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

Monday, September 06, 2010

What will hyperinflation mean for us when it arrives in the United States? We look to Chile under the Allende government for answers.

The piper must be paid. Unchecked printing of money and record-setting deficit spending can't continue. In fact, they represent a bubble of sorts, not unlike the housing bubble or the tech boom.

The Democrat-led government's rapacious cycle of tax, borrow and spend will end, come hell or high water, in the not-too-distant future. And how will this inevitable crash begin? What will happen when the value of the dollar plummets to zero, as it must as surely as gravity pulls a thrown baseball back to Earth?

Gonzalo Lira's family lived through a similar economic meltdown in the early 1970's, precipitated by the election of Salvador Allende in Chile. His election was a fluke, as two opposing parties split the centrist and right-wing blocs, leaving Allende with slightly more than a third of the electorate.

He became the first "democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in the Americas" and he aggressively moved to implement "reforms", which were intended to "put Chile on the road to Socialism".

Companies were nationalized, land was confiscated, and mines were taken over by the government, all in the name of wealth redistribution. Ostensibly these industries and properties were now owned by "the workers". In reality, of course, Allende's friends and supporters were placed in powerful oversight roles within the government and in the companies themselves.

Allende saw himself as a 'Supreme Leader' -- a South American Lenin, if you will -- and he acted with dictatorial control over every aspect of the economy. Possibly his most important directives were those that implemented wage and price controls. These populist efforts were designed to curry favor with the workers in two ways:

• The price of basic goods and services were frozen

• Workers' wages were increased by decree

For a brief period of time the population enjoyed the bonanza. Citizens had more money and prices were held artificially low. Of course, like all central planning exercises, the effort ended in disaster.

Soon retailers and warehouses had been emptied of goods as the consumer base used its new-found wealth to go on a massive shopping spree. Once stores had been emptied, Allende immediately blamed right-wing, anti-Marxist "hoarders" for the failures of his policies.

The economic meltdown was also hastened by the demise of most private sector companies. After all, Allende had forced them to raise wages while constricting their ability to properly price their wares. As companies declared bankruptcy, Allende's government quickly nationalized them "in the name of the people."

If the companies continued to operate at a loss, which most did, the government supported them by printing money to make up the shortfall.

And this is how Chile's hyperinflation began. There was no shortage of cash, but it quickly became worthless, because goods and services had disappeared.

Allende was soon forced to implement rationing. As expected, his party loyalists controlled how ration cards were issued, and these cards determined who could buy consumer goods and food stables. Those deemed unfriendly to Allende did not find ration cards forthcoming, especially if they were vocal in opposing the Marxist government.

As it always does, a free market -- in the form of a black market -- quickly constructed itself to address the inequities. But the shadow markets were more finicky about the currency they accepted: Sólo dólares ("Dollars only").

It was at this point that hyperinflation truly began.

It manifested itself in the form of a "collapse in asset prices"; in other words, deflation hit assets while hyperinflation took place for the absolutely necessary items in life.

The reason was simple: basic necessities like food were increasingly unaffordable. Stock prices, cars, second homes, and other "nice to have" items were immediately sacrificed in order to address the most critical needs.

And so it was in 1972 through 1973 that the Chilean stock market collapsed, the housing market tanked and the price of used automobiles plummeted. Citizens had to cash out of their assets to survive and some simply bought their way out of the country altogether.

A military coup soon toppled Allende and his Marxist government. With it, free market reforms and a new currency regime were implemented. After years of excruciating Marxist failures, Chile slowly began to heal itself.

But the lessons remain for us, here in America, as we watch our own Cloward-Piven government tiptoe to the edge of the Allende experiment.


Is Ours 'The Weakest Generation'?

"...These [health care] negotiations will be on C-SPAN, and so the public will be part of the conversation and will see the decisions that are being made...” (Barack Obama, 1/20/2008)

...[I want] to repeal some of these tax breaks for these oil companies. But I want to do more than that. I also want to go after their windfall profits, take a segment of those profits..." (Barack Obama, 3/3/2008)

"...Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket..." (Barack Obama, 11/1/2008)

"...“I really do believe President Bush is the worst president we’ve ever had..." (Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), 1/4/2009)

"...We will launch a sweeping effort to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government, and every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars..." (Barack Obama, 1/28/2009)

"...Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards..." (Attorney General Eric Holder, 2/18/2009)

"...We don't believe it makes sense to significantly subsidize the production and use of sources of energy (like oil and gas) that are dramatically going to add to our climate change (problem)..." (Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, 3/5/2009)

"...Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration..." (Department of Homeland Security report to Janet Napolitano, 4/12/2009)

"...in early January, when Barack Obama was still President-elect, two of his chief economic advisers — leading proponents of a stimulus bill — predicted that the passage of a large economic-aid package would boost the economy and keep the unemployment rate below 8%. It hasn't quite worked out that way..." (Time Magazine, 7/2/2009)

