AROUND the BLOGS. HUNGER, POVERTY and a MACHEAVELLIAN PRESIDENT

Thomas Sowell had this and more to say about the Hunger Hoax.  “The Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Agriculture examined people from a variety of income levels, however they found no evidence of malnutrition among those in the lowest income brackets.”  What’s wrong with the Republican politicians?  Why don’t they counter with this kind of evidence and expose the Democrats when they rant about a level of poverty and hunger that doesn’t exist?

[T]he great majority of the people living below the official poverty level have such things as air-conditioning, microwave ovens, either videocassette recorders or DVD players, and own either a car or a truck.

Why are such people called “poor”?  Because they meet the arbitrary criteria established by Washington bureaucrats.  Depending on what criteria are used, you can have as much official poverty as you want.

Those who believe in an expansive, nanny state government need a large number of people in “poverty” to justify their programs. They also need a large number of people dependent on government to provide the votes needed to keep the big nanny state going.


David Limbaugh is the mild mannered reverent brother of bombastic irreverent Rush.  Here is what David had to say about our President after listening to Obama’s press conference on October 6th.

Our chief executive either is a mastermind at Machiavellian manipulation or has deep psychological and emotional problems.  I’ve never seen an adult in an important leadership position — especially not the president of the United States — show such frightening immaturity and self-absorption.

Strong language for David, he doesn’t usually talk like Rush.  To see what led him to make that statement, read his entire post here.

OCCUPY WALL STREET, GRASS ROOTS OR ORGANIZED FROM THE START?

Both sides of the media are reporting that the movement known as Occupy Wall Street is a serendipitous event, something that just sprung up naturally from a garden of discontent.  But did it?

On September 17, 2011 a few students sat on the sidewalk in lower Manhattan and called their little protest group Days of Rage (DoR).  Supposedly this was the genesis of the larger movement now known as Occupy Wall Street (OWS).  If OWS was a spontaneous outgrowth from DoR how do you account for the fact that occupywallst.org was registered as a website domain on July 14, 2011, a full two months prior to the first day of the Wall St Days of Rage sit in ?

OWS appears to be a well planned fully orchestrated program in response to the Tea Party.  Make no mistake, OWS is a national operation.  Just days into the launch at the Brooklyn Bridge nearly 900 local community organizations from Florida to the State of Washington are up and running with event dates and websites.

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Locations of OWS operations

A long list of supporters was posted on the website at www.occupywallst.org on Oct 4th but the page appears to have been taken down.  The SEIU and a NY Local of the American Federation of Teachers were among a list of ten to 15 unions.  MoveOn.org was one of the well known names on the longer list of advocacy groups behind the movement.

OWS is developing as a mirror image of the Tea Party, well dressed non-violent, heavily middle class and united behind a cause.  The Tea Party argues for less intrusive government and for getting federal spending under control.  The Tea Party is a force moving the country to the right.  OWS demonstrates against the rich, against the banks and against the financial foundations of capitalism.  OWS is a force that would move the country to the left.  At this nascent stage they appear to have a great deal of popular support, particularly from the middle class.

Socialist leaders have long known that a large and satisfied middle class is the greatest obstacle to gaining control in a democratic nation as prosperous as the U.S.  As long as the middle class is content with their status they will reject the appropriation and redistribution of their assets that socialism requires, supposedly for the common good.  One answer is force, i.e. violent revolution.  The other, and far better answer, is to foment unrest, build anger to the point where there is widespread dissatisfaction within the middle class.  And then present free markets as the cause and socialism as the cure.  The voters will do the rest.

Anger requires a target.  The rich, the banks and Wall Street suit the bill perfectly.  The rich are a defenseless minority that engender very little sympathy.  All that’s needed is a strong community organizer to set them up as the target, someone with some clout, someone with a bully pulpit.  Enter stage left – Barack Obama.

Saul Alinsky taught that socialism’s path to power is like a three act play.

Act I is join the crowd, gain respect, gain acceptance and legitimacy.
Barack Obama has done that.

