Quote of the Day

Seeing The Who's 65-year-old Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend perform "Teenage Wasteland" during the Super Bowl Half-Time Show brought to mind an image of the Soviet Red Army Chorus Alumni performing "The Internationale" at a Goldman Sachs Christmas party.

But maybe it's just me. -- Jim Glass, Scrivener.net

Happy Birthday, BSA!

Today marks the 100 anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. In those 100 years, more than 110 million American boys have learned self-reliance, self-respect, leadership, teamwork, survival and a dedication to service - not to mention how to stay warm in below-zero temperatures and not burn the eggs when cooking over an open fire.

The Refugee is proud to be an Eagle Scout with Son of The Refugee close to that rank as well. The Boy Scouts remain the largest, most effective organization for teaching the core values that made this country what it is. Happy birthday, Scouting!

Green Appeal of the Green Police

If you already knew I'm an Audi afficianado in addition to being a green-basher you weren't surprised when I called the Green Police on the new ketchup pouch. The ad had me guffawing wildly, yet Grist Magazine's David Roberts argues that "the teabaggy interpretation just doesn't quite fit."

The ad is not just another pot shot at greens. It's an appeal to a new and growing demographic that isn't hard-core environmentalist -- and doesn't particularly like hard-core environmentalists -- but that basically wants to do the right thing.

Yeah, sure it is. Personally I think that movement peaked prior to 1998. Tea anyone?

Crisis Me This.

John Stossel points out that, while Reuters grimly intones "Heart disease 'will kill 400,000 Americans in 2010'" they don't mention:
.

Or:

Things that make us richer

I love this. Insty links to video of a new Ketchup package.

I bore everybody with this all the time. Small innovations in packaging never show up in GDP numbers but millions of small innovations provide us with a richer environment. The zip-lock® feature built into cheese and tortilla bags generally elicit a dull disquisition from me. But over time, this matters. Just like getting more memory in your laptop.

And yet, Paul Krugman, should there be a Republican in the White House, will tell us that we are poorer than we were in 1973.

Penn Jilette on Obama On Vegas

A fun column:

I like to say I don't believe in hope, but I had the hope to move to Vegas to do a magic show. And I do hope that Vegas pulls through this bad economic time and people come and visit us and we do our stupid shows for all the stupid, hopeful people.

Obama, please remember, it was those stupid, very hopeful people who took the over on a stupid point spread on Obama with a stupid hope to help our country, which includes stupid Vegas.

The gamble Obama took with his run for president and the gamble that the American people took on him sure weren't taken at good odds. It wasn't putting everything we had on red in roulette, or "don't pass" in craps, or carefully counting cards in blackjack.

Obama's presidency is more than all of us putting our whole future on 00 in roulette. It was more like putting everything we had on one slot pull at the stupid Elvis impersonator slot machine in the stupid Elvis casino for the stupid hillbillies who are filled with hope.

UPDATE: Brother ka rubs it in that our President failed to pick the winner yesterday, Wayne Allen Root did. I will take a break from my Libertario Delenda Est campaign to link to a superb article: Lessons Obama Should Have Learned From Watching the Super Bowl.

Obama, Reid and Pelosi might snicker, but they obviously don’t understand the difference between Vegas and Washington D.C. You know what it is? In Vegas the drunks gamble with their own money. Maybe we need a politician in D.C. who understands the psychology of winning; who understands the motivation of risk versus reward; who has the guts to take gambles; and the courage to back his convictions with his own money, instead of the taxpayers’ money.

Fat Cat Bankers Cause Depression!

Must read lead editorial in the WSJ today. If you have to subscribe to read it, pony up!

NYAG Andrew Cuomo has filed a fraud lawsuit against Bank of America joining as the WSJ Ed Page declares "the long queue of politicians blaming bankers as the chief culprits in creating the financial panic and recession"

But they click on over to the Housing and Urban Development web site. Take a moment and imagine explaining to the ghost of James Madison that we have a Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, and that it is contained in the Executive Branch... I digress. Here's an item from the HUD accomplishments during AG Cuomo's tenure as HUD Chief under President Clinton.

HUD's Web visitors learn that in 1999 "Secretary Cuomo established new Affordable Housing Goals requiring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—two government sponsored enterprises involved in housing finance—to buy $2.4 trillion in mortgages in the next 10 years. This will mean new affordable housing for about 28.1 million low- and moderate-income families. The historic action raised the required percentage of mortgage loans for low- and moderate-income families that the companies must buy from the current 42 percent of their total purchases to a new high of 50 percent—a 19 percent increase—in the year 2001."

