Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The 10 signs the Obama Depression has only just begun

In two sobering paragraphs, Michael Snyder puts the U.S. economy in historical perspective:

...We have squandered the great wealth left to us by our forefathers, we have almost totally dismantled the world's greatest manufacturing base, we have shipped millions of good jobs overseas and we have piled up the biggest mountain of debt in the history of mankind.

We have taken the greatest free enterprise economy that was ever created and have turned it into a gigantic house of cards delicately balanced on a never-ending spiral of paper money and debt. For decades, all of this paper money and debt has enabled us to enjoy the greatest party in the history of the world, but now the bills are coming due and the party is nearly over.

As for the visual proof?

10: Gallup's measure of underemployment hit 20.0% on March 15th. That was up from 19.7% two weeks earlier and 19.5% at the start of the year.


9: According to RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings were reported on 367,056 properties in the month of March. This was an increase of almost 19 percent from February, and it was the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began issuing its report back in January 2005.


8: The FDIC's list of problem banks recently hit a 17-year high.


7: During the first quarter of 2010, the total number of loans that are at least three months past due in the United States increased for the 16th consecutive quarter.


6: The U.S. Congress recently approved an increase in the debt cap of the U.S. government to over 14 trillion dollars.


5:The FDIC is backing 8,000 banks that have a total of $13 trillion in assets with a deposit insurance fund that is basically flat broke. In fact, the FDIC's deposit insurance fund now has negative 20.7 billion dollars in it, which actually represents a slight improvement from the end of 2009.


4: The Mortgage Bankers Association recently announced that more than 10 percent of all U.S. homeowners with a mortgage had missed at least one payment during the January-March time period. That was a record high and up from 9.1 percent a year ago.


3: The biggest banks in the U.S. cut their collective small business lending balance by another $1 billion in November. That drop was the seventh monthly decline in a row.


2: A massive "second wave" of adjustable rate mortgages is scheduled to reset over the next two to three years. If this second wave is anything like the first wave, the U.S. housing market is about to be absolutely crushed.


1: 'Nuff said.



Stick a Fork in BP: Jamie Gorelick Hired as Chief Litigator

As if you needed another reason to short BP:

BP executives, armed with legal advisors, arrived Wednesday for talks with President Barack Obama and top White House lawyers on the fallout from the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill. [BP's legal advisers include] general counsel Rupert Bondy, and litigator Jamie Gorelick from top US law firm WilmerHale.

A senior Obama aide said early Wednesday the White House intended to use every "legal device" to make BP meet the costs of cleaning up the Gulf states and restoring the region...

...In a late night Oval Office primetime address Obama vowed to make BP pay for its "recklessness" in triggering the nation's worst ever environmental disaster which has left millions of gallons of oil sloshing around in the Gulf.

In his speech laced with battle tones, he warned America could be left fighting the "epidemic" of the massive oil spill on its southern shores for years to come.

Yes, you read that right: BP's top outside counsel appears to be none other than Jamie Gorelick, the world-renowned Mistress of Disaster.

You know, the former Clinton crony responsible for building the wall between the intelligence community and law enforcement that helped lead to 9/11. Oh, and after that success, Gorelick landed at Fannie Mae. There, she helped orchestrate all sorts of interesting accounting practices while pulling down $26 million, leaving just before the entire place imploded.

Now that I think about it, hiring Gorelick may have been a good move by BP. Usually when The Mistress of Disaster's involved, it's the American people who have to absorb the trillion-dollar hit.


Caption o' the Day: Team Obama Lightning Response Action Squad

Operative Amalaur forwards this award-winner and, when queried, can't recall whether she spotted it in the Times or the Journal. No matter.


Related: Team Obama Lightning Response Action Squad.

