Saturday, August 13, 2011

Larwyn's Linx: Lawyer who challenged Obamacare speaks

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Nation

Lawyer who challenged Obamacare speaks: Exam
11th Circuit strikes down Obamacare mandate: LI
Perry: Here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...: Ace

Democrat wastes no time taking advantage of super post: DC
The Debt Panel’s Profligate Pork Patty Murray Problem: Malkin
Rick Perry to Kick Off Campaign Saturday: Malkin

Michelle Obama Spent 42 Days on Vacation in Past Year: Dossier
Michelle will campaign for Obama Victory Fund: Newsbird
Palin: I am still considering a run for President: Scoop

Economy

Obama Pats Self on Back for 150 Jobs at $2MM Each: Powers
Consumer Confidence Crashes – Worst Since Carter: GWP
Obama's Regulatory State Marches On: Tatler

Wahhh: Some trade unions to boycott DNC-2012: Toldjah
Carney's Idiocy: Mish
Et Tu, New York?: Dossier

Privatized Currency: It Might be Happening Already: Vodkapundit
The potentially great Medicare reform that could have been: RWN
Democrat Fat Cats Charge Taxpayers for Vegas, Maui Vacations: Uncov

Gunrunner

Gunwalker: U.S. Attorney Won’t Grant Victim Status to Murdered Agent’s Family: Owens
Obama Forcefully Rejects Calls For Holder To Resign Over “Fast And Furious”: Dollard
Was WaPo Slow on the draw on Fast and Furious? Of Course Not!: WaPo

Climate & Energy

CAFE Standards: Central Planners Target Your Cars: PJM
Hoping For a Hybrid? Seriously? : Dewey
NY Times: You Aren’t Buying CFLs Because You’re Stupid And Don’t Know Better: RWN

Global Warming Hoax Weekly Round-Up: Bayonet
With New Coal Rules, Obama's EPA to Devastate Already Weak Job Market: TAB
Let’s Replace EPA With Employment Protection Agency: RS

Media

Obama: We Must Put Country Over Party… Now If You’ll Excuse Me, I Have a DNC Fundraiser to Get To: Powers
Debate's Biggest Loser? Chris Wallace and Fox: AT
Recovery Summer!: Klavan

John Roberts Is No Fool: Taranto
Jay Carney, Professional Hack: BlogProf
Dems' TV ad in Iowa attacks GOP front-runner Romney on day of straw poll: Hill

‘It Can Never be the Public’s Rejection of Liberal Ideas’: Driscoll
Moonbat Math: RWN
Former Child Star Corey Feldman Lifts the Lid on Hollywood Pedophilia: RWN

World

Collectivism: Didn’t Work Then, Won’t Work Now: NoisyRm
London Calling: The Endgame for the Welfare State Has Begun: Peters
Pakistan: "800 women were victims of 'honor killings'--and 2,900 women raped--almost eight a day": JihadWatch

Sci-Tech

Can Data Breaches Kill?: Dark Reading
Project Run-a-Way: The Craziest Combat Outfits: Wired
Google Jumps Into Online-Law Business With Rocket Lawyer: Forbes

Cornucopia

Kicking Ourselves In the Ass: MOTUS
Some Days the Jokes Write Themselves: Powers
Obama Readies Citizen Spies For Action: Alt-Market

Image: Eric Holder, via Pat Dollard
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "This man is a hypcocrite, an egocentric louse, a liar, and a thoroughly unpleasant personality. He attacks, attacks, attacks, attacks -- and then says that the problem is politicians who attack." --Quin Hillyer

Friday, August 12, 2011

Top 10 Obama Excuses for the Failing Economy

[Hat tip to Keith Koffler for the inspiration]

10. Tsunami in Japan completely disrupted arugula supply chain

9. Entire nation thrown into emotional abyss by Casey Anthony acquittal

8. Blockbuster Congressional movie Barney Frank & Friends tanked at box office

7. Unexpected collapse of massive, doddering European welfare state (which, by the way, doesn't hold any lessons for our own massive, doddering welfare state)

6. Export of heavy weapons to Libya well below forecast

5. Decision to film new season of Jersey Shore in Italy sucked millions from East Coast economy

4. Republicans filibustered my plan to invade Fort Knox

3. Oprah totally bailed on her pledge to give every American a Chevy Volt

2. Repairing the economies of all 57 states proving more difficult than anticipated

1. I've always said that the economy would be back to normal by 2016 and the start of my third term


Great News: The Obama NLRB Refuses to Comply With House Subpoena

What does it mean when the Executive branch of government -- in this case, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) -- refuses to comply with a lawful subpoena?

Helpful Hint: Can you say "Constitutional Crisis"?

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) [said] on Friday that the National Labor Relations Board had refused to comply with a subpoena the committee issued on Sunday. The subpoena asked for documents related to the NLRB’s action against Boeing, and requested they be sent by today at noon.

