The Grinding Wheel

Warning
Obama administration officials said on Sunday that the president had warned for more than a year of the danger that Islamic State fighters pose to Europe, the United States and beyond. (New York Times, 11/15/2015)

So what say Liberals who have blamed Bush for 9/11 saying that he should have heeded the warning that Al Qaeda was determined to strike the U.S? Obama apparently was warned in the same way. Is Obama to blame for Paris? You decide. 


It's Working
Many Say High Deductibles Make Their Health Law Insurance All but Useless (New York Times headline, 11/15/2015)


Lowly
By all means, read Bill McKibben’s victory proclamation on Keystone XL posted by the New Yorker, first for its infantile analysis. He sees Keystone as a harbinger, which it surely is: President Obama waited seven years to kill the pipeline, then did so when he no longer had to face voters and when gasoline prices are near an all-time low in real terms. If abundant fossil fuels is what it takes to afford Mr. McKibben such victories, well, you can see the paradox. (Holman Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal, 11/15/2015)

We'll admit that we enjoy it when Middlebury College's Bill McKibben gets batted about by his intellectual superiors. It happens quite often. 


Dazed and Confused
Abedin: Have you been going over her calls with her? So she knows singh is at 8? [India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh]

Hanley: She was in bed for a nap by the time I heard that she had an 8am call. Will go over with her

Abedin: Very imp to do that. She’s often confused. (Judicialwatch.org, 11/16/2015)

Prediction: The Washington Post, New York Times and MSNBC will ignore this admission by Hillary Clinton's closest aide that she is mentally impaired. The business of electing the first woman president is too important. 

Liberals Complain: Mitt Romney was too successful in business; Carly Fiorina not successful enough

Tweaks
But the truth is, people like Mr. McKibben can’t afford practical, meaningful progress—because it would be unnoticeable and undramatic. Modest tweaks to incentives, then seeing how energy technology and the energy economy adapted over time, would not fulfill their need for a pressing global crisis that casts them as moral warriors (well-funded ones) whose victory over deniers and climate criminals is always just around the corner—and must remain so in order to keep the money, media attention and political fealty flowing. (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal, 10/27/2015)

Jenkins skewers Middlebury College's Bill McKibben who - you may have heard - in desperate need of attention just got himself arrested by blocking access to a Burlington, Vermont gas station. McKibben was processed at police headquarters and then walked back to Middlebury.

CORRECTION: We have just received word that McKibben drove back to Middlebury in a car that contained an internal combustion engine. We apologize for the error. 


An Open Letter to Ashley Parker
Of course, attacking the media, especially the so-called liberal media, is a popular and time-tested Republican trope. (Ashley Parker, New York Times, 10/31/2015)

Dear Ash:
The Liberal Media is real! Read RedStateVT regularly for the proof. 

(Hint: Your paper is part of the Liberal Media.)

Regards

RedStateVT


It's Working! Obamacare is Working!
In Tennessee, the state insurance commissioner approved a 36 percent rate increase for the largest health insurer in the state’s individual marketplace. In Iowa, the commissioner approved rate increases averaging 29 percent for the state’s dominant insurer. Health insurance consumers logging into HealthCare.gov on Sunday for the first day of the Affordable Care Act’s third open enrollment season may be in for sticker shock, unless they are willing to shop around. Federal officials acknowledged on Friday that many people would need to pick new plans to avoid substantial increases in premiums.
...

“Shopping can save you money,” said Richard G. Frank, an assistant secretary of health and human services, who unveiled a huge collection of data on health plans that will go on sale on Sunday in the 38 states served by HealthCare.gov.
...

The Obama administration said nearly nine out of 10 consumers with marketplace coverage would be able to choose from three or more insurers in 2016. That is important, Mr. Frank said, because in insurance and other industries, “competition intensifies when there are three or more firms in a market.” (New York Times, 10/31/2015)

The big news is not that Obamacare premiums are going up. That was inevitable and entirely predictable. No the big news is that Obama administration officials admit that competition results in market efficiencies. 

Capitalism works!

Of course this will all be forgotten the next time that Liberals push for single-payer. Then we will only hear about the great inefficiencies of the private sector insurers. 

