The Generational Theft Act of 2009

Michelle Malkin being as trenchant as ever.

WSJ Nails Dodd Again

The Wall Street Journal is demanding Dodd make good on his six-month-old promise to release the details of his Countrywide sweetheart mortgage deals.

I say, GO WSJ GO!

It is abhorrant and disgusting that Dodd is still a Senator, let alone responsible for any Senate financial committees. If he is not properly investigated and all of the relevant paperwork made public, then the Senate has once again proven as the WSJ believes...

We suspect there's at least one habit of the 110th Congress that won't change in the 111th: The Members think they can get away with anything -- and usually do.

Let's help the 111th Congress see the light.

How Long Has This Been Going On

The founding religion that monotheism is based on is Judaism. The Jews were the first people in recorded history to worship only one God.

From their religious beliefs sprang the three major monotheistic world religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

But take yourself back in time to when all of humanity had multiple gods and animistic beliefs. Suddenly a group of people who only believe in one God appear and well, who wouldn't laugh and point. Point with sticks.

My thinking is that Judaism has spent a long, long time being the outsider religion. Its ungrateful children (I am Catholic) need to remember that many of the central tenets of our monotheistic religious beliefs were born in Judaism. We are all children of Abraham.

And yet anti-Semitism lives on.

And shamefully as this post points out, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida! Has anyone checked these demonstrators green cards and birth certificates because as far as I am concerned to suggest that any group of people deserve to die because of their religious beliefs (or physical traits) is unAmerican and should be shown the country's door.

Anti-Semitism is wrong. If you espouse it, you are wrong. If you condone it, you are wrong. And if you do not speak out against it, you are wrong.

You do not have to agree with Israel, but to say the hate-filled things these demonstrators around the world are saying is wrong.

Wrong and indefensible.

Not Funny

Powerline has a terrific look at the hijinks happening in Minnesota. From their perch, it looks like the Frankin Team has not been working honestly. Not surprising and a sad reflection on how leftwingers view democracy as something to cheat at rather than earn.

Dirty Democrat Money

Someday soon, the democrats will be the dirty money party. Someday looking like sometime next week at the rate these donor and pay-to-play scandals keep unfolding.

Will the Richardson investigation continue its look at donor David Rubin's activities for Obama? Or is The One too untouchable?

Hopefully the former rather than the latter. I was nausiated by the complete and deliberate lack of vetting by the democrats regarding their donations. Especially when McCain's team had been rather scrupulous.

Pro (immigration) Choice

Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies is a man I pay attention to when he writes about immigration issues - or other topics.

His post today at NRO is solid - I especially like this...

For too long the Republican story line has been “Too Much Lawbreaking,” when instead the real problem is “Too Much Immigration” — only one part of which involves lawbreaking. This exclusive focus on illegal immigration — opposing amnesty and pushing for more enforcement — is both incomplete and counterproductive. Incomplete because the effects of illegal immigration aren’t that different from those of legal immigration — an illiterate Central American farmer with a green card is just as unsuited for a 21st-century economy as an illiterate Central American farmer without a green card. And it’s counterproductive because the focus on criminality can seem punitive and serve to polarize the debate, potentially aliening not just immigrant voters, who really aren’t that numerous, but the native-born, who want less immigration but don’t want to feel bad about themselves for holding such a view.

A new approach would retain the widely popular, and morally compelling, support for more consistent application of immigration laws and opposition to legalization — but make them part of a broader push for a more moderate level of future immigration overall. If the debate focuses solely on legality, ultimately there’s no real argument against amnesty and open borders. You just legalize the whole thing and the issue goes away — no illegals, no problem. In the appropriately larger context, amnesty is bad not only because it rewards lawbreaking (which it does), but also for the same reason that the Visa lottery is bad: it leads to excessive immigration.

You don't just let anyone into your home. You make a choice - that person is a friend, this person is a stranger.

So why on earth should a country act any differently. Every country on the planet has the right to know who is within their borders and why. Every country on the planet is expected to protect its own borders and control who enters and who leaves.

So why can't America?

We don't need more manual laborers. We have plenty of folks here already to do those jobs. And YES, there are plenty of Americans who would be happy to have a manual job.

Read the article, it is worth it.

Democrats slow implosion

Of course, democrats won't completely implode but I must say watching this mess and not getting blamed for it as a conservative is rib-tickling fun.

Another Thomas Sowell

Because the man is usually correct.

Who Watches The Watcher of The Watchmen

Big Hollywood readers, that's who.

Andrew Breitbart has launched his www.bighollywood.brietbart.com website - a place where conservative politics and Hollywood can meet for lunch.

And our Jonah has an excellent post about the upcoming Watchmen movie - the comic fanboys are losing their minds, including my comic fanboy.

Support the cause and visit the site.

Ken Blackwell for RNC Chairman

Ken Blackwell is an outstanding person and the former Secretary of State for Ohio. An extremely intelligent co-worker of my husband's once described him as the smartest man he ever met - this from a former Professor!

Ken Blackwell is being considered for RNC Chairman and I strongly urge conservatives who care to take a few moments to contact their state's republican party and tell them you support Ken Blackwell.

Or check out this website. I've done both.

I LOVE Onion TV

Life in the Clown-Car Fast Lane

A slightly twisted but disturbingly accurate view of the state of democrats right now by David Kahne.

I Can Appreciate The History

I've heard countless people say they never thought an African-American would become president and I've always found that ridiculous. Quite frankly, I always assumed an African-American would become president.

And a woman. And any other American who wanted the job and had the qualifications.

Unfortunately, I do not believe Obama has the qualifications - which will make it difficult for other African-Americans to follow him. I do not mind being proven wrong but I suspect I will be proven correct in this matter. Americans should be proud of themselves on one hand, but fearful on the other that in the rush to make history, they also made a mistake in judgement.

If Obama had won this presidency after emerging from a true crucible of fire/public background check, then I would be far happier than I am. The media gave Obama a pass and now we are getting new revelations about the man, none of which are a surprise to those who read the investigations of Stanley Kurtz and Co.

All that said, I can appreciate the history of this event, as William J. Bennett and John Cribb do in their article called "The Two Januaries" published today in USA Today.

The Emancipation Proclamation is not as eloquent as the Gettysburg Address. It is a legal document, with words such as "whereas" and "aforesaid" and "in witness whereof." Yet it is a piece of writing American to its core, issued in the faith that We the People have the means and responsibility to correct our nation's flaws.

Almost a century and a half after Lincoln's proclamation, our nation prepares to inaugurate its first African-American president. Some may say the achievement was too long in coming. Yet it is an achievement in which all Americans can take great pride.

This is not to say that President-elect Barack Obama will be immune to failure, of course. Nor should he be immune to criticisms of his policies. But we mark the Emancipation Proclamation anniversary with this remarkable fact: For the first time in modern history, the head of state of a major world power will be a black man. It is the sort of accomplishment that makes America the wonder of the world.

"The glory of this land has been its capacity for transcending the moral evils of our past," Ronald Reagan once said. "For example, the long struggle of minority citizens for equal rights, once a source of disunity and civil war, is now a point of pride for all Americans."

A point of pride now more than ever.

That Lying Gore

Harold Ambler over at The Huffington Post (!!!!) has just put up an extremely well argued opinion about global warming and Al Gore.

He basically calls Gore a liar repeatedly.

No argument here. He is a lying sack of poop who has been given a microphone for too long and now needs to disappear.

But what I liked best about Mr. Ambler's piece is its science. This is the first time I can remember seeing true scientific data being honestly presented in a liberal forum.

I can't imagine the hate mail the man is going to get but God love him, that article is good work.

And Yet More Scandal

In the narrative of the media, republicans are evil and corrupt and democrats are good and pure.

The newspapers and TV news stations actively helped elect a man of unknown origins and little experience and now scandal after scandal after scandal is erupting.

The latest now disrupt's the incoming cabinet.

But democrats are good and pure.

HA!

I'm Not Dead Yet

Another example of fine investigative journalism.

Global Warming Solved

Ironically, all the hubbub about global warming is over. Since 1998 (the peak heat year), global temperatures have dropped by 0.7 C, the equivelant of all the net warming of the 20th century.

