Tuesday, April 19, 2011

'They lost in the Supreme Court, they lost in Congress, they lost at the FEC, so now the president is just going to do it by edict'

Is this, as tipster "D&S" calls it, "Obama's Rubicon"?

An "impeccable source" alerts former Department of Justice Attorney Hans von Spakovsky to an imminent presidential executive order that would implement portions of the "DISCLOSE Act".

You may recall the controversial bill that Democrats tried to ram through Congress last year. Its intent was to make it more difficult for private individuals to fund campaign commercials while simultaneously shielding unions from disclosure requirements. In other words, Democrats -- true to form -- intend to limit free speech unless it politically benefits them. Former FEC Chairman Brad Smith characterized the DISCLOSE Act as "Democrat Incumbents Seeking to Contain Losses by Outlawing Speech in Elections Now".

Having failed to limit private speech in the Supreme Court (the Citizens United decision), having failed to pass the DISCLOSE Act itself, and having failed to railroad the Federal Election Commission, the president and his sycophants are using other means to achieve their extra-constitutional ends.

An impeccable source has provided me with a copy of a draft Executive Order (PDF) that the White House is apparently circulating for comments from several government agencies. Titled “Disclosure of Political Spending By Government Contractors,” it appears to be an attempt by the Obama administration to implement — by executive fiat — portions of the DISCLOSE Act.

This was the bill introduced last year by Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Chris Van Hollen to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC. The bill had onerous requirements that were duplicative of existing law and burdensome to political speech. It never passed Congress because of principled opposition to its unfair, one-side requirements that benefited labor unions at the expense of corporations. Democratic commissioners at the Federal Election Commission then tried to implement portions of the bill in new regulations. Fortunately, those regulations were not adopted because of the united opposition of the Republican commissioners.

As my source says... " It really is amazing — they lost in the Supreme Court, they lost in Congress, they lost at the FEC, so now the president is just going to do it by edict."

The draft Executive Order says it is intended to “increase transparency and accountability,” an interesting claim given the fact that federal contractors are already completely barred by 2 U.S.C. § 441c from making [political contributions either directly or to third parties].

...The problem is that this will require companies to delve into the personal political activities of their officers and directors — and require them to report political contributions those employees have made, not out of corporate funds (which is illegal), but out of their personal funds.

And note that these disclosure requirements will only apply to companies that make bids on government contracts. Federal employee unions that negotiate contracts for their members worth many times the value of some government contracts are not affected by this order. Neither are the recipients of hundreds of millions of dollars of federal grants.

When it comes to the radical leftists controlling the Democrat Party, there really appears to be no limit to their disregard for the law.

The Democrats want 'transparency and accountability' requirements levied only upon their political enemies, presumably so that union thugs can harass private individuals. We saw them run this game-plan in Madison, where state officials were subjected to death threats and their homes picketed.

We are seeing the disintegration of the civil society occur right before our eyes.


Hat tip: D & S.

Stop-Action Photos: I can sometimes see the future, and what I see is an IRS Proctoscopy for WFAA Television Reporter Brad Watson

Lesson learned: don't ask the president difficult questions because he's likely to get 'prickly'.

Nobody interrupts POTUS: The outburst heard 'round the world


When the even-keeled and cool President Obama gets prickly in public, it never goes unnoticed... So it’s no surprise that Washington took notice when after a tense interview with a Texas TV reporter on Monday, Obama unclipped his microphone with no smile in sight, and tersely warned, “Let me finish my answers next time we do an interview, all right?”

Perhaps now we know why legacy media blistered Sarah Palin with complex, amorphous policy questions while simultaneously lobbing softballs to Obama.

Kudos to WFAA reporter Brad Watson for his straightforward questioning of the president.

Watson: Why do you think you're so unpopular in Texas?

A: Well, Texas has always been a... uhh... Republican state for... uhh... historic reasons... we, uhh, lost by a few percentage points in Texas --

Watson: ...Actually, you lost by about ten...

...

Watson: Was the shuttle not awarded to Houston due to politics?

A: I just said that wasn't true.

...

Watson: Are you going to campaign in Texas, or is the state written off?

A: I never write off... states and, uhh, I love, uhh, Texas.

Watson: After the interview, Obama pointed out that he doesn't like the interviewer challenging him (Obama: "Let me finish my answers the next time we're doing an interview.")

Has America ever had a more petulant and narcissistic man serve in the White House?

For you drones: that's a rhetorical question.


