Saturday, March 12, 2011
Weekend Newsbites: Sat. & Sun., March 12 & 13, 2011
Jesus... even Drudge is hyping the "doomsday" nuclear plant meltdown/explosion scenario in his "coverage" of ongoing disaster mitigation efforts in Japan.
Same with Fox News and that clown Shepard Smith.
Hey... folks... remember when Congresswoman Giffords was dead... only she wasn't...?!?!
These media clowns are so eager to "break" news that often they simply jump at shadows and throw rumors and worst case scenarios at the public while claiming "that's their job."
Well, folks... no... that's not their job.
While anything can happen, I'm waiting till it does... or more likely - at least with regard to the Japanese nuke plants - doesn't.
Me? I'm hoping and praying for good news. Relatively good news. What happened to our friend, partner, and ally Japan is a tragedy and there's no diminishing the extent of the disaster. That said... I wish the media would pull back from seeming to actually root for further hell on earth to emerge.
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703559604576176620582972608.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
* BY DANIEL HANNAN, MEMBER OF THE EUROPREAN PARLIAMENT
On a U.S. talk-radio show recently, I was asked what I thought about the notion that Barack Obama had been born in Kenya. "Pah!" I replied. "Your president was plainly born in Brussels."
American conservatives have struggled to press the president's policies into a meaningful narrative. Is he a socialist? No, at least not in the [rigid technical] sense of wanting the state to [actually] own key industries.
Is he a straightforward New Deal big spender, in the model of FDR and LBJ? Not exactly.
* HE'S WORSE! (SERIOUSLY...) FOR EXAMPLE, FDR WAS VISERALLY OPPOSED TO GOVERNMENT UNIONS.
My guess is that, if anything, Obama would verbalize his ideology using the same vocabulary that Eurocrats do. He would say he wants a "fairer" America, a more "tolerant" America, a less "arrogant" America, a more "engaged" America.
When you pry away the clichés, what these phrases amount to are higher taxes, less patriotism, a bigger role for state bureaucracies, and a transfer of sovereignty to global institutions.
(*SHRUG*) YEP.
He is not pursuing a set of random initiatives but a program of comprehensive Europeanization: European health care, European welfare, European carbon taxes, European day care, European college education, even a European foreign policy...
Is a European future truly so terrible?
Yes. I have been an elected member of the European Parliament for 11 years. I have seen firsthand what the European political model means.
The critical difference between the American and European unions has to do with the location of power. The U.S. was founded on what we might loosely call the Jeffersonian ideal: the notion that decisions should be taken as closely as possible to the people they affect.
The European Union was based on precisely the opposite ideal.
(*NOD*)
From that distinction, much follows. The U.S. has evolved a series of unique institutions designed to limit the power of the state: recall mechanisms, ballot initiatives, balanced budget rules, open primaries, localism, states' rights, term limits, the direct election of public officials from the sheriff to the school board. The EU places supreme power in the hands of 27 unelected Commissioners invulnerable to public opinion.
The will of the people is generally seen by Eurocrats as an obstacle to overcome, not a reason to change direction. When France, the Netherlands and Ireland voted against the European Constitution, the referendum results were swatted aside and the document adopted regardless.
[I]n Brussels, the ruling doctrine that the nation-state must be transcended is seen as more important than freedom, democracy or the rule of law.
* AND FOLKS... AS WE KNOW (WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT), WHAT WE MUST ADMIT (WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT), IS THAT OBAMA IS NOT A BIG "RULE OF LAW" KINDA GUY. (*SHRUG*)
Why is a European politician urging America to avoid Europeanization? As a Briton, I see the American republic as a repository of our traditional freedoms. The doctrines rooted in the common law, in the Magna Carta, and in the Bill of Rights found their fullest and most sublime expression in the old courthouse of Philadelphia. Britain, as a result of its unhappy membership in the European Union, has now surrendered a large part of its birthright. But our freedoms live on in America.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703597804576194690095426116.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
Whatever else one might say about President Obama's Libya policy, it has succeeded brilliantly in achieving its oft-stated goal of not leading the world.
(*SMIRK*) (*RUEFUL CHUCKLE*)
No one can any longer doubt the U.S. determination not to act before the Italians do, or until the Saudis approve, or without a U.N. resolution.
The United Nations Security Council has imposed an arms embargo, but with enough ambiguity that no one knows whether it applies only to Gadhafi or also to the opposition. Even the U.S. State Department and White House don't agree.
The U.N. has referred events to the International Criminal Court for a war crimes investigation. Mr. Obama said yesterday this sent a message to Gadhafi that "the world is watching," as if Gadhafi didn't know. But it also sends a message that leaving Libya without bloodshed is not an option, because he and his sons will still be pursued for war crimes. Had Reagan pursued this strategy in the Philippines, Marcos might never have gone into exile.
(*SIGH*)
The French want a no-fly zone, but the Italians and Germans object.
NATO is having "a series of conversations about a wide range of options," as President Obama put it yesterday, but NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen emerged from a meeting of defense ministers in Brussels on Thursday saying that "We considered . . . initial options regarding a possible no-fly zone in case NATO were to receive a clear U.N. mandate".
The latter isn't likely because both China and Russia object, but no doubt NATO will keep conversing about the "range of options" next week.
France has recognized the opposition National Council in Benghazi, though the U.S. is only now sending envoys to meet with the opposition for the first time.
Dozens of Western reporters can get rebel leaders on the phone, an opposition delegation has visited French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris, but the U.S. is still trying to figure out who these people are. The American envoys better hurry because the rebels may soon be dead.
(*SARCASTIC CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*) HEY, KIDS... AIN'T HILLARY DOING A BANG UP JOB AS SECRETARY OF STATE?!
[The Obama "policies" are a godsend] to Moammar Gadhafi and his sons, who are busy bombing and killing their way to victory against the Libyan opposition.
As the U.S. defers to the world, the world can't decide what to do, and the vacuum is filled by a dictator and his hard men who have concluded that no one will stop them.
"Hear it now. I have only two words for our brothers and sisters in the east: We're coming," said Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam, on Thursday.
(*SIGH*)
Even as opposition leaders were asking for help, U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the world on Thursday that Gadhafi is likely to win in the long-term. The Administration scrambled to say this was merely a factual judgment about the balance of military power, but the message couldn't be clearer to any of Gadhafi's generals who might consider defecting: Do so at your peril because you will join the losing side.
* TODAY IS SATURDAY. AS FAR AS I KNOW, JAMES CLAPPER IS STILL OBAMA'S DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
If Gadhafi survives after Mr. Obama has told him to go, the blow to U.S. prestige and world order would be enormous. Dictators will [have learned] that the way to keep America from acting is to keep its diplomats and citizens around, while mowing down your opponents as the world debates contingencies.
There is still time for Mr. Obama to salvage his Libya policy, though the costs of doing so are rising every day.
Libya today is what a world without U.S. leadership looks like.
* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2011/03/08/to_fix_the_corporate_tax_tax_gross_receipts_98902.html#
* BY JOHN TAMNEY. (FOLKS... I URGE YOU TO FOLLOW THE LINK AND READ THE FULL ARTICLE.)
[T]he way corporations are taxed is important...
By now most investors are familiar with the statistic showing that the U.S. rate of taxation, at 35%, is only exceeded by that in Japan among economically developed countries. Those who would like to see it lower argue that the high rate is reducing company formation stateside, so the clear answer is to reduce it.
No doubt the above is a worthy goal, but it brings to mind the old saying that "if you want the government out of your pockets, remove your hands from its pockets."
To get to a lower corporate tax rate it would be essential to abolish the myriad corporate deductions that presently dictate a high headline rate.
* EXACTLY!
In short, the ideal corporate tax would be a flat tax rate levied on gross receipts. With a lower, flat tax on gross receipts...better allocation of capital would result. Companies would have less incentive to retain or waste capital. And originators of up and coming concepts would have greater access to funds more quickly released to shareholders. All businesses would be equal before the IRS, and could be judged by investors solely on the basis of their economic prospects, as opposed to prospects that to varying degrees are distorted by the tax code.
(*NOD*)
* To be continued...
* CONTINUING... (Part 2 of 2)
* UNFORTUNATELY... (*SIGH*)
In the tax bill recently passed by Congress, businesses will enjoy some new tax write-offs, and the most notable one concerns expenditures on capital equipment. Businesses will be able to depreciate immediately 100% of new equipment in 2011, and 50% in 2012.
* RECALL... I WAS OPPOSED TO THIS.
The problem with such a write-off is fairly obvious. As numerous Wainwright Economics publications have made plain over the years, government policies can't stimulate economic activity as much as they can reschedule it. Stimulus today realistically implies stagnancy down the road. In this case, businesses have the incentive to bring forward capital expenditures into the current year and (less) into 2012, but logic tells us that will reduce similar expenditures that would otherwise have been made beyond 2012.
(*NOD*)
Worse than that, no reasonable business opportunity can attract capital based merely on its ability to simply spend it. Enterprises are in business to generate profits for shareholders; if tax policy invites activity meant to reduce taxable profits, economy-sapping distortions will surely be the result.
* DUH! (ONLY IT'S NOT "DUH" TO MOST POLITICIANS; MOST POLITICIANS SIMPLY DON'T "GET" THIS REALITY. THEY'RE IDIOTS.)
* BEYOND SIMPLE MATH, THERE'S ALSO THE FAIRNESS ISSUE. THINK ABOUT THIS...
[A] business reliant on heavy equipment expenditures can enjoy tax deductions that...companies largely reliant on intellectual capital cannot.
* WASHINGTON'S ASS BACKWARDS TAX SCHEMES ALSO BACKFIRE WHEN IT COMES TO EMPLOYMENT. CONSIDER...
[T]here's been talk for quite some time that to reduce unemployment, labor-intensive companies should enjoy tax write-offs to hire workers.
This is once again mistaken thinking.
No business in a truly capitalist world could attract capital based on a business plan that involves increasing its costs per unit of production.
* DUH...!
[I]f the tax code reduces labor costs, businesses reliant on expensive human inputs benefit at the expense of other, less labor intensive companies. Be it human or equipment capital, tax policy that subsidizes the excessive purchase of either encourages waste. Sub-optimal allocation of the basic means of production means a less vibrant economic outlook.
(*NOD*)
Indeed, unless corporations have growth-related needs that would enhance profitability, tax policy should encourage the disgorgement of excess capital in the form of dividends. By that channel, what is always limited capital would then hook up with new, innovative concepts needful of funds necessary for development.
* EXACTLY!
http://abc.daytonsnewssource.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wkef_vid_6103.shtml
The Dayton Ohio Police Department is lowering its testing standards for recruits.
It's a move required by the U.S. Department of Justice after it says not enough African-Americans passed the exam.
* FOLKS... THE STATES NEED TO REFUSE WASHINGTON'S UNCONSTITUTIONAL ORDERS. UNLESS THE FEDS CAN PROVE DISCRIMINATION THERE'S SIMPLY NO LEGAL AUTHORITY FOR THE FEDS TO INTERFERE WITH THE DAYTON OHIO POLICE FORCES' PERSONNEL STANDARDS.
Dayton is in desperate need of officers to replace dozens of retirees. The hiring process was postponed for months because [Eric Holder's] DOJ rejected the original scores provided by the Dayton Civil Service Board, which administers the test.
Under the previous requirements, candidates had to get a 66% on part one of the exam and a 72% on part two.
The [Holder] approved "new" scoring policy only requires potential police officers to get a 58% and a 63%. That's the equivalent of an ‘F’ and a ‘D’.
* FOLKS. THIS IS INSANE!
“It becomes a safety issue for the people of our community,” said Dayton Fraternal Order of Police President, Randy Beane. “It becomes a safety issue to have an incompetent officer next to you in a life and death situation."
* OBVIOUSLY!
“The NAACP does not support individuals failing a test and then having the opportunity to be gainfully employed,” agreed Dayton NAACP President Derrick Foward.
(*CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*) GOD BLESS THIS FOWARD GUY!
“If you lower the score for any group of people, you're not getting the best qualified people for the job,” Foward said.
(*NOD*)
The DOJ has forced other police departments across the country to lower testing standards, citing once again that not enough black candidates were passing.
The Dayton Firefighter recruit exam is coming up this summer. The chief said it’s likely the passing score for that test will be lowered as well.
* JOHN KASICH - GOVERNOR OF OHIO - SHOULD TELL THE FEDS TO STUFF IT AND INSTRUCT DAYTON AUTHORITIES TO DISREGARD HOLDER'S ORDERS UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE.
* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://blog.heritage.org/2011/03/08/morning-bell-defund-obamacares-secret-stash/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell
While ObamaCare is rightly notorious as a fiscal nightmare, less well known is just how massively it transferred power from Congress to the executive branch.
In fact, the full scope of Congress’s abdication is still unknown.
* ONE MORE TIME, A TRUE FUNDAMENTAL REFORM THAT'S PAST DUE IS A REQUIREMENT THAT NO BILL PASSED BY ANY LEGISLATIVE BODY BE TOO LONG TO READ AND COMPREHEND. (NO... DECIDING WHAT'S "TOO LONG" NEEDN'T BE SUBJECTIVE; THERE HAVE LONG EXISTED SCIENTIFIC STANDARDS CONCERNING COMPREHENSION SCORING.)
What is now known, however, is that deeply buried within Obamacare was a $105 billion slush fund that assures its implementation into the future, no matter what future voters think or want.
This makes then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s comment to the Legislative Conference for National Association of Counties about Obamacare, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it,” made a year ago tomorrow, ironically prescient.
* THIS ISN'T FUNNY, FOLKS.
Just this past month, the Congressional Research Service updated an October 2010 report titled “Appropriations and Fund Transfers in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”
The new report found that, unbeknownst to almost every Member of Congress, ObamaCare contains $105 billion in direct implementation spending that bypasses Congress’s normal appropriations process.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
A separate CRS report, titled "New Entities Created Pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," concludes: “The precise number of new entities that will ultimately be created pursuant to [ObamaCare] is currently unknowable, for the number of entities created by some sections is contingent upon other factors, and some new entities may satisfy more than one requirement in the legislation.” CRS [notes]: “In practical terms, many of these entities will not be able to function until their members are appointed and funds are appropriated or made available for the entities to operate.”
That is where the secret $105 billion stash comes in.
* To be continued...
* Continuing... (Part 2 of 2)
Instead of leaving these fledgling bureaucracies vulnerable to the budgetary decisions of future Congresses, ObamaCare appropriated billions in implementation spending over a 10-year period.
* FOLKS... THIS IS TOTALLY ANATHEMA TO OUR FOUNDERS' CONSTITUTIONAL BLUEPRINT! (HELL... EVEN THE OLD SOVIET UNION STUCK TO "ONLY" FIVE YEAR PLANS!)
* FOLKS... THOSE OF YOU WHO READ NEWSBITES DAILY OR EVEN WEEKLY... YOU MUST SEE THAT OBAMA AND THE DEMOCRATS ARE INDEED ATTEMPTING TO "FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE" AMERICA! THE RULE OF LAW... THE CONSTITUTION... THESE MEAN NOTHING TO OBAMA AND MOST DEMOCRATS. I HIGHLIGHT THIS DAY IN AND DAY OUT VIA FACTUAL EXAMPLES! WE ARE INDEED LOSING OUR COUNTRY.
Heritage fellow Ernest Istook explains the impact: "Making years’ worth of spending decisions in advance is an attempt to handcuff the current Congress and prevent it from determining current levels of spending. … The funds in Obamacare are not budget projections but actual appropriations of money. Obamacare goes far beyond any precedent for making appropriations for future years; it is an outrageous effort by the former Congress to bind the current and future Congresses in this way."
* PEOPLE. THIS WAS - AND IS - A DELIBERATE, PRE-PLANNED AND EXECUTED ASSAULT ON CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT!
Conservatives can still save the nation from ObamaCare’s bureaucratic kudzu, but they must act proactively. They must go beyond simply not providing funds for the implementation of Obamacare.
CRS explains: “Precedents require that the language be phrased in the negative, for example, that ‘none of the funds provided in this paragraph (typically an account) shall be used for’ a specified activity.”
This is why our nation cannot afford to fund the federal government by continuing resolutions, which perpetuate the status quo - a status quo where ObamaCare’s implementation is already funded.
In order to truly defund ObamaCare, conservatives must go through all 2,700 pages of the bill and cut spending for every program one by one. That is the mandate this Congress was elected on. Members need to do their jobs.
* AMEN!
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2011/03/obama_gets_laughs_at_first_gri.html
It took three attempts, but the Gridiron Club - a hokey, hallowed vestige of swampland-era Washington - finally got President Obama to show up for their annual dinner Saturday night.
* AND...
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/03/just-warm-enough-for-golf-obama-back-on-the-course.html
Even as his administration and the U.S. military help Japan recover from a devastating earthquake, and as the world worries about Fukushima's nuclear reactor, the president could not resist taking advantage of the 48-degree weather in the Washington, D.C., area.
For the second week in a row, the most powerful man in the world stepped away from the White House to hit the golf course.
These are never quick "work on your swing" trips; usually the president plays 18 holes, as he did last week.
* GLAD OBAMA'S ENJOYING HIMSELF...
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
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