In the meantime, read Doug Ross's post about Obama's Youth Corps. We'd comment, but we'd sound uncharacteristically paranoid...
Monday, March 30, 2009
Back in 5...
We're on the road this week to visit Ushanka.us' Mikhail. We'll post as often as possible, but will likely miss our Weekend Reading post.
In the meantime, read Doug Ross's post about Obama's Youth Corps. We'd comment, but we'd sound uncharacteristically paranoid...
In the meantime, read Doug Ross's post about Obama's Youth Corps. We'd comment, but we'd sound uncharacteristically paranoid...
Amateur Hour Continues
All quiet on the diplomatic front when it comes to North Korea. Apparently the US "will allow the launch" of North Korea's communications satellite ICBM test. The silence is understandable - Obama cannot trash missile defense as "unproven", and barter it away to Russia for empty concessions if he uses the existing system to shoot down the missile.
The silence is also understandable as to the treatment and fate the two US journalists in North Korea, Enua Lee and Laura King. They will be going on trial in Pyongyang for espionage after being captured two weeks ago on the China border. They've been sold out by the administration and any further comments would be counter-productive to our extended hand of friendship to commies around the globe.
Our national security and our value for life are being diluted in front of our eyes. If only the TelePrompTer had some balls....
The silence is also understandable as to the treatment and fate the two US journalists in North Korea, Enua Lee and Laura King. They will be going on trial in Pyongyang for espionage after being captured two weeks ago on the China border. They've been sold out by the administration and any further comments would be counter-productive to our extended hand of friendship to commies around the globe.
Our national security and our value for life are being diluted in front of our eyes. If only the TelePrompTer had some balls....
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Karl's Weekend Reading
George Will writes in the Washington Post about Congress's excesses: "a partial list of recent lawlessness, situational constitutionalism and institutional derangement". His list includes the dilution of NAFTA, the AIG tax, China-US debt, DC congressional seats, and sneaking socialized medicine through using reconciliation. The Toxic Assets We Elected:
We didn't plan to post a piece on this week's kerfluffle regarding Notre Dame's commencement speech invitation to Obama and resulting outrage among Pro-Life Catholics. But Laura Hollis' Townhall article, "Social justice" Catholicism hits bottom was poetic - not just with Obama's demented abortion policies, but with many issues Notre Dame ignored, such as racial equality, poverty, immigration, education, economic and foreign policies. As is common with Laura Hollis articles, this is a must read.
Friday's WSJ editorial warns, again, the dangers of socialized medicine. The editorial board must be tired of sending these warnings, rarely to be heeded. They review the current crisis of the Mitt Romney plan in Massachusetts, and show what happens when "spending collides with reality".
With the braying of 328 yahoos -- members of the House of Representatives who voted for retroactive and punitive use of the tax code to confiscate the legal earnings of a small, unpopular group -- still reverberating, the Obama administration yesterday invited private-sector investors to become business partners with the capricious and increasingly anti-constitutional government.
We didn't plan to post a piece on this week's kerfluffle regarding Notre Dame's commencement speech invitation to Obama and resulting outrage among Pro-Life Catholics. But Laura Hollis' Townhall article, "Social justice" Catholicism hits bottom was poetic - not just with Obama's demented abortion policies, but with many issues Notre Dame ignored, such as racial equality, poverty, immigration, education, economic and foreign policies. As is common with Laura Hollis articles, this is a must read.
In the two months since Obama was inaugurated, we have watched him bumble and fumble every possible way on the economy – which was, allegedly, what he was elected to “change.” And he has been equally hapless in matters of international diplomacy. But when it comes to human life, he has been chillingly consistent and tragically effective.
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Obama gets away with this, in part, because he couches his views in religious platitudes. This effrontery should make his violation of Christian beliefs and American principles all the more offensive. Instead, lefty religious types embrace his WORDS and ignore the DEEDS (Matthew 7:15-23, anyone?), and in so doing provide exactly the kind of cover and sanction that he desperately needs to prop him up while he undermines our political, economic and religious liberties. Notre Dame is doing precisely this by awarding Obama an honorary doctorate.
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Obama gets away with this, in part, because he couches his views in religious platitudes. This effrontery should make his violation of Christian beliefs and American principles all the more offensive. Instead, lefty religious types embrace his WORDS and ignore the DEEDS (Matthew 7:15-23, anyone?), and in so doing provide exactly the kind of cover and sanction that he desperately needs to prop him up while he undermines our political, economic and religious liberties. Notre Dame is doing precisely this by awarding Obama an honorary doctorate.