“The National Labor Relations Board and Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon have thus far failed to comply with a lawful subpoena,” Issa said in a statement Friday afternoon. “This refusal by NLRB to abide by the law further heightens concerns that this is a rogue agency acting improperly. The integrity of NLRB and its leadership is clearly in question...”

The public has a right to know the truth about why a government agency would choose to take action to benefit organized labor that threatens thousands of non-union jobs in South Carolina while setting a precedent impacting manufacturers across the country.

It is imperative that Congress get complete facts about NLRB’s decision-making process in this matter. Its continued refusal to fully cooperate will not deter this Committee as it moves forward in efforts to determine what occurred and to hold NLRB officials to account.

Needless to say, this incident can be added to President Obama's Complete List of Historic Firsts.

And a word of warning for the Marxist Left: lawlessness begets lawlessness.


Hat tip: TrendingRight.


Court Pimp-Slaps Obamacare: "A Stunning Victory for the Constitution"

This afternoon the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a stunning rebuke to Obamacare. Two Democrat appointees and one Republican delivered what I like to call "The Pimp-Slap Heard 'Round the World"; the Court handed the victory to 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Businesses, which had challenged the constitutionality of the massive bill. The decision reads, in part:

...the individual mandate contained in the Act exceeds Congress’s enumerated commerce power... The power that Congress has wielded via the Commerce Clause for the life of this country remains undiminished. Congress may regulate commercial actors. It may forbid certain commercial activity. It may enact hundreds of new laws and federally-funded programs, as it has elected to do in this massive 975- page Act. But what Congress cannot do under the Commerce Clause is mandate that individuals enter into contracts with private insurance companies for the purchase of an expensive product from the time they are born until the time they die.

It cannot be denied that the individual mandate is an unprecedented exercise of congressional power. As the CBO observed, Congress “has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States.” CBO MANDATE MEMO, supra p.115, at 1. Never before has Congress sought to regulate commerce by compelling non-market participants to enter into commerce so that Congress may regulate them. The statutory language of the mandate is not tied to health care consumption—past, present, or in the future. Rather, the mandate is to buy insurance now and forever...

The decision makes it all but certain that the Supreme Court will hear the case.

The decision ... puts to rest the canard that justice regarding Obamacare is just a partisan enterprise, in which Republican-appointed judges rule one way, and Democratic-appointed judges rule another. Today’s decision was co-authored by Judge Frank Hull, a Clinton appointee both to the district court and to his current position on the court of appeals.

...it is [also] much more likely with today’s ruling that the High Court will hear the case in its next term which starts on October 3, with a decision likely to be handed down by the end of June 2012... [In spite of the Obama administration's stall tactics,] with a split between the Eleventh Circuit and Sixth Circuit, the High Court will have little choice but to take the case and resolve the fate of the forced-purchase mandate.

The decision is a delight for those who love and appreciate the Constitution:

[T]he individual mandate is breathtaking in its expansive scope. It regulates those who have not entered the health care market at all. It regulates those who have entered the health care market, but have not entered the insurance market (and have no intention of doing so). It is overinclusive in when it regulates: it conflates those who presently consume health care with those who will not consume health care for many years into the future. The government’s position amounts to an argument that the mere fact of an individual’s existence substantially affects interstate commerce, and therefore Congress may regulate them at every point of their life. This theory affords no limiting principles in which to confine Congress’s enumerated power.

The federal government’s assertion of power, under the Commerce Clause, to issue an economic mandate for Americans to purchase insurance from a private company for the entire duration of their lives is unprecedented, lacks cognizable limits, and imperils our federalist structure.

As Ilya Shapiro writes, "Today is a great day for liberty."

Chris Christie, who refused to join the fight on behalf of New Jersey, could not be reached for comment.



Graph: Winning The Future™, Martha's Vineyard Edition

As President Subprime McDowngrade jets off to another well-deserved vacation, Tyler Durden alerts us to this chart, which appears eerily reminiscent of one James Earl Carter.

America's WTF (certainly not to be confused with Winning The Future) economy summarized in one easy chart.

Conclusion: go long the WTF economy by shorting BAC which is a proud sponsor (courtesy of not having received one cash payment for hundreds of billions in inversely overwater mortgages) of the WTF spread.

It turns out that Michelle Obama has vacationed for six full weeks over the past year, so at least she's doing her part to stimulate the economy.



