Friday, January 27, 2012

Maps: Exploiting America's Treasure Trove of Energy, Before and After the Obama Presidency

I think this is what President Obama called a "blueprint" in his State of the Union address.

Today in Las Vegas, the President repeated his energy talking points from Tuesday's State of the Union speech.

Oil and gas leases takes years to develop, but the administration is claiming credit for an uptick in domestic oil and gas production that is a result of previous administration policies and increased production on private lands. [h/t Geoffrey Styles]

The administration's oil and gas exploration "blueprint" adds virtually no new production and takes years of potential energy off the table. This map made by the Senate Republican Policy Committee illustrates what new oil and gas exploration was permissible prior to President Obama taking office, and how his administration’s policies have changed it:


As an aside, are these maps racist? Perhaps we should ask Leonard Pitts.


I guess the drones didn't like my questions for President Obama

So Google's YouTube service is sponsoring a post-State of the Campaign Union Q&A with President Obama and the drones are out in force. After submitting what I believe are reasonable questions and having many of them voted up, the O-bots began swarming and down-dinging them.

Suffice it to say that Obama will field no tough questions in this venue, whether through tacit censorship or simply because charismatic demagogues don't take tough questions.


The numbers do not lie -- although it's possible they're racist

I love how these inside-the-Beltway hacks say that Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum "can't win" against Obama. The numbers say different. Obama got 52.7% of the vote as a messianic, post-partisan, post-racial and completely unknown quantity. Now we know he's not a messiah, he's highly partisan, he's also willing to divide Americans along racial, ethnic, income and any other lines he can come up with to dredge up votes, and he is a highly known quantity, which is to say a SCOAMF.

Following President Barack Obama’s self-congratulatory State of the Union address, Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, produced a simple chart that tells the real story of the Obama administration:

America Before President Obama Took Office and Now

 

Before

Now

Change

Number of Unemployed1

12.0 Million

13.1 Million

+9%

Long-Term Unemployed2

2.7 Million

5.6 Million

+107%

Unemployment Rate3

7.8%

8.5%

+9%

“High Unemployment” States4

22

43

+95%

Misery Index5

7.83

11.46

+46%

Price of Gas6

$1.85

$3.39

+83%

“Typical” Monthly Family Food Cost7

$974

$1,013

+4%

Median Value of Single-Family Home8

$196,600

$169,100

-14%

Rate of Mortgage Delinquencies9

6.62%

10.23%

+55%

U.S. National Debt10

$10.6 Trillion

$15.2 Trillion

+43%


For more, and for references, visit the House Ways and Means Committee website here.


Shhh... no one tell Leonard Pitts.


Cool: Handgun about the size of an iPhone

Granted, it's kind of a "last line of defense" sorta thing, but still:

Heizer Defense Double Tap


• The Titanium Tactical Pocket Pistol
• The first concealed carry .45 ACP born from aerospace technology and 100% USA made.
• 5/8 Inches Wide Hammerless No Snag Design
• The future of concealed carry firepower is now in your hands!

• Titanium Frame with a MIL-STD finish that resists corrosion
• Two rounds in the chamber and integral grips house an additional two spare rounds
• Ported barrel reduces muzzle flip and recoil
• Slim, no-snag hammerless design for easy pocket carry
• Thumb latch auto ejects spent rounds
• 7 Patents pending including double-action trigger system
• 1911 Ergonomics and loaded rounds are visible
• Quick change - interchangable barrels

HEIZER Firearms has developed the world's smallest and lightest .45 ACP concealed carry pistol on the market today. Also available in 9mm.

Daddy like. Of course, Daddy likes him all kinds o' guns.


Hat tip: Bernie.

Good News: Average Federal Worker Getting Paid As Much As a Microsoft, Intel or Cisco Employee

But remember, folks: there's nothing to cut.

The average federal government employee receives [a total] annual compensation of around $133,000. How does this match up to the private sector?

