Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Feel the burn: Obama orchestrates yet another $14B handout to the unions

CNN has the low-down on the continued skulduggery related to the incestuous relationship between Barack Obama, the UAW and Government Motors.

The U.S. Treasury is giving up $14 billion in tax revenue, because of a sweetheart deal it's giving U.S. automaker General Motors that's about to start paying off...

How is it that handing billions of dollars to the UAW fat-cats is somehow noble, but the guy who owns the dry-cleaner on the corner is "the rich", to be despised, vilified and harassed by the Left?

One reason the government might have let General Motors claim the loss, was to reduce the perceived cost of the bailout, said Linus Wilson, finance professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette... the fact that GM kept the tax breaks made its stock more attractive at the time of its initial public offering last November, Wilson said.

...Wilson said the improvement in stock value due to the tax break will offset only a small fraction of the tax revenue Treasury is giving up... "Is it worth the cost? No. It's a bad policy from a government point of view," Wilson said.

The full tab for nationalizing the auto companies will be well north of $75 billion, money that will never, ever be repaid.

Care to guess where a lot of that money will be going? That's a rhetorical question. Those hard-earned dollars of yours will help pay union dues... which will fund the fat-cat union bosses... and fill the campaign coffers of President Obama... so that we can keep getting screwed receiving the benefit of all of these oh-so-successful programs.

Like Cash-for-Clunkers, HAMP, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, "Climate Change" programs and all the rest of the ripoffs.


Good news, union members: Trumka, the NEA and the other fat-cats plan to spend as much of your dues as it takes to buy Obama TV ads in 2012

It certainly seems reasonable to me that the taxpayers are, in large part, funding Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign through public sector workers' forced contributions to unions.

Top Democratic Party backers are in discussions about how to fund a television-advertising blitz in support of President Barack Obama's re-election bid.

...Representatives of labor groups such as the AFL-CIO, the National Education Association and the Service Employees International Union; abortion-rights organizations including NARAL Pro-Choice America; the League of Conservation Voters and other environmental groups; and some of the biggest Democratic campaign givers and insiders, such as strategist Harold Ickes.

..."There is a general consensus that there needs to be something big on our side to counter what the other side did in the last election," said Steve Rosenthal, a Democratic strategist who led one recent meeting at Tuscana West, an Italian restaurant in Washington.

...One Democrat creating a pro-Obama effort is David Brock, the founder of Media Matters, a liberal watchdog group. Mr. Brock founded a group called American Bridge that accepts donations to help dig up dirt on the Republicans hoping to unseat Mr. Obama. Mr. Brock's Media Matters is a frequent critic of Fox News, which like the Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp...

The Left just can't seem to get it through their thick skulls that the Tea Party movement was an unfunded, unorganized, grass-roots movement that flushed the Democrats from office in November (twice in some states).

They can delude themselves all they want that the Koch brothers -- and I personally have no idea who they are -- are behind this resurgence of Constitutional conservatism. But the Kochs have as much to do with the ascendancy of the Tea Party as Solyndra has to do with green jobs.


Larwyn's Linx: Trumka visiting White House 2-3 Times Per Week

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

Report: Trumka visiting White House 2-3 Times Per Week: RS
The Party of Big Government: AT
Activist Judge: No Limit to Federal Powers Over Your Private Life: VS

Profiles in Courage: Obama and Wisconsin: Ace
An 'Assault on Unions?' It's About Time: Cagle
Emanuel Wins Chicago Mayoral Election: WZ

Mitch Daniels won't fight Dems on Right-to-Work: Ace
Mitch Daniels Boomlet Ends With a Thud: RSM
30-Foot Status of MLK Jr. To Be Unveiled: LB1901

Economy

Rank-and-file teachers speak truth to prog power: Malkin
Howard Dean and the $100,000 Wisconsin Slush Fund: AmSpec
A Short, Telling Story About Spending Your Money: RWN

