Author: Mark Noonan

Remember That “Arab Spring” Thing?

Mark Noonan10 Comments

Ain’t quite working out as hoped – from The Daily Star:

The Syrian army consolidated its grip on the hotbed city of Homs on Sunday, activists said, as embattled President Bashar al-Assad sacked the governor of a flashpoint province 48 hours after massive anti-government protests.

Security forces also rounded up hundreds of civilians in Damascus and made a spate of arrests in the town of Sarakeb in the northwestern province of Idlib near the Turkish border, activists said…

Meanwhile, the war in Libya goes on with no end in sight, Egypt heads towards a Moslem Brotherhood government, Iran gets closer to building nuclear weapons and The One – who by “smart diplomacy” was supposed to restore our image – looks ever more weak, flabby and foolish in foreign affairs.

The world is getting ever messier due to the lack of firm leadership in the United States.  There is no policy, just a series of knee-jerk reactions. Bomb Libya to save civilians, but don’t liberate them…meanwhile, don’t bomb Syria to save civilians because … heck, I don’t know:  what is our rationale for not bombing Syria?  Are we still holding to Hillary’s assertion that Little Assad is a “reformer”?

The world works when America wields overwhelming power directed towards clear, achievable ends.   Obama doesn’t know this – I suspect that no one in his foreign policy team knows this.  2012 really can’t get here fast enough…

Boehner Considering Balanced Budget Amendment

Mark Noonan45 Comments

From CNBC:

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner told fellow Republicans on Sunday that he is considering a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution as part of a bill that would raise the debt ceiling, a source who heard his message said.

That could be a sign that the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-controlled Senate remain far apart in tense negotiations to avoid an Aug. 2 default.

A balanced-budget amendment is popular with conservatives and was a central element of a bill that failed in the Senate after passing the House last week…

The bottom line here is that Boehner must bring home something in the nature of genuine cuts and/or a reform in spending which promises to balance the budget in a realistic amount of time.  Failure to carry at least this minimum risks a wipe out of the GOP in 2012 – not that GOPers would vote Democrat, but it would almost ensure a third party emerging to carry the fiscally conservative banner in to 2012.  This is key – this is central; this is the non-negotiable thing.

On the other side are the Democrats.  For them it is a matter of preserving the spending they enacted 2009-10.  This must become the “new normal”.  They know full well that they won’t regain the House in 2012 and stand to lose control of the Senate – the loss of the White House must also be envisioned but for the Democrats this is a secondary thing.  Keeping the spending is vital – because it is only via government spending that they retain any power.  Only, that is, if they can keep dispensing lavish amounts of taxpayer dollars on favored groups can the Democrat coalition sustain itself.  Even if they lose in 2012, if they can retain the 2010 level of spending, Democrats feel confident that by 2014 or 2016 they can regain power…and then expand their power via spending from today’s current levels.  Whatever Democrats do, they won’t agree to any substantial cuts in spending.  Not for real – promises of trillions in cuts over the years they’ll give with wild abandon…counting on never having to actually produce the cuts.  We can debate whether they don’t care we’re going broke, or don’t realize it – but the effect is the same:  come what may, they are determined to preserve their spending (my view is that they don’t care – if we do eventually default, they’ll have no problem with that, figuring it would just allow them to go on another borrowed money spending spree once the dust settles…and, of course, a default would be a strong argument for higher taxes).

So, how do we get past the impasse?  Mostly, we put it off until 2013 – hoping that in 2012 we win so big that we’ll have sufficient political power to impose a fiscally conservative settlement of the issue.  The way to get from here to there is, at the end of the day, agree to an increase in the debt ceiling (a totally un-necessary and, indeed, regressive thing to do…but Democrats have their heart set on it and as they control the White House and the Senate, we really can’t get ’round it).  But if we are to agree to increase the debt ceiling, we need something concrete out of it – some sort of real cut to spending next year, along with some real budgetary reform.  A balanced budget amendment, sent to the States, would be ideal.

We’ll see now if it can be done.  Democrats have hyped up the August 2nd deadline as if it means something…but when powerfull people start talking like that, the sheep who man the financial markets start to take it seriously.  Thus we’ve seen the tremors roiling through the global markets.  They should be worried about the fact that the global economy is heading in to recession…but what they are worried about is whether the government will approve the ability to go further in to debt (ie, further on the road to economic ruin).  Still, in all this, Democrats might have shot themselves in the foot…it is  fake crisis, but even a fake crisis can become real if enough people are suckered by it (see Global Warming for a prime example).  Democrats are behind the 8 ball – having said that something must be done by August 2nd to avoid catastrophe, they’d better come up with some thing by August 2nd.  If Boehner can craft a good bill and get it through the House, Democrats may be forced to go along with it.

