Where Gov't Takes On a Life Of Its Own

Try to wrap your brain around this:

"Climate change" "scientists" are calling for all of us to be forced into third-world status in order to save the planet.  See "Cancun climate change summit: scientists call for rationing in developed world."

At the same time, those same "climate change" "scientists," and the government bureaucrats who depend on their efforts for a paycheck are partying their brains out like there's no tomorrow.  See "Bureaucrats Gone Wild In Cancun":




One screen-shot from the video of a table full of (rationed?) pies, cakes, and cookies, a table set up next to the open bar at the seaside festivities, sums it all up:

 
 Just for giggles, go back to that "Cancun climate change summit: scientists call for rationing in developed world."

The whole global warming movement has descended into farce.

And they don't even realize it.

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To put icing on the .. uh, pie, it's unseasonably cold and snowing here in southern Virginia right now.

Yellow Journalism

I have to admit up front, I admire the effort.  I too have been accused in the past of flogging a story and twisting it to suit my nefarious ends.  So there is a kind of respect that I have for this underhanded effort on the part of a local television station in Louisville, Kentucky.  The story itself has no legs.  But the effort is quite estimable.

Check out this headline from WLKY.com:

Tempers Flare As Unemployment Benefits Near Expiration

Now, if you pay attention to the news, and you have a clear understanding of the meaning of words, and you are skeptical of most anything that appears in the mainstream press, your Bullshit-o-Meter registered a solid 10 when you read that, as mine did.

Why?

Take another look. "Tempers flare" (present tense) even though unemployment benefits haven't run out (present tense). Yet.  Why would anyone be upset who's still receiving his weekly check?  Might there be another reason for there having been upset "customers"?

That deserves a 10 on anyone's Bullshit-o-Meter.

Sure enough, in the accompanying news footage, there isn't any link presented between the two happenstances. NONE.   Tempers apparently did flare, requiring that two individuals be escorted out of an unemployment office, but the reasons for their ejections are never presented to us (to those of you who have ever stood in line at the DMV or at at the unemployment office, is there a more reasonable explanation? Ever had DMV Rage like I have?) The reporter simply goes on, after making mention of the incident, to report on the fact that unemployment benefits would be running out next month for those who have been unemployed for a long time.

Nice effort to forge a link between two unrelated stories. Gotta give credit where it's due.

The fact that it gives "journalism" a bad name is but a small matter. After all, any reputation that "journalism" might have today - microscopic as that is - isn't going to be further damaged by this bit of sleight-of-hand.

I give it a 10. Way to go.

Whew. I Was Beginning To Worry.

Might Barack Obama win reelection in 2012?  Not likely, now that Democratic really-smart-guy James Carville says it's likely.  See "[Carville says] Obama Will Win Re-election in 2012."

Excellent!  Carville has reassured us that Obama doesn't have a prayer for reelection in 2012!

How's that, you ask?

Here's how:

James Carville Predicts Harold Ford Jr. Will Win Senate Seat In 2006

Carville Predicts Gore '08 Run

Carville: Hillary Can Win in 2008

Carville Predicts Hillary Clinton Vs. Jeb Bush in ‘08

Carville: 2009 will be a year in which the Republican Party will be confronted with a near catastrophic ideological rift.

James Carville predicts 40 more years of Democratic Party dominance in book

Thank God. James Carville is telling us that Barack Obama is a shoo-in in 2012. I was getting worried.

What? No Apology To Go Along With The Gift?

Government doing what it does best. Giving away our hard-earned income:

House clears Indian, black farmer settlements
Associated Press

Washington – The House on Tuesday passed landmark legislation to pay for some $4.6 billion in settlements with American Indians and black farmers who say they faced discrimination and mistreatment from the government. [link]

You might wonder why this required action on the part of the United States Congress and not by civil courts where these alleged cases of "discrimination and mistreatment" belonged.

Well, get to the bottom of the story and you'll learn that, in fact, the American Indians who say they were abused weren't (though maybe their distant ancestors had been a couple hundred years ago).  And that those black farmers - individually - really couldn't prove that they were in any way discriminated against (or they'd be in court right now) by the United States government either.  Their only argument had to do with statistical data relating to the dissemination of government farm loans.  And we all know about statistics ...

Oh, well.  At least they won't be back seeking more government welfare.

This year anyway.

A Question

I understand why the mainstream press is ignoring Hillary Clinton's role in one of the greatest diplomatic gaffes in the history of global foreign affairs (it being the liberal mainstream press and she being its favorite and most-protected liberal), but what I don't understand is why there hasn't been one Republican in Washington calling for her head on a platter for allowing it to occur (and for the scandalous actions on her part that the gaffe revealed).

Are Washington Republicans still partying?  If so, they are going to get their heads handed to them.

Though there's nothing new about that.

Would someone in the Magic Kingdom take away the Chablis and tell these goofballs to get back in the ring?

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I'm wondering: Might the GOP'ers be afraid that Hillary is going to pull a Ft. Marcy Park on them?  That I might be able to comprehend.

Back At Ya, Big Guy

Ah, the dawning of a new day:

Chris Dodd bids farewell to Senate

Not as enthusiastically as we bid that crook a fond farewell, that's for certain.

