Oh....THAT "Rule 5"

So, I've been following Woodsterman for a while and he often posts a "Rule 5".  I like, but what do I know from Rule 5?  So today, I make my usual stop at Legal Insurrection and end up at Reaganite Republican.  What do I find there, but a link to McCain regarding "Rule 5" and ta-daaaaaa!

Expect to see some "Rule 5" blogging here.  Especially when my mind is otherwise blank.

Hey, Odie, Dr. Jacobson, RR and McCain....show a brother some love.

The Fuzzy Goddess of Conservative Blogs

When she shoots at a target, she doesn't miss.  Here she clobbers #OWS.

Should Governor Scott Walker Be Recalled?

Go here to vote against recall for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

Wild Bill

If you have not been introduced to "Wild Bill", I think you will find him very perceptive and full of common sense....unless you are a greedy lib.




I believe that, even if we beat the Left at the ballot box, it will go to violence in the streets.  These people will not go down without a very violent fight.  History and experience bear this out.  Whether the National Socialists of Europe in the 30's, the violent American Labor movement of the 20's through the 60's or the communists or Soviet Russia, China or Southeast Asia, or the communist "democracies" of Central and South America, it has always come to violence.

OWS Shows Up In Milwaukee - A Photo Gallery

The usual suspects doing the usual stuff, Courtesy MJS.

So, let's start with the first photo:  $1 trillion in student loan debt.  Carried by none other than the oddly named "One Wisconsin Now" (OWN).  See, they only want One Wisconsin if it is in their image that is, a highly "Progressive"-to-Socialist state, run by those sympathetic to public sector unions and having no private-sector employment to speak of.  Obviously, they do not want any financial institutions and their support for onerous government regulation indicates they have no interest in manufacturing, either.  Public utilities?  Yeah, no.  Evil coal and all that.  "Wind!"  "Solar!"  Of course, if they knew what went into the manufacture of those technologies, they wouldn't like them.  But I digress.  $1 trillion in student loans, eh?  Why is this the fault of the banks?  First, no  one put a gun to anyone's head, forcing them to take loans for college.  A couple years of people who can't afford college not going to college will drive costs down significantly.  Dry up the funding.  I worked my way through college.  Saved up the money, then went.

"People Over Profits".  Just WTF does that mean?  It means the person who believes that sign has not even a basic understanding of modern economics and how business expands and employs more people.

UWM Student Taylor Bour clearly has not read Robin Hood.  In fact, she hasn't even seen the Errol Flynn/Olivia DeHavilland version of the movie (which, BTW is easily the best of the genre).  Robin Hood took excessive taxes back from the government and returned it to those from whom it was taken at the point of....well....I guess an arrow.  But, in college these days one seems to parrot what the prof says and that's about it.  No ability to think critically.

Oh...Hey,Taylor....that "corporate greed"-thingy?  Yeah, well that's where that sweet SLR camera came from.

"Social Justice"  "Make the Rich Pay Their Fair Share".  WTF is a "Fair Share"?  Is the 40-or-so percent of federal income taxes paid by the top 10% of wage earners not adequate?  Is it "fair" that some (47%) pay nothing at all?  What we are seeing here is a tipping point where those who "take" have targeted those who pay and it is open season.

The photo with the two people holding the signs regarding Walker's budget is absurd.  What was cut?  What essential services are no longer available?  No one is dying in the streets.  No one is being denied medical care.  Schools are still opening and functioning as well as ever.  (BTW, these are also OWN signs - saw similar in Madison in February.)

The absurdity of people who routinely use technology, drive cars, turn lights on and expect jobs attacking the very people who provide those things is stunning.  But this is the last gasp of the Left.  Not just here in the US, but world-wide.  They know if they can create enough chaos and use their "friends" in the press to make it look otherwise, they can still win.  We are on the cusp of either losing the Liberty of Capitalism or banishing "collectivist" thought from the United States (and the world) forever.

God....

is with you, even when you are not with Him.

The Crazier They Seem........

Fuzzy is all over this one.

Do Not Underestimate Them

It has been predicted any number of times that the Left will become more desperate and take stronger action the more they see power slipping away. The facts (at least as I see them):

• The Obama Presidency is a disaster and has done more to harm the cause of Socialism-Progressivism than anyone thought possible.
• The strength of the Union movement is falling faster than anyone expected it could.  With the loss of blue-collar manufacturing jobs, unions turned to the service sector, then teachers and government workers.  Now those, too are in danger of falling apart.
• The TEA Party rose from the disaffected Conservatives who work and live their daily lives, pay their bills and watch as those who are "connected" and those who choose to not work scam the system and rip off the taxpayer.  The irresponsible and even the nefarious are bailed out while the rest of us get to "suck it".  The corruption in government and the collusion between the government and favored industries has made the electorate decidedly unhappy.
• Social Programs have proven to be a bust.  Unsustainable and bankrupt.  The taxpayer is unwilling to continue to foot the bill.
• Regulatory agencies, accountable to no one have far exceeded their authority and the public knows it.  They are in a particularly foul mood over agencies like EPA.

The Left is in full retreat and began their last stand in Madison, Wisconsin in February of 2011.  The full force of those on the Left who feel entitled to take was on display on Capitol Square.  Their mission was to intimidate a duly elected state government into doing something other than that for which they were elected.  They failed.

They tried to prevent the re-election of a good and honest man.  They threw all their resources toward the Wisconsin Supreme Court election and behind a candidate wholly unqualified for the job.  Why?  They thought she would overturn the legal legislation signed by Gov. Walker.  They went to a county judge for an injunction on that same legislation.  One with ties to the Unions.  They got their injunction, but ultimately failed.

The Left then took to the "recall" election.  They took two seats back in the Wisconsin Senate, but overall, they failed again.  The two seats the Left was able to reclaim had little to do with the Budget Repair Bill.

