How Government Prolonged the Depression

Policies that decreased competition in product and labor markets were especially destructive.

The New Deal is widely perceived to have ended the Great Depression, and this has led many to support a "new" New Deal to address the current crisis. But the facts do not support the perception that FDR's policies shortened the Depression, or that similar policies will pull our nation out of its current economic downturn.

The goal of the New Deal was to get Americans back to work. But the New Deal didn't restore employment. In fact, there was even less work on average during the New Deal than before FDR took office. Total hours worked per adult, including government employees, were 18% below their 1929 level between 1930-32, but were 23% lower on average during the New Deal (1933-39). Private hours worked were even lower after FDR took office, averaging 27% below their 1929 level, compared to 18% lower between in 1930-32. [snip]

Why wasn't the Depression followed by a vigorous recovery, like every other cycle? It should have been. The economic fundamentals that drive all expansions were very favorable during the New Deal. Productivity grew very rapidly after 1933, the price level was stable, real interest rates were low, and liquidity was plentiful. We have calculated on the basis of just productivity growth that employment and investment should have been back to normal levels by 1936. Similarly, Nobel Laureate Robert Lucas and Leonard Rapping calculated on the basis of just expansionary Federal Reserve policy that the economy should have been back to normal by 1935.

So what stopped a blockbuster recovery from ever starting?

The New Deal...

[Highly Recommended > ]

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Stimulated right into being another Europe

"Stimulus" comes from the verb "stimulare," which is Latin for "transfer massive sums of money from what remains of the dynamic sector of the economy to the special interests of the Democratic Party." No, hang on, my mistake. "Stimulare" means "to goad." And, on that front, the Democrats are doing an excellent job. They've managed to goad 58 percent of the American people into opposing the "stimulus" package. They've managed to goad all 117 Republicans in the House into unpacking their mothballed cojonesand voting against the bill. And they've managed to goad the rest of the world into ending the Obama honeymoon in nothing flat. Headline from the London Daily Telegraph:

"U.S.-EU Trade War Looms As Barack Obama Bill Urges 'Buy American.'"

That would be the provision in the Senate bill prohibiting any foreign-made goods from being used in "stimulus" projects. So, if you own a rubber plantation in Malaysia, and you're hoping for a piece of Nancy Pelosi's condom action, forget it. The EU Trade Commissioner is outraged at the swaggering cowboy Obama shooting from the hip and unilaterally banning European goods from American soil. But so are American companies such as General Electric. Bill Lane, an executive honcho with Caterpillar (the 10th-biggest U.S. investor in the United Kingdom), says,

"We are students of history. A major reason a very deep recession turned into the Great Depression was the fact that countries turned inward."

Ah, yes. The Buy American Act of 1933. How'd that work out?

[i.e., all the wrong things - despite all history to the contrary.]

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Only 5 percent of $819b plan would go toward infrastructure

WASHINGTON - Five weeks before becoming president, Barack Obama urged passage of a massive economic stimulus package, vowing that it would "create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s." But the bill passed by the House dedicates only about 5 percent of the $819 billion measure to highway, mass transit, and rail projects, analysts said.

[and almost half of the can't be started within the 18-month timeframe quoted as necessary to 'stimulus' {hence the 3% figure you'll hear}]

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33 Minutes: All Our Enemies Need to Change America as We Know It

33 minutes—about the time it takes to get a pizza delivered—is all it takes for a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile to travel halfway around the world and obliterate an American city. In less time, if detonated high above the homeland, its Electromagnetic Pulse would incapacitate everything from ATM and hospital machines to traffic lights and computers for thousands of miles. Life would never be the same.

This is not science-fiction. Recently, the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Proliferation, and Terrorism said, “Terrorists are determined to attack us again—with weapons of mass destruction if they can.” The Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack reported in 2004 that an attack from a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile would have “catastrophic consequences,” citing effects like those above felt in Hawaii after a test 1400 kilometers away in 1962.

Amazingly, some pundits say the threat of such attacks is farfetched, and our military can repel them anyway. They are wrong. Though our capabilities have come a long way in eight years, they are not enough to protect all of America. It is morally wrong to suggest that the government should settle for protecting only some of us. [snip]

The bad news is that the Obama administration has not yet made a commitment to the range of programs we need for an effective, layered system—with missile defenses on the ground, at sea, and in space.

