California: A Liberal Failure

From Powerline:

…Today, California is the most spectacular failure of our time. Its government is broke. Productive citizens have been fleeing for some years now, selling their homes at inflated prices (until recently) and moving to Colorado, Arizona, Texas and even Minnesota, like one of my neighbors. The results of California’s improvident liberalism have been tragically easy to predict: absurd public sector wage and benefit packages, a declining tax base, surging welfare enrollment, falling economic production, ever-increasing deficits. Soon, California politicians will be looking to less glamorous states for bailout money. Things have now devolved to the point where California leads the nation in poverty…

Where California (and Detroit, and Chicago) are now is where Obama and his liberals want to lead us tomorrow – a place of bloated, corrupt government, spreading poverty compelling spreading dependency on government and a tiny, fabulously rich ruling elite living in guarded enclaves.  Is it part of  plan?  In a certain sense, yes – liberals don’t believe in people doing for themselves, so their policies are all designed to take control away from people and give it to government.  The problem is that when you do that the ability to create wealth withers away until all the wealth is concentrated in people who either inherited it or got it from government while the mass of people wallow in welfare-drugged poverty.

The good news is that liberalism is completely collapsing – Obama’s re-election is not the glad morn of a new liberalism; it is the death rattle of the liberalism brought to us in FDR’s New Deal.  In the end, it is probably better that Obama won – this way the complete failure of liberalism will rest upon the liberals, themselves.  While they will continue to blame Bush – and anything else they can point a finger at – I believe that by 2016 the finger of the people will point squarely at the liberals.  As long as we craft a positive program of reform and get a reasonably decent nominee, we’ll send them packing – and likely for good.

Keep the faith, keep fighting – and save as much money as you can:  its going to be a rough four years.

Going “FORWARD”, What Positions Favor Progressives?

This post originated a couple threads back with Cluster offering the following challenge:

“Bring it on liberals. There is not one position in your favor and I look forward to bashing you about the head for the next four years.”

One of our resident Leftist Useful Idiots, thetruthshallsetyoufree, responded with:

Except for all those positions that favored liberals on election day, of course. Good point.

JR responded with:

Small-minded as you are, TruthSSYF, it’s clear you fail to see the irony in that. Absent mass forced reeducation camps, the only thing this election will result in is death and despair. And there are those of us who, if it’s the last thing we do, will see to it that you and those who share your views will be on the receiving end of that paradigm. I don’t think you have the slightest grasp of what lies ahead, but it ain’t gonna be pretty. It is gonna be fun to watch, though.

And I responded with:

Not really a good point, Truthie, as JR points out. Besides winning the presidential election and increasing the Donk majority in the Senate, what positions on November 6th favored Liberals? No President in the last 75 years has been re-elected with the unemployment rate as high as it is — and it’s going higher. No other President has been re-elected with economic growth as weak as it is since they began keeping such statistics in 1930, and Obama’s policies will ensure that it’s only going to get weaker. No other President has been re-elected with the right track/wrong track numbers so stacked against him. The number of GOP governors (30) is at a 12-year high. The GOP-controlled House still controls the purse strings. I haven’t spoken to a single Conservative since the election whose resolve has been anything but strengthened.

Other than free contraceptives and free abortions, what, pray tell, does a second Obama term offer anyone except those with their hands out? As JR alludes to, our side still has most of the guns, and the U.S. military will never, I repeat, NEVER side with Obama. And if you think that Obama’s cute little Kiddie Corps is going to be anything other than cannon fodder, you’re more delusional that I thought.

This exchange, probably close to the end of a dead thread got me to thinking; is there anything that really favors the Progressive agenda going “forward”?  Do Progressives now believe they can just do what they want the next 4 years without repercussions?  The House of Representatives does still hold the purse strings, but what if Obama continues to just bypass the House with executive orders?  Will the nearly 60 million people who voted against him just lay down and do nothing?  What, if any, policies will Obama pursue going “forward” that will result in more liberty and more prosperity?

