Free kibbles

ECONOMY:

Even the liberal media has realized this apparent recovery is a fake.

"There is something affected, something not believable, something agitpropish, about all the cheers for the glorious economic recovery we are supposed to be experiencing. Even some of the recovery's biggest boosters don't quite believe it.
I'm thinking of the reporter on National Public Radio a few days ago who, at the end of a segment, offered a passing warning that the bust did not come to an "organic" end, but rather was artificially stopped by government intervention.
...
A year ago this month, the whole country was in agreement that we had been living an illusion for the previous ten years and that the prosperity we thought we were enjoying was not sustainable. There was no dissent on this point. Even Obama admitted it. Today, the illusion is even more egregious than it was, and yet people are once again embracing it as if it will not end.
The policy response to the downturn has been one of the most shortsighted and economically irrational in the entire history of mankind. Why did they do it? It's all for the politics of the short term.
The entire economic structure has been phonied up in order to make a success of the Obama cult. This is the driving motivation, alongside the obvious desire on the part of financial and banking big shots for a bailout."

The graph of investment linked in the article shows the story. Investment in the US has dropped to 1999 levels and it's still falling. We've lost 10 years of our lives and 10 years of accumulated wealth. Our economy won't begin recovering for real until several years after investment begins to grow again.

President Obama says some Americans have selective amnesia on the economy, then he goes on to prove that he's one of them.

HEALTH CARE:

Republican Senator Tom Coburn explains the consequences of government run health care to a constituent at a town hall meeting including how health care innovation will practically stop. This is excellent.

It turns out this trigger I've been hearing about is just another way to for government to take over the health insurance industry without Democrats taking responsibility for it. The idea is that any law passed now won't include the government option directly, but if the private sector doesn't meet some goals specified by government, then the government option will be triggered into existence. The trick is that the law will guarantee the goals can't be met so the government option will be a fait accompli. It's kind of funny that Democrats claim the president hasn't taken the lead on health care, that's why he's giving this speech tonight, "despite having given 27 speeches entirely on health care, and another 92 in which it figured prominently." If these politicians weren't so powerfully dangerous, they'd be funnier than the Keystone Cops.

Blogger asks three Ohio politicians who will pay for Obamacare. The answers are entertaining.

Obama and stooge on health care translated.

Details of the Baucus health care oppression plan.

Thomas Sowell calls President Obama a liar. Good for him. Everybody else is too scared to be that honest. Sowell doesn't have to worry about being called a racist, but I'll bet liberals start calling him an Uncle Tom.

"One plain fact should outweigh all the words of Barack Obama and all the impressive trappings of the setting in which he says them: He tried to rush Congress into passing a massive government takeover of the nation's medical care before the August recess-- for a program that would not take effect until 2013.
Whatever President Obama is, he is not stupid. If the urgency to pass the medical care legislation was to deal with a problem immediately, then why postpone the date when the legislation goes into effect for years-- more specifically, until the year after the next Presidential election.
If this is such an urgently needed program, why wait for years to put it into effect? And if the public is going to benefit from this, why not let them experience those benefits before the next Presidential election."

Facts are stubborn things.

Obama and Democrats are pushing seniors into supporting Republicans.

Text and video of Obama's health care speech before Congress.

FEDERAL RESERVE:

How the Fed corrupts and dominates economics and stifles criticism. Liberals are figuring it out. Talk radio people are suddenly harping on the Fed printing money. People are figuring it out.

SPENDING/DEBT:

Republicans should filibuster Democrats' attempt to raise the debt ceiling. Default is a synonym for cut spending.

WAR:

Iran meddling in Afghan war. Duh. If Iran had invaded Canada, we'd be meddling in that war. I don't know where US aristocrats get the idea that they can send US troops anywhere in the world to kill anybody they declare an enemy, but it's bad when other governments meddle. We need to get our troops out of Afghanistan and focus on stopping North Korea and Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

POLITICS:

Glenn Beck is a right-wing political terrorist. These loonie leftists are nuts. (I know it's redundant.) Why any major news outlet would give a loon like that a forum is beyond me.

I think it would be great to get Barney Frank out of Congress and into Obama's cabinet. He can't do any more damage there than any other stooge, but he's done tremendous damage in Congress.

List of Obama's czars. But it doesn't include Obama's new manufacturing czar.

Republican congressman shouts "You lie." at Obama during speech before Congress. McCain and others call for him to apologize, and he apologizes. Why? Obama does lie. Every American should point it out. Nobody has to sit quietly and listen to the president lie to them. He's not our king. Politics in America is supposed to be rough and tumble. This idea that everybody has to bow down to the president and be respectful to him is a load of crap. This gets back to the idea that the president appearing before Congress assumes the appearance of a monarch. It's baloney. If the president comes to Congress and tries to lord power over them like Obama did tonight, the congressmen should respond like MPs in Britain when they challenge their Prime Minister. Frankly, the Constitution, because of separation of powers, should bar the president from making speeches in Congress. But this outburst might help Democrats' health care agenda.

MISC:

Teenager creates solar panel from human hair. That's quite an accomplishment, but will it really be production worthy? How long will hair last in the sun?

Hugo Chavez and Oliver Stone are two peas in a pod.

Obama is trying to use funding for the arts to push leftist propaganda. He knows every trick in the book, and he's using all of them to destroy freedom and America.

Congress wants to tax tourists to fund a campaign to invite more tourists to America. Only government would think is a good idea.

Congressman at town hall tells his constituents that it's his town hall meeting, not theirs. This isn't notable because it's an exception. This is how they all feel.

Doug Bandow makes the case that Congress has the power to force the president to seek warrants for wiretaps even during wartime. I think he's basing that argument on this clause from the Constitution: "make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces". I don't see it. Bandow seems to be taking an expansive view of the terms government and regulation. Trying to force the president to get warrants before wiretapping enemy suspects interferes with his power as commander-in-chief. It's like making a rule forcing soldiers to get a warrant before they shoot. That can't be what it means. I'll have to read up on the arguments of the founders on what "make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces" originally meant. Some day. I think it means basic rules concerning duration of tours, theft, assault, housing, promotions, medals etc. He also seems to think waterboarding is torture. I disagree. I do agree that anybody who broke the law has to be held accountable. Policy makers can't be above the law. I don't agree that a special prosecutor is how to do that. Special prosecutors instantly become rogues out for personal glory instead of justice. In fact, we have evidence that CIA agents who surpassed the limits were prosecuted through standard procedures. If there's evidence of more crimes, they should be prosecuted through standard procedures too. And nobody should be prosecuted for waterboading.

All this talk about Obama looking backwards and prosecuting former policy makers gives me an idea. Since policy makers should not be above the law, the next president should prosecute Obama for seizing GM (and other things) for abrogation of rights under color of law. What if the next president had prosecuted Wilson, LBJ for taking away our rights? (I leave out Lincoln and FDR because they died in office.) We'd live in a much freer and more prosperous country today.

In fact, pretty much every government official could be prosecuted for the same reason. The FCC denies our free speech rights. The Dept. of Commerce denies our freedom to pursue commerce. The Dept. of Agriculture denies our freedom to pursue farming. The Dept. of Education takes our money by force for an illegal function. Etc. If we elect a libertarian president, he could wipe out big government through prosecution in just one term. Obama's opening up Pandora's box, and it may boomerang and destroy big government.