Our new leaders need to hear that we want them to continue investing in missile defense. To help us understand what is at stake, The Heritage Foundation has produced 33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age, a high-definition documentary that spells out in plain language the growing threat, what missile defense entails, how far we’ve come, and most important, what we still need to do.

We can’t negotiate the threat away. We’ve tried. This is an inconvenient truth for those who think talking to our enemies from a position of vulnerability trumps military strength. We want protection from ballistic missiles. Anything less is abrogating their oath to uphold the Constitution and “provide for the common defense.”

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"The Pacifist is a surely a traitor to his country and humanity as the most brutal wrong doer."

-- Teddy Roosevelt

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U.S. imposes sanctions on North Korea, Iran, and China companies

Washington - The Obama administration said Monday that it had imposed sanctions on companies in North Korea, China and Iran for violating U.S. law aimed at stopping the spread of missiles and other weapons technology.

The penalties were the first of their kind from the new U.S. administration and signaled a willingness to continue the Bush administration's tough stance on weapons proliferation.

[it does seem that 'the more things change...']

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Who's Sorry Now?

Iran's president wants an apology from the United States for its past policies toward Tehran.

"Those who say they want change, this is the change they should make: They should apologize to the Iranian nation and try to make up for their dark background and the crimes they have committed against the Iranian nation."

Been there, done that. President Clinton apologized at a state dinner on April 12, 1999, saying Iran

"has been the subject of quite a lot of abuse from various Western nations. And I think sometimes it's quite important to tell people, look, you have a right to be angry at something my country or my culture or others that are generally allied with us today did to you 50 or 60 or 150 years ago."

As the Los Angeles Times recounted on March 18, 2000, the Clinton administration in its final year positively groveled before the mullahs in the proud tradition of Jimmy Carter. Carter, recall, helped bring them to power out of concern for human rights violations by the pro-Western regime led by the Shah of Iran.

Iran has never apologized for holding 52 Americans hostage for 444 days after Iranian thugs stormed the American Embassy in Tehran. It has never apologized for being a state sponsor of terror or for developing a nuclear weapon to destroy Israel while failing to cooperate with the United Nations.

Past American timidity toward Iran has not exactly instilled fear in the mullahs that threaten us and helped place us and our allies at risk. President Obama has an opportunity to avoid the mistakes of his Democratic predecessors and to make it clear that it's the Iranians who have some 'splaining to do, not us.

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Cyprus stops ship to check for arms cargo

Nicosia - Cypriot authorities have detained a vessel from Iran and are investigating whether it was carrying an illegal cargo of weapons, diplomatic sources said on Friday. It was unclear where the ship was destined. Israel's Haaretz newspaper said the vessel was loaded with weapons and heading to Syria when it was intercepted. (Snip) Cyprus had acted after Israel and the United States requested that the vessel be stopped.

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Former USS Cole commander criticizes Obama on Guantanamo

The former commander of the USS Cole, the American war ship that was struck by a suicide boat in Yemeni waters more than eight years ago, on Thursday slammed President Barack Obama's orders to close the Guantanamo detention center and reassess the prisoners being held there.

''We shouldn't make policy decisions based on human rights and legal advocacy groups. We should consider what is best for the American people, which is not to jeopardize those who are fighting the war on terror — or even more adversely impact the families who have already suffered loses as a result of the war."

R etired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Kurt Lippold said in a telephone interview. Lippold was responding to the decision by a U.S. military judge in Guantanamo to reject a request by Pentagon lawyers to delay next week's scheduled arraignment of Abd el Rahim al Nashiri, a Saudi Arabian who's charged with helping orchestrate the October 2000 suicide bombing of the Cole. The bombing killed 17 U.S. sailors.

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Beware Of CAIR

In the latest setback, a "Dear Colleague" letter sent out to every House member warns lawmakers and their staffs to "think twice" about meeting with CAIR officials.

"The FBI has cut ties with them," ... "There are indications" CAIR has links to Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group.

The letter, signed by the head of the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus, is attached to an article by a homeland-security news service. It reports that the FBI has been canceling outreach events across the country with CAIR, following a recent directive from headquarters to cut ties with the group.

CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad, moreover, was caught on tape participating in a meeting with Hamas leaders to disguise payments as charity. During the trial, the FBI described CAIR as a front group for Islamic extremists.

It's a major policy shift at the FBI, which has appeased the notoriously litigious CAIR since 9/11. The group aggressively attacks critics with threats of boycotts and discrimination lawsuits.

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Nato wary of Russian treaty plan

Russia is pushing for a new "treaty on European security" to govern East-West relations, arguing that Nato is a Cold War relic.
Nato officials say such a treaty would weaken the alliance and reward Russian "aggression".

The proposal also contained what could be seen as a veiled threat. Russia wants a new agreement on "comprehensible" rules of the game, "to avoid having to rely exclusively on national means... to ensure security".

Nato strategists are worried at the growing list of what they see as belligerent Russian actions:

• Its seizure of territory in Georgia and unilateral recognition of breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia
• Its latest use of natural gas as a political tool this month, aimed at least partly at discrediting Ukraine as a would-be Nato member
• What US officials say is Russia's abandonment of democracy

A western diplomat at the Wilton Park meeting responded acidly that Russia had trampled on the rules of international conduct by its military action in Georgia, and was now demanding the West's acceptance of that violation as a condition of further dialogue.

"Russia's action in Georgia was no aberration. It may have become the norm."

"Russia is aggressively trying to establish its sphere of influence and to rewrite the rules based on Russian national interest, not on international rules."

But some European leaders have voiced sympathy with Russia's call for a new security set-up - notably France's President Nicolas Sarkozy. Mr Sarkozy gave further encouragement to the Russians by saying that the US missile defence system would not help Europe's security, and might harm it.

Russia has also let it be known that it wants to build a naval base for its warships on the Black Sea in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, which would break last year's ceasefire accord again.

And Russia is still refusing to let OSCE military monitors return to South Ossetia to restore an international security presence there, six months after the fighting.

The issue could be politically explosive for Nato. A national security adviser to Polish President Lech Kaczynski, Witold Waszczykowski, said at Wilton Park that Russia's security treaty idea was aimed at "the dissolution of Nato". Poland, he added, would block any high-level meeting to discuss it.

"Russia must not have a veto on which countries can join Nato. If we concede that we're finished."

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Trade versus Protectionism

There's a growing anti-trade sentiment in our country. Much of the dialogue is grossly misinformed. Let's try to untangle it a bit with a few questions and observations. First, does the U.S. trade with Japan and England? Put another way, is it members of the U.S. Congress trading with their counterparts in the Japanese Diet or the English Parliament? An affirmative answer is pure nonsense. When I purchased my Lexus, I had nothing to do with either the Japanese Diet or the U.S. Congress. Through an intermediary, a Lexus dealer, I dealt with Toyota Motor Corporation.

While it might be convenient to speak of one country trading with another, such aggregation can conceal a lot of evil, particularly when people call for trade barriers. For example, what would be a moral case for third-party interference, by either the Japanese Diet or the U.S. Congress, with an exchange between me and Toyota Motor Corporation? Some might reason that since Japan places restrictions on U.S. products entering their country, an appropriate retaliatory measure is not to allow Japanese products to freely enter the U.S. By the way, Japanese protectionist restrictions on rice imports force Japanese consumers to pay three or four times the world price for rice.

How much sense does it make for Congress to retaliate against Japan by imposing restrictions on their products thereby forcing American consumers, say Lexus buyers, to pay higher prices? Should our rule be: If one country screws its citizens we should retaliate by screwing our citizens?

[and that's the part the anti-Wal-Mart crowed always forgets: we are all, i.e. 100% of us, consumers - hence our supposed 'consumer based society'. While good paying jobs are good for those that can get them (read education or unions), good prices on goods benefit the entire society. It's the larger half of the prosperity equation for most people, so when the trade protectionists start their shtick know that they're protecting a few privileged jobs at the expense of higher prices for everyone else. - Recommended > ]

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Governors Against State Bailouts

As governors and citizens, we've grown increasingly concerned over the past weeks as Washington has thrown bailout after bailout at the national economy with little to show for it. In the process, the federal government is not only burying future generations under mountains of debt. It is also taking our country in a very dangerous direction -- toward a "bailout mentality" where we look to government rather than ourselves for solutions.