Friday's WSJ editorial warns, again, the dangers of socialized medicine. The editorial board must be tired of sending these warnings, rarely to be heeded. They review the current crisis of the Mitt Romney plan in Massachusetts, and show what happens when "spending collides with reality".
In Massachusetts's latest crisis, Governor Deval Patrick and his Democratic colleagues are starting to move down the path that government health plans always follow when spending collides with reality -- i.e., price controls. As costs continue to rise, the inevitable results are coverage restrictions and waiting periods. It was only a matter of time.
---
...Mr. Obama and Congressional Democrats are about to try their own Bay State bait and switch: First create vast new entitlements that can never be repealed, then later take the less popular step of rationing care when it's their last hope to save the federal fisc.
The consequences of that deception will be far worse than those in Massachusetts, however, given that prior to 2006 the state already had a far smaller percentage of its population uninsured than the national average. The real lesson of Massachusetts is that reform proponents won't tell Americans the truth about what "universal" coverage really means: Runaway costs followed by price controls and bureaucratic rationing.
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...Mr. Obama and Congressional Democrats are about to try their own Bay State bait and switch: First create vast new entitlements that can never be repealed, then later take the less popular step of rationing care when it's their last hope to save the federal fisc.
The consequences of that deception will be far worse than those in Massachusetts, however, given that prior to 2006 the state already had a far smaller percentage of its population uninsured than the national average. The real lesson of Massachusetts is that reform proponents won't tell Americans the truth about what "universal" coverage really means: Runaway costs followed by price controls and bureaucratic rationing.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Sanity Across the Pond
Two clips with Daniel Hannan, the British MEP, setting the standard for America's few remaining conservatives. The first is his speech to UK's Gordon Brown, the second is an interview with Glenn Beck.
U/T: Jawa Report
U/T: Jawa Report
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Wednesday Update
Two winners from today:
Mark Levin visits Hannity's show (top) and Cavuto's show (bottom) to talk about his new book, Liberty & Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto
Instapundit did it. A graph that says it all.
Mark Levin visits Hannity's show (top) and Cavuto's show (bottom) to talk about his new book, Liberty & Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto
Instapundit did it. A graph that says it all.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Tuesday Afternoon Cigar
Expect more cigar posts as the weather warms in beautiful Southern Ohio.
We paired a Romeo Y Julieta with William F. Buckley's book, The Reagan I Knew. In a private letter to then-Governor Reagan, WFB wrote:
We paired a Romeo Y Julieta with William F. Buckley's book, The Reagan I Knew. In a private letter to then-Governor Reagan, WFB wrote:
I continue to fear for the dissipation of the anti-communist reserve. It is very nearly gone, and I do not know what bloody event will be necessary to regenerate it.
A Message from the Party Chairman
No, not the Obama speech tonight. We're sitting that one out. We've seen one too many leaders bang the podium with his shoe and spout off about envy-this, envy-that.
We're talking about that CPUSA chairman, Sam Webb. You saw him (here) in our post earlier this month with crazy Commie-Obama-hat-wearing Glenn Beck. Now he speaks directly to you. An Ushanka Tip to Sweetness & Light, who summarized:
UPDATE: Skip to 18:00 to hear his praise for Obama's policies.
We're talking about that CPUSA chairman, Sam Webb. You saw him (here) in our post earlier this month with crazy Commie-Obama-hat-wearing Glenn Beck. Now he speaks directly to you. An Ushanka Tip to Sweetness & Light, who summarized:
In typical Communist fashion, this is a long and rambling speech.
But it is well worth listening to, since it is the real agenda of the Obama administration.
But it is well worth listening to, since it is the real agenda of the Obama administration.
UPDATE: Skip to 18:00 to hear his praise for Obama's policies.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
"Obama Is No Socialist"
To avoid a line-by-line destruction of this article, we'll quote sparingly. First, Binder deceives with his own definition of socialism:
Socialism means public ownership and control of businesses, right? So which industries does the president propose to nationalize?
What should we call it when policies push businesses out of business and create an environment where only the government supplies the goods or services? Had Obama said he was going to nationalize an industry, we'd have far more yelling "Socialism" than we do now and he would have had less of a chance to get his vision passed.
Just because Democrat policies are wrong and fail every time they are tried doesn't mean Democrats are not smart.