Saving Our Nation From Debt: Rep. Jim Jordan
They Soooo Want To Be Like The Egyptian Protesters: LegalIns
Senate GOP to Snatch Budget Defeat from Jaws of Victory?: AT

Climate & Energy

Oil Shock: Mullings
Peak Oil? An "Inconvenient Truth": Viable
Climate change no problem, says futurist Ray Kurzweil: Guardian

More Biofuels, More Greenhouse Gases: RWN
What Say To A $40 LED Lightbulb?: RWN

Media

Wisconsin Republicans: Bring Right To Work up for a vote: Pedrie
Tea Party 'Extreme' to Amanpour, But Union Protesters a 'Populist' Show of 'People Power': MRC
WaPo Owned Slate.com Calls Sarah Palin the C-Word in Headline: GWP

Donald Rumsfeld vs. Andrea Mitchell: Tatler
Sarah Palin Promotes Herman Cain: RSM
Same Old Song and Dance: CFB

These Publications Are Dead To Us: iOTW
Battle of Wisconsin: Proxy Civil War: Driscoll
Detroit Free Press: Government unions "a decidedly free-market exercise": BlogProf

Biased Front Page Cincinnati Enquirer Article: Republican Budget Cuts Deemed “Drastic”: Virtuous
Obama The Nobel Peace Prize Winner: How Do You Like Me Now?: SHN
Allen West and the Religion of Peace, Pompano Beach Edition: Kimball

World

Bad and Badder: Belmont Club
An Insult to Israel: IBD
Libya's Legacy: Totten

UN Secretary-General Calls for Global Socialism: RWN
A Snapshot of Today’s United Nations: Bayefsky
Russian President Medvedev Predicts “Fires for Decades” if Islamists Come to Power in Toppled Arab Countries: WZ

SciTech

Kindle ebook piracy accelerates: CNet
Dr. Mac: Verizon iPhone no better or worse than AT&T's: Chron
Apple's App Store Yields 83% of All Mobile App Revenues in 2010: Fool

Cornucopia

Scenes From My City: Loudon
Fred Levenhagen LIES! Fred Levenhagen LIES! Fred Levenhagen LIES!: iOTW
Strike! Strike! Strike!: iOTW

Image: Cagle Cartoons
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Tell Congress: Don't Raise the Debt Ceiling

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

President Obama calls for collective bargaining rights for illegal aliens

Citing concerns that illegal aliens are facing increased opposition from U.S. natives worried about employment, MS-13 gang activity, and strained social services, President Obama launched his new "Undocumented Americans" initiative in a sparsely attended Rose Garden ceremony.

The president read from a prepared statement using his trademark twin teleprompters, asserting "...it is imperative that Undocumented Americans be granted collective bargaining rights" that will "force employers to take their demands seriously". Obama also noted that it would "level the playing field with documented Americans in the interest of global fairness."

In related news, President Obama proposed that his controversial, $53 billion high-speed rail project begin its daily run in Mexico City with express service to Phoenix and points west.

Continued on Page D-12

Fleebagging Wisconsin Democrats call police after being photographed by patriots in Illinois -- may also need to put out APBs for their paychecks

Founding Bloggers and Gateway Pundit have the hilarious photos.

Spotted in the wild, south of the Illinois-Wisconsin border!

Illinois Tea Party board member Doc got the Heritage Suites in Harvard, and found the fleeing senators in the lobby of the motel. He said that they were laughing like school children. News cameras were there.

Doc confronted the senators, saying, “Do you know any reason why you shouldn’t be recalled for your failure to fulfill the duties of your office?” and the like. They asked him who he was. When he identified himself as a member of Northern IL Tea Party the mood changed. The hotel clerk asked him if he was a paying guest. He/she said, if he wasn’t he would have to leave.

Doc asked if this was still America. The clerk called the police. Three cars pulled up. Doc went outside and said, “I guess I’m the guy you’re looking for.” They said they had to go into the lobby to pick up the complaint against him.

Doc was interviewed by a reporter outside the hotel. The reporter asked for his name, and Doc said, “It’s “Doc” — if they’re going to try to arrest me, that’s all you need.” Then he drove away.

