By William L. Garvin
“Well I don't know why I came here tonight,
I got the feeling that something ain't right,
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair,
And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs,
Clowns to the left of me,
Jokers to the right, here I am,
Stuck in the middle with you,
Yes I'm stuck in the middle with you,
Stuck in the middle with you.”
Lyrics by Stealers Wheel
It’s been said that an agnostic is really just an atheist without the courage of his convictions. In political terms, maybe that’s how we should define “moderates”—politicians without the courage of their convictions. In the popular but unexamined parlance, they will sacrifice their principles but call it “compromise” because they are “practical” or “pragmatic.” They certainly would not be an “ideologue” of any persuasion. They would probably regard Neville Chamberlain as a master in the art of compromise…or could they even recognize the nefarious “appeasement” in its hideous, clandestine disguise?
Looking ever more closely, just what is an “ideologue”? It’s defined as a “zealous or doctrinaire supporter of an ideology.” Continuing on, what is an “ideology”? Webster says it’s “1. Visionary theorizing; 2a. A systematic body of concepts esp. about human life or culture; 2b. a manner or the content of thinking characteristic of an individual, group, or culture, 2c. the integrated assertions, theories, and aims that constitute a sociopolitical program.” Visionary? Systematic? Integrated? Why that doesn’t sound bad at all does it? That raises the question as to why political candidates of all stripes tend to be ideologues in the primaries but moderates in the general elections? In essence, they sacrifice their principles and beliefs to the centrist voter who has the least defined (but most easily abandoned!) political convictions. That’s why there’s not a dime’s bit of difference between the Democrat and Republican elements of the ruling class. Everybody is courting the squishy, moderate middle.
Maybe we should be thanking the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators for finally giving us a very clear picture of the leftist ideologue and the Tea Party for defining the conservative ideologue. Develop a very clear picture of the Wall Street protestors. That shouldn’t be very difficult. After all, they received three times as much media coverage in their first ten days as the Tea Party received in its first nine months. Now develop that mental picture of the Tea Party rallies. Make a choice, America. Which image of this country do you prefer?
On the left hand, you have the incessant cries to destroy capitalism and strident demands for social justice accompanied by the incessant and mind numbing thumping of drums. The “gimme, gimme, gimme” generation begs for forgiveness on all their debt and wants the government to give them “more, more, more” with no productive effort or contribution on their part. On the right hand, you have much larger crowds singing “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful.” They condemn the gargantuan growth of government and the bureaucratic strangulation of individual responsibility. They want to be left alone and believe they can run their own lives much better than the big government central planners. The left tramples the flag underfoot; the right raises it high overhead. The left turns public places into a pigsty; the right leaves their gathering places as clean as they found it. The leftist gathering is continually marred by arrests; the right is virtually free of violence.
The left expects a life of luxury but wants someone else to pay for it. They expect the results of success but think they can get there via a path of perpetual indolence. They want to be protected from risk, failure, trial and adversity. The right only demonstrates on weekends because they have to be back at work on Monday! Of course these are opposite ends of the political spectrum but maybe it’s time to have a clear cut choice. Both groups provide a vision for the future but most likely we’ll get stuck in the wishy-washy middle. Still, that will be an improvement on what we have today.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Enough Already!
By William L. Garvin
The Green Gravy Scam Train just keeps chugging along. Last year Seattle received a $20 million grant to weatherize homes by insulating crawl spaces. As of now, they have created a grand total of fourteen jobs and renovated a total of three homes! Then there’s Oak Park, Michigan’s hybrid bus company…despite millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies, it’s out of business. Another egregious example of Green Gone Wild! is the Department of Labor’s green jobs training program. For a mere few hundred million of stimulus money, they were going to create 79, 854 new jobs. Reality is they trained 8,035 people and only 1,336 actually had jobs six months later. This fiasco cost American taxpayers $170 million! The Inspector General says this program has been such a failure that the unused $327 million should immediately be returned to the Treasury.
Nevertheless, the Green Gravy Train just keeps on rolling and doling primarily because government continues to mandate increased usage. California has dictated that one-third of its electricity must come from renewable sources by 2020. Therefore, BrightSource Energy received a $1.37 billion loan guarantee; First Solar received a $2.1 billion guarantee; Abound Solar received a $400 million loan guarantee. The Antelope Valley Ranch Solar Project received $646 million in loan guarantees. In return, they will provide 350 temporary construction jobs but only 20 permanent jobs! You’d think with all this taxpayer funding, green energy would be a terrific investment…not the case. For the investor, it’s caveat emptor! Over the last year, First Solar’s stock has crashed from $175.45 to $53; Canadian Solar from $17.63 to $3.05; Yingli Green Energy from $14.29 to $3.60; LDK Solar from $15.00 to $3.23; and Trina Solar from $31.89 to $6.66! Before Solyndra went bankrupt, it canceled a public offering because there was no private investor enthusiasm. Government was the only entity unable to see the looming bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, governors of Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida have canceled their plans (and federal funding!) for “high speed rail” after determining that it would be no faster than travel on the highways. However, California spends $10 billion on its “high speed” segment of 160 miles in the central valley that no one will ride. Their project cost has already ballooned from $43 billion to $67 billion and they can’t find any private investors.
