There's a lively discussion heating up over at my friend Chip Murray's blog - Shutupnsing.
Check out Chip's post titled "Hayworth for Congress... or (legally imposed) Guillotine".
(And then check out the comments...)
Indeed... browse Chip's blog. Check out the comment threads. There's a lot of good "back and forth" to be found in Chip's posts' comment sections!
13 comments:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-san-bernardino-bankruptcy-20120712,0,2433019.story
Facing the same financial stressors that pushed San Bernardino toward bankruptcy, cities across California are slashing day-to-day services and taking other drastic actions to skirt a similar fiscal collapse.
* WELCOME TO YOUR FUTURE, AMERICA!
* BTW... IT'S THE RETIREEE BENEFITS, STUPID! IT'S THE COSTS OF PAYING PEOPLE NOT TO WORK THAT ARE DESTROYING THESE CALIFORNIA TOWNS!
San Bernardino on Tuesday became the third California city to seek bankruptcy protection in the last month and...other cities teeter on the abyss.
"There are likely to be more in the future, but it's hard to know, since a lot of struggling cities may manage to work things out,'' said Michael Coleman, a fiscal policy advisor for the California League of Cities. "Some cities may not go into a bankruptcy, but they may dissolve. They may cease to exist."
(*SNORT*)
* PUTTING THE FINANCIAL BURDEN ON... (*PAUSE*)... THE STATE... WHICH IS ITSELF IN DEEP DOO-DOO? THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT... WHICH IS ITSELF IN DEEP DOO-DOO? JEEZUS, FOLKS... A SLOW MOTION CRACK-UP IS STILL A CRACK-UP!
The Bay Area city of Vallejo began the current trend in May 2008, filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection...
Last month, Stockton became the largest city in the state to seek bankruptcy protection...
On July 2, the tiny resort town of Mammoth Lakes filed bankruptcy papers in part because it was saddled with a $43-million court judgment it couldn't pay.
Rising public pension costs are one of the catalysts pushing cities into fiscal peril. In San Bernardino, the city's obligation to its employee retirement system rose from $1 million in the 2006-07 fiscal year to nearly double that in the current budget year. In three years, those costs are expected to swallow up 15% of the budget.
Pension spending grew an average of 11.4% a year in the state's biggest cities and counties between 1999 and 2010, roughly twice as fast as spending on public safety, social services, recreation, health and sanitation, according to a February report by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
Joe Nation, a Stanford economics professor and co-author of the February report, thinks that for at least some cities, insolvency is inevitable unless they can wrest much bigger concessions on salaries and pensions from public employees. "I think this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the problem," Nation said. "Stockton was spending $12 [million] or $13 million on pensions 10 years ago. By 2010, it was $30 million … and will double again over the next five years, unless something is changed."
* THE MATH... (*SIGH*)... IS THE MATH.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/10/politics/denise-rich-citizenship/index.html
Wealthy socialite and Grammy-nominated songwriter Denise Rich has renounced her U.S. citizenship and resides in London, her spokeswoman Judy Smith said Tuesday.
* DENISE RICH...? DENISE RICH...? NOW WHERE HAVE I HEARD THAT NAME BEFORE...?
Rich, 68, is the ex-wife of billionaire commodities trader Marc Rich, who was pardoned in 2001 by then-president Bill Clinton for oil profiteering and tax evasion after he fled to Switzerland.
* OH, YEAH! THAT DENISE RICH!
As of 2001, Denise Rich had made more than $1.3 million in political contributions to the Democratic Party since 1993, including $70,000 to Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign and $450,000 to the Clinton presidential library in Arkansas.
Investigators told CNN at the time that there were Secret Service logs showing that Rich went to the White House the last night of Bill Clinton's presidency.
* YOU KNOW... I ACTUAL FEEL SORRY FOR THE REAL "TRUE BELIEVERS" OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY BASE. THE POOR SCHMUCKS ACTUALLY BELIEVE THAT THE DEMOCRATS ARE FOR "THE PEOPLE" INSTEAD OF FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR RICH ALLIES.
By handing in her American passport, tax lawyers say she is able to legally avoid paying significant taxes on her estate.
* DO TELL!
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-11/apple-quitting-green-registry-leads-to-purchasing-fallout.html
* INSANITY. JUST... NUTTINESS!
* FOLKS... READ THIS AND WEEP. THIS IS AMERICA 2012.
* HEY, FOLKS... DON'T THINK THIS EFFECTS YOU? THINK MAYOR BLOOMBERG. THINK BACK TO MY TALES OF HAVING NO HOTEL POOLS IN RICHMOND OVER MEMORIAL DAY! THINK OF... LIGHTBULBS.
(*SHRUG*)
* THE NANNY STATE IS A CANCER GROWING ON THE AMERICAN BODY POLITIC. IF WE DON'T REVERSE COURSE, IMAGINE AMERICA 2022... 2032... 2042...
(*SIGH*)
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57470618/chicago-police-sergeant-tribal-warfare-on-the-streets
Chicago police sergeant: "Tribal warfare" on the streets
* YEP. THAT'S THE HEADLINE. (WE'LL SEE IF THAT COP IS FIRED FOR MAKING WHAT MIGHT BE CONSTRUED AS A "RACIALLY BIASED" COMMENT.)
Chicago is in the grips of a deadly gang war. At least 275 people have been killed in the city so far this year and many more have been shot, many of them innocent bystanders to the gang violence. Among the latest victims were 12- and 13-year-old girls shot Tuesday night. They survived.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
* FOLKS... YOU KNOW WHO THE MAYOR OF CHICAGO IS... RIGHT? YOU KNOW WHICH POLITICAL PARTY RUNS CHICAGO... RIGHT?
Sgt. Matt Little leads one of the teams in Chicago's Gang Enforcement Unit.
(There are about 200 such officers in the city - versus 100,000 gang members.)
* FOLKS... THIS IS CBS NEWS REPORTING THIS FIGURE OF 100,000 GANG MEMBERS... (*SHRUG*)
"Almost all the violence we're seeing now is from the gangs," Little said. "When there's a shooting we'll respond to the shooting. We'll figure out where we believe the most likely area for retaliation is and we'll work that area trying to both prevent retaliation and possibly build a case on offenders."
* AND "POSSIBLY" BUILD A CASE AGAINST THE "OFFENDERS."
(*SARCASTIC CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)
Sgt. Little is a decorated veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan. He said that parts of Chicago are comparable to what he saw in combat. "It's tribal warfare," he said, "and as it continues to build unless we manage to interdict it, and manage to stop it long enough for the blood to stop boiling, the heat to die down."
* JEEZUS... AMERICA... 2012... THE AGE OF OBAMA...
http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/NBC-News-Report-Jesse-Jackson-Treated-For-Alcoholism-Addiction-162131135.html
Earlier Wednesday NBC News reported that missing Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. had been found.
* WHAT...?! YOU DIDN'T KNOW OL' JESSE (OR, RATHER, "YOUNG JESSE") WAS "MISSING?" (*SNORT*)
Andrea Mitchell reported that sources told her the 2nd District Congressman reportedly has been In Arizona receiving treatment for alcoholism.
(*SARCASTIC CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)
Jackson Jr. went on hiatus from congress a month ago, on June 10, and his office released a statement nearly two weeks after that saying he was being treated at an undisclosed location for exhaustion.
* "HIATUS...?!?!" "HIATUS...?!?!" WHERE IN THE CONSTITUTION IS "HIATUS" TO BE FOUND? IS THIS MOOK STILL GETTING PAID? STILL GETTING PLATINUM-PLATED BENEFITS? STILL ACCRUING RETIREMENT BENEFITS? (ALL RHETORICAL QUESTIONS...) (*SCOWL*)
Following the NBC News report, Jackson Jr. spokesman Rick Bryant said the information was not 100% correct.
* SO... 99.9% ACCURATE...??? (*SNORT*)
Bryant said he was not being treated for substance abuse, but didn't dispute other specifics of the report.
Jackson's wife, Sandi, a Chicago alderman...
* OF COURSE!
...also told NBC Chicago that Jackson Jr. was not in rehab but would not elaborate.
(*SMIRK*)
The Jesse Jackson Jr. camp Wednesday night released only the barest of details of the congressman’s purported illness. “The congressman is receiving intensive medical treatment at a residential treatment facility for a mood disorder,” says a statement attributed to Jackson’s doctor. “He is responding positively to treatment…”
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
The congressman’s office quickly added, “The rumors about him being treated for alcohol or substance abuse are not true.”
(But a family friend tells NBC News tonight that the congressman’s problems run much deeper. That he has severe clinical depression, a drinking problem or a problem with alcohol with treatment at a facility in Arizona.)
* LISTEN... BOTTOM LINE... JACKSON SHOULD RESIGN. IF HE WON'T HE SHOULD BE PRESSURED BY HIS OWN PARTY TO RESIGN. I'D SAY THE SAME THING IF HE WERE A REPUBLICAN. THE FACT THAT THE LEADERSHIPS OF BOTH PARTIES TOLERATE THIS SORT OF NONSENSE IS WHY WE'RE IN THE MESS WE'RE IN TODAY. THE FACT THAT JOHN BOEHNER ISN'T CALLING FOR JACKSON TO RESIGN SAYS IT ALL.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/mitt-romney-and-his-departure-from-bain/2012/07/12/gJQAASzUfW_blog.html
Why does it matter when Mitt Romney left Bain Capital?
Millions of dollars of attack ads by the Obama campaign are hanging in the balance.
If Romney left Bain in February 1999, when he departed to run the Olympics, then a number of business deals that went sour (such as KB Toys) can’t be counted as part of Romney’s tenure. If he actually left in 2002, as the Obama campaign alleges, then those deals are fair game.
We have looked at this issue before, back in January, and thought we had settled it.
But now the Boston Globe has raised the issue again. The story seems to hinge on a quote from a former Securities and Exchange Commission member, which would have more credibility if the Globe had disclosed she was a regular contributor to Democrats.
(*GUFFAW*)
Interestingly, “The Real Romney,” a book on the former Massachusetts governor, by Boston Globe reporters, states clearly that he left Bain when he went to run the Olympics and details the turmoil that ensued when he suddenly quit, nearly breaking up the partnership.
We’re considering whether to once again take a deeper look at this, though it really feels like Groundhog Day again. There appears to be some confusion about how partnerships are structured and managed, or what SEC documents mean. (Just because you are listed as an owner of shares does not mean you have a managerial role.)
To accept some of the claims, one would have to believe that Romney, with the advice of his lawyers, lied on government documents and committed a criminal offense.
Moreover, you would have to assume he willingly gave up his share to a few years of retirement earnings — potentially worth millions of dollars — so he could say his retirement started in 1999.
(*SMIRK*)
For interested readers, below is a summary of what we, FactCheck.org and Fortune magazine have concluded:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-obama-campaigns-suspect-claim-about-romneys-role-in-store-closings/2012/01/17/gIQA6wey6P_blog.html
* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://dailycaller.com/2012/07/12/usda-uses-spanish-soap-operas-to-push-food-stamp-participation-among-non-citizens-citizens/
The [Obama administration] has been targeting Spanish speakers with radio “novelas” promoting food stamp usage as part of a stated mission to increase participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps.
* JEEZUS... (*SIGH*)
* OR SHOULD I SAY "HEY ZEUS?!" (*RUEFUL CHUCKLE*)
Each novela, comprising a 10-part series called “PARQUE ALEGRIA,” or “HOPE PARK,” presents a semi-dramatic scenario involving characters convincing others to get on food stamps, or explaining how much healthier it is to be on food stamps.
* SERIOUSLY, THOUGH... IT'S NOT FUNNY...
The majority of the episodes end with the announcer encouraging the listener to tune in again to see if the skeptic applies for benefits or learns to understand the importance of food stamps to their health.
“Will Claudia convince Ramon to apply for SNAP?” the announcer exclaims at the end of a standard episode titled “The Poet,” “Don’t miss our next episode of ‘HOPE PARK.’”
While the United States Department of Agriculture encourages its outreach partners not to stereotype SNAP applicants, the agency’s use of novelas is notable. The USDA is not promoting an equivalent English-language drama series...
(*PURSED LIPS*)
“Congress allocates funds to USDA with the mandate to conduct public education about the benefits of SNAP and how to apply to help reduce hunger in America,” Amanda D. Browne, a USDA spokeswoman explained in an email to The Daily Caller. “The radio spots were written and produced in 2008 and are targeted to communities most at risk for hunger.” (RELATED: USDA combats ‘mountain pride,’ self-reliance to boost food stamp rolls)
* FUCKING GEORGE W. BUSH STRIKES AGAIN!
USDA does not provide translations on their website, but TheDC obtained the USDA’s English scripts, available below each novela.
In addition to the Spanish-language outreach, the USDA is also pushing to get non-citizens enrolled in the program.
(*GNASHING MY TEETH*)
* ONE... MORE... TIME... FOLKS...
In addition to the Spanish-language outreach, the USDA is also pushing to get non-citizens enrolled in the program.
* AND YOU DON'T BELIEVE THIS IS A DELIBERATE ATTEMPT TO SUBVERT TRADITIONAL AMERICAN VALUES OF SELF-RELIANCE AND RESPECT FOR THE RULE OF LAW?! WAKE UP, PEOPLE!
* TO BE CONTINUED...
* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)
The radio novelas overcome one of the hurdles the agency has identified as hampering participation: “lack of knowledge” about the program.
“Although many non-citizens are now eligible for SNAP..."
* WHEN THE FUCK DID THIS HAPPEN...?!?!
"...SNAP participation has been historically low among eligible non-citizen households,” reads a 2011 Guidance on Non-Citizen Eligibility. “In 2008, the participation rate for non-citizens was 51% and the rate for citizen children living with non-citizen adults was 55% as compared to the national participation rate of 67% among all eligible individuals.”
* JEEZUS...
While USDA is targeting non-citizens for SNAP participation, the agency stresses that illegals are not eligible for benefits.
“Non-citizens who are unlawfully present, are not, nor have they ever been, eligible to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits,” Browne told TheDC.
* OH, PLEASE...! MILLIONS OF ILLEGALS ARE SOAKING UP OUR TAX DOLLARS! (KEEP READING!)
Robert Rector, the Heritage Foundation’s senior research fellow on welfare and family issues, noted that while illegals are "officially" barred from participation, the legal children of illegals are eligible for benefits, creating mixed households with the potential to be intertwined with benefit programs.
* "...THE POTENTIAL..." (*SNORT*)
Rector added that promotions such the radio novelas are part of the current process of assimilation into American culture.
* NO! EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE! THIS IS A TARGETED ATTACK UPON ASSIMILATION INTO MAINSTREAM AMERICAN CULTURAL NORMS! INSTEAD OF ASKING "THEM" TO BECOME MORE LIKE "US" (*PAUSE*) "THEY" AIM TO MAKE "US" MORE LIKE "THEM."
“The culture [non-citizens] are assimilating into is the culture of welfare dependence,” Rector explained to TheDC, noting that the five-year delay on receipt of benefits by non-citizens does not prevent the infusion of such a mindset.
(*NOD*)
“The essential thing is that if you bring in immigrants with a high school degree or less, they are going to cost the taxpayer a fortune,” he said. “That’s the bottom line, and you are going to pay for it one way or another.”
In the 1970s, one in 50 Americans were on food stamps — today that figure is one in seven.
SNAP spending has doubled since 2008 and quadrupled since 2001.
* OUR COUNTRY IS BEING RAPED. OUR CULTURE IS BEING DESTROYED.
http://news.investors.com/article/617766/201207120828/boos-for-mitt-romney-at-naacp-speech-text.htm?p=full
* TWOFER! 1) OP-ED; 2) COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT OF ROMNEY'S SPEECH TO THE NAACP.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/48165921
A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York suggests that the bulk of equity returns for more than a decade are due to actions by the U.S. central bank.
* WELL, DUH!
Theoretically, the S&P 500 would be more than 50% lower — at the 600 level — if the bullish price action preceding Fed announcements was excluded, the study showed.
(*TAPPING MY FOOT*) YES... AND...??? (TELL ME SOMETHING I DON'T ALREADY KNOW!)
Posted on the New York Fed’s web site Wednesday, the study sought out to explain why equities receive such a high premium over less risky assets such as bonds. What they found was that the Federal Reserve [has had an outsized impact on equities relative to other asset classes.
(*JUST GAZING AT THE SKY*) AGAIN... TELL ME SOMETHING I DIDN'T ALREADY KNOW!
“Blame Greenspan for this S&P 500 effect… it’s his free put,” said Robert Savage, chief executive of research site Track.com and formerly managing director of FX Macro Sales at Goldman Sachs. “Since 1994, the battle of central banks hasn't been to fight inflation, but rather to smooth out the business cycle and credit. The convergence of global rates and inflation left the decisions of the FOMC as the key variable for S&P 500.”
* ALL TRUE, MY FRIENDS! THIS CRAP HAS BEEN GOING ON SINCE THE CLINTON YEARS! (AND IF YOU'LL RECALL, THE CLINTON YEARS ENDED WITH AN ECONOMIC BUST.)
The Fed’s next announcement is due August 1st and it would seem by this study, one would want to make sure they are invested in the market by 2pm on July 31st,
“It's a QE world,” said Josh Brown, an investment advisor and popular author of The Reformed Broker blog. “We're all just trading in it.”
* CUTE. (*SCOWL*) LET'S CELEBRATE THAT OUR ECONOMY IS RUN LIKE VEGAS... THAT OUR STOCK MARKET IS A RIGGED GAME.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/07/team-usa-to-be-decked-out-in-uniforms-made-in-china/
They are the pride of America — Team U.S.A. — and for the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in London, they’ll be proudly wearing red, white and blue, from beret to blazer.
* BERET. (BERET...) (*HEADACHE*)
The classic American style was crafted by designer Ralph Lauren. But just how American is it? When ABC News looked at the labels, it found “Made in China.”
(*SARCASTIC CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)
Every item in the uniforms that the U.S. athletes will be wearing at the opening ceremony in London will carry an overseas label.
* REALLY... THERE'S NOTHING TO SAY.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
Nanette Lepore, one of the top U.S. fashion designers, said she was shocked that none of the uniforms had been made in the states. Further, Lepore said that it was “absolutely” possible that the athletes could have been outfitted in U.S.-made clothing. She said U.S. manufactures could have easily made the uniforms — and for less.
* YEP! ABC PROVIDES A PRICE LIST! GUESS HOW MUCH THE BERETS COST? $55...!!! THE TIES? $125...!!! (I DON'T EVEN OWN A $125 TIE!) SHIRTS...??? (SIT DOWN FOR THIS ONE, FOLKS...) MENS' SHIRTS... $425; WOMENS' SKIRTS... $498.
“Why shouldn’t we have pride not only in the American athletes, but in the American manufacturers and laborers who are the backbone of our country?” Lepore said to ABC News. “Why? What’s wrong? Why was that not a consideration?”
ABC News reached out to Lauren and the U.S. Olympic Committee and asked why American-made clothing had not been selected for the athletes.
The committee said: “The U.S. Olympic team is privately funded and we’re grateful for the support of our sponsors. We’re proud of our partnership with Ralph Lauren, an iconic American company.”
* DISGUSTING. FUCK THE U.S. OLYMPIC COMMITTEE! BUNCH OF SCUMBAGS!
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/lawmakers-want-made-in-china-u-s-olympic-uniforms-burned/
* SCUMBAG POLITICIANS.
* IF NANCY PELOSI WERE SERIOUS SHE'D FUND NEW "MADE IN AMERICA" UNIFORMS OUT OF HER OWN POCKET - SHE AND HER HUSBAND ARE WORTH SEVERAL HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS! JOHN KERRY...? WHERE'S HE? PLENTY OF RICH REPUBLICANS TOO! HARRY REID...? THE GUY LIVES IN A FIVE-STAR HOTEL - HE'S A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE!
* SERIOUSLY, FOLKS... IF THESE FRIGGIN' CLOWNS WERE SERIOUS THEY'D PUT THEIR MONEY WHERE THEIR MOUTHS ARE. BUT THEY'RE NOT SERIOUS. THEY'RE FAKE, PHONY, HYPOCRITICAL FRAUDS!
http://www.humanevents.com/2012/07/06/pat-buchanan-why-this-obsession-with-iran/
* YOU REALLY SHOULD READ THIS ESSAY BY PATRICK J. BUCHANAN. HE'S RIGHT. HE'S USUALLY RIGHT. (*SHRUG*)
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