Democrats, Republicans, Who Cares

The Tea Party is very much in vogue at the moment. One of the things that continually amazes me is how the Republicans think that people in the Tea Party will naturally support them. That it is a given that people who identify with the Tea Party ideals (chief among them: limited, less intrusive goverment) will vote "R."

There are even clueless Democrats who think that they are rogues worthy of Tea Party support. Witness Russ Feingold's comments in a debate with his challenger.
Politico: "Russ Feingold courts tea party votes"
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43354.html

Fact is, both parties support big government. Neither is worthy to run this country. Both have proven this again and again. Did the Republicans reduce government under Bush? Of course not. Is Obama any different than any other tax-and-spend Democrat? Of course not, unless you argue that he's in favor of even more taxing and more spending than a typical Democrat!

Here is an excellent essay on this subject, from the American Spectator. America's "ruling class" crosses party lines. Voting one party out in favor of the other does nothing to address the root problem: Government is too big.

Angelo Codevilla: "America's Ruling Class -- And the Perils of Revolution"
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/16/americas-ruling-class-and-the/print

"Differences between Bushes, Clintons, and Obamas are of degree, not kind."

"When pollsters ask the American people whether they are likely to vote Republican or Democrat in the next presidential election, Republicans win growing pluralities. But whenever pollsters add the preferences 'undecided,' 'none of the above,' or 'tea party,' these win handily, the Democrats come in second, and the Republicans trail far behind. That is because while most of the voters who call themselves Democrats say that Democratic officials represent them well, only a fourth of the voters who identify themselves as Republicans tell pollsters that Republican officeholders represent them well."

"Our ruling class's agenda is power for itself. While it stakes its claim through intellectual-moral pretense, it holds power by one of the oldest and most prosaic of means: patronage and promises thereof."

"Hence our ruling class's standard approach to any and all matters, its solution to any and all problems, is to increase the power of the government -- meaning of those who run it, meaning themselves, to profit those who pay with political support for privileged jobs, contracts, etc. Hence more power for the ruling class has been our ruling class's solution not just for economic downturns and social ills but also for hurricanes and tornadoes, global cooling and global warming."

"By taxing and parceling out more than a third of what Americans produce, through regulations that reach deep into American life, our ruling class is making itself the arbiter of wealth and poverty."

"Laws and regulations nowadays are longer than ever because length is needed to specify how people will be treated unequally. For example, the health care bill of 2010 takes more than 2,700 pages to make sure not just that some states will be treated differently from others because their senators offered key political support, but more importantly to codify bargains between the government and various parts of the health care industry, state governments, and large employers about who would receive what benefits (e.g., public employee unions and auto workers) and who would pass what indirect taxes onto the general public."

"The financial regulation bill of 2010, far from setting univocal rules for the entire financial industry in few words, spends some 3,000 pages (at this writing) tilting the field exquisitely toward some and away from others. Even more significantly, these and other products of Democratic and Republican administrations and Congresses empower countless boards and commissions arbitrarily to protect some persons and companies, while ruining others. Thus in 2008 the Republican administration first bailed out Bear Stearns, then let Lehman Brothers sink in the ensuing panic, but then rescued Goldman Sachs by infusing cash into its principal debtor, AIG. Then, its Democratic successor used similarly naked discretionary power (and money appropriated for another purpose) to give major stakes in the auto industry to labor unions that support it. Nowadays, the members of our ruling class admit that they do not read the laws. They don't have to. Because modern laws are primarily grants of discretion, all anybody has to know about them is whom they empower."

"The ethanol industry and its ensuing diversions of wealth exist exclusively because of subsidies."

"Any 'green jobs' thus created are by definition creatures of subsidies -- that is, of privilege. What effect creating such privileges may have on 'global warming' is debatable. But it surely increases the number of people dependent on the ruling class, and teaches Americans that satisfying that class is a surer way of making a living than producing goods and services that people want to buy."

"By 2010 some in the ruling class felt confident enough to dispense with the charade. Asked what in the Constitution allows Congress and the president to force every American to purchase health insurance, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi replied: 'Are you serious? Are you serious?'"

"Seldom does a Democratic official or member of the ruling class speak on public affairs without reiterating the litany of his class's claim to authority, contrasting it with opponents who are either uninformed, stupid, racist, shills for business, violent, fundamentalist, or all of the above."