Larwyn's Linx: Debate leaves Republican field unaltered

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Nation

Debate leaves Republican field unaltered: Barone
Early Iowa Debate Analysis: Winners And Losers: RWN
Republican Presidential Debate: Future of Capitalism

Video: Top 5 highlights of the Iowa GOP debate: WashExam
Romney Squares Off With Hecklers in Iowa: Malkin
Bachmann ready for caucus after debate: WashExam

This is what Democracy looks like: Boyz
The Criminalization of Politics: TL in Exile
Bachmann shows why she's the straw poll favorite: Barone

Economy

Kyl, Portman Toomey, Henserling, Camp and Upton: Hewitt
Pelosi's Picks Totally Open To Compromise: Ace
All 6 Dems on Panel Earned 'F's From Taxpayers' Union: CNS

Memo to White House: Unemployment Ain't So Stimulating: Foundry
US Postal Service To Cut 120,000 Jobs To Avoid Bankruptcy: ZH
The NLRB vs. Boeing: Issa's subpoenas: PittLive

Climate & Energy


Now Obama Wants to Kill Off the Long-Haul Rig & Trucking Businesses: GWP
Obama Visits Corporation Where His Stimulus Created 'Green' Jobs at $2 Million Per Job: CNS
Global Warming Link to Drowned Polar Bears Melts Under Searing Fed Probe: HE

Media

How The NY Times Shapes The Narrative It Wants: LI
"There Will Be Bamboozling"-- Remembering Barry as an Echo Not A Choice: AmDig
Democrats beginning to ask if Hillary Clinton would have made a better president: Telegraph

46% of Registered Voters (44% of Adults) Say They Will Definitely Vote Against Barack Obama: Ace
Wow: Independent Iowa Voters Disapprove of Obama 61% to 32%: RWN
Obama's Undignified Transparency: AT

Ten Years of Instapundit: Driscoll
This Week in Quotes: RWN
Analyzing the Iowa debate social media strategy: DC

World

The Sun Never Sets on the British Welfare System: Coulter
Obama During White House Ramadan Dinner: “We’re All Children Of A Loving God”: JihadWatch
Years of liberal dogma spawned a generation of amoral, uneducated, welfare dependent youngsters: Daily Mail

I’ve never believed the “Obama is a secret Muslim” nonsense, but: Toldjah
The Root Cause? The Root Cause is Stupidity. Pat Condell on the British Situation: AmDig
Did White House Give Classified Osama bin Laden Info to Hollywood?: E Online

U.K. Riots: What Liberalism Has Wrought: RWN
George Soros Sued for $50M by 28-Year-Old Ex-Girlfriend; Says He Slapped, Choked Her While in Bed: BigJourn
The moral decay of our society is as bad at the top as the bottom : Telegraph

Sci-Tech

Anonymous: Facebook's going down November 5: CNet
Contact lost with hypersonic glider after launch: AP
Charla Nash's Face Is Revealed: NBC Conn

Cornucopia

Someone Wonderful: Felonious Munk says, " Stop It B! OBAMA PAY YOUR &*%$#% BILLS ": AmDig (Language)
The BMW Dealership That Time Forgot: BMWblog
Extremist T-shirt offers different message after the first wash: USA Today

Image: New Olympics Logo for London 2012 Unveiled
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "What's working for Bachmann was on display when I saw her address 100 employees in an advertising firm in West Des Moines on Wednesday. She's short, thin, one might almost say petite, but she takes command immediately, her voice booming over the microphone, speaking without hesitation and not a single uh or ah.

...She has a gift for making abstract issues concrete. Rather than cite the amount of the stimulus package, she notes that before it passed there was one person in the Department of Transportation making more than $170,000 a year, and afterward there were 1,690 doing so." --Michael Barone

Thursday, August 11, 2011

The Obama Hockey Stick: The Only Graph You Need to See

So the Democrats want more taxes revenue? Seriously?

[This week] for the first time in history U.S debt was downgraded. The Left still denies that President Obama has a lot of responsibility for this situation, instead laying blame on Republican refusal to raise taxes on the rich.

As I have written previously, it is dishonest to give voters the impression that tax increases on the rich is a solution to the deficit. In the latest projection by the Congressional Budget Office, the ten year deficit is estimated at 13 trillion dollars. By contrast, Obama’s various tax increases on the rich will only bring in 1 trillion in the same period.

The 13 trillion dollar deficit which the President helped create and long terms entitlement deficits are the main reason why S&P downgraded U.S debt, not the 1 trillion in tax increases which Republicans prevented...

...As a response to the economic crises and based on ideological conviction, President Obama decided to expand federal non-defense spending more than any President in recent history. This unprecedented expansion of government can perhaps be justified by orthodox Keynesianism. But we should not allow the left to deny the magnitude of expansion itself, which they are trying to do.

...What emerges is what I refer to as the Obama Hockey Stick, parallel to the IPCC global warming Hockey Stick. While federal Non-defense spending was quite constant previous to Obama, it has risen rapidly under his administration...

Spending is the problem. Spending is the only problem.


Hat tip: Greg Mankiw.


Only in Washington...

