Saturday, June 20, 2009

New Statement on Iran

Obama has released this press release statement about events in Iran.

The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.
Better but still a bit panty-waist from the Leader of the Free World.

Manufacturing Crisis

Obama is attempting to scare us into submission (the usual tactic for authoritarian socialists/communists) by claiming everything is "essential", a "crisis" or worse.

Here immigration "overhaul" (aka amnesty) is "essential".

And here consumer "protections" (aka more government regulations) are "essential".

It was the same with TARP, the porkulus, the climate bill, and the healthcare "reform" (aka the road to socialism).

Clearly, like all the other end-is-nigh leftwingers, Obama believes we are too stupid to think for ourselves. But crying wolf over and over again only leads you down the path of irrelevancy.

Especially in the cases of PETA and the fly, Al Gore's failed predictions, and most liberal causes in general because there is NO WOLF, just a dog that might need some housebreaking.

If these jokers spent less time trying to manufacture crisis and more time actually trying to solve the real world problem, then they'd - well - they'd be conservatives and taken seriously.

I Told You So - Number 14

It comes as no surprise that Obama's poll numbers are dropping. Anyone who had spent more than five minutes trying to learn more about the man would have realized his hope-and-change nonsense was empty rhetoric masking a socialist agenda.

As people turn against Obama's policies, the mainstream media will be forced to honestly report on his activities (rather than continuing as his personal cheerleaders/lackeys) or else risk losing the last shreds of credibility the media still has.

Americans have great principles but a country founded on tax rebellion isn't going to sit quietly as Obama and his cronies tax our capitalist nation out of existence.

Journalists better catch up to everyday Americans or they risk irrelevancy.

Happy Husband

This from Roll Call about the collapse of the Climate Bill should make all right-thinking, science-loving folks like my husband and his think tank, CEI, happy.

Two More Iranian News Roundup Updates

This here is from the BBC.

And this here from Reuters is about the suicide bomber attack - still no definative word.

Obama Wants to Zone The Oceans

Personally, I think Oceans are no-zone places. It's all being done to aid inefficient and stupid green wind projects. Ugh.

Fear of ACORN

Rep. Michele Bachmann has publically refused to fully complete her census form because she fears ACORN will have access to the information according to this Washington Times article.

Given their history, it is not an unreasonable fear.

Genius Lonnie Johnson

The Inventor of the SuperSoaker is an African-American NASA Scientist named Lonnie Johnson whose top three inventions are the remote controlled robot he built in 1968 in high school, the memory-protected circuitry for the Galileo and the Super Soaker.

But did you know the SuperSoaker was a side invention that evolved from the water pumps he was creating for a new way to manufacture electricity?

The Johnson Thermo-Electrochemical Converter System, or JTEC, has no moving parts. “It uses temperature differences to create pressure gradients,” says Paul Werbos, program director at the National Science Foundation, which has provided funding for JTEC. “Instead of using those pressure gradients to move an axle or wheel, he’s using them to force ions through a membrane. It’s a totally new way of generating electricity from heat.”

In the JTEC, hydrogen circulates between two fuel cell–like membrane-electrode assemblies. Unlike a fuel cell, however, the JTEC is a closed system—it doesn’t need new supplies of hydrogen. One assembly is coupled to a heat source (such as concentrated sunlight), and the other to a heat sink (ambient air).

Once the cycle is started by an electrical jolt, the unit starts producing a current. Heat in, electricity out. Johnson’s concept may take years to commercialize—but it has the potential to convert heat to electricity at double the efficiency of today’s best technology. The JTEC “could have widespread impact,” says Karl Littau, a materials chemist at the Palo Alto Research Center. “You look at it and say, ‘Wow, why didn’t someone think of this before?’"
Somebody invest more into this man!

I'm so glad to have found these links. I watched a documentary about Lonnie Johnson years ago and he is just so impressive!

Message Sent

Wow!

This editorial from The Washington Times by Bill Wilson really takes on the Obamas for their role in firing IG Walpin.

In firing AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin last week, President Obama probably thought he and his wife, Michelle, were the ones "sending the message."

After all, dispensing petty political retribution on behalf of one's crooked friends is the "Chicago way," is it not? And the firing of Mr. Walpin would no doubt have lasting benefits for the Obamas, too, seeing as inspectors general throughout the federal government would get the message that "FOBAMs" - or "Friends of Barack and Michelle" - were not to be touched in the future.

What Mr. and Mrs. "Hope and Change" failed to take into account was that when you circumvent the law to protect political hoodlums, you have a way of becoming political hoodlums yourselves.
That's just the beginning. It goes on from there!

Another Bush Policy Works

And yet it's success is ignored by the mainstream media. How unusual.

Eduwonk.com has this post up on the success of No Child Left Behind.

Makes you think.

More Iranian News Roundup

Photos of Iranian Protestors for Freedom here.

The Berman post has a very well-linked webpost up here.

You can find live-blogging of activities in Iran over at the Huffington Post here.

FasterPlease over at PJTV has this update/commentary here.

Here is the New York Times angle. It uses an "Obama angle" - ugh.

And here is some commentary about the ongoing Iranian freedom fight and twitter from the editor-in-chief of the libertarian Reason magazine.

