Sunday, February 28, 2010

Now is ze time on ze Obama Recovery vhen ve dance!

It's another Obama record! The Evening Tribune of New York headline says it all.

Sales tax collections worst in recent history


...the Office of the State Comptroller recently issued a report on the sales tax collection for all counties in New York state in 2009 [and] compares 2009 to 2008 collections, and found a 5.9 decrease in collections statewide.

Sales tax-declines were experienced by 53 of the 57 counties in the report. Only four — Chatauqua, Oneida, Schuyler, and Seneca — counties experienced a growth in sales tax revenue, but the report attributes it to other factors other than economic growth, like late payments and other technical adjustments.

“Unlike other recent downturns, 2009 was the first time in recent history that there was actually a decline in county sales tax revenue — a sign of the severity of the recent recession,” the report reads. “The sales tax decline in 2009 was one of the worst on record.”

“This is yet another sign that the Great Recession is having a continuing impact on our communities across New York,” DiNapoli said in a release. “These numbers are sobering. Fortunately, many local governments have taken sometimes painful budgetary steps to stave off disaster. It’s a struggle, but all levels of government have to make every taxpayer dime count.”

The report didn’t offer much room for optimism, stating that tax collections are largely driven by two factors — personal income and employment... “Both of these factors are expected to remain weak in 2010,” the report reads.

Indiana monthly sales tax collections tell a similar story.

As do Texas' receipts.

The entire economy is flat on its back, as businesses wait in terror to see what Democrats will do next. While the likes of Obama, Pelosi and Reid casually discuss nationalizing one-sixth of the economy, levying fees on all areas of production with the addition of VAT taxes, assimilating 401(k) plans, and levying massive new energy taxes in the form of "carbon cap-and-trade", individuals and businesses of every size are frozen, waiting to see how they'll be punished and tormented next.

This is the problem with having hard-core, leftist ideologues running the branches of government. Facts, logic and reason don't matter to them. Only the pursuit of more power over the electorate matters. And they will use any means necessary, including illegal legislative maneuvers, to accomplish their aims.


Hat tip: Mish.

High-tech repo men reap big rewards during the Obama recovery using tracking systems Orwell would have loved

Auto repossession specialists recovered 1.9 million cars in 2009, a jump of nearly 10% over the previous year. The increase is tied directly to the use of exotic technology used by police and repossession vehicles. Oh, plus the outstanding economic recovery orchestrated by our beloved Democrat leaders.

At the core... is a set of high-speed digital cameras mounted on the hood and trunk of a vehicle that snap pictures of license plates while passing other vehicles, even at 80 miles per hour. Photos of the plates (including the time the photo was taken and the car’s GPS coordinates) instantly pop up on a laptop computer inside the repo man’s vehicle. Optical character recognition software converts the plate numbers to text.

The process gets more technical: the plate numbers are checked against an encrypted database of delinquent cars, compiled from lenders and stored on the computer, which is refreshed continuously using a wireless link. In most cases, the license plates photographed are attached to cars with no payment problems. But when a plate on a wanted list is found, the computer screen displays further information, including the make and model, its vehicle identification number, or VIN, and the name of the lender. The data is used to confirm that the right car has been found — scofflaws sometimes swap license plates, for instance.

The plate-recognition systems are also used heavily by police. And the system resembles nothing so much as a "Big Brother"-ish system of the sort Orwell would have appreciated.

...In their short time on the market, the camera systems sold by MVTRAC, Recovery Tech and others have upended the way repo men do their jobs. Instead of visiting a long list of addresses where a car might be, repossession agents are driving through parking lots, shopping malls and neighborhoods in search of wanted vehicles...

Police departments around the country now use the plate-reading technology to identify stolen cars. Instead of manually typing plate numbers into a computer, officers on patrol can check thousands of cars against stolen car databases as they pass them on the street.

MVTRAC’s early use of the technology depended on some 8,000 fixed cameras placed in parking lots, toll plazas and other busy spots. The company has since moved to mobile cameras because they let repossession companies spot the cars and recover them more quickly.

I've been told by an industry insider that, of the 100,000 total cars on wanted lists, roughly 40,000 are luxury makes like BMW, Mercedes and Lexus.

The reason lenders are willing to pay repo fees of up to several thousand dollars per car on investigating and repossessing is that the average amount owed on a loan is $26,000. Of those fees, the firm performing the actual physical repossession can swing about $200 to $400 for each car they find.

A subscription for MVTRAC’s camera and computer system runs about $600 a month, so it only takes about two cars spotted with the system to pay for it.

The implications of a national database of automobile movements is interesting and perhaps a bit troubling. The ability to query the database for Amber Alerts and other situations involving random vehicles is on the way.

For example, a police officer notified that a kidnapping took place with the suspect reported to have been driving a blue Caprice could query the national database.

The officer could simply call up a list of all blue Caprices spotted in a specific geographic area during the time in question.

In addition, the path of a vehicle could also be deduced: a query could find all blue Caprices that were spotted moving from county A to county B over a certain period of time.

The industry specialist indicates that all 50 state DMV offices tie into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) through a system called Nlets.

Using this approach, information between law enforcement and tracking firms can be shared, though where exactly the privacy lines are drawn will be established in court someday soon, I'd guess.


Reconciliation: "If the American people find out that this bill is about giving health care to non-citizens, they will rise up against it."

Those thuds you hear in the distance are Democrats firing every bit of political artillery they can muster. They're trying to soften up the American people to the notion of using reconciliation to pass their amazingly unpopular health care bill. The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder says the White House will announce their demand for reconciliation on Wednesday.

