No Runny Eggs

The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.

Day by Day cartoon

Archive for the 'Politics - National' Category

July 3, 2009

Who’s Zoomin Who?

by Shoebox @ 10:10. Filed under International relations, Politics - National.

President Obama is headed to Russia next week.  The visit is planned to allow discussions on a host of topics: trade, North Korea, missile defense etc.  Amongst the laundry list of issues, I find one group’s request to be most interesting.  From Reuters:

CEOs use Obama visit to press Russia on rule of law

I suppose it would make sense to talk to Russia about business relationships.  Of particular interest to this group of CEOs is this:

“Stability and sanctity of contracts — this is what worries us, given what happened to some Western firms in Russia,” said an industry source with a major U.S. firm.

Come on!  You’re kidding me right?  President Obama is supposed to teach, coach, lecture the Russian government on the rule of law and the sanctity of contracts?  Let’s see….

Automobile Industry – I don’t remember the rule of law or the sanctity of contracts being followed as bond holders were summarily removed from their preferred lender positions so that the Obama could “not run the auto industry.”

Financial Industry – I don’t remember the rule of law or the sanctity of contracts being followed as companies were told they had to take bail out funds or would be subject to audits, forced contracted compensation to be paid back or forced “healthy” institutions to absorb “toxic” institutions thereby making them a toxic institution

Credit Card Industry – I don’t remember the rule of law or the sanctity of contracts being followed as mortgage companies were forced to provide credit to a broader population without regard for their ability to repay the credit.

While never close friends, The Russians used to listen to the United States due both to our military capabilities and our financial strength.  I’ve got to believe that any sentence in Russia that begins with “President Obama says…” ends with a roomful of Russian belly laughs.

July 2, 2009

The Unpersoning begins, with the proposed elimination of Reagan from Reagan National

by steveegg @ 15:47. Filed under Politics - National.

(H/T – JammieWearingFool)

Barbara Hollingsworth of the Washington Examiner reports that a Washington Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board member told his colleagues that there is discussion on Capitol Hill to strip President Ronald Reagan’s name from Reagan National Airport.

I don’t know if they’re taking their cues from Gov. Jim Doyle, who has repeatedly refused to acknowledge Reagan’s presence in the Oval Office, or Iosif Stalin, the man who moved “unperson” from fiction to reality.

Revisions/extensions (4:04 pm 7/2/2009) - An anonymous commenter over at JWF brought this item from Debbie Schlussel to my attention – the “LT G W BUSH” stenciled on the F-102 flown by President George W. Bush during his tour of duty with the Texas National Guard on base guard duty at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas, was removed sometime after 1/20/2009, supposedly in preparation for the plane’s repainting, and has not been restored.

Hello, Is It Me You’re Looking For?

by Shoebox @ 15:21. Filed under International relations, Politics - National.

Today’s headlines:

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has arrived in Baghdad

Um, did someone forget to tell joltin’ Joe:

The vice president’s visit comes just two days after the United States withdrew troops from Iraqi cities.

Now that the troops have gone, Joe gets to play with Iraq:

The White House on Tuesday appointed Biden to oversee Iraq policy.

I guess even President Obama recognizes it’s not safe to let Biden play while there’s live ammunition around!

In honor of Joe:

H/T the Athletic Shoe

WaPo now selling itself as the official paper of the ObamiNation – UPDATE – Sale cancelled, stench remains

by steveegg @ 10:00. Filed under Politics - National, Presstitute Follies.

(H/T – Karl, who uses my term to describe it)

Politico reports that the Washington Post is circulating flyers to lobbyists offering access to its reporters, members of Congress, and Obama administration officials, for between $25,000 and $250,000 per meeting. Politico reposts the text of the flyer that a health care lobbyist received from the Post:

“Underwriting Opportunity: An evening with the right people can alter the debate,” says the one-page flier. “Underwrite and participate in this intimate and exclusive Washington Post Salon, an off-the-record dinner and discussion at the home of CEO and Publisher Katharine Weymouth. … Bring your organization’s CEO or executive director literally to the table. Interact with key Obama administration and congressional leaders …

“Spirited? Yes. Confrontational? No. The relaxed setting in the home of Katharine Weymouth assures it. What is guaranteed is a collegial evening, with Obama administration officials, Congress members, business leaders, advocacy leaders and other select minds typically on the guest list of 20 or less. …

“Offered at $25,000 per sponsor, per Salon. Maximum of two sponsors per Salon. Underwriters’ CEO or Executive Director participates in the discussion. Underwriters appreciatively acknowledged in printed invitations and at the dinner. Annual series sponsorship of 11 Salons offered at $250,000 … Hosts and Discussion Leaders … Health-care reporting and editorial staff members of The Washington Post … An exclusive opportunity to participate in the health-care reform debate among the select few who will actually get it done. … A Washington Post Salon … July 21, 2009 6:30 p.m.”

As mhking would say, “Just Damn!” Somehow, I doubt that the WaPo either has registered as a lobbyist, or the money spent on this lobbying effort will get reported.

Revisions/extensions (10:04 am 7/2/2009) - The Post sent this trial lead balloon to Politico:

The flier circulated this morning came out of a business division for conferences and events, and the newsroom was unaware of such communication. It went out before it was properly vetted, and this draft does not represent what the company’s vision for these dinners are, which is meant to be an independent, policy-oriented event for newsmakers. As written, the newsroom could not participate in an event like this.

We do believe there is an opportunity to have a conferences and events business, and that The Post should be leading these conversations in Washington, big or small, while maintaining journalistic integrity.

The newsroom will participate where appropriate.

I believe my bullshit meter just pegged.

R&E part 2 (10:17 am 7/2/2009) - Sister Toldjah has the killer headline on this one – “The WaPo or the WaHO”.

Meanwhile, the commenters over at HotAir dug up an interesting January 2001 WaPo editorial:

Gone from any of this is the notion that people give money to candidates or parties for reasons of governing philosophy or positions on issues. The big-money folks give to those who have won or might win. Those in power threaten the contributors in plain language: Give to us or you’ll be squeezed out of the game; give too much to the other guys and you’ll be sorry. It’s the kind of sordid operation that a Mafia don would understand, and both parties play with equal vigor. “We’re a hot ticket these days,” one Democratic fundraiser boasted to The Post. “The fifty-fifty split [in the Senate] means something. People want to play, for sure.”

Plenty of members of Congress dislike what they have become, which is one factor that gives reform this year at least a ghost of a chance. They’d rather be legislating than extorting. But as Arizona Sen. John McCain’s battle for change an uphill one. But the sickening spectacle of a speaker-for-rent as a commonplace of Washington politics makes reform as urgent as it is difficult.

Why do I get the feeling this was an intended, rather than an unintended, consequence of McCain-Feingold?

R&E part 3 (10:22 am 7/2/2009) - HotAir commenter thomasaur has the perfect comment:

Presstitutes working for W. H. O. R. E.

White

House

Office
of
Reality

Enhancement

R&E part 4 (12:11 pm 7/2/2009) - With a tip of the hat to Ed Morrissey, the Post’s Howard Kurtz is now saying that the series has been cancelled. Of course, the less-destructive meme that they were selling access to themselves is getting a lot more play than the probably-illegal one of them selling access to the politicians outside the scope of lobbying laws.

July 1, 2009

Painkiller healthcare, less the painkiller

by steveegg @ 8:57. Filed under Health, Politics - National.

Remember when Barack Obama said, “Maybe you’re better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller.”? Guess what – the pain-free death he advocated is about to have a lot of pain added. Fox News reports that an “expert” FDA panel, which the FDA usually obeys, has recommended eliminating Tylenol-3 and other medicines that combine acetominophen with other painkillers, as well as prescription-only Percocet and Vicodin. They also recommended that the maximum recommended single dose of acetominophen be dropped from 1,000 milligrams to 650 milligrams and the maximum recommended daily dose from 4,000 milligrams to an unspecified amount. Fortunately, they rejected calls to eliminate other multi-ingredient medicines that include acetominophen.

Here comes the pain!

You Should Have Been Here Last Week

by Shoebox @ 5:19. Filed under International relations, Politics - National.

As a reasonably avid fisherman, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, or told someone else, “You should have been here last week!”  In fishing, this usually means one of two things.  Either the fish were really biting the previous week or you’re trying to convince the other fisherman that you’re not completely inept.  Interestingly, this phrase is also applicable in politics.

Glenn Garvin from the Miami Herald lays out the explanation of events leading to the Honduran “Coup.”  Garvin doesn’t really provide any information that hasn’t been explained elsewhere, at least in terms of the events. He does however, correctly refocus the debate from what happened last week to what happened in the week(s) prior to last week:

Here’s a question for all these new-found defenders of Honduran democracy: Where were you last week? Perhaps if some of these warnings about sticking to the constitution had been addressed to President Zelaya, the Honduran army would still be in the barracks where it belongs.

Garvin correctly calls out the United Nations, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama asking why, if they are so concerned about the constitutionality of the new President of Honduras, they weren’t raising concerns about the activities, clearly unconstitutional, of President Zelaya during the previous weeks. 

While Garvin doesn’t address it, I would also ask why, if President Obama doesn’t believe the US should “meddle” in other country’s affairs, he has chosen to insert himself in this situation.  Let’s see, Iran, don’t meddle, Honduras, meddle.  Cuba, don’t meddle, Israel, meddle.  I’m beginning to wonder if Obama’s “don’t meddle” policy only applies to countries that have a current or an heir apparent dictator at the helm?

Like in fishing, “You should have been here last week” has multiple meanings in politics.  It can either mean, “Things went really well last week,” or it could mean that the person you’re conveying the sentiment to is inept and should have been paying attention to and engaged in the events of the previous week.

From the people of Honduras, “Hey, President Obama, you should have been here last week!”

June 30, 2009

If Your Friend Jumps Off A Bridge….

by Shoebox @ 9:36. Filed under Health, Politics - National.

With my apologies to Chicago…

Does anyone really know how many Senate Democrats there are?
Does anyone really care?
If so I can’t imagine why
We’ve all got time enough to cry

I wrote waaaaaaay back here, that it wasn’t going to matter how many Senators the Democrats ended up with. There were enough folks abominating the Republican banner on any particular issue that the Dems would have the effect of running the Senate as they saw fit.

Today, nearly eight months past the election, we’re still waiting to see what the final count will be in the Senate. There is a wide belief that the MN Supreme Court will issue their ruling in the Franken/Coleman race before the Fourth of July. It’s also widely believed that the Court will side with Franken. Does it matter? No.

Senator Snowe has come out to say that with something as important as health care:

It is important to get it to be a bipartisan initiative, given the dimensions of health care reform and the implications to all Americans.

Olympia, were you raised by wolves?  Were you raised without any parental supervision?  Did you live a childhood devoid of friends, acquaintances or any people at all?  If no, how did you not, at least once, get the sage advice that if your friends were about to do a stupid thing, it didn’t make the situation better if you also decided to do the stupid thing!

While I doubt it would do any good, could someone please contact Olympia and ask her if she thinks it’s a good decision to jump off a bridge just because all of her friends are doing the same?

Update – Well, there you have it.  Franken won the Supreme Court decision.  Coleman has conceded and Pawlenty says he will sign the certificate.  OK Dems, it’s all yours now…at least for 18 months!

June 29, 2009

But Isn’t That My Ox Being Gored?

by Shoebox @ 5:09. Filed under Energy, Politics - Minnesota, Politics - National.

The Republican Party claims to stand for principles.  Amongst the principles they claim to stand for are limited government, personal liberty and free markets.  However, too many in the Republican Party believe that principles are not absolute.  They believe that principles can, shall we say, be flexible.  The rationale of these Republicans is that limited government is good, if I’m not in power, personal liberty is good unless my party says otherwise and free markets are good unless our party says there’s a problem.  Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota is a perfect example of one of these flexibly principled Republicans.

As a result of Governor Sanford’s confusing personal life, there have been several articles this weekend promoting Pawlenty as a rising spokesperson, perhaps even now, a strong contender for the 2012 Presidential bid…yeah, whatever.  I don’t know if it’s some of that thinking or just because he’s a lame duck Governor and is working on his next meal ticket but, Pawlenty is quickly becoming to Governor’s what Michele Bachmann is for the House of Representatives; in the media all the time talking about things that they shouldn’t be talking about. 

A perfect example showing Pawlenty in the media saying things he shouldn’t and showing his flexible principles, was his appearance on Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”  On the show, Pawlenty argued that the recently passed cap and trade bill was bad policy.  OK, I’m with him so far.  It’s when he tells us why it’s bad policy that I give him my patented “Ron Paul talking about the gold standard” look.  According to American Pravda’s version of the interview, here’s why Pawlenty believes Cap and Trade is bad policy:

In an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday morning, the Republican governor said he shares the goal of reducing pollution and emissions. But he says the best way to do that is through conservation, more fuel-efficient vehicles and improving base-load power with nuclear energy.

They add:

Pawlenty says the cap and trade emissions regime in the bill would send U.S. jobs to other countries.

Funny, in 2007 the Minnesota Legislature passed a renewable energy bill.  That bill requires that energy producers in the state generate specific and increasing percentages of their energy through things like wind, solar or hydrogen.  The mandates are high enough that it will make Minnesota the state with the most renewable generated energy in the nation.  An amendment to remove Minnesota’s restriction on nuclear plants, the only State one of a few, with Wisconsin being another, to have such a restriction, failed.  Likewise, an amendment to waive the renewable requirements if they cost more than 10% more than existing methods also failed.  Finally, the bill contained a provision that allows utilities that exceed their required amounts of renewable energy to sell credits to other utilities.  Sounds a bit like the sale of carbon credits doesn’t it? 

Governor Pawlenty signed this bill and in many corners, was seen as a cheer leader for the bill.  Today, he decries a national version of what he gladly burdened Minnesotans with just two years ago. 

To too many Republicans like Pawlenty, principles only matter when it’s not their ox being gored.

Revisions/extensions (8:37 am 6/29/2009, steveegg) - Made a correction, as Wisconsin also has a complete moratorium on new nuclear power plants.

June 26, 2009

Paul Ryan’s reaction to the Cap-and-Tax passage

by steveegg @ 19:13. Filed under Global "Warming", Politics - National.

The following just came into the comm-box:

House Passes Punitive Cap-and-Tax Bill

New energy tax “demonstrates just how distant and out of touch

Washington is from Wisconsin,” says Ryan

WASHINGTON – Wisconsin’s First District Congressman Paul Ryan today spoke out on behalf of the families and small businesses that would be on the receiving end of a massive new energy tax. Earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2454, American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, by a vote of 219 to 212, with bipartisan opposition. Ryan voted against this legislation.

The center of the deeply flawed H.R. 2454 is a cap-and-trade scheme aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing energy costs on all Americans. The complicated cap-and-trade program would require all energy producers to purchase expensive government permits in exchange for the right to produce energy from certain natural resources or to produce certain goods like steel, aluminum, or cement. Without regard for the detrimental economic consequences, the proponents of the legislation believe this unilateral energy tax would help reduce global temperatures by a fraction of a degree by the end of the century.

Ryan’s vote against the 1,200 page bill came after only three hours of general debate, with Majority rejecting the single amendment they allowed. In addition to the job losses that would result from the smaller economy, Ryan raised concerns with the impact on the budgets of individual households. Families would face increasing costs on not only energy – but all products that require energy to make them (i.e., everything). Various nonpartisan studies have estimated that average annual household cost increases would range from $425 per household to over $4000 per household. Specifically, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimate that Wisconsin families will pay an extra $230 million in energy tax once the bill is fully implemented in 2012.

Congressman Ryan fought against this draconian energy tax and supports H.R. 2828, the American Energy Innovation Act, a commonsense alternative to promote a cleaner environment without causing further economic devastation in the middle of a painful recession.

Following today’s action of the House floor, Congressman Ryan issued the following statement:

“Today’s vote reminds me of just how distant and out of touch Washington is from Wisconsin. At a time when jobs are increasingly scarce across Southern Wisconsin, Congress passed legislation explicitly designed to shrink our economy and increase energy costs on all Americans. Wisconsin is one of the nation’s top manufacturing States. Wisconsin entrepreneurs, small businesses, and workers shouldn’t need permission from the federal government to produce, grow, and create jobs, yet that is exactly the paternalistic message sent by Congress today.

“The Majority added a 300 page amendment to the 1100 page bill at 3:09am this morning which effectively regulates the national energy sector (8% of the U.S. economy), and no member of Congress has even read it. This bill is the biggest federal power grab of the American economy this year and that’s quite a statement.”

“Should this bill become law, Wisconsin would suffer a disproportionate economic blow. As the legislation’s authors and chief advocate reside far from the Midwest, the cap-and-trade legislation wasn’t primarily concerned with cold-weather, manufacturing States that get most of their energy from coal. Families in Southern Wisconsin don’t have the luxury of turning off the heat in the winter.

“What’s worse, because we are imposing this energy tax unilaterally, the legislation will actually hinder the environmental goals we’ve set out to achieve. By making manufacturing more expensive here in America, this bill would send our manufacturing jobs overseas to our competitors like India and China. For every ton of emissions we reduce, India and China will produce several tons more. Under this bill, we will send our competitors American jobs while they are negating the minimal environmental gains made here at home.

“There is a better way forward. I was proud to support a substitute energy reform – the American Energy Act – on House floor today, which focused on an all-of-the-above approach to creating a cleaner environment and a stronger economy. Rather than lock-up domestic energy supply, we should expand our use of American-made resources as we encourage the use of renewable and alternative energy sources, including nuclear, wind, solar, and more. Environmental stewardship and economic growth are not mutually exclusive goals, and I will continue to fight for both of behalf of those I serve in Southern Wisconsin.”

For the want of 4…

by steveegg @ 18:43. Filed under Envirowhackos, Politics - National.

The following 8 “Republican” members of the House just enabled passage of the Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade-Tax bill:

Remember those names well, as had only 4 of them not wished for the largest and costliest intervention in manufacturing and energy production and usage in the history of this country, Henry Waxman, Ed Markey, and the interventionists would have failed as 44 Democrats saw this for what it is. Or, at least they would have forced 8 of those 44 to do what Jeff Plale did late last night in the state budget and sell out their principles.

Revisions/extensions (7:00 pm 6/26/2009) - My friends at The Heritage Foundation here’s what those 8 have done to their districts (in Castle’s case, the entire state). Nothing like dooming one’s district/state to billions of lost wages and tens of thousands of lost jobs.

John Boehner reading the entire cap-and-tax amendment

by steveegg @ 17:16. Filed under Global "Warming", Politics - National.

In case you don’t have C-SPAN on, you might want to turn it on right now. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) is reading the entire 300-page amendment to the cap-and-tax Waxman-Markey bill that was introduced at 3:09 am this morning. He’s just over halfway through as I type.

Did you know that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made it into this amendment?

In other news,…

by steveegg @ 10:05. Filed under Global "Warming", International relations, Politics - National.

I’ve been focused on the state budget almost as much as the national presstitutes have been focused on Michael Jackson’s death, but Ed Morrissey has been keeping eyes on the larger picture. First stop – government-run health care. Our friends at ReasonTV have created a commercial on that…

YouTube Preview Image
Next stop – Iran. Ayatollah Ahmed Khatami called for death to protestors. Things are going to get even bloodier.

Last, but definitely not least, is a familiar battleground, Gorebal “Warming”. The tactics employed by the Dems, including a last-second 300-page amendment to a 1200-page bill, are all-too-familiar. Just as a reminder from Ed, “This bill will lose the US 2.5% of its GDP each and every year in the years after the first decade of implementation.” (emphasis in the original)

June 24, 2009

Must-watch Wednesday – Mary Katharine Ham tries to read Waxman-Markey

by steveegg @ 17:38. Filed under Energy, Envirowhackos, Politics - National.

It may no longer be called HamNation, and she doesn’t do videos nearly as often as she used to, but Mary Katharine Ham is back with a vengeance on the Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade-Tax bill about to be rammed down our throats…

YouTube Preview Image

The 1,201-page version that just got marked up (as H.R. 2998) isn’t even the final version that will be rammed through on Friday, but it will be at least a not-at-all-reasonable facsimile.

Revisions/extensions (7:22 pm 6/24/2009) - I hope MKH doesn’t get laryngitis reading the bill. So far, she made it through the table of contents. Instead of posting videos, I’ll direct you to her YouTube page.

Scratch Ford, Nissan and Tesla from the good cars list

by steveegg @ 10:22. Filed under Business, Politics - National.

Fox Business reported yesterday that Ford, Nissan and Tesla will partake in the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, a $25 billion loan program from the federal government ostensibly to finance plant changes “needed” for improved fuel-economy and improved-range electric vehicles. Ford’s $5,900,000,000 will go for converting a pair of truck plants into car plants, technology to improve the mileage of its core line (Focus, Escape, Taurus and F-150), and other improvements to its engines. Nissan’s $1,600,000 will go for electric vehicle production in its Tennessee plant. Tesla’s $465,000,000 will go to begin mass production of its first vehicle, as well as a battery pack designed for the Smart.

That’s right; your federal government is not satisfied with getting its meathooks into the Not-So-Big Three, and has decided to go whole hog into the Japanese Nissan (or is it the French Renault, as Renault holds close to half of Nissan?).

Any guesses as to what will eventually happen to Ford and Nissan? Here’s a hint…

June 21, 2009

The honeymoon with the voters that care is now over

by steveegg @ 9:09. Filed under Politics - National.

(H/T – JammieWearingFool)

Rasmussen Reports just released today’s edition of the Daily Presidential Tracking Poll, and President Obama’s Presidential Approval Index is now -2 (for those that missed the “-” in front of the “2″, allow me to restate it – minus two). While 32% of the 500-likely-voters-per-night/3-night-rolling-average strongly approve of the way that Obama is performing his Presidential duties, 34% strongly disapprove of the way Obama is performing his Presidential duties.

I guess Shoebox was just short of 2 months off on cutting off the poll date. Oh well, I guess the warranty on the teleprompter just expired.

Of course, the news isn’t all bad for Obama. His overall approval rating is still 53%, though that is tied for the lowest approval rating so far, while his overall disapproval rating is 46%, just off the highest disapproval rating so far. So, why did I word the title the way I did if all of the above are “likely” voters? Simple; those with strong feelings one way or the other are more likely to act on them than those who care less, especially when it appears that Rasmussen is doing everything it can to eliminate the “don’t knows/don’t cares”.

June 19, 2009

Pawlenty – Just Boring Enough to be President

by Shoebox @ 5:49. Filed under Politics - Minnesota, Politics - National.

At least that’s what the author of this article believes. Somehow the author concludes that the US voters swing from one extreme of personal characteristics to the other: 

This has happened several times in the last 20 years. George H.W. Bush was seen as non-empathetic. Bill Clinton was full of empathy, and could capitalize on the contrast. Clinton came to be seen as lacking moral rectitude. George W. Bush seemed upright, and could again capitalize. Finally, the younger Bush came to be seen as overly certain. Obama took advantage by emphasizing his ability to see shades of gray.

If Obama utterly fails the author believes that the next President to be elected will be the opposite of Obama i.e. the blandest of bland:

In other words, when incumbent presidents lose their luster, those with qualities opposite theirs can stand to gain. If the public sours on Obama, his pizzazz and speechifying abilities could be rebranded as a negative – “all sizzle and no steak.” In that situation, the GOP might do well to have somebody who can’t make a political rally look like a Beatles concert. Boring could be pitched as competent, sensible, and able to get the job done.

The conclusion…TPaw:

Of course, it’s still very early. My point is simply that the contrast between Obama and Pawlenty might be a beneficial one for the GOP to offer if the public has soured on the incumbent. If it hasn’t – it really does not matter what the party does. Popular incumbents never lose.

And that’s where this author, along with many others lose all credibility.  Once again we have an author who believes that running as the anti Democrats is somehow an answer.  It’s not.  If we learned nothing from watching McCain’s debacle it is that running as Democrat lite or “I’m not him” or any other flavor that doesn’t run for something is a losing proposition.  On top of that, if Obama does crash and burn, running as anything other than having a positive, solution oriented candidate will be a complete failure. 

Maybe TPaw has a shot.  I’m from Minnesota and can say I’m not convinced.  He’s done a number of good things in restraining reckless Democrat spending.  However, he has far too many tendencies to flop around in the mushy middle i.e. ethanol, global warming and the like.  For TPaw to have a shot, including getting support from his home state, he’s going to need to shore up his conservative bona fides.  We’ve tried milquetoast and it’s failed.  Hopefully we’ll learn from our mistakes…then again, maybe not.

June 18, 2009

Just Keep Those Lies and Donations Coming!

by Shoebox @ 12:37. Filed under MMSD - The Crap People, Obama worship, Politics - National.

“ABCNEWS prides itself on covering all sides of important issues and asking direct questions of all newsmakers — of all political persuasions — even when others have taken a more partisan approach and even in the face of criticism from extremes on both ends of the political spectrum. ABCNEWS is looking for the most thoughtful and diverse voices on this issue.”

Ah, yup!

ABC Employees Contributed Overwhelmingly to Obama

By CPR Staff on June 18, 2009 10:41 AM  

Interesting to Note…

An analysis of contributions to the Obama and McCain campaign shows that ABC employees contributed more than $160,000 to the Obama campaign versus less than $5,000 to the McCain campaign.  

See the lists:

Obama-ABC.pdf

McCain-ABC.pdf

Guess we won’t be expecting to see ABC running under the moniker of “Fair and Balanced” anytime soon!

June 17, 2009

Four-Blocking the relationship between government and smokers

by steveegg @ 8:56. Filed under Health, Politics - National, Politics - Wisconsin.

Tom McMahon does it again:

There’s already a spirited discussion in the Four-Block World comments, so join it.

Obamaese

by Shoebox @ 5:19. Filed under Miscellaneous, Politics - National.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but President Obama and his administration have taken over the dictionary.  Well, not exactly the whole dictionary, yet, but they have given new meaning to a number of words and phrases that haven’t had a change in their meaning from the advent of the English language until now.  I haven’t been able compile the complete list of the New Obamaese Dictionary definitions but I have a few that you should be aware of.

Shovel Ready – Any project that rational taxpayers would vote a politician out of office for if they had voted to fund it during normal legislative processes.

Stimulus – A spending bill that contains “Shovel Ready” projects that is passed only with Democrat support

Uniquely Qualified – an individual who is either a tax cheat or has other ethical issues, such that they wouldn’t be hired for, and can only get a role through appointment to a Democrat Administration role.  (see Czar)

Czar – an individual who is given absolute power over a portion of the economy for which they have absolutely no working knowledge.  Czar’s are often “Uniquely Qualified.”

I don’t want to run - A phrase used immediately prior to a:  blaming one’s predecessor, b:  expressing surprise that the situation was much worse than you had thought and c:  making a claim that the actions you have taken will be “temporary.”  Typically, a Czar who is Uniquely Qualified is appointed to run the business that “I don’t want to run.”

As I have repeatedly said – A phrase used to point the listener to a specific one of the many positions the speaker has taken on a particular topic.  It is not used to dismiss the positions not addressed during the use of this phrase, only to make you think the speaker has actually made a final decision, at least until they next use of the phrase:  As I have repeatedly said…

I’m trying to keep a list of these.  If you have others, send them along.  Who knows, we may be able to give Webster a run for his money by the end of four years.

June 16, 2009

How Many to Make a Trend?

by Shoebox @ 5:15. Filed under Economy, Health, Politics - National.

I’ve shared before about a General Manager that I worked for in wireless.  He used to tell us “Two does not make a trend.”  It was his way of telling us that we shouldn’t get too giddy about a couple of success, that we needed a string of successes before we could claim a winning idea.  I never heard exactly how many did make a trend.  However, I’m pretty sure that President Obama is noticing a trend.

Monday as President Obama shared his ideas for solving the high costs of health care with the AMA, he was booed.  He was booed because his plan didn’t contain the obvious need to include malpractice reform in his plan.

A couple of weeks back, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was laughed at by Chinese University students as he told them:  he stood for a “strong dollar,” but that China should let its currency appreciate relative to the dollar, which, of course, would mean a weaker dollar.  He simultaneously told China that their investments in US Treasury bonds were safe.

And early last year Obama was booed by the NAACP as he tried to warm to the crowd with stunning rhetoric like:

“I eat fried chicken, why sometimes I go to bed with a bucket of KFC, so I can eat it while I fall asleep, and again when I wake up in the morning.”

My point in this is not that Obama or his administration, gets booed or laughed at.   Rather, my point is that for all of the accolades about his speaking ability and intelligence, President Obama, whether with friendly, neutral or unfriendly audiences, continues to misread his audience. 

President Obama and his administration believes that just because they say it, it must be so.  They believe that audiences somehow leave their God given brains at home and pant like Pavlovian dogs at whatever Obama or his spokesperson says. 

Doubt me?

Obama is out pushing his medical insurance programs.  He claims that by implementing the new plan he will reduce costs.  Unfortunately for Obama, the CBO came out today and blasted his assumptions saying Obama’s plan will add an additional $1 Trillion to the deficit (remember, this is the deficit that Obama continues to claim he “inherited” and that he would cut in half) and that it will only cover an additional 16 to 17 million people.

Folks, if the net cost over 9 years to cover an average of 16.5 million people is $1 Trillion, that averages to over $6,700 per year, per person.  For the average family of four, that is almost $27,000 per year.   As a self employed individual I buy my family’s insurance so believe me I know how expensive health insurance is.  However, $6,700 per year for your average individual isn’t just covering the basics, that’s enough to cover with a gold plated plan.  It appears that once again, with government involved, costs don’t come down, they go up.

I think I hear the national health plan boo birds warming up in the wings!

June 15, 2009

I’m Back and Itchin’ For a Fight!

by Shoebox @ 9:55. Filed under Economy, Politics - Minnesota, Politics - National.

I’m back!  I’ll tell you more about why I’ve been gone (if you care) at the end of the post.  First, on to the lie of the day:

Over the weekend Joe Biden started building the case of excuses for the Obama administrations inept handling of the economy.  In an interview Sunday Biden said:“everyone guessed wrong.”

Ummmm, excuse me Vice President Biden but not “everyone” guessed wrong. In fact, the very economists who you claim “guessed wrong” knew that what Obama advocated for would have a dismally ineffective impact on the economic situation.

At the risk of saying “I told you so” loudly enough so as to be heard over the cacophonous echoing that is the noise of an empty political head like Joe Biden, let me say “I told you so” and Christina Romer, one of the very economists that Biden refers to, told you so!

Please reread this post where I provide the link to Romer’s own research that showed that “stimulus” at best gets a 1X multiplier while tax cuts provide a 3X multiplier.  Also, please reread this post where I link to Romer’s own research that showed that stimulus packages don’t work because the government applies them to the wrong things and does so too late to have any effect.

Well, now that I think about it maybe I have to agree with Joe that everyone did “guess” wrong!  But isn’t that just the problem?  Regardless of the issue the Obama administration doesn’t want to be constrained by facts.  The Obama administration is more focused on what they want the world or the particular situation to be rather than the reality of it.  The result is that they continue to bumble and stumble their way around “guessing” at what they can do rather than using knowledge, facts and the information their very own people have, to deal with the issues they confront. 

Perhaps the greatest irony of this whole issue is that Obama claimed his administration would be one that really focused on the facts and not emotion as he stated in his inauguration speech:  “We will restore science to its rightful place.”   Stay tuned for a lot more problematic “guessing” as Obama tries to solve the health care “crisis” and the global warming “crisis.”

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Where have I been?  Well, if you must know (we must, we must (my homage to “Blazing Saddles”)), I have been working on an intraparty campaign in MN.  I worked for the Dave Thompson campaign as he ran for the State Party Chair of the Minnesota Republican Party.

Dave was a fantastic candidate who really connected with the grassroots of Minnesota.  He forced the entrenched machine candidate to commit to an open and inclusive party process, something the machine candidate has personally fought for years.

In the end, we didn’t prevail.  However, Dave’s message, charisma and candor reinvigorated a large number of folks who had nearly given up on the MNGOP.  We’ll now wait and see whether the new chair keeps to his campaign commitments and embraces all activists who believe in liberty and conservatism.  If not, we’ll see if he reverts to his previous exclusionary approach which will cause the MNGOP to fracture and allow a blue state that should be red to be permanently dyed blue.  Stay tuned, the state convention is in September, we’ll know then!

June 12, 2009

A junker of an idea

by steveegg @ 10:10. Filed under Politics - National.

The Detroit News reports that the House and Senate leadership have agreed on a $1 billion plan to get older cars off the roads, to be stuffed inside the $106 billion war supplemental (off-topic, I thought there wasn’t going to be “war supplementals” in the ObamiNation). The major details are the same as the version that passed the House on Tuesday:

  • Those who trade in a vehicle made after 1983 that has a combined (new) EPA mileage rating of less than 18 mpg can get $3,500 in a government voucher if the new passenger car has a combined EPA mileage rating of at least 22 mpg and is at least 4 mpg greater than the previous vehicle’s combined (new) EPA mileage rating, or the new light truck has a combined EPA mileage rating of at least 18 mpg and is at least 2 mpg greater than the previous vehicle’s combined (new) EPA mileage rating.
  • That amount increases to $4,500 if the new passenger car’s combined EPA mileage rating is at least 10 mpg greater than the previous vehicle’s combined (new) EPA mileage rating or if the new light trick’s combined EPA mileage rating is at least 5 mpg greater than the previous vehicle’s combined (new) EPA mileage rating.
  • Since the old car will be crushed or shredded, that voucher will take the place of any trade-in value.

Exit question part 1 – how long before this becomes mandatory, with the only eligible cars made by either UAW Motors or Government Motors? Exit question part 2 – will this be any more successful than the “gun buyback” programs?

Revisions/extensions (9:08 am 6/14/2009) - I somehow missed the requirement that the old vehicle can’t have higher than a combined 18 mpg.

June 10, 2009

Conference call with Sen. Lamar Alexander re. govt. car cos.

by steveegg @ 12:10. Tags:
Filed under Business, Politics - National.

Thanks to Sean Hackbarth, I was part of a conference call with Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), discussing his plan to distribute the Treasury-held common stock in Chrysler and GM directly to the taxpayers within a year and his new Car Czar award. Since I managed to have my digital voice recorder working, I was actually able to grab a few notes from that. Of course, partly because of my natural quietness, and partially because of a heavy-hitter lineup on the call so experienced that even Fausta didn’t get to ask questions, all I can offer is a writeup.

  • The Auto Stock for Every Taxpayer Act (S. 1198, no text available yet from THOMAS) would require the Treasury to distribute all of the common stock to the 120 million or so Americans who pay individual income taxes within a year of GM leaving bankruptcy (side note; Chrysler has now closed its “sale” to Fiat/UAW/US and Canadian governments and will henceforth be called UAW Motors on this blog).
  • Sen. Alexander describes it as the fastest way to get the stock out of the hands of government, and brought up the example of the Green Bay Packers and its community-owned structure (Sean’s influence at work).
  • The most-important thing is to stop the political meddling that results from government ownership, citing the White House-ordered firing of Rick Wagoner as CEO of GM, “suggestions” on where the HQ of GM ought to be, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) pressuring GM to keep a Massachusetts distribution center open, clamors from Congress on what models to make (do I hear Iowahawk’s Pelosi GTxi SS/RT Sport Edition?), the pay czar to “fix” the price of labor.
  • The rationale to the taxpayers is, “You paid for it, you should own it”.
  • As part of that, the Car Czar award, first given to Rep. Frank on Monday, will become a regular feature.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a conference call without questions. As I said, we had some heavy hitters.

  • Noel Sheppard of Newsbusters started up with a two-parter: How will the inevitable calls from the Democrats to include non-taxpayers be addressed, and will the stock distribution will be based on population or percentage of taxes paid? Sen. Alexander hasn’t heard much from the Dems yet, but the principle is that we should give the shares back to those who actually paid for them. As for the distribution percentage, he acknowledges that a percentage-based would be better, but the population-based split would “give the little guy a break” and be “simpler and cleaner”.

