op ed review 1/22
Florida’s largest newspaper endorses Romney
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article1210848.ece
Perry Drops Out of Presidential Race, Endorses Gingrich
Witless Joe Biden tells a San Francisco crowd: 'The Giants are on their way to Super Bowl'...
How are those green energy jobs working out for you? Another Gov't-funded solar company lays off most of its staff...
http://www.toledoblade.com/Energy/2012/01/17/Solar-panel-company-lays-off-40-employees.html
“Collective bargaining kills another company.” Next time you're choosing a fattening indulgence in the checkout line, ask yourself if you're willing to pay extra so Twinkies and Wonder Bread (made by the same company) can arrive at the store on different trucks? So the driver can be excused from helping to unload? So the company can pay workers-comp costs way out of line the industry's? So a company with just 19,000 employees can administer 40 different pension plans?
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=48838
“NEA-backed report pushes sex education in kindergarten.” By the time they leave elementary school, children should be able to “define sexual orientation,” and by the eighth grade be able to “define emergency contraception and its use.”
http://times247.com/articles/nea-backed-report-pushes-comprehensive-sex-ed-for-kindergartners
Health plans ordered to cover birth control without co-pays
Late last year, the Obama administration was forced to abandon one of the gimmicks it used to make it appear that Obamacare would reduce the deficit, the CLASS Act. Scheduled to reduce the debt by $70 billion over ten years, the CLASS Act's failure alone erased more than half of Obamacare's claimed $120 billion in total deficit reduction. Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released another crushing blow to Obamacare's deficit reduction claims, posting a study showing that pilot programs designed to reduce Medicare spending either had no affect, or actually increased Medicare spending
Democrats dispute 22,000 jobs created by 1,700-mile oil pipeline...
http://nptelegraph.com/articles/2012/01/19/news/80004367.txt
Democrats claim 43,000 jobs created -- by a 1.7-mile light rail extension in California.
http://www.mtc.ca.gov/projects/central_subway/
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THIS WEEK’S FEATURED COLUMN
The Anti-Jobs President
Wall Street Journal 1/20
The central conflict of the Obama Presidency has been between the jobs and growth crisis he inherited and the President's hell-for-leather pursuit of his larger social-policy ambitions. The tragedy is that the economic recovery has been so lackluster because the second impulse keeps winning. Yesterday came proof positive with the White House's repudiation of the Keystone XL pipeline, TransCanada's $7 billion shovel-ready project that would support tens of thousands of jobs if only it could get the requisite U.S. permits. Those jobs, apparently, can wait.
Unless the President objected, December's payroll tax deal gave TransCanada the go-ahead in February to start building the pipeline, which would travel 1,661 miles from Alberta to interconnections in Oklahoma and then carry Canadian crude to U.S. refiners on the Gulf Coast. The State Department, which presides over the Keystone XL review because it would cross the 49th parallel, claimed yesterday that the two-month Congressional deadline was too tight "for the President to determine whether the Keystone XL pipeline is in the national interest." The White House also issued a statement denouncing Congress's "rushed and arbitrary deadline," which merely passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
This is, to put it politely, a crock.
Keystone XL has been planned for years and only became a political issue after the well-to-do environmental lobby decided to make it a station of the green cross. TransCanada filed its application in 2008, and State determined in 2010 and then again last year that the project would have "no significant impacts" on the environment, following exhaustive studies. The Environmental Protection Agency chose to intervene anyway, and the political left began to issue ultimatums and demonstrate in front of the White House, so President Obama decided to defer a final decision until after the election.
The missed economic opportunity was spelled out Tuesday by Mr. Obama's own Jobs Council, which released a report that endorsed an "all-in approach" on energy, including the "profound new opportunities in shale gas and unconventional oil." The 27 members handpicked by the President recommended that he support "policies that facilitate the safe, thoughtful and timely development of pipeline, transmission and distribution projects," and they warned that failing to do so "would stall the engine that could become a prime driver of U.S. jobs and growth in the decades ahead." Only last week the White House issued a "jobs" report praising domestic energy production, but that now looks like political cover for this anti-jobs policy choice.
State did give TransCanada permission to reapply using an alternate route, timetable indefinite. The construction workers, pipefitters, mechanics, welders and electricians who might otherwise be hired for the project—well, they must be thrilled with this consolation prize. Not to mention all the other Americans who might fill "spin-off" jobs on the pipeline's supply chain like skilled manufacturers and equipment suppliers, or still others who might work in oil refining and distribution.
Environmentalists seem to think they can prevent the development of Canada's oil-rich tar sands, and that their rallies against Keystone XL will keep that carbon in the ground. They can't, and it won't. America's largest trading partner will simply build a pipeline to the Pacific coast from Alberta and sell its petroleum products to Asia instead, China in particular.
