Thứ Ba, 31 tháng 1, 2012

Six charts from the CBO that spell big trouble for the U.S.

Jim Pethokoukis points us to a just-released report from the Congressional Budget Office (PDF) that includes some extremely troubling graphs.

Catastrophic budget deficits and unemployment levels (purposefully understated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) as far as the eye can see. The good news? By 2022 the economy will have collapsed been "fundamentally transformed" under soaring interest rates and unpayable debts.

Obama can blame Bush, Martin Van Buren, or Mary Tyler Moore -- but the facts are simple: those last four bars are owned 100% by the Democrat Party. The Stimulus package, which I like to call "the most audacious armed robbery in world history" continues to be spent every year as it is built into the baseline budget. Which somehow seems to escape legacy media's attention as they discuss taxing "the rich", "oil companies", "doctors who charge $30,000 for an amputation", and anyone else who tries to make an honest living.

The CBO defines the GDP gap as, essentially, the delta between where the GDP is and where it should be. They're too diplomatic to put it the way I would, which is: "the difference between where the GDP is now and where it would be if we didn't have a radical ideologue beholden to the environmental flat-Earth no-growth Marxists and the public sector union bosses as president".

I don't believe the CBO's projections for the future, especially in the case of this chart. There's a concept called "reversion to mean" that, roughly translated, says that figures generally return to their average. Note the average interest rates the country's seen over the last four decades. Now add in the monstrous amounts of global debt that lies lurking, ready to smash into the global economy at any moment thanks to the insanity of bankers and their surrogates in government. We'll be lucky if we only see a reversion to the mean over the next 10 or 15 years.

• "The U.S. housing industry, where experts believe the economic crisis began, is the target of President Barack Obama's latest initiative to strengthen the economy. Mr. Obama has unveiled a $75 billion plan to prevent as many as nine million Americans from losing their homes." (2/18/2009)

• "Obama expands mortgage modification effort - Under fire to do more to stop the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration announced new mortgage modification steps on Friday to help the unemployed and those who are "underwater" with a bigger loan than their home is worth." (3/26/2010)

• "OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR TARGETED FORECLOSURE-PREVENTION PROGRAMS TO HELP HOMEOWNERS STRUGGLING WITH UNEMPLOYMENT - Treasury’s Hardest Hit Fund Will Provide $2 Billion of Additional Assistance in 17 states and the District of Columbia; HUD to Launch a New $1 Billion Program to Help Unemployed Borrowers in Other Areas..." (8/11/2010)

• "Obama’s Plan Announced - On Monday, the Obama administration announced a plan which will attempt to help struggling homeowners refinance their mortgages." (10/31/2011)

I got a million more of 'em.

Hey, isn't central planning grand?

If we don't vote these malevolent Statists out of office in November, this country may be gone.


The Top 150 Conservative Websites -- 1Q12

Using Alexa's traffic rankings, the following represents a tabular view of the top 150 conservatively focused news and blog sites. Each column can be sorted by clicking the column header. And just click on the site-name to open a new window and visit the website. And, yes, I know that some of these sites aren't truly "conservative". That said, conservatives often cite and reference them, so I've included them for purposes of completeness.