CNN Money has a nice survey of the 25 highest-paying companies in the country, outlining the average total compensation per employee in each one. According to CNN, the closest match to federal employment is Microsoft, whose average employee compensation is $132,023 per year, making it the 17th highest-paying company in the country.

When high federal pay is pointed out, public employee unions counter that federal employees are more productive than the average private sector worker, due to their greater education and experience. But do you think that the average federal employee is more productive than the average Microsoft employee? Or Intel, or Qualcomm, both of which pay around the same?

Have you ever called a federal agency to try to get help? It's kinda like the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, only without the prompt customer service. So I can't wait until we get BMV-style health care.

Say, I wonder if Leonard Pitts thinks this chart is racist?


Hat tip: BadBlue.

Hey, Leonard Pitts: Is This Chart More or Less Racist Than Newt Gingrich?

Leonard who? Exactly. Leonard Pitts -- for the 99.9999999% of Americans who've never heard of him -- is a back-bencher op-ed columnist who never met an opportunity to race-bait that he didn't like. Pitts' specialty is interpreting every statement --- including the terms "food stamps", "arugula", and "golfer-in-chief" -- as a secret racist code known only to Republicans... and Leonard Pitts.

Let's listen in as all six of Pitt's neurons fire at once to create version 17,031 of the same column he's written weekly for years (subtitled, "Republican are racists"):

I got my first job when I was 12. The deacons at my church paid me $2 a week to keep it swept and mopped... So I do not need Newt Gingrich to lecture me about a good work ethic. In this, I suspect I speak for the vast majority of 39 million African Americans.

There has been a lot of talk about whether Gingrich’s recent language , including his performance at last week’s South Carolina debate and his earlier declaration that Barack Obama has been America’s best “food-stamp president,” amounts to a coded appeal to racist sensitivities. The answer is simple: yes.

In this, Gingrich joins a line of Republicans stretching back at least to Richard Nixon. From that president’s trumpeting of “law and order” (i.e., “I will get these black demonstrators off the streets.”) to Ronald Reagan’s denunciation of “welfare queens” (i.e., “I will stop these lazy black women from living high on your tax dollars.”) to George H.W. Bush’s use of Willie Horton (i.e., “Elect me or this scary black man will get you..”) the GOP long ago mastered the craft of using nonracial language to say racial things.

So I assume Pitts will agree with me when I categorically condemn the Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. Census Bureau and the USDA for helping to produce this chart:

...While it's true that the country has been headed in this direction for many years — with the explosion in entitlements since the 1960s and the aging of the population — Obama has, in fact, greatly accelerated the trend...

Direct payments. The amount of money the federal government hands out in direct payments to individuals steadily increased over the past four decades, but shot up under Obama, climbing by almost $600 billion — a 32% increase — in his first three years. And Obama's last budget called for these payments to climb another $500 billion by 2016, at which point they would account for fully two-thirds of all federal spending.

...Food stamps. This year, more than 46 million (15% of all Americans) will get food stamps. That's 45% higher than when Obama took office, and twice as high as the average for the previous 40 years. This surge was driven in part by the recession, but also because Obama boosted the benefit amount as part of his stimulus plan.

...In just nine years, entitlement spending is on track to eat up 61% of the federal budget, according to the CBO. And unless these programs are cut back, they will soon consume all federal taxes, one CBO budget scenario predicts.

In other words, we're headed for complete fiscal collapse -- and Pitts is cheering Obama on with unsustainable programs wracked with fraud, cronyism, and ill-intentions.

And are things better for African-Americans under Obama? Of course not. In fact, a new low -- less than 80% of African-Americans (I assume Pitts thinks they're racist, too) -- now support President Obama.

Ronald Reagan inherited a far worse economy from Jimmy Carter: double-digit inflation; double-digit unemployment; and a Soviet Empire that was extending its tentacles all over the globe while the U.S. had single-handedly begun disarming itself.

