Out: Feminism.... In: Conservative women derangement syndrome

Hey, do you remember when we were told if we voted for McCain it would mean just more of the same old boorish, mysoginistic frat-boy behavior of the Bush years? Well, they were right.

Sarah Palin, Carrie Prejean, Playboy’s 10 conservative women they would like to hate-f**k and now David Letterman cracking wise about the rape of a 14 yr. old.



Feeling Change-y?

The Surge: Porkulus style

The White House was in full spin mode a couple of days ago as it is becoming more and more apparent that porkulus isn’t working. So, obviously the fix to that problem is… more porkulus.

President Barack Obama announced Monday that he is ramping up stimulus spending exponentially in the next three months, allowing the administration to “save or create” 600,000 jobs — four times as many as during the first 100 days since he signed the bill.

“We’re in a position to really accelerate,” Obama said, unveiling plans to boost spending on national parks, summer youth jobs, veterans medical centers, police and teachers.

But this notion of “save or create” is impossible to gage so it provides the Administration perfect cover for coming up with whatever number they feel like as demonstrating that they are fixing the economy.

The President sounded a defensive note in his remarks, saying his administration inherited a collapsing economy. “Had we done nothing, I think its fair to say that most economists believe that we could have gone into a tailspin,” Obama said.

This, of course, is a bald-faced lie as a)we are unaware of even some economists who said we would've "gone into a tailspin" without porkulus and b) Team Obama predicted unemployment would top out at 8% even with porkulus. Again, the chart below put out by Obama’s own economic team betrays the President’s narrative.



But do you know what part of the porkulus surge has us most excited? This:

The White House is launching WhiteHouse.gov/Recovery, a new webpage “that will allow the public to follow America’s Recovery story and hear from people across the country whose lives are being influenced by the Recovery Act."
“The new site provides snapshots of Recovery Act dollars at work, the latest Recovery news and opportunities for visitors to share their Recovery stories through comments, photos and videos, while Recovery.gov remains the go-to site for tracking Recovery Act spending,” the White House said.

That’s right. America’s going scrap-booking this summer.

Exit quote: "You would think that any self-respecting White House press corps would show some of the same skepticism toward President Obama's jobs claims that they did toward President Bush's tax cuts but I'm still waiting."

- Tony Fratto, senior member of White House communications shop under President George W. Bush

P.S. More budgetary "pay-go" nonsense forthcoming.

Be it ever so feeble, the retro-active march of justice grinds...

So, what do the Norks, the Peloponnesian War and the U.N. Security Council all have in common? Secular Apostate will clue you in, here

B.O.H.I.C.A. Pt. II

Keith Hennessy at his eponymously-named blog has a .pdf link to the Obamacare bill that was leaked over the weekend. KH provides the breakdown, here. No real surprises… everything we’ve come to expect from government-managed health care is in full effect, it’s just that now it is all a terrifyingly real legislative possibility.

The first thing that struck us is the breadth and scope of power the Treasury Dept. and HHS have assumed for themselves in administering Obamacare which, incredibly, includes establishing a tax that one would pay if one is not enrolled in a “qualified” health insurance program. And to think that we were under this Constitutionally-induced delusion that only Congress could levy taxes.

Here’s another point that defies logic:

4. Health insurance plans could not charge higher premiums for risky behaviors: “Such rate shall not vary by health status-related factors, … or any other factor not described in paragraph (1).” Smokers, drinkers, drug users, and those in terrible physical shape would all have their premiums subsidized by the healthy.

The very thing that sets at the heart of our own health care reform, the ability to customize your health care plan (choosing what you do/do not want covered) coupled with the insurer having the freedom to assess risk on an individual basis, is completely neutered.

And no big government plan would be complete without the following - an aspect of the program that will, of course, be completely free of political influence-peddling, favor-seeking and graft:

15. The bill would create a new pot of money for state gateways to pay “navigators” to educate people about the new bill, distribute information about health plans, and help people enroll. Navigators receiving federal funds “may include … unions, …”

Good to see that “community organizers” and the like will be getting in on the action.

Forgetting for a moment the issue of the enormous outlay of tax dollars just to cover everybody that Obamacare desires to bring in under this big tent, what is left out of the bill is who is going to foot the bill for the massive bureaucracy that will be required to administer Obamacare. But we think we all know who that will be.

Please check out the link - it's a good read.

…however, the success of Florida’s sports teams do not come without some negative consequences.

Folks, you all remember Congresswoman Corrine Brown from the great state of Florida and her rambling, mispronouncing gradulation of the Florida Gators, her alma mater a few months ago? Well, she’s back. And if Corrine Brown waxing eloquent on another championship-contending Florida team wasn’t enough she is teaming up with fellow Congresswoman and Kobe Bryant fan Maxine Waters to run a little NBA finals smack.

The firewall at work prevented us from watching this while on the clock so we broke no less than 4 state and local traffic regulations in order to get home to watch the equivalent of a planetary alignment in absurdity.

Alas, imagine our shock and dismay when the clip provided below was not even close to the absolute train wreck wished, hoped for, and totally expected. Just some good-natured ribbing and Maxine Waters exhibiting a firmer grasp of the facts with respect to the Lakers than she does for the vast majority of legislation she sponsors.



Exit question: Can we spring a trade? Maxine for Stu Lantz? Us Laker fans would take one for the team (USA).

H/T:Deadspin

Quote of the Day

“This idiot did more to damage the pro-life movement than you can imagine.”

- Troy Newman, the founder of Operation Rescue on Scott Roeder and the twisted irony of anti-abortion protesters wondering what to do now that the clinic they have protested outside of for years has effectively been shut down by the murder of Dr. George Tiller.

You were expecting something different?

The Federal Reserve announced a $1.2 trillion plan three months ago designed to push down mortgage rates and breathe life into the housing market.

But this and other big government spending programs are turning out to have the opposite effect. Rates for mortgages and U.S. Treasury debt are now marching higher as nervous bond investors fret about a resurgence of inflation.

That's the Catch-22 threatening to make an awful housing market potentially worse and keep the economy stuck in a funk. Kick-starting the economy requires higher spending, but rising rates mean fewer Americans will be able to refinance their home loans. And some potential buyers will be shut out of the market by higher monthly payments they won't be able to afford.

Read more here. Any commenting by us would be superflous.

Relatively anonymous religious fanatic assassin had him some more plans

The Arkansas man accused of killing an Army recruiter and wounding another had used the popular Google Maps application to investigate recruiting centers in at least five states, as well as Jewish institutions, a day-care center, a post office and a Baptist Church, according to a report issued Tuesday evening by the Department of Homeland Security, ABC News has learned.

Recruiting centers in New York, Atlanta, Louisville and Philadelphia were on a list of possible targets, based on evidence found in the home of the suspect, Muslim-convert Abdulhakim Muhammed, according to the report.

The report was prepared based on the evidence seized in a search of Muhammed's home that included information indicating that he had used Google maps to investigate various locations.

In other news today, guess who still doesn't have a statement up at their website regarding the killing of Private William Long at the hands of this jihadist after falling all over itself to release a statement regarding the murder of abortion doctor, George Tiller?

It's all a matter of perspective

As Europe's grasp on Western civilization continues to slip away there are specific instances that become defining moments in illustrating just how far along this process has devolved. KT has the low down on one such instance, here.

Image of the Day

Check out Newsweek's new look courtesy the Corner.



Evan Thomas, however, may think that reproducing the image of a deity on a mere mortal magazine is the height of disrespect if not blasphemous altogether.

"Thanks but No"

strong-arm (v): 1. To compel by pressure or threats. 2. To domineer or drive into compliance by the use of threats or force.

From the euphemistically-titled article in yesterday’s U-T, Bof, Citigroup prodded by regulators:

With a crucial deadline looming in the federal bank bailout program, Washington regulators are pressing some unwelcome prescriptions upon two of the nation's largest lenders.

One by one, allies of Ken Lewis, the embattled leader of Bank of America, are bowing to pressure from the Federal Reserve and leaving the board. The bank named four new directors with financial experience yesterday, a shake-up that could further weaken Lewis' hold on the company. More board changes are expected.

On the same day at Citigroup, anxious executives moved to quell talk that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was pushing to replace the chief executive, Vikram Pandit. Citigroup's board discussed how to cope with the situation in a series of meetings this week.

Whether Lewis and Pandit can hold on is uncertain, and even regulators are at odds about what should be done. But as banks prepare to report to regulators on Monday about their progress in strengthening their finances, and in some cases their managements and boards, it is increasingly clear that officials are trying to exert some control over Bank of America and Citigroup.

Gee, do you think the situation described above may have anything to do with the fact that a) banks want to get the hell out of the TARP program as soon as possible and b) these same banks are reluctant to enter into an FDIC-sponsored program to help sell-off the toxic assets they currently hold… especially when the banks appear to be raising sufficient capital on their own without more government money?

According to linked article, that the free market is able to outperform a government program has baffled many experts, especially those in the goverment. Wait a minute... can they really do this without us?