Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Slate Kook Dave Weigel Extremely Worried That the Actions of Governors Kasich, Scott and Walker Will Hurt the GOP in 2012

Some crackpot at Slate named "David Weigel" -- if that is his real name -- is concerned that the brave and necessary actions of Republican governors like Wisconsin's Scott Walker and Ohio's John Kasich will harm the GOP brand in '12.

Yes, seriously.

[Florida Governor Rick] Scott [is] pissing off too many people -- the Orlando-Tampa train he'd killed was popular -- and Democrats could win back independents in 2012, saving the state for Barack Obama.

Shhh... no one tell Weigel that the Governors' terms are only two months in and they are simply dealing with the results of Obama's failed policies.

You know, like the wonderful job the president has done with his "Stimulus" package, "Cash for Clunkers", "financial reform", the unlawful takeovers of GM and Chrysler, his "laser focus" on jobs, "Quantitative Easing", his brilliant outreach to the Muslim world, and his uncanny dedication to lowering his handicap.

Walker, Scott, and Kasich are doing exactly what they should do, and exactly what Barack Obama did in 2009. They won power; they're using the power to push through structural political and economic changes that
will be hard to reverse. They're making the same bet Obama did -- if they do this, the economy will rebound, and their political opponents will have been weakened in a way they may never recover from. If the economy does rebound in 2012, they're going to be in better shape politically. But so will Obama. In the long run, breaking down the power of public unions is going to help Republicans in Ohio and Wisconsin. In the short run, if it fires up activists and alienates independents, it puts the next GOP presidential candidate in a tougher spot.

Eh, schmuck -- you better hope for your own family's sake that these heroic GOP governors succeed and that a conservative Republican wins the presidency in 2012.

This country is bankrupt. It is teetering on the brink of economic catastrophe. And that's not me opining, that's anyone who knows what a Ponzi scheme is.

I'll take my chances with the heroic governors like Kasich and Walker who are doing the thankless job that must be done, rather than kicking the can down the road.


Hat tip: Memeorandum. Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

"I never want to hear about 'The Pet Goat' again"

Fritzworth at AoS wins the headline o' the day in a landslide: "The world is going to hell in a handbasket, and Obama tapes himself picking his NCAA bracket..."

Wow:

Dangerous levels of radiation leaking from a crippled nuclear plant forced Japan to order 140,000 people to seal themselves indoors Tuesday after an explosion and a fire dramatically escalated the crisis spawned ... by Friday’s 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that is believed to have killed more than 10,000 people, plunged millions into misery and pummeled the world’s third-largest economy.

Via Mike Allen’s newsletter, we see in the first line how the leader of the free world will spend his day during this awful crisis:

President Obama is taping his NCAA picks today, and they’ll be revealed tomorrow on ESPN.

[And of] course he’s taking an easy schedule today; he was working hard last night:

President Obama makes his first major fund-raising pitch for his 2012 re-election on Monday night when he meets with about 50 backers—some involved in his 2008 campaign and others who are considered potential major supporters.

After this, any liberal nutjob who mentions The Pet Goat is going to deserve the metaphorical beat-down they receive.


Image adapted from The London Daily Mail.

Larwyn's Linx: Palin -- GOP cannot allow status quo to continue

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

Nation

Palin: The GOP cannot allow the status quo to continue: Cubachi
WI GOP Did Not Violate Open Meetings Law: ConWatch
If they're talking about holding Michigan, O's in trouble...: Toldjah

Growing GOP Opposition to Short-Term CR: NRO
House GOP Leader: CR Will Permit Funding of Obamacare: CNS
Allen West will not vote for the Continuing Resolution: Cubachi

White House warns Supreme Court: don't review Obamacare: WZ
The Aroma of Illegality: PJM
Obama: There's Plenty of Time for Me to Campaign in 2011!: RWN

Japan

Nikkei Flash Crash: Futures plummet as all hell breaks loose: ZH
Radiation Fears Mount After Explosions: FoxBiz
If Japan's Default Was Predicted Before, What Now?: PolFi

Astounding Before And After Photos Of Quake: Insider
The Scariest First-Person Video of Tsunami Yet: Gizmodo
Japan Braces for Potential Radiation Catastrophe: Reuters

Economy

No wonder Christie didn't join the Obamacare lawsuit: Riehl
It was never about collective bargaining: Boortz
Why It's Bad Business to Hire the Long-Term Unemployed: Blumer

