That lack of jobs we mentioned a couple posts down has another effect: HAMP defaults are high.
Borrowers who received help through the government's main foreclosure
prevention program are re-defaulting on their mortgages at alarming
rates, a federal watchdog said in a report released Wednesday.
Nearly 1.2 million
mortgage modifications have been completed since the Home Affordable
Modification Program (HAMP) was first launched four years ago. Yet more
than 306,000 borrowers have re-defaulted on their loans and more than
88,000 are at risk of following suit, the Special Inspector General for
the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) found in its quarterly
report to Congress.
In
addition, the watchdog found that the longer a homeowner stays in the
HAMP modification program, the more likely they are to default. Those
who have been in the program since 2009, are re-defaulting at a rate of
46%, the inspector general found.
Charming.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Ryan's Wrong If Shilling's Right
In the post below, we highlighted Gary Shilling's analysis of the economy. In brief, Shilling said that there is not enough growth to absorb the available labor force.
That analysis is not consonant with Paul Ryan's ....ahhh.....*shilling* for "immigration reform."
...Before long, Ryan is chattering about immigration reform, ticking off talking points as he half-jogs down the hall. He mentions the economy 19 times in the next 15 minutes.
The United States needs more labor to grow faster, he says,...
It cannot be both. Either Shilling is correct, that growth is too anemic to absorb the available labor, OR Ryan is correct, that growth comes from more available labor.
Back when Les Aspin was teaching Econ 101, there was no such thing as a "labor push" effecting an increase in demand and thus, economic growth. Maybe Ryan has a new theory.
Or maybe he's just wrong.
That analysis is not consonant with Paul Ryan's ....ahhh.....*shilling* for "immigration reform."
...Before long, Ryan is chattering about immigration reform, ticking off talking points as he half-jogs down the hall. He mentions the economy 19 times in the next 15 minutes.
The United States needs more labor to grow faster, he says,...
It cannot be both. Either Shilling is correct, that growth is too anemic to absorb the available labor, OR Ryan is correct, that growth comes from more available labor.
Back when Les Aspin was teaching Econ 101, there was no such thing as a "labor push" effecting an increase in demand and thus, economic growth. Maybe Ryan has a new theory.
Or maybe he's just wrong.
"Recovery"? Yes, for "Alternative Forms of Compensation"
It's a great "recovery" for non-earned compensation, as Gary Shilling demonstrates here.
And as we also learn, it is truly a jobless recovery. Obozo is totally useless as a "jobs" President, except for golf caddies and community organizers.
The outlook for the labor market remains bleak. Older Americans are holding on to their jobs longer, limiting openings for newcomers, and employers are cutting costs by extending working hours and paying overtime, rather than hiring.
Layoffs and discharges remain low. Voluntary departures have risen a bit, but are still sluggish as workers stay put in uncertain times. Meanwhile, job openings have risen rapidly after a collapse, though new hires have increased much more slowly.
... People out of the labor force for nondemographic reasons react to the push of few job prospects and the pull of alternative forms of compensation. If physicians certify job-related disabilities and judges approve them, people can draw disability benefits until they reach normal retirement age, when they are eligible for Social Security retirement benefits.
...In June, almost 11 million people collected disability benefits, up from 3 million in 1970. In addition, disability benefits are higher than earlier in relation to wages.
And 'alternative forms of compensation' is not just "disability."
...drawing Social Security benefits has become more attractive. The payments have been adjusted for cost of living increases since 1975. Because of the lack of inflation, there were no increases in 2010 and 2011, but there was a 3.6 percent adjustment in 2012 and a 1.7 percent revision this year. The number of recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as food stamps, jumped to 47.8 million in December from 28.2 million in 2008, a 70 percent increase.
The problem is that there is not enough "recovery." It's only about 2/3rds what's required:
My company’s research has found that, based on post-World War II history, it should take 3.2 percent real gross domestic product growth just to keep the unemployment rate steady -- meaning that at the current growth of about 2 percent, the unemployment rate would rise more than one percentage point a year and now would be 12 percent. Instead, it was 7.6 percent in June.
There is ... a logical explanation for the huge differences between the actual unemployment rate and the higher expected rates: a big drop in the participation rate. As discussed earlier in this series, the decline in the labor participation rate to 63.5 percent in June from its February 2000 peak of 67.3 percent means there are 9.5 million fewer people in the labor force
Per Shilling, this whole thing will straighten out in about five years. By no co-incidence, that's after Obozo gets shown the door.
And as we also learn, it is truly a jobless recovery. Obozo is totally useless as a "jobs" President, except for golf caddies and community organizers.
The outlook for the labor market remains bleak. Older Americans are holding on to their jobs longer, limiting openings for newcomers, and employers are cutting costs by extending working hours and paying overtime, rather than hiring.
Layoffs and discharges remain low. Voluntary departures have risen a bit, but are still sluggish as workers stay put in uncertain times. Meanwhile, job openings have risen rapidly after a collapse, though new hires have increased much more slowly.
... People out of the labor force for nondemographic reasons react to the push of few job prospects and the pull of alternative forms of compensation. If physicians certify job-related disabilities and judges approve them, people can draw disability benefits until they reach normal retirement age, when they are eligible for Social Security retirement benefits.
...In June, almost 11 million people collected disability benefits, up from 3 million in 1970. In addition, disability benefits are higher than earlier in relation to wages.
And 'alternative forms of compensation' is not just "disability."
...drawing Social Security benefits has become more attractive. The payments have been adjusted for cost of living increases since 1975. Because of the lack of inflation, there were no increases in 2010 and 2011, but there was a 3.6 percent adjustment in 2012 and a 1.7 percent revision this year. The number of recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as food stamps, jumped to 47.8 million in December from 28.2 million in 2008, a 70 percent increase.
The problem is that there is not enough "recovery." It's only about 2/3rds what's required:
My company’s research has found that, based on post-World War II history, it should take 3.2 percent real gross domestic product growth just to keep the unemployment rate steady -- meaning that at the current growth of about 2 percent, the unemployment rate would rise more than one percentage point a year and now would be 12 percent. Instead, it was 7.6 percent in June.
There is ... a logical explanation for the huge differences between the actual unemployment rate and the higher expected rates: a big drop in the participation rate. As discussed earlier in this series, the decline in the labor participation rate to 63.5 percent in June from its February 2000 peak of 67.3 percent means there are 9.5 million fewer people in the labor force
Per Shilling, this whole thing will straighten out in about five years. By no co-incidence, that's after Obozo gets shown the door.
Where's RoJo on ObozoCare?
Maybe Senator Ron Johnson was asleep when the letter and/or bill was circulated for signature.
...Senator Mike Lee has issued a letter saying he will not pass a continuing resolution that funds Obamacare. He has been joined by fifteen Republican Senators....
...Likewise, Ted Cruz has legislation that would defund Obamacare....
NEITHER of them bears Ron Johnson's signature. That's somewhat curious, as RoJo says he's "a fiscal conservative" and would like us to think he opposes ObozoCare.
...Senator Mike Lee has issued a letter saying he will not pass a continuing resolution that funds Obamacare. He has been joined by fifteen Republican Senators....
...Likewise, Ted Cruz has legislation that would defund Obamacare....
NEITHER of them bears Ron Johnson's signature. That's somewhat curious, as RoJo says he's "a fiscal conservative" and would like us to think he opposes ObozoCare.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Stevie Wonder Quits Touring
Apparently S. Wonder will not play in states which have stand-your-ground laws.
He'll save a lot on airfare:
"Many states have some form of stand-your-ground law. Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming." --quoted at Vox
Since "Dancing on the Ceiling", what has he done, anyway?
He'll save a lot on airfare:
"Many states have some form of stand-your-ground law. Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming." --quoted at Vox
Since "Dancing on the Ceiling", what has he done, anyway?
Finally, Cojones!
Clipped from today's headlines:
After years of controversy surrounding its “Indians” nickname and logo, the Mukwonago School Board has voted to draw a line in the sand by ignoring a state order to change its mascot name by Aug. 15...
It'll be fun to watch heads explode at Wis DPI. Tony Evers might just break down and cry or something.
After years of controversy surrounding its “Indians” nickname and logo, the Mukwonago School Board has voted to draw a line in the sand by ignoring a state order to change its mascot name by Aug. 15...
It'll be fun to watch heads explode at Wis DPI. Tony Evers might just break down and cry or something.
Boobs Wearing Badges
In the latest installment of Gummint-Stupids, we find the US Marshal's office lost $60 million in radios.
Yup. $$SIXTY MILLION. For 2,000 radios.
Encrypted radios. The ones that criminal syndicates really want to "find."
Of course, it's just "an inventory system change". And it took an FOIA request to get USMS to admit the problem. And USMS employees were ordered to use the phone--not email--when discussing the matter internally.
Well, at least they have ammo.
Right?
Yup. $$SIXTY MILLION. For 2,000 radios.
Encrypted radios. The ones that criminal syndicates really want to "find."
Of course, it's just "an inventory system change". And it took an FOIA request to get USMS to admit the problem. And USMS employees were ordered to use the phone--not email--when discussing the matter internally.
Well, at least they have ammo.
Right?
Was It Just "the Democrats" Destroying Detroit?
From what one hears and reads from the right, the Democrats were solely responsible for the decay and collapse of Detroit. Nothing else mattered. Only the Democrats in the city council and the school board.
Not Toyota. Not Honda. Not Hyundai. Not Volkswagen. Not Nissan.
Just the Democrats.
Not J-I-T, not design-for-manufacture, not Six Sigma, not robotics, not single-piece flow, not cross-training, not global sourcing, not CADAM systems.
Just the Democrats.
Not the Great Recession of '08-present, either. Nope.
Huh.
Not Toyota. Not Honda. Not Hyundai. Not Volkswagen. Not Nissan.
Just the Democrats.
Not J-I-T, not design-for-manufacture, not Six Sigma, not robotics, not single-piece flow, not cross-training, not global sourcing, not CADAM systems.
Just the Democrats.
Not the Great Recession of '08-present, either. Nope.
Huh.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Paul Ryan Cannot Defeat Econ 101. Neither Can Rubio.
It's a mid-length essay which begins with the eminently sensible Sowell, counters with the 'economistic' (all-for-economy-and-profits-to-hell-with-the-rest) Cato line, and ends with a brilliant takedown of the Cato bunch, and Ryan, and Rubio.
(Note well: while Sowell calls out the agriculture industry, the IT boyzzz (Microsoft, Google, and Silicon Valley in general), along with the Industrialist Gang are just as guilty of the sophistry and deception as is Cato.)
Ryan should be paying attention to Sowell instead of pandering to interests which, frankly, are not consonant with the interests of the US as a whole--that is, if Ryan would rather be a statesman than a politician. Rubio has already picked his label.
Here's a portion of the anonymous argument which is the final blow to the Cato/economistic bunch:
...But note further: they simply assume that the default constraints on economic agents in America do not, or should not, include population based on our collective democratically determined policies regarding the population levels and demographics we want. If marginal low value economic interests can expand only by first ignoring that constraint by intentional and flagrant violations of the law implementing the democratically enacted policies and now want new legislation to repeal the policies leading to the constraint, in the interest of nothing but more GDP in aggregate, so be it. It’s economism on steroids.
And there is no principled stopping point. The labor supply globally in excess of American labor willing to do the cucumber picking at the ever expanding margin at the lowest possible wages is for all practical purposes unlimited; so they want, and openly argue for, completely unlimited immigration. How could they not? Once any limit becomes binding the argument compels them to want to eliminate it!...
And lest Cong. Ryan play the "Catholic" card and yammer about 'social justice,' there is no Catholic teaching or doctrine which demands that a state impoverish its own people--whether through taxes, increased debt, or otherwise--for the benefit of non-citizens of that state. None. Zero. Zip. If Ryan would like to argue otherwise, let him cite the specific teaching.
He can't.
HT: PowerLine
(Note well: while Sowell calls out the agriculture industry, the IT boyzzz (Microsoft, Google, and Silicon Valley in general), along with the Industrialist Gang are just as guilty of the sophistry and deception as is Cato.)
Ryan should be paying attention to Sowell instead of pandering to interests which, frankly, are not consonant with the interests of the US as a whole--that is, if Ryan would rather be a statesman than a politician. Rubio has already picked his label.
Here's a portion of the anonymous argument which is the final blow to the Cato/economistic bunch:
...But note further: they simply assume that the default constraints on economic agents in America do not, or should not, include population based on our collective democratically determined policies regarding the population levels and demographics we want. If marginal low value economic interests can expand only by first ignoring that constraint by intentional and flagrant violations of the law implementing the democratically enacted policies and now want new legislation to repeal the policies leading to the constraint, in the interest of nothing but more GDP in aggregate, so be it. It’s economism on steroids.
And there is no principled stopping point. The labor supply globally in excess of American labor willing to do the cucumber picking at the ever expanding margin at the lowest possible wages is for all practical purposes unlimited; so they want, and openly argue for, completely unlimited immigration. How could they not? Once any limit becomes binding the argument compels them to want to eliminate it!...
And lest Cong. Ryan play the "Catholic" card and yammer about 'social justice,' there is no Catholic teaching or doctrine which demands that a state impoverish its own people--whether through taxes, increased debt, or otherwise--for the benefit of non-citizens of that state. None. Zero. Zip. If Ryan would like to argue otherwise, let him cite the specific teaching.
