Monday, December 03, 2012

JUST PERFECT: John Boehner Purges Conservatives From Prominent Committee Spots

John Boehner is the Speaker of the House thanks to Tea Party and Constitutional conservatives. But instead of embracing the principles of the base that put him in power, he has purged anyone who doesn't agree with his feckless leadership.

Speaker John A. Boehner initiated today a small purge of rebellious Republicans — mostly conservatives — from prominent committees; it’s the latest instance of the Ohio Republican’s clamping down on his fractious conference.

The decisions were made by the GOP Steering Committee at a Monday meeting, which reviewed a spreadsheet listing each GOP lawmaker and how often he or she had voted with leadership, three sources said.

Reps. David Schweikert of Arizona and Walter Jones of North Carolina were booted from the Financial Services Committee. Reps. Justin Amash of Michigan and Tim Huelskamp of Kansas were removed from the Budget Committee... According to a source, Schweikert was told that he was ousted in part because his “votes were not in lockstep with leadership.”

All of the lawmakers other than Jones were rebellious right-wingers. Huelskamp and Amash, for instance, both voted against the budget proposed by Budget Chairman Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin in committee and on the floor, because it did not cut spending fast enough. They also voted against the current continuing resolution that is funding the government through the end of March.

...The decisions came as a major surprise to Republican members. When first contacted about the changes, several of the lawmakers’ offices said they had not yet been notified.

Complete classlessness. As Jimmie Bise, Jr. observes:

This sort of move — summary dismissal from important committees for which you leak to the press before you notify the affected members — is a big, fat backhand to the face, a reminder that John Boehner is in charge of the GOP House caucus and not we upstart conservative Tea Partiers... It’s what happens when a besieged leader wants to secure his position to hold off a siege. Make no mistake, conservatives have gotten very close to positions of real influence inside the ranks of the professional Republicans and that just won’t do. And so, a purge of the problem children who believe conservatism is more than a suit you put on to gull the rubes during an election year.

Here's my advice: Don't give a single penny to any official Republican organization. Not a cent to the RNC. Not a nickel to the NRSC. Not a dime to the NRCC. Not a quarter to Karl Rove's idiotic "grassroots" fund, American Crossroads.

Instead, give your money and support to conservative candidates directly and to organizations proven to support conservative principles like Jim DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund.


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IT EXPLAINS ALOT: The Confidence Fairy

Zero Hedge commenter TruthInSunshine has a perspective worth sharing. He explains why no one in a position of power will speak the truth about the financial wall -- not cliff -- that the economy is headed for:

No government agency or business association spokesperson is ever going to speak of the truth of how bad things are in the present, unless they have no choice because incontrovertible proof has already been released to the masses that would otherwise and obviously demonstrate their insincerity.

As long as "official datum" as published by the various governmental and quasi-governmental agencies/bodies allow governmental and business association spokespeople to understate the severity of our real economic crisis, they will, whether Democrats, Republicans or the chief economist for The National Association of Realtors.

No governmental employee (and especially no politician) will voluntarily relay how dire things may be (again, given a backdrop of "official" statistical datum that is inaccurate and relatively misleading they can fall back on) because they wouldn't want to upset the apple cart, cause further distress or even panic amongst the populace or within the "markets," and no business association spokesperson, whose very jobs entail, at least in significant part, a public confidence-building role, will do anything to further dampen the confidence that ... hope remains amongst potential consumers of their products (e.g. would a spokesperson for the NAR really come out and say that existing homes are selling quickly because inventory is being artificially constrained by GSEs and federal reserve policy and also due to federal reserve monetary policy that has a huge % of listed homes being purchased by investors for cash in an attempt to produce yields in a yield-starved economy - BECAUSE of federal reserve monetary policy? What impact would that have on the confidence of conventional, prospective existing home purchasers, who might then realize there is no true present price discovery and that another leg down is more than possible?).

In other words, they lie because our economy is dependent, in quite a large degree, on an illusion that is often referred to as the "confidence fairy."

If those people who still have the means to purchase a particular service or good feel confident about the security of their own jobs and the current & likely future state of the economy, they're more apt to go ahead and dig themselves into more debt or pay cash to purchase that service or good, regardless of the accuracy (and realism) of their "confidence level."

Conversely, if they don't feel confident about the security of their own employment situation and/or the current and likely future state of the economy, they're more apt to refrain from purchasing that good or service, and save instead, in preparation for what may lay ahead.

And this is why, without exception, throughout history, the masses do not understand there is a crisis until well after it has already begun, and they've already committed to many purchases, indebtedness and other forms of dis-saving, that they wouldn't have committed to had they known accurate information sooner.

Hence, the "confidence fairy," which governmental employees, politicians and business spokespeople all actively perpetuate in their own methods and by various tactices, is a serial and mass killer of efficient markets and rational economic behavior (as it severely distorts essential economic information that is relied upon by economic and market participants)

As Monty Pelerin so succinctly puts it, "21st Century politics sees no need for truth."


