Monday, February 7, 2011
Barker's Newsbites: Monday, February 7, 2011
To reiterate and extend my commentary on last night's Superbowl half-time show...
Not only did the Black Eyed Peas suck, but so did that chick from that dreadful frigg'n show Glee - Lea Michele.
As for Christina Aguilera...
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD WHILE GRITTING MY TEETH*)
(*HEADACHE*)
You want music...? Here's music!
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703652104576122172835584158.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
* BY GOVERNOR MITCH DANIELS (R-IN)
Unless you're in favor of a fully nationalized health-care system, the president's health-care reform law is a massive mistake.
* SHORT... SWEET... TO THE POINT.
All claims made for it were false.
* DITTO.
It will amplify all the big drivers of over-consumption and excessive pricing: "Why not, it's free?" reimbursement; "The more I do, the more I get" provider payment; and all the defensive medicine the trial bar's ingenuity can generate.
It will add trillions to the federal deficit.
It will lead to a de facto government takeover of health care faster than most people realize, and as millions of Americans are added to the Medicaid rolls and millions more employees (including, watch for this, workers of bankrupt state governments) are dumped into the new "exchanges."
(*NOD*)
Many of us governors are hoping for either a judicial or legislative rescue from this impending disaster, and recent court decisions suggest there's a chance of that. But we can't count on a miracle - that's only permitted in Washington policy making. We have no choice but to prepare for the very real possibility that the law takes effect in 2014.
* YOU'RE WRONG, GOVERNOR. YOU CAN - AND YOU HAVE A DUTY TO - ENGAGE IN CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE UNDER THE BANNER OF DEFENDING THE CONSTITUTIONAL SEPARATION OF POWERS OUR FOUNDERS CREATED IN TERMS OF THE WALL BETWEEN FEDERAL AUTHORITY AND STATE PREROGATIVES.
[ObamaCare] expects to conscript the states as its agents in its takeover of health care. It assumes that we will set up and operate its new insurance "exchanges" for it, using our current welfare apparatuses to do the numbingly complex work of figuring out who is eligible for its subsidies, how much each person or family is eligible for, redetermining this eligibility regularly, and more. Then, we are supposed to oversee all the insurance plans in the exchanges for compliance with Washington's dictates about terms and prices. The default option if any state declines to participate is for the federal government to operate an exchange directly.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
* GANG... I'LL LEAVE IT TO YOU TO READ THE REST OF DANIELS' OP-ED. WHAT'S FRUSTRATING IS THAT EVEN AS THE GOVERNOR DECRYS OBAMACARE AND SPECIFICALLY NOTES THAT "ALL CLAIMS MADE FOR IT WERE FALSE," HE DOESN'T HAVE THE BALLS TO SPECIFICALLY LABEL IT AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL INTRUSION INTO A STATE MATTER AND HE REFUSES TO PLEDGE TO DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION.
* FOLKS... (*SIGH*)... OUR FOUNDERS ARE NO DOUBT ROLLING IN THEIR GRAVES.
* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703956604576110431794539522.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
* BY SENATOR RAND PAUL (R-KY)
After Republicans swept into office in 1994, Bill Clinton famously said in his State of the Union address that the era of big government was over.
Nearly $10 trillion of federal debt later, the era of big government is at its zenith.
* AND BILL CLINTON'S WIFE IS SECRETARY OF STATE... (THE OLIGARCHY IS ALIVE AND WELL.)
According to the Congressional Budget Office, this will be the third consecutive year in which the federal government is running a deficit near or greater than $1 trillion.
* 1.5 TRILLION. (*PURSED LIPS*)
The solution to the government's fiscal crisis must begin by cutting spending in all areas, particularly in those that can be better run at the state or local level.
(*CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)
Last month I introduced legislation - containing over $500 billion in spending cuts enacted over one year - to do just that. [This] is a necessary first step toward ending our fiscal crisis.
* AGREED. WE CAN DEBATE SPECIFIC CUTS - WHICH PROGRAMS ARE CUT HOW DEEP - BUT DECREASING DEFICIT SPENDING BY A MEASLY THIRD SEEMS A RATHER "MODERATE" FIRST STEP.
My proposal would first roll back almost all federal spending to 2008 levels, then initiate reductions at various levels nearly across the board.
