Showing posts with label Pelosi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pelosi. Show all posts

Sunday, March 22, 2009

The Immigrants and the Pelosicrats



For centuries, it's been part of the American story.


Immigrants came here from every corner of the globe.


Yearning to be free and seeking a better life for themselves and their families.


They worked hard, embraced our culture, and helped make America great.


Republicans believe all immigrants should be welcomed here, provided they play by the rules.


But too often today, people enter our country illegally.


Their first act: to break our laws.


Too many Democrats want to reward them with citizenship if they pay a meaningless fine.


Selling American citizenship?


That means millions of illegals would get legal status more quickly than those who followed the rules.


On top of that, they would get Government benefits, paid for by your tax dollars:


Billions of dollars in social security and Medicare benefits.


There's a right way to come to America and a wrong way.


Democrats don't seem to know the difference.


Or, if they do know, they don't seem to care.


But, if you care, then there's only one choice.

Stop the open-borders agenda of the Pelosicrats. Let your representative hear your voice.


Hat tip: Rep. Jon Kline (hat tip: Powerline).

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Financial Post Editor asks "Is this the End of America?"


Terence Corcoran is the editor of The Financial Post, the oldest of Canada's financial newspapers. Corcoran's most recent op-ed excoriates the Obama administration and the Democrat-controlled Congress, asserting that they are "riddled with slapdash, incompetence and gamesmanship":

[The] Federal Reserve is dropping trillions of fresh paper dollars on the world economy, the President of the United States is cracking jokes on late night comedy shows, his energy minister is threatening a trade war over carbon emissions, his treasury secretary is dithering over a banking reform program amid rising concerns over his competence and a monumentally dysfunctional U.S. Congress is launching another public jihad against corporations and bankers.

As an aghast world — from China to Chicago and Chihuahua — watches, the circus-like U.S. political system seems to be declining into near chaos. Through it all, stock and financial markets are paralyzed. The more the policy regime does, the worse the outlook gets. The multi-ringed spectacle raises a disturbing question in many minds: Is this the end of America?

...Reform of health care, environmental policy, education, energy, banking, regulation — every nook and cranny of the U.S. economy has been put on alert for major change. Expansion of government spending, plunging the U.S. into unprecedented deficits, is without parallel. In economic policy, through regulation and control of energy output, financial services and monetary expansion, the U.S. government has embarked on a fundamental reshaping of America. It is designed, in short, to bring on the end of America.

...The total monetary base, already at astronomical levels, is now expected to take another big hit with the new Fed policy of buying up U.S. longer-term treasury bills in a bid to drive down long-term interest rates... For the rest of the world, however, the worry is that America is at risk of becoming the fountainhead of a new inflationary outburst. The U.S. dollar is now in decline, gold is moving sharply higher, and new global currency turmoil is on the horizon...

...A paper just published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, source of the chart above, says that the Fed will have to be prepared to absorb all the excess money it has poured into the U.S. economy. It will be a technical and political challenge unlike any central bank has ever undertaken. The future of America is at stake.

Americans must stop Barack Obama and the Pelosicrats from their program of economic suicide. The alternative is too difficult to contemplate.


Related: St. Louis Federal Reserve: Deficits, Debt and Looming Disaster: Reform of Entitlement Programs May Be the Only Hope.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Saginaw News nails it



Hat tip: Papa B.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

The Wisdom of Crowds and Obamanomics


In the early twentieth century Francis Galton witnessed a contest at a county fair. Asked to estimate the weight of a prize ox, spectators and cattle experts alike submitted their guesses on slips of paper.

After the contest was finished, Galton collected the hundreds of submissions. He painstakingly added them up to determine the average of the crowd's estimates.

He was astounded to discover that the crowd's average was closer to the true weight of the ox than any single guess, including those of the "experts".

This anecdote is one of many related in James Surowiecki's bestselling book The Wisdom of Crowds.

The book's central assertion is that a diverse collection of individuals, each operating independently, is likely to offer better predictions and decisions than individuals, even so-called "experts".

Intrade.com, the well-known prediction market, selected the winner of every single U.S. Senate race in 2006. No "talking head" pundit was able to match this record.

The largest and best known prediction market is the stock market.

A 2007 study by Arnerich & Messina illustrated the stock market's efficiency in stark terms. Since 1994 there have been only two years in which more than 50% of professional money managers were able to beat the S&P 500 index. In 1997 only 11% of managers beat the index.

Over the last year most investors in the equity markets have taken horrific losses. In September -- just a couple of months ago -- the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered near 12,000. Today it closed at 7,182.

What happened in September? Let's look at the Intrade presidential futures market. The blue line represents the Obama futures while red represents McCain.

If we zoom into the September-to-November timeframe, we'll see something very enlightening. By late September it was increasingly clear to Intrade.com bettors that Obama was going to win the election. From 9/28 to 9/29 Obama's Intrade price went from 57 to 61, which represented a huge jump.

