Saturday, February 26, 2011

Wisconsin's largest teachers' union is an extremely profitable insurance business that happens to provide services to children on the side

Like me, you may be a little confused about the nature of the fight between the public sector unions and Wisconsin Republicans. After all, the unions are just upset about having to pay for some of their benefits, right?

Wrong.

...the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the largest teachers union in the state, has grossly abused [collective bargaining] for decades, resulting in the unnecessary siphoning of millions of dollars from Wisconsin public schools. Under current Wisconsin law, the [choice] of the insurance company that provides health coverage to school employees is a matter of collective bargaining in each school district.

In the majority of districts around the state, WEAC negotiators have used that law to pressure local school boards into purchasing coverage from WEA Trust, an insurance company established by and closely associated with the union.

WEA Trust offers very comprehensive health coverage, at a very high cost to schools... A few dozen districts have managed to dump WEA Trust insurance over the past few years [and] they managed to save at least six figures their first year with a different carrier, and maintained steady rates in subsequent years, while still offering quality health coverage to employees.

Officials from other districts say they're also eager to dump WEA Trust coverage, but need their employees' anonymous claim histories from WEA Trust to share with other bidders. Several say they have never requested that information because they were told WEA Trust would punish them by pulling them out of local insurance pools, resulting in skyrocketing premiums.

Today many Wisconsin school boards consider themselves stuck with expensive WEA Trust health coverage, until state law is altered to take the identity of the insurance carrier off the collective bargaining table. Gov. Scott Walker's current legislative proposal would do just that, giving school boards the opportunity to freely shop for insurance and save millions of tax dollars for instructional purposes.

Governor Walker has cited WEA Trust as a primary reason for reforming collective bargaining.

WEA Trust has grown very fat on public school dollars, with a net worth of $316 million and a team of 12 administrators all receiving compensation packages worth six figures per year... Sadly, this insurance swindle is endorsed by state law.

...most unions have traditionally come to the negotiating table demanding expensive WEA Trust insurance coverage, and the strategy has been effective. About 64 percent of Wisconsin’s 426 districts carry WEA Trust insurance, despite its prohibitive costs.

...WEAC pressures its local union officials to stick with WEA Trust. One district administrator told us about a meeting where everyone present, including union employees, agreed that a non-WEA health plan would be better for the district. He said state WEAC representatives were present and argued in favor of WEA Trust, just because it’s the union’s insurance brand.

...With the law on their side, many local unions won’t even consider alternative health coverage. They refuse to have the WEA Trust language taken out of their contract at bargaining time. If a school board wants to contest the coverage, the unions will frequently take the fight to arbitration.

Many school officials accuse WEA Trust officials of purposefully withholding insurance claim histories from districts that want to seek other insurance bids. That makes it nearly impossible for competing companies to prepare informed bids based on recent insurance activity in a district. It would be like asking a contractor to bid on a demolition project, without disclosing the size or condition of the building.

Those districts that seek claim histories are often threatened with higher insurance rates by WEA Trust, according to several sources.

This fight is about more than just benefits: it's about a rigged insurance operation that no one in their right mind would choose if given a real choice in the matter.

WEA Trust stands to lose millions through Governor Walker's heroic actions on behalf of the taxpayer - which is why the union bosses have reacted with violence, angry rhetoric and near-riots in the state capitol.

It has nothing to do with the kids. The union bosses want to steal more of your money with a crooked, rigged insurance scam.


Stunning News Item Slips by AP's Editors: 'Government Shutdown' Doesn't Shut Down Much of Anything

I've never heard of the Associated Press' Andrew Taylor and -- based on his article from yesterday -- we may never hear from him again.

Social Security checks would still go out. Troops would remain at their posts. Furloughed federal workers probably would get paid, though not until later. And virtually every essential government agency, like the FBI, the Border Patrol and the Coast Guard, would remain open.

That's the little-known truth about a government shutdown. The government doesn't shut down.

...The air traffic control system, food inspection, Medicare, veterans' health care and many other essential government programs would run as usual. The Social Security Administration would not only send out benefits but would continue to take applications. The Postal Service, which is self-funded, would keep delivering the mail. Federal courts would remain open...

...from a practical perspective, shutdowns usually aren't that big a deal. They happened every year when Jimmy Carter was president, averaging 11 days each. During President Reagan's two terms, there were six shutdowns, typically of just one or two days apiece. Deals got cut. Everybody moved on.

Attention, GOP leaders: let President Obama shut the government down.

If they can't cut spending, it's going to shut down soon anyhow -- when the whole freaking system collapses. And that's not my opinion - that's TurboTax Tim Geithner's take.

Let. Obama. Shut. It. Down.


Hat tip: Mark Levin.

State-Run Media: Government Spending Cuts Will Kill the Economy!

Just a glance at the headline of an article by the AP and published by National Public Radio tells you everything you need to know about state-run media's agenda. Please consider State And Local Budget Cuts Are Slowing US Economy.

Deep spending cuts by state and local governments pose a growing threat to an economy that is already grappling with high unemployment, depressed home prices and the surging cost of oil.

Lawmakers at state capitols and city halls are slashing jobs and programs, arguing that some pain now is better than a lot more later. But the cuts are coming at a price — weaker growth at the national level.


...Newly elected Republican governors are leading the charge. They're acting on campaign pledges to shrink government to meet budget gaps. They favor smaller governments with lower taxes and less regulation, which they say will boost private-sector growth and job creation.

