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March 31, 2010
Gun Rights Kudos to, Yes, Maryland
Posted by The MaryHunter at 8:10 PM
A surprising bit of good news to my fellow Marylanders who believe in the right to self defense.
The Maryland Senate has endorsed a measure that would protect people from lawsuits if they use deadly force to defend themselves at home or work in certain circumstances.
Senators voted 45-2 Monday in favor of the bill. The legislation says a person must "reasonably" believe the lethal force is necessary to fend off the attack. It also stipulates that the amount and nature of the force must be "reasonable."
Current law in Maryland says a person must not use deadly force unless they believe they are in danger of serious bodily injury.
By extension, this would be a plus for the gun rights lobby, since firearms are by far the most likely weapons to cause death to an attacker. The bill still needs to be passed by the House of Delegates, which is even more libtardish than the State Senate. And, signed by our libtardish governor. But at least there's hope. Perhaps the State Senate took that recent MSNBC report to heart.
Democrat Congressman Thinks Guam Will Capsize if too many People are Stationed There
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 7:46 PM
Representative Hank Johnson --- Democrat, of course, from Georgia, (and voted for ObamaCare) of course, thinks the Island of Guam will tip over if the Navy proceeds with plans to station an additional 8,000 personnel on it.
I'd embed the video, but it is very wide.
You know, I bet Sarah Palin is smart enough to know that islands don't capsize.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 7:19 PM
Down Memory Lane
Posted by Dave Blount at 7:15 PM
Remember when dissent was patriotic? It was back when we had a "uniter not a divider" centrist RINO for president.
The votes of these creatures count as much as yours.
If Bush was a fascist because he was mean to foreign terrorists who were trying to kill us, what would you call an authoritarian socialist who has been seizing control of large segments of the economy?
On a tip from Kevin M.
New York Bashing Part Deux: Priorities Fail
Posted by The MaryHunter at 5:05 PM
One reason that Manhattan could be crawling with rats soon is this progressive enclave's sense of misplaced priorities. Another example: consider their latest fail on schools.
New York State failed to win federal education funds from the Race to the Top program, in part because of requests for designer furniture.
The New York Post reports the equipment requests totaled $200,000 and included $13,000 for two dozen executive chairs, and more than $61,000 for 24 desks. Three of the five judges who reviewed the application blasted the requests: "These inclusions compromise the state's narrative as a careful steward of public funds."
Yup, over $2,500 for a desk and over $500 for a chair is right up there on the list of "must haves" for a struggling school system. This isn't the only reason that New York lost the bid, but it certainly is a telling one.
This trend appears real and is only going to get worse in NYC and other paradises of reckless deficit spending, fueled by the Obot "I'll get a free pony" mentality. And it couldn't be any more heartbreaking to those of us out there who really used to love, or at least respect, New York City in its heyday.
Rats!
Posted by The MaryHunter at 3:40 PM
The consequences of the Nanny State mentality are vast and complex. It's as if somebody actually has to PAY for all those services and entitlements. When outlays exceed tax revenue, well, something has got to give. Take, for instance, safety and hygiene in New York City as an example.
Budget cuts could mean more rats for New York City.
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is slashing the number of pest control aides in an effort to save $1.5 million. 57 out of 84 full-time pest control aide positions will get the axe.
The cuts are part of the Health Department's efforts to meet a mandated 15 percent budget reduction to help close a $2 billion budget gap for the city. The Health Department's Pest Control Services works with 19 other agencies to coordinate the city's response to rats in New York City.
It would be interesting to see the list of nonessential Nanny-Statist services that were not cut, rather than one of the most basic services of a civilized government for its citizenry. If New York maintains both its high tax rates and lavish expenditures on progressive social welfare programs, revenues will continue to fall from millionaire flight and additional basic services may be at risk. Rush Limbaugh is not the only rich dude or dudette who no longer will do business in NYC due to taxation.
How Come I Don't Remember the Jumbotrons?
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 2:42 PM
Certain events — Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize, the election of Barack Obama, the appointment of an overt pedophile as Safe Schools Czar — have made me wonder if at some point in the last twenty years I was somehow shifted into the Evil Mirror Universe where Spock has a goatee.
Actor-Moonbat John Cusack's recent comments about the eighties make me wonder about that even more. His recollections are quite a bit different than mine.
"I remember it being a kind of forced Prozac happy time without the Prozac," Cusack says. "We were sort of like optimism by martial law. There were jumbotrons of Ronald Reagan everywhere. There were Dr. Pepper people dancing. There was this militant patriotism, nationalism, faux spirituality to it. I look back on it as an intense, dark decade."
Jumbotrons of Ronald Reagan? Martial Law? I grew up in the eighties, and I don't remember any of that.
I mean, I get where seeing the president's face on every television and on the cover of every magazine and even in sidebar ads on the internet would give me the impression I was living in some kind of creepy personality cult --- especially if news-parody comedy shows were afraid to make fun of the president --- but I certainly don't remember any of that happening in the eighties.
States Are Getting It Greek Style
Posted by Dave Blount at 12:45 PM
Even MSNBC seems to grasp what ObamaCare is going to do to the budgets of already cash-strapped states:
Greek style? As in: bankrupt like California will soon be? Or as in: bottom poof in a Greek navy tryst? The answer is both.
Hat tip: Yet Another Angry American.
Saving the Planet With Century Gothic
Posted by Dave Blount at 11:22 AM
Since ecomoonbattery is all about pious gestures, as opposed to constructive behavior, virtually anything can serve Gaia, so long as it is blessed by envirokooks — Century Gothic type, for example:
If you're looking for an easy way to make your contribution to saving the planet, then it could be as simple as switching your font to 'Century Gothic'. University of Wisconsin - Green Bay (UWGB) has rolled out the change this semester, saying it uses 30% less ink than its default font Arial when printed.
Century Gothic is apparently even more economical than a well-known "eco-font", and when printer ink can cost US$10,000 a gallon it's a great eco-friendly initiative that not only helps the planet but also saves money.
UWGB is keen to minimize use of its resources with the aim of being more environmentally conscious and has committed to a five year plan to "go green".
No doubt they'll be cutting tuition fees, what with all the money they're saving. Kidding, of course.
If changing fonts can save the planet because it uses less ink, what if universities were to stop relentlessly mailing brochures, pamphlets, catalogs, newsletters, and naked pleas for free money to everyone who ever attended a class? That would no doubt save the whole solar system.
On a tip from Air2air.
Obama Sends American Troops to March Under Stalin Posters on Red Square
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:45 AM
No one aware of Comrade Obama's communist background should be surprised that he refused to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the falling of the Berlin Wall with Angela Merkel — or that our farcical Commander in Chief will be sending American troops to march with Russian soldiers on Red Square to celebrate the Soviet Union's big accomplishment on Victory Day (May 9).
Also gracing the festivities will be posters of Joseph Stalin.
On tips from Anonymous Countermoonbat. Hat tip: Powerline.
Bloomberg Urges Bureaucratic End Run to Attack Second Amendment
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:06 AM
When it proves too difficult to push his collectivist measures through our Democrat-controlled Congress, Comrade Obama just does an end run.
Anyone with the least respect for the America form of government is disgusted and enraged, but B. Hussein's fellow authoritarians are delighted with the Chicago Way (now known as Hopey Change). New York's nanny state dictator, not content to micromanage his subjects' snacking habits, wants Chairman Zero to circumvent Congress to attack the Second Amendment.
After months of waiting in vain for gun control supporters in Congress to take aggressive action against semi-automatic firearms, gun shows and NRA-supported restrictions on the abuse of instant background check records and firearm trace information, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is urging President Obama to make 40 changes to federal gun law interpretation and enforcement on his own-without congressional approval. …
Titled "A Blueprint for Federal Action" and released only in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act, the 51-page Bloomberg battle plan takes another cue from the military in calling for its mission to be carried out jointly by seven federal departments and agencies: the departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security, the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The first six agencies are wholly under President Obama's command, while the CPSC is an independent agency headed by commissioners nominated by the president.
The "Blueprint for Federal Action," a copy of which was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, presents 40 recommendations that would dramatically curtail firearms freedoms.
I don't recall seeing Bloomberg's name on any ballots, having escaped NYC before it deteriorated to the point of him becoming mayor. But these days, no one has to vote for bureaucrats to get a taste of the soles of their shoes as they grind them in our faces. That's the point of the approach Bloomberg shares with Obama. He's attacking our right to bear arms via the faceless, unelected bureaucracy, which every year grows larger and larger, while the citizens it oppresses get correspondingly smaller.
On a tip from Wiggins.
The HuffPo's Anti-Religion Religion Blog
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 9:25 AM
The Huffington Post recently launched a "Religion Blog" that was promised to be a "wide-ranging discussion on religion and spirituality." So far, the range of discussion has been between people who hate Christianity and people who really hate Christianity.
The site didn't waste any time throwing punches. In its first two weeks, it churned out articles by a liberal nun calling Catholicism sexist; a Rabbi claiming that Judaism will "stagnate and cease to be meaningful" unless it participates in the "green movement;" an avowed atheist comparing those who believe in God to a 7-year-old still believing in the tooth fairy; a science writer warning being religious could lead to "dangerous side-effects" such as "the crusader jihadist mentality;" and a neuroscientist calling those who believe in "obsolete religious ideas" a "lunatic fringe."
Eighty-one percent of the stories and columns (13 out of 16) that focused on Christianity either criticized certain Christian denominations, leaders or beliefs. Five other articles negatively portrayed well-known Christians, specifically Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and Rick Santorum; no articles portrayed those three in a good light.
To paraphrase the Apostle James, the only religion the Progressive Left tolerates is religion that lets them do whatever they want in the name of self-gratification without consequences.
ObamaCare Puts the Screws to the Young
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:09 AM
One great thing about being young is, no matter how wrong you are, you have plenty of time to learn better. Under Hopey Change, American youth ought to be learning fast. Those not old enough to remember Jimmy Carter heavily favored our first adolescent president. Their reward — a 17% rise in healthcare premiums:
Beginning in 2014, most Americans will be required to buy insurance or pay a tax penalty. That's when premiums for young adults seeking coverage on the individual market would likely climb by 17 percent on average, or roughly $42 a month, according to an analysis of the plan conducted for The Associated Press. …
The higher costs will pinch many people in their 20s and early 30s who are struggling to start or advance their careers with the highest unemployment rate in 26 years.
Not to worry; they can just break the law by refusing to buy insurance until they get sick or injured, at which point insurance companies will be forced to cover them. There are supposed to be penalties, but it isn't clear to what extent these will be enforced. Even when they are, paying a fine will be cheaper than carrying insurance, especially when rates on young people skyrocket to compensate for new restrictions on how much older people can be charged.
Before long insurance companies will be driven into bankruptcy, as planned, and we'll have the "single-payer" Soviet-style healthcare system toward which ObamaCare is intended as a bridge. Then healthcare will be completely free, because someone else will be forced to pay for everything — the liberal leech's conception of utopia.
But as anyone who's been to a hospital in a socialist country knows, you do get what you pay for.
On a tip from J. Hat tip: Hot Air.
£1,000 Fine and Electronic Tag for Selling a Goldfish
Posted by Dave Blount at 8:01 AM
England was a free country once. But moonbattery has rotted it into a parody of politically correct totalitarianism. The latest burlesque:
Her offence was to unwittingly sell a goldfish to a 14-year-old boy taking part in a trading standards 'sting'.
At most, pet shop owner Joan Higgins, 66, expected a slap on the wrist for breaking new animal welfare laws which ban the sale of pets to under-16s.
Instead, the great-grandmother was taken to court, fined £1,000, placed under curfew — and ordered to wear an electronic tag for two months.
Also, her son will be compelled to perform 120 hours of unpaid slave labor for Britain's bureauweenie masters.
A crime really was committed here — against taxpayers:
The prosecution of Mrs Higgins and her son Mark is estimated to have cost taxpayers £20,000…
Britain is thoroughly infested with mosques where terrorist atrocities are encouraged, facilitated, and probably orchestrated. But when it comes time to do a sting operation, the authorities target an old lady with a pet shop.
But at least the story has a happy ending:
The goldfish was later adopted by an animal welfare officer and is in good health.
That's the important thing. Animals always come first, where moonbats are concerned.
On tips from Rosalind and Byron.
Le Thread Ouvert
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 7:21 AM
Hat Tip: Rob (Not Rob) from Facebook and The People's Cube.
Item #3: Hurray for Bill O'Reilly
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:45 AM
There's a threadline I never imagined myself writing. But, the old blowhard did something cool yesterday... he announced he will personally pay the legal bills a judge ordered the father of a fallen hero to pay to the deranged, whackjob, Democrat protesters who picketed his son's funeral.
You can already see how this will play in LLLoonyland. "Bill O'Reilly gives $16,500 to anti-gay extremist group."
Item #2: Nancy Sees Nazis Everywhere
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:38 AM
Charles "Nancy" Johnson --- the moonbat proprietor of Little Green Footballs --- apparently mistook the flag of the state of Tennessee for "a neo-Nazi flag."
Chuck Nancy has also denounced Zombie as a right-wing shill for posting the comparison/contrast photo essay of deranged progressive loons versus Tea Party patriots.
Fear and Loathing of the Tea Parties seems universally connected to derangement, paranoia, and a willingness to accept as fact that which is demonstrably untrue. (See previous item).
Morning Briefs for Whensday Item #1: Breitbart Ups the Ante
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:31 AM
Good Morning RW Patriots, Good Morning LW Seat Sniffers,
The Left's defense of the alleged slurs is based on two premises. 1.) A politician reported that it happened, and politicians never lie. 2.) It can't be proven that it *didn't* happen.
Guilty until proven innocent, it's how they do it in Canada.
Al Sharpton should be a shoo-in for the $100K since he claims to have seen the tape.
"Green" Foil Insulation that Can Kill
Posted by The MaryHunter at 4:00 AM
As is typical with most green campaigns, this one has a prickly little complication. In this case, it's a potentially lethal complication for the Australian homeowners who were suckered in by a government-sponsored green-insulation program.
People are at risk of house fires due to dodgy ceiling insulation installed under a $2.7 billion federal government program, the opposition says.
More than 400,000 homes have been kitted out with free insulation worth up to $1,600 as the government tries to cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost the economy.
Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt said fire authorities in three states had warned that poorly-installed insulation had sparked dozens of fires.
Some installers were putting the insulation directly over transformers connected to halogen downlights, or over faulty wiring, Mr Hunt said.
While the program has been suspended pending further investigation, the plan of the Green Fanatics Down Under seems pretty clear. With this foil insulation, eco-radicals can "save the environment" in multiple ways. Not only does it save energy by retaining heat extremely well (a good thing), but it also can cook up right nicely that pesky human population which uses up all that energy and those natural resources (an even better thing). Talk about efficiency.
March 30, 2010
Dem Pols Support Terror-Linked Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center
Posted by Dave Blount at 7:31 PM
The Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia is well known for its links to terrorism. Its former imam Anwar al-Awlaki was a mentor to both Nidal Hasan of the Fort Hood terrorist massacre and Christmas Day underpants bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Al-Awlaki recruited three of the 9/11 hijackers, and is apparently still skulking around somewhere, gathering maniacs for the next bloodbath. Yet not only has this church of evil not been razed to the ground, Democrats are raising funds for it:
Surprised? Don't be. The Dems' leader is the protégé of a guy who bombed the Pentagon. The Muslim–moonbat alliance is cemented by a common desire to destroy this country.
Hat tip: Occidental Soapbox.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 6:24 PM
Soft Scam in ObamaCare Poised to Bilk Your Paycheck
Posted by The MaryHunter at 4:45 PM
It's fitting that ObamaCare was passed and signed so close to Easter. We keep finding all of these nifty Easter eggs hidden inside it, left by a Bizarro Bunny. When we crack them open, we want to puke from the stench.
Take, for example, this $100 billion-plus rotten egg that is ready to bilk your paycheck for longterm care unless you "opt out" of it.
"Aims to help" my arse. How bout that: on average, as much as $146 per month could be sucked out of your already diminished earnings unless you remember to opt out of the program (should you choose to do so). And all this for a plan that sounds like it will have all the long-term solvency of the Social Security AND Medicare Ponzi schemes combined.
Elections do have consequences, as we're continually reminded.
Hat tip: BigFurHat at iOwnTheWorld.
Germans Abandon Global Warming Farce
Posted by Dave Blount at 2:14 PM
You wouldn't expect the country that gave us Bismarck, Marx, and Hitler to turn its back on a scheme to massively expand government control. But even Germans are getting tired of flogging the dead horse called global warming.
Germans citizens are rapidly losing faith in global warming following the Climate-gate scandals, according to a new report in Der Spiegel.
The report indicates that just 42 percent of Germans are worried about global warming, down substantially from the 62 percent that expressed concern with the state of the environment in 2006. …Many people have little faith in the information and prognosis of climate researchers … with a third questioned in the survey not giving them much credence.
This is thought to be largely due to mistakes and exaggerations [i.e., preposterous lies] recently discovered in a report of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said the site.
Even in a country where statists have a firm grip on the media, people will eventually figure out that they're not getting the truth — not that this will stop Democrats from attempting to plunge us into a depression with Tax & Charade.
On a tip from Conan.
Pop Culture Versus God
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 12:44 PM
When my Young Adult thriller novel, The Long Way Home, was submitted to my British publishers, they tried to delete many of the references to the hero's religious faith. My British editor feared that Waterstone's — the UK's biggest bookstore chain — would be reluctant to carry a book with an overtly Christian hero.
Which is just part of a larger picture of pop culture and mass media's aversion to Christian faith generally.
Pop culture's negative portrayal of religion, especially Christianity, is not some accidental oversight. It's purposeful, the result of hostile intent. …
Shakespeare said the purpose of art is "to hold the mirror up to nature." But the purpose of most American art is to depict the world as a small coterie of elites believe it should be in the hopes we will be indoctrinated into going along. Religion stands opposed to that elitist worldview because it elevates the wisdom of faith and simple decency over intellectual narcissism and moral preening.
The mass media are dominated by progressive leftists, who view the Christian God — with His Absolute Morality — as anathema to their desire for consequence-free self-gratification.
Hat Tip: John Miller @ The Corner.
War on Christianity Continues
Posted by Dave Blount at 12:28 PM
In a rare victory for Western Civilization against the liberal rot that's destroying it, city workers in Davenport, Iowa will be allowed to continue calling Good Friday by its rightful name, even though it refers to a faith that rivals our country's official state religion, moonbattery.
The city of Davenport now says Good Friday is still Good Friday for municipal workers, despite reports that the day off had been renamed "Celebration of Spring."
The city issued a statement Monday saying the renaming was a recommendation made by the Davenport Civil Rights Commission last summer. The statement says the city administrator mistakenly forwarded the recommendation for further review and action, leading to the release of a holiday notice with the holiday renamed.
The statement said that the City Council never voted on the change, and the name never officially changed.
However, moonbat totalitarians are holding the line in the war of against Christianity in Westchester County, New York:
The Greenburgh Nature Center will host two Spring Egg Hunts on Saturday, April 3 at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Children can search the center's grounds for chocolate eggs, and some special eggs worth a prize.
By "Spring Egg" they mean "Easter Egg" — but of course, it wouldn't be inclusive to include Christians in traditions associated with Christian holidays.
Muslims have joined their liberal allies in the campaign to extirpate Christianity:
A group of students at Trinity University in Texas wants the Christian-rooted school to remove the words "Our Lord" from their diplomas, the Houston Chronicle reported.
"A diploma is a very personal item, and people want to proudly display it in their offices and homes," Sidra Qureshi, president of Trinity Diversity Connection, told the Chronicle. "By having the phrase 'In the Year of Our Lord,' it is directly referencing Jesus Christ, and not everyone believes in Jesus Christ."
Qureshi, a Muslim student at the school, is leading the campaign to remove the words.
Why would a militant Muslim attend an explicitly Christian school? To force it to stop being Christian, naturally.
At least we don't need to worry that they'll revive the practice of feeding Christians to lions. PETA would never allow such exploitation of animals.
On tips from Mike G, Wiggins, and Ness.
Death of a Moonbat Poet
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 11:18 AM
The New York Waste of Times writes a fawning obituary to the poet Ai. And why was Ai a favorite of the NYWoT? Mainly because they considered her poetry "a damning indictment of American society."
Here's a sample of her "talent."
I scissor the stem of the red carnation
and set it in a bowl of water.
It floats the way your head would,
if I cut it off.
Not exactly Robert Frost or Yehuda Amachai is it? One of the joys of being a right-wing kook is not having to pretend you like crappy poetry.
Also, I'm pretty sure heads don't float in water when you cut them off.
Colleges Help Big Government Expand Food Stamp Rolls
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:55 AM
Who says students never learn any useful job skills in school? In the age of Hopey Change, the job skill that will do young people most good is learning how to sponge off our socialist government. So universities have been instructing students on how to sign up for Food Stamps. For example:
Portland State University devotes a page on its Web site to explaining the ease with which students can receive benefits, along with instructions on how to apply. The school says food stamps are not charity but rather a benefit all honest taxpaying citizens can afford. The U.S. Department of Agriculture renamed food stamps the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2008, instituted electronic debit cards instead of coupons, and began an aggressive push to expand eligibility.
The goal of Big Government is to get as many people as possible reliant on the State for handouts provided at the expense of others. This is why it has been pushing so hard to get people who clearly don't need them to use Food Stamps. After all, the purpose of government handouts isn't to help the poor; if our rulers wanted that, they would stop killing jobs with confiscatory taxes and excessive regulations. The purpose is to reduce us to farm animals, who are content to wallow in a fenced-in sty so long as the farmer brings us free slop. Our liberal education establishment is only too happy to help.
On a tip from Carmen.
Global Warmist James Schneider Freezes to Death
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:14 AM
Somebody up there has an excellent sense of humor:
Famed global warming activist James Schneider and a journalist friend were both found frozen to death on Saturday, about 90 miles from South Pole Station, by the pilot of a ski plane practicing emergency evacuation procedures.
"I couldn't believe what I was seeing", recounted the pilot, Jimmy Dolittle. "There were two snowmobiles with cargo sleds, a tent, and a bright orange rope that had been laid out on the ice, forming the words, 'HELP-COLD'."
One friend of Prof. Schneider told ecoEnquirer that he had been planning a trip to an ice sheet to film the devastation brought on by global warming.
Unfortunately for the moonbats, the devastation was caused not by the imaginary climate crisis, but by their own stupidity. They made the trip in July, apparently too clueless to realize that's the middle of winter for the Southern Hemisphere. Or maybe they thought that South Pole polar bears would snuggle up to them and keep them warm. Anyone who believes in the global warming hoax at this point could believe pretty much anything.
On a tip from Oiao.
Update:
Sorry, looks like this was a hoax, just like global warming itself. You can't even trust Fox Nation these days. Some stories are too good to check; just ask the MSM.
New Wave of Illegals on the Way as Drug Lords Take Over Whole Towns Near Unguarded Border
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:42 AM
It looks like Comrade Obama will soon have a whole lot more illegal aliens to transform into welfare-dependent Democrat voters with the upcoming amnesty push.
Members of a drug cartel apparently intent on controlling a Mexican border town are threatening to kill residents or torch their homes, forcing some of the residents to flee into Texas to seek asylum, according to law enforcement authorities.
Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West said the residents have been told "to vacate or they're going to start killing them and burning their houses down."
Residents from El Porvenir have been arriving at the U.S. port of entry at Fort Hancock, along a desolate stretch of the border about 50 miles southeast of El Paso, over the past week and a half, authorities say. West said more than 30 have requested political asylum.
Most won't bother with political asylum. Our rulers are about to wave a wand and make them all into American citizens anyway.
Soon the drug lords will be demanding that everyone vacate El Paso. But by then El Paso will have finished its transformation into a Mexican barrio, so the media will have an excuse not to pay much attention.
The federal government could start attending to its most fundamental responsibility by defending the border from invasion. But our Homeland Security chief can't see any point. After all, if you build a 50-foot wall, they'll bring an 51-foot ladder. Besides, it better suits the liberal agenda to crack down on conservatives instead.
On a tip from Hail The Amberlamps!
The First of the ObamaCare Side Effects
Posted by The MaryHunter at 9:19 AM
The Heritage Foundation notes that a $1 billion "headache" reported by AT&T represents just the first of ObamaCare's deletierious effects on our economy and freedom.
This past Friday, AT&T, the biggest U.S. telephone company, announced that it would take a $1 billion charge against earnings thanks to tax changes buried in the 2,300+ page bill. $1 billion. That is a full third of AT&T's $3 billion earnings for the fourth quarter of 2009.
In corporate finance terms, this is downright devastating.
The tax charges stem from changes Obamacare makes to the tax treatment of prescription-drug benefits for retirees. Companies used to be able to deduct part of their costs for providing drug benefits to their retirees, but Obamacare cancels that deduction. Roland McDevitt, director of health care research at Towers Watson, tells the Wall Street Journal, they "have a stream of tax benefits they are losing way out in the future." Since companies had counted on these deductions for current and future retirees as an existing asset under the old law, accounting rules require firms to take the full loss for the change in the same quarter in which the tax law is changed. Hence Friday's announcement to inform shareholders that AT&T's bottom line was about to take a $1 billion hit.
AT&T will not be unique to this tax effect. Companies with large employee bases will be particularly vulnerable to tax pinches such as this one.
Keen to follow more of the ObamaCare fallout? The Heritage Foundation has a new web feature called "Side Effects," through which it will keep track of this and other nasty consequences of ObamaCare. To be fair, let's not call them "unintended consequences," since these attacks on the capitalist system are in fact triumphs for progressivism. It's completely conceivable that, if conservatives warned us about these during the HCR debate, then progressives fully intended them.
America's Most Liberal City Amuses Us Once Again
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 9:06 AM
Documents in a Wayne County Circuit Court lawsuit brought by DPS allege that Stephen Hill of Detroit — director of DPS risk management from 2001-05 — received luxury vehicles and other kickbacks. Some of the vendors who benefitted were friends or associates of Hill's or relatives of Hill's assistant, Christina Polk-Osumah of Detroit, court records allege.
When Hill left the district in September 2005, he received a champagne-and-tenderloin farewell bash that cost the impoverished school system $40,000, according to the suit.
You didn't really think Monica Conyers and Kwame Kilpatrick's were aberrations, did you? Corruption is not a side-effect of progressive left government, corruption is the point of progressive left government. Why do you think the progressives are so eager to get their meat-hooks into health care?
Hat Tip: Dave via Facebook.
Canadian Comedian Guy Earle Hauled Before Commission for Thought Crime
Posted by Dave Blount at 8:46 AM
Liberal Canada's devotion to free speech — which Ann Coulter recently experienced first hand — is now throwing a wet blanket on comedians.
Standup Guy Earle got into it with a pair of obnoxious lesbians at a show in Vancouver. They disrupted the show and even threw drinks in his face. He dealt with them as you would expect a comedian to do, with ridicule. Under Canada's regime of totalitarian political correctness, this was the equivalent of making fun of belligerent Nazis in occupied France.
As Earle explains it,
"When you heckle me and you've been disrespectful through the whole show, I come from the George Carlin school of dealing with a heckler… So yeah, I shoved it down their throat and that's what you do. …"
"I have the right to be offensive. Because they didn't find it funny doesn't mean they can take me to the human rights tribunal."
They can and they have. The Ontario native has been ordered to fly back across the country to accept punishment for his thought crime from a kangaroo court held by the British Columbia Human Rights Commission.
Earle is starting to realize what kind of world he's unlucky enough to live in.
Asked if he regrets what he said… the comic answered he's more careful now that he knows there's "an incentive program for hecklers."
"My joke now is that when somebody heckles me out of the darkness, I peer through the lights and ask, 'I'm sorry sir, before I respond to you, can you tell me if you are part of a protected group?'"
At least the exposure should help advance his career. Or maybe not:
The veteran comic said the incident has helped him gain notoriety but it hasn't helped him gain bookings.
He's been accused of being homophobic and while a handful of places might encourage extremely offensive material, hundreds of others want little to do with it.
In a world of belly-crawling politically correct cowards, no one wants to book someone accused of being "homophobic." Earle's comedy career will be heading the way of comedy in general: down the drain for the sake of moonbat ideology.
On a tip from Edward.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 7:27 AM
Stewart Smalley Gets Pissy
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 6:09 AM
Minnesota's disgrace --- Senator Stewart Smalley --- doesn't know much about the Health Care Bill he championed in the senate, and he gets really testy when gadfly Jason Mattera tries to ask him a couple of questions about what's in the bill.
Hat tip: Patterico
Also, below the break, Left Wing Blowhard "Special Ed" Schultz gets his ass handed to him by Ernest Istook of the Heritage Foundation.
This Really Frosts My Cookies
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:43 AM
Hat Tip: Knowledge Is Power
The law is an ass, all right.
Fred Phelps, BTW, is a registered Democrat who twice ran for office as a Democrat, supported Al Gore in 2000, and flew to Iraq as a volunteer human shield to protect Saddam Hussein. All of which means, he ain't no Tea Partier.
Community Organizing 101: An ACORN Rebranding Primer
Posted by The MaryHunter at 5:30 AM
This handy chart will undoubtedly need expanding in the near future, as ACORN tries to "shed" its corrupt former mantle and hose in more taxpayer funds under a different guise.
Hat tip: Big Journalism.
