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.

Archive for the 'Politics' Category

July 17, 2009

I Agree With Joe Biden!

by @ 5:52. Filed under Economy, Health Care Reform, Politics - National.

For those who have read this blog for a while, I’ll give you a moment to put your teeth back in and pick yourself up off of the floor.

Ready?

In a speech to AARP about the proposed national health care plan, Joe Biden said:

“And folks look, AARP knows and the people with me here today know, the president knows, and I know, that the status quo is simply not acceptable,” Biden said at the event on Thursday in Alexandria, Va. “It’s totally unacceptable. And it’s completely unsustainable. Even if we wanted to keep it the way we have it now. It can’t do it financially.”

For once, I absolutely agree with Joe.  The current course is unsustainable.  We need to make changes soon or we’re going to be in a whole heap of trouble!

Think I’m just some two bit blogging hack who’s just throwing another opinion to the ether?  Don’t think my opinions is that valuable?  Well, don’t trust me then, trust the head of the Congressional Budget Office. 

In his testimony to Congress and in his blog, the Director of the CBO said:

the federal budget is on an unsustainable path, because federal debt will continue to grow much faster than the economy over the long run. Although great uncertainty surrounds long-term fiscal projections, rising costs for health care and the aging of the population will cause federal spending to increase rapidly under any plausible scenario for current law. (emphasis mine)

That’s right, shocking isn’t it.  The federal budget is on an unsustainable path.  The CBO goes on to explain what the problem with the budget is….take one guess at what is causing the unsustainable problem:

Measured relative to GDP, almost all of the projected growth in federal spending other than interest payments on the debt stems from the three largest entitlement programs—Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. For decades, spending on Medicare and Medicaid has been growing faster than the economy. CBO projects that if current laws do not change, federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid combined will grow from roughly 5 percent of GDP today to almost 10 percent by 2035. By 2080, the government would be spending almost as much, as a share of the economy, on just its two major health care programs as it has spent on all of its programs and services in recent years.

And this is before putting another $1.5 Trillion minimum of additional costs into the budget for the national health care program!

Later in his speech, Joe went on to lie again telling the folks that they would be able to keep their existing health plan if they wanted:

“They’ll be a deal in there so there’s competition, so what you’ll have in there is you’ll have the ability to go in there and say, ‘Now look, this is the policy I want. This is the one,” Biden said.

Someone should get Joe a copy of the House bill or a subscription to Investors Business Daily.  If he had either, he would note the following:

When we first saw the paragraph Tuesday, just after the 1,018-page document was released, we thought we surely must be misreading it. So we sought help from the House Ways and Means Committee

It turns out we were right: The provision would indeed outlaw individual private coverage. Under the Orwellian header of “Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage,” the “Limitation On New Enrollment” section of the bill clearly states

“Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day” of the year the legislation becomes law.

Joe did have one last comment that I agree with him on:

“We’re going to go bankrupt as a nation,” Biden said.

Yes, Joe.  If we continue down this path and are lucky, we may only go bankrupt as a nation.  My bet is that if we follow the advice of you and yours, we’ll commit national suicide!

July 16, 2009

Soon, at a Medical Provider Near You!

by @ 9:08. Filed under Economy, Health Care Reform, Politics - National.

Massachusetts is the state whose health care model that is being used for much of the Democrat’s plan.  When Massachusetts plan was proposed, it was supposed to cost the State a few hundred thousand dollars each year.  It is now costing more than twice what it was proposed to cost.

From the NY Times:

BOSTON — A hospital that serves thousands of indigent Massachusetts residents sued the state on Wednesday, charging that its costly universal health care law is forcing the hospital to cover too much of the expense of caring for the poor.

The central charge in the suit is that the state has siphoned money away from Boston Medical to help pay the considerable cost of insuring all but a small percentage of residents. Three years after the law’s passage, Massachusetts has the country’s lowest percentage of uninsured residents: 2.6 percent, compared with a national average of 15 percent.

Sound Familiar?

One of the state’s reimbursement rates to Boston Medical, dropped from $12, 476 in 2008 to $9,323 by 2009, the suit says.

Folks, this is one way that government rations.  By reducing their payments to providers, for no reason other than they can, providers begin reducing the number of patients they will see or reduce the care the patients get.  Is it lost on the D.C. crowd how many providers no longer accept Medicaid patients?

State officials have suggested that Boston Medical could reduce costs by operating more efficiently. The state has also pointed out that the hospital has reserves of about $190 million, but Tom Traylor, the hospital’s vice president of federal and state programs, said the reserves could only sustain the hospital for about a year.

Translation:  You have money, therefore you can afford to get paid less or pay more to be a part of the program.