In a particularly poignant piece by Jack Wakeland at Real Clear Markets ("The Peculiar Madness of Paul Krugman"), the mathematical reality facing U.S. taxpayers is used as a blunt instrument to pound sense into Democrats. Metaphorically speaking, of course, since drones run away from inconvenient truths like arithmetic, logic, facts, reason, statistics and history.

Reading that the new debt limit coming out of the "debt reduction deal" is $16.8 trillion, I got my pen out and jotted down some numbers:

2nd Quarter 2011 GDP: $15.00 trillion/yr.
Current national debt: $14.3 trillion
(self-cancelling) internal debt: $4.6 trillion
Net debt: $9.7 trillion
65% of GDP

Of the $4.6 trillion in internal debt, about $2.6 trillion is the Social Security 'trust fund' (which is 'invested in' U.S. treasury bonds) and about $0.3 trillion is the Medicare 'trust fund.' There are lots of other 'trust funds' beyond these (e.g., the Highway 'fund') The thing all of these trust funds have in common is that their balances are falling.

If I assume that the rate of deficit spending is about $1.6 or $1.7 trillion/yr., we'll reach the new $16.8 trillion debt limit right around inauguration day, January 20, 2013. If the economy grows at about 2%/yr. between now and inauguration day (assuming no new recession), it will be operating at $15.45 trillion/yr.

That means the debt to GDP ratio will have deteriorated dramatically:

1st Quarter 2013 GDP: $15.45 trillion/yr.
Current national debt: $16.8 trillion
(self-cancelling) internal debt: $4.4 trillion
Net debt: $12.4 trillion
80% of GDP

Only in Washington could a plan to increase the national debt from 65% to 80% of GDP in less than a year and a half be called a "debt reduction" deal.


And for the RINO leadership -- who are today leaders because of the resurgent conservative movement -- to negotiate with themselves when confronted with deficits that are well nigh insurmountable... well, it points to one thing:

We need new leadership in the House and the Senate.

How does the combination of Speaker Allen West and Senate Majority Leader Marco Rubio sound to you?



Unicorns that poop gold nuggets fail to materialize for Moonbeam; California tax revenues plunge more than 10% below projections

California's twice- (soon to be thrice-) failed Governor -- a man named Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown -- allegedly closed the state's yawning budget deficits this year by forecasting tax revenues well above the level a sane person might call "reasonable".

The result was... too. Easy. No, no, no: Too! EASY! To predict:

California’s tax revenues plummeted in July, falling more than 10% below expectations and making it more likely that deeper cuts to public schools built into the state budget in case of a stalled economic recovery will occur... Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers patched up the final $4 billion of California’s budget shortfall this year by hoping for a windfall economic recovery. Those hopes are now fading fast.

Tax collections in July were $538.8 million below budget forecasts.. sales and corporate collections lagged by a combined nearly $210 million. But the biggest drag was from the unidentified $4 billion that budget writers had banked on.

...Worse, the sagging tax collections were reported before the recent stock market turmoil. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged by more than 600 points on Monday. California relies very heavily on capital gains taxes from the stock taxes.


On a related note, Brown's multi-million dollar search for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow also, sadly, came up dry.


Top 10 British Looter Photoshops

Given the scale of death and destruction, I'd normally be loathe to make light of the riots in Britain. But these events help illustrate the lunacy of the Left: these riots are, after all, the toxic product of political correctness, easy access to welfare, and tolerance of intolerant cultures. In other words, the complete failure of the Left's policies. Furthermore, they serve as a warning for the U.S.: this is what comes next if we don't crush the Marxists that today run the Executive and the Senate in 2012. Because we're on the precipice right now.

Back to the Photoshops: the fine pholks at PhotoshopLooter have an entire gallery. These are my ten favorites:










But make no mistake: if we don't throw the Democrats out of office in 2012, what's going on in the U.K. will look like a picnic compared to what could happen here. After all, everyone here has firearms.



Larwyn's Linx: Obama's 'Dramatic, Unabashedly Negative Turn' Like 2008

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Nation

Obama's 'Dramatic, Unabashedly Negative Turn' Like 2008: Cmmntry
A Secret Weapon to Save Defense: Thiessen
Sarah Palin’s Bus Tour Re-Launching in Iowa Thursday: Malkin

I do begrudge the president his ritzy vacation: Pundette
Palin Knocks It Out of the Park: Greenroom
Last Stand for Pawlenty in Iowa?: Ace

The Politics of Liberals Bashing Obama: Hanson
The Rise of the Mob Has Begun Here Too: RWN
Why Chris Christie will never be president: Pipes

Economy

Unions Lose BIG In Wisconsin Recall Efforts: RWN
How High Will Gold Go?: Azizonomics
Why QE3 would be totally useless: Mish

