Dad29

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Another Legacy of the Bush Family

You got the Old Man witnessing some gay "marriage."

You got the Floriduh one pushing some "education" program that doesn't educate.

And you have Dubya--the proto-tyrannist.

One of the documents released by Edward Snowden was the NSA Inspector General’s report on Stellar Wind. Before the Snowden leak, many believed that James Comey, then deputy attorney general and now the director of the FBI, was a hero because, in 2004, he concluded that one component of Stellar Wind was illegal. This prompted White House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez to rush to the hospital bed of an ailing Attorney General, John Ashcroft, who also refused to authorize the program. But as Bamford noted, we know from Snowden’s disclosures that when Comey and Ashcroft refused to sign off, NSA director Michael Hayden, under White House pressure, decided to continue the Internet and telephone eavesdropping program anyway. Eventually, in 2011, the Obama NSA shut down the Internet metadata surveillance program, concluding that it couldn’t be authorized under existing law. But it continued to collect telephone metadata, legalistically justifying it under the “business records” provision of the U.S.A. Patriot Act.

Obozo found that to be just fine!

....The Obama administration’s White paper justifying the mass telephone surveillance was flimsy and weak. But it was less cursory than the FISA Court opinion, which breezily upheld the telephone surveillance program without even considering the strongest constitutional and statutory arguments on the other side....

Believe it or not, ObozoCare is a flyspeck compared to this.

HT: Hot Air

Yes, Virginia, There IS a Strategy

Yes, Cruz thought this out. Yes, it is a strategy.

And if there are no more than five Surrender Monkey (R) types--not a bet you'd like to make--ObozoCare will be defunded. Of course, there's the Reid shut-down of Gummint, but that's Harry's problem, no?

...Cruz said all the GOP needs on Friday is 41 votes of the GOP’s 46 senators, and that if the no vote on cloture succeeds, the Senate will simply continue to debate the bill. That in turn will begin to put serious pressure on Democrats from red states who are up for election in 2014.

The Texan said that he saw the Obamacare battle as a three stage fight:

The creation of the website Don’t Fund It! (link here) was first. The site’s petition now has over 1.8 million signatories to senators, as well as supplying the direct line phone numbers for each of the 100 senators.
The House had to act, which it has now done. Cruz noted that the Washington conventional wisdom was that the House Republicans would never vote to defund Obamacare — and the conventional wisdom was wrong.
Unite Senate Republicans and then pick off Democrats. “Until we unite the Republicans,” Cruz said, it will be difficult to pick off Democrats.

If the Reid cloture vote is defeated, “then the House can stand its ground” and pass smaller CR’s (Continuing Resolutions) that fund specific sections of the government — and Cruz’s suggestion was the very thing to be funded should be the military.

Of course, the House could *cough* refuse to fund ObozoCare again.

Think Boehner's man enough? Cantor? Ryan? Muscle-Boy from Obey's district?

Oh--let's not forget: because elections, not principles, right?

HT: AmSpec

Podhoretz et.al.: Whistling Past Our Graveyard

Podhoretz has a column out today (NY Post, IIRC) in which he first praises Cruz, then slaps him for being principled, because elections!

Other pundits and politicians of the Surrender Monkey persuasion are saying the same thing--some without any praise for Cruz whatsoever.

But I've made this point, and now someone else makes it again.

Dan Liljenquist, a former candidate for senator, believes as much as 10 times as many companies as predicted will shift employees to the exchanges, resulting in trillions of dollars in expenses on the already cumbersome federal balance sheet:

“Americans will soon find themselves “shopping” for health insurance in a market where every product is nearly identical and every price resolves towards the mean. The next step will be a government insurance option.”

Yup. The damn thing is designed. to. fail. so that when the Surrender Monkey Party loses again--and they will--it will become single-payer. Then there will be no chance whatsoever to take it off the books.

SteveEgg Gets It; So Does Mike Murphy

Read the opinions on Cruz's work here.

See if you can find the phrase "the national interest" in ANY of them.

Eggs and Murphy have it right: the District of Criminals may prevail, but at great cost to current office-holders and US citizens.

HT: Sykes

What's Next on ObozoCare Debate

We all know that (100-0) the Senate decided to debate the House's CR which de-funds ObozoCare.

So what's next according to Sen. Cruz?

The central vote the Senate will take on this fight will not occur today and it will not occur tomorrow. The first vote we are going to take on this is a vote on what is called cloture on the motion to proceed. Very few people not on this floor have any idea what that means and even, I suspect, a fair number of people on this floor are not quite sure what that means. That will simply be a vote whether to take up this bill and to begin debating this bill. I expect that vote to pass overwhelmingly, if not unanimously. Everyone agrees we ought to take this up, we ought to start this conversation.

The next vote we take will occur on Friday or Saturday and it will be on what is called cloture on the bill. That is the vote that matters. Cloture on the bill, the vote Friday or Saturday, is the vote that matters.

Keep your eye on the ball. Watch the French Republicans--the surrender-monkeys, one with "heroic" service in the Navy. And here in Wisconsin, let's watch what RoJo decides to do.

Constitution? What "Constitution"?

Let's be clear about John Boehner's position here.

"If ObamaCare is funded and implemented it will be because Republican members of Congress decided to do it.

"This is not ....debatable. It is an irrefutable fact."

Jeffrey cites Article One, Section Nine, Clause Seven of what used to be "the Law of the Land."

If Obamacare is funded and implemented it will be because Republican members of Congress decided to do it.
This is not a debatable supposition. It is an irrefutable fact. The fate of Obamacare is controlled completely by Republicans — period.
Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 of the Constitution says: "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law." That means that President Barack Obama cannot spend a dollar out of the Treasury unless Congress has enacted a law authorizing him to spend that dollar. As of now, the law authorizing Obama to spend dollars expires on Sept. 30.
- See more at: http://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/terence-p-jeffrey/fate-obamacare-controlled-republicans-period#sthash.Do6Y5jut.dpuf

Does Boehner Have a Strategy for THIS?

It's clear that John Boehner's strategy for dealing with Obozo has--by and large--been "Surrender!!!"

(It's also clear that McConnell is simply a preening wart on the back of a toad. Nobody cares if he has a strategy.)

Other than a minor spend-rate reduction called "sequester" (and it is VERY minor), Boehner simply wails about "one half of one third" and retires to his tanning-bed. IOW, he and Cantor (and the rest of the "leadership") have nice jobs with nice perks and nice benefits and nice retirements, so why actually DO something? Hell's bells--the MSM might turn on them. OMG.

Too bad. Not only does the public hate ObozoCare--it also hates Obozo's debt-ceiling stance.

...61 percent say that it’s “right to require spending cuts when the debt ceiling is raised even if it risks default,” because Congress lacks spending discipline, according to a Bloomberg National Poll conducted Sept. 20-23.

That sentiment is shared by almost three-quarters of Republicans, two-thirds of independents, and a plurality of Democrats. Just 28 percent of respondents backed Obama’s call for a clean bill that has no add-on provisions...

By next week, Cruz's Crusade will have shifted public opinion farther away from ObozoCare, too.

I have a suggestion for Boehner, Cantor, and Ryan. Instead of "Surrender!!", why don't you try THIS response:

"Nuts!!"

Canary?

An interesting news-note. Take it for what it's worth.

Wal-Mart Stores [...] is cutting orders it places with suppliers this quarter and next to address rising inventory the company flagged in last month’s earnings report.

