Sunday, July 04, 2010

Top 3 Reasons SCOTUS Nominee Elena Kagan Must Be Filibustered

 3   She believes that the government can abitrarily ban books and movies:

Elena Kagan argued on behalf of Citizens United essentially stating it would not be a violation of the First Amendment to have movies or even books banned. Of course, she only meant certain movies/books for specific times, but even so, I believe the point remains... all tyrants find a pretext for their tyranny. That tyranny may even begin with a humble, caring act, but one day we awake to find we have lost all freedom. When it comes to our rights, the freedom of speech is not one I am willing to mess around with. I could never support a Supreme Court nominee like Elena Kagan.

 2   She does not believe in The Bill of Rights -- and, in particular, the Second Amendment:

Kagan has spent her professional career implementing anti-gun initiatives as a clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall, as counsel for the Clinton Administration and as President Obama’s Solicitor General. Furthermore, Kagan’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee confirms a hostility to the idea that the 2nd Amendment is an individual right of all Americans incorporated against state action restricting that right. The fact of the matter is that Elena Kagan will vote to uphold every local, state and federal restriction of the right of Americans to 'keep and bear Arms...'

...When Kagan served the Clinton Administration, she showed a strong hostility to gun rights. The L.A. Times reported on may 11th of this year that Kagan “drafted an executive order restricting the importation of certain semiautomatic assault rifles.” Kagan’s political activism in implementing a gun control agenda was a political act, yet this nominee has yet to explain her constitutional justification for that executive order.

 1   She believes the federal government has unlimited, tyrannical power over the individual:

On Tuesday evening, Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) posed a hypothetical question to Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan: If Congress passed a law that said Americans "have to eat three vegetables and three fruits, every day ... does that violate the Commerce Clause?"

"Sounds like a dumb law," Kagan replied.

"Yeah, I got one that's real similar to it that I think is equally dumb," Coburn shot back, referring to Obamacare's mandate requiring individuals to buy health insurance. "I'm not going to mention which one it is."

Kagan wouldn't say whether or not she believes the Commerce Clause allows the federal government to pass a law requiring Americans to eat fruits and vegetables.

* * * * * * * * *

Banning books. Rejecting our God-given right to self-defense. Authorizing the federal government to mandate what you can eat.

If our nation's founders could see how close this woman is to a lifetime role on the Supreme Court, they would weep.

What can you do? For starters, call Lindsey Graham's office (in fact, call all six of his offices) and politely but firmly describe to his staffers the three reasons Kagan must be blocked. Ask for their email addresses and send them a link to this post. Ask for a commitment that Graham do everything in his power to block Kagan. Then call the rest of the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Her complete rejection of the Declaration and Constitution unquestionably disqualify her from a lifetime appointment to the nation's highest court.


Everyone Do Your Jazz Hands: Stripping Out Bureau of Labor Statistics' Fudge-Factors Reveals Real Unemployment Rate is 11.8%, not 9.5%

The invaluable Tyler Durden untangled the usual BLS statistical skulduggery to reveal a labor market on life support.

The only reason for the decline in the unemployment rate to 9.5% was yet another decline in the labor force participation rate, which according to the BLS dropped another 652k people in the month of June. This resulted in a labor force to the civilian non-institutional population ratio of 64.7%: the second lowest number in decades of data... As the chart below shows, the double dip in the labor force participation is now very much pronounced.

What this chart implies is that if there was a mean reversion to the last 10 year labor force participation average rate of 66.2%, there should be another 3.5 million jobless added to the 14.6 million tally. And as this differential is the easiest thing in the world for the BLS to fudge, adding the two and dividing by the labor force of 153,74, we get an unemployment rate of 11.8%, leaving aside all other such fudge factors are government hiring, temporary workers, birth death, etc.

Is it any wonder that the "scariest job chart ever" just got uglier?

The American people are truly feeling the powerful thrusts of The Obama Recovery™.


Larwyn's Linx: Independence Day 2010--Happy 234th Birthday, America!

