Thursday, March 19, 2009
So Many Democrats, So Much Phony Outrage
[HT:NP]
As members of the House Financial Services Committee prepared to question AIG’s chief executive, Edward Liddy, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R., Tex.) invoked the famous line from Casablanca: “I’m shocked — shocked! — to find that gambling is going on in here!” (snip)
U.S. lawmakers are now feigning outrage over the $165 million in bonuses paid by AIG to its executives — even though Congress voted to make such bonuses legal...
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CBS Covers AIG Bonuses, No Mention of Chris Dodd Amendment Protecting Them
At the top of Wednesday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez interviewed Democratic Congressman Barney Frank about upcoming hearings on bonuses AIG gave to top executives after receiving government bailout money:"And who in the government didn't vet this company well enough before it gave the money to address the issue of bonuses...So who's responsible here in government? You said the Federal Reserve did this."
Frank replied:"In September, Mr. Bernanke, as the head of the Federal Reserve, came to us and said 'we think we have a terrible problem here, we are going to provide $85 billion to AIG. That's -- that was the decision it wasn't anything that Congress had any say over."
Rodriguez did not challenge Frank’s assertion that the Democratic Congress was not involved, failing to ask the Massachusetts Congressman about the role his Senate colleague, Connecticut Democrat Chris Dodd, played in allowing AIG executives to keep their bonus money.
On Tuesday, Fox Business reported:"While the Senate was constructing the $787 billion stimulus last month, Dodd added an executive-compensation restriction to the bill. The provision, now called ‘the Dodd Amendment’ by the Obama Administration, provides an "exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009" -- which exempts the very AIG bonuses Dodd and others are now seeking to tax."
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A Shotgun-Marriage Proposal
Is it really necessary for taxpayers to spend another dime on the TARP?
We’ve already committed $700 billion, half of which was spent under Pres. Bush and half of which is coming under Pres. Obama. And now, as we wait with baited breath for Treasury-man Tim Geithner’s detailed plan to purchase bank toxic assets, the TARP could rise by another $1 trillion or more.
But we may not need it at all. Here’s why:
Out of the blue, bank stocks mounted an impressive rally this week, jumping nearly 40 percent on the S&P financial list. One after another, big-bank CEOs like Vikram Pandit of Citi, Ken Lewis of BofA, and Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan are telling investors they will turn a handsome profit in the first quarter, their best money gain since 2007. This is big news. And it triggered the first weekly stock gain for the Obama administration. [snip]
Here’s the second big point: Instead of spending a trillion TARP dollars to rescue toxic assets, why not ease or liberalize mark-to-market accounting rules? You see, banks still have a bunch of underwater toxic assets on their balance sheets. And unless the SEC or someone in Washington changes these rules, the banks may have to erase their new cash-flow-rich profit margins by marking down the value of mortgage- and consumer-related loans. [snip]
So let’s have a shotgun marriage. Let’s wed the upward-sloping yield curve with mark-to-market reform. It sure beats another trillion in taxpayer dough, or a federal takeover of our biggest banks.
It all seems like such a simple solution.
[Ah, but that would transfer power from government to the markets - that's 'off script' Larry - you should know better.]
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The Great Betrayal
On this sixth anniversary of America's invasion of Iraq, there is finally a consensus among supporters and opponents that we’ve won the war. The surge that Bush launched and Democrats opposed has been successful and, as a result, Iraq has become a Middle Eastern democracy, an anti-terrorist regime, and an American ally. It would be hard to imagine a more remarkable turnabout or a more comprehensive repudiation of conventional political wisdom.
Yet this has not led to a comparable reappraisal by critics of the war of their previous attacks, or to any mea culpas by Democrats who launched a scorched earth campaign against the president who led it, and continued it for five years while the war dragged on. The Democratic attacks on the war described America’s commander-in-chief as a liar who misled his country and sent American soldiers to die in a conflict that was unnecessary, illegal and unjust. This made prosecution of the war incalculably harder while strengthening the resolve of our enemies to defeat us.
