Monday, April 11, 2011

American Thinker: Donald Trump Scores an Important Victory... Over the Media


Gail Collins, the New York Times's most reliably uninteresting liberal attack dog, questioned Trump's sanity just for raising the birth certificate issue. But would she say the same about famed black Vanderbilt University Law Professor and Obama supporter Carol Swain? Swain has said "I think that by not releasing it [the full birth certificate], it makes people much more passionately opposed to the president. Moreover, for a president who was elected on the basis of his personal background, it is troubling that Obama himself would want to withhold such basic information."

The media's curiosity about the background of those running for national office seemed to know no bounds when it came to George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard or the sexual behavior of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's daughter. But during and since the 2008 campaign a virtual wall of silence has been constructed around Obama.

This has important implications for the country. Questions about Obama's family and his relationship to Islam, for example, and hence his world view, remain subjects of speculation. Former CIA officer Larry Johnson, for example, believes that the full birth record from the State of Hawaii was probably amended in 1968 to show Obama was adopted by his step father, the Indonesian Muslim Lolo Soetoro, that he became formally known for a time as "Barry Soetoro," and may even have his religion listed as Muslim. This would completely change what Obama has said about his past and represent a public fraud of a very significant magnitude.


http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/04/donald_trump_scores_an_importa.html

The 10 Best Conservative Replacements For Glenn Beck’s Fox News Slot | NewsReal Blog

Since the announcement that Glenn Beck is leaving Fox News, conspiracy theories abound. We may never know the whole story or the details behind the split but what we can do is wildly speculate who is going to take his place. The most important thing Fox News president Roger Ailes should keep in mind is whoever takes Beck's time slot has to be someone who makes the Left put their full-blown moonbattery on display. It must be someone who pushes all the right buttons and enrages leftists, causing them to picket and boycott and all the other fun and hilarious things they do when confronted by conservative truth-tellers.
The thing I'll miss most about Beck being gone is the reaction from all the statist twerps who hate him with a frenzy that can only be compared to neurotic miniature poodles who pee on the carpet when overexcited. Ailes should focus like a laser on replacing Beck with only the most hated personality he can find. Not only will it keep the ratings up, but it will provide sane people with fantastic entertainment. The following are 10 suggestions for conservative hosts sure to make the Left angrier (and funnier) than they already are.

10. We Have Lesbians Too, Only Ours Are Prettier: Meet Tammy Bruce
Nothing infuriates the Left more than a traitor, and Tammy Bruce is a pretty big traitor. Bruce is a lesbian, a former NOW chapter president, and lifelong Democrat. Then she saw the light when she realized that individuals aren't welcome on the Left. Group-think is a requirement and Bruce isn't a team player. She's been one of the most popular conservative talk-show hosts and a best-selling author ever since. She loves to tweak the Left and isn't afraid to say unpopular things. Readers at the Huffington Post went bananas after she called Michelle Obama trash.
"That's what he's married to," Bruce said. "…You know what we've got? We've got trash in the White House. Trash is a thing that is colorblind, it can cross all eco-socionomic…categories. You can work on Wall Street, or you can work at the Wal-Mart. Trash, are people who use other people to get things, who patronize others, who consider you bitter and clingy…"
Just perusing the reader comments is a fun trip down the the progressive rabbit hole.
These are the kinds of people, however, that will encourage the upcoming slaughter of Republicans in the next election. In this way they are doing for the American people what Anita Bryant did for the gays- stir them to action. I look forward VERY MUCH to seeing far fewer Republican­s in the Congress and Senate after the next election. ~Johnny76
Those were delusional ramblings that Johnny76 wrote in 2009. In case you weren't aware, the election in 2010 ushered in a record number of Republicans and enough people to fill the mall in D.C. who also think the White House is full of trash.

http://www.newsrealblog.com/2011/04/11/10-best-replacements-for-glenn-beck-fox-slot/

Boehner: Next fight to be about trillions, not billions - USATODAY.com

The Path to Prosperity is a powerful blueprint for economic growth and fiscal responsibility that will help our economy get back to creating jobs, stop Washington from spending money we don't have, and lift the crushing burden of debt that threatens our children and grandchildren.

