OSpeculation

clipped from pajamasmedia.com PENSION “SPECULATORS:” Remember how President Obama blamed Chrysler’s bankruptcy filing last month on “a small group of speculators” who turned down Treasury’s $2 billion final offer for their $6.9 billion in debt? Well, it turns out that hedge funds and other short sellers weren’t the only secured creditors who got a raw deal from Uncle Sam. Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock revealed this week that his state’s police and teacher pension funds have lost millions of dollars in the Chrysler “restructuring.” Indiana’s State Police Fund and Major Moves Construction Fund, which finances roads and bridges, together lost more than $1 million. And the Teacher’s Retirement Fund “suffered, at a minimum, a loss of $4.6 million due to the action of the Federal government,” reports Mr. Mourdock.

Even The French

clipped from online.wsj.com So yes, it is possible to see why this disparate group came together yesterday. The UAW may soon be the government's partner in ownership of GM and Chrysler, and it has a strong incentive not to bite the hand feeding it a huge equity stake in the car makers. Ford and the other foreign-owned auto makers, which will have to raise private capital to make changes that U.S. taxpayers will fund at Chrysler and GM, no doubt want to maintain their political viability by not standing athwart this regulatory steamroller. We wish these folks luck "working together" with the Obama auto-design team. One thing seems certain by 2016: Taxpayers will be paying Detroit to make the cars Americans don't want, and then they will pay again either through (trust us) a gas tax or with a purchase subsidy. Even the French must think we're nuts.

Hope And No Change Left

clipped from money.cnn.com NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Federal Reserve's latest forecasts for the U.S. economy are gloomier than the ones released three months earlier, with an expectation for higher unemployment and a steeper drop in economic activity. The Fed's forecasts, released as part of the minutes from its April meeting, show that its staff now expects the unemployment rate to rise to between 9.2% and 9.6% this year. The central bank had forecast in January that the jobless rate would be in a range of 8.5% to 8.8%, but the unemployment rate topped that in April, hitting 8.9%.

O Duce's Preening

clipped from www.powerlineblog.com With a stroke of the pen, Barack Obama has imposed higher fuel-economy standards on the American auto industry. Those standards can only be met by making the average car smaller and lighter than consumers prefer. The inevitable result is that thousands of innocent Americans, possibly tens of thousands, will die painful and sometimes fiery deaths, while many thousands more will be seriously injured. This prospect apparently gave Obama no pause whatsoever. He has never so much as hinted that he sees a moral dimension in the trade-off between human life and reduced carbon emissions. On the other hand, Obama sees the brief and physically harmless discomfort of three terrorists as posing a moral crisis of almost unparalleled dimension, necessitating endless apology and hand-wringing. The contrast in Obama's priorities is striking, to say the least. I would submit that this is what happens when you substitute preening for intelligent policy-making.

Drop Dead

clipped from pajamasmedia.com UPDATE: A warning? “Politicians be forewarned: the public’s tolerance for tax hikes even in an overwhelmingly liberal state is non-existent. The president and Congress shouldn’t bank on running up the tab and handing the bill to the taxpayers. The taxpayers might just vote ‘no’ on all of them.” ANOTHER UPDATE: What next? n administration running auto companies for the benefit of the UAW and its political viability in the Rust Belt undoubtedly considers the Golden State “too big to fail.” After all, the New York Daily News headline would write itself: “Obama to California: Drop Dead.” However, bailouts are unpopular. Many Americans will chafe just as much at the prospect of paying to bail out California’s decades of inept govenment as they do at paying to bail out GM’s decades of inept management. Obama would bail out California to hold onto those electoral votes, but he will have to worry about how many he loses in the process. Indeed.

What They Wanted

clipped from mises.org Roosevelt's total subordination of his country's welfare to his personal ambition began before he took office in March, 1933. The outgoing president, Herbert Hoover, confronted a dilemma. Faced with numerous bank failures throughout the country, Hoover wished to announce a plan to help promote bank solvency. He knew, however, that a statement from him would be worse than useless. He had utterly lost the confidence of Congress and the people. He accordingly proposed to Roosevelt that he announce a plan to save the banks. Roosevelt refused to do so, since continued bank failures until he took office were to his political advantage. It would hardly do, would it, to have the banks recover under Hoover? Perish the thought! "On February 28 [1933], Hoover received a message that [Roosevelt adviser] Rexford Tugwell had said that the banks would collapse in a couple of days and that is what they wanted" Roosevelt himself favored such action: the point was not to allow Hoover credit for it.

They Thought They Were Liberals

clipped from blog.heritage.org In every single case before the rise of totalitarian governments there had been a period dominated by economic planners. Each of these nations had an era under starry-eyed men who believed that they could plan and force the economic life of the people. They believed that was the way to correct abuse or to meet emergencies in systems of free enterprise. They exalted the state as the solver of all economic problems. These men thought they were liberals. But they also thought they could have economic dictatorship by bureaucracy and at the same time preserve free speech, orderly justice, and free government. These men are not Communists or Fascists. But they mixed these ideas into free systems. It is true that Communists and Fascists were round about. They formed popular fronts and gave the applause. These men shifted the relation of government to free enterprise from that of umpire to controller.

The Competent Subsidizing The Careless

clipped from www.powerlineblog.com Historically, it's been a truism that banks don't make money on credit card customers who pay off their bills every month. All of that is about to change, as Congress has just enacted new credit card regulations intended to limit banks' ability to collect money from distressed or incompetent customers. The New York Times explains the consequences: "It will be a different business," said Edward L. Yingling, the chief executive of the American Bankers Association, which has been lobbying Congress for more lenient legislation on behalf of the nation's biggest banks. "Those that manage their credit well will in some degree subsidize those that have credit problems." The competent subsidizing the careless--that's classic Democratic Party policy. So it inserted these words amid the legalese: "If you call (612) xxx-xxxx, we will give you $50." As I recall, they sent out tens of thousands of notices and got five or ten phone calls.

The Real (Jimmah II On Steroids) OLegacy

clipped from pajamasmedia.com HOPE AND CHANGE: Brazil and China eye plan to axe dollar. “Brazil and China will work towards using their own currencies in trade transactions rather than the US dollar, according to Brazil’s central bank and aides to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president. The move follows recent Chinese challenges to the status of the dollar as the world’s leading international currency.” Quite an accomplishment — Obama has been president for just four months, and his legacy already seems secure. . . .

Dems Aren't Power-Mad Lying Morons Like The Pubs At All... Absolutely Not

clipped from pajamasmedia.com CHANGE: Democrats Won’t Fund Guantanamo Closing. And yet Guantanamo made voting them in a matter of fierce moral urgency.

The Missing Outcry

clipped from www.realclearpolitics.com At worst, the burgeoning debt could trigger a future financial crisis. The danger is that "we won't be able to sell it (Treasury debt) at reasonable interest rates," says economist Rudy Penner, head of the CBO from 1983 to 1987. In today's anxious climate, this hasn't happened. American and foreign investors have favored "safe" U.S. Treasuries. But a glut of bonds, fears of inflation -- or something else -- might one day shatter confidence. Bond prices might fall sharply; interest rates would rise. The consequences could be worldwide because foreigners own half of U.S. Treasury debt. The wonder is that these issues have been so ignored. Imagine hypothetically that a President McCain had submitted a budget plan identical to Obama's. There would almost certainly have been a loud outcry: "McCain's Mortgaging Our Future." Obama should be held to no less exacting a standard.

Stay Tuned To China

clipped from www.forbes.com And there is one more point: The state banks do not have to actually trigger a crisis to cause great damage to China's economy. Beijing will undoubtedly try to repair bank balance sheets by dropping both deposit and lending rates to abnormally low levels. This will create imbalances in the economy and, as Peking University's Michael Pettis argues, undermine efforts to stimulate consumption. Stimulating consumption is job one for Premier Wen, especially if the country cannot export its way out of the global downturn because the crisis is deeper and longer than expected. Beijing's technocrats, by engineering one of the greatest lending surges in history, are creating the condition for China's next banking crisis. So stay tuned.

Talking Points

clipped from pajamasmedia.com In fact, the beauty of MoDo’s snafu is that not only does it show a major player in the media being led around by nutroots talking points, it involves her lifting stuff from a blog that’s actually called “Talking Points.” Glorious. Indeed.

COTD: Feet Of Clay

clipped from pajamasmedia.com I would suggest that this cycle - obama worship, Obama’s grab for power over every facet of American life, extreme liberalism and socialism must go to its’ extreme before it swings back. I would suggest that Obama will attempt to become our dictator soon enough, certainly within the next four years. It will be during a crisis that he attempts this. (remember Roman History, please!) He loves power, loves it more than life, I would suggest. Whether he succeeds I do not know. But I think that he really wants it and believes it is his fate. He is not a man to see his limits, to see his failings as failings. He does not respect us or our Constitution. As this article says, there is a competence gap the size of a small planet in this administration and certainly in Obama, but I doubt Obama is capable of humility even in his sleep. He is a man with feet of clay. Could something save the republic? yes, world events heating up to over boiling. Things becoming utterly uncontrollable …

COTD: Horrified

clipped from pajamasmedia.com My elderly friend who was born in post-Bolshevik Russia in 1929, and escaped with her family through China at age 5, is completely horrified at the speed and destructiveness of the central planning/collectivist/destruction of individualism that we are seeing. I’ve been talking with family about the fallacy that many entertain about Russia, that somehow Russia was just “destined to be a communisted-dominated economic train wreck” rather than realizing that Russia was the victim of power-hungry men who used destructive policies to control people. Russia was not genetically condemned to such destruction any more than we are. And we are are not safe from such destruction any more than Russia was. It is my sense that if we do not succeed in blowing the situation wide open in the time period between now and November 2010, we will have lost the opportunity. At least 75% of those in office now have got to go, from both sides of the aisle.

COTD Yet Again

clipped from pajamasmedia.com His incompetence is the only thing protecting us from the consequences of his malevolence.

Pithy indeed.

COTD Update: Incapable Of Abstract Thought

clipped from pajamasmedia.com The intelligence of a man who thinks Iraq should have been conceded to Al Qaeda and Iran is obviously overrated. As Mark Steyn said prior to the war to liberate Iraq, the choice was between bad and worse. As difficult as Iraq was, it was better than leaving in power a terrorist supporting and terrorist harboring, mass murdering, genocidal Stalinist dictator who was in daily defiance of UN Ceasefire Resolutions for 12 years. If he had not been removed from power he would today be pursuing nuclear weapons and there would be no valid argument to deny Iran the same right and vice versa. A hallmark of the liberal mind is to criticize something without considering the alternatives. Gitmo is a perfect example.

Did I Forget To Mention That Nuremberg Was A Military Tribunal?

clipped from pajamasmedia.com We’ve heard the cliché: there is a difference between campaigning and governing. But in the last few weeks the contrast between the two could not have been more stark. And the gap between President Obama’s effectiveness at the former and shakiness at the latter is coming into focus. Guantanamo is the most vivid example. As a candidate, Obama pushed the notion that George W. Bush was a constitutional Neanderthal and destroyer of American values. Now he’s discovered that it is really hard to figure out what to do with these really bad people. And he’s even discovered the virtue of the Bush-created military tribunals.

COTD: Surviving Being Norway

clipped from taxprof.typepad.com A country like Norway, semi-socialist as it is, only survives economically with its high taxes, because it mines and drills the living daylights out of its resources. Good for them. But since our Democrats in the U.S. don't want more drilling but they DO want higher taxes and taxpayer-provided full health-care, we're in for some BIG TROUBLE. The Democrats don't know how to make our economy work better. They love the "European" model, but they don't realize how that's going to crush us even worse. We already pay total fed, st, local taxes of nearly 40% of GDP. I'd say that's economic suicide especially with our idiotic energy policy. These "OECD" studies are useless. They provide no answers of how to achieve the "American Dream". We need MORE freedom, not less economic freedom.

Today's Belly Laugh ... And Prediction

clipped from www.qando.net Dictated by the 5 of 9 Chrysler board members (appointed by the US and Canadian governments) and the UAW board member, Chrysler is pleased to present the 2010 Obamamobile: Coming to a politically correct dealership near you soon! Note the standard dual teleprompters. Since this model is run by hot air and not much else, all you have to do to boost power is read the prepared statements on the ‘prompter and zoom, you’re off to the races!

Stolen shamelessly in whole because it's so perfect.

Even Ignatius Is Starting To Get It

clipped from www.realclearpolitics.com Private lenders are extremely wary of having the federal government as a partner. And this phobia about government money could actually cripple Geithner's plan for public-private partnerships to buy up toxic mortgage securities. After the public flaying of AIG executives' bonuses, financial CEOs became wary of taking P-PIP loans -- fearing that they would be attacked as profiteers or morons, depending on whether they made or lost money. Many analysts predict P-PIP will have few big-name players. Fear of federal funds has become so acute that leading bankers are competing to see how quickly they can pay back last year's capital infusions from the Treasury. What if the mistake of the 1990s was that we strapped a casino to our economy, and let the roulette wheel take control? Summers and Geithner may want a better-regulated casino, but is that really the right way to build a new foundation for the economy? But the future of securitized lending will be decided, in the end, by the markets.

