Queen Michelle the First?

Dems are worried

P.S. NY Daily News, "Michelle Obama enjoys Paris privilege barred to millions in France: Sunday shopping"

Previous posts: Musharraf or Michelle, Michelle makes a move

Snark City

UPDATE: Runner's World interview with pix.(the other interview today)***Dripping with snark, another hit piece on Sarah Palin. By Todd S. Purdum. A transplanted Midwesterner.

Quite an opener, how déclassé that people in the Midwest actually eat food. omg. Pork. You'd think these smug MSM beltway insiders would be more sensitive on the subject of bellying up to the trough, given so many of them somehow ended up working for the Obama administration--but you would be wrong.

Peddling this same old swill:

Whatever her political future, the emergence of Sarah Palin raises questions that will not soon go away. What does it say about the nature of modern American politics that a public official who often seems proud of what she does not know is not only accepted but applauded? What does her prominence say about the importance of having (or lacking) a record of achievement in public life?

Look, you simpering media types just pushed someone for president whose biggest achievement was writing 2 books about himself. (And it's working out so well now) Proud of what she does not know? How can anyone know that? All this recycled and prissy poison--Anna Nicole Smith?!-- emanating this time from Vanity Fair, illustrates what vicious little know-it-all windbags these guys really are. (Note the article on their homepage on how those genius Harvard financiers lost billions.)

If she's such a total rube no-hoper, why are they spending so much time on her? Perhaps we can cast our minds back to that oh so complimentary Newsweek article in 2007--before Gov. Sarah Palin became a threat.

P.S. Palin Says She Can Outrun Obama in Race

More: Jim Geraghty, NRO on Purdum's piece. Tom Bevan, RCP. And Bill Kristol.

Cap and Tax Flunks the Math

Rich Karlgaard, Forbes. And Carol Platt Liebau, how politicians bankrupted California.

The Obama Mask Slips

Had enough of The One yet America? Maybe a real glimmer of hope for us--per Rasmussen, Obama's approval sinks into negative territory.

Our President Barack Obama personal trainer, excedrin headache, everything and everywhere, duplicity personified, dealing with large matters in a small way, invoking our beloved Abraham Lincoln for a naked partisan power grab--a monstrous intrusion of liberty, an America-destroyer.

The Obama master plan in action.

Host or Hostage

The Tribune predictably calls it a class clash--I call it a culture clash. You be the judge:

Low-income apartment dwellers and middle-class condo owners have shared Westhaven Park Tower since the building opened in 2006 -- an innovative setup that the city hoped would unite residents and exemplify Chicago's $1.6 billion overhaul of public housing.

Proximity, however, has not led to harmony.

The most recent skirmish inside the 113-unit midrise on Hermitage Avenue on the West Side concerned building security. Another flare-up centered on the proper use of the lobby: Public housing residents -- who make up a third of the building -- saw it as a place to hang out; condo owners did not.

Apparently there are some problematic "guests".

Perhaps this article may provide unexpected insight, referencing a book, "Host or Hostage--A Guide to Surviving House Guests".

CYR Flock to Schock

CBS2 Chicago covers Republican rising star Rep. Aaron Schock's appearance in Chicago. They've got the video interview up from last night, including the infamous TMZ pix.

Obama Foreign Fan Club II

Ramirez. Barack Obama, The ONE, preens with selective moral indignation, giving Ahmadinejad a pass for days and days as women were shot in the street, wastes no time in defending a dictator in-the-making in Honduras. Mary Anastasia O'Grady:

Besides opposition from the Congress, the Supreme Court, the electoral tribunal and the attorney general, the president had also become persona non grata with the Catholic Church and numerous evangelical church leaders. On Thursday evening his own party in Congress sponsored a resolution to investigate whether he is mentally unfit to remain in office.

More at Powerline. For ongoing, timely and insightful coverage, my friend Fausta.

The Obama foreign fan club ascendant. And he gives the evil eye to our loyal allies, you know, the ones who don't think it's smart to spend money they don't have, or actually fight narco-terrorists.

The Stoning of Soraya M

In Chicago. Trailer here.

A Bleepin' Warning from the Left Coast

Until that bill took effect, California's unemployment numbers tracked very closely with the national unemployment rate. But then, in January of 2007, California's unemployment rate began a steady upward divergence from the national jobless figures. Today, California's unemployment rate is more than two points above the national rate, and at its highest point since 1941.

What is it that happened in January 2007? AB 32 took effect and began shutting down entire segments of California's economy. Let me give you one example from my district.

The city of Truckee, Calif., was about to sign a long-term power contract to get its electricity from a new, EPA-approved coal-fired electricity plant in Utah. AB 32 and companion legislation caused them to abandon that contract. The replacement power they acquired literally doubled their electricity costs.

So when economists warn that we can expect electricity prices to double under the cap and trade bill, I can tell you from bitter experience that in my district, that's not a future prediction, that is a historical fact.

...Pants on Fire

Libertarians at Cato and Reason kicking the President's butt on healthcare. Video:
Reason: "How the "Public Option" of Health Insurance Went From Inevitable to Imperiled. Some straight talk from a straight-laced federal agency puts government-run insurance on the brink". Latest on what the Dems are considering here. And from Heritage here.

Vampire Legislators

This is what really sticks in my craw about Kirk--he could have been a statesman and voted no just on these grounds alone--the way the cap and tax bill was managed by Nancy Pelosi was profoundly undemocratic, but no, he left that video up on his website, for days, that he read the bill. TAS:

Indeed, House leadership crafted much of the ACES Act in secret behind closed doors. In the week before the final vote, it grew by a whopping 600 pages. Even that figure doesn't stress the urgent, secretive nature of the process. At 3:09 Friday morning, Waxman et al. introduced a 309-page "manager's amendment" to the legislation that was set for a vote later in the day.

