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.

Clarity. Courtesy of RealDebate

RealDebate posted an excerpt from Folkbum today that gave me considerable clarity.

It's a neat little package.  You have those who define "intellectual" making their intellectual lives quite easy.  By defining those with different beliefs and opinions as "stupid", there is no need for any mental gymnastics, no need for critical thought.  It's all wrapped up in a nice, neat little package called, "stupid".

After all, why go to the work of coming to a logical conclusion if you don't have to.  After all, you're "intellectual".

More Herman Cain

Althouse wanted to talk about Herman Cain after his straw poll win in Florida.  My comments (typos and all):


I have met Herman Cain, shook his hand, looked him in the eye and was able to ask pointed questions at a TEA Party rally in Sheboygan last year.  He's the Real Deal.  absolutely, positively the one we are looking for on the Right.  He is inspirational, smart, street smart and capable of filling his cabinet and "kitchen cabinet" with the right people.  Remember that Reagan's success was his Big Ideas and hiss ability to communicate.  But Reagan also surrounded himself with the right people for the policies he wanted to implement.


I care not that Cain is Black.  I care not that he has held no elective office (neither did George Washington).  I care that he has the right values and principles and policies to make the United States of America great again.


Further, I agree with commenter " Pogo": "I see little evidence that experience in public office offers much more than training in featherbedding and corruption."

College and Debt

Sarah Jaffe at Alternet laments the gigantic debt incurred by college students.  Where she fails is in placing blame.  Never getting to the heart of the matter (which I will get to later), she blames the collection agency after the student defaults.

Now, I have some personal experience with college and with student loans.  I went to college later in life (I started at 31) and was able to  pay via GI Bennies.  They ran out, thanks to the transition from Vietnam-era benefits and the current system (thanks, Democrat-controlled Congress - I still had 36 months of eligibility left).  But I had the ability to go back for a year to the high-paying job I left to go to college (another story for another time).  Not everyone has that ability.  I get that.

But here's the deal:  we subsidize both public and private colleges and universities through both scholarships and the federal student loan program.  There is no incentive for these institutions to contain costs.  From a cultural standpoint, there is a belief in this country that everyone should go  to college.  Consequently, many are admitted who are unprepared.  But no matter, the Feds will provide a loan, either way.    And since those loans are generally means-tested, the loans go to those least able to pay them back.  Is it any wonder the massive student loans go into default?

To blame the collection agency and claim that students should just not bother to repay is absurd.  Let's work on the root of the problem.

At What Point....

...is Obama responsible as President of the United States?  Does the Buck ever stop with Him?  Apparently, never according to Bill Keller in the Obama mouthpiece formerly known as The New York Times.

I can't fathom the intellectual dishonesty required to come up with this stuff.  The Democrats still own two-of-three branches of the government.  For two full years, Republicans had no ability to stop anything.  Obama has been president for nearly three years.  And the current economy is the fault of Bush and the Republicans?

Obama has done exactly nothing.  Her has led no legislative agenda, made no attempt at any kind of bipartisan compromise ("I won".)  He has never considered any program or legislation set forth by the GOP.  He has demagogued Republican efforts at budgetary sanity.  He has fomented Class Warfare and taken the fight to his political enemies using the power of government.  His use of OFA and worse, DOJ in Wisconsin is an abuse of power not seen in my lifetime....and I lived through Nixon.

Keller completely misreads the rise of the TEA Party.  It is not a "toxic legacy" of  George Bush, but rather "the adults in the room".  We are the only ones who understand that government spending will never bring prosperity....ever.  We are mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren.  Madison would have been a TEA Party activist.  Clearly Keller has never read Madison.

The sycophants on the Left still read NYT and are in lockstep with Keller.  I guess they are not part of the 18%-plus who are unemployed/underemployed.

Butt The F**k Out

Hey, Michelle:  Butt the f**k out of our lives.  who the f**k do you think you are?  You're as big a thug as your husband.  Strong-arming private business to meet your agenda.  STFU.  Witch with a capital "B".