World On A String

Tip Top
The top 1 percent of earners more than doubled their share of the nation’s income over the last three decades, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday, in a new report likely to figure prominently in the escalating political fight over how to revive the economy, create jobs and lower the federal debt. In addition, the report said, government policy has become less redistributive since the late 1970s, doing less to reduce the concentration of income. (NYT, 10/26/2011)


Liberals and their ideological soulmates camped out in the park will love this report and claim that it validates their views. Of course what they do not understand is that wealth is not finite. Because one person make more money does not mean that another person makes less. Want to be that person who makes more? The answer is simple...work harder.


Big Money
(Bernie) Sanders, 70, said almost 47,000 people nationwide have donated to his campaign, including about 2,600 Vermonters. He said the average donation was $46.98. His campaign has also received $249,066 in contributions from political action committees, mostly connected with labor unions. (Burlington Free Press, 10/26/2011)


So - doing the math - the Colonel has received campaign donations from 44,400 people OUTSIDE of Vermont, as well as, from big labor unions.  Cry foul! This election is being bought by external interests!


Arresting
Authorities made a series of arrests at Occupy Wall Street protests in California and Georgia on Tuesday and Wednesday, with clashes in one city that involved tear gas being used on demonstrators. Police said they fired the tear gas on protesters in Oakland, California, after the crowd threw paint and other objects at officers.
(CNN.com, 10/26/2011)


As could have been easily predicted, the OWS crowd turns violent when asked to obey the law and disperse. 

Anger To Stone

Now It Is Clear
A two-hour “teach-in” Monday afternoon prompted by the Wall Street protest produced an array of ideas from economists and their students about how to counter big-monied interests and nurture a more egalitarian society that values genuine wellbeing over raw growth.


The forum, organized by the Gund Institute of Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont, drew more than 200 people to the Ira Allen Chapel and offered a mix of rousing rhetoric and lower-key policy-speak.


The presenters were all on the progressive/interventionist side of the ideological divide. Ardent proponents of free markets and less government were not on the dais. (Burlington Free Press, 10/25/2011)


Ever wonder why so many college graduates have not found jobs?  Here we have the answer: this is the nonsense that they are being taught.  Note also the time-honored Liberal practice of presenting one side of the issue. It reminds RedStateVT of going to a meeting years ago that was billed as "a discussion of the Patriot Act." Presenters included Colonel Bernie Sanders, a lawyer from the ACLU and progressive librarians.  All were upset that the government could take a look at what terrorists were researching on computers in public libraries.  When RedStateVT questioned the Colonel as to why there was no one taking the opposite side of the argument, the Colonel just shrugged.


Turn Up The Heat
For the clueless or cynical diehards who deny global warming, it’s getting awfully cold out there.  The latest icy blast of reality comes from an eminent scientist whom the climate-change skeptics once lauded as one of their own. Richard Muller, a respected physicist at the University of California, Berkeley, used to dismiss alarmist climate research as being “polluted by political and activist frenzy.” Frustrated at what he considered shoddy science, Muller launched his own comprehensive study to set the record straight. Instead, the record set him straight. (Eugene Robinson, Washington Post, 10/25/2011)


In a shocking development, a scientist from UC Berkeley concludes that global warming is real. Wow, we didn't see that one coming! Muller reminds us of those seemingly random members of the public that the state-controlled media will often interview.  They always explain that they USED to be Republicans until Bush invaded Iraq or Bush cut taxes for the rich or Bush committed some other heresy.  Here's a tip for those former Republicans: you weren't ever REALLY a Republican. Meanwhile, check out www.Climatedepot.com for rebuttals to Muller.

Morning Plow

After The Fall
“After every major conflict — World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the fall of the Soviet Union — what happened was that we ultimately hollowed out the force, largely by doing deep, across-the-board cuts that impacted on equipment, impacted on training, impacted on capability,” he said. “Whatever we do in confronting the challenges we face now on the fiscal side, we must not make that mistake.” (Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, NYT, 10/24/2011)


Wow! Tip of the hat to Leon Panetta for firing a warning shot across the Liberal bow: "You will not jeopardize the security of this country!"


Easement
And Wednesday in Denver, the official said, Mr. Obama will announce policy changes to ease college graduates’ repayment of federal loans, seeking to alleviate the financial concerns of students considering college at a time when states are raising tuition. (NYT, 10/24/2011)


The OWS crowd whines about their college loans and Obama caves. Liberals blamed predatory banks for "forcing" big mortgages on the poor. What are they going to say now, that banks forced college loans on unsuspecting students?


Deluded
(Liberals) will continue to delude themselves into thinking, as Al Gore said in 2000, that their rivals represent "the powerful" and that they themselves act on behalf of "the people," even though President Obama's policies have poured money into Wall Street and the politically connected "green" businesses that form the upper half of his top-bottom electoral coalition. (Fred Siegel, WSJ, 10/24/2011)


Aided by a supine press (thanks to Charles Krauthammer for that phrase), Dems have pushed the narrative that they represent the little guy while Repubs represent Big Business. In fact, that is exactly backwards.


