Saturday, June 27, 2009

Wanted: Sellouts and Turncoats


The eight turncoats are (via Michelle Malkin):



Bono Mack (CA) (202) 225-5330
Castle (DE) (202) 225-4165
Kirk (IL) (202) 225-4385
Lance (NJ) (202) 225-5361
LoBiondo (NJ) (202) 225-6572
McHugh (NY) (202) 225-4611
Reichert (WA) (202) 225-7761
Smith (NJ) (202) 225-3765

Robert Stacy McCain has it right when he pins this on the National Republican Congressional Commitee: "Not one red cent."

Contribute to individual, conservative Republicans and organizations. Those are the men and women who can win and make a difference.

Another interesting case is first-term Democrat Steve Driehaus who represents one of the most conservative districts in the country (the southwestern corner of Ohio). He ran as a fiscal and social conservative, reportedly omitting the very fact that he was a Democrat.

Driehaus (D-OH) (202) 225-2216

His constituents need to be made completely aware of what a sickening, San Francisco-style sycophant he really is.

We're coming after every Republican and every red-district Democrat who voted for this totalitarian bill that shreds the Constitution; that injects the federal government into every city, town, community and home owners' assocation; and that harms rich and poor, union and non-union, Democrat and Republican alike.

We're coming after you and we will defeat you in 2010.


The price of gold charted... into the future


When it comes to investments, it's easy to find charts. But a graph that maps out the price of a commodity into the future appears to be rare. A contributor at GoldTent produced this prediction of gold prices extending out several months (the orange arrow in August represents a price of $1,050; the two red arrows in October depict $1,285 and $1,520).


Given the possibility of dramatic inflation in commodity prices, the scenario does not seem far-fetched.


An open letter to Dick Durbin from a constituent


Mike M. points us to a well-written letter posted by 'Serkit'.

Dear Senator Durbin:

You were kind enough to send me your views on global warming, climate change, and cap-and-trade.

After the very close vote in the House yesterday on cap-and-trade, several documents were revealed that need to be considered prior to any action on your part in the Senate. It seems that when any of these things are discussed, the argument deteriorates to name-calling, especially the term "flat earther". Well, call me what you will, but the scientific facts simply do not support the Al Gore/Leonardo DiCaprio populist theories based on non-scientific "consensus". The legislation passed in the House does not even address nuclear power, a clean resource that needs to be part of our energy independence.

Three documents came out VERY late in the game on this debate:

1) A 300+ page "manager's amendment" that was added to the bill at 3:09am the day of the House vote. Not only was this a voluminous add-on, it is a scary document. If you support it, and I hope you do not, please let me know how local governments will be able to afford the extra staff to enforce the new and very confusing laws. The bill also radically modifies international trade rules.

2) A suppressed and censored report from our own EPA exposes many problems with the theories and "consensus" of the populist (and now debunked) theory of global warming, and the true (and minimal) affect of human activity on the climate. The suppressed EPA report is linked here:

http://cei.org/news-release/2009/06/25/cei-releases-global-warming-study-censored-epa

3) A report from the Chicago-based Heartland Institute summarized the Non-Governmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) that attempts to use scientific and rational arguments to identify exactly what is going on in the climate and the true impact of human activity. The recently released NIPCC report is found here:

http://www.sepp.org/publications/NIPCC_final.pdf

The previous letter you sent me contains seemingly factual statements that now appear to be patently false regarding wild temperature increases in the next ten years.

Although these "facts" are wrong, the underlying research found in the suppressed EPA report, and the NIPCC report will help you politically. Why? Because the laws you are about to impose on us, if passed, will do NOTHING to improve the climate or greenhouse gases and will not change the global average temperatures, but, you WILL be able to show "progress" because the falsely increasing temperatures will NOT happen anyway - allowing you to take the credit for keeping the planet cool. It is a perfectly contrived crisis so that radical redistribution of wealth can occur on a global scale.

Now, I realize as a leader in the Senate, you will probably not be able to back off for even one second to look at the facts, and I understand that. But I felt I owed it to myself, my children, and my future grandchildren, that I did not sit idly by while, during the great recession of 2009, with the highest unemployment in my lifetime, I sat silent while this legislation was passed.

This law, and the concept of cap-and-trade, is not going to work, is not needed, and will do more harm to our already crippled economy.

All I ask is that you take an honest look at the three documents above, keep an open mind to the facts, and consider what you are doing to this and future generations.

We need a change in energy policy, but this is not one of them.

Sincerely and respectfully,

[Name redacted]

RED ALERT -- La Raza: "If the American people found out..."


