Say Anything Blog

                       
                     

 

Nobel Laureate: Obama Will Turn Us Into Argentina

I guess supermodel Michelle Obama will be playing the role of Evita Peron.

  As Nathanael Smith and I show in our study of US economic contractions, Adam Smith would be much less sanguine were he confronted by today’s financial crisis and the US government’s response. Indeed, it is not impossible that the US will experience the kind of economic collapse from first- to third-world status experienced by Argentina under the national socialist governance of Juan Peron.

  The US economy suffers from a growing culture of indebtedness that has increasingly contaminated the federal government since 2001 and has spilled over dramatically into private household behaviour. The combination of the ill-conceived fiscal-furnace fired by President Bush and the US Congress and the reckless monetary-furnace fired by Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke throughout the period 2001-2007, created unsustainable housing market and stock market bubbles whose collapse brought on the financial crisis and economic contraction of 2008-2009.

  The policy responses to the debt bubble demonstrate crude political consideration rather than economic understanding. If excessive government indebtedness is a major source of the problem, why increase the government debt? Why encourage households to go yet further into debt?

  The prognosis is catastrophic if projected government policies are not cut back. According to the White House’s own estimates, the federal budget deficit in 2009 will be $1.6 trillion, approximately 11.2pc of the overall economy, the highest on record since the end of the Second World War. In 2019, the national debt will represent 76.5pc of the US national economy, the highest proportion since just after the Second World War. In such circumstances, the international reserve status of the US dollar will not survive. As it fades, so interest rates on government securities will rise and the real burden of servicing the debt will increase. In such circumstances, the US economy will teeter on the edge of a black hole.

Everyone seems to get it but the"ONE”!

ht JammieWearingFool

From ace

No, Glenn Beck Didn’t Rape Anyone
—Ace

This is some attempt to get a slander to go viral. Supposedly a parody of Glenn Beck’s “just asking questions” style of rhetoric (which, to be honest, I lapse into myself sometimes but find a bit cheap), some jokers are going around asking “Is it true Glenn Beck raped and murdered a little girl?”

See? Parody or something.

They are spam-bombing the internet with this crap.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/anti-beck-backlash-hits-nauseating-extreme-with-murder-and-rape-meme/

No, it’s not true.

Posting this as I see people asking about it.

Clearly this organization lost its way a long, long time ago…
The NAACP, a once great African-American human rights group, released a statement today in support of Barack Obama’s communist-Truther, whitey-hating, Jew-hating, cop killer supporting, Green czar in the White House.

ht Gateway Pundit
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/09/naacp-support-of-obamas-communist.html

Everything still turns to race in this post racial era.

Instead, the NAACP is blaming Glenn Beck.

You know it’s coming, thumpity, thump.

http://jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/

BOB BECKEL, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: My guess is that the resignation letter is being written as we speak.

ROSEN: A White House official told FOX NEWS today what is obvious by now, that Van Jones, quote, “wasn’t fully vetted prior to his appointment.”

Obama’s been in hiding the past several days and in some respects we should be thankful since his ubiquitous presence in every facet of our lives has grown to be more than tedious. But it’s time to man up, Barry, and send yet another extremist pal of yours packing.

Van Jones, meet Reverend Wright and Bill Ayers. Although I’m assuming you’re all well-acquainted.

We can only laugh at so much of this, but the company “O” bummer keeps is quite chilling to me!

I think this is pretty accurate, most of the dems are fringe left kooks and think this guy is ok.


http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2009/09/maybe-van-jones-vetters-didnt-see-these.html

http://rsmccain.blogspot.com/2009/09/ready-for-mother-of-all-bailouts.html

Ready for the Mother Of All Bailouts?
The FHA is on the hook for lots of “underwater” loans, taken out by low-income homeowners who got special low down-payment deals and—in case you didn’t notice—unemployment hit a 26-year high in August, with no prospect the 9.7% jobless rate will go down any time this year. Dave Hogberg of Investors Business Daily reports:

  FHA-insured loans have more than tripled from 530,000 in fiscal year 2007 to 1.7 million thus far in 2009. The Government National Mortgage Association, which securitizes FHA loans, has boosted its mortgage-related issuance to $287 billion from $85 billion. Yet during that same period, the FHA’s loan delinquency rate has climbed to 14.4% in Q2 from 12.6% two years earlier.

OK, so guess what the consequences are now?

