If You Think the Economy Sucks Now …

… just wait until the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama exercises his “mandate” to force the “rich” to pay their “fair share” in higher taxes.

You see, folks, we are a mere 54 days away from total budgetary and economic implosion if the politicians you sent to DC this time around can't reach agreement on taxes before January 1st.  Lacking agreement, each and every one of you is set to pay higher taxes.  Not just Richie Rich.  Each and every one of you.  Oh, the corrupt and biased liberal media never told you that?  So Sorry.

But, of course, we all know it will be avoided because both sides of the "aisle" don't want the "blame" for raising your taxes (unless you are Richie Rich - the aisles are evenly split on that one.)   Negotiations have already begun in the nick of time.

The (R) side of the aisle wants to keep tax rates the same for everybody, and fix the incredibly broken tax code to raise revenue.  But that's a complicated argument.  It was too complicated to pitch to you in a ridiculously long and grueling campaign.  What chance do they have to successfully make the pitch to you in the next 54 days?  Answer: None. Zero. Nada.  And, beside, it's not only too complicated to sell to you in 54 days - it's too complicated for anyone to figure out in 54 days.

The (D) side of the aisle wants you to believe all will be well if only gub'ment just squeezes more out of Richie Rich.  They will win because you gave a "mandate" to the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama.  And because it's simple to sell and simple to implement.

You may then be surprised to find out soaking Richie Richie mathematically does next to zero, nada, nothing to put the slightest scratch into the national debt.  It's just how the math works, folks - like trying to soak up the Atlantic Ocean with a beach towel.

You may then be further surprised to find out soaking Richie Rich has a lot to do with putting a dagger through the heart of the slowest economic "recovery" since the Great Depression.  Especially if the negotiations yield a definition of "Richie Rich" that sweeps up a lot of small businesses, still temporarily the people who provide the most jobs in this country (that is, until the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama finishes making gub'ment the largest employer).  Small businesses will almost certainly be hammered by the end state of the negotiations, because it's too complicated to figure out how to avoid in the next 54 days.

Not to mention the economy crushing regulations in the name of a pseudo-scientific hoax, that will be released now that  the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama is free and clear.

==

So - under the heading of "be careful what you ask for, you might get it" - I address the remainder of my comments to those of you who voted for the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama, making reference to the exit poll statistics provided by the Common Cents Blog.

If you are among the 55% of women who voted Obama, perhaps because you bought the totally manufactured "War on Women" bullshit narrative (talk about "shovel ready"), don't look over here for sympathy when it gets even harder to put food on your table.

If you are among the 60% of under 30's who voted Obama, and you have big career dreams - good luck with that.  If you you are in this demographic and have recently graduated college or soon will - get in line, kid.

If you are unemployed and any race whatsoever - looking for work ain't gonna get any easier.  Better look into that Food Stamp thing.  You illegals should look into the meaning of "self-deportation" - the number of families that can afford your help will be declining.

If you are earning under 50 grand annually, and were hoping for some of that good old American "upward mobility" - it will become more scarce.

If you are in the majority of Jews and Catholics who voted Obama - don't look over here for explanations when you find out trotting out Sandra Fluke as the symbol of ObamaCare mandated birth control even for religious institutions wasn't about "women" - it was about asserting the supremacy of the state over the church.  (Yes, I know, not "economic" - but it needs to be said in support of the First Amendment)

If you are among the 75% of voters who went for Obama because you said your top priority was "health care" - spare me your puzzlement when health care becomes even more expensive and less accessible.

All I can say is thank God for the 22nd Amendment.  At least the republic will only be dragged through two terms of this Keynesian, statist, nonsense - unlike under FDR, the power mad progressive who inspired the Amendment.

Update 11/9/12

And so it begins ...

Update 11/12/12

And awaaaaay we go!

Update #2 11/12/12

A policy of racial quotas will have the predictable impact: societal mediocracy by policy idiocracy, and an overall downward pressure on economic growth. Look up "Community Reinvestment Act" and "housing bubble" on your Google machines, kiddies.

On Fairness

The Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama likes to use the word "fair" a lot. He stipulates it is "fair" to ask the rich to pay more taxes when the top 5% already pay way more than half the total taxes in our already extremely progressive income tax scale. He and his fellow travelling Leftist ideologues like to argue it is "fair" to forgive all manner of legally entered debt for millions of people you and I never met - and force me, you, and more importantly, our children, to pay for it with out-of-control gub'ment deficit spending.

It makes me want to directly quote the great character Inigo Montoya from the great movie 'The Princess Bride' ...



==

Actually, if the word means what most people think it means - a predictablly just outcome regardless of circumstance - it means something that is simply unattainable in this world, at least on a regular basis. We live in an unpredictable, unlevel, and therefore fundamentally "unfair" world. Justice is another matter. We can put official systems of due process in place that are designed to achieve "justice" - meaning measured punishment and/or reward. But, still, these systems and these measurements will always be necessarily imperfect in this imperfect world. Because they are man-made.

The problem with the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama, and other Leftist ideologues, is they falsely believe mankind can construct systems guaranteeing "justice" and "fairness" for all, in this world. This is a unicorn fantasy, to put it mildly. And the harder they chase this fantasy, the more they fail to reach it, the more determined they become to manufacture it at any cost ... which inevitably leads to a "fair" distribution of "lowest common denominator" misery for all. Witness every experience of governance under the theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Chapter 1: The state confiscates everything; Chapter 2: Nobody is left rich, but somehow everybody (but the Politburo) remains poor; Chapter 3: Unbroken misery and death for all until the Politburo is finally forced out of power. The only difference is degree in each case. They've refined it down now to crushing debt for our children, which is a lot different than Pol Pot's killing fields to be sure, but still way off the mark as far as being indisputably "fair."

==

I, LibertyAtStake, have therefore done mankind the favor of reducing the definition of "fair" to a simple scientific formula that actually works in this world.

FAIR = ((stuff you don't control) times (stuff you do control)) divided by (the perceptions of others).

Final grade is subjective for each individual ... and if there is a grade giver, he or she is not native to this world.

==

An example to illustrate. Tyrone and Damian are both born to the same crack addicted welfare queen. Tyrone joins the Crypts at 15 and is dead by 18. Damian keeps his head down, graduates high school, joins the Army, and eventually dies with an urban townhouse that he owns outright to bequeath his two children. On the same day Scottie F*ck-Up and Willard Do-Right are both born to the same captain of industry. Scottie F*ck-Up lives large and blows through the inheritance right before he dies at the ripe old age of 80, leaving nothing for nobody. Willard Do-Right lives a straight life, invests wisely, becomes even richer, and leaves behind a charitable foundation that stands for decades after his death.

Were the circumstances of birth "fair"? Of course not. What could you or I do about it? Nothing. Is it "fair" to you or me that Scottie F*ck Up blew through a huge inheritance? Of course not. How would any man-made gub'ment "fairly" confiscate his riches for better purposes without preventing Willard Do-Right's foundation from being born? It simply couldn't.

==

All of which is why I think the wisest person ever placed into this world may have been the old mountain woman met by Inman, the lead male character in "Cold Mountain." The old woman nursed Inman the Confederate deserter back to health with hard-earned organic knowledge, and a philosophy that could be labeled stoicism, which could be boiled down to the philosophy of "it is what it is." This old woman captures the philosophy perfectly, in the movie, when she manages to lovingly slit the throat of a baby goat for meat while telling the animal it did it's job well in this world.

Still doin' the best I can with what God gave me to work with.