He can't.
HT: PowerLine
"....In All the Wrong Places/ Looking for..."
They're not looking for love. They're looking for a fight.
You know that Holder has a team of "specialists" within DOJ which 'seeks to preserve order' when there are threats to that order. And you know that that team was heavily involved in the Trayvon Martin protests in Florida. The team organized and facilitated the protests--thanks to you taxpayers!
The Usual Suspects: CPUSA, SPLC, and Black Panthers were involved in the protests.
Guess what else was spotted?
They carry and wear emblems associated with Socialist Groups and have connections to other Marxists protests in recent past. Some of them wore shirts that said ” Wisconsin Solidarity” and “Michigan Solidarity”. These refer to the pro union protests in those two states when they passed laws to become right to work states.
Well-traveled bunch, eh?
HT: Badger Pundit
You know that Holder has a team of "specialists" within DOJ which 'seeks to preserve order' when there are threats to that order. And you know that that team was heavily involved in the Trayvon Martin protests in Florida. The team organized and facilitated the protests--thanks to you taxpayers!
The Usual Suspects: CPUSA, SPLC, and Black Panthers were involved in the protests.
Guess what else was spotted?
They carry and wear emblems associated with Socialist Groups and have connections to other Marxists protests in recent past. Some of them wore shirts that said ” Wisconsin Solidarity” and “Michigan Solidarity”. These refer to the pro union protests in those two states when they passed laws to become right to work states.
Well-traveled bunch, eh?
HT: Badger Pundit
Milwaukee's Trayvon Rally
One notorious name at the rally was "Worker's World Party."
Apparently they didn't die out after the USSR cut off the funding.
Apparently they didn't die out after the USSR cut off the funding.
Saturday, July 20, 2013
House Immigration Bill: More Smoke and Mirrors
Yah, but well, ya'see, Paul Ryan's for.......well......something, right?
Basically, the House bill is just another turd smeared with frosting.
Basically, the House bill is just another turd smeared with frosting.
Mowing the Lawn
If mowing your lawn is a tiresome and lengthy task, consider this machine.
Time for Chevy to combine with Ariens; drop an LS-7 into a Gravely....
Time for Chevy to combine with Ariens; drop an LS-7 into a Gravely....
Why Liz Cheney?
Noting that Erickson of RedState has endorsed Cheney loud-and-clear, and noting that Ms. Cheney is the daughter of one of the country's most prominent War Party members (and that Sen. Enzi is not a RINO in almost any sense), it occurred to me that Ms. Cheney brings only one thing to the Senate primary: a NeoCon/War Party flavor.
I ain't the only one.
...Making the case for an activist foreign policy has fallen largely to Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, both of whom increasingly resemble the aging characters in Kingsley Amis’s The Old Devils, shambling around the Senate chamber and waxing nostalgic about the good old days when they could bomb other countries in peace. Beyond Rep. Tom Cotton, the neoconservative darling who still staunchly defends the Iraq intervention, there’s little fresh blood among Republican hawks in Congress these days. So perhaps it makes sense for Liz Cheney, the daughter of one of the architects of Bush-era foreign policy, to provide a Senate counterbalance to Paul.”...Domenech quoting Gerson
This will be interesting.
I ain't the only one.
...Making the case for an activist foreign policy has fallen largely to Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, both of whom increasingly resemble the aging characters in Kingsley Amis’s The Old Devils, shambling around the Senate chamber and waxing nostalgic about the good old days when they could bomb other countries in peace. Beyond Rep. Tom Cotton, the neoconservative darling who still staunchly defends the Iraq intervention, there’s little fresh blood among Republican hawks in Congress these days. So perhaps it makes sense for Liz Cheney, the daughter of one of the architects of Bush-era foreign policy, to provide a Senate counterbalance to Paul.”...Domenech quoting Gerson
This will be interesting.
Mene, Mene, Tekel Upharsin
Balshazzar had a problem. So does Obozo.
...IRS leadership in Washington claimed the harassment of tea-party and other conservative groups requesting tax-exempt status was confined to the Cincinnati office, where a few rogue workers bungled the application process. Lois Lerner, then the head of the exempt organizations unit in Washington, said "line people in Cincinnati" did work that was "not so fine." They asked questions that "weren't really necessary," she claimed, and operated without "the appropriate level of sensitivity." But the targeting was "not intentional."...
...House investigators soon talked to workers in the Cincinnati office, who said everything they did came from Washington...
...Now comes Mr. Hull's testimony. And like Ms. Hofacre, he pointed his finger upward. Mr. Hull—a 48-year IRS veteran and an expert on tax exemption law—told investigators that tea-party applications under his review were sent upstairs within the Washington office, at the direction of Lois Lerner.
Who is "upstairs" from Hull?
Mr. Hull told House investigators that at some point in the winter of 2010-11, Ms. Lerner's senior adviser, whose name is withheld in the publicly released partial interview transcript, told him the applications would require further review:
Q: "Did [the senior adviser to Ms. Lerner] indicate to you whether she agreed with your recommendations?"
A: "She did not say whether she agreed or not. She said it should go to chief counsel."
Q: "The IRS chief counsel?"
A: "The IRS chief counsel."
The IRS chief counsel is named William Wilkins. And again, he is one of only two Obama political appointees in the IRS.
Think Boehner has the cojones to do what he should do?
Nah.
HT: Peter
...IRS leadership in Washington claimed the harassment of tea-party and other conservative groups requesting tax-exempt status was confined to the Cincinnati office, where a few rogue workers bungled the application process. Lois Lerner, then the head of the exempt organizations unit in Washington, said "line people in Cincinnati" did work that was "not so fine." They asked questions that "weren't really necessary," she claimed, and operated without "the appropriate level of sensitivity." But the targeting was "not intentional."...
...House investigators soon talked to workers in the Cincinnati office, who said everything they did came from Washington...
...Now comes Mr. Hull's testimony. And like Ms. Hofacre, he pointed his finger upward. Mr. Hull—a 48-year IRS veteran and an expert on tax exemption law—told investigators that tea-party applications under his review were sent upstairs within the Washington office, at the direction of Lois Lerner.
Who is "upstairs" from Hull?
Mr. Hull told House investigators that at some point in the winter of 2010-11, Ms. Lerner's senior adviser, whose name is withheld in the publicly released partial interview transcript, told him the applications would require further review:
Q: "Did [the senior adviser to Ms. Lerner] indicate to you whether she agreed with your recommendations?"
A: "She did not say whether she agreed or not. She said it should go to chief counsel."
Q: "The IRS chief counsel?"
A: "The IRS chief counsel."
The IRS chief counsel is named William Wilkins. And again, he is one of only two Obama political appointees in the IRS.
Think Boehner has the cojones to do what he should do?
Nah.
HT: Peter
Friday, July 19, 2013
How Big Is "Too Big"?
Speaking of Dodd-Frank (the below post), we learn even more from its example.
All told, regulators have written 13,789 pages and more than 15 million words to put the law in place, which is equal to 42 words of regulations for every single word of the already hefty law, spanning 848 pages itself.
And if that seems like a lot, keep in mind that by Davis Polk’s estimate, the work implementing the law is just 39 percent complete. --FreedomLine quoting The Hill
Another law school graduating class is employed!!
Next time some Gubmint twit gives you shit, cite Section 243 of Dodd-Frank as your authority. It'll take them about 3 weeks to figure out you're kidding.
All told, regulators have written 13,789 pages and more than 15 million words to put the law in place, which is equal to 42 words of regulations for every single word of the already hefty law, spanning 848 pages itself.
And if that seems like a lot, keep in mind that by Davis Polk’s estimate, the work implementing the law is just 39 percent complete. --FreedomLine quoting The Hill
Another law school graduating class is employed!!
Next time some Gubmint twit gives you shit, cite Section 243 of Dodd-Frank as your authority. It'll take them about 3 weeks to figure out you're kidding.
Lefty Fetishes and G K Chesterton
A thought-provoking little item highlighted at Cold Fury which calls to mind the great Chesterton.
.....Let me give another example of left-wing Puritanism in action... which will be recognizable to many of you. Last month, at a birthday party for a three-year-old, I was hit with the realization that most of the parents around me were in the grip of moral panic, the kind of fear of contamination dramatized so well in The Crucible. One mother was trying to keep her daughter from eating a cupcake, because of all the sugar in cupcakes. Another was trying to limit her son to one juice box, because of all the sugar in juice. A father was panicking because there was no place, in this outdoor barn-like space at some nature center or farm or wildlife preserve, where his daughter could wash her hands before eating....
Ah, yes, that's familiar. The quoted column-author is a Lefty, and he's addressing Bloombergian Puritanism. But behind that Bloombergian fetish is G K Chesterton's prescient quote:
“When you break the big laws you do not get freedom. You do not even get anarchy. You get small laws.”
The New Puritans, beginning with Wilson, were determined to re-manufacture civilization without the fuss and bother of the 10 Commandments. So now we have the 10 Billion Commandments of Slurpee regs, EPA regs, toilet-and-lightbulb regs, and ObozoCare regs.
Chesterton was right, but I doubt he could have imagined the scale of the problem.
.....Let me give another example of left-wing Puritanism in action... which will be recognizable to many of you. Last month, at a birthday party for a three-year-old, I was hit with the realization that most of the parents around me were in the grip of moral panic, the kind of fear of contamination dramatized so well in The Crucible. One mother was trying to keep her daughter from eating a cupcake, because of all the sugar in cupcakes. Another was trying to limit her son to one juice box, because of all the sugar in juice. A father was panicking because there was no place, in this outdoor barn-like space at some nature center or farm or wildlife preserve, where his daughter could wash her hands before eating....
Ah, yes, that's familiar. The quoted column-author is a Lefty, and he's addressing Bloombergian Puritanism. But behind that Bloombergian fetish is G K Chesterton's prescient quote:
“When you break the big laws you do not get freedom. You do not even get anarchy. You get small laws.”
The New Puritans, beginning with Wilson, were determined to re-manufacture civilization without the fuss and bother of the 10 Commandments. So now we have the 10 Billion Commandments of Slurpee regs, EPA regs, toilet-and-lightbulb regs, and ObozoCare regs.
Chesterton was right, but I doubt he could have imagined the scale of the problem.
Obozo's Omerta
No surprise that a Chicago product uses the technique.
...Congressman Frank Wolf said Thursday that survivors of the Benghazi, Libya terror assault have been forced to sign non-disclosure agreements prohibiting them from speaking out about the deadly attack.
...Congressman Frank Wolf said Thursday that survivors of the Benghazi, Libya terror assault have been forced to sign non-disclosure agreements prohibiting them from speaking out about the deadly attack.
“According to trusted sources that have
contacted my office, many if not all of the survivors of the Benghazi
attacks along with others at the Department of Defense, the CIA have
been asked or directed to sign additional non-disclosure agreements
about their involvement in the Benghazi attacks,” Wolf said on the House
floor. “Some of these new NDAs, as they call them, I have been told
were signed as recently as this summer.”
"Nice job you have. It would be too bad if you were to lose it. How would you feed your family?"
That's also the M.O. of the recently-departed FBI SAC.
It's a chlamidya thing infecting Gummint folks. Spreads rapidly.
FBI Investigation Raises Another Question
Seems as though the FBI's Milwaukee boss has already been transferred outta here.
There's a criminal investigation of her activity going on.
Here's a very interesting bit of the story:
...Carlson is under potential criminal investigation by the Office of Inspector General after she told agent Mark Crider in April that it would be in his best interest "to come down on the side of the government in this matter," according to court records in the case....
Hmmmm. Not only is a member of a protected class agitating for discrimination against a member of ANOTHER protected class (snark-worthy in itself), but it also seems as though she has a serious misunderstanding of ethical conduct.
That gives rise to another question: has her "come down on the side of the government" problem influenced other investigations? Or those of other subordinates in the FBI? IOW, is this another case of an LEO with a "convict 'em at any cost" mindset?
Just sayin'.....
There's a criminal investigation of her activity going on.
Here's a very interesting bit of the story:
...Carlson is under potential criminal investigation by the Office of Inspector General after she told agent Mark Crider in April that it would be in his best interest "to come down on the side of the government in this matter," according to court records in the case....
Hmmmm. Not only is a member of a protected class agitating for discrimination against a member of ANOTHER protected class (snark-worthy in itself), but it also seems as though she has a serious misunderstanding of ethical conduct.
That gives rise to another question: has her "come down on the side of the government" problem influenced other investigations? Or those of other subordinates in the FBI? IOW, is this another case of an LEO with a "convict 'em at any cost" mindset?
Just sayin'.....
"Immigration Reform"? Nope. Tax Increase!!
The Rubio/McPain/Schumer Abomination has another little surprise chocolate inside.
A little-noticed part of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score of S. 744 shows that it would in fact impose a $20 billion Medicaid expansion on states. According to the CBO score of the legislation, this provision would occur over a decade-long period after the President signs the bill.
Remember that SCOTUS struck down the $20Bn tax on States which was part of ObozoCare? Yup. It's back, disguised as part of "immigration reform."
In related news, McPain has no idea what's in that box of chocolates. Seems as though his "accomplishment" is more like Rosemary's Baby every day.
A little-noticed part of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score of S. 744 shows that it would in fact impose a $20 billion Medicaid expansion on states. According to the CBO score of the legislation, this provision would occur over a decade-long period after the President signs the bill.
