Obama's New Symbol of Class Warfare

by: Le Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatsm
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

Obama taking class warfare to the next level.

Human Events

Before my colleagues in the White House Press Corps and I were escorted to the East Room for President Obama's news conference today, our conversation focused almost exclusively on just what he might say that was newsworthy at his first solo session with reporters in three months. Would Obama put something on the table he could negotiate with House Republicans over in return for their vote to lift the debt ceiling in August? Would he address the stormy situation in Greece and the possibility that Athens would default on its International Monetary Fund bailout package (which U.S. tax dollars helped underwrite)? Or would he take the opportunity to change his position and support gay marriage, as was widely rumored this morning?

The President did insist his support of action in Libya did not violate the War Powers Resolution, repeated his now-familiar warning about what a failure to lift the debt ceiling would mean, and told the Wall Street Journal about his position on gay marriage: "I'll keep on giving you the same answer until I give you a different one. That won't be today!"

But if there was any news that came out of today's televised conclave, it was that, with the 2012 campaign season upon him, Obama is ratcheting up the rhetoric of class warfare. In so doing, he once again made it clear he wants to lift the tax cuts on America's highest wage earners that he backed down from last December.

And, in what was probably the most-talked-about remark to come out of the East Room today, the President invoked what is sure to be a catchphrase for him and fellow Democrats to describe those he hopes to make pay higher taxes: "corporate jet owners. {Continue Reading}

The President is becoming desperate, it is showing, and the American people are seeing the man has no effective plan.

Other than Class Warfare.

Cross posted to Rational Nation USA

Via: Memorandum

The Lost Administration

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

From the inbox at Rational Nation USA. Via a regular reader of RN USA.

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.

She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be a Republican.

"I am," replied the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."

The man smiled and responded, "You must be an Obama-Democrat."

"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are --- or where you are going. You've risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem.

You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault."

Priceless, absolutely priceless!

Cross posted to Rational Nation USA

United Nations Names North Korea Chair of Conference on Disarmament.

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

Once again the United Nations is proving itself irrelevant and useless. At the very least the body has proved yet once again, by naming North Korea chair of the U.N. Conference on Disarmament that  it is a total joke.

The Weekly Standard

On Tuesday, the United Nations again made itself an international laughing stock – except perhaps to the American taxpayers who continue to foot 22 percent of the bill – by appointing North Korea chair of the U.N. Conference on Disarmament. That would be the same North Korea that, according to an article this week by Senator John Kerry, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has “twice tested nuclear weapons…is developing missiles to carry them…has built facilities capable of producing highly enriched uranium for more nuclear weapons” and has defied a U.N. arms embargo by exporting weapons and sensitive technologies to rogue regimes.

Alas, Senator Kerry is also one of the lead champion of the United Nations in the Senate. According to the U.N., "The Conference is funded from the UN regular budget, reports to the General Assembly and receives guidance from it."

North Korea assumes the Conference chairmanship by being the next state in the alphabetical rotation of the 65 members, which include five nuclear weapons states and 60 other countries such as Iran and Syria. North Korea will preside over the Conference for a four working-week period.

North Korea’s representative, So Se Pyong, was enthusiastic about his new job. He announced that he was “very much committed to the Conference” and that during his presidency he “welcomes any sort of constructive proposals that strengthened the work and credibility of the Conference on Disarmament.” He also said that “he would do everything in his capacity to move the Conference on Disarmament forward.”

That might make sense, if by “forward” he means toward a nuclear winter, or by “constructive,” he means steering clear of anything that might impede North Korea. The official mandate of the Conference looks a bit different and includes “all multilateral arms control and disarmament problems” with the following “main areas of interest”: “cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament; prevention of nuclear war, including all related matters.”

North Korea’s chairmanship was heralded by other U.N. aficionados, including the Iranian delegate to the Conference. {Continue Reading}}

Isn't it time the U.S.A. pulls the plug on the charade and put the taxpayer's money to better use?

More at Legal Insurrection

Cross posted to Rational Nation USA

Via: Memorandum

(PHOTO) Irony: 'To Catch a Predator' host Chris Hansen a Predator Himself, Cheating on Wife with 30-year-old Blonde Kristyn Caddell

By the Left Coast Rebel

The host of 'To Catch a Predator' seems to be inspired by his own show (not in good way).

What Chris Hansen did was legal, because the blonde reporter Kristyn Caddell that he was cheating on his wife (pictured at the left of this post) and family with is 30 years old -- but it doesn't mean it's not sultry, bizarre and deliciously ironic.

Hansen is in his 50s.

From the Mail Online:

He's made his name with a controversial show that catches would-be internet sex perverts in televised stings.

But now Chris Hansen has found himself on the receiving end of his own hidden camera tactics, after the married NBC anchor was secretly filmed on an illicit date with a blonde television reporter 20 years his junior.

Hansen, 51, has allegedly been having an affair with Kristyn Caddell, a 30-year-old Florida journalist, for the last four months.

I wonder if Chris Hansen will himself be featured as a predator in a new season of 'To Catch a Predator'?

Via Memeorandum and cross-posted to Proof Positive.

Class Warrior Obama's Private Jet Tax Break Snafu

By the Left Coast Rebel

Our own President isn't much different than the charlatan Sharpton, excepting the fact that Obama's socialism and raging econo-incompetence puts the collective national standard of living at risk.

From the Heritage Foundation's Foundry, "Obama Blasts Private Jet Tax Breaks Created by His Own Stimulus":

The chief economic culprit of President Obama’s Wednesday press conference was undoubtedly “corporate jets.” He mentioned them on at least six occasions, each time offering their owners as an example of a group that should be paying more in taxes.

“I think it’s only fair to ask an oil company or a corporate jet owner that has done so well,” the president stated at one point, “to give up that tax break that no other business enjoys.”

But the corporate jet tax break to which Obama was referring – called “accelerated depreciation,” and a popular Democratic foil of late – was created by his own stimulus package.

Exit reader question: Who is more economically illiterate, Obama or Sharpton? Hmm?

Related: At Beers With Demo: "California Budget Update."

Via Memeorandum.

(VIDEO) "Pension reform is a civil rights violation," Al Sharpton Tells San Diego's Own KUSI Reporter Tom Jordan

By the Left Coast Rebel

Big kudos to San Diego-based KUSI News' reporter Tom Jordan. Tom Jordan is one of a dying breed: a real journalist.

The gist of the story from KUSI:

...Al Sharpton is in San Diego talking about the pension reform initiative. He had a nine-minute discussion with KUSI's Tom Jordan that became a bit heated. We've edited the conversation down to about five minutes, but the context remains the same. Sharpton says the City's proposed pension reform initiative is a civil rights violation, and that attention should instead be placed on taxing the wealthy.

