Old Jarhead's Political
SitRep for January 3, 2013
Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've been busy with
family, so today's blog will be long, but with a lot of important links,
especially about the fiscal cliff deal which kicks the can a bit, but I
believes guarantees fiscal collapse for the country at some point that is not
all that far away.
On the plus side, with the New year my blog went over
700,000 page views since established in October 2008. Thanks for reading.
And on a personal note, on December First, I weighed in at
166.6 pounds. On December 31, at 167.6 pounds, up one over the Holidays, still under
my target weight of 170. I’m calling that a win, with all the baking I did.
~Bob.
Reminder:
I intend to remind people of this often. I knew at the time
hat it was an outrageous Chicago-style political lie, and thought anyone who
believed it was so dangerously naive as to be adjudged mentally enfeebled. So
we had the cigarette tax and the tanning tax. Do only those making over $250k
use those services? Now comes $1 trillion in new ObamaCare taxes, plus $620 in
new "fiscal cliff" taxes (for $15B in promised cuts that are unlikely
to happen), almost all of which will come out of the middleclass, though they
did preserve the liberal-hated Bush tax cuts for some of the middleclass. When
business pay a tax, they get the money from customers or, including the elderly
living on fixed incomes and everyone with an IRA, 401k or pension fund. Most of
these folks are NOT "millionaires and billionaires." They missed any
chance to fix Medicare and Social Security, which are now sure to collapse as
soon as the borrowing power runs out. They guaranteed continuing high deficits,
thus a fiscal collapse. I think they trashed the weak recovery and we will be
in a sharp recession in two years. At that point, they will blame Bush and the
Republicans, and discover the rich--now anyone making over $75k, still aren't
"paying their fair share." This will not end well "Democracy,"
said H. L. Mencken, "is the theory that the common people know what they
want, and deserve to get it good and hard." Boy, are they going to get it.
~Bob.
Excerpt: Here is the bill.
Here is the CBO
score. Here is the House Republican
summary of the bill. Republicans seem to have great difficulty reminding
people that the George W. Bush tax cuts are the reason why middle income
families have not been paying about $2,000 more in taxes every year. The
agreement President Obama just made with Congress saves about 80% of those tax
cuts. It saves them for everybody earning less than $400,000 and in some cases
makes them permanent.
Excerpt: The last-minute fiscal cliff deal reached by
congressional leaders and President Barack Obama cuts only $15 billion in
spending while increasing tax revenues by $620 billion—a 41:1 ratio of tax
increases to spending cuts.
Worth Reading
Excerpt: There's a lot of anger, frustration, and disgust
building in the righty grassroots in the past few weeks. Over the past week I
saw a lot of comments on Twitter in the vein of "we have a spending
problem! Why won't Republicans insist we deal with that first! Fume at Speaker
Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell all you want, but here's the
problem: The chance to gain leverage in these
negotiations was on Election Day, and the GOP came up with bubkes that day. Sequestration and the expiration of all
of the Bush tax cuts presented an awful status quo to begin with, and there was
really no better alternative that would get A) passed in a Senate controlled by
Harry Reid and B) signed by President Obama. They don't want what we want, and
we don't want what they want. And time was on their side in several ways, not
least of which was that as of noon Thursday, a new Congress, with even more Democrats, is sworn
into office. There was and is no magic argument, anecdote, policy
detail, or chart that could change that dynamic. What was worse -- or perhaps,
if you look at it a certain way, liberating -- was that Republicans were and
are just about certain to get the blame from most of the public for
either the failure to reach a deal or for the unpopular parts of any deal
reached.
Simpson, Bowles
bemoan 'missed opportunity' on deficit
Excerpt: The former co-chairmen of President Obama’s debt
commission on Tuesday criticized Congress’s compromise budget legislation as a
“missed opportunity” to address the nation’s fiscal woes.
House Passes
Fiscal Cliff Deal, 257-167. By Bridget Johnson
Excerpt: For hours on New Year’s Day, it looked like the
House Republican caucus would throw business as usual to the wind, throw a
wrench in the Senate-approved tax-cut and sequestration deal, and plunge over
the cliff in protest of the $4 trillion price tag in an absence of spending
cuts.