"Suzanne", a female caller to Mark Levin's show on June 25th, revealed the ominous secret of the Democrat health care reform effort.

I want to tell you that last week I attended a conference on health care reform sponsored by La Raza. And I will tell you that what they had to say, Mark, is scarier than anything that's been said so far on the health care plan.

The kind of comments that were made and the notes that I took... they started the conference out by saying "America does not need health care reform, but Latino immigrants need health care reform."

And someone from Menendez' office [Ed.: Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ] promised that he would make sure that "the useless barriers of citizenship would not be in this bill" and that he would make sure that they would use keywords like "streamline"...

It was La Raza, the Childrens Defense Fund and Senator Menendez from New Jersey, a representative from his office...

...Yes [they said they would get free health care for illegal aliens], these are my notes, Mark. They actually got up and said "Latino children need health care more than whites". And then they would say things like "you must go out into your communities, use words like 'streamline', use phrases like 'all workers' and 'all families'," because they said -- and I quote -- "If the American people find out that this bill is about giving health care to non-citizens, they will rise up against it."

...One of the quotes they said was, "We want to make sure we take care of barriers like verification, but we can streamline programs to the more affluent" and, quote, "Useless treatments for the elderly can be gone because we don't need to spend money for people who are going to die anyway."

That's a direct quote from that meeting. They also said, "We are very concerned there will be an effort to include" the illegal immigrants in this argument, so "we must make sure that we focus this" to the American people that it's looking like we want "health care for everyone".

And they also said that 75% of the children who will be picked up in this will be non-citizens and that 44% of the uninsured are non-citizens and they can't possibly allow the American people to know this." [Ed: Oops!]

Menendez' office said that he's going to make sure that "a family of four that makes $66,000 a year or less will pay nothing at all for the new health care. And he was the one who said he was going to get rid of specifics like "citizenship status" and focus on, quote, "equity for all workers".

And he said he's going to make sure that the Latino immigrants are the focus of the health care reform.

And La Raza said if they get this, they don't even care about amnesty, because they've fixed it so that one family member can apply for all extended family members. And... Mark, if you think we have a problem with illegal immigration now, wait 'til you see the borders when this thing gets passed.

"If the American people found out?"

Gee, what a surprise. A group that preaches racial superiority and divisiveness wants to enact a stealth illegal immigration bill -- not dissimilar to chain migration. The bill will reward illegal immigration to the direct detriment of all American taxpayers and especially the elderly.

Kind of puts Judge Sotomayor's membership in La Raza in a new light, doesn't it?

Groups like La Raza encourage the Balkanization of America. They promote mutually hostile political groups that do not form a "melting pot", that do not utilize a common language, and that do not share the principles of America's founding.

Fifty years from now, if La Raza gets its way, America will look more like Yugoslavia in 1993 than America.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Action: Contact Senator Robert Menendez at 202 224-4744, 973 645-3030 and 856 757-5353 and politely tell him we know what he's up to with this health care bill, that illegal immigration is not tolerated by the citizens of New Jersey, and that we will expose him -- as the anti-American traitor that he is -- to the public.

As for those who belong to or support either La Raza or The Children's Defense Fund, I would strongly encourage you to drop your membership and support. The racial divisiveness promoted by these outrageous groups is antithetical to America's civil society.

It's time to politically punish these cretins who are out to dismantle our country.



Update: A press release issued by La Raza on 6/15 mirrors the caller's report (hat tip: Oil for Immigration):

As our nation’s leaders consider health care reform in the coming weeks, NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, strongly urges President Obama and Congress to make every effort to ensure that health care reform reaches all communities. No single community stands to gain as much from this important debate as Latinos. In the U.S., one out of every three uninsured persons and roughly 40% of all uninsured children are Latino. NCLR stands for health care reform that makes coverage affordable and accessible for everyone—all families and all children.

..."This debate should be about health care for all, and setting the nation on a pathway to future health and well-being. Adding layers of immigrant verification and bureaucratic red tape to a new health care system would guarantee that millions of citizen children are effectively barred from accessing preventive care and would raise the cost of health care... we are extremely concerned that some view health reform as a way to scapegoat immigrants... Making health care easier to use and accessible for all workers and children is simple common sense."




