Incestuous Narcissism Part 1

indyfromaz|

For about 15 years if someone asked me to sum up my philosophy about the people I ranted about I would say “Unenlightened Narcissism” but now I have revised that.
It’s now “Incestuous Narcissism”. Where both parties are consensual in the narcissism and incestuous need for the other, to the exclusion of “the extremists” who don’t buy into their relationship or try to break it up.
Intervention in their incest is not best. It is to be fought to the bitter end.
Part I: Unions
Unions, especially public sector unions, are the perfect example of this relationship.
As a matter of disclosure I have never like Unions, ever. I grew up in a “union town” but was never in a union.
I used to watch them play their games with GM, this being the UAW- United Auto Workers.
They would go on strike because $28/hr in 1975 was too little. And then GM would fire them and then re-hire them. It was  game.
But now, it’s just incest.
The recent booze and pot mess at a Chrysler plant is merely the tip of iceberg. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVmKyJXHXRE)
What you have is simple. (This is a California graphic, but it applies nationally)

Taxpayer gives money to Government, Government gives money to Union and then gives money back to Government Officials in the form of political and lobbyist contributions.

It’s an incestuous circle.

And when they need more money the government simply borrows more money from China or it takes it from you.

The GM bailout was not about GM, the company. It was about The UAW, which now has bigger stake (and thus more power) in the company and will be even harder to discipline.

The 15 workers identified in the video were suspended by Chrysler, but the Union is saying nothing.

The $30 Billion bailout that Congress had to interrupt their summer vacation for was for government teachers unions, nothing else.

Albany Police Officers Union President Chris Mesley says that, regardless of the faltering economy, a no-raise new contract is unacceptable.
And to hell with the public.
“I’m not running a popularity contest here,” Mesley said. “If I’m the bad guy to the average citizen . . . and their taxes have go up to cover my raise, I’m very sorry about that, but I have to look out for myself and my membership.”
Mesley added: “As the president of the local, I will not accept ‘zeroes.’ If that means . . . ticking off some taxpayers, then so be it.”

Here are some of the facts;
Public pensions have unfunded liability of $1 trillion to $3.5 trillion
Federal workers take home twice pay and benefits as private workers. Local and state workers also make more.
Total                      Pay           Benefits           Difference
Private                 $59,909      $50,028         $9,881
Local/state          $67,812      $52,051        $15,761
Federal               $119,982     $79,197        $40,785
– Average TWU (NY Transit Workers) union worker makes $60K without overtime or benefits.
– 25% took 15 or more sick days.  Average was 8 sick days.
– Fox average 3 sick days (same for men and women)
– No FOX employee took 15 days
Relative Danger of Jobs (Deaths per 100,000 workers)
– Fishing      128.9
–Logging     115.7
–Iron workers  46.4
–Farmers       39.5
–Firemen   3.8
–Transit workers 1.4
(Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, except Transit worker death, that is from interview with TWU Local100 President)
Some people argue that there’s no alternative to the government monopoly on municipal work, but Sandy Springs, Georgia, privatized most of it’s jobs in 2005.  Now the city pays about ½ of what it used to pay.  It enjoys a $14 million surplus, in addition to funding a $20 million reserve. (John Stossel)
And the Union bosses defense: They have a dirty job. People Spit on them! Boo Hoo! Women get Pregnant! (really, he said it repeatedly).
Though Statistics show that the deadliest profession is Deep Water Fishing (aka Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch”).
But you don’t seem getting these kinds of perks. They aren’t pimping or whoring for the government and vice versa like Union are.
That mean nothing to our Union Narcissist. He doesn’t care about fishing. It’s all about him and his own.
He’s entitled to retire at 50 with a pension you will never even dream of.

Compensation	A. State and Local	B. Private Sector	Ratio A/B
Total Compensation	$39.66	$27.42	1.45
Wages and salaries	$26.01	$19.39	1.34
Benefits	$13.65	$8.02	1.7
Paid Leave	$3.27	$1.85	1.77
Supplemental Pay	$0.34	$0.83	0.41
Health insurance	$4.34	$1.99	2.18
Defined benefit pension	$2.85	$0.41	6.95
Defined contribution pension	$0.31	$0.53	0.58
Other benefits	$2.53	$2.40	1.05

(redstate.com)
http://www.foxnewsinsider.com/2010/09/24/john-stossel-hosts-the-battle-for-the-future/
Whole Program  John Stossel “Battle for the Future”  in Six parts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7PGbZSs4xM
Then there’s The NEA, the National Teachers Association, a government union.
They are also incestuous.
John Stossel again:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXFVeATlCDo

Like the fact that, despite pouring ever more money into the schools these past 40 years, America has fallen behind dozens of industrialized countries in math and science.
And the fact that every day in this country, 7,000 kids drop out of high school.
And that at this rate, by the year 2020, there will be 123 million American jobs for highly skilled and highly paid workers, but only 50 million Americans will be qualified to fill them.

Because of their political sway, teachers, no matter how good, are almost never rewarded. And no matter how bad, they are almost never fired. Contract rules in New York City even keep unwanted teachers on the payroll for unlimited amounts of time when they’re not in the classroom at all.

Isn’t the NEA’s only recourse to say they need more money?
According to NEA-NH Insider the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (The Stimulus)…

…represents a huge win for education thanks to unprecedented funding increases targeted to local districts.  ARRA also included increases for Title I, stabilization funding, and school construction bonds. This adds up. The US Dept. of Education saw funding increase $159.4 billion – an increase of 169%.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has saved approximately 325,000 education related jobs nationwide. Dr. Christina Romer, head of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), stated that state stabilization funding to states has been “one of the triumphs” and has had “more bite than we would have thought.” Dr. Romer’s observation affirms the economic value to the nation of what was one of NEA’s major priorities in the stimulus package, and reinforces our argument in favor of continuing such aid through an Education Jobs Fund.