...U.S. chains are already bracing for a tough holiday season, when sales are projected to rise 2.4 percent, the smallest gain since 2009, according to ShopperTrak, a Chicago-based firm. Wal-Mart cut its annual profit forecast after same-store sales fell 0.3 percent in the second quarter....

WallyWorld is not un-sophisticated. They just can't move the goods out the door.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

ObozoCare? WHAT "ObozoCare"

HT: Moonbattery

Actually, Employers DO Reduce Hours to Evade ObozoCare

There's a Madistan type who doesn't quite believe that ObozoCare causes a reduction in weekly hours for employees.

*Cough*

The HCTrends survey indicates that when developing their strategies under the ACA, small employers are more likely to terminate coverage while large employers prefer reducing employee hours.

...Only 2 percent of large employers (500+ employees) said they are likely to terminate coverage, but 39 percent are contemplating cutting employees hours to contain their health care costs.

The small firms can't cut hours without reducing production; so they'll dump employees into ObozoCare. The large firms (particularly service and retail types) CAN cut hours without much damage to production--so that's what they do.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

The Jebbies, McConnell, and the Anti-Democrat

There's an old joke to the effect that the Jebbies (Jesuits) have always believed that the end justifies the means. No serious moralist would ever believe that, of course; it's simply wrong.

But it's the position taken by McConnell, written about here, and spoken about by Belling while he subbed for Limbaugh this afternoon.

In brief, McConnell wants ObozoCare to go into effect, not because he thinks it is good or bad, but because it will most likely put the (R) Party into a much better, if not majority, position in the Senate.

In other words, he's perfectly happy to achieve a Republican majority (the end) by putting the nation on the rack of ObozoCare (the means.)

I don't think that anyone has accused McConnell of having principles; therefore it would be unkind to accuse him of violating them. But 'acquiring a majority' is not something which is more important than 'the national interest,' at least in anyplace other than the District of Criminals.

It is supremely ironic that Obozo--in his fevered Marxist campaign for Totalitarianism--is probably accomplishing the exact reverse of what McConnell is trying to do. Obozo and his accomplices think that through ObozoCare they will secure a permanent (D) majority in Gummint. That's not likely to be the case, as the implementation of this "program" will splatter fecal matter all over the (D) Party for years.

So we have a wrongly-principled (D) furiously wrecking his Party's future combined with a totally UN-principled (R) plotting a renascence of his Party--both through exactly the same instrument.

" Why Richard, it profit a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world. . . but for Wales!”

How Bad--Really--Is NSA's Spying on You?

The answer to that question is "You'll never know."

Because your Congress-slime doesn't know--because the "representative" who chairs the IntelCommittee is a serial lying sack, evasive, and more slippery than any snake you've ever encountered. (He's also the jackwagon who forced incandescent bulbs into the memory-hole.)

Want to go further? Here's a handy list of NSA (and other FedGov) offenses--with links--that will make your visit to the ammo store that much more urgent and expensive.

Family Coverage? Fuggedaboutit

More actual news on ObozoCare. Yup. It's bad news--what did you expect?

A "family glitch" in the 2010 health care law threatens to cost some families thousands of dollars in health insurance costs and leave up to 500,000 children without coverage, insurance and health care analysts say.

... Congress defined "affordable" as 9.5% or less of an employee's household income, mostly to make sure people did not leave their workplace plans for subsidized coverage through the exchanges. But the "error" was that it only applies to the employee — and not his or her family. So, if an employer offers a woman affordable insurance, but doesn't provide it for her family, they cannot get subsidized help through the state health exchanges....

The "drafting error" has been known for a couple of years.

....like a box of chocolates, filled with various rat poisons.....

Actual News on ObozoCare

Some complain that the "news" organizations don't do research to find the truth and publish it.

OK. Here's someone who did so--and the truth about ObozoCare remains ugly.

...Unfortunately, the experts working for Medicare’s actuary have (yet again^[1]) reported that in its first 10 years, Obamacare will boost health spending by “roughly $621 billion” above the amounts Americans would have spent without this misguided law....

(Granted: "misguided" is editorial. But the Medicare actuary cite? Solid stuff.)

Whassat mean to youse, hey?

...Between 2014 and 2022, the increase in national health spending (which the Medicare actuaries specifically attribute to the law) amounts to $7,450 per family of 4....

The essay's author even prints remarks from his critics (who don't like his methodology.) That's fair. He also mentions that his critics were 100% wrong in their assertion that ObozoCare 'would reduce premiums' for small biz and individual policies.

No matter the treachery of the French Republicans, this debate will continue. Let's hope that it doesn't lead to a more......ahhh......active.....sort of argument.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Po' Jerry Bott. He Don't Know How It Works

Jerry Bott ranted for quite some time this afternoon telling the (fewer and fewer) who would listen the very tired Pubbie Lie: that the (R)'s only control one-half of one-third of the Gummint, so it's hopeless to actually vote on principle and besides we voted FORTY TIMES* and didn't get anywhere and we really like our perks and pensions and bennies which you serfs won't get and ...;..and.....and blablabahhhhhblahhh.

Jerry also forgot one FAR more important fact: ObozoCare is designed to fail--so that Obozo and the cabal in the District of Criminals can re-write it to single payer.

*Forty utterly meaningless votes which were never attached to anything more important than selecting a National Hangnail Day.

It's bad enough that Jerry reads Ryan's talking points over the air.

It's very, very disappointing that Jerry forgot the reason that Obozo WANTS it to fail.

Watch This Vote

Complex story which rests on Reid's abuse of power and his utter contempt for Americans. But Harry's not the only one. McConnell and Lame-o are in on the game, as is Boehner.

Short version:

If Senators vote for cloture on this funding bill, they are voting with all the Democrats to fund ObamaCare.

Slight amplification:

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) have been fighting to defund ObamaCare. They have a plan. Fight Reid’s motion to strike the provision to defund ObamaCare and force 60 Senators to shut down debate on that proposition. Republicans win that fight then Reid has a take it or leave it proposition with the House Continuing Resolution that defunds ObamaCare....

Watch the voting. The treachery of Brutus is about to be revealed--and Brutus is not a Democrat.

CR: Still Waiting for Downside

This is very encouraging!!

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency says the agency will "effectively shut down" unless Congress approves stopgap funding by Oct. 1.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy says the agency won't be able to pay employees. She says only a core group of people will remain on duty in case the EPA has to respond to a "significant emergency." The vast majority of employees will stay home.

That means that most of EPA's functions, like drafting regulations and enforcing laws to protect the environment, will likely remain stalled until government operations fully resume....

They keep coming out with more good news about de-funding ObozoCare.

And some French Republicans still want to compromise?

Saturday, September 21, 2013

FedGov Background Screens: Inmates/Asylum!!

It's already obvious that the Feds (actually, their contractor) are incompetent boobs with background checks. Think Alexis and Snowden (and perhaps several hundred TSA agents.)

(Are there even more of these semi-psychotics or petty criminals employed by the Feds? You won't know until it's far too late.)

Anyhow, there's more. The Feds sue private employers for screening under 'disproportionate effect' theory, right?

....the federal government screens applicants for employment. And given the size of its workforce and the disproportionate representation of Blacks among those with prior criminal convictions, the government’s screening for criminal convictions surely excludes Blacks from employment disproportionately.

Accordingly, when employers are sued by the government over background checking, they seek to discover how the government used background checks. The government, for its part, fights like hell to prevent such discovery.