Gee, schmucks: did it ever occur to you that public sector jobs aren't real jobs when it comes to GDP and economic growth? Because the private sector has to pay the freight for all public sector jobs?

And the more public sector jobs the private sector has to support, the worse the real economy?

This calculus is so simple to understand that even the nimrods on the coasts are starting to get it. Please consider The Los Angeles Times' Debt takes a huge chunk out of California's beleaguered budget.

Closing California's deficit this year would be immeasurably easier if the state weren't paying for a 10-year borrowing binge.

Without that tab, officials could scrap plans to close state parks, force nearly a million low-income children to go without eye care and take in-home aid away from hundreds of thousands of elderly, blind and disabled residents.

But the state has had an insatiable appetite for debt in recent years. In the last decade, the debt per resident has tripled, to $2,362, according to the credit-rating agency Moody's Investors Service... That means for every household of four, California owes nearly $9,500 — more than the government spends to put a child through a year of school. In the next budget, the amount devoted to debt repayment is expected to exceed the money invested in California's prized public universities.

...[And b]ecause of its rock-bottom credit rating, California pays a premium for its loans. Taxpayers must fork over roughly $2 for every $1 borrowed — about 20% more than top-rated states,

Excessive debt is literally strangling the states and is about to crush the federal government.

But the loons in state-run media think the states and the federal government should keep on borrowing and spending, not because it will support them, of course. But because it'll "help grow the economy".

Yes, this is economic propaganda at its finest, crafted with the help of your tax dollars.


Larwyn's Linx: The vulgar, racist, sexist, homophobic rage of the Left

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

The vulgar, racist, sexist, homophobic rage of the Left: Malkin
Potemkin Politics: IBD
Gingrich: Obama Could Be Impeached Over DOMA Reversal: USN

The Most Lawless President Ever: RWN
Gunrunning scandal uncovered at the ATF: CBS
Montana: III Percent

WI Passes Budget Bill, Most Democrats Didn't Notice: Ace
In California Unions Are The Government: Foundry
Gingrich: Allen West would be considered as running mate: DC

Economy

The Untold Story of Scott Walker's Long History with Labor: HisCon
Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio? : TLinExile
Unions must adjust to the new economic realities: Globe

The Alternative to Unions: Cafe Hayek
Wisconsin Democrats: Union Yes!: NRO
Does FEMA know something you and I don't?: PolFin

Climate & Energy

$8 Gasoline: IBD
Inspector General Finds NOAA Climategate Emails Warranted “Further Investigation”: WUWT
President Chump: You Republicans Need To Compromise And Build Energy Efficient Lightbulbs!: RWN

Vast Oil Reserves Go Unexploited in Alaska: RWN
Here's How We Get to Energy Independence: ZH
Obama Administration to Save Us From…Drilling Technology?: RWN

Media

Will Harry Reid Hide in Illinois Too?: Foundry
rack-up: Rep. David Wu needs a Democrat leadership intervention: Malkin
2010 Vote Ratings: Breaking Down the Votes: National Journal

American Bar Association, like CAIR, advocates for sharia law in US: Creeping
NBC Jumps on Prank Call to Scott Walker, But Ignored Video Sting of Planned Parenthood: NewsBusters
Best tourism video ever: Rockford IL woos Fleebaggers: Malkin

Useful Idiots, Then and Now: Driscoll
Obama Parties It Up While Americans Stranded in Libya: GWP
Think Progress's War Against The Koch Brothers: LegalIns

World

Soros-funded group goes after Pamela Geller: Lid
By Deciding To Do Nothing, Obama Actually Has Done Something: LegalIns
Japan's Demographic Time Bomb Officially Goes Off: Mish

How About Adding a North Korea Crisis to the Mix?: PJM
From An Overseas Reader: An Islamic Valentine for Lara Logan: WRSA
Arab Journalist Laments State of Ezekiel’s Tomb: Solomonia

Pathetic: Urgent Agenda
Interesting: Anti-American Movies Flop In America, But Make Some Money Overseas: Ace
Imam Reportedly Arriving in Washington to Urge Establishment of Shariah Law in America: BigPeace

SciTech

Google's algorithm change hits 12% of search results: CNN
War of the Web Giants: Fool
If You Look Like This, Your Pay Check Will Be Higher Than Average: Insider

Cornucopia

Wisconsin Senator Found Hiding In Illinois: BHN
The Stuff of Perseverance: GardenSerf
Dave Duerson’s Ex-Wife Describes Disturbing Text She Received Before His Suicide: SportsGrid

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

QOTD: "Barack Obama’s new era of civility was over before it began. You wouldn’t know it from reading The New York Times, watching Katie Couric or listening to the Democratic manners police. But America has been overrun by foul-mouthed, fist-clenching wildebeests.

Yes, the tea party movement is responsible — for sending these liberal goons into an insane rage, that is. After enduring two years of false smears as sexist, racist, homophobic barbarians, it is grassroots conservatives and taxpayer advocates who have been ceaselessly subjected to rhetorical projectile vomit. It is Obama’s rank-and-file 'community organizers' on the streets fomenting the hate against their political enemies. Not the other way around." --Michelle Malkin

Friday, February 25, 2011

Mission Accomplished

"Under my plan of a cap and trade system, [energy prices] would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was... [t]hey will pass that money on to consumers." --Barack Obama, 1 November 2008

Mission accomplished.

This graph depicts gas prices over the last two years.

I wouldn't worry. Perhaps the Chinese will sell us gas from our own continent.