The good part of this story is that I have been overwhelmed of late with nostalgia for the Clinton days. Spending was down, Buffy was on, NAFTA and GATT were kicking in -- as was China's MFN and WTO status. Yeah, he was boning the interns (Umm, that would depend on what the definition of "boning" is...) but IPOs were happening and life was good.

It is worth remembering that Al-Qaeda’s growth was unabated and that these seeds of future economic troubles were being sown. Hey, I still take him any day of the week over the present occupant, but the pleasant, silver-haired magistrate of bonhomie we see helping the Haitians is always pitched as being better than his successor. I'm not buying.

Super Bowl Has Been Canceled

A "truther" friend of mine (and BR's) shares this video -- approvingly -- on Facebook.

I think it proves that nannies come in all shapes, sizes, and politics. You could transcribe this and give the script to a young earnest bespeckled Boulder woman in a Che T-shirt and hemp necklace. And it would work pretty well.

So, whaddya say we all skip the Super Bowl and watch a documentary in the Federal Reserve? I'll bring dip!

UPDATE: Who Dat? I resign my membership in the reason and logic club. I am an AFC guy and was looking forward to seeing the Colts accept their reward for their talent, intelligence, and work ethic. But even I got caught in the magic. When the Saints were down 0-10, I started hoping that they'd avoid a drubbing. By the fourth quarter I had openly changed allegiance.

Jeez, you don't want to be in a foxhole with me...

You Like This

Oh, yes, I like this very much.

Quote of the Day

But Tancredo, a committed protectionist and anti-immigration crusader, would have been equally disastrous. It’s too bad that the Tea Party would open their first “official” convention with a politician who so ferociously opposes one of the key tenets of the capitalism. Fact is, committed socialists and Tancredo have plenty to agree on. -- David Harsanyi

UPDATE: Blog friend Terri and I do not see eye-to-eye on immigration, but she's no happier with Rep. Tancreado's speech:

If Tom Tancredo is the “face” of the Tea Party movement, then the tea party movement is dead. He’s pretty certain we should have Jim Crow laws for voting.

“People who could not even spell the word ‘vote’ or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House,” he said.

Et tu, AP?

If he's lost the Associated Press, he's lost America!

AP - No, maybe he can't. President Barack Obama, who insisted he would succeed where other presidents had failed to fix the nation's health care system, now concedes the effort may die in Congress.

I was kidding

Sort of. I was kidding a bit when I suggested, a couple of days ago,

GM Owner Misspoke Telling Americans Not to Drive Toyotas

NOW IT’S brake issues for Ford hybrids. Funny how these problems keep hitting non-bailout companies.

There Ought To Be a Law...

The Internet segue machine comes through for me yet again.

I am watching TeeVee news in the morning -- against my better judgment. I am particularly tied to the weather these days and it seems almost worth it. The personalities are attractive and perky and I am luckily immune from most of the nonsense spewed.

Today, we are in full-out sturm and drang about "Sexting." WE WARNED YOU ABOUT THIS EPIDEMIC in no less than 49 Exposes. Well it has happened. In Falcon, Colorado, that hotbed of sin, a nude photo of a 12 year old girl has been sent to a dozen phones. I hate to make light of a particular instance; I feel for the child involved. But the media response has been disproportionate to the problem all along.

An interesting issue crept in. The father of a student was interviewed and expressed displeasure that his child had his phone confiscated and was questioned in what could be a felony case without anyone alerting his parents.

The FOX31 news crew would not understand legal nuance or questions of liberty if they were to bite them in the ass, but they did offer one piece of advice: "Students should disable the ability to receive picture messages."

Got it? Turn your phone off in case somebody sends you an illegal nekkid picture. Or stay home in the cave with no phone.

This has burned in my mind all day, but now the Doctor is in: Theodore Dalrymple suggests we fix global warming by banning lampshades. The first of his legal fixes came to him in what I knew as "Defensive Driving School:"

It was then that I had a blinding flash of illumination, a real eureka moment. The best, indeed only, way to prevent road traffic accidents is to prohibit people from leaving their houses in the first place! By a process of association of ideas, I remembered the slogan that was used during the war to cut down the demand for public transport: “Is your journey really necessary?”

Coffeehousin'

La Vie En Rose: The Telecaster version.

