Demotivator - Friday, January 1, 2010

For Christmas, my daughter got me the Demotivator calendar from despair.com. Each month has a "demotivating" slogan, with daily demotivating tidbits. The slogan for January: "Economics - The science of explaining tomorrow why the predictions you made yesterday didn't come true today."

Here is the first daily posting for January 1, 2010:

* It's New Year's Day and It's Epoch! (1970)

* Edwin Hubble announces the existence of other galaxies. Alien species thriled to finally be legitimized. (1925)

Elections Count

A recent Michael Medved column underlines something important -- every vote counts. Many voters claim that they are disgusted with the two major parties, and vote for a third party candidate. That's exactly what happened in Minnesota. Let's look at the consequences.

* Nearly 500,000 Minnesota voters cast their votes for third-party candidates in the 2008 US Senate Race.
* Republican Norm Coleman won the initial count by 215 votes (out of three million votes cast.) The small margin of victory triggered an automatic recount. In the recount, Democrat Al Franken won by just over 300 votes.
* Al Franken's election gave Democrats 60 Senators -- enough to override Republican filibusters.
* Obama's massive healthcare plan passed the Senate by a count of 60-40, a strict partyline vote.

Essentially, a difference of 500 Minnesota voters in the 2008 US Senate election -- .1% of those who threw away their votes on third-party candidates -- could have stopped the Democrat healthcare legislation. Elections -- and your vote -- count. And the two major parties are demonstrably not the same.

The Sunshine Condiment

From "The Proper Mustard," the newsletter of The Mustard Museum.

FIVE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

1. I will use mustard every day.
2. I will be bold and try mustard on all kinds of foods.
3. I will smile whenever I eat mustard - life's too important to be angry when eating the sunshine condiment.
4. I will be more tolerant of ketchup eaters.
5. I will share my mustards with others.

How to Purchase a Country

The Democrat-dominated Senate passed its version of healthcare legislation over this last weekend, with Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska providing the 60th "yes" vote. An Associated Press story provides samples of earmarks ("pork") Senators were given for their votes:

* Nelson was able to exempt Nebraska from having to bear any of the added Medicaid expenses the legislation imposes on states. (This maneuver keeps the federal cost of the legislation down by passing it on to the states. Taxpayers still foot the bill.) This means that all taxpayers pay for Nelson's vote. Vermont (represented by Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy and Independent Bernie Sanders) and Massachusetts (represented by Democrats John Kerry and Paul G. Kirk,) received similar special "aid" from the legislation.

* Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana,) chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, had language inserted that provided 2,900 citizens of a small Montana town "special" access to Medicare.

* Senator Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana) negotiated $100 million in extra aid to Louisiana in exchange for her vote.

* Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida) tailored a special provision that grandfathered in hundreds of thousands of Florida seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage who would have otherwise lost coverage.

* Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticutt) engineered $100 million for a hospital that's being built by the University of Connecticutt.

Other Democrat special interest groups received special consideration.

As Otto von Bismarck said, "Laws are like sausages. It is better not to see them being made." Fifty-eight Democrats and two Independents sold the American healthcare system -- and the lives of our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren -- for the political equivalent of a blue-light special.

Our Version of M. Moore

Journalist, documentarian and film maker Phelim McAleer has suddenly become a thorn in the global warming alarmists' side. And they're not handling it well. In fact, they're resorting to physical force to silence him.



And here's what "the debate is over" means to Al Gore.



This whole climate change conference in Copenhagen has proven very embarrassing for Gore. Go, Karma!

Karma Kicks Gore in the Rear

"Inconvenient truth for Al Gore as his North Pole sums don't add up" blared the headline on a (UK) Times Online news article. Gore finally got called down on one of his bogus claims -- by the scientist whose research he was referencing.

From the article: "Mr Gore, speaking at the Copenhagen climate change summit, stated the latest research showed that the Arctic could be completely ice-free in five years.

In his speech, Mr Gore told the conference: “These figures are fresh. Some of the models suggest to Dr [Wieslav] Maslowski that there is a 75 per cent chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice-free within five to seven years.”

However, the climatologist whose work Mr Gore was relying upon dropped the former Vice-President in the water with an icy blast.

“It’s unclear to me how this figure was arrived at,” Dr Maslowski said. “I would never try to estimate likelihood at anything as exact as this.”

Mr Gore’s office later admitted that the 75 per cent figure was one used by Dr Maslowksi as a “ballpark figure” several years ago in a conversation with Mr Gore."

Just How Serious Is Climate Change?

Well, you could say "it depends."

This video by Americans for Prosperity shows what attendees at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen are doing to save the planet from manmade global warmng.

Obama's Ideas on Economics

There has never been a secret about Barack Obama's economic philosophy and intended policies. The following is gleaned from a column by Austin Hill.

Before being elected president, Obama campaigned on, and promised

- to raise taxes on oil companies to get even with them for their so-called “windfall profits;”
- to “reign in” executive salaries;
- to raise the capital gains tax rate;
- to “crack down” on both the insurance, and pharmaceutical industries;
- to raise income tax rates on high-income earners
- to make both healthcare, and a college education, “universal.”

