Huckabee: Replace Geithner with Trump

Mark Noonan11 Comments

From CNN:

Amid calls by the GOP for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s resignation, one Republican is offering an unorthodox choice for a potential replacement.

“Ask Donald Trump to be Treasury secretary,” Mike Huckabee said on Fox News Channel.

The former Arkansas governor elaborated: “Have Donald Trump take the job for 90 days. It’s a game changer.”…

Trump certainly wouldn’t be worse than Geithner and may end up a lot better.  Certainly, unless Obama really changes course at this point we’re heading for a really bad time.  Even a major course change won’t completely get us out of the soup…but swift action, now, can prevent “bad” from becoming “hideous”.  If not Trump, then someone who has a bit of guts and a bit of knowledge of business.

But I doubt we’ll see it – Obama may call in Underbus to rid himself of a political liability, but I doubt Obama even sees the need for a real change, let alone what that change might entail.

 

Liberal Fascism at Law School

Mark Noonan8 Comments

From Legal Insurrection:

Lawrence Connell is a tenured law professor at Widener Law School in Delaware.  I have noted in prior posts that Connell was accused of a wide range of racist and sexist conduct directed at students in his classes and at Dean Linda Ammons (because of hypothetical examples Connell used in class).

Connell has sued, and also went through a university disciplinary hearing process.  The faculty committee which heard the evidence found that Connell did not violate any university policy with regard to the allegations of racist and sexist conduct…

…In a rational world, the university would seek no or minimal sanctions against Connell since he was completely vindicated of the underlying charges…  But Dean Ammons recommended that the university suspend Connell for a year without pay, which the university accepted.

But Dean Ammons recommendation, accepted by the university, went much further, demanding that Connell submit to a psychiatric evaluation, undergo ”anger management” counseling…and issue an apology…

In the old Soviet Union, this is what would happen to you – if you persisted in dissidence from the reigning orthodoxy, you could find yourself under psychiatric examination.  After all, if it has been carefully explained to you that you are in the wrong – and any man accused of racism and sexism is clearly in the wrong, regardless of the facts of the case – then it is time to knuckle under, accept re-education and become an emasculated cog in the liberal machine.  That Connell hasn’t done this proves he’s crazy…and, so.

This point out the larger problem we have in our legal profession:  those steeped in the liberal worldview don’t know what law is.  Without a rigid application of the law equally, all we have is the worst tyranny – that horrid arbitrariness which leaves the citizen in the dark about what he may or may not do.  That, in turn, breeds a political passivity conducive to dictatorship (which is, when you think about it, the goal of liberalism…even if not a conscious goal among most liberals).  Right now, at that law school, no one knows what is permissible – even if it is clearly laid out in statute, one has to worry that some school bureaucrat will essentially issue an “OSO decree” and send you off to Siberia for a term.

The good news is that we’re likely to see a bursting of the law school bubble pretty soon.  They’ve been churning out so many “lawyers” that the law field is glutted.  This is why you see ever more ads from lawyers willing to sue anyone for anything.  We could have a nice, little collapse which will result in a lot of law schools closing, or at least being reduced in size…and fewer kids willing to enter that market.  That, in turn, may allow someone who knows law to actually have a say in how a law school is run.  Anything is possible…and certainly this liberal fascism on campus can’t go on forever.

The Enemy Strikes Hard in Afghanistan

Mark Noonan22 Comments

From the AP:

A military helicopter was shot down in eastern Afghanistan, killing 31 U.S. special operation troops, most of them from the elite Navy SEALs unit that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, along with seven Afghan commandos. It was the deadliest single incident for American forces in the decade-long war.

The Taliban claimed they downed the helicopter with rocket fire while it was taking part in a raid on a house where insurgents were gathered in the province of Wardak late Friday. It said wreckage of the craft was strewn at the scene. A senior U.S. administration official in Washington said the craft was apparently shot down by insurgents. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the crash is still being investigated…

Hopefully the reaction will be to go very hard after the Taliban unit responsible for this…we dare not let them think they have scored a victory; make them pay a price all out of proportion to our losses.

This is a good time to remind ourselves that while we sit fat, dumb and happy, young men and women are still laying it all on the line for us.  What is our budget debate or debt downgrade or the 2012 election compared to what the armed forces are doing, day after day, with little thanks or note from us?  We have allowed ourselves to be too distracted … and I hope President Obama gets a grip on the Afghan campaign, and brings it back to the forefront of public consciousness.  It is time to win this campaign and then come home…whatever it takes, do it, and let’s have done with these savages in the Taliban.

GOP Wants Open Debt Committee Hearings

Mark Noonan4 Comments

From Newsmax:

Much of Washington’s attention is now focused on the bipartisan congressional committee that will soon be formed to recommend how to reduce the budget deficit by $1.5 trillion. And Republicans are working hard to ensure that the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction holds all its meetings in public, The Hill reports.