Rank Website Alexa Rank
1foxnews.com164
2wsj.com234
3telegraph.co.uk240
4nypost.com873
5realclearpolitics.com1307
6theblaze.com1600
7autoblog.com1636
8zerohedge.com1906
9chron.com2218
10washingtontimes.com2232
11dailycaller.com3052
12breitbart.com3424
13hotair.com3494
14thehill.com3585
15haaretz.com3740
16townhall.com3979
17freerepublic.com4277
18nationalreview.com4658
19foreignpolicy.com4899
20washingtonexaminer.com4983
21pjmedia.com5218
22pajamasmedia.com5218
23military.com5252
24theatlanticwire.com5923
25dallasnews.com6348
26investors.com6723
27rushlimbaugh.com6961
28globalpost.com7554
29weeklystandard.com7912
30reason.com9163
31cnsnews.com9663
32newsbusters.org9872
33breitbart.tv10058
34americanthinker.com10325
35rasmussenreports.com10443
36humanevents.com11114
37mises.org11138
38redstate.com11230
39biggovernment.com11677
40cbn.com12340
41ace,mypetjawa, confederateyankee...13351
42blog.heritage.org14283
43wattsupwiththat.com15770
44michellemalkin.com18239
45stratfor.com19893
46globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com20740
47thegatewaypundit.com20889
48spectator.org20931
49powerlineblog.com20942
50whitehousedossier.com21835
51therightscoop.com27019
52chicagobusiness.com27217
53thenewamerican.com28398
54jihadwatch.org29779
55bigjournalism.com29809
56realclearmarkets.com33712
57althouse.blogspot.com37255
58blogs.dailymail.com38668
59marklevinshow.com39844
60hannity.com39906
61anncoulter.com40388
62atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com40459
63freedomworks.org40513
64memeorandum.com45555
65rollcall.com45835
66weaselzippers.us46171
67commentarymagazine.com46234
68legalinsurrection.com48111
69the-american-interest.com48252
70american.com54129
71lifenews.com54672
72volokh.com57145
73boortz.com57147
74numbersusa.com64248
75defensetech.org67016
76theothermccain.com69885
77outsidethebeltway.com72757
78patdollard.com72824
79armytimes.com72876
80rightwingnews.com73482
81mrc.org77679
82wizbangblog.com78086
83ricochet.com79753
84bigpeace.com84625
85city-journal.org90381
86danielpipes.org90476
87rightpundits.com92880
88jammiewf.com93951
89iowntheworld.com94546
90firstthings.com95024
91conservatives4palin.com95233
92cato-at-liberty.org100026
93borderlandbeat.com100272
94climateaudit.org100312
95aei.org115543
96verumserum.com117333
97sayanythingblog.com124462
98moonbattery.com124950
99smalldeadanimals.com133287
100directorblue.blogspot.com134012
101steynonline.com144346
102lonelyconservative.com146472
103allgov.com147026
104gatesofvienna.blogspot.com147285
105hughhewitt.com149101
106hillbuzz.org150789
107floppingaces.net156789
108linkiest.com159640
109radicalislam.org161232
110memri.org162614
111patterico.com168715
112cafehayek.com173452
113sultanknish.blogspot.com181458
114americanpowerblog.blogspot.com188393
115thepeoplescube.com189611
116blackfive.net192061
117polipundit.com192180
118judicialwatch.org196130
119thehayride.com206579
120viralfootage.com212096
121yidwithlid.blogspot.com220712
122riehlworldview.com223368
123redcounty.com227272
124ihatethemedia.com234673
125creepingsharia.wordpress.com235131
126allamericanblogger.com238838
127dennisprager.com240434
128proteinwisdom.com241670
129bostonreview.net242193
130bobmccarty.com249058
131newsrealblog.com249822
132justoneminute.typepad.com251057
133varight.com251341
134noquarterusa.net254280
135politicsandfinance.blogspot.com261896
136zombietime.com269033
137strata-sphere.com274581
138nakeddc.com280995
139imao.us298849
140economicnoise.com300565
141americandigest.org310947
142sweetness-light.com326723
143iowahawk.typepad.com336458
144michellesmirror.com340290
145dailypundit.com373461
146scaredmonkeys.com377177
147thecampofthesaints.org385568
148winteryknight.wordpress.com394591
149atr.org400887
150conservativecommune.com403485





Related:

Top 150 Conservative Websites - 4Q11

Top 150 Conservative Websites - 3Q11

Top 150 Conservative Websites - 2Q11




Map: how close to you live to a U.S. terrorism hot spot?

I contend that a careful examination would reveal that each of these hot spots is located near a Militant Quaker gathering place.

...[For the DHS,] researchers from the University of Maryland and University of Massachusetts-Boston  (PDF) mapped all events considered terrorism since 1970 to 2008 in the United States (below). This established areas they deemed terrorism “hot spots” but also revealed that terrorism is actually “widely dispersed”. So widely dispersed that every state has experienced some act of terrorism in some form, according to the report. The report defines a hot spot as an area where more than the average number of terrorist attacks have taken place — the average for the U.S. is six.

...The research found that a third of all terrorist attacks during that time-frame studied took place in five metropolitan cities — Manhattan, New York (343 attacks); Los Angeles County, Calif. (156 attacks); Miami-Dade County, Fla. (103 attacks); San Francisco County, Calif. (99 attacks); and Washington, D.C. (79 attacks).

...In addition to tracking areas prone to terrorist attacks, the study authors saw trends in timing of terrorist attacks and type of motivation behind the attack. For example, co-author Bianca Bersani, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, said that terrorist attacks they classified as extreme left-wing — “groups that want to bring about change through violent revolution rather than through established political processes” – were limited almost exclusively to the 1970s. Whereas in the 1980s terrorism with religious motivations took place and the 1990s had extreme right-wing attacks by “groups that believe that one’s personal and/or national “way of life” is under attack and is either already lost or that the threat is imminent”.

A comment following the article voiced the obvious follow-up question: "Didn't our trusty Congress just declare the United States part of the battlefield on the war on us, I mean war on terror? That was part of the excuse to pass NDAA, wasn’t it?"

Perhaps this is a job for Obama's vaunted "Civilian National Security Force" that he crowed about in 2008 and 2009.


Hat tip: BadBlue.com.

