Friday, June 17, 2011

Larwyn's Linx: Operation Fast and Furious should end Holder tenure

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

Operation Fast and Furious should end Holder tenure: Exam
Scandal: ‘Gunwalker’ Much Worse Than ‘Iran-Contra’: PJM
Bachmann and the Empathy Card: Power Line

Arab Spring protest in S.F.: unexpected twist ending: Zombie
When is a hate crime not a hate crime?: Sondrakistan
Dick Armey Stuns Tea Party With Open-Borders Work: NUSA

Today in GOP stupidity: Ace
My take on the latest Republican polls: Barone
Weiner’s Pension, Benefits Could Top $1 Million: Roll Call

Economy

The Economy Dems Now Own: IBD
Union leader slurs "Adolph" Christie: Toldjah
Cain: Obama’s NLRB an ‘Assault on the Free Market System’: RWN

Obama green car mandate cost: $10K per car, 260,000 jobs: WZ
Cali retailers: Hobble Amazon like you hobble us!: BSF
California Whoa: Sondrakistan

Workers Have It Much Better at Nonunionized Subaru: RWN
IMF "Ready and Willing" to Throw Away More Money: Mish
Could Greek default destroy U.S. money market funds?: McArdle

Climate & Energy

The plot thickens – The IPCC and ideological green money-laundering: WUWT
Obama's Oil Flip and Flop: WZ
The Imperium not backing down: Cold Fury

Media

David Frum, Politico: Trash Talk Radio for Cash?: AmSpec
Aww: WaPo Hack E.J. Dionne Feeling Nostalgic for Bush: JWF
MSM assumes the position, Bachmann wins: Hale

Among the Truthers: Driscoll
NY Times Finally Discusses Obama’s Golf Image And How Bad It Looks: RWN
So much for rehab: Weiner and wife head to Hamptons: Post

Obama's Legacy of Failure: ConBlkChk
We Hated Reagan: PJM
"Progress": Liberals Still Desperately Trying To Pin Obama’s Failures On George W. Bush: Glob

World

Kucinich credits Bush for asking Congress before going to war: Hill
The Growing Conflict Over the Legality of the Libya Intervention: Instapundit
Prison Recruitment to Radical Islam: Radical

Revealed: Weiner’s In-Laws’ Secret Muslim Brotherhood Connections: PJM
Judge Allows Christian Leaflets at Arab Festival: CBN
Crazy Shelia Jackson Lee: Hey, We Need To Worry About Christian Militants, Too!: RWN

Inconvenient Truth: Cold Fury
Britain's Death Panels Deny Thousands of Breast Cancer Patients Care: GWP
Al-Qaeda Creates Hit List Of Prominent Americans With Names And Pictures, Asks For Home Addresses: WZ

SciTech

Kinect Hackers Are Changing the Future of Robotics: Wired
Study reveals scale of fake tech support call scams: Sophos
The Second Dot Com Bubble Has Now Burst: ZH

Cornucopia

Visualize whirled peas: Cold Fury
Stephen Jay Gould's Mismeasure of Man: Useful Tool for Understanding Unconscious Scientific Bias: Ace
Culled geese are bound for tables: Instapundit

Image: Weasel Zippers
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Michele Bachmann for President

QOTD: "Our first Black American president Obama missed an historic opportunity to lead. Instead he chose the path of pure partisan policies, went against the will of Americans and failed...

The Declaration of Independence instructs us that “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing is Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

The time has come for the people to change the course of this country and vote President Obama out of office in 2012." --Conservative Black Chick

Thursday, June 16, 2011

The only Vancouver riot photo you need

Until @mkhammer -- Mary Katharine Ham -- tweeted it, I didn't even know there were riots going on in Vancouver.

She says that this is the only Vancouver riot picture you need.

I agree.


It's not Grandma that got pushed off the cliff: it's President Obama's approval ratings

Remember when the Democrat Party used a cynical, disgusting ploy to demagogue Paul Ryan's plan to save Medicare? Yeah, I know: it was like five days ago. And they depicted a Ryan-lookalike pushing Grandma off a cliff. Clever, eh?

Turns out the American people are a lot smarter than the Democrats thought.

They've caught on to the massive, budget-busting failures of the 111th Congress and President Obama.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 23% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-two percent (42%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -19...

...Twenty-seven percent (27%) of Likely U.S. Voters now say the country is heading in the right direction... That's down one point from last week. In April, prior to the killing of Osama bin Laden, the number who felt the country was heading in the right direction fell into the low 20s, the lowest findings of the Obama presidency, but the figure climbed back up to 29% in early to mid-May. The number who believe the country is on the right course has ranged from a low of 21% to a high of 35% since January 2009.

...Leading up to President Obama's inauguration, the number of voters who felt the country was heading in the right direction remained below 20%. The week of his inauguration in January 2009, voter confidence rose to 27% and climbed into the low to mid-30s until mid-May of that year. Since then, belief that the country is heading in the right direction has trended lower.

How about another 'Stimulus' program, Mr. President?

Oh, that's right. You've already bankrupted the United States. Never mind.