VIDEO:



Setting aside California's Greece-like pension crisis is a simple question: Why in the world does the media take this greasy-haired, race-baiting charlatan seriously?

Memo to Sharpton: Park your butt in the ghetto where your illiterate nonsense is taken seriously, we have enough problems here in San Diego as it is.

Hat-tip Shane Atwell.

The Least Serious President in the History of the Republic™ Holds a Press Conference

By Proof

Sometimes you hear hypocrisy so thick you can cut it with a knife. Think Bill Clinton telling us he did not have sex with Monica Lewinsky, John Kerry throwing someone else's medals over the White House fence (his are hanging on his senate office wall), think Joe Biden plagiarizing Neil Kinnock's campaign speech, or John Edwards... saying anything at all! This president may have set the new gold standard in hypocrisy today.

THE PRESIDENT: I think people should think of — look, I’m the President of the United States* and I want to make sure that I am not engaging in scare tactics. And I’ve tried to be responsible and somewhat restrained so that folks don’t get spooked.

August 2nd is a very important date. And there’s no reason why we can’t get this done now. We know what the options are out there. This is not a technical problem any longer. This is a matter of Congress going ahead and biting the bullet and making some tough decisions. Because we know what the decisions are. We’ve identified what spending cuts are possible. We’ve identified what defense cuts are possible. We’ve identified what health care cuts are possible. We’ve identified what loopholes in the tax code can be closed that would also raise revenue. We’ve identified what the options are. And the question now is are we going to step up and get this done.

So far, so good. It's the smarmy, condescending hypocrisy of the next few sentences that make Barry stand out from other Democrats:

And, you know, Malia and Sasha generally finish their homework a day ahead of time. Malia is 13** , Sasha is 10.

Q Impressive.

THE PRESIDENT: It is impressive. They don’t wait until the night before. They’re not pulling all-nighters. (Laughter.) They’re 13 and 10. Congress can do the same thing. If you know you’ve got to do something, just do it.

"Congress can do the same thing. If you know you’ve got to do something, just do it." Where was President Smarmy Condescending Obama last year, when Democrats controlled the Senate and Democrats controlled the House and Democrats controlled the White House, and they needed and were Constitutionally required to submit a federal budget and didn't? Why wasn't President Smarmy Condescending telling Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and the rest of Congress last year, that his daughters "Malia and Sasha generally finish their homework a day ahead of time. Malia is 11 , Sasha is 9"? Were Malia and Sasha pulling "all-nighters" in 2010? Couldn't he get a teleprompter on the golf course long enough to tell Congress that "if you know you’ve got to do something, just do it" ?

And I’ve got to say, I’m very amused when I start hearing comments about, well, the President needs to show more leadership on this. Let me tell you something. Right after we finished dealing with the government shutdown, averting a government shutdown***, I called the leaders here together. I said we’ve got to get done — get this done. I put Vice President Biden in charge of a process**** — that, by the way, has made real progress — but these guys have met, worked through all of these issues. I met with every single caucus for an hour to an hour and a half each *****— Republican senators, Democratic senators; Republican House, Democratic House. I’ve met with the leaders multiple times. At a certain point, they need to do their job.

Anyone want to do a tally on just how many times Barry says "they need to do their job" or "it’s got to be done"? I count seven got to be done's, and get it done's, at least one "do something" and two "they need to do their job's".

Tell you what, Barry. Just say that something needs to be done and say it over and over and over. And over. And over. In fact, say it once for every round of golf you'd played since becoming Present, er, President, (73 and counting) and I'm sure it will be exactly the same as if you'd exercised actual leadership!

And so, this thing, which is just not on the level, where we have meetings and discussions, and we’re working through process, and when they decide they’re not happy with the fact that at some point you’ve got to make a choice, they just all step back and say, well, you know, the President needs to get this done — they need to do their job.

Now is the time to go ahead and make the tough choices. That’s why they’re called leaders. And I’ve already shown that I’m willing to make some decisions that are very tough and will give my base of voters further reason to give me a hard time. But it’s got to be done.

And so there’s no point in procrastinating. There’s no point in putting it off. We’ve got to get this done. And if by the end of this week, we have not seen substantial progress, then I think members of Congress need to understand we are going to start having to cancel things and stay here until we get it done.

President Full of Himself sprains an arm patting himself on the back here:

They’re in one week, they’re out one week. And then they’re saying, Obama has got to step in. You need to be here. I’ve been here. I’ve been doing Afghanistan and bin Laden and the Greek crisis. You stay here. Let’s get it done.

"I've been doing Afghanistan" Other than not listening to his generals, what exactly has he done while he was "doing Afghanistan"? And "I've been doing the Greek crisis". Really? Has he actually done to mitigate the crisis? Or just vote "present"?

Add to that the gratuitous mention of bin Laden, as if he lead the raid himself. How much you want to bet he bought one of those Obama Seal Team Six action figures for himself? And don't get me started on whatever role playing he and Michelle are doing behind closed doors! How long is he going to try to milk the "I was busy getting bin Laden and that's why the economy went to Hell"?


*Captain Obvious moment

**"Malia is 13". Malia is 12. She hasn't had her thirteenth birthday yet. So much for Barry's "steel trap mind".

***Averting a government shutdown. By finally backing down on his and his party's insistence on ending the Bush tax cuts...in a recession, in effect, raising everyone's taxes.

****Joe Biden in charge of anything. There's a recipe for taking charge!

***** "I met with every single caucus for an hour to an hour and a half each" Anyone want to make book on how this compares to golf time, not to mention the myriad of vacations? And if his meeting with them was key to getting anything done, why didn't he meet with them last year and get a budget done before the Constitutional deadline? (Maybe they should have pulled an "all-nighter"?)

Cross posted at Proof Positive

DeMint, Lee, Paul Offer Bill To Begin Restoring Sound Money

By Chris W
The Libertarian Patriot

At least there are still some members of Congress that get it. Our currency is going to hell in a handbasket and even the UN sees it's collapse coming, calling to scrap the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

From Senator Mike Lee's website

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) introduced the Sound Money Promotion Act, legislation that would remove the tax burden on gold and silver coins that have been declared legal tender by the federal government or state governments. On May 9, the State of Utah became the first state to recognize such gold and silver coins as legal tender for use within the state, and similar legislation has been introduced in 12 other states, including South Carolina.

“Thanks to the government’s reckless over-spending, continued bailouts, and the Federal Reserve’s easy money policy, this year the purchasing power of the dollar hit an all-time low in the several decades since we went off the gold standard,” said Senator DeMint. “In order to rebuild strength and confidence in our economy, we need both the fiscal discipline to cut wasteful spending and the monetary discipline to restrain further destructive monetizing of our debt. This legislation would encourage wider adoption of sound money measures, and that’s a step in the right direction.”