The White House and Democrats had one mission today: prepare the political class for the President's announcement, probably Wednesday, that he thinks the Senate ought to proceed with reconciliation to ****pass or modify**** a comprehensive health care bill (passed by the House or Senate first? Not sure.). But Democrats still don't agree: Kent Conrad, the budget committee chairman, says that the House must pass the extant Senate bill (with all the bad stuff in there) first; the House wants to see if the Senate has the votes for the Obama bill (with all the bad stuff taken out), and Conrad said today that reconciliation can't be used to pass #HCR.

On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Robert Menendez claimed that Senate Democrats would be able to muster 51 votes to pass the bill through reconciliation.

This is the same menacing supporter of the radical Hispanic separatist group La Raza ("The Race") who believes that a health care bill should offer "stealth amnesty" to illegal immigrants. A caller to the Mark Levin Show on June 25, 2009 described how Menendez and La Raza view "health care reform".

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.

...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"...

...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."

"If the American people find out?"

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

And Democrats are willing to pass this crap sandwich in complete violation of Senate rules -- that's according to Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), not me -- which demonstrates just how little interest the oligarchs in Washington have in representative government.

Every poll shows Americans overwhelmingly want to keep the hands of government -- which bankrupts everything it touches -- off of the finest health care system in the world.

I urge you to contact members of Congress this week (Senate contact page and House Contact Page) and urge them, politely and firmly, to reject this unconstitutional maneuver that defies the will of the American people. And, if they vote for this disastrous bill, tell them they had better have a good outplacement service.


Hat tip: Memeorandum.

Smell the Change: Ohio Mayor Suggests It's Time To Eliminate Public Sector Unions

On February 24th, Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don L. Robart delivered his annual State of the City Address (PDF). The highlights are worth sharing.

One year ago today, I stood before many of you and warned of the storm clouds that were forming overhead. I spoke of the extended recession and the impact it was having on local and state budgets. I expressed concern that with payrolls being essentially locked –in, due to mandatory collective bargaining, at 3% and health care cost rising between 12 and 15%, it was only a matter of time before the economic bubble would burst. Little did I know that the imminent burst was only months away.

...as we now know, the jobs creation promise of 2009 nationally has more closely resembled a nightmare. With unemployment a year ago at 8%, it is currently over 10% and since the signing of the stimulus bill, we have lost 2.8 million jobs. These job loss figures clearly have a direct effect on state and city budgets. Cuyahoga Falls is no exception. Cities essentially rely on two forms of revenue: property taxes and income taxes. In 2009, we saw both of these revenue sources decline.

...on the income tax side, historically, the city would expect growth of 1-2% per year. In 2009, we saw our income tax decline by $504,000 over 2008. A third source of income for most cities is the interest on our reserve funds. Once again, we are seeing a significant drop in revenue. In the year 2000 for example, we realized over $2.2 million dollars in interest, and now due to significant lower interest rates, we saw the interest on our reserve drop to $547,000.

In response to these significant drops in revenue, we mandated that the nonbargaining employees accept a wage freeze along with six furlough days. Additionally where applicable, we would cease the ability to sell back vacation and sick leave. I am proud of the AFSCME union which was the first union to step forward and agree to our proposal. Our Fire union, the
UWUA electric union and finally the dispatchers, followed shortly. Unfortunately, we did not get concessions from the two police unions, which necessitated the loss of three patrolmen and a community service officer. Additionally, four sergeants were reduced to patrolman status.

So what does the future hold? Obviously, much depends on the flow of the economy. If 2010 resembles 2009, cities all over the state, indeed all over the nation, will be looking for a lifeline.

In Cuyahoga Falls, we will be negotiating with all six of our public employee unions. We do not anticipate these negotiations will be easy, however, with a keen eye on fiscal responsibility, the administration will be resolute in its demands to lower expenses. And indeed, with payroll representing 75–80% of our general fund budget, the public sector unions are the obvious place to go.

Which brings up the question that I have raised in this forum in the past: Is it time to eliminate public sector unions?

The history of public sector unions goes back to 1962 when President John F. Kennedy signed executive order 10988 allowing unionization of the federal workforce. This changed everything in the American political system. President Kennedy’s order swung open the door for the unrelenting rise of the unionized public workforce in many states and cities.

And of course, 47 years ago, the American workforce landscape looked very different. As recently as 1980, there were more than twice as many private sector union members than there were public sectors. Today 51.4% of Americans 15.4 million workers are employed by the government. This is the first time in American history that there are more public sector union members than there are private. So my question is, can we the taxpayers continue to afford this expense?

The problem for the economy is that the public sector unions create a self-reinforcing cycle of higher spending and taxes. The union helps elect politicians who repay the union with more pay and benefits and dues-paying members, who in turn help to re-elect those politicians.

I recall the 2006 example of former New Jersey Governor John Corzine shouting to a rally of 10,000 public workers “We will fight for a fair contract”. Mr. Corzine was supposed to be on the other side of the bargaining table representing taxpayers, not labor.

...As we can see from the desperate economic and fiscal woes of California, New Jersey, New York and other states with dominant public unions; this has become a major problem for the U.S. economy and smaller “d” democratic governance. The agenda for American political reform needs to include the breaking of public unions' power to capture an even larger share of private income.

Congratulations to Mayor Robart. His message is one that needs to echo from cities to towns, counties to states, and all the way to the halls of the federal government.

It's time to break the public sector unions whose agenda is directly counter to that of the taxpayers.


Photos: RPC Photo / Robert J. Lucas Cuyahoga Falls. Linked by: Mish. Thanks!