Larwyn's Linx: Revealed: Romney Contributed $10K to Radical Gay Group

Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

GOP Primary

Revealed: Romney Contributed $10,000 to Radical Gay Group: RWN
Panicked GOP insiders land in bizarro world: Wolf
Why Romney Can't Seal The Deal In Florida: Riehl

For Santorum: Malkin
Backlash: Reaganite FL Cuban Leader Backs Newt, Blasts Mitt: Riehl
FL Tea Partier should scare GOP old guard: Ricochet

Nation

Meet the SEIU hack running Obama's reelection campaign: LUR
White House “Fury” Over Michelle’s $50K Shopping Spree Story: JWF
Reagan: “These Voices Don’t Speak for Us”: Bruce

Allen West Redistricted: Romney Involved?: MagNote
Did Obama Launch The 10th Crusade?: Wolf Howling
Is This the Kind of Judge a President Christie Would Nominate?: NRO

Economy

$189,000: Post
CBO Study on Federal Pay: Cato
Oakland's idiot mayor flummoxed by violence she once praised: WZ

White House backs Park Police in Occupy Conflict: BigG
U.S. Gets Tougher on Debt Collecting: WSJ
Another Trillion (or Two) Euro LTRO Coming Next Month: Mish

SEIU Confirms DSA Marxist Connection: NoisyRm
This is Europe's scariest chart: ZH
Obama: "Interesting" That Your Unemployed Husband Can't Find Job: RCP

Scandal Central

Eric Holder's False Testimony Warrants Impeachment: IBD
DHS Secretary: “Mistakes were made” on Fast and Furious: Hot Air
DOE-Backed Green Energy Company Amonix Lays Off Two-Thirds of Workforce: ConCom

Climate & Energy

When Global Warming Freezes Over: IBD
California Issues Clown Car Mandate: IBD
Bitter cold records broken in Alaska – all time coldest record threatened: Watts

Media

Romney: "I Feel Sorry For Debbie Wasserman Schultz": RCP
Our dysfunctional media: "“My friends know more about the Kardashians than who's running for president.": WaPo
Photos: Compare Obama Supporters With Osama Supporters: Glob

DNC: We Never Used Extreme Rhetoric When Bush Was President: RCP
The Rookie’s Rough Guide to CPAC: Sundries
NBC, AP Avoid 'M-word' in Report About 'Honor Killings': NB

Rick Santorum in Missouri: Full Speech: Scoop
Hardball: Diane Sawyer Quizzes Obama on the Super Bowl and Singing: NB
Juan Williams Finds Racism in Candidates' (and Others'?) Use of 'Constitution' and 'Founding Fathers': NB

World

Carney Says Obama In No Rush To Make a Decision On How To Deal With Iran Nuke Program: WZ
Gingrich's Fresh Hope: Glick
Obama Defends Drone Use: WSJ

No More Leading from Behind for America: Santorum
Iranian Supreme Leader: Islamists' Rise Is Part of Battle Against “Cancerous Tumor” Israel: WZ
Norway Embraces Islamist Tyranny: Bawer

Sci-Tech

How Is the Internet Changing the Way You Think? ed by John Brockman: review: Telegraph
Windows 8 Tablets Will Probably Launch WITHOUT A New Version Of Office: Insider
P&G To Lay Off 1,600 After Discovering It's Free To Advertise On Facebook: Insider

Cornucopia

Only 246 Fans Jilted At Last Year's Super Bowl Agree To Attend This Year's For Free: Consumerist
Cedartown resident among those filing lawsuit against Obama: Cedartown
Obama Celebrates Mardi Gras: Morlock Revolt

Image: Artist's Depiction: Agent Provocateur sales boosted by US First Lady Michelle Obama (NSFW)
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Save Allen West's District!

QOTD: "Dutch satirist Johan Vlemmix has decided not to perform his latest hit 'Do the Burqa' onstage following death threats. The song, a carnival parody to the music of Van McCoy’s Do the Hustle, is a huge success on YouTube, so much so that the video provider has switched off the comments facility. Too many people were posting angry reactions saying that they had been insulted.

The images show a woman wearing a T-shirt which can be instantly converted into a burqa, albeit one that does not cover the breasts." --BigFurHat

Thứ Hai, 30 tháng 1, 2012

The Most Audacious Armed Robbery in History -- and Those Who Would Sit Out an Election

The Democrats' 2009 Stimulus package was, in my estimation, the most audacious armed robbery in world history. Literally hundreds of billions of dollars were stolen from American taxpayers -- and generations yet unborn -- to reward Democrat campaign contributors.

Solyndra was only the most basic example of these crimes. In fact, though you wouldn't know it from reading the funny papers, a whole series of "green energy" companies are in varying stages of collapse. For the most recent example, please consider: "Another Stimulus-Backed Energy Company Files for Bankruptcy":

After months of financial turmoil, an Energy Department-backed lithium ion battery company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company, Ener1, received a $118 million grant from DOE in 2010 as part of the president’s stimulus package. The money, which went to Ener1 subsidiary EnerDel, aimed to promote renewable energy storage battery technology for electrical grid use.