The Return of Mr. Green Jobs Boondoggle: Malkin
Losers vow to waste more money trying to recall Walker: Hot Air
Union Thugs Attack Networks, Desecrate Funeral Homes: RWN

Climate & Energy

Death of a carbon salesman: Chicago Climate Exchange: WUWT
Ashley Judd: Saving the Environment with her Toaster Oven: RedCounty
AGW Today: Boiling Flipper And Empowering Women: RWN

Media

“Jimmy Carter Is the best-case scenario.”: Vodkapundit
Newsweek editor: I don’t get it, what’s wrong with our Bachmann cover?: Hot Air
Rep. Peter King Asks For Probe Into White House Role in Osama-Obama Propaganda Movie: GWP

Are Obama's Fundraisers A Form of Ego-Rejuvenating Therapy?: Ace
The Peculiar Madness of Paul Krugman: RCM
Robert Reich: Americans Too Stupid to Understand More Massive Stimulus and Deficits Are Good for Them: BlogProf

White House Promised There Would Be No Photos From Dover… They Lied: GWP
Obama’s Problem According To Maureen Dowd: No Villains: RS
MSNBC: Obama campaign already planning for loss in Ohio?: Marathon

World

Photos Of The Fallen: Americans Killed Aboard SEAL Team 6 Helicopter In Afghanistan: WZ
London riots: the underclass lashes out: Telegraph
Economic Uncertainty Leading to Global Unrest: CNBC

They’re Rioting in Britain: But Why? The Bankruptcy of Liberal Ideology: PJM
"The breakdown of the family lies behind all other urban dysfunction.": Maggie's Farm
Class Warfare Erupts Into Just Plain Warfare: AT

Sci-Tech

New Construction Material “CO2 Structure” Could Serve As Alternative To Concrete: Crunch
AT&T’s T-Mobile Bid Should Be Rejected, Consumer Watchdog Tells Regulators: Bloomberg
Twitpic Founder Launches A Massive Twitter Rip Off: Insider

Cornucopia

Exclamation Point ... Exclamation Point: iOTW
Looking to anger cops? Then get a tattoo like the one on this perp's face: TSG
British Degeneracy on Parade: City Journal

Image: London Daily Mail
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "Only in Washington could a plan to increase the national debt from 65% to 80% of GDP in less than a year and a half be called a 'debt reduction' deal." --Jack Wakeland

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Discovered: the Real Newsweek Cover Shot of Michele Bachmann

Strange. It's almost as if the Democrats and the media (but I repeat myself) coordinated their attacks on Michele Bachmann:

StinkProgress (by George Soros): "Bachmann: Obama Told Me The Affordable Care Act Eliminates Medicare"

Stuffington Roast: "Michele Bachmann Repeatedly Sought Stimulus, EPA, Other Government Funds"

ABC Spews: "Bachmann Likens US to Titanic in Visit to Iowa Plant"

RawStory: "Bachmann asked for stimulus money days after calling it an ‘orgy of spending’"

Gawker: "Jon Stewart Shames Newsweek for Its Michele Bachmann Cover"

Discover (!): "Reason and the Mind of Michele Bachmann"

Whoa.

Hold up.

Discover Magazine?

You're telling me that even Discover Magazine is slandering Michele Bachmann?

Hmmm...

Well, Jon, this is a curious article to find in "Discover". Tell me:

1. Which political party always advocates for more centralized, authoritarian government?
2. Which political party incessantly seeks to confiscate more and more of your private property -- the finite products of your mind and body -- to use for its own whims and desires?
3. Which political party created the most outrageous Ponzi schemes -- Social Security and Medicare among them -- that the world has ever seen?
4. Which political party continually stifles free enterprise and individual liberty with vast bureaucracies, ever-increasing regulations, and failed policies of wealth redistribution?

If you answered 'the Democrat Party' to each question, you're today's winner!

Michele Bachmann is the problem? No. Out-of-control, unconstitutional, sixties-retread Democrats are the problem, spending trillions borrowed from our children and grandchildren without their permission.

The Tea Party is the problem? Hardly.

But facts, logic, history and reason were never strong suits for the National Social Democrats.

Just wait until we find out whether Sarah Palin is running.


Uncle Ben Violates Radical WaPo Leftist "Courtland Milloy", If That Is His Real Name

Uncle Ben:

Mr. Milloy,

I always read your column, although I rarely agree with your positions. But your column this morning ("From London to Philadelphia, youths erupting over theft of their futures") almost gave me an aneurysm.

First, your equating of the looting in London to the shenanigans on Wall Street is absurd. Whatever bad things you may say about bankers, brokers, and consumers who helped drive the economy into the ditch in 2008 and 2009, they did not break the law. The same cannot be said about those in London who are destroying and stealing private property.

