Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats

[GasBandit]

I'm typically against broad cuts with no targets, like the 10% cut you guys are discussing. It seems like those cuts always go right past any wasteful spending/pork and cut right into the more necessary services. A 10% cut in education spending would mean massive teacher layoffs and slashing school programs like art and music, while the DoE continues to spend money on studies to see if students like math or extra funds for school principals to redo the carpeting in their offices.

So, instead, we're supposed to reward bad funds management with more funds? There comes a point where you have to stop throwing money at a problem and assuring yourself that you did all you could.[/QUOTE]

Did I say any of that? Please show me where I said that.

What I'm saying is that you need to target cuts. Get specific about what needs to go and what doesn't. You know, actually do the hard part and show some intelligence rather than a clumsy "just cut it all!" approach.[/QUOTE]

We've been trying that for the last 15 years. But it's been like trying to talk a hoarder out of garbage. "Well, how about this?" "OH NO WE CAN'T CUT THAT!" "Ok, then how about this?" "NO! NO, WE NEED THAT!" Well, what if we just shave a little off of..." "NO! STOP! THINK OF THE CHILDREN."

We're long past that point here. Our nation is broke. We're not just borrowing money any more, now we're printing it. And everybody's got a pet project that "can't" be cut. Well, the truth is nothing "can't" be cut by 10%. It won't be the end of the world, especially for the educational system for whom federal money was tantamount to selling off the 10th amendment, just like highway funds.

 

[Krisken]

No Child Left Behind is a pretty good indicator on what will happen to education if we just cut willy-nilly, I think. Starving a program because it isn't working 100% doesn't make it stronger. I know you would rather have education be a private sector endeavor for everyone, but assume for a moment that isn't a possibility. How will killing public education help raise test scores and improve the situation in the United States?

 

[GasBandit]

No Child Left Behind is a pretty good indicator on what will happen to education if we just cut willy-nilly, I think. Starving a program because it isn't working 100% doesn't make it stronger. I know you would rather have education be a private sector endeavor for everyone, but assume for a moment that isn't a possibility. How will killing public education help raise test scores and improve the situation in the United States?

It doesn't have to be a wholly private sector endeavor. We can move in that direction using vouchers. This removes a lot of the bureaucracy from the government side and encourages schools to cut it on their side. Make the money follow the student, as it does in many european nations who now have flourishing private charter schools that are paid by vouchers. Making them compete makes them better service providers, and they clean their own houses.

Yes, it's not my private sector dream, and it doesn't abolish the DOE, but it'd be a step in the right direction and a great fat-trimming measure to boot.

 

[Krisken]

Ne'er mind.

 

[GasBandit]

In an interview yesterday with MSNBC, Barney Frank had the gonads to say this: "What we are seeing from Republicans is a double whammy. First it was Republican policies under George W. Bush that caused this terrible recession, and now they are resisting our efforts to get out of it." Thomas Sowell says otherwise.

Spoiler

"Another political fable is that the current economic downturn is due to not enough government regulation of the housing and financial markets. But it was precisely the government regulators, under pressure from politicians, who forced banks and other lending institutions to lower their standards for making mortgage loans.

These risky loans, and the defaults that followed, were what set off a chain reaction of massive financial losses that brought down the whole economy.

Was this due to George W. Bush and the Republicans? Only partly. Most of those who pushed the lowering of mortgage lending standards were Democrats-- notably Congressman Barney Frank and Senator Christopher Dodd, though too many Republicans went along.

At the heart of these policies were Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who bought huge amounts of risky mortgages, passing the risk on from the banks that lent the money (and made the profits) to the taxpayers who were not even aware that they would end up paying in the end.

When President Bush said in 2004 that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be reined in, 76 members of the House of Representatives issued a statement to the contrary. These included Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters and Charles Rangel.If we are going to talk about "the policies that created this mess in the first place," let's at least get the facts straight and the names right."

So here is a look at what Reps. Jim DeMint and Mike Pence are offering: The Pence-DeMint Tax Relief Certainty Act.

Here's Victor Davis Hanson's latest column. The George W. Bush Fixation: Obama's fixation on his predecessor could consume his presidency.

