Conservative Review |
||
Issue #159 |
Kukis Digests and Opines on this Week’s News and Views |
January 2, 2011 |
In this Issue:
A Primer on the 2007-2009 Financial Mess
The Right Way to Balance the Budget
By Andrew G. Biggs, Kevin A. Hassett,
Please Stop 'Helping' Us by John Stossel
Political End Runs by Thomas Sowell
The 10 Worst Predictions for 2010
By Joshua E. Keating
Washington Times Editorial: Headlines in 2011
Definitions: Alien, Immigrant, Illegal Alien, Undocumented Immigrant from Adversity.Net
Rush is on vacation.
Too much happened this week! Enjoy...
The cartoons come from:
If you receive this and you hate it and you don’t want to ever read it no matter what...that is fine; email me back and you will be deleted from my list (which is almost at the maximum anyway).
Previous issues are listed and can be accessed here:
http://kukis.org/page20.html (their contents are described and each issue is linked to) or here:
http://kukis.org/blog/ (this is the online directory they are in)
I attempt to post a new issue each Sunday by 2 or 3 pm central standard time (I sometimes fail at this attempt).
I try to include factual material only, along with my opinions (it should be clear which is which). I make an attempt to include as much of this week’s news as I possibly can. The first set of columns are intentionally designed for a quick read.
I do not accept any advertising nor do I charge for this publication. I write this principally to blow off steam in a nation where its people seemed have collectively lost their minds.
And if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, always remember: We do not struggle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12).
http://www.heritage.org/Issues/Welfare
A bomb kills 21 at a Christian church in Egypt on Yew Year’s day. A foreign-backed suicide-bomber is thought to be responsible. Muslims blame Zionists for this attack.
7 people die in tornadoes in Missouri and Arkansas. Tornadoes are almost non-existent this time of year.
Because there is such a maze of bureaucracies for a restaurant opening in New York City to go through, a new bureaucracy has been established in order to help the restauranteur wade through the other bureaucracies.
The President visits an old childhood friend with a 20 car motorcade. Maybe this was the kid who stole his lunch money?
Before Obama gives his state of the union message, a bill to repeal Obamacare will be offered up (which will very likely get some Democratic votes). This is per Representative Fred Upton.
There is a claim that union bosses in New York City ordered a slow down of snow removal services, which possibly resulted in 2 deaths.
There are a number or reports out now about how many healthcare costs are going up at the start of the new year.
One of the new Obamacare regulations will be that doctors will be paid to do end-of-life counseling on a yearly basis if desired, and provide the patient with federal brochures and videos.
The NY Times explains to us global warming deniers that extreme cold, great winter storms and snowfall this winter are more evidence of global warming. Nevertheless, we are promised that 2010 will be among the 3 warmest years on record and the decade ending in 2010 will be the warmest decade on record.
At this moment, Great Britain has enjoyed its coldest winter since 1683 and this could be its coldest winter in 1000 years.
Sightings of snow have been reported in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills, Cave Creek, Carefree, Peoria, Glendale and Anthem, Apache Junction, Mesa and parts of Phoenix. However, that is said to be another phenomenon which is a soft hail, which softens when it comes down, and looks like snow, but technically isn’t snow.
So-called British scientists have associated conservatism with a brain disorder. I wonder what are the chances that these scientists also believe in global warming?
Canada will begin the new year by cutting corporate taxes and we will begin our new year by figuring out a different method to count the unemployed.
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Society of Professional Journalists have called for an end of the terms illegals and illegal aliens.
Wikileaks founder warns that he will release documents which will spur coups in the Arab world.
The EPA is set to set up regulations against greenhouse gases, including the gas that we simply exhale (CO2). They will never regulate and they will never talk about the most abundant and potent greenhouse gas, however (which is not CO2).
Liberals:
President Obama, after reaching a compromise on the Bush tax cuts with the Republicans: "I will be happy to see the Republicans test whether or not I'm itching for a fight on a whole range of issues. I suspect they will find I am.”
Attorney General Eric Holder on the Black Panther voter intimidation case, which he has refused to prosecute: "The notion that this made-up controversy leads to a belief that this Justice Department is not color-blind in enforcement of civil rights laws is simply not supported by the facts." Not only is the well-documented and a slam-dunk case, but anyone can view these Black Panthers on YouTube in front of a polling place.
Joe Klein, Times editor: “Nothing much happened in 2010.” Lead line of an editorial by Klein, regarding 2010, which does not compare to 2008 or 2009 (according to Klein). Republicans are mentioned 8 times; the TEA party is not mentioned.
Ezra Klein, staff writer for the Washington Post: “[The American constitution] has no binding power on anything...and the issue of the constitution is that the text is confusing because it was written more than 100 years ago.” Klein has since tried to walk these remarks back.
Alex Pareene speculating as to why President Bush’s book has sold so well: “It may be the fact that he was hated by so many people....some people bought it as a gag; or some people got it as a gift and didn’t want it....my favorite speculative reason is, it’s just half as long [as Clinton’s book].” Bush has sold almost as many copies of his book in 2 months as Clinton’s “My Life” did with his after 2 years.
Katie Couric: “I also think sort of the chasm, between, or the bigotry expressed against Muslims in this country has been one of the most disturbing stories to surface this year. Of course, a lot of noise was made about the Islamic Center, mosque, down near the World Trade Center, but I think there wasn't enough sort of careful analysis and evaluation of where this bigotry toward 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, and how this seething hatred many people feel for all Muslims, which I think is so misdirected, and so wrong - and so disappointing. Maybe we need a Muslim version of The Cosby Show. I know that sounds crazy, I know that sounds crazy. But The Cosby Show did so much to change attitudes about African-Americans in this country, and I think sometimes people are afraid of what they don't understand.”
The AP: “Republican Susana Martinez has claimed her place in history as New Mexico's first female governor, taking office with the start of the new year.” Why not mention that fact that she is America’s first Latina governor? Oh, that’s right; she’s a Republican.
Top White House adviser Valerie Jarrett: President Obama's "biggest regret" is that the severity of the economic crisis forced him to "spend almost every waking hour in Washington focusing very hard on solving that crisis" and thus kept him from traveling the country to connect with the American people. According to Jarrett, Obama recently told aides, "I really want to figure out a way where I can spend more time outside of Washington listening and learning and engaging the American people." Obama has spent nearly 48% of his presidency outside of Washington.
Press secretary Robert Gibbs gets best spin award of 2010 in explaining the 2010 elections: “There was a responsibility of government that I think the Republicans got in the November elections and they began to understand that responsibility a little bit more in this lame duck session than they had in the previous, quite frankly, 18 months or so.
Robert Menendez, U.S. Senator, in his letter to Santa: “Dear Santa Claus, I am writing out of concern, because you may have to move from the North Pole due to the dramatic melting of Arctic sea ice. The Navy's chief oceanographer says that by the summer of 2020 the North Pole may not have summer ice and other scientists project that an ice-free Arctic is possible as soon as 2012! Scientists overwhelmingly agree that polar ice is melting because of greenhouse gas pollution and I am working hard to reduce these emissions... ”
Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) in a memo to his accomplices back in early November, when new regulations were being drafted to bring back end-of-life counseling (i.e., the death panels) into the healthcare law via regulation: "While we are very happy with the result, we won't be shouting it from the rooftops, because we aren't out of the woods yet. This regulation could be modified or reversed, especially if Republican leaders try to use this small provision to perpetuate the `death panel' myth. We would ask that you not broadcast this accomplishment out to any of your lists, even if they are `supporters' - emails can too easily be forwarded. Thus far, it seems that no press or blogs have discovered [the new Medicare regulations], but we will be keeping a close watch and may be calling on you if we need a rapid, targeted response. The longer this goes unnoticed, the better our chances of keeping it."
Alan Colmes (who is sound more and more like a parody of the left): "Oh, they got, look, the TEA Party was a bunch of angry white guys who went around and put up racist signs at these at, these events on lawn chairs who had nothing better to do on weekends than sit on lawn chairs with signs suggesting Obama was a Muslim who wasn't born in this country."
Liberals from the Past:
According to Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia, he predicted, around the year 2000, that, within a few years winter snowfall will become "a very rare and exciting event. Children just aren't going to know what snow is."
Liberals making sense:
Doug Shoen: “The Obama administration wants a don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy with regards to Gitmo.”
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt: "Meticulous attention should be paid to the special relationships and obligations of public servants to the public itself and to the government. All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations ... The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for ... officials ... to bind the employer ... The employer is the whole people, who speak by means of laws enacted by their representatives ... A strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent ... to prevent or obstruct ... Government ... Such action, looking toward the paralysis of Government ... is unthinkable and intolerable."
Conservatives:
Megyn Kelly (with respect to calling illegal aliens undocumented immigrants): “How far could you take this? I mean, you could say that a burglar is an unauthorized visitor; you could say that a rapist is a non-consensual sex partner.”
Tucker Carlson, after President Obama gave his opinion about Michael Vick’s second chance: “Why can’t the President acknowledge the value of an unexpressed thought?” Unfortunately, Carlson did not take his own advice when saying, in a panel discussion, that Michael Vick ought to be executed (there were about 100 videos on YouTube of this).
Charles Krauthammer: “My New Year’s resolution is to be more concise, starting now.” and then he shut up, with about 40 seconds left on the clock during the all-star panel. When pressed, he added, “And to reveal my kinder, gentler self, if I can find him.” (Quoted from memory).
Conservatives from the Past:
Oswald Spengler “Socialism is not a system of compassion, humanity, peace, and kindly care, but one of will-to-power. Any other reading of it is illusory.”
Conflicts, violence and wars will continue or very possibly break out in Côte d'Ivoire, Columbia, Zimbabwe, Iraq, Venezuela, Sudan, Mexico, Guatemala, Haiti, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Lebanon, Nigeria, Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
I’ve posted this before, but this was a great show; John Stossel on the Top 10 Politician’s Promises Gone Wrong (I’ve watched it 3x):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsUZkxyYJUk
Tucker Carlson talks to 2 people about global warming (after the NY Times article):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG2ElIK0OqY
Little Mosque on the Prairie, which appears to be a real show in Canada, now in its 5th season:
Fox has been doing commercials on the NFL, and they have been pretty funny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxIxrYitndI
New Black Panther leader Reveals collusion at NYC meeting with ahmadinejad to build alliance, secure raw materials and overthrow America:
1) I would love for Warren Buffet and Ted Turner to shut their yaps about how they want to pay more taxes, and simply start paying more taxes. Furthermore, the best thing that could happen in Haiti or in most African countries would be for either of these men to actually start a business there and hire locals. I don’t care if their workers are working for $1/day or $10/day, it is a better deal than most of them have right now.
2) I am leaning more and more toward ending all government subsidies and government taxes for corporations and companies.
3) Walter E. Williams just released his book, Up from the Projects: An Autobiography. Often, Williams will substitute host for Rush Limbaugh and then give Thomas Sowell a call. These men are 2 of the great economic minds of today, and their discussion of economics is an ecstatic experience for me. Both men are brilliant, yet understandable, and extremely funny. If you see any program where Williams is promoting his new book, set your Tivo to record it.
4) There has been a lot of talk about a dark horse candidate to come out of the Republican party. One of them is Jon Huntsman, Jr., who is in the Obama administration right now.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/could-obama-ambassador-jon-huntsman-jr-be-the-gops-2012-nominee/
5) I think I have been converted to the repeal of the 17th amendment. I doubt that this will ever pass, but the idea is, the House was supposed to represent the people in Congress and the Senate was supposed to represent the states, allowing for a further division and dilution of powers. The thinking is, many Senators would not have supported Obamacare, as it would not have been good for their state (Obamacare is going to dramatically raise state taxes).
6) Have you seen the new NRG commercials, and there is bouncy music playing, and people are dancing their way to the pump “to fill up” their cars with electricity. Does anyone know how long this will actually take?
Every child born today in the U.S. starts out with a $45,000 debt.
The 111th Congress alone put every single man, woman and child on the hook for $10,429 in the short 2 years it was in session. The House was headed by “pay-as-you-go” “no new deficit spending” Nancy Pelosi (yes, she said those things).
157 bank failures in 2010, the most since 1992.
Islamaphobia? 1.6% of all hate crimes in New York are directed toward Muslims.
37% of hate crimes in New York were directed toward Jews.
85% is the figure I have heard on more than one occasion for gays who use their gayness in order to get out of the military. The other 15% are put out against their will.
There will be 725 new laws in California in 2011. You can no longer maliciously impersonate someone else on an internet social site; parents who do not have their children in school enough can be put into prison for up to 1 year; and trans-fats will be banned in restaurants (is this for the entire state?). However, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana will only cost you $100.
At the 9/12 taxpayer march on Washington D.C., 5% of the signs mentioned the President’s race or religion. Less than 1% questioned his citizenship. A majority of the signs were related in one way or another to a smaller government. This is according to a study made by UCLA graduate student Emily Elkins, who walked throughout the crowd, taking photographs of as many signs as she could, to do a survey of later. If only someone had done a similar study of the signs at the restore sanity rally! How many of these signs would have revealed political stupidity and hatred?
Rasmussen Poll: Ground Zero Mosque Most Followed Story of 2010.
A Little Bias
With respect to the Rasmussen Poll referenced above (that the Ground Zero Mosque Most Followed Story of 2010): You may not recall this, but the media suppressed this story for weeks (and possibly months). I received an email with photographs, so that we could see what was going on that the news refused to report (I had this story even in my paper weeks before it was in the alphabet media). The TEA party was treated the same way. 3000–5000 TEA party people met in Sacramento for the first time, and NO ONE in the local Sacramento media reported on it (and it was like this all over the United States). TEA party activists gathering all over in hundreds of cities and NO MEDIA COVERAGE for months.
Washington Post deputy editor Colbert King: "I thought that the Democratic Party of South Carolina was the biggest foul-up when they gave us Alvin Greene, the unemployed veteran. But I think they were beaten out by the Republicans in Delaware who gave us Christine O'Donnell - who is the absolute worst candidate known to mankind."
See Hannity’s interview of O’Donnell (starts at about 1:20) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtdU5Fz1b_w
Lawrence O’Donnell’s interview with Alvin Greene (also a softball interview):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HER2pGdAak
You decide. By the way, even though both of these were “softball” interviews, which seemed to be the most even-handed and reasonable?
I just saw the Christiane Amanpour’s interview with Ted Turner, Warren Buffet and the Gates (and someone else). It was a few months back. It is hard to believe that Turner and Buffet are brilliant men. All of them support paying higher taxes, but none of them voluntarily give additional money to the government. However, to hear some of the things they are spending their money on for charity, e.g., the elimination of nuclear weapons (“We should at least try” Ted Turner said). Amanpour with her out of control lips and thoughtful expressions, Turner with his mustache and complete detachment from reality; and Buffet are all crying out to be imitated and mocked...where is SNL on this?
25 Democrats became Republicans in state legislatures.
“To move the country forward” = enacting more liberal legislation, but not quite as dramatic as in the previous 2 years.
With the Republicans in charge of the House, there is going to be an offensive launched against President Obama from the House. Up until this time, there has been no way Republicans in Congress could mount an offensive. Prior to this, all of the offensive action has been in the states.
Steve Hayes predicted that there will be a lot of talk about balancing the budget this year, and living within our means. Still, our national debt will be increased by $1 trillion or more this year. The last I checked, Paul Ryan, for whom I have a great deal of respect, was only talking about shaving off $100 million for the budget. 5 years ago, this would have been meaningful. Right now, it means very little.
Although Obama came to an agreement with conservatives on preserving the Bush tax cuts, I think that much of 2011 is going to be much more contentious.
Before Obama gives his state of the union message, a bill to repeal Obamacare will be offered up (which will very likely get some Democratic votes). Republican Rep. Fred Upton promises this.
The press was all over President Bush and deaths in the Iraq War, and a lot of air time was given to those who protested Iraq. There is almost no reporting at all about Iraq an Afghanistan, and much of it is generally pretty good.
Almost nothing is made of Obama’s promises to end these wars at such-and-such a day.
Will there be a three-pronged attack against conservatives? Get Fox News, get Talk Radio and get control of the internet. It won’t work if only one of these forms of free speech is left standing.
What President Obama did in 2 years is mind-boggling. No president since FDR has done that much. There is going to be a constant onslaught against our freedom by various federal agencies (like the FCC and the EPA) along with attempts to implement legislation which has already been passed. Conservatives are going to be faced with a many-headed monster which just keeps growing, even as various heads are lopped off. There is also the temptation to decide to use government control to administer the many sectors that Obama has taken over (the medical sector, the home and student loan business, much of the insurance sector, the food sector, etc.). Will Obama lure Republicans into accepting the control that he has laid the foundation for? After all, most politicians, Republican and Democrat, desire power, and Obama has provided the government with heretofore unheard of power. How much easier would it be to accept all the power and say to the people, “Don’t worry, we will give you whatever it is you want.”
EPA is Set to Regulate Greenhouse Gases
Obama ends 2010 by Rolling Republicans
Are Republicans as Spineless as the 111th Congress Indicates?
Come, let us reason together....
A Primer on the 2007-2009 Financial Mess
1. Politicians had policies which supported bad lending practices. They believed that not enough loans were being made to minority groups, so they expanded the power and scope of the Community Reinvestment Act, which was designed to get more minorities to buy homes.
2. There was the problem of minority incomes not being high enough and their credit not being good enough to get home loans.
3. FNMA and FHLMC are quasi-government institutions (now, fully government institutions) which make the rules for buying mortgages, as mortgage companies do not hold their mortgages; they sell them on the secondary mortgage market, and use that money to make new loans. In the past, FNMA and FHLMC had strict loan requirements, so that people who met those requirements were highly unlikely to default on a mortgage loan.
4. At first, some lending institutions did not go along with these practices.
5. These lending institutions were excoriated by activist groups (like ACORN). These groups even demonstrated out in front of the private homes of various bank presidents, scaring their families.
6. At the same time, there was the threat that the government would no longer buy their loans. Mortgage companies function by making loans, not by holding loans, so this would destroy any mortgage company.
7. Lending institutions which made a lot of minority loans, taking advantage of the new relaxed standards of FNMA and FHLMC, were rewarded.
8. All of a sudden, millions of people who previously could not buy a home were now qualified. This flooded the market with millions of new buyers, who did not have to qualify in terms of income and credit (strong indicators of loan-worthiness).
9. This flood of new buyers drove housing prices up, which is simple supply and demand economics. This is the great housing bubble of the early and mid-2000's where homes increased in value by as much as 100% or more in some communities.
10. Since loans had become easier to get, millions more people refinanced their homes, with the inflated home value, and pulled cash out of this refinancing. This meant more people had more money, which meant more spending, which inflated our economy and the market (some of this money was invested, of course).
11. At the same time, revenues to the state governments kept on going up, because housing values escalated to a tremendous degree. States had tons of new money coming in from taxes.
12. State governments began using this money to buy votes and to incur favor from their various constituencies. I doubt that many states recognized that this was a lot of new money coming in, and that maybe they ought to bank it or reduce property taxes.
13. When a huge percentage of these questionable loans went bad, the housing market crashed.
14. As the home values went down, some people walked away from their loans simply because they were "under water" (the house was no longer worth its inflated value, and, therefore, the loan against the house was greater than the value of the house).
15. As the value of the houses went down, revenue to state governments suddenly went down causing enormous state-by-state debt.
16. At one time, investing in the mortgage market was a sure thing, so virtually every pension fund and many investment groups were heavily invested in the housing market (please realize that the amount of money this represents makes ENRON look like a child's lemonade stand).
17. So, as the housing market crashed, so did the stock market and every single investment portfolio. As the stock market began to spiral because the housing market was at an artificially inflated value, this pulled down the rest of the market with it (with automatic buys and sells built into the system, this can happen in just a few hours).
18. As a result, the exact same politicians who caused this mess blamed predatory lending practices-the same practices which their policies encouraged! Of course, they quickly blamed the President in charge (President George W. Bush, who attempted to reform FNMA and FHLMC practices, which attempts were shot down by the opposing party). These same politicians also blamed capitalism and they blamed Wall Street, because the housing market caused the entire market to crash.
19. Again, the politicians who caused housing bubble, the worthless loans, the inevitable housing bubble bursting, the resultant market crash and our present financial woes then blamed everyone except themselves.
Taken From:
http://kukis.org/Samuel/2Sam_11.htm
The Right Way to Balance the Budget
By Andrew G. Biggs, Kevin A. Hassett,
The federal debt is at its highest level since the aftermath of World War II-and it's projected to rise further. Simply stabilizing debt levels would require an immediate and permanent 23% increase in all federal tax revenues or equivalent cuts in government expenditures, according to Congressional Budget Office forecasts. What's clear is that to avoid a crisis, the federal government must undergo a significant retrenchment, or fiscal consolidation. The question is whether to do so by raising taxes or reducing government spending.
Rumors have it that President Obama will propose steps to address growing deficits in his next State of the Union address. The natural impulse of a conciliator might be to split the difference: reduce the deficit with equal parts spending cuts and tax increases. But history suggests that such an approach would be a recipe for failure.
In new research that builds on the pioneering work of Harvard economists Alberto Alesina and Silvia Ardagna, we analyzed the history of fiscal consolidations in 21 countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development over 37 years. Some of those nations repaired their fiscal problems; many did not. Our goal was to establish a detailed recipe for success. If the United States were to copy past consolidations that succeeded, what would it do?
This is an important question, because failed consolidations are more the rule than the exception. To be blunt, countries in fiscal trouble generally get there by making years of concessions to their left wing, and their fiscal consolidations tend to make too many as well. As a result, successful consolidations are rare: In only around one-fifth of cases do countries reduce their debt-to-GDP ratios by the relatively modest sum of 4.5 percentage points three years following the beginning of a consolidation. Finland from 1996 to 1998 and the United Kingdom in 1997 are two examples of successful consolidations.
The data also clearly indicate that successful attempts to balance budgets rely almost entirely on reduced government expenditures, while unsuccessful ones rely heavily on tax increases. On average, the typical unsuccessful consolidation consisted of 53% tax increases and 47% spending cuts.
By contrast, the typical successful fiscal consolidation consisted, on average, of 85% spending cuts. While tax increases play little role in successful efforts to balance budgets, there are some cases where governments reduced spending by more than was needed to lower the budget deficit, and then went on to cut taxes. Finland's consolidation in the late 1990s consisted of 108% spending cuts, accompanied by modest tax cuts.
Consistent with other studies, we found that successful consolidations focused on reducing social transfers, which in the American context means entitlements, and also on cuts to the size and pay of the government work force. A 1996 International Monetary Fund study concluded that "fiscal consolidation that concentrates on the expenditure side, and especially on transfers and government wages, is more likely to succeed in reducing the public debt ratio than tax-based consolidation." For example, in the U.K's 1997 consolidation, cuts to transfers made up 32% of expenditure cuts, and cuts to government wages made up 21%.
Likewise, a 1996 research paper by Columbia University economist Roberto Perotti concluded that "the more persistent adjustments are the ones that reduce the deficit mainly by cutting two specific types of outlays: social expenditure and the wage component of government consumption. Adjustments that do not last, by contrast, rely primarily on labor-tax increases and on capital-spending cuts."
The numbers are striking. Our research shows that the typical successful consolidation allocates 38% of the spending cuts to entitlements and 25% to reductions in government salaries. The residual comes from areas such as subsidies, infrastructure and defense.
Why is reducing entitlements and government pay so important? One explanation is that lower social transfers spur people to work and save. Reducing the government work force shifts resources to the more productive private sector.
Another reason is credibility. Governments that take on entrenched, politically sensitive spending show citizens and financial markets they are serious about fiscal responsibility.
While tax hikes slow revenue growth, policies that credibly reduce government spending in the long run boost economic growth by more than their simple effects on deficits might imply. Any attempt to address the federal government's budget shortfall that relies on less than 85% spending cuts runs too large a risk of failure. The experience of so many other countries shows that it's crucial for the U.S. to get this right.
From:
http://andrewgbiggs.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-article-right-way-to-balance-budget.html
By John Stossel
Last year, Congress passed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act. It was supposed to really end the alleged abuses perpetrated by the credit card companies. The law forbids some penalties and interest-rate increases on existing balances.
It is one of President Obama's proudest achievements.
"Enough's enough," he said. "It's time for strong, reliable protection for our consumers."
Reform, he said, would not come at the expense of honest businesses. "Unless your business model depends on cutting corners or bilking your customers, you've got nothing to fear."
Finally! Protection! A new bureaucracy will stop greedy credit card companies from unfairly penalizing you. And it won't threaten the credit business. Yippie!
How has it worked out?
Not so well. George Mason University Law Professor Todd Zywicki points out that the new restrictions hurt more consumers than they help.
Since the Card Act passed, mortgage and Treasury bill rates have dropped a little, but credit card interest went up -- from 13 percent to nearly 15 percent. Some banks also stopped offering credit to some people. JPMorgan Chase cut off 15 percent of its customers.
So the real result of this "consumer" regulation? "Hundreds of thousands of people can't get cards who used to be able to have cards, and all the rest of us now have to pay more," Zywicki said.
But maybe the people who can't get credit cards are better off because they couldn't handle credit wisely?
"Just to say they don't have a credit card doesn't mean that they don't have credit," Zywicki retorts. "They'll just go to more expensive places -- the local payday lender or the local pawn shop."
And pay a lot for credit. Payday lenders make small short-term loans, sometimes just till payday. But the annual interest is nasty -- often more than 500 percent. Several states have outlawed payday lenders. The politicians say they do it to help low-income people. But again, their "help" harms. The lenders' former customers complain that the payday lenders were their only way to avoid missing a bill payment -- and maybe having the lights shut off.
"It's not just a matter sometimes of saving money," one borrower told us. "It's a matter of saving yourself grief."
Maybe they should get a credit card. Then they'd have lower interest payments. But of course Congress just made that tougher.
"People who have limited choices when it comes to credit are not likely to have their situations improved by taking away some of those limited options that they have," Zywicki says.
This is a lesson the elitist reformers are determined never to learn. Or maybe the elite like creating new problems. It gives them new chances to ride to the rescue and pose as great humanitarians. Someone likened this to breaking people's kneecaps, then compassionately providing crutches.
Without regulation, wouldn't banks charge monster fees and high interest?
"Certainly they would," Zywicki said. "The problem is they can't. I've got four credit cards in my wallet. As I sit here talking to you, my credit cards are competing for my business. If one tries to rip me off, or charge me too much, I'll switch to another."
The law of unintended consequences is never more clear than in the capping of interest -- so-called usury laws. Arkansas once capped interest rates at 10 percent.
"Very few people could get a credit card in Arkansas as a result," Zywicki said.
Arkansas then became known as the pawn shop capital of America. Pawn shop interest can be 250 percent.
To Sen. Chris Dodd, President Obama and all the credit "reformers," Zywicki says this:
"In the 1960s, the second biggest revenue source of organized crime was illegal lending. Is that the world we want to go back to, where we get rid of payday lending, and we're so morally outraged that we're going to put people in the hands of the leg-breakers and the loan sharks? They charged an interest rate that was well over 1,000 percent, and their collection techniques were a lot tougher than your local pawn shops."
When will the political do-gooders realize that the most vulnerable people in society can't take any more of their kindness?
From:
http://patriotpost.us/opinion/john-stossel/2010/12/29/please-stop-helping-us/
By Thomas Sowell
The Constitution of the United States begins with the words "We the people." But neither the Constitution nor "we the people" will mean anything if politicians and judges can continue to do end runs around both.
Bills passed too fast for anyone to read them are blatant examples of these end runs. But last week, another of these end runs appeared in a different institution when the medical "end of life consultations" rejected by Congress were quietly enacted through bureaucratic fiat by administrators of Medicare.
Although Congressman Earl Blumenauer and Senator Jay Rockefeller had led an effort by a group of fellow Democrats in Congress to pass Section 1233 of pending Medicare legislation, which would have paid doctors to include "end of life" counselling in their patients' physical checkups, the Congress as a whole voted to delete that provision.
Republican Congressman John Boehner, soon to become Speaker of the House, objected to this provision in 2009, saying: "This provision may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia."
Whatever the merits or demerits of the proposed provision in Medicare legislation, the Constitution of the United States makes the elected representatives of "we the people" the ones authorized to make such decisions. But when proposals explicitly rejected by a vote in Congress are resurrected and stealthily made the law of the land by bureaucratic fiat, there has been an end run around both the people and the Constitution.
Congressman Blumenauer's office praised the Medicare bureaucracy's action but warned: "While we are very happy with the result, we won't be shouting it from the rooftops because we are not out of the woods yet."
In other words, don't let the masses know about it.
It is not only members of Congress or the administration who treat "we the people" and the Constitution as nuisances to do an end run around. Judges, including Justices of the Supreme Court, have been doing this increasingly over the past hundred years.
During the Progressive era of the early 20th century, the denigration of the Constitution began, led by such luminaries as Princeton scholar and future President of the United States Woodrow Wilson, future Harvard Law School Dean Roscoe Pound and future Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis.
As a Professor at Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson wrote condescendingly of "the simple days of 1787" when the Constitution was written and how, in our presumably more complex times, "each generation of statesmen looks to the Supreme Court to supply the interpretation which will serve the needs of the day."
This kind of argument would be repeated for generations, with no more evidence that 1787 was any less complicated than later years than Woodrow Wilson presented-- which was none-- and with no more reasons why the need for "change" meant that unelected judges should be the ones making those changes, as if there were no elected representatives of the people.
Professor Roscoe Pound likewise referred to the need for "a living constitution by judicial interpretation," in order to "respond to the vital needs of present-day life." He rejected the idea of law as "a body of rules."
But if law is not a body of rules, what is it? A set of arbitrary fiats by judges, imposing their own vision of "the needs of the times"? Or a set of arbitrary regulations stealthily emerging from within the bowels of a bureaucracy?
Louis Brandeis was another leader of this Progressive era chorus of demands for moving beyond law as rules. He cited "newly arisen social needs" and "a shifting of our longing from legal justice to social justice."
In other words, judges were encouraged to do an end run around rules, such as those set forth in the Constitution, and around the elected representatives of "we the people." As Roscoe Pound put it, law should be "in the hands of a progressive and enlightened caste whose conceptions are in advance of the public."
That is still the vision of the left a hundred years later. The Constitution cannot protect us unless we protect the Constitution, by voting out those who promote end runs around it.
From:
http://patriotpost.us/opinion/thomas-sowell/2010/12/28/political-end-runs/
The 10 Worst Predictions for 2010
By Joshua E. Keating
1. "More people are going to be put to work this summer." -Vice President Joe Biden, White House briefing, June 17, 2010
The "recovery summer," as the White House termed it, seemed like a good bet for the administration after more than 300,000 new jobs were added between March and May -- admittedly not enough to keep up with the number of people entering the workforce -- but the economy actually retrenched over the course of the summer. By August, private-sector job growth had had fallen by two-thirds, the unemployment rate was still at 9.5 percent, and GDP growth had fallen to just 2.4 percent -- nowhere near fast enough to make up for the crash.
The summer of disappointment quickly became a fall of despair when it was announced that the unemployment rate had increased to 9.8 percent in November -- and voters punished Biden's party accordingly during the midterm elections.
2. "The market is telling you that something is not quite right ... The Chinese economy is going to slow down regardless. It is more likely that we will even have a crash sometime in the next nine to 12 months." -Investment analyst Marc Faber, Interview on Bloomberg, May 3, 2010
Well, to be fair, the Chinese economy has slowed since the famously bearish investor and analyst made his prediction ... to a still-astounding 9.5 percent growth, one of the highest rates in the world and well above Beijing's fixed 8 percent target. If the crash is coming, it's taking its time.
Other outspoken China bears this year included investor James Chanos, who predicted that the country's property bubble would begin to burst in late 2010, unleashing "Dubai times 1,000 -- or worse." Property values are still rising, though they seem to be starting to cool.
Analysts have been predicting the end of the Chinese miracle for the last 30 years, but it never seems to happen. Maybe 2011 will finally be the year, but don't bet on it.
3. "Sharron Angle beating Harry Reid, followed by an uncomfortable and possibly bitter concession speech from Harry Reid. ... Charlie Crist, an independent beating Marco Rubio, throwing a wrench in the Tea Party and extreme right winners of the night. ... I am one of the few of the mind-set that Christine O'Donnell could actually pull this thing off. ... In the tight and hugely expensive California race, I predict a win for the former CEO of eBay." -Meghan McCain, The Daily Beast, Nov. 2, 2010
Generally speaking, most pundits called the 2010 U.S. midterm elections pretty accurately. It was widely predicted that Republicans would take the House in a landslide but come up just short in the Senate, which is exactly what happened.
But Sen. John McCain's daughter and Dirty Sexy Politics author Meghan McCain's election day predictions were in a category of their own. Of the five races she called, she got only one right -- Lisa Murkowski edged out Joe Miller in Alaska. Nevada may have been a tough call, but there's a reason that few were "of the mind-set" that O'Donnell had a prayer in the Delaware senate race; she was trailing by 10 points heading into election day.
McCain also gets extra points for referring to her father's close friend Sen. Joe Lieberman as a "former Republican." The Senator, who ran for both vice president and president as a Democrat, is now an independent who still caucuses with his old party.
4. "The detention facilities at Guantánamo for individuals covered by this order shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than 1 year from the date of this order. If any individuals covered by this order remain in detention at Guantánamo at the time of closure of those detention facilities, they shall be returned to their home country, released, transferred to a third country, or transferred to another United States detention facility in a manner consistent with law and the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States." -President Barack Obama, Executive Order, Jan. 22, 2009
OK, so this isn't exactly a prediction, but Obama made closing Guantánamo a central promise of his presidential campaign and seemed awfully confident during his first weeks in office that getting it done was a matter of giving the order. When his self-imposed deadline passed on Jan. 22, there were still 196 detainees housed in at the prison. Currently, there are 174, and only three of them have been found guilty at trial.
Admittedly, Obama has faced tough obstacles, ranging from the legal mess left by his predecessor to foreign governments reluctant to take in detainees to Republican lawmakers who object to civilian trials for terror suspects, most notably 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Additionally, the administration now plans to hold around 50 detainees indefinitely without trial in the United States, whether or not Gitmo is eventually closed.
This month, the Senate began consideration of a bill that would block the closure of the controversial facility as will as civilian trials for its detainees. The measure is likely to gain more support in the new, Republican-dominated Congress, so Obama's promise will likely remain unfulfilled for the remainder of his term.
5. "We've got a government in a box, ready to roll in." -Gen. Stanley McChrystal, to Dexter Filkins of the New York Times, Feb. 12, 2010
The offensive into the southern Afghan city of Marjah, a reputed Taliban stronghold, was supposed to be a turning point for the coalition in Afghanistan. NATO forces would take the town while trying to minimize civilian casualties and quickly move in a team of Afghan administrators, including a governor and 1,900 police, to provide security as soon as the shooting stopped. The long-planned and much-ballyhooed operation was to be a model for tougher and bigger targets such as Kandahar. On March 2, shortly U.S. troops took the town, McChrystal told the Washinton Post, "We're not at the end of the military phase, but we're clearly approaching that."
Ninety days later, McChrystal described Marjah as a "bleeding ulcer" in the Afghan campaign, as coalition forces struggled with incompetent local officials and a surprisingly robust local insurgency. As one local resident put it in May, "By day there is government. By night it's the Taliban."
In December, almost a year after the initial assault, the commanding U.S. general in the area, Richard Mills, finally declared the battle of Marjah "essentially over," though he admitted that the Taliban was still active on the outskirts of the town and refused to hazard a guess as to when NATO troops would be able to pull out, leaving the "government in a box" to finally govern itself. By that point, McChrystal was out of a job.
6. "Well it won't be a bailout. We don't have the specifics, because this is very new, as to what the financial tool will be, but it could be anything from a guarantee to finding other ways of borrowing money. But again it's not going to be handouts." -Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, BBC interview, Feb. 21, 2010
"Ireland is making no application for the funding... because clearly we are pre-funded right up to the middle of next year." -Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen, BBC interview, Nov. 15, 2010
When European prime ministers start repeatedly denying that they will need an EU bailout, it's never a good sign. Just two months after Papandreou clearly stated that he wouldn't go asking for a bailout for his nation's embattled economy, he formally requested exactly that from the EU and IMF, calling it a "a national and pressing necessity." The request was approved in May to the tune of $146.2 billion, and not a moment too soon. Analysts feared that Greece's economic woes could imperil other Eurozone economies, leading to contagion. Ireland was next to fall. After months of resisting, Ireland applied for a $100 billion bailout just a week after Cowen declared the country "pre-funded" until next year.
So when Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero confidently declared in November that there is "absolutely" no chance of Spain needing a bailout, there's good reason to be skeptical.
7. "The Bolivarian leader's vaunted popularity tumbles. The mood among the humblest Venezuelans, who put Comandante Hugo in power in the first place, and the disgruntled middle class, accustomed to Western-style consumerism, turns mean. The military steps in to depose Chávez and restore order, as 21st-century socialism spins toward the familiar 20th-century tableau of scarcity, poverty, and chaos." -Newsweek, World Predictions for 2010, December 2009
Some of Newsweek's predictions were spot on. The venerable weekly correctly called a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in Britain and a new round of financial woes for Europe. But the magazine's editors did themselves no favors with the odd specificity of their prediction for Venezuela. Chávez himself scoffed at the prediction last year, saying that Newsweek "feeds on hatred and the wishes of the imperialism that they represent."
A year later, Chávez's popularity is down, but el presidente is not out. In fact, the Venezuelan parliament appears poised to once again grant him sweeping new emergency powers. As for Newsweek, it was sold for a reported price of $1 in August. Sounds like Hugo may have had the last laugh.
8. "[W]e should be wondering how many are aware that from June 20 U.S. warships, including the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman, escorted by one or more nuclear submarines and other warships carrying missiles and cannons more powerful than the old battleships used during the last World War between 1939 and 1945, have been moving toward the Iranian coast via the Suez Canal. This movement of the Yankee naval forces is accompanied by Israeli military ships, carrying equally sophisticated weaponry, intended to supervise any vessel involved in the import or export of commercial products required by the Iranian economy for its operations.[...] I initially thought, as I analyzed the current situation, that the conflict would start at the Korean peninsula, where the second Korean War would break out, and that another war would immediately follow; the one that the United States would impose on Iran.
Now, we are witnessing a different turn of events: the war in Iran will immediately spark off that of Korea.” -Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Granma, June 25, 2010
Throughout June, Cuba's former revolutionary leader turned tracksuit-wearing, all-purpose pundit wrote a series of columns predicting that the world was on the brink of a nuclear war. First, he surmised that the United States had engineered the sinking of the South Korean vessel Cheonan to create a pretext for attacking North Korea. Then, he seemed to change his mind, theorizing that Israel and the United States would "take advantage of the enormous interest aroused by the football World Cup" in South Africa to prepare an attack on Iran that would then spark a nuclear conflict on the Korean peninsula. In either scenario, it looked like a rough summer.
By July, Castro admitted that he had jumped the gun a bit by predicting nuclear conflict by the end of the World Cup, but said he still felt that an atomic Armaggedon was imminent. "When something like this [nuclear war] begins, all the responses are preprogrammed. ... It is only a question of seconds," he told a group of visiting foreign ministers. In August, he was still warning of an imminent nuclear war in Korea and Iran during a rare appearance before the Cuban parliament, though given that he also repeatedly referred to Russia as the U.S.S.R. and said that the Big Bang happened 18,000 years ago in the same speech, some skepticism is probably warranted.
9. "Once that uranium, once those fuel rods are very close to the reactor, certainly once they're in the reactor, attacking it means a release of radiation, no question about it. ... So if Israel is going to do anything against Bushehr it has to move in the next eight days." -John Bolton, Fox Business Channel, Aug. 17, 2010
The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations made this list last year for repeatedly pronouncing that Israel and the United States were running out of time to attack Iran's nuclear program, a claim he's been making since at least 2007. This year, he was at it again, declaiming the necessity of attacking the Iranian reactor at Bushehr, regardless of the fact that it's a plutonium-powered reactor for civilian power and "does not represent a proliferation risk," according to the U.S. State Department.
Worse, although Bolton's initial timeline for attacking Bushehr was eight days from Aug. 17, later the same day, in an interview with Israeli radio, it had shrunk to three. But not to worry: Despite the many, many Rubicons that we have now crossed, Bolton still believes it's a great time to bomb Iran.
10. "There is a high probability that the collapse of the United States will occur by 2010." -Russian Foreign Ministry Diplomatic Academy Dean Igor Panarin, speech at the academy, March 3, 2009
It might be easy to dismiss Panarin as a crank, but the former KGB analyst heads the Russian Foreign Ministry's academy for future diplomats and is a fixture on mainstream media outlets in Russia. For years, Panarin has predicted that immigration, economic decline, and moral degradation would together lead to the demise of the United States in 2010. And he's done so with remarkable specificity: His research led him to believe that in June or July, the United States would break into six pieces and that Alaska would finally return to Russian control. (The Palins are undoubtedly on high alert.)
Panarin's theories started to get new international attention after the economic crash of 2008, but thankfully, America made it through the long, hot summer of 2010 (mostly) intact.
From:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/12/17/the_10_worst_predictions_for_2010?wpisrc=obinsite
Headlines in 2011
Shock nuptials: Harry Reid, Scott Brown to wed
Death panel unplugs Grandma
First lady admits Twinkie/Hawaiian Punch diet
Bin Laden found working as TSA screener,
Napolitano says his skills 'useful for the job'
President: balanced budget proposal "irresponsible"
Media Matters declares fatwah on 'right-wing' NYT
Redskins announce new stadium in D.C.
Haiti offers aid after U.S. bond collapse
China forecloses on United States,
Vacate order to take effect in 2 weeks
Mayor Emanuel to Cubs: Win pennant or else
Pelosi reads Obamacare bill:
'Shocking what's in there'
Steele quits RNC, doesn't blame racism
Toyota plagued by record recalls,
Ford overtakes GM as No. 1 automaker
WikiLeaks releases Clinton White House 976 calls
Gay barracks wins interior design award
Sugar banned as drug, DEA doubles staff
Matt Drudge wins Pulitzer
Sen. Murkowski resigns,
Bristol appointed to fill vacant seat
Limbaugh announces presidential bid
Weather average everywhere, climate change blamed
Gore shifts focus, denounces flat Earth
IRS worker dies in 1099 avalanche
Congress repeals lightbulb ban, EPA refuses to comply
Democrats look to future, rebrand as 'Whigs'
Judge rules Constitution unconstitutional
From:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/dec/30/editorial-year-ahead/
Definitions: Alien, Immigrant, Illegal Alien, Undocumented Immigrant
from Adversity.Net
These related terms are often used in deliberately confusing and conflicting ways. Here is a set of definitions that will help you sort out the difference.
IMMIGRANT: In popular usage, an "immigrant" is generally understood to be a person who migrates to another country, usually for permanent residence. Under this definition, therefore, an "immigrant" is an alien admitted to the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident. The emphasis in this definition is upon the presumptions that (1) the immigrant followed U.S. laws and procedures in establishing residence in our country; (2) he or she wishes to reside here permanently; and (3) he or she swears allegiance to our country or at least solemnly affirms that he/she will observe and respect our laws and our Constitution.
ALIEN: By contrast, an "alien" is generally understood to be a foreigner -- a person who comes from a foreign country -- who does not owe allegiance to our country.
ILLEGAL ALIEN: An "illegal alien" is a foreigner who (1) does not owe allegiance to our country; and (2) who has violated our laws and customs in establishing residence in our country. He or she is therefore a criminal under applicable U.S. laws.
The term "illegal alien" is used by U.S. citizens who believe that non-citizens entering our country must comply with our immigration laws.
The term "illegal alien" is predicated upon U.S. immigration law which requires foreigners entering the U.S. to comply with our country's rules and laws regarding entry into, and residence within, our country.
UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT: The term "undocumented immigrant" is an oxymoron (the parts conflict). An immigrant is synonymous with "permanent legal resident." The old term for the document authorizing a permanent legal resident is "green card." The term "undocumented" is derived from the accurate term "undocumented aliens" who are often called "border crossers." Proper terms are "illegal alien" or "undocumented alien" but not "undocumented immigrant." Although not commonly used, the term "documented alien" accurately refers to foreign nationals who have an unexpired non-immigrant visa such as H-1B.
Most U.S. citizens do not use the term "undocumented immigrant" and prefer, instead, the more descriptive and accurate term "illegal alien".
The term "undocumented immigrant" is used by those who believe in "open borders", i.e., non-regulation of foreigners entering into and assuming residence in the U.S., including even those foreigners who owe allegiance to a foreign government and/or who may intend harm to the U.S.
DISCUSSION:
Commonly, in U.S. politics and U.S. news stories, the term "alien" is most often used with the modifier "illegal".
By contrast, the term "immigrant" is often deliberately used without a modifier, leaving the impression -- correct or not -- that the immigrant is legally or permissibly in the U.S. under our laws. Of course, this is frequently not the case!
Liberal politicians and news organizations prefer to refer to illegal aliens as "undocumented immigrants" because this term deliberately deflects discussion away from the fact that such individuals are in our country illegally. The term "undocumented immigrant" is designed to deliberately gloss over the fact that such individuals have broken our laws.
Conversely, conservative and libertarian politicians and news organizations tend to refer to illegal aliens as "illegal aliens" which properly keeps the focus of the discussion on the fact that such individuals have broken our laws and are therefore criminals to one degree or another, and that these individuals do not owe allegiance to our country.
In fact, folks who like to use the term undocumented immigrant also tend to believe we should be spending U.S. taxpayer funds to provide illegal aliens (criminals) with health care, social security and in some cases in state tuition at our colleges and universities. They also tend to believe that illegal aliens should be able to obtain U.S. drivers' licenses, open U.S. bank accounts, and be free from arrest and deportation by our police officers.
From:
http://www.adversity.net/Terms_Definitions/TERMS/Illegal-Undocumented.htm
16 brewing conflicts for 2011:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/12/28/next_years_wars?page=full
25 state legislators who were Democrats and became Republicans this past year (one changeover gave the Louisiana state legislature over to the GOP for the first time since reconstruction):
Black Supremacists Spew Racism at the "White Man" on Christmas Eve in Oklahoma City (video and text):
Virginia history book filled with inaccuracies:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/review-finds-va-history-textbooks-filled-with-errors/
2010 is the year of the TEA party. Also, this is a nice little primer on what happened in 2010:
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/135541-2010-the-year-of-the-tea-party
Good article about What Obama faces in 2011:
http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/12/31/what-obama-faces-2011
NY Times on global warming:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/opinion/26cohen.html?_r=1
New NYC restaurant bureaucracy to help restauranteurs to wade through the other 11 city agencies, 30 permits and 23 inspections which might be necessary:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/28/nyregion/28permits.html?_r=1
Hate Crimes in New York:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/emperor_mike_snow_blindness_vfNwvyGxjmsQXkyHW8A7MI/1
TEA party sign survey:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/13/AR2010101303634.html
Ezra Klein on the constitution:
Ron Paul sees the free market versus big government as fundamentally a moral issue:
Conservatism is a brain disorder?
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/scientific-study-boils-conservatism-down-to-a-brain-problem/
Rush was on vacation.
Since there are some links you may want to go back to from time-to-time, I am going to begin a list of them here. This will be a list to which I will add links each week.
Political Chips:
http://www.politicalchips.org/
Brits at their best:
http://www.britsattheirbest.com/
Political Affairs, which used to be called the Communist (in case you are interested in what the Democratic Par, I mean, the communist party is up to.
Headlines, short news stories:
Christmas is evil (Muslim website):
http://xmasisevil.com/index2.php
Conservative blogger:
http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com/
Verum Serum
The Tax Professor Blog
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/
Moonbattery:
Arbitrary Vote:
The Party of Know:
Slap Blog
The latest news from Prison Planet:
http://prisonplanet.tv/latest-news.html
Right Wing News:
The Frugal Café:
http://www.frugal-cafe.com/public_html/frugal-blog/frugal-cafe-blogzone/
The Left Coast Rebel:
http://www.leftcoastrebel.com/
The Freedomist:
Greg Gutfeld’s website:
This is one of my favorite lists; this is a list of things which global warming causes (right now, it causes over 800 things—most of these are linked):
http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm
The U.K.’s number watch:
http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/number%20watch.htm
100 things we can say goodbye to (or, hello to) because of Global Warming (all of these are linked). They are very serious about these things, by the way:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/09/climate_100.html
If you are busy, and just want to read about the Top Ten things:
http://planetsave.com/2009/06/07/global-warming-effects-and-causes-a-top-10-list/
Observations of a blue state conservative:
http://lonelyconservative.com/
Thomas “Soul man” Sewell’s column archive:
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell1.asp
Walter E. Williams column archive:
http://townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/
Israpundit:
The Prairie Pundit:
http://prairiepundit.blogspot.com/
Conservative Art:
Conservative Club of Houston:
Conservative blog, but with an eye to the culture and pop culture (there is a lot of stuff here):
http://hallofrecord.blogspot.com/
Conservative and pop culture blog (last I looked, there were some Beatles’ performances here):
http://thinkinboutstuff.com/thinkinboutstuff/nfblog/
Raging Elephants:
http://www.ragingelephants.org/
Gulag bound:
Hyscience:
Politi Fi
TEA Party Patriots:
South Montgomery County Liberty Group:
http://sites.google.com/site/smclibertygroup/
Hole in the Hull:
National Council for Policy Analysis (ideas changing the world):
Ordering their pamphlets:
http://www.policypatriots.org/
Cartoon (Senator Meddler):
Bear Witness:
http://bearwitness.info/default.aspx
http://bearwitness.info/BEARWITNESSMAIN.aspx (there are a million vids on this second page)
Right Change (facts presented in an entertaining manner):
Bias alert from the Media Research Center:
http://www.mrc.org/biasalert/archive.aspx
Excellent conservative blogger:
http://mikesamerica.blogspot.com/
Send this link to the young people you know (try the debt quiz; I only got 6 out of 10 right):
Center for Responsive Politics:
The Chamber Post (pro-business blog):
Labor Pains (a pro-business, anti-union blog):
These people are after our children and after church goers as well:
Their opposition:
http://resistingthegreendragon.com/
The Doug Ross Journal (lots of pictures and cartoons):
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/
The WSJ Guide to Financial Reform
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703315404575250382363319878.html
The WSJ Guide to Obamacare:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471504574441193211542788.html
The WSJ Guide to Climate Change
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704007804574574101605007432.html
Video-heavy news source:
Political News:
Planet Gore; blogs about the environment:
http://www.nationalreview.com/planet-gore
The Patriot Post:
PA Pundits, whose motto is, “the relentless pursuit of common sense” (I used many of the quotations which they gathered)
http://papundits.wordpress.com/
Index of (business) freedom, world rankings:
http://www.heritage.org/index/pdf/2010/Index2010_ExecutiveHighlights.pdf
U.S. State economic freedom:
http://www.pacificresearch.org/docLib/20080909_Economic_Freedom_Index_2008.pdf
The All-American Blogger:
http://www.allamericanblogger.com/
The Right Scoop (with lots of vids):
In case you have not seen it yet, Obsession:
http://www.therightscoop.com/saturday-cinema-obsession-radical-islams-war-against-the-west
Inside Islam; what a billion Muslims think:
World Net Daily (News):
Excellent blog with lots of cool vids:
http://benhoweblog.wordpress.com/
Black and Right:
http://www.black-and-right.com/
The Right Network:
Video on the Right Network:
http://rightnetwork.com/videos/860061517
The newly designed Democrat website:
Composition of Congress 1855–2010:
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0774721.htm
Anti-American and pro-socialist, pro-Arabic:
http://www.zeropartypolitics.com/
The anti-Jihad resistence (which appears to be a set of links to similar websites):
http://www.antijihadresistance.com/
Seems to be fair and balanced with an international news approach:
Black and Right dot com:
http://www.black-and-right.com/ (the future liberal of the day is quite humorous)
Mostly a liberal blogger, who says vicious things about most conservatives; and yet, says something sensible, e.g. posting many of the things which the healthcare bill does to us.
Conservative news site (many of the stories include videos):
Muslim hope:
http://www.muslimhope.com/index.html
Anti-Obama sites:
http://howobamagotelected.com/
http://www.impeachobamacampaign.com/
International news, mostly about Israel and the Middle East:
News headlines sites (with links):
http://www.thedeadpelican.com/
Business blog and news:
And I have begun to sort out these links:
News and Opinions
Conservative News/Opinion Sites
The Daily Caller
Sweetness and Light
Flopping Aces:
News busters:
Right wing news:
CNS News:
Pajamas Media:
Right Wing News:
Scared Monkeys (somewhat of a conservative newsy site):
Conservative News Source:
David’ Horowitz’s NewsReal:
Pamela Geller’s conservative website:
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/
The news sites and the alternative news media:
Andrew Breithbart’s websites:
http://biggovernment.breitbart.com/
Conservative Websites:
http://www.theodoresworld.net/
http://www.rockiesghostriders.com/
www.coalitionoftheswilling.net
A conservative worldview:
http://www.divineviewpoint.com/sane/
http://www.theamericanright.com/forums/index.php
Liberal News Sites
Democrat/Liberal news site:
News
CNS News:
News Organization (I mention them because I have seen 2 honest stories on their website, which shocked and surprised me):
Business News/Economy News
Investors Business Daily:
IBD editorials:
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/IBDEditorials.aspx
Great business and political news:
Quick News
Even though this group leans left, if you need to know what happened each day, and you are a busy person, here is where you can find the day’s news given in 100 seconds:
http://www.youtube.com/user/tpmtv
Republican
Back to the basics for the Republican party:
http://www.republicanbasics.com/
Republican Stop Obamacare site:
http://www.nrcc.org/codered/main.php
North Suburban Republican Forum:
http://www.northsuburbanrepublicanforum.org/
Politics
You Decide Politics (it appears conservative to me):
http://www.youdecidepolitics.com/
The Left
From the left:
Far left websites:
Weatherman Underground 1969 “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”
http://www.archive.org/details/YouDontNeedAWeathermanToKnowWhichWayTheWindBlows_925 (PDF, Kindle and other formats)
http://www.antiauthoritarian.net/sds_wuo/weather/weatherman_document.txt (Simple online text)
Insane, leftist blogs:
http://teabaggersrcoming.blogspot.com/
http://poorsquinky.com/politics/all.html
Media
Media Research Center
http://www.mrc.org/public/default.aspx
Conservative Blogs
Mike’s America
http://mikesamerica.blogspot.com/
Dick Morris:
http://www.dickmorris.com/blog/
David Limbaugh (great columns this week)
Texas Fred (blog and news):
Conservative Blogs:
http://atimetochoose.wordpress.com/
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/*/index
The top 100 conservative sites:
Sensible blogger Burt Folsom:
Janine Turner’s website (I’m serious; and the website is serious too). This is if you have an interest in real American history:
http://constitutingamerica.org/
Conservative news/opinion site:
The Left Coast Rebel:
http://www.leftcoastrebel.com/
Good conservative blogs:
http://therealbarackobama.wordpress.com/
http://faultlineusa.blogspot.com/
http://makenolaw.org/ (the Free Speech blog)
http://www.baltimorereporter.com/
http://www.fireandreamitchell.com/
The Romantic Poet’s Webblog:
http://romanticpoet.wordpress.com/
Brain Shavings (common sense from the Buckeye State):
Green Hell blog:
Daniel Hannan’s blog:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/author/danielhannan/
Conservative blog:
Richard O’Leary’s websites:
http://www.eccentrix.com/members/beacon/
Freedom Works:
Yankee Phil’s Blogspot:
http://yankeephil.blogspot.com/
Excellent list of Blogs on the bottom, right-hand side of this page:
http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/
Babes
And simply because I like cute, intelligent babes:
Liberty Chick:
Dee Dee’s political blog:
http://somosrepublicans.com/author/deedee/
The Latina Freedom Fighter:
http://www.youtube.com/user/LatinaFreedomFighter
Ann Althouse ("Crusty conservative coating, creamy hippie love chick center.")
Judith Miller is one of the moderate and fairly level-headed voices for FoxNews:
A mixed bag of blogs and news sites
Left and right opinions with an international flair:
http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/
This is an odd blog; conservativism, bikinis and whatever else posted by either a P.I. or the brother of a P.I.:
http://pibillwarner.wordpress.com/
More out-there blogs and sites
Angry White Dude (okay, maybe we conservatives are angry?):
Mofo Politics (a very anti-Obama site):
Info Wars, because there is a war on for your mind (this site may be a little crazy??):
The Magic Negro Watch (this is peppered with obscenities and angry conservative rhetoric):
http://magicnegrowatch.blogspot.com/
Okay, maybe this guy is racist:
Media
Glenn Beck’s shows online:
http://www.watchglennbeck.com/
News busted all shows:
http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/search.aspx?q=newsbusted&t=videos
Joe Dan Media (great vids and music):
http://www.youtube.com/user/JoeDanMedia
The Patriot’s Network (important videos; the latest):
PolitiZoid on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/politizoid
Reason TV
This guy posts some excellent vids:
http://www.youtube.com/user/PaulWilliamsWorld
HipHop Republicans:
http://www.hiphoprepublican.blogspot.com/
Topics
(alphabetical order)
Bailouts
Bailout recipients:
http://bailout.propublica.org/main/list/index
Eye on the bailout (this is fantastic!):
http://bailout.propublica.org/
The bailout map:
http://bailout.propublica.org/main/map/index
From:
Border
Do you want to watch what is happening on our border? These are actual videos of observations cams along the border:
http://borderinvasionpics.com/
Secure the Border:
Capitalism
Liberty Works (conservative, economic site):
Capitalism Magazine:
http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/
Communism
45 Goals of Communists in order to take over the United States (circa 1963):
http://www.rense.com/general32/americ.htm
How this correlates to the goals of the ACLU:
Congress
No matter what your political stripe, you will like this; evaluate your Congressman or Senator on the issues:
http://www.ontheissues.org/default.htm
http://www.cagw.org/government-affairs/ratings/2008/ratings-database.html
http://www.cagw.org/reports/pig-book/2009/pork-database.html
Corrupt Media
The Economy/Economics
Bush “Tax Cut” myths and fallacies:
http://libertyworks.com/category/obamanomics/bush-tax-cut-myths-fallacies/
A debt clock and a lot of articles on the debt:
Recovery (dot) gov (where our money is being spent):
http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx
A collection of articles by Michelle Malkin about Obama’s war against jobs:
http://michellemalkin.com/category/politics/obama-jobs-death-toll/
If you have a set of liberal friends, email them one chart a week from here (go to the individual chart, and then choose download and format):
AC/DC economics (start with the oldest lessons first; economics in 60 second bites):
http://www.youtube.com/user/ACDCLeadership#p/a
Economist and talk show host Walter E. Williams:
The conservative plan to get us out of this financial mess:
The Freedom Project (most a conservative news and opinion site which appears to concentrate on matters financial)
http://www.freedomproject.org/
Bankrupting America, with great videos and maps:
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org/
This appears to be a daily pork report, apparently as pork in Washington bills is discovered, it gets posted at Tom Coburg’s website:
http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=WashingtonWaste
Weekly poll, asking you to identify what we ought to cut in governmental spending:
http://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut/
Global Warming/Climate Change
This is an interesting site; it seems to be devoted to the debate of climate change:
http://www.climatedebatedaily.com/
Global Warming headlines:
http://www.dericalorraine.com/
Dr. Roy Spencer on climate change:
Not Evil, Just Wrong video on Global Warming
http://www.letfreedomwork.com/
http://www.taskforcefreedom.com/council.htm
Global Warming Hoax:
http://www.globalwarminghoax.com/news.php
Global Warming Site:
Global Warming sites:
http://ilovecarbondioxide.com/
35 inconvenient truths about Al Gore’s film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5J7JNfLYco
http://www.noteviljustwrong.com/trailer
Wall Street Journal’s articles on Climate Change:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704007804574574101605007432.html
Michael Crichton on global warming as a religion:
http://www.michaelcrichton.net/speech-environmentalismaseligion.html
This man questions global warming:
http://themigrantmind.blogspot.com/
Healthcare
This is indispensable: the Wall Street Journal’s guide to Obama-care (all of their pertinent articles arranged by date—send one a day to your liberal friends):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471504574441193211542788.html
Republican healthcare plan:
http://www.gop.gov/solutions/healthcare
Health Care:
http://fixhealthcarepolicy.com/
Betsy McCaughey’s Health Care Site:
http://www.defendyourhealthcare.us/home.html
Obamacare Watch:
http://www.obamacarewatch.org/
This looks to be a good source of information on the health care bill (s):
Obamacare class action suit (as of today, joining in on the suit costs you whatever you want to donate, if I understand the form correctly):
http://www.van4congress.org/contact/obamacare-class-action/
Islam
Islam:
Jihad Watch
Answering Muslims (a Christian site):
http://www.answeringmuslims.com/
Muslim demographics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaZT73MrYvM
Muslim Demographics (this is outstanding):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU
Muslim deception:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNZQ5D8IwfI
A Muslim apologetic site (they will write out letters to express your feelings, and all you have to do is sign them, and they will send them on):
http://www.faithfulamerica.org/
Celebrity Jihad (no, really).