Blatant Statist hypocrisy.

And even more!!

...One thing we’ve learned is that the background check of Alexis was performed by the same outfit that checked up on Edward Snowden. In both cases, the work was performed by a contractor, USIS.
Indeed, according to this report from Bloomberg, no company does more U.S. government background checks than USIS. Pursuant to a $253 million contract from the Office of Personnel Management, USIS performed about two-thirds of background investigations done by contractors and more than half of all those performed by the U.S. personnel office.

But USIS is itself under investigation — criminal investigation, according to Sen. Claire McCaskill. And even assuming that it has not committed any crimes (as we should at this stage), the security experts Bloomberg contacted agree that USIS is cutting corners due to the sheer volume of investigations it conducts....

So. If you're a loony-tune, or have a few problems with law enforcement in your background, it's obvious: pursue a job with the Feds!!

We're now seeing it: the inmates actually DO run the asylum.

HT: PowerLine

Comic Strip From 1994, Fact Today

In 1994, desktop PC's were just beginning to be commonplace. But Tom Tomorrow knew what would happen.

HT: Schneier

EPA: "Kill Coal" Lying

The new Liar at EPA replaces an old Liar at EPA.

Same result.

…In the last few days, Ms. McCarthy has referred to several early-stage carbon capture projects as a sign that industry can build the needed equipment. In testimony on Wednesday before the House Energy and Power Subcommittee, Ms. McCarthy cited four such projects. She told reporters on Friday that the draft rule was based on “technologies that are already entering the market and being constructed in plants today.” But the four she referred to in the committee hearing ranged from under construction to planned. None of them would sequester the carbon dioxide, and all would sell it. ---NYT quoted at JunkScience

Uh-huh.

The only carbon-capture project which is close to opening is $1BN over its $4BN budget.

Friday, September 20, 2013

Third Act in Defunding Drama? Boehner's

Andy McCarthy gets it.

...When it comes to spending, Congress has primacy, and pride of place rests with the House (the one-half of one-third Republicans control) because the Constitution mandates that spending bills originate in the lower chamber – the one closest to the people. Equally important, the hard jobs in government are the ones where an officeholder has to do something. It is a lot easier when all that’s necessary is to refuse to act. Spending requires a positive act by Congress – not a thin dime may be spent unless Congress approves. That is, there can be no spending on Obamacare unless Congress votes to approve it. Thus, the one-half-of-one-third crowd is in the driver’s seat. All they need to do is say, “No.” It is President Obama who needs action here – congressional Republicans need only decline to act.

And by the way, if Republicans do act, if they vote to fund Obamacare, then they are for Obamacare. Don’t let them fool you with meaningless “repeal” votes. Repeal – i.e., changing the law – is a positive act; unlike refusing to spend money, it cannot be accomplished simply by saying no. Just as President Obama needs Republicans to get his spending, Republicans would need the president (or substantial cooperation from congressional Democrats) to get their repeal. This, we all know, they will never get – there will be no repeal until an election or two drastically changes the landscape. But spending is another story – and President Obama should be made to understand that it is just as hopeless to get Republican assent to spending on Obamacare as Republicans understand it is hopeless to get Obama’s assent on repeal....

Like everyone else, I expect that the de-funding will fail in the Senate. (There could be a miracle, but...)

So on to Act III, Scene I: (A possibility)

Obama demands money. Boehner says 'you got all you need--just get Harry out of his stupor, have it passed in the Senate, and voila! budget money!!'

Obozo refuses to motivate Reid (or maybe to pick him up off the floor of the hotel.)

Boehner has to decide: recess the House, or vote FOR ObozoCare.

Decisions, decisions, they're so hard.

In the alternative, McCarthy's Act III, Scene I (a possibility)

Obozo demands money. Boehner says 'you got all you need---just get Harry out of his stupor, have it passed in the Senate, and voila!! budget money!!'

Obozo decides to pick Harry up off the floor of his suite at the hotel and tells Harry to pass the CR as is.

Not a hard decision at all.

Actually, the CBO Study Predicts DOOM

A local pundit's website prints only half the story from the CBO.

The half that Ryan's office didn't feed them? It's far, far, worse.

....here’s the thing: that forecast, as the CBO notes, does not factor in “the harm that growing debt would cause to the economy.” Hey, that would be a good thing to know, right? Well, you have to dig deeper into the CBO study to find those numbers.

And when you take into account stuff like how deficits might “crowd out” investment in factories and computers and how people might respond to changes in after-tax wages, you find the debt is much, much larger, closer to 200% of GDP.

The CBO:

Projected budgetary outcomes under the extended alternative fiscal scenario are worsened by the economic changes that result from its policies. With the effects of lower output and higher interest rates incorporated, federal debt held by the public under the extended alternative fiscal scenario would reach 190 percent of GDP in 2038—about 80 percentage points greater than that under the extended baseline with economic feedback— according to CBO’s central estimates.

Further, in the "worst case" scenario, debt would be TWO HUNDRED FIFTY PERCENT of GDP by 2038. The CBO refused to guess what might happen in that case, because they have absolutely no precedents to follow.

Pocan Walks Out on Benghazi Mom

The compassion of the Democrat Party in all its glory.

During the second portion of a House Oversight and Government Reform hearing about Benghazi Thursday on Capitol Hill, the majority of Democrats on the Committee left the room and refused to listen to the testimony of Patricia Smith and Charles Woods. Ms. Smith is the mother of Sean Smith, an information management officer killed in the 9/11 Benghazi attack. Charles Woods is the father of Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods, who was also killed.

Madison Lefty (yah, I repeat myself) Pocan was one of those who walked out.

"Shutdown"? Yawn.

So when Obozo "shuts down" the Gummint, what elements of the Gummint WILL continue to operate?

....an OMB memorandum from 1981 lays out examples of the many government functions of federal agencies that may continue during a funding lapse:

National security, including the conduct of foreign relations essential to the national security or the safety of life and property;
Benefit payments and the performance of contact obligations under no-year or multi-year appropriations or other funds remaining available for those purposes;
Medical care of inpatients and emergency outpatient care and activities essential for the safe use of food, drugs, and hazardous materials;
Air traffic control and other transportation safety functions;
Border and coastal protection and surveillance;
Protection of federal lands, buildings, waterways, and other property of the U.S.;
Care of prisoners and others in federal custody;
Law enforcement and criminal investigations;
Emergency and disaster assistance;
Activities essential to the preservation of the money and banking system of the U.S., including borrowing and tax collection;
Production of power and maintenance of the power distribution system; and
Protection of research property. (Heritage Foundation via HE)

NSA will continue to record all your emails and phone calls; IRS will continue to take your money. Granny will get her SocSec check and Medicare treatments.

Yawn.

Boondoggle and Bushdoggle

A couple of days ago Belling screwed up royally on the question of "Common Core."

Now I know why: it's a Bushdoggle (boondoggle with a Bush flavor.) Belling reads all the Bush propaganda as gospel.

Oh, well. Let's hope that Walker doesn't have the same delusions.

ObozoCare: The Movie

Watch it here. It's everything you need to know in 1 minute.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

ObozoPout: "I'll Shut Down the Government"

Yawn.

Exactly as Cruz and Lee predicted--and exactly what Boehner and the Cowardly Kittens SHOULD have been saying from Day One:

Obozo, not the House, will "shut down" the Government.

Yawn.

Levin Knocks It Out of the Park

Just go here for the best 7:50 on the French Republicans you'll ever hear.