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

Larwyn's Linx: A San Francisco Tax Day Showdown

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Nation

A San Francisco Tax Day Showdown: Zombie
Obama Empire Strikes Back on HolderGate Report: PJM
The Single Most Terrifying Thing You'll Read About the Future: RWN

It's All Coming Apart: AT
Westboro Baptist Goes To Mississippi – And Loses: HayRide
If the Shoe Fits...: WZ

Economy

Taxpayers spent $400 billion complying with tax code: Foundry
Club for Growth: Trump Is No Conservative: NRO
Debt Clock in the House Chamber?: Malkin

Obama's 'deficit reduction' claim off by a trillion(+): Hennessey
And Then What?: Ace
LGF: Taxpayers Taking A Bath On GM Is Great News!: RWN

Geithner Confident GOP Will Cave on Debt Ceiling: RWN
Sterilization to be covered under ObamaCare: Ameristroika
If the unions have lost Detroit, they've lost. Period.: AT

Climate & Energy

UN to Debate Human Rights for ‘Mother Earth’ (to get out of paying those parking tickets): Malkin
Will California’s Cap & Trade System Be The First One To Ever Work? Ehr, No Stupid! Of Course, Not!: RWN
Are biofuel policies to help Mother Earth killing her most vulnerable children instead?: WUWT

Gov't Motors Energy Breakthrough - Chevy Volt Also Generates Thermal Energy: LegalIns
Good News! CFLs Now Reported To Release Cancer Causing Vapors!: RWN
EPA: Jobs Don't Matter: IBD

Media

Patient Obama: Hanson
How to Nail Obama On His Lies: Ace
Time Magazine Declares Icemakers to Be a Threat to the Planet: RWN

Donald Trump Is Nothing More Than A Self Promoter, and Let’s End the Birther Nonsense: RWN
Palin: Fresh Breeze In Wisconsin: IBD
AP headline: Super rich see federal taxes drop dramatically. Alternate Headline...: BlogProf

LA Times Reporter Wins Pulitzer For Exposing Corrupt Democrats: GWP
How Do You Solve A Problem Like Donald Trump?: OTB
Coffee Party Protest in Chicago Draws 20 People: JWF

World

Khamenei Rep: ‘Bahrain Primed To Spur Return of Twelfth Imam’: Kahlili
Is George Soros a Communist Agent?: Loudon
U.S. Gov't Agency Plans $2.84 Billion Loan for Oil Refinery—In Colombia: CNS

Monroe Wept: Brazil, Argentina Play Nice with Iran: PJM
Brazil: Iranian cleric recruiting for Islam…in time for the World Cup and the Olympics: Fausta
Andres Serrano's picture of Christ suspended in urine is destroyed in France: AT

SciTech

Dropped iPhone Calls Really Are an AT&T Thing: Fool
Tata: Building an auto empire in India: Fortune
WikiLeaks Cable about Chinese Hacking of U.S. Networks: Schneier

Cornucopia

Caution: Some Easter Spheres may be rotten: Cube
Video: Man spotted ironing his shirts on the M1: AutoBlog
Make Your Kid Rich With a Roth IRA: Forbes

Image: Zombie
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Washington State -- Still Looking for Marizela

Monday, April 18, 2011

Paul Krugman: How Dare Those Idiots at S&P Downgrade Their Outlook on U.S. Debt -- Don't They Know I Won a Nobel Prize?

For a guy who purports to be an economist, Paul Krugman seems far better suited to the role of propagandist. After markets were roiled today when Standard & Poor's shifted its outlook on U.S. debt to "Negative", Krugman reacted with haste and his usual attention to, uhm, detail.

You see, Krugman's a proponent of even more deficit spending and unchecked, centralized government. As such, he treats the very rational reactions to U.S. deficit spending by rating agencies as personal affronts.

OK, so Standard and Poors [sic] has warned that it might downgrade the US one of these days. At first read, what it says doesn’t seem too silly: it lays stress, rightly, on political gridlock. The point should be that the US is perfectly capable both of running large deficits now and getting its fiscal house in order over time; but not if the parties cannot agree on any kind of solution. What we do to spending this year or next is irrelevant.

That said, it’s worth remembering that S&P downgraded Japan in 2002 — and here’s what happened:

Japanese bonds became known as the “trade of death”, because people kept betting on an interest rate rise, and it kept not happening.

So, no big deal.

No big deal.

Dimwit (or propagandist) that he is, Olberkrugmann omits four salient details as context:

• Japan has a huge domestic market for its bonds as its citizens routinely convert savings into government bonds for patriotic reasons, not necessarily because they're sound investments.

• The Obama deficit spending is far worse than we've generally been led to believe: "The bottom line, and probably the main reason for the implicit S&P downgrade of the US, is that comparison [of] the President's budget to the CBO baseline indicates that deficits are expected to rise by 41% over the next 10 years: the CBO projects a deficit of $6.7 trillion while the President's number is $9.5 trillion, a 41% increase or $2.7 trillion." Oops.

• There's a sovereign debt crisis unfolding as we speak with the Greek 2-year bond yield passing 20 freaking percent today.

• And true inflation -- not the bogus "CPI" number -- is running wild with oil, gold, silver, and many food commodities all spiking.

This kind of note from Krugman reminds us why he omits his most important experience from his bio: serving as economic adviser to Enron.


Reuters: 'Capitalism is failing the middle class'

Someone at Reuters named 'Chrystia Freeland' -- if that is her real name -- wasted thousands of bytes of valuable web real estate the other day relaying a study that found 'Capitalism is failing the middle class'. It's as if she believes our economic system really is capitalism:

Global capitalism isn’t working for the American middle class. That isn’t a headline from the left-leaning Huffington Post, or a comment on Glenn Beck’s right-wing populist blackboard. It is, instead, the conclusion of a rigorous analysis bearing the imprimatur of the U.S. establishment: the paper’s lead author is Michael Spence, recipient of the Nobel Prize in economic sciences, and it was published by the Council on Foreign Relations...

