Doug Ross @ Journal: February 2014

Friday, February 28, 2014

HOW EMBARRASSING FOR THE MEDIA: Sarah Palin Right Again on Foreign Policy

In 2008, Sarah Palin predicted that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be encouraged to invade Ukraine after Barack Obama's feeble response to Russia's invasion of Georgia.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin warned that if Senator Barack Obama were elected president, his "indecision" and "moral equivalence" may encourage Russia's Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine. Palin said then:

After the Russian Army invaded the nation of Georgia, Senator Obama's reaction was one of indecision and moral equivalence, the kind of response that would only encourage Russia's Putin to invade Ukraine next.

For those comments, she was mocked by the high-brow Foreign Policy magazine and its editor Blake Hounshell, who now is one of the editors of Politico magazine.

In light of recent events in Ukraine and concerns that Russia is getting its troops ready to cross the border into the neighboring nation, nobody seems to be laughing at or dismissing those comments now.

Richard Clements at The Aviationist confirms that an invasion is now underway:

Some 10 Russian Mi-24 Hind helicopters were allegedly filmed entering Ukrainian airspace over Crimea.

Amateur video uploaded on Youtube shows eleven Mil Mi-24 helicopters allegedly flying towards the military airport at Sevastopol early in the morning of Feb. 28.

According to some regional media outlets, the news of the gunships was confirmed by Ukrainian Border Guards.

And:

CNN airing new image of Russian tanks in Ukraine pic.twitter.com/vZKSpJg9Jc
— Jon Passantino (@passantino) February 28, 2014

Gee, this seems like a good time to slash the U.S. military to World War I levels.

Edward Gibbon on the Fall of Rome

Via The Missouri Torch:

In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all - pic.twitter.com/uaj0ksLm3w
— Duane Lester (@Bodhi1) February 28, 2014

Philosopher George Santayana had two observations relevant to this phenomenon of societal amnesia:

• "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

• "Only the dead have seen the end of war."

BILL OF INDICTMENT: The Democrats' Unlawful Manipulation of the IRS to Attack Conservatives

IRS-gate: On Wednesday, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission Bradley A. Smith laid out a scathing indictment of President Obama and his henchmen in Congress. In short, the IRS targeting scandal traces directly back to the White House and Barack Obama in particular.

Now consider the following events, all of which were either widely reported, publicly released by officeholders or revealed later in testimony to Congress. These are the dots the media refuse to connect:

• Jan. 27, 2010: President Obama criticizes Citizens United in his State of the Union address and asks Congress to "correct" the decision.

• Feb. 11, 2010: Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) says he will introduce legislation known as the Disclose Act to place new restrictions on some political activity by corporations and force more public disclosure of contributions to 501(c)(4) organizations. Mr. Schumer says the bill is intended to "embarrass companies" out of exercising the rights recognized in Citizens United. "The deterrent effect should not be underestimated," he said.

• Soon after, in March 2010, Mr. Obama publicly criticizes conservative 501(c)(4) organizations engaging in politics. In his Aug. 21 radio address, he warns Americans about "shadowy groups with harmless sounding names" and a "corporate takeover of our democracy."

• Sept. 28, 2010: Mr. Obama publicly accuses conservative 501(c)(4) organizations of "posing as not-for-profit, social welfare and trade groups." Max Baucus, then chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, asks the IRS to investigate 501(c)(4)s, specifically citing Americans for Job Security, an advocacy group that says its role is to "put forth a pro-growth, pro-jobs message to the American people."

An Insider's Stunning Firsthand Experience with President Obama

Editor's note: While this email was delivered 'over the transom', I have verified several aspects of the story including the the participants in the lecture series. I have redacted the full name of the original author.

