Government-Media Incest Comix

Another keeper by our year-around summer intern, @BiffSpackle:

Just a reminder: you can always read the real, uncensored news at BadBlue. 24 x 7 x 365. Unfiltered by vintage media.

Obama's 3-Part Benghazi Strategy: Lie, Lie, and Lie Again

Guest post by Investor's Business Daily

Scandal: Newly obtained emails on Benghazi show then-U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice was coached by a key White House aide to lie and ignore the facts known and reported on the ground to make the administration look good.

The fish rots from the head, as the saying goes, and no further proof is needed than a Sept. 14, 2012, email from Ben Rhodes, an assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, contained in more than 100 pages of documents released by Judicial Watch and obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request.

That email, with the subject line: "RE: PREP Call with Susan: Saturday at 4:00 p.m. ET," was sent to other key White House staffers such as then-Communications Director David Plouffe and Press Secretary Jay Carney the day before now-National Security Adviser Susan Rice made her whirlwind tour on five Sunday news show appearances to specifically and emphatically blame an Internet video for the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, in which U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other nationals were killed.

One of the goals listed in the emails was the need for Rice "to underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader failure or policy." She was also to "reinforce the President and Administration's strength and steadiness in dealing with difficult challenges." Her job was not to tell the truth, but to put lipstick on the Obama administration's Benghazi pig.

17 Facts To Show Anyone Who Believes The U.S. Economy Is Just Fine

Guest post by Michael Snyder

No, the economy is most definitely not "recovering".

Despite what you may hear from the politicians and from the mainstream media, the truth is that the U.S. economy is in far worse shape than it was prior to the last recession. In fact, we are still pretty much where we were at when the last recession finally ended.

When the financial crisis of 2008 struck, it took us down to a much lower level economically. Thankfully, things have at least stabilized at this much lower level. For example, the percentage of working age Americans that are employed has stayed remarkably flat for the past four years. We should be grateful that things have not continued to get even worse. It is almost as if someone has hit the "pause button" on the U.S. economy. But things are definitely not getting better, and there are a whole host of signs that this bubble of false stability will soon come to an end and that our economic decline will accelerate once again. The following are 17 facts to show to anyone that believes that the U.S. economy is just fine...

#1 The homeownership rate in the United States has dropped to the lowest level in 19 years.

#2 Consumer spending for durable goods has dropped by 3.23 percent since November. This is a clear sign that an economic slowdown is ahead.

#3 Major retailers are closing stores at the fastest pace that we have seen since the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

#4 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20 percent of all families in the United States do not have a single member that is employed. That means that one out of every five families in the entire country is completely unemployed.

#5 There are 1.3 million fewer jobs in the U.S. economy than when the last recession began in December 2007. Meanwhile, our population has continued to grow steadily since that time.

INTERNET SMACKDOWN O' THE DAY: Benghazi Edition

Over at The Daily Beast, investigative journalist Eli Lake has been doing yeoman's work exposing the Obama administration's scandals to otherwise clueless Newsweek readers (Lake is responsible for the Beast's inclusion on The Top 150 Conservative Websites, an admittedly controversial move on my part).

Lake's reporting on the latest Benghazi revelations is articulate, factual and damning. As any rational observer could have predicted -- and the latest emails now prove -- the White House lied to the faces of the Benghazi victims' families, lied to the American public, and lied to Congress about the nature of the attack.

Oh, and as an added bonus, President Obama and Hillary Clinton tossed an innocent filmmaker in the clink to reinforce their cover story.

No matter. The point of this particular post -- I'm rambling, I know -- is the commentary following Lake's revelations. An ever-dwindling number of Obama defenders, drones, sycophants, and other miscreants are still attempting to defend the indefensible.

Like this schmuck, who goes by the handle "Leftcoastnative" (a liberal in California? Who knew?):

Here's what republicans would have said if the Benghazi attack had happened on a republican president's watch, and if the Secretary of State's name hadn't been "Clinton."

(crickets.........crickets..........crickets........ crickets.........)

Somewhere deep in the recesses of congressional republicans' digital trash cans, are the deleted e-mails that said: "Whatever you do, don't mention the fact that we cut the State Department's security budget by half a billion dollars in the two yeas before Benghazi, and be sure we keep calling it a consulate even though we all know it was a CIA station."

"And just for the heck of it, let's not mention that Stevens was our point man with the Libyan rebels before he was Ambassador. It might muddy the water. Oh.....if someone asks what the heck the ambassador was doing at a lightly defended CIA station in Benghazi on the anniversary of 9/11 instead of tucked away safe and sound at the embassy in Tripoli, just pivot to the IRS or Fast and Furious."

Regarding the State Department's security budget, that tired canard -- first marketed by the dumbest Vice President in American history -- was long ago refuted by the State Department itself:

In testimony Wednesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Charlene Lamb, a deputy assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, was asked, “Was there any budget consideration and lack of budget which led you not to increase the number of people in the security force there?”

Lamb responded, “No, sir.”

Recall that Lamb is the person who denied requests from the top diplomatic security officer in Libya to retain a 16-man team of military personnel who had been protecting diplomats.

But the funniest smackdown of Leftcoastnative's central contention was proferred by "F_this_State":

@Leftcoastnative: I think it's amazing that so many liberals know what would happen in this imaginary alternate universe where a republican got elected instead of obama. You should all really go find a scientist, tell them you can see into alternate realities, and then prove that you can. You'd win a nobel prize for sure, and advance humanity into a new golden age.

It's just amazing that so many people have access to all the multiple universes and never told anyone. The physics community is going to be ecstatic.

And as it pertains to Benghazi, my primary question remains unanswered.

