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Archive for 2010
November 10, 2010
HMM: Less Than Half of American Muslims Support the Ground Zero Mosque. “This tells us two things. Opposition to the project isn’t based on mere bigotry. And American Muslims are not a monolith.”
IN THE MAIL: From the newly-reelected Rick Perry, Fed Up!: Our Fight to Save America from Washington.
JOHN PODHORETZ: The real fear in QE2.
I can’t write with any authority on the macroeconomic wisdom of the decision to do a second round of “quantitative easing” — a move nautically dubbed QE2. (The first round came in March 2009.)
But whether you think it’s a sound or unwise action — and people I trust are inclined to think it’s a disaster — QE2 is a deeply disturbing sign: It suggests that we have reached the outer limit of what experts actually know about the condition of the American economy in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown and how to repair it. . . .
Even the Fed and its chairman Ben Bernanke know they have undertaken something very risky.
The obvious risk is that, by suggesting that the United States may try to escape its economic doldrums via the monetary printing press, it will create an inflationary spiral and destroy confidence in the stability of US currency.
The less obvious risk is that QE2 will prove ineffectual. If it doesn’t move the needle on the economy at all, but rather seems simply to fall into a black hole, that will confirm the unnerving and growing sense that we are headed for an extraordinarily extended period of extraordinarily low growth and extraordinarily high unemployment.
Yes, it’s pretty clearly a sign of desperation. But nobody in government is desperate enough to try cutting taxes, government size, and regulation yet. When they’re willing to try that, we’ll know they’ve run through all the other alternatives . . . .
UPDATE: More thoughts here.
CHANGE: “Retiring at 62 became law in France on Wednesday, a victory for President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative government and a defeat for the unions that waged massive strikes and street protests to try to stop the austerity measure.”
THE HILL: Room At The Top? Not For New Dems: “A younger generation of Democrats is chafing at being asked to stand aside and let a triumvirate of elders keep their leadership positions in the wake of a catastrophic midterm election result. Barring an unexpected shake-up, House Democrats next year will be led by a combination of Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Steny Hoyer (Md.) and James Clyburn (S.C.) — lawmakers who are 70 or older and have served in Congress for decades.” Well, the fierce moral urgency of change was the theme for the last election, not this one . . . .
Related: Young Democrats Getting Cranky.
WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Senate GOP should filibuster if Kirk is delayed.
Senator-elect Mark Kirk, R-Ill., is one of three senators elected Nov. 2 to fill seats vacated by individuals who joined the Obama administration. Illinois law requires that Kirk assume his office immediately following the election, but unnamed state officials say Kirk can’t be sworn in until Nov. 29 due to “paperwork” delays. Kirk, who replaces Democratic appointee Roland Burris, won his election after promising to be a Republican vote against any attempts by Democrats to pass radical legislation during the lame duck session of Congress. The lame duck session that opens Nov. 15 gives shellacked Democrats two final weeks to pass legislation they failed to approve before the election. Burris will still sit with Senate Democrats if Kirk is not sworn in until Nov. 29.
The seeming inability of unnamed Illinois officials to complete “paperwork” as required by law in a timely manner contrasts mightily with West Virginia and Delaware, where no such delays will delay seating Joe Manchin and Chris Coons, respectively, who will take office on the first day of the lame duck session. That both are Democrats replacing Democrats and thus won’t change the Senate’s partisan balance of power is probably not coincidental. Let’s not forget, either, that the Democratic political machine holding up Kirk’s appointment may be the most corrupt since Tammany Hall.
The Examiner editorial is right.
THE TEN TYPES of emotional cripples.
HOWIE CARR: Who Voted For Them?
THE HORROR: “Has anyone noticed that the price of bacon is going through the roof?”
Plus, people who hate turkey. Shameful, un-American people.
INTERVIEW: Andrew Klavan and Brandi Milloy talk about Klavan’s new book, The Identity Man.
RICH GALEN: “If I were bent on causing disruption in foreign countries and had unlimited funds to do it (a working definition of the CIA) here’s what I would have concocted for President Obama’s overseas trip.”
