue. She first proposed creating a state registry in 2007 requiring companies to report on their nanotech activities.
Oh, sure.
The Wisconsin Technology Council, a group representing tech businesses in the state, has opposed the creation of a mandatory nanotech registry in Wisconsin, arguing it would be time-consuming for existing companies and a deterrent to new ones. “We think it’s a pretty unworkable proposal either at the local or state level,” says President Tom Still. “The state ought to be following what’s happening at the federal level. We don’t want to have a competitive disadvantage in what’s an emerging industry.”
The Classic Line, (one of the Three Great Lies) voiced by NanoNanny:
“We would be able to say to any company, we’re going to help you do things the right way,” [Berceau] says.
A letter to the committee from Dietram Scheufele, a professor of life sciences communications at UW-Madison who’s currently a visiting fellow at Harvard University, cautions Wisconsin that “taking a unilateral approach to local regulation will likely have a chilling effect on the climate of innovation surrounding nanotechnology in Wisconsin.” He reassures the committee that “funding for additional research and development of regulations is well underway at the federal level.”
But...but....but....that might mean that Wisconsin can't impose its own Special Burdens!
No NanoNanny for YOU!
Wisconsin, ever the leader in reg/tax costs, seeks NEW reg-cost applications!!
And we have a NanoNanny!
Companies in Wisconsin and around the world are developing new ways to manufacture teeny, tiny structures measured in atoms and molecules that are finding their way into consumer products ranging from hockey sticks to sunscreen. Are there risks? The state legislature’s special committee on nanotechnology is attempting to understand the highly technical and fast-advancing field and determine what regulatory role, if any, the state should play.
Hmmmmmmm.
...the bright minds toiling in nanotech labs are crafting structures out of more benign materials such as carbon. The danger lies in what the new structures, microscopic nanotubes or spherical “buckyballs,” could do if inhaled or ingested by humans.
....munch, munch, munch a bunch of nano carbon strings.... Doesn't scan.
Not to worry. For nano, Wisconsin has a nanny!!
“We don’t know yet what the long-term effects on humans could be. The research’s just not there,” says State Rep. Terese Berceau (D-Madison), who serves on the special nanotech committee and has been the legislature’s most vocal member on the issue. She first proposed creating a state registry in 2007 requiring companies to report on their nanotech activities.
Oh, sure.
The Wisconsin Technology Council, a group representing tech businesses in the state, has opposed the creation of a mandatory nanotech registry in Wisconsin, arguing it would be time-consuming for existing companies and a deterrent to new ones. “We think it’s a pretty unworkable proposal either at the local or state level,” says President Tom Still. “The state ought to be following what’s happening at the federal level. We don’t want to have a competitive disadvantage in what’s an emerging industry.”
The Classic Line, (one of the Three Great Lies) voiced by NanoNanny:
“We would be able to say to any company, we’re going to help you do things the right way,” [Berceau] says.
A letter to the committee from Dietram Scheufele, a professor of life sciences communications at UW-Madison who’s currently a visiting fellow at Harvard University, cautions Wisconsin that “taking a unilateral approach to local regulation will likely have a chilling effect on the climate of innovation surrounding nanotechnology in Wisconsin.” He reassures the committee that “funding for additional research and development of regulations is well underway at the federal level.”
But...but....but....that might mean that Wisconsin can't impose its own Special Burdens!
No NanoNanny for YOU!
Did We Mention Regulatory Costs? Part 4
UPDATE:
FOUR 'reg-cost' posts in one day. And these were easy.
Stingl covers the $1.4 MILLION cost of Federally mandated street signs very well. He blankets it, actually. Here's my semaphore to you: read his column. It's significant. It's a sign of the times. And it does NOT signify nothing.
FOUR 'reg-cost' posts in one day. And these were easy.
Stingl covers the $1.4 MILLION cost of Federally mandated street signs very well. He blankets it, actually. Here's my semaphore to you: read his column. It's significant. It's a sign of the times. And it does NOT signify nothing.
Did We Mention Regulatory Costs? Part 3
Egads. Three reg-related posts in just one morning.
Well, this one isn't exactly about "costs." It's about bugs.
The Environmental Protection Agency is planning its second national bed bug summit for this winter in Washington, D.C. as the blood-sucking pest continues its blitzkrieg on the United States and EPA bans of more effective pesticides are under increasing scrutiny.
...Around when bed bugs started their resurgence, Congress passed a major pesticides law in 1996 and the Clinton EPA banned several classes of chemicals that had been effective bed bug killers.
Here's where the cost-of-regulation had its effect:
...Unlike many of the pesticides banned in the late 1990s, Propoxur was available for use in residential homes until 2007. At that point, the EPA requested further data from its producer for fear it could pose a risk to children. Industry chose to voluntarily restrict its use from residential areas instead...
So rather than spend umpty-dollars to prove that the chemical was safe if used according to instructions, the manufacturer said "Screw it. Not worth the trouble."
Well, this one isn't exactly about "costs." It's about bugs.
The Environmental Protection Agency is planning its second national bed bug summit for this winter in Washington, D.C. as the blood-sucking pest continues its blitzkrieg on the United States and EPA bans of more effective pesticides are under increasing scrutiny.
...Around when bed bugs started their resurgence, Congress passed a major pesticides law in 1996 and the Clinton EPA banned several classes of chemicals that had been effective bed bug killers.
Here's where the cost-of-regulation had its effect:
...Unlike many of the pesticides banned in the late 1990s, Propoxur was available for use in residential homes until 2007. At that point, the EPA requested further data from its producer for fear it could pose a risk to children. Industry chose to voluntarily restrict its use from residential areas instead...
So rather than spend umpty-dollars to prove that the chemical was safe if used according to instructions, the manufacturer said "Screw it. Not worth the trouble."
EPA. Bedbug-Approved!!
By the way: don't travel in Ohio.
Biden and Madistan Democrats
There's more to this story than the press report tells you. Biden was at a Barrett fundraiser in Madison and said this:
“We want to reward people who manufacture things in the United States, in Wisconsin, not to take them overseas to China and to other countries!” he said to a silent room at the event for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tom Barrett, according to a White House pool report.
Biden then called the attendees 'dull', which got a laugh.
The pool reporter got it when he/she included "silent" in the description.
Do you?
OK, here's a hint: "manufacturing". "Madison". "Democrats".
If you don't get it now, you're one of THEM.
“We want to reward people who manufacture things in the United States, in Wisconsin, not to take them overseas to China and to other countries!” he said to a silent room at the event for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tom Barrett, according to a White House pool report.
Biden then called the attendees 'dull', which got a laugh.
The pool reporter got it when he/she included "silent" in the description.
Do you?
OK, here's a hint: "manufacturing". "Madison". "Democrats".
If you don't get it now, you're one of THEM.
Money Well Spent. /Sarcasm
The US taxpayer spent ~$1 million for a five-year study which shows...
...among other things, that bar fights tend to occur in venues that are relatively dark, dirty, noisy, hot, and crowded and that are frequented by a clientele of younger, less agreeable, less conscientious, more impulsive heavy drinkers.
Hot Damn! I'll bet there isn't a cop in the country that knew THAT until the US Taxpayer paid ~$1 million to study it.
Nothing about Super Bowl game-watching. So it's obviously not about domestic violence.
...among other things, that bar fights tend to occur in venues that are relatively dark, dirty, noisy, hot, and crowded and that are frequented by a clientele of younger, less agreeable, less conscientious, more impulsive heavy drinkers.
Hot Damn! I'll bet there isn't a cop in the country that knew THAT until the US Taxpayer paid ~$1 million to study it.
Nothing about Super Bowl game-watching. So it's obviously not about domestic violence.
Did We Mention Regulatory Costs? Part 2
Oh, there's more on "reg costs." (Or, better: Moron Regs.)
Now it appears that EPA will do away with beef cattle, too.
“From where I sit, (the Obama administration) appears to be aimed at destroying the cattle industry in America as we know it,” Tamara Thies, the chief environmental counsel at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said on Capitol Hill last week.
She can be forgiven for any slight exaggeration, but there's something to this.
In a periodic review of its National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which allow the EPA to regulate certain forms of particulate matter in the air, the EPA determined that it might raise the standard so that only 65-85 µg/m3 of dust would be permitted in the air (as opposed to 150 µg/m3).
...we are talking about dust kicked up by tilling fields and harvesting crops, cattle movements, and pickups driving down dirt roads,”she said. “For agriculture, the current standard is already very difficult and costly to meet—doubling it would be virtually impossible.”
I suppose that EPA could require cattle ranchers to pave their pastures. THAT would fix it!!
...The dust regulation is one of several new proposals the EPA is considering, including regulating ammonia emissions from cattle operations; nationalizing standards for soil phosphorus levels, which determine where farmers can use manure; regulating greenhouse gas emissions;...
They actually get PAID for this.
Now it appears that EPA will do away with beef cattle, too.