Since becoming President, Barack Obama has,

- alleged that doctors sometimes perform unnecessary procedures merely for the sake of enhancing their salaries;
- sought greater ability for his administration to seize private banks;
- engaged in a public campaign of maligning the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ;
- forced Chrysler into a bankruptcy that defied both bankruptcy law and accounting rules. (Discussed earlier here and here);
- ordered his “Executive Compensation Czar” to mandate anywhere from 50 to 90% salary cuts for executives of bailout-receiving companies

Obama has now been in office nearly a year. His policies (some of which he began influencing before taking office) have had time to begin taking effect. Regardless of what the previous administration might have gotten him into, he is the President, with a Democrat Congress to support and implement his policies.

Recently, the unemployment rate "fell" to 10%. (From 10.2%, it might be noted; economists say the change is statistically neglible. The unemplyment rate when Obama took office was 7.2%) Gold is at an all-time high against the dollar, indicating that inflation may be rearing its ugly head.

Draw your own conclusions. Do Obama's policies appear as though they are designed to inspire confidence in the economy? If you were a business owner, would you borrow money to expand your business, with hopes of increasing your income?

Unfortunately, Obama's policies may be effectively accomplishing the goals of his underlying philosophy -- an increased dependence on, and the resulting increase in the power of, the federal government.

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too - Part XIX

George Will, in his latest column regarding Obama and Afghanistan:

"Obama's second new Afghanistan policy in less than nine months strikingly resembles his predecessor's plan for Iraq, which was: As Iraq's security forces stand up, U.S. forces will stand down."





(Note: yes, I realize I'm hitting the OPSSS,T pretty hard lately. What can I say? More other people are saying smart things.)

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too - Part XVIII

In the wake of the revelations of fraud and mafia-like machinations by scientists selling the idea of manmade global warming, Dr. Ian Pilmer had a pithy observation in a UK news story about him:

“If you have to argue your science by using fraud, your science is not valid.”

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too - Part XVII

From a recent column by economist Thomas Sowell:

Since this is an era when many people are concerned about "fairness" and "social justice," what is your "fair share" of what someone else has worked for?

Obama's Untold Stories

According to a recent article in Politico, politicians live and die by storylines. Here are seven storylines that Obama and his team don't want the public to absorb:

1. Obama thinks he's playing with Monopoly money.
2. Obama, with his background in academia, has no connection with real people.
3. Obama believes in (and uses) Chicago-style political thuggery.
4. Obama has no real moral courage.
5. Obama sees America as another pleasant country on the U.N. roll call, somewhere between Albania and Zimbabwe.
6. Obama has no more political power -- and possibly less -- than Nancy Pelosi.
7. Obama is in love with the man in the mirror.

Healthcare and the States

A quick update to my post on November 24 regarding Democrat healthcare reform legislation. According to the latest column.by Dick Morris, the extra cost that will be incurred by Texans -- read "higher taxes required so that Democrat can claim a lower cost for their legislation" -- is estimated to be $2.8 billion. Don't fool yourself into believing that a state income tax is not on the horizon if this happens.

How does it feel knowing that we Texans will pay nearly three billion dollars so that Democrats can pay back their political special interest groups?

Global Warming Fraud Exposed

Okay, I wanted to let this story mature a bit before I commented on it. In a nutshell: a hacker obtained e-mails and other documents from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit – a world-renowned climate change research center.

The unguarded e-mails suggest a couple of things. First, that global warming alarmist scientists around the world manipulated data to support their contention that mankind is responsible for global warming which result in global disaster. One e-mail refers to a “trick” being employed to massage temperature statistics to “hide the decline” (in global temperature.)

Other documents indicate a conspiracy to intimidate and/or blackmail editors at science journals into refusing to publish articles from global warming skeptics. The point that skeptics are "not published enough" in scientific journals has been one of the main arguments made by global warming alarmists. One excerpt:

“This was the danger of always criticising the skeptics for not publishing in the “peer-reviewed literature”. Obviously, they found a solution to that–take over a journal! So what do we do about this? I think we have to stop considering “Climate Research” as a legitimate peer-reviewed journal. Perhaps we should encourage our colleagues in the climate research community to no longer submit to, or cite papers in, this journal. We would also need to consider what we tell or request of our more reasonable colleagues who currently sit on the editorial board…What do others think?”

“I will be emailing the journal to tell them I’m having nothing more to do with it until they rid themselves of this troublesome editor.”“It results from this journal having a number of editors. The responsible one for this is a well-known skeptic in NZ. He has let a few papers through by Michaels and Gray in the past. I’ve had words with Hans von Storch about this, but got nowhere. Another thing to discuss in Nice !”

One article asks if this is "the final nail in the coffin of Anthropogenic Global Warming." Don't count on it. Once politicians get a whiff of a chance to control and tax citizens, it's hard to get them to face reason. What should be an earthquake in the scientific world will likely not get much play in the mainstream media.

More Democrat Deception

In a recent column, Dick Morris discusses healthcare legislation.

The Democrat healthcare legislation in both the House and Senate have been promised to us as providing healthcare to more people "without raising your (middle class) taxes." (Supposedly rich people are footing the bill.) Everything about this legislation smells to high heaven, but Democrats are using a couple of tricks to fool the public.

One trick they are using is to transfer part of the cost to states. Both the House and the Senate bills require that states cover a larger percentage of their people under Medicaid. The House bill requires states to give Medicaid to those whose incomes are less than 150 percent of the poverty level; the Senate version is 125 percent. For most states, this means covering more people.

