Thursday, August 16, 2012

QOTD: Krauthammer nukes the case for Obama's reelection

Oh, my:

There are two ways to run against Barack Obama: stewardship or ideology. You can run against his record, or you can run against his ideas.

The stewardship case is pretty straightforward: the worst recovery in U.S. history, 42 consecutive months of 8-plus percent unemployment, declining economic growth - all achieved at a price of another $5 trillion of accumulated debt.

The ideological case is also simple. Just play in toto (and therefore in context) Obama's Roanoke riff telling small business owners: "You didn't build that." Real credit for your success belongs not to you - you think you did well because of your smarts and sweat? he asked mockingly - but to government that built the infrastructure without which you would have nothing.

Play it. Then ask: Is that the governing philosophy you want for this nation?

For you drones reading along (moving your lips, I'm sure), that's a rhetorical question.


Hat tip: RJCHQ.

Gutsy Call: President avoids White House Press Corps for two months, finds time for sit-downs with People Magazine and Entertainment Tonight

Because -- aside from the unemployment crisis, the debt crisis, the Iranian nuclear crisis, the Euro crisis, the health care crisis, the inflation crisis, the housing crisis and the energy crisis -- there are no tough questions for President Obama to address.

ABC News’s Jake Tapper noticed an interesting trend with President Obama. He hasn’t been around to take any questions from the press lately. In fact, he has evaded the national press corps for more than two months. However, as Tapper noted on his blog today, Obama did have time to talk to ”reporters from People Magazine and Entertainment Tonight.” In addition, “during his three-day Iowa bus tour this week, for example, he conducted three interviews with local radio stations, including a sports talk radio show, and a roundtable discussion with columnists from three Iowa papers, in addition to sitting down with People and Entertainment Tonight. On July 12, he did an interview with Charlie Rose for CBS This Morning.”

Obama’s “last news conference was at the G20 in June, when he answered six questions from three reporters on the European debt crisis, the conflict in Syria, and the notion of politics stopping at the water’s edge. The White House press corps has not formally been given the opportunity to ask questions of the president on U.S. soil since his appearance in the Briefing Room on June 8 (when he said “the private sector is doing fine.)”

That would be a good enough reason for the folks in Team Obama to advise their boss to wimp out on the press, but it’s even more embarrassing when Mitt Romney has been able to appear on CBS twice this week, while Obama seeks to mediscare the senior citizens of Iowa. Tapper noted that, “asked if the president will be holding a full-blown White House press conference any time soon, Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Wednesday, ‘I don’t have any scheduling announcements to make about that.’”

Of course not. Given the president's daunting schedule of golf, fundraising, pickup basketball, fundraising, softball interviews, and fundraising, there's simply no time left for the White House Press Corps. Or leadership, for that matter.


Hat tip: Jammie Wearing Fool.

X-51A WaveRider: New York to London in an hour?

It's not a Star Trek transporter, but it's probably the the closest we'll come to seeing one in this, the 20th century*.

A futuristic new hypersonic Air Force jet that promises transatlantic flights from New York to London in about an hour was tested on Tuesday over the Pacific. The X-51A WaveRider jet can go five times faster than the speed of sound without a pilot, and, in theory, could shorten the amount of time travelers have to spend airborne...

...The WaveRider — which is small, wingless, and resembles a shark — uses a special "scramjet" engine — shorthand for "supersonic combustion ramjet," says Daniel Lametti at Slate — to reach speeds of up to 4,500 mph. A standard Boeing 787, for example, tops out at 647 mph. The jet works by gobbling fast-moving air into an engine, where it mixes with fuel and is then ignited to produce thrust. Ordinary planes, on the other hand, require the help of turbines to achieve the same effect. As a result, the scramjet is able to reach "dazzling speeds" with no moving parts...

[The downsides?] For starters the jet can't start from a standstill, and therefore needs to be dropped from another plane to become airborne. "Since forward motion is what pushes air into the engine, the plane must be brought up to speed before ignition," says Slate's Lametti. That also means the WaveRider is incredibly difficult to start up: One military report likens producing thrust on the scramjet to "lighting a match in a hurricane and keeping it burning."

Okay, I'll ask the obvious question: why can't it be equipped with a traditional jet engine to get to sufficient speed on its own?


* According to Joe Biden.

Hat tip: BadBlue News Service.

Joe Biden makes Dan Quayle look like Steven Hawking

Can you imagine what vintage media would say if Joe Biden was a Republican? Never mind. He'd have been run out of politics after his first few months in City Council, or wherever the hell he came from.