  As job losses continue to mount, why would someone facing economic difficulties try to keep a home that is worth less than the money owed on it?

ht The Other McCain

It’s Officially A Trend

Back in March, Rasmussen Reports noted that Republicans had polled better than Democrats on the Generic Ballot Question for the first time since 2005. According to Rasmussen’s latest polling, Republicans routinely beat Democrats on the generic ballot question:

  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 43% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 36% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent.

That 7-point margin is well outside the poll’s margin of error. Here’s what’s got the Democrats’ strategists drinking Maalox by the bottle:

  Listening to two briefings, one by a Democratic pollster who had just conducted a survey for a group favoring health care reform, the other by a Republican pollster more skeptical of the reform plans, I felt as if I were hearing a pair of reports by the National Transportation Safety Board on the same plane crash. But in sorting through the problems facing President Obama and congressional Democrats, focusing too narrowly on their disastrous handling of health care would be a mistake.

  Obama and Capitol Hill leaders don’t need to worry too much about their modest drop in support from Democratic voters or the predictable drop on the Republican side. But top Democrats should be very frightened about the sharp drop in support among independents, because it could ultimately threaten their party’s hold on the House and shrink their majority in the Senate.

  Independent voters, fired up by the war in Iraq and Republican scandals, gave Democrats control of both chambers of Congress in 2006. Two years later, independents upset with President Bush and eager to give his party another kick expanded the Democratic majorities on the Hill. Late in the campaign, the economic downturn, together with an influx of young people and minorities enthusiastic about Obama, created a wave that left the GOP in ruins.

  That was then; this is now. For the seven weeks from mid-April through the first week of June, Obama’s weekly Gallup Poll approval rating among independents ran in the 60-to-70 percent range. But in four of the past five weeks, it has been only in the mid-to-high 40s. Meanwhile, Democrats and liberals seem lethargic even though Republicans and conservatives are spitting nails and can’t wait to vote.

Saying that Republicans are fired up is understatement but it’s deeper than that. What’s fueling this GOP resurgence is the Democrats’ radical agenda, which is turning off independents and scaring seniors. It also doesn’t help to have VP Biden talking about how great the stimulus is working:

  Vice President Biden yesterday proclaimed success beyond expectations for the government’s $787 billion economic-stimulus program, but his glowing assessment overlooks many of the program’s problems, including delays in releasing money, questionable spending priorities, and project choices that are under investigation.

  In a speech aimed squarely at Republican criticism and public skepticism over the program’s effectiveness, Biden said accomplishments in the last 100 days provided proof of promises kept when he and President Obama began rolling out the plan earlier this year. It was approved by Congress in February.

  “The Recovery Act is doing more, faster and more efficiently, and more effectively than most people expected,” he said.

Never has a presidential administration fallen more out of touch with the American people than this administration has. Frankly, it’s both embarrassing and worrisome that this administration would even attempt to sugarcoat the truth like this. If the Democratic majorities in Congress were acting in the best interests of their constituents, they’d be rebelling against this administration’s agenda. Instead of a fullscale rebellion, they’re leading the charge.

Until congressional Democrats abandon President Obama’s and Speaker Pelosi’s agenda, expect them to lose ground on the Generic Ballot Question.

ht Let Freedom Ring

I am a bit numb to all these “crisis’s”

Obama May Need Sense of Crisis to Revive Health-Care Overhaul
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By Julianna Goldman and Nicholas Johnston

Sept. 4 (Bloomberg)—President Barack Obama returns to Washington next week in search of one thing that can revive his health-care overhaul: a sense of crisis.

Facing polls showing a drop in his approval, diminished support from independents, factions within his Democratic Party and a united Republican opposition, Obama must recapture the sense of urgency that led to passage of the economic rescue package in February, analysts said.

“At the moment, except for the people without insurance, we’re not in a health-care crisis,” said Stephen Wayne, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Washington. “You do need a crisis to generate movement in Congress and to help build a consensus.”

Can’t congress just meet once a year and leave us the hell alone?
The country seems to run so much better when the “one” is on vacation and congress is playing at recess.

Duh, working just like the “one” designed.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said on Friday that a jump in unemployment was unexpected but said declining job losses showed government support was cushioning job losses overall.

“I am somewhat surprised that we are seeing that continued rise in the unemployment figure, but we knew that was going to be happening and we know that it will continue for a few more months,” she said in an interview with Reuters TV.

“We’re going to provide rescue and rebuilding of our economy and our workforce,” she said.

(Reporting by Mark Felsenthal; Editing by James Dalgleish)


Surprised? But knew that was happening? Then WTF is surprising!!