Item #3: Our Crowd, and Theirs
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 3:55 AM
Zombie --- the Dian Fossey of the Moonbat Left --- has a lovely photo essay comparing the Tea Partiers who gathered in Searchlight, NV to a rally of Left-Wing Progressives in Los Angeles a week earlier. It's a pretty good visual rebuke to all of those who sneer that the activists of the right are equal and opposite to their counterparts on the left.
Here's a sampling.
Us:
Them:
Item #2: A Prayer for Obama
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 3:46 AM
Hat Tip: Rob via Facebook
Morning Briefs for Tuesday Item #1: Granny Botox Ladles Out the Bullshirt
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 3:31 AM
Good Morning Lucifer's Abominations,
Members should "convey the immediate benefits of health reform to your constituents," the memo said.
If you're drinking coffee, you might want to put it down before reading the next part.
They should also "tell their constituents how all this was done in a fiscally responsible, open and transparent way," it states.
And if that fails, I guess they can just call opponents of the law violent racists.
Code Pinkos Shut Down Karl Rove Book Signing
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 3:06 AM
Remember all the times Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Barbara Boxer got shouted down by obnoxious right-wingers while attempting to conduct their book tours?
Yeah, neither do I.
March 29, 2010
Craig Becker on Illegal Aliens
Posted by Dave Blount at 7:40 PM
Card check (ie, coercive unionization) isn't the only radical policy that forced Comrade Obama to resort to a recess appointment to get union lawyer Craig Becker on the National Labor Relations Board. Here he is declaring that it's a-okay with Big Government if businesses hire illegal aliens:
At least it's reassuring to know that Becker isn't always petulantly hostile to employers.
This should give you an idea of where B. Hussein is coming from on "immigration reform" — as if it weren't already obvious. If you think unemployment is a problem now, wait until amnesty makes it official that anyone who can get here will be made a citizen, along with all their relatives back home.
Can't find work? Too bad, because our liberal rulers could not care less.
Via Breitbart.tv, on a tip from Milton.
The 2010 Census Is Already Effed Up
Posted by The MaryHunter at 6:00 PM
The U.S. Census has been in preparation for over a year and already it's been revealed as a screwed up waste of billions of tax dollars.
Federal officials overseeing the 2010 Census testified last Thursday that existing Information Technology (IT) problems in the U.S Census Bureau's Non-Response Follow-Up (NRFU) operation could affect the accuracy of the decennial tabulation.
As a result of the IT deficiencies, it is difficult to accurately provide a final cost for the 2010 Census, which is currently estimated at around $14.7 billion.
But then again, we knew that the accuracy of the Census would be debatable at best -- a Democratic partisan money hole run by stooges aimed at doing everything to accentuate the minority count. No doubt, the IT problems and potential cost overruns will be an excuse to rely more heavily on illegitimate sampling methods, especially in those hard-to-reach illegal alien communities. Since, of course, they'll all be getting amnesty soon anyway.
Students Learn Economic Consequences of Moonbattery
Posted by Dave Blount at 3:04 PM
It's nice to see students are taught something besides liberal lies after all. Students at a Southern California high school have learned that nanny state authoritarianism is not good for business:
Tiger's Den, the student-run snack bar at South Pasadena High School, has watched its profit plummet by more than half this year after a law banned junk food sales in California public schools and forced it to yank its best-seller, AriZona ice teas.
The shop is open 30 minutes a day during the school lunch break, and it has made about $6,000 in profit this year. That's compared with $14,000 at this point last year.
The student managers blame the law's July 1, 2009, deadline, by which time high schools had to exorcise sodas, including diet varieties, and other sugary drinks. …
For the students, it's been a real-life business lesson on the risk of relying on a star product and on the power of lawmakers to wreak havoc on small companies.
Scott Feldman, president of the South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, advises the students:
You just got delivered a nasty-gram and you will always remember what it was like to lose 50% of your revenue and how hard you had to work to make it up. There is no difference between that and what happens to businesses in the real world.
No doubt their teachers can put the experience into perspective by explaining that by generating a profit, they were indulging in racist oppression and endangering the polar bears.
On a tip from Anonymous Countermoonbat.
Moonbat Assaults Elderly Lady at Tea Party Meeting
Posted by Dave Blount at 1:50 PM
Patriots are portrayed as violent because Sarah Palin metaphorically used the word "reload." Meanwhile, liberals slither into Tea Parties and assault elderly ladies.
An infiltrator at the Milaca [Minnesota] TEA Party Patriots meeting [Saturday] struck a women tea partier. …
This woman was a 3 time cancer survivor and came directly from her release from the hospital to this tea party event. The man ranted that the tea party group was just anti-government trouble makers. This frail woman put up her hand in defense and to signal "whoa, this is too intense". The man struck her defensively raised hand hard enough to cause extreme pain. The victim told the assailant, "You have the right to your opinion, but you do not have the right to hit me". At this point, other members of the group intervened. The man was shown the door.
At least he didn't bite her finger off.
I'm guessing this story will not be prominently featured on the evening news.
Via Free Republic, on a tip from Cheetah.
Over $9 Million Awarded for Two Days in Jail
Posted by Dave Blount at 1:03 PM
What a sucker I am to bust my tail working for a living. Others live much better without going to the trouble:
A Houston woman who was wrongly arrested in 2008 at the Walmart in Meyer Park has won a $9 million jury verdict.
Nitra Gipson, 24, filed a civil lawsuit against the retailer after store employees accused her of trying to exchange counterfeit Walmart money orders for cash. She was arrested and spent two days in jail. The Harris County District Attorney's Office declined to pursue charges after it was determined that the money orders were genuine. …
A Harris County court jury on Friday determined that Wal-Mart Stores Texas should pay $8.2 million in actual damages and $820,000 in punitive damages.
$8.2 million in "actual damages"? Why not? Our legal system is a farce; settlement numbers are snatched out of the air.
We live in a society ruled by pathologically greedy lawyers. These vampires won't stop sucking blood on behalf of their parasitical clients until America's veins are dry.
On a tip from Wiggins.
Climate Moonbat: Democracy Must Be Suspended to Fight Manbearpig
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 12:39 PM
In the name of ManBearPig, we've already decided to sacrifice truth (e.g. the East Anglia climate studies) and capitalism, now, uber-Moonbat James Lovelock suggests its time to throw Democracy onto the bonfire.
One of the main obstructions to meaningful action is "modern democracy", he added. "Even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold for the time being. I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while."
As we know from Thomas Friedman and Chairman Zero's gushing praise of Chinese authoritarianism, what the progressive left really wants is the end of this messy business in which people have a say in their governance. The war against the Phantom Menace of Manbearpig is just the excuse.
Border Rancher Rob Krentz Murdered
Posted by Dave Blount at 12:12 PM
When it comes to border security, the wages of moonbattery is mayhem and death:
The body of Rancher Rob Krentz and his dog were found shot to death on his ranch. Krentz, who always was good-natured and willing to help people, had called in that he had found an illegal alien at one of his watering holes and was assisting him. That was the last that was heard from him before his body was discovered.
Rob Krentz was a lifelong rancher in Southeastern Arizona, 12 miles north of the U.S./Mexico border and 25 miles northeast of the city of Douglas. He was the father of three children. The ranch has been in his family for three generations, more than 100 years — since 1907, and sits on about 35,000 acres with 1,000 head of cattle. Running a ranch is hard work and with the influx of illegal aliens increasing, Rob was at ground zero of the stampede that is destroying the fragile desert landscape.
The Krentz family has received numerous threats in the past by illegal aliens trespassing on their property. In 2002, the family was physically threatened when one of them stumbled upon a group of 39 illegal aliens. They were told to get off the land and they made threats. The Border Patrol did catch the illegal aliens after they were called, but we all know that illegal aliens, if deported, come right back across.
During earlier incursions, the Reconquistadors butchered and barbequed one of his calves, and deliberately sabotaged his water supply. They have caused an estimated $8 million in damages to the ranch over the past 5 years.
When this was reported on the local Phoenix news last night (Fox 10), the stylishly coiffed "journalists" pretended they had no idea who killed Krentz, and neglected to mention his repeated problems with illegals in the past. As I recall, they also left out the part about his dog, although that would have been milked for poignant tears were it Americans killing a Mexican.
Meanwhile, the criminal syndicate calling itself our federal government resolutely refuses to defend the border, and is planning to grant amnesty to invading colonists, so as to enlist them on the welfare rolls and register them as Democrats.
Under our Constitution, the federal government has very few legitimate functions. Prominent among them is the defense of the 50 states from foreign invasion. Because the cancer wildly metastasizing in Washington willfully refuses to perform this fundamental duty, it is not a legitimate government, and the taxes it expropriates are theft.
On a tip from Bill T.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 12:00 PM
Even MSDNC Admits: More Guns, Less Crime
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 11:37 AM
Robert Heinlein said, "A well-armed society is a polite society." There's more than a few grains of truth in that. Even MSDNC has been reluctantly forced to admit that the rising tide of gun ownership has been accompanied by a dramatic decline in firearms deaths.
This here is a pretty shocking headline:
The highest gun homicide rate is in Washington, D.C., which has had the nation's strictest gun-control laws for years and bans concealed carry: 20.50 deaths per 100,000 population, five times the general rate. The lowest rate, 1.12, is in Utah, which has such a liberal concealed weapons policy that most American adults can get a permit to carry a gun in Utah without even visiting the state.
Do you think someday maybe someday the geniuses in the MSM will figure out that abstinence leads to fewer pregnancies, and higher rates of incarceration lead to lower crime rates?
The UN's Worldwide Anti-Gun Agenda Aims at the USA
Posted by The MaryHunter at 11:25 AM
This November 2009 NRA video should be watched by every freedom-loving gun owner in the USA.
Rebecca Peters, the woman who leads up the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) who is behind this worldwide effort, is not only the most dangerous persion to American gun-owners. She's buddies with George Soros and has an endless supply of money for her anti-gun efforts. They can out-spend the pro-gun lobby 20 or 30 to 1 worldwide. Plus, she looks strikingly like Rachel Maddow.
On a bullseye tip from Bergbiker.
Then and Now
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:42 AM
W's surge and the heroism of our troops in Iraq have turned around everything — even the rhetoric Chairman Zero reads off his teleprompter.
From AP, September 12, 2007:
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is calling for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. combat brigades from Iraq, with the pullout being completed by the end of next year. "Let me be clear: There is no military solution in Iraq and there never was," Obama said in excerpts of the speech provided to The Associated Press.
From Comrade Obama's mouth, March 28, 2010:
The United States of America does not quit once it starts on something. You don't quit, the American armed services does not quit. We keep at it. We persevere.
So long as our troops are winning. When things start to go badly because they have to fight with their hands tied, we knife them in the back. That's leadership a liberal can believe it.
On a tip from Edward.
Oh Noes! More ObamaCare-Related Violence and Threats!
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 10:32 AM
They warned us that unhinged radicals would threaten violence if ObamaCare passed, and danged if they weren't right! A Pennsylvania man outraged over the Health Care Bill was arrested today for threatening the life of a Jewish Congressman.
The man was outraged over opposition to the Health Care Bill. The Jewish Congressman was Eric Cantor --- a man Obama's fan club has accused of lying about incidents of violence directed against him. Only Dramacrats are allowed to complain about threats and intimidation.
According to the affidavit, Leboon allegedly said in the video: "Remember Eric . . . our judgment time, the final Yom Kippur has been given. You are a liar, you're a Lucifer, you're a pig, a greedy [expletive] pig. You're an abomination. You receive my bullets in your office. Remember they will be placed in your heads. You and your children are Lucifer's abominations."
The arrested man donated to Barack Obama's campaign in 2008.
Bonus! Comments from progressive lefties on the CNN Story Thread:
Karma is a bitch. Shouldn't have trumped up the stray bullet. No sympathy for this guy.
If I use the tea party's arguments, then clearly Cantor was asking for this kind of violence! He was setting people up! As Glenn Beck said, What does Cantor have to do to get shot?
If I was the #2 republican and I had a bunch of idiots of my congressional party on a ledge egging on the radical righ wing nuts to spite and curse and the democratic law makers that had were just going to make a bill that will help thousands of uninsured folks I would want to get a friendly law enforcement officer to claim he had just arrested a man that was theatening his lif to take the negitive pressure off my party !
Why isnt the Justic Dept. arresting, and charging the racist scumbag's that spit on a government official? Or, the shouted a racial, and communist minded slur as well as threats, to other government official's?
Because it didn't happen, dumbass.
Symbol of ObamaCare
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:55 AM
As part of Healthcare Reform, all physicians who are not driven out of the profession will be issued shiny new lapel pins:
Compliments of Lyle.
Hopey Change Imposes Capital Control
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:31 AM
By piling outrage upon outrage at a maniacal pace, our socialist rulers have made it difficult even to keep track of their assaults on our liberty, much less resist them. Barely noticed by anyone, they have stretched out their insatiably greedy claws to exert control over private funds in overseas banks:
On March 18, with very little pomp and circumstance, president Obama passed the most recent stimulus act, the $17.5 billion Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (H.R. 2487), brilliantly goalseeked by the administration's millionaire cronies to abbreviate as HIRE. As it was merely the latest in an endless stream of acts destined to expand the government payroll to infinity, nobody cared about it, or actually read it. Because if anyone had read it, the act would have been known as theCapital Controls Act , as one of the lesser, but infinitely more important provisions on page 27, known as Offset Provisions - Subtitle A — Foreign Account Tax Compliance, institutes just that. In brief, the Provision requires that foreign banks not only withhold 30% of all outgoing capital flows (likely remitting the collection promptly back to the US Treasury) but also disclose the full details of non-exempt account-holders to the US and the IRS. And should this provision be deemed illegal by a given foreign nation's domestic laws (think Switzerland), well the foreign financial institution is required to close the account. It's the law. If you thought you could move your capital to the non-sequestration safety of non-US financial institutions, sorry you lose — the law now says so. Capital Controls are now here and are now fully enforced by the law.
The last time America came this close to degenerating into a socialist dictatorship, FDR banned citizens from owning gold. But under Hopey Change, even the Great Depression could come to resemble an era of economic liberty.
One thing we are confused about is whether this law is a preamble, or already incorporates, the flow of non-cash assets, such as commodities, and, thus, gold. If an account transfers, via physical or paper delivery, gold from a domestic account to a foreign one, we are not sure if the language deems this a 30% taxable transaction, although preliminary discussions with lawyers indicates this is likely the case.
And so the noose on capital mobility tightens, as very soon the only option US citizens have when it comes to investing their money, will be in government mandated retirement annuities, which will likely be the next step in the capital control escalation, which will culminate with every single free dollar required to be reinvested into the US, likely in the form of purchasing US Treasury emissions such as Treasuries, TIPS and other worthless pieces of paper.
This appalling law [PDF] will also make it difficult to invest in real estate overseas. Already Israeli banks are urging American clients to close their accounts.
Soon productive citizens will be reduced to dragging suitcases stuffed with their life savings across the southern border, in hopes of escaping Change before our tyrannical federal government can reduce them to paupers in the name of Social Justice. That's when the Feds will discover that we need border security after all.
On tips from Marasmius.
Smug NY Times Moonbat Smirks and Gloats
Posted by Dave Blount at 8:51 AM
If you aren't angry enough yet to do whatever you can to dislodge our socialist rulers from power before they totally destroy this country, check out the recent opinion piece in the New York Slimes by smug moonbat Charles M. Blow, who proclaims that the alleged "bullying, threats, and acts of violence" by patriots opposed to the federal government seizing control of the healthcare system are
an extension of a now-familiar theme: some version of "take our country back." The problem is that the country romanticized by the far right hasn't existed for some time, and its ability to deny that fact grows more dim every day. President Obama and what he represents has jolted extremists into the present and forced them to confront the future. And it scares them.
The future they have planned is scary, all right.
A woman (Nancy Pelosi) pushed the health care bill through the House. The bill's most visible and vocal proponents included a gay man (Barney Frank) and a Jew (Anthony Weiner). And the black man in the White House signed the bill into law. It's enough to make a good old boy go crazy.
That is, if you're not on board with communism by increasingly large increments, you are RACIST! SEXIST! ANTI-GAY! This is what passes for intellect among our condescending ruling class.
Meanwhile, in a poll of conservative bloggers that came out today at Right Wing News, the most popular figure on the right is Thomas Sowell. But back to the alternate reality inhabited by Charles Blowhard, who proclaims that patriotic Tea Partiers are "anachronistic" because according to Quinnipiac University we are
disproportionately white, evangelical Christian and "less educated … than the average Joe and Jane Six-Pack." This at a time when the country is becoming more diverse (some demographers believe that 2010 could be the first year that most children born in the country will be nonwhite), less doctrinally dogmatic, and college enrollment is through the roof. The Tea Party, my friends, is not the future.
You may want "your country back," but you can't have it. That sound you hear is the relentless, irrepressible march of change. Welcome to America: The Remix.
Aka the USSA. To sum up: only redneck honkies believe in liberty, and soon you'll be washed away in a demographic tide.
Liberals of all complexions eat this stuff up. That's why amnesty is next on the Statist agenda.
The premature gloating makes the progressive objective all too clear. When they say they want to Change the country we love, they mean they want to obliterate it.
On a tip from Incitatus.
If this is true, Michael Steele Needs to Go
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 8:24 AM
At a time of record deficits, it's not good form for the head of the Republican Party to be wasting money on chic hotels and ---- am I reading this right --- bondage-themed nightclubs?
A February RNC trip to California, for example, included a $9,099 stop at the Beverly Hills Hotel, $6,596 dropped at the nearby Four Seasons, and $1,620.71 spent [update: the amount is actually $1,946.25] at Voyeur West Hollywood, a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex.
A for effort, Michael... but I still don't think you're going to get Bill Maher to join the Republican Party.
He also reportedly wanted to use RNC funds to buy a private jet. Who does he think he is? Al Gore?
There may be legitimate explanations for all these expenses, but it does look pretty bad.
AP Finally Notices That ObamaCare Will Worsen Doctor Shortage
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 7:52 AM
Well, gee, thanks Ass Press. Why weren't you covering this a few weeks ago when it would have done some good? You know, back when only us right-wing kooks were saying, "You know, adding millions of patients to the system while driving thousands of doctors out of the system may not be a really good idea."
Primary care physicians already are in short supply in parts of the country, and the landmark health overhaul that will bring them millions more newly insured patients in the next few years promises extra strain. ... Recently published reports predict a shortfall of roughly 40,000 primary care doctors over the next decade.
You can thank all of those imbeciles who think it's morally wrong (and therefore should be legally wrong) to make a profit treating sick people.
The article tries to spin this positively, saying doctors will cope by kicking routine care down to assistants and nurses with less training. It's an idea I generally support, but without tort reform, it's just litigation waiting to happen. This scheme will last about as long as it takes an ambulance chasing attorney to sue a doctor for negligence for relying on an assistant to perform a test he should have performed himself.
Hat Tip: DFC... and there's some funny sh-t there.
More Americans Resist Porkulus
Posted by The MaryHunter at 6:30 AM
Forget about simmering. The frustration of the American people at wasteful "stimulus" spending is boiling over. Take Ruthsburg, Maryland as an example. A dozen huge mylar pig balloons were flown in from Massachusetts and flown above a town rally protesting the latest $70 million Porkulus project.
The pigs were a reminder that many in this rural community - and virtually everyone gathered in the high school auditorium that night - viewed the federal project as wasteful. Take the $70 million in stimulus funds and the promises of hundreds of new jobs somewhere else, they said.
For more than three hours, officials from the State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the General Services Administration patiently answered questions and withstood scathing comments that revealed an opposition and distrust rivaling the most confrontational displays in last year's health care town-hall summits.
The project, a security training center sprawled over 2,000 acres, has been delayed for about six months, in part due to the opposition. The feds are still trying to cram it down the throats of Marylanders despite -- gasp -- environmental concerns.
"EPA believes the project may adversely affect the aquatic and terrestrial environment, including wetlands and, potentially, endangered species," wrote Jeffrey D. Lapp, associate director of the agency's Office of Environmental Programs.
But as we learned recently, when Big Government wants to do something (as compared to private business), to hell with environmental impact concerns.
Why during a recession would the locals eschew more federal money and more potential jobs? It couldn't be because they are sick and tired of being pushed around by Big Government, could it?
By the next round of public meetings in February, public affairs specialists flooded Queen Anne's County High School, holding court in classrooms where they answered and acknowledged individual questions and concerns. Oversized poster boards with graphics, maps and photographs detailed the project's environmental, cultural and economic impact.
But at a well-attended public forum held in the school auditorium, it remained clear that the federal officials sent to gain support for the project had lost credibility in the community. Misunderstandings were perceived as broken promises and contradictions were treated as conspiracies.
"I think what it comes down to with a number of citizens is can you trust what the federal government is telling you?" [County Commissioner Eric] Wargotz said. "I can tell you from my perspective, I don't trust what the feds are telling us."
Just as their incredulous Dear Leader Obama, Big Government officials -- even in the bluest of blue states -- are mistrusted and resented for telling residents what's good for them.
Where's Al Bundy When You Need Him?
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 6:07 AM
Imagine if Hillary were the President of the United States, half of Congress were clones of Nancy Pelosi, and the other half clones of Alan Alda. That's pretty much the government of Iceland, whose Feminist-Controlled Government has just outlawed all nudie bars, strip clubs, topless restaurants, and reruns of The Man Show.
Gee, I thought this was the kind of thing only Republican Theocrats did.
57% of Icelandic "men" support the new law.
I'm not commenting one way or the other on the new law, just noting the ironing.
Hat Tip: AoS HQ
Welcome to the Open Thread
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:50 AM
Item #3: Ain't It Terrible When Folks Threaten Violence Against Politicians?
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:03 AM
Except when the politicians are Sarah Palin and Eric Cantor. Then, it's hunky-dory, apparently.
Yeah, too bad we on the right can't just engage in constructive dialogue over our differences, like Obama's fan club does. And just look how polite and coherent they are. I am so jealous.
BTW, I was being sarcastic.
Hat Tip: Atlas Shrugs via Sondra K
Item #2: While America Was Distracted by March Madness...
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:46 AM
... Dear Reader appointed 15 hardcore leftists to key administration positions. One of them, an appointment to the National Labor Relations Board, is an SEIU lawyer and advocate for coercive unionization (a.k.a. "Card Check), who was too radical to be confirmed even when the Dramacrats had a 60 seat super-majority in the senate.
Becker, a lawyer for the AFL-CIO and SEIU, in many ways fits the mold of a typical Democratic pick for the agency, but there are three reasons to have serious reservations about putting him in such a powerful position. First: His opinions are extreme. He has argued that workers should be allowed to choose only between unions, not between a union and no representation, and he wants employers to be banned from even attending NLRB hearings about union elections. On the subject of the NLRB itself, he has gone so far as to write that "employers should have no right to be heard in either a representation case or an unfair labor practice case, even though Board rulings might indirectly affect their duty to bargain." In other words: "Shut up." Second: He is affiliated with ACORN, a corrupt enterprise that works the intersection of Big Labor and politics for its own benefit. Third: He has lied to Congress about his relationship with ACORN. On all of those grounds, his nomination should be opposed, vigorously.
I wonder if Harry Reid still thinks recess appointments are "an end-run around the Constitution." Actually, I don't.
Also, all of Chairman Zero's picks have been eliminated from the Final Four, including "Syscasuse."
Morning Briefs for Monday Item #1: Well, Geez, Whose Wealth Did You Think They'd Be Redistributing?
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:23 AM
Good Morning Sons and Daughters of Liberty, Good Morning Bastard Children of Progressive Fascism,
The women of Los Angeles are stunned to find out that free health care isn't really free.
Eydie McNeill was fuming about the newly passed healthcare bill, but her rage had nothing to do with socialism, death panels or the deficit.
She just likes a good tan, and because of a provision in the bill that puts a 10% additional tax on tanning salon fees, her sessions are probably going to cost her more.
"I'm angry. I'm really disappointed by all this," said McNeill, 51, waiting for a tanning bed at the Tanning Club in Westwood. "It just feels like we're being taxed for everything nowadays."
How do you like your hope and change now?
"I'm being singled out by my government, and there is nothing I can do about it," said Wayne LaVassar, who owns 16 salons in Southern California that use ultraviolet-light tanning beds. "Folks that are directly affected don't have a strong enough lobby to be heard."
Watch your language, missy! Or Henry Waxman will haul you up to Capitol Hill and make you denounce yourself before the Politiburo.
BTW, did you know that the "year-to-year retail sales figures" have been juiced to hide the decline in consumer spending? Basically, stores that go out of business one year to the next aren't counted. The statistics only report the increase in sales at surviving stores once the others go out of business.
March 28, 2010
Phoenix Greets the Tea Party Express
Posted by Dave Blount at 7:18 PM
Today I had the honor of shaking hands with the great J.D. Hayworth, who took time to greet the Tea Party Express III to Phoenix. He was inspiring as always, no doubt eliciting whimpers of terror from moonbats…
…as well as from their RINO enablers, one of whom stands to lose his job if the Senate primary goes well in August:
Also on hand was one of the redneck racists Keith Olbermann has been shrieking about, Lloyd Marcus…
… as well as Joe the Plumber…
…crowds of patriots with pithy signs…
…and of course yours truly, who wouldn't have missed it to see Robert Reich at a dwarf toss.
A great time was had by all. Don't miss the next Tea Party near you. There will be plenty on Tax Day.
Photos by Varla.
Earth-Last Moonbattery
Posted by The MaryHunter at 4:50 PM
In a peculiar twist, government moonbattery went the other way this time in Great Britain: try reckless destruction of a natural ecosystem in order to inflict puritanical morality on perverts.
A council has backed the removal of 6,000 trees at a beauty spot, saying that the clearance will deterrent to people meeting for sex in the woods.
Jean Rigby, a local councillor, said: "The area will be replanted with native species that, in 20 years, people will see the benefit of.
"I'm more than happy this is being carried out - and it has a double whammy in terms of the sexual behaviour. I've heard anecdotally that since the trees have been cleared, it's quietened down a lot!"
It is fascinating that -- in Airstrip One of all places -- the cost-benefit analysis actually went the way of Society and against Nature. But all this deforestation, simply to combat dogging in the woods? I don't know... 20 years with no full-grown trees seems quite a price to pay for moving a bunch of filthy public shagging to a golf course or a mall parking lot. And think of all the CO2 offsets Darwen-in-Lancashire will now be obliged to purchase.
I couldn't rant on this any better than tipster Anonymous Countermoonbat:
As far as studies go, only private citizens must conduct expensive studies to prove their treecutting won't affect spotted owls or increase our level of Manbearpig endangerment.
If you're a private landowner who wants to cut trees, forget it. If you're a useless bureaucrat who wants to do it as a non-solution to an unrelated problem, go right ahead.
Who knows, AC. Maybe this is the start of something. If this kind of decisioning spreads to more municipalities and even US, the spotted owl and snail darter best look out. Or, maybe conifers will fly out of Al Gore's butt.
And Now for Something Completely Not Different on HCR
Posted by The MaryHunter at 4:03 PM
Another loony look at the Democrats on ObamaCare -- just so we don't forget who's "in charge" of this abomination.
Ain't It Great That a Party That Really Cares About the Working Class Is In Power?
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 3:09 PM
The EPA Mileage regulations for 2015 pushed for by Dramacrats will add $1,800 to $2,000 to the price of a small car; $4,500 to $6,000 to the price of a mid-sized car; and $9,000 to the price of a pick-up truck by 2015, according to an analysis by Automotive News.
And this is on top of the $1,800 in additional health care premiums and $3,000 in carbon taxes the Dramacrats envision for the working class.
Isn't it great that those greedy Republicans are out of power?
At this rate, the only car working people will be able to afford is the Tata, and we know how great those are.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 12:34 PM
Breitbart Reports on Moonbat Attack at Searchlight Tea Party
Posted by Dave Blount at 11:57 AM
As noted earlier, patriots weren't the only ones to show up for the massive Tea Party in Searchlight yesterday. A handful of moonbats flapped out of their caves to display their support for the Democrat establishment. They conducted themselves with their usual classiness. Andrew Breitbart provides an eyewitness report:
Meanwhile, conservatives are accused of violence on the grounds that Sarah Palin used the metaphorical expression "reload."
On a tip from Oaio.
CNN Brazenly Lies to Undermine Massive Searchlight, Nevada Tea Party
Posted by Dave Blount at 11:37 AM
The liberal establishment media's credibility would be marginal if it were only for the relentless left-wing slant. But because of its willingness to deliberately mislead regarding objective facts, it has no credibility at all. The latest example comes from Searchlight, Nevada, where tens of thousands rallied at a Tea Party event honoring the execrable Harry Reid's upcoming involuntary retirement. CNN's estimate of the crowd size: "Hundreds of people, at least dozens of people."
As Bill Clinton would observe, it's technically not a lie. After all, 20,000 (as reported at the hardly right-wing source Politico) is "at least dozens." But check out the photos at American Border Patrol and judge for yourself: is "hundreds of people, at least dozens of people" an accurate description of this crowd?
Typically, local news coverage was far more professional than CNN's:
The Tea Party train is still gathering momentum. Telling increasingly desperate lies to an increasingly skeptical public isn't going to stop it.
On tips from Edward, Infidel Joe, and glenwood183. Hat tip: Gateway Pundit.
Profiles in Countermoonbattery: Ted Nugent
Posted by Dave Blount at 11:09 AM
What could possibly be more fun than hanging out with the Motor City Madman at his Waco ranch?
On a tip from Oiao.