"...right now drug companies are fighting so that they can keep essentially their patents on their brand-name drugs a lot longer... every time we come close to passing health insurance reform, the special interests fight back with everything they've got." (Barack Obama, 8/11/2009)

"...When CNSNews.com asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday where the Constitution authorized Congress to order Americans to buy health insurance--a mandate included in both the House and Senate versions of the health care bill--Pelosi dismissed the question by saying: “Are you serious? Are you serious?”..." (CNS News, 8/23/2009)

"...the White House has been taken aback by the intense criticism from political opponents and local officials of Holder’s decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian courtroom in New York..." (Washington Post, 2/11/2010)

"...But we have to pass the [health care] bill so that you can find out what is in it..." (Nancy Pelosi, 3/9/2010)

"...[President] Obama and his health secretary staged a two-pronged attack Monday in a stern letter to health insurance chief executives and a speech in which the president castigated insurance companies 22 times...." (Washington Post, 3/9/2010)

"...once upon a time they taught that under the U.S. Constitution a bill had to pass both the House and Senate to become law. Until this week, that is, when Speaker Nancy Pelosi is moving to merely 'deem' that the House has passed the Senate health-care bill and then send it to President Obama to sign anyway..." (Wall Street Journal, 3/16/2010)

"...I don't care about the Constitution when it comes to this [health care bill]..." (Rep. Phil Hare (D-IL), 4/2/2010)

"...The president's top counterterrorism adviser on Wednesday called jihad a "legitimate tenet of Islam," arguing that the term "jihadists" should not be used to describe America's enemies... The comment comes after Brennan, in a February speech in which he described his respect for the tolerance and devotion of Middle Eastern nations, referred to Jerusalem... by its Arabic name, Al-Quds..." (Fox News, 5/27/2010)

"...As solicitor general of the United States, Elena Kagan argued in front of the Supreme Court that the federal government had the constitutional authority to ban certain political pamphlets. She also strongly implied that some political books, if they were partisan enough, could also be censored..." (Reason Magazine, 6/29/2010)

"...The financial regulation bill that President Obama will sign into law on Wednesday is supposed to clean up Wall Street. But an obscure passage buried deep in the 2,300-page legislation... could have a broad impact [on] electronics companies..." (Washington Post, 7/2/2010)

"...The federal government filed a lawsuit Tuesday aimed at blocking a controversial Arizona law that requires local police and sheriffs to question and arrest anyone whom they suspect is in the country illegally..." (Politico, 7/7/2010)

"...Less than two months after the US Department of Justice sued Arizona over the state’s controversial immigration law, it has filed another lawsuit targeting immigration practices by Arizona authorities... the [DOJ] says Phoenix-area Maricopa Community Colleges (MCC) discriminated against almost 250 noncitizen job applicants by requiring them to fill out more documents than the law requires to prove their eligibility to work...." (Christian Science Monitor, 8/31/2010)
You don't have to ride on a treacherous, unlit cow path from the north-side of Boston to Lexington as the King's Regulars attempt a surprise attack on the Sons of Liberty.

You don't have to board a frigate, sail for weeks across the Atlantic and then sack a city in Tripoli to rescue your imprisoned countrymen.

You don't have to kill a British soldier in a desperate, hand-to-hand struggle after leaping out of a boat on the beach at York during the War of 1812.

You don't have to hold the line against Pickett's desperate charge at Gettysburg as thousands of wounded men shriek bloody murder around you.

You don't have to resist a vicious attack by the Hun with fixed bayonets at Belleau Wood.

You don't have to survive a terrifying duck-boat run onto Omaha Beach as men around you are being chopped to bits by fortified Nazi gun emplacements.

You don't have to liberate the Nazi Death Camps, capping months of brutal fighting and desperate marching through the dirt roads of Europe.

You don't have to withstand a surprise attack by the Chinese 'People's Volunteer Army', fighting to hold the line in 35°-below-zero temperatures for days on end near the Chosin Reservoir.

You don't have to defend the city of Huế from a surprise attack by Viet Cong and PAVN regulars, fighting block-to-block as the entire country is set afire by the Tet Offensive.

You don't have to race across the desert, waiting for a chemical attack or a Scud missile to hit, baking in 130° temperatures, so that you can expel Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard from Kuwait.

You don't have to patrol a patch of hard-scrabble earth in Aghanistan or Iraq, waiting for the inevitable IED by the side of the road -- or signs that you've rolled right into an ambush by heavily-armed 'insurgents' equipped with Iranian RPGs.

You don't have to do any of those things. You just have to vote in November. You just have to take the time to rally your neighbors, your family members and your co-workers to vote for candidates who believe in the Constitution. You must marshal voters who will reject the out-of-control, free-spending government that has brought our country to the edge of bankruptcy.