If the State is so good at identifying where cost reductions can be attained, why is it that they have a budget shortfall of $5 Billion?  Can’t they state turn their own folks inward to find the waste and inefficiency in the State’s budget?

Deja Vu All Over Again

by @ 5:34. Filed under Economy, Health, Politics - National.

President Obama along with many Democrats, are trying to push a health care overhaul before the August recess. Amidst arguments of the cost ($1.6 Trillion to over $4 trillion), how to pay for it (taxes, taxes, taxes) and who it would provide political payback for (planned parenthood amongst others), most folks, including those in Congress, have no idea how this plan (at 3,000 pages) would actually work.  To help show the complexity of what is being proposed the Republicans have released a chart that shows all of the bureaucratic snarling that would occur if the proposed plan is passed.  Can you make sense of it?

Dem med

It’s hard to believe that this mess can possibly provide better health care than what we have today. The funny thing is that I seem to remember seeing a similar plan to this as a kid. As a kid I remember seeing a plan that had fewer bureaucratic involvement yet had the same exact end result.

While almost 40 years old, I believe this chart would have just as much success as the one the Democrats are proposing:

Mouse_Trap_Board_and_Boxjpg

Either way, we end up trapped at the end!

July 15, 2009

Reagan-era whiz-kid says the tax war is lost

by @ 10:03. Filed under Politics - National, Taxes.

Peter Ferrara, who served in the White House Office of Policy Development under President Reagan, had an intriguing piece that appeared in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal. In it, he tries to make the case that the NewConservative™ position on taxes should be not that everybody should have a low tax bill, but that the bottom 60% of wage-earners should have an explicit 0% federal tax rate with an end to refundable tax credits. He argues that we’re already at the point where said bottom 60%, which earns 25% of the total income, paid less than 1% of total federal taxes in 2006 (the last year figures were available), and will likely have a net 0% federal tax liability come April, 2010. He further argues that the reason that Steve Lonegan lost the Republican gubernatorial primary in very-high-tax New Jersey was because he advocated a flat 3% income tax, which would have raised taxes slightly on the bottom half of wage-earners.

K Street, we have a disconnect. If it is true that Lonegan lost because of the tax issue, then that plan is doomed to failure. Ferrara notes that, in 2006, the bottom 40% of wage-earners received an aggregate net 3.6% of their income in refundable tax credits. If that gets taken away, there goes an aggretate 3.5% (no, not 3.6%) of their income.

What is worse is Ferrara’s leaps-of-faith regarding the 40% of those who will now be explicitly hitched to the bloat known as the federal government and its effect on the size of said bloat. He seems to think that, by explicitly taking the majority out of the tax burden entirely, a rational, low-tax policy can be put in place for the “rich”, with the phantom “middle-class tax cut” taken out of political play. What is more likely is that both halves of the bipartisan Party-In-Government will redouble (and in the case of the GOP, retriple) their efforts to buy Paul’s vote by robbing Peter to grow government since there would be far more Pauls than Peters.

The one part of his analysis that is correct is that the Peters would find ways to go Galt. Now, what was that saying about the great experiment in governance known as America ending when half the people realize that they can use the power of government to rob the other half blind?

July 14, 2009

Let’s Call It “Employment Change”

by @ 13:53. Filed under Economy, Politics - National.

It always seems that liberals use words or phrases until the words don’t support their view of the world any longer.  When that happens liberals typically change the definition of the words or come up with description changes that fit their new view of the situation.

Do you remember how “Climate Change” used to be called “Global Warming?”  Yeah, global warming up until it became clear that all the claims being made about increasing global temperatures….made by man….we’re blown up by nearly 10 straight years of global temperature flattening or even cooling.  Voila, “Global Warming” was changed to “Climate Change.”  It really didn’t matter that the world wasn’t warming any more, the fact that something is changing that is not in line with the liberals desire is what the true catastrophic issue is.

When President Obama proposed the Stimulus plan he had his economic experts sell the plan by saying that without it, unemployment would go to nearly 10%.  In contrast, by implementing the stimulus plan, Obama argued that unemployment would cap at 8%.

Over the past weekend President Obama told us that the stimulus plan was working swimmingly and that while unemployment was a “lagging indicator”, all would be well if we were just patient:

“We’re moving in the right direction,” Obama said. “We must let it work the way it’s supposed to, with the understanding that in any recession, unemployment tends to recover more slowly than other measures of economic activity.”

While in Michigan today, President Obama said that he really doesn’t have a clue what is happening with unemployment:

“How employment numbers are going to respond is not year clear. My expectation is that we will probably continue to see unemployment tick up for several months.”