How a Bill Becomes a Law - 2010 Update
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 8:01 AM
March 27, 2010
Tea Party Protesters Egg Harry Reid's Bus
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:58 PM
Oops, my bad. It's actually the other way around. Harry Reid's SEIU thugs threw eggs at a bus carrying tea party patriots to an event in Searchlight, NV.
Andrew Breitbart claims he was threatened with physical violence. I don't know, campers, should we wait for more confirmation of this, or should we do what the dramacrats do and let the accusation prove the charge?
The Las Vegas Sun has some pictures.
An "Earth Hour" Reminder
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:02 PM
Choose light, or choose darkness. The choice is yours.
Nice Business You Got There, Shame If Anything Were to Happen to it
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 2:33 PM
The Dramacrats are furious that companies like AT&T, John Deere, and Caterpillar have reported that ObamaCare is going to cost them hundreds of millions of dollars to implement. They are angry that Medtronics has said it may have to lay off hundreds of workers because of the new medical devices tax. (Hat Tip: AoSHQ)
The Dramacrat Politburo is issuing letters to the management of those companies, threatening to pull them into Washington for show trials hearings. They are demanding that these dissident capitalists turn over all records detailing how they arrived at the outrageous conclusion that... um... insurance is going to cost a lot more when Government mandates it to cover more people with more conditions.
Partisanship Visualized
Posted by The MaryHunter at 1:23 PM
A visual aid regarding ObamaCare that is worth at least 535 words.
Courtesy of Political Math.
Hat tip: iOwnTheWorld.
Caturday Post: Time to Get Beyond Thunderdome the Tea Party Movement
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 1:04 PM
Since ObamaCare passed, I have been thinking that maybe it's time to retire the Tea Party movement. The original Tea Party didn't keep going and going and once the Revolutionary War started. And we aren't at the stage of armed rebellion. For this reason, my thought was, put the Tea Party to bed, and embrace another successful, peaceful anti-totalitarian movement.
In the 1980s it constituted a broad anti-bureaucratic social movement. The government attempted to destroy the (movement) during the period of martial law in the early 1980s and several years of political repression, but in the end it was forced to start negotiating.
I realize the irony of using a union movement to protest a President who's a sock-puppet of the SEIU. It's as ironic as, I suppose, a communist workers' paradise in which unions were illegal.
And it's much harder to make 'Solidarity' into a giggly sexual metaphor. I mean, I guess you could go the erectile dysfunction route, but it would be really strained.
I'm gonna take a Solidarity flag to the next protest and just see what happens.
Solidarity brought down one Marxist Regime. It can bring down another.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:42 AM
Moonbat on Moonbat Hissyfittery
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 10:00 AM
The Gay Drama Moonbats are having a spat with the Cinema Drama Moonbats over an art film about gay cowboys eating pudding homicidal trannies.
In the official online listing for "Ticked-Off Trannies," a comedy by Israel Luna that is making its world premiere at the Tribeca festival, the film is described as a "campy homage to the exploitation films" in which "a group of transgender women are violently beaten and left for dead," but then "the violated vixens turn deadly divas."
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said, "The film, its title and its marketing misrepresent the lives of transgender women and use grotesque, exploitative depictions of violence against transgender women." The alliance urged its membership to contact the festival and demand that the film be pulled from its schedule.
Silly director. Doesn't he know white heterosexual men are the only acceptable film villains?
The moral is, of course, you can't appease fanatical nutjob drama queens. Or, if you prefer another metaphor, how about, "Get out the popcorn, the lefties are fighting again."
"Right" to Healthcare = Communist Tyranny
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:42 AM
When B. Hussein announced during a pre-election debate that healthcare is a "right," it became clear to anyone paying attention that Obama is not only a red diaper baby who spent his entire life around communists, but a communist himself. If you have a "right" to healthcare, you have a "right" to anything else you might want — and others have a duty to provide it to you. In other words, if you have a "right" to goods and services provided by others, you have no rights at all — you and everyone else are slaves of The State.
A moonbat caller to Michael Medved's radio show helps explain. Via the David Boze show in Seattle, Listen here.
On a tip from Kevin R.
The Washington Post Reminds You, All Criticism of the President Is Racist
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 9:28 AM
To the unhinged, paranoid left --- America is but one short step away from imposing Jim Crow, if not re-instituting slavery. And any criticism of the president's policies is proof that white conservatives yearn to put all African-Americans back in chains.
Colbert King lets his unhinged, paraonoid, rat-crazy freak flag fly in the Washington Post.
The angry faces at Tea Party rallies are eerily familiar. They resemble faces of protesters lining the street at the University of Alabama in 1956 as Autherine Lucy, the school's first black student, bravely tried to walk to class. Those same jeering faces could be seen gathered around the Arkansas National Guard troopers who blocked nine black children from entering Little Rock's Central High School in 1957.
The faces were similar in that they had eyes, mouths, noses. But this is how crazy progressive logic works: "If I can analogize a current event to something racist that happened in the past, it proves the current event is racist." i.e. There was a crowd of people, They were protesting something. A crowd of people in 1956 protested something and they were racist. So, this crowd must be racist, too.
The real truth behind the Dramacrats charges of violence and racism is this:
Accusing their enemies of being violent racists is the only thing they've got. And the only thing their brain-dead base can understand. Hate sells.
We the People
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:27 AM
A message to Chairman Zero that he is going to hear eventually:
Soviet tanks rolling down the streets would have been much easier to resist than the incremental communist conquest from within that Comrade Obama has thrown into overdrive. But resist it we will. If some can have the courage to die for liberty, others can have the discipline to live for it.
On a tip from Charles.
The Barry Soetoro Dossier
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:20 AM
Obama's malignant performance as president has come as no surprise to anyone familiar with his background. This overview gives an idea of the stories an objective media would have investigated far before this shadowy extremist made it to the Oval Office:
On a tip from Leslie.
Celebrate Human Achievement Hour (HAH!) Tonight
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 8:02 AM
Because their poster is less lame than those "Earth Hour" creeps.
March 26, 2010
When They Said HCR Was a Jobs Bill...
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 8:40 PM
... They must have left out the word "Destroy."
As noted in several places, the new health-care bill has already made the cost of employees more expensive and taken away capital that could otherwise have been used to hire workers.
Farm-equipment manufacturer John Deere "said it expects its expenses to rise by around $150 million on an after-tax basis, mainly in the second quarter, as a result of the legislation."
Verizon "told employees in an email Tuesday that Verizon's costs will go up in the near term, pinpointing a tax-subsidy reduction for retiree health benefits."
Heavy-equipment manufacturer Caterpillar "said that its first-quarter earnings will be hit with a $100 million after-tax charge under tax law changes attached to the new health care reform legislation."
AK Steele Holding Corp., "the third largest U.S. steelmaker by sales, said it will record a non-cash charge of about $31 million resulting from the health-care overhaul signed into law by President Barack Obama. The charge will be recorded in the first quarter of 2010."
Valero Energy "will take a $15 million to $20 million charge to second-quarter earnings for the same reason."
Medical-device maker Medtronic "warned that new taxes on its products could force it to lay off a thousand workers."
Also...
AT&T Inc. said it plans to take a non-cash charge of about $1 billion in the first quarter following the passage of the health-care reform bill earlier this week, according to a filing submitted by the company Friday. The telecommunication giant will also evaluate changes to its health care benefits for employees and retirees.
This must be why the administration needs to renew unemployment infinitely and make banks let the unemployed slide on their mortgages.
They Did It for the Children
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 6:48 PM
Just In Case You Missed All That Kerfuffle Last Weekend
Posted by The MaryHunter at 6:45 PM
The gnomish Greg Gutfeld has some timeless insights on that abomination of the Obamanation called ObamaCare that passed last Sunday and was engraved upon by himself the Chairman Zero on Tuesday. Listen for the "smell the finger" reference.
Yes, Obama got the girl to go home with him -- a smelly whore who will pustulently infect not only him, but the nation. This is about the best ribald analogy of that legislative perversion yet. There is no end to the criticism that can be levied on the Statists for their bald-faced power grab. What's more: there is no end to the stinky fingers in Washington that deserve to be, shall we say, severely trimmed.
America Dragged Kicking and Screaming to the VAT
Posted by The MaryHunter at 4:15 PM
Charles Krauthammer discusses ObamaCare's next trick.
We are now $8 trillion in debt. The Congressional Budget Office projects that $12 trillion will be added over the next decade. Obamacare, when stripped of its budgetary gimmicks -- the unfunded $200 billion-plus "doctor fix," the double counting of Medicare cuts, the 10-6 sleight-of-hand (counting 10 years of revenue and only six years of outflows) -- is at minimum a $2 trillion new entitlement.
This is a fiscally disastrous path, since out-of-control health care costs now will paid for under ObamaCare -- which did absolutely nothing to address the costs issue itself. Where will this lead us? Inevitably, to the VAT - both literally and figuratively.
The ultimate cash cow, value-added taxes have been used to feed welfare states worldwide. The European Union nations have enormous VATs: Germany: 19%, France and Italy: 20% percent, Scandinavian countries: 25%.
Obama set out to be a consequential president, on the order of Ronald Reagan. With the VAT, Obama's triumph will be complete. He will have succeeded in reversing Reaganism. Liberals have long complained that Reagan's strategy was to starve the (governmental) beast in order to shrink it: First, cut taxes -- then ultimately you have to reduce government spending.
Obama's strategy is exactly the opposite: Expand the beast and then feed it.
Surprise surprise, this was part of Chairman Zero's nefarious, free-market-hating plan from the start.
Keith Olbermann's Worst Nightmare
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 3:43 PM
Ethically-Challenged Democrat (there's a cliche for you) Congresswoman Laura Richardson has attracted an opponent in her re-election big for the US House of Representatives. Richardson is in a well-gerrymandered Democrat district, and probably has little to worry about. (Democrats really don't care about ethics scandals unless they happen to Republicans.) Plus which, her opponent is obviously a right-wing kook. Look what she said about black people:
Social engineers of the late 1960s told Americans that black people could not take control over the poverty in their lives due to centuries of racism and segregation. The onus was on society to "fix" poverty, and taxpayers are still pouring money into it. But poverty can't be fixed with money. Moral bankruptcy, caused by the scourge of relativism, must be overcome. Government safety nets allow people to escape the consequences of personal behavior. As a result, there is little incentive to learn from bad behavior.
Would you like to see a picture of this racist tea-bagger?
Yes, it's Star Parker.
Star Parker for Congress. Yippee! Good luck, babe. You'll need it.
PBS Helping Schools Indoctrinate ObamaCare
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 1:18 PM
The Progressive Broadcasting Service (PBS) is producing materials for teachers to indoctrinate students on our new socialist health care system, teaching the young skulls full of mush that Government-Provided Health Care is a Basic Human Right.
So, we have a taxpayer funded media indoctrinating youth to support the agenda of the party in power. I would point out a historical parallel, but that would make me as some sort of right-wing kook.
Isn't the Term "Jungle Gym" Racially Offensive, Too?
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 12:45 PM
Housing officials in New York City have knuckled under to PC silliness once again.
Complaints have prompted New York City's public housing authority to change a playground jungle gym made to resemble a jail.
Workers removed the word "jail" and fake bars on Wednesday from the Tompkins Houses jungle gym in Brooklyn.
Natasha Godley, who has a 6-year-old son, says she complained because "it was like promoting kids to go to jail."
Under the direction of the Safe School Czar and Planned Parenthood, the Jungle Gym will be redesignated the "S&M Dungeon" and affixed with child-sized shackles and handcuffs.
OK, I made that last part up... but it would be totally PC if they did.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 11:41 AM
Get Ready for Earth Hour Human Achievement Hour!
Posted by The MaryHunter at 11:12 AM
Tomorrow at 8:30 PM local time (that's 20:30 ROW), you'll be asked by eco-moonbats a plenty to turn off your lights — at least, the unnecessary ones — for "climate change awareness." We have Australia to thank for Earth Hour, where this cockamamey "awareness" scheme originated in 2007.
So, how are you going to observe Earth Hour, friendly readers? Besides running every appliance in your home plus your AC/heat beyond the cost-effective zone plus renting a few kleig lights to party outside with your like-minded neighbors, you might want to consider an alternative suggested at Conservative Blog Watch.
Good news is, there's now an alternative to Earth Hour — it's called Human Achievement Hour! A celebration of all that humans have accomplished. What can you do to participate?
* In honor of HAH, leave your lights on, Saturday, March 27, at 8:30pm!
* Tweet or blog about it, and let us know about how you observed that hour. (#HAH2010).
* Follow HAH on Twitter, Twitter.com/hah_2010.
* Join HAH on Facebook.
* If you're in the Washington, DC area, join us for a cocktail hour celebrating HAH.
* Read Michelle Minton's commentaries on specific human achievements, on Openmarket.org.
Don't you know, there are plenty of things to celebrate this Saturday night, rather than bring awareness to something over which humans have no control.
James Cameron Turns on the Charm
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:47 AM
Moonbat propagandist James Cameron, giddy with the financial success of his anti-capitalist, anti-military, anti-American, anti-civilization Pocahontas remake, is letting it all hang out:
Asked what he thought about Beck during a junket appearance in support of the "Avatar" home video release, Cameron said: "Glenn Beck is a f****** a**hole. I've met him."
Beck isn't the only recipient of Cameron's charm. Everyone aware that global warming has been definitively revealed as a deliberate hoax is in for some too:
"I want to call those deniers out into the street at high noon and shoot it out with those boneheads." Turning more serious, he added: "Anybody that is a global warming denier at this point in time has got their head so deeply up their a** I'm not sure they could hear me."
Every time you buy a movie ticket, you're paying for the champagne and caviar that fuel these people's mouths.
On a tip from Cheetah.
Planned Parenthood Corrupts Girl Scouts at UN Conference
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:44 AM
Girl Scouts must be as sweet and innocent as they look. Otherwise, why would Planned Parenthood go out of its way to corrupt them at a UN conference?
Sharon Slater, a mother of seven, innocently walked into a panel sponsored by the Girl Scouts USA at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women a few weeks ago. Almost immediately she was asked to leave. All non-Scout adults were kicked out of the room, which was packed with adolescent girls.
Her curiosity piqued, Slater lingered by the door and when the panel ended she went immediately back inside to look around. What she found has shocked her and shocked Girl Scout moms around the country. Slater found a stack of brochures produced by Planned Parenthood called "Healthy, Happy and Hot" that among other things explained to the girls, "Some people have sex when they have been drinking or using drugs. That is your choice."
But it gets worse. The sex guide explains, "Many people think sex is just about vaginal or anal intercourse. But there are lots of different ways to have sex and lots of different types of sex. Sex can include kissing, touching, licking, tickling, sucking and cuddling. Some people like to have aggressive sex, while others like to have soft sex and slow sex with their partners. There is no right or wrong way to have sex. Just have fun, explore and be yourself!" It tells girls to explore the prostate [i.e., anal sex]. Remember, this was distributed in a panel for adolescent girls.
One problem with our liberal rulers making their masturbatory fantasies of wriggling adolescent orgies into reality is the inevitable spread of lethal STDs. But not the worry — children are being prepared for that.
Besides advice about the prostate, the brochure, subtitled "Rights, Sexuality and Living with HIV," also gives incorrect and even dangerous information about rights and responsibilities. … The brochure tells the kids that their rights are violated when governments require them to tell their HIV status to their sex partners.
In short, Planned Parenthood is deliberately encouraging the spread of AIDS among children. Ever wonder how evil you would have to be to perform abortions by the millions? Now you know.
This isn't the first time Girl Scouts USA has attempted to sexually corrupt the kids under its care:
At a Girl Scout conference in 2004, co-sponsored by Planned Parenthood, the Girl Scouts handed out a brochure to 700 grade-school girls with the title "It's Perfectly Normal," a guide that celebrated masturbation and that featured explicit drawings of couples having sex and a boy putting on a condom. It also listed, no surprise here, the top ten reasons for having an abortion.
The little girls in their uniforms might be innocent, but the moonbats running the organization are anything but.
The present day Girl Scouts are not your older sister's Scouts, let alone your Moms. Not by a long shot. They seem to have joined up fully with the anything-goes-ethos of the left-wing sexual buccaneers and for it they are lauded at the UN. Compare that with the Boy Scouts who have remained true to their founding vision and to traditional values and for it they are banned from using public buildings.
If liberals win the Culture War, where will it lead? Debauched children dying of AIDS under flickering compact fluorescent lights in roach-ridden government hospitals.
On a tip from Anonymous Countermoonbat.
MSNBC Thug Ed Schultz Calls for Nationalization of Airwaves
Posted by Dave Blount at 8:46 AM
Here's MSNBC yapper Ed Schultz on his radio show, sharing his philosophy regarding freedom of speech for more popular competitors:
Hell, if we're going to be socialists, let's be socialists all across the board.
That is, why stop at nationalizing the auto industry, the mortgage industry, health insurance, student loans, et cetera? Let's also nationalize radio, so that Rush Limbaugh and anyone else not on board with what is being done to our country by the radical left can be silenced.
This is the mentality of the liberal governmedia. If we don't live in a totalitarian country within 10 years, it will only be because patriots rose up to stop Schultz, Obama, and the ideology they personify.
Via Real Clear Politics, on a tip from Oiao.
Obama's Latest Slap to Israel's Face
Posted by Dave Blount at 8:15 AM
Given that BHO had spent his entire life surrounded by communists, some predicted he would govern like a communist. He has proven us right by nationalizing or exerting suffocating federal control over every industry he can get his greedy fists around. Given that B. Hussein's social sphere has also prominently featured racist maniacs like Jeremiah Wright who noisily hate Israel, some predicted that standing up for Western Civilization's outpost in the Middle East would not be a priority. We were right once again.
Benjamin Netanyahu was left to stew in a White House meeting room for over an hour after President Barack Obama abruptly walked out of tense talks to have supper with his family, it emerged on Thursday.
Here's how the Community Organizer in Chief treated our visiting friend:
He immediately presented Mr Netanyahu with a list of 13 demands […prominently including] a previously-made call to halt all new settlement construction in east Jerusalem.
When the Israeli prime minister stalled, Mr Obama rose from his seat declaring: "I'm going to the residential wing to have dinner with Michelle and the girls."
As he left, Mr Netanyahu was told to consider the error of his ways.
This isn't the first time the Obamination Administration has stuck it to Israel:
A fortnight ago, Joe Biden the US vice president, arrived 90 minutes late for a dinner Mr Netanyahu hosted in Jerusalem after Israel announced plans to build 1,600 new homes in Ramat Shlomo, a Jewish settlement in the city's predominantly Arab east.
Then this:
Sending a clear message of his displeasure, Mr Obama treated his guest to a series of slights. Photographs of the meeting were forbidden and an Israeli request to issue a joint-statement once it was over were turned down.
"There is no humiliation exercise that the Americans did not try on the prime minister and his entourage," Israel's Maariv newspaper reported. "Bibi received in the White House the treatment reserved for the president of Equatorial Guinea."
But with Iran, the terrorist state that is acquiring nuclear weapons and supplies weapons used to kill our troops, Obama makes nice.
A left-wing punk is President of the United States. This is bad news for Israel, for the USA, and for the whole world, which is losing its last best hope to moonbattery.
On tips from Byron and Edward.
In Victory, Chairman Zero Displays His Lack of Class
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 6:31 AM
Chairman Zero, on his taxpayer-funded Gloat Tour yesterday.
"After I signed the bill, I looked around to see if there were any asteroids falling, some cracks opening up in the earth," Obama said, adding it turned out to be a nice day and "birds were chirping, folks were strolling down the mall."
This is what happens when a childish, spoiled, narcissistic a-hole is elected president. Instead of being conciliatory toward his opponents, gracious in victory, he taunts them.
Did George W. Bush go around taunting Democrats and rubbing their faces in it when he succeeded in passing legislation?
BTW, there actually is a crack in the Earth opening up. It's called the National Debt. And Chairman Zero and his band of Marxists just voted to open it up by trillions of dollars.
But don't bother the president to address that issue. He's too busy gloating.
Item #3: Holy Crap, We're #35
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:21 AM
Woo hoo! Moonbattery is ranked 35th on the list of Most Popular Conservative blogs! In yer face trolls with blogs nobody reads!
Maybe if we can crack the top 30, we'll begin attracting a better class of trolls.
Item #2: Champagne for Our Enemies, Real Pain for Our Friends
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:15 AM
This week, we learned that Obama's brand of "Smart Diplomacy" involves making harsh demands on an American ally (Israel), while backing off on sanctions on an American adversary, (Iran).
Rush Limbaugh has a suggestion for Israel. If they want to be treated by the Obama Regime with courtesy, cooperation, and respect...they should change their name to Iran. It probably wouldn't hurt if they began sponsoring global terror, hanging homosexuals in the public square, and providing weapons that are used against our troops. Obama's friend Achmadinnerjacket does all of these, and Obama really digs on it.
Its weird having a president who is more eager to compromise with terrorists than with members of the opposition party in his own country.
Morning Briefs for Friday Item #1: Don't Call It Socialism, Whatever You Do
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:00 AM
Good Morning Patriots, and Good Morning Lefties Who Have Somehow Combined Gloating with Bitterness,
Chairman Zero is ordering banks to let people who can't pay their mortgages live in their houses for free. He figures bankers have so much Jew-gold set aside they can afford to let people live in their houses for nothing.
Dramacrats Reach For the Race Card... Again
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 12:04 AM
The Dramacrats are comparing the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the ObamaCare provision requiring individuals to buy health insurance ... you know, the idea that the Federal Government can force a citizen to enter into a contract with a corporation ... to segregation.
Virginia Democrats are drawing parallels between the state's court fight to stop new health coverage mandates and its battle 50 years ago against federal orders to open businesses and schools to black people.
Again: They have no substantive argument, so they accuse their opponents of racism.
And speaking of the race card...
When far left radio host and little seen MSDNC personality Special Ed Schultz goes on vacation, he turns his microphone over to the even-more unhinged (if you can believe it) host Norman Goldman.
How deranged is Goldman? He has suggested that if the Supreme Court of the United States (which they call the SCROTUS over at the socialist crank blog) overturns the individual mandate provisions of ObamaCare, it will be purely out of racism and spite.
Because five members of the Supreme Court don't like Mr Obama. And they'd be happy to rub his nose in the mud. They might even call him the N-word. You never know.
Yeah, in that case, I assume Clarence Thomas will be writing a concurring opinion rather than joining in the majority. Also, I wonder if Justice Ginsburg considers Obama one of the "undesirable" people abortion is supposed to take care of. (We know what she means.)
March 25, 2010
The Coming Health Care Black Market
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 8:29 PM
The ObamaCare system imposes many onerous new requirements on the health care system, among the most aggravating are these:
- Doctor's decisions with regards to tests, treatments, and procedures are now subject to second guessing by bureaucrats and health care review boards (Death Panels) Doctors can be punished by the Government for ordering tests and procedures bureaucrats deem "excessive." (But they can still be sued by ambulance chasers for not performing the tests the Government will punish them if they perform.)
- Patient records will be required to be compiled electronically which means they will be easily accessed by Government agencies like the IRS, which is charged with enforcement of ObamaCare. (So much for "Keep your hands and your laws off my body, right?")
There is a way for doctors to avoid the intrusiveness and micromanagement of ObamaCare; They can opt out of the insurance system. If doctors see patients on a pay-for-service basis, they don't have to turn over records to the state, and they don't have HHS bureaucrats second-guessing them.
And the really cool part is, if you have a private arrangement with a doctor, and the doctor finds something seriously and expensively wrong with you, you can sign up with insurance afterward because they can no longer exclude pre-existing conditions. Isn't that Teh Awesome! It's like not having to buy car insurance until after you total your car!
Ironically, ObamaCare may result in an even more stratified system, where the affluent have access to quality, private care while the masses are subject to rationing of resources limited by Government edict. (And health care resources are likely to become more scarce with the odious burdens placed on them under ObamaCare.) Which is, come to think of it, exactly how it works out in Britain and Canada.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 6:23 PM
Some Lucky Troll Could Win $10,000
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:37 PM
Since the progressive lefty Kool-Aid kids both here and at TBTHMG (The Blog That Hates My Guts) are absolutely convinced this incident was real --- because it was reported by a politician, and if there's one group of people who never, ever lie... it's politicians --- surely this is just the incentive they need to cough up the proof.
It's like America's Most Racist Home Videos. Bob Saget could host!
So, one of you lefties just provide the video proof to support your allegations and you'll win $10,000 to redistribute among the comrades in your party cell. (Well, more like $4,500 after Bammy gets his cut.)
Update:The Dramacrats are milking the phony threats and violence allegations for fundraising.
A conservative blogger posted the home address of Congressman Tom Perriello, urging tea partiers to "drop by." Other members have had death threats. Democratic offices have been vandalized.
Please chip in $5 or more to defend health reform -- and those in Congress who fought to make it possible.
Prog:"But what possible motive could the completely honest, 100% ethical Democrats have for making up these allegations?"
Gee, you mean aside from distracting attention from their godawful health care bill, smearing their political opponents with mud, firing up their base, and exploiting it for fundraising. What have I missed?
Nanny State Lite
Posted by The MaryHunter at 2:20 PM
From the What's the Point Department: Maryland is half-way to enacting a law banning drivers from using hand-held cell phones. Such a law could be a boon to the Bluetooth device industry if the bill is signed, especially with all of the DC beltway commuters. But if enacted, will it really do anything?
That message may be the most potent effect of the bill, because it includes a provision that would discourage police from enforcing the ban.
Now, if they could only legislate away driving while eating, smoking, reading, talking, minding children, ironing, glass-blowing, and applying hemorrhoid unguents. Then we'd be set -- as long as police are discouraged from enforcement.
KFC Goes Halal in Britainistan
Posted by Dave Blount at 1:00 PM
Want bacon on your chicken sandwich in Britain? Sorry, you'll have to go to Western Civilization for that.
A diner was left fuming after a KFC restaurant took his favourite meal off the menu because it breached their new halal regulations.
Alan Phillips was told he would have to travel five miles to another branch if he wanted the Big Daddy, a chicken burger, topped with bacon, cheese and salad.
The branch, in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, is one of 86 KFC restaurants which is running trials of a scheme where they sell nothing other than halal meat.
The company has taken the burger off the menu because Islamic dietary law forbids Muslims to eat anything which has been prepared on the same premises as pork, which is itself strictly forbidden.
Craven corporations have aggressively participated in promoting the political correctness that is rotting away society, despite anti-corporate animosity being a cornerstone of liberal ideology. Why would anyone expect them not to pander slavishly to Islamization?
On a tip from Wiggins.
Fidel Castro Praises ObamaCare Passage
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 11:52 AM
He knows Marxism when he sees it, even if a lot of Americans still don't.
Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Thursday declared passage of American health care reform "a miracle" and a major victory for Obama's presidency, but couldn't help chide the United States for taking so long to enact what communist Cuba achieved decades ago."
We consider health reform to have been an important battle and a success of his (Obama's) government," Castro wrote in an essay published in state media, adding that it would strengthen the president's hand against lobbyists and "mercenaries."
I bet Fidel has a few suggestions for dealing with those unruly Tea Party gusanos, too.
France Backs Off From Carbon Tax
Posted by Dave Blount at 11:28 AM
France had a big head start on the road of decline, having peaked out as a civilization about 200 years ago. But as America lurches forward in the name of Hopey Change, France may be pulling back:
France today abandoned all plans to introduce a carbon fuel tax aimed at combating global warming. …
Prime Minister Francois Fillon … told a meeting of MPs in Parliament that the priority for the country was getting its stagnating economy working again following the international financial crisis.
Yes, that would be the priority for anything resembling a responsible government — and refraining from crippling new statist initiatives would be the obvious first step.
Last year President Nicolas Sarkozy said a tax on the use of oil, gas and coal would make his country one of the greenest in the world.
It was provisionally set at pounds 15 per per tonne of emitted carbon dioxide (CO2), and would apply to homes as well as businesses.
Mr Sarkozy said money from the new tax … would be [flushed down] green initiatives.
Marvelous idea.
But there was stiff opposition from across the political spectrum, with critics saying the tax was just a ploy to boost ailing state finances.
In polls, two-thirds of French voters said they were opposed to the new levy, fearing they would struggle to pay higher bills.
Apparently in France, when the public makes clear its overwhelming opposition to a massively expensive new indulgence in moonbattery, the government sometimes backs down, instead of bribing Congresscritters to ram it through as with ObamaCare.
Unfortunately the USA is not blessed with such leadership. Having proved that the will of the people need not slow them down, Comrade Obama et al. may soon return their attention to the Tax & Charade bill designed to dramatically hike taxes in the name of the debunked global warming hoax, thereby helping to pay for turtle tunnels, Marxist puppet shows, and ObamaCare, and more importantly getting as many people reliant on government handouts for their sustenance as possible by driving unemployment through the stratosphere.
A few more years of Chairman Zero and large scale trans-Atlantic immigration will start up again — this time flowing east.
On a tip from Scott.
ICE Assists German Government in Persecuting Homeschoolers
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:21 AM
One of Hitler's progressive policies survives to this day in Germany: a ban on homeschooling. Uwe and Hannalore Romeike of Bissingen had three of their four children temporarily confiscated by the State because they insisted on teaching them at home, undermining Big Government's ability to twist their minds into the shape of its choosing. In 2008, the Romeikes escaped to America like many lovers of liberty before them. They were granted asylum by a judge in Memphis, who observed the obvious: they would continue to be persecuted for their beliefs if they returned.
However, now that we have Hopey Change, America may be the ideal destination for huddled masses yearning for a welfare check, but for those who want to breathe free, not so much:
In a deeply disturbing notice, the United States Government Agency for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has lodged an appeal of Judge Lawrence Burman's grant of asylum to the Romeike family. The appeal was sent to the Board of Immigration Appeals in Fairfax, Virginia on February 25. In it, the ICE called homeschoolers too "amorphous" to be a "particular social group" and that "United States law has recognized the broad power of the state to compel school attendance and regulate curriculum and teacher certification" as well as the "authority to prohibit or regulate homeschooling."
That is, under Obama, our government sides with the last remnant of National Socialism — just as it sided with communists during an attempted coup in democratic Honduras.
On January 26, Judge Burman granted the Romeikes asylum after determining that the German government's treatment of homeschoolers was "repellent to everything we believe as Americans," and that Germany was denying the family "basic human rights." The judge determined that the German state's policy of imposing increasing and potentially crushing fines, the loss of custody of children, and possible criminal prosecution over homeschooling amounted to persecution. However, ICE pointed to the denial of an application in the European Court of Human Rights in the Konrad case as evidence that "the public education laws of Germany do not violate basic human rights." ICE criticized Judge Burman for "improvidently disregard[ing]" the decision of the ECHR. In other words, it appears that ICE is arguing that U.S. judges should follow international law — rather than U.S. law.
That would be consistent with liberal ideology, which holds our sovereignty in low regard.
Meanwhile, as ICE bureauweenies help the German government inflict a fascist policy on homeschoolers who have already been granted asylum, tens of millions of illegal aliens remain at large as they await amnesty.
Hat tip: Lone Star Times, on a tip from Byron.
British Educrats Leave 5-Year-Old in Tree
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:50 AM
The latest consequence of the British Nanny State's warped obsession with safety:
A boy of five was left stranded in a tree at school because of a bizarre health and safety policy — which banned teachers from helping him down.
The mischievous pupil climbed the 20ft tree at the end of morning break and refused to come down.
But instead of helping him, staff followed guidelines and retreated inside the school building to 'observe from a distance' so the child would not get 'distracted and fall'.
The boy was only rescued after 45 minutes in the tree when passer-by Kim Barrett, 38, noticed the child and helped him down herself.
The official response:
But instead of being thanked for her actions by the head teacher of the Manor School in Melksham, Wiltshire, she was reported to the police for trespassing.
Rule One under a regime of totalitarian moonbattery: the individual must never take initiative.
On a tip from Wiggins.
Violence Is Apparently No Big Deal When the Left Does It
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 9:18 AM
I was going to do this, but The Jawa Report beat me to it. The Dramacrats and their echo chambers are going full-tilt hysteria on violence and threats of violence from opponents of the Health Care Takeover. (None of which have been confirmed and some have been definitively refuted.) Even though no one on the right has been proven to have committed or even advocated violence, simpering leftists are insisting we denounce it as though it has. I'm not falling for that trick; I'm not going to pretend unicorns exist until you show me one.
How much attention did the MSM Dramacrat Propaganda Arm pay to actual confirmed incidents of left-wing violence over the past few years. Jawa made a helpful list. (Everything below the jump is verbatim from The Jawa Report).
* It was a liberal who bit the finger off a man who disagreed with him on health care.
* It was Obama-loving Amy Bishop who took a gun to work and murdered co-workers.
* Joseph Stack flew his plane into the IRS building after writing an
anti-conservative manifesto.
* It was liberals who destroyed AM radio towers outside of Seattle.
* It's liberals who burn down Hummer dealerships.
* It was progressive SEIU union thugs who beat a black conservative man who spoke his mind.
* It's doubtful that a conservative fired shots into a GOP campaign headquarters.
* In fact, Democrats have no monopoly on having their offices vandalized.
* Don't forget it was Obama's friend Bill Ayers who used terrorism as a tool for political change. SDS is still radical, with arrests in 2007 and the storming of the CATO Institute in July 2008.
* It was a liberal who was sentenced to two years for bringing bombs and riot shields to the Republican National Convention in 2008.
* It was a liberal who threatened to kill a government informant who infiltrated her Austin-based group that planned to bomb the RNC.
* It was liberals who assaulted police in Berkeley.
* It was liberals who intimidated and threw rocks through the windows of researchers.
* The two Black Panthers who stood outside polls intimidating people with nightsticks were probably not right-wingers.
* Every time the G20 gets together, it's not conservatives who destroy property and cause chaos. Well, apparently, all the victims and potential victims of those attacks and incidents "deserved it" or something. Because, uh, they don't hold "correct" beliefs like Democrats do.
Retirees Already Need $250,000 for Healthcare Costs
Posted by The MaryHunter at 9:00 AM
Fidelity BusinessWire estimates some mighty big numbers for retirees regarding health care costs. In their annual Retiree Health Care Costs Estimate, they found:
[A] 65-year-old couple retiring this year will need a quarter of a million dollars ($250,000) to pay for medical expenses throughout retirement, not including nursing-home care.
The annual health care costs estimate is calculated by Fidelity's Consulting Services business, which helps mid- to large-size employers assess and design their workplace benefits programs.
And, it gets worse.
Fidelity also surveyed 376 married individuals, 65 years or older and not working full-time, to better understand their experiences in financing health care needs in retirement. This effort revealed that almost half (47%) are paying more each month for insurance premiums and out-of-pocket health care costs than they had anticipated in retirement. Only three out of 10 of these retirees saved specifically for health care needs in retirement during their working years.
This, mind you, is pre ObamaCare, meaning pre-skyrocketing insurance premiums for reduced level of care (see diagram). Eventually, the Democrats look forward to dancing on the graves of the private insurance companies as they prepare to offer scaled-down, minimalized, single-payer health care coverage to all, under the rubric of "insuring every American."
New Hampshire Dramacrat: "Two Nukes Wasn't (sic) Enough" for Japan
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 8:44 AM
Nick Levasseur ("Wormy" to his friends) is a member of the same Dramacrat party that is currently wetting its pants over Sarah Palin's graphic art and waving the bloody shirt of (false) allegations of racism among its opponents... has some nice things to say about our allies the Japanese.
"Anime is a prime example of why two nukes just wasn't enough."
I've said worse things... usually funnier worse things. But the point is, I'm not a member of a political party that gets all sanctimonious about inappropriately violent imagery or threats of violence directed against people of different races.
Or of any political party for that matter.
Check out the picture of Nick Levasseur at Gateway Pundit with his good buddy B. Hussein Obama. Try to restrain yourself from saying "What a dork." Really, you would expect a guy who is that big of a dweeb to have a better grasp of basic rules of grammar.
The topic of nuclear bombs is still very sensitive to the Japanese.
{SEVERE LANGUAGE WARNING IN THE LAST 10 SECONDS OF THE CLIP}
Andy Stern Wants Your Pension
Posted by Dave Blount at 8:14 AM
Andy Stern, the communist thug atop Obama's favorite union, wants to take over your pension:
One of the nation's largest labor unions, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), is promoting a plan that will centralize all retirement plans for American workers, including private 401(k) plans, under one new "retirement system" for the United States.
In effect, government pensions for everyone, not unlike the European system and regardless of personal choice.
The SEIU, which was integral to the election of Barack Obama as president, is working with the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute (EPI), and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, on SEIU's plan, called "the Retirement USA Initiative."
Who in the world would trust corrupt and incompetent SEIU goons with the retirement plans of every American?
Andy Stern is the Obama White House's most frequent visitor. I wonder how often mandatory government/union-controlled pensions for everyone have come up in his chats with the socialist community organizer he helped into office.
But with the economy moribund and massive debt within years of crushing it into a depression, not even Democrats would be irresponsible enough to impose yet another massive unfundable entitlement — would they?
In light of ObamaCare, even the ChiComs are breaking a sweat because they know the answer is yes.
With the uncertainty in today's global economy, creating a whole new federal entitlement for American workers may not be easy … as America's creditors are already getting nervous.
Chinese Premier Wen Jinbao is telling U.S. policymakers that he is concerned about the "safety" of his country's already huge holdings of U.S. debt.
"We have lent a huge amount of money to the United States," said Wen, according to a report in the Financial Times. "We are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I am a little worried. I request the U.S. to maintain its good credit, to honor its promises and to guarantee the safety of China's assets."
Don't worry, Cyst, I mean Wen. When Obama and his leftist cronies are through, you'll hold the deed to the smoldering, bankrupt ruin where America once stood.
On a tip from Cowlove. Hat tip: The Market Ticker.
OK Cowlove, Here's Your Freakin' Open Thread
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:53 AM
Why Do Democrats Have to be such Friggin' Drama Queens? - Continued
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:43 AM
Dramacrats are simpering and wetting their pants because Sarah Palin used crosshairs on a graphic to symbolize congressional districts to target in the 2010 elections. (Graphic below jump)
What a bunch of nelly little schoolgirls.
Update: I guess any liberal journalist who refers to "Battleground" state is also inciting violence.
Update: Speaking of Drama Queens: Barney Frank compares GOP ObamaCare opponents to bullies who drive teenagers to suicide. Chill out, Barney. Go drink a Zima or something. I guess you never got over being teased in high school about your lisp and culottes.
(And let me answer my own question again: The Dramacrats have to attack the Tea Party patriots because they cannot win a straight-up argument on deficits, health care, or the size of Government. So, instead, they destroy the messenger.)
Item #4: Why Does Chairman Zero Hate Catholic Children?
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:40 AM
Chairman Zero handed out invitations to the White House Easter Egg hunt this week, but only to children from public schools. Children from private and Catholic schools were deliberately excluded.
The president killed a DC voucher program for disadvantaged kids upon taking office, but sends his own children to private school because public schools aren't good enough.
I wonder if some lefty will now claim I threatened the president's children.
Item #3: Why Do Democrats Have to Be Such Friggin' Drama Queens?
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:05 AM
A Missouri Congressman is whining to the media that a coffin that was used in a prayer vigil to symbolize the Death of American Health Care was a personal threat to him. And, of course, the Democrat Party's propaganda arm is repeating the lie. (Just like they did with the lie about the racist slur and spitting.)
I was thinking, maybe we should start a legal defense fund to aid all the tea party protesters who've been arrested for committing acts of violence and/or vandalism.
Oh, there haven't been any arrests? Never mind then.
With all the sob stories and victimhood, they should just rename themselves "The Dramacrat Party."
Let me ask you this. Suppose one of these threats or actions does turn out to be legitimate. And suppose, furthermore, it was done by someone with a legitimate connection to the Tea Party movement.
So what?
Would that mean it's okay for Obama to be running up massive deficits? It's okay for a bankrupt Government to be rolling out massive new entitlement programs? Would it delegitimize everything the Tea Parties stand for?
You see, the progressive left can not win the argument on deficits. The progressive left cannot win the argument on the massive expansion of Government taking place under Obama. They cannot even win the argument on the massive health care takeover they just passed.
The only thing they can do is try to smear the people making the argument. So, that's what they're doing
Item #2: Ah, Flaming Hypocrisy
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 3:58 AM
The Dramacrats are throwing a tantrum because an anti-ObamaCare activist published the address of a legislator who voted for it. They claim that the act of publishing the address of a legislator who voted for ObamaCare is tantamount to an act of violence.
These are the same people who support publicizing the names and addresses of people who oppose gay marriage; precisely so they can be targeted for harassment.
The left also applauds publishing the names and addresses of people who hold concealed carry permits. But CCW holders, unlike Dramacrats, are not known for being simpering little milk-babies who can't defend themselves.
Morning Briefs for Thursday Item #1: The Shape of Things to Come
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 3:31 AM
Q. What happens when a country takes on massive amounts of debt, mainly to finance a vastly expanded Government Health Care scheme while promising not to raise taxes on the middle class.
A. A massive tax hike on the middle class.
All of this has happened before. All of this will happen again.
The Party of No
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 2:16 AM
- Amendment to Remove Sweetheart Deals, Bribes, and Payoffs - voted down by Democrats
- Amendment to Bar Tax Hikes on Families Earning Under $250,000 - voted down by
- Amendment to Remove the Employer Mandate - voted down by Democrats
- Amendment to Require the President and Congress Enroll in Exchange - voted down by Democrats
- Amendment to Prevent Sex Offenders from Receiving E.D. Drugs - voted down by Democrats on a party-line voteAmendment to Remove New Taxes on Investments - voted down by Democrats
- Amendment to Protect Wounded Soldiers from Medical Device Tax - voted down by Democrats
- Amendment to Protect Pediatrics and Disabled from Medical Device Tax - voted down by Democrats
- Amendment to Protect Cancer Patients from Medical Device Tax - voted down by Democrats
So, Democrats are no on record as supporting giving Viagra to sex offenders, support punishing taxes on wounded veterans, cancer patients, sick children, and the disabled. They are on record as supporting kickbacks and sweetheart deals for themselves.
Every one of these no votes is a campaign ad waiting to happen.
March 24, 2010
Announcement
Posted by V the K at 8:30 PM
If He's Lost Alfred E. Neuman…
Posted by Dave Blount at 7:28 PM
…is anyone anywhere enough of a dunce not to spit out the Kool-Aid?
On tips from J and Edward. Hat tip: Gateway Pundit.
The Violence! The Violence!
Posted by The MaryHunter at 6:07 PM
Alarum! Poor widdowl Democwats aw afwaid of theiw constitiuwents!
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is warning that some of his Democratic colleagues are being threatened with violence when they go back to their districts -- and he wants Republicans to stand up and condemn the threats.
The "stick it to the Republicans" trick is as pathetic as it is worn.
The Maryland Democrat said more than 10 House Democrats have reported incidents of threats or other forms of harassment about their support of the highly divisive health insurance overhaul vote. Hoyer emphasized that he didn't have a specific number of threats and that was just an estimate.
I don't condone threats, but I can't blame the peeps for their discontent.
It's Even Worse Than We Thought
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:13 PM
One thing about us right wingnuts, we're a damn sight funnier than our opposite numbers. You would think the people at the socialist-crank-blog-that-hates-my-guts would be delighted that they got their 'Spite the Right' health care bill passed, but they seem more bitter than ever. And the trolls that show up here don't seem happy either.
Amerika Meets China
Posted by The MaryHunter at 2:32 PM
An updated take on an old liberal-elitist classic.
Courtesy of iOwnTheWorld.com.
HHS Sec: ObamaCare Will Reduce Pharmaceutical Profits by $90 Billion
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 11:33 AM
Speaking with unhinged radical Dylan Ratigan on MSDNC, Obama's HHS Secretary ... Abortion Queen Kathleen Sebelius (whose powers are vastly expanded under ObamaCare)... brags that the legislation will result in companies that make life-saving drugs having their profits reduced by $90 Billion.
She pitches this as a benefit. Because corporate profits are bad. Profits represent excess value, according to Obama's favorite economic philosopher. The idea that higher profits enable companies to give more workers jobs never occurs to them.
Remind me again why people who think this administration are Marxists are supposed to be kooks?
Pelosi Hisses & Spits at Health Insurance Companies
Posted by The MaryHunter at 11:12 AM
Despite an utterly dismal 11% favorability rating, Nancy Pelosi is now flexing her newly-revived, catlike muscles (no insult intended to cats) with reckless abandon. Her latest target: a hissy fit at the health insurance industry.
Asked if insurance companies might raise their rates on health coverage and blame the increases on the new health-care bill, Pelosi said that the insurance companies should be aware that they're not "automatically included" in the new health exchanges the bill creates.
"Unless they do the right thing, they're not going in," she said. "They will be relinquishing the possibility of having taxpayer-subsidized consumers in the exchange," she said.
Nevermind the fact that ObamaCare as signed actually does not "guarantee that kids with health problems would not be shut out of coverage." The dirty truth is that everything about ObmaCare is aimed at raising insurance rates for private companies. Allowing coverage with pre-existing conditions is but one factor, which would necessarily increase rates in any sane economic system because the overall risk would increase in the insured population. However, under insane Obamanomics, the hapless insurance companies will be forced out of business whether they raise their rates or not.
If the above quote from the Evil Empress doesn't qualify as a confession that the goal of ObamaCare is socialized medicine under a single-payer system, It's not clear what would.
Moonbat Tech: GM's Car of the Future
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:49 AM
The future of nationalized Government Motors under the leadership of Comrade Obama and the UAW:
The city car of the future will seat two people, run on electric power and communicate with other vehicles to reach a destination faster while automatically avoiding traffic tie-ups and crashes.
They'd better avoid crashes, because you won't be surviving any.
General Motors, working with electric-scooter maker Segway, has developed three concepts tailored toward that vision of future transportation. The Electric Networked Vehicle, or EN-V, concepts go on display May 1 at the World Expo in Shanghai.
One of these concept cars is called — no kidding — the Laugh.
As for the advantages of driving around in one of these absurd little death traps, other than the inevitable government subsidies, there is one:
A parking lot could hold 10 times the number of EN-Vs as regular cars.
Then there's the performance:
GM says the EN-V can reach a top speed of 25 mph and travel 25 miles on a full charge of its lithium-ion battery pack.
They applied moonbattery to politics and got Barack Obama. Now they've applied it to the auto industry.
On a tip from Reid.
Hypocrisy Redefined
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:30 AM
Hold your jaw before reading further — this could cause it to drop hard enough to unhinge it:
Rep. Bart Stupak, the Michigan Democrat whose support for President Obama's health bill ensured it was passed into law Sunday, on Tuesday accused the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and pro-life groups of "hypocrisy" for condemning the executive order that sealed the deal.
This from the baby-killing phony who — after posturing righteously as a "pro-life" Democrat, as if such a chimera could exist — enabled passage of ObamaCare in exchange for some cash and the promise of an unenforceable executive order limiting taxpayer funding of elective abortion.
Stupak also said he suspected groups such as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Right to Life, and others were actually "just using the life issue to try to bring down health-care reform."
"I question, did they want to protect the sanctity of life, or did they want to defeat health care?" he said.
You read that correctly: Bart Stupak is questioning the sincerity of those who want to protect the sanctity of life.
Here's why the alleged "hypocrites" are horrified by the bill Stupak passed:
[The National Right to Life Committee] called the Senate bill that passed the House on Sunday "the most abortion-expansive piece of legislation ever to reach the floor of the House of Representatives," in a letter to Stupak and other pro-life House Democrats last week, before the vote.
The Conference of Bishops, in a statement issued Tuesday, said that "the statute appropriates billions of dollars in new funding without explicitly prohibiting the use of these funds for abortion, and it provides federal subsidies for health plans covering elective abortions."
But that's fine by Stupak, because he can pretend he believes in the farcical (and so far nonexistent) executive order, as if he hadn't already admitted that he was going to vote for this abomination anyway.
On a tip from Rebecca.
Post Office Offers a Clue on ObamaCare's Financial Future
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:00 AM
Of all the arrogance displayed by Democrats in their seizure of the healthcare industry, possibly the most insulting is the insolent claim that it will reduce the deficit — as if we were drooling idiots who might actually believe such a preposterous lie. For an idea of what taking over the healthcare industry will do to the budget, just refer to the Post Office's finances:
The U.S. Postal Service is on pace to lose $238 billion over the next 10 years, with annual deficits hitting $33 billion by 2020 — five times the current level…
But that's okay — bureaucrats can just funnel in more taxpayer money. When it runs out, they can just print some more. Socialism doesn't work, but at least it's easy.
On a tip from Anonymous Countermoonbat.
Meanwhile, in the Land of the Religion of Peace…
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:41 AM
As our Democrat rulers busily dismantle America and replace it with a socialized hellhole, here's what's been happening with their Muslim allies:
A Christian man was fighting for his life in Pakistan's Punjab province Saturday, March 20, after Muslim leaders backed by police burned him alive for refusing to convert to Islam, while his wife was raped by police officers, Christian and hospital sources familiar with the case told BosNewsLife.
Arshed Masih was burned Friday, March 19, in front of a police station in the city of Rawalpindi near Pakistan's capital Islamabad, following apparent death threats from his Muslim employer Sheikh Mohammad Sultan, an influential businessman, and religious leaders, said the Rawalpindi Holy Family Hospital.
His wife, Martha Arshed, was allegedly raped by police officers. Their three children — ranging in age from 7 to 12 — were reportedly forced to witness the attacks against their parents.
Why not? As FaithFreedom.org observes, this behavior is thoroughly consistent with that of Mohammad, the Muslim's conception of a perfect human being.
The case comes at a time when church groups have complained about growing attacks against minority Christians by Muslim militants, often with the alleged support by local law enforcement officials and other authorities.
Fortunately, we're isolated from Islamic barbarism here in the USA. Or at least, we thought we were until September 11, 2001. But not to worry: Barack Hussein Osama's Injustice Department is sure to keep us safe.
On a tip from Charles.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:34 AM
Coinkidinks
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:07 AM
What a coincidence — the judge who ordered a major terrorist involved in 9/11 freed from Club Gitmo…
A judge has ordered the release of a Guantanamo Bay detainee described in the 9/11 commission report as a significant al-Qaida operative who provided advice to three of the Sept. 11 hijackers.
The ruling in favor of detainee Mohamedou Ould Salahi was disclosed Monday in a two-sentence court entry.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson will issue a written decision at a later date explaining his reasons for granting the detainee's petition.
…appears to be the same moonbat apparatchik who squashed attempts to figure out why Comrade Obama won't let anyone see his birth certificate.
If you think the legal system is crazy now, wait until Chairman Zero has spent four years cramming the courts with militant kooks like Sonia Sotomayor.
Here's another coincidence — yesterday our Community Organizer in Chief signed a bill giving the federal government unprecedented power on the anniversary of the Enabling Act. From Wikipedia:
The Enabling Act (German: Ermächtigungsgesetz) was passed by Germany's Reichstag and signed by President Paul von Hindenburg on March 23, 1933. It was the second major step, after the Reichstag Fire Decree, through which Chancellor Adolf Hitler legally obtained plenary powers and established his dictatorship. It received its name from its legal status as an enabling act granting the Cabinet the authority to enact laws without the participation of the Reichstag for four years.
That's almost as appropriate as pulling the promised missile shield from our friends in Poland on the anniversary of their invasion by the Soviet Union.
On tips from American Citizen and Charity.
One More Reason to Trust DNA Evidence in Court
Posted by The MaryHunter at 9:06 AM
...not.
PLATTSMOUTH, Neb. -- A judge on Tuesday convicted a top crime scene investigator of evidence tampering, after prosecutors argued that the investigator planted blood from a slaying victim in a car linked to two innocent suspects to bolster the case against them.
Cass County District Judge Randall Rehmeier said he didn't believe Douglas County CSI director David Kofoed's excuse that the victim's blood ended up in the car because of a sloppy mistake. Rehmeier said there was enough evidence to show that Kofoed intentionally planted fake evidence.
Sure, this could have been just a rogue CSI chief trying to completely ruin the lives of some innocents for who knows what motive. Or, it could have been another crime, in another jurisdiction, with a much more competent CSI agent, operating under instructions from Big Government to squelch enemies of the State. Sounds ludicrous? Think again.
To remind you of an additional twist to the whole DNA evidence issue:
Believe it or not, if you are convicted of a crime, you have no right to the DNA evidence. No constitutional right, that is.
To be clear, most states do provide for access to DNA material; But in many states, the fight for the DNA material from a crime scene can go on for years, even decades. In Alaska, [...] there is no right at all to test DNA on appeal from a conviction -- none. That means that an innocent person, who might be able to prove his wrongful conviction, simply cannot.
This was challenged last year in the Supreme Court, which ruled that convicts have no Constitutional right to DNA evidence -- that it is up to the states and Congress alone to decide.
As a scientist, I understand the theory behind DNA testing and have complete faith in it as an accurate way to place a criminal at the scene of a crime -- if and only if the evidence collection is tamper-proof. Therein lies the rub.
For all (?) of the innocent death-row inmates who could theoretically be exonerated through DNA evidence, exactly how many innocents could be, or have been, convicted wrongly of any crime through targeted attacks on their liberty by law enforcement or the State, using unimpeachable, yet possibly inaccessible or fraudulent, DNA evidence as a weapon?
Stupak's Fig Leaf Blows Away in the Wind
Posted by Dave Blount at 8:23 AM
Anyone surprised by this needs to sit in the corner under a tall pointy hat: The bogus "executive order" offered as a fig leaf (along with a $726,409 payoff) to the self-styled "pro-life" Democrat Bart Stupak has been shrugged off by our avidly pro-abortion president.
President Obama signed the Senate health care bill into law Tuesday. He did not sign the executive order on abortion negotiated with Michigan Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak in an 11th-hour arrangement that may well have saved the entire health care reform effort.
A White House official told Fox, Obama will not sign the Executive Order Tuesday and has set no specific date to do so. Stupak predicted Obama would sign the order later this week. The White House said only that Obama would sign the order "soon."
What's the rush? The order would be trumped by the ObamaCare bill anyway, as everyone including Stupak knew all along.
Meanwhile Stupak has been comparing the meaningless and nonexistent executive order to the Emancipation Proclamation.
At least he's consistent. Stupak supports not only ObamaCare, but also the Holocaust-scale nationwide abortion mill Planned Parenthood:
"I don't think I ever voted to de-fund Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood does not do abortions… in my district. Planned Parenthood has a number of clinics in my district that provide health care for my people. Therefore, these clinics do quite well in my district, and I'm all for health care and extending it to everybody—access to health care, so that's just another way."
The healthcare offered by federally subsidized Planned Parenthood clinics in Stupak's district prominently includes abortion referral, as you would expect of an organization founded on an ideological commitment to prenatal ethnic cleansing. But so long as they don't kill the babies personally, it's fine with Stupak if they herd pregnant women toward those who do.
If there is anything less appealing than a corrupt, baby-killing Democrat, it's a corrupt, baby-killing Democrat who pretends to know the difference between right and wrong. Thankfully November should rid us of this sick parody of a principled politician.
On tips from TrickleUpPolitics and John L. Hat tip: The Blogprof.
Freudian Slip of the Day
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 8:14 AM
Congressman John Dingell (D-MI) explaining why the really expensive parts of ObamaCare don't kick in until 2014.
...it takes a long time to do the necessary administrative steps that have to be taken to put the legislation together to control the people.
Also, the New York Times admits that the real goal of ObamaCare is wealth redistribution.
For all the political and economic uncertainties about health reform, at least one thing seems clear: The bill that President Obama signed on Tuesday is the federal government's biggest attack on economic inequality since inequality began rising more than three decades ago.
"Inequality" in this case is leftist code for "success."
You guys may not agree with me on this, but John Cornyn has a point. There are some nuggets in the ObamaCare Bill that are politically popular... even if they make no economic sense whatsoever. e.g. Coverage for pre-existing conditions, requiring coverage for "children" up to age 26, and not allowing insurance companies to cancel coverage for sick people.
These little bits of popular legislation amid 3,000 pages of Government expansion are like cubic zirconia tossed into a landfill, most of ObamaCare sucks, and even the popular parts are unaffordable. But Republicans need to focus on the really bad stuff... the mandates (employer, insurance companies, individuals), the new bureaucracies, the punishing taxes ... the stuff that people hate. And they need to find a way to accommodate the stuff people will like.
Republicans will have an easier time replacing ObamaCare with something better than repealing it. They should look toward reform that goes beyond "How do we get Government to pay for more people's health care" and instead uses market mechanisms to lower costs and improve the delivery of health care will increasing choices and options. In four words (using Biden math), the strategy should be, Go Big or Go Home.
Definition of Ironing
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 7:31 AM
The same leftist progressives who whined for decades about "corporate welfare" are now celebrating the signing of a law that not only subsidizes the purchase of a product from a corporation, but also fines people for not buying a product from a corporation.
And Nancy Pelosi didn't think fines were good enough, she wanted prison terms.
Visualizing Cloward-Piven
Posted by Dave Blount at 7:26 AM
It was already this bad last July:
The federal government has about $108 trillion in unfunded liabilities. So it launched a massive new entitlement by seizing control of the healthcare industry, which anyone with an IQ above Joy Behar's knows will cause the deficit to explode.
The options: 1) Weimar-style hyperinflation; 2) Third World–style default; 3) removing the Cloward-Piven socialists from office and radically reversing their policies. We have a few years at best before the house of cards collapses.
On a tip from Michelle.
Coulter Haters Get Ugly
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 7:23 AM
Ann Coulter had to cancel a speech tonight at the University of Ottawa because progressives are so frightfully threatened by the vocal oscillations of a size 0 blond woman.
Update and Bump: Ann Coulter files a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. She charges the University of Ottawa with a Hate Crime.
Progs will fail to see the ironing in this.
Item #3: Bouncy, Bouncy, Bouncy Discrimination
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:58 AM
Imagine if any company in America announced the following as a job requirement.
"beautiful female fit models. Must be 5ft7in-5ft8in, size 4 or 6, no bigger or smaller. Age 18-25. Must have a lean dancer body. Must have real breasts. Do not submit if you have implants."
I think the "handsome" women from NOW might have a thing or two to say about that. Probably, there would be investigations from the Department of Justice, outraged speeches in Congress... and Jon Stewart would talk about it sarcastically while making goo-goo faces at the camera. (Progs find sarcasm combined with goo-goo faces hilarious.)
Oh, wait... it's a boner fide liberal Hollywood studio making that job requirement? They offer benefits to same-sex partners? Well, that's okay then.