Oh, and don't forget about Beacon Power:

Beacon Power Company received $39 million of its government-guaranteed loan before it filed for bankruptcy. Beacon Power developed new technology that supposedly provides energy storage designed to help the intermittent solar and wind power be used by power grids, which need stable power to remain reliable.

Not to mention Amonix:

Just seven months after California-based solar power company Amonix Inc. opened its largest manufacturing plant, in North Las Vegas, the company’s contractor has laid off nearly two-thirds of its workforce... Amonix received a $5.9 million investment tax credit through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act in 2010...

I've got a million of 'em. In fact, that's why I created "The Handy-Dandy EnergyGate Cheat Sheet" -- to keep track of all the wanton criminality associated with the "green collar" jobs that are disappearing faster than a double-chocolate brownie placed in front of Michael Moore.

I would wager $1,000 that a complete investigation of each "green energy" company and its backers -- by third-party, forensic accountants -- would expose a web of ties linking those who benefited to some of the Democrat Party's largest donors. Cause that's the way they roll.

The most shocking aspect of these crimes is that the White House privately admitted that the Stimulus had nothing -- Nuh. Thing. -- to do with rescuing the economy. A recently revealed, December 15, 2008 memo from Obama's senior economic adviser Larry Summers to the president stated explicitly that the suggested spending packages were not about rescuing the economy... they were about rewarding Obama's backers.

The Stimulus is an ongoing crime perpetrated by the Democrats against the American people.

And why do I call this thievery an "armed robbery"? Said simply, Obama and his minions plundered America's wealth -- indebting an untold number of future generations in the process -- using the force of law. This is, as Bastiat put it, "legal plunder."

It is impossible to introduce into society a greater change and a greater evil than this: the conversion of the law into an instrument of plunder.

What are the consequences of such a perversion? It would require volumes to describe them all. Thus we must content ourselves with pointing out the most striking.

In the first place, it erases from everyone's conscience the distinction between justice and injustice.

No society can exist unless the laws are respected to a certain degree. The safest way to make laws respected is to make them respectable. When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law.

Bastiat was describing, more than 150 years before they came to power, the 111th Congress and President Obama.

While I support Rick Santorum in this primary process, I don't care if a crippled kangaroo is the GOP candidate. I will vote to oust Obama and to begin to save this precious country. Those who want to "sit it out" in protest should consider the impact of their inaction on subsequent generations, who we've already condemned to an ominous future. If collapse is what you seek, remember that this generation -- our generation -- will be forever marked as those who lost America.

This theft will not stand. It must not stand. And I will walk on broken glass and hot coals to vote this failed president out of office in November, while bolstering the number of true conservatives in Congress. It's the least we can do. So stop bitching about Mitt Romney, the GOP establishment, or the fact that your latte isn't hot enough. We've been at this for little more than two years. And Rome wasn't built in a day.

You and I, we've got a country to save.


"Europe's Scariest Chart"

Tyler Durden calls this "Europe's Scariest Chart".

Surging Greek and Portuguese bond yields? Plunging Italian bank stocks? The projected GDP of the Eurozone? In the grand scheme of things, while certainly disturbing, none of these data points actually tell us much about the secular shift within European society, and certainly are nothing that couldn't be fixed if the ECB were to gamble with hyperinflation and print an inordinate amount of fiat units diluting the capital base even further...

No: the one chart that truly captures the latent fear behind the scenes in Europe is that showing youth unemployment in the continent's troubled countries (and frankly everywhere else). Because the last thing Europe needs is a discontented, disenfranchised, and devoid of hope youth roving the streets with nothing to do, easily susceptible to extremist and xenophobic tendencies: after all, it must be "someone's" fault that there are no job opportunities for anyone.

[The accompanying chart represents] youth (16-24) unemployment in three select European countries (and the general Eurozone as a reference point). Some may be surprised to learn that while Portugal, and Greece, are quite bad, at 30.7% and 46.6% respectively, it is Spain where the youth unemployment pain is most acute: at 51.4%, more than half of the youth eligible for work does not have a job! Because the real question is if there is no hope for tomorrow, what is the opportunity cost of doing something stupid and quite irrational today?

Bonus Question: what do you call people who try to replicate Europe's failed social welfare state -- a bubbling cauldron of debt-fueled misery and civil unrest -- here in America?

Answer: Democrats.


SEIU Proudly Advertises Its Assocation With Fascist Ideology

Trevor Loudon describes the open and malevolent ties between the SEIU and the Democrat Socialists of America. You can subtitle this story "SEIU members hardest hit":

I have long contended that the US’ largest and most militant labor organization the Service Employees International Union, is allied to, or subordinate to, the country’s largest Marxist organization – Democratic Socialists of America... Here is proof of this connection, from the latest edition of DSA’s Democratic Left, Winter 2011/2012, page 11:


God bless Trevor Loudon for his unwavering fight against the failed, miserable, Utopian ideology of Marxist Fascism in all of its nefarious and destructive forms.

