Nothing Headline of the Day: 'Tennessee Climate Change is So Subtle It's Hard to Gauge'

from JammieWearingFool by Dan Cleary


Nothing Headline of the Day: 'Tennessee Climate Change is So Subtle It's Hard to Gauge': "Gee, I wonder why that is?Could it be because "climate change" - what people in the old days used to call "the weather" - is a completely concocted threat to the environment?Nah! There must be a more sophisticated explanation.The U.S. Department of Agriculture chief calls climate change "one of the greatest threats facing our planet," but little attention is being paid to it in Tennessee's"

Acronym Fail: House Republicans Propose Two-Page Bill to Repeal Obamacare - "RTJKHCLA"

from JammieWearingFool by Dan Cleary


Acronym Fail: House Republicans Propose Two-Page Bill to Repeal Obamacare - "RTJKHCLA": "That would be the Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act.Well, at least it's blunt and descriptive. And at a mere two pages, even John Conyers could probably take a crack at reading it - without the assistance of a couple of lawyers. He might even comprehend it.var docstoc_docid="68283700";var docstoc_title="HR__-Repeal";var docstoc_urltitle="HR__-Repeal";HR__-Repeal - h/t Michelle"

Study: Electric Cars Not Commercially Viable Without Federal Subsidies

from YID With LID by Jeff Dunetz


Study: Electric Cars Not Commercially Viable Without Federal Subsidies: "

Much of the electric and hybrid car business is in the US are subsidized by the US Govt.In 2010, one fourth of GM and Ford’s hybrids were purchased by the federal government. Nissan got a $1.4 billion dollar loan from the feds to develop their electric car, the Leaf. Several thousands of dollars in tax credits per car have to be shelled out to make these models attractive for sale.



The Marshall Policy Institute has released a new study (embedded below) weighing the costs and benefits of the U.S. government’s subsidization of the electric car. It exposes the fact that the government is inefficiently creating demand where little exists, using tax dollars to push a technology into the market results in a misallocation of resources just like cash for clunkers did. This unsound policy makes it more difficult to reduce the federal deficit, is not sound energy policy and it fails to substantially address the environmental issues at which it is aimed.



As the study says, even the all electric cars are not zero emissions vehicles, they are "emissions elsewhere vehicles" when you include emissions associated with the charging. Since coal is the dominant electric power source, those increased coal emissions may offset the reduction in tailpipe emissions.



By looking at the sales trends the Marshall Institute demonstrates that these cars not commercially viable without the large government subsidies. The demand for the current generation of hybrids has dropped as gasoline prices declined from their 2008 highs. Analysts have estimated that gasoline would have to increase to $4 a gallon or more to stimulate demand for hybrid electric vehicles. The study concludes that: "Without subsidies and political pressure, it is doubtful that there would be much demand, except by the wealthy early adopters who want to make an environmental statement."

A recent article in the Washington Post by Charles Lane rhetorically asks why electric vehicles continue to be pushed “despite mounting evidence that the vehicles serve no particular purpose, environmental or economic?”It goes on to state that even with substantial subsidies, these cars cost too much, they do not reliably reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and are an inefficient means to achieve gasoline savings. The Wall Street Journal has reached similar conclusions as have independent research organizations like J.D. Powers and Associates.

They concluded that higher vehicle cost and reduced performance and comfort are a trade off for increased fuel economy. In addition, potential fuel savings have to be reduced by premium fuel requirements and higher electricity costs. Professor George Hoffer, a transportation expert at Virginia Commonwealth University, estimates that a Leaf owner would have to drive 150,000 miles to break even at current gasoline prices.19 The Leaf battery is only guaranteed for 75,000 miles, so a replacement would be needed in addition to other maintenance. When General Motors introduced the EV-1 to meet California’s zero emission regulation, it got around this problem by leasing vehicles instead of selling them.

Then again there are other reasons to get a Hybrid, for example in NYS owning a Hybrid can get you into the HOV lane even though you have no passengers (which is the reason I own a Prius). On the other hand there is still a lot of mileage you can get out of an internal combustion engine.