Keith Koffler offers us the quintessential summary of Biden's idiocy wrapped into a nice little package with a bow on top.

Biden this week suggested that Gov. Mitt Romney would put African Americans back chains and, in a separate appearance, indicated that we are all still living in the 20th century. The statements are just the latest in a series of mistakes – assuming the comment about African Americans was unscripted – in the past few months that have raised concerns about Biden.

Most famously, he blurted out on Meet the Press that he favored gay marriage, forcing President Obama to hastily emerge with his own statement of support.

He called Obama “President Clinton,” called Romney “President Romney,” suggested the Irish drink too much, crossed himself in front of a meeting of over 1,000 conservative rabbis, and paid a visit to Florida’s “Evergators,” as he put it.

Biden is to moronic statements what Michael Jordan is to basketball.


Image: Viral Swagger.

Larwyn's Linx: Romney Says Obama’s “Angry And Desperate”

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

Nation

Romney Says Obama’s “Angry And Desperate”: Cove
A Romney first: over 40% of youth vote back him: Exam
Ryan Speaks in Colorado: Tatler

Amnesty? AZ Gov Brewer Blocks IDs, Benefits for Illegals: Bruce
Another Victory for Voter ID: Foundry
Obama campaign back in the gutter: Breitbart

Why Liberals Behave The Way They Do: Coulter
Is Biden Smart Enough to Be Vice President?: Ace
Michelle Obama: If You Elect Mitt Women Will Die From Cancer: GWP

Economy

Dems ask debates to ban questions about deficit commission: Malkin
There Is No California: Hanson
Cali Sales Tax Collections Plunge Amazing 40% Year-over-Year: Mish

Dems realize they might be losing the Medicare argument: Ace
Family Business Challenges Obamacare Mandate: Foundry
Syracuse New York Headed For Bankruptcy, 100% Certain: Mish

Scandal Central

How did Harry Reid get so rich?: NRO
New Black Panthers Call for New Military Not Afraid to Kill ‘Cracker Babies’ by Bombing Nurseries : Blaze
ICE Chief of Staff Accused of Lewd Conduct: Janet Napolitano Accused of Running Female Frat House: MagNote

Climate & Energy

What is the EPA hiding?: NetRightDaily

Media

Progressive’s Flo vs Dead woman’s brother with a blog, No Contest: DTG
I Blame Rachel Maddow!: RSM
National Black Republican Association Endorses Mitt Romney’s Choice Of Paul Ryan: Glob

CBS Reporters Baffled; Demand Romney Explains Biden's "They Gon' Put Y'All Back In Chains": Ace
Look Who the Press Is Blaming for the Ugly Campaign: IBD
Frank Marshall Davis Exposed: AIM

The Best Defense is a Good Offense: Betsy
Fareed Zakaria Should Have Taken His Own Advice: Driscoll
A liberal pleads with the Democrats not to demagogue : Betsy

Spike Lee: Obama Will Do Whatever He Wants in Second Term: Breitbart
Romney-Ryan Bounces, Leads in FL, OH, VA: Ace
Bishop EW Jackson Defends Gabby Douglas: Time for Christians to Turn Backs on Democrat Party: MagNote

World

What's This Button Do? Obama's Much-Touted "Reset" Brings Russian Submarines To Our Coast: IBD
'Dishonorable Disclosures': Intelligence, SpecOps Speak Out Against Obama's Politically Motivated Leaks: HySci
Navy SEALs To Obama: You Didn't Kill Osama— We Did: IBD

GOP Rep. Joe Walsh Rips CAIR, Refuses To Apologize For Comments On Radical Islam: WZ
Senior Iranian official threatens Israel with destruction: JPost
Well, That Can Ruin Your Day: Driscoll

Sci-Tech

Click fraud the old fashion way: Cringely
Egg Yolks Increase Coronary Heart Disease Risks: Study : RTT
Broken Certs Force Microsoft To Put Windows Phone Marketplace App Publishing On Hold: Crunch

Cornucopia

Look Ma, no Teleprompter!: MOTUS
The Shortest Horror Story: C&S
Watch a Plane Crash From Inside the Cockpit: Ace

Image: Curmudgeonly & Skeptical Movie Clip (NSFW)
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "Picture it: It’s December, and folks like you and I are celebrating the recent presidential campaign victory of Mitt Romney. It wasn’t a landslide; something on par with the Electoral College map of Bush vs. Kerry, and Romney winning the popular vote by two or three percentage points.