Note what happened to the stock market at nearly the exact same time. Around September 29th the market began its collapse. Mapping the political events to the market's reactions make the effects crystal clear.


Click to zoom

09-29-2008 (Dow: 10365) - Obama takes final lead of race.
11-04-2008 (Dow: 9625) - Obama elected President of United States.
11-24-2008 (Dow: 8443) - Obama announces his economic team.
01-20-2009 (Dow: 7949) - Obama inaugurated.
02-09-2009 (Dow: 8270) - Word of TARP II released by the administration.
02-18-2009 (Dow: 7555) - Obama announces housing bailout plan.
02-24-2009 (Dow: 7351) - Obama announces FY09 budget (with 9,000 earmarks).
02-26-2009 (Dow: 7182) - Today

Put simply, the markets have reacted with expected fury to Obama's promises of economic "fairness", "spreading the wealth" and raising taxes on the job creators of society.

This thinly disguised form of class warfare, the policies of which many have termed socialism (fairly or unfairly), has had an indelible impact on the markets.

The markets represent the ultimate collective intelligence engine on the planet.


The markets continue to predict the outcome of Barack Obama's failed economic policies. That's why many now call him "The Depression President".

Sorry, drones. There are no do-overs.

Update: Denny says the future is dire. I'm not quite so pessimistic, but any recovery will be delayed and muted by the Marxist policies of today's MoveOn-dominated Democrats.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Fairness Doctrine vs. Pelosi's House Fairness Rules


Word on the street this evening: Barack Obama is not in favor of reinstating the so-called "Fairness Doctrine". That said, the fascistic efforts to silence conservative opinion aren't over. Not by a long shot.

Liberal watchdog groups like the ill-named "FreePress" are funding astroturf websites. Examples include Stop Big Media and Reclaim the Media. These sites rally support for government oversight and control of "corporate media giants".

Aside from egregious violations of the First Amendment, these efforts are thinly veiled attempts to create local Politburos that would have the power to pick and choose media content.

Their intent, while disguised, is crystal clear: shut down conservative talk radio and silence dissent. Got Stalin?

Pelosi Dismantles Congressional Version of Fairness Doctrine


More amazing than this direct assault on the Constitution is the following little-publicized story. Just last month, Nancy Pelosi changed House rules so that Republicans can't propose bills.

That's right: Pelosi and her ultra-partisan hacks destroyed the Congressional version of the Fairness Doctrine ("Pelosi Erases Gingrich’s Long-Standing Fairness Rules"):

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to re-write House rules today to ensure that the Republican minority is unable to have any influence on legislation. Pelosi’s proposals are so draconian, and will so polarize the Capitol, that any thought President-elect Obama has of bipartisan cooperation will be rendered impossible before he even takes office...

The original House fairness rules were put in place under Republican control of the House, to ensure that the minority Democrats had a voice. The rules survived for 15 years. Now they're history.

See how it works?

It's easy to understand


When it silences conservative talk radio, Democrats favor the Fairness Doctrine.

And when it silences conservatives in Congress, Democrats oppose the Fairness rules.

What can one call it... but fascism?


Update: Hyper-partisan thug Waxman looks to extend "Fairness" to web.


Monday, January 26, 2009

Blue Dog Democrats: It's either your constituents or Pelosi. You make the call.


Bloggers: Get your Blue Dog Blog Widget, below

So you Blue Dog Democrats got elected to the House of Representatives by claiming to be conservatives. Fine. Now it's time to prove it.

Will you serve your constituents -- or Nancy Pelosi?

Pelosi wants to spend $355 billion that is nothing but useless pork, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Pelosi wants a bailout for her horrifically mismanaged state -- California -- and other primarily Democratic-governed states.

Readers, I encourage you to email this post or use the blog widget, below, to spread the word. Call them, email them, fax them. Be polite, but firm. It's time for the Blue Dogs to pick sides.