We hope he enjoys his retirement to that quaint little cottage in Inishnee, Ireland.  We hope he stays there.

Of All The Republicans In All The Land ...

Like Freddy Krueger who we just can't get to go away ...

"I’m reminded yet again about why I plugged my nose when I voted for John McCain in 2008."

If I remember right, GOP leaders were telling us in 2008 that, despite the fact that he was too often more of a Democrat than a Republican, he was the "electable" Republican.

So much for that bit of wisdom.

Another reason to stop listening to GOP leaders and start listening to Tea Party leaders.

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As an I-Told-You-So, I'd like to remind the geniuses at GOP HQ (and all those who participated in the 2008 Republican primaries around the country) of a slogan that I adopted early on in 2008:

"I'd rather open a vein than vote for McCain."

A sizable majority of America, as it turned out, agreed with me. 

If only they'd had gonads.

Notice Which Way The Wind Blows, Phil?

Now that Congressman Rick Boucher (D-Abingdon) has been chosen by the people of Virginia's 9th District to be Citizen Rick Boucher come January, there are few Democrats remaining in prominent positions here in Southwest Virginia.  The area is now almost solidly, gloriously red.

So who's the most prominent Democrat left standing?

Phil Puckett.

I'm guessing he's feeling a bit like the Lone Ranger about now.

A word to the wise (?), Phil.  Do that which smart Blue Dog Democrats are doing around the country, mostly in the South.  They are switching parties.  Do it and keep your nice little gig for a while.  Don't do it and meet the fate dozens of your fellow Democrats met last month.  Don't do it and be the last Democrat to fall in the Republican tide in the 9th.

Or keep holding out hope that the UMW leadership can keep you afloat.  Which is less of a hope and more of a wing and a prayer, as Mr. Boucher found out the hard way.

The tide is running against you, bud.  Sink or swim.  It's up to you.

Obama Has Learned Nothing

You'd think the beating he took last month would have jolted him out of his extreme liberal fantasies.  But no.  Obama is as lost in his dream world as he's ever been:

The Dead Enders
Wall Street Journal

"It is not a sensible way to run a country to have this magnitude of tax issues left to annual uncertainty," said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner earlier this month, and he's certainly right about that. But at the current moment the single biggest obstacle to more certainty is his boss, President Obama, who still refuses to compromise on the tax increase set to whack the economy in a mere 30 days.

After meeting with Congressional leaders yesterday, Mr. Obama dispatched Mr. Geithner and budget director Jacob Lew to negotiate a deal. Yet the President is still holding out against even a temporary extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax rates. Republicans won 63 House seats running against those tax increases, but Mr. Obama still seems under the spell of the dead enders led by soon-to-be-former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The magnitude of the looming tax increase ought to snap him out of this hypnosis. If the Democrats who still run Capitol Hill for another month fail to act, tens of millions of American households will see their paychecks shrink immediately in the New Year. [link]

Why is Obama's obstinacy particularly damaging to our way of life?  Because those whose roll it is to create jobs in this troubled economy are those who will feel the most pain if taxes go up next month:

The U.S. corporate tax rate of 39% (a combination of state average and federal rates) is already about 15 percentage points above the international average, and for the first time in a generation the personal rate of 41% would rise above the average of our overseas rivals. That's all before the 3.8% surtax on investment income arrives in 2013, courtesy of ObamaCare.

Because most nations tax their companies at a business rate lower than the personal rate, the Tax Foundation says the Obama plan would mean that many Subchapter S corporations in the U.S. would pay "virtually the highest tax rates in the world on their business income." In other words, the after-tax rate of return on investment in the U.S. would fall relative to investing in Europe or Asia. This is an invitation to outsource more jobs. The U.S. should be cutting tax rates to become more competitive, as President Obama's deficit reduction commission and tax reform advisory panel have recommended.

About half the income taxed above $250,000 is business income, so small businesses get hammered from the Obama plan.

Think things are bad now? You think 9% unemployment is tragic?  Stick around. Obama ain't done yet.

If a Tree Falls In The Forest and ...

It appears that Harry Smith and some gal named Maggie Rodriguez have been canned by CBS.  I've never heard of her, and I've never watched their Early Show, but I do know of Smith.  Your typical mainstream media liberal.

See "Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez Fired From CBS Early Show."

I can't say anything bad about Rodriguez but it is good to know that Smith will now join the ranks of those millions of Americans whose jobs have been "saved or created" by his hero - Barack Obama.

Outrage

The most despised practice of our grossly and recklessly profligate United States Congress has to be that involving earmarks.  Earmarks!  I mentioned the other day that everyone should watch to see how the votes on this evil practice came down when efforts were made by legislators to rein in government spending, and to take names of those who elected to continue their use.

That vote was taken yesterday.

Now there's nothing we here in Virginia can do to the likes of James Inhofe and Lamar Alexander.  Oklahoma and Tennessee will have to deal with them.  But by God we can do something about James Webb.

That's right. Senator James Webb of Virginia voted to continue to waste our hard-earned tax dollars on this most wasteful of practices.

And James Webb comes up for reelection in 2012. With Obama.

Remember this. Absorb it. Act on it.

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For more on this outrageous practice and those Republicans who voted to continue it, go here.