Illegal Immigration By the Numbers

240,000: the number of illegal immigrant sex offenders in the United States, a "conservative" estimate according to a study by the Violent Crime Institute. Over the 88-month study, illegal aliens were responsible for an estimated 960,000 violent sex crimes in the U.S.

4-10,000,000: the number of illegal aliens who crossed into the United States in 2005, bringing with them 5.6 to 11.2 million pounds of cocaine and 34.3 to 68.6 million pounds of marijuana. As many as 19,500 aliens originated in countries identified as state sponsors of terror, according to the Department of Homeland Security. This figure includes members of Hezbollah who have already entered the United States across the southwest border; and agents of Venezuela, which is providing falsified documentation for entry into the U.S. illegally.

$2,200,000,000: the amount spent on food assistance programs for illegal aliens including food stamps, WIC, free school lunches, etc. each year.

$2,500,000,000: the amount spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens annually.

$3,000,000,000: the approximate annual federal spending to house non-U.S. citizens in federal prisons, which represents roughly 30% of the prison population according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Most of non-citizen prison population is comprised of illegal aliens.

$12,000,000,000: the amount spent each year on primary and secondary public education for children in the U.S. illegally, many of whom cannot speak English.

$17,000,000,000: the amount spent each year on primary and secondary public education for American-born children of illegal aliens, known as 'anchor babies'.

$11-22,000,000,000: the amount spent on welfare for illegal aliens by state governments each year.

$50,000,000,000: the amount spent annually on providing welfare and social services to illegal aliens by federal taxpayers.

$200,000,000,000: the amount of "suppressed American wages" caused by illegal immigration and lax policies such as H-1B programs.

What are the true costs of illegal immigration to American citizens? In hard dollar terms, it's hundreds of billions -- all of which could be better used elsewhere, especially in these tough economic times.






Dinosaur Media AWOL as Hundreds of Children Unearthed in Mass Grave, Executed by the Barbaric Regime of Saddam Hussein

Three mass graves were unearthed in the Dibuz neighborhood of Kirkuk last week. The graves contained hundreds of bodies of innocent children, who were executed by Saddam Hussein's genocidal regime.

ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, The New York Times and the Washington Post are among the news outlets purposefully ignoring the story. Bush bad. Democrats good. War bad. Opposition to war good.

Not one word from the legacy media on this story, which resembles something out of the annals of Nazi Germany's horrors.

Hundreds of Chilldren Found in Mass Grave


By Mihemed Eli Zalla 25/02/2010

Three mass graves were discovered in the sub district of Dubiz in Kirkuk. Announced the Kurdish daily news paper ASO on Sunday, Feb.21st. These graves are to be excavated by the Ministry of Anfaled and Martyrs of Kurdistan regional government in a near future.

“The graves are holding remnants of children from both Chamchamal and Garmyan areas”. Sayd Fazil Amin the head of KRG martyrs office in Kirkuk told ASO, these kids were taken into captivity during 1988 Anfal campaign against the Kurds.

Anfal genocide was a campaign against the Kurds in 1980s. It was aimed at the elimination of the Kurds in Iraq, by destroying and burning Kurdish villages down. Killing and burying alive the people of these villages. It costed over 200,000 lives of innocent Kurds.

The media channels have not yet been invited to publish the unearthing of these three ‘out of hundreds of’ mass graves. We will soon invite the Arabic as well as other foreign media and officially announce the discovery, added Amin.

“We were jailed in a prison in Dubiz for a while. The only thing we knew then was that of, our crime was being a Kurd. In Dubiz they separated us into men, women and children” Bafraw, an Anfal survivor told Hawler Tribune, “Amanj, my 7 year old son, before taken away was very sick, I asked if I could go with him. They [soldiers] told me, do not worry we will put an end to his sickness, I know how they did it”

Kurds know all their beloved Anfaled ones are dead somewhere in the deserts of Iraq. All they are awaiting for is the return of their remnants. As said Bafraw “Ever since then I have been waiting for him”

A group of experts from ministry of Anfaled and Martyrs are to excavate these graves soon. The graves hold remnants of 272 children and the oldest one among them is a 16 year old girl. A pregnant woman is also among them, added Amin.

Will the U.K.'s "Iraq Inquiry" include this news?

Will President Obama claim this is just a cultural misunderstanding?

Will some of the legacy media outlets in this country begin to actually report the news before they finally slip into the abyss of bankruptcy?


Hat tip: Boy Moto. Linked by: iOwnTheWorld. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: The Party of Hell No

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

The Party of Hell No: LookLeft
The lie at the heart of ObamaCare: AT
Pelosi: Health care bill? What health care bill?: York

When Responsibility Doesn't Pay: Steyn
Obama's Socialism: AT
1,500 rally in St. Louis: GWP

The Democrats' New Map: Green Room
Dems can't explain gimmicks in health bill: NRO
Are Public Schools Constitutional?: Stuter

Pro-Life Forces Court Blacks in Fight Against Abortion: AmPower
Who will lead the TEA Party?: AT
Berkeley Riot: Fire, Destruction: PuffHo

Economy

States most in debt: highly unionized, solidly Democrat: Tapscott
Marin County to push SEIU out?: Surber
The CBO's Crystal Ball: Corner

Big Labor: The Tyranny of Public Sector Unions: StateBrief
Ironic: SEIU's Stern on Debt Panel: Corner
Moffit: Obama wants price controls on health insurance: WashExam

FDA Overreaches... Again: RWN
Fannie Mae meltdown toll up to $76.2B: BlogProf

Climate & Energy

ManBearPig Returns! Pens Op-Ed In Fish Wrap Of Record, But Still Won’t Debate: RWN
If You Get Too Cold, I'll Tax the Heat: AT
A perfect storm is brewing for the IPCC: Booker