Demotivational Big Bird

The Redistributionist-In-Chief is now waging re-election on the proposition you have sympathy for the richest stuffed puppet on Earth. According to this data, Big Bird is even richer than the evil Mitt Romney himself! And only 12% of these riches come from public funding!

Look,kiddies, this is about a federal budget that is driving us over the cliff of fiscal armageddon. If we can't let Big Bird thrive as a private entity - and he certainly would - we are fiscally doomed. If we can't do this, how are we ever going to get around to eliminating whole agencies with unbroken records of failure - like Education and Energy, for example?

End crony puppetism. Big Bird needs to start standing on his own orange three-toed feet.

Update

The crony puppet runs for cover, recognizing now is not a good time to be front and center as the poster child for gub'ment subsidy.

Newton's Three Laws (Part 25)

Yes, I know I implied Part 24 might be the last of the Newtonian F=M*A series - but you could say I've had a change of heart (or, stated differently, a "recall" of the cardiac organ). I won't be as expansive or thorough as I was in 2010 and 2011 with this series - when I chronicled virtually every important detail of the buildup to the death of American Progressivism. Instead, going "forward" (stupidest campaign slogan ever), I'll reserve the use of this title for the plainly obvious seismic events leading to the final nail in the American Progressive coffin that will be "Shellacking II" on November 6th of 2012.

This is such a time. Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin has slayed the public sector union dragon in epic teutonic battle. Part 25 ... tailor made.

Of course, I can't guarantee I'll really be in the mood for pro bono blogging when these times roll around. This is such a time. I will therefore be brief, and rely heavily on links.

Stephen F. Hayes of the Weekly Standard explains just why Walker won. Simple ... he got the job done. I've heard much pseudo-intellectual analysis around how and why Walker's 2012 margin of victory was greater than his 2010 margin of victory. It's not hard to understand. In 2010, the voters saw a crisis and took a chance on a guy who presented plausible plans for solutions. By 2012 his plans were manifestly working. That's it.

Hack Wilson of Hack Wilson catalogs the Left entering its terminal state of denial.

Hyscience links to Charlie Spiering at the Washington Examiner to hone in on the reaction at one particular hot bed of Leftist lunacy - MSNBC.

Next up for Newtonian collisions are the Supreme Court decisions on ObamaCare and Arizona SB 1070. Team Obama has a losing record in that particular body.

Memo to Lefties ... Bam!

Update 6/7/12

Also in the Newtonian 2012 queue ... holding Eric "My People" Holder accountable for the Fast and Furious cover up.

Update 6/8/12

The great Charles Krauthammer puts it all in full historical perspective. I forgive him for apparently shamelessly lifting the Icarus imagery from the 'Stick a Fork in Him, He's Done' post, immediately below. ;)

Family Business

I seem to have a bad case of writer's block lately. Always on the look out for man, woman, or child to exploit (as any conservative would - just as Barry O'Bama); I have commissioned my 13 year old son as staff cartoonist.

Last week he came to me seeking ways to earn money. You see, he is saving up for yet another guitar. He presently has three: a cheap entry level acoustic, a low end affordable electric, and a nice Gibson Les Paul electric. I have advised him to save up for a nice acoustic. I only see him looking online at uber-expensive electric models. Ah, the boundless possibilities wound up in youth.

But I digress. In response to his fund raising need, I told him I'd pay union sweat shop wages for cartoon contributions to the LAS project.

The very same day he came forward with this ...

It was good enough to recognize as a sophisticated commentary on the state of US - Iran relations. So, I changed plans and agreed to pay.

A couple of days ago, he asked for my input on the next cartoon idea. I was mentally drafting a post with the working title 'The Big Lie,' to examine Barry O'Bama picking up the preposterous claim made by some nut job named Rex Nutting that his administration has been a comparative skin-flint with gub'ment spending, and expanding that into the plainly obvious fact he is literally running an anti-capitalism campaign. I came up with the idea of Barry O'Bama as a matador slaying the famous Wall Street bull statue. After I explained what a matador is, and what the statue is, he came forward with the following:

I thought the bull looked more like a giant pig, but I paid up anyway to encourage further growth.

==

'The Big Lie' has evolved into 'The Chameleon-In-Chief' as a vehicle for chronicling Barry O'Bama's capacity to be one thing to one audience and something completely opposite to another audience.

Ooh look, something shiny! (Writer's block.)

Demotivational Nutting

I think Doofus of the Year has been secured.

Sunday Morning Read (Washington Examiner Edition)

If I was actually interested in subscribing to a local print newspaper, it would be the Washington Examiner. I’ve known for years, going on decades, now, the Post is unfit to line the rabbit cage. For a long time, the Times was an acceptable substitute, though it always felt a little strident for an open-collar conservative such as myself. This sense was in fact confirmed when the Times failed the little url signature uptightness test I set up during my March 4th Sunday Morning Read post.

Not long ago I noticed print versions of the Examiner popping up around town, and even read a few. I believe print distribution is still free of cost to this day. An appropriate market valued price, because thanks to the Intertubes, I have no interest in reading print newspapers anymore. Plus, again thanks to the Intertubes – or maybe the fact I’ve scratched out my living in the IT field for my entire adult life – I’m starting to experience real trouble physically focusing my eye on the printed word. At least on the laptop I have that zoom thingee to make the words bigger.

I’m no marketing genius, but I think maybe the Examiner is using the print distribution channel as a loss center to maintain visibility for the brand on the street. Those annoying pop-up ads I’m barraged with every time I link to the web site tell me what they think their revenue model is. So, on with today’s Sunday Morning Read …

No, I don’t need any kind of deal, much less a great one, on a Honda … Click!

Commuter Connections! AYFKM! Being tied to three other people’s schedules and trapped two hours a day with them (and their grooming habits) inside a tin can. No thanks, I’d rather go over a waterfall inside a barrel … Click!

David Limbaugh is right. When will the Establishment GOP and their candidate, Country Club Mittens, wise up, take off the gloves, and really go after Obama’s sorry record and radical associations?

If anything could motivate Romney to channel his inner Mittens the Hun, which he’s done before, by carpet bombing GOP primary opponents with negative ads, it would be the sophomoric hit job from Jason Horowitz of the Post, reporting the critically important news that something happened in a school yard 47 years ago. Channeling my inner Dick Cheney, my immediate reaction was … “So?” But, then it only took me a minute or so of further reflection to put it into historical context.

My May 8 Post (“How Stupid *is* My republic?”) stated the following:

I have no doubt future historians will identify the corruptly biased coverage of these two movements [T.E.A. and #Occupy] as the real beginning of the end for old media.

This is true, as a general proposition. But each old media propaganda organ will have have its own unique and specific moment of critical mass for implosion. 'WedgieGate' is it for WaPo. I couldn’t find an appropriately insightful outraged article on the Examiner, so for linkage I’m going with this article I pulled down to my BlackBerry yesterday.

Back to the Examiner …

Nope, definitely never – not ever – going to be interested in a Prius … Click!

Will Team Leftie try to replicate the 2008 strategy, spinning the mob into hysterics over “Too Big to Fail.” Maybe. But the question then becomes: why did they spend the last four years making the failed even bigger?

Battle lines are drawn for the lame duck Congress. GOP House passes a bill that reduces domestic spending increases from 125 percent to 123 percent, and Donkey Party hacks prepare the big lie this is a draconian spending cut. Or maybe it’s the revenue raised by taking a tiny bite out of the gilded pensions federal bureau-weenies enjoy. Let’s send the lame duck Congress unambiguous instructions in the upcoming election … it’s the Gub’ment Spending, Stupid!

Well, I guess Michael Barone has to write about something. He has deadlines to meet. The answer is 1980, Mr. Barone.

