op ed review 11/13
THIS WEEK’S NEWS
Seven out of ten registered voters say the country is on the wrong track and a majority says that President Obama doesn’t deserve to be re-elected
“Obamavilles popping up and festering around the country.”
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/giuliani-obama-owns-occupy-wall-street_607814.html
“Obama weakening U.S. defense, military tells Congress”
Obama honors Muslim holiday
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/11/obama-honors-muslim-holiday/1
Physicians are increasingly pessimistic about the future of medicine since passage of Obamacare, and are now reluctant to advise their own children to go into medicine.
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Poll-DoctorsSayObamacareHurtsMedicalCare/2011/11/05/id/416979
A company controlled by a longtime Democratic Party political donor gets a $433 million no-bid contract to supply an experimental smallpox drug for a threat that may not exist.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-smallpox-20111113,0,4293298.story
Of all the noise of this week's state election results, what mattered most for Election 2012 came out of Virginia. Virginia Republicans added seven new seats to their majority in the House of Delegates, giving them two-thirds of that chamber's votes—the party's largest margin in history. The GOP also took over the Virginia Senate in results that were especially notable, given that Virginia Democrats this spring crafted an aggressive redistricting plan that had only one aim: providing a firewall against a Republican takeover of that chamber. Even that extreme gerrymander didn't work.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204358004577030481545613916.html
Voters in Ohio have approved a ballot measure intended to keep government from requiring Ohioans to participate in any health care system.
http://morningjournal.com/articles/2011/11/08/news/doc4eb9e5d18d91a235459400.txt
Self-professed conservatives now outnumber self-professed liberals in the United States, 42 percent to 21 percent. Another 37 percent described themselves as moderates.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/gallup-poll-conservatives-42-liberals-21
Two polls out Friday show former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s campaign gaining traction.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/11/11/polls-gingrich-grows-on-gop-voters/
This is surreal: The Chairman of China’s sovereign wealth fund lectures Europeans about their “worn out welfare society” and how it “induce(s) sloth, indolence, rather than hardworking…..Why should some member's people have to work to 65, even longer, whereas in some other countries they are happily retiring at 55, languishing on the beach? This is unfair.”
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2011/11/2011114434664695.html
Despite bipartisan promises to cut spending after the 2010 elections, there are still no cuts. Federal spending has gone up 5 percent in the first nine months of this year alone.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/282463/we-re-still-not-cutting-jim-demint
Speaking at the Americans For Prosperity (AFP) event at the DC Convention Center, Mark Levin said the U.S. has become “a Post-Constitutional government transitioning into an increasingly Utopian tyranny.” Levin took a swipe at the Occupy D.C. protesters as he warned that Pres. Obama has every intention of making good on his threat to transform America.
During the event’s "Tribute to Ronald Reagan" dinner, Occupy Wall Street protesters stormed the convention center. “Their violence, vile language, and disrespect for fellow Americans was outrageous. One of our activists who is wheel-chair bound was denied use of the ramp to depart the center. A 78 year old grandmother from Michigan was assaulted and knocked down. The 7 year old child of one of our AFP Foundation activists was cursed and jostled.”
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FEATURED COLUMN
Derek Hunter 10/23
Unemployment stands at 9.1 percent, with real unemployment closer to 20. Nearly 50 million Americans are on food stamps. We’ve added $4 trillion in new debt in less than three years. And there’s no sign any of this will change soon.
The seriousness of the times require serious leaders...and all we have is Barack Obama, Congressional Democrats and a sea of unwashed “gimmie-crats” sleeping in parks demanding more. Welcome to Progressive America.
As more “Green” scandals involving “friendly” treatment of friends and fundraisers for the president emerge, no one with a “D” after his or her name seems to give a damn. Why would they? It’s not their money. Spending other people’s money is fun. Spending two as-yet-unborn generations’ money is even more fun because you won’t be around when they realize what you’ve done to them. It’s the progressive way….
In Progressive America, hatred and anger rule. Does someone have more than you do? Protest that outrage. Remember, after the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., by the anti-Bush lunatic, when President Obama gave that speech calling for a “new tone” in politics? It was a hopeful moment for a nation reeling from tragedy and sick of name calling. It lasted five minutes.