Clearly, this is what Obama and his team expected to see.  Clearly they had expected that by doing the man made adjustments all would become right with unemployment.  Clearly they are now frustrated that things are not going along the path they prescribed in February.  What should they do now?  I know, let’s not call it “unemployment” anymore, let’s call it “employment change.”  There, they were never wrong.  Problem solved!

Past Performance is not Indicative of Future Results

by @ 10:11. Filed under Politics - National.

Newsmax.com is reporting that President Obama is shattering all previous presidential travel records.

In the first 171 days of his presidency, Obama spent 22 days — the equivalent of one full month of working days — out of the country. That means 13 percent of Obama’s time in office has been spent abroad.

The amount of time that Obama is spending abroad may be a bit suprising when you consider that Obama is dealing with significant domestic issues including “… the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression,” cap and trade legislation and a  health care agenda.  In addition, Obama still has those nagging little issues in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Together, one would think that Obama has more than enough things to keep his attention at home rather than grand standing across the globe.  For someone who campaigned on bringing efficiency to government, Obama’s travels would seem to be counter intuitive.  Well, now that I think about it, maybe not so counter intuitive.  Remember, Obama has a history of avoiding focus on the things he ought to be focused on:

From the time Barack Obama was sworn in as a United State Senator, to the time he announced he was forming a Presidential exploratory committee, he logged 143 days of experience in the Senate. That’s how many days the Senate was actually in session and working.

And before that:

In the end, Mr. Obama chose neither to vote for nor against the bill. He voted “present,” effectively sidestepping the issue, an option he invoked nearly 130 times as a state senator.

Every commercial for every investment fund or firm has a disclaimer that reads:

Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Unfortunately for President Obama, past performance, or the lack of focus on it, is exactly what we should expect in future results!

July 13, 2009

All Communication All The Time

by @ 5:05. Filed under Economy, Politics - National.

One of the major difficulties of the Bush administration is that it seemed that they wouldn’t talk to anyone.  Oh, I don’t mean the innocuous daily press briefings or the occasional sound bite as President Bush dashed off to a helicopter or another meeting of some sort.  What I’m referring to is that regardless of the topic, the Bush administration never seemed to expound on or explain themselves.  Time after time we would see the Democrats, the press or even the Republican members of Congress question, challenge or press an administration strategy and invariably, the administration would respond with something akin to “no comment” or “trust us.” 

Enter Obama.

There aren’t many things I can give Obama credit for but one thing is undeniable; the man knows how to communicate.  Unlike President Bush, President Obama is talking all the time about all the things he wants to do for America.  Not only that but President Obama has numerous members of his administration out talking all the time about how they are doing.

As an example of the Obama administration “all communication, all the time,” look at these insights:

First, Joe Biden telling us “the economy was much worse than we expected!”

Second, We have Larry Summers telling us “the worse is not over:”

Onward, then, to the toughest economic challenge Summers faces today: the recession. Here, Summers turns sombre: “I don’t think the worst is over … It’s very likely that more jobs will be lost. It would not be surprising if GDP has not yet reached its low.

Things don’t sound so good if we listen to Biden and Summers.  If we listen to these spokespeople for the Obama administration we may want to find a comfortable spot to start practicing our economic fetal position.  But wait, let’s listen to President Obama:

“We’re moving in the right direction,” Obama said. “We must let it work the way it’s supposed to, with the understanding that in any recession, unemployment tends to recover more slowly than other measures of economic activity.”

Yes, Obama and his folks are talking all the time about all kinds of things.  However, not only do they have a problem of conflicting with one another they even conflict with themselves:

The administration admitted it has been on a “learning curve” with the stimulus package, but that it has figured out how to spend some of the available billions more quickly.

Many tax cuts have already taken effect. But only $60.4 billion of the remaining $499 billion has been spent. Most of the money was always likely to be spent this summer, at the earliest, as departments wrestled with the increased workload and new requirements imposed by the bill.

The White House said it isn’t changing its goal of spending 70% of the funds by September 2010. But amid unemployment worries, the administration has been pressuring agencies to get some money out the door more quickly.

Huh, working as it should versus we need to spend quicker because unemployment is a problem.  Well, which is it Mr. President?

July 8, 2009

$236-$410 million, as well as an “in” with Obama, DOES beat $195-$215 million

by @ 12:07. Filed under Business, Politics - National, Politics - Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Thomas Content reported on the elements of Wisconsin’s $195 million play for General Government Motors’ new subcompact car production facility, and despite the claims at the time from Gov. Jim Doyle that Wisconsin’s offer was better than Michigan’s, Wisconsin’s offer fell far short by every objective measure. The summary:

– The biggest chunk of the $195 million offer was a 10% tax break on the value of new capital investment plugged into the DemoBudget. Since it was estimated that retooling the plant would cost GM $700 million, the break would be $70 million.