Other Items of Interest

Somali Coast Cruise Brochure
Dealergate: 40 Democrat-friendly Dealerships Become 42
Star Trek: The Stimulus Doomsday Machine
Rx for Disaster
An open letter to Colin Powell
Illustrated Results of Barack Obama's Community Organizing
True Life Fannie Mae Testimony
Jamie Gorelick, Mistress of Disaster
The Bidens: Hedge Funds, Hair Plugs and Ponzi Schemes
Unintended Consequences

Your Michael Jackson Update


In our continuing coverage of Deathapalooza, Michael Jackson is alleged to have been taking a wide variety of prescription drugs.

You stay here while I alert the media.


Via: Matt.

Larwyn's Linx: Massive Energy Tax Squeaks Through House

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email! or reply via Twitter.

Nation

Specter's Favorability Craters 30 Points in 3 Months: PatRoom
Corrupt Democrat Alert: Monica Conyers Pleads Guilty: JWF
Surreal day in the House: Provocateur

Our health care system isn't broken: NOFP
Energy tax squeaks through house: Power Line
Obama's project to destroy economy almost complete: Cold Fury

Ignominious Eight: the GOP-ers for Tax-and-Kill: Green Hell
Conyers abandons plan to probe ACORN: Times
Gaffe-tastic Biden strikes again: JWF

Economy

Man-made disaster: IBD
The Climate Change Climate Change: WSJ
Pelosi's Democrats pass Cap-and-Trade Tax Bill: Times

The SEC needs your feedback: Zero Hedge
Fun with numbers: PJM (Blumer)
Ford Pinto School of Cost Analysis: AIP (Priestap)

America sold out -- in an unread bill: Surber

World

Shocker: Obama to ignore NK Terror Ship: Ace
On the wrong side of history: Phillips
How to stand up to Iran: Morris

The Stoning of Soraya M.: An Unflinching Look at the Unconscionable: PJM (Toto)
UK Jewish School Held "Racist" For Preferring Jews: LegalIns
Morales buying Russian weapons on credit: Fausta

Media

Jackson was an IDOL, not an ICON: Anchoress
Beck explains the winners of cap-and-trade: MsUnderestimated

Cornucopia

Neatorama
Doctors Baffled, Intrigued by Girl Who Doesn't Age: ABC

Mark Steyn: "What's striking about the Bystander-in-Chief is that the more he does nothing, the more credit he gets for everything. In the New York Times, Helene Cooper attributes events in Iran to the Obama "stealth effect." The fellows in the street shouting "Death to the dictator!" were apparently inspired to rise up by Obama's outreach to the, er, dictator.'

Friday, June 26, 2009

Who voted FOR the Economy-Destroyer called Cap-and-Trade?


It was a close vote, but the Pelosi-Socialist-Democrat Party carried the day on the preliminary vote for Cap-and-Trade. It was 217 - 205 for the most massive tax increase in history, which would add $3,900 to the average family's tax bill. A bill that no one has read with last minute amendments consisting of welfare payments, payoffs to ACORN and lots of pork payoffs to fence-sitters.


The bill consists of at least 397 new regulations and 1060 new mandates. An immense bureaucracy, consisting of tens of thousands of new government jobs, will be funded by your new tax bills. Power Line published John Boehner's graphic, which describes the new bureaucracies:

Ironic, eh? You'll receive new tax bills each year for the privilege of funding bureaucrats who will lower the carbon limits annually, which will result in increased tax bills... ad infinitum.

Who are the fence-sitters?

Some of the key Democrats who voted to support the preliminary vote are the supposedly "conservative" Democrats. Call them now:

Boyd (FL) 202-225-5235 -- Voted FOR

Driehaus (OH) 202-225-2216 -- Voted FOR

Kratovil (MD) 202-225-5311 -- Voted FOR

Kanjorski (PA) 202-225-6511 -- Voted FOR

Teague (NM) 202-225-2365 -- Voted FOR

Check out the complete list of fence-sitters and make some calls now.

Stop Pelosi and her bill, which was summarized perfectly by GOP Rep. Rohrbacher, who said, "If this passes, jobs will go to China and economy will go to hell."

He's not overstating things.

And congratulations are due to the House GOP and its leadership: John Boehner and Eric Cantor. Not a single Republican voted for Pelosi's Socialist nightmare. Well done -- and keep up the good fight.


Larwyn's Linx: Did Congress actually read Cap-and-Trade?

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email! You can also follow me on Twitter.