Teleprompter is Your Friend

Dagny and I were amused when we heard the president pronounce the word "corpsman" at this morning's prayer breakfast as though he referred to a dead male. We laughed our arses off when he did it again! But his press secretary probably wishes he had his own teleprompter telling him what to say, even if he couldn't pronounce it either. While defending the White House over publicizing the bean-spilling panty bomber he tried to turn the tables on the criticizers.

"I think he owes an apology to the professionals in the law enforcement community and those that work in this building, not for Democrats and Republicans, but who work each and every day to keep the American people safe and would not ever, ever, ever knowingly release or unknowingly release classified information that could endanger an operation or an interrogation," Gibbs said.

"Never knowingly or unknowingly doing anything" is a good motto for the 111th Congress.

...Or Are You Just Glad to See Me?

How long until we import this European idea?

A British farmer who secretly built a castle and hid it behind haystacks to avoid trouble from local planning authorities was ordered by a court Wednesday to demolish it.

Farmer Robert Fidler built the mock Tudor castle in Surrey and moved into it with his family in 2002.

He says he had applied in 1996 to build a house on his farmland, but the authorities wouldn't grant him permission. So, when he and his wife were feeling "desperate," they found a loophole in the British law.

Can't Call them a Do-Nothing Congress!

The Democrats in the 51st Congress ridiculed President Benjamin Harrison and Republicans for annual federal spending that reached one billion dollars for the first time: the Billion Dollar Congress! Ahh, those were the days...

217 Ayes (all 'D') - 212 Nays

Hat-tip: Roger Simon

Quote of the Day

We are all Austrians now. Over the past few weeks, in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, New York City, and London, I've run into more and more institutional investors whose economic and financial views either knowingly or unknowingly reflect the influence of the Austrian School of Economics. I am in Zurich today and Geneva tomorrow. … How do you know if you are an Austrian? Here is a simple test. Answer yes or no to the following question: "I believe that this will all end very badly." -- Ed Yardeni (via James Pethokoukis)

So This is How 9/11 Happened!

Yesterday's Investor's Business Daily lead editorial is Bare Warning.

A chilling spectacle just took place before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Panel Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked, "What is the likelihood of another terrorist-attempted attack on the U.S. homeland in the next three to six months, high or low?"

And one by one, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, CIA Director Leon Panetta and FBI Director Robert Mueller all agreed an attack was "certain."

But log onto the Department of Homeland Security's Web site and all seems fairly calm. The first news item listed says, "Secretary Napolitano Announces More than $23 Million in Recovery Act Funding for Fire Station Construction Grants." And three of the other four news items on the main page tout the ways the department's $56.3 billion fiscal year 2011 budget request would be spent.

The go on to make a larger point about counter-terrorism strategy but the first thing that occurred to me was hey, at least Secretary Ridge suggested we stock up on duct tape!

GOP Ideas

Bloomberg's Margaret Carlson is calling the GOP's bluff on their claims to have ideas other than "no" for economic and health care reform. Most of her examples are flippant or revisionist so the main reason to link is for her accusation. OK, I'll give you an example:

You can't just wish something into being, like the heading in their "No-Cost Jobs Plan" that reads, "Tear Down Self-Imposed Obstacles to Economic Growth." In other words: clear-cut pesky regulations about mine safety and meat packing. We might die, but we'll be more competitive.

Now, for my money I think President Obama himself actually had the best idea. I don't remember which policy retreat he said this at, probably the one with the GOP, but he more or less said, "In order to make federal outlays match revenues we would have to cut spending across the board by something like sixty percent."

Tell you what, Mr. president - I'll settle for fifty.

The Ten Years of Failed Policies of the Bush Administration...

...or as Keith Hennessey puts it: Ten Years, Seriously?

Hennessey goes over President Obama's continuing campaign bromides one at a time. He acknowledges overspending (and personal bias) but picks apart the current Administration's attempt to exculpate itself. It is an excellent summation against the argument of "Bush broke it and Obama is trying to fix it."

This debate about the past can continue ad nauseam. At some point I hope it ends, but the President and his team bring it up at every opportunity. It is strange for a President to complain repeatedly about ten-year old policies and then not propose to change them. More importantly, this debate is not relevant to the problems we face today.