In three years' time, Reagan had transformed the economy to the benefit of all Americans by unleashing the private sector through smaller government, less regulation, and lower taxes for all -- especially the productive members of society, irrespective of race, religion, creed or hair color.

Instead of building on a proven template of color-blind success, Pitts continues his failed career of race-baiting, which requires him to ignore history, facts, logic and reason in pursuit of a Utopian society that can't exist, won't exist and has never existed in all of human history. His path is the path to misery and, like all drones, he's too stupid to even comprehend his own endgame.


Larwyn's Linx: The Romney Campaign’s Newt-Ain’t-Reagan Assault

Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

GOP Primary

The Romney Campaign’s Newt-Ain’t-Reagan Assault: HayRide
Confirmed: Romneycare = Obamacare: Malkin
Surprise! Romney Donated to Democrats: PndtPrs

Santorum eviscerates Romney over RomneyCare: Scoop
Santorum wins debate, but Romney beats Newt: Exam
Romney’s Big Healthcare Lie: RS

President Obama: I’m going to win reelection: Hill
Romney Praised Hezbollah in 2008: Hillbuzz
Mr. and Mrs. Crankypants: Malkin

Nation

Texas Sues DOJ Over Voter ID Law: JW
Christian Student Bullied for “Bullying”: MB
Who Will Be Thrown Under The Bus After Marco Rubio?: C4P

The state of the State of the Union: JPA
The Brutal NRCC ‘Every Day’ Ad.: Moe Lane
Denying Islamists Federal Security Clearances: PJM

Economy

The economic case against Obama, all in one chart: Peth
Is President Obama Creating A Nation Of Dependents?: IBD
December New Home Sales Worst On Record: S&L

The Debt Monster That Ate the World: Pelerin
NLRB To Force Companies To Turn Over Employee Telephone Numbers & E-Mail Addresses To Unions?: LUR
Poll: 54% Want SCOTUS to Kill Individual Mandate: WZ

Obama’s vision for a Spartan America: Goldberg
Obama’s Misstatements on the Union: DLim
Why Obama is Toast: RWN

Scandal Central

Another Stimulus-Backed Energy Company Files for Bankruptcy: Foundry
Two Billion Obamadollars Later, Brazil’s Oil Goes to China: RedCty
First Lady unveils Spanish-language food program: WZ

Climate & Energy

Administration's Blueprint Locks Potential Energy Sources: FreeEnt
Virginians Get First Peek at Secret UVA emails: ATI
Ener1 Bankruptcy Is Latest Obama Green Jobs Flop: IBD

Media

Interviewing Mark Levin About His New Book, “Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America.”: Hawkins
Mark Levin Talks to NewsBusters About 'Ameritopia' and Media's Role in Advancing Utopianism: NB
Obama's Ratings Collapse: NatlJrnl

Errant Email to Congressional ‘Allies’ on Keystone Exposes Media Matters’ Tax-Exempt Fraud: Pollak
Media Matters Dismissed Insider Trading Issue, Attacked Schweizer; Politico Followed Suit: Riehl
RNC Releases New Ad in Advance of Obama’s “State of My Campaign” Speech: JWF

Video Of Newt Bashing Reagan Is Bogus: Riehl
MRC's Bozell Announces Launch of 'Tell the Truth! 2012' Campaign: NB
Reuters makes 5 corrections on Rubio hit piece: Exam

Levin: Newt did more for the conservative movement than virtually all of his critics today: Scoop
Media Matters: The Unpaid Research Department of Politico: BigJ
CNN Turns Blind Eye To Obama-Alinsky Ties: IBD

World

Think Progress Scrubs 'Borderline Anti-Semitic' Rhetoric from Website: WS
New Pentagon plan would cut ground forces by 100,000: Fox
U.S. outrage as Egypt bars Americans from leaving: Reuters