I am sure there is some lawyer out there would could make the case that undersized sweater kittens are a handicap... especially in California... and find an Americans with Disabilities Act violation in there somewhere.
Item #2: Court Only Partially Caters to Teen Lesbian's Self-Esteem
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:19 AM
So, down in Mississippi, a teenage girl wanted to go to prom with another teenage girl, as her date but the school said, "Unh-Unh."
Now, the girl could have just decided to make the best of the situation and just had an evening with her girlfiend and friends. But, in our culture of entitlement, the idea of using minor adversity as a personal growth opportunity is just ... retrograde. The girl decided that her desire for public validation had to be catered to. So, she sicced the ACLU on the school. The school refused to cave in. Rather than be bullied, the school canceled prom for everybody. The ACLU lawyer -- perhaps sensing an opportunity for the notoriety and adulation that usually attaches itself to these pursuits (e.g. Lynne Stewart) or maybe a plush job at the DOJ Civil Rights Division-- sued.
A judge ruled yesterday that her "rights" had been violated. (Going to prom is a civil right? Who knew? Is the state now obligated to provide everyone with a limo and a corsage a la the right to "health care"?) But the judge refused to order the school to reinstate the prom. So, results were mixed in the case of community values versus self-centered sixteen year old.
The entertainment culture, on the other hand, was more than happy to reward the girl generously for her legal tantrum:
She has appeared on the "The Early Show," "The Wanda Sykes Show" and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" to talk about how she is fighting for tolerance. DeGeneres presented her with a $30,000 college scholarship from Tonic, a digital media company. A Facebook page set up by the ACLU for McMillen has over 400,000 fans.
Ruin prom for everyone, win celebrity and cash prizes. Yeah, that's totally fair, teenagewise speaking.
(How many progressive bed-wetters will this post piss off?)
Morning Briefs for Wednesday Item #1:The Curious Journalistic Standards of the MSM
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:36 AM
Good Morning Conservative Patriots and Left-Wing Obama Fan Boys (How's the Kool-Aid?),
Isn't it funny how Nadal Hassan and the Christmas Day underpants bomber are "alleged terrorists," Amy Bishop is an "alleged murderer," but the media repeat the discredited"Tea-Baggers hurled racial slurs at a congressman" story as if it were proven fact?
Obama's Obsessive-Compulsive Pursuit
Posted by The MaryHunter at 3:50 AM
Here's a good wake-up and smell the coffee video: Michigan's Rep. Thaddeus McCotter defrocks Dear Leader on ObamaCare in a floor speech that is as eloquent as it is accurate.
Hat tip: Gateway Pundit.
March 23, 2010
Binging on Keynesianism
Posted by The MaryHunter at 7:33 PM
Ever wondered what economic theorists Keynes and Hayek did in their free time? Here's a rap smackdown that even non-wonks can dig.
On a beggy-yet-free-market tip from Judith M.
Next Up…
Posted by Dave Blount at 6:51 PM
…will probably be amnesty. Because in the aftermath of the appallingly arrogant healthcare power grab, who is going to vote for Democrats if these folks don't?
On a tip from Incitatus.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 6:42 PM
Another Big F'ing Gaffe From Joke Biden
Posted by Dave Blount at 6:37 PM
There he goes again. Joke Biden on the occasion of the federal government seizing control of healthcare industry:
Such classy people we have ruling us.
On a tip from Wiggins.
Big Government Engineers Next Generation of Socialists
Posted by The MaryHunter at 6:25 PM
Folks, dark days are ahead for Amerika. It all starts with state-mandated vaccinations.
Federal health authorities recommended Monday that doctors suspend using Rotarix, one of two vaccines licensed in the United States against rotavirus, saying the vaccine is contaminated with material from a pig virus.
The report suggests that the contamination was an accident. The beans were spilled but, kind reader, we know the truth. They had to play their "cover-up" game,but there will be more and varied ways for the progressives to insinuate socialism into the national gene pool, codifying the next generation of teat -suckers. As so succinctly put by George F. Will this week:
Promoting dependency is the Democratic Party's vocation.
Not only their vocation, but their vaccination. Even if the Democrats suffer a well-deserved and profound thumping this November, the next generations of socialists have already been engineered.
Brace Yourselves for the Next Lefty Attack Poll
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 3:20 PM
Harris is about to release a poll that a lot of progressive left douchebags are going to point to and say... "See, the teabaggers are crazy! Crazy I tell you. Hey, don't bogart that!" I would bet that the methodology of this poll was skewed to get the desired result, Harris is pretty notorious for that. But I'd like to walk through some of the "shocking" conclusions and comment, just to get ahead of the curve.
67 percent of Republicans (and 40 percent of Americans overall) believe that Obama is a socialist.
That is not an unreasonable conclusion to draw. Obama was mentored by hardcore radical leftists like Bill Ayers, Frank Marshall, and Jeremiah Wright. The man has, de facto if not de jure, nationalized health care, two auto companies, several banks. He is on track to nationalize student loans, and also seeks, via cap and trade, to nationalize the energy industry. One can argue that massive federal intrusion and regulation isn't technically socialism, just the way Clinton argued that getting a hummer from an intern wasn't technically sex.
57 percent of Republicans (32 percent overall) believe that Obama is a Muslim.
There are hints that support the idea that Obama was Muslim, at least for a time, e.g. His ability to recite the call to prayer flawlessly. But my feeling, from talking to other wingnuts, is that this is a less of a deal than the left makes out to be; the same way the left is way more hung up on homosexuality than we are.
Personally, I believe the only thing Obama worships is himself.
45 percent of Republicans (25 percent overall) agree with the Birthers in their belief that Obama was "not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president."
Obama could resolve this controversy in two seconds by releasing his real birth certificate. He's spent how many hundreds of thousands to prevent that? It is logical to conclude he is hiding something. (Personally, I think he's hiding something *else,* in his college records most likely. But he definitely finds it politically useful to keep this controversy going.) This does matter to the right because we are, broadly speaking, law and order kind of people. Whereas the left is more "whatever you feel like, baby." We on the right want everyone to follow the rules. The left believes rules are things other people should follow.
38 percent of Republicans (20 percent overall) say that Obama is "doing many of the things that Hitler did."
Huge rallies under party symbols --- Check. Scapegoating a group of people for a failing economy --- Check. Use of the state to propagandize himself and his party --- Check. Did Hitler use a Teleprompter? I'm not sure. He was known for giving emotionally charged speeches. But obviously Zero hasn't started exterminating folk --- so Hitler comparisons should be off-limits.
But who are the left to talk about Hitler comparisons anyway?
Honestly!
Scariest of all, 24 percent of Republicans (14 percent overall) say that Obama "may be the Antichrist."
Dude, Biblically speaking, *any* political leader could be the Anti-Christ. And once again, who are the left to point fingers?
This poll was constructed with two purposes in mind. First, to marginalize legitimate critics of Obama by characterising "all" critics as nuts. Just suppose some nutcase really did scream a racial epithet at John Lewis; would that make the underlying objections to the Health Care Takeover any less legitimate? No, and we can't let these tactics from the left get us off our game.
Second, the poll will allow Bammy to play the victim card like the whiny little biyatch he is. (Why didn't they poll on the question, is Obama a whining little biyatch? That would be interesting.) What we have to keep in focus, keep insisting on, is that we are fighting bad socialist policies. We would be fighting them even if Obama were a white Christian evangelical. If Mike Huckabee was running the country to bankruptcy and nationalizing vast sectors of the economy, we'd be fighting him just as hard. That's the thing to keep in mind.
John Conyers: "Good and Welfare" Clause Makes ObamaCare Constitutional
Posted by Dave Blount at 12:12 PM
Are you familiar with the "Good and Welfare" clause of the US Constitution? Here's how it reads:
The federal government can do anything it wants whatsoever, no matter how outrageously intrusive and tyrannical.
Here John Conyers — the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee — uses the clause to justify ObamaCare:
Conyers is evidently referring to the General Welfare clause, which actually reads like this:
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States…
The Constitution then goes on to explicitly enumerate the federal government's powers, in hopes of preventing it from becoming the bloated monstrosity it is today.
If statists and cretins like Conyers are going to use the General Welfare clause to justify every conceivable power grab, what's the point of even having a Constitution? They could replace it with six words: Government will do as it pleases.
Hat tip: The Blogprof.
Separated at Birth?
Posted by The MaryHunter at 11:23 AM
BTW: If you too would like to see The Dark Empress dispatched to a toasty political end, pledge here at Fire Nancy Pelosi.
Chairman Zero Refuses to be Photographed with Israeli PM
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 11:12 AM
Earlier, Netanyahu had to school Hillary on the fact that Jerusalem is not a "Jewish Settlement" it is the Israeli capital.
Obama similarly refused to be photographed with Netanyahu when they met last fall.
Zero's swooning fanboys at the blog-that-hates-my-guts are going to be very cross with him find a way to rationalize it. Maybe they'll conclude that Zero doesn't want to hurt Bibi's re-election chances.
Note, Zero is delighted to be photographed with Latin American Marxist Despots.
Global Warming Is Making Flowers Lose Their Pretty Smell
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:40 AM
Now that the global warming hoax has completely divorced itself from reality, anything is possible — even the fantasy that due to the nonexistent crisis, flowers are losing their scent:
A rose may stop smelling like a rose.
This is the concern of environmentalists as flowers are losing their scent due to climate change and air pollution. And their fragrance may be lost forever.
Apparently news that it hasn't gotten any warmer in the last decade and a half hasn't reached Malaysia, were Professor Abdul Latif Mohamad proclaims that genetically modified flowers are needed because
"The aroma producing chemical compounds in flowers dry up faster now compared with before."
How's this for outlandish hubris:
He said Malaysians could no longer rely on nature to heal itself without the help of science.
In turn, science can't do much without guidance (and massive infusions of other people's money) from Big Government:
"Both policy-makers and researchers need to work hand in hand to strengthen forest genetics, breeding and conservation."
It makes you wonder how nature survived for all those years before the pseudoscientific-bureaucratic complex learned it could tax and regulate us into a hole in the name of saving it.
On a tip from Charles.
912ers Arrested by Capitol Police
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:33 AM
One way or another, patriots are ensuring that our rulers can't ignore our opposition to what they're doing to our country. Via The Hill:
Capitol Police arrested two Massachusetts men, William Gunn, 49, and David Sanders, 61, on Sunday afternoon after they allegedly shouted, "Kill the bill!" from the public gallery above the House floor proceedings.
The two men are affiliated with the "Western Mass 912 Project" — an offshoot of Fox News commentator Glenn Beck's group, "The 912 Project." …
Police charged Gunn and Sanders with disrupting Congress and escorted them from the House chamber. They were arrested, processed and later released after paying a fine.
If after they're released, guys like Gunn and Sanders just keep staring into the distance and repeating "Yes we can," we'll know Obamunism has reached full flower.
On a tip from J.
Chairman Zero's Base Welcomes More Handouts
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 10:15 AM
Zero worshiper DeCarlo Flythe welcomes the passage of ZeroCare, because Santa Claus is going to pay his medical bills.
"It's just going to be like Christmas," said DeCarlo Flythe, who lost health coverage for his family when he was laid off almost three years ago. "It's going to be great. You know, no worries (about) the bills. We are going to go ahead and pay our co-pay and be alright."
DeCarlo follows in the noble tradition of progressive leftists eager for other people to be robbed to pay their bills for them.
And, of course, the Detroit Handout Extravaganza from last year.
Up next, Amnesty... so the wealth of the productive can be redistributed even more among the unproductive (i.e. the Democrat Base).
And, BTW, just reading this post makes you a racist. Keith Olbermann said so.
Tea Partiers Made Their Voice Heard on ObamaCare
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:59 AM
Liberty suffered a setback Sunday, but efforts on its behalf are never wasted. If enough patriots had the energy and resolve of Moonbattery reader and Bulloch County, Georgia Tea Party leader Heather Merritt, the ObamaCare abomination might have been stopped in its tracks. Here she is on WTOC in Savannah:
Heather called her Rep. John Barrow (D-GA) to let him know that the Tea Partiers were on their way. Not long afterward, he went from Undecided to No on the healthcare power grab.
Barrow must have been wise enough to realize that ObamaCare will be a Pyrrhic victory for the Left. The socialists in Washington have kicked a sleeping tiger by overstepping so arrogantly in their lust for more control. So long as the resistance keeps building momentum, we will turn them back.
Congressional Staffers Exempt From ObamaCare
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:34 AM
You didn't think the people who crafted ObamaCare would inflict it on themselves, did you? From NationalJournal.com:
Top staffers buzzed yesterday on an off-the-record Capitol Hill list-serv, citing the part of the mammoth legislation that deals with members of Congress. The federal government can only make available to members and their official staffs health plans created by the bill or offered through an exchange.
But a member's staff, in a subsection of the bill, is defined as "full-time and part-time employees employed by the official office of a Member of Congress, whether in Washington, DC or outside of Washington, DC." CRS [Congressional Research Service] has interpreted that clause to mean the bill applies only to a personal office, not to committee staff or leadership staff. …
The loophole for leadership staffers could impact thousands of Hill employees. … Leaving out committee staffers means aides at the 24 standing House committees and the 20 Senate panels will each be exempted as well, if CRS's interpretation of the measure stands.
Wouldn't it be nice to think that someday the arrogant bureauweenies who have been systematically destroying our country will be hunted down and subjected to the tarring and feathering they so richly deserve? In the meantime, their motto is: "Let them eat ObamaCare."
On a tip from Leslie. Hat tip: Hot Air.
HuffPo Debunks 18 ObamaCare Myths
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:07 AM
To think I guffawed back in 2008 when I was told the Moonbat Messiah would unite us. He's doing such a good job, he's even got Jane Hamsher at HuffPo on the same side as patriots. Hamster rips into the ObamaCare abomination by exposing 18 myths:
Myth 1: This is a universal health care bill.
Tens of millions will be left uninsured.
Myth 2: Insurance companies hate this bill.
Fascistic crony capitalism works for the established players, who will benefit in the short term when we are compelled by Big Government to buy their products.
Myth 3: The bill will significantly bring down insurance premiums for most Americans.
Please.
Myth 4: The bill will make health care affordable for middle class Americans.
Actually, ObamaCare will come down on the hated middle class (the "bourgeoisie" in BHO's Marxist circles) like a ton of bricks.
Myth 5: This plan is similar to the Massachusetts plan, which makes health care affordable.
More like: it is similar to the Massachusetts mess in that it does not make healthcare affordable.
Myth 6: This bill provides health care to 31 million people who are currently uninsured.
Mostly all it does is demand they buy insurance whether they want to or not.
Myth 7: You can keep the insurance you have if you like it.
Maybe, maybe not. Another glib lie from Chairman Zero.
Myth 8: The "excise tax" will encourage employers to reduce the scope of health care benefits, and they will pass the savings on to employees in the form of higher wages.
Bwahaha! With unemployment sky high and every act of our government driving it higher (including ObamaCare), don't hold your breath waiting for higher wages until hyperinflation kicks in.
Myth 9: This bill employs nearly every cost control idea available to bring down costs.
Nearly all cost control measures were left out. The Cloward-Piven maniacs running the federal government couldn't care less about costs.
Myth 10: The bill will require big companies like Wal-Mart to provide insurance for their employees.
Actually, it requires you to provide subsidized insurance to Walmart employees.
Myth 11: The bill "bends the cost curve" on health care.
Healthcare as a percentage of GDP will climb still higher.
Myth 12: The bill will provide immediate access to insurance for Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition.
Sure: a whole "0.7% of those without insurance now will get coverage." That's easily worth a few $trillion to the rest of us.
Myth 13: The bill prohibits dropping people in individual plans from coverage when they get sick.
No regulatory body is empowered to enforce preventing people from getting dropped.
Myth 14: The bill ensures consumers have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to challenge new insurance plan decisions.
The internal appeals process means you can take it up with the insurance company, just like you could do if the government butted out — except without government involvement, you would have an unlimited range of alternatives, so the insurance companies would have to listen to you.
Myth 15: This bill will stop insurance companies from hiking rates 30%-40% per year.
Not only does it not prevent rate hikes, ObamaCare makes them inevitable.
Myth 16: When the bill passes, people will begin receiving benefits under this bill immediately.
Most provisions don't take effect until 2014, giving Comrade Obama lots of time to get reelected and settled into a second term.
Myth 17: The bill creates a pathway for single payer.
Maybe eventually. But it looks like instead of the communist healthcare hardcore moonbats want, we'll get crony capitalist healthcare, where a few big corporations get rich by serving as extensions of the authoritarian government — kind of like how things were done in Central Europe in the 1930s.
Myth 18: The bill will end medical bankruptcy and provide all Americans with peace of mind.
Having medical insurance hardly prevents medical bankruptcy, nor will it under ObamaCare.
At last we have something that every informed person can agree on: ObamaCare is nothing but a naked statist power grab that will make everything worse.
On a tip from Shawn.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 8:49 AM
Remember That Thing About Cows and Global Warming? Yeah, That Was a Lie
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 8:42 AM
Moonbats have been promoting the idea that cow farts are a major contributor to Global Warming, and therefore humans should stop consuming meat and dairy and subsist on bean sprouts and tree bark... like Paul McCartney. Moonbats even pushed public schools to embrace 'Meatless Mondays' to fight the scourge of Manbearpig. Moonbats even went around strapping plastic bags to cow behinds.
Well, it turns out that was a load of Bart Stupak.
Lower consumption of meat and dairy products will not have a major impact in combating global warming -- despite persistent claims that link such diets to more greenhouse gases. So says a report presented Monday before the American Chemical Society. It is the bovine version of Climategate, complete with faulty science and noisy activists with big agendas.
Is *anything* the left claimed about Global Warming going to turn out to be true?
Obama Judge Nominee Likes Him Some Reparations
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 8:30 AM
Goodwin Liu is Obama's nominee for the Ninth Circus. Watch as he explains that social justice requires non-blacks to "give up something" in order to appease racial grievance-mongerers. (Because, in some way, all of us are guilty for slavery… even if we never participated in it. Even if our ancestors lost loved ones in the Civil War fighting against it.)
Note, the impetus is not on disadvantaged minorities to achieve, but rather to have things achieved by other people redistributed (under the guidance of enlightened, progressive judges, no doubt) in order to achieve "reconciliation."
No wonder Bammy likes the cut of his jib, and David Brooks is on record as saying the crease in his pants is very impressive.
Newsweek Cover Revisited
Posted by Dave Blount at 8:04 AM
Quitting the thug life? As the imposition of ObamaCare in clear opposition to the will of the public makes clear, the thug life implicit in socialism is only just beginning.
But where Newsreek is really wrong is that outside the governmedia, damned few of us are socialists — as our arrogant ruling class will learn.
On a tip from Lyle.
Gov. Patterson's Trailer Trash
Posted by The MaryHunter at 5:59 AM
New York's most egotistical and worst governor ever is probably a bit resentful over the ObamaCare craziness in recent weeks, bumping his press coverage. In fact, he's gone to great lengths to take back some headlines. As Bret Baier notes, he finally succeeded.
New York Democratic Governor David Paterson is facing a $9 billion budget deficit in his state and has proposed major cuts and tax increases. Now some state lawmakers are blasting the governor for including an $800,000 earmark in his budget proposal for conjugal visit trailers at a maximum security prison in Seneca County.
A local newspaper reports the money would be used for two double-wide trailers that would enable inmates to host family members.
In fact, there's a completely reasonable expected outcome from providing these trailers:
Department of Corrections officials say the program helps rehabilitate inmates and allows them to better re-enter society.
At least these maximum-security inmates will be better equipped to re-enter something not involving another inmate. Of course, a less-attention-hungry Patterson could have kept this all under the radar, real easily like.
Olbermann: Shut Up and Behave Like Good Little Serfs
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:43 AM
Keith Olbermann let loose on the Tea Parties in one of his trademark unhinged rants last nights. Naturally, he repeated the unsubstantiated allegations about the racism of tea party patriots, but this passage is really where he captures the spirit of the left:
.If racism is not the whole of the Tea Party, it is in its heart, along with blind hatred, a total disinterest in the welfare of others, and a full-flowered, self-rationalizing refusal to accept the outcomes of elections, or the reality of Democracy...
Translation: When conservatives lose elections, we're supposed to just go home and sit quietly while Democrats enact their agenda.
You know, just like the progressive left did when Republicans won in 2000, 2002, and 2004.
/sarc
Olbermann also warns Republicans to disown the Tea Parties or face political oblivion.
Because, you know, Keith Olbermann desperately wants the Republican party to thrive and succeed.
/sarc
Senator Padme Amidala Reacts to the Signing of ObamaCare
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:03 AM
She loves the water, you know.
Item #3: Lefties Shocked to Discover Only 99% of Media Outlets Willingly Whored Themselves for ObamaCare
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:52 AM
Medea Mutters --- the George Soros-backed lefty outfit that supplies talking points to Democrat shills everywhere --- is trumpeting a study (which they did themselves, of course) that exposes the shocking revelation that FoxNews spent a year providing critical coverage of ObamaCare instead of cheerleading for it like the rest of the Mainstream Media Propaganda Wing of the Democrat Party.
I know. It's shocking that a major news outlet should actually allow criticism of a Big Government initiative that costs trillions of dollars and will adversely affect everyone's quality of health care. Shame on you, FoxNews! Shame on you and your Arab-Cylon co-conspirators!
Speaking of media whores, ABC's Dr. Tim Johnson --- who pushed hard for ObamaCare --- tells ABCNews viewers that under ObamaCare, they "are going to have to change our spending habits. We'll have to stop demanding the latest of everything because we think it's the best." i.e., under socialism, since everyone can't have the best, no one can have the best... except for political elites who, BTW, exempted themselves from ObamaCare.
Item #2: Go Stuff Yourself, Nelly
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:01 AM
Now that it doesn't matter, Senator Nelly Olson Ben Nelson of Nebraska has decided he is going to vote against the ObamaCare Reconciliation Bill. According to his statement rationalization, Nelson was OK with 870 Billion dollars in New Debt to install socialist health care, but 940 Billion is just too much.
Nelly and Stupak, according to this article, are "small, active predators" who are often considered "vermin." Sounds about right.
Morning Briefs for Tuesday Item #1: I Think He Said "The New Sheriff Is Near."
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:00 AM
Good Morning Patriots, Good Morning Selfish, Greedy Leftists Who Want Other People to Pay for Your Health Care,
Hey, have you guys seen the videotape of tea party protesters hurling racist epithets at a Black congressman?
How Does Queen Nan Play in the Heartland?
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 3:38 AM
The Health Care narrative being advanced by the Democrats and echo-chambered by their propaganda arm is that ObamaCare was dead, but by sheer force of will and iron discipline, Queen Nanny Rictus Botox got all of the Democrats to line up obediently behind her and pass the bill. (They leave out the part that ObamaCare remains immensely unpopular).
Question: How does this narrative that Nancy Pelosi can force her will to get her leftist agenda enacted help vulnerable Democrats in swing or Republican districts?
The GOP is betting that it doesn't.
Queen Nan has just been chosen, frozen, personalized, and polarized.
Couldn't happen to a nicer oligarch.
March 22, 2010
Moonbats Give Away Their Votes
Posted by Dave Blount at 8:56 PM
An outfit calling itself Give Your Vote is calling on Britons to let the mostly Muslim Third World peasants of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Ghana vote on their behalf. Since Britain's leadership couldn't get much worse, it's not surprising that they found some takers:
This farce is evidently meant to be on the level, despite being endorsed by Nobel laureate moonbat Desmond Tutu.
On a tip from Ummahgummah.
March on America
Posted by Dave Blount at 8:43 PM
The ObamaCare outrage wasn't the only attack on America to take place yesterday. Hordes of future Democrat voters — i.e., illegal aliens — converged on Washington to demand the amnesty that Dems are counting on giving them to offset the voters they have enraged with their reckless spending and ham-fisted power grabs.
Protestors were instructed to wave only American flags for propaganda purposes, but as you can see, Old Glory isn't their flag of choice:
Citizenship rights with lavish entitlements for at least 30 million of these folks, with the borders left wide open to let in tens of millions more, is about the only chance Dems have of holding onto Congress.
On a tip from Dystopic PC. Hat tip: Youth for Western Civilization.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 6:58 PM
Al Sharpton: Obama Is a Socialist
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 6:47 PM
I guess Reverend Al Sharpton is a right-wing, teabagger kook now.
The American public overwhelmingly voted for socialism when they elected President Obama.
An Historic Sunday
Posted by The MaryHunter at 6:05 PM
Glenn Beck isn't quite Ronald Reagan, but this monologue from the day after American healthcare died should go down as one of his most memorable.
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We Can't Socialize the Doctors without Socializing the Patients
Posted by The MaryHunter at 5:35 PM
Our very destiny is now in doubt, thanks to the usurpation of power by the statists in Congress and the White House. It seemed all too appropriate to post again these bold and relevant words of Ronaldus Magnus:
You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness.
--Ronald W. Reagan, 1964
That first step was more like a quarter mile.
IRS to Hire Thousands of Stormtroopers to Enforce ObamaCare
Posted by The MaryHunter at 4:15 PM
You thought it couldn't get any more threatening than simply passing ObamaCare? Well it just did.
Top IRS officials have been working with Democrats on Capitol Hill to determine how the agency will enforce President Obama's new health care law. Republican lawmakers estimate the legislation will require the hiring of many thousands of new (and armed) tax enforcement agents.
While it's still not known exactly how many will be hired, here's what's clear: Under the new law, the IRS is required to fine taxpayers thousands of dollars if they do not purchase health insurance. In order for the government to enforce compliance, tax authorities will need information, for the first time, about people's health care. Collecting that data will require more IRS personnel.
A March 18 report from House Ways & Means Committee Republicans estimates the IRS will need to hire between 11,800 and 16,500 new agents to enforce the bill.
We've seen this before: a different movie but a very similar script. This all goes hand in hand with Emperor Obama's scheme to place more and more of the American public under close tax scrutiny.
Critics have slammed the new federal mandate for its harsh consequences (failing to buy health insurance could land you in jail) and have raised constitutional questions about its legality. And they point to the Obama administration's recent efforts to ramp up IRS audits, especially of small businesses, as evidence that the mandate is likely to prove more onerous than previously thought.
Folks, I've got a bad feeling about this.
First Casualty of ObamaCare: The Myth of the Pro-Life Democrat
Posted by Dave Blount at 12:42 PM
When it came time to vote, the shameless apparatchik who had been striking heroic poses regarding his alleged principles promptly folded in exchange for a $750,000 payoff and the transparently bogus promise of an executive order to prevent federally funded extermination of inconvenient children. But what comes as more of a surprise than Bart Stupak's sellout is that it took this long to kill the myth of the "pro-life Democrat," which has become as much an oxymoron as "pro-capitalism liberal." Phyllis Schlafly comments on the preposterous fig leaf arrogantly passed off as justification for supporting ObamaCare:
It is naive for any elected official, especially one who describes himself as 'pro-life,' to expect that a promise to issue an Executive Order that reasserts the intentions of the Hyde Amendment will be fulfilled by the most pro-abortion president to ever sit in the White House. Perhaps Mr. Stupak and his fellow pro-life Democrats forget that President Obama's first Executive Order was the repeal of the Mexico City Policy to allow for international funding of abortion.
Not only would an Executive Order be rendered meaningless in the face of Congress passing legislation which actively provides for the massive expansion and funding of abortion services, but anyone who doubts the abortion tsunami which awaits this bill becoming law lives in a fantasy world.
Barack Obama has lined every existing federal agency with the most dedicated pro-abortion ideologues, and we know that he will continue this pattern of pro-abortion appointments when it comes time for him to fill the over-100 bureaucracies created to administer his socialized health care program.
Any formerly pro-life Democrat who casts a 'Yes' vote for this Senate health care bill tonight will be forever remembered as being among the deciding votes which facilitated the largest expansion of abortion services since Roe v. Wade.
Mr. Stupak and his Democrat followers have now clarified that you cannot be pro-life and be a Democrat. If abortion was truly their biggest issue, they wouldn't willfully align themselves with the Party of Death.
This vote will expose the myth of the 'pro-life Democrat.' With this single vote, the Democratic Party will divide our nation into the Party of Death and the Party of Life, and future elections will never be the same.
Less specifically, we have the Party of Abortion, Coercion, Bureaucracy, and Theft versus the Party of Resistance. At least there's no more of that "nuance" that liberals love to use to obscure the difference between right and wrong. The good guys and the bad guys could not be more clearly defined.
On a tip from Incitatus.
Not Fade Away
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 11:49 AM
Not even Landslide McCain --- the guy who knuckled under on the Gang of 14, opposed the Bush Tax Cuts, and sides with the Democrats on keeping America dependent on foreign oil --- is ready to roll over for the Pelosi-Obama health care steamroller.
Sen. John McCain says Democrats who championed the historic health care bill that passed the House haven't heard the last of the issue, predicting reprisals at the polls and in the courts.
The Arizona Republican declared that Republicans "will challenge it every place we can," and called the measure, approved on a 219-212 vote, "terribly wrong for America." He said he was repulsed by "all this euphoria going on" and argued that "outside the Beltway, the American people are very angry. They don't like it and we're going to repeal this."
The fact that JD Hayworth has closed to single digits in the polls probably has something to do with this. (Of Course, Rasmussen cannot be trusted since he is part of the FoxNews-Cylon conspiracy.)
