op ed review 7/10
THIS WEEK’S NEWS
President Obama’s own economists admit that jobs “added or saved” by the stimulus cost $278,000 per job.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-s-economists-stimulus-has-cost-278000-job_576014.html
The Department of Labor reported last week that a smaller share of 16-19 year-olds are working than at anytime since records began to be kept in 1948.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304447804576411903821123330.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
President Obama is extending full constitutional due-process rights to a Somali terrorist.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/6/obama-plays-hide-the-somali/
President Obama attempted to block the execution in Texas of a Mexican man convicted in 1994 of the grisly rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl in San Antonio. Few question that he was responsible for the killing but Texas authorities failed to tell the man, who was born in Mexico and has lived in the US since the age of two, that under the Vienna convention he was entitled to contact the Mexican consulate when he was arrested.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/05/obama-stop-texas-mexican-execution
Gov. Perry went ahead with the execution anyway. As the lethal injection began taking effect, the man shouted, "Viva Mexico!"
President Obama’s fundraising has kicked into high gear. He’s already held more than 30 fundraising events and has filmed at least one solicitation video in the White House. Never mind that unemployment is 9 percent and deficits exceed $1 trillion annually. The president’s reelection effort is flush with cash. No other incumbent president has begun his campaign so early or campaigned so intensely at this stage.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58332.html
Joe Biden Warns Teamsters: Vote Democrat or ‘You’re on Your Own, Jack’
http://michellemalkin.com/2011/07/02/biden-warns-teamsters-to-vote-dem-or-youre-on-your-own-jack/
A political advocacy group will spend $229,000 on Iowa television and internet advertisements over the next two weeks that target President Barack Obama. The “Wake Up” ad, couched in urging people to speak up about government spending and debt, is part of the conservative Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies summer-long $20 million effort.
http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/07/08/wake-up-ad-in-iowa-targets-obama/
By now, the word is probably spreading like wildfire on the country's Spanish language radio stations that cater to illegal immigrants. Get pregnant, or conceive a child with your spouse or significant other, and you likely won't be deported. Already have a child? Bring them here to America illegally. If you can prove you are the guardian of a minor, the government will likely take deportation off the table.
London held a tribute to Ronald Reagan, with the unveiling of a bronze statue outside the American embassy in Grosvenor Square. Former president Reagan will stand alongside FDR and Eisenhower. The $1 million statue is the latest in a number that have been unveiled across the world, celebrating 100 years since Reagan's birth and in recognition of his contribution to the fall of Communism in Europe. Indeed a quote attributed to Lady Thatcher that "Ronald Reagan won the Cold War without firing a shot" will be etched on the statue's plinth which will be displayed with a portion of the Berlin Wall.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43603512
“All three presidents stood with Britain in war; yet Reagan--the man rather than the statue--towers over the other two.”
The U.S. government has warned domestic and international airlines that some terrorists are considering surgically implanting explosives into humans to carry out attacks.
As the United States winds down its shuttle program in a symbolic twist in a long-running space rivalry, Russia will gain complete control of access to the International Space Station.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.929e9c254b0a78971b4b58b7a3749ac8.241&show_article=1
Families that celebrated the Fourth of July at Gasworks Park in Seattle might have noticed an airplane with a trailing banner that proclaimed "Atheism is Patriotic" and "God-LESS America." Washington was one of 26 states targeted for a holiday campaign.
http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=646&sid=507353
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THIS WEEK’S FEATURED COLUMN
Thomas Sowell, 5/31
One of the painfully revealing episodes in Barack Obama's book "Dreams From My Father" describes his early experience listening to a sermon by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Among the things said in that sermon was that "white folks' greed runs a world in need." Obama was literally moved to tears by that sermon.
This sermon may have been like a revelation to Barack Obama but its explanation of economic and other differences was among the oldest-- and most factually discredited-- explanations of such difference among all sorts of peoples in all sorts of places. Yet it is an explanation that has long been politically seductive, in countries around the world.
What could be more emotionally satisfying than seeing others who have done better in the world as the villains responsible for your not having done as well? It is the ideal political explanation, from the standpoint of mass appeal, whether or not it makes any sense otherwise……The idea that the rich have gotten rich by making the poor poor has been an ideological theme that has played well in Third World countries, to explain why they lag so far behind the West.