That’s “saved or created” for you…
And given the Incestuous circle of Taypayer-Government-Union-Lobbyist Contribution is it any wonder that pouring more money down this rathole isn’t working?

The National Education Association, the larger of the two national teachers unions, considered spending $3.5 million to create an ad campaign to counter “the media propaganda of this summer’s series of anti-teacher union documentaries,” according to an agenda from its July meeting.
In the end, union officials decided it wasn’t worth it, said John Wilson, executive director.
“I think the films are a blip. They will come and go, but the union will still be there, our members will still be in these schools,” he said. “We don’t see any advantage of going to war with documentarians.” (Sacramento Bee)

Well, when you’re f*cking the boss (aka government) and creating the next generation of people who will view themselves as entitled to the fruits of others and that government must save them from themselves it’s Orwellian incestual indoctrination at it’s best.
Is it any wonder that the Democrats #1 base supporters are their own whores, The Unions, and that they care more about them than you.
And if you want to intervene in their mutual incest-fest you’re an “extremist”, a “kook” a “loon” and have to be stomped on.

Narcissistic personality disorder symptoms may include:

• Believing that you’re better than others
• Fantasizing about power, success and attractiveness
• Exaggerating your achievements or talents
• Expecting constant praise and admiration
• Believing that you’re special and acting accordingly
• Failing to recognize other people’s emotions and feelings
• Expecting others to go along with your ideas and plans
• Taking advantage of others
• Expressing disdain for those you feel are inferior
• Being jealous of others
• Believing that others are jealous of you
• Trouble keeping healthy relationships
• Setting unrealistic goals
• Being easily hurt and rejected
• Having a fragile self-esteem
• Appearing as tough-minded or unemotional

Although some features of narcissistic personality disorder may seem like having confidence or strong self-esteem, it’s not the same. Narcissistic personality disorder crosses the border of healthy confidence and self-esteem into thinking so highly of yourself that you put yourself on a pedestal. In contrast, people who have healthy confidence and self-esteem don’t value themselves more than they value others.
When you have narcissistic personality disorder, you may come across as conceited, boastful or pretentious. You often monopolize conversations. You may belittle or look down on people you perceive as inferior. You may have a sense of entitlement. And when you don’t receive the special treatment to which you feel entitled, you may become very impatient or angry. You may insist on having “the best” of everything — the best car, athletic club, medical care or social circles, for instance.
But underneath all this behavior often lies a fragile self-esteem. You have trouble handling anything that may be perceived as criticism. You may have a sense of secret shame and humiliation. And in order to make yourself feel better, you may react with rage or contempt and efforts to belittle the other person to make yourself appear better. (Mayo Clinic)
Tell Me that doesn’t sound like your garden variety Liberal?
Go on…I dare you…
Part 2: The People and Unemployment

The Political Class

The frustration that voters are expressing in 2010 goes much deeper than specific policies. At a more fundamental level, voters just don’t believe politicians are interested in the opinions of ordinary Americans.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 68% believe the nation’s Political Class doesn’t “care what most Americans think.” Only 15% believe the Political Class is interested in the views of those they are supposed to serve. Another 17% are not sure.
Skepticism about the Political Class interest in voters is found across just about all demographic and partisan groups. However, self-identified liberals are evenly divided on the question.  Eighty-eight percent (88%) of conservatives and 64% of moderates reject the notion that the Political Class cares.
Adults over 40 are more skeptical than younger adults about the Political Class. But even among voters under 30, nearly half (47%) don’t think the Political Class cares what most Americans think. Only 18% of these younger voters think the Political Class does care, while 35% are not sure.(Rasmussen)

America’s Ruling Class — And the Perils of Revolution

By Angelo M. Codevilla from the July 2010 – August 2010 issue American Spectator
(Excerpts)

