Monday, September 10, 2012

President too busy to attend daily intelligence briefings; made up for it by missing all of his daily economic briefings

Is it still a "Presidential Daily Brief" if the president doesn't bother to attend? The Washington Post relays the stunning stats from the Government Accountability Institute.

During his first 1,225 days in office, Obama attended his [Presidential Daily Briefing] PDB just 536 times — or 43.8 percent of the time. During 2011 and the first half of 2012, his attendance became even less frequent — falling to just over 38 percent. By contrast, Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush almost never missed his daily intelligence meeting.

...Officials tell me the former president [Bush 43] held his intelligence meeting six days a week, no exceptions... Once a week, he held an expanded Homeland Security briefing that included the Homeland Security adviser, the FBI director and other homeland security officials. Bush also did more than 100 hour-long “deep dives” in which he invited intelligence analysts into the Oval Office to get their unvarnished and sometimes differing views. Such meetings deepened the president’s understanding of the issues and helped analysts better understand the problems with which he was wrestling.

When Obama forgoes this daily intelligence meeting, he is consciously placing other priorities ahead of national security.

And the president also appears to be placing other priorities ahead of the economy and unemployment: from April 2011 through July 24, 2012, the president hasn't received a single daily economic briefing.

Something is missing. If you look at Barack Obama's calendar for 26th of April, 2011 you will see on his schedule at 10 AM "The President receives the Economic Daily Briefing," after that nothing. According to the daily schedule released by the White House, Barack Obama hasn't received his "daily" economic briefing for the past 15 months (The White House, Accessed 7/23/12).

Somehow, however, the president has managed to work in 104 rounds of golf and hundreds of games of pickup basketball.

Fortunately there are no pressing economic or national security issues for the country.


Larwyn's Linx: Be Ye Not Dismayed

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

Nation

Be Ye Not Dismayed: RSM
The Dangerous Virtuosity of Johnny One-Note: Ricochet
Double-Minded Republicans: McCarthy

Barack Obama In Quotes: Hawkins
Ryan on Face the Nation: Obama "says one thing, does another": Nice Deb
Dave Weigel Says I'm a Troll: Lid

Tampa vs. Charlotte: RWN
"Three words: Made in the U.S.A": Hoft
A Small Convention Bounce: Hawkins

Economy

Zero American Unemployment Before The Next Presidential Election: ZH
An “Obama bounce”… in gun sales?: Hot Air
Europe's political minefield lies ahead: Telegraph

Chicago Teachers Strike, But Its Not For Better Schools: Howling
Chicago Teachers Union Will Strike for First Time in 25 Years: AmPower
Should Government Fund "the Arts"?: Reason

Scandal Central

Judicial Watch Sues DOJ and DHS for Records about Legal Basis of Obama’s New “Amnesty” Program: JW
Asking for I.D. to Vote is NOT racist!: iOTW

Climate & Energy

NOAA Conducts Large-Scale Experiment And Proves Global Warming Skeptics Correct: FloppingAces

Media

Kudos to CNN for Fact Checking the Democrats: AIM
Mitt Romney Spars With David Gregory On Meet The Press: RSM
Larry Flynt Offers $1M for Obama’s College Transcripts: JWF

Mike Rowe’s letter strikes chord with Mitt Romney: LI
The Promises, The Deceptions – Eliminating Employer Health Care Coverage: MagNote
Allen West to Obama -”Take Your Traveling Road Show Somewhere Else”: Shark

Left falls for fake Romney quote: ‘I can relate to black people, my ancestors once owned slaves’: Twitchy
NBC’s Absurd Jobs Reporting: Publius
The View From the Other Side: 'Anger and Denial' On the 'Wingnut Right': AmPower

Klein on DWS: 'Her Pants are on Fire': Beacon
A Two-Point Change in the Polls is Not a 'Bounce' — Especially With the Undercover Media in the Tank: AmPower
Obama is not a Communist!: Loudon

World

The Mosaic of War: NoisyRm
Obama’s top ten foreign policy and national security failures: Babalu
Thought Experiment: TAB

The Muslim Drinking Game: BlackFive
Undocumented Immigrant Drivers License Law Fails to Boost Number of Insured: Fox News Latino
Why Naomi Wolf Loves the Burqa: NewsReal (2009)

Sci-Tech

A Woman's Drug-Resistant TB Echoes Around the World: WSJ
Teenager floats £30 camera into space to capture curvature of Earth: Telegraph
This Is the Clearest Photo of Mars Yet: AtlWire

Cornucopia

Comic Book: Paul Ryan The Norse God of Math!: Morlock
The Price of Politics: It’s high - but on sale!: MOTUS
Lesnar's friend says star not likely to ever return to UFC: Post

Image: I Hate the Media: Female Biker Sits on Joe Biden's Lap
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Please Support the Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "...the difference between Ann Romney and Michelle Obama is that Ann Romney would never ask Americans to donate their birthday presents, wedding gifts or to deny their family a meal for any reason, for the sake of donating money to her husband’s campaign.

Such requests are indecent and unconscionable." --Puma By Design

Sunday, September 09, 2012

Four Simple Charts to Share With Friends, Family Members, Neighbors and Colleagues

If you know someone disconnected from politics, unmotivated to vote, or otherwise sitting on the fence, please share with them the following four graphs. And then ask them one simple question, which I've listed below.

Household income fell more in recovery than during recession


Gas prices have more than doubled since Obama took office:


Labor Force Participation Rate Goes Backward to 1981


"The [labor force participation] rate dipped in the early part of the last decade but rose again during the Bush expansion and was 66.2% as recently as January 2008... It fell again in the recession, but the most distressing news is that it has kept falling during the last three years of recovery. This is unprecedented, and the big question is why."

