from JammieWearingFool
Baby, It's Frozen Outside: "Just keep telling us how much the planet is warming. The folks with chattering teeth in Europe will surely nod in agreement.Traditional family walks to help the turkey go down could be off the cards this year as December 25 is set to be the coldest Christmas ever.The mercury plummeted to -5.9C in Glenlivet, Scotland, in 1996, but the Met Office has now warned freezing conditions could see this"
Friday, December 24, 2010
The Age of Uncertainty
from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.
The Age of Uncertainty: "
"
The Age of Uncertainty: "
Entrepreneurs fret daily over economic uncertainty. Case in point: Even with passage of the lame-duck tax deal, they still don’t know what their tax burden will be two years from now.
Approval of that deal lifted what The Wall Street Journal dubs the “world of the temporary tax code” to unprecedented heights. The Journal explains:
The U.S. will have no permanent regime governing levies on salaries, capital gains and dividends, the Social Security tax, as well as a slew of targeted breaks for families, students and other groups. This on top of dozens of corporate-tax provisions that already were subject to annual renewal.
All this uncertainty “complicates planning and discourages hiring and investment” because “businesses tend to be more reluctant to invest when they perceive high levels of uncertainty about various things, including taxes.”
One bitter fruit of all this uncertainty can be gleaned from a recent Federal Reserve study. The Fed calculated that skittish companies are now sitting on nearly $2 trillion of cash reserves rather than deploying those resources to expand payrolls, build new plants, or purchase new equipment. This is not only $130 billion higher than it was at the end of June but, as a percentage of total assets, the highest cash-reserve level in over half a century.
Two recent court decisions exemplify the full extent of the uncertainty created by the current administration. On December 10, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected a plea from the nation’s manufacturers to scuttle a regulatory initiative by the Environmental Protection Agency that would subject them to new regulatory burdens in a quixotic effort to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. “The EPA’s agenda,” the National Association of Manufacturers said in a statement, “places unnecessary burdens on manufacturers, drives up energy costs and imposes even more uncertainty on the nation’s job creators.”
The second court decision concerned the new health-care law. A federal judge in Virginia ruled that a crucial provision in Obamacare — the mandate that individuals purchase governmentally approved health insurance — violates the Constitution. “An individual’s personal decision to [purchase or decline to purchase] health insurance from a private provider,” District Court Judge Henry Hudson wrote, “is beyond the historical reach of the U.S. Constitution.” The fate of the policy now depends on the Supreme Court.
And regardless of the ultimate fate of the mandate, the statuary language of Obamacare bestows unprecedented discretionary power upon the federal bureaucrats charged with its implementation. John Hoff, a former assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, explained:
While it is detailed in some instances, [the new health law] is largely aspirational; it directs the Administration to achieve various universally desired goals — better quality of health care, improved access to care, and increased efficiency of delivery. It constructs the scaffolding of federal control and gives the Administration very broad authority to achieve these aspirations. Each of the many actions taken to implement it will determine the shape of that control. Implementation will be technically difficult and politically charged.
This high degree of bureaucratic discretion, it is important to point out, affects the entire health-care sector, which now constitutes fully one-sixth of the economy.
At this stage, business executives or ordinary citizens trying to comprehend the implications of the new law might as well flip a coin or hire a fortune teller. How will the bureaucrats interpret this “aspirational” language? Will Judge Hudson’s decision be upheld on appeal? And what consequences will flow from all these unknowns? Will insurance rates skyrocket, encouraging consumers to forgo coverage until they need it, which in turn will cause insurers to increase premiums further in a never-ending insurance death spiral? Should employers maintain their current health plans under the law’s “grandfather” clause, or just dump their employees into the new health exchanges where the cost of coverage might be prohibitive? And if the cost of coverage skyrockets, what about all those rosy projections of manageable subsidy costs from the Congressional Budget Office? Those dollar figures might jump by a few hundred billion — or more. Where will that money come from?
Then there’s the president’s on-again, off-again offshore-drilling policy. And what about employers who may face stacked union elections if the Department of Labor opts to circumvent Congress and implement card check (the number one item on Big Labor’s wish list) administratively?
This layered uncertainty looms as a Sword of Damocles over every business, every investor, and every head of household in America. It has suffocated the risk-taking, entrepreneurial spirit that has made America the exceptional nation in human history. For entrepreneurship hinges on intelligent risk-taking, not closing your eyes and plunging headfirst off the foggy cliff of government intervention and manipulation.
Our current and ongoing economic malaise arises from something we have not seen in America since the days of FDR’s failed New Deal. Our entrepreneurs — society’s economic risk-takers — have lost confidence — $2 trillion worth of confidence — in the federal government’s willingness to let them operate in a way that makes economic sense.