“Good monetary policy is an important part of a healthy and prosperous economy,” said Senator Lee. “Since the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, the dollar has lost approximately 98 percent of its value. This bill is an important step towards a stable and sound currency whose value is protected from the Fed's printing press."

Senator Paul added, "As the government runs massive deficits, uncontrolled spending, and an increasingly unsustainable debt, governments and the bureaucrats in charge are often forced to take an easier approach: to monetize the debt, inflating the currency. These implications can be devastating, leading to higher interest rates, which lead to higher borrowing costs and slower economic growth, but most importantly, destroying the savings and standard-of-living of all Americans. This bill will hold politicians and the Federal Reserve accountable; acknowledging that states are serious about an alternative to a weakening dollar.”

The warning signs for our economic problems can no longer be ignored:

* While the value of a dollar is at historic lows, the value of gold is at historic highs

* Recently Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. outlook from “stable” to “negative,” meaning there is a 1 in 3 chance of an actual credit downgrade in the next two years

* The world’s largest bond fund has dumped its U.S. debt-related holdings, over concerns that we will not get our fiscal house in order

* The Federal Reserve is now buying 70 percent of U.S. Treasuries, set to surpass the holdings of both China and Japan combined

How Many Limos Does the Government Need?

By Proof

I don't know. How many have they got?

According to General Services Administration data, the number of limousines in the federal fleet increased by 73 percent, up from 238 in 2008 to 412 in 2010

In tough economic times, it's good to know that the federal government is making do with only 73% more limos than they had in 2008!

And what makes it worse, is the GSA is either not competent enough or honest enough to admit how many. The GSA "cannot say that its report accurately reflects the number of limousines" because "the categories in the Fleet Report are overly broad, and the term 'limousine' is not defined." What a relief! I thought these people were responsible for taking care of public property! Turns out, they can't even identify it!

Is it a limo? All depends on what you definition of "is" is.

And who is it who needs all these extra limos? Hillary's State Department scored the most new limos.

The State Department's 259 limos surpassed every other agency's limo stash in 2010, and the department has gained 194 limos since fiscal year 2008. Of the new 194, 98 were defined as "law enforcement".

And you can see how visiting dignitaries might need to be chauffeured around. But 259? And, law enforcement? 98 limos for "law enforcement"? Boy, that sure sounds like the best use of government funds!

The VA, which once owned 21 limos under George W. Bush in 2008, now sports only one. Similarly, the Government Printing Office went from six to none between 2009 and 2010.

I can see the VA doing with fewer than 21 limos. I can certainly see the Government Printing Office not needing any limos at all. But while these two departments were slimming down, too much of the rest of the government was bulking up.

Unless the GAO wants to be seen as the Keystone Kops of property management, they should be able to accurately identify anything in the government's inventory.

In a time of crushing government debt and lip service to lighter, more energy efficient cars for all of us, the government should be taking the lead in fiscal responsibility and setting an example for the rest of us to follow. And, maybe see if bacon can be harvested from all those flying pigs?

Cross posted at Proof Positive

If Romney is the best the GOP has to offer, who needs the GOP?

Image credit hat tip: Margaret Thatcher via Mitt Romney

By RightKlik

I'm truly sorry to say this, folks, but Willard Mitt Romney sucks lemons:

Collaboration in Massachusetts was possible, Romney told business leaders in Salem, because he didn’t attack lawmakers from the other party as “a bunch of Neanderthals.”…

“I worked with [former Massachusetts Sen.] Ted Kennedy, for Pete’s sakes,” Romney said in Concord, noting that they disagreed on “almost everything.”

One issue that Kennedy and Romney worked closely on was legislation expanding healthcare coverage in Massachusetts. He recalled, to laughter, that at the ceremonial signing of the Massachusetts healthcare law, the Democrat had joked that when he and Romney agreed on a piece of legislation “it proves only one thing – one of us didn’t read it.”

“The truth was we had both read it and we’d found some common ground,” Romney said, “and I think that has to happen in Washington.”

Old Uncle Ted was right. As a purported alternative to statist busybodies like Teddy Kennedy and Barney Frank, Willard Mitt had no business signing the prototype for Obamacare into law. But Romney is proud to say that he did, and the subsequent failures of RomneyCare are well documented.

As America hobbles away from the legislative fallout of the Democrats' supermajority control of Washington, two thirds of the voters see that the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction.

What's wrong? The biggest problem facing America today is the malignant growth of government. (Our withering economy is perhaps the most notable symptom of that problem.)

The last thing the Republican Party needs is a nominee for the President of the United States who reflects fondly on his cozy affiliation with the patron saint of metastatic government and who looks forward to playing footsie with congressional Democrats.

I have news for Mitt Romney: The Tip O'Neills of 2011 are no longer members of the Democrat Party.

Update:

Hardcore liberal progressive Obamacare-loving statists love Romneycare. Naturally.

Q2E ends, but Fed plans to buy another $300 billion in government debt

By Sam Foster

As Obama begins his, "I beat the recession" routine. Ben Bernanke seems to think that Q2E wasn't enough. The Fed may buy an additional $300 billion over the next 12 months:

While the $600-billion purchase program, known as QE2, winds down, the Fed said on June 22 that it will continue to buy Treasuries with proceeds from the maturing debt it currently owns. That could mean purchases of as much as $300 billion of government debt over the next 12 months without adding money to the financial system.

The central bank, which injected $2.3 trillion into the financial system after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings in September 2008, will continue buying Treasuries to keep market rates down as the economy slows. The purchases are supporting demand at bond auctions while President Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress struggle to close the gap between federal spending and income by between $2 trillion and $4 trillion.

Looks like Ben didn't get Obama's text about the recession being over and all. Also, this round of buying may not be linked to "printing money," but they are still injecting yet another heap of money onto the already cresting money supply.

As Arthur Laffer once said, "There's no such thing as precision monetary policy."

10 of the TSA's Worst Actions

By: Wes Messamore

With Americans crying foul as the TSA defends its decision (m) to force a 95-year-old, cancer-stricken, wheel-chair bound woman to remove her adult diaper for a screening sexual assault, I put together a reminder of nine other egregious and revolting TSA actions for a list of just ten (out of many, many more) reasons we need to abolish the TSA immediately!

Visit HumbleLibertarian.com to read them all.

It all Depends: TSA Moves from Molesting Children to 95-year-old Diaper-donning Women

By the Left Coast Rebel

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air:

Reports over the weekend that an elderly woman had to remove an adult diaper to complete a TSA airport screening rocketed through social-media networks. CNN reported that Jean Weber filed a complaint after a TSA agent demanded that her wheelchair-bound mother remove her Depends in order to clear the checkpoint.