The failure of progressives to control their tongues, to resist spewing such “tolerance” as “The Tea Party are terrorists,” “Republicans are hostage takers” and of talking-head goons from calling conservative women “whores,” is surprising only if you haven’t been paying attention. You can’t stop hateful rhetoric when it’s who you are.
You don’t even have to be conservative to be on the receiving end of an attack from the progressive mob. Wall Street gave more money to Barack Obama than any other candidate in history, yet the aromatically challenged mob isn’t camped outside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.; it’s drum circling on Wall Street…..
The progressive agenda is about control – over everyone and everything. The movement was born of arrogance from people who thought they knew better, thought they were better. They were racists who once looked to eugenics to rid the world of “undesirables.” They were superior in thought and deed – and thus uniquely qualified to determine who was worthy of what in society. That mentality, that profound arrogance, continues to form the basis of modern progressivism.
The United States was founded by and for people who believed in the individual. But to be a progressive is to have zero faith in your fellow human beings, to look down on them. This was exemplified by Vice President Joe Biden this week when he doubled down on his “if Republicans don’t pass the president’s ‘jobs’ bill, rapes and murders will increase exponentially” vitriol.
He, the White House, which publicly stood behind his comments, and progressive talking heads all seem to believe Americans refrain from raping and murdering each other solely because there are police around. They believe we’re all animals, and only a powerful government can protect us from ourselves and each other.
Given that Republicans swept the 2010 elections and President Obama’s approval ratings are fast approaching his waist size, you’d expect reality to set in soon and for him to move to the political center. You’d be wrong. He is so insulated from reality and entrenched in the progressive philosophy that when he told ABC’s Jake Tapper “I believe all the choices we've made have been the right ones...” on the economy, he truly believed it.
As the election approaches, and if his poll numbers continue to fade, expect President Obama to redouble his efforts to implement as much of the progressive agenda through executive orders as possible. Expect Democrats in Congress to cheerlead the usurpation of their power and their media allies to cheer his actions when they can and ignore them when they must.
Some say progressives disrespect the Constitution, but you can’t disrespect what you never respected in the first place. The concept of limited executive power is foreign to them...when they’re in power. Should a Republican win next November and try to do half the things President Obama has done through executive order, the outrage from progressives will be, well …fun to watch.
http://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2011/10/23/progressive_america/page/full/
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FROM OTHER COLUMNS
"[T]he White House revealed that it would fight a GOP House subpoena for internal documents related to the half-trillion-dollar, stimulus-funded, now-bankrupt Solyndra solar energy loan bust. White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler fumed that the information request placed an 'unreasonable burden on the president's ability to meet his constitutional duties.' ... Ruemmler further complained that the subpoena represents 'a significant intrusion on executive branch interests.' ... While she paints the request as a last-minute surprise, the White House has been stonewalling on Solyndra all year long. And as Reason magazine's Tim Cavanaugh points out: Compliance would be 'the work of a few hours, at a time when the executive branch has 2.8 million employees. The whole thing could be done by staffers, leaving the president to focus on golf and fundraising and long, boring speeches.'"
-Michelle Malkin
"You know the real trouble with socialism? There are no good guys. You're either on one end of the equation sucking up whatever you didn't earn and telling yourself you're entitled to it, or you're on the other end trying to prove you're smarter and more beneficent than everyone else, when you don't have a clue. You're either the drug addict or the drug dealer."
-Arnold Ahlert
"Occupy Wall Street protestors complained that homeless people have infiltrated the park for the free food. They're just furious about it. Everybody's sitting around wishing that there was a way to help the downtrodden without a lot of losers trying to get in on it."
-Argus Hamilton
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BIG NUMBERS BROKEN DOWN
Here is why S&P downgraded the US credit rating.
U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
Recent budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000
Now let’s remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a household budget.
Annual family income: $21,700
Money the family spent: $38,200
New debt on the credit card: $16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
Total budget cuts: $385
(Big hat tip to reader Wally Buscher)
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GLOBALONEY
Solyndra, the solar-panel maker that received more than half a billion dollars in federal loans from the Obama administration only to go bankrupt this fall, isn’t the first dud for U.S. government officials trying to play venture capitalist in the energy industry. The Clinch River Breeder Reactor. The Synthetic Fuels Corporation. The hydrogen car. Clean coal. These are but a few examples spanning several decades — a graveyard of costly and failed projects.
