Saturday, October 20, 2012

Weekend Newsbites: Sat. & Sun., Oct. 20 & 21, 2012


Our mission this weekend...

 (As told to me by "The Boss")

 ...find a new shower curtain.

 Hmm...

 (Think she'll let me pick out a few add-ons...?)
(*HUGE FRIGGIN' GRIN*)

 I... crack... myself... up...!

Posted by at

6 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://freebeacon.com/obama-campaign-borrows-15m-from-bank-of-america/

Obama For America took out a $15 million loan from Bank of America last month...

* BANK OF AMERICA...?!?! DON'T THEY MEAN "EVIL" BANK OF AMERICA...?

(*SMIRK*)

OFA received an interest rate of 2.5% plus the current Libor rate.

* NO IDEA WHETHER THIS IS "STANDARD" OR NOT.

(*SHRUG*)

Warren Buffett, Obama donor and namesake of the infamous “Buffett Rule,” invested $5 billion in Bank of America last year in an effort to help the ailing financial institution.

* MORE LIKELY AN EFFORT TO HELP HIMSELF... BUT THAT'S NEITHER HERE NOR THERE - JUST AN OBSERVATION.

Last month, two weeks after OFA took out the loan, Bank of America announced a plan that would lay off 16,000 workers by the end of the year.

(*SARCASTIC CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)

The bank contributed $20 million toward the cost of the Democrat National Convention earlier this year.

* TO REITERATE... " Last month, two weeks after OFA took out the loan, Bank of America announced a plan that would lay off 16,000 workers by the end of the year."

It is unclear why the first $1 billion campaign needed an extra $15 million for the final two months of the campaign.

* Hmm... I'M GUESSING CERTAIN PEOPLE ARE GETTING A CUT... "MANAGEMENT FEES"... "CONSULTATION FEES"... THAT SORT OF THING.

October 20, 2012 at 2:32 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/263069-republicans-say-students-throwing-away-vegetables-usda-is-trying-to-force-them-to-eat

House Republicans say new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines aimed at forcing students to eat fruits and vegetables are a failure because students across the country are simply tossing the healthy fare into the trash.

* TOSSING THE HEALTHY FARE YOU AND I PAID FOR INTO THE TRASH THEY MEAN!

"There remains great concern with the amount of food waste generated at school cafeterias, much of it brought on by requiring students to take fruits and vegetables rather than simply offer them," Reps. John Kline (R-Minn.), Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) and Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) told USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack in a letter sent Thursday.

* WOULDN'T YOU THINK AT LEAST ONE DEMOCRAT WOULD BE EQUALLY "CONCERNED?"

"This is a waste of federal, state and local funds and is contrary to the law's goal of feeding as many low-income and hungry children as possible," they said. "Once again, we are aware USDA has attempted to address this situation by allowing greater choice in reimbursable meals, but students should not have to take additional food if they have no intention of eating it."

* NO... FUCKING... COMMON... SENSE...

October 20, 2012 at 2:38 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/bam_blind_eye_to_illegal_donors_8SWotytr1RvbhyDCRyyrEL

* FILE UNDER: "WHAT A SLEAZY BASTARD"

The Obama re-election campaign has accepted at least one foreign donation in violation of the law...

* IT'S A LOT MORE THAN ONE, BUT THERE'S A SPECIFIC CASE THE ABOVE LINE REFERS TO THAT I'LL GET TO LATER.

...and does nothing to check on the provenance of millions of dollars in other contributions, the Government Accountability Institute, a Florida-based watchdog group, alleges.

The report found that one Obama site — Obama.com - which was registered in 2008 to Robert Roche, an American who lives and works in China, where he owns an infomercial company, gets almost half of its traffic from foreign computer addresses.

(The site directs users to an Obama donation page.)

Roche is also a bundler for the Obama campaign and was given a seat at the head table for a 2011 state dinner with the Chinese president

The GAI report said that the site registration was changed in 2010 to make it anonymous and that it was unclear whether Roche still owns it.

Roche’s mother in Chicago referred calls to the Obama campaign. The campaign declined to comment.

(*SNORT*)

Chris Walker, a British citizen who lives outside London, told The Post he was able to make two $5 donations to President Obama’s campaign this month through its Web site while a similar attempt to give Mitt Romney cash was rejected.

* WHILE... A... SIMILAR... ATTEMPT... TO... GIVE... MITT... ROMNEY... CASH... WAS... REJECTED.

