Clipmarks | sillysam's clips

Obamaworld Logic in the Age of Obama.

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 03:05:00 GMT

clipped by: sillysam
clipper's remarks: There is more

1. The Budget. Wanting to cut $17 billion from the budget, as President Obama has promised, is proof of financial responsibility. Borrowing $1.84 trillion this year for new programs is “stimulus.” The old phrase “out-of-control spending” is inoperative.

2. Unemployment. The number of jobs theoretically saved, or created, by new government policies — not the actual percentage of Americans out of work, or the total number of jobs lost — is now the far better indicator of unemployment.

3. The Private Sector. Nationalizing much of the auto and financial industries, while regulating executive compensation, is an indication of our new government’s repeatedly stated reluctance to interfere in the private sector.

4. Race and Gender. Not what is said, but who says it and about whom reveals racism and sexism. For example, a Hispanic female judge isn’t being offensive if she states that Latinas are inherently better judges than white males.

The missile test

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:15:58 GMT

clipped by: sillysam

Clip Source: corner.nationalreview.com

First, is it possible that North Korea would test this missile without the support or at least permission of the People’s Republic of China? As it stands — with North Korea receiving its food and energy from the PRC — they are wards of the Communist Chinese. It is inconceivable that the North Koreans would not serve the high policy of their Chinese masters.

Second, and related, does anyone seriously think it is possible that the North Korean missile test was not designed to embarrass Mr. Obama? While he is preening about a world without nuclear weapons, and beginning his justification for doing away with our rudimentary missile defense systems, the North Koreans launch a missile that further demonstrates their intention of being able to attack the United States or Japan.

Fascism in America

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:13:46 GMT

clipped by: sillysam
clipper's remarks: As most of the rest of the world struggles to privatize industry and encourage free enterprise, we in the United States are seriously debating whether or not we should adopt 1930s-era economic fascism as the organizational principle of our entire health care system, which comprises 14 percent of the GNP. We are also contemplating business-government "partnerships" in the automobile, airlines, and communications industries, among others, and are adopting government-managed trade policies, also in the spirit of the European corporatist schemes of the 1930s.

The state and its academic apologists are so skilled at generating propaganda in support of such schemes that Americans are mostly unaware of the dire threat they pose for the future of freedom. The road to serfdom is littered with road signs pointing toward "the information superhighway, health security, national service, managed trade," and "industrial policy."

Clip Source: www.banned-books.com

Many American politicians who have advocated more or less total government control over economic activity have been more devious in their approach. They have advocated and adopted many of the same policies, but they have always recognized that direct attacks on private property, free enterprise, self-government, and individual freedom are not politically palatable to the majority of the American electorate. Thus, they have enacted a great many tax, regulatory, and income-transfer policies that achieve the ends of economic fascism, but which are sugar-coated with deceptive rhetoric about their alleged desire only to "save" capitalism.

That Seventies Show

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 04:46:42 GMT

clipped by: sillysam

Clip Source: corner.nationalreview.com

In NR a couple of weeks back, I began a piece on the bailout/stimulus/whatever as follows:

For Britons of a certain age, the defining moment of the pre-Thatcher years came in 1976 when the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Denis Healey, was forced to go cap in hand to the International Monetary Fund and seek a loan—just like any old president-for-life of one of those bankrupt banana republics dear old Bono is always urging debt relief for.

Well, the Seventies are back:

Britain should not be afraid or ashamed of taking money from the International Monetary Fund, a senior Cabinet minister has told the Daily Telegraph.

Economists have warned that the UK's public finances are in such a bad state there is a real possibility that Britain will seek help from the fund.

A lot more of this to come. As a Seventies-minded reader of mine puts it: Mamma Mia, here we go again . . .

ICE releases workers arrested in Washington raid

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:42:13 GMT

clipped by: sillysam

Clip Source: www.google.com

SEATTLE (AP) — Many of the 28 workers arrested by immigration agents last month in a northwest Washington raid have been released and given permission to work, in another sign of how the Obama administration is handling illegal immigration differently than its predecessor.