Does algore have any tone but hysterical?: Bookworm
Global Warming Updated: Fausta

Media

Mass-murdering Kiddie Porn Guy at L.A. Times... Was Already a Convicted Child Rapist While Employed at the Paper: Patterico
Narcissism and Denial in the Obama Administration: PJM
Decrypting Obama's "Pop": AT (Cashill)

Here's why Dems keep pushing 'dead' Obamacare despite growing public opposition: Tapscott
NYT Lies about Hebron Tomb Dispute: AT
Nine Meter Nails: Driscoll

Multiplicity II, Starring Janeane Garofalo As Andie MacDowell: Driscoll
A Tea Party Anniversary: InstaPundit

World

European Welfare State Model under Strain as Labor Tensions Rise: PJM
Saturday Awesome from the U.K.: Ace
When Rhetoric Rules the Roost: JPost

The common bonds between Iran's Mullahs and the Democrats: Bookworm
Man who broke Bank of England, George Soros, 'at centre of plot to cash in on fall of euro': London Daily Mail

SciTech

Whose Body Is It?: Stossel
How you can live to 100: Ned Hardy
Cybersecurity bill to give president new emergency powers: The Hill

Cornucopia

Take That, Tojo!: IowaHawk
Triumph the Insult Dog's Weather Forecast: Conan
Have you heard about Shakespeare’s Treasure Map?: HillBuzz

Who entertains the entertainers?: Mirror
Avatar/Pocahantas Mashup: Szuch
Obamotivators: RWN


Saturday, February 27, 2010

Rasmussen Rates the Bounce in Popular Support for Obamacare Since Health Summit 'a Good, Solid B+'

Rasmussen has late-breaking details of the astounding 'bounce' in popular support for Democrat health care reform spurred, apparently, by the Obama Health Summit™.

The first evidence on whether Barack Obama got a bounce from the health care summit comes from the overnight Rasmussen polling. The short answer: No. Or perhaps: au contraire. Rasmussen shows Obama’s strong approval at 22% and strong disapproval at 43%, for a net approval index—this is Rasmussen’s term—of minus 21. That matches the low recorded in Rasmusssen polling on December 21 (reported on December 22), as the Senate was preparing to pass its health care bill and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was in the process of delivering the Louisiana Purchase and the Cornhusker Kickback.

One night’s results are not overwhelming proof of anything, and the one-day downtick in Obama’s numbers is not statistically significant. But it’s interesting that his numbers fall when health care legislation leads the news. Not what White House strategists want to see.

Especially since Nancy Pelosi now claims that Democrats really never had a health care bill they were interested in passing:

...despite all the debate of the past year, despite the fact that the House and Senate have actually passed national health care bills, and despite the fact that the Senate bill is the single bill that will have to be passed for national health care to become law, there is not, in fact, a national health care bill. It might seem somewhat counterfactual, but in a new interview with CNN, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi flat-out says there is no health care bill currently under consideration.

"You think people don't understand the bill?" asked CNN's Candy Crowley.

"No, I don't think -- there isn't a bill," said Pelosi. "When we have a bill, which we will in a matter of days, then that is the bill that we can sell. Our bill, the House and the Senate bill, had major differences which we are hoping now to reconcile. And then when we have a bill -- you -- as I say, you can bake the pie, you can sell the pie, but you have to have a pie to sell. And when we do we will take it out there."

From the pundits, on NPR's Diane Rehm Show yesterday, Newsweek's Eleanor Clift said that Democratic health proposals "never really turned into an actual bill. There have always been competing versions."

Gee, thanks for clearing that up. And it's always good to see state-run media working hand-in-hand with our beloved Democrat leaders.

Kinda reminds me of Venezuela in the springtime.


A Brief, Illustrated History of the Public Sector Unions That Are Bleeding America Dry With the Full Support of the Democrat Party

Throughout American history -- and as recently as the 1950s -- there were no unions for government workers. Public-sector employees were expected to earn a bit less than their private-sector equivalents. The reasons they did so included an interest in public service, job security and reasonable benefits.

But that changed in the late fifties with New York City Mayor Robert Wagner's cynical appeal to the votes of city workers. He signed an executive order authorizing them to unionize, and soon other local and state Democrat legislators around the country followed his lead.

These efforts culminated in 1962, when President John F. Kennedy granted federal employees the right to collectively bargain. Since then, public sector union membership has skyrocketed while, in the private sector, unions have fallen out of favor.

In 2009, private sector union members were outnumbered for the first time by their public sector counterparts.

The historical basis of unions revolved around workers receiving a reasonable share of a company's profits. But that tenet is nonsensical when applied to public service. Governments don't make profits; they simply assess taxes.

The aims of public sector unions conflict directly with the interests of taxpayers.

And because it has been exceedingly hard to fight public sector unions, the salaries and benefits of public employees have skyrocketed in recent years. Since the election of Barack Obama, the number of federal employees making over $150,000 a year has more than doubled to over 10,000.

In 2009 government salaries jumped 2.4%, approximately twice the increase earned by private sector employees. In fact, the average salary of a federal worker is now $71,000, about $22,000 more than the average private sector employee.

Worst of all, public sector unions have negotiated pension plans that are proving financially untenable. Many allow workers to retire at age 55 at around their full salary in their final years of employment. These pensions often include inflation adjustments as well as lifetime free health care.

These plans are so outrageous that state retirement systems, for example, are currently underfunded by about a trillion dollars.

So how have public sector unions achieved these amazing results? The answer is hundreds of millions of dollars, the approximate amount that unions have contributed to federal campaigns since 1990. Almost every dollar went to Democrats or Democrat causes. In the 2008 election alone, some estimates put public sector union contributions to Democrats at $60 million.

