The Impact of Federal Spending on Ohio

Unemployment is soaring--nearing 10%. If this administration had a plan, and some think it does, to take over responsibilities and rights of both the states and the private sector, you could say it's working beautifully. The state's Unemployment Insurance fund is being drained. Ohio, like your state, then seeks federal help. But that comes with strings--ropes and chains that bind, then strangle. Total government expenditures relative to the private economy is called "the government expenditure wedge." The government expenditure wedge is determined by dividing government expenditures by net domestic business output. From the Buckeye Institute's May 2009 report:

"The historic relationship between the growth in the private economy, the size of the government expenditure wedge, and the change in the government expenditure wedge illustrates that increases in government spending relative to the size of the private sector causes a reduction in the overall growth of the economy.

For example, between 1965 and 1983, the government expenditure wedge grew quickly, rising 16.6 percentage points to 49.0%. Growth in the private sector slowed to 2.5% per year.

On the other hand, between 1983 and 1988, growth in the private sector accelerated to 5.1% per year as the government expenditure wedge fell 3.3 points back down to 45.7%.

Consequently, the costs of accepting federal dollars from the ARRA will be a long-term drain on the private sector. The ARRA [American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009] will increase the government expenditure wedge from 49.16% to 52.41% for an overall 3.25% increase. This increase will reduce the growth in real net business output by 2.5%, which translates to a reduction of 1.7 million jobs nationally - of which between 66,400 and 91,200 jobs will be lost in Ohio."

That was May. I think the figure is higher now. So don't you believe that "jobs saved" line as the bullying federal government gives you a wedgie.

Who informs the government?

I was more than a bit surprised to watch the President's and the Congress's reactions to the tragic shootings at Ft. Hood, Texas today. We were watching Fox News which cut away to what we thought was a Presidential news conference. But Obama was talking about something totally different--acknowledging people in the audience, etc., and then apparently someone slipped him a note, and he finally began to address, without a teleprompter, what the rest of the nation already knew. But he knew less than we did (at least those watching Fox), and stumbled and stammered. Don't his people keep him informed? I checked the CNN video which didn't show what we saw. That's ObamaNews, I guess.

Then Fox cut away to an announcement from Congress. They planned to observe a moment of silence and then get back to work on the all important bills for . . . what? Well, at that point, no one really knew (still don't) what happened in Texas. Isn't Ms. Pelosi third in line to be president? Were precautions being taken to protect her? Have they all forgotten that there were multiple targets on 9/11? Or the Virginia Tech shooter? Have they ever heard of diversionary tactics? Let's hope this was only one deranged, disturbed man who had his own personal demons, but you would think until there was a full investigation, our elected officials would be a bit more cautious.

Another epidemic for school children

Big Hollywood has posted more Obama propagandizing. Most of the eleven videos of the indoctrination of children with song, dance and rap lauding our current president have been removed from Big Hollywood. This one was still up when I checked. The transcripts have been included, so even if the videos are removed you can see that children who should be learning to read, write, spell and communicate so they can get good jobs or go to college when the Obama stranglehold over the economy ends, are wasting their time learning propaganda songs like good little members of the Komsomol (Комсомол, short for Коммунисти́ческий сою́з молодёжи, youth wing of the communist party).



Transcript:

We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children

We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in

We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children

We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Yeah, haha, haha.

Alright, come on now, here we go;
You know we gotta get Barack and all of his crew
In the White House so they can prove that
In their hearts they know what to do
And that includes Michelle and the kiddies too

[kids chanting]
“There is not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America.”

We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
[Chant at end of song – unintelligible]

Afghanistan myths

Victor Davis Hanson, a military historian, reviews them

• it’s not unconquerable or the graveyard of empires
  
• although fierce fighters, they’ve never defeated invaders without outside help
  
• it isn’t ungovernable--had a long period of peace in modern times
  
• we didn’t take our eye off the “good” war--from 2001 to 2007 things were quiet
  
• and finally, it’s not Vietnam

“Is Afghanistan the new Vietnam? Hardly. In the three bloodiest years, 2007 through 2009 so far, the United States has suffered a total of 553 fatalities - tragic, but less than 1 percent of the 58,159 Americans killed in Vietnam. What is astounding is the ability of the U.S. military to inflict damage on the enemy, protect the constitutional government and keep our losses to a minimum.”

Today only Obama’s indecision and confusion stops our military.

