What a Wiener

First Patrick Kennedy and now Anthony Weiner lose it when taking to the floor. Debate is only productive when there is respect and decorum and neither were on display when Weiner belted out his preachy, shrill rhetoric.

Nice Vetting, White House

Once again, Obama's administration has made a rookie mistake. Last week, President Barack Obama held a public gathering and asked Congress to extend unemployment insurance. Once of his props, Leslie Macko, stood next to him as his example of a person in need of the extension. The problem? Apparently, Macko was found guilty of prescription drug fraud in March 2009, and one month later, she lost her job as an esthetician at a fitness center. Specifically, Obama lamented:

We need to extend unemployment compensation benefits for women like Leslie Macko, who lost her job at a fitness center last year, and has been looking for work ever since. Because she's eligible for only a few more weeks of unemployment, she's doing what she never thought she'd have to do. Not at this point, anyway. She's turning to her father for financial support.

So far, the White House has declined to comment. I would, too, as how hard could it be for his people to run a background check? This is just another easily avoidable boneheaded move on the part of his administration.   

Another Taliban Atrocity Against Women

WARNING:  The link takes you to a very disturbing article with a picture of the cover of Time magazine, which has a picture of Aisha, a shy 18-year-old Afghan woman who was sentenced by a Taliban commander to have her nose and ears cut off for fleeing her abusive in-laws. In case anyone is wondering who we are fighting in Afghanistan, the answer is: people who treat women this way.

46% Give Obama Poor Rating on Energy Issues

Thirty-one percent of people gave the President a positive rating on his handling of environmental and energy issues while 46% believe he's done a poor job on these issues. However, this represents a decline in negative ratings from last month which is likely due to the fact that the gulf oil  leak is somewhat under control in comparison to the same period last month. In fact, voters are less critical of Obama's handling of the environmental disaster than they were just one month ago. The disaster does not seem to have the power to lower the presidential ratings like Katrina. I guess dirty beaches and oil-slicked water are no match for the messy scene in New Orleans.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/offshore_drilling/voters_slightly_less_critical_of_obama_oil_companies_for_gulf_leak 

Kerry Gets Ruffled Over Tax Questions

Senator John Kerry found himself in a tight situation yesterday at an event when asked why he docked his $7 million yacht "Isabel" in Rhode Island rather than his home state of Massachusetts. "There's nothing more to say about it," Senator Kerry told reporters yesterday. Apparently, last week, when the story broke, Kerry's office said, "The boat was designed by and purchased from a company in Rhode Island, and it's based in Newport at the Newport Shipyard for long term maintenance, upkeep and charter purposes, not tax reasons." A brand new yacht clearly needs the maintenance and upkeep only a Rhode Island service dock can provide.  He wasn't ducking the $500,000 in luxury taxes and $70,000-a-year excise tax at all.  

Even more hilariously, when asked if he berthed the boat in Massachusetts? he replied, "That depends on who owns it." Then, he told his driver to get him out of there. Apparently Kerry would be liable for Massachusetts taxes if he berthed the boat in the state within six months of its purchase, but something tells me he knows that. 

Horrendously Overpaid Town Administrators Step Down but Secure Handsome Pensions

The three highest paid administrators in Bell, California, whose high six-figure salaries attracted an angry town mob outside of Los Angeles have resigned. Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo, paid $787,637, Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia, paid $376,288, and Police Chief Randy Adams, paid $457,000, are stepping down in response to a screaming town mob who individual income averages $24,000 annually. 

However, their resignations will not end the looting, as they will all receive very hefty pensions. Rizzo would be entitled to a state pension of more than $650,000 a year for life, which would make him, at 56, the highest-paid retiree in the California pension system. Adams is eligible for $411,000 a year while Spaccia, 51, could retain close to $250,000 a year when she reaches age 55.

To make matters worse, the meeting, held behind closed doors by the town council and mayor, did not address the overpayment of the five town council members paid close to $100,000 annually for part-time work. In defense of council pay, the mayor said, "We work a lot. I work with my community every day." A council member added, "[We] are on call around the clock, and it is not uncommon for [us] to take calls in the middle of the night from people reporting problems with city services."

Luckily, the county district attorney's office is investigating to determine if the high salaries for the council members violate any state laws. Also, the town has launched an investigation in conjunction with the state's public employee retirement agency into pension and related benefits for Bell's civic leaders. Let's hope they can prevent the massive pensions from being paid to these thieves who looted this town for almost two decades. Of course, knowing the California judicial system, they will keep their pensions.