Michelle Malkin relays a report that the Wisconsin GOP -- thankfully -- is still playing hardball.

State senators who miss two or more session days will no longer get paid through direct deposit. They’ll have to pick up their checks in person on the Senate floor during a session... The new rule is aimed at forcing the return of 14 Senate Democrats who have been hiding in Illinois since Thursday. They fled the state to stall a vote on an anti-union bill, and have threatened to stay away until Republican Gov. Scott Walker agrees to compromise. Tuesday’s vote was along party lines. The three Republicans on the Committee on Senate Organization voted for it and the two Democrats opposed it.

It turns out that Indiana's Democrat legislators have also fleebagged to Illinois.

It would appear that Democrats hate the democratic process. They lost the midterm elections in a historic landslide. And instead of manning up and voting, they're running away once again to expressly ignore the voters' will.

As Mark Hemingway asked the other day, "After Wisconsin, How Do Democrats Argue Against a GOP Government Shutdown??"


Two Million Egyptian Neocons Express Love For Democratic Freedoms and Martyrdom, But Mostly Martyrdom

The title of this recently uploaded video is "Two million Egyptians in Tahrir Square chant 'To Jerusalem we are heading, Martyrs in the millions'."

It really is the Carter administration all over again, only this time the bad guys have nukes.


Hat tip: Dan from New York.

Great news: Democrats' no-drill policy working out swimmingly for consumers as reports surface that Gaddafi is sabotaging Libyan oil facilities

Three years ago Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) described his refusal to allow oil drilling in the United States' Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

What does the president do? He takes out the old saw of ANWR. ANWR wouldn't produce a drop of oil in ten years...

Of course, that's exactly what Democrat Bill Clinton said seventeen years ago, when he vetoed legislation that would have permitted drilling in ANWR's coastal plain. Had Clinton signed off then, we'd have started producing oil seven years ago.

Which puts this troubling report in context.

Time Magazine's intelligence columnist reported on Tuesday that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has ordered his security forces to sabotage the country's oil facilities, citing a source close to the government...

Robert Baer said the sabotage would begin by blowing up pipelines to the Mediterranean... "Among other things, Gaddafi has ordered security services to start sabotaging oil facilities," Baer wrote. "The sabotage, according to the insider, is meant to serve as a message to Libya's rebellious tribes: It's either me or chaos."

The growing violence in Libya has forced a number of oil companies to shut in production in Africa's third-largest oil producer and disrupted flows from the country's export terminals... Paraphrasing the source, he said that Gaddafi had also ordered the release from prison of the country's Islamist militant prisoners in hopes they would act on their own to sow chaos.

Thanks to the modern, Soros-controlled Democrat Party, the United States is the only country on Earth that restricts access to its own energy reserves.

Which makes about as much sense as anything else in the Democrat Party's platform.


President Obama addresses Gaddafi's mass-murders in Libya with principled and courageous stand

Email received today at 14:36:

Subject: Quick Question For President Obama

Mr. President, do you think Muammar Gaddafi should step down?

Dan

Email received today at 16:28:

Subject: President Obama, Thanks For Answering My Question

Mr. President, do you think Muammar Gaddafi should step down?

White House spokesman Jay Carney called on Gaddafi’s regime to respect the universal rights of its citizens and allow peaceful protests to take place. "We offer our condolences to families of the victims in Libya of this appalling violence," Carney told reporters traveling with US President Barack Obama to Cleveland.

I’ll take that as a no.

Dan

C'mon, Dan. It's just another run-of-the-mill, bloodthirsty dictator. We can't expect President Obama to pillory Gaddafi when we all know what the real obstacle to peace in the Middle East is. I mean, it's Mubarak or Israel developing apartment buildings or something.


Outstanding News: Hezbollah Working With Mexican Drug Cartels to Launch the Narco-Terror Attacks Americans Won't Launch

Adam Housley has the devastating report.