* FAIR ENOUGH - AS A FIRST STEP! (OBVIOUSLY 2008 SPENDING LEVELS WERE TOO HIGH, BUT YOU'VE GOTTA START SOMEWHERE.)
Cuts to the Departments of Agriculture and Transportation would create over $42 billion in savings each, while cuts to the Departments of Energy and Housing and Urban Development would save about $50 billion each. Removing education from the federal government's jurisdiction would create almost $80 billion in savings alone. Add to that my proposed reductions in international aid, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and other federal agencies, and we arrive at over $500 billion.
[This] is a modest proposal when measured against the size of our mounting debt. It would keep 85% of our government funding in place and not touch Social Security or Medicare. But by reducing wasteful spending and shuttering departments that are beyond the constitutional role of the federal government, such as the Department of Education, we can cut nearly 40% of our projected deficit and at the same time remove thousands of big-government bureaucrats who stand in the way of efficiency.
* To be continued...
* Continuing... (Part 2 of 2)
[T]he Department of Energy's nuclear-weapons activities should be placed under the purview of the Department of Defense. Many of its other activities amount to nothing more than corporate handouts. ... The Commerce Department is another prime example. [O]ne of Commerce's main functions is delivering corporate welfare to American firms that can compete without it. My proposal would scale back the Commerce Department's spending by 54% and eliminate corporate welfare.
* SOUNDS DAMNED REASONABLE TO ME...!!!
Since 2001, our annual defense budget has increased nearly 120%. Even subtracting the costs of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, spending is up 67%. These levels of spending are unjustifiable and unsustainable.
(*CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)
Defense Secretary Robert Gates understands this and has called for spending cuts, saying "We must come to realize that not every defense program is necessary, not every defense dollar is sacred or well-spent, and more of everything is simply not sustainable."
(*THUMBS UP*)
For those who take issue with any of the spending cuts I have proposed, I have two requests:
First, if you believe a particular program should be exempt from these cuts, I challenge you to find another place in the budget where the same amount can feasibly be cut and we can replace it.
(*NOD*) SEEMS REASONABLE...
Second, consider this: Is any particular program, whatever its merits, worth borrowing billions of dollars from foreign nations to finance programs that could be administered better at the state and local level, or even taken over by the private sector?
A real discussion about the budget must begin now - our economy cannot wait any longer.
For 19 months, unemployment has hovered over 9%. After a nearly $1 trillion government stimulus and $2 trillion in Federal Reserve stimulus, the Washington establishment still believes that we can solve this problem with more federal spending and the printing of more money. That's ridiculous, and the American people have had enough.
(*JUMPING TO MY FEET; WILDLY APPLAUDING*)
Many in Washington think that a one-year, $500 billion spending cut is too bold. But the attendees at the newly formed Senate Tea Party Caucus say, "Bring on the cuts! And then, bring on more!"
(*SHOUTING MYSELF HORSE WITH HEARTFELT THANKS*)
My Republican colleagues say they want a balanced-budget amendment. But to have any semblance of credibility we must begin to discuss where we will cut once it passes. My proposal is a place to start.
* FOLKS... YOU NOW SEE WHY THE DEMOCRATS AND THEIR MSM ALLIES WERE SO AFRAID OF DR. PAUL WINNING A SENATE SEAT.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/259169/racialism-within-department-justice-peter-kirsanow
[T]he U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’s year-and-a-half-long investigation of the New Black Panther Party voter-intimidation matter...though repeatedly stymied by [Eric Holder's] Department of Justice...gathered considerable evidence concerning four principal areas of inquiry:
(1) whether high-level political appointees within DOJ have enunciated a policy and tolerate a practice of enforcing certain civil-rights laws in a racially discriminatory manner;
(2) whether high-level political appointees within DOJ have enunciated a policy and tolerate a practice of not enforcing Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act (helping to ensure that only eligible voters actually vote);
(3) whether there is pervasive hostility within the ranks of the Civil Rights Division of DOJ toward enforcing the nation’s civil-rights laws in a color-blind manner; and
(4) why DOJ dismissed the voter-intimidation claims against the NBPP after there had been an entry of default in the case.
The commission’s investigation revealed that the answer to questions #1, #2, and #3 is, incredibly, "Yes,"...
(*SIGH*)
...and that item #4 is a manifestation of the “pervasive hostility within the ranks of the Civil Rights Division of DOJ toward enforcing the nation’s civil rights laws in a color-blind manner.”
Moreover, the evidence shows that the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division refuses to bring cases against black defendants or on behalf of white victims.
* THE AUTHOR, PETER KIRSANOW, IS A MEMBER OF THE U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703956604576110412700522054.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_AboveLEFTTop
Proposing cuts to housing programs has never been politically popular, so maybe it's a sign of the times that Ohio's Jim Jordan and other Republicans are floating a bill to terminate the Obama Administration's Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP.
HAMP was launched in 2009 to reward mortgage servicers for modifying contracts and borrowers for staying current on their payments.
* IN OTHER WORDS, REDISTRIBUTION OF MY WEALTH TO A BUNCH OF IRRESPONSIBLE BUMS - AND I'M TALKING ABOUT BOTH THE MORTGAGE SERVICERS AND THE BORROWERS.
The goal was to help three to four million homeowners avoid foreclosure.
* AGAIN, WITH MY FRIGG'N MONEY; WITH MY MONEY AND THE MONEY OF EVERY RESPONSIBLE HOMEOWNER AND RENTER IN THE COUNTRY!
[T]wo years later, the number of applications cancelled has exceeded those approved, and some homeowners have been forced into foreclosure while awaiting a decision.
* YEP... SOUNDS LIKE OBAMANOMICS...
Treasury administered HAMP but contracted day-to-day oversight to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
* OH, JEEZ... FROM THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FIRE!
HAMP is funded through the Troubled Asset Relief Program and has spent $840 million of the $29.9 billion allocated to the Making Home Affordable Program, most of which is for HAMP.
* SO... (*SCRATCHING MY HEAD*)... THERE'S STILL OVER $29 BILLION UNSPENT - MONEY THAT CAN BE RETURNED TO THE TREASURY...???
By all means give HAMP the hook.
* AMEN!
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/arts/music/06haran.html?hpw
Mary Cleere Haran, a classic popular singer and writer much admired for her cabaret shows celebrating the American song book, died on Saturday in Deerfield Beach, Fla., two days after a cycling accident. She was 58 and was living in Florida, having taken a break from a career that saw her perform in every major New York supper club.
* DAMN IT!
* MS. HARAN WILL BE SORELY MISSED. R.I.P.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/07/nyregion/07cuomo.html?hpw
[Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York] presented a budget calling for a $2.85 billion reduction in local school aid...
(*CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)
Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, said that school districts had enough means to withstand the decline in state financing, and pointedly suggested that they look at whether they are spending too much on their own bureaucracy.
(*STANDING UP TO APPLAUD*)
More than 40% of New York State’s superintendents earn at least $200,000 each year in salary and benefits, Mr. Cuomo said.
“I understand that they sometimes have to manage budgets, and sometimes the budgets are difficult,” he said. “But why they get paid more than the governor of the state I really don’t understand.”
(*TWO FINGER WHISTLING*) GO, ANDREW, GO...!!!
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey is imposing a cap of $175,000 on most superintendents’ salaries, depending on district enrollment, and Mr. Cuomo’s criticism raised the specter that he might pursue a similar path.
* LET'S HOPE HE DOES!
State Senator Charles J. Fuschillo Jr., a Republican from Nassau County...suggested recently that the New York Legislature pursue a measure similar to Mr. Christie’s [salary cap] “When [Gov. Cuomo] raised [the idea of emulating the Christie example] I was very pleased,” Mr. Fuschillo said.
[R]eferring to Mr. Cuomo [, Fuschillo said,] “I had never heard him talk about it before.”
http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/142365-sen-inhofes-chief-of-staff-heads-to-lobby-shop
Ryan Thompson, chief of staff to Sen. James Inhofe (Okla.), is leaving Capitol Hill to take a job at Ogilvy Government Relations, one of the highest-earning firms on K Street.
(*SHAKING MY HEAD*)
Thompson will be a senior vice president at Ogilvy, providing strategic counsel in advocacy, legislative affairs and crisis management for the firm’s clients.
(*SMIRK*)
* FOLKS... I CALL 'EM AS I SEE 'EM - NO MATTER WHOSE OX IS GORED.
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