Larwyn's Linx: Cliff Dwellers

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

Nation

Cliff Dwellers: Feldman
When did government ever regulate us into efficiency?: Patterico
Massive Anti-Obama Rally Planned for Inauguration Day: MMN

To Hell With It, Let’s Jump Off the Fiscal Cliff: RWN
Obama’s Now Borrowed More Than All Prior Presidents: CNS
Obama Goes Powergolfing with Bill Clinton: Dossier

Men Find Careers in Collecting Disability: Barone
Rahm Emanuel Slams Netanyahu: GWP
Coast Guard member killed in confrontation with smugglers: KABC

Economy

The Imperial Presidency: Implications for Job Growth: Cantor
End Runs Could Tame Obama: AT
How to Survive in Washington, D.C. on $3,835,616 Dollars a Day: WyBlog

Why Warren Buffett is in Favor Of High Tax Rates: P&F
Paying Mitt Romney's Taxes and Other Liberal Illogic: WyBlog
Hippienomics: CDN

Scandal Central

Sustainable Development: Agenda 21 explained: Scoop
The Red Line Iran Already Crossed: Iran Murdering U.S. Soldiers in Afghanistran: Mauro
Judge Jeanine Pirro Tackles the Latest BenghaziGate news: Nice Deb

Climate & Energy

The Plans for the Second Term Are Beginning to Leak Out: Elephant

Media

Bob Costas And Jason Whitlock Trash The 2nd Amendment: HayRide
Iraqi refugee arrested for bombing Arizona Social Security office with IED, media silence ensues: Tatler
Grover Norquist wants fiscal cliff talks on TV: RedAlert

Bob Costas, NBC Exploit Tragedy to Attack Americans’ Constitutional Right of Self-Defense: Tatler
NBC Sports hits a new low: ProWis
President Obama honors Rosa Parks anniversary with picture of... himself: Twitchy

Policing the Schutzstaffel: NoisyRm
The Good Wife: Conservative Version: DTG
Michelle Obama's Speech on Changing America's History and Traditions: Saving Common Sense (2010)

World

Obama Administration Silent After Egyptian Constitution Restores Slavery: Events
For Sale on Saudi Facebook: Abdul, the Castrated Black Aftrican Slave: GWP
Hillary Clinton Accuses Israel of Lacking Generosity and Empathy with “Oppressed” Palestinians: GWP

Surprise: Obama punts the 'Palestinians': Matzav
Smart Power: Egypt Hurriedly Passes Islamist Style Constitution: Cove
Thousands attend anti-Nazi rally in Hungary to protest lawmaker's call for screening of Jews: Fox

Internet meeting spurs controversy: PC World
IMF Confirms: China Heavily Overinvesting: Mead
Ethnic cleansing in the Middle East: Matzav

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

The Fate Of The Free Internet Goes Up For Vote In December: WebProNews
Paint it black—How Syria methodically erased itself from 'Net: Ars Technica
Is Facebook Becoming Irrelevant?: SocMedToday

Cornucopia

My 30 Favorite Tweets From November: Hawkins
The Ultimate Sniper Rifle - No Skill Required: CMR
So I Just Got Off The Phone With Dan Riehl: Glob

Image: Thousands Attend Anti-Nazi Rally in Hungary After Lawmaker’s Chilling Anti-Semitic Remarks
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Dan Riehl

QOTD: "So what lessons should Republicans learn from the 2012 election? I don’t think anyone other than me has thought to ask this question, as Republicans tend not to be very analytical. But I think the answer is pretty obvious when you look at the failure of their presidential candidate this year and the one in 2008: Republicans need to stop nominating right-wing extremists like John McCain and Mitt Romney.

Obviously, the two most recent Republican presidential candidates were far too extreme to the right to be elected by the American public. They were constantly seen in the company of numerous Republicans and conservatives (one was even seen hanging around Sarah Palin) and often praised them instead of denouncing them. Also, they reveled in the racism of the Republican Party (especially in their racist stance on taxes) and sometimes said positive things about Republicans’ stances on social issues. And worst of all, they were actually opposed to the election and reelection of the first black president and occasionally even criticized him.

So it’s no wonder that so much of the country was absolutely repulsed by these people. By reading any news source like the New York Times, you could see how terrified the average person was of having those extremists elected. If the Republican Party doesn’t want to continue being hated, it needs to finally give up on its right-wing radicalism exemplified by McCain and Romney and plan to have in 2016 a perfect candidate who will not be so offensive to Democrats." --Frank J. Fleming

Sunday, December 02, 2012

THE "STUPIDITY" OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR: The Left's Other Economic Straw Man

Writing at The Reformed Broker, Joshua Brown correctly dismisses the Left's incessant calls for economic "fairness", but then ensnares himself in another field of rhetorical quicksand: the "stupidity" of corporations and the private sector.

...the economy isn't fair and you can make a pretty strong case that it's gotten less fair, but that fact alone will never sway those in power...

...So instead of lamenting the lack of fairness, let's talk about the stupidity of this hollowing out of the middle class in this country, year after year, with bought and paid for legislation and preferential tax treatment.

Henry Blodget demonstrated last night how, while corporate profits have never been higher, the wages paid to workers at these same corporations have never been lower. While corporate profit margins just hit a 70-year high, have a glance at wages as a percentage of GDP:


Corporations haven't magically learned a new secret to profitability, they've just found a workaround to the need for a living wage in this country. F*** it, someone else's problem.

Yes, Joshua: corporations have all -- in concert -- decided to screw the "middle class", whoever that may be. It's not the insane, ever growing number of regulations from hundreds of government entities that grow like weeds in good times and bad. It's not takeovers of entire industries -- like health care -- with countless repercussions as diktats and fiats emanate from unelected, faceless bureaucrats. Corporations certainly couldn't be husbanding resources to prepare for the unknown, could they?

