Here are 5 Reasons why they are right and the tax and spenders are out of line.
We examine the evidence on episodes of large stances in fiscal policy, both in cases of fiscal stimuli and in that of fiscal adjustments in OECD countries from 1970 to 2007. Fiscal stimuli based upon tax cuts are more likely to increase growth than those based upon spending increases. As for fiscal adjustments, those based upon spending cuts and no tax increases are more likely to reduce deficits and debt over GDP ratios than those based upon tax increases. In addition, adjustments on the spending side rather than on the tax side are less likely to create recessions.
The reason why this happens is pretty simple. If people get to keep more of their money they can spend it far more efficiently then some government bureaucrat can. They can hire new workers if they are entrepreneurs. Or they can spend more on products and in turn force companies to hire more workers to keep up with demand. They can pay down corrosive debt and thus have more money to spend in the future. There are a whole host of good things that come out of letting people and corporations keep more of their money. I can tell you that I can spend my money far better then even 100 bureaucrats any day.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Jews Turn on Obama in a Big Way
Well, I guess he shouldn't be shooting his mouth off about what parts of your capital city the Israeli's can build in. In any case this reversal is stunning.
According to a poll published this week by McClaughlin & Associates, 46 percent of Jewish voters would prefer someone else than Obama in the presidency, compared to 42 percent who would re-elect him. That’s only a meagre four percent separation, but that number is stunning considering Obama got 78 percent of the Jewish vote in November. That’s a difference of 32 percent between now and then. Has there been another voting block with that large a swing? There may have been, but I doubt it. Something is clearly going on here.
I think Jews are finally coming to the understanding that Obama and the Dems couldn't give a crap about Israel. They pay lip service to stopping an Iranian bomb but there are no concrete steps or even threats if the Iranians thumbs their nose at the process. They treated their head of state like a dictator from a Banana Republic. What worse outrageous will the White House think of next?
According to a poll published this week by McClaughlin & Associates, 46 percent of Jewish voters would prefer someone else than Obama in the presidency, compared to 42 percent who would re-elect him. That’s only a meagre four percent separation, but that number is stunning considering Obama got 78 percent of the Jewish vote in November. That’s a difference of 32 percent between now and then. Has there been another voting block with that large a swing? There may have been, but I doubt it. Something is clearly going on here.
I think Jews are finally coming to the understanding that Obama and the Dems couldn't give a crap about Israel. They pay lip service to stopping an Iranian bomb but there are no concrete steps or even threats if the Iranians thumbs their nose at the process. They treated their head of state like a dictator from a Banana Republic. What worse outrageous will the White House think of next?
Goldman Fraud Allegation Revolves Around Big Democrat Donor
Talk about stabbing your financiers in the back.
Campaign fundraising records show that John A. Paulson, founder and chairman of the hedge fund Paulson & Co., gave $30,400 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in June, qualifying him as a major Democratic donor.
He also gave $2,300 to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) reelection campaign in February of last year and $4,800 to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) last April, according to records filed at the Federal Election Commission.
I like Paulson because he was one of the few people that saw the real estate train wreck coming and instead of dodging it like I did he actually went short. He did it in some weird-assed hard to understand synthetic CDO something or other but still he was on the right side of the trade.
Now this goes to show that even if you give money to the Dems that is no protection from being a scapegoat to pin the financial mess on. The Dems want a scalp and Goldman Sachs and Paulson has those scalps.
Campaign fundraising records show that John A. Paulson, founder and chairman of the hedge fund Paulson & Co., gave $30,400 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in June, qualifying him as a major Democratic donor.
He also gave $2,300 to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) reelection campaign in February of last year and $4,800 to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) last April, according to records filed at the Federal Election Commission.
I like Paulson because he was one of the few people that saw the real estate train wreck coming and instead of dodging it like I did he actually went short. He did it in some weird-assed hard to understand synthetic CDO something or other but still he was on the right side of the trade.
Now this goes to show that even if you give money to the Dems that is no protection from being a scapegoat to pin the financial mess on. The Dems want a scalp and Goldman Sachs and Paulson has those scalps.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Obama Care Even More Widely Hated then Before
I think the sales job that Obama ran out there was just not enough. People just don't like the thing no matter how much the Dems tell them that it will be okay they will still hate it.
A new Associated Press-GfK poll finds Americans oppose the health care remake 50 percent to 39 percent. Before a divided Congress finally passed the bill and Obama signed it at a jubilant White House ceremony last month, public opinion was about evenly split. Another 10 percent of Americans say they are neutral.
Disapproval for Obama's handling of health care also increased from 46 percent before the bill passed to 52 percent currently — a level not seen since last summer's angry town hall meetings.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Dumpster Diving by Anti-Palin Students Might be Theft
It would be such a shame to go to be kicked out of your university when Palin Derangement Disorder causes you to commit actual crimes.
A California university president says a contract between a school foundation and Sarah Palin for an upcoming speech was stolen from a campus administrator's office last week.
A California university president says a contract between a school foundation and Sarah Palin for an upcoming speech was stolen from a campus administrator's office last week.
California State University, Stanislaus president Hamid Shirvani said Wednesday the five-page document was taken from a recycling bin inside the office of a vice president.
He has asked police in the Central Valley city of Turlock to investigate the matter.
So in other words it wasn't dumpster diving but sneaking into offices in order to find some dirt on Ms. Palin. What a bunch of dumb kids.
That White House Arrogance Strikes Again: This Time at NASA
You have to wonder about these people some time.
On Monday, 27 former astronauts and senior NASA officials — including Bush's NASA chief, Michael Griffin — wrote an open letter to the president, contending that canceling the moon program would cede American leadership in space technology.
I think "sophisticated strategy" is their bread-and-butter since some of these critics are *actual* rocket scientists. They should be able to pick up things tossed out of the White House pretty well after successfully flying a spacecraft to the Moon and back. Instead this guy says that the Obamanauts just didn't articulate things well enough to them like they were rubes or something.
No amount of salesmanship can get people behind a plan to outsource our space program to the Russians for $56 million per astronaut or to the guy that founded PayPal or the other guy that founded Amazon. I thought the White House was all about fighting evil corporations.
Instead they are going to outsource our space program to them because they can do it cheaper? Talk about a mixed message after just getting done damning Wall Street and Big Insurance. Maybe it is all just a big plan to let the Iranians catch up to us in the Space Race.
One problem with the Obama plan is that the White House botched the job of explaining the concept, said space scholar John Logsdon of George Washington University.
"It's absolutely crucial that Obama articulate a clear sense of what we're up to," he said. "It's hard because it's a relatively sophisticated strategy."
The people that are coming out against the plan are former astronauts!On Monday, 27 former astronauts and senior NASA officials — including Bush's NASA chief, Michael Griffin — wrote an open letter to the president, contending that canceling the moon program would cede American leadership in space technology.
I think "sophisticated strategy" is their bread-and-butter since some of these critics are *actual* rocket scientists. They should be able to pick up things tossed out of the White House pretty well after successfully flying a spacecraft to the Moon and back. Instead this guy says that the Obamanauts just didn't articulate things well enough to them like they were rubes or something.
No amount of salesmanship can get people behind a plan to outsource our space program to the Russians for $56 million per astronaut or to the guy that founded PayPal or the other guy that founded Amazon. I thought the White House was all about fighting evil corporations.
Instead they are going to outsource our space program to them because they can do it cheaper? Talk about a mixed message after just getting done damning Wall Street and Big Insurance. Maybe it is all just a big plan to let the Iranians catch up to us in the Space Race.
Holy Crap! Charles Djou Pulls Even in Hawaii Special Election
Now this has to be a stunner by any account.
But according to a more recent poll reported by Atlantic magazine, Case and Djou are now tied with 32 percent of the vote, with Hanabusa in third place at 27 percent. About nine percent of the respondents were undecided, Atlantic reported, citing a Democratic source who’d seen results of a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee poll.
This is a Democratic source too so this might be about as real a poll as you can find. I think the mainland Dems attacking him as protecting tax breaks for firms that send jobs overseas might have hurt them. They should have just sent their money to Case or Hanabusa and let them run an ad showing one of them interacting with local people or introducing their family instead.
From what I have seen, Hawaii doesn't like bare-knuckled Chicago-style politics. They like positive candidates that rarely sling mud or talk trash about their opponent. Also Hawaii certainly doesn't like having outsiders from the mainland slinging mud in their local politics at all.
Finally, handicapping this race for people that don't know about it is pretty easy. We have Case who is a pretty good guy as far as I can tell. In fact I voted for him once over the last machine politician they ran against him. However he is hated by the Democratic machine here in Hawaii. His cardinal sin was "not waiting his turn" and jumping the late Patsy Mink's husband in the "line of hereditary Democrat progression" that they have going on in Hawaii. The Dems here want him destroyed at any cost.
Then we have Hanabusa who is basically the Harry Truman of Hawaii. She would be the Congresswoman from Inouye and not the Congresswoman from Hawaii. She has the blessing from the establishment and no matter how weak a candidate she might be they are going to do everything that they can to get her into power. It doesn't help that she voted for a tiny pay cut right after voting for a 38.5% pay raise during the start of the recession when people were getting fired left and right.
So Djou might be able to swing this thing just because his two opponents might do everything that they can to destroy one another. The machine politician verses the hated political outsider that "doesn't know his place" for the Democratic nomination for Congress. There is certainly too much bad blood for everyone to play nice so that the GOP candidate doesn't win.
I am still shocked that Djou pulled even so quickly but I guess the people of Hawaii are just too fed up with the machine to send yet another one of their cogs back to the Congress. Well, I just might be sending money to the second politician in my life on April 21st.
But according to a more recent poll reported by Atlantic magazine, Case and Djou are now tied with 32 percent of the vote, with Hanabusa in third place at 27 percent. About nine percent of the respondents were undecided, Atlantic reported, citing a Democratic source who’d seen results of a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee poll.
This is a Democratic source too so this might be about as real a poll as you can find. I think the mainland Dems attacking him as protecting tax breaks for firms that send jobs overseas might have hurt them. They should have just sent their money to Case or Hanabusa and let them run an ad showing one of them interacting with local people or introducing their family instead.
From what I have seen, Hawaii doesn't like bare-knuckled Chicago-style politics. They like positive candidates that rarely sling mud or talk trash about their opponent. Also Hawaii certainly doesn't like having outsiders from the mainland slinging mud in their local politics at all.