Because if the Constitution doesn't mean anything, if all of the founders' sacrifices went for naught, if all of those American heroes who fought and bled and died for the flag mean nothing, if all your parents and grandparents gave you doesn't amount to a hill of beans, well, then our generation will be forever known as the weak-willed group that let the American dream slip from our fingers.

And we will be known forever as the generation that allowed American exceptionalism to be stolen from us by a radical leftist from San Francisco, a crooked, power-hungry weasel of a man from Nevada, and an Alinsky-trained community organizer who rose to the presidency without qualifications or even so much as a background check by the media.

You don't have to bleed for your country. All you have to do is rally our forces to vote in November. That is what we can do and that is what we must do to preserve this Republic for future generations.


Saturday, September 04, 2010

Zero Hedge: Pelosi, Obama and Reid have helped erase or destroy... 11.2 million jobs since the recession began

Tyler Durden does the number-crunching the legacy media won't do and describes the true economic toll of the Pelosi-Obama-Reid triumvirate.

One of the most peculiar observations of this depression started in December 2007 is that while the total US population has increased by 6.8 million from 303.3 million to just over 310 million in July 2010, over the same 32 month period, the civilian labor force has declined from 153.9 million to 153.6 million...

This makes zero sense, as all those aging into working age, or immigrating into the US need to find some job or some other paid activity (either legally or illegally). But let's assume that due to discouragement with economic conditions people simply refuse to look for jobs... [based upon our calculations] the cumulative differential between the labor force as reported, and as calculated has hit an all time record of 3.7 million: this is a number that has to be added to the 7.6 million directly tabulated unemployed to get a sense of just how many jobs have been lost assuming a reversion to the mean for the US economy...

Chart 1: we demonstrate the cumulative change in the population of the US, the cumulative change in the as reported and the as calculated labor force, and the difference between the two (thick black line).

In other words, after eliminating the statistical voodoo of the BEA and the Census Bureau, the US has lost just over 11.2 million jobs since the start of the recession.

Chart 2: Cumulative job losses since December 2007, based on Establishment Survey estimates and adjusted for Labor Force "Catch Up"

'Saved or created' my left cheek.


Friday, September 03, 2010

Consumer Metrics Institute: Economy Is Like Michael Moore Bungee-Jumping Off the Golden Gate Bridge Without the Bungee Cord Part

So, the ConsumerIndexes people emailed me earlier today asking for help. They were like: "Dude, what do we do? The economy is melting down!"

So I was like, "Dudes. I'm just a blogger. Show me the charts."

So after checking out this disastrous chart, I said, like, dudes: This is crazy.

The economy is in freefall.

And they were like, yeah, we know. So I was like, maybe we should elect some people who know what they're doing in November.

And they were like, yo, that's some righteous G-2 you're layin' down.

So I closed the chat window. And posted this. To lay down some G-2 to my peeps.


Incredible: after weeks of careful analysis, using stuff like charts and graphs, I just spotted evidence of the Summer o' Recovery™!

Calculated Risk always has some of the best graphs around. Its latest charts, focused on unemployment trends, offered ample opportunity for study by yours truly. First, the raw graphs:

The red line represents the percent of the civilian workforce that has been unemployed for half-a-year or more.

This chart represents the percent of jobs lost since peak employment was reached. The dashed line is supposed to compensate for Bureau of Census "make-work" jobs.

Now, let's examine these charts using an electron microscope.

Check it out: I tagged the Summer o' Recovery! They're celebrating in the tent cities!

Now, let's review the change in employment from peak employment. This should be rising and... oh. Hmmm. Oops.

My bad.


Thursday, September 02, 2010

Only $19.1B in the Red, Cali's Democrat Legislators Concentrate on the Important Stuff, Like Passing Laws That Protect Celebs From Paparazzi

As California's Democrat legislature dithers, its borrowing costs keep rising. The decreased market for its debt reflects worries about its ability to enact a real budget, which is months behind schedule and already $19.1 billion in the hole.

The extra yield investors demand on 10-year California bonds rose to 124 basis points above AAA rated municipal securities yesterday, up 14 percent in a week, Bloomberg Fair Value Index data show. The increase comes as the state will need to borrow as much as $10 billion in short-term notes within four weeks of any budget agreement and more than $6 billion in longer-dated bonds by December for public-works projects.

California hasn’t had a budget since the fiscal year began on July 1... The state may need to issue IOUs to pay bills by next month and Standard & Poor’s has said it may cut California’s A- rating, already the lowest among states.

What is the Democrat-dominated legislature actually doing instead of passing a budget? The Mercury News reports upon the eclectic genius of the left coast Democrats. Among the amendments they've proposed:

• Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, SB 722, which would have required utilities to generate 33 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

• A bill to end an injustice to low-income and minority children in public schools also failed, and the reason here is even more embarrassing: Assembly leaders refused to stand up to teachers unions.

• Similarly, massive lobbying by the banking industry killed SB 1275, which offered a small but important bit of protection to homeowners: forcing banks to finish determining whether borrowers qualify for a loan modification before foreclosing.

• But wait. Perhaps we're wrong. One critical protection was indeed given the red-carpet treatment in this session: a law penalizing paparazzi for hassling celebrities.

There has got to be something in the water in California. Like some left-over acid from Timothy Leary's hidden stash.


The Genius of Mark Levin: The Time Is Now

On 6 January 2009, I transcribed -- pretty much as I heard it -- the first half hour or so of Mark Levin's radio broadcast. I didn't realize it at the time, but it represented one of the finest chapters of his soon-to-be bestselling book, Liberty and Tyranny.

The Left is using this economic crisis to destroy the firewalls in the Constitution, to further crush the free market.

These are the plans that they devised decades ago.

The free market is the most transformative of economic systems. It fosters innovation and invention.

It produces new industries, products and services and improves upon existing ones.

Millions of individuals freely engaged in an infinite variety of actions each day, it is impossible to even conceive all of the benefits that occur in our economy at any given time.

The free market creates more wealth and more opportunites for more people than any other economic model. This is exactly why the Left -- be they socialists, or Marxists, or left-leaning Democrats -- attack it relentlessly.

That's why they lie, describing the free market as the cause of the current financial crisis. But it was in fact they, through onerous and arbitrary regulation and out-of-control governmental appendages like Fannie Mae, who twisted and distorted the free market.

The free market promotes self worth, self-sufficiency, shared values, and honest dealings. That doesn't mean to say there aren't crooks: they exist in every endeavor (especially government). But when you consider the trillions of transactions that make up the free market, the number of crooks is relatively tiny.

The free market enhances the individual, the family and the community. And it discriminates against no race, religion or gender.

The truck driver does not know the skin color of the individual who helped create the diesel fuel that powers his vehicle.

The cook does not know the religion of the dairy farmers who delivers milk to his restaurant.

The airline passenger does not know the gender of the factory workers who manufactured a critical component of the aircraft.

Nor do they care. The free market is an intricate system of voluntary economic, social and cultural interaction that are motivated by the desires and needs of the individual and the community.

Private property and the Left's attempts to co-opt it


The key to understanding the free market is private property, which is why the Left does not believe in it.

Private property is the material manifestation of the individual's labor: the material value created from a person's physical and intellectual efforts.

Oppressive taxation and regulation of your private property can become a form of servitude, particularly if such confiscation occurs because of arbitrary and illegitimate decisions on the part of a government bureaucracy. That is: decisions that are not Constitutional.

That is why the Conservative believes the federal government should only raise revenue that the Constitution authorizes and no other.

Otherwise, what are the limits on government power? What are the limits on taxation and regulation of the individual's labor? How do we contain and limit government? How do we draw the lines -- and on what basis?

The Marxist class struggle formulation pits the working class against the wealthy (sound familiar?). It serves as the Left's principal rhetorical argument for the confiscation of private property.

But it is anathema to the free market, for the individual has the power to make for himself anything he or she wants! There is no static class structure layered atop the free market! The free market is mutable, dynamic and vibrant.

And for this reason, we Conservatives believe the free market is a vital bulwark against totalitarianism. And it would appear the Left agrees for it is relentless in its assault on the free market.

The Left's rejection of Constitutional limits on government power is always justified on material grounds. In the name of "economic justice", "equality" and "fairness."

The Left creates an illusion of class struggle through a variety of inventions like the "Progressive" Income Tax. But the bottom 40% of wage earners pay no income tax!

"Economic equality" is unachievable, even in the most brutal and oppressive socialist states.

The mirage of "class struggle"


But it serves the Left's purpose to create a class system: artificially created economic categories. In this way, the Left stirs up class envy. The free market, therefore, is said to be incapable of serving the public interest because it produces "unjust results." This requires further government intervention.

The Left tries to intensify class struggle by routinely redefining categories and levels of wealth: who qualifies as the detested rich? The righteous middle class? The disenfranchised poor?

Thus community organizer and Obama mentor Saul Alinsky explained, "Organization for action will now and in the decade ahead center upon America's white middle class. That is where the power is."

Tax cuts for people who don't pay taxes aren't tax cuts. That's welfare. Tax cuts for businesses that can't make money: that's socialism; redistribution of wealth.

This isn't about creating jobs in the private sector. The left hates the private sector. They hate profits. They hate anything that doesn't require government subsidies, that can operate without government involvement. Those entities have to be destroyed.

The modern left is an explicit enemy of the Constitution. The modern left dominates the Democrat Party. And that is why the Democrat Party must be wiped from the political landscape in November. And in every election henceforth.