Iraninan News Roudup

New York Post article here.

The Washington Post article here.

The Washington Times article here (about Iran tracking twitter to catch protestors).

Here is an AP Report about clashes in Tehran between protestors and militia.

This CNN report here covers clashes and the militia's activities.

Here is a quick review by Voice of America.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Obama's FDA

Regulatory Hell and Thuggery.

Learning From Our Fathers

My dad would have made that patio dead level even if we'd lived in Florida. To him, doing work precisely and with care is an end in itself. He often told me about the men he grew up with, fellow machinists and mechanics. To them, doing a job well–better than it needed to be done–was a core ethical principal. He took pride in his craftsmanship. "The best thing you could say about a man," my dad often recalls, "is that he was a good mechanic." And that was all you needed to say. But my dad also taught me that craftsmanship isn't just about how you build things. He brought that quality to everything: working in the business world, writing books, raising kids, grilling steaks. Craftsmanship is the respect we pay to ourselves, to the people around us, and to the material world we try to shape and improve.
I always mourn the destruction the Protestant Revolution had on Catholic churches and Cathedrals.

The whitewashing of frescos and destruction of stainglass seems akin to the Taliban's destruction of the Giant Buddas.

It was the painstaking craftsmanship of the workers creating their gift to God and their fellow man that was destroyed.

In this Father's Day Letter, Popular Mechanics editor-in-chief Jim Meigs lists the Four Things I Learned From My Dad. The concept that "craftsmanship is the respect we pay to ourselves, to the people around us, and the material world" is sadly lacking in the world today and should be taught and cherished father to son, father to daughter.

Practice Fixing Healthcare with Medicaid

MARK TAPSCOTT: Why not just fix Medicare first? “President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors issued a report earlier this month estimating that as much as 30 percent of Medicare spending is unnecessary for improving health outcomes. Given such opportunities for easy savings within government, and Medicare’s weighty influence in the broader system (many private insurers set payments by adding a percentage to Medicare’s rates), it would make sense to reform Medicare first, see what works and what doesn’t, and then apply the lessons of that process later to any system-wide fix. Unfortunately, Obama and Democratic congressional leaders are hell bent on turning the system upside down with radical reforms that are sure to have vast and unexpected consequences.” I’m pretty sure that the drive for a national healthcare program doesn’t have much to do with saving money or improving health.
Copied entirely from Instapundit because it was just that good a point made.

AlfonZo Hits Bill Mahr

Just go here and watch. I love AlfonZo!

New Blog To Watch

John Stossel's Take is a new blog up at abcnews.com.

Anything Stossel has got to be good.

Iranian Protest Maps and Links

From American Enterprise Institute, this IranTracker group has compiled an outstanding webpage following events in Iran.

Outstanding Rantpage

David Limbaugh has an terrific rant up over at Townhall.com about Obama's culture of corruption.

The best rantpages are the ones that have that perfect balance of truth and expressive outrage. This one has it.

One Child, One Dog

Another fun tidbit from life under socialist/communist regimes. A southern province in China has determined that its citizens are only allowed one pet. No grandfather clause either, so if you have two dogs - like this lady - one of them has gotta go.

Paying For Hypocrisy

Will the freedom-loving Iranian protestors pay with their lives because of Obama's hypocrisy?

God Forbid.

But every day Obama doesn't speak out, he shames us all.

Rich Lowry has a column here with some interesting observations including this bit...
Obama’s timidity speaks to a guilty conscience. At some level, he buys the post-colonial critique of the West as the root of the developing world’s troubles, and thinks we lack the moral standing to judge non-Western governments that resent and envy us. Obama is perfectly capable of launching moralistic broadsides — just at his own country, especially under his predecessor. Who are we to condemn the abuse of peaceful demonstrators when we waterboarded three terrorists?

$1.6 Trillion "Sticker Shock" Price Tag

The Wall Street Journal takes on the price tag of Obamacare here and below.

One thing that is very important to remember about WSJ and other business journals is they only stay in business if their reporting is hyper-accurate because businessmen rely on their information to make corporate decisions. (Unlike the NYT which makes up stuff as it goes along.)

So when the Journal complains, you should listen.
ObamaCare Sticker Shock
A $1.6 trillion deficit boost, and the uninsured will still be with us.
This was supposed to be a red-letter week for national health care, as Democrats started the process of hustling a quarter-baked bill through Congress to reorganize one-sixth of the economy on a partisan vote. Instead it was a fiasco.

Most of the devastation was wreaked by the Congressional Budget Office, which on Tuesday reported that draft legislation from the Senate Finance Committee would increase the federal deficit by more than $1.6 trillion over the next decade while only partly denting the population of the uninsured. The details haven't been made public, but the short version seems to be that President Obama's health boondoggle prescribes vast new spending without a coherent plan to pay for it even while failing to meet its own standards for social equity.

Finance Chairman Max Baucus postponed the health timeline, probably until after Congress's July 4 vacation. His team will try to scale down the middle-class insurance subsidies and make other cuts to hold the sticker shock under $1 trillion. (Oh, is that all?) Mr. Baucus also claims he's committed to a bipartisan consensus, yet most Republicans have been closed out of the negotiations, and industry lobbyists have been pre-emptively warned that even meeting with the GOP will invite retribution.