The raid at a Yamato Engine Specialists plant in Bellingham was the first mass arrest of immigrants since President Barack Obama took office and appeared to contradict his policy that federal agents focus more on employers who hire undocumented workers than on the workers themselves. Shortly after the arrests, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano ordered a review of the raid.

Immigrants were released with documents advising them "that per the assistant United States attorney assigned to this case, all persons involved with the Yamato Engine Specialists ... should be afforded the benefit of deferred action and an employment authorization document, valid for the duration of this case."

Its the gas mileage, stupid

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:00:08 GMT

clipped by: sillysam
clipper's remarks: Oh, yes. I won't buy an American car because they get crummy gas mileage. It has nothing to do with the fact that they cost thousands more due to the unions. What a load of crap. If that were the case, why on earth would SUV's and trucks be selling so well. They think we are stupid and they are going to use it to push through their agenda.

Clip Source: article.nationalreview.com

We really can’t get the government out of the auto business fast enough. If you need more proof of that, look no further than the reports of the Obama administration’s own automotive task force. The task force concluded that existing fuel-efficiency standards have hampered GM and Chrysler’s ability to compete, and that raising fuel-efficiency standards (which the administration supports) would hamper their ability to compete even further. “On a standalone basis,” the task force reported, “Chrysler will struggle to comply with increasing fuel-efficiency standards.” And many of GM’s best-selling products, the task force wrote, “fail to meet the minimum threshold on fuel economy and rank in the bottom quartile of fuel economy achievement.” Obama needs to decide: Do we want viable private automakers, or do we want automaking government adjuncts in the business of selling green cars at a loss?

The Steady March to Socialism

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:38:03 GMT

clipped by: sillysam

Clip Source: www.washingtonexaminer.com

But now, in a little-noticed move, the House Financial Services Committee, led by chairman Barney Frank, has approved a measure that would, in some key ways, go beyond the most draconian features of the original AIG bill. The new legislation, the "Pay for Performance Act of 2009," would impose government controls on the pay of all employees -- not just top executives -- of companies that have received a capital investment from the U.S. government. It would, like the tax measure, be retroactive, changing the terms of compensation agreements already in place. And it would give Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner extraordinary power to determine the pay of thousands of employees of American companies.

Obama’s False Choice

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 16:43:12 GMT

clipped by: sillysam

Clip Source: article.nationalreview.com

How oppressive is yet to be determined: To be sure, the official position remains that only “the richest five percent” will have taxes increased. But you’ll be surprised at the percentage of Americans who wind up in the richest five percent. This year federal government spending will rise to 28.5 per cent of GDP, the highest level ever, with the exception of the peak of the Second World War. The 44th president is proposing to add more to the national debt than the first 43 presidents combined, doubling it in the next six years, and tripling it within the decade. But to talk about it in percentages of this and trillions of that misses the point. It’s not about bookkeeping, it’s about government annexation of the economy, and thus of life: government supervision, government regulation, government control. No matter how small your small business is — plumbing, hairdressing, maple sugaring — the state will be burdening you with more permits, more paperwork, more bureaucracy.

A Clear Danger to Free Speech

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 05:29:10 GMT

clipped by: sillysam

Clip Source: article.nationalreview.com

Hillary: The Movie, a documentary produced by the nonprofit group Citizens United, which did not wish to see Senator Clinton elected president. Because McCain-Feingold prohibits so much as mentioning a candidate’s name in pre-election communications paid for by certain disfavored groups — unions and “corporations” — the filmmakers were informed by a federal judge that showing their work would constitute a crime. The filmmakers sued, and the case is Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Mr. Stewart is defending the government’s ban on this film; the same rules that apply to a campaign commercial apply to a documentary film, his reasoning goes. Justice Alito alertly pressed Mr. Stewart on that issue: If commercials and films are covered, how about books? How about campaign biographies? Yes, Mr. Stewart answered, the U.S. government is prepared to ban books, under certain circumstances, and is legally empowered by McCain-Feingold to do so. Jaws dropped, black robes fluttered.