The same Leftist twits who reveled in George W. Bush reading My Pet Goat for seven minutes during the 9/11 attacks (as it turns out, at Secret Service request to prepare for a safe evacuation route to Air Force One) haven't once asked what Barack Obama did for 12 hours after being notified his Ambassador was about to be kidnapped or murdered.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Larwyn's Linx: The White House’s Calculated Lie On The Benghazi Fiasco

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

Nation

The White House’s Calculated Lie On The Benghazi Fiasco: RS
Kerry Echoes His Boss: Andrew C. McCarthy
Administration Accused Of Slow Walking Congress On Benghazi: Eli Lake

The Ten Commandments Of Liberalism: John Hawkins
Paradox Of Liberalism: A twisted ideology: BuzzPo
Anti-Government Protester, On Camera, Threatens FIGHT TO THE DEATH: TR

A Passionate Amnesty Advocate: Rep Renee Ellmers (R-NC): John Bennett
FBI: Illinois Democrat Bragged About Molesting 6-Year-Old Girl: R.S. McCain
NJ Democrat on Tape: Fears Her Town May Become “F—ing N—–town”: JWF

Economy

U.S. Federal Regulatory Costs Are The World's 10th Largest Economy: IBD
Sebelius Proposes Medicaid Cuts in States That Expanded Medicaid: HayRide
Taxman auctions widow's home over $6 bill: Rick Moran

Minimum wage for 300 White House interns: $0.00 per hour: PJM
Teachers Union Boss Randi Weingarten: My Salary's Only $360K: MediaTrack
McWages for the McAmerica job recovery: My Budget 360

Scandal Central

Benghazi Emails Show Blaming Video Was Effort to Protect, Re-Elect Obama: Tatler
Benghazi Documents Point to White House Ordering Misleading Talking Points: JW
Sharyl Attkisson finds the ‘smoking gun’ in latest Benghazi document dump: Twitchy

Benghazi Documents Point to White House on Misleading Talking Points : FW
Senator: E-mails show how Benghazi story shaped: USA Today
Benghazi scandal tied to White House: WaPo

Climate & Energy

EPA Delayed Climate Change Regulation Until After Midterms: DC
EPA Vows To Go After Republicans Who Dare Question Agency’s Science: DC
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy: ‘Pollution Is Holding Back Millions of African Americans’: GWP

Media

The Right Believes We’re All ‘Just a Blogger’: Rusty Weiss
A Typical ObamaCare Nightmare: R.S. McCain
Krauthammer on Benghazi emails: We now have the smoking document: Scoop

Poll: Obama Approval at Lowest Ever: WS
“Morning Joe” – New Poll Indicates Barack Obama may be “Politically Toxic”: FreeLight
Washington Post Shocked — Shocked! — to Learn Failed President Is Unpopular: R.S. McCain

The Media Finally Notices The Decades-Long Drop In Violent Crime: Ace
FAIL: Violence Policy Center Is Caught Fabricating Anti-Gun Data. Again. Still.: Bob Owens
Juan Williams’s Wife Wishes She Had a Gun: MB

World

John Kerry’s Jewish best friends: Caroline Glick
Bipartisan outrage explodes on John Kerry for ‘apartheid’ comments; Ted Cruz calls for resignation: BPR
Say What? Top 10 Controversial Kerry Comments on Israel: Algemeiner

Kerry Blurts Out More Top Secret Info: U.S. Taped Moscow’s Calls to Its Ukraine Spies: Daily Beast
Video: Annoyed Obama pretty sick and tired of people calling his foreign policy weak: Hot Air
Thank You John Kerry! PLO Negotiator Blames Failure of Talks on "Apartheid Regime": Lid

Obama’s Transportation Secretary Defends Muslim Airline’s Ban On Israeli Jews: RWN
Mark Levin: "John Kerry Is An Anti-Semite": RCP
US judge: our digital search warrants apply ANYWHERE: Richard Chirgwin, The Register

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Avram Miller says Steve Jobs has one more Apple intro: Cringely
Windows Phone: Just as well Microsoft bought an Android maker, RIGHT?: Register
iWatch Reportedly Entering Production in Small Quantities Ahead of Fall 2014 Launch: MacRumors

Cornucopia

Obama’s Top Secret Social Media Defense Plan Revealed!: Sooper Mexican
Papers, Please: American Digest
“America” Trailer Shows How Much Some Prominent Americans Hate The USA: Federalist Papers

Image: Chicago, Chicago, That Obama Toddlin' Town
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Fire John "Amnesty" Boehner Now -- Support J.D. Winteregg!

QOTD: "[We now] know that there had been a specific warning regarding the embassy in Cairo, Egypt the day before both it and the facility in Benghazi were assaulted. That warning destroys any notion that a YouTube movie motivated either attack, as Cairo preceded Benghazi, and the motivations for the attack in Cairo were clear. It was not about a movie. The terrorists who attacked the embassy in Cairo wanted to force the U.S. to release the blind sheikh who masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center attack. What did the terrorists who attacked Benghazi shortly thereafter want? Why did they attack that facility, and did they know that the U.S. ambassador was there? Where was Barack Obama while Ben Rhodes was directing a cover-up? Why was the military not allowed to respond?" --Bryan Preston

Krauthammer on the sad, amoral, and pathetic excuse for a human being known as Hillary Clinton

Dr. Krauthammer about sums it up.

I find the most scandalous element of this from purely just a human point of view, is the fact that the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, with the bodies of the dead lying in front of her and with the families there, brought up the video and said a video with which we had nothing to do, and then according to one of the family members, when she went over to console that family member, she said ‘We’re going to get the guy who did the video.’

Now, that to me, if she knew that this was a phony story and I’m not sure I can understand how it would be otherwise, is a form of deception that I think is truly scandalous.

The back-story, for those who may have missed it, is here.

WHATEVER YOU DO: Please do not share this chart with the left-wing economedian Thomas Piketty

I only say that to spare random passersby from being wounded by a Piketty cranium explosion.

Wouldn't it be nice if could turn back the clock? @OkeyMor57 @Abanob_Hany @wwjdtoday4u @DrMartyFox @jjauthor pic.twitter.com/ynbhJRyNO3

— HCS (@hankishtwit) April 30, 2014

Via @hankishtwit.

HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS: Administration's Benghazi Lies Were an "Effort to Protect, Re-Elect Obama"

The cover-up is confirmed.