California, for example, which only covers families earning up to 100 percent of the poverty level, would have to increase its Medicaid spending on poor people by 50 percent under the House version. The federal legislation does not provide funds to cover the entire increase, so what will states have to do to pay for the shortfall? Increase taxes. Washington DC politicians will get the credit for something state governors have to pay the political price for.

The other trick Democrats are using is to push actual implementation of the healthcare legislation back to 2013 (2014 in the Harry Reid Senate version.) Of course, this lets Obama run for reelection before the actual effects of the legislation are felt. More important than that, however, is the fact that taxes to pay for the healthcare will be increased right away.

This trick dilutes the "ten year cost" of the legislation which the Congressional Budget Office uses to calculate a bill's budget impact. If you get money for four years without any expenses, it makes any plan look pretty good, even if the way Democrats are explaining the plan is inaccurate. So any numbers we are told regarding the "budget neutralness" of the legislation are based on deception.
John McCain compared it to buying a house and making mortgage payments for four years before you can move in.

As alarmists do with global warming propaganda, Democrats are deceiving the public. That deception should be the topic of debate before anyone ever considers the legislation.

The Wacky Media

The Associated Press ran a story about a loophole in the huge tax increases on tobacco that Congress passed last spring. Apparently, the tax on "roll your own" tobacco was increased from $1.10 to $24.78 a pound. The loophole is that pipe tobacco, similar in texture and consistency, was spared the monster increase, taxed at a mere $2.83 a pound. Tobacco companies, being both alert and wily, pulled the "roll your own" tobacco off the shelves, repackaged it as "pipe tobacco" and put it back on the shelves, where smokers could buy it without the onerous tax.

Here's where the AP threw me: "Tobacco companies say they're just trying to find a legal way to stay afloat after being saddled with an enormous tax increase. But both the Obama administration and some in Congress say they'll try to come up with a distinction between the tobacco types, closing a loophole that could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year."

That last phrase is odd. The loophole is actually saving taxpayers (i.e., smokers) hundreds of millions of dollars a year. They don't have to pay an exorbitant price (tax) for tobacco. The only entity that it's "costing" money is the government and, by extension, politicians. What's "costing" taxpayers is those same politicians spending money like drunken sailors. Unfortunately, the AP doesn't approach subjects with that outlook.

Taking America Down

It's pretty clear from his actions while in office that Barack Obama believes that America got too big for its britches while George Bush was in office. If we consider the hypothesis that his goal is to take America down a notch -- in all possible ways -- then his continued apologies for America's actions, his weakening of our intelligence network, his weakening of the missile shield in eastern Europe and his latest faux pas, bowing to the emperor of Japan, all make sense. His efforts to lower America's reputation and standing in the world are consistent with the idea that Barack Obama, along with a good many other Liberals in the Democrat Party, want America to become subservient to international powers.

Here is Obama's behavior compared with that of other world leaders:

Interesting Thoughts

A twofer:

In his column "Fox Fever -- The Latest Pandemic" Larry Elder gives a bit of perspective on the supposed Conservative bias at Fox News.

In her column "Election 2009: Change I Can Believe In!" Ann Coulter makes a pithy observation: "...Conservatives are more popular than Republicans. By contrast, Liberals are less popular than Democrats. When Conservatives take control of the Republican Party, Republicans win. When Liberals take control of the Democratic Party, Democrats end up out of power for eight to 12 years."

The Sound of Distant Drums

Mirabile dictu, the Yahoo main page displays a headline of "What If Bush Had Done That?" with a link to the story on Politico.

The story's lead:

"A four-hour stop in New Orleans, on his way to a $3 million fundraiser.
Snubbing the Dalai Lama.
Signing off on a secret deal with drug makers.
Freezing out a TV network.
Doing more fundraisers than the last president. More golf, too.
President Barack Obama has done all of those things — and more.

What’s remarkable is what hasn’t happened. These episodes haven’t become metaphors for Obama’s personal and political character — or consuming controversies that sidetracked the rest of his agenda."

Yahoo has been an ardent anti-Bush, anti-Republican, pro-Obama website for a long time. The MSM may finally be coming to grips with the idea that they bought a pig in a poke when they backed (and covered for) Obama for president. We can only hope.

Are We All Crazy?

A disturbing presentation (at least part of one) courtesy of TT:

Bought and Paid For

From the Associated Press: GOP's Snowe Will Vote for Democratic Health Bill "WASHINGTON – Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe broke with her party Tuesday and said she will vote for a Democratic health care bill, handing President Barack Obama a much-sought boost in his quest to expand access to medical coverage to all Americans...."

Note: The Democrat legislation will still leave 20+ million Americans without insurance coverage. Sounds like Snowe held out for a better price.

Mr. Gore Doesn't Like Questions...

...at least questions that challenge him. Note his deft use of the political two-step to avoid answering the question.





Gore and others like him (i.e., Democrats and other Liberals) who make claims such as he makes should have to answer for their methods before any debate over the details of their argument. Why is Gore unwilling to engage in a real debate on the subject? (The answer, of course, is that his argument is weak, and demagoguing the issue is the only way he can influence legislation and continue to profit from his fear-mongering.) As I've written before, Al Gore and others intend to profit from global warning alarmism. It always helps to track the money trail.