Quote of the Day: Hal Lewis on Global Warming

Here is a quote from Hal Lewis, in his letter of resignation from the American Physical Society:
"It [global warming] is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist."

Read his full letter here:
Hal Lewis: My Resignation From The American Physical Society
http://www.thegwpf.org/ipcc-news/1670-hal-lewis-my-resignation-from-the-american-physical-society.html

Powerful stuff. I have seen this perversion of science in professional meetings I have attended as an engineer. I used to think that scientists and engineers would be able to make decisions without being influenced by money or politics. I learned very early that I was wrong. In my case I learned that people would push "standards" that supported their personal interests. Engineers and scientists aren't any better than anyone else in this regard.

Buying votes

This makes me sick. Can you be more blatant than this? Buying votes, a week before the election? What a waste!

"My Spidey Senses" by Jamie Dupree:
http://blogs.ajc.com/jamie-dupree-washington-insider/2010/10/26/my-spidey-senses/?cxntfid=blogs_jamie_dupree_washington_insider

Have you ever wanted to see Moscow? On a motorcycle?

I love this video. Traffic? What traffic?

Black Devil - Moscow Ride on R1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XihQeZpwqpE

How do you create a job?

YouTube:
"Dick Blumenthal Stumped On How To Create A Job"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uilFn6mgm4

Is it government that creates jobs?  Really???

• "Creative policies..."
• "Programs that provide more capital..."
• "Tax policies that will promote creation of jobs..."
• "Stronger intervention by government..."?

I like Linda McMahon's answer better.

• "Government, government, government. Government does not create jobs. It's very simple how you create jobs. An entrepreneur takes a risk. He or she believes that he creates a good or service that is sold for more than it costs to make it. If an entrepreneur believes he can do that, he creates a job."

Also interesting: Who stretched this guy's face?

Apple buys a house. For $1.7 million.

Sometimes you're in the right place at the right time. A North Carolina couple sure was. Apparently they owned a piece of property that Apple needed to assemble the property on which the new Apple data center now sits. They held out long enough to get Apple to buy their property for $1.7 million.

From Bloomberg:
"Apple's Data Needs Mean $1.7 Million, Jacuzzi for Carolina Pair"
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-05/apple-s-data-needs-mean-1-7-million-jacuzzi-for-carolina-pair.html?cmpid=yhoo

So what about others who sold to Apple for a lot less? I'll be they're kicking themselves now!

Quote of the Day: Hair plug, on how to bore your audience to death

Lots of online sources for this. Let's go to Politico.com:
"Joe Biden jolts 'dullest audience'"
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43324.html

Going back a few weeks, Joe Biden was in Wisconsin. While there he gave what was, apparently, a very boring speech. Even by his low standards. The speech was given at a fundraiser for Democrat gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett. The fundraiser took place in Madison, which is one of the bluest cities in the nation.

"'You’re the dullest audience I’ve ever spoken to,' he added, sparking laughter and applause. 'Do you realize how many jobs Wisconsin lost? It’s staggering!'"

Biden was blissfully unaware that maybe the audience was quiet, not responding well to his speech, because they know that Democrats in Wisconsin, under the corrupt leadership of outgoing governor Jim Doyle, have absolutely run that state into the ground. (It pains me to say that. I lived there for many years, but am unlikely to go back unless things radically change.)

Don't forget, this was in MADISON, WISCONSIN. MAD-TOWN!!! The Democrats can't even generate any interest, any passion, among their strongest supporters.

What is wrong with people?

Here is a story from suburban Detroit that just makes me sick. What is wrong with people?

From the Fox affiliate in Detroit, WJBK:
"Parents: Dying Girl, 7, Taunted by Neighbors in Trenton"
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/the_edge/dying-girl-taunted-by-neighbors-in-trenton

From the story:
"A member of Kathleen's family says the bad blood started about two-years ago after the two families had a falling out over a birthday party at the Rose house. At the party, kids were using a 'bounce-house' and playing games in the front yard. The source says that Jennifer Petkov texted someone in the Rose family, asking if her kids could come to the event. A response to the text did not come quickly enough and it angered Jennifer. According to the Rose family, she's been harassing them ever since."

My first reaction is that we can't assume that this is true, or that it is the whole truth. It may just be one side of the story. But if this was the root of the bad blood, I have to ask once again: What is wrong with people?