– An additional $45 million in state aid included an unspecified amount of “stimulus” money. The Janesville Gazette reports that the $45 million also included a 7% payroll tax credit.

– Rock County, the county in which Janesville lies, was willing to kick in $20 million.

– The city of Janesville offered to provide $15 million in cash, as well as take over the GM plant’s wastewater facility, worth $1 million per year. The wastewater offer was not included in the $195 million total above, but would add $20 million to its worth over 20 years.

– The city of Beloit, just a bit south of Janesville and hurting in its own right, pledged $2 million.

– The Gazette also reported that private interests were willing to kick in $42 million, including reductions on health insurance premiums from a local insurance company.

Meanwhile, Michigan offered a total of $779 million-$1,011 million in incentives over, depending on the news source, 20 to 25 years, for not only the subcompact production facility, but also the non-closing of a Pontiac stamping facility originally slated to close and the promise of at least 20,000 Michigan GM employees over that 20 years. The AP, via WILX-TV, reported that most of the money was a continuation of tax breaks GM had previously received, but that $300 million was new tax breaks. The Journal Sentinel stated that $236 million was directly related to the Orion facility deal.

The Wall Street Journal reported that local moneys were worth an additional $102 million and that Michigan was going to use $130 million in federal money for “worker training”. Since a total of 1,600 jobs would be “saved” between Orion and Pontiac, and that 1,200 jobs were in Orion, I would estimate that, on top of the $236 million of Michigan state money the Journal Sentinel said was directly related to the Orion deal, another $174 million of federal and local money is related, making the total haul for GM $410 million.

In comparison, Tennessee, the third wheel on this bicycle, offered a “mere” $20 million in job-training funds and an unspecified amount of long-term tax breaks. Tennessee was counting on GM factoring in a nearly-new $225 million painting facility built at Spring Hill as part of its recent $1 billion retooling of the facility, compared to a requirement to build a new painting facility in Orion (and presumably, Janesville) to carry the day, but Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said that GM wanted something north of $250 million to stay in Spring Hill.

Even if Wisconsin, or Tennessee for that matter, matched Michgan’s offer, The Wall Street Journal reports there were also poltiical considerations. The first two criteria for the competition, as told to Tennessee’s delegation, were “community impact” and “carbon footprint”. While Rock County’s unemployment is, at the moment, slightly higher than Oakland County’s (the county where Orion lies), the fact that those formerly employed by GM in Janesville are already on the unemployment line, while those employed by both GM and Chrysler in Oakland County are not yet counted, skews that. Further, the Journal Sentinel reports that the Orion facility is powered by methane from surrounding landfills, a “green” energy source.

The bad news doesn’t end there. The Journal Sentinel further reports that, while Janesville is still technically on “standby”, the local incentives to reactivate the plant are now off the table.

Learning At The Feet Of The Master

by @ 5:45. Filed under Economy, International relations, Politics - National.

President Obama has been in Russia the past few days. You may have heard about it. That is you may have heard about it if something other than Michael Jackson’s funeral had been in the news for the past week. Anyway….President Obama ostensibly went to Russia to discuss arms agreements, trade, council the Russians on the importance of honoring contracts and other important President kinds of stuff….at least that’s what Obama wants you to believe he is there for.

The real reason Obama went to Russia is for some one on one counseling from Obama’s Sensei of controlled economies, Vladimir Putin. Please watch this previously secret, anonymously released Russian economic training video:

In the video it is plain to see how the US media marvels at the Sensei’s ability to lower pork prices with a mere question:

“‘They’re very high,’ said Putin,” Maceda explained. “‘It will be lower tomorrow,’ was the quick reply.”

Later the Sensei is able to reemploy an entire cement factory by shaming the owners into the rehiring:

“And this showdown at a cement factory near St. Petersburg,” Maceda said. “When orders dried up, managers shut the plant laying off hundreds until Putin shamed the bosses, even tossing a pen and ordering one of them to sign a promise to rehire every worker. Now other towns are hoping for some of Putin’s special attention.”

Wow!  Obama really is the grasshopper. 

In a commencement speech yesterday, President Obama said:

The future does not belong to those who gather armies on a field of battle or bury missiles in the ground

Apparently the future also doesn’t belong to those who pass stimulus bills, loan shark money, or take over entire industries.  The future for central economy controllers like Obama, is to merely speak and make it so.

D-I-V-O-R-C-E

by @ 5:01. Filed under Politics - National.

I don’t normally post these kinds of things.  In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever posted another chain email.  However, this one is so good it needs to be shared:

Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists, and Obama supporters, et. al.:

We have stuck together since the late 1950s, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know that we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right so let’s just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.

