Monday, February 22, 2010

It Should Have Been Enough

President Obama has presented his new health bill, which is a rehash of the old Democrat health bills. And rather than embracing his own rhetoric and advocating a bipartisan approach to solving the health care crisis, Obama has instead articulated threats, Chicago-style.

The Plum Line has the official White House position: "If the GOP filibusters health reform, Dems will move forward on their own and pass it via reconciliation."

In short, Republicans have no say in the bill and if they try to stop its more insane measures, Congress will use an illegal maneuver to nationalize one-sixth of the economy.

After This Threat...


After a threat like this, any Republican Who Attends The Obama Health Care and Public Sector Union Infomercial isn't operating with a full deck.

This direct threat from the White House invalidates any pretense of bipartisanship, collaboration and open dialogue.

We have an out-of-control federal government that is willing to break the rules of the Senate and ignore the will of the people -- even writing in clearly unconsitutional "one-way" laws that can't be reversed -- in order to install a Stalinist health care system.

It Should Have Been Enough


When angry voters, against all odds, elected a conservative Republican to fill Ted Kennedy's Senate seat because he'd explicitly campaigned on a pledge to block socialized medicine, it should have been enough.

When Democrats Evan Bayh, Patches Kennedy, Chris Dodd, Vern Tincher, Byron Dorgan, Brian Baird and Roland Burris abruptly announced they would not seek reelection -- because they knew the fate that awaited them -- it should have been enough.

When angry voters, defying every prediction, elected a fiscally conservative Republican as governor of New Jersey, it should have been enough.

When, on the same day, enraged voters swept Democrats out of virtually every state-wide office -- something that hadn't happened in a century -- it should have been enough.

When hundreds of thousands of concerned citizens showed up in Washington to protest socialized medicine and an out-of-control Congress, it should have been enough.

When tens of thousands of AARP members canceled their memberships in protest of their selling out senior citizens, it should have been enough.

When senior citizens, concerned voters and even young people showed up at town hall meetings last summer to ask their representatives why they wouldn't listen to them, it should have been enough.

When Bill Clinton lost Congress in 1994 after pushing his ill-fated HillaryCare initiative, it should have been enough.

When Harry Truman tried to sell national health insurance after the end of World War II, which Congress utterly rejected, it should have been enough.

When Franklin Roosevelt wanted national health insurance in 1935 but, despite his power over the Supreme Court and Congress, feared tying it to Social Security lest the whole package go down in flames, it should have been enough.

Enough! Enough!!!

Very soon now, the anger of the electorate will become palpable, resonating throughout the halls of Congress and echoing among the monuments of D.C.

We. Have. Had. Enough.

And that's change you can believe in.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Did you think the California teachers' pensions were out of control? Wait 'til you check out Illinois. I laughed, I cried, this changed my life.

While the California teachers' unions are effectively destroying one school system after another, an alert commenter pointed me to some even more shocking news from Illinois. Their pension system for educators is -- if you can believe it -- even farther off the reservation.

Using actuarial calculations from the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS), Champion News reports that the total estimated pension liability for the top 100 retirees will equal...

Make sure you're sitting down.

Seriously.

$887,925,790.00

You read this right. The top 100 retirees, by themselves, will cost Illinois taxpayers nearly one billion dollars.

I can think of only one possible, rational reaction.

Beleaguered Taxpayer #1: We must do something. He's serious this
time.

Beleaguered Taxpayers: -He's right.
-You're right. We got to do something.
-Absolutely.
-Know what we gotta do?

Beleaguered Taxpayer #2: Toga party.

Beleaguered Taxpayer #1: We're tens of billions in debt! We can't afford to have a toga party.

Beleaguered Taxpayer #2: You guys up for a toga party?

Beleaguered Taxpayer #3: -Toga! Toga!

Beleaguered Taxpayer #2: -They like the idea.

Beleaguered Taxpayer #1: Please don't do this.

Beleaguered Taxpayer #3: I've got news for you, pal. The SEIU is going to screw us, no matter what we do.

Beleaguered Taxpayer #2: So we might as well have a good time.

Beleaguered Taxpayers: Toga! Toga! Toga!

(Chanting louder and louder)

(All chanting)



But he's "not an ideologue": Obama to name SEIU Chief Andy Stern, architect of the trillion-dollar pension shortfall, to 'deficit commission'

Michelle Malkin and Marathon Pundit point us to an ominous Washington Post disclosure: Barack Obama may name one of the most despicable characters in American economic history to the so-called 'deficit commission'. Its charter, presumably, is to tell Barack Obama how to create new taxes for his deficit-tripling shortfalls in federal revenue.