More Proof That Democrats Hate Democracy

The voters of Wisconsin traditionally vote Democrat. But in 2010 they'd had enough. Enough taxes. Enough failure. Enough bloated local government. And enough of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid triumvirate that jammed thousand-page bills down the taxpayers' throats without bothering to read them or, worse, understand them.

So they kicked the Democrats out of office.

But that hasn't stopped the very same defeated Democrat thugs and losers from trying to sabotage the democratic process -- because they hate the voters and they hate America.

In the end, the bill that frightened off the entire Democratic caucus in the Wisconsin state Senate passed easily in the lower chamber, 51-17, in what had been a foregone conclusion:

After a bitter, 61-hour debate that was the longest in living memory, the sleep-starved state Assembly voted in just seconds early Friday to approve a watershed proposal repealing most union bargaining rights held by public workers.

Just after 1 a.m., Republicans cut off debate on Gov. Scott Walker’s bill and in pell-mell fashion the body voted 51-17 to pass it. In the confusion, nearly one-third of the body – 28 lawmakers including 25 Democrats, two Republicans and the body’s lone independent – did not vote on the bill at all.


Watch this stunning video of their reaction to the vote.  It sounds like the monkey cage at the zoo after a wolverine has snuck in. I am not kidding – they don’t even sound human.

Don't be disheartened.

As Maksim says, "I don’t know about anyone else but listening to the proggies freak out makes me smile ear to ear."


The Hollywood Squares: Classic Comebacks

'Borrowed' from S, C & A:

Q. If you’re going to make a parachute jump, at least how high should you be?
A. Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking should do it.

Q. Do female frogs croak?
A. Paul Lynde: If you hold their little heads under water long enough.

Q. True or False, a pea can last as long as 5,000 years.
A. George Gobel: Boy, it sure seems that way sometimes.

Q. You’ve been having trouble going to sleep. Are you probably a man or a woman?
A. Don Knotts: That’s what’s been keeping me awake.

Q. According to Cosmopolitan, if you meet a stranger at a party and you think that he is attractive, is it okay to come out and ask him if he’s married?
A. Rose Marie: No- wait until morning.

Q. Which of your five senses tends to diminish as you get older?
A. Charley Weaver: My sense of decency.

Q. In Hawaiian, does it take more than three words to say ‘I Love You’?
A. Vincent Price: No, you can say it with a pineapple and a twenty.

Q. What are ‘Do It,’ ‘I Can Help,’ and ‘I Can’t Get Enough’?
A. George Gobel: I don’t know, but it’s coming from the next apartment.

Q. As you grow older, do you tend to gesture more or less with your hands while talking?
A. Rose Marie: You ask me one more growing old question Peter, and I’ll give you a gesture you’ll never forget.

Q. Paul, why do Hell’s Angels wear leather?
A. Paul Lynde: Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.

Q. Charley, you’ve just decided to grow strawberries. Are you going to get any during the first year?
A. Charley Weaver: Of course not, I’m too busy growing strawberries.

Q. In bowling, what’s a perfect score?
A. Rose Marie: Ralph, the pin boy.

Q. It is considered in bad taste to discuss two subjects at nudist camps. One is politics, what is the other?
A. Paul Lynde: Tape measures.

Q. During a tornado, are you safer in the bedroom or in the closet?
A. Rose Marie: Unfortunately Peter, I’m always safe in the bedroom.

Q. Can boys join the Camp Fire Girls?
A. Marty Allen: Only after lights out.

Q. When you pat a dog on its head he will wag his tail. What will a goose do?
A. Paul Lynde: Make him bark?

Q. If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to?
A. Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark.

Q. According to Ann Landers, is there anything wrong with getting into the habit of kissing a lot of people?
A. Charley Weaver: It got me out of the army.

Q. It is the most abused and neglected part of your body, what is it?
A. Paul Lynde: Mine may be abused, but it certainly isn’t neglected.

Q. Back in the old days, when Great Grandpa put horseradish on his head, what was he trying to do?
A. George Gobel: Get it in his mouth.

Q. Who stays pregnant for a longer period of time, your wife or your elephant?
A. Paul Lynde: Who told you about my elephant?

Q. When a couple have a baby, who is responsible for its sex?
A. Charley Weaver: I’ll lend him the car, the rest is up to him.

Q. Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they?
A. Charley Weaver: His feet.

Q. According to Ann Landers, what are two things you should never do in bed?
A. Paul Lynde: Point and laugh.

Q. Paul, what is a good reason for pounding meat?
A. Paul Lynde: Loneliness!
(The audience laughed so long and so hard it took several minutes of the show!)

Brilliant: Dick Trumka Says That Higher Gas Taxes Will... Create Jobs

The crypto-Marxist who heads up the AFL-CIO is a guy named Richard "Dick" Trumka. And he, with his extensive and legendary experience of shaking down private businesses negotiating for workers and paying off Democrat politicians judiciously rewarding his political allies, says that raising taxes will create jobs.

And I'm sorry to say that this isn't a satirical story.

Though I know it's hard to tell sometimes.

What's the best way to get Americans back to work?

Raise taxes, according to AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. Specifically, he wants to raise the federal gas tax as a means to fund infrastructure spending.

My memory's a little fuzzy on this topic, but didn't we spend a trillion dollars on a "Stimulus" program to do that? And didn't the unemployment rate continue rising to its current 20% un- and underemployment level? Why, yes, I believe so.

"We need a dedicated source of revenue to create infrastructure in this country... We need to create jobs. The best way to do that is through infrastructure development."