Larwyn's Linx: Stuck on Stupid -- Obama's Bizarre Czar Fetish

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

Stuck on Stupid -- Obama's Bizarre Czar Fetish: Malkin
Importing a Criminal Underclass: RWN
Barack Obama, Esq.: AT

Connecting the Obama, Soros, Petrobras Dots: TAB
Katrina and BP, Two Sides of the Same Coin: AT
Obama's Political Oil Fund: WSJ

Economy

The Golden Age of Government Unions is Over: Boortz
Rochester Schools abolish academic rankings: BlogProf
Monopolies + Public Schools = Failing Students: Sun-Times

Obama Jobs: the Permanent Census: AmSpec
Jerry Brown: 'We Need More Welfare and Fewer Jobs': Driscoll
Self-Destruction in Illinois: WklyStd

Climate & Energy

Devastating: Feds knew immediately of spill impact: GWP
No energy in Obama energy speech: Simon
Gore: stop censoring Gulf coverage!: Toldjah

Media

Eric Boehlert: No, Seriously! Kick Me!: Patterico
Americans Stand Up Against Radical Islam in New York – We Will Not Submit!: LATL
Judenhaas in the Med: Steyn

Drunkblogging Obama’s Oval Office Address: VodkaPundit
Taking Down Eric Boehlert: RWN
One man, six votes?: WyBlog

World

Obama Administration Adds US to List of Nations That Traffic in Slavery: GWP
Should These Jews Also Go Back to Poland and Germany?: LegalIns
Going on Vacation to Venezuela? What Could Go Wrong?: PJM

Who Owns the Land, Anyway?: AT
The trillion-dollar Afghan battlefield: Peters
'Jordan seeks to be nuclear power': JPost

SciTech

Apple iPhone 4 Pre-Ordering Is a Total Disaster: Gizmodo
Voyage to the Journey of the Center to the Middle of the Mediocre Marxist: Cold Fury
PayPal Relents and Apologizes to Pamela Geller: PJM

Cornucopia

Email o' the Day: Denny
Prince Hamlet in the Oval: MOTUS
Palin to meet with Thatcher: AnBlkCon


Image: Sister Toldjah.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: J.D. Hayworth for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "When school children start paying union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of school children." -- Albert Shanker, then-President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)


Tuesday, June 15, 2010

You've Lost That Tingling Feeling: MSNBC Obliterates Obama's Oval Office Address: "I'll Barf If He" Mentions Chu's Nobel Prize One More Time

When you've lost Tingle-Boy and Strap-On, you've lost the Marxist Left. Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann and Howard Fineman trashed the President's address, and basically pined for the successful days of Jimmy Carter.

Olbermann: "It was a great speech if you were on another planet for the last 57 days."

Matthews compared Obama to Carter.

Olbermann: "Nothing specific at all was said."

Matthews: "No direction."

Howard Fineman: "He wasn't specific enough."

Olbermann: "I don't think he aimed low, I don't think he aimed at all. It's startling."

Howard Fineman: Obama should be acting like a "commander-in-chief."

Matthews: Ludicrous that he keeps saying [Secretary of Energy] Chu has a Nobel prize. "I'll barf if he does it one more time."

Matthews: "A lot of meritocracy, a lot of blue ribbon talk."

Matthews: "I don't sense executive command."

Gee, and here I thought he had all of this executive experience to fall back on.

What ever bones you have to pick with either, Sarah Palin and George W. Bush are both looking pretty damn good right now.


Leadership We Can Believe In: BP and Feds Exchanging Nasty Letters That "Seethe With Tension and Display All Sorts of Gamesmanship"

There's nothing like that relief, like you're wrapped in a warm cocoon of safety, you feel when you remember the vast executive experience brought to bear by our commander-in-chief.

And then reality hits and you realize that the President's idea of leadership involves letting BP and the Federal On-Scene Spill Coordinator trade "increasingly testy letters".

The letters exchanged recently between U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral James Watson, the Federal On-Scene Coordinator for the BP oil spill in the Gulf, and Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer for exploration and production, seethe with tension and display all sorts of gamesmanship on both sides.

...BP acknowledges that the U.S. Government is now calling the shots in the Gulf, an acknowledgement that might limit BP’s freedom of action in the short-term, but could reduce its financial liability in the long-term. (“We were following directions from the U.S. Government,” BP might argue in a future courtroom.)

To make that point even clearer, Suttles emphasized that, “This plan was verbally reviewed with Secretary [of Energy Steven] Chu and Secretary [of Interior Ken] Salazar on June 8. No objections were raised.” That sentence served the dual purpose of underscoring Uncle Sam’s deep involvement in the Deepwater response effort, while also making it more difficult for Admiral Watson to challenge BP’s proposed course of action (to which Chu and Salazar supposedly had “no objections.”) In effect, if Admiral Watson questioned BP’s plan, he would find himself picking a fight with two Obama cabinet members.