In that scenario, do you envision President Obama accepting defeat gracefully? Do you picture him congratulating President Romney on his victory, and pledging to do everything possible to ensure a smooth transition? Do you think the president will be ready to move on to post-White House life, focusing upon memoir-writing, building his presidential library, some charitable and foundation work, and plenty of golf?

Or do you think President Obama, and David Axelrod, and Valerie Jarrett and all of the true believers will find some reason to believe the result is illegitimate? Some combination of SuperPAC spending and voter ID laws that they believe nullifies the results? I don’t mean a constitutional crisis where Obama refuses to recognize the results, I mean just a narrative of “Romney cheated” that will reassure liberals that their views really are popular, and a return to the natural order of their eternal string of victories is one election-law change away. (In liberals’ view of the world, they never suffer a legitimate defeat.)" --Jim Geraghty

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Geraghty: Obama Campaign Launches Its Most Incendiary, Indefensible, False Attack . . . Since Their Last One

It is time for Jim Geraghty to juxtapose:

Do we want to have the same old attack politics we've become accustomed to, the same slash-and-burn politics? . . . We're not going to run around doing negative ads. We're going to keep it positive, we're going to talk about the issues. Candidate Barack Obama, April 28, 2008


Look at what they [Republicans] value, and look at their budget. And look what they're proposing. [Romney] said in the first 100 days, he's going to let the big banks write their own rules -- unchain Wall Street. They're gonna put y'all back in chains. Vice President Joe Biden, August 14, 2012


So . . . the man who once pledged to end the era of the "same old attack politics" is now okay with his running mate suggesting that their opponents, the party of Abraham Lincoln, want to bring back slavery.

...Romney responded Tuesday night, saying: "This is what an angry and desperate Presidency looks like. President Obama knows better, promised better and America deserves better. Over the last four years, this President has pushed Republicans and Democrats as far apart as they can go. And now he and his allies are pushing us all even further apart by dividing us into groups. He demonizes some. He panders to others. His campaign strategy is to smash America apart and then cobble together 51 percent of the pieces. If an American president wins that way, we all lose."

...By September, the Obama campaign will be Photoshopping Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan into Nuremberg rally photos.

As if the Sorons at MoveOn.org haven't already prepared those for next month.



Speaking Truth to Power: Iowa Deli Owner Caters Obama Event Wearing "Government Didn't Build My Business" T-Shirt

As Mr. Burns might say... exxxxxxxxxxxcellent:

Obama’s “you didn’t build that” remark continues to haunt him politically.

Photo credit: Nikki Kahn of the Washington Post

For proof, look no further than here…:

DAVENPORT, Iowa — Ross Murty likes business, but he doesn’t like President Obama.

And so the co-owner of the Village Corner Deli here agreed to cater Obama’s visit Wednesday — but not before donning a t-shirt blaring the message: “Government didn’t build my business. I did."

It was a reference to a remark Obama made several weeks ago that his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, has seized upon to portray Obama as anti-business...


Typical Washington Post spin at the end there. Mitt Romney has not portrayed Obama as anti-business.

OBAMA has portrayed Obama as anti-business. One could easily make the argument that Obama’s entire political philosophy and career is anti-business. He views success in business and the system of capitalism with total contempt.

I challenge any member of the so-called professional media or political class to name one thing Obama has done to help small business owners and entrepreneurs since taking office.

Name one.

Don't hold your breath, Glob. Unless, that is, you're being driven around Martha's Vineyard by a Kennedy.



The "Dude, Where's My Trillion Dollars?" Chart

The reason the Obama campaign's slogan is "Forward" is obvious: they don't want you looking back at their actual record.


Everything President Obama has done has failed, which is just as he intended it.

It's called The Cloward-Piven Strategy. Check it out and see for yourself.



Oh, my: Paul Ryan draws thousands to Miami University event

Shhh... no one tell vintage media that Paul Ryan may be exceptionally popular with college-age kids. Operatives for Karl Ushanka reported just moments ago from the scene in Oxford, Ohio, home of Miami University.



The crowd was estimated in the thousands for this hastily arranged event.


Ryan is an alumnus of Miami and could help the ticket significantly in Ohio.