It will be interesting to see if little Social Climber Duffy will vigorously support this action with speeches, appearances, and actions--or if he'll sit in his corner, sucking his thumb, and pouting some more.

Will Ribble? Or the Quiet One, Sensenbrenner? Ryan, the Compromiser-in-Waiting?

What of RoJo, who PROMISED to rid this land of Obozo's tyrannical "healthcare", and then resigned his promise because, ah, expediency?

Look, boys (and you can take that whatever way you want), Ted Cruz and Mike Lee shamed you. You were useless little bumps on a log, whimpering and whining "poor us. we can't win."

You never even began to fight, boys.

Can you become men in the next 10 days? Can you?

A Very Curious FEMA Order

That's the only word for it: curious.

A local company, Falcon UAV, makers of special drones which are built for the government, approved by the FAA, and specialize in using GPS and cameras to generate highly accurate maps, started helping to map the damage with those drones. It was basically making very useful, near real-time maps showing the floods. You’d think that would be useful to, say, FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency in charge of helping to coordinate the response to the floods. Instead, FEMA ordered the drones grounded or it would have people from Falcon UAV arrested. --MoonBattery quoting TechDirt

Apparently the local Sheriff was using the drone-info to better coordinate the Sheriff's helo usage.

Too bad. So sad. Somebody died? Awww.......

MSM Stylebook Notes

Someone found the MSM Stylebook and reports its content:

…when Obama refuses to negotiate or compromise, we call that “steely,” “masterful,” and “commanding.” Possibly even “panty-dropping.”

When Republicans do it the media style guide demand it be called “hostage-taking,” “terroristic,” “partisan,” and “ideologically extreme.”

Please update your records accordingly.

Found at Cold Fury.

pResident FAIL

Not only is Obozo a joke in Europe, Russia, and PRChina.

He's a knave and a fool.

And a complete failure.

A Census Bureau report released on Tuesday reveals that the typical American family now earns less than it did in 1989. In 1989, median household income was $51,681 (in current dollars). In 2012, median household income was $51,017.

Poverty levels in 2012 also climbed to 46.5 million Americans-15% of the country-from 46.2 million in 2011. --quoted at AOSHQ

But you can bet a lot of your money that Tammy Baldwin will vote to preserve ObozoCare--the signature FAIL of the pResident.

Starbucks and the Solidarity Singers

Seems that Starbucks doesn't want open-carry of pistols, rifles, and shotguns in its stores.

That's reasonable.

Concealed carry is fine with them. Also reasonable.

After all, one doesn't need an AR to slurp coffee; a 9mm inside the waistband is sufficient.

Starbucks has been plagued with AR-toting "rights" bozos who show up and (frankly) scare the bejabbers out of other customers. So they've instituted the "please don't open-carry it here" policy.

What does this have to do with the Solidarity Singers?

Simple. No one has the "right" to be a jackass. Those twits in Madistan are being jackasses, as are AR-toters at Starbucks.

They ought to grow up.

DeSantis/Vitter: Where's the House Vote? Where's Duffy??

Rep. DeSantis and Sen. Vitter (supported by RoJo!! kudos!!) have proposed legislation which would put Congresscritters and their staffers on the same playing field as lunchbucket American workers when it comes to ObozoCare.

A little history:

...Until now, members of Congress received a 75 percent subsidy funded by taxpayers to enroll in the Federal Health Benefits Program. Signing up for Obamacare will cost them thousands of dollars because the law does not entitle anyone earning $174,000 (base salary for Congress) to get a subsidy. Yikes! Congress doesn’t think the Affordable Care Act is affordable for them.

Just before Congress’ August recess, Republican and Democratic leaders, including House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, pressed President Obama to do something. Ignoring the fact that the president has no constitutional authority to change the law and arrange for a subsidy that will cost taxpayers at least $55 million a year, members of Congress put their self-interest first.

The president complied and weaseled an illegal arrangement with the Office of Personnel Management to award members of Congress and their staff a 75 percent subsidy to pay for their own Obamacare health plans. It’s in a new official OPM ruling.

DeSantis, Vitter, & Co. want to reverse this Ruling Class crap. (Where's Rep. Duffy??)

Just as a reminder, Rep. Duffy and his pals get a few perks with the $174K/year salary:

....private elevators, private gyms, free parking at airports and large office budgets. When a member or former member dies, even of old age, the family is awarded the member’s salary for a year....

Not to mention the on-staff/in-the-building doctors who provide typical general practitioner services for a very, very, very small co-pay of $5.00/visit.

Boy Duffy Squeals

Seems that Rep. Duffy doesn't like getting his widdle feets held to the fire.

"Today, Senator Ted Cruz & United States Senator Mike Lee called on House Republicans to "stand firm, hold their ground, and continue to listen to the American people" on defunding #Obamacare.

"House Republicans have stood firm. We have voted to defund, repeal & delay #Obamacare dozens of times. It is time for Sens. Cruz & Lee to show they can hold the line against Senate Democrats.

"Let's hope they do not surrender before the fight even begins.

So tweeted Boy Duffy, sore feet and all.

Let us remind Cong Duffy that his "defund, delay, and repeal" votes were NEVER taken when it actually counted--as it will in the next two weeks.

And Boy Duffy (nor Paul Ryan, nor The Tanned One, nor Jim Sensenbrenner) has NEVER made a crusade of doing exactly what 53++% of the country wants done, as have Cruz and Lee.

By the way, Duffy: have you voted to put your staffers into the exchanges yet? Or have you surrendered on that fight without lifting a single little finger?

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Memo to Belling: College Admissions Are A "Measure"

Yesterday the usually correct Belling semi-endorsed "Common Core". He had reservations--mostly that the program was designed and enforced by Lefties.

His endorsement rested on "measurable" criteria--that is, that without "Common Core" there is no "national" basis for evaluating students and school systems.

Belling is wrong on two counts.

1) The Constitution does not award K-12 education responsibility to the Federal Gummint. That is reserved to the States. And there is no "national emergency" which allows for an over-ride of the Constitution.

2) College admissions are the best measure of K-12 achievement and accountability. Students from piss-poor districts will not be admitted to good schools (think Purdue, UW-Madistan, Yale, G'town, Marquette, etc.)

3) Both ACT and SAT are "measures" and are operative--but not "Federal". Surprise!! The private sector works.

'S OK, Mark. Eventually you'll learn that Statism under any guise is still Statism.

Well, Harry, If It's "The Law...."

Slugsucker Harry Reid's response to 53% of the country who oppose ObozoCare:

“Americans have spoken loudly and clearly on Obamacare. It’s time to move on,” with an image of a poster telling Republicans to “Grow up.”

We can agree with Slugsucker Harry that 'Americans have spoken loudly and clearly'.

But it's not "the law of the land" if the President refuses to enforce it. That creature has waived compliance requirements for corporations and for Congressional staffers.

So it's not "the law." It's merely a suggestion. And Conservatives should continue to treat it as such by de-funding it.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Delay ObozoCare? Really?

As we all know, the Latest, Greatest, "Achievable" Plan is not to de-fund ObozoCare, but to "delay" it.

I have my doubts about that; as originally sketched, the House would give the Senate and the golfer-in-chief an end to the sequester AND a hike in the debt limit if ObozoCare gets delayed by a year.