Dissent is legitimate in wartime, but the Democratic Party’s opposition to this war went far beyond dissent into unprecedented territory. Fortunately, the Bush administration was able to retrieve its own mistakes and its domestic opponents to win a war that Democrats said was unwinnable and (despite their own authorization) shouldn’t have been fought in the first place. But it was no thanks to the Party that now occupies the White House that this American war was won.
It is time to re-evaluate the words and actions of the war’s opponents in the stark light of a history that proved them wrong.
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Losing Support for Afghanistan
As I’ve previously noted in this space, the situation in Afghanistan is not nearly as dire as the press reports would have it. This is hardly an unwinnable war. In fact, with only a relatively modest addition of resources we can make substantial gains.
But that message isn’t getting through to the American people. The new USA Today/Gallup poll finds support for the war effort hitting a new low:
In the poll taken Saturday and Sunday, 42% of respondents said the United States made “a mistake” in sending military forces to Afghanistan, up from 30% in February. … Those who said the war is going well dropped to 38% in the latest poll, the lowest percentage since that question was asked in September 2006.
Those findings are cause for concern, though hardly for panic. After all, a far higher percentage of the public had soured on the Iraq War before the turnaround started in 2007. And this time the legislative and executive branches are in the hands of the same party so that, assuming President Obama remains resolute, he should be able to carry Congress with him.
Nevertheless, this poll suggests how much more Obama needs to do to rally the public behind his increasing commitment in Afghanistan —
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Why Sanctions Aren't Working on Iran...
.
1] Russian media: Defense official confirms S-300 sale to Iran
Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday that a top defense official confirmed Russia had indeed signed a contract to sell S-300 air-defense missiles to Iran, but that none of the weapons had been delivered.
Russian officials have consistently denied claims that it already provided some of the powerful missiles to Iran, and had not clarified whether a contract existed.
Supplying the S-300s to Iran would markedly change the military balance in the Middle East...
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2] Iran signs $3.2-billion natural gas deal with China
Beirut -- Iran announced a $3.2-billion natural gas deal with China on Saturday, a move that underscored the difficulty of using economic sanctions to pressure Tehran to bow to Washington's demands on its nuclear program. Iranian state television quoted a senior government official as saying(Snip) announced two days after the Obama administration renewed U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic,
3] would eventually include an unnamed European country as a partner.
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Muslim mob attacks Jewish center in Toronto
Something approaching open season for attacks on Jews appears to be in force in Toronto. On the campus of York University, a Muslim mob attacked the Hillel House, pounding on the door and yelling antisemitic slogans. Unbelievably, according to this account in YNet, the police demanded that the center itself close down -- punishing the innocent and achieving the goal of the mob. The website Mere Rhetoric commented:
This is the same country where it's in-bounds to compare Jews to Nazis -- but where the same charge leveled against these genuine modern-day Nazis would end with a trip to the Star Chamber. And it's the exact same city where calls to wipe Israel off the planet are treated as mere anti-Zionism.
Considering the degree to which Canadian "Human Rights Commissions" have attempted to persecute Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant for noting the contents of the Koran, the lack of attention to chilling mobs and their facilitators is startling.
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Sweden's unsporting behavior
[Honor and scorn where due]
As the Arabs/Muslims infest the sports world with their racist hatred of Israel and Jews, some succumb while others stand fast, retaining their integrity.
Angered by Dubai United Arab Emirate's refusal to grant Israel's star tennis player Shahar Pe'er a visa, the World Tennis Association bravely acted by fining Dubai a record $300,000 for violating tour rules, forcing Dubai to post a record $2 million financial performance guarantee and other punishments. In addition the defending champion, Andy Roddick, refused to travel to Dubai and play, further tarnishing the country's image.
However, repeating its shameful World War ll behavior, Sweden once again has become the cowardly little country that quickly gave in to bigotry and terror. Although the Swedes allowed Israelis to enter the country for the Davis Cup to be played in Malmo, their third largest city, they strictly limited attendance to the game to 300 spectators , claiming they couldn't guarantee security at the arena.