Excerpt: The cynical answer is that nobody really cares very
much about the interests of poor people, and there is something to that. But I
think the answer is a bit more complex: Republicans believe (correctly) that
temporary tax holidays are bad economic policy, contributing very little in the
way of stimulus or long-term growth prospects but increasing uncertainly about
future tax conditions. Democrats dislike payroll-tax reductions because they
undermine the myth that Social Security is a self-funding investment (payroll
taxes allegedly fund Social Security) rather than what it is: a
deficit-expanding welfare program for the middle class.
CBO: 'Fiscal cliff'
deal carries $4 trillion price tag over next decade. By Peter Schroeder
Excerpt: The Senate deal to avoid the "fiscal
cliff" will add roughly $4 trillion to the deficit when compared to
current law, according to new numbers from the Congressional Budget Office
(CBO).
Obama's Tax Bill
Comes Due
Excerpt: The Senate-White House compromise grudgingly passed
by the House is a Beltway classic: The biggest tax increase in 20 years in
return for spending increases, and all spun for political purposes as a
"tax cut for the middle class."
Excerpt: Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called it “a happy start to a new year.” That probably tells you all you
need to know about the fiscal cliff deal that passed the House last night. The
bill—which President Obama has promised to sign, though he took off for Hawaii
again after the vote—has a 10 to 1 ratio of tax increases to spending cuts. This is the
President’s version of a “balanced” approach.
Fiscal cliff: Does
Boehner have the votes?
Moot, but interesting. ~Bob. Excerpt: Because the Bush tax
cuts will be extended for most earners with next to nothing in
offsetting spending cuts, the “deficit reduction deal” technically increases the
deficit by nearly $4 trillion over
the next decade.
Excerpt: President Obama repeatedly has called for a
“balanced approach” to deficit relief and debt reduction. H.R. 8, the bill in
question, is less balanced than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Amazingly, as the Congressional Budget Office calculates, for every $1 that
this proposal cuts spending, it hikes taxes by $41! In total, $15 billion in
spending cuts are dwarfed by $620 billion in tax increases. Meanwhile, America ’s $16.42 trillion national debt roars relentlessly on, since this measure
does not even attempt to fill this Grand Canyon
of red ink.
Obama's Tax Evaders of the Year. By Michelle Malkin
Excerpt: President Obama will kick off the new year the same
way that he kicked off the old year: by demanding that the wealthy pay their
"fair share" in taxes. But while millions of small-business owners,
struggling entrepreneurs, inventors and investors brace for a double whammy of
fiscal cliff tax hikes and new Obamacare taxes, the class-warrior in chief's
richest pals are getting a pass. It's a Golden Pass
Obama 'fiscal cliff'
Victory? Not exactly. By Kathleen Hennessey and David Lauter
Excerpt: President Barack Obama, who campaigned on raising
taxes on the wealthiest Americans, has fulfilled that promise even before his
next term starts.
The announcement of a Senate agreement on a compromise to
avert part of the "fiscal cliff" meant that for the first time in two
decades, Republicans in Congress were preparing to vote in favor of a bill that
raised taxes, an extraordinary concession to the nation's fiscal woes and the
president's re-election.
Let’s Give Up on the
Constitution. By Louis Michael Seidman, New York Times
Excerpt: AS the nation teeters at the edge of fiscal chaos,
observers are reaching the conclusion that the American system of government is
broken. But almost no one blames the culprit: our insistence on obedience to
the Constitution, with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil
provisions. (It is not surprising that the Dems hate the Constitution. But it
does seem odd that in giving up on the Constitution, they are also discarding
their namesake, democracy. --Don Hank. Yeah, all that “freedom of speech,”
freedom of religion,” “limited government,” checks and balances, enumerated
powers stuff” gets in the way of ruling by decree [executive orders] and divine
right. ~Bob.)
