Video: Paul Ryan on why he’s not running for president

It's too bad too, because he would have run circles around Obama on economic issues. Via The Right Scoop:

Despite evidence to the contrary, Alan Colmes repeats lie that tea party movement is racist because of 2010 DC incident that didn't happen

Liberal have glommed onto the fake, made-up, non-controversy controversy to smear, once again, the Tea Party movement and conservatives as raaaaacists. What makes this worse is that had Colmes actually done a knee-jerk piece back in March 2010, he would have had an excuse. But since then, video evidence has clearly shown that the events Colmes mentions did not happen. Then again, I am assuming Colmes actually emerges from his liberal echo chamber now and again. My assumption, however, might in fact be false.First, the lie: Alan Colmes Falsely Claims Rep. John Lewis Was Spat Upon by Tea Party

LAst I wrote about the discredited meme, it was in regards to another race-baiter: Despite evidence to the contrary, Leonard Pitts Jr repeats lie that tea party movement is racist because of DC incident that didn't happen. From his ridiculous piece that is once again picked up by the most liberal dead-wood dinosaur print media: Apologies don't excuse the rottenness within Tea Party protests

So it turns out that, contrary to what I argued in this space a few weeks back, racism is not "a major component" of the so-called Tea Party movement. I am informed of this by dozens of Tea Party activists indignant and insulted that I would even suggest such a thing.

In other news, Tea Party protesters called John Lewis a "nigger" the other day in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol.

For the record, Lewis wasn't their only target. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver was spat upon. Rep. Barney Frank, who is gay, was called "faggot."

Only problem is, none of those things happened. As I wrote back in March 2010, CNNs own video disproved the racist allegations (MSM claims DC Tea Party hurled racial slurs, CNN video disproves it). Dana Loesch observed that it started with one CNN reporter:

A CNN reporter, yes, CNN, the home of the infamous Susan Rosegen, claimed to have heard racist slurs and shouts; other bloggers picked it up. I mean, if you’re going to smear a group of people by claiming that they were shouting slurs, perhaps make sure you don’t post video that completely refutes your claim and makes you look like a race hustler. Just saying.

Here's the CNN video. Judge for yourself:

The MSM piled on faster than flies on feces:

HuffPo: Tea Party Protests: ‘Ni**er,’ ‘Faggot’ Shouted At Members Of Congress
McClatchy: Tea party protesters scream ‘nigger’ at black congressman
Yglesias: Rep Devin Nunes Endorses Racist and Homophobic Slurs
WaPo: ‘Tea party’ protesters accused of spitting on lawmaker, using slurs
Prescriptions:  Spitting and Slurs Directed at Lawmakers
TPDMC: Tea Partiers Call Lewis ‘N****r’, Frank ‘F****t’, At Capitol Hill Protest
CNN: Protesters hurl slurs and spit at Democrats 

But that wasn't the end of it. More and more videos were released from people that were there. None showed any racial epithets whatsoever. More than that thought was that Lewis' entourage included Jesse Jackson Jr who FILMED THE WHOLE THING! Check out this pic of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr:

That's a flip-type camcorder that he was holding the entire way. Picked up nada as far as racist epithets go. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Came up empty. Don't got it. This the MSM doesn't get. Not only were there no racial epithets, there was no spitting either. From Dan Riehl: Video Seems To Confirm No Spitting On Congressman

Surely Colmes cannot possibly be oblivious to all the evidence against the meat of his narrative, could he? Well, as it urns out, he is oblivious. And don't call him Shirley.

Audio of Obama: Long-term unemployed (that he's responsible for!) are being discriminated against by employers

I should point out that Obama discriminates against employers,businesses, and capitalism in general. Also, those long term unemployed are his creation! Via BreitbartTV, our community organizer in chief's continued War on Business:

Video:NBC News Take Rehearsed Cheap Shot After Dick Cheney Interview: ‘Torture Is a Crime’

After VP Dick Cheney's interview with Matt Lauer on the Today Show, the camera pulls back and very deliberately captures the image of a protest sign. Watch the segment and ask yourself if this appears to be planned and maybe even rehearsed. Maybe? Watch this little bit of liberal media bias:

Could it possibly be more blatant that that?

Heh: WI labor leaders ban GOP from parade, so Wasau Mayor stick unions with the bill

My guess is the union heads will back down faster than cockroaches scattering when the light goes on:

From al Reuters: Labor leaders must pay for parade if GOP banned, mayor says

The mayor of a Wisconsin town said on Tuesday a local labor council would have to reimburse the city up to $2,000 for a Labor Day parade if organizers exclude Republican lawmakers from attending.

The move in Wausau, Wisconsin, came after a county labor official said last week that Republican politicians were not welcome at the event due to their party's stance against collective bargaining when state lawmakers voted to curtail it earlier this year.

Wausau Mayor Jim Tipple told Reuters on Tuesday that the decision to exclude elected Republicans "flies in the face of public policy."

"This is not a political rally, it's a parade, for God's sake," Tipple said, noting that taxpayer money is used by the city to pay for staging the event. Tipple's office is nonpartisan, and he claims no affiliation with either political party.

Typical for the unions to try and use taxpayer money for blatant partisan purposes. 

Video: Disgraced ‘Wonkette’ Busted Putting Racist Words in Bachmann’s Mouth

Goodbye Wonkette. It was nice not knowing you at all.

Already disgraced from their disgusting treatment of Trig Palin, Wonkette.com now uses a bogus video to claim that Michele Bachmann asked a rain soaked crowd "Who like white people?". Upon further review, the video clearly shows she says "Who likes WET people?".