My military and Department of Homeland Security contacts are insistent... it's not if Hezbollah operatives have been smuggled into the U.S....but how many.... They note that drug tunnels are becoming much more sophisticated and striking similar as tunnels being used by terror organizations to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip...

...My contacts also say they have real concern that bombing techniques used in the Middle East to promote terror are now also being used inside Mexico, as the cartels war with each other and anyone in their way.

This comes as Mexican authorities busted a senior Hezbollah operative who employed Mexicans nationals with family ties to Lebanon to set up the network, designed to target Israel and the West, according to multiple reports. The man's name is Jameel Nasr and he was arrested after a Mexican surveillance operation revealed that he traveled frequently to Lebanon to receive information and instructions from Hezbollah commanders [and to] Venezuela working with the terror group and Hugo Chavez's people...

We also know from DHS documents that over 180,000 illegal aliens from countries Other than Mexico were apprehended from 2007 through mid-March 2010 and the State Department Country Reports on Terrorism said that "smuggling rings have been detected moving people from East Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia". I am told these people and drugs are then moved up through Central America and into the Unites States through Mexico...

But, by all means, Democrats -- let's wait until after the devastating attacks to seal the border.

I mean, that approach worked so well with the Clinton administration's handling of the first World Trade Center bombing and the subsequent series of attacks that led up to 9/11.


Larwyn's Linx: Obama's OFA Sending Buses Into Ohio

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Nation

Obama’s OFA Is Sending Buses To Ohio: S&L
The 92 House GOP Members That Couldn't Cut Straight: NetRight
How to think about the political battle in WI: Betsy

Nuclear option in WI: Hot Air
UW Med School Investigating Doctors’ Fake Sick Notes: BigGovt
Fugitive WI Dems may be back "sooner rather than later": Hot Air

Who's winning the PR fight in Wisconsin?: Q&O
Mayor Bloomberg Takes NYC Authoritarianism on the Road: RWN
Program to bring hundreds of Muslim youth to Seattle: Creeping

Economy

The Taxpayer's Civil War: Knish
After WI, how do Dems argue against a shutdown?: WklyStd
Ratcheting, III: ProWis

Why They Fight: Hayward
How Public Unions Kill Progressive Politics: WklyStd
Why Obama and the Dems Blundered in Wisconsin :PJM

ObamaCare funding still in place in new budget?: Hot Air
WI teachers making more than they let on: Caller
WI: What the Unions Want, and Why It’s Insane: PJM

Climate & Energy

FDA-Holes: ProWis
Photo: Carbon Emissions: RWN
NOAA Says Al Gore's Claim About Snow and Global Warming is Nonsense: Lid

Media

Media Gone Mad: AT
Times’ Slanted Wisconsin Coverage Contrasts With Their Treatment of Tea Party: Tobin
America's Nutritionist Michelle Obama Chows Down on Short Ribs in Vail: JWF

Hooray! NY Times Says Obama White House Barely Involved With Wisconsin Protests: RWN
ABC News Correspondent: Obama Denounced Wisconsin Governor Faster Than Egyptian Dictator: SAB
Comment from WI union supporter: "you will be first against the wall when the revolution comes": BlogProf

Yes, Ezra, there is a reason to rein in public sector unions: JRubin
Columbia Kooks Heckle Purple Heart Iraq War Vet: JWF
It has taken me forever to get to this CPAC roundup…: DaTechGuy

Medical Ethics, Wisconsin-Style: It's Only Words
Now, It's Personal: NRO
AOL: ‘Arianna’s the Overlord? Later!’: Treacher

World

Reports: Gaddafi Has Left The Building: Ace
Libya without Gaddafi: What to Expect, What to Watch For: Hanson
Gadhafi’s Fairly Unconvincing ‘I’m Still in Charge’ Speech Setting: Malkin

“All in the Family” – Obama to “Lula” – A Very Few Degrees of Separation: NoisyRoom (Loudon)
Supporting Regime Change In Libya - A Powerful Opportunity: JoshuaPundit
Obama accused of 'double standards' -- again: London Daily Mail

