Thursday, September 23, 2010

Why was Goldline targeted by Congress? Because it advertises on conservative talk radio. ... ... ... that is all, comrades.

In a politically incorrect era, some might call it "fascism".

The vicious Statists known as Waxman and Weiner -- no relation, unless you feel one is warranted -- have targeted an advertiser on conservative talk radio named Goldline. The half-century-old company is a precious metals dealer that specializes in coinage.

Why are Waxman-Weiner picking on Goldline?

Because the company advertises on conservative talk radio. That much I can say with certainty, given my analysis of gold bullion pricing.

The following testimony of a Goldline executive is -- frankly -- depressing because it exists. Why should a California-based coin retailer be forced to testify in front of Congress?

Because the Democrat Party is completely out-of-control.

The decision on where to advertise is based upon sound business decisions, not political ideology. Currently, the most popular talk radio shows in the United States are hosted by conservative commentators such as Messr[s]. Beck, Levin and Thompson, and Ms. Ingraham. The demographics of these radio programs strongly favor those who are inclined to diversify their portfolios with precious metals. (This is best exemplified by the number of competitors who advertise among these same marketing channels.) The radio hosts themselves share an interest in owning precious metals, an important consideration when deciding where to advertise.

By that same token, Goldline’s choice of advertising is not limited to a narrow political spectrum. Before his untimely death, Goldline’s principal spokesperson was Jay Johnson, a former Mint Director and Democratic Congressman. Mr. Johnson shared a firm belief that precious metals were an important component of a diversified portfolio. Mr. Johnson was also an avid coin collector who wrote and spoke about numismatics.

Goldline also advertises with other major networks including CNBC, History International and CNN. Goldline has advertised with approximately 14 different networks within the past 12 months...

Why does Goldline have to explain itself?

This is a free country, right?

We don't live in Venezuela, correct?

The modern, Soros-funded Democrat Party is an outrage. This country's founders are spinning in their graves so fast that the Earth has tilted off its freaking axis.


Government Efficiency: Chrysler Workers Filmed Smoking Pot, Pounding Booze at the Very Plant Obama Visited to Boast of Bailout 'Success'

I wonder if they're drinking High Life?

What were those old Soviet autos called? The Volga? That's what our tax dollars are subsidizing, I guess.

Check out the unionized, taxpayer-funded workers in Detroit's Jefferson North plant.

Fox 2's Rob Wolchek got a tip about what some guys are doing at Chrysler's Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit. This is the same plant that President Barack Obama visited back in July and talked about the significance of manufacturing in America.

The same place where the President remarked on the tax-payer generated government loan saying "I believed that if each of us were willing to work and sacrifice in the short term -- workers, management, creditors, shareholders, retirees, communities -- it could mark a new beginning for a great American industry. And if we could summon that sense of teamwork and common purpose, we could once again see the best cars in the world designed, engineered, forged, and built right here in Detroit, right here in the Midwest, right here in the United States of America."

[The UAW's response?] "The UAW strongly opposes the use of controlled substances or alcohol use on the job. This type of behavior jeopardizes the health and safety of all employees. We also recognize that, unfortunately, these behaviors exist in our society... The UAW and the Chrysler Corporation work together to keep our workplaces drug and alcohol free, and to encourage employees with substance abuse problems to get the treatment they need. The employees involved in this situation do not represent the vast majority of workers at Chrysler who do a great job making high quality vehicles in some of the most productive manufacturing facilities in the United States."

Actually, I view these developments as helpful.

Because this is the Obama administration in a nutshell. Waste, fraud and outright criminality, all under the umbrella of the Democrat Party and the union bosses that are helping to destroy America.

Don't get mad. Get even. Remember in November.


Hat tip: Tiger.

An Emperor In London

Funny how this wasn't covered in the Fish-Wrap of Record.


Hat tip: Ershel.

Attention: The Harry Reid Panic Level Advisory Is Now Yellow

Addressing the citizens of Arizona, Harry Reid helpfully explained the other day that "I had nothing to do with the massive foreclosures here."


Related: Architect of Ruin.

Larwyn's Linx: 40 Days Out--a Look at all the Senate Races

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

40 Days Out: a Look at all the Senate Races: RWN
Would you like another cup of tea, Mr. Cuomo?: Babalu
Ohio Democrats Lose It: JWF

Coates Defies DOJ Orders, Will Testify on Black Panther Case: PJM
Barney Frank Blinks: Clinton Tryies to Rescue Campaign: PJM
Wow. Senate GOP protects Evita Murkowski: Malkin

Oink-worthy: Cuomo refuses to engage in gutter politics: JWF
But Obama Didn't Answer the Question: Instapundit
Morning Examiner: a Castle Write-In Bid?: WashExam

Economy

The Delphi disaster: An economic horror story Obama won’t tell: Malkin
ObamaCare: Please Kill It Before It Kills Us: AT
Holy Effin' Crap: Fed Spending Explodes!: Ace

Cali's Prop. 27 Revealed: Vote No, People!: Creekside
The recession is over! Long live the recession!: Dewey
DISCLOSE Act Rears Its Ugly Head Once More: Malkin

Media

Big Media's Biggest Failure: Hot Air
Shorter Bob Woodward: Obama is Guided By Politics, Won't Listen To Generals, Dismisses Victory: RWN
Local Media Coverage Of Breitbart At Right Nation 2010: Founding Bloggers

All Hail President Barack Landru Obama!: Driscoll
SEIU Union Hack Admits that Local TV Stations Help ‘Get Our Message Across’: RWN
Doubling Down on O'Donnell: Doc Zero

Why Bob Woodward’s New book is a stunner and why John Bolton went off: GWP
The U.S. Constitution: An Agreement by States: AT
Sowell Q&A: American in Decline: IBD

World

George Soros’ 8 Most Despicable Acts: NewsReal
Jimmy Carter vs. Ted Kennedy: Forget Health Care -- What about the Kremlin?: AT
Figures. AP Stringer Arrested for Working With Taliban: GWP

SciTech

Verizon: Our Apps Aren’t About Taking Over The Phone — It’s About “Choice”. Puke. :TechCrunch
How to control your iPhone with your brain: CNet
Interview With Mark Zuckerberg On The “Facebook Phone”: TechCrunch

Cornucopia

They Laughed when I stood up Without a Teleprompter...: Doswell
Ace: This Poll Showing Frank Under 50% Makes Me Want To Send Erotic Photo-Collages to Allen West: Ace
KFC pays college women for ad space on buns: USA Today

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Retire Barney Frank!

QOTD: At the Constitution Rally (Part I) and (Part II): Bubba.


Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Soup Lines In the Age of Electronic Funds Transfer

What happens when you let Nancy Pelosi dictate the nation's fiscal agenda for four years straight? Tyler Durden relays the tangible results of Democratic rule.

...there is a stunning admission by none other than the CEO of Walmart on what modern day bread lines look like. To wit:

I don't need to tell you that our customer remains challenged…You need not go farther than one of our stores on midnight at the end of the month. And it's real interesting to watch, about 11 p.m. customers start to come in and shop, fill their grocery basket with basic items – baby formula, milk, bread, eggs – and continue to shop and mill about the store until midnight when government electronic benefits cards get activated, and then the checkout starts and occurs. And our sales for those first few hours on the first of the month are substantially and significantly higher.

...Luckily the NBER said the recession ended. Hurray[!] ...Here’s the opening line from the Bloomberg report:

Payrolls dropped in 36 U.S. states in August, led by Michigan, indicating the labor market will take time to rebound from the worst recession since the 1930s... Texas lost 34,200 jobs, and California eliminated 33,600, the Labor Department said. The number of states where payrolls dropped was the highest this year.

More job losses in more states. Thank the gods that the recession’s over.

The country is collapsing everywhere and all the leaders can do is lie to their electorate that things are great. Images of the Titanic come to mind.

In fact, I don't have an image that positive in my mind.

I was thinking more along the lines of the Hindenburg.


A Critique of the GOP's New 'Pledge to America': Dudes. It's, Like, 20 Pages Too Long. I've Got the One-Page Version Right Here.

I won't be quite as harsh on the GOP's magnum opus as RedState's Erick Erickson, who calls it "the worst thing to come out of Washington since George McClellan."

Erick must have blocked out DC's distinguished Mayor Marion Berry.

But his point -- that the GOP's effort is mostly "dreck" -- is valid. Washington's so freaking broken that the usual platitudes and rhetoric can't and won't suffice.

21 pages? How about starting with two words: THE CONSTITUTION?

To be sure, the Constitution is paid lip service in the GOP's pledge. And a few (unfortunately, too few) stats are powerful. For example: did you know that there are 2,050 federal assistance programs?

And consider this sentence, notwithstanding the "sic":

Despite having the largest Democratic majority since 1993, the current Congress marked the first time in the history [sic] that not a single spending bill was considered under an 'open' amendment process.

But there's also plenty of fluff, with anecdotes and quotes and lengthy paragraphs that morph into meaningless mush.

Consider the summary of the GOP pledge:

• We will fight to ensure transparency and accountability in Congress and throughout government. [Platitude]
• We will continue to fight the growth of government and oppose new stimulus spending that only puts our nation further in debt. [Platitude]
• We will fight efforts to fund the costly new health care law. [Feh]
• We will fight to increase access to domestic energy sources and oppose attempts to impose a national “cap and trade” energy tax. [Okay, barely]
• We will fight for the rights of workers and oppose “card check” schemes that put union bosses before individuals’ right to a secret ballot. [Okay, barely]
• We will fight efforts to use a national crisis for political gain. [I have no idea what this means]

Reps. Boehner, Cantor, Ryan and other members of the GOP: you could have come to me for the one-page pledge. It would read as follows:

The GOP Pledge to America

We pledge that every action we take will be gauged by the answer to a single question: Does it show fidelity to the Constitution, our highest law?

With that as our guide, we solemnly pledge the following as our first actions:

• We will repeal the Democrat health care bill and, if vetoed by the President, will de-fund every aspect of that bill until such time as the American people have input into a sensible health care reform process.
• We will slash the size of the federal government bureaucracies (Commerce, Education, Energy, the EPA, Labor, etc.) by 20% in 2011 with a goal of reducing each by 50% over the next three years, thereby saving hundreds of billions of dollars.
• We will secure the border with physical fencing suitable to repel drug smugglers, human smugglers, and terrorists, while encouraging legal immigration and enforcement of the law.
• We will confront the entitlement crisis -- Social Security and Medicare -- by preserving benefits for those who depend upon them and moving to privatized options for younger workers. Anything less condemns future generations to mountains of debt and economic catastrophe.
• We will strengthen our armed forces, space and missile defense programs to retain our unparalleled superpower status.
• We will begin the process of paying down our debts, spending within our means every year.
• We will ban public sector unions, which exist solely to wage war against the taxpayers who fund their operations.

Put simply: we intend to adhere to a strict interpretation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Faith, Family, and the Founding. That is our creed.

And for your support and with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.

It really is just that simple.

We are fighting to prevent the destruction of the American way -- and the remedy is simple. It's been right in front of our faces the whole time.

Somewhere, James Madison and John Adams are looking down on us with expectant gleams in their eyes.


Woodward Shock Expose: Unqualified Community Organizer With Teleprompter Dependency Makes Surprisingly Lousy Commander-in-Chief

Let's just call Woodward's new book: "Hillary's October Surprise"

Some pundits will surmise that Hillary's knives are out for all to see. A few will point to the ongoing feud between Rahmbo and David Axelrod. Al Gore will blame climate change.

But the fact remains: Barack Obama is, as we predicted, monumentally unqualified for the most difficult job in the world.

Obama [was] at odds with his uniformed military commanders, particularly Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. David H. Petraeus... [Author Bob] Woodward reveals their conflicts through detailed accounts of two dozen closed-door secret strategy sessions and nearly 40 private conversations...

Tensions often turned personal. National security adviser James L. Jones privately referred to Obama's political aides as "the water bugs," the "Politburo," the "Mafia," or the "campaign set." Petraeus, who felt shut out by the new administration, told an aide that he considered the president's senior adviser David Axelrod to be "a complete spin doctor."

During a flight in May, after a glass of wine, Petraeus told his own staffers that the administration was "[expletive] with the wrong guy." Gates was tempted to walk out of an Oval Office meeting after being offended by comments made by deputy national security adviser Thomas E. Donilon about a general not named in the book.

Suspicion lingered among some from the 2008 presidential campaign as well. When Obama floated the idea of naming Clinton to a high-profile post, Axelrod asked him, "How could you trust Hillary?"

Given Woodward's disclosures, Axelrose's question was well-founded.

A classified exercise in May showed that the government was woefully unprepared to deal with a nuclear terrorist attack in the United States. The scenario involved the detonation of a small, crude nuclear weapon in Indianapolis and the simultaneous threat of a second blast in Los Angeles.

Obama noted that if only Indianapolis had been targeted, "since it's a Red State, I'm not sure anyone notices."

Okay. I made that part up.

Obama has kept in place or expanded 14 intelligence orders, known as findings, issued by his predecessor, George W. Bush. The orders provide the legal basis for the CIA's worldwide covert operations.

The leftists who shrieked more or less continuously for eight years about Bush's usurpation of the Constitution -- rather, the 'Constitutional rights of terrorists' -- were unavailable for comment at press time.

Oh, and thanks, Bobby. We already knew that Barack Obama was the most unprepared, unqualified President in history. Now tell us something we didn't know.

Yo, Woods: it's not like we didn't spend 18 months prior to November 2008 trying to warn you and the rest of the drones.