Let me guess: they'll all be shovel-ready projects. Which will employ only unionized labor. Lucky guess, right?

Trumka didn't say specifically how much he would raise the gas tax, but mentioned he's shown the President a $256 billion plan to improve infrastructure. If every billion spent on infrastructure creates 35,000 jobs, as he claims, this package would create close to 9 million jobs over the next five years.

Schmuck -- didn't you learn the lingo? It's save or create close to 9 million jobs! C'mon, you know better than that!

Didn't those "two or three visits a week to the White House" teach you a thing?

Perhaps Trumka's arithmetic skills are part of Wisconsin's "new math" curriculum that lets the teachers collect boffo bucks when they're faking sick-days.


WaPo does its level best to bury reminders that Obamacare was declared null and void by a federal judge

The Washington Post tried its very best to ignore the biggest Obamacare news story of the day. But they couldn't quite mask it entirely. Please consider the effusive reporting of "States argue against implementing health care law".

Florida and 25 other states suing to stop President Barack Obama's health care overhaul say in a new legal filing that they should be allowed to stop following the law immediately.

The states filed a response late Wednesday to an earlier Justice Department request. The states say a federal judge in Florida declared that the law is unconstitutional, meaning they do not need to implement it.

The Justice Department wants the judge to order the states to follow the law pending an appeal to a higher court.

The entire law was voided by the judge. An injunction was not necessary because there is no law to enforce.

The law is dead. Kaput. Bupkis. And any HHS bureaucrat who is in the process of implementing it risks a violation of 18 USC 641, punishable by up to ten years in prison.

Eric Holder won't be a feckless hack AG forever. And By Crom's Anvil we will pursue and prosecute those who have attempted to rip our society apart.

Remember that, losers. We will pursue you. We're elephants. We never forget.


The Fork In the Road

“Greece would not have fallen had it obeyed Polybius in everything, and when Greece did meet disaster, its only help came from him” Pausanias, 8.37.2, Inscription on the Temple of Despoina near Arakesion.


In Book VI of his Histories, the ancient Greek historian Polybius described three basic forms of government, each categorized by the number of those in power. He listed monarchy (rule by the one); aristocracy (rule by the few); and democracy (rule by the many). Polybius described, over time, how each type of government would gradually decline into their various corrupted forms of tyranny, oligarchy and mob rule, respectively.

Polybius believed that Republican Rome had designed a new form of government that could help check this inevitable decline. Rome combined all three forms of government -- monarchy (its elected executives, called consuls); aristocracy (the Senate); and democracy (the popular assemblies). In this mixed form of goverment, each branch would check the corrupting ambitions and power of the others.

Polybius, Aristotle and Cicero all praised the construction of a "mixed constitution" and the requirement of a separation of powers within government.

The French nobleman and legal expert Charles-Louis de Secondat, the Baron de Montesquieu, studied the rise and fall of the Roman Republic. He believed that a properly designed government, in order to prevent tyranny, would require three branches of government. He wrote, "If it is to provide its citizens with the greatest possible liberty, a government must have certain features. First, since 'constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it … it is necessary from the very nature of things that power should be a check to power' . This is achieved through the separation of the executive, legislative, and judicial powers of government... [to prevent any one] from acting tyrannically."

The British philosopher John Locke was also keenly interested in a design for government that would prevent it from descending into tyranny. In the late 17th century, Locke argued that monarchs had no "divine right" to rule; instead, he asserted that the source of power lay in the people. Furthermore, he stated that humans were born into this world with certain natural and "inalienable" rights including to "life, liberty and property". Locke believed that government could not grant these rights because they were God-given; therefore, no government could take them away or withhold them from the people.
 
Thomas Jefferson used Locke's concepts as central tenets when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. He proclaimed the government's duty to protect the sacred attributes of the individual: "...to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form..."

"...when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

As well, America's Founding Fathers repeatedly cited Baron de Montesquieu's seminal Spirit of the Laws and its emphasis on checks and balances within government. As James Madison wrote, "the oracle who is always consulted and cited on this subject is the celebrated Montesquieu."

We conservatives are originalists: If the Constitution's meaning is not interpreted as the framers intended, if it can be altered at will, then what protects any law from arbitrary interpretation, from the capricious whims of the ill-intentioned?

If the Constitution is "living and breathing", an amorphous guidebook of suggestions that may freely be interpreted based upon current events, trends, whims or biases, what then are the limits on government? And if the Constitution doesn't mean what it says, what protects individuals from the encroachment of government intrusion into every aspect of individuals' lives?

The Tenth Amendment of the Constitution strictly limits the power of the Federal Government. It states, The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. In the Founders' view, state and local governments were free to experiment -- to serve as "laboratories" in the words of Justice Louis Brandeis -- in areas prohibited to the federal government. In the 1980's, for example, Oregon's successful welfare reform efforts became the models for subsequent actions by other states and even the federal government.

When the federal government ignores and breeches the Tenth Amendment, it represents an illegal diminution of representative government at the state and local levels. It represents a subtle attack on individual liberty.

The once-powerful states, which created the federal government by ratifying the Constitution, have become -- in the words of Mark Levin -- "administrative appendages of the federal government." The states are subject to ever-increasing federal regulation, strangled by dictates from agencies old and new, and held hostage through billions in federal tax dollars. Levin asks, "Does anyone believe that the states would have originally ratified the Constitution had they known this would be their fate?"