Hat tip: The Lid.

Holy freaking crap! Rasmussen: Michele Bachmann surges to second place, Herman Cain to third in GOP primary

As Allahpundit might have put it: "Oh, my."

In the race for the Republican nomination, Mitt Romney still leads, but Michelle Bachmann has surged to second place. Herman Cain is the only other candidate in double digits...

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney continues to lead the race for the Republican nomination, but Michele Bachmann has surged into second place following her Monday night entry into the campaign.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely GOP Primary Voters, taken following the candidates’ Monday night debate, shows Romney earning 33% support, with Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann a surprise second at 19%. Georgia businessman Herman Cain is in third place with 10% of the vote...

Just 27% now believe the U.S. is generally heading in the right direction.

Say, I've been out of town for a while.

How are those Stimulus, HAMP, Cash-for-Clunkers, Weatherization, Green Jobs, Obamacare, "Banking Reform", drilling moratorium, First-Time Home-Buyer Credit, auto company takeovers and QE2 programs working out?

For you drones out there, that's a rhetorical question. As for you patriots, my beloved readers: would you like to support a true Constitutional conservative for President? Then support Michele Bachmann for President.


Image adapted from: Wintery Knight.

'Are you ready for third-world America?'

Writing at Zero Hedge, Phoenix Capital Research lays out President Obama's endgame. Spoiler: it won't end well.

The US economy is literally on the ledge of a cliff.

Today, the Federal Government accounts for 35% of incomes and salaries in the US. That’s over one third of all income in the US coming from the Government’s ability to dole out funds.

What supports this largess?

Money printing and our ongoing debt-orgy. And today, these are one and the same. The US Federal Reserve and Treasury have enacted policies so insane that the US Federal Reserve is now the single largest holder of US Debt with a balance sheet of $2.8 trillion.

Let’s give that number some perspective. Germany, the world’s FOURTH largest economy is only $3.3 trillion in size. At $2.8 trillion the Fed’s balance sheet is larger than the economies of France, the UK, and Brazil.

Why is the Fed’s balance sheet so huge? Because US Treasuries are so unattractive to foreign Governments that the Fed has had to pick up the slack and buy our debt (usually within a week or two of it being issued).

Let me rephrase that: the US Fed is now printing money so it can buy US Debt because other investors are no longer interested in buying it.

This is just one of the various schemes Washington is employing to maintain its fiscal insanity. Another is the active raiding of pension funds to buy new US Debt (YES, the Treasury is doing this).

So... the US Government is now paying over 1/3rd of US incomes… and it’s financing this by having the Fed buy new debt from the Treasury.

Do you think this entire system might end up collapsing in a horrific manner?

Unless Barack Obama is summarily voted out of office in 2012, I fear this Republic will not survive.

The laws of mathematics simply cannot be defied; and the president's failure to propose a budget, his unprecedented deficits, his failure to address collapsing entitlement programs (and, in fact, accelerating their collapse), and his non-stop attacks on the private sector (the oil, health insurance, banking, and pharmaceutical industries, to name but a few) will result in certain catastrophe.

It's not different this time and, should he win a second term, Obama's reckless, feckless, selfish leadership will almost certainly doom the most magnificent society ever seen on Earth.

And perhaps that's the intent of the man who marinated in the teachings of Frank Marshall Davis, Jeremiah Wright, Rashid Khalidi, Bill Ayers, and numerous other America-hating crackpots.

Are you motivated for 2012?


Larwyn's Linx: Scofflaw Democrats Try to Change the Subject

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

Scofflaw Democrats Try to Change the Subject: Power Line
Nancy Pelosi Feels Your Pain: Net Worth Rose 62% Last Year: Malkin
Oh my: Dem caucus meeting turns angry over Weiner: Hot Air

Issa Rips DOJ in Hearings: AmSpec
Top 200 Obama donors get cushy government jobs, perks: Toldjah
Ted Cruz: As Good As It Gets: Will

Blue Smoke and Mirrors: Cost
Bachmann Steals the Show: Tyrrell
Democrats Call on GOP Candidate to Denounce PAC Video: RSM

Economy

Reaganomics Vs. Obamanomics: Facts And Figures: Forbes
Landry: ‘It’s More Business-Friendly In Nigeria Than' Here: HayRide
SC Boeing Employee Hits Machinist Union with Federal Charge: NRTW

Food stamp outrage of the day: Surber
Men are the biggest losers in the new economy: WashExam
GOP Senators Fight Obama for Right-to-Work Laws: O'Connor

ATMs and Other Machines are Exempt from ObamaCare: Blumer
Obama's War on Boeing: Hewitt
An Open Letter to Barack Obama: Cafe Hayek

Climate & Energy

The Lightbulb Resistance Movement: FreedomWorks
The EPA needs to get out of D.C. more often: Surber
So, Either Soros Doesn’t Want Romney or Captain Carbon Forgot How To Use The Email He Invented: CBullitt