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that on April 18, 2014, it obtained 41 new Benghazi-related State Department documents. They include a newly declassified email showing then-White House Deputy Strategic Communications Adviser Ben Rhodes and other Obama administration public relations officials attempting to orchestrate a campaign to “reinforce” President Obama and to portray the Benghazi consulate terrorist attack as being “rooted in an Internet video, and not a failure of policy.”  Other documents show that State Department officials initially described the incident as an “attack” and a possible kidnap attempt.

Cold-blooded lies invented to hide the fact that American heroes fought and died while awaiting a rescue that would never come.

Previously unreleased internal Obama administration emails show that a coordinated effort was made in the days following the Benghazi terror attacks to portray the incident as “rooted in [an] Internet video, and not [in] a broader failure or policy.”

Emails sent by senior White House adviser Ben Rhodes to other top administration officials reveal an effort to insulate President Barack Obama from the attacks that killed four Americans.

Rhodes sent this email to top White House officials such as David Plouffe and Jay Carney just a day before National Security Adviser Susan Rice made her infamous Sunday news show appearances to discuss the attack.

The “goal,” according to these emails, was “to underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader failure or policy.”

Bryan Preston well summarizes the implications for the Beltway Elite.

The “goal,” therefore, was to lie convincingly enough to get the president re-elected. It takes a special coldness to tell that lie with the bodies of the dead in coffins behind you. Hillary Clinton managed that without a trace of a conscience to slow her down...

...It’s well to remember at this point who Ben Rhodes is. According to the White House, he is assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for strategic communications and speechwriting. That sounds nice, but he has no career in the military or intelligence. Rhodes is a career partisan Democrat and Obama loyalist who was put on the National Security Council because he is a loyalist to the man. Not the nation. Or the facts on the ground in Libya or anywhere else. Rhodes’ loyalty belongs to Barack Obama.

He needs to be compelled to testify under oath about all this.

The latest revelation is, in Roger L. Simon's opinion, the lynchpin for an impeachment trial.

The levels of criminality involved in this are mind-boggling. Everyone from Ben Rhodes to Hillary Clinton to Jay Carney to Susan Rice to Mike Morell to Barack Obama and on and on must explain themselves minute-by-minute. American “liberals” and their media consorts should search their souls. People died here...

...Anyone who now considers Benghazi a “fake scandal” is a either a complete liar or a moron. This new release of emails thanks to Judicial Watch is literally a call to arms. We will now see if there is even a figment of honesty in our mainstream media and if our elected representatives are to be trusted in any way.

It is our duty as citizens to put as pressure on those representatives as possible to carry through this investigation to its natural conclusion — impeachment.

In light of this discovery, will the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, finally name a Select Committee on Benghazi?

Will Darrell "Inspector Clouseau" Issa explain why a watchdog group like Judicial Watch -- and not his unfocused and possibly incompetent Oversight Committee -- is doing all of the heavy lifting in this investigation?

Will the media finally admit that they are co-conspirators in the cover-up?

As Preston concludes:

It was not about a movie. The terrorists who attacked the embassy in Cairo wanted to force the U.S. to release the blind sheikh who masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center attack. What did the terrorists who attacked Benghazi shortly thereafter want? Why did they attack that facility, and did they know that the U.S. ambassador was there? Where was Barack Obama while Ben Rhodes was directing a cover-up? Why was the military not allowed to respond?

I have my theories.


Hat tip: BadBlue News

RESET: The Obama administration opts for fake sanctions on Putin

Guest post by George Friedman

The United States announced new sanctions on seven Russian government officials April 28. A long-used tactic, sanctions can yield unpredictable effects or have no effect at all, depending upon how they are crafted. It is commonly assumed that sanctions are applied when a target country's actions are deemed unacceptable. The sanctioning nation presumably chooses sanctions to avoid war when war would be too costly or could result in defeat.

Sanctions' stated purpose is to induce behavioral changes in a target state by causing economic pain. To work, sanctions must therefore cause pain. But they must not be so severe that they convince the target state that war is more desirable than capitulating to the demands of the sanctioning nation.

When Sanctions Work Too Well

In July 1941, when the Japanese invaded Indo-China, the United States responded by freezing all Japanese assets. The United Kingdom and the Dutch East Indies (today's Indonesia) followed suit. The sanctions were quite effective, and Japan wound up cut off from the bulk of international trade, losing 90 percent of its imported oil. Japan had to respond, but instead of withdrawing from Indo-China, it attacked Pearl Harbor.

The Japanese example is worth considering. The United States placed Japan in a situation where its oil supplies would be depleted in months, at which point Japan would cease to be an industrial power. Tokyo could have accepted the American terms, but once it did this, it would have established a U.S. veto over Japanese decisions.

The Japanese did not trust the United States and were convinced that any capitulation to sanctions would simply lead to more U.S. demands. Tokyo understood the risks of war but calculated that these risks were lower than the risks of complying with U.S. demands (though the Japanese might well have been wrong in this calculation, and Franklin Roosevelt might well have known that Tokyo would choose war over capitulation). Faced with sanctions that would cripple the nation, Japan chose war.

Larwyn's Linx: Cruz Calls on Kerry to Resign After ‘Apartheid’ Remark

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

Nation

Cruz Calls on Kerry to Resign After ‘Apartheid’ Remark: WFB
The need for loud, swift action in response to John Kerry’s libel: Bookworm
Levin: Kerry giving aid and comfort to Jew-haters and terrorists: Scoop

Why Primaries Matter: RS
GOP honcho: You really thought we were serious about repealing Obamacare?: Ace
Poll Shows Problems for Obama, Peril for Senate Democrats : NatlJrnl

House Tea Partiers Draw Line In the Sand, Warn Boehner To Take Heed: Shark Tank
Rand Paul: Dude, it's gonna be rilly, rilly hard to repeal Obamacare: Ace
GOP, Rediscover Your Backbone: David Limbaugh

Economy

Beware The Social Tipping Point: ZH
Clinton Library's Doc Dump Reveals CRA Fueled Subprime Bubble: IBD
Politics Versus Education: Thomas Sowell

Texas `Poaches' Toyota HQ from California: PJM
NYT: Recovery Has Replaced Good Jobs With Bad Jobs: S&L
McConnell comment about bringing jobs to Kentucky roils his re-election race: Fox