We suppose Binder would ask us what our definition of Socialism is. We draw a line, with "Full Government Control" at the right end, and "Limited Government as our Founders Envisioned" at the left end. If a policy requires more taxes from the masses, or less market-based options for the masses, or an unfriendly investment environment for the masses, then we move our pen closer to the right end and call that policy socialist.
Binder's definition at the beginning of his article casts the rest of his text as flawed. He summarizes:
So where does all this leave us on the road to socialism? If Mr. Obama is able to get all of these proposals through Congress, the U.S. will have a fully private banking system, propped up with temporary government support; a uniquely American health-care system that covers virtually everyone; and a somewhat more progressive income tax.
If this is socialism, then let's make the most of it.
If this is socialism, then let's make the most of it.
From our reading, we assume Binder thinks:
1) If 100% of the banks aren't owned by the government, we don't have socialism. (para 3)
2) Government mandated health care is a right, (para 4)
3) therefore, the US should have a health care program like Canada or the UK. (para 5)
4) The taxes to pay for health care are marginal. (para 6)
5) The richer you are, the less you'll pay for health care. (para 7&8)
6) Returning to the Clinton tax rates is ok, (para 10)
7) because maybe we'll have another 1990's-like economic boom. (para 11)
8) "a uniquely American health-care system" requires government management (para 12)
In short, this is an Ivy League Elite defending the leftist agenda of an administration staffed with Ivy League Elites.
This article is written in a vacuum.
His line about national health care costing less for the rich ignores the higher income taxes, capital gains taxes, national debt and other Obama burdens that the rich will suffer alone. It also assumes it will work.
While he gives a poor definition of Socialism, he speaks to, but fails to define, Middle Class or the Rich. Intentional, given that most readers of the WSJ could find themselves in either category?
No reference to history and no reference to the future. History shows commies will take what they can, when they can. Binder does not consider applying this to Obama's trillion dollar grab nor to Social Security, the War on Poverty, etc.. History also shows that socialist policies fail, and liberals' solutions to these failures is to pile on more socialist policies until they bankrupt their country or are driven from power.
We have three assignments for Professor Binder.
1) Identify the part of the Constitution that justifies health-care for all.
2) Justify your confidence of a national health care program with a national initiative authored by Democrats that worked.
3) Look at the decisions President Obama has made. Then, using our definition of socialism, identify which of those decisions increased government power, scope or control, and how many reduced these measurements.
Beware, we will grade objectively. This isn't the Ivy League.
UPDATE 9.11.09: Linked by Doug Ross. Thanks!
The Obama TelePrompTer Cozy
Obama's visit to Leno's show inspired Ushanka.us' Catherine the Great. Patent pending!
Karl's Weekend Reading
This week's reading suggestions are dedicated to Obama's disgusting effort to force veterans to use private insurance to cover injuries suffered defending this country. We suspect the AIG non-scandal of this week was intended to distract from this most anti-American initiative EVER suggested by a sitting president. A good leader sets new standards. Obama is setting new standards in the most un-leading direction. Frankly, there has not been enough outrage over this issue.
Oliver North writes at Townhall, The Burden of Battle.
David K. Rehbein, national commander of the 2.6 million-member American Legion, the nation's largest wartime veterans organization, writes in the WSJ, Will Obama GO AWOL on VA Health Benefits?
Other reading recommendations:
Ann Coulter was friends with the late Ron Silver. A great read.
Victor Davis Hanson lists the three possible reasons why Obama is now talking up the economy. Embarrassing.
Oliver North writes at Townhall, The Burden of Battle.
...this immoral and unethical proposal...
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Had the administration's despicable design succeeded, the burden on those wounded in the current war would have been unthinkable. The O-Team rescinded its shameful plot to make veterans pay for combat-related medical treatment, but only because Americans were repulsed by the idea. It remains to be seen whether similar outrage will be provoked by White House plans to burden our children with debt and use the tax code to wage class warfare.
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Had the administration's despicable design succeeded, the burden on those wounded in the current war would have been unthinkable. The O-Team rescinded its shameful plot to make veterans pay for combat-related medical treatment, but only because Americans were repulsed by the idea. It remains to be seen whether similar outrage will be provoked by White House plans to burden our children with debt and use the tax code to wage class warfare.
David K. Rehbein, national commander of the 2.6 million-member American Legion, the nation's largest wartime veterans organization, writes in the WSJ, Will Obama GO AWOL on VA Health Benefits?