“From where I sit, (the Obama administration) appears to be aimed at destroying the cattle industry in America as we know it,” Tamara Thies, the chief environmental counsel at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said on Capitol Hill last week.
She can be forgiven for any slight exaggeration, but there's something to this.
In a periodic review of its National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which allow the EPA to regulate certain forms of particulate matter in the air, the EPA determined that it might raise the standard so that only 65-85 µg/m3 of dust would be permitted in the air (as opposed to 150 µg/m3).
DUST!!! They're regulating DUST???
...we are talking about dust kicked up by tilling fields and harvesting crops, cattle movements, and pickups driving down dirt roads,”she said. “For agriculture, the current standard is already very difficult and costly to meet—doubling it would be virtually impossible.”
I suppose that EPA could require cattle ranchers to pave their pastures. THAT would fix it!!
...The dust regulation is one of several new proposals the EPA is considering, including regulating ammonia emissions from cattle operations; nationalizing standards for soil phosphorus levels, which determine where farmers can use manure; regulating greenhouse gas emissions;...
That would be fertilizer and (cow) farts, in general terms.
Your EPA. Working to eliminate dust, fertilizer, and cowfarts.
They actually get PAID for this.
Did We Mention Regulatory Costs?
Jim Buckley (Bill's brother) gave a talk at the 50th anniversary dinner honoring the Sharon Statement and the founding of YAF.
There are a couple of items of interest in that speech (printed by Human Events.)
"Title 42 of the US Code is particularly revealing. It contains the laws that fall within the category of 'Health and Public Welfare.' [50 years ago], Title 42 consisted of 403 pages. Today, it exceeds 6,300 pages...
..."As of a couple of months ago, the Code of Federal Regulations consisted of 225 volumes containing 35,367 pages of detailed, small-print regulations, and [since the Sharon Statement] the number of federal regulators has risen from 40,000 to over 120,000...
Naturally, the existence of those 120,000 regulators have required business and commerce to hire and utilize specialized lawyers and accountants to plead their cases. Those folks do not practice pro bono, I assure you.
(In fact, THIS is the "Democrat Job Creation" machine. You'd think that Feingold and Barrett would be bragging about it, no? You think it's co-incidence that the Senate has 57 lawyers, none named Heinz, but generating all sorts of new lawyer-jobs? Those Senators have children who need work, you know.)
And when you've finished complying with Federal regulations, you have Wisconsin regulations, bureaucrats, and lawyers to contend with--not to mention those of your municipality. More lawyers retained.
Does off-shoring look better now? Well, does it, punk?
There are a couple of items of interest in that speech (printed by Human Events.)
"Title 42 of the US Code is particularly revealing. It contains the laws that fall within the category of 'Health and Public Welfare.' [50 years ago], Title 42 consisted of 403 pages. Today, it exceeds 6,300 pages...
..."As of a couple of months ago, the Code of Federal Regulations consisted of 225 volumes containing 35,367 pages of detailed, small-print regulations, and [since the Sharon Statement] the number of federal regulators has risen from 40,000 to over 120,000...
Naturally, the existence of those 120,000 regulators have required business and commerce to hire and utilize specialized lawyers and accountants to plead their cases. Those folks do not practice pro bono, I assure you.
(In fact, THIS is the "Democrat Job Creation" machine. You'd think that Feingold and Barrett would be bragging about it, no? You think it's co-incidence that the Senate has 57 lawyers, none named Heinz, but generating all sorts of new lawyer-jobs? Those Senators have children who need work, you know.)
And when you've finished complying with Federal regulations, you have Wisconsin regulations, bureaucrats, and lawyers to contend with--not to mention those of your municipality. More lawyers retained.
Does off-shoring look better now? Well, does it, punk?
What's a Few Hundred Billion in Waste?
Not to worry. Your ObamaCare will be just dandy. Nothing could go wrong.
...the General Services Administration (GSA) finally got around to selling a 10-story office building in downtown Bethesda that’s been vacant for eight years when the real estate market was in the tank...
The Gummint took a bath on the sale of the building.
...the only partially occupied Old Post Office Building in D.C., which loses $6.5 million a year. In 2005, GSA determined that simply leasing the building to private developers would yield a $21 million profit, but of course the agency has taken no steps during the last five years to make the switch...
...bureaucrats at the Federal Trade Commission are currently planning to lease “consolidated” space that will not actually consolidate FTC activities, but will cost the government $300 million more than constructing or purchasing a new headquarters building...
I'll bet nobody has yet found the zillion-square-foot warehouses holding purchased-but-not-used office furniture, either.
...improved management within GSA, Amtrak, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies could potentially save taxpayers $250 billion. That’s more than the entire cost of the Louisiana Purchase adjusted for inflation...
Hell, even HALF of that projected savings is worth a look, no?
HT: Examiner
...the General Services Administration (GSA) finally got around to selling a 10-story office building in downtown Bethesda that’s been vacant for eight years when the real estate market was in the tank...
The Gummint took a bath on the sale of the building.
...the only partially occupied Old Post Office Building in D.C., which loses $6.5 million a year. In 2005, GSA determined that simply leasing the building to private developers would yield a $21 million profit, but of course the agency has taken no steps during the last five years to make the switch...
...bureaucrats at the Federal Trade Commission are currently planning to lease “consolidated” space that will not actually consolidate FTC activities, but will cost the government $300 million more than constructing or purchasing a new headquarters building...
I'll bet nobody has yet found the zillion-square-foot warehouses holding purchased-but-not-used office furniture, either.
...improved management within GSA, Amtrak, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies could potentially save taxpayers $250 billion. That’s more than the entire cost of the Louisiana Purchase adjusted for inflation...
Hell, even HALF of that projected savings is worth a look, no?
HT: Examiner
Close Enough for Gummint Work, California Style
Who needed all that silly business and commerce, anyway?
California grossly miscalculated pollution levels in a scientific analysis used to toughen the state's clean-air standards...The pollution estimate in question was too high - by 340 percent, according to the California Air Resources Board
Here's the fun part:
The staff of the powerful and widely respected Air Resources Board said the overestimate is largely due to the board calculating emissions before the economy slumped, which halted the use of many of the 150,000 diesel-exhaust-spewing vehicles in California.
Oh, really?
Independent researchers, however, found huge overestimates in the air board's work on diesel emissions and attributed the flawed work to a faulty method of calculation - not the economic downturn.
CARB guessed--yup, guessed--that off-road diesel consumption was 1 Bn gal/yr when actual measures showed less than 300K gal/yr.
The cost-to-comply with the reg was estimated at $10Bn or more. California unemployment is greater than 10%. There's no relationship between those numbers, of course.
California grossly miscalculated pollution levels in a scientific analysis used to toughen the state's clean-air standards...The pollution estimate in question was too high - by 340 percent, according to the California Air Resources Board
Here's the fun part:
The staff of the powerful and widely respected Air Resources Board said the overestimate is largely due to the board calculating emissions before the economy slumped, which halted the use of many of the 150,000 diesel-exhaust-spewing vehicles in California.
Oh, really?
Independent researchers, however, found huge overestimates in the air board's work on diesel emissions and attributed the flawed work to a faulty method of calculation - not the economic downturn.
CARB guessed--yup, guessed--that off-road diesel consumption was 1 Bn gal/yr when actual measures showed less than 300K gal/yr.
The cost-to-comply with the reg was estimated at $10Bn or more. California unemployment is greater than 10%. There's no relationship between those numbers, of course.
Yup. Brookfield Sued for Open-Carry Violation
Back in July, the City of Brookfield police detained an openly-carrying citizen.
The City is now being sued.
...On July 4th she was attending church services in Brookfield, WI. After the service, a church member called the non-emergency number of the Brookfield Police Department to inquire as to the legality of open-carry. Brookfield Police responded to the call by sending several officers/squads to the church. On the way to the church the officers were made aware by the dispatcher that our member was not being threatening or creating a disturbance. As our member was leaving the parking lot in her vehicle. A Brookfield Police officer waved her down drew his weapon and ordered her out of her car at gunpoint.
As open-carry is perfectly legal in Wisconsin and the officers were aware our member had threatened no one and caused no disturbance, the officers had no reasonable articulable suspicion, which the law requires, to stop and detain our member against her will. In addition, by drawing their guns on a law-abiding citizen who had done nothing wrong, the officers used an unlawful threat of deadly force during their unlawful detainment of our member. The police proceeded to, without reasonable suspicion or probable cause that any crime had occurred, conduct an unlawful and unconstitutional search of our members person and car. Our member was then unlawfully arrested and taken to the Brookfield Police Department for processing.
Wisconsin Open Carry notes that Racine paid $10K in damages for a similar offense. Madison, WI., will also soon be in Federal Court.
The City is now being sued.
