VERONIQUE DE RUGY: The Government’s Endless Appetite for Spending: It’s time for Congress to go cold turkey. “Democrats proposed allowing the federal government to borrow an additional $1.9 trillion to pay its bills, a record increase that would permit the national debt to reach $14.3 trillion (roughly the size of our GDP) to support the federal government’s borrowing through 2010. Since they have been in full control of the federal purse strings, Democrats have spent a lot of money and got the country into a lot of debt. Hence the two consecutive increases of the debt limit in 3 months. And they aren’t the only ones. According to the Office of Management and Budget, the federal debt limit has been increased 98 times since 1940—more than once a year on average.”
Archive for 2010
January 22, 2010
WHERE THE LABOR MOVEMENT IS HEADED:
The real takeaway in the BLS report is the transformation of the labor movement. A majority of union members in America (52 percent) now work for the government. This is up sharply from 49 percent in 2008. Put another way, Sherk finds, three times more union members now work in the Post Office than in the auto industry.
It’s easier to make demands on an industry that doesn’t have to compete in the marketplace.
ARLEN SPECTER: Driven To Patronize.
January 21, 2010
THOSE GRAPES were sour anyway.
IRA STOLL: A big victory for free speech.
Meanwhile, an interesting passage from Clarence Thomas’s partial dissent, regarding disclosure requirements for donors:
The success of such intimidation tactics has apparently spawned a cottage industry that uses forcibly disclosed donor information to pre-empt citizens’ exercise of their First Amendment rights…..
I cannot endorse a view of the First Amendment that subjects citizens of this Nation to death threats, ruined
careers, damaged or defaced property, or pre-emptive and threatening warning letters as the price for engaging in “core political speech, the ‘primary object of First Amendment protection.’ ”
The witchhunts continue to ramify. Meanwhile, President Obama wants legislation to undercut the opinion. Good luck with that.
Anyway, this is nothing new. We’ve already seen citizens subjected to barrages of political opinion and electioneering from corporations that use their stockholder money to advance political positions held by management without regard to good business judgment. You know, corporations like The New York Times. More on that here.
SAY, DO YOU THINK BARACK OBAMA IS STILL “unaware” of the Tea Party protests? (Thanks to reader Jason Mart for the reminder. Mart writes: “Last April 15th, after taking the day off to protest, I remembered how angry I was to hear that our president was ‘unaware of the tea parties…’ I guess maybe he is aware now.” Heh.)
CAN THIS WEEK POSSIBLY GET ANY BETTER?
I dunno, try this.
AMAZON VS. APPLE: Happy Days For Writers?
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION’S NEW FRONTIER? A basketball league for white people only.
FOR COLD WEATHER, The Ultimate Casserole?
WHO WERE THE RUBES, AGAIN? Gay voter remorse as McCains step up where Obama fails.
A PACK, NOT A HERD: UTA bus driver attacked; passengers hold down suspect. “A group of other passengers on board jumped up and was able to pull the attacker down and hold him until police arrived. The attacker ended up with cuts and a broken face bone as he was wrestled to the ground.”
UPDATE: Link was wrong before; fixed now. Sorry!
COMING SOON: Easy-to-install solar roofs. “In October 2009, the chemical giant unveiled its product, which can be nailed to a roof like ordinary shingles by roofers without the help of specially trained solar installers or electricians. The solar shingles will cost 30 to 40 percent less than other solar-embedded building materials and 10 percent less than the combined costs of conventional roofing materials and rack-mounted solar panels, according to company officials.”
DISASTER? THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT: Man Buried in Haiti Rubble Uses iPhone to Treat Wounds, Survive. “He took refuge in an elevator shaft, where he followed instructions from an iPhone first-aid app to fashion a bandage and tourniquet for his leg and to stop the bleeding from his head wound, according to an MSNBC story. he app even warned Woolley not to fall asleep if he felt he was going into shock, so he set his cellphone’s alarm clock to go off every 20 minutes. Sixty-five hours later, a French rescue team saved him.”
A SHORT HISTORY of broadcasts to aliens.
EAST ASIAN POLLUTION driving North American ozone. “We’d be better off with more nuclear power. But coal electric is cheaper than nuclear. So China’s continuing a massive coal electric build up. Expect a lot more pollution where that came from.”
A WARNING FOR the next Scott Brown.
IT’S A NEW WORLD: Could Obey Be Coakley’d?