Friday, July 16, 2010

Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have a Wiener (Part II)!

Atomic Roach sent us a pictorial version of the winner of our recent contest.

Yes, I'm well aware there are some very sick puppies who frequent iOwnTheWorld.

Trust me: Atomic Roach is the sane one.


In their Bogus Financial Reform Bill, Democrats Create Another Fannie Mae

Rather than doing the hard work of actually repairing the financial system, the architects of the 2008 mortgage meltdown -- Chris Dodd and Barney Frank -- have instead created a maze of new financial regulations that none have read and fewer understand.

Consider: it's not yet certain that the United States has even weathered the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; the economy is still wobbling and real unemployment is around 20%. Yet Frank and Dodd have constructed another monument to themselves and to authoritarian government.

While the "reform" bill completely ignores Fannie and Freddie, it does fulfill one desire of the hard left Democrat Party: it funnels millions of dollars to unions, community activists and other anti-American special interests.

Diversity Cops: buried deep inside the thousands of pages, article 342 commands each financial regulatory agency to add an "Office of Minority and Women Inclusion". Each office is charged with assessing the diversity policy of all the institutions it regulates. In other words, bribery on a grand scale will be commanded by federal statute. Don't want to pay off ACORN? My guess is you'll get your financial institution shut down.

Corporate Control: the bill gives unions, environmental groups and other activist fronts special abilities to put their representatives on the boards of every corporation in America. The "proxy access" provision is opposed by nearly every business consortium because it is wholly unrelated to financial services; it is simply a change in corporate governance that benefits radical Democrat Statists.

Regulates Airlines and Utilities: the "financial reform" bill also regulates unrelated businesses in other ways. Any company that uses derivatives -- like airline companies that hedge on fuel prices to protect against wild swings in their costs -- now come under the jurisdiction of new laws. This kind of hedging had absolutely nothing to do with the financial crisis; yet Democrats wanted to control these industries -- and therefore included them.

Payoffs for Community Organizers: The flagship of the "reform" bill is a so-called "consumer protection agency" . It provides "substantial employment opportunities and funding for Democratic and social-activist groups such as the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN)" -- the same groups that precipitated the mortgage meltdown with false accusations of 'redlining'.

Executive Summary: there's no financial reform in this bill. It is intended to expand government control over the private sector. Like "health care reform". And the takeover of GM and Chrysler. And "Cap-and-Trade".

This is how societies collapse, folks.

A reminder: it's November or never.


Larwyn's Linx: ''Tea Party Racists' -- Think Progress Caught Red-Handed

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

'Tea Party Racists': Think Progress Caught Red-Handed: ConfYank
Black Tea Partiers Rebut NAACP: Politico
NAACP Tries to Weasel Out of Racist Allegations: GWP

DOJ Colleagues Confirm Whistleblower Adams' Accusations: PJM
Surprise! States Receive Tax Money for Abortions: RWN
Bagman for Obama and Clinton Gets a Dozen in the Big House: JWF

Economy

The Dodd-Frank Monstrosity Passes 60-39: Malkin
Obama's Call for 'Economic Justice': AT
Poverty-stricken Bell, CA's bloated municipal budget: AmPower

No Problems With Union Nap Time: RWN
The CBO Warns the Nation: Anyone Listening?: AT
Obama Saves, Creates Korean Jobs With Stimulus: BlogProf

Climate & Energy

ClimateGate and the Big Lie: Ace
The 'Well Integrity Test' Is a Sham: Zero Hedge
84 days later, BP says it stopped the spill: GWP

Media

Democrats Turn Their Attention to Control of the Media: AT
Does anyone even read NY Times editorials?: WashExam
Cherry-Picked Constitutionality: AT

Senator Specter's Votes: Patterico
Tucker Carlson to Strap-On: We Own You!: Insider
A Phone Call from the Associated Press: AT

CNN Doofus Argues with Black Tea Party Member: Civil War is 'Modern History': NewsBusters
Specter: I'd Like To Keep Sucking At The Public Teat Please: Ace
Andrea Mitchell: House Democrats' Spat With Gibbs is 'Unfortunate': NewsBusters

World

Janet Napolitano offers to help put stop to illegal border crossings — in Saudi Arabia: WorldTrib
New START and Obama’s Mysterious Trip to Russia: AIM
'Civil Rights' Lawyer Lynne Stewart Receives New 10-Year Sentence: NY1