Malkin has documented, in copious detail, the culture of corruption endemic to Stern and the SEIU. The Los Angeles Times, for instance, reported that one of Stern's top lieutenants embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars in members' hard-earned dues funds and, the paper asserts, Stern helped cover up the crime.

Furthermore, the SEIU is one of the chief contributors to the states' budget woes. The Pew Research Center puts the states' public sector union pension shortfall at roughly one trillion dollars. Who will make up that gap? The rank-and-file SEIU members and the taxpayers, to be sure.

Even before Barack Obama was elected President, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) was one of the most powerful labor groups in the land. Its two million members were levied taxes in the form of dues, most of which were then funneled into Democratic campaign coffers. Nearly half of its members are government employees.

Some reports indicate that the SEIU contributed $27 million to Barack Obama's campaign. Other media outlets describe the SEIU's $80 million overall stimulus package for Democratic candidates in 2008 with additional plans to spend tens of millions more in support of socialized medicine and "card check" instant unionization proposals.

Since Obama's election, the SEIU's power has grown stronger and its antics more outrageous. SEIU President Andy Stern is reported to have been the "SEIU official" who attempted to broker a deal between Rod Blagojevich and the White House over Obama's Senate seat. In the transcript released by federal law enforcement officials, the "SEIU official" offered to "send up a flare" to determine whether an SEIU 501(c)(4) group could be used to reward Blagojevich.

The fact that Barack Obama would name a man like Stern to this kind of commission shows that (a) he is indeed a hard-core ideologue; and (b) he doesn't give a gnat's crap about any budget deficits.

After all, you can never waste a good crisis.


"I had to go to the emergency room!"

Victor the Contractor writes:

The other day I needed to go to the emergency room. Not wanting to sit there for 4 hours, I put on my old Army fatigues and stuck a patch onto the front of my shirt that I had downloaded off the Internet.

When I went into the E.R., I noticed that 3/4 of the people got up and left. I guess they decided that they weren't that sick after all. Cut at least 3 hours off my waiting time.

Here's the patch. Feel free to use it the next time you're in need of quicker emergency service.

It also works at DMV. It saved me five hours.

At the Laundromat, three minutes after entering, I had my choice of any machine, most still running.

Don't try it at McDonald's though.........

The whole crew got up and left and I never got my order...

Hey, don't blame the messenger!


Larwyn's Linx: Obama's plan -- fellow Dems are cannon fodder

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation

Obama's plan -- fellow Dems are cannon fodder: WashExam
Teaming up with Democrats on Healthcare Reform?: AT
Progress into Entropy: Doc Zero

McCain vs. Hayworth: No Contest: PJM
Weekend at Bernie's: Dingell, Conyers running again: BlogProf
I am Sarah Palin's Brain: AT

83,000 heart attacks: the Avandia Question: Hewitt
Is Obama steering the ship of state toward the rocks?: AT
Not Being Frank About Defense: PJM

Colin Powell: Americans too dense to grok Obama: SIGIS
Obama Selects a Voice of Radical Islam: WashExam
Jesse Jackson: I'm Not to Blame for Housing Crisis: BigGovt

Economy

Obamocrats: “All your property are belong to us”: Protein
Why the Jobs Aren't Coming Back: Red State
The Glory of Gridlock: PJM

Michigan's Unemployment Debt Bomb: BlogProf
Toyota internal memo: White House activists hurting us: GWP
Dem Governors Worried About Obama Track Record: GWP

Arnold dismisses voter anger as CA sinks: Pundette
The Debt Commission: Knights or Fools?: AT
Public Sector Unions Destroying Cali: RWN

Climate & Energy

ClimateGate: the World's Biggest Story, Everywhere But Here: PJM
Al Gore -- Environmental Saboteur: Barone
Palin: Global Warming Equals Snow Job: GWP

The Most Slimy Essay Ever -- the Guardian and Columbia U.: Watts
Tell Me Again How The AGW Agenda = Saving The Planet: CBullitt

Media

Bill Bennett Reponds to Beck's CPAC Speech: Corner
News from 1933: Driscoll
George Will at CPAC: BlogProf

Media's False Toyota Memes Turn Into a Swarm: BizzyBlog
Breitbart: Professors be warned, citizen-journalists on campus: BigJournalism
Seattle Radio Host Wants to Punch Out Ann Coulter, Octomom, Zach Effron, Others: RWN

Garofalo: Air America Too Nice To Succeed: Equalizer
Cheney's Words Are Dead-On: Leaf-Chronicle
Obama the Philosopher King: Times

World

Time for America to act on Iran: AT
Israel's New Fleet Of Super Drones Can Reach Iran: Mere Rhetoric
NATO neglect let Taliban rebuild: Times