Video from CNN:

The story still has legs, CNN is reporting today that the TSA is standing by molesting a cancer-stricken, 95-year-old, diaper-donning woman:

The TSA released a statement Sunday defending its agents' actions at the Northwest Florida Regional Airport.

"While every person and item must be screened before entering the secure boarding area, TSA works with passengers to resolve security alarms in a respectful and sensitive manner," the federal agency said. "We have reviewed the circumstances involving this screening and determined that our officers acted professionally and according to proper procedure."

If this incident represents "proper procedure" then what actually goes over the line?

As you ponder the GOP candidates for the 2012 election, folks, riddle me this: Who created liberty-affronting TSA? Hint: his last name rhymes with toosh, mush...

Via Memeorandum.

Breitbart in the New York Times

By the Left Coast Rebel

The New York Times has a 2-page piece up today, "The Right’s Blogger Provocateur", about Andrew Breitbart:

Part performance artist, part polemicist, Mr. Breitbart, 42, has used his network of Web sites and their legions of followers to bring conservative media red meat. Some of his reader-generated scoops have reverberated all the way to the halls of the United States Capitol, like the Weiner photos and undercover video he released of Acorn workers offering advice on how to evade taxes and conceal child prostitution. After the videos went viral Congress ended grants to Acorn, and federal agencies severed ties with the group.

(SNIP)

Conservative media does not lack for big personalities (see: Limbaugh, Rush; Beck, Glenn; or Coulter, Ann). But where Mr. Breitbart stands out is through his accessibility. He gives out his cellphone number in speeches and passes along his personal e-mail address to almost anyone who asks. If you write him, chances are you will hear back.

Of course, the Times applies a completely different measuring stick to Breitbart but as the old adage goes, "there's no such thing as bad publicity." The Times writer is totally right about one thing that makes Andrew Breitbart unique: the ease in accessing him.

When he was in the OC, Donald Douglas and I had no problem approaching him, I'm sure it wasn't just a Southern California thing. He probably would have been all-ears if I had a hot tip or something.

Like I said that post about the Orange County Breitbart meetup, he's a super-intense guy and it shows in real person.

Breitbart is still building his new-media empire and full features in The New York Times don't hurt that process.

Via Memeorandum.

Obama's Crank Yankers Call to Harass Your Doc

By RightKlik

If you're wondering why the telephone line is busy at your doctor's office, it might be because one of Obama's people is wasting everyone's time.

In the near future, pranksters from the Obama administration will be jamming the lines at doctors' offices with thousands of fake requests. The goal is to find out if your doctor gives preferential treatment to patients with private insurance:

In the mystery shopper survey, administration officials said, a federal contractor will call the offices of 4,185 doctors — 465 in each of nine states: Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. The doctors will include pediatricians and obstetrician-gynecologists.

The calls are to begin in a few months, with preliminary results from the survey expected next spring. Each office will be called at least twice — by a person who supposedly has private insurance and by someone who supposedly has public insurance.

What "supposedly" means is that this is all a big fat ruse. Obama's friends will be calling from Chicago, but the doctors' offices won't know that:

To make sure they are not detected, secret shoppers will hide their telephone numbers by blocking caller ID information.

One of the purported objectives of the survey is to punish Obama's enemies address the increasingly severe shortage of primary care doctors:

[The survey] will also try to discover whether doctors are accepting patients with private insurance while turning away those in government health programs that pay lower reimbursement rates.

But we already know the answer to this question:

Medicaid, the program for low-income people, pays so little that many doctors refuse to accept Medicaid patients. This could become a more serious problem in 2014, when [ObamaCare] will greatly expand eligibility for Medicaid.

And as Pat Austin notes, we already know where the biggest physician shortages are.

How much do you want to bet that the O-bots conducting this survey will make shocking discoveries about health care disparities in which women, the poor and minorities are the hardest hit?

If you have qualms about Obama's "snoopy survey," take comfort in knowing that Big O is simply supersizing one of Dubya's initiatives (supposedly):

Federal officials said the initial survey would cost $347,370... The White House defended the survey, saying a similar technique had been used on a smaller scale in President George W. Bush’s administration.

No one knows how well this will work, but if all goes as planned, this could become a powerful new tool for government intrusion into the private sector:

Jennifer Benz, a research scientist at the center, said one purpose of the study was to determine whether the use of mystery shoppers would be a feasible way to track access to primary care in the future.

Why stop with primary care? Soon every business could be getting calls from Uncle Sam.

Synopsis...

Are we supposed to be surprised when they find out that people who are stuck with cheap, crappy, government-managed health programs wait longer for non-urgent health care services?

While we’re on this theme, how about some mystery lobbyists at the White House? Send them to congress too. Send in some mystery billionaire donors while you’re at it. Then get some mystery constituents into congressional offices.

Let’s collect some data!

I'm sure someone like James O'Keefe would be happy to help out with a project like that.

Michael Barone: "Obama is Chauncey Gardiner"

By Proof

Chance? Or maybe Change?

Poor Barry can't catch a break today! Michael Barone:

Conservative critics have taken to comparing him, as you might imagine, with Jimmy Carter. The more cruel among them, like the Weekly Standard's Jay Cost, say the comparison is not to Obama's advantage.

But there is another comparison I think more appropriate for a president who, according to one of his foreign-policy staffers, prefers to "lead from behind." The man I have in mind is Chauncey Gardiner, the character played by Peter Sellers in the 1979 movie "Being There."

As you may remember, Gardiner is a clueless gardener who is mistaken for a Washington eminence and becomes a presidential adviser.

Mr. Barone goes on to detail the general cluelessness of the Gardener-in-Chief:

"...while Chauncey Gardiner, in his befuddlement, tried to answer questions squarely, Obama has seemed less interested in the substance of public policy than in framing issues for the next presidential campaign.

That was plainly the case in the decisions on Afghanistan he announced Wednesday night. Regardless of conditions on the ground, the president promised that the last of the surge troops will be removed by September 2012, the month Democrats hold their national convention.

As for Libya, Obama pretends we're not involved in "hostilities" and has been content to "lead from behind." Another sop to the antiwar left.

Sometimes it seems he's president of the AFL-CIO, not the USA. The man who said he wanted to double exports in five years has nothing to say about his National Labor Relations Board appointee's attempt to shut down a $1 billion plant being built by the nation's No. 1 exporter.

And don't forget the enviro types. Obama is releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but his appointees are barring drilling in the Gulf and Alaska and refusing approval for a natural gas pipeline from Canada.

