SHOCKER: Key Dems: Obama’s “Green Jobs” Plan A Bust. Plus, women and minorities hardest hit? “African-Americans out there were saying, ‘What do we have in common with this new, green technology?'”

“LAST PLACE AVERSION:” Why Even the Poor Oppose Redistributist Tax Policy. From the comments: “The untold story is that redistribution of income is, by and large, not designed to help the poor but to preserve social stability on behalf of the rich (or a portion of them). It’s like Guido Calabresi used to tell his students on the first day of classes at Yale. Are you in favor of high taxes? Yes. Are you in favor of high spending? Yes. Do you want to see your seats at Yale redistributed to people with lower test scores? Silence. Aha, he would say, you just want to redistribute other people’s advantages, not your own.”

CALEB BROWN: End The Mortgage Interest Deduction. Republicans should take Obama at his word on tax increases and move to end it, or to cap it at a modest level. (Note: This will hit Blue State voters harder, since houses cost more there). Then they should move to end the deductibility of state income and property taxes. (Ditto!). You want tax increases, we got ’em! And not just on Hollywood!

NASA REPORT: Aliens Might Destroy Humanity — Because Of Greenhouse Emissions! This is taking the fearmongering in a decidedly Krugmanesque direction.

UPDATE: Reader Chris Curry writes: “Given Krugman’s article last week and this report from Obama’s NASA, it seems that the administration may be setting up Obama’s post vacation economic recovery plan.” Where’s Will Smith?

But NASAWatch says it’s not really a NASA report.

THE HILL: Obama Made His Own “Bad Luck” On Jobs.

HIGHER EDUCATION UPDATE: Men, Women, And College: It’s All How You Frame The Question.

AT AMAZON, it’s the Friday Sale!

BUDGET UPDATE: McDonnell announces $544.8 million budget surplus. “Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) announced Thursday that Virginia has finished its fiscal year with a surplus of $544.8 million through higher-than-expected tax revenue and savings.”

VIRGINIA POSTREL: Want To Be The Next Apple? Lose The Bafflegab. “Strategy is not what many people think it is. It is not a fill-in-the-blanks mission statement blathering about how XYZ Corp. will ethically serve its stakeholders by implementing best-in-class integrated sustainable practices to grow as a global leader while maximizing shareholder value. Such bafflegab is ‘Dilbert’-fodder that generates cynicism and contempt. It is, at best, a big waste of time.”

Plus, thoughts based on Richard Rumelt’s Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters.

JOURNALISM: “NPR Devotes Over 4 Min. to Supposed Ethics Issues of Thomas, Scalia, Alito; Barely Touches on Kagan.” This is all about preparing a failure narrative for ObamaCare.

THIS YEAR’S BACK-TO-SCHOOL TREND: Higher Prices.

BYRON YORK: With Obama In Trouble, GOP Faces Its Own Divide.

UPDATE: Related: Entitlements Are A Jobs Issue. “Would any Republican ever say that we must raise taxes to create jobs? Of course not. Yet by pretending that candidates can avoid talking about entitlement reform, some Republicans are essentially arguing just that.”

POLITICO: Obama’s Unhelpful Advice.

Call Uncle Sam. Sensible advice, but perhaps the president has forgotten just how difficult it can be for ordinary citizens to get answers from the government.

When this POLITICO reporter decided to take the president’s advice and call the USDA for an answer to the Atkinson town hall attendee’s question, I found myself in a bureaucratic equivalent of hot potato — getting bounced from the feds to Illinois state agriculture officials to the state farm bureau.

The President has better luck getting his calls returned, and so do Senators, and Obama doesn’t have enough experience outside politics to know what it’s like for ordinary people.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Atlas Is Sorta Shrugging.

Every president lets slip a smear now and then. The key is that there should be little consistency or frequency in his targeting. But with Obama there is both monotony and predictability. He clearly does not like private businesses — except the super wealthy who are liberal and share his refined tastes and politics and have enough millions in “unneeded income” that they figure they will either die before or weather through our transition to European democratic socialism.

Of course, one Huey Long — like “fat cat,” an occasional adolescent “millionaires and billionaires,” a once in a while juvenile “corporate jet owners,” a few 1960s-like “spread the wealth” or “redistributive change” slips, a single petulant “unneeded income,” or a sole pop-philosophizing “at some point you’ve made enough money,” or even on occasion the old socialist boilerplate “those who make over $250,000 should pay their fair share” in isolation are tolerable. But string them together and even the tire store owner and pharmaceutical rep are aroused from their 70-hour weeks, and start to conclude, “Hmmm, this guy doesn’t like me or what I do, and I better make the necessary adjustments.” And, believe me, they are making the necessary adjustments.

Indeed.

POW: Sarah Palin Rips “Arrogance” Of Obama’s Reaction To Perry.

THE HILL: Obama heads to Martha’s Vineyard for a can’t-win vacation. “The optics of a president vacationing at a tony, upscale spot while the country faces unprecedented challenges is not new. This will be the third August in a row that Obama has headed to the Vineyard, once a stomping ground for former President Clinton during his administration. But Obama’s time away comes at a precarious time for the economy and his presidency.”

UPDATE: Reader Mark Shelden writes:

“Can’t win” is generally used when a person has choices, all of which are unpopular. You’re compelled to pick one that you know won’t “win.” We are geared to have a certain level of sympathy for those in that position. Notice how the Hill attaches it to Obama’s vacation
where there were two choices. He chose the clear loser when he could have easily picked a “winner” like staying at home or taking a much
scaled down vacation to a less expensive location.

Well, if he had stayed home there would have been problems, too. Wrath of the voters vs. wrath of Michelle? Can’t win.

COVERUP: ATF Whistleblower: Gunwalker Officials Being Shielded. “Former Agent Vince Cefalu tells PJM: Those men weren’t being promoted this week, they were being protected via transfers to other positions within the department.”

UPDATE: ATF Guns Traced To 12 U.S. Crime Sites.

REALLY? BECAUSE SOME OF US DO OUR BEST WORK THERE: Tax Court: Accountant Cannot Deduct Bathroom as Home Office.

HOMELAND SECURITY tries to hide mobile-scanner details.

MOE LANE: How The White House Is Mishandling Rick Perry. “Because President Obama so quickly elevated Gov. Perry to a level where he was worth the personal attention of what is still the single most powerful man in the world, it naturally follows that what Perry says in response would also be news. And it turns out that what Perry says in response has nothing to do with personal spats and everything to do with job creation, which is a topic that Barack Obama would come off second to… every Republican candidate in the race, actually. Not to mention, Bozo the Clown.”

I also think that Obama’s attacks hurt his likability, which at this point is all he’s got left. Given that he can dish it out but not take it, the GOP should probably pursue a picador strategy aimed at irritating him (perhaps with non-candidates) into lashing out repeatedly until he looks mean even to members of the public who don’t pay a lot of attention.

“UNLEASH US:” If Obama has lost Maxine Waters, he’s lost Middle America. “If it’s racist to criticize President Obama, then Rep. Maxine Waters is a racist. The Los Angeles-area lawmaker, best known for egging on the 1992 riots, harshly criticized the president Tuesday at a Congressional Black Caucus powwow in Detroit.”

MEGAN MCARDLE: Sticky Wages, Sticky Expectations: The Case for Accepting a Smaller Salary.

HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? Stagflation signs surface in bonds, stocks, gold.

FIGHT ENDS GEORGETOWN BASKETBALL EXHIBITION GAME IN CHINA: “So this has nothing to do with Biden?” I think it’s more of that smart diplomacy we were promised.

UPDATE: It’s the fault of the Chinese.