THE U.S. POPULATION: No happier, but more equal.
Archive for 2009
January 28, 2009
RANDY NEAL: “You may have heard that TVA is asking, by way of Rep. Wamp and Rep. Davis, for ‘stimulus’ money to clean up the Kingston Swan Pond ash spill. That’s not what ‘stimulus’ money is for and this is a ridiculous request.”
The “stimulus” — it’s anything you want it to be!
SENTENCING AIDS VICTIMS to die?
“FRIENDS OF ANGELO” UPDATE: A reader emails: “I realize that Dodd is your hobby horse, but could you take moment and mention that Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota) was also a ‘Friend of Angelo.’ Conrad may be feeling unappreciated. Thanks!” Happy to oblige!
REBRANDING! A roundup on the The Pelosi-Obama-Reid Trillion Dollar Debt Plan.
ARNOLD KLING: “Many economists think that an economic recovery requires the renewal of lending by banks. Instead, I think that we need to step over the corpses in the financial sector. A revival of business investment will come from profits, not from lending.”
WARNING: ZOMBIES AHEAD. Well, they told us the zombie epidemic was inevitable.
HONDA CUTS PRODUCTION by 50,000 units.
MAKING DIGITAL CAMERAS GO CLICK: A law to be supervised by the Ministry of Annoying Sounds, I suppose. From the comments: “It says something bad about us as a nation in that such trivialities are considered the province of law.”
HEH: “President Barack Obama has signed an executive order officially banning torture in the United States. You know what that means? ABC may be forced to cancel ‘The View’.”
NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: EPA encourages input to develop risk management practices for nanotechnology.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Alcohol makes men BETTER in the bedroom, scientists claim. You can’t argue with science!
IN THE MAIL: From Suzanne Bates, Motivate Like a CEO: Communicate Your Strategic Vision and Inspire People to Act!
CHARLES RANGEL UPDATE: Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the new ethics committee chairwoman, wants to maintain continuity in the investigation of several allegations against Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.). Lofgren wants the same members who launched the Rangel investigation to review the charges against him — even though they were term-limited on the panel and are no longer members of it, according to a Democratic aide.”
Meanwhile, it’s now been 187 days since Chris Dodd promised to release his mortgage documents.
SILICON GRAFFITI: PICTURE KILL.
TIGERHAWK: “Having been a target of commercial opportunity during its entire sentient existence, the Baby Boomer generation’s lasting legacy may well be to have been the first American generation to have consumed more, or at least as much, as it has produced. . . . If generations actually had their own moral legacy, we Boomers would be the dependent loser — the one kid who could never hold a job and never save a nickel and was always asking for a ‘loan’ — of the American family. If we had a generational sense of duty (which we do not, obviously), we would realize that we need to surrender the long-tail entitlement benefits that bear down on the American economy. My thoughts on that subject are here.”
LORD, GIVE ME FISCAL DISCIPLINE — but not yet! “President Barack Obama’s budget director has reached out to a trio of House committee chairmen, reminding them to remain fiscally disciplined — after they spend $825 billion to bolster the flailing economy, that is.”
PERRY DE HAVILLAND: “A large number of people, certainly the majority of the political looter class, think the best way to deal with the rapidly deepening economic crisis is via ‘stimulus packages’ with money plucked off the magic money tree… which is to say, by trying to re-inflate the credit bubble that actually caused the crisis. This is a bit like treating alcoholics by urging them to buy more whiskey.” Well, a nip or two might ease the DTs . . . .
HAS OBAMA DERANGEMENT SYNDROME arrived?
At the moment, I’d say the derangement is mostly present among those who think Obama is too perfect to be mocked.
MICKEY KAUS: “Why did Honda have to design its new hybrid to look exactly like the Toyota Prius? I like the Prius’ appearance, but a lot of people don’t. This seems like a missed opportunity to create a new trademark design. Timid. … Meanwhile, Mercedes’ styling isn’t timid, it’s vegetative. The new E-class looks exactly like you worried it would look, only drearier.” That’ll help ’em sell cars in a tough market!
WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR LAST BIG “INFRASTRUCTURE” BILL?
These days, we are repeatedly told that we have to pass a massive new infrastructure spending bill in order to fix our “crumbling” roads and bridges. Everyone seems to have forgotten that just three years ago, in August 2005, Congress enacted the biggest federal public works program in American history, spending a massive $286.4 billion on the 2005 highway bill. At that time, President Bush and congressional leaders from both parties told us that the new highway bill was needed to fix our infrastructure problems.
Before passing a new and potentially even bigger infrastructure spending bill, I would just like to know what happened to all that money Congress appropriated for the same purpose back in 2005? If that act succeeded in its purpose, it’s not clear why we need another huge federal infrastructure bill now, less than four years later. If it failed, we need to know why. . . .
I’m not categorically opposed to all federal highway spending. But before we enact a massive new infrastructure bill, we need a clear explanation of why the 2005 highway bill wasn’t enough, and why if it wasn’t we should expect better results this time around. So far, these questions have hardly been asked, much less answered.
It “failed” because it didn’t generate enough graft to satisfy everyone. Future bills, however large, will suffer the same fate because some people are never satisfied . . . .
THE BRITISH CALLED: They want their guns back.
Better never to let them go.
IT WAS INEVITABLE: Sarah Palin starts SarahPac.
AS WELL THEY SHOULD: Republicans Object to Stimulus Dollars for ACORN. It’s like the whole thing is just about steering money to supporters and cronies.
But why “stimulate” a place that runs a sweatshop? “Pushed to meet daily quotas and bullied by bosses if they didn’t, Ohio ACORN workers faked voter registrations, signed up people more than once, and even paid off registrants to keep from being fired, its canvassers told The Post. ” I thought Democrats were against sweatshops?