The path the modern federal government is on today was presciently described by Stuart Chase in 1942. He wrote that the agenda of the Fabian Socialists -- who had launched a counter-revolution against America's founding -- was to create an authoritarian and completely centralized government apparatus. The agenda of the Fabian Socialists include:

• Strong, centralized government
• Government-controlled banking, credit and securities exchange (TARP, etc.)
• Government control over employment (the "Employee Free Choice Act" to speed unionization of the workplace)
• Unemployment insurance, old age pensions (lengthy unemployment benefits, Social Security)
• Universal medical care, food and housing programs (Obamacare, food stamps, HUD)
• Access to unlimited government borrowing (massive deficits)
• A managed monetary system (an opaque Federal Reserve)
• Government control over foreign trade (China tire tariffs)
• Government control over natural energy sources, transportation and agricultural production (drilling moratoriums, the EPA's regime of "Cap-and-Trade")
• Government regulation of labor (the Wagner Act, monopolistic power of trade unions)
• and Heavy progressive taxation.

This indeed describes "the road we are traveling": accelerated by branches of government controlled by Democrats who took an oath to uphold that which they ignore. While it may no longer be called socialism directly, nonetheless socialism it is. The Fabian Socialist counter-revolution began in earnest in the U.S. in 1933 with the imposition of the "Welfare State" and it has been steadily progressing since. It confiscates ever more taxes, consolidates ever more power, while bankrupting program after program. And always -- always -- the federal government proclaims its need for more money and more power, promising that if only it can levy one more tax, enforce one more regulation, create one more program it will be able to solve all of man's woes.

The Greek historian Thucydides observed that "The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage." And in writing about the calamitous Peloponnesian War that engulfed and ultimately destroyed his society, he added that, "Few things are brought to a successful issue by impetuous desire, but most by calm and prudent forethought."

History teaches us that the decline of a society and the demise of a government comes with the institutionalization of corruption and a wanton disregard for the written law. Such is our situation today, wherein the states have become puppets of an all-powerful federal government that confiscates more and more private property while exerting increasing control over every aspect of our lives.

Today our federal government's most powerful branch is one never conceived by the Framers: the unelected fourth branch of government -- the enormous federal bureaucracy -- that acts at the president's behest. It defies a federal judge in Florida who has voided Obamacare. It ignores a federal judge in Louisiana who has held the Interior Department in Contempt of Court for failing to lift an unconscionable drilling moratorium. And it now decides which laws it will enforce and which it will not, the "Defense of Marriage Act" being only the most recent example.

If we are to protect our society from despotism and decline, whose counsel should we then cherish? Should we honor thousands of years of human experience and the wisdom of history's greatest philosophers -- Polybius, Cicero, Aristotle, Montesquieu, Locke, Jefferson, Adams and Madison among them? Men who understood the nature of a government's despotic decline and sought to construct a system to counter it?

Or should we disregard their guidance and instead follow the Fabian Socialists? Are these philosophers and founders to be replaced by the likes of Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Richard Trumka?

The greatest bulwark against tyranny in America has always been the Constitution, which instantiates our exquisitely designed system of private property, God-given individual liberties and free enterprise.

This is our generation's fork in the road and the stakes of our decision could not be higher. If we are to protect our society from the inevitable decline and despotism that has infected so many societies since the beginning of time, in whom should we trust? If we are to shield our children from the tyranny against which our founders fought and so many Americans shed blood, in whom should we put our faith?

I contend that we must fight the anti-Constitutional counter-revolution using every political tool at our disposal. We must pledge to return our country to the rule of law, as it was originally defined by our founders and codified in the Constitution. For anything less condemns our descendants to the fate that Thucydides described. The choice is clear. The question is simple. Which road will you choose?


Larwyn's Linx: AFSCME, Socialism and the Battle for America

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

AFSCME, Socialism and the Battle for America: Loudon
GOP shouldn't fear a government shutdown: WashExam
Runaway Indiana Democrats Found: RWN

Psst: Know any good organizers?: Tatler
Eyewitness to Thuggery: Malkin
A politicized DHS fights Issa's subpoenas: DC

Walker: We Can Vote on Collective Bargaining Without Dems: Std
Waste and abuse as far as the fiscal eye can see: Tapscott
Obama's buying votes with our money: Sowell

Economy

Keynesian Economics Hits the Fan: Ace
Marco Rubio warns of the ‘death spiral’ national debt: Cubachi
Obama Completes His Trifecta: AT

All Teachers' Unions Must Fall, Not Just Wisconsin’s: RWN
Citizens Want Wisconsin State Senators Recalled : CBN
Town hall 'rage' over spending: Politico

The White House’s hidden lobbyists: Fausta
Illinois sells bonds to the sharks: P&F
Van Jones on Wisconsin: 'Time to Draw a Line in the Sand': Loudon

Climate & Energy

It’s a Strategy, Not a Conspiracy: RS
If only someday we could develop a method to harness corn as a food: Wolf
Put the REINS on EPA: PJM

New Soros investment fund, profiting off Obama's 'green energy' push, hires top Obama energy aide: Carney
GE: "the for-profit arm of the Obama Administration": MoneyRunner
Soros joins private equity heavy in clean energy fund: CNet

Media

Attorney General Mark Levin: Won't Enforce Roe v. Wade: AmSpec
Obama Misspells Libya on Twitter Feed: WTH
Bailout: GM only earned a 'profit' on paper due to $45B backdoor bailout that MSM isn't reporting: BlogProf

Amidst layoff threats, teachers' union spends millions partying: Freddoso
New Lefty Hero Blogger Who Pranked WI Gov Says “F** the Troops,” Calls Them Murdering Rapists: WZ
Letter of the day: The plight of the conservative public school teacher: Malkin

