'Land of opportunity?' Apparently not for some

Rick Moran  "How far has the US fallen in recent years? One yardstick is in the number of second generation immigrants returning to the country of their parent's birth for opportunities that they can't find here."
...."What makes this particular trend so worrisome is that it involves the kinds of immigrants that have powered American entrepreneurship  for decades. It is becoming too difficult to start a business, to negotiate the myriad regulations and laws governing business creation - not to mention the highest corporate tax rate in the world and overregulation that has gotten much worse under the current administration.  
"Government's stranglehold on American business is costing us not only jobs, but talent as well."

http://www.usnews.com/cartoons/economy-cartoons

The Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan Comedy Hour

From PJ Media with a big hat tip to Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.
This In Living Color skit is "hands down, the winner. This is pure genius, from the respective impersonations by David Alan Grier and Damon Wayans to the script to the belly rub at the end."


Farrakhan Warns Whites: “Unless You Change, Your End Has Come”…

"If this was a white man making these types of threats Holder would unleash the DOJ attack dogs faster than you can say, “my people.” "

He continued, going on to address Caucasians directly.

“I know myself. I know you. And some of you white people – I know you better than you know yourself because God has revealed you fully,” he explained, going on to seemingly claim that he has a special, God-ordained ability to see what others cannot.
This, of course, was followed up with a cryptic warning to white Americans about their need to “change.”
“It ain’t about hating you. We ain’t got no time for that. But we know who we’re dealing with. We know what we’re dealing with,” he said. “We know your origin in the world and we know how long you were set to live and unless you change, your end has come.”

Via Weasel Zippers

What would a second Obama term look like?

Human Events: California Dreamin'   "I live in California.  If you were wondering what living in Obama's second term would be like, wonder no longer.  We in California are living there now.
 "California is a one-party state dominated by a virulent Democratic Left enabled by a complicit media where every agency of local, county, and state government is run by and for the public employee unions.  The unemployment rate is 12%."
...."California has seven income tax brackets.  The top income tax rate is 9.3%, which is slapped on the greedy rich earning at least $47,056 a year.  Income of more than $1 million pays the "millionaires' and billionaires'" surcharge tax rate of 10.3%.   
 "Brown's proposal would add 2% for income over $250,000.  A million-dollar income would then be taxed at 12.3%.  And that's just for the state."  Roger Hedgecock

http://www.usnews.com/cartoons/barack-obama-cartoons

Another California comparison made by another Californian: "But at the core of this breakdown was the abandonment of our basic republican structure of government – and it began right here.

"Our parliamentary institutions have evolved over centuries to distill diverse viewpoints to a common direction within constitutional boundaries. When this process is applied, it works extremely well.

"For a quarter of a century, I watched as these brilliant checks and balances that had produced reasonably punctual and reasonably balanced budgets for over a century, and nurtured the most prosperous economy in the nation, were gradually abandoned in the name of liberal efficiency.

..".I believe that if Californians rediscover these self-evident truths, Jerry Brown will be to California what Barack Obama has been to the rest of the country – a giant wake-up call."
Tom McClintock

http://www.calwatchdog.com/cartoon/

Ezra Klein:  The best way to judge Obama’s first term — and his second  "In Obama’s case, however, a failure to win a second term will not just color his accomplishments. It will decide their fate."

Letter: Second term would give Obama license to do unspeakable things "He has lost America’s position as leader of the world. His message has become a farce. I believe the world considers him a joke, as their cartoons about him are telling. He has become an embarrassment, bowing to Saudi royalty and apologizing for America’s imagined transgressions."


Investor's Business Daily: Is Obama 'Dangerously Close To Totalitarianism'?  "... "A few months ago he was saying, 'The Congress doesn't count, the Congress doesn't mean anything, I am going to rule by decree and by administrative regulation.'
" "Now he's basically saying the Supreme Court doesn't count. It doesn't matter what they think. They can't review our legislation. That would leave just him as the only branch of government standing." "

http://www.usnews.com/cartoons/barack-obama-cartoons

Romney Warns Gun Lobby of a Second Obama Term  " “In his first term,” Mr. Romney’s said, “we’ve seen the president try to browbeat the Supreme Court. In a second term, he would remake it. Our freedoms would be in the hands of an Obama court, not just for four years, but for the next 40. That must not happen.’’ "