Nation

Now Multiple IG-Gate Investigations: Other McCain
The Obamacare Infomercial: What were they thinking?: Karl
Did Congress actually read the Cap-and-Trade bill?: LawHawk

ACORN's disgraceful founder Wade Rathke speaks: Vadum
ACORN still intimidating despite name change: NLPC
Dems in House push huge energy bill: Times

Everyone's talking about... Neil Barofsky?: SIGIS
MA officials honor controversial Mosque opening: NER
Yeah, he's so Presidential: Six Meat

Economy

Corker still clinging to cap-n-trade: Six Meat
ObamaCare: $4 trillion in costs: Morrissey
Deafening Silence: EPA Response to Alleged Cover-up: AT (Sheppard)

World

Negotiating with Terrorists: McCarthy
Obama, the African Colonial: AT (Ikenga)
Witness to murder: doctor who tried to save Neda speaks: Hot Air

Britain's cancer shame: 15,000 could be saved each year: Daily Mail (UK)
Hoisted By His Own Apology: LegalIns
Mystery for the Ages: Attack

Iranian crisis being fought out on three fronts: Rubin
Al Qaeda claims it's been 'too busy' to attack U.S. homeland: Natl. Post
Che At The White House: Kesler

Media

Who says conservative bloggers don't do reporting?: Malkin
Cap 'n' Tax and Mary Katherine Ham: SIGIS
Finally, Gibbs in the dunk tank: Tapper

Health Care Infomercial a 'Ratings Bust': Instapundit
In Berkeley, even the private school students are communists: Zombie
ZombieTime scoops the mainstream media again: Fox

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Justice is Served in the Acquittal of a Police Chief


Guest post by David H. Martin

The Chief of Police of a small Nebraska town has been acquitted of second-degree assault in a case involving threats to his life, endangerment to the community, and a life-or-death decision that brought about the death of a local young delinquent. Richard Thompson, 56, the once-popular police chief of Crawford, Nebraska, has spent nearly two years of his life fighting a charge that should never have been levied. I believe that justice has finally been done in this case, albeit much too slowly.

What makes this case noteworthy is that Chief Thompson had a gun pointed at his head by a youth who was obviously resisting arrest. The fact that the suspect was a 16-year-old juvenile delinquent further justifies Chief Thompson's actions.

According to witnesses, Jesse Britton, who had been recently released from a youth correctional facility, had stolen a gun, was the leading suspect in series of robberies and a bomb threat, and had threatened to shoot his own girlfriend and Chief Thompson.

The fatal incident occurred on October 3, 2007, when Britton hid in an abandoned building to evade arrest. Chief Thompson, accompanied by other officers, hoped to get the young hoodlum to turn himself in. With back-up officers outside, Chief Thompson and park police officer Dan Kling entered the building. Searching the premises, they spotted Britton crouching behind a desk. "Police! Show your hands!" they commanded repeatedly. Instead of complying, the young miscreant jumped up and pointed a 22-caliber revolver at Chief Thompson's head.

What would you do if a wild-eyed youth who had already threatened to kill you pointed a gun at your head? While Nebraska is no longer the wild west as portrayed in John Wayne movies, nevertheless Chief Thompson had to make a split-second choice: either shoot in self defense or be killed. He shot one bullet, and his partner, knowing that the Chief was in imminent danger, also fired. Young Jesse Britton was struck and died.

Under Nebraska law, a grand jury must be convened when a person perishes while being apprehended. A number of questionable procedures occurred that resulted in the unfair charge, such as using an expert in the grand jury proceedings to influence the jurors to find that Chief Thompson was "reckless." Reckless? I am not sure what charges would have been levied at the suspect if Chief Thompson had been wounded or killed, but reckless is hardly the word to describe his actions that day.

But the special prosecutor choose the word "reckless" for a reason. According to Nebraska law, use of force is not justified if the acts involved are deemed to be "reckless."

Following the grand jury finding, Chief Thompson faced a second-degree assault charge which, if he had been convicted, carried a five-year sentence. In November 2007, he was suspended without pay from the police force pending the results of the prosecution and was facing a minimum of $100,000 in legal fees. His family had to post a $50,000 bond for his release.

Richard Thompson contacted me about this case last year. As a lawyer who is also director of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit legal defense fund that helps police officers who get in trouble for doing their job, I found this case to be typical of many throughout the country. We assisted Richard Thompson with funds for his defense.

Fortunately, justice prevailed and North Platte (Neb.) Judge John Murphy said that the "court can only conclude that (Thompson) was acting in self-defense in the situation that presented itself."

Judge Murphy also said, "It appears to the court that this event has had a traumatic affect, not only on the family of the victim, but on the defendant, and perhaps upon the entire community of Crawford. It strikes the court that it has come time to put this tragedy into the past for all involved and to move on with their lives as best they can."