Obama in Foreign Policy Hell: Spengler
N. Carolina Muslims arrested in plot to behead witnesses in recent terror conviction: Creeping
Sources: 30 Pounds Of Cocaine Found At United Nations: CBS NY

Sci-Tech

Scientists create first free-standing 3-D cloak: Eurekalert
My Horrific Experiences With Sony Customer Support: Mish
Everything Wrong with Zynga in One Image: Forbes

Cornucopia

Turkey Day: Thin skinned, Breasts and Necks. Mmm, mmm mmm!: MOTUS
No Obama in court, no ‘birther' ruling: AJC
Obama & his Attorney fail to appear for Trial and 2 Hour Hearing: Obama not qualified for Ballot?: The Steady Drip

The Political Correctness hierarchy: lepers trump amputees: Troglo
Vintage American Ads Get Online Archive: WSJ
Despite Unfair Tax Burden, Warren Buffett's Secretary Was Just Able To Buy A Second Home: TSG

Image: iOwnTheWorld
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Rick Santorum for President

QOTD: "It won’t decide the 2012 election, but the meltdown of Barack Obama’s Islamophile foreign policy has to hurt. Iran’s imminent acquisition of nuclear weapons humiliates a president so committed to dialogue with the evil lunatics in Tehran that he refused to support a mass outpouring of democracy demonstrators during the summer of 2009. Obama’s closest foreign policy friendship is with the Islamist president of Turkey, who has jailed more journalists than China and steered his country towards imminent economic disaster. Tayyip Erdogan may not be a terrorist, as Rick Perry said in last week’s debate, but he backs them, including Hamas.

And then there is Egypt: Even the New York Times has noticed that Egypt’s economy is collapsing, and that the country faces disaster as it runs out of money." --Spengler

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Graphing the popularity of a breaking news story...

The BadBlue automated news service added a cool new feature this weekend: you can now track the popularity of a given news story over time. Here's an example:

If you visit the BadBlue home page, you'll notice each story has the following format: headline, news source, popularity and permalink (the ∞ symbol).

Obviously, if you click on the headline, you'll go to the news story. If you click on the name of the news source, you'll get a complete listing of the top stories collected by the news service:

You'll also notice from the detail above that there is a permalink symbol (the mark). Click on that to see the chart of that story's popularity and any comments on the story itself.

Check it out. It's kinda like the Drudge Report, but automated to be more non-partisan. Heh.


Thought Experiment: Imagine This Ad Running in The New York Times

That booming sound you heard in the distance was the head of Bloomberg (the idiot mayor, not the news service) exploding.


Hat tip: Jay Paull Vintage Print Advertisements.

Here are some photos you'll never see in legacy media: the Volt crash test that torched a whole series of cars

Odd. I must have missed this report on ABC, NBC, CBS and in The New York Slimes:

I attended Wednesday’s 8:00am (8am?!?) House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing entitled:

Volt Vehicle Fire: What Did NHTSA Know And When Did They Know It?

The witnesses [included] National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), Barack Obama-appointee Administrator David Strickland... [and] General Motors (GM), Barack Obama-appointee CEO Dan Akerson.

...This hearing was all about a single June Volt blaze. The battery burst into flames about three weeks after a test crash at and by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).

A fire about which Obama’s NHTSA did tell the Obama White House. But a fire about which neither Obama’s NHTSA, the Obama Administration nor Obama’s GM told the American people for nearly six months – and then did so only when forced by a looming Bloomberg news story.

...Joan Claybrook, a former administrator at NHTSA believes part of the reason for the delay was the “fragility of Volt sales.” Yet she also believes that “NHTSA could have put out a consumer alert, not to tell them [customers] for six months makes no sense to me.” ...For Obama, notifying Americans of their potential immolation-by-Volt is of less import than his keeping his gig past November.

The one NHTSA Volt fire discussed at the hearing was not the only NHTSA Volt fire that occurred. In November, there were two others. After conducting three different tests two weeks ago, the NHTSA found that the Volt’s battery either caught fire or began to smoke in two out of the three.

