Sunday, November 07, 2010

ACORN in India to Protest Obama and Wal-Mart for Ruining $0.67/Hr. "Green Collar" Jobs Sorting Plastic in Landfills

November hasn't been a great month for our beloved President. ACORN, which POTUS probably assumed was dead and buried, has a division in India.

On his trip to India's commercial capital, Mumbai (Bombay), President Obama addressed entrepreneurs, university students, and Asia's richest man, who just built himself a 27-story house... But he stayed far away from Dharavi, one of Asia's largest slums, which was made famous worldwide by the hit 2008 movie "Slumdog Millionaire."

The ACORN Foundation India works to organize the slum's trash collectors and sorters known as "ragpickers." The group was set up separately by the founder of the ACORN community organization that Obama once worked with in America... ACORN India issues the ragpickers identification cards that help cut down harassment by police and neighborhood watch groups.

...some of the 150,000 to 200,000 ragpickers in Mumbai live on top of the garbage they sort on the fringes of Dharavi.

...A man named Syed Sheikh sits under a canopy sorting through a sack of plastic junk he bought for 50 cents. He pulls an item out, taps it against a rock, then tosses it into one of the many bags and piles around him... Plastic that's sorted by color and by grade sells for $3.50 to $23 per sack. Even with his fast pace, the work nets less than 67 cents an hour for him. Still, after three hours of work a day he will earn more than 75 percent of Indians do...

...[ACORN's] Shetty says roughly 40 percent of all Mumbai's waste gets recycled, meaning ragpickers are part of the "green-collar" workforce that politicians and industrialists tout as a "win-win" between environmental and business concerns. ACORN India is resisting efforts to commercialize the sector unless the ragpickers are the ones chosen for the formalized jobs.

...[Wade] Rathke, who left the US ACORN group in 2008, focuses now on a separate organization he founded named ACORN International. The group has members in nine countries, including India, and focuses on the billion or so people who live in mega-slums.

Activists tied to ACORN International will protest outside Obama's speech to Parliament Monday to pressure Indian lawmakers not to allow foreign companies like Wal-Mart into retail...

Got that? Those "green collar" jobs the Democrats are always touting?

Apparently they involve sitting on top of landfills and sorting plastic for 67 cents an hour.


Busted! 12 Photos of the Global Warming Bunko Scam, Which You'll Never, Ever See in Legacy Media

David Evans points us to truly shocking collection of photographs he's assembled (PDF) depicting the fraudulent nature of the warming fraud perpetrated by many in the Western science establishment.

These photos highlight the locations of official climate thermometers, which -- if they're not missing altogether -- are intentionally placed near air conditioners or getting blasts from jet engines. You won't believe your eyes.

They say the world is getting warmer, but the satellites say warming stopped in 2002.

Global temperature is measured in tenths of a degree per century. So any little nudge is important. 89% of official thermometers in the USA fail official siting requirements by being too close to an artificial heating source.
They are cheating.

If they measure the “global temperature” like this, how else are they cheating?

If a financial organization or drug company tried to pull this kind of deception they would get busted.

[Is this] 'Global warming' or 'Airport Warming'? Over 50% of official thermometers worldwide are at airports.

The tarmac is easily the warmest surface around, so that’s where they put the official thermometer. And don’t ignore the warming nudges from jet exhaust and steam de-icers. Official guidelines say a thermometer should be in a level open clearing, with ground cover typical of the region. So how about in the snow?

They measure “global” warming like this? Gee, couldn’t they put the thermometer a little closer to the air conditioners? They are cheating.

Why did we only find out that this was how they measured "global" warming because volunteers went out and photographed the official thermometers? The climate establishment is cheating, and the media are letting them get away with it. Where are the regulators and auditors?

Why do they put the official thermometer near the warm waste water, and not out in a nearby field or clearing? And they call it “global” warming? NOAA gets over $4 billion of government funds each year, so money is not the problem.

“Global” warming in action, 1874 to 2010. They measure temperatures at the globe’s warmest localities, not global temperatures.

Global warming started before 1700, before trains, factories, cars, airplanes, etc. Human emissions of CO2 were negligible before 1850. So we cannot have started the global warming. How come they didn’t mention that?

Human emissions of carbon dioxide don’t effect the rate of warming. How come they never compare human emissions (the alleged cause) and temperature (the alleged effect)? Because there is hardly any relationship?

I've been saying it for years. Global warming is another in a long series of bunko scams orchestrated by the United Nations in collaboration with corrupt businessmen and officials (remember "Oil for Food"?).

This is simply more proof that we were right.


Hat tip: Anthony Watts. Linked by: American Thinker. Thanks!

New England Journal of Medicine Inadvertently Hands House GOP the Game Plan for Starving ObamaCare

On Wednesday talk show host and constitutional attorney Mark Levin pointed his Facebook followers to a curious article published in the October 28th edition of The New England Journal of Medicine (PDF).