Before serving in Congress, I ran a small business. Created jobs. Met a payroll. I understand how important the Path to Prosperity is because I've seen firsthand how irresponsible choices in Washington hamper our economy by creating uncertainty and eroding confidence.

Small businesses are the engine of job creation in America, and every decision a small business owner makes — particularly when it comes to making a new investment or adding payroll — involves weighing risks.

When government engages in policies that rattle confidence or decrease predictability, employers tend to do the logical thing: They sit on their hands. Rather than hiring new workers, launching new ventures, or investing in new equipment, they stand pat, keep their heads down and attempt to ride it out.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2011-04-11-column11_ST1_N.htm

American Thinker: Silver and Gold Prices Delivering Terrible News for America

As I've been saying for the last year or so, now is the time to save whatever wealth you have from the coming Obama-caused hyper-inflation and buy gold, and lately, to buy silver.  Here's an article that explains a little about why:


In the United States, the media's interest has been focused on who won the game that was the potential government shutdown.  As usual the reporting is based on a sporting event and not the importance of the change of direction the shutdown represents.  At the moment there is no winner or loser; that will be decided if and only if spending is dramatically reduced and government begins to shrink appreciably. 

Many of us have repeatedly called attention to the financial markets and international uncertainty precipitated by American monetary, fiscal and foreign policies by focusing on bell-weather commodity prices, particularly precious metals.  On Friday silver pushed above $40.00 a troy ounce for the first time since 1980 and gold reached a new all-time high in nominal terms at $1,474.19.

Recent predictions and those generally accepted by the markets have silver hitting $50.00 a troy ounce and gold to crash the $1,550.00 mark soon.  While these rallies have had clear links to fears about inflation, there is more to this situation than just inflation fears.

In fact both markets actually have surplus supply.  While demand is good, particularly for silver in industrial use, much of the demand is driven by investors.  It is not a matter of industrial demand but rather demand driven by investors.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/04/silver_and_gold_prices_deliver.html

Obama Puts Taxes on Table - WSJ.com

What he shows no awareness of is that it is people who have wealth who are the ones who invest it in business and thus create the jobs he says he wants.  By raising taxes on "the wealthy"--in fact the upper middle class--Obama's policies are anti-growth, anti-wealth, and hurt everyone, especially those at the bottom of the wage scale.  We need those investment dollars.  We need to know that we don't have a government that hates success, hates wealth, and is perfectly willing to sacrifice those who earn a lot for the benefit who live off the rest of us.


In a speech Wednesday, Mr. Obama will propose cuts to entitlement programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, and changes to Social Security, a discussion he has largely left to Democrats and Republicans in Congress. He also will call for tax increases for people making over $250,000 a year, a proposal contained in his 2012 budget, and changing parts of the tax code he thinks benefit the wealthy.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704366104576255282893680792.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

The Military's Secret Shame - Newsweek

While many might assume the perpetrators of such assaults are closeted gay soldiers, military experts and outside researchers say assailants usually are heterosexual. Like in prisons and other predominantly male environments, male-on-male assault in the military, experts say, is motivated not by homosexuality, but power, intimidation, and domination.

Assault victims, both male and female, are typically young and low-ranking; they are targeted for their vulnerability. Often, in male-on-male cases, assailants go after those they assume are gay, even if they are not. "One of the reasons people commit sexual assault is to put people in their place, to drive them out," says Mic Hunter, author of Honor Betrayed: Sexual Abuse in America's Military. "Sexual assault isn't about sex, it's about violence."
According to Hunter and others, the repeal of the military's policy of "don't ask, don't tell" might actually help the institution address the issue. Under that rule, being gay meant being fundamentally unfit to serve; it meant you didn't belong. It also meant that victims were even more reluctant to report their attacks. "I wouldn't say that the repeal is going to make it safe," says Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center, a think tank on gays in the military. "But male victims will be a little bit less reluctant to report their assaults."