None of this was original with Jeremiah Wright. All he added was his own colorful gutter style of expressing it, which so captivated the man who is now President of the United States.
There is obviously something there with very deep emotional appeal. Moreover, because nothing is easier to find than sins among human beings, there will never be a lack of evil deeds to make that explanation seem plausible.
Because the Western culture has been ascendant in the world in recent centuries, the image of rich white people and poor non-white people has made a deep impression, whether in theories of racial superiority-- which were big among "progressives" in the early 20th century-- or in theories of exploitation among "progressives" later on.
In a wider view of history, however, it becomes clear that, for centuries before the European ascendancy, Europe lagged far behind China in many achievements. Since neither of them changed much genetically between those times and the later rise of Europe, it is hard to reconcile this role reversal with racial theories.
More important, the Chinese were not to blame for Europe's problems-- which would not be solved until the Europeans themselves finally got their own act together, instead of blaming others. If they had listened to people like Jeremiah Wright, Europe might still be in the Dark Ages……
False theories are not just an intellectual problem to be discussed around a seminar table in some ivy-covered building. When millions of people believe those theories, including people in high places, with the fate of nations in their hands, that is a serious and potentially disastrous fact of life.
Despite a carefully choreographed image of affability and cool, Barack Obama's decisions and appointments as President betray an alienation from the values and the people of this country that are too disturbing to be answered by showing his birth certificate.
Too many of his appointees exhibit a similar alienation, including Attorney General Eric Holder, under whom the Dept. of Justice could more accurately be described as the Dept. of Payback.
http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2011/05/31/seductive_beliefs/page/full/
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FROM OTHER COLUMNS
"As a result of lower tax rates on the top income earners, not only do they pay a much larger share of all taxes, but they pay much more taxes total -- and revenue to the government has increased. This is because lowering taxes on the rich creates more rich people and richer rich people. The federal government gets much more revenue if you impose a 40 percent tax on a large number of very wealthy millionaires than if you impose a 70 percent tax on a small number of less wealthy millionaires."
-Mario Loyola
"What's left of that founding vision on this less than Glorious Fourth of July 2011 in the Brokest Nation in History? 'You go talk to your constituents,' President Obama taunted Republicans on Wednesday, 'and ask them are they willing to compromise their kids' safety so that some corporate jet owner continues to get a tax break?' In the Republic of Brokistan, that's the choice, is it? Give me safe kids or give me corporate jets! No corporate aviation without safe kiddification!"
-Mark Steyn
"President Obama told the country Wednesday that his two daughters Sasha and Malia are more diligent than Congress. He got their ages wrong while praising them. For one reason or another the accuracy of birth information is always a problem with this particular president."
-Argus Hamilton
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BOOKS, FILM
“Saving the Bill of Rights: Exposing the Left's Campaign to Destroy American Exceptionalism” by Frank Miniter. Says Wayne LaPierre, “True appreciation for freedom’s value requires recognition of its fragility. Saving the Bill of Rights deserves a place in every American home, classroom, and courthouse.” Says David Horowitz, “Frank Miniter’s superbly written and cogently argued book should be read by all Americans who value their freedoms, which are rapidly being taken away.”
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GLOBALONEY
Two years ago, U.N. researchers were claiming that it would cost “as much as $600 billion a year over the next decade” to go green. Now, a new U.N. report has more than tripled that number to $1.9 trillion per year for 40 years. That works out to a grand total of $76 trillion, over 40 years -- or more than five times the entire Gross Domestic Product of the United States ($14.66 trillion a year). It’s all part of a “technological overhaul” “on the scale of the first industrial revolution” called for in the annual report. Except that the U.N. will apparently control this next industrial revolution.
“As the Fourth of July weekend kicks off, people across the West are donning shorts, bikini tops and Hawaiian shirts — and then they’re hitting the slopes. Ski resorts from California to Colorado opened for the weekend to take advantage of dense lingering snow.”