...On July 4th she was attending church services in Brookfield, WI. After the service, a church member called the non-emergency number of the Brookfield Police Department to inquire as to the legality of open-carry. Brookfield Police responded to the call by sending several officers/squads to the church. On the way to the church the officers were made aware by the dispatcher that our member was not being threatening or creating a disturbance. As our member was leaving the parking lot in her vehicle. A Brookfield Police officer waved her down drew his weapon and ordered her out of her car at gunpoint.
As open-carry is perfectly legal in Wisconsin and the officers were aware our member had threatened no one and caused no disturbance, the officers had no reasonable articulable suspicion, which the law requires, to stop and detain our member against her will. In addition, by drawing their guns on a law-abiding citizen who had done nothing wrong, the officers used an unlawful threat of deadly force during their unlawful detainment of our member. The police proceeded to, without reasonable suspicion or probable cause that any crime had occurred, conduct an unlawful and unconstitutional search of our members person and car. Our member was then unlawfully arrested and taken to the Brookfield Police Department for processing.
Wisconsin Open Carry notes that Racine paid $10K in damages for a similar offense. Madison, WI., will also soon be in Federal Court.
Thursday, October 07, 2010
Under-Employment Way Up There
Unemployment by Gallup's measure popped up significantly in late September, reaching 10.1%.
But that's not the worst part.
UNDER-employment (part-timers wanting full-time work) now stands at 18.8%, and has never been below 18.3% during 2010.
But hey! There's Hope for Change..........it's called an election.
But that's not the worst part.
UNDER-employment (part-timers wanting full-time work) now stands at 18.8%, and has never been below 18.3% during 2010.
But hey! There's Hope for Change..........it's called an election.
Totalitarianism's Beginning
Globe & Mail's Neil Reynolds quoting Prof. Minogue.
...“The point is that governments have no business telling us how to live. They are tiresome enough in the exercise of authority. They are intolerable when they mount the pulpit. Nor should we be in any doubt that nationalizing the moral life of the people is the first step toward totalitarianism.”
And even then, it's not really a 'moral life.'
Actions are no longer morally wrong. The state determines what is “acceptable” and what is “unacceptable” – thereby constructing a new “language of authority” that enforces political morality even as it rescinds everyday moral inhibitions. People are encouraged to be “collectively dutiful and individually hedonistic.”...
Umnhhh...the old term was 'bread and circuses,' utilized during the last Great Non-Russian Totalitarianism, Rome.
HT: Bayou RenMan
...“The point is that governments have no business telling us how to live. They are tiresome enough in the exercise of authority. They are intolerable when they mount the pulpit. Nor should we be in any doubt that nationalizing the moral life of the people is the first step toward totalitarianism.”
And even then, it's not really a 'moral life.'
Actions are no longer morally wrong. The state determines what is “acceptable” and what is “unacceptable” – thereby constructing a new “language of authority” that enforces political morality even as it rescinds everyday moral inhibitions. People are encouraged to be “collectively dutiful and individually hedonistic.”...
Umnhhh...the old term was 'bread and circuses,' utilized during the last Great Non-Russian Totalitarianism, Rome.
HT: Bayou RenMan
Barrett's "Business Development": Grand Ave. to be Auctioned
Good work, Tom!!
The company that owns the financially troubled Shops of Grand Avenue will be sold at a public auction later this month.
The Grand Avenue appears to be about half empty following closings in recent years by such major tenants as Linens 'n Things and Old Navy.
The company that owns the financially troubled Shops of Grand Avenue will be sold at a public auction later this month.
The Grand Avenue appears to be about half empty following closings in recent years by such major tenants as Linens 'n Things and Old Navy.
...Ashkenazy paid $31.7 million when it bought the mall five years ago from an affiliate of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. The current assessed value of the mall and its parking structure is $28.1 million.
The Grand Avenue is dead-center in downtown Milwaukee. After 6 years of Barrett (not to mention several years of Norquist), Henry Maier's dream-spot is on the ropes.
Bailing Out the Banks. Again.
You remember that Bank of America, Chase, and Ally/GMAC are tangled up in a little problem: actual documentation of the mortgages they claim to hold on properties they're foreclosing (or want to foreclose.) We call it the MERS-Mess.
Well, maybe that's been fixed. "Fixed" if you're a bank, that is.
A bill that homeowners advocates warn will make it more difficult to challenge improper foreclosure attempts by big mortgage processors is awaiting President Barack Obama’s signature after it quietly zoomed through the Senate last week. The bill, passed without public debate...
"Zoomed" isn't the word for it.
The bill’s approval involved invocation of a special procedure. Democratic Senator Robert Casey, shepherding last-minute legislation on behalf of the Senate leadership, had the bill taken away from the Senate Judiciary committee, which hadn’t acted on it.
Well, maybe that's been fixed. "Fixed" if you're a bank, that is.
A bill that homeowners advocates warn will make it more difficult to challenge improper foreclosure attempts by big mortgage processors is awaiting President Barack Obama’s signature after it quietly zoomed through the Senate last week. The bill, passed without public debate...
"Zoomed" isn't the word for it.
The bill’s approval involved invocation of a special procedure. Democratic Senator Robert Casey, shepherding last-minute legislation on behalf of the Senate leadership, had the bill taken away from the Senate Judiciary committee, which hadn’t acted on it.
The full Senate then immediately passed the bill without debate, by unanimous consent.
One can argue the merits; the House has passed similar legislation a few times before, but it died in the Senate--until THIS time.
HT: Malkin
A Post for Folkbum
Folkie's an English teacher, although is main occupation is political activist (D).
Here's something he may enjoy. He'll need it after 11/2.
Here's something he may enjoy. He'll need it after 11/2.
"Right Here in the Constitution It Says SPEND!!"--Reid
Gee. Maybe Harry's version is different.
Reid paraded local elected officials — Republicans and Democrats — before the assembled media to support his argument that essential federal funding for infrastructure and social programs has flowed to their communities because of his position.
Defense, the Post Office, the judiciary......
Studies of fly-mating habits in Patagonia? Billions for child-care/education?
OK, Harry.
HT: Gateway
Reid paraded local elected officials — Republicans and Democrats — before the assembled media to support his argument that essential federal funding for infrastructure and social programs has flowed to their communities because of his position.
In a jab at Angle, who thinks the federal government should be dramatically scaled back and fulfill only those duties expressly enumerated in the Constitution, Reid argued it is his “constitutional duty” to spend federal money.
“Part of my constitutional duty is to do congressionally directed spending,” he said...Defense, the Post Office, the judiciary......
Studies of fly-mating habits in Patagonia? Billions for child-care/education?
OK, Harry.
HT: Gateway
Macbeth on PBS
Watched the PBS' "Great Performances" Macbeth last night. Easy to see why it won awards.
PBS' version--that of Rupert Goold--is anachronistic; it made Macbeth (Stewart) into a successful 1940's military commander who murders his way into the Supreme Leader slot. That State just happened to use a lot of Russian music, and a lot of red accents in uniforms, and a lot of Russki-like uniforms and greatcoats, not to mention a lot of gulag-type cells and assassinations.
Curiously, the precis offered at the link above doesn't mention "Russia." Nor "Bolsheviks."
Goold (and Stewart) recognized that Shakespeare's theater-work was just as good as screenplay, allowing deft camera-use to do the work of concentrating on key players, or on close-ups of 'business' which would ordinarily be lost in a stage-production with its limitations on scenery, location, and audience-proximity.
But Stewart and Kate Fleetwood (Lady Macbeth) did not relax their performances because the technology allowed it. Nosirree, Bob. They were stunning. He played the downward moral spiral of Macbeth perfectly; and she first appeared chillingly ambitious, and progressively became the monster-woman who you do NOT want to meet on Hallowe'en.
Some things were jarring. I'm not sure that a rap-version of "Double, Double, Toil..." really worked well (except as a well-deserved comment on rap). Also, it was fitting, but NSFW (or family) that Lady Macbeth's costumes were progressively risque, paralleling her moral decay. In her last major scene, she was outfitted like Evita, but with much less bodice; a thought-provoking image.
The use, and selection, of music was excellent and served to bring out Stewart's subtle use of cantillation (he even outright 'sang' a few words here and there). Other background sounds were equally well-chosen and utilized: faint screeches and howls served to enhance the mood but never intruded.
Nothing we say can add to the deserved reputation of Shakespeare as a compelling observer/chronicler of humanity. But I do think that Goold's production shows it very well, indeed.
Worth catching on the re-run.
PBS' version--that of Rupert Goold--is anachronistic; it made Macbeth (Stewart) into a successful 1940's military commander who murders his way into the Supreme Leader slot. That State just happened to use a lot of Russian music, and a lot of red accents in uniforms, and a lot of Russki-like uniforms and greatcoats, not to mention a lot of gulag-type cells and assassinations.
Curiously, the precis offered at the link above doesn't mention "Russia." Nor "Bolsheviks."
Goold (and Stewart) recognized that Shakespeare's theater-work was just as good as screenplay, allowing deft camera-use to do the work of concentrating on key players, or on close-ups of 'business' which would ordinarily be lost in a stage-production with its limitations on scenery, location, and audience-proximity.
But Stewart and Kate Fleetwood (Lady Macbeth) did not relax their performances because the technology allowed it. Nosirree, Bob. They were stunning. He played the downward moral spiral of Macbeth perfectly; and she first appeared chillingly ambitious, and progressively became the monster-woman who you do NOT want to meet on Hallowe'en.
Some things were jarring. I'm not sure that a rap-version of "Double, Double, Toil..." really worked well (except as a well-deserved comment on rap). Also, it was fitting, but NSFW (or family) that Lady Macbeth's costumes were progressively risque, paralleling her moral decay. In her last major scene, she was outfitted like Evita, but with much less bodice; a thought-provoking image.
The use, and selection, of music was excellent and served to bring out Stewart's subtle use of cantillation (he even outright 'sang' a few words here and there). Other background sounds were equally well-chosen and utilized: faint screeches and howls served to enhance the mood but never intruded.
Nothing we say can add to the deserved reputation of Shakespeare as a compelling observer/chronicler of humanity. But I do think that Goold's production shows it very well, indeed.
Worth catching on the re-run.
The (D) Congress: Useless Jerks
Nancy's and Harry's boyzzzz and gurlzzz ran away from DC without bothering to address the tax issue.
This causes a few problems.
...The issue: 2011 tax-withholding tables. Treasury officials usually release the tables, which determine the take-home pay of millions of wage-earners, by mid-November because it takes payroll processors weeks to adjust their systems before Jan. 1.
If they do NOT continue the Bush tax-cuts, there will be effects.
...Treasury officials' most obvious option is the least attractive. If they publish tables based on expiration of the Bush tax cuts, which occurs Jan. 1, millions of low- and middle-income taxpayers who have paid little or no income taxes for a decade would likely see increases in January.
How much more tax will come out of paychecks?
Let's say that you earn $60K--in other words, you work as a plant employee at Harley-Davidson. And let's assume that you have 2 children.
You'll get $180.00 LESS EVERY MONTH after taxes.
But if your wife also works--say, as a customer-service professional, and earns $40K, you'll pay the Feds $335.00 more every month.
Fuggedabout that car.
Like I said: useless jerks.
This causes a few problems.
...The issue: 2011 tax-withholding tables. Treasury officials usually release the tables, which determine the take-home pay of millions of wage-earners, by mid-November because it takes payroll processors weeks to adjust their systems before Jan. 1.
But congressional leaders recently postponed voting on taxes until after the election and lawmakers don't reconvene until Nov. 15. The Senate is scheduled to take up several nontax issues when it returns and is expected to leave for Thanksgiving soon after, possibly pushing a vote on taxes into December.
The (D) scuzzbuckets don't really care about business concerns like payroll processing (and that assumes that they KNOW about business operations, which is more and more questionable as time goes on.) In all likelihood, they don't give a flying flip.If they do NOT continue the Bush tax-cuts, there will be effects.
...Treasury officials' most obvious option is the least attractive. If they publish tables based on expiration of the Bush tax cuts, which occurs Jan. 1, millions of low- and middle-income taxpayers who have paid little or no income taxes for a decade would likely see increases in January.
How much more tax will come out of paychecks?
Let's say that you earn $60K--in other words, you work as a plant employee at Harley-Davidson. And let's assume that you have 2 children.
You'll get $180.00 LESS EVERY MONTH after taxes.
But if your wife also works--say, as a customer-service professional, and earns $40K, you'll pay the Feds $335.00 more every month.
Fuggedabout that car.
Like I said: useless jerks.
Kill the Economy, Get WHAT?
EPA wrote the analysis.
Tough new rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency restricting greenhouse gas emissions would reduce the global mean temperature by only 0.006 to 0.0015 of a degree Celsius by the year 2100, according to the EPA's analysis.
Yah, I know. You think that .0010 (one-one hundredth of a degree) is kinda small.
Until you read about the effects.
The GOP minority report, issued last Wednesday, said a series of proposed and partially implemented new regulations on industrial boilers, greenhouse gas emitters, and ozone levels will put over 800,000 jobs at risk...
See? That's the benefit!! Less of that damnfool US economic activity.
And there's a secondary effect, not mentioned by EPA: 800,000 less people driving around to their jobs, using up heat and air-conditioning in factories and offices, driving to stores to buy (useless capitalist-pig) stuff like food, medications, clothing......
Hell, it'll be nirvana!
Tough new rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency restricting greenhouse gas emissions would reduce the global mean temperature by only 0.006 to 0.0015 of a degree Celsius by the year 2100, according to the EPA's analysis.
Yah, I know. You think that .0010 (one-one hundredth of a degree) is kinda small.
Until you read about the effects.
The GOP minority report, issued last Wednesday, said a series of proposed and partially implemented new regulations on industrial boilers, greenhouse gas emitters, and ozone levels will put over 800,000 jobs at risk...
See? That's the benefit!! Less of that damnfool US economic activity.
And there's a secondary effect, not mentioned by EPA: 800,000 less people driving around to their jobs, using up heat and air-conditioning in factories and offices, driving to stores to buy (useless capitalist-pig) stuff like food, medications, clothing......
Hell, it'll be nirvana!
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Go Green or We'll Kill the Children
The 'dead children' meme is really big this year for GreenWeenies.
Probably because they haven't the balls to go after parents--who might just carry a large-caliber weapon.
It's also the logical consequence of the abortion culture, folks.
Probably because they haven't the balls to go after parents--who might just carry a large-caliber weapon.
It's also the logical consequence of the abortion culture, folks.
Speculating on '12
Frankly, I think Vox is onto something here.
Hillary is not going after Biden, she's going after Obama. ...She wants to run in 2012. But she can't do so without pushing Obama aside. And given what a vindictive bitch she is, the thought of humiliating the man who robbed her of what would have been a historic presidency, and more importantly, an easy walk to a historic presidency, has great appeal to her.
The main problem with this scenario is that even if Rodham-Clinton successfully convinces the Democratic superdelegates to dump Obama, she can't seriously hope to win unless the Republican leadership provokes the Tea Party into supporting a third-party candidate by arranging the nomination of another Dole/McCain RINO.
And they would never be dumb enough to do that, would they?
Time to haul out your copy of Macbeth.
Hillary is not going after Biden, she's going after Obama. ...She wants to run in 2012. But she can't do so without pushing Obama aside. And given what a vindictive bitch she is, the thought of humiliating the man who robbed her of what would have been a historic presidency, and more importantly, an easy walk to a historic presidency, has great appeal to her.
The main problem with this scenario is that even if Rodham-Clinton successfully convinces the Democratic superdelegates to dump Obama, she can't seriously hope to win unless the Republican leadership provokes the Tea Party into supporting a third-party candidate by arranging the nomination of another Dole/McCain RINO.
And they would never be dumb enough to do that, would they?
Time to haul out your copy of Macbeth.
Exceptionable Remarks From Rush? Yes!
This has hit a few blogs.
Derision of the president on his program is nothing new, but Rush Limbaugh’s tone today may have struck the ears of regular listeners as particularly disdainful, taking his contempt of the president to a new level.
1) Rush is an exceptionally kind individual, as more accurate characterizations of Obama cannot be used over the airwaves.
2) Rush is contradicting himself, as he has often stated that Obama 'knows exactly what he is doing.'
Of the two, the second is more credible. Obama is an ideologue, committed to derailing the US economy for two reasons: the economic crisis will serve his totalitarian desires, and besides, the US is a colonialist/exploitative/rapacious country anyway.
So the remarks are 'exceptionable.' They are not consistent with Rush' prior analysis, and his prior analysis is correct. Obama is not an 'illiterate' or an 'idiot.'
But he is, charitably, a jackass. Clearly, Rush is a charitable guy.
Derision of the president on his program is nothing new, but Rush Limbaugh’s tone today may have struck the ears of regular listeners as particularly disdainful, taking his contempt of the president to a new level.
The nation’s preeminent conservative talk radio host referred to Mr. Obama as a “jackass,” an “economic illiterate” and an “idiot, where capitalism is concerned.” --ABCNews quoted at Gateway.
1) Rush is an exceptionally kind individual, as more accurate characterizations of Obama cannot be used over the airwaves.
2) Rush is contradicting himself, as he has often stated that Obama 'knows exactly what he is doing.'
Of the two, the second is more credible. Obama is an ideologue, committed to derailing the US economy for two reasons: the economic crisis will serve his totalitarian desires, and besides, the US is a colonialist/exploitative/rapacious country anyway.
So the remarks are 'exceptionable.' They are not consistent with Rush' prior analysis, and his prior analysis is correct. Obama is not an 'illiterate' or an 'idiot.'
But he is, charitably, a jackass. Clearly, Rush is a charitable guy.
RIP Joe Sobran
A very gifted writer and thinker was buried yesterday. His love for Shakespeare was fitting, as he was a tragic character himself, having self-admitted 'demons' offsetting his basic goodness, like Everyman.
Via AmSpecBlog, a couple of snips from a long essay published by Buckley's National Review on Conservatism.
...More and more I find myself thinking that a conservative is someone who regards this world with a basic affection, and wants to appreciate it as it is before he goes on to the always necessary work of making some rearrangements. Richard Weaver says we have no right to reform the world unless we cherish some aspects of it; and that is the attitude of many of the best conservative thinkers. Burke says that a constitution ought to be the subject of enjoyment rather than altercation.
...Michael Oakeshott speaks of "affection," "attachment," "familiarity," "happiness"; and my point is not the inane one that these are very nice things, but that Oakeshott thinks of them as considerations pertinent to political thinking. He knows what normal life is, what normal activities are, and his first thought is that politics should not disturb them.
Chesterton (who hated the conservatism of his own day) has good remarks in this vein. "It is futile to discuss reform," he says, "without reference to form." He complains of "the modern and morbid habit of always sacrificing the normal to the abnormal," ...
...
...unfortunately, [the Liberal's] vocabulary is pretty much the current vocabulary of politics, and when conservatives try to debate on his terms, their philosophy tends to appear as the mirror-image of his ideology. A few years ago the two camps were debating over the putative distinction between "totalitarian" and "authoritarian" systems. Liberals treated this as a quibble, a distinction without a difference. The debate sounded abstract and technical, as if egregious incidents of torture were simply "human-rights violations."
Via AmSpecBlog, a couple of snips from a long essay published by Buckley's National Review on Conservatism.
...More and more I find myself thinking that a conservative is someone who regards this world with a basic affection, and wants to appreciate it as it is before he goes on to the always necessary work of making some rearrangements. Richard Weaver says we have no right to reform the world unless we cherish some aspects of it; and that is the attitude of many of the best conservative thinkers. Burke says that a constitution ought to be the subject of enjoyment rather than altercation.
...Michael Oakeshott speaks of "affection," "attachment," "familiarity," "happiness"; and my point is not the inane one that these are very nice things, but that Oakeshott thinks of them as considerations pertinent to political thinking. He knows what normal life is, what normal activities are, and his first thought is that politics should not disturb them.
Chesterton (who hated the conservatism of his own day) has good remarks in this vein. "It is futile to discuss reform," he says, "without reference to form." He complains of "the modern and morbid habit of always sacrificing the normal to the abnormal," ...
For some reason, we have allowed the malcontent to assume moral prestige. We praise as "ideals" what are nothing more than fantasies--a world of perpetual peace, brotherhood, justice, or any other will-o'-the-wisp that has lured men toward the Gulag.
...The malcontent can be spotted in his little habits of speech: He calls language and nationality "barriers" when the conservative, more appreciatively, recognizes them as cohesives that make social life possible. He damns as "apathy" an ordinary indifference to politics that may really be a healthy contentment. He praises as "compassion" what the conservative earthily sees as a program of collectivization. He may even assert as "rights" what tradition has regarded as wrongs.
...
Only a madman, one might think, would dare to speak of changing the entire milieu -- "building a new society" -- or even to speak as if such a thing were possible. And yet this is the current political idiom. It is seriously out of touch with a set of traditions whose good effects it takes too much for granted; it fails to appreciate them, as it fails to appreciate the human situation.
A political and legal system has to be based on the moral habits of its citizens, if it is concerned with anything more than power. To say that "that government is best which governs least" is not to yearn for anarchy: it is to say that those laws are best that don't require a huge apparatus of surveillance and enforcement. The foolishness of Prohibition was that it pitted the law against deep-rooted ways of life. Socialism makes the same mistake on an even larger scale. As Burke puts it, "I cannot conceive how any man can have brought himself to that pitch of presumption, to consider his country as nothing but carte blanche, upon which he may scribble whatever he pleases."
...unfortunately, [the Liberal's] vocabulary is pretty much the current vocabulary of politics, and when conservatives try to debate on his terms, their philosophy tends to appear as the mirror-image of his ideology. A few years ago the two camps were debating over the putative distinction between "totalitarian" and "authoritarian" systems. Liberals treated this as a quibble, a distinction without a difference. The debate sounded abstract and technical, as if egregious incidents of torture were simply "human-rights violations."
The distinction was valid, all right: and in fact liberals have consistently observed it in practice themselves, by preferring the totalitarian to the authoritarian, the Soviet Union an Cuba to South Africa and Chile. But conservatives failed to make the more serious and central point that the real difference between the authoritarian and the totalitarian is the difference between the bearable and the unbearable.
There is a great deal more at the link, all just as demanding of reflection and .....dare we say it?...Conservatism.You May Tell Your Grandchildren About This Election
Gracious sakes...this is getting interesting.
Gallup also shows the results for two different turnout models. Under its "high turnout model" Republicans lead 53%-40%. Under its "low turnout model" Republicans lead 56%-38%.
These two numbers, if translated into popular votes in the 435 congressional districts, suggest huge gains for Republicans and a Republican House majority the likes of which we have not seen since the election cycles of 1946 or even 1928. ... The Gallup high turnout and low turnout numbers suggest it looks like 1894, when Republicans gained more than 100 seats --Barone quoted at AOSHQ
"You may not believe this, young'un, but at one time, the Democrat Party had a majority in the House. Yep. It was back in '04, and they held it until '10. Yessirreee. Then they passed a "health" law, and damn-near destroyed the US dollar with spending, yup....
"The President at that time....fella named O....O........Obama, that's it....by'n'by he left the country, went to Kenya or someplace. 'Twas the Democrats who ran him out of the country.
"It was the end of that Party, sorta like the Whigs. What was left of them, they changed the name, now they call themselves the Urban-Progressives. All grayhairs, yeah, they didn't have a lot of children--abortion, you know--yes, that was legal then--that Party, sorta like the Socialists, they're around, but ....no.... they don't mean much to anyone no more...
"Lot has changed, yessirree. Why, at one time, them Democrats, they had Departments for every damn thing--Education, Health and Social Services, ...even had one for th' "Environment." Hell, Washington DC was an important city back then, yep. They had it all, the Press, the 'smart folks,' ...
"What was "the Press"? Well, see, back then, there were things called "newspapers." You'll have to ask your Dad, he'll explain that...
"No, of COURSE I'm telling you the truth. You can look it up...use your computer, sonny....
"Yessirree. That was quite a year.
"Let's go out and do a little target-practice. We'll need some vittles soon, and what with payin' off the national debt and all, we can't really buy 'em...
Gallup also shows the results for two different turnout models. Under its "high turnout model" Republicans lead 53%-40%. Under its "low turnout model" Republicans lead 56%-38%.
These two numbers, if translated into popular votes in the 435 congressional districts, suggest huge gains for Republicans and a Republican House majority the likes of which we have not seen since the election cycles of 1946 or even 1928. ... The Gallup high turnout and low turnout numbers suggest it looks like 1894, when Republicans gained more than 100 seats --Barone quoted at AOSHQ
"You may not believe this, young'un, but at one time, the Democrat Party had a majority in the House. Yep. It was back in '04, and they held it until '10. Yessirreee. Then they passed a "health" law, and damn-near destroyed the US dollar with spending, yup....
"The President at that time....fella named O....O........Obama, that's it....by'n'by he left the country, went to Kenya or someplace. 'Twas the Democrats who ran him out of the country.
"It was the end of that Party, sorta like the Whigs. What was left of them, they changed the name, now they call themselves the Urban-Progressives. All grayhairs, yeah, they didn't have a lot of children--abortion, you know--yes, that was legal then--that Party, sorta like the Socialists, they're around, but ....no.... they don't mean much to anyone no more...
"Lot has changed, yessirree. Why, at one time, them Democrats, they had Departments for every damn thing--Education, Health and Social Services, ...even had one for th' "Environment." Hell, Washington DC was an important city back then, yep. They had it all, the Press, the 'smart folks,' ...
"What was "the Press"? Well, see, back then, there were things called "newspapers." You'll have to ask your Dad, he'll explain that...
"No, of COURSE I'm telling you the truth. You can look it up...use your computer, sonny....
"Yessirree. That was quite a year.
"Let's go out and do a little target-practice. We'll need some vittles soon, and what with payin' off the national debt and all, we can't really buy 'em...
Plenty of Power--So What's With "Green" Imports?
The Wisconsin Public Service Commission thinks Wisconsin is near-drowning in electricity.
Construction of new power plants plus a recession that wiped out surging demand for electricity have brought on a power glut, with Wisconsin having more than enough power to meet its needs through 2016, a report released Tuesday says.
OK.
So what's the deal with spending another $450 million to get more power?
The two Wisconsin projects are 345,000-volt lines that link Madison and northeast Iowa and another linking Madison and La Crosse. The two projects are projected to cost $811 million
...aside from the fact that it's "wind-power", how is this justifiable?
Construction of new power plants plus a recession that wiped out surging demand for electricity have brought on a power glut, with Wisconsin having more than enough power to meet its needs through 2016, a report released Tuesday says.
OK.
So what's the deal with spending another $450 million to get more power?
The two Wisconsin projects are 345,000-volt lines that link Madison and northeast Iowa and another linking Madison and La Crosse. The two projects are projected to cost $811 million
...aside from the fact that it's "wind-power", how is this justifiable?
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Poll on "Porkulus"
The results are in.
Sixty-eight percent of Americans said they think the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was a “waste,” compared to just 29 percent who think the money was well-spent, according to an ABC/Washington Post poll released Tuesday morning.
The 29% were Gummint employees who remain employed with very healthy salaries and extremely healthy benefit packages--or their dependents.
HT: Zippers
Sixty-eight percent of Americans said they think the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was a “waste,” compared to just 29 percent who think the money was well-spent, according to an ABC/Washington Post poll released Tuesday morning.
The 29% were Gummint employees who remain employed with very healthy salaries and extremely healthy benefit packages--or their dependents.
HT: Zippers
Another Project for Governor Walker
California leads the way in investigating its welfare EFT transactions.
More than $69 million in California welfare money, meant to help the needy pay their rent and clothe their children, has been spent or withdrawn outside the state in recent years, including millions in Las Vegas, hundreds of thousands in Hawaii and thousands on cruise ships sailing from Miami…
You don't seriously expect that a Wisconsin newspaper would run that sort of investigation, do you?
HT: Verum Serum
More than $69 million in California welfare money, meant to help the needy pay their rent and clothe their children, has been spent or withdrawn outside the state in recent years, including millions in Las Vegas, hundreds of thousands in Hawaii and thousands on cruise ships sailing from Miami…
You don't seriously expect that a Wisconsin newspaper would run that sort of investigation, do you?
HT: Verum Serum
Perspective on Billy Kristol
From the Agitator:
...I’m still trying to figure out why any serious person would still give Kristol a platform from which to dispense military strategy. The guy is the Matt Millen of the foreign policy world. Only Millen at least had a pretty distinguished playing career before wreaking devastation from the front office.
True fact.
...I’m still trying to figure out why any serious person would still give Kristol a platform from which to dispense military strategy. The guy is the Matt Millen of the foreign policy world. Only Millen at least had a pretty distinguished playing career before wreaking devastation from the front office.
True fact.
The MERS Mess Gets Messier
Noted by Denninger:
Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, a German state-owned bank, is suing Goldman Sachs over a $37 million loss on its investment in its share (a tranche) of a CDO called Davis Square VI. TCW, the manager for all of Goldman Sach's Davis Square deals, is also being sued---(Denninger quoting HuffPo)
"Goldman knew at the highest levels of its organization that its representations to LBBW Luxemburg that the notes merited triple-A ratings and were high grade were blatantly false," the Stuttgart-based bank said. "Goldman committed fraud and, or, was negligent in marketing and selling the notes to LBBW Luxemburg." (HuffPo quoting newspaper)
Techically, the lawsuit is not "MERS Mess", it's about fraud. The Bank states that Goldman misrepresented the quality of the mortgages it sold as part of the CDO.
But it's going to be part of the MERS Mess, too, because in all likelihood, Goldie never had, nor never transferred, the original note.
This is not a good time to buy commercial paper from Citi, BofA, Chase, or GMAC/Ally--nor to buy a negotiable CD from any of them, folks.
Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, a German state-owned bank, is suing Goldman Sachs over a $37 million loss on its investment in its share (a tranche) of a CDO called Davis Square VI. TCW, the manager for all of Goldman Sach's Davis Square deals, is also being sued---(Denninger quoting HuffPo)
"Goldman knew at the highest levels of its organization that its representations to LBBW Luxemburg that the notes merited triple-A ratings and were high grade were blatantly false," the Stuttgart-based bank said. "Goldman committed fraud and, or, was negligent in marketing and selling the notes to LBBW Luxemburg." (HuffPo quoting newspaper)
Techically, the lawsuit is not "MERS Mess", it's about fraud. The Bank states that Goldman misrepresented the quality of the mortgages it sold as part of the CDO.
But it's going to be part of the MERS Mess, too, because in all likelihood, Goldie never had, nor never transferred, the original note.
This is not a good time to buy commercial paper from Citi, BofA, Chase, or GMAC/Ally--nor to buy a negotiable CD from any of them, folks.
Kevin's Complaint About DHS Hero
Kevin, a respectable guy with a LOVELY daughter, doesn't like what he reads here. Short version: guy who is a VERY good Customs agent spots a fellow who is a 9/11 conspirator, grills him, and sends him back to Arabia. The guy was supposed to be on Flight 93 but didn't make it because of the Customs agent's action.
Later, the Customs agent takes a DHS car home in direct violation of DHS policy. Then it gets worse: the car was broken into, and his weapon and a DHS laptop disappeared.
Now he faces discipline: loss of rank and an unpaid suspension.
Kevin, who reads the Smerconish opinion piece, thinks that the agent should catch a break from DHS, and further maligns his listeners as "rules-are-rules" types because they concur with the DHS' disciplinary action (at least in part).
Sorry, Kevin, but you're wrong here (and your combox thingie still doesn't work...)
Clearly, this guy has an "entitlement" mentality which is common to Government employees. He couldn't call a cab? Take a bus? Call his wife or kid for a ride? Huh???!!!
Perhaps loss-of-rank is over the top, but 14 days' unpaid leave is not.
Case closed.
Later, the Customs agent takes a DHS car home in direct violation of DHS policy. Then it gets worse: the car was broken into, and his weapon and a DHS laptop disappeared.
Now he faces discipline: loss of rank and an unpaid suspension.
Kevin, who reads the Smerconish opinion piece, thinks that the agent should catch a break from DHS, and further maligns his listeners as "rules-are-rules" types because they concur with the DHS' disciplinary action (at least in part).
Sorry, Kevin, but you're wrong here (and your combox thingie still doesn't work...)
Clearly, this guy has an "entitlement" mentality which is common to Government employees. He couldn't call a cab? Take a bus? Call his wife or kid for a ride? Huh???!!!
Perhaps loss-of-rank is over the top, but 14 days' unpaid leave is not.
Case closed.
Foreclosures: High Now, Worse Later
September was a bad month for foreclosures.
...the foreclosure crisis reasserted itself in September, setting a one-month record for filings in Wisconsin.
But that's hardly the end.
...Jacobsen said there will be ups and downs in foreclosure counts month by month while the housing market and economy slowly recover. One thing that might lower the count in the near term is a move by some major mortgage lenders, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America and GMAC's mortgage unit, to delay foreclosures while they check whether their legal documents for taking back homes are in order.
(And they didn't mention M&I, which has been extending its foreclosure moratorium for 9 months or so.)
But that Chase/GMAC/BofA problem is not so simple as 'checking their paperwork.' It appears that the "paperwork problem" is far worse than that. FAR worse--terms like "fraud" are being used by some commentators. It may come to pass that the originators of those loans are forced to eat them--meaning that those Banks (and many, many, others) will need $$umpty-billions in new capital or they will go banko themselves.
Think TARP II.
UPDATE: Here's Ritholtz' take on the upcoming MERS Mess: (and there's a LOT more at the link)
...at every step along the process, the reckless rush for easy profits has systemically undermined these legal property rights — how mortgages are recorded, the bungled bundling of notes to be securitized, the electronic system that fictionalized the process of assembling transfer documents, and how all the players along the way — The investment firms, banks, law firms, even court system, utterly lost sight of what they were doing.
This will not end well.
...the foreclosure crisis reasserted itself in September, setting a one-month record for filings in Wisconsin.
But that's hardly the end.
...Jacobsen said there will be ups and downs in foreclosure counts month by month while the housing market and economy slowly recover. One thing that might lower the count in the near term is a move by some major mortgage lenders, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America and GMAC's mortgage unit, to delay foreclosures while they check whether their legal documents for taking back homes are in order.
(And they didn't mention M&I, which has been extending its foreclosure moratorium for 9 months or so.)
But that Chase/GMAC/BofA problem is not so simple as 'checking their paperwork.' It appears that the "paperwork problem" is far worse than that. FAR worse--terms like "fraud" are being used by some commentators. It may come to pass that the originators of those loans are forced to eat them--meaning that those Banks (and many, many, others) will need $$umpty-billions in new capital or they will go banko themselves.
Think TARP II.
UPDATE: Here's Ritholtz' take on the upcoming MERS Mess: (and there's a LOT more at the link)
...at every step along the process, the reckless rush for easy profits has systemically undermined these legal property rights — how mortgages are recorded, the bungled bundling of notes to be securitized, the electronic system that fictionalized the process of assembling transfer documents, and how all the players along the way — The investment firms, banks, law firms, even court system, utterly lost sight of what they were doing.
This will not end well.
"So Sorry. ObamaCare Forbids That Test."
You think you 'know what's in the bill'? Not even close. The Regime's plan gets worse every day.
...the language concerning cost-sharing, buried in Section 2713 of the Democrats’ 2,400-page monstrosity, indeed goes to great lengths to expand the power of politicians. Among the services citizens are banned from using their money to purchase? Immunizations; necessary preventive care and screenings for infants and children; and certain need screenings and preventive screenings for women. The list in 2713 is exhaustive — and the language is plain: there will be not a single dollar of discretionary, out-of-pocket spending by patients, even if the patient insists on a legal course of treatment.
As of 2014, no American is allowed to spend more than $10,000.00 of THEIR OWN MONEY for "cost-sharing" (where "cost-sharing" is YOUR money.) That's for a family plan. For individuals? Stop at $5,000.00.
But even if you are willing to spend the money (illegally), good luck finding a doctor who will cooperate:
...Medicare patients may not spend their own money to get care for a treatment covered by Medicare from a doctor who accepts payments from Medicare. If the doctor wants to make a contract with the patient to accept either more OR LESS than the Medicare-allowed amount, the doctor must give the government 90 days notice and drop out of the Medicare program ENTIRELY for 2 years.
That's not a business decision any doc will make.
By the way, pollsters and pundits are becoming aware that Democrats who are in serious electoral trouble have ONE thing in common: voting for The Regime's health plan.
Good.
...the language concerning cost-sharing, buried in Section 2713 of the Democrats’ 2,400-page monstrosity, indeed goes to great lengths to expand the power of politicians. Among the services citizens are banned from using their money to purchase? Immunizations; necessary preventive care and screenings for infants and children; and certain need screenings and preventive screenings for women. The list in 2713 is exhaustive — and the language is plain: there will be not a single dollar of discretionary, out-of-pocket spending by patients, even if the patient insists on a legal course of treatment.
In other words, if the government does not “approve” of a test or service, Americans will be unable to get access to it.
That's not all.
...The new health care law goes even further in its effort to severely limit the ability of Americans to spend their own money.As of 2014, no American is allowed to spend more than $10,000.00 of THEIR OWN MONEY for "cost-sharing" (where "cost-sharing" is YOUR money.) That's for a family plan. For individuals? Stop at $5,000.00.
But even if you are willing to spend the money (illegally), good luck finding a doctor who will cooperate:
...Medicare patients may not spend their own money to get care for a treatment covered by Medicare from a doctor who accepts payments from Medicare. If the doctor wants to make a contract with the patient to accept either more OR LESS than the Medicare-allowed amount, the doctor must give the government 90 days notice and drop out of the Medicare program ENTIRELY for 2 years.
That's not a business decision any doc will make.
By the way, pollsters and pundits are becoming aware that Democrats who are in serious electoral trouble have ONE thing in common: voting for The Regime's health plan.
Good.
Monday, October 04, 2010
Green Bay Bishop: "Learn Catholicism If You Work for Me!"
How.....interesting!
Beginning in October, diocesan employees will spend one hour each month studying the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults (USCCA). During a meeting Sept. 22 at St. Francis Xavier Conference Room, Bishop David Ricken and three other speakers introduced the initiative to about 100 employees...
...Bishop Ricken told employees that understanding the Catholic faith is essential to the diocesan staff. "Be open to the process of learning so you can understand the mission and the culture" of the church, he said.
Who knows? Maybe the faculty of St Norbert's College (Best Little Methodist College in DePere) will have to do the same someday...
HT: BadgerCatholic
Beginning in October, diocesan employees will spend one hour each month studying the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults (USCCA). During a meeting Sept. 22 at St. Francis Xavier Conference Room, Bishop David Ricken and three other speakers introduced the initiative to about 100 employees...
...Bishop Ricken told employees that understanding the Catholic faith is essential to the diocesan staff. "Be open to the process of learning so you can understand the mission and the culture" of the church, he said.
Who knows? Maybe the faculty of St Norbert's College (Best Little Methodist College in DePere) will have to do the same someday...
HT: BadgerCatholic
Are Pipes and Goldberg Wrong? Not Likely
The War Party of National Review and some of its obedient puppies in the Senate and House are attempting to blame Obama for what appears to be an Iraqi Government which has (horrors!!) Iranian sympathies.
Good luck with that, boys.
As my friend Daniel Pipes has argued for years, the best approach to contentious and threatening Muslim countries is containment. Shut them off. Control the movement of goods, money and people carefully (with a fraction of the resources required for occupation) and if they do something truly threatening, use military power–but without taking ownership of their political mess.
That should have been the GWB policy in the first damn place (although I still give him the benefit of the doubt as the CIA does not report to me.)
Good luck with that, boys.
As my friend Daniel Pipes has argued for years, the best approach to contentious and threatening Muslim countries is containment. Shut them off. Control the movement of goods, money and people carefully (with a fraction of the resources required for occupation) and if they do something truly threatening, use military power–but without taking ownership of their political mess.
That should have been the GWB policy in the first damn place (although I still give him the benefit of the doubt as the CIA does not report to me.)
The Pietist Analogy
The Warrior finds a gem. It's a reaction to the British GreenWeenie commercial which encourages conformity to GreenWeenie ideals by blowing up a couple of kids who refuse to ride bicycles (!!)
It’s hilarious how you eco-leftists, who think so highly of your own enlightened, humanist, scientific ideals, are actually just the 21st century version of the extreme pietists who not too long ago struggled to stamp out sin by banning tobacco, alcohol and other drugs (compare: carbon, gasoline, etc), preaching that you mustn’t enjoy life (compare: stopping “consumerism”), especially not on Sundays (compare: buy nothing day), otherwise the second coming of Jesus will not arrive (compare: polar bears dying, nature wrecking havoc, taking revenge). And just as pietism is essentially an anti-life ideology, so is yours.
Some good insights there. Although it might be more accurate to describe pietism/Jansenism as 'anti-humanity' rather than strictly 'anti-life', the fine line is easily crossed: witness Bill Gates' desire to eliminate 1 billion humans to "preserve life" on the planet.
WTF?
It’s hilarious how you eco-leftists, who think so highly of your own enlightened, humanist, scientific ideals, are actually just the 21st century version of the extreme pietists who not too long ago struggled to stamp out sin by banning tobacco, alcohol and other drugs (compare: carbon, gasoline, etc), preaching that you mustn’t enjoy life (compare: stopping “consumerism”), especially not on Sundays (compare: buy nothing day), otherwise the second coming of Jesus will not arrive (compare: polar bears dying, nature wrecking havoc, taking revenge). And just as pietism is essentially an anti-life ideology, so is yours.
Some good insights there. Although it might be more accurate to describe pietism/Jansenism as 'anti-humanity' rather than strictly 'anti-life', the fine line is easily crossed: witness Bill Gates' desire to eliminate 1 billion humans to "preserve life" on the planet.
WTF?
Compare and Contrast: Annual Increases
Jay Weber tells us that MPS granted 3%/year pay increases to teachers for four years in a row with their latest contract.
OK.
MRA surveyed private-sector employers in Wisconsin and found:
...the average increase, 1.4 percent, was still 0.2 percent lower than last year.
That's a ONE-time increase. Last year's was 1.6%. Next year: who knows?
(Only the MPS teachers know.)
OK.
MRA surveyed private-sector employers in Wisconsin and found:
...the average increase, 1.4 percent, was still 0.2 percent lower than last year.
That's a ONE-time increase. Last year's was 1.6%. Next year: who knows?
(Only the MPS teachers know.)
Sunday, October 03, 2010
"Clear Title" to Foreclosed Property? No.
Ruh-ruh.
...Old Republic National Title Insurance, told its agents Friday that it would not write policies on foreclosed Chase properties until “the objectionable issues have been resolved,” according to a memorandum sent out by the firm’s underwriting department. --NYT via Ticker
That's serious, folks. Chase is in a world of hurt unless THEY insure the title--not an easy leap to make.
...Old Republic National Title Insurance, told its agents Friday that it would not write policies on foreclosed Chase properties until “the objectionable issues have been resolved,” according to a memorandum sent out by the firm’s underwriting department. --NYT via Ticker
That's serious, folks. Chase is in a world of hurt unless THEY insure the title--not an easy leap to make.
Pictures, 1,000 Words, and All That
The paid-turnout bunch stayed home for the football games, or something.
Martell Gets It
The key line in today's interview with Martell of the DemGovAss'n:
Said Markell: "I get it. I think that obviously every Democratic candidate has to work hard at it."
The narrative has been established.
Said Markell: "I get it. I think that obviously every Democratic candidate has to work hard at it."
The narrative has been established.
Friday, October 01, 2010
"Pro-Lifers Are Violent": Obama Regime
When all else fails, blame the pro-lifers.
Documents LifeNews.com obtained today reveal the Obama administration partnered with leading pro-abortion organizations to host an FBI training seminar in August with the main focus of declaring as “violent” the free speech activities of pro-life Americans.
We note that the ObamaBoyzzzz don't slur NRA that way. Do you wonder why?
HT: Zippers
Documents LifeNews.com obtained today reveal the Obama administration partnered with leading pro-abortion organizations to host an FBI training seminar in August with the main focus of declaring as “violent” the free speech activities of pro-life Americans.
On August 25, 2010, the FBI and the United States Department of Justice co-sponsored a training seminar with Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Federation and the Feminist Majority Foundation.
When information about the seminar, which took place at FBI headquarters in Portland, Oregon, reached pro-life advocates, they asked officials for permission to attend and were granted access to the seminar and the training materials.
FBI and Obama administration officials provided participants with an 84-page document entitled “Resource Guide: Violence Against Reproductive Health Care Providers” that contained print copies of Power Point presentations prepared by the Justice Department and an analysis of alleged pro-life “violence” prepared by the pro-abortion groups.
Not exactly "hippie-punching," but pro-lifers are, in fact, soft targets.We note that the ObamaBoyzzzz don't slur NRA that way. Do you wonder why?
HT: Zippers
Goldman Sachs to Advertise Its Goodness!
You can't make this up. Goldman Sachs wants to re-shape your thoughts about them.
So Barry Ritholtz thought he'd help them out with tagline ideas.
Sample:
Let us do for you what we did for Greece
Another:
Putting the zero in zero-sum game
Umnnnhhhhh....it's not likely that Barry will be their Account Executive.
Anyhow, the best one remains at the link.
So Barry Ritholtz thought he'd help them out with tagline ideas.
Sample:
Let us do for you what we did for Greece
Another:
Putting the zero in zero-sum game
Umnnnhhhhh....it's not likely that Barry will be their Account Executive.
Anyhow, the best one remains at the link.
Remember Churchill
RedState warns that the actual reformation of America will not occur by magic after 11/2.
Regardless of the outcome on November 2nd, the fight for America’s future is only beginning. The Left has had 100 years to denigrate America into believing that statism is the ideal, the collective is superior to the individual, and that a league of nations is better than the sovereignty of one. Today, our nation is controlled by collectivists and while they may be beaten back on November 2nd, the fight will not end here. Nor will it end in 2012, if Americans are serious about saving America from the enemy within.
There were 15 years passed between the Tea Party and the ratification of the Constitution.
Wilson initiated Progressivism in the early 1900's.
So it's entirely likely that many of us will not live to see the defeat of that monster. Thus, Churchill:
I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs — Victory in spite of all terror — Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.
It's for the children. And, unlike the pander-liar (D) statists, we actually MEAN "for the children."
Regardless of the outcome on November 2nd, the fight for America’s future is only beginning. The Left has had 100 years to denigrate America into believing that statism is the ideal, the collective is superior to the individual, and that a league of nations is better than the sovereignty of one. Today, our nation is controlled by collectivists and while they may be beaten back on November 2nd, the fight will not end here. Nor will it end in 2012, if Americans are serious about saving America from the enemy within.
There were 15 years passed between the Tea Party and the ratification of the Constitution.
Wilson initiated Progressivism in the early 1900's.
So it's entirely likely that many of us will not live to see the defeat of that monster. Thus, Churchill:
I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs — Victory in spite of all terror — Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.
It's for the children. And, unlike the pander-liar (D) statists, we actually MEAN "for the children."
It's Not Just MickeyD's Insurance Getting Yanked
The health policy offered by McDonald's is called a "mini" plan because it provides limited benefits. But it's very cheap at $14.00/week, so with no alternative offering, people use it.
But ObamaCare makes the plan un-doable with its "85%" mandate. About 30,000 McDonald's employees may be forced off the plan.
But McDonald's is not the ONLY entity which provides this plan.
...Many other major companies that offer mini-med plans will also be affected, including Home Depot Inc., Disney Worldwide Services, CVS Caremark Corp., Staples Inc. and Blockbuster Inc.
A number of States have petitioned HHS to make an exception to the 85% rule.
But not Wisconsin.
Question for Barrett: Will YOU ask HHS for an exemption?
HT: Malkin
But ObamaCare makes the plan un-doable with its "85%" mandate. About 30,000 McDonald's employees may be forced off the plan.
But McDonald's is not the ONLY entity which provides this plan.
...Many other major companies that offer mini-med plans will also be affected, including Home Depot Inc., Disney Worldwide Services, CVS Caremark Corp., Staples Inc. and Blockbuster Inc.
A number of States have petitioned HHS to make an exception to the 85% rule.
But not Wisconsin.
Question for Barrett: Will YOU ask HHS for an exemption?
HT: Malkin
Golf Season Over. Time for Italian Vacation!
It's been a tough slog for B Hussein.
According to the pool report, Obama thanked Phillips for the work he and his wife have done for Team Obama. Then the president mentioned that Phillips and Douglass have an opulent place in Italy and wondered why there had been no invitation to visit. "I'd appreciate a little break and some Tuscan sun," the president said, according to the pool report. "Some pasta. I can use it."
**(The world's smallest record-player playing My Heart Pumps Purple Piss for You)**
HT: HotAir
According to the pool report, Obama thanked Phillips for the work he and his wife have done for Team Obama. Then the president mentioned that Phillips and Douglass have an opulent place in Italy and wondered why there had been no invitation to visit. "I'd appreciate a little break and some Tuscan sun," the president said, according to the pool report. "Some pasta. I can use it."
**(The world's smallest record-player playing My Heart Pumps Purple Piss for You)**
HT: HotAir
After 11/2, What?
Noonan found Mitch Daniels at a conference.
Good practical advice on all this comes from Indiana's Gov. Mitch Daniels, who met this week in New York with conservative activists, journalists and historians. Our country is in real peril, he said, we have a short time to do big things to get it right. Republicans "need to campaign to govern, not merely to win." If Democrats are "the worst, the most malevolent" in their campaigning, "don't match 'em, let 'em." Be better. Be serious about the issues at a serious time.
It would be a big change for some of these turkeys, but maybe they actually can do it.
By the way, "governance" does NOT mean "spend money on OUR guys." That's the short path to a tar-and-feather party, which is like a blanket party.
Get it?
We'll be watching. I'm not throwing away my Gadsden flag.
Good practical advice on all this comes from Indiana's Gov. Mitch Daniels, who met this week in New York with conservative activists, journalists and historians. Our country is in real peril, he said, we have a short time to do big things to get it right. Republicans "need to campaign to govern, not merely to win." If Democrats are "the worst, the most malevolent" in their campaigning, "don't match 'em, let 'em." Be better. Be serious about the issues at a serious time.
It would be a big change for some of these turkeys, but maybe they actually can do it.
By the way, "governance" does NOT mean "spend money on OUR guys." That's the short path to a tar-and-feather party, which is like a blanket party.
Get it?
We'll be watching. I'm not throwing away my Gadsden flag.
Pay $450 Million, Get Current---Maybe?
The good news/bad news game. Except there's really no good news.
A $3 billion network of new high-voltage power lines across the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin would help improve the flow of wind power across the upper Midwest and beyond, a new report says.
That "flow" only happens when the wind is blowing, of course, unlike coal, natgas, and nukes, which provide power 24x7. And did we mention that "wind farms" suck Fed taxpayer subsidies at an unnaturally high rate?
So what will Wisconsin residents pay?
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has yet to rule on how the projects would be paid for, but a good rule of thumb is that Wisconsin's share of the tab would be about 15%, or $450 million for the six projects.
Well, yes--if you don't count Federal subsidies of wind farms.
There are two Wisconsin lines proposed.
The two Wisconsin projects are 345,000-volt lines that link Madison and northeast Iowa and another linking Madison and La Crosse. The two projects are projected to cost $811 million.
And ATC expects to get its money back, of course.
The curious part is that this expenditure (and rate-hike) is being flogged by the Wisconsin Grocers' Association. Maybe the grocers don't understand taxes.
A $3 billion network of new high-voltage power lines across the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin would help improve the flow of wind power across the upper Midwest and beyond, a new report says.
That "flow" only happens when the wind is blowing, of course, unlike coal, natgas, and nukes, which provide power 24x7. And did we mention that "wind farms" suck Fed taxpayer subsidies at an unnaturally high rate?
So what will Wisconsin residents pay?
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has yet to rule on how the projects would be paid for, but a good rule of thumb is that Wisconsin's share of the tab would be about 15%, or $450 million for the six projects.
Well, yes--if you don't count Federal subsidies of wind farms.
There are two Wisconsin lines proposed.
The two Wisconsin projects are 345,000-volt lines that link Madison and northeast Iowa and another linking Madison and La Crosse. The two projects are projected to cost $811 million.
And ATC expects to get its money back, of course.
The curious part is that this expenditure (and rate-hike) is being flogged by the Wisconsin Grocers' Association. Maybe the grocers don't understand taxes.
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