Tentacles of Hate Reach Philadelphia: AT
Fired Ohio Homeland Security Official Alomari Secretly Worked in Jordanian Government: Jawa
Breaking: Leftist Hero Hugo Chavez Jails Opposition Leader On Bogus Explosives Charges: GWP

SciTech

The New York Times Goes Nuts, Says The Government Should Regulate Google's Search Algorithm: Insider
Inception Is Brilliant and Baffling: PJM
What we know about the iPhone 4's antenna: CNet

Cornucopia

Nice Wine Rack!: JWF
The Case For and Against College: Denninger
Oh, My: Mel Gibson's Latest Tape Kinda Just Gets Worse and Worse Even Without Racial Slurs: Ace

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Sharron Angle for U.S. Senate -- Give Harry Reid a Pink Slip


Thursday, July 15, 2010

Well done, Mitch McConnell. GOP slams the door shut on Obama nominees in retaliation for Berwick recess appointment.

I haven't exactly been impressed with the leadership and charisma of Mitch McConnell over the years. But he definitely deserves credit for pimp-slapping Rahm Emanuel and the White House earlier today.

Senate Republicans are still fuming over the recess appointment of Donald Berwick to head the federal agency in charge of Medicare and Medicaid.

Top 10 Rejected DemCare Slogans

10. Why choose an expensive treatment when pain-pills will do?
9. Assisted Suicide: Do it for the Children
8. We Put the Rash in Rationing
7. Ask Us About Our Discount Placebo Program!
6. Only Selfish People Beg for CAT Scans.
5. Take a Number! The Bureau of Health Waiting Rooms reports the average wait time is now down to 123 minutes (in some locations)
4. Quack isn't just the sound a duck makes: we're importing medical experts from Mexico as part of our new Health Amnesty Program!
3. Shut up, take a seat and wait for your number to be called, Mr. GB21708-4.
2. Rahm Emanuel perusing your medical records: what could go wrong?
1. Sound mind, sound body -- take your pick.
In retaliation, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) blocked a Democratic request Wednesday evening to advance two of President Obama’s nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Also Wednesday evening, Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee demanded a public hearing on Berwick.

Obama used his constitutional prerogative to circumvent Senate confirmation of Berwick by appointing him the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service during the July 4th recess.

Republicans struck back by blocking an effort to schedule a vote on two of Obama’s judicial picks: North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Jim Wynn and North Carolina Superior Court Judge Albert Diaz. Obama tapped both for the Fourth Circuit.

Berwick's recess appointment magically transformed him into the most influential man in the health care industry, wielding the power to set prices and regulate every aspect of health care delivery.

Berwick's appointment was historic for a couple of reasons. For the first time in memory, a President bypassed the Senate confirmation process without so much as a hearing. And Berwick is the only Medicare head to praise England's National Health Service, which provides measurably inferior care compared to the U.S. and, as a bonus, is bankrupting the Exchequer.

Berwick has written lovingly of Britain's bankrupt NHS: "I am romantic about the National Health Service; I love it... All I need to do to rediscover the romance is to look at healthcare in my own country [which is governed by] the darkness of private enterprise."

Berwick has repeatedly claimed that the NHS delivers superior care when compared to the U.S. He is a liar. And he is dangerous.

Not only does Britain rely upon America's pharmaceutical innovations, not only does it rely upon America's medical devices, and not only does it piggy-back upon our cutting-edge procedures and treatments -- but it does so far less effectively and with far more waste than nearly any modern health care system.

The infinite series of statistics don't lie. Berwick does, but not the statistics.


Related:
Good News for Seniors: the Most Powerful Man in the Medical Industry Has a Love Affair with Urine- and Feces-Soaked Beds
Some people never learn. Unfortunately for us, it's the Democrats, who think more marketing will help people swallow ObamaCare


Hat tip: @EdMorrissey.

The Obama Tsunami

Mish says to prepare for an economic tsunami as states go belly-up and consumers hunker down, preparing for the inevitable tax hikes. They'll include carbon cap-n-trade, the expiration of Emperor Chimpy McBushitler's tax cuts, a possible VAT tax, new health care taxes and dramatically increased entitlement bills.