The 'One-Time' Stimulus Became Part of the Federal Baseline Budget

In 2009, Democrats and President Obama pushed a "one-time" Stimulus spending package through Congress in order to jump-start job creation and keep unemployment under 8 percent. It ended up costing the American people $840 billion and unemployment has remained over 8 percent ever since...


Unfortunately, that so-called "one-time" spending spree was built into each and every year's budget -- and is driving America to a Greece-style debt crisis.

That one simple question to ask: Can we survive four more years of this?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Please considering sending this article to friends, family members, neighbors and colleagues. We can all do our part before November.

Just click the button to email:


As U.S. casualties mount in Afghanistan, passing 2,000 KIA in June, MSM suddenly forgets "grim milestone" phrase

Remember that phrase -- "grim milestone" -- whenever a round number of U.S. troops had perished in Afghanistan or Iraq? Gallons of ink were consumed to market the phrase during the years George W. Bush served as president.

In August, the U.S. surpassed the 2,000 KIA mark in Afghanistan to almost no fanfare. As Dan Riehl observes, much of the U.S. is numb to the heroic sacrifices of our military, primarily because vintage media no longer has a Republican president to hammer.


In June, the number of fallen U.S. soldiers reached 2,000 in the Afghani theater of operations. More than twice as many U.S. troops have perished in Afghanistan under President Obama's command in three-and-a-half years than during President Bush's two terms in office.

And unlike the Bush era, most of big media completely ignored the grim milestone:

There was no story last week on the Afghanistan death “milestone” on ABC, NBC, the PBS NewsHour – or even on the MSNBC programs found in Nexis, including Rachel “Our Military’s In a Perilous Drift” Maddow.

But the networks were all more aggressive when the 2,000 mark arrived in Iraq on October 25, 2005. The Big Three networks devoted 14 morning and evening news stories to the death toll from October 24 through the end of October, and another 24 anchor briefs or mentions. They used the number to spell “disaster for this White House.”

I did a quick Google News Search (for the phrase "grim milestone" AND ("afghanistan" OR "iraq")) by year to determine whether the phrase had gone out of favor about the time President Obama took office.

Here's what I found:

2004: CNN, CBS News, New York Times, USA Today, the Associated Press
2005: People Magazine, Sacramento Bee, New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Boston Globe, USA Today, New York Daily News, the Associated Press, Bloomberg, BBC
2006: USA Today, CNN, New York Times, CBS News, Fox News, the Associated Press, CNN, NPR
2007: USA Today, msnbc, New York Times, Reuters, CBS News
2008: New York Times, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, ABC News, msnbc, US News & World Report, CNN, Sacramento Bee
2009: CBS News, New York Times, USA Today, CNN, msnbc
2010: Boston Globe, Time, CNN, ABC News, USA Today, Reuters, Boston Globe, Business Week, Washington Post,
2011: Seattle Times
2012: PBS

The New York Times and USA Today, in particular, appear to have dropped the "grim milestone" phrase from its style guide.

But don't accuse them of being biased.


Staring into the Economic Abyss

"A modern-day depression."

That's how Mortimer Zuckerman describes the current state of the economy, highlighting an effective 19 percent unemployment rate.

We are experiencing, in effect, a modern-day depression. Consider two indicators: First, food stamps: More than 45 million Americans are in the program! An almost incredible record. It's 15% of the population compared with the 7.9% participation from 1970-2000. Food-stamp enrollment has been rising at a rate of 400,000 per month over the past four years.

Second, Social Security disability—another record. More than 11 million Americans are collecting federal disability checks. Half of these beneficiaries have signed on since President Obama took office more than three years ago.


These dependent millions are the invisible counterparts of the soup kitchens and bread lines of the 1930s, invisible because they get their checks in the mail. But it doesn't take away from the fact that millions of people who had good private-sector jobs now have to rely on welfare for life support.

There's little doubt that President Obama is responsible for much of this mess. His decisions -- from killing the Keystone XL pipeline, to funding phony "green jobs" at companies like Solyndra, to punishing the health insurance industry -- have resulted in massive private sector job destruction.

Worse, his only claimed success -- "saving GM" -- is turning out to be another disaster. Not only does GM owe American taxpayers upwards of $35 billion, but Forbes reports the company is headed for bankruptcy... again.

Right now, the federal government owns 500,000,000 shares of GM, or about 26% of the company. It would need to get about $53.00/share for these to break even on the bailout, but the stock closed at only $20.21/share on Tuesday...

...In the 1960s, GM averaged a 48.3% share of the U.S. car and truck market. For the first 7 months of 2012, their market share was 18.0%, down from 20.0% for the same period in 2011...


...To help understand why GM keeps losing market share, let’s look at the saga of the Chevy Malibu... The Malibu is GM’s entry in the automobile market’s “D-Segment” [comprised of] mid-size, popularly priced, family sedans, like the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord.

...At this point, it appears that the 2013 Malibu is not only inferior to the 2012 Volkswagen Passat, it’s not even as good as the car it replaces, the 2012 Chevy Malibu... In their March 2012 issue, Car and Driver published another D-Segment comparison test, pitting the 2013 Chevy Malibu Eco against five competing vehicles. This time, the Malibu came in dead last...

GM, in other words, never fixed its structural problems with the UAW. It never repaired its management team. It never made rational decisions related to the free market (Exhibit A: the Chevy Volt). And therefore it may be circling the drain again.