I don’t believe this guy can teach me any language in less than 10 days … Click!

Star Parker adeptly connects the gay marriage distraction – which is really a fund raising tactic that will turn out to be a net vote loser for BHO – to a real issue. Why is Team Leftie all for “choice” when it comes to aborting fetuses, but totally against “choice” for parents in the determination of public schooling for living children? The answer, of course, is Team Leftis has turned the public school system, with its public sector unionized monopoly, into an indoctrination mill for your children.

Scott Rasmussen has noticed resistance is futile for the “Political Class.” We the People have had it up to here (placing hand horizontally across Adam’s apple).

Happy Mother's Day.

Update 7:30 pm

Old media. Sheesh.

I began drafting this post prepared to praise The Examiner for having a thicker skin online than most old media … as they have a history of accepting my harmless url signed snark. Then I noticed comments on their board, full circle linked from this post, disappearing. Trust me, I was very methodical in my experimentation.

My comment to Barone’s article alerted him to the blindingly obvious conclusion his 1980 scenario is already underway. Note carefully Barone is co-founder of the operation (with Byron York). We shall now continue.

My comment to the JP Morgan misstep story supported letting banks fail and breaking them up into smaller units, rather than hiring more useless bureau-weenies (um, regulators) onto the public teat to stand by for the next bailout.

My comment to the GOP budget article called out Dennis Kucinich (D-Mars) for hyperventilating a 123% increase in spending is somehow a draconian cut.

My comment on the Star Parker article was a simple compliment congratulating her on an excellent leap in logic.

My comment to Rasmussen’s article was a mid-length rant on Richard Lugar’s non-utility to the Conservative Ascendancy at this time. Most specifically, his arrogant claim Dick Mourdock won’t “get anything done.” If the mild-mannered Mourdock helps end the fiscal insanity go-along-to-get-along RINO Lugar has assisted in creating, that will be plenty enough for me.

These comments are no longer there. The one original comment remaining – the simple statistics related in response to the David Limbaugh piece - is reply linked parent and child. Draw your own inferences.

It's the Spending, Stupid

Another historic rant from Rick Santelli. The numbers is the the numbers, and some of us are getting a little pissed off at so-called "leaders" who are lying about the numbers.

(From the most important web site of 2012)

Question for BHO and His Corrupt Gang of Progressives ... what the hell is so "fair" about saddling unborn citizens with crippling debt?

When Santelli says he's not ready to talk about solutions (LAS likes a man who knows when he's too pissed off to go there), it's because he knows the solution space is entitlement reform. Whether we are able to go there as a nation before we are completely broke is the all time test of Alexander Hamilton's proposition that the masses are fools ... or maybe Benjamin Franklin's famous answer to the man who asked him what form of government the constitutional convention had created - "a republic, if you can keep it." When the occupy mob chants "this is what democracy looks like" ... they mean it ... pure, unfiltered, 'democracy' will inevitably degenerate into lowest common denominator mob rule. It's just how the numbers work.

Update

I think this one is going viral. A blogger with what is quite obviously a much larger readership than mine - the Left Coast Rebel - likes Rick's Rant, too.

On Growth

(No, not that kind of growth, Beavis and Butthead. We’ve already covered the progressive outrage hidden inside ObamaCare that is free Viagra for all.)


What with all the political tragedy and comedy lately - the Community Agitator In Chief appointing himself Pope, his OccupyDC camp out for socialism fading into irrelevance with a pathetic whimper, his rapidly unraveling Mideast policy swiftly turning LAS into a literal believer in the Book of Revelations, the GOP contenders for his job thumbing each other in the eye Three Stooges style on a glide path to a brokered convention, etc. – the most important political topic to the American voter (the economy, stupid) has been receiving short thrift.

I, LibertyAtStake, shall now repair this gross oversight. Because as the great “Cool Cal” Calvin Coolidge once opined: “the business of America is business.” So, let’s now turn our attention to the program of economic annihilation administered by BHO and His Corrupt Gang of Progressives.

==

Of course, this gang of treasonous incompetents has been patting themselves on the back lately for some economic numbers they are trying to spin as positive. It’s an election year, you know.

They are ready to break out the champagne because the official U3 unemployment rate the past three months has been officially measured as 8.7%, 8.5%, and 8.3%. They seem to like this trend; notwithstanding the fact they were the geniuses who told us their trillion dollar ‘Stimulus’ boondoggle was necessary to keep this number below the 8% we should have expected by doing nothing. They are telling us this trend puts the republic back on the right track notwithstanding the fact that economists traditionally peg the notion of “full domestic employment” on the meter at 4% to 5% U3.

They’ve released the balloons and confetti because growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been officially measured the last two quarters at 1.8% and 2.8%, respectively. They seem to like this trend, too – notwithstanding the fact this is the slowest and shallowest recovery from a recession since World War II.

Of course, this is an election year. So, they want you to believe George W. Bush dug such a big hole they will need not one term, but two terms, to heroically return the greatest economy the world has ever seen to full prosperity. Well, that’s the election pitch, anyway. They’ve concocted this election pitch despite the plain fact their actual policies are consistently anti-growth.

• Such as consistently preventing the development of all kinds of domestic energy resources – to satisfy their tree-hugging “green” lobby in an election year.

• Like consistently demonizing and threatening the republic’s job creators with confiscatory taxes and crushing regulations in the health care realm and other realms.

• And consistently strengthening the hand of labor unions to extort more and more capital from employers – most destructively in the public sector where the “employer” is you and me.

This one clearly falls under the heading “watch what they do, not what they say.” Now, let me be clear about one thing – LAS is no fan of George W. Bush’s domestic policies. ‘No Child Left Behind’ would not have occurred in an LAS administration … it would have been more like ‘What the hell is the Department of Education even for?’ The Medicare prescription drug entitlement expansion was compassionate conservativism ersatz progressivism at its most blinkered. No, on second thought, the TARP bailout was, actually. However, none of this gives Bush’s successor the right to blame previous administrations for its’ blatant failure to generate economic growth.

==

The fact of the matter is the only thing this gang of treasonous incompetents has proven is you couldn’t kill the American economy even if you tried, as I recently heard the great Lawrence Kudlow opine on WMAL radio.

As this graph shows, the long term trend in annual growth since World War II has followed a basically straight line trend through all manner of administrations, various recessions, and every twist and turn in the natural free market boom and bust cycle. The 65 year trend line looks to be about 30 degrees positive to my eyeballs – what a beautiful economic engine for prosperity.

Actually, the most interesting part of the trend is the plain fact that annual growth clearly lags the 65 year trend in precisely one period – the present one, the one under Obama’s stewardship.

These numbers make Obama the most anti-growth President since World War II. Period. For a review of the philosophy making it so, and a contrast with the competing philosophy that informed Ronald Reagan’s incredibly successful two terms – you can read my 5/11/11 post ‘Stuck On Keynesian Stupid.’

This graph I’ve been keeping up presents the contrast by the numbers.

Big Government has additional secondary measures documenting the misery of Obamanomics.

==

Now, the real turd in the economic toilet bowl, of course, is the ridiculous debt Obama has run up to create these abysmal results.

In fact the national debt now equals annual GDP for the first time ever. That means you would have to confiscate every dollar earned by everyone for an entire year to pay it off.

You are going to need serious pro-growth policies to dig out of this debt hole, America. You are going to need to elect people willing to take bold and, yes, ‘radical’ (dictionary definition) action to get DC the hell out the way of the business of America (business, per Coolidge, as previously noted). Before casting a vote, listen carefully to what this year’s candidates say – and more, importantly, look very closely at what the record says they’ve done in the past with respect to economic growth. The future of the republic depends on it.