...The public in the UK, as well as politicians and the British media, have openly begun to resent the American media – and President Obama – for supposedly over-emphasizing the British connection to this environmental catastrophe.

...in a not-too-subtle attempt to draw Uncle Sam into the oil-covered, sinking ship – and to provide BP with a carefully-crafted set of excuses for its less-than-stellar response efforts thus far – Suttles closed his June 9 letter with a somewhat insincere note of feigned obedience: “If there are any areas where you believe further action is required to fulfil your instruction, please let us know and we can set up a session to discuss,” wrote BP’s chief operating officer.

On June 11, Admiral Watson fired back with his own letter. In four terse paragraphs, the Coast Guard’s Federal On-Scene Coordinator tartly noted that “additional capacity is urgently needed” because BP’s plan had been built with flow rates in mind that have already been revised substantially upwards. “I am concerned that your current plans do not provide for maximum mobilization of resources to provide the needed collection capacity consistent with the revised flow estimates,” wrote Adm. Watson.

Now this is leadership we can believe in!

And thank goodness that Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar are reviewing all of the plans. Their vast experiences in the areas of oil spill mitigation and disaster relief rival those of the President's!


Stock Market Soars On News of Rip-Roaring Obama Recovery Plus High-Frequency Trading, But Mostly High-Frequency Trading

The stock market surged over 200 points today as investors received further confirmation that the Obama Recovery™ is underway.

Home Builders See End of Homebuyer Tax Credit Hurting Confidence


After reaching a three-year high last month, homebuilder confidence was down for the first time in two months in the June National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

Confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes fell back to levels last seen in February, before the upward swing experienced leading up to the contract deadline for the homebuyer tax credit. The HMI was at 17 in June, down five points from a value of 22 in May...

Best Buy Shares Fall On Missed Views


Best Buy Co.'s (BBY) fiscal first-quarter profit rose a disappointing 1.3% as sales rebounded only slightly from last year's weak levels, but spending on new stores and other growth initiatives was higher than expected.

The biggest U.S. consumer-electronics retailer by sales described "choppy" customer traffic in its stores and a U.S. shopper who is spending less in the category overall.

Fannie-Freddie Fix at $160 Billion With $1 Trillion Worst Case


The cost of fixing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage companies that last year bought or guaranteed three-quarters of all U.S. home loans, will be at least $160 billion and could grow to as much as $1 trillion after the biggest bailout in American history.

Fannie and Freddie, now 80 percent owned by U.S. taxpayers, already have drawn $145 billion from an unlimited line of government credit granted to ensure that home buyers can get loans while the private housing-finance industry is moribund. That surpasses the amount spent on rescues of American International Group Inc., General Motors Co. or Citigroup Inc...

Adding to the good news:

• The estimates of the economic impact of the BP oil spill continue to surge.

• The country's $13 trillion debt is poised to overtake its GDP in 2012.

• The nation's largest states are suffering from calamitous budget deficits, which threaten every aspect of their operations.

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

Given all of the depressing news, why would the market surge over 200 points on extremely light volume?

Southeastern Asset Management, which manages around $34 billion, has a theory and many veteran observers of Wall Street believe their assessment.

1) The intent of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934... is being twisted and abused for the benefit of gamblers and to the detriment of investors...

... 2) The markets are not "fair and honest"...

... 3) Securities prices are presently "susceptible to manipulation and control, and the dissemination of such prices gives rise to excessive speculation, resulting in sudden and unreasonable fluctuations in the prices of securities...

In other words, normal investors appear to be almost completely out of the stock market. And, if SAM is to be believed, Goldman Sachs, the big hedge funds, the too-big-to-fail banks and others backstopped by the taxpayer are driving the market up using program trading. And when it all unwinds, i.e., a bigger version of the 1,000-point "flash crash", the small investors will take it in the neck (again).

So forget about all of this risky and stressful investing crap. Just get a job as a government bureaucrat -- presumably in Commerce, EPA, Labor or Education -- and steal as much as you want.


Economic Impact of the Obama Drilling Moratorium: $4 Billion Now... Many Billions Later

Thanks to The Oil Drum, we have a pretty good idea how much economic damage President Obama's ill-advised drilling moratorium will inflict upon the Gulf. Obama had ordered work halted on 33 exploratory wells in the Gulf.