EPA kook lashes out at utilities for spilling the beans on Obama's job-killing policies: GWP
Physicists: Earth may be headed into a mini Ice Age within a decade: HyScience
A Bill To Make Soros Richer: IBD

Media

The Sleaziness of Politico's Kenneth Vogel: Levin
So Now All These People Will Apologize To Sarah Palin About Margaret Thatcher, Right?: LegalIns
Cross-dressing Weiner pics emerge: FoxNation

Stick it out, Weiner!: Wizbang
Levin: Obama only president not to comply with War Powers Act: TRS
Politico Trumpets: Obama Returns to the 'Adoring Island' of Puerto Rico: NB

Change! CNBC: US Housing Crisis Is Now Worse Than Great Depression: Driscoll
North Carolina Becomes Third State to De-Fund Planned Parenthood: LifeNews
Weiner's wife returns home as new images emerge showing him cross-dressing and 'oiled up': Daily Mail (UK)

World

Obama Pal, Who Was Awarded $457K in Taxpayer Funds, Investigated For Terror Ties: GWP
When Is a War Not a War? When President Obama Says So: PJM
Detroit Muslims get racist on parking cop: Creeping

Obama supporter and domestic terrorist Bill Ayers denied entry to Canada: Surber
TSA blows jihad jet 'threat': Atlas
2-Year Greek Bond Yield Hits 28.15%; Investors Bet on Prospect of 'Greek Accident': Mish

SciTech

CIA website brought down by DDoS attack, LulzSec hackers claims responsibility: Sophos
Google Voice Search offers natural user input: CNet
Google's Web mapping can track your phone: CNet

Cornucopia

How Times Change: Ace
The Most Horrific Video I Have Ever Seen: Ace
Convict claims he shot Tupac Shakur in 1994 at talent agent's direction: Post

Image: Gateway Pundit
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Caddies for Obama

QOTD: "...Fannie Mae represents a special problem for the Democratic Party and Democratic ideas. It is not just a vitally important institution led by prominent Democratic figures and part of a broader Democratic patronage network; Fannie Mae is one of the original New Deal institutions and the vision it was intended to serve stands at the heart of the concerns of the Democratic Party of the 20th century.

The fall of Fannie Mae is bigger than just another politicos run wild scandal. It stands as one of several signs that our current way of life is reaching its limits and that big changes are on the horizon. The Fanniegate debacle tells us that the progressive ideal is in the process of jumping the shark." --Walter Russell Mead

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Tyrrell: Michele Bachmann steals the show

Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. lays down a straight riff.

...Explaining how she voted for Paul Ryan’s budget, she said she did so “with an asterisk” because the “asterisk is that we’ve got a huge messaging problem [on Medicare]. It needs to be called the 55-and-Under Plan. I can’t tell you the number of 78-year-old women who think we’re going to pull the rug out from under them.”

Mrs. Bachmann has faced up to the Democrats’ gaudy lie that people, aged 56 and over, are facing Medicare cuts with the Ryan Plan. They are not, not with the Ryan budget. Though with the Obamacare Plan we are all facing the eclipse of Medicare. Medicare will be slashed for everyone very soon, and that is written into the President’s policy...

In her interview with the Journal Mrs. Bachmann explained that she is versed in the economists: Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, Ludwig von Mises, and Milton Friedman. You cannot get much better than that, and I saved Friedman for last. He is the modern master in understanding the modern economy.

...The Liberals have, like a vast shoal of squid, spread an inky cloud over the financial meltdown. Mrs. Bachmann dispels the darkness regarding its origins. Says she, “There were a lot of bad actors involved, but it started with the Community Reinvestment Act under Jimmy Carter and then the enhanced amendments that Bill Clinton made to force, in effect, banks to make loans to people who lacked creditworthiness. If you want to come down to a bottom line of ‘How did we get in this mess?’ I think it was a reduction in standards.” Whereupon she goes on to say, “Being of the Financial Services Committee, I can assure you, all roads lead to Freddie and Fannie,” the mortgage lenders; and off she goes talking about Constitutional limits. She has a Tea Partyer’s proper concern for the Constitution.

The other night it is said that no one really stood out. I disagree. The pulchritudinous Michele Bachmann stole the show. She was charismatic and eloquent. She got the most attention and she had only been in the race a few minutes. Give her a few more debates, and we shall see just how ready she is for a national run.

Of the declared candidates, my top three are Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain and Rick Santorum. Any one of them would crush Barack Obama in a debate. Any. One. Of. Them.


Hat tip: Dan. You can donate to Michele here.

Operation Gunrunner explodes into legacy media: ATF agents rip gun sting effort on Mexico border

I'll make a prediction here and now: Eric Holder will not survive this.

...U.S. firearms agents told lawmakers on Wednesday they were instructed to only watch as hundreds of guns were bought, illegally resold and sent to Mexico where drug-related violence has raged for years ... they were told not to arrest the so-called straw buyers and instead see where the guns went.

Republicans and Democrats on the panel expressed outrage about the ATF program -- "Operation Fast and Furious" -- and demanded answers from the Obama administration about why arrests were secondary to tracking the firearms.

