From The Hill:

Only 27 percent of likely voters favor raising the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, while 62 percent oppose it, according to an exclusive poll for The Hill…

…Seventy-seven percent of likely GOP voters and 64 percent of independent voters said they don’t want the debt ceiling to be raised. Even among Democrats, more oppose raising the ceiling (46 percent) than support it (42 percent)…

This would put the GOP in a very strong but very dangerous position – strong in the sense that the public will back a fight over raising the debt ceiling, dangerous in that if the GOP is perceived as caving in on raising the debt ceiling it will harm the party’s chances in 2012. It is quite a tight rope we have to walk.

The best action, if at all possible, is to not raise the ceiling, at all. Tales of immediate default without a raise are just fear tactics – we can still service our interest payments, we just wouldn’t be able to borrow as much as the Ruling Class would like. Boo hoo. But intense pressure will be brought on the GOP to raise the ceiling, and there will be plenty of GOPers showing their Ruling Class allegiance by insisting “more debt or complete collapse”. Given this, we can expect that raising the debt ceiling will eventually happen – the key to both helping America and helping the GOP is how it is done.

First must come cuts – serious cuts. Cuts which aren’t just a reduction in the rate of growth but which actually result in government agencies spending less next year than they’ll spend this year. These cuts must be pressed and must be made broadly known to the electorate – especially the TEA Party part of it – prior to a vote on raising the debt ceiling. Doing it any other way risks complete disaster for the GOP.

We’ll see how the House GOP leadership carries this out – the ball is really in their court as they hold the power of the purse. So far, I like what I see (a fee odd RINOs aside). But this is now fat in the fire time – where we find out if we’ve got real leaders, or not.

From the Wall Street Journal:

…My proposal would first roll back almost all federal spending to 2008 levels, then initiate reductions at various levels nearly across the board. Cuts to the Departments of Agriculture and Transportation would create over $42 billion in savings each, while cuts to the Departments of Energy and Housing and Urban Development would save about $50 billion each. Removing education from the federal government’s jurisdiction would create almost $80 billion in savings alone. Add to that my proposed reductions in international aid, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and other federal agencies, and we arrive at over $500 billion…

Paul goes on to note that these spending cuts are really rather modest – 85% of what we’re spending now and all of Social Security and Medicare would remain untouched. And Paul is asking critics to put up, or shut up: if anything he proposes to cut is considered absolutely vital, then what would you cut to save it? It really is a matter of honesty – unless you’re just determined to keep spending no matter what, then there has to be some priorities set. Senator Paul has set out his priorities, anyone who wants to say “no” had better come up with alternative priorities. The one thing which is absolutely out of bounds is to not cut spending – it must be done to avoid national bankruptcy.

The nation is broke and in spite of this, we have continued to increase the size of the government feeding off the bankrupt nation. This cannot go on – and, in fact, it can’t go on for more than two or three more years before collapse sets in. It really is that bad – we really are that much out of money.

We can turn this around. It won’t be easy and it will be painful, but it can be done. All we need do is show the courage to do the right thing.

I’d have to check with Matt to be sure, but I’m confident he’d agree to a mere $31 million for this blog – quite a bargain considering the quality, and especially in light of what AOL just spent for the Huffington Post:

In one of the biggest digital publishing deals in recent memory, AOL has agreed to pay $315 million for the Huffington Post, the pioneering web-only newspaper co-founded by Arianna Huffington…

Nauseating, hate-filled liberal trash apparently commands a high price – at least to the worthies of AOL.

Professor Bainbridge makes a statement:

The Hill:

“Businesses have a responsibility, too,” said Obama in his weekly address on Saturday. “If we make America the best place to do business, businesses should make their mark in America. They should set up shop here, and hire our workers, and pay decent wages, and invest in the future of this nation. That’s their obligation.”

Wrong. The social obligation of business is to sustainably maximize long-term profits for shareholders. Nothing more. Nothing less…

Both Obama and the good professor got it wrong – though Bainbridge got it more wrong than Obama did. Obama’s flaw is to think that the obligation of business is to serve as a funding and policy tool for liberal, Big Government. In Obama’s mind, if corporations are paying high taxes and providing lush contracts for union workers, then they are carrying out their responsibility. The result of this sort of thing, though, is GM. I need say no more on that matter.

Professor Bainbridge gets it wrong in a different way – asserting that the sole responsibility of a corporation is to be profitable. This argument is disposed thusly – pornographic businesses provide hefty and steady profits. The worth of a business enterprise is not determined by its profits – though, of course, profits there must be or there would be no purpose to the business. A business is worthy of being engaged in – and worthy of a decent man’s investment – only if that business also advances the general welfare of the community. You have to make your money doing something worthwhile. If you make your money in a destructive enterprise then it doesn’t matter how high your profits are, you still shouldn’t do it.