Excerpt; At the end of the year, many people take time to
make charitable donations. But caring for those in need is a year-round
responsibility—and when it comes to public policy, conservatives have an
important opportunity to articulate an effective response to poverty and social
breakdown in America
'I am the devil':
Former classmate reveals school gunman had 'online devil worshiping page' as
childhood barber recounts how he never spoke and just stared at floors
Excerpt: The Sandy Hook
gunman worshiped the devil and had an online page dedicated to Satan, a former
classmate revealed, as his childhood barber recalls Adam Lanza never spoke and
would stare at the floor every time he had his hair cut.
The Assault Weapons Ban Didn’t Work Then and It Won’t Work
Now. By Doug Giles
Excerpt: Great idea, Dianne, as the first AWB that Clinton
Worth Reading : California Sacramento
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/12/27/5079151/california-gun-sales-increase.html#storylink=cpy”>sacbee.com
>http://www.sacbee.com/2012/12/27/5079151/california-gun-sales-increase.html#storylink=cpy”>sacbee.com
Blacks Should Embrace NRA Gun Proposal. By Star Parker
Excerpt: What is the essence of freedom? Property and a gun.
I never met my grandfather, but that's the lesson I took from his life. He was
one generation out of slavery and bought property and guns. (That Star-Girl
done run from the Democrat plantation. Call out the slave catcher dogs! ~Bob.)
50 shades of Bush Blame. By Shawn Mitchell
Excerpt: Our topic today is how George Bush destroyed America America
Obama, Democrats Favor Worst of Bad Ideas. By Bob Beauprez
Excerpt: Earlier this month, Scott
Hodge, President of the Tax Foundation, published a ranking of fifteen ideas to create "new
revenues as a component of any bipartisan deal to reduce the federal
deficit." Hodge utilized findings of extensive studies by OECD economists
(a 34 nation organization of which the U.S.
Worth Reading : America
Excerpt: Those 12 cities alone account for nearly 3,200 dead
and nearly a quarter of all murders in the United States Atlanta or chilly Cleveland America America
First Annual Message
to Congress, January 8, 1790. President George Washington
Excerpt: To be prepared for war, is one of the most
effectual means of preserving peace. A free people ought not only to be armed,
but disciplined; to which end, a uniform and well digested plan is requisite:
and their safety and interest require that they should promote such
manufactories as tend to render them independent on others for essential,
particularly for military supplies.
Bogus Quotes: The
"Liberty
Excerpt: Firearms stand next in importance to the
Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone
under independence. The church, the plow, the prairie wagon, and citizen's
firearms are indelibly related. From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the
present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to insure peace,
security and happiness, the rifle and the pistol are equally indispensable.
Every corner of this land knows firearms, and more than 99 99/100 percent of
them by their silence indicate they are in safe and sane hands. The very
atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference;
they deserve a place with all that's good. When firearms, go all goes; we need
them every hour. --- Falsely attributed to George Washington, address to
the second session of the first U.S. Congress. This quotation, sometimes called
the "liberty teeth" quote, appears nowhere in Washington's papers or
speeches, and contains several historical anachronisms: the reference to
"prairie wagon" in an America which had yet to even begin settling
the Great Plains (which were owned by France at the time), the reference to
"the Pilgrims" which implies a modern historical perspective, and
particularly the attempt by "Washington" to defend the utility of
firearms (by use of statistics!) to an audience which would have used firearms
in their daily lives to obtain food, defend against hostile Indians, and which
had only recently won a war for independence. (We must not spread lies in
support of our positions. They are ethically wrong and discredit us. This page
gives a list of discredited firearms quotes. Worth Reading
Kerry's 'realism'
slips into callousness. By Jeff Jacoby
Excerpt: Kerry prizes order and stability over liberty and
human rights. He prefers to accommodate and engage America
Obama’s Syrian friends didn’t get his “Islam is a religion
of peace” memo. ~Bob. Excerpt: Syrian rebels beheaded a Christian man and fed
his body to dogs, according to a nun who says the West is ignoring atrocities
committed by Islamic extremists. The nun said taxi driver Andrei Arbashe, 38,
was kidnapped after his brother was heard complaining that fighters against the
ruling regime behaved like bandits.