Direct Impact for 6-month moratorium:
$2.43B Rigs and tenders
$1.45B Wages
$0.22B Lost taxes and fees
$4.11B Total

The suspension of exploratory drilling means that the 33 floating drill rigs, which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per day to lease, will be idled for six months or more. About 33% of the country's domestically produced oil and 10% of the nation's natural gas comes from the Gulf.

$250,000 to $500,000 per day, per rig – results in roughly $8,250,000 to $16,500,000 per day in costs for idle rigs... Secondary impacts include...

• Supply boats – 2 boats per rig with day rates of $15,000/day per boat - $30,000/day for 33 rigs – nearly $1 million/day
• Impacts to other supplies and related support services (i.e., welders, divers, caterers, transportation, etc.)

Jobs – Each drilling platform averages 90 to 140 employees at any one time (2 shifts per day), and 180 to 280 for 2 2-week shifts... Each E&P job supports 4 other positions

• Therefore, 800 to 1400 jobs per idle rig platform are at risk
• Wages for those jobs average $1,804/weekly; potential for lost wages is huge, over $5 to $10 million for 1 month – per platform.
• Wages lost could be over $165 to $330 million/month for all 33 platforms
• Secondary impacts: Many offshore workers live in Louisiana. The state is going to see a decrease in income taxes and sales taxes that would normally be paid by those employees. (The state does not collect a sales tax on oilfield supplies and equipment used offshore.)

...The 33 gulf wells where operations are suspended were the ones inspected immediately after the Deepwater Horizon blowout (per Interior Secretary Ken Salazar); in those inspections, “only minor problems were found on a couple of rigs”. Salazar believes “additional safety measures can be taken including dealing with cementing and casing of wells and significant enhancements and redundancies of blowout prevention mechanisms. Although these rigs passed the inspections, we will look at standards that are in place.”

Look at the positive side: the economy is running so smoothly that a few billion dollars going down the drain won't hurt a bit.


Omens Suggest Unicorn Spirits Are Angry With Obama

Giant Jesus Statue Destroyed by Lightning


15 June 2010: A six-story statue of Jesus Christ was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, leaving only a blackened steel skeleton and pieces of foam that were scooped up by curious onlookers Tuesday.

The "King of Kings" statue, one of southwest Ohio's most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.


The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m. Monday, Monroe police dispatchers said.

The sculpture, about 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained Tuesday...

BP suspends oil siphoning after lightning strike


15 June 2010: BP PLC temporarily suspended siphoning operations on its blown Gulf of Mexico oil well Tuesday after a drill ship collecting the oil apparently was hit by lightning, the company said.

A small fire broke out on the top of the derrick on the drill ship Discoverer Enterprise about 9:30 a.m. Central time, according to BP /quotes/comstock/13*!bp/quotes/nls/bp (BP 30.44, -0.96, -3.06%) . It was quickly extinguished and there were no injuries.

As a precaution, however, the company shut down efforts to contain the highly flammable crude...

Lightning Strike Causes Fire at Gas Tank Farm


15 June 2010: A bolt of lightning struck a local gasoline storage tank early Sunday, erupting into a wall of flames that leapt as high as 100 feet and belched a plume of smoke that billowed like an arch across eight lanes of interstate highway.

That so many people safely awakened hours later, not knowing the event had even happened, bears testament to the speed and effectiveness of the response.

A team of 150 firefighters from Greensboro, High Point, Raleigh and Charlotte arrived on the scene, tamed the fire in less than six hours and, more importantly, prevented its spread to 71 other gasoline tanks at the Colonial Pipeline tank farm off I-40...


 

Larwyn's Linx: Next on 'When Congressmen Attack!'

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

Next on: When Congressmen Attack!: Malkin
Opponent responds to Etheridge assault on film crew: RWN
Friends in high places: the New Black Panther coverup: JRubin

Obama will use Oval Office speech to politicize Gulf disaster: AT
Yet again: the NRA sells out freedom to Democrats: RedState
Mr. President, You're Stuck on Stupid: AT

Economy

The Other National Debt: NRO
Unions rescued in Rhode Island: LegalIns
It's official: fed worrying about double dip: Insider

Climate & Energy

Jindal defies administration, starting building barriers: GWP
UN Scientist: There was never a consensus on warming: GWP
Renewable Energy: There Ain't No Free Lunch: PJM

Media

Obama can't talk away these problems: Hugh Hewitt
Eric Boehlert: Still Wearing the “Kick Me” Sign: Patterico
How about a self-defense course for students?: EternityRoad

American Journalism, Brought to you By The Democrat Party: RWN
News Flash: WaPo Filled With Bitter Partisans!: GWP
Credit Where Credit Is Due: R&R

It's Come to This: Newsweek Goes to War Against Marriage: RWN
Snotty kid versus Congressman: Troglopundit
Democrats clamor for Clinton as Obama stand-in: RollCall

World

Muslim Student Group Gets The “Shut Up & Sit Down” Notice: GoV
Media, Academia Destroying Themselves Over Israel: BRubin
Obama Administration Eases Ban on Funds for Sex Trafficking Groups: NCR

The Left’s Reaction to Afghanistan’s New Mineral Riches‎: RWN
Under Socialized Medicine, Belgian Nurses Admit to Killing Patients: RWN
29 inmates killed in Mexico prison clashes: Breitbart

SciTech

One Company's Switch from BlackBerry to iPhone: New OS is Key: CIO
RIM's Now Testing Its BlackBerry iPad and BlackBerry iPhone: Insider
Detecting Browser History: Schneier

Cornucopia

The Testament of Freedom: AmDigest
A Guide to Media Dinosaurs: Doswell
MLB Players: No Instant Replay And We Love Jim Joyce: RWN


Image: Unknown, please contact me if you know artist.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Sharron Angle: Give Harry Reid His Walking Papers

Monday, June 14, 2010

An Evening with Cindy Sheehan & Bill Ayers - June 15 in Evanston

If you're in the Chicagoland area tomorrow, you may want to drop by and visit one of the Communists who seems to have inspired our current President. Or maybe he was just a guy from the neighborhood. Like Jeremiah Wright.



The event is at 6:30pm at the Evanston Library.

If you go, remember to be civil -- and carry a videocamera. Just ask Ayers when the last time he spoke with Barack Obama was. Obama seems to think it was 2007. And ask what the topics of discussion were. Don't forget to tell him that everyone knows he played a hand in writing Obama's first book. In fact, it's common knowledge.


Background Reading:
Dead Cops, Dead Marines... and Their Killers
Obama and Communism: Ayers, Dohrn and FARC
Why was Barack Obama visiting Bill Ayers in 2007?
Ayers, Obama and the Annenberg Records: Not Just "A guy who lives in my neighborhood"
Annenberg Files reveal Obama, Ayers worked closely
Chicago TV in 2000: Obama admits Ayers launched his career
Obama's problematic directorship: the Woods Fund


Anyone know what you call it when heavily armed intruders cross the border into the U.S. unmolested by authorities? Oh, that's right: Arizona.

Say, is it a problem that heavily armed Mexicans are crossing into Arizona? Or that, according to Arizona law enforcement authorities, Mexican drug cartels are "in control" of large parts of the state?

Apparently not, according to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano who says the border is: "as secure now as it has ever been."

Thanks to the patriots at SecureBorderIntel.org and BorderInvasionPics.com, we have a true picture of the situation on the border. SBI has placed a series of hidden videocameras at known chokepoints where illegals, many of them human- and drug-smugglers, are entering the U.S. completely unaccosted by the traditional border niceties of, oh, I don't know -- maybe a freaking fence?

The videos are simply stunning.

In this video, taped several months ago, heavily armed point-men clear a path for drug runners.

Among their firearms: a full-auto AK-47...

...and a full-auto MAC-10.

The guards ensure that the "mules" will proceed deep into Arizona unmolested.

A series of mules follow close behind...

Each carrying as much as 75 lbs. of cocaine, heroin or pot.

But the illicit drugs don't represent the only cargo simply walking into the U.S.

Human-smuggling is rampant, with videos capturing hundreds upon hundreds of individuals -- many violent criminals and gang-members -- making the trip.

Consider that the entire federal government, with agency upon agency, can't seem to detect what a few patriotic individuals did with $500 worth of supplies were able to.

