Friday, March 14, 2014

OUTRAGE: Obama's Roman Orgy of Wealth Redistribution Funded on the Backs of America's Veterans

Guest post by Investor's Business Daily

ObamaCare: The administration plans to cut the military pensions of those who served their country while giving public employees a break by exempting their ObamaCare subsidies from sequestration.

On the heels of announcing that Army troop levels will be cut below pre-World War II levels, the Military Times has reported that the Obama administration is planning to reduce military pension costs by 10% by converting part of their retirement to 401(k)-like defined-contribution plans from defined-benefit plans.

What makes this interesting is that it affects military retirees and members of the military who are non-union and therefore can't strike or engage in collective bargaining. Public-sector union employees will retain their defined-benefit plans.

So, those who defend this country will be cut while those who feed at the public trough and whose union dues provide a ready supply of campaign cash will not.

To cut the retirement benefits of the military after these genuine heroes have fought with honor and distinction for 13 years in Iraq and Afghanistan is unconscionable. It's particularly despicable to treat American military retirees worse than other public employees.

President Obama has long defended defined-benefit plans, which, yes, do cost the government more and have pushed some cities and states toward bankruptcy. In a defense of public-sector unions and their benefits, Obama spoke forcefully to the National Governors Association at the White House on Feb. 28, 2011:

"I don't think it does anybody any good when public employees are denigrated or vilified or their rights are infringed upon."

That cost-saving measures are to be applied only to the military and not to politically favored groups and programs

O'S PARTNERS IN PEACE: Iranian Military General Swears on His Religion That They Will Annihilate Israel

When it comes to Barack Obama, there are -- best I can tell -- three possible reasons for his catastrophic track record.

Imagine a Venn diagram with three interlocking circles. One is labeled Marxism, the other is marked Hatred, and the last one is captioned Ignorance. All three circles overlap with different ratios depending upon the actual policy.

Take Obama's Middle East policy. Please. He has, in just five short years, isolated our strongest ally Israel; attempted to prop up the Nazi-aligned Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt; toppled a strongman in Libya leaving Al Qaeda in charge; permitted a U.S. ambassador and other diplomatic personnel to be slaughtered during a seven hour gunfight without lifting a finger to help; failed to pursue said terrorists despite multiple promises to do so; and attempted to interfere in Syria by drawing bogus "red lines" failing only after Congress refused to empower evil bastards of one stripe or another.

But the worst element of all of Obama's miserable foreign policies failures relate to Iran. During the Green Revolution that threatened to topple the Islamofascist Mullahs, Obama refused to speak out during the critical first week of riots and protests. Eventually the resistance movement was crushed thanks to Obama's inaction and -- seemingly -- tacit endorsement of the Mullah's actions.

Then there's Iran's nuclear program, which no credible observer believes is destined for anything except for the manufacture of atomic bombs. Instead of choking the Islamofascists through sanctions, Obama instead argued for relaxing the economic noose.

And his reward is the entirely predictable set of statements coming out of Tehran.

Iranian Deputy Commander Warns They Are Ready to Annihilate Israel


MEMRI. Org: Speaking at a conference held in Tehran, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Deputy Commander Brigadier-General Hossein Salami said: “We, here, can muster all our energies in order to annihilate the Zionist entity, more than 1,400 kilometers away. We are ready for that moment in the future.”

Following are excerpts from the speech, which aired on Al-Alam TV on March 11, 2014.

Brigadier-General Hossein Salami: Despite the geographical distance, we are attached to the hearts of the Palestinians. How is it that our slogans and goals are identical to the slogans and causes of the Palestinians? Why do we strive to become martyrs and risk our lives for the Palestinian cause?

The answer is that the religion of Islam has designated this for us – this goal, this motivation, this belief, this energy – so that we, here, can muster all our energies in order to annihilate the Zionist entity, more than 1,400 kilometers away. We are ready for that moment in the future.

These Islamonazis are Obama's "partners in peace". His negotiating partners. His pals.

Can it be any more clear what Barack Hussein Obama's true agenda is?


Hat tip: BadBlue News

Larwyn's Linx: House Passes Act Intended to Reign in Obama’s Extra-Legal, Imperial Presidency

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

Nation

House Passes Act Intended to Reign in Obama’s Imperial Presidency: MB
The President’s Grab for Dictatorial Power: Phyllis Schlafly
Obama, in His Sole Discretion: David Limbaugh

Pelosi Says Dems will ‘Absolutely Not’ Retreat from Obamacare in '14: TPNN
Rand Paul Has a Major Problem. His Name Is Ron Paul.: Tatler
The Great Debate – Article V – Arizona Leaders Offer Opening Statements: WFP

Illinois Democrat Introduces Bill to Register All Firearms: John Hawkins
Larry Sabato: Obama “is Going to have Another Bad Midterm” in 2014: FreeLight
Ted Cruz smacks down Harry Reid for attacks on Koch brothers: Scoop

A Waste - For Everyone But Obama's Donors: Carol Platt Liebau
How far we’ve come…: LI
Hot Mic: Lindsey Graham Offers His RINO Services To John Kerry: WZ

Economy

Work is Hard: Cold Fury
Money in Politics: Zuckerberg Calls Obama to Complain About NSA: Kruiser
Lobster-Eating Food Stamp Recipient Refuses Hannity's Job Help: FNI

Scandal Central

Voter Fraud Exposed if Florida, DOJ Sues to Keep it Going: Hideout
CIA Benghazi vets ‘OUTRAGED’ after learning CIA I.G. never conducted investigation: Scoop
Obama withholds thousands of documents from Senate CIA probe, despite vows of help: McClatchy

Climate & Energy

Report: U.S. Electric Grid ‘Inherently Vulnerable’ to Sabotage: WFB
The Environmentalist Eugenics of the Left: Daniel Greenfield
Dennis Miller on Barbara Boxer: 'She Is an Idiot. She Is Bat Guano Crazy': Breitbart

Media

AP, Dallas News, WashPo, etc., Lie About Ted Cruz’ Abortion Statement: MRC
Mark Levin goes on Cavuto to explain how Republicans went after David Jolly (R-FL): Scoop
Political Cartoon Sums Up Problem With Obamacare: TR

Breaking News Sourced by Social Media: Thomas Lifson
DUDE! Rep. Renee Ellmers gets into a heated debate with Laura Ingraham over immigration reform: Scoop
Why Does Ezra Klein Hate Gays?: R.S. McCain

Andrew Napolitano Punks Jon Stewart and His Panel of So-Called “Experts”: Patterico
NY Times admits Obamacare causes middle class suffering -- a year after the election: Thomas Lifson
Is This What Post-Partisanship Looks Like?: Molly Ball

World

Educating Conservatives About Modern ‘Shi’ite Quietists’: Andrew G. Boston
Putin Is Poised to Invade Central Ukraine: Sara Noble
Was missing jet HIJACKED? US officials fear it was captured and flown to mystery location: Daily Mail

Stolen F-35 Secrets Now Showing Up in China’s Stealth Fighter: WFB
$3 Billion for Ukraine to Go Straight to…Russia: Blaze
Israel Ranked Best Middle Eastern Country to Live in as a Woman: Algemeiner

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Nine unopened Dead Sea Scrolls found: Fox
Microsoft poised to fight back as iPad generation shuns Office: Reuters
U.S. Military Given Secret “Execute Order” on Cyber Operations: FAS

Cornucopia

Obamacare Art Appreciation Lesson #1: What's Art?: Cube
Obamacare: America Moves Into a New Dimension of Sound and Shadow: MOTUS
'Ban Bossy' campaign started by Hillary Clinton donor -- ahead of 2016 run: Ashe Schow

Sponsored by: Are you as sick and tired of Mitch McConnell as I am? Click here.

QOTD: "I’ve always said leftists are about not compassion or treating people with sensitivity and respect, much less equally, but control and bullying, all with an arrogant, mean-spirited air of superiority.

For Obama, there are at least two aspects to his control-freakishness. He not only pushes policies that give the federal government vastly more control over our lives but also is inordinately dictatorial in the manner in which he ramrods his agenda through, displaying utter contempt for what anyone else thinks, what he might damage with his unilateral actions and, most of all, the Constitution and the rule of law." --David Limbaugh

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Lies, Damn Lies, and the Minimum Wage Deception

Guest post by Richard Larsen

Sleight of hand and illusion have their role in the entertainment world; but when the same tactics are employed in the real world, the stakes are much greater, and the intent more dubious. David Copperfield has met his match in fabricated magic and illusionary tactics. For as any illusionist knows, in order to avoid letting the spectator see what’s really going on, you distract the spectator’s attention. And none are better at that than those leading the country today.

With the spectacular flop of the Unaffordable Care Act rollout, the moribund economy, disappointing jobs growth, dramatic widening of the income gap, higher poverty rates than the country has seen in 50 years, and an impotence with world leaders on the global scene, the Magician In Chief reached for his magician’s hat. And what did he pull out in an attempt to distract the nation from his colossal failures? A minimum wage increase! Voila! And now on cue, let us all be impressed! On second thought, let’s not be.

Let’s look at the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on who is affected by the minimum wage. According to the BLS, 3.6 million of our total civilian workforce of 155 million workers are at or below the minimum wage compensation level. That is 2.5% of all workers in the U.S. Comprising that group of minimum wage earners, 31% are teenagers, and 55% are 25 years old or younger. That means that just slightly more than 1% of the total workforce over the age of 25 is earning minimum wage.

FOURTH TURNING: The People vs. Big Brother

Guest post by Jim Quinn

“The risk of catastrophe will be very high. The nation could erupt into insurrection or civil violence, crack up geographically, or succumb to authoritarian rule. If there is a war, it is likely to be one of maximum risk and effort – in other words, a total war. Every Fourth Turning has registered an upward ratchet in the technology of destruction, and in mankind’s willingness to use it.” – Strauss & Howe - The Fourth Turning

“In the need to develop a capacity to know what potential enemies are doing, the United States government has perfected a technological capability that enables us to monitor the messages that go through the air. Now, that is necessary and important to the United States as we look abroad at enemies or potential enemies. We must know, at the same time, that capability at any time could be turned around on the American people, and no American would have any privacy left such is the capability to monitor everything—telephone conversations, telegrams, it doesn’t matter. There would be no place to hide.

If this government ever became a tyrant, if a dictator ever took charge in this country, the technological capacity that the intelligence community has given the government could enable it to impose total tyranny, and there would be no way to fight back because the most careful effort to combine together in resistance to the government, no matter how privately it was done, is within the reach of the government to know. Such is the capability of this technology.

I don’t want to see this country ever go across the bridge. I know the capacity that is there to make tyranny total in America, and we must see to it that this agency and all agencies that possess this technology operate within the law and under proper supervision so that we never cross over that abyss. That is the abyss from which there is no return.”Frank Church on Meet the Press regarding the NSA – 1975

Ever since Edward Snowden burst onto the worldwide stage in June 2013, I’ve been wondering how he fits into the fabric of this ongoing Fourth Turning. This period of Crisis that arrives like clockwork, 60 to 70 years after the end of the previous Fourth Turning (Civil War – 66 years after American Revolution, Great Depression/World War II – 64 years after Civil War, Global Financial Crisis – 62 years after World War II), arrived in September 2008 with the Federal Reserve created collapse of the global financial system. We are now five and a half years into this Fourth Turning, with its climax not likely until the late-2020’s. At this point in previous Fourth Turnings a regeneracy had unified sides in their cause and a grey champion or champions (Ben Franklin/Samuel Adams, Lincoln/Davis, FDR) had stepped forward to lead. Thus far, no one from the Prophet generation has been able to unify the nation and create a sense of common civic purpose. Societal trust continues to implode, as faith in political, financial, corporate, and religious institutions spirals downward. There is no sign of a unifying regeneracy on the horizon.

The core elements of this Fourth Turning continue to propel this Crisis: debt, civic decay, global disorder. Central bankers, politicians, and government bureaucrats have been able to fashion the illusion of recovery and return to normalcy, but their “solutions” are nothing more than smoke and mirrors exacerbating the next bloodier violent stage of this Fourth Turning. The emergencies will become increasingly dire, triggering unforeseen reactions and unintended consequences. The civic fabric of our society will be torn asunder.

CHUTZPAH EXPLOSION: Obama lectures man who earns $36,000-a-year how to balance his family budget

President Obama appeared recently on Telemundo and fielded call-in questions. A man who earned $36,000-a-year (and asked his question in Spanish -- but that for another day) had seen his health care premiums skyrocket under Obamacare. He complained that he simply couldn't afford Obamacare. Obama offered the following brilliant riposte to the caller:

If you looked at their cable bill, their telephone, their cell phone bill… it may turn out that, it’s just they haven’t prioritized health care. Because right now they're healthy.

Mark Levin's response -- from his 12 March 2014 show (MP3) -- is worth quoting in full.

So now we have Obama lecturing a man who earns $36,000 a year on balancing his budget, Mr. Producer!

Has Obama ever balanced a budget in his life?

Has Obama insisted that the era of austerity is over? Has Obama not run up the national debt trillions and trillions and trillions more?

Does Obama make choices like this for the country? Does he ever say, "You know what, we've got to control -- once and for all our debt -- and therefore, you know, it's just like a family. It's just like a budget. You look at the cable bill, you look at their cell phone bill, other things they're spending money on... and it may turn out that they haven't prioritized health care because everyone's healthy."

Does he ever say anything like that about himself? Or our spendthrift federal government? Never.

It's just so ironic coming from a man like Obama, a man who spends recklessly on vacations, because we subsidize them. A man who spends recklessly on these banquets, these concerts in the White House. Who spends recklessly on his wife's birthday and so forth. On his golf outings.

This guy who earns $36,000 a year -- he's subsidizing Obama!

A caller to the show that night had another interesting point: why the hell should anyone buy insurance until they're sick?

After all, Obamacare's big claim to fame is coverage for pre-existing conditions. Which, of course, isn't insurance, it's something else. Big government, monolithic, authoritarian, bankruptcy-inducing madness. But not insurance.


Hat tip: BadBlue News

Larwyn's Linx: Trey Gowdy’s Epic Speech May Be a Defining Moment

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

Nation

Trey Gowdy’s Epic Speech May Be a Defining Moment for America: IJR
Obama To Cut Military Pensions By 10%: Chriss Street
Obamacare and Government by Blog Post: Josh Blackman

Is Obama walking the trail blazed by Nixon?: Victor Davis Hanson
WOW: Obama denounces pols who ignore their job to campaign all the time: IBD
Immigration Doesn’t Have the Votes Yet, Ryan Says: Daniel Newhauser

Who is John Podesta?: Micah Morrison
Surgeon General Nominee Developed Gun Hatred From Cartoons: Bob Owens
Dumbest Woman in Congress Says Constitution is 400 Years Old: JWF

The Overlooked Factor in the FL-13 Victory: Daniel Horowitz
Mark Levin tells the story behind the story on David Jolly’s Florida race: Scoop
Tom Waits Has The Theme Song For Today’s Democrat Party: HayRide

Economy

Gov. Walker’s GOP Reforms Pay Off with Massive Surplus: Bryan Preston
Obama: If Obamacare’s Too Expensive, Cancel Cable, Cell Phone: TR
Obama to Force Private Business to Pay OT to Salaried Workers: Sara Noble

Follow ObamaCare Delays at Your Peril: Anthony Ciani
2 Million Fewer Americans Now Have Insurance Thanks to Obamacare: SAB
Sebelius says mandate won't be delayed: Hill

Scandal Central

Issa releases scathing report on Lerner: Hot Air
House Oversight Committee: IRS’s Lois Lerner lied to us, you know.: Moe Lane
13 Democrats Charged with Embezzling Millions from Charity: Eagle Rising

Ron Fournier: POTUS May Be In The Middle Of “Full Blown Constitutional Crisis” (Video): Nice Deb
Obama Refuses to Deport Fugitive Brothers Who Funneled $90,000 to His Campaign: JWF
Another case of vote fraud that could have been stopped with a voter ID: John R. Lott

Climate & Energy

EPA Continues Its Terror Campaign Against America's Farmers: Hot Air
"97%" study bogus, key scientists say: PopTech
FLASHBACK: Global Cooling Deniers Caught Doctoring “97%” Claim: WZ

Electricity Bill "Sticker Shock": MinorityReport
A Change of Climate: Mark Steyn
Despite Years of Propaganda, "Climate Change" Remains a Fringe Issue: Tatler

Media

Obama Visits Gap, Amazed by Credit Card Machine: TR
Right-Wing Mobs? No, A Cleaning Crew.: Erick Erickson
The NJ Firearms ID Application, Intentional Trap For The Unwary?: Dan Roberts

Blackout: Networks Ignore GOP Bellwether Victory: Matt Hadro
Kirsten Powers: Florida is a Bellwether, The Tide Is Turning On Dems: Breitbart
Low-Rated CNN Boob Chris Cuomo Exposed as Idiot by Newsbusters, Goes Nuts: JWF

My 20 Favorie Tweets For February, 2014: John Hawkins
If I Were a Liberal...: Hughey Newsome
Networks Minimize Bad News for Dems, Tout Obama Shopping at the Gap: NB

World

Obama to Cut Key Early Warning and Reconnaissance Fleet By 25 Percent: WFB
Obama's Partners in Peace Launch 60 Rockets at Israel: WFB
Slam! ‘Shut Up Your Mouth Obama’ Video from Egyptian Woman Goes Viral: TPNN

What was on Iran's terror ship?: Matzav
These images may show debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370: Aviationist
Rand Paul’s Crimea Flip Flops: RS

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

NSA's plans reportedly involve infecting millions of computers with surveillance malware: Lucian Constantin
The Price of New Car Smell: Antipattern Zoo
How the NSA Plans to Infect ‘Millions’ of Computers with Malware: FirstLook

Cornucopia

Steve Harvey on hosting Honey Boo Boo's family on Family Feud: American Digest
Miracle Workers: Hopenchange
The REAL Cost Of Obmacare: Political Jungle

Image: Trey Gowdy’s Epic Speech May Be a Defining Moment for America
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Sick of Mitch McConnell's Insults? Here's How to Fire Him!

QOTD: "While Democrat Alex Sink candidly ran on the open borders agenda by disclosing that the motivation behind amnesty is so that we can all keep our housekeepers, Jolly categorically rejected amnesty. He ran an ad proclaiming that he is “in favor stronger borders. Not amnesty.” In a tight race, you don’t waste time or money on ads that don’t have a central issue at stake... [T]he notion that we must support amnesty to remain viable is clearly laid to waste by this victory in a Florida swing district...

...Consider this: if running as a conservative on the issues, including the issue of immigration, is a pathway to victory in an Obama +4 district, imagine the results in a district Romney carried by 10, 20, or 30 points.

But don’t expect the wizards of smart within the Republican Party establishment to ever consider that the reality of the immigration issue might be in conflict with their conventional wisdom. There is too much money invested in that fallacious premise." --Daniel Horowtiz

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

SEN. FEINSTEIN (D-CA): Obama White House Ordered CIA to Spy on Congress, an Impeachable Offense

Where are those styrofoam Grecian columns when you need them?

Senate Democrats are openly accusing the White House of ordering the CIA to spy on Congress during a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation.

As Rachel Maddow so aptly put it, this is “death of the Republic stuff.” The congressional committee tasked with overseeing the executive branch and our intelligence agencies is being spied upon and their investigations “interfered” with, and it’s coming straight from the White House, according to top Senate Democrat and Intelligence Committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein...

Say, I wonder if Feinstein is funded by the Koch brothers?

The Washington Post described Feinstein's tirade, but omitted some key facets of the story.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said that the situation amounted to attempted intimidation of congressional investigators, adding: “I am not taking it lightly.”

She confirmed that an internal agency investigation of the action has been referred to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution. And she said that the CIA appears to have violated the Fourth Amendment, which bars unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as various federal laws and a presidential executive order that prevents the agency from conducting domestic searches and surveillance.

She has sought an apology and recognition that the CIA search of the committee’s computers was inappropriate, she said. “I have received neither,” she added.

MSNBC's Adam Serwer added the information the Post was unwilling to mention:

PERJURY: House Oversight Committee Says Lois Lerner Lied to Congress at least Four Times

It would appear that former IRS executive Lois Lerner could soon be held in contempt of Congress and -- as an added bonus -- charged with perjury.

[The House Oversight committee report] states that [former IRS overseer Lois] Lerner made false statements to committee staff on various occasions.

During a February 2012 briefing, Lerner told committee staff that the criteria for evaluating tax-exempt applications had not changed. According to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), however, Lerner directed in June 2011 that the criteria used to identify applications be changed.

As Moe Lane observes, Lois Lerner now faces a very serious life-decision:

PROGRESSIVE RACISM: A Guide to the Hidden Democrat Agenda

Gust post by Zombie

Progressive politics is rooted in racism. Look carefully at most social or fiscal policies advocated by progressives and you’ll see that underneath their false public rationales lie hidden racist fears and assumptions — some of which the progressives may be too embarrassed to admit even to themselves, much less to the world.

In modern politics, everyone doubts everyone else’s sincerity. Each side automatically presumes that the other side presents a false public justification for its political views. And in most cases it is wise to doubt, because most public justifications are indeed lies — sometimes unconscious lies. But surprisingly often the hypothesized alternative “true” motivation guessed at by the opposing side is itself completely incorrect. Especially when conservatives come up with theories attempting to explain what to them are mystifying progressive obsessions. What conservatives don’t (yet) know is that under the surface, most progressive positions are motivated by racist attitudes and assumptions felt by white progressives, usually against African-Americans. Progressive positions often seem inexplicable to outsiders because the proposals emanating from them usually manifest as colossal social engineering experiments, which the progressives have only devised as a distraction from the shameful racist motivations at the core.

This essay will likely be eye-opening for conservatives, and infuriating for progressives, who often don’t know their own history and never contemplated the origins of their own belief system. But it’s time to finally bring the uncomfortable truth out in the open.

Larwyn's Linx: “Drunks,” “Bullies,” “Traitors": What Mitch McConnell Calls Conservatives

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

Nation

“Drunks,” “Bullies,” “Traitors": What Mitch McConnell Calls Us: Erick Erickson
Mitch McConnell Is For, and Has Always Been For Amnesty: Jen Kuznicki
WH Official Explains Why Obamacare Sign-ups Dropped: WZ

Randolution: The People’s Choice, For Now: The Wilderness
The American Stain: Hillary Rodham Clinton: Camp o' the Saints
Ultra-Busy Obama has already seen ‘Game of Thrones’ season four: DC

The Race Democrats Can’t Afford to Lose: Roll Call (1/9/2014)
So. Alex Sink’s people are stealing David Jolly signs, bragging about it: Moe Lane
This Democrat Doubled Down On #ObamaCare, And Lost: America Rising

Wasserman Schultz Says Dem Loss in FL Shows GOP Weakness: Tatler
In Praise of the Tea Party: Dick Morris
Has Marco Rubio Been Resurrected?: Henry Gomez

Economy

Study: States That Voted for Obama Have Most Income Inequality: Breitbart
Barack Kardashian Goes Shopping At the Gap in NYC (Video): RightPundit
Black Conservatives Note Rutgers Prefers Snooki to Condoleezza Rice: CI

Scandal Central

The Lois Lerner Defense: Mark Steyn
Obama secretly waives INDIVIDUAL MANDATE for millions, tries to hide it from view: Scoop
GAO to audit Oregon’s failed ObamaCare exchange site: Hot Air

Feds Say Nonprofit Org Secretly Aided Hillary Campaign: WFB
Issa Issues Report Ripping Lois Lerner: Matt Fuller
‘Heads Should Roll!’: Lawmakers Irate Over Alleged CIA Spying: TPNN

Media

Obama’s FCC wants black conservative out of the TV business: BPR
Truck with ‘controversial’ Muslim photo of Obama gets more thumbs ups than ever: Scoop
The Sun sets on Red Maryland: Jeff Quinton

Channeling Ronald Reagan in 2016: Jonah Goldberg
Democrat Congressman Sings to Himself to Avoid Answering Obamacare Questions: Tatler
New Study: Majority of Young People Reject Gun Control: TPNN

My Family’s Misadventures with Obamacare, Continued: Michelle Malkin
Dem Moron Steals GOP Candidate’s Sign, Posts Picture Of It On The Internet: WZ
War on Women: John Stossel

World

Is Obama Covering Up The Truth About Flight 370?: WJ
Muslim Brotherhood Supporters Host Fundraiser for Virginia Democrat: IPT
Iranian Georgia Tech Student Injured Making Bombs Has Died: CI

Ukraine: On Second Thought, Maybe We Shouldn’t Have Given Up Our Nuclear Weapons: Bryan Preston
Red Line Crossed: Ukraine Gifts Crimea To Russia, Says "Will Not Intervene Militarily": ZH
North Korean Tanker Burning In Libya After Navy Opens Fire: ZH

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Inventor of the web marks its 25th anniversary by calling for net neutrality: Verge
This Drone Footage of an Erupting Volcano Is Absolutely Nuts: Gizmodo
New Jersey is the latest state to ban Tesla's direct-to-customer car sales: Engadget

Cornucopia

Hypocrisy that knows no bounds: 90 Miles
Grieving mom takes down cross after group complains; six more appear: BPR
#BanBossy: The Cow Stands Alone: MOTUS

Image: This Drone Footage of an Erupting Volcano Is Absolutely Nuts
Sponsored by: Sick of Mitch McConnell's Insults? Here's How to Fire Him!

QOTD: "The widely respected Florida political analyst Adam Smith sees big problems for Democrats in the loss of Alex Sink to Republican David Jolly in the special election to fill the House seat from Florida's 13th Congressional District. "Democrats had a better-funded, well-known nominee who ran a strong campaign against a little-known, second- or third-tier Republican who ran an often wobbly race in a district Barack Obama won twice," Smith wrote Tuesday night. "Outside Republican groups -- much more so than the under-funded Jolly campaign-- hung the Affordable Care Act and President Obama on Sink. It worked."

...the Florida contest may or may not be a bellwether. But it did lay bare the Democrats' "fix Obamacare" dilemma. By the time midterm campaigning is at full speed in September and October, Democratic candidates will probably not be able to get away with listing a couple of non-germane tweaks as their program to "fix" Obamacare. If they try, they could pay a high political price. But if they suggest fundamental changes to the law, they'll run afoul of party orthodoxy and risk losing national Democratic support. It will be just another added cost of the Affordable Care Act." --Byron York

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

GRIM MILESTONE: Global Debt Breaks $100 Trillion Mark

Not unfunded liabilities, mind you. Global current debt.

The amount of debt globally has soared more than 40 percent to $100 trillion since the first signs of the financial crisis as governments borrowed to pull their economies out of recession and companies took advantage of record low interest rates, according to the Bank for International Settlements.

The $30 trillion increase from $70 trillion between mid-2007 and mid-2013 compares with a $3.86 trillion decline in the value of equities to $53.8 trillion in the same period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The jump in debt as measured by the Basel, Switzerland-based BIS in its quarterly review is almost twice the U.S.’s gross domestic product.

That's right: the global debt accrued in the last six years alone is more than double the amount of all the goods and services produced in the United States each year.

Can you say, "will never be repaid"?

Borrowing has soared as central banks suppress benchmark interest rates to spur growth after the U.S. subprime mortgage market collapsed and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s bankruptcy sent the world into its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Yields on all types of bonds, from governments to corporates and mortgages, average about 2 percent, down from more than 4.8 percent in 2007, according to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Broad Market Index.

“Given the significant expansion in government spending in recent years, governments (including central, state and local governments) have been the largest debt issuers,” according to Branimir Gruic, an analyst, and Andreas Schrimpf, an economist at the BIS.

Now, those activities might be acceptable had governments exhausted all measures to reduce overhead, suppress regulations, and otherwise promote free market activities.

Of course, that's not what happened because -- for the most part -- Democrats, leftists and other Marxists were in control of many large economies. So they printed money and spent. Not on investments, as they claimed. No, they redistributed it on "green job" scams, union payoffs, a massive expansion of the welfare state, and payoffs to crony capitalists,

As Bloomberg -- not the bizarre wannabe tyrant, but the news service -- notes, the amount of outstanding U.S. government has nearly tripled in the last six years, from $4.5 trillion to $12 trillion.

Nothing good will come of this madness because the old truism is just that.

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

Pity the modern Democrat Party never learned common sense.


Hat tip: BadBlue News

ILLINOIS JOB CREATORS HEAD FOR THE EXITS: High Tax Rates Crushing Employment and Investment

Guest post by Scott Reeder

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – One of my favorite books is John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.”

In that epic tome, farmers from across Oklahoma load up all of their earthy goods on to Model T’s and flee the Dust Bowl for California in the midst of the Great Depression.

PACK IT UP: Illinois is among the biggest losers in out-migration due to its higher tax rates.

PACK IT UP: Illinois is among the biggest losers in out-migration due to its higher tax rates. A U-Haul rental from Chicago to Dallas costs $1,130, while the reverse trip costs $468.

It’s easy to see that great exodus along Route 66 as the face of migration from one state to another.

And to be sure that is one face of relocation.

Poor folks still load up dilapidated cars with what they own and seek out opportunity.

I saw it all the time when I was reporter in Las Vegas, families showing up with not much but their dreams and hopes of landing a well-paying job.

But that isn’t the only face of migration.

When corporate executives or well-heeled retirees move, it is done with professional movers.

You can often discern who the wealthiest of these households are by the amount of furniture and other belongings they have shipped.

The Wall Street Journal recently looked at data from Allied Van Lines concerning where wealthy households were moving to and from.

The report found that Illinois and Pennsylvania have more wealthy households leaving than arriving, and California leads the nation for the net number of wealthy households migrating away.

The New Mitch McConnell Banner Ads are Here! The New Mitch McConnell Banner Ads are Here!

To wit, "McConnell Is For, and Has Always Been For Amnesty"


I'm tired of being ignored, talked down to, and insulted.

I support Matt Bevin for Senate in Kentucky. I urge you to do the same and help put a political boot in the kiester of Mitch McConnell.

P.S., Oh, and by all means, please feel free to copy, reproduce and distribute these ads on websites, Facebook, Twitter, and sticky pads.


Larwyn's Linx: Amnesty for All, Jobs for None

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

Nation

Amnesty for All, Jobs for None: Sultan Knish
Progressive Racism: The Hidden Motive Driving Modern Politics: Zombie
Gov. Jerry Brown to Californians: Your safety means nothing to me: ProWis

Mark Levin responds to Mitch McConnell: You can’t deter us, fool!: Scoop
Jonathan Turley: Obama is Not a Dictator, But...: Ace
Anti-Gun Activists Wish Death on Children Over New Gun Law: Tony Katz

Ukraine: Proxy War Between Paul and Cruz: Ace
The Left vs. Minorities: Thomas Sowell
Who Hates Minority Children?: RWN

Colorado Senate Seat Becomes Potential Pickup for GOP: Bill Straub
Gun Owners Prepare to Seize Senate from Harry Reid: GOA
CT Launches Probe Over “Threats” Made by Off-Duty Officer: Bob Owens