It is time for action. And you must be an evangelist for the destruction of American socialism in our time.


Wednesday, September 01, 2010

When Leftist Drones Attack!

Apparently, asking a question about an unusual display of military medals and ribbons on civilian attire has raised the hackles of the hard left Democrats. In this case, a thread on Free Republic mentioned the magically expanding ribbon rack of one Connie Pillich, an Ohio Democrat legislator and hard-core tax-and-spend liberal in the mold of Nancy Pelosi.

Many veterans pointed out the display of medals and ribbons on civilian attire appeared, well, a bit tacky. But one extremely brave commenter named Anonymous ripped this august journal for even discussing the topic.

The last time someone made fun of a veteran was when Mean Jean Schmidt made her infamous comment that became a Saturday Night Live legend.

Be careful who you piss-off. Veterans don't like to see criticism of one of their own, especially when neither you nor Wilson have done anything to serve your county.

Representative Pillich has served her country.

Questioning her medals was one area you never should have touched, especially as a front for Wilson.

You have discredited yourself and your blog.

I think you can call her Representative Schmidt, nut-rack. As for myself and Wilson, you have no idea who we are or what we've done, crap-clown.

Oh. Yes. I'm sure our proud vets and their families really appreciate the Democrat Party's support:

• John 'Our Soldiers are terrorizing women and children' Kerry: "I am confident it will not work... I am confident it will. Not. Work."

• Nancy 'Stretch' Pelosi: "The surge has failed."

• Little Dick Durbin: "The administration's policy in Iraq has failed."

• Diane 'Franken' Feinstein: "Today a majority of the Senate sees that the Surge is not working!"

• Patrick 'Traitor' Leahy: "We know that the President's Surge policy has not worked."

• Harry 'The Body Odor' Reid: "The war is lost. The surge is not working."

• Barack Obama: "20,000 troops is [sic] not going to make a difference."

Yes, I'm sure all of our veterans, the families of our veterans, our heroes, appreciate this despicable behavior by a political party that openly roots for our troops' failure -- for partisan gain -- while they are on the field of battle!

But don't question their patriotism!

Now get the hell off my blog, you Marxist loser. Never sully the pages of my blog again! And don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out.


Nicknames: Mark Levin's Top 50 Nicknames

Oh My: Budding Comedy Writer Steve Driehaus (D-OH) Says He's a 'Fiscal Conservative'

Can't... Breathe... Laughing... Hold... Hold... On... Must... Catch... Breath...

Wow. I think I just wrenched my clavicle. Okay.

Sorry about that. Just watched... this commercial:

In which Nancy Pelosi's cabana boy and erstwhile 'Blue Dog' Democrat Steve Driehaus (OH-1) claims to be a fiscal conservative. Seriously. After he voted for the:

• Cap-and-Trade Energy Tax
• The $787 $860 billion 'Stimulus' Bill
• The half-a-trillion dollar Omnibus Spending Bill
• ObamaCare Socialized Medicine
• The 'Financial Reform' Boondoggle That Didn't Touch Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac

And who certainly didn't read any of these massive, oppressive bills. Driehaus barely won his Congressional seat in 2008 in a very conservative district. He was also one of the so-called pro-life Stupak Democrats who caved for an empty promise by the most radical pro-abortion President in American history.

Now Driehaus won't even mention his party. And I don't blame him.

But everyone knows Driehaus is a Democrat. And calling Driehaus a fiscal conservative is somewhat akin to President Axelrod running this kind of campaign in 2012:

Expect it. But everyone knows now that there are no moderate Democrats. At least not since the hard left Soros Marxists took over the party.

So please send a few bucks over to Conservative Republican Steve Chabot. He's a former Congressman, running against Steve "Pelosi's Cabana Boy" Driehaus, and who actually is who he says he is. Which would be a refreshing change from the modern National Social Democrat Party.


Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Bank of America's Jeffrey Rosenberg: Smell the Change, As Expiration of Bush Tax Cuts Will Kill 1.3% of America's Entire Economic Output

Prepare for the powerful thrusts of the Obama recovery.

As our economics team has highlighted, the policy implication of most pressing concern is the expiration of Bush tax cuts. They estimate an impact of 2% annualized reduction in household income worth about 1.3% of GDP, and that such an increase if not reversed could trigger a double-dip recession.

...The political shifts affect that outcome with one school of thought that a divided congress raises the odds of no legislation (and hence a default scenario of expiration). In the face of increasing evidence of a slowing economy, a compromise to avoid a fiscal tightening that could exacerbate the risks of a double dip likely rises, in our view. The question will be one of timing – can a compromise be reached ahead of the election (in our view, unlikely), in a lame duck session (again unlikely).

