Here It Comes: TEA Party Under Attack

The Beer:  I am putting together a mixed  case for a fundraiser and next weekend (I think), I plan to make my first 10-gallon all-grain batch.


The Bicycle:  The Madone was in the shop for about three weeks for a warranty issue.  It is now back and I got to ride 60 miles on it today. After riding the Univega for three weeks, I remember why I bought the Madone.  Race-the-Lake is three weeks away.


The VRWC:  The TEA Party is under attack from the sock-puppet media. From Der Spiegel: Annihilating Democracy With The TEA Party.  


Democracy depends on compromise and the American government depends on all branches working together. The Tea Party movement shuns both, preferring instead to drive the state into bankruptcy. On principle.


Democracy does not depend on compromise.  Compromise is what brought us to this point.  Actually, it was more like "collusion", but you get my point.  A principled stand against more debt and in favor of reducing astronomical, wasteful spending is what Democracy is about.  For the 50 years of my life, Americans have screamed how they want principle in politics.  Here it is.  


Their Holy Grail is a stripped down state.  


This is correct.  No government in the history of the world has failed to oppress its own people when it assumed enough power.  It is clear the United States is entirely too close to that point.  The Federal government has far exceeded what was envisioned and needs to be reigned in.  


President Barack Obama wants to improve schools, whereas the Tea Party would prefer to see many state-run schools eliminated. Obama wants to invest in clean energy; the Tea Party denies the existence of climate change. The president wants to make trillions in cuts; but the Tea Party refuses to approve a dollar more in taxes, even on the very rich.


Regarding schools, the author is either ignorant of the facts or is lying.  President Obama wants to make schools more of a propaganda machine for the Left than they already are.  It is the TEA Party that wants schools to improve.  The public school system in the United States and especially in the large cities are an abject failure by any standard.


Clean energy?  I have yet to be convinced that any "clean energy" can be inexpensive, plentiful and reliable.  Cheap, abundant energy is a requirement for a successful, technologically advanced civilization.  There is no indication "green energy" can supply it.  Global Warming?  Someone still believes that?  More and more evidence is coming to light that even if there is (alleged) AGW, it is so small as to be insignificant.


Increasing taxes is unacceptable at this time.  The current talking point out of Washington is we are like a husband whose wife has lost her job.  He has to go out and get a second job to bring in more revenue.  I see it like this:  The wife loses her job, so the husband takes a second job to bring in more revenue.  But the wife spends every penny of the increased revenue and then some.  She also invites her freeloading brother and his family (think "Cousin Eddie" from Vacation) to move in.


Obama is offering trillions in cuts?  Yeah...over ten years, common referred to "out years".  These "cuts" are non-binding on future Congresses.  I call that "offering no cuts".


CNN offers more of the same.  


Expect to here more of this talking point between now and the 2012 elections.  

More Hypocrisy From the Left

This is a response I left to a comment on another blog:

You know exactly WTF I'm talking about.  Where are the anti-war demonstrators?  They dogged Bush at every turn because "War is bad for children and other living things".  "GITMO". "Illegal".  "Torture at GITMO".  "Horrible conditions".  "Evil".

Where are the demonstrators?  Where's the "No Blood For Oil"?  Or were they just hypocritical shills for the Left?  War is war, right?  If it's bad it's bad.  Right?  I said, RIGHT?  Come on, you know the words:  "Hey, hey, Ho, ho, Obama has got to go!  Ho, ho, Hey, Hey, how many kids did you kill today?"  Come on.  You know. "Shame! Shame!"

Speaking of which, let's shift gears on the hypocrisy of the Left.  Abele is using many of the same strategies to handle Milwaukee County's abysmal fiscal problems that Walker did and does.  Where are the screams for "Recall!"  No name calling?  Not even "SHAME! SHAME!"  As I recall, Abele doesn't have a college degree, does he?  College dropout as I recall.  Where is the Left on this?  Is he just automatically smart because he's a Leftist?

Want more?  I'm loaded with it.  And answer me first before starting with,"Well, Republicans are hypocrites, too".  I hear plenty of that bullshit as well.  GOP has nothing on the hypocrisy of Democrats and the Left.  Explain yourself and you side.  Hypocrites all.

The 14th Amendment

Democrats are urging the president to "invoke the 14th Amendment" to the US Constitution.  The intent here is to give the President the authority to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling.  They use the Section 4 which says:


The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.


Apparently, they miss that whole "authorized by law" part.  If Congress doesn't authorize it, it's not "authorized by law".

Nicholas Kristof Believes There Is Nothing To Cut

This is one of the most insipid pieces ever by the King of Insipidicity.

His example is the Reading is Fundamental program.  Really?  And it's only because of Republican Zealots?  The meme here is that the Democrats are the reasonable ones.  They've made concessions and the Republicans are "The Party of No".