It could be a very interesting week.

Poor Little Lefty Lost his Messiah

Mark Noonan21 Comments

Cornel West is miffed with Obama, it would seem – from the New York Times:

…So let me ask you: in 2007, you introduced Barack Obama as your “brother, companion and comrade.” But in May, you referred to him as “the black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs” and the “head of the American killing machine.” What in the world happened?

It was a cry from the heart. What happened was that greed at the top has squeezed so much of the juices of the body politic. Poor people and working people have not been a fundamental focus of the Obama administration. That for me is not just a disappointment but a kind of betrayal.

But you have also acknowledged that this is more than just political — you’ve said that after campaigning for him at 65 events, you were miffed that he didn’t return your phone calls or say thank you.

I think he had to keep me at a distance. There’s no doubt that he didn’t want to be identified with a black leftist. But we’re talking about one phone call, man. That’s all. One private phone call…

Barry, come on, give the guy a call – 65 campaign events and you can’t even pick up the phone?

Here is the leftist revolutionary…whining that the President doesn’t call him.  Sorry, but this gets more pathetic the more I think about it.  Where is the fire and the spirit?

I’ll tell you where it is – it was bought by billionaire leftists who have taken over the Democrat party.  And the really astounding thing is that these liberal billionaires used people like West to do it.  Just throw ’em a grant; get their books published, have an award ceremony for them…and people like West go from the barricades to the courtier.  And are now upset that His Majesty, Barry I can’t spare the time…

Liberals: Doing Their Best to Keep a Black Man Down

Mark Noonan10 Comments

They sure don’t like it when a black man gets off the plantation – from Althouse:

…So… Palin and West are telling conservatives to stand up and fight, and Goldberg and Marcotte are, really, trying to say no, don’t fight. They are happier with tame, sedate Republicans. The method they are using is to portray the fighting Republicans as angry and crazy. I’d like to say that Marcotte and Goldberg are hacks using a boring old rhetorical device, but I think these angry/crazy characterizations do leave an impression.

People are trying very hard to ruin Allen West right now, before he gets anywhere, and they are trying to ensure that Sarah Palin stays down where they think they crushed her…

Also, of course, trying to keep women below the political glass ceiling.  What is is with these anti-black and anti-women liberals?  Its like they only want them to be tokens…and tokens who do precisely what they’re told.  It is almost as if they don’t really give a darn about raising people up…that they are really just rear-guards for a mostly white, predominantly male and very rich Ruling Class.

The truth of the matter is that liberal leaders aren’t actually for anything other than themselves.  Rank and file liberals might still get starry-eyed over the rhetoric, but the stark reality is that we have a wrecked country and the Ruling Class that wrecked it doesn’t want to give up power.  They don’t care if its all falling apart…the only care that they get to stay in charge.  And so the exceptionally nasty attacks – especially against anyone who calls in to question the last shred of liberal legitimacy, the concept that liberals make room for previously despised and repressed groups.  Show the world competent non-white and non-male leaders rapidly rising to the top of the GOP and there ceases to be any reason to presume that liberalism has a place in our society.  The moment someone like West becomes the face of the Republican Party is the moment the Democrat Party ceases to have a reason for existing.

 

 

 

Boehner Takes Charge

Mark Noonan25 Comments

If Obama and his Democrats simply won’t govern, then someone has to – from Politico:

House Speaker John Boehner hopes to have a framework for a debt-limit plan in place by Sunday afternoon to avoid roiling the Asian markets, he told colleagues on a Saturday conference call.

An immediate deal would raise the debt ceiling and cut spending, Boehner said, and there are still options on the table for more comprehensive deficit reduction of $3 trillion to $5 trillion, according to GOP sources on the call. He is also aiming for a framework in the form of Cut, Cap and Balance — the plan that has failed in the Senate, Obama has threatened to veto but House Republicans passed overwhelmingly…

The linked article reports that Boehner advised the President that, at the end of the day, Congress writes the laws and the President decides to sign or veto.  As Obama keeps messing around with negotiations – probably in hopes that the GOP would just get scared and go along with a debt increase without significant spending reform – there is really no need to bring him in to the discussion.  Work out a bill which can avoid any problems starting Monday – make it something which can pass the House and Senate regardless of what Reid or Obama might want…and then just leave it up to them.  Reid, as Majority Leader, could refuse to hold a vote…or Obama can veto the result.  In either case, it would be Democrats blocking the necessary action.

Remember what we’re up against in Obama and his Democrats:  people who’s only goal is to retain power for themselves, and that means keeping Big Government alive and ever growing.  But the time for that is past – we’re broke and we’ll default in a few years if we don’t start getting our house in order.  Fundamental reforms cannot be done while Obama has the ability to obstruct, but we can get something together which bridges the gap between now and January, 2013.  At that time it is hoped we’ll have a new President and a new Senate Majority Leader…perhaps even of a type which cares more about America than personal power.

More Nations Refusing to Attend UN’s Anti-Semitic/American “Durban III” Conference

Mark Noonan3 Comments

From the Weekly Standard:

On Friday, the Czech Republic became the latest country to pull out of the upcoming U.N. “anti-racism” extravaganza known as Durban III. Canada, Israel, and the United States have already given thumbs down to the event, which the U.N. is bringing to U.S. shores on September 22, 2011. While Americans will be mourning the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the United Nations in New York will be “commemorating” the 10th anniversary of the first Durban conference – an outpouring of intolerance and xenophobia…

A good thing, too – and an update to the linked article indicates that Italy has also backed out. The whole purpose of the Durban conference is to attack Israel, the United States and the West in general.  No decent person, group or nation should have anything to do with it.  And if we had a government of any backbone at all, we’d demand the conference be held somewhere else…hold it in Zimbabwe, that nation which so greatly exemplifies the mindset of Durban.  True, might be hard to get running water and electricity there, but at least there won’t be any evil Americans or Israelis around.

Insane, Re-elected Democrat Sex Scandal

Mark Noonan9 Comments

You might recall back on February 20th of this year that I took note of a story about Representative David Wu (D-WA).  What happened as regards Congressman Wu is that as the 2010 campaign went on, it became increasingly clear to his staffers that he was laboring under severe mental defect…he was going insane, to put it in blunt terms.  Given that all this involved Democrats, they did what comes natural – in order to ensure that someone with a “D” after his name won (even if insane), they covered it up.  Not a peep out of a single staffer…and as Wu went completely ’round the bend, they just took him off the campaign trail and counted on the heavy Democrat registration advantage to carry him to victory – which is what happened.

At the time, I noted this as just another disgusting example of the Democrats putting power over principal.  A man suffering under mental distress is not fit to be in Congress.  As it turns out, Wu may not have been fit to be in society, at all – as the Oregonian reports:

A distraught young woman called U.S. Rep. David Wu’s Portland office this spring, accusing him of an unwanted sexual encounter, according to multiple sources.

When confronted, the Oregon Democrat acknowledged a sexual encounter to his senior aides but insisted it was consensual, the sources said.

The woman is the daughter of a longtime friend and campaign donor. She apparently did not contact police at the time…

Not much detail is known, but it is reported that the incident took place around Thanksgiving (meaning shortly after Wu was re-elected with 55% of the vote) and that the girl graduated in 2010…meaning she was 18 or 19 years old at the time (Wu is 56).

What I’d like to do, now, is have Wu’s staffers called up to a hearing in the House to ask them why they figured it was best to protect Wu’s public image.  I mean, the man is insane and now he might have done a horrible thing to a young woman.  Was keeping a seat for Nancy Pelosi worth that? Was keeping their BS staffer jobs more important than the risks Wu posed to himself and to others?  Here is our nauseating politics for you – and here is the Democrat party laid bare. Because as Wu went crazy, it wasn’t just his staffers who noticed…other House staffers saw it, as did other elected Democrats.  No one said anything – no one put a stop to it.  Power is more important than everything.

HAT TIP:  The Other McCain

 

Poll: 63% Say Economy Getting Worse

Mark Noonan8 Comments

From Rasmussen:

After falling to a new two-year low on Friday, consumer confidence fell even further on Saturday…

…Only 9% rate the economy as good or excellent while 61% say it’s in poor shape. Sixteen percent (16%) say it’s getting better while 63% believe it is getting worse…

Trust me on this on, the debt talks and whatever results from them are not what is on Obama’s mind – it is what the economy will do over the next 16 months.

And that ain’t looking too good for Barry right now…

MoveOn Wants to Destroy Fox News

Mark Noonan65 Comments

I got this from MoveOn in my e mail:

Dear MoveOn member,

Could this be the end of Rupert Murdoch and Fox News?

Allegations in the U.K. against Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, Fox’s parent company, just keep coming. Hacking into the phone of a 13-year-old murder victim, bribing government officials, and now claims of hacking into the voice mail of 9/11 victims and their families.

Now, the key is to find out how far Fox and the rest of Murdoch’s news outlets went here in the U.S. If they’ve been as corrupt and criminal here as it looks like they’ve been in the U.K., then we might just see Murdoch’s media empire crumble.

So we’re launching a new campaign to build unavoidable public pressure for full investigations. We’ll start tomorrow with a hard-hitting new ad asking whether Murdoch is “running a company or a crime syndicate.”…

Their desire is clearly the “News of the World” result…they are hoping to generate enough scandal that Fox News will be shut down.  Oh, glorious day for liberalism!  A voice that isn’t in lock-step behind the liberal party line will be silenced!  Across the Republic, only those who are good-thinkers will be heard and peace and blessedness will reign!

Of course, that won’t actually happen in the United States – but one really can’t blame the liberals for dreaming their fascist dreams.  On the other hand, the MoveOn e mail does ask for donations so there is a great chance that the MoveOn people will rake it in…ten thousand liberal dunderheads actually thinking that Fox News can be forced off the air because a NewsCorp subsidiary in Britain hacked some phones.  Ah, well, if they are donating to this cause it is that much less money donating to causes which might be more dangerous.

Obama Moves Towards Fixing the Housing Crisis

Mark Noonan32 Comments

Only a bit late, but there is actually something good here – from the Wall Street Journal:

The Obama administration is examining ways to pull foreclosed properties off the market and rent them to help stabilize the housing market, according to people familiar with the matter.

While the plans may not advance beyond the concept phase, they are under serious consideration by senior administration officials because rents are rising even as home prices in many hard-hit markets continue to fall due to high foreclosure levels…

It was on July 27th, 2010 that I provided a revised plan for fixing housing.  Here is the central part:

…Essentially, increasing demand is not something we can do in any time frame that will work.  And, meanwhile, the longer we go on, the worse it gets.

If you can’t do much with demand, then it is to supply we must turn.  How do we lower the supply of houses actually or potentially on the market for sale?

You turn them in to leased houses.

Millions of potential home owners cannot buy homes because they are out of work, have reduced income or have wrecked credit.  With all that, they still have to live somewhere, and while some of them are in desperate straights, most of them have some sort of income (and, in a lot of cases, just as much income as they had before they lost their homes).  Can’t buy?  Rent.

The trouble is that banks don’t want to be land lords.  This is understandable, and I wouldn’t ask them to be.  But they can put the houses in to corporate structures which do manage rental properties and which can use at least part of the rental income to provide a revenue stream for the banks.  We can put a big incentive on this by making the revenue from rental housing tax free for five years.  The key is that time frame – though we can go as low as two years:  but we want these houses off the market until we have at least a chance of reviving the economy and thus providing a solid base for home demand.

The idea here is to take the massive number of foreclosed homes and lock them away for two to five years – to get out of the housing market the houses which simply don’t have a buyer, and won’t have a buyer for some years to come.  But we can’t just let them sit there unoccupied and deteriorating, nor can we expect banks to just sit on things which don’t produce any revenue.  We also don’t want to increasingly force the banks in to fire sale prices for the homes they hold as that will just accelerate and make worse the problem we have…

I don’t have hundreds of taxpayer-funded staffers.  I’m not some sort of brilliant economist.  I’m just this guy who thinks about things and then writes down what he thinks about – I figured this out a year ago (and, actually, longer ago than that – this is a revised plan, some months earlier I had put it out in a slightly different form).   It just amazes me how completely incompetent government is.  The fact that it is July of 2011 and the housing market has entered a double dip recession before someone in Obamaland starts thinking about this is a sad commentary on the people running the show…they haven’t a clue.  But 2012 is coming and that is starting to concentrate some minds over there.

The one thing we can’t afford to do, however, is have Obama actually in charge of the effort.  All he’ll wind up doing is ensuring that his cronies get a big payday.  We need to really move on this – my plan or something like it.  And to do it right it will have to be genuinely transparent, will have to benefit actual people, and should probably be handled by local banks rather than Obama and Bernanke’s buddies in the “too big to fail” entities.   And given Reid’s background in corrupt land deals, it would probably be better if he was kept away from it, too. The House should take up the idea, craft it in to legislation and then hand it to Obama – doing it in such a manner that it is such a well-done bill that Obama and Reid daren’t try to modify it.

One thing is certain – if we don’t do something, then housing prices could collapse entirely.  And I mean that – like a house worth $125,000.00 today being worth $50,000.00 a couple years from now…and with hundreds of thousands of homes essentially abandoned and deteriorating like Detroit housing.  We’re in a housing death spiral – we have to try and stop it; my plan is to take the houses off the market and leave them for the use of the regular, American people.  If someone has a better plan, I’m all ears…but we have to do something, and do it quickly.