Today begins the mad rush by illegal aliens to take advantage of Obama's illegal amnesty order

"No society can exist unless the laws are respected to a certain degree. The safest way to make laws respected is to make them respectable. When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law. These two evils are of equal consequence, and it would be difficult for a person to choose between them." --Frédéric Bastiat, The Law, 1850

Over the past five decades, no laws in the United States have been more abused by the political class than immigration laws. And no administration has been more breathtakingly lawless than the Obama White House, which has directed the federal bureaucracies to ignore immigration laws altogether.


Through an Executive Order, President Obama recently implemented the so-called DREAM Act by fiat, when it could not pass muster in Congress, even with a Democrat supermajority.

The result: millions of illegals began entering the workforce today without fear of punishment and millions more are certain to enter the country in violation of federal law to take advantage of Obama's lawless actions.

Obama’s lawless bypass of Congress in granting blanket amnesty to millions of illegal aliens began this morning across America.

Tens of thousands of illegals lined up early, and flooded into DHS centers to apply for nearly automatic 2-year stays from deportation and work permits, with far looser provisions and requirements than were ever imagined in any version of the 3-times defeated ‘Dream Act’ in Congress.

Thanks to Obama’s decree on June 15th, blanket amnesty for illegal aliens under 30 begins today as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) begins accepting applications for “deferred action” and work authorization.


To soften the public relations blow, the White House estimated that about “only 800,000″ illegal aliens would be covered under this amnesty, when Obama issued his edict – a complete fiction that he knew the media would not challenge. However, the figure was disputed by the Pew Hispanic Center, which estimated about 1.4 million beneficiaries. Then last week, the pro-amnesty Migration Policy Institute estimated that 1.76 million illegal aliens will be eligible.

In reality, the numbers will be higher – FAR higher. Why? Because, as House Judiciary chairman Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told DHS Secretary Napolitano in an August 13th letter, there are no mechanisms in place to detect, deter, or to punish fraud.

Well, that should do wonders for unemployment.

No country is guaranteed to survive from generation to generation. And with political hacks like these in office that actively promote lawbreaking -- against the will of the people, Congress and the law itself -- the very fabric of the civil society is beginning to tear.

I will say it again: if we don't vote this pathetic excuse for a political party -- the entire Democrat machine -- out of office in November, this country could well be lost forever.


Larwyn's Linx: Obama Campaign Goes Racist, Anti-Semitic

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

Nation

Obama Campaign Goes Racist, Anti-Semitic: RWN
Biden: Romney is ‘going to put y’all back in chains’: Exam
Romney’s Best Speech of the Campaign: RSM

Clinton Chief of Staff on Ryan: ‘This Guy is Amazing.’: WS
Sans Teleprompter, Obama’s Mask Slips, Again: Nice Deb
Damage Control: "Back In Chains" Remarks: WZ

Black Like Us: The Race Clownery of Obama-Biden: Malkin
'We can win North Carolina again!' says Biden… in Virginia: Hot Air
WaPo Poll: 60% of Democrats Support Voter ID Laws: WZ

Economy

Obamacare Doubles Premiums for Many Americans: ATR
Morning Bell: Taxpayers’ Auto Bailout Losses Mounting: Foundry
Great news: Weather service needs 46,000 hollow-points: MagNote

Obama in 2009: 1/3 of Obamacare Funding is from Medicare: WS
Dem Sen. Wyden tries to disclaim Ryan Medicare plan: Q&O
Once again, Obama lies about the Great Recession: AEI

Obama’s "Educational Excellence" Initiative: Williams
President Obama Cranks Up The American Welfare State: IBD
Romney’s right: Obamacare cuts Medicare by $716 billion.: WaPo

Scandal Central

$9B in ‘Stimulus’ for Solar, Wind Projects Made 910 Final Jobs – $9.8M Per Job: Aces
Obama's Strange Dependence on Valerie Jarrett : AT
Sleaze: IL State Workers Forced to Attend Pelosi-Jackson Dinner on Taxpayer Dime: GWP

Climate & Energy

Obama Administration Sneak Attacks Fracking Operations Through DOT Regulation: SAB
What the Coming Debates Will Sound Like: Geraghty
The Sound Of Settled Science: SDA

Media

Sununu to CNN host: 'Put an Obama bumper sticker on your forehead': Times
Matt Lauer Exposes Obama Campaign Doublespeak on Paul Ryan: AIM
Joe Biden Suuuupppper Genius!: Ace

AWESOME – New Romney Ad eviscerates Obama over massive Medicare cuts: Scoop
Notably unhorrified women, young people, and senior citizens cheer Ryan in Colorado: Hot Air
Admit It, I Scare The Ever-Loving S*** Out Of You, Don't I?: Paul Ryan, The Onion