The Chief Executive of Ford Motor Company, in an interview with CEO Magazine, stated “the internal combustion engine has a lot of room for improvement.” He went on to mention direct-fuel injection, turbo-charging, integrated electronic, new light weight materials, and improved air flow. J.D. Power and Associates identified other ICE improvements, such as variable valve timing, cylinder deactivation, and start-stop technology. Together these technology improvements could result in a 40% reduction in oil use, according to the NAS. The newest generation diesel engines, although more expensive than ICEs, could also increase miles-per-gallon efficiency by 30% or more.

Electric cars are turning out to be a typical example of what happens when the government picks winners in the marketplace rather than letting the market pick the winners. We now have government inefficiently using tax dollars to create a market that isn't there. There is a reduced incentive to improve battery technology as long as the government subsidizes the market. The government will have to continue to subsidize the hybrid, hybrid electric, and electric car marketplace for the foreseeable future or else it will collapse from the reduced demand.



And here's something for all the "redistribution of income" progressive types. Even with the government subsidies the costs of these vehicles are prohibitive to lower income families, that means that the US Government is giving money to those "rich types" to buy these cars. Ironic isn't it?



If you would like to read the entire study it is embedded below:



Mars

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Feel free to reproduce any article but please link back to http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com

"

Sheriff Paul Babeu on Napolitano’s Afghan Trip: “It’s Outrageous!… She’s the Homeland Security Secretary Not the Secretary of State” (Video)

from The Gateway Pundit by Jim Hoft


Sheriff Paul Babeu on Napolitano’s Afghan Trip: “It’s Outrageous!… She’s the Homeland Security Secretary Not the Secretary of State” (Video): "

Arizona Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu slammed Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for visiting Afghanistan to lecture them about border security while the US border with Mexico is compromised and not secure.

“It’s outrageous… Napolitano, who’s charged with the security of our country. Who’s over in foreign countries now. She’s the Homeland Security Secretary. She’s not the Secretary of State. She of anybody should be sounding the alarm and talking about security threats and she’s the one carrying out the “political speak” of the president saying this border is more secure than ever before. Meanwhile the threat that we face in Arizona and literally for our nation’s security I believe is a far greater national security threat to our nation’s security than Iraq, than Afghanistan, than any of these other places.”

Sheriff Babeu, who has received death threats from the Mexican cartel, was outraged by Napolitano’s trip to Afghanistan. Babeu also spoke about the people from “countries of interest like Yemen, Somalia and Jordan” that they are capturing entering the US illegally.

"

Cantor's Obamacare repeal bill goes online

from Beltway Confidential by David Freddoso


Cantor's Obamacare repeal bill goes online: "It's two pages long, and that's mostly because of the title-page formatting. I don't have the attached list of co-sponsors, but here's the text:

.....................................................................
112TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. __
To repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions
in...

"

Another Record for a Record Failure President: NATIONAL DEBT TOPS $14 TRILION

from Atlas Shrugs by Pamela Geller


Another Record for a Record Failure President: NATIONAL DEBT TOPS $14 TRILION: "

President Moe, my children thank you, their children will thank you but most of all America's most lethal enemies thanks you. The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America

NATIONAL DEBT TOPS $14 TRILION

The latest posting today of the National Debt shows it has topped $14 trillion for the first time.

The U.S. Treasury website today reported that as of last Friday, the last day of 2010, the National Debt stood at $14,025,215,218,708.52.

It took just 7 months for the National Debt to increase from $13 trillion on June 1, 2010 to $14 trillion on Dec. 31. It also means the debt is fast approaching the statutory ceiling $14.294 trillion set by Congress and signed into law by President Obama last February.

The federal government would have to stop borrowing and might even default on its obligations if Congress fails to increase the Debt Ceiling before the limit is reached.

He is destroying the country.

"

Happy New Year! Doctors to Be Reimbursed To Talk You Into Killing Yourself

from theblogprof by The blogprof


Happy New Year! Doctors to Be Reimbursed To Talk You Into Killing Yourself: "An update on a post late last year: Suckers! Obama Returns to End-of-Life Plan - Through Executive Fiat - That Caused Stir And Was Stripped From ObamaCare. And through that executive fiat, doctors will be paid to try and convince you to forgo expensive treatments that will extend your life and just simply die:

The only you for ObamaCare to be solvent is to kill off people that truly need medical attention in favor of the healthy that do not. Rationing will commence preferably by your own choice. But if need be, you will die via medical neglect and long lines that waiting for that MRI. Speaking of ObamaCare: New Talking Point: ‘ObamaCare’ is Partisan Attack Word; Yet Look Who’s Buying Advertising On That Word