As GM hemorrhages more cash, a bigger issue lurks for the White House. Overlooked in the aftermath of the unemployment report is this simple truth:

Little-Noticed Fact: Average Job Creation in 2011 Falls Below 2010 Levels, Pointing To a Slowing Economy, Not a Growing One

Obama of course is now claiming he "never told you this was going to be quick or easy," or words to that effect. But he did previously offer a 3 year deadline.


Seems to me that three and a half years ago he thought it would only take three years. Now he's telling us that it'll take four, five, six, seven. Who knows. And as he says this, he says "I never told you any differently."

...I said [earlier]: In 2008, Obama was a man like no other who's ever existed who would Save Mankind.

In 2012, he's runnin' as just a regular guy, just amblin' along, tryin' to do the best he can. Win some, lose some. Needs more time.

In 2008, he was a MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE!

In 2012, he's a victim of circumstance.

He's failed as thoroughly as a president can fail.

By all means, let's hire him up again, and let him fail some more.

Finally, John Hinderaker wonders -- given the unceasing bad economic news and the disastrous policy decisions by the administration both here and abroad -- how this election could even be close.

On paper, given Obama’s record, this election should be a cakewalk for the Republicans. Why isn’t it? I am afraid the answer may be that the country is closer to the point of no return than most of us believed. With over 100 million Americans receiving federal welfare benefits, millions more going on Social Security disability, and many millions on top of that living on entitlement programs–not to mention enormous numbers of public employees–we may have gotten to the point where the government economy is more important, in the short term, than the real economy. My father, the least cynical of men, used to quote a political philosopher to the effect that democracy will work until people figure out they can vote themselves money. I fear that time may have come.

...Maybe this anxiety is misplaced. President Obama has never been able to rise above 47% support in the polls, and perhaps when November comes undecided voters will break against the incumbent, as the conventional wisdom has it. Maybe the election won’t be so close after all. We’d all better hope so. Because, given the rate at which Democrats are frantically adding to the dependency state, another four years of Obama may be enough to tip the balance between the private sector and government dependence once and for all.

I'm not giving in without a fight. Marshal your family members, your friends, your colleagues, your neighbors.

Because if we don't stop the the Cloward-Piven Democrats in November, this country will slide into an economic abyss the likes of which none of us have ever seen before.


Larwyn's Linx: Obama vs. the Constitution

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

Nation

Obama vs. the Constitution: Ponnuru
Obama: 'You'll Love Me Even More': WS
Obama Mails It In For Weekly Address On September 11: Cove

The Problem With Sexual ‘Rights’: RSM
A Nation of Sandra Flukes: Steyn
Flashback 9/80: Gallup Had Carter Up 4 Points Over Reagan: GWP

An Overdose of Hope: Taki's Mag
The DNC Vote: God Matters: Virtuous
Obama and the DNC Running on Empty: Clarice

Economy

Hey, Gallup: it'd be a shame if anything happened to your business: RWN
Magic of 2008 Eludes Obama After Flat Convention: Barone
Obama DNC promise to Medicare lasts... 24 hours: WZ

A Map of Obamavania: Lane
California’s Awful Prop. 31: Is This Your Future?: Kurtz
Those Jobless Numbers Are Even Worse Than They Look: Zuckerman

Scandal Central

Dealing With Unfavorable Polls the Chicago Way: MB
Valerie Jarrett's Million-Dollar Security Detail: a Slumlord Protected by Taxpayers: MagNote
FL Democrat exec resigns after claiming Christians want Jews slaughtered: FAM

Climate & Energy

Obama goes full witchcraft by telling voters they 'can do something about' droughts and floods and wildfires: Depot
Good News: Wind Turbines Supposedly Making People Sick: RWN
Two Tornadoes Strike in NYC: AP

Obama Disses Alternative Energy Source: IMAO
Obama's One Million Electric Car Goal: Three Percent Complete: Breitbart
And now, the ultimate in ... science: Soylent (NSFW)

Media

Disturbing Trends at Fox News: Israpundit
Christian Faith of the Founding Fathers: Elohim Reigns
Mr. Obama: A Competent President: Phaedo's Corner

What Will Become of Dirty Debbie?: Ace
How stupid is Joe Scarborough? This stupid: Riehl
DWS attacks Examiner for ‘deliberately’ misquoting her, but here’s the audio: Exam

Slate's "Conservative" Wiegel: When Conservatives Report What MSM Embargoes, It's "Trolling": Ace
Gawker article takes sympathetic look at pedophiles; outraged readers suggest #GawkersNextArticle: Twitchy
Obamanomics: 173K New Food Stamp Recipients Vs. 96K New Jobs: WZ

World

You CAN blame Obama for this: US numb to drumbeat of troop deaths: Riehl
Rejecting the European Project: CityJrnl
Muslim guilty of tossing 3-month old daughter off New Jersey bridge to her death: Creeping

Must See… Daylight: The Story of Obama and Israel: GWP
Canada: The New World Leader?: RWN
Wave of Attacks Kill at Least 44 in Iraq: ABC

Republican Jewish Coalition's rift ad: Matzav
Interpol, Swedish Authorities Help Saudis Hunt Woman Who Converted From Islam: WZ
The forbidden public toilets of Beijing: BBC

Sci-Tech

Amazon caves in, will remove ads from Kindle Fire for $15 fee: Ars
FBI to roll out $1 billion public facial recognition system in 2014: Engadget
Enterprise-D restoration fundraiser: your chance to revive a slice of Star Trek is here: Engadget

Cornucopia

Cats Don't Like Obama: Cube
Dems Warned Against Certifying Obama Eligible For White House: Western
Post D&C Show – After Party Links: Zilla