Exploitation
The eagerness to exploit the politics of Medicare is already influencing the Democratic party's approach to policy. The Washington Post recently reported that Senator Patty Murray, chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC)—and newly appointed Democratic co-chair of the deficit reduction super committee—is working behind the scenes to stop any Democratic compromise or effort to reform Medicare. A source close to Murray described her political rationale: "We shouldn't be giving away our advantage on Medicare….We should be very careful about giving away the biggest advantage we've had as Democrats in some time." (Tevi Troy, WSJ, 10/24/2011)


A point made in RedStateVT's compelling post: Treatise on the Liberal (Part 2).  Dems purposefully resist for political advantage any changes to an entitlement program that they know is unsustainable.


Bless The Children
Thirty-five days into New York City's Occupy Wall Street protest, a new type of crowd -- 500 parents with their children -- gathered in Zuccotti Park. The event, sponsored by Parents for Occupy Wall Street, was a family sleepover that started at 4 p.m. on Oct. 21 and ran through 11 a.m. on Oct. 22. It came complete with crafts, storybooks and ... politics. (Huffington Post, 10/24/2011)


The innocence of youth is lost. For Liberals it is never too early to begin the politicization or sexualization of youth.

Calm Before The Storm

To The Core
The core essence of their (OWS) proposals involve $1.5 trillion in new revenue to create 25 million public sector jobs paying union wages, free public transportation, free university education, a single payer health care system and other initiatives. They also favor "reappropriating our business structures and culture, putting people and the earth before profit." Further, they want to end free trade, spend a trillion additional dollars on environmental programs, and forgive all debt.  (Douglas E. Schoen, Foxnews.com, 10/22/2011)


RedStateVT's analysis of the Occupy Wall Street demands - admittedly less scientific than that of Schoen - concludes the following: the Occupy Wall Street protesters want free stuff. 


With Occupy Wall Street we see the soft echo of the 1960s without the singular issue of the Viet Nam War to rally the disgruntled.  The Occupy crowd, no doubt, grew up listening to Mom and Dad talk about the good old days of marching in the streets.  (For those who do not remember, during the 60s part of the country supported the peace loving people of South Viet Nam while the Democrats supported the Communists of North Viet Nam.) 


Role Call
But the role that helped propel Mr. Cain into politics was that of an ultimate Washington insider: industry lobbyist. (NYT, 10/23/2011)


Taking a respite from savaging Rick Perry, The Times pivots to Herman Cain and reveals a stunning charge: He was a lobbyist!  (For those who do not know, in a representative government, a lobbyist is someone paid to represent the interests of a specific constituency.)


Short
By conventional measures, state and local pensions nationwide now face a combined shortfall of about $3 trillion...Efforts to balance the state budget by shrinking the public work force have left Rhode Island with a problem like the one that plagues General Motors: the state has more public-sector retirees than public-sector workers.... (NYT, 10/23/2011)


And flying in the face of the facts, Obama proposes hiring more public sector workers.


Harbinger
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Saturday easily coasted to a second term, winning in a landslide election after failing to attract any well-known or deep-pocketed opposition....His win comes amid the virtual collapse of the Democratic Party's clout in the state. In the current term, Republicans have gained control of all seven statewide elected posts and both chambers of the legislature. (Foxnews.com, 10/22/2011)


What 2012 looks like?

Night Ride

Choices
An unusually powerful American delegation arrived here Thursday and, according to a senior American official, intended to warn Pakistan that the United States would act unilaterally if necessary to attack extremists groups who use the country as a haven to kill Americans. 


The delegation, which included Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; the new Director of Central Intelligence, David H. Petraeus; and the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, would push their Pakistani counterparts to make a definitive choice between fighting terrorists or supporting them, the administration official said. The two sides met late into the evening Thursday. (NYT, 10/20/2011)


Hillary proving her bona fides again as the toughest Dem out there. Who does RedStateVT fear more as an opponent of the eventual Repub nominee, Obama or Hill?  Why Hill, of course!


Compared
You're headed for a one-term presidency," he told Obama at the start of their meeting, insisting that the administration needed to be more business-friendly. As an example, Jobs described the ease with which companies can build factories in China compared to the United States, where "regulations and unnecessary costs" make it difficult for them.


Jobs also criticized America's education system, saying it was "crippled by union work rules," noted Isaacson. "Until the teachers' unions were broken, there was almost no hope for education reform." Jobs proposed allowing principals to hire and fire teachers based on merit.... (Huffington Post, 10/21/2011)


President Obama has been running around the country quoting Warren Buffett on the need to raise taxes on the rich.  What does he have to say - we wonder - about these comments from Steve Jobs?