"

Video: George Soros Says It's Time For the US To Get Used To New World Order

from YID With LID by Jeff Dunetz


Video: George Soros Says It's Time For the US To Get Used To New World Order: "

There is a New World order coming and the United States better get used to it, so says progressive puppet master George Soros. In the interview below, given to the Financial Times he talks about the need for a 'managed decline' of the U.S. dollar and he talks at length of the global need for a true world currency. Not only does Soros want one world-wide currency, but he wants the US to give in and accept a world-wide currency and a world-wide managed economy.



The 'Spooky Dude' is advocating that this one-world economy is managed by an international government based on the already failed European-style socialism, which would include a loss of American sovereignty, more Chinese control, and the avocation of things such as strict population control, redistribution of worldwide income, limitation of carbon-based energy products, and the appeasement of radical terrorists. It would be a world where the state tightly regulates everything that we do for the greater benefit of the environment and of society as a whole, and the total destruction of individualism.

As the site Benzinga points out even Soros himself seems a bit uncomfortable when he says the term, 'New World Order' in the video

The truth is that he knows exactly what that phrase means. He knows that it is a phrase that he probably shouldn't say and that will get a lot of attention.



But he said it anyway.



Soros also seemed a bit uncomfortable as he discussed 'an orderly decline' of the U.S. dollar.



Soros has been saying the the U.S. dollar needs to go down for quite a while now, and he speaks of the coming fall of the dollar as if it is inevitable.



The only thing that Soros seems to fear is that the 'managed decline' of the dollar could 'get out of hand' and could lead to global financial chaos.



Soros even had the gall to say that having the dollar be the reserve currency of the world is not in our national interest and that a move to a global currency is 'a healthy, if painful, adjustment' that we are just going to have to endure for the greater good of the world economy.

Soros knows exactly what he wants and how to get it done. His Open Society Institute spends approximately $600 million a year promoting the Soros' ideal of world government. After working his "magic" elsewhere in the world, now he is trying to bring about his version of political change to the United States, whether we want it or not.

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Feel free to reproduce any article but please link back to http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com

"

Rep. Darrell Issa: We Could Hold 600 Investigations Perhaps… Pigford Scandal Will Be Investigated (Video)

from The Gateway Pundit by Jim Hoft


Rep. Darrell Issa: We Could Hold 600 Investigations Perhaps… Pigford Scandal Will Be Investigated (Video): "

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who will become chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee when the 112th Congress is sworn in this week, announced tonight that the Pigford Scandal will be investigated though not by his committee. Rep. Issa also said that there are 600 investigations perhaps he could hold on previous Congress and Administration but he does not have the time of resources.



Here’s the transcript:

Rep. Issa: “We’ve been asked for quite a while to begin to talk about the order to which we will take on important hearings so we released the first six. We could have released sixty. We could have released 600 perhaps. At the end of the day there is so much in government that in the next two years even if we did a hearing every single day on every single sub committee, we couldn’t do all the areas of waste, fraud and abuse…”

Jim Hoft: Another item that I don’t think is getting a lot of attention but has been out on the internet some and that is the Pigford Scandal. That is not one of the items you have listed. Is it because it is so, it’s a billion dollars. Is it just chump change compared to some of these other items?

Rep Issa: As you know the Pigford Scandal is really one that falls under two other committees. One of the things that I have to know in my committee is I have to leverage my resources. I have to use every asset I can get including all the other committees to do what they can. So, Pigford, we’ll participate but we’ll make sure other committees do their work. Just like the New Black Panthers Party. That’s a civil rights violation in addition to being a voting violation. We’re going to make sure judiciary does most of the work on that and Chairman Lamar Smith intends to.

"

U.S. Consumer Bankruptcies Rose 9% to 1.5 Million

from BusinessWeek - Business News, Stock Market & Financial Advice


U.S. Consumer Bankruptcies Rose 9% to 1.5 Million: "U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings rose 9 percent last year compared with 2009, reaching 1.53 million, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute, which projected 2010 bankruptcies totaling 1.6 million."