So. Obozo gets to spend even more than he's ever spent before; our children and grand-children and great-grandchildren get to pay unimaginable sums toward interest and principal (assuming that it's within their means to pay it)--all so that the Senate can go barely Pubbie in '14 and Obozo can veto the end of ObozoCare when it finally passes both the House and Senate. Then Obozo's veto will be sustained in the Senate and ObozoCare will merrily roll on.

Right. That's a helluva plan.

DrewM (via Cold Fury) brings up another angle.

...What if Obama doesn’t accept the Boehner/Cantor offer to delay ObamaCare for a year? Jay Carney has already said Obama would veto that, just like they said they’d veto a defunding bill. Team Delay insists we take the threat seriously when it comes to defunding but not delaying.

So what then? We’re supposed to believe that they along with Boehner and Cantor weren’t willing to go over the fiscal cliff, they aren’t willing to deal with a government shutdown but they are TOTALLY committed to not raising the debt ceiling and seeing the government “default” (not be able to pay some bills) unless Obama caves on delay? Really? You guys have avoided every fight and punted at every chance but you are totally going to the mattresses on the thing that might have huge fiscal repercussions for the world economy?

Let’s just say I have my doubts.

Both Ribble and RoJo have defended their position of NOT de-funding ObozoCare on the basis that they don't want to 'shut down the Gummint.' But the 'delay' plan will almost certainly have exactly the same effect.

Both of those gentlemen ignore the fact that they were ELECTED based on their promise to 'stop ObozoCare.' They also ignore the fact that de-funding ObozoCare is NOT "shutting down the Gummint." Only Obozo can (and will) "shut down the Gummint" by his veto. (Well, OK, Slimebag Reid could, too.)

When in the course of human events.....

Fact-Vacuum: MSM on Nutbag at Navy Yard

They reported that there were two shooters.

Woops.

They reported that the shooter used an AR-15.

Woops.

They (CNN) also reported that the shooter used an AR-15 shotgun.

Head-bang woops.

What they have NOT reported on is this: how did a damn-near-certified loony obtain "Secret" clearance and a job with a Federal subcontractor? A loony who also had a violent past and "anger management" issues...

And how did the Navy manage to avoid giving him a DD?

Those items are of vital interest and importance.

(Of course, eliminating damn-near-certified-loonies with anger management issues might eliminate 60% of Congress.

And that is a bad thing....how?)

The House Pubbies' Border "Security" Laugher

Hoooboy. The Republicans came up with another pile of foofoodust and call it "security."

We are reminded of "Every Child a Federal Captive" and "Democracy for All in the Middle East!!", not to mention "Bail Out Bankers for Their Own Good!!!"

Not everyone agrees that HR 1413 is worth a bucket of warm spit.

See what you think:

[It would]: require DHS to regularly report on the status of operational control of the U.S. Borders, which will be verified by the GAO;

require DHS to submit a plan to gain operational control (90% effectiveness rate) of the high traffic areas of the border within 5 years, including the implementation plan and various metrics which will be reported on by the GAO;

require DHS to submit a plan to implement a biometric exit system at ports of entry. If the Secretary determines such a plan is not feasible, he or she may submit an alternative plan to achieve the same level of security.

(Current law requires a biometric exit system and does NOT allow 'feasibility' horsehockey exceptions.)

Looks like DHS "planners" win a multi-year contract. "Do-ers"? Not so much.

(NumbersUSA provided the material in blue above.)

"Some Pigs..."

Let's see how the Hypocritic Oath plays out.

...In 1995, the newly elected Republican Congress passed a Congressional Accountability Act to fulfill a promise made the previous year in the Contract with America. For the first time, the Act applied to Congress the same civil-rights employment and labor laws that lawmakers had required everyday citizens to abide by. With some lapses, it’s worked well to defuse public outrage about “one law for thee, one law for me” congressional behavior.

In 2009, Senator Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) decided that the principle deserved to be embedded in Obamacare, and he was able to insert a provision requiring all members of Congress and their staffs to get insurance through the Obamacare health exchanges. “The more that Congress experiences the laws it passes, the better,” said Grassley. Although his amendment was watered down before final passage to exclude committee staff, it still applies to members of Congress and their personal staffs. Most employment lawyers interpreted that to mean that the taxpayer-funded federal health-insurance subsidies dispensed to those on Congress’s payroll — which now range from $5,000 to $11,000 a year — would have to end....

Oh, no, they don't. Parent-Pigs took care of their offspring pigs.

...Democratic and Republican staffers alike were furious, warning that Congress faced a “brain drain” if the provision stuck. Under behind-the-scenes pressure from members of Congress in both parties, President Obama used the quiet of the August recess to personally order the Office of Personnel Management, which supervises federal employment issues, to interpret the law so as to retain the generous congressional benefits.

("Brain Drain" from D.C.? Is this not oxymoronic?)

It's no wonder that Republican "leadership" doesn't give a fart-in-the-wind about de-funding ObozoCare. They will win either way.

Because Some Pigs Are More Equal, you see.

Monday, September 16, 2013

"They Don't Have Well-Creased Pants!!"

So said David Brooks, the fashion consultant/establishment apologist, forgetting American history.

...New York Times columnist David Brooks warned that Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and similar legislators’ rise to prominence threatens the traditional Republican Party.

Brooks insists the motives of Cruz are less about legislation and policy and more about the politics of undermining the Republican establishment.

Gott in Himmel! What's next? Some revivification of Patrick Henry???

Well, yes:

...Ted Cruz, the senator from Canada through Texas, is basically not a legislator in the normal sense, doesn’t have an idea that he’s going to Congress to create coalitions, make alliances, and he is going to pass a lot of legislation. He’s going in more as a media-protest person. And a lot of the House Republicans are in the same mode. They’re not normal members of Congress. They’re not legislators. They want to stop things. And so they’re just being — they just want to obstruct.”...

Brooks, the well-known pants-crease adviser, nearly faints as he hysterically observes that....

"...they’re running against their own party,” he continued. “Ted Cruz is running against Republicans in the Senate. The House Republican Tea Party types are running against the Republican establishment."

Let's flesh out that Patrick Henry allusion a bit, shall we?

..."The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.

"Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.

"I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the ~~British ministry~~ Republican party for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House....

And to the foppish Brooks' remarks that these un-creased pants-Conservatives cannot be bought with committee assignments or with earmark-bribes, Henry also had a riposte:

"Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss".

Clearly, this Patrick Henry character didn't have well-creased pants! But apparently he had critics just like Brooks.

"...Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ~~ministry and Parliament~~ Administration and Republican National Committee. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free-- if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight!...

Brooks belongs to the Old Guard. But there's a New Guard in town, called the Tea Party.

Patrick Henry would be proud.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Why No ObozoWar in Syria?

The glitterati pundits are convinced that Kerry's stupidity--and Putin's cunning--were the proximate cause of Obozo's calling-off of his teeny, tiny, missile-strike on Assad & Co.

Just by co-incidence, millions of Catholics joined the Pope in a day of fasting and prayer for the purpose of avoiding Obozo's teeny, tiny, missile-strike on Assad & co.

Hmmmmm.

No reason that God can't use an idiot and a cunning thug, is there?

Obozo's Plot Goes Wrong Way

Nice observation here from Phil Klein.

President Obama has long desired to be the liberal answer to Ronald Reagan, who he once said, “changed the trajectory of America.”

... Yet a Gallup survey released on Sept. 13 found that fewer Americans currently trust the government to handle international and domestic problems than at any time in the past 40 years.

That’s an era that includes Watergate, the Vietnam War and the Iraq War.