Update: I’m not getting any takers on the final question of the post, and, admittedly, it asks for someone to have a crystal ball.  So let me rephrase it: what policies going “forward” would you like to see Obama pursue that you believe will have a positive effect on liberty and prosperity?

Proggies Act Surprised ….. We Told You So!

“On Obamacare……

As a result of obAMATEUR’s re-election and the highly improbability that ObamaCare being repealed, we’ve had several businesses come forward and state that this is going to affect the number of workers they have and hours they can work – two of them are  CEO of Papa Johns John Schnatter and Applebees franchisee owner Zane Tankel.  While these aren’t the only two, they are the latest business owners who have publicly stated the harmful impact that ObamaCare will have on their businesses, their workers’ jobs and benefits.

The proggies are “shocked”.  They took to Twitter to demonize these business owners (hey they learned from the professional agitator using Alinski, his mentor’s tactics) , and pushing for others to boycott their businesses.  Hey you proggies – Can’t say you weren’t warned!  Business owners have been out there telling you exactly what you had coming to you if obAMATEUR was re-elected and ObamaCare stayed the law of the land.  Of course, you chose not to listen to those warnings.  It doesn’t make it these business owner’s problems! We told you so!!!

On to raising taxes……..

obAMATEUR is consumed with obsession about raising taxes on the “rich”.  We hear it in the press about his “wanting to make a deal” with Republicans for the so-called “balanced approach”.  All we have heard so far is the raising taxes on the “wealthy” – some balanced approach!  The complicit media (aka the propaganda arm of the White House) has done nothing but interview Republican and talk about raising taxes.  They have yet to question the obAMATEUR about the other half of the “balanced approach” – spending cuts.  Recently, on Good Morning America, they stated concern how “spending cuts will affect the economy”!  Excuse me?  We have seen MASSIVE government spending stagnate an economy.  We have proof that tax cuts work – several instances in fact.  Even the CBO disagrees with the lopsided “balanced approach” on raising taxes – Raising taxes has nothing to do with our fiscal cliff and getting our finances in order..

Just how much deficit reduction would Obama’s tax hikes on the rich necessarily accomplish?

Nothing, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Letting tax rates rise to Clinton era levels for those families making over $250,000 a year would only raise $824 billion over ten years. That is not even enough revenue to undo the sequester that Obama promised “will not happen” during his final debate with Mitt Romney.”

If we gave you your way and CONFISCATED ALL THE WEALTH of the so-called targeted “wealthy”, you would have enough money to run the government for a few months.  That’s it!!!  We have a spending problem in this country.  This pResident who has ran up the debt than the first 42 presidents COMBINED!  Again, it is not our problem that you PREDICTABLY ignored FACTS and re-elected this buffoon.  We told you so!!!

More recent higher jobless claims ….

We now have 439,000 new jobless claims for the first full week after the disastrous reelection of the “one we have been waiting for” – the obAMATEUR and I do mean AMATEUR!  Pennsylvania and Ohio led the pack.  Two unionized states.  Two crucial states won by obAMATEUR.  The obAMATEUR sycophants are trying to put the best possible spin on these numbers — saying that they’re due to layoffs from Hurricane Sandy.  What utter CRAP!.  Layoffs in Ohio?  Pennsylvania?  Heavy union states?  We had New Jersey turn away NON UNION ELECTRICAL WORKERS, as an example of their dedication to union labor even in a disaster such as this!!!!