In short, Dr. Henry J. Aaron -- an apparent fan of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) -- inadvertently handed the House Republicans a fiscal blueprint for crushing the wildly unpopular health care takeover.

The outcome of the 2010 congressional elections may well determine whether this landmark legislation succeeds or fails.

Put another way: the outcome of the 2010 elections reflects the electorate's desire to have the landmark legislation fail.

The evidence of party polarization is overwhelming (see table). A majority of both parties ended up voting for the original Social Security Act, although Republicans had campaigned actively against it. Many members of both parties voted for the legislation that created Medicare and Medicaid, that revamped welfare, and that created Medicare drug coverage (Part D). Not so in 2010.

Gee, you think that had anything to do with being completely shut out of the process? Or, as MSNBC put it, "House and Senate Democrats intend to bypass traditional procedures when they negotiate a final compromise on health care legislation, officials said Monday, a move that will exclude Republican lawmakers... in both houses."

The ACA is nothing if not ambitious. It proposes to enroll tens of millions of people in private health insurance plans through yet-to-be-created health insurance exchanges. It will provide millions of Americans with subsidies tied to income and health insurance costs. It will greatly expand Medicaid. It will set and enforce standards for private insurance... It will create a new commission to oversee Medicare... [and this] is but a partial listing of the provisions of the 906-page bill. If permitted to run its course, the ACA promises to transform the U.S. health care system...

But successful implementation poses remarkable challenges and will require adequate funding, enormous ingenuity, and goodwill from federal and state officials, as well as cooperation from private insurers, businesses and private citizens.

That would be the same private citizens that kicked record numbers of Democrats out of office for passing this Soviet-style plan.

A more serious possibility [than repeal] is that ACA opponents could deliver on another pledge: to cut off funding for implementation. Here is how such a process could work...

The ACA contains 64 specific authorizations to spend up to $105.6 billion and 51 general authorizations to spend “such sums as are necessary” over the period between 2010 and 2019. None of these funds will flow, however, unless Congress enacts specific appropriation bills. In addition, section 1005 of the ACA appropriated $1 billion to support the cost of implementation in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).... [and the] ACA appropriated nothing for the Internal Revenue Service, which must collect the information needed to compute subsidies and pay them. The ACA also provides unlimited funding for grants to states to support the creation of health insurance exchanges (section 1311). But states will also incur substantially increased administrative costs to enroll millions of newly eligible Medicaid beneficiaries...

Without large additional appropriations, implementation will be crippled.

Sweeter words I don't think I've ever heard.

Since most major provisions of the ACA do not take effect until January 1, 2014, [these] delaying tactics might eventually enable repeal...

Perhaps the more likely — and in some ways more troubling — possibility is that the effort to repeal the bill will not succeed, but the tactic of crippling implementation will. The nation would then be left with zombie legislation, a program that lives on but works badly, consisting of poorly funded and understaffed state health exchanges that cannot bring needed improvements to the individual and small-group insurance markets, clumsily administered subsidies that lead to needless resentment and confusion, and mandates that are capriciously enforced.

Zombie legislation. Perfect. After all, this bill was the result of a historic Democrat overreach. And everyone knows that the Democrat Party routinely employs zombies (along with felons and illegal aliens) in its election wins.

Thanks, Dr. Aaron. We appreciate your instructions for starving this vampire entitlement of the taxpayers' blood it requires.


Larwyn's Linx: What do we do now?

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

Nation

What do we do now?: RATK
The Dialectic of Obama: AT (Lifson)
Allen West: Leftist Smears of Tea Party Racism Failed: WZ

The Midterms: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward: Palin
See? I'm not the only one who noticed the idiocy of the NRSC: ProWis
This ought to be good: ProWis

Glib Pasha Gets His Just Desserts: AT
Another Victory For Liberals: Democrats Held On To Jewish Vote: Ace
Pelosi and Clyburn want to be #1 and #2; Dems move further left?: PJM

Economy

Unemployment and the Missing 3.5 Million Workers: RWN
I’m getting a little tired of hearing about 'healthcare repeal': RWN
The 'Entitlement Sustainability & Constitutionality Act': BlogProf

McComrade Meal: Moonbattery
Senator-Elect Marco Rubio Delivers GOP Weekly Address: GWP
Island state--Dems won big, now must confront red ink: Press-Dem

Climate & Energy

The EPA's 'Climate Change' Tyranny: AT
Another letter from Hal Lewis to the American Physical Society: WUWT
Don't Tread on American Growth, Energy Security: AT

UN Links Weath And Happiness To Man-caused Global Warming: RWN
The Biofuels Scam: AT
$700,000 To Study Cow Burps Awarded To University Of New Hampshire: SHN

Media

Free Keith: Watching MSNBC go off the rails: Z on TV
Inside the Cold Heart and Mind of a Political Strategist: Malkin
Dana Milbank: 'Would We Be Better Off Under a President Hillary Clinton?': NewsBusters

So wrong, so long: Pundette
Ego autem praeses: TigerHawk
Reason TV bids A Fond farewell To Keefums: Nice Deb