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We show tolerance to 'gays' and get tyranny in return

If I never again had to read or write a word about homosexuals, I would be very happy. I really don't want to know what other people do in their bedrooms. But these days they really, really want us all to know. And, more important, they insist that we approve. No longer are we allowed to keep our thoughts to ourselves, while being polite and kind.

We are forced to say that we think homosexuality is a good thing, that homosexual couples are equal in all ways to heterosexual married couples. Most emphatically, we are compelled to agree that homosexual couples are just as good at bringing up children as the children's own grandparents. Better, in fact.

Many people who believe nothing of the kind now know that their careers in politics, the media, the Armed Services, the police or schools will be ruined if they ever let their true opinions show. I am sure that many of them regularly lie about their views, to avoid such trouble.

We cringe to the new Thought Police, like the subjects of some insane, sex-obsessed Stalinist state, compelled to wave our little rainbow flags as the 'Gay Pride' parade passes by. You think I exaggerate the power and fury of these forces? [snip]

The family involved in the adoption case have been treated shamefully.

...what about a powerless pair of grandparents in Edinburgh, their grandchildren's lives shipwrecked by the multiple horrors of our 'liberated' society? First, their daughter ends up as a drug abuser, like so many others in a country which permits the endless promotion of drug use by rock stars and refuses to punish the possession of narcotics, the only measure that would work.

Then, when they seek to look after her children, they are first insultingly informed that they are too old, and that their minor illnesses disqualify them from the task. Heaven help any employer who dared 'discriminate' in this fashion. But the new Thought Police are oddly exempt from their own rules.

Next, the grandparents are informed that the children are to be put into the care of a homosexual couple. And - this is the crucial moment - they are warned in the most terrifying terms that if they object to this arrangement they will never see their grandchildren again... [snip]

This is the action of a tyranny in operation, especially the use of children to blackmail their parents and grandparents. People who can do this can do anything.

Isn't it amazing to reflect that this campaign began in the name of tolerance?

[this is the natural, unavoidable evolution of governmental 'social engineering' - the reversing of which usually requires {if history is any guide - and it's the only guide we have} bloodshed. Better, perhaps, to prevent it from happening in the first place?]

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UPDATE: Tycoon backs grandparents fighting gay adoption bid
A multi-millionaire is funding a legal challenge to halt the controversial adoption of two young children by a gay couple.(Snip) a top law firm has been instructed to help the grandparents of the children, whom social workers ruled were too old, at 46 and 59, to offer a loving home.(Snip)‘Allowing two men to adopt children against the wishes of their grandparents who want to care for them is positively wicked.’
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Proposals would let licensed owners tote guns more easily

AUSTIN — Michael Guzman, a 25-year-old Texas State University senior and Marine veteran, takes his Kimber Ultra Carry II handgun just about everywhere he goes. Except to school.

Texas lawmakers, how ever, are crafting ways to allow licensed handgun owners to tote their guns more easily. One proposal would let guns be carried on campuses, and another would allow licensed handgun owners to openly brandish their guns in public.

Together, the two issues are likely to be the most contentious gun-related laws of the session.
State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, is preparing the campus concealed-carry gun measure. He calls it a “safety protection bill” for students and faculty.

“I don’t want to wake up one morning and hear on the news that some madman went on a Texas campus and picked off Texas students like sitting ducks,” Wentworth said. “I’m doing what I can to prevent that from happening in Texas.”

A national debate over guns on college campuses was sparked almost two years ago after the fatal shootings of 32 students at Virginia Tech. [during which the shooter casually reloaded his weapons safe in the knowledge he was the only person there armed.]

Since then, 17 states have introduced legislation to let students and faculty pack heat on campus.

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Climate change’s Antarctic ruffle

[as promised {i.e., the perfect track record of all AGW 'studies' being debunked over time} - albeit much faster than I expected {probably due to who the author of the report is}]

For two decades now, those predicting climate-change catastrophe have been frustrated by skeptics who ask, “If carbon dioxide is warming the planet, why does the data show Antarctica to be cooling?” Until last week, the doomsayers had all manner of complicated explanations but no slam dunk answer. Now, thanks to a new study published last week in Nature magazine, the doomsayers obtained the answer they sought — proof that any fool can understand. The bottom line: Antarctica is in fact warming, just like the rest of the planet.