And, oh my: 54 percent of jobs are created by small businesses, not large companies. How is it that they, too, appear to have conspired to screw "the middle class"?

...the stupidity of having such an obviously unbalanced economy is the more important discussion we should be having right now. The corporations are every bit as vulnerable to the disappearance of the middle class as the middle class is itself.

They've managed around this issue thus far with an increasing emphasis on exports (now responsible for half of the S&P 500's sales and profits) as well as systemic and legally-sanctioned overseas tax evasion. Consider that Exxon Mobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009 and paid zero Federal income tax (you want to laugh, they actually got a rebate of $256 million). GE earned $14 billion in 2010 and also paid zero in Federal income tax. Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard have each set up offshore subsidiaries which they use as payment conduits so as to keep their profits shielded from the IRS.

But offshoring of profits and the export of goods and services won't sustain these corporations forever. At a certain point, native companies within the developing world will nudge our adventuring multinationals aside (China's already building its own version of Wall Street). And when that happens, Corporate America is going to turn around and be horrified by the devastation in its own backyard.

So, Joshua, why have these corporate entities set up offshore tax shelters? Could it be because they are incented to do so, thanks to populist -- and destructive -- corporate tax policies and (in the case of GE) crony capitalism?

And concerning Exxon Mobil, could it also be that we already pay an incredible rate of taxation on every gallon of gas, which -- by the way -- hits the middle class, and poor, and the rich equally?

Well, you enormous f***ing idiots, you fired all your customers. You've spent the last decade or so suppressing wage growth in the name of "creating shareholder value" and now even your shareholder base is disappearing.

You allowed wages to stagnate for a decade and made every decision you could in the service of nudging the quarterly profit higher, thinking less of the yearly profit and virtually nothing of the long-term viability of your business.

No, Joshua: you are dead wrong.

I have an Almanac from 1929. It is fascinating. As you flip the pages, you see dozens of pages of advertising representing hundreds of different companies. Perhaps one-half of one percent of these companies are still alive today.

No, Joshua: companies (and individuals) are trying to survive an out-of-control government that is leeching more and more money from every corner of the economy, issuing ever more onerous regulations, and wreaking administrative havoc with bills like Dodd-Frank and PPACA that have yet to be fully fleshed out.

Companies are terrified of a federal government that has grown like a cancer, decade after decade.

See, Joshua: we already have a structure that will work for all Americans. We have a precious and priceless framework our predecessors bequeathed to us called "The Constitution".

It attempted to limit the powers of a centralized federal government because it knew that "absolute power corrupts absolutely".

And so it is we have arrived in November of 2012: with an unconstrained central government, borrowing and printing money that will never be repaid in pursuit of a collectivist ideology that has no blueprint, no design, and no endgame that can be shared with the citizenry.

It confiscates ever more money from the private sector, recycles it through thousands of inefficient bureaucracies, and then sends the remainder to its favorite constituent groups to aid in its reelection efforts.

It micromanages our lives and regulates every aspect of the private sector. It tells us what kind of light bulbs we can buy, how much mileage our cars must get, how much water can flow through our shower heads, and how big a pond can be in our backyards before it turns into a "protected wetland".

The federal government is the world's biggest borrower, its biggest lender, its biggest health insurer, and runs the biggest retirement system. And every time it has touched any part of our economic system, it has bankrupted or destroyed it.

The system is going to collapse, just as it is collapsing in Europe today, just as it did in Argentina a decade ago, and just as it did in the Weimar Republic. And the tragedy -- the travesty -- is that we were blessed with a system of Constitutional government that was explicitly designed to prevent all of this madness.

Corporations are terrified of the federal government. And those ostensibly running things, our politicians -- with the exception of a handful of plain-spoken folks demonized as "extremists" -- have largely surrendered to the corruption endemic to an unconstitutional, centralized government that, each and every day, pushes us closer to tyranny.

That, Joshua, is the problem: the world's biggest corporation called the federal government.


SWEET: Apple Files Patent for Wireless Device Charger

Wouldn't this be nice?

Truly wireless charging, it's a tech utopia we all long for. Sure, we're getting there, but it still requires contact, which is only slightly better. If places like Starbucks starts putting pads in their tables, hooray, but it's a far cry from a real charging zone. A recent Apple patent outlines just that, the wireless charging dream we've all been dreaming.

In a patent application published a few days ago, "Wireless Power Utilization in a Local Computing Environment," Apple is filing for some tech that looks like wireless charging heaven. Using near-field magnetic resonance, Apple aspires (in theory) to create a wireless charging dome that reaches out up to a yard from the source, powering anything nearby with NFMR resonator circuits in them. Mice, keyboards, phones, remotes, whathaveyou. It's a dream come true.

That said, the eccentric genius Nikola Tesla is reported to have demonstrated wireless power transmission in 1891, but it has somehow eluded all attempts at practical implementation since.


Hat tip: BadBlue.com/Tech.

IT'S AN OPEN BORDERS EXTRAVAGANZA! 14 Illegals Bail Out of SUV During Routine Traffic Stop

Aren't the Democrats' open borders policies funtastic?

What police say began as a traffic stop eastbound on Interstate 40 on the west side of El Reno has resulted in the arrests of 13 people, according to officers.

Police said the SUV was following a tractor-trailer too closely, with less than a car length between them, resulting in the stop. When the driver handed an officer a driver's license issued in Mexico, the officer asked the driver to step out of the car.


