Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for February 14, 2013

Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for February 14, 2013

Robert A. Hall

Happy Valentine’s Day. Put a little more love in the world—it needs it. ~Bob

Comment on my book CYA

I am reading CYA, and find it delightful. -BW

C.Y.A. Protecting Yourself in the Modern Jungle

If you order directly from CreateSpace, the PFF receives a larger royalty:

https://www.createspace.com/4133396http://www.amazon.com/C-Y-Protecting-Yourself-Modern-Jungle/dp/1481989103/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358787454&sr=1-8&keywords=C.Y.A+.+Robert+A+Hall

First published in 2010, this book has been reissued through CreateSpace/Amazon at a lower price, with all royalties going to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. A humor/self-help book, this is advice with an attitude.

Comment on my book Advice for my Granddaughter from a retired Marine (and great officer)

I mentioned your book on advice to a granddaughter … She had already read it and said it was the best book she’d ever read on the subject. She loved it! As I have a growing number of granddaughters and great-granddaughters, I figured I’d better read it myself. So I ordered a copy today. Then I’ll order copies for younger granddaughters (and their mothers) who I think will get something out of it. If it’s as good as everyone says, this may be your greatest legacy. Semper Fi, John

Advice for my Granddaughter: For When I'm Gone

http://www.amazon.com/Advice-Granddaughter-When-Im-Gone/dp/147004238X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1329662198&sr=8-2

https://www.createspace.com/3792897All royalties go to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (which gets a larger royalty if you order directly through Create Space.).

Why people need guns: Miami 'super dad' dies protecting daughter, 11, during home invasion

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/13/miami-dad-dies-protecting-daughter-11-during-home-invasion/?test=latestnews#ixzz2KoS3EdWG

Excerpt: Police say two heavily armed men fatally shot a homeowner as he tried to protect his daughter during a home invasion. The incident happened late Tuesday night in Miami. The father, identified as Maurice Harris, 36, got into a struggle with the suspects when they tried to gain entry into his 11-year-old daughter's bedroom, police told FoxNews.com. The father was fatally shot in the struggle. There were no other reports of injuries. The suspects were described as black males. (Of course, if the government’s goal is to protect the perps…~Bob.)

Republicans: Obama State of the Union dims hopes for deficit deal http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/282763-republicans-state-of-the-union-dims-hopes-for-deficit-deal

Excerpt: Republican lawmakers say a deal to reduce the deficit and replace $85 billion in automatic spending cuts set to take effect on March 1 is even less likely after President Obama's State of the Union address.

Tweet from Alex CastellanosVerified account‏@alexcast

listening to POTUS's awesome list of new stuff for govt to do, I almost wish DC hadn't spent all the money.

Bing Measures the SOTU Gun Control Debate

http://www.pagunblog.com/2013/02/12/bing-measures-the-sotu-gun-control-debate/

Excerpt: Much of the State of the Union was going up and down in the Bing audience live ratings that allowed viewers to vote every five seconds during the speech. But I noticed a very interesting trend among all parties and both genders when President Obama started talking about gun control.

Van Jones: ‘Marco Rubio is Dangerous for Democrats.’ By Andrew Johnson

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/340566/van-jones-marco-rubio-dangerous-democrats-andrew-johnson

Excerpt: “Marco Rubio is to the heart what Paul Ryan is to the head. Paul Ryan is dangerous because of the strength of his intellect. This is a smart guy, Marco Rubio, but when he connects, that last 90 seconds, Marco Rubio, he is dangerous for Democrats.”

Obama’s Most Dishonest State of the Union Address. By Daniel Greenfield 

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/obamas-most-dishonest-state-of-the-union-address/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=be45fb2f46-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag

Excerpt: Obama’s ridiculous 6600-word marathon is also not a lengthy speech; it is the party’s program. The professional flatterers and fawners in the media have long since given up describing the teleprompter-in-chief as a talented speaker. These days Obama gives speeches that not only sound like they were read from a teleprompter, but also written by a teleprompter.

Woman Votes Multiple Times in Election 2012 but Denies Voter Fraud!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX6E2Ucv7S8

Can’t be true. My progressive brother assures me that vote fraud doesn’t happen, just a way for racist Republicans to suppress minority votes. That’s the new leftist party line for the last couple of years. ~Bob. 

Double-Voting for Obama. By Matthew Vadum 

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/matthew-vadum/double-voting-for-obama/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=be45fb2f46-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag

Excerpt: Double-voting is distressingly common.

For example, in September Wendy Rosen dropped out as the Democratic candidate in the first congressional district in Maryland after it was revealed she double-voted in two elections. State Democratic officials admitted Rosen voted in both Florida and Maryland in the 2006 general election and in the primaries in 2008.

In 2011 a Tunica County, Miss., jury convicted local NAACP official Lessadolla Sowers on 10 counts of fraudulently casting absentee ballots. Sowers was sentenced to a five-year prison term.

Robbery Victims Shooting Attackers Called ‘Alarming Trend’

http://patriotoutdoornews.com/5436/robbery-victims-shooting-attackers-called-alarming-trend#ixzz2KjsIi5fK

Excerpt: There’s an alarming trend in Detroit that have some people worried. In the span of a week, two separate robberies were thwarted when the victims, who both had conceal carry permits and a gun, managed to defend themselves by shooting their attackers.

Video recommendation

You MUST see this video of Ben Shapiro (Breitbart) on how to counter leftist bullies. In it he touches on the "women's right to their own bodies" dogma:

http://booktv.org/Program/14229/Bullies+How+the+Lefts+Culture+of+Fear+and+Intimidation+Silences+America.aspx.

Takes about an hour, but you will appreciate it immensely. Cordially, Larry Greenberg

Sin Taxes: A Questionable Source of Revenue

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=22840&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD

Excerpt: In reality, most sin taxes are an extension of policymakers' belief that they can make better consumption choices than individuals can make for themselves. By attaching a monetary fee to certain behaviors that are deemed risky or undesirable, selective sin taxes are aimed at inducing people to adopt healthier lifestyles. Sin taxes also disproportionately affect low-income individuals who are more likely to use many of the consumer goods, like alcohol and tobacco, than are higher-income individuals. Low-income individuals are less likely to have consumption alternatives and are thus less likely to respond to changes in price. (They nail the poor to make the left feel good about themselves, so Democrats love them. ~Bob.)

What’s Wrong with Pay for Performance? By Linda Gorman

http://healthblog.ncpa.org/whats-wrong-with-pay-for-performance/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HA#more-28983

Excerpt: This same principle also applies to the practice of medicine. Paying doctors or hospitals based on outcomes would be fine as long as the outcomes can be reliably measured and we know how much each entity contributes. Until that is possible, we run the risk that we will inadvertently punish the good practitioners and reward the bad ones. (Pay for performance wouldn’t be a problem if we actually knew how to measure outcomes and each person’s contribution to it.)

Research Investments Are Frequently Fruitless

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=22841&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD

Excerpt: For all the meritorious research the government funds, federal research and development expenditures are riddled with wasteful projects. The rationale for government funding of research holds that only the government can make such sizeable investments and that the results yield intellectual property available to all, says Henry I. Miller, the Robert Wesson fellow in scientific philosophy and public policy at the Hoover Institution. … Miller cites Senator Tom Coburn's report that identifies trivial research projects like how to ride a bike, when dogs became man's best friend, whether parents choose trendy baby names and why the same teams always seem to dominate the NCAA basketball playoffs, all of which receive federal funding. … NIFA pales in comparison to "the master of waste, fraud and abuse" -- the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which controls an annual research budget of more than $800 million. Miller notes that a large portion of EPA research funds are spent on public relations and diverted to nonprofit organizations without any oversight.