So that’s three Volt fires – all in the hands of the Obama Administration, all after crashes... There were [also] three other, private-owner Volt fires. None of which involved Volts that were in crashes.

...There was the Volt that in April burst into flames – twice. These were the fires that led to Obama’s NHTSA beginning its investigation. And then in November another Volt leapt into flames. While Obama’s NHTSA was still investigating – but after the NHTSA-Obama Administration-GM cover-up had come to light (get it?)...

...We still have no idea what caused these fires. The only thing we do know is that they were not caused by crashes – because these cars were never in crashes. So why did Obama’s NHTSA, the Obama Administration and Obama’s GM singularly focus on (but one of three) post-crash Volt fires ... [w]hen none of these three privately-owned combustible Volts had been in accidents?

We – still – don’t know. Anything.

But don’t worry: The Obama Administration has declared that the Obama-owned GM Chevy Volt is perfectly safe – just in time for Obama’s reelection campaign.

Indeed. The Volt is safe. We guarantee it. Who's we? Shut the hell up, peons.


Related: Exclusive Photo: First Chevy Volts arrive at local dealers


Photos: Charging Point.

Before we worry about Mitt Romney's tax rate, perhaps we could get Obama's henchmen to pay their taxes

I don't know why the White House keeps talking about Mitt Romney's tax return or the fact that Warren Buffett's secretary can't buy a third home in a golf community.

Turns out that Obama's staff includes a whole posse of tax scofflaws (and we're not even counting the guys we knew about like Turbotax Tim Geithner):

How embarrassing this must be for President Obama, whose major speech theme so far this campaign season has been that every single American, no matter how rich, should pay their "fair share" of taxes.

A new report just out from the Internal Revenue Service reveals that 36 of President Obama's executive office staff owe the country $833,970 in back taxes. These people working for Mr. Fair Share apparently haven't paid any share, let alone their fair share.

...Nearly one-third of Obama's aides make more than $100,000 with 21 being paid the top White House salary of $172,200, each... The IRS' 2010 delinquent tax revelations come as part of a required annual agency report on federal employees' tax compliance. Turns out, an awful lot of folks being paid by taxpayers are not paying their own income taxes.

The report finds that thousands of federal employees owe the country more than $3.4 billion in back taxes. That's up 3% in the past year.

...The Treasury Department, where Obama nominee Tim Geithner had to pay up $42,000 in his own back taxes before being confirmed as secretary, has 1,181 other employees with delinquent taxes totaling $9.3 million... [and] the Energy Department that was so quick to dish out more than $500 million to the Solyndra folks has 322 employees owing $5 million.

The country's chief law enforcement agency, the Department of Justice, has 2,069 employees who are nearly $17 million behind in taxes. Like Operation Fast and Furious, Attorney General Eric Holder has apparently missed them too.

Charley "Rental Income" Rangel couldn't be reached for comment at press time.


They're for the Common Man [Amalaur]

Amalaur:

All the Details on Michelle Obama’s State of the Union Dress


...Michelle Obama‘s wardrobe choices always turn heads.

Last night’s State of the Union ensemble was no exception. As the President declared his intent to help buoy the 99 percent (“Asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense,” he declared), his wife dazzled in a cobalt sheath from Barbara Tfank’s resort collection.

While reps for the brand won’t reveal the item’s retail price, a similar style from the collection is currently available at Barneys New York for $2,400.

This isn’t the first time the First Lady has worn the Los Angeles-based designer’s sophisticated wares. Last year, she met with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wearing a seafoam brocade design topped with a bubblegum pink stole.

“Everything in my closet is something that I love,” Obama has said. “So that I can make choices based on what makes sense, knowing that I’m going to love whatever it is.”

I see another Target shopping trip in the near future for FLOTUS, with plenty of access for the press and especially photographers.


