http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/eyeblast.swf?v=hdSUqGSUDk
A civil rights icon defends Rangel based upon what? The fact that once up a time Rangel did the right thing…and West answers that particular tactic.
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Wall Street Trembles
Seems that some prosecutions are coming down the pike:
The feds are drawing up insider trader charges that could shake the financial industry like never before, according to a published report.
Federal prosecutors in New York, the FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission have conducted a massive three-year criminal and civil investigation targeting consultants, investment bankers, traders from hedge funds and mutual funds as well as analysts across the nation, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
Investigators are looking into whether multiple insider trading rings pulled in tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits, according to the paper…
The only trouble is that, dollars to donuts, no politicians will be implicated in this. I hope there will be, but I doubt it – following the law, as has been seen by the Rangel case, is really only optional for politicians. I further bet that no one close to Ben Bernanke – let alone that Fraudster in Chief, himself – will be indicted.
While these prosecutions, if they come off, will be useful,until we attack the ultimate source of the problem – which means, the government end of it – we really wont’ get anywhere. Just as in financial scandals past, some crooks will go to jail, while the rest of the crooks learn to obey the new rules while still robbing everyone blind. We have to get them all, and all at once, in order to fix the problem.
Did you Catch Dubya on Leno This Week?
If not, here ya go!
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
Tax Issue in Doubt
From Reuters:
…Despite a number of options — including renewing all tax cuts or only those for the middle class or tying any extension to a renewal of jobless benefits — there is no indication a consensus is near.
“How the hell should we know when we will figure this out?” said a senior Senate Democratic aide. “This is the Democratic Party,” long known for internal struggles and diverse views.
“It seems like no one is on the same page,” said Chris Krueger of MF Global, a private firm that tracks Washington for investors. “It has the potential to be a train wreck.”…
It is hard for the left to contemplate any extension of the Bush tax cuts – remember, for the past 8 years the left has lied endlessly about the effect of the tax cuts. To listen to them, all our fiscal problems stem from the tax cuts – they’ve painted themselves in to a corner where if they agree to an extension, they betray their own actions and statements over the past 8 years. It is, though, hard for Democrats up in 2012 – especially those “red State” Democrat Senators – to not extend the cuts; they are desired by the people, required for growth and failure to act would be suicidal for such Democrats.
Its a nice, little quandary they’ve got themselves in to – and the best part about it is that they’re there because they lied. Had they just never lied about the effect of the tax cuts, they could just go along with their extension for two more years and have done with it. Ah, the tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive! There is no good way out of this for them – and no matter what happens, we Republicans will come out smelling of roses.
What We Need for 2012
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Now, to be sure, we can’t and shouldn’t try to merely duplicate Reagan – but here is the basics of what we want: freedom, small government, America governed by the Constitution.
HAT TIP: Hot Air
Fascist Internet Bill Sails Through Committee
They really, really want the New Media to go away – from Wired:
On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a bill that would give the Attorney General the right to shut down websites with a court order if copyright infringement is deemed “central to the activity” of the site — regardless if the website has actually committed a crime. The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) is among the most draconian laws ever considered to combat digital piracy, and contains what some have called the “nuclear option,” which would essentially allow the Attorney General to turn suspected websites “off.”
COICA is the latest effort by Hollywood, the recording industry and the big media companies to stem the tidal wave of internet file sharing that has upended those industries and, they claim, cost them tens of billions of dollars over the last decade…
“Unanimous” means Republicans voted for it – why, I can’t imagine. First off, why help Democrats, at all; secondly, why do anything which in any way, shape or form might stifle the New Media which is the GOP’s only hope of getting the message out? Yes, I realize that Hollywood and the recording industry have spread a lot of cash around DC to get this bill through, but since when do Republicans give a darn about Hollywood? Anything which harms Hollywood just harms our opponents, actual or prospective. If anything, we on our side should be looking to pass bills making file sharing even easier.
And I understand that we don’t want people who make movies and music to lose their just profits for their work. If you can show me a website which is actually profiting off the sale of other people’s work, then I’ll agree to jail time for the perpetrators…but if it isn’t that, then I don’t want to hear whines from millionaire rock stars and billionaire movie executives. What this bill would do is allow the Attorney General to pretty much shut anyone down at any time without a conviction in a court of law. This is the definition of tyranny as no one will ever know if they are violating the law until the AG’s bully boys show up to shut things down.
No, no and ten thousands times no on this – and those GOPers who backed the bill should be ashamed of themselves.
Don't Touch My Junk
Can we please just get to profiling? This is getting ridiculous..
Republicans Ride to the Rescue
Of our States, bankrupted by applied liberalism – from the AP:
Incoming Republican governors from Pennsylvania to New Mexico are vowing to keep campaign promises to slice already cut-to-the-bone budgets and balance them without raising taxes.
In doing so, GOP leaders intent on conservative governance signaled a desire to try to fundamentally change state government, shrinking it significantly. And they acknowledged that could mean more job losses and service cuts to already recession-hammered states anticipating more budget trouble ahead.
“While we’re all facing these challenges, there are incredible opportunities for us to go look at what the core missions of government were, and redefine the role,” said South Carolina Gov.-elect Nikki Haley, adding that the institution was never intended to be all things to all people. “We’re going to have to scale back.”…
This will be the proof of our beliefs. If these Republican governors – allied, now, with much stronger State legislative GOP caucuses – can bring spending under control and start to restore prosperity to their States, then that will prove conclusively not only that liberal Big Government is a failure, but that conservative, small government works.
It will be a hard fight – and we’ll find some allegedly Republican elements fighting us tooth and nail. You see, a whole class of people have grown up over the past century as parasites on big government. Huge swaths of supposedly private sector enterprises are dependent upon fat contracts from government. They don’t really compete for business but, instead, grease political palms in return for juicy contracts. They, along with the more traditional Big Government constituencies of the left, will battle fiercely to maintain the gravy train. They don’t want to work – and they don’t want what is best for their States or our nation…they just want their pound of taxpayer flesh.
We can beat them, however. Now, more than any time since FDR, the American people realize that government is the problem, not the solution. Basing ourselves on the 2010 results and acting with courage – as Governor Christie has in New Jersey – we can roll back the moochers and sponges of Big Government. We can free up our economy, free up our people and return to the American way of life. And if we do this – if we fight to win – then we will obtain even more power in 2012, and then be able to get to work nationally on reforming America.
And now, to work.
HAT TIP: Gay Patriot
Modern Expert Economics
Is when you borrow too much money, and then your “friends” fix your problem by loaning you more money – Mish notes the Irish bail out which has temporarily halted the Eurozone slide to destruction:
Market participants are giddy today on the great news that Ireland will go deeper in debt in a foolish attempt to bail out the German and UK bondholders who were in turn foolish enough to lend ridiculous amounts of money to Irish banks in various real estate schemes.
The Irish government was of course foolish enough to guarantee all of this foolishness which means that Irish citizens many of whom were sucked into buying property at foolish prices are now on the hook to bail out the bondholders, rubbing salt into the wounds of Irish taxpayers, not all of whom were foolish enough to freely participate in the general foolishness.
Got that?…
Yes, I do – though, usually, when some one does that to me I’d at least like to get flowers afterward.
Mish goes on to note that European banks are on the hook for $650 billion in loans to Ireland – a nation of 6.2 million people and a GDP of $228 billion. THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE. The money cannot be paid back – all they’re doing is moving the disaster from one place to another; in this case, from the idiots banks to the European tax payers.
Default is the only way out – not just for Ireland, but for the whole world. There is too much debt chasing too little wealth – and, as I keep yammering on about, the longer we stave off the crash, the worse it will be when it hits. They might have plugged the dike for now, but the flood waters are still rising.
Miller Isn't Giving Up in Alaska
From NRO’s The Corner – some claims of voter irregularity:
…The Miller campaign has posted on their site three affidavits from voters concerned that irregular activity occurred at their polling places. One says that, although he was the tenth voter at his location, he saw a ballot box stuffed with “hundreds” of ballots. Another claims that the 15 write-in ballots she reviewed had Sen. Lisa Murkowski written in in what looked like similar enough handwriting that it could be from the same person.
“Our campaign has sworn affidavits identifying unsecured ballot boxes, other precincts where numerous ballots appear to be in the same handwriting, others where there is 100 percent voter turnout and still other precincts where the ballots were sent to the Division of Elections presorted by U.S. Senate candidate,” said Miller spokesman Randy DeSoto in a statement. “These and other irregularities give our campaign pause. Alaskans must be able to trust the results of its elections.”…
Precincts with 100% turnout are so unlikely as to be circumstantial evidence, in and of themselves, of voter fraud. People die and move away – the chances of 100% of the people in a precinct’s voter roll showing up to vote are vanishingly small…and if it is further discovered that they cast their votes disproportionately for one candidate over another, that is just more evidence of fraud. If Miller really has the goods here, then we’ve got something that needs very close examination.
NRO notes a liberal over at HuffPo who also have questions about the ballot – including the oddity of surprisingly different vote numbers for different State-wide races (I have the same question about our Nevada Senate race which got 15% more votes than other State-wide races, though HuffPo says the oddity is that the AK Senate race got far less votes than the AK gubernatorial contest. I eagerly await precinct level vote totals being made available – the NV SecState says we’ll have them soon).
We’ll have to see where this leads and if I were Miller and had credible evidence of voter fraud, I wouldn’t give up, either…even if the votes were clearly going against me. Voter fraud cuts at the heart of our democratic form of government and must be rooted out.
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