The tragedy in my mind is that a policeman -- and not just an ordinary cop but a Chief of Police -- has had to suffer grievously through an unfair prosecution for doing his duty and defending himself. It was unfair because Chief Thompson had to make an instant decision to defend himself or be shot. He should not have been second-guessed by a prosecutor who reviewed the decision from the comfort of an office.

And even with the acquittal of the criminal charges, his ordeal is not over. The family of the juvenile has filed a wrongful death civil suit in the U.S. District Court. The middle-aged Thompson, not a wealthy man, has had his life turned up-side-down.

Is it any wonder that crime is on the rise in cities nationwide when law enforcement officers are prosecuted for acting in self-defense while enforcing the law?

David H. Martin is Executive Director of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.

Update: Thompson applies for reinstatement as chief

Our useless media


Non-stop coverage -- on every news channel -- of Michael Jackson's death.

While certainly tragic, it holds all of the importance of a cow fart (don't tax that, Democrats, it's a euphemism) in contrast to what is occurring this very moment in Iran.

There, the massacre of freedom-seeking Iranians continues, with the best coverage from -- of all places -- Australia.

They seem to have overcome their Michael Jackson-fixation down under.


Torture


Steven sent this one in. Click on the image to zoom.

Top 10 Questions ABC's Infomercial 'Forgot' to Ask [Mister R.]


Our resident health care guru, an industry insider who uses the handle "Mister R.", hasn't forgotten about us. Ironically, he's been battling his own health issue but stopped by long enough to relay the following observations regarding ABC's health care infomercial.

Obama is pushing the "competition", like the battle for market share will be on an even playing field.

However, Obama is trying to stack the field to be so tilted that the private insurers will start their inning with two outs and no men on base, while Obama starts with no outs and the bases loaded.

ABC's infomercial never addressed the core issues of this supposed "competition":

1. How much do doctors and providers get reimbursed?

2. Does it differ by region? In other words, do you pay a doctor the same in New York City than one in Great Bend, Kansas?

3. How is fraud detected in the system?

4. Will doctors and providers be forced to participate?

5, Who manages the network?

6. Who ultimately decides the level of care?

7. Who adjudicates the claims?

8. Is the public option supported by taxes, premiums or both?

9. How is it that private insurers cannot do business across state lines but the federal government can (private insurers must file with each state and abide by that states rules and regs. Businesses that have several locations in the country must participate in a plan in the state in which the business is domiciled)?

10. Will the public option abide by each states mandates?

This is just for starters. I see Obama is considering taxing health care benefits and everyone who makes over $100,000 to fund the plan.

That is pretty ironic: the left pushes health care as a right, but if you have a private insurance plan, the government wants to tax your "right". Nothing surprises me anymore.

I view number 9 as one of the most critical questions.

As for ABC -- the All-Barack Channel -- I predict a ratings slide into oblivion. What happened to news organizations that reported the news? So far as I can tell, there's only one real television news organization left.


Previous Mister R.:
• Mister R. Chapter 1: The '47 Million Uninsured' Lie
• Mister R. Chapter 2: Health Care Insurance: Puzzling Questions No One Will Answer
• Mister R. Chapter 3: Obama's Pharmaceutical Delusions
• Mister R. Chapter 4: Obama's speech to the AMA

Larwyn's Linx: Help Stop the H.R. 2454 Madness!

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email! You can also follow me on Twitter.

Nation

Help stop the H.R. 2454 madness: McCain
The little president who wasn't there: AT (Lewis)
A Soldier's Life is Cheap Now: AT (Fairchok)

Oops! Obama lied about keeping your own doctor: Boehner
Hotel California: America's Nightmare: Kesler
Maine torches the FIrst Amendment: PJM (Poole)

Who's funding the Obamacare astroturf campaign?: Malkin
Democrat funds his son's project: Times
Obamacare should be a sitting duck: Karl

Dems pack pork into Cap-and-Trade: ConfYank
Detroit Public Schools, $430M in debt, has 257 ghosts on payroll: BlogProf

Economy

EPA tries to censor disconfirming climate info: AT (Sheppard)
Another meltdown? It's only a matter of time: Globe & Mail
After Global Warming: AT (Anderson)

The rush towards energy dependence: CSM
Waxman-Markey bill would kill clean energy growth: WSJ
Climate bill gives billions to foreign foliage: Times

Holding Obama accountable on the Stimulus: Foundry

World

Massacre in Tehran: Provocateur
Obama stays the course with wiener diplomacy: Honest
Cairo speech inspired protesters?: TigerHawk

Media

Stay tuned for more of the Obama show: Milbank
Did Sheryl Crow Post a Comment on My Blog?: BMW
Burger King's latest whopper: Morrissey

Cornucopia

Get Smarter: Atlantic
Red Meat: TigerHawk

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The next Infiniti M?


egmCarTech offers some advance shots of what may be the next Infiniti M-class.