The Rand Paul 'Chainsaw' Massacre: ABC's Apocalyptic Take on 'Radical,' 'Controversial' Senator: NewsBusters
Hate Is What Unions Sell: RWN (Huston)
Jack Cashill's Deconstructing Obama: Kerwick

World

Remember When Obama Earmarked $400K For Two Libyan Charities Run by Gaddafi’s Children?: WZ
Gaddafi: Shot or not?: Malkin
Reports: Most of Libya Under Rebel Control; Rebels Plan To Storm Tripoli: Ace

Will the domino effect reach Saudi Arabia?: Bruce Haigh
As a Share of Income, Americans Have the Most Affordable Food in World & It's Never Been Better: Carpe Diem
Middle East Chaos: What To Learn And What To Expect: Neithercorp

SciTech

Uncle Sam Wants YOU to Design a Military Rescue Vehicle: Fox
Jaw-dropping timeline vid shows Android growth: CNet
A Day Made of Glass: MoneyRunner

Cornucopia

Milwaukee Public Schools PSAT Test: Doswell
Is This A Macy's Ad, Or A Math Test?: Consumerist
A Real Motown Review by MOTUS: MOTUS

Image: 'More From Madison', John Tabin
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Tell Congress: Don't Raise the Debt Ceiling

QOTD: "Voters have spoken: In Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and across the heartland, they put Republican adults in charge of cleaning up profligate Democrat-engineered messes. Instead of defending their same old tax-hiking, union-protecting, spending-addicted ways, Democrats are crossing their state borders into big government sanctuary zones...

...The White House and Beltway Democrats have paved the way for subverting deliberative democracy, of course. If only Republicans in Wisconsin and Indiana had followed the Obama/Pelosi/Reid model and rammed their behind-closed-doors-crafted legislative agenda through in the middle of the night on a holiday weekend, the Fleebaggers wouldn't be on the lam today.

But GOP legislators just don't roll that way. It's Democrats who cut and run -- abroad in wartime and at home in crisis." --Michelle Malkin, "Cut-and-run Democrats flee Wisconsin"

Thursday, February 24, 2011

In the blue corner: public sector unions... bought-and-paid for Democrat hacks... and legacy media. In the red corner: the American taxpayer...

The union beat-downs of innocents continued today, proving that the violence isn't isolated. It's organized. Community organized, if you will. But maybe they can't help themselves. Maybe Sarah Palin made 'em do it.

Slapping an innocent cameraman, calling him an epithet and then threatening to sodomize him? Check.

Shoving around a 5'1" female blogger who dared to videotape a thuggish bully? Checkety-check

An SEIU thug knocking a Congressional candidate to the ground? Check. And. Mate.


Yes, this should really build a lot of sympathy and good will for the public sector union bosses who rake in hundreds of millions of dollars in dues money -- which they promptly spend on themselves and Democrat politicians in order to steal ever greater amounts of your hard-earned money.

Go pound sand.

There's no money, losers. You can raise taxes to 100% and there's still not enough to pay for your Rolls Royce pension and benefits.

Welcome to the real world.

And that goes double for you pathetic legacy media types who decried non-existent "violent rhetoric" by Sarah Palin after Tucson... but can't seem to find a single instance of actual leftist violence. What with all of your layer upon layer of fact-checking and such.

Get stuffed.


Misunderstanderer of Islam accused of attempting to use chemical weapons and IEDs in Lubbock, Texas

I, for one, blame the militant Quakers.

Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, 20, a citizen of Saudi Arabia and resident of Lubbock, Texas, was arrested late yesterday by FBI agents in Texas on a federal charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction in connection with his alleged purchase of chemicals and equipment necessary to make an improvised explosive device (IED) and his research of potential U.S. targets...

...The affidavit alleges that on Feb. 1, 2011, a chemical supplier reported to the FBI a suspicious attempted purchase of concentrated phenol by a man identifying himself as Khalid Aldawsari ... Frustrated by questions being asked over his phenol order, Aldawsari cancelled his order and later e-mailed himself instructions for producing phenol. The affidavit alleges that in December 2010, he successfully purchased concentrated nitric and sulfuric acids.

...Aldawsari used various e-mail accounts in researching explosives and targets, and often sent emails to himself as part of this process. On Feb. 11, 2011, for instance, he allegedly e-mailed himself a recipe for picric acid, which the e-mail describes as a "military explosive." He also allegedly sent himself an e-mail on Oct. 19, 2010 that contained information on the material required for Nitro Urea, how to prepare it, and the advantages of using it.

The affidavit alleges that Aldawsari also e-mailed himself instructions on how to convert a cellular phone into a remote detonator and how to prepare a booby-trapped vehicle using items available in every home. One e-mail allegedly contained a message stating that "one operation in the land of the infidels is equal to ten operations against occupying forces in the land of the Muslims..."

...Two legally authorized searches of Aldawsari's apartment conducted by the FBI in February 2011 indicated that the concentrated sulfuric and nitric acids; the beakers and flasks; wiring; Hazmat suit; and clocks were present in Aldawsari's residence.

FBI agents also found a notebook at Aldawsari's residence that appeared to be a diary or journal. According to the affidavit, excerpts from the journal indicate that Aldawsari had been planning to commit a terrorist attack in the United States for years. One entry describes how Aldawsari sought and obtained a particular scholarship because it allowed him to come directly to the United State and helped him financially, which he said "will help tremendously in providing me with the support I need for Jihad ... And now, after mastering the English language, learning how to build explosives and continuous planning to target the infidel Americans, it is time for Jihad."