As over-leveraged investment houses began to fail in September 2008, the leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties, of major corporations, and opinion leaders stretching from the National Review magazine (and the Wall Street Journal) on the right to the Nation magazine on the left, agreed that spending some $700 billion to buy the investors’ “toxic assets” was the only alternative to the U.S. economy’s “systemic collapse.” In this, President George W. Bush and his would-be Republican successor John McCain agreed with the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama. Many, if not most, people around them also agreed upon the eventual commitment of some 10 trillion nonexistent dollars in ways unprecedented in America. They explained neither the difference between the assets’ nominal and real values, nor precisely why letting the market find the latter would collapse America. The public objected immediately, by margins of three or four to one.
When this majority discovered that virtually no one in a position of power in either party or with a national voice would take their objections seriously, that decisions about their money were being made in bipartisan backroom deals with interested parties, and that the laws on these matters were being voted by people who had not read them, the term “political class” came into use. Then, after those in power changed their plans from buying toxic assets to buying up equity in banks and major industries but refused to explain why, when they reasserted their right to decide ad hoc on these and so many other matters, supposing them to be beyond the general public’s understanding, the American people started referring to those in and around government as the “ruling class.” And in fact Republican and Democratic office holders and their retinues show a similar presumption to dominate and fewer differences in tastes, habits, opinions, and sources of income among one another than between both and the rest of the country. They think, look, and act as a class.
Although after the election of 2008 most Republican office holders argued against the Troubled Asset Relief Program, against the subsequent bailouts of the auto industry, against the several “stimulus” bills and further summary expansions of government power to benefit clients of government at the expense of ordinary citizens, the American people had every reason to believe that many Republican politicians were doing so simply by the logic of partisan opposition. After all, Republicans had been happy enough to approve of similar things under Republican administrations. Differences between Bushes, Clintons, and Obamas are of degree, not kind. Moreover, 2009-10 establishment Republicans sought only to modify the government’s agenda while showing eagerness to join the Democrats in new grand schemes, if only they were allowed to. Sen. Orrin Hatch continued dreaming of being Ted Kennedy, while Lindsey Graham set aside what is true or false about “global warming” for the sake of getting on the right side of history. No prominent Republican challenged the ruling class’s continued claim of superior insight, nor its denigration of the American people as irritable children who must learn their place. The Republican Party did not disparage the ruling class, because most of its officials are or would like to be part of it.
Never has there been so little diversity within America’s upper crust. Always, in America as elsewhere, some people have been wealthier and more powerful than others. But until our own time America’s upper crust was a mixture of people who had gained prominence in a variety of ways, who drew their money and status from different sources and were not predictably of one mind on any given matter. The Boston Brahmins, the New York financiers, the land barons of California, Texas, and Florida, the industrialists of Pittsburgh, the Southern aristocracy, and the hardscrabble politicians who made it big in Chicago or Memphis had little contact with one another. Few had much contact with government, and “bureaucrat” was a dirty word for all. So was “social engineering.” Nor had the schools and universities that formed yesterday’s upper crust imposed a single orthodoxy about the origins of man, about American history, and about how America should be governed. All that has changed.
Today’s ruling class, from Boston to San Diego, was formed by an educational system that exposed them to the same ideas and gave them remarkably uniform guidance, as well as tastes and habits. These amount to a social canon of judgments about good and evil, complete with secular sacred history, sins (against minorities and the environment), and saints. Using the right words and avoiding the wrong ones when referring to such matters — speaking the “in” language — serves as a badge of identity. Regardless of what business or profession they are in, their road up included government channels and government money because, as government has grown, its boundary with the rest of American life has become indistinct. Many began their careers in government and leveraged their way into the private sector. Some, e.g., Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, never held a non-government job. Hence whether formally in government, out of it, or halfway, America’s ruling class speaks the language and has the tastes, habits, and tools of bureaucrats. It rules uneasily over the majority of Americans not oriented to government.
The two classes have less in common culturally, dislike each other more, and embody ways of life more different from one another than did the 19th century’s Northerners and Southerners — nearly all of whom, as Lincoln reminded them, “prayed to the same God.” By contrast, while most Americans pray to the God “who created and doth sustain us,” our ruling class prays to itself as “saviors of the planet” and improvers of humanity. Our classes’ clash is over “whose country” America is, over what way of life will prevail, over who is to defer to whom about what. The gravity of such divisions points us, as it did Lincoln, to Mark’s Gospel: “if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”

The ruling class had sunk deep roots in America over decades before 2008. Machiavelli compares serious political diseases to the Aetolian fevers — easy to treat early on while they are difficult to discern, but virtually untreatable by the time they become obvious.
Its attitude is key to understanding our bipartisan ruling class. Its first tenet is that “we” are the best and brightest while the rest of Americans are retrograde, racist, and dysfunctional unless properly constrained.

When Woodrow Wilson in 1914 was asked “can’t you let anything alone?” he answered with, “I let everything alone that you can show me is not itself moving in the wrong direction, but I am not going to let those things alone that I see are going down-hill.”

Sound Familiar? It’s for your own good.  “I”  know better…

March 17,2010: President Barack Obama said he’s confident his health-care plan will pass Congress because it’s “the right thing to do” for the country and that he isn’t concerned about criticism of Democratic legislative tactics.

And anytime this President says he is putting aside politics (for any reason) I want to reach for the barf bag.
As the saying goes, they came to Washington to do good, and stayed to do well.
Confident “knowledge” that “some of us, the ones who matter,” have grasped truths that the common herd cannot, truths that direct us, truths the grasping of which entitles us to discount what the ruled say and to presume what they mean, made our Progressives (the worst form of Liberal Democrats) into a class long before they took power.
Our ruling class’s agenda is power for itself. While it stakes its claim through intellectual-moral pretense, it holds power by one of the oldest and most prosaic of means: patronage and promises thereof. Like left-wing parties always and everywhere, it is a “machine,” that is, based on providing tangible rewards to its members. Such parties often provide rank-and-file activists with modest livelihoods and enhance mightily the upper levels’ wealth. Because this is so, whatever else such parties might accomplish, they must feed the machine by transferring money or jobs or privileges — civic as well as economic — to the party’s clients, directly or indirectly.

Which is why before this blog on chat rooms during the 2006 Congressional and 2008 Presidential campaigns and the Democrats only real thought was to harp on Republican “corruption” I said repeatedly, they just want to replace the republican corruption with their corruption.
Switch out the cronies.
And that’s what we have. You have to be a minority and/or a union worker to get anything from this administration besides the back of their hand.
If you’re rich and successful, you are a demon, unless the government “deems” you useful or wants to take over your business that is.
Like Fannie and Freddie who were excluded from Financial Reform.
The Trial Lawyers were excluded from Health Care Reform.
Both are cronies of the government and the Trial Lawyers are the biggest cronies of Liberals.
As I said last week in a blog, the Liberals love to sue you into submission.

Rasmussen: “The American people don’t want to be governed from the left, the right or the center. The American people want to govern themselves,” says Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports. “The American attachment to self-governance runs deep. It is one of our nation’s cherished core values and an important part of our cultural DNA.”

But self-governed people are bad for the government busy bodies and their cronies who want to run your life for you because you’re an idiot and can’t do it for yourself.
They just know deep down, you’re a moron and they have to take care of you.
So Let Them Eat Cake!
Oh, sorry, Cake is politically incorrect because it has so much sugar in it and that’s bad for you.
So let them Eat Cookies.
Nope, not that either, cookies are the spawn of the devil  and lead to bad health habits…
So Let them Eat Tofu!
Without any help it’s flavorless, bland, or not very appetizing.
PERFECT!

Getting in Touch with Your Inner Banana

I will explain the title in due course.  So bear with me. there’s a bit of a set up needed.