Delicate Sensibilities

clipped from sweetness-light.com And what torture? Men hanging upside down? Excrement-throwing prisoners getting a taste of their own medicine? Playboy magazines? Panties on heads again? How outrageous. Civilian Nick Berg’s decapitated body on display in Baghdad. We hope they don’t offend the delicate sensibilities of the ‘Arab Street.’

Any Chrysler Execs In The Audience Tonight?

clipped from hotair.com Yeah, all kinds of people are kicking themselves for voting for me. Any Chrysler execs in the audience tonight? Wave your top hats and monocles. Just kidding, they’re all in their panic rooms. If they want to figure out what the hell happened, I hope they stocked copies of The Communist Manifesto. It’ll change your life! [grins] Well, it’s about time for me to clear the stage so Wanda Sykes can say things really loudly and wait for people to laugh. I hope she uses the Limbaugh jokes I sent her. And that’s my time, folks, you’ve been great. POTUS out!

Heh.

UPDATE: OK, I just can't let you miss this part:

Hey, have you seen that new Star Trek movie? Terrific, terrific stuff. A Star Trek for our times. I’ve even read some reviews saying I’d make a good starship captain. Yeah. Can’t you just see it? Right after I lay off 8.9% of the crew and blame it on the previous captain, I go around the galaxy apologizing to the Klingons. And the Romulans. And the Cardassians. And the Ferengi. And the Tribbles…

I wouldn’t have Air Force One, though. Or as I like to call it, Air Force 9/11. We really put a good scare into those New Yorkers, huh? Gotta keep ‘em on their toes. They’ll get over it, though. I mean, what are they gonna do, not vote for me? [biggest laugh of evening]

Balancing The OCheckbook

clipped from online.wsj.com A close examination of their finances shows that the Obamas were living off lines of credit along with other income for several years until 2005, when Obama's book royalties came through and Michelle received her 260% pay raise at the University of Chicago. This was also the year Obama started serving in the U.S. Senate. . . . In April 1999, they purchased a Chicago condo and obtained a mortgage for $159,250. In May 1999, they took out a line of credit for $20,750. Then, in 2002, they refinanced the condo with a $210,000 mortgage, which means they took out about $50,000 in equity. Finally, in 2004, they took out another line of credit for $100,000 on top of the mortgage. Tax returns for 2004 reveal $14,395 in mortgage deductions. If we assume an effective interest rate of 6%, then they owed about $240,000 on a home they purchased for about $159,250. This means they spent perhaps $80,000 beyond their income from 1999 to 2004.

Intending To Still Avoid The S.E.R.E. Question

clipped from corner.nationalreview.com [Rep. Dan] Lungren [(R., CA) and the state's former attorney general] then switched gears to a line of questioning aimed at clarifying the Obama Justice Department’s definition of torture. In one of the rare times he gave a straight answer, Holder stated at the hearing that in his view waterboarding is torture.  Lundgren asked if it was the Justice Department’s position that Navy SEALS subjected to waterboarding as part of their training were being tortured. Holder:  No, it’s not torture in the legal sense because you’re not doing it with the intention of harming these people physically or mentally, all we’re trying to do is train them — Lungren:  So it’s the question of intent?

It Has Been For A Long Time

clipped from article.nationalreview.com Alinsky’s influence goes well beyond Obama, obviously. There are many wonderful Democrats in this world, but evidence suggests that rising in that party’s political hierarchy requires some adoption of a variation of the Alinsky philosophy: Power comes first. Few Democrats are expressing outrage over Nancy Pelosi’s ever-shifting explanation of what she knew about waterboarding. Those who screamed bloody murder about Jack Abramoff’s crimes avert their eyes from John Murtha. The anti-war movement that opposed the surge in Iraq remains silent about sending additional troops to Afghanistan. Obama will never get as much grief for his gay-marriage views as Miss California. It’s not about the policies or the politics, and it’s certainly not about the principles. It’s about power, and it has been for a long time.

Hobgoblins

clipped from article.nationalreview.com Obama insists that he doesn’t want the government to run car companies, but he has fired CEOs, demonized bondholders, ensured the UAW gets the sweetest deal, and guaranteed warrantees. He insists that he doesn’t want to run banks, but his Treasury Department hesitates to take back some of the TARP funds that give them influence over bank policies. He’s critical of Wall Street, but he signed off on Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s remarkably generous plan to give hedge funds and private investors a low-risk, high-reward option on toxic assets. Much of this is explained by Alinsky’s epigram, “In the politics of human life, consistency is not a virtue.”

Alinsky On Innumeracy

clipped from article.nationalreview.com In a letter to the Boston Globe, Alinsky’s son wrote that “the Democratic National Convention had all the elements of the perfectly organized event, Saul Alinsky style. . . .  Barack Obama’s training in Chicago by the great community organizers is showing its effectiveness. It is an amazingly powerful format, and the method of my late father always works to get the message out and get the supporters on board. When executed meticulously and thoughtfully, it is a powerful strategy for initiating change and making it really happen. Obama learned his lesson well.” As a tool for understanding the thinking of Obama, Alinsky’s most famous book, Rules for Radicals, is simultaneously edifying and worrisome. Some passages make Machiavelli’s Prince read like a Sesame Street picture book on manners. One of Alinsky’s first lessons is: “Radicals must have a degree of control over the flow of events.” Millions of Americans do not know how many million dollars make up a billion.

Just Like The 30s ... That Worked Out SO Well...

clipped from www.nationaljournal.com On their two top domestic priorities, President Obama and leading congressional Democrats this week executed pincer movements that allied them with traditional adversaries in business and potentially isolated congressional Republican opponents. These maneuvers on health care and energy could signal a crucial shift in Washington's tectonic plates of power. "You've got business that has sometimes opposed everything Democrats have done lining up to help get it done," White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said. The potential breakthrough on energy came on Tuesday when Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman of California and Edward Markey of Massachusetts introduced revised legislation to promote renewable energy and reduce the carbon emissions linked to global warming, but at a slower pace than they originally sought. The compromise, which Waxman's Energy and Commerce Committee is set to mark up next week, drew head-turning praise from the Edison Electric Institute, the utility trade association.

One Hundred Six Point Four

clipped from www.forbes.com To put it another way, the total unfunded indebtedness of Social Security and Medicare comes to $106.4 trillion. That is how much larger the nation's capital stock would have to be today, all of it owned by the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, to generate enough income to pay all the benefits that have been promised over and above future payroll taxes. But the nation's total private net worth is only $51.5 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve. In effect, we have promised the elderly benefits equal to more than twice the nation's total wealth on top of the payroll tax. Of course, theoretically, benefits could be cut to prevent the necessity of a massive tax increase. But how likely is that? The percentage of the population that benefits from Social Security and Medicare is growing daily as the baby boom generation ages and longevity increases. And the elderly vote in the highest percentage of any age group, so their political influence is even greater than their numbers.

Oh, Wait

clipped from pajamasmedia.com President Barack Obama, calling current deficit spending “unsustainable,” warned of skyrocketing interest rates for consumers if the U.S. continues to finance government by borrowing from other countries. “We can’t keep on just borrowing from China,” Obama said at a town-hall meeting in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, outside Albuquerque. “We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children’s future with more and more debt.” Holders of U.S. debt will eventually “get tired” of buying it, causing interest rates on everything from auto loans to home mortgages to increase, Obama said. “It will have a dampening effect on our economy.” Gee, you don’t say. I wonder how things could have come to such a pass? Good thing Obama’s on the job paring our debt. Oh, wait:

COTD: Brit Quotes

clipped from www.cincinnatusblog.com “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessing; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries” - Winston Churchill “The problem with socialism is that you eventually, run out of other people’s money.” - Margaret Thatcher

Hasta La Vista Awnuld

clipped from reason.tv He was the perfect political superhero, sent to rescue California from spend-happy politicians at just the right time. And yet Arnold Schwarzenegger’s reign as governor has turned into a disaster flick that could spell catastrophe for the Golden State—and the whole nation. Sadly, California and Schwarzenegger are hardly alone in spending well beyond their means. As many as 40 states face whopping deficits that are only going to get worse as the recession continues. If country-wide trends do start in California, Rep. McClintock worries about what's in store for our nation. "As high taxes, high borrowing and high spending destroy California’s economy, Californians are moving to those 49 other states. If we allow the same policies to destroy our country where are we going to go?"

The video is well done and sobering. Click over and watch it. It's an SEIU nation apparently. Oh, and you wonder where lots of the cash came from that elected O Duce?

Energy Deja Vu (Part 38,735)

clipped from wattsupwiththat.com the “consensus” back in the mid-1970s was that America and the world were running out of oil. Ironically, some in the media were also claiming a scientific consensus that the planet was cooling, fossil fuels could be to blame, and we were all going to freeze to death unless we kicked our fossil-fuel habit. We were told we needed to find alternatives to oil – fast. That task, we were told, was too important to leave to markets, so government needed to intervene with massive taxpayer subsidies for otherwise uneconomic forms of energy. That thinking led to the now infamous 1977 National Energy Plan, an experiment with central planning that failed miserably. Fast-forward to today, and: déjà vu. This time the fear is not so much that we‟re running out of oil, but that we‟re running out of time – the earth is getting hotter, humans are to blame, and we‟re all doomed if we don‟t stop using fossil fuels – fast. Once again we‟re being told that the job is too important to be left to markets.

If it wasn't for the (minor) part on coal CO2 sequestration, this would get a perfect 10. RTWT.

Amusing Ourselves To Death Watch

clipped from www.youtube.com

It IS Corruption

clipped from www.washingtonpost.com The Obama administration's agenda of maximizing dependency involves political favoritism cloaked in the raiment of "economic planning" and "social justice" that somehow produce results superior to what markets produce when freedom allows merit to manifest itself, and incompetence to fail. The administration's central activity -- the political allocation of wealth and opportunity -- is not merely susceptible to corruption, it is corruption.

Fr*ck.

Downfall

clipped from www.nytimes.com Traditionally, empires that hold the global reserve currency are also net foreign creditors and net lenders. The British Empire declined — and the pound lost its status as the main global reserve currency — when Britain became a net debtor and a net borrower in World War II. Today, the United States is in a similar position. It is running huge budget and trade deficits, and is relying on the kindness of restless foreign creditors who are starting to feel uneasy about accumulating even more dollar assets. The resulting downfall of the dollar may be only a matter of time.

No Laws At All

clipped from insidetheasylum.blogsome.com Even the ancient Chinese knew what it meant to Go John Galt. Confucius said, “When the ruler is correct, his will is put into effect without the need for official orders. When the ruler’s person is not correct, he will not be obeyed no matter how many orders he issues.” Analects XIII.6 Interpretation: Confucianism, amongst other things, is extremely averse to having too many laws. In fact, an ideal state will have no laws at all.

Probably Right About Both

clipped from tigerhawk.blogspot.com Today, Martin Felstein adds his considerably more authoritative voice to the outrage: The barrage of tax increases proposed in President Barack Obama's budget could, if enacted by Congress, kill any chance of an early and sustained recovery. Historians and economists who've studied the 1930s conclude that the tax increases passed during that decade derailed the recovery and slowed the decline in unemployment. That was true of the 1935 tax on corporate earnings and of the 1937 introduction of the payroll tax. Japan did the same destructive thing by raising its value-added tax rate in 1997. I increasingly wonder whether the Obama administration has persuaded itself that blame for the poor economy is so completely on the shoulders of George W. Bush that the public will not hold it responsible for the poor economy at any point. Or, perhaps, that the massive new largesse showered on American voters will protect the Democrats in forthcoming elections. Perhaps they are right about both.

What Actual Torture Looks Like

clipped from gatewaypundit.blogspot.com North Korean defector Bang Mi-sun shows her torture scars at a press conference in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. /Yonhap

COTD: Promises

clipped from hotair.com Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. He promised: 1.) That participation in the Program would be completely voluntary, 2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual incomes into the Program, 3.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year, 4.) That the money the participants put into the Independent “Trust Fund” rather than into the General Operating Fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other Government program, and, 5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income. Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the Independent “Trust Fund” and put it into the General fund so that Congress could spend it? A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically controlled House and Senate.

Mythology Update

clipped from www.news.com.au THE POLAR CAPS ARE MELTING Wrong. The British Antarctic Survey, working with NASA, last week confirmed ice around Antarctica has grown 100,000 sq km each decade for the past 30 years. Long-term monitoring by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports the same: southern hemisphere ice has been expanding for decades. As for the Arctic, wrong again. The Arctic ice cap shrank badly two summers ago after years of steady decline, but has since largely recovered. Satellite data from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Centre this week shows the Arctic hasn't had this much April ice for at least seven years. Norway's Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre says the ice is now within the standard deviation range for 1979 to 2007.