The press seized on the findings. “Antarctica is warming, not cooling: study,” announced a Reuters headline. “Global warming hits Antarctica,” stated CNN. “Antarctica joins rest of the globe in warming,” said the Associated Press. But this study in Nature leaves many unimpressed, including top scientists from the doomsayer camp.

One week after the study’s release, it is clear this study does nothing to explain the enigma of a cooling Antarctica.

The Nature authors had a daunting challenge. For one thing, the U.S. government has maintained a scientific base at the South Pole since 1957 at which temperatures have been continuously measured. The temperature readings show a cooler climate over the past half century. For another, various weather stations in Antarctica record cooler temperatures. Moreover, satellite readings of temperatures above Antarctica show a cooling trend.

How do Mann and the other scientists involved in the Nature study now conclude that Antarctica is warming when actual temperature readings show it is not? Antarctica’s weather stations cover a small fraction of the continent. Where data doesn’t exist, Mann makes various assumptions, then deduces Antarctic temperatures over the last 50 years with the 'help' of computer models.

More computer modeling. [snip]

Michael Mann and Nature are not new to political controversy, or dubious science. The two collaborated before — in publishing what became known as the hockey-stick graph. This graph — which showed the 1990s to be the hottest decade of the hottest century of the last thousand years — became one of the most publicized facts of the year when it was published. Then the hockey stick became slapstick as it became an object of ridicule: Mann’s statistical techniques were shown to be entirely invalid and Mann was shown to have lacked the statistical knowledge demanded by the study. Mann and Nature refused to make public the data used to produce the graph, Nature refused to publish a response rebutting the hockey stick graph and Nature’s peer review process was shown to be a sham.

It took years, and a U.S. Congressional committee, to finally resolve the dispute, to Mann’s and Nature’s shame. Mercifully, the verdict over the latest offering from these two is seeing a speedier resolution.

[How does one write chutzpah in scientific notation? Sadly amazing: Mann was flat-busted when finally forced to share his hockey-stick method data (which he refused to submit to peer-review for five years, while the IPCC and MSM flamed it world wide), which was immediately shown to be mathematical nonsense - the best example being that inputting random numbers for temperature histories still result in a hockey-stick outcome.

Unfortunately, it's deja vu all over again: yeah the realists are reviewing any claim Mann makes a.s.a.p., but as you see the MSM is again flaming it - as fact, without caveat or context - all over and we all know how hard they'll work at retracting/correcting the story as peer review tears it apart. I think that's why Mann has done it again - he and his ilk know they need only make the immediate headline splash and rely on the MSM to flame the 1st half of the story and ignore the 2nd. Voila: TV news watchers hear only more 'proof' of global warming. Recommended > ]

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The case for drilling in ANWR

I AM DISMAYED THAT

LEGISLATION HAS AGAIN BEEN INTRODUCED

in Congress to prohibit forever oil and gas development in the most promising unexplored petroleum province in North America -- the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in Alaska.

Let's not forget: Only six months ago, oil was selling for nearly $150 per barrel, while Americans were paying $4 a gallon and more for gasoline. And today, there is potential for prices to rebound as OPEC asserts its market power and as Russia disrupts needed natural gas to Europe for the second time in three years.

Americans, when apprised of the facts, became supporters of responsible oil and gas drilling in Alaska. So, I want to remind our national leaders of this promise and make the case against this legislation:

•Oil from ANWR represents a huge, secure domestic supply that could help satisfy U.S. demand for more than 25 years.

•ANWR sits within a 20 million-acre refuge (the size of South Carolina), but thanks to advanced technology like directional drilling, the aggregated drilling footprint would be less than 2,000 acres (about one-quarter the size of Dulles Airport). This is like laying a 2-by-3-foot welcome mat on a basketball court.

•Energy development is quite compatible with the protection of our wildlife and their habitat. For example, North Slope caribou herds have grown throughout more than three decades of oil development.

