Free Trade

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Speech - Free Trade - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - Warner Todd Huston

More on Obama’s Lies in Pittsburgh…

September 22, 2009 by 5 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Yesterday for RedCounty.com I wrote a piece on Obama’s hint that he might be open to newspaper bailouts. I noted that he hinted at the possibility that he wanted to regulate the blogosphere and said they never “fact check” anything they post.

But, Maggie Thurber of Thurber’s Thoughts found a few things in that same Gazette interview with The One that adds even more to his latest series of lies.

Thurber points out that Obama claimed that when he came into office “we were losing 700,000 jobs per month.” Turns out this is a bald-faced lie Thurber discovered.
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More on Obama’s Lies in Pittsburgh…”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - GOP - Health - Liberals - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - The Law - Warner Todd Huston

What Mandates Do To Our Insurance

September 21, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

There has been a lot of talk about mandates emanating from the federal government to force each of us to buy healthcare insurance but what do those mandates do to the insurance itself? And are they even Constitutionally justified?

First of all we need to remind everyone that these mandates cannot possibly be Constitutional. After all, the Constitution does not give Congress the power to demand that the citizens buy a certain product. The Constitution only gives Congress the power to tax, not to serve as an arm of any industry. These mandates will essentially make the federal government an insurance salesman and this is most certainly unconstitutional.

Still, even if we are unfortunate enough to be burdened with this new system, what will it do to our insurance companies?
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What Mandates Do To Our Insurance”

Anti-Americanism - Business - Capitalism - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Health - Jobs - Liberals - Socialism - Society/Culture - State Government - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Is it American to be Forced Into a Union? In Obama’s America it is!

September 21, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Welcome to Obama’s America where you are forced to become a union member even if you had no idea you were being inducted into one. In fact, in Obama’s America you won’t even know you are IN a union until you notice union dues are being withheld from your checks.

This is the case in Michigan where Sherry Loar and Dawn Ives work out of their home talking care of children for low-income families. One Friday the pair realized that union dues were being withheld from the checks they receive from the state for the subsidized daycare they perform for local families.

As it happens, neither woman voted to join a union nor even knew that they’d be forcefully inducted into one. They didn’t even know their job had a union.
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Is it American to be Forced Into a Union? In Obama’s America it is!”

Business - Capitalism - Computers - Congress - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Inernet - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Taxes - Technology

Googleopoly IV: Monopsony Control over Digital Info Competition — New White Paper

September 21, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

My latest Google antitrust white paper, “Googleopoly IV: The Googleopsony Case,” is the first antitrust analysis which connects-the-dots between Google’s search advertising selling monopoly and Google’s information access buying monopoly or “monopsony” by explaining and documenting how Google is harming competition in digital: news, books, broadcasting, artwork, documents and analytics; and harming consumers seeking quality digital information that is not free.

(Googleopoly I was the first public analysis of why Google ultimately would emerge as a monopoly and Googleopoly II & III were the first public antitrust analyses why the DOJ should block the Google-Yahoo ad agreement, which the DOJ did block 11-5-08.)

Anyone trying to see-the-world-whole and and understand how the Internet’s digital information ecosystem fits together and is devolving– needs to read this white paper.
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Googleopoly IV: Monopsony Control over Digital Info Competition — New White Paper”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Britain - Business - Capitalism - Christianity - Congress - Conservatives - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Europe - Free Trade - Freedom - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - Military - President - Race - Religion - Republicans - Security/Safety - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Terrorism - Warner Todd Huston

Brit Hasn’t a Clue About U.S. Politics

September 18, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Many elitist American leftists like to go about claiming that it is only Americans that are dunces on foreign matters. There is some truth to the accusation that Americans are not knowledgeable about the rest of the world but if a column in the UK Telegraph is any indication it isn’t much better for Britain’s understanding of American politics. Worse, it is plain that even a British journalist hasn’t a clue what he’s on about when attempting to discuss the differences between a Democrat and Republican in today’s climate.

At issue is the incredibly garbled take on American Democrats and Republicans as posted by U.K. Telegraph writer David Lindsay, who claims himself to be a “freelance writer and tutor at Durham University.” One wonders why he doesn’t get a real job.

In “Why real American conservatives should register as Democrats,” Lindsay’s main point seems to be that Republicans really support what the Democratic Party supports and so GOP voters should resign from their party and join the left side of the aisle. But Lindsay’s reasons prove that he doesn’t know a thing about what he’s talking about.
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Brit Hasn’t a Clue About U.S. Politics”

Barack Obama - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Health - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - President - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Health Insurance is Not Like Auto Insurance

September 17, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

During his healthcare speech last week, President Obama tried to compare his idea of compulsory health insurance to the practice of mandatory auto insurance now in effect in most of the States of the Union.

But as a recent Fox News piece by Judson Berger proves, car insurance is nothing like forced healthcare insurance. The main reason the two do not compare well is that mandatory auto insurance covers other people, not the driver. But forced healthcare insurance covers the individual, not any indemnity against the individual’s actions against others.

Additionally, there isn’t anything truly compulsory about mandatory auto insurance. After all, it isn’t mandatory that one drive. If you don’t want to pay for the insurance, don’t drive. Additionally, there is no compulsion to pay for insurance that covers yourself or your car.

On the other hand, compulsory health insurance is far more intrusive than mandatory car insurance. It cannot be avoided without penalty of law, it is not a safety measure to cover others for your own negligence, it can’t be avoided even by moving to another state and it most certainly is un-Constitutional.
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Health Insurance is Not Like Auto Insurance”

Anti-Americanism - Business - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - Race - Socialism - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Is Union Favored Legislation ‘Racist’?

September 17, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Professor Harry G. Hutchison of George Mason University recently took a look at the union favored Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and made a startling conclusion. He believes it will harm minorities.

Saying that the EFCA is “arguably the most transformative piece of labor legislation” since 1935, Hutchinson warns that it will seriously harm the rights of workers and the status of minorities alike.

To start, Hutchinson summed up the provisions of the bill.

One of the newest attempts to transform labor relations is the EFCA. The first to disappear under the EFCA would be a system of union democracy whereby unions could only obtain the rights of exclusive representation for firms if they could prevail in a secret-ballot election. Second, the EFCA would eliminate the necessity of a freely negotiated collective bargaining agreement between management and labor and instead substitute compulsory arbitration.

The results of these provisions, though, would prove disastrous as far as Hutchinson is concerned.
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Is Union Favored Legislation ‘Racist’?”

Barack Obama - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - President - Security/Safety - Socialism - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Union Boss Admits to Using Members as Political Activists

September 15, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

An interesting admission by James A. Williams, president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades in Philadelphia, can be seen in an interview he did with the Philly Inquirer. It is an admission that conforms one of the things that anti-union folks have been saying for years, but one union officials are loath to admit.

While discussing the hard economic times, the Philly Inquirer asked how the recession was affecting the union. In his answer President Wilson admitted that his union uses out-of-work members for “political events.” Wilson mentioned that they lower dues to $1 a month after a member has been out of work for more than six months, but that isn’t just the kind hearted union looking out for its members. No, the union expects something in return for that lowering of dues.
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Union Boss Admits to Using Members as Political Activists”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Capitalism - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Health - Liberals - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Obama Dissembles Again About His ‘Responsibility’ For Healthcare

September 14, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

In a new 60 Minutes interview, President Obama made a big show about telling correspondent Steve Kroft that he “owns” healthcare if it goes wrong and that because of this he has “every incentive to get this right.”

But is this true? Will Obama face any real, personal consequences for any possible failures of Obamacare if it gets passed? I would say he doesn’t.

In the interview, Obama sonorously tells Kroft,

“I have no interest in having a bill get passed that fails. That doesn’t work. You know, I intend to be president for a while and once this bill passes, I own it. And if people look and say, ‘You know what? This hasn’t reduced my costs. My premiums are still going up 25 percent, insurance companies are still jerking me around,'” Obama explained.

“I’m the one who’s going to be held responsible. So I have every incentive to get this right,” he added.

This claim that he will face consequences if Obamacare becomes a mess later because he didn’t “get it right” is a bald-faced lie.
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Obama Dissembles Again About His ‘Responsibility’ For Healthcare”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Business - California - Capitalism - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Liberals - Republicans - Socialism - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

California’s Mass Job Loss… Except in Government

September 13, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A recent report by the Sacramento based California Budget Project shows that two out of five working-age Californians are out of work. The jobless rate has not been this bad since 1977. California’s unemployment rate is one of the worst in the country at 12 percent.

Yet, union membership has grown in California despite the recession. And it’s no wonder when looking at the CBP study. On page three, for instance, we see a notation that reports that unionization in government jobs has grown substantially and is also at a much higher percentage of the total sector workforce in California than it is in the rest of the country.

Unionization rates were consistently higher in the public sector than in the private sector in 2008-2009. As Figure 2 shows, public-sector unionism was especially strong in Los Angeles as well as in California: during 2008-2009, well over half of all workers in the California and Los Angeles public sectors were union members. In the nation as a whole, the unionization rate for public-sector workers was 37.0 percent; much higher than the 7.5 percent rate found in the private sector, but well below the rates for public-sector workers in California (57.4%) or Los Angeles (56%).

So, while regular citizens are losing their jobs by the millions, government workers are in clover, riding the gravy train, on easy street.
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California’s Mass Job Loss… Except in Government”

Abortion - Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Children - Christianity - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Family - Free Trade - Freedom - Health - Liberals - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Will Obamacare Put Abortion Providers in Schools?

September 11, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

In a section innocuously titled “School-Based Health Clinics,” the House bill, H.R. 3200, seems to set up Democrats to invite groups like Planned Parenthood into our schools to serve as a school “health clinic.” (‘Sec. 399Z-1. School-Based Health Clinics.)

And even more insidiously the bill provides for these “clinics” to be initiated immediately — effective date to be July 1, 2010 — whereas much of the rest of H.R. 3200 does not take effect until 2013. Why the rush? If one were cynical, one might think that the fast tracking of these “clinics” was meant to catch critics off guard. After all, if these “clinics” are slipped into our schools before anyone is aware of them, it will be harder to get them out or to protest the whole deal beforehand.

Here is how Sec. 399Z-1 begins:
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Will Obamacare Put Abortion Providers in Schools?”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Health - House of Representatives - Liberals - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Revenue Neutral? Hardly!

September 10, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A couple of stories have recently come out that really put the lie to President Obama’s claims that “his” healthcare bill is revenue neutral. These on top of the original plan-killing news that came out of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office in July. In July the CBO said that Obama’s plan was clocking in at over a trillion dollars and said there would be no savings despite the rosy picture that the administration tried to paint for it all.

Early in September, the CBO dealt Obamacre yet another body blow to its claims of fiscal savings. CNSNews reports that the current House health bill will hike Medicare drug coverage premiums twenty percent forcing seniors to pay more for the same coverage they currently have.

“Overall, CBO estimates that enacting the proposed changes would lead to an average increase in premiums for Part D beneficiaries, above those under current law, of about 5 percent by 2011,” CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf said to Camp in a letter. “That effect would rise over time and reach about 20 percent in 2019.”

So much for “helping” Seniors save costs!
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Revenue Neutral? Hardly!”

Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Liberals - Society/Culture - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Teamsters Chief Says ‘Public Option’ Not Vital to Healthcare Reform

September 7, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

James P. Hoffa is now saying that if Obama pulls the “public option” out of his healthcare bill, it is not a deal killer as far as union support is concerned.

Hoffa said that he was only interested in what was “doable” and that they need to “get something done… and declare a victory.”

Now let’s take a look at these quotes from Mr. Hoffa, shall we? What does it mean if we aren’t seeing obliged union support without integrity for Obama’s healthcare coming from Hoffa’s Teamsters? Hoffa is saying that he doesn’t care at all what healthcare “reform” will look like as long as they can get it done with and “declare a victory.”

This is unprincipled support of Obama’s healthcare purely for political reasons. What would Hoffa and the unions get from such unprincipled support of Obama’s socialist take over of one sixth of our nation’s economy? Why is Hoffa so disinterested in the actual outcome of the healthcare debate as long as they win it? What will Hoffa get out of this?

It’s all a gambit leading to what the unions really want: the Employee Free Choice Act.
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Teamsters Chief Says ‘Public Option’ Not Vital to Healthcare Reform”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Liberals - President - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Obamaism, Unionism, Interventionism… Are Turning USA Into a Third World Nation

September 7, 2009 by

Economists from George Mason University and The Locke Institute, as well as Nobel laureate James Buchanan are warning that if President Obama is allowed his interventionist, fascist way the U.S.A. will be laid low and turned into a third world nation.

Here is a short editorial by Charles K. Rowley of GMU that appeared in The Telegraph.

Adam Smith would not be optimistic in today’s economic world

Adam Smith once commented that “there is a great deal of ruin in a nation”. He meant that bungling governments imposed only a limited check on the economic performance of a Great Nation.
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Obamaism, Unionism, Interventionism… Are Turning USA Into a Third World Nation”

Congress - Elections - Free Trade - Illinois - Senate - State Government - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Anti-Mark Kirk Efforts Begin

September 5, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Republicans United Against Mark Kirk for US Senate, a blog to chronicle Representative Mark Kirk’s record by folks not very happy with his record has been set up to argue against his candidacy.

According to the opening main statement, the blog is set up to reveal Kirk’s “departure from the GOP’s state and national platforms.”

This blog is a response to US Rep. Mark Kirk’s bid for the US Senate seat from Illinois. It will reveal Mark Kirk’s voting record as a member of the US House of Reps. and address Kirk’s departure from the GOP’s state and national platforms. This site will provide a venue for Illinois voters to express their opinions on not only Kirk, but others who will be on the GOP’s primary ballot in 2010. Read letters to the editor, articles and commentaries regarding Kirk’s position on the issues.

Kirk’s Cap and Trade vote really set off a firestorm of anti-Kirk sentiment out there, it seems.
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Anti-Mark Kirk Efforts Begin”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Business - Capitalism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Free Trade - Health - Jobs - Liberals - President - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Obama Admin. Clueless About Modern Medicine

September 4, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

With each passing day we see mounting proof that President Obama and his White House really haven’t a clue about modern medicine. Doctors all across the nation are finally starting to realize this, too. Cardiologists and Oncologists, for instance, are beginning to understand that President Obama and his takeover of our healthcare system is based on power and not service to patients.

Bloomberg is reporting that a group of Cardiologists and Oncologists are protesting the planed Medicare cuts in their services. The “Medicare proposal, announced July 1, slashes projected spending for care by cardiologists and oncologists by more than 10 percent each, while paying family doctors 8 percent more and nurses an additional 7 percent.”

The thought was to push preventative care but these cuts will have “unintended” consequences: rationing.
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Obama Admin. Clueless About Modern Medicine”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Frederick Meekins - Free Trade - Freedom - Health - Liberals - President - Security/Safety - Socialism - Society/Culture

Healthcare Trickery & Scottish Wimpery: Headline Potpourri #6

September 2, 2009 by 1 Comment

-By Frederick Meekins

With Obama seeming to withdraw the so-called “public option” from the healthcare reforms being considered by Congress, many will assume that the battle is now over. However, things may be more dangerous than ever before.

Up for consideration are so-called “healthcare cooperatives” that will attempt to blend aspects of public and private systems, no doubt with the care and responsiveness that homeowner associations have become renowned for. What is to prevent companies from eliminating their insurance programs and pushing their employees into these?

This is what Walmart-types are drooling for in the propaganda where they say they won’t be happy until everyone is insured. What they are really hoping for is the opportunity to drop the coverage of their own employees.

The Libyan responsible for the bombing of PAN AM Flight 103 has been set free. Since the terrorist is dieing of cancer, Scottish officials claim that he was released in compliance with the nation’s values.
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Healthcare Trickery & Scottish Wimpery: Headline Potpourri #6″

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Energy - Free Trade - Illinois - Liberals - Socialism - Society/Culture - State Government - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Illinois Business Groups Schedule Anti-Cap and Trade Rally, Sept. 1st

September 1, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A group called Energy Citizens made up of 23 Illinois business associations have scheduled a September 1st rally in order to protest the seriously damaging policies of the Cap and Trade bill. The rally will be held near the State Capitol in Springfield.

The event will start a noon and will be held at Crowne Plaza Hotel, 3000 Dirksen Parkway, Springfield, Illinois.

A notice was posted at the Illinois Farm Bureau website.

A lunch will follow the roughly 45-minute event, one of 22 rallies nationwide sponsored by the group Energy Citizens to oppose House-approved legislation. IFB members are encouraged to attend, and may contact their county Farm Bureau for additional details.

The Illinois members of Energy Citizens includes the Southwestern Illinois Employers Association and Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative, the Illinois Association of Convenience Stores, Associated Builder and Contractors of Illinois (ABC), Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association, Grain & Feed Association of Illinois, Growmark, Home Builders Association of Illinois, Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers, Illinois Coal Associations, Illinois Energy Forum, Illinois Farm Bureau, Illinois manufacturers Association, Illinois Petroleum Council, Illinois Pork Producers, Illinois Retail Merchants Association, Illinois Trucking Association, MidAmerica Energy, Mid-West Truckers Association, Illinois Oil & Gas Association, National Federation of Independent Business, Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative and the Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Association.
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Illinois Business Groups Schedule Anti-Cap and Trade Rally, Sept. 1st”

Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Health - Liberals - President - Security/Safety - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

U.S. Government Killing Dialysis Patients

September 1, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Want an example of why government healthcare in the U.S. is a dangerous proposition? USA Today has a lengthy story on kidney dialysis and how new research is showing that having dialysis treatments more often seems to be keeping patients alive and healthy longer than the traditional thrice weekly treatments. The piece also sadly shows that the U.S. has higher rates of early death of dialysis patients than other western nations.

Why is that, you might wonder? It’s because Medicare won’t pay for more than three treatments a week so the national standard has become thrice weekly because that is what government will pay for. Not only that but government won’t pay for medical services ancillary to dialysis causing patients to succumb to other problems that often accompany or presage kidney failure.

Barry Straube, chief medical officer at the federal Centers for Medicare & Medcaid Services, says 25 million Americans have kidney disease, but Medicare benefits don’t kick in until patients are at the most advanced stage. Many patients with earlier-stage kidney disease aren’t treated for high blood pressure or diabetes, which cause two-thirds of kidney failures.

In other words, medical care is rationed by government to keep down costs based on a one-size-fits-all system. This rationing kills patients sooner than necessary and stifles life-saving innovation in treatment.
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U.S. Government Killing Dialysis Patients”

Budget - Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Inernet - Liberals - Media Bias - Scott Cleland - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Technology

Top Ten Pitfalls of Wireless Innovation Regulation

September 1, 2009 by 1 Comment

-By Scott Cleland

Analysis of the potential pitfalls of wireless innovation regulation is a necessary complement to the FCC’s upcoming Notice of Inquiries into wireless competition/innovation and the DOJ’s review of wireless competition in order to ensure policymakers get a balanced view of the big picture.

What are the Top 10 Pitfalls of Wireless Innovation Regulation?

#1 Pitfall: Losing focus on universal broadband access

“Wireless innovation” appears to be the latest rebranding iteration of “net neutrality” and “open Internet” as the net neutrality movement searches for more mainstream support of their views.
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Top Ten Pitfalls of Wireless Innovation Regulation”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Frank Salvato - Free Trade - Health - Liberals - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes

Challenging the Status Quo

August 31, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

With the death of US Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) the Democrats lose their sixty-seat filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. This will make the passing of Obama agenda legislation – specifically healthcare – more difficult until Massachusetts seats its next Junior Senator, who promises to be a Democrat. The loss of even one Democrat in the Senate is cause for concern for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) because he has a rogue element within his Democrat caucus, the Blue Dog Democrats. In Washington, it is all about counting the votes at any given moment on any piece of legislation. As they say, politics makes for strange bedfellows.

In the US House of Representatives the Democrats have a lock on the majority. According to the Office of the Clerk of the US House of Representatives, the congressional profile stands at: 256 Democrats, 178 Republicans, 0 Independents and 1 Vacancy. These numbers give the Democrats, as a party, a 78 vote majority in the House.

In the Senate, Democrats have a lock on a majority as well: Democrats number 57, Republicans have 40 seats, and Independents and Independent Democrats have one seat each.

In addition to the fact that it matters which party is in the majority, in both chambers of Congress, it also matters who the parties elect as their leaders.

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Challenging the Status Quo”

Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Scott Cleland - Society/Culture - Taxes

Why Broadband is Not a Public Utility

August 31, 2009 by

-By Scott Cleland

The data and evidence show that broadband is not a public utility warranting economic regulation of prices, terms and conditions; this is contrary to the assertions of net neutrality proponents: the Markey-Eshoo Bill, FreePress, the Open Internet Coalition and Google’s Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf, among others.

Why is broadband not a public utility?

First, it is a competitive service, not a natural monopoly service.

A public utility presumes “natural monopoly” economics where economies of scale and scope preclude the possibility of competitive facilities/services.

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Why Broadband is Not a Public Utility”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Congress - Conservatives - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - History - Liberals - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Thomas Brewton

Government Stimulus Spending: Differing Perspectives

August 29, 2009 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

President Franklin Roosevelt, speaking of the intractable Depression, sourly admitted that Keynesian fiscal policy, in theory, was the simplest thing in the world, but in practice, a disaster.

A thoughtful reader, who generally disagrees with me, posted the following as part of his comment responding to The Bigger the Government, the Harder the Economic Fall:

I must confess that I find your “mysticism” explanation of how business cycles occur somewhat baffling, but knowing your anti-Keynesian viewpoint, I should not be surprised that you view any governmental pump priming with suspicion.

According to the butterfly effect, any seemingly insignificant action will have a cascading effect and invariably lead to a chain of events elsewhere. How much more telling would the expenditure (whether you approve or not) of billions of dollars be to the economy than the flutter of the wing of a moth?

My response:

I can’t presume to speak for the reader’s views, but liberal-progressives on balance advocate the Keynesian macro-economic approach, a variety of chaos-theory, butterfly effect, which appears to me to be simplistic.
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Government Stimulus Spending: Differing Perspectives”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Communism - Congress - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Health - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - President - Religion - Socialism - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Beware of Bitter, Old, Lefty, White Women With Dreadlocks

August 28, 2009 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

I haven’t seen so many lies, misconstructions, affectations, and guffaw-invoking absurdities in a single editorial in a major American newspaper for a very long time. In fact I thought it wasn’t possible to see so much foolishness in such a small space without satire being the ultimate goal. In the L.A. Times, however, Anne Lamott has succeeded in making a bigger fool of herself in one editorial than Maureen Dowd could hope to have achieved in a whole year’s worth of blather.

Lamott, an aging novelist that churns out those woefully indulgent tomes that forces readers to endure her darkest feelings and imagines that all of us are on the edge of our seats as she chronicles raising her child, fancies herself an expert on faith and grace. She seems to imagine that she defines it, what ever it is. Of course she was one of the most infested with Bush Derangement Syndrome and was quick to warm to her ersatz religious leader, Barack Hussein Obama. It seems to me that she’s spent her life looking for meaning anywhere and she thought she finally found paydirt with The One. She likes to use words like “grace” and “belief” a lot in her writing but like a true newagie, leftist she rarely talks about any actual religion except in the vaguest of terms. It does appear, though, that she had found a new religion in The One.

And now, with her piece in the Times, it seems she is on the verge of losing her religion… again.
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Beware of Bitter, Old, Lefty, White Women With Dreadlocks”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Jobs - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

$15 Million Stimulus Spent for 1,095 Canadian Tourists in Montana

August 28, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

What is the cost of three Canadian visitors a day? Fifteen million dollars in Obamabucks, apparently. Worse, this waste of money wasn’t something the president of “transparency” seemed disposed to let us easily discover. Still, the Boston Globe reports that $15 mil is the amount of so-called stimulus money that Obama allowed to be spent by the state of Montana on a tiny border check-point facility that sees about three visitors a day — that’s $14,000,000 per tourist for the year.

Despite Obama’s promises that the stimulus plan would be transparent and free of politics, the government is handing out $720 million for border upgrades under a process that is both secretive and susceptible to political influence. This allowed low-priority projects such as the checkpoint in Whitetail, Mont., to skip ahead of more pressing concerns, according to documents revealed to the Associated Press.

Obama claimed he’d be “different,” though. Remember that he was supposed to be the serious president that only did the right thing? Yet, he’s turned his back on any sort of effort to hold stimulus spending to account. Projects all across the country are being given to less needy government facilities instead of going where need is greatest because of the influence brought to bear on distribution of funds by powerful politicians.
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$15 Million Stimulus Spent for 1,095 Canadian Tourists in Montana”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Liberals - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Tax for Clunkers

August 26, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Yep, you read that right. In many states car buyers that turned in their “clunkers” for up to $4,500 off the cost of a new car are finding out that they have to pay state sales tax on the $4,500 too. And still others just might find out next year that they’ll have to pay income tax on that “free” government money.

Many South Dakotans, for instance, have been shocked to find that the wonderful gift from Obama was still added in with the cost of the automobile for the sales tax calculation, so their tax went up accordingly despite that they didn’t pay the $4,500 themselves.

Some states calculate sales tax by subtracting from the total cost of a new purchase the trade-in allowance of a buyer’s old car. But in the case of cash for clunkers, there is no trade-in allowance and the $4,500 remains added to the car purchase.

Even worse, many states will charge income tax on the $4,500 because the sum will be determined to be the same thing as income to the car buyer.

There is also another interesting aspect to this cash for clunkers situation. One can be sure that many buyers did not take the time to negotiate with dealers and paid full sticker price further negating the supposed savings that they were supposed to realize from the cash for clunkers program. As Market Ticker’s Karl Denninger quipped, “Ain’t car dealers grand (several grand out of your pocket, that is!)”
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Tax for Clunkers”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Business - Capitalism - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Jobs - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - President - Republicans - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Obamacare to Force Restaurants to Post Health Info

August 26, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Another great piece by CNSNews reveals that Obamacare will force restaurants to post nutrition information on menus throughout the country. This is more of the amazing overreach that Obama is attempting to force upon all Americans as he launches a full assault on the American character in order to push his nanny state ideals.

If Obamacare passes, Congress has taken upon itself the power to force millions of businesses to reprint their menus. Congress expects any restaurant with 20 outlets or more to observe a provision in section 325 of the House healthcare bill that demands nutritional information to be printed on menus.

Section 325 of the bill says the listings must be placed “(i)n a nutrient disclosure statement adjacent to the name of the standard menu item, so as to be clearly associated with the standard menu item, on the menu listing the item for sale, the number of calories contained in the standard menu item, as usually prepared and offered for sale.”

The nanny state strikes again.
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Obamacare to Force Restaurants to Post Health Info”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Health - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Publius Podcast

August 25, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Why do they let him get away with it? That is the question I ask this week on the Publius podcast. Why do they let President Obama lie repeatedly during his snake-oil sales pitch for healthcare?

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Free Trade - Freedom - Health - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston - Welfare

Michael Kent Curtis: Just Another Sold-Out Leftist Professor

August 25, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Michael Kent Curtis, the Donald Smith Professor of Constitutional and Public Law at Wake Forest University, has not only proven his ignorance of the facts, but he has also shown that truth does not matter a whit to him if it gets in the way of common liberal propaganda. He proved this in his blather in the Houston Chronicle on August 22.

Curtis, just another prosaic left-wing professor infesting an institute of higher learning, started his opinion piece off with an outright lie by claiming that “[O]rganized mobs recently have disrupted public meetings.” By this the lefty prof means the thousands of angry citizens that have shown their contempt for Democrat lawmakers at townhall meetings all across the country are not real. They are but dismissible false fronts for anti-Obamacare groups. This refrain is assumed by such as professor Curtis and his fellow leftists so that they can comfortably ignore the outrage against this socialist takeover of nearly 20% of our economy by Obama’s government bureaucrats. Consequently, this refrain of “organized protests” is the left’s talking point du jour.

But have you noticed that we haven’t seen any proof that the angry Americans that have taken the time out of their lives to confront their federal representatives at townhall meetings are not common citizens acting on their own initiative, but are merely “organized mobs”? Have you noticed that no proof of the purported “organized” nature of the protests has once been presented? Have you noticed that the left has not bothered to detail how these protests were organized, that they have not bothered to try and connect the dots? These leftists simply say it is true and then move on as if their case is self-evident.
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Michael Kent Curtis: Just Another Sold-Out Leftist Professor”