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LEFTIST WATCH
The news stories have been piling up documenting violence and disruptive behavior stemming from Occupy Wall Street demonstrations around the country. In Washington, Occupiers sought to storm a conference being held by a conservative group. In Boston, a group of the Occupiers marched on the Israeli consulate chanting ''viva, viva Palestina.'' And in New York, fear of sexual assault led to the creation of a special guarded tent for female protesters.
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/11/07/anti-zionist-ows-and-liberals/
Los Angeles street cart vendors initially provided Occupy demonstrators free food and drink, but when the vendors couldn’t afford it anymore, the protesters became violent. “Both carts have had items stolen, have had their covers vandalized with markings and graffiti, as well as one of the carts had urine and blood splattered on it.”
A rediscovered video from Barack Obama’s 2004 Senate race shows him road-testing his current rhetorical techniques, pitching far-left policies, and depicting business and the marketplace as negative forces. “We all have a set of mutual obligations towards each other — we are our brother’s keeper, we are our sister’s keeper — and that those mutual obligations have to express themselves through government policies,” he said at the tail end of a soft-focus, five-minute autobiographical video entitled “Introducing Barack Obama” that he released during his 2004 campaign for U.S. Senate.
The Girl Scouts gather this week in Houston to celebrate its 100th Anniversary. A quick look at the speaker lineup for its upcoming convention makes clear that the Girl Scouts are promoting not the traditional values of the original Girl Scouts, but the radical, raunchy values and relativistic decision-making of the trendy left-wing Girl Scouts….In contrast to the Boy Scouts of America, the Girl Scouts USA has been co-opted as the functional arm of the Democrat, feminist establishment. And they dupe millions of American families into believing that their only mission is to promote wholesome leadership activities for girls.
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THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE
“The latest Republican debate was good for Newt Gingrich, okay for Herman Cain and truly terrible for Rick Perry”
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich demonstrated Tuesday why every liberal media member in the country is scared to death of him winning the nomination and going head-to-head in a debate with Barack Obama. When CNN's Piers Morgan tried to play his normal cocky role of knowing more than his guest, the former Speaker of the House smartly replied, "I've been involved with politics since 1958, I helped grow the modern Republican Party of Georgia, I helped create a national majority, and you're explaining to me the reality of politics."
“Newt Gingrich's rise in the polls—from near zero to the third slot in several polls—should come as no surprise to people who have been watching the Republican debates, now drawing television viewers as never before. The former speaker has stood out at these forums, the debater whose audiences seem to hang on his words and on a flow of thought rich in substance, a world apart from the usual that the political season brings.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204190704577026041280212400.html
A super PAC supporting former House Speaker Newt Gingrich launched during the CNBC presidential debate Wednesday night, “to support Newt Gingrich’s comeback run for president.” The super PAC, called Solutions 2012, was formed to support Gingrich’s campaign by providing the resources and manpower that the campaign currently lacks.
http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/09/super-pac-launches-to-back-comeback-gingrich-campaign/
“The Tea Party Case for Newt Gingrich”
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/11/the_tea_party_case_for_newt_gingrich.html#ixzz1d2F6PVsl
“If the Republican nomination were awarded by debate performances, Romney would be the winner already.”
http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2011/11/gop-debate-recap-romneys-challengers-fade-away.html
A coalition of conservatives is working to organize the disparate groups opposing Mitt Romney as the Republican presidential nominee. While much has been made of Romney’s lack of support amongst conservative Republicans, the sense of malaise has mostly manifested as a lack of enthusiasm rather than outright opposition. That may all be about to change.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/192799-conservatives-organize-to-defeat-romney
‘Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here,” is the placard that Cain must have read last week when he descended into the Sexual Harassment Inferno, from which he has not yet emerged. Cain, who has not as of yet actually been accused of engaging in sexual intercourse with a female subordinate, finds himself in the “sexual harassment” labyrinth, from which there are few paths out in the present era.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/282643/cain-lost-labyrinth-victor-davis-hanson
The lynching of Herman Cain has reached heights comparable with the oak tree that liberals wish they could hang minority conservatives from. In the great tradition of Clarence Thomas and Sarah Palin, the left has decided to add Herman Cain to the list of those who need to be set on fire and hung from a tree simply for existing and breathing while being a minority conservative. Anonymous women have accused Herman Cain of bad behavior of an inappropriate sexual nature. Now a woman has finally decided to come forward. To make the situation even more highly charged and explosive, bottom feeder Gloria Allred is representing the newest woman pretending to be a victim…..She waited almost two decades until Mr. Cain was at his highest peak to date and then came forward for her fifteen minutes of fame.
