How President Obama’s haste and hysterics in passing his stimulus to alleviate the economic crisis is similar to Bush’s theatrics in addressing the terror “crisis.”
Tag: conservative
HELL FREEZES OVER! Andrew Sullivan says something nice about Ron Paul
Holy Moses ‘n Aaron! I never thought I’d see this day, ever!
I do not know these things. But I do know that a serious engagement with the ideas and principles of a non-Keynesian approach to economics – of the kind Ron Paul talks about – is worth having again. At some point the right will have to govern again; and reminding people of the dangers of excessive government, excessive debt, and printing money will be necessary. The groundwork needs to start now. And it needs to be free of partisan cant and ideological posturing.
via The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan (February 20, 2009) – A Conservative Of Doubt.
I agree with Sullivan; for a change. I feel so Odd, and like I need to shower. 😉
Regarding the New York Post's apology
Regarding the New York Post’s Apology and the other stupidity.
I dunno, what ya’ll think?
So, like Michelle said; Sue me.
Other likemided people: Michelle Malkin, Gateway Pundit, Pat Dollard and JOSHUAPUNDIT
Yeah, I know what I wrote here. I still feel that way too. But this is not about Racism, this is about the Liberal Democrats controlling Conservatives right to free speech. The, ahem, chimps Liberal Black Democrats want to control what we honkey White Conservatives write, and I think it is a bunch of bullshit.
So, bring it on, there Mr. “Interloper”. I dare ya.
Chris Muir also weighs in here:
CNBC's Rick Santelli goes off on a rant about the Bailouts and the Stimulus
Sometimes I just wuv BreitBart. This has to be one of the best things I’ve ever seen on MSBC/CNBC.
Exit Question: I just wonder how long it is before Rick Santelli gets terminated for not embracing the politics of hope and change?
Manufacturing Suffers
Some more grim news… 🙁
Via the Economist:
$0.00, not counting fuel and handling: that is the cheapest quote right now if you want to ship a container from southern China to Europe. Back in the summer of 2007 the shipper would have charged $1,400. Half-empty freighters are just one sign of a worldwide collapse in manufacturing. In Germany December’s machine-tool orders were 40% lower than a year earlier. Half of China’s 9,000 or so toy exporters have gone bust. Taiwan’s shipments of notebook computers fell by a third in the month of January. The number of cars being assembled in America was 60% below January 2008.
The destructive global power of the financial crisis became clear last year. The immensity of the manufacturing crisis is still sinking in, largely because it is seen in national terms—indeed, often nationalistic ones. In fact manufacturing is also caught up in a global whirlwind.
Industrial production fell in the latest three months by 3.6% and 4.4% respectively in America and Britain (equivalent to annual declines of 13.8% and 16.4%). Some locals blame that on Wall Street and the City. But the collapse is much worse in countries more dependent on manufacturing exports, which have come to rely on consumers in debtor countries. Germany’s industrial production in the fourth quarter fell by 6.8%; Taiwan’s by 21.7%; Japan’s by 12%—which helps to explain why GDP is falling even faster there than it did in the early 1990s (see article). Industrial production is volatile, but the world has not seen a contraction like this since the first oil shock in the 1970s—and even that was not so widespread. Industry is collapsing in eastern Europe, as it is in Brazil, Malaysia and Turkey. Thousands of factories in southern China are now abandoned. Their workers went home to the countryside for the new year in January. Millions never came back (see article).
This is what happens when you create an economic bubble, by loosening up regulations to sell mortgages to those who cannot afford them. The whole world suffers. Our American companies suffer, the World manufacturing sector suffers. It is a domino effect. The problem is, that the United States is going about this all wrong. Instead of changing the way our economic system works. They are simply trying to reinflate the broken bubble. It is like trying to tape up a busted air ballon and trying to put air back into it again. It works for a while, but ends up breaking again.
Rat in the mouse house?
Well, something like that:
You’ve heard a lot about the astonishing spending in the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, signed into law this week by President Barack Obama. But you probably haven’t heard about a provision in the bill that threatens to politicize the way allegations of fraud and corruption are investigated — or not investigated — throughout the federal government.
Photographers take pictures of the economic stimulus bill after President Barack Obama signed the document during a ceremony at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in Denver, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
The provision, which attracted virtually no attention in the debate over the 1,073-page stimulus bill, creates something called the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board — the RAT Board, as it’s known by the few insiders who are aware of it. The board would oversee the in-house watchdogs, known as inspectors general, whose job is to independently investigate allegations of wrongdoing at various federal agencies, without fear of interference by political appointees or the White House.
In the name of accountability and transparency, Congress has given the RAT Board the authority to ask “that an inspector general conduct or refrain from conducting an audit or investigation.” If the inspector general doesn’t want to follow the wishes of the RAT Board, he’ll have to write a report explaining his decision to the board, as well as to the head of his agency (from whom he is supposedly independent) and to Congress. In the end, a determined inspector general can probably get his way, but only after jumping through bureaucratic hoops that will inevitably make him hesitate to go forward.
When Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, a longtime champion of inspectors general, read the words “conduct or refrain from conducting,” alarm bells went off. The language means that the board — whose chairman will be appointed by the president — can reach deep inside a federal agency and tell an inspector general to lay off some particularly sensitive subject. Or, conversely, it can tell the inspector general to go after a tempting political target.
via The RAT hiding deep inside the stimulus bill – www.dcexaminer.com.
Sounds like Communism to me. One must report the fuhrer before he can exercise his authority. Hope and change? I hardly think so. More like control and tyranny.
Others: JustOneMinute, Riehl World View, Hot Air, protein wisdom, Wizbang, Cold Fury and Sister Toldjah
uh-oh – Nearly One-Forth of the House got donations from corrupt firm connected to Murtha
I suspect there will be some sort of fallout from this here:
More than 100 House members secured earmarks in a major spending bill for clients of a single lobbying firm — The PMA Group — known for its close ties to John P. Murtha , the congressman in charge of Pentagon appropriations.
“It shows you how good they were,” said Keith Ashdown, chief investigator at the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. “The sheer coordination of that would take an army to finish.”
PMA’s offices have been raided, and the firm closed its political action committee last week amid reports that the FBI is investigating possibly illegal campaign contributions to Murtha and other lawmakers.
No matter what the outcome of the federal investigation, PMA’s earmark success illustrates how a well-connected lobbying firm operates on Capitol Hill. And earmark accountability rules imposed by the Democrats in 2007 make it possible to see how extensively PMA worked the Hill for its clients.
In the spending bill managed by Murtha, the fiscal 2008 Defense appropriation, 104 House members got earmarks for projects sought by PMA clients, according to Congressional Quarterly’s analysis of a database constructed by Ashdown’s group.
Those House members, plus a handful of senators, combined to route nearly $300 million in public money to clients of PMA through that one law (PL 110-116).
And when the lawmakers were in need — as they all are to finance their campaigns — PMA came through for them.
According to CQ MoneyLine, the same House members who took responsibility for PMA’s earmarks in that spending bill have, since 2001, accepted a cumulative $1,815,138 in campaign contributions from PMA’s political action committee and employees of the firm.
via CQ Politics | Firm with Murtha Ties Got Earmarks From Nearly One-Fourth of House.
I will simply say this, that ALL of the members of the House and Senate involved with this should resign immediately. This is a disgrace to the political system and should be dealt with harshly; that goes for Democrats AND Republicans.
Update: Here’s the list of people with their hands in the cookie jar:
Bold = Member Did Not Receive PMA Money between 2001 and 2008
* = No Longer Serving in the House
# = Member of House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee in the 110th Congress
Democrats
| Requesting Member | State | $ Secured Solo | $ Secured w/Others | Total Credited | PMA campaign $ since 2001 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter J. Visclosky# | Indiana | $21,400,000 | $2,400,000 | $23,800,000 | $219,000 |
| John P. Murtha# | Pennsylvania | $31,705,000 | $2,400,000 | $34,105,000 | $143,600 |
| James P. Moran# | Virginia | $8,400,000 | $2,400,000 | $10,800,000 | $125,250 |
| Norm Dicks# | Washington | $11,330,000 | $800,000 | $12,130,000 | $91,600 |
| Bill Pascrell Jr. | New Jersey | $2,400,000 | $2,400,000 | $73,200 | |
| Mike Doyle | Pennsylvania | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | $69,400 | |
| Loretta Sanchez | California | $3,200,000 | $3,200,000 | $60,118 | |
| Tim Holden | Pennsylvania | $3,200,000 | $3,200,000 | $57,275 | |
| Tim Ryan | Ohio | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $54,250 | |
| Michael E. Capuano | Massachusetts | $2,000,000 | $800,000 | $2,800,000 | $54,000 |
| Chet Edwards | Texas | $6,040,000 | $6,040,000 | $48,734 | |
| Silvestre Reyes | Texas | $800,000 | $800,000 | $42,300 | |
| Christopher Carney | Pennsylvania | $5,900,000 | $5,900,000 | $38,500 | |
| Paul E. Kanjorski | Pennsylvania | $1,600,000 | $3,200,000 | $4,800,000 | $37,150 |
| Marcy Kaptur# | Ohio | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | $34,500 | |
| Carolyn McCarthy | New York | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $31,500 | |
| Patrick J. Murphy | Pennsylvania | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | $29,250 | |
| Allyson Y. Schwartz | Pennsylvania | $800,000 | $800,000 | $25,000 | |
| Jason Altmire | Pennsylvania | $2,600,000 | $2,600,000 | $24,500 | |
| Brad Sherman | California | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | $15,500 | |
| Susan A. Davis | California | $800,000 | $800,000 | $13,750 | |
| Allen Boyd# | Florida | $6,400,000 | $2,200,000 | $8,600,000 | $12,000 |
| Sanford D. Bishop Jr.# | Georgia | $1,200,000 | $2,400,000 | $3,600,000 | $10,500 |
| Jane Harman | California | $2,400,000 | $2,400,000 | $10,500 | |
| Jim Matheson | Utah | $2,400,000 | $2,400,000 | $10,000 | |
| Steve Israel | New York | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | $8,500 | |
| Jerrold Nadler | New York | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | $8,500 | |
| Joe Sestak | Pennsylvania | $1,280,000 | $1,280,000 | $8,500 | |
| Jim Marshall | Georgia | $2,400,000 | $2,400,000 | $7,000 | |
| Mark Udall* | Colorado | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $6,533 | |
| Michael H. Michaud | Maine | $800,000 | $800,000 | $6,500 | |
| Tom Allen* | Maine | $1,800,000 | $1,800,000 | $5,750 | |
| Danny K. Davis | Illinois | $295,000 | $295,000 | $5,500 | |
| Robert E. Andrews | New Jersey | $1,500,000 | $1,500,000 | $5,000 | |
| Gene Taylor | Mississippi | $800,000 | $800,000 | $4,750 | |
| Nancy Pelosi | California | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $4,500 | |
| David E. Price | North Carolina | $800,000 | $800,000 | $4,000 | |
| Steven R. Rothman# | New Jersey | $800,000 | $2,400,000 | $3,200,000 | $4,000 |
| Brian Higgins | New York | $3,400,000 | $3,400,000 | $3,000 | |
| Brad Miller | North Carolina | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $2,250 | |
| Brad Ellsworth | Indiana | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | $2,000 | |
| Ed Perlmutter | Colorado | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | $2,000 | |
| Phil Hare | Illinois | $6,800,000 | $6,800,000 | $1,500 | |
| Martin Meehan* | Massachusetts | $2,800,000 | $2,800,000 | $1,500 | |
| Howard L. Berman | California | $800,000 | $800,000 | $1,000 | |
| Carolyn B. Maloney | New York | $3,200,000 | $3,200,000 | $1,000 | |
| Ben Chandler | Kentucky | $2,400,000 | $2,400,000 | $250 | |
| Shelley Berkley | Nevada | $2,400,000 | $2,400,000 | ||
| Dan Boren | Oklahoma | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | ||
| Leonard L. Boswell | Iowa | $1,650,000 | $1,650,000 | ||
| Baron P. Hill | Indiana | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | ||
| Gwen Moore | Wisconsin | $400,000 | $400,000 | ||
| Christopher S. Murphy | Connecticut | $400,000 | $400,000 | ||
| Mike Thompson | California | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
Republicans
| Requesting Member | State | $ Secured Solo | $ Secured w/Others | Total Credited | PMA campaign $ since 2001 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David L. Hobson*# | Ohio | $3,500,000 | $3,500,000 | $70,050 | |
| Jerry Lewis | California | $4,000,000 | $4,000,000 | $8,000,000 | $34,649 |
| Rodney Frelinghuysen# | New Jersey | $2,500,000 | $4,800,000 | $7,300,000 | $29,129 |
| Ander Crenshaw | Florida | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $27,300 | |
| Zach Wamp | Tennessee | $2,800,000 | $2,800,000 | $23,900 | |
| Todd Tiahrt# | Kansas | $5,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $7,000,000 | $21,250 |
| Tom Reynolds* | New York | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $12,000 | |
| Jack Kingston# | Georgia | $4,000,000 | $2,400,000 | $6,400,000 | $11,500 |
| H. James Saxton* | New Jersey | $2,000,000 | $1,500,000 | $3,500,000 | $11,500 |
| Jo Ann Emerson | Missouri | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $11,000 | |
| C.W. Bill Young# | Florida | $16,000,000 | $4,400,000 | $20,400,000 | $10,750 |
| Howard P. “Buck” McKeon | California | $1,000,000 | $4,000,000 | $5,000,000 | $9,500 |
| Heather Wilson* | New Mexico | $6,500,000 | $6,500,000 | $9,000 | |
| Jim Walsh* | New York | $2,400,000 | $2,400,000 | $8,500 | |
| Mark Steven Kirk | Illinois | $390,000 | $390,000 | $7,750 | |
| Todd Akin | Missouri | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $7,500 | |
| Ray LaHood* | Illinois | $7,800,000 | $7,800,000 | $7,450 | |
| Jeff Miller | Florida | $1,600,000 | $2,200,000 | $3,800,000 | $7,000 |
| Duncan Hunter* | California | $15,200,000 | $15,200,000 | $6,500 | |
| Chris Cannon* | Utah | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | $6,000 | |
| Kay Granger | Texas | $3,600,000 | $3,600,000 | $6,000 | |
| Joe Knollenberg* | Michigan | $2,800,000 | $2,800,000 | $6,000 | |
| David Dreier | California | $3,000,000 | $3,000,000 | $5,000 | |
| Jim Gerlach | Pennsylvania | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $4,500 | |
| Tom Latham | Iowa | $5,150,000 | $5,150,000 | $4,500 | |
| Joe L. Barton | Texas | $2,400,000 | $2,400,000 | $4,000 | |
| J. Dennis Hastert* | Illinois | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | $3,500 | |
| Roscoe G. Bartlett | Maryland | $400,000 | $400,000 | $3,000 | |
| Peter Hoekstra | Michigan | $3,700,000 | $3,700,000 | $2,500 | |
| Howard Coble | North Carolina | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $2,000 | |
| John T. Doolittle* | California | $2,400,000 | $2,400,000 | $2,000 | |
| Kenny Hulshof* | Missouri | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | $2,000 | |
| Steve Pearce* | New Mexico | $6,500,000 | $6,500,000 | $2,000 | |
| Bill Shuster | Pennsylvania | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | $2,000 | |
| Frank A. LoBiondo | New Jersey | $1,500,000 | $1,500,000 | $1,500 | |
| Rob Bishop | Utah | $2,400,000 | $2,400,000 | $1,000 | |
| Geoff Davis | Kentucky | $6,800,000 | $6,800,000 | $1,000 | |
| Virgil H. Goode Jr.* | Virginia | $2,400,000 | $2,400,000 | $1,000 | |
| Doug Lamborn | Colorado | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000 | |
| Kenny Marchant | Texas | $2,400,000 | $2,400,000 | $1,000 | |
| Christopher Shays* | Connecticut | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | $1,000 | |
| John Sullivan | Oklahoma | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $1,000 | |
| Tom Tancredo* | Colorado | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | $1,000 | |
| Michael C. Burgess | Texas | $2,400,000 | $2,400,000 | $500 | |
| Ralph M. Hall | Texas | $2,400,000 | $2,400,000 | ||
| Doc Hastings | Washington | $1,600,000 | $1,600,000 | ||
| Sam Johnson | Texas | $1,200,000 | $1,200,000 | ||
| Todd R. Platts | Pennsylvania | $4,400,000 | $4,400,000 | ||
| Rick Renzi* | Arizona | $2,400,000 | $2,400,000 | ||
| Pete Sessions | Texas | $1,600,000 | $4,800,000 | $6,400,000 |
Wow. Can’t wait for the fallout.