Useful to emphasize amid the mayhem is that CBO's number-crunching is almost always off -- predicting too much spending for market-based policies and far too little for new public programs, especially on health care. The CBO score for a new entitlement is only the teaser rate, given that the costs will inevitably balloon as the years pass and more people mob "free" or subsidized insurance.

Change Requires Accountablity

Over at TheNextRight, Patrick Ruffini talks about why Obama needs to be accountable for his massive deficit - mostly because Americans do NOT like government deficits.

Never Waste A Scandal

The Washington Examiner is offering advice to Repulicans on how to get Obama to fess up to his illegal attempt at firing IG Walpin in this article here.

Listen To Uncle Milton

Over at Forbes.com is an article explaining how Milton Friedman solved the American Healthcare System's problems.

Forbes.com also has a column up pointing out that Obama's old doctor is also NOT a fan of Obamacare.

"I'm not sure he really understands what we face in primary care," Scheiner says.

Scheiner takes a few other shots too. Looking at Obama's team of health advisors, Scheiner doesn't see anyone who's actually in the trenches. "I have a suspicion they pick people from the top echelon of medicine, people who write about it but haven't been struggling in it," he says.

Scheiner is critical of Obama's pick for Health and Human Services secretary--Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who used to work as the chief lobbyist for her state's trial lawyers association.

"He doesn't see all the pain, it's so tragic out here," he says. "Obama's wonderful, but on this one I'm not sure if he's getting the right input."
OUCH.

Senator Evil

Hat Tip Jonah

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Excellent Parady Via Bureaucrash

Burning Down The NYT Part II

PJTV has part 2 of the series on why the New York Times is bad.

That I Like This Shows You What A Sick Woman I Am

Feminists Attack Women Again

Reclusive Leftie has a colorful-language-laced post up about the website Feministing's recent dredging up of old smears and lies about Sarah Palin and rape kits.

What I really liked was the comments section. A lot of women on both the right and left are getting deeply annoyed with how liberals/democrats/dino-feminists treat women. It was refreshing to find common ground.

Obama's Dept. of Injustice

You know it is bad enough that it happened but that Obama's Department of Justice dismissed the case after the victims has essentially WON the case is just another example of the petty cruelties one faces under socialist regimes.

MORE SCANDAL: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Demands Answers on Voter Intimidation Case Dismissal. “As was commented upon here at CONTENTIONS, and widely reported and remarked upon elsewhere, the Obama Justice Department took the unusual action last month of dismissing a default judgment against the New Black Panther Party in connection with a case of voter intimidation on Election Day on November 4, 2008. Members of the NBPP were caught on film blocking access to the polls and physically and verbally intimidating voters, even going so far as to wield a nightstick in front of voters and poll watchers. The Justice Department’s lawyers gathered evidence, obtained the affidavit of former civil rights advocate Bartle Bull, and filed a complaint. When the defendants did not respond and the court invited the Justice Department to file a default judgment, the case was inexplicably withdrawn.” Oh, I think it’s explicable.
Also from Instapundit because I liked it

IN THE TANK? HECK, THEY’RE DRIVING THE TANK: ABC’s Troubling Political Donations.

Ramesh vs. Sotomayer

I think Ramesh is great. I'll never forget talking to him and how clear he was about what he believes.

Here he discusses Constitutional Originalists vs. Living Constitution Supreme Court justices. As always interesting and informative.

How One 27-Year-Old Helped Iranian Protestors

Here is a profile of the 27-year-old State Department worker (picked by Condi Rice by the way) who was savvy enough to contact Twitter and ask them to delay their maintenance period so that Iranian Freedom Protestors could keep tweeting.

When BayNewser heard that someone from the State Department had emailed Twitter to ask them to delay maintenance to allow Iranians to continue tweeting, we pictured some fusty old guy at Foggy Bottom in a rumpled Brooks Brothers suit and wayward spectacles.

Imagine our surprise, then, when we learned that, instead, it was a 27-year-old whiz kid whose job is to advise the State Department on how to use social media to promote U.S. interests the Middle East.

And imagine our further surprise when we learned this young gentleman wasn't one of Barack Obama's social media geniuses, but instead was a Condi Rice pick hired specifically to advise the State Department on young people in the Middle East and how to "counter-radicalize" them.

According to the New York Times, it was Jared Cohen, a member of the Policy Planning Staff, who contacted Twitter on Monday, inquiring about their plan to perform maintenance in what would be the middle of the day, Iran time. Following that contact, Twitter decided to postpone their maintenance so that it would take place in the middle of the night Iran-time, even though that meant it would be the middle of the day U.S. time.
Iran update here.

Bush Defends Himself

The Washington Times is running an article with headline "Bush takes swipes at Obama" that isn't really fair. Former President George W. Bush doesn't really criticize at all except to say, these are not choices I would have made.

He defended himself, he did not take swipes.

And he did it like a gentleman which is better behavior than we've seen from the current White House occupant.

Who Watches The Watchman?