By the way, Gore's claim that the court ruled in his favor is pretty exaggerated. The British court ruled that the film "violated laws barring the promotion of partisan political views in the classroom" and could only be "shown on the condition that it is accompanied by guidance notes to balance Gore's 'one-sided' views."

Disgust Set In

Yeah, I know it's been three weeks since my last post. I've tried to find a place to stop and comment about all of the political shenanigans Obama, Reid, Pelosi et al have been up to, but it didn't stop long enough for me to take inventory. Due to popular demand, I figured I'd better put something in.

This morning I inflicted a rant on the missiz, and realized halfway through that the reason I started this blog was to keep from doing that. This morning's rant was about the completely deceitful tactics the Democrats have been using, and my complete mystification that they have any credibility left.

Consider: All of the to-do about the urgency for "healthcare reform" would lead you to believe that, if passed, it will immediately go into effect. Not so. The current legislation being bandied about won't go into effect until 2013 -- after the next presidential election. Clearly they don't want the conditions that most experts predict -- long lines, rationing, increaed government debt, etc. -- to affect Obama's chances at reelection. (Nor that of Democrat congressmen also up for reelection that year.)

Consider: Republicans have proposed amendments to the Democrat plan. One would insert language that expressly prhibits using government funds for abortions. The Democrats refused. Nonetheless they loudly proclaim that abortions are not covered by their plan. Yet abortions are not prohibited in the proposed legislation. They will be covered by default. Similarly, Democrats swear that illegal aliens will not be able to receive the proposed benefits, and show language saying so. Yet when Republicans proposed language requiring proof of citizenship for coverage, Democrats rejected it. There is no mechanism to identify the citizenship status of applicants for the proposed benefits.

Consider: The White House has begun attacking Fox News in the official White House blog. The taxpayer-funded White House blog. In case you don't remember civics from high school, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits governmental infringements of the freedom of the press. Singling out a particular news organization seems to come pretty close. And we're paying for it.

Consider: The so-called "savings" that Democrats claim will happen under their proposed healthcare legislation depends in large part on dumping more responsibility on individual state Medicaid plans. The states will simply have to pay more in coverage. (And each state's citizens, of course.) All of the states except Nevada, that is -- Senate Majority Leader and Democrat Senator from Nevada Harry Reid inserted an exemption for his home state. So the Democrats' definition of savings means that they dump their liabilities on someone else and taxpayers still pick up the tab.

When the politicians are this blatantly deceitful, yet still hold power -- well, the disgust just overpowers me sometimes. Too disgusted to blog about it, but I'll try to do better.

Would You Buy a Used Car from this Man?

Barack Obama made a media blitz this past weekend, appearing on several television shows to tout his healthcare plan. Among the interesting things that came out of his mouth was the claim that mandatory medical coverage -- part of the legislation being considered in Congress -- does not constitute a "tax." Some of Obama's promises during his presidential campaign were 1) He did not want mandatory coverage as part of a healthcare plan, and 2) He would not raise taxes on the middle class.

Obama made his claims this weekend, even though there is a fine (payable to the government) for not having coverage; the fine would be collected by the Internal Revenue Service, and it is called a tax in both versions of the bills being considered in the House and the Senate. In name and in fact, it is a new tax on all Americans.

From a Yahoo News story: "For us to say that you've got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase," the president said. "What it's saying is...that we're not going to have other people carrying your burdens for you anymore. Right now everybody in America, just about, has to get auto insurance," Obama added. "Nobody considers that a tax increase." (Note: Unless you don't own a car and don't need the insurance. I guess this Harvard intellectual (as described by Liberals) thinks we'll overlook that point.)

My bigger issue is this -- how can a man retain a shred of credibility when making the easily-disproved and -refuted claims that Obama is making? Compulsory payments to the government, enforced by the IRS, constitute a tax, no matter what you call it. Call it a lie, a misrepresentation, a deception or anything else, and Obama's actions mean one thing. He is intentionally not telling Americans the truth.

What the Heck is Going On?

In case you haven't heard, one of the most popular presidential candidates of all time won the presidency last year, with the aid of a fawning, non-vetting media. His party (Democrat) controls both houses of Congress, to the point where they can ram through any legislation they want without a single Republican vote. They did just that with the "stimulus" bill earlier this year.

The Republicans are leaderless and impotent, with little support for the party nationwide. The media have continued their near unanimous worship of Obama.

• Yet Obama can't get his healthcare legislation passed.
• Forty-nine percent of Americans disapprove of Obama's job performance, up sharply since he took office. 52% disapprove of his ideas on healthcare.
• Obama was publicly called out in Congress by Republican Joe Wilson. Although the Democrats voted to censure Wilson based on their party strength, Wilson received over $1 million in donations to his campaign after his outburst.
• The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives voted to defund Obama's support group ACORN.

What the heck is going on? It can only be attributed to one thing -- the power of the tea parties, the townhall protests, and the massive anti-big government protest in Washington DC on September 12. The voices of angry American citizens have scared the crap out of politicians.

If for no other reason, our voices need to be raised even more. Politicians need to be afraid of the electorate. They must be reminded that their phony-baloney jobs depend on us. For the next thirteen months, America's citizens must be heard in Washington. The loudest message must be sent in November 2010.

What's the Last Thing That Made You Cry?