Footnotes

Following are my two favorite general ideas for radical tax code reform, which are mutually exclusive in my mind, in ascending order of preference.

Eliminate all loopholes in the income tax code, tax all forms of income equally, cap the top rate at something non-confiscatory (say 15%), and make sure everyone pays in at least something (even if it has to be 1% on the lowest rung). Want to get money out of politics? Flattening the tax rates, broadening the tax base, and simplifying the code goes a hell of a long way toward doing it. If there are no tax advantages to lobby for, no one will see economic benefit in buying a politician.

Alternatively, scrap the income tax altogether, and replace it entirely with a consumption tax. What could be a more simultaneously libertarian and progressive proposal, I ask you? If you want something, and can afford it, you pay the tax. Period. ‘Poor’ people consume less (so it’s “progressive”), and I won’t be coerced into paying for your Viagra under ObamaCare (making it “libertarian.”).

Update 2/14/12

One Trick Crony submits 2012 budget proposal campaign strategy with the usual suspects: 'soak the rich' tax plan, deficit spending on 'infrastructure' nobody needs, gutting defense, and smoke and mirrors deficit reduction projections.

Fellow DemoHack Dingy Harry Reid promises DemoHack controlled Senate will pass no budget for fourth straight year nevertheless.

2/15/12

The Conservatory blog has a great post on an important component of Team Obama's anti-growth regime ... burdensome regulations.  The picture is precious.

Sign Me Up!

You, too, can sign up here, to exercise your First Amendment right to tell the gub'ment to take a long walk off the nearest short pier.

==

The timing of this rally is exquisite. The chicken eggs hidden inside the ObamaCare bill are comin' home to roost!

(1) The Supreme Court will be simultaneously reviewing the obvious unconstitutionality of the Individual mandate.

(2) Team Obama has stepped into it big time, politically, by trying to shove contraception down the Catholic church's throat. (see yesterday's LAS post).

(3) And, of course, one of Team Obama's jackbooted progressive brownshirts - the ersatz Catholic known as Rosa DeLauro - was sent out to instruct us in the Washington Post's opinion propaganda pages that it's really about more free stuff for women. (Hat Tip to radio man Chris Plante) I especially love her "fairness" pitch based on the stipulation men can acquire Viagra without a co-pay. Hey, here's an idea - make it "fairer" by making the l*mp d*cks pay for their own damn Viagra.

(4) And last, but not least, the petting zoo known as OccupyDC will still be in town to provide a brilliant contrast. After we assemble, make our point, and pick up after ourselves, we should drop by to review and photograph the camp squalor. iow - do the corrupt and biased liberal MSM's job for them.


d(^_^)b
http://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/
“Because the Only Good Progressive is a Failed Progressive”


Update 6:30 pm

Screen snapped from my Feedjit Live log.  If this doesn't prove it's really about the size and scope of gub'ment, nothing does.  Click to embiggen.

Update 2/13/12 10:00 pm

I've designed my business cards for the rally.


Front:

Back:

Whaddya think?

LAS 2011 Review & 2012 Preview (Part 1 of 4)

Part 1 covers domestic conditions.

Part 2 will cover foreign affairs.

Part 3 will cover the current electoral situation (probably after the Iowa caucuses).

Part 4 will cover this blog project.

==

2011 has been an eventful year for LAS. Personally, for the second time in three years, I lost and then gained superior employment. And, this time, the transition period was shorter and smoother – owing to a slightly improved hiring market, at least by my observation, and at least in my field of compensated endeavor. That noted, I’m sticking to my original stipulation: this blog is less about me and more about my country.

==

Looking back on 2011, LAS observes an America whose attention has been turned inward by the corrupt and inept governance of a kleptocratic crony statist (the crony capitalism is but a marriage of convenience). The domestic chaos created by the kleptocrat in the White House, purposely or otherwise, has the nation bitterly divided.

We opened the year with a garden variety apolitical lunatic named Jared Loughner shooting a Democrat congresswoman named Gabrielle Giffords. The corrupt and biased MSM rushed to their fantasy conclusion the shooter was motivated by right wing politics. The Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama improbably rose to the occasion and called for a “new tone” in political discourse. The Left heeded this call for about twelve and a half seconds.

Soon thereafter, Team Leftie launched a frenzied mob assault on the rule of law in Madison, WI. The Democrat caucus ran to Illinois like grifters jumping bail, earning the fitting nickname ‘fleebaggers.’ The Left’s astro-turfed street mobs laid siege to normal legislative business by “occupying” the state capitol - to prevent a duly elected legislature from enacting the will of the electorate to cut back on gub’ment spending. A pattern for the year was established.

By spring, the republic had the first real opportunity to observe the newly TEA Party infused GOP in ideological battle with Barry and his corrupt gang of Progressives. We the People had given the GOP control of the House of Representatives in November 2010, to put adults back in charge of the republic’s purse strings. The federal gub’ment was running out of money and there was much wringing of hands over the possibility of a federal gub’ment shutdown. In the heat of argument, Team Leftie predictably went for lowest common denominator gutter politics, falsely claiming the GOP intended to end Medicare in the next twelve and a half seconds. This obnoxiously divisive advertisement was actually aired by Team Leftie.





(Yeah, that's it - conservatives are all secretly plotting to throw Granny off the cliff)


Following quickly on the heels of this preliminary dust up, our attention was gripped by the Great Debt Ceiling Debacle of 2011. The Establishment GOP once again figured out how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, giving Barry and his corrupt gang of Progressives authority to implement $1.5T more in deficit spending at any time, in return for a so-called “Super Commission” with the charge to find a mere $1.2T in spending cuts over the next ten years. President WTF disingenuously trumpeted this deal as saving the country from financial ruin. (There would have never been a loan default. Just a reduction in current deficit spending to service loan interest) Overnight, the country’s credit rating was instantly downgraded. Later in the year, this “Super Commission” predictably met with gridlock, and Washington once again failed to address its spending addiction with even a token measure.

As this so-called “Super Commission” was reaching its anti-climactic and ultimately useless conclusion, Team Leftie decided it was time to throw an infantile temper tantrum in the nation’s streets. Day of Rage became Occupy Wall Street, became Occupy Whatever, became Occupy FAIL. Most cities under local jurisdictions have had the good sense to clear these mobs from their parks and plazas. Two apparently independent illegal encampments still remain in DC, under federal jurisdiction, and therefore under the protection of the corrupt Barry regime. OccupyDC and OccupyWashingtonDC will continue to be way stations for the Aimless Mob of Maladjusted Malcontents for the foreseeable future.


In an effort to coordinate his so-called “governance” with the so-called “message” of the astro-turfed Occupy mob, BHO introduced the American Jobs Act - which really was nothing more than a proposal to raise taxes on the so-called “rich” (to appease his Leftist base), while simultaneously pandering to everyone else with a payroll tax holiday extension. He failed to soak the rich because Congress correctly dismissed it as folly in a down economy. He got the payroll tax holiday because no one in politics would dare object (more on the politics to come in Part 3). The entire set up was an intentionally divisive class warfare gambit aimed at demonizing “rich” people in order to forcibly confiscate more of their wealth for BHO’s pet ideological projects.


Make no mistake, the Occupy mob is connected directly to Barack Hussein Obama’s White House. BHO’s White House is consciously pursuing an intentionally divisive, Saul Alinsky inspired, class warfare strategy. BHO and the rest of Team Leftie is intentionally stoking resentment among the 47% of Americans who pay no taxes at all, in an effort to extract even more wealth from the 53% who do pay taxes, to fund more deficit spending on “social justice” and other Leftist redistributive schemes. BHO fancies himself the champion of the entitlement class and the scourge of the productive class. This ideology explains and animates every BHO domestic policy position. This ideology, and consequently every BHO policy position, by definition, pits this American against that American.