Sweden, a fierce critic of Israel, has a large immigrant Muslim population. Malmo has police "no go" zones--Muslim neighborhoods where police are terrified to enter, so they don't. Encouraged by this cowardice, Muslims and other racists rioted in Malmo the day before the game. Gateway Pundit provides the coverage other MSM overlooked. As usual.
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Chavez's threat to nationalize beer producer brews outrage
Caracas - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is threatening to take over food company Empresas Polar, a company that makes the country's top beer, but it could be an unpopular move. Faced with inflation that reached 30 per cent last year and tumbling oil revenues, the socialist leader has stepped up confrontations with food businesses through state takeovers, new regulations and warnings he may nationalize Polar if it does not produce food at lower prices.
[sound familiar?]
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Outrage brewing over 1,900% beer tax hike
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Five Oregon state lawmakers want to impose a hefty tax on beer and have introduced a bill that brewers say would cripple them. Four Portland legislators joined a Springfield senator to introduce Oregon House Bill 2461, which would impose a $49.61 tax on each barrel of beer produced by Oregon brewers.
[the inevitable path of 'sin' taxes, when government decides what's sin]
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Global warming would save millions of lives
Global warming will increase the burden on the British health system because more people will suffer from heat-caused illness. This was the message delivered to a conference in Copenhagen this week by Alistair Hunt, a researcher at Bath University."I am trying to bring home the impact of climate change to everyone,"
There is one significant impact that the researcher did not "bring home" in interviews about his work: if the world warmed it would save lives.
Winter regularly takes many more lives than any heatwave: 25,000 to 50,000 people each year die in Britain from excess cold. Across Europe, there are six times more cold-related deaths than heat-related deaths. We know this from the world's biggest cross-national, peer-reviewed studies under the aegis of Professor William Keatinge of the University of London.
[The 'professional researcher' didn't think to compare cold-caused deaths when speculating on heat-caused deaths. What are the odds.]
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THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS NUCLEAR WASTE
The repository at Yucca Mountain was only made necessary by our failure to understand a fundamental fact about nuclear power: There is no such thing as nuclear waste. Consider:
- Ninety-five percent of a spent fuel rod is plain old Uranium-238, the nonfissionable variety that exists in granite tabletops, stone buildings and the coal burned in coal plants to generate electricity.
- U-238 is 1 percent of the earth's crust; it could be put right back in the ground where it came from.
- Of the remaining 5 percent of a rod, one-fifth is fissionable U-235 -- which can be recycled as fuel; another one-fifth is plutonium, also recyclable as fuel.
- Much of the remaining three-fifths has important uses as medical and industrial isotopes.
- Forty percent of all medical procedures in this country now involve some form of radioactive isotope, and nuclear medicine is a $4 billion business.
- Unfortunately, we must import all our tracer material from Canada, because all of our isotopes have been headed for Yucca Mountain.
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53% Say U.S. Should Build More Nuclear Power Plants
Fifty-three percent (53%) of U.S. voters believe more nuclear power plants should be built in the United States, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Thirty percent (30%) are opposed to building new plants, and 18% are not sure.
Fifty-three percent (53%) of U.S. voters believe more nuclear power plants should be built in the United States, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Thirty percent (30%) are opposed to building new plants, and 18% are not sure.
While 72% of Republicans favor building more nuclear plants, Democrats are much more conflicted on the question: 39% support new plant construction, but 43% are opposed. Among voters not affiliated with either party, a majority (51%) is in favor of new nuclear plants, but 27% disagree.
Sixty-five percent (65%) of voters say finding new sources of energy is more important that reducing the amount of energy Americans now consume. Thirty percent (30%) say energy conservation is more important.
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Obama May Use Legislative Ploy to Jam Through Health, Tax Bills
President Barack Obama may try to push through Congress a health-care overhaul, energy proposals and tax increases by using a partisan tactic that would thwart Republican efforts to block the measures. (Snip)
The move would allow Democrats to approve plans to raise taxes by $1 trillion, create a cap-and-trade system to charge for greenhouse-gas emissions, and socialize health care without a single Republican vote...
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Commerce pick tied to China cash
Commerce Secretary nominee Gary Locke, whose job would include approving sensitive exports to China, has performed legal work for companies doing business with Beijing and was forced to refund several political donations that he received in the 1990s from key figures in a Chinese influence-buying investigation.
The former Washington state governor is expected to face questions about both issues during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday...
[...and then be confirmed.]
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The Knock on the Door
A sitting President of the United States is"organizing a political organization loyal to him, bound by a pledge, outside the government and existing party apparatus. The historical precedents are ominous."
There is a new organization on the political scene -- "Organizing for America," announced by President Barack Obama in late January but officially unfurled last weekend. Obama describes OFA as a "grass-roots movement" but OFA is a "project" of the Democratic Natrional Committee.
As Politico reported, OFA will take the 10 million person database built up by the Obama campaign "to mobilize support for the president's legislative agenda."
A visit to the OFA website reveals that supporters are not simply asked to sign up, they are asked to take a pledge. A pledge to support -- not the flag, not the constitution, not the country, not even the Democratic Party, but Obama and his "bold plan." OFA does not use the Democratic Party logo but the "O"-shaped logo of the Obama campaign.
So we have a Movement -- this is their term, not mine -- organized by, and loyal to, a sitting President. Pledge canvassers, armed with your name, will ask you to pledge loyalty to the President too. A president whose term has already become a permanent campaign, is signing up ground forces in a mass organization pledged to personal loyalty to their Leader.
Does anyone know of any historical precedents for this in the United States?
Did Mitch Stewart, youthful director of OFA, who asks Obama's acolytes to organize "neighborhood by neighborhood" study anything at school about Mao's "Red Guards?
How about Fidel Castro's "widespread system of neighborhood informers"?
Or Hugo Chavez's use of "neighborhood committees"?
Did Stewart learn anything about democracy at all?
Do any of Obama's pledged servants understand why a sitting president has no business creating and deploying his own supporters to help organize their neighbors?
Keep in mind that these acolytes have renounced any thought of questioning the actual policies of the maximum leader. Whatever he says, they are for it. They have given their word.
And they are coming to have a talk with you.
As Thomas Lifson wrote, "This is not the way a democracy is supposed to operate."
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When recycling is not politically correct
Spot the hidden agenda
It sees that not all forms of recycling are to be embraced. In a move that will greatly increase the cost of ammunition and may cause several US manufacturers to lay off workers, the Defense Department is ending a long standing practice of selling expended brass cartridges to domestic ammunition manufacturers. Instead the readily recyclable casings are to be melted down and recast for sale as scrap metal.
To add insult to injury it should be noted that as scrap metal the brass will sell for substantially less than was paid for the expended casings.
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Website for Behind Scenes Media Planning Sessions Revealed
First came word of the daily secret planning session phone calls between Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and several highly placed Old Media types (Here and here) and now Politico has revealed the existence of a hush, hush web message board where denizens of the lefty media get together on a daily basis and plan how they will all cover the news for the great unwashed out there.
But don't worry, this "journolist" is no great cabal of underground left-wing plotters attempting to co-opt the message emanating from the bowls of the Old Media. We know this cuz they told us so!
POLITICO contacted nearly three dozen current JList members for this story. The majority either declined to comment or didn’t respond to interview requests -- and then returned to JList to post items on why they wouldn’t be talking to POLITICO about what goes on there.
Gosh, fellers. If it's all so innocent, why is everyone suddenly so shy?
Curioser and curioser.
I urge you all to go on over to Calderone's piece and read about this whole sordid business.
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Name That Party: NBC Philly 'Forgets' Convicted Vincent Fumo and Associate Are Dems
Vincent Fumo's chronicle of corruption is extraordinary, even by the "standards" of Philadelphia, PA.
Thus, it's a journalistic fail that in a story about the convictions of former 30-year state senator Fumo and longtime associate Ruth Arnao, NBC Philadephia (HT Michelle Malkin) did not identify his or her Democratic Party party affiliation.
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