In another entry, Aldawsari allegedly wrote that he was near to reaching his goal and near to getting weapons to use against infidels and their helpers. He also listed a "synopsis of important steps" that included obtaining a forged U.S. birth certificate; renting a car; using different driver's licenses for each car rented; putting bombs in cars and taking them to different places during rush hour; and leaving the city for a safe place.

...Aldawsari conducted research on various targets and e-mailed himself information on these locations and people. One of the documents he sent himself, with the subject line listed as "Targets," allegedly contained the names and home addresses of three American citizens who had previously served in the U.S. military and had been stationed for a time at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

In another e-mail titled "NICE TARGETS 01," Aldawsari allegedly sent himself the names of 12 reservoir dams in Colorado and California. In another e-mail to himself, titled "NICE TARGETS," he listed two categories of targets: hydroelectric dams and nuclear power plants. On Feb. 6, 2011, the affidavit alleges, Aldawsari sent himself an e-mail titled "Tyrant's House," in which he listed the Dallas address for former President George W. Bush. The affidavit also alleges that Aldawsari conducted research that could indicate his consideration of the use of infant dolls to conceal explosives and possible targeting of a nightclub with an explosive concealed in a backpack.

Let me venture a guess: this slimeball entered the U.S., enrolled in a chemistry curriculum, and learned how to wage Jihad thanks to one of President Obama's "outreach to the Muslim world" programs.

Which just about sums up this feckless administration in a sentence.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Golden ClimateGate: San Francisco preparing for cataclysmic results of global warming -- first snowfall in 35 years

Hide the women and children: looks like the Frisco area will experience an anomalous ice- and snow-storm indicative of warmal colding.

Last weekend, snow blanketed the Bay Area’s highest peaks, dusting Mount Tamalpais and Mount Diablo as it descended to elevations of 1,500 feet. The storm system dumped about 4 inches of rain on San Francisco.

Benjamin said the coming front would drop snow at even lower elevations, but added that predictions of snow below 1,000 feet would be “hit or miss.”

The weather service issued a Winter Weather Advisory for snow in the North Bay mountains from 4 p.m. Thursday to 10 a.m. Friday. Snow accumulations of 1 inch down to 1,000 feet with 2 to 4 inches above 1,500 feet elevation. Six inches or more for the higher hills above 2,500 feet...

I have a sneaking suspicion that Al Gore is visiting the area.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin and Weasel Zippers. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: Obama Recruits an Army Of Organizers for 2012

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

Obama Recruits an Army Of Organizers for 2012: Nice Deb
Look for the Union Fable: Coulter
Chicago’s One-Party Dictatorship Chooses New Leader: Moran

Daniels takes heat for 'caving' to labor: C&W
Mitch Daniels Says Jump, NRO Says How High: Riehl
Unions and the Right to Work: IBD

Waiting for Superman in Wisconsin: LBOC
Rats leaving sinking ship: DOE loses crony capitalist: AT
Attacks on the Tea Party Boomerang on Progressives: Sexton

Economy

Defunding Obama’s Union Led Regulatory Army: RWN
Get Public Sector Unions Out of Politics: Tapscott
'Get a little bloody:' It’s the union way: Malkin

Moveon.org, Van Jones call for march on all 50 state capitols: RS
Town Hall 'Rage' Over Spending: Politico
Tax Scofflaw WEAC Gouging the Taxpayer?: BigGovt

Racism, Incivility Aimed at Tea Party in Denver: LatL
Union Cash Driving Democrats to Run and Hide: RWN
ObamaCare Is Already Damaging Health Care: WSJ

Climate & Energy

Green jobs company endorsed by Obama and Biden squandered $535M in stimulus: DC
The Inflation Disaster Is Near: AT
Envirofascists Unveil Final Solution on Behalf of Spotted Owls: RWN

Media

Networks Stand with Wisconsin Unions, Ignore $1-3 Trillion Pension Deficit for Five Days: Instapundit
Lies about tea party come true in Wisconsin: Wingfield
2012 Ad Blitz for Obama Planned: WSJ

And A Subsequent Administration Can Decline To Defend ObamaCare: JOM
It’s About The Courts, Not Public Opinion For Supporters Of Gay Marriage: RWN
Malkin: Democrat Party crying in their Huggies Pull-Ups: RightScoop

West: 'America needs a strong leader that believes in the essence of being an American': Cubachi
Meeting Young Obama: John Drew
Will TSA Unionization Jeopardize Air Safety?: PJM

World

Where the Hell is Joe Biden?: Loud Talker
Obama’s Limp Wristed Response To The Bloodshed In Libya: RWN
Eve of Destruction: babalu

Israeli Apartheid Week, Students for Justice in Palestine, UCLA, February 23, 2011: AmPower
Christians Jailed for Preaching Christianity to Muslims in Michigan: EmCor
Who Attacked Lara Logan, and Why?: McCarthy

In Syria, Regime Squelches All Attempts at Protest: MEMRI
Cuba to lay off 500,000 in workers paradise: Hot Air
The Price of Weakness: AT (Capua)

SciTech

App Breakup Notifier Amasses Over 3.6M Users, Is Shut Down By Facebook: TechCrunch
Time line: A look back at Kinect's history: CNet
The Slow-Motion Internet: MIT TechReview

Cornucopia

WTF Episode 3: Down With the Struggle : Dewey
Chicago, Madison, Tripoli: Somewhere the Sun Don’t Shine: MOTUS
Cops arrest 11-year old for drawing, no one arrested for threatening to kill Walker or Palin: FA

Today's Celebrity Dictator: SondraK
The Fine: $100 — The Offense: Reciting the Gettysburg Address: Malkin
Facebook Uncloaked: BusinessPundit

Image: El Marco's Photo Essay
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Tell Congress: Don't Raise the Debt Ceiling

QOTD: "Two years and four months ago, President Obama was elected to enact his agenda; and four months ago, the Republicans were put in to dismantle it.