Given the opportunity to update their site and clarify things for their readers, Wonkette instead has continued to insist Rep. Bachmann made a racist remark.

And from Ed Dricoll via Instapundit:

Stacy McCain, whose video was used for the above smear job is appropriately livid. Clicking on Stacy’s video, and it’s obvious that what Bachmann is saying to her drenched summer audience is “who likes wet people?” Clicking on the video at Wonkette (no link, but you can click through Stacy’s page if you’d like to see it) results in the video being marked “private,” and a blank screen. I wonder how long it will remain up? (Answer: until the letter from Stacy’s lawyer arrived, apparently.)

UPDATE: More from Stacy via Instapundit:

FUNDING STACY MCCAIN’S RETIREMENT: No Honor Among Thieves, No Curiosity Among Journalists: Perez Hilton Re-Pirates Video, CBS News Repeats Smear.

Predictable: Obama touted Solyndra Solar to Declare Bankruptcy after getting $535 Million in Stimulus Funds

Obama publicly touted the facility a year ago for creating 'green jobs.' Turns out, propping up a bad business model with federal funds does not a good job creator make. Out of all the alternative energy technologies, photovoltaics are one of my favorites. But I do not support massive subsidies to a technology that needs more R&D. Nor environmental propaganda behind the tech. Everything- everything - has a negative environmental impact and it can be no other way because of the fundamental laws of nature (in this case the 2nd law of thermodynamics). Propaganda behind forced green jobs and misapplications of otherwise good technology is something I have opposed in this blog since day 1. This is the predictable result: Solyndra to Declare Bankruptcy 

...An NBC Bay Area photographer on the scene reports security guards are not letting visitors on campus. He says "people are standing around in disbelief." The employees have been given yellow envelopes with instructions on how to get their last checks.

Solyndra was touted by the Obama administration as a prime example of how green technology could deliver jobs.

If Solyndra sounds familiar to regular readers of this blog, it's because of this absurd situation last year: Obama tours solar panel plant in CA to tout jobs, workers FORCED TO STAY HOME WITHOUT PAY! Executives got to stay and cheer the President on. Workers were forced to stay home. Without pay. From my prior post:

Solyndra received a $535 million federal loan guarantee last year to build a new solar panel manufacturing plant that now employs 1,000 workers, according to the White House. The Obama administration has touted the project as a major success story of the economic stimulus bill, which provided the funding. A second phase is expected to employ an additional 1,000 people, Solyndra officials have said.

The employees got screwed by Obama a year ago:

Union workers have been told not to come back until Thursday because of security concerns associated with the President’s visit. Workers tell KRON 4’s Kate Thompson this day off means they won’t get paid.

"It’s with no pay and we have no choice," construction worker Adam Bracamontes told Kate. "We have to take a day off and come back Thursday. We don’t get to meet the President. We’re the workers and we don’t get to see him."

One year later, this:

View more videos at: http://nbcbayarea.com.

More from the current piece:

The President visited the facility in May of last year and said "it is just a testament to American ingenuity and dynamism and the fact that we continue to have the best universities in the world, the best technology in the world, and most importantly the best workers in the world. And you guys all represent that. "

The GOP response was appropriate:

Some Republicans have been very critical of the loans. "I am concerned that the DOE is providing loans and loan guarantees to firms that aren't capable of competing in the global market, even with government subsidies" Florida Congressman Cliff Stearns told the New York Times.

If there is no business plan for a sustainable operation outside of massive subsides, then IT'S NOT A BUSINESS!

UPDATE: Solar Plant That Obama Visited Files For Bankruptcy, Fires Over 1,000 Workers

 

UPDATE #2:Via memeorandum: Solyndra Filing a Disaster for Obama

President Obama faces political catastrophe in the form of Solyndra -- a San Francisco Bay area solar company that he touted as a gleaming example of green technology. It has announced it will declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. More than 1,100 people will lose their jobs.

...It's not his statements the administration will regret; it's the loan guarantees. The President was celebrating $535 million in federal promises from the Department of Energy to the solar startup. The administration didn't do its due diligence, says the Government Accountability Office. "There's a consequence if you don't follow a rigorous process that's transparent," Franklin Rusco of GAO told the website iWatch News.

The President touted the federally back money as a way to create jobs. The President's opponents immediately jumped on the deal as Solyndra made its first layoffs.

Republican Congressman Cliff Stearns of Florida warned, "I am concerned that the DOE is providing loans and loan guarantees to firms that aren't capable of competing in the global market, even with government subsidies."

Another critic, Fred Upton of Michigan: "The unfortunate reality is that loan guarantee highlights many of the systemic flaws associated with the stimulus in the mad dash to spend hundreds of billions of dollars."

More from iOwnTheWorld.com, Campaign 2012, Weasel Zippers and Gateway Pundit. Recently from The New York Times of all places: Number of Green Jobs Fails to Live Up to Promises. And from Byron York: Key Dems: Obama's ‘green jobs’ plan a bust. And via Instapundit:

SHOCKER: Green Jobs Revealed As Fiscal Black Hole. “Pipe dreams eventually are revealed for what they are – unrealistic, wishful thinking. It didn’t take long for Spain’s touted green-job revolution to be revealed as a financial disaster, siphoning taxpayer subsidies and destroying 2.2 real jobs for every green job created. Domestic green-job pipe dreams similarly drain U.S. taxpayers’ money into economic sink holes. The millions of so-called green jobs promised by President Barack Obama and other champions of taxpayer-subsidized energy schemes not only haven’t materialized, many that did, already are disappearing. It’s truly a bad sign for the green-job revolution when failure becomes obvious even to acolytes.”

