Thursday, June 30, 2011

Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, June 30, 2011


It's a sad day, folks... Glenn Beck's last day at Fox.
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12 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/world/middleeast/01baghdad.html?_r=2&ref=global-home

Last August, President Obama declared that America’s combat mission had ended in Iraq...

Three more American soldiers were killed [in southern Iraq] this week, the United States military announced Thursday, bringing the combat-related deaths for United States forces in Iraq to a monthly toll not seen since 2008.

* SO MUCH FOR OBAMA AND HRC HAVING "CLOSED OUT" U.S. COMBAT OPERATIONS IN IRAQ.

* FOLKS... HOW MANY OF THESE IRAQ NEWSBITES IS IT GONNA TAKE? OBAMA AND CLINTON ARE PLAYING THE NATION FOR FOOLS. WE'RE OBVIOUSLY STILL FIGHTING IN IRAQ.

The deaths occurred Wednesday...a military spokesman confirmed that the soldiers were killed by enemy attack.

Recently, the increase in casualties has been attributed to rocket or mortar attacks on American bases by Shiite militias. American convoys have also come under increasing threat from improvised explosive devices. Militants have stepped up their attacks, the military said, so as to claim credit for pushing out the American forces, who are to withdraw by the end of the year.

* THAT'S A LIE TOO - THE "WITHDRAW" BY THE END OF THE YEAR NONSENSE. THE STATE DEPARTMENT HAS CREATED THEIR OWN PRIVATE ARMY (CONTRACTORS!) IN IRAQ - THIS WAS REPORTED QUITE SOME TIME AGO... BY THE NYT IF MEMORY SERVES. "GUARDING" THE U.S. EMBASSY ALONE WILL TAKE HUNDREDS - PERHAPS THOUSANDS - OF ARMED PERSONNEL... INCLUDING U.S. MARINES. (GOOGLE "U.S. EMBASSY IRAQ" AND YOU'LL SEE WHAT I MEAN; I'VE BEEN HARPING ON THIS LITERALLY FOR YEARS.)

The casualties are particularly striking given the diminishing numbers of American forces and their reduced combat role. Fewer than 50,000 troops remain, compared with more than 160,000 at the height of the war.

* NOTICE... "THE CASUALTIES ARE PARTICULARLY STRIKING..." (*SMIRK*) REMIND ANYONE OF HOW EACH NEW ROUND OF LOUSY ECONOMIC NEWS IS REPORTED AS "UNEXPECTED"? (*SNORT*)

Last August, President Obama declared that America’s combat mission had ended in Iraq...

Fifteen American soldiers have been killed in June [of this year alone] - 14 of them in hostile incidents.

* WHERE'S CODE PINK? HOW'BOUT "WOMEN IN BLACK?" WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO CINDY SHEEHAN...? (*SMIRK*)

* FOLKS... WHAT'S IT GONNA TAKE...?

June 30, 2011 at 1:46 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/06/30/authorities-investigate-security-breach-at-jfk-airport-after-man-flies-to-los-angeles-without-ticket/

Investigators say Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi, a Nigerian, boarded Virgin America Flight 415 to Los Angeles without a valid passport or identification, using an expired boarding pass for a flight the day before that belonged to someone else.

(*SARCASTIC CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)

Officials say Noibi got through security and was able to board the plane. No one noticed until the flight was airborne when a flight attendant realized Noibi was sitting in a seat that was supposed to be vacant.

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

* OH... BUT WAIT, FOLKS... IT GETS BETTER! (AND BY "BETTER" I MEAN WORSE!)

He showed the attendant the expired boarding pass that was in someone else’s name and then showed a University of Michigan identification card with his picture on it.

* WAIT FOR IT... WAIT FOR IT...

Noibi was allowed to get off the plane when it landed in Los Angeles.

(*THROWING MY HANDS UP IN THE AIR*)

* FOLKS... YA CAN'T MAKE THIS SHIT UP...!!!

Days later, investigators say he went back to LAX and tried to board a Delta flight to Atlanta. This time, he was searched and airport officials found 10 expired boarding passes in his bag , none of them in his name. Noibi was taken into custody and has been charged with being a stowaway but not under any terror or security laws. He faces a federal court hearing Saturday.

(*HEAD ABOUT TO EXPLODE*)

* ONE WOULD THINK THAT POST-9/11 STOWING AWAY - WHICH REQUIRES VIOLATING FEDERAL AIRPORT/AIRLINE SECURITY REGS - WOULD BE AN AUTOMATIC "SECURITY" CHARGE. ALSO, WHILE THEY'RE PLAYING GAMES WITH THIS GUY, APPARENTLY NO ONE EITHER AT TSA NOR THE AIRLINE IS BEING DISCIPLED - LET ALONE FIRED. GOD HELP THIS COUNTRY...

June 30, 2011 at 1:46 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=44558

It’s not unusual for politicians on Capitol Hill to recognize citizens during hearings on legislation that would have a positive or negative impact on their lives. But that tactic took a different turn this week when hundreds of illegal immigrants filled the largest hearing room in the Senate to openly participate in the proceedings.

And they did so without threat of arrest from the nation’s chief immigration law enforcement official who was sitting in the front row: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Many of the illegal immigrants were recognized by name by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) who led the panel, and commended by Obama administration officials who want to give them legal status under sweeping legislation called the DREAM Act.

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

Durbin introduced about a half dozen of the illegal immigrants by name...

(*STILL JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

Napolitano told this subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee that although the large group gathered was part of the population that is subject to deportation, there would be no enforcement of the law that morning.

(*STILL JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

* RELATED BLURB: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/06/29/durbin_illegal_alien_could_be_our_future_president.html

After using illegal immigrants as props to push the DREAM Act, Sen. Durbin (D-IL) made the following statement at a Senate committee hearing:

"When I look around this room, I see America's future. Our doctors, our teachers, our nurses, our engineers, our scientists, our soldiers, our Congressman, our Senators and maybe our President."

However, Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution says: "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President."

(*STILL JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

June 30, 2011 at 1:47 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.wmal.com/Article.asp?id=2225336

Resort-style swimming pools with fountains and heated spas, billiards rooms, granite counter tops, ceramic tile, indoor basketball courts, stainless steel appliances - many Fairfax County [Virginia] taxpayers cannot afford such luxuries. But they are paying for these amenities for use by low-income residents who live in subsidized housing in affluent neighborhoods.

"They're a part of our rental program where we subsidize the rents for the individuals in the units, and we end up having to pick up the condo fees," supervisor Pat Herrity told 630 WMAL News.

* JEEZUS... (*SIGH*)

"These are resort-style amenities that the majority of the taxpayers that are subsidizing it don't have on their own," said Herrity, adding that "luxury has no place in subsidized housing."

"If the occupants of these homes improve their lives financially, they will be forced to move out. And the housing they could afford without the taxpayer subsidy is well below the quality of these homes," he said.

Herrity said Fairfax County should sell subsidized housing units located in affluent neighborhoods and stop paying the condo fees.

"Why would we have taxpayers who are trying to work their way into these neighborhoods pay for somebody else to be put into these neighborhoods," said Herrity.

(*HEADACHE*)

June 30, 2011 at 1:47 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2009748/That-bridge-far-Worlds-longest-sea-bridge-opens-traffic-China--hold-title-years.html?ITO=1490

China has opened the world's longest cross-sea bridge - stretching five miles further than the distance between Dover [England] and Calais [France].

The Jiaozhou Bay bridge is 26.4 miles long and links China's eastern port city of Qingdao to the offshore island Huangdao.

The road bridge, which is 110ft wide and is the longest of its kind, cost nearly $1.61 billion to build.

It took four years to build the bridge, which is supported by more than 5,000 pillars across the bay, and it is almost three miles longer than the previous record-holder - the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana.

(*SIGH*)

The engineering feat will only hold the record as the longest sea bridge for a few years - it will be beaten by another Chinese bridge in the next decade.

Last December officials announced workers had begun constructing a bridge to link southern Guangdong province with Hong Kong and Macau. Set to be completed in 2016, officials said the $13.7 billion bridge will span nearly 30 miles. It will be designed to cope with earthquakes up to magnitude 8.0, strong typhoons and the impact of a 300,000 tonne vessel.

But both structures will still be dwarfed by the longest bridge in the world, also in China. The Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge is an astonishing 102 miles in length.

* REMEMBER WHEN STORIES LIKE THIS USED TO FOCUS ON AMERICAN ACHIEVEMENTS...?

(*SIGH*)

June 30, 2011 at 1:48 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/national-security/us-drones-target-two-leaders-of-somali-group-allied-with-al-qaeda/2011/06/29/AGJFxZrH_story.html?hpid=z1

A U.S. drone aircraft fired on two leaders of a militant Somali organization [allegedly] tied to al-Qaeda, apparently wounding them, a senior U.S. military official familiar with the operation said Wednesday.

The airstrike makes Somalia at least the sixth country where the United States is using drone aircraft to conduct lethal attacks, joining Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq and Yemen.

The White House declined Wednesday night to respond to questions about the attack.

* JUST TO CLARIFY MY POSITION... MY GUT REACTION TO TO APPROVE OF THIS ACTION. I WOULD NOT EQUATE THIS ACTION IN SOMALIA WITH THE ADMINISTRATION'S ILLEGAL ACTIONS WITH REGARD TO LIBYA.

June 30, 2011 at 1:48 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/06/30/justice-department-to-conduct-full-probe-cia-interrogations/

The Justice Department is moving forward with criminal investigations relating to CIA interrogations of two detainees who died in the agency's custody.

* WOW... JUST... WOW...

June 30, 2011 at 2:42 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/30/us-usa-debt-whitehouse-idUSTRE75T4T920110630

The White House effectively turned down an invitation by Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell for President Barack Obama to visit his members on Capitol Hill on Thursday to discuss raising the debt limit.

White House press secretary Jay Carney, while not directly saying the invitation had been rejected, said Obama did not need to hear Republicans tell him what they would not support.

That, Carney said, was "not a conversation worth having."

* WOW... THESE GUYS DON'T EVEN PRETEND TO WANT TO BEHAVE RESPONSIBLY.

* FOLKS... SERIOUSLY... THERE ARE 47 REPUBLICAN SENATORS. OBAMA COULD BRING BIDEN WITH HIM, OBVIOUSLY REID, AND IF HE WANTED TO BRING PELOSI OR ANY OTHER DEMOCRAT LEGISLATORS OR OFFICIALS THAT WOULD NO DOUBT BE FINE. IN ANY CASE WE'RE TALKING A SMALL ENOUGH GATHERING TO ACTUALLY EXCHANGE VIEWS. YET HE REFUSES TO TAKE THE TIME EVEN THOUGH HE'LL PLAY GOLF, ATTEND FUNDRAISERS, TAPE CAMPAIGN ADS AT THE WHITE HOUSE...

* FOLKS... THIS BEHAVIOR IS BEYOND CONTEMPTIBLE. THIS MAN IS SIMPLY NOT SERIOUS ABOUT ADDRESSING AMERICA'S PROBLEMS. HE'S AN EMPTY SUIT - NOTHING MORE. AMERICANS MADE A HUGE MISTAKE IN ELECTING THIS FRAUD.

June 30, 2011 at 2:51 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304319804576389593090634256.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

[Federal] tax receipts are near historic lows, but the cause isn't [federal income] tax rates that are too low.

As recently as 2007 the current tax structure raised 18.5% of GDP in revenue, which is slightly above the modern historical average.

Even in 2008, [the second full year of Democratic control of both Houses of Congress,] when the economy grew not at all, federal tax receipts still came in at 17.5% of the economy.

* Hmm... SO WHAT HAPPENED IN 2009 - WHEN DEMS CONTROLLED BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE...?

Tax collections in 2009 fell below 15% of GDP, the lowest level since 1950.

* OOPS...

* AND IN 2010, WHEN DEMS STILL CONTROLLED BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS AND OBAMA SAT IN THE OVAL OFFICE...

[R]emarkably, tax receipts stayed that low even in the recovery year of 2010.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

So far this fiscal year tax receipts are growing at a healthy 10% clip, so the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) January estimate of 14.8% of GDP is probably low. We suspect revenues will be closer to 16%, but even that would be the weakest revenue rebound from any recession in 50 years, and far below the average tax take since 1970 of 18.2%.

* REMEMBER, FOLKS... HARRY REID STILL CONTROLS THE SENATE...

But what about the liberal claim, repeated constantly [by Obama's allies in the media and academia], that the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 caused today's deficits?

CBO has shown this to be demonstrably false.

On May 12, the budget arm of Congress examined the changes in its baseline projections from 2001 through 2011. In 2001, it had predicted a surplus in 2011 of $889 billion. Instead, it expects a deficit of $1.4 trillion. What explains that $2.29 trillion budget reversal? Well, the direct revenue loss from the combination of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts contributed roughly $216 billion, or only about 9.5% of the $2.29 trillion. (And keep in mind that even this low figure is based on a static revenue model that assumes almost no gains from faster economic growth.)

CBO's data show that by far the biggest change in its deficit forecast is the spending bonanza, with outlays in 2011 that are $1.135 trillion higher than the budget office estimated a decade ago. One-third of that is higher interest payments on the national debt, notwithstanding record low interest rates. But $523 billion is due to domestic spending increases, including defense, education, Medicaid and the Obama stimulus. (Bush's Medicare drug plan accounts for $53 billion of this unanticipated spending in 2011.)

* BTW... DIDN'T THE DEMS SUPPORT BUSH'S MEDICARE DRUG PLAN AND VOTE FOR IT? INDEED, IF MEMORY SERVES THEIR MAIN COMPLAINT WAS THAT THE BUSH PLAN DIDN'T SPEND ENOUGH!

The other big revenue reductions come from the "temporary" tax changes of the Obama stimulus and 2010 bipartisan tax deal. CBO says the December tax deal - which includes the one-year payroll tax cut and the annual fix on the alternative minimum tax - will reduce revenues by $196 billion this year. The temporary speedup in business expensing will cost another $55 billion.

* FOLKS... I KNOW THIS IS THROWING A LOT OF NUMBERS AT YOU... BUT PLEASE... RE-READ AS NECESSARY SO THAT YOU CAN CITE THESE FACTS TO THE IDIOTS YOU DEAL WITH DAY IN AND DAY OUT. (*WINK*)

* FOLKS... PLEASE UNDERSTAND THE FOLLOWING:

After the Bush investment tax cuts of 2003, tax revenues were $786 billion higher in 2007 ($2.568 trillion) than they were in 2003 ($1.782 trillion), the biggest four-year increase in U.S. history. (So as flawed as it is, the current tax code with a top personal income tax rate of 35% is clearly capable of generating big revenue gains.)

* FOLKS... THOSE OF YOU WHO READ NEWSBITES DAILY OR AT LEAST REGULARLY... YOU KNOW HOW BADLY THE AMERICAN PUBLIC IS MISINFORMED BY THE MEDIA. INFO LIKE THIS PARTICULAR NEWSBITE SIMPLY NEEDS TO BE SHARED.

June 30, 2011 at 3:50 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304314404576413943178618516.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

If it's Thursday it must mean that Europe is out with another scheme to delay its eventual reckoning with Greek insolvency.

(*RUEFUL CHUCKLE*)

This one comes courtesy of France and is, no surprise, tailor-made to help French and German banks.

(*SMIRK*)

Unfortunately it leaves Greece in a worse fiscal position and increases risk to European taxpayers and other investors in Greek debt.

(*SIGH*)

The ratio of Greek debt to GDP is now 155% and is slated to peak at 170% next year, which is another way of saying that this is too big a problem to grow out of.

Even with the European Union and International Monetary Fund plowing billions into Greek coffers and Greek politicians cutting budgets in the midst of a sharp economic contraction, the prospects for avoiding default are slim to none. The best path to recovery for Greece and the EU would be to recognize that Athens is broke, to restructure the debt to levels that Greece can realistically pay...

* AND TO STOP LENDING THEM MONEY UNTIL THEY SHOW THAT THEY CAN HANDLE THE RESTRUCTURED DEBT AT THE VERY LEAST!

June 30, 2011 at 4:23 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=44506

* BY PATRICK J. BUCHANAN

Say goodbye to Los Angeles. Say goodbye to California.

* THAT'S ALL I'M GONNA POST. I SUGGEST YOU AVAIL YOURSELF OF THE LINK PROVIDED UP ABOVE AND READ - AND THINK ABOUT - THE COLUMN FOR YOURSELVES.

June 30, 2011 at 4:51 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304584004576415841964301396.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_MIDDLESecond

Remember the much ballyhooed ObamaCare promise to "bend the health care cost curve down"?

Well, a new CBO report on the long-term trend in the federal budget finds that the costs of Medicare and Medicaid will drive federal spending and debt to all-time highs in coming decades.

In one scenario, federal health-care spending doubles over the next 25 years, to 11% of GDP in 2035 from 5.6% this year.

In another scenario, the debt eclipses 100% of GDP by 2021 and 190% of GDP by 2035. That's higher than where Greece is right now...

(*CLENCHED JAW*)

What is conspicuously missing from this report is the magical windfall from the new health law.

(*SMIRK*)

CBO reports that it is "using the same growth rates that would have been applied in the absence of the legislation."

(*TAPPING MY FINGERS ON THE DESK*)

Now they tell us.

* FOLKS... SERIOUSLY... (*SIGH*)

Medicare alone is projected to nearly double over the next 25 years, from 3.7% of GDP to almost 7% by 2035.

* FOLKS... YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT THESE MULTI-DECADE PROJECTIONS, BUT IN ORDER TO FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE... (*SHRUG*)

None of these scary trends is inevitable, and there is still time to get health-care costs contained. But now even CBO seems to agree that ObamaCare bends our health-care bills up, not down, in the long run.

June 30, 2011 at 10:49 PM

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