Finally, handicapping this race for people that don't know about it is pretty easy. We have Case who is a pretty good guy as far as I can tell. In fact I voted for him once over the last machine politician they ran against him. However he is hated by the Democratic machine here in Hawaii. His cardinal sin was "not waiting his turn" and jumping the late Patsy Mink's husband in the "line of hereditary Democrat progression" that they have going on in Hawaii. The Dems here want him destroyed at any cost.
Then we have Hanabusa who is basically the Harry Truman of Hawaii. She would be the Congresswoman from Inouye and not the Congresswoman from Hawaii. She has the blessing from the establishment and no matter how weak a candidate she might be they are going to do everything that they can to get her into power. It doesn't help that she voted for a tiny pay cut right after voting for a 38.5% pay raise during the start of the recession when people were getting fired left and right.
So Djou might be able to swing this thing just because his two opponents might do everything that they can to destroy one another. The machine politician verses the hated political outsider that "doesn't know his place" for the Democratic nomination for Congress. There is certainly too much bad blood for everyone to play nice so that the GOP candidate doesn't win.
I am still shocked that Djou pulled even so quickly but I guess the people of Hawaii are just too fed up with the machine to send yet another one of their cogs back to the Congress. Well, I just might be sending money to the second politician in my life on April 21st.
New Hampshire Democrats to Bring the Racism to Tea Party Rallies
Well, I still think that the New Hampshire Democrats are actually closet racists and finally feel comfortable enough to show their true colors in a non-politically correct environment.
Former Democratic State Party Chairman Kathy Sullivan is heading up the search, the source said. Sullivan has been calling and e-mailing liberal activists trying to get them to attend tea parties in different parts of the state and hold signs denying the authenticity of President Barack Obama’s birth certificate and make racially disparaging comments to reporters.
“This is Kathy’s [Sullivan] project,” the source told NowHampshire.com. “She is absolutely obsessed with painting the tea party people as racists.”
These leftists will say it is a "false-flag attack" but they can finally show their true bigoted colors without the fear of reprisals from their less insane brethren. I mean you have to be a racist to carry a racist sign and say racially disparaging comments at an anti-Tax/Big Government rally.Uncle Scrooge is Right: Handling Money Brings you Pain Relief
I guess it is time for those with chronic pain to get large piles of coins and swim around in them like a porpoise, burrow through it like a gopher, and toss it in the air and let it hit you in the head.
Dumpster Diving For Palin Dirt
The lengths people are going to in order to smear Sarah Palin are just getting to be sad.
Brown's investigation was prompted, in part, by a group of CSU Stanislaus students who retrieved five pages of the contract from a campus trash bin last Friday after hearing administrators were engaged in shredding documents.
The contract detailed the former Alaska governor's requirements for her visit, including first-class flights from Anchorage to California — if she flies commercial. If not, "the private aircraft MUST BE a Lear 60 or larger ...," the contract specifies.
Yes, a bunch of "progressives" went dumpster diving in order to find parts of a contract so that they can slime Palin. It is just so pathetic how these people operate.Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Obama Bows to China: Literally!
Here is a picture of Obama prostrating himself before the Son of Heaven the Emperor of China. No wait that looks like Hu Jintao the Communist leader. I guess Obama needs to make like a grovelling subject with downcast eyes if he wants more Chinese money to pay for his crap.
Liberals to Bring the Racism to Tea Party Protests
Now this is actually pretty funny.
According to several “progressive” Web sites, local libs are organizing to do just that on the Common tomorrow. “Nitwit central is headed our way, Boston,” warns one left-wing site bemoaning the “hatred being generated” by Tea Party protests. The Web site is urging followers to make their own signs parroting the “extremism” liberals expect to find there. So if you see a wildly offensive racist sign in downtown Boston - thank a liberal!
There is nothing like fighting "hatred" with signs that show that you are even more of a bigot then who you are supposed to be fighting.
According to several “progressive” Web sites, local libs are organizing to do just that on the Common tomorrow. “Nitwit central is headed our way, Boston,” warns one left-wing site bemoaning the “hatred being generated” by Tea Party protests. The Web site is urging followers to make their own signs parroting the “extremism” liberals expect to find there. So if you see a wildly offensive racist sign in downtown Boston - thank a liberal!
There is nothing like fighting "hatred" with signs that show that you are even more of a bigot then who you are supposed to be fighting.
Liberal Scumbag Attempts to Paint Tea Party as Racists
I guess these false-flag attacks are what the leftists are reduced to in order to combat the Tea Party.
As you may suspect, crashtheteaparty.org was not created by a Republican or an independent, but instead by someone with a red-tinted sickle to grind. In this instance, the suspect appears to be a conspiratorial 36-year-old from the Pacific Northwest named Jason Levin. He started promoting the site on April 8 on his personal Twitter account, but failed to do an adequate job of covering up his personal information when he registered the domain five days earlier. He later attempted to cover his tracks, but the original information was quickly disseminated around the internet by those who wondered who was behind the group.
I think the Tea Party people just need to surround the leftist with their swastika flags and ridicule them. Maybe stand next to them with a sign that says "Stalinists Go Home", "Communism killed 100+ million people" or "Trotsky Loves This Guy."
The funny part is that now the Tea Party has a scapegoat to dump all of the handfull of crack-pots and nutjobs that are in their number. The can just say that the guy with the Obama=Hitler poster is just one of these Levin-goons and be done with it.
It is almost like this guy himself is a false-flag toward the Dems. The Tea Party can just say that the "racists and bigots" are just Dems posing as Tea-Partiers to discredit the movement. In fact you could even "punch back twice as hard" by saying that these people use their fake-Tea Party affiliation to show their true racist colors. Activists like Levin are actually closet racists that can finally show their true feelings when not surrounded by their PC brethren.
As you may suspect, crashtheteaparty.org was not created by a Republican or an independent, but instead by someone with a red-tinted sickle to grind. In this instance, the suspect appears to be a conspiratorial 36-year-old from the Pacific Northwest named Jason Levin. He started promoting the site on April 8 on his personal Twitter account, but failed to do an adequate job of covering up his personal information when he registered the domain five days earlier. He later attempted to cover his tracks, but the original information was quickly disseminated around the internet by those who wondered who was behind the group.
I think the Tea Party people just need to surround the leftist with their swastika flags and ridicule them. Maybe stand next to them with a sign that says "Stalinists Go Home", "Communism killed 100+ million people" or "Trotsky Loves This Guy."
The funny part is that now the Tea Party has a scapegoat to dump all of the handfull of crack-pots and nutjobs that are in their number. The can just say that the guy with the Obama=Hitler poster is just one of these Levin-goons and be done with it.
It is almost like this guy himself is a false-flag toward the Dems. The Tea Party can just say that the "racists and bigots" are just Dems posing as Tea-Partiers to discredit the movement. In fact you could even "punch back twice as hard" by saying that these people use their fake-Tea Party affiliation to show their true racist colors. Activists like Levin are actually closet racists that can finally show their true feelings when not surrounded by their PC brethren.
Kudlow Calls the Recovery V-Shaped
That sounds like a pretty good deal if you are long the market.
I’m aiming this thought especially at many of my conservative friends who seem to be trashing the improving economic outlook — largely, it would appear, to discredit the Obama administration.
I’m aiming this thought especially at many of my conservative friends who seem to be trashing the improving economic outlook — largely, it would appear, to discredit the Obama administration.
Don’t do it folks. It’s a mistake. The numbers are the numbers. And prosperity is a welcome development for a nation that has suffered mightily.
It might even be a good idea for the GOP to say something like "the TARP was hated by many but it saved the economy." That way Obama can't take any credit by saying that the failed stimulus did anything else other than drive up our deficit. He will still take credit for any GDP boom but at least the GOP will share it along with him.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Schumer Takes on Carry-On Charge
This is exactly why we send people to Congress. Schumer is actually pushing something that a vast majority of Americans can get behind:
Schumer urged US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in a letter Friday to repeal a regulation that may encourage such fees by exempting services not deemed "reasonably necessary" -- like providing in-flight snacks -- from taxes.
"Peanuts may not be reasonably necessary for air travel, but the ability to carry a bag onto a flight is," Schumer wrote, warning he would act if Treasury does not find a remedy "in the coming months."
I idea that you have to pay to take a carry-on on a flight is absolutely ludicrous and should be legislated away. I don't begrudge the airlines on making a profit but they don't have to nickle and dime every part of the plane trip. In any case I think if the bigger airlines did this they would face a mountain of complaints and would reverse course in short order.Friday, April 09, 2010
The Obama Doctrine
Let me get this down before someone more learned in these sorts of things has a chance to expound on it.
The Obama Doctrine:
Keep Your Enemies Close. And Your Friends? Screw em'! Who needs Friends I'm Obama Dammit"
*insert Photoshopped picture of Obama as Gumby from the old Saturday Night Live Skit"
The Obama Doctrine:
Keep Your Enemies Close. And Your Friends? Screw em'! Who needs Friends I'm Obama Dammit"
*insert Photoshopped picture of Obama as Gumby from the old Saturday Night Live Skit"
Palin Hits Back Against Obama at Southern Republican Leadership Conference
Now these are some fighting words.
And President Obama, with all that vast nuclear expertise he acquired as a community organizer, a part-time senator, and a candidate for president, has accomplished nothing to date with Iran or North Korea.
Actually it is less then nothing. If he maintained the status quo it would be great. Instead he let a huge opportunity to end the nuclear problem once and for all by ignoring the Green Revolution in Iran. Then he lets North Korea continue to test missiles whenever they need a bribe. Plus they are rebuilding their reactor so that they can make more nukes. This part must have gotten Obama to throw is "Daily Palin Briefing Sheet" on the floor:
And President Obama, with all that vast nuclear expertise he acquired as a community organizer, a part-time senator, and a candidate for president, has accomplished nothing to date with Iran or North Korea.
Actually it is less then nothing. If he maintained the status quo it would be great. Instead he let a huge opportunity to end the nuclear problem once and for all by ignoring the Green Revolution in Iran. Then he lets North Korea continue to test missiles whenever they need a bribe. Plus they are rebuilding their reactor so that they can make more nukes. This part must have gotten Obama to throw is "Daily Palin Briefing Sheet" on the floor:
Folks, someone needs to remind the President: Jerusalem is not a settlement. Israel is our friend. And the critical nuclear concerns of our time are North Korea, who has nuclear weapons, and Iran, who wants them.
