HEADLINES

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Federal Judge Rules Liberal Fish Study That Forced Officials to Cut Off California Water Was Based on Faulty Science

from Gateway Pundit


Federal Judge Rules Liberal Fish Study That Forced Officials to Cut Off California Water Was Based on Faulty Science: "

A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the liberal study that forced California officials to cutback on water to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta was based on faulty science.

SFGate reported:


A federal judge has ruled that a landmark 2008 environmental study laying the groundwork for controversial water cutbacks from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta relied on faulty science.


In his much-anticipated decision released Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to re-examine and rewrite its plan for the threatened delta smelt.


The agency’s solution for shoring up the collapsing species – namely cutting water exports to California cities and farms – is “arbitrary” and “capricious,” the Fresno judge wrote in his 225-page decision…


…Wanger’s ruling upheld the evidence showing that the delta pumps do indeed trap and kill many delta smelt – a consolation for environmental groups that had fought for pumping cutbacks. However, the judge found fundamental flaws in the scientific analysis on the benefits of trimming water supplies to urban and rural areas and said the federal agency failed to examine the economic impacts of such a policy.


happy

Agricultural water districts, plaintiffs in the case and the most vocal critic of the 2008 Fish and Wildlife Service report – officially termed a “biological opinion”- were delighted with Tuesday’s decision.


With the economy struggling and unemployment still soaring, it is welcome to see a judge refusing to rubber-stamp extreme, destructive and unjustified environmental regulations,” said Damien Schiff, attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation, which backed several farmers in a lawsuit against the federal government. “Bottom line: The people win; junk science loses.”

"

Michael Moore Defends Julian Assange on 'Countdown With Keith Olbermann'

from American Power


Michael Moore Defends Julian Assange on 'Countdown With Keith Olbermann': "Moore starts blabbering about halfway through the clip, and at 14:00 minutes he claims that the rape allegations against Assange are 'a bunch of hooey.' See the reports at Mediaite, 'Michael Moore’s Comments on Julian Assange Rape Allegations Spark Outrage,' and 'Limbaugh: Liberals Would “Help A Thousand Rapists” To Free “One America-Hater”.'

All in the name of anti-Americanism.

Abe Greenwald put it perfection yesterday at Commentary:

Why are those Americans who are most distrustful of the U.S. government, and so eager to undermine it, the same ones who are most desperate to give it control over their own lives? Michael Moore has made a big P.R. show of his pledge to pay Julian Assange’s bail. “WikiLeaks, God bless them, will save lives as a result of their actions,” he writes, and puts the U.S. government on notice: “You simply can’t be trusted.” Moore offers advice to those of us who see something wrong with Assange. “[A]ll I ask is that you not be naive about how the government works when it decides to go after its prey.” Right. Instead, you should be naïve about how government works when it decides to take control of your health care, regulate your business, and spend your earnings. Moore, you may have forgotten, calls for the U.S. government to provide “free, universal health care for life” for “every resident of the United States” and demands that “pharmaceutical companies … be strictly regulated like a public utility.” That’s the old anti–Big Brother spirit.

When men like Michael Moore are not calling for the government to be undermined and defied, they’re petitioning for it to chauffeur them to the movies, cook their meals, and tuck them into bed. One news cycle finds HBO’s Bill Maher telling America not to allow the government to inject “a disease into your arm” in the form of a vaccine and that “I don’t trust the government, especially with my health.” The next, he’s calling for “Medicare for all” and lamenting the absence of a fully government-run health-care system that would operate like the U.S. postal service.
More at the link.
"

Twelve Days of Global Warming

from Moonbattery


Twelve Days of Global Warming: "

Christmas is a time to bring out the old classics:





On a tip from Infidel Joe.

"

More ’social justice’ redistribution of wealth pushed on cabinet agencies by White House

from USACTION NEWS


More ’social justice’ redistribution of wealth pushed on cabinet agencies by White House: "

On December 15, Obama administration officials will convene the first-ever White House Forum on Environmental Justice.


By at American Spectator


EXCERPTS:


Environmental leaders from across the country will attend the day-long forum featuring White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.


Other schemes also emerged guaranteeing a heightened role for green NGOs in the effort to organize society, one notable program being an offshoot of the “Van” Jones push to prepare “the environment” as the next vehicle for minority group activism, wealth transfer, and even litigation demanding environmental, social, or some other form of “justice.” You are free to read the latter point as a legal “settlement” practice in which suits are threatened or brought with the idea of some sort of tribute being paid to end the unpleasantness. Even activist attorneys general do it now in the name of “global warming.” …


Now recall how the Obama administration also hurriedly sought to expand its “environmental justice” programs. These are premised on, as Van Jones famously described, the idea that white people are forcing pollution into minority communities with nefarious intent.


FULL ARTICLE

"

10 Signs That Confidence In U.S. Treasuries Is Dying And Financial Armageddon Approaches

from USACTION NEWS


10 Signs That Confidence In U.S. Treasuries Is Dying And Financial Armageddon Approaches: "

Confidence is U.S. Treasuries is dying, and if confidence in U.S. government debt completely collapses at some point we could literally be looking at financial Armageddon.