Such green delusions are sad, and Mr. Obama's pandering is sadder, though everything the country stands to lose is saddest. If Mitt Romney and the other GOP candidates have any political wit, they'll vindicate the Keystone's "national interest" and make Mr. Obama explain why job creation is less important than the people who make a living working for the green anti-industrial complex.
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FROM OTHER COLUMNS
"Last week, President Barack Obama, at a Capital Hilton fundraising event, told the crowd, 'We can't go back to this brand of you're-on-your-own economics.' ... President Obama's vision was shared by our Pilgrim Fathers of the Plymouth Colony in modern-day Massachusetts. They established a communist system. They all farmed together, and whatever they produced was put in a common storehouse. A certain amount of food was rationed to each person regardless of his contribution to the work. ... In 1623, after much debate, a new system was set up, in which every family was assigned a parcel of land, and whatever they produced belonged to the family. ... After Gov. Bradford's establishment of what Obama calls 'you're-on-your-own economics,' harvests were so bountiful that Bradford is credited with establishing what we now call Thanksgiving. ... Years ago, typing was done on a mechanical typewriter; milk was delivered to doorsteps via horse and wagon; slide rules were used to make calculations. Should any of these products and practices have survived, or was it OK for natural selection to consign them to the dustbin of history? Try cornering the president or his supporters, and ask them whether they believe government should ensure that the unfit survive and rather than 'you're-on-your-own economics' there should be 'you're-on-somebody-else economics.'"
-Walter. E. Williams
"President Obama, man of the people, will deliver his presidential nomination acceptance speech at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. -- so that Democratic Party fundraisers can reward big donors with skyboxes and other lavish perks.... The self-proclaimed Party of the 99 Percent is reportedly busy creating special-access VIP packages for the 1 percent -- under the illusion of throwing open its doors to the masses. DNC officials refuse to disclose fundraising updates until after the convention, even as they champion their own 'openness and accessibility.' And no doubt, Obama will use his stadium-size pulpit to 'stand up' to the very same 'fat cats' who'll be watching him while sipping Courvoisier in their DNC-appointed luxury seats. Such is the audacity of progressive cognitive dissonance."
-Michelle Malkin
"One of the weirdest things about Cornell West's recent rant on Fox News was that he is one of the highest-paid professors in the humanities in the United States ... yet he damned those who, like himself, are rich. ... With recent news that Harvard, Stanford, and Berkeley professors, like the 1 Percenters at J.P. Morgan and Goldman-Sachs, were among Obama's most generous campaign contributors, I think we can discern the new three rules of fat-cattery: 1) Protestations of being liberal exempt you from the crime of being a 1 Percenter; 2) The less risk to your affluent status ... the more willing you are to put up with income-tax hikes, which renders you one of the good, blue 1 Percenters; 3) Damning Wall Street on Monday while shaking down Wall Street on Tuesday is just the way things are, whether for Barack Obama or for an Ivy League development dean."
-Victor Davis Hanson
“The United States, with its huge burden of debt interest payments, not only overborrows and overtaxes the American people but is, of necessity, cutting its defense spending to help make ends meet. The irony seems to be lost on some that much of this debt interest will end up in Moscow and Beijing. In other words, America has been more enfeebled by welfarism and big government than it ever was by the ideology or practice of communism. There no doubt is a wry smile or two inside the Kremlin…..The eyes of the world, both friends and competitors, will be on the United States in 2012. How America deals with its debt and economic problems will have echoes in time and place far beyond the corridors of Washington.”
-Washington Times
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FILM
Review of the new movie about Margaret Thatcher. “Like Ronald Reagan on our side of the pond, Mrs. Thatcher remains a polarizing figure, worshipped by the right and reviled by the left. Here, her fight against left-wing orthodoxy is depicted as ferocious and honorable, with minimal time devoted to criticisms. One could be forgiven for guessing the filmmakers themselves were conservatives, if one didn’t know better.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/13/movie-review-the-iron-lady/
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ACTIVISM
A Gay Marriage Equality bill (read SB 6239) has been introduced this month in Washington State. The measure is deceptive and exceedingly dangerous. It represents a radical shift in the definition of marriage, and it would pose a serious threat to religious freedom. The bill’s introduction says it would not force clergy or churches to marry gays. However, it adds to state marriage law a section dealing with discrimination….. The Governor has an office number to take comments, 1-360-753-6780. You can talk to a real person between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM. Also call the legislative hotline: 1-800-562-6000
http://catholiclane.com/gay-marriage-coming-after-the-church/
The Sunlight Foundation is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that uses the power of the Internet to catalyze greater government openness and transparency, and provides new tools and resources for media and citizens, alike.
http://sunlightfoundation.com/
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GLOBALONEY
The Copper Basin 300 sled dog race in Alaska had to be cancelled due to too much snow.
