Overload

The Big Stink
Once again, Vermont’s business climate is dismal. We rank 45th out of 50 (50 being the worst and 1 being the best.) The overall ranking is comprised of scores in five separate categories: Corporate tax (VT, 42th), Income Tax (VT, 45th), Sales Tax (VT,13th), Unemployment Insurance Tax (VT, 22nd), and Property Tax (VT, 48th). Only New York, New Jersey, California, Minnesota, and Rhode Island stink worse than we do. (Ethanallen.org, 3/20/2014)

But things are going just fine according to Vermont's progressives. This is one party rule in action. In Vermont, the most important thing is not growing business, but figuring out how to give drivers licenses to illegal aliens. 


Saint Barack
Vice President Joe Biden said Friday that President Obama should be “nominated for sainthood” for his patience during the botched rollout of Obamacare and HealthCare.gov, claiming he was as “frustrated as anyone you ever knew.” (Thedailycaller.com, 3/21/2014)

So - and we think we have this right - Obama is a victim. 

This is the doofus that Obama sends to assure Eastern Europe that the U.S. will protect them from Russian aggression.  


Intense
Ms. Rice’s comments, which set the stage for Mr. Obama’s trip to Europe next week, suggested that the tensions between the United States and Russia were continuing to intensify. Asked if the Ukraine crisis was prompting a “fundamental reassessment” of America’s relationship with Russia, she answered in a single word: “Yes.” (New York Times, 3/22/2014)

Asked if Obama's strategy in dealing with Russia was a complete debacle, she answered in a single word: "Yes."

(OK, we made that quote up.)


The top three stories in the U.S. section of the on-line New York Times (3/23/2014) 
For Gay Couples in Michigan, a Day of Joy Ends in Legal Uncertainty

News Analysis: Wave of Appeals Expected to Turn the Tide on Same-Sex Marriage Bans

Biden Notes Progress in Gay Rights, but Says There Is ‘Much Left to Do’

And just for good measure....
The Scientific Quest to Prove Bisexuality Exists


L'despair
France has been losing talented citizens to other countries for decades, but the current exodus of entrepreneurs and young people is happening at a moment when France can ill afford it. The nation has had low-to-stagnant economic growth for the last five years and a generally climbing unemployment rate — now about 11 percent — and analysts warn that it risks sliding into economic sclerosis.

Some wealthy businesspeople have also been packing their bags. While entrepreneurs fret about the difficulties of getting a business off the ground, those who have succeeded in doing so say that society stigmatizes financial success. The election of President François Hollande, a member of the Socialist Party who once declared, “I don’t like the rich,” did little to contradict that impression. (New York Times, 3/23/2014)

A nation that Liberals want the U.S. to emulate. 

Oh, and this:

“It is a French cultural characteristic that goes back to almost the revolution and Robespierre, where there’s a deep-rooted feeling that you don’t show that you make money,” Ms. Segalen, the recruiter, said. “There is this sense that ‘liberté, égalité, fraternité’ means that what’s yours should be mine. It’s more like, if someone has something I can’t have, I’d rather deprive this person from having it than trying to work hard to get it myself. That’s a very French state of mind. But it’s a race to the bottom.”

Rare Air

The Bear Growls
Russia signaled for the first time on Friday that it was prepared to annex the Crimea region of Ukraine, significantly intensifying its confrontation with the West over the political crisis in Ukraine and threatening to undermine a system of respect for national boundaries that has helped keep the peace in Europe and elsewhere for decades. (New York Times, 3/8/2014)

And so the effects of the Obama Doctrine are made known. The Obama Doctrine states that the U.S. will not protect its strategic interests in the world, will not curb the advance of totalitarian regimes and will abandon allies if necessary. We wonder how Poland is feeling right about now. They have seen this movie before.

Meanwhile, Obama does what he does best:

He headed to Florida for a speech on education and then a weekend off with his family, but aides promised he would be monitoring the crisis.

No doubt, he will find time for a round of golf.


