Exciting New Horizons In Obama Derangement Syndrome

Hey, Robert Tracinski of Real Clear Politics?  Any article that attempts to discuss Obama's "economic ignorance" and includes the following paragraph...

Consider Obama's background. He grew up among leftists, his childhood mentors were outright communists, and he then went off to academia, where he spent his formative years in an environment where business and profit-making are looked down upon as ugly, dirty, rapacious, immoral. Is it any mystery why he doesn't know about business or economics? Asking him to study the economics of the free market is like asking one of the old New England Puritans to thumb through a manual on sex education. Why immerse oneself in a subject that is so unseemly? Why make a study of how to be immoral?

...and then goes on to make the argument that the root of our financial problems in America is "President Soshulist just hates capitalism too much" kinda loses in the "credible objectivity" department.  Anyone who's still on the same garbage arguments from early 2008 and who believes the current economic fracas justifies and confirms those garbage arguments from 2008 never had an argument in the first place worth listening to.

Getting Screwed Over In The Bar Gun

Yes, you've heard correctly:  Across the river in Ohio, Gov. Kasich signed a law that allows people to carry guns in bars.

Businesses can ban concealed weapons on their premises for safety reasons if the want to and some, like the Cincinnati Bengals football team, have indicated they will continue to bar gun owners from bringing firearms into the stadium.

The law also prohibits gun owners from consuming alcohol or being under the influence of alcohol or drugs when they carry their weapons into bars.

The new laws allow residents to carry concealed handguns into licensed establishments in the state, including shopping malls and sporting venues.

The new law also allows a person with a concealed carry license to transport a loaded handgun in a motor vehicle without securing it in a holster, case, bag or box -- and allows them to remove a handgun from a secure location.

Yeah, as long as you don't go nip down to the pub to have a pint, you can bring your sidearm.  Designated shooter, I guess.  I'm sure this law won't cause any problems down the road.  All I know is I'm doing my drinking in the NKY from now on, even Kentucky doesn't permit concealed carry in bars, folks.

Best way to solve a shootout at a bar?  More guns.  Brilliant.

Judge Prosser Needs A Check-Up From The Neck Up, Part 2

Guy has anger issues, too.

Wisconsin state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser, who has been publicly accused of putting Justice Ann Walsh Bradley in a chokehold, had another flare-up on Thursday -- this time with a reporter.

The local Fox affiliate in Milwaukee sent reporter Mike Lowe to the state Capitol in Madison, seeking to track down the members of the Supreme Court, including Prosser, and repeatedly ask them for comment.

In all, Lowe caught up with four out of the seven Justices. Of course, the Justices predictably declined to comment on a matter that is under a pending investigation -- especially a story that is embarrassing the court.

But when Prosser met up with Lowe, he quickly grabbed the microphone out of Lowe's hand before just as quickly handed it right back to the surprised reporter -- apparently realizing that was a really bad idea in front of a video camera.

To recap, judge being accused of losing his temper and grabbing a female judge's neck, when asked about it, loses his temper and grabs reporter's microphone.  Yeah, this guy doesn't have rage issues or anything.

Not in the least.

Riot Gear? Really?

HAWTHORNE, Calif. (KABC) -- Police showed up in riot gear to control a huge crowd trying to register for summer school in Hawthorne Monday.

Amateur video shows a number of police officers gathered at the Opportunities For Learning Public Charter School (OFLPCS) campus Monday.

School officials were overwhelmed by the number of people who lined up early to register.
As many as 1,500 people were lined up trying to secure one of the less than 400 openings for free summer school.

Thank God it wasn't art camp.  That might have required the National Guard. 

Setting Boundaries, Google Style

New York (CNN) -- Internet search giant Google is bracing for a fine that could top $500 million, after a federal probe of illegal online pharmacy ads placed on the website over the past three years, CNN has confirmed.

Law enforcement sources tell CNN that federal prosecutors in Rhode Island, along with undercover agents from the Food and Drug Administration, are heading up a massive investigation aimed at showing Google knowingly took advertising money from websites selling highly addictive drugs without a legitimate prescription.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Providence told CNN he could "neither confirm nor deny" reports of the probe, and Google declined comment "since this is a legal matter."

This will set a line for search engines and responsibility for their results.  Is it legal for a site to show preference?  Who says all search engines should be created equal?  Should every customer of Google be scrutinized for possible illegal connections?  Where is the line between returning results and endorsing?  Unlike television and paper copy, the Internet is interactive and part of the responsibility surely falls to the searcher.  In protection of free speech, when does it become illegal to read up on the illegal?