Alan Simpson of Simpson-Bowles fame lays out his experience in dealing with the President

As you have heard me say before that volunteering at the Bush Center library is a "great gig". I could write about my great experiences daily; but today was one of the highlights, so far…

Southern Methodist University has a lecture series called the Tate Lecture Series which has a significant speaker every month from September to May. Last month was Charles Krauthammer and last night was Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson. Tickets to those events are like "hens teeth" and they are passed down from father to son or family to family and has a waiting list of seven years for season tickets for the general public. One of the benefits of these visits is that these folks normally visit the library (after normal hours) while in town.

Today's experience was worth a lot. Alan Simpson was the co-author of the Simpson - Bowles Commission appointed by the current president to come up with a plan and path forward to help the nation get back on a sound fiscal footing. It was to include spending limits and controls that would address existing entitlements, a change in tax codes and the abolishment of selected existing tax breaks for special interest groups. Accordingly, It called for a sound fiscal plan that would get us into reasonable balance in 10 years.

As everyone knows, Alan Simpson (R) (82) is a retired senator from Wyoming and is known for his "frank" opinions and statements and in some ways seen as eccentric in some of his views. Erskine Bowles (D) (69), who was Chief of Staff in former administrations, is a respected Democrat and was an equal partner in putting this study and report together with supposedly high respect and influence in the Democratic Party.

The intent was for the current President to use their report as a road map to fiscal responsibility. This report was issued in 2010 and as quickly dismissed by the president as a non-starter prior to the election of 2012 based on its perceived political impact on his re-election.

When I saw Simpson today in the museum, I approached him to welcome him to the museum as a team leader since that is my job for the general public. Normally, VIP's or "celebs" have Foundation escorts during these visits, but in typical Simpson fashion, he wanted to be just another visitor.

Larwyn's Linx: Harry Reid called on to apologize for saying suffering Americans are liars

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QOTD: "It [the global warming coalition] is a powerful convergence of interests among a very large number of elites, including politicians who want to make it seem as though they are saving the world, environmentalists who want to raise money and get control over very large issues like our entire energy policy, media for sensationalism, universities and professors for grants – you can’t hardly get a science grant these days without saying it has something to do with Climate Change.

It is a kind of nasty combination of extreme political ideology and a religious cult all rolled into one. And it’s take over way too much of our thought process and way too much of our priorities. There are millions of children dying every day from preventable vitamin deficiencies and diseases and we’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars on a problem that may not exist." --Patrick Moore, founder of Greenpeace

Thursday, February 27, 2014

'Ghostbusters III' Will Be Reworked Following Harold Ramis' Death

With the tragic death of Harold Ramis, Sony has been forced to regroup on Ghostbusters III:

Harold Ramis' death on Feb. 24 has left Hollywood's comedy community with a mammoth void, since the writer-director-actor touched the careers of everyone from Bill Murray to Judd Apatow to Jack Black...

His passing also has left Sony scrambling to keep Ghostbusters III on track since Ramis, who died at age 69 due to complications from autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, was to have made a cameo appearance in the film... The sequel's director, Ivan Reitman, is scheduled to meet with Sony production brass in the coming days to assess how to move forward on the project, which is in active development

The insiders are downplaying Ramis' impact on III, however:

EVERY DEMOCRAT SENATOR NEEDS TO OWN HARRY REID'S SLANDER: Accuses Millions of Americans of Lying

Every Democrat senator up for reelection this November needs to defend this Harry Reid statement during the campaign.

This is who the Democrats elected as their Senate leader. This is the person to whom they bow and scrape, acting in lockstep, never thinking for themselves, never breaking ranks, never objecting to the bizarre, insane, hateful drivel secreted from his mouth.

Harry Reid, on the Senate floor, just called millions of Americans liars.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid insulted victims of ObamaCare on Wednesday – and the three major networks didn’t seem to care...

Speaking on the Senate floor, the Nevada Democrat lashed out at those whose lives have been hurt by the law [at right]...