In the interim, the public had a big change of mind, which created the impasse. Each side has a mandate, and is hell-bent upon it, creating a situation unique in our history.

For the first time since the Civil War ended, the federal government and a large number of the states and their governors are at open and few-holds-barred war." -- Noemie Emery

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The Obama Doctrine Cheat Sheet

Just to keep everything straight in my mind... as I understand it, the Obama Doctrine consists of the president staying completely silent on:

...murders of peaceful protesters by Iran's vicious dictators
...murders of American evangelists by Somali pirates.
...Iran's continual threats to wipe America and Israel "off the face of the Earth"
...murders of Christian Copts by "freedom-loving" Egyptians
...incessant rocket attacks by Hamas into Israel
...the continued build-out of Iran's nuclear weapons program
...murders of Libyan civilians by the dictator Gaddafi
...the transit of the Suez Canal by Iranian warships in an outright provocation of Israel
...Iranian military personnel operating with impunity in Venezuela on missile technology
...a failed narco-terror state descending into civil war on our unprotected southern border
...being found in Contempt of Court by a federal judge over the Gulf drilling moratorium
...defying a de facto injunction by a federal judge who threw out all of Obamacare
...the union thugs who have issued countless threats against Governor Walker
...Democrats running from votes to avoid the November election results

However, the president is willing to courageously speak out on:
...How our Egyptian ally should leave office and/or stay but work on "an orderly transition"
...Israel's construction of apartments in its capital city
...How awesome unions are for Wisconsin
...How awesome the economic recovery is
...How awesome all of the new green jobs he's saved or created are

Crystal clear.


Bad Timing: California Teachers' Retirement System 'Is Insolvent'

And the hits just keep on coming for the Democrat Utopia of California. Businesses and wealthy citizens are fleeing. A two-time failed governor just got elected governor. The AFL-DNC controls the state, counties and most municipalities -- always the sign of exceptional governance.

And so it comes as quite a shock to find out that "CalSTRS - California State Teachers' Retirement System is Insolvent."

The time bomb of retiring teachers has gone off. Few admit it yet, but a pension reform group in California understands the problem, and taxpayers are on the hook.

As California school districts anticipate possibly the worst budget crisis in a generation, many will try to lighten their burden by enticing older teachers into retirement. But as more and more teachers retire -- with a pension averaging 55 percent to 60 percent of salary -- they will be straining a system that already can't meet its obligations.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System is sliding down a steep slope toward insolvency. The threat isn't to teachers who have retired or plan to, but to the people of California. Taxpayers, who already pick up 23 percent of CalSTRS expenses, will be increasingly burdened as the giant pension system fails to meet its obligations.

"We're on a path of destruction," said Marcia Fritz, president of pension-reform group California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility... And merely rejiggering formulas for new employees won't rescue the system, she said. Simply put: "We overpromised."

Among those promises, "Californians have typically given their public employees richer retirement benefits" than have other states, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office... Despite the looming disaster, CalSTRS is like an ocean liner that's slow and complicated to change course. Gov. Jerry Brown hasn't mentioned overhauling the system that benefits one of his major supporters, the teachers union. Nor has the Legislature taken up the issue...

...CalSTRS' formula, which is based largely on employee salary, age and longevity, tends to reward retirement at age 61½. For example, a teacher who has worked for 35 years, making $90,000 in her final year, could retire at age 62 and reap a $75,600 annual pension -- 84 percent of salary. Teachers can add to their pensions by "buying" additional years.

CalSTRS is not "headed" for insolvency. It "is" insolvent.

Well, if Trumka and the rest of the union fat-cats are right, all it will take is doubling taxes in California to fix this mess.


Chart: Mercury News.

Vicious, Female Conservative Activist Assaults Innocent Union Member Using Kung-Fu and Secret Ninja Arts

This is Tabitha Hale, a vicious, right-wing extremist who stands well over 5' tall. Actually Tabitha is a delightful, polite and well-spoken conservative who blogs at SmartGirlPolitics and also works with the taxpayer protection group FreedomWorks.

A veritable Who's Who list of public sector union hacks showed up at FreedomWorks' office today to protest their support for you -- the American taxpayer. The groups protesting included AFSCME, NEA, SEIU, AFT, ATU, the CWA and the Teamsters. In the midst of discussing the anti-freedom rally, Tabitha was assaulted on camera by this crackpot.

I sincerely hope she prosecutes.

Let me be the first to predict that you won't hear a peep about this incident from the mainstream media, which also happened to miss the scores of violent, hateful signs directed at Wisconsin's Governor Walker.

As Michelle Malkin reminds us, "They said it: 'Get a little bloody.' It’s the union way."

You can click here to support FreedomWorks and help defeat these radical Leftists at the polls in 2012. And remember to vote the straight Republican ticket to flush these big government-Democrat hacks from office at every level of the bureaucracy.

It's the only way to be sure.