So, 'yes we can' kowtow to our enemies and publicly criticize our allies.
Yes, we can. But someone ought to tell the President and the Left that just because we can doesn’t mean we should.
I'm sure Obama's response will be "I know you are but what am I." or maybe "A Dummy Says What." or something along those lines.New Jersey Teachers Union Hopes Governor Dies
If this sort of thing was written about Obama even in jest it would cause a national firestorm.
"Dear Lord this year you have taken away my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcett, my favorite singer, Michael Jackson, and my favorite salesman, Billy Mays. I just wanted to let you know that Chris Christie is my favorite governor."
Ha ha, they want the governor dead. Now that is funny stuff from the leftists on the Teachers Union. The funniest part is that they are negotiating with the Governor to stop their pay from getting cut. I guess that is from the Obama school of diplomacy. Treat the other party like a piece of crap and then demand concessions.
"Dear Lord this year you have taken away my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcett, my favorite singer, Michael Jackson, and my favorite salesman, Billy Mays. I just wanted to let you know that Chris Christie is my favorite governor."
Ha ha, they want the governor dead. Now that is funny stuff from the leftists on the Teachers Union. The funniest part is that they are negotiating with the Governor to stop their pay from getting cut. I guess that is from the Obama school of diplomacy. Treat the other party like a piece of crap and then demand concessions.
Congressman Alan Grayson is an Insane Person
Why is he showing up at a meeting of the Orange County Republican Executive Committee?
Linda O’Keefe, member of the Orange County Republican Executive Committee and extraordinary patriot volunteer with the Orlando Tea Party said, “I’m wondering if Grayson realizes that we do still, for now, have the right to assemble! But can’t we have a meeting without being interrupted by our congressman?”
Currently, there are 12 Republican candidates looking to send Alan Grayson to the unemployment line in November.
This guy needs to be removed from office at once. He has already portrayed himself as an unstable nutjob during the Health-Care debate. Now he barges into a local GOP party meeting for no good reason other then to make it harder for him to get reelected. All the guy running against him has to do is wear and "I'm with crazy" with an arrow pointing toward Grayson.Thursday, April 08, 2010
Obama Goes After Palin on Nuke Issue
I'll have to chalk these asinine attacks of critics as not living up to the office of the President. The President of the United States should not be getting into a debate with former governors no matter what. It either elevates the attacker or in this case debases the Presidency.
"I really have no response to that. The last I checked, Sarah Palin is not much of an expert on nuclear issues," Obama said in an interview with ABC News.
The last I checked you aren't an expert on nuclear issues as well Mr. President. You don't have to be an expert to know that telegraphic your punches doesn't help anyone. A simple "we will determine on a case-by-case basis whether the use of nuclear weapons is warranted." and be done with it. Instead it is "we will nuke you only if you use nukes first, everything else means you are safe."
Pressed further on Republican criticism that his strategy restricts the use of nuclear weapons too much, Obama added:
"What I would say to them is, is that if the secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff are comfortable with it, I'm probably going to take my advice from them and not from Sarah Palin."
Um, I'm sure Obama knows that these people work for him and either follows his lead or are forced to resign right? So their words are mostly parroting his words. In any case with Obama breaking so many deadlines and campaign promises his word isn't wort the paper it is written on.Barbie Goes Geek? Mattel Introduces Computer Engineer Barbie
Now this is a win for every one of those women toiling in the hard sciences and in programming.
The voting was open to anyone, and nobody could vote more than once. But by the end of the first week, a growing flood of adult votes for computer engineer Barbie trumped the popular choice. Female computer engineers who learned about the election launched a viral campaign on the Internet to get out the vote and ensure Barbie would join their ranks.
"Please help us in getting Barbie to get her Geek on!" came the appeal from the blog GeekGirlCamp.com.
This beat out the young girl vote that wanted an anchorwoman Barbie. All I know is the more women in the hard sciences and in computers the better things are. It is kind of cool that the two tech people on NCIS and Criminal Minds are both woman as well. Now they have Barbie as part of that group. I wonder if her Dream Car has a War-Driver setup in it?
Tea Party Gets Organized: Forms National Federation
Well at least this means that there will be one place where I can send my donation and see it go to work.
Memphis Tea Party founder Mark Skoda said recent media coverage had questioned whether the conservative tea parties, which number in the thousands nationwide, were too loosely organized to be politically effective in the national midterm election. He said the federation intends to convey a unified message about the tea party's brand of fiscal conservatism, which emphasizes limited government, less public spending and free markets.
He said the organization also hopes to rebut allegations about the movement: "Everything from calling the tea party members racist, that we are violent, that somehow we are fermenting another Kristallnacht. These accusations are indeed false and they won't stand."
I'm glad they can get someone out there to rebut some of this nonsense spewed at the Tea Party from scared leftists. Also their message of fiscal responsibility and the freedom from government interference will ring true no matter how it is spun. Americans are just tired of paying for some other guys mess and hopefully this group can get out that message.Obama's Anti-Israel Stance Bearing Bitter Fruit: Bibi out of Nuke Summit
Well, I guess this is the first push-back on the Obama Doctrine of piss off your friends for no good reason.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is skipping President Barack Obama's nuclear security summit next week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is skipping President Barack Obama's nuclear security summit next week.
An official with the Israeli government tells The Associated Press that a deputy prime minister will attend in Netanyahu's place. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
I think Israel should pull out of the thing all together. I mean why do they need to listen to a lecture about what part of their capital city they get to build in? Talk about a flip from the Bush era. I mean we had enemies and allies then but now suddenly our allies are bowing out of our summits while our enemies know that they can run all over us. Hope and Change baby!
Goldman is All For Financial Reform because it Reduces their Costs
I guess this is one way to make sure your counterparties don't go bankrupt. Let the US government do the risk analysis for you.
What [Goldman CEO Lloyd] Blankfein and Mr. Cohn are now saying is that their desire for higher capital requirements isn't related to concern about their ability to control Goldman's risk-taking ("Please, Mr. Government, supervise me more closely, allow me to borrow less money, and force me to take less risk"), but their ability to assess and judge the risks of their counterparties, the other firms they are doing deals with.
In other words if the SEC and the Treasury get more power and create more transparency then Goldman doesn't have to pay people to do that job. Then if there is another crisis they can blame the government for screwing up instead of their own counterparty risk guys.
That is quite a capitalist way of thinking about reform but all the table pounding by Obama about fat-cat bankers is for naught. The fat-cat bankers will be the ones helped the most from any reform. Like the article points out government reform almost always benefits big business in some way. Case in point the Biotech Industry being helped immensely by ObamaCare.
What [Goldman CEO Lloyd] Blankfein and Mr. Cohn are now saying is that their desire for higher capital requirements isn't related to concern about their ability to control Goldman's risk-taking ("Please, Mr. Government, supervise me more closely, allow me to borrow less money, and force me to take less risk"), but their ability to assess and judge the risks of their counterparties, the other firms they are doing deals with.
That is quite a capitalist way of thinking about reform but all the table pounding by Obama about fat-cat bankers is for naught. The fat-cat bankers will be the ones helped the most from any reform. Like the article points out government reform almost always benefits big business in some way. Case in point the Biotech Industry being helped immensely by ObamaCare.
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Is the IPad All Hype?
From reading this review I really think so now. This criticism is a strait-up show stopper as far as I am concerned.
The browser is limited
The iPad also uses the same limited Safari browser that's found on the iPhone. While much fuss has been made about the iPad's inability to play Flash video, there are other things it can't do as well. For example, Safari on iPad can't be used to create Google Documents, only to view them.
I would be using this thing mostly to browse the Internet quickly and easily. If I can't look at a Flash video of Marketwatch or something then it is strait-up worthless. Right now I paid slightly more for a netbook that has a full browser and that I can play any strategy game on. I can also listen to music and attach it to my TV with an HDMI port.
I think the only thing good about it right now is the "wow" factor that accompanies any new Apple Product. If I am in the market for an E-Reader (I barely read regular books let alone e-books so it will be a while yet) then I will stick with a Kindle and use my Netbook for my computing needs.
The browser is limited
The iPad also uses the same limited Safari browser that's found on the iPhone. While much fuss has been made about the iPad's inability to play Flash video, there are other things it can't do as well. For example, Safari on iPad can't be used to create Google Documents, only to view them.
I would be using this thing mostly to browse the Internet quickly and easily. If I can't look at a Flash video of Marketwatch or something then it is strait-up worthless. Right now I paid slightly more for a netbook that has a full browser and that I can play any strategy game on. I can also listen to music and attach it to my TV with an HDMI port.
I think the only thing good about it right now is the "wow" factor that accompanies any new Apple Product. If I am in the market for an E-Reader (I barely read regular books let alone e-books so it will be a while yet) then I will stick with a Kindle and use my Netbook for my computing needs.
Court Deals Terrible Blow to Net Neutrality
This ruling doesn't bode well for gamers or people that download large files off of the Internet.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the FCC lacks authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks. That was a big victory for Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable company, which had challenged the FCC's authority to impose such "network neutrality" obligations on broadband providers.
That means that Comcast or Time Warner can now put out more tiered plans or simply block certain packets traveling along their networks. Or if you are sending too many gaming packets they can throttle you and lag-out your connection unless you pay for a "gamers plan" or something similar.
All I can say is that the next stop needs to be the Supreme Court. There needs to be some sort of curb on the power these companies will soon have over information moving along the Internet. This is especially important now that cloud computing is starting to take off.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the FCC lacks authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks. That was a big victory for Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable company, which had challenged the FCC's authority to impose such "network neutrality" obligations on broadband providers.
That means that Comcast or Time Warner can now put out more tiered plans or simply block certain packets traveling along their networks. Or if you are sending too many gaming packets they can throttle you and lag-out your connection unless you pay for a "gamers plan" or something similar.
All I can say is that the next stop needs to be the Supreme Court. There needs to be some sort of curb on the power these companies will soon have over information moving along the Internet. This is especially important now that cloud computing is starting to take off.
Friday, April 02, 2010
The Germans Turn on Global Warming
Once you lose the Germans I think you lose the argument. This Der Spiegel article blows the doors off of this entire Global Warming mess for all Germans to read.