Scandal Central

Boehner tea party challenger FIRED over anti-Boehner ad: DC
Trey Gowdy: IRS Scandal Leads Directly to White House: ConTrib
Lois Lerner’s Lawyer: Holding Her in Contempt Would Be ‘Un-American’: WSJ

Climate & Energy

Senators call proposed EPA rule a ‘terrifying power grab’: Renee Nal
Lead Author Of UN IPCC Report On Global Warming: Paper Rewritten For Political Reasons: WZ
There’s a New Government Regulation Every 2 Hours and 48 Minutes: Sara Noble

Media

Reporter Asks Obama A Hard Hitting Question That Leaves Him Babbling: Robert Rich
Karl Rove: Jeb Bush Is “The Biggest Thinker On Our Side”: WZ
Hysteria Builds Over Donald Sterling’s Racist Remarks: Rick Moran

Audio: Hear the racist rant by a Democrat that the MSM tried to pin on Republicans!: WFP
Desperate Leftists: Beverly Hills Liberal Donald Sterling Is 'Registered Republican' OMG!: AmPower
Another Democrat Donor Caught Up in a Racism Scandal: PJM

World

Obama ‘Honors Islam,’ visits Malaysian ‘Victory’ Mosque Built on Site of Church: Tammy Bruce
Jen Psaki's Judgement is Even Worse than You Thought: PJM
Witnesses Back Israel Activist in Dispute With J-Street Leader at Brandeis: Algemeiner

ECI to Kerry on 'Apartheid State' Comment: Step Down: WS
Kerry’s Apartheid Slur Sabotages Peace: Commentary
John Kerry’s “Apartheid” Comments “Nonsensical And Ridiculous” Says . . . Barbara Boxer?: WZ

Obama Unable To Describe What The “Obama Doctrine” Is: WZ
CAIR Targets Private Citizens in Michigan for Opposing Construction of Islamic Center: Pamela Geller
The shadowy flow of US weapons into Syria: LWJ

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

How Hackers Can Use Facebook, Google to Crash Your Website: Noreen Seebacher
Ancient hunting site may rest under Lake Huron: Phys.org
About 50 mummies discovered in Egypt's Valley of the Kings: Trib

Cornucopia

Report: Eric Holder canceled Oklahoma speech for fear of being arrested: DC Clothesline
Allegedly Harry Reid Wanted a $600,000 Bribe From Businessman?: ConTrb
Tornado caught on live television in Alabama: Breitbart

Image: Tornadoes drama unrelenting in South
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Fire John "Amnesty" Boehner Now -- Support J.D. Winteregg!

QOTD: "Rather than focusing on our clear national security interest – which is continuing to guarantee Israel’s security through our unquestionable commitment to it – Secretary Kerry has instead repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to countenance a world in which Israel is made a pariah because it will not sacrifice its security to his diplomatic initiatives.

The fact that Secretary Kerry sees nothing wrong with making a statement comparing Israel’s policy to the abhorrent apartheid policies of South Africa, and doing so on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, demonstrates a shocking lack of sensitivity to the incendiary and damaging nature of his rhetoric.

Before any further harm is done to our national security interest – and to our critical alliance with the nation of Israel – that John Kerry should offer President Obama his resignation, and the president should accept it." --Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)

EXCLUSIVE: Interview with PR Chief of University That Fired Boehner Challenger J.D. Winteregg

The primary contest between Tea Party challenger J.D. Winteregg and John Boehner has gone national with word that an entertaining video ad cost the upstart his job

The tea party activist challenging House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has lost his teaching job over a racy Web video that went viral last week.

J.D. Winteregg, who's received outside support from the Tea Party Leadership Fund in his bid for Boehner's House seat, had been an adjunct professor at Cedarville University, a small Christian college in Cedarville, Ohio, for three years. Last week, Winteregg was told his contract would not be renewed. Winteregg, 32, said in an interview that he was dismissed after his campaign released a video parody of erectile dysfunction advertisements.

"They said because of the ad that my relationship with them will be done. It's over," Winteregg said Monday. "The ad obviously touched a nerve."

I spoke with Cedarville's Executive Director of Public Relations this evening. Mark Weinstein indicated that Winteregg had taught one French class each of the last three years and that they would "likely not be renewing the class" in the future.

When I asked Weinstein whether the ad was the reason for the termination, he was evasive.

"The ad was not necessarily the cause... it could be that the class doesn't attract enough students."

In other words, he wouldn't directly say what the reason was for Winteregg's apparent dismissal. But he went on to talk about Cederville's "values".

When I noted that there was absolutely no prurient content in the ad and that it represented a simple satire of ads seen in prime time, Weinstein was noncommittal. He emailed me the statement offered other outlets:

A REVOLUTION OF CONSCIENCE: Remembering Pope John Paul II

Guest post by Investor's Business Daily

Leadership: The pontificate of John Paul II withstood the onslaught of secularism, liberation theology, totalitarianism, even an assassination attempt, and provided a moral compass to a world increasingly adrift.

It is said the late Soviet dictator Josef Stalin once dismissed the power of the papacy by asking, "The pope, how many divisions has he got?" But if any pope has shown how much influence a leader can have without an army, it has been this one.

Karol Wojtyla became a priest during the darkest days of the Nazi occupation of Poland, entering a seminary in 1942, an act that risked his very life. Like the first Christians in Rome, he was motivated by faith in a power he believed higher than any on Earth. Having lived under both Nazi and Communist tyranny, he had little tolerance for those who believed mankind could lift itself up.

He rejected "liberation theology" as an attempt to turn religion into a Marxist tool. In April 1990, he said in Prague "the claim to build a world without God has been shown to be an illusion."

In a 1983 visit to Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega's Sandinistas, accustomed to weak and corruptible Catholic leaders, attempted to turn a religious service into a Communist pep rally.

The pope, in effect, told Ortega to shut up and stop desecrating the Mass.

DISASTROUS ECONOMIC STATS RELEASED: Are Obama and Reid Still Going to Blame Bush for a Half Decade of Failure?