Those are some inflammatory remarks from Sen. Reid. Yet ABC, NBC, and CBS yawned, failing to mention them on either their Wednesday evening news broadcasts or their Thursday morning shows. ...[A] Fox and Friends segment[, however, did cover Reid's outrageous remarks]:

ELISABETH HASSELBECK: Well, certainly yesterday an outrage sort of came after, both on Twitter and on the Senate floor. Harry Reid under great fire for his statements really against Obamacare victims. We’ve been hearing from a lot of them here.

CLAYTON MORRIS: Yeah, this isn't the first time that Harry Reid has been sort of the good cop/bad cop playing bad cop for the Obama administration. He did it for Mitt Romney on the taxes thing. He would not let up on that. And it seems now answering the clarion call about all of these issues about these people who are popping up in these ObamaCare ads, these anti-ObamaCare ads. Are these real people out there? Are these real people with real problems? Well, Senator Harry Reid took to the floor yesterday and said these are all fake. Watch.

HARRY REID: There's plenty of horror stories being told. All of them are untrue. But in those tales turned out to be just that. Tales. Stories made up from whole cloth. Lies distorted by Republicans to grab headlines or make political advertisements.

BRIAN KILMEADE: So Clayton, what you just said, when he came up and brought that thing up about Mitt Romney – ‘oh, by the way, everybody knows Mitt Romney doesn't pay taxes.’ He doesn't even know Mitt Romney. How does – what does he even weigh in on elections for? Unsubstantiated claims. Again, unsubstantiated claims. All made up. Really? Listen.

SHANNON WENDT: When I called and found out ours was being canceled, from there trying to kind of work through that healthcare.gov and just running into glitch after glitch, a dozen different glitches just trying to fill out the application.

JOSIE GRACCHI: My doctors are no longer available in my network. This is delaying all of my treatment and surgery. Most people that get breast cancer don't wait this long to have a surgery.

LAUREN ROBINSON: The premiums wnt through the ceiling when the Affordable Care Act was instated January 1.

MATT ROBINSON: Coupled with not being able to afford it, they were not going to cover his physical therapy, which he needs.

KILMEADE: By the way, what about the 6.2 million people that lost their policies? Is that made up? Even the president walked back that.

I wonder what the millions of Americans who have lost their health coverage think? Not to mention the more than 100 million Americans who will lose coverage next year, as large businesses come under the same mandates as individuals did in 2014.

If you have something to say to Harry Reid, please leave it in the comments. I know one of his staffers will be reading, because I see the traffic from the U.S. Senate's network.

PRIORITIES: Obama slashes billions from defense, refuses to cut billions in fraudulent payments to illegal aliens

Guest post by Kenric Ward

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A congressional crackdown on illegal immigrants getting checks from the IRS has some cracks in it.

The proposed legislation doesn’t stop illegals from obtaining Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers and receiving more $1,000 child tax-credit checks.

Last year, those “illegal” payouts totaled more than $4.2 billion.

U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, both Texas Republicans, insist their ITIN Reform Act “will go a long way toward putting in place the necessary safeguards.”

“Instead of aiding and abetting fraud, the IRS needs to prevent fraud from happening in the first place,” the lawmakers said.

H.R. 4078 would require first-time ITIN applicants appear in person at a Taxpayer Assistance Center or diplomatic consulate. Currently, applicants can apply by mail or through a third party.

Individuals seeking an ITIN must provide original documentation establishing their identity and foreign status. The bill does not disqualify illegals, however.

New ITINs will have a five-year time limit with an option to renew. Existing ITINs get a three-year limit with a renewal option.

The Joint Committee on Taxation projects that the Johnson-Cornyn bill could net $7.6 billion in new savings. Critics say that’s a stretch.

When Congress passed the child-tax credit, it did not specify legal residency as a requirement. Lawmakers assumed that Social Security numbers — held by legal residents — would be used by tax filers.

Then ITIN use exploded, and so did the refunds.