Judging by elections, they didn't find either McCain or Romney a better option, which should tell Priebus something.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

The Perils of George Zimmerman

Egads.

In a stunning turn of events, police in Lake Mary Florida have retrived video from the broken iPad of Shellie Zimmerman indicating that she had LIED about the actions of George Zimmerman and that SHE was the aggressor in the alleged attack reported earlier this week.

Police spokesman Zach Hudson was interviewed just a few hours ago and had this to say: “This is definitely not over, we live in a video world, we live in an electronics age, and an iPad was being used to record the events.”

Shellie is being charged with Domestic Battery, Resisting Arrest and Obstruction of Justice and is being held at the Lake Mary jail on a $100,000 bond.

Who needs Hollywood for soap operas? We have Floriduh!

HT: Ticker

What Evil Is

A brief and useful excerpt:

One of the most significant intellectual breakthroughs of Augustine's life was the insight that evil is not something substantial, but rather a type of non-being, a lack of some perfection that ought to be present. Thus, a cancer is evil in the measure that it compromises the proper functioning of a bodily organ, and a sin is evil in the measure that it represents a distortion or twisting of a rightly functioning will. Accordingly, evil does not stand over and against the good as a kind of co-equal metaphysical force, as the Manichees would have it. Rather, it is invariably parasitic upon the good, existing only as a sort of shadow.

J.R.R. Tolkien gave visual expression to this Augustinian notion in his portrayal of the Nazgul in The Lord of the Rings. Those terrible and terrifying threats, flying through the air on fearsome beasts, are revealed, once their capes and hoods are pulled away, to be precisely nothing, emptiness. And this is exactly why, to return to Arendt's description, evil can never be radical. It can never sink down into the roots of being; it can never stand on its own; it has no integrity, no real depth or substance. To be sure, it can be extreme and it can, as Arendt's image suggests, spread far and wide, doing enormous damage. But it can never truly be. And this is why, when it shows up in raw form, it looks, not like Goethe's Mephistopheles or Milton's Satan, but rather like a little twerp in a glass box.

Don't be surprised that Tolkien knew that. Don't be surprised that Arendt knew that. Instead, remember it. It will serve you well.

HT: PowerLine

FBI Hits Web-Host

Seems that the Feebs have been busy.

...the FBI yesterday acknowledged that it secretly took control of Freedom Hosting last July, days before the servers of the largest provider of ultra-anonymous hosting were found to be serving custom malware designed to identify visitors....

Freedom Hosting was also a major hub for child porn distribution. So a slimebucket and lots of his clients are looking at hard time.

But there's more to the story.

...the notion of shotgunning active malware out onto the general public's computers and hoping to snag a known culprit in that wide net is something that needs discussing....

The Feebs specifically went after Firefox 17 ESR, which is the browser used by TOR, an anonymizer. Not everyone who uses TOR is a child-porn consumer or purveyor.

Yup. Some discussion to follow.

HT: AOSHQ

Trumka Wanted It. Now He's Got It!

You all remember how Big Labor pushed for ObozoCare, right?

Now they've got it.

Good and hard.

The Obama administration on Friday denied a request from labor unions to have their healthcare plans receive tax subsidies under ObamaCare.

A White House official said the Treasury Department has determined that the healthcare plans used by many union members — known as multi-employer or Taft-Hartley plans — cannot be made eligible for subsidies that are intended to help uninsured people afford coverage.

Of course, Obozo's playing the long-term game, figuring that he'll get single-payer out of this. And that he'll get Big Labor to push for that, too.

Meantime, John Boehner is cowering someplace near a tanning lamp.

Friday, September 13, 2013

WEAC Now a Museum Piece

Write the obit.

Today, teachers in Kenosha, Wis., voted to decertify their union, the Kenosha Education Association, by a margin of nearly two to one. Only 37 percent of the teachers opted to retain the union in an election made possible by the labor reforms enacted under Gov. Scott Walker (R). --HotAir quoting CEI

That's not all.

...Christina Brey, [speaking for WEAC, said]

“It seems like the majority of our affiliates in the state aren’t seeking re-certification, so I don’t think the KEA is an outlier or unique in this,” she said.

Buh-bye. Don't let the door hit you in the ass.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

US Manufacturing: Overstated?

Interesting little item here at Manufacturing News.

...Substituting imported products for those that were domestically produced "resulted in an overstatement of the annual growth in real value added by 0.2 percentage points to 0.5 percentage points per year from 1997 to 2007," according to the Upjohn/MIT research. This might not sound like a lot, but it is huge, "implying that real value-added growth was upward biased by as much as 50 percent" for the majority of U.S. manufacturing during that period, says the study. "Estimates on the bias from materials offshoring to multifactor productivity ranged from about 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points per year for all of manufacturing and about 0.2 to 0.4 for the computer and electronics industry."...

Seems that the number-crunchers at BLS haven't secured funding to put up an accurate measure of import-substitution.

This is not a small item; estimates range up to a FIFTY percent overstatement of US manufacturing output. And that explains something else:

This statistical lapse is the likely reason why productivity rates have increased, but wage gains have not -- a situation that poses an intellectual quagmire for most economists who have been ignorant about the statistical anomalies associated with globalization's impact on the United States....

So the price-inflation item (below) becomes even more ...ahhh.....ugly.

Inflation? Damn Right!

All you have to do is scroll to the candle-charts.

And ignore Bernanke and the other morons.

Spend Lots, BK the Country: Ryan

Which is worse: ObozoCare or this?

...House Budget Committee Paul Ryan, R-Wis., pitched exactly such a plan to a closed-door Republican Study Committee meeting Wednesday.

The Washington Examiner's David M. Drucker reports that, under the Ryan plan, Republicans would agree to raise the debt limit for a year, and undo the scheduled automatic sequestration cuts, but in return, Obama would have to agree to a one-year delay of Obamacare....

So Ryan--a "fiscal hawk"--would green-light even more taxpayer debt AND spend a whole bunch of money for a one-year reprieve from ObozoCare.

Ryan makes us all into Hobson.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Diversity Is Good!

HT: Protein Wisdom

Big Biz: The Pigs

There's an old saying having its genesis in the stock market to the effect that bulls and bears have their ups and downs, but only the pigs get slaughtered.

And a hundred+ of those pigs went public with their squeal today.

On Tuesday, the chief human resources officers of more than 100 large corporations sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi urging quick passage of a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

...at the same time the corporate officers seek higher numbers of immigrants, both low-skill and high-skill, many of their companies are laying off thousands of workers.

For example, Hewlett-Packard, whose Executive Vice President for Human Resources Tracy Keogh signed the letter, laid off 29,000 employees in 2012. In August of this year, Cisco Systems, whose Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Kathleen Weslock signed the letter, announced plans to lay off 4,000 — in addition to 8,000 cut in the last two years. United Technologies, whose Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Organization Elizabeth B. Amato signed the letter, announced layoffs of 3,000 this year. American Express, whose Chief Human Resources Officer L. Kevin Cox signed the letter, cut 5,400 jobs this year. Procter & Gamble, whose Chief Human Resources Officer Mark F. Biegger signed the letter, announced plans to cut 5,700 jobs in 2012....

Belling seems to think that the anti-Ryan (immigration) ads are from Lefty activists.

And I suppose that Belling considers Big Biz to be Rightist? He ought to know better.

Frankly, I'm an American--and to me, this letter is both shameful and disgusting.