I realize that this is to inject a moral – indeed, a religious – note in to a discussion of economics. But that is precisely what is needed. At bottom, all questions are religious questions. They all boil down to what sort of society we wish to live in. Very widespread and successful efforts have been made to divorce all human activity from the compulsions and supports of religion – and we can see the result. Our economy is hollowed out because of a pursuit of profit above all other considerations. You can’t, in the end, get a good thing by doing a bad thing. You might make some hefty profits, for a time, but it all fails in the end. The end we see right now is a failing American economy – and if we tip over in to national bankruptcy, of what value will be the high profits of 2010’s fourth quarter?

Everything must come together. You can’t break it up in to pieces – the economy exists to provide sustenance to the common man and women going about the primary activity of society – starting and raising families. If we don’t do this activity, then all other activities become moot. Given this, all economic activity must have at its center doing what is right for people – profit is fine; private property is an absolute requirement; government must stay out of the day to day affairs of families and the businesses they own and/or work in…but business must not become a mere engine for profit. If it does, it becomes what we have now; either State sponsored slush funds for favored interests, or mere money manipulators as our financial institutions have become. Meanwhile, the actual needs of society – of the family – are unmet and ever more pressure is placed on this institution, spreading untold misery.

Ultimately, the fix for our economy – and our whole society – lies in curbing both the power of government and corporations – especially the bigger elements of both. They are two sides of the same coin and both of them distort the real economy towards the desires of a select few. A free people working for themselves and able to raise families without let or hindrance from others – that, really, is all we’re supposed to have, and all we really need.

The only thing I care about in the Superbowl this year – that some how, some way, Green Bay pulls off the win. Not that I’m a Packers fan, but my boss is a Pittsburgh fan and he’ll be insufferable if Pittsburgh wins.

Other than that…

Forget about global warming – how about the magnetic poles shift and we get gigantic storms which alter just about everything in the natural world? Interesting story here. Other than investing in canned goods and shotguns, not much anyone can do about this, if its true.

Kristol takes on Beck and other conservatives for being a bit too worried about the ultimate outcome in Egypt. I can’t say that I agree with all Kristol says – I would cut off Egypt’s military until such time as a democratic government is in place – but I do agree that this isn’t time to start setting off the alarm bells. Things will go the way they will – mostly, our job is to watch, wait, encourage genuine liberty and stand ready to defend American interests if they become threatened either by the Egyptian regime, or its successors.

Are you tied at the hip to a practice which is falling in to ever greater disrepute among the American people? Well, here’s your answer – don’t cut loose from the horrific practice; just stop reporting the abortion statistics! Always better to keep the cockroaches hidden, ya know?

Obama’s bounce in the opinion polls is over.

Mish goes in to some of the mathematical alchemy used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in figuring out the unemployment rate. Do read it – you still won’t know exactly how its done (no one does as the BLS won’t release their methodology), but it will help you understand how easy it would be for someone to fudge the numbers, if they wanted to.

If the United States were a company, it’d be bankrupt. Which is a bit of a “no kidding” thing for those of us who are paying attention. Given this, the article is really best for liberals – but they won’t read it. So, quite a quandary.

And, remember, the Superbowl is important, but not that important:

Jesus said to his disciples:

“You are the salt of the earth.

But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?

It is no longer good for anything

but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

You are the light of the world.

A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.

Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;

it is set on a lampstand,

where it gives light to all in the house.

Just so, your light must shine before others,

that they may see your good deeds

and glorify your heavenly Father.” – Matthew 5:13-16

Ah, our welcoming, tolerant liberals – they’d never try to do anything which would prevent the free exchange of ideas, would they?

Saying it received an “onslaught of personal attacks,” a Colorado nonprofit announced in a news release today that it was canceling a scheduled May appearance in Glendale by former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Palin, the former Alaskan governor and possible 2012 Republican presidential candidate, was to be the keynote speaker at the May 2 Patriots & Warriors Gala at the Infinity Park Event Center in Glendale.

The event, sponsored by the Sharon K. Pacheco Foundation, was announced Friday. But the group said Saturday that the event had been canceled because of “safety concerns resulting from an onslaught of negative feedback received by the organization.”…

Well, they had to stop her from speaking, didn’t they? Someone like Sarah Palin – speaking at an event for a group which provides a “grief camp” for the kids of fallen soldiers – is just too dangerous for our nation! She might have said something which in some way, shape or form could have been misconstrued by an insane person who never heard it! Just can’t have that, now can we? Of course, its not just Sarah Palin and the United States – seems that foreign liberals are just like ours:

President George W. Bush has canceled an event in the famously neutral country Switzerland because of expected protests to his presence there.