GOOD NEWS: Some Restaurants Now Adding 'Obamacare Surcharge' Line-items to Bills

It really is good news. That is, I encourage continuing education for the lofo voter bloc:

Several restaurants in a Florida chain are asking customers to help foot the bill for Obamacare. Diners at eight Gator's Dockside casual eateries are finding a 1% Affordable Care Act surcharge on their tabs, which comes to 15 cents on a typical $15 lunch tab. Signs on the door and at tables alert diners to the fee, which is also listed separately on the bill.

..."The costs associated with ACA compliance could ultimately close our doors," the sign reads. "Instead of raising prices on our products to generate the additional revenue needed to cover the costs of ACA compliance, certain Gator's Dockside locations have implemented a 1% surcharge on all food and beverage purchases only."

The company employs a total of 500 people, with about half working full-time. Currently only management receives health benefits, but the restaurant will have to offer coverage to all full-timers once the mandate takes effect. The fee will allow the company to continue offering full-time hours to many workers, according to Sandra Clark, the group's director of operations.

"I'm just trying to keep the employees I have that I've worked hard to train," Clark said.

In addition to the costs of providing health care, the company hired one additional staffer and a consulting firm to make sure it is complying with the law and to assist in the additional tracking of workers' hours and wages required by Obamacare, said Clark... [she] is not sure how much the company is spending on compliance, but estimates that it will cost $500,000 a year to extend insurance to its full-time hourly restaurant workers. The surcharge may bring in about $160,000 a year, she hopes.

Remember: this is happening all over the country.

Why?

Because Democrats hate America.

I can prove it: no matter how disastrous their policies, from the "War on Poverty" to Obamacare, they never, ever examine the results and offer improvements. They despise capitalism, they despise free markets, and they despise America.

And the hard left radical sixties retreads that now control the Democrat Party are out to destroy the system that they grew up hating.

Hat tip: Zero Hedge

Larwyn's Linx: Goverment Power Is Economic Inequality

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Nation

Goverment Power Is Economic Inequality: Sultan Knish
Brutal: Obama vs. reality on Obamacare costs for small businesses: Guy Benson
Negatively Affected by Obamacare? Harry Reid Says You’re a Liar: TPNN

The Nice-Guy Trap: Liberty's Torch
If You Haven’t Read David Horowitz’ Latest Piece At NRO…: HayRide
Georgia House Passes Convention of States Application: COS

Is Ted Cruz Out of Control?: Cal Thomas
Tea Party PAC endorses Boehner primary challenger: Matthew Boyle
GOP Senators Out To Destroy Tea Party Funders: S&L

Economy

President Pushes another $302 Billion Shovel Ready Stimulus: Virtuous
Raise the minimum wage to $14/hr. with this one weird trick!: Ann Coulter
Hey! 23 Democratic Senators can do minimum wage math!: Moe Lane

Obama Has Deep Pockets (Yours!): Crockett Lives
Obamanomics Destroying America’s Middle Class: Richard Larsen
Does GOP have a cure for what ails US economy?: James Pethokoukis

Scandal Central

Justice Department Accused of Stymying IRS Investigation: Bill Straub
Another Round of Obamacare Train Wrecks: Jim Geraghty
Report: Convicted Terrorist Worked As ObamaCare Navigator in Chicago: FNI

125,000 Illegal Immigrants in California to Qualify for Obamacare Medicaid: Greg Campbell
Somali Muslim Migrants Protest Welfare Reform in Maine: Daniel Greenfield
Issa: Holder Seeks “Dangerous Free Pass” on Fast and Furious Documents: DC Clothesline

Climate & Energy

The other N-word, &c. : Jay Nordlinger
All This Heat Keeps Breaking Snow Records: Cove
An Open Letter to CNN’s Carol Costello on ‘Why are we still debating climate change?’: WUWT

Media

Beck's Fascinating Talk With the Google Guys: ‘Do You… Even Believe in the Constitution?’: Blaze
MSNBC’s Ronan Farrow Debuts To Weak Ratings, Receives Cronkite Award: Glob
Unapologetic, lobster-buying, food stamp surfer: BPR