The Nation: Why the Supreme Court Matters  "Four justices are now in their 70s: Ginsburg (79), Scalia (76), Kennedy (75) and Breyer (73). If Romney wins, he could shore up the right flank of the Court; if Obama wins, he could tip the balance of power back to the center. "
...." “If Obama wins re-election, he will likely appoint one—and perhaps three—more Supreme Court justices,” [NRA head Wayne]  LaPierre said. “It’ll be the end of our freedom forever.” "
"....If ever there was a time for the president to run against the Court, it is now."  Ari Berman


What Tax Day Could Feel Like in 2013  "The Tax Foundation reports that because of higher federal income and corporate tax collections, Tax Freedom Day came four days later this year than last. And the bad news is that unless Washington takes action, it will take working Americans 11 more days to meet next year’s tax burden."

Conservative idiot wants to run as third-party. After all, Ross Perot worked out so well for conservatives

‘These Boys Better Watch Out’: Roemer’s Third-Party Run for the White House  "Obama, he said, is a “disappointment” because of the “lack of leadership on campaign finance reform, tax reform, budget reform, immigration reform, trade reform. He’s non-existent on any of them. … The thing he hasn’t done is change Washington.”

"Roemer also slams Obama for “his immaturity at leadership,” such as telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on an open mic that he would have more flexibility on the missile defense shield after the election. “He wouldn’t tell the American people that,” Roemer said. “He think we’re fools!”

"“He wants to be friends with Putin,” he added. “He’s an immature leader. I’m embarrassed by it. … And it’s dangerous."

Roemer is saying  the things that those of us who plan to support Romney against Obama agree with. And many who now support Romney would instead vote for Roemer for some strange reason. In 2008, distaste for McCain led many to stay at home or to wish for any third-party candidate, thinking "that'll teach them Republicans!"  

Now we have two more leftist Supreme Court justices, ObamaCare, allies who no longer trust the U.S. and adversaries who laugh at us. Worst off, we have the Occupiers, racial divisions nationwide and groups of Americans at war with other groups of Americans, a president who smugly speaks about "pitchforks" in the streets and makes threats against those who stand in opposition to him.

Obama is -as Dick Cheney bravely put it - an unmitigated disaster and must be denied the chance to govern...uh no, that's a bad word, um...do whatever it is that he has been doing the last three years. Then along comes some third-party conservative who is actually running against not Obama, but against our hope for getting rid of him. As Napoleon once put it, "one bad general is better than two good ones." 

Obama may actually help him out with campaign funds and have his people leak comments to the press about how much they "fear Roemer" and how he would be a very strong candidate. Roemer has to know that and I fear that perhaps his political ambitions outweigh his fear of another Obama administration.

And what kind of man is President Obama that many so badly want to remove him from office? Read on:

Richard A. Baehr: Running on Empty: The Cliché Candidacy of Barack Obama  "We can also expect to see and hear more of all the following poll-tested gestures or comments over the next seven months:

1. Obama running up the stairs to speak to a crowd with his sleeves rolled up. (It’s good to know he is rolling up his sleeves to solve America’s problems.)
2. “This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class.” (If we adopt the Buffet rule, it’s a good bet it will be a “make” moment).
3. “Everyone needs to pay their fair share.” (Everyone except for the half of all Americans who do not pay any income tax and will not be asked to by the president.)
4. “The rich need to pay their fare share.” (Presumably 10% of taxpayers paying 70% of all income taxes, greater than their share of income, is not a fair share and needs to be substantially higher.)
5. “Corporations need to play by the rules.” (Of course, we presumably need more of them.)
6. “All Americans  should get a fair shot.” (At what exactly is unclear — opportunity to succeed, or an opportunity to share in the fruits of the labor of  others?  What is Obama’s plan for those who get a “fair” chance to compete, and fail? )
7. “We need to build an economy that can last.” (All countries have economies that  “last,” even Greece. The test is whether the economy is growing, and if so, whether that rate of growth is sufficient. Is Obama concerned  about growth — the size of the pie — or only about how a pie of whatever size is distributed?)

Muslim Brotherhood chooses chaos

Asia Times  "As Egypt headed towards chaotic breakdown, Western observers asked how its economy might be stabilized. This appears to have been the wrong question to begin with, for the Muslim Brotherhood will not allow the West to stabilize Egypt's financial position. The right question is: who will benefit from the chaos?" 
....
"As a revolutionary organization that rose under the influence of Nazi Germany's wartime foreign ministry, the Brotherhood has no qualms about exacerbating Egypt's economic misery if it furthers its agenda. Paul Berman's 2010 book The Flight of the Intellectuals summarized exhaustive academic research into wartime archives showing that the Brotherhood was shaped by Nazi ideology."
Hitler was a gift that just keeps on giving.