Blue Dog Members and Fundraisers

Rep. Mike Arcuri, New York, 24th District, (202) 347-3042
Rep. Joe Baca, California, 43rd District, (202) 488-1528
Rep. John Barrow, Georgia, 12th District, (202) 285-0966
Rep. Melissa Bean, Illinois, 8th District, (202) 204-9050
Rep. Marion Berry, Arkansas, 1st District, (202) 543-5777
Rep. Sanford Bishop, Georgia, 2nd District
Rep. Dan Boren, Oklahoma, 2nd District, (202) 454-5262
Rep. Leonard Boswell, Iowa, 3rd District, (202) 547-1334
Rep. Allen Boyd, Florida, 2nd District, (202) 543-5777
Rep. Dennis Cardoza, California, 18th District, (703) 536-6881
Rep. Chris Carney, Pennsylvania, 10th District, 202) 737-5877
Rep. Ben Chandler, Kentucky, 6th District, (202) 454-5262
Rep. Jim Cooper, Tennessee, 5th District, 202) 543-5777
Rep. Jim Costa, California, 20th District, (202) 347-3042
Rep. Bud Cramer, Alabama, 5th District, (256) 539-0902
Rep. Lincoln Davis, Tennessee, 4th District, (202) 543-5777
Rep. Joe Donnelly, Indiana, 2nd District, (202) 488-1445
Rep. Brad Ellsworth, Indiana, 8th District, (703) 354-7444
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Arizona, 8th District, (202) 454-5262
Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York, 20th District, (718) 344-8025
Rep. Bart Gordon, Tennessee, 6th District, 1-800-444-BART
Rep. Jane Harman, California, 36th District, (202) 204-9050
Rep. Baron Hill, Indiana, 9th District, (202) 285-0966
Rep. Tim Holden, Pennsylvania, 17th District, (202) 737-5877
Rep. Nick Lampson, Texas, 22nd District, (202) 544-3151
Rep. Tim Mahoney, Florida, 16th District, (202) 741-7325
Rep. Jim Marshall, Georgia, 8th District, (478) 742-1100
Rep. Jim Matheson, Utah, 2nd District, (703) 354-7444
Rep. Charlie Melancon, Louisiana, 3rd District, (202) 479-2527
Rep. Mike McIntyre, North Carolina, 7th District, (910) 738-8683
Rep. Mike Michaud, Maine, 2nd District, (202) 488-1445
Rep. Dennis Moore, Kansas, 3rd District, (202) 347-3042
Rep. Patrick Murphy, Pennsylvania, 8th District, (202) 488-1445
Rep. Collin Peterson, Minnesota, 7th District, (202) 543-5777
Rep. Earl Pomeroy, North Dakota, At-Large, (202) 347-3042
Rep. Mike Ross, Arkansas, 4th District, (202) 454-5262
Rep. John Salazar, Colorado, 3rd District, (202) 479-2527
Rep. Loretta Sanchez, California, 47th District, (714) 839-4431
Rep. Stephanie Sandlin, South Dakota, At-Large, (202) 347-3042
Rep. Adam Schiff, California, 29th District, (202) 544-3536
Rep. Heath Shuler, North Carolina, 11th District, (202) 544-3536
Rep. David Scott, Georgia, 13th District, (202) 488-1445
Rep. Zack Space, Ohio, 18th District, (202) 347-3042
Rep. John Tanner, Tennessee, 8th District, (202) 543-5777
Rep. Gene Taylor, Mississippi, 4th District, (228) 466-3933
Rep. Mike Thompson, California, 1st District, (202) 543-5777
Rep. Charlie Wilson, Ohio, 6th District, (202) 544-3536

Need a blog widget? Try this one.

Hey, here's an idea, Nancy Murtha O'Reid. How about you bail out the American taxpayer? Instead of swizzling around hundreds of billions in a fruitless central-planning exercise, cut federal income taxes to zero for 90 days. For every taxpayer. I can guaran-dam-tee that less mortgages will fall behind, more cars will be purchased, retail will go nuts, etc.Copy and paste this code to express your support.


Linked by: Republican Liberty Caucus.

If you didn't think we were screwed before this...


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi believes contraception will help stimulate the economy. And that abortion can accelerate our nation's recovery.

The Schnitt Show is offering some moral support for Pelosi's effort.

Operation Reservoir Tip


Mail all "New-Unused" Condoms to:

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
H-232, U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-0100

Won't you please help?

In all seriousness, if contraception means less geniuses like Pelosi in office, I guarantee it will help the economy recover.

Update: Always the party suckup, Harry Reid models the full-body version.



Reservoir tip: Snapped Shot.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Obama's Posse o' Change


Well, this seems an inauspicious start. No, not the oath of office (that appeared to be a gaffe by the Chief Justice). It's the crew that President Obama assembled to serve as his Cabinet.

A Secretary of State whose personal coffers are overflowing with foreign money. If you look up "conflict of interest", you'll see a picture of Hillary being sworn in as Secretary of State. The Clinton Foundation has raised more than half a billion dollars including more than $40 million from foreign sources including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Taiwan. Put simply, "The Clinton Foundation exists as a temptation for any foreign entity or government that believes it could curry favor." To make matters worse, Hillary has refused to temporarily halt foreign contributions during her service or even to disclose donations in a timely fashion. Change!


A Treasury Secretary who cheats on his taxes doesn't know the tax code worth a damn. And who had a pathetic performance at the New York Fed, not to mention his de-orchestration related to the TARP debacle. And the double standard is appalling: as Tom Blumer points out, "Zoe Baird (Clinton, 1993), Kimba Wood (Clinton, 1993), and Linda Chavez (Bush, 2001) all had relatively minor or potential issues with self-employment taxes on household help... Geithner’s unpaid amounts were exponentially larger. Is there a whiff of male chauvinism in the air?"


