VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: A Short History of Amorous Generals. “Many were as pursuant of women as they were of the enemy—and the former rarely impaired the latter.”
Patton famously said that a soldier who won’t f*ck, won’t fight. Our increasingly prudish military culture may put that to the test.
IN THE MAIL: From Penn Jillette, Every Day is an Atheist Holiday!: More Magical Tales from the Author of God, No!
INSTAVISION: ObamaCare and Your Kids: How ObamaCare Limits Health Care for Children. Justin Binik-Thomas talks about his daughter’s life-altering surgery, which will soon no longer be available because of ObamaCare. Instead of reconstruction, they’ll be doing amputations. . . . Plus, a special guest.
GOVERNMENT AS A MAJOR CAUSE OF INEQUALITY:
For instance, in terms of total compensation (salary plus benefits), federal workers earn 16 percent more on average than private-sector workers with the same experience, education, and responsibilities. They are paid out of your current and future taxes, not corporate profits. In what some have seen as an echo of the setting for The Hunger Games, the growing power of the federal government to dispense favors and direct whole industries has transformed the Washington, D.C., metro area into the nation’s wealthiest, boasting 10 of the top 20 counties for median household income.
Then there is generational inequality, which is also goosed by government policy. The Pew Research Center finds that in 1984, households headed by someone 65 years or older possessed on average10 times the wealth of a household led by someone under 35. By 2010 that gap had widened to 22 times. Part of that disparity is the result of payroll taxes that take about 12.4 percent (half from the worker, half from the employer) of every dollar of earned income up to $110,000 to pay for Social Security (for the past two years, the worker’s share of Social Security taxes has been reduced by 2 percentage points, a break that will expire at year’s end). Another 2.9 percent of all wages ‑ again split between employee and employer ‑ goes to Medicare.
Payroll taxes take a relatively bigger bite out of the paychecks of younger and poorer Americans even as old-age benefits are disbursed generally without regard to need. To add insult to the situation, Social Security will be paying out fewer dollars than new and future retirees will have put into the system. So at the very time when younger Americans have lost ground to their elders, they are compelled to pay into a fund that will shortchange them when they become eligible for it.
Forward!
OUR PUBLIC SECTOR AT WORK: Unions Attack Young In Illinois Pension Fight.
TERRIBLE TRACK RECORD: Government’s ‘green’ venture capitalism experiment a failure.
MAYBE THE “PUBLIC HEALTH” PEOPLE SHOULD SPEND MORE TIME ON PUBLIC HEALTH, AND LESS ON GUNS AND BIG GULPS: The Return Of Tuberculosis. “One of the world’s greatest killers is making a comeback. Once thought to be nearly eliminated as a public health threat, tuberculosis is again becoming a serious danger due to a rapid increase in drug-resistant strains of the disease around the world. Although the U.S. has long been able to avoid most of the deadlier varieties, the boom in international travel has made it easier than ever for deadly strains in other countries to make the leap across the ocean. And sure enough, more of these cases are beginning to appear in the United States. . . . That such a dangerous and contagious disease may be returning in an era of urbanization and globalization is a truly frightening thought.”
It’s criminal that our public health establishment has pursued politicized agendas at the expense of actual disease control.
MORE HATE-FILLED RHETORIC: Connecticut congressman: Rick Perry a ‘testosterone laden’ individual with blood on his hands. So for supporting the Constitution, you get a sexist smear. Nice job, Dems. I need one of those “HATRED IS NOT A LIBERAL VALUE” bumperstickers, I guess.
MICHAEL WALSH: The Higher-Ups Skate On Benghazi. “A few heads have rolled, including that of the State Department’s security chief, but the higher ups who were party to the fiasco — including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Ambassador Susan Rice and President Obama, on whose desk the buck putatively stops — are unscathed by the fog of lies that has shrouded Benghazi ever since the outrage.” The buck stops with those lacking juice.
TRANSPARENCY: EPA inspector general probing agency head’s use of private email account. “Flying somewhat below the media radar this week is the news that the Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector general is looking into whether agency head Lisa Jackson used a private email account with the alias “Richard Windsor” for official business, thus circumventing federal transparency laws for official communications, including the Freedom of Information Act. . . . The EPA has acknowledged Jackson uses the Windsor account but downplayed its significance, arguing extra accounts are necessary to deal with the sheer volume of emails they receive.”
Yeah, but if there’s nothing to hide, why the fake name?
#NARRATIVEFAIL: Gallup: More Americans Favor School Officials Having Guns Than Weapon Ban. See, states like Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, which are looking at arming teachers, are just in touch with America. Why is Barack Obama so out of touch with America?
DIVERSITY PROBLEM: I would never be so insulting as to accuse the NY Times of tokenism.
J. CHRISTIAN ADAMS: Toxic Bias in Association of American Law School Meeting on Elections. It’s a diversity problem.
YALE LAW SCHOOL: “At one point in the 1960s, Bob Bork and the other conservative law professor in Yale Law School approached its director to argue for the appointment of a third conservative to the faculty. They were told that although their candidate had excellent credentials, the selection committee had decided with agonized regret not to appoint him. They were afraid that the 60-strong faculty might be ‘swamped’ with conservatives.”
ADDRESSING SCHOOL SECURITY AND EMPLOYING VETERANS at the same time.
GOVERNMENT: 4 1/2 months after break-in, there’s still a hole in Y-12’s fence. “Four and a half months after Plowshares protesters broke into the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, it appears that government contractors have yet to repair the fence where the initial entry took place. Earlier today, the News Sentinel visited the plant’s perimeter fence line on Pine Ridge and photographed a section where the chain-link fence apparently had been cut — about 4 1/2 feet vertically. There also was what may be telltale evidence — a white plastic tie and a piece of string — of the protesters’ handiwork.”
OBAMA’S BENGHAZI FALL GUYS. “It took long enough, but President Gutsy Call finally located three State Department employees who don’t have enough political juice to protect them from getting blamed for the predictable failure of the administration’s Libya policy.” Mistakes were made, but not by anyone who matters . . .
REMINDER: Sen. Dianne Feinstein Has Concealed Carry Permit. Well, sure, because her life is important. Not like yours.
BLOGGING THE IMPORTANT STUFF: The Miss Universe Pageant.
THE POST-NEWTOWN witch hunt. “Over the past week, I’ve witnessed a disturbing outbreak of off-the-rails hatred towards gun owners and 2nd amendment groups.”
SCHOOL SAFETY: Guns In North Carolina Classrooms.
AT AMAZON, Top-Rated Toys & Games Under $25.
ROGER VON OECH WRITES:
I recently purchased the Nest home thermostat through the Amazon link on Instapundit. It’s a great product that provides smart design, remote access, and energy savings: that’s the real trifecta!
You should know that I could’ve gotten it at a 25% discount because my (soon-to-be) son-in-law is a designer at Nest, but I preferred to show my appreciation to the work you do at Instapundit by clicking through your sight. Now that’s reader allegiance!
BTW, the Ball of Whacks (and my other manipulative magnetic shape toys) are selling better than ever. Here’s a nice recent blurb from Boing-Boing.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I’m sure the Obama administration will give you plenty to write about in 2013!
I’m sure! And thanks for the reader loyalty. It’s much appreciated.
IF YOU DONATE TO THE FORESIGHT INSTITUTE BEFORE 12/31, your donation will be doubled due to a challenge grant.
InstaPundit is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.