Bush was supposed to give the keynote address at a Jewish group’s charity gala on Feb. 12 in Geneva…

…”We didn’t want to put people and property in Geneva at risk. The gala is maintained but George Bush will not take part,” the group’s lawyer, Robert Equey told the Tribune de Geneve…

Oh, come on, now – you know they had to stop Bush from speaking. Its a Jewish group, for crying out loud! Clearly part of a Neo-con/Zionist plot – once again, just too dangerous to allow the man to speak…the world might die if certain words from certain people are spoken in public.

Thank goodness we have liberals to ensure that our debates are carried on in a respectful, peaceful manner.

From Sky News:

As anti-Mubarak demonstrators continue their protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, away from the area there are signs of growing divisions among their ranks.

One protester, Ahmed, fought the president’s hated riot police a week ago but he has now stopped going to the square.

For him, Mr Mubarak’s concessions, including stepping down at the next election and promising reforms, is enough.

He told Sky News that as the protests continue he “doesn’t want chaos”…

The report goes on to note that some are still willing to keep it up – but how long, really, can you keep up a demonstration? Eventually, people have to get back to work if for no other reason than they need to obtain food and other necessities. It is still possible that the rebels will prevail, but I consider this a fast-disappearing possibility.

Things will not go back to normal, however – new men and forces have been thrown up in this rebellion and various second and third tier players in the regime now will see their opportunity to clear out the upper levels, thus allowing their rise to power. The Moslem Brotherhood, while not officially un-banned, has had the lid taken off – they will now have far greater ability to organize and propagandize. But for the mass of Egyptians, things will not improve – because they will still have a regime which does not allow free expression of the will of the people, nor will they shed their crony-capitalism/state-socialism economic model.

If this rebellion does fizzle, it will be because of the essential mindlessness of the revolt – just wanting a tyrant out doesn’t do the trick, even if you get him out. A tyrant is not a stand-alone operation. All tyrants have massive support systems built in to their societies. Mubarak has had his willing participants in his rule – if you want to have a revolution, then you have to know what you want to put in place of the old regime. I doubt the masses in Tahrir Square had any ideas beyond getting rid of Mubarak and maybe a vague idea of “democracy”, for which concept they may or may not have a realistic view. Because there was no firm direction of the revolt, it was unable to garner the sort of hard force necessary to topple a regime and install a new one – the army first stayed aloof, and then clearly decided to protect the regime.

If the Egyptians are to get any political change, they’ll have to decide what they want – and the really bad news here is that “democracy” has failed, while the Moslem Brotherhood has been strengthened and will now be able to carefully explain just what they want to do – and in contrast to a disastrously failed “democracy” movement, the MB may seem a good alternative to what will remain a corrupt and repressive Egyptian government.

UPDATE: Some things to keep in mind about Egypt:

…The regime’s weakness, in turn, reflects the dysfunctional character of the country. 35% of all Egyptians, and 45% of Egyptian women can’t read.

Nine out of ten Egyptian women suffer genital mutilation. US President Barack Obama said Jan. 29, “The right to peaceful assembly and association, the right to free speech, and the ability to determine their own destiny … are human rights. And the United States will stand up for them everywhere.” Does Obama think that genital mutilation is a human rights violation? To expect Egypt to leap from the intimate violence of traditional society to the full rights of a modern democracy seems whimsical…

From Big Government:

Following the release of a video that has received nationwide attention showing Planned Parenthood staff at a New Jersey abortion center helping alleged sexual traffickers cover up their crimes with abortions and STD testing, Governor Chris Christie has vetoed a bill funding Planned Parenthood…

In a rational America, all government agencies would cut funding to that horrific, anti-human organization. What is a bit shocking is that Christie’s action is unique – we’ll see how many other governors and legislatures are willing to follow suit, and that will tell us just how far the rot has gone…anyone and any agency which doesn’t cut funding is in really bad shape.

From the AP:

Shell Alaska has dropped plans to drill in the Arctic waters of the Beaufort Sea this year and will concentrate on obtaining permits for the 2012 season, company Vice President Pete Slaiby said Thursday.

The recent remand of air permits issued by the Environmental Protection Agency was the final driver behind the decision, Slaiby said at a news conference…

And its all just tied up on absurd environmentalist worries – which include that the cold, inclement weather causes risks while at the same time the project would further stress animals feeling the effects of global warming…which is it? It can’t be both – unless it is neither, which is almost certainly the case. What the environmentalists want is no drilling – so they’ll just throw up whatever objections they can knowing that liberal Democrats in DC will do their bidding.

800 jobs will be lost over this – as well as losing the chance to lessen our dependence upon foreign oil. This action, in its effect, is anti-American and those who caused this should be ashamed of themselves. If they really felt themselves to be American, they would feel that shame…but I doubt they’ll lose any sleep over it. In fact, they might even feel a bit of delight in that they’ve further hobbled America and made us just a little bit weaker in the world, in keeping with a general liberal belief that it is bad when America is predominant.