Six GOP senators sent a letter to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Wednesday urging that the committee’s business be “done in a transparent manner through advanced public notification, public attendance and live television broadcasts, . . . not behind closed doors.”

The signers include Sens. Dean Heller of Nevada, David Vitter of Louisiana, Mike Lee of Utah, John Boozman of Arkansas, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin…

Good for them and I entirely agree…let us call witnesses who can explain exactly what we’re spending money on and what we can cut without touching a single social security, medicare, medicaid or military pay check.  Hundreds of billions are being spent each year on perfectly worthless activities (including activities hidden within otherwise worthy programs), and the more exposure we can get, the better our chances of a popular demand for cuts.

The people are on our side in the debt battle – we know it must be cut, all we have to do is show where and how much.  Open committee hearings will give us our best chance.

$71,600 to be With Obama

Mark Noonan7 Comments

From Newsmax:

The parties just keep coming for birthday-boy Barack Obama. After a Chicago fund-raiser the night before he turned 50 and a White House party on the big ay, a third event is now planned for New York.This time it is high-powered movie mogul Harvey Weinstein who will host the
president at his Big Apple home, reports the New York Post.

And despite being described as “a small dinner and discussion” on the invitation, it will raise $2 million for the president’s reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee. According to the NYP, the cost per couple to chow down is $71,600…

Yeah, that is real “man of the people” stuff, huh?  Glad that Obama understands what we’re going through… I mean, what says “average American” more than plunking down 71 grand on dinner?  Don’t we all do that ever day?  Well, I guess we might if Bernanke goes on another printing spree and our currency completely collapses…

This man Obama is so entirely out of touch with the American people.  He doesn’t even need to raise this much money…everyone knows who he is; its not like he has to introduce himself to the American people.  But, when you’re in the Ruling Class, I guess you need these sorts of affairs…makes you feel special.  Connected.  In charge.  Able to blow money like no tomorrow…

S&P Downgrades USA

Mark Noonan29 Comments

From the Washington Post:

Standard & Poor’s announced Friday night that it has downgraded the U.S. credit rating for the first time, dealing a symbolic blow to the world’s economic superpower in what was a sharply worded critique of the American political system.

Lowering the nation’s rating to one notch below AAA, the credit rating company said “political brinkmanship” in the debate over the debt had made the U.S. government’s ability to manage its finances “less stable, less effective and less predictable.” It said the bipartisan agreement reached this week to find at least $2.1 trillion in budget savings “fell short” of what was necessary to tame the nation’s debt over time and predicted that leaders would not be likely to achieve more savings in the future…

Conveniently done after the markets close in order to avoid a crash…and remember why we’re here:  because Obama and his Democrats tacked on an additional trillion a year in spending and didn’t want to give any of it up.  Just a couple hundred billion dollar cut next year – which would have had us still spending hundreds of billions more than in 2008 – would have done the trick.  It would have showed that we have the political will, right now, to deal with the debt.  But, nothing doing from Obama…he has to keep the money flowing to his special interest groups no matter what.

2012 can’t get here fast enough.

 

Wisconsin State Fair Incident

Mark Noonan71 Comments

JS Online has an excellent, detailed report of what happened.  To nutshell it, for reasons unknown a large group of black youths went on a rampage at the State Fair, appearing to single out whites for attack.  This event took place in Wisconsin, a State noted for its liberal efforts at “diversity” (in fact, the State Fair, itself, has been taking great pains to be be more “diverse”), with only a relatively small black community (a bit more than 6% of the population) and no history of racially motivated attacks.  So, why did it happen?

Because we told these kids to do it.  Yes – you, me; all of us.  For more than a generation we have poured filth in to the mind of youth…pornography, violence, glorified gangsters, racialist divisions created by politicians on the make, go ahead and fornicate we’ll get you an abortion, ignorance disguised by self-esteem training, lack of respect for law and tradition.  We’ve shoved this relentlessly in to the youth of our nation…and now we’re going to get all shocked that some of them went on a rampage. I’m not – I’m expecting more of this, and for it to get worse.  We’re supposed to take our youth and civilize it…instead, what we’ve done is barbarize it.  And there is a thing about barbarians – they act barbarically.

It is going to be difficult to deal with this.  It might get so bad that only the crudest and cruelest force will make the most incorrigible in to responsible citizens.  But however we deal with it, this will be a protracted and difficult process.  The cure for it will be found in protecting the current crop of little kids from the filth.  We have to stand up and start acting like adults – start insisting that “free speech” does not include making profits off of selling pornography and violence to kids; start insisting that kids learn in school, not learn to merely think highly of themselves; start teaching kids to respect law and tradition.

Or we can ignore our duty and allow more and worse things to happen.  It will.  You can rely on it.  This was just some kids out on a rampage.  But eventually they or their successors will kill…they will become the tools of those who want to use violence to get what they want, whether it is mafia-like criminals, or budding tyrants who want to destroy our republic.  We have it in our power to call a halt to this and restore decency in our nation…and ensure that the next generation of young people will not do such things as this.