Chuck Schumer Opposes Obama's Iran Deal. Is He a Racist?

Witless
Jon Stewart Signs Off From ‘Daily Show’ With Wit and Sincerity (New York Times headline, 8/7/2015)

The New York Times writes its eighty-second article on Jon Stewart quitting his job. So far, one article on Planned Parenthood representatives selling fetal organs.

Today's articles include:
-Jon Stewart and ‘The Daily Show’: 9 Essential Moments
-Jon Stewart Signs Off From ‘Daily Show’ With Wit and Sincerity
-The TV Watch: Jon Stewart Cements His Legacy in ‘Daily Show’ Finale
-Nocera: When Jon Stewart Took Down Jim Cramer

In fairness, however, there is one article among the eighty-two that we like and from which we will quote extensively (happily entitled - Jon Stewart, Patron Saint of Liberal Smugness):

Many liberals, but not conservatives, believe there is an important asymmetry in American politics. These liberals believe that people on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum are fundamentally different. Specifically, they believe that liberals are much more open to change than conservatives, more tolerant of differences, more motivated by the public good and, maybe most of all, smarter and better informed.

The evidence for these beliefs is not good. Liberals turn out to be just as prone to their own forms of intolerance, ignorance and bias. But the beliefs are comforting to many. They give their bearers a sense of intellectual and even moral superiority. And they affect behavior. They inform the condescension and self-righteousness with which liberals often treat conservatives. They explain why many liberals have greeted Tea Partiers and other grass-roots conservatives with outsize alarm. They explain why liberals fixate on figures such as Sarah Palin and Todd Akin, who represent the worst that many liberals are prepared to see in conservatives. (Gerard Alexander, New York Times, 8/7/2015)


Mumsy
Challenging Hillary Clinton, who now describes herself in appearances as the grandma candidate, we have the 73-year-old Vermont Socialist Bernie Sanders. Or if not Bernie, maybe the 72-year-old veep Joe Biden, or—let no one doubt it—the silver surfer, John Kerry (71). (Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal, 8/7/2015)

The Republican party fields an African American, a woman, a couple of Hispanics, and an Indian American. The Democrat party field consists entirely of old white men. How come RedStateVT is the only one talking about this?


Not Working
U.S. economy added 215,000 jobs in July; unemployment still 5.3% (New York Times headline, 8/7/2015)

The Obama recovery. No U.S. president in history has ever so completely evaded responsibility for the economy like Obama. Seven years in and he is still getting away with blaming Bush while the Liberal media never once asks about the efficacy of his policies. When Hillary is elected, she too will blame Bush.


Road Blocks
Unions may not matter much in American workplaces anymore but unions represent the main political obstacle to just about every kind of reform: School choice. Entitlements. Pensions. Health care. (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal, 8/7/2015)

Well, unions and their political lapdogs, the Democrat party.


Skipper
... Mr. Obama escaped the long, hot August days in Washington for Martha’s Vineyard, as he has every year but one since he became president. In 2012, Mr. Obama skipped his vacation on the island, the affluent summer destination south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, as he waged a re-election campaign in which he attacked the wealth of his Republican rival, Mitt Romney. (New York Times, 8/8/2015)

So the New York Times unwittingly admits that the Democrat party's "attack the rich" strategy is a ruse. Thanks for the clarification.

The America Our Grandparents Built Is Gone

How Gay Marriage Succeeded
The Gay Media (New York Times, Washington Post, MSNBC, etc.) likes to say that Americans have evolved on the issue of gay marriage and now a majority support it. They cite polls (taken in places like San Francisco and Fire Island) to make the case. But we doubt that the support is anywhere near the levels talked about. What the gay marriage movement has done is not to engage in a fair dialog with the public on the issue. Instead, it has undertaken a campaign of fear and intimidation. Have doubts about gay marriage? Homophobe! Bigot! You are attacked publicly and your livelihood is threatened. In the face of such attacks you may not change your mind, but you certainly go silent. We like to quote the brave gay man from several years ago who said: "We used to be bullied, now we are the bullies."

We also loved the following analysis describing what gay marriage advocates accomplished:

... convinced a critical mass of the public that there is only one side in this debate, despite the fact that the side claiming the monopoly had only existed in any meaningful form for perhaps 20 years.