But you'd never know that from the media and eco-freaks out there banging away at their global "change" drums. (Did you notice that once the temperatures started dropping, the enviros quietly changed it from global "warming" to climate "change"?)

Christopher Booker, a very sound English scientist, has an article about this in Britain's Telegraph. He rightly mocks the Met Office's consistantly wrong climate predictions and concludes his article thus....

The reason why US scientists take a particular interest in the forecasting skills of the UK Met Office is that, through its Hadley Centre, its temperature data are one of the four official sources on which the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change bases all those projections of global warming which have the Western world's politicians under such a spell.

The Met Office, which played a key part in setting up the IPCC, has long since abandoned any pretence that it is an impartial scientific body when it comes to promoting its favourite cause of man-made climate change.

As the Met Office's website boasts, its ''world-leading expertise'' enables it to provide ''an understanding of the future through risk analysis and long-range forecasting''. It stages seminars to equip ''professionals in Government and the public sector'' to ''dispel scepticism about climate change in your organisation''.

It is just a pity that our Met Office's comically consistent inability to predict weather even a few weeks ahead (let alone a century hence) is beginning to make it an international laughing stock.

Lower Corporate Tax Rates

Yes. You heard me. Lowering the corporate tax rates is a good thing.

Mark Steyn over at The Corner said it so well, I've completely copied it below including the link to the Forbes.com Irish article.

Enjoy.

When Irish eyes are filing

[Mark Steyn]


Steve Forbes says wake up and smell the 40 shades of green:If the incoming Obama Administration is serious about squeezing more money from businesses, it should follow the example of Ireland and slash corporate tax rates. The U.S. has one of the highest profits levies in the developed world: 35% at the federal level, with another average of 5% from state and local taxes. Only Japan has worse. In contrast, Ireland's rate is a mere 12.5%. Imagine the howls from congressional Democrats if Barack Obama were to suggest enacting such a low corporate tax rate in the U.S.

But the accompanying table tells an eye-opening tale: Ireland's corporate tax take as a portion of its economy is higher than that of the U.S. High rates breed pressure for ever more complicated exemptions and ever more ingenious ways to avoid Uncle Sam's tax bite. But an Irish-like rate leaves companies to focus brainpower on growing their businesses instead of on jousting with tax collectors.

This is very true. As a very small corporate magnate myself, I've just had the usual year-end discussion with the green-eyeshade guys where you discuss the company entirely in terms of tax implications rather than strategic business considerations.

I said it on Rush's show yesterday but it bears repeating: To a certain type of simple-minded populist, the idea of soaking vast faceless corporations is appealing. But in the end a "corporation" cannot pay tax: The Globocorp corporate HQ looming in chrome and steel over the skyline does not have a pocket to dip into. Like all taxes, the actual cash has to be ponied up by flesh-and-blood human beings - the owners, workers and employees of the corporation. The growing gap between US corporate rates and other developed nations is a massive disincentivization for real human beings to start and grow a business here. And for those already here it encourages the kind of short-term thinking that leads to Bailoutistan and American sclerosis.

UPDATE: A reader adds:

I have always looked at it another way: Corporations don't pay taxes — they collect taxes.

The taxes that they pay are collected from the people to whom they sell their goods and services — people like you and me. Corporate taxes are a way that the government hides what you and I are actually paying in taxes.

Defending Israel

Mark Steyn defends Israel.

Which is as it should be.

The question is will Obama, which if he doesn't, means he may not defend democracy here either.

Don't Panic

It's not going to be a Great Depression according to Erza Lavent of Canada's National Post. In his opinion piece, we are facing difficulties but it is NOTHING like the 1930s.

And nor will it be.

I think this quote from his column sums it up, but do please read the whole thing.

...If 8% unemployment is considered a Great Depression, then Canada has been in a Great Depression for most of the last 30 years.

The IMF predicts that U. S. GDP will dip by 0.7% in 2009. Again, not good news. But a Great Depression? The U. S. economy shrank 12% in 1930, another 16% in 1931, a whopping 23% in 1932 and another 4% in 1933. That's a Great Depression. A 0.7% dip is America taking its foot off the gas for a moment.

ThoughtPolice on School

The British ThoughtPolice at Watercliff Meadow school are dropping the word "School" because it has "negative connotations".

According to this Guardian article,

"The headteacher of Sheffield's Watercliffe Meadow, Linda Kingdon, said the south Yorkshire school, which is due to open on Monday, will instead be called a "place for learning". ....

"This is Watercliffe Meadow, a place for learning. One reason was many of the parents of the children here had very negative connotations of school.

"Instead we want this to a be a place for family learning, where anyone can come.

"We were able to start from scratch and create a new type of learning experience. There are no whistles or bells or locked doors. We wanted to de-institutionalise the place and bring the school closer to real life."

Isn't a place for learning a school no matter what? At least, there are some sensible people in this farce.

Local MP Richard Caborn questioned the decision to drop the word school from Watercliffe Meadow's title. "I'm always open to new ideas but the reality is education is about preparing young people to live in the real world," he said.

"I just don't think the case has been made to drop the word school to a place of learning. I don't know why they have done it."

Councillor Andrew Sangar, Sheffield city council's cabinet member for children's services and lifelong learning, said: "It's a school, we consider it a school and that's how we refer to it.

I truly believe that we are experiencing a form of indoctrination - thoughtpolice - every time some liberal (or otherwise) idiot tries to change the meaning of our language or force us to use words we normally wouldn't.

It's pathetic and sad really but if we don't start calling the thoughtpolice out and making it clear we know what they are doing, then all this PCBS will become dangerous.

More Democratic Scandals

Wow. This could be the first time in American history that an incoming president had to have lawyers before he even served on day in office.

Beware The Killer Chinchilla

While I agree with Mr. Lagerfeld in principle - that it is foolish to fret about wearing fur in a society that eats meat, I'm not entirely certain we are truly threatened by the mink....

he said, "killing those beasts who would kill us if they could."

Whatever Happened To British Reserve?

As the wife of a British man and the mother of two half-British children, I am yet still glad we live in America after reading this review of the British New Year's Eve Celebrations from The Daily Mail.

Disgusting.

Appalling.

Sad.

The thing of it is, most British will blame Tony Blair for changing the pub hours rather than were the blame truly belongs - on British Youth and their parents for not raising them better.

Now we've all made stupid choices but you can not find a British social commentator that condones this boozy excess in Britain. But I do not believe that the change of pub hours is to blame. It was the limiting of pub hours during WWI that created a culture shift.

I've been out drinking in London pubs with my husband and his friends before the change in hours and was astonished at the pattern of behavior. We met at 6pm at the pub and started drinking pints. No dinner. No bar snacks. Just drinking steadily for hours until last call when I suddenly found myself surrounded by full pint glasses and everyone at our table trying to pound as many pints of lager as possible in 10 minutes.

Then and only then at 11pm did we pour out of the pub and hit the local Indian restaurant for a curry dinner and more lager.

American's don't drink that way and we have even more liberal bar hours than Britian. Why?

Because we eat. Many bars are required by law to serve food. Americans do not feel rushed to drink as much as they can swallow because we know we have all night to drink. So we eat dinner first and then hit the bar. Even after drinking and dancing all night long at a club, we would swing by the local all-night diner for a breakfast before going to bed.

The British don't do that because they had become accustom to severely limited drinking hours and no food served in the pubs. This is changing but until the British change their ways, this sort of behavior will continued, long hours or short.

It's Okay, She's Royalty

Apparently, women running for political office get the full brunt of appearance criticism if and only if they are republicans/conservativs or if they are simply not the "right" sort of female democrat.

Sen. Clinton and Gov. Palin got run through the media mill for every outfit they wore and every color of lipstick they applied, but Caroline Kennedy has been given a pass.

It must be nice to be Queen. Especially when you have this in your past...

.... Caroline was routinely compared to her famously svelte mother, and as a result her self-esteem plummeted. In a fit of pique that bordered on the bizarre, she shaved off one eyebrow. "My face," she offered by way of explanation, "is too symmetrical."

I hope New York enjoys having crazy people representing them in the Senate.

That can only be a plus.

Hat Tip to Althouse