Der Spiegel would never have got away with this article four years ago. But then, in 2006, according to a poll, 62 per cent of Germans surveyed answered “Yes” to the question “Are you personally afraid of climate change.” In 2010 that figure has dropped to 42 per cent, which for those of you who haven’t done the math means that the majority of Germans are now not personally afraid of climate change.
Way to go, Germans! Gott Mitt Uns and all that. Stimmt. Genau.
I must suck to be long solar stocks now. I mean with Spain in a fiscal hole and the Germans changing their minds on global warming we might see a huge solar crunch on the way.Obama's Approval Rating Falls to 44%
Wow, he is becoming as hated as Bush faster then Bush did.
The latest CBS News Poll, conducted between March 29 and April 1, found Americans unhappier than ever with Mr. Obama's handling of health care - and still worried about the state of the economy.
President Obama's overall job approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 44 percent, down five points from late March, just before the health bill's passage in the House of Representatives. It's down 24 points since his all-time high last April. Forty-one percent of those polled said they disapproved of the president's performance.
This is a CBS News Poll which should firmly be in Obama's corner but it still shows hiss approval rating is at 44%. It might even drop lower if we don't get an employment turn-around. I still think if he fixed the jobs problem before he dealt with health care he would still be in the mid 60s right now. Instead he might have dealt a serious blow to his presidency.Obama Hits Back Against Beck and Rush
Can't this guy turn off Fox News for 5 minutes so that he can figure a way to lower the 9.7% unemployment?
Um Mr. President it happens when that economy is still not turning around in their eyes and you cheer in line numbers for unemployment. If you back out the temp jobs for the census then the report was fairly weak by some estimation. In other words unless you can find some ideas on how to create new jobs by watching Glenn Beck or listening to Rush Limbaugh then keep on doing it. If not then shut off the radio and turn off the TV and drop that unemployment rate.
Smith asked the president if he was "aware of the level of enmity that crosses the airwaves and that people have made part of their daily conversation about you." Obama replied, "When you've listened to Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck it's pretty apparent." The rancor is "troublesome," he said, but he acknowledged it's also a recurring phenomenon.
"Keep in mind that there have been periods in American history where this kind of - this kind of vitriol comes out," he said. "It happens often when you've got an economy that is making people more anxious and people are feeling that there's a lot of change that needs to take place. But that's not the vast majority of Americans."Um Mr. President it happens when that economy is still not turning around in their eyes and you cheer in line numbers for unemployment. If you back out the temp jobs for the census then the report was fairly weak by some estimation. In other words unless you can find some ideas on how to create new jobs by watching Glenn Beck or listening to Rush Limbaugh then keep on doing it. If not then shut off the radio and turn off the TV and drop that unemployment rate.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
The True Face of the Tea Party on Letterman
It isn't some spit-flecked KKKer but a retiree from Idaho.
They simply do not want to pay for some other guys mortgage and health care. They also want America to stop spending Red China's money like there is an endless supply of it. It is really a pretty simple message of "How do we pay for the next giant pile of spending coming our way?" They fear that piling up so much debt will hurt our country in future years.
In a quietly remarkable piece of television, David Letterman interviewed Tea Party member Pam Stout on last night’s Late Show. “I know nothin’ about the tea party,” Dave began, saying Stout had come to his attention after the 66 year-old Idaho woman had been featured prominently in a Feb. 15 New York Times story on the Tea Party movement.
Letterman invited her on to ask about the movement and whether it aimed to become a “third party.” She said, “I don’t think it will become a third party,” but that its voice “can be pretty devisive” in some elections, and that locally, she wanted the Tea Party to “take over the Republican Party… [and] go back to the old ideas.”
You add to this woman all the WW2 and Korea vets and families with small kids and you get a cross-section of the vast majority of the Tea Party. They aren't crazy and they don't want to secede from the Union or other nonsense. The aren't even the so-called angry white men for the most part with 55% of their number made up of women.They simply do not want to pay for some other guys mortgage and health care. They also want America to stop spending Red China's money like there is an endless supply of it. It is really a pretty simple message of "How do we pay for the next giant pile of spending coming our way?" They fear that piling up so much debt will hurt our country in future years.
Chris Dodd's Attempt to Kill Silicon Valley
This is one of the few places in America that we lead the entire world in and that idiot Dodd wants to kill it for some unfathomable reason.
First, Dodd’s bill would require startups raising funding to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and then wait 120 days for the SEC to review their filing. A second provision raises the wealth requirements for an “accredited investor” who can invest in startups — if the bill passes, investors would need assets of more than $2.3 million (up from $1 million) or income of more than $450,000 (up from $250,000). The third restriction removes the federal pre-emption allowing angel and venture financing in the United States to follow federal regulations, rather than face different rules between states.
Why do people have to wait 120 days in order to start raising funding? That doesn't make any sense. This is a highly competitive marketplace and having to wait 4 months to get money to expand your idea will kill it. These people have to hit the ground running and this asinine waiting period is totally contrary to it. These tech entrepreneurs make high paying jobs and hire many people in a few weeks and they should not have to wait for some bureaucrat to rubber stamp this process. That waiting period is an absolute joke.
I wonder if Chris Dodd actually knows anything about Silicon Valley and how it works? If he doesn't he better educate himself before he kills a font of jobs and innovation that has helped grow the entire world several times over. This fool cannot leave his Senate job any faster.
First, Dodd’s bill would require startups raising funding to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and then wait 120 days for the SEC to review their filing. A second provision raises the wealth requirements for an “accredited investor” who can invest in startups — if the bill passes, investors would need assets of more than $2.3 million (up from $1 million) or income of more than $450,000 (up from $250,000). The third restriction removes the federal pre-emption allowing angel and venture financing in the United States to follow federal regulations, rather than face different rules between states.
Why do people have to wait 120 days in order to start raising funding? That doesn't make any sense. This is a highly competitive marketplace and having to wait 4 months to get money to expand your idea will kill it. These people have to hit the ground running and this asinine waiting period is totally contrary to it. These tech entrepreneurs make high paying jobs and hire many people in a few weeks and they should not have to wait for some bureaucrat to rubber stamp this process. That waiting period is an absolute joke.
I wonder if Chris Dodd actually knows anything about Silicon Valley and how it works? If he doesn't he better educate himself before he kills a font of jobs and innovation that has helped grow the entire world several times over. This fool cannot leave his Senate job any faster.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Any Garcia Speaks Out Against Castro
It is a good thing that Cuban American actors are still fighting against Castro and his ilk. This passage is exactly why I think a shirt that has Che Guevara on it is the same thing as one having Stalin, Lavrentiy Beria or Mao on it.
I doubt Soderbergh or Stone or certainly the director’s wife ever spoke with Huber Matos, perhaps the most moving speaker at the Echo Park demonstration. In his nineties now, Matos was one of Fidel’s original comrades in the fight against Batista . But he made the mistake of voicing concern that the revolution was turning communist. For that, Che, in his typical fashion, wanted to put Matos in front of a firing squad (Al paredon!), but Fidel, not wanting to turn him into a martyr, intervened. Instead, the Caudillo incarcerated his former comrade for his views in the notorious prison at the Isle of Youth. There, Matos was tortured and had his cojones cut (quite literally) as he waited for twenty years to get out.
It would be interesting for a group of Anti-Castro Cubans to get red paint and throw it onto anyone wearing a Che shirt. It would server them right for supporting a confessed mass murderer and racist scumbag like Che.
I doubt Soderbergh or Stone or certainly the director’s wife ever spoke with Huber Matos, perhaps the most moving speaker at the Echo Park demonstration. In his nineties now, Matos was one of Fidel’s original comrades in the fight against Batista . But he made the mistake of voicing concern that the revolution was turning communist. For that, Che, in his typical fashion, wanted to put Matos in front of a firing squad (Al paredon!), but Fidel, not wanting to turn him into a martyr, intervened. Instead, the Caudillo incarcerated his former comrade for his views in the notorious prison at the Isle of Youth. There, Matos was tortured and had his cojones cut (quite literally) as he waited for twenty years to get out.
It would be interesting for a group of Anti-Castro Cubans to get red paint and throw it onto anyone wearing a Che shirt. It would server them right for supporting a confessed mass murderer and racist scumbag like Che.
Obama Says "Drill Baby Drill"
Well, at least he is finally embracing some GOP planks. Too bad they aren't off California but the far-left liberals will have his hide for that. In any case it is a start.
Speaking at Andrews air base outside Washington, Obama said, "This is not a decision that I've made lightly." He addressed the expected outcry from disappointed environmentalists by saying he had studied the issue for more than a year and concluded it was the right call given the nation's voracious thirst for energy and the need to produce jobs and keep American businesses competitive.
Now all he has to do is reverse the Carter era ban on recycling nuclear fuel and his energy policy will closely match mine. If the Russians raise a non-proliferation stink then just point to France and Japan since they recycle most of their fuel already without proliferation (France is a nuclear power also.) That alone will solve the entire Yucca Mountain problem and erase the "what do we do with the waste" problem with nuclear energy.
Speaking at Andrews air base outside Washington, Obama said, "This is not a decision that I've made lightly." He addressed the expected outcry from disappointed environmentalists by saying he had studied the issue for more than a year and concluded it was the right call given the nation's voracious thirst for energy and the need to produce jobs and keep American businesses competitive.
Now all he has to do is reverse the Carter era ban on recycling nuclear fuel and his energy policy will closely match mine. If the Russians raise a non-proliferation stink then just point to France and Japan since they recycle most of their fuel already without proliferation (France is a nuclear power also.) That alone will solve the entire Yucca Mountain problem and erase the "what do we do with the waste" problem with nuclear energy.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
ObamaCare Targets the Young
I hope they are enjoying their "HopenChange" because they forced to cough up more of it to cover the cost of ObamaCare.
Jim O'Connor, an actuary with the independent consulting firm Milliman Inc., came up with similar estimates of 10 percent to 30 percent increases for young males, averaging about 15 percent.
Jim O'Connor, an actuary with the independent consulting firm Milliman Inc., came up with similar estimates of 10 percent to 30 percent increases for young males, averaging about 15 percent.
"Young males will be hit the hardest," O'Connor says, because they have lower health care costs than young females and older people who go to doctors more often and use more medical services.