Plenty more from  Pajamas Media, Hit & Run, Hot Air, Power Line, American Spectator and Gateway Pundit. Finally, I'll leave you with this video: GO GREEN NOW!! (Crazy Pete Returns)

UPDATE #3: From across the pond, this was so totally predictable: Power bills to soar by 30% in 'green’ reforms

Household electricity bills will soar by 30 per cent to pay for “green” measures being announced this week by Chris Huhne, the Energy Secretary, according to experts.

UPDATE #4: A flashback from Jennifer Granholm, of whom former MI Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop said "Jennifer Granholm was Barack Obama before Barack Obama was Barack Obama": A Clean Energy Triple Play

Other companies are following Dow Corning and Hemlock Semiconductor's lead. In Midland, Evergreen Solar opened a new solar plant last year, and is ramping up production of its new "string ribbon solar wafer" technology.

Evergreen Solar also went bankrupt after getting a buttload of stimulus money...

UPDATE #5: Via Instapundit:

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD ON “GREEN” SCIENCE FICTION: To Boldly Go Where Lots Have Gone Before. “The weak link in McKibben’s strategy is that like many greens he still seems to be trying to scare the public so badly that it will overlook the many obvious and frequently fatal flaws in the hodgepodge of dubious policy ideas the green movement floats. It’s all been done before, better, and it failed.”

Poll: Obamacare support at all time low of 39%

From Beltway Confidential:

Americans' opinion of Obamacare has reached an all-time post-passage low according to the Kaiser Health Tracking poll. Only 39% of those surveyed have a favorable view of the law, two points below the previous nadir of 41% first set in May 2010. Forty-four percent of Americans have an unfavorable view.

While there continues to be a sharp partisan divide over the law, the Kaiser poll shows Americans' views converging. Democratic and Independent support for Obamacare has fallen to all-time lows of 60% and 33% respectively. But Republican support for the law is at an all-time 24% high.

A continuous stream of nightmare stories from places where socialized medicine has been tried (and failed) may be fueling some of this. For instance, in Britain: 100,000 terminally ill 'do not get proper palliative care'

Far more people die in hospital than wish to, and experts estimate that more than 90,000 people are not having their palliative care needs met.

And this: Saddam Hussein Torture Doctor at Work in British Hospital. And this: Cataracts, hips, knees and tonsils: NHS begins rationing operations (more on that one at Maggie's Notebook, Betsy's Page, Power Line, LifeNews). Even more: NHS trusts delaying surgeries to get people to pay — or die. And regarding ObamaCare: Health care law won't rein in costs, study says. Of course it doesn't! It was never meant to! Lots more about how the unconstitutional law will increase, not decrease, healthcare costs here: Hot Air, The Lonely Conservative, Fox Nation, Sister Toldjah and Pirate's Cove

UPDATE: The 6-Year Search for a Family Doctor in Canada 

From the article "The Soul-Destroying Search for a Family Doctor," about a woman's six-year search to find a family doctor in Canada, where the single-payer system is frequently plagued with shortages for primary care physicians.

Plus this:  "All of these people were actually lined up to try to get a family doctor in Canada."

Yikes...

The 'New Civility'(Cont'd): Congressional Black Caucus: Racist Tea Party Wants Black Americans ‘Hanging On a Tree’

Via BreitbartTV:

Over the past few weeks, members of the Congressional Black Caucus (an organization that excludes people from joining based on skin color) held job fair town hall events across the country. Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) told the attendees of his event that members of the Tea Party in congress would like to see "us hanging on a tree". Carson is the congressman who started the myth that Tea Party protesters hurled racial slurs at he and Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) on the day of the ObamaCare vote.

UPDATE: Rush Limbaugh - Do You Think Andre Carson Knows It Was Democrats That Hung Blacks

 

UPDATE #2: Andre Carson Defends Attack on Tea Party: ‘I Stand by the Truth of What I Said’

"The Officer Is Still Wearing His Utility Belt." NM State Trooper Caught Having Sex On The Hood Of His Car

Why the reporter had to point out that the officer was still wearing his utility belt is beyond me, but anyway:

Alternate headline: 'Is that your nightstick or are you happy to see me?'

Video of MLK’s Daughter: ‘Lincoln Remembered for Signing Declaration of Independence’

The only reason to show this vid of course is to point out the blatant, bald-faced liberal media bias. There is a media blackout on Bernice King who, speaking at an event commemorating the opening of a monument to her father Martin Luther King Jr, said something that would land Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann on the front page of the New York Times daily:

I wonder if the MLK memorial has anything on it about King being a Republican? Yeah - riiiiight.

Media Bias Headline Of The Day: "Cheney Opposed Decision to Save GM"

From David Shepardson of The Detroit News Washington Bureau, the liberal media bias headline of the day: Cheney Opposed Decision to Save GM. The decision didn't "save GM." It simply bailout out the UAW. The piece starts out just as the headline suggests:

Former Vice President Dick Cheney says he opposed the decision to save General Motors Corp. from collapse in December 2008.

The bailout didn't save GM from collapse. These people are either ignorant of what bankruptcy is, or simply think we're too stupid to know the difference between bankruptcy and collapse. Speaking of, remember when the bailout of GM and Chrysler was advertised as the necessary remedy to keep the autos from going bankrupt? The result was that they took all those billions of taxpayers dollars... and went bankrupt. The only difference was that they had to go through bankruptcy proceedings with the 800-ound government gorilla on their backs. And the gorilla liked to pick winners and losers. UAW the winner, bondholders the losers.