Mor proof, Obama is trying to rid himself of the independent IGs who stand like watchman against cronyism, graft, and other Obama/Chicago-style politics and socialism.

Classy.

Outta Wasilla, AK

I love this story - a man and his dream robot. Fantastic!

Best of all it moves and mimics his every action. Brilliant!


GOP Healthcare Plans

Karl Rove has an excellent plan forward for Conservatives to fight the hideous Obamacare plan in today's Wall Street Journal.

Via Jonah

This video highlights some of the sheenanigans Obama and his media lackeys are up to - this time about the continuing saga of Inspector General Walpin.



And, not surprisingly, the White House is refusing to answer Senator's questions.
Norman Eisen, the White House Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform, met with investigators on the staff of Republican Sen. Charles Grassley at Grassley's offices Wednesday morning. The investigators wanted to learn more about the circumstances surrounding the abrupt firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin. According to Grassley, Eisen revealed very, very little, refusing to answer many questions of fact put to him. And now Grassley has written a letter to the White House counsel asking for answers.
Check out the above link for the list of questions Sen. Grassley has sent Eisen.

Thursday's Rally In Iran

My hopes, thoughts and prayers continue to be sent out to those in Iran who are fighting and protesting for their freedom.

Update here.

My Five Year Old Knows Better

From the Things-I-Teach-My-Kids-That-Obama-And-Congress-Need-To-Learn File:

Today's lesson for Congress and the White House is "It is better to do something slow and right than fast and wrong."

As in, it is better to do something like completely overhaul the regulatory system slow and right than fast and wrong. That's something even my five year old could tell these jokers.

You would think they'd have figured that one out by now but NOOooooooo.

They did TARP fast and wrong.

They did the auto bailout fast and wrong.

They did the stimulus fast and wrong.

Every foreign policy act has been fast and wrong.

The fast and wrong list goes on and on because Obama and his liberal democrat lackeys in Congress know that what they are doing is wrong.

At least I hope they know what they are doing is wrong because the thought that they actually believe this is right is terrifying.

My five year old son says I did it right because I did it slow. And I tell him that is perfectly good to start by doing something slow in order to get it right.

Once you get it right a couple of times, then you can slowly speed up. But doing it right and slow at first gives you the practice and skill to do things faster. But politicians only have real world experience in a few areas - usually lawyering. While some come from business, medicine, and other areas. The vast majority have focused their experience on public service which is fine.

Except it means they do NOT know how to run a business or it has been so long since they ran a business or say a doctor's office that they no longer have the practice.

And yet they feel they can run the country instead of simply enacting and maintaining the laws that set the really experienced people free to run the country.

So here's another piece of motherly advice for our politicians, shut up, sit down, and listen, damn it.

Or the American people will put you in the longest Time Out of your life.

Isn't This A Good Thing?

I thought that liberals and environmentalists were against things like Big Box stores and large corporate chains? I thought they wanted us to live a "simpler" life.

So why is this article about Detroit no longer having a single chain grocery story so bad?

I would imagine that the opportunity to make Detroit the next Greensville would be doubly sweet for liberals and environmentalists - a real I-told-you-so opportunity for them to transform the Motor City into the Stone Village.

This is why I'd rather celebrate Human Achievement Hour than Earth Day. This is why bankruptcy protection would have been better than this auto bailout. This is socialism kills.

But Detroit is also an opportunity for those who believe in the creative destruction of capitalism. The city is struggling but like a tree that falls in the rainforests, its death has opened space for other, smaller, organisms to come into the sunlight and thrive.

Decent Capitalists should be fighting for a chance to save Detroit, if their businesses can take root and thrive, then they will win, Detroit will win, and Capitalism will win.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Iranian Opposition Video

All our prayers and hearts are with the freedom-loving Iranians who are so bravely standing up to tyranny. May God be with you all!



Here you can see police beating innocent protestors.



They are marching in silence to protect themselves despite their numbers.



This one has BBC Commentary.



They are marching silently above to avoid getting hurt. If publishing these videos helps the Iranian Freedom Movement, then I am proud to do so.

Economic-Destruction Round-Up

Below are a few links explaining how Obama is attempting to destroy the American economy this week. Oh, and a fun video with Battlestar Galactica references!



Let's solve the housing bubble caused by risky loans by mandating MORE risky loans. Genius.

AND

Let's create yet another regulatory division in order to destroy capitalism by giving it ability to seizure and nationalize any business it wants. 'Cause we can trust the government.

Isn't Systemic Risk an Artifact of Government?

(I said something similar but my husband says it so much better over at NRO-The Corner)

The whole financial-regulation debate has moved dangerously away from some central principles of free markets. At root, the financial system amounts to nothing more than voluntary exchanges among human beings who don’t have a right to obligate others that they didn’t contract with. Proper rules of the game (the real meaning of regulation) would ensure people pay for their own mistakes — or their private compatriots who assume the risk — and not ensure that government assumes anybody’s risk. Financial institutions have been regulated, artificially promoted and capitalized and indemnified for decades, which is the entire source of the so-called systemic risk.