"We monitored as they purchased handguns, AK-47 variants and .50 caliber rifles, almost daily at times," John Dodson, an ATF special agent in Phoenix, told the committee... An ATF supervisor in Phoenix, Peter Forcelli, said some tried to raise concerns with supervisors but were rebuffed...

...Republicans and Democrats expressed outrage at the ATF program, particularly about two weapons being found at the scene where a U.S. Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry, was killed in a shootout with illegal immigrants... Republicans on the panel have demanded documents and information about the program from the Justice Department, which includes the ATF, but the Obama administration has resisted...

The most partisan Attorney General since John Mitchell appears to be unlawfully stonewalling Congress.

We, the American people, demand to know what Eric Holder knew and when he knew it.


Signs of Desperation Appear in Obama’s Camp [Dan from New York]

Dan from New York:

Appears the Democrats' copywriters are already out of ideas – just like their client.

###

Obama Campaign Sends Around Misleading DNC Video on GOP Debate


ABC News, June 14, 2011

At last night’s Republican debate, the seven candidates talked about unemployment, taxes, regulations, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s talk of a goal of 5% GDP growth, the individual mandate in the health care bill, the Independent Medicare Advisory Board, welfare reform, the Tea Party, currency policy, the National Labor Relations Board, Boeing, TARP, the auto bailout, Rep. Paul Ryan’s Medicare proposal, former Gov. Mitt Romney’s health care program in Massachusetts, raising the debt ceiling, raising the retirement age for Social Security, the role of religion in public life, the 10th amendment, Libya, Afghanistan, and so on.

But President Obama’s 2012 campaign is sending out a DNC video suggesting the candidates spoke only about sharia law, an anti-gay-marriage amendment, repealing health care, Sarah Palin, and the space program.

Read the rest and see the video right here.

###

Look for: Insulting Americans’ intelligence (liberals and other hopeless Obamaphiles excepted) and condescension. Most Americans have seen this deceptive and hackneyed technique before and see right through it.

Look for: The “talking-to-yourself syndrome” and inadvertently doing ads for the other side. The cloistered lefties and liberals who make up Team Obama can’t imagine that their “invidious” sound bites actually deal with issues that are of concern to the American people, and for those who still dwell on planet Earth, show the Republican candidates in a favorable light.

[rim shot]

When you've lost ABC...


Flatlined: Catastrophic Obamanomics Chart o' the Day

Yes, I know. He's historic.

What's fascinating about this graph is that you can see we appear to have been in a normal, run-of-the-mill recession until the Obama "Stimulus" package kicked in 2009. After that point, the endless printing of money, the attendant stealth inflation, and the suppression of free enterprise by swarms of new government bureaucrats all conspired to crush the private sector.

Now imagine how much worse this chart would look had we removed all government workers from the equation.


Larwyn's Linx: Capitol Hill’s Other Dirty Laundry

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

Capitol Hill’s Other Dirty Laundry: Malkin
Bachmann is running -- and she hit a homer during debate: RWN
Dem Janice Hahn has a viral video smash hit!: RSM

When Government Jumps the Shark: Mead
My take on the New Hampshire debate: Barone
Obama Campaign Advising White House Staff: HuffPo

Loughner and the Insane State: Knish
The Circus Is on the Left, not the Right: Cmmntry
House Democrats Cry Foul Over Rejected Mailings: Roll Call

Economy

Ab Initio: WI Supremes uphold Walker's collective bargaining reform: Ace
NLRB complaint against Boeing needs critical look: Seattle Times
Roubini Warns Of Euro Break Up As Greece Melts Down: Forbes

Obamanomics: Damn those ATMs and airport kiosks!: Malkin
Undercounting the Joblessness: AmSpec
We're Not Boned.       We're B O N E D: Ace

Media

Palin's Door Hits Nate Silver In The Ass: Riehl
NYTimes: 'Media Colonoscopy' of Palin E-Mails Was 'Not a Witch Hunt': RSM
Obama preparing voters – 12,000 crack dealers to be released early from jail: FAM

Let’s Play – It’s Different!: Six Meat
What Legacy Media Should be Covering: DC
About the newspaper that attacked Allen West for scuba-diving with the flag...: Glob

Why Is Media Matters a 501(c)(3)?: BigJourn
Mitt Romney Is The Frontrunner In The Same Way That Donald Trump Was The Front Runner: RWN
Laws are for The Little People (Cont'd): Anthony Weiner’s Pathfinder Has Different Unregistered Plates: BlogProf

World

Frank Gaffney on Jihadi Texts in American Mosques: BigPeace
LAPD Dep. Chief Downing: ‘We should not demonize the Muslim Brotherhood’: PJM
Quislings Enable Islamic Thuggery in England: RWN

PJM Exclusive: Georgetown U. Received $325,000 Funneled Through Terror Front Group: PJM
CAIR director tells Muslims jihad is a “noble cause”: Creeping
Epic Fail: Obama Supporters Try to Defend His Middle East Policy: BRubin

SciTech

Apple starts selling unlocked iPhone 4 for $649, $749: CNet
Skyhook Stays Defiant In War With Google: Forbes
A look at Groupon’s extremely lopsided merchant agreement: Agrawal

Cornucopia

Nominations for the Top 100 Current Clichés in the English Language: Ace
How Did They Get In There?–A Photo Essay: Bruce
Fisting Season In Wiskonsin!: Cube

Image: New York Post (EPA)
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Team Bachmann

QOTD: "You have to be a Keynesian nutcase to believe more spending is the solution to problems caused by too much spending. Such policies have never cured one problem in history, yet proponents of such policies never learn." --Mike Shedlock

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Mexico: 70 percent of arms came from ATF's Project Gunrunner

Of course, I'm reading between the lines.