But a funny thing happened in the runup to bankruptcy. The narrative changed from the bailout saving the autos from bankruptcy to saving the autos from liquidation. It was and is a false narrative. Without the bailout, GM and Chrysler would have gone through bankruptcy proceedings, would have shed their bad debt, and more importantly their unsustainable union contract, and come out a stronger, more competitive company. Instead, the yoke of the union contract is still around their necks thanks to Obama, and any progress that GM and Chrysler have made is in spite of, not because of the bailout. Fortunately for both companies, they have competent engineers pioneering better products. I've seen many of them come and go through my courses.

So shame on David Shepardson for what appears t be naked liberal bias in what is supposed to be a news piece.

By the way, I would be remiss in not pointing out what liberals claim is a success story: Treasury hikes estimate of auto bailout losses to $14.3B. Actually, the loss is far more than that because the $14.3 billion number ignores the backdoor bailout that the media continues to refuse to cover: Government Motors, Dems, Obama celebrate first quarter profits made up entirely of backdoor taxpayer bailout that the press still refuses to report. I'll summarize the backdoor bailout in two prior posts:

• Bailout: GM only earned a 'profit' on paper because of $45 billion backdoor taxpayer bailout that the establishment MSM isn't reporting


• Detroit News spews Obama propaganda: Feds to recoup $36 billion in bailout money, fail to mention GM receiving $45 billion tax furlough

That's right - neither Chrysler nor GM pay taxes. They are exempt for several years costing taxpayers at least $42 billion. That was a decision Obama made (the regime gave any 'private' company a tax exemption if they drank the kool-aid and took TARP money). Ford gets no such privileged treatment, pays its taxes and still has to compete on the open market with both. For someone who gives lip service to "leveling the playing field" Obama tilted it severely to political points. And with the non-curious, lazy media at his back, he gets headlines like the above and it's based on news that is misleading at best, and outright false at worse. Including the tax breaks, how much will the total loss be to US taxpayers? This much: Government to LOSE $85 Billion on Government Motors, Obama calls it a success...  The original bailout was $80 billion. Put up $80 billion, end up losing $85 billion. Only in the world of the federal government is that called a success.
More GM news via Instapundit:

BROKEN PROMISE: General Motors Again Ripping Off Americans: Warranties Edition.

And related auto industry news here in the D: Pelosi aide defends $35K congressional tab for Detroit auto show. Compared to the deficit, and the $5 trillion in new debt under Pelosi, $35k is just a speck of dirt on a drop in a really big well.

California Mountain Snake Arrested At White House

She's lucky she didn't lose an eye: Daryl Hannah Arrested at White House

How about we ban Hollywood moonbats instead?

Much-arrested Hollywood actress Daryl Hannah was taken away from the White House in restraints Tuesday afternoon.

Hannah was taking part in an ongoing protest against the unbuilt Keystone XL oil pipeline.

"Sometimes it's necessary to sacrifice your freedom for a greater freedom," Hannah said in Lafayette Park before her arrest.  "And we want to be free from the horrible death and destruction that fossil fuels cause, and have a clean energy future."

With dozens of others, Hannah sat on the sidewalk in front of the White House and refused three requests from the Park Police to move.

The group organizing the protest, Tar Sands Action, has said the Keystone pipeline -- which will stretch from Canada to the Gulf -- is among the most important environmental decisions that confront the president.

I wonder what her running carbon footprint is that includes movies with huge budgets and even bigger sets. How much fossil fuel energy went into making all of her movies? HT: memeorandum 

UPDATE: Sean Hannity Interviews Daryl Hannah After Being Arrested In DC For Civil Disobedience

UPDATE #2: Video: Ethical oil

No doubt you’ve seen coverage of environmentalist activists converging on the nation’s capital to protest a proposed oil pipeline — the Keystone XL — that would run from Canada to Texas. B-lister Mark Ruffalo even lent his considerable celebrity to the cause in this video. But a new ad asks an interesting question: Why would those enviros rather bankroll Saudi Arabia’s oppression of women than allow the pipeline to run through the United States?

FAIL! Obama didn't ride his $2.2 million Canadian bus on 3-day bus tour, took Airforce 1 instead. Buses FLOWN too! Carbon footprint bigger than Hurricane Irene

That misery bus tour Obama embarked on cost US taxpayers far more than the $2.2 million for a set of big, black, scary buses. Turns out, that money was spent on expensive props, because those Obama didn't actually ride around in those expensive Canadian-built buses. He took Airforce 1 instead. The buses were purely for show. Via moonbattery: Obama’s Flying Magical Misery Tour Buses

Remember how Comrade Obama reached out to the Heartland he so clearly despises with a Midwestern bus tour? He blew $2.2 million on twin Canadian-made buses for the tour. But spending our money on sinister-looking buses is one thing; actually riding them is another. The Manchurian Moonbat actually flew from point to point, then rode a bus from the airport for show:

 

Oh but it gets even better. Or worse as the case may be. The big, bad buses WERE FLOWN from location to location. From RedState: President Obama has Tour Buses Flown to Stump Speeches

According to some sources he hasn’t really been riding these buses much at all.  They say, he’s been flying them.

Apparently President Obama only rode the buses for a couple of miles at a time, spending the rest of the time flying from community to community in Air Force One. What’s more, the buses were flown from stop to stop as well. It’s normal practice for the President’s entire motorcade to be loaded up on cargo planes and flown from destination to destination. The buses were just a new part of that motorcade.