It is illegal to knowingly solicit or accept money from foreign citizens.

Obama’s re-election campaign took in $130,867 from donors who provided no ZIP codes and $2 million from those with incomplete ZIPs in September.

That same month, Romney’s campaign recorded $2,450 from donors without ZIP codes and $2,500 from those with incomplete ZIPs.

Walker said it should have been clear to the Obama campaign’s computers that his donations came from a computer with a foreign IP address.

* OH... AND GET THIS... (READ ON!)

The Obama campaign says it “screens all credit-card contributions that originate from a foreign IP address” and requests proof of citizenship if questions arise. But not only did Walker’s Obama donations go through, but he said he began receiving two to three e-mail solicitations a day to give more. The e-mails asked for $188 or more. If Walker gave $188, his total contribution to Obama would be $198 — less than the $200 threshold at which campaigns have to identify the donor to the FEC.

(*SMIRK*)

The GAI report found the Obama campaign Web sites do not ask donors to provide their three-digit card-verification value, or CVV, numbers to ensure they are the legitimate holders of the card. Romney’s campaign asks for such information, which is considered a standard security measure.

(*SHRUG*)

October 21, 2012 at 9:08 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-33816_162-57536611/could-u.s-military-have-helped-during-libya-attack/

What really happened in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya last month that killed the U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans?

Some lawmakers are asking why U.S. military help from outside Libya didn't arrive as terrorists battered more than 30 Americans over the course of more than seven hours.

CBS News has been told that, hours after the attack began, an unmanned Predator drone was sent over the U.S. mission in Benghazi, and that the drone and other reconnaissance aircraft apparently observed the final hours of the protracted battle.

The State Department, White House and Pentagon declined to say what military options were available.

* WELL... THE ANSWER IS EITHER A) NONE; OR B) OPTIONS THAT WEREN'T TAKEN. IN EITHER CASE, EITHER "ANSWER" ONLY LEADS TO MORE QUESTIONS AND FURTHER CONDEMNATION. WE HAVE MILITARY FORCES SPREAD ACROSS THE GLOBE... WE HAVE (SUPPOSED) ALLIES... HOW COULD IT POSSIBLY BE THAT WE COULDN'T GET EITHER OUR OWN PEOPLE OR ARMED DRONES IN PLACE OR ALLIES IN PLACE TO RECUE OUR PEOPLE?

* FOLKS... DO YOU THINK THAT IF AIR FORCE ONE HAD CRASHED IN BENGHAZI - OR EVEN A PLANE CARRYING HILLARY CLINTON OR LEON PANETTA - THAT NO RESCUE FORCES WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET THERE WITHIN HOURS AT MOST...?!?!

Retired CIA officer Gary Berntsen believes help could have come much sooner.

* ONE... WOULD... THINK...!

Berntsen commanded CIA counter-terrorism missions targeting Osama bin Laden and led the team that responded after bombings of the U.S. Embassy in East Africa.

"You find a way to make this happen," Berntsen says. "There isn't a plan for every single engagement. Sometimes you have to be able to make adjustments. They made zero adjustments in this. They stood and they watched and our people died."

(*PURSED LIPS*)

* BUT, HEY... OBAMA MET THE COFFINS BEFORE FLYING OUT TO A FUNDRAISER, RIGHT? THAT MAKES EVERYONE OK... RIGHT?

The Pentagon says it did move a team of special operators from central Europe to the large Naval Air Station in Sigonella, Italy, but gave no other details. Sigonella is just an hour's flight from Libya. Other nearby bases include Aviano and Souda Bay. Military sources tell CBS News that resources at the three bases include fighter jets and Specter AC-130 gunships, which the sources say can be extremely effective in flying in and buzzing a crowd to disperse it.

October 21, 2012 at 9:23 AM
William R. Barker said...

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

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444734804578064672968258516.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

[F]ederal spending has exploded to 24% of GDP from 2% a century ago.

Spending has averaged about 20.2% while revenue has trended around 18.1% — regardless of whether the top marginal tax rate was 90% or 28%.

* REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE TOP MARGINAL TAX RATE WAS 90% OR 28%...

(*SHRUG*)

The [Bush] tax cuts and [post-Bush] war budgets account for just $1.2 trillion of the $5.3 trillion in deficits the Obama administration has run in four years.

Republicans during the Bush administration might have been "spending like banshees but they did get the deficit down to $162 billion," [states U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI).]

As for the "draconian cuts" that Republicans now supposedly want to inflict, spending even under Rep. Paul Ryan's budget would be $1 trillion higher in 2022 than it is today.

* HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN POINTING THIS OUT, FOLKS...? (TRY... FOREVER!)

And the idea that asking the wealthy to "pay their fair share," whatever that is, can solve the deficit? The president's so-called Buffett Rule to establish a minimum tax rate of 30% for millionaires would raise about $5 billion a year, while allowing the Bush rates to expire for the wealthy might bring in an additional $67 billion. ("I would like to do a Buffett Rule," Mr. Johnson deadpans. "Just for Buffett.")

The tax revenue would be a pittance, given that the deficit this year is $1.1 trillion and the national debt is $16 trillion — which, Mr. Johnson notes, will explode under ObamaCare.

The CBO projects that the health law will cost $1.7 trillion over the next 10 years. The senator says that's a low-ball estimate and that the gnomes at the CBO are underestimating the incentive for employers to drop their workers onto government-subsidized exchanges.

* ABSOPOSITIVELY!

"Do I pay $15,000 and try to comply with 15,000 pages of law and regulations? Or do I pay the two- or three-thousand-dollar penalty" and make workers eligible for a generous subsidy?

(*NOD*)

* TO BE CONTINUED...

October 21, 2012 at 10:55 AM
William R. Barker said...

* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)

He recalls asking if there was "anybody there in CBO land that has actually worked in the private sector, that has actually bought health care, somebody who might actually put some input into what the real decision might be? Nah. All you've got is a bunch of Keynesian economists."

Since the president took office, middle-class incomes have dropped by an average of $4,520 while health-care premiums have risen by about $3,000.

The November election offers a clear choice, he says, between "Mitt Romney, who is committed to fixing the problems and willing to take the risk of picking Paul Ryan — who's willing to take risks," and Mr. Obama, who "either doesn't understand" the problems, "which is possible... or he just thinks he can continue to sell the snake oil and hoodwink the American public."

* FAR MORE PROBABLY IN MY ADMITTEDLY CYNICAL OPINION.

Mr. Johnson notes that the number of times Mr. Obama has met with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell "you can count on a couple fingers. I don't think he has much of a working relationship with Democrats." In the two years since Republicans took control of the House, "he hasn't governed at all. I'd argue he hasn't even made an attempt. . . . So just from a standpoint of governing, I don't think anything will get done with another four years of President Obama."

By contrast, a President Romney — with or without Senate control — would immediately stimulate the economy by sending the message that "America is open to business," Mr. Johnson says. Merely celebrating success and talking about making "America an attractive place for global investment, for global expansion — that would take $2.5 trillion off the sidelines."

A Romney presidency would also offer at the very least a hope of tax reform that lowers rates and closes loopholes, which some Senate Democrats like Jon Tester of Montana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia have backed.

Mr. Johnson wouldn't "lay out the exact plan" for tax reform. Instead, he says, "you leave room for negotiation. You say 'here are the principles, and the principle is you've got to address the entitlements,' "which the Simpson-Bowles plan ignores. That's why the senator rejected it. Also, he says, the plan's expectations of three dollars in spending cuts for every dollar in new revenue are "illusory."

Oh and by the way, "if you're gonna get revenue, the revenue you get is the old-fashioned way — by growing the economy."

Mr. Johnson is optimistic that in the election Republicans can take the Senate, and if they do, he sees a real opportunity to pass Medicare reform a la Paul Ryan's premium-support plan, as well as move Medicaid to block grants and undertake a Social Security overhaul that includes some means-testing.

Does he really hope to do all three entitlement reforms at once? "As long as you're doing it, rip the Band-Aid off, get it over with," he says.

"It's about making the case in a simple enough fashion for people to understand it and then selling it. It's a political process. You have to inform, persuade, and then actually legislate," he says. "I wouldn't recommend jamming anything through. I believe in the power of leadership and information."

Hence, the senator thinks it's crucial that Republicans use the November election to educate the public about economic growth, which as he says, is "the fun way" to reduce the deficit.

"It's the "unpainful" way. It's what President Obama doesn't have a clue about. I think Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan know about that. And besides that, I think both men are inherently optimistic, which would be helpful. Don't you think?"

October 21, 2012 at 10:55 AM

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