NEW YORK (AP) - Jewelry retailer Tiffany says second-quarter profit doubled, beating Wall Street expectations as sales rose by double-digit percentages in Asia and Europe.
The New York-based Tiffany & Co. said Thursday it earned $80.8 million, or 63 cents per share, in the three-month period ended July 31. That compares with $40.5 million, or 29 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Revenue rose 11 percent to $732.4 million from $662.6 million in the year-ago period.
That's outrageous! While American families are struggling, companies like Tiffany are gouging consumers by taking advantage of record high gold prices. Congress should convene hearings to look into curbing speculation and find evidence of market manipulation.
No word yet from Democrats calling for a windfall profits tax on jewelry. That's not expected though, since the left has decreed that the laws of Supply & Demand only apply to things people don't need. But still, haven't we been told that "excess" profits are better off in the hands of government than the people who earned them?
I know congressional demagogues don't know the difference between profit and profit margin, but Tiffany's 11% return is much higher than Big Oil's average of 8.3%, which should be reason enough for Democrats to seize their property.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Enviro-Lawyer Wants Less Internet Speech
A lawyer by the name of Dusty Horwitt is suggesting that government tax all but the most deep pocketed Internet content providers because "The information avalanche coming from all sides -- the Internet, PDAs, hundreds of television channels -- is burying us in extraneous data that prevent important facts and knowledge from reaching a broad audience" and "It's possible that over time, an energy tax, by making some computers, Web sites, blogs and perhaps cable TV channels too costly to maintain, could reduce the supply of information."
In other words, people aren't consuming the information Mr. Horwitt thinks they should, so he wants to use the tax code to limit the amount of information available. And he uses one ridiculous rationale after another to desperately make his case.
Mr. Horwitt's interest in this crackpot idea goes beyond his obvious fascistic streak and plain nuttiness. He's an environmental attorney for The Environmental Working Group; a radical organization that exists to whip up public fear and emotion based on Pseudo-Science that is fed to friendly (Leftist) journalists. The froth created is then used by EWG's trial lawyer buddies to sue businesses already reeling from fighting in a tainted court of public opinion.
But now there's a problem. The Internet allows people to exercise their critical thinking skills and not just swallow the biased reporting coming from Horwitt's MSM buddies. The public today has the ability to give his BS the smell test and he wants the government to tax competing views out of existence. The fact that Horwitt"s obvious conflict of interest isn't disclosed is the strongest argument against his thesis.
In short, the parasitical trial lawyers and their Eco-Marxist clients are getting as frustrated as the Democrat Party is with all this pesky free speech stuff. So now we have a plan to impose a back door Fairness Doctrine on the Internet. Their ideas can't compete in the marketplace, so they'll just destroy the market.
One of Horwitt's complaints: "To achieve their goals, political movements need to reach and influence tens of millions of citizens. Despite conventional thinking that the Internet helps spread information, such reach is actually impossible online."
It would be nice if Mr. Horwitt's eltist plan does go viral and he gets plenty of feedback from all the fools who aren't reading his approved information.
In other words, people aren't consuming the information Mr. Horwitt thinks they should, so he wants to use the tax code to limit the amount of information available. And he uses one ridiculous rationale after another to desperately make his case.
Mr. Horwitt's interest in this crackpot idea goes beyond his obvious fascistic streak and plain nuttiness. He's an environmental attorney for The Environmental Working Group; a radical organization that exists to whip up public fear and emotion based on Pseudo-Science that is fed to friendly (Leftist) journalists. The froth created is then used by EWG's trial lawyer buddies to sue businesses already reeling from fighting in a tainted court of public opinion.
But now there's a problem. The Internet allows people to exercise their critical thinking skills and not just swallow the biased reporting coming from Horwitt's MSM buddies. The public today has the ability to give his BS the smell test and he wants the government to tax competing views out of existence. The fact that Horwitt"s obvious conflict of interest isn't disclosed is the strongest argument against his thesis.
In short, the parasitical trial lawyers and their Eco-Marxist clients are getting as frustrated as the Democrat Party is with all this pesky free speech stuff. So now we have a plan to impose a back door Fairness Doctrine on the Internet. Their ideas can't compete in the marketplace, so they'll just destroy the market.
One of Horwitt's complaints: "To achieve their goals, political movements need to reach and influence tens of millions of citizens. Despite conventional thinking that the Internet helps spread information, such reach is actually impossible online."
It would be nice if Mr. Horwitt's eltist plan does go viral and he gets plenty of feedback from all the fools who aren't reading his approved information.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The Racism Excuse
The Wall Street Journal comments on the left's pre-election blame of racism for Obama's inevitable defeat:
It's an odd thing to suggest that in order for America to enter a post-racial era, we should vote for someone solely because of his race. That's what Weisberg and his cohorts are saying isn't it? It doesn't matter that his resume' doesn't objectively qualify him for any high executive position, much less Presidency.
No, we're supposed to apply the same affirmative action criteria that has enabled Obama to get this far, despite radical and criminal associations that would have sunk a white candidate faster than you can say "Dennis Kucinich". I guess white voters are expected to ignore trivial matters like policy as well.
I can't think of anything more racist than the condescending notion that minorities can't and shouldn't be expected to earn their place in life on merit alone.
What these leftists are really doing is projecting their own obsession with race on everyone else and concluding that anyone who won't vote for their token minority must be doing so with that subject in the forefront of their minds.
They conveniently forget all the minorities that have been elected to high office over the years by whites who they now say are racists if they don't vote for Obama. They also forget the racism from the left visited upon any conservative blacks, such as the pelting of Michael Steele with Oreos or the portrayal of Condoleeza Rice, Clarence Thomas and Colin Powell as house slaves of the Republicans.
What the left fails to understand is that most of us "typical" White People have no inclination to waste our time thinking about such trivialities and only will when it has some relevance. In Obama's case, the only relevance his race has (he is half white BTW) is that given it by himself and his own party. Insulting me with the accusation of non-existent, racist motivations only reveals the left's divisive obsession with race and results in just ticking me off.
"In this week's Newsweek (and on Slate), Jacob Weisberg reasoned that only some "crazy irrationality
over race" could prevent Mr. Obama from winning the White House. If he does win,
America will have reached post-prejudice Nirvana. "If Obama loses, our children
will grow up thinking of equal opportunity as a myth," Mr. Weisberg continued. "To the
rest of the world, a rejection of the promise he represents wouldn't just be an
odd choice by the United States. It would be taken for what it would be: sign
and symptom of a nation's historical decline." Wow. Vote for Barack, or America is as
irredeemable as many foreigners believe."
It's an odd thing to suggest that in order for America to enter a post-racial era, we should vote for someone solely because of his race. That's what Weisberg and his cohorts are saying isn't it? It doesn't matter that his resume' doesn't objectively qualify him for any high executive position, much less Presidency.
No, we're supposed to apply the same affirmative action criteria that has enabled Obama to get this far, despite radical and criminal associations that would have sunk a white candidate faster than you can say "Dennis Kucinich". I guess white voters are expected to ignore trivial matters like policy as well.
I can't think of anything more racist than the condescending notion that minorities can't and shouldn't be expected to earn their place in life on merit alone.
What these leftists are really doing is projecting their own obsession with race on everyone else and concluding that anyone who won't vote for their token minority must be doing so with that subject in the forefront of their minds.
They conveniently forget all the minorities that have been elected to high office over the years by whites who they now say are racists if they don't vote for Obama. They also forget the racism from the left visited upon any conservative blacks, such as the pelting of Michael Steele with Oreos or the portrayal of Condoleeza Rice, Clarence Thomas and Colin Powell as house slaves of the Republicans.
What the left fails to understand is that most of us "typical" White People have no inclination to waste our time thinking about such trivialities and only will when it has some relevance. In Obama's case, the only relevance his race has (he is half white BTW) is that given it by himself and his own party. Insulting me with the accusation of non-existent, racist motivations only reveals the left's divisive obsession with race and results in just ticking me off.
Mere Threat of Drilling will bring down Oil Prices
Don M. Chance at IBD has an excellent response to those who ignorantly tell us that attempts to increase supply will have no effect on prices. It's simple enough that even guys like Paul Krugman can understand it:
"Certainly increased drilling will not bring an immediate increase in the
supply of oil. But many people, even so-called experts, believe that the effect
on the pump price would not be felt until the oil is actually at the pump,
possibly years later.
In fact, the price will fall well before the first hole is drilled.
Even the possibility of increased drilling will bring down the price of oil. It
already has.
Almost everyone knows that supply and demand determine price in a
market. But that knowledge seldom goes beyond understanding how supply and
demand themselves are determined.
The belief that the current quantities demanded and supplied are the
sole determinants of price misses an important point. Both current and expected
future demand and supply interact to determine the quantity demanded and
supplied in the current marketplace.
That is true because oil, and indeed almost everything else, is
storable."
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Schumer's Role in Bank Failure Probed
A group of former IndyMac employees are asking the California AG to investigate Chuck Schumer's publicity stunt that sunk the troubled bank and destroyed any chance it may have had for survival:
Schumer defended himself at the time by saying:
No, Chuck. You screamed "Fire!" in a crowded theater and caused a panic rather than allow an orderly evacuation. Then you poured gas on whatever fire there was in order to show everyone how right you were.
As usual, Schumer was more concerned with his own massive ego than the bank, its employees or depositors. Otherwise, what was the point of publicising the letter?
Talk about blaming the messenger! How about addressing the facts? The fact is that this was typical Schumer recklessness. IndyMac was just the latest casualty of the most shameless and self centered jerk in congress. And that's saying a lot.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - California's attorney general is reviewing a request by
former employees of IndyMac Bancorp Inc to investigate whether a New York senator
triggered the bank's collapse by releasing confidential information.
Schumer defended himself at the time by saying:
"The regulator here was asleep at the switch," Schumer said then at a news conference. "The
administration is doing what they always do, blaming the fire on the person who
called 9-1-1."
No, Chuck. You screamed "Fire!" in a crowded theater and caused a panic rather than allow an orderly evacuation. Then you poured gas on whatever fire there was in order to show everyone how right you were.
Their anger centers around a letter Schumer sent to federal regulators June 26 expressing
concern that IndyMac
"may have serious problems with its current loan holdings and could face a
failure if prescriptive measures are not taken quickly."
In the 11 days that followed, IndyMac Bancorp Inc. depositors made a run on the bank,
withdrawing more than $1.3billion from their accounts.
As usual, Schumer was more concerned with his own massive ego than the bank, its employees or depositors. Otherwise, what was the point of publicising the letter?
Schumer spokesman Brian Fallon questioned
the motivation behind the letter.
"It certainly raises eyebrows that the firm
promoting this letter is the same outfit that fueled the Swift Boat attacks and
does work for the RNC," Fallon said.
Talk about blaming the messenger! How about addressing the facts? The fact is that this was typical Schumer recklessness. IndyMac was just the latest casualty of the most shameless and self centered jerk in congress. And that's saying a lot.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Cult of Obama Gets Hit by Reality
The left is starting to get worried over their presidential chances and they should:
"The fact that the discontent isn't being recognized, isn't being assuaged, is
disturbing. People aren't worried about the election, they're becoming
despondent about it. They're not motivated to work twice as hard, they instead
feel as if they've had the wind knocked out of them. This is far beyond a
healthy skepticism as to whether Obama can win. "
Look for a dead cat bounce after Denver. The electorate never forgot about Obama's radical associations and activities despite Democrats and the MSM's attempts to sweep them under the rug. Excuses and logical fallacies only work when your audience is as stupid and lacking in common sense as you think they are. That's why the polls have been so close for so long.
Additionally, Obama's penchant for qualifying every pro-American statement with a regurgitation of the radical chic notion of unique and worlwide American evil and guilt doesn't travel well beyond the confines of Chicago's salons.
Mc'Cain is pulling even as voters are starting to see that Obama really is as vapid and insubstantial as Paris Hilton. His disastrous appearance at Saddleback is just a preview of more train wrecks to come.
Now that Obama's teetering, watch for the Clintons to push him over the edge. His "peace in our time" failure to recognize his enemies by giving them three nights of prime time in the interest of "unity" reveals a naivete that could get us all killed if he were President.
Anyone who's been paying attention for the last twenty years knows that the Clinton's are the most ruthless and ambitious tag team in modern politics. And they're experts at not leaving fingerprints on their hits and have perfected the art of plausible denial. There is no way they're going to just pass the baton and cheer him on.
The huge Mass Obama plans for his coronation will more than likely come off as a caricature and a confirmation of Mc'Cain's ads. Having wild eyed lunatic and hypocrite Al Gore as the opening act isn't going to help. Thrown in the moonbat protesters along with the scary cult that has sprung up around him and you have a recipe for an epic flame out.
Obama's Protectionist Pandering
The Obama campaign is taking Mc'Cain to task for not voting to exempt American companies from competition:
I don't want my tax dollars to be earmarked for American companies regardless of price or quality. If they can't compete in a global free trade economy, then they shouldn't get the business. Besides, the worst thing you could do for American business is to remove incentives to be more efficient.
No country has ever gone broke from free trade but plenty have from protectionist inefficiency (see: Soviet Union)
Once again, Obama shows that he is an economic simpleton.
"But when it comes to his record, American-made motorcycles like Harleys don’t matter to
John McCain," a somber announcer says. "Back in Washington, McCain opposed a
requirement that the government buy American -- made motorcycles."
The ad
takes it a step further... "And he said all Buy American provisions were quote
'disgraceful.' Surprised? You shouldn't’t be. This is the same John McCain who
supported billions in tax breaks for companies who ship American jobs
overseas."
I don't want my tax dollars to be earmarked for American companies regardless of price or quality. If they can't compete in a global free trade economy, then they shouldn't get the business. Besides, the worst thing you could do for American business is to remove incentives to be more efficient.
No country has ever gone broke from free trade but plenty have from protectionist inefficiency (see: Soviet Union)
Once again, Obama shows that he is an economic simpleton.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Obama: Raise Taxes Because Warren Says So.
When Warren Buffet writes a check to the treasury for a billion or so from his mostly tax sheltered assets, let me know. Until then, spare me the phony appeals to authority.
And when Obama says he wants to raise taxes on the "wealthiest Americans", he's lying. There is no wealth tax in this country that hits the accumulated fortunes of Buffet, Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Kennedy et al. His definition of rich is $250,000 or more of one year of annual income, which is indicative of nothing in defining wealth.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
New York's Latest Assault on Individualism
From The Center for Consumer Freedom:
Grapes can kill you. And New York City lawmakers want to make sure you’re aware of that danger the next time you unassumingly pick up some produce at your local grocery store. Grapes aren’t the only “threat” targeted by city lawmakers in a bill that would mandate warnings on bite-size foods -- known to be choking hazards for kids younger than five. The ordinance would also add popcorn, pistachios, and peanut butter to the ever-growing list of dangers to our health.
This morsel mandate is a clear-cut example of a public-policy “slippery slope.” Councilmember Domenic Recchia justified his proposal by citing the city’s menu-labeling law as a precedent: “If they can put the number of calories on products sold to the public from fast food restaurants, then we could put labels on products that are dangerous to children.” Following that logic, politicians could label, regulate, or ban anything that’s potentially harmful, which translates to “anything under the sun” (and probably the sun itself too).
Grapes can kill you. And New York City lawmakers want to make sure you’re aware of that danger the next time you unassumingly pick up some produce at your local grocery store. Grapes aren’t the only “threat” targeted by city lawmakers in a bill that would mandate warnings on bite-size foods -- known to be choking hazards for kids younger than five. The ordinance would also add popcorn, pistachios, and peanut butter to the ever-growing list of dangers to our health.
This morsel mandate is a clear-cut example of a public-policy “slippery slope.” Councilmember Domenic Recchia justified his proposal by citing the city’s menu-labeling law as a precedent: “If they can put the number of calories on products sold to the public from fast food restaurants, then we could put labels on products that are dangerous to children.” Following that logic, politicians could label, regulate, or ban anything that’s potentially harmful, which translates to “anything under the sun” (and probably the sun itself too).
Vladimir Bonaparte
From the Wall Street Journal:
Putin obviously doesn't view himself as a citizen of the world as Obama does unless he's in charge of it. This is a reminder that the world is a dangerous place and that some tribes will never let other tribes live in peace.
If Russia is allowed to consolidate power in Georgia, it can intimidate other former Soviet countries into abandoning the West without firing a shot. Don't count on the wimps in the EU, who will rationalize it all, while blaming the U.S. from under their beds. They get about 25% of their oil from Russia anyway, which should be an object lesson on why we should develop our own resources.
Putin has also made strategic military agreements with the Islamo-Fascists in Iran that are normally natural enemies of Russia, which puts them in a de-facto war with the U.S. and Israel already with Iran as their proxy. The "enemy of my enemy is my friend" is apt here although that relationship will go south in a messy way at some point. They also have weapons and cooperation agreements with Venezuela and Ecuador on this side of the pond.
At least Russia has reduced its political prisoner population; opting instead to just assassinate the opposition all over the world.
In short, it's naive to think that Putin is up to anything other than a brute expansion of Russia's influence. The American radical left which includes Obama's circle of friends, is no doubt encouraged by this indirect challenge to the west. A weaker America is justified by the moral equivalence they see between us and every evil in the world, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
The farther Russia's tanks roll into Georgia, the more the world is
beginning to see the reality of Vladimir Putin's Napoleonic ambitions. Having
consolidated his authoritarian transition as Prime Minister with a figurehead
President, Mr. Putin is now pushing to reassert Russian dominance in Eurasia.