But why wouldn’t the presidential limousine have sufficed? Or one of the other armored vehicles that routinely travel with the President? Apparently because the President wanted the imagery of a bus. And buses are what he got.

So good news America! If these reports are true, then not only do you get the pleasure of having a $1.1 million dollar bus carting the President around to “enlist” voters to fight for his reelection, but you get to marvel at the hypocrisy of an administration hell bent on destroying industries with carbon footprints too large for comfort, while they themselves are flying entire caravans of SUVs and buses in giant 747s flanked by fighter jets.

All so the president can travel a couple of miles per stop with the image that he’s on the ground with the people when in reality, he couldn’t be more detached from them, their problems, or this continually declining economy.  You couldn’t ask for a better metaphor.

Indeed. And here conservatives like myself have been opining that the misery bus tour never seemed to quite get off the ground. How wrong we were but in the literal sense...

Video: Bill Lind Blasts Political Correctness

You can watch his "History of Political Correctness" at this link. A snippet from the link:

“Political Correctness is Marxism, with all that implies: loss of freedom of expression, thought control, inversion of the traditional social order and, ultimately, a totalitarian state.”...

And includes this quite correct gif:

The video is in 3 parts:

With the above as background, the obligatory current news: Sharpton’s Debut: GOP Candidates Like Pre-1960’s Racist Segregationists

Using his now familiar bumbling, bewildering and bombastic delivery, Al Sharpton premiered his brand new show on MSNBC, "Politics Nation" with an attack on the GOP presidential candidates saying they want to bring the country back to pre-1960's segregationist times. He also promised that this was what his show was going to be about.

Considering Mr. Sharpton's entire career up to this point has been defined by making loud accusations of racism through a bullhorn, we should not be surprised that this will be the content of his NBC News program.  ...

Video: Carrie Underwood sings “How Great Thou Art” at CMAs

Via Jill Stanek:

Pure Michigan Video Spoof: Renaissance Festival

Another in a line of these that I have posted:

Previously:
Pure Michigan Video Spoof: Detroit Tigers
Pure Michigan Video Spoof: DEMF
Pure Michigan Video Spoof: Monsoon Season
Pure Michigan Video Spoof: St. Patrick's Day
Video: More 'Pure Michigan' Spoofs
Pure Michigan Video: Winter Virgins
Video: Even More 'Pure Michigan' Spoofs
Video: Pure Michigan - Pure Pothole Hell
Video: More 'Pure Michigan' Spoofs
Video: 'Pure Michigan' spoofs that are going viral on YouTube

Bad Anniversary: Obama August 30, 2010 - Says He'll Have A Plan For The Economy After Returning From Vacation

One year later, no change whatsoever:

Related via Instapundit:

WHITE HOUSE: Obama Still Hasn’t Finished His Jobs Plan. “He is still having conversations and meetings and looks to finalize his plan, so the answer is no, he’s not complete with that process.”

Maybe not having a plan is his plan, just like in the movie Singles.

Change! August 2011 Deadliest month for US in Afghanistan

More lives have been lost under Obama's first 2 years than under 8 years of Bush. Rest assured that if Bush were the President, this would be constant headline news. I'm talking daily.From Army Times: August: Deadliest month for U.S. in Afghanistan

August has become the deadliest month for U.S. troops in the nearly 10-year-old war in Afghanistan, where international forces have started to go home and let Afghan forces take charge of securing their country.

A record 66 U.S. troops have died so far this month, eclipsing the 65 killed in July 2010, according to a tally by The Associated Press.

This month’s death toll soared when 30 Americans — most of them elite Navy SEALs — were killed in a helicopter crash Aug. 6. They were aboard a Chinook shot down as it was flying in to help Army Rangers who had come under fire in Wardak province. It was the single deadliest incident of war being waged by Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces and insurgents.

A graphic from earlier this year showing the comparison: Pic of the day: how the Afghan War has gone under Obama vs Bush

Exit question: where are all those antiwar lunatics?

Irony: Pro-Abort Nancy Pelosi: The Rich Wont Pay Taxes Because They Want To Be Immortal

It's always amusing to see the morally depraved lecture about morality, and it would indeed be funny if it were not so serious:

Fact: Top 1% Pay More Fed Income Taxes Than Bottom 95%! Bottom 51% Pay None. Bottom 40% GET MONEY BACK! Worse yet, from my prior post: Good News: 51% of Households Pay No Income Tax (Most of Those Get Money Back!); Share of Taxes Paid by Rich Growing Faster Than Income. It's confirmed. There are now more people not paying federal income taxes than those paying them. So basically what is happening is a huge transfer of wealth from the productive to the unproductive, which will have the effect of incentivizing non-productivity while punishing productivity. Shouldn't that be backwards? So an update on a prior post on the issue before the 50% point was reached: not only does bottom 47% of taxpayers pay no federal income tax, but the bottom 40% GET MONEY BACK! Well, that 50% level, as Granholm would say, has been blown away. The majority of Americans don't pay any federal income tax. From Tax Prof via Instapundit: 51% of Households Pay No Income Tax; Share of Taxes Paid by Rich Growing Faster Than Income

In connection with the hearing, Ranking Member Hatch released this letter from the Joint Committee on Taxation reporting 51% of U.S. households did not pay any federal income tax in 2009.

As I mentioned up front, it's now gotten so bad, so unfair, that the top 1% pay more in federal taxes than the bottom 95% (60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll: 50% of Americans that don't pay taxes thinks "rich" people ought to pay more, even though top 1% pay more than bottom 95%):The rich are paying far more than their fair share, and instead of being thanked are demonized by Pelosi.