• Illinois let $5 billion of bills go unpaid.
• Minnesota is delaying corporate and sales-tax refunds, postponing school and medical aid and setting up a $600 million bank line of credit.
• New Jersey is planning to refinance about $250 million of general-obligation bonds to push $202.5 million of debt-service costs into future fiscal years.
• Illinois, is selling $900 million of bonds for capital projects this week.
• 22 states put staff on temporary leave.
• Arizona sold its House of Representatives and Senate buildings.
• California solicited bids for 11 of its office complexes.
• Delaware saved $29,000 by eliminating flowers at the state psychiatric hospital and health department.
• California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, facing a $19 billion budget deficit for the year that began this month, is trying to force 200,000 state workers onto minimum wages temporarily.

All of those half-assed measures assume the economy is going to get better later this year. Instead I suggest states should expect a Second-Half Housing and Durable Goods Crash.

California alone is $19 billion in the hole and that is after California enacted a temporary 1 percentage point increase in the sales tax rate (expected to generate about $4.5 billion in fiscal 2010) and after it accelerated income tax collection.
It is also after patching a $24 billion hole earlier in the year.

Literally no state is remotely prepared for the second-half tsunami coming down the pike.

Aren't these Democrat policies great? Like open borders, limitless welfare and public sector unions that control government spending priorities?

Oh, and trial lawyers. Can't forget the trial lawyers!


Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have a Wiener!

The window to submit entries for iOwnTheWorld's latest prestigious contest closed earlier this afternoon.

We’ve been waiting for a good theme. It has revealed itself. In the spirit of the Mega Mosque at Ground Zero we are looking for Inappropriate Shrines, Symbols, Awards, Tributes etc.

An example would be a Benihana at the Arizona.

Or, as Mr. Pinko said, a loving tribute to Bucky Dent at Fenway Park.

My custom-coded HumorBoy 2000™ algorithm has completed its nightly batch run and calculated the winners with the highest crackariffic humor quotient.

Drumroll, please...

Ladies and gentlemen, you're winners are:

20. A Sizzler Restaurant at Waco - Roach Liberation Front
19. The Billy Graham Revival TV Special Live from Mecca, Saudi Arabia! - Kool Kracker (mod.)
18. NOW office in Tehran - Effin' Cracker
17. The Ted Kennedy First Responder Award - Call Me Lennie
16. CAIR's First Annual Miss Gorgeous Goat Pageant at the Ohio State Fair - Crackatoa (mod.)
15. Brady Institute Civilian Marksman Program - ANA
14. Space Shuttle Challenger Simulator Theme Ride - Cracker Snatcher (mod.)
13. The Michael Jackson Preschool and Daycare Center - The Bad
13. The Jane Fonda USO Tour - Grand Cyclops Abe
12. Obama hitting the first tee to open the Masters – Kool Kracker
11. A cracker factory in South Central LA – Crackatoa
10. A National Rifle Association endorsement of Harry Reid… oh, wait… - My2Crackers
9. A planned parenthood at Vatican City – Effin’ Cracker
8. Singing ‘He’s a jolly good fellow’ at Barry’s birthday party – Crackatoa
7. The Martin Luther King Award for helping to bring about the end of racism to the NAACP – Dan Ryan Galt
6. A sushi stand at the Iwo Jima memorial in Washington, D.C – Betula
5. Henry Waxman on the cover of GQ magazine. Or worse, Barney Frank in Playgirl – Even Steven
4. A rifle range in the Texas schoolbook Depository Building – Roach Liberation Front
3. Barack Obama Presidential Library in Independence Hall – Illustr8r
2. A mushroom burger in Nagasaki – Crackatoa
1. Photo of Obama throwing a baseball on the Wheaties box – Even Steven

Let me be the first to congratulate all of our winners, a talented bunch all. As for the losers, better luck next time, FAILures!


Kewl: Obama Stimulus Program 'Saves or Creates' Three Million Homeless!

When a relatively affluent town like Annapolis, Maryland begins suffering from wave after wave of homelessness, you know the Democrats' "trickle-up economics" program is working to perfection.

In Annapolis, less than half a mile from the State House and Governor's Mansion, a colony of homeless people live under the College Creek Bridge on Rowe Boulevard. On Friday, no one was there when a reporter and photographer visited, but clothing, chairs and drying laundry showed the site to be home to at least two groups of people.