I'm not in a despairin' mood today. I'm in a fightin' mood. I'm thinking of the series final of Angel, "Not Fade Away." Best. Series. Finale. Evah! And its central theme was, in the words of Joss Whedon, "You're never done; no matter who goes down, the fight goes on."
I couldn't find a clip of the Final Scene on YouTube, but I found this.
The part where the California Senator gets the axe to her head is especially sweet.
And the bit where the blue chick punches Nancy Pelosi in the face.
Let's go to work.
Comrade Obama's Report Card
Posted by Dave Blount at 11:43 AM
Even at CBS, which helped install Comrade Obama by stoking the racial hype and ignoring his radical background and lack of qualifications, the Moonbat Messiah's grades are falling far short of a "solid B+". Currently the percentages who give him an F for total unmitigated failure are:
The Economy: 69.81%
Foreign Policy: 60.57%
Healthcare: 81.86%
Afghanistan: 30.36%
Iraq: 34.57%
Threat of Terrorism: 60.98%
Energy and the Environment: 58.01%
Social Issues: 58.47%
Bipartisanship: 79.33%
Obama's Overall Job as President: 63.77%
The gooey glow of self-righteous that some people got from handing over the country to the unqualified black guy with a name like a terrorist is fading away. The crisis this country has gotten itself into through moonbattery remains.
On a tip from Air2air.
Mismanaged States Will Withhold Tax Refunds
Posted by Dave Blount at 11:23 AM
Don't hold your breath waiting for a refund on your state income tax:
Residents eager to get their state tax refunds may have a long wait this year: The recession has tied up cash and caused officials in half a dozen states to consider freezing refunds, in one case for as long as five months. …
[Moonbat-infested] New York, hit with a $9 billion deficit, may delay $500 million in refunds to keep the state from running out of cash, says Gov. David Paterson. …
[Equally moonbat-infested] California's massive budget shortfall of more than $20 billion last year prompted it not only to delay tax refunds but to issue billions of dollars in IOUs to vendors and others who were owed money.
However, the Land of Fruits and Nuts will reportedly be able to return refunds on time this year, probably because the state has been seizing an extra 10% of every paycheck.
In a recent report, the budget officers group and the National Governors Association said state fiscal conditions "have continued to worsen," and that state revenues can be expected to lag one to three years behind a national recovery from recession.
Meanwhile, the federal kakistocracy has just rammed through a healthcare bill that will impose crippling costs on already cash-strapped states.
The country was steered into an iceberg in November 2008. Now it's going down.
On a tip from Lyle.
Freedom of Speech, Canadian Style
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:59 AM
The great Ann Coulter will be spreading her countermoonbat message on Canadian campuses this week. Needless to say, progressives aren't pleased. They believe in freedom of speech — unless of course you don't toe their line. Then you might find yourself thrown in jail, as stressed in this letter from the University of Ottawa's Vice-President Academic and Provost (via the National Post):
Dear Ms. Coulter,
I understand that you have been invited by University of Ottawa Campus Conservatives to speak at the University of Ottawa this coming Tuesday. We are, of course, always delighted to welcome speakers on our campus and hope that they will contribute positively to the meaningful exchange of ideas that is the hallmark of a great university campus. We have a great respect for freedom of expression in Canada, as well as on our campus, and view it as a fundamental freedom, as recognized by our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
I would, however, like to inform you, or perhaps remind you, that our domestic laws, both provincial and federal, delineate freedom of expression (or "free speech") in a manner that is somewhat different than the approach taken in the United States. I therefore encourage you to educate yourself, if need be, as to what is acceptable in Canada and to do so before your planned visit here.
You will realize that Canadian law puts reasonable limits on the freedom of expression. For example, promoting hatred against any identifiable group would not only be considered inappropriate, but could in fact lead to criminal charges. Outside of the criminal realm, Canadian defamation laws also limit freedom of expression and may differ somewhat from those to which you are accustomed. I therefore ask you, while you are a guest on our campus, to weigh your words with respect and civility in [quack quack quack quack…]
Sincerely,
Francois Houle,
Vice-President Academic and Provost, University of Ottawa
In another expression of the Canadian academic community's devotion to the free exchange of ideas:
The president of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa has barred a volunteer organizer from putting up posters advertising the upcoming appearance of American right-wing columnist and political commentator Ann Coulter.
She is to talk about political correctness, media bias and freedom of speech Tuesday night at Marion Hall as part of a Canadian lecture tour. Canadian conservative political activist Ezra Levant will also speak at the event and introduce Coulter.
"The federation does not support Ann Coulter speaking on our campus," said student president Seamus Wolfe. "We're trying to work with the administration to see if we can ask her to do her speaking event somewhere else."
Wolfe justifies the squelching of speech not in tune with his totalitarian ideology by deeming it "hate speech" — on the grounds that liberals hate it when anyone dares to disagree with them. As the hard left looks for new horizons after healthcare, expect similar tactics to be used to silence opposition in the USSA.
Hat tip: LOTUS. On a tip from Leslie.
In Case Any of You Dupes Still Believe ObamaCare Is Going to Reduce the Deficit
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 10:53 AM
Reason --- people I don't normally like because they take that heartless Objectivism stuff a little too "F--- the Poor" seriously --- has a chart on the history of how government health care spending projections are always off, often by large multiples.
Long Story Short: Obama-and-Pelosi have just Thelma-and-Louised us over the cliff of national bankruptcy. And Obama's Amen Corner is applauding because even though the Obamacrats have launched yet another unsustainable and economically disastrous entitlement... some radio talk-show hosts lost a fight.
And that's all they care about.
Moonbats Continue to Rage Against W
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:21 AM
You would think moonbats would be partying in the streets as they watch the federal kakistocracy take a sledgehammer to our liberty and our economy in the name of their depraved ideology. But some enjoy indulging in infantile tantrums so much that they have turned their internal clocks back to before Hopey Change came along to remake America in their image. American Power reports on a pro-terrorist rally staged by ANSWER communists against George W. Bush's policies that took place Saturday in La-La Land, even as Comrade Obama et al. were making final preparations to seize control of the healthcare industry.
While some of the kooks were content to turn the clock back a couple of years to when W was still president and the war in Iraq hadn't been essentially won with his surge, others went further — back to the moonbat glory days of the 1960s:
Lefties live in an alternate reality. There's no reason it has to be 2010 in their world.
Cheery Open Thread
Posted by The MaryHunter at 10:01 AM
On an upbeat tip from TED.
Too Perfect
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:40 AM
Check out the security word that was generated when a voter tried to reason with Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-IN) regarding the healthcare abomination:
Another reader reports that Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) is deleting most all of the negative comments on his Facebook page, and blocking constituents who aren't enthused about the Stalinization of our healthcare system.
The grass is full of snakes these days. America needs a Saint Patrick.
On tips from Kevan and Mark L.
As Government Fist Tightens, Philadelphia Degenerates Into Anarchy
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:08 AM
In Venezuela, even as Hugo Chavez consolidates totalitarian control over the government, the streets have descended into chaos. That oil-rich country's socialism-induced decline toward failed state status presages what Hope & Change are inflicting on America. The size and scope of our government are exploding; when the ramifications of the healthcare monstrosity are made clear, we will find that our very bodies are now federal property. Meanwhile, civil order collapses. From moonbattery-ravaged Philadelphia:
Business owners yesterday called on Mayor Nutter to stop "flash mobs" on South Street after patrons couldn't shop, dine or get home on Saturday night because of the hordes of teens roaming the neighborhood.
Inspired by Twitter messages to "come to South Street," police say hundreds - business owners say thousands - of young teens stampeded down South Street in waves, jumping on top of cars, knocking over pedestrians and fighting and cursing. …
The South Street business owners called on Nutter to impose a curfew of 10 p.m. or earlier after frightened managers locked their doors, only allowing customers inside.
Nutter did not return calls last night.
Philly's moonbat mayor wants to use taxation to micromanage our diets, while he conspicuously fails to manage major city streets sufficiently so that people can go about their business without being assailed by savage mobs.
Flash mob anarchy is getting to be a regular occurrence:
Saturday's was the sixth flash mob to hit the city since last May: three on South Street; two in the Gallery, including one that spread to Macy's; and one along Market Street East that spread to the area near City Hall.
Getting its way politically hasn't done much to improve the disposition of the entitlement class.
A pizza shop owner said that some in the mob were chanting, "Black Boys!" and "Burn the city."
One youth was overheard on his cell phone saying: "Bring baseball bats to South Street."
Those who finance our welfare state dystopia by running businesses and paying taxes didn't have as much fun as the marauding hordes.
About 10:30 p.m. on South near 6th, Olympia Pizza II employee Seth Kaufman, 20, was in front of the pizza shop, trying to prevent kids from coming inside to fight with young customers who were eating.
As the crowd pushed the door to get inside, Kaufman pushed back. The crowd pushed again, and inside, the owners, 66-year-old Peter Psihogios, his wife, Harula, 58, and son Paul, 30, were pushing back on the store's double glass doors to keep them shut.
Kaufman said that kids slugged him, and he slugged them back, and then he was jumped, with kids kicking and punching him until he fell.
The elder Psihogios tried to bring Kaufman inside, but he was punched in the head.
Elsewhere…
About 11 p.m. a 27-year-old woman was walking on South near 15th when a large group of male and female juveniles ganged up on her, kicking and punching her until she fell to the ground, where they continued to kick her in the face and head. She was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, where she was treated for bruises, abrasions and a large laceration on her upper lip. She has since been released. No arrests were made.
Imagine how much fun they'll be to deal with when 2012 finally comes and their Marxist messiah gets voted out on his oversized ear — assuming this country is still civilized enough to hold elections in three years.
On a tip from Wiggins.
Distress
Posted by Dave Blount at 8:16 AM
If there was ever a time to fly Old Glory upside down as a symbol of distress, this is it. The statists in Washington have made it official: they are there to rule us, not to represent us. They will continue expanding their control over every aspect of our lives until they are stopped, no matter the price. No one who wished this country well could even consider launching a new multi-$trillion entitlement when the ones we're already saddled with are scheduled to bankrupt the country within a generation.
People were convinced they wanted "Change" without knowing what the word meant. Now they know. You cannot put leftist radicals in charge of the country they hate and expect the USA to come out of it unscathed. If you don't like Republicans, vote them out and start over. If you don't like Democrats, too bad, because the damage they inflict will never be undone.
On a tip from Oaio.
In a Word: Intolerable
Posted by The MaryHunter at 6:55 AM
Listen up, Patriots who loathe the president and the out-of-control government which just ignored the will of the people and nationalized your body in the form of ObamaCare: The Heritage Foundation has got our backs.
Your tax-deductible donation to the Heritage Foundation will help them wage what is perhaps the most important war against tyranny since the American Revolution.
See Michelle Malkin for more on the state-led legal backlash against ObamaCare.
Hat tip: iOwnTheWorld.
Item #3: Manbearpig Ravages Iceland
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 6:15 AM
A volcano erupted in Iceland this week. Obviously, this will be blamed on human carbon dioxide emissions.
It was the first time since 1821 -- almost 200 years ago -- that the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier has erupted.
See? And were people driving in SUV's in 1821? No. Therefore, this is all because of greedy capitalists driving Ford Expeditions and Chevy Tahoes. I rest my case with impeccable moonbat logic.
Item #2: Moonbats in General Disarray
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 6:08 AM
While the Kool-Aid drinkers at the Obama Amen Corner were connecting the dots between FoxNews and the International Islamist Cylon Conspiracy, other lefty whackadoodles were coming to weak, effete blows with one another in an outpouring of vegan-on-anarchist cartoon violence.
It all came to a head at this weekend's Anarchist Bookfair in San Francisco, an annual convention of left-leaning anarchists and anti-civilization activists (which I covered extensively in previous years). One of the invited speakers was Lierre Kieth, a 45-year-old anarchist who spent decades on the cutting edge of environmental extremism, but who recently wrote a book explaining why she abandoned her once strict vegan diet after realizing that it probably wasn't going to save the Earth after all. She's still a committed anarchist, mind you, who "believes in militant action, even property destruction, if it can lead to change," and who wants an end to all mass-production of food (i.e. agribusiness and factory farming), with the goal of restoring the Earth to its pristine pre-civilizational state if possible. Oh, but you see, that's not radical enough for many of the deranged San Francisco Black Bloc anarchists, who somehow got it into their heads that she was a traitor to the cause and a puppet of the meat industry because she abandoned her vegan diet. And so, while she was speaking at the conference on Saturday, three masked young men rushed onstage and threw cayenne-pepper-laced pies in her face -- an incident which was (as is everything these days) naturally captured on video:
It's an open question whether pies to the head represent greater or lesser degree of intellectual sophistication than going around saying, "Glenn Beck hates Jesus."
Morning Briefs for Monday Item #1: America Is Less Free Today than Yesterday
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:49 AM
There's no point in sugarcoating it. We lost. They won. And The United States is now a country with more Government, less freedom, and fewer opportunities as a result.
None of those are things I would personally want to celebrate, but then again, I am not a progressive leftist.
And the left remains dumbfounded at the right's aversion to picking the pockets of others to pay for our health care.
B.S.
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:59 AM
Bart Stupak embodies the Groucho Marx quote: "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others."
What was his payoff for selling out the Pro-Life movement? $750,000 for three airports in his district.
Not quite thirty pieces of silver, but close enough.
He has an opponent in November, a doctor. Dan Benishek. He's a longshot, but so was Scott Brown.
The Day America's Healthcare Died
Posted by The MaryHunter at 3:56 AM
The cost of health care in America has soared since the 60s. Dr. Jason Fodeman, a resident in internal medicine and former Heritage Foundation fellow, explains one reason why Sunday was " the day that sent the world's premier health care system to its grave." For one thing, Democrats and President Obama have done NOTHING to contain costs and increase availability of quality medical care.
Why does health care cost so much in this country?
[M]ost of the blame lies with a third party payer system that isolates patients from cost at time of purchase. Once the initial insurance premium has been paid additional services only require a copayment. The often nominal fee does not sufficiently reflect actual cost or value of the service and hence fails to restrain demand. This throws normal market forces out the window and creates a situation where all the players in the game have no incentive to control costs.
In 1965, the year Medicare became law, 52 percent of per capita health care expenditures were out of pocket. By 2005 this had plummeted to only 15 percent. As out of pocket spending declined, the prevalence of third party payers has skyrocketed. Coincidentally, since 1965 real per-capita health care expenditures have increased approximately six-fold.
ObamaCare will put over one trillion dollars into the health care system. To do this without fundamentally reforming the reason for rising health care costs is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. Further expanding the role of government in the health care sector will only serve to accelerate current trends. It will drown an industry already regulated to death with a slew of new mandates, regulations, red tape, and taxes that simultaneously will hinder patients from receiving desired care.
All the high-fiving and back-slapping by Dear Leader and his Democrat puppets in Congress will turn into bemoaning and loathing of the electorate come November. But it will not change the fact that yesterday, American health care died.
March 21, 2010
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:47 AM
Democrats on an Escalator
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:43 AM
What if we let Big Government take responsibility for providing us with healthcare and everything else we need, but then one day the State's largesse is withheld? We will be as helpless as Democrats on a stopped escalator.
On a tip from Graycat.
Even Howard Stern Gets It
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:20 AM
If Dems have lost Howard Stern, where will they turn for moral guidance? Here the erstwhile King of All Media observes the increasingly obvious — modern Democrats are communists:
Via Big Government, on a tip from J.
Anchor Babies Aweigh
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:11 AM
Even CBS News has noticed that it is outrageous that we spend $billions to finance our own colonization by Third World hordes who cross the unguarded border to drop their anchor babies at our expense.
It's this bad now; wait until they ram through healthcare reform and soon afterward, amnesty.
On a tip from glenwood183.
Have You Heard the Latest?
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 7:50 AM
Apparently, FoxNews is about to merge with Al Jazeera. Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity will soon be agents of Global Jihad.
When you combine the "fact" that FoxNews parent company, News Corp is moving its South Asian regional headquarters to Abu Dhabi with the fact that the UAE is currently in the process of building Cylon Base Stars, one is left with only one possible conclusion: The Cylons are running FoxNews.
Inevitably, the FoxNews/Global Jihad Alliance will send anorexic super-models with glowing spines to seduce our foremost computer scientists and bring about the end of humanity.
Hey, is this any crazier than the notion that pouring water on a terrorist's nose is torture, that insurance companies are out to kill people, that Sean Hannity uses the Freedom Alliance as a personal slush fund, that the Tea Parties are run by the KKK, or that Iraq was invaded on the orders of Halliburton? Yeah, a little bit, but not by much.
(Or, you could accept the mundane, non-crazy explanation that News Corp is locating one of its many operations to a business-friendly city with modern infrastructure centrally located relative to the region it serves, but that would be about as much fun as admitting that subjecting terrorists to non-injurious discomfort with the aim of saving lives isn't really such a bad thing, or that the profit motive is a better guarantor of quality service than bureaucratic edict.)
(And it's interesting to me that people who oh-so-sanctimoniously denounce all Obama critics as kooks have no trouble embracing crazy sh-t as long as it jibes with what they want to believe.)
March 20, 2010
The Sean Hannity/Freedom Alliance Scandal
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 7:55 PM
All right, so, Debbie Schlussel is claiming that Sean Hannity's favorite charity, the Freedom Alliance is nothing but a huge scam. According to Schlussel, very little of the money goes to the families of lost soldiers, but is instead used to fly Sean Hannity around on luxury jets, Al Gore style.
The Freedom Alliance has published a point by point rebuttal of the charges.
I am not going to jump to conclusions one way or the other. On the other hand, the Obama Amen Corner has already reached the conclusion that Hannity is guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Primarily on the basis that... well... Hannity opposes the Obama agenda, and since only a kook, a racist, or a criminal would question the flawless wonder that is Obama, every smear on him must be true.
Airstrip One to Screen 1 in 5 Workers as Potential Pedophiles
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 3:37 PM
Moonbat-Run Albion --- using the typical Moonbat approach to public safety --- is going to treat millions of innocent people as potential pedophiles; because that is so much more rational and enlightened than enacting brutal penalties on the much smaller number of people who actually are child molesters.
And not just teachers or day care workers... builders, tradesmen, speech therapists, Sunday School teachers... anyone who even potentially has contact with children in the course of their work is subject to the new regulations.
In all, more than one in five of the adult population will have to undergo checks to work in 'regulated activity' for a 'regulated activity provider' - the official phrase for any organisation which has dealings with children or vulnerable adults, from Scout troops to hospitals....
Organisations ranging from Brownie groups to ballet schools will face fines of £5,000 if they mistakenly use a volunteer who turns out to have been barred under the scheme....
The new rules, developed in the wake of the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman by Ian Huntley in Soham in 2002, will come into operation this year, but critics have pointed out the £200million programme would not have prevented the girls' deaths.
So, the scheme will 1. Cost a fortune to implement, 2. Treat innocent people like criminals, 3. Discourage volunteerism and community involvement, 4. Vastly increase the power of the state bureaucracy and 5. Fail to solve the problem it was meant to address.
A socialist progressive paradigm if ever there was once.
On Airstrip One, 50-75% of Pakistani Marriages Are To First Cousins
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 3:24 PM
Airstrip One's Immigrant populations bring their cultural norms with them, and this has created some problems with the gene pool.
British Pakistanis, half of whom marry a first cousin, are 13 times more likely to produce children with genetic disorders than the general population, according to Government-sponsored research.
Although British Pakistanis account for three per cent of the births in this country, they are responsible for 33 per cent of the 15 to 20,000 children born each year with genetic defects.
The article says that up to 75% of Pakistanis in some areas marry first cousins.
The progressive left is in no position to object to this, since cousin marriage is a common cultural practice in Middle Eastern societies; and anyone who objects to it is trying to inflict oppressive western cultural norms on people of colour.
Also, if it's fine for two men or two women to marry each other, what business does the state have telling people who they can and can't marry? Progressive marriage isn't about creating stable, healthy environments for children, that's the job of the state-run education system. Marriage is just about giving people access to social benefits. It would be discriminatory to deny those benefits to two consenting adults who happen to be biologically related.
To Hell With Constitutional Procedures
Posted by Dave Blount at 2:58 PM
Compliments of Jim Lavery.
What Are Willing to Let Them Make Us Sacrifice?
Posted by Dave Blount at 2:18 PM
The Bitter Half asks an apt question regarding federal seizure of the healthcare industry: "what are we willing to sacrifice" for the sake of the kakistocracy's power lust?
In the end, we'll be asked to sacrifice everything we have that makes life worth living.
Via Breitbart.TV, on a tip from Milton.
Making Them Up as They Go Along
Posted by Dave Blount at 2:08 PM
Here's one to file next to Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA)'s admission that "If you don't tie our hands, we will keep stealing." Impeached former federal judge Alcee Hastings, now a Congresscritter from Florida, admits that he and his fellow Dems make up the rules as they go along:
On a tip from J.
Caturday Post: After ObamaCare, What Next?
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 1:06 PM
After ObamaCare passes, of course, there will be high-fiving and snotty self-congratulation among the progressive-leftists because their Marxist Messiah has a "victory." (Much as with gay marriage, the appeal of ObamaCare to the left has become more a matter of "Spite the Right" than enacting meaningful policy.) And Democrats will think they can breathe a sigh of relief that the worst is over once they pass this piece of crap. It isn't. Not by a long shot.
After this horrible, divisive effort to force the passage of an unpopular bill by any means necessary, what the Democrats would need... politically... is something popular that would win back the centrists and the independents alienated by their ruthless push for a bill that most people rightfully believe sucks. But there is nothing like that in their legislative agenda. Instead, the Democrat agenda just gets worse after health care: Cap and Trade, Amnesty, and Massive Tax Increases (when the Bush Tax Cuts are allowed to expire) are next on the congressional agenda. They think their "Jobs Bills" (a.k.a. "Stimulus Mk. II") will win the public back, but they are more likely to be seen as more ineffective deficit spending. Also, the "Doctor Fix" to restore $300 Billion in cuts moved out of the ObamaCare bill to game the CBO will be put back in. If Democrats don't restore the cuts, they piss off the geezers. If they restore them, they explode the deficit. There's no winning. And if they pass those increases along with Stimulus Mk. II, the Republicans get to run ads saying the Democrats have added a trillion dollars to the Deficit since passing "Pay As You Go."
Worse yet for the ObamacRATS, after Obama signs the bill, they will *own* health care. Every failure of the system is their failure. And the thing about ObamaCare is, the taxes and mandates start immediately, driving up health care costs. The "benefits" don't kick in until 2014. (Again, this was done to game the CBO.) Health care is going to get a lot more expensive, and Republicans can rightly point the finger at the ObamaCare Legislation.
Also, there will be those pesky legal challenges to the insurance mandates, and to the unconstitutional way the bill was rammed through the House.
Also, the Republicans have months to publicize the shady deals that went into the bill, and the bad stuff that's in the bill.
All of which will take place in an atmosphere of stubbornly high unemployment. The rate is likely to dip in the spring and early summer when hundreds of thousands are temporarily hired to work the census... but unless the recovery is much stronger than anyone is forecasting, unemployment is going to remain at socialist European levels for the foreseeable future.
None of which should make us feel any better about the ideological socialists destroying our country, but it will be something to remember during the progressive left's obnoxious victory dance.
Gangland Open Thread
Posted by The MaryHunter at 11:13 AM
On a bad-ass tip from TED.
Pelosi's Undermining of Our Constitution Explained in 90 Seconds
Posted by The MaryHunter at 7:07 AM
Just in case you missed what all the fuss over Sunday's ObamaCare vote is about.
Hat tip: The Anchoress.
In Your Face, Heterosexuals... NOT
Posted by The MaryHunter at 5:10 AM
What if you gave a mass wedding -- you know, to celebrate DC's new gay marriage law -- and nobody came?
According to Mike Wilkinson's datebook, Saturday is the day that history would be made. It's the day when 400 same-sex couples would stand shoulder to shoulder in a gilded ballroom between the White House and the U.S. Capitol and finally, legally, be wed. The event he organized would break the Guinness World Record for the largest mass-marriage ceremony, and far more important than that, it would become the lasting, internationally recognized image of gay equality in Washington, D.C. Freedom would ring with a giant chorus of "I do." And the love in the room, Wilkinson hoped, might serve as its own rebuttal to those who oppose gay marriage.
Turns out only 15 couples registered for the event.
Sometimes, even gays reject flaunting gay rights just for the sake of it.
On a straight tip from Penelope.
March 19, 2010
Anderson Cooper Is Dumber Than Cheech Marin
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 7:01 PM
Wolf Blitzer and Soledad O'Brien aren't the only CNN Anchors revealed to be dumbasses on Jeopardy. Closet-Case Anchor Anderson Cooper --- last seen giggling like a sixth-grade girl over the word "tea-bag" --- was shut out on Celebrity Jeopardy by drug-addled sixties relic Cheech Marin.
The lesson here is, apparently, pot and acid cause less damage to your brain than ecstasy and amyl nitrate.
Also, this may be part of the reason Cartoon Network has a larger audience than CNN and MSNBC combined; Metalacolypse, Squidbillies, and reruns of Family Guy being smarter and more informative than AC360 or Rachel Maddow.
Beyond Sleazy
Posted by Dave Blount at 3:55 PM
If there's an upside to the kakistocracy at the helm of the federal government, it's that it gives an opportunity for liberals who have any principles whatsoever to prove it by opposing Chairman Zero, Pelousy, et al. Cranky old lib Jack Cafferty at CNN hasn't passed on the chance.
Notice how Wolf Blitzer predictably presents the trusty moral equivalency argument, claiming that the government has always been run by our society's dregs. This lie is promptly shot down by Cafferty, whose resume has probably already made its way to FNC's Human Resources Dept.
On a tip from Incitatus.
Dems Explain Why ObamaCare Must Be Stopped
Posted by Dave Blount at 11:57 AM
You've heard patriots' arguments for why the ObamaCare power grab must be fought tooth and nail. Now let Democrats explain:
"There's going to be a tendency on the part of our people to be in denial about all this, but if you lose Massachusetts and that's not a wake-up call, there's no hope of waking up." — Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN)
"Bluntly put, this is the political reality: First, the battle for public opinion has been lost. Comprehensive health care has been lost. If it fails, as appears possible, Democrats will face the brunt of the electorate's reaction. If it passes, however, Democrats will face a far greater calamitous reaction at the polls. Wishing, praying or pretending will not change these outcomes." — Patrick H. Caddell & Douglas E. Schoen
"The problem is this: we are spending almost a trillion dollars and folks are telling me I should vote yes and we will fix it later. You wouldn't buy a car for a trillion dollars and say yeah, it doesn't run but we will fix it later." — Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA)
"There's a lot of discomfort with the reconciliation process, the self-implementing rule, where you wouldn't have a formal vote on maybe the most important policy of the past 40 years. I have a big issue with the way they're doing the process. I think it's wrong and my constituents don't like it." — Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA)
"I was one of the authors of the legislation that created the budget reconciliation process in 1974, and I am certain that putting health care reform and climate change legislation on a freight train through Congress is an outrage that must be resisted." — Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV)
"I don't believe reconciliation was ever intended for (health care reform). It doesn't work well for writing major, substantive legislation." — Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND)
"Anyone who would stand before you and say 'well, if you pass health care reform next year's health care premiums are going down,' I don't think is telling the truth. I think it is likely they would go up." — Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)
"While deeming, like reconciliation, has been used by Republicans and Democrats in the past, the context in which it would be used in this case leads me to conclude that it would poison an already terribly partisan atmosphere and leave the Congress even less able to find bipartisan solutions to fiscal problems that are on the verge of becoming overwhelming." — Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD)
"This bill represents a giveaway to the insurance industry. $70 billion dollars a year, and no guarantees of any control over premiums, forcing people to buy private insurance, five consecutive years of double-digit premium increases." — Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Yet after a ride on Air Force One, Kooksinitch suddenly supports the bill. Maybe Chairman Zero explained that within a few years, insurance companies will be driven into bankruptcy and he'll have his precious "public option." Or maybe the streets of Cleveland are now scheduled to be paved in platinum at your expense.
There is no question that even Democrats know what they're doing is wrong. Too bad that won't stop most of them from doing it anyway.
Poor Barry's Got the Blues
Posted by The MaryHunter at 11:15 AM
President Barack Hussein Obama, the Mopey Master of Malaise, is sad -- sad that this job of POTUS is so dreadfully un-fun. The gnomish Greg Gutfeld and his perky panel explore the angst of our gloomy dictator.
Shall we all give Barry a collective hug now, or in 2010/2012?
Homicidal Illegal Alien Was Living Large in Subsidized Housing
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:18 AM
It's nice to know that some people benefit from America being run by moonbats who leave the borders wide open and shower those who sneak across with free goodies at taxpayer expense. Juan Barrera, for example:
A Panamanian murderer who escaped a prison in the Central American country has been captured in the District, where authorities say he used a fake Social Security card to obtain federally subsidized housing and cruised around town in three luxury cars.
The FBI was led to 36-year-old Juan Barrera by an anonymous caller who claimed Barrera was planning to fire a rocket launcher at a Metro train, according to an affidavit recently filed in Greenbelt's federal court. …
Barrera reportedly told authorities he entered the United States by sneaking in through Mexico, the affidavit said.
But there's not much we can do about it. If we build a 50-foot fence, guys like Barrera will just bring a 51-foot ladder — or so says the head of Homeland Security, who has given up the daunting task of defending our borders in favor of the easier job of demonizing veterans.
On a tip from Charles.
Cornhusker Kickback Part II
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:46 AM
Exemption from Medicaid costs wasn't the only bribe used to buy Ben Nelson on behalf of the ObamaCare power grab. Our corrupt rulers also threw in a free hospital:
The Obama administration has delivered another budget plum to Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson and the state of Nebraska, adding more than a half-billion dollars [of your money] for a new veterans hospital in Omaha.
The move reverses a decision by Mr. Obama's own Veterans Administration of a year ago, which called for repairing an existing hospital.
The Veterans Administration made the budget switch during internal deliberations in 2009 at a time when the White House was wooing the moderate Democrat to vote for President Obama's health care overhaul bill.
How's this for understatement:
Rep. Steve Buyer of Indiana, ranking Republican on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, said, "This one doesn't smell right or feel right."
That would be a polite way of describing everything the current administration has excreted since taking power.
On a tip from TrickleUpPolitics.
Obama Turns Over Our Oil to Russia
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:15 AM
Yet another example of the consequences of putting a moonbat ideologue who doesn't particularly like this country in charge of it: oil in the Gulf of Mexico has been surrendered to Russia:
The Obama administration is poised to ban offshore oil drilling on the outer continental shelf until 2012 or beyond. Meanwhile, Russia is making a bold strategic leap to begin drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. While the United States attempts to shift gears to alternative fuels to battle the purported evils of carbon emissions, Russia will erect oil derricks off the Cuban coast.
Apparently Russians prefer real jobs to imaginary green ones. If we won't drill the oil in our backyard, they will. Then if we're nice, they'll let us buy it back from them.
The reasons to drill offshore for oil are so obvious, it's tedious to list them, but here are a few:
Offshore oil production makes economic sense. It creates jobs and helps fulfill America's vast energy needs. It contributes to the gross domestic product and does not increase the trade deficit. Higher oil supply helps keep a lid on rising prices, and greater American production gives the United States more influence over the global market.
Drilling is also wildly popular with the public. A Pew Research Center poll from February showed 63 percent support for offshore drilling for oil and natural gas. Americans understand the fundamental points: The oil is there, and we need it. If we don't drill it out, we have to buy it from other countries. Last year, the U.S. government even helped Brazil underwrite offshore drilling in the Tupi oil field near Rio de Janeiro. The current price of oil makes drilling economically feasible, so why not let the private sector go ahead and get our oil?
Here's why: the lunatic fringe left personified by Obama believes that drilling for oil rather than buying it oppresses the polar bears.
Not being idiots, Russians understand the geopolitical implications.
Russia more sensibly views energy primarily as a strategic resource. Energy is critical to Russia's economy, as fuel and as a source of profit through export. Russia also has used energy as a coercive diplomatic tool, shutting off natural gas piped to Eastern Europe in the middle of winter to make a point about how dependent the countries are that do business with the Russians.
Now Russia is using oil exploration to establish a new presence in the Western Hemisphere. It recently concluded four contracts securing oil-exploration rights in Cuba's economic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. A Russian-Cuban joint partnership will exploit oil found in the deep waters of the Gulf.
Cuba has rights to the area in which drilling will be conducted under an agreement the Carter administration recognized. From Russia's perspective, this is another way to gain leverage inside what traditionally has been America's sphere of influence. It may not be as dramatic as the Soviet Union attempting to use Cuba as a missile platform, but in the energy wars, the message is the same. Russia is projecting power into the Western Hemisphere while the United States retreats.
Hopey Change is working out great — for America's adversaries.
On a tip from Byron.
Invitation From Jon Voight
Posted by Dave Blount at 8:10 AM
Jon Voight, the exception who proves the rule regarding Hollywood moonbattery, calls on fellow patriots to flood DC in opposition to the healthcare power grab:
I am calling to all of you freedom-loving Americans to come once again to Washington D.C. to gather at upper Senate Park, across from the Capitol on Saturday, at 12 o'clock noon.
We must come by the thousands.
Speaker Pelosi will stop at nothing to fulfill her corrupt conquests. She will bring all of the corrupt ACORN liars to try to bully all the Democrats that may be having pangs of guilt knowing quite surely what their votes can and will do. If they're bullied into saying "yes," it will destroy America.
Join me and Rep. Michele Bachmann in Washington DC at 12 noon EST so we can give all the Democrats who know what the end result will be the courage to say: "No, do not pass this destructive bill."
Whether you protest in Washington, call the Capitol switchboard, call local congressional offices, or email, you need to make your voice heard, to avoiding kicking yourself afterward for not doing anything to prevent this unfolding catastrophe. The reason extremist Democrats are willing to commit political suicide to get this bill through is that they know it will be a death blow to liberty and the free market economy in America.
On tips from Monico and Nancz.
How Dumb Is The President?
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 7:55 AM
Remember when the left mercilessly ridiculed Dan Quayle for mis-spelling potato? Remember when Sarah Palin was ridiculed for (correctly) noting that Alaska borders Russia? Remember how every George W. Bush gaffe got twenty minutes of air-time on The Daily Show and a SNL sketch?
But when Dear Reader misspells "Syracuse" while filling out his NCAA brackets --- (a moment breathlessly hyped by the MSM, even as they ignore Demon Pass) --- his boyfriends in the MSM cover for him.
They don't show Obama writing the word Syracuse, it is replaced with ESPN animation, (at 1:26). Obama comes in after the animation and says "we've got Syracuse here" (word Syracuse is already written). ESPN shows him write every team in the Sweet 16 except for Syracuse, which they edited out
It's sad when the president is so dumb the media has to cover for him.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 7:09 AM
Item #3: Michigan's Dingbat Governor Taken in by Scam Artist
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 6:04 AM
Michigan's Canadian-Born, Berkeley-educated, dimbulb governor --- a member of Barack Obama's elite team of economic advisors --- is a huge advocate for "Green Jobs." She recently honored an "entrepreneur" with $9.1 million in tax breaks as a reward for starting a company to supply African villages with "green" sanitation and power equipment.
And then she found her friend, the "green entrepreneur," was a con artist.
Convicted embezzler and scam artist Richard Short was back in a Flint jail Wednesday -- a day after taking a stage with an unwitting Gov. Jennifer Granholm to celebrate a $9.1-million state tax break for his new company.
State officials who oversee the breaks -- but don't do background checks -- were mortified. Republicans called for investigations into how a felon duped a state agency.
"State officials" don't do background checks because they don't care. It's not their money.
Hat Tip: Trickle Up Politics
Item #2: Humanity Is, in the Aggregate, Better Today
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:59 AM
The human turd known as Paul Warner Powell was executed last night in Virginia's electric chair.
Good.
My mother was, and still is, anti-death penalty. She thinks that if the state kills someone, it lower itself to the level of the murderer. She could not be more wrong. If a person commits a capital crime, he has willingly forfeited his life to the state, IMO, and the state is within its rights to take it.
And Paul Warner Powell was a scumbag of particular merit.
In 1999, Powell murdered a 16 year old girl and raped her 14 year old sister. After his initial conviction --- when he thought he had dodged the Death Penalty --- he wrote a letter to prosecutors bragging about the crime.
"Since I have already been indicted on first degree murder and the Va. Supreme Court said that I can't be charged with capital murder again, I figured I would tell you the rest of what happened on Jan. 29, 1999, to show you how stupid all of y'all ... are," wrote Powell, who is white.
He said he had gone to the Reed house to confront Stacie for dating a black boyfriend. He admitted pinning the victim, threatening to rape her, then stabbing her in the heart when the girl resisted. He then stomped on her throat.
"I guess I forgot to mention these events when I was being questioned. Ha Ha!" he wrote in 2001. "Do you just hate yourself for being so stupid ... and saving me?"
And, of course, the moonbat community is mourning the loss of one of its children.
Morning Briefs for Friday Item #1: Dude, Nobody Cares
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:36 AM
A Frooty Loop in Oklahoma was denied a request to have IM GAY as his Vanity plate. So, he went home, opened a few Zimas, watched a Joan Crawford movie, and hired a lawyer. He's suing for the right to advertise his sexual orientation on his license place.
"I want to tell people who I am and what I am. I'm proud of it. I'm openly gay. I'm not hiding," said Keith Kimmel, 28, of Norman. "What better way to tell everybody than to put it on the back of a car?"
How about not? That would be a better way.
Or you could go out in public in a really stupid, gay-looking hat and granny glasses with a "vintage" golf shirt.
Oh, wait, you already tried that.
A little musical tribute to Keith Kimmel.
March 18, 2010
How to Create Dysfunctional Policies
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:28 PM
Take it from someone who knows:
Via Breitbart.TV, on a tip from Milton.
Even Democrats Can Tell the Truth
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:12 PM
Stop the presses: a member of the gang of looting thugs known as Congressional Democrats has actually said something true. Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA):
"If you don't tie our hands, we will keep stealing."
No kidding.
On tips from Conan and glenwood183.
Arrogant. Ignorant. Incompetent.
Posted by The MaryHunter at 5:39 PM
At a conference of congressional GOP doctors today, Georgia Rep. Paul Braun had this to say:
A transcript, because it's just so good:
"I have three simple questions Ms Pelosi. Are you so arrogant that you think you know what's best for the American people? Are you so ignorant that you are oblivious to the wishes of the American people? And are you so incompetent that you are going to ignore the Constitution of the United States, use tricks, deceptions, bald faced lies to try to ram down the throat of the American people something that they do not want and is going to be absolutely worse for their healthcare?"
That just about sums it up. Gobs more truth from the GOP.
Hat tip: The Corner.
This Is What Moonbats Consider Art
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:50 PM
Something other than Health Care to chew on -- At New York's Museum of Modern Art, an "avant garde" art exhibition consists of, basically, naked people standing around.
Laurence Lallier slipped carefully between two naked women facing each other in a narrow doorway at the Museum of Modern Art. "I didn't want to step on their feet," said Lallier, a student from Montreal. "We feel shy and they don't, and they're the ones that are naked."...
Elsewhere in the exhibit two clothed people touch fingertips, two others sit back to back with their hair entwined and a naked woman reclines with a skeleton (not a real one) lying on top of her. The performers, re-enactinga Betazoid wedding from Star Trekpieces originated by Abramovic alone or with Ulay, are statue-still.
I guess this is what Nancy Pelosi had in mind when she declared that Government-run health care would free up people to abandon those bourgeois day jobs and become "artists."
November Is Coming, Patriots
Posted by The MaryHunter at 3:28 PM
In these short hours before a vote that will affect the American health care system for decades to come, there are more ways to become active against ObamaCare than you can imagine. Here's another: www.novemberiscoming.com , which allows you to sign a petition that reads:
Dear Member of Congress:
Your vote isn't the only one that counts. November is coming and you can't hide from the voters. Corrupt backroom deals are driving a government takeover of our health care, and I don't like it. If you vote YES on the health care bill, I will vote NO on you in the next election.
The site is a project of Americans for Prosperity.
Also consider calling the Capitol switchboard, calling local congressional offices, or emailing wavering Democrats.
222 Obamacrats Vote for Fascism
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 2:34 PM
The clear message to voters, "F--- you! We got the power."
I repeat the question that Dear Reader dodged in his interview, if this bill is so Frakking Wonderful, why all the sleazy maneuvers and bribes to get it passed.
(Yeah, I know. Posts like this only give joy to left-wing trolls who delighted that patriots gets upset when progressive fascists shred the Constitution and ram their unpopular bills down the public's throat. Personally, I think that's a damned good reason to be upset. It's more disturbing that Obama's Little Cult of Fanatics is not upset by this.)
Tom Coburn Versus the Chicago Mafia
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 12:10 PM
It is a virtual certainty that Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama are promising massive payoffs to Democrats in return for support on the ObamaCare Bill, and plum positions in the 111 new bureaucracies the bill creates for Democrats hounded out of office by the voters after voting for this hated bill.
Senator Tom Coburn has a warning for Democrats who accept Barry and Nancy's bribes.
"I want to send a couple of messages to my colleagues in the House.
If you voted no, and you vote yes, and you lose your election, and you think any nomination to a federal post isn't going to be held up in the Senate, I've got news for you. It's going to be held.
Number two is, if you get a parochial deal for you or your district, I've already instructed my staff that we will look at every appropriations bill, and we will associate that with the buying of your vote. I want to tell you that your deal isn't going to happen.
And be prepared to defend selling your vote."
Update: There are rumors that at least two House Democrats have been bought off by promises of Administration positions. Bart Gordon (D-TN) has apparently been offered the job of head of NASA in exchange for his 'Yes' Vote. Another Tennessee Congressman, John Tanner, has been offered the position of Ambassador to NATO
Rosie O'Donnell: Abortion Is Better Than Foster Care
Posted by V the K at 11:57 AM
Endomorph Progressive Rosie O'Donnell stated to the 2 or 3 listeners of her satellite radio program that abortion should be included in ObamaCare, because it will spare the state the expense of putting kids into foster care.
We can pay for all of the unwanted kids and the half-million of them in foster care. I'm for a woman's right to choose.
This is how elite progressives actually think; if a kid's life is going to be economically disadvantaged or challenged in any way, then the kid should just be threshed and flushed before he even gets a chance to see the light of day. And that's when they aren't being openly racist about abortion ridding society of dark-skinned undesirables.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 11:50 AM
Another Sign of the Times
Posted by Dave Blount at 11:20 AM
Billboards expressing America's gut sentiments regarding Obamunism keep sprouting like spring flowers. Here's one from Grand Junction, Colorado, paid for by a small business owner:
Compliments of Steve A.
All Politics Is Local
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:41 AM
Unable to get through to Congressional Dems because they've unplugged their phones and hidden under the desk? Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) offers advice: let state legislators feel your wrath too.
"If the people in Washington aren't willing to listen, if the Democrats aren't willing to listen, then call your local state elected officials and tell them that you'll hold them personally accountable to what Nancy Pelosi is going to do the American people in Washington this week," Hoekstra told The Daily Caller of his "Make it Local" idea. …
It's something Hoekstra said is an effective means of putting pressure on Democrats. "There's no doubt that if my state reps' phones started ringing off the hook on a federal issue they would call me and want me to know, and say, 'Hey Pete, you know the people in Michigan are really feeling passionate about this.'"
Tea Partiers are also taking a local approach:
In an e-mail to supporters last night, Tea Party Patriots encouraged those who oppose the bill to call and visit the local district offices of the targeted members of Congress. They also pushed activists to call state elected officials to "remind them that they have political influence and you want them to exercise it."
Not that Congress should be spared from an unending torrent of polite but firm calls for even considering using un-Constitutional means to ram through the outrageous ObamaCare power grab. Dick Morris lists both DC and local numbers for swing Congresscritters.
On a tip from Rebecca.
Just a Word on Those Phony CBO Numbers
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 10:40 AM
The Democrats are tossing around what they claim are CBO numbers showing that ObamaCare will *only* cost $940 Billion and will reduce the deficit by $138 Billion.
Hey! If that's true, maybe we should spend $9 Trillion on ObamaCare and Reduce the Deficit by $1 Trillion!
There are many reasons to take these claims with a grain of salt. First of all, the CBO admits the numbers are no good because they only reflect what Democrats claim is in the legislation, but they have no actual legislation to score.
Second, the Democrats are using a trick to skew the numbers by putting 98% of the spending in the last six years. This gives future Congresses years to mess around with new mandates and spending... as they always have and inevitably will.
Remember, Granny Rictus Botoxi Pelosi is declaring that the purpose of the current bill is just to kick down the door... so they can vastly expand the scope of the program later.
Another Democrat Yes Vote on ObamaCare Lost?
Posted by The MaryHunter at 10:10 AM
Another Massachusetts Miracle may have just occurred in Rep. Stephen Lynch:
In a sign of how tough it's been for Pelosi to round up votes for the massive bill, Lynch - a South Boston Democrat who supported a House reform package last year - said he'll probably vote against a key Senate version of the legislation, unless unexpected major changes are made soon.
Lynch, who serves as one of Pelosi's key vote counters, said he also can't support a proposed "deem and pass" procedure that would allow Democrats to vote to strip out controversial portions of the Senate bill and then "deem" that the entire package has passed without a second, direct vote.
"It's disingenuous," said Lynch, who considers unfair a Senate provision to tack a surcharge on higher-end health plans. "It would really call into question the credibility of the House."
What's this, a Democrat with a conscience? There are other Massachusetts wafflers as well, who could use a little persuading.
In an e-mail alert to constituents Tuesday night, Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville) said he's still undecided on the legislation. Like Lynch, he expressed concerns that the bill could hurt Massachusetts' new universal health-care program. Rep. John Tierney (D-Salem) was also on the fence.
To remind: here is NRCC's CODE RED LIST of many on-the-fence representatives and their email links.
Chairman Zero Wins a Billy Madison Award
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 10:02 AM
Last night, Fox News's Bret Baier — the only journalist ever to ask Obama anything resembling a tough question — asked the same question many of us on the right having been asking. "If your bill's so damned great, why do you have to bribe people and shred the Constitution to get it passed?"
BAIER: Let me insert this. We asked our viewers to e-mail in suggested questions. More than 18,000 people took time to e-mail us questions. These are regular people from all over the country. Lee Johnson, from Spring Valley, California: "If the bill is so good for all of us, why all the intimidation, arm twisting, seedy deals, and parliamentary trickery necessary to pass a bill, when you have an overwhelming majority in both houses and the presidency?"
Sandy Moody in Chesterfield, Missouri: "If the health care bill is so wonderful, why do you have to bribe Congress to pass it?"
OBAMA: Bret, I get 40,000 letters or e-mails a day.
BAIER: I know.
OBAMA: I could read the exact same e-mail —
BAIER: These are people. It's not just Washington punditry.
OBAMA: I've got the exact same e-mails, that I could show you, that talk about why haven't we done something to make sure that I, a small business person, am getting as good a deal as members of Congress are getting, and don't have my insurance rates jacked up 40 percent? Why is it that I, a mother with a child with a preexisting condition, still can't get insurance?
So the issue that I'm concerned about is whether not we're fixing a broken system.
BAIER: OK, back to the original question.
OBAMA: The key is to make sure that we vote — we have a vote on whether or not we're going to maintain the status quo, or whether we're going to reform the system.
Does Chairman Zero — at any point in his rambling, defensive, evasive response — come anywhere near answering the question posed to him?
No. And that's why Chairman Zero is the recipient of the coveted 'Billy Madison Award'
Comrade Obama, Mopey Master of Malaise
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:55 AM
Remember how Jimmy Carter personified the concept of national malaise? A new mopey moonbat has taken up his mantle:
People are noticing how little President Obama seems to enjoy his job.
The president's two main emotions on display are regret and indignation. He's either lecturing about the problems facing the country in a slightly patronizing tone or expressing his disgust with someone who won't take his lesson to heart.
A standard Obama rally goes something like this: A mild joke at the expense of some dignitary present (Congressman Hornswaggle can't bowl to save his life), a sad story tweaked bordering on bathos (Suzy Creamcheese and her 15 foster children and five shelter dogs are being forced out of their home), the identification of her tormentor (rapacious banks), and finally a promise to seek justice for the afflicted despite the political cost to himself ("It may not be good politics, but it's the right thing to do.").
Rather than being energized by trying to solve problems at a level of maximal achievable good, Obama and his team speak to the American people with the enthusiasm of an Army bereavement officer. It is their sad duty to inform you that they must overhaul the health care system.
As Washington Post Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt wrote, Obama needs to show the American people "he's happy we hired him" and to ditch the "lugubriousness."
After all, even if no one else is happy we hired him, at least BO should be.
Part of the funereal vibe may arise from Obama's self-regarding nature. He never absorbed a crucial bit of wisdom: You can take your job seriously without taking yourself seriously.
It's not all narcissistic self-pity…
[T]here is still another reason for the president to approach his job with such high-minded regret: avoiding blame.
From the first days of the Obama presidency, we hear the same thing repeated over and over: He had no choice.
Obama presents himself so often as a victim of circumstances. He didn't want to bail out Wall Street, nationalize General Motors, add $2 trillion to the national debt, send two troop surges into Afghanistan, or propose a coercive package of fines and taxes to force people into a new health system. He just had no choice.
The biggest howlers from the Obama presidency have come when we are told that he is a "fierce" defender of the free market or "pro-business" despite policies that suggest he likes heavy regulation and favors businesses that support his agenda but not the ones that don't. …
While the straw men Obama creates in each speech say he should do nothing, the president says he is compelled to act, even if the only option is unpalatable. It's a rhetorical trick that helps Obama avoid the label of hard-Left liberal.
But it also helps perpetuate Obama's image as a gloomy pessimist, a label that may be even more damaging.
So buck up, Barry. Admit that you're a socialist and take some pride in the long-term damage your deficits will do to our free market system, whether or not you're able to thoroughly cripple it with ObamaCare or Tax & Charade.
On a tip from TrickleUpPolitics.
12,000 New IRS Agents Will Enforce ObamaCare
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 9:54 AM
In order to enforce the individual mandate --- the mechanism by which the National Government forces citizens to enter into contracts with private insurance companies under terms dictated by the bureaucracies of the Executive Branch of the National Government --- and other aspects of the ObamaCare Plan, the IRS will hire at least 12,000 new enforcement agents.
The legislation currently before the House of Representatives envisions that the IRS will be the primary enforcers of ObamaCare if the the bill becomes law.
The IRS will have lots to do to implement and enforce the new taxes and mandates included in the bill. In fact, the Senate Democrats' bill references or amends the Internal Revenue Code 180 times.
Based on the current cost to employ this division's workforce, an additional $1 billion per year would mean 12,500 new employees at the IRS. That's more than 12,000 IRS employees that will be examining taxpayer records to enforce the government's definition of "affordable" and "acceptable" insurance coverage, and working to comply with the bill to get people into government-run insurance.
What will all these new IRS employees do? The bill gives the IRS many new powers and tasks the IRS with the responsibility to enforce the mandates on individuals to purchase insurance the government deems acceptable as well as employer mandates to provide insurance the government deems affordable. In short, the Democrats' bill will give the IRS sweeping new powers and require the IRS to become a much more intrusive force in every American's life.
So, ObamaCare is not so much about improving the quality of health care as it is about vastly increasing the reach and power of the bureaucracy Americans hate most.
A Little Encouragement for Bart Stupak
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:21 AM
Bart Stupak (D-MI), one of the last of the dying breed of Democrats with moral principles, says standing up to Chairman Zero on ObamaCare has been a "living hell." Better that than the hell that will await if he sells out his constituents and his conscience by endorsing the federal funding for abortion entailed in ObamaCare.
Here's how Stupak probably feels:
But the radicals currently running the government only seem like a line of oncoming tanks. Those who stand firm will still stand when this disgraceful chapter in our history has passed.
Idaho, Virginia Take Lead in Opposing ObamaCare
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:01 AM
Our federal system wasn't designed so that the government would have an extra level of taxation, but to prevent tyranny by providing a break on Washington. The radicalized Democrat leadership is testing the system with its willingness to do whatever it takes to ram through their healthcare power grab. Fortunately it looks like the system might hold up:
Idaho took the lead in a growing, nationwide fight against health care overhaul Wednesday when its governor became the first to sign a measure requiring the state attorney general to sue the federal government if residents are forced to buy health insurance.
Similar legislation is pending in 37 other states.
Maybe the movement is only symbolic. Then again, maybe not:
[Idaho Governor Butch] Otter, a Republican, said he believes any future lawsuit from Idaho has a legitimate shot of winning, despite what the naysayers say.
"The ivory tower folks will tell you, 'No, they're not going anywhere,' " he told reporters. "But I'll tell you what, you get 36 states, that's a critical mass. That's a constitutional mass."
Meanwhile in Virginia, home of so many of the Founding Fathers who have been spinning in their graves since November 2008,
Virginia last week became the first state in the country to pass a state bill declaring it illegal for the government to require individuals to purchase health insurance, a key part of bills under consideration on Capitol Hill.
Yesterday Virginia's Attorney General sent this letter to Queen Pelousy:
March 17, 2010 The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Office of the Speaker H-232, U.S. Capitol Washington, D.C. Dear Speaker Pelosi: I am writing to urge you not to proceed with the Senate Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act under a so-called "deem and pass" rule because such a course of action would raise grave constitutional questions. Based upon media interviews and statements which I have seen, you are considering this approach because it might somehow shield members of Congress from taking a recorded vote on an overwhelmingly unpopular Senate bill. This is an improper purpose under the bicameralism requirements of Article I, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution, one of the purposes of which is to make our representatives fully accountable for their votes. Furthermore, to be validly enacted, the Senate bill would have to be accepted by the House in a form that is word-for-word identical (Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417 (1998)). Should you employ the deem and pass tactic, you expose any act which may pass to yet another constitutional challenge. A bill of this magnitude should not be passed using this maneuver. As the President noted last week, the American people are entitled to an up or down vote. Sincerely, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II Attorney General of Virginia
I was told before the Moonbat Messiah was elected that he would unite the country. If he keeps uniting us like this, we'll have another Civil War.
On tips from Conan and Incitatus.
Dick Armey's Border Moonbattery
Posted by Dave Blount at 8:31 AM
So long as Tea Partiers remember that the movement is about ideas, not people, it won't get hijacked by those who might exploit it to advance pernicious concepts. A case in point is Dick Armey, who has played a roll in organizing Tea Parties, but who indulges in pure moonbattery on the topic of border security.
"When I was the majority leader, I saw to it that Tom Tancredo did not get on the stage because I saw how destructive he was," Armey said of the Colorado congressman and 2008 Republican presidential candidate known for his opposition to illegal immigration.
Armey said "this is a nation of immigrants" and "if you love America, love freedom" and if you will work and pay taxes, you should be welcome in the country.
Applying "nation of immigrants" rhetoric to the deluge of illegal aliens that is helping to drive up unemployment and reduce California to a Third-World failed state is an insult to the legitimate immigrants who built this country and respect its laws.
Armey says he would defend the border — but not until the INS has been reformed so that it's nicer to the human traffickers and drug dealers who are making a mockery of our national sovereignty.
"Fix that agency, make it do its job, make it do its job in a humane … fashion and then you can control the borders," he said.
According to Armey, criminals who sneak across the border to avail themselves of free services are "natural constituents" for the Republican Party.
Armey also said "the Republican Party is the most naturally talented party at losing its natural constituents in the history of the world."
"This party was born with the emancipation proclamation and can't get a black vote to save its life. How do they do that?"
By standing for individual liberty and the rule of law as opposed to racial preferences and spoils. But I suppose Armey would change that too.
On a tip from Incitatus.
Feed PETA to the Polar Bears!
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 8:01 AM
Affluent white liberals were denied an opportunity to culturally and economically impoverish native people's earlier this week. The UN denied a push from the United States to ban the international trade in (non-endangered) polar bear pelts and other parts.
A U.S.-backed proposal to ban the international trade of polar bear skins, teeth and claws was defeated Thursday at a U.N. wildlife meeting over concerns it would hurt indigenous economies and arguments the practice didn't pose a significant threat to the animals.
"We're disappointed," said Jane Lyder, the Department of Interior's deputy assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks. "But we understand that CITES is still trying to understand how to incorporate climate change into its decision making."
Canada, along with Norway and Greenland, led the opposition to the U.S. proposal. They said the threat from trade was minimal and the hunting done by Aboriginal communities was critical to their economies. Only 2 percent of Canadian polar bears are internationally traded and the country strictly manages the commerce, Canada said.
Now, people who understand natural resource economics know that the best way to preserve a species is to make trade in that species legal and economically valuable. Cows and pigs are not endangered precisely because people eat them. If species cannot be legally traded and managed by people with an economic state in continuing their numbers, it creates an incentive for poachers to destroy their populations, as is the case with African Elephants and Lowland Gorillas.
Meanwhile, in Russia, some dumb naked chicks engaged in a pointless protest against seal harvesting.
I personally would love a polar bear skin rug, if I knew where to get one.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 7:13 AM
Item #5: Are You Frakking Kidding Me?
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:06 AM
Chairman Zero took a break from his usual routine of backroom deals, sleazy undemocratic attempts to ram health care through, cozy meetings with special interest lobbyists, and stonewalling on public requests to release his college transcripts and the names of lawyers in the DoJ who are working for terrorists... in order to congratulate himself and his party for bringing more honesty and transparency to Government.
As Sunshine Week begins, I want to applaud everyone who has worked to increase transparency in government and recommit my administration to be the most open and transparent ever, an effort that will strengthen our democracy and ensure the public's trust in their government. We came to Washington to change the way business was done, and part of that was making ourselves accountable to the American people by opening up our government.
According to my calendar, April 1st is still a couple of weeks away.
Item #4: The Nanny State Doesn't Get the Music These Kids Are Listening to These Days
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:47 AM
On Airstrip One, a musician was kicked off of a train when a functionary of the Albionese Nanny State saw him write something about "Killers" on a pad of paper.
"The Killers," is, of course, the name of a fairly popular genre band whose songs sound a lot more interesting when they are covered by other people.
Item #3: Science Proves Eco-Fags Are Self-Righteous Jerks
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:40 AM
The science is settled, those sanctimonious prigs with their Priuses, recycling bins, and holier-than-thou environmental attitudes really are a bunch of smug, self-centered a-holes.
According to a study, when people feel they have been morally virtuous by saving the planet through their purchases of organic baby food, for example, it leads to the "licensing [of] selfish and morally questionable behaviour", otherwise known as "moral balancing" or "compensatory ethics".