Leonard Pitt Jr and the 'new civility' (cont'd): Tea Party Can Go to Hell, and I INTEND TO HELP THEM GET THERE

Why in the world does The Detroit Free Press continue to give this deranged hate-monger and race baiter a microphone? Unless they of course agree with his moonbattery. Last week, unhinged California moonbat Maxine Waters let her true feelings be known: Video of Maxine Waters That Media is Ignoring: Tea Party Can Go to Hell, ‘I INTEND TO HELP THEM GET THERE’. The video:

That show of civility was so sincere that it brought a tear to Pitts' eye, and was his muse for lionizing the hatefest: Finally, a message with backbone for the tea party. Pitts says that Waters has spine. I agree. Unfortunately there's nothing at the top of said spine, but anyway.

...Said spine was briefly glimpsed a little over a week ago at a jobs summit in Inglewood, Calif., in the person of U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters. "I'm not afraid of anybody," the California Democrat said. "... And as far as I'm concerned, the tea party can go straight to hell."

Yo Lenny - why leave out the part that came right after that- "and I intend to help them get there"? Furthermore, Pitts hypocritically excuses himself from

...Moreover, as hypocritical and self-serving as the tea party patriots' statement is, it is also correct: Telling people to go to hell is about as uncivil as it gets. I could never, in ordinary times, applaud such conduct.

But no one will ever mistake these for ordinary times.

This is the same Leonard Pitts Jr that blamed Sarah Palin supposed violent rhetoric for the Giffords shooting in January.I kid you not!: Leonard Pitts Jr: Sarah Palin was "theme music" to Arizona shooter. Democrats and GOP need to sit together at SOTU address to counteract it or something. This is directly from Pitts column back in January:

I invite you to ponder a controversy from the '90s. Some people, outraged by a violent heavy metal song called "Cop Killer" by a group called Body Count, sought to censor and boycott it out of existence, many saying it would cause cop killings.

...The same chain of logic -- and the same questions -- apply here. I do not believe alleged shooter Jared Lee Loughner was an average guy who, upon hearing some violent rhetoric from Sarah Palin, suddenly snapped and decided to shoot Giffords. But at the same time, I want to ask Palin: Should you really be providing that individual's theme music?

The man doesn't know when to quit. Weeks after the Arizona shooting that liberals used to attack Sarah Palin, the tea party, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and a whole host of liberal idiocy, Pitts never got the memo that the narrative had been discredited and that the shooter was a "left-wing pothead." Istead he used the occasion of the eve of Obama's SOTU address to attack Sarah Palin in particular. Again. The title of that column? This: Leonard Pitts Jr: Choose your seat as a gesture toward civility. Civility? Totally ignored is the regular hateful rhetoric of the left. And Leonard Pitts Jr is among those leftists that hurl vile, hateful rhetoric. Need I remind any readers of this blog some of the hateful things that came from Pitts keyboard? Accusing Christians of being like Nazis? (but then turned around a few columns later and used the Bible to push ObamaCare) Smearing the entire tea party movement as racist without a shred of evidence, and plenty of evidence to the contrary? How about this one for hatred: Tea Partiers are raaaaacist and need to go to the back of the bus. That's right, the back of the bus. How's that for hatred? He also likened an Obama gesture to one made by God almighty. Thee God. And thinks the gay agenda is equivalent to the issue of slavery, is pro-abortion but anti-death penalty, yet falsely blasted Republicans for not helping babies in Haiti after the earthquake. Hypocrite.

One last point about Pitts column, and it's way too easy to point out the lack of logic in this, but here it is anyway:

Seventy percent of us, according to a Gallup poll, think both tax increases and spending cuts ought to be used to reduce the budget deficit. That reasonable, balanced approach was not a part of the debt ceiling deal because the tea party threatened, credibly, to push the nation into default rather than allow it.

Two logical fallacies right there. First, 51% of taxpayers pay no federal income taxes at all. The next 40% wouldn't see their taxes increased at all. So why the surprise that 70% want tax increases... ON OTHER PEOPLE! But not themselves. The question should have been are you willing to pay more taxes yourself to reduce the budget deficit?' I would hypothesize that far less than 70% would have said yes. Second, not increasing the debt ceiling would not have precipitated a default. If your credit card reaches its limit, and you are denied an increase, you still will pay your mortgage bill rather than default. It's just that things you want (ObamaCare, welfare, tons and tons of waste and pork) are things you cannot afford. Good grief, Lenny!

Pic of the Day: "Rescue Fees Will Be Charged"

As with all things government union, the lifeguard service has become a public employee lifestyle management, pension and healthcare entity that guards lives on the side, poorly, and apparently at an additional cost to the taxpayer:

Just what the heck are all our taxes paying for again? HT: Lisa E on FB

Great news: Dem running to replace Anthony Weiner thinks $14 trillion national debt is only $4 trillion

No joke:

Daily News: “Right now, how big is the debt?”

Weprin: (Pause) “Trillions.”

News: “But how many?”

Weprin: (Deer in headlights look.) “I got caught up on this once before,” referring to his inability while running unsuccessfully for city controller in 2009 to state that office’s budget.

News: “This is central to what is going on in Washington.”

Weprin: “About 4 trillion.”

News: “Four trillion is the debt?”

Weprin: “Right.”

