Wednesday, February 19, 2014

EXCELLENT NEWS: EPA gets another new power -- now able to unilaterally redraw state borders!

Guest post by Investor's Business Daily

Property Grab: The administration's latest unconstitutional move comes as one of its increasingly lawless and dictatorial agencies takes upon itself the power to redraw the boundaries of a state and redistribute the land of American citizens.

Just when you thought the imperial presidency of Barack Obama couldn't get any worse, consider the citizens of Riverton, Wyo. They woke up one morning to be told by the Environmental Protection Agency they no longer lived in the sovereign state of Wyoming, but in the Wind River Indian Reservation.

The EPA's redrawing of the state's boundaries came at year's end in response to a request from the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes for "state status" under the Clean Air Act to get more grant money and sovereignty in monitoring air quality.

Instead of giving the tribes the authority to conduct air quality monitoring, the EPA, which continues to act as an unelected fourth branch of government, unilaterally and unconstitutionally voided a 1905 agreement between Congress and Wyoming revising the reservation's boundaries. This, in effect, transferred 1 million acres of Wyoming to the tribes, including Riverton.

The EPA, an agency charged with protecting the environment, decided, as President Obama has, it could rewrite the law. The EPA ruled that a 1905 federal law opening part of the Wind River reservation to settlement by non-Indians didn't end the land's reservation status.

15 Reasons Your Food Bill is Set to Soar

Guest post by Michael Snyder

Did you know that the U.S. state that produces the most vegetables is going through the worst drought it has ever experienced and that the size of the total U.S. cattle herd is now the smallest that it has been since 1951? Just the other day, a CBS News article boldly declared that "food prices soar as incomes stand still", but the truth is that this is only just the beginning. If the drought that has been devastating farmers and ranchers out west continues, we are going to see prices for meat, fruits and vegetables soar into the stratosphere. Already, the federal government has declared portions of 11 states to be "disaster areas", and California farmers are going to leave half a million acres sitting idle this year because of the extremely dry conditions. Sadly, experts are telling us that things are probably going to get worse before they get better (if they ever do). As you will read about below, one expert recently told National Geographic that throughout history it has been quite common for that region of North America to experience severe droughts that last for decades. In fact, one drought actually lasted for about 200 years. So there is the possibility that the drought that has begun in the state of California may not end during your entire lifetime.

This drought has gotten so bad that it is starting to get national attention. Barack Obama visited the Fresno region on Friday, and he declared that "this is going to be a very challenging situation this year, and frankly, the trend lines are such where it's going to be a challenging situation for some time to come."

According to NBC News, businesses across the region are shutting down, large numbers of workers are leaving to search for other work, and things are already so bad that it "calls to mind the Dust Bowl of the 1930s"...

In the state's Central Valley — where nearly 40 percent of all jobs are tied to agriculture production and related processing — the pain has already trickled down. Businesses across a wide swath of the region have shuttered, casting countless workers adrift in a downturn that calls to mind the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

If you will recall, there have been warnings that Dust Bowl conditions were going to return to the western half of the country for quite some time.

Now the mainstream media is finally starting to catch up.

And of course these extremely dry conditions are going to severely affect food prices. The following are 15 reasons why your food bill is going to start soaring...

NOT CREEPY AT ALL: Obama FCC Placing Government Monitors in Newsrooms to Police Media

Guest post by Matthew Clark

The Obama Administration’s Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is poised to place government monitors in newsrooms across the country in an absurdly draconian attempt to intimidate and control the media.

Before you dismiss this assertion as utterly preposterous (we all know how that turned out when the Tea Party complained that it was being targeted by the IRS), this bombshell of an accusation comes from an actual FCC Commissioner.

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai reveals a brand new Obama Administration program that he fears could be used in “pressuring media organizations into covering certain stories.”

As Commissioner Pai explains in the Wall Street Journal:

Last May the FCC proposed an initiative to thrust the federal government into newsrooms across the country. With its “Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs,” or CIN, the agency plans to send researchers to grill reporters, editors and station owners about how they decide which stories to run. A field test in Columbia, S.C., is scheduled to begin this spring.

The purpose of the CIN, according to the FCC, is to ferret out information from television and radio broadcasters about “the process by which stories are selected” and how often stations cover “critical information needs,” along with “perceived station bias” and “perceived responsiveness to underserved populations.”