Finalnd vs Estonia

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:25:26 GMT

clipped by: sillysam

Clip Source: www.glennbeck.com

So now what does it look like at the end of a 50-year period of communism in Estonia and relative freedom in Finland? Well, the countries were almost identical before one went communist. There are over 5 million people in Finland, now less than 2 million in Estonia. The average female in Finland lived almost five years longer. The average male in Finland lived more than seven years longer. Astonia's infant mortality rate was four times that of Finland. Finland's GDP was almost nine times that of Estonia. GDP per capita was three times as high in Finland. And in Estonia there were only 25 telephones for every 100 people, less than half the amount in Finland. Personally I think these are all a coincidence. I mean, I don't see any patterns here at all. By the way, Estonia freed up their economy and now it is rated as the 12th most economically free country in the world. Since then they average 6% GDP growth per year.

The devalued Prime Minister of a devalued Government

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:28:57 GMT

clipped by: sillysam

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Scalia a Homophobe?

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:58:38 GMT

clipped by: sillysam

Clip Source: corner.nationalreview.com

Barney Frank’s attack on Justice Scalia as a “homophobe” is inane at several levels:

First, the term “homophobe” is an ugly epithet designed to stigmatize (“he’s the sicko”) those who don’t embrace the homosexual agenda. It’s intended to cut off serious discussion, not to promote it. It doesn’t belong in public discourse.

Second, Frank uses his epithet in the course of expressing his concern that a Supreme Court that includes Scalia might not strike down the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The Defense of Marriage Act was approved by overwhelming majorities in each House of Congress (85-14 in the Senate, 342-67 in the House) in 1996 and signed into law by President Clinton. Senators in favor of DOMA included Biden, Bradley, Daschle, Kohl, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Mikulski, Murray, Reid, Sarbanes, and Wellstone. Millions and millions of voters in state after state have acted to preserve traditional marriage. Does Frank regard all these Americans as “homophobes”?

Un Homme Serieux

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:16:05 GMT

clipped by: sillysam

Clip Source: corner.nationalreview.com

A bit of self-reflection might not go amiss. There were various theories on the enigmatic O in the run-up to his election: a) he was a post-partisan intellectually sérieux centrist with a totally awesome temperament, as Messrs Buckley, Brooks & Co argued; b) he was a doctrinaire leftie statist, as his choice of friends and associates suggested; or c) he was a man completely unqualified to be president, as his wafer-thin resume made plain. We're still debating over whether it's b) and/or c), but any homme sérieux ought by now to be honest enough to acknowledge that a) was a fantasy projected on to Obama by doting admirers. It might be useful for the smart set to ponder why they made this error, what it says about our political culture, and whether it might be in America's interest to avoid this mistake in the future.

Lessons we have forgotten

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:57:59 GMT

clipped by: sillysam

Clip Source: www.jewishworldreview.com

Sweden

That unlikely tutor of America regarding capitalist common sense has said, through a Cabinet minister, that the ailing Saab automobile company is on its own: "The Swedish state is not prepared to own car factories."

China

$1 trillion-plus of dollar-denominated assets might be devalued by America choosing, as banana republics have done, to use inflation for partial repudiation of improvidently incurred debts.

From Mexico, America is receiving needed instruction about fundamental rights and the rule of law. A leading Democrat trying to abolish the right of workers to secret ballots in unionization elections is California's Rep. George Miller who, with 15 other Democrats, in 2001 admonished Mexico: "The secret ballot is absolutely necessary in order to ensure that workers are not intimidated into voting for a union they might not otherwise choose." Last year, Mexico's highest court unanimously affirmed for Mexicans the right that Democrats want to strip from Americans.

Obama gets French President wrong

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:20:51 GMT

clipped by: sillysam

Clip Source: gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Obama Upsets Sarkozy With Letter to Jacques Chirac

In his latest faux pas Obama managed to pi$$ off France...
President Obama wrote Jacques Chirac saying he was looking forward to working with the former French president in the coming four years(?)

Monsters and Critics reported:

US President Barack Obama has indirectly praised former French president Jacques Chirac's fierce opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq, the online edition of the daily Le Figaro reported on Thursday.

In a letter described by Chirac as 'very nice,' Obama wrote, 'I am certain that we will be able to work together, in the coming four years, in a spirit of peace and friendship to build a safer world.'

The use of the word 'peace' was taken to be an indirect reference to Chirac's stance against the US intervention in Iraq, which Obama had also opposed as senator.