Think of it this way. As the great Arthur Seldon said, "Risks which cannot be removed or shifted profitably must be born by the entrepreneur. He will generally do so only as long as his expectation of profit outweighs the chance of loss." Systemic risk can therefore exist only when there is systemic removal of that chance of loss. Government (or organized thievery = same thing, essentially) is the only thing that can do that. Systemic risk cannot therefore exist without a government distorting the market.

We have reached a position, however, where regulation gets a pass, no government agency is eliminated or reprimanded for even disastrous interference in the market (eg Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), and we are now taking indemnification to a new level. What we will end up with is basically a system of commerce whose resemblance to capitalism is remote. That is something the American people need to appreciate in this debate
He also wrote a very details post on Over-Regulation here. Well worth your time.

Three Cheers for the Sunset Caucus

(Posted by Kevin D. Williamson over at NRO-The Corner

Finally, a Republican congressional project worth getting behind:

Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price, Congressman Kevin Brady, Congressman Jason Chaffetz, and other members of the RSC will unveil the Sunset Caucus, a permanent new initiative to shrink the size of government by eliminating federal programs, offices, and agencies. Each member of the Sunset Caucus will adopt a part of the federal government that has outlived its use or never should have been created and offer an amendment to strike it during the appropriations process, as well as introduce a stand alone bill to do the same.
While I completely agree with Mr. Williamson and the Congressional Representatives involved, I would like to point out that I had mentioned this in one of my earliest posts "25 Things I Would If I Ran The Country". Numbers 7, 8, and 11 to be specific although I'd love numbers 24 and 25 included as well.

It's nice to see the boys are falling in line.

It'sA Wonderful Institute

Why CEI (and all Americans) should never give up the fight for freedom.



If you can't see this mini-movie clearly, then just click here.

What Happens When You Put A Socialist In Power

He or She will act like a thug or worse.

Inspector General Walpin says Obama targeted him for firing because he criticized some of Obama's cronies. You can get away with that in the political dungheaps of Chicago but not as President.

I truly hope the Media and the American people take those responsible to task for this disgusting behavior.

'Things I'm Glad I Never Said'

(Quoted in full from Mark Hemingway over at NRO - The Corner)

Arnold Kling digs up this Paul Krugman chestnut from 2002:

To fight this recession the Fed needs more than a snapback; it needs soaring household spending to offset moribund business investment. And to do that, as Paul McCulley of Pimco put it, Alan Greenspan needs to create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble.


Oy. Might want to remeber that sentence next time you consider any of Krugman's economic advice.

(via Moynihan via McArdle)

$4 Trillion, Not 1$ Trillion

The American Spectator reports that the CBO's $1 Trillion cost estimate of the Kennedy-Obama healthcare plan is on the low side. As in the true costs would be $4 Trillion over the next ten years.

NO THANK YOU.

The Anchoress on Iranian Tweeting

This website here has an excellent summation, links and pictures to events on the ground in Iran.

Some reports moved me to tears.

The Stoning

This article in The Washington Post by Kathleen Parker is about the Iranian chaos and a movie coming out on June 26th called The Stoning.

If you support the Iranian folks seeking freedom, then you have to see this film.

CATO Explains Taxing The Rich

The sound quality of this video is off but it is a very informative explaination of why using taxation to conduct class warfare is stupid.

PJTV Iran Updates 06/17/09

Come here to watch a breaking news video from PJTV about the situation in Iran.

Much is new information.

Bumper Sticker Police

Klaven on Culture has a video talking about how we need a new police division to deal with smug, idiotic bumper stickers. Setting aside the wrongness of curtailing Free Speech, I do see his point that certain bumper stickers are not so much slogans as self-advertising for a person's ego.

And that is obnoxious.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Not Holding Back

David Limbaugh is getting a whole lot off his chest in this post here.

It's definately a rant-page.

"America's Favorite Conservative" Speaks

Jonah gets interviewed by Off The Page and explains how he would rule the world (or just the conservative movement).

First the PM, Now US Mayors

Obama and his misguided arrogance seems to be snubbing everyone from our closest European allies to - now - the Mayors of the United States of America.

According to this article from Politico.com, Obama failed to send a delegate to the US Mayor's conference angering a whole lot of urban leaders.

Our country is in the best of hands.

More Waste Coverage

This article from the LA Times details some of examples of waste Sen Coburn has been highlighting.

Bald-Faced Lies!

WASHINGTON – The insurance lobby won't be able to block a public health plan because most Americans realize they would be better off if the industry had competition, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday as congressional committees worked to shape legislation.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Sebelius said that President Barack Obama does not want to drive health insurers out of business, but make them more competitive by offering working families and small businesses the option of a public plan without the high overhead costs of marketing, administration and profits.

"I think there is a lot of understanding that the private market has really failed to provide affordable coverage to Americans," Sebelius said. The industry has had "a lot of opportunities" to get rid of coverage restrictions and other unpopular policies, Sebelius said, and really "hasn't served Americans very well."


The above is the opening paragraphs to an AP article here about Obamacare. I can't believe how stupid Obama and his lackeys must think the American Public is to believe the horsepoop that woman Sebelius is shovelling.

Any Congressional Representative that believes that poop deserves to be booted out of office!

Representatives Speak Out

On government waste...


Also visit here to read about Sen. Coburn's list of 100 wasteful stimulus projects.