Malmö Syndrome: LegalIns
A Retrospective on the War in Iraq: RWN
Are our targeters on the ground being willfully duped?: BrutHon

Rashad Hussain Admits Cover-up of Past Comments on Terrorist Prosecutions: BigGovt

SciTech

Columnist revealed as company's non-existent CTO: CNet
Zoomies 2010 (Car Awards): JSOnline

Cornucopia

AOTW Award: Denny
Where's Rosie Been Lately?: iOTW
Stimulus My "Arse": Jawa (NSFW)


Sunday, February 21, 2010

Portrait of Harry Reid After Reconciliation Is Used to Cram Socialized Medicine Down Public's Throats

This is my prediction of what Senator Harry Reid will look like should Democrats participate in nationalizing one-sixth of the economy against the wishes of the American people. Apparently the message that was delivered in the election of Scott Brown to The Kennedy Seat -- wasn't quite clear enough. Perhaps this is.

Like I said a couple of months ago, as far as investing goes, I'm long in pitchforks, torches, tar and feathers.


Mind-boggling: TSA forces Richmond Airport to give convict unlimited access to all classified areas, which... violates TSA's own rules

Beltway insiders refer to Janet Napolitano, head of the Department of Homeland Security, as "Janet Incompetano". The DHS chief has suffered through a series of monumental gaffes over the past year, including her bizarre claim that "the system worked" after a terrorist came within millimeters of killing hundreds on a Detroit-bound flight.

Earlier this month, a Richmond newspaper reported that the TSA actually violated its own rules in forcing the city's airport to give unfettered access to a convict.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration insisted that Richmond International Airport issue its highest-level security clearance to a TSA security officer with a felony conviction for robbery.

...The airport would not identify the TSA employee nor reveal his age. The employee did not divulge on his application -- though a records check last fall did -- that he had been found guilty of robbery within the past 10 years.

The federal agency's demand that RIC issue the "security identification display area" badge came despite the fact that Richmond International's TSA-approved security program prohibits issuing security badges to people convicted of any disqualifying crimes.

...The Transportation Security Administration threatened the airport with unspecified consequences, Mathiasen said, unless RIC agreed to issue the badge to the employee... Faced with the TSA's demands "and against its own prudent judgment," the Capital Region Airport Commission, which owns and operates RIC, issued the access credentials to the federal employee late last year.

...Transportation security officers' duties include handling the security screening of passengers to prevent weapons and dangerous material from being taken onto an airliner, and participating in briefings concerning security-sensitive or classified information.

Not to worry, however: only 3.3 million travelers fly in and out of Richmond International.

Just to satisfy my own curiosity, I looked up "incompetent buffoon" in my old, hard-copy encyclopedia. While a picture of Janet Napolitano did not accompany the article, the lovely visage of her mentor -- Janet Reno -- did appear.

Consider this reason number four thousand, six hundred and twelve that President Obama's ideological appointees are setting the stage for a real "man-made disaster."


Hat tip: Mere Rhetoric.

A Little Housekeeping

My seven regular readers may have noticed the recent changes in the format of this august journal. The intent is to improve readability, reduce scrolling and annoy liberals.

As always, if you have feedback, please leave comments or email me -- any critiques are welcome. Except from liberals.


Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror: How the Teachers' Unions Are Destroying California's Economy

Nearly 10,000 California state retirees pull down more than $100,000 a year, thanks to public sector unions and the Democrat politicians who support them. For just this tiny group of retirees, the expense represents almost $1.5 billion a year for California's taxpayers.

Of this total, 3,090 retired educators in California receive more than $100,000 a year.

The Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD) is but one example of the dysfunction. The district is nearing complete insolvency thanks to the teachers' unions. 85% of CUSD’s budget already goes to salaries, pensions and benefits; but that's apparently not enough for the unions.

Expenditures:
Total Expenditures per year, 2009-2010, $381,716,882

Salaries:
Certificated Employees, 2009-2010 - $193,507,709
Classified Employees, 2009-2010 - $57,262,822
Employee Benefits, 2009-2010 - $72,388,03
Total Salaries, pensions and benefits - $323,158,586

Meanwhile, the teachers' union (CUEA) has not yet negotiated a new contract, which means the old contract remains in force. Thus, the union has not agreed to a single cut in salaries, pensions, or benefits and even have projected salary increases.

The cuts that are being proposed instead target the kids and parents.