Representatives would have had all of nine hours to study the text, assuming they went without sleep. The manager's amendment made even that impossible, because you had roughly 1,200 pages of text -- containing, at last count, 397 new government regulations and 1,090 new economic mandates -- followed by over 300 pages of text with no index that amended the previous legislation on paragraph by paragraph basis.

It would take a team of lawyers several days to sort out a mess like that.

It was only by Boehner reading through some of the 3 AM measures added to the bill, despite the strong objections of Henry Waxman, that we learned about some of the most onerous ones. What a bunch of blood-suckers. Vampire legislators.

P.S. Energy czarina Carol Browner hasn't read the bill--and whines when she's asked about it. Via NRO, video.

Gotta Love Ozzie

Ozzie Guillen: 'Our fans are not stupid like Cubs fans'

Cap & Tax Protest: Kirk's Office

Some of us folks gathered for an impromptu protest of Rep. Mark Kirk's vote on cap and tax. We took turns to head up to his office suite in Northbrook, which was initially locked but later opened up with his chief of staff Eric listening to what his constituents had to say. There was a realtor from Winnetka who was very concerned about the impact of the bill on home sales, especially those of older homes, which would suffer in value from this bill's provisions. There was a homeowner there with his two small children who was concerned about taxes and all the intrusive power given to the Energy Sec. and the EPA. There was a retired military officer who had voted for Kirk in the past, but no more, and is now involved with a group in McHenry County, Patriots United, concerned about big government. They meet once a month and have had as many as 150 people come to their meetings. Their next discussion is July 24th on healthcare. There was more than one senior citizen worried about living on a fixed income, higher taxes, and the debt we're passing on to their children and grandchildren. Some people I recognized from the Tea Parties in Chicago, including the Lake County organizer, and later there were some New Trier Republicans--dedicated volunteers who will no longer support Mark Kirk. John Ruberry, Marathon Pundit came by as well. Check his site for more.[Post is up.]

Look, Kirk voted against the budget, the bailouts, and is developing a healthcare alternative, but he blew his career with this vote--a massive tax increase and big government at its worst--all enacted at the last minute before anyone could possibly have read the bill--once again!!!

We initial protesters gathered along Skokie Blvd., more people drove up, others honked their horns as they went by. Fed up. Enough.UPDATE: More great links, pix and commentary at Conservative Brand. And Eric Odom here. IBD: See how #capandtrade will affect the districts of the 8 Republicans who voted for it.P.S. Linky love by Midnight Blue, my friend from the GOP convention., who had herown demonstration the other day, in solidarity with Iran.

Obama to Middle Class: Drop Dead

You thought The One was going to cut your taxes? The Chicago Way politically expedient BIG FAT liars in the White House drop another big one: Axelrod: Obama Won't Rule Out Middle-Class Tax Hike

This after spending millions of your campaign donations to totally misrepresent and trash John McCain's position.

Would you like your money back? Death and Taxes.

P.S.

Just 26% of Massachusetts voters rate that state’s health care reform a success while 37% say it’s been a failure. Only 10% say it’s improved the quality of health care.

Wonkette goes after Trig again

Legal Insurrection.

Because mothers and babies who don't behave as the liberal elites command are subhuman. Isn't that how slaves used to be viewed? At least elites at the time didn't suggest killing them outright.

Oh, excuse me, Wonkette and their ilk don't suggest killing the adults--just the innocent baby.

But they do treat any adult who disagrees with them as subhuman.

P.S. Chris Muir.

Supremes Reverse Sotomayor

A color-blind decision. Justice prevails over discrimination. Ruling here.

Previous posts: Shut Up Jesse, As time goes by, The Diverse Universe

TeaTime on Cap & Tax

At Kirk's office today (see you there):

Monday - June 29 - 12 Noon
707 Skokie Boulevard
Suite 350
Northbrook, IL 60062

Melissa Bean's:

Tuesday - June 30 - 12 Noon
Melissa Bean
1701 E. Woodfield Road
Suite 200
Schaumburg, IL 60173

HT Marathon Pundit.

I know he's a moderate but I've always supported Kirk on national security and keeping taxes and spending in line. This is a radical bill which wreaks havoc on our energy independence, our economy, and will bring staggering costs to bear on every American family.

More: John Hinderaker, Powerline, Obama's EPA Quashes Climate Change Science. Faith-based ecology.

UPDATE: Team America's 10th District Blog covers Kirk's explanation. I didn't get his email either, though I don't always get one, I had to read his explanation on Dem Ellen of 10th's blog. A few points: Despite Kirk's contention, no way in hell does this bill "diversify" our energy production--it kills coal (which provides 85% of Illinois' power), clean or otherwise, strangles drilling, and kicks nuclear to the back burner--the only longterm sustainable alternative energy source to carbon. As for air pollution, this bill will not only export our jobs overseas, it will export pollution as well--how irresponsible is that if you are really concerned about the planet. And fiscally--these taxes are ruinous and will amount to thousands for every American, while funding fraudulent carbon trading schemes and encouraging a new green housing bubble and BUST that will knock us further back--are you trying to turn us into a THIRD WORLD COUNTRY Rep. KIRK?!!!

Do Americans want to embrace a UNABOMBER lifestyle?!!! Of course the Hollywood and really rich elites will weather this no problem, but the rest of us will pay through the nose to swelter in our nanny-nazi patrolled homes and endure electricity rationing--FOR NO GOOD REASON--look at the Science!!! You are way behind the curve, Rep. Kirk--and if you're so independent--how about demanding an explanation of the EPA suppression of their own scientists' study which didn't support the fore-ordained carbon-menace conclusion? Even if you believed in man-caused global warming this bankrupting bill will cause untold real damage NOW for barely budging the thermometer decades down the road. This is INSANE--especially at a time when we have double-digit unemployment and you yourself have been bleating about the dangerous amount of debt we are piling up to the point that the Chinese may be unwilling to finance it--and we could enter a period of hyperinflation.