“We have experienced soldiers and military leadership, a just cause and Western unity. In other words, we have everything we need to defeat the Taliban -- except a commander-in-chief as confident about fighting and winning as he once was as a candidate.”

Richard's Fear

He writes a blog called Three Score and Ten or More, and sometimes calls himself an old coot. He's seen and done it all--was a Mormon missionary as a young man in Finland, had a career in theater, he's a father, grandfather, husband, handyman, traveler, and writer of a blog. Recently he wrote about fear--with a lead in about things that go bump in the night through out our life times. Every thing from stage fright to jumping out of an airplane. Then he gets to his current fear--for our way of life and country.

"These have always been the kinds of things that I felt were frightening, but they are immediate things, and you either survive them or not (obviously I did). When I say I am frightened, I don’t fear an immediate strike of lightening, but my fear is as vivid, just not as immediate and my fear is not of personal death, but for the death of the type of nation I have come to love.

A number of things which have happened since the election of President Obama which have made me nervous and distrustful, but I never felt an emotion that approached real fear until the administration launched its attack on the Fox News network, (The Fox Network such as it is, holds no special place in my heart) an act, which, if upheld, essentially vitiates any hope we have for freedom of expression, a central focus of our Constitution and our way of life. Political correctness forces have been picking at this freedom for some time, but this is a frontal assault on the core of Bill of Rights. Almost at the same time it was revealed that our country (as one of a group) has endorsed a United Nations resolution that could become law in our country if some have their way, making public speech or criticism of an faith or religious group an international crime (the article I read implies that it identified this form of criticism as a form of terrorism).

The implications are mind boggling and hold more threat to our existence as it is than could be completely imagined.

I was calming down on this subject, but as I sat in our Cardiologist’s office, the President was shown being interviewed by some lady newsperson and his answers to her softball questions were so self convicting of Obama’s feeling that any organized criticism of his programs deserve stifling that my feeling rose again."

He has calmed down some now and recently wrote about avocadoes--still, he reflects the concerns of many.

We the People--it's poetry

We the People of the United States,
in Order to
form a more perfect Union
establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility,
provide for the common defence,
promote the general Welfare, and
secure the Blessings of Liberty
to ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish
this Constitution for
the United States of America.

This book was on the bargain shelf at Barnes and Noble. There's almost no commentary or hoopla. Just the words of the writers. It includes the U.S. Constitution, the Amendments to the Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation, and Common Sense by Thomas Paine. Most of us haven't looked at this since high school when some knowledge was probably required.

By the way, are you smarter than a 1954 eighth grader?

What's wrong with this book?

Nothing that I can see. Here's a review from Amazon by a reviewer who has eclectic tastes and writes frequently.

"The Way Into Torah" is a superbly written, highly accessible introduction for the general reading seeking guidance on how to effectively read, study, and understand the Torah, including the other books of the Bible and the related sacred texts that grew up around it. Norman Cohen is Rabbi and Professor of Midrash at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, and brings his expertise and experience to bear in presenting just what the Torah is and how it came about, the different approaches to studying the Torah, the various levels of understanding the Torah, and what the Torah study is an essential aspect of the Jewish experience. The Way Into Torah is an ideal beginning point for commencing a personal study of the Torah.

I checked the publisher, Jewish Lights, and it seems fine as near as I can tell from the other titles in its catalog. The copyright is recent--2000--at least for a religious book, and the Torah is thousands of years old so probably not much has changed. It's part of a 14 volume series, "The Way into. . ." which has many interesting titles. It's not damaged or moldy or water marked. No foxing. There's a smidgen of tomato sauce on the title page, but that might be mine from yesterday's lunch.

I found it in the freebie box at church, but its most recent provenance before it was purchased at a used book sale for $2.00 then donated to our church, was the Upper Arlington Public Library. So, it isn't only Lutherans and Evangelicals they don't like there. I went into the catalog and did a word search on "Torah," and found 2 titles, both for juveniles. Then I did a subject search on "Judaism," and found a hodge podge, bits and snippets. This book was truly needed for some balance and fleshing out of the collection.

Someone who knows more about the range of possibilities for good books on Judaism and its sacred texts needs to go there and review the collection. Not that you'll get far, of course. When I pointed out to them that their most recent book on Lutherans was over 40 years old despite having one of the largest Lutheran churches in the country right here in Upper Arlington, they made a real effort and bought ONE additional title, a collection of essays published in the 21st century. Wow. They're only nice to us when there's a bond issue, so have your list ready early.