Do Green Products Make Us Better People is published in the latest edition of the journal Psychological Science. Its authors, Canadian psychologists Nina Mazar and Chen-Bo Zhong, argue that people who wear what they call the "halo of green consumerism" are less likely to be kind to others, and more likely to cheat and steal. "Virtuous acts can license subsequent asocial and unethical behaviours," they write.
And this cannot be disputed, because it is science!
Item #2: Progressive Radio Host Warns Black Justice to Beware of "Teabaggers"
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:32 AM
Progressive Radio Host Mike Malloy --- who is a little too far out there for even MSNBC (just a little bit too far out there) --- warned earlier this week that "racist teabaggers" might just lynch Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas once they found out he was married to a white woman.
The latest from the crazy people in the tea bag movement is, uh, a story about, um, Virginia Thomas, she is the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas; and she's setting up a teabagger nonprofit group. Now this will be interesting because the teabaggers are essentially racist; and how are they're going to deal with a very dark Clarence Thomas and a very white Virginia Thomas setting up subdivision of their crazed tea bagger party; how they're going to deal with that will be great fun to watch.
Yeah, because, you know, conservative white patriots just hate Clarence Thomas so much, and have proclaimed publicly that his opinions are "poorly written" and that he is "an embarrassment to the court."
Oh, wait. I'm sorry. That's not the opinion of any white conservative. That's the opinion of Democrat Senator Harry "Negro Dialect" Reid, the leader of the Jim Crow Party in the US Senate.
Morning Briefs for Thursday Item #1: How Dumb Is the President?
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:18 AM
Good Morning Right-Wing Patriots, Good Morning Left-Wing Parrots of Rachel Maddow's Talking Points,
In an interview yesterday, Chairman Zero said he supported the Louisiana Purchase --- the taxpayer-funded bribe Mary Landrieu got in exchange for her vote on ObamaCare --- because "It also affects Hawaii, which went through an earthquake."
Earthquake in Hawaii? WTF?
In other news from the party-so-corrupt-it-will-do-anything-to-ram-through-a-bill-America-hates....
The people who live in California's San Joaquin Valley have had their water turned off in order to protect a tiny fish called the delta smelt. As a result farm land that used to be prime agricultural land are now dust bowls. It devastated the economy as well, driving up the the unemployment rate in some areas to as high as 41 percent. Yet for months on end, President Obama said and did nothing to help the people in the Central Valley.
But now the president's health care reforms are on the ropes and the San Joaquin Valley's two blue-dog Democratic congressmen Dennis Cardoza and Jim Costa have been reluctant to support the president's reforms. So imagine everyone's surprise when the Department of the Interior announced yesterday that it is dramatically increasing the water supply to the valley's parched lands. And what a coincidence, now the two California congressmen who were once "undecided" are being moved over into the "yes" column....
Man, just wait until this blatant corruption gets covered in the mainstream media! I am sure they will get right on that story as soon as they finish that super-important expose on Chairman Zero's NCAA picks. (1,153 articles on Google News this morning.)
March 17, 2010
Paul Ryan on Sensible Healthcare Solutions
Posted by The MaryHunter at 5:20 PM
Despite lies to the contrary from President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and the rest of the pro-ObamaCare crowd, Republicans have been working tirelessly for months and months in order to put forward real solutions to the problems in the American healthcare system. While we have the best medical care in the world, there is certainly room for improvement on many levels. Rep. Paul Ryan outlines several examples.
The debacle of the past year's "debate" has been a missed opportunity for real reform. Democrats and Republicans alike have put forward proposals that address the drivers of health-care costs, yet they have been ignored in this sharply partisan crusade. House Republicans continue to offer common-sense solutions, with specific legislation. Last May, Sens. Tom Coburn and Richard Burr and Rep. Devin Nunes and I collaborated to address rising costs while securing access to quality, affordable health coverage for all Americans. The Patients' Choice Act takes on the discriminatory and inflationary tax exclusion, delinking the tax benefit from employers and attaching it to individuals through universal tax credits.
The Patients' Choice Act includes additional reforms -- such as an emphasis on preventive care, medical malpractice reform and interstate shopping -- that could be advanced one at a time in a bipartisan fashion to fix what's broken in health care without breaking what is working.
This year I re-introduced my own proposals to tackle our entitlement crisis head-on. My plan, "A Roadmap for America's Future," fulfills the mission of health and retirement security, lifts our crushing burden of debt, and spurs economic growth and job creation. In stark contrast to the vision being pushed by the majority in Congress, my plan unapologetically seeks to apply our nation's timeless principles -- our Founders' commitment to individual liberty, limited government and free enterprise -- to today's challenges. It does so in a way that honors our historic commitment to strengthening the social safety net for those who need it most.
If you watched the pathetic performance of Dear Leader in his interview with Bret Baier this evening (FNC video) you may want to cleanse your mind by reading the full Paul Ryan article. It is refreshing to know that, in spite of all attempts from the Democrat leadership to the contrary, there are actually representatives of the people in Washington who aim to work for the electorate and not for their own drive for control over our tax dollars, our freedoms, our very bodies.
Mark Levin Prepares to Defend Country Against Democrat Fascism
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 2:10 PM
If the Obamacrats in Congress pass ObamaCare without a vote on ObamaCare, Radio Host and Legal Scholar Mark Levin and the Landmark Legal Foundation are preparing to file a lawsuit challenging the Constitutionality of the law.
As some legal scholars have made clear, it would be an uphill battle. Nancy "Flaming Hypocrite" Pelosi and Louise "Flaming Hypocrite" Slaughter previously sued to stop the process of passing law by simply deeming it passed and lost. Courts are normally deferential to allowing legislatures to set their own rules. But there is also a case to be made that deeming routine House business to be passed is far different from using the procedure to ram through a massively unpopular bill that cannot be passed through normal, Constitutional means.
It's very dangerous to let the Democrats get away with this. If this "sleight of hand" can be used on this bill, it can be used on anything. And I don't buy the tu quoque argument that because the Republicans got away with it on minor things, the Democrats should be allowed to get away with it on major things. If I spill cranberry juice on your carpet and you let it slide, that does not implicitly give my brother permission to come over and trash your house.
This will, no doubt, lead to Mark Levin being a labeled "the worst person in the world" by Keith Olbermann, and an "a--hole," by the ObamaCare shills at the-blog-that-hates-my-guts. He will also become public enemy number one to all those on the left who don't care how bad this law is, or how corrupt the process it, as long as their precious Marxist Messiah gets a victory; which includes almost all of the MSM and every troll under our house.
BTW, if this bill is so frakkin' wonderful, why do Democrats have to pull all these dirty tricks and cupid stunts to get it passed?
Moonbat Tech: Agricultural Urbanism
Posted by Dave Blount at 12:21 PM
It would be nice to think that the tens of millions who died during the collectivization of farms in the Soviet Union and China didn't perish for nothing — that the world would at least learn from their terrible fate. But among progressives' most salient characteristics is that they are impervious to learning. When it happens here, even urban residents might find themselves living on collective farms:
We're on a slow march of strip mining our resources so the question is, can a home benefit the community and in turn, the environment? Agricultural Urbanism is a proposed residential project that combines thousand year old terrance [sic] farming with modern construction.
If subsistence farming on human turkey ranches doesn't save Gaia and rid us of our free market ways, future ecocommunist rulers can just march us out into the wilderness to die, which helped Pol Pot reduce the population dramatically, no doubt pleasing the sacred polar bears.
On a tip from Air2air.
Dittoheads Tie Up Congressional Phones to Fight ObamaCare
Posted by The MaryHunter at 11:00 AM
In an effort to wake the Congress up from their Obama Suicide Kool-Aid stupor, Rush Limbaugh has for two days running been giving out the phone number of the Capitol switch board on his show:
...and now a third number:
In the rare instance that you get an operator, callers should ask for their representative or a waivering Democrat and politely, respectfully urge them to VOTE NO on ObamaCare and resist the unconstitutional efforts by Pelosi & Co. to pass it via the Slaughter Rule.
Latest reports are that this phoning effort has melted down the congressional phone system. If you call these numbers, you will likely get a busy signal, but Rush says that he's heard from folks on the inside that it's been difficult to make outbound calls as well. The weirdest part is that the MSM is NOT reporting this as an irresponsible and mischevious act on Rush's part, but instead they are reporting it as straight-up news. (We'll see how long that lasts.)
If you can join in the calling effort but get tired of getting a busy signal, you can always try emailing the waivering congresscritters. The National Republican Congressional Committee has a "Code Red Target List" with direct links to select congressmen's email sites and shows their latest reported ObamaCare vote.
UPDATE: Gabriel Malor at Ace of Spades HQ has a short list of Democrats who may be leaning toward a no vote, along with their phone/fax/snail mail. "They are "maybes" who have not publicly declared, but who may need a gentle nudge from their constituents."
The clock is ticking, Patriots!
Emails Reveal Nidal Malik Hasan's Pageant of Red Flags
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:06 AM
An indication of how deeply moonbattery has eaten into our society is the degree of inadequacy even the military will put up with in the name of diversity:
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, charged in the Fort Hood shootings, was too fat and "chronically" unprofessional during his psychiatric training, according to internal e-mails exchanged by his superiors.
The communications are the latest in a series of early signs that showed officers had reason to suspend Maj. Hasan's training, and perhaps re-evaluate his suitability as a military physician, but failed to do so.
Yet, his bosses at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington allowed him to complete his residency in 2007, enter an advanced fellowship program, win promotion to major and transfer to Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.
It was there on Nov. 5, while shouting "God is great," Maj. Hasan fatally shot 13 Army colleagues, according to witnesses.
Unfortunately being fat, unprofessional, and unqualified aren't Hasan's only shortcomings. There's also his enthusiasm for Islam:
The e-mails highlight another point at which the U.S. military government could have intervened to stop Maj. Hasan's career before the shooting. The FBI and other intelligence agencies learned that Maj. Hasan had sent e-mail messages to Anwar al-Awlaki, an al Qaeda-affiliated radical imam in Yemen who urged followers to join the terrorist group and kill Americans.
Hasan hadn't put in sufficient months in a psychiatric clinic to complete his residency. But Army bureaucrats — no doubt terrified of being accused of "racism" against a Muslim — pushed him through anyway.
Then came Maj. Hasan's research project that was required for completing the residency. Walter Reed calls the practice, "Psychiatry Scholarly Activity Oral Presentation at the Psychiatry Regularly Scheduled Conference." Maj. Hasan chose not a psychiatric topic, per se, but one titled, "Koranic World View as it Relates to Muslims in the U.S. Military." The slide presentation promoted Islamic law over the U.S. Constitution.
That is, the Constitution he was sworn to uphold. Army brass had found just the guy to serve as a psychiatrist, counseling soldiers returning from battle with terrorists who share Hasan's ideology.
Predictably, the Affirmative Action mentality that led to Hasan being shuffled forward as if he were qualified didn't turn out so well. Even Army Chief of Staff General George Casey was alarmed at the outcome:
"It would be a shame — as great a tragedy as this was — it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well."
Not to worry, liberals: the Army resolved to double down on the head-in-the-sand political correctness that put Hasan in a position to pull off his terrorist killing spree in the first place.
On a tip from Edward.
Comrade Obama Comes Crawling to Fox News
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:22 AM
The Obamination Administration's war on Fox News appears to be over; once again, the Moonbat Messiah has failed. Despite an orchestrated strategy to marginalize FNC for not providing him with the obsequious coverage of his enablers at the alphabet networks, Chairman Zero will present himself before Bret Baier today with hat in hand to sell his latest bottle of poisonous snake oil. Reaganite Republican comments:
After exposing himself as petty, vindictive, and paranoid by going on a completely unnecessary propaganda offensive against top-rated Fox News, Obama has lost this ill-advised war-of-choice… big time.
Regardless of any specious WH narrative re. "not a news organization" and "an arm of the GOP" — Republicans aren't the only ones watching Fox… their ratings often beat all other cable news networks combined. The administration's shameful Alinskyite attacks and boycott have clearly backfired, and reality is slowly sinking into the thick skulls of Team Obama while the Bolshevik Boy-Wonder watches his HC agenda — and presidency — crumble in his hands.
At least he won't have to face Glenn Beck.
Maybe Chairman Zero is positioning himself for a regular slot on Hannity's panel, in case the highway debris docent position doesn't pan out. Provided he gets to use his teleprompter, he's bound to be an improvement on Bob Beckel.
Barton Barriers: Austin Bureaucrats' Conception of Art
Posted by Dave Blount at 8:35 AM
Our liberal rulers must get a sick kick out of wasting our money in the most conspicuously absurd manner possible. In Austin, the moonbat toehold in Texas, bureaucrats have seen fit to spend $thousands on a tower of traffic barricades that has been christened as "art":
So what is art? According to the City of Austin's Arts Commission, the Art in Public Places committee, the Barton Hills Neighborhood Association and the Austin City Council, which all approved this project, it's this more than 100-foot-long, 12-foot-wide, 10-foot-high cluster of 50 road barriers that are lit up at night. …
The artwork, by Stephen Dubov, is the "inaugural sculpture" of Art on the Way. Art on the Way's Web site says it's "a humorous juxtaposition of nature and industrial objects."
It must be humorous because we're laughing — or is that screaming I hear? The city put up $4,300 for the project, said Vincent Kitch, cultural arts program director for the City of Austin. …
The name of the work is "Barton Barriers," and if you want a tour for your school or club, you can "arrange for a docent or artist-led viewing."
Imagine the docent for an artwork up in the bushes consisting of highway debris.
If it's still there in January 2013, I know someone who will be out of work and perfect for the job, provided he's equipped with a teleprompter.
On a tip from Nancy.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 7:34 AM
46% of Doctors Would Consider Leaving Medicine if ObamaCare passes
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 7:29 AM
Doctors --- bashed by Chairman Zero for allegedly performing unnecessary surgery just for the money --- are not thrilled about the prospect of becoming, essentially, DMV employers if ObamaCare passes.
- 46.3% of primary care physicians (family medicine and internal medicine) feel that the passing of health reform will either force them out of medicine or make them want to leave medicine.
- 36% of physicians would not recommend medicine as a career, regardless of health reform. 27% would recommend medicine as a career but not if health reform passes.
- 62.7% of physicians feel that health reform is needed but should be implemented in a more targeted, gradual way, as opposed to the sweeping overhaul that is in legislation.
Doctors realize they will be micromanaged by bureaucrats under this plan. The bureaucrats will forbid them to recommend tests and procedures that the trial lawyers will sue them for not recommending.
They're screwed from both sides.
As I have said, if you want more, better, cheaper health care... you have to make it more profitable, not less. The Obamacrats FAIL basic economics.
Also, left-wing kook Dennis Kucinich has decided to vote for the bill; which should give lie to the talking point that progressives hate the ObamaCare Bill.
Moonbat Congressman: "We Can't Build Nukes Because Manbearpig Will Destroy Them!"
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 6:10 AM
Moonbat Democrat Congresman Ed Markey (who co-authored, with Henry "Nostrilitis" Waxman, the Cap-and-Tax Bill designed to destroy all American industry) says that nuclear power plants are not a viable option because the fierce weather conditions brought by Global Warming --- as seen in the scientific documentaries The Day After Tomorrow and Jason X --- will destroy them and kill us all!
Severe weather conditions, such as tornadoes and hurricanes, as well as flooding caused by heavy rains, can all impact the status of a nuclear reactor. . . . In addition to discrete events such as a storm or earthquake, climate change has the potential to affect more routine reactor operations.
He goes on to cite the absurd scenarios of nuclear power plants being inundated by rising seas, or running out of water during Global Warming-caused droughts.
Let's review his Thesis in Graphic form.
Or something like that.
Aside from the fact that nuclear power plants are built to extremely resilient standards with multiple redundant safety systems, it's also worth mentiong the IPCC prediction was a load, and the data have recently been exposed as craptacular at best. And the head of the IPCC was trained as a railroad engineer, not a climate scientist.
Damn, we got some stupid people in Government.
1 Year of Obama, $2 Trillion in Debt
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:51 AM
The Deficit began to explode in 2007 when the Democrats took control of Congress. And is anticipated to remain at stratospheric levels... basically forever. Spending levels vastly increased once Obama was elected president.
There are no prospects for any voluntary reductions in Federal Spending.
Foreign creditors are looking to downgrade the USA's credit rating.
And the Democrats are trying to ram through a multi-trillion dollar health care and student loan entitlement package.
And they don't care about the damage it does to the country, as long as the country isn't being run by people who believe in God and protecting the unborn.
Item #3: Even AP Admits Health Insurance Will Cost More Under ObamaCare
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:32 AM
Economically Illiterate Fascist Barack Obama claimed yesterday that insurance premiums would go down 3,000% under his Health Care Takeover Reform. (In other words, insurance companies would be paying us to let them provide us insurance.)
Not even the Obama Positive Associated Press would buy that whopper.
Premiums are likely to keep going up even if the health care bill passes, experts say. If cost controls work as advertised, annual increases would level off with time. But don't look for a rollback. Instead, the main reason premiums would be more affordable is that new government tax credits would help cover the cost for millions of people.
Yeah, just like Government Financial Aid subsidies have kept universities and colleges (Big Education) from raising tuition at several times the annual inflation rate.
But that's okay, because the proposed HCR reconciliation also includes a nationalization of all student loans (for some reason), which is just bound to make higher education more affordable for all.
(That last line was meant to be sarcastic.)
Item #2: Lefties Furious as Their Human Health Care Props Are Debunked
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 5:03 AM
The Left's "Legislation by Sob Story" strategy has been weakened among the informed segment of society by revelations that their cancer victim Natoma Canfield is not in nearly the dire straits that were claimed, and that little Marcelas Owens is a prop drawn from a family of left-wing, single-payer activists.
Now, the progressive lefties are howling and melting down because a few on the right --- Michelle Malkin, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck --- have called them out on the sob story/victim strategy, and rightfully so. Yes, some people have had tragic life experiences. Does that justify a Government takeover of a health insurance industry that, for the vast majority of people, works pretty well most of the time?
Cut through the distorted rhetoric of the ObamaCare Cheering Squad, and the real position of those of us (the majority of Americans) who oppose the ObamaCare bill is that the Government proposed solution is disproportionately large, intrusive, and most of all expensive, given that the problems with health insurance are on the margins, and could be addressed with more moderate, less costly adjustments.
Top of the Mornin' Briefs for St. Patrick's Day: Item #1
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 4:41 AM
Representative Steve King (R-Iowa) encouraged Tea Party patriots to seek a "Velvet Revolution" against the Soviet-style governing practices of the Obamacrat majority. In other words, he encouraged them to peacefully seek to turn back a Government that is out-of-touch with its people, that is governing by anti-democratic decree against the will of its people, and that is seeking a much expanded degree of control over the lives of its people.
Of course, King's encouragement to the people to peacefully take back their Government has given the simpering progressives at the HuffPo and the Obama Amen Corner a case of the vapors. I mean, how dare a Congresssmen -- a Republican no less -- encourage a free people to stand up against a government trying to pass a law that majorities of them oppose and believe to be destructive to the health of the country.
March 16, 2010
Lest We Forget
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 7:23 PM
It was seven years ago today that smelly moonbat activist Rachel Corrie was fatally struck by a bulldozer while helping Palestinians defend tunnels that were used to import weapons to kill Jews.
Suddenly, I'm craving IHOP.
(And I'm sure some whining little troll will simper that I'm being insensitive and spew moral equivalence about mocking the death of St. Pancake and hoping for the death of Dick Cheney. The pictures at the K is P link of the victims of the people Rachel Corrie was helping clear away any moral ambiguity in my mind. She died foolishly while facilitating evil - the evil murder of innocent people. Damn right I have contempt for her.)
Billboards of America
Posted by Dave Blount at 5:40 PM
A good way to take America's pulse is to drive its highways. In 2010, here's what you will see:
It's safe to say at this point that Hopey Change just didn't take. Unfortunately that doesn't mean it can't be imposed by force.
On a tip from Oiao.
Counter-Moonbattery Alert: Throw the Bum Out
Posted by The MaryHunter at 3:24 PM
A Tea Party activist group in New Jersey has been given the green light by a state court to initiate a recall petition effort against Democrat U.S. Senator Robert Menendez.
There's no question the odds of success are slim: A successful recall vote requires a fourth of the state's registered voters to sign the petition in order to get the issue on the fall ballot (Menendez' term ends in January of 2013).
That would mean roughly 1.3 million such signatures are needed.
"Given the will of the people embodied in our state organic law, and the dearth of clear precedent nullifying the people's enactments, we accordingly decline at this juncture to find our state constitutional provision and related stature permitting recall of a United States Senator to be unconstitutional," the Appeals Court found.
The opinion added, "The silence of the federal Constitution [on recall] may well result in the conclusion that it may be done."
The State Supreme Court has not even chimed in yet, so don't hold your breath for a first-ever U.S. Senator recall.
What do the Democrats say about this? Exactly: "Tea Partiers are RACISTS!" It must get real tired to have but one retort for any activism against a Democrat politician who is not a pure-blood cracker.
Hat tip: The Daily Caller.
Our Progressive Overlords
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 2:44 PM
Hat Tip: NRO
If the Speaker of the House can just deem a very unpopular bill "passed" without even holding a vote on it, aren't we pretty much living in a dictatorship?
And what about you progressives? Do you just not give a damn about this perversion of democracy because it happens to suit your agenda? And doesn't that make you guys... um... fascists by definition?
Yes, Nazis Were Leftists
Posted by Dave Blount at 12:59 PM
The most impressive example of sleight of hand in the history of propaganda may be the liberal establishment's alarming ability to pass off Nazis as right-wing rather than left-wing. Nazism and Stalinism were highly similar, rival variants of the totalitarian socialism longed for by progressives. When the Hitler-Stalin pact collapsed, the left was forced to choose between them. Nazis certainly deserved the demonization that followed, though no more than their Bolshevik brethren.
Despite the vilification from the left, it still isn't easy to distinguish Nazis from communists, as Stephen Hicks reminds us, quoting Ulrike Meinhof of the leftist Red Army Faction (aka Bader-Meinhof):
Auschwitz meant that six million Jews were killed, and thrown on the waste-heap of Europe, for what they were: money Jews. Finance capital and the banks, the hard core of the system of imperialism and capitalism, had turned the hatred of men against money and exploitation, and against the Jews … Anti-Semitism is really a hatred of capitalism.
Self-hating Jew Karl Marx would have agreed:
What is the profane basis of Judaism? Practical need, self-interest. What is the worldly cult of the Jew? Huckstering. What is his worldly god? Money. Very well: then in emancipating itself from huckstering and money, and thus from real and practical Judaism, our age would emancipate itself.
As soon as society succeeds in abolishing the empirical essence of Judaism — huckstering and its conditions — the Jew becomes impossible.
Everybody knows that Nazis didn't like Jews, but despite the name of the party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or National Socialist German Workers Party), few seem to be aware of their more fundamental hostility to economy freedom. Here's how Joseph Goebbels put it:
The worker in a capitalist state — and that is his deepest misfortune — is no longer a living human being, a creator, a maker. He has become a machine. A number, a cog in the machine without sense or understanding.
Whereas under totalitarianism — whether it's Nazism, communism, or the authoritarian political correctness that Democrats have been tightening around our throats — we can all blossom as individuals, right moonbats?
Hat tip: David Thompson.
Government Math
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 12:07 PM
Shrillary Gathers "Human Rights" Dirt on USA
Posted by Dave Blount at 11:52 AM
Shrillary doesn't spend all her time locked in a cage in the White House basement after all. Here's what she's been up to:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that the State Department is soliciting comments from citizens, advocacy groups and other non-governmental organizations on the human rights record of the United States.
"Human rights are universal, but their experience is local. This is why we are committed to holding everyone to the same standard, including ourselves," Clinton told a press briefing at the State Department, where she unveiled the "2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices."
Clinton said the U.S. is now gathering facts on its own record because — as a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council — it is participating in the UNHRC's "universal periodic review" process.
The UNHRC is a farce, by the way.
The Obama administration's decision to join the Human Rights Council was controversial. The Geneva-based, 47-member HRC faces numerous criticisms, chief among them the presence of countries with poor rights records. Iran is currently running for a seat on the council.
The objective of this first-ever report on America's human rights record for review by the corrupt thugs dominating the UN is revealed by Austin Ruse of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute:
"It will give pretty left-wing groups a forum for criticizing the U.S.," Ruse told CNSNews.com. That internal criticism will then end up at the U.N. Human Rights Council.
"This is a two-step process," Ruse said. "The second step is another opportunity for the U.S. to come under fire, this time by the United Nations."
No wonder Shrillary has been completely off the radar screen as Secretary of State. Gathering anti-American propaganda is full-time job. Just ask Keith Olbermann.
On a tip from Nancz.
Felons in the White House?
Posted by Dave Blount at 11:01 AM
Redemption is possible for anyone — even the odious Benedict Arlen Specter, who makes this constructive remark about the simmering White House job-bribing scandal most of the press has been studiously ignoring:
There's a crime called misprision of a felony. Misprision of a felony is when you don't report a crime. So you're getting into pretty deep areas here in these considerations.
Sphincter is referring to the jobs that were offered by the White House as highly illegal bribes to Democrats Joe Sestak and Andrew Romanoff for getting out of the way of favored Senate candidates Specter in Pennsylvania and Michael Bennet in Colorado. As the American Spectator explains in a story worth reading just for the URL, this means that anyone who knows about the proffered bribes and stayed quiet could be headed to prison on felony charges:
Stunningly, this would presumably also include anyone on the Obama White House staff who knew one of their colleagues had offered such a job — which is to say committed a crime — and didn't report it. …
It should be recalled here that Specter is not just Sestak's opponent. He is a former Philadelphia district attorney and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. …
If in fact Sestak is telling the truth, if in fact the Denver Post story about Andrew Romanoff is correct — and neither Sestak nor Romanoff reported these offers to federal authorities — Specter is saying both could in fact do jail time for committing a felony.
This may explain why Robert Gibbs has been doggedly stonewalling questions on the topic by two of the last real journalists in Washington, Major Garrett and Jake Tapper.
If Sestak has told the truth, if the Denver Post got it right — then not only is the person or persons within the White House who made these job offers in big trouble, but anybody else on the Obama White House staff who currently knows this has happened and has not reported it to the proper authorities — the FBI, just for starters — is, according to Specter, a potential prosecution target for "misprision of a felony." For which this person or persons could also go to jail along with whomever offered the jobs in the first place.
Good thing they don't still wear those black and white horizontal stripes at the Big House. Beltway Bob is a little heavy to look good in them.
On tips from TrickleUpPolitics and the Knights of the Dumb Table at Blue Gold Nation.
Open Thread
Posted by Dave Blount at 10:12 AM
Transsexual Freakazoid Becomes a "Neuter"
Posted by Dave Blount at 9:51 AM
No matter how far moonbats push the envelope in the Culture War, they can be counted on to push it further still so long as they encounter no meaningful resistance. What's next after surgically and chemically mutating your body into a blasphemous simulacrum of the oppose sex? How about deforming yourself so that you have no sex at all:
Norrie May-Welby, 48, was born a man but had a sex change operation in 1990, at the age of 28.
After becoming unhappy as a woman, May-Welby decided to become a "neuter". The 48-year-old is now officially recognised as a person of no specific gender.
On the positive side, this is good news for the construction industry, as publicly accessible buildings will no doubt be required to add a "Neither" room between the Men's and Ladies' rooms.
On a tip from Antara.
Progressives Are Idiots with No Math Skills
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 9:30 AM
Listened to the trained progressive seals respond with "boos" when insurance companies are mentioned, and cheers and applause as Dear Reader promises them that insurance premiums will go down 3,000%!
3,000%? So, at that rate, insurance companies would be paying employers to cover their employees.
Alternately, Dear Reader is an idiot who doesn't have even a marginal clue what he's talking about.
Americans Not Allowed to Fly Old Glory in Haiti
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at 8:59 AM
I guess M'Chel just isn't proud of the relief work our country is doing in Haiti.
The many nations helping Haiti recover from the devastating earthquake that struck there have set up their own military compounds and fly their flags at the entrances.
France's tricolor, Britain's Union Jack and even Croatia's coat of arms flap in the breeze.
But the country whose contributions dwarf the rest of the world's -- the United States -- has no flag at its main installation near the Port-au-Prince airport.
The Obama administration says flying the flag could give Haiti the wrong idea.
"We are not here as an occupation force, but as an international partner committed to supporting the government of Haiti on the road to recovery," the U.S. government's Haiti Joint Information Center said in response to a query about the flag.
I guess Chairman Zero was hurt when his boyfriend, Hugo Chavez, suggested that US relief efforts were just cover for an invasion and occupation of Haiti.
Remind me again, why the Hell would anyone want to invade and occupy Haiti?
Crisis of Culture
Posted by Dave Blount at 8:07 AM
As the lunatic wing of the Democrat Party prepares for the great leap into socialism by ramming through a federal healthcare entitlement certain to lead to national bankruptcy, now might be a good time to reprint highlights from a letter that Dr. Roger Starner Jones wrote to the Jackson, Mississippi Clarion Ledger:
During my last night's shift in the ER, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient with a shiny new gold tooth, multiple elaborate tattoos, a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and a new cellular telephone equipped with her favorite R&B; tune for a ring tone.
Glancing over the chart, one could not help noticing her payer status: Medicaid.
She smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and, somehow, still has money to buy beer. And our President expects me to pay for this woman's health care?
Our nation's health care crisis is not a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. It is a crisis of culture — a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase healt