There will be all the usual mumbo-jumbo from these jackwads about "re-alignment," "different skills," "strategic re-assessment" and "plant consolidation," almost every word of which can be translated thus: "We don't really give a shit about the people who work(ed) for us. We won't relocate them, and we won't re-train them. F*&^ 'em."

Eight dollars an hour and no benefits (let the taxpayers eat the cost of ObozoCare).

Makes one want to change the tax rates for these folks, ain'a?

HT: AOSHQ

Boehner's War Strategy: "We Give Up"

Boehner, ever the spineless but well-tanned insider, gave up on de-funding ObozoCare.

He also repeated his laugh-line that "...Republicans have voted against funding...more than 40 times...." He doesn't mention that they NEVER voted against funding when it counted.

IOW, Boehner won't even do what Obozo did in the Syria affair. He won't even issue a threat.

Recalling Anti-Gunners: 2 for 2

The Colorado recalls went very nicely, thanks!

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Couldn't Happen to Nicer People

ObozoCare: the gift that keeps on giving. Just like syphilis.

“There’s a new 2.3 percent excise tax on medical device manufacturers. According to some reports, Kalamazoo based Stryker has laid off more than a thousand people because of it–and owes the federal government upwards of $100 million dollars this year alone. Late last week a Stryker spokesperson told me that Obamacare will cost the company fully 20 percent of its total research and development investments...."WWMT quoted at Gateway

Yup. that's the Stryker which is owned by a major-league Obozo donor.

Now she's getting what she paid for, good and hard.

Putin: Example for Boehner

Putin is bitch-slapping the Preener-in-Chief back and forth around the entire globe.

It's something many of us have wanted to do for .....oh.....6 or 7 years.

Boehner? He doesn't have the balls to follow Putin's lead.

Sunday, September 08, 2013

The Contradiction-in-Chief

HT: MoonBattery

Promising Poll on Syria

One of the commenters brings up a new poll on the Syria situation.

WASHINGTON—As President Obama continues to push for a plan of limited military intervention in Syria, a new poll of Americans has found that though the nation remains wary over the prospect of becoming involved in another Middle Eastern war, the vast majority of U.S. citizens strongly approve of sending Congress to Syria.

The New York Times/CBS News poll showed that though just 1 in 4 Americans believe that the United States has a responsibility to intervene in the Syrian conflict, more than 90 percent of the public is convinced that putting all 535 representatives of the United States Congress on the ground in Syria—including Senate pro tempore Patrick Leahy, House Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and, in fact, all current members of the House and Senate—is the best course of action at this time....

Only 90+%? What, the others are comatose?

The Real Statist: Obozo

I know, it's piling on to bring this up....

The Obama administration secretly won permission from a surveillance court in 2011 to reverse restrictions on the National Security Agency’s use of intercepted phone calls and e-mails, permitting the agency to search deliberately for Americans’ communications in its massive databases, according to interviews with government officials and recently declassified material. In addition, the court extended the length of time that the NSA is allowed to retain intercepted U.S. communications from five years to six years — and more under special circumstances,...

So it must be Bush's fault, no?

No.

...What had not been previously acknowledged is that the court in 2008 imposed an explicit ban — at the government’s request — on those kinds of searches

Well, maybe it's "the WORLD'S surveillance community" which begged for the permission.

Saturday, September 07, 2013

Walter R. Mead: "Putin's Really Stupid"

The professor misjudges:

...Foreigners will no longer know when and whether to take anything this President says as representing American policy rather than his own editorial opinions. We hate to say it, but that is so dangerous that there’s a strong argument for Congress to back the Syria resolution simply to avoid trashing the credibility of the only President we’ve got.--quoted at The Other McCain

What Mead is really saying is that Putin (and PRC, and others) are really quite stupid.

They're not.

They're doing to Obozo exactly what Boehner should have been doing years ago: slapping him across the chops.

Friday, September 06, 2013

The Trotskyites Return Home

"Truth is not mean. It's the truth." ---Breitbart

Over at the American Conservative, Kelley Vlahos writes that the “Neocons are back,” and they’re flocking to the left over the matter of Syria. Kelley’s correct—the neocon hold on the Republican Party has slipped, giving way to a rejuvenated non-interventionist vanguard.

Kelley traces an excellent history of the movement’s contemporary manifestation, beginning with Bill Kristol’s “now defunct” Project for a New American Century. However—and I imagine Kelley would agree—a lengthier look back at the movement shows its home on the left offers a comfortably collectivist fit, having emerged from the Soviet-side of the political spectrum.

Yup. That showed up in the Rove/Kristol-inspired Big Gummint of GWBush, too--not to mention the Iraq problem, which was another "we can get every country to be peaceful democratic types if we stomp the crap out of them with the military."

Yah, that worked real well.

So in a twist on the old saw, the Neocons now effectively argue that 'stomping really works; it just hasn't been done correctly yet.'

Trotskyism hasn't been done "correctly" yet, either. Maybe Billy Kristol should start his own country and try it there, eh?

Slaughtering Christians = "Moderate": WSJ

The Wall Street Journal was known for its pro-capitalism editorial page and center-left news pages.

Things have changed. Now it's a pro-AlQuaeda editorial page.

...On Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry encouraged members of the House of Representatives to read a Wall Street Journal op-ed by 26-year-old Elizabeth O’Bagy — an analyst with the Institute for the Study of War — who asserted that concerns about extremists dominating among the Syrian rebels are unfounded.

“Contrary to many media accounts, the war in Syria is not being waged entirely, or even predominantly, by dangerous Islamists and al-Qaida die-hards,” O’Bagy wrote for the Journal on Aug. 30. “Moderate opposition groups make up the majority of actual fighting forces,” she wrote.

But in addition to her work for the Institute for the Study of War, O’Bagy is also the political director for the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), a group that advocates within the United States for Syria’s rebels — a fact that the Journal did not disclose in O’Bagy’s piece.

Yah, hey.

Thursday, September 05, 2013

Aristotle's Guide: How to Be a Tyrant

Aristotle was a very smart guy.

I wonder if he could spell "Obozo".

Fourth Generation Warfare

Synopsis provided by Sipsey from the pen of a French general (!):

The outcome is to force the enemy to accept the terms we wish to impose on him. In this dialectic of wills a decision is achieved when a certain psychological effect has been produced on the enemy: when he becomes convinced that it is useless to start or alternatively to continue the struggle. (MBV: Emphasis in the original) -- General D'Armee Andre Beaufre, An introduction to Strategy, 1965.

This should be nothing "new" in terms of war, but the general included 'maintenance of the existing political scene' as a part of '4GW.'

IOW, even "peace" is war. In recent history, the Cold War was the example.

The Short Course on Nominalism

The guy manages to put it into a very short essay and along the way supports the "Shakespeare Was Catholic" gang.

Rates Going Up?

Interesting little note from ZeroHedge:

...Speaking of bonds blowing out, the US 10Y[ear bond] is now just 6 bps away from 3.00%, the widest since July 2011, and likely to breach the support level, taking out a boatload of stops and leading to the next big step spike in rates as the second selling scramble ensues....

It's worth remembering that as bond yields increase, equities take it on the chops. Of course, rates for mortgages and car loans will also rise...

Historical Society Must Answer

Great.

The Walker Administration approves state agency spending to lobby for MORE State spending.

And the agency refuses to talk.

Looks to me as though a couple of schmeissings are in order, Governor.

Objective? "I Dunno."--Dempsey

Little Lord Fauntelroy sent his very best General, all dressed up with medals and everything, to talk to Congress.

