Wednesday, November 2, 2011

"To cherish and stimulate the activity of the human mind, by multiplying the objects of enterprise, is not among the least considerable of the expedients, by which the wealth of a nation may be promoted." --Alexander Hamilton

The Patriot Post 
"Obama's ceaseless attack on the 'rich' and his effort to divide Americans on the basis of their income and wealth can best be seen as a diversion, an attempt to distract Americans' attention from his failure to address our interrelated economic malaise and fiscal crises. ... Obama blames the rich for problems he's causing, despite the absence of causal relationship between the distribution of our national income and wealth and the economic and debt problems we face. Why? Simply because that's what demagogic community-organizing, Marxist-leaning Alinsky disciples do -- and it's disgraceful."  --columnist David Limbaugh

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/michaelramirez/2011/11/01/93219

Liberated Libya: Al Qaeda Flag Aloft Benghazi’s Courthouse

Big Peace
…one can now see both the Libyan rebel flag and the flag of al Qaeda fluttering atop Benghazi’s courthouse. According to one Benghazi resident, Islamists driving brand-new SUVs and waving the black al Qaeda flag drive the city’s streets at night shouting, “Islamiya, Islamiya! No East, nor West,” a reference to previous worries that the country would be bifurcated between Gaddafi opponents in the east and the pro-Gaddafi elements in the west.
....When I again engaged him in conversation, he told me “this flag is the true flag of Islam”….
Not just with the Libyan flag...above it!

You're a grand old (al Qaeda) flag
"I think that it was just lovely the way Qadaffi met his end in a sharp pointed way. He was a mass-murdering, terrorist, lunatic scumbag and deserved even worse than he got. But before we go handing out more Nobel Peace Prizes for this, let's look at just who we were supporting and who now will likely replace him.....that's right our good friends and global do-gooders al Qaeda. Here is a pic that the NY Times used to illustrate a story while somehow managing to miss the fact that the flags are not for the Islamic peace and kindness party, but for those pillars of freedom and democracy best known for suicide bombings, slitting throats and honor killings of women they rape.
....
"Now I am sure it is way too much work for the NYT or any others ito recall that the region of Libya responsible for Qadaffi's hemorrhoid removal also provided the most imported foreign jihadis to Iraq. Nope they are too busy lionizing that intrepid foreign policy genius Barack of Arabia to remember that we supported a bunch of folks with American blood dripping from their beards.
"But hey, he got bin Laden right? How do I know that will show up in a campaign commercial? Oh that's right because professional weasels David(s) Axelrod and Plouffe have already trotted it out."   Posted by Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive

Blame the Predecessor, Not the Ideology: A Historical Leftist Tactic

PJ Media  I witnessed this strategy in the Soviet Union, and now I see it at Occupy Wall Street. It always fails. Ion Mihai Pacepa  "Instead of pulling up their socks and encouraging the production — not redistribution — of wealth, the leaders of the Democrat-run White House and U.S. Senate blamed former president George W. Bush for the current economic calamity. No American really bought it. So then the Democrats blamed the Japanese tsunami. No more luck. Blaming the Arab Spring and the European economic crisis did not do the trick either. Now the Democrats are blaming Wall Street — whatever that means — and America’s rich. They are the real evil. They are sucking the people’s blood, wrecking America.
"In the sanctum sanctorum of the former Soviet empire, to which I once belonged, finding a scapegoat for the mistakes of a country’s leader was called “political necrophagy.” Although Marxism proclaimed the deciding role in history to be played by “the people,” the Marxists sitting on the Kremlin throne believed that only the leader counted. From the lips of Khrushchev himself, I used to hear over and over: “Change the public image of the leader, and you change history.” "  Emphasis added.

Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa is the highest official who has ever defected from the Soviet bloc. In 1989 Romanian tyrant Nicolae Ceausescu was executed at the end of a trial whose main accusations came out of Pacepa's book Red Horizons...

