Friday, October 21, 2011

Political Digest for October 21, 2011

Blog Removed.
If you log on to the Old Jarhead blog and get this notice, please check back. From time to time, Google’s Spam Filter pulls my blog. They restore it when I appeal, but they don’t seem to have the technical ability to fix the problem. I hate to move to another platform with page views running to 10k a week and over 1,150 followers here.

Free PDF Copy of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic.

Occupy Wall Street Visuals
The last photo is offensive. I apologize. Assuming it isn’t photo shopped, I apologize for not being there to shoot this fellow. With a temporary insanity plea and one vet on the jury, I’d walk. ~Bob.

And this be the iron law
Today as ever, in public life as in private, leaving no favor unrewarded and no offense unpunished is the key to respect and a rule of life that you neglect at your risk. --Angelo M. Codevilla, Advice to War Presidents.

Gaddafi dies of wounds - NTC official
Excerpt: Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered in his capture near his hometown of Sirte on Thursday, a senior NTC military official said. National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters earlier that Gaddafi was captured and wounded in both legs at dawn on Thursday as he tried to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked. "He was also hit in his head," the official said. "There was a lot of firing against his group and he died." (At the start of our unprovoked attack on Libya, which no longer posed a threat to our national interests, I said that, Presidential Pabulum aside, Obama now had to have Gaddafi dead. That has happened. I shed no tears for Gaddafi; he was a monster if a smaller one than the late, left-lamented Saddam. But I greatly fear that what comes next, courtesy of Obama, will be worse. I hope I am wrong. I assume that watching NATO take all this time to bring down Libya, (or Lybia as the WH was reportedly spelling it), Putin must have said, ‘We could have taken these guys.” ~Bob.

Ghadaffi: Take the poll -- peace or no peace?
Over at the SodaHead poll, 62% are saying there will be no peace in Libya. They're finally figuring it out.
My comment: Will there be peace? Well, let's see. The US declared the Shah of Iran to be cruel and pressured him to leave. The country then fell into the cruelest hands ever, with women being stoned and people being executed at the rate of 1 per day. The US invaded Iraq and now the Assyrian Christians, which had been there for 2000 years, are all gone. Then we invaded Afghanistan and last year, the State Dept reported: no more Christian churches in that country. Then we went on to "help" in Egypt, and -- guess what? -- the Coptic Christians started being attacked immediately after we "won." The West "helped" in Ivory Coast too. 1000 Christians were slaughtered in the area under UN control. Will we see peace in Libya? Well, if you don't mind all the non-Muslims being slaughtered and people being crushed under the iron hand of Sharia law, then call that peace, I guess. What do YOU think? –Don Hank

PolitiZoid Tweet
Gadaffi is killed and takes a secret to his grave--how to really spell his name.

Tweet
dcseth Seth
Oh boy. RT: @NoahPollak: It's really starting to look like Qaddafi wasn't read his Miranda rights

Obama still flush with cash from financial sector despite frosty relations
Excerpt: Despite frosty relations with the titans of Wall Street, President Obama has still managed to raise far more money this year from the financial and banking sector than Mitt Romney or any other Republican presidential candidate, according to new fundraising data. Obama’s key advantage over the GOP field is the ability to collect bigger checks because he raises money for both his own campaign committee and for the Democratic National Committee, which will aid in his reelection effort. As a result, Obama has brought in more money from employees of banks, hedge funds and other financial service companies than all of the GOP candidates combined, according to a Washington Post analysis of contribution data. The numbers show that Obama retains a persistent reservoir of support among Democratic financiers who have backed him since he was an underdog presidential candidate four years ago.

Pelosi's silent treatment shows breaks with President Obama
Excerpt: For House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), disagreement with President Obama often takes the form of silence. While rank-and-file House Democrats have been outspoken in taking the White House to task over issues as diverse as foreclosure prevention, environmental protection and funding the federal government, Pelosi has stayed quiet or shifted her talking points to attacks on the GOP. The intention is to stay united with the president, and not let Republicans or other groups take advantage of any divide between the White House and congressional Democrats.