Legal
The Alliance Defense Fund:
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/
Liberty Counsel, which stands up against the A.C.L.U.
ACLU founders:
http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/stokjok/Founders.html
Military
Here is an interesting military site:
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/
This is the link which caught my eye from there:
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169400
The real story of the surge:
http://www.understandingthesurge.org/
National Security
Keep America Safe:
http://www.keepamericasafe.com/
Race Relations
A little history of Republicans and African-Americans:
http://grandoldpartisan.typepad.com/blog/
Oil Spill
Since this will be with us for a long time, the timeline of the BP gulf oil spill:
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2010/05/obamas-katrina-illustrated-timeline.html
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/bp-gulf-oil-spill-timeline.php
This is cool: a continuous timeline of the spill, with the daily info and the expansion of the oil, and the response:
http://www.esri.com/services/disaster-response/gulf-oil-spill-2010/timeline-advanced.html
Cool Sites
Weasel Zippers scours the internet for great stuff:
The 100 most hated conservatives:
http://media.glennbeck.com/docs/100americans-pg1.pdf
Still to Classify
Army Ranger Michael Behenna sentenced to 25 years in prison for 25 years for shooting Al Qaeda operative
http://defendmichael.wordpress.com/
Maybe the White House does not need to hold press conferences? It releases exclusive articles daily right here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-and-releases
If you want to see 1984 style-rhetoric and tactics, see:
Project World Awareness:
http://projectworldawareness.com/
Bookworm room
This is quite helpful; it is a list of all leftist groups, with links to background information on each of these groups (when I checked, 879 groups were listed). This is a fantastic resource.
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/summary.asp?object=Organization&category=
Commentary Magazine:
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/
Family Security Matters (families and national security):
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/
America’s Right
Emerging Corruption (founded by an ACORN whistle blowe:
http://emergingcorruption.com/
In case you need to reference this, here are the photos of all those on the JournoList:
http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=29858
A place where you may find news no one else is carrying:
http://www.lookingattheleft.com/
News Website to get the Headlines and very brief coverage:
National Institute for Labor Relations Research
Independent American:
http://www.independentamerican.org/
If you want to be scared or depressed:
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/
Are you tired of all the unfocused news and lame talking heads yelling at one another? Just grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and see what is really going on in the world:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/video
It is not broken, but the White House wants to control it: the internet:
http://nointernettakeover.com/
John T. Reed comments on current events:
http://johntreed.com/headline.html
Conservative New Media (it is so-so; I must admit to getting tired of seeing the interviewer high-fiving Carly Fiorina 3 or 4 times during an interview):
http://conservativenewmedia.com/
Ann Coulter’s site:
Allen West for Congress:
http://allenwestforcongress.com/issues/
Their homepage:
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/default.asp
Wall Builders:
http://www.wallbuilders.com/default.asp
One of the more radical people from the right, calling for the impeachment of Obama:
The Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a free enterprise site (there are several videos on the flat tax):
http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/
The Tax Foundation:
Compare your state with other states with regards to state taxes:
http://taxfoundation.org/files/f&f_booklet_20100326.pdf
Political news and commentary from the Louisiana Political News Wire:
This is a pretty radical site which alleges that Obama is a Marxist hell-bent in taking over our country:
1982 interview with Larry Grathwohl on Ayers' plan for American re-education camps and the need to kill millions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWMIwziGrAQ
Another babebolicious conservative (Kim Priestap):
http://politics.upnorthmommy.com/
Stop Spending our Future:
http://stopspendingourfuture.org/
DeeDee also blogs at:
http://somosrepublicans.com/author/deedee/
Somos Republicans:
This is actually a whole list of stories about the side-effects of Obamacare (e.g., Obamacare may be fatal to your health savings account; Medical devices tax will cost jobs; young will pay higher insurance rates, etc.): Send one-a-day of each story to your favorite liberal friends:
In case you want to see how other conservatives are thinking,
Zomblog:
http://www.zombietime.com/zomblog/
Conservative news site:
http://www.liberalwhoppers.com/
http://conservativeamericannews.com/
Your daily cartoon:
Here’s an interesting new site (new to me):
http://www.overcomingbias.com/
Here is an interesting blog, but, it is not all conservative stuff:
http://afrocityblog.wordpress.com/
These are some very good comics:
http://hopenchangecartoons.blogspot.com/
Helps for liberals to call conservative talk shows:
Sarah Palin’s facebook notes:
http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=24718773587
Media Research Center:
http://www.mrc.org/public/default.aspx
Must read articles of the day:
The Big Picture:
http://www.bigpicweblog.com/exp/index.php
Talk of Liberty
Lux Libertas
Conservative website:
http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/
Excellent articles on economics:
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/
http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/ (Excellent video on the Department of Agriculture posted)
This is a news site which I just discovered; they gave 3 minute coverage to Obama’s healthcare summit and seemed to give a pretty decent overall view of it, without slanting one way or the other:
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/
(The segment was:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU-evdGu1Sk )
I have glanced through their website and it seems to be quite professional and reasonable. They have apparently been around since 1942.
An online journal of opinions:
http://caffeinatedthoughts.com/
American Civic Literacy:
http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/
The Dallas TEA Party Organization (with some pretty good vids):
America people’s healthcare summit online:
http://healthtransformation.net/
This is fantastic; Florida (the Sunshine State) is now putting its state budget online:
http://transparencyflorida.gov
New conservative website:
http://www.theconservativelion.com
Conservative website:
Suzanne Somers s supposed to be older than Bill O’Reilly? He interviewed her this week, and she looked, well, hot. She is big into vitamins and human growth hormones.
http://www.suzannesomers.com/Default.aspx
The latest Climate news:
Obama cartoons:
http://obamacartoon.blogspot.com/
Education link:
http://sirkenrobinson.com/skr/
News from 2100:
How you can get your piece of the stimulus pie:
http://www.economicstimuluspackageinfo.com/
Always excellent articles:
http://www.dickmorris.com/blog/
The National Journal, which is a political journal (which, at first glance, seems to be pretty even-handed):
http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/
Conservative blog: Dan Cleary, political insomniac:
http://dancleary.typepad.com/dan_cleary/
Stand by Liberty:
And I am hoping that most people see this as non-partisan: Citizens Against Government Waste:
Lower taxes, smaller government, more freedom:
Citizens Against Government Waste:
Conservative website featuring stories of the day:
http://www.lonelyconservative.com/
Christian Blog:
http://wisdomknowledge.wordpress.com/
News feed/blog:
http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/
News site:
Note sure yet about this one:
Conservative news and opinion:
http://bijenkorf.wordpress.com/
Conservative versus liberal viewpoints:
http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/other/conservative-vs-liberal-beliefs/
The Best Graph page (for those of us who love graphs):
http://midknightgraphs.blogspot.com/
The Architecture of Political Power (an online book):
Recommended foreign news site:
This website reveals a lot of information about politicians and their relationship to money. You can find out, among other things, how many earmarks that Harry Reid has been responsible for in any given year; or how much an individual Congressman’s wealth has increased or decreased since taking office.
http://www.opensecrets.org/index.php
Kevin Jackson’s [conservative black] website:
Notes from the front lines (in Iraq):
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/
Remembering 9/11:
http://www.realamericanstories.com/
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball site:
http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/
The current Obama czar roster:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/26779.html
Blue Dog Democrats:
http://www.house.gov/melancon/BlueDogs/Member%20Page.html
Undercover video and audio for planned parenthood:
The Complete Czar list (which I think is updated as needed):
http://theshowlive.info/?p=572
This is an outstanding website which tells the truth about Obama-care and about what the mainstream media is hiding from you:
http://www.obamacaretruth.org/
Politico.com is a fairly neutral site (or, at the very worst, just a little left of center). They have very good informative videos at:
http://www.politico.com/multimedia/
Great commentary:
My own website:
Congressional voting records:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/
On Obama (if you have not visited this site, you need to check it out). He is selling a DVD on this site as well called Media Malpractice; I have not viewed it yet, except pieces which I have seen played on tv and on the internet. It looks pretty good to me.
http://howobamagotelected.com/
The psychology of homosexuality:
International News:
http://chinaconfidential.blogspot.com/
The Patriot Post:
Obama timeline:
http://exemployee.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/a-timeline-of-barack-obamas-political-career/
Tax professor’s blog:
I hate the media...
Palin TV (see her interviews unedited):
Liberal filter for FoxNews: News Hounds (motto:
We watch FOX so you don't have to). Be clear on this; they do not want you to watch FoxNews.
Asharq Alawsat Mid-eastern news site: