Sunday, October 30, 2011

We're All Reaganites Now - WSJ.com

We're All Reaganites Now - WSJ.com: "Speaking to students at the University of Colorado's Denver campus, Mr. Obama claimed that "the reason I've been hitting the road so much is because the folks I'm talking to in cities and small towns and communities all across America, they're -- let's face it, they're making a little more sense than the folks back in Washington." It's unclear how many of the youngsters in the audience grasped the absurdity of this statement, coming from an incumbent president who has pursued the most aggressive agenda in half a century to shift power to the "folks back in Washington" and away from the folks in other cities and towns. Adding to the farcical nature of the event, Mr. Obama was there to announce yet another expansion of a federal program -- an increase in taxpayer subsidies of student loans."

'via Blog this'

Max Boot: Obama's Tragic Iraq Withdrawal - WSJ.com

Max Boot: Obama's Tragic Iraq Withdrawal - WSJ.com: "So why was it possible for the Bush administration to reach a deal with the Iraqis but not for the Obama administration?

Quite simply it was a matter of will: President Bush really wanted to get a deal done, whereas Mr. Obama did not. Mr. Bush spoke weekly with Mr. Maliki by video teleconference. Mr. Obama had not spoken with Mr. Maliki for months before calling him in late October to announce the end of negotiations. Mr. Obama and his senior aides did not even bother to meet with Iraqi officials at the United Nations General Assembly in September."

'via Blog this'

Review & Outlook: California's New Green Tax - WSJ.com

Review & Outlook: California's New Green Tax - WSJ.com: "The tragedy is that this economic harm is being inflicted for nothing but environmental symbolism. A single state's policies can't possibly alter the planet's temperature given the huge carbon footprint elsewhere, as even the CARB has acknowledged.

Notwithstanding their bouts of carbon imperialism (see below), even some Europeans are having cap-and-trade second thoughts. "There is a trade-off between climate-change policies and competitiveness," concludes a recent EU commission report. "Europe cannot act alone in an effort to achieve global decarbonization."

But evidently high-minded California—with 2.1 million people already out of work and with the nation's second highest jobless rate at 11.9%—will. The job cost will be paid not in the tony salons of Hollywood but in the working class neighborhoods of Torrance and Fresno."

'via Blog this'

Crovitz: Steve Jobs's Advice for Obama - WSJ.com

Crovitz: Steve Jobs's Advice for Obama - WSJ.com: "The president is very smart, but he kept explaining to us reasons why things can't get done," Jobs said. "It infuriates me.""

'via Blog this'

Jim McNerney: What Business Wants from Washington - WSJ.com

Jim McNerney: What Business Wants from Washington - WSJ.com: "No one wants to discard truly meaningful public-safety or environmental regulations. But what we face is a jobs crisis, and regulators charged with protecting the interests of the people are making worse the problem that's hurting them most. Regulatory relief in the energy sector alone could create up to two million new jobs, and we won't have to borrow a penny to pay for it.

Enlarge Image

Getty Images
In the view of business, America retains tremendous strengths. But absent a clear change in course, no one should be surprised if some companies ultimately invest abroad, creating jobs beyond our borders that could have been based here. "

'via Blog this'

Edward P. Lazear: The Euro Crisis—Doubting the 'Domino' Effect - WSJ.com

Edward P. Lazear: The Euro Crisis—Doubting the 'Domino' Effect - WSJ.com: "The cases of Estonia and Turkey attest to the effectiveness of structural change. After a significant economic contraction in 2001, Turkey embarked on a new path of rapid fiscal consolidation. By the end of 2002, growth was 6% and by 2004, 9%. Rather than slowing the economy further, government tightening was associated with strong and almost immediate growth. More recently, Estonia, which experienced almost a 20% contraction by the end of 2009, instituted fiscal reforms. Among them was a 10% reduction in government operating expenses and a flattening of the pension growth trajectory. In 2010, the year following the reforms, growth had already turned positive, to around 3%, and it is forecast to be above 6% for 2011.

These two examples, and that of our own financial crisis, suggest that fundamental problems need to be addressed early and forcefully"

'via Blog this'

Edward P. Lazear: The Euro Crisis—Doubting the 'Domino' Effect - WSJ.com

Edward P. Lazear: The Euro Crisis—Doubting the 'Domino' Effect - WSJ.com: "After Lehman, Europeans seem to be so taken with worries of contagion that they are failing to emphasize remedies that actually have a chance of making things better. In their case, and in ours, the solution is primarily a reduction in the bloated size of government expenditures that come about by making promises that cannot be kept."

'via Blog this'

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

God Bless You, Cardinal

The Corner - National Review Online: "In the full text, provocatively entitled “Eppur’ si muove” (after the apocryphal saying attributed to Galileo), Pell exhaustively details the scientific evidence that the consensus can’t quite account for and underscores what he calls “the climate movement’s totalitarian approach to opposing views, their demonising of successful opponents, and their opposition to the publication of opposing views, even in scientific journals.” He also notes that the economic costs associated with various climate proposals are likely to weigh heavily on the world’s most vulnerable people. “Are there any long-term benefits from the schemes to combat global warming, apart from extra tax revenues for governments and income for those devising and implementing the schemes?”"

'via Blog this'

Yeah, I Want THIS Government to Have My Medical Health Record

Government Site Exposes Financial Info of Thousands of College Students « CBS Washington: "The personal financial details of as many as 5,000 college students were temporarily laid bare for other students to view on the Education Department’s direct loan website earlier this month, an education official testified Tuesday."

'via Blog this'

Monday, October 24, 2011

Review & Outlook: The Post-Global Warming World - WSJ.com

Review & Outlook: The Post-Global Warming World - WSJ.com: "And so it goes with every technology that claims to promise greenhouse-gas salvation. Wind power may emit zero carbon, but windmills need up to 90% of their capacity backed up to prevent blackouts—usually with coal and gas plants. Windmills also kill a lot of birds. As for solar power, a new study from the University of Tennessee and Occupational Knowledge International finds that manufacturing the necessary lead batteries threatens to release more than 2.4 million tons of lead pollution by 2022, or one-third of today's total global lead production.

The science on climate change and man's influence on it is far from settled. The question today is whether it makes sense to combat a potential climate threat by imposing economically destructive regulations and sinking billions into failure-prone technologies that have their own environmental costs. The earnest people going to Durban next month may think so. The rest of the world is wearier and wiser."

'via Blog this'

Saturday, October 22, 2011

The GOP Wins by Bruising - WSJ.com

The GOP Wins by Bruising - WSJ.com: "They are not funneling their energy into the democratic process because there is no market for what they are selling: Capitalism should be overturned, I am angry that my college loan bills are so big, the government is bad, and the answer is more government. You can't win elections in America with that kind of message. So they will stay in the streets, where they can have an impact by stopping traffic, inconveniencing people going to and coming from work, and appearing to be an amorphous force that must be bowed to.

The difference between the occupiers and the tea party is the difference between acting out and taking part.

Where is Mr. Obama in all this? He has made sympathetic sounds about Occupy Wall Street, probably seeing it as ultimately part of his base. Beyond that, he's out campaigning. Sometimes he is snarky about Congress: He's giving them "another chance" at voting on his jobs bill. Sometimes he is self-justifying. He told ABC's Jake Tapper that "all the choices we've made have been the right ones." Sometimes he lectures America. But he doesn't buck it up, and he must know in his heart that it's coming for the keys."

'via Blog this'

The GOP Wins by Bruising - WSJ.com

The GOP Wins by Bruising - WSJ.com: "They are not funneling their energy into the democratic process because there is no market for what they are selling: Capitalism should be overturned, I am angry that my college loan bills are so big, the government is bad, and the answer is more government. You can't win elections in America with that kind of message. So they will stay in the streets, where they can have an impact by stopping traffic, inconveniencing people going to and coming from work, and appearing to be an amorphous force that must be bowed to.

The difference between the occupiers and the tea party is the difference between acting out and taking part.

Where is Mr. Obama in all this? He has made sympathetic sounds about Occupy Wall Street, probably seeing it as ultimately part of his base. Beyond that, he's out campaigning. Sometimes he is snarky about Congress: He's giving them "another chance" at voting on his jobs bill. Sometimes he is self-justifying. He told ABC's Jake Tapper that "all the choices we've made have been the right ones." Sometimes he lectures America. But he doesn't buck it up, and he must know in his heart that it's coming for the keys."

'via Blog this'

Joe Biden’s Teachable Moments - Latest Headlines - Investors.com

Joe Biden’s Teachable Moments - Latest Headlines - Investors.com: "So instead Washington, D.C., is going to "give you some money" to hire these teachers back. So, unlike York, Pa., presumably Washington, D.C., has "money for them"?

No, not technically. Washington, D.C., is also broke - way broker than York City School District. In fact, the government of the United States is broker than any entity has ever been in the history of the planet. Officially, Washington has to return 15,000,000,000,000 dollars just to get back to having nothing at all. And that 15,000,000,000,000 dollars is a very lowball figure that conveniently ignores another $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities that the government, unlike private businesses, is able to keep off the books.

So how come the Brokest Jurisdiction in History is able to "give you some money" to hire back those teachers that had to be laid off?

No problem, says the vice president. We're going to "ask" people who have "a lot of money" to "pay just a little bit more" in taxes. Where are these people? Evidently, not in York, Pa. But they're out there somewhere."

...to balance the budget of the United States on the backs of millionaires you would have to increase the taxes of those earning more than one million a year by six million a year.

Not only is there "no money in the city" of York, Pa., and no money in Washington, D.C., there's no money anywhere else in America — not for spending on the Obama/Biden scale. Come to that, there's no money anywhere on the planet: Last year, John Kitchen of the U.S. Treasury and Menzie Chinn of the University of Wisconsin published a study called "Financing U.S. Debt: Is There Enough Money In The World — And At What Cost?"

'via Blog this'

Dems Get It Exactly Wrong On Jobs - Latest Headlines - Investors.com

Dems Get It Exactly Wrong On Jobs - Latest Headlines - Investors.com: "Overall, the private sector has lost 16 jobs for every job lost in government since 2007. Even if you correct for the relative difference in the size of the two job markets (see chart above), the private sector has still lost three times more jobs than the public sector.

Is this surprising? It shouldn't be. The federal government's $840 billion stimulus effort was almost entirely aimed at bolstering government, and bailing out industries and unions that support Democrats.

Reid's remarks reflect his party's dishonest complaints about "austerity" and "draconian cuts" in federal spending. As new data show, federal spending jumped 5% in 2011. Some austerity.

This why the typical household in the Washington metro area — where government is the No. 1 employer — earned $84,523 last year, or 69% higher than the national median of $50,046. Federal employees took home $126,000 — two and a half times the U.S. median.

"

'via Blog this'

Friday, October 21, 2011

Cybercommand chief opposes U.N. net control - Washington Times

Cybercommand chief opposes U.N. net control - Washington Times: "The commander of the U.S. Cyber Command said Thursday that he does not favor giving the United Nations the power to regulate the Internet.

Some regulations are needed to protect critical networks that control electrical power, banking, transportation and other key elements of society, Army Gen. Keith Alexander, who is also director of the National Security Agency, said after a speech to a security conference.

But asked whether the U.N. should have a regulation role, Gen. Alexander said: “No. I’m not for regulating, per se. I’m concerned about it, and this is a tough question. I would say, generally speaking, I’m not into that portion of regulating as you would espouse.”"

'via Blog this'



Speaking sense. He'll probably be fired.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

EPA Mythological MPG for Electric Vehicles

Update: Fisker Karma Electric Car Gets Worse Mileage Than an SUV - Forbes: " In the case of the Fisker Karma, we get a true MPGe of 19.  This makes it worse than even the city rating of a Ford Explorer SUV."

'via Blog this'

4.6 Earthquake Hits South Texas « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

4.6 Earthquake Hits South Texas « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth: "No injuries or major damage was reported, and the light quake wasn’t even noticed by some residents living close to the epicenter, near Karnes City. Yet small vibrations felt in San Antonio did cause occupants to briefly evacuate a downtown federal building as a precaution."

'via Blog this'


I hope the feds took the rest of the day/week/month off to recover!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

More Payoffs To Labor Peddled As A Jobs Bill

Rove: Obama's Political Stimulus Plan - WSJ.com: "Mr. Obama also continues insisting on $35 billion to "put teachers back in the classroom" and "make certain we're not laying off police officers and firefighters." But his own National Center for Educational Statistics forecasts that the number of teachers will rise anyway—from 3.66 million this fall to 3.7 million in the fall of 2012, and to 3.75 million in the fall of 2013.

While some communities may face police and fire layoffs, there is no evidence of a massive wave of firings of first responders. Could this $35 billion be a payoff to state and local public-employee unions?"

'via Blog this'

Beltway Earnings Make U.S. Capital Richer Than Silicon Valley - Bloomberg

Beltway Earnings Make U.S. Capital Richer Than Silicon Valley - Bloomberg: "Federal employees whose compensation averages more than $126,000 and the nation’s greatest concentration of lawyers helped Washington edge out San Jose as the wealthiest U.S. metropolitan area, government data show."

'via Blog this'



This one speaks for itself

Friday, October 14, 2011

Gee, what a surprise!

News from The Associated Press: "After months insisting that problems could be resolved, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, finally admitted Friday she doesn't see how that can be done.

"Despite our best analytical efforts, I do not see a viable path forward for CLASS implementation at this time," Sebelius said in a letter to congressional leaders."

'via Blog this'


Now let's see what government spending they cut elsewhere to make up the fake revenues this plan was supposed to throw off in the early years of Obamacare. Right.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

David Moore: The Panhandler and the President - WSJ.com

David Moore: The Panhandler and the President - WSJ.com: "President Obama has become the "Great Divider" instead of the "Great Unifier" that we all hoped he would be.

I do not recall another president in my lifetime whose negative drumbeat about large segments of the population has been so relentless. I do not recall another president (even those similarly frustrated by congressional gridlock and the stifling of their agendas) repeatedly targeting a specific economic class, complaining as loudly and using his bully pulpit so consistently for bashing those who disagree with him."

'via Blog this'

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Review & Outlook: Green Jobs Brown Out - WSJ.com

Review & Outlook: Green Jobs Brown Out - WSJ.com: "A new report by the Labor Department's Office of Inspector General examined a $500 million grant under the stimulus program to the Employment and Training Administration to "train and prepare individuals for careers in 'green jobs.'" So far about $162.8 million has been spent. The program was supposed to train 125,000 workers, but only 53,000 have been "trained" so far, only 8,035 have found jobs, and only 1,033 were still in the job after six months.

Overall, "only 10% of participants entered employment." In the understatement of the year, the IG says the program failed to "assist those most impacted by the recession.""

'via Blog this'

Review & Outlook: Stimulus Lite - WSJ.com

Review & Outlook: Stimulus Lite - WSJ.com: "Meanwhile, as amended last week by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the bill is financed by a new 5.6% surtax on millionaires. So a bill that the White House has sold as a temporary $265 billion tax cut for employers is financed with a permanent almost half-trillion-dollar tax hike on businesses and investors. What a deal."

'via Blog this'
And a bill advertised in the name of job creation is now primarily about the new Democratic campaign theme of redistributing income. If history is any guide, that ploy will send employers and investors into a further hiatus, destroying far more jobs in the private economy than the government-financed jobs it hopes to create.

David R. Henderson: A Nobel for Non-Keynesians - WSJ.com

David R. Henderson: A Nobel for Non-Keynesians - WSJ.com: "Although the Nobel committee did not cite his work on unemployment insurance, Mr. Sargent, with Swedish economist Lars Ljungqvist, found that high, long-lasting unemployment benefits in Europe have caused many European workers who lose their jobs to stay unemployed for years and, thereby, erode their "human capital." This makes them less employable in the long run. The fact that the U.S. government has extended unemployment benefits in many U.S. states to 99 weeks, said Mr. Sargent in a 2010 interview with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, "fills me with dread.""

'via Blog this'

Monday, October 10, 2011

SPIN METER: Obama disconnects rhetoric, reality  | ajc.com

SPIN METER: Obama disconnects rhetoric, reality  | ajc.com: "When Obama accuses Republicans of standing in the way of his nearly $450 billion plan, he ignores the fact that his own party has struggled to unite behind the proposal.