The Economic Collapse


Selling government debt is a gigantic confidence game. For decades, investors all over the globe have gobbled up massive amounts of U.S. debt at incredibly low interest rates because they believed that it was a certainly that they would be paid back and be able to make a little bit of profit on top of it. Unfortunately, things have changed. Confidence is U.S. Treasuries is dying, and if confidence in U.S. government debt completely collapses at some point we could literally be looking at financial Armageddon. Why is that so? Well, when the world totally loses faith in U.S. Treasuries, interest rates on U.S. Treasuries will have to keep going up until enough investors are found to buy them. But much higher interest rates will mean much higher interest on the national debt and thus much higher federal budget deficits. That will erode confidence in U.S. Treasuries even further. In the end, a vicious cycle of eroding confidence and higher interest rates could ultimately lead to hyperinflation as the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve flood the system with endless amounts of paper money to try to keep the system solvent.


Faith in U.S. Treasury bonds is absolutely critical if the world financial system is going to continue to operate in a stable manner. In the post-World War 2 era, U.S. Treasuries have been largely viewed as the absolutely safest investment out there. So if there comes a point when the market for U.S. Treasuries completely collapses, it is going to cause unprecedented financial chaos. The worldwide derivatives market, which is already highly unstable, would almost certainly implode. Credit markets all over the globe would seize up. Global trade would quickly grind to a standstill.


This isn’t going to happen overnight (hopefully). Rather, the loss of confidence in U.S. Treasuries is something that is likely to take months or even years to play out. But once that confidence is gone, it is not something that will be able to be rebuilt easily.


Think of it this way – once you drive a car off a cliff, is it easy to reconstruct it?


Of course not.


Well, that is where we are headed with U.S. Treasuries.


The Federal Reserve is flooding the system with new dollars, Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress seem poised to pass a new tax deal which does not include corresponding spending cuts which will cause U.S. government budget deficits to become even more bloated, and there is a tremendous lack of faith both in U.S. political leaders and in the Federal Reserve at this point.


The rest of the world is losing faith that the U.S. government is going to be able to handle all of the debt that it has accumulated. We may be approaching a “tipping point” soon.


The following are 10 signs that confidence in U.S. Treasuries is dying….


#1 The financial community is extremely concerned that the tax deal that Barack Obama is pushing is going to dramatically increase U.S. government budget deficits over the next two years. On Monday, Moody’s warned that if Barack Obama’s tax deal with the Republicans becomes law, it will increase the likelihood that Moody’s could soon be forced to slash the rating of U.S. government debt.


#2 Already there are signs that some bond investors are looking for the exits. Last week, U.S. Treasuries suffered their largest two day sell-off since the collapse of Lehman Brothers back in September 2008.


#3 The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds set a six-month high on Monday before pulling back a bit. Most analysts believe that Treasury yields are going to push significantly higher in coming weeks.


#4 This trend of rising yields has been going on for a while. In fact, yields on 10-year Treasury bonds have been steadily rising since October 7th.


#5 Even before the recent tax deal was announced there were already troubling signs regarding the growth of U.S. government debt. The U.S. government budget deficit rose to $150.4 billion in November, which was the largest November budget deficit ever recorded.


#6 It is not just the new tax deal that has investors around the globe spooked. The truth is that the rest of the globe reacted very negatively to the new round of quantitative easing that the Federal Reserve announced back in November. The Federal Reserve is flooding the system with liquidity and the rest of the world is not amused.


#7 The American people have less faith in the Federal Reserve and in the financial system than at any other point in recent memory. For example, a new Bloomberg National Poll has found that a majority of Americans now want the Federal Reserve to either be held more accountable or to be abolished entirely.


#8 Investors all over the globe are starting to wake up and realize that America’s debt problem is unsolvable. David Bloom, the currency chief at HSBC, raised eyebrows when he recently stated that “if yields are rising because people think America’s fiscal situation is unsustainable, then its Armaggedon.”


#9 There is also a growing feeling among investors that the Federal Reserve simply does not care about the danger of inflation, and this is making bondholders very nervous. Stephen Lewis of Monument Securities recently put it this way….


“There is a feeling that the Fed doesn’t care about inflation – in fact, wants more of it – and that is certainly not in the interest of bondholders.


#10 Over the next 12 months, the U.S. government is going to be rolling over trillions of dollars in debt along with all of the new borrowing that it is going to be doing. In fact, the U.S. government is somehow going to have to find a way to finance debt that is equivalent to 27.8 percent of GDP in 2011.


For years our politicians have told us that “deficits don’t matter”, but the truth is that they do matter. The national debt of the United States is now the biggest debt in the history of the world by far, and yet most Americans do not seem to grasp the absolute financial horror that we are facing as a nation.


In the end, debt is always painful. It can be a lot of fun to run out and buy a beautiful new house, a couple of brand new cars and to run your credit cards up to the max, but eventually it catches up with you. Well, the same thing is now happening to us on a national level.


We are getting to the point where eventually we are not even going to be able to service the debt that we have already piled up. Once that happens we can either declare national bankruptcy or we can try to hyperinflate our way out of trouble.


Meanwhile, the once great U.S. economic machine is dying as well. The only reason we have been able to survive with all of this debt as long as we have is because of how powerful our economy has been.


But over the past couple of decades, the big global corporations that now dominate our economy have shipped thousands of factories and millions of jobs overseas.


The mighty economic machine which is supposed to provide funds to pay off all of this debt is being dismantled right in front of our eyes.


There was no way in the world that U.S. government debt was going to be sustainable even if our economy remained vibrant and healthy. The sad truth is that U.S. government debt is approximately 13 times larger than it was just 30 years ago.


But now that the “real economy” is dying a savage death there is simply no hope that this thing is ever going to turn around. The only thing left to do is to take bets on when the implosion is going to happen.


All of this “great tax cut debate” nonsense going on in Washington D.C. right now is just a bunch of incompetent politicians running around rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Perhaps these tax cuts will provide enough of a short-term economic boost to get many of them re-elected in 2012. Meanwhile, our long-term economic problems continue to get a lot worse.


It has become quite obvious that Barack Obama is completely clueless about the economy, and what is even sadder is that the “highly educated” Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, seems almost equally as clueless.


Unfortunately, Americans have become so dumbed-down that they don’t even realize that their leaders are incompetent. In fact, as sad as it is to say, most Americans you will meet on the street probably cannot even tell you what U.S. Treasuries are.


Let us hope and pray that investors around the globe continue to have at least some confidence in U.S. Treasuries for at least a little while longer. When “financial Armageddon” finally does happen, it isn’t going to be pleasant for any of us.


So enjoy these happy economic times while you still have them, because at some point things are going to get a whole lot worse.


This article originally posted at The Economic Collapse. Used by permission.


RELATED ARTICLES:


The Only Thing That Will Save Us Now Is Fear Itself


Outlook for the economy – grim


US may lose Aaa credit rating with flawed tax deal


Is the GOP ignoring anti-spending message?


State and local pension shortfalls over $3.5 TRILLION


Will 2011 Be The Year The Von Mises Prophecy Comes True?


The Lesson of the Tax Deal and the Deficit: Teach Your Kids Chinese


Washington Orders Another Free Lunch


Obama’s Emerging Enabling Act


The Fed creates money out of thin air


Is the Fed losing control?


Persian Gulf Economists Are Giving Up On The Dollar, Encouraging Move To Gold


Fact, Fiction & Finally the Fix


The Dollar Meltdown: Surviving the Impending Currency Crisis with Gold, Oil, and Other Unconventional Investments


OPEC: If America Wants To Devalue The Dollar Then It Better Be Ready For $100+ Oil


Soaring Gold and a Sinking Dollar Signal Trouble Ahead


Gold at $8,250?


Will the dollar’s death surprise you?


Factors that will Determine the Future


Senator Judd Gregg on the inevitable fiscal meltdown


Banking System is Hopelessly Insolvent


Top Republicans caution the Fed on printing money


Has the Fed Been a Failure?


A REAL SIMPLE explanation of how the FED is ruining your economy


Economic Suicide the Keynesian Way


Inflation is a sneaky tax


What’s Next? Buckle Up


Death of the Dollar


The Great Weaponless Conquest of America


Bernanke’s Cowardice Has Sealed Our Fate


Ben Bernanke and QE must be STOPPED


Federal Reserve celebrates 100 years of enslaving America


The Fed is running the country right into the ground as a result of their ignorance


Soros Bets on U.S. Financial Collapse


How Did A Single Unconstitutional Agency Become The Most Powerful Organization In America?


The Fed’s “War on Wealth” and the Risk of Default


This guy is in charge of the economy?


Beck: Devaluing the Dollar


Food, apparel prices rising


Fed to Buy Extra $600 Billion of US I.O.U’s


I have not yet begun to fight!


Fed Easing May Mean 20% Dollar Drop: Bill Gross


Hyperinflation Forecast


The US $200-Trillion Debt Which Cannot Be Named


A Society of Beggars? Obama Battles Reagan


Mad Fed Should Beware Unquantifiable Outcomes


Burning your money?


Global food crisis forecast as prices reach record highs


The Fed is lying about inflation


Dollar fall sparks stability warnings


Fed Wants to Hoodwink Public, Only Fools Itself: Caroline Baum


For Orderly Dissolution Of The Fed, Before It Does Us Even More Harm


Will the Fed Burn More of Your Money?


The Disgraceful State of Our Government


Is Keynesianism a socialist Maneuver?


Economic Forecasts and Why They Should Not be Trusted


Three Horrifying Facts About the US Debt “Situation”


Obama and Ben Bernanke Have Us Facing the Abyss


Bernanke Tells the Truth: The United States is on the Brink of Financial Disaster


Greenspan Says U.S. Creating `Scary’ Deficit as Borrowing Rises


Interview with Garland Tucker on “The High Tide of American Conservatism”


Fed Officials Mull Inflation as a Fix


The Psychopathology of Government and its Agents


A fair warning of where we are headed


The Feds’ Disease: Spending! (Part 1)


IMF Warns Western Economies Mired in ‘Near Depression’


With Obama taxes are about ideology not economics

"

Sadistic Judges Back EPA Climate Rules

from USACTION NEWS


Sadistic Judges Back EPA Climate Rules: "

Federal appellate court decision allowing the Obama administration’s greenhouse gas regulations to take effect Jan. 2 is an unnecessary travesty for taxpayers, consumers, businesses and states.


by Steven Milloy at Human Events


EXCERPTS:


On Jan. 2, the EPA will start writing permits for power plants and other large emitters of greenhouse gases. Overlooking for a moment the costs and hassles to emitters and consumers that will undoubtedly be caused by the rules, at the very least this permit-writing process will cost the EPA and state permitting authorities (read “already strapped taxpayers”) about $80 million per year.


And what environmental benefits will be gained by these expenditures? You don’t have to be a global warming skeptic to respond “none.”


Under the Clean Air Act, if the EPA decides to regulate a pollutant, the so-called “best available control technology” (BACT) must be used to reduce emissions. But, funny enough, there is no BACT for greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2).


Burying CO2 underground — so-called carbon capture and sequestration — is experimental, and so is not considered BACT. The Obama EPA would love to declare natural gas as BACT for electric power generation, but it is not yet willing to escalate its war against the coal industry.

Since there is no commercially available technology to reduce CO2 emissions from smokestacks, few will be avoided — even the EPA acknowledges that.