... convinced a critical mass of the public that race and sexual orientation are directly analogous.

... branded opponents as simple “bigots” for daring to hold a different view on a live political issue, going so far as to take punitive action against those who did not adopt the “correct” viewpoint.

... portrayed the battle as, literally, love versus hate. 
(Tom Garrett, theaxisofego.com, 6/27/2015)

A reminder...RedStateVT's creed: Love whoever you love, stop talking about your sexuality.


Rightful
Ever notice how Liberals keep making up new "rights" but taking away ones they don't like?

Abortion is a right. Health care is a right. Gay marriage is a right.

Drinking a large soda is not a right.


Say So
Mr. Obama himself says: “When you talk to people who actually are enrolled in a new marketplace plan, the vast majority of them like their coverage. The vast majority are satisfied.”

And the polls indeed show that 74% of ObamaCare’s eight million enrollees are “satisfied” with their plans, because the polls fail to count the 12 million who are eligible but decline to enroll.

Of the eight million who have signed up, some 87% are receiving taxpayer subsidies. In other words, they are getting health care partly or wholly at someone else’s expense. (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal, 6/24/2015)

We've mused about this very point many times. Obamacare is working! People are getting health care paid for by someone else! And they like it!


Just One Day at The New York Times: June 29, 2015
Jubilant Marchers at Gay Pride Parades Celebrate Supreme Court Ruling 
Fashion World Reacts to Same-Sex Marriage Ruling
Smile and Say Same-Sex Marriage: Photo Editor’s Notebook
Same-Sex Marriage Is A Right: Readers React
With Same-Sex Decision, Evangelical Churches Address New Reality
On the Ground: Where Same-Sex Couples Live
Was This the Right Way to Legalize Gay Marriage?
Review: ‘Larry Kramer in Love & Anger,’ Portrait of the Rebel as Gay Activist
Fate of Domestic Partner Benefits in Question After Marriage Ruling
Frank Bruni: Our Weddings, Our Worth

Untitled

Jibber Jabber
In comments subtly directed at NATO, Mr. Putin said that military alliances were gaining strength and warned against a unipolar world—shorthand in Moscow for the global influence of the U.S. In another apparent jab at Washington, he said that the principles of international cooperation were being ignored. (Wall Street Journal, 5/9/2015)

Please answer a simple question. How in God's green earth is Hillary Clinton going to run for president and talk about her foreign policy expertise? Like her boss, everything that she touched has turned into a complete mess including the vaunted "Russian reset." Vlad ('the impaler') Putin is holding his breath hoping that he gets Barack Obama's third term with a Clinton win. No doubt he is looking with longing at Poland....


Impressed
In giving Conservatives a new majority, voters rewarded an impressive economic record. Five years of Tory policies, such as a reduction in the corporate tax rate to 20% from 28% and a welfare reform that shifted more people into work have produced record employment participation rates and by far the fastest growth of any large European economy. Keynesian critics in the U.S. and U.K. derided this as “austerity,” but tax cuts and limits on government spending have been vindicated. (Wall Street Journal, 5/8/2015)

Over at the New York Times, Paul Krugman calls this success "The Triumph of the Unthinking." 


The Chronic
It’s sometimes unpopular to point out that people who behave responsibly and are willing to work generally do not end up chronically poor in America. (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. Wall Street Journal, 5/8/2015)

Tell that to a Liberal. Their explanation for chronic poverty? Republicans.


Endurance
As shocking as they are, these facts make perfect sense in the context of the century-long assault that Baltimore’s blacks have endured at the hands of local, state and federal policy makers, all of whom worked to quarantine black residents in ghettos, making it difficult even for people of means to move into integrated areas that offered better jobs, schools and lives for their children. (New York Times editorial, 5/10/2015)

So given the decades-long Liberal monopolies in cities such as Baltimore, Chicago and Detroit we are guessing that the editors at the New York Times are pointing their fingers at the policies of Democrat political leaders. Or are we being naive?