These unions are also astroturfing for Democrats, providing slush funds to help liberal causes. An example is ThePartyIsOver.org, a faux populist website designed to discredit TEA Party activists.

The Democrats' health care bill, the 'Employee Free Choice Act' and the $800+ billion stimulus bill all contained payoffs to public sector unions. In fact, while the private sector has shed 7,000,000 jobs since the recession began, the number of public sector jobs has risen every month.

Public sector unions are killing our economic system and the American taxpayer. The debt unleashed by their outrageous benefits plans simply cannot be paid. The union bosses have lied to their members about lifetime benefits and they have betrayed the American people. Public sector unions must be disbanded and outlawed before our country resembles Greece, Spain and other European countries that are teetering on the brink of destruction, thanks to unions just like ours.


Based upon: Amy H. Laff, StateBrief. Linked by: Boortz.com and The Washington Examiner. Thanks!

Ripple Effect: Illinois Fiscal Implosion Slamming Businesses Large and Small

As Illinois enters its death throes, unpaid bills are crushing creditors large and small.

What happens if the boss cannot afford to pay you for a full week's work?

In most instances either you work a few days for nothing, or you do what many places have been forced to do during hard times, such as one Carbondale dentists' office.


It has become another victim of Illinois's $13 billion dollar budget crisis. Recently staff members held their breath as they opened an e-mail from the chief executive officer.

"I am hoping we'll be able to eliminate this uncertainty considering furlough days in the near future. But at least we can extend the delay for another two weeks," Shawnee Health Care Chief Executive Officer, Patsy Jensen said as she read from a recently sent email.

Some 350 employees received that email. The subject is furlough days. Jensen says she started these emails back in December. "If we can't meet our payroll demands then we are going to ask our staff to take one day off a week," Jensen said.

Shawnee Health Care has clinics in Carbondale, Marion, and Murphysboro. At the Carbondale clinic, nearly 80% of dental patients are on Medicaid. In Illinois, the state must match 50% of Medicaid dollars. However, Jensen says due to Medicaid payments delays, many area dentists don't accept the program.

"We're at a minimum 90 days out," Jensen said about state Medicaid payments.

Despite the fact that "Illinois is headed toward a governmental collapse", public-sector unions aren't budging on their demands for salary, benefit and pension increases.


Radical Housing Proposal o' the Day

Reader Grrr over at Mish's site ("Obama's Micro-Mismanagement of HAMP Equates to "Can-Kicking Stupidity"") has a radical suggestion.

I've come up with a radical scheme that could possibly work to end the housing crisis:
1) People that can't or won't pay their mortgage lose the house.
2) The banks take the house and sell it to people who can afford it.

There are a few flaws:
1) It doesn't require massive amounts of government money.
2) It doesn't protect people from their mistakes.
3) It doesn't punish responsible people who are patiently waiting for houses to become affordable.
4) It could result in the banks that helped create this mess failing.

In spite of these issues, I believe we should give it a try.

That's just crazy talk.


Massive Earthquake in Chile '500 Times More Powerful' Than Haiti's Tumbler

A magnitude 8.8 earthquake has slammed the coast of Chile.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers is reported to have said that the massive earthquake in Chile quake is 500 times more powerful than the recent quake in Haiti. The Red Cross is reporting that they know of at least 100 dead, but that is certain to increase.

The AP reports "Tsunami waves were likely to hit Asian, Australian and New Zealand shores within 24 hours of the earthquake. The U.S. West Coast and Alaska, too, were threatened... a huge wave swept into a populated area in the Robinson Crusoe Islands, 410 miles (660 kilometers) off the Chilean coast, President Michelle Bachelet said, but there were no immediate reports of major damage."

The following tsunami warning was issued for Hawaii.

BULLETIN
TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 6
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
1246 AM HST SAT FEB 27 2010

TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

SUBJECT - TSUNAMI WARNING

A TSUNAMI WARNING IS ISSUED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE AT
1246 AM HST.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME - 0834 PM HST 26 FEB 2010
COORDINATES - 36.1 SOUTH 72.6 WEST
LOCATION - NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE
MAGNITUDE - 8.8 MOMENT

MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY

GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER
------------------- ----- ------ ----- --------------- -----
IQUIQUE CL 20.2S 70.1W 0906Z 0.27M / 0.9FT 72MIN
ANTOFAGASTA CL 23.2S 70.4W 0941Z 0.49M / 1.6FT 52MIN
ARICA CL 18.5S 70.3W 1007Z 0.94M / 3.1FT 44MIN
DART LIMA 32412 18.0S 86.4W 0941Z 0.24M / 0.8FT 36MIN
CALDERA CL 27.1S 70.8W 0843Z 0.45M / 1.5FT 20MIN
TALCAHUANO CL 36.7S 73.4W 0653Z 2.34M / 7.7FT 88MIN
COQUIMBO CL 30.0S 71.3W 0852Z 1.32M / 4.3FT 30MIN
CORRAL CL 39.9S 73.4W 0739Z 0.90M / 2.9FT 16MIN
SAN FELIX CL 26.3S 80.1W 0815Z 0.53M / 1.7FT 08MIN
VALPARAISO CL 33.0S 71.6W 0708Z 1.29M / 4.2FT 20MIN

LAT - LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH)
LON - LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST)
TIME - TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME)
AMPL - TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
IT IS ...NOT... CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).
PER - PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT.