I'm not much of a cryer, but once in a while a movie can make me tear up. (When Jim Brown died in The Dirty Dozen was one of those moments. sniff.) But I've never had a television commercial affect me that way until I happened upon this one from Malaysia.

Oprah's Flash Mob

Okay, I'm not a big fan of either Oprah Winfrey or the Black Eyed Peas. Having said that, this is one of the coolest videos ever. For Oprah's 24th season opener, she had her show on the streets of Chicago. Without her knowledge 20,000 fans participated in the biggest choreographed dance ever (bigger than Ferris Bueller's parade, even.) It's not clear what's going on at first, since the crowd is staying pretty still. Watch for the girl in the blue shirt -- that's when the excitement starts. Oprah is shocked (worth watching the video for that alone.) At the end of this video they explain how they made it happen.

ACORN: The Real Story

Matthew Vadum wrote an exhaustive article on Obama's friendliest association, ACORN. In the article he details the organization's connections to communism, the Weather Underground (Obama's old friend William Ayers was a member) and Saul Alinsky. Vadum goes beyond ACORN's efforts at voter fraud, focusing his research on its dedication -- and increasingly successful efforts -- to destroying the American system.

A Very Special Edition of Other People Say Smart Things

One of the truly independent political writers around, Camille Paglia, has written a scathing column about Obama's administration, even going so far as to imply that his reelection in 2012 is already in danger. I normally disagree with Paglia about most things, but she often cuts through the noise like a siren. Although she is an Obama supporter, she remarkably hasn't lost the capacity for thought. Some of her more memorable quotes from today's column:

"...by late August even the liberal lemmings of the mainstream media, from CBS to CNN, had drastically altered their tone of reportage..."

"Who is naive enough to believe that Obama's plan would be deficit-neutral? Or that major cuts could be achieved without drastic rationing?"

"If Obama fails to win reelection, let the blame be first laid at the door of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who at a pivotal point threw gasoline on the flames by comparing angry American citizens to Nazis."

"An example of the provincial amateurism of current White House operations was the way the president's innocuous back-to-school pep talk got sandbagged by imbecilic support materials soliciting students to write fantasy letters to "help" the president (a coercive directive quickly withdrawn under pressure)."

"Democrats have increasingly become the party of an upper-middle-class professional elite, top-heavy with journalists, academics and lawyers (one reason for the hypocritical absence of tort reform in the healthcare bills)."

These are only a taste. Read the entire column, it's worth it.

Quips and Quotes

From a column by Kevin McCullough on why Dick Cheney is gaining in popularity while Barack Obama is losing it: "President Obama lives in a world that he desperately wishes existed. Vice President Cheney lives in the world that actually does."

From a column by Austin Hill on why many Americans object to Obama's scheduled speech to school children: "Perhaps most troubling about the President’s upcoming address to school kids is the accompanying curriculum provided by the U.S. Department of Education....For example, it is suggested that students in grades 7-12 should, before the President’s speech, write their responses to the following questions: “Why does President Obama want to speak with us today?” “How will he inspire us?” and “How will he challenge us?” ....notice that President Obama, himself -- not education, not the idea of becoming a learned person, but Barack Obama -- is the central theme of the questioning."

From a video produced by Demi Moore, a video which has been distributed and shown in some schools. The video features celebrities making promises and pledges. To the question of What's your pledge? some of the answers were: “To be a servant to our president,” says Demi Moore. “To be of service to Barack Obama,” says Anthony Kiedis. (Does there seem to be a common thread running through the propaganda that Obama and his worshipers are distributing?)

It may not be much longer until the rest of us are being burned at the stake as heretics.

Something You Might Have Missed

A recent column by Dennis Prager has a great title:

"The Bigger the Government, the Smaller the Citizen"

The Grandkids Can Eat Gruel

The Heritage Foundation has an interesting analysis of the Obama spending plans. You can read the article, but the picture packs quite a punch:

P.S. Remember that Congress actually determines government spending. Remember it especially well in next year's election.

Supernatural Diversity?

I'm glad students will be taught about traditional bloodsuckers without mentioning the Democrat Party.

WOW

From today's Drudge Report*:

Maybe Michelle shouldn't unpack everything just yet.

* The poll was taken down almost as soon as it was posted. At least it shows that Conservatives are online.

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too Part XVI

Regarding the matter of incentives -- tax an activity and you will get less of it; pay people for an activity and you will get more of it -- Terry Paulson had a great illustration in his column today:

"What if the next time you went to a department store, they locked the doors, identified the top 10% of the wealthiest customers and forced them to pay for the purchases of all of the other customers in the store. If you received free purchases, you’d be surprised and certainly happy. You’d probably come back with your friends! But what are the chances those wealthy clients would return? How long would it take until you were now the top 10% forced to pay the whole bill? Incentives matter and always will."

This is reminiscent of the "Ten Men at Dinner" parable.

Hell Freezes Over/Americans Defeat Obama

According to an Associated Press report, the Obama administration is ready to drop the government-run option as part of its healthcare proposal. Apparently the boisterous townhall meetings, which led to Democrats calling Americans a "mob," and their protests "phony," demonstrated to those same Democrats the power of the public. Sometimes these politicians have to be reminded who's the boss.

A recap of what Democrats think of Americans who protest against them:
Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer - "UnAmerican."
John Dingell - "KKK and white supremacists."
Democratic National Committee - "a sham."
Nancy Pelosi - "Astroturf." (A fake grassroots movement.)
Harry Reid - "evil-mongers."