These layoffs are the direct result of re-electing this anti-business failure (a failure at everything he has put his hands on) of a pResident.  Businesses have been struggling that last four years.  There has been no recovery.  There have been BILLIONS of dollars spent by these businesses to comply with new regulations coming from this White House and the EPA.  The EPA will soon unleash the flood of new so-called “clean air” rules that will send energy costs through the roof.  Taxes on small business owners are going to rise.  Capital gains taxes on investors – going up.  There is absolutely NOTHING on the horizon with four more years of obAMATEUR that gives one iota of hope for a better business and economic climate ahead.  So … it’s time to go lean … and that’s just what these businesses are doing.  They’re shedding employees to get under the ObamaCare threshold. They’re looking for ways to get more efficient so that they can rid themselves of unnecessary workers.  As a result we see jobless claims are on the rise .. the highest number since the middle of 2011.

The obAMATEUR, his sycophants, drones and lemmings want to blame it on the storm.  Well .. .they’re half-right.  It’s a storm all right, but not Hurricane Sandy.  It’s the storm of taxes and regulations that are coming with the reelection of an anti-business, tax and spend president.

Elections have consequences.  Here’s your pink slip.  Enjoy.  And if you’re an obAMATEUR voter, I’m enjoying it right along with you.  You did it to yourselves.  We told you so!!!

 

Obamunism!

Jobless claims skyrocket.

Poverty rate shoots up.

Postal service loses $15.9 billion.

EU budget talks collapse.

Hostess a step away from liquidation (that is the twinkie maker, for you liberals out there).

FHA heading for collapse (that means that our fake housing “recovery” is just about over).

Philly Fed plunges.

Eurozone re-enters recession.

Layoffs.

Layoffs.

Layoffs.

But, don’t worry – its all Bush’s Sandy’s fault and with Bernanke about to deploy a depleted-hopium charged financial bazooka, all is well…

We’re Too Nice

“They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue.” – The Untouchables

I have sat back over the last week watching the expected gloating from liberals, and the anticipated disbelief amongst conservatives and have let it all soak in, in my own attempt to make some sense out of the nonsensical. I still find it hard to believe that once again this country has elected an empty suit, no more qualified to be President this time around than he was last time. I still find it hard to believe that so many voters put issues like abortion and gay marriage above their own financial interests, confirming my belief that we have become a very ignorant, financially illiterate society who will now forsake opportunity and liberty for promised personal security. Americans have truly become dependent and intellectually lazy, and the question is – is it too late to salvage them?

Also over the last week I have witnessed the hand wringing by most conservatives on how we blew such an easy election. How once again, we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. We didn’t lose because Romney is a RINO, as some conservatives call him; we didn’t lose because of the bone headed positions of people like Todd Akin – if that were the case, then someone needs to explain Rep. Andre Carson to me. We lost, because we are too nice. We allow the media and the Democrats to paint us as extreme, without attacking them in the same, if not more aggressive manner. If any party is extreme on abortion – it is the democrats, who support abortion at any place, any time for any reason without any regard to life, mother or father. If any party is extreme on economics – it is the democrats, who support a growing dependency on food stamps, welfare, and a health care insurance program that guarantees the descent of a once great industry into mediocrity, and of whom also support punishing and demonizing success. If any party is extreme on education – it is the Democrats, who would rather poor children languish in failing schools to appease the unions rather than allow parents to send their child to a better school. And these are just a few of the extreme, detrimental positions the Democrats have taken that will ultimately hurt all Americans and of which they don’t ever get called out on. Instead we allow the Democrats to paint our candidate as a murderer, an uncaring rich person who evades taxes and wants to enrich his friends, and of whom wants to ban abortion, implement a theocracy etc, etc. Well it’s time to take the gloves off.

