On this Strictly Right, Andrew and Ari look at the Obama’s opulent lifestyle, the latest in the liberal media’s list-serv Journolist e-mails, a brand new It Must Be a Liberal, a mystery plaguing the New York Times, developments in the Canadian census and more.
You can listen to this episode online or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.
In examining the case of the never declining unemployment rate, the New York Times features an article entitled “Mystery for the White House: Where Did the Jobs Go?” In this mystery, the Times searches for the answer as to why the Obama recession has not ended, and why the unemployment rate, which Obama promised would not exceed 8% if his plans were implemented, has remained stagnant, around 10% throughout his reign.
R. Glenn Hubbard (no mention if he is related to L. Ron Hubbard), the dean of Columbia’s Business School, said, “I don’t blame the administration for being off in these forecasts…[the cause of the rise in unemployment is] a mystery.” Christina Romer, the leader of the President’s economic council chimed in with “we’ve done a lot of things to look at possible explanations.” This is not the making of an Agatha Christie novel.
Unraveling the ‘mystery’, the Obama administration has found the antidote. According to the Times, Obama’s plan is to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire. This move constitutes an enormous tax hike for small businesses, the largest employers in the United States. In addition, in order to get people back to work, Obama intends to extend welfare payments for the unemployed. What better incentive to find a job than the promise of more ‘free’ government money? Finally, the White House is in favor of a government-run fund to make loans to businesses. That makes sense – the government did work wonders in the housing market. Perhaps it can be as successful in the rest of the economy.
Some Democrats want to send the United States even farther down the socialist rat hole. According to Alan Blinder, a former Clinton hack, the only solution is… New-Deal style agencies. Blinder contends that the only way to battle unemployment is to put workers onto the public payroll. What could be better than rebuilding the Civilian Conservation Corps and other alphabet agencies? By Albert Einstein’s reasoning, you could say Democrats are insane.
As for the ‘mystery’ of unemployment, there’s no need to summon Sherlock Holmes. In this ‘whodunit’ there is an obvious perpetrator: the Democratic Party. Their big spending, government increasing policies have removed all confidence in the marketplace. It has come to the point where Las Vegas real estate mogul Steve Wynn said that he prefers to do business in China because the Communist Chinese government is more predictable than their American counterpart. In other words, Obama is following in FDR’s footsteps. With Roosevelt’s ever changing ‘experiments,’ there was never any certainty in the market. As a result, businesses did not expand, and thus, unemployment never went down. This only changed when the War broke out. After the United States entered the Second World War, the Roosevelt administration realized that they needed businesses to lead industrialization effort to equip the military. To do this, Roosevelt stopped his socialist experiments’ and got out of the way. Today, with bailouts, changing regulations that no one understands, a draconian tax code, enormous tax hikes only months away, non-stop anti-business rhetoric from Washington, and ever increasing government spending the climate in the capital is highly volatile. With such great uncertainty, businesses will not expand, new businesses will not be created, and Americans will remain unemployed. Mystery solved.
In a leaked Journolist email from National Public Radio producer Sarah Spitz, she reveals what shouldn’t be surprising, but is still disgusting: she wishes Rush Limbaugh were dead. Spitz didn’t make an in-passing reference to how the world would be a better place without Rush, however. Instead, she even offers a narrative on how she wishes it would happen. In response to Limbaugh experiencing chest pains while on vacation in Hawaii earlier this year, Spitz said she would “Laugh loudly like a maniac and watch his eyes bug out as Limbaugh he in torment.”
Now, when the news was revealed that Limbaugh was admitted to the hospital, there were a torrent of Tweets from his detractors wishing that he would kick the bucket, saying that they hoped it was a heart attack, that he died a painful death, etc. I have never seen such hatred when someone from the Left has been through a similar experience. There are going to be a couple of nutjobs on either side of the spectrum no matter what; but I can’t help but laugh at the Left’s chosen way to treat someone they claim is so filled with hate and vitriol. They respond with…well, hate and vitriol. I’ve never heard Rush wish someone were dead — nothing close.
Despite what I think about NPR (which, believe me, is not favorable,) there is still an expectation of civility there. Punditry and polemic aside, media figures on the Left and the Right have [generally] had a level of respect for colleagues on the other side as individuals. Heck, Chris Matthews even guest-hosted the Rush Limbaugh Show once (betcha didn’t know that!)
When the now leaked Journolist database, this is the tip of the iceberg. From admittedly sharing strategies to kill the Jeremiah Wright stories to advocating a government takeover of Fox News, it’s clear the liberal media is…shockingly, liberal.
Ronald Reagan used to say, “the most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Neil Barofsky, the Inspector General of TARP programs, released a report that documents the ruinous effects Obama has had on the economy. The report identifies President Obama as being responsible for the destruction of “tens of thousands” of jobs in the auto industry alone. From the New York Times:
The report by Neil M. Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program of the Treasury Department, said both carmakers needed to shut down some underperforming dealerships. But it questioned whether the cuts should have been made so quickly, particularly during a recession. The report, released on Sunday, estimated that tens of thousands of jobs were lost as a result.
“It is not at all clear that the greatly accelerated pace of the dealership closings during one of the most severe economic downturns in our nation’s history was either necessary for the sake of the companies’ economic survival or prudent for the sake of the nation’s economic recovery,”
The report also detailes how the forcible shutdowns seemed almost entirely arbitrary
President Obama appointed two men, with precisely zero experience in the automotive industry, to oversee the auto bailouts. As such, decisions on which dealerships to close and which to leave open appear to have been made with about as sound reasoning as an Earl Warren ruling. The result – “tens of thousands” of Americans needlessly lost their jobs. In many cases long-running family businesses were shutdown in a matter of weeks because some amorphous government bureaucrat, with no knowledge of the industry, decided the dealership no longer made sense.
This is what happens when the government intervenes in the private sector. No president should use the government to run any private businesses. In this case, the Obama administration is uniquely unqualified to handle any private sector business, as O’s team has the least private sector experience of any administration in over a century. The government is incapable of running the auto industry, healthcare , the financial sector, energy companies, or any other private sector businesses. In addition, the private sector is expressly out of the purview of the federal government. When the government interferes in private business the state continues to metastasize, the Constitution is trampled upon and the net effect on individuals is uniformly calamitous. When it comes to the auto industry, Obama’s reckless and unfounded policies are destroying the United States economy, “tens of thousands” of jobs at a time.
On this Strictly Right, Andrew and Ari chat about political correctness in the healthcare system, Obama’s ‘big lie’ when it comes to healthcare, and whether or not Obama is Carter 2.0. All this and a great interview with Senator Pamela Gorman!
You can listen to this episode online here or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.
If he were Muslim, this would be a hate crime.
Russia reacted with horror today over the heartbreaking story of a seven-year-old Siberian boy adopted by an American family who was sent back to Moscow alone – because his U.S. mother didn’t want him any more.
Little Artem Saveliev was last year taken from a grim orphanage and given a new life in Tennessee last year.
But his adoptive mother Torry-Ann Hansen, a 34-year-old nurse, yesterday put him on a ten-hour flight as an unaccompanied minor with a note ‘to whom it may concern’ saying: ‘I no longer wish to parent this child’.
In his rucksack, she had placed sweets, biscuits and colouring pens for the journey.
Russia reacted with horror today over the heartbreaking story of a seven-year-old Siberian boy adopted by an American family who was sent back to Moscow alone – because his U.S. mother didn’t want him any more.
Little Artem Saveliev was last year taken from a grim orphanage and given a new life in Tennessee last year.
But his adoptive mother Torry-Ann Hansen, a 34-year-old nurse, yesterday put him on a ten-hour flight as an unaccompanied minor with a note ‘to whom it may concern’ saying: ‘I no longer wish to parent this child’.
In his rucksack, she had placed sweets, biscuits and colouring pens for the journey.
But hey, at least she gave him sweets for the road!
Back when President George W. Bush was in office I sent a letter requesting he pardon Black. Apparently it got lost in the mail. Either way, I was quite pleased to see that media magnate Conrad Black (formerly known as Lord Black of Crossharbour) has been released from Florida’s Coleman Federal Correctional Complex on bail pending his appeal hearings. Now, Black was given a 10-year prison sentence for doing some questionable accounting with his companies. Was it wrong? Yeah. Was it worth 10 years in jail? I would say not. Especially when pedophile movie directors are exempt from punishment because they popped out a good movie 20 years ago (see: Roman Polanski.)
Whether or not Black will win his appeal is unknown at this time. But he gets to enjoy Florida in the summertime regardless!
I don’t normally get too involved in local races at the state or provincial level. However, a candidate running for Michigan’s state house has caught my eye as a result of the national media attention he’s received. in 2008, Dennis Lennox (R-Topinabee) was elected to become Cheboygan County’s drain commissioner in Northern Michigan. The most amusing part of his position? Cheboygan County doesn’t have any drains that need commissioning. Running on a platform of abolishing the position, Lennox quickly became a rising star in politics, getting national media coverage for being one of the few politicians truly committed to cutting down wasteful spending, even if it would mean them losing their jobs!
Lennox was considering a run against turncoat Congressman Bart Stupak, but decided he could better serve his community, his state, and his country by replacing outgoing State House Minority Leader, Rep. Kevin Elsenheimer (R-MI105.) Not only has Lennox signed a pledge to never raise taxes, but he’s been endorsed by local pro-life groups, and has established himself as a true conservative, even representing the Republican Party abroad through the International Democratic Union.
You can learn more about Dennis Lennox at his website. Whether or not you live in Michigan, this is the type of candidate worth throwing your financial support behind.
Here’s a television ad that was released this week:
Best. Product. Ever. And yes, by the way, it’s real.
On this Strictly Right, Andrew and Ari look at Twilight’s biggest fans at Gitmo, Vodka-filled Russians drowning, the truth behind the Bush tax cuts and the deficit, Obama’s nosediving poll numbers and much more.
You can listen to this episode online here or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.