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The irony of all this posturing by the progressive socialists on the Middle East moving to Democracy is just wishful thinking. The progressives believe all they have to do is give lip service to a situation and that's all that is needed to change outcomes. Really?
Has the media asked Mr Obama how his strategy has worked in Lydia, Syria or Egypt? For that matter how is siding with the tyrants in Iran against the uprising of the people brought about any kind of Democracy. By his refusal to support the people in the street demonstrating for freedom in Iran, in which one woman died, he assured the continued power of a mass killers that are now threatening the entire Middle East and the world with nuclear weapons.
Whose fault is it that we are in this situation of half of the world on fire and our own country in decline? That easy, Barack Obama and the progressive socialist left Democrats. Who voted for this nightmare? Who are these people and where do they live?
Middle East Democracy
Walter E. Williams
Here's the first paragraph of my last year's column "Democracy Is Impossible":
"After Moammar Gadhafi's downfall as Libya's tyrannical ruler, politicians and 'experts' in the U.S. and elsewhere, including French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, are saying that his death marked the end of 42 years of tyranny and the beginning of democracy in Libya. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Gadhafi's death represented an opportunity for Libya to make a peaceful and responsible transition to democracy. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said, 'Now it is time for Libya's Transitional National Council to show the world that it will respect the rights of all Libyans (and) guide the nation to democracy.' German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that 'Libya must now quickly make further determined steps in the direction of democracy.'"
It's good to have hope, but if we're going to be realistic, there's little chance for Middle East emergence of what we in the West call democracy.
Almost a year ago, both Egyptians and Westerners welcomed and celebrated the downfall of three decades of Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak's tyrannical rule. It was called an "Arab Spring." A year later, Egyptians are once again taking to the streets, this time protesting the tyrannical acts of President Mohamed Morsi, who represents the vision and ideological orientation of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood's goal has always been to impose Shariah law. Egyptian tyranny hasn't been eliminated; its form has changed.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's dictatorship is now being challenged by a hodgepodge of armed resistance groups nominally united as the Free Syrian Army. Speaking for our nation, last year President Obama said, "The United States has been inspired by the Syrian peoples' pursuit of a peaceful transition to democracy. They have braved ferocious brutality at the hands of their government." Is al-Assad's downfall in any way more likely to produce democracy than Gadhafi's downfall or Mubarak's downfall? Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is optimistic in saying the rebel protest shows "the strong desire of the Syrian people ... for a Syria that is democratic, just and inclusive."
27 Aralık 2012 Perşembe
Wind Power Is Always A Loser : Taxpayers Always Pay
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Since 1992, the federal government has expended almost $24 billion to encourage investment in wind power through direct spending, tax breaks, R&D, loan guarantees and other federal support of electric power. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that a one-year extension of existing federal subsidies for wind power would cost taxpayers almost $12 billion.
The costs of wind subsidies are extraordinarily high—$52.48 per one million watt hours generated, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. By contrast, the subsidies for generating the same amount of electricity from nuclear power are $3.10, from hydropower 84 cents, from coal 64 cents, and from natural gas 63 cents.
In addition, wind power benefits from federal mandates requiring the use of renewable energy by federal agencies along with preferential treatment by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. Many states provide additional tax breaks, subsidies and mandates for wind power. The total value of these additional subsidies has never been calculated.
But the cost to taxpayers is only part of the problem. Subsidized, wind-generated electricity is displacing other, much cheaper sources of power. The subsidies are so high that wind-power producers can pay utilities to take the electricity they produce and still make a profit. Such "negative pricing" has occurred for some time in the Midwest, the Pacific Northwest and in Texas—and, according to the Energy Information Administration, it will likely grow.
This is just one more instance where the federal government has failed. This subject has been discussed over and over but the result is always the same, wind energy is a loser costing states and taxpayers billions for little or no realistic return.
By PHIL GRAMM
Federal subsidies for new wind-power generation will end on Dec. 31 unless they are renewed by Congress. For the sake of our economy and the smooth operation of the energy market, Congress should let the subsidies lapse. They waste taxpayer money, subvert the allocation of capital, and generate a social cost many times the price tag of the subsides themselves.Since 1992, the federal government has expended almost $24 billion to encourage investment in wind power through direct spending, tax breaks, R&D, loan guarantees and other federal support of electric power. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that a one-year extension of existing federal subsidies for wind power would cost taxpayers almost $12 billion.
The costs of wind subsidies are extraordinarily high—$52.48 per one million watt hours generated, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. By contrast, the subsidies for generating the same amount of electricity from nuclear power are $3.10, from hydropower 84 cents, from coal 64 cents, and from natural gas 63 cents.