2012 will be a chaotic year on America’s streets, because the Community-Agitator-In-Chief has designed it to be so.

LAS is a bit player in the unfolding historical drama, and knows it. The Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama is also a bit player, though he fancies himself a historical figure. Yeah sure, he’ll go down in history books – as the most corrupt, incompetent, and divisive American President ever.

But, IMHO, the best summary of what awaits the United States of America in 2012 is captured by Bill Whittle of Pajamas Media with this simple video.  It has much to do with the conditions BHO has set up with his corrupt and inept governance, but contains very little he can can control from hereon out.





2012 will be a time of choosing for all Americans.

Update 1/1/12

Here's a little video preview of what the Left's #Occupy mob has in store for the civil society in 2012.  The rule of law is not, nor has it ever been, a priority for the Left.  The Left is, and ever has been, all about imposing its' will by any means necessary - the street mob being today's preferred tool with their "community organizers."



Update 1/3/12

And here's a preview of the treatment cops can expect from the occupier criminals in 2012, just for doing their job.

Why The Republic Teeters On The Brink Of Disaster

A simple table explaining where we stand. Click to zoom in.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays fellow citizens.

d(^_^)b
http://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/
“Because the Only Good Progressive is a Failed Progressive”


Footnote

On the Fox panel last night, Charles Krauthammer spoon fed the next political move to the House GOP. Pass the entire Senate bill with one and only one modification - making the payroll tax holiday a full 12 months. Then let Dingy Harry and Veto Threat Barry defend not coming on board to that one with clueless independents. LAS does not hold his breath in anticipation of the House GOP being so smart.

Update 12/22/11

I tweeted today.

#40 dollars isn't nearly the half off it. http://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/2011/12/why-republic-teeters-on-brink-of.html

Because tweeters vote, too.

Update #2 12/22/11

I'm now for taking the Krauthammer plan to the next logical step. My comment on the Washington Examiner blog today ...

Wrong again. Go-along-to-get-along Mitch wants the House to pass legislation for the promise of negotiations with the Senate. A Senate he lost the majority in years ago? House should pass a straight up, no strings attached 12 month extension, forget paying for it (include a promise of finding cuts later as cover) and dare Dingy Harry and Veto Threat Barry not to come on board with that. iow simplify the game of chicken for the independents. i.e. This is the next generation Krauthammer plan: extend the payroll tax holiday and delete the remainder of the Senate bill. We can discuss firing go-along-to-get-along Mitch afterward.

Update #3 12/22/11

The stupid party folds like a cheap tent.

Update 12/23/11

Details of the promise to fix the abominable two month provision reported by Fox.

Newton's Three Laws (Part 23)

A three part movement in the series soon to be known far and wide as the ‘Newtonian Predictive Model for Politics.’

Part 1: #OccupyFAIL

Lest we forget, one of the Left’s most decorated community agitators – Van Jones – warned us October 2011 would be something to remember.

Well, Mr. Jones apparently meant Team Leftie had a master plan in the works to mobilize recycled hippies and community organized zombies into tiny illegal encampments across the nation, under the banner #OccupyWhatever, or something.

Well, Halloween is fittingly just around the corner, and it’s now official: October 2011 has been something to rememebr.  But not in the way Mr. Jones intended. You can re-designate #OccupyWhatever as #OccupyFAIL. The recycled hippies and community organized zombies attracted to these illegal and unsanitary encampments have not impressed the civil society. The so-called ‘99 percenters’ have not prevented the civil society from moving along quite nicely with normal business, despite the tragic-comic presence here and there of their stone-age encampments.

And of course these encampments are predictably following the arc of human nature that goes from aimless, to restless, to criminal. The examples are coming in from places as far ranging as Boston, Dallas, and , yes, ground zero of Mr. Jones' revolution at WallStreet, Manhattan, New York, York.

The civil society has taken notice and is beginning to lose its’ patience. Restoration of law and order has begun in Oakland, Portland, and Atlanta, for example.

Memo to Mayor Bloomberg in New York, as well as whomever the hell has jurisdiction in DC: The longer you wait, the greater the health hazard to Police when the clearing operation are finally inevitable. It will be demanded by your constituents – that is, the people walking past these illegal encampments (holding their noses of course) to work, produce wealth, and pay taxes. Lest you forget, the taxes that fund your gub’ment.

I’ve already sent the memo to #occupydc, to prepare them for the inevitable. Based on what I’ve seen up close and personal, my advice here is as pearls are to swine.

Part 2: We Can’t Wait … To Throw More Public Money Down the Keynesian Rat Hole

And, of course, true to form – The Empty Suit That Seeks 2012 Re-election has hitched his wagon to this aimless, restless, and ultimately criminal rabble.

GLWT, Barry – you own it now! That smell you smell is your peeps. ROTFLMAO!

But, let’s give him credit for owning it through and through. The Empty Suit That Occasionally Occupies the Oval Office is traveling the country in campaign mode assenting to #OccupyFAIL demands.

With the new empty slogan “We Can’t Wait” – which roughly translated means “we have no qualms about abusing the powers of the executive branch and ignoring the constitution” - Barry is promising one redistributive giveaway after another to his so-called “base” – which can increasingly be identified as the national collection of whiny, selfish, entitled slackers.

Barry is promising a new bailout to keep the housing bubble pumped up. This is the same redistributive policy madness that created the very problem it assuredly will not solve. The Housing bubble was created by the meddling gub’mental arc that started with the Community Reinvestment Act, ran through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and Barney Frank’s committee chairmanship. Which was then aggravated and prolonged by the TARP scam and various other Obama admin re-financing programs like HARP, HAMP, and now whatever they are calling this new bundle of the same old sh*t. As the following chart demonstrates, these programs have only made things worse – as redistributive Keynesian nonsense always does. Whether Barry realizes the silly futility of the policy or not is beside point – for him. He has calculated, as the empty suited demagogue will, that there are votes to be bought with this cash giveaway.

Barry is also promising another new bailout to promote delinquency among over-educated pseudo-intellectuals. Barry’s motivation is the same here – the demagogue’s naked interest in bought votes. But LAS believes this particular gambit will backfire on Barry. LAS believes there are more votes to be lost (for Barry) from hard working blue collar Americans who rightfully won’t be able to fathom why anyone lucky enough to gain a college education should be allowed to go scot free on legal loan obligations – bailed out by taxpayers who may have never seen the inside of a college or university. This numb-nuts I’ve rolled into the post from my ‘Snark U.’ roll is the contemptible poster child.

Hey Dummy, Didn't You Do the Math Before Taking Out the Loan?

Hey, it’s tough for the class warrior to decide who to pit against whom. LAS predicts Barry will soon want a mulligan on this one.

Part 3: Report on the All Black Guy Running For President

Yes, we are talking about the candidacy of the man who will be the first all-black (both parents!) President in American history, should his candidacy come to a successful conclusion.

Astute readers of this blog have noticed two things for sure.

(1) I have mostly avoided getting into the thick of the GOP primary debate. This is because I’m prepared to vote for a #2 pencil over The Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama.

(2) I do have a sweet spot for Herman Cain. This is because I once had the privilege of working for him, and to this day he is far and away the best executive I’ve ever personally known.

And it seems the rest of America is beginning to like what it sees in Mr. Cain, as well. Improbably, despite running an unorthodox campaign, the Cain Train is roaring down the tracks as GOP primary poll leader.