Act II is the development of anger and the spreading of discontent to enroll as many supporters as possible for Act III.
By intent or not, Barack Obama is doing that.

Act III is the final wresting of control of the government from the establishment.
Barack Obama won’t be doing that, but it’s not for lack of trying.

There is no way to know the President’s real goal, but if it is the establishment of a socialist state he’s doing everything just right; and that includes Occupy Wall Street.

STEVE JOBS’ STORY

Commencement speech, Stanford University 2005

STEVE JOBS, TRUE AMERICAN HERO, MAY HE FOREVER REST IN PEACE

Steven Paul Jobs 1955 - 2011

We have lost a true American hero.  Steve Jobs has passed away quietly in his sleep.  He combined art with technology and gave the world a computer its users love.  Now that is an accomplishment!  Steve Jobs was also a rarity in that he was a corporate CEO who was universally admired by all.

Well done, Mr. Jobs.

WHAT FREE MARKETS? NOT HERE.

When Sen. Dick Durbin stood up in the Senate chamber and told the American public not to do business with a bank he didn’t like, he threatened the free market system.  When the President of the United States confirmed and added to the senator’s condemnation, the free market system ceased to exist.

Free is free.  Half free is not free.  What we have is coercive capitalism, a form of fascism where private ownership of the means of production of goods and services is allowed, but where management is not free to follow the dictates of the market.  This, along with crony capitalism has been described by some as the new face of socialism in America.

John Hinderaker at Power Line has written an excellent piece that begins “Nice Bank You Have Here…, a shame if anything should happen to it… The Democrats took gangster government to a new level today…”  It’s an excellent post and falls into the category of required reading.  Don’t miss it.


Socialist leaders have long realized the challenge of establishing the Marxist form of socialism in a democracy like the United States is an insurmountable one.  A strong and prosperous middle class would never willingly accept a government that would appropriate ownership of private enterprise.  The alternatives are to employ force with a violent revolution (a very bad choice) or to allow private ownership but control it.

Control comes in many forms.  Durbin-Obama coercion is just one of them.  Other means of control include appointing czars to oversee various industries, misuse of executive orders, outright flaunting of established law and the passing of bills that are vague, thereby leaving the specifics to be set by the whims of the bureaucracy as dictated from above.  Go along get along becomes a near necessity.  Those who do more than go along, get along even better.  From Solyndra to GE, this is the new face of socialism in America.

SEVENTEEN TIMES AND WHADDAYA GET? NO JOBS BILL SUPPORT, AND DEEPER IN DEBT

Seventeen times in his post Labor Day speech the President said “Pass this jobs bill now” or words to that effect.  Problem one – there was no jobs bill.  There was just a speech.

A bill was presented a week later.  It was introduced in the Republican controlled House by a Republican, Rep. John B. Larson (R CT).  The bill was introduced in the Democratic controlled Senate by Sen. Harry Reid (D NV).  There are 193 Democrats in the House.  Not a single one has stepped forward to add his name as a co-sponsor of the bill.  There are 51 Democrats in the Senate.  Not a single one has stepped forward to add his name as a co-sponsor of the bill.  Barack Obama has lost the support of his party.

WALL STREET, BEDLAM on the BRIDGE

Wall Street Days of Rage has mushroomed into Occupy Wall Street.  Today it’s not enough just to demonstrate, you must also give the event a name.  And don’t forget to bring the fun stuff.  After all, it’s more about the Coors than it is about the Cause.

One wonders how many of the Occupy Wall Street crowd took the day off from work to occupy the bridge. Work?  Did I just hear someone laugh?  How much would you bet on the chance that their unemployment rate is a hefty multiple of the rate for Tea Party demonstrators?  Work is about contribution; the motto here is distribution not contribution.  And what was the point of shutting down the Brooklyn Bridge?  One demonstrator said she thought they were welcomed by the police.

