Sunday, July 05, 2009

4-Block World: Every Close Election


STUART SMALLEY GOES TO WASHINGTON... THE REAL AL FRANKEN IS CERTIFIED - AND CERTIFIABLE

STUART SMALLEY GOES TO WASHINGTON... THE REAL AL FRANKEN IS CERTIFIED - AND CERTIFIABLE
"As the Democrats in Congress – and in the mainstream media – celebrate leftist loon and tax cheat Al Franken’s stolen victory from incumbent Republican Norm Coleman, the rest of us are still recovering from nausea at the very thought of Franken as a 'valid' U.S. senator. After nearly eight tortuous months of refusing to concede defeat to Coleman, Franken’s bully tactics finally paid off – thanks mainly to George Soros and ACORN."

Ezra Klein - In Case You Were Insufficiently Depressed About the Job Numbers


Ezra Klein - In Case You Were Insufficiently Depressed About the Job Numbers: "And, as Billy Mays would have said, that's not all! We've also got about 9 million workers who are part-time because they can't find full-time work. That's up from 5 million workers in June.And, as Billy Mays would have said, that's not all! We've also got about 9 million workers who are part-time because they can't find full-time work. That's up from 5 million workers in June."

Friday, July 03, 2009

Cap and Trade Extras - Jamie Dupree on wsbradio.com

Cap and Trade Extras - Jamie Dupree on wsbradio.com: "So let's just review these three items:
* Payments to those making up to 150% of the poverty line to offset the costs of the Cap & Trade bill
* A doubling of the EITC for low income workers with no dependents who qualify for aid
* An open-ended funding of Medicare and Social Security money to deal with job losses and lower tax revenues caused by Cap & Trade
Have you looked through any of this bill yet? What are you waiting for?"

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Springs surgery tech suspected of exposing thousands to hepatitis C

Springs surgery tech suspected of exposing thousands to hepatitis C
"According to the criminal complaint, Parker - a former heroin addict - admitted swapping her own dirty syringes filled with saline solution for syringes filled with Fentanyl, a narcotic 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine.
The drug is supposed to be used to help major post-surgery patients manage pain. Instead, they got no relief while Parker injected herself with the painkiller at home and in the hospital bathrooms before and after a surgery, according to the seven-page complaint.
'I know I (expletive deleted) up,' Parker told Denver Police Detective Dale Wallis after he confronted her"

DESPERATELY SEEKING SILVER LININGS: Have you noticed a change in the economic news over the past …


DESPERATELY SEEKING SILVER LININGS: Have you noticed a change in the economic news over the past …:
"DESPERATELY SEEKING SILVER LININGS:
Have you noticed a change in the economic news over the past year or so? It’s a deliberately ambiguous question: The actual news has gotten worse, but the coverage of it has changed in tone. Today, reporters are eagerly looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. A year ago, and for a long time before that, they couldn’t wait to get into the tunnel.
What changed? Yeah, like you need to ask.
People have been joking about the “state-controlled media,” but in fact it’s worse — a real state-controlled media might be forced to maintain at least a pretense of objectivity and balance . . . ."

Strassel: The EPA Silences a Climate Skeptic


Stop The Madness That's Killing Jobs

Stop The Madness That's Killing Jobs
"Worse, the June jobs data mark a milestone of sorts: Our unemployment rate equals that of the no-growth Eurozone nations.
Why is this job decline happening? The private sector — the real engine of economic and job growth — won't hire because it's scared of what it sees coming out of Washington.
On the horizon, as far as the eye can see, are higher taxes, uncontrolled spending and layers upon layers of new regulations.
Who would hire new workers faced with that?"

City Council spends frivolously despite shortfall

City Council spends frivolously despite shortfall
"It's no secret. The City of Evanston is in financial crisis. Aside from the $145 million deficit in the police and fire pension funds, the nationwide recession is crippling market-based revenue sources, such as the real estate transfer tax.

With this in mind, it's hard to imagine how the Evanston City Council could justify investing $1.2 million to renovate the Clark Street beach, as it did in a measure passed by a 7-2 vote at Monday's meeting."

Wal-Mart and Health Care - ProfessorBainbridge.com

Wal-Mart and Health Care - ProfessorBainbridge.com: "I find it hard to believe that none of the liberal commentators breathlessly celebrating Wal-Mart's 'capitulation' on national health care have even entertained the most parsimonious explanation: that Wal-Mart is in favor of this because it raises the barriers to entry in the retail market, and hammers Wal-Mart's competition. Yet somehow, this appears nowhere in any of the analysis."

US nuclear recycling faces the axe

US nuclear recycling faces the axe
"Earlier this week, the administration of President Barack Obama quietly cancelled plans for a large-scale facility to recycle nuclear fuel. The move may prove a fatal blow to the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) set up by previous president George W. Bush. Nature News looks at the decision, what it means for US nuclear policy, and where a long-hoped-for nuclear renaissance may be headed."

Forget Green Shoots: They’re Just Weeds

Forget Green Shoots: They’re Just Weeds
"But when it comes to engendering an immediate economic recovery, the answer is a fairly simple three step process:
Commit to a zero interest rate policy for at least 2-3 years.
Enact a 100% tax holiday on business income and capital gains.
That’s not a deferral, it’s a full abatement.
Commit credibly to eliminate new regulations on business."

Congress's Travel Tab Swells

Congress's Travel Tab Swells
"The spending on overseas travel is up almost tenfold since 1995, and has nearly tripled since 2001, according to the Journal analysis of 60,000 travel records. Hundreds of lawmakers traveled overseas in 2008 at a cost of about $13 million. That's a 50% jump since Democrats took control of Congress two years ago."

Obama's War on the American Dream

Tea Party Talking Points: Obama's War on the American Dream
"Creating or Saving Jobs?
The President set a benchmark of a 138.6 million jobs in the U.S. economy by the end of 2010. He is currently 6.4 million jobs short.
Yet with rising unemployment, the White House continues to take credit for jobs 'saved' without any empirical evidence to suggest this is true.
The stimulus bill did create jobs in one sector--the government--by nearly doubling the size of several federal agencies and creating a huge bureaucracy."

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Mississippi tops U.S. obesity rankings

Mississippi tops U.S. obesity rankings
"Rounding out the top five states among adults were West Virginia, with 31.2 percent of its population considered obese; Alabama, 31.1 percent; Tennessee, 30.2 percent; and South Carolina 29.7 percent."

Brace yourself for higher taxes

Brace yourself for higher taxes
"President Obama had said in September, 2008: 'I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.'
This pledge has already been broken, at least with respect to federal tobacco taxes.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

“The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows..............

“The Rasmussen Reports
"June 30, 2009
“The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 31% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President.
Thirty-three percent (33%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -2. That matches the lowest level yet recorded.”

Canada's Single-Prayer Health Care

Canada's Single-Prayer Health Care
"Ava Isabella Stinson was born last Thursday at St. Joseph's hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. Weighing only two pounds, she was born 13 weeks premature and needed some very special care. Unfortunately, there were no open neonatal intensive care beds for her at St. Joseph's — or anywhere else in the entire province of Ontario, it seems.
Canada's perfectly planned and cost-effective system had no room at the inn for Ava, who of necessity had to be sent across the border to a Buffalo, N.Y., hospital to suffer under our chaotic and costly system. She had no time to be put on a Canadian waiting list. She got the care she needed at an American hospital under a system President Obama has labeled 'unsustainable.'"

The 'Absentee' Senator

The 'Absentee' Senator
"The unfortunate lesson is that you don't need to win the vote on Election Day as long as your lawyers are creative enough to have enough new or disqualified ballots counted after the fact. "

When Envy is on the Menu

When Envy is on the Menu

CARPE DIEM: Banking Fact of the Day

Banking Fact of the Day
"Number of bank failures this year so far:
45 (FDIC data here, click on 'Produce Report').

Total Assets of the 45 failed banks: $36.965 billion

Total Bank Assets of All 8,246 FDIC-insured banks: $13.542 trillion (data here)

Failed Bank Assets as a Percent of Total Bank Assets: .27% (or about 1/4 of 1%)


Bottom Line: The worst of the banking crisis is behind us, the percent last year was 2.69%."

Gunfire wounds 7 Detroit teens; 3 critical

Gunfire wounds 7 Detroit teens; 3 critical
"Seven teenagers were shot near Cody Ninth Grade Academy this afternoon, leaving three in critical condition."

Apostrophe Abuse

Apostrophe Abuse

June Federal Receipts: The Dive Continues, As Does Media Near Silence

June Federal Receipts: The Dive Continues, As Does Media Near Silence
"Media coverage of the ongoing receipts dive has been minimal at best. A Google News search on 'federal receipts' (typed in quotes) returns on seven items, two of them originating from yours truly."

June Federal Receipts: The Dive Continues, As Does Media Near Silence


June Federal Receipts: The Dive Continues, As Does Media Near Silence
"Estimating on what I believe is the high side, it looks like total June 2009 receipts will come in at about $230 billion, consisting of about $198 billion in the line items identified above (i.e., another $13.2 billion will come in during the final two days) plus $32 billion in other receipts. That would be a 12% drop from last year's official total, but a 20% drop from last year's $287.8 billion in total receipts from economic activity."

U.K. First-Quarter GDP Drops 2.4%, Most Since 1958

U.K. First-Quarter GDP Drops 2.4%, Most Since 1958
"Gross domestic product fell 2.4 percent from the final three months of 2008,"

Obama’s Census to castrate American Caucasians

Obama’s Census to castrate American Caucasians:
"But infinitely more telling is what the new census form doesn’t ask.
It doesn’t ask if you are a citizen of the U.S.A., if you are an immigrant, or if you are a Muslim.
Naturally, the questions are in English and Spanish, lest anyone think that America is an Anglo nation. Many stand in violation of the Constitution which states that a national census should concern itself solely the number of individuals in a household.
For this reason, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann is refusing to answer the “very intricate” and “very personal” questions.
But there are problems with the Obama census beyond the intrusive nature of the comprehensive survey.
To assist in the hiring of census takers, the Obama Administration has opted to partner with the following special interest groups (not one of which represents the despised race of whites who settled this country):
ACORN
100 Black Men of America
African American Women’s House of Imagene (sic) Shelter
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Arab American Institute
Asian American Federation
Asian American Justice Center
Asian and Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS
Association of Professors and Scholars of Iranian Heritage
Boat People SOS
Hispanic Alliance for Prosperity Institute
Hispanic Federation
Fundacion Azteca
Latino Justice PDLDEF
Mas New Mexico
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Minority Access
National Alliance for Hispanic Health
National Alliance of Black School Educators
National American Indian Housing Council
NAACP National Voter Fund
NAACP (National Association of Colored People)
National Association for Black Social Workers
National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs
National association of Hispanic Federal Executives
National Association of Hispanic Publications
National Association of Latino Elected Officials
National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs National Black Chamber of Commerce
National Black Child Development Institute
National Black Justice Coalition
National Black Leadership Forum
National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
National Congress of Black Women
National Federation of Filipino American Associations
National Hispanic Leadership Institute
National Hispanic Business Information Clearinghouse
National Latino Research Center
National Minority AIDS Council
National Puerto Rican Coalition
National Puerto Rican Day Parade
Rainbow Push Coalition
U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Voto Latino


Get the picture? Notice a racial bias?

These agencies will be paid millions in taxpayers’ dollars to assist the President in conducting the census and to make sure that all minorities are included in the official count.

Not one of the groups represents the despised race of white Europeans who settled this country and gave their sweat and blood to make it the most prosperous nation on earth.
Excluded from the list of census partners are such groups, as the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Elks Clubs, the Rotary Clubs, the Moose Lodge, and, of course, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick."

Monday, June 29, 2009

CARPE DIEM: More on the Male-Female SAT Math Test Gap


ADVICE TO REPUBLICANS, FROM DAN RIEHL: “Any real change has to start from the ground up.

ADVICE TO REPUBLICANS
“Any real change has to start from the ground up.
Ranting about witholding money might make you feel good. And there’s nothing wrong with doing it, provided you’re sending the right message as to what will be required to motivate you to support the GOP, again. You’d actually be better off to raise money yourself and give it to more conservative candidates, just as the Left did to some degree with politicians they liked.
I believe RedState already has that type of initiative. They’re even raising money specifically for a more conservative candidate to take on Boxer - Chuck Devore. That’s the way to get what you want by channeling money, not simply withholding it because one is angry.”"

6 Shot Dead In City This Past Weekend; Several Others Shot Or Stabbed And Wounded

6 Shot Dead In City This Past Weekend; Several Others Shot Or Stabbed And Wounded
"Shootings claimed the lives of six men in the city in a bloody and violent 24 hours over the weekend"

What is Obama's exit strategy to extricate American police and citizens from this quagmire?