American Politics and the Structure of Betrayals

The American Interest  "Although Obama has relied very much on his “base” (the left wing of the Democratic party) in his actions as president (just think of the partisan way in which he pushed the health bill through Congress), he has also given the appearance of being at heart a pragmatist inclined toward the middle (much to the disappointment of some in the “base”). Once re-elected, though, there would be no need to seek compromises with the Republican opposition or to curry favor with middle-of-the-road voters. In other words, Obama is really a man of the left at heart, but after the election, he will be able to betray those who voted for him as a man of the middle."
...."Romney is a man of the middle at heart and, until nominated, must make all these conservative noises. But after the nomination and going into the general election, he will be able to betray those who voted for him as a man of the right."

Mr. Blog's Tepid Ride

....I am not sure whether this structure of betrayals exists in other democracies. The American primary system guarantees it. A candidate must rely on a “base” to be nominated. ....
"Given the primary system, the activists must be kept happy until the nomination has been achieved; they are rather less important as the general election looms. Then all these other people, the ones who don’t normally fill their evenings with politics, must be appealed to."
PETER BERGER 

Overthrowing Environmentalism (Part one of a series)

Warning Signs

"In 1517 Martin Luther set off the Protestant revolution against the Catholic Church that led to the spread of the then-new movement as a response to the corruption of the Church. It took time for it to establish itself as an alternative and was greatly aided by the invention of printing and spread of literacy, but mostly because ordinary people had grown weary of the Church’s extravagance, poor governance, and resistance to change.
"The selling of worthless “indulgences” as a means to wipe one’s sins clean was the final straw.
"Environmentalism has become a modern religion and its “cap and trade” scheme to sell worthless permission slips for the emission of so-called “greenhouse gases”—based on United Nations Kyoto Protocol calling for a reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth’s atmosphere—is being rejected by many nations ." 
....
"On Earth Day—April 22nd—the birthday of Vladimir Lenin, the dictator who imposed Communism on Russia in 1917, the various elements of the environmental movement will flood the world with propaganda. The connection between these two events should not be ignored."


Previous Caruba article: Obama's Eco-Lies    "All this week in the run-up to Earth Day, this blog will post commentaries exposing environmentalism as the totalitarian ideology it has always been."

Obama, Israel and Iran

DEBKAfile: Israel: Obama’s secret dealings with Iran conflict with US-Israeli understandings   "The fundamental rift on Iran between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu burst into the open Monday, April 16 when high-ranking Israeli officials close to Netanyahu directly accused the president of reneging on the US-Israeli understandings reached ahead of the Istanbul talks between the six powers and Iran on April 14.

"Behind the show biz of Istanbul, they charged, the US and Iran had reached secret agreements in clandestine bilateral contacts channeled through Paris and Vienna."

Jerusalem Post

Council on Foreign Relations:  Iran and the United States Face Off in Turkey  "But the reality is that Washington's decades-long obsession with clerical Kremlinology is effectively irrelevant when it comes to the future of the nuclear program. Iran's long-standing power struggles continue to percolate, but decision-making remains firmly in the hands of the hard-liners. Indeed, for most of the previous 33 years, the central issue for U.S.-Iran policy was who rules Iran. We know the answer to that question today: Khamenei. Now, Washington must confront the question of how to move Iran. "

Stand Your Ground/Duty to Retreat

Clayton Cramer's Blog  "If the Republicans were smart (and if pigs flew) they would be rephrasing this Stand Your Ground question in "war on women" terms.  I'm impressed how many of the cases that I have found so far involve women defending themselves from abusive intimate partners (and sometimes the reverse, as in State v. Glowacki (Minn. 2001))--and being charged because they didn't leave their own homes rather than use deadly force." 

The Three Eyed Monster

Cheney: Obama "Has Been An Unmitigated Disaster To The Country"

RealClearPolitics  "I think to be in a position where he gets four more years in the White House to continue the policies he has, both with respect to the economy, and tax policy, and defense and some other areas would be a huge, huge disappointment," the former Vice President said".
Unmitigated:
1.      not mitigated; not softened or lessened: unmitigated suffering.

2.

unqualified or absolute: an unmitigated bore.

New heart, same soul.

The Blaze  “I think it’s very important that we get together and gather together and gather behind our likely nominee,” Cheney said. “It’s Mitt Romney, I’ve known him for a long time, I’ve got a lot of confidence in him.”

Will the real Hilary Rosen please stand up?

Jay Carney and the 3 Hilary Rosens   "The question has to be asked once again: how stupid does he think we are? We know he's trying to downplay the significance of this woman's frequent visits to the WH, but are we actually expected to believe that there are two other women with the same exact name who are meeting with the President and his advisors? Sure, there are 35 visits on the guest log, but if you divide those among 3 Hilary Rosens, it's really only 11.667 visits per Rosen!"

Hopenchange  "Democrats immediately started falling all over themselves to make amends, realizing that many hard-working mothers might still carve out enough personal time to actively involve themselves in campaign activities - and help throw out the party which looks down on them and their life choices."


Legal Insurrection: Liberal female pundits belittling Ann Romney have disqualified themselves, too  "If a life of economic struggle is a prerequisite for a woman to speak about economic issues affecting women, then aren’t many if not most of the liberal female pundits belittling Ann Romney disqualified from the discussion, too?"  Hat tip to this morning's Rush Limbaugh program.
Legal Insurrection: Liberal female pundits belittling Ann Romney have disqualified themselves, too  "No,it doesn’t. My definition of a liberal is “someone who best knows how to spend MY money”, and by that definition they are infinitely qualified to speak for the masses!

It’s like the movies: “Tales of the working class as told by rich Hollywood stars!” (Firesign Theatre, 1969)"


Real Moms of the GOP battle White House SOP
"Alas, if you’re a conservative mom, you’re damned if you do stay home and damned if you don’t. In 2008, Howard Gutman, a member of the Obama campaign’s national finance committee, attacked GOP vice presidential candidate and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s ability to be a good parent and have a high-powered public life at the same time. “Your responsibility is to put your family first,” Gutman lectured as he singled out Palin’s Down syndrome baby and then-pregnant teenage daughter. “The proper attack is not that a woman shouldn’t run for vice president with five kids; it’s that a parent, when they have a family in need…” should get out of the public sphere and stay home." Michelle Malkin

The Impact of the Buffet Rule

BLOOMBERG: Obama's Buffett rule impact on taxes, jobs   "....Q: How does that compare to lower earners?

A: On average -- and that is the key -- the rich pay higher rates. The center computes that families earning $30,000 to $40,000 owed an average 6 percent of it in income and payroll taxes last year. People making $50,000 to $75,000 owed an average 12 percent, while those making $75,000 to $100,000 paid an average 13 percent.

"Q: Then what's the problem?"....Read on...

Several from Heritage: Tax Gimmicks, Tax Doom   "Even some of the President’s friends on the left are seeing the Buffett Rule for the ploy that it is. Last week, liberal Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank devoted an entire column to “Rebuffing Obama’s gimmicky ‘Buffett Rule,’” picking it apart as flawed policy and political rhetoric, noting that even White House reporters are “tiring of the theme.” Milbank concludes that, “Obama’s prioritization is no mystery: The populist Buffett Rule polls well. This explains its inclusion in countless presidential speeches and statements.” "

(Emphasis added)

The Foundry: The Tax Burden on American Households  

"Americans who are scrambling to pay their taxes by Tuesday’s deadline are in store for more depressing news: The tax burden on American families has risen dramatically and will continue to climb into the future without action from Congress. This week’s chart outlines the growth of taxes over the past 45 years."
Why Unions Want Higher Taxes  "Raising business taxes in a weak economy costs private-sector jobs—but that does not deter government unions. Higher taxes still means more for them."

‘Buffett rule’ is producing Capitol gains   "The GOP has rebutted by arguing that the tax is a distraction that will punish small businesses and won’t create jobs, though they fear an even more bruising fight later this year when the George W. Bush-era tax cuts are due to expire."


Boortz: Voting on the Buffett Rule today  "Remember ... there have been sociological studies that have shown that people will actually pay -- give up money out of their own pockets --- if the government will promise to take even more away from the rich.  That’s the level and the nature of wealth envy in the U.S. today." 


Mark Steyn: Buying ‘Buffett Rule' makes you a fool  "The Obama No-Plan plan means the end of everything. That really ought to be the only slogan the Republicans need this fall:"