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NEWS FROM THE ISLAMIC WORLD
Iran hosted an anti-terrorism conference in Tehran. That's right. The world's leading state sponsor of terrorism simply stole our language and held a conference that professed to oppose terrorism. Under the Iranian definition of that term, the United States and Israel are the primary supporters of terrorism in the world. The U.S. and Israel were singled out as “satanic world powers” with a “black record of terrorist behaviors.” This should have been the subject of scorn and ridicule from the “international community.” But senior officials from at least 60 countries attended and U.N. secretary general Ban Ki-moon delivered a message via special envoy expressing his appreciation to Tehran. Apparently he was not bothered by the fact that Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court, was among those attending. Don’t worry: American taxpayer support for the U.N. is not in jeopardy.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/270812/self-deception-and-jihad-clifford-d-may?page=2
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LEFTIST WATCH
A new study from Harvard University warns Democrats not to let their kids celebrate Independence Day, lest they be turned into Republicans. “When done before the age of 18, it increases the likelihood of a youth identifying as a Republican by at least 2 per cent……It raises the likelihood that parade watchers will vote for a Republican candidate by 4 per cent.”
"Fear Bachman bc she is raising so much money. Anyone that inarticulate and full of s--- who is raising money that fast ... is beholden to some mighty thuggish interests."
-Alec Baldwin
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ARTICLES
“Contrary to the expectations of most pundits, the election of Barack Obama has aggravated the racial divide in America between blacks and all other racial groups.”
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/06/the_widening_racial_divide_of_the_obama_era.html
Frank Gaffney: “The outlines of an Obama Doctrine have been apparent for some time. It can be summarized in nine damning words: Embolden our enemies. Undermine our friends. Diminish our country.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/5/obamas-destructive-foreign-policy/
“More than any other potential GOP presidential candidate, President Obama fears Texas Gov. Rick Perry. That's because Perry is the only one who can devastate virtually any Obama claim.”
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=44655
The ATF's gun-running disaster was funded in the stimulus bill. Think about all the criminal and drug cartel jobs saved or created. And our attorney general once bragged to a Mexican audience about implementing it. This could be, no pun intended, the proverbial smoking gun in a growing administration scandal that deserves as much mainstream media attention as Iran-Contra or Watergate. Right there in the stimulus bill that no one in Congress bothered to read is $10 million for Project Gunrunner (aka Operation Fast and Furious), which resulted in the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and increased drug cartel violence. Right there in the "shovel ready" stimulus, no black humor intended……"
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/577800/201107081902/The-Stimulation-Of-Murder.htm
The next month is a good time for Congressional Republicans to move beyond empty gestures to solve the job-killing and economy-slowing problem that is the Obama Environmental Protection Agency. Since January, the EPA has been implementing its greenhouse-gas regulations and has advanced an entire suite of regulations intended to make it painfully expensive for utilities to continue burning coal for electricity generation.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/5/last-chance-for-gop-to-stop-epa-train-wreck/
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NOTEWORTHY WEBSITES
Oldie but goodie: Milton Friedman on “greed”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A
A brilliant defense of capitalism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FB0EhPM_M4&feature=player_embedded
“The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) seeks to create a brighter, more prosperous future by preparing young people for leadership, teaching them the ideas of freedom and a free-market economy.
http://www.tfas.org/Page.aspx?pid=1912
‘The Undefeated’ Trailer
http://www.breitbart.tv/exclusive-the-undefeated-trailer/
Good idea: A handy online property tax calculator which itemizes tax bills for Seattle properties. If you're a Seattle homeowner, enter your address and you'll get an itemized breakdown showing the exact amount that you pay this year for each of 30 different property tax levies that you contribute to. Yes, 30, including state, port, city, county and school levies.
http://soundpolitics.com/kcproptax.html
Nobody sings “God Bless America” like Kate Smith.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnQDW-NMaRs&feature=share
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LATE NITE
Jay Leno: Democrats warned that if the debt ceiling isn’t raised, the government would cease to function. How would you be able to tell? ……….The government is warning that terrorists may try to blow up airplanes by implanting bombs under their skin. The airlines responded by saying they’ll charge any terrorists that do this a $50 fee. ……Vice President Joe Biden has a new Twitter account. He said he will not rest until he can embarrass the president on every media platform ever invented………Casey Anthony was found not guilty. This means that President Obama’s economic team is only the second-most clueless group in America….I think the jury from the O.J. Simpson trial retired and moved to Florida.
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WISE WORDS
"Wars in old times were made to get slaves. The modern implement of imposing slavery is debt."
-Ezra Pound
"The people will be crushed under the burden of taxes, loan after loan will be floated; after having drained the
present, the State will devour the future."
-Frédéric Bastiat
"Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition."
-Thomas Jefferson
posted by gary at
8:37 AM
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