Daily Beast Dreams of Abortion Clinics in Malls, High-Schools: MRC
What If America on the Right Acted Like Leftists?: Christian Mercenary
What happens when a political messiah fails?: Blogmocracy

The President Sneezes, so you have to #GetCovered: MOTUS
Rand Paul: Democrats Should Be “Embarrassed” To Be Seen With Bill Clinton: John Hawkins
This would be funny if it wasn't so crazy!: Stormin' Norman

World

Ralph Peters: Military cuts would be worse than pre-WWII levels, Army incapable of fighting major war: Scoop
Another George Soros Operative Joins The White House Staff : 90 Miles
Leftists become incandescent when reminded of the socialist roots of Nazism: Daniel Hannan

America’s quiver of outrage is empty: Victor Davis Hanson
Shapiro Crashes UCLA Divestment from Israel Hearing, Resolution Defeated 7-5: TruthRevolt
WTH? Iconic 9-11 Photo Deemed "ABUSIVE" By @Facebook: Barracuda Brigade

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Google Earth Reveals Mysterious Land Artwork in Egyptian Desert: ScienceWorld
A Telepresence RoboCop Piloted by Oculus Rift and Sensored Gloves: Jason Dorrier
Q&A: Schneier on trust, NSA spying and the end of US internet hegemony: Register

Cornucopia

“Jim Hoft Live” – Pictures & Sound From #Hoftstock 2014: GWP
Um this is kinda interesting…: Scoop
Government Ad o' the Day: Ed Morrissey

Image: Somali Muslim Migrants Protest Welfare Reform in Maine
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: FIRE JOHN BOEHNER: Support J.D. Winteregg for Congress

QOTD: "The big government left keeps playing the class warfare card, but even the worst company in the world isn't as larcenously extortionate as the worst politician. Some of the greediest and abusive companies were either created by the government or operate in close partnership with it.

HMO's were created by the government. Banks fed off Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's subsidized mortgages like vultures. Do we really need to go into insurance companies, defense contractors or Sallie Mae. AT&T is considered one of the worst companies in America, and it's also one of the biggest political donors. Is there a connection there? Only that companies close to the government don't need to worry as much about what the public thinks of them.

...American business is looking a lot like Soviet business did, full of companies with contempt for their customers, and an unctuous smile for the government. They know where the money is coming from. And in an era of cut throat price competition, and high labor and regulation costs, it's just easier for them to extract the public's money by going over their heads to the politicians. Don't feel like paying for any of it? It's no longer a free market in which individuals make economic choices, but a collective economy with government fixing prices and then turning around and taking more of your money to pay back the companies to cover the difference. That's how ObamaCare works." --Daniel Greenfield

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Marco Rubio Wipes the Senate Floor with Radical Nut Tom Harkin (D-IA) and his Love of Murderous Dictators

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL):

A few moments ago, the body was treated to a report from the senator from Iowa about his recent trip to Cuba. Sounded like he had a wonderful trip visiting, what he described as, a real paradise. He bragged about a number of things that he learned on his trip to Cuba that I’d like to address briefly. He bragged about their health care system, medical school is free, doctors are free, clinics are free, their infant mortality rate may be even lower than ours. I wonder if the senator, however, was informed, number one, that the infant mortality rate of Cuba is completely calculated on figures provided by the Cuban government. And, by the way, totalitarian communist regimes don’t have the best history of accurately reporting things. I wonder if he was informed that before Castro, Cuba, by the way, was 13th in the whole world in infant mortality. I wonder if the government officials who hosted him, informed him that in Cuba there are instances reported, including by defectors, that if a child only lives a few hours after birth, they’re not counted as a person who ever lived and therefore don’t count against the mortality rate.