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you today's Democrat Party.

Water, Water Everywhere

One of my concerns with our self-sufficient dream home has been our ability to be self-sufficient in potable water here on the arid plains. Well, my problem may be solved by the time I get around to actually building. I give you the Whisson Windmill, which collects water from the air:




This device has the potential to produce up to 2,000 gallons of water a day.

On the Other Hand

“I have not said that I was a single payer supporter.”– Barack Obama, at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire 8/11/09.

“I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care plan.”– Barack Obama, at a Senate campaign rally in 2003.

You can't say you weren't warned.

Refreshing

Last Sunday Tiger Woods won a golf tournament when his opponent, Padraig Harrington, triple-bogeyed after muffing some difficult shots. Woods was angry after the tournament because PGA official John Paramor put the two players on a timer after the 16th hole. Harrington rushed his shots and subsequently lost to Woods. Woods said he told Harrington after it was over, “I’m sorry that John got in the way of a great battle.”

When asked if he regretted making the issue personal by singling out the official, Woods said, “No. Because he’s the one who did it.”

It's kind of cool to hear an athlete stand behind what he said in an honest, open way.

How Obamacare Really Works

New York Times story: "White House Affirms Deal on Drug Cost"

Lead paragraph: "Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion."

In exchange for this deal with Obama, drug makers agree to sponsor commercials and other advertising supporting his healthcare plan. Quid pro quo.

To quote Jim Malone, "That's the Chicago way!"

Well, Of Course

From the Associated Press: "The Senate confirmed Sonia Sotomayor Thursday as the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court."

No mention of the fact that Democrats blocked the nomination of Hispanic Bush Supreme Court nominee Miguel Estrada in 2001 because he was Hispanic.

Inform On Your Friends and Neighbors

In the killing fields of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, the government used informers in each village to determine who was loyal. Those who were deemed not loyal enough were led to mass graves and beaten to death or buried alive. "Bullets are not to be wasted" was the cost-saving directive.
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The Obama White House is now asking informers to contact them with information that they consider "disloyal." The White House issued a memo.asking the public to inform the Obama administration of any "fishy" e-mails or blogs. Fishy, in this case, being anything critical of the Obama healthcare plan, which the White House characterizes as "disinformation." That's right, Obama's Chicago Political Machine is channeling Pol Pot.
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Luckily, at least one politician, Texas Senator John Cornyn, is confronting the Obama White House on this hideous new political tactic.
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The question is this: What are they going to do with the information? Suddenly, exercising my First Amendment rights feels like something the White House is prepared to punish. Is that what the President is supposed to do? And if their attitude is that a move like this is acceptable, what else do they have in mind for Americans?

The Natives are Getting Restless

In Austin...



In Pennsylvania...



In Setauket, NY...

Why So Serious?

How's That Stimulus Thing Working Out?

Associated Press: "Tax receipts are on pace to drop 18 percent this year, the biggest single-year decline since the Great Depression, while the federal deficit balloons to a record $1.8 trillion."

I don't suppose anyone in Congress has thought of maybe, oh, I don't know, cutting spending????

What Obama Really Means is....

Regardless of your stance on government-controlled healthcare ("socialized medicine") there's no denying what Obama has said, that he does not want to eliminate private insurance.

Well, sort of.



You can't say you weren't warned.

PUBLICITY STUNT*

* "an event staged to get public attention or for marketing purposes" - Dictionary.com

Yeah, Let's Put 'Em In Charge of Healthcare, Too

Headline: "Government to suspend 'cash for clunkers' program out of funding concerns"

Seems to me the Obama administration needs to hire Miss Cleo so they can get more accurate forecasting.

I Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

In a recent article in the Vancouver Sun, Australian geologist Ian Plimer is profiled, and his newest book, Heaven and Earth -- Global Warming: The Missing Science is introduced. Plimer is known primarily as an outspoken critic of the theory of manmade global warming. A few snippets from the article:

"Purging humankind of its supposed sins of environmental degradation has become a religion with a fanatical and often intolerant priesthood, especially among the First World urban elites."

"...anthropogenic global warming is little more than a con trick on the public perpetrated by fundamentalist environmentalists and callously adopted by politicians and government officials who love nothing more than an issue that causes public anxiety."

Hawkins Once More

John Hawkins has once again written a great column, this one titled "Seven Things That Would Be Different If McCain Had Beaten Obama." Very fair, and impressively credible analysis. The first paragraph of #7 was particularly insightful:

"Item #7: You'd be talking Republicans down off of ledges today: After the last four years of Bush, having another Republican President who paid little attention to the grassroots would have been incredibly demoralizing."

Hand, Meet Cookie Jar

"WASHINGTON – Despite their denials, influential Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd were told from the start they were getting VIP mortgage discounts from one of the nation's largest lenders, the official who handled their loans has told Congress in secret testimony."

This would be Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, by the way.

Read the rest of the AP story here. If you want to see something even more interesting, look at this.

On Communism and Healthcare

Bruce Bilosky has a great column today that addresses Communism and the proposed healthcare legislation in Congress. A couple of interesting tidbits:

"A business colleague of mine commented recently that he supported Communism. He stated it would be fine if he were at the top and thus in control of money and decisions. He mentioned Fidel Castro’s supposed $6 billion that he has in foreign bank accounts. This gentleman understands that not everyone has the same results under Communism."

"...refer to the July 15th editorial in Investor’s Business Daily which speaks to their reading of the bill. It only took them to page 16 to find a clause that would outlaw anyone from taking on a new private policy once the public option is established thus forcing everyone into government-run health care."

[Edit: That last claim, which seems so plausible, may or may not actually be the case. Page 16 (out of 1018 pages) of the House's healthcare legislation is written in such dense legalese that it can mean practically anything they want it to mean. So the claim of "outlawing new policies" is on the bubble of credibility at this point.]

[Edit #2: There now seems to be at least some merit to the claim. Fortune/CNNMoney.com stated in a recent column: "The employees who got their coverage before the law goes into effect can keep their plans, but once again, there's a catch. If the plan changes in any way -- by altering co-pays, deductibles, or even switching coverage for this or that drug -- the employee must drop out and shop through the [Government-run] exchange. Since these plans generally change their policies every year, it's likely that millions of employees will lose their plans in 12 months." So the needle moves slightly to the "credible" side.]

Riddle Me This

This morning I read a clever riddle that I don't remember seeing or hearing before. I didn't solve it, yet the answer is obvious, once you know it. (The sign of a good riddle.) Here's the riddle:

The man who made it doesn't want it.

The man who bought it doesn't need it.

The man who needs it doesn't know it.

What is it?

Highlight the next line to see the answer.
A coffin or casket

Things Our Kids Won't Know

Wired.com has a GeekDad article, "100 Things Your Kids May Never Know About." Wifey and I have discussed this subject quite a bit because of all the changes that have occurred in the last twenty-five years, along with our more-than-usual rural upbringings. It makes me wonder -- what did our parents (and grandparents) know that we were never aware of?

Some of the knowledge lost to our kids:

• Rotary dial televisions with no remote control. You know, the ones where the kids were the remote control.
• 8-track cartridges (And the matchbooks required to keep them in the tape deck. - kw)
• The scream of a modem connecting
• Waiting several minutes (or even hours!) to download something
• When Spam was just a meat product — or even a Monty Python sketch
• Typewriters
• CB radios
• Remembering someone’s phone number
• Finding books in a card catalog at the library.

It's worth checking out the other 91 items.

Titleholders Don't Keep This Title Very Long

Headline: "World's Oldest Man Dies"

Are You Tone Deaf?

I'm not much of a singer. I've been reminded of that pretty consistently my whole life. Here's an excerpt from a real conversation with my dad from thirty years ago:

Dad: "What did you do with that money?"
Me: "What money?"
Dad: "The money you should have spent on singing lessons."

Okay, so I've accepted that I can't sing. But I have a good ear. In other words, I can tell whether or not someone else is singing in tune. That was always a brag, until I found the Distorted Tunes Test online. The web site is provided by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The test actually measures one's ability to determine pitch. It's simple. One at a time, snippets of several songs are played, and you answer whether the snippet was played correctly or not. The songs are all standards, so recognizing the song itself should be easy.

In this case, my self-confidence was justified, as I judged 26 out of 26 samples correctly. Apparently the money I spent on listening lessons was well-spent.

So That's How the Democrats are Going to Pay for Their Programs

"Man Receives $23,148,855,308,184,500 Credit Card Bill"

Yes, Let's Compare Obama to Bush

Barack Obama threw out the first pitch at the 2009 All Star game today. You can see the video of it here. Here's what Yahoo Sports had to say:

"Earlier on Tuesday, the President said that he planned to throw his first Presidential pitch high so it'd get to the plate without bouncing, but his control was lacking. He clearly didn't throw a strike like George W. Bush famously did during the 2001 World Series in New York just weeks after Sept. 11.

"The more debatable point from the historic moment was the reception the President was afforded... Though Obama was roundly cheered by the All-Star fans, his live presence still didn't attract the applause that George W. Bush did during a taped announcement by the four previous Presidents before the game and some boos could even be heard among the cheers."

Despite what the announcers said, Obama clearly didn't get the ball to the plate. Note where Pujols' feet and glove are.

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Here's Bush's first pitch from 2001:

For all of Obama's vaunted athleticism, Bush made Obama look like a little girl in comparison. Now, which one looked more like the leader of the free world?

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too Part XV

I've written about (or plagiarized from) columnist John Hawkins previously. Today he struck paydirt again with his column titled "Five Criticisms of George Bush That Could Be Better Applied to Barack Obama."

And the Heat Goes On*

*A tip of the hat to Sonny and Cher.

But It's a Dry Heat

The "Feels like 102°" is a nice touch.

Auto Racing Drama

I normally don't care about any kind of auto racing, but with its Hollywood-like drama, this one race kept my attention. The storyline is self explanatory. Action really starts at about the 3:00 mark.

Let's Start Keeping Score

The Obama administration and its willing accomplices in the Democrat-controlled Congress have developed the technique of rushing through enormous legislation, because of the dire consequences they claim would happen if anyone carefully inspected, thoroughly contemplated, or even actually read the legislation. As a result, the trillion dollar stimulus bill and the trillion dollar climate bill both passed quickly, against Republican resistance.

Since hurried legislation was so necessary, let's look at the first results of the stimulus bill. Without the stimulus bill, the Obama administration said, unemployment could reach as high as 8.5 percent by April. With the Democrat bill, we were told, unemployment would only reach 7.8 percent.

As of today, less than a week after the end of the second quarter, unemployment is at 9.5 percent. This is what Vice President Joe Biden meant when he said everyone "guessed wrong" on unemployment. Biden said the White House is keenly aware of the gap between the rhetoric used to sell fast passage of the legislation and reality.

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I subscribe to Edmund Burke's idea of Conservatism, wherein change is introduced gradually, building on the wisdom of what has gone before. Change must be organic, rather than revolutionary. Rushing through radical change without due consideration, "may be a mask for the preferences of one man, and at best represents only the untested wisdom of one generation." I don't think our latest generation of Congressmen have shown themselves to be unusually wise. The stimulus legislation scorecard illustrates this.

20 Days? Really?

Okay, trying to finish two writing projects kept me busy, but twenty days since my last post is excessive, even for me. And it's not like there's not a lot going on.

Sarah Palin resigning her governorship? Explanations run the gamut, from "she's leaving to make money" via a talk show, highly-paid speeches or sitting on boards of directors, to preparing her run for President in 2012, to "she's just nuts." While I have no idea what she's about to do, the timing of her announcement -- late Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend -- fits the pattern of politicians who don't want the media to jump on the story. This may be the sign of a breaking scandal. Stay tuned.

North Korea's playing chicken with the United States, pushing to see how far they can go. To his credit, Barack Obama has not apologized for provoking the North Korean belligerence. Yet. Stay tuned for further developments in this possible prelude to WW III.

Obama sided with Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro in condemning the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya by the military. The coup occurred after Zelaya tried to change the Honduran constitution so that he could run for President again. Apparently the Honduran military, judiciary and legislature took a dim view of such a dictatorial move. No wonder Obama sympathizes with Zelaya. A Constitution and laws get in the way. Marxist dictators get nervous when the people revolt like that.

Since my last post, it's been an unhealthy time to be a celebrity. Goodbye and good luck to Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Mays, Ed McMahon, Fred Travalena, Gale Storm, Karl Malden et al. And news coming out today is that former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was found shot to death.

The House of Representatives passed a monstrous climate bill 219-212, with votes along mostly party lines. In what has become normal procedure, Democrats dumped 300 pages of the 1200-page legislation at 3:00 a.m. the morning before the vote was to be taken. The legislation, which would have practically no effect on reducing carbon emissions, would drive up energy costs for all consumers while lining the pockets (via pork, aka "earmarks") of Democrats. We'll see what the Senate does with this "pile os s--t" (as described by House Minority Leader John Boehner.) (And which I described -- accurately, I think -- as "poor legislation directed at the wrong cause of a questionable phenomenon of an unproven and increasingly-disputed theory, which will lead to higher energy costs.")

Cleaning Up Bookmarks

While wandering through the mess I call my Favorites, I ran across several sites bookmarked that I apparently intended to blog about, but never did. Since they contain information that I thought (at least at the time) worth noticing, and because I want to clean up my folders, I'm making a digest of these sites.

First up is a column, "The Nature of Conservatism," written by Mike Adams, in which he spells out the differences between Conservatives and Liberals. Favorite passage: "If there is one thing that separates the conservative from the liberal it is his view of human nature. The conservative sees man as born in a broken state. This tragic view of human nature sees man as selfish and hedonistic by design....This tragic view of human nature also explains why conservatives often speak of religion and family values."

Next up is a column written for the New York Times on May 1 which discusses the marketing of global warming to people who don't care. A media research group, ecoAmerica, accidently sent a fsummary of its findings and recommendations to the media. Read "Seeking to Save the Planet, with a Thesaurus," by John M. Broder. Favorite passage: "“climate change” is an easier sell than “global warming.”

Along those lines, The Capital Research Center issued a report titled "Al Gore’s Carbon Crusade: The Money and Connections Behind It." It describes the fortunes that global warming alarmists such as Gore stand to make when the government implements massive legislation. Favorite passage: "[E]nvironmentalists are discovering new ways to get rich while believing they are saving polar bears and rainforests."

Right Wing News had a column on April 16 entitled "50 Things Every 18-Year-Old Should Know." It's a non-political list of good advice that us oldtimers wish we had followed. Favorite passage: "#24 - Don't ever loan your friends money if you want to keep them as friends. After all, if they were good with money and were likely to pay you back in a timely manner, they probably wouldn't need the loan in the first place. If they really need the money, you want to help them, and you can afford it -- just give it to them."

John Hawkins wrote a column on March 10 entitled "The 10 Biggest Amateur Mistakes by the Obama Administration So Far." Favorite passage: "Choosing tax cheat Timothy Geithner to be his Treasury Secretary was such an incredible screw up that it deserves it own entry. It's mind boggling that any Administration would choose a tax cheat to run the department that's in charge of the IRS. Moreover, in Obama's case, he has already announced plans for the largest tax hike in American history, nearly a trillion dollars, and the man in charge of that effort doesn't pay his taxes?"

Obama: "A False Prophet"*

Jon Voight spoke at a Republican fundraiser Monday night. His speech was the highlight of the evening, according to people who were there. He nails Obama. You can bet you won't be seeing clips from this speech on the evening news.





*According to Jon Voight.