Ukraine is in his sights, and even the Baltic states could be threatened if he's
allowed to get away with it. The West needs to draw a line at Georgia.
No matter who fired the first shot last week in the breakaway Georgian
region of South Ossetia, Moscow is using the separatist issue as an
excuse to demolish Georgia's military and, if possible, depose its
democratically elected government.
Putin obviously doesn't view himself as a citizen of the world as Obama does unless he's in charge of it. This is a reminder that the world is a dangerous place and that some tribes will never let other tribes live in peace.
If Russia is allowed to consolidate power in Georgia, it can intimidate other former Soviet countries into abandoning the West without firing a shot. Don't count on the wimps in the EU, who will rationalize it all, while blaming the U.S. from under their beds. They get about 25% of their oil from Russia anyway, which should be an object lesson on why we should develop our own resources.
Putin has also made strategic military agreements with the Islamo-Fascists in Iran that are normally natural enemies of Russia, which puts them in a de-facto war with the U.S. and Israel already with Iran as their proxy. The "enemy of my enemy is my friend" is apt here although that relationship will go south in a messy way at some point. They also have weapons and cooperation agreements with Venezuela and Ecuador on this side of the pond.
At least Russia has reduced its political prisoner population; opting instead to just assassinate the opposition all over the world.
In short, it's naive to think that Putin is up to anything other than a brute expansion of Russia's influence. The American radical left which includes Obama's circle of friends, is no doubt encouraged by this indirect challenge to the west. A weaker America is justified by the moral equivalence they see between us and every evil in the world, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Obama Investments Losing Value, Mc'Cain Gains
The evil speculators over at InTrade bid down Obama by more than 10% over the last month and have bumped Mc'Cain. Obama's price is still much higher, but the folks who risk real money on these things are obviously seeing some warts on The One. The post-convention trading will be interesting. Stay tuned.
New York Times Reaches Junk Bond Status
That's what happens when you're to real news what Milli Vanilli was to real music. Maybe someone will look to condemn their building and take back what they stole through eminent domain abuse.
"Times chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. looks increasingly backed into a corner. Bloomberg yesterday marshaled a wide array of evidence, including quotes from analysts and the mounting cost to hedge against a Times Co. bond default, to establish that the company's bonds are close to falling to junk status.
The already-bludgeoned stock quickly fell another 6 percent. Implicated in the credit deterioration: The company's decision last year to hike its dividend payout 23 percent, a move no doubt popular with Sulzberger's stockholdling relatives but one that is gobbling up nearly all the company's free cash flow.
The family has already conceded board seats to the corporate marauders from Harbinger Capital Partners and an affiliated partnership, and Harbinger now controls nearly 20 percent of the company. Sulzberger faces some unsavory choices — cut the dividend, slash costs (probably via layoffs) or flirt with selling junk bonds — all of which carry the whiff of defeat. He is running out of room to maneuver. "
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Corporations Avoid High U.S. Taxes
WASHINGTON (AP) - Two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal income taxes between 1998 and 2005, according to a new report from Congress.
The study by the Government Accountability Office, expected to be released Tuesday, said about 68 percent of foreign companies doing business in the U.S. avoided corporate taxes over the same period.
The study by the Government Accountability Office, expected to be released Tuesday, said about 68 percent of foreign companies doing business in the U.S. avoided corporate taxes over the same period.
Well that's what happens when you have the highest corporate tax rate (35%) in the industrialized world other than Japan. Tack on state taxes and it's remarkable that anyone incorporates here.
"It's shameful that so many corporations make big profits and pay nothing to support our country," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who asked for the GAO study with Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.
No, what's shameful is that you two idiots are in any position of power. Does it ever occur to you that corporations wouldn't try so hard to avoid taxes if they were more reasonable? Since individuals end up paying all taxes at the end of the day and are ultimately the ones who own and work for corporations, they really mean that it's shameful that you aren't paying more.
An outside tax expert, Chris Edwards of the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, said increasing numbers of limited liability corporations and so-called "S" corporations pay taxes under individual tax codes.
"Half of all business income in the United States now ends up going through the individual tax code," Edwards said.
That's the most popular tax avoidance strategy there is, especially for the small businesses that employ 70% of the workforce. No doubt Levin and Dorgan will try to kill some businesses and jobs by targeting them.
Dorgan and Levin have complained about companies abusing transfer prices - amounts charged on transactions between companies in a group, such as a parent and subsidiary. In some cases, multinational companies can manipulate transfer prices to shift income from higher to lower tax jurisdictions, cutting their tax liabilities. The GAO did not suggest which companies might be doing this.
"It's time for the big corporations to pay their fair share," Dorgan said.
There's that "fair share" nonsense again. Why doesn't the government pay back its fair share and stop wasting our money! It's no coincidence that the only entity with a monopoly on the use of force to get its way, is the only one that will never consider doing with less.
"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." George Washington
Monday, August 11, 2008
Leftist Tries and Fails to Slander Libertarianism
Socialists are generally full of crap and woefully misinformed. But this nutty piece in the Chattanoogan really takes the cake, although the depth of his economic ignorance is pretty common on the Left. Not surprisingly, his education and livelihood (and that of his wife) has been almost entirely funded by the taxpaying, philanthropist, capitalist pigs he ignorantly derides. Although Meyer's rambling invective succeeds in only making a fool of himself.
"Libertarianism, a fairly new movement in the United States, is propounded
by politicians, business people and pundits. They say it is the only way America
can regain its pre-eminence in the world. But it is really just
another name for egotism, narcissism, and sociopathic behavior.
It is not a new way of thinking, but is based in erroneous
aristocratic assumptions regarding wealth, power and position that are still
held by many. They believe they are smarter, better, and therefore, more
deserving than the rest of us."
Egotism, Narcissism and Sociopathic behavior? Wow! Calm down there junior! Actually, Libertarianism is about egoism or the pursuit of rational self interest that is the natural state of all human beings. It is also the reason our economy is the largest in the world and the reason countries like China and India have successfully loosened their grip on the natural tendencies of their people. Meyer must believe that it's not fair that so many others are smarter and better than him, so he deserves their money and property.
"Many high achievers (and those who believe they should be, but…) act as if they
are aristocrats. They deserve to be treated in a special way, socially, in
business and legally Other people believe they are to be treated
aristocratically because of their birth into the right family, education in the
right schools and position in the right society. They think they should not have
to pay a fair share of taxes, have laws limit their actions, or be critiqued for
their lifestyles."
No, they want to be treated the way they deserve based on what they are willing to pay for. And if they want to spend the money and associations they earned in a way that benefits their children, then why is that any of Meyer's damn business? And we libertarians want government out of every one's life action's and lifestyle, not just our own. Just because Meyer's is a good little socialist drone, it doesn't mean the rest of us want to be, no matter how much his misery loves company.
Meyers also makes himself feel better by thinking that most successful people were born with silver spoons in their mouths, when in fact the large majority got there themselves from the lower and middle classes through voluntary trade with their fellow man.
On taxes, maybe Meyers can be the first liberal to answer this question honestly: If the top 1% of earners pay 40% of income taxes and the bottom 50% pay 4%, how much more taxes "on the rich" (whatever that is) does he think is fair?
"Instead, they deserve to have several Mc'Mansions and condos and to buy up huge tracts of
land for their own use, posting it to prevent others from enjoying it. And, of
course, they imply, "Don't question us about paying for what we have. After all,
we've got money, even if we also have huge debts." '
That's called private property and it's part of what was meant when the founders said that you have a right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Look at the poorest countries in the world. What they all have in common is that they lack recognized and legally protected property rights. Without them, individuals can't leverage anything into wealth building economic activity.
Meyers also whines that he and others can't use others private property, which iIwill take to mean that he holds the Marxist belief everyone should own it. Which means no one will and no one will be able to benefit from it unless unless statist dictators like Meyer say they can, for a price. Meyers must believe those Mc'Mansions get built for free and all the labor, materials along with taxes just drop from the sky and no one other than the evil Libertarian receives anything of value. Rational thinking sure can get clouded by raging envy.
"The money they made is frequently not due to inventiveness or even hard
work. Instead it is made by cooking books, cutting corners, ignoring laws, and
making false (or at a minimum very questionable) statements in documents,
contracts and advertisements. They also prey on people's weaknesses, pride and
greed, but mainly on their ignorance."
OK. Now that's funny. I guess Mr. Meyer thinks that all the lights, cars, computers, clothes, beer, medications etc.,etc. that he can buy also appear by magic, weren't invented or were just the result of cooking the books or cutting corners. And of course he condescends to the average person by suggesting that they are too dumb or gullible to make their own economic decisions without meddling by anointed one's like Meyer.
What this fool fails to realize is that no economy can flourish as ours has if it were based on dishonesty. Fraudulent dealing produces nothing of value and reduces overall wealth. This is typical marxist rhetoric. A bunch of emotional pablum with no regard for facts. And fraud and theft is also illegal and should be. If Meyer has specific evidence, he should call the police.
Finally, Meyers adds the cherry to this stupidity Sundae with this:
"In the last century, the communist governments in the USSR and
China as well as Nazism were built on this same line of thinking. "Trust us,
we've got all the answers." In totalitarian societies, the elite reserve the
best for themselves and give the masses only enough to keep them from rioting.
Do we want that kind of life in America?"
How can one compare Libertarianism to those philosophies when what we want is less government for everyone, not just ourselves. It is too much government that led to the slaughter of over 100 million people in the twentieth century alone. Meyer is the one who wants to replace individual freedom with the force of government and is being unintentionally and laughably ironic. Not to mention downright incoherent.
"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our necessities but of their advantages." - Adam Smith
The Left's Housing Dreams
Another Institution that receives a lot of contempt from the Left is the middle class suburb. It really bothers them that the bourgeoisie continues to escape dysfunctional cities for a better quality of life and a piece of American land. They also get tired of paying big tax bill and high prices to support bloated governments and parasites.
Here's an example of some dishonest wishful thinking on that score:
That could only happen through government force. Since World War II, Americans have voted with their feet in huge numbers, despite an all out assault on development by Eco-Marxists with "smart growth" policies, planning commissions and other economic anchors.
No blatant media bias would complete without the obligatory over the top predictions:
Another economic ignoramus heard from. No one's going to abandon an attractive housing option just because there's a current excess supply. Prices drop, pent up demand grows and whatever is available will be absorbed. And a lot faster than many would have you believe.
Here's an example of some dishonest wishful thinking on that score:
CBS correspondent Ben Tracy said. “But now the triple threat of falling
home values, empty nesters returning to the city and sky-high gas prices is
driving suburbia to the brink. Some developments are left half-built, while
other homes look abandoned. Demand for suburban housing is dropping so fast that
a recent study predicts that by 2025 there will be a surplus of 22 million
large-lot homes in suburban areas.”
But
according to the Orlando Sentinel, the man who made that prediction – Arthur C.
Nelson of Virginia Tech’s Metropolitan Institute – says the surplus could range from 3 million homes to 22 million home. The
“Evening News” didn’t mention the low end of Nelson’s prediction...
...Tracy based his assertions on the writings of James Howard Kunstler, an
author who told “Evening News” that he thinks “the project of suburbia is over.”
However, Kunstler also has peddled other doom-and-gloom scenarios that didn’t
come true, including cataclysmic failures surrounding Y2K and the Dow Jones
Industrial Index (DJIA) crashing to
4,000 by the end of 2005.
“Author
James Howard Kunstler has been predicting the decline of the suburbs for more
than 15 years,” Tracy said. “He says housing far away from job centers
won’t survive.”
That assumes incorrectly that the job centers will remain in the cities. They're not. Modern technology freed many people and businesses from the need to be on top of one another and suburbs are still growing as a result. Obviously these geniuses haven't travelled the Rte. 128 and 495 corridors in Massachusetts, Silicon Valley, Plano, Tyson's Corner or any of the dozens of major suburban business centers throughout the country.
“We’ve put so much of our national wealth and even our identity into the idea
of suburbia that we can’t imagine having to let go of it or substantially change
it,” Kunstler said.'
That could only happen through government force. Since World War II, Americans have voted with their feet in huge numbers, despite an all out assault on development by Eco-Marxists with "smart growth" policies, planning commissions and other economic anchors.
No blatant media bias would complete without the obligatory over the top predictions:
“It sounds hard to believe, but some experts are now predicting that this could
be the beginning of the end of suburbia – that far-flung neighborhoods like this
one could be tomorrow’s slums,” Tracy said...“A dream abandoned miles away now
beginning to fade,” Tracy concluded.
Another economic ignoramus heard from. No one's going to abandon an attractive housing option just because there's a current excess supply. Prices drop, pent up demand grows and whatever is available will be absorbed. And a lot faster than many would have you believe.
They Wanted More School.
David Freddoso uses Obama' education positions to highlight the duplicitous and venal nature of the candidate in all things:
The United States already spends the highest percentage of its world's largest GDP on education, while achieving mediocre results at best. The unholy alliance between democrats and teacher's unions exists only to mutually benefit themselves with power and money, while producing socialist indoctrinated drones just ignorant enough not to cause the elites trouble.
"Obama writes:
[T]heir number one issue was this: Because the school district couldn’t
afford to keep teachers for a full school day, Thornton let out every day at
1:30 in the afternoon. With the abbreviatebd schedule, there was no time for
students to take science lab or foreign language classes.How come we’re getting
shortchanged? they asked me. Seems like nobody even expects us to go to college,
they said.They wanted more school."
The elementary-school day and year in Chicago proper are the shortest of
any major U.S. city. It lasts five hours and 45 minutes, and the schools are
open just 174 days per year. This is entirely a result of the intransigence of
the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), a staunch ally of Barack Obama and an early
endorser of his presidential candidacy.
The United States already spends the highest percentage of its world's largest GDP on education, while achieving mediocre results at best. The unholy alliance between democrats and teacher's unions exists only to mutually benefit themselves with power and money, while producing socialist indoctrinated drones just ignorant enough not to cause the elites trouble.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Puritanical L.A.
Richard Miniter has a good post today about Left-Wing control freaks. The locales where they congregate are the most oppressive Big Government ghettos. Their Smoking bans, Trans Fat bans, enviro-fascism, and all the tsk, tsking over anything and everything the intolerant, handwringing left finds offensive are an offense to Liberty.
They are the drips and squares of society; the kind of uptight, humorless downers that I and other positive and productive people go out of our way to avoid:
"Now L.A. and a host of other cities (some disturbingly east of the
earthquake zone) are considering outdoor smoking bans. They have already banned
smoking in offices, eateries, bars and beaches. Outdoors is next. Followed by a
ban on smoking in your private car.
What is behind this Puritan impulse? Public health, you say. Well, that
is what they always say. Witches were problems of moral health (the witches, not
the witch hunters’, mind you) and alcohol was destructive to mind, body and
society. Of course smoking and eating excessively can have negative health
consequences. But Puritans have to morals of slaughterhouse operators: they want
the cows to go to their deaths perfectly healthy. What does it matter if they
were bored?
...At the metaphysical level, these debates could go on forever. But on the
practical level, the solution is simple: the owner of the property makes the
rules. When government became unlimited and this simple understanding
of private property was lost, the stage for social civil war was set. As
usual, the Puritans are the aggressors. In the name of peace, the rest of us
keep surrendering. At some point, enough people will realize they have run out
of room.
They are the drips and squares of society; the kind of uptight, humorless downers that I and other positive and productive people go out of our way to avoid:
"Now L.A. and a host of other cities (some disturbingly east of the
earthquake zone) are considering outdoor smoking bans. They have already banned
smoking in offices, eateries, bars and beaches. Outdoors is next. Followed by a
ban on smoking in your private car.
What is behind this Puritan impulse? Public health, you say. Well, that
is what they always say. Witches were problems of moral health (the witches, not
the witch hunters’, mind you) and alcohol was destructive to mind, body and
society. Of course smoking and eating excessively can have negative health
consequences. But Puritans have to morals of slaughterhouse operators: they want
the cows to go to their deaths perfectly healthy. What does it matter if they
were bored?
...At the metaphysical level, these debates could go on forever. But on the
practical level, the solution is simple: the owner of the property makes the
rules. When government became unlimited and this simple understanding
of private property was lost, the stage for social civil war was set. As
usual, the Puritans are the aggressors. In the name of peace, the rest of us
keep surrendering. At some point, enough people will realize they have run out
of room.
Liberal Fascist Group Seeks to Intimidate Opposition
Some radical punk and former Move On hack by the name of Tom Matzzie has formed a group that will threaten potential GOP donors. And put a bounty on their heads. These tactics are are an admission by Matzzie that his side can't win on the merits of their arguments. Is his group going to wear the traditional brown shirts or something a bit more fashionable?
"A public interest group that prosecutes government corruption announced an investigation into a left-leaning group that is warning contributors to conservative causes this election year about "potential dangers, including legal trouble, public exposure and watchdog groups digging through their lives."...
The New York Times said the group plans to send "warning" letters to nearly 10,000 of the biggest donors to Republican candidates and causes across the country in coming days in an effort to prevent similar groups from the right from getting off the ground this fall.
The group is led by Tom Matzzie, who has been involved with prominent left-wing efforts in recent years.
Matzzie told the newspaper he and his cohorts "want to stop the Swift Boating before it gets off the ground."
The left was never able to successfully dispute any of the facts put forth by the Swift Boaters and has just been whining "not fair!" ever since. Obama's past is a gold mine of extreme left activities, statements and associations that Matzzie knows are true. Matzzie also knows that Obama's Marxism must be covered up and minimized in order for him to even have a chance. Therefore he must resort to a cowardly coercion strategy.
"Judicial Watch, however, said such intimidation could fall under the KKK Act.
"Attempts to intimidate individuals from participating in the presidential campaign can be a violation of federal law," the organization said."
I wonder what's going on in Matzzie's private life that might be of interest? Hmm. At the very least, he's guilty of eating more than his "fair share" of food.
"Matzzie told the newspaper he's raised $200,000 but expects to collect more than $500,000 by next week."
And if he performs, I'm sure George Soros will give him even more money.
Michelle Malkin has posted a copy of this gang's threat letter along with her always excellent commentary.
"A public interest group that prosecutes government corruption announced an investigation into a left-leaning group that is warning contributors to conservative causes this election year about "potential dangers, including legal trouble, public exposure and watchdog groups digging through their lives."...
The New York Times said the group plans to send "warning" letters to nearly 10,000 of the biggest donors to Republican candidates and causes across the country in coming days in an effort to prevent similar groups from the right from getting off the ground this fall.
The group is led by Tom Matzzie, who has been involved with prominent left-wing efforts in recent years.
Matzzie told the newspaper he and his cohorts "want to stop the Swift Boating before it gets off the ground."
The left was never able to successfully dispute any of the facts put forth by the Swift Boaters and has just been whining "not fair!" ever since. Obama's past is a gold mine of extreme left activities, statements and associations that Matzzie knows are true. Matzzie also knows that Obama's Marxism must be covered up and minimized in order for him to even have a chance. Therefore he must resort to a cowardly coercion strategy.
"Judicial Watch, however, said such intimidation could fall under the KKK Act.
"Attempts to intimidate individuals from participating in the presidential campaign can be a violation of federal law," the organization said."
I wonder what's going on in Matzzie's private life that might be of interest? Hmm. At the very least, he's guilty of eating more than his "fair share" of food.
"Matzzie told the newspaper he's raised $200,000 but expects to collect more than $500,000 by next week."
And if he performs, I'm sure George Soros will give him even more money.
Michelle Malkin has posted a copy of this gang's threat letter along with her always excellent commentary.
Friday, August 8, 2008
No-Nothing Krugman
One of the reasons The New York Times is going broke is that they pay fools like Paul Krugman huge sums of money to write the kind of drivel left wing moonbats post for free. His brilliant thesis today is...are you ready? Republicans are stupid! Next week he will probably call them pooh-pooh heads.
His evidence is unintentionally ironic and hilarious:
So the G.O.P. has found its issue for the 2008 election. For the next three months the party plans to keep chanting: “Drill here! Drill now! Drill here! Drill now! Four legs good, two legs bad!” O.K., I added that last part...
"What I mean, instead, is that know-nothingism — the insistence that there are simple, brute-force, instant-gratification answers to every problem, and that there’s something effeminate and weak about anyone who suggests otherwise — has become the core of Republican policy and political strategy. The party’s de facto slogan has become: “Real men don’t think things through.”
Instant gratification? Isn't it Democrats who are telling us that drilling won't solve anything because it won't be available for years and won't do anything to lower prices today? Obviously, Krugman doesn't believe that the proposed repeat of Jimmy Carter's windfall profits tax disaster isn't the brute force of government confiscating private property because Democrats have decreed arbitrarily that oil companies make "excess profits". I guess he missed the class where the difference between profit and profit margin was explained.
Apparently, Krugman also thinks that scapegoating oil speculators for reflecting current events in bidding on future prices is also not "brute force" and is well thought through. I know the Democrat Party doesn't know or care how commodities markets work, but for someone who calls himself an economist to ignore that piece of Democrat stupidity is...well, stupid. I guess the opinion of just about every knowledgeable person up to Ben Bernanke that speculators have little or nothing to do with current prices is something Krugman thought through for about a second and then asked "What was the question?"
In the case of oil, this takes the form of pretending that more drilling would produce fast relief at the gas pump. In fact, earlier this week Republicans in Congress actually claimed credit for the recent fall in oil prices: “The market is responding to the fact that we are here talking,” said Representative John Shadegg.
The Republicans may be right, but Krugman dismisses them with an ignorant sneer. All speculation and investing is based on predicting future events based on current ones. Hence the name "futures market". What cereal box did this clown get his ECON degree from anyway?
Krugman then moves lazily along with the same shopworn nonsense about Iraq that ignores Saddam's support of every terrorist that came knocking, numerous treaty violations, the oil for food scandal, pre-war transports to Syria and most recently, the fact that we just removed 500 tons of yellow cake Uranium from that country. Joe Wilson call your office.
It's not surprising that The NYT would employ such a left wing ideologue as a well paid regular columnist. Although they could hire any number of Marxist hacks from the Huffington Post for half the price.
His evidence is unintentionally ironic and hilarious:
So the G.O.P. has found its issue for the 2008 election. For the next three months the party plans to keep chanting: “Drill here! Drill now! Drill here! Drill now! Four legs good, two legs bad!” O.K., I added that last part...
"What I mean, instead, is that know-nothingism — the insistence that there are simple, brute-force, instant-gratification answers to every problem, and that there’s something effeminate and weak about anyone who suggests otherwise — has become the core of Republican policy and political strategy. The party’s de facto slogan has become: “Real men don’t think things through.”
Instant gratification? Isn't it Democrats who are telling us that drilling won't solve anything because it won't be available for years and won't do anything to lower prices today? Obviously, Krugman doesn't believe that the proposed repeat of Jimmy Carter's windfall profits tax disaster isn't the brute force of government confiscating private property because Democrats have decreed arbitrarily that oil companies make "excess profits". I guess he missed the class where the difference between profit and profit margin was explained.
Apparently, Krugman also thinks that scapegoating oil speculators for reflecting current events in bidding on future prices is also not "brute force" and is well thought through. I know the Democrat Party doesn't know or care how commodities markets work, but for someone who calls himself an economist to ignore that piece of Democrat stupidity is...well, stupid. I guess the opinion of just about every knowledgeable person up to Ben Bernanke that speculators have little or nothing to do with current prices is something Krugman thought through for about a second and then asked "What was the question?"
In the case of oil, this takes the form of pretending that more drilling would produce fast relief at the gas pump. In fact, earlier this week Republicans in Congress actually claimed credit for the recent fall in oil prices: “The market is responding to the fact that we are here talking,” said Representative John Shadegg.
The Republicans may be right, but Krugman dismisses them with an ignorant sneer. All speculation and investing is based on predicting future events based on current ones. Hence the name "futures market". What cereal box did this clown get his ECON degree from anyway?
Krugman then moves lazily along with the same shopworn nonsense about Iraq that ignores Saddam's support of every terrorist that came knocking, numerous treaty violations, the oil for food scandal, pre-war transports to Syria and most recently, the fact that we just removed 500 tons of yellow cake Uranium from that country. Joe Wilson call your office.
It's not surprising that The NYT would employ such a left wing ideologue as a well paid regular columnist. Although they could hire any number of Marxist hacks from the Huffington Post for half the price.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Captain Al Gore
Check out Al "Eco-Hypocrite and Sheister" Gore's new 100 foot houseboat! It's called the Bio-Solar 1 or B.S. 1 for short. He says it runs on bio-diesel, which is just inefficient crapola that pollutes as much as any other fuel. Where he'll buy it no one knows since they don't sell it on the lake. Who does or would? Notice the frivolous gas-guzzling Jet-Ski on the bow.
Barack Obama's Lost Years
From Stanley Kurtz at The Weekly Standard:
Barack Obama's neighborhood newspaper, the Hyde Park Herald, has a longstanding tradition of opening its pages to elected officials-from Chicago aldermen to state legislators to U.S. senators. Obama himself, as a state senator, wrote more than 40 columns for the Herald, under the title "Springfield Report," between 1996 and 2004.
What they portray is a Barack Obama sharply at variance with the image of the post-racial, post-ideological, bipartisan, culture-war-shunning politician familiar from current media coverage and purveyed by the Obama campaign. As details of Obama's early political career emerge into the light, his associations with such radical figures as Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Father Michael Pfleger, Reverend James Meeks, Bill Ayers, and Bernardine Dohrn look less like peculiar instances of personal misjudgment and more like intentional political partnerships. At his core, in other words, the politician chronicled here is profoundly race-conscious, exceedingly liberal, free-spending even in the face of looming state budget deficits, and partisan. Elected president, this man would presumably shift the country sharply to the left on all the key issues of the day-culture-war issues included. It's no wonder Obama has passed over his Springfield years in relative silence.
Barack Obama's neighborhood newspaper, the Hyde Park Herald, has a longstanding tradition of opening its pages to elected officials-from Chicago aldermen to state legislators to U.S. senators. Obama himself, as a state senator, wrote more than 40 columns for the Herald, under the title "Springfield Report," between 1996 and 2004.
What they portray is a Barack Obama sharply at variance with the image of the post-racial, post-ideological, bipartisan, culture-war-shunning politician familiar from current media coverage and purveyed by the Obama campaign. As details of Obama's early political career emerge into the light, his associations with such radical figures as Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Father Michael Pfleger, Reverend James Meeks, Bill Ayers, and Bernardine Dohrn look less like peculiar instances of personal misjudgment and more like intentional political partnerships. At his core, in other words, the politician chronicled here is profoundly race-conscious, exceedingly liberal, free-spending even in the face of looming state budget deficits, and partisan. Elected president, this man would presumably shift the country sharply to the left on all the key issues of the day-culture-war issues included. It's no wonder Obama has passed over his Springfield years in relative silence.
Anti-Business States Awash In Red Ink
I've been writing for a while now (LINK, LINK) about the mass migration of economic refugees within the United States from oppressive states to more free ones. Now we have more evidence of the damage an out of control state (or country) can do to itself and its people. Those heavy handed governments still don't want to face their economic and moral failures. They are still doing their level best to chase away those who pull the cart; leaving behind those who just in it and whine.
"Shortly after he was confirmed as governor of New York earlier this year, David Paterson told a group of business executives that when he received congratulations from old friends he hadn’t heard from in years, he was surprised how many no longer lived in New York. "All of them basically said the same thing," Paterson told the group. "'Good luck in New York state, but we can't pay the taxes. The opportunities aren't there.'”
After that experience, Paterson presumably can understand the complaints of corporate executives recently surveyed by Development Counsellors International, which advises companies on where to locate their facilities. More than four in ten of them have ranked New York as the worst state to do business in--second only to California in unfavorable mentions. The most common gripes included high taxes and anti-business regulations. Joining New York and California on the list of most unpopular states were New Jersey, Michigan and Massachusetts...
"Shortly after he was confirmed as governor of New York earlier this year, David Paterson told a group of business executives that when he received congratulations from old friends he hadn’t heard from in years, he was surprised how many no longer lived in New York. "All of them basically said the same thing," Paterson told the group. "'Good luck in New York state, but we can't pay the taxes. The opportunities aren't there.'”
After that experience, Paterson presumably can understand the complaints of corporate executives recently surveyed by Development Counsellors International, which advises companies on where to locate their facilities. More than four in ten of them have ranked New York as the worst state to do business in--second only to California in unfavorable mentions. The most common gripes included high taxes and anti-business regulations. Joining New York and California on the list of most unpopular states were New Jersey, Michigan and Massachusetts...
Of the approximately $48 billion in accumulated budget shortfalls that the 29 states with projected deficits are facing, $33 billion, or two-thirds of the gap, is concentrated in those five states considered by corporate executives to be the least friendly to business. Meanwhile, among the five states ranked as having the best business environment, Texas and North Carolina have no projected budget gaps, and Georgia, Tennessee and Florida are facing shortfalls amounting to about $4.1 billion, or less than one-tenth of the states’ total."
What's the answer? Higher taxes that will chase even more businesses and individuals away. The stupidity and insanity of these socialist hacks never ceases to amaze me.
"Paterson’s former colleagues in the state legislature are lobbying for a new tax on millionaires, while across the country California’s legislators have called for boosting the state’s top tax rate from 9.3 percent to 11 percent. Since many firms, especially small ones, are organized corporately in such a way that they pay taxes on profits at their owners’ personal income tax rate, any increase in the top rate of income taxes will hit small firms hard, to say nothing of the impact on the personal taxes of executives at big firms."
But they also expect the rest of us to pay for their irresponsibility and corruption:
"...Paterson argued creatively that the rest of the country should come to his aid because the Empire State is home to the country’s financial markets and thereby contributes disproportionately to the America economy--although I can imagine that there are many states that would gladly take those financial institutions off of New York’s hands if the governor considers them such a burden."
Damn right we'll take them and we already are. Last one out, please turn off the lights.
Venezuela Restricts More Freedom
Hugo Chavez continues to tighten his grip on Venezuela as he moves his country toward dictatorial misery. Like his left wing counterparts in the U.S., (see: Windfall Profits, Rent Control etc.) he believes he can repeal the laws of supply and demand through sheer will. We would all be better off if he would try that with the laws of gravity:
"Under one of the new laws, food retailers or distributors caught skirting government-imposed price controls or hoarding products will be punished with up to six years in prison.Business owners who refuse to produce, import, transport or sell "items of basic necessity" can face up to 10 years in jail.
The decree allows the government to "restrict or prohibit the import, export, distribution, exchange or sale" of certain foods or agricultural products and "take over distribution activities when considered necessary."
He's also forming what will undoubtedly be a Stasi like civilian spy network that will report counter revolutionary activities to the government.
"Critics also raised concerns about a decree that creates a new National Bolivarian Militia _ a branch of the military consisting of civilian volunteers who will help neighborhood-based "communal councils" establish "defense committees."
Socialism and Communism can only be implemented through the threat or use of force. Whether it's in Europe, Venezuela, Cuba or the U.S., the differences are only a matter of the degree to which it is used. It seeks to deny and suppress human nature and individual dignity in order to advance government power disguised as "justice". In short, any philosophy or policy that subjugates individual rights for the "common good" is immoral. It's slavery, plain and simple.
These new laws in Venezuela say that individuals must relinquish private property whether they want to or not at a price dictated by by the government. Their property and lives now belong to the collective, which is the state.
What's striking is the insanity and stupidity of this secular religion's adherents who continue to sing its praises despite a long history of abject failure and injustice. The American activists, Hollytards and politicians who support Chavez show us what useful idiots they are every time they open their mouths. They deserve our ridicule and contempt.
Venezuela will now see even more capital, investment and people flee for friendlier confines. There's a reason no one's allowed to leave Cuba and North Korea. Although I suspect Chavez will just turn Venezuela into the next Zimbabwe.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
A Letter To My Congressman
The following was emailed to my congressman, CW Bill Young, serving Florida's 10th District in Pinellas County, Fl. Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez were CC'd.
Dear Congressman Young: If you are already on the house floor this week, please disregard this mail. If not, then I urge you to go there immediately. I am expecting your support of increased drilling for oil and natural gas throughout the United States, wherever those resources may be found. That includes The Gulf Of Mexico up to 25 miles from our shore, which is well over the horizon. As a resident of your district who lives on the Intracoastal Waterway and a stone's throw from the Gulf, I obviously have a direct interest in this matter. However, I can find no rational basis for opposition to exploration and drilling in our waters and remaining the only country that places its oil and gas resources completely off limits.
The hundreds of rigs already in the Gulf have proved to pose almost no environmental threat, despite being battered by numerous storms. Indeed, far more oil and other pollutants enter the Gulf every day due to mere runoff from everyday activities on shore. Our tourism industry would not be harmed but helped, in that people could actually afford the fuel to get here. Additionally, oil exploration in our waters would not only provide greatly increased economic activity at the Port of Tampa, it would bolster our commercial and recreational fishing stocks as these rigs invariably become huge havens for marine life.
We must couple this with exploration and drilling throughout the Outer Continental Shelf and ANWR, additional nuclear power, coal to liquid, shale oil and any other technology that will increase domestic energy supplies.
This is not only an economic issue but one of national security. It is inherently dangerous to depend on oil supplies from governments that at best don't like us very much and in many cases are outright hostile toward the U.S. I'm old enough to remember what happened to this country during the Arab oil embargo of the 1970's. No matter how much we conserve at home, countries like China and India will continue to increase their energy usage at a rapid pace. That's over 30 per cent of the world's population. World demand for oil will go up drastically, no matter what we do or wish would happen. It will also go up here if we still want to grow our economy. Alternative sources such as solar and wind are at least decades away from becoming an efficient substitute for current technologies and as of now are nothing more than a pipe dream and a distraction.
Speaker Pelosi and the Democrat Party have obviously been co-opted by Eco-Marxists whose goals have far more to do with damaging our free market economy than protecting the environment. Democrats are unwilling to do anything that will help the little people they purport to care about and are just insulting our intelligence with silly platitudes and scapegoats.
Pelosi is vulnerable in that her refusal to allow a vote on this issue reveals an admission on her part that she will lose when many Democrats defy her will for their own political survival. As you are well aware, this is winning political issue for your party.
As a congressman whose district is literally on the front lines of this issue, your vocal and unqualified support will prove invaluable in moving this issue forward. I am confident that you have the courage to do what is right for Florida and the Country.
Very Truly Yours,
Cliff Waldron http://www.radclown.com/
Dear Congressman Young: If you are already on the house floor this week, please disregard this mail. If not, then I urge you to go there immediately. I am expecting your support of increased drilling for oil and natural gas throughout the United States, wherever those resources may be found. That includes The Gulf Of Mexico up to 25 miles from our shore, which is well over the horizon. As a resident of your district who lives on the Intracoastal Waterway and a stone's throw from the Gulf, I obviously have a direct interest in this matter. However, I can find no rational basis for opposition to exploration and drilling in our waters and remaining the only country that places its oil and gas resources completely off limits.
The hundreds of rigs already in the Gulf have proved to pose almost no environmental threat, despite being battered by numerous storms. Indeed, far more oil and other pollutants enter the Gulf every day due to mere runoff from everyday activities on shore. Our tourism industry would not be harmed but helped, in that people could actually afford the fuel to get here. Additionally, oil exploration in our waters would not only provide greatly increased economic activity at the Port of Tampa, it would bolster our commercial and recreational fishing stocks as these rigs invariably become huge havens for marine life.
We must couple this with exploration and drilling throughout the Outer Continental Shelf and ANWR, additional nuclear power, coal to liquid, shale oil and any other technology that will increase domestic energy supplies.
This is not only an economic issue but one of national security. It is inherently dangerous to depend on oil supplies from governments that at best don't like us very much and in many cases are outright hostile toward the U.S. I'm old enough to remember what happened to this country during the Arab oil embargo of the 1970's. No matter how much we conserve at home, countries like China and India will continue to increase their energy usage at a rapid pace. That's over 30 per cent of the world's population. World demand for oil will go up drastically, no matter what we do or wish would happen. It will also go up here if we still want to grow our economy. Alternative sources such as solar and wind are at least decades away from becoming an efficient substitute for current technologies and as of now are nothing more than a pipe dream and a distraction.
Speaker Pelosi and the Democrat Party have obviously been co-opted by Eco-Marxists whose goals have far more to do with damaging our free market economy than protecting the environment. Democrats are unwilling to do anything that will help the little people they purport to care about and are just insulting our intelligence with silly platitudes and scapegoats.
Pelosi is vulnerable in that her refusal to allow a vote on this issue reveals an admission on her part that she will lose when many Democrats defy her will for their own political survival. As you are well aware, this is winning political issue for your party.
As a congressman whose district is literally on the front lines of this issue, your vocal and unqualified support will prove invaluable in moving this issue forward. I am confident that you have the courage to do what is right for Florida and the Country.
Very Truly Yours,
Cliff Waldron http://www.radclown.com/
Monday, August 4, 2008
Introducing The USS New York - Made From Steel From The Towers Of 9/11
It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center
.
It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions th at
include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360
sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and
assault craft.
Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite
, LA to cast the ship’s bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept
9, 2003, ‘those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence,’
recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. ‘It was a spiritual moment for
everybody there.’
Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade
center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the ‘hair on my neck
stood up.’ ‘It had a big meaning to it for all of us,’ he said. ‘They knocked us
down. They can’t keep us down. We’re going to be back.’
The ship’s motto?
‘Never Forget’
Cool. Let's hope they use it to kill plenty of Islamo-Nazis.
What Is a 'Windfall' Profit?
From The Wall Street Journal:
The "windfall profits" tax is back, with Barack Obama stumping again to apply it to a handful of big oil companies. Which raises a few questions: What is a "windfall" profit anyway? How does it differ from your everyday, run of the mill profit? Is it some absolute number, a matter of return on equity or sales -- or does it merely depend on who earns it?
Enquiring entrepreneurs want to know. Unfortunately, Mr. Obama's "emergency" plan, announced on Friday, doesn't offer any clarity. To pay for "stimulus" checks of $1,000 for families and $500 for individuals, the Senator says government would take "a reasonable share" of oil company profits.
Mr. Obama didn't bother to define "reasonable," and neither did Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, when he recently declared that "The oil companies need to know that there is a limit on how much profit they can take in this economy." Really? This extraordinary redefinition of free-market success could use some parsing.
Take Exxon Mobil, which on Thursday reported the highest quarterly profit ever and is the main target of any "windfall" tax surcharge. Yet if its profits are at record highs, its tax bills are already at record highs too. Between 2003 and 2007, Exxon paid $64.7 billion in U.S. taxes, exceeding its after-tax U.S. earnings by more than $19 billion. That sounds like a government windfall to us, but perhaps we're missing some Obama-Durbin business subtlety.
Maybe they have in mind profit margins as a percentage of sales. Yet by that standard Exxon's profits don't seem so large. Exxon's profit margin stood at 10% for 2007, which is hardly out of line with the oil and gas industry average of 8.3%, or the 8.9% for U.S. manufacturing (excluding the sputtering auto makers).
If that's what constitutes windfall profits, most of corporate America would qualify. Take aerospace or machinery -- both 8.2% in 2007. Chemicals had an average margin of 12.7%. Computers: 13.7%. Electronics and appliances: 14.5%. Pharmaceuticals (18.4%) and beverages and tobacco (19.1%) round out the Census Bureau's industry rankings. The latter two double the returns of Big Oil, though of course government has already became a tacit shareholder in Big Tobacco through the various legal settlements that guarantee a revenue stream for years to come...
The point is that what constitutes an abnormal profit is entirely arbitrary. It is in the eye of the political beholder, who is usually looking to soak some unpopular business. In other words, a windfall is nothing more than a profit earned by a business that some politician dislikes. And a tax on that profit is merely a form of politically motivated expropriation.
It's what politicians do in Venezuela, not in a free country.
The "windfall profits" tax is back, with Barack Obama stumping again to apply it to a handful of big oil companies. Which raises a few questions: What is a "windfall" profit anyway? How does it differ from your everyday, run of the mill profit? Is it some absolute number, a matter of return on equity or sales -- or does it merely depend on who earns it?
Enquiring entrepreneurs want to know. Unfortunately, Mr. Obama's "emergency" plan, announced on Friday, doesn't offer any clarity. To pay for "stimulus" checks of $1,000 for families and $500 for individuals, the Senator says government would take "a reasonable share" of oil company profits.
Mr. Obama didn't bother to define "reasonable," and neither did Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, when he recently declared that "The oil companies need to know that there is a limit on how much profit they can take in this economy." Really? This extraordinary redefinition of free-market success could use some parsing.
Take Exxon Mobil, which on Thursday reported the highest quarterly profit ever and is the main target of any "windfall" tax surcharge. Yet if its profits are at record highs, its tax bills are already at record highs too. Between 2003 and 2007, Exxon paid $64.7 billion in U.S. taxes, exceeding its after-tax U.S. earnings by more than $19 billion. That sounds like a government windfall to us, but perhaps we're missing some Obama-Durbin business subtlety.
Maybe they have in mind profit margins as a percentage of sales. Yet by that standard Exxon's profits don't seem so large. Exxon's profit margin stood at 10% for 2007, which is hardly out of line with the oil and gas industry average of 8.3%, or the 8.9% for U.S. manufacturing (excluding the sputtering auto makers).
If that's what constitutes windfall profits, most of corporate America would qualify. Take aerospace or machinery -- both 8.2% in 2007. Chemicals had an average margin of 12.7%. Computers: 13.7%. Electronics and appliances: 14.5%. Pharmaceuticals (18.4%) and beverages and tobacco (19.1%) round out the Census Bureau's industry rankings. The latter two double the returns of Big Oil, though of course government has already became a tacit shareholder in Big Tobacco through the various legal settlements that guarantee a revenue stream for years to come...
The point is that what constitutes an abnormal profit is entirely arbitrary. It is in the eye of the political beholder, who is usually looking to soak some unpopular business. In other words, a windfall is nothing more than a profit earned by a business that some politician dislikes. And a tax on that profit is merely a form of politically motivated expropriation.
It's what politicians do in Venezuela, not in a free country.
American Oil Hypocrites
From The American:
"If you think that the issue of offshore drilling is only a matter of
interest to American environmental groups and the U.S. Congress, think again. At last month’s World Petroleum Congress in Madrid, the blatant
hypocrisy of U.S. energy policy—demanding that OPEC members expand their oil
drilling efforts while restricting offshore drilling here at home—was a
prominent topic of discussion. Indeed, the U.S. ban on drilling in the
Outer Continental Shelf was mentioned by three of the most powerful people in
the global energy business: the head of OPEC; the chief executive of Brazil’s
national oil company, Petrobras; and the Saudi oil minister. All of them said
the United States should start drilling in its offshore areas.
During a press conference in Madrid, Chakib Khelil, the Algerian
oil minister and president of OPEC, was asked what the United States could do to
lower oil prices. He mentioned three things: stabilize the value of the dollar,
increase energy efficiency, and “open up your exploration. In Algeria, we have a
bidding round going on. We are open. The U.S. also needs to open…offshore
Florida, offshore Alaska, need to be opened to exploration.”
The environmental movement's lack of interest in these other countries is rooted in both cowardice and the common ground they find with the the heavy handed governments in OPEC. The Eco-Marxist's focus on the U.S. is has less to do with the environment than it does with crippling the American economy.
H/T to Sigmund, Carl and Alfred
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Street Fair in Pelosi Land
This is what passes for entertainment in Nancy Pelosi's district. Welcome to Up Your Alley 2008! It's nice to know that the person setting the congressional agenda for the whole country represents such a mainstream population.
And I'm not talking about homosexuality. It's about the malignant narcissism and Anti-American sentiment that pervades this cesspool of nihilism and depravity.
But speaking of homosexuality:
"YCDC understated number of new HIV infections in US
Yearly estimates allow better recognition of trends in the U.S. epidemic. For example, the new report found that infections are falling among heterosexuals and injection drug users.
Some experts celebrated that finding, saying it's a tribute to prevention efforts, including nearly 200 syringe exchange programs now operating in 36 states despite a federal ban on funding for such projects."
"But they also lamented the CDC's finding that infections continue to increase in gay and bisexual men, who accounted for more than half of HIV infections in 2006. Also, more than a third of those with HIV are younger than 30.
Gee! Ya think?
Some advocates say that suggests a need for more prevention efforts, particularly targeting younger gay and bisexual men."
Actually, these guys know quite well how to prevent AIDS and throwing good money after bad isn't going to change anyone's behavior. Why is it that I should care more about their lives than they do?
The Wisdom of Dear Leader Pelosi
Politiburo chief Nancy Pelosi lies and insults our intelligence with this vapid post:
Instead, she blocked a vote on drilling and then shut the joint down. As reported here before, blaming speculators for current gas prices is like blaming the dead canary for the gas in the coal mine. But this sounds good to her willfully ignorant base because if someone is making more money than them doing something they don't understand, then it must be evil.
This is the same type of warped warped logic that says the law of Supply and Demand is "a hoax" while believing that the theory of Global Warming is fact.
Pelosi also tells us that the idea of increasing our domestic oil supply by billions of barrels is unworthy of serious debate (sound familiar?), but then proposes to lower prices by releasing some of the 35 days worth of oil supply in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That will lower prices by at least a penny for five minutes.
She and Obama must have gone to the Salvador Dali School of Economics.
"The president has failed in his economic policy, and now he wants to say,
'but for drilling in protected areas offshore, our economy would be thriving and
the price of gas would be lower.' That hoax is unworthy of the serious debate we
must have to relieve the pain of consumers at the pump and to promote energy
independence.
Today, the New Direction Congress will vote on legislation to bring down
gas prices by taking crucial steps to curb excessive speculation in the energy
futures market. The president himself could lower prices by drawing down a small
portion of our government oil stockpile, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The
New Direction Congress will continue to bring forth responsible proposals to
increase supply, reduce prices, protect consumers, and transition America to a
clean, renewable energy independent future."
Instead, she blocked a vote on drilling and then shut the joint down. As reported here before, blaming speculators for current gas prices is like blaming the dead canary for the gas in the coal mine. But this sounds good to her willfully ignorant base because if someone is making more money than them doing something they don't understand, then it must be evil.
This is the same type of warped warped logic that says the law of Supply and Demand is "a hoax" while believing that the theory of Global Warming is fact.
Pelosi also tells us that the idea of increasing our domestic oil supply by billions of barrels is unworthy of serious debate (sound familiar?), but then proposes to lower prices by releasing some of the 35 days worth of oil supply in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That will lower prices by at least a penny for five minutes.
She and Obama must have gone to the Salvador Dali School of Economics.
Tax Oil to Pay For Oil
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.
-- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Friday pushed for a windfall profits tax to
fund $1,000 emergency rebate checks for consumers besieged by high energy
costs...
Can you feel the stupidity? It's a thrill running up my leg!
Wow! Can I really take money from a seller and give it to the buyer in order to pay the seller? "Won't the seller raise the price?" says the buyer? "Oh no", says Saint Obama. "For I have repealed the laws of supply and demand and have abrogated the human condition!"
Black Education: Hard Times at Douglass High
From Walter Williams:
"Whether we want to own up to it or not, the welfare state has done what Jim Crow, gross discrimination and poverty could not have done. It has contributed to the breakdown of the black family structure and has helped establish a set of values alien to traditional values of high moral standards, hard work and achievement."
"Whether we want to own up to it or not, the welfare state has done what Jim Crow, gross discrimination and poverty could not have done. It has contributed to the breakdown of the black family structure and has helped establish a set of values alien to traditional values of high moral standards, hard work and achievement."
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Pickens Plans to Steal Property for Windfarm
Not only is Pseudo-Capitalist T. Boone Pickens trying to pick the pockets of American taxpayers with his phony plan, he's now convinced the Texas legislature to give him the power of eminent domain by granting him his own fiefdom, with Pickens and his wife as King and Queen.
"Simply put, Pickens’ pitch is “embrace wind power to help break
our ‘addiction’ to foreign oil.” There is, however, another intriguing component
to Pickens’ plan that
goes unmentioned in his TV commercials, media interviews and web site -- water
rights, which he owns more of than any other American...
At Pickens’ behest, the Texas legislature changed state
law to allow the two residents of an 8-acre parcel of land in Roberts County to
vote to create a municipal water district, a government agency with eminent
domain powers. Who were the voters? They were Pickens’ wife and the manager of Pickens’ nearby
ranch. And who sits on the board of directors of this water district?
They are the parcel’s three other non-resident landowners, all Pickens’ employees.
What’s this got to do with Pickens’ wind-power plan? Just as he needs pipelines
to sell his water, he also needs transmission lines to sell his wind-generated
power. Rights of way for transmission lines are also acquired through eminent
domain -- and, once again, the Texas legislature has come to Pickens’ aid.
Earlier this year, Texas changed its law to allow renewable energy
projects (like Pickens’ wind farm) to obtain rights-of-way by
piggybacking on a water district’s eminent domain power. So Pickens can now use his
water district’s authority to also condemn land for his future wind farm’s
transmission lines."
Jellyfish Predict End of the World
You've got to admire the tenacity of the Church of Global Warming acolytes. They just keep throwing anything and everything at the wall, hoping something sticks. The New York Times dutifully reports this latest bit of hysteria with the dying newspaper's now painfully obvious agenda driven reporting.
So, once again we have a "scientific" conclusion based on nothing more than anecdotal evidence. A conclusion that refuses to even investigate any of numerous alternative causes for this phenomenon, if it exists at all. Notice also that the NYT tells us that all of this has "convinced" not some, most or just one scientist, but implies that this too is beyond debate.
From Spain to New York, to Australia, Japan and Hawaii, jellyfish are
becoming more numerous and more widespread, and they are showing up in places
where they have rarely been seen before, scientists say.
While no good global database exists on jellyfish populations, the
increasing reports from around the world have convinced scientists that the
trend is real, serious and climate-related, although they caution that
jellyfish populations in any one place undergo year-to-year variation.
So, once again we have a "scientific" conclusion based on nothing more than anecdotal evidence. A conclusion that refuses to even investigate any of numerous alternative causes for this phenomenon, if it exists at all. Notice also that the NYT tells us that all of this has "convinced" not some, most or just one scientist, but implies that this too is beyond debate.
Barack "Harold Hill" Obama
From the Toronto Sun:
"Folks in Middle America are realists. Middle America, besides geography, also refers to the American character -- irrespective of ethnic origin -- of being proud of a country built by the love and sacrifice of previous generations
into the greatest power in history.
Middle Americans uncomplainingly run the daily routines of keeping America free, prosperous and strong. Theirs is a story of unfailing optimism, generosity, courage and romance.
They cheer for the underdog, and might lend their ears for a while when an unknown fake like Harold Hill from the musical favourite, The Music Man, comes along. But it is not long before they see through the likes of Hill in
their midst.
They are grounded on values supported by common sense.
Their politics are well represented in the editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal, on Fox television, and by conservative radio personalities like Rush Limbaugh, as much as liberals may despise him.
Middle Americans, as such, will not long tolerate any Harold Hill-type fake, irrespective of how the mainstream media does the packaging, for their president."
America is still a country that, unlike Obama's European Utopia, still values individual achievement and substance. For the most part, we expect that those who want our respect and trust have done something to earn it. We also don't have a lot of sympathy for rubes. Obama's thin-skinned reactions to criticism and the over the top cheer leading of the media, is gaining the notice of the average American too busy to pay much attention to this circus just yet. His inability to move in the polls is a result of a lot of these folks starting to ask: "Who is this guy?"
If the American public at large gets the sense that Obama is the phony that he is, then he's sunk. When Obama takes the stage in Denver at the 50,000 seat venue his massive ego couldn't resist, a lot of Americans will be asking: "who the hell does this guy think he is?"
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