Now, astute readers of this blog have surely noticed something else. LibertyAtStake licks no one’s boots. As such, I must chastise Mr. Cain for a very confusing policy message on the abortion issue. I, LibertyAtStake, shall now inform him how he needs to package his position on this matter – which coincidentally, is also mine.

“As a matter of personal morality, I am pro-life. Life begins at conception, period. As a matter of public policy, I am constitutionalist. The federal government has no place, pro or con, in matters of morality, period.”

Memo to social conservatives … this position requires the over -turn of Roe v Wade and de-funding of all federal support to abortion. What else do you want? If you lack faith in your ability to convince the civil society your moral position is good and necessary, without the blunt force of federal mandates, then you are doing ‘conservative’ all wrong.

Oh, did I mention I have bumper stickers (and other cool stuff) for sale?  Click the pic ...

Footnote

You need a scorecard to know who the players are ...

Updates 10/29/2011

LAS memo to Herman Cain ... You've got the name recognition, now you need to use the November debate run to get over this impression. Regarding your campaign, November 2011 is for all the marbles. Come out of November with the 'policy weakling' charge defused, and it's clear sailing from there. Be prepared for the attacks and 'gotcha' questions.

Daily Caller and Heritage Foundation are both in agreement with LAS that the student loan cash giveaway will backfire on Barry politically.

The original post was supposed to be a four part movement.  The fourth part was to be We Can't Wait ... To Cede the Mideast To the Islamists - lampooning Barry and Hillary's comically ad-hoc interventionist foreign policy during the so-called 'Arab Spring.'  But I ran ("I ran" - get it?) out of time and energy.  The Daily Caller nicely covers that angle here.


Update 10/31/2011

Some scholarly research into the at least 17 year old root cause of what is vexing the #OccupyFAIL mob. Hint: It ain’t “Wall Street.”

And, yeah, I'll get to the Left's scurrilous attack on Herman Cain in due time.  But I think I’ll wait until it’s even obvious to Karl Rove it is redounding to Cain’s benefit.  It should only be a couple of days for the poll evidence to start rolling in.

Update 11/02/2011

LAS expects this Daily Caller report will prove to be the pivot point in the 'Great GOP/NRA Kinda Sorta Sex - Even Though There Wasn't Actually Any Sex - Scandal'

So, How’s ‘President AA+’ Workin’ Out Fer Ya?

‘Historic.’ ‘Unprecedented.’

That’s what the corrupt and incompetent MSM told you the 2008 election of the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama would be. And the corrupt and incompetent MSM was only the most subtle part of the, largely Soros Inc. funded, Progressive propaganda machine, that convinced you the empty slogan ‘Hope and Change’ was a policy of governance.

Well, now there’s a record. How do you like it? Historic and unprecedented enough fer ya? Do you wish you paid more attention to what was behind the curtain in 2008?

==

The blogger known as Doug Ross has made deft use of this clever graphic to make two salient points:

(1) The Empty Suit’s economic record certainly sucks (raw data published April 12, 2011)

(2) It is not at all unreasonable to conclude it sucks on purpose (persuasive opinion published March 4, 2009)

I have maintained a small series of posts myself, known as the ‘Stupid or Treasonous’ series, since January 4, 2010 – in which I ask myself essentially the same question: are Barry and his corrupt gang of Progressive hacks intentionally wrecking the whole damn place? (note: Simply type ‘Stupid or Treasonous’ into this blog’s Search Box to explore how I’ve explored this question)

==

There are fresh updates in the news feeding into the ‘Stupid or Treasonous’ thought process.

On the economic record front, the reliable (that is, always on schedule) bureau-weenies at the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) came out with their mandated quarterly GDP projection – which demonstrates the Empty Suit’s economy certainly does still suck.

I’ll take this opportunity to update my own graphic tracking the (non)progress of Barry’s dysconomy. (Side note: Anticipating a subsequent update, pending the by now completely expected downward revision of this quarter’s projection)

My method is to compare and contrast rates of economic growth under the gub’ments officially designated ‘Reagan Recovery’ and the gub’ments officially designated ‘Obama Recovery’ (soon to be known as Obama’s double dip recession, IMHO).

This comparison is about as black and white as it will ever get. Reagan pursued supply-side economic policies almost exclusively, whereas Obama has pursued demand-side gub’ment spending policies entirely exclusively.

LAS Conclusion: The inflexible Progressive ideologues in your current administration are stuck on Keynesian stupid (read my May 11, 2011 post for further exploration).

In the always unpredictable sphere of foreign affairs, we have the sad news of the greatest single day’s loss of American life since we’ve been in Afghanistan.

LAS Conclusion: The clueless Progressive ideologues in your current administration have never understood how to wage war. The sad truth is the Taliban is energized and mobilized because BHO was stupid enough to broadcast to them his politically motivated withdrawal timeline. Twice!

We also have news from Syria and Egypt demonstrating the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ isn’t going so well for the interest of democracy.

LAS Conclusion: The clueless Progressive ideologues in your current administration have never understood how to conduct foreign affairs to the long term furtherance of democracy. They were stupid enough to throw a valuable ally for maintaining regional stability under the bus in Egypt, stupid enough to waste the military intervention option on a poorly defined engagement in Libya, and now find themselves with no effective options for opposing a brutal dictator in Syria. This brutal dictator in Syria will now essentially become a proxy for the Iranian mullahs, who are emerging out of all of this with a newly ascendant hegemony in the region. The Iranian mullahs have zero interest in democracy, you can be sure of that much.

==

Well, dear reader, now I must report there was a specific turning point in the Great Debt Ceiling Debacle of 2011 that made me turn the corner from ‘stupid’ to ‘treasonous.’ It was when BHO blew up the so-called ‘grand bargain’ he was negotiating with Speaker Boehner at the eleventh hour. When the deal was practically closed – with total ‘deficit reduction’ numbers totaling up to Standard and Poor's $4T cut line – BHO sandbagged Boehner with a 50% increase in the 'ask' on his side of the deal (gub’ment revenues). This negotiating move was breathtakingly ‘stupid’. But only if you maintain the assumption BHO wanted a deal. So breathtakingly ‘stupid’ I had to conclude he *never did* want a deal. He *must* have wanted to blow up the deal. This conclusion is only supported by the plain fact BHO never put a written plan on the table through the entire ‘negotiation’ (debacle).

AA+: Mission Accomplished, Barry!

==

So, now I must attempt to explain in writing what I mean by labeling the President of the United States a ‘traitor.’ Otherwise, I might have to waste a lot of time explaining it to gub’ment agents (some of whom may even be friends and neighbors) in person.

It’s bigger than him. It’s the ideological crowd he runs with. This cabal is the American Progressive Left -now effectively running the Democrat Party, holding a practical monopoly over the biased MSM (save Fox) that so willingly carries Democrat Party water, directing the Leftist indoctrination camps so many of your public school and university systems have become, and infesting the regulatory bureaucracies that have their boot on the throat of your economy.

This cabal is essentially ‘treasonous’ for the following reason: they are *not* ‘patriotic’ in the traditional sense of the word. If we were to define ‘patriotic’ as putting the interest of the citizens of the United States above all other considerations, they are manifestly *not* patriotic. Their ideology is manifestly ‘post-patriotic’ in that it seeks to heal the entire world (as impossible as this pursuit is), proceeding from the basic assumption the citizens of the United States of America are the source of all the world’s ills (as misguided as this analysis is). You, dear reader, are the problem – and the American Progressive Left is the self-appointed ruling elite that simply *must* fix you, to save the world. It is their self-appointed ideological mission.