Fire the Media: AT (Lewis)
“Nancy Pelosi Should Remain As Leader of the House Democratic Caucus”: ProWis
Another Detroit Free Press scoop! Bristol Palin didn't mail her absentee ballot in time: BlogProf

The Obamorator: Riehl
Wednesday's Children: Hindenblog
Treasury Secretary Turns to Professional Clown for Advice: Moonbattery

World

In wake of Oklahoma anti-Sharia vote, Muslims having a hard time getting their story straight: JihadWatch
Islamic Terrorists Attempted to Use Dogs Implanted With Explosives to Bring Down Planes: Jawa
Lindsey Graham (R-Neocon) Says U.S. Should Consider “Neutering” Iranian Regime With Large Scale Military Attack: WZ

We Won -- Now What?: AT (Geller)
TX Congressman: Pentagon still hasn't admitted Islamic terrorism behind Ft. Hood Jihad massacre: JihadWatch
Tales from 57 States: His Obamaness Flees the Joust: AT (Cary)

SciTech

Calculate How Much Damage An Asteroid Will Cause: Gizmodo
Home Robots Guard Houses: FuturePundit
Carrom Balance Board On Sale: Amazon

Cornucopia

Michelle Obama Dances In Mumbai, India: SHN
The Best Angry 'Downfall' Parody Evah — Hitler Finds Out the GOP Has Retaken the House: AmPower
Matt Damon Does Matthew McConaughey: Damon

Image: Via PK.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Help Joe Miller in Alaska --- It's a Cliffhanger!

Saturday, November 06, 2010

High School Yearbook, 1942 -- When Everyone Was a Teabagger

Happened to spot a 1942 high school yearbook on an acquaintance's bookshelf and was fascinated by what I discovered therein. In short, patriotism -- Tea Party style patriotism -- was highlighted throughout, due in no small part to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the full-throated, national effort to save civilization.



Self-reliance, America's founding, and our country's exceptionalism were top of mind. Of course, this was before the teachers' unions and the federal government took hold, with an iron-fisted grip, of the educational system.

Today's Tea Party members are indistinguishable from the mainstream Americans of 1942.

And our challenges -- the destruction of the dollar, the acolytes of Alinsky in control of the Democrat Party, and the rise of Red China -- are no less daunting, only this time they come from without and from within.


Post Dempocalypse, handful of 'centrist' Democrats admit the truth--while lefty bloggers remain trapped in Reality Distortion Field

Just how far out of touch is the leftist blogosphere? Let's put it this way: even Democrat politicians are pillorying Obama's Marxist policies.

Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Alex Sink pointed an accusatory finger Friday at what she called a “tone-deaf” Obama White House to explain why she narrowly lost her campaign.

In an interview with POLITICO, Sink said the administration mishandled the response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, doesn’t appreciate the political damage done by healthcare reform and argued that her GOP opponent’s strategy of tying her to the president did grave damage to her candidacy in the state’s conservative Panhandle...

Of course, the usual cranks in the lefty blogosphere still haven't figured out what happened on Tuesday.

See, if Barack Obama and the Democrats had been even more extreme, they would have blocked the teabaggers with a huge economic rebound!

...if Barack Obama had pushed for the original stimulus plan using reconciliation, instead of stupidly seeking bipartisanship with Republicans determined to wreck America for political gain or blowing all of his and the Congressional Democrats’ political capital on an industry-written “health care reform bill” in exchange for a soon-to-be-broken promise not to aid Republicans, the recent loss of the House wouldn’t have happened. But we have the teabaggers to thank for softening the blow. Case in point: Minnesota.

The GOP electoral wave that was predicted for the entire country landed in the North Star State, just as it had everywhere else — and had been predicted for nearly a year, thanks to Washington Democrats’ refusal to push for a stimulus big enough to truly do the job and their insistence on putting more effort into passing a health care bill written by the the health care industry and which only the industry likes. As did over a dozen other states, we lost control of our legislature to the GOP (after only having had both houses for four years), and one of our best US congressmembers, Jim Oberstar.

Oh, my.

That's some world-class stupid, folks. I mean, even more moronic than the idiocy the leftist blogs routinely excrete.

It's like reading a real-life Flowers for Algernon.


Hat tips: Washington Monthly (graphs) and The Scott Rants. Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

How the sheer idiocy of the NRSC, John Cornyn, Whimsy Graham and Karl Rove cost the GOP as many as five Senate seats

The National Republican Senatorial Committee spent $3 million in the week before the election on the ill-fated campaign of Carly Fiorina, despite polling that showed her trailing by 9 points to the tiny Marxist Barbara Boxer (Fiorina ended up losing by... 9.8%).

In the mean time, Ken Buck lost by a tiny margin in Colorado; Nevada's Sharron Angle lost by a similar narrow vote total, Dino Rossi was edged by Patty Murray in Washington, 27,000 votes swung the election against Christine O'Donnell in Delaware and and Joe Miller is hanging by a thread in Alaska.