For those unfamiliar with it, Project Gunrunner was an abortive ATF operation designed to secretly funnel weapons to Mexican drug gangs. The administration's hope was -- presumably -- to blame said gun smuggling on lax gun laws in the U.S. This would, of course, strengthen the Democrats' hand in further restricting Americans' Second Amendment freedoms.

Before the dust settled on yesterday’s opening hearing on the controversial Project Gunrunner and Operation Fast and Furious scandal now plaguing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Democrats were already busy with their defense strategy, which once again demonizes American gun owners and their constitutional rights...

...Democrat Senators Dianne Feinstein, Sheldon Whitehouse and Charles Schumer – the latter whose one-time protégé Anthony Weiner has been making so much news lately on a different subject – issued a report that essentially accuses U.S. gun manufacturers and dealers of arming Mexican drug cartels...

...[the] report is an outside attempt to deflect public attention away from anticipated Gunrunner revelations, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) demonstrated during yesterday’s hearing that he will run interference for the ATF... Tomorrow, it may be difficult for Cummings to try smokescreen tactics on Grassley, Dodson and the family of slain Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, whose name Cummings could not get right at least twice during yesterday’s hearing.

Using "Stimulus" funding, Attorney General Eric Holder -- almost certainly with the assent of President Obama -- orchestrated the sale of weapons to Mexican drug gangs that resulted in the deaths of American law enforcement officials.

Congressional investigators claim U.S. officials allowed American gun stores to sell weapons in bulk to Mexican buyers in order to track the shipments and identify the ringleaders, known as "Operation Fast and Furious" under "Project Gunrunner."

Weapons from those sales were found at the scene of two separate attacks on U.S. agents, and Congress wants to know if they were used specifically in the deaths of Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent Jaime Zapata or Customs and Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, claims the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is conducting a cover-up in its refusal to hand over documents and witnesses to congressional investigators.

Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he will block President Barack Obama's nominees from confirmation until he gets the documents he needs for his panel's investigation... The efforts by Grassley and Issa have won bipartisan support from Texas lawmakers frustrated with the lack of information about the death of Zapata coming from the administration.

...Zapata, a Brownsville native, was working in Laredo as an ICE agent before he was transferred to Mexico to serve as a U.S. government consultant to the Mexican military's battle against the cartels... He was killed Feb. 15, and agent Victor Avila was wounded, when Los Zetas cartel members shot the agents in their SUV during an attempted car jacking along the highway between Mexico City and San Luis Potosi... The Zapata family wants more information about the death of their son.

Consider this DNC press release only the most recent attempt to absolve the Obama administration from the deaths associated with Gunrunner.

News flash for the drones: it won't work.


Brian Bakst of the AP auditions for SNL

Bakst must have a Fear Bachmann sticker on his Prius.

Her unpredictable edge was on display during Monday night's GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire when, out of the blue, she announced that she had filed papers to be an official candidate for the Republican nomination.

"I do what I say and I say what I mean and I don't change what I do based on a political wind or desire to necessarily move up the next ladder," Bachmann told The Associated Press this spring in an interview in which she stressed her eagerness to "take on not only the opposing party but my own party as well to do what I think is right."

Known for piercing and sometimes inaccurate commentary, she regularly aggravates political foes and provides ample fodder to late-night comics. She once falsely claimed taxpayers would be stuck with a $200 million per day tab for Democratic President Barack Obama's trip to India. She mistakenly identified New Hampshire as the site of the Revolutionary War's opening shots. (That key American moment occurred in Massachusetts.)

Gee, Brian.

And all this time, I thought President Obama's various promises, like:

• "If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan"

• "My plan will save a typical family up to $2,500 on premiums by bringing the health care system into the 21st century"

• "My plan reduces the budget deficit"

...would receive at least a cursory review from legacy media.

But nooooooooo... that would be too much to expect. After all, there could be a rotational career opportunity into the Democrat Party.


The benefits of keeping the UAW out of your auto company: Zero layoffs. Zero strikes. Zero health care premiums. Zero pay cuts.

When it comes to fighting unionization, Subaru's story is an instructive one.