When even the pathetic loons at the Associated Press and Washington Post rip Obama and the Democrats for their disastrous economic policy prescriptions, you know things are bad. But more on that in a second.

Consider the latest delightful tidbits of fail:

• BLS: In 20% of American Families, No One Works: "In 20 percent of American families in 2013, according to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), not one member of the family worked...

The BLS has been tracking data on employment in families since 1995. That year, the percent of families in which no one had a job was 18.8 percent. The percentage hit an all-time high of 20.2 percent in 2011. It held steady at 20 percent in in 2012 and 2013."

• Men Who Work Full-Time Earn Less Than 40 Years Ago "The real median income of American men who work full-time, year-round peaked forty years ago in 1973, according to data published by the U.S. Census Bureau...

In 1973, median earnings for men who worked full-time, year-round were $51,670 in inflation-adjusted 2012 dollars. The median earnings of men who work full-time year-round have never been that high again."

And what are the Obama-Reid Democrats doing about this malaise?

As The Washington Post Editorial Board observes, that would be bupkis:

Mr. Obama’s budget is just the latest in a long line of plans... that fails to deliver what the country most needs. Sooner or later, change must come, and preferably before a crisis forces it on us.

Yo, nitwits: ever heard of Cloward-Piven? Crisis is what they want.

Oh, and Dave Espo from the Associated Press piles on:

Enter the [Obama] budget – and the contrast Democrats hope to set up with a Republican alternative. That would be far better, in their view, than an election that is a referendum on the slow recovery from the deepest recession in decades, Obama’s general stewardship across five years in office, the health care law and whatever else is contributing to the curdled national mood.

Curdled. I like that.

Obama and his agenda are both spoiled rotten.


Hat tips: BadBlue News and BB.

Larwyn's Linx: Cliven Bundy, the Dishonest Left, and the Welfare State

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

Nation

Cliven Bundy, the Dishonest Left, and the Welfare State: Ari Armstrong
Wrong is the New Right: Daniel Greenfield
Unhealthy Trends in Nation Beg for Conservative Leadership: Star Parker

RINOs promise amnesty by August of this year: FAM
Amnesty: Boehner’s GOP Prefers To Die For Its Donors: VDARE
Oklahoma House seeks to impeach half of the state Supreme Court: Hot Air

TX Rancher Exposes Another Outrageous Land Grab, Needs Help: Scoop
More Vote Fraud Found in Florida: John Hawkins
States Respond to Islamic Sharia Law… By Banning It: ConTrib

Blogger crashes MAIG Presser, Durham Herald-Sun covers it: NC Gun
Head of Bloomberg's Moms Demand Action uses armed security?: John Lott
Woman murdered after attending anti-violence rally in Obama's old area: Marathon

Economy

Piketty’s new gilded age which isn’t: Hot Air
Progressives Plan Huge Illinois Tax Hikes: Mish
The UAW's new reality: Detroit News

Scandal Central

‘Mystery man’ requested IRS prosecute conservatives: Garth Kant
Louisiana GOP Files Ethics Complaint Against Harry Reid: WZ
TN sheriff's deputy fired: caught on camera choking an unresisting college student: Daily Mail

Police Chief: US Heading Towards ‘Police State: Susan Duclos
L.A. Police Captain: General Surveillance Just Like Street Lights: NRO
Blood of Patriots: Christian Mercenary

Climate & Energy

Ignorance And Cronyism Are The Only Settled Sciences: Derek Hunter
At least 17 dead after tornadoes cause devastation across central states: Daily Mail
Families Sue Frackers for $120 Million: Courthouse News

Media

‘Where was all this’? ESPN analyst notices an inconsistency in Sterling reaction: Twitchy
‘It’s us against the world’: NRA introduces most intense ad yet: BPR
Will’s Take: Hillary ‘Not Formidable’: NRO

David Gregory Blames Tony Blair And George Bush For Islamic Jihad: WZ
‘YOU ARE THE PRESIDENT!’ See Obama’s latest ‘embarrassing’ selfie: Twitchy
Sarah Palin To Eric Holder In Awesome NRA Speech: ‘You Don’t Want To Go There Buddy’: Scoop

Media Matters founder David Brock: We appreciate Soros funding to pursue journalists: DC
In the End Neither Michelle O nor Batik Could Save the Ladies Home Journal: MOTUS
Dartmouth now bans white people from using the word 'fiesta': Thomas Lifson

World

Barack Obama’s administration inches toward calling Israel an apartheid state.: Moe Lane
It’s Come to This: State Dept. Nitwit Jen Psaki Now Tweeting Think Progress and Daily Kos Links: JWF
Former Russian PM Tells Washington to Hit Putin with Sanctions Where It Hurts: PJM

Putin’s Doomsday Plane circling near Finland for third day in a row: Aviationist
Russian Military Medics ordered Prepare to Serve inside Ukraine: John Galt
The Quest To Freeze "Putin's Billions": ZH

Obama: U.S. to impose new sanctions on Russia: LAT
Memphis Imam: Muslims Have Right To Kill Non-Muslims Because They Are Filth: WZ
US Plans Sanctions on Putin's Inner Circle, Russia's Third Largest Lender, and Gazprom: Mish

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Electronic Weapons: For Want Of A Satphone: StrategyPage
Microsoft discloses zero day in all versions of Internet Explorer: ZDNet
The Life-Saving Science Behind Sunscreen: Gizmodo

Cornucopia

Vatican Canonizes Two Dead White Guys, Ignores Obama: Cube
Lee Harvey Oswald Quietly Added To CIA Memorial Wall: DuffelBlog
Retired Air Force MP, 84, kicks home invader's ass: Stripes

Image: Exclusive: Kerry Warns Israel Could Become ‘An Apartheid State’
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Fire John Boehner Now -- Support J.D. Winteregg!

QOTD: "If there’s no two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict soon, Israel risks becoming “an apartheid state,” Secretary of State John Kerry told a room of influential world leaders in a closed-door meeting Friday.