Hat tip: Memeorandum. Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: About That 'Endowed by Their Creator' Omission...

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

About That 'Endowed by Their Creator' Omission: BigJournalism
Post-Racial: Al Sharpton’s Followers Call Whites 'The Devil': GWP
Dems Attack Black Tea Party Conservative: BlogProf

Unions forced to circle the wagons around Dem turncoats: RWN
Here's the rest of the story about CREW: Tapscott
Harry Reid Responsible for Failure of DADT Repeal : GayPatriot

Liu and Chatigny: Obama’s Worst Judicial Nominees Yet? :PJM
There is no more 'Molly': ShayneBlog
Liberal Front Group Alleges GOP Voter Suppression: GM's Place

Economy

No Illegal Alien Union Dues-Paying Dem Voter Left Behind: Malkin
Why is GM filling campaign coffers with taxpayer money?: Fitton
Obama the Supply-Sider?: AT

Sort of an Open Thread: Autumn People
Vincent Gray's responsibility to D.C.'s children: WashExam
Billboard o' the Day: Malkin

Climate & Energy

Update on the Obamatorium: SIGIS
Radical environmental groups extorting money from taxpayers: PJM
EPA May Greenlight E15 Biofuel, Create Even More Confusion: RWN

Media

Leftist Hispanic Group Wants the FCC to ‘Open Inquiry’, ‘Explore Options’ to Combat Media ‘Hate Speech’: Motley
'Midnight Ride': iOTW
Daily Kos checks on Wisconsin: RedState

Why Is Col. Allen West Not a Media Star?: BigJournalism
Taking Up Erick Boehlert's (the Pencil-Necked Dweeb Employed by Soros Matters) Challenge, Or Why I Love Jim Hoft: Riehl
Smart Girl Summit 2010: Mama Grizzlies In The Wild: RWN

Conservatives at L.A. Times Insult Unemployed: Patterico
There's no fool like an old fool: Hindenblog
Those who oppose Tea Party Movement would have opposed Reagan Revolution: Levin

World

Obama and Netanyahu Run Out the Atomic Clock: AT
Smartest President Ever: "Mexicans" Were Here "Long Before America Was Even An Idea": RCP
They Thought They Were Free: Milton Mayer

Let's Not: Obama Says U.S. Can ‘Absorb Terror Attacks’: GWP
Communist, Pro-Terrorist, Anti-Israel Groups Sponsor NAACP’s ‘One Nation’ Counter Rally: BigGovt
If Communism dies in Cuba, it's really, really dead: WashExam

SciTech

Red Sea could have parted for Moses: Maktoob
The New Lotus Elite: Theo Spark
Twitter hit by porn cyber attack: Maktoob

Cornucopia

Discovered after 90 years: Diary with paintings, drawings that bring to life WWI horrors: StormBringer
Chilean Mining disaster - celebrity to get involved : Theo Spark
The Great American Dabbler: iOTW

Race and Ethnicity: a Liberal's Dream: iOTW
Bummer. Brutus the Buckeye Gets Whooped Before 100,000 Fans By Opposing Mascot: GWP
Taxes, fees and fake corporate environmentalism: or, how I chose Budget Truck Rental instead of U-Haul: DeVore

Images: Rants & Other Refinements.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Ace of Spades: Sean Bielat for Congress

QOTD: "The people that manage our traffic barely even blinked when we said we're [Google Instant] going to have this [accelerated] effect on search traffic... because we have this other thing called YouTube." -- Othar Hansson, Tech Lead for Google Instant


Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Abandoned: a Photographic Series

Several stunning photos spotted in a large collection of abandoned facilities at Pixcetera.






Via: Pixcetera.

How much is a Senate seat worth? For a member of Nancy Pelosi's 'Most Ethical Congress Ever', oh, about $6 million

Democrats: if they weren't in power, they'd make a great crime drama

'Scum' is too kind a word.

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. directed a major political fund-raiser [Oak Brook businessman Raghuveer Nayak] to offer former Gov. Rod Blagojevich millions of dollars in campaign cash in return for an appointment to the U.S. Senate, sources said the fund-raiser has told federal authorities...

...The FBI interviewed [an] acquaintance — a Washington, D.C., restaurant hostess named Giovana Huidobro — ...as part of its corruption probe of Blagojevich... Huidobro, Jackson and Nayak all dined together on Oct. 8, 2008 — the same day that Nayak has told authorities he had a key conversation with Jackson about the Senate appointment, sources said. The three then ended up at Ozio, the restaurant and club where Huidobro works and where Jackson has held fund-raisers.

...Nayak told the FBI that he paid for two airline trips for Huidobro from Washington to Chicago in 2008.