Then someone asked the wrong question.

CORKER: And this authorization will support those activities in addition to responding to the weapons of mass destruction.

DEMPSEY: I don’t know how the resolution will evolve, but I support –

CORKER: What you’re seeking. What is it you’re seeking?

DEMPSEY: I can’t answer that, what we’re seeking.

Little Lord Fauntelroy stamped his widdle feets.

Corker, who very much fears foot-stamping, voted to help Little Lord Fauntelroy anyway, for some day, Corker might grow up to be the next Little Lord Fauntelroy (he'd been admiring himself in the mirror for years, and his mommy told him he could be really important when he grows up.)

Wednesday, September 04, 2013

The Cost of ObozoCare

Useful little item here to figure your bankruptcy-time under ObozoCare (scroll to the bottom to start the widget.)

Note that your out-of-pocket will be rather high (ours is over $10K) and the premium--well--it's not going to be cheap, either.

HT: Sykes

Mukhabarat Amriki?

That's translated "CIA".

Various sources (recently this one) have indicated that Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the USA have been supporting the Syrian rebels since the beginning of the action.

This happens to be the second report I've read which posits that the gas attack was a false-flag op about which the Mukhabarat Amriki had foreknowledge (at the very least.)

"War", of course, "is the health of the State". So said Mr. Bourne in opposing Dewey of Columbia University, who had argued for US participation in WWI on the theory that war would advance democracy. (Sounds vaguely familiar, no?)

Dewey was wrong, as most Progressives are. Twenty-one years after the war-to-end-all-wars ended, it started all over again.

As always, the question is cui bono? Who benefits?

Maybe Obozo's thinking about FDR. Fundamental transformation will take more than 8 years, ya'know.

Tuesday, September 03, 2013

Boehner's All In--on the Wrong War

Boehner and his mini-me Cantor are all in on the Stupid Syrian Strike.

Wrong war, predictably.

The right war? ObozoCare.

The justification for Boehner's sudden ferocious lurch? To deprive Obozo of someone to blame.

Now THAT'S a really, really, good reason to ignite the entire Middle East. eh?

Oh, Yes. They're Spying on You

We re-discovered the Spingola Files a while ago and thankfully, he's writing more often.

...The most visible sign of domestic spying initiatives are the millions of cameras posted along interstate highways, mounted on poles at key intersections, or those little white boxes containing cameras found, in some instances, every mile on stretches of southeastern Wisconsin freeways. This data is recorded and archived by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s State Traffic Operations Center in Milwaukee...

... Wisconsin has two such [fusion] centers: one operated by the Milwaukee Police Department and the other housed in a benign office park on Madison’s north side. The equipment used by these centers was purchased with Department of Homeland Security grant money. Moreover, federal funds underwrite about 20 percent of the Milwaukee fusion center’s budget.

These high-tech fusion centers can access one’s personal information from private sector data mining companies, such as ChoicePoint, in order to ascertain an individual’s financial transactions, book purchases, vehicles and properties owned, credit information, as well as names and addresses of relatives and neighbors. Fusion centers also use software to track cellular telephones absent judicial oversight. This technology enables an agent of the government to follow a cell phone from room-to-room within a particular building or structure....

...In Wisconsin, over 37 law enforcement agencies use automated license plate readers (ALPR), which are generally mounted on patrol vehicles, although some are placed at fixed locations. These devices scan hundreds of license plates of passing vehicles each minute to check on the driver’s license status, possible warrants, or other fugitive data. These devices also record the date, time, and location that the vehicle was scanned. This information is then stored in various databases. ...

Nothing to see here. Move on, subjects.

UPDATE: What Spingola didn't mention (yet):

...The Hemisphere Project, a partnership between federal and local drug officials and AT&T that has not previously been reported, involves an extremely close association between the government and the telecommunications giant.

The government pays AT&T to place its employees in drug-fighting units around the country. Those employees sit alongside Drug Enforcement Administration agents and local detectives and supply them with the phone data from as far back as 1987....Ticker quoting NYT

There's no "secret court" involved here; it's all "administrative". Whatever DEA wants, they get through non-judicial warrants.

Obama: The Wizard of Oz

You all know the story. Apply it.

Hint: all hat, no cattle.

Monday, September 02, 2013

"Bomber" Billy Kristol, Again

I really don't care that Billy Kristol wants interventions to stop tinpot dictators from doing terrible things.

But I think Billy should send himself and his own family for a change, particularly when there is zero/zilch/nada US interest at stake.

Note carefully: the writer that Kristol endorses does not provide one teeny-tiny bit of evidence that there are "US interests" at stake. None.

The poor babbling professor, instead, tells us that blood and treasure should be spent because it's important that Obozo retains credibility in the world.

Does this poor fool think--for one second--that Obozo HAS credibility with the rest of the world?

Is The Syria Question Just More Politics?

With Obozo, one never discounts the political.

...The president couldn’t care less about the plight of Syrians, the 1,500 gassed to death — including nearly 500 children. It’s all about 2014. Win the House, reign supreme.

...The conventional wisdom is, as usual, wrong. Losing the congressional vote won’t be an embarrassment for the president, as all the talking heads are still parroting. A loss would be a double win. First, because a “No” vote would allow the foreign policy neophyte to walk away from his blundering “red line” declaration on chemical weapons (“I wanted to go in, but Congress said no”). And second, should Republicans who voted for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars now oppose Syria, the president would be armed with clear “evidence” that their opposition is purely political....

It's notable that the Administration is leaking intel (and the source of same) to gin up support for the War Resolution. This info seems to confirm that Assad's kid ordered the gassing.

Even if that is granted as fact, the operative question for the US remains "So what?"

We all know that Assad is a mini-Hitler, but there are a lot of them around running various 'countries.' We all know that gassing civilians is a war crime--but then, 'collateral damage' happens with Obozo's very own drone war, too.

So. War is bad for children and other living things. Granted.

That's not what Congress has to decide. The question before them is this: what vital national interest of the USA is at stake here?

And given the facts that neither Assad nor his AlQuaeda opponents are friends of the USA, it is clear: there are NO US interests at stake.

So pPresident Obozo: who shall be the first to die for your mistake?

Obozo, Our New Warmonger

The stupid "red line" ad-lib from our college professor idiot-in-chief now gets its own resolution for congressional approval.

...The substantive part of Obama’s proposed authorization of the use of military force, conveyed to congressional leaders over the weekend, contains 172 words. That’s significantly more than either the 1964 Tonkin Gulf Resolution authorizing the Vietnam War or the 2001 resolution authorizing retaliation for the 9/11 terror attacks,...

...University of Texas Law School Professor Robert Chesney said in an interview, Obama’s proposed authorization did not include a sunset date....

It gets worse:

...Obama has repeatedly said that “we would not put boots on the ground.” His proposed authorization, though, did not limit the kinds of military forces that could be used. It also does not specify the forces against which force can be used....

Not only is it "I'll do what I damn please, when I damn please, where I damn please, against whomever I damn please!"--it's also, quel horreur! an up-yours to the fabled "international community."

...“Unfortunately, the president’s draft (authorization) states a violation of international law in every line,” said Mary Ellen O’Connell, a University of Notre Dame law professor. “Resort to military force is not permitted to punish the use of banned weapons; to address arms proliferation, or to respond to vague threats to the United States.”...

Should be fun to watch Wisconsin's junior senator decide on this one, eh?