Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Best of the Independence Day Blogs

Via BadBlue, here are the highlights of some of the Fourth's best posts:

Robert Dillon: 'Thomas Jefferson was then a little past thirty-three years of age. His ability as a thinker and a writer was well-known. The committee met immediately after appointment. Jefferson suggested that Adams should draw up the Declaration. Adams objected, saying: "You can write ten times better than I can." The others agreed that Jefferson ought to make the first draft, and he consented... At some time in the following three weeks, Jefferson wrote the paper. We are led to believe he did it at one sitting, or one day, or night... Many years later he remarked: "Whether I had gathered my ideas from reading or reflection, I do not know. I only know that I turned to neither book nor pamphlet while writing it."'

Thomas Jefferson, writing for the nation's founders: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Matthew Spalding: "Because all are endowed with these rights, the rights are unalienable, which means that they cannot be given up or taken away. And because individuals equally possess these rights, governments derive their just powers from the consent of those governed. Government’s purpose is to secure these fundamental rights and, although prudence tells us that governments should not be changed for trivial reasons, the people retain the right to alter or abolish government when it becomes destructive of these ends."

Diana Schaub: "Washington close[d his] Farewell Address by anticipating a retreat beyond even his retreat to Mt. Vernon, namely his journey toward the “Mansions of rest.” The line is said to have brought tears to the eyes of his readers. Four decades later, a young Abraham Lincoln delivered a remarkable speech that revisited Washington’s theme of “the perpetuation of our political institutions.” The Lyceum Address closed by imagining a sort of second coming of Washington. Lincoln’s closing hopes for the nation can still serve as our own: “that we improved to the last; that we remained free to the last; that we revered his name to the last; that, during his long sleep, we permitted no hostile foot to pass over or desecrate his resting place; shall be that which to learn the last trump shall awaken our Washington."

Sarah Rumpf: "Over two centuries ago, fifty-six men put their lives on the line to preserve and protect the freedoms that are the God-given unalienable rights of all free people... Today, as I think back about the incredible amount of courage it must have taken to publicly sign their names to this document, I cannot help but think that the best way to honor this courage is for each of us to consider making a similar personal pledge to our fellow Americans. "

Bobby Jindal, writing at RedState: "If you are a small business owner, a middle-class taxpayer, or if you are worried about what Obamacare will do to the quality of your health care, or if you are worried about the fact that our government is headed towards insolvency – you have only one recourse – make President Obama a one-termer. Elections do matter; this one matters a lot."

Ed Morrissey: "Two hundred and thirty-six years ago, a beleaguered but defiant group of men created the most magnificent declaration of liberty and human rights in history. It changed the world forever, and ended the heretofore universal model of a permanent ruling class in favor of self-government. Most scoffed at the grand experiment by these “Americans,” but in the end those men not only changed their own land, they changed the entire world. Happy 236th anniversary to the Declaration of Independence, and to the United States of America."


Larwyn's Linx: Declaration of Independence, not Dependence

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Nation

Declaration of Independence, not Dependence: Jindal
Judicial Betrayal: Sowell
The Fourth of July: Only a Viewpoint

Eric Holder's Tangled Web of Deception: Townhall
The Balkanized States of America: West
New SCOTUS leaks disagree with old SCOTUS leaks: Volokh

DHS Study: Liberty-Lovers Are Extreme Right-Wing Terrorists: Blaze
Didn't Take Long For RINO Leaders To Cave On Obamacare: Riehl
Exclusive: McConnell vows Obamacare repeal is 'job one': Breitbart

Economy

The tax that isn’t a tax because 75% hits the middle class: Q&O
CPUSA Says Re-electing Obama is “Absolutely Essential”: AIM
IRS Busted for Fraud?: Glob

Defund Obamacare Now: RS
With nation distracted, Congress robs taxpayers twice: Exam
Obama Praised Private Equity When He Needed Cash: Breitbart

Scandal Central

More On Fast and Furious: SDA
Bloggers Who Broke Fast and Furious Story, File Ethics Complaint on Holder With DC Bar: Nice Deb

Climate & Energy

AP: This Is What Global Warming Looks Like: S&L
LOL: NC Democart accidentally votes to allow fracking, overturns moonbat Governor's veto: LoneCon
The Energy Revolution and Its Discontents: Foundry

Media

AP Caught in Blatant Lies About Illegal Immigration: BizzyBlog
Gradus ad Narcissum: Steyn
Brunner Ad a Model for How to Run Against Obama and Democrats all over the Country: NoisyRm