Figures provided by the county Department of Social Services show that homelessness is indeed on the rise. In 2009, the department recorded more than 1,000 homeless adults, compared with 550 two years earlier. The number of homeless children jumped from 429 in 2007 to 960 last year, figures show.

"We are seeing an increase, mostly in the area of homeless adults, because people are losing their jobs and their homes," said Marci Kennai, county director of social services.

...Zerhusen founded HOPE in 2004 .. Last year, the charity helped 83 families. This year, volunteers have assisted nearly 100 - and the year's only half over... "A lot of what's happening is because of the economy," Zerhusen said.

Other charities are experiencing the same crushing need... The Rev. Ed Jansen, director of the Emmaus Center in Glen Burnie, said he is "absolutely swamped" with people in need. The center, which he opened with his wife in 2008, serves breakfast and lunch to homeless people and also provides counseling services. Jansen estimates that he serves about 1,200 meals a month.

"We're adequately serving our people, but we're just overwhelmed by the need," Jansen said.

Obama's wealth redistribution model -- "trickle-up economics" -- makes about as much sense as teaching trigonometry to reindeer.

So -- you feel stimulated yet?


Larwyn's Linx: The Tea Party Isn't Racist; The Key to a Real Revolution

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 Tea Party Isn't Racist: Daily Beast
Grandma's Dying Wish - Vote Harry Reid Out of Office: LegalIns
A Ten-Step Reset Regimen for the President: Hanson

The Key to a Real Revolution: AT
Attn: Bart Stupak--ObamaCare Now Funding Abortion: RWN
9 states back Arizona immigration law: WashExam

Economy

Berwick: Rationing for thee, lifetime coverage for me: Pundette
Krugman creeps up on an insight: JOM
Dying Illinois Announces Another Massive Bond Offering: Insider

American Reinvestment and Recovery Act signs big business: Caller
Flashback: Taxpayer-designed porkulus signs: Malkin
Obama Sues IL County For Enforcing Immigration Law: RWN

Climate & Energy

Hold Your Nose: I Smell Cap-And-Trade: AT
Dems block amendment to ensure press access to spill: WashExam
Not all oil wells and oil companies are alike: Marathon

Media

Not an Idea, But a Warning: GoV
Next Up in Washington, a Media Czar?: Rosett
Top Ten most Left-Biased American Journalists: #10 = Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times: RWN

Do The 13 Keys To The Presidency Mean Obama Is Destined To Be Reelected?: RWN
Black civil rights activist Michael Meyers: 'the NAACP is now a political arm of the White House': BlogProf
NAACP, Media Owe Tea Parties Major Apology: Cashill

An Uncomfortable Position: VodkaPundit
Hope and Change and the Scariest Movie Scene Ever: Grand Old Partisan
Fed loses it; publishes essay bashing econ bloggers: EPJ

World

A Letter to the President on Libya: NewZeal
Obama Looks Backward: at Lenin: AT
Britain's Tax Grab Backfires: Malkin

'A Nation Free of Sharia': Malkin
Khamenei Assures Iran of Victory Over Evil Enemies: GWP
Maryland nuclear reactor raises foreign ownership concerns: WashExam

SciTech

Net neutrality comes back to haunt Google: FT
Should You Be Allowed to Know What’s in Your DNA?: PJM
Boeing's Hydrogen-powered Phantom Eye Preps For Ground: AviationWeek

Cornucopia

Tee Party: SondraK
Robo-Love Experiment #1: MNR
Todaze haute couture oil spill vear wtf: SondraK

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: J.D. Hayworth for Senate -- Defeat John McCain


Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Slavery, Democrat-style

Is there anything worse than a person who intentionally hurts a child? Who abuses a child? Who steals from a child?

Last year in Greenville, South Carolina, a man approached a mother and daughter selling Girl Scout cookies at the Bi-Lo on West Wade Hampton Boulevard.

He asked to buy a box of lemon cookies. When the mother turned around, he grabbed their cash box -- which contained $300 -- and fled.

The suspect was described as "a white male with dirty blonde hair between the ages of 25-35, approximately 5’8 and 170 pounds, wearing blue jeans, a denim coat and a baseball hat."

The little girl -- a first year Girl Scout -- was heartbroken. The suspect was never identified.