In fact, the FCC is now expanding the bounds of regulatory powers to include newspapers, which it has absolutely no authority over, in its new government monitoring program.

The FCC has apparently already selected eight categories of “critical information” “that it believes local newscasters should cover.”

That’s right, the Obama Administration has developed a formula of what it believes the free press should cover, and it is going to send government monitors into newsrooms across America to stand over the shoulders of the press as they make editorial decisions.

This poses a monumental danger to constitutionally protected free speech and freedom of the press.

NRSC Caught Red-handed Fundraising for a Candidate Who Has Donated Thousands to... Democrats

Once again, the Republican Establishment™ -- which we are told doesn't exist -- has been caught meddling in the primary process and, more specifically, undermining conservatives.

The deputy finance director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) helped raise money for a candidate in a contested Alabama GOP congressional primary in what some Republicans are calling a major breach of protocol.

In November and December, Alabama 6th congressional district candidate Will Brooke paid NRSC staffer Brittney Ingalls Godoy thousands of dollars to fundraise for him...

"I've been staff or a consultant for every Republican Hill committee and never in all my years have I seen special dispensation made for a titled aide to engage in primaries," said a GOP operative watching the race...

Brooke is one of seven candidates vying to replace Bachus, who is the only elected official that the late Andrew Breitbart ever called for to resign.

Basically, the NRSC's deputy finance director helped raise money for a GOP primary candidate - and got paid by his campaign - in Alabama.

Worse still, the candidate she's assisted has donated more than $10,000 to Democratic lawmakers.

Any wonder the NRSC has been outraised by its Democrat counterpart, the DSCC?

I would highly recommend continuing to defund the bumbling, feckless hacks in the NRSC.

The easiest way to help do so is to contribute your time or money to the Senate Conservatives Fund. And I'm not a candidate, but I approve this message.


Hat tip: BadBlue News

Larwyn's Linx: Washington’s Pack of Pretenders

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Nation

Washington’s Pack of Pretenders: Tom Blumer
Obama(S)care: Con Artists and Criminals in Charge: Michelle Malkin
Of Course He Should Be Impeached: David Catron

The Original Right-Wing Extremist: MilitiaNews
Sow the Wind: Bob Owens
An Open Letter to the Men and Women of the New York State Police: SSI

What does Missouri demonstrate on universal background checks? Nada: CPRC
New York Reacts to Remington’s Move: WeaponsMan
RADICAL JUDGES: Reid Set to Reap More ‘Nuclear’ Spoils: Roll Call

Economy

On 5th Anniversary, White House Declares Stimulus a Success: TruthRevolt
Elections Have Consequences: WyBlog
Where State Income Taxes are the Lowest in One Convenient Map: IJR

Flashback: WH Made Up Term “Lives Touched” To Inflate Stimulus Jobs: MenRec
Have an E Series Savings Bond? If So, It No Longer Pays Interest: Mish
Don't Cry for the Shareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: ZH

Scandal Central

How Hillary Clinton sicced the FBI on the White House travel office: DC
Why a national license plate database should worry every American: MassPrivateI
Public Schools Are Preparing America’s Children For Life In A Police State: Michael Snyder

Climate & Energy

Liberal Billionaire Pledges $100 Million to Bully U.S. on Global Warming: MRC
No, Mr. President, drought and climate change aren't linked: Exam
A (Not Quite) Complete List Of Things Supposedly Caused By Global Warming: WRH

Media

Obama’s Plan to Censor the News Media: Dick Morris
Rob Maness Is Right About Mitch McConnell: HayRide
Michigan’s Involvement in an Article V Convention of States – A Rebuttal to Norman Hughes: Jen Kuznicki

Brittney Cooper of Salon Magazine Ever So Close To Illegally Inciting Violence: iOTW
Politico: Clinton ducking NSA, surveillance issues: Ed Morrissey
We’re all Bozos on this Bus: MOTUS

Do 71% of Obama voters regret voting for Obama?: Hot Air
Concealing Evil: Walter Williams
PepsiCo Underwrites Gabrielle Giffords’ Civilian Disarmament Gabfest: Robert Farago

World

It's Happening Again. Communism Fails.: Ace
Exclusive: Islamist Terror Enclave Discovered in Texas: Ryan Mauro
Britain’s Fate Is Sealed Following Muslim Baby Boom: Cherson and Molschky

The Obama Doctrine: Negotiate with terrorists, trade 5 Gitmo prisoners for 1 American POW: WyBlog
Kim Jong-Un Gives The Nazis A Run For Their Money: NoisyRm
New Jersey emergency response program accommodates sharia for Muslim volunteers: Creeping

Bolton on Ukraine: Obama weak, feckless; U.S. influence slipping away and we will pay the price: Scoop
Up to Speed: What’s Going on in Ukraine?: Nina Strochlic, Daily Beast
Ukraine crisis: 25 dead after renewed Kiev assault on protesters: BBC

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Meet The Woman Behind One Of Facebook’s Most Lucrative New Businesses: BuzzFeed
Apple needs Time-Warner Cable more than does Comcast: I, Cringely
Target told to carry out security review just months before breach: Sophos

Cornucopia

Obamaholics Anonymous: The Twelve Steps: American Digest
Tongue kiss of MIA symbol by Air Force Staff Sgt. Cherish Byers: One Marine's View
Barack Obama Refects on Presidents Day: Diogenes

Image: Ukraine crisis: 25 dead after renewed Kiev assault on protesters
Sponsored by: Had Enough of Mitch McConnell? Let's Fire Him: Support Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "The failure of the stimulus was a failure of the neo-Keynesian belief that economies can be jolted into action by a wave of government spending. In fact, people are smart enough to realize that every dollar poured into the economy via government spending must eventually be taken out of the productive economy in the form of taxes. The way to jolt an economy to life and to sustain long-term growth is to create more incentives for people to work, save and invest. Let's hope Washington's next stimulus plan is aimed at reducing the tax and regulatory burden on American job creators." --WSJ

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Democrat Utopia of Illinois Sucking the Life Out of Small Business

Guest post by Scott Reeder

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Susan Clause is no quitter.

For 16 years, she and her husband, Stephen Briggs, have owned and operated a teacher supply store, Ergadoo, in Springfield.

They love their business, and it’s making money, but they are shutting it down this week.

Why? They say the state of Illinois has made it too difficult to operate.

It’s a painful decision for the couple who founded the store 16 years ago.

After all, they aren’t quitters by nature. They fought to keep the doors open when Clause was fighting leukemia and Briggs was battling prostate cancer – at the same time.

And there have been tough days when they have found themselves unloading truckloads of merchandise by themselves or wading through reams of paperwork.

But now they are facing an obstacle they just don’t want to deal with: the Illinois Department of Revenue.

Here how Clause explained it:

“Five years ago, we received a sales tax audit from the state, and they said we were doing things just fine. And then we were audited again this year. And we were told we were doing things wrong. We can’t operate if we don’t know what the rules are.”

For 10 days last month, a state auditor camped out at their store – sitting at one of those tiny little children’s tables – reviewing three months of receipts.

And that’s where the problem began.

DEMOCRAT LOGIC COMIX: Janeane Garofalo Edition

Hmmm.


Yes, they really are that dumb.

GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION SUCCESS STORY #882: Student Loan Debt Hits $1.1 Trillion, Delinquencies at Record High

Guest post by Tyler Durden

While the bulk of the quantity data contained in the Fed's quarterly Household Debt and Credit Report is known in advance courtesy of the Fed's monthly tracking of household revolving and non-revolving debt, the quality components always provide a welcome insight into the state of the US household. It is there that we find that the most disturbing trend in recent years: the encumbering of students with record amounts of loans continues. In fact, as of December 31, the total amount of non-dischargeable (for now) student loans hit a new all time high of $1.08 trillion an increase of $53 billion in the quarter. By comparison, total credit card debt as of the same period was "only" $683 billion. At this rate, total student loans will be double the size of all credit card debt within 2-3 years.

What's worse, while the 90+ day student debt delinquency rate did post a tiny decline from 11.8% to 11.5% in Q4, on a total notional basis due to the increase in outstanding balances, as of this moment the amount of heavily delinquent student loans has just hit a fresh record high of $124.3 billion, up from $121.5 billion in the prior quarter.

The UAW's 4 Huge Blunders in Trying to Unionize VW

Guest post by LaborUnionReport.com

Editor’s note: Having written about the United Auto Workers’ attempt to unionize the South since 2010, unlike much of the media’s reports thus far, the following is an analysis (with input from Volkswagen employees themselves) of how—when everything was stacked to the UAW’s favor—the union blew its chances of winning the hearts and minds of the employees in an election at an employer that favored unionization.

Having spent an estimated $5 million (or nearly $8,000 per vote) and two years’ worth of time, the United Auto Workers loss last Friday night at Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee has left UAW bosses (and its left-leaning allies in the media and academia) blaming everyone—from the Koch brothers to Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform and Tennessee Republicans—for the union’s defeat…blaming everyone but themselves.

What few, including the UAW, realize is that the union’s defeat in Chattanooga is more of a David vs. Goliath story and how Goliath (the UAW) handed David (the employees) the stones.

The fact is, the Detroit-based United Auto Workers targeted Volkswagen workers from the outside in, used a Trojan Horse to cajole Volkswagen management into entering what may be an unlawful agreement allowing the UAW to penetrate the Chattanooga plant, and got caught dealing behind workers’ backs–not once, but twice.

If UAW bosses really want to discover the reason for the union’s loss, they need look no further than their own mirror and the Volkswagen employees themselves.

Larwyn's Linx: The United States of Decline: America Unravels

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Nation

The United States of Decline: America Unravels: Deroy Murdock
Really? Stop Lying Rethuglicans: Karl Denninger
Dead Souls in the Republican Leadership: John T. Bennett

All In The Communist Family: NoisyRm
.00001 Billion Rising: Another Failed Mass Movement: Zombie
Local, Local, Local: Western Rifles

Rigidity and Arrogance Prevent Obama From Solving Problems: Mona Charen
The Biggest Donors In American Politics Give To Democrats: LoneCon
Jerrold Nadler: Stupid vs. Evil: Regular Right Guy

Rand Paul Bails on Bringing Change to Washington: Leon Wolf
Stockman Closing Gap on Cornyn in Latest TX Senate Poll: TPNN
Ken Paxton for Texas Attorney General: Erick Erickson

Economy

5 years later: How’s that Wreckovery working out for ya?: Michelle Malkin
Chase Imposes New Capital Controls on Cash Deposits: DC Clothesline
China Fooled the World (But It Cannot Last): Mish

Scandal Central

Spy Chief: We Should’ve Told You We Track Your Calls: Eli Lake
The United States of Regulation: Daley Gator
The FCC Plan To Police The Newsrooms: IBD

Climate & Energy

The Climate Change hoax, continued: Protein Wisdom
Killing Coal is a ‘Losing Proposition For The Country and For Democrats’ : Nice Deb
Al Gore’s global-warming rhetoric is put on ice: Andrea Peyser

Media

How furiously is Politico spinning this DCCC Obamacare memo?: Moe Lane
Donna Brazile: Dumber Than Ever: Caleb Howe
RUSH: Wouldn’t It Be Great If Michelle Obama Decided To Run Against Hillary?: Daily Rushbo

Dave Ramsey lays it out that ObamaCare is communism: CFP
Krauthammer: FDR had Hoover Dam, Ike the interstates, Obama stimulus gave us ruins of Solyndra plant: Scoop
Democrats’ “Rewriting” Their Congressional Oath of Office: Sentinel

The Failure of Obama’s Aristocracy of Merit: Michael Barone
NBC's Gregory and Bill Nye Team Up to Denounce Global Warming Skepticism: Kyle Drennen
My two cents on the Ellen Page thing: Here's My Thing

World

“Electing A New People in America and Britain”: Peter Brimelow
Another Galling Betrayal: Thomas Sowell
What's going on in Venezuela in a nutshell: Fausta

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Iranian hack of US Navy network was more extensive and invasive than previously reported: Verge
Snowden documents reveal that the NSA spied on WikiLeaks website visitors: Engadget
Will This Guy Be The First Person To Go From PlayStation To F1?: Jalopnik

Cornucopia

The Ears Again: Earl of Taint
Easy, Bill (NSFW): It Ain't Holy Water
Porsche Confirms They Have Asked Dealers To Stop Selling 991 GT3s: Flat Sixes

Image: Protesters And Police Clash in Bangkok Leaving At Least 3 Dead And 58 People Injured
Sponsored by: HAD ENOUGH? Help Fire Mitch McConnell -- Support Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "Well I think a tweet like that (Dan Pfeiffer tweet) would appear out of touch given that the overwhelming sentiment in the country is that this is, and in fact is the weakest recovery since the 2nd World War. The highest chronic unemployment…it’s basically a jobless recovery with millions of Americans leaving – not even looking to get a job because they are so discouraged and the recovery is so weak.

You know it isn’t as if the only alternative was this monstrous stimulus versus nothing. You could have had tax cuts and deregulation. Instead it was a gift to all kinds of democratic constituencies. And as a result, all this money is spent.

FDR at least left behind a Hoover dam. Ike left behind the interstate highway system. This thing as predicted hasn’t left a trace in the sand except the ruins of the Solyndra plant." --Charles Krauthammer

Monday, February 17, 2014

VERY, VERY BUSY: Between vacations, Obama seeks unreleased episodes of Game of Thrones and True Detective

Some days the satire writes itself.

We already knew that Pennsylvania Avenue's most famous resident is a "Homeland" fanatic, but that's not the only small screen favorite that sets his pulse racing.

The president asked HBO Chief Executive Officer Richard Plepler at last week's state dinner for French President Francois Hollande if he could score him advance copies of "True Detective" and "Game of Thrones," according to the New York Times. President Obama reportedly was hoping to catch up on the two shows over the Presidents Day Weekend.

"True Detective" has aired five of its eight episodes, but "Game of Thrones" does not premiere until April 2, so nabbing that screener would be a true feat of executive power. As the Times article goes on to note, President Obama is content agnostic. He is equally enamored of streaming video as he is of premium cable shows.

On Thursday, the president tweeted that "House of Cards" was about to start its second season and beseeched the online community, "no spoilers please."

It would seem that Obama's TV addiction takes precedence over 100 million unemployed Americans, a record 20 percent of all Americans on food stamps, millions losing their health insurance, and a lawless IRS.


Hat tip: BB

The Spirit of the Laws, Illustrated [Baron de Montesquieu]

Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689­1755), was a nobleman, a judge in a French court, and one of the most influential political thinkers. Based on his research he developed a number of political theories presented in The Spirit of the Laws (1748). The father of the United States Constitution, James Madison, once said, "the oracle who is always consulted and cited on this subject [separation of powers] is the celebrated Montesquieu.".



Related: Obama's despotic actions were predicted by Montesquieu

REASON #4,305 THE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP NEEDS TO GO: GOP elites said to be happy with IRS targeting

Wondering why Johnny Boehner refuses to name a Select Investigative Committee to get to the bottom of the unconscionable weaponization of the IRS by the Obama administration? Well, wonder no more.

The ruling class in Washington, which includes the GOP Establishment, has tacitly endorsed the unlawful targeting of conservatives by the IRS according to one veteran Democrat operative.

Pat Caddell said yesterday on Fox News that the reason Republican leadership has not pushed for a higher-level investigation of the IRS for targeting the Tea Party is because they want the IRS to go after the Tea Party. When you have 71% who want an investigation, 64% who believe it is a sign of corruption, including nearly a majority of Democrats, the reason is the establishment Republicans want the IRS to go after the Tea Party...

...They want them to go after the Tea Party because the Tea Parties are an outside threat to their power hold. I'm telling you, the lobbying-consultant class of the Republican Party and Republican leadership, who have been attacking the Tea Party and alienating them, they want the IRS to do this. That's why there hasn't been any establishment Republican pushback on the IRS. It's almost safe to say the Republican establishment might be willing to lose a couple of elections if it meant getting rid of the Tea Party; because it's clear, folks, they don't want to win any elections the Tea Party can claim any credit for...

...That is a serious charge. That is a very, very serious charge, that the Republican establishment is aligned with Obama and is okay with Obama using the IRS to investigate the Tea Party.

I hope to interview Johnny Boehner's two conservative primary opponents soon and will shortly thereafter make an endorsement to quickly galvanize national support behind a single challenger.

Find the date of your primary here and join with me in a massive march to the polls to unseat the cowardly, feckless, progressive GOP elites. Let them try to get a job in the private sector like the rest of us.


Larwyn's Linx: Common Core Is Rewriting American History Like a Tin Pot Dictatorship

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Nation

Common Core Is Rewriting History Like a Tin Pot Dictatorship: Sara Noble
Healthcare.gov shut down on National Youth Enrollment Day: BPR
Democrat Likens Obamacare to ‘National Security Attack’: Ed Driscoll

DHS Obeys ACLU’s Order To Stop Arresting Illegal Aliens: WZ
Deportation Statistics: Separating Fact from Fiction: RWN
Archbishop Warns of 'Likely Civil Disobedience': CNS

A Brief History of Obama’s Biggest Constitutional Flops: Damon Root
After decrying inequality, Obama golfs at billionaire's personal course: AT
US Army Builds Fake American Town to Practice War on... ?: Publius

Proposed IRS Rule Change Fractures the Left: NRO
Michelle Obama Shuts Down Aspen Airport on Busy Weekend: MagNote
I drive a Cadillac. Doesn't everybody?: American Digest

Economy

UAW May Have Spent Nearly $8,000 Per Vote At VW: LUR
Yellen: Fed Will Keep Swimming on the Bernanke Stream: PJM
Two-Week Price Inflation in Argentina hits 30%: Mish

Scandal Central

Dem Donor Added to HHS ‘Most Wanted Fugitives’ List: Lachlan Markay
Chris Wallace Challenges Dem Rep on ObamaCare Edits: Breitbart
The Tolerant Left (Caution: language warning): RWN

Climate & Energy

As Obama Whined About Drought In California, The Real Story Comes Out: RWN
Climate Consensus Con Game: AT
Marsha Blackburn Takes on 'Science Guy' on Climate Change: NewsMax

Media

Media largely ignores violent Venezuela crackdown on opposition: Laurel Conrad
National Public Radio (@NPRNews) Misrepresents Facts to Fan Racial Tension: Erick Erickson
EU, BBC go ballistic after Swiss immigration vote: Commentator

World

Venezuela: ‘The Government Is Taking Us into the Slaughterhouse’: R.S. McCain
Cuba training armed government groups attacking and killing protestors in Venezuela: Babalu
Passengers prepare to exit hijacked flight in Geneva; hijacker (possibly pilot) in custody: Twitchy

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Facebook Yields to Progressive Insanity, Offers 50+ Choices for Gender Identity: TPNN
Merkel and Hollande to Talk About Avoiding US Servers: CIO
Apple Among Tech Companies Interested in Acquiring Health Tracker Maker Basis: MacRumors

Cornucopia

Droney: Western Rifle Shooters
Warning: Avalanche Danger Remains High: MOTUS
‘Not a Dry Eye Watching This Video’: The Heartwarming Story of ‘A Boy and His Dog’ : Blaze

Image: MOTUS
Sponsored by: Vote in the Right Wing News 2016 Presidential Candidate Survey

QOTD: "[This is just another] one of those columns by Krugman, the red-meat kind that assumes everyone to his right wants to return to the pre-New Deal, pre-Fed, pre-income tax status quo. This is the kind of column meant to close minds, rather than open them. Some on right fit do fit Krugman’s characterization — just as some on the left might want to radically equalize incomes — but hardly all or even most...

The reform conservative movement seeks to strengthen the middle class, reform the safety net, and increase the rewards for low-income work. At the same, it rejects crony capitalist policies that enable vast wealth through government favor rather than innovation. Lots of interesting economic policy ideas are being generated and discussed: wage subsidies, expanded child tax credit, copyright and patent reform, a college completion agenda — just to name a few. Seems like they would make for far more interesting analysis by a Nobel laureate than something meant to confirm the existing biases of readers." ---James Pethokoukis

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Study: Obama is 5th best president in U.S. history

Papa B writes:

A Texas A&M University Study rates Obama as the “5th Best President in our history” From a total of 44 US Presidents: Obama is rated as the 5th best President ever The news release said,"...after only 5 years in office, Americans have rated President Obama the 5th best President ever." The details according to Texas A&M University:

1) Washington, Lincoln and Reagan tied for first,
2) 22 presidents tied for second,
3) 17 other presidents tied for third,
4) Jimmy Carter came in fourth, and
5) Obama came in fifth!


Johnny Boehner has two conservative primary challengers in #OH8 - Meet Eric Gurr and J.D. Winteregg

I'm trying to line up interviews with both of Boehner's primary challengers to get additional background and perspective.


You can find out more about Eric Gurr here and J.D. Winteregg here.


Larwyn's Linx: Obama's clever campaign to constrict the flow of criticism

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Nation

Obama's clever campaign to constrict the flow of criticism: Andrew Malcolm
A ‘Very Cruel’ Medicare Rule is Costing Seniors Dearly: Amac
Are Feds poised to mandate all doctors participate in Obamacare?: Marc Siegel

Obama's Terrorists Are America's Freedom Fighters: Christian Mercenary
Trey Gowdy on Nancy Pelosi: ‘Mind-Numbingly Stupid’: GWP
Is Hillary Blocking Next Generation of Democrat-Marxists?: Alex Seitz-Wald

Economy

The Obama's celebrate income inequality...: Adrienne
$205 Trillion in Unfunded Liabilities: Laissez Faire Today
Senate Hid Key Vote on Increasing Debt Limit from Public View: CNS

The GOP Should Use the Power of the Purse: Andrew C. McCarthy
1% of Households Will Pay 80% of California’s Income Taxes: Daniel Greenfield
Obamas enjoy another round of separate vacations; must be nice: BPR

Scandal Central

Most of Our Federal Budget Is Being Doled Out for Redistribution: Sara Noble
Coulter Dismantles Lawless Obama: He Is Vetoing Legislation!: Scoop
New questions: If Obama met Sebelius 18 times, why was he so unaware?: BPR

Climate & Energy

Climate scientists slam Obama science czar’s ‘pseudo-science rambling’ on global warming: DC
Califorinia Drought Is Not About ‘Climate Change’ – It’s About Failed Liberal Policy: GWP
Government’s Land Grab on Behalf of the Defunct Dusky Gopher Frog Continues On: Sara Noble

Media

Jonathan Turley: Liberals Will Come to Regret Obama's Unconstitutional Power Grabs: Ace
Forward: "Aleksey"
Judge Jeanine: Mr. President, Why Don’t You Use That Phone To Make A Local Call?: Scoop

World

Expert: Iran ships a dry run for later nuclear/EMP attack; humiliate Obama: Paul Bedard
What if the president never intended to roll back Iran’s nuclear program?: Michael Doran
How Obama Officials Cried ‘Terrorism’ to Cover Up a Paperwork Error: David Kravets

Crickets from White House as Venezuelans Risk All to Throw Out the Chavistas: Tatler
Cooling Kills: Governments Must Shift to Cold Preparation: PJM
Soros Boasts of Spending $100 Million on U.S. Immigration Reform Push: CNS (2013)

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Nike designer says self-lacing 'Back to the Future' shoes will arrive in 2015: Verge
Google cloud gets on board with HIPAA: Erin McCann
More retailers, and ballparks, take a swing at location-based data: Zach Miners, IT News

Cornucopia

Sharing Love (Editor's warning: do not eat or drink while viewing this post): Hopenchange
"The World Will Have A Generation Of Idiots...": Act Well Your Part
Disgraceful ‘who’s the baby daddy?’ assignment has parent ‘beyond fired up’: BPR

Image: Another blast of snow makes its way into northeastern US
Sponsored by: HAD ENOUGH? Help Fire Mitch McConnell -- Support Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate

QOTD: ‘The House should sharply reduce IRS funding until the agency is more responsive.” Well, I’d have omitted everything after “funding” but this was still an astute observation, offered at the conclusion of Thursday’s excellent Wall Street Journal editorial. I’m grateful to have smart guys on the team, even if slumming with us power-of-the-purse radicals may get them booted from the GOP’s “We’re only one-half of one-third” circle of submission.

The editors were exercised over the revenue agency’s latest shenanigans, which include covering up its past shenanigans — the willful targeting of conservative groups in order to frustrate their opposition to Obama-administration policies. And now, in the ultimate act of chutzpah, the IRS is attempting to codify the abuse as standard operating procedure.

While the country partied pre–Super Bowl, President Obama got in the spirit by hilariously claiming that there was really “not even a smidgen of corruption” in the IRS’s politicized harassment of his political adversaries. Now it’s true that, five years in, the president’s Most Memorable Mendacity Cup runneth over. Yet the “smidgen” may take its place alongside such faves as “If you like your health-care plan, you can keep your health-care plan”; “We’ll lower premiums by $2,500”; “Al-Qaeda has been decimated”; “the most transparent administration ever”; “shovel-ready jobs”; “You didn’t build that”; and the claim that the Benghazi massacre was triggered by “the natural protests that arose because of the outrage over the video.” --Andrew C. McCarthy

Saturday, February 15, 2014

The Wiktionary Definition of Fascism, Illustrated

Think about it.


Where exactly is the red line? Not for Syria, but for our president?


Related: Stuff Bush Didn't Do, Illustrated.

ALLEN WEST: Obama's despotic actions were predicted by Montesquieu

Guest post by Allen West


As I look back on this past week, I have to summarize it in one word: crisis.

Domestically we face a constitutional crisis with a president who doesn’t believe he must adhere to our fundamental system of governance. If you have some time, take a read through or refresh yourself on the “Spirit of the Laws” by Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu in 1748.

In that simple treatise, Montesquieu presented the idea of the separation of powers, checks and balances, and coequal branches of government. These ideas were adopted by our Founding Fathers, more specifically, James Madison, as he wrote the Constitution of the United States and the Federalist Papers – which I believe President Obama, the self-proclaimed constitutional scholar, has never read.

Montesquieu said, “When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty. The same monarch or senate would enact tyrannical laws and execute them in a tyrannical manner.”

Montesquieu believed liberty was impossible if the judicial branch was not separated from the legislative and executive powers. He believed if the judiciary were combined with legislative power, individual life and liberty would be vulnerable to arbitrary control. Even worse, if the judiciary were combined with executive powers, judges would be oppressive and violent.

In the worst case of all, the same person or body would control all three powers.

Montesquieu, a champion of individual dignity and liberty, raised his voice against the despotic rule of the Bourbon monarchy of Louis XIV who boasted, “I am the state.” Montesquieu knew well that “constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority until he is confronted with limits.”

But as Montesquieu stood up to the despotic rule of the king, who will stand up to the despotic rule of Obama?

If no one accepts this mantle and casts down the gauntlet, the constitutional crisis we face will only be exacerbated. The cancer will further metastasize.

We are in the sixth year of Obama, and I predicted if we reelected this charlatan to a second term it would be the greatest Pavlovian experiment the world has ever known. America would reward the most abhorrent of behavior — and lo and behold, “yes we did.” America is in crisis. Who will be our Montesquieu? Who will stand in the arena as our Maximus?


Hat tip: BadBlue Real-Time News

If We Continue Down Europe's Path, Our Lives Will Look Like This:

Guest post by Michael Snyder

Becoming more like Europe is not a good thing. But that is the path that we are currently on. For the most part, Europeans live in a socialist “Big Brother” system in which the government completely dominates your life from the cradle to the grave. Of course there are differences from country to country, but generally speaking the lives of most Europeans are very tightly regulated. You see, the truth is that high levels of individual liberty and freedom are considered to be “dangerous” by the European elite. They believe that if we are all allowed to just do whatever we want that it would result in utter chaos. They are convinced that life is better when those that are smarter (them) control the lives of everyone else. In essence, Europe is like a giant religious cult in many ways (minus the religion). With each passing year, the number of rules and regulations governing the daily lives of Europeans steadily grows, as does the level of control. If you try to live outside of that control, you could very well find yourself in a direct confrontation with the authorities very rapidly.

Just consider what is happening in Germany. Authorities there have stated repeatedly that they do not believe in having any “parallel societies”, and therefore everyone must participate in the system that the government has established.

That includes all children. In Germany today, almost all forms of homeschooling are illegal. In fact, one judge shockingly ruled that one set of parents could not have custody of their children because they might move them to another country and homeschool them there

A judge has issued a stunning verdict in a homeschooling case in Germany, ordering that the parents cannot have custody of their children because the family might move to another country and homeschool, posing a “concrete endangerment” to the children.

Dirk and Petra Wunderlich’s case made international headlines in August when 20 armed police arrived with a battering ram and forcibly took their four children from their home in Darmstadt, Germany, and enrolled them in public school... the children, ages 7 to 14, were taken into police custody. They were allowed to return home three weeks later when their father and mother, given no choice by the federal bureaucracy in Germany, agreed to allow their kids to attend public schools despite their objection to the social and religious instruction there.

Are you starting to see what I meant when I compared Europe to a cult?