    Side note – the Treasury would have roughly 310,000,000 common shares in “new GM”, and an unspecified number of shares equaling 8% of the membership stake (all non-voting) in UAW Motors, so a population-based split would be “simpler and cleaner”.

  • Jennifer Rubin of Commentary Magazine and Pajamas Media wondered if the Chrysler and GM bankruptcies have changed the rule of law regarding private property owners. Sen. Alexander said that we’ve damaged the rule of law and the rights of private property owners. He pointed out that, in the future, private entities will be slower to lend money to enterprises and rely on contracts to pay the money back, and asserted that our system won’t “function very well” in that scenario.
  • Travis Griffith at CarGurus.com asked about stock dumping by those that would get the distribution. Sen. Alexander notes that stock distributions happen all the time. The alternative would be for the Treasury to slowly divest over 5-7 years, and he expects the government to run both right into the ground before they can fully divest themselves.

    Side notes – I’d expect each invidiual 3-share stake in GM to be worth somewhere around $30 at the close (based on the $1 billion in VEBA funding the UAW is giving up for 17.5% of the common shares) and each individual membership stake in UAW Motors to be worth somewhere between $4 and $7 as of a couple hours ago (depending on which valuation method one uses). At the same time, the UAW will be looking to dump significant chunks of its holdings, which will depress the estimated values and limit the dumping.

  • Stephanie Davis from RFC Radio wondered whether the political meddling would be extended to Ford. Sen. Alexander hopes not, and the faster the stock gets out of the Treasury, the less likely it is that Ford will be meddled with. He read off a long list of enterprises government has been meddling in over the last 9 months.
  • Noel Sheppard asked about Sen. Alexander’s thoughts on the European rejection of their leftist leaders. Sen. Alexander pointed out he has been around a while, and he’s seen things change quickly. Europe has been at points in the past a leading political indicator of trends in the US, especially in right turns. Takeaway quote; “(T)he more the Obama administration practices politics of Washington takeover, the more wary Americans are going to be of one-party control in Washington, which is what we have today.”
  • Somebody from RedState (interference on my DVR prevented me from catching his name) asked about the politicization of the Chrysler dealership closings (which took effect at the close of business yesterday). Sen. Alexander noted that the mere odor of politicization is reason enough to end the “incestuous relationship” of the government owning the car companies.
  • Travis Griffith asked how often we can expect a Car Czar award. Sen. Alexander expects a couple a week because we’re in a target-rich environment. As part of previous answer, he mentioned that he might have to give one to himself for urging that the Spring Hill, Tennessee GM plant stay open.
  • Missed who asked this one, but someone asked whether Sen. Alexander had any confidence that the government control of GM will be transparent. He’s hopeful that the demand for transparency will make GM the most-public private company in America, and that the pressure will get the Obama administration to get the government out of GM.

Sean said he would get a recording out to those of us who participated later, so I won’t inflict you with my very-low-quality version.

Revisions/extensions (12:49 pm 6/10/2009) - Ask, and ye shall receive. Sean came through with audio.

I haven’t completed my thoughts on the bill, but it definitely sounds intriguing. One item I haven’t seen addressed yet – the preferred shares that the Treasury will be holding.

June 9, 2009

Tuesday Hot Read – Lou Pritchett’s “You Scare Me”

by steveegg @ 12:13. Filed under Politics - National.

(H/T – Charlie Sykes)

Lou Pritchett is a former vice president at Procter & Gamble. According to Snopes, which confirmed Lou’s authorship of the following letter, he originally submitted this to the New York Times, which refused to acknowledge receipt of the letter and refused to publish it. Unlike my usual Hot Reads, I will republish the letter in its entirety:

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don’t understand it at its core..

You scare me because you lack humility and ‘class’, always blaming others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the ‘blame America’ crowd and deliver this message abroad.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer ‘wind mills’ to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use ‘extortion’ tactics against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O’Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett

Since one of the liberal apologists over at Charlie’s site failed Reading Comprehension 101, I’ll list the 13 Presidents that Lou has lived under:

  • Barack Obama
  • George W. Bush
  • Bill Clinton
  • George H.W. Bush
  • Ronald Reagan
  • Jimmy Carter
  • Gerald Ford
  • Richard Nixon
  • Lyndon Johnson
  • John Kennedy
  • Dwight Eisenhower
  • Harry Truman
  • Franklin Roosevelt

While Lou has but childhood first-hand memories of FDR, he has also lived as an adult under some very liberal Presidents.

Do also note that those with recent experience with what Obama wants to do and is doing have rejected the kindred spirits to Obama in EU parliamentary elections. Can you say, “The warning bells are ringing!”?

June 8, 2009

Oh so close

by steveegg @ 15:26. Filed under Politics - National.

A couple months ago, Shoebox had a poll up on when Rasmussen’s Presidential Approval Index (the percentage of those who strongly approve less the percentage of those who strongly disapprove in Rasmussen’s 3-day-rolling-average daily Presidential tracking poll) would go negative. On June 5, which reflects June 2, June 3, and June 4, it was zero, with 34% strongly approving and 34% strongly disapproving. Meanwhile, the overall approval was 54%, tied for second-lowest (right behind the June 6 results) and overall disapproval was 46%, tied for second-highest (again, right behind the June 6 results).

« Older Entries

[No Runny Eggs is proudly powered by WordPress.]