Image: Bahraini Clerics Reject Catholic Church Construction, Say It's Forbidden In Arabian Peninsula
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: America's Comeback Team

QOTD: "With respect to Sandra Fluke, I think there’s a [more likely scenario] looming. The paperback edition of my book comes out in a week or so, and you can pretty much get the gist of it from the title: After America. For me, the likely scenario isn’t that the Republicans will be terrorizing rape victims or that the Democrats will finally pass the necessary legislation to make contraception available for the contraceptively starved millions crying out for it, but that America will be sliding off the cliff — literally, as Joe Biden would literally say. And when America slides off the cliff it lands with a much bigger thud than Greece or Iceland. I’m not certain that the Republicans will be able to prevent that happening. But I know that the Democrats can’t. America owes more money than anybody has ever owed anyone in the history of the planet. But millions of Americans don’t see it, and millions of those who do see it don’t see it as a problem." --Mark Steyn

Saturday, September 08, 2012

Son, you were going 160 miles an hour OVER THE SPEED LIMIT

Even in Texas, where the speed limit is now 85 MPH on certain highways, could you really drive 160 over the limit?

In a word: yeppers.

Because a 190 mph Cadillac isn’t fast enough... Texas tuning house Hennessey Performance has announced plans to offer a modified Cadillac CTS-V Coupe with an estimated top speed of 242 mph.

The two-ton VR1200 Twin Turbo coupe can reach this epic speed thanks to a 7.0-liter V8 engine with the aforementioned boosters good for 1226 hp and 1,109 lb-ft of torque...


...Hennessey says it will accelerate to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds, cover a quarter mile in 10.2 and break 200 mph in the standing mile.

The brakes and suspension have been upgraded in an attempt to keep up with the car’s newfound prowess, its magnetic ride control dampers retuned by former GM chief test driver John Heinricy, who developed the factory version of the CTS-V.

And, just so everyone knows not to mess with you, the body has been festooned with properly evil-looking carbon fiber additions, including a front splitter that could be used as thresher and a hood extractor that looks like it could move as much air as a nuclear power plant cooling tower.

The price is $295,000, low by 242 mph car standards with its value enhanced by a very limited run of just 12 cars, which means it’s unlikely that you’ll ever see another one coming.

Daddy like.


Bummer: NLRB Loses Court Challenge Over Secret Ballots

Just one unlawful act of many by President Obama this year delivered control of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to his union boss backers. His intent was to stack the board with hard left radicals to make it easier for them to unionize the private sector.

He knew, however, that his extreme picks would never pass the Senate's review, which is the duty assigned it by the nation's founders in the United States Constitution.

Therefore, in an act unprecedented in all of American history, President Obama unilaterally declared the Senate in recess over a long weekend earlier this year (though it clearly was not) and named his radicals through recess appointments.

Fortunately, some of the courts have not been cowed:

A federal government agency [the NLRB] lost its court challenge of an Arizona constitutional amendment that guarantees workers in the state can vote by secret ballot on whether to join a union.


...NLRB Chairman Mark Pearce said Thursday that while he was disappointed by the judge’s dismissal, he was “very pleased that the court recognized that these choices are guaranteed to employees by federal law and cannot be taken away by the states.”

...Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said in a statement that the judge’s decision is a “stinging rebuke to an outrageous National Labor Relations Board attack” on the sanctity of the secret ballot.

That's right: the radical, hard left Obama NLRB is doing its best to eliminate secret ballot elections. Never mind that unions require photo IDs for their own election votes, as you can see in the photo above.

We all know why the secret ballot is anathema to Democrats: card-check elections allow workers to be intimidated by organizers so that more companies -- whether their workers like it or not -- will become unionized.

Because that's worked out so well for GM, Chrysler, California and Illinois.

Remember in November.


Two can play this game: FAA supervisors reportedly warned employees that a vote for Mitt Romney would mean their jobs

The minor barrier of legality has never been much of a hurdle for this administration:

Senior FAA officials accused of telling workers 'job security' at risk if GOP wins


Two federal agency supervisors allegedly warned employees earlier this year that a Republican takeover in Washington could threaten their jobs -- comments that some workers apparently took as guidance on "how to vote" and that one group claims may have violated federal law.

Two can play this game.

If you own or work in a small business with two or more employees, I would tell your co-workers the truth.


Electing Barack Obama could very well cost you your job.

His naked, destructive agenda of taking from "the rich" (small business owners) and redistributing it will reach ramming speed if he is reelected.

The EPA is poised to publish new, even more onerous regulations on the air we exhale -- CO2 -- in order to control all industrial production in the U.S. If you own a dry-cleaner, a gas station, a laundromat, a convenience store, a machine shop, or virtually any other business, you are guaranteed to come under new, onerous, and expensive regulations.

Energy prices -- gasoline and electricity -- will skyrocket, just as candidate Obama promised in 2008. If you own a fleet of cars or trucks, expect significantly higher expenses.

Obamacare kicks in for real in January, conveniently just after the election, and offers an impressive set of 20 new taxes, including new fees on medical device manufacturers, new taxes and regulations on investment income (including the sale of your house), increased payroll taxes, and new taxes on insurers.

Those are just off the top of my head. If you thought the president had acted lawlessly over the past four years, you ain't seen nothin' yet if he's reelected.

Every small business owner in America should -- correctly -- warn their employees that their jobs are at serious risk if Barack Obama is reelected.


California's Prop. 31: One Small Step for Democrats, One Giant Leap Down the Road to Totalitarianism

Writing in National Review, author Stanley Kurtz describes California's Proposition 31 as "robbing the suburbs to pay for the cities."

