Political Digest May 16, 2010

I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article. Nor that I disagree with them, of course.
New comment posted on “I’m Tired”
I am a legal immigrant. Became a citizen a little over a year ago, and I was scared to death of this last presidential election, because I have seen what this kind of government can do to a country.
I came here for the first time in July of 2000. When I came back in November of 2001, it was a changed country! I was so impressed with how America was pulling it together after 9/11, and our "do not mess with us" attitude. How can people forget??? How are people capable of just believing and repeating what they hear instead of using their brain to understand what's going on? I am SO PROUD of being an American! That's something I will never take for granted! This is the greatest country in the world, and we need to start un-changing it! –Neysa

Boycott Arizona?
I’ve been reading that several business and professional meetings scheduled for Arizona have been cancelled due to the new immigration law. Interesting way to “stick it to the man.” The governor and legislators won’t miss any meals due to cancelled meetings. But the folks who worked those meetings as janitors, cookers and waiters won’t get paid, thus won’t feed their families. And a large percentage of those low level workers are Hispanic. In this case, the “man” the idiots are sticking it to is named Jose or Maria.

More Bad News
http://www.galen.org/component,8/action,show_content/id,14/category_id,0/blog_id,1417/type,33/
Excerpt: Jobs, anyone? As evidence, an analysis conducted by officials of the White Castle restaurant chain and released by House Republican Leader John Boehner said that just one provision of ObamaCare will effectively cut the chain's net income in half and reduce future jobs creation. White Castle Vice President Jamie Richardson explained: "We've been working on this internally from a number of different perspectives. One that has [us] the most concerned is the $3,000 penalty that kicks in when an employee's portion of a premium exceeds 9.5% of household income ... "In present form, this provision alone would lead to approximate increased costs equal to over 55% of what we earn annually in net income ... Effectively cutting our net income in half would have [a] devastating impact on the business -- cutting future expansion and more job creation at least in half. Sadly, it makes it difficult to justify growing where jobs are needed most -- in lower income areas."

European countries feel the pain as cuts keep coming
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/14/AR2010051405610.html?wpisrc=nl_headline
Excerpt: A retiree at age 59, with a comfortable pension and a generous severance payment as well, Yolanda Hatzi knows she got a good deal when she left the National Bank of Greece three years ago. She also knows such arrangements have added to the rage that had her college-age daughter "throwing stones" in recent riots. That deep anger threatens to mount across Europe as governments slash at social guarantees considered integral to the continent's political life but which have become too expensive to sustain. Some foresee widespread social protest as cuts take place amid high unemployment; others predict a potential shift of sovereign authority to European institutions. But the outcome of efforts to control government debt could rewrite an economic order that has left Hatzi's generation in relative comfort but world markets nervous about financing it. Investors speculate that Europe might not have a dynamic enough future to foot the bill, and it has left politicians from Athens to Madrid, and from London to Berlin, scrambling for a response. (Might not have a dynamic enough future? With the birth rate below replacement? How long until baby boomers like me are throwing rocks in riots here because we are not getting promised SS and Medicare?)

House Democrat calls out Republicans for defying their party on earmark ban
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/14/AR2010051405535.html?wpisrc=nl_headline
Republicans cannot have credibility on the deficit if they line up for the pork. Excerpt: A top House Democrat has issued an ultimatum to Republicans with the potential for political sting: Withdraw earmarks seeking millions of taxpayer dollars for pet projects or be prepared to stand behind them. Rep. James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told House Republicans in a letter Thursday that their earmark requests will remain in his committee's bill on water resources projects unless they are withdrawn in 12 days. House Republican leaders, who proposed a moratorium on earmarks in March, accused Oberstar of trying to score political points and said he was aware that many Republicans have already asked the committee's ranking member, Rep. John L. Mica (Fla.), to withdraw their requests.

Guns of August in the Middle East?
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11805
Excerpt: The 20th century was a century of war. In August 1914, the peace of Europe was shattered. The United States, which had remained apart from major foreign wars for a century, was drawn in. Tragically, the United States has been at war many times since then: World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. It is not something Americans a century ago would have expected when they thought World War I would be the "war to end all wars." The 21st century, unfortunately, does not look any better. Having inherited two wars, President Obama is trying to extricate America from one war in Iraq to concentrate on another in Afghanistan. But a third war is looming: Iran. Despite the talk about all options being on the table, the United States is not in any condition to engage in another conflict. And certainly, the United States does not want war. But the United States may not be able to control events. Ominously, statements emanating from the Middle East highlight the possibility of conflict this summer.

Holder Can’t Say “Radical Islam”
http://www.newsrealblog.com/2010/05/14/holder-cant-say-radical-islam/
Excerpt: If the intent of Congressman Lamar Smith of Texas in questioning Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday was to find out just how far members of the Obama Administration would go to follow their edict that Islamic terrorists should not be called… Islamic terrorists, then he got his answer. Awfully darn far. Smith asked Holder if he thought the common denominator between the Ft. Hood shooter, the Christmas Day bomber and the Times Square bomber was that they had ties to “Radical Islam.” Holder acted as though he had never heard the term before, then did remarkable, though awkward, verbal calisthenics to avoid using the term– or even agreeing with someone who did. “There are a variety of reasons,” was his oft used phrase, as to why “individuals” act in this way, Holder asserted. Right, let’s see, what was the common denominator in the above 3 incidents?

Let It Burn
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/05/let_it_burn.html
Excerpt: For the past hundred years, America has been slowly moving away from the principles of its founding. The ideals of liberty, individual achievement, limited government, and the equality of opportunity have been slowly supplanted by calls for security, class warfare, excessive regulation, and the equality of outcome. The passage of stimulus acts, bailouts, government takeovers of two U.S. automakers, and the health care overhaul prove that our movement away from 1776 has accelerated.

Carbon Scam: Bulgaria Suspended From CO2 Emissions Trading
http://thegwpf.org/international-news/957-carbon-scam-bulgaria-suspended-from-co2-emissions-trading.html
Excerpt: Bulgaria will be suspended from carbon emissions trading under the Kyoto Protocol as a result of poor transparency and untrustworthiness, the country's environment minister said on 13 May. The decision represents a heavy blow for the government in Sofia, which expected to receive €250m in revenue from the scheme this year, according to Dnevnik, EurActiv's partner publication in Bulgaria. Bulgaria will be suspended from the scheme as of 30 June if a United Nations' committee revokes its accreditation under the treaty. A formal decision is expected by the end of June. Environment Minister Nona Karadzhova said there was no chance of any reversal. The suspension, which is expected to last until at least November, comes after UN checks had shown that Bulgaria's national system for recording greenhouse gas emissions, which is key for ensuring compliance under Kyoto, was not transparent and trustworthy, Karadzhova explained. She said the ban would prevent Bulgarian companies from trading on greenhouse gas emission schemes under Kyoto, and would also affect their participation in the European Union's emissions trading scheme (EU-ETS).

N.J. gov. sets tone for US
http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/ab-stoddard/97603-nj-gov-sets-tone-for-us
Excerpt: As the United States watches a debt crisis in Greece like a fiscal oil spill, waiting to see where it will spread first and when it will make landfall on our shores, Christie is tackling the nation’s worst state deficit — $10.7 billion of a $29.3 billion budget. In doing so, Christie has become the politician so many Americans crave, one willing to lose his job. Indeed, Christie is doing something unheard of: governing as a Republican in a blue state, just as he campaigned, making good on promises, acting like his last election is behind him.

Crisis in New Zealand climatology
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2010/05/crisis-in-new-zealand-climatology
Excerpt: The official archivist of New Zealand’s climate records, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), offers top billing to its 147-year-old national mean temperature series (the “NIWA Seven-station Series” or NSS). This series shows that New Zealand experienced a twentieth-century warming trend of 0.92°C. The official temperature record is wrong. The instrumental raw data correctly show that New Zealand average temperatures have remained remarkably steady at 12.6°C +/- 0.5°C for a century and a half. NIWA’s doctoring of that data is indefensible. The NSS is the outcome of a subjective data series produced by a single Government scientist, whose work has never been peer-reviewed or subjected to proper quality checking. It was smuggled into the official archive without any formal process. It is undocumented and sans metadata, and it could not be defended in any court of law. Yet the full line-up of NIWA climate scientists has gone to extraordinary lengths to support this falsified warming and to fiercely attack its critics.

La Raza Violent Threats Ignored, Tea Party Protesters Considered Dangerous Threat to America
http://www.newsrealblog.com/2010/05/14/la-raza-violent-threats-ignored-tea-party-protesters-considered-dangerous-threat-to-america/
Excerpt: “We are revolutionary Mexican organization [La Raza] here. We understand that this is not just about Mexico. It’s about a global struggle against imperialism and capitalism… At the forefront of this revolutionary movement is La Raza. We will no longer fall for these lies called borders. We see America as a northern front of a revolutionary movement…Our enemy is capitalism and imperialism,” further calling the revolution a “global struggle.”

From The Urban Dictionary
Sea Kittens: An attempt by PETA to convince the general public to call fish by a name too cute to eat.