What brought the Wall Streeters out?  And why now?  Santelli’s Rant inspired the Tea Party.  It’s Obama’s Rant that inspired the Wall Street attack.  Santelli’s outburst was serendipitous, a one time event.  Obama’s rants, on the other hand, are well planned out and repeated again and again in prepared speeches.

Saul Alinsky’s prime rule for radicals is strategy number thirteen, “Pick a target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it”.  The President chose a perennial favorite for a target, Wall Street.  He freezes it by staying on point, hammering away, hammering away.  He personalizes it with “fat cat” and “corporate jet” remarks and polarizes it with a constant stream of agitation from the presidential bully pulpit.  It’s one thing he does very well.

As an agitator, the man is a genius.  As a president, he is a disgrace.

SHAME ON THOSE GUYS!

A headline in yesterday’s New York Times reads:

Companies Use Immigration Crackdown to Turn a Profit

It seems a company that is providing security services in Australia for detention camps housing illegal aliens there, is charging for their services.  Shame on those guys!

If those guys want to get to heaven they should follow the example of the New York Times.  The paper has generated an operating loss of $114,000,000 thus far for the current year.  Analysts predict this morality measure will continue to improve as the losses keep mounting through the end of the year.

(psst! step a little closer.  We don’t want to start a rumor but there is story going around that Sulzi the publisher and Janet his CEO are charging for their services too.  Their salaries are more than 3 million dollars apiece.  I don’t think it costs them that much to go to work.  Shame!  Don’t tell anybody I told you.)

Ahem!  The story goes on to say the services stink.  Could be.  I know I smell something.

The COLUMN Sept 30, 2011

John Stossel

Image via Wikipedia

Quote of the day
”The truth is we have too few jobs today because government stands in the way.  If I’m an employer, why would I want to hire someone when Congress and the Labor Department have so many rules that I might not be able to fire that person if he can’t do the job?  Why would I take a risk on an investment when still-to-be-written rules about Obamacare, financial regulation and the environment could turn my good idea into a losing venture?”  John Stossel

From the You-Can’t-Make-This-Stuff-Up Department
The State of Oregon was a five million dollar gold star by the Obama administration for putting more people on the Food Stamp program.  This is not to cover the cost, mind you; it’s a cash bonus for performance.  What’s next, a ten million dollar reward to New York if they increase the crime rate?

Grease
The skids are being Greeced and the European Union will slip by without breaking up – this time.  That’s our opinion, but it’s a squeaker.  It certainly wasn’t conservative policies of spending within your means or rule of law that got the European nations into their mess.  But it’s conservative policies that will get the public blame.  The left will see to that.  Sarkozy of France and Merkel of Germany are in big trouble with the voters already and the final deal is yet to be signed.

SUPREME COURT HEARINGS on OBAMACARE and the ARIZONA BORDER

Two highly significant issues are being prepared for presentation before the Supreme Court.  One is the United States Government vs. the State of Arizona.  The argument put forth by the Obama administration is that the federal government is given exclusive power to regulate immigration.  The question then is what power does a state have to protect its own people when the federal government imperils the states citizens by failing to enforce its own laws.

The second significant item is the constitutionality of Obamacare.  No case has actually been filed as yet but one is fully expected.  At one count, 38 states had joined or were considering joining in a suit to argue the health care plan is unconstitutional.  The issue here is the “individual mandate”.  The plan requires everyone to carry insurance or pay money to the government for failure to do so.  The crux of the argument lies in the characterization of that money.  Is it a tax or a penalty?

If it is a tax, Obamacare is more likely to be found constitutional under the clause that gives the federal government to levy tax for the national welfare of the people.  However, if it is a penalty, Obamacare is more likely to be found unconstitutional under the interstate commerce provisions which give Congress the power to regulate, but not to mandate interstate commerce.

The states will argue that the money is a penalty.  The Obama administration will argue it is a tax.  It would be interesting if President Obama were to be called to testify about his assertions to the American people that his plan would actually save money and therefore no new taxes would be required to pay for it.  That won’t happen, of course.