This Weiner might be better than the one running to replace him

Now I know Democrats are in denial about the debt and the danger it poses to the short, mid and long-term future of this country, but that's taking denial to a whole new level. So who is this guy really? You could have totally guessed it, but the NY Daily News reports this: "Weprin is a career politician who has been shoehorned into offices by party bosses in noncompetitive primaries and special elections through his entire career. He was picked for this race by Democratic kingpins of Brooklyn and Queens - even though he does not live in the district." Quite predictable in fact. And this guy will likely get elected in a heavily Democratic district despite the embarrassing episode above. Ironically, despite what will be I'm sure further embarrassments, he will 'stick it out.'

UPDATE: Study: 8 in 10 lawmakers lack education in economics. And it shows! Also via Carpe Diem: 78% of Congress Lacks An Econ/Business Degree 

White House Press Corps To Jay Carney: "When Does It Become Obama's Economy?"

I guess even the liberals in the White House Press Corps are getting sick of the excuses. You can only take so much bs before your nose starts running indicating you are full:

Actually, her question was already answered by the DNC Chair 2 months ago: Video of DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz on the economy: "We clearly are responsible"

Video: Obama Press Secretary Laughs at the Thought of Hillary Clinton Challenging Obama

It should be no joke to Obama.Via drudge: 1 in 4 Dems Want to Dump Obama...

A new poll by CNN and ORC International finds that 27 percent of Democrats would like to see their party nominate a candidate other than Barack Obama for president in 2012.

In response to the question, "Do you think the Democratic party should renominate Barack Obama as the party's candidate for president in 2012, or do you think the Democratic party should nominate a different candidate for president in 2012?" -- 72 percent said they wanted to see Obama renominated.  But 27 percent, slightly more than one in every four, said they wanted to see Democrats nominate a different candidate.  One percent had no opinion.

Thus, probably not the best response:

UPDATE: More from Don Surber, Weasel Zippers, Pajamas Media and Doug Ross

Get Your Popcorn: John Huntsman Spars with Fox & Friends Hosts Over Global Warming

John Huntsman is fast becoming irrelevant in the GOP primary. A little bit faster would work just fine for me. Via BreitbartTV:

Presidential candidate John Huntsman had sent a message out on Twitter stating he believed in evolution and global warming. The folks at Fox & Friends challenged Mr. Huntsman on the comment that was seen by many as an attack on Gov. Rick Perry.

Audio of Rush Limbaugh: "Obama Was Hoping [Hurricane Irene] Was Going To Be A Disaster" So He Could Have "Another Excuse" For The Economy

Media Matters posted this apparently to make Rush look bad? Total fail!:

Once again, the obligatory 'Obama blames everything under the Sun':

Related posts over at drudge:

• NAT'L HURRICANE CENTER GETS DEFENSIVE... 


• 'People assume we can predict everything'... 


• NYT: Experts Misjudged Structure and Next Move... 


• 'Category Feh'... 

Can the Michigan legislature ban urination in Michigan businesses? Part 2

Another update on a post from a couple of day ago: Heh: MI Bar owners who oppose smoking ban ban MI lawmakers.

I was attacked for the substance of that post and responded with this: Can the Michigan legislature ban urination in Michigan businesses? Dan Calebrese over at The Michigan View challenged my assertion that the legislature didn't have the right to pass the law, and did so by comparing it (IMO absurdly) to the right to urinate in public. Henry Payne got wind of my response, and that, along with another response against Dan by Jack McHugh (who correctly asserted that private property is just that) precipitated a response to the response by Dan: Not to further a pissing match, but . . .

I think we have a useful discussion going on among View contributors here, with my colleague Jack McHugh and Oakland U. BlogProf Chris Kobus taking me to task for my belief that the Legislature does, in fact, have the right to ban smoking in privately owned restaurants.

There are several points I want to make in response to recent comments from Chris and Jack, so let's get right to it:

- People keep asking me if I would be OK with the Legislature banning smoking in people's homes. Some Mackinac Center type on Facebook told me that if not, I am "inconsistent" and at any rate I apparently have statist tendencies that require therapy or something.

...- Just to be clear, my intentionally absurd example of urination referred to what someone might do in the dining room of a restaurant itself, the very same place we're talking about banning smoking. I didn't want to get too graphic with this example, but you guys keep asking me questions, so here we, er, go . . .

Let's say someone in the dining room of a restaurant walks right up to your table and pees on you. Let's say you complain to the manager or owner of the restaurant, who says, "This is my property and I allow people to pee wherever they want. If you don't like it, eat somewhere else." Let's say you call the cops and make a complaint against both the urinator and the indifferent owner. Do my doctrinaire free-market friends really think the owner has the right to take the position he took, and that no law can be passed that says otherwise?

- In fact, you don't have to use an example anywhere near as absurd as that one. Restaurants have to comply with public health codes, and are subject to inspections to ensure that they have done so.

Would Chris and Jack be OK with the following? A restaurant posts a sign on the front door that reads, "This restaurant is not subject to health or food safety inspections. This is private property and we keep our establishment the way we want. Don't like it? Eat somewhere else."

Would this represent a righteous invocation of the owner's rights as private businessman?