'If you were injured in Iraq or Afghanistan and you have not paid your co-pay, please press 1. If you were injured during military training and you have not yet reached your deductible, please press 2. If your family has reached its maximum insurance benefit, please call back after you have purchased additional coverage. Thank you for your service."
Before the leaders of other veteran's groups and I met with President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday, I believed a phone call like the one described above unimaginable. Now it seems all too possible.
Before the leaders of other veteran's groups and I met with President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday, I believed a phone call like the one described above unimaginable. Now it seems all too possible.
Other reading recommendations:
Ann Coulter was friends with the late Ron Silver. A great read.
Victor Davis Hanson lists the three possible reasons why Obama is now talking up the economy. Embarrassing.
Rush is Right!
Which political party vilified a private company so much that an outraged public sent death threats to its employees?
•America's Democrat Party
•The Communist Party of China
•Britain's Labour Party
BUZZER -- Your Time Is Up!
Answer: American Democrats, who've created an atmosphere of hate speech and death threats targeted at AIG execs.
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Which country does the government attempt to intimidate members of the media who oppose its policies?
•Russia
•China
•Venezuela
•America
BUZZER -- Your Time Is Up!
The correct answer is: All of them!
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Which national leader accuses citizens of his own country of being "greedy" because they're compensated too much?
•Hu Jintao of China
•Bashar Assad of Syria
•Barack Obama of the United States
BUZZER -- Your Time Is Up
The answer is: Only Barack Obama of the Unites States.
•America's Democrat Party
•The Communist Party of China
•Britain's Labour Party
BUZZER -- Your Time Is Up!
Answer: American Democrats, who've created an atmosphere of hate speech and death threats targeted at AIG execs.
---
Which country does the government attempt to intimidate members of the media who oppose its policies?
•Russia
•China
•Venezuela
•America
BUZZER -- Your Time Is Up!
The correct answer is: All of them!
---
Which national leader accuses citizens of his own country of being "greedy" because they're compensated too much?
•Hu Jintao of China
•Bashar Assad of Syria
•Barack Obama of the United States
BUZZER -- Your Time Is Up
The answer is: Only Barack Obama of the Unites States.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Missing Crosshairs
Sky News shows this picture today of Reagan touring Red Square and visiting with tourists KGB officers. The KGB officer circled in red is identified now as Putin.
Can't blame him - is there anyone out there that wouldn't be honored to shake Reagan's hand?!? Our question (and we know the answer): Was Putin on duty that day, or did he skip his post to see Reagan?
Article Link.
U/T: Drudge
UPDATED: In some ways, Russia hasn't changed that much. Here is a picture we found from a Putin photo gallery link at the bottom of the same article. We see Reuters calls it a "queue" now instead of "line".
Nice hat!
Can't blame him - is there anyone out there that wouldn't be honored to shake Reagan's hand?!? Our question (and we know the answer): Was Putin on duty that day, or did he skip his post to see Reagan?
Article Link.
U/T: Drudge
UPDATED: In some ways, Russia hasn't changed that much. Here is a picture we found from a Putin photo gallery link at the bottom of the same article. We see Reuters calls it a "queue" now instead of "line".
Nice hat!
What is Communism?
Truth is anything that will promote Communism.
A 14-minute 1950's video with FBI informant, Herbert Philbrick, who infiltrated the commies:
My grandmother used to say 'what you don't know won't hurt you'. But today what you don't know can kill you.
Yes, the Communists have plans for you. As soon as they're in power, they will arrest many of you, seize your property. If you're important enough, they will shoot you, along with all community leaders. The rest of you will be regimented, and some of you forced into slave labor.
So where is today's Herbert Philbrick? Do we have to continue watching him and Ronald Reagan (click Truth about Communism link in Cinema section to left) in black and white?
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Wednesday Afternoon Cigar
We smoked a Romeo Y Julieta today in full confidence that national health care will cure any future cigar-related ailments.
The Left's Response to the Tea Parties
Here is the voice of the most tolerant. The most merciful. The most bipartisan. Yes, the American Left.
Is there anyone who still thinks it is a good idea to work with theseliberals progressives communists?
And to any libs that accidently found themselves at this site - likely attracted by the hammer and sickle in the header - don't waste any bandwidth telling us he doesn't speak for you. Actions speak louder than words, and you both vote the same in each and every election. You were proud to be a Democrat before November 4th. Where is your pride now?
In Cincinnati there were quite a few protesters who knew their US history quite well despite being "misguided, brain-dead, ditto-heads". Don't believe us? Here is a link to our video of that fine day.