It's time to answer these questions and define some boundaries and what rights one can expect.

Thaddeus McWho?

Michigan GOP Rep. Thad McCotter is running for President.  It's okay if you haven't heard of him, nobody has.

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter will announce he will run for president Saturday, three people briefed on the matter said today.

A campaign official said McCotter will file his presidential election papers withthe Federal Election Campaignon Friday, and he is suspending his House fund and rolling it into a presidential campaign fund.

His website — www.McCotter2012.com — will go live around noon tomorrow, and he has secured office space in western Wayne County for his campaign. McCotter has hired a former speaker of the Iowa House, Chris Rants, as a campaign adviser and is workingtohire advisers inNew Hampshire.

The Livonia Republican, who is in his fifth term in Congress, has been considering the move for weeks and spent four days in Iowa meeting with potential voters. Iowa holds a Feb. 6 caucus — the first votes cast in the nation in the presidential race.

McCotter, who recently traveled to New Hampshire, which holds the first presidential primary, plans another trip July 9-10 to the Granite State and plans to unveil Social Security reform legislation next month as well as he mounts a long-shot campaign.

McCotter began telling advisers Tuesday night he had decided to run. He plans to travel to Iowa and is planning fundraising efforts in New York and California in August.

"He's in it to win it," a campaign adviser said.

The 2012 Clown Car is a TARDIS, I swear.  Also, there's this:

McCotter said the revolution in communication and media has made it easier for aspiring politicians who don’t have the sort of name identification or personal wealth that traditionally determined who could mount a national campaign.

“It’s easier to get your message out today, and people will take a look at it — and if they like it, maybe they vote for you,” he said.

Pressed further, the Michigander quipped: “I’m from Detroit — we live to prove the doubters wrong.”

First question he gets on the auto bailout where his answer is anything but "Socialist Obama took over the auto industry and now it's failed!" his campaign ends.

New tag:  Thad "Guitar Hero" McCotter.

Post Beck And Call

Glenn Beck signed off for the last time on his FOX News show yesterday, and he was all broken up about it...broken up enough to direct everyone to his new web site and pay-per-view services.

Glenn Beck's final show on Fox News had everything you've come to know and love about his program. The chalkboard. The demagoguing. The Goldline commercials.

But before things got underway, it was time for a reel of man-on-the-street interviews of Beck fans singing the television host's praises.

"I will always remember the things you taught me," said one Beck fan. "You taught me to look around, open my eyes and question things I felt were wrong," added another.

"You have enlightened me," chimed in another. "Thank you for everything you do. Thank you for speaking the truth every day," another said.

Then Beck offered a backstage tour of his set. "These are cartons of chalk. Yes, we buy chalk by the case."

"We've done amazing things together, and I thank you for watching," Beck said. "We've made an awful lot of enemies in the program. We've taken on every single person we've been told not to take on."

"And lost."  He forgot that part.  I sure as hell didn't.   The guy that took him out?  A young lawyer who went after Beck advertisers.  Hit em where they hurt the most.  That's the media circus story of the year as far as I'm concerned.

No Dealing On The Debt Ceiling, Part 25

Ezra Klein notes the Republicans have now scrapped their own budget position in March as untenable in July.

By the end of the debt-ceiling negotiations, the Obama administration had agreed to a deal that would reduce the deficit by $2.4 trillion, with $2 trillion of the total coming from spending cuts and $400 billion coming from tax increases. Taxes, in other words, would be about 17 percent of the final deal. Republicans rejected it. But as little as four months ago, it was the Republican ideal.

Mike Konczal points us to “Spend Less, Owe Less, Grow the Economy,” the March 2011 report released by the Republicans on the Joint Economic Committee. The report, which tried to argue that fiscal austerity would lead to short-term growth, was as methodologically unsound, and quickly forgotten. But for our purposes, that’s irrelevant. What is relevant is the report’s golden ratio: “successful fiscal consolidations averaged 85% spending cuts and 15% revenue increases, while unsuccessful fiscal consolidations averaged 47% spending cuts and 53% revenue increases,” it concluded. There was even a graph:

And the Republicans stormed out and are now saying any revenue increases are unaccpetable, and they will get 100% of what they want (zero revenue increases and 100% spending cuts) or the economy will be destroyed.

But they're "serious centrists", they are.  And Obama is a "dick" for daring to point this out.

[UPDATE] Josh Marshall explores why despite poll after poll showing the public takes the Democrats' side on both ending the Bush tax cuts and overwhelmingly back the Dems on leaving Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security alone, inside Washington the Dems are fighting a losing battle behind closed doors.

StupidiNews!

• Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner may be leaving the White House once a debt ceiling deal is reached.
• The sexual assault case against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn now has seen Strauss-Kahn's bail reduced due to accuser "credibility issues".
• The IRS is looking at closing the $400 billion yearly tax gap by going after individual tax evaders.
• A New York City startup is looking to generate power from water main pressure release valves.
• Amazon will shut down its California affiliates program rather than face collecting sales taxes from over 25,000 individuals.

Last Call

As of Friday, all abortion clinics in Kansas will be shut down for failure to comply with the state's new building code regulations, which were released, oh, ten days ago.

It's official. Every abortion provider in the state of Kansas has been denied a license to continue operating as of July 1. As we reported last week, strict new laws put in place there this month threatened to close the three abortion clinics in the state. While at least one, a Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park, thought it could survive the strict new standards, it too was denied a license to continue operating—effectively cutting off access to legal abortion in the state.

The new law, which takes effect Friday, sets strict new standards for abortion providers, requiring changes to the size and number of rooms, requiring them to have additional supplies on hand, and even mandating room temperatures for the facilities. Given that the rules were released less than two weeks before clinics were expected to be in compliance, many providers knew they weren't going to be able to obtain a license to continue operating. The laws, often called "targeted regulation of abortion providers," or TRAP laws, are an increasingly common legislative maneuver to limit access to abortion by making it difficult, if not impossible, for providers to comply.

With today's announcement that the Overland Park clinic was also denied a license, Kansas becomes the first state to effectively make the legally protected right to access abortion services unavailable in the state. One clinic in Kansas has already filed suit against the new rules, and a hearing on that suit is planned for Friday. Planned Parenthood is also expected to sue.

So unless there's some sort of injunction, Kansas will as of July 1 be the first abortion-free state in the nation.

To recap, the number one Republican legislative priority in state after state is not jobs, not the economy, not shrinking the size of government, not removing burdensome regulations, not saving us from the horros of having the state get between the doctor and their patients, but using the law strictly as a power grab over women for their own purposes of imposing their will upon the American people.

Smaller government means "As long as we can continue to use it against people we don't like."  Then it's a necessary function of the state.

[UPDATE] AP says one Kansas clinic will remain open, so that's something.  Hire their building contractors.

In a statement issued Thursday evening, Peter Brownlie, president of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, seemed to hold out some hope that its clinic could still obtain a license to continue operating, even as the organization sought an injuction to block the law from taking effect. "We have been targeted in this bill and Kansas women are the ones who will suffer if their health care is taken away," said Brownlie. "This is radical, extreme government intrusion into private health care."

Nice job, Kansas.

Another Milepost On The Road To Oblivion

Our media sucks.  We've got "liberal media" like Mark Halperin of Time, on MSNBC, calling President Obama a "real dick" on national TV for the mortal sin of calling out the Republicans on their intransigence.  But Republicans, they're such nice people, and Obama, well, you know how they are.



Asshole. I'm with Benen, he did this on purpose. He and Mika there had a good laugh about it. Halperin of course has been suspended from MSNBC, but that's treating the symptoms, not the cause.

Our press is broken beyond repair.

Land Of 10,000 Shutdowns

This being June 30 and all, it's the last day for fiscal 2011 for Minnesota.  And there's no budget for fiscal 2012, which starts tomorrow.  If you guessed that means "government shutdown chaos" then yes, you'd be on the right track.  And that's going to leave tens of thousands in the lurch.  Some functions will continue:

As Minnesota Public Radio reports, the court ruled that Minnesota is required to fulfill its obligations to the federal government, continuing to pay for programs like welfare, Medicaid and food stamps. Failing to do so would "violate the the constitutional rights of the citizens of Minnesota," the court said.

Beyond the "critical core functions," the court decided it doesn't have the authority to order more funding, as the Star Tribune reports.

But others will not.

If the state's government does shut down, state parks would close right before the Fourth of July weekend, and MPR reports that up to 22,000 state workers could be left without jobs.

Lawmakers have until the end of the week to avert shutdown. But with the deadline looming ever closer, the chances of reaching a deal before then seem to be fading.

Things are looking bad for a deal, too.  They've been at this for five months, but Minnesota Republicans say they'll keep the government shut down rather than raise a single additional dime of tax revenue, which is ridiculous.

How this plays out could have serious ramifications down the road at the national level.  If Minnesotans clearly side with Gov. Dayton or with state Republicans, it could weigh on our own national debt ceiling hostage situation.

Why The Sixth Circuit's Opinion On The Individual Insurance Mandate Matters

Yesterday, the Sixth Circuit court of appeals across the river in Cincy ruled 2-1 that the individual mandate provision in the Affordable Care Act was constitutional.  The reason why this matters?  The deciding vote and opinion was authored by Judge Jeffrey Sutton, a Bush 41 appointee and former clerk to Justice Scalia, and he came out for the mandate.

The Sixth Circuit majority held that the mandate was “facially constitutional under the Commerce Clause” for two reasons.

“First, the provision regulates economic activity that Congress had a rational basis to believe has substantial effects on interstate commerce,” Judge Martin wrote. “In addition, Congress had a rational basis to believe that the provision was essential to its larger economic scheme reforming the interstate markets in health care and health insurance.”

The court directly addressed whether a choice to go without health insurance qualifies as an “activity” that substantially affects interstate commerce, which is the standard set in prior Supreme Court decisions on the breadth of the Commerce Clause.

“The activity of foregoing health insurance and attempting to cover the cost of health care needs by self-insuring is no less economic than the activity of purchasing an insurance plan,” the opinion stated.

The majority emphasized that the case should not hang on distinctions about whether the failure to buy insurance should be defined as activity or inactivity, a question the Supreme Court has never considered. “The constitutionality of the minimum coverage provision cannot be resolved with a myopic focus on a malleable label,” the judges said.

In his concurrence, Judge Sutton added, “Inaction is action, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse, when it comes to financial risk.” Whether an individual buys an insurance policy or not, the judge wrote, “each requires affirmative choices; one is no less active than the other; and both affect commerce.” 

In other words, despite all the silliness that by affirming the ACA that Congress will be able to compel Americans to buy green socks or force Americans to take up subsistence farming or face penalties that you would expect from a Scalia disciple (and indeed, the minority opinion was centered around the idea of an unlimited Commerce Clause) but Judge Sutton did not bite.

It bodes very well for the real battle at the Supreme Court.

Like The Wonder Twins, Just A Lot More Stupid

Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin have tackled the hard issues, like mud wrestling and bus tours.  Check this article out.  From the safely conservative look, the similar outfits, and identical slightly puzzled looks, these two surely can't think anyone can take them seriously.

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann reportedly told a voter Wednesday that the media want her to get into a "mud wrestling fight" with potential presidential rival Sarah Palin.

"They want to see two girls come together and have a mud wrestling fight," the Minnesota congresswoman said in South Carolina, according to CNN, "and I am not going to give that to them."

Way to hold to your morals, babe.  I am very glad you will milk publicity and hem and haw around technical answers, but I am greatly relieved you will not mud wrestle.  I know Zandar has thoroughly covered this, but once in a while I am so disgusted I have to vent a little. 

Bachmann also said there was room for both her and Palin in the presidential race, arguing that Republicans should remember to keep focused on "the ultimate goal" of defeating President Obama next year.

To me, that sums up the entire problem right there.  For them, it's about winning and defeating when it should be about rebuilding and renewing.  Our country's future is just a game to them, more like competing for prom queen than managing the needs and course of millions of people.  Here is her attempt at being serious, and revealing she had a miscarriage, conveniently stirring sympathy and providing a chance to use this private matter to get in a good abortion quote.

“At that moment, we didn’t think of ourselves as overly career-minded or overly materialistic but when we lost that child, it changed us, and it changed us forever,” she said. “We made a commitment that no matter how many children were brought into our life, we would receive them because we are committed to life.”

I'm not immune to the tragic side of her comment,  but her emotional and personal response tells me how she would lead, and how she views the world.  Neither of these twits show the least bit of consideration for allowing people to make life decisions for themselves.  There is no respect for the Constitution.  There is only the notion that we need to be raised and taught how to be better, more like them.  If you're not their kind, you don't belong in their America.


Now there's two of them.  It's like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie had a mid-life crisis and decided to lead the country.  If pressed, they can always fall back on mud wrestling or crying that they are bullied. 

A Story About A Singing Penis

Yeah, I had to read it as well.  This is a clear case of an article's subject making it a requirement.  

Scientists from France and Scotland recorded the aquatic animal "singing" at up to 99.2 decibels, the equivalent of listening to a loud orchestra play while sitting in the front row.

The insect makes the sound by rubbing its penis against its abdomen in a process known as "stridulation".

Researchers say the song is a courtship display performed to attract a mate.

And single guys thought they had it hard.   I can't decide if that pun is intended, I'll leave it hanging.