Helpful Hints for Increasing Your Carbon Footprint

Challenging
(Obama) also challenged black men to do better themselves, and said they must not make excuses for their failures or blame society for the poor decisions they have already made. (New York Times, 2/28/2014)

Good comment from Obama, but it is not the message that he has been sending for the first five years of his presidency. His message has been that America is inherently unjust, that any group or individual who can claim minority status is not to blame for their situation, and that government through its "tender mercies" will administer relief.


Anticipation
Parsing Governor Peter Shumlin's comments on the latest round of job losses in Vermont (IBM - 100 or so jobs), as reported in the Burlington Free Press, 2/28/2014:

Later in the day Thursday, Shumlin said he had anticipated even worse news.

Shumlin: Great news! It could have been worse. (Only in Vermont is success defined as not going backwards as fast...)

He said he heard from IBM last night and early this morning. “I made clear that when they shared what they were doing with me that I had a responsibility to communicate what I know with Vermonters.”

Shumlin: See how transparent my administration is. I could not - in good conscience - keep this bad news from the public.

The IBM layoffs came up Thursday morning as Shumlin addressed a gathering of Vermont grocers and retailers in the Statehouse....Shumlin told the group that Vermont’s economy is on the rebound. Several in the audience said they didn’t share his optimism, noting the IBM layoffs as well as the announced closing last week of Plasan Carbon Composite in Bennington and pending job losses when Vermont Yankee closes at the end of the year. Several said they were worried about the accumulative impact of legislation in the works to raise the minimum wage, require paid sick leave and adopt a government-funded health care system.

Shumlin: I don't care what anyone says, things are going just swimmingly here in the People's Republic of Vermont. And once we begin collecting taxes on legalized marijuana, just watch out. We may even be able to fund single-payer. 


Everything You Need to Know About Obamacare from the New York Times (3/1/2014)
The Obama administration said Friday that it would allow some people to receive federal subsidies for health insurance purchased in the private market outside of health insurance exchanges. The sudden shift was the latest in a series of policy changes, extensions and clarifications by federal officials trying to help beneficiaries and minimize political damage to Democrats in this election year.

Even one of Obamacare's biggest cheerleaders admits that the whole thing has now been politicized.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that four-fifths of people buying insurance through exchanges will qualify for subsidies, with the government spending an average of $4,700 for each “subsidized enrollee” this year.

Obamacare is Obamacaid. Eighty percent of buyers will receive government aid.

The health law fix this week comes after the administration delayed the requirement for larger employers to offer coverage to employees; extended the deadline for people to sign up for coverage starting on Jan. 1; delayed the opening of online marketplaces for small businesses; and asked insurers to extend individual health care policies that had been canceled for not complying with the new federal law. 

Harry Reid may think that there are no individual health care horror stories, but he is not looking hard enough. The whole law is a horror story. 


The Deep
In unscheduled remarks at the White House Friday afternoon, President Obama said the United States is "deeply concerned" about military movements by the Russian federation inside Ukraine, and warned that "there will be costs for any military intervention." (Washington Post, 2/28/2014)

We'll know that Obama is really really serious if he says "red line." Of course Krauthammer gets it right again:

Putin fully occupies vacuums. (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 2/27/2014)

...Obama being the empty space. 


Behind Every Fortune a Crime
After nearly 20 months of celebrity theater and an incalculable amount of effort and courtroom expense, the misdemeanor trial of Kerry Kennedy ended on Friday in breakneck fashion, as jurors took one hour to find her not guilty of driving under the influence of a drug: a sleeping pill that she said she took by accident. (New York Times, 3/1/2014)

As they have for decades, the Kennedy clan runs roughshod over the American judicial system.