...In our view, that leaves a retroactive extension passed in January as the most likely compromise. But the damage to confidence in the intervening period may already be done under such a potential scenario. A further deceleration in the data may yet change that assessment, but in the intervening period, political uncertainty will not positively contribute to the economic outlook already diminished by a successive wave of negative data.

I can summarize this in one sentence: Democrats are economic illiterates.

By the way, you can also thank John McCain for the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. 'Cause he's a 'maverick'.


The Obama Crime Wave of 2020

Caution: this is not a snarky post. Zero-percent snark. I want to connect a few dots for you. Additional caution: you may want to sit down.

* * * * * * * * *

 1  USA Today headline: Record number in government anti-poverty programs

Government anti-poverty programs... now serve a record one in six Americans and are continuing to expand... More than 50 million Americans are on Medicaid, the federal-state program aimed principally at the poor...

...More than 40 million people get food stamps, an increase of nearly 50% during the economic downturn, according to government data through May. The program has grown steadily for three years...

...Close to 10 million receive unemployment insurance, nearly four times the number from 2007. Benefits have been extended by Congress eight times beyond the basic 26-week program, enabling the long-term unemployed to get up to 99 weeks of benefits. Caseloads peaked at nearly 12 million in January — "the highest numbers on record," says Christine Riordan of the National Employment Law Project, which advocates for low-wage workers.

More than 4.4 million people are on welfare, an 18% increase during the recession...

In February 2009 Robert Rector, quoted in the London Sunday Times, predicted that the Obama Democrats' expansion of welfare, food stamps and unemployment would be disastrous.

One of the few undisputed triumphs of American government of the past 20 years – the sweeping welfare reform programme that sent millions of dole claimants back to work – has been plunged into jeopardy by billions of dollars in state handouts included in the president’s controversial economic stimulus package...

...Robert Rector, a prominent welfare researcher who was one of the architects of Clinton's 1996 reform bill, warned last week that Obama’s stimulus plan was a “welfare spendathon” that would amount to the largest one-year increase in government handouts in American history... Despite dire warnings that reduced benefits for single mothers and deadlines on entitlement would create a social calamity – one liberal senator warned at the time that children would be “sleeping on grates” – the 1996 reforms cut welfare rolls from more than 5m families in 1995 to below 2m a decade later without a discernible increase in hardship.

In other words, the Obama 'Stimulus' program was intended to massively expand the welfare state. But wait! There's more!

* * * * * * * * *

 2  Increasing welfare and food stamps leads to more kids born to unwed mothers

The statistical link between the availability of welfare and out-of-wedlock births is conclusive. There have been dozens of studies that link the availability of welfare benefits to out-of-wedlock births.

One study found that a 50 percent increase in the value of AFDC and foodstamp payments led to a 43 percent increase in the number of out-of-wedlock births.

A 1996 paper describes the correlation in ominous terms.

...Out-of-wedlock births are strongly related to welfare dependency. A 1 percent increase in the welfare dependent population in a state increases the number of births to single mothers by about 0.5 percent...

...Welfare dependency reduces employment. A 1 percent increase in the dependent population increases the number who are not employed by about 0.1 percent... An increase in welfare benefits reduces employment by increasing the number of welfare dependents. An increase in AFDC benefits by 1 percent of average income increases the number who are not employed by about 0.5.

In other words, if you ratchet up welfare benefits, you get reduced employment and more single-parent families.

Now, why am I telling you this?

* * * * * * * * *

 3  Single-parent families correlate to higher crime rates

In 1995, Dr. Patrick Fagan wrote a seminal summary of the situation: "Over the past thirty years, the rise in violent crime parallels the rise in families abandoned by fathers... High-crime neighborhoods are characterized by high concentrations of families abandoned by fathers... The rate of violent teenage crime corresponds with the number of families abandoned by fathers...

"Neighborhoods with a high degree of religious practice are not high-crime neighborhoods... Even in high-crime inner-city neighborhoods, well over 90 percent of children from safe, stable homes do not become delinquents. By contrast only 10 percent of children from unsafe, unstable homes in these neighborhoods avoid crime... Criminals capable of sustaining marriage gradually move away from a life of crime after they get married."

Of 23 peer-reviewed U.S. studies since 2000, 20 found that family structure directly affects crime and/or delinquency.

"[R]esearch strongly suggests both that young adults and teens raised in single-parent homes are more likely to commit crimes, and that communities with high rates of family fragmentation (especially unwed childbearing) suffer higher crime rates as a result."

For example, a 23-year study found that nearly 90% of the change in violent crime rates can be attributed to the change in percentages of out-of-wedlock births (divorce rates, on the other hand, had no relationship with crime).

In The Atlantic Monthly, Barbara Dafoe Whitehead noted that the "relationship [between single-parent families and crime] is so strong that controlling for family configuration erases the relationship between race and crime and between low income and crime. This conclusion shows up time and again in the literature. The nation's mayors, as well as police officers, social workers, probation officers, and court officials, consistently point to family break up as the most important source of rising rates of crime."