When the president says Republicans haven't explained what they oppose in the plan, he skips over the fact that Republicans who control the House actually have done that in detail.

And when he calls on Congress to "pass this bill now," he slides past the point that Democrats control the Senate and were never prepared to move immediately, given other priorities."

'via Blog this'

Barack Obama | Wall Street Money | The Daily Caller

Sunlight Foundation | Barack Obama | Wall Street Money | The Daily Caller: "Despite his rhetorical attacks on Wall Street, a study by the Sunlight Foundation’s Influence Project shows that President Barack Obama has received more money from Wall Street than any other politician over the past 20 years, including former President George W. Bush."

'via Blog this'

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistic

CIS and the Texas Immigrant-Job Myth - Chuck DeVore - National Review Online: "The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) has released a detailed rejoinder to a well-publicized study by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) that made a remarkable claim: “Of jobs created in Texas since 2007, 81 percent were taken by newly arrived immigrant workers (legal and illegal).”

Put simply, CIS used faulty methodology to make its main point. "

'via Blog this'

Friday, October 7, 2011

Reid’s Power Play - By Andrew Stiles - The Corner - National Review Online

Reid’s Power Play - By Andrew Stiles - The Corner - National Review Online: "Indeed, Reid had opted for the so-called “nuclear option,” to toss history and precedent aside and change the rules of the Senate, all to avoid having to vote on a jobs plan the president has repeatedly called on Congress to pass. Instead, Reid intends to hold a vote next week on an amended version of the bill that includes a 5.6 percent “millionaire surtax” to cover the bill’s $450 billion price tag. "

'via Blog this'

My Way News - FACT CHECK: Obama claims miss some evidence

My Way News - FACT CHECK: Obama claims miss some evidence: "Are President Barack Obama's ideas for job creation really bipartisan as he claims? Not when the means for paying for them are put in the equation.
The president dodged various facts and and left some evidence in the dust in his latest challenge to Republicans to get behind his jobs program or offer a real alternative."

'via Blog this'

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Policy Uncertainty Chokes a Recovery: Baker, Bloom and Davis - Bloomberg

Policy Uncertainty Chokes a Recovery: Baker, Bloom and Davis - Bloomberg: "So how much near-term improvement could we gain from a stable, certainty-enhancing policy regime? We estimate that restoring 2006 levels of policy uncertainty would yield an additional 2.5 million jobs over 18 months. Not a full solution to the jobs shortfall, but a big step in the right direction.
(Scott R. Baker and Nicholas Bloom are economists at Stanford University. Steven J. Davis, an economist at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, is a contributor to Business Class. The opinions expressed are their own.)"

'via Blog this'

‘Darn Tooting!’ Obama Brags About HHS Reg Catholic Bishops Call Attack on Liberty | CNSnews.com

‘Darn Tooting!’ Obama Brags About HHS Reg Catholic Bishops Call Attack on Liberty | CNSnews.com:

'via Blog this'

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Cain's 'Chilean Model' - Investors.com

Cain's 'Chilean Model' - Investors.com: "Chile's system, enacted in 1981, took government out of the pension business altogether and replaced it with a system of personal retirement accounts.

It's one of most successful fiscal reforms in history.

It outperforms Social Security on returns, yielding about 9.23% compounded annual returns over 30 years under private management.

Listen to the Podcast
Subscribe through iTunes
That means Chilean retirees take home pension checks four times what they would have gotten if they had remained in their old Social Security system."

'via Blog this'

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Finally, The Cognoscenti Ask: What Could We Be Thinking? - IBD - Investors.com

Finally, The Cognoscenti Ask: What Could We Be Thinking? - IBD - Investors.com: ""Obamaism" was the Emperor's new centrism: To a fool such as your average talk-radio host, His Majesty appears to be a man of minimal accomplishments other than self-promotion marinated in a radical faculty-lounge view of the world and the role of government. But, to a wise man such as your average presidential historian or New York Times columnist, he is the smartest guy ever to become president."

'via Blog this'