Senior American officials have rarely, if ever, used the term "apartheid" in reference to Israel, and President Obama has previously rejected the idea that the word should apply to Jewish State. Kerry's use of the loaded term is already rankling Jewish leaders in America—and it could attract unwanted attention in Israel, as well.

It wasn't the only controversial comment on the Middle East that Kerry made during his remarks to the Trilateral Commission, a recording of which was obtained by The Daily Beast. Kerry also repeated his warning that a failure of Middle East peace talks could lead to a resumption of Palestinian violence against Israeli citizens." --Josh Rogin

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: Tornado Likelihood Map for 27 April, 1982 through 2011

There's some heavy weather transpiring today, my brothers and sisters, so watch your six.

Mashable offers us an aggregated view of risk based upon location, observing:

A huge swath of the central United States, stretching from Nebraska to northern Louisiana, is on high alert through Sunday night for severe thunderstorms, including the possibility of multiple strong tornadoes, large hail and damaging straight-line winds... forecasters are urging residents in affected states to stay tuned to the latest forecasts, and prepare to take tornado precautions if necessary.

The Storm Prediction Center (SPC), which is the tornado forecasting branch of the National Weather Service, has issued a string of tornado watches, with the greatest risk of long-lasting, strong tornadoes focusing on Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma, northeastern Texas and northern Louisiana...

...To put the risk level into context, there are, on average, only a handful of "High Risk" severe thunderstorm days in the U.S. each year, as this is the peak alert level on the Weather Service's scale. This is the first "High Risk" day in the U.S. in 2014. The last one was in Nov. 2013, and last one in Arkansas was in May 2011...

...While this storm outbreak comes in an unusually quiet season, it is located close to the 30-year average location for the highest tornado risk on April 27, according to data from 1982 to 2010. Some well-known tornadoes have occurred on this day, including the 2011 Tuscaloosa tornado, which was a large EF-4 long-track tornado that killed 64...

You can be sure that the Global Cooling Deniers™ will blame any storm, of any magnitude, on the fact that you're not driving a Nissan Leaf.

But, then again, they drive gas-guzzling Jaguars. Which tells you everything you need to know about the Global Warming Climate Change scam.


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News

Meet the Billionaire Pulling the Democrats' Strings on Keystone XL

Guest post by Stephen Moore

You’ve got to hand it to billionaire Tom Steyer. He tells Barack Obama and Harry Reid to jump, and they obediently reply: How high?

Mr. Steyer pulled off the policy coup of the year last week when the White House announced it would place the Keystone XL pipeline in regulatory purgatory for another six months at least. Mr. Steyer has promised $100 million to Democrats to beat back Republicans in the midterm elections this fall, and the campaign funds have already paid off in the scuttling of this $3 billion pipeline project. (Remember when Democrats were pro-infrastructure?) President Obama says we have to determine whether it is “in the national interest.”

Mr. Steyer protested this week that he is not the Democratic party’s version of the Koch brothers, who fund efforts to promote liberty and free enterprise. Mr. Steyer says that “there are real distinctions between the Koch brothers and us,” because the Kochs personally benefit from their political advocacy, while he is donating to save the planet. Never mind that he’s a major investor in solar-energy projects that compete with fossil fuels. Let’s just say that Steyer got more than just a lousy T-shirt for his political pay-to-play investment.

But Steyer, like most fanatical greens, really does have an intense hatred of this pipeline — and thus a motive that goes beyond any personal gain. To the far left, Keystone has become the symbol of the North American shale-oil-and-gas revolution that is crushing the brief and ill-fated renewable-energy fad. So anything that would efficiently transport these fossil fuels to market is evil.

For his part, Obama repeated the Big Green mantra that we shouldn’t build the pipeline if it would contribute to “carbon pollution.” By this logic, the U.S. government should shut down the existing 100,000 miles of pipeline in North America and stop all domestic fossil-fuel production.

But all of this is a sideshow to the really big question here, which is whether the GOP leaders are smart enough to capitalize on this Keystone blunder. The controversy exposes a widening fault line within the Democratic coalition that could split the party in two. It’s an intra-party blood feud between the blues and the greens: Blue-collar union Democrats (those who work in the private sector) desperately want the jobs associated with drilling, mining, and building the infrastructure to make those things happen. Many of the big unions, from the Teamsters to the welders and pipefitters, support the project and have furiously objected to Obama’s decision. The project creates 10,000 jobs that would pay between $50,000 and $100,000 a year. This isn’t minimum-wage stuff we are talking about.

Obama has made the laughable claim recently that the pipeline would lead to “only 50 permanent jobs.” So a $3 billion multistate pipeline that stretches more than 1,000 miles shouldn’t go forward, because it won’t boost employment permanently? Someone might want to explain to the president that in the private sector there is no such thing as a permanent job. (Those are to be found only in the government.)

FINALLY: A Practical Ferrari

Well, there should be nothing holding you back now.

...One of the biggest criticisms of Ferrari’s supercars is that they don’t exactly make good daily drivers. The Ferrari FF, however is one of the more accommodating models with its revolutionary lightweight all-wheel drive, four available seats, and shooting brake design that allows for greater luggage space.

...The owner of this Ferrari FF was spotted in Arlington, VA carrying around some lumber and taking advantage of the supercar’s capabilities. We would like to see it use that 651 horsepower engine to do some 0-60 mph sprints while carrying that lumber, though.

The Ferrari FF stickers for around $300,000. And this is Arlington, Virginia. You know: the Beltway, where price is no object.


Hat tip: BadBlue Car News

ATTENTION VOTER ID OPPONENTS: 44,000 Additional Bogus Voters Discovered in Virginia

Guest post by Kenric Ward

RICHMOND, Va. – A crosscheck of voter rolls in Virginia and Maryland turned up 44,000 people registered in both states, a vote-integrity group reported Wednesday.

And that’s just the beginning.

“The Virginia Voters Alliance is investigating how to identify voters who are registered and vote in Virginia but live in the states that surround us,” Alliance President Reagan George told the State Board of Elections.

George acknowledged that the number of voters who actually cast multiple ballots is relatively small. In the case of Maryland and Virginia, he revealed that 164 people voted in both states during the 2012 election.

But George said his group will expand their search for duplicate voters in the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Georgia.

“We are also determining the best way to identify non-citizens who have registered to vote and may have voted in past elections,” George said.

Larwyn's Linx: Obama’s Illegal Alien Magnet Kills Another Child

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

Nation

Obama’s Illegal Alien Magnet Kills Another Child: Brenda Walker
LaPierre: "‘Gun Rights Have Become a Metaphor for Something Larger": Ace
First 96 Doctors She Contacted Wouldn’t Accept Her Obamacare Policy: WZ

Amnesty-Bound Eric Cantor Won’t Debate Dave Brat: MagNote
Lindsey Graham Agrees to Debate GOP Primary Challengers: NewAm
Guns And Abortion: States Starting to Rebel Against Federal Control: Publius

Jeb’s Pathetic Entry into the 2016 Presidential Race: Rick Jensen
IOWA: Senate Conservatives Fund Endorses Republican Joni Ernst: WFB
Top 10 Ridiculous Quotes by Senator Mitch McConnell: Julie Borowski

Elizabeth Warren would crush Hillary, and they both know it: LI
Leading Democrats for 2016's Nomination Are Old As F**k: Ace
Biden Using Office To Burnish Cred Ahead Of Possible 2016 Run: RWN

Economy

Obama, pretending he hasn’t been President all this time: GayPatriot
North Carolina Dumps Common Core: Lady Liberty
Fruit of the Loom to close Jamestown plant, lay off all 600 workers: Kentucky

Scandal Central

Justice Department Considered Arresting Conservative Activists: ConTrib
We Need Common Sense Gun Control -Take Guns Away From Democrats: Sara Noble
Stix Vindicated! Academics, Magazine Confirm Big City Police Are “Disappearing” Crime: VDARE

Climate & Energy

One of the Biggest Fat Cats in America is the BLM: Victor Keith
Stuart Varney Rips The Fig Leaf Away From Socialists Masquerading As Environmentalists: Caleb Howe
Salon writer Paul Rosenberg on why “deniers” are winning: WUWT

Media

The Forbidden Subject: Liberty's Torch
Immigration Reform Will Destroy My Dream: John Dunne
Liberal Loon Donald Sterling Caught on Tape Screaming Ugly Racist Epithets: AmPower

Setup: the Empire strikes back: Cold Fury
CNN analyst welches on bet after Andrew Branca wins “Stand-Your-Ground” Debate: LI
Has Thomas Piketty really found "the central contradiction of capitalism"?: Garett Jones

It’s 2014: Why Aren’t You Racist Yet?: R.S. McCain
Dana Loesch Confronts One of Bloomberg’s Anti-Gun Partners: Blaze
The People Have Spoken (And They Are Wrong): WRSA

World

Barack Obama’s Foreign Policy Is Driving Us Towards War: Sara Noble
Pope Francis Declares Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII as Saints: WSJ
Obama on Human Rights: Malaysia’s ‘Got Some Work To Do, Just Like the United States’: Scoop

"F*** the EU," Revisited: Ace
Western feminists miss the big picture, author says: Sarah Oakes
The Jewish Luger: Stolen by the Nazis: Winter Soldier

Racist Murderous Pedophile Muslim Cult is Back in California: Daniel Greenfield
The Churchill Bust: Mark Steyn
China releases Japanese wartime documents: state media: Reuters

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

White House “big data” study to reveal potential for discrimination: Ars Technica
Why the Sharing Economy Is About Desperation, Not Trust: Slashdot
How To Hack Hiring: TechCrunch

Cornucopia

Shrinking #Diplomacy and Inflating #Egos: MOTUS
Firearms applications surge, swamp registration system: USA Today
Sexpo - #FitSex Is Now Trending on Instagram: Esquire

Image: Your Porn is Harder...
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Let's Fire John Boehner - Support J.D. Winteregg!

QOTD: "Forget the current polling as between Hillary and Elizabeth Warren. It pits Hillary against someone who “isn’t running.”

For all my criticisms of Warren, and they are extensive, I am convinced that if she ran, she would crush Hillary, just as Obama did.

Warren, as did Obama, has a unique ability to demagogue the core Democratic narrative of victimhood in ways that would make Hillary blush. She is more cunning than Hillary, more popular with the base, would bring an excitement the contrived Ready-for-Hillary movement could only dream of. Democrats may be “ready” for Hillary, but they don’t really want her." --William A. Jacobson

YEP, IT'S A GLOBAL EMERGENCY: Sierra Club Directors Drive Around in Gas-Guzzling Jaguars

Dammit, these liberals broke my Hypocrisy Meter again!

Members of the Sierra Club’s board of directors are driving around in gas-guzzling vehicles, despite the group’s support for the Obama administration’s increased fuel efficiency standards.

The Sierra Club strongly supported the Obama administration’s increase in minimum fuel economy standards to 54.4 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2025, but it seems the Club’s top officials don’t practice what they preach.

The Sierra Club’s 15-member board of directors own a combined 32 vehicles, less than one-fifth of which are hybrids or electric vehicles. Seven of the 32 vehicles are sports utility vehicles...

...Two of the Club’s directors buck environmental protection for riding in style, by owning luxury Jaguars which have an average fuel economy of 18 mpg — much lower than the U.S. average fuel economy of 24.8 mpg in 2013.

These people think we're stupid. They sit in their air-conditioned office buildings; they jet around the world; and they drive luxury automobiles all powered by fossil fuels.

They don't give a crap about the environment. They're Marxist low-lifes, bent on control.


Hat tips: BadBlue News and BB.

ASKED AND ANSWERED: Ezra Klein wonders 'What’s the liberal equivalent of Climate Denial?'

RedState recently spotlighted an excerpt of Ben Domenech's The Transom, which featured a stunning smackdown of the 2013 World's Dumbest Blogger, Ezra Klein.

Ezra smarmily sneers “What’s the liberal equivalent of Climate Denial?” Domenech replies with the most perfect answer in the history of answers. “I assume by ‘climate denial’ Klein means an example where the bulk of real-world data, history, and experience indicate one thing, and liberals either deny its accuracy or say we ought to ignore it in order to pursue some higher aim via the policies they support. Perhaps one or two things may come to mind,” he says.