...Spence and his co-author, Sandile Hlatshwayo, examined the changes in the structure of the U.S. economy, particularly employment trends, over the past 20 years. They found that value added per U.S. worker increased sharply during that period – 21 per cent for the economy as a whole, and 44 per cent in the “tradable” sector, which is geek-speak for those businesses integrated into the global economy. But even as productivity soared, wages and job opportunities stagnated.

Put yourself back in time 20 years. Take away your cellphone, your flat-screen, your car that does 0-60 in under 8 seconds, your Internet connection, your incredible selection of foods at the local grocery store, and every other innovation of our magnificent (capitalist) free market system.

Is the average worker really worse off now than 20 years ago? Could their quality of life truly be characterized as "stagnant"?

Of course not.

The headline should read 'Crony Capitalism is Failing the Middle Class'.

We've seen decade after decade of bigger, more centralized, government in the United States. The federal government has become so unmoored from the Constitution that it would be well nigh unrecognizable to our nation's founders.

Consider the tentacles that intertwine Goldman Sachs and the U.S. Treasury Department. Or General Electric and the Department of Health and Human Services.

The free market hasn't failed "the middle class" (whoever that is - and, by the way, that phrasing is prototypical Marx-Alinsky class warfare rhetoric).

Monstrous government programs have failed Americans: from disastrous housing debacles like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; the control of more and more elements of the energy sector in the name of a "global warming" fraud; "financial reform" authored by the likes of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd; further centralization of the health care industry; the failing welfare state; open borders; Social Security, Medicare, and dozens of other programs that are little more than legalized Ponzi schemes.

If Americans can ever restrain the government to its constitutional duties, we might truly unleash the "middle class".

What we have today is an out-of-control leviathan of a federal government, mandating our light bulbs, electric cars, low-flow shower heads, what kinds of insurance we must buy, and controlling literally every aspect of our lives.

It's not capitalism that's at fault. It's a bloated federal government and its pal, crony capitalism.


Larwyn's Linx: I Repeat to the Trumka-Obama Class War Cult: Go To Hell

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

I Repeat to the Trumka-Obama Class War Cult: Go To Hell: Breitbart
Tea Time in Wisconsin: NoisyRoom
NC Marines, Army Families Hard Hit by Storms: WZ

PalinTracker: Into the Breach: PJM
President Whatever finds things not going his way: Barone
Fire John Boehner!: JPA

DOJ Source: Muslim 'Outreach' Hurt Terror Investigations: PJM
Protest fashion — pick your favorite from yesterday's event: Althouse
President Obama to ignore 'czar' ban: Politico

Economy

Atlas is Shrugging in California: AmPower
The Benevolence of Greedy Capitalism: TL in Exile
Geithner: GOP leaders say they'll raise the debt ceiling: Hill

Half of All Americans Pay No Taxes, May Get Refund Anyway: GWP
The Obvious Answer to New Jersey’s Pension Mess: Bury
CT Labor Battle Highlights Ticking Time Bomb: RS

Climate & Energy

Oil Without Apologies: WSJ
Gore compares global warming to civil rights movement...: C&S
Unpopular Pat Quinn still taking shots at Scott Walker: Marathon

Media

‘Obama is Not as Nice as He Looks’: Driscoll
The Media is Not, Repeat Not, Biased Against ‘Tea Party Radicals’: Powers
The AP Ponders the "Super Rich": Power Line

Al-Jazeera has fans in Obama W.H.: Politico
Jon Huntsman for President! (of the MSM): Malkin
Democrats' Disgust With Obama: Beast

Content Warning Not Strong Enough for This Video of Leftist Freakout at Oregon Tea Party Rally: Blaze
Film review: Atlas Shrugged: Hot Air
Just finished seeing Atlas Shrugged: DPU

Paul Krugman Calls for the Assassination of Paul Ryan: RS
Tea Party Sues Coldwater, MI For Idiocy And Banning Free Speech, But Mostly For Banning Free Speech: RWN
Obama’s latest words of wisdom:: DPU

World

A Communist Conspiracy?: Nyquist
De facto Sharia in London: ProWis
As Putin Crushes Russia’s Internet, Obama Stands By: PJM

Mexican Drug Cartels Targeting Children: PJM
Say “Goodbye” to the Dollar: Loudon
Oceania has never been at War with Abu Ghraib: Driscoll

How Vittorio Arrigoni Went to Gaza Hoping to Die: PJM
FEC to Investigate Atlas Disclosure: Obama's Millions in Foreign Campaign Contributions: Atlas
Zhou Pledges More Tightening; Moody's downgrades China Property: Mish

SciTech

Windows 8: Portable Workspace allows you to run Windows from a USB device: WinRumors
Awesome 1000 horsepower Chevy powered Ferrari 360 is awesome: Jalopnik
FlyNano: FlyNano

Cornucopia

Saturday Automotivators: RWN
Deconstructing our First Ladies of Lightness: MOTUS
Film claims discovery of nails from Jesus's cross: Maktoob

I'm Ready for My Closeup: iOTW
Ode to the One-Piece Bathing Suit: DPU (NSFW)
Why God Gave Us Ray Guns: C&S

Image: iOwnTheWorld
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: MichelePAC

QOTD: "Barack Obama says we need to 'win the future,' and one more roll of the dice should do it: a trillion dollars of chips on the stimulus came up empty but let’s pile another couple trillion on Obamacare, and 'high-speed rail,' and 'green jobs,' and 'broadband access' . . . And all the while Wayne Newton is singing 'Danke Schoen' in Chinese. But don’t worry, we’re not just throwing our money away. We’re playing to a system! The president calls it 'investing in the future.'