Canadian County Sheriff Randall Edwards told KOCO Eyewitness News 5 that 13 illegal immigrants, along with the driver, jumped out of the vehicle and fled. After a search that lasted much of Tuesday afternoon and included Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers, sheriff's deputies, the state Agriculture Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and K-9 units, 13 people were taken into custody...

"I couldn't fathom that they had gotten that many people in that car," said Cody Palmer with the Canadian County Sheriff's Department.

Three of those arrested are women. The driver of the car was also an illegal immigrant and police say he will face 13 counts of human trafficking.

But I'm sure the driver was licensed and insured -- and that all of the passengers had been buckled in before the traffic stop.

If you had lost a family member in a traffic accident caused by an illegal alien -- an all too common phenomenon in the era of Obama -- you'd probably have a far different view of open borders than the typical Democrat pol.


KIM KARDASHIAN WATCH: The Side of Bahrain She Won't Be Visiting

In our semi-annual celebrity update:

Kim Kardashian had only just touched down in the Kingdom of Bahrain before declaring it the prettiest place on earth...


...Of course, that was before police reportedly fired tear gas to disperse 50 or so angry protesters demonstrating against Kardashian’s visit to the country to promote her Millions of Milkshakes shop.

I wonder if Ms. Kardashian is aware that slavery -- yes, slavery -- is still alive and well in Bahrain:

Scars of severe beating were clear on the chest and shoulders of Salma Bijoum, three months after she fled the home of her abusive employer. Now, the domestic helper is waiting for a court decision to be able to return to her family in Haidarabad.

Bijoum, 35, tasted all kinds of cruel treatment and humiliation at the hands of her employer’s wife during her 45-day stay. She was beaten and kicked on regular basis for no obvious reason. She was beaten for not cleaning the house well, for sitting on the carpet and for drinking cold water. She neither got adequate meals nor a salary. Then came the day she decided to run away: she was asked to sweep the floor using a broom but she could not as her arms had become so swollen from beating. When she declined, the lady of the house beat her with an iron rod. She bled.


The case of Bijoum is not rare in a country where many employers violate the human rights of their domestic helpers. Abuse includes bad language, deprivation from basic requirements like proper accommodation, meals, rest time and monthly wages. Others are insulted, beaten, sexually harassed and raped, according to statements by domestic workers and police records.

Foreign domestic workers in Bahrain represent 4.2% of Bahrain's total population of 1.1 million people. They live in closed houses, making it nearly impossible to penetrate these places to see how they live, or whether they get their full legal rights...

When Bijoum escaped her employer's residence screaming for help, the driver of a labor transport vehicle took her to a police station.

Bijoum is considered lucky. Sings of abuse and torture have to be fresh and clear to constitute evidence of torture. Moreover, the driver who dropped her off at the police station, called a journalist who published a story on her plight. This gave her case publicity, which in turn generated public pressure.

“We should work according to our employer’s will, whenever he so wishes, without a day off," said Bijoum. "This is the slavery of the Third Millennium.”

I wonder how pretty Bahrain is from the perspective of a slave?


INTERESTING: "The Main Problem With Republicans"

Dark Water Retreat:

The main problem with the Republicans is that they are perpetually uncool. Although some take comfort in the glow of self-righteousness and condemnation of those who are not worthy, the Republican Party has little to offer the citizens of the United States. Even the once strong point of having solid economic principles they purportedly endorse, this idea seems to be no-more as evidenced by the economic liberal choices of president they continue to select. I mean, really? McCain and Romney were planning to get the country back on sound economic ground? Instead of being economic stalwarts of fiscal responsibility, they seem to be socialist lite… That is, ”only half the socialist calories of the other brand!”


What they are doing is doubling down on is the social issues that piss people off. Republicans are on the wrong side of these issues and they represent a black eye that history will not remember fondly. Most voters don’t understand fiscal and economic policy. They just don’t. What they do understand is that they have a relative or friend that is gay. They do understand that they have a relative or friend that smokes an occasional joint. They do understand that they have a relative or friend that is an immigrant. They do not like watching family friendly entertainment all the time. People are turned off by the self-righteous holier-than-thou attitude that Republicans continue to put forth. While not considering the many fine people they are disenfranchising, the Republicans seem to be more than willing to water down sound financial principles of which everyone would benefit. We only have one shot in this world and if we are going to be labeled as ”sinners” we might as well (as said by Billy Joel): “we would rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints because the sinners are much more fun.”

We have our work cut out for us. As Trevor Loudon reminds us, the next four years are going to be disastrous unless Republicans stand for something basic, primitive and real: America.

• Diverting money from the military to social spending will be a huge part of the agenda. After all, a strong US military is the major block to world revolution.

• The push will be towards universal socialist healthcare and an economy wrecking Financial Transactions Tax.

• Ending poverty through massive re-distribution will be a big focus… capitalizing on the 50th anniversary of DSA founder Michael Harrington‘s famous book “The Other America,” which helped to launch Lyndon Johnson’s catastrophic and completely counter productive “War on Poverty” in the mid-1960s.

• Students will be manipulated with promises of loan forgiveness. There will be a huge push for immigration reform. DSA leader Eliseo Medina, a leader of the movement, has openly boasted that this will mean eight million more Democrat Party votes.

Until conservatives and Republicans realize that they are opposing a Marxist dominated party, they are destined to a series of defeats on the way to political oblivion... [Democrats are no longer] the party of Truman or Kennedy, but the party of Marx, Lenin, Alinsky and Gramsci.