22 killed in three
attacks in Nigeria
Excerpt: At least 22 people have been killed in three
separate attacks in northeastern Nigeria
Excerpt: An explosion rocked a Christian Coptic church near
the western Libyan city of Misrata
French paper Charlie
Hebdo to publish comic book life of Muhammad
Excerpt: In picking up this story from AFP, al-Arabiya includes the photo above, carefully censored so
as not to touch off another round of murderous rage from Islamic supremacists.
They thus indicate that violent intimidation works: if someone will riot and
kill over what someone else says or does, it is increasingly taken for granted
in this thoroughly confused world that the responsibility lies with the one who
has given offense, rather than with the one who has taken it. The idea that one
is in control of one's own reactions and bears sole responsibility for them is
increasingly lost in the face of the Islamic supremacist onslaught against the
freedom of speech.
Hezbollah's cocaine
Jihad
Excerpt: Faced with dwindling Iranian funding, Shiite terror
group partners with Mexican drug cartels; uses millions of dollars in drug
money to support weapon acquisition habit
Quote
Every immigrant who comes here should be required within
five years to learn English or leave the country. –Theodore Roosevelt
(Progressives were more sensible then. ~Bob.)
What America
Excerpt: The national murder rate was 4.7 per 100,000 in the US Chicago Chicago Chicago
Ducking Reality. By Skook
Excerpt: This article begins with an anecdotal story, retold
with accuracy from a first person account. If you have reason to doubt the word
of a grade twelve Algebra teacher with 30 years experience, please don’t read
the article; she has been a customer of mine for years and I will assure you,
she has no reason or tendency to exaggerate. After finishing the work on her
horses this morning, I mentioned Dianne Feinstein: she gets her CCW in California
Egyptian Cleric
Threatens Copts With Genocide: "The day Egyptians…feel you are against
them, you will be wiped off the face of the Earth." — Dr. Wagdi Goneim
Excerpt: Islamic leaders continue to portray the
popular protests against President Morsi and his recently passed Sharia-heavy
constitution as products of Egypt
Obama: Chicago
Excerpt: When President Obama appeared on the Meet the Press
on Dec. 30, he made it clear that the same gun laws that have made Chicago a
criminal's paradise are going to be pushed on the entire country during 2013.
This is his personal goal and the it's the goal of the Democrat
Party. These laws include high capacity magazine bans, "assault
weapons" bans, more intrusive background checks on gun purchases, and
squeezing gun shows out of existence.
Hillary Clinton
Hospitalized With Blood Clot
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2012/12/30/Hillary-Clinton-hospitalized-with-blood-clot
Excerpt: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was admitted to aNew York Clinton Clinton
Excerpt: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was admitted to a
Allen West: ‘I don’t
think Mr. Hagel is the right person’ to head Pentagon
Excerpt: “I believe that Syria
will soon fall to the radical Islamists, and their next objective will be Jordan Iraq has now
become nothing but a satellite of Iran
Tiffany Alston
declared bankruptcy before running for office
Excerpt: Former
Maryland State Del.
NRA fingerprints in landmark health-care law
Excerpt: The words were tucked deep into the sprawling text
of President Obama’s signature health-care overhaul. Under the headline “Protection of Second
Amendment Gun Rights” was a brief provision restricting the ability of
doctors to gather data about their patients’ gun use — a largely overlooked but
significant challenge to a movement in American medicine to treat firearms as a
matter of public health. (I seem to recall ObamaCare was passed with no
Republican input…~Bob.)
Worth Reading : A New Year in America
Excerpt: Looking back over 2012, one could be forgiven for
thinking that if America
Happy New Year? By Thomas Sowell
Excerpt: The beginning of a new year is often a time to look
forward and look back. The way the future looks, I prefer to look back -- and
depend on my advanced age to spare me from having to deal with too much of the
future. If there are any awards to be given to anyone for what they did in
2012, one of those rewards should be for prophecy, if only because prophecies
that turn out to be right are so rare. With that in mind, my choice for the
prediction of the year award goes to Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal
for his column of January 24, 2012 titled: "The GOP Deserves to
Lose."
Bomb Hits Prosecutor’s Office in Libya’s Benghazi
Excerpt: An improvised bomb
exploded outside the headquarters of the public prosecutor in the Libyan city
of Benghazi
10 Most Corrupt
Politicians Of 2012
Excerpt: Judicial Watch, the public interest group that
investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2012 list
of Washington
Court appeal of
dissident Vietnam
Excerpt: An appeals court in Vietnam Hanoi Del
Nobel scientist Rita
Levi-Montalcini dies at age 103
Excerpt: Rita Levi-Montalcini, a biologist who conducted underground
research in defiance of Fascist persecution and went on to win a Nobel
Prize for helping unlock the mysteries of the cell, died at her home in Rome on
Sunday. She was 103 and had worked well into her final years. (Now here is a
person whose life was a fantastic demonstration of human capabilities, and of
the power of determination to overcome all barriers. As a woman born early in
the 20th century, she faced all the prejudice and disadvantages of those times
against women, but none of it slowed her down. And even more, as a Jewish woman
she was doubly disadvantaged, and still marched on to the sound of her own
drummer and overcame the long series of obstacles in her way, and in the end
was a tremendous contributor to science and human knowledge. Our newspapers and
TV news shows should be focused on her and others like her, not the people
famous for being famous, or famous for being egomaniacs and substance abusers,
or famous for a lifestyle right out of Sodom and Gomorrah. It would be more
than nice if the media brought to everyone's attention those people whose
virtues and accomplishments really show the best of human behavior. --Del
Teenager Uses Dad’s
AR-15 To Protect His Sister and Home From Multiple Invaders
Too bad he wasn't a liberal. The right thing to do was let
her be raped or killed, after all. ~Bob.
New laws in CA
Excerpt: The link takes you to an article about just a few
of the new laws
going into effect in 2013. The one that forbids people from carrying unloaded long guns in public seems to me to be a violation of the 2nd Amendment, proposed only because some shop owners didn't like seeing guns in their stores. The crazy thing, of course, is that it's law abiding citizens carrying unloaded guns, who are exactly the people you don't have to worry about. Not that mere logic ever applies when it comes to firearms and good citizens. --Del
going into effect in 2013. The one that forbids people from carrying unloaded long guns in public seems to me to be a violation of the 2nd Amendment, proposed only because some shop owners didn't like seeing guns in their stores. The crazy thing, of course, is that it's law abiding citizens carrying unloaded guns, who are exactly the people you don't have to worry about. Not that mere logic ever applies when it comes to firearms and good citizens. --
Worth Reading
Excerpt: These are the most foreboding times in my 59 years.
The reelection of Barack Obama has released a surge of rare honesty among the
Left about its intentions, coupled with a sense of triumphalism that the
country is now on board for still greater redistributionist change. There is no
historical appreciation among the new progressive technocracy that central state planning, whether the
toxic communist brand or supposedly benevolent socialism, has only left
millions of corpses in its wake, or abject poverty and misery.
Excerpt: Rep. John Lewis and like-minded people might
dismiss these thoughts by saying the founders were racist anyway. Here's a more
recent quote from a card-carrying liberal, the late Vice President Hubert H.
Humphrey: "Certainly, one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any
government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of the citizen to
keep and bear arms. ... The right of the citizen to bear arms is just one
guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against the tyranny
which now appears remote in America
Excerpt: Interior Minister Manuel Valls said Tuesday that
1,193 vehicles were burned around the country. Clashes between police and
offenders in the New Year’s Eve took place in the Muslim majority districts in the city of Strasbourg
and Mulhouse
'Young people' burn
over 1000 cars on New Year's eve
In the French press, in cases like this, 'young people'
(jeunes) is code for Muslim criminals. I got burned recently by a report
that I believe was false regarding welfare slashes in France Mulhouse and Strasbourg
Even the more conservative Figaro doesn't mention Muslims,
but at least they expose the attempts prior administrations to hide the number
of cars burned:
This is from a French blog. It is confusing because it calls
the attackers 'Swedes' but later deplored the fact that the press refuses to
use the word Muslims when reporting this:
This site actually mentions Muslims and quotes a
report that cemeteries and monuments with Christian references were vandalized.
BTW, the EU supports Muslim immigration. Isn't it nice to be
part of that organization? America ,
you are in the hands of a Muslim sympathizer as well, who has forced leaders
friendly to the West to resign in the Middle East
and has supplied jihdists with weapons (while demanding that the public
surrender their arms). This will not end well. --Don Hank.