Their archetype is Obama’s Red Diaper Baby Sibling in the White House’s inner sanctum, Valerie Jarrett.

Thusly, they will *not* relax their practical moratorium on Gulf oil drilling (aka the biggest driver of the Gulf States’ economies). Thusly they *will* have to be dragged kicking and screaming into every red cent of deficit reduction on the gub’ment spending side – because their ideology is in effect the religion of gub’ment spending. This religion requires ever increasing amounts of wealth confiscation (that is, gub’ment revenue) to sustain it.

This religion of theirs *requires* them to place tactical politics above any ‘patriotic’ (traditional definition) concerns. The still building ‘Fast and Furious’ scandal is the proof of this.

This religion of theirs is also extraordinarily cynical. It causes them to attempt to shift blame for the consequences of not reducing gub’ment spending on to the very people who seek to reduce gub’ment spending.

Today’s Leftist talking point to blame the TEA Party movement for being in total agreement with Standard and Poor’s downgrade decision is just the tip of the iceberg for the 2011-2012 Leftist Watch outlook. This outlook is ugly. This religion of theirs instructs them they *must* *never* voluntarily relinquish political power. LAS once again predicts a growth economy for his JAUL Gallery.

Footnote

Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Tiny Turbo Tax Tim has To Go!

You Can’t Always Get What You Want (But If You Try Sometimes You Might Find You Get What You Need)

After Action Report on the Great Debt Ceiling Debacle of 2011

I never could fully embrace the Rolling Stones as an act. Their most listenable period is the 1969-1974 golden age that was blessed with Mick Taylor’s lead guitar playing. The early days with Brian Jones in that slot were good, too. Everything since 1975 … not so much. My main problem is I have always found Mick Jagger to be unwatchable. He always manages to do something on stage or in the video that makes me go ‘WTF?’ – and not necessarily in a good way. Keith Richards’ solo projects since 1975 were always tighter bands anyway. But I digress. It has occurred to me the Stones’ song title that serves as this post title neatly sums up what has been a useful – but by no means conclusive – victory for the TEA Party movement.

==

The spending cut numbers definitely do nothing, really, to bend the debt and deficit curve. But at least, for the first time ever, the DC sausage factory has come up with something that is all cut and no tax (at least for now). That’s “progress” for the Conservative Ascendancy.

I find the uber stupid super commission to be at best the usual DC establishment cop out. I fear it could be far worse – a trap set by the Left that they will close by obstructing the commission’s work to ‘trigger’ steep defense cuts they care deeply about acquiring. The parallel provider-side Medicare cuts are a speed bump to them, and they probably already have a secret plan for making it whole with their new credit limit out of this deal.

There has been some optimistic talk on the Right about this commission yielding real tax reform – simultaneously lowering rates across the board, broadening the base, and removing loopholes. That is, simplifying and flattening the code to grow the economy. Charles Krauthammer said so on Fox last night. Larry Kudlow said so on WMAL this morning. I am very dubious - because the Left does not believe in any of this. The Left only believes in soaking the “rich” (whoever they are as of today) and “redistributing” the spoils. If you don’t believe me, just muster the attention span to watch the work of this commission in detail.

If I had the privilege of a vote in the House last night – I would have been a ‘No’. The explanation is complicated. I still think we could have won the argument if it went to the brink – but it was by no means certain. I’m up for that fight, TEA Party patriots are – the establishment GOP clearly is not yet. The final deal is a way of walking away with a smaller, but certain win, in the all-important perceptions game leading up to November 2012.

As I have explained in previous posts – I was for the Boehner bill before I was against the mess the sausage factory made of it. I could reasonably stand behind the Boehner bill on basic principle (if not the totality of the math).

In the end, I would have voted ‘No’ to play the part of guardian of the truth inside the sausage factory. It was completely clear the leaders were getting their so-called ‘bi-partisan’ Potemkin bill to play to the clueless independent crowd, which still seems to value ‘compromise’ at any price above all else. These are the people we need to motivate in the no-shit-this-is-for-all-the marbles-election-for-the-future-of-the-republic, and walking away with half a loaf is still the preferred establishment path. But somebody needs to keep the flame burning to illuminate the corrupt kleptocrats in the Democrat party we are up against.

So we move forward with the center of the debate moved to the right, and an uber commission made necessary by the political deadlock I predict will be the norm until the next election. The same climate of political deadlock puts this commission on greased rails running downhill to the automatic defense and Medicare cuts written into the ‘trigger.’

Moving the center of debate is useful to Conservative Ascendancy, and a huge testimony to the history shifting power of the TEA Party movement. The uber commission represents a huge risk to the Conservative Ascendancy, because it has all the earmarks of a Leftist kleptocratic trick. You could hardly imagine a better setup for the kleptocrats. They get a new blank check in deficit spending – more than enough to make the trigger’s Medicare cuts whole – and a mechanism to gut the Defense department, all in one little neat package. All they have to do is obstruct adult decision making in DC. Have you noticed they are pretty good at that?

You Can’t Always Get What You Want (But If You Try Sometimes You Might Find You Get What You Need).

President WTF Still Has No Plan

Ok, like everyone else in the republic, I've had a night's sleep to mull over yesterday's non-vote on Speaker Boehner's last best compromise offer for addressing the debt crisis in this congressional session.

I still think the GOP / TEA Party coalition missed a tactical opportunity by failing to pass the Speaker's plan through the House. But at least it stalled for the right reasons - principled convservative objections.

I also think Speaker Boehner and the House leadership team have it in them to do the yeoman's work necessary to address these objections in a manner  sufficient to pass this bill through the House today. Because they are good people with honorable intentions.

They are also capable of counting votes, as their particular profession demands - as last night demonstrated. If they don't have the votes they should just fold their hands and allow the GOP / TEA Party coalition to walk away from the debate bathed in the glory of the only side in the debate that made an honest effort toward resolution. History will recognize this even if today's corrupt gang of propagandist hacks in the MSM will not.

If the Boehner plan is dead - it's back to the Levin plan for me. Call bullshit on the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama.

*Do not lift the ceiling at all*

Anyone paying attention already knows there are enough current revenues to cover all obligations. Which means if the Empty Suit and his gang of Progressive Alinskyite anarchists (who haven't even bothered to put together a budget proposal since 2009) apply the proper priorities to the allowance We the People have given them, there will be no "default" - the only thing that needs to be stiffed is the bureaucracy that does so much good for our economy every day. And they will be proven to be the lying sacks o' s**t they are.


Update 7/30/11

I love it when a plan comes together.

And it's all good on this fine summer Saturday evening.  Think maybe I'll walk the dog.


Update 7/31/2011

I entered this debacle clearly stating my two no-shit-no-compromise acceptance criteria: (1) dollar-for-dollar match in *specific* spending cuts to amount of debt ceiling lift, (2) not one red cent in new taxes in today's soft economy.  I have also laid out a "nice to have" third condition: (3) force BHO to come back to the well for another ceiling lift before November 2012.  Just to have the argument again.

The Boehner compromise plan that passed the House on Friday met all three conditions.  The modified compromise being reported tonight gives away condition (3) to BHO and his corrupt gang of Progressive hacks.

Tonight's compromise, as reported, also fails on condition (1).  The failure is embedded in the so-called 'trigger' that kicks in if Congress itself can't find another $1T+ in *specific* cuts in the near future.  This, of course, makes the 'trigger' a fait accompli the moment this kabuki condition is signed into law.  The trigger calls for approximately $500B in reductions to both defense and medicare spending.  Supposedly these conditions are equally obnoxious to both the Right and the Left.  Not so.  The Right correctly recoils at the defense cuts.  The Left sees the medicare cuts as a speed bump on the way to their illusory social welfare utopia.  The Left will obstruct the commission that is supposed to avert the trigger.  Mark it.  They are probably discussing their long game strategy on this point, at this very moment, on a Soros funded teleconference. 