Was Obama’s Support for Wisconsin Unions Payback?: RWN
Conyers; Obamacare is a platform for building single-payer: WZ
EPA Tangles With New Critic: Labor: WSJ

Climate & Energy

DNC Strikes a $10 Million Deal with Cap and Trade Lobbyist: WklyStd
Solving US Energy Problems: AT
Moonbats Attempt to Link Earthquake to Global Warming: RWN

Media

ABC, CBS, MSNBC, NBC and NPR Ignore Death Threats to Wisconsin Republicans: NewsBusters
If NPR Is Non-Biased… Why Is MoveOn.org Trying to Save Them?: GWP
My NCAA challenge for President Obama: JPA

Does Being A Conservative Now Require That We Join In Sexualized Mocking of Conservative Women?: LegalIns
Butcher away, Terrorists: HuffPo's Progressives have your back.: RWN
AOL-Huffpo Makes Big Hires, Installs Nap Room: Forbes

The Sarah Palin Symbolism Generating Machine: RWN
Mark Levin Rips Jonathan Martin and Pollutico a New One: Con4Palin
‘Waiting for Superman’ Director Feeling Heat from Teachers Unions: BigHolly

World

Dead Jews is No News: Steyn
Hamas Speaks: Power Line
Palestinian Street Celebrates Slaughter of Jews While Elites Rationalize It: AmSpec

What if they are already here?: Ledeen
Obama's Moment of Truth in Libya: New Republic
U.S-trained Forces Arrested in Brutal Murder of Jewish Family?: Atlas

GOP Rep. Chip Cravaack: CAIR 'Basically a Terrorist Organization': WZ
Obama, Wright, Farrakhan, and Gaddafi: PJM (Shiver)
Nigeria: Muslim Cleric Speaks Out Against Violence, Islamists Promptly Gun Him Down: WZ

SciTech

100 brands ranked by (social) ability to engage: Hobson
Bing's search engine share continues to rise: CNet
Google Going to Test Mobile Payments in NYC and SF: Insider

Cornucopia

Here's Your Lineup For Worst Company In America 2011!: Consumerist
Do Not Drink An Entire Bottle Of Soy Sauce: Consumerist
So How Much Does Charlie Sheen Spend On Coke And Hookers?: ZH

Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Searching for Marizela: New videos, message from her parents

QOTD: "Barack Obama has bluntly declared that Qaddafi must go. The Libyan resistance, based in Benghazi, has appealed urgently for the imposition of a no-fly zone. Incredibly, the Arab League has endorsed the call, as has the Gulf Cooperation Council. France has recognized the rebel provisional government based in Benghazi as Libya’s legitimate government—while Obama studies this all. Can anyone remember a time when France and the Arab League were ahead of the United States on a question of defending freedom fighters?

...If Benghazi falls to Qaddafi, it will fall hard and bloodily, and the thud will be heard throughout the world. ... Time may be running out" --Larry Diamond, The New Republic

Monday, March 14, 2011

Ya think? Rep. John Campbell: We Are a Ponzi Nation

Tyler Durden alerts us to at least one Congressman who really groks the gravity of American's tenuous financial position.

Zero Hedge first observed the duration mismatch in US Treasury holdings back in November 2009, when we highlighted the concerning amount of debt that the government has to roll every year courtesy of about 30-40% in outstanding paper that is of very short duration (under 2 years or so). We have also been pretty adamant that by now the US economic system is nothing but a ponzi scheme pure and simple. Today, we observe how this epiphany manifests itself when it occurs to a congressman, in this case John Campbell (California). The punchline: "I understand that the Fed and the Treasury are trying to keep interest rates low and improve the economy and the deficit. But, when coupled with the huge deficits, these moves look a bit like a Ponzi scheme that will soon unravel." Amen brother.

Rep. John Campbell (R-CA) explains the situation in plain English.

I learned something last week. I learned that fully 40% of the over $9 trillion in Treasury debt currently outstanding to the public has a maturity of 3 years or less. Put another way, it means that we are rapidly approaching $4 trillion in U.S. debt that matures by 2014 or sooner. As I write this, the yield (interest rate paid) on a 2-year Treasury note is 0.645% or about 2/3 of one percent. The yield, at the same time, on a 10 year Treasury note is 3.4%, and on a 30 year is 4.55%. In bond parlance, this is called a "steep yield curve" where interest rates get much higher as you go farther out in time.