This is why the recent tax deal ultimately does nothing to improve our long-term economic outlook. True, the compromise was better than one potential option: a catastrophic increase in the tax burden that would have destroyed jobs, businesses, and lives. But the goals of this legislative exercise should have been more ambitious: One, create breathing room for entrepreneurs, families, and investors in the form of a reasonable tax and regulatory burden; and two, guarantee that Congress will remain faithful to these policies for the long haul. This would give our most productive citizens the confidence that if they make an investment that requires a long time horizon, they can count on a stable policy environment.
This would mean, among other things, a permanent extension of the Bush-era tax rates for everyone, putting an end to the most egregious regulatory initiatives now underway, consigning Obamacare to the dustbin of history, and allowing energy companies to identify, recover, and generate as much domestic energy as possible.
Our wealth creators will reengage with our free-enterprise system only when these good policies are in place and stable. And we will know we have succeeded only when investors and businesses move that sidelined $2 trillion into new plants, equipment, and jobs.
"
Crosses banned in Bethlehem because of fear of the Religion of Peace
from theblogprof
Crosses banned in Bethlehem because of fear of the Religion of Peace: "How sad is it that the cross is now banned in Jesus' own birth place? And all on account of a chronic case of the Religion of Peace. From Asian News via memeorandum: Christmas in Bethlehem: the cross banished from souvenirs
UPDATE: From the AP via The Detroit News: Pilgrims, clergy come to Bethlehem for Christmas
"
Crosses banned in Bethlehem because of fear of the Religion of Peace: "How sad is it that the cross is now banned in Jesus' own birth place? And all on account of a chronic case of the Religion of Peace. From Asian News via memeorandum: Christmas in Bethlehem: the cross banished from souvenirs
If you know Muslim history, the prospect of a museum is nil. What it will be converted to is a victory mosque, much like the one they want to put up at Ground Zero.This Christmas in Bethlehem, the cross has been banned from souvenirs for tourists and pilgrims in the Holy Land. Some textile workshops in Jerusalem and Hebron have begun to print and sell T-shirts depicting the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem without the cross. Because of the growth of Islamic fundamentalism in the Palestinian territories, the cross was also removed from t-shirts of football teams. Interviewed by AsiaNews, Samir Qumsieh, journalist and director of the Catholic television station Al-Mahed Nativity TV in Bethlehem, said: 'I want to launch a campaign to urge people not to buy these products - he says - because the removal of the cross is an intimidation against Christians, it is like saying that Jesus was never crucified. '
...'In the Holy Land - said Qumsieh - the emigration of Christians is growing, even if the authorities refuse to give precise numbers. Every day there are people who flee to other countries. As Christians, we live in a constant feeling of fear and uncertainty, and if you live in constant tension and pessimism you can not plan anything.
...The reporter says that if this exodus continues there will be no more Catholics in the Holy Land and that one day the Church of the Nativity could be turned into a museum.
UPDATE: From the AP via The Detroit News: Pilgrims, clergy come to Bethlehem for Christmas
Thousands of tourists, pilgrims and clergy converged on Bethlehem on Friday as the town of Jesus' birth prepared to celebrate Christmas Eve.Keep the peace? What could possibly be wrong in an area dominated by eth Religion of Peace?
Boy Scout marching bands played in Manger Square, just outside the Church of the Nativity, which Christian tradition identifies as the site of Jesus' birth in a stable two millennia ago. Pilgrims lit candles inside, and Palestinian policemen deployed around the town to keep the peace.
Video: How The Obama Stole Christmas
from theblogprof
Video: How The Obama Stole Christmas: "Via Ed Morrissey:
Oscar's not a big fan of Christmas either:
"
Video: How The Obama Stole Christmas: "Via Ed Morrissey:
Oscar's not a big fan of Christmas either:
Seasons Greetings… Black Extremists Scream Racist Insults & Attack Christians at Oklahoma City Bus Terminal on Christmas Eve (Video)
from The Gateway Pundit
Seasons Greetings… Black Extremists Scream Racist Insults & Attack Christians at Oklahoma City Bus Terminal on Christmas Eve (Video): "
Seasons Greetings… Black Extremists Scream Racist Insults & Attack Christians at Oklahoma City Bus Terminal on Christmas Eve (Video): "
A group of radical black Muslims(?) held an anti-Christmas anti white-man rally today at the Oklahoma City bus terminal.
The radicals screamed,
“God hates Christmas!… God hates Christmas! God hates America and is going to destroy it… The white man changed the truth of God into a lie. We’re out here because we love you.”
They attacked whites, Christians, gays… It was an all-inclusive hate fest:
From the video:
Some of the greatest hits from this video:
“God hates Christmas.”
“The white man has set up laws where the faggots and lesbians have rights, and parades.”
“The white man is against nature, and we prove that out of scripture.”
“The white man is in power now because he is a thief and a murderer.”
“God hates America, and he will destroy it.”
“The white man has never taught you about God. He lied, and told you he was God.”
** Any help in identifying this hate group would be much appreciated.
"Change!…GOP-Controlled House Will Open Congress With Reading of US Constitution
from The Gateway Pundit
Change!…GOP-Controlled House Will Open Congress With Reading of US Constitution: "
Change!…GOP-Controlled House Will Open Congress With Reading of US Constitution: "
As soon as Speaker Pelosi hands over her gavel to GOP leader John Boehner the 112th Congress of the United States will open with a reading of the US Constitution, a document often ignored by the far left extremists of the current Obama-Pelosi regime.
The 112th Congress
Republican Party – 242 members Democrat Party 193 members
They really need to hand out some copies, too.
The Washington Times reported:
"The Constitution frequently gets lip service in Congress, but House Republicans next year will make sure it gets a lot more than that – the new rules the incoming majority party proposed this week call for a full reading of the country’s founding document on the floor of the House on Jan. 6.
The goal, backers said, is to underscore the limited-government rules the Founders imposed on Congress – and to try to bring some of those principles back into everyday legislating.
“It stems from the debate that we’ve had for the last two years about things like the exercise of authority in a whole host of different areas by the EPA, we’ve had this debate in relation to the health care bill, the cap-and-trade legislation,” said Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte, Virginia Republican, who proposed the reading. “This Congress has been very aggressive in expanding the power of the federal government, and there’s been a big backlash to that.”
US Senator Writes Letter to Santa About Global Warming… No, Seriously
from Michelle Malkin
US Senator Writes Letter to Santa About Global Warming… No, Seriously: "
"
US Senator Writes Letter to Santa About Global Warming… No, Seriously: "
**Written by Doug Powers
New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez is still a true believer. This letter appeared in the Huffington Post:
Dear Santa Claus,
I am writing out of concern, because you may have to move from the North Pole due to the dramatic melting of Arctic sea ice. The Navy’s chief oceanographer says that by the summer of 2020 the North Pole may not have summer ice and other scientists project that an ice-free Arctic is possible as soon as 2012!
Scientists overwhelmingly agree that polar ice is melting because of greenhouse gas pollution and I am working hard to reduce these emissions. But there is probably nothing we can do in time to save the North Pole. I am worried about your safety and your ability to deliver billions of Christmas gifts if the ice cap on the North Pole no longer stays frozen all year. What will happen to your house, your workshop, the elves’ houses and your reindeer barns?
The rest is here if you dare. Hasn’t Menendez received the latest memo that another ice age is on the way due to the warming which causes the cold and snow that makes it hotter, creating blizzards? That should be enough to save the North Pole… I think.
Since when does a self-respecting Democrat care about St. Nick, anyway? Santa Claus is a morbidly obese future burden on the health care system who utilizes animal slave labor and vertically-challenged sweatshop workers who are paid well below a living wage in a non-union environment to manufacture and deliver toys that are fraught with small-part choking hazards that may promote violence. Democrats should be more than happy to see Santa forced to move down here where he’ll be more easily regulated and they can confiscate their fair share of the presents.
Just to cover all the bases, because global warming has been found to cause dental problems in children, Menendez also hand-delivered a letter to the Tooth Fairy, who just happened to be in DC attending the signing of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal.
The threat global warming poses to American pikas is also expected to prompt Menendez to write a letter to the Easter Bunny this coming April. Stay tuned.
(h/t Weasel Zippers)
**Written by Doug Powers
Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
Alabama Town’s Failed Pension Is a Warning
from USACTION NEWS
Alabama Town’s Failed Pension Is a Warning: "
Alabama Town’s Failed Pension Is a Warning: "
It stopped sending monthly pension checks to its 150 retired workers, breaking a state law requiring it to pay its promised retirement benefits in full.
By MICHAEL COOPER and MARY WILLIAMS WALSH at The New York Times
EXCERPTS:
“This struggling small city on the outskirts of Mobile was warned for years that if it did nothing, its pension fund would run out of money by 2009.
Since then, Nettie Banks, 68, a retired Prichard police and fire dispatcher, has filed for bankruptcy. Alfred Arnold, a 66-year-old retired fire captain, has gone back to work as a shopping mall security guard to try to keep his house.
And it stands as a warning to cities like Philadelphia and states like Illinois, whose pension funds are under great strain: if nothing changes, the money eventually does run out, and when that happens, misery and turmoil follow.
It is not just the pensioners who suffer when a pension fund runs dry. If a city tried to follow the law and pay its pensioners with money from its annual operating budget, it would probably have to adopt large tax increases, or make huge service cuts, to come up with the money.” [emphasis added]
FULL ARTICLE
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