The Waiting
The February unemployment rate of 6.7 percent, for example, would have been 10 percent if the 5.7 million workers who are waiting on the sidelines for job openings were included in the jobless rate. (New York Times editorial, 3/8/2014)

Too late for the 2012 elections, the New York Times admits what the conservative press reported at the time. Of course, the Times goes on to explain that high unemployment is the fault of Republicans, and not of President Executive Order.  


The Irritant
Ralph Nader is irritated with Bernie Sanders.

Sanders won’t return his calls, won’t combine forces with other progressives, and as a result, he isn’t getting as much done as he could, the frequent independent presidential candidate and consumer advocate says.

Nader detailed his grievances Thursday in a blunt two-page letter to the Vermont independent senator with the heading, “Bernie, we thought we knew ye!” Then Nader called the Burlington Free Press and shared the letter, which accuses Sanders of “speechifying” but getting nowhere, because he is a “Lone Ranger.” (Burlington Free Press, 3/6/2014)

In the world of conservative blogging, this is what is known as a wonderful gift: two moonbats at odds. 

Of course, we would disagree with Nader in his characterization of Sanders as a "Lone Ranger." To us, Sanders is more of a "Tonto" which would make him "the village idiot." 

Test of Conformity

THANK YOU FOR 20,000 PAGEVIEWS!

Costly
From a White House podium late Friday, Obama told the Russian government that “there will be costs” for any military foray into Ukraine, including the semiautonomous region of Crimea, a strategically important peninsula on the Black Sea.

Within hours, Putin asked the Russian parliament for approval to send forces into Ukraine. The vote endorsing his request was unanimous, Obama’s warning drowned out by lawmakers’ rousing rendition of Russia’s national anthem at the end of the session. Russian troops now control the Crimean Peninsula. (Washington Post, 3/1/2014)

Vlad the Impaler teaches Obama something about "red lines." Namely the RED LINE he drew around Crimea. 


Off Base
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) implored President Obama to stop going on television and making baseless threats against Vladimir Putin or other dictators Sunday on CNN.

“It’s not your strong suit, every time the president goes on national television and threatens Putin or anyone like Putin, everybody’s eyes roll, including mine,” he said. (Freebeacon.com, 3/2/2014)

A pretty funny line from Graham.


Mainly
Mr. Obama came to office with little foreign-policy experience and has been repeatedly tested by a new world in which the main threats are Islamic extremism and civil war. (New York Times, 3/3/2014)

We remember well the concerns that the New York Times expressed in 2008 and again in 2012 in numerous articles, essays and editorials about Obama's weak foreign policy credentials. Just kidding!


Moving Violation
A movement with confidence in its scientific theories would be able to admit there are many climate factors beyond carbon dioxide that are not yet well understood, and that some climate models have been shown to be unreliable. Such a movement would not downplay or whitewash leaked emails evincing the possibility of massaged data. When it criticizes its skeptics as hired guns of the fossil-fuel industry who are influenced by money, it would be willing to acknowledge that it thrives on government and private funding that would shrink if its research did not continue to say warming is here and getting worse. And there would be more confessions such as Al Gore's belated acknowledgment that his support for ethanol was misguided. (Pete du Pont, Wall Street Journal, 2/27/2014)

If you are a global warming skeptic, Liberals call you a denier. If you believe that voters should be required to show an I.D., Liberals call you a racist. If you do not agree with gay marriage, Liberals call you a homophobe. This is how Liberals defend their positions. 


Be A Lert, We Need More Lerts
Gov. Jerry Brown (D., Calif.) said he wants to wait to see how experiments with marijuana legalization play out in Colorado and Washington before expanding access to pot in California.

“How many people can get stoned and still have a great state or a great nation?” Brown asked on NBC’s Meet the Press. “The world’s pretty dangerous, very competitive. I think we need to stay alert, if not 24 hours a day, more than some of the potheads might be able to put together, ” Brown added. (Freebeacon.com, 3/2/2014)

The original Governor Moonbat occasionally says something sensible. And so the question posed to Liberals is this: "How does legalizing another mind altering substance make America a better nation?

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.