And we start now, by stating unequivocally that Obama is an incompetent, uncaring liar who may be complicit in murder. Obama does not care one bit about the average American otherwise he would tell the truth about the Affordable Care Act which will, and is now resulting in layoffs, an increase in part time employment, a decrease in full time employment, higher insurance premiums, higher taxes, and fewer doctors to provide services. Obama does not care one bit about school children who are obtaining a poor education otherwise he would allow them to attend a better school. Obama does not care one bit about Hurricane Sandy victims otherwise he would not have been golfing while FEMA offices were closed due to incremental weather. Obama does not care one bit about small businesses otherwise he would not advocate raising taxes on the top 3% of small businesses that employee 25% of the labor force. Obama does not care one bit about women otherwise he would insist that the men who so callously impregnate them take responsibility and are held accountable. Obama does not care one bit about younger generations otherwise he would ensure the sustainability of Medicare and Social Security rather than allow the programs to continue along the path to bankruptcy. Obama does not care one bit about illegal immigration otherwise he would have offered a plan to remedy the problem rather than demagogue the issue and use it as a political football. Obama also may very well be complicit in the murder of Ambassador Chris Stevens, whom he referred to as a “bump in the road”, and of border guard Brian Terry. Two great Americans, who the media and the Obama regime have so rudely stepped over and swept under the carpet, hoping that everyone will just ignore their callous disregard.

Democrats do not care about the American people, and certainly don’t care about conservatives. They only care about their power over the American people and dispensing of any opposition at any cost. They will continue to prop up useful idiots, like many of our resident liberals, with hateful and condescending talking points to perpetuate that paradigm. They will also continue to under educate our children so that the growing dependency on their benevolence continues. So the next time you hear some liberal, or some Democrat try tell conservatives what to do – tell them to go F**K themselves. And let’s nominate a candidate next time that articulates the conservative positions of a smaller, more efficient, more local government that benefits everyone at that expense of no one, a robust private sector that rewards success and innovation, and of whom is prepared to immediately counter any, and all, Democratic and media attacks with over whelming force. That is the day that conservatives and Americans will once again win.

Jindal to GOP: Don’t be Stupid

Well, that is a bit harsher than he actually was – but its the gist of it.  From Politico:

…“We’ve got to make sure that we are not the party of big business, big banks, big Wall Street bailouts, big corporate loopholes, big anything,” Jindal told POLITICO in a 45-minute telephone interview. “We cannot be, we must not be, the party that simply protects the rich so they get to keep their toys.”

He was just as blunt on how the GOP should speak to voters, criticizing his party for offending and speaking down to much of the electorate.

“It is no secret we had a number of Republicans damage our brand this year with offensive, bizarre comments — enough of that,” Jindal said. “It’s not going to be the last time anyone says something stupid within our party, but it can’t be tolerated within our party. We’ve also had enough of this dumbed-down conservatism. We need to stop being simplistic, we need to trust the intelligence of the American people and we need to stop insulting the intelligence of the voters.”…

While our liberal friends were quite dishonest in their characterizations of what, say, Akin said, the fact remains that Akin got in to trouble because he clearly never thought the matter through.  If you are to be a pro-life fanatic (as I am) then you’d better figure out precisely why you are and what your answers are to all conceivable questions.  Heck, for a Christian this is actually a Biblical command (see 1 Peter 3:15).  Because Akin had not thought the matter through he was unprepared for a question which was obviously going to be asked because the DNC wanted their by-lined Democrats in the MSM to ask such questions (the correct answer to that question can be found here, because I’ve thought about it).  Because of boneheaded answers we are at least two Senate seats short of where we would be had we been smarter…and a bit more smarts and we might have retired Reid as Majority Leader.

Don’t get me wrong – Democrats are even dumber than we are.  But they do have this going for them – low information voters can be easily suckered by Democrats especially when GOPers are acting like idiots.  If we are smart then Democrat attempts to bamboozle will fall flat…because sincerity and conviction on well-presented beliefs do actually trump gutter-political appeals to the lowest common denominator.  Think of Reagan:  bags of sincerity and conviction and beliefs which could not be mistaken…they tried a gutter political campaign against him in 1980 and it didn’t work (hard as it is to remember, but Democrats were portraying Reagan as a filthy rich, drooling idiot who wanted to start nuclear war as soon as he got in to office).

Equally important, don’t let the Democrats portray us as something we’re not.  Like it or not, the GOP was successfully painted as the party of the rich and the big corporations in 2012.  Doesn’t matter that there are more rich Democrats than Republicans; doesn’t matter that corporate America is a happy-hunting ground for sinecure-seeking Democrats.  What mattered is that by not clearly showing that we are opposed to Big Corporation and on the side of small and mid-sized business, we gave that part of the game away to the Democrats, too.

Time to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start bringing to the table those shining ideals which lead us to victory in the past…and without giving the game away by fumbling the ball inside the red zone.

A Key to Future Victory

Via Senator Dean Heller’s (R-NV) election victory – from the Las Vegas Sun:

…They meticulously gathered the names of all newly registered independents—who were registering at a faster clip than either Democrats or Republicans for much of the season.

Then, they relentlessly called and visited those voters at their doorsteps—particularly in Washoe County.

Heller’s campaign also put a significant amount of the candidate’s time toward the effort. Twice a week, Heller sat on a conference call with hundreds of independent voters.

“Dean does not screen questions,” Abrams said. “Twice a week, for an hour and a half, independents got to hear from him directly about how he did not vote to end Medicare and they could ask him anything they wanted.”…

If you are in a State where Democrats outnumber Republicans – and they outnumber Republicans here in Nevada by more than 100,000 voters, as we are increasingly “Californicated” (idiots who flee the People’s Democratic Republic of California and then start voting in Nevada for the same insanity which killed California) – then you either have to massively increase GOP registration or go out and get Independents in a big way.  Heller went and did that – winning Independents by 20 points which allowed him to scrape to a 12,000 vote victory (out of a million votes cast).

Around the country there has been a general fall-off of Democrat voter registration, a slight rise in GOP voter registration and a skyrocketing Independent registration.  Independents are clearly key to winning – State by State and nationally in most areas.  Heller took the time to carefully court the Independent vote and wound up winning in a State that Obama carried by nearly 6 points (which, for a bit of good news, is only half his 2008 margin).

Heller’s campaign concentrated heavily on themes designed to appeal to Independents – I remember the barrage of ads which asserted Heller’s willingness to work across the aisle to solve problems, a key desire for Independents who appear to be Independent precisely because they’re sick of the partisan games of government.  The lesson for us to take away is that Democrats won in 2012 by deliberately emphasizing partisanship – they relentlessly worked on racial, gender and class animosities in order to turnout their base in as large a number as possible.  It worked – but it won’t work if the GOP can simply bring more voters to the polls because we have a message which appeals to a broader sector of the American population.

Democrats figure they’ve got is sewn – that they’ve got a model which ensures them victory again and again and again.  They do – if we keep playing the game as we have.  If we change the rules, we’ll catch them flat-footed.  Heller points the way.  Let’s Roll.

 

Veteran’s Day Open Thread

Take a few moments out of your day and remember them.  Bunker Hill.  Yorktown.  Lake Erie.  New Orleans.  Shilo.  Gettysburg.  St. Mihel.  Bataan.  Normandy.  Leyte Gulf.  Bastonge.  Naktong River.  Pleiku.  Khe Sanh.  Al Busayyah.  Fallujah.

We send men – and now, women – out to battle for us.  It is not for them to question policy – that is made by civilians.  They just have to do the bleeding and the dying for it.  Doesn’t matter what you think about the policies which sent them out – take a moment to remember them and honor them.

Liberal Morals

From the Ethicist over at the New York Times:

My wife is having an affair with a government executive. His role is to manage a project whose progress is seen worldwide as a demonstration of American leadership. (This might seem hyperbolic, but it is not an exaggeration.) I have met with him on several occasions, and he has been gracious. (I doubt if he is aware of my knowledge.) I have watched the affair intensify over the last year, and I have also benefited from his generosity. He is engaged in work that I am passionate about and is absolutely the right person for the job. I strongly feel that exposing the affair will create a major distraction that would adversely impact the success of an important effort. My issue: Should I acknowledge this affair and finally force closure? Should I suffer in silence for the next year or two for a project I feel must succeed? Should I be “true to my heart” and walk away from the entire miserable situation and put the episode behind me? NAME WITHHELD