Styling is expected to be heavily inspired by the Infiniti Essence Concept that made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March. Expect a more pronounced front and read end with a new grille and tail lights along with a molded trunk spoiler...

...According to Holiday Auto, the next Fuga will be more muscular and “dynamic” and will carry the next V37 engine found in the Nissan Skyline.

The Skyline? The "Giant-Slayer"?

Whoa.

(That was my best Keanu Reeves' "Whoa", too).



"Why do some liberals despise our military?"


Barbara Boxer is a disgrace.

...It didn't take long for the state's junior senator, Democrat Barbara Boxer, to object when Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh followed proper military protocol last week by calling her "ma'am" at a hearing of the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee, which Boxer heads.

"Do me a favor. Could you say 'senator' instead of 'ma'am'? It's just a thing; I worked so hard to get that title, so I'd appreciate it," Boxer said.

[Ed: As opposed to the General? I wonder how hard he worked to earn that rank?]

Chuck DeVore, a Republican who's trying to deny Boxer a fourth term, said it was remarkable that Boxer "dressed down" a general, calling it "the latest liberal-military confrontation." He said it wasn't Boxer's first confrontation with the military, noting that she had cut her political teeth during protests of the Vietnam War in the San Francisco Bay area.

"Why do some liberals apparently despise our military?" DeVore asks in a statement on his campaign's Web site. He says the use of "ma'am" is "a perfectly acceptable sign of military respect to both a U.S. senator or a senior female officer."

Republican critics in the blogosphere and elsewhere are excoriating Boxer. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., called Boxer "a loose cannon" and an embarrassment to her party.

"I just can't put up with that kind of thing when people think too much of themselves, and we see a lot of that in Washington," DeMint told Fox News Channel.

Boxer is scum.

California's beleaguered taxpayers would do well to throw her out on her kiester at the next available opportunity.


Democrats' "tax cut for 95 percent of all working Chinese"


Nancy Pelosi, Henry Waxman and similarly-inclined Democrats in the House are rushing forward with the ill-named "American Clean Energy and Security Act", better known as "Cap-and-Trade". Its target date for introduction is Friday.

The bill would "result in the most massive bureaucratic intrusion into the lives of Americans since the creation of the Internal Revenue Service."

It grants the Environmental Protection Agency extraordinary new regulatory powers over every business and individual in the United States. The EPA, an unelected and unaccountable cadre of bureaucrats, would become a fourth branch of government.


The bill would cost every working family in America over $3,900 annually. It would hurt seniors, the urban poor and the unemployed hardest. So much for a "tax cut for 95% of working Americans". In fact, the new taxes are so outrageous that Democrats hope to use the "Stimulus" approach: slam a 1,000-page document on the desk and rush the bill through before it's even been read.

Both sides of the aisle are disgusted with the approach. Liberal blogger Matt Stoller ("The Cap-and-Trade Scam") complains that a similar system, used in Europe, is an utter failure.

Given these numerous drawbacks, cap-and-trade’s principal justification appears to its political feasibility. Many environmental activists assume that a global cap-and-trade program is more achievable politically than global carbon taxes, because most of the world agreed to Kyoto and most people resist higher taxes...

...numerous analyses of Kyoto have found that it would have very little effect on climate change even over a 60-year period; and the first effort to apply it in an enforceable way, the European Emissions Trading Scheme, is expected to have virtually no effect on emissions.

Furthermore, the bill ignores the real polluters. The federal government is effectively punishing its own citizens -- already among the cleanest of industrialized countries -- and forcing its businesses offshore.

The Democrat Tax-and-Kill proposal does nothing to address the real air pollution issues, which are global in scope.


Satellite data indicates that Beijing, China is the "air pollution capital of the world."


The World Bank has warned China is home to 16 of the Earth's 20 most air-polluted cities.


The World Resources Institute reports that, "air pollution in some Chinese cities is among the highest ever recorded, averaging more than ten times the standard proposed by the World Health Organization... In Beijing, 40 percent of autos surveyed and 70 percent of taxis failed to meet the most basic emission standards."


USA Today reports that, "[d]ecades of... pollution have allowed industrial poisons to leach into groundwater, contaminating drinking supplies and leading to a rash of cancers, residents say. In this village, where the air has a distinctive sour odor, the rate of cancer is more than 18 times the national average. In nearby Liukuaizhuang, it's 30 times the national figure..."


