Obama's Legacy

From Financial Times:

America’s disastrous debt is Obama’s biggest test

By Roger Altman

Published: April 19 2010 23:05 | Last updated: April 19 2010 23:05

The global financial system is again transfixed by sovereign debt risks. This evokes bad memories of defaults and near-defaults among emerging nations such as Argentina, Russia and Mexico. But the real issue is not whether Greece or another small country might fail. Instead, it is whether the credit standing and currency stability of the world’s biggest borrower, the US, will be jeopardised by its disastrous outlook on deficits and debt.

America’s fiscal picture is even worse than it looks. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office just projected that over 10 years, cumulative deficits will reach $9,700bn and federal debt 90 per cent of gross domestic product – nearly equal to Italy’s. Global capital markets are unlikely to accept that credit erosion. If they revolt, as in 1979, ugly changes in fiscal and monetary policy will be imposed on Washington. More than Afghanistan or unemployment, this is President Barack Obama’s greatest vulnerability.

Read more....

Air Travel Is A Dirty Business

The body that represents the world's airlines, IATA, has criticised Europe's governments for the way they closed air space because of volcanic ash.

The head of the airline industry body, Giovanni Bisignani, told the BBC: "This is a European embarrassment and it's a European mess."

Millions of passengers have been affected by the crisis, which is now into its fifth day.

Britain ordered three Royal Navy ships to help bring home stranded nationals.

[Full story]

Sure, but all it would take is one airplane that crashes from the volcanic ash and the yelling would be about what the governments did not do.

Take a boat.

Bernanke Warns About Deficits

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sounds a warning on growing deficit

Neil Irwin and Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 8, 2010

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke warned Wednesday that Americans may have to accept higher taxes or changes in cherished entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security [and Comprehensive Health Care Coverage] if the nation is to avoid staggering budget deficits that threaten to choke off economic growth.

So, now tell us something we didn't know.

Turning The Other Cheeks

From The New York Times:

For the first time, the United States is explicitly committing not to use nuclear weapons against nonnuclear states that are in compliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, even if they attacked the United States with biological or chemical weapons or launched a crippling cyberattack.

[Full story]

Yes, indeed. Bend over and turn the other cheeks.

The Religion Of Peace

If they treat believers this way, what will they do to non-believers?

The attackers used army uniforms

Iraqi gunmen have killed 25 people believed to be linked to Sunni militias opposing al-Qaeda, police say.

Five women were among those killed, as the gunmen in army uniforms pulled the victims out of their houses in a village south of Baghdad on Saturday.

The victims were reported to have been tied up before being shot in the head.

Sunni militias turned against al-Qaeda and its militant allies two years ago in what was a key turning point in the campaign to quell the Iraqi insurgency.

[full story]

The veneer of religion is very thin. This is all about power as it has been for more than a millennium.

Texas Here We Come

The politics of George Bush and his Texas lifestyle are roundly hated by the left. But many Americans seem to feel otherwise... especially since the Texas lifestyle seems to come with a job....

From Forbes:

New Geographer

Don't Mess With Texas

Joel Kotkin, 03.30.10, 12:00 PM EDT

Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin are shaping the 21st-century American city.

One of the most ironic aspects of our putative "Age of Obama" is how little impact it has had on the nation's urban geography. Although the administration remains dominated by boosters from traditional blue state cities--particularly the president's political base of Chicago--the nation's metropolitan growth continues to shift mostly toward a handful of Sunbelt red state metropolitan areas.

Read full story....

U.S. and Russia To Reduce Nuclear Weapons By One-Third

Does this mean that the U.S. will reduce it's stock by 2/3? That would be fair given that Russia is a poorer nation and social justice would demand that.

U.S., Russia to slash nukes by one-third

Tom Raum and Robert Burns / Associated Press

Washington -- The United States and Russia sealed the first major nuclear weapons treaty in nearly two decades Friday.

The former Cold War rivals agreed to slash warhead arsenals by nearly one-third and talked hopefully of eventually ridding a fearful world of nuclear arms altogether.

President Barack Obama said the pact was part of an effort to "reset" relations with Russia that have been badly frayed. And at home the agreement gave him the biggest foreign policy achievement of his presidency, just days after he signed the landmark health care overhaul that has been his domestic priority.

[Full story]

Being Responsible Is Irresponsible

Under Doublethink, if you pay your bills on time, pay your taxes fully, and live within your means, you are simply impeding the government's efforts to nationalize the economy.

Gov't Unveils Plan to Shrink Some Home Loans

But don't worry, your taxes will be used to implement the government's plan.

Obama Has Signed the Bill. Now What?

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

Most of the major provisions in the health care legislation do not take effect for months, if not years.

Even some popular changes that Democrats are promoting as “immediate benefits,” like allowing adult dependent children to remain on their parents’ insurance policies, do not actually take effect for six months.

But when President Obama signed the Senate bill into law at the White House on Tuesday morning, some provisions took effect immediately.

Read more....

COMMENTS:

10.

Liz

Seattle

March 23rd, 2010

12:15 pm

Seems like nobody can really figure out what this bill will actually do and when. The reports are so confusing. I support the president wholeheartedly in his efforts and I guess I'm glad about this because he's glad, but in the end I will admit I am very uncertain what we just passed and whether it resembles the original intent at all. I am taking Obama at his word that this is a good thing, but the inability to get solid details on the bill is troubling.

That's all right, Liz. As long as Obama is glad, we can all be glad, can't we?

Purely A Coincidence

... as long as you believe in political coincidences...

Stupak Sold Vote For $1 Million Dollars, Not Abortion Letter

March 23rd, 2010 Posted By Pat Dollard.

The Spero Forum:

Democrat Congressman Bart Stupak of Michigan, who held up passage of healthcare reform legislation that was finally approved in the House of Representatives on March 21, had been heralded as one of the rare members of his party to oppose abortion. However, Stupak finally acceded to demands from within his party, and scathing reviews by celebrities such as fellow Michigander and film-maker Michael Moore and The New York Times columnist Maureen Down, and agreed to support the final version of the bill that has become the center-piece of President Barack Obama’s administration. It was revealed that two days before Stupak agreed to support the bill, his district was awarded nearly $1 million in local airport improvements.

Abortion opponents are vowing to not let ostensible pro-life Democrats, including such pro-life stalwarts as Congressman Dale Kildee - who has been in Congress since 1976 - off the hook before the coming re-election in November 2010. Both Stupak and Kildee are Catholic, and both came under fire especially from pro-abortion and progressive opponents from within their party. Michael Moore, for example, wrote at his website that he would support a primary opponent to Stupak in case he did not come through with a vote for healthcare reform.

Stupaks’s Republican opponent in Michigan’s 1st District is Dr. Daniel Benishek. The surgeon saw traffic to his Facebook page grow quickly after the so-called Stupak Cave. He had about 3,000 “friends” earlier in the month. As of now, they number over 18,000.

Pyrrhic Victory

Victory, proclaims Barack Obama! Victory for those who will pay more for their insurance. Victory for those who will pay higher taxes. Victory for doctors who will receive less for Medicare patients.

Obama Hails Vote on Health Care as Answering ‘the Call of History’

Luke Sharrett/The New York Times

President Obama, with the vice president at the White House, hailed the passage of the health bill.

WASHINGTON — House Democrats approved a far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s health system on Sunday, voting over unanimous Republican opposition to provide medical coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans after an epic political battle that could define the differences between the parties for years.

Read more... and more.

Detroit to graduate 98% of students

Despite legal and political hurdles, Bobb pledged to execute his academic initiatives until someone stops him and vowed not to renew contracts of principals who don't embrace reforms. (Detroit News file)

Last Updated: March 15. 2010 3:27PM

Bobb's goal for DPS: 98% will graduate

Boosting attendance also part of his academic plan

Marisa Schultz / The Detroit News

The $540 million academic plan Robert Bobb will unveil tonight for Detroit Public Schools calls for rigorous achievement standards, offering college-level courses within all high schools and boosting graduation and attendance rates beyond the state average.

Bobb's blueprint sets standards so high that the district would climb from the bottom of the list to among the best in the country for student achievement measures. According to Bobb's plan, Detroit schools' graduation rate would increase from 58 percent to 98 percent graduation rate and all students would pass standardized tests and be accepted into college by 2015.

Read more....

The actual graduation rate is considerably lower than 58%. But even if it was that level, a 40 pp. increase might be more than a stretch goal... maybe a pipe dream. Realistically, there are nowhere near 98% of the students who are capable of "graduating." The only solution is to change the requirements for graduation to "showing up is good enough." Even then, it is unlikely that Mr. Bobb can get 98% of the students to actually show up for four years.

Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright

Tiger Woods to return to golf at the Masters

Woods will be keen to get the focus back on his professional life

Tiger Woods will make his much-anticipated return to competitive golf at the Masters, starting on 8 April.

The world number one's last tournament appearance was on 15 November - when he won the Australian Masters.

Less than a fortnight later he crashed his car outside his Florida home, an incident that led to revelations about his private life and a break from golf.

"As a professional, I think Augusta's where I need to be, even though it's a while since I last played," he said.

Read more....

Since he last played golf, that is.

Slaughtering The U.S. Constitution

From The Wall Street Journal

We're not sure American schools teach civics any more, but once upon a time they taught that under the U.S. Constitution a bill had to pass both the House and Senate to become law. Until this week, that is, when Speaker Nancy Pelosi is moving to merely "deem" that the House has passed the Senate health-care bill and then send it to President Obama to sign anyway.

Under the "reconciliation" process that began yesterday afternoon, the House is supposed to approve the Senate's Christmas Eve bill and then use "sidecar" amendments to fix the things it doesn't like. Those amendments would then go to the Senate under rules that would let Democrats pass them while avoiding the ordinary 60-vote threshold for passing major legislation. This alone is an abuse of traditional Senate process.

But Mrs. Pelosi & Co. fear they lack the votes in the House to pass an identical Senate bill, even with the promise of these reconciliation fixes. House Members hate the thought of going on record voting for the Cornhusker kickback and other special-interest bribes that were added to get this mess through the Senate, as well as the new tax on high-cost insurance plans that Big Labor hates.

Associated Press

Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y

So at the Speaker's command, New York Democrat Louise Slaughter, who chairs the House Rules Committee, may insert what's known as a "self-executing rule," also known as a "hereby rule." Under this amazing procedural ruse, the House would then vote only once on the reconciliation corrections, but not on the underlying Senate bill. If those reconciliation corrections pass, the self-executing rule would say that the Senate bill is presumptively approved by the House—even without a formal up-or-down vote on the actual words of the Senate bill.

Democrats would thus send the Senate bill to President Obama for his signature even as they claimed to oppose the same Senate bill. They would be declaring themselves to be for and against the Senate bill in the same vote. Even John Kerry never went that far with his Iraq war machinations. As we went to press, the precise mechanics that Democrats will use remained unclear, though yesterday Mrs. Pelosi endorsed this "deem and pass" strategy in a meeting with left-wing bloggers.

This two-votes-in-one gambit is a brazen affront to the plain language of the Constitution, which is intended to require democratic accountability. Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution says that in order for a "Bill" to "become a Law," it "shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate." This is why the House and Senate typically have a conference committee to work out differences in what each body passes. While sometimes one house cedes entirely to another, the expectation is that its Members must re-vote on the exact language of the other body's bill.

As Stanford law professor Michael McConnell pointed out in these pages yesterday, "The Slaughter solution attempts to allow the House to pass the Senate bill, plus a bill amending it, with a single vote. The senators would then vote only on the amendatory bill. But this means that no single bill will have passed both houses in the same form." If Congress can now decide that the House can vote for one bill and the Senate can vote for another, and the final result can be some arbitrary hybrid, then we have abandoned one of Madison's core checks and balances.

Yes, self-executing rules have been used in the past, but as the Congressional Research Service put it in a 2006 paper, "Originally, this type of rule was used to expedite House action in disposing of Senate amendments to House-passed bills." They've also been used for amendments such as to a 1998 bill that "would have permitted the CIA to offer employees an early-out retirement program"—but never before to elide a vote on the entire fundamental legislation.

We have entered a political wonderland, where the rules are whatever Democrats say they are. Mrs. Pelosi and the White House are resorting to these abuses because their bill is so unpopular that a majority even of their own party doesn't want to vote for it. Fence-sitting Members are being threatened with primary challengers, a withdrawal of union support and of course ostracism. Michigan's Bart Stupak is being pounded nightly by MSNBC for the high crime of refusing to vote for a bill that he believes will subsidize insurance for abortions.

Democrats are, literally, consuming their own majority for the sake of imposing new taxes, regulations and entitlements that the public has roundly rejected but that they believe will be the crowning achievement of the welfare state. They are also leaving behind a procedural bloody trail that will fuel public fury and make such a vast change of law seem illegitimate to millions of Americans.

The concoction has become so toxic that even Mrs. Pelosi isn't bothering to defend the merits anymore, saying instead last week that "we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it." Or rather, "deeming" to have passed it.

You have to hope this is the tactic that is used because it will be soooooooooo easy to get the Supreme Court to throw the whole mess out.

One term under Obama may be too long for the U.S.

Peak Oil Peaked?

That's peak-ed as opposed to peaked....

BP in $7bn deal to explore for oil in Brazil

BP PLC Last updated: 11 Mar 2010, 16:05 UK price change % 6.89 +0.02 +0.22 More data on this share price

Oil giant BP has announced a deal that will allow it to begin exploring off the coast of Brazil.

It will pay US firm Devon Energy $7bn (£4.7bn) in cash for its Brazilian assets, as well as US deepwater sites in the Gulf of Mexico.

The deal includes 10 exploration "blocks" in Brazil, which has some of the world's largest deepwater oil fields.

BP is also selling Devon half its stake in some Canadian oil fields for $500m.

"Through our entry into Brazil, BP will add a major position in another attractive deepwater basin," said Andy Inglis, BP's head of exploration and production.

Read more....

One must realize that supply is more than just the amount of oil extracted each year. It is necessary to look at supply in relationship to demand. If extraction cannot keep up with demand, supply... regardless of amount... is insufficient. Just as efficiency in manufacturing has increased the relative amount of labor resources available [and unemployment has increased], oil supply may actually increase relative to demand [making oil just another low-priced commodity in the future].

ADDENDUM: It looks as if Peak Oil still has a chance...

Obama completely reverses course: Absolutely no offshore Oil Drilling under his Administration

LifeLock Not A Lock On Identity Theft

But I thought I could give out my personal information to everyone... even giving out cards with all of it printed.

LifeLock settles with FTC for $12 million
By Ben Rooney, staff reporter
March 9, 2010: 5:01 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Federal regulators said Tuesday that LifeLock has agreed to pay $12 million to settle charges the company made deceptive claims about its ability to protect customers from identity theft.

LifeLock will pay $11 million to the Federal Trade Commission and $1 million to a group of 35 state attorneys general in one of the largest joint FTC-state settlements on record, the agency said.

While LifeLock promised consumers complete protection against all types of identity theft, in truth, the protection it actually provided left enough holes that you could drive a truck through it," said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz in a statement.

Read more....

Sure, but could you float a freighter through it?

Debt Higher Than Income Is Bad - Duh!

If only we could run our personal finances this way....

CBO: $10 trillion jump in debt under Obama budget

By Jeanne Sahadi, senior writerMarch 5, 2010: 6:13 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- If President Obama's 2011 budget were put into effect as proposed, the U.S. federal government would add an estimated $9.8 trillion to the country's accrued debt over the next decade, according to a preliminary analysis from the Congressional Budget Office.

Of that amount, an estimated $5.6 trillion will be in interest alone.

By 2020, the agency estimates debt held by the public would reach $20.3 trillion, or 90% of GDP. That's up from 53% of GDP in 2009.

Research done by economists Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart has shown that such high levels of debt can cause a drag on economic growth.

Read more....

It Could Not Be Genocide Because There Are Still Survivors

Maybe we decimated them, but 90% are still alive....

Turkish anger at US Armenian 'genocide' vote

Armenian-Americans have lobbied for official use of the word "genocide"

Turkey has reacted angrily to a US congressional panel's resolution describing as genocide killings of Armenians in World War I.

PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country had been accused of a crime it did not commit, adding the resolution would harm Turkish-US relations.

Ankara has recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations and says it is considering other responses.

Correspondents say it is still an extremely sensitive issue in Turkey.

The government of Turkey, a key American ally and fellow Nato member, had lobbied hard for the American Congress not to vote on the issue.

The White House had also warned that the vote would harm reconciliation talks between Turkey and Armenia.

Read more....

They must be taking "spin" lessons from Charlie Rangel.

Up Down Sideways Gone

Maybe Congress owes the nation a well-conceived and useful piece of legislation... or nothing.

In Final Push, Obama Urges ‘Up-or-Down’ Vote on Health

Luke Sharrett for The New York Times

President Obama called for an up-or-down vote on the health care bill on Wednesday.

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and ROBERT PEAR

Published: March 3, 2010

WASHINGTON — President Obama, beginning his final push for a health care overhaul, called Wednesday for Congress to allow an “up or down vote” on the measure, and sketched out an ambitious — and, some Democrats said, unrealistic — timetable for his party to pass a bill on its own within weeks.

Read more....

Too Lazy To Push

Too lazy to inhale.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Consumers Not Confident

From FT.com:

US consumer confidence falls sharply

By Alan Rappeport in Washington

Published: February 23 2010 15:43 | Last updated: February 23 2010 16:00

Figures on Tuesday showed that consumer confidence in the US fell to the lowest level in 10 months on fears about a slow labour market recovery.

The Conference Board’s index of consumer sentiment fell to 46 in February from a revised 56.5 the prior month. Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board’s consumer research centre, said that fewer consumers were expecting improvements in business conditions or the jobs market in the next six months.

EDITOR’S CHOICE

US home loan foreclosures reach record high - Feb-19

Homebuilding begins year on bright note - Feb-17 [uh, see link above ???]

In depth: US downturn - Nov-17

The weaker than expected report likely reflects the grim political climate and volatility in the financial markets, argues Ted Wieseman, an economist at Morgan Stanley. More worrying, Mr Wieseman said, is that the weak jobs outlook could bode poorly for next week’s employment report.

Read more....

Perhaps because actions to ameliorate the jobs and housing situation have simply exacerbated them?

Ignore The Man Behind The Curtain

From the BBC...

Iran's supreme leader denies nuclear report claims

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said international concerns were 'baseless'

Iran's supreme leader has denied it is developing nuclear weapons, after a new report from the UN atomic watchdog, the IAEA, sparked an international outcry.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the outcry was "baseless" as Iranians' beliefs "bar us from using such weapons".

The blunt report raised concerns Iran was working on nuclear weapons.

Germany said the report "confirms our great concerns", while the US warned Iran it faced consequences if it failed to meet international responsibilities.

Moscow said Iran must co-operate more actively with the International Atomic Energy Agency to convince the world its programme was peaceful.

But Ayatollah Khamenei countered: "We do not believe in atomic weapons and are not seeking that."

Read more....

Just what are the basis of their beliefs?

Christian Violence In The News

• Christian Insurgent Group Claims Failed Suicide Attack On Defense Minister
• Egypt says Christian members planning attack
• Christian militant blasts upcoming elections, threatens violence
• Should France ban the Christian symbols?
• Fort Hood report doesn't mention Christian extremism.
• Can violence truly defend Christianity?
• West has not fully acknowledged threat of radical Christianity

Okay, so maybe one little word was changed. All religions are basically the same, right?

Global Warming Quiz

What is the highest temperature ever recorded?

In 1922 the temperature reached 136° Fahrenheit (58° C) in Libya.

Death Valley in California holds the record for the highest temperature in the U.S. at 134° in 1913.

Shouldn't that be 2009? How can almost 100 years of global warming go by without new extremes? Must be a typo.

Jimmy Carter Returns

From CNNMoney.com

Obama's disco-era jobs bill
By Jia Lynn Yang, writer
February 15, 2010: 11:37 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Fortune) -- The ghost of Jimmy Carter's one-term presidency is hovering over President Obama as the Democrats try to pass a jobs bill in time for this year's elections. So why is the centerpiece of the measure -- a tax break for companies that make new hires -- a play straight from Carter's economic policy circa 1977?

Then, as now, the economy looked anemic and unemployment was high: 7.8% when Carter entered office, compared with 9.7% now. So just eleven days after his inauguration, the president proposed giving companies a temporary tax break if they hired new employees, calling it the New Jobs Tax Credit. The law went into effect for 1977 and 1978, over which time the unemployment rate fell 2%.

A success, right? Economists today are divided, and their reasons get at the heart of the current jobs bill debate. The goal of any jobs tax credit is to spur a company to hire when it otherwise wouldn't. The trouble is, it's impossible to distinguish exactly which companies have plans to hire anyway. Lawmakers can only do their best to design a bill with the right incentives.

Critics of Carter's plan -- and Congress' now -- say that the problem with any jobs credit is the potential for waste. It's estimated that of the companies that claimed the tax credit under Carter's plan, two-thirds would have hired those employees regardless of the tax break.

Read more....

Also...

James Earl Carter, III

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a tool that allows website owners to get some general information about what brings people to their sites [not the personal information about the people themselves].

This just seemed a bit odd for what brought people to a particular post:Why were those searches in Japanese?

The United Snow States of America

From USA Today:

Storm could mean snow on ground in all 50 states

An Oklahoma forecaster is predicting an unusual weather phenomenon snow on the ground in all 50 states at the same time. Read more....

See, it's all of that warm air from global warming that has invaded the Arctic and is pushing out the cold air causing snow in semi-tropical areas. Polar bears are dying from the heat and alligators are dying from the cold.

It's global warming! We're all gonna die!

Michigan - Just Say "What's The Difference?"

After 8 long, dreadful years as Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm is stepping down and new bodies are trying to step up. Rasmussen Reports did a polling of 500 likely voters [which is small and early] but they came up with some interesting results... there was no clear winner in either the Democratic Party [incumbent] or Republican Party [challenger].

The numbers from Michigan at this early stage of the campaign appear to be largely about voter unhappiness over the continuing bad economy and the governing Democrats’ seeming inability to do much about it so far. No matter who the Democratic candidate is and which Republican he or she is matched against, the findings are virtually the same.

In almost all instances, the Democratic Party hypothetical candidate fared poorly against the Republican/Some Other/I Don't Know or Give a Rat's Ass hypothetical candidate.

What do you expect from a state where the Democratic Party can't even figure out how to make winners out of its cronies, much less the whole state.

You Can Insult Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews... But Not Them

Well, yes, but they were insulting....

From The Jawa Report:

Pakistan, India, Netherlands Against Free Speech and Religion

The common theme speaks for itself.

Pakistan:

A court in Faisalabad, Pakistan, sentenced to life imprisonment Imran Masih, a young Christian, for having insulted and desecrated the Koran, according to the Minorities Concern newsletter.

India:

Islam or any other religion can be criticised, but a malicious criticism aimed at promoting communal hatred and painting the whole community as villainous is not permissible, Bombay High Court held today.

Netherlands:

Wilders, in the bizarre inquisition that has replaced justice in the Dutch courts, is accused of offending Muslims by pointing out that Muslims invoke the Qur'an and Muhammad's example to justify violence.

Dubai selling off the Queen Elizabeth 2?

A stunning headline: Dubai selling off the Queen Elizabeth 2?

Her Majesty The Queen

I knew the British were in trouble, but this...?