Second, your claim that those doing the looting across the pond are merely "striking out in anger over the theft of their futures" is simply glorifying bad conduct and misstating the facts. You may want to check some of the local coverage of events in the United Kingdom to give you a more accurate picture of what is going on.

Finally, the last paragraph of your column -- in which you accuse members of the Tea Party of being "anarchists" and of "threatening to destroy what they can’t have" -- is so profoundly wrong on so many levels that I am surprised that a man of your obvious intellect would even write it.

I am not a member of the "Tea Party," although I do subscribe to the view that the federal government is too large and spends too much money. Nonetheless, an anarchist is someone who supports "anarchy," which, by definition, is "the complete absence of government" and "political disorder and violence." Webster's New World College Dictionary (4th Ed.) Say what you want about the Tea Party, I am fairly sure this is not their agenda. Furthermore, anarchy has historically been understood as a left-wing ideology, which makes its application to the Tea Party even more far-fetched.

To be sure, members of Congress who were elected based on the ideals of the Tea Party in the 2010 election took a hard line with the Obama Administration on the debt ceiling issue. But they did so within the parameters of our political system. They did not burn down the Capitol, nor did they physically threaten any one's person or property. To quote Dwight Eisenhower: "Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels - men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion."

While you may disagree with the views of the Tea Party, you should at least embrace their right to express them. To use such pejorative labels as "anarchists" (or terrorists) in describing members of the Tea Party does a disservice to yourself and your readers.

Uncle Ben is a little too diplomatic with the Marxist Left for my tastes, but he is well-spoken.



It can't be true. Can it?

Brutally Honest (via iOwnTheWorld):

Amidst news of the S&P credit rating downgrade, the loss of 30 Americans in Afghanistan, to include nearly two dozen of our elite Navy Seals, and news predicting that world markets were going to react most negatively, reports are coming in that Obama decided to play golf over the weekend.

I know this guy's callous, arrogant, narcissistic... but this can't be true.

It simply can't be true. 

There's just no way.

Is there?


Though Camp David's golf facilities are limited, it's not hard to imagine POTUS teeing off during a tragic week for the families of America's warfighters.

But that's not the worst aspect of Obama's relationship with the military. There are credible reports that the administration leaked classified information to Hollywood for a forthcoming movie about the Bin Laden raid. And it's easy to assume that is another cynical ploy to remind Americans of Obama's greatest only triumph right before the 2012 elections.

Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal — the Hollywood director and screenwriter, respectively, who made The Hurt Locker — are working on a movie about the SEAL mission that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. It will come out just before the election next year. And according to Maureen Dowd, the Obama administration is giving the film team “top-level access to the most classified mission in history.”

This one has the musky odor of David Axelrod written all over it.


Grim milestone: record 73% of Americans believe country headed in wrong direction as President Obama prepares to leave on another vacation

It's another Obama record!

[The] latest poll from Reuters/Ipsos [indicates that] a record number of people or 73% of all Americans, believe the economy is headed in the wrong direction. This is the highest number measured since the poll started its survey in February of 2009. Only 21% believe the US is on the right track: we assume these are the few people who actually made money in the stock market in the past few months, in other words those long various precious metals [/sarcasm]...

...Additionally, 47% of respondents believe the worst is yet to come for the economy, the highest since the March 2009 low when the number was 57%. Furthermore, Obama's approval rating dropped from 49% to 45% over the past month. Perhaps it is time to kill Osama for the 3rd (or is that 4th?) time. Bottom line: pessimism is now at or near fresh all time highs. And this is the environment in which the true viceroy of the Americas, Goldman Sachs, has now decreed will proceed with QE3? If the American revolution was deferred back in November when QE2 was enacted, we fail to see how it will be avoided this time around when people realize that gasoline is headed for $9/gallon. Or roughly what Europeans pay today.

Not to worry, rabble: the President's Lightning Response Team sprung into action today. Recognizing that the Commander-In-Chief is literally spent from his non-stop fundraising, golf, and teleprompter-reading, the Obama family is officially slated to take another long vacation.

We bring you this special announcement courtesy of the White House which has informed that American plebes that following a fantastic job well done, in which the market is now back to pre-QE2 levels, unemployment is near record highs, delays for presidential press meetings compare with Newark airplane take offs, pessimism is at record highs, America's credit rating has just been downgraded, the country was nearly bankrupted, and sales of end-of-the-world provisions are through the roof (not to mention ammunition), President Obama is taking a well-deserved vacation at Martha's Vineyard at the end of the month...

...Press secretary Jay Carney defended Obama's plans to take a break even as he's pledged urgent action on those issues. "I don't think Americans out there would begrudge that notion that the president would spend some time with his family," Carney said." Spot on, Jay, spot on.

Well, we always said he was historic.