...Republicans are no longer fighting old line Democrats. They are effectively battling D.S.A, the Communist Party and the labor unions. The Democrats are simply a front for the Marxists.

These people play dirty, and they play for keeps.

We're Americans. We don't give up. We don't give in to thugs. And we need leaders who won't give in either. Who will stand tall in the face of existential threats to this country.

We need Republicans who can speak eloquently about what the future holds under the collectivists in the Democrat Party, about the failures of big government, and about liberty. Liberty is cool. Liberty is inclusive. Liberty appeals to all ages, races, religions, colors and backgrounds.

We need Republicans who can give voice to liberty and who will politically offer no quarter to the progressives who seek to destroy this great land. That will appeal to the old and the young, the rich and the poor, women and men, and anyone else who dreams of a better future for themselves and subsequent generations.



Larwyn's Linx: Obama Depicts Republicans as Kidnappers--Says don’t let the GOP hold middle class tax cuts "hostage"

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

Nation

Obama: Don’t let the GOP hold middle class tax cuts "hostage": Malkin
Conservatives vs. the GOP : Fund
Sen. Hatch: Obama fiscal proposal 'classic bait and switch': Hill

Reid site scrubbed of '05 comments opposing filibuster changes: Blaze
Obama Votes “Present” On Palestinian Funding: Cove
Germany to Register Gun Owners in International Database: DC

Economy

FAIL: Collecting Disability Becomes A Career Choice For Men: IBD
IDIOCY: CBO says unemployment compensation creates jobs: Publius
Liberal Democrats: Higher rates for wealthy 'just the beginning': Hill

$165K, job security, 11 weeks vacation: NOT GOOD ENOUGH: ProWis
French minister: we're just nationalizing industries like Obama: Ace
Obama family 'costs taxpayers $1.4BILLION per year': Daily Mail

Scandal Central

Save a Life, Mr. President — Deport Unlicensed Drivers: RWN
This Unserious White House: WSJ
Obama proposes $1 trillion student loan bailout: Breitbart

Climate & Energy

16 years without warming: Watts
Ethanol: List of Mandate’s Victims Keeps Growing: Foundry

Media

See No Evil: Beacon
Victoria Toensing: Pro-Choice Republicans Must Come Out of the Closet: Ace
ACLJ: United Nations Vote Backing Palestinians Threatens Israel & Peace: RWN

The Conservative Dilemma: Camp o' the Saints
Joe Biden Makes Black Woman Push Shopping Cart During Costco Visit: Waznmentobe
Just Another Mickey Mouse Argument on Copyright Law: ChicagoBoyz

Remembering Some of Those Who Said the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt Wasn't a Threat to Democracy: NB
As usual, the Times blames Israel: Matzav
Cut off* NPR & PBS in return for higher tax rate on “wealthy”?: GayPatriot

World

Arab Spring Film Awards: Steyn
Hillary Slams Israel For Approving Construction Of New Homes In Jerusalem, West Bank: WZ
NHS "death pathway" isn't just for old people: Pundette

If Iran tries to attack, Israel will reportedly target its missiles before they get off the ground: Times of Israel
US will build $100 million nuclear bunker near Tel Aviv: Hayom
Iran stations defense staff at North Korea military site: JPost

Obama to Treat Terror as Crime, Not War: Breitbart
The Trouble With Susan Rice: WSJ
Introduction: a Call to Cryptographic Arms: Cryptome: Assange

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Why Did Google Buy BufferBox? Because The Entire Mail And Package Delivery System Is Broken: Crunch
Windows 8 uptake: More like Vista than Windows 7: CompWorld
Newly Developed MRI Scan Shows Twins Fighting Inside The Womb: Mediaite

Cornucopia

Fun Facts About the 50 States: New Jersey: IMAO
This important message brought to you by…PBS!: MOTUS
Kim Kardashian starts a riot!: Daily Mail

Image: Virtue Has No Value
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Federale

QOTD: "One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results." —Milton Friedman

Saturday, December 01, 2012

The evil Bush tax cuts in one graph

Let's take a look at federal spending versus its receipts from the last two years of Bill Clinton, all eight years of G. W. Bush, and four years of Barack Obama:

George W. Bush and supporters of the tax cut said federal revenue would go up after passing the cuts and it appears it did...


In fact, federal receipts reached Clinton-era levels without Clinton-era tax rates in 2006, not long after all the cuts went into effect (passed in 2001 and 2003, they were tweaked with in 2005)...

In other words, tax cuts grow revenue to the government.

That said, the next time Democrats take facts, logic and reason into account when setting policy will be the first time.


THE END: Three Must-See Charts

Icecap Asset Management, via (who else?) Tyler Durden:

...Since WWII, the Americans, Japanese, British and Europeans have spent way more money than they owned. But that was okay because the money they borrowed wouldn’t have to be repaid until some far away day in the future.

Unfortunately the future has now arrived and today, the next generations of Americans, Japanese, British and Europeans have all plunged into a deathly debt spiral... Today it is no coincidence that the Americans, Japanese, British and Europeans have all set interest rates as close to 0% as possible. Also today, it is no coincidence that the Americans, Japanese, British and Europeans are all printing money...


...The crash of 2008 wasn’t simply due to an overheated American housing market – this was just the one of many final straws. In fact, those dark days of just a few short years ago were the culmination of years of too much spending and too much borrowing, and then trying to sweep these stresses under a money printing rug to be forgotten...