*This deal just became a bad deal - and no deal is still better than a bad deal.*  The 'trigger' is pointed right at the republic's heart by BHO and his corrupt gang of Progressive hacks.

Debt Ceiling Wars - Do Not Let the Perfect Be the Enemy of the Good

“Do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good” - I heard these words spoken by Speaker Boehner on Hannity’s radio show this afternoon.  Mr. Boehner, along with the rest of the GOP leadership team, was out today doing the yeoman’s political work around building a consensus and a working majority around a plan with verifiable written details.  Their latest plan to directly address the DC big government ruling class’s spending addiction is their third offering of a plan with verifiable written details.  The DC big government ruling class has still offered a grand total of zero of these.   The sophomoric progressive ideologues in the White House, Dingy Harry Reid’s gang of kleptocratic hacks in the Democrat controlled Senate, and the pack of propagandists that comprise their water carriers in the MSM, are not interested in offering useful plans.  They only continue their long worn pattern of repeating lie after lie to the clueless independents they have cynically conditioned to accept their bullshit.  Dingy Harry Reid’s latest head fake does not address DC’s spending addiction any more than a single man urinating into the Pacific Ocean could credibly claim to change the ocean’s pH.  It’s only operative aim is to give President WTF a clear runway with a blank check through his next election.

Speaker Boehner and the GOP leadership team wasted precious time in the always futile attempt to negotiate a solution with the DC big government ruling class.  The DC big government ruling class is not now and has never been interested in a solution to the rising debt.  The DC big government ruling class is only interested in ‘win at any cost’ political strategies to enable them to continue unimpeded in their spending binge.  These strategies almost always involve obfuscation, issue avoidance, and deconstruction of reality to line up clueless independents behind their agenda – on an emotional level that is all too often the enemy of rational reason.  The DC big government ruling class was using the time they were tying down Speaker Boehner and team in fruitless negotiations with the White House to pursue these strategies with the usual aim of disingenuously demonizing any specific suggestion for reigning in their spending addiction. 

Speaker Boehner and the GOP leadership team finally grew tired of being taken for fools by the White House clown parade.  At this point Speaker Boehner and the GOP leadership did the yeoman’s political work of framing a plan they believe, in their best political judgment, has the best possible chance of doing the most good for reigning in spending and passing both the House and the Senate.

The DC big government ruling class’s current champion, the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama, showing the lack of discipline and patience characteristic of the rookie ideologue, reacted to this turn of events by throwing a prime time hissy fit. 

The Empty Suit's sophmoric performance caught the attention of the clueless independents, if the rate of phone calls into Capitol Hill today is an indicator.  Clueless independents have a short attention span, a habit of demanding something be done (even when nothing yields superior results), and tend to repay a single well played round of something with cycle upon cycle of mindless brand driven voting.  The clueless independents at this moment are as mad as a swarm of hornets at everyone in DC.  Their state of mind still plays to the advantage of the lying, demagogic, tactics of the DC big government ruling class.

This is a time for the Conservative Ascendancy to *not* snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  Clueless independents decide elections.  The election of 2012 is for all the marbles.  Just imagine the wreckage BHO and the Progressives could inflict on the republic unencumbered by re-election concerns.

The Boehner plan isn’t great, but it’s not bad either.  But best of all – clueless independents will get that its victory is a defeat for the DC big government ruling class.  And even better, after they’ve had a half year to rest up from this round of the debate, its short leash will give principled conservatives another shot at further educating them in the 2012 election cycle.

The entire House GOP caucus should line up behind the Boehner plan and get it passed through the House with a roar.  The entire Senate GOP caucus should hold ranks to prevent a successful cloture vote on Dingy Harry’s head fake.  Then it will be up to Dingy Harry and the White House to explain to clueless independents, while their attention is temporarily transfixed on the actual issue with the demand something be done,  why the last plan left standing isn’t good enough.

Update Wednesday evening

Regarding the debt ceiling debacle, which has turned out to be the penultimate moment of chaos (so far) in Barack Hussein Obama’s hyper-chaotic first term, I think I made my position on the way forward for principled conservatives quite clear last night. The prize is driving Barack Hussein Obama from the White House. There can be no credible resolution as long as he remains in office. The clueless independent voters that swing elections, including the election of 2008 lest we forget, are the key to attaining this prize. This key is within our reach right now – *if* we do what’s necessary, with agility and laser focused purpose, to ensure these voters exit the debacle blaming the right demagogue for the chaos – the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama. My advice to principled conservatives: keep your eye on the prize.

Having become used to being almost always right, I naturally observed opinion in the blogosphere throughout the day, just to see how it measured up to my standard.

A laundry list …

The day began with some counter-productive shooting inside the tent from purist elements.

Well known “aisle-reach-acrosser” (aka “loser”) John McCain, quoting the Wall Street Journal editorial page, stoops to the same level, and returns fire from the RINO side of the tent.

Hey guys, we can have a spirited debate without calling each other nasty names. Save that for Progressive gang of hacks.

==

Three established senior members of the conservative blogosphere – Erick Erickson, RS McCain, and TCOTS – take their eye off the prize.

One senior member of the conservative blogosphere – Dan Riehl - maintains solid eye contact with the prize.  But, apparently, with reservations about the company he is keeping.

The sycophantic propagandists in the MSM seemingly catch the scent of the trail I’ve laid out for them – White House Press Corps in open revolt.

DemoHacks catch the scent as well – indulge statist impulses with panicked calls for abusing the constitution.

Cato fulfills usual role of philosophical purity that is not really of pragmatic utility right now.

A report from an old trusted source that the House GOP is keeping its eye on the prize.

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Let’s see what happens with the elected TEA Party caucus tomorrow. Fox News told me this evening two of its luminaries, Allen West (R-FL) and Kristi Noem (R-SD) are on board with LAS’s advice. What, doesn’t that TEA Party thing have any white males?

Update 7/28/11

Summing up my position one last time in the comment spaces on No Runny Eggs.  Chosen because the original post neatly and accurately sums up the agitated state BHO and the Corrupt Progressive gang wants us to constantly be in.  Just read Rules for Radicals.

You missed the ‘Gang of Six’ coming out to undercut the possibility of standing behind ‘Cut, Cap, and Balance’. All water under the bridge. This battle can still be won decisively.

Indpendents have been scare-mongered by Dingy Harry, BHO, and the rest of the corrupt Progressive gang (including MSM)into falsely believing not raising the ceiling is a “default” armageddon scenario. This is a trap the Progressive gang has set for themselves -since they have offered no solutions and independents are actually paying attention due to the scare mongering. To close the trap, the GOP needs to have something to call a take or leave it ‘final offer.’ Right now that’s the Boehner plan, as flawed as it is in the numbers. But the numbers don’t matter right now. What matters is the 3-D political chess game to close the trap Progressive gang has set for itself. If Boehner’s plan passes the House today – it’s check mate. The Progressives then own turning down the only available “solution” (fully credited to Boehner by independents) vs. admitting to an agitated nation they were full of s**t all along.

The republic awaits the results of the House vote.

But not until tomorrow at least.

Hey, did you see Nanny Pelosi's floor speech.  The way she was going on about educatin' the chillins', I think maybe she was the one behind slippin' the $17B in Pell grant spendin' into the anti-spendin' bill.  I think the anti-spendin' bill will stand a better chance of passin' tomorrow with this affront to common sense removed.