Banned Books week is over for this year, but here's my friendly, insider reminder: objectionable books are banned before they ever get to the shelf--it's called book selection in library-speak. But "deacquisition" of one that slipped through is also a useful technique.

Matching thread for my matchy matchy outfit

The other day I mentioned that I'd bought a 3 piece outfit--slacks, sweater, long sleeve shirt--the shade of infant formula spit up at the Discovery shop for $3.00. At that price, I figured I could wear it to exercise class, washing the car or for swimming in Lake Erie. However, the slacks are a bit too long. So I dug around in my mother's sewing cabinet, through Neno's (my husband's grandmother born in 1887) wooden spools and those from the years when I used to sew. No matches for my matchy matchy bargain. I'll have to check with the neighbors. A new spool of thread would probably cost more than the outfit.

4150 OSU students

That doesn't seem like a very high number--on a campus of 50,000+. The weasel word is "chose." I'm guessing several thousand were either busy working, studying or didn't have the opportunity.

OSU now has a fund to provide $500 for a student who has experienced sexual assault or "intimate partner violence." This is to cover things like broken stuff, cell phone with prepaid minutes, emergency housing, help in breaking a lease, court costs, etc. This supplements other funds and insurance for students in distress. "Any OSU student who has alleged to a university official that they have experienced sexual violence can apply for assistance. A police report is not necessary in order to access the funds." Hmmm. There is a list of people--university staff and officials--who are consulted. If the student didn't report anything to the police, does the official have to? Wonder if the parents get to know too? And if he/she returns to the abusive one, do they get a second request for funds?

The Sexual Wellness Program at the Ohio State Student Wellness Center is devoted to promoting safer sex and healthy relationships. This program is home to The Condom Club, which offers condoms to OSU students at an extremely low cost--50 condoms for $5.00 and also access to free oral dams, latex gloves, finger cots and lubricant. Must be going after the GLBT group. And because 44% of the couples who use condoms do so incorrectly, The Center has volunteers called "sexperts" to help with this problem.

I worked with hundreds of student employees over my career at OSU (and U of I)--it was the small town and rural stock that worked the hardest and had the best values. Asian and Indian students were also outstanding, if you could keep them before a higher tech unit snatched them up. 99% were serious about their education and didn't party on week-ends or sleep around. When they graduated, many started at more than I made, but librarianship has always been at the bottom.

Do you suppose there was this much assault, violence, STDs, and abortions for college men and women back in the bad old days of the 40s and 50s when women had hours, didn't share dorms or apartments with men and the doors were locked at an appointed hour? Sometimes fences are more useful than ambulances.

Mind games of conservatives and liberals

One can't remember the past they came from, the other can't figure out the future they're creating despite all the evidence of what's happened in other countries.

If it's one thing that frustrates me about conservatives and Republicans it's their thinking that we used to inhabit some sort of capitalistic, entrepreneurial, free market paradise. We never did and never will. When I hear my peers who've been sucking on the Medicare teat for years, moaning about socialized medicine I'm just gob smacked.

I received a good K-12 education, a bachelor's and master's degree in tax supported institutions. The U.S. and Illinois government and my local town fathers didn't do that to be kind and benign. They figured I was a good bet and would return the favor with more taxes for them. I had pure water, vaccinations, and safe (modified with vitamins and minerals) food courtesy of the government's public health and agriculture programs. The townspeople in the little towns where I lived taxed themselves for the good of the entire community, even those who couldn't pay. Before I was born my blind grandmother got a "pension" which sometimes fed the family.

Even I know who built our interstates and why--I was around then. I know that the biggest recipient of government welfare over the years is agriculture and that I benefit from those prices every time I go to the store (even though I've paid up front through my taxes). Even I know the federal government has been tinkering with the housing market since the great land rushes of the 19th century. I never had a VA or FHA insured loan, but I certainly knew Republicans who did, and I always had a break on my taxes in the days I still had a mortgage. My dad didn't use the GI Bill, going right back to work when he got out of the Marines in 1945, but millions of men bettered themselves on the government's dollar as a pay back for the risks they took, going from farm boy and mechanic to doctor and lawyer. My husband brought home the bacon many times on pork construction projects funded by the U.S. or a state or a local government. My career was in academe--can't get much more government dependent than that!

