The Middle Coast

Tea Party New Year

2011-12-31T16:12:00.000-06:00

One nation, under God. Bless America.

A Ninja Cow Before Christmas

2011-12-22T07:40:00.000-06:00

The legend out of Nebraska.

Occupy yourselves, lefties

2011-12-01T22:57:00.001-06:00

Listen and learn. Via small dead animals, Daniel Hannan's 10 pt memo to the OWS crowd. This is pretty funny:

We are not against equality. We generally recognise the benefits in Scandinavian-style homogeneity: crime tends to be lower, people are less stressed etc.

Get honest.

Talking Turkey

2011-11-10T20:14:00.001-06:00

The cost of a Thanksgiving dinner is up 13%.

And millennials are moving in with the 'rents:

According to Census data, 5.9 million Americans between 25 and 34 years of age—nearly a quarter of whom have bachelor's degrees—live with their parents, a significant increase from 4.7 million before the recession.

But many parents can't afford the extra expense. A full 26% of those polled by the nonprofit group took on more debt to help their offspring, 13% delayed a planned life event such as a home purchase, and 7% postponed retirement.

Compounding the problem is the fact that certain parents are crowding the younger generation out of the job market because their support of their grown kids means they can't afford to retire.

It's potluck around the table. That pricey turkey economy.

P.S. Retirement wars. The growing "wealth gap" between old and young could get ugly as it dawns on the latter that they won't have anything to retire on. #OccupyReality Some of their parents won't either.
...Time for a classic --crossposted at BackyardConservative

The Fraudulent Franken Majority

2011-10-13T15:23:00.001-05:00

Minnesota leads the nation in voter fraud convictions:... as a tiny non-profit corporation, we netted more than double the number of convictions in one year than the US Department of Justice was able to find in five

Generational Warfare. "Stop calling our country Taxdonia. This is Lovelandia!

2011-08-04T12:10:00.001-05:00

MoDo notwithstanding--oh, yeah, we're the crazy ones--It's worse than we think:

If we keep raising successive generations’ lifetime net tax rates, we will eventually be hitting up our progeny for every penny they earn, leaving them unable to consume or save. If they can’t save, they can’t invest, which means they won’t be able to maintain -- let alone increase -- the economy’s stock of capital needed to produce goods and services.

The U.S., incidentally, has a national savings rate of zero and a domestic net investment rate of only 4 percent of national income. Both are postwar lows.

Memo to House Republicans: Budget balance doesn’t imply generational balance.[snip]

So what's the bottom line, hmm?

The Youngsters have hired some young economists to use generational accounting to examine the lifetime net tax treatment of different cohorts. Their report isn’t pretty. It shows that past cohorts received, on a lifetime basis, far more than they put in and that the current young are being asked to participate in a Ponzi scheme.

They also learn that measuring debt is a meaningless labeling game since the government can take from the young with the words “taxes,” rather than “borrowing,” and incur debts via promises of future repayment that are tied to the “taxes.”

Today's young aren't feeling the love. They thought it was embodied in Obama. Now more than a few are figuring out he's an empty suit.

Who will be the next young, hot star?

P.S. Rep. Joe Walsh (TEA Party R-IL): Sen. Rob Portman: Matching debt increases with spending cuts will balance the budget in a decade without raising taxes. Wall Street Journal

UPDATE: Doorbell, a Powerline entry:

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

You're gonna make it after all, Minnesota:)

2011-07-15T14:25:00.000-05:00

Was the beer impasse the impetus? The GOP largely prevails:)

Mark Dayton's Big Accomplishment: MN Shutdown

2011-07-07T20:30:00.003-05:00

Thank you Gov. Dayton

Yes, Mark Dayton should be commended, he's not pitching a tent and keeping a state park open just for him, no, no, no. Mark Dayton makes do.

Is Governor Dayton a Man of His Word?

2011-07-05T21:23:00.000-05:00

Minnesota Majority

Dems Choose Class Warfare on the Eve of Independence Day

2011-07-01T09:06:00.006-05:00

The president took his opening salvo, starting his campaign a year early, demonizing yet another group of Americans. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) calls him out on the Senate floor as engaging in behavior more akin to that of a third world leader. Video.

We have a jobless summer, only one in four teens is employed. The minimum wage was raised by Dems when they controlled both Houses in 2007, costs have gone up, tax and regulatory uncertainty is rife, yet the president picks a fight with job creators.

A case in point in Minnesota, where the new Dem governor faces a new Republican legislature. Despite the governor's claims of cuts, the GOP House and Senate actually increased spending slightly over the previous year, balancing the budget without a tax increase. You can just watch the first 5 minutes of this clip for the gist of it. "Whether we tax one group of people or the whole state, it's debt we cannot afford". But Dem Governor Dayton wants to play the class warfare card, so he shut down the state government. [what stays open, what closes] A millionaire himself, his initial shutdown plan--clearly a priority over budget negotiations--kept his chef and gardener at the governor's mansion, classifying them as essential services. And when the governor, prior to the election, in October of last year, was asked if he would shut down the government to achieve his tax increase, he said no. Yet here we are.

Back in DC, Treasury Sec. Tim Turbotax Geithner is the last of the Obama econ advisers to abandon ship. Tax and spend seems to have sunk this country.

Will we still be the land of the free and the home of the brave when our children inherit America?

The Stamp Acts and duties on tea that the British government imposed from afar from the 1760s onward were not symptoms of a deep hatred and mistrust between the center and periphery of the English-speaking world; they were not flash points for anger swelling up from deeper causes. The taxes -- illegal in the English tradition, according to the Colonists, since they violated the rights of free Englishmen to make their own fiscal rules through representatives in Parliament -- were themselves the specific issue on which the Colonists staked their lives and their honor. They would not be browbeaten or oppressed or enslaved, they would not be taxed.

They would not be hijacked and mugged to serve ends about which they had not been consulted. And the Crown knew what they were saying; but it needed the money.

Let's remember why we defied King George.

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Dayton finally comes to the table. What's for lunch

2011-06-24T17:40:00.000-05:00

Having found him unable to disagree agreeably over lunch on a social occasion back when he was completing his term as state auditor, I know he can be wild in a small group setting.

Minnesota Polls Red on Blue Governor

2011-06-21T13:21:00.004-05:00

The spoiled aristobrat Dem Governor of Minnesota, Mark Dayton--remember him, the Senator who fled D.C. in fear--is getting a slap in the face from his constituents. True North with the KSTP poll.

Perhaps they read about his spending priorities, keeping the chef and gardener--let me eat cake--while letting the rest of the state go hang.

The liberal Minneapolis Star Tribune thinks the newly-elected Republican legislature should split the difference--gee, let's just go in the red a little less bloody with borrowed money (tax the rich!), but the new GOP Senate majority leader--she's hanging tough:)

(Wisconsin's not doing too badly these days either.)

I watched this play out in the city at the #ro11 conference this weekend. Illinois could learn a thing or two.

Powerline with more.

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

“Fargo...It’s a way to offshore without necessarily going as far as India or China.”

2011-06-07T11:09:00.001-05:00

Microsoft's been there 10 years and growing. Lower costs are key, especially in this costly Big Government environment.

Approaching a century ago, can we learn from Calvin Coolidge to help us now? Chicago Boyz. Capitalism and freedom, and some really ugly current charts.

Over in Kansas City: U.S. economy is being suffocated by uncertainty. Crushing regulations and credit squeeze.

From savvy Mary in Illinois:

Watch some of the French Open this weekend. Miss Li, freed from the government run sports program, is now the first from her nation to win a grand slam event. In addition, she will only pay 12% of her $1.7 million check for winning the French Open to the Chinese government instead of the 67% the government demands of the players under its control. Less regulation. Lower taxes. Improved results. If China can figure out that control coupled with low rewards don't produce the desired results, why can't Washington?

Why indeed. China sounds like Illinois. America is heading there, though we have at least one other bright spot.

Meanwhile, Obama's campaign guru thinks it's WWII:

With their hopes dashed of substantial improvement in unemployment anytime soon, aides indicated that the theme was likely to be less “morning in America” and more “don’t change horses in midstream.”

Mr. Axelrod said: “We’re not going to be putting up a ‘Mission Accomplished’ sign. Part of the message is going to be we have to see these things through.”

In an interview at his Chicago consulting offices, Mr. Axelrod repeatedly said “stability” for the middle class would be central.

Oh, wow, locked into stagnation, or worse. It's a war all right "Obama's troops...already on the ground", but we're the enemy. As Peggy Noonan notes, this president is really, really cold to those who disagree with him--which is a lot of the country these days.

Not all Americans can or will vote with their feet, but if we want America to still be America, we've got to vote this guy out.

More. Via RCP: Chinese entrepreneurs leaving China. Gordon Chang, Forbes:

Beijing, since 2008, has been targeting private entrepreneurs and abusing them even more than usual, so it is natural they are now trying to protect themselves from a rapacious state.

Escaping crony commies. Some are coming here, some to Canada. Entrepreneurs unite! Lose the chains.

David Skeel: The Real Cost of the Auto Bailouts

...Latest wrong track poll, The Hill, voters looking ahead to where they'll be in Nov. 2012. HT Memeorandum. Will you better off? Just 25% think so. Not an Obama winning the future outlook these days.

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Wake up

2011-06-04T16:59:00.000-05:00

Anemic Job Growth, More Layoffs. The Obama Economy

2011-06-01T12:46:00.000-05:00

You break it you own it, Barack. Far below expectations: CNBC.

Chicago gas prices highest in country again.

More housing hell.

Obama on the spot today as that crack on the job Joe the Biden is overseas.

Meanwhile it's Day 760 and counting on the Dems' lack of a budget. Remarkably cynical. Yes we can.

More. We need jobs, and growth comes from small business. The GOP alternative.

"Who’s anti-intellectual, the party that designs a creative and daring plan to save entitlements while balancing the budget, or the party that responds to that idea by filming a video of a man throwing grandma off a cliff?" - RedState

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Pawlenty Braves Iowa on Ethanol

2011-05-24T18:22:00.001-05:00

He may lose to Michele Bachmann in the Iowa primary but kudos to Tim Pawlenty for breaking the ethanol stranglehold Iowa has had on both parties. WSJ:

"The truth about federal energy subsidies, including federal subsidies for ethanol, is that they have to be phased out," Mr. Pawlenty told a crowd in Des Moines. "We simply can't afford them anymore."

He's certainly right about that, though that hasn't stopped nearly every other candidate from deploring the federal deficit while supporting the most egregious of corporate welfare subsidies. This marks a change for Mr. Pawlenty, who over two terms leading Iowa's northern neighbor first fought farmers on subsidies but later supported their push for a 20% ethanol mandate for gasoline. But in refusing to stick to the script for candidates looking to harvest votes in February's Iowa caucuses, Mr. Pawlenty has passed an early test of fortitude. By opposing ethanol despite the political risks, Mr. Pawlenty will also gain credibility to tackle other energy subsidies that drain the federal fisc to little good effect.

His ad was a winner and he's building on that.

More. Examiner pro and con here.

Lake Country

2011-05-22T16:10:00.000-05:00

But will anyone actually vote for the guy in the primaries?

2011-05-16T20:43:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not talking Romney who I wish would go away, or Gingrich who is now TOTAL TOAST, but Mitch Daniels.

He's the one looking good on paper as a president before he decides to explore a run but I have this uneasy feeling he's kind of tone deaf and too low key. Well, we shall see.

This latest judicial decision in Indiana won't help his already low poll numbers either.

I look forward to the debates and some fireworks before the winter caucus in Iowa.

And we may have some late entrants--it's a wide open race:)

As Rush says, Dems will tell us who they fear.

P.S. HotAir poll.

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Obama's Running Mate, Mitt. Mr. Fix-It Stuffs Up Beyond Repair on RomneyCare

2011-05-12T09:48:00.000-05:00

WSJ scathing editorial in advance of today's op-ed and speech by Romney. The Journal, in part:

The safety-net fund that was supposed to be unwound, well, wasn't. Uncompensated hospital care rose 5% from 2008 to 2009, and 15% from 2009 to 2010, hitting $475 million (though the state only paid out $405 million). "Avoidable" use of emergency rooms—that is, for routine care like a sore throat—increased 9% between 2004 and 2008. Meanwhile, unsubsidized insurance premiums for individuals and small businesses have climbed to among the highest in the nation.

Like Mr. Obama's reform, RomneyCare was predicated on the illusion that insurance would be less expensive if everyone were covered. Even if this theory were plausible, it is not true in Massachusetts today. So as costs continue to climb, Mr. Romney's Democratic successor now wants to create a central board of political appointees to decide how much doctors and hospitals should be paid for thousands of services.

The Romney camp blames all this on a failure of execution, not of design. But by this cause-and-effect standard, Mr. Romney could push someone out of an airplane and blame the ground for killing him.

I supported Romney over McCain in 2008 but it is long past time for Mitt to admit the massive failure of Massachusetts' healthcare system, instituted on his watch as governor.

Romney has shown he is out of step with the times, and with the American experiment our founders established. We need honest leaders with clear solutions, who respect the freedom of the individual, not apologists for big government coercion and failure.

The Tea Party in Boston of yore recognized tyranny when they saw it. For all his smarts and know-how, Mitt sticks with the ruling class.

...And has shown he's not up to the battles yet to come. We need a candidate with a core philosophy, integrity, and courage.

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Washington’s arrogance has triggered a political rebellion in our country

2011-05-09T19:10:00.002-05:00

I don’t think “rebellion” is too strong of a word.

Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner of Ohio, in a speech to the Economic Club of New York.

They have tried our patience too far. We want TRILLIONS and TRILLIONS in cuts.

The 9/11 Generation Does Us Proud

2011-05-03T09:11:00.002-05:00

Those who came of age in an America wounded by bin Laden's Al Qaeda, who stepped up to serve their country, bring down the terrorist mass murderer.

These are our heroes. They are our future.

They've inspired a new generation of Americans, they've inspired us all.

It's a victory for America, and we're happy to claim it.

And we live to fight another day, for freedom.

P.S. Day by Day

...give the president his due, but let's hear no more talk of "overseas contingency operations"...or this kind of rot from the left.

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Sharpton: The Race Card is Not the Way to Run for President

2011-04-26T19:40:00.004-05:00

Can we quote you Al? RCP video.

The MSNBC guy: "His amazing academic record at Harvard". What? We really have no idea. He didn't write anything, despite being on Law Review.

Barack's an empty suit.

And Al Sharpton is a racist demagogue.

New Trier Tea Party: Freedom is the only stimulus we need

2011-04-25T20:10:00.003-05:00

Join us!