So don't DARE call yourself a fiscal conservative any more. Don't DARE. IT IS LAUGHABLE. You have NO CREDIBILITY any more. ZERO.

P.S. A little history lesson (Gee--did the Vikings emit enough carbon to warm the entire bleepin' Earth?):
P.S. Silva quotes bogus CBO numbers, but for once puts in some of the other side of the debate (am I making him a better reporter?:):

That campaign will be made all the more difficult in the face of the "cap and tax'' argument, and the argument of Republicans such as Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa that the only signs manufacturers will be hanging on their doors about jobs will be the ones that read: "Gone to China.''

Previous posts: The Cap and Tax JOKE is On Us, Kirk Protests, Mark, you're in trouble, Tough Sledding for these guys, Substitute Bill Offered, Will it Save the Earth?, Pin the tail on the bill, Call Kirk, Bean, Wrong Bill at the Wrong Time, Look at the Science, Pence on Cap and Tax, A Man-cession, Cap and Tax Disaster

Where are the jobs?

Getting this up before the Sox-Cubs game. GOP leader Rep. John Boehner of Ohio in the Weekly Address. Video:P.S. In other news, CanadaCare sends critically ill baby to the U.S. for treatment.

The Cap and Tax JOKE is On Us

Congress crams this monster bill down our throats on a summer Friday night, when most of us are gathering with friends or family, looking forward to heading to the beach or a baseball game this weekend. The CBO knuckles under to their Congressional overlords, giving us phony-baloney numbers. Dem leaders are actually horsetrading on the House floor, changing the bill while final debate is going on, paying off this interest group and that to buy votes--but let the real buyer beware--it's us, the taxpayer left holding the bag. Liz Peek, in a FoxNews opinion piece:

If the Waxman bill is so controversial, why have we not heard much about it? You can thank the Congressional Budget Office for that. Unlike their riveting assessment that proposed healthcare legislation would increase the federal deficit by $1.0 trillion between 2010 and 2019 and still leave 37 million uninsured, the CBO's figures for the impact of the Waxman bill are relatively benign. They estimate that the legislation will cost the average American family only $175 per year -- not an unreasonable price to pay for cleaner air, you might say.

However, this assessment only covers the implementation of the cap-and-trade aspect of the bill, and not the costs of federal spending for new technologies or the cost of meeting mandates on energy efficiency. It also does not take into account the possibility of tariffs levied on high-carbon imports. In other words, it does not reflect the fact that your new toaster may have to use less energy, and the accomplishment of that goal may end of costing you more.

Also, the CBO analysis relies on one extremely questionable assumption -- that the revenues collected from the sale of allowances, or emissions permits, are recycled back to consumers. That is, the cost to consumers is significantly higher than $175 per household; that figure is reduced by presumed "rebates" aimed at offsetting the higher costs that industry will presumably pass onto consumers.

How much is that increased cost? Congressman Markey (D-Mass.) says in a press release that the government will raise $846 billion over the next decade in revenues. These funds, according to Markey, will be dedicated to "assist consumers with the transition to a clean energy economy at least 50% will go back to consumers."

A sober assessment of the government's budget situation over the next decade would lead some to think that there is about as much chance of cap-and-trade revenues being recycled back to taxpayers as there is of Nancy Pelosi taking command of the CIA. The government is looking high and low for revenues to fund healthcare legislation and a slew of other programs; this torrent will be just too delicious to give up.

All this to reduce the temperature over a hundred years by a barely discernible amount, if that--the recent warming cycle has cooled the last several years, so it could be sunspots, or natural cloud changes, not man that influence the planet. (And there's the EPA's own suppressed report.) Perhaps the eco-zealots will try to harness the sun next. What are TRILLIONS in the quest for eco-perfection?These people are NUTS! And our Congressman Mark Kirk is one of them. The leader of all this in Congress is Democrat Henry Waxman, who represents Beverly Hills, the pampered elites who would wilt without their creature comforts--and that's all you need to know.

The joke is on us.

We'll pay for this over and over again in lost jobs (pedi-cabs?!, even as China and India take over our jobs) higher taxes, horrendous utility bills, nanny state nazis invading our homes, and subsidies for massive fraud, while starving us of the energy we need, unless we THROW THESE TOTAL FOOLS OUT!

P.S. And call your Senators to kill this thing. We have two bleepin golden ones in Illinois and a wannabe in Kirk. (FAIL)

P.P.S. Everyone wants cleaner green energy if possible, but wind and solar are not efficient enough to do the job--even if we had enough of it, nor is conservation, and it will take years to bring clean, green nuclear online even if we started now, which I don't see happening. We need to drill here, drill now--way offshore, before the Chinese siphon it off via Cuba, do the belly-button incision drill in ANWR's swamp, COME ON! And at least Gov. Sarah Palin is building a pipeline from Alaska to the lower 48, after it had been stalled for 30 YEARS, so that clean natural gas isn't wasted up there and can help ensure our energy security.

Wild Iris in Eire

Tiny hard-won fields along the rocky West coast.

Conyers & Conyers

Dem House Judiciary Chairman Rep. John Conyers of Michigan shuts down possibility of ACORN investigation.

Wife and Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers pleaded guilty to a bribery charge in federal court.

Our Shameless President

He repeated the close Gitmo bravado in his Cairo speech, slandering the US before the world. That was then. Andrew Malcom:
Obama prepares to hold Gitmo guys indefinitely, just as Bush did

Common sense, yes. A bow to political reality, yes. Even Harry Reid thinks it's a bad idea to house terrorist butchers in American communities.

But where is the apology for the demonizing and demagoguery on this issue?

Once again, Barack Obama is a Big, Fat, Liar.