A sleazebag Attorney General who appears to be the worst breed of political hack. In 1995 U.S. Attorney Eric Holder declined to prosecute a top aide of President Clinton. Shortly thereafter, he was named Deputy Attorney General. In that role, Holder sanctioned two of the most outrageous pardons in Presidential history. When Holder blessed the pardon of fugitive Marc Rich, at least one congressional report alleged that Holder was seeking an endorsement by Rich’s attorney for the role of “attorney general in a potential (Al) Gore administration.” And Holder's blessing of Clinton's pardon of the FALN terrorists has been criticized by scores of law enforcement officials. The COO of the LEAA stated that Holder's "involvement with FALN terrorists is not so much political as a significant sign of disregard for law enforcement." Gee, that's precisely what we need in an AG!


A proposed Commerce Secretary forced to withdraw because of an ongoing federal "pay-to-play" investigation. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson withrew from consideration for the Cabinet post when the investigation was disclosed. The probe centers on whether a campaign donor, CDR Financial Products, received millions in state contracts in exchange for the contributions. The word is that federal investigators "are zeroing in on two of his close advisers."


For the love of... Is it really that tough to find qualified Democrats who don't live full-time under an ethical cloud?

It gets worse. Consider those Democrats who currently occupy positions of significant power in Washington. On the other hand, maybe Obama was trying to level the ethical playing field between branches of government.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), head of the Senate Banking Committee, played a major role in the mortgage meltdown that precipitated our current financial crisis. Not only did he take more money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than any other politician, but NBC News reports that Dodd received a sweetheart mortgage deal from Countrywide Financial. To this day, Dodd refuses to release the HUD statement for the mortgage, despite promising to do so months ago.


A Democratic Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Charlie Rangel (D-NY), who is currently the subject of four separate ethics investigations. Rangel is alleged to have: violated rent-control laws; preserved a tax break for an oil company in exchange for a $1 million contribution; failed to pay taxes on $75,000 in unreported income; and solicited donations on his office letterhead.


House Banking Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) also played a significant role in the mortgage meltdown. Not only did he take numerous contributions from those affiliated with the GSEs (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), but he repeatedly fought oversight and audit controls that could have saved the country from their catastrophic meltdown. Best quote? "I think it is clear that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are sufficiently secure so they are in no great danger... I don't think we face a crisis; I don't think that we have an impending disaster. ...Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do very good work, and they are not endangering the fiscal health of this country.." That was Frank defending the GSEs' loose accounting standards in 2004 and he continued to do so through the summer of 2008.


Disgraced ex-Congressman William "Freezer-burn" Jefferson (D-LA) was found with $90,000 in marked bills stuck in his freezer at home. Federal agents told a judge the money was part of a $100,000 payoff delivered to Jefferson by an informant in a bribery probe. That probe has already led to guilty pleas by a Kentucky businessman and a former Jefferson aide. The Justice Department is investigating Jefferson's relationship to various international telecommunications agreements.


Allan "Jed Clampett" Mollohan (D-WV), who is a former chair of the House Ethics Committee under federal investigation after the National Legal and Policy Center filed a complaint with the department regarding a bizarre increase in Mollohan's net worth. For 2005, Mollohan and his wife reported assets worth $6.8 million to $25.7 million, up from $116,000 to $315,000 in 1999. His financial disclosure restatements came only after the group's complaint.


John "Porky" Murtha (D-PA), the famed chair of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee; a charity founded by a longtime Murtha aide has become a "funnel for money" to his campaigns from defense contractors and lobbyists who directly benefit from his decisions. A Taxpayers for Common Sense spokesman noted, "It's a real tangled web between the congressman, the nonprofit, the defense contractors and the lobbyists." Oh, as an added bonus, Porky's one of the infamous unindicted co-conspirators caught during the Abscam round-up.


Harry "Land Deal" Reid (D-NV), the Senate Democratic Leader who collected a $1.1 million windfall profit on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn't owned the property for at least three years. Reid also did not disclose to Congress an earlier sale in which he transferred his land to a company created by a friend and took a financial stake in that company. The AP learned of the land deal from a former Reid aide concerned that the deal had been "hidden from Congress."


And, lest we forget, let's not omit Caroline Kennedy, who dropped out of contention for the New York Senate seat amidst reports of tax and nanny problems.


This is a world-class collection of losers, punks and crooks.

Culture of corruption? This isn't just a culture, it's an influenza-like epidemic.

But that's today's Democratic Party. They are among the sleaziest group assembled in Washington since the Teapot Dome.

Linked by: Vocal Minority and Curmudgeonisms. Thanks!