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

Independence Day--Happy 234th Birthday, America: Malkin
Lindsey Graham: Ego Gets in the Way Of History: RWN
Capt. Pete Hegseth on Elena Kagan: RedState

The Supremes: Guns and the War on Christianity: Wolf
Preserving the America I Grew Up In: PJM
The Fourth of July and Progressive Overreach: AT

Economy

How many times can it be 'Unexpected'?: Instapundit
Stimulus pays for Mexican kids to get educated in U.S.: GWP
MSNBC’s Ratigan: Stock market ‘obviously corrupt’: RawStory

Regulating Corporate Speech, Chicago-Style: AmSpec
Uh Oh. Media Wakes Up to Dems' EconoFAIL: RWN
Stabenow: GOP is cruel to remind us of PayGo: BlogProf

Climate & Energy

Climate-obsessed sex poodle feels heat from press: Riehl
Media suddenly embracing Nixon: JWF
Growing Recognition: Gulf Response By Design: Hindenblog

Media

11 Reasons To Vote For Democrats in November: Glob
Get thee to a nuthouse: DPU
Think About It!: Hanson

Independence: Steyn
WaPo forgets to mention that writer is an Obama operative: RWN
Despite what the public schools may teach, Washington was no multi-culturist: AT

World

Of Mosques and Men: Wizbang
Navy warns Marines about Russian spy: Beware of women this hot: Hot Air
She Gave it All for Mother Russia: JWF

Our Declaration to the World: AT
A Tale of Two Allies: PJM
A Marxist Indictment of Capitalism: and why the Marxist is Wrong: RWN

SciTech

Microsoft Faces Android Abyss: CNet
'To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before': BlogFromOnHigh
CA: Sorry, Our Technology Does Not Do Spending Cuts: Riehl

Cornucopia

War Nerd: Gettysburg Was The Finest Fight Ever In The World: Exiled
Remember those who paid for our liberty in blood: AT
Lesnar weathers storm to submit Carwin: ESPN

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Contribute to Sharron Angle for U.S. Senate -- Defeat Harry Reid!

QOTD:

@TheBlackSphere: New Dem talking points: If u don't go to oily black beaches, ur RACISTS!


Saturday, July 03, 2010

The 20 Most Shocking Photos from the Gulf Spill -- All Censored By Our Beloved Legacy Media

It's Day 74 and President Barack Obama is laser-focused -- spending his every waking moment -- on the Gulf oil spill. Uhm, plus comprehensive immigration reform. And firing insolent general officers. Oh, and regulating CO2 emissions, too.

Although Obama appears to have ordered a media blackout of the Gulf disaster, a relative few shocking photos have leaked out thanks to enterprising area residents. You won't be seeing these in your local paper, that's for sure.




















Maybe after Key West, Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale are coated in oil, the President will begin paying attention.


Update: Spill continues to pump oil into Gulf, but White House successfully plugs leaks -- of information on websites, from journalists and local officials.

Must-watch: Orson Welles on the Battle Hymn of the Republic

Moving.



Feds Shut Down Journalist Access to Spill--Unions, CNN Hardest Hit

AFTRA -- the union of television and radio professionals -- is up in arms over the unprecedented news blackout in the Gulf.

As an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, its defection from the Obama-union duopoly is noteworthy. It represents another mini-rebellion of sorts as increasing numbers of union members are directly harmed by the actions of an administration with only its own interests at heart.

If you're a journalist impacted by the blackout, AFTRA wants to hear from you.

Although I didn't have to look hard to find a case where a journalist was unable to view damage from the spill. Anderson Cooper, for one, cut loose on the White House for its unprecedented behavior in suppressing news stories.

[The federal government announced] a new rule... today backed by the force of law and the threat of fines and felony charges, a rule that will prevent reporters and photographers and anyone else from getting anywhere close to booms and oil-soaked wildlife and just about any place we need to be.

[This comes]...despite what Admiral Thad Allen promised about transparency just nearly a month ago. Here is what he said back then.

...Shots of oil on beaches with booms, stay 65 feet away. Pictures of oil-soaked booms uselessly laying in the water because they haven't been collected like they should, you can't get close enough to see that. And, believe me, that is out there.

But you only know that if you get close to it, and now you can't without permission. Violators could face a fine of $40,000 and Class D felony charges.

