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Latest Articles: Opinions/Editorials
The Blur Between Spending and Taxes
Post Date: 2010-11-21 23:24:37 by go65
5 Comments
SHOULD the government cut spending or raise taxes to deal with its long-term fiscal imbalance? As President Obama’s deficit commission rolls out its final report in the coming weeks, this issue will most likely divide the political right and left. But, in many ways, the question is the wrong one. The distinction between spending and taxation is often murky and sometimes meaningless. Enlarge This Image David G. Klein Imagine that there is some activity — say, snipe hunting — that members of Congress want to encourage. Senator Porkbelly proposes a government subsidy. “America needs more snipe hunters,” he says. “I propose that every time an American bags a ...
After John Tyner: A Five-Step Plan to a Sane Airport Security System
Post Date: 2010-11-20 11:25:26 by go65
14 Comments
In late October, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which handles airport security in the US, began offering passengers a choice: either submit to being imaged by the new, invasive, "backscatter" scanners, which show your genitals to the security officers manning the machine, or risk having your junk touched by those same officers. New regulations require that the TSA perform "enhanced pat-downs"—which some critics have described as "groping"—of anyone who declines the controversial full-body scan. If you decline both procedures, as Californian John Tyner did this week, you can be investigated and face fines up to $11,000. Although a ...
Pretty Good for Government Work (Warren Buffet)
Post Date: 2010-11-18 16:38:22 by go65
7 Comments
DEAR Uncle Sam, My mother told me to send thank-you notes promptly. I’ve been remiss. Let me remind you why I’m writing. Just over two years ago, in September 2008, our country faced an economic meltdown. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the pillars that supported our mortgage system, had been forced into conservatorship. Several of our largest commercial banks were teetering. One of Wall Street’s giant investment banks had gone bankrupt, and the remaining three were poised to follow. A.I.G., the world’s most famous insurer, was at death’s door. Many of our largest industrial companies, dependent on commercial paper financing that had disappeared, were weeks away from ...
TARP 'Most Successful U.S. Program Ever'
Post Date: 2010-11-18 14:11:15 by Brian S
4 Comments
The Troubled Asset Relief Program wasn't really a bank bailout after all, but instead was the "most successful government financial program ever," banking analyst Dick Bove said. In a research note, Bove noted that the controversial TARP saved the banking industry as well as the broader economy while generating a hefty return for taxpayers. Former President George W. Bush signed the $700 billion program into law on Oct. 3, 2008 as banks suffered a liquidity crisis brought on by the collapse of the subprime mortgage market. TARP recapitalized banks across the board -- even many that didn't need the extra money. Bove praised the program for restoring faith in the system ...
Ed Accuses Rush Limbaugh of Being a Racist
Post Date: 2010-11-18 07:28:37 by A K A Stone
1 Comments
Ed Schultz continues his war on Rush Limbaugh and once again labels him a "racist."
Last night Schultz had Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee on to call Limbaugh racist. Tonight, he brings Al Sharpton into the brawl.
"When you keep having all these racial tones that is supported by federal regulated radio -- just remember, the stations that he is on go to the federal government to get consolidation, to get waivers," Sharpton said.
"The government has the right to protect free speech, but they also have an obligation to hold standards where [the] American people are not subjected to this," Sharpton added. (emphasis mine)
Sharpton didn't stop at implying Limbaugh is somehow violating his ...
How GM IPO Proves the Tea Party Wrong
Post Date: 2010-11-17 15:56:02 by Brian S
5 Comments
What could have happened is that today, General Motors would be in the 15th month of its bankruptcy, no end in sight, with consumers shying away from its products and tens of thousands of automobile industry workers either laid off or despairing for their futures. Instead we have an IPO that is the talk of Wall Street, loans being repaid with stock sale proceeds, an auto company that makes money at the bottom of a cycle and new products that are widely applauded. So it's a simple call. The Tea Party and its predecessors, who eschewed federal loans to GM, simply got it wrong, failing to perceive that a "bailout" can just as easily be called an "investment." What we ...
