Thursday, August 27, 2009

Dumb ass tweet o' the day


9/11? Good heavens, man, get a grip.

For those unfamiliar with Cooper: he is your run-of-the-mill National Socialist Democrat who just happens to be employed by the state-run media.

The Daily Outrage


Ripped in its entirety from the invaluable Washington Examiner:

Who: General Services Administration What: Announced a boost for per diem rates for federal employees on office travel at the National Business Travel Association Conference in San Diego.Meals and incidental rates are increasing for fiscal 2010 for the first time since fiscal 2006. Rates will range from $46 to $71, depending on location, up from a $39-to-$64 range. The incidental expense rate will increase from $3 to $5. Why it's an outrage:Just Wednesday the 10-year estimated deficit was raised to $9.5 trillion. How about instead of running up travel budgets for questionable conferences, federal employees learn the wonders of Skype, GoToMeeting and similar digital services? Where to vent: Call Rodney Miller of travel management policy at the General Services Administration at 202-501-3822.

More from The Daily Outrage here.

Contextual ad FAIL


Business Insider has an entertaining collection of Google's funniest contextual ad failures.

In truth, they probably effectively target 99%+ of ads, but the occasional mishap still happens.

My New ObamaCare Posters Arrived!



Hat tip: Soylent Green.

Larwyn's Linx: It's No Myth

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

Nation

No Myth: Illegal Immigrants Covered: AT (Feldman)
More Liberal Lies About National Health Care: Coulter
Indentured Grandchildren: Lucianne

Chicago, Obama and Health Care Reform: AT (Miller)
NEA: A Tool of the State: BigHollywood
Now Is The Time At SDA When We Juxtapose!: SDA

ACORN In Retreat: Vadum
Obama's Civilian Troops Trained by Ayers: PJM (Grabar)
Youth Flake On Obama: B&R

Missing the Mark... Again: Big Dog
Town Hall in SondraKistan: SondraK
Letter Details Kennedy Offer To USSR: S&L

Economy

If Acorn Paid Their Taxes, How Much Would That Lower the National Debt?: SIGIS
The Real Fed News: IBD
Squirrel!: Protein Wisdom

New CBO projection: 2.3 million more unemployed in '10: Hot Air
Here comes another Judge! (BAC): Dennninger
How does $14 trillion sound?: EconMom

Real Homes of Genius: Today, We Salute You Temecula and Culver City: DHB

Media

How We Got Here: Ace
Olbermann Breaks "Tony Soprano Rule", Drags O'Reilly's Dad Into Latest Attack: OlbyWatch
A 'lost' fact in the Rathergate debacle: Goldberg

CBS' Mapes Knowingly Omitted: Bush Volunteered for Vietnam: NewsBusters
As predicted: Dems Call For "The Kennedy Memorial Health Bill": LegalIns
TingleBoy: Obama Not Getting Credit For 'Recovery': NewsBusters

Quote of the Day: Power Line
Limbaugh and Beck open up a can of Whoop-Ass on Obama: PatRoom
Beck laughing all the way to the bank: Toldjah

World

“We have to go into the despair and go beyond it...”: Lucas
Al-Qaeda Murders Its Way Across the Sahara: PJM (Jacobsen)
Single-Payer Hell: Babies In The U.K. Born In Hospital Corridors, Toilets: BlogProf

Growing backlash against Gadhafi campout in NJ: Malkin

SciTech

What Henry Hudson Saw: LGF
Y2Bee: SDA

Cornucopia

Pilot's Post: Lowe
DEBATEitOut
Danyl Johnson's Audition: X Factor 2009

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The new bumperstickers are here! The new bumperstickers are here!




Who is the most detestable, menacing and pathetic politician in America?


Well, there are a lot to choose from, but one in particular is the sleaziest of the lot. That would be none other than Chuckie "Welfare Queen" Schumer, senior dirtbag from New York.

He's called "Welfare Queen" seeing as how he never held a real job in his life. So "Welfare Queen" it is. And I do hear that's the nickname he prefers.

And, according to Beltway insiders, the most dangerous place in the district is between Schumer and a camera. So... given the publicity surrounding the health care debate, Schumer's willingly acted as one of the most visible proxies for the National Socialist Democrat agenda.