In addition, wind power benefits from federal mandates requiring the use of renewable energy by federal agencies along with preferential treatment by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. Many states provide additional tax breaks, subsidies and mandates for wind power. The total value of these additional subsidies has never been calculated.
But the cost to taxpayers is only part of the problem. Subsidized, wind-generated electricity is displacing other, much cheaper sources of power. The subsidies are so high that wind-power producers can pay utilities to take the electricity they produce and still make a profit. Such "negative pricing" has occurred for some time in the Midwest, the Pacific Northwest and in Texas—and, according to the Energy Information Administration, it will likely grow.
Hillary Clinton Missing? In Hiding? Not New Stuff
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Isn't this strange. History repeating itself? Just when we need her the most, she takes a hike back into the shadows; remember this is where she has been for the last four years.
When one stops and gives this some thought, what exactly has she done for the last four years? What crisis has she defused or what proclamations has she made to change the world? All I can remember of her exploits is pictures of her smiling and shaking hands with some statesman or underling.
Truly, Hillary slipping between one catastrophic event and another this is not all that strange in that it's just more politics from the progressive socialists Democrats. That four our citizens died, were murdered, and that she and Mr Obama had direct access to information that could have saved them isn't important. What's important is making sure none of this can be linked to Mrs Clinton.
Just to jog your memory a little, remember Vincent Foster and the Clintons? To go one step further, the Clintons had more then 22 lawless episodes during their tenure at the White House. That she is linked to complete negligence now is no big deal. After all, we're taking about the Clintons and progressive liberal socialists Democrats.
If it weren't for total lawlessness and complete moral degradation, we wouldn' be having this conversation.
Where IS Hillary?
DANIEL HALPER
On December 15, the day after the day after the shooting at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, State Department officials notified the press that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had fallen ill. "While suffering from a stomach virus, Secretary Clinton became dehydrated and fainted, sustaining a concussion," deputy assistant secretary Philippe Reines said in a statement to the press.
Since then, Clinton does not appear to have been sighted in public.
On December 19, Clinton missed the State Department holiday party. “I was going to congratulate her on her record-breaking travel,” President Obama said, noting her absence. “These are not frequent-flyer miles,” he joked. “She is tireless and extraordinary.”
On the same day as her office announced her illness, they also put out word that Clinton would be missing the Benghazi hearing scheduled for December 20 on Capitol Hill. Indeed, she did miss that hearing, and another one has not yet been scheduled.
And on December 21, Clinton missed President Obama's announcement that John Kerry would be nominated as the next secretary of state. "Hillary wanted very much to be here today, but she continues to recuperate. I had a chance to talk to her earlier today, and she is in good spirits and could not be more excited about the announcement that I’m making," Obama said at that event, again noting Clinton's absence.
Clinton's last trip, to the Czech Republic, Belgium, Ireland, and Northern Ireland, returned December 7.
When one stops and gives this some thought, what exactly has she done for the last four years? What crisis has she defused or what proclamations has she made to change the world? All I can remember of her exploits is pictures of her smiling and shaking hands with some statesman or underling.
Truly, Hillary slipping between one catastrophic event and another this is not all that strange in that it's just more politics from the progressive socialists Democrats. That four our citizens died, were murdered, and that she and Mr Obama had direct access to information that could have saved them isn't important. What's important is making sure none of this can be linked to Mrs Clinton.
Just to jog your memory a little, remember Vincent Foster and the Clintons? To go one step further, the Clintons had more then 22 lawless episodes during their tenure at the White House. That she is linked to complete negligence now is no big deal. After all, we're taking about the Clintons and progressive liberal socialists Democrats.
If it weren't for total lawlessness and complete moral degradation, we wouldn' be having this conversation.
Where IS Hillary?
DANIEL HALPER
On December 15, the day after the day after the shooting at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, State Department officials notified the press that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had fallen ill. "While suffering from a stomach virus, Secretary Clinton became dehydrated and fainted, sustaining a concussion," deputy assistant secretary Philippe Reines said in a statement to the press.
Since then, Clinton does not appear to have been sighted in public.
On December 19, Clinton missed the State Department holiday party. “I was going to congratulate her on her record-breaking travel,” President Obama said, noting her absence. “These are not frequent-flyer miles,” he joked. “She is tireless and extraordinary.”
On the same day as her office announced her illness, they also put out word that Clinton would be missing the Benghazi hearing scheduled for December 20 on Capitol Hill. Indeed, she did miss that hearing, and another one has not yet been scheduled.
And on December 21, Clinton missed President Obama's announcement that John Kerry would be nominated as the next secretary of state. "Hillary wanted very much to be here today, but she continues to recuperate. I had a chance to talk to her earlier today, and she is in good spirits and could not be more excited about the announcement that I’m making," Obama said at that event, again noting Clinton's absence.