Looking at cost overruns, New York City is looking at $3.2 million in overtime costs for police to manage the Occupy Wall Street “movement.” Boston is looking at $2 million if the protest continues all this month. There’s every indication that is probable since New York’s radical “Working Families Party” (sic) is advertising on Craigslist for immediate employment at $350-$650/week to “fight to hold Wall Street accountable.” Of course the WFP says these positions are for “routine canvassing jobs.” Riiiiiigggghhhtttt…and all the protestors are patriotic, hard working, peace loving, freedom loving, every day-average men and women just looking for a job.
That’s why we see the Young Communist League in attendance. That’s why the protestors are supported by the Democratic Socialists of America, the Communist Party USA, SEIU, the AFL-CIO, George Soros, MoveOn.org and every victim group imaginable. That’s why their signs say “Destroy Capitalism” and they march around with Marx and Lenin tee-shirts, carry Che Guevara and communist flags, and sport their Mao buttons. That’s why there have been thousands of arrests and the clashes are becoming ever more worrisome. Some speakers have advocated violence and even “beheading.”
For every rational protestor who decries corporate cronyism, bank bailouts, the influence of lobbyists, and wants the Federal Reserve audited, there are a dozen who advocate anarchy, want to destroy the evil capitalist system and demand the government give them free money and bail them out of their student loans and credit card debt! There’s another dozen who are just there for the sex, drugs, and rock and roll. There are a few protestors who are protesting President Obama and his relationship with Wall Street firms (donors), especially Goldman Sachs. But don’t expect the media to cover that or even the protestor who defecated on the police car—they’re still part of the poop-aganda machine and still backing this failed administration.
The Green Gravy Scam Train just keeps chugging along. Last year Seattle received a $20 million grant to weatherize homes by insulating crawl spaces. As of now, they have created a grand total of fourteen jobs and renovated a total of three homes! Then there’s Oak Park, Michigan’s hybrid bus company…despite millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies, it’s out of business. Another egregious example of Green Gone Wild! is the Department of Labor’s green jobs training program. For a mere few hundred million of stimulus money, they were going to create 79, 854 new jobs. Reality is they trained 8,035 people and only 1,336 actually had jobs six months later. This fiasco cost American taxpayers $170 million! The Inspector General says this program has been such a failure that the unused $327 million should immediately be returned to the Treasury.
Nevertheless, the Green Gravy Train just keeps on rolling and doling primarily because government continues to mandate increased usage. California has dictated that one-third of its electricity must come from renewable sources by 2020. Therefore, BrightSource Energy received a $1.37 billion loan guarantee; First Solar received a $2.1 billion guarantee; Abound Solar received a $400 million loan guarantee. The Antelope Valley Ranch Solar Project received $646 million in loan guarantees. In return, they will provide 350 temporary construction jobs but only 20 permanent jobs! You’d think with all this taxpayer funding, green energy would be a terrific investment…not the case. For the investor, it’s caveat emptor! Over the last year, First Solar’s stock has crashed from $175.45 to $53; Canadian Solar from $17.63 to $3.05; Yingli Green Energy from $14.29 to $3.60; LDK Solar from $15.00 to $3.23; and Trina Solar from $31.89 to $6.66! Before Solyndra went bankrupt, it canceled a public offering because there was no private investor enthusiasm. Government was the only entity unable to see the looming bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, governors of Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida have canceled their plans (and federal funding!) for “high speed rail” after determining that it would be no faster than travel on the highways. However, California spends $10 billion on its “high speed” segment of 160 miles in the central valley that no one will ride. Their project cost has already ballooned from $43 billion to $67 billion and they can’t find any private investors.
Looking at cost overruns, New York City is looking at $3.2 million in overtime costs for police to manage the Occupy Wall Street “movement.” Boston is looking at $2 million if the protest continues all this month. There’s every indication that is probable since New York’s radical “Working Families Party” (sic) is advertising on Craigslist for immediate employment at $350-$650/week to “fight to hold Wall Street accountable.” Of course the WFP says these positions are for “routine canvassing jobs.” Riiiiiigggghhhtttt…and all the protestors are patriotic, hard working, peace loving, freedom loving, every day-average men and women just looking for a job.
That’s why we see the Young Communist League in attendance. That’s why the protestors are supported by the Democratic Socialists of America, the Communist Party USA, SEIU, the AFL-CIO, George Soros, MoveOn.org and every victim group imaginable. That’s why their signs say “Destroy Capitalism” and they march around with Marx and Lenin tee-shirts, carry Che Guevara and communist flags, and sport their Mao buttons. That’s why there have been thousands of arrests and the clashes are becoming ever more worrisome. Some speakers have advocated violence and even “beheading.”
For every rational protestor who decries corporate cronyism, bank bailouts, the influence of lobbyists, and wants the Federal Reserve audited, there are a dozen who advocate anarchy, want to destroy the evil capitalist system and demand the government give them free money and bail them out of their student loans and credit card debt! There’s another dozen who are just there for the sex, drugs, and rock and roll. There are a few protestors who are protesting President Obama and his relationship with Wall Street firms (donors), especially Goldman Sachs. But don’t expect the media to cover that or even the protestor who defecated on the police car—they’re still part of the poop-aganda machine and still backing this failed administration.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Wall Street, Pelosi and Green Jobs--Scams What Am!
By William L. Garvin
After his mad dash to rush through another $4.7 billion in green jobs funding before the September 30th deadline, Jonathan Silver, the head of the green jobs loan program resigned. A chief beneficiary of his largesse was the Antelope Valley Ranch Solar Project. If you thought the numbers last week were appalling, look at this windfall. Apparently, the $646 million in loan guarantees will result in about 350 TEMPORARY construction jobs but only about 20 PERMANENT jobs—that’s $32 million per permanent job. Such a deal!
In another example of media and government conspiracy, there’s the new jobs report that says 103,000 jobs were created last month. Reality is that 45,000 of those jobs were Verizon workers who had been on strike and finally went back to work. None of those jobs are new. It’s just another numbers scam and a blatant attempt to cover up the massive failure of this Administration’s economic policies.
Speaking of cover ups, why is the media so concerned about Mitt Romney’s religious beliefs when they could have cared less about Senator Obama’s attendance at Reverend Wright’s church? It’s probably the same dynamic that led Nancy Pelosi to finally speak out against slights against womanhood. Of course it was a Democrat woman. Why wasn’t this same sensitivity and “courage” visible when members of her party were engaging in the most bilious of slurs, innuendoes, vile epithets, and baseless charges against Sarah Palin? Oh, that’s right. Republican women are second class citizens and not entitled to the same rules of decorum and spirited defenses by the ex-Speaker and the National Organization of Some Women!
With all this going on, it’s no wonder that a “Wag the Dog” distraction manifested itself in the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrations. Even though supported by Rep. Pelosi, organizers were terribly disappointed when their anticipated 20,000 protestors could barely number 1,000. Unlike the Tea Party, where the media had to search to find a controversial and bizarre sign, here the media had to meticulously search among the “occupiers” to find a lucid person with a coherent message. There was the occasional sound idea to audit the Fed or eliminate crony capitalism but none of them protested the genesis—government interference and ineffective government programs.
They lust to destroy capitalism but they have nothing but bromides from Mao’s Little Red Book as an alternative. One economic genius even “demands” the following: Immediate across the board debt forgiveness for all. Debt forgiveness of sovereign debt, commercial loans, home mortgages, home equity loans, credit card debt, student loans and personal loans now! All debt must be stricken from the "Books." World Bank Loans to all Nations, Bank to Bank Debt and all Bonds and Margin Call Debt in the stock market including all Derivatives or Credit Default Swaps, all 65 trillion dollars of them must also be stricken from the "Books." And I don't mean debt that is in default, I mean all debt on the entire planet period. Of course, he also expects a living wage regardless of employment, open borders, free pot and perpetual government induced nirvana. Many of these transients wouldn’t even accept a green job let alone work for an evil corporation!
But they text away on their smart phone (corporate), stream live on their iPads (corporate), occasionally wash up or eat at McDonald’s (corporate), blog on their website (corporate), backed by George Soros and MoveOn.org (corporate), carry signs made by SEIU and the AFL-CIO (unions are private companies and CORPORATE!), all the while spitting on the suits and ties that are working for a living. They rail about “sticking it to The Man.” OMG, that is so sixties!
Somehow they see themselves as romantic freedom fighters aligned in the stars with the Arab Spring. They’re not. They claim they’re representatives of the “99%.” They’re not. They are not even representative of the twenty percent of Americans who identify as liberals. They are representative of a self-indulgent gaggle of narcissists who don’t have a clue that success comes at a price—hard work, good ideas, and perseverance. Somebody should tell them there’s no free lunch (except at protests) and scams like these don’t last long or change anything. Their sound and fury is lacking in substance and signifies nothing more than ephemeral babble.
After his mad dash to rush through another $4.7 billion in green jobs funding before the September 30th deadline, Jonathan Silver, the head of the green jobs loan program resigned. A chief beneficiary of his largesse was the Antelope Valley Ranch Solar Project. If you thought the numbers last week were appalling, look at this windfall. Apparently, the $646 million in loan guarantees will result in about 350 TEMPORARY construction jobs but only about 20 PERMANENT jobs—that’s $32 million per permanent job. Such a deal!
In another example of media and government conspiracy, there’s the new jobs report that says 103,000 jobs were created last month. Reality is that 45,000 of those jobs were Verizon workers who had been on strike and finally went back to work. None of those jobs are new. It’s just another numbers scam and a blatant attempt to cover up the massive failure of this Administration’s economic policies.
Speaking of cover ups, why is the media so concerned about Mitt Romney’s religious beliefs when they could have cared less about Senator Obama’s attendance at Reverend Wright’s church? It’s probably the same dynamic that led Nancy Pelosi to finally speak out against slights against womanhood. Of course it was a Democrat woman. Why wasn’t this same sensitivity and “courage” visible when members of her party were engaging in the most bilious of slurs, innuendoes, vile epithets, and baseless charges against Sarah Palin? Oh, that’s right. Republican women are second class citizens and not entitled to the same rules of decorum and spirited defenses by the ex-Speaker and the National Organization of Some Women!
With all this going on, it’s no wonder that a “Wag the Dog” distraction manifested itself in the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrations. Even though supported by Rep. Pelosi, organizers were terribly disappointed when their anticipated 20,000 protestors could barely number 1,000. Unlike the Tea Party, where the media had to search to find a controversial and bizarre sign, here the media had to meticulously search among the “occupiers” to find a lucid person with a coherent message. There was the occasional sound idea to audit the Fed or eliminate crony capitalism but none of them protested the genesis—government interference and ineffective government programs.
They lust to destroy capitalism but they have nothing but bromides from Mao’s Little Red Book as an alternative. One economic genius even “demands” the following: Immediate across the board debt forgiveness for all. Debt forgiveness of sovereign debt, commercial loans, home mortgages, home equity loans, credit card debt, student loans and personal loans now! All debt must be stricken from the "Books." World Bank Loans to all Nations, Bank to Bank Debt and all Bonds and Margin Call Debt in the stock market including all Derivatives or Credit Default Swaps, all 65 trillion dollars of them must also be stricken from the "Books." And I don't mean debt that is in default, I mean all debt on the entire planet period. Of course, he also expects a living wage regardless of employment, open borders, free pot and perpetual government induced nirvana. Many of these transients wouldn’t even accept a green job let alone work for an evil corporation!
But they text away on their smart phone (corporate), stream live on their iPads (corporate), occasionally wash up or eat at McDonald’s (corporate), blog on their website (corporate), backed by George Soros and MoveOn.org (corporate), carry signs made by SEIU and the AFL-CIO (unions are private companies and CORPORATE!), all the while spitting on the suits and ties that are working for a living. They rail about “sticking it to The Man.” OMG, that is so sixties!
Somehow they see themselves as romantic freedom fighters aligned in the stars with the Arab Spring. They’re not. They claim they’re representatives of the “99%.” They’re not. They are not even representative of the twenty percent of Americans who identify as liberals. They are representative of a self-indulgent gaggle of narcissists who don’t have a clue that success comes at a price—hard work, good ideas, and perseverance. Somebody should tell them there’s no free lunch (except at protests) and scams like these don’t last long or change anything. Their sound and fury is lacking in substance and signifies nothing more than ephemeral babble.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Green Scam, I Am!
By William L. Garvin
“I do not like Green Scam I Am,
Your business plans are such a sham.
Billions of dollars you have blown,
The money you spent was not your own!
Cronies and bundling paved the way,
And politicos do whatever you say.
I’d love to hear the cell door slam,
I do not like Green Scam I Am!”
(Apologies to Dr. Seuss)
It was somewhat remarkable to watch the Administration react to the Gulf oil disaster. In an overreaching exercise of caution, they shut down oil rigs far and wide. Deep sea of shallow water, it didn’t really matter. They fiercely fought (and lost!) every court action to reopen the rigs and to resume drilling. One judge even found them in contempt of court for refusing to let American workers resume their gainful employment.
Now contrast that with the Solyndra bankruptcy fiasco. It is so bad that a judge has ruled that there is probable cause that a crime has been committed and has issued a warrant to begin a criminal investigation. Since this is the third solar firm that has recently crashed and burned, you would think that a similar abundance of caution would be exercised. In fact, quite the opposite has occurred. The Administration has broken all land and bureaucratic speed records pushing new green energy grants through the process. Since September 30 was the end of the federal fiscal year, they threw caution to the winds to get taxpayer dollars out the door by that date.
The world’s best Jamaican sprinters would have been hard pressed to keep up with the amazing speed with which government bureaucrats dispatched the $737 million to the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project. After all, they are predicted to create 45 new green energy jobs. It’s unclear what the new math says but the old math says that’s $16.38 MILLION PER JOB! I guess we should praise the progress. After all, “Son of Stimulus,” with its $447 billion price tag, is supposed to reduce the unemployment rate by 0.2 percent. Some estimates say that is the equivalent of creating or “saving” 275, 000 jobs…at a cost of $1.6 MILLION PER JOB. Doesn’t anyone do math anymore? It’s the same old government new math. Remember when the President said ObamaCare would lower the average family’s health care premiums by $2,400? Well, the Kaiser Foundation said the average family’s premiums went UP by $1,400! Maybe the government’s new math is also a scam.
Returning to the Green Energy Scam, here is another interesting wrinkle in the Crescent Dunes project. An investment partner in the deal is Pacific Corporate Group. Their Executive Director is Ron Pelosi. It is undoubtedly pure coincidence that he is Nancy Pelosi’s brother in law. Hmmmm…that’s no more suspect than Maxine Waters’ husband’s bank receiving TARP funds. By the way, whatever did happen with that ethics investigation?
Some time ago when Mother Earth became a deity and “saving the environment” became her religion, mathematics and common sense went out of style. That’s why the President can proclaim that the price of electricity will of necessity “skyrocket” and no one questioned him. If you pump billions of taxpayer dollars into alternative energy sources that are not efficient or economically viable at this stage, if you incessantly use executive orders and bureaucratic fiat to strangle the fossil fuel industries, of course the prices will skyrocket. When you continually demonize those industries that not fuel our economy but the world’s economy, you are setting yourself on the losing side of the equation.
The amount of government money that General Electric and Warren Buffett are receiving is nothing more than the corporate cronyism that the left is protesting on Wall Street and the Democrats railed against during the Bush Administration. If the same amount of money had been put into controlling emissions and upgrading the coal, natural gas, and oil extraction and refinement facilities as went into the alternative energy fiascos, we would already be energy independent AND have a cleaner environment. That’s why “I do not like Green Scam, I Am!”