Rescue and rebuilding of our economy and workforce? Is that in stimulus 2.0 or is a newer version coming?

The Van Jones (non) feeding frenzy
By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
09/04/09 11:30 AM EDT

From a Nexis search a few moments ago:

Total words about the Van Jones controversy in the New York Times: 0.
Total words about the Van Jones controversy in the Washington Post: 0.
Total words about the Van Jones controversy on NBC Nightly News: 0.
Total words about the Van Jones controversy on ABC World News: 0.
Total words about the Van Jones controversy on CBS Evening News: 0.

If you were to receive all your news from any one of these outlets, or even all of them together, and you heard about some sort of controversy involving President Obama’s Special Adviser for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, your response would be, “Huh?” If you heard that that adviser, Van Jones, had apologized for a number of remarks and positions in the recent past, your response would be, “What?” And if you were in the Obama White House monitoring the Jones situation, you would be hoping that the news organizations listed above continue to hold the line—otherwise, Jones, who is quite well thought of in Obama circles, would be history.

Van who?

Chuck “u” Schumer!

Chutzpah: Biggest Recipient of Madoff Money Calls for SEC Reform

Never let it be said Chuckie Schumer doesn’t have the the largest set of onions in politics.

The man who was recipient of the largest amount of political contributions from the disgraced Bernie Madoff actually has the gall to be calling for SEC reform in light of the Madoff scandal.

  One day after the Securities and Exchange Commission’s inspector general released a scathing report finding that the agency failed to follow up on detailed complaints and missed exposing a $50 billion Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernard Madoff, Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced legislation that would allow the agency use the fees it receives from institutions that register with the commission to fund its operations. “This could help the SEC hire more experienced examiners and keep those good ones they have as well as get better technology to fight fraud,” Schumer said.

To date there is zero evidence Schumer has ever returned a nickel of the hundreds of thousands of dollars he received from his pal Bernie.

Yet it doesn’t prevent the human press conference from sticking his beak into the news when it comes to chiding the SEC.

That’s what we call cast-iron gonads!

ht jammiewearingFool

Step aside hell, lock his crooked ass up!

Sorry, Charlie
Rep. Rangel must step aside as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

FOR POLITICIANS with major bad news to release or to make public, there’s no time like the dead of August to do it. The thinking goes that the public won’t remember a thing come September. We hope Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) will have no such luck. His belated revelation of previously unreported income, property and bank accounts demands that he step aside as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. Rangel’s amended financial disclosure form, which exposes omissions from his 2002 through 2006 records, is a treasure trove of outrage. He neglected to report a checking account with the Congressional Federal Credit Union and one with Merrill Lynch, each valued between $250,000 and $500,000; the tens of thousands of dollars he’s earning from dividends from a number of mutual funds and stocks; and the money made from the sale of a Harlem townhouse. As a result, Mr. Rangel’s reported net worth doubled, from between $516,015 and $1,316,000 to between $1,028,024 and $2,495,000.

We called on Mr. Rangel to resign his coveted post last November while the House ethics committee probed his contact with a potential donor to a pet project who also had business before the committee. Mind you, that committee already was looking into his using official stationery to raise funds for that pet project, paying below-market rents on four Harlem apartments, failing to report income from a Florida condominium sale and failing to pay taxes on a home in the Dominican Republic. There’s another subcommittee investigation into lobbyist-paid trips by Mr. Rangel and four other members of Congress.

Much is expected of elected officials. Much more is expected and demanded of those entrusted with chairmanships and the power that comes with them, especially when it involves the nation’s purse strings. From all that we’ve seen thus far, Mr. Rangel has violated that trust continually and seemingly without care.

Washington Post

I can’t believe this creep isn’t in prison!!

Charlie’s Angels: Rangel Just Happen to Donate to the Campaign Coffers of Three Members of the Tax Committee Charged with “Investigating” Him
—Ace

And to 119 fellow members of Congress, actually.

Why, there ought to be a law.

Oh right there is. Bribery.

  The reigning member of Congress’ top tax committee is apparently “wrangling” other politicos to get him out of his own financial and tax troubles.

  ...

  Congressman Rangel has been arrogant in refusing to discuss how, as the man who writes this country’s tax laws, he failed to report over $1 million in outside income and $3 million in business transactions as required by the House, lapses under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

  ...

  There may be a reason for Rangel’s arrogance. CBS 2 HD has discovered that since ethics probes began last year the 79-year-old congressman has given campaign donations to 119 members of Congress, including three of the five Democrats on the House Ethics Committee who are charged with investigating him.