Don’t expose the affair in any high-profile way. It would be different if this man’s project was promoting some (contextually hypocritical) family-values platform, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. The only motive for exposing the relationship would be to humiliate him and your wife, and that’s never a good reason for doing anything. This is between you and your spouse. You should tell her you want to separate, just as you would if she were sleeping with the mailman. The idea of “suffering in silence” for the good of the project is illogical. How would the quiet divorce of this man’s mistress hurt an international leadership initiative? He’d probably be relieved.

The fact that you’re willing to accept your wife’s infidelity for some greater political good is beyond honorable…(emphasis added)

A bit of Droit du seigneur, I guess – while there is little evidence that such a thing really happened in medieval times (t would be something directly in contravention of Christian teaching and thus it would have been condemned by Church authority if it ever reared its head) it does neatly encapsulate both the utter moral collapse of liberals as well as their servility to their lords.   The man feels that some government project trumps the vow his wife made to him.  Politics is everything to liberals and if Dear Leader needs to schtupp your wife a bit to make the working day bearable, then it is worth it…and you’ll get a pat on the head from the “ethicist” at the New York Times (who, however, figures that if the adulterer is some one of socially conservative morals then, please, expose away).  This does, also, greatly call in to question just why adultery was considered sufficient reason for the CIA director to resign – I mean he, too, was engaged in a pretty important government project, right?

It also leaves open the question:  what if it wasn’t adultery?  What if the leader engaged in a vital political project was also taking bribes?  Would exposing that at the risk of ruining the important government project be a no-no in liberal land?  Makes you wonder just how much corruption is out there among liberal leaders and not being reported about because it is “beyond honorable” to cover up for the sake of “political good”.

Is Obama Serious About Avoiding the “Fiscal Cliff”?

There is an argument to be made that he doesn’t care if it does happen – from Zero Hedge:

…Here is why our leader has no desire to settle this affair before it gets put into effect.

  • It will impose tax hikes on everyone who pays federal income taxes (not just the 2%)
  • It will cut entitlements without his having to support the actions
  • It will reduce defense spending without him ‘looking soft’ as Commander-in-Chief
  • It will end the ‘Bush Tax Cuts’ automatically
  • It will probably slow economic growth (GDP)

Why would our President want these things to take place?

  • He would get the extra tax revenues to use without being blamed
  • He could not be held accountable for breaking his ubiquitous pledge to never raise taxes on the bottom 98%
  • He would not be the one cutting entitlements, it would be ‘out of his hands’
  • He prefers to cut defense spending rather than social programs
  • He can later ‘give back’ tax cuts to the Middle Class
  • He can then call them the ‘Obama Tax Cuts’
  • He can blame those damn ‘Obstructionist Republicans’ for the next recession

For B-Rock the Sequestration is a ‘Dream Act’ to accomplish many of his goals and dreams without any accountability. Every negative can be blamed on the Republicans even as he allows his stated preferences to be overridden by the forced actions imposed on him…

There is some sense to that.  Especially if, as I believe, we’re heading in to recession, anyway.  Perhaps Obama’s number-crunchers have told him that a period of recession in 2013 is unavoidable, cliff or no, and so might as well make certain a crisis never goes to waste.  Deadlock now means the Bush tax are gone for good, defense is heavily cut and we actually do reduce our deficit all without Obama taking the blame.  You know the MSM would spend the next year blaming every last thing on the GOP.

We’ll have to see, of course – if Obama actually does give in some meaningful way on tax and entitlement reform then we’ll know he’s interested in the fate of the nation.  If he stands firm and won’t do anything unless the GOP agrees to specifically increase tax rates without any serious entitlement or tax reform, then we’ll know he’s ok with us going over the cliff.