In its 22-year history—a period that has spanned three recessions, a global financial crisis, massive U.S. auto bankruptcies, and the departure of Isuzu, a founding partner, from the operation—SIA has rolled out more than 3 million vehicles and has never resorted to layoffs. Instead, it's given workers a wage increase every year of its operation. Staffers also enjoy premium-free health care, abundant overtime ($15,000 each, on average, in 2010), paid volunteer time, financial counseling, and the ability to earn a Purdue University degree on-site—all in a state that has lost 46,000 auto jobs and suffered multiple plant foreclosures in the past decade.

...To score a cherished "associate" position at the factory—there's a 10-1 ratio of applicants to openings—would-be employees are expected to put in long hours learning and practicing SIA's low-impact manufacturing. That means scrutinizing every byproduct, from welding slag to plastic wrap, for savings. And obsessively slicing seconds off assembly procedures. And a willingness to work whole months of six-day shifts, and likely years on the graveyard shift, while resisting the siren call of unionization. (The United Auto Workers has failed three times to organize the plant's workers.)...

As an aside, congratulations to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker: the Wisconsin Supreme Court just upheld the collective bargaining reform bill. And don't look know, but similar measures are coming to states like... Massachusetts.

That's gonna leave a mark.


Linked by: Ace o' Spades, MRC TV and Maggie's Farm. Thanks!

CNN Shows Everyone its Weiner

Reason #9,036 CNN has an audience roughly the size of Skagway:

BEFORE
The mostly staff-free GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said recently he thinks lawmakers should insist in the debt ceiling talks that funding be cut for the National Labor Relations Board...

...Freshman GOP Sen. Marco Rubio proffered a long list of demands that he wants met before he would support a debt ceiling increase [including] entitlement reform, tax reform, discretionary spending cuts and a balanced budget amendment... Putting aside for the moment that realistically speaking such a list is too large to be accomplished in a few months, Rubio then added an entirely extraneous demand: overhaul the regulatory structure...

AFTER
...Former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin, who may or may not run for president, has said she would never vote to raise the debt ceiling because she -- incorrectly -- believes that doing so is just a sop for big spenders...

The CNN "reporter" named "Jeanne Sahadi" -- if that is her real name -- really knows how to play it down the middle, eh?


Hat tip: Gabriel Malor.

Larwyn's Linx: Bachmann, Gingrich, and Romney. Oh My!

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

Bachmann, Gingrich, and Romney. Oh My!: RS
Good Night For Romney, Bachmann; Awful One for Pawlenty: Cmmntry
Obama Faces More Voter Anxiety, Less Excitement: CNS

DNC, Obama Hold Fundraising Event at White House: GWP
Bracing for the Dumpster Dives: JOM
Michele Bachmann: hot photos from her vacation on the beach: Knight

Corrupt Obamacare Waivers are Like a Scene from Atlas Shrugged: Cato
'Gunwalker' under fire: PJM
Obama Forming New Commission to Cut Government Waste: Malkin

Economy

The Obama Economy: Worst Since the Depression: WS
Where I Break Out Some Math on Debbie Wasserman-Schultz: Sundries
Priced in gold, median house price down 80% in past decade: ZH

Obama Calls $80B for 225K Jobs ($355K per job) a Success: GWP
Could it happen here?: BigPicture
S&P slashes Greece debt rating: lowest in world: WSJ

After 28 Mos. of 'Stimulus', 1.9MM Fewer People Have Jobs: CNS
Another Disastrous Month: May Budget Deficit $57B: VR
AP: States Have $1.1T In Unfunded Pension, Health Obligations: WZ

Climate & Energy

Obama Visits NC Plant That Used $39MM Stimulus to Make $127 Light Bulbs and Pays CEO $4.2MM: VAright
Power Play: Daily Bayonet
British Study: Electric Cars Not So Green: Malkin

Media

WaPo's ‘Glossary of Islamic terms' omits jihad: …and kufr, caliphate, dar al harb, mujahideen, taqiyaa, ...: Creeping
Obama appointee says Koran, Islam influenced Founding Fathers; writing book on sharia in US courts: Creeping
NYT Gets Into PR Battle With HuffPo Over Traffic Numbers: Insider

Breaking the Weinergate Stalemate: Driscoll
The Weiner Distraction: PJM
Narcissism: It’s All The Rage…: Camp of the Saints

Smackdown! Sorkin vs Taibbi: BigPicture
Palin Emails Revelation: Tons Of Hate Emails And Death Threats: RWN
Ben Smith--The President's Man at Politico: Hewitt

World

Panetta: Obama Can Unilaterally Use Military to Protect ‘National Interests’: CNS
Obama in Puerto Rico: How Will His ‘PR’ Stunt Play Out?: PJM
Roubini Says a ‘Perfect Storm’ May Converge on the Global Economy in 2013: Bloomberg

Why Panetta? Is Slashing Defense the Real End Game Here?: NoisyRoom
"Praise Allah. I’m going to kill the world" -- Muslim woman makes bomb threat on D.C. Metro: JihadWatch
Eight Jet Engines Stolen From Israeli AFB: DefTech

LulzSec Hacks Senate Server, Asks Rhetorically "Is This An Act Of War, Gentlemen?": ZH
Israel’s Newly Discovered Oil Reserves Could Rival Saudi Arabia’s: WZ
Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Warns Of 'American-Zionist' Conspiracy: 'Allah Warned Us The Tricks Of The Jews': WZ