...The excesses of today were not accumulated over a standard 3-5 year business cycle, but rather the excesses accumulated over 60 years of fortuitous, kicking-the-can-down-the-road policies by governments and central bankers...


...Now, the “save the day” strategy of cutting interest rates can work for a really long time – well, at least until there are no more interest rates left to cut. Unfortunately – with close to 0% rates everywhere, the World has reached that day.

In addition to cutting interest rates, Keynesian economics also believes that to really save the day, governments should combine cutting interest rates with deficit spending... The belief is that when the economy slumps, lower interest rates will encourage private investors to borrow, hire and spend again, but in the meantime governments should fill this spending lull by building new bridges, roads and sidewalks...

...Keynesians want you to believe that although cutting interest rates, running deficits and excessively borrowing didn’t exactly work out as planned – this last great hope of money printing should work.

We of course have our doubts. Like Friedrich Hayek, we believe the only way for the global economy to recover is for governments to dramatically reduce their interference in private markets. As long as central banks and governments continue to influence interest rates, lending, and employment - private capital will not return.

Instead of living in a World where economic success is rewarded, we now see a wave of new Western World governments who support taxing success to reward those who failed...

...the one point we hear no one pondering aloud is exactly what happens the moment the Americans decide (or are forced) to stop printing money.

...For those who don’t quite understand the effects of money printing, you just have to know that during the last year the Americas had a $1 trillion deficit – meaning the government spent $1 trillion more than what they collected in taxes. In a normal World, people and countries have to borrow the $1 trillion to pay the bills, but not the Americans.

Only in America does money grow on trees. And, in this case of the $1 trillion that was needed to fund the deficit, Ben Bernanke and the US Federal Reserve will print about $480 billion...


...The real concern and balancing act facing Mr. Bernanke and his Keynesian team is what happens to private capital the moment it is announced that money printing will stop, or if over night interest rates were to rise.

At that moment, make believe becomes real believe as private capital once again gets to play in the real World. And in the real World, private capital will demand to be paid given the amount of real risk that is present.

Two things will happen. For starters some of the private capital will simply leave to find a new home in other countries or markets. In addition, the price of money (ie. interest rates) will increase but not just for US government treasuries and bonds – but across the entire credit spectrum...

...To understand the importance of this concept, you just need to know that currently the average interest rate paid by the Americans on their debt is 2.56%. This equals $417 billion/year. If long-term rates were to double to 5%, the cost of funding this mess rises to $834 billion or 6% of GDP...

...the ill-fated exercise of following Keynesian economics to kick the can down the road will continue once again. The World has already seen the failure of the Keynesian approach of continuous interest rate cutting, deficit spending and tax cuts.

The bad news is that the money printing option embraced today will not create a different outcome.


AWESOME: EPA-mandated "green" fuel likely to damage auto engines

And even Government Motors is complaining about the ongoing eco-lunacy of the Obama EPA.

AAA urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to halt sales of gasoline with higher ethanol concentrations Friday, contending the fuel blend causes engine damage not covered under most auto warranties.

EPA says that cars made in the model year 2001 and later can handle E15, the fuel blend made up of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent petroleum...

General Motors vehicles model years 2012 and newer, as well as 2013 model-year Ford vehicles, permit use of E15. Still, GM spokeswoman Sharon Basel said the automaker agrees with AAA [and] said EPA was being "irresponsible" by permitting the use of E15 without evaluating the fuel's effects on the entire car.

"We have the same opinion, the same view as what AAA has so eloquently put in their release," Basel told The Hill on Friday.

AAA noted BMW, Chrysler, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen do not cover damage from E15 under their warranties. Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo have said E15 damage might void warranties, according to AAA.

If we had adult leadership in Washington, the EPA would receive a 90 percent budget cut. Essential services only. All of the other bureaucrats, regulators and useless, Statist hacks should be required to get real jobs, so they can see how we peons live under their senseless, maddening dictates.


Image: Examiner.

LAUGHINGSTOCK: The Washington Post Commits Suicide

Is there anyone on either side of the aisle that takes The Washington Post seriously?

That's a rhetorical question.


"Obama takes a hard line on debt"?

"Obama takes a hard line on debt"?

"Obama takes a hard line on debt"?


Here's the real debt that Barack Obama and the Democrats have created since January of 2009, depicted in red.

You see that tiny little sliver of green? That's Obama's proposal - to generate about $80 billion by raising taxes on "the rich".

That's what The Washington Post calls "a hard line on the debt."

This egregious deficit spending cannot be sustained much longer: two, three years tops, according to former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer, before the system begins to unravel.

We are headed for a societal collapse. We are headed for runaway inflation, a collapse of the currency, and civil unrest... in that order. We are seeing it break out in Europe now, we saw it in Argentina a dozen years ago, and we saw it in the Weimar Republic before the rise of Hitler.

Inevitably, the laws of economics overtake the politics.

And The Washington Post is led by people so criminally dishonest and so infected with partisan greed that they are willing to lie -- boldfaced -- to the American people time and time again, as the country prepares to walk off the real economic cliff.


Photo of headline: @EmilyMiller.