Remember that SCOTUS struck down the $20Bn tax on States which was part of ObozoCare? Yup. It's back, disguised as part of "immigration reform."
In related news, McPain has no idea what's in that box of chocolates. Seems as though his "accomplishment" is more like Rosemary's Baby every day.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
They Got Their Wish, Good and Hard
The elected the commie, and supported him ever since.
Until they read the fine print.
The first union grievance is that the employer mandate is leading business to hold worker hours below 30 hours a week to comply with the Administration’s regulatory definition.
... The unions are also aggrieved because they have failed to gain special subsidies for the multi-employer health insurance plans allowed under the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947
...Now what they’re seeing is workers are looking at the exchanges and seeing, ‘I can drop out of the employer plan, I get a huge subsidy, I come out ahead, and don’t have to be a member of the union.’ So this is a disaster for the unions...
(Hot Air excerpting K-hammer quoting the WSJ and NRO)
No wonder the local AFSCME "leader" decamped to DC. The party is over in Flyover Country.
Until they read the fine print.
The first union grievance is that the employer mandate is leading business to hold worker hours below 30 hours a week to comply with the Administration’s regulatory definition.
... The unions are also aggrieved because they have failed to gain special subsidies for the multi-employer health insurance plans allowed under the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947
...Now what they’re seeing is workers are looking at the exchanges and seeing, ‘I can drop out of the employer plan, I get a huge subsidy, I come out ahead, and don’t have to be a member of the union.’ So this is a disaster for the unions...
(Hot Air excerpting K-hammer quoting the WSJ and NRO)
No wonder the local AFSCME "leader" decamped to DC. The party is over in Flyover Country.
IRS Corruption: Whole New Level
This is chilling.
...Mr. Martel, a criminal investigator for the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration, was telling her that an official in Delaware state government had improperly accessed her records on that very same day. --Althouse quoting WaTimes
The victim was Christine O'Donnell, the rather unusual (R) Senate candidate.
As Althouse emphasizes, it was a STATE Gummint which "accessed" IRS records.
And as Althouse emphasizes, the MSM droids have no interest whatever in IRS corruption.
...Mr. Martel, a criminal investigator for the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration, was telling her that an official in Delaware state government had improperly accessed her records on that very same day. --Althouse quoting WaTimes
The victim was Christine O'Donnell, the rather unusual (R) Senate candidate.
As Althouse emphasizes, it was a STATE Gummint which "accessed" IRS records.
And as Althouse emphasizes, the MSM droids have no interest whatever in IRS corruption.
IRS Persecutions: Yup, They're Political
Nothing new here except naming names. It was Obozo, or Axelrod, or Emanuel who pushed the order--but they'll continue to demolish the republic nonetheless.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
EPA's "Sue/Settle Shuffle" Strikes Again
Currently the EPA regulates lightbulbs, toilet flushing, and electricity generation. EPA has demonstrated its willingness to make electricity cost-prohibitive, drive coal miners into jobless Hell, and raise the price of electricity to the sky, among other minor inconveniences.
Now they'll be regulating dead trees, ethanol production, the Milorganite plant, and silage operations on farms, too. Look forward to living in the Third World without relocating.
Now they'll be regulating dead trees, ethanol production, the Milorganite plant, and silage operations on farms, too. Look forward to living in the Third World without relocating.
ObozoCare Smashes the Working Poor
Are the consequences intended or not? The JS reports that a head-on collision is coming as a result of ObozoCare, and it will smash the working poor.
Josie Armour makes about $460 a week caring for a man born with cerebral palsy. Her hourly wage is officially $11.50 but in reality is probably less than that. Most days, she puts in extra hours, and she works seven days a week.
Armour, 59, has cared for the man for more than a decade and loves her job.
...Armour works for Independence First, which provides services for people with disabilities, and she is an example of one of the unintended consequences of the Affordable Care Act.
Independence First and similar organizations are paid a set hourly rate from Medicaid for personal care workers who help people with disabilities with dressing, bathing and other tasks needed for them to remain in their homes.
The state determines what it will pay for those services. And unlike a restaurant or retail chain, Independence First can't just raise its prices.
Yet it will be required to provide health insurance to employees who work 30 hours a week or pay a potential penalty under the so-called play-or-pay mandate of the Affordable Care Act.
(The JS reporter implies that other businesses CAN simply 'raise prices.' That's debatable, to say the least.)
So what are the consequences?
Because Independence First employs a large number of people with disabilities, its insurance costs are sky-high — an estimated $11,000 a year for individual coverage.
Under the law, a worker's share of the premium is limited to 9.5% of his or her wage. That works out to a bit less than $2,200 a year for someone who makes $11 an hour and works 40 hours a week.
Providing health benefits could cost Independence First more than $5,000 a year for each full-time worker.
The other option is to pay a penalty of $3,000 for each worker who gets subsidized coverage through the marketplaces known as exchanges.
That works out to $1.4 million for the 470 personal care workers who work more than 30 hours a week — or almost all of Independence First's net income of $1.6 million, on revenue of $35.9 million, last year.
(Look again at the italics. That 9.5% premium contribution is coming soon to a theater near you: your own job. Got cash??)
The article also mentions that nursing homes are heading into a crisis, as will daycare centers.
The Lightworker's fairy-dust turns out to be hot nuclear waste. Too bad.
Josie Armour makes about $460 a week caring for a man born with cerebral palsy. Her hourly wage is officially $11.50 but in reality is probably less than that. Most days, she puts in extra hours, and she works seven days a week.
Armour, 59, has cared for the man for more than a decade and loves her job.
...Armour works for Independence First, which provides services for people with disabilities, and she is an example of one of the unintended consequences of the Affordable Care Act.
Independence First and similar organizations are paid a set hourly rate from Medicaid for personal care workers who help people with disabilities with dressing, bathing and other tasks needed for them to remain in their homes.
The state determines what it will pay for those services. And unlike a restaurant or retail chain, Independence First can't just raise its prices.
Yet it will be required to provide health insurance to employees who work 30 hours a week or pay a potential penalty under the so-called play-or-pay mandate of the Affordable Care Act.
(The JS reporter implies that other businesses CAN simply 'raise prices.' That's debatable, to say the least.)
So what are the consequences?
Because Independence First employs a large number of people with disabilities, its insurance costs are sky-high — an estimated $11,000 a year for individual coverage.
Under the law, a worker's share of the premium is limited to 9.5% of his or her wage. That works out to a bit less than $2,200 a year for someone who makes $11 an hour and works 40 hours a week.
Providing health benefits could cost Independence First more than $5,000 a year for each full-time worker.
The other option is to pay a penalty of $3,000 for each worker who gets subsidized coverage through the marketplaces known as exchanges.
That works out to $1.4 million for the 470 personal care workers who work more than 30 hours a week — or almost all of Independence First's net income of $1.6 million, on revenue of $35.9 million, last year.
(Look again at the italics. That 9.5% premium contribution is coming soon to a theater near you: your own job. Got cash??)
The article also mentions that nursing homes are heading into a crisis, as will daycare centers.
The Lightworker's fairy-dust turns out to be hot nuclear waste. Too bad.
Obozo's Treasury Massaging the Numbers
This is simply not believable.
According to the Daily Treasury Statement for July 12, which the U.S. Treasury released this afternoon, the federal debt that is currently subject to a legal limit of $16,699,421,095,673.60 has stood at exactly $16,699,396,000,000.00 for 56 straight days.
That means that for 56 straight days the federal debt has remained approximately $25 million below the legal limit.
If you believe that, you also believe in pink unicorns and fairy dust.
Come to think of it, you'll also believe that Obozo is a "uniter."
According to the Daily Treasury Statement for July 12, which the U.S. Treasury released this afternoon, the federal debt that is currently subject to a legal limit of $16,699,421,095,673.60 has stood at exactly $16,699,396,000,000.00 for 56 straight days.
That means that for 56 straight days the federal debt has remained approximately $25 million below the legal limit.
If you believe that, you also believe in pink unicorns and fairy dust.
Come to think of it, you'll also believe that Obozo is a "uniter."
Monday, July 15, 2013
The Sludge From Capper's Site
We've had more than a few "concern sludge" posts in the combox lately. Sure enough, the AFSCME's main clown and his coterie of Little Lefty Fauntelroys is back.
And they post the "N-word" comments. It's a false flag op--except I think they actually mean what they say.
And they post the "N-word" comments. It's a false flag op--except I think they actually mean what they say.
Martin Alive Except for Police Statistical Tricks?
As it turns out, Trayvon Martin was a victim of police chicanery.
The February 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martion might never have happened if school officials in Miami-Dade County had not instituted an unofficial policy of treating crimes as school disciplinary infractions....
Martin was found in possession of stolen goods, and (separately) in possession of marijuana. However, neither of those resulted in juvie charges due to "policy" instituted by a police chief bent on manipulating crime stats.
Martin could well have been in juvie hall instead of 200 miles from his Miami-area home a year ago February.
The February 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martion might never have happened if school officials in Miami-Dade County had not instituted an unofficial policy of treating crimes as school disciplinary infractions....
Martin was found in possession of stolen goods, and (separately) in possession of marijuana. However, neither of those resulted in juvie charges due to "policy" instituted by a police chief bent on manipulating crime stats.
Martin could well have been in juvie hall instead of 200 miles from his Miami-area home a year ago February.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Complementing the Phone Records
The Feds, who track all your phone calls, email, and web-browsing, can also watch you walk across the street.
And if you think this presentation shows ALL of Argus' capabilities, you're wrong. Twenty years ago the Feds could read a license plate number from 15,000 feet. They can count the eyelets on your shoes now.
And if you think this presentation shows ALL of Argus' capabilities, you're wrong. Twenty years ago the Feds could read a license plate number from 15,000 feet. They can count the eyelets on your shoes now.
Sequester Problems at DOD, Right?
Yah, that header is snark.
The Washington Post has some interesting details of emails sent by Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) contracting and budget officers to their colleagues.
“Our available funding balances remain large in all appropriations — too large to spend” just on small supplemental funds often required by existing contracts, the June 27 e-mail said. DISA’s budget is $2 billion.
“It is critical in our efforts to [spend] 100% of our available resources this fiscal year,” said the e-mail from budget officer Sannadean Sims and procurement officer Kathleen Miller. “It is also imperative that your organization meets its projected spending goal for June. . .”
Yet they found a way to cut the pay of 650,000 employees by 20% between now and 9/30/13.
The War Party will find a way to fix this. There must be some grease-spot on the face of the Earth requiring a few hundred thousand US troops for a couple of years. We can give 'em a good dose of democracy lessons or something, right?
HT: Mish
The Washington Post has some interesting details of emails sent by Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) contracting and budget officers to their colleagues.
“Our available funding balances remain large in all appropriations — too large to spend” just on small supplemental funds often required by existing contracts, the June 27 e-mail said. DISA’s budget is $2 billion.
“It is critical in our efforts to [spend] 100% of our available resources this fiscal year,” said the e-mail from budget officer Sannadean Sims and procurement officer Kathleen Miller. “It is also imperative that your organization meets its projected spending goal for June. . .”
Yet they found a way to cut the pay of 650,000 employees by 20% between now and 9/30/13.
The War Party will find a way to fix this. There must be some grease-spot on the face of the Earth requiring a few hundred thousand US troops for a couple of years. We can give 'em a good dose of democracy lessons or something, right?
HT: Mish
Ah, Yes...TARP
Two in a row HT's to Bayou (see below for #1). This one's on TARP, the $700Bn that TurboTaxTimmy and GWBush flushed into the sewer system known as "The Banks."
...We gave it to the banks. But no one knew what they did with it. I proposed to Tim Geithner that we find out. He was outraged. He cursed me out, using the F-word. He said it would bring the whole banking system down, if I asked.
"I went ahead and sent out a letter. I didn't really have the authority or the staff to insist. But all of the big banks wrote back. And most of them gave me dodgy responses or gave me the brush-off.
"What did they do with the money? They were supposed to increase lending to help bring about a recovery. None of them did that....
Thus spake Barofsky, the (former) Inspector General of Treasury.
By the way--the actual exposure from TARP is well into the trillions of dollars, not "$700 Billion."
...We gave it to the banks. But no one knew what they did with it. I proposed to Tim Geithner that we find out. He was outraged. He cursed me out, using the F-word. He said it would bring the whole banking system down, if I asked.
"I went ahead and sent out a letter. I didn't really have the authority or the staff to insist. But all of the big banks wrote back. And most of them gave me dodgy responses or gave me the brush-off.
"What did they do with the money? They were supposed to increase lending to help bring about a recovery. None of them did that....
Thus spake Barofsky, the (former) Inspector General of Treasury.
By the way--the actual exposure from TARP is well into the trillions of dollars, not "$700 Billion."
A Clear-Eyed Take on Zimmerman
There are no "winners" in the Zimmerman case. Martin--obviously--lost. Zimmerman will live a very truncated 'life' going forward, as will most of his relatives, especially his wife.
As the linked essay states most of the portrayals in the press and blogworld have been simplistic to the point of plastic caricature. Too bad. There are a lot of lessons which should be taken from the event.
By the way, this fellow articulates the thoughts I've had about the affair (Drat. He published first.) Here's where we totally agree:
...It seems to me that Zimmerman was out of line in some of his actions. As a neighborhood watch volunteer, he wasn’t supposed to be armed, but he was. I don’t see that he had any reason to be suspicious of Martin other than the fact that he was a young thuggish-looking black teen....