I Don't Want Palin At The GOP Convention: Riehl
“60 Minutes” Omits Ryan’s Comments on Medicare : AIM
The Ultimate Obama Voter (NSFW): Soylent

Giuliani Wonders Whether Biden Has ‘Mental Capacity’ for Presidency: Corner
MSNBC Host Uses Racism and Class Warfare to Attack Declaration of Independence: MB
Moveon.org Thinks Paul Ryan’s a Nazi: Shark Tank

World

Russian attack submarine sailed in Gulf of Mexico undetected for weeks, U.S. officials say: Beacon
Pew Research Institute Releases Telling Survey of World's Muslims: Radical
Obama sides with an unlikely ally in Syria: RWN

DIVERSITY! US Army Promotes First Openly Gay General: SHN
Carl Higbie Navy SEAL: Politics Have Infiltrated Military – Battle on the Home Front: MagNote
Is Muslim Brotherhood Paying Huma and Weiner Rent for $3.3M Apartment?: MagNote

Sci-Tech

From Altair to iPad: 35 years of personal computer market share: Ars Technica
Apple and Microsoft in secret agreement not to sue each other over smartphone patents,: Telegraph
Matt Fisher: Progressive Insurance is lying, they did too defend my sister's killer: BoingBoing

Cornucopia

If you build it, they will come. But wait! You didn’t build that!: MOTUS
OMG! Cute Overload: Rare Sand Kittens Born in Tel Aviv: Bruce
What The Fluke Is This Arch Made Of?: Cube

Image: Spreading the Wealth, by Stanley Kurtz
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Occupy the Truth: Make your voices heard on August 18th in Cleveland!

QOTD: " This is your choice, America: an approach that Obama’s own debt commission co-chair calls “sensible, straightforward, honest and serious” … or dog-on-the-roof jokes and an accusation of a return to slavery." --Jim Geraghty

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

During blistering CNN interview, Wasserman Schultz reduced to "humina humina humina" responses in nasally Yenta voice

Writing at Townhall, Guy Benson offers Wolf Blitzer sincere praise for his verbal dissection of DNC Embarrassment Debbie Wasserman Schultz:

Let me say this right up front: Congratulations to Wolf Blitzer for being a relentless, responsible journalist. If you value the truth, this interview is a pleasure to watch. If you have even an ounce of human compassion for the in-over-her-head target of Blitzer's inquisition, it's positively brutal...

She stubbornly rejects the (correct) premise that the Romney/Ryan Medicare reform plan exempts everyone over the age of 54, and plays fast and loose with numbers -- conflating 55 and 65 on several occasions. When she is brow-beaten into finally acknowledging -- if not admitting -- the truth around the 3:45 mark, she quickly realizes her "mistake" and reverts back into denialism...

When Blitzer asks her to specify exactly how current or soon-to-be seniors would be impacted by the GOP plan, she cannot. Because they're not.

The Left is intellectually bankrupt on the very subject they claim will allow them to crush Mitt Romney in November. They despise the bipartisan solution Republicans have offered, but they have no alternative of their own.

Dear Democrats, Medicare is slated to go bankrupt in 2024. You say it's wrong for future seniors to be denied Medicare as it currently exists. Okay, what's your plan, guys?

We know that your actions have already cut Medicare by $700 Billion to pay for part of Obamacare. We also know that Obamacare establishes a government panel to ration care for the elderly. And yet the 2024 deadline is still coming. Again, what's your plan, Democrats? Mr. President? Anyone? I confronted Wasserman Schutlz on this very question last summer, and she gave an incoherent and inaccurate response.

...A debt crisis is on the near horizon. Entitlement programs are going under. Twenty-three million Americans are unemployed, underemployed or have given up home. GDP growth is slowing. The president and his allies have no plans, so they're forced to invent smears and argue against positions that their opponents don't hold.

That's why the Democrats' new mantra is "Forward", Guy. Looking back at their track record ain't exactly pretty.


Hat tip: Jim Geraghty.

Consumer Metrics Institute sees "a spectacular deterioration" of consumer behavior due to unicorn shortage and Obama policies, but mostly Obama policies

But, Melvin, he was so historic:

August 14, 2012 - Our Weighted Composite Index Continues to Plunge

The year-over-year data in our Weighted Composite Index has continued a spectacular deterioration over the past month:


...Just as our Weighted Composite Index soared last year as gasoline prices dropped, we are now seeing our year-over-year metrics dive as a result of weakening comparisons against much stronger year-ago consumer activities...