They talk a good "Recall Walker" game, but it is unlikely they will get any traction.

The paid protesters of the Left have disrupted schools,  the Wisconsin State Fair and various events to attempt to smear the Governor.  They have been disrespectful to and have literally soiled the Wisconsin State Capitol.

All this has been to no avail.  The country continues to see the failure of the Progressives and their programs.

Now the Left believes they can attack the rich.  "Tax them more". "Patriotic Millionaires."  "Evil Corporations."  "Wall Street Robber Barons."  They have occupied Wall Street and threaten to disrupt our lives to an extent we have not see.  All orchestrated.  

The "Day of Rage" seems to have been organized via social networking and had little in the way of support.  I recall the news reports indicating a "few hundred" in New York and "a few dozen" at locations elsewhere.  Now the Unions and professional organizers and assorted Leftists have become involved.  Remember that these are now people who have a certain amount of power and are willing to use it.  They will resort to any type of behavior that furthers their aims.  The original protesters may be nothing more than "useful idiots".

I believe this is their last stand and ours as well.  This will be remembered as the point that the adults asserted themselves to restore sanity to the country or where we allowed the children to take over.  This may die off when the weather gets crappy.  But it may not.  The closer the 2012 election gets, the more you will see and the more violent it will become.  Any Conservative politician or candidate will be a target.  anyone who has "more" and is not on "their" side will be a target.

Count on it.

Steve Jobs Has Died

I don't have any further details, but I can tell you that the man was a visionary. From the Apple to the IIE to Mac, GUI, iPod, iPhone, iPad. Amazing devices. His vision. His politics I did not agree with, but the man was a genius in many ways.

For Some Reason,....

My last post shifted all the stuff in my sidebar down to the bottom..... I wonder if it will come back? Huh...Removed the previous post and the sidebar is back in place. Odd.

Gurda Misses The Boat

Not surprising, considering it's the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.  But I would expect better from an "historian".  Of course, it is only Milwaukee history he seems to have concerned himself with, thus having the tunnel vision of nearly 100 years of Leftist-Socialist governance of the city.


Gurda blames the TEA party folks for the current ills of the nation.  Really, John?  After a diatribe about how bad it is, how young people can't find a good paying job and how his children will do fine, he proceeds to take a number of facts and somehow tie them to the TEA Party movement.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised, though.  That seems to be the media talking point these days.  Interesting how the Democrats have the same talking points.  But there's no collusion there, I am certain.


Here Gurda grossly oversimplifies the problem, solution and TEA Party stand:

The season would seem ripe for a reassessment of American capitalism, but this time it's not the voices of the left that are being heard above the din. It's the zealots of the tea party. As the rest of us struggle for purchase in these uncertain times, the far right has already named a culprit. It's not Wall Street avarice, not systemic market shifts and not Chinese monetary policy. The problem with America, the acolytes of the tea party piously intone, is American government, pure and simple.

In fact, the movement fully understands the China problem.  Wall Street avarice?  Systemic market shifts?  All these are brought about in large part by US Government policy.

I might have missed something here, but I don't recall Obama packaging subprime mortgages for sale to trusting investors, exporting jobs to China or building condos without customers in the Arizona desert. You can blame the president for many things, but blowing up the economy isn't one of them.


No, John.   You can't blame Obama directly, but you can blame government and the Party of the Ass in particular.  The very idea that everyone "should" be able to own a home is absurd, but was a brainchild of social engineers in government.  If banks didn't provide the "correct" number of loans to minorities so they could live in whatever community they wanted regardless of income, well it must be "redlining".  Carter started it, Clinton escalated it.  And the Elephants were no better.  They allowed it and even supported it.  With Fannie and Freddie buying up every mortgage in sight, there was no risk to the lender.  The taxpayer got the tab.  


I can, indeed blame Obama, in part for sending jobs to China.  The policies of his administration from EPA to Labor and NLRB are driving jobs from this country at a pretty good clip.  His brand of crony capitalism with companies like GE and Solyndra picks winners and losers based on campaign contributions rather than merit.

 The tea party has steered an entire political party hard to the right. We now have the faintly absurd situation of billionaire Warren Buffett saying, "Tax me - please," and Republicans responding, "No, no, that wouldn't be right." The super-rich, long an object of both envy and suspicion in American life, have been re-branded as "essential job-creators." It may be worth noting that, by the end of the 1950s - a decade of robust job creation under Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican - the nation's top tax rate was 91%, compared with just 35% today.

Nothing is stopping Warren Buffett or any of the other "Patriotic Millionaires" from writing a check to the government if they feel they need to contribute more.  But the rich have ways of moving money and changing behaviors that the rest of us do not have.  And as the beast of the federal government becomes hungrier, that burden will fall on those of us in the middle (again).  Further, it is of interest to note that the "Patriotic Millionaires" have a place on their website where YOU can donate to their cause.  (You wouldn't think that would be necessary, but apparently.....you know.)  That the top tax rate in the 1950's was 91% did not mean people  paid 91%.  The effective tax rate was much, much less.

Gurda is trying to make the point that the problem is "greed".  That there are "social obligations" involved.  He is right.  But he's wrong about who is greedy.  Is it the person who earns the wage and wants to keep the fruit of his labor?  Or is it the person who does not work, but demands to be supported by that same wage earner?  

Last, the Constitution of the United States only gives the Federal Government certain enumerated powers.  If John Gurda wants the government to provide a lifetime of social services to all, he just needs to have it amended.  That's why there's a process.  But I'm sure he knows that.  After all, he's an historian.

Sheriff Clarke to Exec Abele: "Bite Me Lightweight"

RealDebate has the story.  The best part is the comment from stillUnreal.  Check it out.