Travel Plans

Rahm Emanuel laid into POLITICO’s Mike Allen on Wednesday when Allen revealed the Chicago mayor’s plans to vacation in Cuba with his family over the holidays, angrily saying, "I really don't appreciate that." (POLITICO, 12/2/2015)


Ino Gómez, who fled Cuba in 1970, caught (New York City Mayor Bill) de Blasio off guard during their interview on WADO 1280 AM when he shifted the conversation from housing and education to the Dem’s visit to Cuba in 1991 for his honeymoon.(nypost.com, 9/27/2013)


After Vermont senator Bernie Sanders announced his run for president, Britain’s Guardian newspaper pawed through old archives in his home town of Burlington, Vermont where he served as mayor in the 1980s. They discovered that Sanders really did practice the socialist solidarity he preached about rhetorically. During Bernie’s mayoral tenure, Burlington formed an alliance with the Soviet city of Yaroslavl, 160 miles northeast of Moscow. When in 1988 he married his wife, Jane, the mayor decided it would be a perfect place for his honeymoon. (nationalreview.com, 6/24/2015)

Why is it that rabid right-wingers are always accusing Liberals of being pinko Commies?

Oh, maybe because it's true....

Let's Dish

Woebegone
The financial woes of Detroit, which last month became the nation’s largest city to file for bankruptcy protection, dwarf the financial issues here. But as Detroit makes its way through the federal court system, other cities, including Chicago, are wrestling with overwhelming pension liabilities that threaten to undermine their capacity to provide municipal services and secure their futures. (NYT, 8/5/2013)

Let's see...what do both Detroit and Chicago have in common? Yes, it's true that they are both cities, but that is not the answer we were looking for. If you said, however, that they are both cities that are financial basket cases and that have been run for decades by Democrats then you would be correct. Democrats see no connection whatsoever between their policies and financial ruin. 

We are not a big fan of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, but - credit where it is due - at least he gets it:

But Mr. Emanuel has openly called for increasing retirement ages, raising workers’ contributions toward their own pensions and temporarily freezing inflation adjustments now paid to retirees, all of which amount, union leaders say, to benefit cuts. (NYT, 8/5/2013)


Interception
The Obama administration’s decision last week to close nearly two dozen diplomatic missions and issue a worldwide travel alert came after the United States intercepted electronic communications in which the head of Al Qaeda ordered the leader of the group’s affiliate in Yemen to carry out an attack as early as this past Sunday, according to American officials. (NYT, 8/5/2013)

It has been a year since Obama ran for re-election proclaiming Al Qaeda was "on the run." Will the Legitimate Media now challenge him on this point? Of course they will not. Obama gets a pass, just as he got a pass on high unemployment, high gas prices, Solyndra, "saving" Detroit, golf, Benghazi and everything else. 


Stakeout
Michael R. Bloomberg has staked much of his reputation as the mayor of New York City on improving students’ test scores, and has trumpeted gains in math and reading as validation of his 12-year effort to remake the city’s schools.

But the mayor’s telling of history is poised to receive one of its most vigorous challenges yet on Wednesday, when New York State is expected to report drastic drops in student performance across the state because of a new set of tougher exams.

In New York City, the proportion of students deemed proficient in math and reading could decrease by as many as 30 percentage points, city officials said, threatening to hand Mr. Bloomberg a public relations problem five months before he is set to leave office.

Already, many of Mr. Bloomberg’s rivals — the teachers’ union, parent groups, and several of the Democratic candidates vying to succeed him — have begun to use the prospect of a steep drop in scores to call into question the mayor’s record on education.

The United Federation of Teachers on Friday released a 1,000-word memo, in part blaming Mr. Bloomberg for poor test results, saying he had not done enough to train teachers for the new standards, known as Common Core. (NYT, 8/4/2013)

We loved this one. We are no great fans of Bloomberg (either), but we give him credit for standing up to the teachers union. 

According to the union it is Bloomberg's fault that test scores for NYC students declined. It has nothing to do with teachers.

Why do young people so often fail to demonstrate accountability for their actions? Maybe THAT is what they are learning in school from teachers.


Quote of the Day
The second shortest distance in Washington now runs between an Obama speech and its empirical disproof. (Bret Stephens, WSJ, 8/5/2013)

Moral Suasion

Iron Indeed
But by the time she left office, the principles known as Thatcherism — the belief that economic freedom and individual liberty are interdependent, that personal responsibility and hard work are the only ways to national prosperity, and that the free-market democracies must stand firm against aggression — had won many disciples. Even some of her strongest critics accorded her a grudging respect. (NYT, 4/8/2013)

The great Margaret Thatcher. It is a shame that we do not learn from history. 


Piece Meal
The days ahead could be decisive ones for the main pieces of President Obama’s second-term agenda: long-range deficit reduction, gun safety and changes to immigration law. (NYT, 4/7/2013)

First on President Obama's second term agenda: Deficit reduction. But not just any deficit reduction, long-range deficit reduction. In fact, he talks about it all the time. Usually right after higher taxes on the rich, green energy, gun control, immigration reform, marriage equality, more money for education, more money for our crumbling infrastructure and hot AGs. Then, long-range deficit reduction. 


Really
In fact, the real, lived experience of Obamacare is likely to be one of significantly increased individual freedom. For all our talk of being the land of liberty, those holding one of the dwindling number of jobs that carry decent health benefits often feel anything but free, knowing that if they leave or lose their job, for whatever reason, they may not be able to regain the coverage they need. Over time, as people come to realize that affordable coverage is now guaranteed, it will have a powerful liberating effect. (Paul Krugman, NYT, 4/7/2013)

We were going to offer some pointed rebukes to Krugman's column, but as always, it is best to let his own words tell the story. 

We are all going to be freer, thanks to Obamacare.

Well there you go.


Swell
Between December 2007, when the recession started, and June 2009, when it ended, the number of Americans receiving federal disability benefits grew to 7.6 million from 7.1 million. Then the rolls swelled, reaching 8.9 million in March, about 5.4% of the civilian workforce ages 25 to 64, according to J.P. Morgan estimates. That compares with 1.7% of the U.S. workforce in 1970. (WSJ, 4/7/2013)

Just to be clear, this is what Republicans are talking about when they argue about entitlement programs.  Not honest payments to deserving seniors or the disabled. It is the millions of deadbeats who are gaming the system. Abetted by Liberals. 


Oh Come, Oh Come
Earlier this year, Mr. Emanuel's administration and leaders of the police sergeant's union reached a preliminary four-year contract with a 9% raise in total. In exchange, union leaders pledged to support efforts at the state level to solve the pension issue by reducing cost-of-living increases for current retirees, raising the retirement age and increasing worker contributions.

Union members rejected the deal by a 6-to-1 margin last month, with rank-and-file officers pushing the sergeants to shoot it down. For some officers, the deal belied the mayor's statements that he wanted to work with unions to resolve the pension shortfall. "To me, being a partner shouldn't mean my way or the highway," said Mike Shields, president of Chicago's largest police union. (WSJ, 4/7/2013)

It was said that only a Cold War warrior like Richard Nixon could open the door to Red China back in the day. We wonder whether it has to be a Democrat like Emanuel who has to break the union pension funds that are slowly killing America's cities. Unfortunately, Emanuel's first run-in, with the Chicago teachers, ended with him caving. Here's hoping.