Dog in the Fight
By 2004, Mr. Braman and his wife had donated $1,000 to Mr. Rubio’s State House campaign, the first of many contributions. Mr. Rubio quickly emerged as a dogged champion of Mr. Braman’s most cherished cause: state funding for a Miami cancer institute that bears the Braman family name. (New York Times, 5/10/2015)

The Times breaks the story that Marco Rubio has a benefactor who is - God forbid - a billionaire! Not only that, but Rubio may have acted on said billionaire's behalf. The apparent crime? Funding for a cancer center!

Now wasn't there something in the news just a couple of days ago about Hillary Clinton possibly trading favors with a Russian billionaire over uranium....

Obama: I Have Fixed the U.S. Economy. You're Welcome America.

Virtuous
If there was a virtue in Mr. Obama’s speech, it’s that we can now retire the lectures on “responsible governing.” (Wall Street Journal, 1/21/2015)

Score!


Unification
But climate is a continuous process of incremental change. A unified theory of media idiocy on climate is beyond the scope of this column, but even someone with the apparently parched intellect of an AP editor should be able to look at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration charts and notice that cool years are grouped with cool years, warm years with warm years, and in-between years with in-between years. (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal, 1/20/2015)

Did you read that 2014 was the warmest year in the history of the solar system and it is all the fault of Republicans who will not let us stop using fossil fuels? You probably did if you were breathing a couple of days ago.  What you probably did not read were the science-based rebuttals. Here is one, you climate change-denier, you!


Zero
The cost of community college isn’t being lowered to zero, the costs will simply be shifted elsewhere. The AP estimates it would cost “an estimated $60 billion over 10 years to the treasury.” Furthermore, the plan would require states to contribute a quarter of tuition, and not all students would qualify. (Breitbart.com, 1/21/2015)

Finally, someone besides RedStateVT calls out President Clueless on the "free" concept. Nothing is free! Someone always pays. If you are a taxpayer then guess what? You pay for "Free!"


Unreal
MITCHELL: I think that on foreign policy, his projection of success against terrorism and against ISIS, in particular, as I said, is not close to reality. They have not come up with a strategy, and they’ve built a global coalition, but again, he’s talked about Ukraine, he’s talked about Putin being isolated. Yes, Putin is isolated economically and the falling oil prices have hammered his economy. But at the same time, there’s renewed fighting in Donetsk, and we haven’t figured out Ukraine, we haven’t figured out how the NATO alliance can push back. Sanctions have not really worked, and Ukraine is going to need more weaponry, and they have not reached that point. So you’re right, Chris, it doesn’t match the reality. (Hotair.com, 1/21/2015)

Andrea Mitchell and Chris Matthews from MSNBC (the Obama administration's in-house television network) practice a random act of journalism....


Messed Up
So here was Gov. Charlie Baker yesterday, confronting a totally predictable (except by the previous governor) budget deficit of $765 million, and he still couldn’t bring himself to mention who created the mess the Commonwealth now finds itself in. (Howiecarrshow.com, 1/21/2015)

The budget deficit in Vermont (a state with less than one million people) approaches $100 million. Now what do the governments of Vermont and Massachusetts have in common? 

Yes, both governors were males and both had the letter "P" in their names. 

Think harder, reader!

Of course, both states were run by Democrats! Deval Patrick and Peter Shumlin.

Democrats should not be entrusted with managing the finances of an ice cream truck.

Under Control

The Purge
Hours after President François Hollande purged leftist members of his government last month for opposing his economic policies, Manuel Valls, France’s combative prime minister, climbed a stage before hundreds of cheering French executives and called for a new relationship with business to lift France from its malaise.

He admonished the left wing of the French Socialist Party to stop posturing against capitalism, then launched into a lengthy pro-business discourse that drew a standing ovation. “France needs you,” he told the bosses at the annual summer conference of the Medef, France’s employers’ union. “And I love business!” (New York Times, 9/16/2014)

No 'Occupy Le Wall Street' in France. The French suddenly love capitalism. And remember, Liberals believe that we need to emulate the French in every way!


Zoned Out
Even as momentum builds against the austerity policies that Germany has pushed on the eurozone, the question remains whether Europe can afford the welfare systems that have defined the left for generations and that critics blame for ushering in the debt crisis in the first place. But if the left now backs away from its ideological touchstones, then what does it stand for? (New York Times, 9/16/2014)

What does the Left stand for, if not building bigger and bigger social welfare programs?