Yes, President Obama faced some enormous economic challenges early in his term. His predecessor did as well, even before the crisis of 2008: a bursting tech bubble leading to a recession in 2001, an economic seizure caused by 9/11, corporate governance scandals in 2002, a recession in 2002-2003, the economic uncertainty triggered by invading Iraq (this one was a policy choice), and eventually oil spiking above $100 per barrel.
[...]
More than the blame game, this is what concerns me about the President’s economic agenda. The President’s own projections show that his policies will not fix the future problems he identifies. Based entirely on numbers from the President’s just released budget, America will see the following results if all of his policies are implemented as proposed and work as projected:

Y're Breakin' My Balls, Murdoch!

Sorry, I've been watching way too much South Park lately...

Wow, the Wall Street Journal has really tightened up what it gives away. I subscribed for many years, and then dropped it, honestly, when they started giving away all my favorite parts for free.

Rupert has turned the thumbscrews down and I cannot live without the only source of information I actually believe. I got a nice "Come home, jk, we miss you" offer for a $79 One year subscription.

Uncle!

Blog Post Heading of the Day

Martians and Bill O'Reilly -- John Stossel

The rest of the post is good, too. Captures my thoughts on Citizens United v FEC perfectly.

Thank you Rahm!

Personally I agree with Jason Lewis that Sarah Palin becomes what she claims to abhor when she chooses to attack Rahm Emmanuel for calling the hard-core progressive Democrats in congress "f-ing retarded." He did so for suggesting they run campaign ads against fellow Dems who won't walk the plank for health care. Criticizing speech for being "offensive" is the stock in trade of the politically correct. But don't those people just need to get a life?

Instead I think all conservative-minded people should write a letter to Rahm thanking him for the best "he said it" moniker for our political enemies since the L.A. Times gave us Barack the Magic Negro.

GM Owner Misspoke Telling Americans not to drive Toyotas

AP:

WASHINGTON – Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood now says he misspoke when telling owners of recalled Toyotas to stop driving then.

Instead, LaHood says take them to dealerships to get them repaired.

LaHood told reporters it was "obviously a misstatement" when he told a House panel earlier Wednesday that he would advise owners not to drive recalled vehicles. The remark came during testimony to the Appropriations subcommittee on transportation.

Toyota's most recent recall in the United States affects 2.3 million vehicles with the potential for sticking gas pedals.

But am I the only one who sees great opportunity for conflict of interest?

UPDATE: Nope, some clever Insty readers agree.

Taxes or Fees?

I love the smell of doublespeak in the morning.

Faced with severe budget shortfalls after a steep economic recession, state legislatures and governors are trying to raise money without raising taxes — at least not technically.

A fee hike, an increased penalty or fine, the elimination of a tax exemption — none of these technically counts as a tax increase, as far as many state lawmakers are concerned. Fiscal conservatives argue that a tax hikes are exactly what they are, but their arguments are likely to fall on deaf ears for legislators and governors wrestling with some of the worst budget deficits since the Great Depression.

"There's a certain American antipathy to raising taxes, so even if these are tax increases, there's an incentive to call them something else," said Joseph Henchman, director of state projects at the conservative Tax Foundation. "It's a trend we always see, but it's certainly going to be one that's stronger this year."

On Monday, the Colorado House of Representatives approved eight bills eliminating tax exemptions on items ranging from online sales and farm equipment to restaurant napkins and plastic foam containers. The bills passed with no Republican support.

Were those tax increases? It depends on your political bent. To Democrats, the votes merely rid the books of tax breaks and loopholes for big business in order to avoid cuts to public schools and social services.

"It's time for corporate and other special interests to pay their fair share, and suspending a small fraction of the over $2 billion Colorado loses every year in corporate loopholes and giveaways is not too much to ask," Alan Franklin, president of ProgressNow Colorado, said in a statement after the vote.

To Republicans, the bills meant raising taxes on many of those who can least afford it: struggling farmers and ranchers, people running Internet-based businesses out of their homes, small businesses teetering on the brink of insolvency.

"At the worst possible time, we're making a choice to raise taxes on people who can't afford them anymore," state Rep. Scott Tipton, a Republican, said during the floor debate. "It's an overreach by government."

Quote of the Day

Stated another way, even if TARP saved our financial system from driving off a cliff back in 2008, absent meaningful reform, we are still driving on the same winding mountain road, but this time in a faster car. -- TARP Inspector General's Quarterly Report.

Via Breitbart, via Insty

I'd've Given it to Ahhnold

I'm a First Amendment purist, but after producing Snoop Dogg, one can almost sympathize...

Help is on the way!

According to the Senator-Elect's Facebook page:

Scott Brown will be officially sworn in on February 11th at 12:45pm.

UPDATE: You and 8,048 others like this.