What is worse is that you have to pay that extra premium when it is already to find a job coming out of college or you will be forced to pay from $695 - $2,085 fine at tax time. I'm pretty sure that some kid living with his parents and looking for work cannot come up with $2K to pay the government. So he gets to go to jail for non-payment of taxes. I hope that makes them feel much better for voting for Obama.
Henry Waxman: Time for an Accounting 101 Course
It is sad to see when career politicians try to do anything resembling Finance.
Accounting basics: when a company experiences what accountants call "a material adverse impact" on its expected future earnings, and those changes affect an item that is already on the balance sheet, the company is required to record the negative impact--"to take the charge against earnings"--as soon as it knows that the change is reasonably likely to occur.
This makes good accounting sense. The asset on the balance sheet is now less valuable, so you should record a charge. Otherwise, you'd be misleading investors.
Accounting basics: when a company experiences what accountants call "a material adverse impact" on its expected future earnings, and those changes affect an item that is already on the balance sheet, the company is required to record the negative impact--"to take the charge against earnings"--as soon as it knows that the change is reasonably likely to occur.
The Democrats, however, seem to believe that Generally Accepted Accounting Principles are some sort of conspiracy against Obamacare, and all that is good and right in America.
Hell, I learned this stuff in Business Administration in High School. Maybe Waxman was asleep in this class or something. Companies need to take charges as soon as possible so they don't run afoul of the SEC or Sarbanes-Oxley problems. Didn't Waxman help draft that bill? Shouldn't this be common knowledge for the head of the "Commerce" Committee?
Hell, I learned this stuff in Business Administration in High School. Maybe Waxman was asleep in this class or something. Companies need to take charges as soon as possible so they don't run afoul of the SEC or Sarbanes-Oxley problems. Didn't Waxman help draft that bill? Shouldn't this be common knowledge for the head of the "Commerce" Committee?
Monday, March 29, 2010
Even Ed Koch is Blasting Obama on Israel
Well, it is good to know that even progressive Jews are coming to the realization that Obama is no friend (and is almost an enemy) of Israel.
It is unimaginable that the President would treat any of our NATO allies, large or small, in such a degrading fashion. That there are policy differences between the U.S. and the Netanyahu government is no excuse. Allies often disagree, but remain respectful.
However, Obama may have treated an Israeli head of state about as badly as you can treat anyone. The idea of leaving a meeting with a democratically elected leader of one of our most important allies so he can eat with his family is downright disgraceful. I would be willing to bet you that Assad or Almadinjoke would not have received even a 10th of this ill will. Jewish Democrats that care about Israel need to come out against Obama at once because if Iran gets the bomb (and they will under Obama) then all bets are off.
It is unimaginable that the President would treat any of our NATO allies, large or small, in such a degrading fashion. That there are policy differences between the U.S. and the Netanyahu government is no excuse. Allies often disagree, but remain respectful.
However, Obama may have treated an Israeli head of state about as badly as you can treat anyone. The idea of leaving a meeting with a democratically elected leader of one of our most important allies so he can eat with his family is downright disgraceful. I would be willing to bet you that Assad or Almadinjoke would not have received even a 10th of this ill will. Jewish Democrats that care about Israel need to come out against Obama at once because if Iran gets the bomb (and they will under Obama) then all bets are off.
The ObamaCare Wealth Destroyer
This is so laughable. Um, did anyone read these bills?
On top of AT&T's $1 billion, the writedown wave so far includes Deere & Co., $150 million; Caterpillar, $100 million; AK Steel, $31 million; 3M, $90 million; and Valero Energy, up to $20 million. Verizon has also warned its employees about its new higher health-care costs, and there will be many more in the coming days and weeks.
As Joe Biden might put it, this is a big, er, deal for shareholders and the economy. The consulting firm Towers Watson estimates that the total hit this year will reach nearly $14 billion, unless corporations cut retiree drug benefits when their labor contracts let them.
So of course the no-accounts that didn't read the bill or listen to the Chamber of Commerce 9or the American people) are going to raise a political ruckus.
Meanwhile, Henry Waxman and House Democrats announced yesterday that they will haul these companies in for an April 21 hearing because their judgment "appears to conflict with independent analyses, which show that the new law will expand coverage and bring down costs."
I guess they can a simply answer that they got dinged for their own generosity in providing their retiree's a drug benefit and now those same retirees will be unceremoniously dumped into Medicare. Now I wonder how AT&T will get that 1 billion back? Perhaps by laying off more workers?
Florida Dislikes ObamaCare
I don't think this is an isolated data point at all.
Only 34 percent of Florida voters support the new law while 54 percent are against it, according to the poll. Opposition is significantly strong among two crucial blocs: those older than 65 and voters with no party affiliation. Seniors disfavor the bill by a 65-25 percent margin, while independents oppose the law 62-34.
That senior number should scare the White House because they are a powerful voting block. They should be scared as well because Medicare will be slashed and Medicare Advantage will be decimated. People like Medicare Advantage and have paid for it for years now and ObamaCare eliminates it.
Only 34 percent of Florida voters support the new law while 54 percent are against it, according to the poll. Opposition is significantly strong among two crucial blocs: those older than 65 and voters with no party affiliation. Seniors disfavor the bill by a 65-25 percent margin, while independents oppose the law 62-34.
That senior number should scare the White House because they are a powerful voting block. They should be scared as well because Medicare will be slashed and Medicare Advantage will be decimated. People like Medicare Advantage and have paid for it for years now and ObamaCare eliminates it.
The Guy That Wanted to Kill Eric Cantor an Anti-Semite Obama Supporter
Wow, these crazy people on the left are starting to freak out.
Leboon’s video also makes reference to Cantor’s Judaism – Cantor last week said he has received anti-Semitic threats in the past.
“Remember Eric at our judgment time, the final Yom Kippur has been given,” according to a transcript of the video in the affidavit. “…You’re an abomination, you receive my bullets in your office, remember they will be placed in your heads. You and your children are Lucifer’s abomination.”
I like how this little tidbit was buried at the bottom of the story.
Leboon does not appear to be particularly politically active, but he does appear to have donated to President Barack Obama. On back-to-back days in June 2008, a man who called himself “Norman Leboon Sr” from Philadelphia gave $255 and $250 to Obama for America. The Democratic National Committee will donate $505 to charity if it was the same man that threatened Cantor. The DNC condemned the threats to Cantor and his family.
At least the DNC are stand up enough people to give this nutcases money to a charity. I meant with friends like these who needs enemies. I think the threats and craziness will get worse as people start to read into ObamaCare that much more.
Leboon does not appear to be particularly politically active, but he does appear to have donated to President Barack Obama. On back-to-back days in June 2008, a man who called himself “Norman Leboon Sr” from Philadelphia gave $255 and $250 to Obama for America. The Democratic National Committee will donate $505 to charity if it was the same man that threatened Cantor. The DNC condemned the threats to Cantor and his family.
Friday, March 26, 2010
New Obama Anti-Foreclosure Measures Probably Won't Work
Well, it looks like more of the same when it comes to keeping people in their underwater homes. This is the big reason why:
The temporary payment reductions only seem to last 3-6 months. Given the long-term unemployment problems we're now facing, I'm not sure how much this will help--and if it does help, it seems likely to assist only the least needy. In fairness, however, it at least keeps people with a brief job loss from racking up arrearages that send them into an otherwise unnecessary foreclosure.
All this does is push the foreclosure back by 3 -6 months and resets the late payment clock. It doesn't help anyone that bought too much house. Also there is a plan to reduce principal so that the FHA can buy the mortgage. That moves the loan from the banks books to the governments books.
After all this I would be willing to bet you that it will only be a few hundred dollars cheaper a month. The same default will still come to pass but just further into next year. It would be better for the government to simply buy the home for the face value of the loan and then take it off the market. That lowers the supply until demand has a chance to work back up. Keeping people in underwater homes who can barely afford the mortgage is a fools errand.
The temporary payment reductions only seem to last 3-6 months. Given the long-term unemployment problems we're now facing, I'm not sure how much this will help--and if it does help, it seems likely to assist only the least needy. In fairness, however, it at least keeps people with a brief job loss from racking up arrearages that send them into an otherwise unnecessary foreclosure.
All this does is push the foreclosure back by 3 -6 months and resets the late payment clock. It doesn't help anyone that bought too much house. Also there is a plan to reduce principal so that the FHA can buy the mortgage. That moves the loan from the banks books to the governments books.
After all this I would be willing to bet you that it will only be a few hundred dollars cheaper a month. The same default will still come to pass but just further into next year. It would be better for the government to simply buy the home for the face value of the loan and then take it off the market. That lowers the supply until demand has a chance to work back up. Keeping people in underwater homes who can barely afford the mortgage is a fools errand.
Obama Refuses to Eat with Netanyahu at Meeting
Now this is no way to treat a world leader that is supposed to be our ally.
Benjamin Netanyahu was left to stew in a White House meeting room for over an hour after President Barack Obama abruptly walked out of tense talks to have supper with his family, it emerged on Thursday. The snub marked a fresh low in US-Israeli relations and appeared designed to show Mr Netanyahu how low his stock had fallen in Washington after he refused to back down in a row over Jewish construction in east Jerusalem.
What would have been wrong about just sitting down and having a "working dinner" of a few sandwiches or something while they kept meeting? Instead Obama leaves a world leader to cool his jets for an hour while he has dinner with his family? That was an outrageous snub.
Netanyahu isn't the head of the 4H or something but the leader of a nuclear power that is our only ally in an area rife with our enemies. Treating him like some minor official has to be the worst foreign policy blunder that I have seen in a long time. I really hope it isn't some sort of deep seated anti-Israeli sentiment on the part of Obama. But the take away is surely Israel has no friend in the White House at least until 2012.
Benjamin Netanyahu was left to stew in a White House meeting room for over an hour after President Barack Obama abruptly walked out of tense talks to have supper with his family, it emerged on Thursday. The snub marked a fresh low in US-Israeli relations and appeared designed to show Mr Netanyahu how low his stock had fallen in Washington after he refused to back down in a row over Jewish construction in east Jerusalem.
What would have been wrong about just sitting down and having a "working dinner" of a few sandwiches or something while they kept meeting? Instead Obama leaves a world leader to cool his jets for an hour while he has dinner with his family? That was an outrageous snub.