•ANWR development would create hundreds of thousands of good American jobs, positively affecting every state by providing a safe energy supply and generating demand for goods and services.

•Development here would reduce U.S. dependence on unstable, dangerous sources of energy, such as the Middle East, and would decrease our huge trade deficit, a large percentage of which is directly attributable to oil imports.

•Incremental ANWR production would help reduce energy price volatility. Previous price disruptions demonstrate how even relatively low levels of oil production influence world prices.

•Federal revenues from ANWR -- cash bids, leases and oil taxes -- would help reduce the multitrillion-dollar national debt, and we'd circulate U.S. petrodollars in our own country instead of continuing to send hundreds of billions of our dollars overseas, creating jobs and stronger economies in other countries. [snip]

Energy-producing countries are rapidly gaining world power. Several of these countries have objectives and value systems that are antithetical to U.S. interests. Washington politicians should be horrified as we become increasingly dependent on these insecure, foreign sources while our transfer of petrodollars finance activities that harm America and our economic and military interests around the world.

If we don't move now to enact a comprehensive energy policy that includes domestic oil and gas production, including ANWR, we will look back someday and regret that we failed to perceive a critical crossroads in the history of America. It's not overly dramatic to say our nation's future depends on the decisions made by the federal government over the next few months.

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Daschle Care

The $819 billion “stimulus bill” passed by the House includes $1.1 billion that has nothing to do with economic growth and everything to do with letting government control your medical decisions: House Democrats propose to spend taxpayer dollars researching which medical services work best. (Snip) the economic argument for taxpayer-funded comparative-effectiveness research is shaky, and experience suggests that it will fail to achieve any savings.

[more plainly, it's double-speak for service rationing - government style]

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Colombia’s drug mafias shift bases to Mexico: Official

Bogota Colombia’s drug mafias have shifted bases to Mexico after their networks busted in the country, EFE reported. Colombia’s National Police Chief Gen. Oscar Naranjo said the drug trade’s ‘centre of gravity’ has shifted to Mexico after Colombia tightened its grip on drugs cartels in recent years.

[well this is a 'good news/bad news' story...]

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My Day On Campus: No 'Out' Republicans Among Budding Media Professionals

The future of a media dominated by left-leaning professionals seems assured. At least, it is if my experience addressing an Ithaca College course today is any indication. Professor Wenmouth Williams, Jr. kindly invited me in to address two sections of his course on media and politics at Ithaca College's Park School of Communications.

Prof. Williams—who identified himself as a registered Dem—couldn't have been nicer or more gracious, and gave me absolute free rein. After I spent a few minutes at the beginning of each section discussing NewsBusters and related subjects and offering my general take on the MSM and the elections, the students and I spent the rest of the hour exchanging ideas and generally talking politics. [snip]

... of all the students who expressed a presidential preference—and many did—every single one supported Obama. Not one student identified himself as a McCain supporter or Republican.

Prof. Williams tells me that, based on their written assignments, there are some Republicans among the students. But they are rare, and he [the professor] acknowledged that they are reluctant to express themselves openly, for fear of recriminations from their classmates.

Remember, these are media professionals in training. Ithaca College has a solid reputation, and an excellent record in placing people in the field. The students I met with today are the folks who in years to come will be producing and directing MSM shows and working at newspapers across the country.

And so the MSM goes . . .

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Obama acts for unions

President Barack Obama issued a series of executive orders today that he said should “level the playing field” for labor unions in their "struggles" with management.

“I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem. To me, it’s part of the solution,” he said. “You cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement."

James Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who attended the White House ceremony with other union leaders, said:

“It’s a new day for workers. We finally have a White House that is dedicated to working with us to rebuild our middle class. Hope for the American Dream is being restored."

The president and vice president said the task force includes Cabinet departments whose work has the most influence on the well-being of the country’s middle class, including the departments of education, commerce, health and human services and

He pledged that the task force will conduct its business in the open, and announced a Web site, www.astrongmiddleclass.gov, for the public to get information.

[Middle class?. Union membership in the private sector is 12%. We've a middle class of 12%? Insulting, but likely to work if they just say it often enough. How can anyone look at American auto makers and see labor unions as part of the solution? {rhetorical, he knows better - but a debt's a debt}. BTW:]

He also announced that the panel’s first meeting will be Feb. 27 in Philadelphia and will focus on environmental or “green jobs.”