FBI and Andrew
Breitbart Vindicated by New ‘Occupy’ Explosives Arrests. By Brandon Darby
Excerpt: Two prominent Occupy Wall Street New York City ’s
Greenwich Village .
Good picture.
Why Is The Media So
Upset About Lovie Smith's Firing?
Excerpt: On Monday, seven NFL coaches got the axe: Lovie
Smith (Chicago Bears); Romeo Crennel (Kansas City Chiefs); Chan Gailey (Buffalo
Bills); Andy Reid (Philadelphia Eagles); Pat Schurmer (Cleveland Browns); and
Norv Turner (San Diego Chargers). The national media seems uninterested in all
firings except for Smith.
The Swiss Difference:
A Gun Culture That Works. By Helena Bachmann
Excerpt: Even though Switzerland has not been involved in an
armed conflict since a standoff between Catholics and Protestants in 1847, the
Swiss are very serious not only about their right to own weapons but also to
carry them around in public. Because of this general acceptance and even pride
in gun ownership, nobody bats an eye at the sight of a civilian riding a bus,
bike or motorcycle to the shooting range, with a rifle slung across the
shoulder. (Our thanks to Jim for this. Jim travels widely in his business and
is well informed about world affairs. Jim makes the point that Swiss policies
cannot necessarily be transposed to our social conditions. Despite their
4 distinct linguistic regions, they are remarkably homogeneous. There
is no other country like this. Generally speaking, the Swiss are just not
falling for political correctness the way many other Europeans have. They have
proudly remained aloof of the EU (they are associate members only, enjoying
only the economic benefits of the union but refusing to be ruled by a foreign
power). Their franc is strong, in contrast to the euro, and they so far are not
allowing mosques to be built on their territory. --Don Hank)
Excerpt: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) lashed out at the upper
chamber today as a symbol of government’s runaway power in Americans’ lives…. Johnson
also slammed the reign of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) as “a
one-man dictatorship.”… The senator also decried the shady negotiations. “We’re
here at the end of the year, a couple of elected officials with their unelected
staffs, are doing these deals behind closed doors,” he said.
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/12/09/5-moral-boundaries-you-do-not-want-to-cross/?singlepage=true
Excerpt: Many people consider monsters like Adolf Hitler and
Joseph Stalin somehow uniquely evil. …The truth is much more terrifying: human
beings as evil and ruthless as Hitler, Stalin, and Mao are so common that we
pass them on the street daily, see them on TV, and may even have the misfortune
of knowing them personally. The real difference between these notorious
butchers and the guy in a federal prison is not so much the degree of
depravity, but the unchecked power needed to make his darkest desires reality.
Obama’s New
Economic Normal
Excerpt: America United
States U.S.
Worth Reading
Excerpt: Almost everything about the modern university is a
paradox. It has become a sort of industry gone rogue that embraces practices
that a Wal-Mart or Halliburton would never get away with. It is exempt from
scrutiny in the fashion that the Left ceased talking about renditions or
Guantanamo Bay once Barack Obama was elected, or a Code Pink goes after a NRA
official in the way it would never disrupt a hearing on Fast and Furious. In
other words, the university is one of the great foundations of the Left, and so
is immune from the sort of criticism that otherwise is daily leveled against
other institutions.
Remember
What Honor Was? On the Passing of a General -- and More
Excerpt:
Among the general's many virtues, none may have been greater than this: He
never missed an opportunity to remain silent. In uniform or out, on duty or in
retirement, he would never be found among those explaining where his successors
had gone wrong and how he could have done so much better. He didn't have to;
his record spoke for itself.
Hypocrisy! Journal
News Hires Armed Security Guards
Excerpt If you’ll remember, The Journal News published a
Google map containing the names and addresses of those in 2 NY counties who
have handgun permits. ... A Clarkstown police report issued on December 28,
2012, confirmed that The Journal News has hired armed security guards from New
City-based RGA Investigations and that they are manning the newspaper’s Rockland County 1 Crosfield Ave., West
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment