From the Wall St. Journal.
"America's primary race problem today is our new "sophistication" around racial matters. Political correctness is a compendium of sophistications in which we join ourselves to obvious falsehoods ("diversity") and refuse to see obvious realities (the irrelevance of diversity to minority development). I would argue further that Barack Obama's election to the presidency of the United States was essentially an American sophistication, a national exercise in seeing what was not there and a refusal to see what was there—all to escape the stigma not of stupidity but of racism."
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Two Key Federal Agencies Lack Top Leaders
From Yahoo Politics. Is it any wonder why the "underwear bomber" got into this country in the first place?
"Two federal agencies charged with keeping potential terrorists off airplanes and out of the country have been without their top leaders for nearly a year.
It took the Obama administration more than eight months to nominate anyone to lead the Transportation Security Administration and the Customs and Border Protection agency."
"Two federal agencies charged with keeping potential terrorists off airplanes and out of the country have been without their top leaders for nearly a year.
It took the Obama administration more than eight months to nominate anyone to lead the Transportation Security Administration and the Customs and Border Protection agency."
Saturday, December 19, 2009
A Divided U.N. Conference Recognizes Climate Deal
From Yahoo news.
"The U.N. climate conference narrowly escaped collapse Saturday as bitterly divided delegates agreed after all-night talks to recognize a political compromise that President Barack Obama brokered with China and other emerging powers."
...
"Obama's day of hectic diplomacy produced a document promising $30 billion in emergency climate aid to poor nations in the next three years and a goal of eventually channeling $100 billion a year by 2020 to developing countries.
It includes a method for verifying each nation's reductions of heat-trapping gases — a key demand by Washington, because China has resisted international efforts to monitor its actions."
...
"The overall outcome was a significant disappointment to those who had anticipated the deal brokered by Obama would be turned into a legally binding treaty. Instead, it envisions another year of negotiations and leaves myriad details yet to be decided.
"The deal is a triumph of spin over substance. It recognizes the need to keep warming below 2 degrees but does not commit to do so. It kicks back the big decisions on emissions cuts and fudges the issue of climate cash," said Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of Oxfam International."
It was exposed for what it was--a scheme to redistribute wealth globally. If the world were to completely de-industrialize, it would only cool the planet 1 degree, and take a millenia to do it.
"The U.N. climate conference narrowly escaped collapse Saturday as bitterly divided delegates agreed after all-night talks to recognize a political compromise that President Barack Obama brokered with China and other emerging powers."
...
"Obama's day of hectic diplomacy produced a document promising $30 billion in emergency climate aid to poor nations in the next three years and a goal of eventually channeling $100 billion a year by 2020 to developing countries.
It includes a method for verifying each nation's reductions of heat-trapping gases — a key demand by Washington, because China has resisted international efforts to monitor its actions."
...
"The overall outcome was a significant disappointment to those who had anticipated the deal brokered by Obama would be turned into a legally binding treaty. Instead, it envisions another year of negotiations and leaves myriad details yet to be decided.
"The deal is a triumph of spin over substance. It recognizes the need to keep warming below 2 degrees but does not commit to do so. It kicks back the big decisions on emissions cuts and fudges the issue of climate cash," said Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of Oxfam International."
It was exposed for what it was--a scheme to redistribute wealth globally. If the world were to completely de-industrialize, it would only cool the planet 1 degree, and take a millenia to do it.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Obama Can Create Jobs By Modeling Two Good Ideas
From Yahoo Opinion.
"On display is an exhibit of New Deal-era paintings that show men building roads, laying pipe, and shoveling snow. The artists were paid by the New Deal to paint these portraits; and the people in them were paid by the New Deal to construct public-works projects and the nation’s infrastructure.
Almost every community in the United States has a park, bridge, or school constructed during the New Deal, built by the calloused hands and strong backs of Americans who were working directly for the government."
...
"Even as US unemployment has more than doubled, in Germany the unemployment rate has hardly increased. Germany was one of the first advanced economies to emerge out of recession and now has a considerably lower unemployment rate than the US, 7.6 percent. The remarkable resilience of the German economy is directly attributable to shrewd policies that have better stimulated its economy.
The most important of these is known as kurzarbeit, which encourages firms that face a temporary decrease in demand for their products or services to avoid laying off employees by trimming the hours of all employees.