Chris Muir today.And what about the rest of the press, is the honeymoon over? For some anyway.

Kirk Protests

Kirk's townhall meeting in Wilmette was LAST Sat. the 13th, not this one. There is a protest being planned downtown Chicago per Illinois Review today at 1 pm.

More: He's holding a 10th district job fair on Monday.

P.S. Death by Obamanomics. Irwin Stelzer, TWS:

Industry sources fear that with coal and nuclear more or less off the table, at least for now, we will end up rationing electricity.

More reaction from the local blogosphere in Kirk's district. Conservative Brand.

Barack Obama is a Big Fat Liar

A certain moral venality of The One.

Anything for power. Little shit. Not a surprise. Not at all.

P.S. Rich Lowry, On Health Care, Obama's Dirty Secret.

Oh, and yeah:

How About Union Workers Don't Pay Taxes on Health Care Benefits, but the Rest of Us Do?

Related posts: Just Saying, Barack Eclipses Bill Again

Mark, you're in trouble

It's not just me. The Republican resurgence is fierce anti-tax. Major fail on your part. National security won't save you this time, because this bill undermines that too.

IBDeditorialsUnbelievable video: Republican Mark Kirk laughs at unread pages of Waxman-Markey...then votes FOR it. http://bit.ly/MGH0v

ericjodomTime to take @markkirk out of office8 minutes ago from TweetDeck

(You are making libertarians mad too.)

This was a radical bill--nothing moderate about it.

Tough Sledding for these guys

GOP turncoats: Bono Mack; Castle Kirk Lance LoBiondo McHugh Reichert Smith(NJ)

If we're lucky the Senate will kill it. But no political cover there for these Reps. who failed a critical vote on taxes and the American economy.

If they try to call themselves fiscal conservatives--laugh in their face. 44 Dems voted against this bill, but not these Republicans.

More:

In the hours before passage, Rep. Geoff Davis, a Republican from Kentucky, said the cap-and-trade bill represented the “economic colonization of the heartland” by New York and California. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) called the bill a “scam” that would do nothing but satisfy “the twisted desires of radical environmentalists.” Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) called it a “massive transfer of wealth” from the United States to foreign countries.

More. AFP Statement:

Americans for Prosperity Tim Phillips issued the following the statement following House passage (219 to 212) of H.R. 2454, the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade tax:

While cap-and-trade passed the House, it's a testament to the power of free market activists that it was a difficult, down-to-the-wire, tough fight. This bill, Speaker Pelosi's top priority, was supposed to sail through. Instead it crawled through and barely made it past the finish line in the House—and it took all the efforts of the White House to do it when the bill stalled a couple of days ago.

The bipartisan opposition to this bill shows just how broadly it will negatively impact the country. While some members’ votes were won with backroom deals and special interest carve outs it is instructive to see that some commonsense Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with most Republicans, and they deserve our thanks. On the other hand, we are committed to holding the members of Congress who sided with Al Gore, Nancy Pelosi instead off hard-working taxpayers accountable.

Cap-and-trade is a massive new tax on American families and American businesses. It's especially crazy to pass such a huge new tax burden at a time when many families already face economic hardship.

Fortunately, we have always believed the place to kill this bill is the U.S. Senate. We will do everything we can to educate the public about the danger that this legislation poses for their family budgets and their economic freedom to help the voices of millions of grassroots activists be heard on this issue.

If the American people understand what this bill does, it will die in the Senate.

More:

jaketapperRT @marcambinder I'm no magical thinker, but it began to hail in DC the moment the #ACES vote was over. Oh. Climate. What are you saying?

P.S. You GOPster turncoats lose libertarians too on this one. Bigtime cool on you, the base and clued-in youth. Let's call it what it is-- a really STUPID bill.

More: Interesting, Bill Foster (Il-14th) was one of the Dems who voted no. We should get his seat anyway. Go after Melissa Bean too. Ah yes, and Dem Debbie Halvorson too--you are toast.

Your epitaph, Barack (from one of your fickle supporters):

A new energy program that will cost however many hundreds of billions in however many years? Running General Motors, and discussing where its plants should be, and what the interiors of the cars should look like, and shouldn't the little cup holder be bigger to account for Starbucks-sized coffee? Wait, what if it's a venti latte? One imagines the conversation in the car czar's office: "You know, I've always wanted to see a mauve car because mauve is my favorite color, I mean to the extent it's a color."

There is a persistent sense of extraneous effort, of ambitions too big and yet too small, too off point, too base-pleading, too ideological, too unaware of the imperatives. And there is the depressing psychological effect of seeing government grow so much, so big, so fast. This encourages a sense that things are out of control and cannot be made better.

Venti latte Dems when America could make do with a good cup of coffee--which we can brew ourselves.

Substitute Bill Offered

UPDATES below--Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio is going through the 3 am last minute changes the Dems made. An astonishing federal power grab.***Republican Aaron Schock on the floor. Peoria unemployment is double digits. Energy bills will go up under cap and tax. In favor of Forbes bill substitute.

More: Other Virginia moderates support. Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota also in support.

More:

tjbrownCap and trade is a tax on energy. It taxes production and consumption. You tax what you don't want. A yes vote means you want neither

It's the Dem Unabomber lifestyle. We can eat Al's book for breakfast.

P.S. But I would be happy if the EPA would move into Kaczynski's shack.

P.P.S. Why do we have to pay so much to be poor? Maybe this chart has something to do with it.

More: Boehner's going through the 3 am 300 pages the Dems dropped this morning---every house has to have an energy rating!!! Before you sell your house you have to bring it up to snuff?!! Overriding all local building codes? Building code nazis mandated for each community from the feds--that we will have to pay for whether we like it or not....

oh, and the bill recognizes "precipitous unemployment" and shipping jobs overseas, and killing small businesses, so we'll have to have subsidies for that...

micromanaging electric outlets...

existing structures get energy audits...? OK, so my 90 year old house is going to be under scrutiny--maybe I should trash my leaded-glass windows for Barack Obama...

(my God, can you imagine this? you thought your local zoning board was tough enough to deal with)

oh, wow, a new FAnnie-Freddie mortgage bubble for green buildings--great, just what we need, a double-dip depression...

(what will this bill regulate next?) (Just put us in the chairman Mao uniforms now.)

...OK, ACORN is getting grants too--community organizing makes the bill...

Boehner points out we've spent all this year's income by April 16th--everything we spend from here on out is borrowed from our children and grandchildren...

all real estate appraisers have to be retrained, re-licensed...

green banking centers...

WHAT!!! The full faith and credit of the US is going to guarantee principal and interest for God knows what...

carbon derivative credits to be traded under some new rules by the CFTC...

now we get into trade matters, trying to regulate the rest of the world...

(China and India won't play--and we could start a trade war)...

Boehner--Americans think their Congress is out of touch--creating a giant bureaucracy, rather than trusting the American people and giving them incentives, and freedom to live their lives. Allow freedom to flourish!

Will it save the Earth?

Heritage talks to Americans on cap and trade. Watch:

Pin the tail on the bill

Where are the last 300 some pages of the cap and tax bill supposedly agreed on by the Dems Rules Committee in the dark of night? Apparently there are no copies available on the floor. Madame Speaker is stumped. Rep. Joe Barton, R-TX asks if the bill is passed without an official copy available can the Senate approve it?

Is this the Obama Dems promised transparency? Pin the tail on the damn Dem donkey.

You pass this mess you own it. And any Republicans who go along with it. A $2 TRILLION tax increase on the American family, and millions of jobs lost.

Death and Taxes

What if government ran healthcare? Reason TV:

Call Kirk, Bean

Mark Kirk is still leaning yes. His DC number is jammed. call 847-940-0202.

Melissa Bean IL-08 call her local office: 847-517-2927 and tell her to vote NO on #capandtrade #capandtax #tcot #iltcot

This is going around: Dear Congress, You cap us, we trade you.

Heritage on the costs:

It is clear that cap-and-trade is very expensive and amounts to nothing more than an energy tax in disguise. After all, when you sweep aside all the complexities of how cap and trade operates--and make no mistake, this is the most convoluted attempt at economic central planning this nation has ever attempted--the bottom line is that cap and trade works by raising the cost of energy high enough so that individuals and businesses are forced to use less of it. Inflicting economic pain is what this is all about. That is how the ever-tightening emissions targets will be met.

The only entities directly regulated by Waxman-Markey would be the electric utilities, oil refiners, natural gas producers, and some manufacturers that produce energy on site. So, the good news for the rest of us--homeowners, car owners, small-business owners, farmers--is that we won't be directly regulated under this bill. The bad news is that nearly all the costs will get passed on to us anyway.

What are those costs? According to the analysis we conducted at The Heritage Foundation, which is attached to my written statement, the higher energy costs kick in as soon as the bill's provisions take effect in 2012. For a household of four, energy costs go up $436 that year, and they eventually reach $1,241 in 2035 and average $829 annually over that span. Electricity costs go up 90 percent by 2035, gasoline by 58 percent, and natural gas by 55 percent by 2035. The cumulative higher energy costs for a family of four by then will be nearly $20,000.

But direct energy costs are only part of the consumer impact. Nearly everything goes up, since higher energy costs raise production costs. If you look at the total cost of Waxman-Markey, it works out to an average of $2,979 annually from 2012-2035 for a household of four. By 2035 alone, the total cost is over $4,600.

Beyond the cost impact on individuals and households, Waxman-Markey also affects employment, and especially employment in the manufacturing sector. We estimate job losses averaging 1,145,000 at any given time from 2012-2035. And note that those are net job losses, after the much-hyped green jobs are taken into account. Some of the lost jobs will be destroyed entirely, while others will be outsourced to nations like China and India that have repeatedly stated that they'll never hamper their own economic growth with energy-cost boosting global warming measures like Waxman-Markey.

Since farming is energy intensive, that sector will be particularly hard-hit. Higher gasoline and diesel fuel costs, higher electricity costs, and higher natural gas-derived fertilizer costs all erode farm profits, which are expected to drop by 28 percent in 2012 and average 57 percent lower through 2035. As with American manufacturers, Waxman-Markey also puts American farmers at a global disadvantage, as other food-exporting nations would have no comparable energy-price raising measures in place.

Overall, Waxman-Markey reduces gross domestic product by an average of $393 billion annually between 2012 and 2035, and cumulatively by $9.4 trillion. In other words, the nation will be $9.4 trillion poorer with Waxman-Markey than without it.

It should also be noted that the costs are not distributed evenly. Low-income households spend a disproportionate share of their incomes on energy, and thus would be hit harder than average by Waxman-Markey. Of course, the bill has provisions to give back some revenues to low-income households, but it is likely that these rebates will amount only to some portion of each dollar that was taken away from them in the first place in the form of higher energy costs and higher costs for other goods and services. Waxman-Markey also disproportionately burdens those states, especially in the Midwest and South, that still have a substantial number of manufacturing jobs to lose, as well as those that rely more heavily than others on coal for electric generation.

More:

The Waxman-Markey bill could saddle drivers with dramatically higher fuel costs. An analysis of the Congressional Budget Office’s report says it could add as much as 77 cents to the price of a gallon of gasoline over the next decade. And according to a Heritage Foundation study, the legislation could cause gasoline prices to jump 74 percent by 2035.

U.S. jobs will be lost and contrary to the bill’s intentions, America will be less energy secure and more reliant on imports. A recent study by CRA International for the National Black Chamber of Commerce estimated a net loss of over 2 million jobs a year. Waxman-Markey will also create huge disincentives for the production of America’s abundant natural gas resources, forcing jobs and productive capacity overseas.

Democrats have limited debate on this huge tax bill to only 3 hours and only one amendment out of 224 offered.UPDATE: Placeholder in the bill---horsetrading on the House floor--unprecedented abuse of the process. Hard to watch these dumbass Dems on the floor blathering about our addiction to foreign oil--what are they doing about it? Are we drilling? No, they want us to go back to the Unabomber lifestyle.

MORE:

Peoria Journal Star, Editorial: “Risky cap-and-trade measure... there are problems with this CBO report, from its caveats to its focusing solely on the year 2020. Most of the heavy lifting comes after that. The Heritage Foundation did a more complete study and came up with a net loss for the average household 10 times the CBO's prediction in the short term. That's much closer to Great Britain's experience with carbon caps… the Midwest, with 85 percent of its electricity coming from coal, gets whacked… we can't support rushing an effort this major that flies so blind.” (6/25/09)

(emphasis mine.)UPDATE: Pin the tail on the bill. More: Steve Huntley, Sun Times:

Another issue is energy. Some of us think the emphasis should be more on energy security than green goals. Yes, we all want a cleaner planet, but our national security and economic future require the exploitation of abundant fossil fuels such as domestic coal and offshore oil as well as expansion of nuclear energy while we develop solar, wind and geothermal for the long term.

Beat It!!!

Opposition leader Mousavi not giving up! And Iranian Freedom Fighters adopt Michael Jackson's Beat It for theme song. Via Gateway Pundit. Music Video: More: Top Iranian cleric calls for execution of some protesters. Brave men, brave women not shutting up.

Wrong Bill at the Wrong Time

Republican Whip Eric Cantor, Virginia on the ruinous cap and tax bill: Speaker Pelosi's National Energy Tax, A Bureaucratic Nightmare. (look at the chart!) Video:
More:

CEI releases the full global warming report that was suppressed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Climate change legislation in the House could lead to a trade war with China.

More: Blunt from Missouri on the floor, says utility bills projected to go up 40% in the next 5 years, 80% in the next 10.

Look at the Science

A must read as the House is poised to vote on a massive tax and job-killing cap and trade bill that will murder our economy. Kim Strassel, WSJ on the growing number of distinguished scientists who are global warming skeptics.

For those in thrall to elite Euro opinion, even an early alarmist, French geochemist Claude Allegre, is changing his tune. Even with the French relying on clean, green nuclear power for 80% of their energy generation he is still not willing to ensure the demise of the French economy. What's the Dems' excuse for voting for cap and tax--we get half our power from coal, especially in the Midwest.

This bill will make the heartland a rusted ruin. For no good reason.

The Big Government Disease

Have government controls and Medicaid expansions ("the public option") lowered costs? Here is what the American Health Insurance Plans found. For family coverage annual premiums in 2006-07, the national median cost was roughly $5,300; in California it was $5,884, in New Jersey $10,398, and in New York $12,254. New York's coverage mandates cause families to pay more than twice what they do in other states for insurance.

As a result, California and New York have more than one-third of their residents uninsured or in Medicaid -- much higher than the national average of 25%. More government involvement in health care in California, New Jersey and New York has raised costs and often reduced private coverage. That's hardly a model for the nation.

Big Julie

So perennial tax-hiker heinous Hamos is posing as a reformer in a planned run for Illinois attorney general. But how can we forget how she and shifty Jeff Schoenberg, in cahoots with Tony Rezko and Gov. Blago, sneaked through legislation targeting her own district, holding hearings everywhere but here.

And then with a mean little smile when we met in her office she pretty much threatened to brand me a raaaacist because I thought using pricey north shore real estate to develop "affordable" housing was a power grab from local control, a poor use of public resources and an invitation to corruption on our dime.

So where are we now? Rezko's in jail, Blago's trial starts next June, and Hamos wants to be our chief law enforcement officer? Oh, and yeah, our real estate is so affordable who can afford it.

It's Big Julie, guys and dolls.

Sarychev Peak Volcano in Stereo

Astronomy picture of the day.

Pence on Cap and Tax

Taking on the president post-speech, Mike Pence (R-Indiana) on MSNBC. Video:P>S. A reminder of what a job-killer bill this is. Heritage.

And NRO:

The bill represents a terrible deal for American taxpayers. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, ACES is projected to impose costs averaging about $1,100 each year on every American household by 2050. What do we get in return? Even if the law works precisely as intended — not very likely — the grand result will be that, a century from now, we should expect surface temperatures to be a about one-tenth of one degree Celsius lower than they otherwise would be. Of course global warming will impose costs, but the expected costs of ACES are at least ten times the program’s expected benefits, even using the EPA’s cost estimates and assuming the full achievement of its goals.

Our green friends concede that ACES may be a terrible deal by itself, but insist that the United States should lead the world by example — and thereby achieve wider benefits. These hopes are vaporous: The strategy of unilaterally giving away our best negotiating leverage (reducing our emissions only if other nations reduce theirs) in the hope that those nice men who rule China will be shamed into sacrificing their own economic interest — if only we jump off the cliff first — is naïve. More fundamental, the global deal that we would theoretically be chasing isn’t all that attractive, even if we assume every climate-change prediction by the UN IPCC to be correct.

Oh, and it won't work.

Dems on Parade!!!

How cool are these local Dems! Marching with a cardboard Obama. Clearly still feeling the magic in The One's home state. HT Team America's 10th District Blog:

Team America Gets Inside Local Dems' Heads: "Don't You Just Hate it When Repubs Ridicule Us?"

Kirk to the Luau

Via Twitter. Heading to the White House.

P.S. Rahmbo in the dunk tank?

Among the attractions that first lady Michelle Obama has planned for the 2,000 guests expected at this evening's Hawaiian-themed congressional picnic on the White House lawn: a "dunk tank" that will allow contestants to take a shot at plunging various members of President Obama's staff into the drink -- including White House spokesman Robert Gibbs and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

A Man-cession

UPDATE below--underpants gnomes strike again.***Men have lost more jobs in this recession, but the stimulus package was skewed toward women as the Obama administration buckled to feminist pressure. Christina Hoff Sommers. Now another lunchbucket industry (key to Illinois) is under assault. Investor's Business Daily: How cap and trade affect coal miners and the coal industry.

P.S. The fallacy of green jobs. George Will.

Economic suicide.

This bill will cost the country $$$2 TRILLION over the next few years. 40 states will lose big. This bill will DESTROY LIVES. Coal provides HALF our power--how can we replace that without huge expense? Alternatives are only on the distant horizon if ever. Tell your congressman to vote no tomorrow! VOTE NO! Mark Kirk, Tim Johnson.

P.P.S. Pelosi will personally profit from cap and tax bill. Plus sneaky stuff going on last minute. Where's the supposed hope and change TRANSPARENCY?!!!

A sad story

I didn't know Jenny Sanford grew up in Winnetka.

My sympathies with her and her children. As for Gov. Sanford, at least he didn't betray her for a cheap thrill, as evidenced by his love letters.

The question is whether he can win her back.

He should, though, resign as governor, because his absence betrayed the public trust.

Let them take painkillers

UPDATE: In case you missed it, (as ABC refused to run it) RNC ad on healthcare below.*** Geezer alert:

It gives new meaning to the Latin phrase "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." (In English, How sweet and glorious it is to die for one's country.)

Now we know the Dems' definition of patriotism. But it's still something for other people.

P.S. Hugh Hewitt on the Obama snake oil.

Video:

Budget Facts vs. Myths

Illinois Policy Institute dissects the Springfield debate. Here's one:

Myth: A tax hike will solve today's budget crunch without long-term repercussions.
Fact: The personal income tax hike would limit Illinois's future economic growth.

Tax policy economist Scott Moody calculates Gov. Quinn's personal income tax hike would cost the Illinois economy $8.6 billion in lost output over the long term. To put this massive sum into perspective, the hidden cost of the personal income tax hike is the economic equivalent of taking all the 2008 tax revenue from the sales tax, cigarette tax, liquor tax, inheritance tax, corporate franchise tax and fees, and insurance taxes and fees and dumping that money into Lake Michigan.

Don't Ask Durbin

for investment advice.

Cap and Tax Disaster

Even as Democrats have promised that this cap-and-trade legislation won't pinch wallets, behind the scenes they've acknowledged the energy price tsunami that is coming. During the brief few days in which the bill was debated in the House Energy Committee, Republicans offered three amendments: one to suspend the program if gas hit $5 a gallon; one to suspend the program if electricity prices rose 10% over 2009; and one to suspend the program if unemployment rates hit 15%. Democrats defeated all of them.

The world as it is

“President Obama said that we’re going to offer unconditional talks if you unclench your fist and in response they’re shooting young women in the streets in Tehran.”

And Michael Barone, the adolescent angst of Barack Obama, Daniel Henninger, Iran 2.0.

Galway or Bust

Back again. Light blogging until I absorb what's been going on. (!) My sisters and I went on a hunt for family sites in Ireland--both the maternal and paternal lines emigrated during the famine years. So much sadness to recall, so much beauty to appreciate.

Four sisters in the car--I held on to the wheel, only blew one tire on the back roads, didn't hit anything. Read murder mysteries on the flight home...

...for a change of pace:)

Lots of pictures. Here's one. Galway Bay.

SibFest

Am taking a break, for the first time in a long time spending time with all my sisters at once. I'm the 2nd of 4. Back blogging in a couple of weeks, including recovery time. We don't talk politics. Say a prayer:)

I have 3 brothers too but they are not invited. I imagine they are relieved.

FixHealthcarepolicy.com

Ramirez. The Democrats are trying to rush this through in a FEW WEEKS, keeping their actual bill under wraps until the last minute to limit public scrutiny. Inform yourself to ensure your CHOICE about your LIFE.

Fix Health Care Policy is a Heritage site with constant updates and key information. Milwaukee area GOP Rep. Paul Ryan's Patient Choice bill is here.

And talk to your congressmen and Senators. This is vital.

Voight on Obama

Video: On O'Reilly tonight per The Swamp. I met him at the GOP Convention in St. Paul this summer--introduced myself, shook his hand and thanked him. A gutsy guy. I used to be on the left too, so I fully appreciate his journey to American common sense and appreciation for this country.

The Debt Gap That Never Closes

The next great crisis--America's Debt: At this rate, your share of the load will be $155,000 in a decade. How chronic deficits are putting the country on a path to fiscal collapse. CNN Money:

The bill is far too big for only the rich to pick up. There aren't enough of them. America will have to lean on citizens far below the $250,000 income threshold: nurses, electricians, secretaries, and factory workers.

Apparently we are all "rich" now. 

We need to cut spending. NOW.

This is cool

Shape-shifting robots developed by the Pentagon.

No Surprise

UPDATE: Letterman: Palin updated her "slutty flight attendant look" in NY. Video* Palin response audio.More at C4Palin.***When Rape Fantasies Involve Conservative Women, Feminists Are Silent. Melissa Clouthier.

Liberal Chauvinist Pigs.

Previous posts: AOL Playboy Cover-up, Classy Post Christie, Personal Attack After Attack, Miss FIRE, Why do they hate her?

Musharraf or Michelle

A San Francisco columnist says enough of the MSM lust for our President Barack Obama--they ought to get a room. The Sunday NY Times oohs and aahs over the Obama date night, with a lovely quote from Joy Behar:

Joy Behar, a host on “The View,” whose marriage ended after 17 years, said nothing killed their sex drive like talking politics. So she said she understood the constraints on the first couple’s chemistry.

“And with a mother-in-law in the house?” she said. “Now that’s a real lust-corrector!” The president’s schedule posed unique marital challenges, she noted. Every day Mr. Obama has to weigh competing demands, Ms. Behar said: “Musharraf or Michelle? That’s a tougher thing for him than the average Joe. So it’s really meaningful when you watch them together.” She added, in a tone of wonderment, “He actually looks like he desires her.”

Using Air Force One to impress her. But is it working? At least the press is impressed:

Lisa Wolfe, a writer in New York, married for 17 years to a man named Joe, said of Mr. Obama: “He comes in like an action hero to save the country, and that’s hot.

And compared to God. Musharraf might be less demanding. 

P.S. Some not so fawning though. Obama invokes Jesus more than Bush.

Out From Under the TARP

Along with some other major US banks, Northern Trust is finally allowed by the Obama administration to pay back the TARP debt. Crain's.

Profligate Dems Waste TRILLIONS

UPDATE: Cantor on MSNBC,

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Tuesday that President Barack Obama’s plan to ramp up stimulus spending is a sign the $787 billion package passed in February is “not a success story.”
“How can we sit here and claim success when people are hurting out there?” Cantor asked during an interview on MSNBC. “We already know, as of now, at the rate that we lost jobs last month, over eight people a minute in America are losing their jobs. That's eight families without a paycheck.”

 Cantor Statement on PAYGO and
Administration, Democrat Spending

"The Administration's sudden focus on PAYGO seems more driven by polling and PR strategy than a serious commitment to fiscal discipline."

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) today issued the following statement prior to the President’s meeting with Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) and other Democrats on PAYGO and federal spending:

“It seems a tad disingenuous for the President and Speaker Pelosi to talk about PAYGO rules after ramming trillions in spending through Congress proposing policies that create more debt in the first six months of this year than in the previous 220 years combined. It’s as if the Administration and these Democrat leaders are living in an alternate universe. The quickest way to save money is to stop recklessly spending it. The Administration's sudden focus on PAYGO seems more driven by polling and PR strategy than a serious commitment to fiscal discipline.

“Republicans have thoughtful, focused initiatives. The Administration needs to get serious, and we are – again – willing to meet with the President to work on substantive, focused efforts to revive this economy – because Americans deserve better than what they are getting.”

FISCAL TIMELINE, 2009

• February 13, 2009: Democrat House passes stimulus without Republican input
• February 17, 2009: $787 billion stimulus signed by President Obama
• February 23, 2009: Bipartisan budget summit (Total debt outstanding: $10.839 trillion)
• March 11, 2009: $410 billion appropriations enacted with over 8,500 earmarks
• March 11, 2009: President announces earmark reforms after passage
• March 24, 2009: Prime time news conference (Total debt outstanding: $11.046 trillion)
• April 20, 2009: $100 million savings announcement (Total debt outstanding: $11.189 trillion)
• April 29, 2009: House passes irresponsible $3.6 trillion budget
• End of April, 2009: Administration bails out Chrysler
• May 7, 2009: President submits savings proposal of .5% of the budget
• June 1, 2009: Administration purchases GM (approx $50-$70 Billion)
• June 4, 2009: House Republican propose $375 billion in common-sense taxpayer savings
• June 8, 2009: Gallup/Rasmussen reflect dissatisfaction with Admin. on spending/deficit
• June 9, 2009: President holds a PAYGO summit with Democrats and no Republicans

Sarah Stole the Show

CNN reporting (!) Guess they're worried about their viewer numbers.

As should Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric.

P.S. Couric hits all time low. Latest ratings.

Kneecapping FedEx

Democrats carry freight for Teamsters and UPS. Targeting a successful private sector company--thugs in action. YOU THUGS.

Who's next. SPEAK UP NOW. THIS IS A TRAVESTY.

The Exodus Obama Forgot to Mention

And yet, for all the president’s talk of “a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world” and shared “principles of justice and progress,” neither he nor anyone around him, and certainly no one in the audience, bothered to notice one small detail missing from the speech: he forgot me.

The president never said a word about me. Or, for that matter, about any of the other 800,000 or so Jews born in the Middle East who fled the Arab and Muslim world or who were summarily expelled for being Jewish in the 20th century. With all his references to the history of Islam and to its (questionable) “proud tradition of tolerance” of other faiths, Mr. Obama never said anything about those Jews whose ancestors had been living in Arab lands long before the advent of Islam but were its first victims once rampant nationalism swept over the Arab world.

Nor did he bother to mention that with this flight and expulsion, Jewish assets were — let’s call it by its proper name — looted. Mr. Obama never mentioned the belongings I still own in Egypt and will never recover. My mother’s house, my father’s factory, our life in Egypt, our friends, our books, our cars, my bicycle. We are, each one of us, not just defined by the arrangement of protein molecules in our cells, but also by the things we call our own. Take away our things and something in us dies. Losing his wealth, his home, the life he had built, killed my father. He didn’t die right away; it took four decades of exile to finish him off.

Related posts: Deleted DKos Entry, Persecution of Biblical Proportions

Charter life--or death?

Raise the cap in Illinois, Governor. Period. 

Previous post: Good News on Charter Schools*

Obamas Dined on Foie Gras

Not in Chicago, but Paris. Michael Sneed, Chicago Sun Times. Perhaps on his next vacation, uh official trip to Europe, our President Barack Obama can dine with a scion of the Austro-Hungarian empire, a fellow foie-gras fan.

Let them eat Wagyu beef! Let them eat foie gras!

What will the NY Times have to say?

Quoting Dr. Suess

Conservative British MP Daniel Hannan again in fine form, calls for Labor Prime Minister Gordon Brown to go, after his party's crushing electoral defeat. Watch:HT Stix.