Rangel Charged with Ethics Violations

After a long investigation, a panel within the House ethics committee charged Harlem Representative Charles Rangel with multiple ethics violations involving his use of political power and influence to push legislation and raise money for his namesake, the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York. The charges also surrounded his use of four rent-controlled apartments in New York, as the city's rent stabilization program is supposed to apply to one's primary residence only. Finally, the panel charged him with failing to publicly report the rental income from a unit within the Punta Cana Yacht Club in the Dominican Republic as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets such as a credit union IRA, mutual funds and stocks.

As a result of the charges levied, the case will proceed to a House trial, where a panel of eight Republicans and Democrats will decide whether the violations can be proven by clear and convincing evidence. The committee has a variety of options if they find the charges proven, which range from expulsion from the House, reprimand, a fine or no action. (The last lawmaker to face a public trial, in 2002, was Ohio Representative James Traficant, a Democrat, who ended up in prison.) 

Since the Democrats already stripped Rangel of his chairmanship of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee due to an initial scandal involving the corporate sponsorship of two trips to Caribbean conferences, what more can, or will, they do to old Charlie? Apparently, he was worried enough about the answer to that question to try to strike a deal. Officials said that in the current case, Rangel's attorney tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a settlement which would have required Rangel to agree that he violated ethics rules. Perhaps he thinks that indictments could follow? They should. Everyone is sick of politicians passing legislation to further curtail the control we have over our lives and money while simultaneously refusing to obey them. Stay tuned...the hearing starts Thursday.

Independents Sour Further on Obama

A Quinnipiac poll asking, "if the 2012 election for President were being held today, do you think you would vote for Barack Obama the Democratic candidate, or the Republican candidate?" found that 39% of voters would opt for the unnamed Republican challenger. Obama got 36% of the vote, with the majority of his support coming from registered Democrats (79%), blacks (87%) and Hispanics (49%). The poll confirmed that Obama now has a major problem with Independents, who voted 37% to 27% in favor of any Republican challenger and 52% of whom disapprove of the job he is doing. Also, 13% of voters said that it depended on the Republican candidate and 12% were undecided. 

Residents En Fuego over California Official's $800,000 Salary

Tempers flared last night at a meeting of one of the poorest municipalities in Los Angeles County. Why? Its residents, who average $25,000 annually, discovered their city administrator earns a salary of almost $800,000, as reported in the Los Angeles Times on July 15. Bell, the city of 38,000, which is more aptly described as a town, is mostly Hispanic as is its mayor, Oscar Hernandez, who had no answer for the shouting crowd.  

Apparently, Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo earns $787,637, with annual 12% raises. That's not all. Bell's Police Chief makes $457,000, which is more than the police chief of Los Angeles or New York. Even Bell's council members earn close to $100,000 for part-time work.

Hilariously, Bell's Police Chief said that he was brought in to end corruption in the police department as some of its former officers were serving time in prison. I wonder how much money they stole from the city?  More than $500,000? 

Hernandez stupidly answered the Los Angeles Times' inquiry and defended the salaries saying that, “Our streets are cleaner, we have lovely parks, better lighting throughout the area, our community is better. These things just don’t happen, they happen because he had a vision and made it happen.” I wonder how many votes Hernandez will received in the town's next election?

More importantly, in a state with such critically serious deficits, I wonder who will have the gonads to root out corruption in every Californian town and reduce the massive amount of bureaucracy and entitlements necessary to stave off a statewide bankruptcy? 

Reverse Racism?

This year when people expressed concern for or disagreement with President Obama's agenda, some cried racism.  But isn't is also racist to blindly agree with someone because they share your skin color? I realize some may think even saying such a think is racist, but it is unsettling that Obama receives an 85% approval rating from the District of Columbia, wherein the majority of residents are black where he generally averages half that score in other states. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/11000.html

It would be nice if such correlations did not exist. All people should be judged without regard to skin color. Unfortunately, not everyone lives by this rule. http://wcbstv.com/topstories/tea.party.naacp.2.1812710.html

Congress Hands the Fed More Power

The passage of the financial regulatory bill through the Senate signals the loss of Ron Paul's efforts to limit the power of the Federal Reserve - his lifelong mission in congress. Not only did the bill fail to scale back the powers of the Fed, but it actually expanded them, ensuring that it will remain the pre-eminent regulator in the industry. 