Nader: There Will be an Obama Primary Challenger

Mark Noonan39 Comments

From The Daily Caller:

Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate and perennial third-party presidential candidate, announced last month that he would work to find a Democrat to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012.

Nader now says that a primary challenge is a near certainty.

“What [Obama] did this week is just going to energize that effort,” Nader promised in an interview with The Daily Caller. “I would guess that the chances of there being a challenge to Obama in the primary are almost 100 percent.”

The only question, he said, is the stature of that opponent and whether it will be either “an ex-senator or an ex-governor” or “an intellectual leader or an environmental leader.”…

While one must never forget the way Nader helped fasten upon the American people the greedy and corrupt tribe of trial lawyers, you do have to hand it to him on his convictions:  he’s a pinko right down to the ground, and Obama hasn’t been commie enough for him.  Which, once again, does make you wonder just how ultra-leftist Obama would have to be to please people like Nader.  At all events, it appears that anger over Obama’s failures on the left side are starting to bite.

While there was some lip service on the left about Afghanistan being a “good” war, the reality is that the left dislikes any use of American power…so, the fact that we’re still in Iraq and Afghanistan and have also launched a war in Libya has to be causing problems.  In addition to this, Obama has kept in place almost all of the Bush anti-terrorism policies…this is simple common sense on the part of Obama, but our leftists talked themselves in to really believing that Gitmo was a horror and that the Patriot Act was undermining American liberty.  To keep the American Gulag open has to be a shock to the left…and a source of anger the longer it stays open (here’s a clue for you liberals…it will remain open at least until after election day…Obama simply will not risk releasing one of the terrorists there for fear that someone will be killed by the former inmate…in your liberal mind those men might be innocents cruelly arrested and tortured by Chimpy McSmirk BusHitler, but the realty is that they are killers who want to kill again).  Add in things like the failure to terminate the Bush tax cuts, failure to raise taxes on “the rich” some more, failure to get a single-payer health plan and it all adds up to a grand disappointment to the left.

And so a possible primary challenger…if Nader can dredge one up.  Given Nader’s statement, he’s likely to find someone…but unless he finds someone with real stature, it will just be a joke candidacy, easily crushed by the Democrat machine.  Nader will have to find someone who is both willing to ship out with the craziest denizens of the liberal nuthouse while also being someone with a credible political record.  This will not be easy to do.  But always fun to watch…stay tuned.

John Kerry, Liberal Fascist

Mark Noonan34 Comments

From Pajamas Media:

Sen. John Kerry (D-Hanoi) must be really worried about how badly the Democrats are losing the argument on government spending. He took to MSNBC to goad the media into censoring the opinions and statements of people with whom he disagrees (and who happen to have the facts on their side). The irony of his having made such an argument on an openly ideological network seems to have been lost on Sen. Kerry.

SEN. JOHN KERRY: “And I have to tell you, I say this to you politely. The media in America has a bigger responsibility than it’s exercising today. The media has got to begin to not give equal time or equal balance to an absolutely absurd notion just because somebody asserts it or simply because somebody says something which everybody knows is not factual.”…

Translation – if you MSMers know what’s good for you, you’ll stop allowing any dissenting voices to appear.  We can’t have those hicks and bitter clingers out there getting their views across.  Don’t you realize that we Democrats could be crushed next year if the truth keeps coming out?

Its not like Kerry has been a tribune of truth, you know?  He is the guy, after all, who did say our brave men and women in Vietnam were acting like Genghis Khan…so, slanders have fallen easily from his lips.  And, at any event, shouldn’t it be up to the people to listen to all voices and decide for themselves who is right?

Not to our liberals, it would seem…because if the people hear differing opinions, then they are sure to reject the liberal view.

Behind the Unemployment Numbers

Mark Noonan65 Comments

Mish gathered the details:

  • US Payrolls +117,000
  • US Unemployment Rate -.1 to 9.1%
  • Participation Rate -.2 to 63.9% accounting for drop in unemployment rate
  • Actual number of Employed (by Household Survey) fell by 38,000
  • Unemployment rose by 156,000
  • Those dropping out of the labor force rose by 374,000
  • Civilian population rose by 182,000, Labor Force declined by 193,000
  • Average Weekly Workweek was unchanged at 34.3 hours
  • Average Private Hourly Earnings Increased by 10 Cents
  • Government employment decreased by 37,000 – a genuine bright-spot

Without that drop in the labor force, unemployment would have risen – as soon as I saw the headline number of +117,000 and a drop in unemployment I knew, without even checking, that something was wrong.  If we gained 250,000 jobs a month, unemployment would remain high for years.  A plus 117K just wasn’t enough to lower the unemployment rate unless someone decided that fewer people were in the labor force.  Presto!, that is what we got.  Amazing, huh?  Great how that works out when we’ve got a President desperately seeking re-election…

UPDATE:  The headline that says it all, from Bloomberg:

Bernanke Models Prove Faulty as Fed Forecasts Succumb to Downward Revision