Well, nothing , really. It is their raison d'etre.


The Mix
Mr. Obama, seeking to allay fears of another Iraq war, has promised that American ground troops will not be involved in fighting the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. In a sign of the administration’s mixed message, the president pointedly did not call it a war, while his advisers later did. (New York Times, 9/17/2014)

RedStateVT did not say 'mixed message.' The New York Times said 'mixed message.'


Crying Out Loud
The Democrats’ strategy of making an increase in the minimum wage a midterm election rallying cry has been drowned out by world events. The party continues to talk about it, but it appears that few are listening. (New York Times, 9/17/2014)

We at RedStateVT just cannot get our head around a minimum wage increase. Liberals want companies to pay their workers more...which means they will need to raise their prices...which means everyone will pay more for the goods and services that these companies provide. So really, it is just another form of higher taxation. 

Actually that does make sense because there is really nothing that Liberals like more than higher taxes. Got it now.


Quote of the Day
ObamaCare has become his Ukraine. (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal, 9/17/2014)

Also Obama's Ukraine? 

Ukraine.


Truthfully
Whatever happened to Cindy Sheehan? Where is Code Pink? I haven’t seen an “EndLESS War” bumper sticker in years, since 2009 to be exact.

The anti-war movement is MIA as this war, er counterterrorism operation, begins. Back when Bush was waging war, dissent was the highest form of patriotism. Now it’s “racism.” If you speak truth to power in the Obama era, they call it hate speech. The IRS will audit you. (Howiecarrshow.com, 9/16/2014)

Do you listen to Howie Carr's radio program? You should!

Torrent of Darkness

Inferiority Complex
Ms. Tavenner said that existing insurance policies were, in many cases, inferior to the new policies they could get. In compliance with the health care law, she said, new policies will provide more benefits and pay a larger share of medical costs than many existing policies. (NYT, 10/30/2013)

Is a Hyundai inferior to a Mercedes? Well in many ways it probably is. And yet Hyundai sells millions of automobiles. Why? It is because educated consumers compare cost and features and make personal decisions as to which car they want to drive. Many people who can afford a Mercedes do not buy one. One of the great lies of Obamacare is that consumers will be able to get Mercedes healthcare insurance at Hyundai prices. 


Distortions
But in Massachusetts, Mr. Obama for the first time admitted that some people who have had what he called “substandard” insurance plans may have to choose another one now that the Affordable Care Act has gone into effect. He accused lawmakers in Washington of distorting that fact by failing to mention that the new plans they have will be more comprehensive and often come with cheaper premiums. (NYT, 10/31/2013)

This is the latest lie from Obama, that new plans will be cheaper. They will only be cheaper if you qualify for subsidies. Otherwise, premiums will double or triple. Obama can now be properly labeled a "serial liar."


Today's Funnies Brought to You by Healthcare.gov
Computer issues are not the only problem plaguing the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. A 228-page list of navigators — businesses and organizations that help people sign up for coverage — on New York State’s health exchange website has turned out to be littered with places whose owners and employees have no clue how to offer health insurance advice.

“I have no idea why I am in the list,” Patrick Wu, manager of the Bowery Pharmacy in Lower Manhattan, said on Tuesday. But he said he had received about 50 calls from people seeking insurance since the exchange went live on Oct. 1. 

Sa Sa Cosmetic and Skincare Spa, on East Broadway, is also listed, but a manager who answered the phone on Tuesday giggled as she explained the shop was “for skin,” not for insurance.

At the Style Management taxi garage on West 44th Street, a manager who gave her name only as Stephanie was asked why her employer was on the list. “I don’t even know, to be honest with you,” she said. (NYT, 10/30/2013)


The White House has issued a clarification. When the president said if you like your insurance plan you can keep it, what he meant was you can keep it if he likes it. (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., WSJ, 10/29/2013)

RedStateVT has just had a mind-blowing revelation. Obamacare is really a way to improve the dismal employment numbers. If nothing else, it will put every wanna-be comedian back to work!