Consider it three ominous portents of the radical Left's redistributionist agenda: to force more and more people into urban centers; to reduce mankind's greedy use of energy; and to greatly restrict personal freedom of movement (it's mass transit for you, bubba):

California’s Proposition 31 is the project of a collection of “good government” groups, in particular, California Forward. California Forward says its goal is “fundamental change.” They’re right about that. The change they have in mind, unfortunately, is creating a collection of de facto regional super-governments designed to undercut the political and economic independence of California’s suburbs. The goal is to redistribute suburban tax money to California’s failing cities.

Instead of taking on the mismanagement that is breaking California’s cities, Prop. 31 lets failing cities bail themselves out by raiding the pocketbooks of California’s suburbanites. In the process, Prop. 31 will kill off the system of local government at the root of American liberty.

...How does Prop. 31 work? It allows local governments to join together to form “Strategic Action Plans.” Supposedly, this pooling of local municipal services into a kind of de facto collective regional super-government would be voluntary. In fact, Prop. 31 deploys powerful incentives to effectively force the creation of these regional super-governments. To begin with, municipalities that join regional collectives–and only those municipalities–can effectively waive onerous state laws and regulations by creating their own more lax versions of those rules. Next, Prop. 31 channels a portion of state sales tax revenue to municipalities that join regional governing collectives–and only those municipalities. Finally, Prop. 31 authorizes local governments participating in the regional collectives to pool their property-tax receipts...

...Proposition 31 is an offense against America’s most fundamental concepts of liberty and self-government.

Barack Obama is an ardent supporter of the anti-suburb movement. Just a few weeks ago, "A photo of President Obama was suddenly pulled from the website of the group Building One America."

For more than two decades, Obama and his fellow radical community activists, agitators have been working toward punishing all those people who voted with their feet and fled the cities and left them filled with only poor and minority residents. "Suburbs are for sellouts...For Obama, the suburbs are a defect in the very structure of American life. That is why the president backs his old friends' movement to abolish them."


"'We are battling apartheid in America.' So said Obama's onetime organizing mentor Mike Kruglik in 2005, explaining the philosophy behind his crusade for regional equity. At the the time, Kruglik was directing the regionalist efforts of the Gamaliel Foundation, a national network of community organizations that Obama himself had helped launch in the mid-1980s. Today Kruglik leads the Gamailied offshoot Building One American, which fights for regionalism in partnerships with the Obama White House, although few Americans have any idea that this is the case."

...[Obama and Kruglik] hope to achieve this basic change in America by expanding cities into regions that will all come under the control of the nearest cities. Obama and his allies consider everything about the suburbs to be bad. That's where the money has fled. That's where the SUV's and autos pollute the environment. That's where valuable farmland and forests are absorbed to build more urban sprawl. The suburbanites need to be dragged back into the cities and their love affair with the car crushed.

Mass transit is intended to stop the building of highways in order to help eliminate the use of automobiles.

Lest you think all of this sounds outlandish, I encourage you to tick off the rest of the items on the checklist.


Hat tip: JTT.

Top 10 Democrat Party Slogans

Suitable for a T-shirt, which Frank at IMAO was kind enough to offer after creating this list.


It's uncanny how accurate this list is, despite having been written back in 1933.



Larwyn's Linx: How Crazy are the Democrats?

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

Nation

How Crazy are the Democrats?: Power Line
Obama takes us backward in the worst speech of his career: Events
Obama Knew…. He’s Through: GayPatriot

Campaign 2012 in a nutshell: Wrong ideas vs. no ideas: Goldberg
Barack Obama, All In: RWN
Uncanny! Obama Copied Jimmy Carter's 1980 DNC Speech: EIB

If moderate voters see this video, it's over for Obama: LJR
The Terrifying Line in Obama's Speech That Everyone Missed: IBD
Who said to take God and Jerusalem out of Dem Platform?: CDN

Economy

Change: Labor force participation rate hits 31-year low: Hot Air
School choice movement rises as Chicago strike deadline looms: DC
A Remedial Lesson in Public Finance Economics for the GOP: Cato

Yes, Virginia - It's a recession: Mish
Unemployment Drops to 5.1 Percent—For Government Workers: CNS
Is the Labor Force Shrinking Due to Boomer Retirement?: PolMath

Scandal Central

Sherrod Brown uses anti-semitic attack against Josh Mandel: Lane
Mafia Hit-Man & Teamster Boss Helped Joe Biden Become U.S. Senator: RS
Long-awaited review of ATF's failed Fast and Furious coming soon: LAT

Climate & Energy

A little reminder on who derailed "the Obama Express ... ": WinterSoldier
God/King Obamandias Vows To Control The Weather: Soylent (NSFW)
Chevy Volt Fleet Sales Rise as Government Purchases Increase: NLPC

Media

You Can Tell If Something Hurts Liberals By Their Shrill Insistence We Not Discuss It: Ace
Michael Moore: No Obama Didn't Save Detroit: NB
Obama’s Invisible Second-Term Agenda: NatlJrnl

What They're Saying About President Obama's Disappointing DNC Speech: Romney
Clint Eastwood: My Speech To The RNC? "Mission Accomplished" Baby: Ace
Dealing With Unfavorable Polls the Chicago Way: MB

Rush Limbaugh: DNC in chaos and there is no speech that can recover from Democrats booing God: Scoop
Clint Eastwood speaks: Obama “greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people”: Riehl
“‘Journalists For Obama’ T-Shirts Handed Out At Democrat Convention”: ProWis

Rep. John Lewis Owes the Country an Apology For His Racist Insults at the Godless DNC: GWP
The customer is wrong: Staples founder blasts Obama on economy: Exam
Team Obama suffers serious setback after slamming door on God: NoisyRm

World

Obama To Soldiers Overseas: No Voting For You!: IBD
God, Jerusalem and American foreign policy: Glick
"I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed": Barack Obama

'Washington Post' to Obama: Be more explicit on Iran: JPost
An officer and a Muslim Zionist: Hayom
Iran says may retaliate for Canada's 'hostile' cut in ties: JPost

Sci-Tech

DARPA’s Cheetah Robot Hits New Speeds: DefTech
Green House's lantern runs on salt and water, powers your gadgets via USB: Engadget
Hennessey unveils 242 mph Cadillac CTS-V Coupe: Fox

Cornucopia

Obama logo: now with Zombie horde!: HillBuzz
Every Rooster Has its Day, or, from Rock Star Rooster to Capon: MOTUS
Ohio teen travels quarter of a mile through storm sewer: AP

Image: Via Dan Riehl
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "With the government on the verge of breaching its debt ceiling, many Republicans soon joined the Democrats in voting for the Budget Control Act that included sequestration. Democrats have wanted to share the blame ever since, even while holding the presidency and ignoring proposals to curb the sequester.

Along comes Mr. Woodward’s account shining light on the pedigree of the whole drama. “No ducking it now,” tweeted Romney campaign defense-policy adviser John Noonan on Thursday. “Devastating defense cuts in sequester designed, forced through by Obama admin. President owns it.”" --WSJ

Friday, September 07, 2012

Real Unemployment is now 11.7%; Propaganda Gap Hits New Record

Tyler Durden deconstructs the Pravda-like numbers excreted earlier today by the "Bureau of Labor Statistics" (if that is its real name):

Today's reported unemployment rate: 8.1%. The reason: the labor "participation" dropped to a 31 year low 63.5% as reported earlier. Of course, this number is pure propaganda, and makes no sense for one simple reason: despite the economic collapse started in December 2007, the US civilian non-institutional population since then has grown by 186,000 people every month on average hitting an all time high of 243,566,000 in August.


These people need a job, and the traditional shorthand is that at least 100,000 jobs have the be generated every month for the unemployment rate to merely stay flat, let along improve. So what does one get when one uses the long-term average of the past 30 or so years which happens to be 65.8%? One gets an unemployment number that is 45% higher than the reported 8.1%, or 11.7%. That is what the real unemployment rate is assuming the US labor participation rate was realistic and not manipulated by the BLS cronies and the Bank of Spain assisted Arima-X-13 seasonal adjustment models. It also means that, as the [accompanying] chart... shows, the spread between the real and propaganda data hit an all time record, which was to be expected two months ahead of America's banker muppet presidential election.

Geez, Tyler, I'm sure the Obama administration would never stoop so low as to manipulate the jobs num - ERROR 3000: DHS FILTER MALFUNCTION - UNAPPROVED CONTENT.

The Heritage Foundation calls the Obama jobs record "dismal" and puts a microscope to the numbers:

Have 4.5 million new jobs been created under President Obama, as several speakers in Charlotte have claimed this week?

A fact check shows that under President Obama, the U.S. economy has created a net 415,000 private-sector jobs—less than 0.2 percent of the 155 million-member American workforce. But even that statistic does not tell the full story, since the workforce itself has shrunk dramatically in size since Obama took office. Labor force participation is at 63.5 percent, its lowest level since 1981. In other words, a large chunk of Americans have simply given up looking for work. A significant number are collecting disability insurance instead...


The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported recently that if Congress and the President do not act before the end of the year to prevent Taxmageddon, America will have another recession on its hands in the coming year. With 12.5 million Americans already out of work, imagine a fresh recession.

Taxmageddon, scheduled to hit on January 1, 2013, will be the largest tax increase in American history. It’s a one-year, nearly $500 billion tax hike that will hit businesses, families, young people—its impact will be devastating. Heritage has calculated that a middle-class family of four will see their taxes go up by more than $4,100 just next year.

I suppose this is what happens when you have a president who prefers golf to actual work -- 104 rounds at last count. Think about that for a sec. Who the hell has time for 104 rounds of golf in three-and-a-half years except for retired doctors?

But wait! There's more!

This was not the employment report either American workers or the Obama campaign were hoping for. A huge miss. It shows the U.S. labor market remains in a deep depression, generating few jobs and little if no income growth...


...The unemployment rate dropped to 8.1% from 8.3% [Ed: riiiiiight], but in this case with declines in both the labor force (-368,000) and the household-survey measure of employment (-119,000). With labor force participation falling back to a new cycle low of 63.5%, the drop in the unemployment rate should not be reported as good news.

Let's review: the chart immediately above represents where Obama projected unemployment would be without the trillion-dollar "Stimulus" package.

We literally (to quote Joe Biden) remain in a severe recession. Should Taxmageddon hit -- thanks only to the Democrats' continuous demands for class warfare -- we are destined for a real depression.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Paradoxical Quote o' the Day

Major Mark writes:

Paradoxical quote of the day from Ben Stein:

Fathom the hypocrisy of a Government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen.

Now add this:

Many of those who refuse, or are unable, to prove they are citizens will receive free insurance paid for by those who are forced to buy insurance... because they have proven they are citizens.

This is how a society implodes.

Remember in November.


Fascism raised its ugly head at the DNC

And if this isn't fascism, let me know the right word for this kind of behavior.

Conservative talk-show hosts who came to Charlotte to interview political figures are furious. For the first time in anyone’s memory, Radio Row — the designated set of booths available to visiting talk-show hosts — has seen restrictions placed on its use by Team Obama. DNC staffers at Radio Row will book leading Democrats for slots on conservative stations but then cancel the appearances an hour or so before broadcast “because you’re not our audience.”


Roger Hedgecock, a former mayor of San Diego now hosting a nationally syndicated talk show, decided to pack up and leave Charlotte early because “we were blocked from getting any guests that mattered. It was a complete freeze.” Larry O’Connor of Breitbart Radio told me, “It was the most bizarre act of censorship. These shows paid large fees and spent thousands on equipment setup and they couldn’t do their programs because of interference.”

Oh, hey. I'm back.

I looked up fascism. Here's the complete, illustrated definition.


Oh. My. Michelle Obama's latest fundraising email: skip meals to fund Barack's campaign

To paraphrase Michelle Antoinette, "Let them eat cake nothing."

Truly the most bizarre fundraising email ever..


Ann Althouse got an email today from Michelle Obama telling her (and presumably thousands like her) to give up a meal this week and donate the money saved to the Obama re-election campaign.

...Hey Michelle, we’ll all stop eating when YOU DO. You telling anyone to skip meals is like Liza Minnelli lecturing on sobriety.

The actual email reads as follows:

Ann --

I know your life is full -- with work, or school, or family -- and yet you still find the time to help out when you can.

You may have a tight budget, but you give what you can afford.

A woman recently told the campaign her family skipped a pizza dinner at their favorite place so that they could make a difference in this election.

That is the commitment that drives this campaign.

If you can support Barack with a donation today, please know it makes a huge difference. If we win, it will be because of what you did at moments like this....

Thanks,

Michelle

So skip a few meals for Dear Leader.


It's the least you can do.


Update: Best response at Free Republic: "Do you just use your EBT card to donate a meal to Obama?"

Dude. This Robot Is Freaking Terrifying.

Is it just me, or does this thing remind you of a SkyNet robot from Terminator: Rise of the Machines?

A new video released by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency shows the robot, inspired by the anatomy of a cheetah, running as fast as 28.3 mph before it trips and falls on what would be its face, if it had one.


If it’s any consolation, the robo-cheetah is only a bit faster than the human speed record holder: Bolt set the mark at 27.78 mph in 2009, during a 100-meter sprint.

And robo-cheetah has a way to go before it can outrun a real, living, breathing cheetah. A cheetah at the Cincinnati Zoo was recently clocked at 61 mph...

In order to prepare for the inevitable robot and/or zombie apocalypse, I'm thinking about upgrading my Y2K bunker to a fifties-style bomb shelter.



Top 10 Vintage Media Putdowns of Obama's Disastrous DNC Speech

How bad was Obama's recycled mish-mash of a speech last night? So bad that even antique media panned it across the board.

10. Pittsburgh Tribune Review’s Salena Zito: “Lack Of Jobs Mention In The Speech Is Telling…” (Twitter.com, 9/6/12)

9: National Journal: “Why Obama's Speech Fell Short” (National Journal, 9/6/12)

8: CNN’s Brianna Keilar: “Don't Think I'm Going Out On A Limb To Say Clinton Was Wayyyyyyy Better Than Obama.” (Twitter.com, 9/6/12)

7: CBS’ Bob Schieffer: “It Just Didn't Have That Spark.” SCHIEFFER: “But this as not the kind of speech that Bill Clinton made last night. It just didn't have that spark.” (CBS, 9/6/12)

6: The Washington Post: “A Mixed First-Term Record … Rhetoric Has Not Been Enough To Overcome The Problems The President Faces.” “...rhetoric has not been enough to overcome the problems the president faces … Words can’t end the war in Afghanistan, fix a still-staggering economy or close a huge budget deficit...” (The Washington Post, 9/6/12)

5: Politico: “Obama And Vice President Joe Biden All But Ignored The Affordable Care Act.” “Barack Obama's health care law consumed much of his presidency and much of the Democratic National Convention, but you wouldn't have known it Thursday night. In back-to-back speeches, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden all but ignored the Affordable Care Act.” (Joanne Kenen, “Obama's DNC Speech All But Ignores 'Obamacare',” Politico, 9/6/12)

4: The Washington Post: “Gone Was The Huge Stadium Crowd That Flocked To Hear Him Speak In An Almost Messianic Setting Four Years Ago…” ...Gone also were the replica Greek columns that stood as a symbol of his grand ambition when Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president in 2008.” (The Washington Post, 9/6/12)

3: University Of Virginia’s Larry Sabato: “It Was Purgatorial.” “I see the usual suspects (love you all) are either praising Obama's talk to high heaven, or damning it to hell. No, it was purgatorial.” (Twitter.com, 9/6/12)

2: CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “A Lot Of Stuff We’ve Heard Before.” ... “Going on to the next chapter right now, Jessica Yellin, our Chief White House Correspondent. You sat with me. We listened together. I thought there would be more specifics. There were a lot of goals expressed, generalities, a lot of stuff we’ve heard before. I didn't hear any specific new initiative that the President unveiled.” (CNN, 9/6/12)

1: ABC News’ Rick Klein: “Strange Silence Prevailing In The Arena.” “Almost no confetti at #DNC2012, and strange silence prevailing in the arena” (Twitter.com, 9/6/12)

No tingles were harmed in the creation of this list, as Chris Matthews could not be reached at press time.