  Charlie’s “angels” on the committee include Congressmen Ben Chandler of Kentucky, G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina and Peter Welch of Vermont. All have received donations from Rangel.

  Only Welch sees something wrong with being financial beholden to Charlie.

  “In an abundance of caution, he has returned all campaign contributions from Mr. Rangel,” said spokesman Bob Rogan, Welch’s Chief of Staff.

  It amounted to nearly 20 grand.

An abundance of caution, eh? Or, like, a minimal amount?

Last night I had an opportunity to beat a stranger to death with a socket wrench. But I passed over the chance, out of an abundance of caution. Going the extra step to stay ethically pure.

This is the only guy who so exercised the “abundance of caution.” Everyone else is keeping the money that Rangel didn’t pay taxes on.

The most ethical Congress in “history” session.

I am beginning to think 2010 is going to be a wipeout for Democrats. If, and only if, we, the 40% + strongly disapproving of Obama and his corrupt cronies, can go around the media and get this information to the 20% of the country that is on the fence.

ht ace

Keep a eye on this Rino.
Screwed us on the stimulus, Trying again!

Another Snowe Job
The hot topic at this precise moment in time is the concept of a public option “trigger” being proposed by Maine Republican Senator Olympia Snowe.

Snowe was one of only three Republicans to vote for the February 2009 stimulus plan; without those three Republicans (one of whom, Arlen Specter, formally became a Democrat in April), the stimulus plan would not have passed in its pork-laden, misguided form.

The idea of a trigger is stupid, plain and simple. The concept of giving insurance companies a set period of time to bring down costs, under threat of having their businesses compete with the government, creates the wrong incentives. Cutting costs by rationing care is not what we need, and putting in place a trigger simply will encourage insurance companies to make arbitrary cuts.

Rather than relying on insurance companies or government, we need to move on to market reforms which will accomplish most of what people want without creating new government bureaucracies or arbitrary insurance company cutbacks. Empower hundreds of millions of people to shop for health services and products the same way they shop for other consumer goods and services, and require medical providers to compete for the business.

Cross-state insurance markets, easy to use health savings accounts, and other mechanisms which do not require government spending are the answers. Improving the markets will allow for lower cost catastrophic plans, policies which are portable, and no preexisting condition exclusions.

The current system does not encourage consumer cost consciousness or innovative insurance plans because insurance companies and government foot almost all of the health care bill, and a government plan will make this situation worse. Who cares what the MRI costs if someone else is paying. Medicare costs are out of control precisely because patients have no stake in the costs; if Medicare patients had a financial incentive (i.e., they keep some of the savings) to find lower cost providers, everyone would benefit.

If a public plan is so great, then pass a public plan. If a public plan is not so great (my view), then kill the idea once and for all and move on to what people really want, individual empowerment.

What we do not need is another Snowe job.

ht legal In*sur*rec*tion

Thankfully my grandson is only two. Something “creepy” about this.

Hey, Obama, Can We See the Text of Your Speech to Every Schoolkid Before You Deliver It?
Suggested Activity: Students can “Write Letters to Themselves About What They Can Do To Help the President”
—Ace

Update: Ed at Hot Air catches the suggestion in the teachers’ materials that students “write letters to themselves about how they can help the President.”

Ask not what your president can do for you. Ask what you can do for your president.

I continue assuming this speech is all about achievement in school and suchlike other unobjectionable stuff. And I assume the line about “helping the President” is in reference to the president’s call for academic excellence.

However… I’ve been wrong before. And while I assume it’s just referring to academic excellence, I would not be surprised at all if he packed his address up with environmental nonsense and other lefty crap.

And if he does… well. He will have crossed yet another line that all other presidents have refrained from crossing.

...

Obama’s going to deliver an address to all American students on September 8th.

I imagine that every school will play the broadcast and teachers will of course treat it reverentially.

I also guess that Obama will take the opportunity to boost learning generally, always an important message, but especially important for young black males to hear.

On the other hand, Obama tends to be unable to resist his partisan and/or messianic impulses.

So, you know, is it too much to ask he provide the text of the speech to parents before he delivers it so they can make an informed choice about it?

I’m not saying I don’t trust you. I’m just saying—no, I am saying I don’t trust you, now that I think about it.

Thanks to circa, who’s trying to put The Omen III: The Final Conflict out of his mind and forget that Damien Thorne’s biggest cause and font of support was “the children.”

I don’t trust him either!

ht Ace