Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, July 5, 2011


My sentiments exactly!
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10 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2011059/Missing-British-soldier-executed-Taliban-snatched-shot-head.html

A British soldier was snatched and executed by the Taliban yesterday after he wandered off alone from a remote checkpoint in southern Afghanistan.

* THE TALIBAN... THE TALIBAN... AREN'T THOSE THE FOLKS OBAMA HAS BEEN... er... NEGOTIATING WITH?

The three other servicemen who have previously been kidnapped in Afghanistan were American. They were all captured or killed by the Taliban.

In June 2009, insurgents captured Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl in the south-east of the country.

They have released videos showing him in captivity dressed in Afghan clothing and military uniform. Sgt Bergdahl is seen denouncing the war in Afghanistan and calling for the U.S. to withdraw its troops from the country, in what the U.S. Military has called illegal propaganda.

And in July 2010, two sailors from the U.S. Navy went missing in Logar province, south of the Afghan capital Kabul. Their dead bodies were found in the area days later.

* THEIR... DEAD... BODIES...

* TWO AMERICAN SAILORS... DOES ANYONE EVEN REMEMBER THIS?

July 5, 2011 at 9:34 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EDUCATION_UNION_OBAMA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-07-04-18-04-01

The nation's largest education union has endorsed President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.

* BUT... IT'S... er... JULY 5, 2011...???

Members of the National Education Association voted to support Obama on Monday at their annual convention in Chicago.

In a statement, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel says Obama and the union share a vision and members wanted early and strong support to help his election.

(*SNORT*) (*CHORTLE*)

July 5, 2011 at 9:34 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-s-economists-stimulus-has-cost-278000-job_576014.html

When the Obama administration releases a report on the Friday before a long weekend, it’s clearly not trying to draw attention to the report’s contents.

(*SNORT*) (*RUEFUL CHUCKLE*)

Sure enough, the “Seventh Quarterly Report” on the economic impact of the “stimulus,” released on Friday, July 1, provides further evidence that President Obama’s economic “stimulus” did very little, if anything, to stimulate the economy, and a whole lot to stimulate the debt.

The report was written by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors, a group of three economists who were all handpicked by Obama...

(*PAUSE*)

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

The council reports that, using “mainstream estimates of economic multipliers for the effects of fiscal stimulus,” the “stimulus” has added or saved just under 2.4 million jobs - whether private or public - at a cost (to date) of $666 billion.

(*DRUM ROLL*)

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

That’s a cost to taxpayers of $278,000 per job.

* AGAIN, FOLKS... THESE ARE OBAMA'S HANDPICKED GUYS... SPINNING IT AS BEST THEY CAN... (*SNORT*)

In other words, the government could simply have cut a $100,000 check to everyone whose employment was allegedly made possible by the “stimulus,” and taxpayers would have come out $427 billion ahead.

* OH... AND GET THIS... (YOU'RE GONNA LUV THIS...!)

Furthermore, the council reports that, as of two quarters ago, the “stimulus” had added or saved just under 2.7 million jobs - or 288,000 more than it has now.

* ONE MORE TIME:

Furthermore, the council reports that, as of two quarters ago, the “stimulus” had added or saved just under 2.7 million jobs - or 288,000 more than it has now.

(In other words, over the past six months, the economy would have added or saved more jobs without the “stimulus” than it has with it. In comparison to how things would otherwise have been, the “stimulus” has been working in reverse over the past six months, causing the economy to shed jobs.)

The actual employment numbers from this administration’s own Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the unemployment rate was 7.3% when the “stimulus” was being debated.

It has since risen to 9.1%.

Meanwhile, the national debt at the end of 2008, when Obama was poised to take office, was $9.986 trillion. It’s now $14.467 trillion - and counting.

* Hmm... I WONDER IF THEY LET THE MATH TEACHERS VOTE ON ENDORSING OBAMA...? (SEE PREVIOUS NEWSBITE.)

July 5, 2011 at 9:49 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=44641

As President Bush prepared to invade Iraq in September 2002, the head of his economic policy council, Lawrence Lindsey publicly estimated such a war could cost $100 billion to $200 billion.

"Baloney," said Donald Rumsfeld.

The likely cost would be $60 billion, said Mitch Daniels of the Office of Management and Budget.

We can finance the war with Iraqi oil, said Paul Wolfowitz.

By year's end, Lindsey was gone, back, in Ronald Reagan's phrase, "testing the magic of the marketplace." And the cost of the Iraq War? It has passed $1 trillion. So Lindsey is worth listening to.

(*NOD*)

So Lindsey is worth listening to. And he is now saving that the Obamaites may be wildly underestimating the deficits America is going to run in this decade.

(*SIGH*)

The average rate of interest the Fed has had to pay to borrow for the last two decades has been 5.7%. However, President Obama is projecting the cost of money at only 2.5%. A return to the normal Fed rate would, by 2020, add $4.9 trillion to the cumulative deficit, says Lindsey...

(*DEEPER SIGH*)

Second, Obama is estimating growth in 2012, 2013 and 2014 at 4%, 4.5% and 4.1%. (The normal rate for a mature economy recovering from recession is 2.5%.)

[I]f we return to a normal rate of growth, rather than rise to Obama's projected rate, says Lindsey, that would add $700 billion to the deficit over the next three years and $4 trillion by 2020.

(*SLOWLY BUT STEADILY BANGING MY HEAD AGAINST THE DESK*)

Taken together, a U.S. return to a normal rate of growth of 2.5%, higher than today, and a normal rate of interest for the Fed could add as much as $9 trillion to the deficits between now and 2020.

* OH...! AND GUESS WHAT, FOLKS...?!?! (KEEP READING...)

New taxes on millionaires and billionaires who ride around in corporate jets can't cover a tenth of 1% of these deficits.

(*GONG*)

* YEP, FOLKS... YOU CAN DEFINITELY SEE WHY THE NEA WOULD ENDORSE OBAMA'S RE-ELECTION WELL OVER A YEAR BEFORE THE ACTUAL ELECTION. (*SNORT*) (*SMIRK*) (*SNICKER*)

July 5, 2011 at 10:11 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://politics.standard.co.uk/2011/07/the-missing-us-ambassador-at-the-feast-for-ronald-reagan.html

Last night's Guildhall dinner [held in London] in honour of Ronald Reagan's centenary was a truly glittering and warm occasion.

The British roasted lamb and the sunny Californian chardonnay evoked the close Anglo-U.S. relationship of Reagan and Thatcher as much as the fine speeches by Condi Rice and William Hague.

But guests were left asking, where on earth was the American ambassador to the U.K., Louis B Susman?

* SCUMBAG. DIRTY PIECE OF SHIT. SON OF A BITCH! DISGRACEFUL. WHAT A DOUCHE!

"Our ambassador should be here," said Lynn de Rothschild, the American entrepreneur who is married to Sir Evelyn de Rothschild and was one of Hillary Clinton's key fundraisers in 2008 as well as a supporter of several Republican presidential candidates. "This was an historic dinner to mark Reagan's centenary and to celebrate him as the man who ended the Cold War. What could not be more important?

"Why is our ambassador not here on Independence Day? No excuse. How is it that America is not represented in this room by our ambassador? It is appalling that no representative of our government is in this room. This has the feel of petty partisanship."

* THE FISH ROTS FROM THE HEAD DOWN. OBAMA SETS THE TONE. THIS ADMINISTRATION IS A NATIONAL NIGHTMARE.

According to the US embassy spokesman: "Ambassador Susman was pleased to be invited to the dinner but was unable to attend."

(*GIVING THE PRICK THE FINGER*)

He had however been at the unveiling of a statue of Reagan in Grosvenor Square earlier in the day, and hosted a generous breakfast for the entire VIP visiting party and the military band. So he cannot be accused of snubbing the Reagan centenary.

* YES... YES HE CAN BE. SUSMAN IS A SCUMBAG. FROM WIKIPEDIA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Susman

Louis B. Susman (born 1938) is an American lawyer, retired investment banker...

* INVESTMENT BANKER, HUH?

He retired in 2009 as vice chairman of Citigroup Global Markets in Chicago.

* CITIGROUP, HUH...? (*SMIRK*)

* IN CHICAGO, HUH...? (*SNICKER*)

Susman is a longtime and prolific fundraiser for Democratic Party candidates, including Obama and 2004 presidential nominee John Kerry. According to the Agence France-Presse (AFP), "US ambassador residences in London and Paris have long been retreats for presidents' wealthy friends. However, his appointment was criticized because among other things, Obama had promised to appoint more career diplomats as ambassadors to prestige posts.

* YEAH... AND WE ALL KNOW THE PRESIDENT'S RECORD WITH PROMISES...

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

July 5, 2011 at 11:35 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/07/obama-white-house-salaries-soar.html

In his numerous fund-raising and policy speeches around the country these days...

* WHICH HE USUALLY COMBINES SO AS TO HAVE THE GOVERNMENT PAY FOR MOST EXPENSES... (HOPE... CHANGE... HOPE... CHANGE...)

...President Obama often bemoans the difficult economic times and uncertainties afflicting millions of Americans, including the nearly 14 million still seeking work unsuccessfully.

* SO WHERE'S MICHELLE JETTING OFF TO THIS WEEK...? (JUST CURIOUS...)

The Democrat argues that his administration needs more time to straighten out the economic mess left by somebody else, who's been gone almost 900 days now.

(*RUEFUL SNORT*)

But good news this morning: The challenging Obama era and 9.1% national unemployment rate do not include the 454 people now helping President Obama do presidential things.

* OH, YEA! (TELL US MORE!)

This crowd is being paid a total of $37,121,463 this year.

* HUH...???

That's up seven staff members and nearly $4 million from 2008, the last year of George W. Bush's presidency.

* HUH...?!?!

* BUT, WAIT... THERE'S MORE...! (AIN'T THERE ALWAYS WITH OBAMA...?!)

The 2011 White House salary report (which was - coincidentally no doubt - released on the Friday before the 4th of July holiday weekend) does not include mention of the 41 unidentified Obama staff members who owe the Internal Revenue Service $831,000 in back taxes.

* HOPE... CHANGE... HOPE... CHANGE... HOPE... CHANGE... (*SIGH*)

July 5, 2011 at 11:59 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/124983979.html

Police are investigating two armed robberies in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood and allegations that a group of teens...

* FOLKS... (*SNORT*)... THIS STORY COMES WITH VIDEO; CHECK OUT THE... er... "TEENS."

...who might have been involved in the robberies, later beat several people at Reservoir Park.

* "MIGHT" HAVE BEEN. (AGAIN, FOLKS... THERE'S VIDEO YOU CAN LINK TO VIA THE STORY.)

The Journal Sentinel received several tips from people who reported incidents shortly after the fireworks ended, that some people were punched and hurt from thrown bottles. WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) reported that a BP store at North and Humboldt Blvd. was ransacked and showed store video of several people rushing through the store, stealing items late Sunday.

The TMJ report also included an interview with a woman who said she and her sister were beaten by a group of teens at Reservoir Park and that some of the teens were carrying handfuls of candy and other products.

* FOLKS... THIS IS HAPPENING ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. AND NOTICE... MORE AND MORE THE PRESS REPORTS - DELIBERATELY I'M GUESSING - FAIL TO PROVIDE LINKS TO VIDEOS OF THE ACTUAL MARAUDING.

* FOLKS... HONEST, CIVILIZED AMERICANS NEED TO ARM OURSELVES AND WHEN CONFRONTED BY THE ENEMIES OF CIVILIZATION... WE MUST BE PREPARED TO KILL THE ANIMALS IN DEFENSE OF OUR PERSONS, OUR PROPERTY, AND OUR CIVILIZATION.

July 5, 2011 at 3:43 PM
William R. Barker said...

* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)

http://reason.com/archives/2011/07/05/driving-to-delusionville

The former Obama auto czar, Ron Bloom, was on Capitol Hill last week telling Congress what a grand bargain the auto bailout has turned out to be for taxpayers.

(His testimony should be on the Syfy channel.)

The story that Bloom told, and that President Obama is making the signature theme of his re-election campaign, goes like this:

If the administration hadn’t infused $80 billion into GM and Chrysler, the companies would have hemorrhaged to death. Financial markets, themselves in panic mode, would not have given them the funds necessary to restructure through Chapter 11 bankruptcies and stay in business. Hence, they would have had to shut their factories, sell their assets for scrap and liquidate. And this would have bankrupted auto parts suppliers, shut down dealerships, laid off 1 million workers - whose pension and unemployment benefits taxpayers would have had to foot - and devastated entire communities. GM and Chrysler may never repay taxpayers in full. But any loss is less than the cost of this economic Armageddon.

* FOLKS... AS YOU'LL SEE... THE ABOVE IS TOTAL BULLSHIT.

* To be continued...

July 5, 2011 at 5:11 PM
William R. Barker said...

* CONTINUING... (Part 2 of 2)

For starters, many experts suspect that at least GM could have obtained private bankruptcy financing if it had presented a credible restructuring plan addressing the cause of its malaise: the uncompetitive costs of its unionized work force. If it couldn’t, then the government could have offered guarantees to private lenders for the amounts they loaned, which likely would have been smaller than the bailout.

* JUST AN ALTERNATIVE; I FOR ONE WOULDN'T HAVE BACKED EVEN GOVERNMENT GUARANTEES. STILL... (*SHRUG*)

[T]he administration took matters in its own hands, using taxpayer dollars to commandeer the bankruptcy process to protect key constituencies, while giving short shrift to others.

It gave Chrysler’s secured creditors, who would have had priority in a normal bankruptcy, 29 cents on the dollar.

* THIS WAS ACTUALLY A WATERSHED IN THE ONGOING DECLINE AND FALL OF OUR REPUBLIC... OUR NATION (PREVIOUSLY AT LEAST) OF LAWS... OUR NATION (PREVIOUSLY AT LEAST) COMMITTED TO THE RULE OF LAW...

The administration favored union workers not only over creditors, but also other workers.

* KEEP READING; THIS NEXT PART IS FASCINATING!

All United Auto Workers retirees at Delphi, GM’s auto supplier, got 100% of their pension and retirement benefits. But 21,000 nonunion, salaried employees lost up to 70% of their pensions, and all of their life and health insurance.

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*) YEP, FOLKS... AMERICA IN THE AGE OF OBAMA.

(The Treasury could have covered 93% of the benefits of all employees for the same funds it spent on full union benefits, testified Bruce Gump, a representative of the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association.)

Chrysler’s unions, on the other hand, got more than 40 cents [on the dollar], even though they are equivalent to low-priority lenders. This made a mockery of longstanding bankruptcy law, something that will make credit markets wary of lending to political sacred cows in the future.

Even for GM and Chrysler, the bailout constitutes a missed opportunity, not a second chance. They didn’t get nearly the kind of relief from labor costs that they would have in a normal bankruptcy. Not only are they on the hook for most of their legacy costs, they still pay union workers $58 per hour including benefits. This wouldn’t be so bad if Toyota, whose costs are $56 per hour, were setting the industry’s cost curve. But that’s no longer the case. Hyundai and Kia, with $40-an-hour costs, do that. The bailout prepared GM and Chrysler to compete with the industry leaders of yesterday, not tomorrow.

(*SIGH*)

Absent the bailout, these companies would have survived, but they would have looked very different. They might have merged into one, pooling resources and slashing excess capacity from the industry. Alternatively, entrepreneurs might have purchased their more viable brands and run them as independent companies, breaking up the industry’s big vertically-integrated players into myriad smaller ones. Either way, the labor and capital squeezed out from the industry would have been more productively deployed elsewhere.

GM had accrued $70 billion in losses in the two years before the bailout and debt 24 times its market capitalization. By contrast, Ford had eliminated money-losing brands and mortgaged all its assets - including its logo, the Blue Oval - raising funds to weather the economic downturn. By bailing out GM, the administration rewarded its recklessness and penalized Ford’s prudence.

(*NOD*)

The administration is casting GM as an Atlas-like figure carrying the economy on its shoulders. In fact, the real Atlases are the taxpayers and creditors carrying GM - and they got screwed by the bailout.

July 5, 2011 at 5:11 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/instead-funding-retirement-accounts-needed-treasury-proceeds-disinvest-most-debt-ceiling-bre

* FOLKS... (*PAUSE*)... THIS ONE IS ABOVE MY PAY GRADE. FRANKLY... ALL I KNOW IS WHAT I'M ADDING HERE TO TODAY'S NEWSBITES.

[W]hile at the end of every quarter, the U.S. Treasury is traditionally supposed to fund a quarterly payment into the various government retirement funds, this time around, instead of putting in even one penny into G and CSRD Funds, Tim Geithner has decided to defraud government retirees by the most since the U.S. debt ceiling was breached, or, specifically, since intragovernmental "holdings" became a mere plug to make room for marketable debt.

* HONESTLY... "G AND CSRD FUNDS"... I'M LOST.

* INTERGOVERNMENTAL "HOLDINGS." I HAVE A FEELING FOR WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT, BUT I COULDN'T EXPLAIN IT.

So while the debt held by the public increased by $21 billion following the settlement of last week's auctions, in order to stay under the $14.294 billion ceiling, the Treasury was forced to "disinvest" another $20 billion from retirement funds.

* A PAPERWORK EXERCISE? MAYBE SO... BUT IT STILL DOESN'T SOUND GOOD. (NOR DOES THE FACT THAT THE MSM - INCLUDING THE WSJ AND FT - IS SO FAR IGNORING THIS STORY PUT MY MIND TO EASE.)

At this point the various funds that fall under this umbrella are underinvested by at least $120 billion and likely much more.

Of course, this is not an event of default as per Geithner's fine print: as soon as the debt ceiling is hiked, these will be the first funds that are replenished.

On the other hand, if there is no debt ceiling hike, and courtesy of marketable debt having priority to intragovernmental debt, government retirees are increasingly becoming the impaired class in what may be shaping up to be the world's biggest bankruptcy filing in history.

* IT'LL BE INTERESTING TO SEE IF THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA PICKS UP ON THIS... (I WOULDN'T BET ON IT...)

July 5, 2011 at 5:57 PM

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