It's pretty clear why the Treasury is doing this. By issuing mostly short-term notes, the Treasury is paying less interest, thereby keeping interest costs and, consequently, the deficit down. In addition, the Federal Reserve is in the middle of its "quantitative easing #2" (QE2) under which it is buying $600 billion of our own Treasury debt over about a 6 month period. The Fed is not buying the short-term notes, but is buying 10 year maturities and longer in order to hold those rates down. And, since the Fed is earning the interest thereon (paid by the U.S. Treasury), it is improving its yield. We are currently running a deficit of about $130 billion per month, so the Fed is basically buying all of the new bond issuance from the deficit for almost 5 months.

What does this all mean? I understand that the Fed and the Treasury are trying to keep interest rates low and improve the economy and the deficit. But, when coupled with the huge deficits, these moves look a bit like a Ponzi scheme that will soon unravel.

We are printing money ($600 billion) to buy our own debt so that the full effects of the deficit are not felt. We are buying long-term bonds to artificially hold down the rates on those bonds since home mortgages and many other things are based on those rates. We are selling the short-term bonds at cheaper rates to hold down costs now, but are leaving ourselves open to huge cost increases when interest rates go up. And, we are at historic lows on these short-term bond rates. If they were to rise by 3 points (which would put them where they were at as recently as 2008), our deficit would increase by another $150 billion per year, even if the long-term rates stay the same. And, once the Fed ends QE2, even if it doesn't reverse it, the markets will then have to absorb a new influx of long-term bonds at a time when our ability to pay them is in question. The Fed can cure a bunch of this simply by printing a lot more money. That, however, will result in an inflationary period with major wealth destruction and economic malaise.

In the period between 2005-2007, we were sowing the seeds of the 2008 financial crisis through too much leverage in the private sector. But, very few people could see it coming. Today, we are sowing the seeds of another crisis with too much leverage in the public sector. This time, though, it's easy to see it coming.

I have only two words for you.

Cloward. And Piven.


Update: As Treasury Cash Drops To Just $14.2 Billion, And No Bond Auctions Until Next Week, Is America About To Run Out Of Cash?

Legacy media beclowns itself anew: interviews nuclear 'expert' with Texans-are-Nazis sign in plain view

Dave Craft of the NEIS discusses the Japanese nuclear reactor meltdowns on WGN News while showing off his office decor.

The most hilarious aspect is that WGN's crew saw this sign, included it in the shot, and didn't even think twice about it.

Okay, I get it.

All Texans are Nazis. All Republicans, including Republicans of color, are racists. All Constitutional conservatives trying to save the country from economic collapse deserve to be shot.

Do I have that about right?


Update: Although not clearly visible in these screen-caps, a reader indicates that the sign on the right says "Support our Troops, Euthanize Congress."

Civil.


Hat tip: JSaf. Linked by: NewsBusters. Thanks!

Democrat Chickens Come Home to Roost: Oil Prices Expected to Jump Again as Japan's Demand Skyrockets With Its Nuclear Facilities Offline

Why is America the only country in the world that restricts access to its own abundant natural energy sources? I keep asking that question and not one Democrat has ever answered it.

Well, as Obama's beloved preacher used to say, "America's chickens are coming home to roost."

Stratfor Research is predicting that Japan will have to dramatically increase its importation of oil and natural gas, of which it is wholly dependent upon foreign sources.

Stratfor estimates that roughly one-sixth of Japan's generation capacity is currently offline, much of it permanently.

Even before this news broke, Americans supported more offshore oil drilling by a 66 to 25 margin.

Can I just say it one more time? Everything the Democrat Party touches turns to crap. In fact, you can't name any program that a Democrat has created -- any one! -- that isn't a complete cluster. And their policy of preventing Americans from tapping our own rich energy reserves is literally choking the economy at the worst possible time.

So every time you fill up your gas tank, thank a Democrat.


Hat tip: Stratfor Research.

Stop-action Photos: a Disaster of Biblical Proportions

Dan from New York:

The AP describes this as an amateur video "that captures the force of the tsunami's arrival in Japan. The waves devastate entire blocks in Miyagi Prefecture, with some residents narrowly escaping..."

It’s astonishing the rate at which powerful political and physical upheavals have been coming at us. Makes me wonder whether there’s more going on here than meets the human eye.

Gizmodo calls this video "the scariest first-person video of the tsunami yet."

The only adjective I can come up with is remorseless.














Click here to donate to the Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Fund.