Roberts, Blankenhorn And The Power Of Liberal Intimidation: IBD
CNN notices USDA pushing food stamp parties to increase dependence: NoisyRm
Cashin On The Constitution And Obamacare: ZH

World

On Socialism /Communism: Four Very Short Stories: Bruce
Quiet election highlights Mexico's stability: Exam
CASA de Maryland: The Illegals’ ACORN: AIM (2011)

Sci-Tech

CERN scientists discover new subatomic particle that could be Higgs boson: IndiaTimes
The Next Microsoft — Updating Its Branding And Messaging In Three Days: TechCrunch
Bloomberg: iPad Mini Coming in October: MacRumors

Cornucopia

Happy Birthday America! July 4, 2012: MOTUS
The 40 Best Quotes From Ronald Reagan: RWN
Independence Day in America 2012: Dewey

Image: The Looking Spoon
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "There are many speculations as to why Chief Justice Roberts did what he did, some attributing noble and far-sighted reasons, and others attributing petty and short-sighted reasons, including personal vanity. But all of that is ultimately irrelevant.

What he did was betray his oath to be faithful to the Constitution of the United States.

Who he betrayed were the hundreds of millions of Americans — past, present and future — whole generations in the past who have fought and died for a freedom that he has put in jeopardy, in a moment of intellectual inspiration and moral forgetfulness, 300 million Americans today whose lives are to be regimented by Washington bureaucrats, and generations yet unborn who may never know the individual freedoms that their ancestors took for granted." --Thomas Sowell

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Old people just don't get the "green" thing

Papa B:

In the queue at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Papa B adds, "Remember: don't make old people mad. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off."


Related: How did we survive?.

Exclusive: Artist's conception of health care system in 2016


Background story: Debt and Taxes: Obamacare A Deadly Prescription for America


Helpful flowchart: do I qualify for the Obamacare mandate-tax-penalty surcharge fee?


Hat tip: Adapted from a chart found at Noisy Room.

Good news: GM now owes taxpayers $35 billion (and by the way, how are those electric cars working out in DC?)

Well, the meme that the Obama campaign and its spokespeople in vintage media continue to promote is that a heroic Barack Obama saved General Motors.

Of course, as Andrew Malcolm reports today, it was the American taxpayer that saved GM -- at huge and needless expense.

General Motors shares fell to a fresh 2012 closing low of 19.57 on Monday. The stock hit 19 in mid-December, the lowest since the auto giant came public at $33 in November 2010 following its June 2009 bankruptcy.

Normally you might say, tough luck investors. But this is Government Motors. The Treasury still owns 26.5% of GM, or 500 million shares. Taxpayers are still out $26.4 billion in direct aid. Shares would have to hit $53 for the government to break even.

Those shares were worth about $9.8 billion as of Monday. That would leave taxpayers with a loss of $16.6 billion.


But that's not the full tally. Obama let GM keep $45 billion in past losses to offset future profits. Those are usually wiped out or slashed, along with debts, in bankruptcy. But the administration essentially gifted $45 billion in write-offs (book value $18 billion) to GM. So when GM earned a $7.6 billion profit in 2011 (more on that below), it paid no taxes.

Include that $18 billion gift, and taxpayers' true loss climbs to nearly $35 billion.

Which brings me to Washington, DC, which is still suffering from days-long power outages after major thunderstorms rolled through the area. I wonder how those electric cars are working out in the DC area?

If you're in the DC area, are you happy you don't have an electric car? Yeah, with the power outages, are you happy you don't have an electric car? Because two million, five million, three schmillion, whatever. Aren't you glad you don't have an electric car? By the way, how are those windmills working out for you? How are the windmills and solar panels working out? Are they running your air-conditioning for you?

...It's a good thing you don't have an electric car or you couldn't get around, you couldn't escape. Isn't it amazing.

Thank goodness, the masterminds in D.C. are instructing GM and other automobile companies to create even more electric cars. Never mind they don't work for s***. Misery loves company.


Larwyn's Linx: Good News — What Good News?