Larwyn's Linx: Wisconsin Recall Live-Blog: Local Media Calls It for GOP

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

Wisconsin Recall Live-Blog: Local Media Calls It for GOP: Malkin
Deconstructing SlutWalk: Zombie
Harry Reid’s Three Senate ‘Super Committee’ Picks Are…: Malkin

Allen West: Swing-District Firebrand: NRO
Paul Ryan to Run Ads In... Iowa: Ace
Obama-Linked Dem Strategist: We Have To "Kill Romney": WZ

A Pyrrhic Defeat: ProWis
Michelle Obama Takes Secret Vacation to Oregon: Dossier
Did Biden Out SEAL Team 6?: IBD

Economy

A crisis of confidence in economy — and Obama: Pethokoukis
"Not Much Further We Can Cut" & The Dog That Didn't Bark: Ace
Obama's New Gifts to Organized Labor: WSJ

The "Tea Party Downgrade" slander cannot stand: Blumer
While America Sinks, Obama Raises Boffo Reelection Bucks: RWN
You stay classy Verizon strikers!: WyBlog

Reid appoints Patty Murray -- DSCC Chair -- to "Super Congress": TAB
Radical Leftist groups target St. Louis banks and energy companies: Unified
KS Returns $32M ObamaCare Grant, Plus More Bad News for ObamaCare: Cato

Climate & Energy

Obama Regime Attacks the Transportation Sector: RWN
Midwest to lose another coal plant to Obama's rogue EPA: Virtuous
Another Reason Green Technology Isn't Ready : PACNW Righty

Media

Want Proof of How Democrats Would Shut You Up, Tea Partiers?: RWN
President Downgrade: Instapundit
About that plane over S&P...: Fortune

Michele Bachmann vs. liberal women on Newsweek covers: Hot Air Pundit
Newsstand sales of US magazines down 9 percent: AP
Gallup: Obama loses three points overnight, economic confidence plunges to 2-year low: Hot Air

Dems Beginning To Fear That Obama is Unelectable: Lid
Daily Scoreboard: If edition: Surber
Doorbell: Power Line

World

16 Countries Side with Justice Department in Lawsuit Against Alabama: NumbersUSA
White House Cleanses Israel from Website: WS
Why Is Nobody Talking About the $1 Billion Bet On US Downgrade?: LoneCon

London-Santiago: Coincidence or convergence?: Fausta
US helicopter crashed in Taliban trap: Afghan official: AFP
Clear and Present Danger: Time for a National EMP Awareness Day: Foundry

Sci-Tech

Recruiters Troll Facebook for Candidates They Like : WSJ
Antimatter belt discovered around Earth: WUWT
Behold the fan that muffles itself: CNet

Cornucopia

Drunken Ben Bernanke Tells Everyone At Neighborhood Bar How Screwed U.S. Economy Really Is : Tea Partiers
'Lucky' woman who won lottery four times outed as Stanford University statistics PhD: DailyMail
Cash seen flying out of Porsche before fatal accident: Trib

Image: Sinkers.org
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Please support Allen West for Congress

QOTD: "Think how much he could charge if he weren't destroying America MT @kimiwillingham: Dow drops 634 & Bam is taking $15,000 pics the same nite."

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Top 20 #ObamaBusTourNames

As usual, I missed the Twitter hashtag meme from a few nights ago. It solicited names for President Obama's bus tour of battleground states that will operate at -- what else? -- taxpayer expense. My favorites?

20. Downgrade One
19. BusT Tour
18. 57 States
17. We have to ride it to know what's in it
16. Spinning the Future
15. Obama, the Bachmann Slayer
14. Rolling Blunder
13. The "Bus-driver acted stupidly" tour
12. Debt Race 2012
11. Titanic on wheels
10. StimuBus
9. America Under the Bus Tour
8. The "Not a Corporate Jet" Tour
7. Tragical history tour
6. Sputnik Moment
5. Blunderbuss
4. Blame Bush Tour
3. Barackisalosa 2012
2. The "McDonald's Is Hiring" Tour
1. The "Free iPods for the Battleground States" Extravaganza

Important note: the second bus is for Michelle's clothes and servants.


Update: Just thought of another one: Continental Failways.

Good news: 83% of Obamacare Grants Awarded to Local Health Centers In States That Supported Obama in 2008

Earlier today, the Department of Heath and Human Services announced it was writing $29 million in checks to "expand access to health care". These Obamacare funds would support "community health center programs across the country", though it would appear Blue states did decidedly better than Red States. Of the $29 million HHS awarded, $24 million of it went to 2008's Blue States.

But I'm sure that's just coincidental. I'm certain that Kathleen Sebelius and her fine cadre of bureaucrats would never, ever permit political bias to impact their decision-making processes.

Except it turns out that more than 83% of the funds went to Blue states.

You may recall that it appears that Nancy Pelosi abused the Obamacare waiver system to reward her restaurateur friends in San Francisco.