Larwyn's Linx: White House Increasingly Comfortable With Cliff Dive

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

Nation

Report: White House Increasingly Comfortable With Cliff Dive: Breitbart
6 Fixes to America’s Fiscal Crisis: Foundry
Land of the Free? Think Again: CDN

Gen-X Taxpayers, Forced to Sit at the Kids' Table: RCP
Will Obama Stop Kicking the Can on Entitlements?: Foundry
Obama to GOP: My $1.6T Tax Proposal Isn't "Complicated": Pavlich

Kindly Note the Impending Bankruptcy: Steyn
Obama Leaves Homeland Unprotected: AmSpec
Liberty University Set to Challenge ObamaCare in Court: AIM

Economy

Here We Go, The Left Now Calling 401k Plans ‘Subsidies’: LoneCon
A Fair Share of Taxes?: RS
Stimulus Funds African Genital Washing Study: JW

Bailout for Nationalized Student Loans on the Way: MB
Here Come the Looters for Your Retirement Account: MB
Farage On What The Nobel Peace Prize Means To The EU: ZH

Does HHS Have Authority to Tax Health Premiums in Exchanges?: Cato
SoCal strike: shippers leave, retailers beg Obama for help: Malkin
Generation X is Being Screwed by Obama: Glob

Scandal Central

Malkin: Time to IMPEACH Obama and Hillary for Treason, Dereliction of Duty, Cover Up Lies: RR
Rep. Adam Smith: Benghazi will be the Biggest Cover-up in History: Fox
Billions Wasted On Faulty Obamacare Digital Health Record Experiment: JW

All the President’s Enemies Lists: Driscoll
Fast & Furious Guns Found in New Mexico: Breitbart
ATF Officials Involved with Fast and Furious Fired or Demoted?: Nice Deb

Climate & Energy

An open letter to the U.N from climate skeptics: Watts
It isn't surprising that the modern envirowacko movement was launched by a huge lie: CEI
Californians Seeing Big Utility Rate Hikes Thanks To Renewable Energy Mandate: SAB

Media

The Democrat Party: Slavery, Secession, Segregation and Socialism: AllAm
World’s Youngest Blogger: I May Have To Get Medieval On Boehner: RSM
Boehlert’s Nemesis @BethanyBowra Now Takes Sandra Fluke to the Woodshed: RSM

Young, Hispanic conservatives write manual for the GOP: RedAlert
White House Data Debunk Myth Bush Cuts Built Deficit: IBD
Judge won’t order removal of anti-Islam YouTube video at center of Benghazi debate: DC

World

Canada: We Will Not Let The Jewish People & State Of Israel Stand Alone: WZ
Bin Laden Computer Had Tons of Gay Porn, Wikileak Documents : Jawa
Muslims Pressing for Blasphemy Laws in Europe: Gatestone

Abbas’ jihadist UN bid: Hayom
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on U.N. Move to Recognize Palestine as an Observer State: NoisyRm
The Professional Complainers of Islam: GoV

Obama and Mexico's Socialist President-Elect Forge Amnesty Pact: Shark
NHS "death pathway" isn't just for old people: Pundette
Gun-Running Out of Libya: WinterSoldier

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue.com/Tech)

Romanian hackers busted with half a MILLION credit cards from Australia!: Sophos
See the New ‘Intelligent’ Rifle That Claims to Give You a Perfect Shot Every Time: Blaze
Find a Workout Buddy Stronger Than You to Keep Yourself in Shape: LifeHacker

Cornucopia

What a Conservative Candidate Would Say: Hideout
Picture of missing aspiring lingerie model from Colorado appears on Vegas escort ad: Fox
An American History Lesson for Europe: Sargent

Image: Report: White House Increasingly Comfortable With Cliff Dive
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Right Wing News

QOTD: "As for the rights of the Jewish people in this land, I have a simple message for those gathered in the General Assembly today. No decision by the U.N. can break the 4,000 year-old bond between the people of Israel, and the land of Israel." --Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

Friday, November 30, 2012

Misunderstanders of Islam Arrested Trying to Bring WMDs into U.S.

But let's give 'em a state!

Two Pakistan-born brothers living in Florida have been arrested on charges of providing support to terrorists and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction within the United States, authorities said on Friday.

The men were charged in a grand jury indictment announced by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Federal prosecutors allege the men, both U.S. citizens, provided money, housing, communications equipment and transportation as part of a conspiracy.


A statement from prosecutors said the brothers’ alleged goal was “to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives) against persons and property within the United States“. It did not elaborate and U.S. officials declined to go into details but said the arrests were not the result of a sting operation.

... “Any potential threat posed by these two individuals has been disrupted,” U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer said in a statement.

The accused were identified as Raees Alam Qazi, 20, and Sheheryar Alam Qazi, 30. They were arrested on Thursday in Fort Lauderdale and made an initial appearance in federal court on Friday.

This thought just popped into my head: the word irony can be defined as "The New York Times building being leveled by a WMD originally manufactured in Iraq under Saddam Hussein."


Image: Sun-Sentinel.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: A Brief Conversation In the Park



TRAMPLING INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY: The Hobby Lobby Letter Everyone Is Talking About

Editor’s Note: David Green is the founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., which is challenging the Obamacare contraceptive mandate. This letter is an excellent illustration of how unconstitutional, authoritarian, and centralized federal policies crush individual liberties. It is but one illustration of the amoral collectivism which is the hallmark of a nascent tyranny.