Belkin notes that it's not just the military that avoids the issue: even gay-rights organizations are wary of it. "We don't like to talk about it because it makes rape look like a gay issue," Belkin says. "The military doesn't want to talk about it because, as embarrassing as male-female rape is [from their perspective], this is even worse. The very fact that there's male-on-male rape in the military means that there are warriors who aren't strong enough to fight back."

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/04/03/the-military-s-secret-shame.html

The Military's Secret Shame - Newsweek

What happened to Jeloudov is a part of life in the armed forces that hardly anyone talks about: male-on-male sexual assault.

In the staunchly traditional military culture, it's an ugly secret, kept hidden by layers of personal shame and official denial. Last year nearly 50,000 male veterans screened positive for "military sexual trauma" at the Department of Veterans Affairs, up from just over 30,000 in 2003.

For the victims, the experience is a special kind of hell—a soldier can't just quit his job to get away from his abusers.

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/04/03/the-military-s-secret-shame.html

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll - Rasmussen Reports™

In a book released last year, Scott Rasmussen observed that, "The gap between Americans who want to govern themselves and politicians who want to rule over them may be as big today as the gap between the colonies and England during the 18th  century." He added that "The American people don't want to be governed from the left, the right, or the center. They want to govern themselves." In Search of Self-Governance is available at Amazon.com.

MAD AS HELL: How the Tea Party Movement is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System, by Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen, can be ordered at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Borders and other outlets. It's also available in bookstores everywhere.

It is important to remember that the Rasmussen Reports job approval ratings are based upon a sample of likely voters. Some other firms base their approval ratings on samples of all adults. President Obama's numbers are always several points higher in a poll of adults rather than likely voters. That's because some of the president's most enthusiastic supporters, such as young adults, are less likely to turn out to vote. It is also important to check the details of question wording when comparing approval ratings from different firms.


http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

Friday, April 8, 2011

What Wisconsin's Judicial Election Means

Regardless of the ultimate result, there are vital lessons we should take from the race.

First, the machine of leftism, even operating in a structurally leftist state like Wisconsin, is a paper tiger.  Unions long ruled Great Lakes states with an iron hand and a rubber truncheon.  The well-paid army of union operatives, the dull armies of whipped members, and the timidity of possible opponents has meant that unions were able to drive the economy of the industrial heartland of the world's greatest economy into poverty and despair.

This judicial election, however, dispels the notion of omnipotent unions.  Voter turnout in these elections is ordinarily light.  Incumbent judges seeking reelection do not have huge organizations and vast pots of campaign funds to support them.  In this race, the leftist challenger Kloppenburg had all the advantages.  She should have walked away with this race, but she did not.  Even if Kloppenburg somehow "discovers" her own trove of uncounted votes, the left will only win the battle and lose the war.


http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/04/what_wisconsins_judicial_elect.html

Thursday, April 7, 2011

American Thinker: Regulatory Dysfunction

If we are to emerge from recession, America's business regulatory burden must be reassessed.

In a 2008 review of the cost of government regulations entitled Ten Thousand Commandments, Wayne Crews of the Competitive Enterprise Institute estimated that the cost of government regulations to businesses and, ultimately, to consumers was $1 trillion or more annually.  Regulations added 70,000 pages to the Federal Register.  Regulatory costs almost matched all corporate profits in 2007 and were seven times higher than the 2007 budget deficit.  Crews wrote that "Federal environmental, safety and health, and economic regulations cost hundreds of billions of dollars every year over and above the costs of official federal outlays."


http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/04/regulatory_dysfunction.html

Monday, April 4, 2011

Capitalism Magazine - At War...with America: Obama's Altruistic War Fighting Philosophy

We have no responsibility to provide the Libyan people with anything, least of all help in overthrowing their tyrant. And about that $33 billion in Libyan assets: It does not belong to the Libyan people; it belongs to us because it represents wealth extorted from the West, especially from the U.S. in the form of oil prices on oil produced from expropriated oil wells and fields. That $33 billion should be applied to Obama's rising government debt, and be returned to American taxpayers by declaring an income tax holiday for the next three years.