Except it's not true.  Harry Ried is blocking any debate on Cut, Cap and Balance which is the ONLY plan out there.  The Democrats have failed to produce a budget for over 800 days.  Who are the real adults here?  Sounds like it's the GOP, but Kristof is such a partisan hack he can't bring himself to say so.  All he's got is some sob story about a reading program the Feds have no business in anyway.

Nooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please go away?

Interesting Polling

It is entirely too early to make anything of this, but it is interesting to note that "Generic Republican" beats Obama handily, but individual candidates get clobbered by Obama.

If I had to make anything of this, it would be that the individual Republican candidates have yet to communicate a clear messsage.  "The Devil you know" stuff.

Taxing Evil Big Corporations

I thought the United States didn't tax the evil corporations.

So, What Happens If....

I believe the Republicans are in a no-win on the debt ceiling.  Shut down the government and the administration will withhold Social Security checks.  Check and Mate.  The media will scream bloody murder over the Republicans starving grandma and the Indies will buy it.  Allow the debt ceiling to rise and taxes to increase and the TEA Party Wing stays home in 2012.  In addition, the Democrats and their Big Media beat the GOP over the head with that club.  The McConnell Plan may be the biggest problem.  Successful and Obama gets the credit.  Disaster (which I expect) and it's "the McConnell Plan".

The GOP might as well stick to their guns.  They're doomed anyway.

DEMOCRATS WIN DEMOCRAT PRIMARY!!!!!

Duh.


No bias at all in the article.  "Fake Democrats" or "Protest Candidates"?  Guess that depends on which side of the fence you are, but none of them ever claimed to be Democrats.


But the real bias story here is in the heralding of the Democrats winning their own primary election.  Of course they won.  Anyone expect they wouldn't?  The protest candidates didn't spend a dime on campaigning, only what it cost to enter the race.


Here is the big story, though.  The protest candidates scored huge numbers.  Gladys Huber lost to Sandy Pasche, but still pulled about 35% of the vote.  Shelly Moore was lucky to defeat her Protest Candidate opponent (55%-45%).  This does not bode well for the Democrats, IMHO.


We will see for certain in about a month.

State-Mandated Paid Sick Leave

More pixie dust and unicorn poop to pay for this?  And we wonder why we can't compete with China.

How many jobs will go away now because of this?

Free Citizen? Or Thrall? Which Do You Choose?

Some awesome stuff via Dad29.

I do not believe the government can accomplish any given task more efficiently than the private sector.  The awful record of our bankrupt State argues conclusively to the contrary.

I deny both the right and wisdom of government to “own” any industry.  Industry cannot succeed without the threat of failure, and the State never has to worry about going out of business.  Ownership is the prerogative of citizens, not the government they authorize to perform certain essential duties.

I reject the notion that a just government can exist in the absence of a strictly obeyed Constitution.  It is not an archaic document to be evaded when it interferes with the agenda of public officials.  A republic must be bound by laws that its elected representatives cannot easily change.

I deny the wisdom of the political class to achieve prosperity through economic control.  Their failure is massive and evident.  I challenge them to relinquish their control, and watch the creativity and judgment of free citizens surpass their own.

I do not believe the wealth of a free citizen belongs to the government, to re-distribute in accordance with the moral judgment of the elite. 

Much more here.

Proving a Negative

Again, the meme of "it could have been so much worse".  But it was not so much worse because it was, IMHO.

Let's take the "Major Spike in Oil Prices".  A major spike in oil prices DID happen.  At the bottom of the recession, oil fell to on the order of $30-$40 per barrel.  It peaked at over $100, fell slightly, but is on its way back up.  I'd call that a major spike (call me crazy).  The ONLY reason it is not higher is the slow economy.  And the Administration has made no real effort to improve the situation (releasing oil from the Strategic Reserve is not a "real" effort).

The Financial Panic in Europe has not happened....yet.  The Greek crisis still has the ability to sppread to the rest of Europe.  Do not count this one as "done".

Runaway Inflation is again something that has not happened only because the economy is slow.  If it heats up, expect inflation to do the same.  And food prices will not come down until two things happen:  energy prices fall and we stop mandating the use of our food supply for our fuel tanks.

I am not at all confident that the stock market is in a true uptick.  Maybe it is, but I have serious doubts.  Earnings are up slightly, but it is a short trip back into the tank with nearly 10% unemployed.

I do believe a "housing led depression" is no longer a potential scenario.  The market seems to have stabilized at some sort of bottom, but it is not rebounding much at all.  Had the feds allowed people to go to foreclosure, I believe we would be out of that part of the mess already as bargain hunters sucked up the bargains.

Read the article and make up your own mind.  On the way up?  Or stuck near the bottom?

I Do Not Believe I Will Comply

I do not plan to comply with any of the terms of Obamacare.

How about you?