In Alaska, the final results may not be known for some time, but the NRSC's final ads actually ended up helping Lisa Murkowski in her write-in campaign against GOP nominee Joe Miller. Instead of attacking Murkowski -- the candidate who most threatened the party's nominee -- the NRSC instead took aim at Democrat Scott McAdams, who had no chance of winning. Any support they drove from McAdams was far more likely to go to Murkowski than to Miller -- meaning the NRSC effort probably did more harm than good for Miller's campaign.

In other words, the NRSC's idiocy -- combined with outrageous remarks by Karl Rove on national television -- likely doomed four or five true conservative candidates to extinction.

In the post-election debrief, the Nixonian RINO contingent of Whimsy Graham, John Cornyn and the rest of the NRSC's ludicrous cadre of losers blamed... staunch conservative Jim DeMint, who had funded a handful of Tea Party-backed Senatorial winners like Pat Toomey (PA), Marco Rubio (FL), Rand Paul (KY), Mike Lee (UT) and Ron Johnson (WI).

Oh, but that $8 million spent on Fiorina's campaign didn't hurt at all -- right, boys?

I know one thing: that $3 million spent in the final weeks on those five campaigns could have swung four or five seats to the GOP. But the idiots at the NRSC are selfish, insular Beltway Republicans who are wedded to the status quo.

News flash, boys: we just stamped expiration dates on your foreheads.

Lessons learned


Give directly to conservative candidates -- and don't send even a dime to the NRSC or any of Karl Rove's pathetic groups (e.g., "American Crossroads" -- or, as I like to call it, "American Double-Crossers").

You can and should support the PACs of true conservatives like Jim DeMint, such as The Senate Conservatives Fund.

As for you, Whimsy Graham -- I can't wait until 2014. I will come to South Carolina, I will do whatever it takes to help defeat you in the primary.


Hat tips: Mark Levin and Michelle Malkin. Linked by: Protein Wisdom. Thanks!

Juxtaposed Post-Election News Stories o' the Day

It's good to know that the Democrats haven't forgotten their old, time-tested tricks.

• 4-Nov-2010, Bridgeport, CT: "Bag of uncounted ballots discovered in Bridgeport"

• 5-Nov-2010, Bridgeport, CT: "An overnight tabulation of Bridgeport's ballots in the governor's race appears to have brought a razor-thin victory to Democrat Dan Malloy..."

• 5-Nov-2010, San Antonio, TX: "Ortiz trailed his Republican challenger... But he gained seven votes two days later, when previously uncounted ballots from Robstown — all marked for Ortiz — were found and certified.."

• 3-Nov-2010, Santa Clara County, CA: "The estimated number of uncounted ballots in Santa Clara County rose instead of dropping as the day went on Wednesday, leaving the results of several races in balance...."

• 5-Nov-2010, Los Angeles, CA: "L.A. District Attorney Steve Cooley has lawyered up in preparation for a drawn-out fight with Kamala Harris in the still too-close-to-call race for attorney general... The Harris camp is probably hoping the election doesn't come down to those 75 ballots found yesterday floating in a pond at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.."

• 4-Nov-2010, Springfield, IL: "As of Wednesday afternoon, with 99 percent of precincts reporting, Quinn was leading Brady by about 16,200 votes, out of 3.6 million cast. Most of the yet-uncounted ballots are in Democrat-rich Cook County. Quinn is from Chicago."

Just once I'd love to see a GOP candidate win a tight race through the discovery of a bag of uncounted ballots. Then again, Republicans don't seem to have any equivalents of ACORN, the SEIU, Mi Familia Vota, and the rest of the front groups that seem to conjure votes for Democrats out of thin air.


Larwyn's Linx: How the New Congress Can Roll Back Obama’s Agenda

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

Nation

How the New Congress Can Roll Back Obama’s Agenda: PJM
Politicians need Reagan's words: OAOA
Minority Leader Pelosi: TigerHawk

The State-Level Tsunami: AT
Face it, GOP ‘Moderates’ Are Party Traitors: RWN
Congratulations Chris Van Hollen on a Job Well Done!: GWP

Why the Establishment GOP Still Hates the Tea Party: RWN
a dose of reality and a fact for lindsey graham: Winter Soldier
MO: Ed Martin Vote Fraud Update: RebootCongress

Economy

Voters speak: No to soak-the-rich schemes: Malkin
Collective Lunacy: Blumer
The Ghost of Ronald Reagan: AT

The Keynesians Get Their Wish: AT
Ron Paul Questions Fed, Vows Another "Audit the Fed" Effort: Mish
Labor Dept. Comes Begging for Another Unemployment Extension: ZH

We Must Bar Public Sector Unions From Campaign Donations: WashExam
The Fed’s $600 Billion Dollar Plan For Economic Suicide: RWN
Dollar at Risk of Crashing, Triggering Inflation: Strategist: CNBC