And for those who accuse mois of using "over-the-top" rhetoric with the word fascism, please consider "The Wiktionary Definition of Fascism."


Larwyn's Linx: Palin: "Rage Against the Machine...Vote for Newt"

Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

GOP Primary

Palin: "Rage Against the Machine...Vote for Newt": FoxNation
The 2012 Race Takes Shape: Barone
Mitt Romney's Lack Of Character Revealed Out Of Desperation: Riehl

Latest FL Poll Shows Newt Within Three Points: RCP (PDF)
Newt makes closing argument at The Villages: Nice Deb
Rasmussen: Romney opens up lead in FL: Exam

Romney Aide is Re-districting Allen West Out of Office: LI
Wake Up, Conservatives: Mitt Romney Is Running As A Leftist: Riehl
Bella Santorum 'Improving,' Candidate Off the Trail: NatlJrnl

Nation

Through the Prism of Race: Shayne
Obama’s targeted Latino appeal: Politico
Robert Gibbs back on Obama payroll: Politico

Eat, Pray, Love and Be Black but Don’t Be a Republican: ConBlkChk
The Heretical Gospel According to Pope Barack The First: WyBlog
Congress promises to get tough on Congress: ConCom

Economy

How the $800B stimulus failed: Post
Mostly Peaceful Oakland Occupiers Mostly Peaceful To The Tune Of 300 Arrested: STACLU
Stunning: DC Police Now Tasing Occupiers: JWF

The Political Cowardice of Barack Obama: Reason
Michelle's $50,000 shopping spree boosts company's sales: Telegraph
FL Food stamp bill seek to restrict junk food: Trib

Scandal Central

A Fast and Furious Fib: Post
The Latest Beneficiary of Obama’s Crony Capitalism: George Sorosd: C4P
Fast and Furious sparks agency changes: AZStar

Climate & Energy

Awesome: Calif. To Pay For High Speed Rail With Extortion: Soylent
Iran says oil could reach $120 to $150 per barrel: Fox
CNN Projects Gas Prices Rising to $4.25 to $5 a Gallon: NB

Media

New York Times Fails to Mention Gingrich Was Cleared Of Ethics Charges: BigJ
Welcome to BadBlue: ConCom
The Dan Rather File: Five Decades of Liberal Media Bias: MRC (2007)

Rev. Luke Robinson: ‘They Want Us To Be Silent Because the President Is a Black Man’: CNS
The Social Media and Me: Sajak
Thomas Friedman's Delusions About China vs. Reality: SDA

Tea Party Patriots straw poll: Santorum nomination would generate most enthusiasm: DC
How I woke up to the untruths of Barack Obama: Telegraph
An America Divided: Boortz

World

Egypt: Tens of Thousands of Muslim Brotherhood And Secular Protesters Clash In Tahrir Square: WZ
Egypt: Mob of 3,000 Muslims Led By Salafists Attack Christian Homes And Shops: WZ
The True Obama Doctrine, And Its Chilling Result: Blogmocracy

Palestinian Authority-Run TV Praises Brutal Murderers of Fogel Family: Lid (Graphic)
All American Muslims in Dearborn Heights Arrested for Assault on Christian Quarterback: Creeping
Panetta: Iran is one year away from producing nuclear weapon: Haaretz

Sci-Tech

F-BOMB: the $50 DARPA-funded spy computer makes widespread surveillance even easier: End the Lie
5-Million Dot Electronic Viewfinder Makes Glass Obsolete: Wired
Google Teams With Facebook and Microsoft To Phight Phishing: Wired

Cornucopia

Our Most Populist President Ever: MOTUS
OWS Street Graffit: I See Tent People: Urban Infidel
After ‘The Wire’ ended, actress Sonja Sohn couldn’t leave Baltimore’s troubled streets behind: WaPo

Image: Glenn McCoy Political Cartoons
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Rick Santorum for President

QOTD: "How long before we see a FLOTUS tarmac tantrum? We did get two divas for the price of one. As longtime observers of the royal Obamas have long observed: Mr. and Mrs. Cranky Pants’ problem has never been the color of their skin. It’s the thinness." --Michelle Malkin

Chủ Nhật, 29 tháng 1, 2012

Due to popular demand...

Several bloggers requested that I create some buttons or sidebar badges for the new BadBlue news service. Okay, it wasn't several. It was one. But still...

To use this beauty:

Just copy this text and paste it into your template.


