Big Government

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Big government’s auto industry failures

For years I have criticized the government for its interference in the auto manufacturing business, from the ill-conceived café standards, the expediting of electric cars, the cash for clunkers program, and of course the auto bailout.  And, I have not forgotten CEO’s who became weak-kneed under big government pressure, put aside the free enterprise system and bowed to corporate welfare.

Two recent announcements appear to support my position.  On the heels of a study that labelled the Cash for Clunkers program a failure, comes a report that Cadillac can’t keep up with demand for its gas-guzzling Escalades, news that is sure to shake up environmentalists.

CFC (autodealerpeopple.com)

(Logo courtesy autodealerpeople.com)

A National Bureau of Economic Research working paper has revealed facts that the $3 billion, yes billion, two-month government Cash for Clunkers program subtracted between $2.6 and $4 billion from the auto industry.  The program offered $4,500 if people turned in their old cars for destruction and bought a new car.

You will recall that goals were to lift manufacturers during the recession by subsidizing sales, while mollifying “greenies” by putting more fuel-efficient cars on the road. The report from a group of Texas A&M economists, shows that the subsidy didn‘t really create any extra auto business since those who participated were likely to purchase a car during that period anyway, and any environmental benefits couldn’t be justified. Continue reading →

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Once a liberal, always a liberal

Young people often make the transition from Democrat to Republican as they mature.  Ronald Reagan was once a Democrat.  But in my mind, once a liberal, always a liberal.

Liberals will defend their ideology to the hilt, but they don’t like to be called “liberal,” preferring “progressive.”  In a January 2014 Gallup poll, just 23 percent admitted to be liberal.

During her 2008 presidential run Hillary Clinton said, “I prefer the word ‘progressive’ … I consider myself a proud modern American progressive.”  She claimed that over the years the definition of a liberal “has been turned up on its head and it’s been made to seem as a though it is a word that describes big government.”  Bingo!

I’d like to tell you about two “Davids” – David Brooks and David Brock, both use the word “conservative” loosely.  Very loosely.

Brooks (Josh Haner, NY Times)

New York Times columnist David Brooks is billed as a conservative columnist. (Josh Haner photo/New York Times)

David Brooks is billed as a conservative columnist at the liberal New York Times.  He has admitted being a liberal Democrat when he was young.  The New Republic, a liberal publication, published a piece on Brooks’ meeting with then Senator Barack Obama.  It was called, “The Courtship,” because it led to Brooks’ column, “Run, Barack, Run.”

“I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging, “ Brooks told New Republic writer Gabriel Sherman, “but usually when I talk to senators, while they may know a policy area better than me, they generally don’t know political philosophy better than me.  I got the sense he (Obama) knew both better than me.”

Brooks recalled a vivid memory of that encounter during the interview.  “I was looking at his pant leg and his perfectly creased pant, and I’m thinking, a.) he’s going to be president and b.) he’ll be a very good president.”  Now that’s what I call deep thinking.

Obama certainly considered Brooks a liberal.  When conservative columnist George Will hosted a dinner for Obama at his home during the 2008 campaign, he invited several conservative friends, including Charles Krauthammer, Larry Kudlow, Paul Gigot and David Brooks.  When the president shook hands with Brooks he said, “What are you doing here?”

Continue reading →

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Obama’s dream world

“We have come a long way over the past five and a half years.  Our challenges are nowhere near as daunting as they were when I first came into office.” – President Obama, Aug. 1, 2014

I came up out of my chair when I heard the president say that during his pre-vacation press conference on Friday, but there wasn’t a sound out of the dutiful press corps in the audience.

Really Mr. President?

Obama aug 1 2014 press conf (voanews.com)

President Obama told the press that “challenges are nowhere near as daunting” as when he came into office during his Friday press conference. (voanews.com photo)

Let’s look at the economy.  You said, “The good news is the economy clearly is getting stronger.  Things are getting better.”  And you claim “we’ve recovered faster and come farther from the recession than almost any other advanced country on Earth.”  Wrong.  We are mired in the slowest recovery ever!

What about the four per cent drop in real median household income under your watch, Mr. President?  And how about those 11 million workers who quit looking for work … the 11 million who went on food stamps … the increases in prices (food, gasoline and electricity)?  Growth is sluggish.

No, Mr. President, the economy is not looking up.  The national debt continues to climb and seniors have learned that Social Security will go broke in 2030, seven years sooner than when you took office. Continue reading →

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You can’t make this stuff up

Newly found e-mails reveal Lois Lerner’s hostility toward conservatives

“So we don’t need to worry about alien terrorists.  It’s our own crazies (Republicans) that will take us down, “wrote Lois Lerner to a friend on Nov. 9, 2012.

“And I’m talking about the hosts of these shows.  The callers are rabid,” her friend responded.

Lois Lerner

Newly found e-mails reveal Lois Lerner’s hostility toward conservatives.

“Great.  Maybe we are through if there are that many (A) holes,” wrote Lerner.

“Well, you should hear the whacko wing of the GOP.  The US is through; too many foreigners suck the teat; time to hunker down, buy ammo and food for the end.  The right wing radio shows are scary to listen to,”  her friend continued.

Though seemingly trivial in nature, this e-mail exchange released Wednesday by the House Ways and Means Committee clearly reveals Lerner’s feelings toward conservative groups and singling them out for extra scrutiny.

“Lois Lerner’s exposed emails show the world she was and is a political hack driven by her own partisan agenda rather than a neutral public servant,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.

“This email shows that Ms Lerner’s mistreatment of conservative groups was driven by her personal hostility toward conservatives,” wrote Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder as additional input for a criminal referral.

And let’s not forget this infamous quote on the IRS scandal:

“Not even a smidgeon of corruption,” President Obama, Feb. 2, 2014 Continue reading →

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Voter ID should be slam dunk

Voter ID.  What makes this common sense requirement so controversial?

I’ve written a number of pieces on this subject over the past few years, but a copy of an article of unknown origin, Ever wonder why Republicans want voter ID?, sent to me by a reader spurred me to again address the subject.

The article cites voting irregularities in Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio that any reasonable person should question.  Is it possible that not one person in Wood County, Ohio’s 21 districts voted for Mitt Romney?  And, how is that 106, 258 votes were cast in that county where there were only 98,213 eligible voters?  There were other examples cited as well.

While the Republicans want to attack the fraud in voting, Democrats call it voter suppression. Continue reading →

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Who is Alyssa Mastromonaco?

In my last post, Those amateurs in Washington, I briefly mentioned the name Alyssa Mastromonaco, whose piece in the Washington Post generated the interest of State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki to the extent that she tweeted a friend about it in the middle of the downed airliner crisis.

Mastomonaco (Marie Claire photo)

Alyssa Mastromonaco is the subject of this exploratory piece on how campaign staffers get positions in the administration. (Marie Claire photo)

“Great piece by former colleague Alyssa Mastromonaco who defines smart, savvy and fashionable,” Psaki tweeted, according to blogger Pat Dollard.

Frankly, my curiosity got the best of me.  Over the years I have come to recognize the names of a number of Obama administration staffers, but I had not heard of Mastromonaco.

So, exactly who is Alyssa Mastromonaco, and how did she wind up at a desk just outside the Oval Office? Continue reading →

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It’s amateur time in Washington

If you are as frustrated, or should I say as outraged, as I am with our president’s inability to face up to foreign crises and deal with them swiftly and confidently, you need only look at the amateurs advising him.

Just as the lack of business experience among his advisors on economic policy resulted in one of the slowest recoveries in history, the president has surrounded himself with amateurs as he dithers on foreign policy issues.… read more

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Suing the president has merit

“Their big idea has been to sue me,” mocked President Obama during a recent McLean, VA appearance, “That’s what they’re spending time on – a political stunt that wastes America’s time and taxpayer dollars.”

As expected, most of the media have been pooh poohing House Speaker John Boehner’s lawsuit.  Many of them are the same insiders who ridiculed the case brought against the president over the recess appointments, which to their surprise, was unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court.… read more

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Talk about “Joshing”

What a difference a few days make.

“Well, I am definitely committed and I have a responsibility in this job to try to help the president live up to his commitment, to be the most transparent president in history,” said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest during his Sunday appearance on CNN’s Reliable Sources.… read more