In the spring of 2009, Idaho high school students visited Washington and carried with them a petition. The students -- fearful of massive deficit spending -- called for a balanced budget.

Democrat budgets for the foreseeable future quadruple the annual deficit: the record-setting figure for 2010 is roughly $1.9 trillion. Obama's claim about cutting the deficit in half in a few years is a fairy tail -- like "slashing prices" by 50 percent the day after you’ve doubled them.

And the administration blatantly lied, stating that tax increases would not affect 95 percent of taxpayers. New taxes on energy -- under the fraudulent "cap-and-trade" regime -- will force every business in America to raise its prices. Taxpayers will be wounded... directly and indirectly.

Democrats also used every budgeting gimmick, every payoff and bribe, every sleazy tactic possible to pass socialized medicine, a failure everywhere it's been tried -- into the Statists' plans. As for the $45 trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities represented by Medicare and Medicaid? On that subject, Obama is utterly silent.

Obama and the rest of the Democrats want to tell you how much energy you can use (smart grids that can automatically shut off your air conditioner), whether you can give money to charities and which kinds of toilets you can buy.

Even ignoring his oppressive energy taxes, every dollar of Obama's new debt means that future taxes must be $1 higher in present-value terms. This translates to a discounted present-value legacy of $6.5 trillion of new, future taxes.

The tax burden each family of four can expect? $163,000. Let me repeat that: $163,000 for each and every tax-paying household in America.

Your children... my children... our grandchildren... are all slaves to the Obama budget. Because Barack Obama and his comrades in Congress are ideologues. They could care less about the economy.

They're beholden to ACORN, the SEIU, the NEA, the AFT, the ACLU and trial lawyers of every vintage and variety.

As subscribers to a failed ideology, Obama, Pelosi, Reid and the rest of the radical Statists are consigning our descendants to slavery. Girl Scouts. Boy Scouts. Toddlers. Infants. The unborn.

If you don't vote in November to throw out every Democrat possible, I would simply apologize in advance to your kids for the inevitable destruction of their unchecked policies.


Obama's Debt Commission: Obama's Debt Will Destroy Us

Erskine Bowles is head of President Obama's "Deficit Commission". Populated mostly with academics, union hacks and other Statists, there's little doubt that the commission has a singular task. Its recommendation -- to solve America's burgeoning deficit -- will assuredly involve new and higher taxes. The commission is such a partisan farce that its recommendations are being deliberately delayed until after the November midterm elections.

So when Bowles got a chance to give his opinion on Sunday, he stunned observers with a frank assessment that -- truth be told -- was a harsh indictment of every Democrat President from FDR to BHO.

As a president, it's one thing to know you have a big fiscal problem. It's quite another when a panel you appointed tells you the policies you have in mind will only make things worse.

That's what happened Sunday, when leaders of President Obama's deficit commission offered up the darkest of outlooks for our financial future — calling current trends in U.S. budgets a "cancer" that will "destroy the country from within" unless halted soon.

Though Bowles further opined that higher taxes wouldn't be the answer, he did hint that "increased government revenue" -- a codeword for higher taxes -- could be in the cards.

Studies show that government spending should remain below 20% for optimal efficiency and highest growth rates. Problem is, the current Obama budget is already around 25% of GDP (versus a long-term average of 18%). By 2030, that figure will rise to an oppressive 32% of GDP. Americans would have to pay around 80% higher taxes -- nearly double what they pay now -- to fund the massive bureaucracies.

What Bowles is really saying is that: Democrat policies are dead in the water. Our society will collapse unless we get our fiscal house in order.

We've tried the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the Square Deal, Great Society, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Amtrak and every program in between. All are bankrupt. The Democrats stole the money and lied to you, the American public, about "trust funds" and "lock boxes".

They stole the money. If we give them more money, they'll steal that too. And remember: they're not just stealing from us. They're stealing from our children, grandchildren and generations into the future.

Bowles said, "This debt is like a cancer... It is truly going to destroy the country from within."

Whether he intended it as an indictment or not, his statement served its purpose. Bowles agrees with conservatives that the policies of Obama, Pelosi and Reid are disastrous. Dangerous. And they must be stopped -- the Democrats must meet political obliteration in November.

The alternative -- Democrats remain in power -- is too ugly a scenario to contemplate; but suffice it to say that the future would then look a lot like a place called Thunderdome.