Larwyn's Linx: Democrats Distilling Down To Anti-Democracy Anarchists

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Nation

Democrats Distilling Down To Anti-Democracy Anarchists: Strata
World in Crisis, Obama Hits Links: Pundette
The Arrogance and Hate of Congressional Democrats: RWN

Rep. Tim Huelskamp Stands Tall in Budget Showdown: RedState
Saturday at the Recall Petition ‘Drive Through’ in WI: PJM
Call an ambulance for political correctness: Malkin (Powers)

Muslim gangs in MN grow more dangerous: Atlas
Palin Best Postioned to Beat Obama: Con4Palin
More Palin Hate: 'She's... Al Sharpton, Alaska edition': Politico

Economy

Welfare Gone Mad: Virtuous
A Very Modest Victory in Wisconsin: NRO
An Unbelieveably Foolish Editorial On Wisconsin: Riehl

Brokeback Mountain of Debt: Steyn
LeakS: BofA Emails Show Intent to Deceive Govt., Auditors: ZH
Tea Party hating by the pro-union protesters: Althouse

Climate & Energy

Shining a Spotlight on Obama Energy Lies: BigGovt
‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ Says… Bill Clinton?: Malkin
High Energy Prices Are Obama’s ‘Explicit Policy Goal,’ Inhofe Says: CNS

Media

Poll Confirms America’s Entitlement Culture…Even Among Tea Partiers: BigGovt
MSNBC Admits Left Protects Obama Because He Is a Black Liberal: Moonbattery
Why Does Barack Obama Get A Pass On Bradley Manning, Liberals?: RWN

Liberals — lording it over lesser beings: RWN
Nick Kristof Bashes America's Teachers: Caller
Time Magazine Headline: 'Wisconsin's Governor Wins But Is He Still Dead Man Walker?': NewsBusters

Freudian Slip: Chris Matthews Calls Obama 'President Carter': NewsBusters
That George Will, He Can Sure Pick 'Em: Riehl
P.J. Crowley resigns over Manning remark: Politico

World

Japanese Government Confirms Meltdown: Stratfor
Japan Earthquake: Before and After: ABC Australia
Japanese Tsunami Survivor Found Floating On His Roof 10 Miles Out At Sea: Mediate

Al-Qaeda Launches 'Jihad Cosmo' Women’s Magazine, Mixes Fashion Tips With Suicide Bombing Advice: WZ
Stunning New Footage Of Incoming Tsunami: ZH
Gold, Silver Surge At Open Of Electronic Trading: ZH

Killing of family was "state instigated" terrorism by the palestinian authority: WinterSoldier
Fogel Family Massacre Video Removed From YouTube: GWP
More great moments from the Palestinian national cause: Jodysseus

A Winning Plan for Netanyahu: Talk Directly to the American People and Congress: Glick
Israel May Have as Much Oil As Saudi Arabia: Lid
Rick Santorum: Sharia is "evil", "incompatible with American jurisprudence and... Constitution": JihadWatch

SciTech

Incalculable danger: WORM
It’s about time New Jersey deregulated all telephone and cable TV services: RWN
Nope, Google Is Not Launching Its Own Social Network: Insider

Cornucopia

This Week in Automotivators: RWN
Milton Friedman on Socialism: Pundette
Boulder (Hoover) Dam is 75 Years Old Today: iOTW

Image: Sad Hill News
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Please Support the Senate Conservatives Fund

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Outstanding: National Labor Relations Board ruled Friday that threats of physical violence by union organizers 'aren't coercive'

If it hadn't been apparent before, it's now crystal clear that the Obama administration has declared open season on American businesses. Please consider Union-Controlled NLRB Approves Union Thuggery in Union Elections.

On Friday, in its continuing attempt to hand over the American workplace to union bosses at all costs, the union-controlled National Labor Relations Board has thrown employees’ rights under the bus once again. This time, however, the NLRB’s obedience to union bosses could cause employees to get hurt...

Under the National Labor Relations Act, employees are presumably free to choose to unionize or not to unionize free from coercion or interference. In previous cases, the National Labor Relations Board had considered threats (even by third parties) enough cause for an election to be overturned. This was the case even recently...

...Unbelievably, on Friday, the union-controlled NLRB ruled that threats of physical violence by pro-union supporters is not coercive.

On August 22, 2008 the NLRB conducted an election where, by a vote of 14 to 12, the red-shirted Communications Workers of America (CWA) won the vote. Following the election, the employer filed objections, requesting the NLRB to overturn the election based upon alleged threats of physical violence made by pro-union supporters to their co-workers.