Even I know that when you do favors for the government, it repays you in kind. My ancestors, who were pacifists and didn't bear arms, supplied the fledgling American government food stuffs (probably would have been taken from them if they hadn't) during the Revolution and were rewarded with land in Ohio before it was a state. One of my ancestors, Michael Danner, was the King's Commissioner of Highways in the colonies and helped to lay out the famous Monocacy Trail; I'm guessing that led to some pretty good perks and he moved on up when Pennsylvania became a state. The same guys who were given land to build the canal system to open up the Midwest to commerce and transportation got to also destroy it for the benefit of railroads, with state and federal favors and help.

But as naive as conservatives seem to be, that's not as frustrating as the blindness of progressive/socialists and Democrats who don't seem to be able to read history. They don't believe that what happened in Nazi Germany (state controls the business owners and uses the proceeds for war), the Soviet Union (state owns business, labor and agriculture and creates famines and misery) and Red China (state murders its own citizens to achieve its economic goals) can happen here--because they're too smart.

The health care take over (don't call that 2,000 page bill a reform), the energy scam under the guise of saving the planet, the holier than thou diversity and multicultural blather that is really about losing our free speech and creating globalism. The huge fortunes that were amassed in energy, commerce and transportation in the 19th and 20th century built with government help were just Al Gore and George Soros doing business today with the phony CO2 credits and cap and trade. It's just harder to see since there's nothing tanglible. There's no there there. Gore's become a millionaire many times over by just doing what Americans have always done--using the government to build their fortune. That is capitalism, American style, dressed up to save the world.

Really, progressives/marxists/democrats are smart people who have lost all sense of both history and the future. Despite all the gun laws they've put in place, they are willing to put a loaded gun to their head and blow out what's left of their brains. Which wasn't much.

Where is my new van?

Is it asking too much? A 2010 Dodge minivan ? Actually, I'd love to be able to reward Ford for staying in the free market and not becoming part of the state automobile industry run by a car czar. But they don't make minivans anymore, plus, even when they did, the seats were horrid.

I've looked at the Chrysler models online, and usually the web page bumps me back to 2009, which is not a good sign. I haven't see a van on a lot in a year (except for used). I do not want to be squished and smashed into a small car where instead of seeing over the traffic at Ohio cornfields I'm looking at mudflaps and dead deer.

My Dodge 2002 is very comfortable and at 26 mpg on the highway I haven't seen anything out there to match it. I suppose my son can keep it running another 10 years (Jack Maxton) but really I'd rather get a 2010.

Have cash will deal. Call me (do I sound like Gleen Beck?). I can give you a good price on a sweet, lovingly cared for, used van with good tires and mileage driven by a little old lady librarian. But I want my new one first.

Putting on the kid gloves for the jobs report

In today's WSJ there's a real sentimental softy worthy of the 2008 campaign coverage on the stimulus and jobs. Louise Radnofsky opens with this grabber:

"The number of jobs the Obama administration credits to federal stimulus money could be overstated by at least 20,000 of the 640,000 claimed, a Wall Street Journal analysis found.

If 20,000 were the only mistake, I'd probably take it. But there's so much more. Did you think when he touted this "recovery" that the money would go for "Head Start" jobs--a program that's been in place for 40 years, absorbing billions of dollars, and has yet to show any academic improvement for minorities, so they've moved the goals to nutrition and health? But according to Ms. Radnofsky, who apparently didn't dig very deep, it was misunderstanding how to report that caused the misreporting. Maybe the directors were victims of their own programs?

But then, what's the excuse for colleges and universities who misreported jobs created and saved, counting part time and work study students as discreet numbers instead of FTEs? And how about those low-income housing landlords, who've been on the federal dole for decades. Do you really think they'd want to show no jobs? How would they get their next installment? And those confusing forms and no accountability? Who designed that, Louise? Was that Bush's fault too? Or the money that went for raises and bonuses. Yes, I suppose you could say it's a job saved--except where would they have gone?

If it clunks like car loan, or crashes like a $8,000 mortgage credit, or bails like a rich bank lobbyist, let's call it what it is. F-A-I-L-U-R-E.

Thomas Frank on Glenn Beck

You've probably never heard of Thomas Frank. He's a "real" journalist--I think. I read him in the WSJ. He also writes for Huff and Puff and NYT, all their opinion all the time. He's really pissed at Glenn Beck, who has a fatter subscription list than the NYT. It's that red phone shtick-- doesn't set well with him, because it's only for the White House and not for Frank's progressive sources. Why not attack the black boards or blue curtains? So he spouts the White House mantra. Beck is odious, Beck is a panic peddler. Beck is (play scary music here) Fox! Through some mysterious, closed-minded reasoning that infects many liberal writers/journalists/bloggers/entertainers, Frank suddenly gets a revelation that "ideas have consequences," which is exactly what Beck says too, but better, and with higher ratings. So here he is, on that side of the fence where only warm fuzzies for Obama grow, lobbing stones at a guy who actually uses the investigative methods that journalists could be, but aren't. Guys like Frank have to play it safe. If they don't, the White House will come after them like they did Fox.

Ohio approves crime and disaster at the polls

They've really got the Obama Flu. He has so dispirited Americans that they seem to think things will never, never get better, so let's bring out of state gambling interests and plump the state coffers with something besides federal pork. Sad story at Columbus Dispatch

Only the people voting NO made any sense at all in their choices:

"Many voters who cast "yes" ballots noted that thousands of Ohioans gamble in other states without benefiting their home state. The casinos would jump-start economic development in the state's largest cities and retain tax money in Ohio, they said.

"I don't go to casinos, but lots of people go elsewhere to gamble, so they might as well keep the money here," said Regina Lee, 35, of Westerville. "We need the tax dollars and the jobs."

Some who voted against Issue 3 cited the potential for crime and other social problems as well as exaggerated promises of jobs from casino proponents.

John Goettler, 45, an Upper Arlington consultant for nonprofit organizations, said he is opposed to expanded gambling in Ohio. He is worried the casinos could bring more crime and other problems and thinks the pro-casino television ads promising thousands of jobs contained "blatant lies."

"As bad as the economy is ... legalizing casino gambling is not the answer," he said.

Ohio voters had rejected gambling issues four times before, including twice in the past three years. Last year, nearly 63 percent of voters rejected a proposal for a casino in Clinton County."

The casino owners and union bosses got out the vote in our already crime ridden, struggling major cities.

"The measure benefited from a strong appeal by unions and urban politicians to get voters in the four casino cities - Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo - to the polls. The measure carried by large majorities in the Cleveland and Cincinnati areas, won with a smaller majority in Toledo, and lost in Franklin County."

Our neighbor Detroit has 70,000 abandoned buildings. Doesn't it have casinos bring in billions? One of the pushers set to benefit (besides our former Methodist pastor governor) is Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and owner-to-be of two of the casinos. And they said Rush Limbaugh was unfit to own an NFL team?

Not a referendum

That's the talking point direct from the White House, why, Gibbsy didn't even stay up to watch. And the media, every one of them, are repeating it right on cue. They know their lines and their role. Actually, I agree. Two governors and a district in NY are hardly a landslide for Republicans/conservatives. Especially since it's hard to get a piece of dental floss between the parties. But if this were 2006 and Bush were in the WH--Oh my, would they be singing spinning a different story.

Flutrina

Tonight we were watching the evening news coverage of the H1N1 vaccine lines here in Columbus. It looked like a miserable day for parents of young children (who stood in line for hours, and probably didn't get to the polls). "Do you remember your small pox vaccination?" I asked. He didn't. I do. We lined up at school and got it from a nurse. Same for the polio vaccine in 1955. In a town of less than 3,000 that probably had 2 doctors and a few RNs. If they could do it in the 40s and 50s, with Truman and Eisenhower in charge, what in the world is wrong with this bunch of clowns who want to take over, not just shots for a disease that may be blown out of proportion by the media, but health care for the whole nation?

"So here you have it, a dry run for the Obama Administration’s performance on nationalized health care. All vast governmental forces were focused on a single disease rather than the entire gamut of America’s health care problems. There was no greedy, profit–riddled private sector in this fight, only the saintly public option. The program had universal coverage and no pre–existing condition exclusions.

The result? Missed deadlines, rationing, incompetence, blame–shifting, arbitrary decisions, random displays of authority and don’t forget: long lines.

There’s a word for this preview of socialized medicine under Obamacare.

Call it Flutrina."

Story by Michael Shannon at The Absurd Report

How the public option is working in Florida

You've probably read about insurance companies pulling out of Florida, and wondered about that. Well, Florida has a "public option" for property insurance. How's that working? They're waiting for the big one, and other policy owners are paying a surcharge to support the public option. Sound familiar? From the Beacon Blog)

"After Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992 some Floridians were having difficulty purchasing homeowners’ insurance. (The reason: rates are regulated, and at the regulated rates some properties are too great a risk.) So, the state government formed Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, which is owned and operated by the State of Florida.

As originally envisioned, Citizens would charge rates above those charged by private insurers, to make Citizens the insurer of last resort. Nevertheless, Citizens found plenty of customers.

After two bad hurricane seasons in 2004 and 2005 property insurance rates in Florida rose, and in his campaign for the office, current Governor Charlie Crist promised voters that if elected he would see that their property insurance bills “dropped like a rock.”

One tactic he used was to change Citizens’ rate structure so it was competitive with private insurers. His idea, like President Obama’s idea with health insurance, is that with a public option, private insurers would have to keep their rates in line or risk losing customers to the government insurer.

That’s what’s happened in Florida. Today about 30% of homeowners’ policies are written by Citizens, which is the largest property insurer in the state. It’s about to get bigger too. The largest private insurer, State Farm, had a rate request rejected last year, and now is pulling out of the state altogether (for property insurance; they’ll still insure your car). As the largest private insurer pulls out over a three-year period (that period negotiated with the state), Citizens will get an even larger share of Florida’s property insurance.

Everybody in Florida knows Citizens is a fiscal time bomb. Already, every Florida insurance policy (on homes, boats, cars, etc.) pays a surcharge that goes to Citizens, but Citizens still doesn’t have sufficient reserves to weather a major hurricane. When one comes, Florida taxpayers will be on the hook for the bill.

Globe trotting Obama is too busy

"In his first year in office, Barack Obama has visited more foreign countries than any other president. He's touched ground in 16 countries, easily outpacing Bill Clinton (three) and George W. Bush (eleven). It's an itinerary befitting a "citizen of the world."

But there's one stop Obama won't make. He has begged off going to Berlin next week to attend ceremonies commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall. His schedule is reportedly too crowded. John F. Kennedy famously told Berliners, "Ich bin ein Berliner." On the 20th anniversary of the last century's most stirring triumph of freedom, Obama is telling them, "Ich bin beschäftigt" - i.e., I'm busy."

See Rich Lowry at Real Clear Politics

This is a no-brainer for him. It wasn't all about him like the campaign event in Berlin, and 20 years ago was not a good time for Marxists.

Rocco Landesman's suit

Recently I saw a color photo of Rocco Landesman, Obama's appointee to head the National Endowment of the Arts, wearing a shiny, glow in the dark, cream colored suit. It gave me hope for the 3 piece outfit I recently bought at the Cancer Discovery Shop for three dollars which is sort of shiny and the color of baby formula spit up. Apparently "matchy matchy" is out for women, but not for men in government who've come up through the entertainment industry (he was the producer of Angels in America about aids, homosexuals, closets and religion). There's an article about him in today's WSJ by Lee Rosenbaum with easily arranged descriptive sentences.

• veteran Broadway producer
  
• free wheeling
  
• brashly candid
  
• provocative
  
• St. Louis native who demeans Peoria, Illinois
  
• ridicules past NEA efforts
  
• partisan agenda
  
• Obama operative
  
• baited congressional critics
  
• [not] politically savvy
  
• father owned Crystal Palace caberet
  
• abrasive, combative
  
• vendetta against some arts non-profits

I can hardly wait. Sounds like we're in for more crucifixes in urine art.

It's not about health, energy or the environment

All Obama's policies reflect a core liberal mindset that spans policies and endures decades, according to Heritage Blog (and mine too if you've been following it).

And that is, "the willingness to forego jobs and wages for American workers to achieve other goals liberal policymakers deem more worthy. In the case of tax rates, [Laurence] Summers admits growth will be sacrificed at the altar of a soak-the-rich mentality married to the need to fund Obama’s spending surge.

Health care reform has become an excuse to expand the reach of government and levy even higher taxes. The new House health care bill has yet higher rates than Summers was talking about: another blow to jobs and wages.

Cap and trade, a.k.a. pack and move for what it would do to the nation’s manufacturing sector, is an explicit, enormous trade off of lower economic growth for environmental goals. Recognizing the damage this policy would do to the economy, proponents anxiously argue that a few “green jobs” building subsidized windmills can compensate for the millions of real jobs destroyed if this legislation reaches the president." Read the entire piece here.