AFP discovered that an internal Chinese government report found that nearly half a million persons die per year from pollution. Experts believe that, "China's rapid industrialization is leading to increasing environmental damage, with air pollution likely to rise five-fold in 15 years at the current rate."

In fact, China is building two or more coal plants per week. Any cuts that the U.S. government would inflict on its helpless citizens would be minuscule in comparison to China's growth using fundamentally dirty and unregulated technologies.


Iran is another interesting case. Its pollution problems are visible throughout the capital city of Tehran.


In a single year, 10,000 people have died from pollution-related causes in that city alone.

These cold, hard facts beg the question: why "Cap-and-Trade" if its effects would be meaningless? Consider the beneficiaries of this massive new tax -- the largest single tax program in world history.

Ms. Boxer expects to scoop up auction revenues of some $3.32 trillion by 2050. Yes, that's trillion. Her friends in Congress are already salivating over this new pot of gold. The way Congress works, the most vicious floor fights won't be over whether this is a useful tax to create, but over who gets what portion of the spoils. In a conference call with reporters last Thursday, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry explained that he was disturbed by the effects of global warming on "crustaceans" and so would be pursuing changes to ensure that New England lobsters benefit from some of the loot.

...$802 billion would go for "relief" for low-income taxpayers... There's also $190 billion to fund training for "green-collar jobs," which are supposed to replace the jobs that will be lost in carbon-emitting industries. Another $288 billion would go to "wildlife adaptation," whatever that means, and another $237 billion to the states for the same goal. Some $342 billion would be spent on international aid, $171 billion for mass transit, and untold billions for alternative energy and research – and we're just starting.

Ms. Boxer would only auction about half of the carbon allowances; she reserves the rest for politically favored supplicants. These groups might be Indian tribes (big campaign donors!), or states rewarded for "taking the lead" on emissions reductions like Ms. Boxer's California. Those lucky winners would be able to sell those allowances for cash. The Senator estimates that the value of the handouts totals $3.42 trillion. For those keeping track, that's more than $6.7 trillion in revenue handouts so far.

The bill also tries to buy off businesses that might otherwise try to defeat the legislation. Thus carbon-heavy manufacturers like steel and cement will get $213 billion "to help them adjust," while fossil-fuel utilities will get $307 billion in "transition assistance." No less than $34 billion is headed to oil refiners. Given that all of these folks have powerful Senate friends, they will probably extract a larger ransom if cap and trade ever does become law.

In these turbulent economic times, Democrats and Barack Obama will propose to increase the price of gas, outsource millions of jobs to overseas providers, and create a massive new bureaucracy funded by your (additional) tax dollars.

The American Consumer (PDF) summarizes the scam known as "Cap-and-Trade".

By creating tradable financial assets worth tens of billions of dollars for governments to distribute among their industries and plants and then monitor, a global cap-and-trade program also introduces powerful incentives to cheat by corrupt and radical governments. Corrupt governments will almost certainly distribute permits in ways that favor their business supporters and understate their actual energy use and emissions.

Meanwhile, the world's worst polluters continue choking the atmosphere with toxic fumes and poisons.

"Cap-and-Trade" is sheer lunacy. Or, in the words of the UK's Telegraph: it is "economic suicide". Waxman-Markey's Cap-and-Trade bill must be stopped.

Call Your Representative Now

Call (202) 224-3121 and tell your representative to reject cap-and-trade or you will ensure he or she is voted out next year. The election is little more than 15 months away. Call now, later tonight, tomorrow and on Friday.

The stakes are too high to ignore.




Update: Washington Times: "EXCLUSIVE: Climate bill gives billions to foreign foliage".

A volcano explodes -- the view from space


Earlier today, London's Daily Mail published some stunning photos of an active volcano taken from space.


The volcano is located on a remote Russian island in the northern Pacific Ocean.

No word on whether Henry Waxman and other Democrats will attempt to levy carbon taxes on the Russians for this egregious expulsion of CO2. Probably not -- they only want to impoverish U.S. citizens, it would seem.


One of these things is not like the other




Hat tips: Papa B and PatriotPost

Larwyn's Linx: Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email! You can also follow me on Twitter.