How do you 'invest in the future'? By borrowing $188 million every hour. That’s what the government of the United States is doing. It’s spending one-fifth of a billion dollars it doesn’t have every hour of every day of every week — all for your future!" --Mark Steyn

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Mission Accomplished! Gas Surpasses $4/Gallon Throughout the U.S.

Kids, I finally found a policy position that the President hasn't lied about. Candidate Obama wasn't kidding when he said that energy prices 'would necessarily skyrocket' under his regime of manufactured shortages, drilling bans, cap-and-trade, and refinery shutdowns.

Gas in 6 states, nation's capital tops $4 a gallon


Add New York to the growing list of states where gas prices are topping $4 per gallon.

On Sunday, the Empire State became the sixth state to top $4 for the average price of a gallon of gas, joining Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii and Illinois, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge. The average price of gas also rose to more than $4 per gallon in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.

...The next states to join the list could be Michigan, which has gas for $3.95 per gallon on average, and Indiana, where the average price is $3.94. Nevada, Washington and Wisconsin are close behind... Hawaii has the highest price in the U.S. at $4.48 per gallon. Wyoming has the lowest, at $3.54.

The national average for gas has increased for 26 straight days, and is now at $3.83 per gallon. That's up 29 cents from a month ago. Retail surveys suggest motorists are reacting to higher prices now by buying less fuel. Still, the government expects pump prices to keep climbing this summer as vacationers take to the highways...

No one in the Gulf region is surprised by these developments.

Gulf Coast lawmakers and drilling industry officials say a "de facto moratorium" remains in effect, stifling an industry that accounts for thousands of jobs in the region.

Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee... said 12 drilling rigs have left the Gulf because Interior officials aren't acting quickly enough to approve drilling permits... Hastings and Sen. David Vitter, R-La., are pushing legislation that would speed the permit process in the Gulf, where Vitter said "we still have a virtual shutdown."

The slowdown in the permitting process is intentional and its results will be disastrous for not only the Gulf Coast, but the entire U.S. economy.


Chart: GasBuddy.com

Finally: an Honest 'Stimulus' Construction Sign

Courtesy of Woody, a truly honest construction sign for the American Recovery and Ripoff Act of 2009.

It would be great to have these printed up as full-sized stickers. Interested parties could then overlay them on the ridiculously commonplace construction signs to remind people where this money is really coming from.

Hat tip: Boy Moto.

Linked by: Weasel Zippers. Thanks!

Inside a Chinese Wal-Mart

America has the funniest-looking shoppers. But China has the coolest inventory.

Don't bother surfing over to Snopes. It's just too good to check.


Hat tip: Larry.

And now a message from our sponsor, Government Motors

Timeline Illustrates Precisely Why We Need a New Speaker: John Boehner's Profile in Ineptitude

Can someone send a copy of Negotiating for Dummies to Speaker Boehner? Please consider the Speaker's feckless statements and actions over the last several months -- after being handed his position by a huge groundswell of conservative support known as the Tea Party movement.

1/7/2011: Boehner Doubles Down On Promise To Cut $100 Billion: "Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) yesterday doubled down on $100 billion in cuts. 'No ifs, ands or buts about it,' he said."

2/20/2011: House Approves $61 Billion Spending Cuts, Raising Risk of Federal Shutdown: "Senate Democrats already have said they won’t accept the cuts in the $1.2 trillion spending bill, and Obama’s budget office has threatened a presidential veto. "

3/2/2011: Boehner: Compromise Will Trim GOP’s $61 Billion Budget Cuts: "Responding to a question Tuesday about whether he foresees the House ultimately budging from the $61 billion figure, the Ohio Republican did not say that the chamber would hold firm when the Senate returns their proposal, which will likely include less than a $61 billion reduction in spending levels."

3/10/2011: Tea Party pressures Boehner in budget battle: "Complaints by Tea Party Republicans have already forced Boehner to almost double the amount of spending cuts proposed this year from $32 billion."

4/4/2011: Boehner says $33 billion in cuts is not enough: "I’ve made clear that their $33 billion is not enough and many of the cuts that the White House and Senate Democrats are talking about are full of smoke and mirrors. That’s unacceptable," the Speaker said.

4/7/2011: Interviewed on ABC News, Speaker Boehner vows not to shut down the government over a 2011 "continuing resolution" budget impasse: "I've said that 1,000 times since the first of the year. I do not want to shut the government down. I think that is irresponsible." [Ed: As an aside, the government has been shut down numerous times in recent years including a 21-day impasse during the Clinton administration.]

4/12/2011: Boehner touts fact that ''Budget Agreement Eliminates Funding for Obama Czars' as a reason to support the continuing resolution budget deal.

4/14/2011: Boehner: I’m standing by the $38 billion number: Boehner stands by the $38 billion in cuts, saying that this was really "$78.5 billion less than what the president wanted to spend... [and that he was] very disappointed in [Obama’s] speech yesterday,"

4/15/2011: CBO Says Spending Cuts Aren't As Advertised: "The Congressional Budget Office reports that the $38 billion in cuts to the budget for the current fiscal year will actually reduce this year's deficit by only about $352 million."

4/16/2011: Boehner’s office is not surprised Obama found a way to circumvent Congress, according to a staffer. A spokesman for Boehner said that the Speaker was not surprised that Obama has chosen to ignore the budget rider eliminating funding for the "Czars".

In other words, Boehner held the trump card -- a partial shutdown of the government -- in his hands and threw it away. Without leverage, he was unable to live up to anything resembling his promises. Promises that the American people support and demand.

As Paul Ryan put it after witnessing the president's hyper-partisan campaign speech on Wednesday, "the gauntlet has been thrown down" by Obama. He's gone all in. The big entitlement programs and the American economic system itself are headed for collapse. That's not what I say. That's what Peter Orszag, Obama's former economic adviser, says: 'If policymakers will not act before we have a fiscal crisis at the federal level, a fiscal crisis we will ultimately have.'

We need a new Speaker of the House. Someone who understands that we're up against true sixties radicals. These are people who want to see the whole society burn down. Because that's where we're headed without a major course correction.

We need a fighter and a competent negotiator. Boehner has proven that he ain't it.

How does Speaker of the House Allen West sound?


Chart: the Power of Drudge to Move Stock Prices?

If there's any site that personifies the power of the 'new media' it's The Drudge Report:

The Power Of A Link: How Mere Mention By Drudge Can Send A Stock Price Tumbling


Coincidence? Maybe. But there’s no denying the stories Matt Drudge puts on his Drudge Report get plenty of attention. For bloggers and media types, a Drudge link feels like winning the lottery–suddenly the world’s at your door, eagerly consuming your content. But what if the content in that Drudge link is bad news about your business? Well, that’s a lot of eyeballs reading something you’d rather see buried. Instead, the Drudge link can grab hold of your stock price and sink it six feet under.

Take, for instance, General Motors... Every time Drudge links to a lousy story–like the April 10 story in The Wall Street Journal about a Chevy that lost its steering wheel–the carmaker’s stock falls faster down the edge of the mountain:

So the lesson’s clear–at least for auto makers–make sure your steering wheels stay on tight, and try to get ignored by The Drudge Report.

Uhm, dude. A better approach: try making cars that people want to buy and you won't have to fear publicity.

Larwyn's Linx: Palin to Obama: You ignored us in 2010, but won't in 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

Palin to Obama: You ignored us in 2010, but won't in 2012!: TRS
Scott Walker Won't Be Recalled, Will Be A Top VP Contender: LegalIns
The Importance Of Donald Trump To GOP Politics: Riehl

Obama: I voted as a Senator to help my career, not the country: AT
Loser Charlie Crist Supporting Allen West's Opponent: WZ
From Evil War Criminal to Democratic Hope: Instapundit

Palin to union members: Walker is saving your jobs!: Cubachi
Rubio blasts Obama at Tea Party rally: Cubachi
Palin in Madison: Veni, Vidi, Vici: Pethokoukis

Economy

Damning Documents Found: Stimulus-funded Gunrunner Project: GWP
A Modern Fairy Tale: Fat in Indiana
My Challenge to Liberals: RightSphere

Preference Cascades and Forbidden Thoughts: Ace
The Anti-Reagan: PJM
GM's new cars: burning up, falling apart, recalled: Uncov

Tax Day Tea Party Protests

New York City Tax Day Tea Party 2011: UrbInf
Tax Day Rallies in Mission Viejo and Oceanside — Stop Spending Money!: AmPower
Welcome to the Tampa Tax Day Tea Party! : Tackett

Climate & Energy

Energy: A Tale of Two Narratives: AT
Can “Extreme Weather” Cause Tectonic Movement?: RWN
April snowstorm closes Interstate-70. Who knew Al Gore was visiting Kansas?: Wolf

Media

Republican Says Obama2011™ Signing Statement Not Constitutional; Obama2008™ Agrees: Malkin
Obama's Speech Was Meant to Reassure the Left: Cost
Hey Anna Wintour! Great Timing on That Mrs. Assad Profile: Manolo

Obama in Leaked Audio: 'Just Try to Repeal ObamaCare,' I Dare You: PunditP
Counter-Counter-Revolutionaries in Wisconsin: Instapundit
“Inappropriate and Denigrating”: RWN

Mark Levin on Why Trump Is the Worst Candidate Ever: Patterico
Best Sentence CXI: RWN
Allen West raises an impressive amount in the first quarter: Cubachi

World

'We Will Conquer The Netherlands': GoV
The Insurrection Is On, But the Masochists are Running the Government: Ledeen
The Fruits of Baathism and Arab Nationalism: JOdysseus

Hezbollah Leader Nasrallah Defends Ties to Syria & Iran – Tells Guerillas to Be Prepared to Invade Israel: GWP
Top GOP Rep: if Palestinians Use UN to Declare Statehood US Aid to Both Could Be Cut: WZ
UC Irvine Students Charged With Disrupting Israeli's Speech Say 'Muslim' An Islamophobic Codeword: WZ

SciTech

Computer Glitch Turns Nissan Leaf Into Non-Starter: TAC
iPhone 4 About To Be Flickr’s Top Camera. Point & Shoots? Pretty Much The Opposite.: Crunch
What App Developers Want: Letters To Steve Jobs And Larry Page: Crunch

Cornucopia

I Still Don’t Think This Will Help: iOTW
Red Flags Popping Up All Over Bank of America: CNBC
How to Launder Money: FPTCI

Image: The People's Cube
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Public Podcast: Sarah Palin’s Madison Tea Party Speech

QOTD: "Our president isn’t leading; he’s punting on this debt crisis. Win the future? The only future he wants to win is his re-election." --Sarah Palin

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Stiff Upper Lip

Papa B:

You have to hand it to the Brits when it comes to golf. This notice was posted in war-torn Britain in 1940 in a north-country golf club.

German aircraft from Norway would fly on missions to northern England; because of the icy weather conditions, the barrels of their guns had a small dab of wax to protect them. As they crossed the coast, they would clear their guns by firing a few rounds at the golf courses. Golfers were urged to take cover.


Cojones!

Obama: Yeah, I know Democrats Agreed to the 2011 Spending Deal, But the Speaker's an Idiot for Believing We'd Abide By It

The GOP Old Guard can't seem to understand that it -- and we -- are engaged in an all-out war with the radical left. Today's Democrats are true believers. They're former members of Students for a Democrat Society. Sympathizers with the Weather Underground. And inspired by other counter-revolutionaries dedicated to burning the United States Constitution.

Of that there is more than enough proof: their support of ACORN and other organizations whose sole purpose is vote fraud; their cynical advocacy for illegal immigration; and their willingness to violate the nation's highest law whenever possible.

So not only did the feckless Speaker of the House, John Boehner, get screwed on the 2011 budget deal... Not only did he pull his most powerful weapon -- shutting down the non-essential portions of the government temporarily -- off the table... But, worse, it turns out that parts of the budget deal, including riders agreed upon to by Democrats and Republicans, will be ignored by President Obama.

One rider [to the bill] – Section 2262 — de-funds certain White House adviser positions – or “czars.” The president in his signing statement declares that he will not abide by it.

This raises an extremely serious constitutional question: if Congress has refused to fund the “czars,” where exactly does President Obama get the authority and funding to pay them?

...Remember Iran-Contra? The problem for the Reagan Administration there was that Congress banned the president from allocating money to the Contras. The Administration, quite illegally in my view, tried to get around that ban by using funds from arm sales to Iran to subvert the Congressional ban.

At least the Reagan Administration had the decency to do this secretly, knowing that it was acting unconstitutionally. Moreover, the Reagan folks at least were able to claim that they technically weren’t violating the Congressional ban, because they weren’t using Congressionally allocated funds, but the proceeds from arms sales.

The Obama Administration, by contrast, seems to be brazenly violating the Constitution. As I tell my constitutional law students, Congress’s ultimate power is the power of the purse. If Congress objects, for example, to military action engaged in by the president, it can simply refuse to allocate funds.

But the Obama Administration’s position seems to be that so long as it issues a signing statement refusing to abide by restrictions on funding that it deems to interfere with executive prerogatives, it can simply create the funding out of thin air...

...This is a very dangerous position for the Executive branch to take, and I hope even Obama partisans will recoil at this ... If Obama had such serious constitutional objections to Section 2262, he had only one constitutionally proper move to make, and that was to veto the bill.

...the principle that Obama seems to be asserting, that the president can allocate money from budgetary funds even when the law says he can’t, goes beyond the constitutional sins of the Reagan Administration.

Will the GOP leadership ever comprehend what it's up against?

And summing it up for the drones out there: if you objected to Iran-Contra -- and if you have an ounce of integrity -- you would speak up against this outrage.

Who among you Democrats is brave enough to denounce the behavior of this president?


Update: "Boehner last week: the budget deal “eliminates the salaries and expenses of the “czars”’ — Boehner this week: “It’s not surprising that the White House...is objecting to eliminating them”"


Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Another Leftist Meme Obliterated: 'Evil' Health Insurers Reject Far Less Health Care Claims Than... Medicare

You know, back in the day, Democrats and Donald Trump got lots of mileage out of the "Bush Lied" meme. But even a partial list of the current president's lies boggles the mind of an independent observer.

And when it comes to health care, among his favorite talking points are that health insurers are out to deny claims ("More and more Americans pay their premiums, only to discover that their insurance company has dropped their coverage when they get sick, or won’t pay the full cost of care. It happens every day.") and that Medicare is the most awesome health plan evah. Turns out, like so many of his fabrications, those assertions are pure, unmitigated horse manure.

According to the American Medical Association’s National Health Insurer Report Card for 2008, the government’s health plan, Medicare, denied medical claims at nearly double the average for private insurers: Medicare denied 6.85% of claims. The highest private insurance denier was Aetna @ 6.8%, followed by Anthem Blue Cross @ 3.44, with an average denial rate of medical claims by private insurers of 3.88%

In its 2009 National Health Insurer Report Card, the AMA reports that Medicare denied only 4% of claims—a big improvement, but outpaced better still by the private insurers. The prior year’s high private denier, Aetna, reduced denials to 1.81%—an astounding 75% improvement—with similar declines by all other private insurers, to average only 2.79%.

Maybe there’s something to be said for the need to keep your customers satisfied in order to make that profit after all.

Paul Ryan's budget plan is as good a start as any. It protects those in or near retirement and starts privatizing the rest. It offers means-tested subsidies for those truly in need and lets the free market (you know, drones -- competition) work its magic.

Ask any physician how they like Medicare and you're likely to get cursed at -- or worse. The data shows that Medicare and, by extension, Obamacare, are far worse for patients than private health insurance.

It's an immutable fact. Government-run health care combines the convenience of the Department of Motor Vehicles with the efficiency of a Poliburo-style central planning committee. The result will be a lawful Ponzi scheme that necessarily entails misery, rationing and premature deaths. Period.

History, logic, facts and reason are all on the side of conservatives. Conversely, hope, unicorns and mythology appear to be the only philosophical tenets of the modern, Soros-controlled Democrat Party.


Hat tip: Mark Levin.

Larwyn's Linx: What Progressives Don't Understand

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 Progressives Don't Understand: iOTW
Over: Kloppenburg Loses to Prosser (& Truman)(& Palin): LegalIns
Picking the wrong Batman villain: Lane

All in: House passes Paul Ryan’s 2012 budget, 235-193: Hot Air
Obama signs budget, says he will disregarding czar rider: RWN
RINO Huntsman's presidential campaign ends abruptly: GWP

Major Democrat signs up to repeal ‘Real Death Panel’: DC
As Prosser Wins, the Dems Get the Blame for Wisconsin: PJM
Trump: We Need A Health Care System Like What Canada Has: OTB

Economy

Goodbye, AmeriCorps. Hello, FoodStampCorps.: Malkin
GM: the wheels are (literally) coming off: RWN
Unreal: Obama to tour country lecturing on deficit reduction: GWP

In Texas 70% of Illegal Aliens Receive Welfare: GWP
Shared Prosperity: Noisy Room
Automatic Tax Increase?: Power Line

The Toxic Influence of Progressives on K-12 Curricula: AT
BRICS Meet in China to Plan a New World Currency: WZ
Expert: U.S. should 'give up on the dollar': Fortune

Climate & Energy

The UN 'disappears' 50 million climate refugees, then botches the disappearing attempt: WUWT
EPA Admits It Doesn’t Care About Jobs: Foundry
Your Automatic Ice Maker Is Bad For Globull Warming: RWN

Media

Howler of the Day: Obama Accuses Republicans of Turning U.S. into Thirld World Nation: VR
Obama’s Approval Rating Hits All Time Low; Search for Cool Phone Intensifies: Malkin
Democrat New Tone: Penn. Pol. Asks if She Can Kill a Colleague, ‘Blow His Brains Out’: RWN

Obama Predicts: “American People Will Feel That I Deserve a Second Term”: WZ
Obama Announces Intent To Commit (Another) Impeachable Offense: RWR
White House: When Obama said Paul Ryan is 'not on the level,' he meant Ryan is 'absolutely sincere': York

Disturbing: The Ninth Circuit Arizona Immigration Law Decision: PJM
Tim Scott (R-SC) is right: even taxing those who make $100K+ at 100% wouldn't address this year’s deficit: BlogProf
Jail For Toys: GM's Place

World

Dreams from our President: Mudville
Bomber Murders 25 Muslims at Prayer Today in Malaysia’s First Mosque Suicide Attack: GWP
Trust Fund Moonbats Lobby for Those Who Earned Their Wealth to Be Looted: RWN

Whitewashing the U.N.: Bayefsky
Report: Hundreds of Christian, Hindu Girls Victims of Forced Conversions to Islam in Pakistan: WZ
Egypt: Muslims protest appointment of Christian governor, threaten to bar him from entering province: JihadWatch

Missouri: ACLU promotes Islam, sharia at Muslim Capitol Day: Creeping
Immigrants Are Subject Of Tough Bill in Georgia: Dollard
Arizona Muslim Who Honor Killed Daughter Gets 34½ Years: WZ

SciTech

Moonbat Tech: Tandem Urinal–Sink: MB
Top-rated reviews of the week (photos): CNet
3 online poker houses face fraud charges in NYC: Yahoo!

Study: 25% Of Meat Sold In Groceries Contains Drug-Resistant Bacteria: Consumerist
J.D. Power: Porsche Best Car In The Industry But Not a Winner: Forbes
What Was Larry Page Thinking on Yesterday’s Earnings Call?: Forbes

Cornucopia

New Not-So-Federal Holiday: Zilla
Rainbow Tush: iOTW (NSFW)
Arguing With a Liberal: MNB

Image: Sad Hill News
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: The Heritage Foundation Tax Day Infographic

Friday, April 15, 2011

Quick! Read This Before Reuters "Corrects" It! [Dan from New York]

Dan from New York:

This story is notable only because Reuters and most other Western media set such a low standard for honesty in their reporting of news about Israel and the Middle East. One sentence in particular stands out:

Hamas, whose diehard hostility to Israel has deepened the isolation and poverty of Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians.

Strange, but that is where they normally slug in the boilerplate:

Israeli hostility has deepened the isolation and poverty of Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians.

The story also hints at the disquieting possibility of an even more radical group than Hamas gaining strength in Gaza. Left to our imagination, though, is how that development means yet another nail in the coffin of the "peace process."

Anyhow, I suggest you read this story now, before Reuter’s London editors realize their mistakes and get back on message.

Al Qaeda Sympathizers Kill Abducted Italian Activist


GAZA (Reuters) – Hamas found the body on Friday of a pro-Palestinian Italian activist who was killed by al Qaeda sympathizers in the Gaza Strip, raising questions about the Islamist group's control over the beleaguered enclave.

...A Jihadist Salafi group in Gaza aligned with al Qaeda had threatened on Thursday to execute Arrigoni unless their leader, detained by Hamas last month, was freed... It was an unprecedented challenge for Hamas, whose diehard hostility to Israel has deepened the isolation and poverty of Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians.

..."Gaza is safe and I want to assure all visitors to Gaza that they are safe and secure," Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister, told a French journalist... But the Salafi group has already threatened more violence.

...[Some] fear that radicals who want Gaza to be an Islamic theocracy are bold enough to challenge Hamas over what they consider its lack of religious fervour.

... "The forces moved quickly and wisely to the place but found that the abducted man was killed hours earlier in an ugly manner," Ghssain said. [Ed: “ugly manner” = they cut his head off in the usual way.]

I presume the Al Qaeda-slash-Hamas-slash-Fatah-slash-Islamic Jihad terrorists were only angry because of the Italian occupation of Palestine.

You say that it's not an Italian occupation of Palestine?

Never mind.


Leftist Numb-Skull Polling Outfit: Donald Trump Wins GOP Nomination! Mike Huckabee a Close Second!

They wish.

Trump's broken the perpetual gridlock we've found at the top of the Republican field, getting 26% to 17% for Mike Huckabee, 15% for Romney, 11% for Newt Gingrich, 8% for Sarah Palin, 5% for Ron Paul, and 4% for Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty.

Trump may be a master showman, but a conservative candidate he ain't.

The man had high praise for Barack Obama in 2008.

"Bush has been so bad, maybe the worst president in the history of this country. He has been so incompetent, so bad, so evil that I don't think any Republican could have won," Trump told NY1.com in an exclusive Nov. 11, 2008, interview... "You know, you can be enemies with people, whether it's Iran, Iraq, or anyplace else and you can still have dialogue. These people wouldn't even talk with him. It's terrible," he said.

Regarding Obama, Trump said, "I think [he's] going to lead through consensus. It's not going to be just a bull run like Bush did. He just did whatever the hell he wanted.

Yeah, Trump's a frickin' genius.

As recently as last year, Trump contributed to the campaigns of the vicious Leftist hacks Charles "Schmucky" Schumer (which is the nickname he prefers, I hear) and Anthony "Horschack" Weiner.

As for the budget deficit, arguably our most pressing crisis, Trump is all but incoherent.

Folks, this election is too important to throw the dice on a modern-day P.T. Barnum. We need a serious, Constitutional conservative. Of the current set of possibilities, I see only Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Mike Pence, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, and Allen West as nominees I could support. Now, some aren't running this year. But some will. And I will support any of them over the hucksters and phonies the Beltway insiders and legacy media are supporting.

The stakes are too damn high in this election.


Hat tips: Memeorandum and Mark Levin.

Indonesia: One Dead, 29 Wounded in Suicide Bombing to Protest Zionist Occupation of Java

Those clever Zionists must have confused the poor suicide bomber -- Gaza and Java are spelled so similarly!

I mean, how else can the Left blame the vicious attack inside an Indonesian mosque on Israel -- and not its real cause? Xinhua reports the gory details.

The suicide bombing in a mosque at a police station in West Java province killed the alleged bomber and injured 29 people, police said Friday.

Six of the wounded were in serious conditions, including the Cirebon district police chief, provincial police chief Suparni Parto told reporters here... National Police chief Timor Pradopo said security at other police stations and crowded areas in the province would be strengthened so as to prevent similar attacks.

...While standing in the second line of prayers in the mosque, the alleged bomber blew himself up with a bomb that was packed with nails and other metal objects.

"When I tried to move to the second line of the prayers, someone moved there before me, and then the bomb exploded," said 50-year-old Singgih who survived the attack.

He suffered from multiple wounds in the front of his body because the bomber was standing right before him... "Many people at the first line were hurt at their back," said Singgih at a local hospital.

I, for one, blame Militant Quakers. They've been known to launch bloody Quihad attacks.