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Nation

Good News — What Good News?: Hanson
Roberts did flip on his decision despite Kennedy's lobbying: Betsy
Chief Justice Roberts Sends Dangerous Message: Alexa

Did the Supreme Court’s Deliberations on Healthcare Leak?: Volokh
John and Jane Roberts and D.C. Cocktail Parties: Toldja So: MagNote
Constitutional Contortions: Steyn

Justice Roberts — Tragic Figure: Hanson
Secret Service shuts down ‘fire Eric Holder’ protest: Exam
Hill Conservatives to Govs: Starve ObamaCare, Kill Exchanges: PJM

Economy

"The Power to Destroy": IBD
Small businesses: Obamacare deters hiring: WaPo
Once A Run On Banks Starts…: GuruFocus

The Last Legal Option to Invalidate Obamacare?: Cato
Can Government Now Tax Handgun Ammunition 10,000%?: AT
Obama takes the week off: Dossier

Scandal Central

Obama’s amnesty edict set in motion: Times
The Case of CH2M HILL: $2 Billion in Crony Stimulation: AIM
Another Subsidized Solar Company Goes Dark: Cato

Another Obama Record: Number of Americans on Disability Exceeds Population of NY: GWP
CNN’s Candy Crowley Pushes White House Chief of Staff Over Executive Privilege Hypocrisy: AIM
Pay Off the Fed, Pass Go, Do Not Go To Jail. Glaxo SmithKline settles fraud case for $3B: Bruce

Climate & Energy

Why is the Navy willing to pay $27 a gallon for biofuel?: BlackFive
If you're in the DC area, are you happy you don't have an electric car? : EIB
Outages put Pepco on multiple hot seats: Times

Media

The Roberts Legacy: IBD
CNN Downplays Its Own Poll Showing 8 Point Lead For Mitt Romney: Glob
Obama fundraising on Air Force One?: Hot Air

The Real Reason Justice Roberts Betrayed the American People: Sentinel
If the Affordable Care Act is "a tax," does that make the law invalid?: Fox 19
Boom! CBS News reporter Mark Knoller calls out David Axelrod’s hypocrisy: Twitchy

The Court Breathes New Life Into the Great Destroyer: DLim
Allen West: Obama would ‘rather you be his slave and economically dependent upon him’: Scoop
Mark Levin slams Roberts: If he wants to be political he should have term limits: Scoop

World

Dearborn Muslim charged with nine counts of attempted murder for trying to kill street preachers: JihadWatch
Obama Turns His Back on Israel at the U.N.: Bayefsky
Newt Gingrich on D.C. Weather: 'Mild Taste of What an EMP Attack Would Do': WS

Russian politician: Rather have Obama than Romney: CDN
Doing What Obama Won’t: UK Uncovers Al Qaeda Plot to Bomb US Plane Ahead of Olympics: Bruce
Chinese hackers steal Indian Navy secrets with thumbdrive virus: Ars

Democratic official's shock emails: Israel guilty of "crimes against humanity": BizPacReview
Socialized Medicine, From a Survivor: Times (Delingpole)
Muslim Brotherhood Preaching Israel Destruction after Election: AIM

Sci-Tech

NASA's NuSTAR probe snaps first X-ray image of feeding black hole: Engadget
A Solution to the Twitter API Problem: Nova Spivack
Beyond BlackBerry: 3 steps to prepare for its demise: Infoworld

Cornucopia

Pay for Play: MOTUS
Obamatax: NRO (Mister Smith Media)
Mime Obama: Ever feel like you're in the wrong place?: Cube

Image: Must Read! Russia’s Continued Cold War
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "Do the good offices of John Roberts mind have any windows? To assert that regulating inactivity is on the one hand unconstitutional, but that taxing it as a means of coercion on the other hand is constitutional, is to ignore all practical implications. Coming through the back door to accomplish that which would be impermissible through the front is precisely the sort of sophistic nonsense that has done immense damage to the reputation of the legal profession in general and has now tarnished the credibility of the Supreme Court itself." --Dave Carter

Monday, July 02, 2012

Independence Day in Paris

Red Square writes:

The recent story of Obama celebrating Independence Day in Paris with a massive fundraiser has prompted us to envision the Dear Leader as a dreamy French mime. It was only logical then to place French Mime Obama in some American context with the caption, "Ever feel like you’re in the wrong place?"


Visit the rest of displaced mime history by clicking here.


Boom: U.S. Manufacturing Plummets ("Unexpectedly"), 0 of 70 Analysts Predicted the Recession-like Numbers

Funny, you wouldn't think policies that sow distrust, uncertainty and fear among businesses would result in this kind of disaster.

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted in June for the first time since July 2009... "The PMI registered 49.7 percent, a decrease of 3.8 percentage points from May's reading of 53.5 percent, indicating contraction in the manufacturing sector for the first time since July 2009, when the PMI registered 49.2 percent.

...All 70 economists polled by Bloomberg came in on the high side. Collapses are never expected.


The above chart by Doug Short (annotations in red, green, and purple by Mish) shows the importance in not relying on a single indicator as strong evidence of a recession.

Since 1959, the ISM dipped substantially below the 50% mark on five occasions when there was no recession. Moreover, in the 70's oil crisis, a recession began with the ISM near 70. The reverse happened in the wake of the Dot-Com bust as a recession did not start until the ISM was near 40.

The only question that remains: whether the president will blame ATMs, Europe, the Japanese Tsunami, earthquakes, or some new devil for all of his ills.

In November, let's ensure that the "you broke it, you own it" rule applies to the SCOAMF.


Infographic: President Obama's Top 10 Broken Promises

Via Townhall and the RNC, this chart pretty much sums up the SCOAMF effect.


Say, how's the president's Simpson-Bowles debt commission coming along?


Larwyn's Linx: An Unjust Law is No Law at All: Obamacare Must Fall

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

An Unjust Law is No Law at All: Why Obamacare Must Fall: CFP
A Supreme Disaster: Ricochet
McConnell: GOP Only Needs 51 Votes to Overturn Mandate: Roll Call

Report: Roberts switched his vote on the mandate: Hot Air
Who Leaked at SCOTUS?: OTB
Anti-Jewish Crime Wave in NYC: Post

SCOTUS Rule 44 Petition Necessary: Rhymes
A Tea Party Battle Cry: DC
Tony Katz Catches Dem Leader Admitting to Voter Fraud: CDN

Economy

Repeat after me: the Obamacare mandate was really a tax!: Lane
Obama campaign spends the Fourth fundraising in Europe: MenRec
Former IRS Official Demands Investigation of ALEC: Roll Call

Why You Should Oppose Obamacare: 32 Quotes From Democrats: RWN
Who created the student loan tax hike problem again?: Breitbart
'Don't Get Sick After June': FiveLetterWord

Scandal Central

Boehner: We’re Taking Executive Privilege to Court: WZ
Holder’s Contempt Citation Could Give New Meaning to “House Arrest”: RS
Protesters to converge today on White House calling for Fast and Furious justice: DC

Climate & Energy

Hottest Day Evah!: Conservatory
Congress Must Stop EPA: Herald
Senate Fails to Block New EPA Regulations, War on Coal Continues: CDN

Media

"How Liberals Win": ProWis
A Theological Interpretation Of Obamacare: CJ
Shocking Huffington Post Headline: 'Obama Begs Donors: Send More $$$': NB

Fact Check.org Fact Checks the President and the Washington Post: Villainous
A Letter To Michelle Obama: Western
Souter in Roberts' Clothing: Coulter (2005)

FactCheck.org: Obama’s Anti-Mitt Bain Ads Are Pretty Much Complete Fabrications: WZ
Las Vegas Odds Maker Predicts Historic Romney Landslide: MagNote
Obama Street Art: The "Laff" Edition: Urban Infidel

World

Final Jeopardy – Category is OBAMA: The answer is: Fundraising in Paris: Breitbart
Report: Al-Qaida planning to crash U.S. airline during London Olympics: Haaretz
Message to Cassius Clay and Lew Alcindor: TAB

The Carter ‘legacy’: Herald
A Wanna-be Hugo Chavez: RWN
Three ex-Muslim women speak about the horror and torture they experienced under Islam: JihadWatch

Sci-Tech

‘Leap Second’ Bug Wreaks Havoc Across Web: Wired
Doom: Tick bite can turn you into a vegan: Hot Air
Twitter developers dismayed by promise of stricter API rules: CNet

Cornucopia

Pics From the Front: WZ
Welfare is magic!: SooperMexican
Homemade waterslide is homeowner’s insurance nightmare [video]: Holy Kaw

Image: Thank you John Roberts for moving my progressive legacy forward
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "We should all be in mourning, and I don’t mean just Americans. I mean all of humanity. The United States was the shining city on the hill, but the American experiment is finished now. Dead. Sorry, folks, but the notion that individual liberty granted by God is inalienable died when Chief Justice John Roberts became a traitor to the principles he pretended to represent. Roberts decided to join with the extreme liberals on the court. It’s a strange move. Even Justice Anthony Kennedy, known to lean toward a liberal viewpoint, and the man everybody expected to be the swing vote, couldn’t stomach this much power being in the hands of government. But Chief Justice Roberts, ostensibly a conservative, could and did." --J.P. Travis

Sunday, July 01, 2012

Graph: the 10 grooviest new Obamacare taxes

It's a tax! It's a penalty! It's a mandate! Thanks, Chief Justice Roberts!

...Obamacare will impose higher taxes totaling $4 trillion between now and 2035, with substantial hits on working Americans. That works out to more than $1.7 trillion over a decade—more than triple the original 10-year score.


...Below is a list of 10 of Obamacare’s most costly taxes and fees, drawn from research by Heritage tax policy expert Curtis Dubay:

1. Hospital Insurance Tax. Beginning in 2013, Obamacare increases the Hospital Insurance (HI) portion of the payroll tax from 2.9 percent to 3.8 percent for families earning more than $250,000 a year and for single filers earning more than $200,000 annually...
2. Mandate Penalties. In 2014, Obamacare’s individual and employer mandates go into effect, forcing individuals to purchase coverage and employers to offer coverage to their workers. The penalties paid in association with these mandates are an estimated $65 billion between 2014 and 2019...
3. Health Insurance Provider Fee. Starting in 2014, Obamacare imposes an annual fee on health insurance providers...
4. “Cadillac” Tax. In 2018, Obamacare puts a new 40 percent excise tax on “Cadillac” health plans...
5. Prescription Drug Fees. Since 2011, Obamacare has put an annual fee on manufacturers and importers of branded drugs...
6. Ethanol Tax. ...This will hike taxes $24 billion from 2010–2019...
7. Medical Device Tax. Beginning in 2013, Obamacare imposes a 2.3 percent excise tax on medical device manufacturers...
8. Business Regulation Costs. Beginning in 2012, ...businesses will be required to report more information on their business activities. This will raise taxes $17 billion from 2012 to 2019.
9. Reducing Medical Deductions. In 2013, Obamacare raises the floor on itemized medical deductions...
10. FSA Limits. Starting in 2014, Obamacare limits the amount of pre-tax dollars that taxpayers can deposit in flexible savings accounts (FSAs) to $2,500 a year. This results in an extra $13 billion in taxes from 2014 to 2019...

These are just the top ten. There are 18 Obamatax hikes in all.

And I'm sure all of them will work out... perfectly.


How Microsoft Windows can drive a normal human being stark raving mad (chapter 819)

Consider this intriguing screen, recently received when fruitlessly trying to connect to a wireless network:


This is the kind of silliness that seems to drive people to Apple products (and Linux).


Dave Winer: Economic Illiterate

Dave Winer is a technical pioneer and arguably one of the world's first bloggers (he says he started blogging in 1994). But when it comes to philosophy, law, and economics, it would appear that he is a complete illiterate.

Consider his "epic rant on health reform":

There's no reason that everyone you know who uses the Internet shouldn't know exactly what the Affordable Care Act does. Never mind whether you like it or don't. Everyone should know what's in it.

And how would that be possible, Dave? None of the members of Congress even read the 2,700-page monstrosity before voting on it. It was created in secret, without open committee hearings, without any participation from Republicans, and shielded completely from the public until a few hours before the vote.

Everyone should know what's in it.

Everyone. Should. Know. What's. In. It.

And why not. [sic]

Gee, Dave, I'm struggling with this concept.

How can anyone comprehend a 2,700-page bill that creates a massive, Rube Goldberg-like labyrinth of more than 160 agencies, offices, bureaucracies and directorates?

How can anyone hope to understand a government takeover of one-sixth of the U.S. economy that attempts to replace and centrally manage billions of individual choices and interactions by doctors, nurses, caregivers, facility owners, insurers, medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and patients?

How can anyone come to grips with a 15-person panel of "masterminds" -- the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) -- whose dubious mission is to "slow the growth in national health care expenditures while preserving or enhancing quality of care"?

How can anyone grasp the series of claims used to market the bill -- "if you like your health care plan, you can keep it" and "your health care premiums will go down by as much as $2,500 per year", for example -- which have already been proven utterly false?

What an outrage that insurance companies can cancel your insurance when you get sick. How convenient for them. Hard to believe that's even possible, but it is.

An insurance contract does not permit a company to arbitrarily "cancel" a policy. An insurance policy is a legal contract, plain and simple. It can't be canceled during the term of the contract. And for the vast majority of Americans who receive health care through their employers, such an act is virtually unheard of.

So if you have a way with words and infographics and want to help your country, let's do this.

You mean like Avik Roy's "How Obamacare Dramatically Increases the Cost of Insurance for Young Workers", which describes the massive redistribution of wealth from young to old? You mean like "paying for" Obamacare by stealing $500 billion from Medicare?

Here are my words, Dave:

Where's tort reform in Obamacare? Where's true, free market competition? Where are price controls -- which always result in negative, unintended consequences -- obliterated? Where is the plan to save Medicare, which is headed for fiscal collapse in only five short years? Where is the plan to rescue all of the other failed federal programs -- from Fannie Mae and Social Security to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and the student loan program takeover -- that are now facing tens of trillions in red ink?

Who will pay for all of these programs, Dave?

And how much longer can the country survive trillion-dollar annual deficits, Dave?

I won't hold my breath waiting for answers. Because these insane, Utopian plans always fail. Always. And the very last thing this country needed was a massive, new entitlement when it can't even pay for all of the entitlements and wealth redistribution programs it already has.



If Brian Terry had been black, would the Congressional Black Caucus have walked out on the Holder contempt vote?

In a sickening display of partisanship, the Congressional Black Caucus and other Democrats walked out of last week's House vote that found A.G. Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress.

That same day, Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa released secret wiretap applications that prove -- beyond a shadow of a doubt -- that Holder and other DOJ officials committed perjury and executed a cover-up. It is now apparent that the highest levels of Main Justice knew precisely what tactics Fast and Furious employed long before the operation resulted in the murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

So here is my thought experiment of the day: What if Brian Terry had been black? Would the CBC have walked out on the contempt vote?

It's apparent that the Congressional Black Caucus could care less about the hundreds of Mexicans slaughtered courtesy of Eric Holder's "Fast and Furious".

So how pathetic is it that the CBC -- contrary to the counsel of Martin Luther King, Jr. -- rejects the content of a man's character and focuses only on skin pigmentation?

It's sick, that's what it is.


Larwyn's Linx: John Locke -- The Second Treatise and Obamacare

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Obamacare

John Locke: The Second Treatise and Obamacare: Virtuous
Killing Obamacare: We Now Need 51 Votes In The Senate, Not 60: RWN
A Surgeon Cuts to the Heart of the ObamaCare Nightmare: AT

Conservative anger growing over Obamacare decision: York
Obamacare, the Commerce Clause and the Supreme Court: Levin
The Struggle Has Not Changed: TL in Exile

Nation

There Ain't No More Middle-Ground: Sultan Knish
Top 10 Obama power grabs: Events
Texas students hack U.S. government drone in midair: LibertyNews

Turning Massachusetts Red: RWN
Why Obama Keeps An Enemies List: Western
IRS steps up scrutiny of groups like American Crossroads: Yahoo

Economy

75% of Obamacare Costs Hit Those Making Less Than $120K: GWP
USPS workers show up for work, do nothing, get paid: Marathon
Friday night news dump: White House salaries edition: Politico

They can't put all of us in prison: JPA
The Dark (Pool) Truth About What Really Goes On In The Stock Market: ZH
Obama Lies, Taxes Rise: NoisyRm

Scandal Central

Secret Wiretap Applications Reveal Holder Lied to Congress: GWP
DAG Cole: Won’t Prosecute Holder: Lady Liberty
E-mails reveal retaliation, cover-up at ATF, DoJ : Hot Air

Issa drops 'bombshell' wiretap applications letter that makes Holder out to be a liar: AT
WH Under Fire Over Coverup: UnionNews
F&F whistleblowers now supervised by ATF manager who allegedly threatened retaliation: CBS (Attkisson)

Fast & Furious Overseen by Anti-Gun Zealot Dennis Burke: MB
Where is Ken Melson?: MagNote
Fast and Furious: GOP says wiretaps revealed 'Gunwalking' early on: CBS (Attkisson)

Climate & Energy

The Obama administration’s five-year drilling plan (hint: it’s underwhelming): Hot Air
Environmentalists Peddle Scientific Illiteracy: Power Line

Media

Dems Already Stuttering and Stammering Trying to Defend Their Albatross: iOTW
Question of the Day: AWD
46,159 Canadians left the country for healthcare in 2011: IHTM

World

“Please God. Please make it stop.”: Natasha Smith
Sex grooming cases spark racial tensions: AP
Surge in violence spurs new fears in Iraq: AP

Extremely Graphic Video of Syrian Protest Funeral Bombing: Sooper
CAIR Tweet Blasts "Racist" FBI: IPT
DeMint Urges Opposition to Sea Treaty, Citing ‘Redistribution of Wealth’, ‘Freedom of Navigation’: CNS

Sci-Tech

YouTube Is Developing a Secret Weapon Against the Internet’s Worst Commenters: Wired
Office 2013 icon leak reveals Microsoft's continued Metro push: Verge
Storm related power outages disrupts Amazon Web Services: Chron

Cornucopia

Our Strategy Going FORWARD: Lift and Separate: MOTUS
Look, All I Said to Her Was 'You Have Three Beautiful Children': Reaganite
Obamacare Promotional Posters: Morlock

Image: Smitty
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: The Emergency Obamacare Conference Call

QOTD: "President Obama's offshore charade continues today with the formal announcement of the 2012-2017 leasing plan for the outer continental shelf. With this plan, the administration reinstitutes the 27 year moratorium that was lifted in 2008, and turns its back on potentially enormous energy resources that could provide jobs and energy security for America. For more than three years, the Obama administration has consistently reversed bipartisan efforts to open America's vast offshore resources for energy development.

The president has cancelled lease sales, delayed others, and imposed a unilateral executive embargo on the oil resources that our most promising public lands could provide. With 98 percent of the U.S. offshore currently unleased for energy exploration, Secretary Salazar has finalized this plan to continue the administration's war against affordable energy. In the end, Americans will pay more for the energy they need." --WyBlog

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Fascinating Chart: Unemployment Trends, State-by-State

Courtesy of Tyler Durden, this chart from Tableau Software illustrates the history of unemployment by state since 1976...

...and specifically the difference from historical averages. What the chart shows is that as more and more people have migrated to populated coastal areas, or those areas hit hardest from the recent deleveraging mean reversion depression, it is the flyover states, typically considered the least interesting, that are actually performing by far the best, with some places like North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Vermont paradoxically having better relative employment right now than during any time in the past 40 years

Gee. I'm flabbergasted that red states are thriving while Democrat-controlled Utopias are collapsing under the weight of public sector union control, endlessly ratcheted taxes, and ever-increasing regulations.


I'll alert the media.

Oh, wait. They don't give a crap.



Your tax dollars at work: EPA hiring $180,000-a-year director of "environmental justice"

Environmental justice (EJ) refers to an equitable spatial distribution of burdens and benefits to groups such as racial minorities --Wikipedia

I'm delighted that a federal leviathan which borrows 40 cents of every dollar it spends is focusing on the nation's highest priorities:


It's November or never to save this Republic.

What can you do? If you have the wherewithal, support the most conservative candidates you can. Like Ted Cruz in Texas or Jim DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund. My friends, we have work to do.


Hat tip: R.

3 Possibilities: What convinced John Roberts to change his mind at the last minute and stab the conservative justices in the back?

Last night Mark Levin said that he had finished reading the entire SCOTUS decision on Obamacare three separate times. His conclusion is that "the Supreme Court is not a happy place."

His believable claim is that John Roberts -- at the very last moment -- changed his vote that would have struck down both the Individual Mandate and Obamacare. This claim did not originate with Levin. Various observers noted discrepancies in the opinions (e.g., Justice Ginsburg wrote as part of the "dissent"), including Senator Mike Lee, who clerked for Justice Alito.

[Lee] expressed concern about the “intimidation tactics” being used by Democrats and President Obama in preemptively attacking the Supreme Court, which “seemed to suggest that it’s just the job of the Supreme Court…to grant the imprimatur of constitutional legitimacy to any duly enacted major legislation.”

I asked if he thought these tactics may have influenced Roberts.

“I certainly think that was the intent underlying those statements,” he said. “I try not to engage in too many layers of speculation, so I can’t prove that Chief Justice Roberts switched his vote. There are certainly signals to that effect here. But even if we reach that conclusion, we can’t be certain without Chief Justice Roberts telling us that he was influenced by that or any other single factor. But what we do know is that was the rather clear intent of those that were making those statements and there are certainly signals Chief Justice Roberts changed his mind and changed his vote, just based on the way the opinions are set up.”

What were the intimidation tactics used by the Left?

Democrats far and wide pinpointed Roberts as threatening the legitimacy of the Supreme Court would he have overturned Obamacare.

• Sen. Patrick Leahy, self-admitted socialist from Vermont, was accused of trying to intimidate Roberts: "Leahy took to the Senate floor to warn the Supreme Court, particularly Chief Justice John Roberts, not to strike down the Affordable Care Act."