Tibetan protester sets himself on fire in Nepal

http://news.yahoo.com/tibetan-protester-sets-himself-fire-nepal-054152223.html

Excerpt: A Tibetan protester doused himself with gasoline, set himself ablaze and chanted anti-China slogans as he ran down a street in Nepal's capital Wednesday, the latest in a string of self-immolations protesting China's rule over Tibet.

The dramatic protest marked the 101st time since 2009 that a Tibetan monk, nun or layperson has set themselves on fire, according to officials from the Tibetan exile government, based in India. (Once the Communist institute totalitarian rule, people prefer to die for freedom. ~Bob.)

Hagel omitted two speeches on Middle East from Senate disclosure forms

http://www.investigativeproject.org/3911/hagel-omitted-two-speeches-on-middle-east-from

Excerpt: In the supporting documents he turned over to Senate investigators as part of his confirmation process, Defense Secretary-designate Chuck Hagel did not disclose at least two recent speeches on the subject of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Fox News has confirmed.

Fugitive ex-LAPD cop, Christopher Dorner, believed to be dead after final standoff
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/13/police-say-no-body-has-yet-been-found-after-cabin-stronghold-fugitive-ex-cop/#ixzz2KnKBg6tX

Excerpt: As police scoured mountain peaks for days, using everything from bloodhounds to high-tech helicopters, the revenge-seeking ex-cop they wanted was hiding among them, holed up in a vacation cabin across the street from their command post. … The search ended abruptly Tuesday when a man believed to be Dorner bolted from hiding, stole two cars, barricaded himself in a vacant cabin and mounted a last stand in a furious shootout in which he killed one sheriff's deputy and wounded another before the building erupted in flames.

Crazy to Everyone But the New York Times

http://www.city-journal.org/2013/cjc0212hm.html

Excerpt: A homicidal maniac blames racism in the Los Angeles Police Department for his killing rampage against cops and civilians and the New York Times responds, “You know, he just may have a point.” On Monday, as fired LAPD cop Christopher Dorner eluded capture for the sixth day after killing a Riverside Police Department officer, the daughter of his departmental defense attorney, and her fiancé, the Times wrapped up three days of observations about racism in the LAPD in response to Dorner’s charge, in a lunatic manifesto, that the department was endemically biased and brutal. 9well he praised gun control, attacked the NRA and praised a lot of leftists in his manifesto, so naturally the NYT doesn’t think this murderer was all bad. If the Newtown shooter had been black and blamed racism, they would have had a good word for him, too. ~Bob.)

           

CNN Panel: Dorner's Alleged Murder Spree 'Exciting,' Like 'Denzel Washington Movie'

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2013/02/13/CNN-Panel-Dorner-Alleged-Murder-Spree-Exciting-Like-Denzel-Washington-Movie

If you aren’t the unarmed people being murdered, it’s fun like a movie. ~Bob

Tweet from RB ‏@RBPundit

I'm sorry. I forgot to mention that you spelled Crisp Dorner wrong. You spelled it "Chris."

Details emerge in LAPD's mistaken shooting of newspaper carriers

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-torrance-shooting-20130209,0,4414028.story

This is a sad example of cops operating in panic mode. First, not remotely the right description of the vehicle and occupants and they open fire anyway, and second, the bullet holes all over the neighborhood that say some of them were spraying bullets in a wide arc. Good heavens, a pickup truck from fairly close range is an easy target to hit, how in hell do you wind up with bullet holes in house doors and windows of the neighborhood? The answer is only that some officers were just yanking triggers fast and hard and not paying attention to their sight picture at all. This is the kind of thing that makes anyone nervous about how smart and controlled their police are. –Del. Clearly there are problems with the actions of the police, but please bear in mind a few things: 1. The statement that the women were never ordered to stop or surrender comes from their lawyer, who is not an unbiased source. 2. It was possible for Dorner to get hold of another vehicle. 3. How can you mistake a Hispanic woman from a black male? It just shows that you can’t see who’s in a car – note the tinted back window. There’s a difference between an error and an atrocity, and the details are significant in determining which this really is. –Geoff. They were still lousy shots. –Del.

BOORING--State of the Union delivers laundry list for the left. By Adam Kredo

http://freebeacon.com/booring/

No surprises. Why I skip these things, GOP or Dem. ~Bob. Excerpt: President Barack Obama delivered a longwinded and leftwing State of the Union in which he advocated in favor of increased taxes, widespread “reforms” to the nation’s gun laws, minimum wage increases, and immigration policy.

Worth Reading: The real tragedy is that many Americans earn $0.00 per hour and live in poverty, because of the minimum wage law

http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/02/the-real-tragedy-is-that-many-americans-earn-0-00-per-hour-and-live-in-poverty-because-of-the-minimum-wage-law/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+aei-ideas%2Fcarpe-diem+%28AEIdeas+%C2%BB+Carpe+Diem%29

Excerpt: If more than three-quarters of teenagers earn more than the minimum wage, then any hardworking adult certainly can, and it must be a false narrative that full-time workers “are stuck” in minimum wage jobs and trying to raise a family, but mired in a life of poverty. (The reason Obama wants to increase the minimum wage is that it will reduce low paying jobs, thus put more minorities out of work, thus denying them the change to build work skills, a work ethic and a record of having worked. Thus they will never have the chance to get out of poverty, and will be depended on the government forever. Thus they will have to vote for the party of big government for a living. He hopes the Ponzi scheme will collapse after he’s gone. Maybe. ~Bob)

Obama’s Minimum Wage Fallacy: Golden Intentions Does Not Mean Golden Results. By Andrew Kirell 

http://www.mediaite.com/online/obamas-minimum-wage-fallacy-golden-intentions-does-not-mean-golden-results/

Excerpt: A preponderance of economic studies have found that minimum wage hikes tend to destroy jobs for many low-skilled, low-wage workers. Of course, some do benefit from the mandate — especially those employed by people who can absorb increased labor costs. The fact that some do, indeed, benefit from minimum wage hikes (while many others either lose jobs or remain unemployed) is important to remember when understanding the history of the policy. Throughout its near-century-long history, the minimum wage has long been used to benefit some at the expense of many. 

Williams With Sowell - Minimum Wage, Maximum Folly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4Ubp7U9Dq4

Frontline -- "Cliffhanger"

 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/cliffhanger/

WTTW just broadcast a “Frontline” show that you might find interesting. “Frontline” often annoys me, as it would many of your readers, but its most recent episode, “Cliffhanger,” about Federal government budget negotiations over the last couple of years would not confirm some expectations that it would make President Obama look good. On the contrary, it shows John Boehner relentlessly trying to pursue a budget agreement while the White House wavers and tries, unsuccessfully, to work an advantage by playing one group of Republicans against another. It makes Obama look indecisive and opportunistic while Boehner looks like a man of principle. You can watch it on your computer at the link above. --GS.

The Super Bowl Farmers. By Victor Davis Hanson

http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/the-super-bowl-farmers/

Excerpt: It was not just Harvey’s mid-20th century voice that intrigued millions, but his unapologetic praise of the farmer’s work ethic, religiosity, and family values that he implied were at the core of American greatness, and were shared by all sorts of other American originals: the truck driver, the steel worker, or waitress whom we now all praise and yet prep our children not to be. We suspect that our kids would be better off at forty for spending a summer on a tractor at fifteen, but we just can’t seem to risk the loss of a season’s computer camp or eco-camp in the bargain.

Worth Reading: Why Employment Is Dead in the Water. By Tyler Durden 

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-27/guest-post-why-employment-dead-water

Excerpt: The only way to understand why employment is dead in the water is to stand in the shoes of a potential employer or entrepreneur. Remarkably, this perspective is unknown to economists and progressive politicians because they have never been an employer (and no, hiring a grad student to grade papers or an illegal nanny to watch your kids does not make you an employer.)

Older, but worth reading: Hipsters on food stamps: They're young, they're broke, and they pay for organic salmon with government subsidies. Got a problem with that? By Jennifer Bleyer

http://www.salon.com/2010/03/16/hipsters_food_stamps_pinched/

Excerpt: Mak, 31, grew up in Westchester, graduated from the University of Chicago and toiled in publishing in New York during his 20s before moving to Baltimore last year with a meager part-time blogging job and prospects for little else. About half of his friends in Baltimore have been getting food stamps since the economy toppled, so he decided to give it a try; to his delight, he qualified for $200 a month. “I’m sort of a foodie, and I’m not going to do the ‘living off ramen’ thing,” he said, fondly remembering a recent meal he’d prepared of roasted rabbit with butter, tarragon and sweet potatoes. 

Another take, also worth reading: Hipsters On Food Stamps, Part 1

http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2012/11/hipsters_on_food_stamps.html

Excerpt: I'm not trying to start trouble, but let's choose something I'm familiar with, i.e. women: why would a smart high school junior, 4.0 and AP Everything, think that going to Hampshire College for English Literature was a good idea? Why would her parents allow this madness, other than the fact that they were divorcing? What did she think would happen given that she knew in advance there were no jobs for English majors?

Barbarians at the Digital Gate: Its cyberattacks show the world the nature of the Chinese regime.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323701904578275920521747756.htm

Excerpt: On a visit to our offices last year, a U.S. lawmaker with knowledge of intelligence affairs explained that, when it comes to cyber-espionage, there are only two kinds of American companies these days: Those that have been hacked, and those that don't know they've been hacked. So it comes as no great surprise to learn that The Wall Street Journal has also been hacked.

Mr. Obama, Global Warming, & Science

Mr. Obama said a lot in his State of the Union address about Global Warming as a totally established scientific fact. Unfortunately, there are quite few scientists who strongly oppose that conclusion, and they can and do raise very credible rebuttals to such statements. Below is a website where a long series of detailed rebuttals can be found.

http://www.climatedepot.com/a/19683/Obama-fails-climate-science-in-his-St
ate-of-the-Union-address--Climate-Depots-pointbypoint-rebuttal-to-the-Pre
sidents-global-warming-claims

(You may have to assemble all the stuff above into one line in your browser to have it work) It is true at this point that there's more emotionalism than ever behind the near-panic attitude of those who believe in Global Warming. And too many of their comments about those who don't agree (called "deniers" of course, rather than dissenting scientists) slide into ad hominem arguments. I don't like it when scientists succumb to emotion in their discussions, which just allows nonscientists to really get carried away with their own feelings. I've tried hard to look at both sides of this, I am after all a trained and long practicing scientist. In the end it appears clear that there is more than sufficient data to support the idea that if there is an overall warming trend, it is of a much lower magnitude than the more passionate warming believers think it is. Clearly if the original predictions about the warming, made over five years ago, in some cases even further, were valid, we'd be seeing more effects now than have become evident. The other thing that is sure is that if in fact human production of CO2 were behind a warming effect, it is impossible now for us to even slow it, much less reverse it. We have no way of removing gigatons of CO2 from the atmosphere, so even if we stopped producing more, the warming would continue. And with China and India moving their societies into steadily more energy use, the generation of CO2 will continue and atmospheric concentration will increase, no matter what the USA and Europe do. If I really believed in warming, I'd be buying real estate a half mile inland from the NC coast, so my grandchildren would have beachfront property. What is also sure is that imposing carbon taxes on industries is not good for the economy, and trading carbon credits becomes an instant racket allowing some people to rip off large sums of money. I should make it clear here that I consider the EPA declaring CO2 to be a poison gas to be a totally unjustifiable political act rather than science, which is having negative effects already on our economy, which will only grow worse with time. If and when the data clearly support the idea that we have significant warming, and there is some kind of scientific data demonstrating without doubt that human generation of CO2 is the cause, then and only then should we and everyone else start to consider how to lessen CO2 generation (nuclear power is the only real answer) and how to plan for the increase in warming. –Del

Who Failed Chicago? By Michelle Malkin 

http://townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/2013/02/13/who-failed-chicago-n1511149?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

Excerpt: Obama, his wife, his campaign strategists, his closest cronies and his biggest bundlers all hail from Chicago. Senior adviser and former Chicago real estate mogul/city planning commissioner Valerie Jarrett and her old boss Richard Daley presided over a massive "Plan for Transformation" in the mid-1990s to rescue taxpayer-subsidized public housing from its bloody hellhole. How'd that work out for you, Chicago? Answer: This social justice experiment failed miserably. (There is no evidence as far as I know that the shooters used a so-called “assault” rifle, or fired more than ten shots. So, of course, the left wants to use this to ban rifles and magazines [which they keep calling “clips”] that hold more than ten rounds. ~Bob)

France: Muslims force stores to close, open Muslim stores

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/blog/detail/muslims-force-closure-of-french-owned-stores-open-muslim-stores-coming-soon-to-the-usa

Excerpt: If I knew everyone understood that the Western power elites want to eliminate Judeo-Christian culture (for ex, by importing hordes of Muslims knowing they will not assimilate), I wouldn't bombard you with reports like this one. But when you look at the WHOLE picture painted by these separate piecemeal reports, it is abundantly clear that there is less and less room for Jews and Christians in our own Western world and that this is by design, absolutely not a coincidence. The main reason for this disaster is ourselves: we have been taught to sympathize with everyone but ourselves. That is the path to suicide. Yet we absorb these toxic PC lessons as though they were a health-restoring elixir. --Don Hank

Sex Week at University of Chicago
http://moonbattery.com/?p=25605
Excerpt: Obama’s ham-fisted nationalization of the student loan industry indicates that the federal government will take an ever larger role in financing the preposterously bloated expense of college. This should prevent institutions of higher learning from having to cut back on essential scholarship like Sex Week: The prestigious University of Chicago is in the midst of hosting a comprehensive sex week that includes controversial events such as a course on sex education for kids, a play entitled “Genitalia the Musical,” and “Anal 101.” (This will make you fun at parties, but may not enhance the job prospects. Unless you want to work on Capital hill, of course. ~Bob.)

Obama: 57 Vacation Days Since Vowing He 'Will Not Rest Until Anyone' Can Find A GOOD Job; Unemployment still stands at 7.9 percent, actually higher than when he took office in 2009. By Dan Gainor

http://cnsnews.com/blog/dan-gainor/obama-57-vacation-days-vowing-he-will-not-rest-until-anyone-can-find-good-job

You have to remember, he’s a “community organizer.” He considers being on government assistance the same as having a job. ~Bob.

State of the Union

Political Digest January 30, 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.

Despite testy exchanges, GOPs applaud Obama for meeting
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/78847-despite-testy-exchanges-gop-officials-applaud-obama-for-meeting-with-them
Excerpt: House Republican leaders largely praised President Barack Obama after they engaged in a testy 90-minute exchange with the commander-in-chief on Friday. Like a boxer after a slugfest, GOP officials expressed respect for the president for being straightforward with them. But it's unclear whether the meeting, or Obama's pledge to hold monthly meetings with the minority, will overcome deep partisan divides that have left both sides mistrustful of the other's intentions. House GOP lawmakers left their meeting with Obama torn between hopeless frustration and renewed pride on Friday. On one hand, they disagreed with many of Obama's claims. On the other, they believe they made a step toward shedding the "party of no" label.

A Lobe Divided Will Not Stand
http://townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeWill/2010/01/28/a_lobe_divided_will_not_stand
Excerpt: Barack Obama tiptoed Wednesday night along the seam that bifurcates the Democratic Party's brain. The seam separates that brain's John Quincy Adams lobe from its Sigmund Freud lobe. The dominant liberal lobe favors Adams' dictum that politicians should not be "palsied by the will of our constituents." It exhorts Democrats to smack Americans with what is good for them -- health care reform, carbon rationing, etc. -- even if the dimwits do not desire it. The other lobe whispers Freud's reality principle: Restrain your id -- the pleasure principle and the impulse toward immediate gratification. Settle for deferred and diminished but achievable results. Obama was mostly in Adams' mode Wednesday. His nods to reality were, however, notable. Such speeches must be listened to with a third ear that hears what is not said. Unmentioned was organized labor's "card check" legislation to abolish workers' rights to secret ballots in unionization elections. Obama's perfunctory request for a "climate bill" -- the term "cap-and-trade" was as absent as the noun "Guantanamo" -- was not commensurate with his certitude that life on Earth may drown in rising seas.

Divided Democrats shift strategy
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/01/rundown---012910.html?wpisrc=nl_pmpolitics Thank you, Massachusetts. Excerpt: President Obama's State of the Union address seems to have done little to clarify the way forward for his agenda, as congressional Democrats are prepared to shift their focus to the economy but remain unsure how to complete health care or lift themselves out of the electoral doldrums. "The White House on Thursday signaled the outlines of its strategy for breaking the partisan logjam holding up President Obama's agenda," the New York Times reports, "saying Democrats would move quickly to underline their commitment to fixing the broken economy and to build an election-year case against Republicans if they do not cooperate." Rahm Emanuel tells the paper the White House hopes the Senate takes up a jobs bill next week, then Obama's proposal for a new fee on banks and then the financial regulatory reform bill before returning to health care. Politico observes "it's clear health care is already falling to the back of the legislative line, behind the Democrats' feverish new focus on jobs and the economy. Health care reform didn't even make the cut when ... Chuck Schumer ticked off the party's priorities Thursday." The Washington Post writes that "Democrats remained in disarray Thursday about how to move forward, with at least some pointing at the White House as the cause of the legislative standstill gripping Capitol Hill." On health care, Politico reports "the administration seems to have decided that they need to stop talking process and start emphasizing substance. ... Indeed, many Democrats feel that the relentless coverage of how reform is getting done- including legislative deal making and intraparty conflict - has cost the legislation much of its public support." Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid both vow that the party will still do health care, but there remains no consensus on how. The Wall Street Journal quotes the chairman of PhRMA saying "the group 'hasn't withdrawn support' for the version of health-care reform passed by the Senate, but that the Massachusetts election has 'thrown everything up in the air a bit.'"

Estimating The Fiscal Gap Using Generational Accounting
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18925&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD
The good news for me is that I’m the leading edge of the Boomers and my health is bad. Excerpt: Taking into consideration all of the government's financial liabilities and projected future tax receipts, the current fiscal gap in the United States is estimated by Jagadeesh Gokhale of the Cato Institute and Kent Smetters of the University of Pennsylvania at $77 trillion -- more than five times the United States' present gross domestic product (GDP). In order to close a gap of this size, the Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) payroll tax -- currently 15.3 percent -- would need to be more than doubled immediately and permanently. To understand how this figure can be so large, consider: There are now roughly 33 million adults in the United States receiving retirement benefits. When the 78 million baby boomers retire, there will be more than twice the number of retirees receiving benefits than there are currently. While there will be a significant increase in those dependent on government programs like Social Security and Medicare when the boomers retire, there will only be about 2.7 workers per retiree to help pay the benefits -- down from 3.28 workers per retiree in 1985 and 3.43 in 2000.

A New Approach to Health Reform
http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2010/01/28/a_new_approach_to_health_reform_97614.html
But the Democrats—the party of No—will say “NO. This doesn’t reward Trial Lawyers or create more public bureaucracies and union employees, the prime goal of ObamaCare. Excerpt: Representative Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin has applied the food stamps idea to health reform. In his Road Map for America's Future, reintroduced this month, Americans would take refundable tax credits - $2,300 for singles and $5,700 for families - and choose private insurance. All insurance plans that are licensed in a particular state would be eligible, and each company would be free to set its own premiums. Low-income individuals would get extra tax credits so they could buy the same kind of health care as other Americans. Medicare would remain the same for current beneficiaries and for those 55 and older when they reach 65. But when those born in 1955 or later become eligible for Medicare at age 65, their plan would change. They would receive $11,000, adjusted for inflation, to buy a Medicare certified plan. Those with lower incomes or with more serious health conditions would receive more funding. Under Mr. Ryan's plan, health insurance companies could offer high-deductible plans carrying lower premiums combined with health savings accounts, or more traditional managed care or fee-for-service plans. Persons with high-cost chronic illnesses, such as hemophilia or diabetes, would be placed in special affordable state high risk pools, with subventions paid by the government. On Wednesday, Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf wrote to Mr. Ryan to tell him that this plan reduced health care costs and the federal deficit. He said: "Under the proposal, national health expenditures would almost certainly be lower than they would under the alternative fiscal scenario. Federal spending for health care would be substantially lower, relative to the amount in that scenario, for working-age people and the Medicare population." Another approach along the lines of food stamps is the Empowering Patients First Act, H.R. 3400, sponsored by Georgia Representative Tom Price, a physician and chairman of the House Republican Study Committee, which seeks to insure more people and cut costs. Like the Ryan bill, it would insure more people by letting individuals take tax deductions for health insurance premiums that they pay, just as employers do. Workers with employer-paid insurance could retain it. Low-income individuals would be given refundable tax credits in advance to help them pay premiums. States would be required to set up subsidized risk pools for those with chronic conditions who might otherwise be uninsurable. The most innovative aspect of the Price bill allows - but does not require - employers to offer a monetary sum to workers so that they can purchase whatever insurance plan they choose in the open market, similar to defined contribution pension plans. Employers would still enjoy the same tax benefit for providing coverage, tax-free to the employee, but workers would be able to choose from an entire range of options, policies that they could carry with them when they change jobs. Now employees are generally limited to one plan, sponsored by their employer, and lose that coverage when they change jobs. The contrast with the Democrats' health care plan could not be starker. Rather than turn the insurance industry into a federally-controlled public utility, the Republican plans would allow all Americans, including recipients of Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, to shop around and purchase health insurance on the open market - just like food stamp recipients take their debit cards to grocery stores.

SOTU: Obama's dream dead in less than 15 hours
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Obamas-dream-dead-in-less-than-15-hours-82968302.html
Excerpt: Less than 15 hours after President Obama promised a three-year freeze on non-defense discretionary spending, Senate Democrats went and killed the dream. With their 43 "no" votes, they blocked a bipartisan provision on Thursday that would have allowed only 1 percent spending growth in the categories President Obama intended. Without even giving Republicans a chance to obstruct, congressional Democrats did it themselves. They repudiated not only the president's spending freeze and his call to fiscal responsibility, but also nearly every positive hope he expressed in his State of the Union Address for change in Washington. For example, Obama called for an end to obstruction of anything that can't get 60 votes in the Senate. He also denounced the "perpetual campaign" into which American politics has devolved. But by blocking a bipartisan spending freeze that could get only 56 Senate votes, liberals in Congress have ensured that the next nine months will be a perpetual campaign

New twist in UEA climate change row
http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/eveningnews24/norwich-news/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=News&tBrand=ENOnline&tCategory=xNews&itemid=NOED28%20Jan%202010%2010%3A05%3A43%3A370
Hiding the truth. Excerpt: Norwich's flagship university was at the centre of a new row today after it emerged it broke the law by refusing to hand over its raw data for public scrutiny in the climate change row over stolen emails. The reputation of the University of East Anglia's world renowned climatic research unit (CRU)was shaken to the core last year after emails posted on the internet from researchers including its director Prof Phil Jones appeared to suggest ways of avoiding freedom of information requests together with a “trick” to explain away an apparent fall in global temperatures.

Vietnam’s Covert War Against Overseas Buddhists
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/28633/
Ungrateful Commie bastards, considering we now know the Buddhist protests against Diem were on behalf of the North. Excerpt: Vietnam has waged a brutal overt and covert war against its Buddhist population for decades. In 1981, they officially outlawed their country’s oldest and original Buddhist Church, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV). The communists attacked the 2000-year-old tradition and created an alternative state-controlled Buddhist Church

McConnell: End Federal Gag Order on Medicare Cuts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6rY3rxb60k
Do we still have the First Amendment? Did I miss something?

Russia's first stealth fighter makes maiden flight
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100129/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_stealth_fighter
But, but, President Wobbly stopped production of the F-22, I thought? Excerpt: Russia's first stealth fighter intended to match the latest U.S. design made its maiden flight Friday, boosting the country's efforts to modernize its rusting Soviet-built arsenals and retain its lucrative export market. The Sukhoi T-50's flight comes nearly two decades after the first prototype of the U.S. F-22 Raptor took to the air, and Russian officials said it will take another five years for the new jet to enter service. Still, the flight marked a major step in Russia's efforts to burnish the faded glory of its aviation industries and strengthen a beleaguered military. The sleek twin-engined jet closely resembling the Raptor flew for 47-minutes from an airfield at Sukhoi's production plant in the Far Eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur on Friday. Development of the so-called fifth-generation fighter has been veiled in secrecy and no images of it had been released before the flight.

Obituary: Dr. Teresa J. Vietti: pioneer in children's cancer
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/deathsobituaries/story/69C8E5A929CB23BF862576B90005E9F0?OpenDocument
I include this for the bold throw-away line. One of the tens of thousands of forgotten Communist murders we fought against. Excerpt: Teresa and Ardel Vietti were twins who went their separate ways to become medical doctors. Teresa became an internationally known specialist in children's cancer at Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis Children's Hospital. Ardel became a surgeon and a missionary in Vietnam. She was kidnapped by the Viet Cong in 1962 and hasn't been seen since. Dr. Teresa J. Vietti died Monday (Jan. 25, 2010) at Missouri Baptist Medical Center in Town and Country. She died of natural causes and had been in declining health for months, Washington University officials said in announcing her death. She was 82 and lived in Webster Groves.

Good catch from a Marine buddy
From the State of the Union address..."We find unity in our incredible diversity, drawing on the promise enshrined in our Constitution, the notion that we're all created equal..." Gee, that's neat... a great part of the heritage from our Founders. One tiny detail.... it doesn't say that in the Constitution, it says that in the Declaration of Independence. You'd think a Law School graduate and supposed constitutional scholar might have known that. Personally, I seriously doubt that he has any idea of what James Madison, author of our Constitution, wrote, to wit- "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite." Oh well, I know, I'm just picky, picky, picky. –Del

Health Care Reform Vaporizes Obama Presidency
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/01/healthcare_reform_vaporizes_ob.html
Excerpt: In the fledgling days of the personal computer industry, software vendors frequently announced products that were not yet ready for release. The term "vaporware" was coined to describe such software. Most of these products never reached the marketplace; some that were sold to the public should not have been. The recent health care reform effort was nothing more than a modern-day, political version of vaporware -- or, more aptly, VaporCare. The VaporCare bill never reached a point where it was ready for "release." In software terminology, the legislation was nothing but "spaghetti code." It was written by dozens of lawyers and congressional staffers. There was no guiding objective to the legislation other than "we must pass something quickly." No one, including the various writers of the bill, the Congress, or President Obama, had a comprehensive understanding of the legislation. The bill was a "moving target," changing whenever criticisms arose, decision-makers met, or vote-buying was required. Few of the ad hoc changes had anything to do with improving the quality of health care. As stated in "The Legend of Bagger Obama": At the end, there was no discernible logic behind the plan. Inconsistencies, deals, falsified data and outright lies were evident to anyone willing to look. Despite the problems and unpopularity, healthcare moved forward not unlike an ancient pagan ritual. Congressional Democrats [were willing to sacrifice] the best healthcare system in the world and the American taxpayer to their God, Bagger Obama.

Hanged at dawn: Iran executes two men arrested in presidential election unrest for 'waging war against God'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1246749/Iran-executes-men-arrested-presidential-election-unrest-waging-war-God.html
Excerpt: Two anti-government activists were executed in Iran today. In a crackdown on opposition supporters, officials said the two were hanged after being found guilty of waging war against God, trying to overthrow the Islamic establishment and being members of armed groups. Five others involved in protests over June's presidential election were sentenced to die.

Bin Laden blasts US for climate change
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100129/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_bin_laden_tape
I started to list this as satire, but discovered it’s apparently true. Bin Laden is the new ally of bin Lyin (Al Gore’s al Qaeda name). Excerpt: Osama bin Laden sought to draw a wider public into his fight against the United States in a new message Friday, dropping his usual talk of religion and holy war and focusing instead on an unexpected topic: global warming.
The al-Qaida leader blamed the United States and other industrialized nations for climate change and said the only way to prevent disaster was to break the American economy, calling on the world to boycott U.S. goods and stop using the dollar

Administration drops plans to try alleged 9/11 conspirators in N.Y.C.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/29/AR2010012903213.html?wpisrc=nl_natlalert
Another step towards sanity we may owe Massachusetts. But here’s my plan. Put KSM and I on a small Navy ship. I’ll try him, convict him and drop him over the side myself, all in secret to avoid giving him a platform, and his buddies a time and target to make a splash killing of Americans. No charge for my services. Just doing a good deed like the Boy Scout I once was. Excerpt: The Obama administration has abandoned its plan to put Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, on trial in Lower Manhattan, according to administration officials. The reversal marks the latest setback for an administration that has been buffeted at every turn as it seeks to close the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. And without the backdrop of Ground Zero for a trial, the administration will also lose some of the rich symbolism associated with its attempt to forge a new approach to handling high-value al-Qaeda detainees. "New York is out," said an administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the decision had not yet been officially announced. "We're considering other options."

The handling of the Christmas Day bombing suspect: the scandal grows
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/28/AR2010012803511.html Seriously, it’s not too late to fix this. Someone fetch me a slant board, and old rag, some rope and a couple of gallons of water. Excerpt: The real scandal surrounding the failed Christmas Day airline bombing was not the fact that a terrorist got on a plane -- that can happen to any administration, as it surely did to the Bush administration -- but what happened afterward when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was captured and came under the full control of the U.S. government. After 50 minutes of questioning him, the Obama administration chose, reflexively and mindlessly, to give the chatty terrorist the right to remain silent. Which he immediately did, undoubtedly denying us crucial information about al-Qaeda in Yemen, which had trained, armed and dispatched him. We have since learned that the decision to Mirandize Abdulmutallab had been made without the knowledge of or consultation with (1) the secretary of defense, (2) the secretary of homeland security, (3) the director of the FBI, (4) the director of the National Counterterrorism Center or (5) the director of national intelligence (DNI). The Justice Department acted not just unilaterally but unaccountably. Obama's own DNI said that Abdulmutallab should have been interrogated by the HIG, the administration's new High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group.

Stop the Trial of Geert Wilders
http://israelagainstterror.blogspot.com/2010/01/wall-st-journal-stop-trial-of-geert.html
Europe and Canada don’t have the First Amendment. Excerpt: What started as a trial against Geert Wilders for alleged Islamophobia has nearly turned into its opposite: a historical case about the message of the Quran. The Amsterdam court trying the controversial Dutch politician is now preoccupied with the question of whether this book, sacred to more than a billion believers, can be compared to one of the most vile publications in the history of Western civilization—Hitler's "Mein Kampf." What could possibly go wrong? In his writing and speeches, Mr. Wilders has found these two works to be similar in terms of their anti-Semitism and incitement to hatred, and has thus called for a publishing ban on the Quran similar to the one in place for "Mein Kampf." This is what triggered Mr. Wilders's prosecution for discriminatory and insulting remarks against Muslims and Islam. The Dutch politician, though, denies having insulted Muslims. He insists his focus is on radical Islam and the Quran, which he considers to be not only a religious text but also a political pamphlet encouraging Muslims to discriminate against and, if necessary, kill Jews, Christians, apostates and other unbelievers. That's why Mr. Wilders claims the right to criticize and condemn Islam. Following complaints brought by mostly Muslim and radical leftist activists, Amsterdam's district attorney in 2008 at first found no legal basis for prosecuting Mr. Wilders. Prosecutors were forced to change course only after an activist appeals court last year ordered Mr. Wilders's prosecution—basically condemning the politician before any trial could even begin and before Mr. Wilders had a chance to defend himself. The court's unusual intervention illustrates the Dutch confusion about the conflict between two essential rights: the right to free speech and the right to protection from discrimination.

Uighurs returned to China 'disappear' says rights group
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/8487724.stm
Maybe we should outsource the War on Terror to China. Excerpts: The Uighurs left Xinjiang after deadly fighting in July. China must account for the whereabouts of ethnic Uighurs forcibly repatriated from Cambodia, a US-based rights group has said. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said such groups had "disappeared into a black hole" on their return to China. The Uighurs fled to Cambodia after mass ethnic riots in China in July. Beijing has referred to them as criminals. In December, a group of 20 Uighurs were put on a plane to China despite opposition from the UN and US.

Political Digest January 29, 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.

Obama will ask in State of Union for end to 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/01/obama-will-ask-in-state-of-uni.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Excerpt: President Obama will call for a repeal of the law that forbids openly gay and lesbian people from serving in the military during Wednesday night's State of the Union address, according to a prepared text of the speech released by the White House. "This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are," Obama will say.

My take on the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” issue
This will hurt Obama with those who believe folks wake up and decide, “Hey, I’m sick of dating members of the opposite sex, I think I’ll become Gay.” It will help Obama with gays and his liberal base. My take is that if the right pounds too hard on it, it will help Obama. Polls show that the younger folks are increasingly tolerant of Gays, and indifferent to issues of Gay marriage. This is exactly the group that is turning against Obama as he tries to force them to buy health insurance they don’t want and saddles them with un-payable burden of national debt, that will kill their economic future. We don’t need to pound on issues that drive them back to his camp. Attitudes have changed in the middle of the electorate since Bill Clinton pushed this issue. And it is independents in the middle who will decide if Obama, Pelosi and Reid control the agenda in 2013, or if conservatives do. Remember, Obama said the same thing in 2008, and it didn’t hurt him in that campaign.

But I have a strong libertarian streak in my conservatism. I don’t want the government telling people they can’t own guns, adult movies or marry who they please. That said, I’ve always believed that being homosexual is something that happens to some people, like having blue eyes, and is not a choice. I don’t know any true heterosexual who ever gave a second’s thought to switching sides, no matter how angry or upset they were with their significant other or women/men in general. Therefore, I’ve always opposed discrimination against Gays. It’s not a choice or mental disturbance, like being a sociopath, Nazi or liberal.

And if the right pounds on it, they will bring out people like the Marine in the story below, hurting our side with the independents we need to win in 2010 and 2012.

Wounded ex-Marine now fighting a two-front war
http://www.mysanantonio.com/military/Wounded_ex-Marine_leads_battle_for_gays_to_serve_in_military.html
Excerpt: Eric Alva lived and breathed the Marine Corps for 13 years. Then he earned a dubious slice of American history by becoming the first GI injured in the Iraq invasion in 2003. He stepped on a mine three hours after rolling into Iraq, breaking both legs, suffering a badly mangled right arm and being filled with shrapnel from torso to his legs. The picture-perfect Marine, who later lost part of his right leg and still carries 27 pieces of shrapnel, has evolved from a war hero photographed with President George W. Bush to one of the nation's prominent gay activists after coming out on ABC's “Good Morning America” on Feb. 27, 2007.

Obama's first State of the Union: Jobs must be our No. 1 focus
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/78437-obama-jobs-must-be-our-no-1-focus-in-2010
Well, there are proven ways to create jobs. Reduce Capital gains taxes as JFK did, to give business more money to invest in job creation. Reduce taxes on small businesses, the number one creators of private sector jobs. Reduce the cost of healthcare insurance on business and individuals by passing comprehensive national tort reform, and allowing insurance companies to sell insurance nationwide without the costly state by state mandates. But when he says jobs are the first priority, he means first after protecting trial lawyers, public unions and other special interests who contribute to Democrats. The unemployed are first—after all those good folks. So he’ll try another big government, big deficit stimulus plan ,the first one having created so many jobs in places that don’t even exist, as reported on Democrat websites.

Barbour: GOP chances better than in '94, but don't get complacent
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/78299-barbour-gops-chances-better-than-in-94-but-dont-get-complacent
Excerpt: Republicans shouldn’t take their upset victory in Massachusetts for granted, a senior party strategist told the Senate GOP conference Wednesday. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former chairman of the national party, warned the group it can’t afford complacency or overconfidence, even with the wind seemingly at its back. Nothing is automatic in politics. Things change. Everybody needs to just run hard, hard, and take nothing for granted,” Barbour told The Hill shortly after he spoke to the conference during its half-day-long meeting at the Library of Congress. “But the environment today is better for Republicans in January of 2010 than it was in January of 1994,” he added. “The important thing I told them was that while today the environment is better than it was in ’94, the elections aren’t for 10 months. Lots can change, and they need to be thinking that nothing is carved in stone.”

RNC chief Steele opposes purity test for Republican candidates
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/27/AR2010012702787.html?wpisrc=nl_politics
This news will make Reid and Pelosi unhappy. A purity test would help defeat moderate Republicans in Blue States, thus helping liberals control the Congress after 2012. Excerpt: Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele said Wednesday that he opposes a controversial "purity" resolution that would keep party money from candidates deemed to be too moderate, all but ensuring the defeat of a proposal that divided GOP leaders as they opened their four-day winter meeting here Wednesday. The proposal, introduced by some of the RNC's more conservative members, would require that candidates publicly state their agreement with at least eight of 10 listed conservative positions -- ranging from taxes and immigration to same-sex marriage and gun control -- or lose party funding and support. Although Steele has not seen the final text of the resolution, named after the late president Ronald Reagan, he is siding with some two dozen state party chairmen who voted unanimously Wednesday to oppose it.

After Obama rips lobbyists, K St. insiders get private briefings
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/78509-after-obama-rips-k-street-administration-invites-lobbyists-to-private-briefings
The old game—you get votes from the people promising to protect them from the “special interests,” and campaign money from the special interests like tral lawyers helping them screw the people who voted for you. Except: A day after bashing lobbyists, President Barack Obama’s administration has invited K Street insiders to join private briefings on a range of topics addressed in Wednesday’s State of the Union. The Treasury Department on Thursday morning invited selected individuals to “a series of conference calls with senior Obama administration officials to discuss key aspects of the State of the Union address.” The invitation, which went to a variety of stakeholders, was sent by Fred Baldassaro, a senior adviser at the Treasury Department’s Office of Business Affairs and Public Liaison. The invitation stated, “The White House is encouraging you to participate in these calls and will have a question and answer session at the end of each call. As a reminder, these calls are not intended for press purposes.” The calls are scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, with the first topic being job creation and economic growth. The last call, at 1 p.m., is on government reform and transparency. Republicans have criticized the Obama White House for not being more transparent in its discussions with Congress on healthcare reform. Obama recently acknowledged that the legislative process has not been as open as he promised on the campaign trail.

The Spending 'Freeze' That Isn't
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704094304575028930349664448.html
But spending buys votes from favored groups. Excerpt: In last night's State of the Union address President Obama proposed a three-year "spending freeze" on what amounts to one-sixth of the federal budget. Our biggest entitlement programs, Social Security and Medicare, would be excluded. These changes are optical rather than substantive. Given the spending agenda that is already in place, we can expect to see large increases in the proportion of GDP that is spent by our government for years to come. Since 2008, the ratio of federal spending-to-GDP has risen by about 14%. From 2008 to 2009 we saw the greatest annual increase in spending in the last 30 years. In the name of stimulating job growth, the share of federal spending is now 24% of the economy, up from 21% in the last year of the Bush administration. My analysis of data from 1950 to the present shows that periods with high tax-to-GDP ratios exhibit much slower economic growth than lower tax ratio periods. The GDP growth in high tax years (defined as years during which the ratio of tax-to-GDP was above 18%, the 60-year average) was about 1.5 percentage points lower than the growth rate in low-tax years. High taxes are clearly bad for the U.S. economy. For example, were we to tax above the 18% tax-to-GDP ratio over the next 25 years, GDP per capita in 2035 would be about 50% less than if we were to tax below the 18% ratio. A 50% per capita GDP differential is about as large as the difference between the U.S. and Greece today.

A Dose of Reality, a Bid to Restore Magic
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/us/politics/28assess.html
Excerpt: By now, President Obama can hardly be under any illusions about the depth of the partisan divide as he seeks to reboot his presidency. Yet he still seemed surprised on Wednesday night when he could not get Republicans to applaud tax cuts.Skip to next paragraph
As he boasted in his first State of the Union address that his economic program had cut taxes for 95 percent of working families, Democrats jumped to their feet to cheer. Republicans sat quietly. Mr. Obama paused as he glanced over to their side of the House chamber. “I thought I’d get some applause on that one,” he said. If Mr. Obama thought he could take the rostrum in the House chamber and restore his image as the change agent who came to Washington to end the politics of division, he received another reminder just how hard that will be. Mr. Obama tried to recapture the magic of his yes-we-can campaign after a season of no-we-can’t governing, but conceded little if any ground to critics on either the right or the left. It was a confident performance, more defiant than contrite, more conversational than soaring. He appealed to and scolded both parties, threatened vetoes, blamed his predecessor and poked fun at lawmakers.

A Speech Only Washington Could Love
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/01/28/morning-bell-a-speech-only-washington-could-love/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBellExcerpt: The more things change, the more things stay the same. A little over a year ago, President Barack Obama came to office expecting to pass a “big bang” of policy changes all in the first year: health care, cap-and-trade, and banking regulation. With the big-bang strategy officially a failure, President Obama’s State of the Union address last night desperately tried to keep all of these legislative efforts alive while also acknowledging that the country has firmly rejected his policy agenda. The result was an incoherent mess of promised tax cuts for small businesses coupled with the threat of tax hikes from his health care and energy proposals; more federal money to encourage banks to lend to businesses, coupled with new taxes on banks and individuals; the continued waste of his $862 billion stimulus plan and $2 trillion in new health care spending, coupled with a delayed and temporary spending freeze.

State of the Union: Barack Obama gets an F for world leadership (Britian)
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100024086/state-of-the-union-obama-gets-an-f-for-world-leadership/
The view from Britain. Excerpt: As expected, Barack Obama’s 70 minute State of the Union address focused heavily on the economy and the domestic political agenda. This was hardly surprising in the aftermath of last week’s catastrophic defeat for his party in the Massachusetts special Senate election, where the Republicans scored an historic victory. American voters are turning strongly against the president’s health care reform package as well as his big government vision for the economy, which has contributed to spiraling public debt and mounting unemployment, now standing at over 10 percent. But the scant attention paid in the State of the Union speech to US leadership was pitiful and frankly rather pathetic. The war in Afghanistan, which will soon involve a hundred thousand American troops, merited barely a paragraph. There was no mention of victory over the enemy, just a reiteration of the president’s pledge to begin a withdrawal in July 2011. Needless to say there was nothing in the speech about the importance of international alliances, and no recognition whatsoever of the sacrifices made by Great Britain and other NATO allies alongside the United States on the battlefields of Afghanistan. For Barack Obama the Special Relationship means nothing, and tonight’s address further confirmed this.

I Told You So – Yes I Did (Canada)
http://www.galganov.com/editorials.asp?ID=1147
Excerpt: When Obama won the Presidency with the help of the LEFTIST Media, Hollywood and Entertainment Liberals, Ethnic Socialists (ACORN), Stupid Non-Business Professionals and Bush Haters, I wrote: It won’t take 6 months until the people figure this guy out and realize how horrible a mistake they’ve made. And when they come to that realization, the damage to the United States of America will be so great, that it will take a generation or more to repair - IF EVER. The IDIOTS who not only voted for the Messiah, but also worked their sorry asses-off to promote his Lordship, are now left holding the bag. Here are two things they will NEVER do: 1 – They will NEVER admit to making a blunder out of all proportion by electing a snake-oil salesman with no positive social history or management experience of any kind. 2 – They will NEVER take responsibility for the curse they’ve imposed upon the immediate and long-term future of their country.

State of the Union Address: Justice Alito’s ‘You lie’ moment?
http://commonamericanjournal.com/?p=9840
Excerpt: POLITICO’s Kasie Hunt, who’s in the House chamber, reports that Justice Samuel Alito mouthed the words “not true” when President Barack Obama criticized the Supreme Court’s campaign finance decision. “Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests — including foreign corporations — to spend without limit in our elections,” Obama said. “Well I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people, and that’s why I’m urging Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to right this wrong.” The shot of the black-robed Supreme Court justices, stone-faced, was priceless.

AP Fact Checks Obama’s SOTU Speech
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/fact-check-obama-and-285321.html
Excerpt: President Barack Obama told Americans the bipartisan deficit commission he will appoint won't just be "one of those Washington gimmicks." Left unspoken in that assurance was the fact that the commission won't have any teeth.

Cato responds to Obama’s SOTU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r5MfEG9xmE

Commissioner Peraica accused of using racial slur for saying 'those folks'
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/2012661,peraica-sims-those-folks-county-board-012610.article
“Those folks” is apparently a terrible new racist term the politically-correct must avoid. Excerpt: The controversy began Tuesday at a Cook County Board meeting when Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica delivered another of his windy speeches. Peraica, who is white and represents the western suburbs, was talking about how cutting the county's share of the sales tax could help the unemployed -- mentioning specifically how the African American community has been hit especially hard by joblessness and how "those folks" could benefit from slashing the tax.

Chris Matthews: I forgot Obama was black for an hour
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/01/chris-matthews-i-forgot-obama.html?wprss=44
“Those folks” can fool you that way.

CNN Poll: 3 of 4 Americans say much of stimulus money wasted
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/25/poll.stimulus.money/index.html
You rubes are so dumb, you just don’t deserve Barack Obama! You’re going to get another stimulus regardless of your wishes. Excerpt: Nearly three out of four Americans think that at least half of the money spent in the federal stimulus plan has been wasted, according to a new national poll. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday morning also indicates that 63 percent of the public thinks that projects in the plan were included for purely political reasons and will have no economic benefit, with 36 percent saying those projects will benefit the economy. Twenty-one percent of people questioned in the poll say nearly all the money in the stimulus has been wasted, with 24 percent feeling that most money has been wasted and an additional 29 percent saying that about half has been wasted. Twenty-one percent say only a little has been wasted and 4 percent think that no stimulus dollars have been wasted.

Disaster poll: Nearly 70 percent say dump Dems' health care bill
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Disaster-poll-Nearly-70-percent-say-dump-the-Dems-health-care-bill-82823872.html#ixzz0duKfIqD2
Just when it appeared that the numbers for the Democratic health care proposals passed by the House and Senate couldn't get any worse -- they have. A new poll by CNN and Opinion Research, taken from January 22 to January 24, shows that 69 percent of respondents say Congress should dump the current Democratic health care proposals and either write an entirely new health bill or stop working on the subject altogether.

Gov't Unions 2, Oregon Taxpayers 0
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=519312
Excerpt: In voting to raise taxes to fund health benefits of public-sector union members, Oregonians have taken some of the shine off Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts and set a potentially dangerous precedent.

Obama, the God that Failed
http://stupidfrogs.org/articles/obama_the_god_that_failed.htm
Excerpt: President Obama said Monday that he would "rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president." He will be lucky if he's not an abject failure.

Thrill is gone for Obamagirl
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Thrill-is-gone-for-Obamagirl-82806392.html
Excerpt: Remember Amber Lee Ettinger, the "Obamagirl" who had 15 minutes of fame during the 2008 presidential campaign with her video paen to Barack Obama?
The New York Post reports this morning that Obamagirl wishes her man had spent the past year doing something about the economy instead of obsessing about health care reform. "I know he's getting a lot of flak for things that he's not doing. In my opinion, I feel like he should be focusing a lot more on jobs and the economy," Ettinger told the Post.

Standing for more than ‘No’
http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/articles/2010/01/27/opinion/doc4b608f5be5e49367761024.txt
Excerpt: Amid the celebrating over Scott Brown's Senate victory Tuesday, some Republicans were smartly looking ahead, arguing that the party can't rest on the laurels of one election, however momentous. Kevin Madden, press secretary for Mitt Romney in 2008, wrote in the Wall Street Journal: "The party can prove to a disaffected public that we stand for more than just winning elections but instead are dedicated to reforming a broken system and governing a nation with public support." In other words, don't let the Brown win go your heads. It's a big deal -- huge, considering that Republicans and conservatives were thought extinct just a year ago. But don't think this is a Sally Field moment. Voters don't suddenly really, really like the GOP. Instead, consider the things they really, really dislike: (Good article. But we also need to point out that the Democrats are also the “Party of No.” No to tort reform. No to insurance company competition. No to capital gains tax cuts to create jobs. No to winning the War of terror. No to treating terrorists as the illegal enemy combatants they are under international law. No to developing energy at home through oil and nuclear power. No to fiscal restraint. No to cleaning up corrupt Democrats like Rangel and Murtha. And so on.)

Barack Obama LIED!
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/01/27/barack-obama-lied/
Excerpt: Tonight, Barack Obama said, “To close that credibility gap we must take action on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue to end the outsized influence of lobbyists; to do our work openly; and to give our people the government they deserve.
“That’s what I came to Washington to do. That’s why – for the first time in history – my Administration posts our White House visitors online. And that’s why we’ve excluded lobbyists from policy-making jobs or seats on federal boards and commissions.” Maybe this explains why his national security policies are so weak. He put William Lynn in the Pentagon as Deputy Defense Secretary. Mr. Lynn was a lobbyist for Defense Contractor Ratheon. I guess the Deputy Defense Secretary is not a policy-making job. But it is not just Lynn. Eric Holder, attorney general nominee, was registered to lobby until 2004 on behalf of clients including Global Crossing, a bankrupt telecommunications firm [now confirmed]. Tom Vilsack, secretary of agriculture nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year on behalf of the National Education Association. William Lynn, deputy defense secretary nominee, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for defense contractor Raytheon, where he was a top executive. William Corr, deputy health and human services secretary nominee, was registered to lobby until last year for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a non-profit that pushes to limit tobacco use. David Hayes, deputy interior secretary nominee, was registered to lobby until 2006 for clients, including the regional utility San Diego Gas & Electric. Mark Patterson, chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was registered to lobby as recently as last year for financial giant Goldman Sachs. Ron Klain, chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, was registered to lobby until 2005 for clients, including the Coalition for Asbestos Resolution, U.S. Airways, Airborne Express and drug-maker ImClone. Mona Sutphen, deputy White House chief of staff, was registered to lobby for clients, including Angliss International in 2003. Melody Barnes, domestic policy council director, lobbied in 2003 and 2004 for liberal advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the American Constitution Society and the Center for Reproductive Rights. Cecilia Munoz, White House director of intergovernmental affairs, was a lobbyist as recently as last year for the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group. Patrick Gaspard, White House political affairs director, was a lobbyist for the Service Employees International Union. Michael Strautmanis, chief of staff to the president’s assistant for intergovernmental relations, lobbied for the American Association of Justice from 2001 until 2005. (From Red State Morning Briefings. You may want to subscribe. Erick.Erickson@redstate.com)

Obama sends a message to Congressional Dems: Stand and fight
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/white-house/obama-send-a-message-to-congre.html?wpisrc=nl_pmpolitics
Excerpt: In a state of the Union speech notable for its conciliatory tone and generally centrist policy focus, President Barack Obama saved his harshest words for the members of his own party. "After last week, it is clear that campaign fever has come even earlier than usual," said Obama. "But we still need to govern. To Democrats, I would remind you that we still have the largest majority in decades, and the people expect us to solve some problems, not run for the hills." Those three sentences encapsulate the view of Obama and his White House about the best -- and perhaps only -- mindset that Democrats must adopt heading into the November midterm elections. Put simply: You can run, but you can't hide. Obama as well as his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, himself a former member of the House leadership, have argued for months that Democrats' fate is tied to the president whether they like it or not due to the near-certainty that 2010 will be a nationalized election.

Obama’s First State Of The Union Address – The Way It Sounded To Me
http://thedaleygator.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/obamas-first-state-of-the-union-address-the-way-it-sounded-to-me/
Pretty funny, but accurate tanslation. Excerpt: This isn’t a very good time for our country. I know this because angry poor people keep writing me letters every day. Plus my poll numbers are in the tank, which means that even the poor people who voted for me are PO’ed. But hey, it’s not my fault, and besides, things aren’t as bad today as they were during the Civil War and the Great Depression. Still, I signed up for this gig, so I’d better at least pretend to take some responsibility for the way things are going, even though Bush is really to blame. The American people are upset because Republicans and Democrats can’t get along, and while that too isn’t my fault, I did kinda promise to end all the bickering in Washington and actually hold the government accountable for its screw-ups. I also promised transparency, and although what I meant by that was exposing the flaws of everyone who disagrees with me and then publicly mocking them, some folks may have thought I was talking about making my own administration more open and responsive to the will of the electorate. So here’s what I intend to do… basically the same unpopular stuff I’ve been doing since day one. You know, things like bailing out the very people who caused all our economic problems in the first place with massive amounts of taxpayer dollars, and then demonizing them for taking the money. I also intend to keep preaching to the choir about how much better poor folks will feel once we start punishing the people they envy most with crippling taxes, even while declaring what a big tax cutter I am.

US Terror Blacklist Whitewashes Hamas, Enables Funding
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/135659
Excerpt: The United States Treasury has taken all but one member of Hamas off the international list of terrorists, thus enabling funds from the European Union to enter Hamas-controlled Gaza. It is an open secret that large sums of money from the EU flow into Gaza in the guise of humanitarian aid and salaries for officials, but are actually funneled into the coffers of Hamas, which controls Gaza with an iron grip. This method of transferring funds into terrorists' hands could have been blocked by an international lawsuit, but according to journalist Avi Tarango, the United States Treasury has made this impossible by removing all but one Hamas man – Deputy Chairman of the Political Bureau, Musa Abu Marzouk – from the list of international terrorists.

57 Percent of Independent Voters Give Napolitano a ‘D’ or ‘F’ for Keeping America Safe
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/60446
Excerpt: A new Zogby Poll finds that nearly half (46 percent) of American voters surveyed – and 57 percent of Independents -- give Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano a below average or failing grade for keeping America secure. Also, when it comes to air travel, more Americans said they felt safer under President Bush than under President Obama.

God’s own lunatics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_gJTsRSd38
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