Low-tax states will gain seats, high-tax states will lose them
Post Date: 2010-11-17 15:09:58 by WhiteSands
2 Comments
Migration from high-tax states to states with lower taxes and less government spending will dramatically alter the composition of future Congresses, according to a study by Americans for Tax Reform Eight states are projected to gain at least one congressional seat under reapportionment following the 2010 Census: Texas (four seats), Florida (two seats), Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington (one seat each). Their average top state personal income tax rate: 2.8 percent. By contrast, New York and Ohio are likely to lose two seats each, while Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania will be down one apiece. The average ...
The Freak Show: Time For The Republicans To Put Up Or Shut Up
Post Date: 2010-11-17 14:37:05 by Brian S
8 Comments
The midterm elections are over, and the Republican Party now controls the House of Representatives, and while they don’t control the Senate, they have enough of a presence to help dictate what legislation gets through. So let’s see if the so-called “party of no” will use their gains to try and get some of their ideas enacted. Both Senator elect Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey have pointed out that the Republican gains aren’t a mandate, but a choice by the people to give them a shot, and they are now, essentially, on probation. Gov. Christie put it very bluntly, saying that they need to now do what they didn’t do for the past ...
Tea Party's Anti-Earmark Crusade Gives More Power to President Obama
Post Date: 2010-11-17 13:13:29 by Brian S
3 Comments
Under strong pressure from tea party favorites Sens. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell this week changed his long-held position in favor of earmarks. Senate Republicans will now, it seems, follow their colleagues in the House and agree to a moratorium on requesting earmarks. Sometimes in life you need to be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. For backers of the tea party’s drive to end earmarks, this is one of those times. Tea party supporters often claim that they want a return to the constitutional system. But the U.S. Constitution created a separation of powers in which the Congress would have the power of the ...
The Paranoid Style of Anti-Islamism
Post Date: 2010-11-16 19:48:24 by Brian S
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This is a rather dated piece I wrote for consideration by the magazine last fall, but it remains very relevant, as I don’t think the apparent passing of the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy means that Anti-Islamism is going away any time soon. Indeed, among the freshman House Republicans will be Allen West, who gave an impassioned speech about Tours and Lepanto at an event sponsored by Frank Gaffney. Incidentally, for all my Catholic friends, there is a very simple answer to the question “Did Charles Martel ask why they hate us?” – Charles Martel would never have said that they hate us for our freedom. ***************** By now it should be ...
Not One Cent For Tribute: Obama's Embarrassing Gift To Israel
Post Date: 2010-11-16 19:37:00 by Brian S
2 Comments
A legendary story from our early history has it that Thomas Jefferson so hated John Jay that he ordered Pierre L'Enfant -- the civil engineer who designed our capital city -- to excise any reference to Jay (including "J Street") from his plans. The story is apocryphal, but the history behind it isn't. For Jefferson, Jay was an arch appeaser: his 1795 treaty with Britain provided concessions to a nation we had defeated in our revolution. Jefferson wasn't the only one who hated the treaty. While Jay's agreement was ratified by the Congress, he was burned in effigy by New York and Philadelphia mobs and the treaty so stained his reputation that he was never considered ...
RAHN: What caused the financial crisis
Post Date: 2010-11-16 11:18:36 by WhiteSands
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RAHN: What caused the financial crisis Expert points to government policy, not greedy bankers By Richard W. Rahn Was the great financial crisis caused by greedy and reckless bankers and Wall Street players or by a broad range of individuals, financial institutions and governments who became less risk-averse and prudent or by government housing policies that brought on the housing bubble and mismanaged the risks? The lame-duck Congress now in session is about to make some major decisions on spending and taxes - when all too many members still are operating on the idea that greedy bankers and Wall Street players, rather than government housing policies, are the problem. Without waiting ...
Pigs Fly as Washington Faces Up to Deficit Peril: Kevin Hassett
Post Date: 2010-11-15 10:15:53 by go65
3 Comments
Last week in Washington, beneath a flock of pigs flying south in a majestic V formation, the co- chairmen of President Barack Obama’s deficit commission released a plan that actually could solve the nation’s pending fiscal crisis.