“I do not like Green Scam I Am,
Your business plans are such a sham.
Billions of dollars you have blown,
The money you spent was not your own!
Cronies and bundling paved the way,
And politicos do whatever you say.
I’d love to hear the cell door slam,
I do not like Green Scam I Am!”
(Apologies to Dr. Seuss)
It was somewhat remarkable to watch the Administration react to the Gulf oil disaster. In an overreaching exercise of caution, they shut down oil rigs far and wide. Deep sea of shallow water, it didn’t really matter. They fiercely fought (and lost!) every court action to reopen the rigs and to resume drilling. One judge even found them in contempt of court for refusing to let American workers resume their gainful employment.
Now contrast that with the Solyndra bankruptcy fiasco. It is so bad that a judge has ruled that there is probable cause that a crime has been committed and has issued a warrant to begin a criminal investigation. Since this is the third solar firm that has recently crashed and burned, you would think that a similar abundance of caution would be exercised. In fact, quite the opposite has occurred. The Administration has broken all land and bureaucratic speed records pushing new green energy grants through the process. Since September 30 was the end of the federal fiscal year, they threw caution to the winds to get taxpayer dollars out the door by that date.
The world’s best Jamaican sprinters would have been hard pressed to keep up with the amazing speed with which government bureaucrats dispatched the $737 million to the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project. After all, they are predicted to create 45 new green energy jobs. It’s unclear what the new math says but the old math says that’s $16.38 MILLION PER JOB! I guess we should praise the progress. After all, “Son of Stimulus,” with its $447 billion price tag, is supposed to reduce the unemployment rate by 0.2 percent. Some estimates say that is the equivalent of creating or “saving” 275, 000 jobs…at a cost of $1.6 MILLION PER JOB. Doesn’t anyone do math anymore? It’s the same old government new math. Remember when the President said ObamaCare would lower the average family’s health care premiums by $2,400? Well, the Kaiser Foundation said the average family’s premiums went UP by $1,400! Maybe the government’s new math is also a scam.
Returning to the Green Energy Scam, here is another interesting wrinkle in the Crescent Dunes project. An investment partner in the deal is Pacific Corporate Group. Their Executive Director is Ron Pelosi. It is undoubtedly pure coincidence that he is Nancy Pelosi’s brother in law. Hmmmm…that’s no more suspect than Maxine Waters’ husband’s bank receiving TARP funds. By the way, whatever did happen with that ethics investigation?
Some time ago when Mother Earth became a deity and “saving the environment” became her religion, mathematics and common sense went out of style. That’s why the President can proclaim that the price of electricity will of necessity “skyrocket” and no one questioned him. If you pump billions of taxpayer dollars into alternative energy sources that are not efficient or economically viable at this stage, if you incessantly use executive orders and bureaucratic fiat to strangle the fossil fuel industries, of course the prices will skyrocket. When you continually demonize those industries that not fuel our economy but the world’s economy, you are setting yourself on the losing side of the equation.
The amount of government money that General Electric and Warren Buffett are receiving is nothing more than the corporate cronyism that the left is protesting on Wall Street and the Democrats railed against during the Bush Administration. If the same amount of money had been put into controlling emissions and upgrading the coal, natural gas, and oil extraction and refinement facilities as went into the alternative energy fiascos, we would already be energy independent AND have a cleaner environment. That’s why “I do not like Green Scam, I Am!”
Monday, September 26, 2011
Attacks and Buffets
By William L. Garvin
It was very disconcerting to hear the President exhorting his acolytes that “if you love me, help me pass this bill,” while on the campaign trail. “If you respect me,” that’s one thing. “If you think this is good for America,” that’s another. Of course, “if you think this time we will actually create jobs,” would have been best of all. Instead he forsook rational and logical approaches and appealed to unadulterated, basic emotion…”if you love me.” Psychologists might opine that a narcissist would presume the answer is “of course I love you!” and flood the Democrat and Republican representatives’ offices with demands to pass the American Jobs Bill. It’s not happening.
Maybe it’s because Gallup found that only 40% of the populace think that “Son of Stimulus” and its $447 billion price tag will actually reduce unemployment. If you break it down, the numbers in the middle are pretty devastating for the President. In 2008, Senator Obama carried 52% of the independent vote; currently, only 21% of independents say they will vote for him. When 66% of independents say they disapprove of how he is “handling” the economy, the only reasonable translation is “one-term president.” It will be the Battle of the Independent Bulge in the middle of the political spectrum that will spell doom for the President and they’re showing him no love!
Conservatives who believe the federal government is entitled to only the limited and enumerated powers listed in the Constitution, who believe in fiscal responsibility, who know that free market capitalism is far superior to Ivy League eggheads and their centralized planning, will never vote for someone with this President’s disastrous economic record. Leftist liberals will gnash their teeth because we don’t already have socialized medicine and wail that he doesn’t go far enough in his plans to “redistribute the wealth” and provide “womb to tomb government security” but they will vote for him anyway. The American Communist Party (CPUSA) may call for a third party to represent “the people” but they still endorsed President Obama for four more years. The only way they would pull their endorsement is if Van Jones announced his candidacy. Chances are, they’ll just stay home and pout.
In a desperate effort to shore up feeble poll numbers, Obama for America launched a new website so that anyone who wasn’t “showing some love” to the Anointed One would be reported. James Carville, the Ragin’ Cajun Democrat strategist, should have been the first to be listed. He said it was time for the President to “panic!” Then there are all those darned Tea Partiers in Florida who voted Herman Cain as the winner in the straw poll. They probably voted for a black man just to prove they weren’t racist…it couldn’t be sincere. Of course they are the same ones who voted Lt. Colonel Allen West into the House of Representatives, but that’s probably just another coincidence. Oh yes, the Congressional Black Caucus should also be reported because they are complaining about the devastating unemployment among black youth and the President not visiting any of their minority districts. Now if they had some money for campaign donations….
Speaking of money, Warren Buffet has got billions but to hear him talk, nobody will let him pay more in taxes. Here’s how you do it, Warren. First, stop fighting the loopholes you’ve been trying to exploit for the last ten years and pony up the billion in taxes your company owes. Second, pay yourself a salary so you can be taxed at the top rate instead of giving yourself tons of stock options and living off dividends that are taxed at a lower rate. Third, pay your secretary more so she moves into a higher tax bracket or start paying her in stocks so she can be taxed at a lower rate. Fourth, just write a check payable to “United States Treasury”! Fifth, you and the President should stop itemizing your charitable contributions. You can give out of the goodness of your heart without considering economic benefits and place yourself in the position of paying more taxes at the same time. Until you do that, you should be reported to AttackWatch…along with people who tear the tags off their pillows and mattresses.
It was very disconcerting to hear the President exhorting his acolytes that “if you love me, help me pass this bill,” while on the campaign trail. “If you respect me,” that’s one thing. “If you think this is good for America,” that’s another. Of course, “if you think this time we will actually create jobs,” would have been best of all. Instead he forsook rational and logical approaches and appealed to unadulterated, basic emotion…”if you love me.” Psychologists might opine that a narcissist would presume the answer is “of course I love you!” and flood the Democrat and Republican representatives’ offices with demands to pass the American Jobs Bill. It’s not happening.
Maybe it’s because Gallup found that only 40% of the populace think that “Son of Stimulus” and its $447 billion price tag will actually reduce unemployment. If you break it down, the numbers in the middle are pretty devastating for the President. In 2008, Senator Obama carried 52% of the independent vote; currently, only 21% of independents say they will vote for him. When 66% of independents say they disapprove of how he is “handling” the economy, the only reasonable translation is “one-term president.” It will be the Battle of the Independent Bulge in the middle of the political spectrum that will spell doom for the President and they’re showing him no love!
Conservatives who believe the federal government is entitled to only the limited and enumerated powers listed in the Constitution, who believe in fiscal responsibility, who know that free market capitalism is far superior to Ivy League eggheads and their centralized planning, will never vote for someone with this President’s disastrous economic record. Leftist liberals will gnash their teeth because we don’t already have socialized medicine and wail that he doesn’t go far enough in his plans to “redistribute the wealth” and provide “womb to tomb government security” but they will vote for him anyway. The American Communist Party (CPUSA) may call for a third party to represent “the people” but they still endorsed President Obama for four more years. The only way they would pull their endorsement is if Van Jones announced his candidacy. Chances are, they’ll just stay home and pout.
In a desperate effort to shore up feeble poll numbers, Obama for America launched a new website so that anyone who wasn’t “showing some love” to the Anointed One would be reported. James Carville, the Ragin’ Cajun Democrat strategist, should have been the first to be listed. He said it was time for the President to “panic!” Then there are all those darned Tea Partiers in Florida who voted Herman Cain as the winner in the straw poll. They probably voted for a black man just to prove they weren’t racist…it couldn’t be sincere. Of course they are the same ones who voted Lt. Colonel Allen West into the House of Representatives, but that’s probably just another coincidence. Oh yes, the Congressional Black Caucus should also be reported because they are complaining about the devastating unemployment among black youth and the President not visiting any of their minority districts. Now if they had some money for campaign donations….
Speaking of money, Warren Buffet has got billions but to hear him talk, nobody will let him pay more in taxes. Here’s how you do it, Warren. First, stop fighting the loopholes you’ve been trying to exploit for the last ten years and pony up the billion in taxes your company owes. Second, pay yourself a salary so you can be taxed at the top rate instead of giving yourself tons of stock options and living off dividends that are taxed at a lower rate. Third, pay your secretary more so she moves into a higher tax bracket or start paying her in stocks so she can be taxed at a lower rate. Fourth, just write a check payable to “United States Treasury”! Fifth, you and the President should stop itemizing your charitable contributions. You can give out of the goodness of your heart without considering economic benefits and place yourself in the position of paying more taxes at the same time. Until you do that, you should be reported to AttackWatch…along with people who tear the tags off their pillows and mattresses.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Who are the Homegrown Terrorists?
By
William L. Garvin
Some time back, Janet Napolitano, head of Homeland Security,
alienated a large number of U.S. citizens when she issued a report that listed
numerous “homegrown terrorist threats.”
Her list included Christians and pro-life advocates, believers in strict
interpretation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, American
exceptionalists, and anyone who believes in enforcing our borders and
immigration laws. In an incredible leap
of logic, she also included military veterans because “they are trained in the
use of firearms.” Somehow she failed to
include hunters, police and sheriff’s personnel, and members of her own
department who are also trained in the use of firearms.
Recently, the Congressional Black Caucus reconstituted this hackneyed old refrain by chanting in Greek chorus fashion that the entire Tea Party amalgamation is terrorists and hostage takers. They said the Tea Party was the “enemy” and were told to “go straight to hell. “Rhymin’ Simon,” aka Jesse Jackson, combined his race baiting tactics by saying "The Tea Party is a new name on an old game." In the same logic-free utterance, he claimed that Martin Luther King “fought the Tea Party.” No, Jesse, you history-challenged anachronism, MLK was aligned with Republicans against southern Democrats favoring segregation and their terrorist arm, the KKK! Try reading a history book—you may have lived it but you certainly don’t understand it.
Recently, the Congressional Black Caucus reconstituted this hackneyed old refrain by chanting in Greek chorus fashion that the entire Tea Party amalgamation is terrorists and hostage takers. They said the Tea Party was the “enemy” and were told to “go straight to hell. “Rhymin’ Simon,” aka Jesse Jackson, combined his race baiting tactics by saying "The Tea Party is a new name on an old game." In the same logic-free utterance, he claimed that Martin Luther King “fought the Tea Party.” No, Jesse, you history-challenged anachronism, MLK was aligned with Republicans against southern Democrats favoring segregation and their terrorist arm, the KKK! Try reading a history book—you may have lived it but you certainly don’t understand it.
Union leaders, tired of being upstaged, swung into action with
Jimmy Hoffa opening a Labor Day introduction of President Obama in the
following manner: “We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: the war on
workers. And you see it everywhere, it is
the Tea Party. And you know there is
only one way to beat and win that war.
The one thing about working people is we like a good fight. And you know what? They’ve got a war, they got a war with us and
there’s only going to be one winner.
It’s going to be the workers of Michigan, and America. We’re going to win that war. President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let’s take those sons of bitches out and give
America back to an America where we belong.”
The President has failed to
condemn Hoffa for any of this violent and uncivil rhetoric. In fact, he said he was “proud” of Hoffa and
other labor leaders. Maybe that’s why
hundreds of union workers turned thug and stormed a port in Longview,
Washington, captured security guards, held them hostage, smashed windows, cut
brake lines on railroad cars and dumped the grain at the center of the
dispute. They were also defying a federal restraining order issued the previous
week against the union after it was accused of assaults and death threats.
In the meantime, our Department of Justice
refuses to prosecute black militants who blatantly attempted to intimidate white
voters at a Philadelphia polling place.
However, they quickly aligned with Mexico to prosecute every state attempting
to protect its borders. DOJ also quickly
jumped on the SEC coattails to prosecute Standard and Poor’s after they
downgraded the U.S. debt. They suddenly want
to know why the “toxic assets” received a triple-A rating. To date, they are not investigating any other
rating agency that gave the toxic assets the same rating.
Maybe it’s just a coincidence. However, for the SECOND time, DOJ has raided
Gibson Guitars and seized guitars, pallets of wood, and computers, effectively
shutting down their “Made in USA” factories in Memphis and Nashville. Why?
Even though Gibson has filed all the necessary forms and complied with
all American laws, DOJ thinks there “may” be a violation of a law in India
where the ebony and Indian rosewood was obtained. Curiously, charges have yet to be filed from
the first raid back in 2009.
Furthermore, none of the other guitar manufacturers who use the same
wood in the same unfinished state from the same importer and the same supplier
have been raided. Maybe it’s just a
coincidence that the Gibson owner is a Republican and the other companies are
owned by Democrats.
So the question remains, who are the REAL
homegrown terrorists?
Monday, September 5, 2011
Labor Pains Replace Growing Pains
By William L. Garvin
This Labor Day celebration had a muted and hollow ring to it. Maybe it was because the latest data shows that there were zero jobs created last month. Maybe it's because the only reason the unemployment rate remained at 9.1% is so many of the long term unemployed have simply given up looking for a job! Maybe it's because the present Administration's economic policies of the past have been such a dismal failure and their future plans will simply be more of the same.
It might also be because union members are becoming disenchanted with union leadership and their self serving ways. Maybe they are wondering why over half of the waivers from ObamaCare have gone to union entities after they saw so much of their union dues spent to get it enacted. Maybe it's why, despite spending $35 million on recall efforts in Wisconsin, union leaders were only able to unseat TWO Republicans! Maybe it's because union members are seeing that what is actually occurring does not come close to resembling the apocalypse their union leaders predicted.
For instance, let's take a look at what happened in the Hartland-Lakeside School District, not far from Milwaukee. The HLSD bargaining contract required that health insurance be purchased from the "WEA Trust." The teachers found that health insurance could be purchased much more cheaply on the open market and overwhelmingly voted to change their coverage to United HealthCare. The District approached the union with a mid-term change but union leaders refused their offer.
After Governor Scott Walker signed the Republican sponsored collective bargaining law, HLSD's contract expired on June 30. The District then was able to change the health insurance coverage to United HealthCare. "It's going to save us $690,000 in 2011-2012," said Superintendent Glenn Schilling. Pewaukee School District said it will save $378,000 by changing their WEA Trust coverage and Menomonee School District will save a whopping $1.3 million! Oh, by the way, "WEA" stands for "Wisconsin Education Association," the largest teacher union in the state. In essence, they have been exploiting their own membership by extracting exorbitant health care premiums in addition to their previously mandated union dues. Can anyone say "corporate cronyism"?
Speaking of corporate cronyism, look for the green bubble to burst. Despite all the hype, solar and wind remains inefficient, unreliable, and expensive. The only way these alternative energy sources remain on life support is with massive government infusions of cash. Look closely at Solyndra, a California based solar panel manufacturer (the third such operation to fail over the last month). President Obama personally visited Solyndra mid-2010 and declared them to be a gleaming example of green technology. Solyndra has declared bankruptcy, closed its doors and thrown 1,100 workers out on the streets with no severance pay, no health insurance, and no advance notice. This is despite having received $535 billion dollars in loan guarantees from the Federal government.
Now here's the fun part. In January of this year, Solyndra only had about a month of operating capital left despite having "only" received $460 million from the feds. The Department of Energy became involved in the restructuring and refinancing of the company and subsequently noted that DOE "believes that the restructuring plan represents the best possible course of action to achieve the highest return on its invested capital." They continued to finance the company but curiously allowed $75 million from private investors to take precedence as "senior debt" in front of all but $150 million of taxpayer financing.
There's more. The George Kaiser Family Foundation owns 35.7% of Solyndra. The Foundation is supported by George Kaiser who just happens to have been a "bundler" raising campaign funds for President Obama's campaign in 2008. Draw your own conclusions.
In summary, central planning "experts" should stop trying to pick winners and losers in a free market economy. Union leadership should stop feathering their personal nests at the expense of their union members. The political "ruling class" should stop meddling in areas where they have no expertise. If not, next Labor Day will be even more depressing. The labor pains are increasing and the economic contractions are coming with frightening frequency.
This Labor Day celebration had a muted and hollow ring to it. Maybe it was because the latest data shows that there were zero jobs created last month. Maybe it's because the only reason the unemployment rate remained at 9.1% is so many of the long term unemployed have simply given up looking for a job! Maybe it's because the present Administration's economic policies of the past have been such a dismal failure and their future plans will simply be more of the same.
It might also be because union members are becoming disenchanted with union leadership and their self serving ways. Maybe they are wondering why over half of the waivers from ObamaCare have gone to union entities after they saw so much of their union dues spent to get it enacted. Maybe it's why, despite spending $35 million on recall efforts in Wisconsin, union leaders were only able to unseat TWO Republicans! Maybe it's because union members are seeing that what is actually occurring does not come close to resembling the apocalypse their union leaders predicted.
For instance, let's take a look at what happened in the Hartland-Lakeside School District, not far from Milwaukee. The HLSD bargaining contract required that health insurance be purchased from the "WEA Trust." The teachers found that health insurance could be purchased much more cheaply on the open market and overwhelmingly voted to change their coverage to United HealthCare. The District approached the union with a mid-term change but union leaders refused their offer.
After Governor Scott Walker signed the Republican sponsored collective bargaining law, HLSD's contract expired on June 30. The District then was able to change the health insurance coverage to United HealthCare. "It's going to save us $690,000 in 2011-2012," said Superintendent Glenn Schilling. Pewaukee School District said it will save $378,000 by changing their WEA Trust coverage and Menomonee School District will save a whopping $1.3 million! Oh, by the way, "WEA" stands for "Wisconsin Education Association," the largest teacher union in the state. In essence, they have been exploiting their own membership by extracting exorbitant health care premiums in addition to their previously mandated union dues. Can anyone say "corporate cronyism"?
Speaking of corporate cronyism, look for the green bubble to burst. Despite all the hype, solar and wind remains inefficient, unreliable, and expensive. The only way these alternative energy sources remain on life support is with massive government infusions of cash. Look closely at Solyndra, a California based solar panel manufacturer (the third such operation to fail over the last month). President Obama personally visited Solyndra mid-2010 and declared them to be a gleaming example of green technology. Solyndra has declared bankruptcy, closed its doors and thrown 1,100 workers out on the streets with no severance pay, no health insurance, and no advance notice. This is despite having received $535 billion dollars in loan guarantees from the Federal government.
Now here's the fun part. In January of this year, Solyndra only had about a month of operating capital left despite having "only" received $460 million from the feds. The Department of Energy became involved in the restructuring and refinancing of the company and subsequently noted that DOE "believes that the restructuring plan represents the best possible course of action to achieve the highest return on its invested capital." They continued to finance the company but curiously allowed $75 million from private investors to take precedence as "senior debt" in front of all but $150 million of taxpayer financing.
There's more. The George Kaiser Family Foundation owns 35.7% of Solyndra. The Foundation is supported by George Kaiser who just happens to have been a "bundler" raising campaign funds for President Obama's campaign in 2008. Draw your own conclusions.
In summary, central planning "experts" should stop trying to pick winners and losers in a free market economy. Union leadership should stop feathering their personal nests at the expense of their union members. The political "ruling class" should stop meddling in areas where they have no expertise. If not, next Labor Day will be even more depressing. The labor pains are increasing and the economic contractions are coming with frightening frequency.
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