When my family and I started our company 40 years ago, we were working out of a garage on a $600 bank loan, assembling miniature picture frames. Our first retail store wasn’t much bigger than most people’s living rooms, but we had faith that we would succeed if we lived and worked according to God’s word. From there,Hobby Lobby has become one of the nation’s largest arts and crafts retailers, with more than 500 locations in 41 states. Our children grew up into fine business leaders, and today we run Hobby Lobby together, as a family.

We’re Christians, and we run our business on Christian principles. I’ve always said that the first two goals of our business are (1) to run our business in harmony with God’s laws, and (2) to focus on people more than money. And that’s what we’ve tried to do. We close early so our employees can see their families at night. We keep our stores closed on Sundays, one of the week’s biggest shopping days, so that our workers and their families can enjoy a day of rest. We believe that it is by God’s grace that Hobby Lobby has endured, and he has blessed us and our employees. We’ve not only added jobs in a weak economy, we’ve raised wages for the past four years in a row. Our full-time employees start at 80% above minimum wage.

But now, our government threatens to change all of that. A new government health care mandate says that our family business MUST provide what I believe are abortion-causing drugs as part of our health insurance. Being Christians, we don’t pay for drugs that might cause abortions, which means that we don’t cover emergency contraception, the morning-after pill or the week-after pill. We believe doing so might end a life after the moment of conception, something that is contrary to our most important beliefs. It goes against the Biblical principles on which we have run this company since day one. If we refuse to comply, we could face $1.3 million PER DAY in government fines.

Our government threatens to fine job creators in a bad economy. Our government threatens to fine a company that’s raised wages four years running. Our government threatens to fine a family for running its business according to its beliefs. It’s not right. I know people will say we ought to follow the rules; that it’s the same for everybody. But that’s not true. The government has exempted thousands of companies from this mandate, for reasons of convenience or cost. But it won’t exempt them for reasons of religious belief.

So, Hobby Lobby – and my family – are forced to make a choice. With great reluctance, we filed a lawsuit today, represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, asking a federal court to stop this mandate before it hurts our business. We don’t like to go running into court, but we no longer have a choice. We believe people are more important than the bottom line and that honoring God is more important than turning a profit.

My family has lived the American dream. We want to continue growing our company and providing great jobs for thousands of employees, but the government is going to make that much more difficult. The government is forcing us to choose between following our faith and following the law. I say that’s a choice no American – and no American business – should have to make.

The government cannot force you to follow laws that go against your fundamental religious belief. They have exempted thousands of companies but will not except Christian organizations including the Catholic church.

Since you will not see this covered in any of the liberal media, pass this on to all your contacts.

Sincerely,

David Green, CEO and Founder of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.


Thanks to: The HayRide.

WELL DONE, SUSAN RICE: Which countries voted to recognize the latest collection of genocidal maniacs at the United Nations

Twitchy points us to the following map:

Heckuva job, Susan! UN’s Palestine vote yet another failure for Amb. Rice

...On Wednesday, President Obama said he “couldn’t be prouder” of the “extraordinary” UN Amb. Susan Rice. Really? Heckuva job, Susan...


...Yep, that sea of green and black was Rice’s followup to her role in misleading Americans on the nature of the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Only eight nations joined the United States in voting “no” on granting Palestine nonmember observer status at the United Nations. Only eight. And instead of being fired, she may be up for a promotion to Secretary of State...

...And as [former State Department official Richard] Grenell notes, Rice “skipped the last open meeting before the planned UN vote to recognize Palestinian statehood.” That’s what Obama calls “extraordinary"...

Please recall that the Palestinian Authority, in addition to its terrorist roots and its non-stop curriculum of genocide for its children, was inspired by Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich.

And that what really happened in the Middle East is something you'll never see while watching antique media.



Stunning 3-D Map Shows Where Votes Were Cast

Well, this is mildly disturbing.

[These maps,] created by Princeton Professor Robert Vanderbei, takes a slightly different approach. It’s one of the few that shows the action in three dimensions.

Like some other maps we’ve seen, Vanderbei’s displays votes county by county, eschewing solid reds and blues for a palette of purples, graded according to how each county voted. But what makes Vanderbei’s visualization unique is his use of the z-axis to show how many people voted in these counties. In metropolitan areas, columns shoot up like neon skyscrapers; in flyover country, it’s typically more of a low-rise affair. But the effect is powerful: At a glance, Vanderbei’s map shows not just how the country voted, but where it voted, too...


And that means cities. The democratic lean of places like New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Boston shouldn’t be news to anyone, but seeing the results like this gives you a sense of just how overwhelming the number of voters really is in those densely populated urban centers. And so long as those towers stay blue, it’s why you won’t hear about states like California or New York being in play anytime soon.


Vanderbei, a professor of operations research and financial engineering, made his first "Purple Area" visualization after the 2000 election. He had been reading USA Today when one of the typical "county-by-county, red-blue" graphics caught his eye. That map, he says, "made me wonder why anyone would paint a county-by-county map in such a way as to imply that a county has cast its vote for one candidate or the other. I live in a county that went about 52% republican and 48% democratic in that election. Painting the county red seemed highly misleading..."


... my biggest takeaway was that the Obama campaign’s ground game in Colorado must’ve really worked. Denver’s the country’s 23rd most populous city--smaller in population than Houston, Dallas, El Paso, and Fort Worth to the south in Texas--but its impressively tall (and solidly blue) stack represents a key source of votes in what was a hotly contested state.

You can view the entire gallery here.


Hat tip: BadBlue.com/Tech.