Dan goes on, but never answers, or even attempts to, my question to him that was the stuff of the very headline to the piece he was responding to. So let me ask again: can the Michigan legislature ban urination in Michigan businesses? Since Dan brings up safety inspections (which have morphed over time into revenue streams that manage lifestyles, healthcare and pensions of unionized government workers that inspect safety on the side and not very well), let me further my argument with this scenario: some douche in the MI legislature thinks it's a good idea to ban urination or defecation in any restaurant. After all, it's a public safety issue, they claim. They get up to the podium and assert that in their observations over the years, urinals tend to have a certain amount of splashback (due to fundamental laws governing fluid mechanics) especially at the hand holding the Johnson. So when you're done draining your main vein, you have urine on your hands. So you go to wash said hands but the first thing you touch is the knobs on the sink, which now have not only your urine on them, but those of other patrons as well. You finish washing your hands and immediately reach for those same knobs. Congrats, you now have urine on your hands from multiple people, and dried your hands with the hot air dispenser such that the clean water has been evaporated but the essence of the pee was preserved. You now grab for the bathroom door that undoubtedly has a ton of urine on it too, and are now a walking health hazard spreading urine and possibly fecal matter onto anything you touch. Thus, as the lawmaker's argument goes, urination (or defecation) of any kind in a place where you consume food must be banned for the public good. Except of course in casinos. Again, would Dan have a problem either with the law or with that argument for it? What say you, Dan?

Lastly, Henry called this a bar brawl (Bar brawl: Kobus fires back). And Dan, ironically, a pissing match. I think it's more like this though:

The only question is, which one is the monkey and which the idiot with the shaving cream on their face? Indeed there are far bigger fish to fry these days,no?

Video of George Will: ‘Alibi Ike’ Obama Blames Everyone But James Madison for Economic Problems

Just wait a couple more days. Madison will get blamed by Obama at some point too. Via BreitbartTV:

It brings up the obligatory 'Obama blames everything under the Sun' vid that I posted many times before:

Mark Steyn: The West has incentivized non-productivity on an industrial scale.

A snippet from Mark Steyn via Instapundit: The West has incentivized non-productivity on an industrial scale.

...The problem for the Western world is that it has incentivized non-productivity on an industrial scale. For large numbers at the lower end of the spectrum (still quaintly referred to by British reporters as “working class”), the ritual of work — of lifetime employment as a normal feature of life — has been all but bred out by multigenerational dependency. At the upper end of the spectrum, too many of us seem to regard an advanced Western society as the geopolitical version of a lavishly endowed charitable foundation that funds somnolent programming on NPR. I was talking to a trustiefundie Vermont student the other day who informed me her ambition is to “work for a non-profit.”

“What kind of ambition is that?” I said, a little bewildered. But she meant it, and so do most of her friends. Doesn’t care particularly what kind of “non-profit” it is: as long as no profits are involved, she’s eager to run up a six-figure college debt for a piece of the non-action. The entire state of Vermont is becoming a non-profit. And so in a certain sense is an America that’s 15 trillion dollars in the hole, and still cheerfully spending away.

Well, I wouldn't say 'cheerfully.' At least not for most Americans. The political ruling class on the other hand...

In between the non-profit class and the non-working class, we have diverted too much human capital into a secure and undemanding bureaucracy-for-life: President Obama has further incentivized statism as a career through his education “reforms,” under which anyone who goes into “public service” will have their college loans forgiven after ten years.

Why?

As I point out in my book, in the last six decades the size of America’s state and local government workforce has increased over three times faster than the general population. Yet Obama says it’s still not enough: The bureaucracy needs even more of our manpower. Up north, Canada is currently undergoing a festival of mawkish sub–Princess Di grief-feasting over the death from cancer of the Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. Jack Layton’s career is most instructive. He came from a family of successful piano manufacturers — in 1887 H. A. Layton was presented with a prize for tuning by Queen Victoria’s daughter. But by the time Jack came along, the family’s private-sector wealth-creation gene had been pretty much tuned out for good: He was a career politician, so is his wife, and his son. They’re giving him a state funeral because being chair of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative is apparently more admirable than being chairman of Layton Bros Pianos Ltd.

Again: Why?

Read the whole thing. Related via moonbattery: It’s Free, Swipe Your EBT. EBT = Electronic Benefits Transfer = 'free money' = Obama bucks from our utterly bankrupt federal government.

Economists: you should keep spending beyond your means to help the economy

People still don't get it. At least some. The boom that came during much of the 90's and 00's wasn't built on true wealth but rather on debt. It was artificial and any economist worth their salt would tell you not to go back to the mirage. Yet there are those that deluded enough with Keynesian economics to suggest we simply reinflate the bubble all over again:

Economic experts say that while you need to be careful, you should not allow yourself to be spooked by the economic swings.

In other words, spend more, even beyond your means, and save less:

But don't worry.Since consumers have cut back, Obama will force you to spend more anyway. When the government goes into massive deficit spending, they are basically taking your money and mine and pissing it away to artificially prop up the GDP. Of course, we'll be stuck with a huge credit card bill. Just remember this: Flashback: Obama in 2008: Adding $4 Trillion to National Debt ‘Unpatriotic’

Video: A brief history of human enslavement - up to and including your own

Via moonbattery:

Good News: 50+ government workers in MI collect jobless benefits while still on the job

Via The Detroit News: Genesee County: 50 get jobless benefits on the job. Genesee, huh? Read: Flint.

An audit by Genesee County officials has found that more than 50 government employees have collected about $30,000 in unemployment benefits while still on the job.

The Flint Journal reports Sunday that county officials are working through the cases to determine if the double-dipping was intentional. Ten cases could involve fraud of more than $1,000 and are being investigated by the sheriff's department.

The audit comes after the July arrest of seven county employees. They were suspended from their jobs indefinitely and charged with unemployment compensation fraud.

AFSCME Local 496 Chapter 01 Chairman Matt Spodney says he doesn't believe the 53 employees are part of his union. But he says it could be a case of poor communication with seasonal and other employees who didn't intend to commit fraud.

Yeah - those two checks they were getting at the same time raised no flags with them whatsoever.