...last year's summer splurge by consumers is clearly visible, as is the general weakening (or re-normalization) during the first half of this year...

...furthermore, we believe that [rising gas prices] could impact short term consumer behavior in the coming months... For [this and other] reasons we don't expect any of our charts to reverse course prior to November 6th.

But, hey, we didn't need that Keystone XL pipeline, did we?



Harry Reid's inspiring journey from rags to riches, Chapter 17: Servicing Red China While Killing American Energy

Nothing's more inspirational than a Horatio Alger story, especially when it involves shady politicians mysteriously enriching themselves while serving on the public dole. Such is the case with one Harry "Land Deal" Reid, who is in the news once again. And, as you'd surely expect, his involvement stinks to high heaven.

You know, like those old land deals that magically transformed him into a multi-millionaire while he served "the people".

Reid, who last week hosted the fifth annual National Clean Energy Summit at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, has been “pulling strings behind the scenes” for months on behalf of ENN Mojave Energy, a Nevada subsidiary of the Chinese-owned ENN Group.

After more than two years of secret negotiations beginning in 2009, lawmakers in Clark County, Nevada, unanimously agreed to sell 9,000 acres of public land to ENN for the bargain price of just $4.5 million ($500 per acre) in December 2011.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal questioned the “steep discount” ENN received for the land, which had been previously appraised for between $30 million and $39 million. The arrangement also included a bundle of tax incentives for ENN.

...Reid, who reportedly helped secure a series of state and federal waivers as part of the deal, was actively involved in the negotiations with ENN. In April 2011, he led a delegation of senators to China, where the lawmakers met with senior Chinese officials and toured a number of green energy facilities, including the ENN headquarters in Langfang, China.

Upon his return, Reid called on the United States to pursue “new opportunities to collaborate on and advance clean-energy deployment here and abroad.”

...The project is threatened, however, because NV Energy—Nevada’s largest utility provider—has said it is not in the market for renewable energy at this time, citing the higher costs of solar power and the fact that it has already exceeded the state-mandated quota for renewable sources through 2014.

Reid's gone farther than badmouthing NV Energy for its failure to play nice with the Red Chinese. He's explicitly called for a complete plant shutdown.

Reid, who in his opening remarks at the summit called the power plant a "dirty relic," said the only solution is to "close the plant - not halfway. We want all the boilers shut off." ...Reid said NV Energy should focus on sustainable alternatives.

And Reid's altruistic efforts to help don't stop there.

He's also used his clout to get Chinese firms... wait for it... taxpayer-funded stimulus dollars.

In short, Harry Reid wants to destroy local American companies while funneling your money to his PRC Overlords.

But, hey, that's just my take!

Maybe that crack pro Nevadan journalist Jon Ralston -- or "The Ralston Flash", as he styles himself -- could investigate, if he's not too busy tweeting weather reports and covering for the local Democrat Party.


Map hat tip: 4TH ST8.

Cartoon o' the day from the Living Legend

The incomparable Michael Ramirez:


David "Red Diaper Baby" Axelrod hardest hit.



Larwyn's Linx: Re: How to Secure the Black Vote for Barack Obama

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

Nation

Re: How to Secure the Black Vote for Barack Obama: BQ&I
Zogby Poll: Huge Boost for Romney in Swing States: Nice Deb
The Paul Ryan Choice: Sowell

Obama cuts Medicare more than Romney would: RS
The Real Danger of the Obama Campaign Strategy: AT
Let Sarah Speak!: Hawkins

Dem Panic: ‘Disturbing Report’ of Huge Crowds at R&R Events: JWF
Paul Ryan: Mitt Romney’s Line in the Sand: DLim
Obama camp: 1,000 attended 'half-full' fundraiser: Politico

Economy

Obama's Three-Tiered Wealth Redistribution Plan: AT
Ryan's Budget is Radical? Hardly: IBD
Oops: Former Clinton Chief of Staff Loves Ryan Budget: Ace

Obama's Share-The-Wealth Mantra Is A Threat To Freedom: IBD
Under Napolitano, DHS Becomes Feminist Version of Animal House: MB
Message to Drones: Robbing Peter to Pay Paul Doesn't Work: TAB

The Wyden–Ryan proposal—a foundation for realistic Medicare reform: AEI
Spiegel: Investors Prepare For Euro Collapse: ZH
Italy's Latest Record Debt Load: Bigger, Faster, More: ZH