Under such so-called work-sharing programs, employers spread the burden, and the government then makes up some, or all, of the workers’ lost wages. This encourages firms to use reductions of hours instead of layoffs."
...
"The German program this year has cost only $2.9 billion. Adjusting for the larger US population, that suggests the US could fully copy the German system for $10.6 billion – about 1/70th the cost of the $750 billion economic stimulus last February, estimates Kevin Hassett, economic analyst at the American Enterprise Institute.
A program based on Germany’s work-share model would be attractive to firms, workers, and taxpayers because it is cheaper than paying unemployment and it keeps more people employed. That in turn would help maintain consumer spending, which is a big driver of the national economy.
Seventeen US states allow this sort of work-sharing, but few companies are participating, mostly because, unlike in Germany, the government’s contribution is not large enough to make work-share attractive. Sen. Jack Reed (D) of Rhode Island and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D) of Connecticut have proposed bills to expand existing state work-share programs, but the White House is not supporting them."
"On display is an exhibit of New Deal-era paintings that show men building roads, laying pipe, and shoveling snow. The artists were paid by the New Deal to paint these portraits; and the people in them were paid by the New Deal to construct public-works projects and the nation’s infrastructure.
Almost every community in the United States has a park, bridge, or school constructed during the New Deal, built by the calloused hands and strong backs of Americans who were working directly for the government."
...
"Even as US unemployment has more than doubled, in Germany the unemployment rate has hardly increased. Germany was one of the first advanced economies to emerge out of recession and now has a considerably lower unemployment rate than the US, 7.6 percent. The remarkable resilience of the German economy is directly attributable to shrewd policies that have better stimulated its economy.
The most important of these is known as kurzarbeit, which encourages firms that face a temporary decrease in demand for their products or services to avoid laying off employees by trimming the hours of all employees.
Under such so-called work-sharing programs, employers spread the burden, and the government then makes up some, or all, of the workers’ lost wages. This encourages firms to use reductions of hours instead of layoffs."
...
"The German program this year has cost only $2.9 billion. Adjusting for the larger US population, that suggests the US could fully copy the German system for $10.6 billion – about 1/70th the cost of the $750 billion economic stimulus last February, estimates Kevin Hassett, economic analyst at the American Enterprise Institute.
A program based on Germany’s work-share model would be attractive to firms, workers, and taxpayers because it is cheaper than paying unemployment and it keeps more people employed. That in turn would help maintain consumer spending, which is a big driver of the national economy.
Seventeen US states allow this sort of work-sharing, but few companies are participating, mostly because, unlike in Germany, the government’s contribution is not large enough to make work-share attractive. Sen. Jack Reed (D) of Rhode Island and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D) of Connecticut have proposed bills to expand existing state work-share programs, but the White House is not supporting them."
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
New Obama Plans: "Spend Our Way Out of the Downturn"
From Yahoo News. How original--more of the same!
"President Barack Obama outlined new multibillion-dollar stimulus and jobs proposals Tuesday, saying the nation must continue to "spend our way out of this recession" until more Americans are back at work.
Without giving a price tag, Obama proposed a package of new spending for highway, bridge and other infrastructure projects, deeper tax breaks for small businesses and tax incentives to encourage people to make their homes more energy efficient."
I'm still waiting to see who draws his gun first between the EPA and the cap-and-trade bill.
"President Barack Obama outlined new multibillion-dollar stimulus and jobs proposals Tuesday, saying the nation must continue to "spend our way out of this recession" until more Americans are back at work.
Without giving a price tag, Obama proposed a package of new spending for highway, bridge and other infrastructure projects, deeper tax breaks for small businesses and tax incentives to encourage people to make their homes more energy efficient."
I'm still waiting to see who draws his gun first between the EPA and the cap-and-trade bill.
Monday, December 7, 2009
EPA to Make Major Announcement on Climate
From the Wall St. Journal.
"The agency is expected to officially declare greenhouse gases a danger to public health and welfare, according to people close to the matter and as reported by Dow Jones Newswires on Friday.
The controversial decision is necessary for the administration to move ahead with new light-duty vehicle emission standards and is the precursor to economy-wide regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. Opposed by many business groups and lawmakers who fear such an endangerment finding will place a burden on the economy, the EPA has said it's considering rules that would restrict emissions from large stationary sources such as power stations, refineries, chemical plants and cement kilns. It will be seen as a major victory by environmentalists.
The decision will give the Obama administration political leverage in negotiations at a major international climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, beginning this week. It also puts pressure on lawmakers to act; even the administration said a more finely crafted law that cuts greenhouse gases would have a more moderate effect on the economy than regulations under the more blunt Clean Air Act under which the endangerment decision is being made."
This is how Obama plans to get around Congress and the ClimateGate scandal to enact his "green" agenda. Expect him to do the same for health care reform and whatever else gets held up in Congress from his agenda--executive orders, changes to regulations via the individual agency (as he's doing here), etc.
"The agency is expected to officially declare greenhouse gases a danger to public health and welfare, according to people close to the matter and as reported by Dow Jones Newswires on Friday.
The controversial decision is necessary for the administration to move ahead with new light-duty vehicle emission standards and is the precursor to economy-wide regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. Opposed by many business groups and lawmakers who fear such an endangerment finding will place a burden on the economy, the EPA has said it's considering rules that would restrict emissions from large stationary sources such as power stations, refineries, chemical plants and cement kilns. It will be seen as a major victory by environmentalists.
The decision will give the Obama administration political leverage in negotiations at a major international climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, beginning this week. It also puts pressure on lawmakers to act; even the administration said a more finely crafted law that cuts greenhouse gases would have a more moderate effect on the economy than regulations under the more blunt Clean Air Act under which the endangerment decision is being made."
This is how Obama plans to get around Congress and the ClimateGate scandal to enact his "green" agenda. Expect him to do the same for health care reform and whatever else gets held up in Congress from his agenda--executive orders, changes to regulations via the individual agency (as he's doing here), etc.
Federal Workshop on Openness Closed to the Public
From Yahoo Politics.
"The Obama administration is conducting a workshop on government openness for federal employees behind closed doors Monday, a private training session for freedom-of-information officials to learn about a new U.S. office that settle disputes between the bureaucracy and the public.
The decision to preclude the public and the media from attending Monday's openness workshop left advocates scratching their heads, given President Barack Obama's campaign promise to make his administration the most transparent ever."
Obama promised to throw open the closet of skeletons...until he found out why they were there in the first place! Too many of us can't handle the truth--including him, it seems.
"The Obama administration is conducting a workshop on government openness for federal employees behind closed doors Monday, a private training session for freedom-of-information officials to learn about a new U.S. office that settle disputes between the bureaucracy and the public.
The decision to preclude the public and the media from attending Monday's openness workshop left advocates scratching their heads, given President Barack Obama's campaign promise to make his administration the most transparent ever."
Obama promised to throw open the closet of skeletons...until he found out why they were there in the first place! Too many of us can't handle the truth--including him, it seems.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
The Cost of Presidential Ambition
From the Washington Post.
"At the opening of his presidency, there was hardly a problem that Obama wasn't prepared to confront aggressively. The economy? Bailouts for banks and automakers, and a huge stimulus package to short-circuit the recession. Iraq? Set a date for withdrawing promptly. Health care? Go for it immediately, and with primary colors, not pastels. Energy and climate change? Ditto. Afghanistan? Send the brigades long advocated as a candidate.
Some of these were decisions of necessity (the economy). Others reflected campaign promises he could not afford to break (Iraq). Still others represented promises that might have been deferred but were not (health care).
Taken together, they signaled the enormous ambitions that came to define Obama's conception of his presidency. They also helped to create an increasingly contentious political climate in reaction to that agenda."
....
"Obama has tied his party and his presidency to policies that could make 2010 extremely difficult for the Democrats, and it's clear that political considerations influenced the Afghanistan debate inside the administration and the renewed focus on jobs."
"At the opening of his presidency, there was hardly a problem that Obama wasn't prepared to confront aggressively. The economy? Bailouts for banks and automakers, and a huge stimulus package to short-circuit the recession. Iraq? Set a date for withdrawing promptly. Health care? Go for it immediately, and with primary colors, not pastels. Energy and climate change? Ditto. Afghanistan? Send the brigades long advocated as a candidate.
Some of these were decisions of necessity (the economy). Others reflected campaign promises he could not afford to break (Iraq). Still others represented promises that might have been deferred but were not (health care).
Taken together, they signaled the enormous ambitions that came to define Obama's conception of his presidency. They also helped to create an increasingly contentious political climate in reaction to that agenda."
....
"Obama has tied his party and his presidency to policies that could make 2010 extremely difficult for the Democrats, and it's clear that political considerations influenced the Afghanistan debate inside the administration and the renewed focus on jobs."
Why Obama's Jobs Summit Was an Exercise in Futility
From the Examiner.
"Attending were Joe Biden, Democrat politicians, a bunch of academic eggheads and economists, a gaggle of nonprofit execs, a whole flock of union flacks including Obama’s SEIU allies, ACORN thugs and … oh yes, a handful of corporate CEOs who have shown support for Obama in every aspect of his presidency. In other words, he has invited to the summit a pack of his own yes men."
The Chamber of Commerce wasn't invited...but the Apollo Group and Van Jones were certainly there, along with every other Chicago crony that could book a flight.
Was the SBA represented? Probably not, unless they're ayes-man or Chicago crony.
This so-called "summit" was a meeting to discuss increasing UNION hiring at so-called GREEN jobs, so Obama can carry out his energy and vote redisribution policies.
"Attending were Joe Biden, Democrat politicians, a bunch of academic eggheads and economists, a gaggle of nonprofit execs, a whole flock of union flacks including Obama’s SEIU allies, ACORN thugs and … oh yes, a handful of corporate CEOs who have shown support for Obama in every aspect of his presidency. In other words, he has invited to the summit a pack of his own yes men."
The Chamber of Commerce wasn't invited...but the Apollo Group and Van Jones were certainly there, along with every other Chicago crony that could book a flight.
Was the SBA represented? Probably not, unless they're ayes-man or Chicago crony.
This so-called "summit" was a meeting to discuss increasing UNION hiring at so-called GREEN jobs, so Obama can carry out his energy and vote redisribution policies.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
The Arabs Have Stopped Applauding Obama
From the Wall St. Journal.
"He talks too much," a Saudi academic in Jeddah, who had once been smitten with Barack Obama, recently observed to me of America's 44th president. He has wearied of Mr. Obama and now does not bother with the Obama oratory.
He is hardly alone, this academic. In the endless chatter of this region, and in the commentaries offered by the press, the theme is one of disappointment. In the Arab-Islamic world, Barack Obama has come down to earth.
He has not made the world anew, history did not bend to his will, the Indians and Pakistanis have been told that the matter of Kashmir is theirs to resolve, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the same intractable clash of two irreconcilable nationalisms, and the theocrats in Iran have not "unclenched their fist," nor have they abandoned their nuclear quest."
Nor does he walk on water, but he DOES find ways to pay Peggy the Moocher's mortgage, put gas in her car, and get people in Detroit to line up around a building to collect $3000 each of "stash" money. He also manages to make it more profitable to stay unemployed than to go back to work...even if you have to MAKE the job yourself!
"He talks too much," a Saudi academic in Jeddah, who had once been smitten with Barack Obama, recently observed to me of America's 44th president. He has wearied of Mr. Obama and now does not bother with the Obama oratory.
He is hardly alone, this academic. In the endless chatter of this region, and in the commentaries offered by the press, the theme is one of disappointment. In the Arab-Islamic world, Barack Obama has come down to earth.
He has not made the world anew, history did not bend to his will, the Indians and Pakistanis have been told that the matter of Kashmir is theirs to resolve, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the same intractable clash of two irreconcilable nationalisms, and the theocrats in Iran have not "unclenched their fist," nor have they abandoned their nuclear quest."
Nor does he walk on water, but he DOES find ways to pay Peggy the Moocher's mortgage, put gas in her car, and get people in Detroit to line up around a building to collect $3000 each of "stash" money. He also manages to make it more profitable to stay unemployed than to go back to work...even if you have to MAKE the job yourself!
New $100B Safety Net in the Works for Jobless
From Yahoo News.
And here's how they plan to pay for it: Taxing Stock Trades to Pay for Jobs (from CNN Money).
More wealth redistribution in action! Eliminating Medicare fraud would've covered half of it, but I digress. Whatever happened to the unused portion of the LAST stimulus package, or the unused bank bailout money?
And here's how they plan to pay for it: Taxing Stock Trades to Pay for Jobs (from CNN Money).
More wealth redistribution in action! Eliminating Medicare fraud would've covered half of it, but I digress. Whatever happened to the unused portion of the LAST stimulus package, or the unused bank bailout money?
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