Your Daily Greengate Update
With the approval of the Obama administration, an electric car company that received a $529 million federal government loan guarantee is assembling its first line of cars in Finland, saying it could not find a facility in the United States capable of doing the work. 


Vice President Joseph Biden heralded the Energy Department's $529 million loan to the start-up electric car company called Fisker as a bright new path to thousands of American manufacturing jobs. But two years after the loan was announced, the job of assembling the flashy electric Fisker Karma sports car has been outsourced to Finland. (ABC News, 10/20/2011 - thanks to Bobcod)

After a while, you run out of words to describe the immeasurable waste resulting from Obama's policies.

Know the Truth

Wrung Out to Dry
This summer, Goldman said that it would wring out $1.2 billion in costs from its operations by mid-2012, including eliminating about 1,000 jobs. Bank of America announced it would lay off 30,000 employees, as part of a wide-ranging plan to save $5 billion in annual costs by the end of 2013. (NYT, 10/19/2011)


A free markets primer for Liberals.  Goes like this. If you demonize banks and tell them how much they can charge for services and restrict their ability to do business, they lay off workers. That increases unemployment.  Then there are fewer people paying taxes and more people collecting benefits.  That leads to higher deficits. So then you have to raise taxes on the people who are working.  Next thing you know you have the Tea Party. Make sense?


Smashed
Skirmishes between demonstrators and police broke out outside the Greek Parliament at the start of a two-day general strike on Wednesday as tens of thousands of Greeks took to the streets in the largest demonstration in Athens in months, if not years. A crowd of dozens of youths took advantage of the moment to smash several storefronts and begin looting. (NYT, 10/19/2011)


Teaching moment for Liberals. When the nanny state is no longer supportable, spending cuts become necessary and your constituency takes to the street to protest and do violence.  So to avoid this...

Hustle On Inside

The Israeli - Palestinian Problem Explained
Released Israeli Prisoner:  He was told that Israel still had thousands of prisoners and was asked if he would like them released. “I will be happy for them to be released if they don’t return to fight us,” he said. “I very much hope that this deal will advance peace.” (NYT, 10/18/2011)


Released Palestinian Prisoner:  Wafa al-Bass, in prison since 2005 when she used the chance for treatment at an Israeli hospital as a pretext to bring a suicide belt through the Erez crossing — trying to explode it when caught — said upon arrival in Gaza that Palestinians should “take another Shalit” every year until all the remaining 5,000 Palestinians prisoners in Israeli jails went free. (NYT, 10/18/2011)


Far From It
But it (Solyndra) is far from the only blemish on the administration’s much-touted green agenda. In addition to weatherization problems, an internal Labor Department report disclosed this month that a multibillion-dollar program to retrain workers for green-energy jobs met only 10 percent of its goal of creating 80,000 jobs. A federal renewable-energy lab in Colorado that got nearly $300 million from another green-energy program began laying off 10 percent of its workforce last month. (Eleanor Clift, The Daily Beast, 10/17/2011)


Even Liberal columnists are disgusted by the breadth of Greengate.

Come Alive

Secret No More
It is no secret that the relationship between President Obama and Wall Street has chilled. A striking measure of that is the latest campaign finance reports. Mitt Romney has raised far more money than Mr. Obama this year from the firms that have been among Wall Street’s top sources of donations for the two candidates.  (NYT, 10/15/2011)


So one more time.  Just to be clear. 2008.  Dems the party of Wall Street.  Obama the biggest recipient of Wall Street money.


Across the Universe
Across the nation, too, belief in man-made global warming, and passion about doing something to arrest climate change, is not what it was five years or so ago, when Al Gore’s movie had buzz and Elizabeth Kolbert’s book about climate change, “Field Notes From a Catastrophe,” was a best seller. The number of Americans who believe the earth is warming dropped to 59 percent last year from 79 percent in 2006, according to polling by the Pew Research Group. (NYT, 10/15/2011)


Once again we are reminded of the words of Ronaldus Maixmus: "The people usually get it right."


Volunteers
Republican lawmakers have introduced their own “Buffett Rule” that would allow billionaire investors like Warren Buffett who say they’re not paying enough taxes to voluntarily give more money to the federal government.  (Foxnews.com, 10/15/2011)


We'll see if Buffett coughs up although we tend to doubt it.  And a reminder for everyone out there that - business genius or not - Buffett is a Liberal Democrat.


Otherwise Occupied
Obama has been cautious in offering support for the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, which has turned sharply against corporate America, from which members of his own Cabinet came.  (Foxnews.com, 10/17/2011)


Now hold on a second.  First we learn that Obama was the largest recipient of money from Wall Street in 2008.  Now we learn that his own Cabinet is made up of former Wall Streeters.  It's enough to make RedStateVT take to the streets!  