________________________________________________________________________
THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE
“Newt Gingrich lacks the moral character to serve as President, his second ex-wife Marianne told ABC News, saying his campaign positions on the sanctity of marriage and the importance of family values do not square with what she saw during their 18 years of marriage.”
“Mitt Romney, who recently revealed he pays close to 15 percent tax on his income, has untold millions of dollars of his massive fortune saved in offshore tax shelters in the Cayman Islands, according to reports. Romney, whose family fortune is worth an estimated $250 million, is one of the wealthiest candidates to ever run for president. His refusal to release his full tax returns, citing privacy concerns, has drawn criticism….”
In the days following Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's admission that he pays around 15 percent in federal income taxes, the Obama-loving media have been in a full-court press claiming this is less than what most Americans pay. Actually, according to last year's report from the Internal Revenue Service, as a percentage of Adjusted Gross Income, 97 percent of 2009 filers paid less than 15 percent:
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ARTICLES
A few years ago, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to imagine European leaders, begging bowl in hand, turning to China for a financial bail-out. Equally, few would have predicted that Chinese leaders visiting Washington would publicly berate US policymakers about their mismanagement of the world’s biggest economy. But the world has changed. The implosion in 2008 of the financial system in the US and Europe and last year’s European sovereign debt crisis have accelerated the shift of economic momentum to Asia. The dramatic change in fortunes has spawned a degree of triumphalism among some Asians. “There’s no crisis of capitalism,” says Meghnad Desai, emeritus professor at the London School of Economics. “There’s a crisis of western capitalism, which has gone geriatric. The dynamic capitalism, with its energy, innovation and sheer greed for growth has moved east.”
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1d92589a-3090-11e1-9436-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1jjJjkvws
The Girl Scouts have a cross-dresser in the front office. Ten years ago, Girl Scouts media relations officer Joshua Ackley was frontman for the “homopunk” band the Dead Betties. In publicity shots, he’s dressed in women’s clothing, and in music videos, he appears to be naked and feigning masturbation. The video for “Hellevator” portrays a woman being strangled in an elevator shaft while Mr. Ackley flashes a menacing grin. Today he issues press releases, posts news and views on the Girl Scouts’ blog, and tries to mollify moms who are concerned about Girl Scout ties with Planned Parenthood. In fact, it was Mr. Ackley who facilitated the Girl Scouts’ “no adults allowed” workshop at the United Nations - the workshop in which the Planned Parenthood sex brochure “Healthy, Happy, and Hot” was offered, although part of Mr. Ackley’s job is to deny it.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/16/say-no-to-girl-scout-cookies/
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NOTEWORTHY WEBSITES
The questions and facts on this site expose changes within the Girl Scout organization which are increasingly connecting young girls to radical feminism, the promotion of sexual rights, LGBT issues, and the abortion rights movement.
www.100questionsforthegirlscouts.org
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HUMOR
"[A]ccording to the Mayan Calendar, the world is supposed to come to an apocalyptic end on December 21st. I am of two minds about the prediction. On the one hand, I'd hate to think that I might never see another Christmas or another birthday. On the other hand, if, by some awful turn of events or through some political skullduggery, Obama actually gets himself re-elected on November 6th, the end couldn't come soon enough for me."
-Burt Prelutsky
"During a recent interview, Michael Moore refused to credit capitalism for his commercial success in the film industry, saying 'socialist countries' have movies too. Yes. As well as jails full of dissident filmmakers."
-Fred Thompson
"President Obama reportedly agreed to give his acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention in Charlotte at Bank of America Stadium. It's sure put the convention over budget. When you're sixteen trillion dollars overdrawn Bank of America's fees really add up."
-Argus Hamilton
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WISE WORDS
"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
-Martin Luther King Jr.
"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer."
-Ben Franklin
"The whole gospel of Karl Marx can be summed up in a single sentence: Hate the man who is better off than you are. Never under any circumstances admit that his success may be due to his own efforts, to the productive contribution he has made to the whole community. Always attribute his success to the exploitation, the cheating, the more or less open robbery of others. Never under any circumstances admit that your own failure may be owing to your own weakness, or that the failure of anyone else may be due to his own defects -- his laziness, incompetence, improvidence, or stupidity."
-Henry Hazlitt
"You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream -- the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order -- or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path."
-Ronald Reagan
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4:13 PM
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