Clinton's last trip, to the Czech Republic, Belgium, Ireland, and Northern Ireland, returned December 7.
Krauthammer on Obama's Over Regulations : A Video
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As usual, if you have watched Krauthammer in the past, he is on task here defining the regulation nightmare that the Obama administration is setting forth to strangle small businesses and our entire country.
The question that I have is why? One would think he would want more revenue coming into Washington that he could spend on his friends and voter base. But with all of these new regulations, jobs will not be created as businesses will hunker down for the next four years to avoid all the increased cost to comply.
Charles Krauthammer on Over Regulation on Small Business
http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/27/krauthammer-slams-obama-for-illegal-and-unconstitutional-regulatory-overreach/#ooid=11dm52NzpRQV3HqgQX-XYqldaOOcqYRg
During Wednesday’s broadcast of “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer criticized the Obama administration for something even President Barack Obama has admitted could be an obstacle to economic growth: the expansion of regulation through executive fiat
.
As the number of regulations from the federal government is continuously expanding, the comment period for regulations has been shortened from 60 days to 45 days, a move that Krauthammer said overwhelms small businesses.
“At so many levels, this is a problem,” Krauthammer replied. “First of all [is] the volume, as you indicate, which is sort of overwhelming. If you are a small business, you have no idea what’s going to happen with your health care costs, your taxes, and all the other regulations. The second is the sort of intrusiveness of all of this, and the fact that it really hurts small business who don’t have the lawyers and the accountants, and the sharp — the former legislators who can work your way around the regulations.”
“Then you’ve got the lack of being open about it. The administration has this short comment period, where you are supposed to have 60 days, by executive order, and you’re not getting it. Which means essentially, the executive runs this.”
Krauthammer also commented on the legality of the regulatory environment, one of which he said reflected an “arrogance.”
“And lastly, you get the arrogance of it,” he continued, “the administration essentially enacting legislation on its own through regulation, the way it did the DREAM Act and the way it did in stripping away the work requirement in a reform of welfare.”
“So all of these things happened unilaterally. A lot of them, I think, are actually illegal and unconstitutional. But even if they are constitutional, they are incredibly destructive of small business.”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/27/krauthammer-slams-obama-for-illegal-and-unconstitutional-regulatory-overreach/#ixzz2GGdg9OlB
The question that I have is why? One would think he would want more revenue coming into Washington that he could spend on his friends and voter base. But with all of these new regulations, jobs will not be created as businesses will hunker down for the next four years to avoid all the increased cost to comply.
Charles Krauthammer on Over Regulation on Small Business
http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/27/krauthammer-slams-obama-for-illegal-and-unconstitutional-regulatory-overreach/#ooid=11dm52NzpRQV3HqgQX-XYqldaOOcqYRg
During Wednesday’s broadcast of “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer criticized the Obama administration for something even President Barack Obama has admitted could be an obstacle to economic growth: the expansion of regulation through executive fiat
.As the number of regulations from the federal government is continuously expanding, the comment period for regulations has been shortened from 60 days to 45 days, a move that Krauthammer said overwhelms small businesses
.“At so many levels, this is a problem,” Krauthammer replied. “First of all [is] the volume, as you indicate, which is sort of overwhelming. If you are a small business
, you have no idea what’s going to happen with your health care costs, your taxes, and all the other regulations. The second is the sort of intrusiveness of all of this, and the fact that it really hurts small business who don’t have the lawyers and the accountants, and the sharp — the former legislators who can work your way around the regulations.”“Then you’ve got the lack of being open about it. The administration has this short comment period, where you are supposed to have 60 days, by executive order, and you’re not getting it. Which means essentially, the executive runs this.”
Krauthammer also commented on the legality of the regulatory environment
, one of which he said reflected an “arrogance.”“And lastly, you get the arrogance of it,” he continued, “the administration essentially enacting legislation on its own through regulation, the way it did the DREAM Act and the way it did in stripping away the work requirement in a reform of welfare.”
“So all of these things happened unilaterally. A lot of them, I think, are actually illegal and unconstitutional. But even if they are constitutional, they are incredibly destructive of small business.”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/27/krauthammer-slams-obama-for-illegal-and-unconstitutional-regulatory-overreach/#ixzz2GGdg9OlB
Entitlements Driving Economic Cliff Dive
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This is on point in that it is a spending problem we have not a revenue problem, but for the most of us that are awake and not sitting the front pew of the church of progressive socialism, know this already, it's not new stuff.
Still, anytime someone can bring to light the disaster that is coming for all of us, it can't hurt to keep repeating the cause and solution.
Entitlement and Interest Drive Fiscal Crisis
Romina Boccia
The end of 2012 was marked by lawmakers engaging in a distracting fiscal cliff debate over tax rates when the solution to the real fiscal crisis lies in an entirely different area of the budget.
Federal spending on entitlements and interest on the debt drives the federal budget crisis. Together the three major entitlements of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid (including Obamacare), as well as net interest, make up more than half of all spending in the federal budget today. Their share of the budget will grow to over two-thirds of all spending in 10 years.
By 2025, the major entitlement programs and net interest together will eat up all tax revenues collected in that year. This implies that all other government spending, including for national defense, would have to be financed by borrowing.
This projection by the Congressional Budget Office assumes that historically low interest rates continue at least until 2015 and that inflation will be modest, inching up toward 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2017. Nevertheless, spending on interest on the debt would double before the end of the decade.
Should the Federal Reserve’s continued and prolonged quantitative easing lead to more severe inflation—a risk that is very real—the dangerous scenario painted in the chart of the year could come about even sooner.
One thing is clear: Lawmakers are playing a risky game for as long as they neglect to address the structural problems in the entitlement programs that are driving the nation deeper and deeper into debt. Reform is inevitable. The only question: Will lawmakers develop the political will before the real fiscal crisis hits or will they be forced into making changes in the midst of it?
Posted in Entitlements, Taxes & Spending, Featured
Still, anytime someone can bring to light the disaster that is coming for all of us, it can't hurt to keep repeating the cause and solution.
Entitlement and Interest Drive Fiscal Crisis
Romina Boccia
The end of 2012 was marked by lawmakers engaging in a distracting fiscal cliff debate over tax rates when the solution to the real fiscal crisis lies in an entirely different area of the budget.
Federal spending on entitlements and interest on the debt drives the federal budget crisis. Together the three major entitlements of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid (including Obamacare), as well as net interest, make up more than half of all spending in the federal budget today. Their share of the budget will grow to over two-thirds of all spending in 10 years.
By 2025, the major entitlement programs and net interest together will eat up all tax revenues collected in that year. This implies that all other government spending, including for national defense, would have to be financed by borrowing.
This projection by the Congressional Budget Office assumes that historically low interest rates continue at least until 2015 and that inflation will be modest, inching up toward 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2017. Nevertheless, spending on interest on the debt would double before the end of the decade.
Should the Federal Reserve’s continued and prolonged quantitative easing lead to more severe inflation—a risk that is very real—the dangerous scenario painted in the chart of the year could come about even sooner.
One thing is clear: Lawmakers are playing a risky game for as long as they neglect to address the structural problems in the entitlement programs that are driving the nation deeper and deeper into debt. Reform is inevitable. The only question: Will lawmakers develop the political will before the real fiscal crisis hits or will they be forced into making changes in the midst of it?
Posted in Entitlements, Taxes & Spending, Featured
20 Aralık 2012 Perşembe
Air Shark!
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There we were, surfing the web for ideas of what to get a certain 9-year old boy for Christmas, when we stumbled into something that made us suddenly sit up and say "That is so cool!"
That something is the Air Swimmer Remote Control Inflatable Flying Shark. Here's a Youtube video of it in action:
We like it because it combines a boy's love of flying R/C vehicles with nature's perfect predator! And as an added bonus, it echoes some of the more fun scenes from the 2010 Doctor Who Christmas special, many of which were excerpted and remixed with appropriate music in the following video preview:
The real preview for the 2010 Doctor Who Christmas special is available here. The episode is simply brilliant, with one of the best twists ever in retelling Charles Dickens' classic Christmas Carol story. Very highly recommended!
And at the very least, we've also answered Mark Cuban's problem of what to get his fellow multi-millionaire venture investors on Shark Tank for Christmas this year!
The Growth Trend of Americans Living Alone
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Following on the heels of our finding that the increase in the share of single person households over time is the primary factor in the observed increase in U.S. income inequality for households over the last six decades, we thought it might be interesting to share what we found in the U.S. Census' data from 1940 onward regarding the growth trend of Americans living alone.
Our chart below reveals the general trend for how single person households grew from 7.7% of all U.S. households in 1940 to an estimated 27.5% in 2011.
Here, we find that the percentage share of single person households in the U.S. doubled in the 28 years from 1940 to 1968. It then took another 20 years for the percentage share of single person households to more than triple its 1940 level, reaching that mark in 1988. Since that time, the growth rate of householders living alone has sharply decelerated. The percentage share of single person households has only increased by 3.5% in the last 23 years.
In essence, the number of single-person households in the U.S. grew exponentially from 1940 into the mid-1960s, then steadily from then until about the early 1980s and at a decelerating pace in the years since.
Data Sources
U.S. Census Bureau. Households by Size: 1960 to Present. [Excel spreadsheet]. Accessed 16 December 2012.
U.S. Census Bureau. Historical Census of Housing Tables: Living Alone. Accessed 16 December 2012.
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