Specifically, the objections cite a statement by prounion employee Anthony Hodges to employee Matthew Abel that Hodges could “whip [employee Dennis Sheil’s] a*s” or sabotage his work; an anonymous telephone threat to employee Lou Mays that the caller would “get even” with him if he “backstab[bed] us”; and statements by prounion employee Chris Verbal to a group of three or four employees that Verbal would “b*tch slap” two other employees (who were not present at the time) or “whip their f—in’ ass” if they “cost us the election,” and that he would “whip [supervisor] Eddie’s ass” if the Union lost.

According to the union-controlled NLRB, the above threats were approved because... well... they just weren’t bad enough.

...Given that the entire voting unit in this case was less than 30, it is hard to imagine that the threats from the pro-union supporters did not have some bearing on the outcome of the election—especially as the union only won by two votes.

We are now seeing the fabric of our institutions fray at their edges and begin to tear.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the modern Democrat Party is operating lawlessly and without the slightest regard for America's past, present or future. I hope and pray that we can survive another two years of this president.


Linked by: Ace o' Spades. Thanks!

Good News: Progressives Now Trying to Destroy Private Financial Institutions in Wisconsin by Organizing Bank Runs

It would seem, despite what President Obama told us, that elections really don't have consequences -- at least when it comes to Democrats. When the electorate pitched out the progressive kooks in Madison, it was trying to bring some semblance of fiscal sanity to the state.

But apparently Democracy is an excuse for riots, death threats, incivility and -- now -- intentional destruction of private businesses.

M & I Bank of Wisconsin has committed an unpardonable offense. This bank took bailout funds and thanks to the magic of Citizens United our own tax dollars flowed through their executives hands into the coffers of Scott Walker's gubernatorial campaign. We haven't dug deeply yet, but I think when we do we're going to find that we no longer have Russ Feingold's voice in the Senate because of this as well.

The mainstream media isn't covering it, but I'd like to show you a few images of what poetic justice looks like ... ...What these pictures show are six hundred ordinary citizens descending on the M&I branch near the Wisconsin Capitol after learning of their purchase of the gubernatorial election last November. Two firefighters with old school ideas about saving had over $600,000 between the two of them and they demanded cashier's checks on the spot.

Not everyone has the purchase price of a couple of homes sitting in the bank, but if the 60% of Wisconsin that's sick to death of Scott Walker's behavior simply go close their accounts the bank will crash and they'll have stripped him of the funds he needs to fight the recall next January.

A couple of people have the documentation and my money is on @Karoli over at Crooks & Liars getting the job done first. I'll come back and post the first good piece I see. I'm trying to get this out and keep it tidy - look in one of the comments and I'll provide some of the links the researchers sent me, so those inclined to do their own digging can get started.

You know what really chaps my ass here? All week we've been seeing Tea Party trolls saying "It's not fair that public employees take our tax dollars and use them in elections."

On behalf of all of us who work for a living, unlike those fools with their misspelled signs being bussed around by Koch Brothers I'd like to say ...

As an aside, we need to elect a lot more Tea Party Republicans like those in Madison.


Establishment GOP: yes, we'll fund Obamacare with our Continuing Resolution and, as an aside, do we get to call it BoehnerCare now?

I had serious concerns about the Republican establishment from the moment of victory in November. When selecting the House leadership team, it purposefully excluded one of the best-known Tea Party candidates -- Michele Bachmann -- who had done more to mobilize the 2010 landslide than John Boehner, Eric Cantor and the other "leaders" combined.

Now that it has become clear that the current Continuing Resolution will help cement Obamacare in place -- by establishing a $105 billion permanent funding mechanism -- the House leaders still refuse to excise the diabolical spending measure.

In other words, they're violating their first promise to you, the electorate that put them in office.

Congressional leaders predicted Sunday a proposal to cut federal spending by $6 billion would pass both chambers and keep the government funded through April 8... The growing bipartisan consensus behind the second stop-gap spending proposal means a showdown over a possible government shutdown will be delayed until next month...

...Leaders from both parties said the emerging agreement signals that Democrats and Republicans have begun to find common ground and expressed hope there would be a deal to approve a federal budget through the rest of the 2011 fiscal year... The current stop-gap spending measure will expire after March 18.

...House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that he’ll have enough votes to pass a three-week spending measure... "We will get it through," he said.