Economy

Union thugs in Vancouver make implicit threats to harm managers' children: RS
How to Balance the Budget in Three, or Ten, Years: FW
Make Work Pay More: RWN

Scandal Central

Reaction Inside DOJ to Debo Adegbile Defeat: ‘Sacred Mission’ Continues: J. Christian Adams
Change Agents: The Curious Case of the "Responsible" NSA Revelations: Chris Floyd
Former Think Progress Blogger: CAP Slammed Me for Criticizing Obama's Afghan Surge: Ace

Media

Quote of the week: Steyn ups the ante on the Mann lawsuit: WUWT
Judge Jeanine answers the question: Did Obama lie to get into the White House?: Scoop
‘Best tweet ever’: Iowahawk slams Obama with revealing comparison: Twitchy

Report: Star Benghazi Reporter Attkisson Exits CBS Due to 'Liberal Bias': Breitbart
Star Investigative Reporter Sharyl Attkisson Quits CBS: Democrat Scandals Not Welcome: Erik Wemple
Adam Lanza was ‘evil’ and would have killed me ‘in a heartbeat,’ says his dad: NYDN

The Twenty Best Quotes of CPAC 2014: John Hawkins
Minneapolis City Hall declares “Hijab Day”, dhimmitude ensues: Creeping
Matthews SMEARS Sarah Palin, says she called for nuclear war with Russia: Scoop

World

What we know and what we don't about the mysterious Malaysia Airlines MH370 disappearance: Aviationist
Chilling Reality: The Islamization of the U.S. Military: Pete Parker
Passenger With Fake Passport Was Iranian: WSJ

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Is Facebook censoring conservative content?: Allen West
Military Google Glass Will Help Soldiers See Over Mountains: Mashable
FireEye $460 million offering will fuel more hiring and M&A: John E. Dunn

Cornucopia

Who Is @LenaDunham’s Uncle and Why Does He Keep Making Her Get Naked?: R.S. McCain
Technology saving lives: Toddler makes FaceTime call to save mother: John R. Lott
We’re Back! Doing in D.C. What We Would Be Doing In FL., Only Colder.: MOTUS

Image: Passenger With Fake Passport Was Iranian
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Crush This, Mitch McConnell!

QOTD: "Amnesty is a cheap date for Democrats and Republicans. For Democrats, it puts a lot of cheap votes on the table. The Democrats have been using immigrants as cheap votes before the invention of the telephone. And the Republicans justify their betrayal by convincing themselves that they can begin scoring 39 percent of the Hispanic vote in all their elections again without considering what 11 percent of 11 million will do to their margins in even the reddest red states.

Paul Ryan, who can do the math for everything else, loses his calculator when it comes to counting the impact of a population that is already a disproportionate drain on social services and enthusiastically supports big government spending...

...After a decade, illegal alien amnesty that leads to citizenship and family reunification will kill the ability of the Republican Party to win national elections. But it will also kill the ability of black men under thirty to find a job. Black unemployment is already staggeringly high and throwing in millions of new low-skilled workers will make urban centers more blighted and dangerous than they are now." --Daniel Greenfield

Monday, March 10, 2014

DEMOCRAT LOGIC COMIX: I'm So Confused

If you like your school lunch, you can keep your school lunch!


References:
Pelosi says anonymous Republican told her GOP doesn’t care about poor, hungry children in America
Michelle Obama helping to control the childhood obesity epidemic


EXPORTING GAS TO EUROPE WOULD BE A HUGE VICTORY FOR THE WEST: Which explains why Obama won't do it

Guest post by Investor's Business Daily

Geopolitics: Four central European nations have appealed to the U.S. to increase natural gas exports should Russia cut off its supply to Ukraine. We are the superpower of energy. Time to give Vladimir Putin some gas pains.

Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic sent a letter Friday to House Speaker John Boehner, with a similar letter expected to be sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, asking the U.S. to expedite approval of natural-gas export applications. These nations believe a steady gas supply is key to the region's economic and geopolitical stability.

Putin's Russia has used its energy resources as a weapon, and the current crisis in Ukraine and Crimea is no exception. Most of the pipelines taking natural gas from Russia to a dependent Europe run though Ukraine, a fact not lost on fearful Europeans as the Russian bear growls anew.

President Obama says there will be "costs" for Russia's seizure of Crimea, so it's time the administration remembered that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. This is a perfect opportunity to increase our exports, as Obama has pledged to do, and thwart in a non-military way Russia's increasingly expansionist ambitions.

"The presence of U.S. natural gas would be much welcome in Central and Eastern Europe," ambassadors from the four countries wrote to Boehner. "And congressional action to expedite (liquefied natural gas) exports to America's allies would come at a critically important time for the region."

The insane fantasies of the Marxist EPA laid low by one simple chart

But if the EPA can stop just one extra molecule of the deadly toxin known as carbon dioxide from escaping into the atmosphere, the destruction of the American economy will be worth it!

Please note, of course, that the EPA won't dare to speak out against the Earth's most egregious polluter, China.


China's level of pollution renders all of America's activities meaningless, but that won't stop the Marxist left from bankrupting America's energy producers.

There has been no global warming for 17 years and 6 months -- according to the gold standard of temperature measurement known as the RSS satellite record -- but that won't stop the Marxist left from issuing thousands of new regulations every year.