Larwyn's Linx: ’94 Tape Shows Obama Hatred Of Middle Class

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

Nation

’94 Tape Shows Obama Hatred Of Middle Class: S&L
Book: Obama had temper tantrum over deal he nixed: Blgmcrcy
So Wait, If Republicans Are All Racist White Guys…: RWN

Overall Reaction to Obama’s Speech: Uh, Not Good.: Bruce
A Recycled Speech of Failed Ideas and Many Straw Men: RS
Obama's Big Lie Campaign: IBD

Obama Urges Amendment to Overturn the First Amendment: ObjStd
Twilight Zone Week: DLim
Dolan Calls for Religious Liberty, Protection of Unborn at DNC: Beacon

Economy

DNC Delegates: Hey, Let's Ban Corporate Profits!: Harsanyi
Steelworker who bashed Bain at DNC never worked there: Nice Deb
Surprise: WI Economy Surging Without Tax Increases: Breitbart

You won't hear about the real GM at #dnc2012: Breitbart
Biden recycles debunked insurance fable: Twitchy
Manhattan Mini Storage Doesn't Want Your Business: Urban Infidel

Scandal Central

Anti-Christian Hate Speech Spews from the FL Democrat Chair: Blaze
Photo proves DNC teleprompter loaded to affirm 2/3rds vote regardless outcome: Scoop
Is DoJ suit against Gallup retaliation for bad Obama poll numbers?: Hot Air

Media

STUNNED – Krauthammer says Obama’s nomination speech one of the emptiest speeches he’s ever heard: Scoop
ABC Buries Democratic Booing of Restoring God and Israel to Party Platform: NB
As Tedious DNC Cult Rally Drags-On, Op Ed Cartoonists are Having a FIELD DAY: Reaganite

Woodward book: White House was completely unprepared for 2010 tidal wave election: WaPo
Amazing New Allen West Ad: “Three Times They Said No to God”: Bruce
Circus of the Vagina-gogues: Malkin

"America 2016": P&F
Nickelodeon Promotes Jason Biggs’s Depraved Twitter Feed: MB
Obama’s Approval Ratings Keep Getting Lower, Says Rasmussen: AIM

World

The End of US-Israel Strategic Cooperation?: Gatestone
Netanyahu "Loses It" At US Ambassador Over Obama's Weak Iran Policy: Lid
There was another political party which abused God and didn’t want Jews on their platform either: Flopping Aces

American Jews: Wake Up and Take Your Heads Out of Your ...: Winter Soldier
Syrian General: "We are the last dam that is holding back the flood of Islamists in Europe": JihadWatch
When Obama Declared Our “Special Relationship” With Britain Over: Sooper

Sci-Tech

You don't bring a 3D printer to a gun fight -- yet: CNet
The Secret Inner Workings of Google Maps: Gizmodo
Security researchers to present new 'CRIME' attack against SSL/TLS: ComputerWorld

Cornucopia

Barack Obama’s Most Egotistical Moments: MB
Big Dawg Marks his Territory: Nutz, Sluts and Butts: MOTUS
Honey, You Didn't Build That!: Morning Spew

Image: A. F. Branco
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "When you are in a tight race with your political opponent, you should not recycle a Jobs Act speech that failed to even persuade Democrats in Congress to pass your signature re-election initiative...

But that’s what Barack Obama did. A day after Bill Clinton brought the house down, Barack Obama took to the stage and reduced, reused, and recycled old states of the union speeches that have failed him for four years...

This speech was unoriginal. He stacked it with straw men and ignored his own two major initiatives from the first term: Obamacare and the Stimulus.

This was a failure and you know it was because he failed to even bring up his own major initiatives. On Obamacare, he mentioned parts of it, but never defended it or referenced the “Affordable Care Act.”" --Erick Erickson

Thursday, September 06, 2012

Surprise: Wisconsin sees improved revenues to state coffers while "tax the rich" California and Illinois continue to implode

Here's a question for you Democrats reading along -- albeit very slowly: when, in all of human history, has "taxing the rich" ever succeeded?

Don't worry, I'll wait here while you check.

In the mean time, please consider "Wisconsin's Economy Surging Without Tax Increases."

The day after the nation's debt surpassed $16 trillion, Wisconsin officials announced their state took in more tax revenue than expected -- without raising taxes.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, tax collections increased 4.7 percent in fiscal year 2012 to $13.5 billion, beating the ... Legislative Fiscal Bureau’s February estimate by $320 million.

The MacIver Institute notes that when Gov. Scott Walker came into office in January of 2011, Wisconsin faced a $3.6 billion deficit.

After Walker’s reforms, especially those concerning public sector unions, and spending cuts, Wisconsin started going down the path toward fiscal solvency.

California and Illinois have taken an opposite tack: raise taxes on small businesses (you know, the evil "rich" who are generally small businesses that make over $200,000 in gross receipts and employ the lion's share of America's workers).

In Illinois, even the left-wing rag The Stuffington Roast admits that Barack Obama's home state has the worst budget deficit in the land, totaling a stunning $43.8 billion, despite a massive 60 percent hike in personal income taxes.

In California, the twice-failed Governor "Moonbeam" Brown is going for the trifecta. Despite massive tax hikes, the state is running a $6 billion annual deficit, its cities are declaring bankruptcy one after another, and the state pension system is in critical condition, having been raped by the malevolent, corrupt alliance of Democrats and their public sector union cronies.

So we know for a fact that raising taxes on "the rich" won't work. Yet Democrats -- without a shred of evidence -- continue to push for their destructive class warfare strategy. They know it won't work, which leads me to believe they are bound and determined to bring America to its economic knees.

The proper term for their deviant game-plan is "The Cloward-Piven Strategy". It's not a conspiracy theory. It's very real. And it's pure evil.