SciTech

Facebook IPO Valuation Could Top $100 Billion: Sources: Yahoo!
Why Groupon Is Poised For Collapse: TechCrunch
It’s A Facebook World … Other Social Networks Just Live In It: TechCrunch

Google Leaves Shareholders in Dark About ‘Green’ Investments: PJM
Sonic.net launching 1Gbps fiber-to-home Internet for $70 per month: ZDNet
Secrets of Area 51: History, technology, and controversy: CNet

Cornucopia

Will Weinergate Blow “President” Hillary's “Cover?”: Uncoverage
Weiner Seeks TWEETment: SHN
The Tailor: YouTube

Image: Adapted from AP photo by Jim Cole.
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: TrendingRight.com

Monday, June 13, 2011

Allen West: Obama is General Custer at Our Economic Little Big Horn

If there's a Congressional award for being blunt and truthful, Rep. Allen West has my vote.

We still have no definitive plan for the debt limit coming from the Obama Administration, regardless of the “negotiations” being led by Vice President Joe Biden...

...When President Obama stood with German leader Angela Merkel and stated that he was not concerned about a double dip recession, that made me think the statement would be similar to General George Custer stating to the Troopers of the 7th Calvary at Little Big Horn, “Hey, nothing to worry about.”

One needs only to look at the economic indicators of job growth, quite anemic to say the least, and the fact that the Dow Jones had its sixth straight week of negative slide. These are the first six straight weeks since 2002.

This month the Federal Reserve’s Quantitative Easing (QE II) will come to an end. It means that the federal government has been monetarizing our debt by buying its own treasury bonds, printing more money, and lowering interest rates to rock bottom, yet these steps have not produced any sustainable improvements.

We could seriously be on the verge of an inflationary fiscal environment. And if anyone from the Obama Administration recommends increased Keynesian style stimulus spending, well, let us go back and look at how many stimulus packages Japan initiated.

We are so not out of the woods, and last year’s “Summer of Recovery,” has now turned into the possibility of a dubious and dastardly double dip recession.

I think West is being optimistic. We've never left the economic downturn.

And the administration's devotion to crony capitalism and job-destroying policies are keeping us in the muck and mire.


He really, really doesn't feel your pain

If the 72 rounds of golf and eleven weekends in a row of hitting the links hasn't convinced you, perhaps this will.

It's very reassuring to see the president cracking jokes about his anemic economic record. Jobless Americans will surely be rolling in the aisles of unemployment offices nationwide, thankful in the knowledge we have such a steady hand in the White House.

President Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness met today in Durham, NC at Cree Inc., a company that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting. One of the Council's recommendations to President Obama was to streamline the federal permit process for construction and infrastructure projects. It was explained to Obama that the permitting process can delay projects for "months to years ... and in many cases even cause projects to be abandoned ... I'm sure that when you implemented the Recovery Act your staff briefed you on many of these challenges." At this point, Obama smiled and interjected, "Shovel-ready was not as ... uh .. shovel-ready as we expected." The Council, led by GE's Jeffrey Immelt, erupted in laughter.


Erupted in laughter. We'll see who's laughing come November 2012.

After he was done yukking it up, Obama flew our our dime down to Miami for a trio of fundraisers...

And if you really want to crack up, Pimco chief Bill Gross has another great one-liner: "When adding in all of the money owed to cover future liabilities in entitlement programs the US is actually in worse financial shape than Greece and other debt-laden European countries."

Maybe our politicians could take a cue from the Greek parliament, which appears to be preparing evacuation tunnels for the moment on Wednesday when 100,000 public sector workers find out they're toast.


President Obama advises Anthony Weiner: "If I was in your shoes, I'd be..." "Leaving! What a good idea!"

The official television outlet of the Democrat National Committee aired an exclusive interview with the Golfer-in-Chief, who took time from his busy schedule to lay down a riff on Weinergate. Oh, and jobs.

In an exclusive interview with TODAY’s Ann Curry that will air on Tuesday’s show, President Barack Obama said that if he were Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner right now, he would resign in the wake of the scandal in which Weiner admitted to sending explicit photos of himself to women online.

“I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign,’’ Obama told Curry.

Weiner has been the talk of the nation since he was caught sending lewd photos of himself to various women on multiple social media platforms, prompting the head of the Democratic National Party to call for him to step down and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi to demand an ethics committee investigation.

“When you get to the point where, because of various personal distractions, you can't serve as effectively as you need to, at the time when people are worrying about jobs, and their mortgages, and paying the bills — then you should probably step back,’’ Obama said... [adding] that what Weiner did was “highly inappropriate’’ and that he has “embarrassed himself” and his wife and family, but said it will ultimately come down to a decision by Weiner and his constituents as to whether he will continue in office.

While the President understands why the scandal has generated so much attention, he told Curry that it was behind joblessness, the economy and Afghanistan on his radar right now... “I am absolutely confident that we can move forward on a plan that gets our debt under control, gets our deficit under control, but also makes sure that we're making the investments in the future that are going to help us put people back to work.’’