[joy]

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Shocking Headline: 'Why the Bush Years Weren't So Bad'

Here's a headline I bet you'd never imagine seeing in a mainstream publication:

Why the Bush Years Weren't So Bad

Huh? Come again?

Yep. Counter to the doom and gloom regularly espoused by today's so-called journalists, things really aren't anywhere near as bad as what's being advertised.

So says economics professor Steven Landsburg in an article surprisingly published by the Atlantic Friday:

After adjusting for inflation, the average American earns about $2500 a year more today than on the day of W's second inaugural. That same average American now spends a little less time at the office or on the assembly line, and a little more time on vacation or on the couch. He or she shops online for products that were unimaginable just four years ago. (How many of you read this morning's paper on your Kindle or iPhone?) The air is cleaner than it was a decade ago and life expectancy is up.

Read the whole marvelous piece for a refreshing take on the current economy you likely haven't heard in a very long time.

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Christians haven't got a prayer in 'diversity' Britain...

Nurse Caroline Petrie has been suspended and could even be struck off. What was her offence? Did she turn up drunk? Did she dispense the wrong medicine or forget to empty a bedpan? Was she knocking out prescription drugs to the local pusher? Perhaps she was guilty of neglect, of deliberate cruelty, or of practising a bit of freelance euthanasia?

No. Her 'crime' was to offer to say a prayer for one old lady on the ward. It's what we used to call an act of Christian charity.

But that was enough to bring her to the attention of the 'diversity' nazis at the North Somerset Primary Care Trust.

The next day she got a call from her 'co-ordinator' telling her not to report for work and informing her that her disgraceful behaviour was the subject of a disciplinary hearing.

[the problem, you see, is that in Britain all health care is run by the government...]

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A How-To Lesson For Left-Wing, Old Media Bias

Once in a while there is a short piece spewed forth by some Old Media outlet or another that is so perfect as a primer of left-wing bias 101 that I just have to share it. In this case we have the Telegraph writing on the story, covered here a few days ago, where Barack Obama found himself confused by an outside glass panel he mistook for a door at the White House. Michael M. Bates compared the bemused and easy treatment that the confused Obama received to the vicious attacks that Bush suffered when he was similarly confused by a door that wouldn't open in China in 2005.

Bates wondered aloud if Obama would see the same sort of hateful attacks on his intelligence that Bush was served up by the ignorati in the media in 2005. We have since seen the answer to Bates' question. Obama has been given a pass. The Telegraph's treatment of the story, though, is such a perfect example of the subtle, left-wing bias used to excuse anything a lefty does while still attacking every one else that it really must serve as exhibit "A" in the battle against Old Media bias...

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Even left now laughing at Global Warming

So-called "global warming" has shrunk from problem to punch line. And now, Leftists are laughing, too. It's hard not to chuckle at the idea of Earth boiling in a carbon cauldron when the news won't cooperate:

-- Nearly four inches of snow blanketed the United Arab Emirates' Jebel Jais region for just the second time in recorded history on January 24. Citizens were speechless. The local dialect has no word for snowfall.

-- January saw northern Minnesota's temperatures plunge to 38 below zero, forcing ski-resort closures. A Frazee, Minnesota dog-sled race was cancelled, due to excessive snow. Snow whitened Surf City, North Carolina's beaches. Days ago, ice glazed Florida's citrus groves.

-- Commentator Harold Ambler declared that Gore "owes the world an apology for his actions regarding global warming." He called Gore's assertion that "the science is in" on this issue "the biggest whopper ever sold to the public in the history of mankind."

As Earth faces global cooling, both troglodyte Right-wingers and lachrymose Left-wingers find Albert Gore's simmering-planet hypothesis increasingly hilarious.... [snip]

"The so-called 'consensus' on man-made global warming is not holding up," Senator James Inhofe (R -- Oklahoma) told his colleagues January 8.

So-called "global warming" has accomplished the impossible: It has united liberals and conservatives in laughter.

[Sorry to rain on the parade {and yes, I am enjoying this}, but public awareness means nothing when you've a government bent on seizing the power this scam represents...]

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