Thursday, May 19, 2011

Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, May 19, 2011


Folks...

(*PAUSE*)

Ya just never know what you're gonna find as the newsbite song of the day!
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6 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.cnbc.com/id/43090708

The four-week moving average of unemployment claims...rose 1,250 to 439,000 - the highest level since mid-November [2010].

(*SARCASTIC CHEERING*) O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A!

[Jobless] claims held above the 400,000 mark for a sixth straight week...

O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A!

The number of people on "emergency" unemployment benefits increased 53,398 to 3.47 million in the week ended April 30, the latest week for which data is available.

(*SMIRK*) O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A!

A total of 7.94 million people were claiming unemployment benefits during that period under all programs.

(*SHRUG*) SO, FOLKS... ONE HELL OF A... er... "RECOVERY," HUH...

May 19, 2011 at 10:57 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703421204576329374000372118.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

Other countries pass budgets estimating total receipts and expenditures for the year, which in turn imply how much they plan to borrow.

* BUT NOT THE GOOD OL' U.S. of A.!

Our Congress can pass a budget that implies an illegal amount of new borrowing.

* YEP! CRAZY, HUH?! I'LL BET YOU NEVER

In fact, it did so last month when the two parties agreed to a fiscal year 2011 budget projected to push the national debt over $15 trillion, even though the law limits the debt to $14.3 trillion.

* TELL ME WITH A STRAIGHT FACE THAT A MILITARY COUP WOULDN'T BE BETTER THAN THIS BULLSHIT... (*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

May 19, 2011 at 7:14 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2011/05/dc-schools-investigate-security-breaches-2011-tests

D.C. school officials are investigating 14 security breaches by students and teachers during last month's standardized testing, after throwing out last year's scores from three classrooms with "evidence or a strong suspicion of a test security violation."

(*SNORT*)

Investigators found evidence of cheating at Noyes Elementary and “possible irregularities” at C.W. Harris and Leckie elementary schools.

* BUT... THEY'RE ONLY TRYING TO HELP... (*PAUSE*) (*SNIFFLE*) (*RESUME*)... THE CHILDREN!

A USA Today investigation put a microscope on Noyes, where in just two years, the number of students passing math on the standardized tests increased from 10% to 58%.

The school’s dramatic improvement earned it a National Blue Ribbon award from the U.S. Department of Education. It’s an honor that was given to only 264 public schools nationwide.

But in the 2010 testing round, 80% of Noyes classrooms were flagged for having a suspicious number of incorrect answers erased and corrected.

On the 2009 reading test, seventh-grade students in one classroom averaged 12.7 wrong-to-right erasures - odds better than winning the Powerball, USA Today reported.

(*SNORT*) (*SMIRK*)

May 19, 2011 at 7:14 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.wsmv.com/news/27946067/detail.html

Michael O'Neal is a pharmacist. He purchases drugs for Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He often deals with drug shortages, but this one is bad. O'Neal is concerned about the availability of electrolytes. They are critical to a babies in neonatal intensive care and seriously ill adults.

* THIS IS AMERICA IN THE AGE OF OBAMA, PEOPLE; WISE UP BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

"We are dangerously close, we believe, when we will have to ration care to the critically ill. I would say within days or weeks," said O'Neal.

* FOLKS... AGAIN... (*PAUSE*)... VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER. (*SIGH*)

There are so few makers of electrolytes that when one drug company, American Regent, stopped production because of quality issues, it sent supplies in a tail spin nationwide.

* FOLKS... AMERICA IS DYING. I KNOW EVEN MANY OF YOU DON'T QUITE BUY IT... BUT THAT'S ONLY BECAUSE YOU'RE IN DENIAL.

Both Kumpf and O'Neal said even after production of electrolytes speeds up, it will take months before supplies return to normal.

May 19, 2011 at 7:15 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/161939-senate-rejects-gop-bill-to-expand-offshore-drilling

The [democrat controlled] Senate on Wednesday rejected Republican-backed legislation intended to speed up and expand offshore oil and gas drilling.

(*SARCASTIC CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)

In a 42-57 vote, the Senate failed to move forward with the bill, which was opposed by the White House and most Senate Democrats. Republicans needed 60 votes for the measure to proceed.

Every Senate Democrat voted against the motion to proceed along with five Republicans: Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.), Mike Lee (Utah), Richard Shelby (Ala.), Olympia Snowe (Maine) and David Vitter (La.).

* HUH...?!?! DEMINT, LEE, SHELBY AND VITTER...???

* O.K., FOLKS, I JUST MADE A FEW CALLS. ONE OF DEMINT'S STAFFERS TOLD ME THAT THE BILL WAS FLAWED - CREATED MORE REGULATION AND BUREAUCRACY - AND THAT DEMINT WAS SUPPORTING S-706, WHICH SUPPOSEDLY OPENS UP EVEN MORE AREAS TO DRILLING THAN THIS BILL WHICH JUST WENT DOWN IN DEFEAT. A STAFFER FROM SEN. LEE'S OFFICE TOLD ME THAT THEIR PRESS OFFICE WAS WORKING ON A STATEMENT EXPLAINING LEE'S VOTE AND IT SHOULD BE OUT BY THE END OF THE DAY.

* BTW... re: S-706... http://hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=01edce40-45c9-449a-b55a-0fad74912a53

* FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH, I'M WILLING TO GIVE DEMINT AND LEE ROOM TO MANEUVER. HEY... FOLKS... IF WE CAN'T TRUST THEM... THEN WE MIGHT AS WELL JUST GIVE UP. (*SHRUG*) I'LL KEEP YOU FOLKS IN THE LOOP ON THIS AS I FIND OUT MORE.

May 19, 2011 at 7:15 PM
William R. Barker said...

As the U.S. military campaign in Libya approaches the 60-day mark this Friday, six Republican senators wrote President Obama asking if he will comply with the War Powers Act, which says Congress must authorize action that lasts more than 60 days.

* SIX.

* SIX REPUBLICANS.

* SHOULDN'T ALL 100 SENATORS BE ASKING THIS QUESTION...???

"Friday is the final day of the statutory sixty-day period for you to terminate the use of the United States Armed Forces in Libya under the War Powers Resolution. Last week some in your Administration indicated use of the United States Armed Forces will continue indefinitely, while others said you would act in a manner consistent with the War Powers Resolution. Therefore, we are writing to ask whether you intend to comply with the requirements of the War Powers Resolution. We await your response," wrote the GOP senators Wednesday.

The letter was signed by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

* OF COURSE SENATE REPUBLICAN "LEADER" MCCONNELL'S NAME IS ABSENT... AS IS - OF COURSE - SENATE MAJORITY "LEADER" REID'S.

* FOLKS... UNDERSTAND... I DON’T EXAGGERATE ONE IOTA WHEN I TELL YOU THAT MOST AMERICAN POLITICIANS DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION OR THE RULE OF LAW.

The GOP senators said they believe the president already violated part of the War Powers Act - which says the president's constitutional powers allow him to only deploy troops into "hostilities" with a declaration of war, specific authorization from Congress or a national emergency caused by an attack on the U.S.

* AND YOU KNOW WHAT, FOLKS...? EVEN THAT IS BULLSHIT. THE WAR POWERS ACT IS A CONSTITUTIONALLY IMPERMISSIBLE DELEGATION OF CLEAR CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORITY TO THE EXECUTIVE.

Sen. Rand Paul told CNN congress should not let any president get away with launching military action without congressional approval, and that he and his colleagues may go to the Supreme Court and ask for a ruling on whether the president is in violation of the law.

* AND PAUL IS ABSOLUTELY 100% CORRECT!

"There is a law. It's on the books, and in plain reading of the War Powers Act, he appears to be in violation of the War Powers Act," said Paul.

* AGAIN... THE WAR POWERS ACT IS ITSELF UNCONSTITUTIONAL, BUT SINCE THESE SCUMBAG POLITICIANS ARE HANGING THEIR HATS ON IT... (*SHRUG*)... IF ONE BELIEVES THE WAR POWERS ACT IS CONSTITUTIONAL THEN OBAMA HAS BEEN VIOLATING IT ALL ALONG AND IF HE DOESN'T GET APPROVAL FOR OPERATIONS BEYOND THE 60-DAY WINDOW HE'S ACKNOWLEDGED THEN THERE'S SIMPLY NO DOUBT HE'S IN VIOLATION OF THE LAW!

"To me it's the most important debate we'll ever have up here. If we're going to send someone, your son or my son to war, its important that it be done properly, and its important that if there are constitutional restraints, we obey them," said Paul.

* AND AS ANYONE WHO HAS EVER READ THE CONSTITUTION UNDERSTANDS... (*SIGH*)... THERE ARE INDEED "RESTRAINTS" UPON THE PRESIDENT'S WAR POWERS.

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

May 19, 2011 at 7:26 PM

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