Thanks to Mark Levin, we can easily deconstruct this psychobabble.

When Obama says the word investments, he means more spending and higher taxes. Can anyone ask the president what happened to the $6.4 trillion of new debt investments President Obama will have added to America's tab in four short years in office, an increase of 60% over the entire debt America rang up in 230-odd years?

And when says in the future, he means never. None of this central planning, authoritarian, Soviet-style, centralized suppression of the free market can work, will work, or has ever worked throughout human history.

That is why Obama must always look to the future: to paint an idyllic image for drones and sycophants who are too dimwitted to realize that the Utopia he describes is but a socialist mirage. And that is why he also never takes responsibility for his mistakes: anything that's gone wrong in the past is the fault of prior administrations, the weather, anything but Obama himself.

Truth be told, all that lies in the future under this president is misery. Of that there can be no doubt.


Larwyn's Linx: An American Descent Into Hell

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

An American Descent Into Hell: NoisyRoom
Fishing For Moby Dick With A Cane Pole: No Sheeples
Pawlenty Debuts New Term: Obamneycare: Malkin

Justice Scalia Rips Lawmakers as Sleepy and Lazy: Blaze
Report: Weiner finally considering resignation: WZ
Chicago: letting bad cops slide while harrassing citizens: HuffPo

Bachmann: ‘I Bring von Mises’ to the Beach: NRO
NOW Backs Weiner, Gives Him "Benefit Of The Doubt”: WZ
CNN: Americans oppose Obamacare by 17 points: WS

Economy

Pick up the Darned Phone: Blumer
40,000 MN workers get layoff notices: LUR
Sino Forests – some thoughts: Bronte

Senator Seeking Answers on NLRB’s Attack on Boeing: RWN
Obama to discuss jobs at company shifting focus to China: DC
Stopping Section 8/HUD Housing in Cincinnati: VirtRep

Jim Rogers: Financial crisis of 2008 was just a warm-up: EconCol
Will CME Move out of Illinois?: P&F
How NBA Owners Lost $300 Million this Year: RefBrok

Climate & Energy

Thanks To Obama’s Radical Environmental Regulations Electricity Rates Expected To Jump 40% – 60%: WZ
Crony Capitalism and Obama's Anti-Coal Crusade: AT
The Ultimate Bird-Shredder Fail: CBullitt

Media

Weiner Nation: Kuhner
Am I The Only One Who Anthony Weiner Didn't D***-Dial?: Ace
The Sarah Palin I Know: Ziegler

My Chat With Gennette Cordova: Patterico
The Democrats/MSM’s Bad Weekend in three screen shots: DTG
Weiner Sexts: Less Sex, More Ego: Forbes

Viva the New American Revolution: PJM
So it begins: Interviewed on MSNBC, Dick Durbin admits that this is now Barack Obama’s economy: IHTM
Ann Coulter Smacks Down Arrogant Eliot Spitzer: 'What Business Have You Run?': NB

World

Another “WTF” Obama Foreign Policy Moment: Palin
Egypt: Cleric Explains It Is Ok To Take Non-Muslim Women And Children As Slaves: WZ
UK: Police “Covered Up” Violent Campaign To “Islamicize” Area Of London: WZ

Obama gives Netanyahu ultimatum on resuming talks: Blaze
Giving Away the Farm: White House freely giving Russia sensitive missile defense information: Woolsey
ObamaCare Preview: Body of hospital patient left to die in corridor, ignored for hours--finally dragged away: BlogProf

SciTech

Report: Facebook user growth slowing: CNet
Microsoft NUAds: Engage With Xbox Kinect Game Ads Through Voice, Gestures: TechCrunch
Chevy Taking Nationwide Orders For ’12 Volt: CBS Detroit

Cornucopia

It's Pentecost: Adrienne
Tweet This: Anthony Weiner Action Figure Coming Soon: POH Diaries
You're a peein': iOTW

Image: Internet k-hole (NSFW)
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: TrendingRight.com

QOTD: "Mr. Weiner’s actions are unacceptable for a public representative. His behavior was reckless, demonstrating an appalling lack of judgment. It also showed contempt for his constituents. He disgraced his office, violated his congressional oath to uphold the highest ethical standards and deliberately lied to his constituents and the electorate. Moreover, several messages reveal that he sought to coach a woman into lying about the scandal - including possibly offering the use of his staff and office resources. This would constitute clear abuse of power and misuse of taxpayer dollars...

...The problem is that Weinergate goes to the heart of the Democrats’ cultural liberalism. Try as they might to disown him, he embodies the party’s moral rot. Mr. Weiner is a progressive crusader. He has championed almost every secular leftist cause: socialized medicine, government day care, welfare, high taxes, abortion rights, homosexual marriage, gays in the military, sex education in schools and a European-style nanny state. In other words, he peddles sex and socialism - the twin pillars of progressivism." --Jeffrey T. Kuhner, "Weiner Nation"