In other words, the old guard is twisting arms behind the scenes, trying to force Tea Party conservatives to abandon their promises.

Fortunately, a few individuals and organizations are standing tall against the House leadership's ridiculous behavior.

...a number of influential conservative groups have expressed their opposition to the bill, and are urging conservatives to pursue a long-term, comprehensive approach sooner rather than later. The leaders of Heritage Action, the Family Research Council and Club for Growth issued a joint press release Friday announcing their opposition to this (and any further) short-term resolution, and signaling to House conservatives that they are watching...

Led by Michele Bachmann and Steve King, conservative Rep. Tim Huelskamp and others have pledged to vote 'no' on the Continuing Resolution.

And well they should, given the recent disclosures of the diabolical fiscal time-bomb exposed by former Congressman Ernest Istook this week.

The massive 2,700-page health care law is deliberately designed to make defunding and dismantlement difficult. Although original estimates reported that it created 159 new government agencies, the Congressional Research Service later concluded that the actual number of new agencies, boards, etc., “is currently unknowable,” because so many of them are empowered to spawn additional entities, just as weeds grow by sending out runners and seeds.

...The new law attempts to bypass the normal appropriations process, another feature that makes defunding more difficult. By making advance appropriations for tens of billions of dollars up to the year 2019, these provisions of Obamacare seek to remove spending decisions from the reach of the current Congress and from future Congresses and Presidents...

...One largely unknown fact is that $6-billion or more was immediately appropriated in the new law and approximately $105-billion more was appropriated for FY2011 and beyond. That violates the typical Congressional process of appropriations. The normal process typically involves enacting authorization bills that authorize spending, and then follows those with separate legislation that actually appropriates
the money. This enables those to be balanced with other spending decisions. The PPACA contained large authorizations for future appropriations as well as containing these actual appropriations. That made it quite different from most bills, even major legislation.

...To de-fund Obamacare, it is insufficient simply to deny future funding. Until the full law can be repealed, at least the existing and advance appropriations need to be rescinded, just as the House last month voted to repeal billions of dollars from previous appropriations to 123 federal programs. An effort to restrict use of the funds appropriated within Obamacare was thwarted because the House did not waive the same point of order (House Rule XXI) as it waived to allow de-funding those 123 other programs. This was most unfortunate...

...in Obamacare, passed during FY2010, we find advance appropriations are made [until] 2019. That is ten years of appropriations... nobody has [ever] proposed that any Congress should make spending decisions trying to bind a future Congresses a full decade in advance... Making many years’ worth of advance spending decisions is an attempt to handcuff the current Congress and prevent it from determining current levels of spending.

...Spending decisions should be made by those who currently hold office, not by those who have resigned or been turned out by the voters.

...I am glad that the committee is looking legislation to pull back the funds previously appropriated for Obamacare, but I must caution you that timing and leverage are important parts of your effort. If it takes years to halt the funding stream, then meantime billions of taxpayer dollars will already have
flowed out of the Treasury. The underlying law will have sunk its roots deeper into the nation, making it more difficult to uproot. That is why I believe the appropriations process itself must also be used to extinguish these advance appropriations...

...defunding can be done and should be done, and internal Congressional protocols should not be used to block this.

Worse still, the GOP old guard appears either confused or woefully weak on defunding Obamacare. As Istook observed in his testimony the House struck billions in prior appropriations from 123 separate federal programs.

But Speaker John Boehner, interviewed by The Washington Times, couldn't even coherently explain why House leaders didn't remove Obamacare spending just as they did with the 123 other programs.

Mr. Speaker: there's a thing called leverage in negotiation. Either you want Obamacare, because you've become a power-hungry Beltway hack, or you don't. Right now, your Continuing Resolution tells me that you want to see ObamaCare implemented. After all, think about how much power you'll wield, what with all of those hundreds of billions in spending, and the thousands of lobbyists and corporations all trying to get their voices heard.

This message is not directed to the Republican old guard. This message is for the Tea Party conservatives: shut the government down. Hell, if you keep raising the debt ceiling, the whole system's going to collapse anyhow! Boehner's not a member of a Tea Party and could care less about Constitutional conservatism. He's too weak, too cowardly or too much of a power-hungry Beltway hack to act.

The Democrats are literally at war with America, and the Republican old guard won't even put up a fight.

Call your member of Congress now at 202.224.3121 and tell them, "Vote NO on the Continuing Resolution because it doesn't cut funding for Obamacare!" Be polite, but firm.