Let me repeat the most important statement -- "controlling for family configuration erases the relationship between race and crime and between low income and crime."

Single-parent families generally lead to increased levels of crime; and there are no significant differences between blacks, whites, or any other race when it comes to this simple fact.

* * * * * * * * *

 4  Recap:

• Fact: There are a record number of Americans dependent upon government anti-poverty programs thanks to the Obama Democrats
• Fact: Expanded access to welfare and food stamps greatly increases the number of children born to unwed mothers
• Fact: Single-parent families correlate to higher crime rates
Conclusion: with the unprecedented increase in welfare, food stamps and unemployment, we will also see an unparalleled increase in violent crime within the next dozen or so years.

Obama and his Democrats sycophants in Congress will have created hundreds of thousands of single-parent families. These kids, born out-of-wedlock, will find themselves trapped in lives of criminality at far higher rates than kids from two-parent families.

Fast forward a dozen years, give or take a couple, and we will see a true Obama Crime Wave. I predict that we will see an unprecedented increase in crime. In fact, you could call it historic.

And the question is not whether it will happen. The question is whether the Obama Left is doing it on purpose.


Monday, August 30, 2010

World's Dumbest Blogger Sowing Fear and Panic in Democrat Ranks By Referring To... ... ...(drumroll)... ... ... 'Speaker Boehner'

At this point, I'd take an old tuna can over what we have now in the Speaker's seat. Gallup says voter sentiment has tilted (at least for the moment) to a, well, historic gap.

Republicans lead by 51% to 41% among registered voters in Gallup weekly tracking of 2010 congressional voting preferences. The 10-percentage-point lead is the GOP's largest so far this year and is its largest in Gallup's history of tracking the midterm generic ballot for Congress.

...Republicans usually turn out in higher numbers in midterm elections than do Democrats, and Gallup's likely voter modeling in the final weeks of an election typically reflects a larger GOP advantage than is evident among registered voters. The wide enthusiasm gaps in the GOP's favor so far this year certainly suggest that this scenario may well play itself out again this November....

One cautionary note: Democrats moved ahead in Gallup's generic ballot for several weeks earlier this summer, showing that change is possible between now and Election Day.

Oh noes, someone call Al "I Have a Scheme" Sharpton! We could have a Speaker Boehner!

Excuse, me sir -- can you tell me who blogs here?


What say you, SEIU, AFL-CIO and AFSCME members? Do you want a check for $1,000? Or more of your money wasted on Democrat losers?

CFIF notes that two of the nation's largest unions -- Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) -- will spend about $100 million supporting Democrats in the 2010 midterms. In addition, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union (AFSCME) will donate an additional $50 million to the Democrat cause.

Not only do they think you're stupid, they think their members are even dumber. After all, that money could be spent on member benefits. Like a $1,000 check for 150,000 members. Or putting some money into the dramatically underfunded pensions.

...let’s put that combined $150 million in perspective.


With that money, these three powerhouse unions could make 150 of their members instant millionaires. Or, if they preferred to “spread the wealth around” in accord with the President they did so much to elect in 2008, they could give $10,000 to 15,000 suffering members, or give 150,000 members $1,000 apiece.

How might those 150,000 members vote if asked whether they’d prefer to see $1,000 directed toward their savings accounts versus spendthrift political candidates?

Moreover, the $150 million described above comes from just three unions. According to the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF), nine of the top ten political action committees contributing to Democratic candidates are operated by labor unions. Additionally, four of the top five organizations donating to 527 groups are labor unions, according to AWF.

Consider as well that Democrats and union bosses have been consistently underfunding members' pensions for decades. That's not me saying that, Northwestern's Kellogg School of Business, which is not exactly a mouthpiece for right-wing propaganda.


For decades, union bosses have directed millions and millions of dollars to their own generous pay packages and their Democrat cronies, while leaving rank-and-file members' retirements at risk.

Nor do union bosses seem to care any more about American taxpayers’ plight than they do about members’ hardships when it comes to their partisan political goals. To illustrate, they’re now pushing federal legislation to dump grossly underfunded union pension plans into the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PGBC).

In other words, labor leaders want a bailout for union pensions...

Dump union benefit obligations onto taxpayers. That way, union leaders could continue to fight declining membership with promises of unsustainable pay and benefits, while shifting pension responsibility to others. Otherwise, according to a Wall Street Journal reference to a legal group formed on labor organizations’ behalf, unions would face “increased pressure at the bargaining table to decrease contributions and cut benefits.”

Yes, the union bosses and their Democrat sycophants are conspiring to rob taxpayers yet again. Ignore their puerile propaganda and vote every Democrat out of office in 2010. Every one. We can't afford any more of their destructive policies. And our children and grandchildren can't afford them either.


