Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, July 20, 2011


I couldn't find the Sinatra version... but this will do.
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7 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Debt-hope-Obama-praises-Gang-apf-120819518.html?x=0

Defying a veto threat, the Republican-controlled House voted Tuesday night to slice federal spending by $6 trillion and require a constitutional balanced budget amendment to be sent to the states in exchange for averting a threatened Aug. 2 government default.

The 234-190 vote marked the power of deeply conservative first-term Republicans, and it stood in contrast to calls at the White House and in the Senate for a late stab at "bipartisanship" to solve the nation's looming debt crisis.

* BY BIPARTISANSHIP THEY MEAN THE POLITICIANS ATTEMPTING TO COVER EACH OTHERS ASSES - THINK TARP.

President Barack Obama and a startling number of Republican senators lauded a deficit-reduction plan put forward earlier in the day by a bipartisan "Gang of Six" lawmakers that calls for $1 trillion in what sponsors delicately called "additional revenue" and some critics swiftly labeled as higher taxes.

* "...AND A STARTLING NUMBER OF REPUBLICAN SENATORS..."

(*SMIRK*)

* NOPE. NOT "STARTLING" AT ALL. WE'RE TALKING THE SAME RINO SENATORS WHO HELD POWER DURING THE BUSH/RINO YEARS. WE'RE TALKING THE SAME "SAFE" SENATORS WHOSE ACTIONS LED TO THE LOSS OF THEIR MAJORITY IN THE 2006 ELECTION.

* FOLKS... YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND HOW VILE THESE PEOPLE ARE. THEY'RE RICH. THEY'RE POWERFUL (EVEN IN THE MINORITY). THEY'LL DO ANYTHING TO MAINTAIN THEIR PERSONAL POSITIONS AND STATUS INCLUDING TRASHING THE CONSTITUTION.

The president said he hoped congressional leaders would "start talking turkey" on a deal to reduce deficits and raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit as soon as Wednesday, using that plan as a roadmap. Wall Street cheered the news of possible compromise as well. The Dow Jones industrials average soared 202 points, the biggest one-day leap this year.

* THE PRESIDENT AND HIS PET CRONY CAPITALISTS. FOLKS... THE DOW IS TOTALLY DE-LINKED FROM ECONOMIC REALITY. IT'S ALL COMPUTER TRADING AND POLITICIZED BUYING AND SELLING. WALL STREET IS NO LONGER THE SOURCE OF INVESTMENT CAPITAL; IT'S WHERE MONEY IS MADE SKIMMING OFF THE TRANSACTIONS THEMSELVES AND TO HELL WITH THE ULTIMATE "INVESTMENT."

July 20, 2011 at 9:19 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2011-07-19-postmaster--mail-delivery_n.htm

Falling mail volume and soaring red ink may soon doom Saturday mail delivery and prompt three-day-a-week delivery...

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

(*DRUM ROLL*)

...within 15 years, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe warns.

(*SNORT*)

* FOLKS... THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE HAS BEEN BLEEDING RED INK FOR LONGER THAN I CARE TO CONTEMPLATE. THIS IS JUST MORE POLITICAL NONSENSE - BUT "NONSENSE" THAT COSTS TAXPAYERS BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

Donahoe's forecast is based on a projected $8.3 billion loss this year...

* THIS YEAR, FOLKS! THIS YEAR! THIS... YEAR... ALONE...!!!

* READ THE FULL ARTICLE FOLKS. IT'S A MICROCOSM OF THE SORT OF IRRATIONAL AND IRRESPONSIBLE WHICH IS DESTROYING OUR NATION.

July 20, 2011 at 9:27 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/07/19/25m-deficit-may-force-compton-to-shut-down-government/

The Compton (California) City Council has diverted a potential government shutdown by approving a budget Tuesday night that calls for massive layoffs.

* SEE FOLKS... IN THE REAL WORLD... THE WORLD OUTSIDE WASHINGTON D.C. ... THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS.

The new budget would require the city to slash 30% of its workforce.