Two of the best critiques to date of Obama's Libyan intervention are Richard Salsman's March 23rd Forbes article, "Libya Exposes Obama as Our Latest Neocon President," which presents the moral case against Obama, and Daniel Greenfield's March 29th "The Known Unknowns of Libya" on Sultan Knish, which spotlights the utter recklessness of Obama's irrational, illogical, and perilous actions regarding Libya.

http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/war-peace/6347-at-war-with-america-obama-s-altruistic-war-fighting-philosophy.html

Capitalism Magazine - Donald Trump: The Wish Fulfillment Candidate

As the American economy continues not to grow or get any better, the appeal of a fascist-lite dictator such as Donald Trump will grow. This isn't because there are no rational alternatives to dictatorship. It's just that none are being offered. The Tea Party talks cutting spending, but offers no strength because it offers no ideology of any kind. As a result, it's hardly cutting a penny from the budget (and in today's terms, a penny is a billion). Quite naturally people are going to listen to Donald Trump, because they think he's something different from Barack Obama. But Donald Trump is not the voice of reason, nor the voice of the personal responsibility Americans must take if we are to remain a free country (politically) and become a free country again (economically).

Trump is the voice of wishful thinking -- disguised by toughness.


http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/politics/elections/6353-donald-trump-the-wish-fulfillment-candidate.html

Capitalism Magazine - Housing Will Remain a Government Program

As I have repeatedly predicted, the US will have a "double-dip" recession lead by the housing sector:
The widely-followed Case-Shiller Home Price Index fell 3.1% in January; prices are now at their lowest level since the housing market made its first bottom in April 2009. Sales of existing homes were off nearly 10% in February, and new homes sales were at a record low. As the economy worsens, there can be little doubt that housing is headed for a double-dip.

The government's "make housing affordable" approach to market intervention is the root of the entire problem. To a large extent, this intervention takes the form of mortgage purchases by government-sponsored Fannie and Freddie. Through these entities, nearly all new loans for homes are now destined for public ownership. When these entities buy a mortgage, they are doing so to help the borrower get the needed financing. They have only a casual interest in the investment quality of the transaction. This is very different motivation from the private investor, who is primarily concerned with getting paid back; and on that basis, wouldn't go anywhere near US housing.


http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/markets/housing/6354-housing-will-remain-a-government-program.html

Capitalism Magazine - The Draft: Slavery as Literal as it Comes

You hear less about the draft nowadays because the liberal left -- the politicians who are responsible for most expansions of government power -- don't like the use of military force, at least when it's the American military doing the intervention. Liberals cannot in good conscience support a draft when they have so little use for the military. This is why so many liberals (and conservatives too) favor something called "national service." National service is a way to turn young people into servants of the state without even using the military.

I'd like to think it says something for the United States that it no longer has a military draft, and there's no indication that one is forthcoming. I'd like to think that it represents progress towards the expansion of individual rights. But then I look at all that Obama has done to expand government power, and all that George W. Bush did to expand government power before him, and I recognize there's no trend towards individual rights in the United States. What happened was that the military became more technological and high-tech, making untrained manpower less relevant than trained forces who are comfortable with the use of our advanced weaponry. It's politicians who want to impose "national service" -- draft or not -- on the population, because the vast majority of liberal and conservative politicians care first and foremost about the government ... not the people, and least of all the individual.


It's not possible to conceive of a free society in which there's a draft -- not now, not ever. Freedom is the most precious thing a human being can have, and because most individuals understand this, most will fight for it if the invaders are at their front door. It's governments who oppose freedom and it's governments who want to expand their own power.

The draft is a perfect way to do that. But in a technologically advanced society as the United States, government has found other ways to expand its coercive influence over the lives of people. If we continue our move towards soft fascism and socialism, who knows -- the draft may make a comeback.


http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/war-peace/draft/6356-the-draft-slavery-as-literal-as-it-comes.html