At once radical and sensible, the plan establishes the two chairmen, Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Alan Simpson, as visionaries. If Obama wants to deliver the country from the malaise it finds itself in, he should heed the advice of his appointees.
Let’s be blunt about the problem at hand: The U.S. is on a path toward the kind of debt crisis that has roiled Greece. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that, based on current policy, the debt ...
TSA Encounter At SAN DIEGO (We may have our Rosa Parks- Videos)
Post Date: 2010-11-14 09:36:20 by Murron
12 Comments
TSA Encounter At SAN DIEGO (We may have our Rosa Parks) [These events took place roughly between 5:30 and 6:30 AM, November 13th in Terminal 2 of the San Diego International Airport. I'm writing this approximately 2 1/2 hours after the events transpired, and they are correct to the best of my recollection. I will admit to being particularly fuzzy on the exact order of events when dealing with the agents after getting my ticket refunded; however, all of the events described did occur. I had my phone recording audio and video of much of these events. It can be viewed below. Please spread this story as far and wide as possible. I will make no claims to copyright or otherwise.] This ...
Netanyahu Exploited His U.S. Trip To Embarrass Obama
Post Date: 2010-11-12 13:04:51 by Brian S
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trip to the United States this week damaged Israel diplomatically, undermined the country's relations with the U.S. administration and showed Netanyahu up again as a rejectionist who does nothing but look for excuses and delays to avoid making decisions. Netanyahu flew to the annual conference of the United Jewish Communities and the Jewish Federations of North America in New Orleans; from there he went on to New York. Strengthening ties with Diaspora Jewry is certainly a worthy cause, but Netanyahu took advantage of the stage he was given to embarrass the Obama administration. His public call on the Americans to create a "credible military ...
Barack Obama: The Most Anti-Israel President!
Post Date: 2010-11-12 13:03:13 by Brian S
5 Comments
With his remarks in Jakarta, Indonesia, President Obama made history once again. Sadly, it's a most unenviable title. I believe he is the most anti-Israel President in U.S. history. In going to Jakarta, Indonesia, to launch his latest attack, he literally went to the ends of the earth to give voice to his displeasure. He emphasized his opposition to the policies of the elected government of Israel. He used his Jakarta platform to complain about Israel building apartments for her growing population. Where? In Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. To make matters even worse, Jakarta is a city no Israeli is allowed to enter! The symbolism of saying what he said in the country and city where ...
Department of Defense Proposed Spending Cuts
Post Date: 2010-11-12 10:57:29 by go65
0 Comments
The Department of Defense will spend about $721 billion in fiscal 2011, of which $159 billion will be for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even aside from these expensive wars, the department's budget has almost doubled since fiscal 2001. The problem is that the Defense budget includes much more than just “defense” activities. The bloated spending stems from the many extraneous missions we impose on our military services aside from the basic requirement to defend Americans. The United States would be better off taking a wait-and-see approach to distant threats, while letting friendly nations bear more of the costs of their own defense. There will always be disorder in ...
Netanyahu's "Drop Dead" Is A Gift To Obama
Post Date: 2010-11-11 01:08:29 by Brian S
2 Comments
By M.J. Rosenberg - November 10, 2010, 7:07AM You have to hand it to Bibi Netanyahu. It took only a week following the Congressional election for him to come to the United States and tell it to drop dead. To his way of thinking he was just telling that to President Obama but that is not how it works here. By announcing a renewed settlement drive while in this country, rejecting a US policy that is decades old, Netanyahu is disrespecting this country, even more than its President. But that is not how Netanyahu sees it. Like his friends in the GOP, he does not view Obama as a legitimate President. On top of that, he is certain that Obama is finished and he can roll him. In any case, he ...
Rep. Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk: Reject the Welfare/Warfare State
Post Date: 2010-11-08 20:35:22 by Brian S
1 Comments
Last week’s midterm elections have been characterized as a victory for grassroots Americans who are fed up with Washington and the political status quo. In particular, the elections are being touted as a clear indicator that voters demand reductions in federal spending, deficits, and debt. If the new Congress hopes to live up to the expectations of Tea Party voters, however, it faces some daunting choices. For all the talk about pork and waste, the truth is that Congress cannot fix the budget and get our national debt under control by trimming fat and eliminating earmarks for “Bridges to Nowhere.” Real reductions in federal spending can be achieved only by getting to the ...