JOHN MCWHORTER AND GLENN LOURY: President Marco Rubio?
Related: McWhorter beginning to lose faith in Barack Obama. “He’s not really a people person.”
GOING AFTER KAPLAN: “Reports of students who leave such schools with heavy debt, only to work in low-paying jobs, have prompted the Department of Education to propose regulations that would cut off federal financing to programs whose graduates have high debt-to-income ratios and low repayment rates.”
Yeah, it’s not like that happens with traditional universities, or anything. If you’re going to go after schools for charging a lot and graduating students with poor job prospects, there’s no reason to focus on the for-profit sector exclusively — unless you’re just attacking the competition on behalf of the existing education establishment.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the U.S. Marine Corps!
RASMUSSEN: Most GOP Voters Critical of Republicans in Congress, Like Tea Party. “A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 19% of Likely Republican Primary Voters believe Republicans in Congress have done a good job representing the party’s values over the past several years. Seventy-two percent (72%) say GOP members of Congress instead have lost touch with Republican Party members throughout the nation in recent years. . . . Seventy-nine percent (79%) of likely GOP primary voters hold a favorable opinion of the Tea Party movement, while only nine percent (9%) view the smaller government, lower taxes movement unfavorably.” This means that a lot of GOP members of Congress will be worrying about primary challenges in 2012.
DAVE KOPEL: “Nazism, Firearm Registration, and the Night of the Broken Glass.”
The excellent television movie Uprising did a good job of portraying armed resistance to the Nazis. Kopel and I reviewed it here. Highly recommended.
UPDATE: Reader Henry Bowman emails: “Regarding your post that mentions Uprising, I find it a bit odd that Netflix doesn’t carry it.” Yeah, that’s too bad. But it is out on DVD.
MICHAEL BARNHART: America needs a nationwide government Sunshine Standard.
EAT A BAGEL, lose your baby! “Jameson Hospital, where Isabella Rodriguez was born on April 27, has a policy of testing expectant mothers’ urine for illegal drugs and reporting positive results to LCCYS, even without any additional evidence that the baby is in danger of neglect or abuse. LCCYS, in turn, has a policy of seizing such babies from their homes based on nothing more than the test result. Unfortunately for Isabella’s parents, Elizabeth Mort and Alex Rodriguez, Jameson sets the cutoff level for its opiate test so low that it can be triggered by poppy seeds, which is why two caseworkers and two Neshannock Township police officers visited their home the day after baby and mother returned from the hospital. LCCYS seized the three-day-old girl and put her in foster care for five days before conceding it had made a mistake.”
I am entirely serious when I say that all the officials involved should be tarred and feathered. Can we get some legislation authorizing this, and maybe paying a bounty? A big bounty? I mean, haven’t these people ever watched Seinfeld?
RUTH MARCUS: Obama Clueless on “Shellacking.” “It would be nice to see some recognition that what we have here is not only a failure to communicate. Democrats are making a big mistake if they think their problem was as simple as not enough talking.”
UPDATE: Related: “It seems to me that the last year or so in America’s political culture has represented the triumph of reality over wishful thinking. . . . Last Tuesday had nothing to do with Fox News and everything to do with Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. To suggest otherwise is the biggest lie of all.”
VIOLENT RHETORIC from CNN host.
KEITH OLBERMANN RETURNS, with thank-yous to his supporters on the right.
JAMES OBERG: Mystery Missile Wasn’t A Missile At All. “That video sure looked like a missile to me, and I’ve seen them on screen and with naked eyes around the world for more than forty years. I watched the video twice looking for any clues it might NOT be a missile, and couldn’t find any. But now I am persuaded by the argument that what the CBS helicopter news crew saw and videotaped was only a commercial airliner’s contrail under special viewing condition.”
More here.
UPDATE: U.S. Airways Flight 808?
ALAS, I AM NOT AMONG THEM: The 50 Highest-Paid Pundits.