Or to use one of the following buttons, simply click the one you want, then copy the text in the HTML block below to paste into your template:

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HTML to use in your template:

If you don't know what BadBlue is, click here. Basically, it's a news service for the rest of us, completely automated using social networking chatter as the barometer for promoting news stories. So far it seems to be catching on.

Newt Gingrich Fires Back Against GOP Old Guard, Ann Coulter Hardest Hit

Ann Coulter is one of America's most talented conservative columnists. Of late, she has been curiously dogged in attacking Newt Gingrich -- unquestionably a captain of the "Reagan Revolution" -- while backing a man whose conservative credentials are dicey at best. Today Gingrich fired back.

Fox News Latino’s Victor Garcia did a phone interview with Newt Gingrich. During which the Former Speaker was asked about the recent Ann Coulter and Tom Delay criticisms...

Victor Garcia: You have been taking a lot of hits from Tom Delay now, Ann Coulter some of these people that some would consider on the far right of the conservative spectrum. What is your response to the criticism of those ones? Why do you think they are attacking you?

Newt Gingrich: Look I think there are a whole bunch of folks who represent the old order; they attacked Ronald Reagan in 1980 exactly the same way. They are looking at a national poll that shows me ahead of Romney 52-39 in a two way race and they are recognizing that if I come back as president, that I will be for very dramatic, very bold change and they are terrified. I have no interest in what Tom Delay did that got him in trouble. I thought it was wrong and a mistake, I have a very different approach to that and I have no Idea what motivates Ann Coulter but I find that she is all over the map. Basically she is for Romney and therefore anything she says about me is a reflection of the fact that she is for Romney. I expect people who are for Romney to attack me because they are terrified because he is losing.

I have no problem whatsoever with Coulter voicing her opinion, but she should -- like Karl Rove -- disclose whether any financial interests are playing a part in her support for Romney.


Hat tip: BadBlue.

Photos: Occupy DC Girds Its Loins for Eviction Tomorrow

My brother and I went down to McPherson Square today to mock some of the Occupiers for their upcoming eviction tomorrow.

Hopefully this isn't the tent of an English teacher.

Curiously, the encampment appears to be more reminiscent of a ghost town rather than a bustling village gearing up for a confrontation.

Eviction notices were taped to most of the tents.

Compliance bullet #2 could prove problematic in inclement weather.

The crowd couldn't get enough of the Daily Activity Board.

6:00AM Monday - a "General Assembly" will greet the Park Service eviction crew.

A raucous crowd of Occupiers met some tourists taking pictures.

"Comfort Station".

Sensible: fighting "American Fascism" by demanding more government.

Confrontational.

Occupy DC's art gallery: always a popular attraction.

If these guys expect to be teargassed and flash-banged tomorrow, they'd better get rowdier.


Anyone know how much it would cost to have one of these mounted on my hood?

I was thinking it would streamline my commute.


Related: The 10 Cars With the Most Obnoxious Drivers


Outrage: Tea Party Activists Burn American Flag, 300 Arrested

Did I say "Tea Party Activists"? Because I meant to say "Democrat-supported Occupy Loons."

Occupy Oakland protesters broke into City Hall, stole an American flag from the council chamber and set it afire Saturday night punctuating a wild day on the streets of the East Bay city in which police deployed tear gas, arrested more than 100 marchers and dodged hurling objects... Demonstrators spent the day trying to break into a convention center, and temporarily occupying City Hall and a YMCA, all while snaking around lines of riot-clad police.

...It marked the first major clashes between protesters and police since November and left three officers with minor injuries, as protesters threw bottles, metal pipe, rocks, spray cans and “improvised explosive devices” and lit flares, police said.

300 of the Tea Party activists Occupy Oakland Leftists were arrested according to The Los Angeles Times.

...About 300 people were arrested Saturday during a chaotic day of Occupy protests that saw demonstrators break into City Hall and burn an American flag, as police earlier fired tear gas and bean bags to disperse hundreds of people after some threw rocks and bottles and tore down fencing outside a nearby convention center.

...Dozens of police officers remained on guard outside City Hall around midnight following the most turbulent day of protests since November, when Oakland police forcefully dismantled an Occupy encampment. An exasperated Mayor Jean Quan, who faced heavy criticism for the police action last fall, called on the Occupy movement to "stop using Oakland as its playground."

...Quan said that at one point, many forced their way into City Hall, where they burned flags, broke an electrical box and damaged several art structures, including a recycled art exhibit created by children.

Curiously, the media has failed to connect this violence with the explicit endorsements of the movement by President Obama.


Priorities

Contrary to rumor, the President and Democrats in Congress really do have a national security strategy. See if you can figure out what it is.