Scandal Central

List of Foreign Countries Receiving BILLIONS in Obama Stimulus Funds: Taking American Jobs: MagNote
Two New Updates on Fast and Furious: RS
Obama Wants Auto Bailout For All; Meanwhile, Projected Auto Bailout Losses Rise To $25B: AllAm

Climate & Energy

As Corn Production Shrivels, EPA Stalls on Ethanol/Hunger Issue: CEI
Dirty Harry's Pulling Strings for Chinese Energy Companies: Beacon
Government Is Just ‘Breaking Wind’ On Alternative Energy: FreedomOutput

Media

AWESOME: Romney responds to heckler, then tells Obama to get his campaign out of the gutter: Scoop
Lapdog Media Responds to Paul Ryan VP Pick!: Sooper
Why I Do Not Like The Obamas: Mychal Massie

Mission: Define Paul Ryan: Hot Air
For Melissa Harris-Perry To Accuse Anyone Else Of Racism Is Laughable: HayRide
CNN's Wolf Blitzer Schools Befuddled DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz!: AmPower

Caught! CNN’s Soledad O’Brien Uses Liberal Blog TPM for Show-Prep: RSM
Paul Ryan's Newest Fan: The Onion!: Glob
The Real Problem With Fareed Zakaria Isn't His Plagiarism: Reason

World

Chris Christie’s Embrace of Islamo-Fascists: FPM
Oh, by the way, the Muslim Brotherhood just completed its takeover of Egypt: Hot Air
Hollande Falters in France, German Left Likes What It Sees: Mead

Sci-Tech

Tata AirPod: India's tiny air-powered prototype car: Verge
Curiosity rover's gorgeous pictures from the surface of Mars: Verge
Facebook Says It Now Has 235M Monthly Gamers: TechCrunch

Cornucopia

R & R: DPU
Janna Ryan wears $70 dress, looks better than Michelle in $500: NakedDC
The Democrats’ 2012 campaign: A bloody spectacle, almost too horrible to watch: Bookwom

Image: ThinkGeek offers retro Padintosh Case for iPad
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: America's Comeback Team

QOTD: "Show me somebody who believes they can win by losing, and I'll show you a loser. I'm not a fan of protest votes, staying home, third-party votes, write-ins, or other forms of "sending a message" that result in the other side -- you know, the one that stands for everything we oppose and that enacts policies you and I believe are harmful to the country -- in charge of the reins of government. You put the guy who is closest to your perspective in and keep the worst guy out. You push in your direction a little bit each day, and don't expect to enact your dream policies overnight.

But . . . like many others, I've concluded that this coming election is make-or-break for the country's future. All in. Go big or go home.

We may lose in 2012. If we're going to lose, let's go down fighting." --Jim Geraghty

Monday, August 13, 2012

Yea, Obama! Middle-class taxpayers will pay a mere 50 percent of their income in taxes next year!

Turns out that total taxes -- even for the most modest of middle-class incomes -- will total around a shocking 50 percent next year:

A middle-class taxpayer’s income is subject to a 25 percent federal income tax. Then there is the federal Social Security and Medicare payroll tax of 13.3 percent in 2012—5.65 percent of that is removed from the employee’s paycheck, and the remaining 7.65 percent is paid by the employer. (In reality, the employee pays the entire 13.3 percent, because the employer’s portion of the tax does not affect the cost of labor: The employer would pay the employee 7.65 percent more if there were no employer’s portion of the payroll tax.)


So the 25 percent federal income tax plus 13.3 Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes equals 38.3 percent going to federal taxes in 2012.

And then there are state taxes. According to the Tax Foundation, the average state’s income tax rate for the middle-class taxpayer is 4.82 percent, which brings the total to 43.12 percent in federal and state taxes. And it’s going higher, thanks to the nearly $500 billion in tax increases for 2013 that some have called Taxmageddon. In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent. This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent.

...It is outrageous that any dollar earned by a middle-class taxpayer would go as much to taxes as to supporting the taxpayer’s family. The government didn’t earn the taxpayer’s paycheck and shouldn’t be entitled to it.

Oh, but this bloated, unconstitutional, bankrupt leviathan is a bargain at half the price!



Good News: More and More Seniors Face Reduced Social Security Payments Because They're Late on... Student Loans

Seniors are rightfully concerned about the horrific damage that Obamacare does to Medicare.

Well, the hits just keep on coming.