And how bout this tea shirt:)

What you're seeing on the periphery is the death of community organizing#WI

2011-04-16T17:26:00.003-05:00

Andrew Breitbart, Madison, WI Tax Day Tea Party. Video: America, you can be proud.

Bachmann's Profile Rising

2011-04-11T10:32:00.003-05:00

The MSM piece calls her "polarizing" but calls the rest of the GOP field "bland". New Hampshire voters are "tax-phobic". Oh, yeah, we're all nuts, frothing at the mouth if we use colorful language.

Even so, an interesting addition to her background in this Trib/LA Times story:

A tax lawyer who ousted a more moderate Republican to win election to the Minnesota Senate in 2000, she attributes her combative spirit to growing up as the only girl in a family of boys. One brother became a popular TV weatherman in Des Moines; another is on the Yale School of Medicine faculty.

Yes, Michele Bachmann is a viable candidate.

We can't afford establishment "geniuses" who have spent us into penury any more.

More. WSJ: The Tea Party's First Victory. Obama opposes spending cuts right up to the time he calls them historic.

P.S. Extremely Yours, Love, Chuck Schumer

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Yes, Michele Bachmann is a viable candidate

2011-04-05T14:09:00.003-05:00

Even the left-leaning New Republic can see that. (Nice try making her look crazed with the photo, but she's Minnesota Nice:), not to mention a savvy former tax attorney) Unlike some TEA party darlings she's had to fight to win her congressional seat, and in Minnesota, a state which mostly goes blue nationally.

Maybe not in 2012, though. If she beats Pawlenty in the Iowa primaries, Minnesota may come through for her in the fall for the presidency. That Midwest, Mississippi River corridor is critical:)

And the working, hardscrabble north country went big Red in 2010.

HT Memeorandum.

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Texas, the Model

2011-04-04T15:22:00.001-05:00

DavidGuenthner David Guenthner

by backyardconserv

Debunking the repeated nonsense about job losses from a#txbudget within available revenue. http://bit.ly/hKT30Y #txlege #txbudget

backyardconserv Anne Leary

Pay attn Illinois: RT @jstrevino: HB 1 passes, 98 ayes, 49 nays. Texas Republicans did it. On to the Senate! #txbudget

Rockers and Geraniums

2011-04-01T13:47:00.002-05:00

Texas hill country

Walker Calls Out The One in the WaPo

2011-03-17T14:05:00.001-05:00

Doesn’t this hugely amuse you too?

Our reform plan calls for a 5.8 percent pension contribution from government workers, including myself, and a 12.6 percent health insurance premium payment. Both are well below what middle-class, private-sector workers pay. Federal workers, however, pay an average of 28 percent of health insurance costs.
It’s enough to make you wonder why there are no protesters circling the White House.

Meanwhile, back in Obama’s home stomping grounds of Cook County, IL, there are actual calls for the public unions to back off.

Other states are exercising long latent citizen muscle to confront the public union excess driving us to the poorhouse.

Come on America, let’s move! Our way:)

--crossposted at Potluck

Thank You Rick Santelli. Madison a Fitting TEA Party Tribute

2011-02-19T17:03:00.002-06:00

It's been two years now:)

The CBOT rant heard round the country.

Andrew Breitbart today: We the people. We the people will prevail.

Despotism can only exist in darkness, and there are too many lights now in the political firmament to permit it to remain anywhere, as it has heretofore done, almost everywhere

--James Madison

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Palin Wins NRO Straw Poll

2011-02-15T16:24:00.004-06:00

Her latest Facebook post, on the Obama budget, here.

...Establishment AP damns with faint praise, while some interesting polling surfaces in New Mexico and at Kos:)

A Jeffersonian moment? Taking on the dysfunctional elites.

Previous posts: Palin Nation out West, Rosie Essentially Defends El Rushbo. China Version, She knows America by heart

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Blue Dogs Turn Red

2011-02-07T16:23:00.007-06:00

The midterms were no fluke. Meet Ashley Bell.

And even a plurality of Democrats oppose raising the debt ceiling. The Hill.

More shaky blues: Blue Dogs have 'no communication' with Pelosi, Dem leadership, says Shuler:

Rep. Heath Shuler also said the centrists have more in common ideologically with former President Ronald Reagan than Nancy Pelosi.…

We the people are the ones we've been waiting for:)

P.S. Dan Riehl: DLC folds

P.P.S.

mikememoli Mike Memoli
Palin on FBN tonight: "It’s not good ... to hear our President obstinately denying the need to move to the center."

...Is our president Barack Obama out of touch?

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Does Obama push your button? WTF

2011-01-27T12:13:00.002-06:00

Maybe the geniuses at the White House should have glommed on to the old Gerald Ford button, Whip Inflation Now. (It worked so well then too.)

The president votes present, in hopes of diverting most Americans from his "progressive" reactionary hooey.

Increasingly, Americans aren't buying it. That's what the midterms were all about.

The Pew survey of 2,257 adults also found that people using social media for political purposes were slightly more likely to have voted for a Republican in the 2010 midterm elections.

Because we know we're stuck with this crushing Big Government tab. WTF. Drivingordinarily mild-mannered Americans to join the World Taekwondo Federation.

P.S. WHY THEY’D RATHER TALK ABOUT SARAH PALIN (CONT’D): Initial jobless claims jump 51,000. Instapundit

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

100 Programs the RSC Wants to Abolish or Cut

2011-01-20T21:19:00.000-06:00

The new Republican House voted to repeal ObamaCare with more votes than its original passage, making good on their winning midterm election platform. WSJ:

Democrats are deriding last night's House vote to repeal ObamaCare as "symbolic," and it was, but that is not the same as meaningless. The stunning political reality is that a new entitlement that was supposed to be a landmark of liberal governance has been repudiated by a majority of one chamber of Congress only 10 months after it passed. This sort of thing never happens.

Today, the Republican Study Committee lays down a marker, with a bid to cut $2.5 trillion over 10 years:

If year to year spending is not restrained and no plan to solve the problem with long term unfunded obligations is laid out and implemented, interest on the debt will begin to swallow up much of the annual federal budget. The nation’s ability to finance defense would be constrained to the point of rendering it a second tier world power, or worse, and domestic spending would be so squeezed that the negative consequences are hard to foresee.

Program after program is on the chopping block--we can't keep these going in good conscience. We can't saddle our children and theirs with a bleak and worse future than we were bequeathed ourselves by our parents, the greatest generation.

This is the mission of the TEA party--to get America back on a path to growth and leave a legacy of freedom to live the American Dream anew.

More. NRO. Meaningful Cuts
It’s a TARP! Geithner Won’t Show for First Issa Hearing

And George Will: The vicious cycle of government that should worry Democrats.

More. Repeal, Replace, Defund ObamaCare:

The House passed the ObamaCare replacement bill on Thursday by a vote of 253-175, with 14 Democrats voting with all of the Republicans. The resolution directs four House committees to immediately begin drafting solutions to replace the existing job-killing healthcare law.

While the GOP House passed the repeal of ObamaCare on Wednesday, the Democratic Senate is blocking a vote on it. So while the repeal is on hold, the House will begin the the process to defund and replace ObamaCare. [snip]

Upton said that he expects bipartisan support for several of the replacement provisions. “There are a number of areas where I think there is common ground. Pre-existing conditions, shopping across state lines, tort reform -- even the President supported tort reform,” he said. .

... A Principled Fight for Our Prosperity, and Posterity:)

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Will the League of Women Voters come out of the political closet?

2011-01-19T16:53:00.002-06:00

Coralville Courier. League of Women Voters Lobbies for ObamaCare

Who buys your lies any more.

The last time I had a run-in with them was at a public debate, in a public setting. I was distributing flyers--and they had a problem with that. They thought since they were sponsors, apparently, they had veto-power over information distributed to the public.

We saw the last election their objections to the Pledge of Allegiance.

Well, we know their allegiance is not to non-partisanship but to the leftist line.

...And the last lecture of theirs I attended, my table mates defended President Clinton's reception of the general who ordered the massacre at Tiananmen Square. Perhaps they were just uninformed. That would not be a surprise either.

Dem Senator Conrad Throws in the Towel

2011-01-18T15:30:00.001-06:00

Is ObamaCare DOOMED in 2012. Ha. Look at the map:)Can we elect a veto-proof majority?

Can we sweep out The ONE? (Is Gov. Pat Quinn of Illinois running for president on the Dem paradise of Illinois model?)

P.S. Can we quote Teddy now, on deregulating health care? (not just JFK on supply side econ)

Beginning in 1975, Kennedy held U.S. Senate hearings that showcased the fact that the cost per mile for an inter-state air ticket from -- say -- New York to Washington, D.C. was several times higher than it was for trips of comparable distance inside Texas. Roused by this evidence, Kennedy thundered on the Senate floor: "Regulators all too often encourage or approve unreasonably high prices, inadequate service, and anti-competitive behavior. The cost of this regulation is always passed on to the consumer. And that cost is astronomical.

RIP Teddy. Your legacy lives on. From sea to shining sea.

Kent Conrad. To the left of Teddy. Blue Dog Dems on the run with their tails between their legs.

...And here's the ticking time bomb on the economy:

In addition to the two recessions since 2001, and in addition to increased security costs, by far the biggest problem that the industry has faced over the past decade has been increased fuel prices. Since 2002, the cost of labor, measured in cents per available seat, has been reduced by more than 25 percent -- going from a little more than four cents per mile to under three cents. Unfortunately, over the same time, the cost of fuel has shot up from a little more than one cent per mile to more than three cents per mile. For the first time, the cost of fuel equals or exceeds the cost of labor.

Well, we don't have an energy policy, do we. We have a ride your bike to work and pay through the nose for the privilege approach. (A really big hit outside Dem urban enclaves, you betcha.) Couple that with a possible rise in food prices here along with continued joblessness and you've got the makings of an economy stupid election.

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

A New Crop

2011-01-17T18:28:00.003-06:00

People voted for specific things last election and expect delivery Coralville Courier

New York Russians Are Creeped Out By Democrats Chicks on the Right

Hollywood's Aaron Sorkin: "elite is not a bad word, it’s an aspirational one" Critical Narrative

instapundit instapundit.com

AT AMAZON, markdowns on flashlights….: AT AMAZON, markdowns on flashlights. http://bit.ly/efm1kV

A new day:)

And this, which we've all been waiting for: GOP to Start on Spending-Cuts Measure Wednesday

NY Times Nuance Misses Chicago

2011-01-16T13:43:00.000-06:00

The NY Times' crack reporter in Chicago--nuance means you can't see the nose on your face. You can't talk about Illinois without Chicago [note colored map]--and Chicago is bankrupt too. It has very high taxes. And very poor schools run by the teachers' union for its benefit, yielding an unskilled workforce and crime-ridden neighborhoods. Then there's Cook County, otherwise known as Crook. It remains to be seen whether that will change. Corruption and patronage are the name of the game at every level of government in Illinois.

Minnesota may high taxes but they also have a high level of services, delivered A-rated living within their means.

Indiana has among the lowest tax burdens in the country.

And Wisconsin's new Republican governor, the former reformer of Milwaukee County, is taking a look at privatizing as much government as he can, and boosting economic development.

Chicago's Cook County and (on the watch list, Madison, St. Clair and McClean county) Illinois have the dubious honor of ranking high as judicial hellholes.

And while other big Blue states like New York and California are actually making spending cuts, Illinois continues to ramp up spending--even as our retire in your 50's public employee pension burden is the most underfunded--and probably the most undeserving--in the country.

People and jobs have been leaving Illinois for years. Voting with their feet. As plain as the nose on your face. If you're honest.

P.S.

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady said in a statement that he’s not buying Quinn’s claim that Gordon’s appointment came after the vote. “That’s like saying it was simply a coincidence that the governor vetoed McCormick Place reforms last year after getting a $75,000 donation from the Teamsters Union,” Brady said in the statement.

--cartoon by Scott Stantis, Chicago Tribune

Related posts: Murder Mac and Cheese. Your Neighbor is Suspect, NJ Bond Flops, Crunch Time for Dissolute States, Illinois Signs Its Death Warrant

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Half the states now suing the federal government over Obamacare

2011-01-13T12:08:00.001-06:00

Via Lucianne, DC Examiner:

While Obamacare will pay for all of the benefit expansion for the first three years of the law, and 90% of it after that, Obamacare never pays for any of the state administrative costs for adding those 18 million Americans to their welfare rolls. That amounts to billions in unfunded federal mandates for states to absorb. That is why 33 Republican governors signed a letter to the White House and Congress making an emphatic appeal that Obamacare’s Medicaid provisions be repealed.

Even Down East in Maine.

Alan Dershowitz defends Palin, while GOP establishment doesn't

2011-01-13T11:59:00.002-06:00

Riehl World View.

Gee, what a surprise.

You want to throw in with Krugman by your silence or faint words we'll throw you out at the ballot box.

Where is the decency in that?

2011-01-10T14:33:00.000-06:00

“So as the usual talking heads begin their ‘have you no decency?’ routine aimed at talk radio and Republican politicians, perhaps we should turn the question around. Where is the decency in blood libel?…

“To be clear, if you’re using this event to criticize the ‘rhetoric’ of Mrs. Palin or others with whom you disagree, then you’re either: (a) asserting a connection between the ‘rhetoric’ and the shooting, which based on evidence to date would be what we call a vicious lie; or (b) you’re not, in which case you’re just seizing on a tragedy to try to score unrelated political points, which is contemptible. Which is it?

“I understand the desperation that Democrats must feel after taking a historic beating in the midterm elections and seeing the popularity of ObamaCare plummet while voters flee the party in droves. But those who purport to care about the health of our political community demonstrate precious little actual concern for America’s political well-being when they seize on any pretext, however flimsy, to call their political opponents accomplices to murder.

“Where is the decency in that?”

Via HotAir.

Update. I repeat. A sanctimonious Sen. Dick Durbin. A sanctimonious Chicago Tribune.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., was right Sunday in saying on CNN that, during the fall campaigns, a much-circulated conservative appeal, with cross hairs on congressional districts, crossed a line.

Oh really.

A monstrous lie. And now we see this guy had been planning this since 2007. And this: Have you no shame.

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Down with the czars!

2011-01-06T21:32:00.005-06:00

Republicans Introduce Bill to Eliminate Obama’s 39 Czars

Be sure we've got them all.

And then let's go after the Czar's Czar.

Enter the States. Stage RIGHT

2011-01-03T20:32:00.003-06:00

6 states to watch on health reform Politico looks at it with emphasis on the left. They do have Wisconsin and Alaska, but how can they leave out Virginia? Well, they are inside the beltway guys.

Walker OKs Wisconsin joining health care lawsuit Plus a look at (outgoing Gov. and presidential candidate) Minnesota's PawlentyCare:

Suppose we had a system whereby the government gave our employers control of our housing. That is, instead of a mortgage-interest tax deduction, the home you occupy would be a non-taxable benefit. You would live in it for as long as your employers’ HR manager decided, and would have to move whenever she decided to change benefits. Furthermore, when you needed a new refrigerator, for example, you wouldn’t go out and buy a new one, but go to an in-network kitchen-appliance dispensary where you’d pay a $20 co-pay to pick up the fridge that was on the list of kitchen appliances available to employees of your firm.

I continue to hedge my criticism by noting that Pawlenty has unambiguously championed reforming the federal tax code to allow individuals and families to control their health dollars. Furthermore, because a state has more general powers than the federal government, it may be more appropriate for a governor to take a greater operational interest in health care than a president should.

Let the play begin.

More. In tandem with a Republican House:

Conservatives should wrap their repeal-and-replace efforts into bipartisan discussions about how to fix the budget and improve the U.S. economy through tax reform (the employer deduction should be scrapped and replaced with a tax credit) and by seriously considering the Ryan-Rivlin plan as a starting point for making Medicaid and Medicare sustainable. Both would go a long way towards improving incentives in health-care markets. And if we can do that, as Hyman points out, “most of the big problems will take care of themselves,” leaving policymakers with a “far smaller and more tractable set of problems.”

ObamaCare repeal starts. Reaction from the reactionary left, and reaction to that:

But polls have found that other aspects of the bill, including the individual mandate to buy insurance, aren't popular with the public.

"Maybe it's not ideal — it's certainly not communism," Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said of the individual mandate, according to the Toledo Blade.

Well, these guys have cut Medicare Advantage so don't pretend you care. As for not being a commie--talk about being damned with faint praise for yourself.

Good people all, this Christmas time

2010-12-19T12:34:00.004-06:00

Made in the Shade

2010-12-10T14:16:00.000-06:00

It's a balmy 40 so these snowmen are hiding out.

Pawlenty Distinguishes Himself

2010-12-06T14:18:00.003-06:00

Getting play in Politico:

He’s received the most attention this year for fighting the new health care law. He refused an early expansion of Medicaid and issued an executive order in August that barred Minnesota state agencies from pursuing federal money, even for cost studies, without his approval. Earlier this month, Pawlenty signed onto the lawsuit challenging the law’s constitutionality.
This issue, more than others he talks about, helps Pawlenty differentiate himself from another blue-state governor, Mitt Romney, who worked with his Democratic legislature to create a mandate on individuals to purchase insurance.

Gets good marks from Cato but did fall for the eco-Kool-Aid on cap and tax in the states, initially.

I still remember the frozen windmills.

Related post: Lutefisking The One in Minnesota

On the way to the Messiah

2010-12-04T20:29:00.000-06:00

Time to Make History in MN

2010-12-02T20:15:00.002-06:00

Smart Politics: History Gives Klobuchar a 2 in 3 Chance to Win Reelection in 2012:

And while Klobuchar has enjoyed approval ratings in the high 50s to low 60s for most of her first four years in office, the 2010 election cycle demonstrated the vulnerability of moderately popular incumbents in her backyard (e.g. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin).

So what are the odds of Senator Klobuchar winning a second term in 2012?

PPP is going to do a poll this weekend. Who will challenge Amy.

I still remember her stupidity on the bridge.

Missouri's Claire McCaskill Under 50%:)

2010-12-01T16:27:00.006-06:00

Via KC Prime Buzz, the Dem PPP poll says she's doing pretty well considering how unpopular Obama is. Hahaha. It's a dead heat already.

I'd say damning with faint praise.

The last time she ran she got in with the help of ACORN and her spouse was a big AH (slum landlord) beneficiary. She might have a little trouble with that this time.

More. Her GOP opponent Sarah Steelman is a former state legislator and state Treasurer. Steelman on the right:) She's a Club for Growth supporter and TEA party favorite.

McCaskill was a big surrogate spokesman for Obama. Lately she's been on FoxNews distancing herself and touting her independence.

Will she run ads bashing Obama as Dems did this last election with House Speaker Pelosi?

Claire will have a lot to answer for to the Show Me state.

More. The Fix. The Hill.

This is why the people have thrown you out

2010-11-30T17:13:00.001-06:00

Indiana’s Own Steve Buyer (R- Of Course) Sheds Light On The Stupidity Of Laura Richardson (D-CA)

...Oh, and this: Video: Democratic Senator complains lame-duck agenda “rigged” on hot mic

Afternoon Tea. Top TEA Party Blogs.

2010-11-29T20:07:00.000-06:00

Find me in the Midwest:)

More tea, turning to local issues. WSJ. Running for local school and town boards. Why are those property taxes so high. Ask to see the checkbook, for a start:)

Following up to prevent vote fraud for the next time. Milwaukee's the latest in the ACORN hall of shame. Working to purge those dead voters from the rolls.

Some notice from the Brits on the TEA party impact.

And here's a new one:

It is called the Repeal Amendment. Brainchild of Georgetown Constitutional Law Professor Randy Barnett, the proposal has gotten legs with the help of Florida attorney Marianne Moran, Executive Director of RepealAmendment.org.
The proposal calls for a constitutional amendment that would allow the states, by a two-thirds majority vote, to repeal objectionable federal legislation and regulations. Virginia Representative Eric Cantor, slated to be Majority Leader in the upcoming Congress, has gotten behind the movement, as has Virginia’s governor, and lieutenant governor, leaders in the state legislature and Virginia’s Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.

Have a cuppa tea. My choice? Constant Comment:)

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Giving Thanks

2010-11-23T15:28:00.000-06:00

Noem in the leadership:)

2010-11-18T15:46:00.001-06:00

A fresh start, America.

Field and Sky

2010-11-13T18:08:00.002-06:00

How bout strip search those MN Dem students

2010-11-12T18:38:00.002-06:00

Put TSA at the polls in Hennepin County. (Or Cook County, IL for that matter)

DNC-Affiliated Students Accused of Felony Voter Fraud in Minnesota

TINA FEY: I would be a liar and an idiot

2010-11-11T10:43:00.003-06:00

Tina Fey Thanks Sarah Palin for Comedy Award, Mocks Conservative Women. Newsbusters

Tina Fey, have you read this? Tina Fey, do you really care about the children?

Really Tina?

TINA FEY: I would be a liar and an idiot...

Smug Tina. Where's your intellectual curiosity? Where's your tolerance? Where's your respect for freedom itself?

What if you're wrong, Tina. What if this is not funny.

What of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

...Where's your base, Tina.

...

A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar.

God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board.

A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.

Related: Hollywood: Republicans Want ‘Breeder' TV Shows. The American Thinker

More. I see Pundit & Pundette comment on this. I used to watch SNL religiously but no more. 30 Rock is not my thing--hey I'm in my 50's, but unlike most leftists, most conservatives can laugh at themselves. Our shining star, Ronald Reagan, had in my book the most wonderful sense of humor--self-deprecating.

More. TWS: Pudd’nhead Kaminsky

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Right Turn:)

2010-11-05T16:43:00.003-05:00

Montana Messes Up

2010-11-04T21:14:00.002-05:00

New at Reason: Katherine Mangu-Ward on Montana's Payday Loan Vote

Grab your coat and get your hat.

Bachmann Victory Speech

2010-11-03T22:52:00.002-05:00

Here.

TEA Party triumph.

"I choose liberty".

Republicans win the north country

2010-11-03T11:06:00.001-05:00

Dr. Dan Benishek in Michigan

Sean Duffy in Wisconsin

Chip Cravaack in Minnesota: (well I hope with this one) It needs to be said.

And God Bless America.

...Oh and Sen. Russ Feingold is toast.

God Bless America.

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

VOTE Your Guts Out

2010-11-02T06:41:00.001-05:00

VOTE your guts out.

American Heart.

Unopposed Thune hits trail for Noem

2010-11-01T14:33:00.007-05:00

Politico takes note. Dakota Dreaming big and on the stump.

More. SDWC predicts a Kristi Noem victory:

As opposed to past campaign tactics of ducking as many debates and forums as possible, Herseth Sandlin showed some fire this year and pressed for them, thinking that Kristi Noem would wilt or make a fatal flub during them. No such luck. Noem held her own, and often took some good shots, including making Stephanie squirm uncomfortably on the Nancy Pelosi issue.

RCP polling here.

Vote Out Peterson, Gitmo Flip-Flopper

2010-10-31T16:12:00.008-05:00

Vote Republican Lee Byberg, Minnesota 7.

From 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America The war against sharia is a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity:

President Barack Obama has indicated he will again attempt to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed into the U.S. for a federal trial after the midterm elections. The good news is the House Armed Services Committee cut off the funding this past spring when poll after poll showed a strong majority of the American people are opposed to the plan. If the House shifts to a Republican majority, it is unlikely the funding will be restored. We will be watching for the reelection results of those Democrats who first voted, in a non-binding vote on October 1, 2009, against authorizing the President to bring Guantanamo detainees into the U.S. for trial and then, when it counted a mere two weeks later, they switched their votes.
...we will be watching the Gitmo flip-floppers listed below (on the left). We urge our fellow Americans to vote for their opponents (listed on the right)...

Collin Peterson, MN-7, versus Lee Byberg

Peterson may talk a good game, but you can't trust him on national security.

Byberg spoke at a GOTV rally yesterday in Bemidji. Bemidji Pioneer:

Runaway spending in Washington, D.C., has to stop, says Lee Byberg, who wants to be the generation that stops it.
Increasing tax revenue and reducing costs are the only two ways to reach a balanced federal budget, Byberg said Saturday morning at a Beltrami Republicans pancake breakfast rally.
And the way to increase revenue is “by reducing individual and corporate taxes,” he said. “That will allow more of the economic engine to retain its profits to invest more into expansion, so you can do more R and D, so the risk takers will take more risk and develop,”
Reducing taxes will lead to more jobs, and then more tax revenue, Byberg said.
“I believe in free enterprise,” Byberg said. “That means is that I have to bring policy that will allow the most efficient dollars to stay in the economic engine or sending them to the federal government where they will be wasted.”

We can't afford this. Byberg pointed out "moderate" Peterson's voting record has shifted 30 points in favor of the Pelosi agenda--93% now-- during the last several years.

Another reason Peterson can't be trusted. VOTE for responsible governance--Lee Byberg.

Collin Peterson has been in Congress too long

2010-10-30T07:39:00.004-05:00

Collin Peterson 101 (Video) here.

Lee Byberg for Congress. Minnesota 7. P.S. Collin Peterson skipped debates and went hunting with Mark Dayton and Al Franken?

Tom Emmer. The Jobs Governor We Need

2010-10-29T21:23:00.003-05:00

Emmer for a Better Minnesota: An admirable person. Sister’s positive attitude in face of death inspired Emmer to pursue public service

IP Opponent Endorses Chip Cravaack vs. Oberstar

2010-10-28T19:35:00.002-05:00

Let Freedom Ring:)

Cravaack raking in big bucks in Minnesota Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Reader's view: Oberstar set the tone for negative debate‎ - Duluth News Tribune

Chip Cravaack for Congress. Minnesota 8

ChipCravaack Chip Cravaack

We were told the stimulus would create 66,000 jobs in MN but since it was passed, we have lost 44,500. DC has added 18,900 jobs. #stribpol

This is a very, very effective ad:

Poooor Earl

2010-10-27T16:49:00.002-05:00

Geraghty scores the ad:
You had warning Earl Pomeroy.

Even the local lib papers have dropped you. Here's one of my favorite Rick Berg ads. Apparently your negative campaigning hasn't worked:

Anti-Catholic Ad Minnesota DFL

2010-10-26T14:55:00.001-05:00

Gateway Pundit.

The Quiet Courage of Our Choice

2010-10-26T14:31:00.001-05:00

The president said he's not king, he can't do it alone. Then he refers to Americans as enemies to be punished.

Imagine any other president saying this. Imagine Abraham Lincoln, whose mantle Obama has openly and repeatedly sought to claim, whose words he has twisted, even thinking these thoughts.

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.

Imagine Ronald Reagan saying he's not king. No:

In a 1978 radio commentary that he wrote while overlooking traffic from a hotel room window, Reagan distilled the populist belief in individual ability. "They are not 'the masses,' or as the elitists would have it, 'the common man,' " Reagan said of the people driving cars on the highway below. "They are very uncommon. Individuals, each with his or her own hopes and dreams, plans and problems, and the kind of quiet courage that makes this whole country run better than just about any other place on earth." Reagan's mission was to remove the obstacles that prevented these men and women with "quiet courage" from realizing their potential.

And so we have Americans with quiet courage, young and old, men and women, making their choice next Tuesday. A choice that could well determine the future of this country for generations to come. Pray to God we will be wise. --crossposted at BackyardConservative

Lutefisking The One in Minnesota

2010-10-23T19:42:00.001-05:00

Gov. Tim Pawlenty schools the President Minnesota Nicely. Video via HotAir.

More. On Pawlenty's presidential prospects. George Will via The Hill. HT Memeorandum.

On the face of it, more easy-going than Daniels of Indiana, but give him credit, he had to overcome a recalcitrant legislature. An Uff Da moment. (Plus he's got height, like Sen. Thune)

No question, the heartland is key. Seems to encompass the country:)

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Kristi vs. "Evil Princess" Stephanie

2010-10-22T14:29:00.002-05:00

Noem inches ahead as “evil princess” Stephanie gets nasty. Noem increases lead in Rassmussen poll.

NRO with the dueling videos. (Looks like not much of a contest.)

Now that Noem has national stature she's even more of a force:) To Noem is to Love 'Em

Previous posts: Dems Cut Sandlin Loo$e, South Dakota's Kristi Noem: Sorry Nancy, Herseth Sandlin Stiffs Truckers in South Dakota

National Contempt for the Public Radio

2010-10-21T19:57:00.001-05:00

There's no fig leaf for you any more, your intellects have shriveled. You're not non-partisan and you don't serve the public. James Taranto, WSJ. Public Radio vs. the Public. The comment that got Juan Williams fired--and the one that didn't.:

But it is highly revealing that a hostile expression of prejudice against ordinary Americans is apparently consistent with whatever standards and practices supposedly govern NPR. On the other hand a pained expression of a prejudice shared by ordinary Americans and rooted in the reality of war, we are told, violates those ineffable standards and is a firing offense.

National Public Radio appears to be an institution that operates in opposition to, rather than service of, the public.

You don't deserve our respect and you don't have any reputable claim to taxpayer funding.

You're an intolerant, malicious and profoundly silly elitist entity.

More. Yes. Emphasize craven. Matt Welch, Reason:

Williams’ firing is a clarifying moment in media mores. You can be Islamophobic, in the form of refusing to run the most innocuous imaginable political cartoons out of a broad-brush fear of Muslims, but you can’t admit it, even when the fear is expressed as a personal feeling and not a group description, winnowed down to the very specific and nightmare-exhuming act of riding on an airplane, and uttered in a context of otherwise repudiating collective guilt and overbroad fearmongering.

The Patriot's Toolbox

2010-10-20T15:50:00.002-05:00

For what comes next. The Heartland via RedState.

We have our work cut out for us:

JammieWearingFool
Foreign Money in Politics: Soros Donates $1 Million to Media Matters

Jihad Watch
If Islam were treated equally, Muhammad would be fair game, and Wilders would be exonerated

Say Anything
Obamacare Will Require HSA Participants To Get A Prescription For Tylenol

Oberstar Global Warming Flat Earther

2010-10-19T18:11:00.003-05:00

Well, actually he accuses his Iron Range constituents who are understandably opposed to Cap and Tax of being Flat Earthers. Brilliant, given the total credibility fail of global warming "science".

Even if it were true, who can afford to fool with it now--something that is a century down the road and would barely move the thermometer.

Go Cravaack.

Take Cover, Toto

2010-10-18T22:31:00.003-05:00

The Carville Hurricane Scale of Dem Devastation. At Ruby Slippers.

It's more than a tornado. Take cover, Toto.

RCP House here.

Spacious Sky, Amber Waves

2010-10-16T18:29:00.002-05:00

House Sleepers that May Go GOP--Byberg over Peterson

2010-10-15T12:28:00.002-05:00

Note the race looks to be tightening, but yes, it's off the radar. RCP doesn't even have it listed.

I've always thought Republican Lee Byberg was a superlative candidate, especially for this year.

Henry Olsen, NRO: House Sleepers

SDGOP calls for investigation into the Oats for Votes scandal

2010-10-14T11:19:00.001-05:00

Dem Herseth-Sandlin dirty tricks in the face of Kristi Noem's remarkable surge?

Byberg Closing in 7th Congressional

2010-10-13T21:24:00.000-05:00

An ag businessman who believes in the American Dream, in real jobs, not big government, Lee Byberg has had good fundraising numbers and the race is tight. MinnPost:

Almost every single indicator in Minnesota’s 7^th District points to a razor-tight race, or perhaps a GOP upset victory. The challenger’s fundraising numbers have closed to within $22,000 of the incumbent over the last quarter. The district voted for John McCain over Barack Obama, and this is shaping up to be a very Republican year. [snip]

“Well, Collin Peterson has been fairly good in the past but I think now his true colors have shown,” Byberg said. “He has been able to successfully place himself as a moderate, but our district is fairly conservative.”

Those “true colors,” Byberg says, include voting for Pelosi as speaker of the House, a vote for the cap-and-trade climate bill and a refusal to endorse completely overturning the health care bill. In addition, he said, Peterson’s 20 years in Congress make him partly responsible for the ballooning national debt, which is now more than $13 trillion and climbing.
“People in the 7^th district, they’re recognizing that he’s not who he says he is.

Someone like Peterson who votes for a costly energy tax like cap and trade in this shaky economy is not a moderate. Someone like Collin Peterson who left D.C. without passing a budget and voted to adjourn without addressing the largest tax increase in American history coming down the pike on Jan.1 is not responsible.

Byberg is not the only Minnesota Republican poised to knock off an old Dem dinosaur--Chip Cravaack is challenging Jim Oberstar in the 8th. Powerline with more.

Former Sen. Norm Coleman is campaigning with Byberg tomorrow in Alexandria.

Air Force Family Finds Lost Michelangelo Masterpiece

2010-10-12T14:11:00.001-05:00

"The Mike" behind the couch in Buffalo.

The Axis of Fedorables links to another work of art. The Great Depression Series.

More desperate marketing...more bogus narratives, but

Ruby Slippers pulls back the curtain.

Americans are discovering the truth.

Americans are discovering the truth, in spite of the opposition's best efforts.

Because we know what is happening in our communities. And we can't rely on the Mike behind the couch.

We've got to rely on ourselves. --Crossposted at BackyardConservative

Dems Cut Sandlin Loo$e

2010-10-11T13:29:00.003-05:00

National Dems cut funding for Sandlin Rapid City Journal

Love the local blog header: Message from the Democrats: Abandon Stephanie – All hands ABANDON STEPHANIE!

A look at polls here and here.

Go Noem go:)

KristiNoem Kristi Noem

Our campaign raised $1.1 million in the third quarter. Thank you to all who have invested in our effort

Previous posts: South Dakota's Kristi Noem: Sorry Nancy, Herseth Sandlin Stiffs Truckers in South Dakota

By the gate

2010-10-09T10:08:00.002-05:00

Building the Next Bailout...and BUST

2010-10-08T11:24:00.000-05:00

TWS:

In July, Illinois went to market with a $900 million BAB issue that attracted 93 investors, including 17 from overseas. The international investors accounted for about 30 percent of the offering. Illinois state officials even joined their underwriters, Citigroup, on a road show through Europe and Asia to drum up interest in the sale.

Setting up the next bust in Illinois and around the country.

Screwing up the current one. From e21 Morning eBrief:

In Foreclosure Controversy, Problems Run Deeper Than Flawed Paperwork (Round Up)
Millions of U.S. mortgages have been shuttled around the global financial system - sold and resold by firms - without the documents that traditionally prove who legally owns the loans. Now, as many of these loans have fallen into default and banks have sought to seize homes, judges around the country have increasingly ruled that lenders had no right to foreclose, because they lacked clear title. The court decisions, should they continue to spread, could call into doubt the ownership of mortgages throughout the country, raising urgent challenges for both the real estate market and the wider financial system. The White House has announced that President Obama will pocket veto H.R. 3808 which would have allowed banks to shortcut the current notarization process. See Alphaville for and the Washington Post for more more.
Goldman Sachs: The US Economy Is Weaker Than You Think (Seeking Alpha)
Goldman Sachs issued a very bullish note on the Euro this morning. Not because they think Europe is entering a period of robust growth. No, in fact they reduced their estimates for European growth based on the recent Euro strength; however, they see the U.S. economy simply deteriorating more than Europe. The chart in this presentation that jumped out was the ISM’s index compared to the orders & inventories. The orders and inventories data shows a very strong leading indication of future ISM growth. Currently, the orders and inventories data is forecasting ISM readings in the low 40s.

Peggy Noonan on Greece and America's reaction:

Mr. Lewis: "The Greek state was not just corrupt but also corrupting. Once you saw how it worked you could understand a phenomenon which otherwise made no sense at all: the difficulty Greek people have saying a kind word about one another. . . . Everyone is pretty sure everyone is cheating on his taxes, or bribing politicians, or taking bribes, or lying about the value of his real estate. And this total absence of faith in one another is self-reinforcing. The epidemic of lying and cheating and stealing makes any sort of civic life impossible."

Thus can great nations, great cultures, disintegrate, break into little pieces that no longer cohere into a whole.

Read it all.

Outrage. Outrage.

This election is so damned important.

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Four Weeks - Remember November

2010-10-06T20:58:00.001-05:00

Watch:

Tarryl Clark. Says Michele Bachmann is "not doing s***"

2010-10-05T15:19:00.005-05:00

In an actual ad. Not an unguarded moment. Via Riehl.

Democrats--they're doing lots of s***. Hitting the fan these days.

Latest polls on the race--Taxin Tarryl lagging. Latest Bachmann ad:

More. Debates coming up in the last week. Latest on fundraising:

Bachmann and Clark already have started flooding the airwaves with ads, and that is only expected to increase. Though full third-quarter fundraising figures aren't yet available, Gor has indicated that Bachmann has at least $3.4 million in cash on hand, a staggering figure for a Minnesota congressional race.
Clark is no slouch herself, having already set records for a congressional challenger in the state. However, she has trailed Bachmann in the fundraising race by about a 2 to 1 margin.

Read on. Clark seems not to be aware Dems have the majority.

Tarryl Clark. NOT Minnesota Nice.

Gloomy numbers but hope like hell

2010-10-04T19:58:00.001-05:00

It's blue state blue Monday all right. James Pethokoukis with the graph from the CBO.

More headlines: Housing shows stability but factory orders fall

But don't get excited about housing yet:

Foreclosure Mess Is Expected to Get Even Worse

Why Friday's Jobs Report Is Expected to Be So Gloomy

As somebody I know told me people are anxious or exhausted or both. Election day can't come too soon. Let's just hope like hell...

The only people who can recall a result so pro-Republican are nonagenarians, as nothing like this has happened since 1928. How many seats this would produce is very hard to say, but I’ll put it this way: Republicans picked up 52 seats in 1994 with a +6.7 win; a +10 win should produce more than 52 seats, perhaps many more.

...people make the right choice.

P.S. Some strain even in suburbia (Illinois):

Naperville median income dips below $100,000

Poverty rate rising in Downers Grove Township

Financially strapped Aurora seeks concessions from employees

But, way hey! the ChicagoBoyz on The Insurgency. And this: From Wikinomics to the Tea Party

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

Tiny Crabby Apples

2010-10-01T14:31:00.003-05:00

The only ones I yielded this year. Next year hopefully the Honeycrisp will mature:)

It's Emmer for Governor in Minnesota

2010-09-30T20:35:00.004-05:00

Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty is rated an A among governors nationally by the libertarian Cato. WSJ takes note, as does the blogosphere. The presidential stakes in 2012.

For his successor Dems are trying to push a John Kerry light in the person of Mark Dayton, once rated the worst U.S. Senator.

The Weekly Standard on the race:

Governor Pawlenty has consistently turned back DFL efforts to raise taxes in the state and initiated efforts to cut state spending drastically. While his personal popularity is mixed, the retiring governor has strengthened the significant constituency opposed to traditional DFL economic solutions outside the inner cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. This constituency includes not only Republicans, but many independents and some more conservative DFLers as well.

Tom Emmer is the Tea Party pick. With any luck he'll be Minnesota's in November.

Note to President Obama--Not in MY backyard!!!!

2010-09-29T16:55:00.003-05:00

Taranto passes on a rant.

The president's efforts to "educate" the ignorant public have been unyielding. The Washington Post reports on the latest:

Obama was raised in a condominium apartment, and later he lived as an urban apartment dweller. Perhaps that helps explain his new favorite hangout: other people's back yards.

Read on and Enjoy. Another delicious post at Don Surber's place. Tasteful pix of sunflower in my backyard. Complete with flutterby. And just for fun, this one, snapped at a Palin rally in Tucson. Here's to you, Mr. President, from the BackyardConservative. P.S. Obama barbequed in the backyard by small businessman Ruby Slippers

--crossposted at BackyardConservative. Naturally

NRA Mucks Up in South Dakota

2010-09-28T18:57:00.003-05:00

NRO.

South Dakota War College: From my mailbox: Kristi Noem Endorsed by South Dakota Sportsmen & Second Amendment Supporters :

While many from the group are members of the NRA, they will not be following the NRA endorsement recommendation and instead will support Noem.
“On many issues, the NRA is a strong voice for gun owners, but on the issue of who to support for South Dakota’s lone seat in Congress, we are supporting Kristi Noem,” the group said in an open letter to gun owners across the state.

In the letter the group explained why they are supporting Noem, “Kristi is a lifelong hunter. She was born, raised and continues to live today in rural Hamlin County, South Dakota. She grew up understanding the importance of the Second Amendment… Kristi also took her support for the Second Amendment to the State Legislature where she introduced legislation to strengthen our Second Amendment rights.”

Dakota Dreaming

2010-09-27T19:08:00.000-05:00

Sen. John Thune on the cover.

Another common sense conservative. He has an MBA, challenged and beat then Dem majority leader Tom Daschle.

Seems like he's comfortable in his own skin.

Um, and the video:)

The Last Best Hope

2010-09-25T14:04:00.000-05:00

November is coming. The video.

Fist Fight at Reid-Angle Forum at Lutheran High School

2010-09-24T14:28:00.001-05:00

Via The Corner.

I think New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has it right on the dynamic.

...For years the center-right of this country has been polite, the pundits for power have deemed themselves our spokesmen, the left is disruptive and foul and are lauded--aided and abetted-- by the PC media.

No more.

The stakes are too high. Too high.

P.S. Hillbuzz: Every Republican should be like Chris Christie when they grow up

We the people.
--crossposted at BackyardConservative

South Dakota's Kristi Noem: Sorry Nancy

2010-09-22T11:47:00.001-05:00

A message for Nancy Pelosi: Previous post: Herseth Sandlin Stiffs Truckers in South Dakota

Herseth Sandlin Stiffs Truckers in South Dakota

2010-09-21T21:22:00.002-05:00

Noem keeps on truckin’. Herseth Sandlin…. Not so much

Maybe that snooty Dem Stephanie can make the pheasant hunt. Oops, too late.

SEIU Colludes with PC Media in Wisconsin

2010-09-20T16:34:00.002-05:00

SEIU Activist: Local Networks 'Willing Partners' in Campaign Against Wis. GOP Gubernatorial Candidate

...Walker leads anyway, and in the Senate race Johnson pulls away from Feingold.

Meadow Mates

2010-09-18T13:56:00.002-05:00

Palin in Iowa

2010-09-18T09:37:00.003-05:00

Live Blogging Iowa GOP Reagan Dinner With Sarah Palin - Caffeinated Thoughts

Palin, in Iowa, Prompts More 2012 Speculation - WSJ.com: Washington Wire

Sarah Palin speech in Iowa keeps fans guessing - Des Moines Register

Fire from The Heartland

2010-09-16T14:33:00.003-05:00

The Awakening of the Conservative Woman, trailer via Nice Deb.

Yes, and it's spreading. You have made the moms mad.

P.S. Hey Steve, you forgot the crazy, raaacist, Islamaphobic middle-aged women.

--crossposted at BackyardConservative

New Dem Logo Looks Like ACORN's

2010-09-15T11:29:00.000-05:00

And why not? Some slight honesty from the DNC. A political machine that skims off the top and loots taxpayer dollars.

Treating honest Americans as the enemy.

A Big Government bullseye on our backs.

The DNC's new slogan? "Change that matters". Matters for the select few who benefit. A change from the old "change we can believe in".

Because almost no one believes The One's words any more. The economy is dead in the water, the Dem tax and spend uncertainty too high, the drag of impending ObamaCare too costly. It's not just small business, the only real job creators in the country, who are hit hard, it's seniors. And they vote.

The Tea Party is having an impact even in blue states, the battleground is shifting further into them as well.

All most Americans ask for is a level playing field, not equality of outcomes. Oh, but for leftist elites, rules are for other people--some are more equal than others.

This new logo is a womb to the tomb prison ring.

--crossposted at BackyardConservative