On all these issues Obama seems oddly disengaged, aloof from the hard work of government, hesitant about making choices."

It seems that more an more people are catching onto the generally cluelessness of the Commander-in-Chief. His policies have taken the nation in exactly the wrong direction at a time when leadership was crucial. Those on both the Left and the Right are coming to realize that Barack Obama is an empty suit and that the "Hope and Change" he was peddling in 2008 was just a campaign slogan designed so that he could come down on both sides of every issue.

But, governing is a lot harder than campaigning. Which is why Obama is taking time off from his busy golf game to start campaigning again. Obama may be right in blaming Bush for all the ills of the country today, since Barry seems to have left the White House on "autopilot" ever since "W" moved out.

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Maureen Dowd: "Obama is Bi"

By Proof

Maureen Dowd doesn't think he's bi-polar. Not sure I'd want to take that bet! But her NYT piece seems to be similar to the theme I noted a little while ago, about Obama being firmly on both sides of the automation issue! Ms. Dowd:

Our president likes to be on both sides at once.

In Afghanistan, he wants to go but he wants to stay. He’s surging and withdrawing simultaneously. He’s leaving fewer troops than are needed for a counterinsurgency strategy and more troops than are needed for a counterterrorism strategy — and he seems to want both strategies at the same time. Our work is done but we have to still be there. Our work isn’t done but we can go.

On Libya, President Obama wants to lead from behind. He’s engaging in hostilities against Qaddafi while telling Congress he’s not engaging in hostilities against Qaddafi.

On the budget, he wants to cut spending and increase spending. On the environment, he wants to increase energy production but is reluctant to drill. On health care, he wants to get everybody covered but will not press for a universal system. On Wall Street, he assails fat cats, but at cocktail parties, he wants to collect some of their fat for his campaign.

On politics, he likes to be friends with the other side but bash ’em at the same time. For others, bipartisanship means transcending their own prior political identities. For President Obama, it means that he participates in all political identities. He does not seem deeply affiliated with any side except his own.

Maureen, we are in rare agreement. But you may not have come out and pinpointed the exact reason that Obama is on both sides of every issue.

On some of the most important issues facing this nation, it is time for the president to come out of the closet.

As just an ordinary, scum sucking, tell the people whatever it is they want to hear, politician.
I'm with you, Maureen!

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Palate Cleanser: Property Rights -vs- Progressive Statism at Rational Nation

By the Left Coast Rebel

It's far too easy today to get lost in the fog of partisan gamesmanship, the kind of "he-said, she-said" nonsense that dominates Memeorandum, pushing the 24/7 news cycle. Some of it is just plain dumb -- for instance, today's Maureen Dowd's dumbed-down NYT drivel "Why is he Bi?"Even more, the recent Weiner's-Wiener epic media dogpile showed just how shallow and meaningless political stories dominate as our nation racks up $5 billion in debt daily. Nero fiddles as Rome burns.

Conservatives Republicans push for "their guy" who ends up pushing the same statism and attack on liberty and capitalism that "the other side" does (albeit more honestly). The presidency of George W. Bush is a great example of this. W. governed to the left of...well, to the left of any recent modern president, expanding the welfare (and libertarians would argue, warfare) state, increasing federal intrusion more than any administration since Lyndon Johnson and doing everything that Barack Obama is doing today (albeit Obama is doing so on a much-larger scale that is pushing our nation to the brink of bankruptcy).

The reason leaders like George W. Bush -- or John Boehner -- get away with disregarding concrete limited government principles is because we let them do so. We lose sight of the big ideas that this nation was founded upon, lost in the blur of partisanship gamesmanship. Because of gamesmanship and 'R' vs 'D', many good people still aren't aware of the betrayal of "their guy".

As we are distracted, thus lose sight of what is most important and uncompromisable, progressives in both parties successfully attack the very foundation of our way of life and liberty. The acquiescence to the statists on the issue of property rights is an example of this truism. The right to own property that is protected by blind justice -- the rule of law -- is the cornerstone of freedom in a free society. Yet many progressive statists -- and co-opting Republicans -- don't even acknowledge this essential freedom, doing their best to, even in plain sight, to tear what is left of this essential right apart.

But just what is the concept of property rights?

Les Carpenter at Rational Nation answers this query in an excellent essay, "Property Rights -vs- Progressive Statism" that is hopefully the first of many in a series at RN.

Good job!

Progressive Statism Continuing for Another 1 1/2 Years

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatisim
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

Sent via e-mail to the inbox at Rational Nation by barbles.

Definitely worth the viewing!

The Obama Legacy

Cross posted to Rational Nation USA

(VIDEO) The Voice: Nakia - Sex On Fire

By the Left Coast Rebel

I'm not one for reality shows, especially reality competition shows like NBC's The Voice.

A singer named "Nakia" was voted off the show last night, I happened to catch him singing King of Leon's "Sex on Fire" last week. The guy has a lot of soul and a great rock voice:

The guy has a set of pipes and shouldn't have been cut in lieu of some Mariah Carey-sounding chick.

The Obama Legacy (VIRAL VIDEO)

By RightKlik

Via the Lonely Conservative who got it from Maggie (who notes that it can be found at GM’s Place, among others) via Reaganite Republican who saw it at Conservative Hideout [who notes that the video can be found at The Augur’s Well, 5ft3, TeresAmerica, Bunkerville, Always on Watch (who points out that the video is featured at Jus' Sayin'), Randy's Roundtable (with a link to Adrienne's post) America’s Watchtower, "My Blog," Mueller Stuff, Trestin Meacham,Conservatives on Fire & The Conservative Lady] and Mind-Numbed Robot...

This video is clearly worth of its viral status. Enjoy:

The video has also been featured at SBVOR (with a hat tip to Darleen Click and Market Ticker), Small Dead Animals, Infidel Bloggers Alliance, Republic-MainStreet, THE OSTRICH FALLACY, Home Of The Meshuganas, Conservative Patriot, NoisyRoom.net, Allen West Nation, Today I'm Grumpy About, A Time For Choosing, and many others...

I shan't be surprised if I see the video at The Other McCain very soon.

You've Got Mail: Left Wing Paranoia

By RightKlik

I try to keep up with the latest progressive memes via email. Fundraising letters are especially amusing. Here are some highlights from the past week...

Bill Clinton to me:

Right-wing extremists in Congress are persistent and, if we let them, they will hide behind a veil of concern for federal spending to push through a broad right-wing agenda dismantling Medicare, privatizing Social Security, undermining the environment, and balancing the budget on the backs of America’s most vulnerable people.

I knew I was a right-wing extremist, but I didn't realize I was cowering behind "a veil of concern." Thanks for the info, Bill!

Sen. Barbara Boxer to me:

You hold the key to putting Leader Pelosi and Democrats back in control of Congress and ensuring President Obama’s re-election next year. The stakes are too high to let the Koch Brothers and the right-wing secret money machine continue their radical right-wing agenda.

Right now, they have set their sights on winning the special election in California’s 36th District and defeating President Obama next year...

Wait a minute ― who told the Democrats about our secret money machine?

Robby Mook to me:

Republicans aren’t willing to budge on ending tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.

Eric Cantor is willing to sabotage our economy just to provide more red meat to the Tea Party and protect Republicans and their secret anonymous Koch Brothers backed billionaire donors.

They know about our secret money machine and our secret anonymous billionaires? Is there anything they don't know about our vast secret conspiracy?

Steve Israel to me:

It’s imperative that we stay neck and neck with the Republicans. Remember, on top of the cash that Boehner gives House Republicans, millions more will go to support Tea Party Republicans with secret cash from the Koch Brothers and the Tea Party’s new Super PAC.

The Koch Brothers are the root of all evil.

Rep. Joe Crowley to me:

First, House Republicans recklessly voted to end Medicare for seniors but give more tax breaks to billionaires. Then, Republican leaders were caught censoring official government communications that talk about the GOP’s radical plan to end Medicare.

The Republicans have a plan to end the world's biggest Ponzi scheme? Would that it were true.

James Carville to me:

Right now, the Koch Brothers, the Tea Party’s new “Super PAC,” and even old blubbering John Boehner himself are leaving no Republican billionaire behind.

They’re pulling out every stop to defeat President Obama and enact the most disgusting and extreme right-wing agenda this country has ever seen.

I feel so dirty.

New York's Gay Marriage Vote Obscures the Fact that Obama Punted the Issue

By the Left Coast Rebel

On Friday, New York legalized gay marriage. Frankly, my only question on this news is why did it take so long? One would figure that a state dominated by the metropolis New York City would have taken this stand years ago. Is upstate really that commanding of New York politics? Judging by how liberal-Democrat-dominated the state's politics are, I didn't think so.

As historic a moment in New York as it is, the issue has made everyone -- including the left -- forget that Obama can't even stand by the gay constituency:



Obama seeing the light on states' rights for the first time? Yah, that's called punting an issue and throwing a key constituency under the bus, this certainly won't help him in 2012, either.

Also read: At American Power, "Obama Heckled at LGBT Democrat Fundraiser in Manhattan!"

Via Memeorandum, cross posted to Proof Positive.

No Sheeples Here will be Sorely Missed

By the Left Coast Rebel

I was just sifting through a mountain of unread emails and happened across an unfortunate note from Carol, the photoshop-goddess behind the scenes at No Sheeples Here. It seems Carol has exited the blogosphere for the time being, for a variety of reasons we bloggers can all relate to. Political blogging is often a thankless, pay-less, stressful, grating endeavor that can take its toll. We don't blame her for needing to take a break.

She'll be missed. Her stinging sarcasm shines in every single graphic:

She's been at this game for a while and the interwebs will be all-the-worse-off now that she is gone. Even though her site has been deleted, Google image searches still produce mountains of her awesome graphics.


We'll miss you, Carol, and hope to see you back in the trenches one day soon.

AlGore Inc.: Bad for the Green Agenda?

By the Left Coast Rebel

I don't have a problem with Al Gore being a problem for the quest-for-global-domination greenie-weenie agenda.

Frankly, if Gore is ineffective, if he is hypocritical and off-putting, if he has discredited the green agenda; setting it back due to his caustic-alarmist personality and AlGore Inc. billionaire-esque lavish, carbon-chomping lifestyle then I'm all for it.

No movement today poses a bigger threat to take away our quality of life and liberty like the "watermelon: green on the outside, red on the inside" environmental movement. I stand by anyone that discredits it, intentionally or not.

Why am I mentioning this? Walter Russel Meade got me thinking this morning writing an outstanding barn-burner piece up at The American Interest today:

Once out of office, he assumed the leadership of the global green movement, steering that movement into a tsunami of defeat that, when the debris is finally cleared away, will loom as one of the greatest failures of civil society in all time.

Gore has the Midas touch in reverse; objects of great value (Nobel prizes, Oscars) turn dull and leaden at his touch. Few celebrity cause leaders have had more or better publicity than Gore has had for his climate advocacy. Hailed by the world press, lionized by the entertainment community and the Global Assemblage of the Great and the Good as incarnated in the Nobel Peace Prize committee, he has nevertheless seen the movement he led flounder from one inglorious defeat to the next.

(....)

You can be a leading environmentalist and fail to pay all of your taxes. You can be a leading environmentalist and be unkind to your aged mother. You can be a leading environmentalist and squeeze the toothpaste tube from the middle, park in the handicapped spots at the mall or scribble angry marginal notes in library books.

But you cannot be a leading environmentalist who hopes to lead the general public into a long and difficult struggle for sacrifice and fundamental change if your own conduct is so flagrantly inconsistent with the green gospel you profess.

There's lots more at the link so READ THE REST. Discussion via Memeorandum, cross posted to Proof Positive, graphic via Saberpoint.

Captain Ego, Present-in-Chief -video

By Proof

"Because, after all, it's all about me."

You may have seen this, Barack Obama has presented the Medal of Honor twice* by my recollection, once to a grieving family, once to a living recipient, who was, in fact, the first living MoH recipient in the post Vietnam era. Only two names for the Commander-in-Chief to keep straight. Obama is a man, whom his wife described as having a mind like a "steel trap".

“Your President is a special person, because when it comes to the people he meets, Barack has a memory like a steel trap,”

Unless it was someone special, who received the nation's highest military honor. Those guys just aren't that memorable. I remember when he presented the Medal to Salvatore Giunta, for his actions in Afghanistan, that the president's recital of Staff Sergeant Giunta's bravery sounded flat and lifeless, as though he was reading a laundry list, or the Philadelphia phone directory. Note, too, the ubiquitous person pronoun: "I awarded". A recitation of all the "hot spots" he's been too. Captain Courageous.

Forgive the comparison, but I could see former President Bush weeping with the family of Jared Monti. I can see Obama penciling them in to his busy schedule. Maybe giving them an ipod loaded with his speeches.

I think maybe it's Mr. Teleprompter who has the mind of a steel trap. Although I'd be willing to bet that Barry could tell you the name of every celebrity, movie star and rock star he's met since becoming president. The "little people" whose "stories he carries around with him." Yeah. Right.

Is it 2012 yet?

Update: Video of Obama and Note the invocation and the passion of the speaker. Contrast with Barack What's-His-Name. But, he reads well.





When he goes "off script", are you impressed by his command of the language or just another chance to use the personal pronoun again. "I like this guy". (It's all about me!)

*Four times

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Kathy Hochul already hard at work and trying to rewrite her voting record

It's not a good sign when you need to rewrite your voting record three weeks into your term.

On Monday, Kathy Hochul released a curious press release making the following claim:

I promised to fight to protect seniors and ensure the survival of Medicare. Well I’m proud to say my very first vote, on my very first day, in Congress was against the Republican budget that would decimate Medicare.

While Kathy Hochul did run against the Republican budget, her press release is seems to be lacking something...perhaps truth?

Obviously the "Republican budget that would decimate Medicare" gets the liar, liar pants on fire rating from politifact. However, I'm not sure if the line about her first vote being against the Republican budget is a delusion of grandeur or cry for attention.

The congressional record is quite clear, Kathy Hochul's first vote was on HR 2017, an appropriations bill for the department of homeland security. In fact, Kathy Hochul has not voted on anything remotely related to Medicare. Regardless, it's hard to vote against a bill that passed months ago.

It's too bad honesty wasn't a bigger issue in May's special election than medicare.

PETA Builds Campaign Around Microwave Baby Death

By Proof

"Everybody's Somebody's Baby"

Most sensible people were horrified by the story of the Sacramento mother who murdered her baby using a microwave oven.

Now, seeking to capitalize on the horrific and sensational story, PETA is proposing a billboard comparing microwaving a child alive with cooking a pork chop.

Now I have been sympathetic to PETA in the past. I don't agree with them, but I could sympathize with their sentiments. Not here. I hesitated even writing about this, as I did the original story, simply because this is sickening to many people, and if they are only seeking cheap publicity, I hesitated to give it to them. And, IMHO, the PETA ad was supposedly designed by sane people, who evidently do not care the amount of pain they might inflict on the family of this murdered child.

Shame on you, PETA.

PETA Builds Campaign Around Microwave Baby Death


Cross posted at Proof Positive

Major Ex Bush Official Joins Ron Paul Campaign

By: Wes Messamore

I just broke this story yesterday evening, and it's starting to spread virally. We'll see if the mainstream media bites:

Indicating that the Ron Paul campaign is bringing in the heavy political artillery to win the 2012 Republican nomination for U.S. President, former Special Assistant to George H. W. Bush, Doug Wead-- who played no small part in George W. Bush's successful 2000 presidential bid, helping to orchestrate Bush's victory in the Iowa straw polls of 1999-- has joined the Ron Paul 2012 campaign.

Read the entire article at HumbleLibertarian.com

The AARP: 'The Association of Advocacy for Ripping-Off (Young) People'

by Frank Hill, Telemachus

This is the last straw!

We can handle it when they, the AARP, the American Association of Retired Persons, 'say' they are not competing with for-profit insurance companies when, in fact, the AARP is one of the world's largest retailers of health care insurance, travel insurance and life insurance in the history of man.

We can handle the fact that the AARP has 44 million members and has stalwartly stood in the doorway to fiscal sanity in Washington not unlike George Wallace did in Alabama when he took a stand against integration. 'Social Security and Medicare Sanctity and Chastity in the past; in the Present and Forever in the Future!'

We can also swallow the almost-humorous line when the AARP says they are the most 'non-partisan' organization in history of Washington, D.C. We know for a fact that the AARP has engaged in some of the most vicious political campaigns against any candidate who dares to utter the following words of heresy: 'We need Social Security and Medicare reform now before the US slides into bankruptcy!'

The American political landscape is littered with the carcasses and skeletons of brave souls who have done so in the past...and not lived politically to be able to regret it.

But what we can not stomach is opening up a new box of Raisin Bran early in the morning, somewhat bleary-eyed, and read the following: 'Buy any 3 Kellogg's products and get a new or renewed AARP membership'! A membership that only costs $10 to begin with!

Why not put this AARP promotion on a pack of prunes instead? Or how about some Depends adult diapers?

Are we that old and senile now, fellow Boomers? Can we really be 'bought' by a free membership to join one of the main reasons why we are leaving our children and their children with this enormous debt to pay off, the notorious AARP?

Is there no shame anymore? We are being bought out for 15% discounts on movie tickets and early-bird specials at Denny's and IHOP!

We can not think of another single organization in Washington that is more directly responsible for the exploding budget deficits than the AARP. We have looked and searched and hunted high-and-low for ANY indication or scrap from the historical archives that the AARP has actually proposed or supported any responsible budget solution that would take the inherent budget cost drivers out of the costs of Social Security, and more acutely, Medicare over the past 25 years....and we have come up flat empty.

Without blinking or suppressing laughter, the AARP maintains that every senior citizen, including Warren Buffett and other super-billionaires, deserve their full complement of entitlement spending once they pass the age of 65 for Medicare and 66 for Social Security. Why, it almost amounts to $3000/month for Mr. Buffett today! What would he do without Social Security to depend on?

Since we went to Washington in 1985, the AARP has stopped every single effort to put any common-sense reforms into SS and Medicare. The good people of Chile (Chile!) have a far more advanced and modern operating Social Security system they implemented 30 years ago where every Chilean citizen now has a significant nest-egg built up to retire on. (see Chilean plan below)

If you die 1 second before midnight the day before you turn 66 to become eligible to receive your first SS check of about $2000/month, you get nothing. Squadoosh. Zippo. After all those years of hard work and having money withheld from your weekly paychecks to something called 'FICA' that many people still do not know what it means.

That is crazy. And unfair. And far inferior to the private account system Chileans passed into law 30 years ago. Just about the time the Caliphates at the AARP decided to stand in the doorway to any common-sensical improvements to a system that is almost as old as the current Chicago Cubs World Series drought.

Nope. This is the last straw. We are not going to take it anymore. No more Kellogg's products bought any more, certainly not Raisin Bran. We think there should be a national uprising of every person under the age of 55 to do the same: boycott Kellogg's products for supporting such an organization as the AARP that routinely skirts the law to run their 'non-profit' (sic) financial empire with tax-advantaged status across-the-board and which engages in overt political activity in violation of their non-profit status.

And for those of you over the age of 55 who, for some reason, have already succumbed to the temptation of buying 3 Kellogg's cereals so you can get a free $10 membership to this monolithic organization in order to get 15% discounts on movie tickets, please tear up your card and ask the AARP for a refund.

They probably won't give it to you. But the only way to stop the AARP from destroying your children's future with their intransigence to common-sense budget solutions is to have their membership slowly start to dwindle from 44 million to 40 million; to 30 million and then down to 1 million members and then vanish into the sunset of history.

So stop buying Kellogg's cereals. Tell all your friends to do the same. Eat some prunes instead.

You'll feel better about yourself when you do all three.

RELATED: Click here to read an article in Investor's Business Daily about the Chilean Social Security system.

(Editor's Note: Frank Hill's resumé includes working as chief of staff for Senator Elizabeth Dole and Congressman Alex McMillan, serving on the House Budget Committee and serving on the Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform. He takes on politics from a fiercely independent perspective at the blog Telemachus).

Crime Boss James “Whitey” Bulger Arrested in Los Angeles

By the Left Coast Rebel

Incredible news today, FBI's Most Wanted crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger has been found and arrested in Santa Moncica, California.

LA NOW:

Legendary Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger, who has been on the run for more than a decade, was arrested Wednesday in Santa Monica, multiple law enforcement sources told The Times.

Bulger, 81, has been the subject of several books and was the inspiration for "The Departed," a 2006 Martin Scorsese film staring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson.

Bulger fled Boston in late 1994 as federal agents were about to arrest him in connection with 21 killings, racketeering and other crimes that spanned the early 1970s to the mid-1980s.

…

The arrest came as the FBI launched a media campaign in 14 cities to help determine Bulger’s whereabouts.

Did you know that Showtime's disturbing, dark, hit show "Brotherhood" is based upon the real-life story of Irish-American siblings former Massachusetts state senator William Bulger and FBI's most-wanted James "Whitey" Bulger?

More discussion at Memeorandum and Los Angeles Times, The Camp Of The Saints, Hot Air, Scared Monkeys, The Informer, The Daily What, Boing Boing and Ricochet Conversation Feed.

Self-Publisher John Locke Sells a Million on Kindle

By the Left Coast Rebel

I've never heard of Louisville, Kentucky's John Locke, nor have I heard of the Lethal series he has experienced great success with in which former CIA assassin Donovan Creed, described as a "smart-aleck tough guy with a heart of bronze," takes on crime bosses, chases myriad skirt, fights angry midget(s) bent on world conquest and a variety of other plots. (sounds interesting!)

There are so may authors out there that one does not have enough time in the day to read everything good that is out there, or to even be familiar with reading options. I guess I can look forward to retirement for that. But then again, I will probably be writing in retirement myself and won't have the time!

Some of John Locke's novels.

I caught a timely piece linked at Memeorandum about Locke's runaway Amazon/Kindle success. I say timely because I was chatting with my wife this morning about self-publishing and some exremely creative stuff that she has written recently. She's a great writer, especially with short, witty poems. Frankly, she's brilliant. I've thought that there has got to be a market for her stuff. In a creative sense, my wife is a better writer than I.

Perhaps she'll be a $0.99 Amazon superstar?

From The Telegraph:

John Locke, 60, who publishes and promotes his own work, enjoys sales figures close to such literary luminaries as Stieg Larsson, James Patterson and Michael Connelly.

But unlike these heavyweights of the writing world, he has achieved it without the help of an agent or publicist – and with virtually no marketing budget.

Instead the DIY novelist has relied on word of mouth and a growing army of fans of his crime and western novellas that he has built up online thanks to a website and twitter account.

His remarkable achievement is being hailed as a milestone of the internet age and the beginning of a revolution in the way that books are sold.

Locke, from Louisville, Kentucky, USA, whose only other artistic endeavour was as a singer with a rock band in his youth, admits that the writing it [sic] not even his day job.

Charlie Martin at PJM (where there are a lot of writers that make their living) noticed this story, too, writing:

See, Locke isn’t working through a publisher. He publishes and promotes his books himself. With no intermediate, that means he can publish for 99 cents; he takes home something like 70 35 cents per copy.

Which means in this case that he’s made something like $700,000 $350,000 gross in a year.

$350,000 gross isn't bad, considering that writing is not even this author's day job!

Images in this post are from John Locke's site DonovanCreed.com.

Study: Taxpayers need to pay thousands each year to cover state worker benefits

Image via. Ann Althouse/Flickr

By Sam Foster

Remember when Scott Walker was Hitler?

A new study finds that on average, households need to shell out an additional $1,398 per year in taxes for 30 years just to cover state employee benefits.

American taxpayers would have to pay anywhere from $329 to $2,475 annually per household for 30 years, depending on what state they live in, to remedy the crises in their public employee pensions, a new study said Wednesday.

Taxpayers in New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Wyoming, Ohio and California would face the highest tax increases to fully fund their state's pension obligations, assuming no policy changes, the researchers said.

For example, New Jersey households would have to pay $2,475 annually for 30 years, the highest.

The lowest increase would be for Indiana households, which would have to pay $329 annually for 30 years to fully fund their public employee pensions, the researchers said.

Below is how much households in the 10 highest and lowest states would have to pay in increased taxes annually for 30 years to solve the funding crisis in their state and local public pension plans:

New Jersey $2,475
New York $2,250
Oregon $2,140
Wyoming $2,080
Ohio $2,051
California $1,994
Minnesota $1,928
Illinois $1,907
New Mexico $1,756
Colorado $1,739
+++
Georgia $803
North Carolina $784
South Dakota $776
Maine $761
Idaho $737
Arizona $608
West Virginia $600
Utah $538
Arkansas $534
Indiana $329

Nationally, the average increase for households would be $1,398 annually for 30 years, said Rauh, an associate professor of finance.

Notice blue states top the list of most owed and red states top the list for least owed.

Obama Announces Troop Drawdown

By Proof

I just listened to Obama's announcement for a troop drawdown in Afghanistan. Someone had suggested a drinking game...take a shot whenever Obama mentioned bin Laden. (Six times by my count). You folks please wait an hour before driving.

His pronunciation of Taliban as "Tollyban" was as bit jarring. I wanted to take a shot every time I heard that. (Lost count.)

Obama's choosing a rapid drawdown, as opposed to what his generals recommend, suggests political rather than strategic or security considerations.

NYT:

General Petraeus, who helped write the Army’s field manual on counterinsurgency policy, did not endorse the decision, said another official, though both Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton both accepted it, albeit with reservations. General Petraeus had recommended limiting withdrawals to 5,000 troops this year and another 5,000 over the winter, deferring the drawdown of the rest of the surge force through next year’s fighting season.

He and other military commanders argued that the 18 months since Mr. Obama announced the troop increase did not allow for enough time for the Americans to consolidate the fragile gains that they had made in Helmand and other provinces. Troops have succeeded in clearing many towns and cities of insurgents, and then keeping them safe so that markets reopened and girls were able to go to school, for example.

His goal "America, it is time to focus on nation building here at home" sounds like more of the typical Democrat mantra of domestic spending over defense. Obama was definitely looking to the 2012 elections in this speech.

A full transcript of his remarks can be found here.

More at Memeorandum

Cross posted at Proof Positive