Hat tip: Michelle Malkin.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

What's America's biggest national security threat? According to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: It's the Democrats' Spending

The national debt has grown 60% since Nancy Pelosi and her cadre of far left Democrats took control of Congress and the nation's budget. For this reason, Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has called out the calamitous, wildly undisciplined spending as the nation's number one security threat.

The national debt is the single biggest threat to national security, according to Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Tax payers will be paying around $600 billion in interest on the national debt by 2012, the chairman told students and local leaders in Detroit.

“That’s one year’s worth of defense budget,” he said, adding that the Pentagon needs to cut back on spending... “We’re going to have to do that if it’s going to survive at all,” Mullen said, “and do it in a way that is predictable.”

Perhaps we can arrange an MMA fight between Mullen and the Times' most sanity-challenged columnist, Paul Krugman, whose policy positions change with the party of the office-holder.

[Krugman's] attitude, which seems to be shared by the Democratic leadership in D.C., is that America can spend an unlimited amount of money with no serious consequences, that we should do so in order to pump up the economy, and then at some undefined later point, somebody else will have to restrain spending. Incidentally, this was not Paul Krugman's attitude early on in the Bush Administration. The Paul Krugman from back then sounded a great deal more concerned about fiscal conservatism than the Paul Krugman of today does.

Setting aside the fact that the evidence government spending can drive economic growth in this country is sparse indeed -- and that the debt crisis in Europe that's already hitting Greece and could easily hit us in a few years -- at what point do we say we simply admit that we don't have the money to pursue this liberal economic pipedream any more? Put another way, America has spent far too much, for far too long, and because of that, even if Krugman's desire to borrow and spend our way to prosperity worked (which it doesn't), we're so deep in the red that the cure would be worse than the disease.

Recall as well that, for the first time in modern history, Democrats did not even pass a federal budget this year. Instead, they 'deemed as passed' a non-existent budget that allows them to, well, spend like drunken progressives.

Last night, as part of a procedural vote on the emergency war supplemental bill, House Democrats attached a document that "deemed as passed" a non-existent $1.12 trillion budget. The execution of the "deeming" document allows Democrats to start spending money for Fiscal Year 2011 without the pesky constraints of a budget... The procedural vote passed 215-210 with no Republicans voting in favor and 38 Democrats crossing the aisle to vote against deeming the faux budget resolution passed.

Never before -- since the creation of the Congressional budget process -- has the House failed to pass a budget, failed to propose a budget then deemed the non-existent budget as passed as a means to avoid a direct, recorded vote on a budget, but still allow Congress to spend taxpayer money.

This is but one of many reasons that erstwhile Obama supporter and US News & World Report economist Mort Zuckerman calls the Obama Democrats "The Most Fiscally Irresponsible Government in U.S. History."

Obama, Pelosi and Reid will be long gone when the entire system collapses, thanks to their malevolent treatment of the U.S. taxpayer. Like I always say: it's November or never.


Friday, August 27, 2010

Car Bombs -- With Texas License Plates -- Detonating in Mexico; White House Reaction? More Open Borders!

Runner-up headline: How's that Obama-Holder open borders strategy working out?

Stratfor Research reports that improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are becoming commonplace in Mexico (subscription required). Interestingly, CNN International also reported this story a few moments ago, but its mother network (CNN USA) is thus far mum.

At least two car bombs exploded Friday near the television studios of Televisa in Ciudad Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas state in northeastern Mexico, authorities said...

...The car that exploded in front of the television studio was a red Chevrolet Corsica with Texas license plates, the attorney general's office said in a news release. The car in front of the transit office was a white Mazda, also with Texas license plates...

Tamaulipas is the state where authorities discovered 72 bodies this week on a ranch believed to be used by narcotraffickers. Authorities are investigating whether the 58 men and 14 women, who were migrants from Central and South America, were killed by the Zetas cartel.

Car bombings are a relatively new phenomena in Mexico.

But, as Big Peace's Frank Gaffney reports, these kinds of attacks shouldn't come as a surprise.

...Mexican authorities arrested a senior operative of the Lebanese terrorist group, Hezbollah, named Jameel Nasr... [Mexico] "foil[ed] an attempt by Hezbollah to establish a network in South America."

...Iran’s most dangerous terrorist proxy, Hezbollah, is operating with impunity in Latin America. The capture of Nasr comes as the President tells Senator Jon Kyl that the border must remain insecure until he gets a deal from congressional opponents of an amnesty for the many millions of illegal aliens already in this country.

The Nasr arrest also was revealed at the very moment the Department of Justice announced that the federal government was going to sue to prevent Arizona from enforcing federal laws on immigration.

Of course, this makes President Obama's open-borders policy all the more... eh... exciting.

But we already knew that, didn't we?