Obamacare has nothing at all to do with health care. It's about control. Punishing enemies and rewarding friends. It's about a Soviet-style form of government that has as its core the destruction of the Constitution and of our individual liberties. Removing the options you have for medical treatment and replacing them with a one-size-fits-all, centralized health care regime is a huge step in the direction of totalitarianism.


Translating Today's Fed Statement: Recovery impossible until President Subprime McDowngrade is voted out of office

I'm paraphrasing, but only just:

To promote the ongoing economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with its mandate, the Committee decided today to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent. The Committee currently anticipates that economic conditions--including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run--are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through mid-2013.

Now, what major economic changes would have taken place by "mid-2013" to allow for higher growth rates?

With any luck, a new President will have assumed office in January. He or she will have have begun unwinding the huge regulatory bureaucracies (the EPA and the NLRB foremost among them) that have destroyed businesses large and small; rescinding the ability for federal employees to unionize; defunding HHS to begin the eradication of Obamacare; begun implementing sensible spending policies like Cut, Cap & Balance; etc.

In other words, the new President will take his job seriously, unlike our current demagogue-in-chief who seems to do little more than fundraise, read from a teleprompter, party and golf.

Does Obama's schedule -- at right -- strike you as that of a man with a care in the world, apart from getting reelected?



Larwyn's Linx: "Conquering the Storm"

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Nation

"Conquering the Storm": ProWis
Obama accepts no responsibility, offers no plan: Tatler
Screencap of the Day: BigJourn

Reviewing Eric Holder's Voting Section Resumes: PJM
Report: Perry to announce Saturday, sort of: Hot Air
Obama Spends Monday Behind Closed-Doors: Tapper

Economy

Did Soros make $8.5 billion off the downgrade?: Surber
Greenspan: US Will Never Default; Just Print Money: Malkin
Gold Up $41, Hits Record $1761: ZH

Verizon Offers $50K Reward After Militant Union Strike Sabotage: RS
Cloward-Piven, Saul Alinsky, and Their Influence on Obama: Aces
Walker's collective bargaining law to save Milwaukee millions: Politik

Obama: Creating jobs "not rocket science"!: Pundette
Ryan: S&P said GOP Budget Would’ve Prevented Downgrade: WS
Would we still be AAA without Stimulus and Obamacare?: RWN

Gunrunner

"Fast and Furious" Goes All the Way to the White House: HE
A Fast And Furious Assault On Private Gun Sales: Forbes
Obama's Growing Gun Problem: HuffPo

Climate & Energy

AGW Motors–You May Need New Battery In 3 Years…: Soylent Green
Al Gore Has Apoplectic Fit, Literally Goes Bats**t Crazy In Front Of Colorado Audience: Lid
It's Official: Al Gore Is a Prophet: WUWT

Media

If Only Americans Weren't So G***amned Stupid We Wouldn't Have to Send Them to Re-Education Camps: Reason
CBS Pushes Liberal Talking Point About Tea Party 'Downgrade': NB
Rick Santelli Goes Off: “We’d Be BBB Without Tea Party!”: GWP

The National Organization for Women defends Bachmann against Newsweek: DC
Hillary: NoQuarter
Wasserman Schultz Ignores House Franking Rules with Taxpayer-Funded Mailer: Shark

NYTimes stumbles over a factoid that blasts its own narrative: ProWis
NBC's Gregory Accuses GOP of 'Politicizing' Debt Downgrade, After Allowing John Kerry to Blame Tea Party: NB
Black Activists: Tea Party Not Responsible for Credit Downgrade: NatCtr

Cokie Roberts Blames Credit Downgrade on Constitution: RWN
HuffPo Readers React to SEAL Massacre: RWN
Top Ten Obama Excuses for the Failing Economy: Dossier

World

Stunning Pictures of Senseless London Riots; Conflagration and Carnage in the Capital and Beyond: Mish
An Anatomy of European Nonsense: Hanson
Tampa Police CSI tech admits "fear of Muslim reprisal" behind saying honor killing was accidental death: JihadWatch

Details: "Ill-fated Mission Targeted Taliban Leader, Officials Say": Mudville Gazette
More on Biden and his fat mouth: Patterico
Harvard Professor's Article Against Islamic Terror Kicks Up Storm in India; Harvard Faculty Members Demand His Removal: MEMRI

Sci-Tech

Amazon’s New(ish) Social Network — Now Lifting Even More Info From Facebook, Twitter: Wired
10-year-old hacker finds zero-day flaw in games: CNet
Are your co-workers killing you?: Wired

Cornucopia

In Honor of the Fallen: Commentary
Communists Sue Democratic Party For Stealing Platform: Cube
S&P Hates Black People: Cube

Image: JihadWatch
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund