Howard Dean On How Stupid You Are

Seriously, Howard?

We know what the 14th and 17th amendments say and understand what they mean.  The 14th was not intended to let illegals stay here with their anchor babies.  You can make that shit up all you want, but it's not true, Howard.  And I don't know WTF you are talking about with the 14th Amendment.  I haven't heard anyone say "get rid of it", at least not anyone who is serious about it.

"Fox Flooze"?  No bias there, Howard.  "We have a First Amendment which has served us well", but, gosh, people are too stupid now, so we will have to get rid of that whole deal.

No, Howard.  We're not stupid and we are not easily swayed (in your words "poisoned") by the media.  The Left has foisted it's bullshit on us for 50 years via the media with no outlets providing a different view.

Bring back the (un)"Fairness Doctrine"?  We know the Left's idea of "fair" and we don't like it, so bugger off, Howard.

The Cognitive Dissonance (or just outright Hypocrisy) of the Left

The left is either Dissonantly Cognitive (that'll be 25 cents for that term, please - Starman pointed it out to me) or hypocritical or in denial, or just downright stupid.  As evidence I present the following (in no particular order other than as the thought occurs to me) according to the Leftists:

• Big Government is good, Big Business is bad.  Tell that to those who were murdered by Stalin and Mao.
• Research by industry is necessarily tainted, but research funded by Big Government, Big Environmental or Big Radical is not (see above).
• People who come to this country illegally should be given immediate citizenship.  Those who come here legally must wait in line.
• Anyone who criticizes President Obama or his policies must be racist and those who referred to President Bush as Hitler were "patriots" "speaking truth to power".
• Big Government creates prosperity and Big Business only exploits "the workers".
• The only people who actually perform work are "the working class".  Anyone who is not a union member is not "working class".
• People are poor because they are underprivileged, while all the "evil rich" won some lottery.  Except leftists who are rich and poor people on the Right.  Poor people on the Right are that way because they are "stupid".
• Everyone has a right to Healthcare, but no one has a right to their earnings.
• Using X-ray scanners and pat-downs on grandma will keep us safer, but there is no reason to do so on women in burkas.
• Christians are a threat to a democratic republic, but Muslims are not.

Feel free to add more.  There are plenty of examples.

All The Troubles In the World

Greece is in trouble.  Ireland is in trouble.  The EU is in trouble.  The United States is in trouble.  In fact, according to the CIA, 14 of 15 countries in the world are in some sort of economic disarray and running government deficits.  There is little in the way of recovery in most countries.  What appears to be the common theme here?

The countries currently experiencing some sort of recovery are either rich in natural resources, like Argentina or have a cost structure unencumbered by heavy regulation and social spending.  Those countries remaining in recession or experiencing low growth and large budget deficits have governments which heavily regulate and tax and provide large social programs for their people, such as government-provided pensions and socialized healthcare.  These are also countries that have used large government spending programs, running huge deficits to extract themselves from the current economic downturn.  This has been largely unsuccessful.

In the United  States, little was put toward the private sector, but was instead directed toward bailouts of Democrat constituencies (Wall Street and unions) and public works projects.  The number of government jobs and their pay has increased while the private sector has pulled back.  Growth is anemic.  Can we now say Keynesian Economics doesn't work?

The Left loves to talk about "The failed (economic) policies of the past 8 years", but the true case here is that this is a problem with the failed socioeconomic policies of the past 50 years.  Spending on social programs by governments has become unsustainable across the globe.  High taxes, low growth, staggering deficits and heavy regulation are stifling private sector growth.

Time for some "Change You Can (really) Believe In".

Dare to DREAM (Act)

The DREAM Act is nothing more than thinly disguised amnesty.  From a summary of the bill:

Purpose

The purpose of the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act, also called the DREAM Act, is to help those individuals who meet certain requirements, have an opportunity to enlist in the military or go to college and have a path to citizenship which they otherwise would not have without this legislation. Supporters of the DREAM Act believe it is vital not only to the people who would benefit from it, but also the United States as a whole. It would give an opportunity to undocumented immigrant students who have been living in the U.S. since they were young, a chance to contribute back to the country that has given so much to them and a chance to utilize their hard earned education and talents.

Would I qualify?

The following is a list of specific requirements one would need in order to qualify for the current version of the DREAM Act.

• Must have entered the United States before the age of 16 (i.e. 15 and younger)
• Must have been present in the United States for at least five (5) consecutive years prior to enactment of the bill
• Must have graduated from a United States high school, or have obtained a GED, or have been accepted into an institution of higher education (i.e. college/university)
• Must be between the ages of 12 and 35 at the time of application
• Must have good moral character

The argument here is that the children should not have to suffer for the sins of the parents.  If that is true, then should we not end all race-based programs?  Affirmative Action should end immediately with passage of this bill.  Why should I have to suffer the sins of my ancestors if they owned slaves or slaughtered Indians by the bushel?  Right?

Right?

Krugman on Ireland

Or maybe on something a little more potent?


I am going to stipulate to Krugman's assertions of fact here.

Then the bubble burst, and those banks faced huge losses. You might have expected those who lent money to the banks to share in the losses. After all, they were consenting adults, and if they failed to understand the risks they were taking that was nobody’s fault but their own. But, no, the Irish government stepped in to guarantee the banks’ debt, turning private losses into public obligations.

Before the bank bust, Ireland had little public debt. But with taxpayers suddenly on the hook for gigantic bank losses, even as revenues plunged, the nation’s creditworthiness was put in doubt. So Ireland tried to reassure the markets with a harsh program of spending cuts.

Step back for a minute and think about that. These debts were incurred, not to pay for public programs, but by private wheeler-dealers seeking nothing but their own profit. Yet ordinary Irish citizens are now bearing the burden of those debts.

In what way does the manner in which the debt was incurred matter here?  Publicly or privately incurred, taxpayer debt is taxpayer debt and is a commerce-killer.  I will also include here that this is little different (or maybe even no different) from the Wall St. bailouts, the bailouts of GM and Chrysler, the bailouts of underwater mortgagees and "cash for clunkers".  I'm not seeing Krugman against  these.  In fact, I believe he is "for" these expenditures.

I also argue that it is not the austerity that is depressing the Irish economy, but rather the debt.  That is, without the debt, there is no need for severe austerity measures.

The lesson for the US Economy is this:  1) Reduce the debt.  2) Avoid severe "austerity" measures (of course, reducing government spending is an achievable and desirable goal) and address the root cause by reforming entitlements.  At 50%+ of the Federal Budget, they are unsustainable and will prevent the Feds from performing their Constitutionally required functions (National Defense and Interstate Commerce). 

More Stupid Children Comments

The Beer:  The Winter Ale has gone well with venison chili on this Thanksgiving Day

The Bicycle:  It is now officially the end of the bicycling season and the start of the indoor eating training season.

The VRWC:  Ruth Marcus thinks we are all stupid children.  But the most inane part of this whole article is here:

Profiling based on assumptions -- that innocent-looking grannies or blond, blue-eyed teens pose no threat -- seems guaranteed to produce disaster as terrorists exploit these pre-conceptions.


How about if we pat down women in burkahs then?


I AM depressed.


Update:  Grand Inquisitor Janet wants more.

Weiner the Wiener

Democrat Anthony Weiner thinks incoming GOP Representatives should decline the Healthcare Package because they are against Obamacare.  But the congressional Healthcare Plan is not Obamacare.  If Weiner wants to "walk the walk", he'll enroll in Obamacare instead of the "Cadillac Plan" he gets as a member of Congress.

Otherwise, he's just a Wiener.

I'm not averse to this.

For over 225 years, the peacetime mission of the Navy has been to project power overseas.  The deterrent effect of a large and powerful navy has been understood since at least the Phoenicians around 500 BC.  More recently, the British, WWI Germany, WWII Japan, the Soviets and now China and India had or are constructing blue water navies.  All the more reason for the US to project that power on the high seas.

Be Thankful Every Day

From The Chicks

Happy Thanksgiving

In spite of what we may think sometimes, there is always plenty to be thankful for.  God is good and gracious to all of us.

Kanye

Implosion.

I'm Working Because.....?

This is truly shocking.

Although I suppose it shouldn't be.

Krugman's Blood

Apparently, the Nobel-Prize-Winning Paul Krugman thinks we should"stay the curse"?

How does this end? Mr. Obama is still talking about bipartisan outreach, and maybe if he caves in sufficiently he can avoid a federal shutdown this spring. But any respite would be only temporary; again, the G.O.P. is just not interested in helping a Democrat govern.


So if the GOP moves toward the Democrats, it's "bipartisan" and if Obama moves toward the Republicans, he "caves"?  A "bipartisan" effort of greater taxing and even greater spending got us here.  If it isn't stopped, it will be worse than metaphorical "blood".  It could be real blood.  Is that what Krugman wants?

Class Act

Unlike Brent Favor, Al Harris exits Green Bay with Class.

I Believe We Warned You

Another disgusting display courtesy of the Obama Administration.

The Apocalypse Is Upon Us

Eugene Kane and I agree on something.

In this morning's column in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Mr. Kane discusses the topic of why Black boys don't get a good education.  If I am going to excoriate Mr. Kane in the past for what I considered race-baiting, I should give him credit when I see truth.

The premise is that Black boys do not get a good education because education is not a priority in their home.  To me, that has always been a no-brainer.  Look around you.  Nearly anyone who is chronically impoverished is also poorly educated.  It is the rare case where you see a PhD on food stamps.  Why are people uneducated when there is free K-12 schooling in this country?  No one of an intelligence above "impaired" (I can't think of another term at this point - it's still too early) should be uneducated.

So, Eugene Kane has identified the problem and we are in agreement.  What is the solution in the Black community?  Herein lies the main problem.  Generations of Black families in the 'hood are now uneducated and do not see education as a priority.  How is that overcome?  It is a problem for all of us, but I suggest only Black leadership will solve it; that part of Black society has long ago stopped listening to what Whitey had to say.

So, what are we left with?  Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the rest of the "poverty pimps"?

Eleven Days Post-Election

Charles Blow uses one poll to determine that Americans already have buyers remorse.  Blow and Pew miss a couple things here.  

• We didn't vote for "Republicans".  We voted for smaller government and lower spending and taxation and we voted against the President and the one-party control of the Congress.  Obamacare and the threat of Cap & Trade and "Card Check" were very big drivers.
• If the newly elected do not move in the direction of smaller government, we really are not going to care what party they belong to.  Recall how the GOP was resoundingly trounced in '06 and '08.  We will field candidates in the primaries and win.
• We want Congress to work with the President when the policy is sound.  Otherwise, I'm ok with "The Party of Hell No".

No, we don't have buyers remorse.  What we have is too many "Progressives" remain in office.  That's why I'm unhappy.

A Disappointing Jim Stingl Column

I thought Stingl was smarter than this.

Dude...really...most of us voted for Walker to kill the train.  There is no empirical evidence the train will "create thousands of jobs" over the long term. It will create a number of construction jobs that might be of more use fixing the crumbling existing infrastructure, but any long-term jobs will more likely be in the 100's. Further, the $810 million isn't going to build the project.  It might purchase right-of-way, but that will be just about all.

But the biggest issue I have with the train is this:  I can get in my car and go where I want when I want; I don't need anyone's OK (except maybe Deekawife 3.0).  On a train, I need a ticket, ID (thanks, Patriot Act), probably a search and who knows what else.  The conspiracy theorist in me says this is just a means to attempt to control the movement of the population.

We have trains.  We've HAD trains.  There is no indication this will be true "high speed".  There is no indication there is an extensive ridership for it.  The economic, but more importantly the political hurdles to building said train are enormous, especially when one begins to destroy habitat and buy up land belonging to Lefties in Madison.  Want to build it?  Get committments from property owners first, then perform the Environmental Impact Study, then come back with a REAL number for construction $$$$$$$$$$$.  in the meantime, Stingl has nothing.

Who Doesn't LOVE the Tone-Deafness of the Left?

The Beer:  The Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot is in the secondary and I hope to keg before the weekend.


The Bicycle:  When I say, "I'm only good for about 25 miles", that does NOT mean 40.


The VRWC:


Via RCP:


Katrina Vanden Heuvel goes tone-deaf for the tone-deaf, soon-to-be-former Speaker of the House.


Ms. K shills for Queen Nancy:

Pelosi knew exactly what she wanted to accomplish as speaker and she laid that agenda out clearly when I interviewed her in July 2008. Her three priority pieces of legislation—"Jobs, healthcare and energy."

And that's just what a politically diverse House Democratic caucus pulled off under her progressive leadership.

It passed a healthcare bill that included a public option, and taxed the wealthy rather than workers' benefits. And when the bill looked all but dead no one fought harder to revive it than she did. It passed a larger stimulus bill than the Senate and bolder jobs bills. And it passed an energy bill that capped carbon. In all, more than 400 House bills weren't even voted on by a meek Senate straitjacketed by the filibustering GOP and enough conservative Democratic accomplices.

Ok...here's the deal.  Nothing Pelosi did moved in the direction of jobs, making healthcare affordable or providing inexpensive and plentiful energy to the citizens of the United States.  The healthcare bill whether hers or the one finally passed did nothing to address cost.  It was and is nothing more than another attempt to buy votes with tax money.  No energy bill with a carbon cap is going to help bring about jobs.  Spain's experience has made that painfully clear as they become another EU member in a deep fiscal hole.

But one thing she didn't count on was a monolithic Party of No in the Senate. Like President Obama, she seemed to have some faith that there would be reasonable people across the aisle. "They'll have to search hard and long for some Republicans who will want to stand in the way of progress," she told me.

But she got that wrong. As a result, there is little appreciation for the legislation Pelosi managed to advance—legislation which would have moved this country forward and possibly preserved a Democratic majority in the House.

No, what Pelosi got wrong was the "Public of Hell No".  Had it not been for the public outccry over the Democrat  over-reach, certain GOP members would have gone along.  Republicans knew they were saving their own political skin by making Pelosi's Socialist agenda a combination of Kryptonite and Black Plague.

As Congress returns for its lame duck session, Pelosi can show her moxie by fighting for a stand alone extension of the middle-class tax cuts with no compromise on allowing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy to expire. She'd also be wise to expose Republican hypocrisies—like simultaneous demands for budget cuts and increased spending on an already bloated defense budget.

As the GOP is revealed for an agenda that is 80 percent indictment and 20 percent plan, Pelosi would be ready to strike as minority leader. Remember, this is the same woman who spoke out against the Iraq War resolution—citing a lack of evidence of any imminent threat—at a time when it was considered political suicide for anyone with party leadership ambitions. She would also be a savvy strategist as the Democrats work to hold the line against Republican efforts to repeal healthcare and financial reform.

"Bush tax cuts for the wealthy".  God,I am as tired of the Left's class warfare as I can be.  Who does Ms.K think pays income tax?  It ain't the freakin' poor!  Check what the National Taxpayers Union has here.  (As if the people who read this blog don't already know)  There is nothing stopping Ms.K from writing a check for an extra couple grand if she thinks the Feds need more money.  Bloated defense budget?  It is 4th in line these days, Katrina...after Social Security, Medicare and the INTEREST ON THE NATIONAL DEBT.  Of course this all depends on who you ask.  Healthcare and financial reform did nothing to help these numbers and financial reform appears to do nothing other than put the taxpayers on the hook for more risky business by Wall Street (look it up yourself.  My time is limited - I don't do this for a living).

In the end, it is Pelosi's tone-deafness that ended the "40-year reign" of the Leftists and prevented this country from falling into the European Socialist Democracy trap.  By all mean, have her lead the minority.

Obama's Hubris

The Beer:  Another concoction of leftovers named Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.  The inspiration for the name is the blog of the same name.

The Bicycle:  It's getting cold, but there are still some opportunities to ride and tomorrow morning will be one of them.

The VRWC:  Chris at Whiskey Tango Foxtrot covers this pretty well.  The Left can't understand why we don't want Big Government to "take care of us".  Therefore, we must be stupid.  After all, who doesn't like Free Stuff, right?

Veteran's Day Parade

I attended the Milwaukee Veteran's Day Parade today (with Deekawife 3.0).  It was a really great day for a parade and it was well done, except for the sparse crowd.  I got the feeling that the only ones who give a $#!7 are veterans and their families.  It was profoundly disappointing.  Attending the parade doesn't make you "pro-war".  It simply honors those who did their duty, whether you agree or not.  A veteran with Veterans for Peace was soliciting for homeless vets and while I disagree greatly with VfP, I believe they are doing good with this particular cause.

The most difficult part was the passing of the "Gold Star Families".  These are people who gave up a loved one on our behalf.  I believe this is the second greatest sacrifice after that of the person killed in service.  These deserve our unending thanks.

From TownHall:





O'Donnell understands the position the Democrat/Socialist/Liberal/Progressive movement is in.  We need to understand as well.  "Blue Dogs" are not "Conservative"....at least not in the way we on the Right see it.  They remain party-loyal and will bend as required.  this is how we got Obamacare and may still get Cap & Trade in limp dick lame duck session.  If  you are voting for Blue dogs, you are still voting for the Leftist agenda.  Just remember that.

Congress and the Ultimate Power in Government

H/T Dad29

For years (maybe 234 of them) we have made a sport of blaming the President for everything, even though we know that all laws, spending and regulation originates in the House of Representatives.  Congress has to confirm Presidential appointees (not, it appears, Czars, though).  It's just much easier to blame the President.  He signs the bills and he makes the appointments.  This is exactly why we need to keep up the pressure on Congress not only in the repeal of Obamacare, but the reigning in of regulatory agencies - there is no provision in the Constitution for delegating the making of law, but that is what Congress has done via regulation - the appointment and confirmation of judges and others by the President who hold beliefs not in line with the Constitution and in ensuring that there is a Constitutional Authority for legislation.

It starts now.  Contact your Congressman, Senator, state elected official and or his or her replacement and make sure they understand what you want.  Attend school board, city council, county board meetings.  Yes, it takes time...and you don't have to attend every meeting, but you have to be informed and active.  One without the other is useless.

It's Election Day

My second opportunity to vote for President was in 1980.  After the disappointment with having to vote for Gerald Ford and having him lose on top of it, I was excited to vote for Ronald Reagan in 1980.  This is the most excitement I've had in that long.  And in a mid-term it is the most excited I have ever been.  We have an opportunity that may never come again in my lifetime.  We can banish the leftist America-haters to the wilderness for a generation.  But this happens ONLY if we remain engaged and hold those we elect accountable for their actions.

Rand Paul wins in Kentucky.  There's a great start.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

H/T to Chris at Whiskey Tango Foxtrot:

No surprise here.  I've said before that this batch Democrats will use Limp Dick Lame Duck Session to foist as much of their Socialist agenda on us, bankrupt the country be damned.  And I promise they will come back in the 2012 campaign to claim it is our fault the economy is still in the ditch.  Conservatives need to scream about this NOW, not later.  The Democrats will do what they are going to do, but we need to be sure the electorate understands what is happening here.

Let's Not Make That Mistake

I've been watching some videos of confrontations between TEA Party members and Democrats who are incensed at their presence.  There are several of them and it is usually one lefty and a bunch of people from our side.  The Lefty goes bonkers and our side allows it.  In one in particular I saw today, a single Black man is enraged that a rally is going on in his neighborhood.  It is an excellent chance to turn someone, or at least move them along that journey.  There is a risk of violence involved, but simple enough for one person to walk up to the man and begin a rational dialog.  I've done it...in particular with a Black union member at a TEA Party rally on Milwaukee's lakefront last year.  He and other Union members were protesting.  I just engaged him.  Most people who are against us don't even know the issues.  They know what they are told by the media and others.  We cannot allow those who oppose us to control the conversation.  It is the only way we win long term.

Hearts and minds.