What's Wrong With This Picture? [Dan from NY]

Dan from NY:

What's wrong with this picture? Hint: Every move Obama makes in the Middle East abets the Muslim cause at Israel's expense. Sheer coincidence, no doubt.

###

JPost, 01/26/2012

Muslim Brotherhood repeats: No talks with Israel


Spokesman says dialogue with Jewish state ‘not up for discussion.’

###

Reuters, 25 Jan 2012

Obama set to speed up aid to Egypt-official


Obama considers redirecting aid to Egypt

Oh, and then there's this:

Reuters, 26 Jan 2012

U.S. outrage as Egypt bars Americans from leaving


Among those hit by travel bans - one of those targeted called it "de facto detention" - is a son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood... The United States said Egypt should reverse them: "We are urging the government of Egypt to lift these restrictions immediately and allow these folks to come home as soon as possible," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Perhaps the White House will go to the Obama version of DEFCON 1; i.e., issuing a strongly worded memo, with copies to the United Nations and George Soros.


Larwyn's Linx: Alarming Thoughts On The SOTU from Clark Judge

Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

Nation

Alarming Thoughts On The SOTU from Clark Judge: HyScience
Stumping Sebelius: BigJourn
Obama and Jan Brewer Have Words on Airport Tarmac: Malkin

One-percenter: Meet Warren Buffett's poor secretary: Glob
Obamacare encouraging government by edict, not law: Exam
Obama’s Gerrymander: ProPublica

GOP Primary

Reagan's Young Lieutenant: Lord
Romney Advisor: No Obamacare Repeal: RS
FL: Gingrich Draws Thousands, Romney Draws Hundreds: WS

Unlike Obama, GOP Candidates Serious About Governing: Barone
The Three Reasons Newt Is More Electable Than Mitt: FPM
Pelosi's office says she really doesn't have dirt on Newt: GWP

Economy

State of Obama's Tax Assertions -- ATR Fact Check: ATR
11 things Obama didn’t tell you about tax fairness last night: Peth
The State of His Policies: WSJ

Obamacare has made the debt crisis worse: Exam
WI unions burn through members money: RS
Rejection of Keystone XL a Hammer-Blow to Economy: HoosierAccess

Scandal Central

US Attorney Cunningham Refuses to Give More Than his Name and Title To Congressional Investigators: NiceDeb
Arizona House Speaker to ‘Put Some Light on Fast and Furious’: BG
New Mexico driver's license data point to rampant immigration fraud: Fox

Climate & Energy

Obama Puppetmaster Warren Buffett Biggest Winner From Keystone Pipeline Rejection: ZH
Radical Dem Schakowsky on Keystone XL: "Twenty thousand jobs is really not that many": Marathon
Thermageddon Folly QOTD: Soylent

Chevy Volt Battery Issue The Next Solyndra?: EarthTechling
ForestEthics “an enemy of the people of Canada”: Bayonet
Unicorns Twist Science and Corrupt the Rule of Law : NOFP

Media

AP FACT CHECK: Obama pushes plans that flopped before: Times-Union
Ladies and Gentlemen, I Might Just Have a Conservative Star for You.: Sundries
Rachel Maddow: Democrats Must Do More to Promote Abortion: LifeNews

Barack Obama Handles the Ship of State a Lot Like the Captain of the Costa Concordia: VS
Mitt Romney Makes $57,000 Per Day? That's So Much More Unbelievable Than My Own $41,000 Per Day: Ace
Gallup: Obama’s Approval Sinks Back to All-Time Low Among Blacks: CNS

Detailed Fisking of President Obama's Frightening Speech (Spending, Taxes, Threats and Lies): Lid
Obama’s Former Faith Adviser: ‘I, Frankly, Am Glad American Civil Religion is Dying’: CNS
Candid Admission - Proving Your Identity Only Hurts Democrat Voters: MenRec