This is priceless .. the unions are fighting over which city is more unionized, in hopes of attracting the Democrat National Convention in 2012.

John Podesta and the liberal Center for American Progress urge Obama to bypass Congress to accomplish a progressive agenda. Constitution? What's that?

Is there any better proof that Obama's preferred approach to fighting terror -- through civilian courts -- is dangerously misguided than the acquittal of one of the 1998 US embassy bombers on all but one of 285 charges?

The federal government spent about three and a half trillion dollars last year. It is the official position of the Democrat Party that not a single dime of that spending can be cut.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama has quietly halted sales of new long-term care policies, becoming the latest big insurer to discontinue sales or seek premium hikes.

Another corrupt Obama czar? I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked!

Local prosecutors in California have a message for the TSA: touch passengers the wrong way, and we'll throw you in jail.

 

[Covar]

Another corrupt Obama czar? I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked!

Good thing he wasn't vetted by Congress, he might not have actually gotten the job

 

[GasBandit]

In the late 1980s, some economists at Ohio University got together to do a little study for the congressional Joint Economic Committee. They wanted to know what happens when the government increases taxes and therefore collects more money for its coffers. Did government spending grow or did our debts shrink? These bean counters worked and slaved over their research and calculators and came up with something that is now known as the $1.58 study. This is what they found: "Every new dollar of new taxes led to more than one dollar of new spending by Congress. Subsequent revisions of the study over the next decade found similar results."

TLDR version: Higher tax collections have never resulted in less spending by Congress. Ever.

There is a growing trend out there: people want Sarah Palin to run for president in 2012. But you will be surprised at who exactly is pumped for a Palin run -- Progressives. Liberals. Democrats.

The TSA just couldn't leave this man's urostomy bag. So, he has to go on his flight covered with his own urine.

Oh ... and this is sweet. Incoming Speaker John Boehner doesn't have to worry about being groped by the TSA. Well ... he's a politician, and as we all know ... they're special!

The latest column from George Will: The T.S. of A takes control.

President Obama is awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, to ... a former socialist and union goon.

The FCC has a Christmas gift in store for the phone and cable industry: it may move ahead on its controversial net-neutrality regulations three days before Christmas.

Pause and reflect for a moment on the absurdity that businesses, entrepreneurs, financial planners, tax preparers, and taxpayers have no certain idea of what they'll be expected to pay the IRS come January.

A high-ranking member of the U.N.'s Panel on Climate Change admits the group's primary goal is the redistribution of wealth and not environmental protection.

Just as Bill Clinton once snatched welfare reform from the Republicans, now Barack Obama is playing George W.'s national security card against the Republicans.

A U.S. district judge found "ample evidence to establish the association" of CAIR with Hamas.

MSNBC Economics: Tax Cuts, Tax Rates, What's the Difference?!

No, wait wait wait, it's not an outrage, it's a public service.

 

[AshburnerX]

There is a growing trend out there: people want Sarah Palin to run for president in 2012. But you will be surprised at who exactly is pumped for a Palin run -- Progressives. Liberals. Democrats.

Of course the Left wants Sarah Palin to run... she's a defeatable opponent.

 

[Krisken]

heh, I was thinking the same thing, Ash. She's the Sharon Angle of 2012.

 

[GasBandit]

That's the gist, yes.

 

[Espy]

Except didn't Sharon Angle come pretty damn close to beating Reid? Hopefully Palin will prove less successful should she do run.

 

[GasBandit]

Oh, and I wanted to throw in this one too - about the "israelification" of airport security.

 

[Dave]

Oh, and I wanted to throw in this one too - about the "israelification" of airport security.

Wow! What a GREAT article!

 

[SpecialKO]

Oh, and I wanted to throw in this one too - about the "israelification" of airport security.

Wow! What a GREAT article![/QUOTE]

Seriously.

Whatever you can say about Israel's foreign policy, they really understand security.

 

[AshburnerX]

Oh, and I wanted to throw in this one too - about the "israelification" of airport security.

Wow! What a GREAT article![/QUOTE]

Seriously.

Whatever you can say about Israel's foreign policy, they really understand security.[/QUOTE]

They had to make every mistake we've made to get there though.

 

[SpecialKO]

Oh, and I wanted to throw in this one too - about the "israelification" of airport security.

Wow! What a GREAT article![/QUOTE]

Seriously.

Whatever you can say about Israel's foreign policy, they really understand security.[/QUOTE]

They had to make every mistake we've made to get there though.[/QUOTE]

All the more reason to learn from where they went wrong.

 

[AshburnerX]

Oh, and I wanted to throw in this one too - about the "israelification" of airport security.

Wow! What a GREAT article![/QUOTE]

Seriously.

Whatever you can say about Israel's foreign policy, they really understand security.[/QUOTE]

They had to make every mistake we've made to get there though.[/QUOTE]

All the more reason to learn from where they went wrong.[/QUOTE]

Oh I agree, I'm just commenting on how it seems we're following the same path they did.

 

[GasBandit]

Are these enhanced screening techniques only a taste of what's to come? These TSA techniques may not just be isolated to airports, but coming to trains and subways as well! This article from USA Today is dated July 17, 2010.

The Head Of A Household Of Four Making Minimum Wage Has More Disposable Income Than A Family Making $60,000 A Year.

Here's the real story behind Ireland's bailout.

Barney Frank says Americans are the "least useful people" to intervene in a non-western society militarily. I'd say Barney Frank is the "least useful people" anywhere for any purpose

You thought cap-and-trade legislation was dead after the midterm elections? You may want to think again.

Should we give states a way to go bankrupt?

And here we have our first bipartisan piece of legislation offered since the midterm elections that seeks to alter ObamaCare.

This columnist believes that the Republicans' real agenda is to continue the drumbeat of criticism until Obama is defeated in 2012.

Al Gore reportedly has had a change of heart on ethanol, saying that he only supported tax breaks for the alternative fuel to pander to farmers in his home state of Tennessee.

The battle lines have been drawn. This Christmas season, it's Teamsters vs. Toys R Us.

 

[Krisken]

hehe, Obamacare.

I really wanted to comment substantively on this story, but I just can't. When that word is used, the conversation already feels loaded and pointless.

Missed a couple the last few days....

Apparently, Republicans really don't like Ronald Reagan's policies. At least, when they are being supported by a Democratic President. Never mind that this treaty has helped allow U.S. inspectors verify the reduction in Nuclear arms in Russia and allowed the United States to reduce theirs as well.

Corporations logged their biggest profits ever, but that couldn't possibly be because Obama is so anti-business.

Recently opened Gulf waters have been approved for shrimping, but the shrimp is covered in tar balls. They may need to close the waters for shrimping again.

Apparently, Iran's Congress almost ousted President Ahmadinejad, but refrained on orders from the Ayatollah.

 

[AshburnerX]

Apparently, Iran's Congress almost ousted President Ahmadinejad, but refrained on orders from the Ayatollah.

Wanted to bust this out for awhile...

 

[Eriol]

The battle lines have been drawn. This Christmas season, it's Teamsters vs. Toys R Us.

This is so alarmist. This quote:

Among the findings, it says that its report found that “72.5% of all toys/children’s products tested contained high levels of chlorine, indicating they were likely made of PVC.”

What's next, table salt? "Alarming results show that table salt can have up to 50% Chlorine, a toxic chemical used as a weapon in World War 1!" Yes I made up the quote in this paragraph, but I swear that's next.

/facepalm

 

[GasBandit]

The battle lines have been drawn. This Christmas season, it's Teamsters vs. Toys R Us.

This is so alarmist. This quote:

Among the findings, it says that its report found that “72.5% of all toys/children’s products tested contained high levels of chlorine, indicating they were likely made of PVC.”

What's next, table salt? "Alarming results show that table salt can have up to 50% Chlorine, a toxic chemical used as a weapon in World War 1!" Yes I made up the quote in this paragraph, but I swear that's next.

/facepalm[/QUOTE]

The dangers of dihydrogen monoxide! As little as two inches of it can KILL YOUR CHILDREN!

Yeah, the teamsters are really grasping to try to hurt toys-R-us with that one. Seriously? PVC? That stuff that is... I dunno... EVERYWHERE?

 

[SpecialKO]

Dihydrogen monoxide is no joke, GB. Do you know how many communities around the world have it in their drinking supplies?

Hitler even used it in his death camps!

 

[GasBandit]

So what exactly was this latest ruling in Virginia having to do with the constitutionality of ObamaCare?

Can Obama regain his mojo for the 2012 election? Some people think so.

Canadian Govt fines lawyer/blogger $25,000 for calling another lawyer a "fibber" in his blog.

The case of a New Jersey man who is serving seven years in prison for possessing two locked and unloaded handguns that he purchased legally.

The legal problems for Rep. Maxine Waters might have taken a turn for the worse.

At the UN climate conference, Bolivia has renewed its call for the establishment of an International Tribunal for Climate Justice that would be able to sanction governments that engage in "ecocide."

Now about that federal pay freeze .. a closer look shows there is less to it than meets the eye.

The Obama administration has created a position to investigate the gaps in security that led to the WikiLeaks release of diplomats' private conversations.

If the congress delays doing something about the impending tax increases before 12/15 it could crash the stock market.

---------- Post added at 12:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:35 PM ----------

Scotland Yard preparing to arrest Julian Assange. WARNING: Daily Mail.

 

[AshburnerX]

Now about that federal pay freeze .. a closer look shows there is less to it than meets the eye.

They have to give those increases for the same reason the banks had to give bonuses after they were bailed out: They were required by law to do so. Honestly, if the guys at Wall Street get theirs, the guys in the DMV can have theirs.

 

[GasBandit]

Now about that federal pay freeze .. a closer look shows there is less to it than meets the eye.

They have to give those increases for the same reason the banks had to give bonuses after they were bailed out: They were required by law to do so. Honestly, if the guys at Wall Street get theirs, the guys in the DMV can have theirs.[/QUOTE]

That's fine. Let's just not pass it off like it's an actual pay freeze and pretend we're cutting costs though.

 

[Norris]

fines lawyer/blogger $25,000[/URL] for calling another lawyer a "fibber" in his blog.

Pardon me while I play the world's smallest violin for the guy who said another lawyer lied to an official tribunal and got popped for it. Not even in America are you allowed to accuse people of perjury on your blog and expect no consequence.

 

[GasBandit]

fines lawyer/blogger $25,000[/URL] for calling another lawyer a "fibber" in his blog.

Pardon me while I play the world's smallest violin for the guy who said another lawyer lied to an official tribunal and got popped for it. Not even in America are you allowed to accuse people of perjury on your blog and expect no consequence.

Uh, actually the entire point of that article is that you can, and the author is grateful he's in America and not Canada.

 

[Norris]

Uh, actually the entire point of that article is that you can, and the author is grateful he's in America and not Canada.

And how, pay tell, would accusing a lawyer of a felony that could potentially ruin his reputation and he has not been charged with be anything other than slander/libel/defamation? While they're not legal infractions here, you can bet your sweet bippy the blogger would have the pants sued off of him here in the states.

 

[GasBandit]

Uh, actually the entire point of that article is that you can, and the author is grateful he's in America and not Canada.

And how, pay tell, would accusing a lawyer of a felony that could potentially ruin his reputation and he has not been charged with be anything other than slander/libel/defamation? While they're not legal infractions here, you can bet your sweet bippy the blogger would have the pants sued off of him here in the states.[/QUOTE]

it's "pray tell," btw

And simple: it often just. doesn't. happen. Heck, one congressman shouted "YOU LIE!" right in the middle of a speech by Obama, and not only did he not get sued, his campaign contributions went up (he did of course, later apologize... but even the guy in question in the article edited his blog to remove the "fibber" part and published a retraction when he was corrected, even before the lawsuit/judgement, but apparently that wasn't enough for the judge!). People make false, potentially destructive things about other people all the time, and in ways that exactly fit the definitions of slander and/or libel... and as often as not a court sees it as free speech. See the whole "Did Glenn Beck Rape and Murder a Young Girl in 1990" hoax.

 

[GasBandit]

Here's a must read from Forbes .. In Entrepreneurship We Trust: To create jobs, it's essential to remove the barriers to entrepreneurial growth.

"Nothing is more senseless than to base so many expectations on the state, that is, to assume the existence of collective wisdom and foresight after taking for granted the existence of individual imbecility and improvidence." - Frederic Bastiat, Economist, 1801-1850, quoted by Deirdre N. McCloskey.

"The powers of the legislature are defined and limited; and that those limits may not be mistaken, or forgotten, the Constitution is written." - Marbury v. Madison (1803). George Will explains how far we've come.

The WikiLeaks cables reveal how the US mounted a secret global diplomatic offensive to overwhelm opposition to the "Copenhagen accord" on global warming.

The White House is being accused of urging businesses to quit the Chamber of Commerce. I wouldn't be surprised, coming from a president who refers to his time working in the private sector as "behind enemy lines."

Multiculturalism IS bunk. Especially when it comes to fighting terrorism.

 

[GasBandit]

If you don't read anything else today, read this article by Michelle Rhee: What I've Learned. She is launching a national campaign to transform education in this country ... teachers unions around the nation are quivering.

An excellent column by Robert Samuelson: Supersized Government?

Ironically, it may be up to Pelosi to sell "tax cuts for the rich" to her fellow liberals in the House.

A group of Senators have introduced a bill aimed at stopping WikiLeaks by making it illegal to publish the names of military or intelligence community informants.

For all his talk of job creation, PrezBo has targeted many occupations for extinction ... and there's a common thread among these and other beleaguered occupations: Environmentalists hate them.

The Obama administration claims to have revived the auto industry with its bailout. But is that true? Not entirely.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has published a report criticizing the Justice Department for its handling of voting rights accusations against the New Black Panther Party.

The Obama administration says that it has had a record number of deportations this year. But here's the whole truth behind that stat.

Visiting Wal-Mart anytime soon? Janet "the system worked" Napolitano has a message for you.

The sayings of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ...

Here's a list of the top 10 rising power players in the new Congress.

The head of New York's Taxi federation is encouraging drivers to profile passengers, especially blacks and Hispanics.

She said what?

 

[Tress]

If you don't read anything else today, read this article by Michelle Rhee: What I've Learned. She is launching a national campaign to transform education in this country ... teachers unions around the nation are quivering.

As a young teacher I discovered that my union is WORTHLESS. They are committed to making sure that everyone, including bad teachers (or especially bad teachers), get paid small amounts rather than getting the bad ones removed and good ones rewarded. They don't worry about classroom conditions, or improving student performance, or getting parents to help out more, or anything else. They just seek to protect all jobs no matter what. It's terrible. I've heard numerous plans for incentive-based pay. I know they aren't perfect plans, but the idea has a lot of merit. Why shouldn't teachers get paid in the same basic way as everyone else? When we do well we should be rewarded in our paychecks as well. Bad teachers should be punished.

I'm just tired of feeling like I'm under siege. It always feels like no one is out there offering help, except a few colleagues who are equally beleaguered. Parents ignore their kids unless they see a bad grade on a report card, and then it suddenly becomes entirely our fault no matter how many times they were alerted. Soulless administrators don't listen to anything we say and don't care. Bashing teachers and lumping us all into a group with the bad ones has become the stylish thing to do. We are held 100% responsible for student failure and get almost no credit for any success. It's tiring, and it seriously makes me reconsider my career choices at times.

So, after reading that article, I hope she succeeds. I would welcome the changes and reforms she's aiming to make. I just don't have any hope.

 

[GasBandit]

Here's an interesting read from Politico: The risky politics of taxing the rich.

Here's a way to balance the budget without raising taxes. It's called the 19% solution.

The 2010 election cycle has officially come to a close.

Here's the real question when it comes to Wikileaks. Does the First Amendment's protection for a free press extend to a website with a worldwide audience?

Are we on the verge of a dictatorial democracy? George Soros thinks so, thanks to FoxNews and the Tea Party movement.

RIP Founders College, a college for devotees of Ayn Rand. All 10 of them.

 

[Espy]

Here's a way to balance the budget without raising taxes. It's called the 19% solution.

The problime Gas, isn't how good or how well a plan might work (I'm no economist so I can't say if this one would actually work or not), because that isn't the real issue. There is a large portion of folks who don't feel that people who are termed "rich" deserve their money. You can balance the budget all you want but that won't change the ideology that says you don't deserve what you earn.