Nation

What would you ask President Obama?: Foundry
A more honest health care poll: Kesler
9 of 10 Americans fear Obama's deficits: LA Times

Obama and Munchausen's Syndrome By Proxy: PJM (Fernandez)
ACORN International changes its name: why?: Vadum
ACORN not changing its name: WashInd

Economy

Miracle in Maine: WSJ
Indiana funds may not be done with Chrysler: BizWeek
Cash for Clunkers: Unfair: MYODBP

World

U.S. contacted Ayatollah before election: Times
Key Iranian Dissident Riled at Obama's Approach: Timmerman
The Old City is 'Occupied'

Sarkozy disses the Burqa: LGF
Obama's clear hostility to Israel
Found: Hitchcock's documentary on Holocaust: Google

Why I, as a British Muslim woman, want the burkha banned from our streets: Daily Mail (UK)

Climate & Energy

API: Climate Change Bill Will Drive Up Cost of Fuel: BMW

Media

Obama calls on HuffPo for staged question: Politico
MSM forfeits right to call foul: Pundette
Tangled Web: PJM (Fernandez)

Book Excerpt: Catastrophe: PMSNBC

Cornucopia

Perez Hilton's Eye Blackened: Blatt

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

British Declassify World War III "Doomsday Book"


I guess World War III really is over. The British government just released a once-classified 'doomsday' manual that describes how to engage in nuclear war.

It's October 1968, and the Soviet Union has just landed cosmonauts on the moon. Warsaw Pact troops are massing on the Austrian border, and nuclear showdown looms between east and west.

This scenario never happened — except in planning exercises by British civil servants, who meticulously rehearsed how they would govern Britain in the days before, and after, World War III. The details are included in the "War Book," a secret Cold War manual declassified this month for the first time.

The book, which featured the doomsday scenario in a 1970 version, is a step-by-step guide for dealing with a crisis, from the first stages of conflict to "R hour," the designation for the release of all Britain's nuclear weapons.

...Britain became a nuclear power in 1952 and British politicians were under no illusions about the devastating effects of nuclear war. A 1955 report, kept secret until 2002, estimated that an attack by Soviet hydrogen bombs would kill 12 million people instantly.

So every two years during much of the Cold War, British civil servants participated in a dry run for the end of the world, practicing how they would do everything from crack down on subversives to evacuate art treasures from London.

The exercises, played out over weeks, included daily mock news briefings from intelligence chiefs. Senior civil servants played the prime minister and Cabinet, deciding how to respond.

The 1968 exercise, revealed in the newly released manual, imagined Soviets landing on the moon as tensions mounted along the Iron Curtain. Day by day, the crisis escalated: Soviet troops invaded Austria, West Germany, Finland, Turkey, Greece and Italy, eventually invading "Danish islands." Britons got more and more nervous — first writing letters to newspapers, then staying home from work, stocking up on food and buying supplies to build bomb shelters.

In calm bureaucratic language — loaded with code words to render the book meaningless to those not in the know — the document describes how as the crisis worsened, civil servants would introduce censorship, evacuate all but the sickest patients from hospitals and eventually be sent to one of 12 underground bunkers scattered around the country.

Britain was to be governed from these bunkers after a nuclear attack, with officials exercising powers of martial law over the remaining population.

Peter Hennessy, a historian who has studied the book and pushed for its release, said... "The surprise really is the width and magnitude of it — 16 chapters to get the nation from a peacetime footing to a total war footing. It is a remarkable enterprise," he told the BBC... "When you consider where this road of decision-taking is leading to, it's the end of the world. There's no other way of looking at it. You would expect it to be cold print, coldly analytical, but this is sheer hell, really, the thought of it."

He told the broadcaster about what he called his "favorite measure" — the introduction of censorship for private correspondence — saying it "always aroused a lot of debate when we played these exercises."

The document is the latest in a chilling series of Cold War artifacts that have recently been made public. In October, the National Archives released the scripts of statements the government planned to broadcast over the BBC in the event of nuclear war in the 1970s. "This is the wartime broadcasting service," the announcement began. "This country has been attacked with nuclear weapons."

The government's first "War Book" was created in 1911, and it was updated regularly as warfare and the threats to Britain changed. Its contents were top secret — Spencer said only 96 copies were made of the 1964 book.

It's not known how many copies were made of the 1970 version. Parts of it were published in 2000, but the whole book was only released by the National Archives this month. Later versions remain classified.

The government no longer plans for war with the Soviet Union, which collapsed in 1991, but it still keeps a "War Book" and rehearses for disasters such as a major terrorist attack.

A Cabinet Office spokesman would give no details of the current plans, saying only that there are "lots of contingency plans to deal with lots of different crises we face today."

I've kinda forgotten the history behind it, but didn't the Cold War end after a beautiful Barack Obama speech in Cairo?


Images hat tip: Mookychick.