Goolsbee’s debt limit comments conflict with Obama’s 2006 vote

from Beltway Confidential by Rob Bluey


Goolsbee’s debt limit comments conflict with Obama’s 2006 vote: "White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee said Sunday that failing to raise the nation’s debt limit would be “catastrophic.” Yet his boss, then-Sen. Barack Obama, opposed a debt limit increase in 2006 and didn’t even show up to vote on it in 2007 and 2008.

Goolsbee’s comments were viewed as an opening salvo for the White House...

"

Nice Try Krugman: Federal Workforce Is Bigger Even After All Those Census Workers Were Let Go

from - Big Government by Mike Flynn


Nice Try Krugman: Federal Workforce Is Bigger Even After All Those Census Workers Were Let Go: "

The chart below (found also here), from Big Government contributor Veronique de Rugy clearly shows that federal employment has grown by 98,000 jobs since the start of the recession. This bears repeating, because lefty columnist Paul Krugman is furiously spinning that the increase in employment is due to Census hiring. Krugman:

But anyone paying attention knew why public employment had risen — and it had nothing to do with Big Government. It was, instead, the fact that the federal government had to hire a lot of temporary workers to carry out the 2010 Census — workers who have almost all left the payroll now that the Census is done.

Um, no.

These numbers from economist de Rugy, looking at the job market since the start of the recession, are also revealing:

Private sector: -7.2 million jobs (6 percent of the January 2008 workforce)

Total government: -118,000 jobs (0.5 percent of its January 2008 workforce)

Federal government: +98,000 jobs (a 3.5 percent growth since January 2008)

State government: +42,000 jobs (less than 1 percent growth since January 2008)

Local government: -258,000 jobs (1.7 percent of its January 2008 workforce)

So, even after all those Census workers were let go, the federal government workforce GREW by 3.5% since the start of the recession. And while the overall government workforce shrank by 0.5% (a reduction totally attributable to local government cuts), the private workforce has shrunk by a breathtaking 6%.

Of course, it isn’t only Krugman pushing the Census hiring as some kind of smoke-screen to obscure the federal hiring binge. The ‘nonpartisan’ PolitiFact, i.e. nonpartisan because they only attack Republicans, used this ruse in a recent attack on Gov. Pawlenty. (In fairness to PolitiFact, it does seem that Pawlenty’s people misread some of de Rugy’s data for an op-ed in the WSJ.) Which, of course, was then dutifully picked up by the AP. You catching how this all works?

Bonus: If it looks like the spike in this year’s Census hiring is bigger than the previous two counts, you’re correct. This year, the federal government hired about 34,000 more Census workers than in the past.

"

Illinois Has Days to Plug $13 Billion Budget Hole

from - Big Government by Publius


Illinois Has Days to Plug $13 Billion Budget Hole: "

From Bloomburg:

Illinois lawmakers will try this week to accomplish in a few days what they have been unable to do in the past two years — resolve the state’s worst financial crisis.

The legislative session that begins today will take aim at a budget deficit of at least $13 billion, including a backlog of more than $6 billion in unpaid bills and almost $4 billion in missed payments to underfunded state pensions.

The fiscal mess is largely of the lawmakers’ own making, and failure to address the shortages threatens public schools, local governments and other public services, said Dan Hynes, the state’s outgoing comptroller.

“We’ve reached a very critical and concerning point,” Hynes said in an interview in his Chicago office, with packing boxes stacked in the corner. “What’s missing right now is a general understanding by the public of where we are, of how bad it is, and what the fallout would be if we don’t deal with it properly.”

What the public may not appreciate, Wall Street does. Illinois shares with California the lowest U.S. state credit rating from Moody’s Investors Service, which in September forecast possible “further financial deterioration.” Unlike California, Moody’s assigned Illinois a negative outlook.

Illinois’s deficit, about half its $26 billion general-fund budget, puts it among the U.S. states confronting $140 billion in shortfalls in the coming fiscal year after closing $160 billion in gaps this year, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington research group.

Read the whole thing here. This is what almost a decade of complete Democrat dominance of government looks like. Oh, and voters there just reelected the Democrat incumbent.

"

British Consulate Workers Arrested in Plot to Missile Attack Jerusalem Stadium

from Atlas Shrugs by Pamela Geller


British Consulate Workers Arrested in Plot to Missile Attack Jerusalem Stadium: "

This is a turning point on many levels.

Israel Arrests Two UK Consulate Workers Yahoo News

Israel says it has charged two workers at the British Consulate in Jerusalem with arms trafficking, in connection to an alleged plot by militants to fire a rocket into a football stadium.

Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency is accusing the two Palestinians of helping two other suspects who are allegedly members of Hamas to acquire guns.

The four are being linked with an alleged conspiracy to launch a rocket attack on Jerusalem's Teddy Stadium.

Britain's Foreign Office has confirmed the arrests and says the UK is urgently seeking confirmation of the charges.

"We have been told by the Israeli authorities that the investigation into our two employees is unrelated to the work they do at the consulate," the spokesman said.

British sources in Israel say the pair are not thought to be senior members of staff. All staff at British embassies and consulates abroad are meant to undergo strict security screening.

Related: Hamas Planned Missile Attack on Jerusalem Soccer Game

"

Obama Signals Full Speed Ahead on Cap and Trade

from JammieWearingFool by Just A Grunt


Obama Signals Full Speed Ahead on Cap and Trade: "Today's big announcement out of the Barry O White House is the appointment of yet another environmental radical to his team, this time with the fancy title environmental economist. The man selected to this position is Nat Keohane, who has a long track record of arguing for a cap and trade policy as well as being a fellow traveler on the global warming crazy train, along with all the other members"

Make Them Vote On It, Anyway

from Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion by William A. Jacobson



Make Them Vote On It, Anyway: "The Democratic leadership in the Senate has told Republicans in the House not to bother with repeal of Obamacare, any repeal bill will not get past the Senate.



That's old news, and certainly no reason not to pass legislation in the House.



There are several vulnerable Democratic Senators up for reelection in 2012. Make them vote on repeal of Obamacare as an entirety, and in pieces.



And then run the advertisements early and often.



Update: Looks like there will be a repeal vote in the House as early as January 12.



--------------------------------------------

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Visit the Legal Insurrection Shop on CafePress!

"

Ex-Lebanon President: Muslims are committing genocide against Christians

from Liberty Pundits Blog by Jennifer Caballero


Ex-Lebanon President: Muslims are committing genocide against Christians: "

The ex-president of Lebanon is not censoring himself from the truths of these recent attacks against Christians in Iraq and Egypt.

"

Holder Explains Letting New Black Panthers Skate

from Moonbattery by Van Helsing


Holder Explains Letting New Black Panthers Skate: "

Finally, Eric Holder explains why his Injustice Department dropped a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panthers that had already been won:

Asked about the prospect of oversight hearings and subpoenas involving the New Black Panther case, Mr. Holder said, 'there is no 'there' there.'

'The notion that this made-up controversy leads to a belief that this Justice Department is not color-blind in enforcement of civil rights laws is simply not supported by the facts,' he said.

Unfortunately for Holder and friends, the 'made-up controversy' was caught on video:

Here's NBPP head maniac Malik Shabazz, apparently following a highly productive personal meeting with Obama, acknowledging that Holder threw out the case on racial grounds:

Confirmation that squashing the New Black Panther case was all about race:

Not only does Todd Gaziano (Congressional appointee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights) claim that the 2008 Election Day voter intimidation charge against the Philadelphia New Black Panther Party was 'open and shut,' but that Deputy Assistant Attorney General Julie Fernandes ordered, 'Never bring another lawsuit against a black or other national minority, apparently no matter what they do.'

Here's what former Justice Department official J. Christian Adams has to say about the 'made-up controversy':

On the day President Obama was elected, armed men wearing the black berets and jackboots of the New Black Panther Party were stationed at the entrance to a polling place in Philadelphia. They brandished a weapon and intimidated voters and poll watchers. After the election, the Justice Department brought a voter-intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party and those armed thugs. I and other Justice attorneys diligently pursued the case and obtained an entry of default after the defendants ignored the charges. Before a final judgment could be entered in May 2009, our superiors ordered us to dismiss the case.

The New Black Panther case was the simplest and most obvious violation of federal law I saw in my Justice Department career. Because of the corrupt nature of the dismissal, statements falsely characterizing the case and, most of all, indefensible orders for the career attorneys not to comply with lawful subpoenas investigating the dismissal, this month I resigned my position as a Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney.

If the new Republican Congress has the backbone to launch aggressive investigations into Holder and the rest of the militant leftists comprising the Obama Administration for gross misfeasance, there will definitely be a 'there' there.

Hat tip: JammieWearingFool, on a tip from G. Fox.

"

To Support and Defend: Understanding the Oath of Office

from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News. by David Azerrad


To Support and Defend: Understanding the Oath of Office: "

This Wednesday, all 435 Members of the House of Representatives and the 33 incoming Senators will perform a constitutional rite that harkens back to the country’s founding. “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned,” reads Article VI of the Constitution, “shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution.”

The Members of Congress will be sworn in by taking the following oath:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

The constitutionally-mandated oath plays two important roles, as the inaugural essay in Heritage’s new “Constitutional Guidance for Lawmakers” series explains.

By requiring all Members of Congress—as well as Members of the State Legislatures and all executive and judicial officers—to support the Constitution, the “Oaths Clause” obliges them to observe the limits of their authority and act in accordance with the powers delegated to them by the Constitution.

In addition, the oath serves as a solemn reminder that the duty to uphold the Constitution is not the final responsibility of the Courts, but is shared by Congress and the President as co-equal branches of the United States government. As Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution stipulates, the President too is bound “to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

With a view to helping lawmakers clearly understand their duties and powers under the Constitution, The Heritage Foundation will be publishing several more short essays on key constitutional clauses in the coming weeks. Up next: “Legislative Powers: Not Yours to Give Away” on Article I, Section 1.

"

Five Things We Should Worry about in 2011

from - Big Government by Dan Mitchell


Five Things We Should Worry about in 2011: "

The mid-term elections were a rejection of President Obama’s big-government agenda, but those results don’t necessarily mean better policy. We should not forget, after all, that Democrats rammed through Obamacare even after losing the special election to replace Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts (much to my dismay, my prediction from last January was correct).

Similarly, GOP control of the House of Representatives does not automatically mean less government and more freedom. Heck, it doesn’t even guarantee that things won’t continue to move in the wrong direction. Here are five possible bad policies for 2011, most of which the Obama White House can implement by using executive power.

1. A back-door bailout of the states from the Federal Reserve – The new GOP Congress presumably wouldn’t be foolish enough to bail out profligate states such as California and Illinois, but that does not mean the battle is won. Ben Bernanke already has demonstrated that he is willing to curry favor with the White House by debasing the value of the dollar, so what’s to stop him from engineering a back-door bailout by having the Federal Reserve buy state bonds? The European Central Bank already is using this tactic to bail out Europe’s welfare states, so a precedent already exists for this type of misguided policy. To make matters worse, there’s nothing Congress can do – barring legislation that Obama presumably would veto – to stop the Fed from this awful policy.

2. A front-door bailout of Europe by the United States – Welfare states in Europe are teetering on the edge of insolvency. Decades of big government have crippled economic growth and generated mountains of debt. Ireland and Greece already have been bailed out, and Portugal and Spain are probably next on the list, to be followed by countries such as Italy and Belgium. So why should American taxpayers worry about European bailouts? The unfortunate answer is that American taxpayers will pick up a big chunk of the tab if the International Monetary Fund is involved. Indeed, this horse already has escaped the barn. The United States provides the largest amount of subsidies to the International Monetary Fund, and the IMF took part in the bailouts of Greece and Ireland. The Senate did vote against having American taxpayers take part in the bailout of Greece, but that turned out to be a symbolic exercise. Sadly, that’s probably what we can expect if and when there are bailouts of the bigger European welfare states.

3. Republicans getting duped by Obama and supporting a VAT – The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Obama Administration is contemplating a reduction in the corporate income tax. This sounds like a great idea, particularly since America’s punitive corporate tax rate is undermining competitiveness and hindering job creation. But what happens if Obama demands that Congress approve a value-added tax to “pay for” the lower corporate tax rate? This would be a terrible deal, sort of like a football team trading a great young quarterback for a 35-year old lineman. The VAT would give statists a money machine that they need to turn the United States into a French-style welfare state. This type of national sales tax would only be acceptable if the personal and corporate income taxes were abolished – and the Constitution was amended to make sure the federal government never again could tax what we earn and produce. But that’s not the deal Obama would offer. My fingers are crossed that Obama doesn’t offer to swap a lower corporate income tax for a VAT, particularly since we already know that some Republicans are susceptible to the VAT.

4. Regulatory imposition of global warming policy – This actually is an issue we needed to start worrying about before this year. The Obama Administration already is in the process of trying to use regulatory edicts to impose Kyoto-style restrictions on energy use, and 2011 may be a pivotal year for this issue. This issue is troubling because of the potential impact on economic growth, but it also represents an assault on the rule of law since the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency are engaging in regulatory overreach because they did not have enough support to get so-called climate change legislation through Congress. The new GOP majority presumably will try to use the “power of the purse” to limit the EPA’s power grab, and the outcome of that fight could have dramatic implications for job creation and competitiveness.

5. U.N. control of the Internet – The Federal Communications Commission just engaged in an unprecedented power grab as part of its “Net Neutrality” initiative, so we already have bad news for both Internet consumers and America’s telecommunications industry. But it may get worse. The bureaucrats at the United Nations, conspiring with autocratic governments, have created an Internet Governance Forum in hopes of grabbing power over the online world. This has caused considerable angst, leading Vint Cerf, one of inventors of the Internet (sorry, Al Gore) to warn: “We don’t believe governments should be allowed to grant themselves a monopoly on Internet governance. The current bottoms-up, open approach works — protecting users from vested interests and enabling rapid innovation. Let’s fight to keep it that way.” International bureaucracies are very skilled at incrementally increasing their authority, so this won’t be a one-year fight. Stopping this power grab will require persistent oversight and a willingness to reject compromises that inevitably give bureaucracies more power and simply set the stage for further demands.

"

Florida School System Lays Off Teachers After Agreeing to Spend $1 Million on Butterfly Gardens

from - Big Government by Publius


Florida School System Lays Off Teachers After Agreeing to Spend $1 Million on Butterfly Gardens: "

From the Sun-Sentinel:

For years, Weston developer Roy Rogers planted gardens designed to lure butterflies to Broward schools, using volunteer labor and donated supplies. His generosity and commitment to teaching kids about nature drew plaudits as did his signature act: placing a butterfly on the tip of a delighted child’s nose.

Stay on top of the news: Get breaking new alerts sent directly to your phone

Beginning in 2004, however, the gardens and Rogers’ services were no longer free. The district began paying for them.

Ultimately, over the next four years, Rogers’ firm collected more than $394,000 from the school system, mostly for butterfly gardens but also to aid a school in the hunt for grant funding.

Rogers could have been paid more had the district not run into towering deficits. A three-year contract he agreed to in 2007 was worth up to $1 million.

“I sure didn’t get to the $1 million mark!” Rogers said in a recent interview.

The gardens have their defenders, but are dismissed as a “ridiculous,” unnecessary luxury by Broward County PTA Council President Bernie Kemp.

“I don’t agree with it. I don’t support it,” Kemp said, noting that many parents would question why the district would agree to spend up to seven figures to attract butterflies when their children’s schools might have more immediate needs, such as replacing old computers or fire sprinklers.

Though there has been no suggestion that anything unethical or illegal was involved in the creation of the gardens, a statewide grand jury investigating the misuse of public funds within the school system has requested detailed records on the agreement with Rogers and payments to him, documents show.

Rogers, 74, said he welcomes the review.

“I’d like to know they took a look at it and found there wasn’t cronyism or enrichment,” Rogers said, stressing that he has not been implicated in any wrongdoing or questioned by authorities.

The scrutiny, however, could turn awkward for Rogers, who also chairs the Florida Commission on Ethics. The statewide panel is empowered by law to mete out penalties to public servants who do not adhere to official standards of conduct.

Read the whole thing here. Wait…the butterfly guy ALSO chairs the state’s Commission on Ethics? Yeah, it is ‘only’ a million bucks, but the system has faced severe cash shortages and has been forced to layoff teachers. Decisions like this one might go a long way to explain those cash shortages.

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Europe starts confiscating private pension funds

from Beltway Confidential by Mark Hemingway


Europe starts confiscating private pension funds: "The U.S. isn't the only place that's facing a major pension fund crisis. The Christian Science Monitor has this alarming report:


People’s retirement savings are a convenient source of revenue for governments that don’t want to reduce spending or make privatizations. As most pension schemes in Europe are organised by the state,...

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