...President Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta have already settled on a plan to slash $487 billion from existing manpower, as well as from procurement and development of equipment and weapons. The cuts include reducing the Army by 72,000 people and the Marines by 20,000. The cuts also include elimination of six tactical fighter squadrons and one training squadron, plus buying fewer F-35 Joint Strike Fighters -- on top of already planned reductions in the number of F-22 air superiority fighters to be put in service. The Navy will decommission seven cruisers and two amphibious craft, plus delay its procurement process for new ships. Together, these moves will dramatically reduce our ability to put "boots on the ground" and to insure the air superiority needed to protect and assist U.S. forces in major conflicts. Having such forces at the ready is also the best way to keep minor conflicts from exploding into big ones.

But the Obama-Panetta cuts aren't nearly enough for some in Congress. On Friday, representatives Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey of California, and Rush Holt of New Jersey wrote Obama to encourage him to "take even bolder leadership on this issue as you finalize your budget." They want Obama to double the Pentagon cuts because "the Cold War is long over, and no remotely comparable adversary has emerged or is likely to emerge. ... We believe that savings of around $900 billion over the next 10 years can be realized." Following their advice would greatly reduce the reach of American power, and make us seem like a paper lion to the bad guys of the world.

...The terrible irony here is that military spending has been on a steady decline since 1965, as seen in the nearby chart. And, as the defense portion of the budget has contracted for nearly five decades, entitlement spending has exploded... Obama, Panetta and their liberal Democrat allies like Frank are playing chicken with American security.

Was that last sentence racist? Let's ask Leonard Pitts.


Larwyn's Linx: What's Left to Say?

Have a news tip or great story? Drop me an email. Bloggers: you can install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget!

GOP Primary

What's Left to Say?: ProWis
We're screwed: Romney wants RomneyCare in every state: GWP
Gingrich gets endorsement from Herman Cain: Fox

Nation

F.A. Hayek On "The Great Utopia": ZH
Obama to the nation: Onward civilian soldiers: Will
Norquist: Impeach Obama over taxes?: Hot Air

Another Tea Partier arrested for death threat: Powers
Last Refuge of the Race Hustlers: Wolf Howling
Bishop Zubik rips Obama on health care mandate: PittLive

Economy

You Know Who Doesn't Agree the Economy Is Improving?: Ace
After Federal Bailouts, Now GM Lobbying States for More?: Huston
NLRB: Companies Must Turn Over Employee Contact Info: Blaze

The State of Our Union Is Broke: Steyn
Unfair to compare the Obama, Reagan economic recoveries?: Peth
Greeks Reject German Plan for EU Budget Commissioner: Mish

Scandal Central

The Holder Department Of Justice Takes The Fifth: GVB
Holder informed of ATF connection to Brian Terry’s murder day border agent died: DC
Burke of Fast and Furious had anti-gun history: Tucson

Climate & Energy

Al Gore's Paperboy is a Little Slow: iOTW
David Rose: Forget global warming - it's Cycle 25 we need to worry about: SC25
California goes full bats*** crazy: Soylent

Media

Gingrich: Coulter Represents "The Old Order": RCP
Obamacare and the Supreme Court: NRO TV
Eleanor Clift Says Something So Dumb Mort Zuckerman Does Double Facepalm In Disbelief: NB

Rich Lowry Was 12 When Reagan Was Elected And It Shows: Riehl
Allen West to Democrats: Get your leftism the hell out of America!: Scoop
Maher Mocks Gingrich's Wife as a Martian: NB

World

Cultural Marxism: Kimball
Nigeria: fundamental issues exposed by Boko Haram's gruesome rise: Guardian
Greece, creditors on verge of clinching debt deal: Reuters

Gutting America's military is no way to keep the peace: Exam
The Numbers Crunch: Bibi’s oriental viral video: JPost
Iranian bloggers to be executed for 'spreading corruption': Atlas

Sci-Tech

Your iPhone Has To Be Made In China, And Apple Can’t Absolve Your Guilt: PaidContent
Apple Hits Back After New York Times Reports 'Significant Problems' With Manufacturers: FoxBiz
Twitter censorship plan sparks global outrage: Times

Cornucopia

Night Fishing in San Francisco: AmDigest
Video: The greatest guitarist ever?: Hot Air
Watch Newt Gingrich Lincoln Day Dinner Speech: Scoop

Prayers for Bella Santorum: Malkin
Disgraced teacher worth $10M, makes $100K a year, does nothing, refuses to leave: Post
Shipwreck hunters find mysterious object at bottom of Baltic Sea: Daily Mail

Image: Urban Infidel
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Rick Santorum for President

QOTD: "The president certainly had facts and figures at his disposal. He boasted that his regulatory reforms “will save business and citizens more than $10 billion over the next five years.” Wow. Ten billion smackeroos! That’s some savings — and in a mere half a decade! Why, it’s equivalent to what the government of the United States borrows every 53 hours. So by midnight on Thursday Obama had already re-borrowed all those hard-fought savings from 2017. “In the last 22 months,” said the president, “businesses have created more than three million jobs.” Impressive. But 125,000 new foreign workers arrive every month (officially). So we would have to have created 2,750,000 jobs in that period just to stand still."--Mark Steyn

Thứ Bảy, 28 tháng 1, 2012

I accuse this chart of being racist!