Paul has argued for years that the Fed's supervisory oversight of banks and interest-rate decisions caused the meltdown of 2008 and he hoped to put serious controls on the body to prevent similar future harm. Instead, congress gave the Fed more power and more tools to ostensibly prevent financial crises by making it the primary regulator for large  financial firms of all kinds, rather than just banks. 

This comes along with a sweeping rewrite of the financial rules which, of course, greatly expands the power of government over banks, markets and the industry. Many analysts familiar with the legislation say the usurpation of federal power in the bill is second only to those extended during the Great Depression. 

The depression-era bills charged the Fed with promoting price stability and maximum sustainable employment. The new bill adds the maintenance of financial stability to the list of Fed responsibilities. Specifically, it will be responsible for deciding whether the council should vote to break up "too big to fail" companies if they threaten the stability of the financial system. It will also now have the power to force any large financial companies—not just banks—to boost capital and liquidity, which means it will regulate large hedge funds.

The power to decide who is too big and thus, tamper-worthy, will not involve a mathematical calculation. Politicians will intervene and the Fed will act accordingly. How can we give the federal government this much power over our "free" market?  It is an utter disgrace.  

One of 78 Houses Received Foreclosure Notices in 2010

In the second quarter, banks repossessed a record number of houses and had to artificially slow new foreclosure notices to manage the huge portfolio of distressed properties on the market. Specifically, banks took back 269,962 properties, which amounts to a 5% increase from the first quarter. Analysts say foreclosures will likely top 1 million this year. And there is more to come as banks estimate that there are over 5 million seriously delinquent loans outstanding. This is an astounding number as in a normal year, banks take back only about 100,000 houses and this year alone, they estimate the final foreclosure tally will be more than 3 million households. 

Obama Begs to Differ with House Saying, "Looky What I've Done"

The complaint echoed in the House of Representatives from Obama's party that he is less than ardent in his attempt to help secure Democratic seats for November was answered formally by the White House today. Specifically, Obama's people wrote a memo to Congress explaining just what he's done for them all lately. Besides gracing them with his presence in chambers throughout the term, his people say he, Biden, the first lady, cabinet officers and senior staff have participated in 187 political events in the last 18 months, "all with the intention of directly supporting candidates on the ballot in 2010 or building up the infrastructure of party committees,” reads the memo. Further, it protests that “40 more events are currently or tentatively scheduled and dozens more will be organized in the next few months” and the  "Democratic National Committee has committed $50 millions “in support of races across the country for 2010.” The memo was likely a response to White House press secretary Robert Gibbs admission Sunday that Democrats could lose the House, although the administration claims the memo was routine. 

With Obama's poll numbers on the economy, jobs and the environment in a downward spiral, I cannot understand why members of his party would protest. They should beg him to throw them the purse and stay away from their events.

Fiorina Leads Bad-Haired Boxer

Could it be a sweep in California for the feisty, well-funded female Republicans? For the first time since the primaries, Democratic senator Barbara Boxer has fallen behind Republican Carly Fiorina by a difference of two. Fiorina now leads 47% to 45% in a new SurveyUSA poll of likely voters. Fiorina has been closing the gap of late, but this is the first time she has come out on top.

The survey also shows Republican Meg Whitman leading Democrat Jerry Brown 46% to 39% in the race for governor. Wouldn't that be something? 

Even Democrats Question Holder's Suit

This weekend at the summer meeting of the National Governors Association, several Democratic governors voiced displeasure with the White House over the filing of Eric Holder's lawsuit against Arizona over its new immigration law, which takes effect on July 29, 2010. Of course, as politicians, the governors weren't voicing consternation with the substance of the suit, but with Holder's timing. After all, it's mid-July and there are 19 vulnerable Democratic governor seats up for grabs in November. 

Some governors apparently worried that the suit was drawing the focus away from jobs and others worried that the "carrot-and-stick approach" could backfire as the AZ law is popular with most Americans. The governors are right to worry since not only is this suit unpopular and ill-timed, but it will also prove an embarrassment to the White House, who will eventually withdraw it or risk almost certain defeat since Arizona has the right to enforce federal immigration laws.

http://abcnews.go.com/thisweek/video/congressmen-debate-immigration-11136988&tab=9482930§ion=1206874&playlist=6505465

More "Race" Riots

What makes the people in that part of the country so riotous?  Do they think they've convinced anyone that they're actually taking to the streets in protest and not to flagrantly steal?

Rubio Back on Top

Florida’s Senate race is still tight between "Independent" Charlie Crist and likely GOP nominee Marco Rubio, but Rubio is back on top. The latest Rasmussen survey of likely voters gives Rubio 36% support and Crist 34% of the vote. The likely Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek has only 15% of voters and 14% remain undecided.