Follow-up to a Tuesday TW post: Limbaugh Blasts MSNBC Contributor: For 23 Years I’ve Been Called a Racist…I’m Not…You Are

The Blaze  via  Bully Pulpit    "During Lawrence O‘Donnell’s “Last Word” segment on Monday, author and MSNBC contributor TourĂ© criticized Rush Limbaugh for allegedly confusing racial politics for racism where GOP front-runner Herman Cain is concerned. Limbaugh, however, didn’t take take the left-wing novelists’ rant lying down. During his Tuesday broadcast, the conservative radio host claimed that while he has been called a racist for the last “23 years,” it is in fact TourĂ©, and those like him, who are the real racists."

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Rep. Paul Ryan on Saving the American Idea

Heritage  "Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is mighty disappointed with President Obama. The chairman of the House Budget Committee, who has bested Obama in head-to-head policy showdowns, blames the president for failing to outline a solution to the debt crisis while dividing America with talk of class warfare.
"Ryan’s speech (below) at Heritage yesterday made news for its strong critique of Obama. He sat down for an interview afterward to outline why he’s so disheartened by Obama. Ryan also redefined how Americans should look at class warfare, taking aim at crony capitalism and the politically connected who drive American further into debt.

Heritage   " In a speech today at The Heritage Foundation, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) spoke about Saving the American Idea. The full text transcript of his remarks as prepared for delivery are below:"
And yet, nearly three years into his presidency, look at where we are now:
•Petty and trivial? Just last week, the President told a crowd in North Carolina that Republicans are in favor of, quote, “dirtier air, dirtier water, and less people with health insurance.” Can you think of a pettier way to describe sincere disagreements between the two parties on regulation and health care?
•Chronic avoidance of tough decisions? The President still has not put forward a credible plan to tackle the threat of ever-rising spending and debt, and it’s been over 900 days since his party passed a budget in the Senate.
•A preference for scoring cheap political points instead of consensus-building? This is the same President who is currently campaigning against a do-nothing Congress, when in fact, the House of Representatives has passed over a dozen bills to help get the economy moving and deal with the debt, only to see the President’s party kill those bills in the do-nothing Senate.

How Sen. Dick Durbin caused the debit fee mess (Updated with CATO report)

The CATO Institute: The Dangerous Experiment of the Durbin Amendment (PDF)
The Durbin Amendment’s regulation of debit interchange represents a radical effort to extend price regulation to areas in which it has never been attempted before. That effort was undertaken in response to strong factional industry pressures, but without any serious examination of how payment systems operate.
WSJ: The Dick Durbin Bank Fees "Citing the negative impact of the Durbin amendment and other regulations on customer profitability, Texas-based IBC bank recently announced its decision to close 55 supermarket-based branches, eliminating 500 jobs, rather than increasing banking fees. Other banks will inevitably follow suit."
Mr. Zywicki is professor of law at George Mason University and a senior scholar of the Mercatus Center.

Thanks, Dick
Big Government:  Durbin’s Amendment: Handout to Retailers Is Why Banks Are Charging You More  "The overall point is that whether the banks overcharge now or just make up the losses in these new fees, the Durbin amendment is a big hit for the consumer at a time where they are squeezed enough."

What the Durbin Amendment Means for You  "Those who cannot qualify for, or want to avoid, credit cards will be forced to pay more for checking accounts or resort to high-fee prepaid debit cards. Even assuming that merchants pass on all of the savings from lower debit interchange fees onto their customers, those who rely on checking accounts will have difficulty recouping their losses. The effect will be strongest for those who struggle to make minimum balance requirements on their checking accounts. While the effect on consumers as a whole is uncertain, it is likely that the poor will bear the brunt of the Durbin Amendment’s ill effects."

Durbin Amendment impact will devastate small businesses

The Contemptible Left:Obama’s Labor Sec, Hilda Solis Blasts “Teabaggers” In Speech Before FL Dems

Nice Deb  "While speaking at the Florida Democratic Party State Convention over the weekend, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis pointedly insulted members of the Tea Party, referring to them as “teabaggers.” As most of you already know, “teabagger” is a vile pejorative that refers to a sexual act."

Human Events: Solis: Obama Administration Will Take On "Teabaggers"
"If Barack Obama wants to lecture us about civility, his first order of business today will be to fire Solis. If he does not then we'll assume he approves of her comments. It's not as if it was a one-time occurrence.
""I'll be darned if I'm going to set that aside now because a few tea baggers want to somehow muzzle my voice," she said, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
"Meanwhile, the always charming Democrat leader Debbie Wasserman Schultz​ echoed these ludicrous comments."

Carrying Water for Obama, Hilda Solis Picks a Fight with the Tea Party "Besides attempting to sell the Obama jobs plan, Solis took aim at the Republicans. She attacked Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s labor policies, arguing that he is looking to take away collective bargaining and other rights from public-sector employees."

Palestinefeld, the Sequel: Jason “Costanza” Alexander Pimps Israel for Palestinian State

Debbie Schlussel  "And I mentioned that Costanza believes that Israel should negotiate and make peace with these HAMAS terrorists, which he was forced to admit. Then, I asked him if he believes the U.S. should negotiate with Al-Qaeda, which he admitted he believes in, too. This is the idiocy that happens when people whose only skill is playing an unemployed New York loser think that they actually know something about the Middle East and national security. By the way, I had fun making Alexander mad by continuing to call him Costanza. But maybe that’s an insult to the fictional character he played, since I think even George Costanza wouldn’t be this stupid and naive."



Herman Cain

Althouse:  On Greta Van Susteren's show, Herman Cain spoke of an employee in her late 30s or early 40s who accused him of sexual harassment.
"Supposedly, the woman and her lawyer asked for a "huge" settlement, but she got very little, just enough to induce her to terminate the lawsuit."

Here is a pair from Neal Boortz that I hope will open for you. He's having stack overflow issues and his links take some time to open. If you choose to wait it out, Mr. Boortz is an excellent read:
It's just beginning for Herman Cain  "Well now the Democrats sense a threat to their control of the black vote; and that threat is Herman Cain.  Here is a black man with a black dialect who dedicated himself to education and hard work and became successful in the business world without race-based preferences or advantages like affirmative discrimination pushing him along.  Herman Cain sends a message to millions of black Americans that the government and the political party to which they have pledged their undying support just may be holding them back from the threshold of true success and self-realization.  This is a message that simply cannot be allowed to reach loyal black Democrat voters"
http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/

The fallout for Herman Cain   "First, it could be a bad thing. People could be unenthused by the way Herman and his campaign handled the story. More details, if there are any, could come to light. People could start to question Herman’s character. Some, like this article from Business Insider, have declared Herman’s campaign to be over in light of the allegations. The ObamaMedia morning shows were all quick to jump on the story as a “bombshell” without any sourcing of their own.
"Or it could turn out to be a good thing."...More...

From  Legal Insurrection:  Herman Cain – The First Real Test  "How should we react? The instinct to defend a conservative is a good instinct. We’ve seen too many times, with Sarah Palin and recently with Rick Perry, how the MSM will give every benefit of the doubt to those who make accusations. We must fight against the use of mere accusations as evidence of actual misconduct." William A. Jacobson Associate Clinical Professor, Cornell Law School

Toure'
From Weasel Zippers:   MSNBC Accuses Herman Cain of Having “Moments of Minstrelsy” To Appease White Conservatives…  "Toure (one word), MSNBC’s resident expert on race once again used airtime to delegitimize Herman Cain as a black man and dismissed him as a member of black American culture in an appearance on “The Last Word” with host Lawrence O’Donnell. [...]
"After accusing Herman Cain of having “moments of minstrelsy” to appease white conservatives, Toure then praises Obama. Toure claims that Obama, someone who he says is intellectual and brilliant, paved the way for a Herman Cain, and without a black Alpha like Obama there would be no Herman Cain."

MSNBC being MSNBC: GOP would support 'psycho-killer' Cain " "We could find out that he was some kind of psycho-killer and a large number of his supporters would say, 'That's great, at least he wasn't in government.'" Milbank said sardonically.
""He's plainly, unequivocally, lying here," said Democratic strategist Bob Shrum, calling for the National Restaurant Association to release the records with the womens' names redacted."
 "However, we are not going to rush to judgement!"  Thanks, Reverend.

Mark Steyn: Let’s hear what these gestures were. Then we can mandate sensitivity training to eliminate them. Which will stimulate the vital sensitivity-training sector of the economy.  ...."Because, if you’re going to destroy a man’s life over it, it ought to mean something. A “gesture” that is not “sexual” but that makes women “uncomfortable” enough to threaten sexual harrassment?"  Via NRO.

Another ‘Borking’? "The accusations against Clarence Thomas, following what liberal commentator Juan Williams called a “search for dirt” by liberal activists, deepened the disgust conservatives felt. There have been any number of conservatives who’ve been “borked” since."  Mona Charen

Monday, October 31, 2011

The very angry first lady Michelle Obama

The Washington Times  "Now, she is ready to spew her bilious disgust with America on the campaign trail. A dignified, transcendent first lady? No chance. Michelle is going to break with a hundred years of tradition and play the role of attack dog, heaping derision on her husband’s political opponents like no other first lady before her."
....
So, America’s first lady will travel the country this election season to tell her fellow Americans just how bad it is out there (between lavish vacations, of course). Unlike President Ronald Reagan, who saw morning in America - that great shining city on a hill - Michelle will tell all who will listen that Republicans want to poison the air and water, stifle free speech, oppress the religious. She will offer not an uplifting vision of what her husband’s America could be but only a vapid view of what Republicans’ America would be.

"That is the America she lives in, and by campaign’s end, it will be clear that she’s no longer “proud of my country.” Maybe she never really was."

Some afternoon reports on Herman Cain

Cain: “I was falsely accused” of sexual harassment at trade group   "This is a much better response than the one offered last night in response to the Politico story.  It acknowledges that Cain had to deal with accusations, and puts him on the record with a strong denial specific to them.  Unless Politico reveals more about the nature of the complaints and the women involved come forward, this will likely be enough to keep Cain in the game, as it’s doubtful that voters will give much credence to the vague nature of the allegations — unless they get a lot less vague, and unless more people come forward with complaints, assuming they can credibly do so."  Hot Air.

Weekly Standard: Cain's Former Secretary: This Is Not the Herman Cain I Know; Former staffers call sexual harassment allegations unbelievable.
" “It’s just not Herman,” says Sibby Wolfson, who was Cain's executive assistant from 1997 through his first campaign for office in 2004, in a phone interview. “He’s got a lovely wife, a lovely family.”
"Did Wolfson ever see Cain act in a way that could be construed as sexual harassment? “No, God, no,” she says. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. In fact, I think Herman was careful to act in the opposite way.”" h/t to Hot Air


Why This Could Be the End of Cain ...."Here is what troubles me."....
1. Herman Cain, in his role as head of a major trade association, did not bother to learn how a complaint or complaints of sexual harassment against him was resolved.

2. Herman Cain, not bothering to have learned how a complaint or complaints of sexual harassment against him was resolved, decided to run for president without bothering to learn.  Kevin D. Williamson

Herman Cain Iowa chairman: 'Distraction' will help here  "POLITICO's Reid Epstein reports: Herman Cain's Iowa chairman, Steve Grubbs, said the POLITICO story about sexual harassment claims against Cain will only serve to motivate the campaign in the first-in-the-nation state. "I bet we'll land more precinct captains than we did before the story," Grubbs told POLITICO Monday. "These sorts of distractions are not stopping our campaign from reaching our daily goals." Grubbs, who declined to comment on how Cain and his national staff are handling the situation, said the campaign in Iowa has "a full phone bank of volunteers" "
Via Lucianne

Shall we do great things or should we let Democrats govern America?