World

Smearing Gingrich as an Anti-Semite: Commentary
Haditha Was Exploited To Increase Danger To The US, US Troops, And To Noncombatants: Kesler
Kansas City: Radical Muslim group begins month-long campaign on sharia: Creeping

Fidel Castro: GOP race is ‘idiocy, ignorance’: Politico
Polarization and Sustained Violence in Mexico's Cartel War: Stratfor
20% of young Germans have never heard of Auschwitz, survey reveals: Daily Mail

Report: Obama To Speed Up Pace Of American Aid To Muslim Brotherhood-Led Egypt: WZ
Gingrich: I want to build a moon base: CBS
Obama Ambassador To Egypt Meets With Muslim Brotherhood Leaders: WZ

Sci-Tech

Your Résumé vs. Oblivion: WSJ
Why ‘Xbox 720′ Might Reject Used Games: Wired
New Satellite Takes Spectacular High-Res Image of Earth: Wired

Cornucopia

This SOTU proudly brought to you by the Soros Fund: MOTUS
He needs a TOTUS for this?: WZ
Costa Concordia cruise’s American Express offer: ‘Immerse yourself’: WaPo

Image: Saudi woman driver reported killed in car crash is alive
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Rick Santorum for President

QOTD: "The markets are the best measures of how people perceived today's announcements from the Fed. The dollar pissed on the Fed in general, the gold market hit Bernanke square in the face with an ingot." --Bruce Krasting

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Breaking: Indiana poised to deal crushing blow to labor

In other words, Indiana is banning indentured servitude, which is how I define being forced to pay union dues when you have no desire to belong to a union.

In another blow to organized labor in the traditionally union heavy Midwest, Indiana is poised to become the first right-to-work state in more than a decade after Republican lawmakers cleared the way on Wednesday to ban unions from collecting mandatory fees from workers.

Over the past year, Republicans have pushed for other anti-union laws in battleground Rust Belt states where many of the country's manufacturing jobs reside, including Wisconsin and Ohio, but they also have faced backlash from Democrats and union supporters. Wisconsin last year stripped public sector unions of collective bargaining rights.

Despite massive protests outside the Capitol, Wisconsin's GOP-dominated Assembly passed a law backed by Gov. Scott Walker in March that strips nearly all collective bargaining rights from organized labor. Walker is now preparing for a recall election after opponents turned in a million signatures aimed at forcing a vote and ousting him from office. In November, Ohio voters repealed a law limiting collective bargaining rights that was championed by Gov. John Kasich and fellow Republican lawmakers.

Indiana would mark the first win in 10 years for national right-to-work advocates who have pushed unsuccessfully for the measure in other states following a Republican sweep of statehouses in 2010. But few right-work states boast Indiana's union clout, borne of a long manufacturing legacy... Oklahoma, with its rural-based economy that produces comparatively fewer union jobs than Indiana, passed right-to-work legislation in 2001.

Indiana's vote came after weeks of protest by minority Democrats who tried various tactics to stop the bill. They refused to show up to debate despite the threat of fines that totaled $1,000 per day and introduced dozens of amendments aimed at delaying a vote. But conceding their tactics could not last forever because they were outnumbered, they finally agreed to allow the vote to take place.

Marxist Democrat Rep. Linda Lawson termed the anti-slavery law an attack on the community.

"What you are doing is destroying my community!" said Lawson, who represents a northwest Indiana district packed with heavy manufacturers and a major BP oil refinery. "We want to turn my district into Detroit!"

I might have misheard that last sentence.


Hat tip: Winterspirit.

The Smartest Baby In America [Looking Spoon]

The Looking Spoon:

"Mommy, the bad man stole $48,217.63 from me in only three years!"


It's another historic first: Obama uses State of the Union address as an official campaign fundraiser

Remember how some of the drones and nincompoops voted for President Obama because he was "historic"?

Turns out he really was, only not in the way they'd expected.