FULL ARTICLE


RELATED ARTICLES:


‘Obama’s EPA a Growing Menace to Economy’ – Sen. Inhofe


BIG GREEN 3, Green Gold: BP, GE & the World’s First Carbon Billionaires


Drill, North Dakota, Drill


Another Massive Energy Tax Looms on the Horizon


UC Santa Barbara emeritus professor of physics quits American Physical Society over global climate hoax


America’s Crude Advantage


Another Scathing Indictment of Climate Change


What Is Congress Establishing? climate religion


High and Hidden Costs: There is Nothing Free about the Wind


The Green War on Children – Michelle Malkin


Slowdown in Shallow-Water Drilling Could Cost $4.3 Billion for Gulf Economy


A Tale of Two Legacies; One Positive And Constructive, The Other Negative and Destructive


Another One: Climate Change Ad Features Young Girl in a Noose


W.Va. Sues Obama, EPA Over Mining Coal Regulations


Dems urge Hillary to push global redistribution of US income for climate hoax


EPA’s Own Estimates Say Greenhouse Gas Regs Could ‘Slow Construction Nationwide for Years’ — and Take a Century to Reduce Temperature 0.0015 Degrees


New high gas mileage standard could make vehicles cost more, less safe


Pushing Junk Science on Children


Ozone Rule Would Kill 7.3 Million Jobs, Raise Costs


The Green Agenda


Hard to believe they’re still pushing the warming hoax a year later


Eco-terrorism pushes carbon reduction for warming hoax


The renewable energy scam


Landrieu battles White House for killing drilling jobs


Greenism – Intelligence not the problem!


Cuba Will Drill Deeper Than BP Off Coast of Florida


Where EPA Is Public Enemy #1


Strickland profits from ‘green’ patronage in Ohio


Stink in the air – Carnahan’s brother gets $107 million for wind farm


Lights Out


EPAs Anti-Industrial Policy – Threatening Jobs and Americas Manufacturing Base


The Big Green machine – The Big Money & The Global Governance Agenda That Fuels Environmentalism


EPA rules to shut down industry, cost jobs


EPW report shows new EPA rules will cost more than 800,000 jobs


Big Green: Emanuel’s pot of green gold is called Exelon


Will Christie take on cap and trade?


Global Cooling and the New World Order


Climate propaganda still pushed by media


Landrieu to block OMB nominee unless oil drilling ban lifted


Obama team uses flimflammery to inflate job numbers


Issa calls for “relook” at climate science


Bill Clinton’s global shakedown


Congressman Calls For Schools To ‘Promote The Agenda’ Of Climate Change, Population Limitation


The Green Death


No Science, Fake Science, and the Deliberate Destruction of the Nation


Energy Department Says It Has ‘Mandate’ to Force ‘Market Transformation’ for Household Appliances


Texas Sues to Block Bizarre “Global Warming” EPA Rules


Endangered Species: Members of Congress fight to save the incandescent light bulb


Rebranding the climate hoax


Green slime – The people behind Obama’s war against fossil fuels


Two Lies Make A Truth In Green and Liberal Views on Climate Science


Green scheme dims lights of freedom


Founder of The Weather Channel says sue Al Gore


Nazi Dreams were Green Dreams


Meltdown of the climate ‘consensus’


Desperate Greens Make Desperate Claims


Reid to force renewable energy mandate in lame duck session


UN climate commission found flawed in investigation


IPCC and CRU Rewrite Facts But Can’t Rewrite History


The Green $windle


Pushing ‘green’ for fun and profit


Run Like A Deere From Cap-And-Trade


Wind energy is a lot of hot air


Lone Star state won’t participate in Obama’s lawless policy


McConnell: Cap-and-trade ‘dead’ – but watch out for executive orders


Secretary Clinton’s Climate Con


Reflected Sunlight Shines On IPCC Deceptions And Gross Inadequacies


Forecaster predicted Russian heatwave, Pakistan flood


Banning the Incandescent Light Bulb


Hillary uses Pakistan flood disaster to push climate hoax


Leading US Physicist Labels Satellitegate Scandal a ‘Catastrophe’ for climate hoax


Cancer of Tropic – the Algoreaholics are still at it


Gore calls for major protests to push his climate hoax legislation


Why Warming Is Falsely Reported When World Is Cooling


Global warming lies, damn lies and easy rebuttals


Former NASA Blacklisted Scientist Challenges Global Warming Orthodoxy


The EPA Must Be Stopped!


Big Green Lies are Imploding


Global Warming, R.I.P


States secretly already raising rates for cap & trade – is your state next?


Northeastern states cap & trade program secret and greedy


Leftist climate activist bails out of global warming hoax


Carbon Cronyism: Why Cap-and-Trade Is Not Dead Yet


Carbon trading scheme passed in finance ‘reform’ bill


Cap and Trade alive and kicking at EPA


Dems Ditch ‘Cap and Trade’ but don’t be fooled


What you should know about the lie that is coming in cap and trade


Cap and trade bill will clobber D.C. and you


Dems change ‘climate’ saving language to ‘pollution’


EPA pushes ahead to kill energy industry


Obama is Strangling Big Oil -$7 a gallon gas anyone?


No objectivity in climate debate


What you should know about the lie that is coming in cap and trade


Cap and trade bill will clobber D.C. and you


More proof of the ‘climate warming’ hoax: Polar Ice Caps Larger than Long-Term Average, NOAA Satellites Show


Dems change ‘climate’ saving language to ‘pollution’


EPA pushes ahead to kill energy industry


Obama: My Plan Makes Electricity Rates Skyrocket


Obama is Strangling Big Oil -$7 a gallon gas anyone?


No objectivity in climate debate


The Bait-And-Switch On Cap-And-Trade


Malkin explains Salazar’s deception on drilling ban


New $3.4 TRILLION in taxes hits all Americans


Obama’s Gulf Oil Spill Commission and the Missing Experts – agenda to pass cap and trade?


Obama Is Wrong; Alternative Energy is Not an Alternative


Obama Trumpets Radical Energy Agenda -Sen. Inhofe


Dems ready for big push on global warming


$7-a-gallon gas?


Krauthammer: Dreamer in chief wants to lead us down green path to destruction


Obama’s ‘green’ jobs role model, Spain, is next European bailout

"

We're Number ONE! US Corp.Tax Rate Now Officially Highest In the World

from YID With LID


We're Number ONE! US Corp.Tax Rate Now Officially Highest In the World: "



Who says that President Obama is not a big believer in American exceptionalism. Under his watch the United States has surpassed Japan to become number one in a new category, we now have the highest corporate tax rate in the entire world.



To be fair, the reason we went from number two to number one is that Japan has announced that it will cut its corporate tax rate by five percentage points.



The Cato Institute developed this chart which shows KPMG data on corporate tax rates in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for 2010, and the new lower rate for Japan. With the Japanese reform, the average rate in the OECD will be 25.6 percent. That means that the 40 percent U.S. corporate tax rate is 56 percent higher than the average of wealthy-nations.







Most fiscal experts agree that cutting the U.S. corporate tax rate is a high priority, and President Obama’s fiscal commission endorsed the idea.

The U.S. corporate tax is a patchwork of overly complex and inefficient provisions that creates perverse incentives for investment. Corporations engage in self-help to decrease their tax liability and improve their bottom line. Moreover, corporations are able to minimize tax through various tax expenditures inserted into the tax code as a result of successful lobbying.



Without reform, it is likely that U.S. competitiveness will continue to suffer. The results of inaction are undesirable: the loss of American jobs, the movement of business operations overseas, reduced investment by foreign businesses in the U.S., reduced innovation and creation of intellectual property in the U.S., the sale of U.S. companies to foreign multinationals, and a general erosion of the corporate tax base.
Reform of the corporate tax structure should include the following:

Establish single corporate tax rate between 23 percent and 29 percent. Corporate tax reform should replace the multiple brackets (the top being 35 percent), with a single bracket as low as 23 percent and no higher than 29 percent.
Today the President met with twenty corporate CEOs to find out how to get the "pilot light" of the economy lit. I could have saved the president lots of time. By cutting the corporate tax rate and making the US more enticing to corporate enterprise, the economy will begin to expand once again. Right now the economy is being crushed under the heavy burden of over-taxation.
Please email me at yidwithlid@aol.com to be put onto my mailing list.
Feel free to reproduce any article but please link back to http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com
"

It’s All About the “O” …Obama Warns Dems If Bush Tax Cuts Don’t Pass, He’s Finished

from The Gateway Pundit


It’s All About the “O” …Obama Warns Dems If Bush Tax Cuts Don’t Pass, He’s Finished: "

Change!

Barack Obama is warning democrats that if the Bush tax cuts don’t pass, he’s finished.

It’s all about Obama.

The Hill reported, via HotAir:


“The White House is putting on tremendous pressure, making phone calls, the president is making phone calls saying this is the end of his presidency if he doesn’t get this bad deal,” he told CNN’s Eliot Spitzer.


Obama’s push shows that the president is going to the mat in order to push through Congress the compromise brokered with Republicans.


During the end of the healthcare debate, Obama reportedly told Democrats upset that the bill did not contain a public healthcare option that not passing it could put his presidency on the line and stall the liberal agenda for decades.

"

Democrats Likely to Pass New Internet Regulations Next Week

from The Gateway Pundit


Democrats Likely to Pass New Internet Regulations Next Week: "

The statists will not be satisfied until they control every aspect of your life, from the food you eat, to the kind of car you drive, to the temperature of your home, to demanding that you purchase health insurance.

Next week, FCC democrats are likely to pass new internet regulations.

Reuters reported:


Contentious Internet traffic rules facing a vote next week are likely to be adopted without radically veering from a proposal unveiled earlier in the month, telecommunications policy analysts said on Wednesday.


The Federal Communications Commission will vote on Dec. 21 on whether to adopt regulations that ban the blocking of lawful traffic but allow Internet service providers to ration Web traffic on their networks.


The proposal laid out two weeks ago by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski was met with concern from the other members of the FCC, putting in question the likelihood of winning over a majority of the five-member FCC.


The two Republican commissioners have objected to FCC action on Internet rules, saying the Internet is best able to thrive in the absence of regulation. And Genachowski’s two fellow Democrats on the panel could withhold support from any measure they view as too weak.


But analysts said commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Michael Copps, the Democrats on the panel, are more likely to consider it in the majority’s interest to move ahead with so-called net neutrality rules.

"

California Mom Sues McDonald's Over Happy Meals [Lawsuits]

from Gawker



California Mom Sues McDonald's Over Happy Meals [Lawsuits]: "
A mother in Sacramento is suing McDonald's for enticing kids with Happy Meals. She claims giving fun toys with meals is 'deceptive to children,' since they aren't smart enough to realize Happy Meals are little boxes of death. More »


"

Dem rep: Obama told us if the tax deal doesn’t pass, it’s the end of his presidency

from Hot Air TV


Dem rep: Obama told us if the tax deal doesn’t pass, it’s the end of his presidency: "

Plus: Chris Christie supports the deal.



Alternate headline: “Blogger now opposes tax deal.” Seriously, though: Is this true or a clever lie by DeFazio? “The White House is putting on tremendous pressure, making phone calls, the president is making phone calls saying this is the end of his presidency if he doesn’t get this bad deal,” he told CNN’s Eliot Spitzer. [...]


Read this post »



"

U.S. files civil suit against BP for Gulf spill

from MarketWatch.com - Top Stories


U.S. files civil suit against BP for Gulf spill: "U.S. sues BP, eight other companies over Gulf of Mexico oil spill.



"

UCLA Prof: DREAM Act Will Replace "Old White Men"

from Moonbattery


UCLA Prof: DREAM Act Will Replace "Old White Men": "

In case you were wondering about the objective of the lame duck Dems trying to ram through backdoor amnesty with the DREAM Act, UCLA professor Kent Wong makes it clear by declaring that this attempt to skew the country's demographics in Democrats' favor will allow leftists like himself to replace the 'old white men' of America:





If white people don't like being targeted for replacement, it could only be because they are racist, as Wong makes clear here:





'Let us be very clear what is behind the anti-immigrant hysteria in Congress today, and especially among certain Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate; it is racism pure and simple.'


The monumental hypocrisy of the militant racists of the Left accusing anyone who resists their racist agenda of racism never ceases to astound.



On tips from G. Fox and Infidel Joe.

"

U.S. to have Highest Corporate Tax Rate in the World

from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.


U.S. to have Highest Corporate Tax Rate in the World: "


Most of the time being number one is good. But when it comes to having the highest tax rate in the world, it is much better for a country to be bringing up the rear.


Currently Japan holds the inauspicious distinction of having the highest corporate income tax rate in the world (39.5 percent). The United States is a close second, only a few tenths-of-percentage points behind.


Japan will soon fall from the top spot because it has finally recognized what the rest of the industrialized world realized over a decade ago: A low corporate income tax rate is vital for economic growth in the global marketplace. As such, Japan just announced it will reduce its corporate income tax rate by 5 percentage points down to around 35 percent. This remains far above the 25 percent average rate of other industrialized countries, but for them it is a start.


Japan’s reduction will leave the U.S. in the uncomfortable position of having the highest corporate income tax rate in the industrialized world. Hopefully Congress will finally see fit to lower the rate now that we will hold that disreputable title.


The U.S. ended up at the top because it stood still while the rest of the world was cutting its rates. As the chart below shows, in 1990 the U.S. corporate tax rate was middle of the pack. In fact, it was lower than the global average. The years since have seen every other industrialized country aggressively lower its rate.


The top marginal corporate income tax rate is an important factor influencing economic growth and job creation, because it determines how much the tax will reduce the return the business earns from new investment. As a result, it is a large determinant when businesses decide where to locate their next venture—and where they will hire new employees.


The high rate in the U.S. is driving businesses and jobs to other countries. Those jobs will continue to flow to other countries if the U.S. insists on levying its self-defeating corporate income tax rate. It is long past time for Congress to lower the rate so it is equal or below the 25 percent average of our competitors. If it does not, businesses and jobs will continue their exodus to more friendly locales.

"

Outside the Beltway: Zoning Czars Use Business Permits to Censor Art

from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.


Outside the Beltway: Zoning Czars Use Business Permits to Censor Art: "


At a time when the economy is slow, you might think government officials would be happy to see new businesses start up. Arlington County Virginia, however, isn’t as welcoming as it could be. Whatever you do, don’t start a business there and decorate the exterior of your establishment with artwork relating to your business. If you do, Arlington’s zoning officials will probably be along to harass you.


Kim Houghton, owner of Wag More Dogs, can tell you all about Arlington’s zoning administrators. With the help of the Institute for Justice, Houghton has filed a lawsuit against the county for demanding that she trade her First Amendment rights in exchange for permission to open a business.


Earlier this year, while preparing to open her dog daycare, boarding, and grooming business, Houghton commissioned a $4,000 mural to be painted on the back of her building, which borders a community dog park. Naturally, the mural depicts dogs at play. Before Houghton could open her doors, however, the county told her she wouldn’t receive the permits she needed unless she covered up the mural. The mural, said the county, was a commercial sign that was too big according to its regulations. The county even sent her instructions specifying the kind of paint she must use or alternatively how a tarp covering the mural must be secured.


The mural, keep in mind, has no words on it—just pictures of cartoon dogs, paw prints, and bones. And these pictures of cartoon dogs, paw prints, and bones cover up what had been an ugly cinderblock wall at the back of Houghton’s business overlooking a dog park.


That’s what Arlington County officials care about.


One county zoning official sent Houghton an e-mail telling her that her mural could depict “anything … EXCEPT something to do with dogs, bones, paw prints, pets, people walking their dogs, etc.” Anything that relates to the business transforms the artwork into a commercial sign that can be regulated, according to the county.


So, if your business serves dogs, you can paint dragons on your building but not dogs. And, presumably, if you retail in exotic pets, you could paint dogs on your facade, but not dragons. Does that make sense? Isn’t banning some speech but not other speech (as opposed to regulating time, manner, and place) contrary to the First Amendment?


In fact, the mural had been up for four months before the county said it had a problem with the artwork—just before Houghton planned to open her business. The county eventually offered Houghton what it considered a reasonable compromise: She could leave the mural in place if she painted on top of it the words, “Welcome to Shirlington Park’s Community Canine Area,” in four-foot high lettering. To the county then, a mural that is a nuisance when displayed by a private citizen becomes perfectly acceptable if the government can make the artwork its own. Shouldn’t that tell us something about whether there’s really a valid government interest in regulating this form of expression?


The Institute for Justice’s lawsuit contends that, because Arlington’s sign laws require zoning administrators to inspect artwork in order to determine what the message of the artwork is, they constitute a content-based restriction on free speech that is impermissible under the First Amendment. The Institute for Justice also contends that because the laws are so vague, they allow selective and discriminatory enforcement, which has a chilling effect on free speech.


Houghton had the guts to follow her passion for dogs and start a business. But rather than thank her for adding to the economy, the county government has asked her to trade away her constitutional right of free speech. Fortunately, IJ is in her corner. Writing in the Washington Times, Houghton says: “If it weren’t for IJ, I would have had to give in because zoning officials are that intimidating and that powerful. Arlington County officials have the power to close my doors forever at their whim, and they have shown they are not shy about using that power.”


Hopefully, with IJ’s help, Houghton will be able to tear down that ugly blue tarp covering her mural.

"

Jeff Sessions slams Obama admin goal of zero nuclear weapons as irrational

from The Right Scoop


Jeff Sessions slams Obama admin goal of zero nuclear weapons as irrational: "In a Senate GOP press conference today, Sen. Jeff Sessions voiced serious reservations on the current version of the START Treaty. He’s very concerned about Russia’s stated disagreement with our missile defense program and says that is a basic fundamental problem that must be resolved before passage. He goes on to slam the Obama Administration’s [...]"

Irony: Doctors call for moratorium on fast food in Detroit citing 3,400 deaths from heart disease. Neglect 6,365 nnual deaths from... ABORTION!

from theblogprof


Irony: Doctors call for moratorium on fast food in Detroit citing 3,400 deaths from heart disease. Neglect 6,365 nnual deaths from... ABORTION!: "If these doctors want to save lives, then they should be calling for a ban on abortion in the abortion capital of Michigan. Instead, they want to go all out food Nazi on the residents of Detroit. LA recently banned any new fast food restaurants in the city:
<object id="otvPlayer" width="400" height="268"><param name="movie" value="http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/static/flash/embeddedPlayer/swf/otvEmLoader.swf?version=&station=kabc&section=&mediaId=7832909&cdnRoot=http://cdn.abclocal.go.com&webRoot=http://abclocal.go.com&configPath=/util/&site=" ></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed id="otvPlayer" width="400" height="268" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" allowfullscreen="true" src="http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/static/flash/embeddedPlayer/swf/otvEmLoader.swf?version=&station=kabc&section=&mediaId=7832909&cdnRoot=http://cdn.abclocal.go.com&webRoot=http://abclocal.go.com&configPath=/util/&site="></embed></object>
From The Detroit News: Doctors call for moratorium on fast food in Detroit
A nonprofit medical group is calling for Mayor Dave Bing to impose a moratorium on new fast food restaurants.

Citing a study that shows Detroit has the more fast-food restaurants than four other cities with similar population sizes, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is calling for the moratorium.

'I'm writing you to declare a public health emergency,' the letter from Susan Levin, the group's director of nutrition reads. '…It's time to tackle Detroit's heart disease problem head on. A moratorium on new fast food restaurants could be a critically important step toward fighting this epidemic.'

The group says the moratorium is needed because 'Detroit's high-fat and meat-heavy diets' have helped cause heart problems. More than 3,400 Detroiters die of heart disease each year, and the city has the fourth-highest rate of heart disease deaths of all U.S. cities, according to the World Health Organization.
Of course, this group neglects completely the #1 cause of death in Detroit - abortion. In 2008, there were 6,365 abortions performed on Detroit residents. This is more than 25% of all abortions performed on Michigan residents statewide even though the population of Detroit is less than 10% of the state's total population.

The doctors group also cannot possibly correlate the number of fast food restaurants with any disease whatsoever. Forget causality, they don't even have correlating data. Abortion on the other hand a is 1st-hand death. There is nothing to interpret there. How about ban abortion in Detroit to maximize the saving of life?
"

Iraqi Officials Warn West of Al-Qaeda Christmas Bombings

from The Gateway Pundit


Iraqi Officials Warn West of Al-Qaeda Christmas Bombings: "

Al-Qaeda is planning more holiday suicide attacks like the one last week in Stockholm, Sweden.



A passer-by stands at the corner of Bryggaregatan and Drottninggatan street in central Stockholm, the site of Saturday’s bombing.… Read more »

(AFP/File/Jonathan Nackstrand)


Iraqi authorities warned the US and Europe of Al-Qaeda suicide bombing this Christmas season.

CBS reported:


Iraqi authorities have obtained confessions from captured insurgents who claim al Qaeda is planning suicide attacks in the United States and Europe during the Christmas season, two senior officials said Wednesday.


Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani told The Associated Press that the botched bombing in central Stockholm last weekend was among the alleged plots the insurgents revealed. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, in a telephone interview from New York, called the claims “a critical threat.”


Both al-Bolani and Zebari said Iraq has informed Interpol of the alleged plots, and alerted authorities in the U.S. and European countries of the possible danger. Neither official specified which country or countries in Europe are alleged targets.


There was no way to verify the insurgents’ claims. But Western counterterrorism officials generally are on high alert during the holiday season, especially since last year’s failed attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called underwear bomber, who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day.

"

Bailouts or Bankruptcy for State and Local Government Pension Problems?

The year 2011 will be the year of decision for underfunded state and local governments with pension and debt problems. The end of federal money from the stimulus package that many cities and states have used to prop up their finances, combined with the outsized cost of meeting their pension promises, will force a growing number of these governments to act.

The immediate reaction for many will be to try to pass the cost onto the federal taxpayers in the form of a bailout, but Congress should strongly resist any such move. While the troubled state and local governments would promise to mend their ways and characterize the bailout as "time to work out the problem," many of them have long histories of fiscal mismanagement and would soon revert to their old bad habits. A federal bailout would have no more long-term effect than taking away a shopaholic's old credit cards while new ones are already in the mail.

As a recent survey of the problem shows, most academic attention has focused on the overall size of the underfunding, with a number of studies using differing methods to decide how large the aggregate deficit is. However, while the aggregate underfunding proves that this is a major problem that must be dealt with before it gets worse, big numbers do little to guide specific cities and states toward a solution. In addition to the level of underfunding, the solution will depend on the government's willingness and ability to either change pension promises for new or existing workers or require them to pay more for those benefits. These are not easy decisions, and none will be popular among the affected workers, who can be expected to use every possible avenue to resist them.

In many areas, past laws or even state constitutions may sharply limit the ability of cities and states to change any of their existing pension promises. Already, three states that have changed the way pension benefits are indexed have been sued by employee unions seeking to overturn the reforms. Local governments can get around these restrictions by filing for bankruptcy under Chapter 9 of the federal bankruptcy code, but currently, states have no such outlet.

In this environment, Congress should consider a way for states to file for bankruptcy or its fiscal equivalent. Of course, there are serious constitutional questions to be addressed, in particular concerning federalism. One recent article makes a convincing case that a bankruptcy process for states would be constitutionally acceptable so long as a state enters into it voluntarily.

Given the current horrible fiscal condition of both Illinois and California and their lack of real progress back toward fiscal responsibility, there is a clear practical need for such a procedure. As the economy continues to experience a very slow recovery, other states are certain to approach the same level of fiscal crisis and will come hat-in-hand for federal tax dollars to pay for the cost of their irresponsibility. One option should be bankruptcy, and Congress should start thinking about that option now.

Such a process should not be part of a deal under which states can also receive a federal bailout. State and local governments made the mess of their finances, and they should have to clean them up. Congress should provide a mechanism to make the process more direct, giving the states the flexibility to address their fiscal problems consistent with federalism and the principles of limited constitutional government.








Sent from my iPhone

Morning Bell: Call Reid’s Bluff

Gallup released a poll this morning showing that the American people dislike this 111th Congress more than any other Congress. Specifically, a full 83% of Americans disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job while only 13% approve. That is the worst approval rating in more than 30 years of tracking congressional job performance.

Why do Americans so despise this Congress? The reckless way it spends other people's money, for starters. One would have thought that after getting "shellacked" at the polls this November, Congress would have gotten the message. No luck. Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced a $1.27 trillion 1,924 page omnibus spending bill last night that contains 6,000 earmarks worth $8 billion. Oh, and all this has to be approved by midnight Saturday or the government shuts down.

Defending the trillion dollar spending bill, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) told the USA Today: "Who among us believes we should base our spending recommendations for defense, homeland security, and veterans on whatever level was needed last year?" This is a morally repugnant statement. Defense, homeland security, and veterans can all be funded at current levels for one month through a continuing resolution, and then the next Congress could adjust our defense needs. Inouye is attempting to hold the troops hostage? And for what? Taxpayers for Common Sense reports that among the 6,600 earmarks in the bill is $6 million for parkland acquisition in Hawaii. No wonder Americans hate this Congress.

Other vanity projects buying votes in the bill — there are plenty of Republican earmarks in the bill too — include $18 million for groups named after the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. John Murtha (D-PA); $349,000 for swine waste management; $2.9 million for Grand Forks International Airport expansion; and $3.5 million for termite research in Louisiana.

But as bad as the earmarks are the spending increases are even worse. The bill adds $5.4 billion in new labor, education, and health spending including money for the failed Head Start program, the failed Race to the Top program, Pell Grants, and $1.25 billion in spending on Obamacare. No conservative who promised to repeal Obamacare can possibly support this bill.

By waiting until late yesterday to unveil this 1,924-page monstrosity, Reid is playing a high stakes game of chicken with small government conservatives. Since the FY 2010 budget expired on September 30th, the federal government has been operating on a series of continuing resolutions (CR). The most recent CR expires on midnight Saturday. If the Senate does not pass a bill by then the federal government shuts down. Reid believes that conservatives do not have courage to back up their spending cut convictions. Conservative Senators should call Reid's bluff.

This is the first Congress, in the history of the budget process, that failed to even vote on a budget for next year. A responsible Congress would have passed a budget resolution and all the necessary appropriations bills months ago. By failing to even bring a budget resolution to a vote, let alone the actual spending bills, Majority Leader Reid has already proven he is completely irresponsible. He has no legitimate claim to be dictating spending terms to the American people.

The American people thoroughly rejected this Congress' spendthrift ways at the polls last month. There is no reason this business-as-usual omnibus should be the only spending option. The 111th Congress has forfeited all rights to set spending levels for the next year. A one-page continuing resolution that keeps the government funded at current levels, for a month or two, until the next Congress is sworn in, is the only way to go.

Quick Hits:








Sent from my iPhone

Heritage Foundation

DrudgeFeed.com - Drudge Report RSS feed

RedState

Right Wing News

RenewAmerica

Hot Air » Top Picks

Conservative Outpost

Conservative Examiner

Michelle Malkin

Big Government

Big Journalism

Big Hollywood

Pajamas Media