A spokesman for Jackson declined to comment on Monday.

Reached Tuesday on his cell phone, Jackson said: "I have nothing to say. Call my office. Have a good day."

Pressed about Huidobro, the congressman again said, "I have nothing to say."

Jackson does not appear to have reported the flights for Huidobro as a gift on his House financial-disclosure statement, and it's unclear whether he violated any ethics or fund-raising laws by not doing so...

...Nayak, also a former Blagojevich fund-raiser, said that Jackson asked him to tell Blagojevich that if the then-governor appointed Jackson to the U.S. Senate, Chicago's Indian community would raise $1 million for Blagojevich and -- after Jackson was appointed -- Jackson would raise $5 million for the then-governor.

...At trial, Robert Blagojevich, Friends of Blagojevich chair, said he was twice approached by Indian fund-raisers offering money for Jackson. He testified that Nayak had offered the $6 million for Jackson.

Just when you think the Democrats have hit a new ethical low -- after Rangel, Waters, Geithner, Mollohan, Feinstein, Reid, Frank and Dodd, to name but a few -- they break out the bulldozers and dig a new sub-basement.


Hat tip: Memeorandum. Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Another Proud First for the Obama Administration: U.S. Diplomats Forced to Respectfully Listen to Ahmadinejad's Hateful Screeds at the UN

Unsatisfied with a mere series of bows, the Obama White House has decided to truly humiliate the United States. The administration apparently instructed U.S. diplomats to respectfully listen in as the insane, Hitler-esque despot threatened America with a war 'without boundaries'.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad warned the Obama administration today that if Iran's nuclear facilities are attacked, the U.S. will face a war that "would know no boundaries..."

...He said that Iran is on the brink of becoming a nuclear power, and warned Israel and the U.S. against attacking its nuclear facilities.

Asked about the possibility of a U.S.-supported Israeli air strike against Iran, the fiery Iranian leader said an attack would be considered an act of war, and suggested the U.S. is unprepared for the consequences...

...Such a war "would know no boundaries," Ahmedinejad said. "War is not just bombs."

...[he also] raised questions about the Holocaust that have marked his tenure as president...

For the first time, U.S. officials did not walk out during Ahmadinejad's address.

Each year prior to this one, diplomats had trouped out before having to listen to the maniacal torturer who enjoys stoning women, lynching homosexuals and performing other unspeakable acts.

Ahmadinejad also blamed capitalism for all of the world's ills, which perhaps explains why the White House ordered the attentive audience.


Land's sakes, that Harry Reid's doing a mahvelous job: unemployment ticks up again in Nevada--this time to a record high of 14.4%

Perhaps Opening the Borders and Raising Taxes Will Help

Oh, wait. The Democrats are already doing that.

27 states experienced higher unemployment in August, double the number of states that saw increases the prior month. Topping the list, thanks to Harry Reid's masterful work, is Nevada.

The national unemployment rate may have only ticked up slightly in August, but on a state-by-state basis, the jobs picture continues to look a lot more grim in places like Nevada, Michigan and California... While the rate remained at 9.6% for the country as a whole, Nevada, Michigan and California have consistently racked up rates above 12%.

Nevada had the worst rate for the fourth month in a row, at a record high of 14.4%, up from 14.3% in July. Michigan followed with 13.1% unemployment, unchanged from the prior rate, and California was third with a 12.4% rate, an increase from 12.3% in July.

You happy with the economy, Nevadans?

If not, you better take action.

Because Harry Reid's about to unleash his union-fueled war chest on Sharron Angle. If you can spare a few bucks, help her fight back. You don't have to storm the beaches like our grandpappies did. You just have to help out any way you can.


"I'm grateful that at a difficult time, Hillary changed hair styles, causing legacy media to ignore another of my advisers jumping ship"

It's headline news at all the mainstream rags: Hillary Clinton unveiled a new hairdo just in time to listen to more threats by the hirsute midget dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (that's the description he prefers, I hear).

Her efforts bore fruit, as legacy media largely ignored the stunning news that the third of four senior members of the Obama economic team has jumped ship.

Larry Summers follows Peter Orszag and Christina Romer, who earlier left their roles as director of the OMB and head of the Council of Economic Advisers, respectively.

White House officials expect Lawrence Summers to leave his job as the president’s National Economic Council director after November’s congressional elections, according to three people familiar with the matter.

His departure would leave Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as the only member of President Barack Obama’s original top-tier economic team. Summers, 55, and the president have discussed his future plans, according to one person.

Administration officials are weighing whether to put a prominent corporate executive in the NEC director’s job to counter criticism that the administration is anti-business, one person familiar with White House discussions said. White House aides are also eager to name a woman to serve in a high-level position, two people said. They also are concerned about finding someone with Summers’ experience and stature, one person said.

Note the emphasis: the White House is interested in finding a woman, as opposed to the most qualified person, irrespective of gender.

Consider: the economy is flat on its back, and the Obama administration is still more interested in playing gender politics than in fixing the economy. It had already cemented a formidable reputation as masters of racial politics.

Turbo Tim Geithner could not be reached for comment as he was trying to save an Excel spreadsheet as a Quicken file.


Update: An anonymous respondent writes, "So they're looking for a female, Ivy League prof with some business experience, who can also suck-up to Obama. Maybe they should break down a few more barriers and nominate a hirsute, transgendered, Ivy League Ec Prof who once advised Enron - Paul Krugman, come on down!"


Linked by: Michelle Malkin and Memeorandum. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: Proof that the DNC, White House are Targeting Tea Parties

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

Proof: DNC, Obama's Union Thugs Targeting Tea Parties: GWP
Time for the GOP to Unite: AT
Barbara Boxer's Bad Week, Part I: Geraghty

It’s Time To Start Linking Democrats To their Extremists: Nice Deb
Great: Tea Partier Arrested For Plot to Bomb Wrigley Field: Ace
Proof: DOJ lied about New Black Panther dismissal: Adams

Stop the Illegal Alien Bailout: Vote is Tue 2:15pm!: Malkin

Economy

The Only Part That Mattered In Obama's Telethon: Denninger
Oops. GM admits it didn't repay bailout money: Examiner
TX doctors take on ObamaCare, urge voting Dems out: PJM

How Defunding Obamacare Became A GOP Strategy: RWN
'Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?': PJM
The Recession Ends?: AT

Alinsky-ite administration reveals conservative group's tax info: GWP
How the Estate Tax Kills Jobs: TaxProf
Dem Senate candidate spends day as... SEIU worker: Marathon

Climate & Energy

Boxer's Destruction Comes Back to Bite Her: Betsy's Page
Sen. Sherrod Brown Blames Green Energy Stimulus Fail On... China!: RWN
Al Gore's Baleful Brood: RWN

Media

On Real Political Maturity: Pundette
GOP/Tea party linkage savvy move or sign of desperation?: Motley
Imam Claims Credit For Training NY Times Reporter Who Wrote Glowing Front Page Story on Ground Zero Mosque: WZ

Face the Racists: Obama's Town Hall 50% Less Changey, 80% Less Hopey Than Expected: Ace
Obama-bot to Dear Leader: 'I’m Exhausted Of Defending You': Malkin
Those cruel constitutionalists: AT

Horndog Harry Reid Calls Kirsten Gillibrand ‘The Hottest Member’…: WZ
Another Case Study In Media Bias (Delaware Edition): LegalIns
Obama slams down cheese-steak as Michelle urges that you eat tofu: BlogProf

World

Palestinians Reiterate They Will Never Recognize 'Israeli Zionist Jewish Empire' as a Jewish State: WZ
Soros’s Anti-Human-Rights Agenda: Bayefsky
How long before Obama thinks this is a really cool idea?: Fausta

How the West Bows Down Before Islam: Betsy's Page
Stunner: Radical Islamist Groups Support Ground Zero Mosque, Call for Three-Day 'Week of Dialogue' : JWF
Former Al Qaeda member: Islamist Terror Damages... Islam: HNN

SciTech

Why Google Went Instant: TechReview
RIM files 'SurfBook' trademark in Canada: Engadget
Secrets of Apple's Customer Success: CNet

Cornucopia

Yes Wiccan: iOTW (NSFW)
Top 15 Lisa Murkowski Campaign Slogans, Courtesy Of Twitter: RWN
Tim Scott Celebrates His Birthday…And a Whole Lot More: RWN

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Hit the Phones and Help Stop the DREAM Act!: Malkin


Monday, September 20, 2010

Soup o' the Day


Via: Piccsy.

Well, at the end of Recovery Summer™, the house is boarded up. The doors. The windows. Everything. We're at the Comfort Inn. Room 112.

What's not to like about the Summer of Recovery? Like, dude, the recession ended eons ago.

By an 8 point margin, independents who voted for Obama oppose his tax hikes


The [Center for Data Analysis] found that the Obama tax hikes would:

• Destroy an average of 693,000 jobs every year through 2020.

• Drain $726 billion from disposable income, $38 billion from personal savings, and $33 billion from business investments.

• Raise taxes on the 55% of all joint filers earning more than $250,000 who run small businesses that employ others.

• Cost the average non-farm small-business owner $3,500 more in taxes.

• Cost the 49% of all seniors with income below $250,000 $525 in additional dividend taxes.

• Cost the 25% all seniors with income below $250,000 $742 in higher taxes.

Now that's the kind of change you can feel in your nether regions!

Certainly, America's business leaders are feeling more comfortable with the Obama administration as...

Insider Selling Outpaces Buying By Over 290-To-1 In Past Week


...for the week ended September 17, corporate insiders bought $1.4MM in shares in a whopping 7 different companies. This was just marginally offset by sales of $441MM in 98 different companies, a ratio of 290 to 1 of stock notional sold to bought. But wait: this is GREAT NEWS: last week the ratio was 650 to 1! So this is a huge improvement and certainly yet another reason for today's rally... for those wondering just who is orchestrating today's move higher, please let us know if you find out.

And last but not least:

It would appear that certain foreclosures by major, major institutions may have been fraudulent... and, thus, invalid, which could really, really screw things up


Ally Financial Inc.’s GMAC Mortgage unit told brokers and agents to halt evictions tied to foreclosures on homeowners in 23 states including Florida, Connecticut and New York...

...At least one (and perhaps more) "inside officers" in various law firms filed thousands (and maybe tens of thousands) of affidavits they did not read and thus could not have attested to.

...This practice appears to not be limited to one law firm. In fact, it may be basically the entire "foreclosure industry" that was involved in this.

...This is likely to derail many foreclosures - at least from a standpoint of time. It may also void some of them and force them to be re-litigated. This will have a SEVERE impact on loss severities - at minimum....

...If the time has passed to be able to make reasonable corrections to these so-called "ministerial errors" (and it probably has) then the impact on MBS holders who happen to have the "hot potato" in non-agency securitizations could be catastrophic...

In plain English, some reports indicate that thousands of foreclosures could have been performed without the appropriate documentation. Which could make them, ehm, invalid.

Which would make some of the investment vehicles derived thereof (like mortgage-backed securities or MBS), ehm, difficult to value.

SELL!!!!!!!!!


ObamaCare Already Depriving Children of Health Insurance--The Unintended Consequences of a 2,200-page Bill That No One Read

Democrats don't appear to be very proud of their historic health care reform law, passed at midnight using an unprecedented series of bribes and accounting skulduggery. And with news like this, I don't blame them from sprinting as far away from Pelosi, Obama and Reid as they can get. Hint: it ain't gonna work. Here's Denver's ABC-7 News:

Thousands of Colorado children will soon have fewer options for health insurance. And parents who may not be able to afford it for themselves, but want it for their children won't have that option.

Ironically the change is as a result of the health care reform act.

7NEWS learned several large insurance companies are no longer offering child-only health policies... Child-only policies are typically obtained by families because sometimes it's cheaper than a family health plan through an employer. But most often parents who cannot afford health insurance for themselves purchase a child-only policy to make sure their kids are insured even if they are not.

Obamacare passes: poorest families hardest hit.

The Affordable Care Act requires insurance companies which offer child-only policies to take all kids, even those with preexisting conditions... According to Robbie Zirkelbach, of America's Health Insurance Plans, this is an issue the government did not see when it passed the Affordable Care Act...

Considering no one read the damn bill, Robbie, I think it's fair to say that there will be millions of unanticipated consequences, nearly all of them abysmal for society.

When 7NEWS contacted several insurance companies for comment, many did not want to talk about the changes.

I don't blame the insurers for being circumspect about the real reasons for their coverage changes. The last time they spoke freely -- as is their First Amendment right according to rumors spread by the evil Tea Partiers -- the Chavez-like central government threatened their livelihood.

As a result of this change, clinics such as Rocky Mountain Youth are anticipating an increased client load... For nonprofits dedicated to helping children this is a major concern... Wolk tries to reassure his patients that health care reform is fluid and changes can occur.

The scope of the disaster known as ObamaCare is only beginning to reveal itself.

And people will most definitely die -- needlessly -- as a result. We know that from mortality statistics comparing the U.S. with Canada and the U.K..

Thank a Democrat in November.


Hat tip: Van Helsing. Image: Conservative Dialysis.

Trumka: Democrats Better Jam Through the Forced Unionization Act of 2010 (aka Card Check) in the Lame-Duck Session -- or Else

Considering that out-of-control union bosses have bankrupted GM, Chrysler and nearly every municipality and state in the country, Democrats running for office can't be too pleased with Richard Trumka's latest pronouncement.

In an online chat on Thursday, the AFL-CIO President bragged that the Employee Free Choice Act was not only on the table, but he strongly implied that the lame duck session would be used to jam it down the throats of the American people. After all, they've already got used to the taste of s*** legislation.

It’s hard to imagine, but AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka continues to claim that there will be action on the Employee Free Choice Act... in an online chat Thursday, he used the phrase, "before the end of the year." A reference to a lame-duck push?

In response to a question from Marti in California about the Employee Free Choice Act, Trumka said:

There is no question the Employee Free Choice Act has to become law and workers need it. EFCA is necessary so more people can get bargaining power and we can get fair share of the economic pie.

The Republicans are locked in against but we have we have president who supports it along with vast majority of the House and Senate and the public... We’re working on it every day... Stay tuned because before the end of the year, you are going to hear something about the Employee Free Choice Act because we are working on it every day.

Shop Floor Magazine, which relays this news, suggests two questions for Democrat candidates:

• "No matter what the outcome of the Nov. 2 election, will you commit to voting against the Employee Free Choice Act or any other similar expansion of labor union power in a lame-duck session of Congress?"

• and "...or any other similar expansion?" (e.g., through binding arbitration or other partial Card Check measures).

Considering that the Democrats have lied repeatedly -- about health care reform, the effects of the Stimulus package, Cash-for-Clunkers, HAMP, and virtually every other component of their failed agenda, I think Shop Floor is engaging in some wishful thinking in believing they'd live up to any promise.

Come hell or high water, though, Democrats will be walking the plank in November.

Gee, but I thought there was a war in the Republican Party?


Larwyn's Linx: See How High She Flies

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Nation

See How High She Flies: Power Line
'Evil enough': Chris Coons targeted leftist activists: Patterico
NapoliReno taunts Gov. Rick Perry: Six Meat

Stop the illegal alien bailout: here's the phone list: Malkin
Obama Spends Weekend Slamming Republicans: RWN
Franken's Fraudulent Vote Count Keeps Rising: WashExam

Who's Self-Loathing Now?: RWN
Rove Goes to Bat for the Democrats: GWP
A Political Prisoner in Illinois?: AT

Economy

Administration to Throw Anti-Tea Party Hail Mary?: GayPatriot
The Death of Medical Privacy: AT
Murkowski = The Face of the Combine: Chicago Boyz

For Whom Bell, California Tolls: AT
The 'War on Poverty' Is Lost: BlogProf
Another Real Estate Time Bomb: Title Troubles: NakedCap

Climate & Energy

Texas Sues to Block Bizarre "Global Warming" EPA Rules: WOAI

Media

Levin: Christine O'Donnell is 'Smart to Bypass' Sunday Talk Shows: NewsBusters
When Lefties Go to Church: Nice Deb
The Uncivil Man from the Civil Rights Division: PJM

Take the Christine O’Donnell/Jimmy Carter Quiz!: Zombie
Rove aide: Kneel before The Architect, you puny website operators and Tea Party ingrates: Malkin
Two Constant Mistakes of the Mass Media: Dictatorships Don't Dictate; Almost Everyone's a Moderate: BRubin

The Mike Pence I Know: AT
If it’s better to be criticized than ignored, then thanks, Paul Krugman: RWN
Sean Duffy's Next Commercial: Troglopundit

World

Is Shariah the Same as Jewish Law?: Big Peace
Trade With China is About More than Money: Intellectual Property at Risk: WklyStd
Creeping Sharia: Britain goes halal... but no-one tells the public: Daily Mail

"Under attack" Muslims embrace Ground Zero Mosque: BrutHon
A Mosque at Ground Zero? Sure! A Synagogue in Litchfield, CT? Now, That's a Zoning Violation!: JPost
Wirecutters’ No-Ground-Zero-Mosque Idea: CBullitt

SciTech

Niketown Infested By Bedbugs -- Closed Indefinitely As Bloodsucking Pest Crisis Continues: Insider
Facebook mulling a branded smartphone: CNet
Now Steve Jobs Is Having An Email Pissing Match with A College Journalism Student: Insider

Cornucopia

Highlights From a Future Debate: Andrew's Problem
Our First Post-Partisan, Post-Racial President: MOTUS
It will ROKU: C&S

8 Examples of Celebrity Political Idiocy, Part 1: RWN
Who Is This 'Outlaw'?: C&S
Chi-Coms Release Latest Fashions: GWP

Images: HillBuzz
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Fire Harry Reid: Support Sharron Angle for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "The last time we saw this level of paranoia at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue a guy known as Tricky Dick Nixon was roaming the halls. Looks like the ghost of Nixon is haunting Barack Obama." -- Larry Johnson