The Separation Agreement:

Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.

We don’t like redistributive taxes so you can keep them.

You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU.

Since you hate guns and war, we’ll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O’Donnell. (You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them.)

We’ll keep the capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street. You can have your beloved homeless, homeboys, hippies and illegal aliens. We’ll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO’s, and rednecks.

We’ll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood.

You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we’ll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we’ll help provide them security.

We’ll keep our Judeo-Christian values. You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N., but we will no longer be paying the bill.

We’ll keep the SUVs, pickup trucks and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find.

You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any practicing doctors. We’ll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right.

We’ll keep The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the National Anthem. I’m sure you’ll be happy to substitute Imagine, I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing, Kum Ba Ya, or We Are the World.

We’ll practice trickle down economics and you can give trickle up poverty your best shot.

Since it often so offends you, we’ll keep our history, our name and our flag.

Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I’ll bet you ANWAR which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.

Sincerely,

John J. Wall
Law Student and an American

P.S. Also, please take Barbara Streisand & Jane Fonda with you.

May I add that as property settlement we would give the Liberals all of the Continental 48 states that have Pacific sea shore and all states from D.C. north that has Atlantic seashore and I’ll toss in Pennsylvania and Hawaii if you agree to this deal today!

July 7, 2009

Ya Don’t Have To Call Me The 60th Democrat!

by @ 5:06. Filed under Politics - National.

First, for those of you who missed the ’70’s….for whatever reason, there was a comic who went by the name of Raymond J. Johnson Jr.  Ray J had a shtick in which he gave you every combination of his name except simply, “Johnson.” :


Today, Al Franken met with Harry Reid and they talked to the press. During his portion of the comments, Franken brushed aside the notion that he was the 60th Democrat Senator that so many have been breathlessly awaiting. Instead, the humble, self effacing servant, Al Franken, simply wants to be known as “The second Senator from Minnesota.”

Like Ray J., you can call him the 60th Democrat Senator, you can call him the second Minnesota Senator, you can even call him Senator Al Franken (shudder). Whatever you call him, you also have to call him the tipping point for the Republican Party.

I’ve pointed out time and time and time again that from a vote on policy standpoint, it didn’t matter whether the Democrats had 58, 59 or 60 Senators. The fact is and was that there were 2 or 3 “Republican” votes up for purchase or up for a flexible interpretation of principle on nearly every major issue to face the Senate. You want proof? Show me anything of substance that has failed to pass the Senate without Democrats voting against it!

With 58 or 59 Democrats there was always the convenient yet farcicle argument that folks like Olympia Snowe had to vote for some bill, let’s say the stimulus bill, not because she believed it was good policy for her constituents but that “something had to be done.” Thus, in the spirit of “bipartisanship” Senators like Snowe would vote with the Democrats to pass legislation.

With 60 Democrats, Snowe no longer has to compromise her “principles. With 60 Democrats, the only reason for any Republican to vote with the Democrats is if that Republican believes and agrees with the principles of the particular bill.

So why is this a tipping point for Republicans? Simple. From this point forward, the veneer will be off of the excuses that “moderate” Republicans have used. Further, the veneer will be off of Republican leadership’s excuses that they provide for these “moderate” Republicans votes. If Republicans can not force the Democrats to take unilateral votes on issues like Cap and Trade, health care, potentially a second stimulus, than there is no longer any reason for the Republican party. If the Republicans can not unify against clearly bad policy for the nation when they have nothing to lose and principle to gain by voting against it than I predict that Conservatives will abandon the Republican party.

2012 is a long, long way away. If the Republicans think that over reaching by the Democrats will give them an opportunity in 2012, they had better pay attention to 2010.  2010 could be an opportunity for Republicans but only if they give us a reason to vote for them.

Update: 2:54 PM…Um , sorry, had the wrong video link in this…it’s right now!

July 6, 2009

The Obama Doctrine

by @ 5:43. Filed under International relations, Politics - National.

In her first major interview after Sarah (we hardly knew ya) Palin was announced as John McCain’s VP pick, she had the infamous question from ABC’s Charlie Gibson in which she was asked about the “Bush Doctrine.  The Left was gaga the next few weeks claiming that Palin’s inability to provide an instantaneous response for Gibson left her unable to be considered a serious political contender. 

One of the rumors about Palin’s recent resignation announcement, is that she will pick up a contract to do a television interview show.  If she does, I’d suggest she book Charlie Gibson as her first guest.  I’d like her first question to Charlie to be, “Charlie, can you please explain the Obama doctrine?”  I wonder what Charlie would say?

Would Charlie say the Obama Doctrine is one where denouncing fraudulent elections and supporting those wanting liberty and freedom would be avoided so as not to be “meddling?”