Politcal Math - Abortion Violence and Michael Steele

Political Math has a very good blogpost up about Abortion Violence in the United States and how there's been an eight year lull between violent events. Not that abortion and violence are both tragedies, it's just that the media don't seem to want you to know about the gap.

Also, Michael Steele (RNC Chairman) has issued Political Math an invitation.

On A Lighter Note, This is Just Awful

From The Onion

Gymnast Shawn Johnson Put To Sleep After Breaking Leg

North Korean Horrorshow

There are millions of reasons why North Korea, Iran, and Iraq were rightly called the Axis of Evil. This story here from The Wall Street Journal about just one boy's experience in a North Korean penal camp is reason enough to revile these countries.

There is no logic, no reason, no rational discourse with evil. It is hell-bent on achieving its vicious goals. Anyone who values logic, reason, rationality as well as freedom, justice and human dignity needs to fight evil rather than negotiate or reason with it.

There is no "moral equivalency" between the evil of these dictatorships and thugocracies and decent civilizations like the United States. Let's face it, carefully waterboarding a couple of terrorists is not the "moral equivalent" of the North Koreans doing this...
At 12 or 13 -- he is unsure of the year in which he was born -- he was forced to watch the executions of his mother, who was hanged, and his brother, who was shot. They had attempted to escape. Hoping to pry information out of him -- Mr. Shin had none -- camp officials bound the boy's hands and feet, embedded a hook in his groin and dangled him over a fire. In the Journal's conference room, Mr. Shin pulled up a leg of his trousers to show me the scars.
I'd like the Left to have a moment of clarity after reading that passage. Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans are suffering that misery. Hundreds of millions of human beings around the world are in equally miserable and horrific conditions at the hands of merciless tyrants and war lords.

To compare the United States of America or even any country in the EU to such villains is to demonstrate a complete and utter lack of intelligence, morality, or human decency. America's only "moral relevancy" to evil is her fight against it either by humanitarian acts or by forcibly stopping evil.

Reclusive Leftie Defends Sarah

ReclusiveLeftist.com uses Sarah Palin's own on-the-record words to stand up to the lies her leftwingnut brethern are spreading about Palin, her family and her politics.

Thank you Reclusive Leftist! You are being both honest and brave and it is very much appreciated. Whether our views agree or not, I am always grateful for openness and honesty.

Rays of Sunlight

The SunlightFoundation is reporting that Charlie Rangel may be in for more trouble and more investigations.

This time it might get too serious for the Congressional Ethics Committee to ignore.

By the way, the Sunlight Foundation is part of a transparency movement and might be worth keeping your eyes on.

No One Answered The Phone

ConfederateYankee points out that Obama got his 3am phone call and voted "present".

And trust me, this surprises no one who voted for Sarah Palin.

7 Point Manifesto

PJTV is reporting that the Iranian opposition has a Seven Point Manifesto for the protestors.

God speed to freedom fighters everywhere.

What Should Be Another Nail in the Obamacare Coffin

(From Instapundit)

ANOTHER NATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAM THAT DOESN’T WORK: PROMISES, PROMISES: Indian health care needs unmet.

CROW AGENCY, Mont. – Ta’Shon Rain Little Light, a happy little girl who loved to dance and dress up in traditional American Indian clothes, had stopped eating and walking. She complained constantly to her mother that her stomach hurt.

When Stephanie Little Light took her daughter to the Indian Health Service clinic in this wind-swept and remote corner of Montana, they told her the 5-year-old was depressed.

Ta’Shon’s pain rapidly worsened and she visited the clinic about 10 more times over several months before her lung collapsed and she was airlifted to a children’s hospital in Denver. There she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, confirming the suspicions of family members. . . . On some reservations, the oft-quoted refrain is “don’t get sick after June,” when the federal dollars run out.
This is what Obama wants for your family — or, at least, it’s what he’ll deliver in the end. Fix this — and Medicare — first!

UPDATE: Reader Col. Douglas Mortimer writes: “I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, everything on an Indian reservation is run by a government - either tribal or federal. And everything there is pretty much always a f*cking disaster.”

Prophetic words from a brave man. Like the song says, They’ll turn us all into beggars ’cause they’re easier to please.
Yet again, why destroy an entire healthcare industry that millions upon millions of Americans pay for and depend upon when you can start by fixing the messes the government currently runs - Medicare, Medicaid, and American Indian Medical care?

Bush's Third Term

Example 237

"Obama Blocks Access to White House Visitor Logs" is the headline to this article from MSNBC which tries very hard not to let its anger show.

I mean, let's face it, MSNBC along with CNN and the NYT pretty much shoved Obama down our throats. Now they have to explain why this false-hope and no-change guy is still better than Bush (or any other name in the Boston phone book).

Two Iran Updates

This one here is about how they may do a re-count but won't annull the election (from Reuters).

And this one here is about the Iranians banning journalists from covering events. I guess the powers-that-be in Iran do not understand that every person in Iran with twitter is now a journalist.

May Just Catch The Bastard

Normally, I don't like to use bad language (on the blog) but I think Osama Bin Laden gets an exemption.