Caleb Howe was kind enough to render an answer.

"I believe the word you are looking for", Howe notes, "is BOOM."

CBO Purposely Understating Next Decade's Social Security Deficits by... One Trillion Dollars

Financial blogger Bruce Krasting has discovered a teensy, weensy accounting discrepancy between the Congressional Budget Office and the Social Security Administration. It only amounts to a hidden trillion dollar deficit... over the next 10 years.

As Krasting asks, "What's a trillion among friends?"

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) came out with its latest baseline estimates for Social Security (SS) this week... As an ex Wall Streeter I always go to the ‘Cash Flow’ numbers first, as cash flow is what drives most companies to success or ruin. The same rules apply for SS. I was surprised at the results presented by the CBO...

...CBO’s cash flow number for 2013 is a surplus of $38 [billion]... The difference between CBO and SS on the critical cash flow numbers is $106B in just fiscal 2013. The reason for this big discrepancy is the accounting treatment for interest. CBO includes interest income as a cash item, SS does not...

...Should interest be included in the calculation of cash flow for SS? CBO says “yes”, I would agree with SS, and say “no”. Interest is paid in scrip [IOUs] – not cash... CBO and SS disagree on the most basic definition of financial health – Net Cash Flow. CBO has projections going out to 2024. This is CBO’s forecast of Net Cash Flow as compared to the accounting treatment for interest at SS:

The cummulative difference between CBO and SSA is $1.2 Trillion over the the next decade! ... Why does CBO have such a dramatically different assessment of Net Cash Flow for SS? I can’t answer that. I did contact CBO for an explanation, I never heard from them.

And you never will, Bruce. You never will.


Hat tip: BadBlue Money News.

Larwyn's Linx: Journey to the Center of the Common Core

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

Nation

Journey to the Center of the Common Core: Right Planet
These are our Leaders?: Daniel Horowitz
Yes, It’s Time for a “Convention of the States” to Stop Obama: ConTrib

Speaker Boehner Mocks Colleagues Who Don't Want Amnesty: VDARE
McRINO Says America Has Dishonored Itself By Not Passing Amnesty: WZ
Bad Penny Boehner Just Won’t Go Away: RWN

5 Lives Wrecked By Obamacare: John Hawkins
VA faked waiting lists to hide patients who died awaiting care: Allen West
Elijah Cummings to Face Ethics Probe: BuzzPo

Remember When @RaniaKhalek Played ‘Count the Jews at the Nation’?: RSM
However SCOTUS decides gun carry case, infringements will go on: Codrea
Gore Won't Rule Out 2016 Run: TR

Economy

Is Obama Lying about Obamacare Numbers?: JW
War on Poverty Won’t Be Won – Unless We Change Strategy: RWN
NYT: We Don’t Know Much About E-Cigs, So Let’s Regulate Them: RWN

Scandal Central

REPORT: Obama Directly Armed the Benghazi Terrorists: ConTrib
Benghazi Bombshell: Ex-Military and CIA Committee: Obama and Hillary Did It: BuzzPo
SEC Joins Manhattan DA to Probe Christie’s Diversion of Port Authority Funds: MainJustice

Climate & Energy

Dips*** Chris Hayes Wants to Kill About 5.7 Billion People: NRO
Hostile Bureaucratic Armies: Christian Mercenary
How Now White Cowman?: Mark Steyn

Media

Shocka: CNN ‘Chicagoland’ Producers Worked with Rahm Emanuel Aides to Make Him Look Good: JWF
Some Bundy Jiu Jitsu for the Right: DTG
Black Marine Stands By Bundy: "He's No Racist!": AWD

Watch Mark Levin’s speech at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum: Scoop
A 12 Year Old Conservative Blogger Explains: “What I Love About America”: RWN
Eric Holder Cancels Speech Ahead of Big Conservative Protest in Oklahoma City: IJR

Bundy crisis: Conservatives throw the republic under the bus: J.E. Dyer
Unedited Tape of Bundy Emerges, Sheds Light on 'Racist' Remarks: TR
Parent to Obama: Let me tell you about the Common Core test Malia and Sasha don’t have to take: WaPo

World

With Ukraine in turmoil, Hagel can’t get Russian counterpart to take his calls: Times
Pentagon: Russian Spy Ship, Tug Operating Near U.S.: WFB
US centers of Islamic activity form interesting map: Allen West

State Department launches devastating hashtag strike on Russia: John Hayward
Experts Warn More European Muslim Youth Are Radicalizing: IPT
Iran Elected to UN Commission to Protect Women After Scheduling Execution of Raped Woman: CAMERA

Europe 1939? Nope 2014: “All evil in the world originates from Jews and Zionist barbarism”: BCF
Anti-Semitism at Islamic Conference: a Wakeup Call for Europe?: Tom Wilson
Google is a ‘CIA project’ says President Putin: EuroNews

Sci-Tech (courtesy BadBlue Tech News)

Senator Ed Markey Bids to Impose Speech Codes on the Internet: MB
"Code Babes" Is Everything Wrong With Tech Culture—Plus Strippers: Gizmodo
How Mobile Shifted Are Your Customers?: Forrester

Cornucopia

Bowing to Non-American Customs and the Occasional Robot: MOTUS
New Andy Warhol computer art found on old floppy disks: Fox
Memorial Service for NewsBusters Associate Editor Noel Sheppard, 1960-2014: NB

Image: State Department launches hashtag strike on Russia
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Let's Fire John Boehner!

QOTD: "The IRS is now a weapon. A weapon to punish anyone who disagrees with them. And that means every one of you. They try to regulate our religion. They collect our cell phone and e-mail data. And they give us Benghazi, "Fast & Furious", ObamaCare, massive unemployment, a debt that will choke our grandchildren and one executive order on top of another, rather than expose government dishonesty and scandal the way they used to, the media leads whitewash it all. Move on, they tell us. There's nothing to see here. Don't worry.

One of america's greatest threats is the national news media that fails to provide a level playing field in this country for the truth." --Wayne LaPierre