A Constitutional Amendment to Enforce the Protections of Mens Rea
Excerpt: At the core of this is the principle that, since the government exists to protect the life, liberty, and property of innocent people, and not to punish them, it has no business prosecuting them. Thus mens rea must be established, not as a mere guideline, but as part of the supreme law of the land. (…) Politics is said to be the art of the possible. But does anyone imagine that there is any significant grassroots constituency in the United States for the continued expansion of bureaucratic tyranny? No, even the members of the bureaucracy hate it, since, in their private capacities, each and every one of them suffer under its iron heel as well.( Although I suspect this might be worded better, I suspect we could live very nicely with this. It’s also comforting to know I’m not the only voice in the wilderness crying for such an amendment. It might at least allow little girls to sell lemonade without fear of arrest or fines. Ron P. Bonnie and I bought an ice cream bar and bottled water from an 11-year-old girl recently. Little did we know that, based on enforcement patterns, she was more dangerous than Mexican Drug Cartels. ~Bob.)

Railing Against Reality by Victor Davis Hanson
Excerpt: None seem to grasp the significance that, meanwhile, hundreds of millions of Westerners are living longer and better, retiring earlier, and demanding ever more expensive government pensions and health care. Something had to give. And now it has. Federal and state budgets are near bankrupt. Countries like Greece and Italy face insolvency. The U.S. government resorts to printing money to service or expand entitlements. Near-zero interest rates, declining home prices, and huge losses in mutual funds and retirement accounts have crippled the middle classes. Bigger government, marvelous new inventions and creative new investment strategies are not going to restore the once-taken-for-granted good life. Until "green" means competitive renewable energy rather than a con for crony capitalists, we are going to have to create and save capital by producing more of our own gas and oil, and relying more on nuclear power and coal.

Despite all the media blubbering about a possible “backlash” against Muslims, 98% of the religious violence in the world is Allahmurder. Likewise, despite the fretting over the Tea Party, the coming political violence in America will start on the left. But the 53 will answer. ~Bob. Excerpt: The FBI and Capitol Police are investigating an online threat made against Rep. Bobby Schilling (R-Ill.) offering a $75,000 reward for his assassination. Schilling learned of the threat in an email alert Tuesday night, according to his spokeswoman, Andrea Pivarunas. Sherriff’s deputies reportedly responded to the congressman’s district home, and have passed the matter on to the FBI and Capitol Police. “After receiving a very concerning email alert Tuesday evening, Rep. Schilling and his family are taking recommended precautions while the situation is investigated by relevant authorities,” wrote Pivarunas in an email to The Hill.

I’m Baffled. What’s He Up To?
Excerpt: He’s sending special operators to Uganda to fight against the Lord’s Resistance Army, which is itself a bizarre movement that combines shamanism, Christianity, animism and various other African cultish themes, and that slaughters people, most certainly including little children, in a war against the peoples of Uganda, Kenya, and the charmingly misnamed Democratic Republic of Congo. Fine. I can understand that. But here’s the source of my bafflement: this operation was approved and even funded by Congress TWO YEARS AGO. Yes, in 2009. Except that nothing happened. Until now. I suppose there might be some “intelligence reporting” that suddenly got the attention of Petraeus, Panetta, Hillary, and Obama. East Africa is the wild east, with lots of Islamist terrorists running amok. Like in Somalia, the Iranians are very busy in the wild east, as I’ve said before. But nobody seemed to care. Until now. Why? Beats me.

Al-Qaeda ally threatens Kenya's government, military
Excerpt: Many observers of geopolitics on the African continent are concerned about the violence and bloodshed occurring in Somalia spilling over into the home of President Barack Obama's family -- Kenya -- and Ethiopia. Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al Shabaab yesterday warned Kenya's government and military forces to stay out of Somalia or there would be reprisals. Over the weekend, Kenyan security forces entered Somalia searching for British, French and Spanish prisoners who were allegedly abducted by the terrorist group. In a press conference held in the Somali capital Mogadishu, government spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage called on the authorities of neighboring Kenya to stop interfering in the southern regions of Somalia under Al Shabaab's control. Rage accused Kenya of training and coordinating forces loyal to the transitional federal government of Somalia to open a new battle front in the southern regions, and that Somalia would no longer tolerate "Kenya’s provocative and aggressive acts against them."