$1.66 million: Eliminate funding for all extra-curricular activities, and all stipends for department chairs
$1.30 million: Eliminate funding for all sports programs
$1.20 million: Capture savings from lower-than-anticipated costs for employee health insurance
$1.20 million: Eliminate 25-to-1 pupil-teacher ratio in the first grade
$1.00 million: Eliminate elementary school block music
$1.00 million: Remove money from fund for facilities maintenance, leaving only $2.6 million over next four years
$0.70 million: Close two small elementary schools
$0.50 million: Delay purchasing new textbooks per the standard textbook adoption cycle
$0.25 million: Eliminate all summer school in grades K-8
$0.21 million: Reorganize the district's business services department
$0.14 million: Eliminate the college-level International Baccalaureate program in high schools
$0.10 million: Eliminate resident substitutes at high schools, use district list instead

The recent history of the district is enlightening. Union officials have fought school choice, sensible compensation models and other necessary reforms tooth-and-nail. And the tale of a former CUSD superintendent provides a glimpse into the failures of the system.

Convicted and sent to jail? Not to worry: you'll still get to keep your pension


Retired Capistrano Unified School District Superintendent James A. Fleming could face jail if convicted on a felony indictment over the use of school resources to track his political enemies. But conviction won't stop Fleming from receiving his pension funds: $141,000 a year from California and $64,000 from his 27-year stint in Florida.

While overseeing the school district, Fleming and other board members were accused of violating open meeting laws, retaliation against political opponents and creating "enemies" lists, which contained the names of his critics, their children and even the schools they were attending.

Prior to his retirement in 2006, Fleming's total compensation was more than $348,000 a year. After moving to California from Florida, the district agreed to add five years to the 15 he'd worked. In addition, the district agreed to cover Fleming's medical expenses in retirement though he hadn't worked the requisite 20 years.

Even if he is convicted on all of the 2007 charges, both his pensions will remain in force.

California State Teachers' Retirement System: Double- and Triple-Dipping


Rudy Castruita is a typical double-dipper: he's currently the Professor of Clinical Education at the University of Southern California. But, having served as the San Diego County Superintendent of Schools for 12 years, his pension payments are also a quarter of a million dollars a year. The fact that he's gainfully employed as a professor appears not to affect his extremely rich defined-benefit pension.

Karen Colby, former superintendent of the Ocean View School District, received a "golden parachute" pension of $134,515 a year despite issues raised concerning her performance. Likewise, retired Orange County superintendent Thomas Godley pulls in over $210,000 a year despite an extremely troubling career. He served as a budget chief for a school district when a finance worker stole $3.7 million.

Retired school superintendent Theresa Daem receives $235,000 a year, though she ran a small, four-school district with less than 4,000 students. Cameron McCune, the retired superintendent of the Fullerton School District, lives in Palm Springs pulling down a cool $244,000 a year.

Chaos and Misery Await Californians Thanks to the Unions


In the Capistrano district, teachers earn an average of around $82,000 a year in salary, which does not include extra assignments or benefits. Because of the state's immense problems, the CUSD budget shortfall has risen to $34 million since the first of the year.

Despite all of these issues, the teachers' union hasn't formally offered a single real concession to the district.

It's time that California officially banned the public-sector unions. The choice is clear: complete insolvency and disaster -- or survival. Right now, the unions represent a cinder-block tied to the state's feet as it tries to stay afloat.


Linked by: The Washington Examiner and Pension Tsunami. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: Obama declares legislative war

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation

Obama declares legislative war: LegalIns
Warming up the Clinton Smear Machine: Diogenes
Health Care Nuclear Option: Liberals Ready to Launch: Foundry

John Bolton on the Obama Administration: RWN
Reconciliation, the public option, and Demcare revival: Malkin
The Drama Of The Shafted Child: Driscoll

Evan Bayh's Motivations: Patterico
Dem Opts For Palin Speech, Valerie Jarrett Is Not Amused: Riehl
Seen and Heard at CPAC: Beck Delivers Stemwinder: Tapscott

Economy

Why Public Sector Unions Must Be Banned: Tapscott
Scott Brown's Money Bomb Chart: EngageDC
The Dept. of Labor Should Go: Times

Kaus: Unions are Crippling Obama: RWN
The Government is Looking to Raid Your Retirement: Wizbang
GM puts your tax money to work: Patterico

Thanks, Barack: Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs; 4 Million Lose Their Jobs Under Obama: GWP
Want to know how to really astroturf a movement? Ask Democrat moneymen Varoga and Rakis: WashExam
Make Only Minimum Credit Card Payments And Your Heirs Will Still Be Paying in 3510: Consumerist

Climate & Energy

The Failure of Computer Models: Watts
Time to Turn Up the Heat on the Warmists: AT
Virginia AG vs. the EPA: Times

Climategate: What's Wrong with this Picture?: AT

Media

Not Buying the Democrats’ Excuses: JRubin
Glenn Beck: Our Hope is to Abolish Progressivism: RWN
Rant of the Week: Breitbart on the Media: AmerDigest