This report here is hopeful that they are closing in on him. And as the Pakistanis work with the US to rid itself of al Qaida, Yemen (ancestral home of Bin Laden) is getting worse.

I think that is a good sign. If they have to run home for "safety" then that means al Qaida is running scared.

Nuke 'em til they glow, then shoot 'em in the dark.

Everyone Loves Bacon

Smithfield posts smaller loss than expected.

It's bacon, d'uh.

ABC Becomes State-Run Media.

Lifted entirely from The Drudge Report!

ABC TURNS PROGRAMMING OVER TO OBAMA; NEWS TO BE ANCHORED FROM INSIDE WHITE HOUSE
Tue Jun 16 2009 08:45:10 ET

On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care -- a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!

Highlights on the agenda:

ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.

The network plans a primetime special -- 'Prescription for America' -- originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.

MORE

Late Monday night, Republican National Committee Chief of Staff Ken McKay fired off a complaint to the head of ABCNEWS:

Dear Mr. Westin:

As the national debate on health care reform intensifies, I am deeply concerned and disappointed with ABC's astonishing decision to exclude opposing voices on this critical issue on June 24, 2009. Next Wednesday, ABC News will air a primetime health care reform “town hall” at the White House with President Barack Obama. In addition, according to an ABC News report, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, WORLD NEWS, NIGHTLINE and ABC’s web news “will all feature special programming on the president’s health care agenda.” This does not include the promotion, over the next 9 days, the president’s health care agenda will receive on ABC News programming.

Today, the Republican National Committee requested an opportunity to add our Party's views to those of the President's to ensure that all sides of the health care reform debate are presented. Our request was rejected. I believe that the President should have the ability to speak directly to the America people. However, I find it outrageous that ABC would prohibit our Party's opposing thoughts and ideas from this national debate, which affects millions of ABC viewers.

In the absence of opposition, I am concerned this event will become a glorified infomercial to promote the Democrat agenda. If that is the case, this primetime infomercial should be paid for out of the DNC coffers. President Obama does not hold a monopoly on health care reform ideas or on free airtime. The President has stated time and time again that he wants a bipartisan debate. Therefore, the Republican Party should be included in this primetime event, or the DNC should pay for your airtime.

Respectfully,
Ken McKay
Republican National Committee
Chief of Staff

Developing...

Monday, June 15, 2009

Hope in Iran

What I find most hopeful about looking at the pictures I linked to below is the following:

First, that their numbers will give the protestors strength. Knowing they are not alone and others share the same unhappiness with the regime should give these hundreds of thousands of Iranians the ability to coalesce into a reform movement.

Second, they are young and sophisticated despite the violence.

Third, because they are young and sophistiticated they are writing signs in Farsi, English, French and other languages and twittering the images to get their cries for help out to the world.



Too bad Europe and Obama appear to be deaf.

Iranian Slideshow

This link will take you to a yahoo site with over 500 pictures from the Iranian revolt.

Warning: some are bloody.

Docs Boo Obama

The boos erupted when Obama told the doctors in Chicago he wouldn't try to help them win their top legislative priority—limits on jury damages in medical malpractice cases.
That was from this report here about Obama's speech in Chicago today to the AMA.

(And just so we're clear, that trip cost us taxpayers $236,000.)

There's gonna be more than boos when this full horror of Obama's ghastly healthcare plan comes into focus. Aside from destroying entire industries and rationing healthcare, this plan will cost trillions, TRILLIONS, of dollars in the next 10 years.

That's TRILLIONS of dollars on top of the Trillions of dollars Obama has already spent on the so-called stimulus and bailouts.

If Congress doesn't step up and stop this madness, they will find themselves out of a job in 2010.

Revolution, Revolt, or Repression

We can not tell what the next few days will hold but the breathtaking technology enabling Iranians to tell the world what is happening is astonishing.

My thoughts and prayers are with all those who stand up to thugs and dictators.

Iranian Round up - link to various websites.

MSNBC/New York Times get it wrong here.

They're shouting from the rooftops here.

The Atlantic seems to be getting regular tweets and updates here.

Another update on the role of twitter here.

ABC News says Iranian Opposition is calling for the imans to issue a fatwa here.

These three articles discuss the murder of a protestor by the militia backing Ahmadinejad (can they be called the police when they are so clearly under the control of one man?) - here, here, and here.

Finally, all this protesting is keeping Ahmadinejad from working with the Russians as reported here. Well, good then.

May God protect all those who fight for truth and freedom around the world and in Iran.

Truth-Loving Persians

(Originally posted by my husband on NRO-The Corner)

I've spent much of today transfixed by the ability to watch a revolution seemingly begin in Iran without the intermediation of journalists or politicians. Twitter particularly is coming into its own, and what one person can use to show people a picture of their lunch has become another person's way of telling the world about tyranny when the cameras are turned off. There's a great guide to how Twitter and other social media are spreading word of what is going on in Iran here and a guide for activism here. The tech-savvy may be interested in this. And if you want to follow me on Twitter, you can do so here or search for @ismurray.

Some video from Sunday in Iran



Hat Tip: Gary's Choices

The Left and The Media Wrong Again

Andrew Breitbart has a column in The Washington Times explaining how the left-media complex's rush to blame all conservatives for the terrible murder at the holocaust museum is both wrong and stupid.