Timothy “Tax Cheat” Geithner:  US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has told the BBC that the world “cannot depend as much on the US as it did in the past”.
He said that other major economies would have to grow more for the global economy to prosper.
We are now declare The United States Not to be a Super Power and a World Leader, so piss off!
Yes, that’s the demoralizing sound of the White House spreading more malaise.
Welcome to Carter Malaise II: The Intentional Sequel.
In other words, don’t expect the engine that has been the driver for the world economy for over a century to keep up the pace.
This fits with President Obama’s conviction that the U.S. is no more extraordinary than any other country.
We’re nothing special. We are just another country of many. Nothing to see here, move along…
Everyone is equal and no one is better than anyone else.

“I believe we must each start by setting out plans for getting our national finances under control,” New UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was tossed out this week BY HIS OWN LABOR PARTY.
He was replaced by his deputy Julia Gillard, who became the story of the day by becoming Australia’s first woman prime minister.
It was a bad fall for the man dubbed Australia’s Barack Obama.
Like the latter, the youthful Rudd initiated costly health care, home weatherization, entitlement, and global warming pork barrel projects. In the process, he blew out the Australian budget.
When the time came to pay the bill, he effectively committed political suicide by calling for a 40% tax on Aussie mining companies.
Those firms form the backbone of Australia’s dynamic economy, accounting for half of its exports. As Rudd imagined that it was he who kept Australia out of financial crisis, the reality was it was private firms like these that created the value and jobs for Australians.
When news of Rudd’s tax hikes suggested a bid to expropriate companies’ profits, the stock market took a beating.
To pay for his own bloated government programs, Rudd claimed — as his union supporters did — that he only wanted companies to pay their “fair share.” Unions themselves added to the fantasy by claiming these taxes would create jobs. Rudd echoed that, absurdly claiming the tax would be good for the economy.
“It is important to pay emphasis on the independent modeling of Treasury who’s put all the factors together and projects this industry will grow by 6.5% over five to 10 years,” Rudd told incredulous mining executives from BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue last May as stocks fell. “As a result of (this 40% tax) we will see a better and more dynamic mining industry in the future.” (IBD)


Beginning to sound familiar??
The Full on Socialist German State:
German leader Angela Merkel believes that the massive spending President Obama is advocating is not right for her country to undertake. Merkel, sounding and parroting the familiar refrain of Conservative Republicans, is a proponent, at this juncture, of curtailing spending and sees merit in the German engaging in more savings. President Obama on the hand wants the major economies like that of Germany (ranked number 4) to emulate the profligate spending him and the U.S. lawmakers – at least the Democrats – have contributed to the world money supply. President Obama also wants Germany to curtail its forays into exports and focus it fiscal policies on consumer spending so as to spur economic growth.
Chancellor Merkel may not be operating on her own accord concerning the fiscal policies that she is currently championing like any astute politician, Merkel may be listening to her people’s voice on this matter. Much of the German people did not support the bailout (110 billion Euros) provided for Greece and (750 billion for the European safety net).
This posture by the German people of disagreeing on their version of bailouts mirrors the angst felt by the Tea Partiers in America.
So the Socialists have had enough of full-on socialism, and what does Obama want?
Full on Socialism.
You have to wonder why European Socialists are worried about debt and spending and Obama is not.
Add in Timothy “We are no longer a Super Power” Geithner’s comments and you start to see where I’m going with this.
I hope.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has added his voice to the growing discussion about the United States’ recession spending spree.  In a response to President Obama’s call for further international recession spending, Schäuble stated “governments should not become addicted to borrowing as a quick fix to stimulate demand. Deficit spending cannot become a permanent state of affairs.”

As if there were any doubt about the United States’ spending addiction, Heritage budget expert Brian Riedl explains, “the annual federal budget deficit is projected to reach 8.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020—more than three times the historical average.”
This means that if the US wanted to balance the budget by 2020, one-third of all spending would need to be eliminated or taxes would need to increase by 50 percent.
The Congressional Budget Office has just released its assessment of the administration’s budget outlook. The numbers are shocking. Under the president’s policies the federal deficit will exceed $700bn (€520bn, £467bn) in every year over the next decade. The sea of red ink will more than double the national debt to more than $20,000bn. The upshot is that in 2020, the deficit is projected to be $1,200bn, of which more than $900bn is borrowing to pay interest on previous debt. It is a sorry state of affairs.

So Obama and The Democrats want Financial “reform”.
They want to punish Wall Street!  Those evil, corrupt Capitalist Bastards!
But just like the Health Care “reform” that was more about stealth tactics to eventually kill off the private industry and have you dependent on the government, this too is not about Finances and Wall Street and just another polarized Alinsky tactic.
The upshot: no downgrade in our status as a AAA  Credit nation until interest equals 14 per cent of revenues. (and when it is downgraded the cost of the 13+ Trillion dollar debt goes up!)