Climate & Energy

CO2 is not a pollutant, and the notion of 'carbon-free' energy is inherently harmful and anti-scientific: WUWT
If Al Gore’s Chicago Climate Exchange Suffers Total Failure, Does the MSM Make a Sound?: PJM
I'm a Denier: WZ

Media

L.A. Times: Poor Nancy Pelosi Just Doesn’t Get Any Credit: Patterico
Keith Olbermann Suspended Indefinitely: JoshuaPundit
David Brooks illustrates how clueless Easterners can be without local knowledge about My Midwest: AidWatch

Divisive New GOP Majority Already Swelling Unemployment Ranks: Driscoll
Peggy Noonan Calls Sarah Palin A 'Nincompoop': JoshuaPundit
Merriment at the NYT: Visit the Marxist Center for Real Fun!: PJM

Figures: Obama's Terrorist Pal Bernardine Dohrn Says Conservatives Are Armed Racist Terrorists: GWP
Mr. Obama is No Bill Clinton: AT
Arena League Slams NFL: RWN

World

D-Day at the UN: Obama Submits America to “Human Rights Review” by World’s Most Despicable Regimes: WZ
Geert Wilders Case Reveals Deeper Problems in the West: AT
Hate Imam ‘Hook’ Hamza Keeps British Citizenship: WZ

SciTech

How to prevent drunk Facebook postings: CNet
Get Ready for the Fat Police: AT
Microsoft CEO Ballmer to sell off 75 million shares: CNet

Cornucopia

November 5, 2009: Ace
No More Using California Welfare Cards to Buy “Medical” Marijuana: RWN
Mayor Bloomberg on President Obama: “I Never Met in my Life Such an Arrogant Man.”: WZ

Sorry your birthday cake was accidentally racist: Someeecards
Are You Ready For An Illegal Mexican Immigrant Private Detective TV Series?: GWP
Nuns get $220,000 from sale of rare baseball card: CNN

Image: Maggie's Farm
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: The NRCC Learned Nothing – They’re Blowing Off Renee Ellmers

Friday, November 05, 2010

Is Karl Rove Worth 27,000 votes?

Check out the final vote totals from Delaware.

A swing of only 27,000 votes would have tilted the race towards Tea Party favorite Christine O'Donnell.

And recall that O'Donnell -- from the moment she won the GOP primary -- was immediately kneecapped by the Republican establishment.

I just finished watching Karl Rove trashing GOP Senate primary winner Christine O’Donnell. It was on Sean Hannity’s FNC show. Might as well have been Olbermann on MSNBC. The establishment Beltway strategist couldn’t even bother with an obligatory word of congratulations for O’Donnell. He criticized her “character” and “rectitude” and claimed she hadn’t answered questions about her financial woes. She did so here. Rove mocked her security concerns as “nutty.” Yet, her concerns have been more than justified. See here (second video clip).

Rove came across as an effete sore loser instead of the supposedly brilliant and grounded GOP strategist that he’s supposed to be. Expect more Washington Republicans to start sounding like Tea Party-bashing libs as their entrenched incumbent friends go down.

How many voters were influenced by Rove's crazed attacks?

More than 27,000?

The GOP establishment is a disgrace. As we shall see in the weeks and months ahead, they represent nothing less than an anachronism. They're antiques. And, if they can't get with the program, they're going to be crushed like eggshells in future elections.


Chapter 2: "Once Upon a Time..."

Politicians need Reagan's words


Larwyn's Linx: Harry Reid’s non-English-speaking voting bloc

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

Nation

Harry Reid’s non-English-speaking voting bloc: Malkin
About 2012: Riehl
The Scandal of Military Voter Disenfranchisement: PJM

America the Beautiful—Redux: CFP
The Down Ticket Tidal Wave: Ace
Brutally Crushing Progressives: RWN

Actually, I Do Have One More Thing To Say To Barney Frank: LegalIns
Surprise! Pelosi considering running for House minority leader: WZ
Surprise! Bag of Uncounted Ballots Found in CT: Ace

Economy

Watch the Other Hand: ProWis
When Did Obama Say Jobs Weren’t Coming Back?: AmSpec
California Dreamin': AT

Third Trend in Initial Unemployment Filings: The Healing Begins: Ace
Truth and Science and Facts vs. Unwashed Hillbillies: AT
AARP cites Obamacare, which it supported, for premium hikes: BlogProf

Climate & Energy

The Green Bubble Is About to Burst: AT
Nothing fishy at the EPA: Surber
19 Million Pounds Of CO2: SHN

NASA GISS being sued over FOIA failures: WUWT
More Green Layoffs: Surber
AGW Today: Stop Eating, You’re Lighting The Earth On Fire!: RWN

Media

Liberals grope to explain 2010 for 2012: Patterico
Competing Visions: Belmont Club
It’s Unanimous, FOX Was More Balanced Than MSNBC: Verum Serum

Dan Rather on MSNBC: Mitch McConnell 'Wants to Cut Out Obama's Heart and Feed His Liver to the Dogs': NewsBusters
That Didn’t Take Long: Inversion Narrative Appears the Day After: PJM
The New Republic’s Sharia Whitewash: PJM (Bostom)

CBS News Paints Obama As Two-Face? Black Half Is Democrat, White Half Is Republican?: SHN
Results of the RJC's 2010 election polls: RJCHQ
Guerilla Politics (Kevin Drum Beclowns Himself): Mother Jones (Kevin Drum)

World

Defense: Dems dealt devastating defeat: Mudville
Former Guerrilla and Marxist Student Elected President of Brazil: NoisyRoom
Buenos Aires dispatch: Listening to the news: Fausta

Egyptians and Saudis Simulate War with Iran: PJM
Poor, Oppressed, Starving Palestinians to Get New Mall: WZ
Is this a visit or an invasion? "34 warships sent from US for Obama visit": MoneyRunner

For Liberals Who Just Got Scared: AT
The New Victory Caucus: Six Republican Iraq and Afghan War Veterans Elected to Congress: WZ
Righteous: Atlas

SciTech

Verizon App Store Force-Feeding Is Near. You Can Barf, But You’ll Have To Swallow It: TechCrunch
T-Mobile Rolls Out “4G” Network To 6 Additional Cities, Sticks It To AT&T: TechCrunch
Images Could Change The Authentication Picture: DarkReading

Cornucopia

Remarkable Prognostication: Ace
This Week in Quotes: RWN
The Rise and Fall of Chicago Heights: Volpe

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Help Joe Miller's Recount Effort!

QOTD: "Trust me. I'm going to make sure this health care bill is never, ever, ever implemented." -- John Boehner


Thursday, November 04, 2010

Another Blue State Success Story: Illinois to raise taxes 33% while vendors stop supplying prisons with supplies for non-payment

Mish points us to two ominous stories out of the crazily corrupt Democrat stronghold of Illinois, where the dead are known to vote and a guy named Blago appeared to sell a Senate seat.

Illinois has a $13 billion and growing deficit. The current backlog of bills approaches $6 billion. The state has not paid some suppliers for seven months. In response some vendors have stopped doing business with the state.

Please consider Another vendor quits doing business with Illinois

Records show the Illinois Department of Corrections was forced to scramble this week when a vendor refused to deliver foam food trays to Menard Correctional Center because it hadn’t been paid. Industrial Soap Co., which holds the master contract for the foam trays, “will not deliver due to delinquent invoices,” prison officials noted.

...The state is facing a $13 billion deficit that could grow larger by next year. The current backlog of bills is listed by Comptroller Dan Hynes at nearly $5.6 billion. The state owes at least one vendor for services dating back to March.

Earlier this year, a company that provides ammunition to help train new guards stopped delivering bullets because it was owed money. Another company that supplies eyeglass lenses also stopped shipping the stock until it was paid.

Furthermore, it would appear that a 33% tax hike is about to slam the state's taxpayers.

Illinois voters likely returned Governor Pat Quinn to office. Their reward will be a 33% tax hike, if Quinn gets his way.

The election is still undecided 2 days later. Quinn's lead is 16,000 or so out of over 3.6 million cast. Absentee ballots have yet to be counted. However, the math looks improbable for challenger Bill Brady.

The problem for Brady is he barely got 20% of the vote in a packed Republican primary. 80% of Republicans wanted someone else. Brady generated little enthusiasm, and none from me, except for one thing: He was not Quinn.

For most voters, that was not enough.

Chicago voted overwhelmingly for Quinn, 86% to 14% or so. His solution is to the mess is a proposal to raise state taxes by 33%.

Excellent. Illinois gets what it deserves, which is another Blue State Meltdown.

Here's a simple suggestion for the House GOP:

Not one dime more in federal dollars for California, Illinois and New York.

Let them fix their cluster****s on their own.


What a Relief: Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act Working Like a Champ as Fannie and Freddie Will Now Cost Taxpayers $700B, Up from $300B

The 111th Congress will go down in history as the worst, most irresponsible group of fiscal degenerates in all of American history. And you can quote me on that.

Unsatisfied with a trillion-dollar stimulus boondoggle... not content with taking over the health care industry... unhappy with "Cash-for-Clunkers" and nationalizing the auto industry and pillorying free enterprise and attacking the energy industry and...

[Cleansing breath]

..."fixing the financial system". That is, the very same men who protected the Fannie Mae crooks from a GOP crackdown, Chris Dodd and Barney Frank, cooked up yet another circle of stupidity by regulating the banking industry, Soviet-style.

And, like the rest of their disastrous programs, it too has failed.

Two weeks ago, the FHFA, using Moody's assumptions and modeling, said that a worst case scenario for Fannie and Freddie could result in total costs to taxpayers of $363 billion, an incremental $220 billion to the $148 billion already spent to keep the nationalized housing branch of the US government...