James Pethokoukis calls this "the economic chart that may doom the Obama presidency."

Even if [Friday's] GDP report—for the fourth quarter of 2011—shows 3 percent growth or better [Ed: it did not, coming in at 2.8, worse than expected], it would be just the fourth time that has happened since the economy began turning up in June 2009: 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, 3.9 percent in the first quarter of 2010, and 3.8 percent in the second quarter of 2010. But no 3 percent-plus quarters since then.

The first nine quarters of the Reagan Recovery, by contrast, looked like this: 5.1 percent, 9.3 percent, 8.1 percent, 8.5 percent, 8.0 percent, 7.1 percent, 3.9 percent, 3.3 percent, 3.8, percent, 3.4 percent. In fact, the Reagan Boom went from the first quarter of 1983 until the second quarter of 1986 without notching a sub-3 percent GDP quarter.

So, while the Reagan Recovery quickly made up for lost years of growth, not so much for the Obama Recovery, as this chart in today’s Wall Street Journal makes clear:


Over at Business Insider, a surprisingly left-wing rag given its ostensible focus on the private sector economy, some ludicrous hack named Joe Weisenthal insists that all of this data is irrelevant. His latest piece, basically a troll's post with a larger-than-usual website, is entitled "Why The Obama Recovery Has Been Much More Impressive Than Reagan's" (no link, you can find it if you want to).

Another thing about Reagan was that he was a deficit-lover.
Reagan presided over the largest (still) one-year annual jump in the size of the national debt. (And PS: that just happened to be right after the recession, when the economy started growing like crazy as Pethokoukis notes)... The conditions behind the Great Recession were far worse than anything Reagan inherited, and Obama has pulled off a recovery with less of a sustained growth in Federal Government spending.

Hey, Joe - I wonder who was in control of the House during the Reagan years? Oh, yeah -- that's right. The Democrats, who insisted every one of Reagan's austerity budgets was "Dead On Arrival". Reagan wanted to eliminate the Department of Education, for instance. Sound like a big spender to you, Joe?

Reagan inherited double-digit unemployment, double-digit inflation, an oil crisis, a resurgent Soviet Union, and he'd turned America around in three years with a Democrat-controlled Congress. As a commenter observes:

A recap of Hope and Change since President Obama took office in Jan 2009. Comparing economic indicators starting in Jan 2009 to present day:

1. Federal debt has increased by 43% from $10.6 trillion to $15 trillion.
2. Americans living in poverty have increased by 16% from 39.8 million to 46.2 million.
3. Total unemployment (U6) has increased by 68% from 13.7 million to 23 million.
4. Price of gasoline has increased by 80% from $1.86/gal to $3.35/gal
5. Americans on food stamps have increased 42% from 31.8 million to 45.2 million
6. Home foreclosures per year have increased by 34% from 850,000 to 1,140,000
7. Total bankruptcy filings per year have increased by 42% from 1,117,641 to 1,593,081.
8. Median Household incomes have declined by 4%.
9. Average selling price of new homes has declined by 10%.
10. US dollar compared to foreign currencies has declined by 8.7%. [US dollar index of 85.9 in Jan 2009 to 78.5 in Dec 2011.]
11. US dollar compared to gold has declined 105%. [$855/oz. to $1750/oz.]

Not to mention adding a new, wildly unpopular and massive new entitlement program (Obamacare) when our existing entitlements are circling the drain.

Hey, Joe: you gonna put some ice on that, brother?


A simple illustration anyone can understand: why liberalism is the philosophy of the stupid

"The reason I say that liberalism is the philosophy of the stupid is because we can look at what's going around in the country today. If, in your own lives, you were pursuing policies that were destroying your own home ownership, that were destroying your own job, that were creating a massive, impossible debt for your family and your children in particular, you'd stop it. You wouldn't keep doing it!

"And yet for the liberal, if it's imposed on you -- and they feel that they can be immune from it -- they're for it.

"They wouldn't do to themselves and their own family what they're doing to you, and your family, and the whole nation!

"Take Barack Obama. Does Barack Obama conduct himself in his own, personal affairs, in his family's affairs, as recklessly as he conducts the affairs of the nation? No. Would he run up the kind of relative personal debt that he's running up for the nation? No way.

"Would he do anything that would endanger his position as president? Of course not -- he thinks his agenda will return him to office. He's taking care of his constituent groups...

So they do to us -- and they do to our society -- what they would never do to their own families. They do not live in their own lives as they seek to have the rest of us live. Or as they seek to have our society conduct itself." --Mark Levin, "Why Liberalism is the Philosophy of the Stupid".