Beltway Earnings Make U.S. Capital Richer Than Silicon Valley
Excerpt: Federal employees whose compensation averages more than $126,000 and the nation’s greatest concentration of lawyers helped Washington edge out San Jose as the wealthiest U.S. metropolitan area, government data show. The U.S. capital has swapped top spots with Silicon Valley, according to recent Census Bureau figures, with the typical household in the Washington metro area earning $84,523 last year. The national median income for 2010 was $50,046. The figures demonstrate how the nation’s political and financial classes are prospering as the economy struggles with unemployment above 9 percent and thousands of Americans protest in the streets against income disparity, said Kevin Zeese, director of Prosperity Agenda, a Baltimore-based advocacy group trying to narrow the divide between rich and poor. “There’s a gap that’s isolating Washington from the reality of the rest of the country,” Zeese said. “They just get more and more out of touch.” Total compensation for federal workers, including health care and other benefits, last year averaged $126,369, compared with $122,697 in 2009, according to Bloomberg News calculations of Commerce Department data. There were 170,467 federal employees in the District of Columbia as of June. The Washington area includes the District of Columbia, parts of Northern Virginia, eastern Maryland and eastern West Virginia. (Meanwhile, in unrelated news, Senator Harry Reid says, "It's very clear that private-sector jobs have been doing just fine; it's the public-sector jobs where we've lost huge numbers, and that's what this legislation is all about.") http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/188443-reid-says-public-sector-jobs-must-take-priority-over-private-sector-jobs

Washington DC Has Highest Median Household Income, As Wall Street Moved to
K Street
. OKS? Professor Mark J. Perry's Blog for Economics and Finance
Excerpt: Considering that Washington has the highest median income in the country thanks to all of the lawyers and lobbyists, and all of the federal employees earning compensation that averaged $126,369 last year, OWS might have the wrong target. After all, it was government housing policies originating in Washington that contributed more significantly to the housing bubble, mortgage meltdown, financial crisis and economic recession than any greed on Wall Street.

Rebels without a clue
Excerpt: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid finally let the fat-cat out of the bag yesterday, confirming what’s been apparent for some time: Democrats, led by President Obama, aren’t interested in more jobs for all Americans. They just want more government jobs. “It’s very clear that private-sector jobs have been doing just fine,” the Nevada Democrat said on the Senate floor in support of a $35 billion bill aimed at shoring up jobs for teachers and first-responders. This will come as a surprise to those wondering about that persistent 9-plus percent unemployment rate. But wait, there’s more. “It’s the public-sector jobs where we’ve lost huge numbers -- and that’s what this legislation is all about,” said Reid. In fact, the wealth-consuming public sector -- heavily shielded by the first Obama “stimulus” -- has fared quite well compared to the wealth-producing private sector. Only lately have the public unions begun to feel the recession’s bite -- and Reid & Co. are having none of it. Opportunistic to the core, the unions have attached themselves like barnacles to the Occupier movement. The point? To co-opt the movement and push for tax hikes meant to support the lush public-union way of life -- while sucking job-creating investment capital out of the economy. And the Occupiers haven’t a clue. “We’re here, we’re unclear, get used to it,” read a sign held by a protester, who doubtless meant the slogan as wry humor, though it ratified an essential fact: Public policy ain’t the protesters’ long suit.

How the Media Will Cover the Ohio Zoo Escape: Our Official Predictions
Too funny. ~Bob. Excerpt: Yesterday the owner of an exotic-animal preserve near Zanesville, Ohio, set dozens of its occupants free before taking his own life. Much of the rogue menagerie, which included lions, tigers, and bears—yeah, yeah, oh my—has been shot and killed by local police. “We could not have animals running loose in this county,” a police sheriff said. Information about the escape is still coming in, but it’s not too early to guess how the situation will be addressed by the media. VF.com’s official predictions:

Obama: "All the Choices We've Made Have Been the Right Ones"
Excerpt: All the choices, Mr. President? All of them? What about...

Jason Mattera to Joe Biden: So you’re really going to sell this jobs bill by talking about rape, huh?
Excerpt: The very first question at the next Solyndra hearing should be, “How many rapes could Democrats have prevented by giving that $535 million to cops instead?”

U.S. capital now sanctuary city by executive order
Excerpt: While the Obama White House denies claims of fudged immigration statistics and de facto amnesty by presidential fiat, on Wednesday the District of Columbia became a "sanctuary city" for illegal aliens without comment by leaders of either political party. D.C.'s Mayor Vincent Gray signed an executive order to ban police officers from making inquiries into a person's immigration status. While most foreign countries regularly ask visitors to display their passports and visas, the capital of the United States now prohibits such requests by law enforcement. According to Gray's executive order, the District's law enforcement officers are prohibited from inquiring about the immigration status of individuals or to share information about immigration status with federal agencies except when that status pertains directly to a criminal investigation. (We need to cut off all federal funding to sanctuary cities. ~Bob.)

