Month: October 2010

Hey Barry, This is why you don’t just hand out other people’s money.

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WASHINGTON — Recovery.gov promised transparency on how the government spends every dollar of stimulus money, but there’s $162 million the website doesn’t disclose.

Recipients of 352 federal stimulus contracts, grants and loans have failed to report how they spent the money, the status of their projects or how many jobs were funded, according to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

via $162 million in stimulus funds not disclosed – USATODAY.com.

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In response to threats from militant Islamists, such custodians of Western culture as Comedy Central, Yale University Press, and the Deutsche Oper have resorted to self-censorship. Norris, a cartoonist for the Seattle Weekly, was troubled by what she saw — correctly, I think — as the slow-motion surrender of freedom of expression, a fundamental right.

So she came up with an idea: “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.” This may not have been a great idea — few are — but the point she wanted to make was simple enough: Freedom implies the right to criticize and caricature. This freedom is now in jeopardy because a minority of Muslims believe the majority of non-Muslims can be easily intimidated. If we all stand up for freedom, Norris thought, surely freedom’s enemies will back down.

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Molly Norris Goes Ghost – Article – National Review Online.

» ‘Cry Racism!’: The Art of Mis-Communication – Big Government.

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If anything, these covert tapes show off Angle’s conservative “chops” and that everything she has said on the campaign trail is exactly what she believes behind closed doors. You don’t find that often in politics. She believes the Republican establishment has lost its way on fiscal and Constitutional issues and that a new breed of politicians will set things straight in D.C. Thank you, Scott Ashjian, for wearing that wire and confirming that we can trust Sharron Angle.

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Breaking: In Wake of Taping, Ashjian’s ‘Tea Party of Nevada’ Chairman to Resign, Endorse Angle – Big Journalism.

Pelosi’s vote to adjourn could be her last hurrah | Washington Examiner.

Ominous new Gallup findings for Democrats: Blacks still love Obama, others not so much | Top of the Ticket | Los Angeles Times.

FT.com / US / Politics & Foreign policy – Obama’s promise to end tax cuts for rich unravels.

Opinion: Health Care Lawsuit Tests Basic Constitutional Principles.

Let’s start with taxes. If today’s low rates expire at year-end per current law, that would at a stroke reduce after-tax income for every working American, the average reduction being 3.3% according to the Tax Policy Center. Do the math: 94% of income goes to consumption, and consumption is 70% of gross domestic product. All else being equal, if the Bush tax cuts don’t get extended, that’s a 2.3% hit to 2011 GDP. That means instant double-dip recession, starting at midnight, Dec. 31.

Why won’t the Democrats who control both houses of Congress switch off this doomsday clock? It’s because Democratic leaders and the Obama administration want to roll the dice for the sake of ideology, by giving tax relief only to the middle class while letting rates rise for higher earners. A growing number of Democratic dissidents have joined with Republicans in insisting that, in this weak economy, it’s more prudent that relief be given to all Americans.

Some have even undergone a supply-side conversion. Forty-seven Democrats have sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi citing the urgency of preserving low tax rates on dividends and capital gains for the sake of more job-creating capital formation.

Donald Luskin: The Trade and Tax Doomsday Clocks – WSJ.com.

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Bielat is 35 years old, a Marine who spent four years on active duty and is now a major in the Reserve. He’s a graduate of Georgetown University with a master’s from Harvard and an MBA from Wharton. He’s devoted a good portion of his professional life to manufacturing the high-tech robots that defuse improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan. In other words, he’s a serious man.

In the spring and summer of 2009, Bielat watched in dismay as Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress pursued one big-government initiative after another. He began to think about running but didn’t make a final decision until Jan. 19, when a certain Republican won election to the Senate from Massachusetts — and did it by winning in Frank’s district. “When Scott Brown won the 4th Congressional District, it became clear that not only could a Republican win here,” says Bielat, “but there was a case to be made nationally to donors and supporters that this is winnable.”

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via A GOP unknown is in striking range of Barney Frank | Washington Examiner.