If you were going accuse a public figure of sexual impropriety, why would you go to an event where that person was a headline speaker, walk up to him, hug him, and whisper in his ear?
Ann Coulter smells a rat: Obama henchman, David Axelrod destroyed the only two men who stood between Obama and the Senate with illicitly obtained, lurid allegations from their pasts in 2007. “This time, Obama's little helpers have not only thrown a bomb into the Republican primary, but are hoping to destroy the man who deprives the Democrats of their only argument in 2012: If you oppose Obama, you must be a racist.” Oh, and one of Cain’s accusers is always in financial trouble and lived in the same Chicago apartment building as Axelrod.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47438
After 10 days of saturation coverage by the media, we still don't definitely know any more about Herman Cain's alleged misdeeds than we did when Politico first broke the story. http://news.investors.com/Article/591170/201111091859/Cain-Scandal-Still-Fact-Free.htm
Clint Eastwood likes Herman Cain
Texas Governor Rick Perry played up his agricultural roots and emphasized his anti-Washington rhetoric at a town hall that will probably best be remembered for the GOP presidential hopefuls closing line, one that seems destined to be repeated on the campaign trail for months to come. “Are you better off today than you were $4 trillion ago?”
http://news.yahoo.com/perry-coins-slogan-iowa-134732289.html
“I’ve been reviewing the tax plans of the major Republican presidential hopefuls and am struck at how conventional Mitt Romney’s is. While Herman Cain wants to replace the entire federal tax code with his 9-9-9 consumption tax and Rick Perry favors a massive tax cut, Romney would do little more than tinker around the edges of the current law. In short, he seems pretty happy with the individual tax code while he supports more business tax cuts.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Tax-VOX/2011/1109/Hey-remember-Romney-s-tax-plan
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ARTICLES
If you're a parent who accepts Medicaid payments from the State of Michigan to help support your mentally-disabled adult children, you qualify as a state employee for the purposes of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). They can now claim and receive a portion of your Medicaid in the form of union dues.
It might be worth everyone's while in these troubled times to set aside an evening in order to carefully read Book VIII of Plato's Republic. The dialogue is nothing less than chilling in its illustration of what happens in a popular government when corrupt politicians inflame the vices of undisciplined citizens in order to destroy the business class and establish a tyranny.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/11/ows_plato_bets_on_tyranny.html
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NOTEWORTHY WEBSITES
Time-lapse video captures 12,225-mile road journey across America... in just FIVE minutes
Each day this workweek Capital Hill will feature a small business owner who struggles with government regulations.
http://blogs.investors.com/capitalhill/
Happy birthday, US Marines!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSRlQPD6Xiw&feature=related
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LATE NITE:
Leno: Jon Huntsman, who is running for president, has 0 percent support. That means he's not even voting for himself. ……..After losing a lawsuit with the TSA, former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura says he's going to renounce his U.S. citizenship and move to Mexico. Hey, if he changes his mind, he can always sneak back in……..Herman Cain said he would be willing to take a lie detector test. But that's kind of a double-edged sword. If he fails, his career is over. And if he passes and it turns out he's not a liar, he's obviously not cut out for politics……..A new poll taken abroad found that President Obama's policies are more popular overseas than they are here in America. That's because he's created more jobs overseas than here in America.
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WISE WORDS
"Back in the thirties we were told we must collectivize the nation because the people were so poor. Now we are told we must collectivize the nation because the people are so rich."
-William F. Buckley Jr.
posted by gary at
9:43 AM
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