Effects
At that time he (Mortimer Zuckerman) supported Mr. Obama's call for heavy spending on infrastructure. "But if you look at the make-up of the stimulus program," says Mr. Zuckerman, "roughly half of it went to state and local municipalities, which is in effect to the municipal unions which are at the core of the Democratic Party." He adds that "the Republicans understood this" and it diminished the chances for bipartisan legislating. (WSJ, 10/15/2011)


RedStateVT has been beating this drum for all who would hear.  The Obama/Dem nonsense about infrastructure spending is nothing more than a shill for rewarding their union supporters who will - in turn - funnel more campaign contributions back to them.


Bombs Away
During the health-care debate Washington insisted on treating CBO's cost estimates as if God Himself had carved them into stone tablets, but as Class's mercy killing shows all they proved was that Democrats were good at manipulating its assumptions and synthetic budget conventions. HHS's own experts were warning Democrats all along that Class was a fiscal time bomb, so including it in the bill was a special act of fiscal corruption. (WSJ, 10/15/2011)


So now - in fairness - Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are going to have to amend all of the comments that they made about the CBO and Obamacare.  

Judgment's Blade

Dreams
Thus far the Republican field of 2012 is a Democratic dream come true. This crop of candidates is not just weak, it is a joke. (James Carville, CNN.com, 10/14/2011)



Let's see, we've got former and present governors, a former CEO, a former Speaker of the House, a former Ambassador, a current congressman, and a former congressman, just to name a few.  Meanwhile, the last time around (in a move reminiscent of a third world country) the Dems fielded the wife of a former President who - granted - had worked as a backwoods lawyer.  Also, they offered up a junior Senator with no legislative accomplishments who refused to vote (sorry, voting "present" doesn't count). Granted he had worked as a community organizer, whatever that is.


Tap Tap
Should Mr. Perry, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, reach the White House, it will be in no small measure because of the efforts of Mr. Toomey. A lobbyist, former legislator and onetime chief of staff to the governor, Mr. Toomey has tapped a sprawling network of donors, business allies and friendly (or indebted) lawmakers to help Mr. Perry accomplish ambitious political and legislative goals. (NYT, 10/14/2011)


Continuing their assault on Rick Perry, the Times levels a devastating charge.  He cavorts with a lobbyist!


Swinging
“Who do you think pays the taxes?” said one longtime money manager. “Financial services are one of the last things we do in this country and do it well. Let’s embrace it. If you want to keep having jobs outsourced, keep attacking financial services. This is just disgruntled people.”  He added that he was disappointed that members of Congress from New York, especially Senator Charles E. Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, had not come out swinging for an industry that donates heavily to their campaigns. “They need to understand who their constituency is,” he said. (NYT, 10/14/2011)


So now we have the proof: Dems are the party of Wall Street.

Occupado

By Popular Demand:
Things the Occupy Wall Street Protesters Could and Should be Doing Instead (Part 2)

• Volunteering at a veterans' hospital.
• Helping out at a soup kitchen.
• Assisting at a shelter for battered women.
• Volunteering at a hospice.
• Mentoring a child.

The Best of OWS Commentary
From 1965 through 1968, the left found its voice and style in consciousness-raising demonstrations and disruptions. In November 1968, the nation, its consciousness raised, elected Richard Nixon president and gave 56.9 percent of the popular vote to Nixon or George Wallace. Republicans won four of the next five presidential elections. (George Will, Washington Post, 10/12/2011)


...the applause of Democrats suffering acute Tea Party envy and now salivating at the energy these big-government anarchists will presumably give their cause.  Except that the real Tea Party actually had a program — less government, less regulation, less taxation, less debt. What’s the Occupy Wall Street program? Eat the rich. (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 10/13/2011)


As the early '70s repeat themselves with the chaotic Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in lower Manhattan, we need to grasp what a peril this movement is to President Obama and the entire Democratic Party. It is like the Obama campaign run wild without Obama in it. (Dick Morris, 10/11/2011)

Scratch Faith on Nameless Graves

Things the Occupy Wall Street Participants Could and Should be Doing Instead:

• Fine-tuning their resumes.
• Working on their interviewing skills.
• Networking with people who have jobs.
• Checking the on-line job sites.
• Taking an on-line course.
• Working at a job outside their field of interest in order to have some income.

We proudly note today that Newt Gingrich - one of the brightest and most maligned Republicans - has taken up RedStateVT's call for the imprisonment of Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd for their roles in the US housing market collapse.

Treatise on the Liberal (Part 2)

RedStateVT is pleased to present the second installment of our groundbreaking analysis of the modern day Liberal.  Happy reading!

Liberals honestly believe that Cuba has a better health care system than the U.S.

Liberals honestly believe that death row is teeming with innocent men who have been falsely accused of killing police officers.

Liberals are distrustful of the police, but conciliatory towards America’s enemies.

Liberals look at any beggar, addict or criminal and see the failure of society.

In the world of the Liberal, there is no place for personal accountability or personal responsibility.

Liberals are distrustful of the rich, unless their name is Soros, Kennedy or Buffet (or any Hollywood mogul or actor). 

Liberals look at a rich businessman and wonder what crimes he committed.  Conservatives look at a rich businessman and wonder what he did right. 

Liberals look at Social Security and Medicare, do not see any problems and scare seniors that Republicans are going to take them away.  Conservatives look at the same entitlement programs, know that they are unsustainable in their current form and want to fix them for future generations.

The political base of Liberals consists of people who receive government entitlements paid for by the political base of Republicans.

Liberals believe in free speech, unless a conservative is speaking at a university.

Liberals take Hugo Chavez at this word, but know that Bush lied.

Liberals believe in personal freedom, but they want to tell you what to eat, what car to drive and what school to send your child to.

Liberals believe in compromise, but only if they don’t have the votes.

Protocol

Misaligned
Leading Democratic figures, including party fund-raisers and a top ally of President Obama, are embracing the spread of the anti-Wall Street protests in a clear sign that members of the Democratic establishment see the movement as a way to align disenchanted Americans with their party. (NYT, 10/10/11)


Do Dem fund raisers actually think they are going to get money from the Occupy Wall Street crowd?  They have no money and no jobs!  Worse for Dems, if they do embrace these loonies, their true benefactors on Wall Street just may turn off the spigot.


Unidentified
At Operation Breakthrough, which provides day care services to low-income women here in Kansas City, Nicole, 22, who asked to be identified only by her first name, began to cry as she described trying to provide for her three children on a monthly welfare check of $342, plus $642 in food stamps. (NYT, 10/10/2011)


In an article on drug testing as a requirement for receiving government benefits, the Times serves us this sad story, designed to invoke sympathy for poor Nicole. To which we respond: 22 years old with three children?  Is there a father involved? Is there more than one father involved? If there is no father involved, why not?  Did Nicole bother to finish high school before she started churning out her babies?  Is there any alcohol or cigarettes in her house?  Does Nicole have a cell phone and a flat screen television? Does Nicole take any responsibility for the situation that she finds herself in?


Unsure
The president’s workdays are said to end early, often at 4 p.m. He usually has dinner in the family residence with his wife and daughters, then retreats to a private office. One person said he takes a stack of briefing books. Others aren’t sure what he does.  (Michael Goodwin, New York Post, 10/10/2011)


It is late August 2012.  President Obama is holed up in the White House with David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett.  Obama has started smoking again and he lights up his fourth cigarette.  Vice President Joe Biden and Harry Reid have asked for an emergency meeting and are due any moment.  Obama knows without being told what they want to talk to him about.  Across town, Hillary Clinton waits nervously.  She knows that as soon as Biden and Reid leave the Oval Office she will be the Democrats' new candidate for President.  


No Escape
Finally, most of America’s rich — however defined — don’t escape taxation. In 2007, the richest 10 percent paid 55 percent of all federal taxes, estimates the Congressional Budget Office. The richest 1 percent paid the lion’s share of that: 28.1 percent of federal taxes. The average tax rate on the top 1 percent was 29.5 percent. Similarly, the richest 3 percent account for 36 percent of charitable contributions. (Robert J. Samuelson, Washington Post, 10/10/2011)

Because it cannot be said enough and because the facts don't lie.

The Fives Have It

Focused
Illegal immigrants can now apply for state-funded scholarships and aid at state universities after Gov. Jerry Brown announced Saturday that he has signed the second half of a legislative package focused on such students. (Foxnews.com, 10/8/2011)


The average family plays by the rules, sacrifices and saves to send their children to college.  To which Governor Brown replies...what?


Magnetism
No wonder then that Occupy Wall Street has become a magnet for discontent. There are plenty of policy goals to address the grievances of the protesters — including lasting foreclosure relief, a financial transactions tax, greater legal protection for workers’ rights, and more progressive taxation. The country needs a shift in the emphasis of public policy from protecting the banks to fostering full employment, including public spending for job creation and development of a strong, long-term strategy to increase domestic manufacturing. (NYT editorial, 10/9/2011)


This is the prescription from the New York Times for the country's economic woes: forgiving mortgage deadbeats, more taxes, preventing companies from laying off workers, and more taxes.  Sounds like a winner...not!


Spotlit
White House staff discussed in emails that either President Obama or his chief of staff were eager to help spotlight a solar company in early 2009, despite numerous internal warnings that the company could be financially unstable, according to new e-mails. (Washington Post, 10/7/2011)


Was the real reason Rahm Emanuel left town that he was afraid of getting caught up in Greengate?


Designs
It has been a record year for new legislation designed to make it harder for Democrats to vote — 19 laws and two executive actions in 14 states dominated by Republicans, according to a new study by the Brennan Center for Justice. As a result, more than five million eligible voters will have a harder time participating in the 2012 election....There is almost no voting fraud in America....Many of them are poor, or elderly, or black and Hispanic and could have a hard time navigating the bureaucracy to get a card. (NYT editorial, 10/9/2011)


What's that great expression? The "tyranny of low expectations." This is how the New York Times views the poor, elderly, blacks, and Hispanics:  You folks are just not smart enough to figure out how to get a voter ID card.  It is downright insulting.  Meanwhile, the only voter intimidation of late involved two members of the New Black Panthers standing outside a polling place holding clubs.  Attorney General Eric Holder declined to prosecute.

RedStateVT Names Green Energy Scandals

RedStateVT announces today the official naming of the Obama administration green energy scandals. The scandals - beginning with Solyndra and, no doubt, to grow in the weeks and months ahead as more waste and nepotism is uncovered - will now be known as Greengate.


Granted
A science program at the University of Vermont is going to use a $20 million grant, the largest in the school’s history, to help study the health of the Lake Champlain basin. (Burlington Free Press, 10/7/2011)



$20 million?  Are they kidding?  This could not have been accomplished with, say, $250,000?  Your tax dollars at work...or at waste.


Out of the Office
Governor Shumlin is off on another vacation this year, just one month after he promised Vermonters that he would be working full time on recovery efforts: (VTGOP.com, 10/7/2011)


What is it with Dems and their vacations?


Walking Dead
They're calling it the zombie in the budget. It's a long-term care plan the Obama administration has put on hold, fearing it could go bust if actually implemented. Yet while the program exists on paper, monthly premiums the government may never collect count as reducing federal deficits. 


Real or not, that's $80 billion over the next 10 years. 


The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program, CLASS for short, may just keep lurching along indefinitely. It would join other peculiar creatures of the federal budget such as "trust funds" that are actually more like IOUs and Medicare cuts that can be counted twice. 


"It's a gimmick that produces phantom savings," said Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan group that advocates deficit control.. 


"That money should have never been counted as deficit reduction because it was supposed to be set aside to pay for benefits," Bixby added. "The fact that they're not actually doing anything with the program sort of compounds the gimmick." 


The program was created under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, and arguably provided much of the 10-year, $143 billion in savings claimed under the law. But now some Capitol Hill aides have dubbed CLASS a "budget zombie."  (NYT, 10/8/2011)


Maybe Nancy Pelosi was right!  We did have to pass Obama's healthcare bill to find out what was in it.  Let's see where this revelation takes us.


Inferences
This week, when Palin finally announced her decision, she made her priorities clear. In a statement to supporters, she said that she and her husband, Todd, “devote ourselves to God, family and country.” Her decision, she said, maintains that order.


We can only infer from these tidings — glad or sad, you pick — that God did not open that door or reveal it. I’m not exactly sure how this works, but clearly Palin got the word that she should not run for president. (Kathleen Parker, Washington Post, 10/8/2011)


Kathleen Parker mocks Sarah Palin and her faith.  What a bold and courageous journalist!

Fade to Black

Mushroom Soup
To hear some Democratic analysts tell it, the mushrooming protests could be the start of a populist movement on the left that counterbalances the surge of the Tea Party on the right, and closes what some Democrats fear is an “enthusiasm gap” between their party and Republicans in the 2012 election. But that assumes the president is able to win the support of these insurgents, rather than be shunned by them. (NYT, 10/7/2011)


Obama is in the White House and a grubby band of miscreants have taken to the streets.  And this somehow might be good for him?  We don't think so.  Which is why - in our view - the Dems have sent organized labor to these protests.  The idea is that labor gives the protest more legitimacy and deflects attention aware from Obama and the Dems and toward Repubs.


Opposition Party
And oil-state Democrats opposed his (Obama's) plans to increase oil companies’ taxes. (NYT, 10/7/2011)


Democrats oppose more taxes on oil companies?  This has got to be a misprint.  First we learn that Goldman Sachs was the largest contributor to Obama in 2008 and now we learn that Dems are in the pocket of the oil companies.  The world is upside down.


Hopes and Dreams
Black individuals who don't see themselves primarily as victims are a threat to the political left, which helps explain why MSNBC commentators have derided Mr. Cain as a token and why Jon Stewart has mocked him in tones that evoke Amos 'n' Andy or Stepin Fetchit. To secure political victories, Democrats need blacks to vote for them in unison. Independent thinking cannot be tolerated.


No one is hoping more than the White House that Mr. Cain fades away. If he doesn't, Mr. Obama's fear of Mr. Romney winning independent voters next year could turn into a fear of Mr. Cain peeling away black support. Black enthusiasm for the president remains high but has slipped in recent months, and a black alternative to Mr. Obama is not a scenario that Democrats would welcome.  (Jason L. Riley, WSJ, 10/7/2011)


With the ever-increasing appearance of politicians like Herman Cain, Bobby Jindal, Michele Bachmann, Nikki Haley, etc. the standard Liberal smear of Republicans as the party of rich white men is being debunked. This has got to be the Dems worst nightmare.


Separately, RedStateVT has heard from three independents in recent days who voted for Obama in '08 and now say they would not do so again.  It's unscientific, of course, but is also reflective of what we have heard on a broader scale.  This has got to be Obama's worst nightmare.


Bottom Line
Four in 10 Americans “strongly” disapprove of how President Obama is handling the job of president in the new Washington Post-ABC News poll, the highest that number has risen during his time in office and a sign of the hardening opposition to him as he seeks a second term. While the topline numbers are troubling enough, dig deeper into them and the news gets no better for Obama. Forty-three percent of independents — a group the president spent the better part of the last year courting — strongly disapprove of the job he is doing. Forty-seven percent of people 65 years of age and older — reliable voters in any election — strongly disapprove of how he is doing his job. (Washington Post, 10/5/2011)


And this is a Washington Post - ABC News poll!  Imagine what an objective poll would show!


Solar Plexus
The head of the Energy Department’s embattled loan program announced Thursday that he was stepping down amid an expanding probe of the agency’s $535 million loan to a now-shuttered solar company. (Washington Post, 10/6/2011)


Of course, this had to be done, but no doubt Obama must realize that it will not be enough. Despite the state-controlled media's veritable blackout on this scandal (what would their coverage look like under a Bush presidency?), Republicans and Fox News will keep it alive well into the election cycle.

Sign in Stranger

Established
Chris Christie’s decision on Tuesday to pass up a White House bid means that only one establishment candidate remains: Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, who offers brainy competence and private-sector experience as the answer to four years of Mr. Obama. (NYT, 10/5/2011)


This unexpectedly complimentary description of Mitt Romney by The Times gave us pause until we remembered Ann Coulter's warning.  She tells us that the liberal media tries to pick the Republican candidate for us, hence we get beatable Republicans like Bob Dole and John Cain.  Good to remember.


Failed
...the day's events underscored that as submitted by the White House, Obama's bill would not only fail in the Republican-controlled House, but faced enough opposition from Democrats to endanger its prospects in the Senate, as well.  (Foxnews.com, 10/5/2011)


It cannot be said enough.


Distanced
Democrat Earl Ray Tomblin overcame weeks of Republican attack ads to win the West Virginia governor's race Tuesday, successfully distancing himself from the Obama administration and the president's health care plan.  (Foxnews.com, 10/5/2011)


The real question is how Obama is going to distance himself from Obamacare.


Stumbled
With an offhand attack on Bank of America’s plans to impose a $5 debit card fee, President Barack Obama may have stumbled into a ready-made populist issue for the 2012 campaign.


Obama’s aides insist that his sharp criticism of the bank during an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos this week wasn’t intended to kick off a campaign against banking industry bad guys. But it has already had a galvanizing effect on Democrats who see it as the perfect way to hop on the right side of the Wall Street vs. Main Street divide.  (Politico.com, 10/5/2011)


It is telling that time after time, Obama's reflexive action is always to demonize business.  As we have said, we only hope the bankers are smart enough not to write checks to him this time.


Harped
One thing you won’t hear the MSM harp on the way they harped about the Tea Party: The overwhelmingly pale face of the “99 percent” movement. Just like their ideological elders in the liberal media, they are a lot more skilled at carping over lack of proportional representation among conservative institutions and the GOP than they are at demonstrating it in their own ranks. (Michelle Malkin, 10/5/2011)


Despite questions about the protesters’ hostility to the authorities, many union leaders have decided to embrace Occupy Wall Street. On Wednesday, for example, members of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s executive council had a conference call in which they expressed unanimous support for the protest. One A.F.L.-C.I.O. official said leaders had heard from local union members wondering why organized labor was absent. (NYT, 10/6/2011)


The Occupy Wall Street movement is a hoot.  The inability of any of the "protesters" to articulate what they stand for is - in itself - a stunning indictment of the teachers' unions.  Apparently they are upset about their students loans and their lack of job prospects.  Well, they should talk to the guy in Washington.  Of course, Obama's solution will likely entail something like "student loan forgiveness" to go with "mortgage forgiveness," thereby creating yet another group that is dependent upon central government.


Meanwhile, we have others like Van Jones and the labor unions looking to get involved.  The more nut jobs the better, we say.  The Tea Party stood for something which is why it survives.  We suspect Occupy Whatever dries up - as has been pointed out - when the weather turns cold.

Apocrypha

Temper Tantrum
Christie’s temper represents an opportunity for his opponents and a real burden for him. He operates a lot on instinct, but that instinct can come off as bullying. So in New Jersey debates, he has dialed back his personality and comes off as flat. The quick retort, the cutting rejoinder — the classic “You’re no Jack Kennedy” moment — will never be his. He has to be nice, and nice is the one thing Chris Christie is not. (Richard Cohen, Washington Post, 10/4/2011)


You know that Liberals like Cohen are scared when they start throwing this nonsense around.  It's too bad that Christie decided not to run.  We would have loved to see him debate Obama....temper and all!