In 2012, the EPA's insane regulations were costing the American economy nearly $400 billion a year. It's far worse today.

The needless destruction of the coal industry by the Democrat Party led the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to warn of rolling blackouts within the next two years.

Let me be the first to suggest that the grid should always start energy conservation by shutting down all power to Washington, D.C.

I mean, the EPA must want the blackouts to occur, so they should be the very first to feel the pain.

TOLERANCE: Enlightened progressive hopes that "GOP children get shot in Hoosier Schools"

There's no tolerance like liberal tolerance:


And why is @Cindy_K_2004 praying for the deaths of children? Because Indiana is considering legalizing locked firearms in school parking lots.

Never mind that 18 states already allow guns on school grounds, a measure that makes those campuses infinitely safer from terrorists, mass-murderers and lunatics.

Of course, for the left, emotion always trumps history, facts, logic and reason. Which also explains the financial success stories known as Detroit and Chicago.


Hat tip: BadBlue Gun News

Larwyn's Linx: On the Beach Your Ship is Burning

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

Nation

On the Beach Your Ship is Burning: Erick Erickson
The Candyass Conundrum: House of Eratosthenes
Mexican Military Incursion Into Arizona May Point To Cartel Collusion: John Stanton

Why Rand Paul is Winning: Roger L. Simon
Boehner Wants to Wear Us Down on Amnesty: AT
McConnell waves musket, falls flat at CPAC: Joseph Gerth

Discretion: Joe Huffman
GOP guv candidate who appeared in Obama ad is Labor's choice in IL: Marathon
Stick It To The RINOs! — Support Kerry Bentivolio (MI-11)!: NoisyRm

Economy

Rahm Emanuel Screws Voters Out Of A Referendum: Michael Ciric
Big Labor: Wait, this #Obamacare thing we passed is going to hurt *us*?: Moe Lane
Global Debt Exceeds $100 Trillion as Governments Binge, BIS Says: Bloomberg

SC Wants Food Stamp Recipients to Prove They’re Looking for Jobs: RWN
College Grads Now Doing the Jobs High School Grads Used to Do: Leslie Eastman
Game Changer: It Will Be Shocking for the Average American: SHTFplan

Scandal Central

The president's power grab: LAT
'Un-American'? That's Harry Reid, the Senate's lowly smear artist: TribLive
Pat Caddell: "John Boehner has been Purposely Suppressing Anything on Benghazi": Outpost (2013)

Throwing an Issa Fit: Stephen Green
Lerner Won’t Talk Because Holder Has Obama’s Back: Bryan Preston
The IRS now an appendage of Barack Obama’s party: George Will

Climate & Energy

John Kerry Wants US Envoys To Make “Climate Change” Their Priority: Cove
Global warming dud predictions on the Great Barrier Reef: WUWT
Polar Vortex Emboldens Industry to Push Old Coal Plants: Bloomberg

Media

Unbiased Media Alert: ABC’s Jon Karl LOLs At Ted Cruz During #CPAC Interview: Scoop
Judge Jeanine: Obama’s “Contract” is “Null and Void”: Capitalism Institute
Drudge readers surprise GOP elite for prez: Drew Zahn

NSA Chief Pushes For Laws to Silence Journalists - Says Legislation Coming in Weeks: SCG
Fox’s Eric Bolling schools ‘dummy’ Jon Stewart on food stamp abuse: BPR
President, Michelle all smiles after returning from weekend getaway at $2,500-a-night resort: Daily Mai

The Schoolhouse Rock “How Does a Bill Work?” is updated for Obama’s America: Joshua Riddle
‘Deal killer’: Why some conservatives won’t support Ben Carson: BPR
The Square: Aish

World

Cheney: Obama Has No Credibility With Allies: WFB
Kim Jong-Un Orders Massacre of 33 Christians: Rick Moran
Israeli Travelers Restricted by Cruise Line: BCF

Ted Cruz draws line with Rand Paul on foreign policy: Scoop
World View: Ukraine/Russia Crisis Presents Problems for China: Breitbart
UK: School bans all pork products from menu, replaces them with halal meat: JihadWatch

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

US court disallows NSA from holding phone records beyond five years: PC World
Hackers Claim Mt. Gox Still Has Investors' Bitcoins: Gizmodo
WSJ: Americans' Phone Bills Are Going Up: Slashdot

Cornucopia

5 guys who hit on your girlfriend at CPAC in front of you: Patrick Howley
Russia's aggression prompts other nations to change names: Cube
Wake Up and Smell the Bacon!: MOTUS

Image: If All You See...
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Fire Mitch McConnell: Support Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate

QOTD: "The fights in which conservative now engage against their own Republican Party must be won. The party is dismissive of conservatives already. We all know that...

Still other conservatives have had no desire to get their hands dirty and they are angry at those of us who have dared to fight. But these conservatives — their ships are burning now too.

If conservatives do not win electoral fights against Republican incumbents in 2014, the Republicans will finally conclude the right has become a paper tiger. We are all CPAC and bluster and nothing more. The Republicans will conclude we need not have a seat at the table because we can bring nothing to the table.

...You may have not set your own ship of the conservative movement on the beach or even set it ablaze. But there it now rests in flames. You will either fight and win or be of no use to anyone anymore." --Erick Erickson