Let’s party ‘til 2014 because in the Obama administration budget, D-Day (Downgrade Day) is 2015 when the magic number reaches 14.8 per cent. Moreover, the plan is not merely to flirt with modest deterioration in creditworthiness. In 2020, the ratio reaches 20.1 per cent. The US is on track for a junk-bond bonanza.
Just after 2014 when all the Health Care taxes come into full force and by then private health plans will likely be near extinction.
Coincidence?
I think not.
It’s just another takeover, but in the 2000+ plus throw the frog in cold water and then boil him slowly to death kind of way these Democrats seem to prefer.
Hell, they don’t even READ their own damn bills!
And it’s brought to you by Barney Frank and the retiring Chris Dodd, the guys who created the Mortgage mess!!
So the fox is going to save the chickens in the chicken coop!
Some Highlights
The Power to Unwind:
The FDIC would have the authority to liquidate failing firms while the Treasury Department fronts the money to do so. There would also be a repayment plan so that taxpayers are guaranteed to get the money back (and where does the government get the money??? You’re looking at his computer!).
So if the government “deems” you failing, you get taken over and sold off.
Gee, that can’t be abused at all can it!
Financial Stability Oversight Council:
The council would monitor systemic risk across the entire financial system and make recommendations to the Federal Reserve to alleviate that risk. The ten-member council would include the heads of the federal financial agencies.
Corporate America’s Sith Overload. What do you bet they will be political appointees?
Just like the Oil Spill Investigation commission that has a bunch of left wing environmentalists and not one Engineer or Oil Businessperson!
They would never use any of those Chicago tactics on them, now would they…
The government also gets to decide what is a “financial” firm. Does GM, which makes loans, fall into that category? How about Wal-Mart, which issues its own credit cards?
In effect, this lets the government seize and dismantle the assets of almost any company — and then force others to pay for it.
Fannie/Freddie:
Republicans biggest beef with the whole bill is that it does nothing to address the problems, and sustainability, of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
For instance: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were in arguably at the heart of the financial crisis, and which have already cost U.S. taxpayers $146 billion (with hundreds of billions more on the way), aren’t addressed in this bill at all.
The major reason for the collapse in the first place gets ignored!
Wonder Why?
Oh, that’s right, it’s government owned, heavily in debt, and guaranteed to be bailed out! (by you of course!)
Just Like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security!
No problems there!
No Resolution Fund:
The House wanted to create a $150 billion fund to pay for any future bailouts. The fund would be paid for by the banks. This provision was gutted. Conferees agreed that this could only be created after a massive collapse. This is the fund that Republicans successfully painted as a permanent bailout fund when Democrats in the Senate tried to include a similar, but only $50 billion, fund.
And the Republicans were right. Can you say, slush fund!
Any bank that runs into trouble can still walk up to Uncle Sam’s borrowing window and, hand outstretched, ask for money. And if the bank is politically connected or very large, it will get it.
The bill also creates a new agency inside the Federal Reserve that will have extensive power over consumer lenders. Hold the applause, because likely new limits on checking account fees and interest on credit cards will mean less access to credit, not more.

So you have less credit available, you have new regulations and new taxes, an Oversight committe that can swoop in and shut you down, and Health care cost are going to skyrocket under ObamaCare.
Sounds like a great business climate to me. Sign me up.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has told the BBC that the world “cannot depend as much on the US as it did in the past”.
Because the Government is going to intentionally, “for your protection” get in the way of business even more now than before.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The economic recovery won’t be catching fire any time soon.
Businesses and governments are likely to reduce spending in the second half of the year. Consumers, who drive most economic growth, aren’t expected to take up the slack.
The Commerce Department said Friday that the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.7 percent in the first quarter, offering its third and final estimate for the period. It was slower than initially thought because consumers spent less and imports rose faster that previously calculated.
Economists anticipate even slower growth ahead as companies bring their stockpiles more in line with sales. Factory output has climbed this year. But it was driven more by businesses replenishing their warehouses after the recession and less by consumer demand.
“The economy is growing, but still at a disappointingly slow pace,” said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities. Take away businesses restocking their inventories and “you still have a lukewarm recovery,” he said.
Other factors could hold back growth. Federal government stimulus spending is expected to fade. The European debt crisis could slow U.S. exports and world trade. And state and local governments are likely to rein in spending and raise taxes as they struggle to close budget gaps.
“This is still the weakest and longest economic recovery in U.S. postwar history,” said Paul Dales, U.S. economist with Capital Economics.
High unemployment and tight credit have kept consumers from ramping up their spending as in past recoveries. The housing industry has played a big role after previous recessions. But this time it is slumping and subtracting from economic growth.
Most economists expect the unemployment rate, currently at 9.7 percent, to remain above 9 percent through the end of the year.
The economy has grown for three consecutive quarters after shrinking for four straight during the recession — the longest contraction since World War II.
And Stimulus III is on the way. After all, the previous ones were a roaring success!! So let’s do it again! and again! and again!!
Another part of the bill, and one that’s gotten little attention, makes changes to the amount of capital banks must keep to back up their loans. Banks eventually will be forced to raise more capital, or to reduce their lending. It also gives the government oversight over the $600 trillion derivatives market, without telling us what the rules will be. That, no doubt, will be left to bureaucrats. (IBD)

And they do a bang up job of it, always.

Add in that the Government has taken over Banks, Car Companies,Insurance Companies, and now wants to micromanage the financial sector.
So they want to decide who lives and who dies (Health Care)
Who is employed, by who whom and how that company operates. And if they don’t like it, they will swoop in “for your own protection” and save you from the evil capitalist exploiters.
Unions, especially Government Unions get special perks, deals and exemptions.
They are actively trying to destroy the Oil Industry (the moratorium) so they can take that over because “it’s too big and too important fail”. But if we help it fail, that’s ok.
Medicare and Medicaid  and Social Security are bankrupt. Fannie and Freddie are a bottomless pit.
The Congress wants an Internet “kill switch” for cyber-terrorists (terrorists being Right-wingers according to Homeland Security Secretary Napalitano last year)
Taxes are going up in 2011 by large amounts.
New taxes from ObamaCare start in 2011.
Unemployment may permanently be around 10% some economist are saying if everything remains as is.
50% of the people don’t even pay taxes.
The only sector of jobs that’s growing is the Public, government sector.
They want “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” aka Amnesty. And will not settle for less.
They are going to sue Arizona for wanting to protect itself.
That’s the Government’s job!
And if you don’t like the fact that they aren’t and don’t care to, tough bovine fecal matter!
We are the Power. Not You!
So they want to control your Energy, you Job, your Boss, your security, your Medical Care, Your Health, your retirement, and your how you make money.
So what does this all mean?
It means we have a President who willfully and with ideological malice wants to downgrade America to not only  ‘just another country’ but a banana 2nd or third tier one to boot. Nothing special.
What our country needs today is an inspirational leader, one who gets what makes the U.S. unique and who’ll boldly lead the nation out of its slide toward despair as he invites the world to climb with us.
What we have is a Banana Republic Dictator Wannabe.
He wants to throw the American People (the frog) in the cold water and boil them to death slowly.
To take over your life completely.
He want’s to “know whose ass to kick”.
Yours.
So he’s in touch with his Inner Banana (Dictator that is!).

The Constitution

Writing in Salon.com, Gabriel Winant (a very Leftist columnist) complains of conservatives’ “weird fetishism for the Constitution.” ‘Nuff said.
US Constitution, Article II, Section 1
Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
VP: I, (name), do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.
Well, so much for that…
Chinese proverb “May you live in interesting times.” (sometimes referred to as a curse).
“Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.” –Benjamin Franklin
The constitution includes language to imply an expectation for the government’s incapacity to indefinitely respect the inalienable rights of it people and establishes that the ultimate power for the government reside in the people and not a monarchy, president, or congress.   It should not surprise us that our politicians have done exactly what our founders expected them to; allow power to corrupt.  This, after all, is a human characteristic that has been fully recognized and suitably acknowledged for all of recorded human history.   It should surprise us that the very people whose rights have been infringed upon represent the specific group who has enabled these politicians, sworn to “preserve, protect and defend” the constitution, to iteratively abolish their rights.   Indeed, it is the less fortunate, struggling, and working man; attracted to the appeal of big government and frightened by the complexities of our every-changing society, that is most willing to sacrifice constitutional rights in exchange for hollow promises of greater  security.  Sadly, it is this group who would most benefit from the very constitutional rights they are convinced to sacrifice, with little in return.(Scott Mitchell)
The End justifies the Means.
The End is Absolute power.
And absolute power corrupts absolutely.
So it’s crunch time. 5 months to the election.
Gotta get it done now.
The candy store is being foreclosed on.
And We the People will be stuck with the bill.

The Power

In his victory speech, {Rand} Paul applauded the tea party movement and issued a stern warning to the political establishment: “I have a message, a message from the tea party, a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words: We’ve come to take our government back.”

“The tea party movement is about saving the country from a mountain of debt that is devouring our country and that I think could lead to chaos,” Paul said grimly, laying in to President Barack Obama for his participation in last year’s Copenhagen summit on global warming and accusing Obama of trying to “apologize for the industrial revolution.”

A political science professor in college taught me a very valuable lesson about politics.
It’s about power.
Not the money.
The money facilitates the power.
So the more money you have the more likely you’ll get the power you seek.
So you always need more power.
More power begets more money.
And more money begets more power.
But it is power that is the ultimate goal.
And the more power the better.
Which explains a lot about Liberalism and their need to control everyone and everything and make them do what they want, when they want, because they want.

And will explain the focus of the Liberal media last night as well.
Last night on MSDNC, for example, it was all about the PA special election for the late pork-king John Murtha’s seat.  The Democrat won that seat, by acting like a republican by the way, and thus they hold that seat.
That power was the most important thing to Mr “tingle up my leg” Chris Matthews and his array of liberal elite pundits.
That and the “establishment” Republican in KY lost to a “teabagger” (a liberal pejorative) which they consider a good thing because they believe they can beat him easier than the old line establishment candidate. So they were happy.
It was about advantage. Political advantage.
Meanwhile, over at MSDNC’s arch enemy, FOX, it was about the people. The people’s anger.
Arlene Specter, who was a Republican for 30 years but switched parties last year for sheer sake of re-election was soundly defeated by another Democrat because of that switch. His opponent beat him up with it.  Specter was supported from a far by the President.
His opponent sounded very “tea party” anti-establishment but that was just for the purpose of winning.
What will be interesting is that opponent now has to face the Republican in November, but he got here sounding like a Republican. So he’ll have to veer left now. Just like the President did in 2008.
So will that lead to his demise?
The dreaded flip-flop!
Time will tell.
Then  there was the race in Kentucky where Rand Paul, son of Ron Paul, a “tea party” Republican beat the establishment’s candidate.
Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas is in a run-off for the Democrat nomination because she wasn’t far left-enough but was also one of the key votes for Health Care.
MSDNC really didn’t care much about this one because they felt that neither Democrat was strong enough to win in November so it didn’t really mean anything to them.
The Liberals took no notice of Health Care’s unpopularity at all.

FOX focused on the message of the people.
MSDNC was focused on the power.
It couldn’t have been more stark if you tried.

“When [Republicans] were in charge, we doubled the deficit, and now with Democrats in charge, they’re tripling the deficit,” Paul said. “What the Tea Party says is there’s bipartisan blame to go around for the deficit and we have to do a better job.”–Rand Paul
Exactly. A Pox on both of your houses.
Now, let’s do something for the people. Not the political Elite.
Problem is, the Political Elite own the majority of the Media, The Congress, And The White House and they won’t go quietly, FROM EITHER PARTY.
Power is the drug, and boy are they addicted. Heavily addicted.
The White House is absolutely, positively correct that there is a divide between America and Washington – but what they fail to appreciate (or, more likely, they appreciate it but want to fake-out the press) is that Washington, D.C. now belongs to Barack Obama.
Just as the student radicals of the 1960s became the tenured faculty of the 2000s, so the worm has turned in the District of Columbia. The gates have been crashed and the one-time insurgents are now comfortably ensconced as the establishment. And with the health care bill, Mr. Obama and his band of former rebels have enacted an extremely unpopular law that they cannot possibly blame on the old guard (But boy they still believe it and try to sell it that way). George W. Bush may have “forced” Barack Obama’s hand on the stimulus, but Dubya had nary a thing to do with the health care bill.
This is why President Obama was wrong to equate the election of Scott Brown to his own victory, and why he’s wrong to push this story now. He is the ultimate insider now. That snappy “Hail to the Chief” he hears every time he walks into a room should be sign enough of this fact.
The White House likely knows this. They just don’t want us talking about how Obama can’t save a single high-profile candidate from a purple or blue state. They don’t want us to realize that his coattails have been torn and frayed by the choices he’s made in the last 17 months.
So focus on the race not the horses. The nags from “the people” and the Thoroughbred from “the establishment”.
The “teabagger” vs Washington Elites.
But in general elections, the dynamic will be very different. Republican challengers and incumbents will tar their Democratic opponents with a simple characterization: “A vote for my opponent is a vote for Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi’s agenda.” Democrats will have no such claim to make against Republicans.(RCP)

But the Liberal Media will come up with something, hopefully more convincing than “the party of no” because, guess what, We The People ARE the Party of NO.
NO more spending like drug addicts after a new high.
NO more government takeovers, bailouts, and patronage to cronies.
NO more government debt piles for the sake of piling.
The National Debt has gone up 3 Trillion Dollars in the 17 months of this administration!
It went up 5 Trillion in 8 years under Republicans.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!

On a lighter note: Rick Bayless, the Chicago superstar chef, (and winner of Top Chef Masters last year, The king of all Mexican food in America) was Twittering from the White House kitchen about today’s Obama White House state dinner honoring Mexican President Felipe Calderon and his wife, Margarita Zavala. Until the Tweets stopped. The White House kitchen is for cooking, not Tweeting.
The White House press operation wanted to downplay the glamor aspect of the state dinner; these are tough economic times. (Chicago Sun-Times)

And undoubtedly, at dinner, Obama will apologize for Arizona being unhappy with all the Mexican illegal immigrants, drug dealers, coyotes, mafia and gang wars going that the Mexican government practically throws at us.
After all, it disgraceful that we are upset about it.
And the same can be said for the political elite in Washington. They are annoyed that these uppity people want to spoil their power trips.
Well, I say it’s time to pull the plug and replace the light bulbs.
This election is too important for you not to care.

Cutting on the Bias

Any foodie would recognize the phrase, but this is not about food, it’s about The Mainstream Media.
The Fifth Column.
The Ministry of Truth.
The Mainstream Media.
The Ministry of Truth is involved with news media, entertainment, the fine arts and educational books. Its purpose is to rewrite history and change the facts to fit Party doctrine for propaganda effect. For example, if Big Brother makes a prediction that turns out to be wrong, the employees of the Ministry of Truth go back and rewrite the prediction so that any prediction Big Brother previously made is accurate. This is the “how” of the Ministry of Truth’s existence. Within the novel Orwell elaborates that the deeper reason for its existence is to maintain the illusion that the Party is absolute. It cannot ever seem to change its mind (if, for instance, they perform one of their constant changes regarding enemies during war) or make a mistake (firing an official or making a grossly misjudged supply prediction), for that would imply weakness and to maintain power the Party must seem eternally right and strong. (1984 by Orwell)

ABC,NBC,CBS,CNN,MSNBC, LA TIMES, NY Times, et al anyone?
And Today’s Ministry of Truth-Busting: Arizona and The Illegal Immigration Law

NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd seemed astonished by how a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll confirmed solid agreement with Arizona’s immigration enforcement law – “a whopping 64 percent support the law,” Todd marveled, “and we read them the law verbatim exactly as it’s been written” and still, he repeated, “64 percent approve of it.” NBC also treated as surprising the majority backing for racial profiling to prevent terrorism.
Whopping?
BTW: that similar to “Unexpectedly” when things don’t go the way the Liberals wanted it to. Like, unemployment UNEXPECTEDLY rose last month…
As noted above, Todd pointed out that on Arizona “we read them the law verbatim exactly as it’s been written.” Here’s that question, #34:

The Arizona law makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally. It requires local and state law enforcement officers to question people about their immigration status if they have reason to suspect a person is in the country illegally, making it a crime for them to lack registration documents. Do you support or oppose this law? (IF SUPPORT/OPPOSE, THEN ASK) And, do you strongly (support/oppose) or just somewhat (support/oppose) this law?

(46 percent “strongly support,” nearly double the 24 percent who “strongly oppose.”)
So even though they asked the question with an obvious bias they didn’t get the answer they wanted.
In fact, the statute requires a prerequisite lawful reason for stopping someone before the law enforcement officer can check their immigration status:
For any lawful stop, detention or arrest made by a law enforcement official or a law enforcement agency of this state or a law enforcement official or a law enforcement agency of a county, city, town or other political subdivision of this state in the enforcement of any other law or ordinance of a county, city or town or this state where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien and  is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person, except if the determination may hinder or obstruct an investigation.
Something the Ministry of Truth just completely forgets about. Call it a blind (Partisan) spot.
CBS and ABC promoted the cause of activists in the minority. Both devoted full stories to the “uproar” and “emotional civil war” over the law and moves by a few liberal local government bodies to enact boycotts, only getting late in their stories to those who like the law.
The Thursday night stories were pegged to a boycott vote by the Democratic city council of Los Angeles, but CBS’s Bill Whitaker and ABC’s Barbara Pinto both also played a three-day old clip of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger mocking Arizona and pointed to the cancellation of a trip to Arizona by a suburban Chicago high school’s girls basketball team – not to deride adults for using teens to grind a political axe, but to illustrate the supposed depth of opposition to Arizona’s law.
“The boycott of Arizona is spreading,” Katie Couric trumpeted before Whitaker touted: “The city of Los Angeles, the latest to react strongly to Arizona’s tough new anti-illegal immigration law.” He pushed how “a growing number of states and municipalities are boycotting or considering boycotting Arizona,” citing how “Highland Park High School in Chicago’s suburbs is pulling its champion girls’ basketball team from a tournament in Arizona because of the law.”