Dial Tone
Reid has been Obama’s most important ally in Congress, but the relationship has never been particularly affectionate, even though Reid was one of Obama’s first Senate colleagues to privately urge him to run for president. Obama and Reid speak frequently on the phone, but the conversations can be terse. One Democratic source quipped that it’s often a contest to guess who will hang up on the other first. Reid, as it turns out, doesn’t have a habit of saying goodbye when he ends a call. (TheHill.com, 10/4/2011)


An under-reported story is just how little - in private - fellow Dems care for Obama.


Fundamentals
Obama said in an interview with ABC News that Bank of America's decision to charge debit card users highlights the need for the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau....


"It's disappointing and puzzling that the President would attack a private corporation for responding to government price fixing that has fundamentally altered the economics of offering a debit card," American Bankers Association President Frank Keating said in a statement. "As a direct result of the Durbin Amendment, consumers have started paying for financial services they previously enjoyed free of charge." (Huffington Post, 10/4/2011)


More Liberal adventures in capitalism.  Every time that they muck around in the private sector they end up costing you more money.


Anyway
Newly released documents show that a Silicon Valley investor and senior administration officials warned the White House against having President Obama visit the solar company Solyndra in May 2010 because of its mounting financial problems, saying he might be embarrassed later.  (Washington Post, 10/3/2011)


It is undeniably a characteristic of the Obama presidency that he does not follow the often sensible advice given to him.  Therefore, in the midst of a recession we see Michelle Obama traveling to Spain for vacation with the kids, the President partying with Jay-Z before a dismal economic report, more vacations and golf on Martha's Vineyard, and this report.  Well now he must pay the price.  Republicans will time the investigations for the 2012 campaign.
 

Distant Early Warning

Smoking Gun
Environmental groups said the e-mails were disturbing and evidence of “complicity” between TransCanada, the pipeline company, and American officials tasked with evaluating the pipeline’s environmental impact. (NYT, 9/3/2011)


No doubt these same environmental groups saw no issues concerning the e-mails in the Climategate or Solyndra scandals.


On The Hunt
The campaign of Gov. Rick Perry of Texas found itself on the defensive on Sunday over a report that he had hunted at and taken guests to a West Texas camp with a racially charged name that his father, and later Mr. Perry, had leased. (NYT, 10/3/2011)


As loyal readers know, the state-controlled media vets Republican candidates by innuendo.  We forgot to include this one - he's might be a secret racist - on our previous list that any Republican is likely to face.  Its gets added to: he might cheat on his wife and he might drink too much.  Meanwhile, we still don't know anything about Obama's past use of illicit drugs.


Droning On
The U.S. drone program has been highly effective in killing senior al-Qaeda leaders, but the administration needs to work harder to explain and defend its use of drones as lawful and appropriate — to allies and critics — if it wants to avoid losing international support and potentially exposing administration officials to legal liability. (John B. Bellinger III, Washington Post, 10/3/2011)


Yes, by all means, let's ask the French what they think of U.S. use of drones to kill our enemies before they kill us.  It will certainly be enlightening to get the European perspective.  Another idea?  How about we ask the United Nations to take up the issue?  It would be very interesting to hear what the Chinese Communists and the North Koreans think.  Alternately, we could conduct U.S. foreign policy as best suits the interests of the safety and security of our citizens.  

Everyone's a Winner

Fire in the Sky
The decision to make Mr. Awlaki a priority to be sought and killed was controversial, given his American citizenship. The American Civil Liberties Union, which fought unsuccessfully in the American court system to challenge the decision to target Mr. Awlaki, condemned the killing. (NYT, 10/1/2011)


Another excellent call by Obama to take out a murderous thug.  We can only imagine the outrage from the Left had Bush done the same thing.  Protest so far seems to be limited to the ACLU.  As we have said before, generally you have done the right thing if the ACLU objects.  Ron Paul: take note.


Headlines
Tycoon Warren Buffett, headliner of last night’s fund-raiser for President Obama at the Four Seasons, reiterated his advice for a tax on “ultra-rich people who are paying very low tax rates.”  But the message appeared to have limited appeal to donors expected to pay $10,000 a plate; the turnout was “disappointing,” according to one guest.


An Obama fund-raising insider said the campaign has been getting resistance from some Wall Street donors from 2008 over the proposal, though Buffett said the event “went OK.”  (New York Post, 10/1/2011)


Wall Street donates to Obama?  Who would have thought it?  We thought they supported Republicans.  If Wall Streeters fold and double-down on Obama, they deserve what they get.  In a second term, Obama will make them bleed.


Footings
The Cuomo administration killed a controversial proposal that would have required taxpayers to foot the bill for transgender patients to get sex-change surgery.  (New York Post, 10/1/2011)


OK, this is getting crazy now.  New York Governor Cuomo is on the fast track to being named as an honorary Republican.