If there was any question whether President Obama’s State of the Union address was actually a prettied up campaign speech, Obama himself answered it with an email to supporters just before his appearance asking them to contribute to his campaign... titled “Before I speak,” was sent by “Barack Obama” through the campaign email system and signed, “Barack”...

I’m heading to Capitol Hill soon to deliver my third State of the Union address... Tonight, we set the tone for the year ahead. I’m going to lay out in concrete terms the path we need to take as a country if we want an economy that works for everyone and rewards hard work and responsibility.

I’m glad to know you’ll be standing with me up there.

Barack

—–

Support President Obama. Make a donation today.

The last sentence in the email includes a link that brings recipients to a page where they can make their donation.

This is a man who appears to have literally no respect for the office of the President or, for that matter, America's traditions, values and mores.

Good news, though: November is coming. And I will walk on hot coals to vote this person out of office.


Say, if we're really in a "recovery", could someone tell me why the total number of vehicle-miles driven in the U.S. is still declining?

Answer: because someone in the administration forgot to doctor the numbers (like they do with unemployment).

The Department of Transportation (DOT) reported:

• Travel on all roads and streets changed by -0.9% (-2.1 billion vehicle miles) for November 2011 as compared with November 2010.

• Travel for the month is estimated to be 240.9 billion vehicle miles.

• Cumulative Travel for 2011 changed by -1.4% (-38.3 billion vehicle miles).
The following graph shows the rolling 12 month total vehicle miles driven.


...In the early '80s, miles driven (rolling 12 months) stayed below the previous peak for 39 months.

Currently miles driven has been below the previous peak for 48 months - and still counting! And not just moving sideways ... the rolling 12 month total is still declining.

...This is the ninth straight month with a year-over-year decline in miles driven...

But if only the obstinate Republicans would give President Obama more money and more power, he'll make everything better. If he can just tax the rich more, tax oil companies more, maybe add a VAT tax, maybe convert all private retirement funds into annuities backed by government bonds, and find some other creative ways to raise cash for the government to redistribute, all will be well.

All will be well.


Cash Money Contest: Predict When President Subprime McCaddy Gets His 100th Round of Golf In

The invaluable Keith Koffler at White House Dossier tells us that President Obama has hit the links a record 92 times during his first three years in office.

In recognition of this monumental achievement, we're offering a $25 cash prize (paid via PayPal) to the person who comes closest to guessing the date of Obama's 100th round of golf.

So have at it in the comments. Along with your guestimated date, you can also include a caption for the accompanying photo, which we'll use as the tie-breaker.


Awesome: Senior Romney Adviser Says a Republican President Could Never Repeal Obamacare

Yet another reason to support one of the two non-Romneys in the race:

Mitt Romney adviser Norm Coleman, a former senator from Minnesota, predicted the GOP won't repeal the Democrats' healthcare reform law even if a Republican candidate defeats President Obama this November.

"You will not repeal the act in its entirety, but you will see major changes, particularly if there is a Republican president," Coleman told BioCentury This Week television in an interview that aired on Sunday. "You can't whole-cloth throw it out. But you can substantially change what's been done."

...Coleman's remarks are remarkable because every Republican candidate — including Romney — has vowed to make repealing the law a priority. Coleman is also the chairman of the American Action Network, which has urged the courts to strike down the law's individual mandate and its Medicaid expansion.

Squishes like Norm Coleman, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell are cowards who are either too scared or too invested in the status quo to try to save this country.

Folks, I don't mean to be a polyanna, but every expert from Obama adviser Peter Orszag to the CBO says that America is headed into a fiscal abyss. And these clowns are waving the white flag before the fight has even started?

So what do we do? We need to demand -- demand, not ask! -- that these establishment RINOs are replaced as Congressional leaders in 2012 by Tea Party conservatives like Michele Bachmann, Allen West, Jim DeMint, Marco Rubio, etc. If it takes a march on Washington, so be it. We're tired of being ignored by these numbskulls. Enough is enough.


Hat tip: Mark Levin.