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APRIL 22,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:14 P.M. ET: 

BRILLIANT – From The Daily Caller:  "Chicago public schools are set to introduce a new Afro-centric curriculum, according to a closely-guarded copy obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation.  The curriculum covers kindergarten through tenth grade and is designed to align with Common Core. It includes a web link to TheAfrican.com, a website whose publisher decries 'fake-Jews' and calls the United States a 'Zionist-occupied enemy territory.'  The site also claims that the world will end sometime this year and that President Barack Obama is 'merely another trick of [the beast of the 4th Kingdom].'"  Yup, just what young black kids in Chicago need.  I'm sure this curriculum will do them a lot of good...if they survive this weekend.

HUMILIATING – From London's Daily Mail:  "While America’s wealthiest citizens continue to outpace their global peers, the country’s middle class has lost its long-held distinction of being the most affluent in the world according to new research.  Although economic growth in the United States continues to be as strong as in many other countries - or stronger - only a small percentage of American households are fully benefiting from it, according to the LIS analysis.  Based on surveys conducted over the past 35 years, income across the lower- and middle-income tiers of American society has plateaued over that time, while citizens in other advanced countries have received considerably larger rises."  This is true, and it must be addressed.  A strong middle class is the key to American stability.  And the key to a strong middle class is manufacturing.

TYPICAL ILLINOIS – From CBS:  "CBS) — A top Republican state lawmaker has accused Democrats of using an 'under-handed and sneaky' maneuver to advance plans to set aside $100 million in state funds to bring President Barack Obama’s presidential library and museum to Illinois.  House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) said Democrats pulled a fast one by using a procedural maneuver last week when the House Executive Committee approved the money at a hearing in Chicago."  Incredible.  Illinois is essentially bankrupt.  Can't this library be built with private contributions, or isn't that the socialist way?

NEW STYLES IN CRIME – From NECN:  "(NECN) - A so-called 'potato bandit' is on the loose in Providence, R.I.  Police are searching for a would-be robber accused of using a vegetable as a weapon.
The man allegedly tried to rob two stores on Monday using a knife and a potato that apparently looked like a handgun.   The first attempted robbery happened at a gas station where the man demanded money, but the cashier only handed over a fake $20 bill. At the suspect’s next stop, a dry cleaner, he did not get away with any cash either.  The suspect is described as a male with a skinny build, between 5'2" and 5'7" in height."  Potato guns have been shown to be ineffective in most robberies.

April 22, 2014      Permalink

THE POWER TO TAX IS INDEED THE POWER TO DESTROY – AT 9:18 A.M. ET:  And nobody is better at it than the Obamans.  These are stunning figures, reported by CNS: 

CNSNews.com) - In the budget proposal he presented to Congress last month, President Barack Obama called for what would be the highest level of sustained taxation ever imposed on the American people, according to the analysis published last week by the Congressional Budget Office.

Under Obama’s proposal, taxes would rise from 17.6 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 2014 to 19.2 percent in 2024. During the ten years from 2015 to 2024, federal taxation would average 18.7 percent GDP.

America has never been subjected to a ten-year stretch of taxation at that level.

In the twelve fiscal years preceding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (1930 through 1941), federal taxation averaged 5.3 percent of GDP.

In the five fiscal years encompassing U.S. involvement in World War II (1942 through 1946), federal taxation averaged 16.1 percent of GDP.

In the fiscal years since World War II (1947 through 2013), federal taxation has averaged 17.1 percent of GDP.

In the period from fiscal 1992 through 2001, federal taxes averaged 18.3 percent of GDP. But in the last four years of that period (1998 through 2001), the federal budget was in balance.

And...

Under Obama’s budget proposal, according to the CBO, the budget will never balance. But over the next ten years, the federal government would add $7.183 trillion to its debt held by the public.

COMMENT:  The national debt has properly been called a national security problem. It can weaken us, and wreck our economy.  The same is true of excessive taxation, which draws vital funds out of economic growth.

And please note that this record-high taxation is occurring at a time when we're drastically cutting our military budget.  If we face an emergency, taxes would have to go still higher, or we'd have to once again increase the national debt.

April 22, 2014       Permalink

OUTRAGEOUS – AT 9:05 A.M. ET:  It's coming in under the radar, but the political left is trying to get state legislatures to approve measures that would essentially invalidate the Electoral College, which, last time I looked, is in the Constitution.  From Newsmax:   

Conservatives and leading liberals slammed the campaign to effectively end the Electoral College's role in presidential elections, saying that the National Popular Vote Compact Law circumvents the Constitution, saying it resembled President Barack Obama's abuse of the law through his extensive use of executive orders.

"It is pretty startling," Bill Kristol, founder and editor of The Weekly Standard, told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV this week. "If they want to make the case for the popular election of presidents and a Constitutional amendment, they should make the case.

"But the left these days doesn't make the case, and they don't go the normal route of changing the law if they don't like the law," Kristol added. "They think of gimmicks and evasions and ways to get around the normal popular debate.

"This is all happening kind of quietly. I'm really struck by the way they’re doing it."

Under the National Popular Vote Compact, each state would award its electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote. The effort has been quietly winding its way through state governments, needing 270 votes to take effect.

Once states with electoral votes totaling the magic 270 – the number a presidential candidate needs to becomes president – pass the law, it immediately takes effect. The new law would mandate that each of the states in the compact must cede their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, even if a particular state were to give a majority to the loser of the popular vote.

And...

Even such liberals as Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz and Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf blasted the campaign.

"It's nuts," Sheinkopf told Malzberg. "Here's a case of where they're trying to go around the Constitution, around the law, to do something that's patently illegal and wrong. It's the same way the Obama administration issues executive orders.

COMMENT:  I've noticed an increasing number of liberals speaking out against the behavior of their party and the Obama administration.  It's good to see.  We recall that it was conservatives who brought down Joe McCarthy, and conservatives who participated fully and fairly into the investigations of Richard Nixon.  It's now time for liberals to step up and put country first.

April 22, 2014       Permalink

ACTUALLY TAKING ACTION – AT 8:49 A.M. ET:   It is invigorating, and shocking, when Republicans actually do something.  It's a moment to remember.  It will be in the history books.

Many among we mere peasants have wondered when the GOP would take real action against Obamacare, and now it's happened.  From WaPo: 

Thirty-eight Republican lawmakers are signaling support for a lawsuit filed by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) that challenges a rule by the Obama administration allowing the federal government to subsidize health insurance for lawmakers and some congressional staffers.

With the health-care law exceeding enrollment expectations and legislative attempts to undo the law failing to advance beyond the GOP-controlled House, Johnson's lawsuit is one of the few other attempts underway to chip away at the law.

Johnson filed the lawsuit in January against the Office of Personnel Management, arguing that the agency's ruling runs counter to the intent of the Affordable Care Act.

OPM ruled last year that lawmakers and their staff who will have to get their health insurance through the law would continue to receive a government contribution toward premiums this year, but only if they enroll in a specific ACA plan. The policy was issued as House Republican leaders floated a plan, as part of maneuvering last year during a budgetary deadlock, to end that contribution for Congress and certain employees who will be forced out of their current health program.

COMMENT:  Please note that the Washington Post felt compelled to tell us that enrollment in ACA is "exceeding enrollment expectations."  That is rubbish.  We haven't been told how many enrollees actually have paid premiums; nor have we been told how many are simply replacing plans that were killed by Obamacare.  And there is no word on whether these enrollees will keep their plans once premiums skyrocket, something expected, ahem, after the midterm elections in November.

April 22, 2014     Permalink

A BOLDER HOLDER – AT 8:38 A.M. ET:  Attorney General Eric Holder is emerging as the most radical member of the Obama administration.  He plays the race card, he plays the victim, and he has a soft spot in his heart for the people he should be chasing.  From The Hill:

At the request of the White House, the department later this week will outline expanded criteria to consider when recommending applications for reduced jail sentences to the White House, which will likely result in "thousands of additional applications,” Holder said.

"This new and improved approach will make the criteria for clemency recommendation more expansive," Holder said. "This will allow the Department of Justice and the president to consider requests from a larger field of eligible individuals."

The White House has pushed to consider more clemency applications for people — many of whom are drug offenders — who do not pose a threat to safety, Holder said. The administration has also pushed Congress to address the issue with legislation.

In the meantime, the Justice Department will also assign "potentially dozens" of lawyers to review the new applications in preparation for the larger volume.

President Obama has commuted the sentence of 10 individuals in the last few months for previous drug sentences the administration calls unfair and harsh.

COMMENT:  I have no problem with reviewing serious applications for amnesty.  My problem is with Holder's biases and the biases of those he's appointed.  Holder is a sixties radical.  What happens when one of the prisoners who gets released goes out and murders an innocent person?  Will the obedient press even notice?

April 22, 2014       Permalink

APRIL 21,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:56 P.M. ET: 

DIRTY MONEY – From Fox:  "Talk about dirty money:  Scientists are discovering a surprising number of microbes living on cash.  In the first comprehensive study of the DNA on dollar bills, researchers at New York University's Dirty Money Project found that currency is a medium of exchange for hundreds of different kinds of bacteria as bank notes pass from hand to hand.  By analyzing genetic material on $1 bills, the NYU researchers identified 3,000 types of bacteria in all—many times more than in previous studies that examined samples under a microscope. Even so, they could identify only about 20 percent of the non-human DNA they found because so many microorganisms haven't yet been cataloged in genetic data bank."  Watch.  The Obamans will claim that higher taxes and energy bills are a public service, as they keep contaminated money out of children's hands.  Some will believe. 

GOOD POLLING NEWS – From Fox:  "Most voters say ObamaCare will play an important role in their vote in this year’s elections, and over half are more inclined to back the candidate who opposes the health care law.  That’s according to a Fox News poll released Monday.  The new poll asks voters what they would do if the only difference between two congressional candidates is that one promises to fight for the health care law and the other promises to fight against it.  By a 53-39 percent margin, more voters say they would back the anti-ObamaCare candidate.  Independents, always a key voting bloc, would back that candidate by a 25 percentage-point margin (54-29 percent, with another 14 percent saying it depends)."  I hope these numbers hold in November.   Democrats will make this a brutal fall, and make Republicans bleed for every victory. 

WARNING FROM THEIR SIDE – From NRO:  "Massachusetts representative Stephen Lynch isn’t just worried about the negative impact Obamacare will have on his party’s performance this fall — he also thinks its worst effects on our health-care system are still to come. Lynch, who voted against the Affordable Care Act in 2010, warned that the situation is 'going to hit the fan' when the law’s delayed provisions go into effect down the road.  'There are parts of Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, that were postponed because they are unpalatable,' he told the Boston Herald. The 'Cadillac tax' that goes into effect in a few years and taxes employer health plans over a certain value, he said, will be 'the first time in this country’s history that we have actually taxed health care.'"  There are some brave Democrats who are willing to tell the truth.  I wonder how long Lynch will last before his own party brings him down.

THIS JUST IN – Michele Obama has found the secret of life.  From AP:  "WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama said 'splurging is the key to life' if you regularly eat right and stay active. Her biggest guilty pleasure: French fries.  'How would you appreciate vegetables if you never had chocolate?' she asked. 'You couldn't live without a little chocolate, a little French fries.'"  I feel liberated.

April 21, 2014       Permalink

I'M SHOCKED, SHOCKED – AT 9:16 A.M. ET:  I'm speechless.  I just don't know how "progressives" will get through the day after this, from The New York Times:   

KIEV, Ukraine — For two weeks, the mysteriously well-armed, professional gunmen known as “green men” have seized Ukrainian government sites in town after town, igniting a brush fire of separatist unrest across eastern Ukraine. Strenuous denials from the Kremlin have closely followed each accusation by Ukrainian officials that the world was witnessing a stealthy invasion by Russian forces.

Now, photographs and descriptions from eastern Ukraine endorsed by the Obama administration on Sunday suggest that many of the green men are indeed Russian military and intelligence forces — equipped in the same fashion as Russian special operations troops involved in annexing the Crimea region in February. Some of the men photographed in Ukraine have been identified in other photos clearly taken among Russian troops in other settings.

And Ukraine’s state security service has identified one Russian reported to be active among the green men as Igor Ivanovich Strelkov, a Russian military intelligence operative in his mid- to late 50s. He is said to have a long résumé of undercover service with the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian general staff, most recently in Crimea in February and March and now in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk.

COMMENT:  Kinda reminds me of the time when American airmen during the Korean War reported hearing, on their radios, Russian spoken by enemy pilots.  The Russians have a way of showing up at the game.  They're in Ukraine, and I'm afraid that, given the weakness of the West, they're in Ukraine to stay.

April 21, 2014       Permalink 

SOME DEMS ABANDONING OBAMA – AT 8:57 A.M. ET:  Obama's reckless decision to again delay approval of the Keystone Pipeline has a number of Dems up in arms.  They're usually moderate Democrats from states where the energy industry is key to employment.  They represent a growing willingness by Dems to distance themselves from Obama on both Keystone and foreign policy, especially policy toward Iran and Russia.  From the Washington Times: 

The Obama administration’s latest Keystone pipeline delay had barely been announced late last week when red-state Democrats began to howl, calling the move everything from ridiculous to irresponsible and vowing to explore ways to force President Obama’s hand.

The outcry from within the president’s own party underscored the tricky politics for those Democrats, many of whom are facing tough re-election bids, and decisions such as Keystone make it difficult to be tied to Mr. Obama right now.

It also set up a major test: Can those Democrats find a way to pass legislation overruling the administration’s decision, would their leaders allow such a bill to pass, and would Mr. Obama sign it or veto it?

“This decision is irresponsible, unnecessary and unacceptable,” said Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, Louisiana Democrat. “I plan to use my power as chair of the Senate Energy Committee to take decisive action to get this pipeline permit approved.”

On Friday, as Washington was shutting down for the Easter weekend and with Congress in the middle of a two-week vacation, the State Department announced it was putting the Keystone XL pipeline application on hold indefinitely.

An afternoon call alerting congressional staffers to the decision did not go well, according to one aide who said even Democrats appeared caught off guard by the administration’s decision, and were frustrated with how the State Department was handling it.

COMMENT:  They can scream about State all they want.  This is an Obama decision.  He's yielding to powerful, extremely wealthy elements in the Democratic Party which have become environmental fanatics.  I wonder if it's really the environment they're concerned about, or investments in alternative energy.  Hmm.

April 21, 2014       Permalink

THE DEMS PLOT – AT 8:34 A.M. ET:  The Democratic Party is the underdog in this year's midterm election.   And what are they doing?  Are they going Republican, and accepting defeat like gracious ladies and gentlemen?  Are you kidding?  They're getting ready to fight like mad, and with a new, well-developed strategy.  From Dan Balz at WaPo:   

Democrats have a problem and everyone knows it. President Obama calls it a “congenital disease.” If they can’t control it, Obama could spend the final years of his presidency battling not only a Republican House but also a Republican Senate.

Democrats don’t vote in midterm elections. That’s an exaggeration, of course, but the core of the Democratic coalition is made up of many people who turn out to vote only in presidential elections. The Republican coalition — older and whiter — suffers less from midterm falloff.

So much has been made of the building blocks the president assembled to win his two elections — the outpouring of voters younger than 30; the long lines at precincts in African American communities; the support he engendered among the rising Hispanic population; the growing support for him and Democrats generally among unmarried women.

But a Republican victory in a special congressional election in a winnable district in Florida last month has put many Democrats, including the president, on edge. “Our voters . . . get excited about general elections,” Obama said at a recent fundraiser in Houston. “They don’t get as excited about midterm elections.”

And, the strategy:

Democrats are banking on the belief that they can better identify potential supporters, motivate them and get them to the polls — in essence, reshape the midterm electorate to make it look more like the electorate in a presidential year. To try to do so, they will for the first time fully employ the sophisticated tools and techniques used in Obama’s presidential campaigns to aid Senate and some House candidates.

COMMENT:  That is a damned good strategy.  Use your strength.  Do the things that work.  Understand that elections are won, not in pre-election polls, but on election day, and only the people who go to the polls are counted.

The key is turnout, a weak point in Republican history.  A stronger-than-usual Dem turnout can turn this election on its head, and deny Republicans the Senate once again.  What are you doin' about this, fellas?

April 21, 2014       Permalink

BOSTON RUN – AT 8:21 A.M. ET:  The Boston Marathon will be run today.  It's the first Boston Marathon to be run after last year's terror attack.  Security is far greater this time.  From Fox: 

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said Sunday that Boston may be the safest place in America Monday as the city holds its annual marathon for the first time since two bombs exploded near the finish line, killing three people and injured 264.

"There'll be considerably more police presence," Patrick said on CBS' "Face the Nation". "But we also don't want to have it, you know, kind of a race through a militarized zone. So it's about striking a balance, and I think we have struck that balance."

Deval Patrick is silly.  Either you have adequate security or you don't.  There is no correct "balance" to be struck.  Patrick sounds like his chum Barack Obama. 

Approximately 36,000 runners have registered for the 118th running of the race, the oldest annual marathon in the world. That's approximately 9,000 more than last year's field, with many many of them coming to show support for the event and the city that was shocked by the attack on its signature sporting event. Race organizers expanded the field to make room for approximately 5,000 runners who were on the course when the explosions shook Boylston Street in the heart of Boston's Back Bay on the afternoon of last April 15.

More than 3,500 police officers - double the usual number - will be out along the 26.2-mile course, including undercover officers with special training. At least 100 strategically positioned video cameras will monitor the crowds.

COMMENT:  Of course we hope that there are no incidents. We noted last night that former New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly cautioned about the possibility of an incident in Boston outside the Marathon route. 

We'll wait, with concern.

April 21,  2014     Permalink