EVALUATION

A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN GENERATED THAT COULD CAUSE DAMAGE ALONG
COASTLINES OF ALL ISLANDS IN THE STATE OF HAWAII. URGENT ACTION
SHOULD BE TAKEN TO PROTECT LIVES AND PROPERTY.

A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF LONG OCEAN WAVES. EACH INDIVIDUAL WAVE
CREST CAN LAST 5 TO 15 MINUTES OR MORE AND EXTENSIVELY FLOOD
COASTAL AREAS. THE DANGER CAN CONTINUE FOR MANY HOURS AFTER THE
INITIAL WAVE AS SUBSEQUENT WAVES ARRIVE. TSUNAMI WAVE HEIGHTS
CANNOT BE PREDICTED AND THE FIRST WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST.
TSUNAMI WAVES EFFICIENTLY WRAP AROUND ISLANDS. ALL SHORES ARE AT
RISK NO MATTER WHICH DIRECTION THEY FACE. THE TROUGH OF A TSUNAMI
WAVE MAY TEMPORARILY EXPOSE THE SEAFLOOR BUT THE AREA WILL
QUICKLY FLOOD AGAIN. EXTREMELY STRONG AND UNUSUAL NEARSHORE
CURRENTS CAN ACCOMPANY A TSUNAMI. DEBRIS PICKED UP AND CARRIED
BY A TSUNAMI AMPLIFIES ITS DESTRUCTIVE POWER. SIMULTANEOUS HIGH
TIDES OR HIGH SURF CAN SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE TSUNAMI HAZARD.

THE ESTIMATED ARRIVAL TIME IN HAWAII OF THE FIRST TSUNAMI WAVE IS

1119 AM HST SAT 27 FEB 2010

MESSAGES WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by this disaster.


The Cartel: The Education Disaster in America

If you have any interest in America's kids, this looks like a must-see movie.

Only 35 percent of American high school seniors are proficient readers. Only 23 percent are proficient in math. Nationwide, only 74 percent of ninth graders graduate within four years—and that number drops to about 50 percent for black and Hispanic students. Twelve percent of American high schools are “dropout factories”—schools where less than 60 percent of freshmen even make it to their senior year. It comes as no surprise, then, that America lags far behind other developed countries when it comes to schooling: Among large industrialized countries, America ranks last in educational effectiveness—despite spending the most.

The conventional wisdom says that our schools could be dramatically improved with better funding. If we would only “invest in education,” the argument goes, our children would have a better future—particularly in urban areas, where leaky roofs, under-qualified teachers, and outdated textbooks are all too common

And so the last few decades have brought an explosion of education spending, enthusiastically approved by local school boards and state legislatures and generally supported by taxpayers. That’s the moral cover under which our public school system wastes and steals billions of dollars every year.

New Jersey offers a dramatic instance of this corruption and improvidence. After New York, no other state spends as much per pupil—but the Garden State has very little to show for its investment. Spending can exceed $400,000 per classroom, and yet only 39 percent of the state’s eighth-graders are proficient or advanced readers, and only 40 percent of its eighth-graders are proficient or advanced in math. Of new high school graduates attending the state’s community colleges, nearly 80 percent require remediation. More than three quarters of New Jersey’s high schools have been warned that they may be placed on the state’s list of failing schools. And the problem is not one of inadequate funding: Some of the worst schools receive—and squander—the most money.

This costly, unconscionable failure forms the subject of The Cartel.

Find out more at http://TheCartelMovie.com.


Larwyn's Linx: Full Speed Off the Cliff

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

Full Speed Off the Cliff: Protein Wisdom
Not exactly two peas in a pod: Power Line
Pelosi lied: Rangel did violate House rules: BigGovt

Good news: a way forward on Obamacare: Hot Air
Crist is Toast: Goodbye, Charlie: RWN
Lifelike Pelosi Robot on Rangel...: Hot Air

A prayer from the living world: Doc Zero
Handgun Derangement Syndrome Grips Restaurateurs: AT
Bill and Hillary: Driving the Left into a Ditch?: PJM

Bang! Bang! You're... Safe?: Wizbang

Economy

The Cartel... a Trailer: Carpe Diem
Obama Names SEIU Chairman Andy Stern to Debt Panel: GWP
Toxic Exploding Freddie Mortgage Factory To Close: Denninger

Fed Campaign Against Toyota in Overdrive?: BizzyBlog
The Country's In The Very Best of Hands: Maxine Waters: Ace
These Are Our Friends, Trading Partners AND BANKERS?: Denninger

Climate & Energy

Cap And Tax May Be Gone, Replaced With 'Just Tax!': RWN
The Walls Of Anthropogenic Warming Come Crashing Down: Strata-Sphere
Al Gore Mocked at Shareholder’s Meeting: GWP

Media

Time's Joe Klein: 'Unflappable' Obama Wins Day at Health Care Summit: NewsBusters
Democrats' secret plan to astroturf conservative radio: AT
Freedom is a Right, and Any Health Care Bill That Takes Away Americans’ Freedom is Wrong: Boehner

The other 44% didn’t understand the question: RWN
Judge Posner says maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if FDR's Court-packing plan had passed: Althouse
Bill Maher: He's Better Than You: RWN

World

The Delusional USA - Syrian Overtures: Bejjani
Who Lost Iran?: AT (Lewis)
Tea Party Goes International: Ace

Hezbollah Leader Nasrallah Meets With Ahmadinejad in Syria: GWP
Islamic Apartheid Month: Chesler
Another Day, Another Holy War: Wizbang

Children Last: Pundette
ObamaCare's Curse: Strata-Sphere
Reuters Acknowledges: It Ain't Getting Any Warmer: RWN

SciTech

First Look: 2011 Porsche Cayenne: Motor Trend
How to start up an F-16C: Caveman
Hiding in Plain Sight: Sophos

Cornucopia

Cincinnati Auto Show: Virtuous Republic
Say Hey: A Must-Read Review: TAB
A Site That Will Change Your Life: iOTW


Friday, February 26, 2010

No Joke: Obama's Social Secretary Leaving To Do Stand-Up

Dan from New York:

White House social secretary Rogers resigning


White House social secretary Desiree Rogers is stepping down three months after an uninvited couple crashed the Obama administration's first state dinner and she was heavily criticized for her role in allowing the embarrassing episode to happen.

Rogers' handling of the Nov. 24 state dinner came under fire after a celebrity-seeking northern Virginia couple got into the exclusive South Lawn affair without a formal invitation, despite heavy White House security. As social secretary, Rogers was in charge of the event.

Rogers, 50, told the Chicago Sun-Times on Friday that she was leaving because she had achieved a major goal of the Obamas: turning the White House into the "people's house" by opening it up to many of those who normally do not get to visit.

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

See for yourself, those are direct quotes from the AP's story. And no, although I wish I was, I am not nearly clever enough to write hysterically funny punch lines like those!

What's the emoticon for a rimshot?


Biden Middle-Class Task Force: Let's Bankrupt Country Even Faster With Forced Unionization 'Card Check' Bill

The Pew Research Center sounded the alarm last week with a report that State Retirement Systems are underfunded by more than $1 trillion. Public-sector unions and Democrat politicians have created a looming catastrophe in the form of unaffordable defined-benefit pension programs.

The President's home town of Chicago has a public school system that's a billion dollars underwater, thanks in large part to teachers' unions and their unaffordable compensation programs. But, no, let's not allow school choice -- that would expose the public school system as a giant boondoggle which is literally raping the taxpayers.

Chicago Public Schools is facing a deficit of up to $1 billion next year that can be reduced only through a combination of pension reform, union concessions and job cuts, schools chief Ron Huberman said Thursday... The grim 2011 budget forecast takes into account a skyrocketing pension obligation next year and contractual raises for teachers that together increase costs by about $450 million over this year...


...While Huberman said that he hoped the union would work with him on the issues, the union balked at the suggestion of opening its contract... Next year, the district will pay teachers an additional $169 million under their contract, which includes a 4 percent cost-of-living raise. The underfunded teacher pension will cost the school district a whopping $587 million next year, a 91 percent increase from this year...

...One potential bright spot is that CPS balanced this year's budget without $200 million in state funding it has not yet been paid. The state, suffering its own financial woes, is behind in its bills to the tune of $4.2 billion, including some $725 million owed to schools. If CPS ultimately receives the promised funding, it will have an extra $200 million for next year's deficit.

So what's the Obama administration's plan?

More unions!

Earlier today the Joe Biden "Middle-Class" Task Force recommended several insane measures including the forced unionization bill known as "card check".

In its first annual report released Friday, the Obama administration's middle-class task force introduced plans to address the "middle-class squeeze" in the U.S. economy.


...The administration's plan to protect employees and create more jobs includes passing the Employee Free Choice Act ("Chard Check") to help workers who want to form unions, and offering tax benefits to small businesses to encourage hiring.

"Encourage hiring"?

Under card check, unions would seek certification without a secret ballot once a majority of targeted employees have signed cards. Union bosses -- not members -- favor EFCA because the "cards are often signed under coercive or intimidating circumstances and do not represent informed intent."


Studies confirm that unions discourage employment and wages.

But unions spent more than a hundred million dollars electing Democrats in 2008. And they are going to get a return on their investment, no matter how much harm it inflicts on America.


TGIF: The Obamas #89 -- Maniacs


Genius!

Ripped from: iOwnTheWorld.

What I learned about health care yesterday

If you took all -- all! -- of the annual profits of every health insurance company in the U.S., you could fund health insurance coverage for the entire American population for only two days. That's right: the profits of all U.S. health insurance companies equals two days of coverage for Americans. Yet these are the profits vilified by the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress.

The full ten-year cost of the Democrat health care bill offers taxpayers a $460 billion deficit. The second ten-year cost has a $1.4 trillion deficit. Dishonest accounting and hiding expenses doesn't make the bill reasonable.

14% of the population is on Medicare. 14% is on Medicaid. 9% receive government benefits. 4% are on military health plans. 43% receive coverage from their private employment. Only 6% of the population actually purchases their own insurance. Yet the Democrats want to destroy the insurance companies over this.

Five percent of the population uses 50% of all health care spending. These are the chronically ill, folks who suffer from multiple, serious health conditions. A study of 20,000 chronically ill patients was conducted recently. An intriguing discovery was made: because each patient took an average of 16 different prescription medicines, coordinated and holistic care could cut medication spending by 50% and save hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient.

Let me close by repeating: you could take the annual profits of the private health insurance companies and buy health insurance for people for two days.

Consider that the next time President Obama vilifies the 'obscene' profits of the insurance companies.


Hat tip: Excellence in Broadcasting.

Larwyn's Linx: Now is not the time for weakness

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

Blowhard-a-thon at Blair House: Malkin
The Main Event: Ryan v. Obama: WklyStd
The Unforgiving Minutes: Corner

Intolerable then. Intolerable now.: Eternity Road
Rangel's Culture of Corruption: MagNote
CA Senate Primary Plays Into Democrat Hands: Kesler

Now is not the time for weakness: LegalIns
ObamaCare Strategy Sabotages Bipartisan Summit: BigGovt
Michelle Obama's Hospital Turned Aware Poor: S&L

Hundreds rally against Obamacare at Blair House: GWP
Tea Partiers seek recall of Demo Senators: Times

Economy

Greece Reveals Our Near Future: RWN
Obama's Chicago Boys and a $30B Slush Fund: AT
Predictably, Jobless Numbers Unexpectedly Rise, Again: Riehl

Public Sector Unions - Toxin, Crisis and Opportunity: Wolf
"Either they can't read, they can't add or they can't comprehend": Marathon
The deathbed of Keynesian economics: smh.com.au

The Last Bubble: Belmont Club

Climate & Energy

Things Scientists Say: Blair
Climategate: what to do about Barbara Boxer?: PJM
The Return of The Son of Thermageddon II, The Sequel: CBullitt

McCain Outflanks Moonbats on the Left: RWN
Higher Jobless Due to Global Warming: S&L
Y2Kyoto: Springtime For Gore: SDA

Media

Obama and the MSM Define Bipartisan the Chicago Way: It’s ‘the Combine’: BigJournalism
USN&WR: Michigan awesome 'cause it created 11,000 "green" jobs (while losing 400,000 real jobs): BlogProf
In Today’s Health-Care Debate, Reputations Will Be Won and Lost: BigJournalism

Top 20 Quotes from CPAC 2010: RWN
Media reactions to KabukiCare Summit: Wizbang
Powerless against Palin: AT

ABC News to Obama: 'You Lie!': JWF
What could be duller than a Canadian bank?: SDA
Tigers Weep: Princeton Hires Van Jones: TigerHawk

World

Democrats vs. the CIA: Fausta
Single-payer hell in the U.K.: BlogProf
American-British relations continue to deteriorate: Pools

Wonders never cease: OAS report rebukes Venezuela on human rights: Fausta
Feds probe Goldman over Greek debt: S&L

SciTech

Microsoft Takes Down Whistleblower Site, Read the Secret Doc Here: Wired
Leak at Dubai Aquarium floods mall: Maktoob

Cornucopia

The Doctor's Visit: Nate Bloch
Teach Your Children Well: Mirror
Stock Market Report: Theo Spark



Thursday, February 25, 2010

Crain's Chicago Business: "Illinois is headed toward a governmental collapse" -- but I rate Hopeychangeyland's finances 'a good, solid B+'

Crain's Chicago Business describes the scene in the state that brought us hope and change.

...Despite a budget shortfall estimated to be as high as $5.7 billion, state officials haven't shown the political will to either raise taxes or cut spending sufficiently to close the gap.

As a result, fiscal paralysis is spreading through state government. Unpaid bills to suppliers are piling up. State employees, even legislators, are forced to pay their medical bills upfront because some doctors are tired of waiting to be paid by the state. The University of Illinois, owed $400 million, recently instituted furloughs, and there are fears it may not make payroll in March if the shortfall continues.

Without quick corrective action or a sharp economic upturn, Illinois is headed toward a governmental collapse. At some point, unpaid vendors will stop bidding on state contracts, investors will refuse to buy Illinois bonds and state employees will get paid in scrip, as California did last year.

"The crisis will come when you see state institutions shutting down because they can't pay their employees," says David Merriman, head of the economics department at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

A record $5.1 billion in state bills was past due at yearend, almost doubling to 92 days from 48 days a year earlier the average amount of time it takes the state to pay vendors such as doctors, hospitals, non-profit service providers and other contractors.

"I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel," says Dan Strick, CEO of SouthStar Services, a Chicago Heights non-profit that helps people with developmental disabilities. "It seems to be getting worse and worse, and the delays longer and longer." SouthStar hasn't been paid since July, forcing him to borrow to keep afloat.

State tax receipts from July through December last year were running more than $1 billion behind 2008, including a $460-million plunge in sales taxes and a $349-million drop in personal income taxes.

It's another Obama miracle!

Despite receiving 22% more federal money -- that's your taxpayer "stimulus" cash in action -- total state receipts were down 2.1% from the prior year. But actual spending for the state was up 2.2%!

The resulting $5.1-billion backlog of unpaid bills doesn't include $1.4 billion in Medicaid and group health bills that haven't been processed, plus $2.25 billion in short-term borrowing that must be repaid soon.

Illinois is living hand to mouth, paying bills as revenues come in each day, building up cash when special payments are coming due. Cash on hand varies from day to day, sometimes dipping below $1 million, says a spokeswoman for Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes.

The state's credit rating has been steadily worsening since 1997, with three downgrades in the past 13 months. "The absence of recurring solutions in the next year to deal with the current budget challenges and begin to stabilize liquidity will likely result in a further downgrade of Illinois," Standard & Poor's said last month.

...As credit ratings dropped, the state has to pay more to borrow. The state also has to pay interest on bills unpaid after 90 days, adding further to its costs...

And did I forget to mention that Illinois' public-sector union pension costs are exploding?


The state's unfunded liabilities and pension debt will hit $95 billion by mid-year because the state continually failed to adhere to its own payment schedule.

The sharp rise in pension payments is the biggest factor pushing Illinois toward what a legislative task force last November called "a 'tipping point' beyond which it will be impossible to reverse the fiscal slide into bankruptcy." The little-noticed report on the state's pension problems warned that "the radical cost-cutting and huge tax increases necessary to pay all the deferred costs from the past would become so large that many businesses and individuals would be driven out of Illinois, thereby magnifying the vicious cycle of contracting state services, increasing taxes, and loss of the state's tax base."

Gee, isn't a giant, unaccountable, centralized, authoritarian government grand?

But I'm certain that the same group of Democrat hacks who destroyed Illinois will be able to orchestrate a command-and-control health care system for the whole country. At least as well as they managed Grove Parc.