A month ago, Rubio and Crist were tied at 37%. When the Democrats back Meek, rather than supporting Crist, as they almost certainly will do since Meek is the only African American running for Senate in their party, Rubio should pull it off.

CRU Exonerated Based on Dubious Investigation

Everyone can rest easy, as some crackpot, ex-gubment team of lackeys in London declared that the emails stolen from one of the leading climate change research centers "contained no evidence to undermine the case for man made global warming." Apparently, this rigorous investigation into the British research unit named CRU, or Climatic Research Unit, found no wrongdoing, but don't worry, the report "criticized their lack of openness and said some of their data was misleading."  Oh, goodie. 

The team of expert investigators were from the esteemed University of East Anglia, eastern England.  I feel better already. "Their rigor and honesty as scientists are not in doubt," the report concluded. Okay, so why conduct the investigation in the first place? As memory serves, this team of scientists deleted emails prior to responding to questions about climate data lodged under Britain's freedom of information laws, sent emails telling members to delete data and refused to print or peer review any scientist's data that failed to line up to theirs. I can totally see their point. What is wrong with telling scientists to "hide the decline" or "trick" people by manipulating data to support the scientists' views?

Hold on. We can explain. Apparently, the investigators found that they did not mean to actually "hide the decline" in warming. The team also explained that the use of the word "trick" may have been "shorthand for a neat mathematical approach to a problem." Are you serious? What a bunch of garbage. I am much more skeptical of global warming than I was before I read their silly investigation.

The British authorities are still conducting an investigation to find the hacker that stole the dubious emails. I bet that investigation will yield real results. What a joke.

Jeffersonian Independence

The linked article echoes the sentiment that the Declaration of Independence will forever frame debates over the role and purpose of government in America. As Lincoln stated, may it "be a rebuke and a stumbling block to the very harbingers of reappearing tyranny and oppression,” especially when the tyrants live among us.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Chicagoan Defiance

A few days after the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment was a fundamental right, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley introduced the strictest handgun ordinance ever promulgated. The bill bans gun shops in Chicago and prohibits gun owners from stepping outside the inside of their homes, even onto their porches or garages, with a handgun. The bill also limits the number of handguns in operating order per home to one, requires residents with children to keep them in lock boxes or equipped with trigger locks, requires prospective gun owners to take five hours of training outside of the city, prohibits people from owning a gun if they were convicted of a violent crime, domestic violence or two or more convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, requires those convicted of a gun offense to register with the police department and calls for the police department to maintain a registry of every handgun owner in the city, with the names and addresses to be made available to police officers, firefighters and other emergency responders. Moreover, those convicted of violating the ordinance can face a $5,000 fine and be incarcerated for as long as 90 days for a first offense and pay $10,000 and spend as long as six months in jail for subsequent convictions. Great, so the ordinance will be effective until it is struck down by the Supreme Court.  Brilliant waste of time and money, Daley.

Double Dip Reality

Not surprisingly, all of the reports for the leading economic indicators are gloomy. Unemployment claims are up, new home sales are down 30% and manufacturing is coming to a halt. All signs point to the double dip scenario, which most economists denied until now. However, there is no denying the direction and size of the numbers. New claims for job benefits jumped by 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 472,000, the highest level since March, and analysts expect the unemployment rate to edge up slightly tomorrow.

Also, since the recession, the jobless have enjoyed an extra 72 weeks of benefits over and above the 26 normally given. Democrats want to vote to extend them past the 98 week mark, but Republicans are fighting them tooth and nail since they want the extension funded from the remaining stimulus funds. Of course, Democrats want to pile the price tag onto the debt as "emergency funds." This gridlock allegedly troubles economists who say we need to provide jobless benefits so the unemployed can spend the government money and "stimulate growth." It really worries me to think top economists are counting on unemployment benefits to pull us out of the recession. How much can a $400/week unemployed individual stimulate the economy? I expect this type of stupidity from Nancy Pelosi (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/01/pelosi-unemployment-checks-best-way-create-jobs/), but from economists?

To make matters worse, the housing market is still plummeting. New home sales fell 30% in May as tax credits expired and the pool of those with the ability to obtain credit shrank. Most analysts expect another 8 to 10% drop in housing prices, which is likely to be followed by more foreclosures.

The industrial sector's growth also slowed in the U.S. as well as in 16 other countries tied to our currency.