Patriot Act More Than Remembered

Power Line - Patriot Act Extended

Remember the horror of the Patriot Act? Guess it is just fine now that BO is in power.

Being Stupid

Liberalism, atheism, male sexual exclusivity linked to IQ - CNN.com

As a Conservative Christian, no doubt my IQ is too low to measure, but I can only admire the brilliance of liberal atheists. My lack of intelligence makes it seem miraculous to me that human intelligence can be so easily reduced to a single number, but I guess it is so -- beauty would seem hard to measure on the surface, yet I hear other smarter guys saying a woman is a "10" or a "7.5" all the time.

Being as smart as they are, they must have proven that all races and sexes measure identically on the IQ test by now -- correcting for things like religious beliefs and political leanings of course. I wonder if the effects of having backward religious or political views are identical across races and sexes as well? Like is a conservative black christian female any smarter than a conservative white christian male? I'd think so, it sounds like having less of some group usually means they are smarter -- prone to being "elite" and such.

I guess I'm just too stupid to feel really bad about this.

Why Can't We All Just Get Along?

Op-Ed Columnist - What We Learned From the Health Care Summit - NYTimes.com

Krugman is far more "honest" (in the lefty sense) than most, giving insight into "how in the world do they think as they do"??  I'll translate.

If we’re lucky, Thursday’s summit will turn out to have been the last act in the great health reform debate, the prologue to passage of an imperfect but nonetheless history-making bill. If so, the debate will have ended as it began: with Democrats offering moderate plans that draw heavily on past Republican ideas, and Republicans responding with slander and misdirection.

Translation: The left has the right to ignore all rules -- the Constitution, rules of the Senate, rules of debate and propriety. (why say "we disagree", when you can label the other side "liars") We are all "lucky" if they shove a bill that is very likely unconstitutional through the Senate, ignoring the explicit mandate of the chamber to allow the minority to apply braking to partisan railroading, even after what many would assume would be the instructive loss of their 60th seat in the chamber.

It was obvious how things would go as soon as the first Republican speaker, Senator Lamar Alexander, delivered his remarks. He was presumably chosen because he’s folksy and likable and could make his party’s position sound reasonable. But right off the bat he delivered a whopper, asserting that under the Democratic plan, “for millions of Americans, premiums will go up.”

Wow. I guess you could say that he wasn’t technically lying, since the Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Senate Democrats’ plan does say that average payments for insurance would go up. But it also makes it clear that this would happen only because people would buy more and better coverage. The “price of a given amount of insurance coverage” would fall, not rise — and the actual cost to many Americans would fall sharply thanks to federal aid.

Translation: When the left predicts the future, it is holy writ passed from Olympus, when others predict the future, it is a "lie". The left's positions are not only inherently correct, the opposition has positions that are "unreasonable".

In fact, nobody knows the future, even with a Nobel prize. There is a lot of evidence that getting the government involved raises costs (see Medicare and health care cost). Some might validly believe that a bunch of new mandates for insurance companies would raise prices. It did in Massachusetts, now the highest insurance cost state in the nation, and it was one of the main reasons that the formerly all blue state elected Scott Brown. No matter, Krugman has spoken his decree for the future, to disagree is a "lie". 

So what did we learn from the summit? What I took away was the arrogance that the success of things like the death-panel smear has obviously engendered in Republican politicians. At this point they obviously believe that they can blandly make utterly misleading assertions, saying things that can be easily refuted, and pay no price. And they may well be right.

But Democrats can have the last laugh. All they have to do — and they have the power to do it — is finish the job, and enact health reform.

Translation: The Democrats could not agree on health care with a 60-vote Senate majority, even with measures like buying the votes of some of their own party with hundreds of millions of kickbacks and voting on Christmas Eve. Now they lost that 60 vote majority due to a vote by the people in the bluest of blue states, but the RIGHT thing for them to do is to ignore that fact and shove the bill through anyway. It is however Republicans that are "arrogant". Whatever Republicans believe about the future is "a lie", what Paul and his cronies believe is the golden truth, pure in purpose and outcome.

To which one might say. Why can't we all just get along?

As the Worm Turns

This would be funny if it were not so sick. The Democrats in '05 were EXPANDING the use of the filibuster to judicial nominees that they didn't like, but any thought that they ought not be able to use that expanded power was a "crisis".

Now they want to remove the power of the filibuster for a minority in the Senate fighting to prevent legislation from passing that the majority of Americans do not want to pass! But wait, now their views are completely opposite, even though in '05, they were on the side of EXPANSION of the filibuster, now they seek to essentially remove it, since any "important legislation" could just be "reconciled".

They give mendacity a bad name.

Explaining BOnomics

A clunker that travels 12,000 miles a year at 15 mpg uses 800 gallons of gas a year.

A vehicle that travels 12,000 miles a year at 25 mpg uses 480 gallons a year.

So, the average Cash for Clunkers transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by  320 gallons per year. 

They claim 700,000 vehicles so that's 224 million gallons saved per year.

That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil.

5 million barrels is about 5 hours worth of US consumption.

More importantly, 5 million barrels of oil at $70 per barrel costs about $350 million dollars

So, the government paid $3 billion of our tax dollars to save $350 million.

We spent $8.57 for every dollar we saved.

I'm pretty sure they will do a great job with our health care, though.

Canadian Labrador Premier Chooses US Healthcare

The Canadian Press: 'My heart, my choice,' Williams says, defending decision for U.S. heart surgery

I live in Rochester MN, it isn't uncommon to see a Canadian license plate around the clinic. As I'll say over and over again, National Health is only popular with the healthy. Much like if it "positively, absolutely has to get there overnight", it isn't USPS that you send it with, when it is your heart, it is much better to go with the best if you can at all afford it.

Don't expect the Democrats supporting National Health to actually use it if they need it. Consistency is NOT an issue!!!!

BOcare at Ramming Speed

President Obama and Health Care - WSJ.com

If any Republican president was trying to do anything 20% this undemocratic, the MSM would be screeching at the top of their lungs 24x7!

"The President's Proposal," as the 11-page White House document is headlined, is in one sense a notable achievement: It manages to take the worst of both the House and Senate bills and combine them into something more destructive. It includes more taxes, more subsidies and even less cost control than the Senate bill. And it purports to fix the special-interest favors in the Senate bill not by eliminating them—but by expanding them to everyone.

How does anyone take the thought of a "bipartisan summit" seriously at all when the threat of ramming BOcare through via "reconciliation" is being trumpeted more and more loudly even before the supposed fig leaf of bipartisanship is proffered.

"Broken Government"

Power Line - How to Tell When the Government Is Broken

George calls this one perfectly. When Republicans are having trouble with the reform of something that the Democrats are blocking, the MSM calls that "good government". Reverse it and it is "broken government". Remember that when the Democrats filibustered an unprecedented 10 Bush judicial appointments,  the threat of filibuster was a sacred part of the Senate, not to be touched by any "nuclear option". There were kudos to the "moderate RINO" John McCain and his "gang of 14" in heading off this "crisis".

Now? Oh, now the Democrats can talk of using reconciliation to force the health care bill through (an example of "going nuclear" to get around the filibuster) and the MSM is just FINE with that!

TERRY MORAN, HOST: There's a sense that something is broken in Washington summed up this week by Senator Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) who announced his retirement. I think it's fair to say he's leaving in disgust. Here's what he had to say.

SENATOR EVAN BAYH, (D-IND.): I have had a growing conviction that Congress is not operating as it should. There is much too much partisanship, and not enough progress. Too much narrow ideology, and not enough practical problem solving. Even at a time of enormous national challenge, the people's business is not getting done.

MORAN: Is he right, George?

GEORGE WILL: Well, it's hard to take a lecture on bipartisanship from a man who voted against the confirmation of Chief Justice Roberts, the confirmation of Justice Alito, the confirmation of Attorney General Ashcroft, the confirmation of Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State. Far from being a rebel against his Party's lockstep movement, Mr. Bayh voted for the Detroit bailout, for the stimulus, for the public option in the healthcare bill. I don't know quite what his complaint is, but, Terry, with metronomic regularity, we go through these moments in Washington where we complain about the government being broken. These moments have one thing in common: The Left is having trouble enacting its agenda. No one when George W. Bush had trouble reforming Social Security said, "Oh, that's terrible - the government's broken."

Analyis of the BO Presidency

American Thinker: Another Failed Presidency

If only it was just a bad dream that was over -- but alas, we still have to listen to this guy for nearly 3 more years!

Considering the options though, long live BO! I'd have to disconnect from the media rather than even listen to one second of Biden.

Great BO Video

Some excellent lines. The fact that this bozo could be elected makes one question democracy. We desperately need him to be a "half termer" with a Republican Congress for the second half of his first term. The prospects for taking congress look pretty good,  but the Republicans need a candidate for President!!  Reagan will NOT be running!!

Green Ice Not So Good

Talk of the Games | Ice issues delay men's speed skating 500 meters | Seattle Times Newspaper

I haven't watched any Olympics -- they don't give the Biathlon the coverage it deserves so I boycott it.

Apparently, some Canadian company makes all-electric "green" ice surfacing machines, and they have broken down quite a lot and done a poor job of resurfacing, forcing them to bring in a good old fashioned propane Zamboni that is American made.

Must be somewhat embarrassing to our docile Molson swilling Zamboni drivers to the North.

Signs of the End

Identifying Sure Signs Of The Final Economic Plunge : Neithercorp Press

Is it really going to be financial Armageddon? I certainly don't know, but these guys have some interesting ideas. 

Crony Capitalism

Under Obama, crony capitalism again rules the day | Washington Examiner

Last week, amid Washington's blizzards, Obama was asked about the $17 million bonus awarded to JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon and the $9 million bonus for Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein.

"I know both these guys; they are very savvy businessmen," he said. "I, like most of the American people, don't begrudge people success or wealth." So much for campaign-trail denunciations of "fat cat" bankers and bloated bonuses.

I'm sure they are, I just don't like the idea that now my tax dollars are helping them be "savvy". Probably the smartest thing they did was provide big campaign contributions to BO. 

Remember Dick Cheney and Haliburton? He was CEO, he left, he put all his stock in trust, the stock went down -- no matter, "Haliburton" became a chant for the left. They used to only like guys in office that have never held down a job (like BO), now they seem to be able to remain completely silent while the lobbiests roll up the dollars and the folks that BO bailed out roll in the dough and the praises.

Have politics completely replaces principles on the left?

Palm vs Prompter

'Palm-gate' proves centrists' Palin doubts - CNN.com

I understand that consistency is not an issue for the left -- so it is OK for them to be fine with BO using a teleprompter to say hello. Apparently though, the assumption is that even it is OK for them to have no consistency at all, they assume that moderates are OK as well with BO using a teleprompter to say hello, but are going to be turned off by Palin writing on her palm?

Oh wait, maybe it is the fact that she wrote on her palm, but made fun of BO for using a teleprompter? That must be it ... but BO made a HUGE deal about campaign finance, then bypassed the whole apparatus and raised over $500M for the presidential race alone. It must be that they assume that given the bias in the media, most independents were not aware of the BO hypocrisy, but will have the Palin version rubbed in their faces enough to be turned off by it.

Something like this must explain it. 

No Keynesian Free Lunch

FT.com / Comment / Opinion - A Greek crisis is coming to America

Ferguson is one of my favorite writers. Good column, especially liked this paragraph:

What we in the western world are about to learn is that there is no such thing as a Keynesian free lunch. Deficits did not “save” us half so much as monetary policy – zero interest rates plus quantitative easing – did. First, the impact of government spending (the hallowed “multiplier”) has been much less than the proponents of stimulus hoped. Second, there is a good deal of “leakage” from open economies in a globalised world. Last, crucially, explosions of public debt incur bills that fall due much sooner than we expect