“It is not productive, given the history of US and Iranian relations to be seen as meddling in Iranian elections,” he said.

Or, would Charlie say the Obama Doctrine is one where citizens of a democracy that honor and enforce their constitution, to prevent the unilateral usurpation of the constitution, are viewed as “illegal?”

President Barack Obama on Monday declared that the United States still considers Manuel Zelaya to be the president of Honduras and assailed the coup that forced him into exile as “not legal,” deepening the chasm between the Central American nation and much of the rest of the world.

Or is it possible that Charlie would say the Obama Doctrine is one in which sovereign countries, threatened with annihilation, have the right to self defense and to do so with extreme prejudice against those who threaten them?

“Look, Israel can determine for itself — it’s a sovereign nation — what’s in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else,” Biden replied. He added that this was the case, “whether we agree or not” with the Israeli view.

Sarah Palin may have had a difficult time putting specificity on the Bush Doctrine.  After only six months, there are so many different Obama Doctrines that every Democrat Senator could have their own personalized version.

July 3, 2009

Who’s Zoomin Who?

by @ 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 @ 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 @ 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

RPW – It might be a job-killing budget if…

by @ 12:52. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

My friends at the Republican Party of Wisconsin went all Jeff Foxworthy on the DemoBudget:

As Governor Doyle tours the state promoting a job-killing budget he signed into law on Monday, he’s been touting the potential for the budget to create jobs. However, there are a few things he forgot to mention…

Hey, Governor Doyle:

When your budget will kill more jobs than it helps to create…it might be a job-killing budget.

When your budget increases spending by 6.2% during an economic recession…it might be a job-killing budget.

When your budget replaces $2.2 billion in ongoing state funding expenses with federal stimulus money hyped as job-creation spending…it might be a job-killing budget.

When your budget cuts funding for Forward Wisconsin, the state’s business-promotion group, at a time Wisconsin is losing hundreds of jobs to other states…it might be a job-killing budget.

When your budget raises taxes on small businesses and corporations alike…it might be a job-killing budget.

When your budget increases taxes on investments by $243 million…it might be a job-killing budget.

When the cost to do business is going up on everything from the phone bill to the cost of waste disposal but protects an earmark for recycling bins in one town only…it might be a job-killing budget.

When businesses move hundreds of jobs out of Wisconsin citing burdensome taxes you approved to balance the books…it might be a job-killing budget.

If you still think this budget creates jobs…you might be Governor Jim Doyle.

I’ve got one more – when the budget creates a brand-new, higher tax bracket for the more-successful of small business owners…it might be a job-killing budget.

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

by @ 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.

Attention outstate Wisconsin residents

by @ 9:45. Filed under Envirowhackos, Politics - Wisconsin.

(H/T – The Lake-Dwelling Paul)

The Lakeland Times reports that the Department of Natural Resources (or as Dad29 aptly calls the agency, “Damn Near Russia”) has submitted the final draft of its rewrite to administrative rule NR115, the “Shoreland Protection Program”, to the Legislature, triggering the 30-day review process before it has the full force of law. For those of you city-slickers who don’t know what this will do to Wisconsin, let’s compare what the DNR is about to do to the current version of NR115:

  • Big item #1 – instead of merely applying to unincorporated areas (i.e. townships) of Wisconsin, it will also apply to those areas annexed by a city or village after May 7, 1982, or incorporated as a city or village after April 30, 1994.
  • Big item #2 – it creates a fresh limitation of a 15% impervious surface limit (including rooftops, i.e. structures, and driveways) without stormwater mitigation and a 30% impervious surface limit with mitigation. That applies to both riparian (shoreline) and nonriparian properties within 1,000 feet of the high-water mark (i.e. shore) of lakes and within 300 feet of the shore of rivers. Routine maintenance of structures, as well as in-kind replacement of walkways, driveways and patios on lots which are in noncompliance, would be allowed.
  • Instead of the boat hoists, piers, and boathouses currently allowed to be constructed within 75 feet of shore, some gazebos/decks/patios/screen houses, fishing rafts only on the Wolf and Wisconsin Rivers, small-diameter antennas, walkways, stairways and rail systems for pedestrian access to the shore, ultility structures that cannot be placed elsewhere can be constructed. While one section of the new rules does allow boathouses without plumbing and entirely above the high-water line, another prohibits all boathouses above the high-water line.
  • Within 35 feet of shore, instead of allowing up to 30 feet out of every 100 feet, regardless of lot lines, to generally be cleared of vegetation, the lesser of 30% of the shore frontage or 200 feet per parcel can generally be cleared. That clearance is now called “access and viewing corridors”.
  • Instead of allowing counties, at their discretion, to prohibit alteration/addition/repair of existing nonconforming buidings within 75 feet of shore if the cost is more than 50% of the assessed value of the structure, it allows alteration/addition/repair of existing nonconforming “principal structures” regardless of cost as long as they are at least 35 feet from shore, no expansion towards the shore happens, and the new impervious-surface limit is not exceeded. If any portion of an expansion is within 75 feet of shore, a mitigation plan would be required. Nonconforming “temporary” structures may be orderd to be removed.
  • It also creates a new requirement for the replacement or relocation of a nonconforming “principle structure”, which includes a mitigation plan to be in place, a requriement that the new/relocated structure be no closer to shore than the structure to be replaced, and the removal of all other nonconforming structures.