Obamacare's Fundamental Dishonesty by Mark Hemingway
Excerpt: In yet another classic Obama administration Friday night news dump, the administration abandoned the CLASS Act last week. The program was a major component of the Obamacare law, intended to address long-term care issues. While long-term care costs are a significant problem, the CLASS Act was a disingenuous budget gimmick from the start. It was designed as a voluntary insurance program run by the government. But the way the CLASS Act was to be implemented was problematic. The program was set to collect premiums for five years before it began paying out benefits, taking in a lot more money than it would pay out over the initial 10-year window the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) uses to determine how much a piece of legislation will supposedly cost. The CLASS Act made no actuarial sense beyond that narrow budget window, and the White House was forced to concede as much and kill the program, along with the $53 billion in alleged deficit savings it was said to produce. Jonathan Cohn at the New Republic issues something of a mea culpa: The official budget estimates for CLASS suggested it would save money in the first ten years, accounting for about half of the deficit reduction that the Affordable Care Act was supposed to yield during that time. But the estimates for CLASS were never that reliable. More important, after those first ten years, CLASS was likely to pay out more in benefits than it collected as premiums. For these reasons, conservatives like Peter Suderman who criticized CLASS as unsustainable were right to raise alarms, while liberals like me were wrong to ignore them.

Islamic Extremists in Somalia Behead 17-year-old Christian
Didn’t get the “Islam is a Religion of Peace” memo. ~Bob. Excerpt: Militants from the Islamic extremist al Shabaab beheaded a 17-year-old Somali Christian near Mogadishu last month, a journalist in the Somali capital told Compass. The militants, who have vowed to rid Somalia of Christianity, killed Guled Jama Muktar on Sept. 25 in his home near Deynile, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Mogadishu. The Islamic extremist group had been monitoring his family since the Christians arrived in Somalia from Kenya in 2008, said the source in Mogadishu, who requested anonymity.

Excerpt: I had a direct encounter with the Occupy Wall Street protesters as I was on my way home the other night. My office is a block north of their Chicago base at Jackson Boulevard and LaSalle Street, so I've been walking through the crowd almost daily as I go about my business. But last Thursday night, I stopped and had a real discussion. It was delightful. I asked what it is they were upset with and why were they vilifying corporations, noting that their umbrellas, cardboard signs and the ink used to write their anti-corporation messages all were made by corporations. Like others, I've seen the news reports about their supposed demands: a $20 minimum wage, forgiveness of all debt and a socialist-style health care system. As the leader of a free-market think tank, it will come as no surprise that I do not support those solutions; they are not economically sound. But I also know that when people are frustrated, their solutions do not always match the problem. So I sought to get to the heart of what this crowd considered to be the problems in America. Here is what I learned: First, they don't like crony capitalism in which politicians and government pick the winners and losers. We agreed. Second, they don't like it that people misbehaved on Wall Street. We agreed again. But when I pointed out that the financial collapse occurred primarily because of people playing within the rules created by government and that it was the government itself that made the rules, we began to find more common ground.

Illinois jobless rate hits 10 percent
Thank you Governor Jell-O Quinn (D-Unions). ~Bob. Excerpt: Unemployment in Illinois rose in September for a fifth straight month and hit 10 percent for the first time since August 2010.

Senators Draft Bill to Give Visas to Foreigners Buying Pricey Homes
I would support this if they would screen out jihadist terrorists and murdering Mexican drug cartels. Unfortunately, it will be run by the government, who won’t do that because it would be Islamophobic and racist. ~Bob. Excerpt: The reeling housing market has come to this: To shore it up, two Senators are preparing to introduce a bipartisan bill Thursday that would give residence visas to foreigners who spend at least $500,000 to Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. in the U.S. The provision is part of a larger package of immigration measures, co-authored by Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, designed to spur more foreign investment in the U.S.

Rape at OB: 'Occupy' memo could discourage victims from reporting assaults
Excerpt: Efforts by the Occupy Baltimore protest group to evolve into a self-contained, self-governing community have erupted into controversy with the distribution of a pamphlet that victim advocates and health workers fear discourages victims of sexual assaults from contacting police. The pamphlet says that members of the protest group who believe they are victims or who suspect sexual abuse "are encouraged to immediately report the incident to the Security Committee," which will investigate and "supply the abuser with counseling resources." (Well, you recall all the rapes and thefts at the Tea Party Protests, right? Me neither. ~Bob.)

Austan Goolsbee flunks 'cash for clunkers'
Excerpt: Former Obama administration economic adviser Austan Goolsbee said Thursday that if given a second chance he would not have backed the Cash for Clunkers program or the home buyer tax credit passed in 2009 to stave off further economic distress. (I wouldn’t have backed them at the time, think government involvement in economy hurts more than helps. Guess that’s why I’m not an “economic advisor” at a fat salary. ~Bob.)

No comments:

Post a Comment