Today, S&P has released a stunner which says that actually fixing the GSEs, and "resolving and relaunching" the bankrupt entities, would actually cost as much as $685 billion, or over another half a trillion in taxpayer costs. And as for the reason why the market is surging, and will be until the US annexes Zimbabwe, now that it is pricing in QE 7, S&P says that according to its estimates, the backlog of shadow inventory is 40 months! Tomorrow: another trillion dollar capital defficiency hole, uncovered somewhere in the ponzi that is the US economy, will cause QE 8 to be priced in. And so on.

This economy still teeters on the precipice of disaster thanks to the massive deficit spending of the 111th Congress.

And the GSEs -- Fannie and Freddie -- are still fiscal time-bombs, still ticking away, thanks to the idiotic social engineering policies of the Statist Left.


Image: Woody.

Staunch, Fiscally Conservative Blue Dog Democrats Bravely Challenge Nancy Pelosi (After Running Up $5 Trillion in New Debt)

Bravely bold Sir Shuler rode forth from Asheville.
He was not afraid to lose, O brave Sir Shuler!
He was not at all afraid to be shat upon in nasty ways,
Brave, brave, brave, brave Sir Shuler!


Gee, just in time. Four years ago Nancy Pelosi promised 'no new deficit spending' -- and then proceeded to ring up $5 trillion in new deficits with her Democrat cohorts.

Without a single, noteworthy protest of any kind, the 'fiscally conservative' Blue Dog Democrat coalition folded like cheap lawn chairs and walked in lock-step with Pelosi on the most massive spending program in world history. Which helps explain why 22 of their 46 members were crushed on Tuesday.

Now that the horse, the cart and all of the satchels containing gold have left the barn, the few surviving Blue Dogs are bravely challenging the ex-Speaker.

...Utah Rep. Jim Matheson, a co-chair of the Blue Dogs, told POLITICO Thursday that Pelosi should not be a candidate for minority leader – a sign that other Blue Dogs are ready to pounce if Pelosi doesn’t voluntarily cede her power...

..."I’m just suggesting that when you have the largest turnover since 1948 then it’s time to shake things up"... His comments come on the same day that fellow Blue Dog leader Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) told CQ-Roll Call that he would run against Pelosi if she runs for minority leader — echoing an earlier suggestion that he would have challenged her for speaker had Democrats held the House.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

There are no moderate Democrats. There are no fiscally conservative Democrats.

They can posture all they want each and every election cycle, but they are just as malevolent as the rest of the Soros-controlled leftists who control Obama, Pelosi and Reid.

That's why none of these people ever run on their records. They always run as fiscal conservatives, as if they are stand-up folks that will challenge the Democrat establishment. In other words, they lie -- relentlessly and continuously.

Best I can tell, the last fiscally conservative Democrat was John F. Kennedy.


Hat tip: Memeorandum.

Secret Steganographic Message for @RalstonFlash Regarding Harry Reid, Harrah's and a Mysterious Spreadsheet of Casino Employees' Voting Status

The unofficial publicist of the Nevada Democrat Party is a Las Vegas Sun columnist-slash-spokes-hack named Jon Ralston. During the heat of the 2010 campaign, Ralston ran a series of advertisements for Harry Reid, all of which were cleverly disguised as op-eds. His marketing efforts culminated a couple of days ago, with a prediction that Reid would win despite long odds against him at the omniscient InTrade prediction market.

Earlier today, Ralston tweeted the following.

I couldn't help myself: wondering whether this crack newspaperman would delve into credible reports that Harrah's and MGM Mirage bused thousands of workers to the polls and urged them to vote for Reid, I tweeted Ralston:

Ralston's direct message cut me to the quick.

At which point I humbly recanted.


Having been utterly humiliated by the rapier-like wit of the RalstonFlash, I've determined I should conduct the rest of this conversation with Ralston privately.

For that reason, I've decided to employ steganography.

In short, steganography describes various methods for hiding secret messages within other, visible messages.

Using Biff Spackle's new steganographic algorithm (he calls it SpackleBoy 3000 -- humor him), I've crafted a secret message for Jon Ralston which is cleverly disguised within this photograph.

As an aside, is there a U.S. District Attorney anywhere in the western half of the United States to investigate this maddening criminality?


Hat tip: Uncle Ben.

Larwyn's Linx: Beware the Lame-Duck Blizzard of Far-Left Bills

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

Nation

Beware the Lame-Duck Blizzard of Far-Left Bills: PJM
How Much Were Democrats Loathed? RWN
Reflections on the Election, By Monty: Ace

What the Election Was Not About: Hanson
When Compromise Is Not Called For: BigGovt
20 Most Memorable Moments From Campaign 2010: RWN

Who Gets the First Subpoena?: AT
Huge Losses for Dems in South, Midwest: PJM
Obama's Deck of Race Cards: AT

Economy

California Wins Dumbest State Award in Landslide: PJM
DeMint: Sure, Raise the Debt Ceiling--With Massive Cuts: Ace
Yet Another Union Payoff: Taxpayers Send GM $45B More: WSJ