* FOLKS... SOONER OR LATER THE PIGEONS ALWAYS COME HOME TO ROOST. (*SHRUG*)

Compton officials have been struggling with how to deal with a $25 million deficit and avoid a government shutdown. The Council has twice voted down a proposed budget that would lay off 90 workers, including some department heads.

* THAT'S RIGHT... CLOSE YOUR EYES... STICK YOUR FINGERS IN YOUR EARS... KEEP CHANTING "NO! NO! NO! NO!" AND PERHAPS REALITY WILL RECEDE. (*SMIRK*) (*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

The city treasurer made a point of saying this week that he wouldn’t issue paychecks until the Council approved a budget.

* THANKFULLY THERE'S AT LEAST ON ADULT IN THE ROOM!

Unions representing city employees have threatened to sue if a budget plan calling for layoffs was passed.

* YEAH... BECAUSE JUDGES CAN JUST ORDER MONEY INTO EXISTENCE. (*SMIRK*) (*STILL SHAKING MY HEAD*)

July 20, 2011 at 9:45 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903461104576457543021486506.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLE_Video_Top

The Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly Fort Hood shooting rampage nearly two years ago was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday...

* AMAZING, ISN'T IT? AMAZING AND TERRIFYING. FOLKS... WHO WOULD ARGUE THAT AMERICAN JUSTICE ISN'T LARGELY DYSFUNCTIONAL?

* THIS ANIMAL SHOULD HAVE BEEN TRIED, FOUND GUILTY, AND EXECUTED WITHIN SIX WEEKS OF HIS ACTIONS.

July 20, 2011 at 10:28 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/272245/there-no-alternative-michael-tanner

President Obama has now announced that he will veto the “Cut, Cap, and Balance” bill to raise the federal debt ceiling that passed the House of Representatives yesterday.

In its place, the president offers . . . nothing.

With the clock ticking down toward what the administration calls “fiscal Armageddon,” the president still has not put an actual plan for increasing the debt ceiling on the table. True, he has held innumerable press conferences and briefings at which he has declared his willingness to compromise and “make difficult choices,” and even angered his own base by suggesting entitlement reform. But when it comes to actually spelling out what those compromises, choices, and reforms would be, the president is...absent.

Take his most recent press conference. The president was asked which Medicare reforms he supported. There’s lots of options on the table, the president responded.

Well, yes, but which options does he support?

There’s lots of options on the table, he says again.

* FOLKS... THIS IS THE LITERAL SITUATION. ALSO, AS NOTED AD NAUSEUM, THE DEMOCRAT-CONTROLLED SENATE HASN'T ACTUALLY COME UP WITH A "NEW" BUDGET IN OVER 800 DAYS. YOU GUYS KNOW THIS - BUT THE AVERAGE SCHMUCK WHO RELIES UPON MAINSTREAM MEDIA... NOPE... THEY HAVE NO CLUE.

The president did announce a budget back in February, but he has since disavowed it, and the Senate voted against it 97–0.

* AGAIN, FOLKS... HOW MANY AMERICANS ARE AWARE OF THIS? AND WHY AREN'T THEY AWARE OF THIS...? IT'S DELIBERATE.

The president also delivered a budget speech in May. But as the director of the Congressional Budget Office noted, “We don’t score speeches.” The president still has not submitted a new budget proposal to Congress.

* AND YET I GUARANTEE THE AVERAGE AMERICAN BELIEVES OBAMA HAS SUBMITTED A NEW BUDGET PROPOSAL TO CONGRESS.

(*SIGH*)

The House Republican plan is surprisingly moderate. First, it would impose $1.5 trillion in budget cuts over the next ten years. That’s less than the federal government will borrow this year.

* SO IN OTHER WORDS IT'S A BULLSHIT PROPOSAL - BUT COMPARED TO THE DEM'S NON-PROPOSALS AT LEAST IT'S SOMETHING.

[I]t would cap federal spending at 19.9% of GDP by 2020.

* BY 2020... MEANING 9 YEARS FROM NOW... MEANING FOUR OR PERHAPS FIVE ELECTIONS FROM NOW...

(*SIGH*)

That would still allow the federal government to spend 1.5% of GDP more than it did when Bill Clinton was president.

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

July 20, 2011 at 12:41 PM
William R. Barker said...

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

http://www.nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/watchdog-says-u-s-aid-money-in-afghanistan-may-be-fueling-insurgency-20110720

The United States has spent more than $70 billion on security assistance and development projects in Afghanistan since 2002, and the Obama administration has made clear that it will continue sending extensive financial aid to the impoverished country even after the U.S.-led war winds down in 2014.

[An] audit by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction paints a dispiriting picture of a massive U.S. aid effort that's effectiveness has been seriously impaired by a lack of effective oversight and an Afghan government that refuses to rein in corruption. Absent far-reaching policy changes, the report says much of that money may be misspent, embezzled, or passed into the hands of the country’s militants.

(*SARCASTIC CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*) (BTW... THAT'S FOR BOTH THE BUSH AND OBAMA ADMINISTRATIONS AND BOTH PARTIES IN CONGRESS.)

“While U.S. agencies have taken steps to strengthen their oversight of U.S. funds flowing through the Afghan economy, they still have limited visibility over the circulation of these funds, leaving them vulnerable to fraud or diversion to insurgents,” the staff of acting Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction Herbert Richardson wrote in the report released on Wednesday. “We found that agencies have not instituted sufficient controls over U.S. funds, limiting their oversight.”

* AND HAS ANYONE BEEN FIRED FOR INCOMPETENCE? (I DOUBT IT!)

[T]he new audit - the product of nearly eight months of work by U.S. investigators - highlights multiple instances where the Karzai government went out of its way to hamper anti-corruption efforts.

* ARE WE TALKING THE KARZAI GOVERNMENT IN AFGHANISTAN OR DEMOCRATIC POLITICIANS IN CHICAGO AND THROUGHOUT ILLINOIS...??? (APPARENTLY VERY SIMILAR "CULTURAL NORMS.")

* To be continued...

July 20, 2011 at 7:26 PM
William R. Barker said...

* CONTINUING... (Part 2 of 2)

In one example cited in the report, Treasury Department officials forwarded the names of 21 Afghans suspected of committing financial crimes to the Afghan Attorney General’s office, but the Afghans only opened up four formal prosecutions, angering the Treasury personnel. In May, meanwhile, the Karzai government banned American advisers from working at the country’s central bank and made clear they wouldn’t be allowed to return.

The report made clear that the Afghans don’t deserve all of the blame, however. It criticized the United States for failing to record the serial numbers of the aid money given to contractors and other recipients, making it virtually impossible to track the money’s movement. The report also faulted the United States for allowing prime contractors to pay their Afghan partners through unlicensed wire-transfer companies, again making it difficult to ensure aid money ends up in the right hands.

“The United States is unable to record information on these funds when they enter Afghanistan’s economy, and the Afghan and U.S. governments are unable to track these funds as they move from person to person,” the report concluded.

* AGAIN... WAS ANYONE FIRED...???

[T]he report cites numerous examples of Afghan government misconduct. Last year, the U.S. government purchased two custom-built bulk currency counters for the customs area at the Kabul airport to make it harder for Afghans to smuggle large sums of money out of the country. But the report notes that the machines weren’t installed for seven months because of “disagreements over where to place” them. Afghan VIPs, meanwhile, are allowed to board planes without having their cash scanned by the machines or being forced to submit to any form of search by U.S. or Afghan officials, the report said.

The auditors also note that Afghan officials spent eight months arguing with the United States over the installation of signs at the airport reminding travelers that they had to declare if they were carrying more than $22,000 in cash. The Afghans finally signed off on putting up the signs, but refused to install them at the entrance to the airport, where they would be seen by passengers before they passed through customs, meaning “passengers are not informed of the requirement to declare their currency until it is too late” to actually do so.

Afghan officials told their American counterparts that they wanted to reserve all of the space near the airport’s entrance “for advertisements.”

* FOLKS... GET OUT... WE JUST NEED TO GET OUT...!!!

July 20, 2011 at 7:26 PM

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