Netanyahu isn't the head of the 4H or something but the leader of a nuclear power that is our only ally in an area rife with our enemies. Treating him like some minor official has to be the worst foreign policy blunder that I have seen in a long time. I really hope it isn't some sort of deep seated anti-Israeli sentiment on the part of Obama. But the take away is surely Israel has no friend in the White House at least until 2012.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Half of all Modified Mortgages Still Default
That seems par for the course to me.
The re-default rate of loans modified in the first quarter of 2009 was 51.5 percent by the end of the year, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision said in a joint report today. The figure, which measures payments at least 30 days late, climbed to 57.9 percent for changes made in the prior 12 months.
I mean most of the time when you modify a mortgage the monthly payment usually drops by a few hundred dollars. So if a person could not afford to pay $2,500 a month for a mortgage they probably can't pay $2,200 a month either. So it might have been a good idea for this person to rent a different home instead. Oh well, more money burned by the government.
The re-default rate of loans modified in the first quarter of 2009 was 51.5 percent by the end of the year, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision said in a joint report today. The figure, which measures payments at least 30 days late, climbed to 57.9 percent for changes made in the prior 12 months.
I mean most of the time when you modify a mortgage the monthly payment usually drops by a few hundred dollars. So if a person could not afford to pay $2,500 a month for a mortgage they probably can't pay $2,200 a month either. So it might have been a good idea for this person to rent a different home instead. Oh well, more money burned by the government.
55% of People Want to Get Rid of ObamaCare
I wonder if this will be the margin of victory that the GOP will have in November?
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, conducted on the first two nights after the president signed the bill, shows that 55% favor repealing the legislation. Forty-two percent (42%) oppose repeal. Those figures include 46% who Strongly Favor repeal and 35% who Strongly Oppose it.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, conducted on the first two nights after the president signed the bill, shows that 55% favor repealing the legislation. Forty-two percent (42%) oppose repeal. Those figures include 46% who Strongly Favor repeal and 35% who Strongly Oppose it.
Washington Post Columnist Threatens Bodily Harm on Tea Party Protestors
Wow, I though liberals were supposed to be all giving and nonviolent.
I know how the "tea party" people feel, the anger, venom and bile that many of them showed during the recent House vote on health-care reform. I know because I want to spit on them, take one of their "Obama Plan White Slavery" signs and knock every racist and homophobic tooth out of their Cro-Magnon heads.
I wonder which of the 80 year old grandmas or retired WW2 vets that seem to be the bulk of those showing up at these Tea Party rallies he wants to beat up? Maybe he will just pick one at random and take his sign and shout "now you are going to need that Medicare" as he beats them in the face. This guy isn't issuing threats for Daily KOS or one of the bomb-throwing blogs but for a national newspaper. This kind of violent speech should not be condoned and WaPo needs to issue an apology at once.
I know how the "tea party" people feel, the anger, venom and bile that many of them showed during the recent House vote on health-care reform. I know because I want to spit on them, take one of their "Obama Plan White Slavery" signs and knock every racist and homophobic tooth out of their Cro-Magnon heads.
I wonder which of the 80 year old grandmas or retired WW2 vets that seem to be the bulk of those showing up at these Tea Party rallies he wants to beat up? Maybe he will just pick one at random and take his sign and shout "now you are going to need that Medicare" as he beats them in the face. This guy isn't issuing threats for Daily KOS or one of the bomb-throwing blogs but for a national newspaper. This kind of violent speech should not be condoned and WaPo needs to issue an apology at once.
PBS's Jim Lehrer Needs to Take a History 101 Course
Well the MSM always seems to stick to the narrative instead of the facts when it comes to GOP votes.
JIM LEHRER, HOST: Senator, as you know -- much has been made of this -- that, through history, recent history in particular, Republicans have opposed things like Social Security, Medicare, even civil rights legislation, but then, once they lost, they took some deep breaths and moved on, and then finally ended up embracing many of these major changes in -- in laws and in the way we do business here.
Is that going to happen with health care reform?
SEN. JON KYL, (R-ARIZONA): Jim, could I argue a little with the premise of your question?
LEHRER: All right. OK. Sure.
KYL: The civil rights legislation was pushed by Republicans, as you will recall. It was the Southern Democrats who filibustered it, who fought against it.
All of those social change things that happened in the 20th century had fairly large bipartisan votes backing them. Only ObamaCare has been a strait party line ram-job. So the Dems own it 100% and they will certainly feel it come November.
Facebook Gives you Syphilis?
Now that is one powerful social networking site.
"There has been a fourfold increase in the number of syphilis cases detected with more young women being affected.
"I don't get the names of people affected, just figures, and I saw that several of the people had met sexual partners through these sites.
"Social networking sites are making it easier for people to meet up for casual sex."
In Teesside there were 30 recorded cases of syphilis last year, but the true figures are expected to be much higher.
Hmm, maybe these young British women need to think about practicing safe sex with their Facebook hookups (Hookbooks or Face-ups or even Hookfaces.)Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Does Obama Hate Israel?
It certainly seems that way from how he blew a "snub" of settlements in East Jerusalem that even took Netanyahu by surprise into a scary rift between the two allies. Now it looks like he damaged the peace process.
Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has adopted Obama’s original demand as his own: He’s saying he won’t begin even the indirect, “proximity” talks he previously agreed to until Israel accepts the Clinton terms on Jerusalem. How could he do otherwise? The Palestinian leader cannot be less pro-Palestinian than the White House. But Abbas cannot climb down from his position so easily -- which means that, for the second time in a year, the Middle East peace process has been stalled by a U.S.-engineered deadlock. U.S. and Israeli negotiators worked until 3 a.m. Wednesday in an attempt to come up with a formula that would allow the talks to go forward. They met again Wednesday morning. So far, no luck.
So Obama essentially tied Abbas's hands with his demand to "stop all settlements." Abbas certainly can't say East Jerusalem settlement activities are okay when Obama himself has said that all settlements must be stopped in order for the two sides to even sit down. That is a demand that Israel can't 100% back since most building in the Israeli parts of East Jerusalem seemed okay until now. Then he treats Netanyahu like a tin-pot dictator:
Finally, Obama has added more poison to a U.S.-Israeli relationship that already was at its lowest point in two decades. Tuesday night the White House refused to allow non-official photographers record the president’s meeting with Netanyahu; no statement was issued afterward.
Um, wouldn't if be a better idea to have had that joint press conference to say that you stand behind one of your only allies in the entire Middle East? Instead it seems like it was a calculated insult to get some "payback" for humiliating Biden.
I can see this behavior toward Iran but why Israel? Could it be that Obama subscribes to the Israel is the enemy and Palestinians are all blameless that infects the left? Maybe it is time for Jewish Americans to abandon the Democratic party because the Obama White House seems almost hostile to Israel and likes to treat their leader like he was a nobody.
Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has adopted Obama’s original demand as his own: He’s saying he won’t begin even the indirect, “proximity” talks he previously agreed to until Israel accepts the Clinton terms on Jerusalem. How could he do otherwise? The Palestinian leader cannot be less pro-Palestinian than the White House. But Abbas cannot climb down from his position so easily -- which means that, for the second time in a year, the Middle East peace process has been stalled by a U.S.-engineered deadlock. U.S. and Israeli negotiators worked until 3 a.m. Wednesday in an attempt to come up with a formula that would allow the talks to go forward. They met again Wednesday morning. So far, no luck.
So Obama essentially tied Abbas's hands with his demand to "stop all settlements." Abbas certainly can't say East Jerusalem settlement activities are okay when Obama himself has said that all settlements must be stopped in order for the two sides to even sit down. That is a demand that Israel can't 100% back since most building in the Israeli parts of East Jerusalem seemed okay until now. Then he treats Netanyahu like a tin-pot dictator:
Finally, Obama has added more poison to a U.S.-Israeli relationship that already was at its lowest point in two decades. Tuesday night the White House refused to allow non-official photographers record the president’s meeting with Netanyahu; no statement was issued afterward.
Um, wouldn't if be a better idea to have had that joint press conference to say that you stand behind one of your only allies in the entire Middle East? Instead it seems like it was a calculated insult to get some "payback" for humiliating Biden.
I can see this behavior toward Iran but why Israel? Could it be that Obama subscribes to the Israel is the enemy and Palestinians are all blameless that infects the left? Maybe it is time for Jewish Americans to abandon the Democratic party because the Obama White House seems almost hostile to Israel and likes to treat their leader like he was a nobody.
Monday, March 22, 2010
How to Make Money From ObamaCare
As any good investor I look at ObamaCare as a way to make some extra capital gains out of government largess. This article is a good starting point.
Long Certain Health Insurers:
There are restrictions but I'm sure United Health (UNH) will find some way to get around them. They might even tack on record premium increases before 2014 in order to "pay for the fixes."
However a company like Humana (HUM) that gets much of their income from selling Medicare Advantage plans will feel some pain in the short term. Look for companies that help roll out prescriptions and manage pharmacy services like Express Scripts (ESRX) and Medco (MHS) to go strait up as well. 31 million people might need quite a few more drugs.
Long Drug Makers and Really Long Biotechs:
Some people are saying that closing the "donut hole" in prescription drugs will be a 5% or better revenue gain for Big Pharma. Plus more people will see the doctor and thus get perscriptions for all sorts of things that they might have put off in the past. I can see the so-called "Death Panels" as prescribing more generics as well so a Teva (TEVA) will make a pile of money. However the big winner seems to be Biotech:
Obama's plan gives new biotech drugs 12 years of competition-free sales — a victory for the biotech industry. Consumer groups and the generic-drug industry had been pushing for exclusivity of seven years or less, saying it would bring down costs.
Suddenly, every Big Pharma firm will either start biotech arms (or pour billions of extra R&D funding into them if they are already in place.) Or they will simply purchase biotech companies.
The idea of cranking out a biotech drug and then getting 12 years of exclusivity sounds like a gold mine. Look for the Biotech industry to easily rival the size of current Big Pharma in the next several years. I can already foresee a Pfizer-Celgene Inc. (or some other Big Pharma/Big Biotech merger) coming down the line in the next few years.
Long Hospitals:
These stocks will be another big winner since many of them were held down by fear of uncertainty from what ObamaCare contained.
Hold Medical Devices:
Although they didn't cut a separate deal with Obama I have to disagree with this:
You might also need to buy a few more MRI or mammogram machines with all these new customers suddenly flooding your hospital. The threat of $2 billion a year of new taxes will be passed right along to the consumer so that should not be much of a threat at all.