Tuesday's Election Was a Vote to Bring the 19th Century to an End: AT
2 out of 3: Voters reject Obamacare mandate in AZ, OK: Malkin
MI voters repudiate 8 years of Granholm's quackery: BlogProf

Climate & Energy

Time For the GOP to Go On Offense: AT
‘Greenest President Ever’ trip to India has carbon footprint bigger than residents of many US cities: WUWT
Day of Reckoning for Climate Fraud Democrats: Politico

Media

Evan Bayh Slams Obama and the Radical Left: Riehl
Boehner’s Emotion; Rubio’s Future: Anchoress
Pass the Popcorn: Democratic knives come out in the House.: Moe Lane

A Radical Gets Rolled by His Own Rules: Driscoll
California Conservatives: Why Do You Still Live Here?: Patterico
Bummer. Carville’s 40 Year Prediction Was Only Off By 38 Years: GWP

What is MSNBC afraid of?: Big Journalism
MSNBC Staff: 2012 GOP Candidates Are “Nothing”–NOBODY Can Beat Obama–Not Even “Fat Boy” Christie: GWP
WaPo's Milbank Trashes Fox News 'Victory Party,' Ignores MSNBC's DNC Echoes: MRC

Hilarious Liberal Blogger Reactions To The Shellacking They Just Suffered: RWN
Endangered Magazine: C&S
DeadOcrats Confess! "I voted Democrat because...": AmDigest

World

Modernity’s Uninvited Guest: City Journal
The Obama Liquor Cabinet: iOTW
Cuban Tax Reform and Unfreedom of the West: AT

SciTech

Fuzzing proprietary protocols not that hard #sectorca: InternetNews
How to Replace Your Laptop with an iPad: Apps and Accessories: PopMech
YouTube yanks Islamic cleric's jihad videos: Maktoob

Cornucopia

I Believe This Is Your Donkey: iOTW
President Gaining Immense New International Respect as a Blow-Up Sex Doll: AmDigest (NSFW)
The Mini-Cannon That Will Blow Your Mind: Ace

Image: iOwnTheWorld.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Mumbai vs. Wounded Warrior Project

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Voters Give the Obama Democrats "a Good, Solid B+"

The Wall Street Journal has some excellent interactive graphics that depict the carnage.

Here's a telling graphic:

President Obama rated the election performance "a good, solid B+."


Exclusive Photo: Military Plans Final Flight for Ex-Speaker Pelosi


Back-story: Here.

In Photos: The Damning Email Chain Showing Harrah's Execs Colluding with Harry Reid's Campaign, Forcing Their Employees to Vote Democrat

So this is why Sharron Angle's InTrade election odds melted down faster than an ice cream cone in July: National Review got a hold of an email chain illustrating just how desperate Harry Reid was to win.

It would appear his "Get Out the Vote" effort was more akin to the old "Bus In the Vote" and "Have Employers Threaten Workers to Vote Democratic" programs so popular in Chicago. In doing so, it's likely a whole passel of state and federal election laws were broken.

Executives at the casino giant Harrah’s pushed company employees to vote early in an all-out effort to help the Harry Reid campaign, according to internal emails obtained by Battle ‘10.

The stepped-up effort began Wednesday when a Reid staffer sent an email pleading for help to Harrah’s top lobbyist, Jan Jones. Soon after, Marybel Batjer, Harrah’s vice president of public policy and communications, distributed that plea via email to executives throughout the company...

...In her email to management, Harrah’s Batjer requested of her colleagues to “PLEASE do whatever we need” to communicate to company supervisors that there is “NOTHING more important than to get employees out to vote.”

She even issued an express endorsement. “Waking up to the defeat of Harry Reid Nov. 3 will be devastating for our industry’s future,” Batjer wrote.

On Friday, Western Regional President Tom Jenkin sent out a follow-up email showing a total vote count for Harrah’s properties along with the percentages of employees who had voted at each property. Attached to the email was a spreadsheet showing employee names and at which property they worked. Supervisors were asked to fill in codes explaining why their employees had not yet voted...

... The Harrah’s employee who forwarded the emails asked not to be identified due to fear of reprisal. The employee said the pressure from upper management was “disturbi
“We were asked to talk to people individually to find out why they had not yet voted and to fill in these spreadsheets explaining why,” the employee said. “I did not feel comfortable doing that.”

“It put me in a very awkward position,” the employee added, saying the level of coordination between Harrah’s upper management, the culinary union, and the Reid campaign was “disgusting.”

Yes, this is the modern Democrat Party in action.

There are no depths that the Democrats won't stoop to in order to retain power. Hiring illegals to canvas for their candidates. Trying to pass amnesty in order to build up their voter base with illegal aliens. Using ACORN and the SEIU to stuff the ballot box with bogus votes.

This is why we must crush the Democrats at the ballot box and prosecute them just as diligently. The Soros-funded left must be smashed into pieces until it is no more a political force than the Whigs.


Linked by: Ace of Spades. Thanks!