The official title of the nazi's was National Socialists Party. Not National Conservative Party. Fascism is a form of socialism/communism.

It has nothing to do with conservativism whatsoever.

More Bullying and Thuggery

This Washington Examiner article looks at the situation surrounding the firing of Inspector General Gerald Walpin.

It is distressing that a new president would abuse the power of his office so early into his term. Actually, it is nauseating.

Iran Roiling

This Wall Street Journal analysis of the events in Iran over the weekend left me just saying wow over and over again.

We are living in "interesting times" to paraphrase the chinese, unfortunately our manchurian leader may not be up to the coming tasks at hand.

AlfonZo Rachel Calls Out Letterman

Go get him AlfonZo. You are a trip!

I mean WOW. Don't hold back AlfonZo. He totally rocks it out!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

No Leftie's Laughing

Sonja Schmidt has a video up explaining why she doesn't think the Left's sense of humor is all that funny.

Good Stuff.

I also like this old complaint about Michelle too!

Iran is in Flames

A fascinating and VERY well linked post by Micheal Totten.

One The Balance

I think the world can be divided between those who punish and those who do not. Those who refuse to punish generally end up exploited. Those who punish, so long as it is not abusive, generally end up respected.

But the act of being punished, or being certain that if you do something wrong you will get punished, is one of civilization's basic foundations. It's called the Law.

Rule of law is the genetic code of civilization.

Messy, viral, repetative and sometimes redundent, rule of law - in particular precident law - is as vital to human endeavor as our DNA is to our creation. Without law, civil society can not survive.

Yet, too much law can choke a civilization's life as quickly as too little.

A review of the socialist/communist history of regulating of all aspects of human life always reveals the fact that too much central control of civilization is as de-humanizing and vicious as no law whatsoever.

America's unique democracy with its checks and balances reflects our Founding Father's understanding of the importance of staying between too much and too little.

But ever since those progressive geniuses Woodrow Wilson and FDR appeared, the federal government has been hellbent-for-leather at grasping powers that do not belong to the federal column of checks and balances.

Today, yet another example from the Obama administration, is being enacted.
President Barack Obama is ready to roll out an overhaul of the intricate rules and systems that govern America's troubled financial institutions, proposing the most ambitious revision since the Great Depression.

The goal is to prevent a recurrence of the economic crisis that erupted in the United States and exploded last fall with devastating consequences still reverberating around the world.

Unlike the government's temporary ownership stake in automakers and major financial companies, the regulatory changes set to be announced Wednesday are designed to be permanent[emphasis mine]. They could result in a major realignment of power and authority among government agencies that set the rules for banking, lending and investing and touch American lives through daily transactions, from credit cards to mortgages and mutual funds.
While I am not sure if the permenant aspect of this regulatory change is allowable under the Constitution - I'm sure a lawyer will correct me - I am certain that believing any monetary system (especially a capitalist one) is immune from "economic crisis" displays a naive fascination with false utopian ideals.

The idea is hubris itself and shows an appalling lack of real world experience on the part of Obama and his team.

If Obama (and to a lesser extant Bush and Congress) had let the crisis take its course, the already existing Bankruptcy Courts have plenty of legal means to protect, restructure and reserect or dissolve a company in crisis. We do not need anything run by a central government, particularly a central government run by a nobody, ex-college professor who has never worked a real dayjob in his life.

Republicans prefer that companies be restructured or liquidated in bankruptcy court.

Alabama Rep. Spencer Bachus, the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, urged lawmakers to reject a regulatory system "that depends on the infallibility of the government regulators, who have so far shown themselves unable to anticipate crisis, let alone prevent them."

In a speech Friday to the Council on Foreign Relations, Summers offered the administration's counterpoint: "Any financial institution that is big enough, interconnected enough or risky enough that its distress necessitates government writing substantial checks, is big enough, risky enough or interconnected enough that it should be some part of the government's responsibility to supervise it on a comprehensive basis."
Rep. Bachus is correct and Summers is wrong.

Nothing is so big that it can not fail. The Roman republic failed, we had chaos, we rebuilt, we had the renaissance, the enlightenment, and the industrial age.

It's called Creative Destruction. When things get too big, they MUST fail.

The biggest trees in the rainforest block sunlight from the smallest plants. But when it "fails" and falls, space, sunlight, and a food source are created for thousands of plants, insects, birds and animals.

If Obama's government is allowed unchecked growth, then everything our Founding Fathers fought for will become unbalanced and the great American Project will fail.

Government must get out of the way, in order for America and Americans to prosper. More regulation is nothing but a power grab that must be fought, else we risk becoming what our ancestors fled - a country of no opportunity.

Raising Food Costs in A Recession

Brilliant.

The geniuses over at Time magazine and in Congress have decided that now is the best time to raise the price of food by increasing the regulatory powers of the FDA and charging the food companies for it.

Not only does this mean that only the largest corporations will be able to afford these new costs (bye bye artisanal and organic food producers) but they will simply pass the costs onto us the consumer.

So clean that plate now, because if this bill passes, it's gonna get a lot more expensive to eat.