[Schumer's] moves in the health-care game have been carefully strategized with the Obama White House, particularly Schumer's close ally from the 2006 electoral wars, Rahm Emanuel. So Schumer's tough talk last week about Democrats being prepared to pass a health-care bill without any Republican support was seen as delivering a message from Obama... [and] ...he's on record unequivocally promising to deliver a Senate health-care package that includes a public option

You see, Schumer doesn't believe in the Constitution. The First Amendment (talk radio)... the Second Amendment (the right to bear arms)... he doesn't believe in due process, when it comes to conservatives (only for terrorists)... he doesn't believe in property rights... or the Tenth Amendment...

So why would anyone listen to a man who rejects the majority of the Bill of Rights?

To show you what a sleazebag Schumer is, he said Sunday he is fleshing out plans to use a backdoor process to ram socialized medicine down the throats of the American people.

In the last week, Democrats have begun to talk openly of using a procedure known as budget reconciliation to pass a health bill in the Senate with a simple majority, assuming no Republican support. To do that, under Senate rules, they would probably need to show that the public plan changed federal spending or revenues and that the effects were not “merely incidental” to the changes in health policy...

Now the reconciliation process is supposed to be a procedural process to work out differences between a Senate bill and a House bill. And he wants to abuse that process in order to get around the 60-vote filibuster rule in the Senate.

He wants to use that process to pass through massive, substantive legislation to transform 20% of our entire economy and turn it into an authoritarian, Soviet-style bureaucracy controlled by... Democrats. So Schumer wants to use a sleight-of-hand procedure so it isn't stopped by the normal legislative process.

Now consider: Schumer led the effort -- for the first time in American history -- to use the filibuster to thwart GOP judicial nominees! Such a sleazy move, it had never been attempted in American history! And over and over and over again, Schumer used the 60-vote requirement against the GOP majority. He used Senate rules to trump the Constitution.

Now, where Senate rules can legitimately be applied to the legislative process -- as opposed to the nomination and confirmation process --

You need 60 votes -- those are the rules that have been in place for decades!

Schumer says, "let's get around the filibuster for legislation using the reconciliation process", so all we need is 51 votes.

And when it comes to judges, he promoted and used the filibuster, an unconstitutional and unprecedented maneuver, time and time again.

But when it comes to legislation, he wants to bypass the rules of the Senate and slam massive bills through the reconciliation process.

So you want to see the face of tyranny in the Senate? Where it doesn't matter who wins office, a man who will use any means -- constitutional or not -- to drive a tryannical agenda? Whether a representative government matters or not? With a complete disrespect for the legislative process and the American people?

You want to see the face of tyranny? In the United States Senate, it's the despicable and loathsome Chuckie "Welfare Queen" Schumer.

Go ahead and forward this to his offices and I'll see you in the reeducation camps.


Based upon: the Mark Levin Show, 8/24/2009 (download the MP3 here).

Government Spending: Please Sit Down Before Reading This One


To put the Obama-Pelosi-Reid spending frenzy into historical perspective, I turn to this graph, culled from Grant's Interest Rate Observer, dated August 21, 2009:


No government in the history of the world has engaged in this kind of orgiastic spending spree. The results thus far?

Prime mortgages (those issued to borrowers with the highest qualifications) are defaulting at an unprecedented rate.

And, in every loan category, losses are demolishing the balance sheets of financial institutions.

Over the last two years, mutual fund assets under management have diminished by 20% annually.

On the February earnings call, James E. Rohr, PNC’s chairman and CEO, sounded as cheerful as Barack Obama used to before he took office. “We’ve been open for business throughout this period by adhering to our business model and leveraging our success at building long-term relationships with our clients, and by allocating capital based upon risk-adjusted returns, we’ve delivered significant value to the shareholders over time.”

So far as the dividend is concerned, there will be 85% less of it, PNC disclosed on Monday, suggesting it was the regulators’ idea. Up til then, the Pittsburgh-based super-regional had been on the offensive. At the end of December, it doubled its customer base by swallowing Cleveland’s National City Bank for $5.6 billion of stock and an odd lot of cash. The combined entity shows $291 billion in assets, $175 billion in loans and $193 billion in deposits. It has a 33% ownership stake in Black-
Rock, a capital-markets business and a custody business. Nonperformers stand at 74 basis points of total assets, and the allowance for bad loans covers 236% of known duds. National City was choking on bad loans, home-equity credits among others, and PNC was able to mark some of these assets as low as 42 cents on the dollar.

Come the turn, shareholders will thank CEO Rohr for his courage and foresight in buying low. Pending that happy event, however, they will have to live with the possibility that Rohr did not, in fact, buy low, but rather, like so many others on Wall Street, mistook a calamity for a business cycle. As the regulators count capital, PNC is amply covered, with a so-called Tier 1 ratio of capital (equity and preferred) to assets of 9.7%. But the market puts no more stock in the bank regulators these days than it does in the ratings agencies, and the market is focused on tangible common equity. Preferred doesn’t count. “Owing to the National City acquisition,” colleague Ian McCulley observes, “PNC has a tangible common equity ratio of just 2.9%. Asked on last month’s call if another capital raise is in the offing, management was noncommittal...

But don't worry, the vast amount of real world, executive experience among the likes of Frank, Obama, Pelosi, Rangel, Reid and Schumer are certain to lift us out of this mess.

Just trust 'em. They insist they know what they're doing.

Acura rolls out the ZDX in SoCal


It it an SUV? A sports coupe? A BMW X6-killer?

Check out AutoSpies for some tentative answers.

Larwyn's Linx: "The blood will be on Eric Holder's hands"

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

Nation

King on Holder: 'the blood will be on Eric Holder's hands': JWF
The ethics of ferocity: Doc Zero
If I were taking over a country, what would I do next?: T&CS

Fake hate crime alert: Leftists vandalize Denver Democrat HQ; Dems smeared Obamacare foes: Malkin
Town Halls Rock U.S.: Obama, Are You Listening?: PJM (Sklar)
Judge to face suit for ordering head scarf off: BlogProf

Rangel: as sleazy as they come: JWF
Dems Turn Swamp of Corruption Into Swimming Pool: LawHawk
Defeating ObamaCare for $10: GM

Economy

Name that Party: 'Businessman' Arrested for $74M Fraud: Ace
Green Sharts on the NYSE!: Denninger
House quietly gives 'bonuses' to top aides: Times

Top bank regulator: Failure Must Be An Option: Times
Cash For Clunkers: 3 weeks of sales, many months of pain: BlogProf
Real Homes of Genius: Today we Salute you Temecula and Culver City.: DHB

Media

Ted Kennedy Dead At Age 77: Driscoll
When A Useful Idiot Ceases to Be Useful: GrandRants
Who owns what: guide to what the major media companies own: CJR

Liberal Fascism is not a book anymore: AT (Clark)
NYT "Ethicist" Interviews Ex-Wife for Column; Fails to Identify Her: Ace

Climate & Energy

My Global Warming Epiphany: AT (Hoven)
Exposed: Warmists' Biggest Fear! Public Trial of AGW: Depot (Desperation Sets in as 'Consensus' Collapses)

World

One second after: EMP and the apocalypse: Steeljaw Scribe
Iraqi Officials Blame Al-Qaeda/Ba’ath Alliance for Recent Attacks: PJM (Eichenlaub)

SciTech

Exercise Intensely Or Die: JOM

Cornucopia

Man with the golden... uhh, never mind: Cold Fury

CABLE NEWS RACE
MONDAY, AUG. 24, 2009

FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,440,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,937,000
FOXNEWS BECK 2,810,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 2,450,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 2,066,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 1,860,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,114,000
CNN KING 1,063,000
MSNBC MADDOW 885,000
CNN COOPER 827,000
MSNBC HARDBALL 640,000


Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Three Unintended Consequences


So I'm driving home this evening and ended up behind this beautiful new, full-sized SUV.

Let's get a little closer -- look, it's a 2010 Honda Pilot!

How much do you want to bet that a cash-for-clunkers deal was used to purchase this bad boy?

Karl Denninger has more hilarity:

...many of those cashing in on the clunkers program are surprised when they get to the treasurer's office windows. That's because the government's rebate of up to $4500 dollars for every clunker is taxable.

"They didn't realize that would be taxable. A lot of people don't realize that. So they're not happy and kind of surprised when they find that out," Nelson said.

The amusement here is how most (if not all) states compute sales tax (charged when you register the vehicle.)

When you buy a new car you pay tax on the difference between the new car's purchase price and the trade-in you present to the dealer. This is an intentional distortion in the law that is intended to favor dealers over private-party used car sales; if you sell your used car privately the new buyer pays sales tax but you do not get the offset on the purchase of your replacement vehicle - the only way to get that is to trade the car.

Dealers use this, of course, in negotiations, effectively pocketing the sales tax - and why not? It's a real difference to you!

But the "cash for clunkers" is not a trade-in... [it's] a $4,500 check from the government...

So you get nailed at least once and possibly twice. Specifically, you pay sales tax on the full vehicle price (effectively paying sales tax on the $4,500!) and what's worse [is that] those states that tax income... might wind up counting this as income for state income tax purposes too, effectively taxing you twice... and I bet the car dealers, incredibly ethical people that they are, were fully informing their suckers, er, clients of this little "feature" of that government handout too.

Let's count the unintended consequences of the National Socialist Democrats' idiotic clunkers program:
Isn't a faceless, unaccountable, centralized government grand?



The Government Can!


He ain't exactly Sammy Davis Jr., but Tim Hawkins rocks:

When you're done watching the video, check out his site and buy some of his crap.

Seems like a worthy cause.

To The Congress


Thanks to GM Roper for forwarding an email that inspired this post:

To the Congress:

The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775 - you have had 234 years to get it right; it is broke.

Social Security was established in 1935 - you have had 74 years to get it right; it is broke.

Fannie Mae was established in 1938 - you have had 71 years to get it right; it is broke.

The "War on Poverty" started in 1964 - you have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor"; it hasn't worked and our entire country is broke.

Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965 - you've had 44 years to get it right; they are broke.

Freddie Mac was established in 1970 - you have had 39 years to get it right; it is broke.

Trillions of dollars were spent in the massive political payoffs called TARP, the "Stimulus", the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009... none show any signs of working, although ACORN appears to have found a new b***h: the American taxpayer.

And finally, to set a new record:

"Cash for Clunkers" was established in 2009 and went broke in 2009! It took good dependable cars (that were the best some people could afford) and replaced them with high-priced and less-affordable cars, mostly Japanese. A good percentage of the profits went out of the country. And the American taxpayers take the hit for Congress' generosity in burning three billion more of our dollars on failed experiments.

So with a perfect 100% failure rate and a record that proves that "services" you shove down our throats are failing faster and faster, you want Americans to believe you can be trusted with a government-run health care system?

20% of our entire economy?

With all due respect,

Are you f***ing crazy?




Linked by: SondraK and Cold Fury. Thanks!

Obacalypse Now


Gee, Nancy Schumer-Reid, your secret plan to bankrupt the country is working!

Just add socialized medicine and KA-F***ING-BOOM!!! The end of the line for the United States -- well done!

Gateway Pundit has all of the salient details. And then some.


Larwyn's Linx: Seniors Deserve a Health Care Bill of Rights

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

Nation

GOP Offers Seniors Health Care Bill of Rights: Ace
The CIA Report: What Does It Say?: Instapundit
Rep. Herger calls Obama plan 'threat to democracy': Mt. Shasta News

Obama's plan to desecrate 9/11: Lucianne
The Tin Ears of the Bully-in-Chief and his Comrades in Arms: AT (Regan)
Obama vs. Obama: Hanson

Jacob Hacker Responds to “Trojan Horse” Quote:Verum
Can't wait for socialized medicine: VA faces cleanliness suits: S&L
Fiorina eyes Boxer rebellion: Times

It's all over but the whining: Fury
DC Court of Appeals to Neighborhood: Drop Dead: Mercatus

Economy

Former CBO head: Obama numbers: "spin and nothing more": Examiner
Colonial Bank Failure Highlights the Problem: Nielson
Feds skewed clunker results after SUV sales skyrocketed: SFgate

Unions fighting for $10B payoff in ObamaCare bill: Red State
Misconstruing the cause of waste: PJM (Ghate)

Media

Elephant in the Room: Driscoll
NYT turnaround: Concerns Over 'Death Panels' Suddenly Not So Bizarre: NewsBusters
Relax, Conservatives: Liberal Media is Doomed: NSW

Palin Flummoxes the Elites With Common Sense: PJM (Ott)
Age of Reagan: Driscoll
"I had hope, but now I am afraid of the change.": Netword

"Danger for the White House: Collapse of Public Trust" by Clark Judge: Hewitt
NYT already offering reasons for death of ObamaCare: AT (Smith)
"How not get get a job in the PR industry": McClatchyWatch

Climate & Energy

Consensus thaws on global warming: IBD
U.S. Chamber of Commerce seeks 'Scopes'-like trial on whether global warming is man-made!: LA Times
Warming could cause tilt in Earth’s axis: Watts

World

Stay of Execution: Gaffney
CIA 'threatened' detainee with drill: S&L
Is there no honor among butchers?: Ace

SciTech

The Modern Talking Pad: Godin
Swine Flu May Cause 90,000 U.S. Deaths, Report Says : Bloomberg
CDC may recommend universal circumcision: Patterico

Cornucopia

Don’t mess, y’all, with Texisiansas: Surber
Tarantino’s Top Twenty (since ‘92): Verum

Monday, August 24, 2009

Remember: Cash for Codgers Expires Tomorrow!


If you're going to take advantage of the government's generous offer to exchange cold, hard cash for any seniors in your family (must be aged 65 and over to qualify), you've got until tomorrow to do so. That's when the acclaimed Cash for Codgers program expires.


The site explains the basic appeal of the program.

Each senior in your household (aged 65 or above) may be turned for a $4,500 instant cash reward at a conveniently located Senior Turn-In Center near you (seniors suffering from incontinence and other maladies may yield less, read the program details for complete offer information).

Any senior you exchange will be disposed of humanely, using an intravenous drip consisting of a saline, morphine, short-acting barbiturate and chemical paralytic solution. This saves the Social Security Administration and Medicare from spending between $40,000 to $80,000 for each, average end-of-life treatment.

In these tough economic times, what's better than solving the entitlement crisis and addressing senior health care issues simultaneously?

Over the top? Gold-plated Ferrari 599 GTB from Hamann


For the Sheikh who has everything: a gold-plated Ferrari 599 GTB from Hamann. If nothing else, this vehicle guarantees you get spot #A-1 from the valet.












Hat tip: IZI.

David Axelrod calls a running play


Give David ("Svengali") Axelrod some credit: when President Obama needs a running play, he calls a running play. ABC News reports:

Obama White House v. CIA; Panetta Threatened to Quit
Tensions Lead to CIA Director's "Screaming Match" at the White House
By MATTHEW COLE, RICHARD ESPOSITO and BRIAN ROSS -- August 24, 2009

A "profanity-laced screaming match" at the White House involving CIA Director Leon Panetta, and the expected release today of another damning internal investigation, has administration officials worrying about the direction of its... intelligence team ....Panetta erupted in a tirade last month during a meeting with a senior White House staff member[, reportedly] upset over plans by [AG] Eric Holder to open a criminal investigation of allegations that CIA officers broke the law in carrying out certain interrogation techniques ...Another source of contention... was today's public release of an investigation by the CIA inspector general on the first two years of the agency's interrogation and detention program. The report has been delayed by ...debate over how much of the report should be kept secret... One CIA official said colleagues ...were preparing for a far-reaching criminal investigation...

Several weeks ago, in a secret bunker at SEIU headquarters near K Street:

I understand you're upset, Leon. Rest assured, this investigation is in the best interest of the country.

What the hell are you talking about? Starting investigations of the CIA officers who kept this country safe after 9/11? What are you thinking??

Leon, how do you expect us to regain credibility with the Arab Street until we adhere to the lawful principles of prisoner detention?

Frankly, Eric, I don't give a damn! Now that I've been in this job a while and seen the results of waterboarding, it's crystal clear we saved scores of innocent American lives. Civilians, dammit, civilians!

I guess we'll just have to agree t--

Dammit, Eric, this is no game! You're a real piece of work, you know that? Freeing the FALN terrorists, freeing Marc Rich, and even defending the Gitmo terrorists --

Hey! That wasn't me, that was my law firm!

No matter, I'm lodging a complaint with the President. You're undermining my authority!

CUT!!

Beautiful, guys, beautiful performance.

Axe is going to leak this tape to the useful idiots at ABC and *voila* ... the health care debate is out of the news and Bush is back!

Mr. President, if you don't mind me asking, how much do you pay Axelrod for this stuff?


Ha! That, my friend, really is classified information!