Others: The Swamp, NPR, Outside The Beltway, The Washington Independent, Liberty Street, Right Wing Nut House, Betsy’s Page, Hot Air, Wizbang, Taegan Goddard’s …, Riehl World View, Sister Toldjah, Michelle Malkin and QandO
New AG Eric Holder is nothing more than a race baiting shill for the left
Maybe it is just me. But am I the only person that see’s a alarming similarity between this video here:
….and this video here: (Content Warning)
Just sayin’
Others: Weekly Standard, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, Riehl World View, The Campaign Spot, Cold Fury
Grim Local News – GM, Chrysler seek more money and will cut more jobs…
Kind of a depressing local story for me:
Video:
The Story:
Billions of dollars in government loans to prop up General Motors and Chrysler won’t be enough. The companies, which have received $17.4 billion so far, filed plans with the government more than doubling that request to a staggering total of $39 billion.
The requests, made in government-required restructuring plans filed Tuesday, were accompanied by plans for thousands more job cuts, slashing of models and brands, union concessions and the prospect of even further expense cuts.
In a dramatic acknowledgment that conditions in the U.S. auto industry have grown significantly worse in just two months, GM alone said it would cut 47,000 jobs globally by the end of the year — 19 percent of its work force. It also said it would close five more U.S. factories, although it did not identify them.
Chrysler said it will cut 3,000 more jobs and stop producing three vehicle models.
The grim reports came as the United Auto Workers union said it had reached a tentative agreement with GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. on contract changes. Concessions with the union and debt-holders were a condition of the government bailout.
GM said it could need up to $30 billion from the Treasury Department, up from a previous estimate of $18 billion. That includes $13.4 billion the company has already received. The world’s largest automaker said it could run out of money by March without new funds and needs $2 billion next month and another $2.6 billion in April.
“We have a lot of work to do,” General Motors Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said. “We’re still going at this with a great sense of urgency.”
via The Associated Press: GM, Chrysler seek billions more, to cut more jobs.
I think I’ll just refrain from public commentary on this one. There’s family, my family involved here; so, I’m totally biased. I just do not think those Conservatives who opposed this money to these companies really get it. All I am going to say. Anyone that’s read this Blog, or wants to know what I think. Do a search on “Tarp Loans” and you’ll see why I feel the way that I do.
Chuck Baldwin on Abraham Lincoln
In order to “preserve the Union,” Lincoln destroyed the very principles upon which the Union was created. His audacity is without equal. For example, to prevent a possible vote of secession by the Maryland legislature, Lincoln ordered federal troops to seize and arrest the Maryland congressional delegation. And of course, he was more than willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of America’s finest and best to destroy Jefferson’s declaration that the states of our Union are “Free and Independent States.”
I invite all those pro-Lincoln apologists out there to seriously answer this question: Does an abusive husband who beats and batters his wife have the right to force her (at the point of gun) to remain married to him? (Even the God of the Bible, Who cast marriage in the most sacred terms, recognizes the right of lawful separation.) If you answer no, how can you continue to justify Abraham Lincoln’s actions? In a political and governmental sense, that is exactly what Lincoln did. Forced union, of any kind, is slavery. In the name of emancipating slaves, Lincoln enslaved an entire nation.
It was Abraham Lincoln who, for all intents and purposes, destroyed federalism and limited government in America. In fact, on December 15, 1866, renowned British historian, Lord Acton, wrote a letter to General Robert E. Lee. In the letter, Acton said, “I deemed that you were fighting the battles of our liberty, our progress, and our civilization; and I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo.” – Chuck Baldwin on Abraham Lincoln