Raymond Davis: Obama’s "Fair Game": Babalu
Libyan Ambassador to U.S. Pleads With Obama to Speak Out Against Gaddafi Massacring Civilians: WZ
Forget Arab Democracy, Let’s Pretend It’s about Israel: NRO

SciTech

Scientists Warn of $2 Trillion 'Solar Katrina': Instapundit
The Return of Tech at Night: Net Neutrality, Internet Kill Switch: RedState
Facebook app lets you stalk -- er, monitor relationships: CNN

Cornucopia

The Hide Out: iOTW
Double Jeopardy: C&S
Michelle’s Vail Presidential Downhill Slide: MOTUS

Marx & The Communist Manifesto, From Feb. 21, 1848 To Today : Wolf Howling
Beer, is there anything it can't do?: WyBlog
The Sieve of Angkar: Wizbang

Image: Allen West (via NiceDeb)
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: SEIU Purple Army Protest Schedule

Monday, February 21, 2011

Introducing the Obama Financial Anxiety Index Level™ (O-FAIL for short)

I've finally come up with an excellent proxy for the level of economic distress felt around the world thanks to our feckless Democrat leaders. I call it O-FAIL, which stands for Obama Financial Anxiety Index Level™. O-FAIL takes all of the world's instability, hysteria, currency woes, fears of energy disruption, terrorism and war -- and encapsulates them into a single, easy-to-understand number.

The higher O-FAIL gets, the worse things are around the world. Check out the O-FAIL index. You can see that over the past couple of years, immediately after the election of Barack Obama, it began going parabolic.

O-FAIL is also known as the price of gold.

The last time it was this high, in inflation-adjusted terms, one James Earl Carter was President. Enough said.


Hat tip: Post1.org.

Rise and Fall of the Kooks Running the Recording Industry

Remember when the Luddites at the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) had the opportunity to buy Napster? This was circa 2000 and, because they were freaking out about all of the piracy occurring on the popular file-sharing network, they sued Napster for abetting copyright infringement, won the lawsuit and shut the service down.

They could have bought Napster for a reasonable valuation. Instead, they killed the service, thereby slashing the throat of the golden goose -- control of digital music before anyone had ever heard of iTunes.

Business Insider recently published some key graphs that depict the idiocy of the RIAA in stark terms (hat tip: Ace o' Spades).

Executive Summary: the RIAA literally set fire to tens of billions of dollars by being technophobic nut-jobs -- and, as an added bonus, put scores of their own companies and artists out of business.

Per capita, each media type has seen a rise and fall. Digital's rise was microscopic - it plateaued and began dropping in the blink of an eye. After all, music is just a series of bits -- and bits are extremely hard to protect. Next to impossible, in fact.

For years, albums were the way the record companies made money. Bundle a hit or two with a bunch of filler and force the consumer to buy the entire package, like it or not (Aside: Cable TV industry? You're next). But those days have long since passed - people buy only what they want and nothing more.

Singles are the only product type that's still working well for the industry, but let me be the first to predict that we will soon see it flatten and then plummet.

Nice work, RIAA schmucks.


'Democracy' Explodes in Libya: Multiple Reports of Warplanes Bombing Protesters in Tripoli [Rolling Updates]

Update 02/21/2011 16:41ET: President Obama still silent on Libya's mass-murdering government.

Update 02/21/2011 15:21ET: More photographic evidence of Gaddafi's genocide (from Al Jazeera's live feed)







Update 02/21/2011 15:00ET: Shell casings held by a civilian (from Al Jazeera's live feed).





Update 02/21/2011 14:22ET: Graphic video removed from YouTube but currently present on Facebook shows apparent evidence of Gaddafi's crimes. Reportedly, Libyan warplanes bombed military barracks -- with his own soldiers sleeping inside -- to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of civilians. Caution: click the image only if you're willing to see the aftermath.


Update 02/21/2011 13:44ET: Photographs from various sources indicate that Tripoli indeed is under attack and occupation by military forces.