Hey, if you are long the right stocks you might even be able to afford that new "Gold" plan from United Health that you have to buy from the Obama Health Care minimart.
I mean it is either that or join a prison gang when you are forced to go to jail if you don't pay the "most glorious fine imposed upon the wreckers and anti-Communist sympathizers who fail to purchase the most excellent and virtuous Health Insurance." (The Chinese provided this name as a part of their American ownership rights.)
Long Certain Health Insurers:
"It doesn't look like they're in the fight of their lives," said Les Funtleyder, an analyst with financial firm Miller Tabak. "If you remember the Clinton days, there was a 'Harry and Louise' ad on every couple of minutes. We're not seeing that anymore."
And stocks of insurance companies are way up over the past year — even beyond the gains in the broader market.
They don't look like they are in the fight of their lives because they have just gotten one of the the biggest kickbacks in the history of American business. No other industry has ever gotten a mandate for 31 million people to buy their product on pain of jail or fines. I'm sure some people will pay the fines but not enough to hurt their bottom line.There are restrictions but I'm sure United Health (UNH) will find some way to get around them. They might even tack on record premium increases before 2014 in order to "pay for the fixes."
However a company like Humana (HUM) that gets much of their income from selling Medicare Advantage plans will feel some pain in the short term. Look for companies that help roll out prescriptions and manage pharmacy services like Express Scripts (ESRX) and Medco (MHS) to go strait up as well. 31 million people might need quite a few more drugs.
Long Drug Makers and Really Long Biotechs:
Some people are saying that closing the "donut hole" in prescription drugs will be a 5% or better revenue gain for Big Pharma. Plus more people will see the doctor and thus get perscriptions for all sorts of things that they might have put off in the past. I can see the so-called "Death Panels" as prescribing more generics as well so a Teva (TEVA) will make a pile of money. However the big winner seems to be Biotech:
Obama's plan gives new biotech drugs 12 years of competition-free sales — a victory for the biotech industry. Consumer groups and the generic-drug industry had been pushing for exclusivity of seven years or less, saying it would bring down costs.
Suddenly, every Big Pharma firm will either start biotech arms (or pour billions of extra R&D funding into them if they are already in place.) Or they will simply purchase biotech companies.
The idea of cranking out a biotech drug and then getting 12 years of exclusivity sounds like a gold mine. Look for the Biotech industry to easily rival the size of current Big Pharma in the next several years. I can already foresee a Pfizer-Celgene Inc. (or some other Big Pharma/Big Biotech merger) coming down the line in the next few years.
Long Hospitals:
These stocks will be another big winner since many of them were held down by fear of uncertainty from what ObamaCare contained.
Increased insurance coverage will go a long way toward easing hospitals' financial pain.
With the expansion of Medicaid and a mandate to buy coverage, hospitals will erase most of their bad debt within five years, Mendelson said.
I can see these stocks going up as long as that Medicaid money starts flowing. The big loss-leader for hospitals seems to be people using the emergency rooms as a primary care physician or strait-up not paying for service. If the government pays so that these people can go to the hospital during office hours this will bring overall costs way down.
Plus, there is nothing like a government edict that forces 31 million more people to use your service. These newly insured might even overuse your service to the tune of future pricing power increases. Can you say "weekend appointment surcharge or hospital booking fee?" Jumping the line is a great way to increase your revenue.
They also cut a deal with Obama to keep Medicare cuts to less than $155 billion so this should settle the uncertainty that comes with how severe these cuts are going to be. It is $15.5 billion a year no matter what. That certainty puts a nice floor under these stocks. I have been looking at a few like: Community Health Systems (CYH,) Health Management Associates (HMA,) Lifepoint Hospitals (LPNT,) and Tenet Healthcare (THC)
One other intriguing stock in this space is Psychiatric Solutions (PSYS) which runs a number of inpatient behavioral health facilities and residential treatment centers. ObamaCare added this little tidbit:
Other provisions in the bill would require that insurance cover both rehabilitation and habilitation services in addition to providing mental health benefits.
In other words more cashola will go into the pockets of companies that run these behavioral health centers. It sucks to be forced to pay for some other guys mental problems or smoking cessation. But I will feel much better by being long a company that will benefit from this governments largess
Hold Medical Devices:
Although they didn't cut a separate deal with Obama I have to disagree with this:
Companies like Medtronic Inc. and Boston Scientific Corp. will face $20 billion in new taxes over the next 10 years, with little certainty they can make it up in new sales.
Analysts say hospitals may simply use medical scanners and other existing devices more often, without actually buying much more equipment.
Which would make sense but with more patients come more artificial knees and hips. By forcing insurance companies to take on people with preexisting conditions means more stents, and pacemakers for that 31 million more people joining the insured.You might also need to buy a few more MRI or mammogram machines with all these new customers suddenly flooding your hospital. The threat of $2 billion a year of new taxes will be passed right along to the consumer so that should not be much of a threat at all.
Hey, if you are long the right stocks you might even be able to afford that new "Gold" plan from United Health that you have to buy from the Obama Health Care minimart.
I mean it is either that or join a prison gang when you are forced to go to jail if you don't pay the "most glorious fine imposed upon the wreckers and anti-Communist sympathizers who fail to purchase the most excellent and virtuous Health Insurance." (The Chinese provided this name as a part of their American ownership rights.)
CNN Says Majority Disapprove of Obama
It took Bush years and two wars to drop below these levels. It only took Obama 1 year and one of the most hated pieces of legislation in decades to put him here.
According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Monday, 51 percent of respondents disapprove of Obama's job performance and 46 percent approve of it.
This is in a CNN poll (read biased more toward the liberal side.) I wonder what these numbers will be like when people finally start to find out about how bad ObamaCare will be.
According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Monday, 51 percent of respondents disapprove of Obama's job performance and 46 percent approve of it.
This is in a CNN poll (read biased more toward the liberal side.) I wonder what these numbers will be like when people finally start to find out about how bad ObamaCare will be.
What Our Health Care will Look like in 2014: Thanks Barack
Here are some photos from the "world class" socialized health care given out in France. Yup nothing like mold in the corner of the bathroom in the pediatric ward of a hospital. Blame it on "Hopenchange."
On this first picture you can witness the comfort of world class state provided healthcare. Now, my son is obviously too young to use the bathroom, but this room was in the pediatric service, where kids up to 14 years old actually resided while trying to recover. Notice the seatless toilet (great for kids!), the mold in the corner, the paint job… all a kid needs to ‘get well soon’ at a “world class” level.
ACORN Folds: But will probably return in some other form
It seems that a fake pimp and prostitute has just won one for the anti-corruption crowd.
The once mighty community activist group ACORN announced Monday it is folding amid falling revenues — six months after video footage emerged showing some of its workers giving tax tips to conservative activists posing as a pimp and prostitute.
The once mighty community activist group ACORN announced Monday it is folding amid falling revenues — six months after video footage emerged showing some of its workers giving tax tips to conservative activists posing as a pimp and prostitute.
"It's really declining revenue in the face of a series of attacks from partisan operatives and right-wing activists that have taken away our ability to raise the resources we need," ACORN spokesman Kevin Whelan said.
But I can see them coming back in another more subtle form in the coming years:
Several of its largest affiliates, including ACORN New York and ACORN California, broke away this year and changed their names in a bid to ditch the tarnished image of their parent organization and restore revenue that ran dry in the wake of the video scandal.
So they are still going on and helping people cover up their sex slavery businesses but with a new name and clean books. They will probably have the same people working for them as well. Well as long as people stay vigilant then it doesn't matter what form these vipers take.
Friday, March 19, 2010
An Immortal Jellyfish?
Now this is one weird-assed creature.
Since it is capable of cycling from a mature adult stage to an immature polyp stage and back again, there may be no natural limit to its life span. Scientists say the hydrozoan jellyfish is the only known animal that can repeatedly turn back the hands of time and revert to its polyp state (its first stage of life).
I wonder if we can cull the secret of immortality from these weird creatures. The look just like some kind of alien to me.
Since it is capable of cycling from a mature adult stage to an immature polyp stage and back again, there may be no natural limit to its life span. Scientists say the hydrozoan jellyfish is the only known animal that can repeatedly turn back the hands of time and revert to its polyp state (its first stage of life).
I wonder if we can cull the secret of immortality from these weird creatures. The look just like some kind of alien to me.
Nutty Environmentalists Cannot Refinance their Home Made from Tires
This is just hilarious. If they built their home out of standard building materials they would probably refinance it in no time. Instead the bank won't touch them.
The Hagars built their 2,700-square-foot house by stacking tire bales—five-foot-wide blocks of compressed tires—to form the exterior walls. They plugged gaps between the bales with cans, bottles, plastic plates, and other junk and moved in toward the end of 2008.
"We lovingly call it the trash house," Ms. Hagar says. The Hagars covered up all that trash with concrete, clay and stucco and installed south-facing windows to capture light, heat and views of the snowy slopes.
To pay for it, the Hagars in 2007 took out a $240,000 line of credit from Red Rocks Credit Union in suburban Denver. In the old days of easier credit, appraiser Lori Slota couldn't find another tire-bale home that had recently sold but said the house would be valued at $500,000 when complete, citing the listing of a straw-bale home as well as other houses in the area.
Who would pay $500K for a house made out of old tires? This is the exact thing people talk about when they say that environmentalists live in their own fantasy world.Desperation Time for Obama
I have to agree with this article saying that a defeat on ObamaCare would be a terrible blow to Obama's personal mythology and might just devastate him personally.
Should he squeak it out, Obama’s “victory” would come with a heavy price. Gone is the image of a policy sophisticate (try watching that Bret Baier interview a few times without wincing). Gone is the “moderate” moniker. And gone is the notion that he’d usher in a new era of less contentious and less corrupt politics. (It’s a new era, perhaps, but hardly a better one.) There is no mistaking now the depth of the campaign deception. The public has figured out what he is all about. And increasingly, they dislike what they see.
I have to agree with this as well. A "victory" would be Pyrrhic as well because he expended all of his goodwill and has antagonized a wide swath of the country. The kick-backs and dirty dealing in ObamaCare are staggering and the whole sordid business will see a lot of Dems out on their asses. At least he will get his "historic victory" but the cost is everything else he would have wanted to do as President.