It isn’t quite the complete fallow prairie shoreline they wanted, but it’s a big step in the wrong direction. Given the Democrats control both houses of the Legislature, and the DNR has been trying to get this done for a decade, we’re going to be stuck with it for a while.

July 1, 2009

100% energy-independent Wisconsin (on “green” energy, no less)?

by @ 21:26. Filed under Energy, Politics - Wisconsin.

I hate to dump all over Mark Neumann’s idea that Wisconsin could, with “green, renewable” energy, be 100% energy independent in a generation, but I’m afraid I must. First, I must state that I admire what he did with the “green” home his company built.

There are two primary sources of energy, electricity and fuel. I could not find specifically how much electricity Wisconsin uses, but American Transmission Company, which serves the eastern 2/3rds of the state, most of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and the Rockford, Illinois area, delivered a total of 68,162,000 megawatt-hours of electricity in 2008, with a peak 1-hour load of 11,794 megawatts. Meanwhile, in 2007 (the last year figures were available), the consumption of “green power” in Wisconsin, including power produced outside the state, was 197,145 megawatt-hours, with a peak 1-hour capacity of just under 106 megawatts. Granted, that doesn’t include hydroelectric (which is 100% tapped), and it doesn’t include projects built since 2007, but somehow I doubt there’s anywhere close to either 50,000,000 megawatt-hours/year or a reliable peak capacity of anywhere near 9,000 megawatts in “green” power. Those requirements just go up exponentially if plug-in electric cars ever hit Wisconsin.

Second, there’s fuel. I will necessarily be overly simplistic because of a similar lack of reliable information, but that’s balanced by the fact that, unless synthetic fuels somehow can be made with the resources in Wisconsin, we will never be 100% fuel-independent. In 2007, Wisconsin drivers used about 2,950,000,000 gallons of fuel. I don’t know what the splits between gasoline and diesel were, so I will assume that it was all gasoline. Further, I’ll assume that 7% of that fuel was ethanol. That leaves 2,743,500 gallons of gasoline used. In a generation, I would expect, between fuel efficiency increases and population increases, that to be reduced by about 25%, or about 2,000,000 gallons of gasoline.

If that is replaced by ethanol, given the inefficiencies of it versus gasoline, we’re looking at 2,500,000 gallons of ethanol that would need to be produced to make every part of E85 that can be produced in Wisconsin actually produced in Wisconsin. Assuming all of that is produced from corn (which the outstate farmers would love), about 7,620,000 acres would need to be given over to ethanol production. Given there were just over 15,000,000 acres of farmland in 2007, divided between crops and livestock, where exactly is all that corn going to be grown?

I do note that using switchgrass to make ethanol uses half the land. Still, that’s over a quarter of the farmland. What farm products do we give up exporting? Wheat? Corn? Milk?

There is another alternative; hydrogen-powered fuel cells. Provided there is sufficient electricity to split water into its component hydrogen and oxygen, it would seem that Wisconsin, with Lake Michigan on the east, Lake Superior on the northwest, the Mississippi River on the southwest, and innumerable lakes and rivers, would be a prime source for hydrogen. However, there’s two bits of bad news. First, it takes a lot of energy to split water, and Wisconsin doesn’t exactly have a surplus of that, especially “green” energy. Second, does anybody believe for a second that the enviromentalists will let that water be used for energy on anything approaching a mass scale?

Revisions/extensions (9:32 pm 7/1/2009) – I originally forgot to take into account that E85 still is 15% gasoline. The affected numbers have been corrected.

Everything you need to know about the DPW and business in WI

by @ 16:56. Filed under Business, Politics - Wisconsin.

Earlier today, WisBusiness ran a story on the state budget which featured the following about and from Sen. Ted Kanavas (R-Brookfield):

In a letter to constituents on his website, he labeled the spending plan “nothing short of a job killing, taxpayer harming, disaster of a budget, complete with billions of dollars in new taxes and fees” that will force companies to leave Wisconsin.

He wrote of a recent meeting with a Milwaukee-area business attorney who specifically mentioned “Doyle’s budget” as the reason why two executives he knows are making plans to move their firms to the Texas, which Kanavas said has a much friendlier business climate.

“People have to take a long hard look at the policies being pursued in Madison and realize they just don’t work,” he wrote.

“Our state is going to experience a net out-migration of producers and a net in-migration of people who are more dependent on government. We are killing our economy and our future.

“If we don’t change and change soon, I may bump into my lawyer friend again, but it just might be in Texas,” he said.

In response, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin issued this inane press release (via WisPolitics):

CONTACT: Jason A. Stephany, 608-260-2405, jasons@wisdems.org

MADISON – Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate today released the following statement in response to reports that Senator Ted Kanavas’ may soon move to Texas.

“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

Meanwhile, Briggs & Stratton announced today that it is closing its Watertown and Jefferson facilities, moving the headquarters from Jefferson to Wauwatosa and moving the production at both facilities to facilities in the Southeast. That will result in 530 jobs departing Wisconsin, with only 90-100 workers being offered positions out of state.

Not only is the DPW happy with driving jobs out of Wisconsin, but their leadership team has a serious lack of reading comprehension.

Neumann officially a candidate

by @ 12:56. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

Former Representative Mark Neumann has filed his campaign registration papers that makes him a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor last year. His reason for getting in, as told to WTMJ-AM’s Charlie Sykes – “10 years (have) gone by. I’ve gone back to the private sector. We build a bunch of different businesses. I’m on the front line in the business world, and I understand that when government passes new rules and regulations and raises taxes, that it is very anti-business. We’ve seen 133,000 jobs leave the state of Wisconsin in the last 12 months alone. That’s the reason for getting in.” In an interview with WISN-AM’s Jay Weber, he made the case that it is “very important” that those who govern have private-sector experience.

Neumann also touted his experience as part of the Congress that created the first “balanced” budget in my lifetime. He said that he can’t see how to fix things nationally, as the feds have put things too far out of whack.

While Neumann has not yet made detailed platform positions, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story linked above notes that the overriding theme is to make Wisconsin globally competitive. The main item that is known at this point is that Neumann would propose budgets that would limit yearly spending growth to 1% below inflation, with tax cuts following when state revenues begin rising again.

Another item where Neumann would be expected to be a leader is education. He is co-chairman of HOPE Christian Schools, which has 3 private choice schools in Milwaukee and a public charter school in Phoenix. He and Weber had a rather lengthy discussion on that near the end of their interview.

There is a rather significant problem that Weber found in his interview with Neumann – ethanol, specifically Neumann’s support for it. He said that’s part of the “global” environmental package, and specifically that it is part of making Wisconsin energy-independent with “clean, renewable” energy.

Flashback – my short interview with Neumann at the RPW Convention two months ago.

Painkiller healthcare, less the painkiller

by @ 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 @ 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 @ 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

What hath the DemoBudget wrought?

by @ 11:10. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

Brett Healy, president of the MacIver Institute, takes a look at some items slipped into the DemoBudget, including items I have missed:

  • Eliminate the requirement that, in any single fiscal year, revenues exceed expenditures, specifically for FY2011 (the second year of the budget).
  • The rest of us, most of whom have already paid for our recycling bins, get to buy the fine folks of the Town of Wrightstown their recycling bins.
  • Likely because of the criticism of the DemoBudget heaped by the various members of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a provision added by Sheridan and Decker that will allow the micro-targeted Shepard Express be the state “newspaper of record” in Milwaukee County. The last I checked, the Tuesday paid circulation of the Journal Sentinel, the lowest day for the daily, far outstripped the weekly free circulation of the Express. There’s no word on how those in Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, Ozaukee or Washington Counties, or those not on the East Side of Milwaukee, will get the few state notices that are still required to appear in a newspaper, but because most of those areas are Republican, Sheridan and Decker probably don’t give a <expletive deleted>.
  • A requirement, first added by the Senate, that the Department of Commerce fill the area develpment manager position in western Wisconsin by October. While speculation is that it was to secure Rep. Jeff Wood’s (Alcohol-Chippewa Falls) vote for the budget, I doubt it as Wood abandoned his supposed “fiscal conservative” values to vote for the first Assembly version, which did not contain this.
  • A $600,000 giveaway from the Public Service Commission to the Citizens’ Utility Board. As Brett put it, “Let’s give a group state taxpayer dollars so they can turnaround and sue state government. That makes a whole lot of sense.”

Gov. Doyle will conduct the final act later today with the signing and issuance of his line-item vetoes. If memory serves, while the Legislature can reverse a veto with 2/3rds votes, it has not done so in over two decades.

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