And these are the same dweebs who tell us they can run the health care system.

And another thing (I'm on a roll): remember how Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the Mexicans were getting their weapons from the U.S.? In March, during a trip to Mexico City, she stated that, "Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the death of police officers, soldiers and civilians."

Of course, this statement had all the integrity of a typical Clinton statement, because the last time I checked, full-auto weapons aren't available anywhere in the U.S. without a Class III license (which is almost impossible to get).

But let's not let the truth get in the way of the Democrats' anti-gun agenda! They've got amnesty to grant and new voters to register: and if they're felons, so much the better. They'll be doubly in the Democrats' camp, as the Party of Treason has been lobbying for the felon vote for years.

The people of Arizona deserve better than the political hacks who seem to violate their oath of office on a daily basis. The one task they're supposed to do -- protecting the citizens of this country against all enemies, foreign and domestic, seems to be too much of a bother for them. But nationalizing industries... well, that's job one!


Follow the bouncing ball, kids, as it traces deceit and fraud

Dan from New York:

Sources: Obama Administration to Support Anti-Israel Resolution at UN Next Week

THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that senior Obama administration officials have been telling foreign governments that the administration intends to support an effort next week at the United Nations to set up an independent commission, under UN auspices, to investigate Israel's behavior in the Gaza flotilla incident…While UN Ambassador Susan Rice is reported to have played an important role in pushing for U.S. support of a UN investigation, the decision is, one official stressed, of course the president's.

-- Weekly Standard, William Kristol, June 11, 2010


White House denies Kristol flotilla investigation claim

The White House is sharply denying a claim by Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol that "the administration intends to support an effort next week at the United Nations to set up an independent commission, under UN auspices, to investigate Israel's behavior in the Gaza flotilla incident."

-- www.politico.com, June 11, 2010


Rice Calls For International Probe of Israel Flotilla Incident

WASHINGTON -- U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice says there should be international participation in Israel's investigation into its raid of a Turkish ship trying to run the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Rice says the U.S. believes Israel can conduct a "credible and impartial" investigation, but that an "international component" would make it more credible in the eyes of the international community.

In a taped interview airing on "Fox News Sunday," Rice also rejects reports that Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants to make a deal with the Taliban because he no longer believes the U.S. can win the war.

-- Associated Press - June 13, 2010


It's November or never, America



Fun for the whole family: Write your own Obama Speech!

Papa B pens an instant classic:

After the last eight years of abuse and neglect by the previous administration, we inherited an unprecedented situation in the (oil|banking|insurance|pharmaceutical|healthcare) sector. The greedy and careless (big oil companies|bankers|insurance companies|drug companies|doctors) had allowed lax regulation and unprincipled speculators to abuse the working people on Main Street with unfair practices and risk-taking on the workers' tab.

There are those who say we should have continued these flawed policies of the past, which have been proven to be failures. There are those who say we should have continued the policies of less government and less regulation. But we have dismissed the pleas of these naysayers, the apologists for the last administration's failed policies and taken a new, bold, fresh, sparkly new course -- one paved with the blood of unicorns and right-wing elves.

From day one, we've worked 24-7 to boldly confront the new reality, one of the worst situations since (the great depression|the soviet union unfortunately collapsed|elvis died).

This is the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I think about before I fall asleep each night. And despite this unprecedented situation, we will find a way to overcome the greed, neglect, spending and lack of regulation -- which we inherited from the prior administration.

Let there be no mistake, I am on the job and I will consult every expert, solicit every idea, no matter the source, to find out whose ass should be kicked. Because the status quo, the unprecedented failures of the prior administration, can not be tolerated.

Let me be clear, the time for talk is over - the current situation we inherited from the previous administration, is unsustainable. Therefore I have called for a blue ribbon commission to study this mounting crisis, and after we duly note their recommendations, I'll follow whatever orders (John Podesta|David Axelrod|Dana Milbank|Paul Krugman) gives me.

That is my promise to you. And may Allah (pbuh) have mercy on your soul.

Feel free to add your own platitudes in the comments and we'll try to adjust the TOTUS feed accordingly.


Hat tip: Nice Deb.

Friedrich A. Hayek's The Road To Serfdom, Illustrated

The classic story in comic book form, courtesy of the Ludwig von Mises Institute:


It's especially timely.