Update 02/21/2011 13:32ET: Al Jazeera Arabic relays confirmation of the attacks:

7:56pm: Al Jazeera Arabic is speaking to a political activist in Tripoli, who tells us there are airstrikes "all over Tripoli".

There is death, fear - and women are crying everywhere. The strikes are concentrated against areas that sent large number of protestors to the streets and there are cars full of foreign fighters firing on people.

He says at least 250 people were killed in the past 24 hours alone and is calling for international help. He tells us Tripoli is "under siege by foreign fighters" - that water and electricity have been cut and there is a shortage of food and medical supplies. "It is a genocide," he says.

And it's not just one source in the Middle East.

Twitter is ablaze with reports that 250 or more were killed in Tripoli after warplanes, helicopters and other military forces unleashed attacks on protesters.

Several jets landed unexpectedly in Malta, reportedly piloted by defectors who refused to follow orders to bomb civilians.

Last night, Saif Gaddafi -- son of Libya's dictator -- warned that a civil war was about to break out. That prediction, it would appear, has come true.


Linked by: Big Peace. Thanks!

President Still Silent on Genocide in Libya (Shhh... No One Remind Legacy Media About Reverend Wright's Trip to Visit Muammar Gaddafi)

As many as 500 people have been killed and countless more wounded in barbaric attacks by Libyan forces against their own citizens.

According to a report by Agency France Press, President Obama is "weigh[ing an] 'appropriate' response on Libya."

In other words, he's voting Present in the face of clear, undiluted acts of mass-murder against civilians.

Not to dwell in the past, but the president may be a tad conflicted on this issue.

His long-time friend, mentor and "spiritual advisor", the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Jr. appears to have been a pal of Gaddafi.

In 1984 Wright visited Libya, one of the poorest countries on Earth -- with Louis Farrakhan, an acknowledged racist and hater -- in order to schmooze with terrorist Muamar Gaddafi.

Jeremiah Wright was and is a kook. And he had something of an affair with Gaddafi. Whether or not that relationship has given the President pause in condemning Libya's vicious attacks is anyone's guess.

It's just something to think about as we wait for an official White House response to a despot's slaughter of his own citizens.


Oops: White House, DNC disavow involvement with #WIunion protests but Twitter busts 'em cold @ByronYork

The unofficial public relations arm of the Obama administration reports that the White House and the DNC really had nothing at all to do with the public service union protests in Madison.

Over the weekend, the White House and Democratic Party officials pushed back against criticism from Republicans that Mr. Obama and his political network were meddling in the Wisconsin dispute.

Administration officials said Sunday that the White House had done nothing to encourage the demonstrations in Wisconsin — nor was it doing so in Ohio, Florida and other states where new Republican governors are trying to make deep cuts to balance their budgets...

...And, officials and union leaders said, reports of the involvement of the Democratic National Committee — specifically Organizing for America, the grass-roots network born of Mr. Obama’s 2008 campaign — were overblown to start with...

... "This is a Wisconsin story, not a Washington one,” said Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director. “False claims of White House involvement are attempts to distract from the organic grass-roots opposition that is happening in Wisconsin."

These are outright fabrications. In fact Brad Woodhouse, the Democratic Party Communications Director, was spotted crowing about Obama's involvement as recently as Thursday.

And Obama's political wing -- an extension of the SEIU, it would appear -- is still hawking the protests. According to Politico's Ben Smith, it has published at least 54 tweets promoting the rallies.

Stand strong, Governor Walker.

These mendacious economic illiterates must be defeated.


Hat tip: @ByronYork. Linked by: Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, The Tatler, Protein Wisdom, Weasel Zippers, NewsReal and Memeorandum. Thanks!

15 Best Signs from the Pro-Walker Rally in Madison #wiunion #solidaritywi

Heather Radish's Flickr feed has a comprehensive gallery of signs from the pro-Walker rally held Saturday. Stunning we haven't seen any of these on the network news shows, no?















The whole gallery can be found here.


Hat tip: Ace o' Spades.