Is there anyone who still thinks it is a good idea to work with these
And to any libs that accidently found themselves at this site - likely attracted by the hammer and sickle in the header - don't waste any bandwidth telling us he doesn't speak for you. Actions speak louder than words, and you both vote the same in each and every election. You were proud to be a Democrat before November 4th. Where is your pride now?
In Cincinnati there were quite a few protesters who knew their US history quite well despite being "misguided, brain-dead, ditto-heads". Don't believe us? Here is a link to our video of that fine day.
Obama a Socialist?
Another video that further distracts us from the real issues faced by hard working Americans, and lowers the political discourse:
Monday, March 16, 2009
Labor Union, or Donner Party?
Almost missed it - page B3 in today's WSJ. Chronicle Union Approves Tentative Labor Contract. Quotes below are from the print edition:
In other words, for the union to continue to exist, it has turned its back on those it promised to defend. Those who have paid the most union dues. Those who have been most loyal.
Would that 10% of nay-sayers be considered, within the newspaper business, the 'top 10%'?
Shouldn't that top 10% 'give back' to the rest - to those who have not been as 'lucky'?
Shouldn't that top 10% give back, 'for the greater good'?
Is it still called a "union" when it turns its back on 10% of its members?
Do the 90% that voted for layoffs consider themselves 'Mainstream'?
Will there be a surge of criticism for unions by those laid off?
Will they tell us they were mistaken to have put so much faith into a flawed system that, in the end, only rewards the union management at the expense of the workers?
Will there be any rash comments that suggest unions are a form of modern-day slavery?
Did the union members have the option to skip layoffs and instead drop the union and negotiate salaries based on performance and true market rates?
The San Francisco Chronicle's largest employees' union has approved a tentative labor agreement that allows the newspaper to lay off workers without regard to seniority and implement other cost-cutting measures.
In other words, for the union to continue to exist, it has turned its back on those it promised to defend. Those who have paid the most union dues. Those who have been most loyal.
Union members passed the agreement Saturday by a 10-1 margin...
Would that 10% of nay-sayers be considered, within the newspaper business, the 'top 10%'?
Shouldn't that top 10% 'give back' to the rest - to those who have not been as 'lucky'?
Shouldn't that top 10% give back, 'for the greater good'?
Is it still called a "union" when it turns its back on 10% of its members?
Do the 90% that voted for layoffs consider themselves 'Mainstream'?
Will there be a surge of criticism for unions by those laid off?
Will they tell us they were mistaken to have put so much faith into a flawed system that, in the end, only rewards the union management at the expense of the workers?
Will there be any rash comments that suggest unions are a form of modern-day slavery?
Did the union members have the option to skip layoffs and instead drop the union and negotiate salaries based on performance and true market rates?
Obama's Pledge Drive
It gets creepier by the day. Sweetness & Light have the best write-up of Obama's Community-Organizing-Gone-National. Be sure to click over there and see their full report.
Here is your training video, Comrades:
Anyone who is a student of totalitarian regimes, especially Nazi Germany, should recognize this tactic. Mr. Obama has organized his own cadre of Brown Shirts (or, if you prefer, Red Shirts) to agitate for his agenda.
Mr. Alinsky would be proud. And rightly so. For this is simply the continuation of Mr. Obama’s perpetual campaign. A campaign, as we noted at the time, that was modeled on Saul Alinsky’s organizing principles.
Of course, Alinsky, had modeled his methods on the great communist and/or fascist agitators of the past. Hence, the unsettling resemblance to Soviet-style and Nazi Germany agit-prop.
Mr. Alinsky would be proud. And rightly so. For this is simply the continuation of Mr. Obama’s perpetual campaign. A campaign, as we noted at the time, that was modeled on Saul Alinsky’s organizing principles.
Of course, Alinsky, had modeled his methods on the great communist and/or fascist agitators of the past. Hence, the unsettling resemblance to Soviet-style and Nazi Germany agit-prop.
Here is your training video, Comrades:
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Cincinnati Tea Party
We'll be at the Cincinnati Tea Party gathering today. Check back for pictures, and maybe some video!
Link: Cincinnati Tea Party
UPDATE 3.16: No pictures but plenty of video! Click here to see our report!
Link: Cincinnati Tea Party
UPDATE 3.16: No pictures but plenty of video! Click here to see our report!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Karl's Weekend Reading
Oleg at The People's Cube has a great write-up: Contradictions of Socialism (I Have Seen the Future and Ran Away).
Poetic.
Dan Henninger writes in today's WSJ opinion page, The Obama Rosetta Stone. Obama's "moral argument for raising taxes on the rich":
Jonah Goldberg comments on how Obama's supporters are buying his 'tax cuts for 95%' line, and will suffer for it. Townhall article, The Waiting Game:
In his Real Clear Politics article, Deception at Core of Obama's Plans, Charles Krauthammer outlines what we all know to be true about Obama's slight-of-hand communications style, but have had a hard time explaining. Specifically, why focus on health care, energy and education during a banking crisis? Krauthammer is the pioneer who touches on what will soon be labeled 'Obamaesque' or 'Obamaisms':
After the number of "caring," bleeding-heart politicians in Washington reached a critical mass, it was only a matter of time before the government started ordering banks to help the poor by giving them risky home loans through community organizers. Which resulted in a bigger demand, which resulted in rising prices, which resulted in slimmer chances of repaying the loans, which resulted in more pressure on the banks, which resulted in repackaging of bad loans, which resulted in a collapse of the banks, which resulted in a recession, which resulted in many borrowers losing their jobs, which resulted in no further mortgage payments, which resulted in a financial disaster, which resulted in a worldwide crisis, with billions of poor people overseas - who had never seen a community organizer, nor applied for a bad loan - becoming even poorer than they had been before the "progressives" in the U.S. government decided to help the poor.
As if that were not enough, the same bleeding hearts are now trying to fix this by nationalizing the banks so that they can keep issuing risky loans through community organizers.
As if that were not enough, the same bleeding hearts are now trying to fix this by nationalizing the banks so that they can keep issuing risky loans through community organizers.
Poetic.
Dan Henninger writes in today's WSJ opinion page, The Obama Rosetta Stone. Obama's "moral argument for raising taxes on the rich":
[quoting from Obama's budget] "There's nothing wrong with making money, but there is something wrong when we allow the playing field to be tilted so far in the favor of so few. . . . It's a legacy of irresponsibility, and it is our duty to change it."[end quote]
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The economy as most people understand it was a second-order concern of the stimulus strategy. The primary goal is a massive re-flowing of "wealth" from the top toward the bottom, to stop the moral failure they see in the budget's "Top One Percent of Earners" chart.
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This presidency is going to be an act of retribution.
---
The economy as most people understand it was a second-order concern of the stimulus strategy. The primary goal is a massive re-flowing of "wealth" from the top toward the bottom, to stop the moral failure they see in the budget's "Top One Percent of Earners" chart.
---
This presidency is going to be an act of retribution.
Jonah Goldberg comments on how Obama's supporters are buying his 'tax cuts for 95%' line, and will suffer for it. Townhall article, The Waiting Game:
Obama brags -- albeit dishonestly -- that he's only raising taxes on rich people. Ninety-five percent of the American people will get a tax cut, the president insists.
Well, which is it? Do the times demand shared sacrifice from us all, or from just 5 percent of Americans?
If I say to 10 co-workers, "We all need to chip in together to get this done," and then say, "So, Todd, open your wallet and give five bucks to everyone else in the room," it would sound ridiculous. But when Obama says the same thing to 300 million Americans it's called "leadership."
Well, which is it? Do the times demand shared sacrifice from us all, or from just 5 percent of Americans?
If I say to 10 co-workers, "We all need to chip in together to get this done," and then say, "So, Todd, open your wallet and give five bucks to everyone else in the room," it would sound ridiculous. But when Obama says the same thing to 300 million Americans it's called "leadership."
In his Real Clear Politics article, Deception at Core of Obama's Plans, Charles Krauthammer outlines what we all know to be true about Obama's slight-of-hand communications style, but have had a hard time explaining. Specifically, why focus on health care, energy and education during a banking crisis? Krauthammer is the pioneer who touches on what will soon be labeled 'Obamaesque' or 'Obamaisms':
And yet with our financial house on fire, Obama makes clear both in his speech and his budget that the essence of his presidency will be the transformation of health care, education and energy. Four months after winning the election, six weeks after his swearing in, Obama has yet to unveil a plan to deal with the banking crisis.
---
Clever politics, but intellectually dishonest to the core. Health, education and energy - worthy and weighty as they may be - are not the cause of our financial collapse. And they are not the cure. The fraudulent claim that they are both cause and cure is the rhetorical device by which an ambitious president intends to enact the most radical agenda of social transformation seen in our lifetime.
---
Clever politics, but intellectually dishonest to the core. Health, education and energy - worthy and weighty as they may be - are not the cause of our financial collapse. And they are not the cure. The fraudulent claim that they are both cause and cure is the rhetorical device by which an ambitious president intends to enact the most radical agenda of social transformation seen in our lifetime.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Glenn Beck with CPUSA
Glenn is the only member of the media asking the right questions. We're so proud he wears our hat!
We tried to pull some quotes from Sam Webb to use in a future video project, but in our frame-by-frame review we noticed he didn't say anything. Is there a commie, somewhere/anywhere, that can come out and say what he's for and why? Until we find him, Ushanka.us will have to continue to outline their agenda based on their actions and the actions of past commies.
We tried to pull some quotes from Sam Webb to use in a future video project, but in our frame-by-frame review we noticed he didn't say anything. Is there a commie, somewhere/anywhere, that can come out and say what he's for and why? Until we find him, Ushanka.us will have to continue to outline their agenda based on their actions and the actions of past commies.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The Long, Slow, Beautiful Death of the MSM
TIME lists the top ten dying newspapers. Now isn't that rich...
24/7 Wall St. has created a list of the 10 major daily papers that are most likely to fold or shutter their print operations and only publish online. The properties were chosen on the basis of the financial strength of their parent companies, the amount of direct competition they face in their markets and industry information on how much money they are losing. Based on this analysis, it's possible that 8 of the nation's 50 largest daily newspapers could cease publication in the next 18 months.
Ya Baby! And we'll be here watching!
Hey out-of-work "journalists", we hear Noveta Gazeta is hiring...
UT: Hugh Hewitt
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Leadership Challenge
Chavez, yesterday, in Caracas:
Chavez said that people are calling Obama a "socialist" for the measures of state intervention he is taking to counter the crisis, so it would not be too far-fetched to suggest that he might join the project of "21st century socialism" that the Venezuelan leader is heading.
Chavez is lowering the political discourse by suggesting Obama is a "socialist". It is irresponsible speech like this that distracts us from solving real problems for real people... and from attacking Rush Limbaugh.
His motivations are simple. He sees Obama stealing the Socialism spotlight - a spotlight he feels entitled to after years of loyalty to Marx. In other words, Chavez feels one emotion towards Obama. The one emotion that drives
Envy
U/T: Drudge
Friday, March 06, 2009
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Karl's Weekend Reading
Randall Hoven writes at American Thinker, Bingo! Call It Communism. Doesn't he know throwing labels like "Communism" around distracts from the national dialogue that will lead us out of this (or that) crisis? An excellent article that compares the 44 goals of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) with Obama's decisions as President:
Ushanka.us is becoming an echo chamber for Townhall's Laura Hollis. This week's article, Let the "moderate" Obama voters' beware. A retort to themoderates liberals progressives communists that are now whining 'we didn't know Obama was a liberal'. Puhlease. Stop whining and go try to find yourself a new job.
Pat Buchanan writes in the IBD Editorials, On the Road to Socialism? We've Arrived!
WSJ Tuesday's Opinion Page: The Obama Economy.
Only two items on the whole list appear to be contradicted.
1.3 No bailouts for banks.
4.4 No expansion of troops in Afghanistan.
Frankly, I'm suspicious about the bailout of banks. Sure, they're being "bailed out," if you call becoming an indentured servant being bailed out of bankruptcy jail. The banks are now being told how to run their businesses, how much they can make in bonuses, where to have their meetings (e.g., not Las Vegas), and how to get there (not private jets).
In fact, many are, or will be, nationalized. I think we can, effectively, scratch item 1.3 off our list.
So what's the score? Of 44 items on the CPUSA's list,
22 are already enacted.
21 are in work.
1 is being violated.
1.3 No bailouts for banks.
4.4 No expansion of troops in Afghanistan.
Frankly, I'm suspicious about the bailout of banks. Sure, they're being "bailed out," if you call becoming an indentured servant being bailed out of bankruptcy jail. The banks are now being told how to run their businesses, how much they can make in bonuses, where to have their meetings (e.g., not Las Vegas), and how to get there (not private jets).
In fact, many are, or will be, nationalized. I think we can, effectively, scratch item 1.3 off our list.
So what's the score? Of 44 items on the CPUSA's list,
22 are already enacted.
21 are in work.
1 is being violated.
Ushanka.us is becoming an echo chamber for Townhall's Laura Hollis. This week's article, Let the "moderate" Obama voters' beware. A retort to the
...so-called “progressives” in this country – and President Obama is at the front of this line - would freely toss away the protections provided in our Constitution, if it meant being able to grab some extra cash away from someone who has more.
This is a tried-and-true prescription for economic collapse, poverty, anarchy, chaos, political upheaval, and widespread violence. History has shown us this over and over again. Human beings either live in a system of free and voluntary exchange, or they live at the point of a gun. There is no “middle path,” desperate though some moderates might be to find one...
This is a tried-and-true prescription for economic collapse, poverty, anarchy, chaos, political upheaval, and widespread violence. History has shown us this over and over again. Human beings either live in a system of free and voluntary exchange, or they live at the point of a gun. There is no “middle path,” desperate though some moderates might be to find one...
Pat Buchanan writes in the IBD Editorials, On the Road to Socialism? We've Arrived!
Markets are not infallible. But the stock market has long been a "lead indicator" of where the economy will be six months from now. What are the markets, the collective decisions of millions of investors, saying?
Having fallen every month since Obama's election, with January and February the worst two months in history, they are telling us the stimulus package will not work, that Tim Geithner is clueless about how to save the banks, that the Obama budget portends disaster for the republic.
The president says he is gearing up for a fight on his budget.
Good. Let's give him one.
Having fallen every month since Obama's election, with January and February the worst two months in history, they are telling us the stimulus package will not work, that Tim Geithner is clueless about how to save the banks, that the Obama budget portends disaster for the republic.
The president says he is gearing up for a fight on his budget.
Good. Let's give him one.
WSJ Tuesday's Opinion Page: The Obama Economy.
So what has happened in the last two months? The economy has received no great new outside shock. Exchange rates and other prices have been stable, and there are no security crises of note. The reality of a sharp recession has been known and built into stock prices since last year's fourth quarter.
What is new is the unveiling of Mr. Obama's agenda and his approach to governance. Every new President has a finite stock of capital -- financial and political -- to deploy, and amid recession Mr. Obama has more than most. But one negative revelation has been the way he has chosen to spend his scarce resources on income transfers rather than growth promotion.
What is new is the unveiling of Mr. Obama's agenda and his approach to governance. Every new President has a finite stock of capital -- financial and political -- to deploy, and amid recession Mr. Obama has more than most. But one negative revelation has been the way he has chosen to spend his scarce resources on income transfers rather than growth promotion.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Monday, March 02, 2009
Sunday, March 01, 2009
The Incredible Bulk
Another fine piece of creativity by Doug Ross - his artistic response to Mark Steyn's article, The Six Trillion Dollar Man.
UPDATE 3.1: We just had to add some of Mark's poetry about our new, changing superhero, and the word "Invest" vs. "Spend":
Read it all at NRO.
UPDATE 3.1: We just had to add some of Mark's poetry about our new, changing superhero, and the word "Invest" vs. "Spend":
Anyway, that’s how I feel about the endlessly morphing supergovernment hero battling the planet-swallowing economic crisis. Back in September, we were told to put our faith in Bailoutman. Then in January, Bailoutman went to his tailor, had the long underwear redesigned, and relaunched himself as Mister Stimulus. A few weeks later the Obama crowd noticed that “stimulus,” like “bailout,” had become a cheap punch line, and decided the approved term was “recovery.” So Captain Recovery swung into action.
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If you’re feeling a sudden urge to “invest” in a gallon of tequila and a couple of hookers and wake up with an almighty hangover and no pants in a rusting dumpster on a bit of abandoned scrub round the back of the freight yards, it may be because you’re one of that dwindling band of Americans foolish enough to pursue his living in what we used to call “the private sector.” You were never exactly Giant-Man, more like Average-Sized Man. But you have a vague sense that you’re gonna be a lot closer to Ant-Man by the time all this is through.
---
If you’re feeling a sudden urge to “invest” in a gallon of tequila and a couple of hookers and wake up with an almighty hangover and no pants in a rusting dumpster on a bit of abandoned scrub round the back of the freight yards, it may be because you’re one of that dwindling band of Americans foolish enough to pursue his living in what we used to call “the private sector.” You were never exactly Giant-Man, more like Average-Sized Man. But you have a vague sense that you’re gonna be a lot closer to Ant-Man by the time all this is through.
Read it all at NRO.