Mandate Challenge Could Prevail
Post Date: 2010-11-08 12:31:41 by go65
1 Comments
When 21 states and several private groups initiated lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the Obama health care law earlier this year, critics denounced the suits as frivolous political grandstanding. But it is increasingly clear that the plaintiffs have a serious case with a real chance of victory. The suits focus primarily on challenges to the new law's "individual mandate," which requires most American citizens to purchase a government-approved health insurance plan by 2014 or pay a fine. One of the cases was filed by 20 state governments and the National Federation of Independent Business in a federal court in Florida. Another was initiated by the Commonwealth of ...
The Decline Of A Superpower
Post Date: 2010-11-07 18:35:13 by Brian S
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America’s severe economic problems and a decline in its stature as the world’s only superpower can be traced to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. You can see the influence the pro-Israeli neocon cabal exercised on President George W. Bush and his Vice President Dick Cheney behind these disastrous wars. Great Britain’s three century-old colonial empires disintegrated after its war with the Nazis. America does not have overseas colonies but it instilled fear in its enemies and respect in its friends. Both are in the process of disappearing. The trillion-dollar wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have virtually forced American economy into a state of bankruptcy. People with no ...
Would we be better off under a President Hillary Clinton?
Post Date: 2010-11-07 18:28:52 by WhiteSands
3 Comments
By Dana Milbank Sunday, November 7, 2010 As I sat in the East Room last week watching a forlorn President Obama account for his shellacking, I listened with concern as he described the presidency as a "growth process" and suggested that the midterm setback was somehow inevitable. "You know, this is something that I think every president needs to go through," he said. It brought to mind Hillary Clinton's 3 a.m. phone-call ad from the 2008 campaign, and her withering criticism of Obama: "When there is a crisis . . . there's no time for speeches or on-the-job training." I wondered whether Democrats would be in the fix they're in if they had chosen a ...
Tea Party Radicalism Will Help Lay The Ground For 2012 Obama Victory
Post Date: 2010-11-07 18:16:12 by Brian S
5 Comments
Will US politics be transformed by the Tea Party movement , which thrashed President Obama’s Democrats in US mid-term Congressional elections just before his India visit? Absolutely not. The radical posturing of Tea Party stalwarts is mostly hypocritical mush. The movement started with spontaneous grassroots protests by local people across the country, protesting against higher taxes to fund ballooning fiscal deficits. This was not led or even anticipated by any politician, though many (notably Sarah Palin) climbed onto the bandwagon once the movement spread like wildfire. Many activists donned 18th century costumes in memory of the Boston Tea Party of 1773, a tax revolt against ...
Halliburton's Flawed Cement May Seal Criminal Fate
Post Date: 2010-11-05 12:32:04 by Brian S
4 Comments
Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Halliburton Co. probably meant no irony when it named its annual report last year, “Pushing Boundaries.” The company may be wishing it had more carefully observed certain boundaries as new evidence emerges of its role in the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. Take, for example, the line between legal conduct and crime. Halliburton may have crossed that border if it negligently sold faulty cement used in the construction of the Macondo well, which spewed 4.9 million barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico after an April 20 rig explosion that killed 11 workers. Last week a commission investigating the disaster reported that the Houston-based company had ...
You know who was a big loser in this election? George Soros.
Post Date: 2010-11-04 17:30:51 by WhiteSands
2 Comments
While Democrats went out of their way to portray the Koch brothers as evil billionaires puppeteering this election, I’d venture they feel pretty good about the outcome. However, after last night I’d venture that that George Soros is one unhappy Hungarian. Where the Kochs stood accused of funding some well-known grassroots political groups, Soros has been heavily invested in some pretty shady attempts at electioneering for Democrats. And fortunately, these efforts aren’t going very well. The first notable thing is Soros’ funding of the Secretary of State Project — which is basically an attempt to elect Secretaries of State around the country willing to impose ...
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