We're not the enemy here. Those of us down here trying to accurately show what's happening, we are not the enemy. I have not heard about any journalists who has disrupted relief efforts... We found out today two public journalists reporting on health issues say they have been blocked again and again from visiting a federal mobile medical unit in Venice, a trailer where cleanup workers are being treated. It's known locally as the BP compound... We are not the enemy here.

Yes, you are the enemy here, Mr. Cooper.

You see, the President is -- first, second and always -- concerned with his image.

It took him months to make up his mind about troop levels in Afghanistan but fired Gen. Stanley McChrystal in less than a day after the Rolling Stone reported unflattering remarks by the general's staff.

The president talks about himself endlessly in speeches.

Fox News, Sean Hannity and talk radio, among other critics, were repeatedly singled out by Obama before, during and after his election.

His personal logo is stamped on all of his fund-raising material; and he has his own political action wing -- Organizing For America -- that does not appear to be under the control of the Democrat party.

James Lewis characterizes Obama as "a malignant narcissist", the characteristics for which include:

• "Common to malignant narcissism is narcissistic rage. Narcissistic rage is a reaction to narcissistic injury (when the narcissist feels degraded by another person, typically in the form of criticism)."

• "When the narcissist's grandiose sense of self-worth is perceived as being attacked by another person, the narcissist's natural reaction is to rage and pull down the self-worth of others (to make the narcissist feel superior to others). It is an attempt by the narcissist to soothe their internal pain and hostility, while at the same time rebuilding their self worth."

Mark Levin believes that President Obama thinks and acts like a dictator. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive.

Obama's narcissism manifests itself with a maniacal focus on his goals, irrespective of history, facts, logic and reason. A simple example: his tireless efforts to jam socialized medicine down the American people's throats. Adding a new entitlement program when the country can't afford it's existing entitlements? Solvency is of no concern to Obama.

Anderson Cooper and AFTRA are livid with this administration because of the media blackout. But these dictatorial measures were easy to predict.

If there's one thing this President hates -- even more than capitalism, private property and individual liberty -- it's criticism. Watch out, Democrat journalists. First they came for Fox News...


Hat tips: Patterico and Larwyn.

The Timeless Beauty of Democrat Governance: Illinois Owes Suppliers $5B, Takes a Mere 250 Business Days to Pay Bills, and the Hole Worsens Every Day

I just love to open the history books and read about Democrat success stories. You know, Social Security, Medicare, "Great Society", Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Amtrak, the FHA... and the list just seems to grow by the day.

Now that the fuse on their EconoPonzi Clusterbomb has burned to a nub, you can't open the newspaper without reading about another example of masterful Democrat governance. Like in Illinois, with emphasis on the "Ill".

Even by the standards of this deficit-ridden state, Illinois’s comptroller, Daniel W. Hynes, faces an ugly balance sheet. Precisely how ugly becomes clear when he beckons you into his office to examine his daily briefing memo.

He picks the papers off his desk and points to a figure in red: $5.01 billion.

“This is what the state owes right now to schools, rehabilitation centers, child care, the state university — and it’s getting worse every single day,” he says in his downtown office... Mr. Hynes shakes his head. “This is not some esoteric budget issue; we are not paying bills for absolutely essential services,” he says. “That is obscene.”

...“Their pension is the most underfunded in the nation,” said Karen S. Krop, a senior director at Fitch Ratings. “They have not made significant cuts or raised revenues. There’s no state out there like this. They can’t grow their way out of this.” ...

...“We are a fiscal poster child for what not to do,” said Ralph Martire of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a liberal-leaning policy group in Illinois. “We make California look as if it’s run by penurious accountants who sit in rooms trying to put together an honest budget all day.”

Perhaps someday the liberals who actually like America (a minority to be sure, if their representatives in Congress are any indication) will figure out the simple acronym many of us learned from our parents: TANSTAAFL.