The Shroud of Contempt: Doc Zero
Breitbart Confronts Blumenthal at CPAC: BigJournalism
Keith Olbermann owes Ann Coulter an apology: Mediaite

Conservatives must avoid complacency: Tapscott
Bill O'Reilly on Obama Bashing and Socialism; Rush Limbaugh on O'Reillys Pandering: Maggie

World

A new envoy to the United Nations of Islam: WashExam
Iran: One Step Closer to the Bomb: Timmerman
The Dutch Cabinet Has Fallen: GoV

The Imam says Geert Wilders is Hitler : GoV
Meir Dagan: the mastermind behind Mossad's secret war: Times of London
Spain's Socialist Government Blames Economic Crisis on ‘Anglo-Saxon’ Conspiracy: PJM

CAIR national board member deported for terrorist ties: Jawa
The Sweet Sound of an Immigrant’s Success: PJM

SciTech

The Murky Business of Measuring Web Traffic: WSJ
Mission creep: NASA, by order of Obama, plans more outreach to Muslim countries: BlogProf

Cornucopia

Left-Wing Rally Bingo: iOTW
Maple Sugar: MaggiesFarm
Olympic Snowboarding Medalist Scotty Lago Racy Pics Causing a Stir, Forces Athlete To Leave: BlogProf

COTD: The obvious next step is to simply mount government owned speed and movement sensors right in the car. A dashboard mounted printer can spit out infraction notices as required... Once a Police State is out of control there is no limit to how far out of control it will go. We the people, formerly called Citizens but now known only as Consumers, have been swindled into surrendering our Sovereign power to a cabal of corporate thugs. They will do anything required to hold onto power.

Let me ask you this. Twenty years ago would you have believed that the US government would ever take ownership of GM, or that they would give 100 billion dollars to an insurance company, or that they would purchase 90% of all new mortgages or that they would run a 2 Trillion Dollar deficit while funneling hundreds of billions to Wall Street? All of this would have seemed inconceivable to me. Except for the vestiges of civil rights we still possess we are literally turning into the old USSR where our entire economy is run by central government command. -- 'Steve'


Saturday, February 20, 2010

The World Looks Different to the Editors of the Gray Corpse

Dan from New York:

Report clears Bush officials of misconduct over 'torture' memos (CNN)

Lawyers Cleared Over 9/11 Memos (WSJ)

Report Faults 2 Authors of Bush Terror Memos (NYT)

Got no time for the corner boys,
Down in the street makin' all that noise,
Don't want no whores on eighth avenue,
Cause tonight i'm gonna be with you.

--Tom Waits, "Jersey Girl" (Click. As good as it gets.)

Andrew Breitbart has the final call.

Another success story for Politburo-style central planning: 80% of Delinquent Homeowners Will Lose Homes, 6 Million In All

Despite spending billions of taxpayers' hard-earned money on programs designed to prevent foreclosures, Real Estate Consulting estimates that "80% of homeowners who are currently delinquent on their mortgages will end up losing their houses."

Of the 7.7 million delinquent homeowners, we actually think that only about 1.6 million will be able avoid losing their homes, and that the remaining 6.1 million will lose their homes...

We say that there is 5 million units of shadow inventory because we estimate that about 1.1 million delinquent homeowners already have their homes listed for sale, and we would not classify those homes as “shadow.”

More good news for the economy: Citibank is warning that its checking account holders may not be able to withdraw their own funds without waiting for seven days.

Seen on a recent Citibank (C) statement: "Effective April 1, 2010, we reserve the right to require (7) days advance notice before permitting a withdrawal from all checking accounts. While we do not currently exercise this right and have not exercised it in the past, we are required by law to notify you of this change."

[Is this an] idea backed by Citi's big shareholder, Uncle Sam, or one of its regulators, Sheila Bair?

I called Citi about it and they said the warning applies only to customers in Texas and that the notification had been mistakenly included on statements nationwide. Whatever the explanation, it doesn't exactly inspire confidence in Citi.

Over at Mish's place, commenter 'Steve' sums things up for us as eloquently as anyone.

Let me ask you this. Twenty years ago would you have believed that the US government would ever take ownership of GM, or that they would give 100 billion dollars to an insurance company, or that they would purchase 90% of all new mortgages or that they would run a 2 Trillion Dollar deficit while funneling hundreds of billions to Wall Street? All of this would have seemed inconceivable to me. Except for the vestiges of civil rights we still possess we are literally turning into the old USSR where our entire economy is run by central government command.

Illegally, I might add, since none of this outrageous behavior is constitutional.

But that never seems to stop the Democrats. Every law, for them, is 'living and breathing' -- including the highest law in the land.


Constitutionality, the People's Will and Midterm Elections be damned: Dems Will Use Nuclear Option for Socialized Health Care Cramdown

In what would represent the greatest abuse of budget reconciliation rules in Congressional history, Democrats plan to execute a socialized medicine cramdown whether the American people want it or not.

...the plan is to have the President submit reconciliation legislation to be posted on the internet this weekend. The legislation will be crafted in a manner so that it can be passed using special reconciliation procedures created solely to enact laws to reduce the deficit as part of the annual budget. The next step is for the President to conduct his half day bipartisan summit at the Blair House on February 25th. With that faux-bipartisan stunt over with, the President will be free to pass legislation in a partisan manner that tosses aside the regular rules of business in the Senate...

Yet again, the Obama Administration has tossed aside transparency and has crafted this legislation behind closed doors. Not even all Congressional Democrats have been looped into this secret proposal...

According to the Grey Corpse (my pet name for The New York Times, and the one I hear they prefer), Rahm "Al Capone" Emanuel, Nancy "Stretch" Pelosi, Harry "The Body Odor" Reid and HHS Secretary Kathleen "Silly-us" Sebelius have set the stage for the legislative nuke.

The usually tame and nonpartisan Charlie Cook laid the smackdown on the dying Democrat Party.

...when unemployment numbers started proving to be much, much tougher and it started becoming more clear that the stimulus package hadn't worked properly, they just kept plowing ahead on health care. And this isn't a communications problem. This is a reality problem. And I think they just made some grave miscalculations and as it became more clear that they had screwed up, they just kept doubling down their bet.

And so I think, no, this is one of the biggest miscalculations that we've seen in modern political history.

...The thing that I think a lot of Democratic strategists are really concerned about is that some of these districts are going to be gone for a generation or more. I mean, they're not coming back. They're ones that had somehow managed to hang on in Democratic hands even after the Democratic Party fell out of favor in a lot of the South. But once they slip away, I'm not sure they're coming back.

Democrats are trying to leverage the news that health care premiums have exploded in California to market their incoherent and illegal cramdown. Wellpoint, for instance, raised premiums 39%, which set the village idiot of economists -- Paul Krugman -- into a predictable tizzy. Problem is, California's arcane regulations are entirely to blame: similar hikes did not occur in other states.

Wellpoint's rate hikes are the direct result of the Golden State's insurance regulations—the kind that Democrats want to impose on all 50 states. Under federal Cobra rules, the unemployed are allowed to keep their job-related health benefits for 18 to 36 months. California then goes further and bars Anthem from dropping these customers even after they have exhausted Cobra. California also caps what Anthem can charge these post-Cobra customers.

[Gee, who woulda thunk that price controls don't work?]

...This explains why Anthem lost $58 million in California on its post-Cobra customers in 2009. If WellPoint didn't raise premiums amid these losses, it would soon be under assault from its shareholders, if not out of business.

Government destroys any economic system it touches, which is why America's founders expressly forbade the insane Statist experiments in which the Soros-controlled Democrats now engage.

And, last I checked, 39% is almost order of magnitude less than the one-year increase in the federal deficit incurred since Barack Obama took office.


Massachusetts, with a state-controlled health care system, has the second highest health care premiums in the nation.

Thus, abandoning facts, logic and reason, Barack Obama and his Congressional sycophants appear ready to deliver a nuclear enema to the American people.

As Charlie Cook says, "It's a reality problem."

So when Barack Obama claims he's "not an ideologue", he's either lying -- or simply stuck on stupid, take your pick.


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Help J.D. unseat John McCain, the man who slams GOP rivals with the harshest of tactics while treating Barack Obama with kid gloves.

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Dubai Hit: The Purloined Passport

Dan from New York:

In the wake of the flawless operation that ended the life of a Hamas mass murderer, the idiots of Israel's cringing class (on display today in the WSJ) are calling it a "botched job" and a "diplomatic nightmare" because the passports were forged, the hit squad was captured on Dubai's ubiquitous surveillance cameras and Britain's nose is bent slightly out of joint. Granted, things certainly would have turned out better if the people involved had used their real passports, worn dark sunglasses and big floppy hats, and hidden behind the palms in the hotel lobby. But alas, the brazen crew and the reckless organization that sent them were not that clever.


So far, the only ones in custody for this "crime" are two Palestinian members of Fatah, arch foe of Hamas. So naturally the finger of suspicion points to the Mossad. Interpol has put out an APB and the shocked, shocked authorities in Dubai are calling for the arrest of Mossad chief, Meir Dagan. (rotsa ruck.)

But amid this hubbub, aren't we all overlooking something that's staring us in the face? Before that piece of terrorist trash was found belly-up, for years he was passing through customs throughout the Arab world and beyond, no questions asked, no muss no fuss. It was nobody else's business until the Jews came for him and brought the maggot to justice without so much as a shot fired, a drop of blood spilled or a hotel room disturbed.

Meanwhile, popular American talk show host Michael Savage is still persona non grata in the British Isles.

If the Israelis don’t come to grips with the implications of this little anecdote, then the fate that awaits them will be sad and richly deserved.

Related: The Dubai Hit Captured on CCTV: When you want to say goodbye, say it with bullets.


A History of Corruption in Chicago, Featuring Your Favorite Union Hacks, Trial Lawyers, Petty Bureaucrats and Democrats. But I Repeat Myself.

Nine researchers at the University of Chicago collaborated on a project that tracked corruption in Chicago politics for 140 years. The executive summary:

"...During the last several decades, Cook County has been a center of corruption with scandals emerging in many different units of county government... Public or political corruption occurs when government officials use their public office for private gain or benefit. In Cook County government this includes outright bribes as well as campaign contributions made by individuals or corporations in exchange for jobs, inflated contracts or political favors. It includes ghost payroll jobs in which individuals get a paycheck but do no work. With an annual budget of more than $3 billion—dishonest public servants find many different ways to profit illegally.

The purpose of this report is to summarize the many different forms of corruption and to recommend basic reforms that need to be enacted to clean up Cook County government..."

http://www.uic.edu/depts/pols/ChicagoPolitics/Anti-corruptionReportNumber3.pdf

Money quote: "The Cook County States’ Attorney likewise has a major role to play in curbing corruption in the county. For the last 30 years, the office has rooted out corruption only when Republicans have held the office. When Democrats have held the office they have most often whitewashed or overlooked the obvious problems."

Enjoyable read, especially if you live in Chicago and enjoy being screwed over and over again by the party of union thugs, anti-school choice proponents, trial lawyers and economic illiterates.

Oh, but they do it for the children.

Gee, I can't wait to get my SmartMeter™ from Pacific Gas & Electric. After all, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

According to PG&E, the "SmartMeter™ system will be rolled out to all PG&E customers by mid-2012", whether customers want it or not. The system resembles nothing so much as a Big Brother arm of the government, monitoring your power usage in real-time. There are reports that the price you will be charged for power -- at least in some locations -- will vary based upon time of day, demand and other factors.

And the system purportedly "keeps your information secure" using "secure wireless technology" (an oxymoron, to be sure) in beaming the details of your usage to PG&E.

But the fact is that cyber attacks against the "SmartGrid" are all but certain over the next twelve months as programs like PG&E's roll out.

Attacks against the power grid are likely to rise and intensify during the next 12 months as smart grid research and pilot projects advance, according to utility security experts and a recently published report that analyzes threats to critical infrastructure...

The so-called Project Grey Goose Report on Critical Infrastructure points to state and/or non-state sponsored hackers from the Russian Federation of Independent States, Turkey, and China as the main threats to targeting and hacking into energy providers and other critical infrastructure networks.

...utility security experts agree that utility security administrators will have their hands full during the next year, as the transition from isolated, closed energy-generation and transmission networks to IP-based and wireless ones begins to take shape in the form of pilot smart grid projects... Doug Preece, senior manager for smart energy services at Capgemini, says he expects an uptick in hacking of smart grid devices during the next 12 months as more smart-grid pilot projects are launched at energy firms. "The penetration of these devices is going to dramatically increase in numbers in the next 12 months, and then it's going to plateau," Preece says. "There's a window of opportunity for malicious intent."

...The smart grid's distributed approach exposes these networks and systems, he notes, and they will be most vulnerable in the early phases as they get up and running... "The worst-case scenario would be an attacker compromising [the smart grid] and then controlling the distribution of power," he says.

The worry is that smart grid vendors and energy firms are rushing to deploy the new technologies without properly securing them... The Grey Goose report calls out Russia, Turkish hackers, and China as the top threats to the power grid.

Given the sophistication of APT malware these days -- and especially state-sponsored attacks -- it's not even clear that, say, China pwning these idiotic SmartMeters would even be detected.

These petty bureaucrats are more interested in controlling every aspect of your lives than tapping the plentiful energy sources that are scattered throughout the United States. Since they don't care about securing new sources of real energy for the U.S., they're probably just as unconcerned about securing these new networks.


A Reminder: Which Republicans Voted To Confirm Eric Holder and His Terrorist-Supporting Appointees in the DOJ

Attorney General Eric Holder has now confirmed that at least nine Department of Justice appointees worked directly or indirectly (e.g., filing Amicus Curae briefs) as terrorist advocates. Other DOJ political appointees also worked for law firms that participated indirectly in the defense of Gitmo terrorists.

This comes on the heels of Holder's outrageous failure to prosecute the New Black Panthers who intimidated voters at a Philadelphia polling station in 2008.

And Holder, of course, had a catastrophically poor track record that should have clearly warned Congress against his confirmation: he had helped free FALN terrorists for Bill Clinton in an apparent quid pro quo; he had approved the pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich after his wife had donated millions to Bill Clinton; and he'd had deep involvement in a variety of other situations that should have disqualified him instantly from holding any public office.

Last August Michelle Malkin helpfully reminded us of the list of Republicans who had voted to confirm Holder:

Alexander (R-TN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Chambliss (R-Ga)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hatch (R-UT)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCain (R-AZ)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Sessions (R-AL)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Voinovich (R-OH)


 
 
 
 
 
 

Voinovich and Specter no longer count, of course, as the former has retired and the other switched his affiliation to the Party of Weakness.

The usual suspects -- Susan Collins, Lindsay "Goober" Graham, John McCain and Olympia Snowe Job voted for Holder -- along with a bunch of more solid Republicans who definitely should have known better. It's high time this foursome left the Senate permanently, replaced by true conservatives.


Larwyn's Linx: It's All the Tea Parties' Fault

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation

It's All the Tea Parties' Fault: Malkin
Whoa: Obama Caught in a Major ACORN Lie: GWP
Holder: Yes, Nine DOJ Appointees Worked for Terrorists: Ace

DOJ Clears Bush Lawyers On Torture, Left Apoplectic: RWN
Project Vote: It Ain't the Voting, It's the Counting: BigGovt
Getting rid of gun control: Times

'Obama has chosen decline for America': RWN
Amy Bishop: Destitute and Crazy?: GrandRants
ACORN hit with new accusations: Fox

Obama supporter, socialist murderer says she's crazy: GWP

Economy

John Edwards, Mesothelioma Man, and Health Reform: AT
Government Stimulus a Huge Lie: AJStrata
Family breakdown and the nation's pocketbook: AT

Longtime Dem Consultant Torpedoed by Union Thugs: RWN
Obama: All Americans to Live on Debt: Langbert
Privatizing city schools could save millions: WyBlog

Climate & Energy

NASA: If you eat, travel or breathe, you're a cause of global warming: Virtuous
Surprising No One: Liberal Media Completely Embargoes Phil Jones Admissions: Ace
Bribes, Scamulus and More Green Fail: CBullitt

Follow the Climate Change Money Trail: Wizbang
Government fails at weather-stripping; wants to take over health care next: BlogProf
What Has Happened To Man-Made Global Warming?: AJStrata

Media

Response to Olbermann: ‘People of color’ at Tea Parties: Haddock
Associated Press refuses propaganda released by... the White House?: Snapped Shot
Family Guy Actress Speaks Up on Taunting of Palin's Down Syndrome-Suffering Son: BlogProf

What Media Won’t Tell You: Doctors Are Challenging Government Health Care-and the AMA: BigGovt
Andrew Breitbart Slams Failed MSNBC Host Rachel Maddow: GWP
Meh: Pirate vs. Customer: C&S

World

Annals of the Mossad: What Happened in Dubai?: PJM
Iranian Regime Launches First Iranian-Built Destroyer: GWP
At what point does criticism of Israel become anti-Semitic?: Grobman

Middle East Terror and Double Standards: PJM
Obama’s New Name For Iraq War: RWN

SciTech

MagicJack: Cheap, Way Overhyped, But Really Works: Mossberg
Spike In Power Grid Attacks Likely In Next 12 Months: Dark Reading

Cornucopia

Tiger's Wood: Wizbang
Next is breathing air: SondraK
About Brie: C&S


Friday, February 19, 2010

Mitt Romney Used 'Vulcan Death-Grip' on Idiot Rapper

Some rapper no one has ever heard of says Mitt Romney used a 'Vulcan Grip' on him after a bizarre incident involving Cheetos, chicken wire and a Jiffy Lube gift certificate.

Sky Blu says Romney drew first blood. Well, he said Romney grabbed him after angrily telling him to move his seat up.

"He grabs my shoulder .. and I just react BOOM get off me!" Blu told the video camera. "He put a condor grip on me. What am I supposed to do?"

"That's like a Vulcan grip," offered his bandmate Redfoo.

"Like a Vulcan grip," Blu concurred. "I'm not your prey. I'm not a salmon going upstream. You're not going to grip me up."

Blu, clad in his underwear while telling the story in a hotel room, went on to say that during the maelstrom Romney's wife screamed, he (Blu) threw in a few cuss words and that the cops didn't buy his version of the incident.

"The man assaulted me. I was protecting myself," he said.

Wow. No one would ever figure this for a P.R. ploy.