It's time to put our foot down and that foot is us*.

Hat tip: Mark Levin. *Hat tip: Dean Wormer. Linked by: Ace o' Spades. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: If Ya Can't Beat 'Em, Extort 'Em

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

Nation

If Ya Can't Beat 'Em, Extort 'Em: Malkin (Powers)
WI Senate Leader Reminds Fleebaggers That They're Disgraces: WZ
Suspect ID'ed In Wisconsin GOP Death Threats: GWP

Lest We Forget... Taking Zac: Dewey
DOJ compels police to lower testing standards: WZ
Murkowski: I’m against defunding Planned Parenthood: Cubachi

Too Many White Guys: Former Spook
Allen West criticizes military diversity report: Cubachi
Santorum distinguishes himself: JihadWatch

Economy

Obama's Social Security Hoax: Hammer
Wis. Unions Bully Local Businesses With Ultimatum: NiceDeb
Predictable: MI Teachers' Union Plays Race Card: BlogProf

Rand Paul: About a woman's right to choose...: Cubachi
Outrage! US Government Funding La Raza with Your Tax Dollars: HE
Amazon cuts off IL suppliers to avoid new taxes: CanBiz

Japan

Japan just lost 20 percent of its electric generating capacity: Cringely
Second Reactor in 'Partial Meltdown': Ace
Japanese Officials Presume Two Partial Meltdowns Have Occurred: Patterico

Climate & Energy

The Green Dream Is an Economic Nightmare: AT
The lies of liberal Nancy Skinner: we can’t drill because 'we just don’t have the oil': RWN
Obama Blames Oil Companies For Lack Of Drilling: IBD

Media

Paul Krugman: America's Not Broke - We Can Still Borrow Money: NewsBusters
12 Death Threat Photos Against Gov. Walker and WI Republicans You'll Never See in Legacy Media: ProWis
Krauthammer vs. Totenberg: Why Does NPR Have to Live on ‘Tit of the State?’: Blaze

New York Times: What Did The Raped 11-Year-Old Girl Do To "Draw" These Men Into the Assault?: Ace
That temperament thing: Pundette
That was then, this is now: Sondrakistan

How come MSNBC, Pelosi aren’t mocking Muslim Rep Keith Ellison for publicly crying at House hearing?: RWN
Activists in 23 States Coming Together in Texas to ‘True The Vote’: Publius
HuffPo Ends Its Liberal Soundtrack, Publishes Breitbart Essay Defending NPR Sting: Mediaite

World

Obama Closely Monitoring Japan, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Wisconsin and Soaring Gas Prices: Powers
Believe it or not: Libya, Iran and the U.N. CSW condemn Israel's treatment of women: TPC
Chechnya: Muslims attack women with paintball guns for "immodest" dress: JihadWatch

We need more hearings on Islam: West
CAIR Demands Enforcement of Islamic Blasphemy Law (Sharia) in California: Atlas
Over a dozen states now moving to ban Islamic Sharia law: JihadWatch

Palestinian Terrorists Stab 3 Israeli Children and Baby to Death While They Sleep, Gazans Celebrate: WZ
Progressives Won't Condemn Savage Massacre of Jewish Family: AmPower (Caution: Graphic)
Egyptian Army Attacks Christian Monastery and Fires Live Ammunition At Monks: BigPeace

SciTech

Lost city of Atlantis, swamped by tsunami, may be found: Reuters
How Blogger Stung Undercover Federal Sex Sting: TSG
The Hectic Life of a Social Media Manager: Daily Infographic

Cornucopia

Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Nuclear Meltdowns, and Hockey: It’s All About the Wons: MOTUS
What Do We Do Now?: iOTW
Clyburn and Farrakhan -- In Concert Live, Together: WZ

Wait til your father gets home: Sondrakistan
The Onion spoofs Hot Air: Hot Air
The Kinks: Get Back in Line: Marathon

Image: iOwnTheWorld.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Send a Couple o' Bucks to the Senate Conservatives Fund

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Horror: Before and After Pictures of Quake Zone

From CNN, via Ace.








If you have a couple of bucks to spare, you can donate to the American Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.

'Peter King on Steroids' [Dan from New York]

Dan from New York:

Watch this extraordinary speech by an Austrian MP. More evidence that, as I have said repeatedly, the Europeans will return to their anthropological roots and repel the Muslim tide threatening their way of life. In fact, with European heads of state declaring the “failure of multiculturalism,” it’s happening already.