I saw an interview with the father of one of the girls and another one with 1 of the girls on the team, they don’t get it.
“What does the immigration law have to do with us going to play sports in Arizona?”
Using kids as political weapons is frankly disgusting, but that’s nothing knew to the “for the children” liberal crowd.
Cuing up Schwarzenegger, Whitaker insisted: “The state has become the butt of jokes.” Schwarzenegger, from Monday, on not traveling to Arizona: “But with my accent, I was worried they were going to deport me back to Austria.”(MRC)
One LA Councilman I saw on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 said he afraid to drive in Arizona now because they would just randomly stop him because of his looks and DEPORT him.
Deport Him? Where? L.A.?
Anderson Cooper ignored this and continued.
From April 23 to May 3, the top three television networks offered viewers 50 stories and interview segments on their morning and evening news programs. The tone was strongly hostile to the law and promotional to the “growing storm” of left-wing protesters: 37 stories (or 74 percent) were negative, 10 were neutral, and only three were positive toward the Arizona law’s passage — 12 negative stories for every one that leaned positive. Stories were much kinder and sympathetic to illegal aliens than they were to police officers. Cops were potential abusers of power. Entering the country illegally was not an abuse of power. It was portrayed as an honorable step by the powerless.
The soundbite count was also slanted, with 92 quotes against the law and only 52 in favor. The pro-law numbers, however, included many soundbites of Arizona public officials defending themselves against liberal charges that they were racists or in favor of racial profiling.
Opponents of the law didn’t even have to speak English to be quoted sympathetically. In a May 3 CBS Evening News story, Katie Couric fretted “many” illegals “no longer feel welcome.” Reporter Kelly Cobiella focused on the story of non-English-speaking Manuela Quintana, who decided to move to Colorado. Cobiella cued up the mother of ten to deny she was a criminal: “‘No,’ she says, ‘a criminal is someone who kills. I just want to work.’” Over video of the kids piling into an SUV, Cobiella concluded: “The family packed up before dawn today and headed north to Colorado. Manuela says she’s lost hope in this state. She thinks she’ll find it again in another.” (NewsBusters)
I guess they could find any of the Coyotes or other Smugglers for a comment…
ABC Good Morning America host Bill Weir chided Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a well-known enforcer of immigration law, “With this new law, will you ramp it up?…Will you grab people on street corners?”
No media bias there, kids…
While the harshest Tea Party activists were scorned by the networks for any suggestion President Obama was a “Nazi,” on 11 occasions these same networks unquestioningly forwarded smears that proponents of the Arizona law were like Nazis or Civil War-era slaveholders. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell used these slurs from liberal comedians to demonstrate how Arizona was becoming a “laughingstock.”
Violence was downplayed. Only one ABC story reported violence by the protesters (in a “mostly peaceful” protest), and only one CBS story mentioned vandalism (smearing refried-bean swastikas on the state capitol building). There were only two references to the murder of rancher Robert Krentz, and four to the shooting of a deputy in Pinal County, all four in larger celebrations of May Day marches.
Viewers would assume protesters were in the majority. ABC Saturday anchor David Muir touted May Day protests on World News. “Angry backlash from coast to coast. Huge rallies across this country tonight against that new controversial immigration law.”
The networks were very reluctant to note that the Arizona law was popular: only five stories mentioned that the protesters were on the losing side of public opinion, where almost 90 percent of those polled by CBS consider illegal immigration a serious problem. It’s a stunning contrast, then, that 74 percent of the stories channel the view of a tiny minority. (NB)

But they aren’t biased at all, just ask them…
And here’s the Kicker!
Sanctimonious Attorney General Eric Holder who has been making the round of the Liberal Talk show and in Press Conference has been decrying Arizona for the Law, BUT he admitted on camera Yesterday(!!!) THAT HE HASN’T EVEN READ IT!!!!
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2010/05/13/attorney-general-holder-admits-never-reading-arizonas-immigration-law
REPRESENTATIVE TED POE, (R-TEXAS): So Arizona, since the federal government totally fails to secure the border desperately then passed laws to protect its own people. The law is supported by 70 percent of the people in Arizona, 60 percent of all Americans, and 50 percent of all Hispanics according to the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll done just this week. And I understand that you may file a lawsuit against the law. Seems to me the Administration ought to be enforcing border security and immigration laws and not challenge them, and that the Administration is on the wrong side of the American people. Have you read the Arizona law?
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I have not had a chance to, I’ve glanced at it. I have not read it.
POE: It’s ten pages. It’s a lot shorter than the healthcare bill which was 2,000 pages long. I’ll give you my copy of it if you would like to have a copy. Even though you haven’t read the law, do you have an opinion as to whether it’s Constitutional?
HOLDER: I have not really, I have not been briefed yet.
CBS (apr 27th, 2010): Headline: Arizona’s New Law is Subject to Potential abuse, Attorney General Eric Holder Said Today
Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano were critical Tuesday of Arizona’s new law on immigration and Holder said the federal government may challenge it.
Napolitano said the new state law could siphon federal money and staff from hunting down dangerous immigrants.
Dear Janet,
You’d have to hunt them down to begin with first! You fraud!
And is over 2 weeks before Mr. Holder attempted he hadn’t EVEN READ IT!!
No Media bias here…
Holder’s response will even FURTHER amaze most Americans on both sides of the aisle:

HOLDER: Well, what I’ve said is that I’ve not made up my mind. I’ve only made, made the comments that I’ve made on the basis of things that I’ve been able to glean by reading newspaper accounts, obviously, looking at television, talking to people who are on the review panel, on the review team that are looking at the law. But I’ve not reached any conclusions as yet with regard to. I’ve just expressed concerns on the basis of what I’ve heard about the law. But I’m not in the position to say at this point, not having read the law, not having had the chance to interact with people doing the review, exactly what my position is.

Yep. The most powerful law enforcement official in our nation hasn’t bothered reading an important, sixteen-page bill that he and the Administration have been making negative comments about since it was passed weeks ago.
Instead, he’s relied on “newspaper accounts” and “looking at television” to establish his opinion.
You really can’t make this stuff up!
But The Ministry of Truth is hard at work do there very best to do just that and to do it convincingly.
1984 By George Orwell on the Ministry of Truth:
The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power.  Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from all the oligarchies of the past, in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites.
There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.
Just a “racist”, “Nazi” “bigot”…