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

That concept, for the moment, appears to be too complex for the party of fiscal destruction to understand. Obama, Pelosi and Reid will be long gone by the time the misery they've helped inflict is fully felt. But one can hope that they will, someday, be held to account. They'll look good in orange jumpsuits.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: Kagan confused by Jeffersonian values at America's core

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

Kagan Nomination

Kagan confused by Jeffersonian values at America's heart: Rhymes
Is Elena Kagan Morally Blind?: AT (Lewis)
Kagan Bobs and Weaves on Natural Rights: Tapscott

Nation

Assimilation and the Founding Fathers: Malkin
Kentucky Dem exploits law to loot taxpayers: PJM
Dems 'deem-and-pass' $1.1T budget to keep overspending: BlogProf

Daley’s Newest Stab at a Gun Ban: RWN
Media Matters' Witless Defense of Kagan: RedState
Union Dues: Dems Rip Off Taxpayers Again: RWN

Hope for Change in WV Election: Ace
If You Want to Immigrate Here: AT
Repeal the 20th Century -- Or the Welfare State: AT

Economy

Create more jobs by firing public sector workers: Mish
Jobs No American Can Do?: PJM
Will Euro-Zone Stress Tests Really Calm the Waters?: Sargen

Overseas Jobs: What went on while we slept: Dinocrat
Paul Krugman's Depression Economics: RCM
The Obama Tax Trap: WSJ

Climate & Energy

Issa Report Slams Government Incompetence in Gulf Cleanup: FlAces
Climate Bill Would Destroy Millions of Jobs: PJM
Obama Lied, the Coastal Region Died: GWP

IPCC consensus on climate change was phoney: NatPost
Feds shred another $100M of our money on 'home energy assistance': BlogProf
Nixon Era Warming Documents Send Alarmists Into Orgasm: RWN

Media

The Kos-Surber Research Poll 2000: Surber
So What’s Wrong with Research 2000’s Polling?: PJM
Indonesian Filmmaker Drops Scene of Young Obama Praying Towards Mecca: GWP

Media Blackout for Black Panthers: Times
Today's 'Nothing More Can Be Said'...: iOTW
Faced with internal strife, Democat Underground starts clamping down on Obama criticism: WashExam

World

21 Dead In Massive Shootout Near Arizona Border: GWP
Afghanistan was not always so: Hanson
Harvard Prof: 'Obama is a menace to Israel, to Western Europe... and to [all of the] Western World.': TAB

War Zone: Drug Cartel Shoots at Blackhawk Helicopter; El Paso Court House Hit: GWP
Canadian Recruiting Office Bombed by Left-Wing Terrorist Faction: AmPower
Attempted Honor Killing Of Harry Potter Actress: Rhymes

SciTech

NASA = No Americans in Space Anymore?: AT
ObamaCare's High Risk Pool == FAIL: RWN
Democrats push for new Internet sales taxes: CNet

Cornucopia

I think I've got the Pelosi Perplex Figured Out: AmDigest
Queen Elizabeth II, Obama, Cameron, Biden and Powell walk into a bar...‏: TAB
One Step Over the Line: MOTUS

Image: CNet's Friday Poll: Microsoft's Biggest Product Misstep?
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Sharron Angle for U.S. Senate - Fire Harry Reid!


Friday, July 02, 2010

Awesome: your salary to determine how much you pay for health care

Incredible. The Charlotte Observer reports that your salary may soon determine how much you pay for health care.

At Bank of America, a new way to pay for health insurance


Salaries will determine bank workers' contribution to medical insurance costs. Some could pay less in 2011.

At Bank of America Corp. next year, how much employees make will determine how much they pay for health insurance.

The Charlotte bank has been informing its U.S. employees about the new approach, which means lower-paid workers will pay less and higher-paid ones will pay more for their coverage in 2011. Employees select their health care plans for next year in October.

Salary-tiered health insurance programs are still an "emerging trend," but an increasing number of companies are adopting this approach, human resources consulting firm Hewitt Associates found last year. Less than 15 percent of employers vary employee contributions based on pay, according to the firm's 2010 database of 2,307 plans.

...Sapp, the Bank of America spokesman, declined to say whether the new approach was motivated by the health care law signed this year by President Barack Obama, but she said the bank is monitoring and evaluating any necessary changes.

Last month, the bank announced that it will expand health insurance coverage to employees' dependents up to age 26, ahead of a new government requirement...

This is the start of something big. Stalin big.


Preparation H enters a new market

Papa B contributed this classic (click to enbiggify):