I wonder if our visitors to Cuba were informed that in Cuba, any time there is any sort of problem with the child in utero they are strongly encouraged to undergo abortions, and that’s why they have an abortion rate that skyrockets, and some say, is perhaps the highest the world. I heard him also talk about these great doctors that they have in Cuba. I have no doubt they’re very talented. I’ve met a bunch of them. You know where I met them? In the United States because they defected. Because in Cuba, doctors would rather drive a taxi cab or work in a hotel than be a doctor. I wonder if they spoke to him about the outbreak of cholera that they’ve been unable to control, or about the three-tiered system of health care that exists where foreigners and government officials get health care much better than that that’s available to the general population.

I also heard him speak about baseball and I know that Cubans love baseball, since my parents were from there and I grew up in a community surrounded by it. He talked about these great baseball players that are coming from Cuba — and they are. But I wonder if they informed him — in fact, I bet you they didn’t talk about those players to him because every single one of those guys playing in the Major Leagues defected. They left Cuba to play here.

Why are will still debating whether CNN's Carol Costello is stupid?

An open letter to CNN's Carol Costello by David Hoffer

Carol, in your recent CNN opinion piece, the headline was “Why are we still debating climate change?”. The very first statement in the article that followed was “There is no debate”.

The answer to your question is actually right in your own article. I’ll get to that in a bit, please bear with me. I wanted to touch on your claim that there is no debate first. I’d like you to consider the following statement, which I provide with no intent of malice whatsoever, only as a means of making a point.

Carol Costello is stupid. There is no debate.

Now what would you think if you saw this in print, followed by a long explanation as to what is wrong with people who don’t agree, and a refusal to examine any facts related to the accusation? I imagine you’d be miffed. I imagine also that any examination of the facts would prove me wrong, I seriously doubt that such a statement would stand up to any fair debate of the matter. Which brings me to a question Carol:

If the facts supporting Climate Change are so obvious, should not debating the facts of the matter strengthen those facts? Just as you would be eager to prove that you are not, in fact, stupid, should you not be equally as eager to prove your opinion by engaging in factual debate?

While you ponder that, and keeping in mind that I did say the answer to your question is in your article and I would get to that, let’s examine the only fact upon which your argument rests, which is that there is a consensus among 97% of scientists. Well Carol, I read that study. Did you? I’m guessing not.

The Curious Case of the New Year's Day Explosion in Minneapolis and a Disinterested DOJ

Guest post by Baron Bodissey

On New Year’s Day 2014 a powerful explosion and fire occurred at 514 Cedar Avenue South in Minneapolis, in a predominantly Somali neighborhood of the city.

The building was gutted by the blaze. Two bodies were found in the rubble, and fourteen people were hospitalized, one of whom died later. Within 72 hours, the building had been pulled down into a heap of rubble by a backhoe.

Two days after the blast, before any real investigation occurred — which could never be conducted, anyway, with the potential crime scene destroyed — Greg Boosalis, the supervisory special agent with the FBI in Minneapolis, told the press that there was “no evidence of terrorist activity”.

Ever since that day I have been asking the question: How did the FBI know there was no terrorist activity without examining the scene of the explosion?

Obama to his OFA Agitators: "You're Doing God's Work"

Speaking on Tuesday to a group of Organizing For America community agitators, President Obama urged them to continue doing "God's work".

Got Messiah Complex?

You reach out to your Republican friend who can’t stand Obama, but is basically a nice person, but you know, they watch the wrong newscast... We’re going to make a big push these last few weeks. But as I said, I can talk, my team can talk here in Washington, but it’s not going to make as much of a difference as if you aren’t out there making the case. The work you’re doing is God’s work. It is hard work. You don’t have the prerogative to just go around and say no to everything. You don’t have the prerogative to just be cynical. You don’t think that the country moves forward just on its own. You understand that it happens because ordinary people come together to do some extraordinary things.

We've seen this bizarre and dangerous tale before, in countless societies throughout human history, and the story's end is always the same.