Should he squeak it out, Obama’s “victory” would come with a heavy price. Gone is the image of a policy sophisticate (try watching that Bret Baier interview a few times without wincing). Gone is the “moderate” moniker. And gone is the notion that he’d usher in a new era of less contentious and less corrupt politics. (It’s a new era, perhaps, but hardly a better one.) There is no mistaking now the depth of the campaign deception. The public has figured out what he is all about. And increasingly, they dislike what they see.
I have to agree with this as well. A "victory" would be Pyrrhic as well because he expended all of his goodwill and has antagonized a wide swath of the country. The kick-backs and dirty dealing in ObamaCare are staggering and the whole sordid business will see a lot of Dems out on their asses. At least he will get his "historic victory" but the cost is everything else he would have wanted to do as President.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Wow Obama Says the "Fate of his Presidency" Hinges on ObamaCare
Now it sounds like he is just begging Congress to get this thing passed no matter what.
One caucus member told POLITICO that Obama won him over by “essentially [saying] that the fate of his presidency” hinged on this week’s health reform vote in the House. The member, who requested anonymity, likened Obama’s remarks to an earlier meeting with progressives when the president said a victory was necessary to keep him “strong” for the next three years of his term.
I am thinking just the opposite of Obama. If they started over from scratch and got a bipartisan bill that Americans actually supported it would be fuel in the tank for his Presidency. Instead they are going to use "Demon-Pass" or "Slaughter's Dictat" to sneak ObamaCare in thorough outright chicanery.
He will lose control of Congress and the GOP will fight him on everything they want to do. His only hope is to tack to the Center like Clinton did or he will be a lame duck for 2 years. I guess he figures this ObamaCare mess will be the only thing he will be known for so get it in any way possible including lying or losing your majority.
One caucus member told POLITICO that Obama won him over by “essentially [saying] that the fate of his presidency” hinged on this week’s health reform vote in the House. The member, who requested anonymity, likened Obama’s remarks to an earlier meeting with progressives when the president said a victory was necessary to keep him “strong” for the next three years of his term.
I am thinking just the opposite of Obama. If they started over from scratch and got a bipartisan bill that Americans actually supported it would be fuel in the tank for his Presidency. Instead they are going to use "Demon-Pass" or "Slaughter's Dictat" to sneak ObamaCare in thorough outright chicanery.
He will lose control of Congress and the GOP will fight him on everything they want to do. His only hope is to tack to the Center like Clinton did or he will be a lame duck for 2 years. I guess he figures this ObamaCare mess will be the only thing he will be known for so get it in any way possible including lying or losing your majority.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
GOP ObamaCare Whip Count: It's pretty close
I think this might come down to the very last minute.
From the Republican side, it's the second group that matters. Just like Democrats need 216 votes to pass the bill, Republicans and their Democratic allies need 216 to stop it. I just got off the phone with a well-placed House GOP source, and the Republicans' latest count is that there are 209 votes against the bill at this moment, leaving opponents seven short of being able to defeat it. By the same count, there are 204 votes for the bill, leaving the Democratic leadership 12 short of being able to pass it. There are 18 votes thought to be undecided.
That means just 7 Dems need to think about keeping their jobs instead of voting for a Kamikaze mission on the behest of Pelosi. I think voting to kill ObamaCare would be the best thing they will ever do in their time in Congress.
From the Republican side, it's the second group that matters. Just like Democrats need 216 votes to pass the bill, Republicans and their Democratic allies need 216 to stop it. I just got off the phone with a well-placed House GOP source, and the Republicans' latest count is that there are 209 votes against the bill at this moment, leaving opponents seven short of being able to defeat it. By the same count, there are 204 votes for the bill, leaving the Democratic leadership 12 short of being able to pass it. There are 18 votes thought to be undecided.
That means just 7 Dems need to think about keeping their jobs instead of voting for a Kamikaze mission on the behest of Pelosi. I think voting to kill ObamaCare would be the best thing they will ever do in their time in Congress.
Idaho The First State to Sue the Feds over Health Care Mandate
It certainly won't be the last as well.
Idaho took the lead in a growing, nationwide fight against health care overhaul Wednesday when its governor became the first to sign a measure requiring the state attorney general to sue the federal government if residents are forced to buy health insurance.
Idaho took the lead in a growing, nationwide fight against health care overhaul Wednesday when its governor became the first to sign a measure requiring the state attorney general to sue the federal government if residents are forced to buy health insurance.
Similar legislation is pending in 37 other states.
I'm, still not understanding how forcing 30 million more people to buy something that the President has railed against for months is "reform?" He keeps saying "those evil insurance companies" while giving them one the biggest windfalls in their history.
If Microsoft was able to get a mandate that forced all Americans to install Windows 7 on their machines there would be outcry from everyone in Washington. But when it happens to the insurance industry even staunch socialists like Kucinich are falling into line behind this corporate give away.
It's Official ObamaCare Will Raise your Health Care Premiums
I guess all that stuff about slowing the costs of health care was just so many big promises.
Obama asked his audience for a show of hands from people with employer-provided coverage, what most Americans have.
"Your employer, it's estimated, would see premiums fall by as much as 3,000 percent," said the president, "which means they could give you a raise."
A White House press spokesman later said the president misspoke; he had meant to say annual premiums would drop by $3,000.
Yeah 3000% or $3000 it doesn't matter when you are cramming a bill down the throat of the American people when they are 3 -1 opposed to it. The funny part is if Bush made this type of gaff then that would be the lead story. Instead you have to search for this in some AP fact check article.
"There's no question premiums are still going to keep going up," said Larry Levitt of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a research clearinghouse on the health care system. "There are pieces of reform that will hopefully keep them from going up as fast. But it would be miraculous if premiums actually went down relative to where they are today."
So what is the reason why they are rushing to pass this thing? It won't mean anything to the 70% of people that have insurance since they will see their premiums rise no matter what. I would be willing to bet you that if ObamaCare passes we will see 50% or more premium increases to make up for allowing anyone to buy insurance no matter what they have. Any way you slice this the insurance companies will make out like a bandit.Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Mike Tyson on Animal Planet?
Who knew that he was a Championship pigeon racer. His Animal Planet show will be about this little-known fact about the boxer.
"Mike Tyson and Animal Planet? They don't seem to go together, do they?" said Tyson. According to the N.Y. Post, the former heavyweight champ owns "a few hundred birds" at lofts in New Jersey and Brooklyn.
"Mike Tyson and Animal Planet? They don't seem to go together, do they?" said Tyson. According to the N.Y. Post, the former heavyweight champ owns "a few hundred birds" at lofts in New Jersey and Brooklyn.
He has been raising them since he was a kid so the show will be pretty interesting. As long as he doesn't punch an opposing pigeon racer I guess it will be an interesting show.
CONSOL Energy Makes Big Bet on Natural Gas
The market didn't like it and send the stock down 10% but this might be a good entry point according to this article.
Both coal and natural gas have seen some noteworthy price swings over the past couple of years, including a difficult period in which utilities switched from burning coal to temporarily cheaper natural gas. Over the long run, CONSOL's dual exposure will smooth out the peaks and valleys of such price volatility. Toss in CONSOL's recent success in exporting coking coal directly to China, and it's easy to see why CONSOL retains this Fool's uninterrupted nod as the top name for coal in the Appalachian region.
I agree with the idea of being a leader in both coal and natural gas will set them up for greater profits going forward. If both commodities start to head higher we might see that -10% made back up and maybe much more. This is especially true when interest rates go up and the dollar weakens. Having a diversified energy portfolio has never been a bad deal when one commodity or the other is down. If the dollar weakens then you might see both go up instead.
Another stock I have been looking at in the coal space is Arch Coal (ACI) basically for the pick up in demand for coking coal for steel mills. I think steel demand may start to go higher as the Red Chinese start to ramp up their economy again. Iron ore miners have already guided higher due to this demand and coking coal might not be far behind.
Spot market prices for iron ore have soared above $130 per tonne, spurred by strong demand from Chinese steelmakers and global strength in commodities markets.
Both coal and natural gas have seen some noteworthy price swings over the past couple of years, including a difficult period in which utilities switched from burning coal to temporarily cheaper natural gas. Over the long run, CONSOL's dual exposure will smooth out the peaks and valleys of such price volatility. Toss in CONSOL's recent success in exporting coking coal directly to China, and it's easy to see why CONSOL retains this Fool's uninterrupted nod as the top name for coal in the Appalachian region.
I agree with the idea of being a leader in both coal and natural gas will set them up for greater profits going forward. If both commodities start to head higher we might see that -10% made back up and maybe much more. This is especially true when interest rates go up and the dollar weakens. Having a diversified energy portfolio has never been a bad deal when one commodity or the other is down. If the dollar weakens then you might see both go up instead.
Another stock I have been looking at in the coal space is Arch Coal (ACI) basically for the pick up in demand for coking coal for steel mills. I think steel demand may start to go higher as the Red Chinese start to ramp up their economy again. Iron ore miners have already guided higher due to this demand and coking coal might not be far behind.
Spot market prices for iron ore have soared above $130 per tonne, spurred by strong demand from Chinese steelmakers and global strength in commodities markets.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Um, Israel You May Not Have a Friend in Obama
I think Israeli's might need to come the realization that Obama is no friend to their nation after all.
Netanyahu consulted Sunday with the forum of seven senior cabinet ministers over a list of demands that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made in a telephone conversation Friday.
Clinton harshly criticized the announcement last week of plans to expand the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood in East Jerusalem while U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Israel.
Yup, a list of demands after Netanyahu had already apologized for showing up Biden. The US seems openly hostile to Israel for the first time in years. I think Israel may need to come to the realization that the US will not help them as long as the Dems are in power. I think Iran can now play the nuclear game with a totally free hand. Only Israel has the potential to stop them now.
Netanyahu consulted Sunday with the forum of seven senior cabinet ministers over a list of demands that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made in a telephone conversation Friday.
Clinton harshly criticized the announcement last week of plans to expand the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood in East Jerusalem while U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Israel.
Yup, a list of demands after Netanyahu had already apologized for showing up Biden. The US seems openly hostile to Israel for the first time in years. I think Israel may need to come to the realization that the US will not help them as long as the Dems are in power. I think Iran can now play the nuclear game with a totally free hand. Only Israel has the potential to stop them now.
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