Oh, and speaking of which: Arab Terrorists Murder Family in Samaria, Including Infant.

Photo: The Trumka Effect [Papa B]

Papa B:

This financial crisis is forcing State and local agencies to make some tough decisions. If things continue for much longer, there's a real risk that we may have to lay off Jose.

 

Obama: American oil production reached its highest level since 2003 if you count oil rigs that aren't producing anything

Perhaps President Obama isn't as "centrist" as John McCain likes to claim.

I say that because even Bill Clinton is blasting the President's ludicrous anti-drilling positions and, by implication, the stunning series of lies he recited in yesterday's 'press conference'.

...Clinton said there are “ridiculous delays in permitting when our economy doesn’t need it,” according to Noe and others... “That was the most surprising thing they said,” Noe said.

[Clinton and Bush 43] both generally agreed on the need to get offshore drilling workers back on the job... [they] also agreed on the need for more domestic shale gas production, with Clinton noting that it has been done safely for years in his home state of Arkansas.

Bush — who referred to oil and gas in the discussion as “hydrocarbons” — described the anti-hydrocarbon sentiment in Washington as “dangerous.” He said while there is a need to develop new energy technologies, “we have to be prosperous in order to afford those technologies and, in order to be prosperous, we need to drill,” according to Noe.

Precisely.

And, when queried about his anti-hydrocarbon policies during a so-called "press conference", Obama resorted to a series of bald-faced lies.

President Barack Obama said Friday that oil production out of the Gulf of Mexico is at a record high and that a rush to new drilling is not a long-term solution for a nation that consumes more than a quarter of the world's oil...

...With gas prices rising amid increased international demand and chaos in oil-rich Libya, Obama sought to debunk the notion that his administration was impeding domestic energy production.

"Last year, American oil production reached its highest level since 2003," said the president. "Oil production from federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico reached an all-time high. For the first time in more than a decade, imports accounted for less than half of what we consumed. So any notion that my administration has shut down oil production might make for a good political sound bite, but it doesn't match up with reality."

"We are encouraging offshore exploration and production," said the president. "We're just doing it responsibly. I don't think anybody has forgotten that we're only a few months removed from the worst oil spill in our history."

Obama's fables were so outrageous that even the industry journal Energy Tomorrow called him on it.

Last week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told Congress that oil production in the Gulf of Mexico "remained at an all-time high, and we expect that it will continue as we bring new production online." He claimed: "In 2009 there were 116 rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, in 2010 in February, 120, in February 2011, 126."

But Salazar's numbers distort the true number of working rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. According to Baker Hughes:

* Four days before the Deepwater Horizon accident there were 55 rotary rigs actually drilling offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.
* On May 28, 2010, when the administration announced the six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling, there were 46 rotary rigs operating in the Gulf.
* Last week, 25 rotary rigs were operating in the Gulf of Mexico.

So the fact that there is an "all-time high" number of rigs in the Gulf ignores the fact that most of those rigs are not working. Claiming an increase in idle rigs in the Gulf as a success story is like claiming the job market is great because a lot of people are unemployed and available to work.

In the same hearing, the Secretary also claimed that "the production has remained at an all-time high" within the Gulf of Mexico and there is no way to actually make this true. The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reports that production in the Gulf of Mexico is in decline... EIA Petroleum Engineer Gary Long told trade publication E&E News that the rig count in the Gulf was cut in half after the Deepwater Horizon accident and that it wouldn't rebound to previous levels until the end of 2011 under the assumption that the permitting process is restored to historical rates. Further, since there is a lag time from the time an exploration permit is approved to the time of actual production, and since no only a handful of permits for new wells have been granted since April of 2010, it is likely that Gulf of Mexico production will continue to be hit hard in 2012 and beyond.

This President's policies and his statements are both disgraceful. And he may have hit another new low with his outrageous con-job of a press conference, which was designed solely to distract while he continues his intentional destruction of the American economy.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

12 Death Threat Photos Against Gov. Walker and Wisconsin Republicans That You'll Never See in Legacy Media #wiunion #solidaritywi #newtone

Still waiting for President Obama to condemn the violent rhetoric coming from the union bosses and Organizing for America.

Oh. Right.












And don't hold your breath waiting for legacy media to cover this despicable behavior.


Hat tips: Secular Stupidest, Weasel Zippers. Linked by: Protein Wisdom and The Washington Examiner. Thanks!