Thomas Friedman, buffoon

In the New York Times, Thomas Friedman talks about the gossip at Davos, which is the use of the words U.S. and political instability in the same breath. He goes on to bemoan our poor, embattled, yet enormously gifted president, who seems unable to right the sailing ship America, which is foundering. Completely ignored is the fact that our president's program are completely at odds with the wishes of the American people and history of the American experiences.

Thomas Friedman is, quite obviously, an enormous fool. Obama is the cause of the instability, not the victim. It is incredible how "intellectuals" can become blind to simple truths. The American people are four-square against centralized control and planning since well before 1776. It's in our DNA, encoded right there next to our unwillingness to trust intellectuals and silver tongued orators selling all manner of tonics and snake oil from the back of their "progressive" travelling circus.

Since stability is a desirable goal, how about relegating the government to its proper role: building bridges, tunnels and railways and facilitating, not impeding commerce. We don't need a bunch of geniuses designing a Marshall Plan unless it's to save the decayed inner cities and forgotten poor from ill-conceived liberal fixes. Our gifted, young president should focus on Detroit first. My brother had a term for guys like this which he would pronounce in rising cadence and pitch: "jerk o--."

Smells like tyranny to me

Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that millions of our fellow citizens, especially the poor and less educated are paying dearly for the Obama administration’s academic exercise to rehabilitate Keynesianism.

Keynes is the father of “demand-side” stimulus theory which was first tried during the Great Depression as FDR’s “new Deal.” But, in 2004, UCLA economists Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian concluded that rather than help the economy, “FDR’s policies prolonged the misery by 7 years.*”

While the Obama administration spends recklessly on wasteful boondoggles, private investment is, quite obviously, being crowded out and jobs are continuing to be shed.

According to the Washington Times:

“The number of people with a job fell by 589,000 in December. On top of that job loss, the number of people no longer in the labor force grew by an astounding 843,000 from November to December.”

Since February, when the stimulus package was passed, the number of people not in the labor force has grown by 3.2 million. The number for December represents 26 percent of the entire increase. This is important because these millions of people are not included in the official unemployment rate. The crisis of unemployed Americans getting discouraged and giving up looking for work is ballooning. Of course, they have good reasons to be discouraged. Since February [2009], the total number of jobs has fallen by 4 million."

Me-thinks a tyrant is loose in the land.

*In an interview, Ohanian said:


"Why the Great Depression lasted so long has always been a great mystery, and because we never really knew the reason, we have always worried whether we would have another 10- to 15-year economic slump…We found that a relapse isn't likely unless lawmakers gum up a recovery with ill-conceived stimulus policies."





Also see: For Obama, a Very Good Crisis

Harold Ford Jr., the Next Republican Senator from New York

Writing in the New York Times today, former Tennessee conregessman Harold Ford Jr. lays out a 4-point plan that any rational being could get behind:

1. "First, cut taxes for businesses — big and small...America’s primary job-creating machine — the private sector — needs to be rejuvenated."


2. "Second, we should pass a more focused health reform bill that restructures current health care costs before spending more..."


3. "Third, we should reform our immigration policy to ensure that those who contribute to our economy, especially foreign math and science graduates of American universities, have a clear path to citizenship." (Absolutely, we must move to a more merit-based immigration system.)


4. "Finally, we need to address budget deficits now rather than waiting for some ideal future economic situation."

Harold Ford Jr. is completely in touch with what American voters want, but is completely out-of-touch with his uber-leftist Decmocratic Party.

Mr. Ford, come to where you ideas would be cheered -- become a Republican.

No, Bobo. You're the joke.

David Brooks, the New York Times token conservative proclaimed Sarah Palin a "joke" during the round table discussion on This Week with George Stephanapoulos today.

David Brooks wrote a book called Bobos in Paradise, which sold something like 30,000 copies (a paltry amount compared to the hundreds of thousands sold by Beck, Levin, O'Reilly and (soon enough) ex-Governor Palin, herself. No one cares what he thinks except for his coterie of elitists in New York and the capital Beltway. Not only did it sell practically zero copies, bu the term also failed to catch on in the vernacular.

Though he wrote for the National Review and continues to write for the New York Times, he does not represent conservatives, in the least.

He reminds me of the very smart, but socially inept outsiders in High School. To think he is what passes as conservative in the lame stream media is in itself lame.

David Brooks and Gwen Ifill on Sarah Palin

David Brooks and Gwen Ifill on Sarah Palin

FW: Great News from Senator Jim DeMint on Honduras

From Senator DeMint's Blog:

November 5, 2009 - WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint

(R-South Carolina), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations

Committee, announced he has secured a commitment from the Obama

administration to recognize the Honduran elections on November 29th,

regardless of whether former President Manuel Zelaya is returned to

office and regardless of whether the vote on reinstatement takes place

before or after November 29th. Given this commitment, which Senator

DeMint has requested for months, he will lift objections on the

nominations of Arturo Valenzuela to be Assistant Secretary of Western

Hemisphere Affairs and Thomas Shannon to be U.S. Ambassador to Brazil.

"I am happy to report the Obama Administration has finally reversed

its misguided Honduran policy and will fully recognize the November

29th elections," said Senator DeMint. "Secretary Clinton and Assistant

Secretary Shannon have assured me that the U.S. will recognize the

outcome of the Honduran elections regardless of whether Manuel Zelaya

is reinstated. I take our administration at their word that they will

now side with the Honduran people and end their focus on the disgraced

Zelaya."

Throughout this crisis, Jim DeMint as well as Senators Tom Coburn

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRGCkac8FlU, John Cornyn, Jeff

Sessions, John Thune, Saxby Chambliss, John Ensign, Mel Martinez

<http://demint.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=JimsJournal.Deta

il&Blog_ID=5b0b894a-c963-37f0-45ba-00b84fbf89c4, Jon Kyl, Kit Bond,

Mitch McConnell, David Vitter, Jim Inhofe and other Republicans have

been stalwart in opposing the restitution of Mel Zelaya who had been

clearly operating in an effort to sunder the constitution of that

wonderful little country.

Letter to Clinton on Honduras:

http://demint.senate.gov/public/_files/2009-07-08_Letter_to_Clinton_on

_Honduras.pdf

Link to Jim DeMint's Blog:

http://demint.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=JimsJournal.BlogH

ome&Issue_id=71b2cbd4-5300-4f12-aaf4-4db61116b34c

Senator DeMint's WSJ Opinion piece:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703298004574459762462353766.html

How to stop the government takeover of healthcare: call today

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Are we Venezuela Yet?
Sponsored by Gwilym McGrew, A Concerned Citizen
Click for FR thread!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2378193/posts>
Good article: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/16566

Zelaya Tries to Pull a Fast One in Honduras (through AFP)

Update, October 15, 8:30am EDT.

According to Laprensahn.com, president Micheletti confirmed late last night that "there is no agreement" with deposed president Mel Zelaya regarding his return.

October 14, 11:30 pm. Lucianne.com has linked a story from Agence France Presse, which seems to indicate that the Micheletti government has given in on point # 6 referring to the framework created in Costa Rica for a resolution of the situation in Honduras.

However, a statement from pro-Michiletti media (reported less than an hour ago) indicated the following:

"We understand that a group representing Zelaya has agreed to submit to a determination by (Honduras') Congress whether Zelaya may return to power or not."

AFP has interpreted it this way: "Honduran negotiators reached agreement on Wednesday on a plan to restore President Manuel Zelaya to office and end a political crisis triggered by his ouster in a June coup."

So, there seems to be no "agreement," because that would infer two parties reaching an accord and the phony "agreement" is only an offer to submit to Congress' will, not to restore Zelaya. Still, nevertheless, we don't know whether mal Mel has lined up the votes or plans to detain his foes, who knows? It's the wild west down there now. This is likely Zelaya misinformation.

From Yahoo.com (Latin America)
"Tengo entendido que el grupo de Zelaya está pidiendo que sea el Congreso el que determine si puede regresar o no" al poder, indicó Micheletti a periodistas, al aclarar que, en todo caso, "eso es un asunto legal"."

AFP puts it this way:
"Honduran negotiators reached agreement on Wednesday on a plan to restore President Manuel Zelaya to office and end a political crisis triggered by his ouster in a June coup.

""We have agreed in a document on point number six, which relates to the restitution of the powers of state to where they were before June 28, 2009," Victor Meza, Zelaya's representative, told a news conference.

"Restoring the state to the situation before the coup would imply Zelaya's return to office, something that had been opposed by Robert Micheletti, the head of the coup-backed interim government.

"Micheletti and Zelaya must now ratify the agreement reached by their representatives in talks Tegucigalpa."

My earlier posts on the subject:

• Thousands of Hondurans march to protest the return...
• Obama May Foment Civil War in Honduras to Please Chavez
• Honduran President Micheletti Continues to Defy Obama/Chavez
• Honduran President Micheletti to Clinton: Nuts
• Letter to Barack Obama

An interesting side note, all local Websites have been inaccessible for the last 30 minutes or so.

Update: BBC admits to confusion on early reports from Zelaya's camp

Big Hollywood to Premiere the Movie Al Gore Doesn’t Want You to See

Big Hollywood to Premiere the Movie Al Gore Doesn’t Want You to See

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Sign the petition for expanded domestic energy production!

Sign the petition for expanded domestic energy production!

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A Long Train of Abuses and Usurpations: Towards a New Revolution

Every time I turn on the news, I wonder how bad it can get. In fact, the new administration and Congress is so imperial, so indifferent to ordinary Americans, so disdainful, so awful, it makes me want to turn away, to take up painting seascapes in Baja California, armed to the teeth, of course. Sort of like Sara Conner in the early Terminator movies.

As attractive as that prospect is (and Sarah Conner, for that matter), this would be the coward’s way out.

Yet the fact remains: the country is not being run for, by, or of the People. In fact, the evidence shows that this government is doing it to the People.

Here’s a partial list of the long train of abuses and usurpations of this most contemptible government.

John Kerry and the slow kids in the global warming/climate change movements are positively giddy that the economy contracted.

“Let me emphasize something very strongly as we begin this discussion. The United States has already this year alone achieved a 6 percent reduction in emissions simply because of the downturn in the economy, so we are effectively saying we need to go another 14 percent.”


The druids in this Administration, led by the pathetic Ken Salazar, with his western affectations, continues to place our energy resources out of reach. Remember folks, cheap energy would make our goods (manufactured goods, that is) very competitive in the world economy.

The faux cowboy, Salazar, continues to trot out ancient myths such as: "We sit on 3% of the world's oil reserves,” which completely ignores 1.5 trillion barrels of oil locked up in shale deposits in the “17 oil-shale zones in the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin, which is located in northwestern Colorado.” These are estimates from the U.S. Geological Survey.*

Barron’s lays out this useless idiot in green lavender.

And, oil shale isn’t the only thing this poser is obstructing. He's also slowing "proposed lease sales in Cook Inlet, in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, and in the North Aleutian Basin north of the Alaska Peninsula on the edge of Bristol Bay. It does not affect several billion dollars worth of leases already issued off Alaska's coast."

More from the Anchorage Daily News: "That means means more extensive consideration for areas of the Pacific and Atlantic coasts that were off-limits to drilling until last summer, when record energy prices led Bush to lift a ban on offshore drilling. In the face of crippling gasoline prices, Congress followed suit by allowing a drilling moratorium to lapse."

We now have 8 months of evidence that the petrified remains of Keynesianism, dusted off from 1932 and re-animated as the Obama Porkulus/Stimulus plan is failing miserably. This was predicted four years earlier by a pair of economists at UCLA, Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian warned of the damage an ill-conceived stimulus could do to the economy. In their study of the Great Depression, they concluded that FDR’s policies prolonged the misery by 7 years.*


"Why the Great Depression lasted so long has always been a great mystery , and because we never really knew the reason, we have always worried whether we would have another 10- to 15-year economic slump," said Ohanian, vice chair of UCLA's Department of Economics. "We found that a relapse isn't likely unless lawmakers gum up a recovery with ill-conceived stimulus policies."(emphasis mine)

The Congress and the President show an almost imperial disdain for the American middle class. The President and the First Lady jet off to New York for a date night at enormous expense. The Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Democrat Charlie Rangel, is knee deep in a putrid swamp of ethics violations. Our very own Marie Antoinette, Nancy Pelosi is cheerleader of a headlong shift towards Marxism, a confiscation of property, and redistribution while crushing the spirit of America’s entrepreneurial class.

*Not all of that shale oil can be extracted using current technology. Experts tell me that today's drillers might be able to get at 500 billion to 700 billion barrels. Still, when you consider that Saudi Arabia's known reserves are an estimated 250 billion barrels, that is a lot of black gold.

More to Come

For Obama, a Very Good Crisis

President Obama is planning a major address on Monday to mark the anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse, to take credit for “taking us back from the brink.”

Well, a speech seems appropriate, since next week marks another anniversary, that's the week, a year ago, that the president's political fortunes changed for the better. One year ago today, Lehman Brothers collapsed, which set off a week of financial bloodletting on Wall Street. Within a month, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped almost 3,000 points from 11,421.99 on September 12 to 8,451.19 on October 10. By the end of the year some 40% of the world's wealth had vanished, according to Stephen Schwarzman, chairman of the Blackstone Group.

Coincidentally, on September 8, 2008, after the Republican Convention (and the Sarah Palin bounce) the Real Clear Politics average of polls had the hapless McCain beating Obama 48.3% to 45.4%. But, when Lehman Brothers failed, all bets were off. By September 17, both candidates were neck and neck at 45.7% apiece and the rest, as they say, is history.

But the crisis didn't end there. On the day the president was elected, the Dow Jones dropped 486 points, not exactly a ringing endorsement. By the end of that week it closed at 8,497, down 1,128 points.

Then there was the “stimulus bill” which was passed in February, that triggered another bear market. The day it was announced that Republican Senators Collins, Snowe and Specter would support the stimulus, the Dow began dropping from 8,280 on February 6 to 6,547 on March 9. That’s a loss of 1,743 points in a month. It also happened to be 3,078 points lower than the day the president was elected. That says the markets didn’t believe the stimulus would work.

Maybe that’s because four years earlier, a pair of economists at UCLA, Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian warned of the damage an ill-conceived stimulus could do to the economy. In their study of the Great Depression, they concluded that FDR’s policies prolonged the misery by 7 years.*

But, that’s exactly the policy President Obama instituted. Now, the world is wondering whether we are actually bankrupt. And, we are forced to beg China to continue financing of our exploding debt.

To put the gears in motion, someone, we know not who, drove up the price of gas to over $4.00 a gallon. Could it have been George Soros (who also had a very good crisis) or Iran even? And, the collapse of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, that pair of Democrat slush funds hastened the demise of Lehman and company. It was especially convenient that this all happened under a Republican president.

Indeed, 2008 was a year full of magic for Mr. Obama, but the crystallizing moment happened one year today, no wonder President Obama wants to give a speech, that's how he celebrates.

*In an interview, Ohanian said:

"Why the Great Depression lasted so long has always been a great mystery, and because we never really knew the reason, we have always worried whether we would have another 10- to 15-year economic slump…We found that a relapse isn't likely unless lawmakers gum up a recovery with ill-conceived stimulus policies."