...Even if Zimmerman wanted to report it to police, he had no business getting out of his car and risking a confrontation....
... Zimmerman and Martin definitely looked at each other through racial lenses, but whether they were or not, each one of them had a chance to escape the confrontation. I’m inclined to believe Zimmerman’s story that Martin picked the physical confrontation...
... Both of them had the chance to walk away from a confrontation, but both kept pushing at a certain point. Once the confrontation started, though, Zimmerman had the legal right to defend himself if he thought he was in danger....
...I think both of these guys were responsible for the confrontation. Either one of them had the power to walk away before it escalated, but neither did. They’re both responsible in the moral sense.
Martin wasn’t the baby-faced innocent victim that some people want to see. Zimmerman isn’t the racist murderer that some want to see. They’re just two people who made some bad decisions that added up to someone getting killed.
HT: RenMan
As the linked essay states most of the portrayals in the press and blogworld have been simplistic to the point of plastic caricature. Too bad. There are a lot of lessons which should be taken from the event.
By the way, this fellow articulates the thoughts I've had about the affair (Drat. He published first.) Here's where we totally agree:
...It seems to me that Zimmerman was out of line in some of his actions. As a neighborhood watch volunteer, he wasn’t supposed to be armed, but he was. I don’t see that he had any reason to be suspicious of Martin other than the fact that he was a young thuggish-looking black teen....
...Even if Zimmerman wanted to report it to police, he had no business getting out of his car and risking a confrontation....
... Zimmerman and Martin definitely looked at each other through racial lenses, but whether they were or not, each one of them had a chance to escape the confrontation. I’m inclined to believe Zimmerman’s story that Martin picked the physical confrontation...
... Both of them had the chance to walk away from a confrontation, but both kept pushing at a certain point. Once the confrontation started, though, Zimmerman had the legal right to defend himself if he thought he was in danger....
...I think both of these guys were responsible for the confrontation. Either one of them had the power to walk away before it escalated, but neither did. They’re both responsible in the moral sense.
Martin wasn’t the baby-faced innocent victim that some people want to see. Zimmerman isn’t the racist murderer that some want to see. They’re just two people who made some bad decisions that added up to someone getting killed.
HT: RenMan
Saturday, July 13, 2013
"Small Arms" Treaty Fails
Forty-six (D) Senators voted to renounce national sovereignty:
Baldwin (D-WI); Baucus (D-MT); Bennet (D-CO); Blumenthal (D-CT); Boxer (D-CA); Brown (D-OH); Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD); Carper (D-DE); Casey (D-PA); Coons (D-DE); Cowan (D-MA); Durbin (D-IL); Feinstein (D-CA); Franken (D-MN); Gillibrand (D-NY); Harkin (D-IA); Hirono (D-HI); Johnson (D-SD); Kaine (D-VA); King (I-ME); Klobuchar (D-MN); Landrieu (D-LA); Leahy (D-VT); Levin (D-MI); McCaskill (D-MO); Menendez (D-NJ); Merk (D-OR); Mikulski (D-MD); Murphy (D-CT); Murray (D-WA); Nelson (D-FL); Reed (D-RI); Reid (D-NV); Rockefeller (D-WV); Sanders (I-VT); Schatz (D-HI); Schumer (D-NY); Shaheen (D-NH); Stabenow (D-MI); Udall (D-CO); Udall (D-NM); Warner (D-VA); Warren (D-MA); Whitehouse (D-RI); Wyden (D-OR)
Yes, indeed! That's our little Tammy, first on the list!!
HT: Protein
Baldwin (D-WI); Baucus (D-MT); Bennet (D-CO); Blumenthal (D-CT); Boxer (D-CA); Brown (D-OH); Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD); Carper (D-DE); Casey (D-PA); Coons (D-DE); Cowan (D-MA); Durbin (D-IL); Feinstein (D-CA); Franken (D-MN); Gillibrand (D-NY); Harkin (D-IA); Hirono (D-HI); Johnson (D-SD); Kaine (D-VA); King (I-ME); Klobuchar (D-MN); Landrieu (D-LA); Leahy (D-VT); Levin (D-MI); McCaskill (D-MO); Menendez (D-NJ); Merk (D-OR); Mikulski (D-MD); Murphy (D-CT); Murray (D-WA); Nelson (D-FL); Reed (D-RI); Reid (D-NV); Rockefeller (D-WV); Sanders (I-VT); Schatz (D-HI); Schumer (D-NY); Shaheen (D-NH); Stabenow (D-MI); Udall (D-CO); Udall (D-NM); Warner (D-VA); Warren (D-MA); Whitehouse (D-RI); Wyden (D-OR)
Yes, indeed! That's our little Tammy, first on the list!!
HT: Protein
Friday, July 12, 2013
Your Tax Dollars on the Stairway
TMJ4 finds $500K staircase, US Attorney says 'it's all for security purposes'.
Uh-huh. Yup. Because there are so many "theft of papers" cases at the Fed Building, right?
Some People Are More Equal Than Others, ya'know.
Uh-huh. Yup. Because there are so many "theft of papers" cases at the Fed Building, right?
Some People Are More Equal Than Others, ya'know.
The Cause of Recession: Demographics
If you wish to hold Obozo harmless vis-a-vis the recession, you may be right.
But you won't like the reasoning at all.
“I think clearly we can see that the economic crisis which we are observing in the western world is a direct consequence of 1968, of the rejection of Humanae Vitae, of the rejection of the Church’s teaching, and the approval of the sexual revolution, which has caused a demographic crash.” Those were the words of Rev. Wojciech Giertych OP, the Theologian of the Papal Household...
Fr. Giertych is not an optimist; he sees inter-generational violence on the horizon in Europe, and perhaps in the US.
Two quick notes: Japan is even worse off than Europe, and Bank of Japan's Bernanke-ism, now in its TENTH year, is not working. Conversely, Third World nations are enjoying (marginally) better economic stats than the West. That's because they have babies.
But you won't like the reasoning at all.
“I think clearly we can see that the economic crisis which we are observing in the western world is a direct consequence of 1968, of the rejection of Humanae Vitae, of the rejection of the Church’s teaching, and the approval of the sexual revolution, which has caused a demographic crash.” Those were the words of Rev. Wojciech Giertych OP, the Theologian of the Papal Household...
Fr. Giertych is not an optimist; he sees inter-generational violence on the horizon in Europe, and perhaps in the US.
Two quick notes: Japan is even worse off than Europe, and Bank of Japan's Bernanke-ism, now in its TENTH year, is not working. Conversely, Third World nations are enjoying (marginally) better economic stats than the West. That's because they have babies.
Clinton's Illegal Legacy; the IRS Gambit
If you thought that Clinton and Ted Kennedy were telling the truth about IRRA in 1996, you are mistaken. (But then, if you thought that Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy EVER told the truth, you're in need of treatment.) Clinton's IRS decided to flat-out ignore Federal law to protect illegals and their employers.
The question of whether to legalize illegal aliens and put them on a pathway to citizenship may be the most controversial legislative issue facing the U.S. Congress this year.
But, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), seventeen years have already passed since the Internal Revenue Service made its own “policy decision” to “’legalize’ illegal aliens.”
It's bad enough that IRS management inflicts punishment on the political right and brags about it.
Now it turns out that they unilaterally decide to ignore Federal law to protect illegals--and to ship them a bunch of money. IRS is also protecting the employers of illegals by unilaterally declaring that the law, which requires reporting to INS--doesn't apply.
Try telling IRS that the law doesn't apply to you sometime....
It's about time that IRS goes away, ain'a?
Or maybe it's time to extend the TEA Party revolution to W-4 activity.
The question of whether to legalize illegal aliens and put them on a pathway to citizenship may be the most controversial legislative issue facing the U.S. Congress this year.
But, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), seventeen years have already passed since the Internal Revenue Service made its own “policy decision” to “’legalize’ illegal aliens.”
It's bad enough that IRS management inflicts punishment on the political right and brags about it.
Now it turns out that they unilaterally decide to ignore Federal law to protect illegals--and to ship them a bunch of money. IRS is also protecting the employers of illegals by unilaterally declaring that the law, which requires reporting to INS--doesn't apply.
Try telling IRS that the law doesn't apply to you sometime....
It's about time that IRS goes away, ain'a?
Or maybe it's time to extend the TEA Party revolution to W-4 activity.
NILF-WJNs, Ratios: The ObozoDisaster Economy
Wherein the author demonstrates that the Obozo Economy --like the Obozo Foreign Policy and the Obozo Respect for Laws--is worse than awful. As usual, socialist policy inflicts its worst damage on the lower and lower-middle classes, here forcing them into part-time work, if they can find work at all.
...The “official” unemployment rate held steady at 7.6%. The economy created 195,000 jobs in June. The BLS revised payrolls for the last three months upwards and the labor participation rate (the percentage of the total population over the age of 16 in the labor force) improved slightly moving from 63.4% to 63.5%.
However, there were several very troubling indicators. The number of people who gave up looking for work because they believe no jobs were available increased by 206,000 from a year earlier to 1 million. The number of individuals who were working part time increased by 432,000, twice the number of jobs created. Full time jobs actually declined by 272,000....
Yah, that's grim, unless you eat part-time, or have a part-time mortgage. Or maybe part-time electricity, hey!! Part-time water and sewer, anyone? How about part-time car payments?
...The BLS reports a number each month which it labels “Not in the Labor Force – Want a Job Now” that seems to confirm this study’s conclusion.
According to the BLS, in June there were 6,580,000 people out of work who “want a job now” but who BLS excluded from the ranks of the officially unemployed, including those who were too discouraged to look for a job in the past 30 days. Adding these people back into the labor force produces an unemployment rate of 11.3%, again well in excess of the “official” 7.6%....
The author and a colleague developed a "Growth Ratio." During the Obozo Regime, that's not been healthy, either.
...The Growth Ratio is the year-over-year growth in the number of jobs (measured through the BLS’s household survey) divided by the year-over-year growth in the civilian non-institutional population (the number of people who could be in the labor force)....In June, the growth ratio clocked in at 1.15%, indicating that employment growth over the previous twelve months was slightly greater than population growth. The average for the recovery to date is a dismal 0.97%. In other words, the labor market has actually gotten slightly worse since the recovery began. Yet the early years of a recovery should be its most robust, especially where a recession was severe. Considering the loss in employment during the last recession, the growth ratio should be consistently hitting 1.5% or better, as it did following prior recoveries once the Growth Ratio went positive....
There is a conclusion:
In short, real unemployment is well above the “official” 7.6%. The official rate has only declined because of a very disturbing decline in the number of people the BLS considers in the labor force. In addition, as employers divide the number of available full time work hours among a larger group of part time workers, the official unemployment rate makes it appear as though our economy is growing and creating more jobs than it is. Dividing full time jobs into more numerous part time jobs is not an indication of economic growth. Yet, even with this false positive, job creation is barely exceeding population growth...
Another summary: how about part-time "demand" growth? Ever see that happen??
...The “official” unemployment rate held steady at 7.6%. The economy created 195,000 jobs in June. The BLS revised payrolls for the last three months upwards and the labor participation rate (the percentage of the total population over the age of 16 in the labor force) improved slightly moving from 63.4% to 63.5%.
However, there were several very troubling indicators. The number of people who gave up looking for work because they believe no jobs were available increased by 206,000 from a year earlier to 1 million. The number of individuals who were working part time increased by 432,000, twice the number of jobs created. Full time jobs actually declined by 272,000....
Yah, that's grim, unless you eat part-time, or have a part-time mortgage. Or maybe part-time electricity, hey!! Part-time water and sewer, anyone? How about part-time car payments?
...The BLS reports a number each month which it labels “Not in the Labor Force – Want a Job Now” that seems to confirm this study’s conclusion.
According to the BLS, in June there were 6,580,000 people out of work who “want a job now” but who BLS excluded from the ranks of the officially unemployed, including those who were too discouraged to look for a job in the past 30 days. Adding these people back into the labor force produces an unemployment rate of 11.3%, again well in excess of the “official” 7.6%....
The author and a colleague developed a "Growth Ratio." During the Obozo Regime, that's not been healthy, either.
...The Growth Ratio is the year-over-year growth in the number of jobs (measured through the BLS’s household survey) divided by the year-over-year growth in the civilian non-institutional population (the number of people who could be in the labor force)....In June, the growth ratio clocked in at 1.15%, indicating that employment growth over the previous twelve months was slightly greater than population growth. The average for the recovery to date is a dismal 0.97%. In other words, the labor market has actually gotten slightly worse since the recovery began. Yet the early years of a recovery should be its most robust, especially where a recession was severe. Considering the loss in employment during the last recession, the growth ratio should be consistently hitting 1.5% or better, as it did following prior recoveries once the Growth Ratio went positive....
There is a conclusion:
In short, real unemployment is well above the “official” 7.6%. The official rate has only declined because of a very disturbing decline in the number of people the BLS considers in the labor force. In addition, as employers divide the number of available full time work hours among a larger group of part time workers, the official unemployment rate makes it appear as though our economy is growing and creating more jobs than it is. Dividing full time jobs into more numerous part time jobs is not an indication of economic growth. Yet, even with this false positive, job creation is barely exceeding population growth...
Another summary: how about part-time "demand" growth? Ever see that happen??
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Fourth Circuit Emulates Ninth
It was a struggle to "reason" to the conclusion that ObozoCare does not "burden" religious organizations.
It was a particularly difficult struggle to wrestle RFRA to the ground and kill it off in this case.
But the Fourth Circuit succeeded.
So far.
It was a particularly difficult struggle to wrestle RFRA to the ground and kill it off in this case.
But the Fourth Circuit succeeded.
So far.
The Real Compassionate Conservatism and Intermediary Institutions
From a somewhat lengthy post at RedState, we are given this quote from Arthur Brooks (AEI) who wrote in the WSJ:
...If Republicans and conservatives double down on the promotion of economic growth, job creation and traditional values, Americans might turn away from softheaded concerns about “caring.” Right?
Wrong. As New York University social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has shown in his research on 132,000 Americans, care for the vulnerable is a universal moral concern in the U.S. In his best-selling 2012 book “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion,” Mr. Haidt demonstrated that citizens across the political spectrum place a great importance on taking care of those in need and avoiding harm to the weak. By contrast, moral values such as sexual purity and respect for authority—to which conservative politicians often give greater emphasis—resonate deeply with only a minority of the population. Raw money arguments, e.g., about the dire effects of the country’s growing entitlement spending, don’t register morally at all....
OK. Now we switch to Jonah Goldberg:
...As a candidate, Bush distanced himself from the Gingrich “revolutionaries” of the 1994 Congress, and he criticized social conservatives such as Robert Bork, who had written an admittedly uncheery book, Slouching towards Gomorrah. He talked endlessly about what a tough job single mothers have and scolded his fellow conservatives for failing to see that “family values don’t end at the Rio Grande.” As president, he said that “when somebody hurts, government has got to move.” According to compassionate conservatives, reflexive anti-statism on the right is foolish, for there are many important — and conservative — things the state can do right....
Brooks again:
...The left talks a big game about helping the bottom half, but its policies are gradually ruining the economy, which will have catastrophic results once the safety net is no longer affordable. Labyrinthine regulations, punitive taxation and wage distortions destroy the ability to create private-sector jobs. Opportunities for Americans on the bottom to better their station in life are being erased....
Now Medved:
...The American people .... respond to “its morning in America.” They respond to our greatest days are ahead of us not behind us. They respond to the fact that this country is a nation of kindness and optimism. And when it comes to that optimistic spirit that is why the core issue here is not a green eye shade kind of where we have to balance the budget and we have to balance this. It has to be growth. That is what we are talking about. Growing the economy, growing families, growing communities, growing lives we have the right answers. We have the right answers not only for the country, not only for our states, as Arizona is demonstrating, we have the right answers for individuals and for families and for communities and that is what we have to be able to do, If we emphasize appealing to people based on their individual characteristics and decisions not membership in some kind of group...
And finally to the post's author, Bill S:
And that’s what “compassionate conservatism” was supposed to be about…not about “No Child Left Behind” or Medicare Part D. It was about supporting vulnerable people via charities and other organizations, with a little help from the government. True “compassionate conservatism” is about empowering charities to help the needy…to enable “little platoons” to assist.
Burke used the term "little platoons" to describe intermediary institutions, churches and schools, clubs and charities that served neighbors.
Too bad the ACLU spiked all that stuff Bush tried with "faith-based initiatives," eh?
...If Republicans and conservatives double down on the promotion of economic growth, job creation and traditional values, Americans might turn away from softheaded concerns about “caring.” Right?
Wrong. As New York University social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has shown in his research on 132,000 Americans, care for the vulnerable is a universal moral concern in the U.S. In his best-selling 2012 book “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion,” Mr. Haidt demonstrated that citizens across the political spectrum place a great importance on taking care of those in need and avoiding harm to the weak. By contrast, moral values such as sexual purity and respect for authority—to which conservative politicians often give greater emphasis—resonate deeply with only a minority of the population. Raw money arguments, e.g., about the dire effects of the country’s growing entitlement spending, don’t register morally at all....
OK. Now we switch to Jonah Goldberg:
...As a candidate, Bush distanced himself from the Gingrich “revolutionaries” of the 1994 Congress, and he criticized social conservatives such as Robert Bork, who had written an admittedly uncheery book, Slouching towards Gomorrah. He talked endlessly about what a tough job single mothers have and scolded his fellow conservatives for failing to see that “family values don’t end at the Rio Grande.” As president, he said that “when somebody hurts, government has got to move.” According to compassionate conservatives, reflexive anti-statism on the right is foolish, for there are many important — and conservative — things the state can do right....
Brooks again:
...The left talks a big game about helping the bottom half, but its policies are gradually ruining the economy, which will have catastrophic results once the safety net is no longer affordable. Labyrinthine regulations, punitive taxation and wage distortions destroy the ability to create private-sector jobs. Opportunities for Americans on the bottom to better their station in life are being erased....
Now Medved:
...The American people .... respond to “its morning in America.” They respond to our greatest days are ahead of us not behind us. They respond to the fact that this country is a nation of kindness and optimism. And when it comes to that optimistic spirit that is why the core issue here is not a green eye shade kind of where we have to balance the budget and we have to balance this. It has to be growth. That is what we are talking about. Growing the economy, growing families, growing communities, growing lives we have the right answers. We have the right answers not only for the country, not only for our states, as Arizona is demonstrating, we have the right answers for individuals and for families and for communities and that is what we have to be able to do, If we emphasize appealing to people based on their individual characteristics and decisions not membership in some kind of group...
And finally to the post's author, Bill S:
And that’s what “compassionate conservatism” was supposed to be about…not about “No Child Left Behind” or Medicare Part D. It was about supporting vulnerable people via charities and other organizations, with a little help from the government. True “compassionate conservatism” is about empowering charities to help the needy…to enable “little platoons” to assist.
Burke used the term "little platoons" to describe intermediary institutions, churches and schools, clubs and charities that served neighbors.
Too bad the ACLU spiked all that stuff Bush tried with "faith-based initiatives," eh?
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
The Bill of Indictment Against Obozo
Nicely laid-out articulation of what is a Constitutional crisis.
...The employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act contains no provision allowing the president to suspend, delay or repeal it.
... In June of last year, for example, the administration stopped initiating deportation proceedings against some 800,000 illegal immigrants...
... Earlier in 2012, the president effectively replaced congressional requirements governing state compliance under the No Child Left Behind Act with new ones crafted by his administration....
And there's the infamous non-defense of DOMA, a lesser offense only of degree.
The essay also supplies pertinent SCOTUS decisions, including one slapping Bill Clinton for *saving* money (gasp...)
Seems to me that some Congressman should institute a lawsuit over the ObozoCare violation. But that would take balls.
Oh, well.
HT: Althouse
...The employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act contains no provision allowing the president to suspend, delay or repeal it.
... In June of last year, for example, the administration stopped initiating deportation proceedings against some 800,000 illegal immigrants...
... Earlier in 2012, the president effectively replaced congressional requirements governing state compliance under the No Child Left Behind Act with new ones crafted by his administration....
And there's the infamous non-defense of DOMA, a lesser offense only of degree.
The essay also supplies pertinent SCOTUS decisions, including one slapping Bill Clinton for *saving* money (gasp...)
Seems to me that some Congressman should institute a lawsuit over the ObozoCare violation. But that would take balls.
Oh, well.
HT: Althouse
A Little Advice for Ryan (and Walker)
Paul Ryan fell all over himself trying to explain how the Senate's immigration abomination was kinda sorta good. Scott Walker had to "clarify" a comment he made on the same topic.
Here are a couple of congresscritters who actually get it:
...“They have shown no respect for traditional Constitutional separation of powers,” Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., told National Review’s John Fund about the impact of the ObamaCare delays on the immigration debate, “and that makes it difficult to pass laws where the fear is that they will simply ignore the parts they don’t like.”
Carroll goes on to write that, “Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, who is on the House Judiciary Committee and had been a member of a bipartisan group working on immigration reform, echoed Roe’s concerns on Meet the Press. ‘In fact, if you look at this ObamaCare debacle that they have right now, this administration is actually deciding when and where to actually enforce the law. And that’s what some of us in the House are concerned about. If you give to this administration the authority to decide when they’re going to enforce the law, how they’re going to enforce the law… what’s going to happen is that we’re going to give legalization to 11 million people and Janet Napolitano is going to come to Congress and tell us that the border is already secure and nothing else needs to happen.’”...
"Selective enforcement" also applies to IRS and the NSA, remember.
So what is the "Rule of Law" these days?
Bueller? Anyone?
Here are a couple of congresscritters who actually get it:
...“They have shown no respect for traditional Constitutional separation of powers,” Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., told National Review’s John Fund about the impact of the ObamaCare delays on the immigration debate, “and that makes it difficult to pass laws where the fear is that they will simply ignore the parts they don’t like.”
Carroll goes on to write that, “Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, who is on the House Judiciary Committee and had been a member of a bipartisan group working on immigration reform, echoed Roe’s concerns on Meet the Press. ‘In fact, if you look at this ObamaCare debacle that they have right now, this administration is actually deciding when and where to actually enforce the law. And that’s what some of us in the House are concerned about. If you give to this administration the authority to decide when they’re going to enforce the law, how they’re going to enforce the law… what’s going to happen is that we’re going to give legalization to 11 million people and Janet Napolitano is going to come to Congress and tell us that the border is already secure and nothing else needs to happen.’”...
"Selective enforcement" also applies to IRS and the NSA, remember.
So what is the "Rule of Law" these days?
Bueller? Anyone?
Got SWAT? Go Kill Somebody--Updated
What passes for "law enforcement" these days is more than a little disturbing.
...detective David Baucum overheard the thirty-eight-year-old optometrist and some friends wagering on a college football game. “To Sal, betting a few bills on the Redskins was a stress reliever, done among friends,” a friend of Culosi’s told me...
...On the night of January 24, 2006, Baucum called Culosi and arranged a time to drop by to collect his winnings. When Culosi, barefoot and clad in a T-shirt and jeans, stepped out of his house to meet the man he thought was a friend, the SWAT team began to move in. Seconds later, Det. Deval Bullock, who had been on duty since 4:00 AM and hadn’t slept in seventeen hours, fired a bullet that pierced Culosi’s heart....
Whoops.
Then there's the latest/greatest abuse: SWAT-for-regulators (!!)
...By the end of the 2000s, police departments were sending SWAT teams to enforce regulatory law. In August 2010, for example, a team of heavily armed Orange County, Florida, sheriff’s deputies raided several black-and Hispanic-owned barbershops in the Orlando area. More raids followed in September and October. The Orlando Sentinel reported that police held barbers and customers at gunpoint and put some in handcuffs, while they turned the shops inside out. The police raided a total of nine shops and arrested thirty-seven people...
Nope. Not drugs, not gambling, not prostitution.
...thirty-four of the thirty-seven arrests were for “barbering without a license,” a misdemeanor for which only three people have ever served jail time in Florida.
The most disturbing aspect of the Orlando raids was that police didn’t even attempt to obtain a legal search warrant. They didn’t need to, because they conducted the raids in conjunction with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Think about THAT the next time you sell whole milk to your neighbors.
HT: PW
More: I took 3 of my grandchildren jug fishing (tie string to a milk jug, attach a hook and bait and set them in the water, come back hours later and bring in the fish). This was a first for my kids. We left about 9:00 p.m., and after setting out two of the jugs we got stopped by two officers from Illinois Department of Natural Resources (appropriately shortened to DNR). They were going to do a safety check. They had guns, dressed as Gestapo, and had bulletproof vests. --quoted at PJMedia
The DNR with BULLETPROOF VESTS?
Be serious.
Here, the acronym stands for "Damn Near Russia." The FIB's could learn something from us.
...detective David Baucum overheard the thirty-eight-year-old optometrist and some friends wagering on a college football game. “To Sal, betting a few bills on the Redskins was a stress reliever, done among friends,” a friend of Culosi’s told me...
...On the night of January 24, 2006, Baucum called Culosi and arranged a time to drop by to collect his winnings. When Culosi, barefoot and clad in a T-shirt and jeans, stepped out of his house to meet the man he thought was a friend, the SWAT team began to move in. Seconds later, Det. Deval Bullock, who had been on duty since 4:00 AM and hadn’t slept in seventeen hours, fired a bullet that pierced Culosi’s heart....
Whoops.
Then there's the latest/greatest abuse: SWAT-for-regulators (!!)
...By the end of the 2000s, police departments were sending SWAT teams to enforce regulatory law. In August 2010, for example, a team of heavily armed Orange County, Florida, sheriff’s deputies raided several black-and Hispanic-owned barbershops in the Orlando area. More raids followed in September and October. The Orlando Sentinel reported that police held barbers and customers at gunpoint and put some in handcuffs, while they turned the shops inside out. The police raided a total of nine shops and arrested thirty-seven people...
Nope. Not drugs, not gambling, not prostitution.
...thirty-four of the thirty-seven arrests were for “barbering without a license,” a misdemeanor for which only three people have ever served jail time in Florida.
The most disturbing aspect of the Orlando raids was that police didn’t even attempt to obtain a legal search warrant. They didn’t need to, because they conducted the raids in conjunction with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Think about THAT the next time you sell whole milk to your neighbors.
HT: PW
More: I took 3 of my grandchildren jug fishing (tie string to a milk jug, attach a hook and bait and set them in the water, come back hours later and bring in the fish). This was a first for my kids. We left about 9:00 p.m., and after setting out two of the jugs we got stopped by two officers from Illinois Department of Natural Resources (appropriately shortened to DNR). They were going to do a safety check. They had guns, dressed as Gestapo, and had bulletproof vests. --quoted at PJMedia
The DNR with BULLETPROOF VESTS?
Be serious.
Here, the acronym stands for "Damn Near Russia." The FIB's could learn something from us.
Mass. Clash Leaves 72 Dead
National Guard units seeking to confiscate a cache of recently banned
assault weapons were ambushed by elements of a Para-military extremist
faction. Military and law enforcement sources estimate that 72 were
killed and more than 200 injured before government forces were compelled
to withdraw.
More at PW.
More at PW.
Obozo, the President of Train Wreck
If you thought that (illegally) abrogating the insurance mandate and (irrationally) putting ObozoCare applicants on the "honor system" were the last you'd hear about the ObozoWreck, you're wrong.
Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah wrote a letter to the administration asking why the president is already requesting 107 percent more than three years ago to pay for subsidies.
That would be MORE THAN DOUBLE, for you math-challenged Lefties....
Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah wrote a letter to the administration asking why the president is already requesting 107 percent more than three years ago to pay for subsidies.
That would be MORE THAN DOUBLE, for you math-challenged Lefties....
Tuesday, July 09, 2013
The Corn-A-Holers Love to Lie, and to Blame YOU
The Corn-A-Hole crowd knows how to lie. They're also good at blaming YOU for problems that they cause.
They just *forget* a couple of facts. Of course, the JS "reporters" don't include them, either.
...Raising the amount of the biofuel in gasoline could reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil, lower fuel prices, and aid the environment because the ethanol blend burns cleaner, ethanol advocates say...
That will also raise the price of corn--therefore, of beef, pork, and chicken--which will increase hunger in the Third World and have a negative impact on your budget. Unless you don't eat much of anything.
As for Blame-Spreading:
Don't blame ethanol for water in gasoline, says Kristy Moore, vice president of technical services for the Renewable Fuels Association.
Most of the problems stem from careless handling of fuel, such as leaving the cap off a gasoline can and failing to use a fuel stabilizer when outdoor power equipment is put in storage for months, according to Moore.
"We call these 'housekeeping issues,'" she said. "If someone doesn't take care of equipment to keep water out of the fuel, they're going to have a hard time starting that engine."
This snippy little bitch deserves .....ahhh........wellllll.........
Ethanol IS a water-magnet. There's no question about it. Her contention that the owners of outdoor power equipment (boats, mowers, chainsaws, generators, snowblowers, trimmers, leaf-blowers) are just ignorant slobs is ......umnnnhhh....cheeky, to be kind.
Gasoline usage for O.P.E. is unpredictable. Mowers don't get used during dry spells; snowblowers don't get used in dry winters. But precipitation is unpredictable (unlike bitchiness in females), so one buys X gallons of fuel with the hope that it will all get used. It's only a hope; rarely a reality.
I'm certain that Ms. Moore and her paymasters will not buy back all the unused Corn-A-Hole at the end of a given season, right? Should we dump it on their doorsteps instead?
Here's another wonderful little line of s*&^:
The small-engine industry has lagged behind automakers in keeping up with changing fuel standards, according to Moore.
First off, the automakers' R&D/Engine Engineering budgets are approximately the same as Briggs' entire annual sales volume. Secondly, there IS no "leftover" gasoline in (most) automobiles, because they are in continuous use.
Ugly little fact, no? Gee! It's un-mentioned!!!
Corn liquor in internal combustion engines is a cancer, both for the engines and for the consumers.
However, it's a cancer that can be cured with an election or two.
They just *forget* a couple of facts. Of course, the JS "reporters" don't include them, either.
...Raising the amount of the biofuel in gasoline could reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil, lower fuel prices, and aid the environment because the ethanol blend burns cleaner, ethanol advocates say...
That will also raise the price of corn--therefore, of beef, pork, and chicken--which will increase hunger in the Third World and have a negative impact on your budget. Unless you don't eat much of anything.
As for Blame-Spreading:
Don't blame ethanol for water in gasoline, says Kristy Moore, vice president of technical services for the Renewable Fuels Association.
Most of the problems stem from careless handling of fuel, such as leaving the cap off a gasoline can and failing to use a fuel stabilizer when outdoor power equipment is put in storage for months, according to Moore.
"We call these 'housekeeping issues,'" she said. "If someone doesn't take care of equipment to keep water out of the fuel, they're going to have a hard time starting that engine."
This snippy little bitch deserves .....ahhh........wellllll.........
Ethanol IS a water-magnet. There's no question about it. Her contention that the owners of outdoor power equipment (boats, mowers, chainsaws, generators, snowblowers, trimmers, leaf-blowers) are just ignorant slobs is ......umnnnhhh....cheeky, to be kind.
Gasoline usage for O.P.E. is unpredictable. Mowers don't get used during dry spells; snowblowers don't get used in dry winters. But precipitation is unpredictable (unlike bitchiness in females), so one buys X gallons of fuel with the hope that it will all get used. It's only a hope; rarely a reality.
I'm certain that Ms. Moore and her paymasters will not buy back all the unused Corn-A-Hole at the end of a given season, right? Should we dump it on their doorsteps instead?
Here's another wonderful little line of s*&^:
The small-engine industry has lagged behind automakers in keeping up with changing fuel standards, according to Moore.
First off, the automakers' R&D/Engine Engineering budgets are approximately the same as Briggs' entire annual sales volume. Secondly, there IS no "leftover" gasoline in (most) automobiles, because they are in continuous use.
Ugly little fact, no? Gee! It's un-mentioned!!!
Corn liquor in internal combustion engines is a cancer, both for the engines and for the consumers.
However, it's a cancer that can be cured with an election or two.
Sunday, July 07, 2013
The AFSCME Gets What It Wished For. It Ain't Pretty
I know that it's not really nice to indulge in schadenfreude. So I'll try to make that indulgence short.
Bloomberg reports this week on the latest Obamacare trend sweeping across the country: Cities and states may soon attempt to unload unsustainable health costs on the federal government by dumping employees and retirees onto exchanges....--Heritage Foundation quoted at McCain
Can Milwaukee County be far behind?
Bloomberg reports this week on the latest Obamacare trend sweeping across the country: Cities and states may soon attempt to unload unsustainable health costs on the federal government by dumping employees and retirees onto exchanges....--Heritage Foundation quoted at McCain
Can Milwaukee County be far behind?
Be (Exceedingly) Polite
The VERY Short Memory of Lefties
A Left-o-Blog from Madison notes that Walker's transportation budget is heavy on borrowing (about $1BN, to be specific.)
They cite WISTAX, a non-partisan tax watchdog:
...As borrowing has increased, the share of the state transportation budget going to debt service has grown. WISTAX found that these mandatory debt payments rose 230% from $93.3 million in 2002 to $306.9 million in 2012. Debt service accounted for only 4.1% of transportation expenditures in 2002 but 9.5% by 2012....
Gee. Who was Governor between 2002-2012? And didn't that Governorsteal re-allocate about $1BN from the transportation trust fund during his kleptocratic reign?
I'm no fan of Big Spending, nor Big Borrowing, and have noted that Walker's budget is laden with both. But in fairness, Walker didn't put the State into the position it's in.
That was Diamond Jim Doyle.
Either way, the RoadBuilder Lobby scores again!!!
They cite WISTAX, a non-partisan tax watchdog:
...As borrowing has increased, the share of the state transportation budget going to debt service has grown. WISTAX found that these mandatory debt payments rose 230% from $93.3 million in 2002 to $306.9 million in 2012. Debt service accounted for only 4.1% of transportation expenditures in 2002 but 9.5% by 2012....
Gee. Who was Governor between 2002-2012? And didn't that Governor
I'm no fan of Big Spending, nor Big Borrowing, and have noted that Walker's budget is laden with both. But in fairness, Walker didn't put the State into the position it's in.
That was Diamond Jim Doyle.
Either way, the RoadBuilder Lobby scores again!!!
Friday, July 05, 2013
Even MORE Gummint Spying on You
What the NSA, IRS, and ObozoCare doesn't catch, the CFPB will.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created by the Dodd-Frank financial reform, is collecting reams of data on your bill-paying and spending habits.
In fact, the Obama administration is compiling a massive database of personal information, including monthly credit card, mortgage, car and other payments.
The data will be warehoused by private contractors and shared with other federal agencies and Congress, as well as researchers in the field.
Naturally, that's to protect you.
Or not:
CFPB has failed to adequately protect the data it's amassing from major banks and consumer credit reporting firms from unauthorized disclosures, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warns.
In fact, CFPB's own inspector general recently cited "weaknesses" in its security program. His findings were corroborated by a Government Accountability Office report that expressed concerns about CFPB's data security.
Does anyone you know know how to read and send smoke signals? Because that's about all that the Gummint doesn't collect.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created by the Dodd-Frank financial reform, is collecting reams of data on your bill-paying and spending habits.
In fact, the Obama administration is compiling a massive database of personal information, including monthly credit card, mortgage, car and other payments.
The data will be warehoused by private contractors and shared with other federal agencies and Congress, as well as researchers in the field.
Naturally, that's to protect you.
Or not:
CFPB has failed to adequately protect the data it's amassing from major banks and consumer credit reporting firms from unauthorized disclosures, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warns.
In fact, CFPB's own inspector general recently cited "weaknesses" in its security program. His findings were corroborated by a Government Accountability Office report that expressed concerns about CFPB's data security.
Does anyone you know know how to read and send smoke signals? Because that's about all that the Gummint doesn't collect.
The Part-Time Obozo Economy
I suppose that part-time work is better than none at all.
If you don't have to make full-time payments....
...jobs have quantity and quality components. The quantity component was good enough to convince the 10 Year the taper is imminent (if not stocks, which continue to trade dislocated from any and all fundamentals). But how about the quality? In a word: not good. In June, the household survey reported that part-time jobs soared by 360,000 to 28,059,000 – an all time record high. Full time jobs? Down 240,000. And looking back at the entire year, so far in 2013, just 130K Full-Time Jobs have been added, offset by a whopping 557K Part-Time jobs. And there is your jobs “quality” leading to today’s market euphoria...--ZeroHedge quoted at Malkin
Thank God Obozo is part-time, too (see below), or it might be a helluvalot worse.
If you don't have to make full-time payments....
...jobs have quantity and quality components. The quantity component was good enough to convince the 10 Year the taper is imminent (if not stocks, which continue to trade dislocated from any and all fundamentals). But how about the quality? In a word: not good. In June, the household survey reported that part-time jobs soared by 360,000 to 28,059,000 – an all time record high. Full time jobs? Down 240,000. And looking back at the entire year, so far in 2013, just 130K Full-Time Jobs have been added, offset by a whopping 557K Part-Time jobs. And there is your jobs “quality” leading to today’s market euphoria...--ZeroHedge quoted at Malkin
Thank God Obozo is part-time, too (see below), or it might be a helluvalot worse.
Oldie But Goodie: Obozo's Firsts
From a friend by email:
*Charles Wright : Top Commenter*
*Quit trashing Obama's accomplishments. He has done more than any other
President before him. He has an impressive list of accomplishments:
First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he
was a foreigner.
First President to have a social security number from a state he has never
lived in.
First President to preside over a cut to the credit-rating of the United
States .
First President to violate the War Powers Act.
First President to be held in contempt of court for illegally obstructing
oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico .
First President to require all Americans to purchase a product from a third
party.
First President to spend a trillion dollars on "shovel-ready" jobs when
there was no such thing as "shovel-ready" jobs.*
*First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of
companies to his union supporters.
First President to by-pass Congress and implement the Dream Act through
executive fiat.
First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the
deportation of illegal immigrants across the U.S. , including those with
criminal convictions.
First President to demand a company hand-over $20 billion to one of his
political appointees.
First President to tell a CEO of a major corporation (Chrysler) to resign.
First President to terminate America˜s ability to put a man in space.
First President to cancel the National Day of Prayer and to say that
America is no longer a Christian nation.
First President to have a law signed by an auto-pen without being present.
First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law unconstitutional and
refuse to enforce it.
First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly** **spoke
out on the reasons for their rate increases.
First President to tell a major manufacturing company in which state it is
allowed to locate a factory.
First President to file lawsuits against the states he swore an oath to
protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN).
First President to withdraw an existing coal permit that had been properly
issued years ago.
First President to actively try to bankrupt an American industry (coal).
First President to fire an inspector general of AmeriCorps for catching one
of his friends in a corruption case.
First President to appoint 45 czars to replace elected officials in his
office.
First President to surround himself with radical left wing anarchists.
First President to golf 73 separate times in his first two and a half years
in office, 102 to date.
First President to hide his medical, educational and travel records.
First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it.
First President to go on multiple "global apology tours" and concurrent
"insult our friends" tours.
First President to go on 17 lavish vacations, including date nights and
Wednesday evening White House parties for his friends paid for by the
taxpayers.
First President to have 22 personal servants (taxpayer funded) for his wife.
First President to keep a dog trainer on retainer for $102,000 a year at
taxpayer expense.*
*First President to fly in a personal trainer from Chicago at least once a
week at taxpayer expense.*
*First President to repeat the Holy Quran & tell us the early morning
call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on
earth.
First President to tell the military men and women that they should pay for
their own private insurance because they "volunteered to go to war and knew
the consequences."