• In April, Barack Obama threw in his two cents, asserting that the act of a Supreme Court in throwing out a law as unconstitutional would be "unprecedented" (note: of course it's not, it's occurred over 100 times in American history): "I’m confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress."

• Former Clinton administration official Robert Reich wrote: "The immediate question is whether the Chief Justice, John Roberts, understands the tenuous position of the Court he now runs."

New Republic legal affairs editor Jeffrey Rosen stated, "The health care case will undoubtedly define his chief justiceship."

Given this as background, what possible reason would Roberts have for changing his mind at the last moment?

Option 1: Vanity

According to Washington insiders, Roberts enjoys nothing more than reading his press clippings. Howard Kurtz described Roberts:
...a longtime pillar of the Washington legal establishment, a member of the ultra-posh Chevy Chase Club, and someone who acquaintances say cares deeply about how he is portrayed in the press.
In this scenario, the combination of a man concerned with his image plus an unprecedented public intimidation campaign against Roberts, ultimately convinced him to change his vote.

Option 2: More Nefarious Threats

A conspiracy theory to be sure, but -- after all -- it's the Chicago Machine we're talking about. And the Obama administration and its various appendages haven't been shy about breaking new ground when it comes to presidential lawbreaking.

Allowing thousands of military-grade weapons to fall into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels, presumably to build up public support for stricter gun control measures, isn't exactly playing patty-cake.

Was a more serious and material threat directed at Roberts and his family?

Option 3: Promises

Another conspiracy theory revolves around a special "gift" to Roberts. Would a man fixated on joining an "ultra-posh" country club like, say, an extra $10 million to make his life easier and less stressful?

Obviously, it's doubtful we would ever know. Using electronic funds transfer and offshore accounts, such a gift could be executed surreptitiously, protecting all parties from unwanted publicity.

So which of the three options is it?

Besides these three options, I see no other logical explanations for Roberts' late switch on the most important Supreme Court decision in a generation. Something was behind his flip. And I'm betting that something would be profoundly disturbing should the American people ever find out.


Sharyl Attkisson double-taps Eric Holder on CBS News: perjury, cover-up and retribution confirmed

One: GOP says wiretaps revealed 'Gunwalking' early on:

...a secret wiretap application and testimony from the former head of ATF contradict key claims by Attorney General Eric Holder on whether Justice Department officials knew guns were being "walked" in ATF's Fast and Furious case. Some details of the wiretap application, which are technically under court seal, are revealed for the first time in today's Congressional Record...

...The wiretap application disclosed that Fast and Furious suspects had already purchased nearly 1,000 firearms in Fast and Furious, that they had not been arrested, and that many of the weapons had already been recovered in criminal hands in Mexico. Nine months later, two weapons in the case were used in a shoot-out with illegal immigrants and the Border Patrol that ended in the death of Special Agent Brian Terry.

Two: Fast and Furious whistleblowers now supervised by ATF manager who allegedly threatened retaliation:

Two Fast and Furious whistleblowers have reportedly been placed under the supervision of an ATF official who allegedly threatened to "take them down."

...When the ATF whistleblowers, Special Agents John Dodson and Pete Forcelli, went public last year, Scot Thomasson headed up ATF Public Affairs. According to an eyewitness, Thomasson stated "We need to get whatever dirt we can on these guys (whistleblowers) and take them down." Now, Grassley and Issa say the agents have been put under the charge of ATF's Scot Thomasson who is Division Chief of the Firearms Operations Unit.

Thomasson was also allegedly heard to have said "ATF needs to f__k these guys." And when asked if the whistleblower allegations were true, Thomasson purportedly said he didn't know and didn't care...

Thanks to heroes like Dodson and Forcelli, as well as true journalists like Sipsey Street Irregulars, Gun Rights Examiner and Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News, it will become increasingly difficult for vintage media to ignore the utter lawlessness of Eric Holder and his out-of-control DOJ.

Oh, and as for the results of Holder's "internal investigation" by the DOJ "inspector general", which has been supposedly been underway since February 2011 -- 18 months, or 50 percent longer than the Warren Commission investigation into JFK's assassination -- not a single word has been forthcoming.

Rep. Issa: it's time to subpoena Holder's "inspector general" Cynthia A. Schnedar. It's time to find out what she knows and when she knew it. Or she can take the Fifth, which would tell us everything we need to know.