It turns out that the government's incessant meddling with the student loan business has not only spiked college tuition prices, but those loans are now slamming seniors in addition to kids.

According to government data, compiled by the Treasury Department at the request of SmartMoney.com, the federal government is withholding money from a rapidly growing number of Social Security recipients who have fallen behind on federal student loans. From January through August 6, the government reduced the size of roughly 115,000 retirees’ Social Security checks on those grounds. That’s nearly double the pace of the department’s enforcement in 2011; it’s up from around 60,000 cases in all of 2007 and just 6 cases in 2000.

Many of these retirees aren’t even in hock for their own educations. Consumer advocates say that in the majority of the cases they’ve seen, the borrowers went into debt later in life to help defray education costs for their children or other dependents.

...Roughly 2.2 million student-loan debtors were 60 and older during the first quarter of 2012, and nearly 10% of their loans were 90 days or more past due, up from 6% during the first quarter of 2005, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. “It’s really a unique problem we haven’t had to face before, and it’s only going to grow,” said Robert Applebaum, founder of Student Debt Crisis, a nonprofit advocacy group in Staten Island, N.Y.

The threat of Social Security cuts adds to the overall financial woes faced by the aging baby boomer generation. Almost 45% of people aged 48 to 64 won’t save enough money to cover basic needs and uninsured health care costs in retirement, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Experts say reducing Social Security benefits could set them back even more.

...Compared to present-day retirees, younger generations are in deeper debt, which means stories of Social Security garnishment could become more commonplace when they enter retirement. Borrowers in their 20s and 30s owe roughly $600 billion, according to the New York Fed. They’re also leaving college with more debt than their predecessors: 66% graduated this spring with debt, and their student loans averaging $28,720, up from $9,320 in 1993, according to FinAid.org.

Th-th-th-th-th-th-at's Obamanomics, folks!


Hat tip: BadBlue.com/Money.


What If CBS Had A Conservative Bias For Paul Ryan? [Looking Spoon]

The Looking Spoon posed the hypothetical question, above:

If you didn't hear about what 60 Minutes did to edit their interview with Paul Ryan get the story here.


Suffice it to say that any world in which vintage media promoted American values exists only in a science fiction writer's imagination.



Transcript: Mark Levin obliterates Obama's rape of Medicare to "spread the wealth" to those who never paid into the system

Mark Levin visited the Neal Cavuto today and completely shredded the laughable notion that the Ryan Budget harms anyone on Medicare.

Cavuto: What do you think of this pretty much unanimous form of Democratic rebuke?

Levin: Is that your form of waterboarding, by the way? That I have to listen to those people?

Cavuto: It's amazing. You'd think the guy was Lucifer!


Levin: First of all, this election is about saving the country. And I'm going to tell you something: Medicare's Trustee, appointed by Obama, said -- six months ago -- that Medicare is broke in 12 years. So, in 11-and-a-half years, there's nothing left.

What does Obama do about it? Nothing.

So Obama's policy is: let Medicare go back in just 11-and-a-half years. And it's actually worse, Neal. That does not include -- because I went back and read the report -- the $700 billion he stole from Medicare to spread the wealth under Obamacare.

Seniors who paid into Medicare need to understand: Obama went into the Medicare Trust Fund, took out $700 billion in the biggest raid in American history, to spread the wealth and fund Obamacare. This is spreading the wealth to people who haven't paid into anything.

That's number one: 11-and-a-half years [Medicare collapses].

Number two: what does Ryan propose? He says, 'Look, I'm reading Obama's Trustee's report! We've got to save Medicare! Here's my proposal: everybody 55 and older, you're unaffected, so you don't need to listen to this debate any longer...

Now, what are we going to do about people in the 20s, 30s, 40s and early 50s? Ask Obama: he has no answer. That is, if you can get a question in. He hasn't answered a question in seven weeks.

What does Ryan say? ...It saves hundreds of billions over several generations [using vouchers like the popular Medicare Advantage. As for Democrats who criticize this approach] ... I say, taking $700 billion out of Medicare to pay for this Rube Goldberg contraption called Obamacare is a complete disaster that will compromise seniors' health care...

...The American people are living this nightmare. So, Obama can put hundreds of millions of dollars of ads, his union buddies can do the same thing. But they know what's going on with unemployment.

The fact of the matter is they can do all their little one-liners and all the rest. I think the American people are smart enough, at least I hope enough of them are, to say no to this.

David "Red Diaper Baby" Axelrod hardest hit.