Then he was the First President to tell the members of the military that
THEY were UNPATRIOTIC for balking at the last suggestion.*
*First President to side with a foreign nation over one of the American
50 states ( Mexico vs Arizona ).
How is this hope and change working out for you?
There'll be more, not to worry.
*Charles Wright : Top Commenter*
*Quit trashing Obama's accomplishments. He has done more than any other
President before him. He has an impressive list of accomplishments:
First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he
was a foreigner.
First President to have a social security number from a state he has never
lived in.
First President to preside over a cut to the credit-rating of the United
States .
First President to violate the War Powers Act.
First President to be held in contempt of court for illegally obstructing
oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico .
First President to require all Americans to purchase a product from a third
party.
First President to spend a trillion dollars on "shovel-ready" jobs when
there was no such thing as "shovel-ready" jobs.*
*First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of
companies to his union supporters.
First President to by-pass Congress and implement the Dream Act through
executive fiat.
First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the
deportation of illegal immigrants across the U.S. , including those with
criminal convictions.
First President to demand a company hand-over $20 billion to one of his
political appointees.
First President to tell a CEO of a major corporation (Chrysler) to resign.
First President to terminate America˜s ability to put a man in space.
First President to cancel the National Day of Prayer and to say that
America is no longer a Christian nation.
First President to have a law signed by an auto-pen without being present.
First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law unconstitutional and
refuse to enforce it.
First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly** **spoke
out on the reasons for their rate increases.
First President to tell a major manufacturing company in which state it is
allowed to locate a factory.
First President to file lawsuits against the states he swore an oath to
protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN).
First President to withdraw an existing coal permit that had been properly
issued years ago.
First President to actively try to bankrupt an American industry (coal).
First President to fire an inspector general of AmeriCorps for catching one
of his friends in a corruption case.
First President to appoint 45 czars to replace elected officials in his
office.
First President to surround himself with radical left wing anarchists.
First President to golf 73 separate times in his first two and a half years
in office, 102 to date.
First President to hide his medical, educational and travel records.
First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it.
First President to go on multiple "global apology tours" and concurrent
"insult our friends" tours.
First President to go on 17 lavish vacations, including date nights and
Wednesday evening White House parties for his friends paid for by the
taxpayers.
First President to have 22 personal servants (taxpayer funded) for his wife.
First President to keep a dog trainer on retainer for $102,000 a year at
taxpayer expense.*
*First President to fly in a personal trainer from Chicago at least once a
week at taxpayer expense.*
*First President to repeat the Holy Quran & tell us the early morning
call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on
earth.
First President to tell the military men and women that they should pay for
their own private insurance because they "volunteered to go to war and knew
the consequences."
Then he was the First President to tell the members of the military that
THEY were UNPATRIOTIC for balking at the last suggestion.*
*First President to side with a foreign nation over one of the American
50 states ( Mexico vs Arizona ).
How is this hope and change working out for you?
There'll be more, not to worry.
Thursday, July 04, 2013
Zimmerman Case Goes Off the Edge
This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone with common sense.
Angela Corey, Florida’s state attorney and the prosecutor against Zimmerman, has been indicted by a citizens’ grand jury for allegedly falsifying an arrest warrant and the complaint that led to Zimmerman being charged with the second-degree murder of Trayvon Martin.
HT: Bob Owens
Angela Corey, Florida’s state attorney and the prosecutor against Zimmerman, has been indicted by a citizens’ grand jury for allegedly falsifying an arrest warrant and the complaint that led to Zimmerman being charged with the second-degree murder of Trayvon Martin.
HT: Bob Owens
Choose Your Society Carefully
Grim posts a multi-link brief essay which deals with "intermediary institutions" and their power. It should be noted that those institutions span a very wide timeline in Western history and are the real "civil societies."
There is also a very important distinction between "civil society" and "Government," It is so important that various Governments (e.g., that of Stalin and his successors & hangers-on in Eastern Europe) found out to their chagrin that the Intermediaries/Civil Societies prevailed--not "the Governments." That's why Stalin attempted to stifle them by any means necessary.
That's a warning to the Ruling Class, and they ought to heed that warning. We are currently troubled by the pestilence of Obamism and his desire to stifle the Catholic Church, which is merely the latest step in Government's slow march toward Totalitarianism. A more "benign" totalitarian move--yet to be fully implemented--is ObamaCare, which will demolish the intermediaries run by the Church(es) and private medical charities, not to mention the A.M.A. and its subsidiary organizations.
IRS is, of course, the tip of the spear. Not for nothing is it said that the power to tax is the power to destroy. But IRS, while the tip, is reinforced by other elements of the Hydra: EPA, HHS, EEOC, NSA, DofEnergy, DofEducation, and their pale imitators in State and municipal Governments, all of which are invariably supported by the shafts: Attorneys General, State revenooers, and the play-military LEO goons who are inexorably working towards an "us/them" of which "us" allies itself with Government and "them" is anyone who gets in the way. (Dogs are a convenient metaphor, by the way.)
There are exceptions, of course, at this time. Clarke of Milwaukee, along with a loose organization of other Sheriffs; the "Oath Keeper" group of current and ex-military officers, and the Church which, while embattled in its own homosexual-predator mess, has not given up on the First Amendment.
How many others are there? When will they declare that '...when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security....'?
It will happen sooner than Government and its Ruling Class think. In Egypt, it took less than two years for Obama to lose his Islamist ally.
There is also a very important distinction between "civil society" and "Government," It is so important that various Governments (e.g., that of Stalin and his successors & hangers-on in Eastern Europe) found out to their chagrin that the Intermediaries/Civil Societies prevailed--not "the Governments." That's why Stalin attempted to stifle them by any means necessary.
That's a warning to the Ruling Class, and they ought to heed that warning. We are currently troubled by the pestilence of Obamism and his desire to stifle the Catholic Church, which is merely the latest step in Government's slow march toward Totalitarianism. A more "benign" totalitarian move--yet to be fully implemented--is ObamaCare, which will demolish the intermediaries run by the Church(es) and private medical charities, not to mention the A.M.A. and its subsidiary organizations.
IRS is, of course, the tip of the spear. Not for nothing is it said that the power to tax is the power to destroy. But IRS, while the tip, is reinforced by other elements of the Hydra: EPA, HHS, EEOC, NSA, DofEnergy, DofEducation, and their pale imitators in State and municipal Governments, all of which are invariably supported by the shafts: Attorneys General, State revenooers, and the play-military LEO goons who are inexorably working towards an "us/them" of which "us" allies itself with Government and "them" is anyone who gets in the way. (Dogs are a convenient metaphor, by the way.)
There are exceptions, of course, at this time. Clarke of Milwaukee, along with a loose organization of other Sheriffs; the "Oath Keeper" group of current and ex-military officers, and the Church which, while embattled in its own homosexual-predator mess, has not given up on the First Amendment.
How many others are there? When will they declare that '...when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security....'?
It will happen sooner than Government and its Ruling Class think. In Egypt, it took less than two years for Obama to lose his Islamist ally.
Train Wreck ObozoCare, Next Stop: ???
Community organizers are incapable of coherent governance--a weakness remedied by dictatorial rulings.
Facepalm #1:
Employers with 50 or more full-time workers got a pre-Fourth of July holiday gift from the Obama administration Tuesday when it delayed enforcing parts of the new health care law requiring them to provide health insurance or pay significant penalties....
Facepalm #2:
“That the Obama administration is putting off this job-killing requirement on employers, but not individuals and families, shows how deeply flawed the president’s signature domestic policy achievement is,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch...
Facepalm #3:
“The IRS’s unilateral decision to delay the employer mandate is the latest indication that we do not live under a rule of law, but under a Rule of Rulers who write and rewrite laws at whim, without legitimate authority, and otherwise compel behavior to suit their needs,” Cato’s Michael Cannon wrote Wednesday...
The third is the real indictment of the Obozo/Holder/IRS/NSA/EPA/EEOC. It's now clear that Obama and his politburo have no need for your stinkin' laws.
They just make up their own when it suits them.
It never occurred to them that two can play that game, as happened on July 4th, 1776.
Facepalm #1:
Employers with 50 or more full-time workers got a pre-Fourth of July holiday gift from the Obama administration Tuesday when it delayed enforcing parts of the new health care law requiring them to provide health insurance or pay significant penalties....
Facepalm #2:
“That the Obama administration is putting off this job-killing requirement on employers, but not individuals and families, shows how deeply flawed the president’s signature domestic policy achievement is,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch...
Facepalm #3:
“The IRS’s unilateral decision to delay the employer mandate is the latest indication that we do not live under a rule of law, but under a Rule of Rulers who write and rewrite laws at whim, without legitimate authority, and otherwise compel behavior to suit their needs,” Cato’s Michael Cannon wrote Wednesday...
The third is the real indictment of the Obozo/Holder/IRS/NSA/EPA/EEOC. It's now clear that Obama and his politburo have no need for your stinkin' laws.
They just make up their own when it suits them.
It never occurred to them that two can play that game, as happened on July 4th, 1776.
Walker: A Party-Line Man
When running for President, one must adopt the Party Line.
Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker told a local newspaper Tuesday he not only supports the Senate immigration bill but that it should go further, calling the legislation merely a “Band-Aid.”
He elaborated on the Ryan gambit:
...Walker added that there needed to be “a larger way” to reform the system to make immigrating easier. “Because if it wasn’t so cumbersome, if there wasn’t such a long wait, if it wasn’t so difficult to get in, we wouldn’t have the other problems that we have.”...
Umnnhhh....Gov'nor: the "problems we have" are called "illegals." And since the Senate bill famously does nothing, nada, zip, zero about securing the border, the "problems we have" will continue for a long, long, time, such as the problem with IRS' generosity to illegals.
It's not a surprise that Walker favors cheap labor, given his list of backers. What IS a surprise is his casual disregard for border control (and by extension, national security.)
Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker told a local newspaper Tuesday he not only supports the Senate immigration bill but that it should go further, calling the legislation merely a “Band-Aid.”
He elaborated on the Ryan gambit:
...Walker added that there needed to be “a larger way” to reform the system to make immigrating easier. “Because if it wasn’t so cumbersome, if there wasn’t such a long wait, if it wasn’t so difficult to get in, we wouldn’t have the other problems that we have.”...
Umnnhhh....Gov'nor: the "problems we have" are called "illegals." And since the Senate bill famously does nothing, nada, zip, zero about securing the border, the "problems we have" will continue for a long, long, time, such as the problem with IRS' generosity to illegals.
It's not a surprise that Walker favors cheap labor, given his list of backers. What IS a surprise is his casual disregard for border control (and by extension, national security.)
Wednesday, July 03, 2013
The ObozoCare Slam, UPDATED!!
UPDATE from AOSHQ:
...What we call "the employer mandate" is actually a monthly IRS reporting requirement for certain employers (generally, those with more than 50 full-time employees) created by ACA sec. 1513. Covered employers who fail to report or do not meet the requirements for affordable care must pay a penalty to IRS (or, if you like, a tax).
Second, there is no independent provision requiring the covered employers to provide health insurence to their employees. There is only the IRS reporting mandate and its corresponding penalty. (The reason for this type of construction is that it would be unconstitutional for the federal government to force employers to provide insurance. The federal government can only incentivize it using the tax code.)
Third, ACA sec. 1513 does a couple things. But for our purposes, the one we care about is that it amends the tax code (which is really a statute) to include the provisions I've described above. Remember: these tax code changes create a monthly reporting requirement. And, ACA sec. 1513(d) provides explicitly when that monthly reporting requirement shall apply. “The amendments made by this section shall apply to months beginning after December 31, 2013." Contrary to several media reports, there is no discretion in the law about that December 31, 2013 date. The monthly reporting requirements apply "to months beginning after December 31, 2013," which includes all months in the year 2014.
So you may, or you may not, lose your health insurance (see below for the effects of losing it.)
And there's no question that Obozo's diktat is flat-out illegal.
Many people thought that their health-care plan would not change on 1/1/14. Obama promised them that, remember?
Yesterday's (probably illegal) announcement that the employer mandate is rescinded until after the fall elections changes the game. Since employers are NOT required to provide a health plan, a lot of people will be slammed into "exchanges."
At last report, the "exchanges" were not ready for prime time. It's not hard to imagine that an employee who is ObozoSlammed on 1/1/14 will spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out which ObozoPlan to purchase--and then spend another pile of time enrolling in that plan. Suppose that will be paid time-off?
And then, of course, there's the cost of the premiums. IRS opines that an average-coverage family plan will run about $20K/year. But what if you need more than the "average" plan? Will that be $25K? $30K?
We're told that there will be some sort of tax credits to offset the cost. How much? How will the credits be paid? What if your income changes (up OR down) during the plan year?
You've been ObozoSlammed!
The Stupid Party has a golden opportunity. Based on their track record, they'll blow it, of course. In the meantime, enjoy being ObozoSlammed!
And Happy New Year, too!!!
...What we call "the employer mandate" is actually a monthly IRS reporting requirement for certain employers (generally, those with more than 50 full-time employees) created by ACA sec. 1513. Covered employers who fail to report or do not meet the requirements for affordable care must pay a penalty to IRS (or, if you like, a tax).
Second, there is no independent provision requiring the covered employers to provide health insurence to their employees. There is only the IRS reporting mandate and its corresponding penalty. (The reason for this type of construction is that it would be unconstitutional for the federal government to force employers to provide insurance. The federal government can only incentivize it using the tax code.)
Third, ACA sec. 1513 does a couple things. But for our purposes, the one we care about is that it amends the tax code (which is really a statute) to include the provisions I've described above. Remember: these tax code changes create a monthly reporting requirement. And, ACA sec. 1513(d) provides explicitly when that monthly reporting requirement shall apply. “The amendments made by this section shall apply to months beginning after December 31, 2013." Contrary to several media reports, there is no discretion in the law about that December 31, 2013 date. The monthly reporting requirements apply "to months beginning after December 31, 2013," which includes all months in the year 2014.
So you may, or you may not, lose your health insurance (see below for the effects of losing it.)
And there's no question that Obozo's diktat is flat-out illegal.
Many people thought that their health-care plan would not change on 1/1/14. Obama promised them that, remember?
Yesterday's (probably illegal) announcement that the employer mandate is rescinded until after the fall elections changes the game. Since employers are NOT required to provide a health plan, a lot of people will be slammed into "exchanges."
At last report, the "exchanges" were not ready for prime time. It's not hard to imagine that an employee who is ObozoSlammed on 1/1/14 will spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out which ObozoPlan to purchase--and then spend another pile of time enrolling in that plan. Suppose that will be paid time-off?
And then, of course, there's the cost of the premiums. IRS opines that an average-coverage family plan will run about $20K/year. But what if you need more than the "average" plan? Will that be $25K? $30K?
We're told that there will be some sort of tax credits to offset the cost. How much? How will the credits be paid? What if your income changes (up OR down) during the plan year?
You've been ObozoSlammed!
The Stupid Party has a golden opportunity. Based on their track record, they'll blow it, of course. In the meantime, enjoy being ObozoSlammed!
And Happy New Year, too!!!
Pro-Aborts' Pledge of Allegiance
They finally came clean.
As Texas gears up to push legislation that would prohibit late term abortions — those conducted after 20 weeks — Christian activists in the Texas State Capitol sang “Amazing Grace.”
Abortion rights activists, there to support killing kids, tried to shout down the Christians by chanting “Hail Satan.”
Any questions, class?
As Texas gears up to push legislation that would prohibit late term abortions — those conducted after 20 weeks — Christian activists in the Texas State Capitol sang “Amazing Grace.”
Abortion rights activists, there to support killing kids, tried to shout down the Christians by chanting “Hail Satan.”
Any questions, class?
Tuesday, July 02, 2013
Obozo: "ObozoCare Is FUBAR. Never Mind!"
There was never a question whether ObozoCare was a FUBAR in slow-mo.
Apparently it's a lot faster FUBAR than even Obozo thought.
Ace does ask a good question: who in Hell authorized Obozo to change the law unilaterally?
Apparently it's a lot faster FUBAR than even Obozo thought.
Ace does ask a good question: who in Hell authorized Obozo to change the law unilaterally?
SNAP Is Right About Sklba
SNAP's presser following the doc-dump on pedophile priests in Milwaukee:
...Sklba’s fingerprints are spread over nearly a quarter of a century of child sex crimes. Yet, he continues to hold a prominent role in the life of the Archdiocese, presiding at confirmations, masses at the cathedral, and living comfortably and well.
At a bare minimum, Sklba should gracefully bow out of public life in the Archdiocese like Weakland has, and be grateful he has not been prosecuted—as he should be—for criminal conspiracy. And if he doesn’t do that — it’s time for his boss, Jerome Listecki, to do it for him.”...
Absolutely correct.
...Sklba’s fingerprints are spread over nearly a quarter of a century of child sex crimes. Yet, he continues to hold a prominent role in the life of the Archdiocese, presiding at confirmations, masses at the cathedral, and living comfortably and well.
At a bare minimum, Sklba should gracefully bow out of public life in the Archdiocese like Weakland has, and be grateful he has not been prosecuted—as he should be—for criminal conspiracy. And if he doesn’t do that — it’s time for his boss, Jerome Listecki, to do it for him.”...
Absolutely correct.
BizOpinion? Nah. BizAgitProp
We find the usual propaganda in this column.
...Unfortunately, he's not an American citizen.
Born in Lebanon and educated in Beirut and the United States, Nassif is a 30-something poster child for the immigration reform debate raging in Congress. His recent search for full-time employment in Wisconsin turned up dry, despite holding a degree from one of the nation's best computer science schools. He will soon move to the state of Washington to begin work for a major company there....
Umnnnhhhh.....so?
The fact that some Wisconsin firms will not (or can not) provide H1-B status for Mr. Nassim cannot be generalized to a condemnation of current immigration law--but our columnist goes on to make exactly that inductive argument: (NB: inductive argumentation often produces fallacies)
...The gap is most glaring when it comes to keeping foreign-born workers with specific skills needed in a knowledge-based economy. The United States annually graduates about 40,000 foreign-born students with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering or math, but only a fraction are allowed or encouraged to stay. ...
It is interesting and germane that the columnist did not address the question of compensation, no? Did Mr. Nassim choose NOT to interview with some Wisconsin firms because they would not meet his salary expectations? Do other "best and brightest" immigrants do the same? We'll never know, will we?
But here's the capper:
...Aren't immigrants taking jobs from native-born citizens? Not in the case of scientists, engineers and technicians, who remain in short supply nationally due to decades of decline in the production of American-born students in those fields. ...
Mr. Still flat-out ignores the fact that the "short supply" of native-born STEM people has to do precisely with the compensation afforded those individuals vis-a-vis the cost of obtaining their education. Repayment of college loans for a US education is a monster burden, and as long as foreign-born H1-B STEM grads can undercut salary requirements due to college-cost differentials...well, do the math yourself.
The case of Mr. Nassim is cynically used in a fashion reminiscent of Shrillary's "...it's for the chillllruuun!!" ravings, and the columnist goes on to elide pertinent but inconvenient facts.
That is a good definition of propaganda, friends.
...Unfortunately, he's not an American citizen.
Born in Lebanon and educated in Beirut and the United States, Nassif is a 30-something poster child for the immigration reform debate raging in Congress. His recent search for full-time employment in Wisconsin turned up dry, despite holding a degree from one of the nation's best computer science schools. He will soon move to the state of Washington to begin work for a major company there....
Umnnnhhhh.....so?
The fact that some Wisconsin firms will not (or can not) provide H1-B status for Mr. Nassim cannot be generalized to a condemnation of current immigration law--but our columnist goes on to make exactly that inductive argument: (NB: inductive argumentation often produces fallacies)
...The gap is most glaring when it comes to keeping foreign-born workers with specific skills needed in a knowledge-based economy. The United States annually graduates about 40,000 foreign-born students with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering or math, but only a fraction are allowed or encouraged to stay. ...
It is interesting and germane that the columnist did not address the question of compensation, no? Did Mr. Nassim choose NOT to interview with some Wisconsin firms because they would not meet his salary expectations? Do other "best and brightest" immigrants do the same? We'll never know, will we?
But here's the capper:
...Aren't immigrants taking jobs from native-born citizens? Not in the case of scientists, engineers and technicians, who remain in short supply nationally due to decades of decline in the production of American-born students in those fields. ...
Mr. Still flat-out ignores the fact that the "short supply" of native-born STEM people has to do precisely with the compensation afforded those individuals vis-a-vis the cost of obtaining their education. Repayment of college loans for a US education is a monster burden, and as long as foreign-born H1-B STEM grads can undercut salary requirements due to college-cost differentials...well, do the math yourself.
The case of Mr. Nassim is cynically used in a fashion reminiscent of Shrillary's "...it's for the chillllruuun!!" ravings, and the columnist goes on to elide pertinent but inconvenient facts.
That is a good definition of propaganda, friends.
We're From the EEOC. We're Going to Destroy You!
Think you have a right to protect your business and your customers? Think again.
...Obama’s latest brainstorm? Force businesses to hire criminals. And, not just any criminals…Obama wants criminals to step to the front of the employment line. If only I was joking.
Obama’s EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) is charging the automaker BMW, and the national retailer Dollar General, with discrimination, and violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act for using criminal background checks before hiring employees.
Ironic, no? Now you can be a criminal of the regulatory sort for refusing to hire criminals of the civil sort.
No wonder Putin laughs at Obozo.
...Obama’s latest brainstorm? Force businesses to hire criminals. And, not just any criminals…Obama wants criminals to step to the front of the employment line. If only I was joking.
Obama’s EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) is charging the automaker BMW, and the national retailer Dollar General, with discrimination, and violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act for using criminal background checks before hiring employees.
Ironic, no? Now you can be a criminal of the regulatory sort for refusing to hire criminals of the civil sort.
No wonder Putin laughs at Obozo.
Our Racist President
We all know that the holocaust of abortion--relentlessly promoted by Obama and his cabal--is disproportionately aimed at African Americans in the US, and has been so since Sanger.
Now he doubles down on his racism with a "we got ours, you go hang" lecture to Africans.
President Barack Obama said at a town hall event in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday that unless we find new way of producing energy "the planet will boil over" if people in Africa are allowed to attain air conditioning, automobiles and big houses.
He's consistent, anyway.
Now he doubles down on his racism with a "we got ours, you go hang" lecture to Africans.
President Barack Obama said at a town hall event in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday that unless we find new way of producing energy "the planet will boil over" if people in Africa are allowed to attain air conditioning, automobiles and big houses.
He's consistent, anyway.
"Necessary Spending", Eh?
We're told that all Federal spending is absolutely, positively, necessary--for the good of the children, the nation, the planet, and the universe.
Right?
Uh-huh.
An ongoing federally funded research project that has cost taxpayers $2.44 million has concluded, among other things, that "deportation and loneliness" led former illegal aliens in Tijuana, Mexico to use drugs and patronize prostitutes.
Chooming and Whoring Studies 101, For the Good of the Planet.
What's that you say? You think the choomers CONDUCTED the study?
Right?
Uh-huh.
An ongoing federally funded research project that has cost taxpayers $2.44 million has concluded, among other things, that "deportation and loneliness" led former illegal aliens in Tijuana, Mexico to use drugs and patronize prostitutes.
Chooming and Whoring Studies 101, For the Good of the Planet.
What's that you say? You think the choomers CONDUCTED the study?
Monday, July 01, 2013
Your IRS: Screwing You, Paying Illegals
Seems as though there are lots more problems with the IRS.
...Howard is a tax examiner at the IRS's ITIN processing center in Austin, Texas...
...A four-month Eyewitness News investigation documented how many illegal immigrants use ITINs to get tax credits and refunds they're not entitled to. WTHR also exposed how millions of undocumented workers get their ITIN applications approved using phony documents.....
"We were being told by upper management to ignore fraud, to assign ITIN numbers and ... pay out refunds to people who are lying," Howard explained. "It's a license to steal when you allow that."
Howard and five other tax examiners at the ITIN processing center in Austin all told WTHR the same thing: for years, IRS managers have instructed them to "look the other way" while processing ITIN applications that appear to be filed fraudulently – even when those applications contain clear signs of criminal activity.
For example, Howard received a stack of ITIN applications for dozens of children attending the same school in South Carolina. (Adult tax filers can request an ITIN for a child if they want to claim that child as a dependent in order to get child tax credits and a larger tax refund.) When he researched that school, he discovered it didn't even exist. When Howard reported the apparent scam to his bosses, he claims his managers ordered him to approve the applications anyway....
Yah. That's likely related to this story we linked the other day.
Oh, by the way:
...A few days after Howard met with WTHR, the IRS slashed his job performance rating which will affect his paycheck. The IRS claims every aspect of Howard's job performance dropped during the past six months, shifting his overall rating from "exceeds fully successful" to "minimally successful." Howard believes the poor review is retaliation for blowing the whistle on his managers. He wonders what might happen next....
The guy ought to be appointed as a special prosecutor, with the entire IRS management as his target.
...Howard is a tax examiner at the IRS's ITIN processing center in Austin, Texas...
...A four-month Eyewitness News investigation documented how many illegal immigrants use ITINs to get tax credits and refunds they're not entitled to. WTHR also exposed how millions of undocumented workers get their ITIN applications approved using phony documents.....
"We were being told by upper management to ignore fraud, to assign ITIN numbers and ... pay out refunds to people who are lying," Howard explained. "It's a license to steal when you allow that."
Howard and five other tax examiners at the ITIN processing center in Austin all told WTHR the same thing: for years, IRS managers have instructed them to "look the other way" while processing ITIN applications that appear to be filed fraudulently – even when those applications contain clear signs of criminal activity.
For example, Howard received a stack of ITIN applications for dozens of children attending the same school in South Carolina. (Adult tax filers can request an ITIN for a child if they want to claim that child as a dependent in order to get child tax credits and a larger tax refund.) When he researched that school, he discovered it didn't even exist. When Howard reported the apparent scam to his bosses, he claims his managers ordered him to approve the applications anyway....
Yah. That's likely related to this story we linked the other day.
Oh, by the way:
...A few days after Howard met with WTHR, the IRS slashed his job performance rating which will affect his paycheck. The IRS claims every aspect of Howard's job performance dropped during the past six months, shifting his overall rating from "exceeds fully successful" to "minimally successful." Howard believes the poor review is retaliation for blowing the whistle on his managers. He wonders what might happen next....
The guy ought to be appointed as a special prosecutor, with the entire IRS management as his target.
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