Congressional Overreach

George Will examines the origins of Congress' overreach on Constitutional power...

Slipping the Constitutional Leash

The Military's War on Christians

I'm not a religious guy, but I find this disturbing.  The idea that a military chaplain shouldn't be able to create a video that mentions the word "God" because it might offend muslims and atheists is astonishing.

My message to Muslims and atheists who complained would be simple: "Get over it.  And if you can't get over it, fuck you."

Progressives have apparently discovered a hitherto unknown Constitutional right:  The right not to be offended.

Obama "Strongly Objects" to Religious Liberty Amendment

The New Climate Deniers

From the invaluable website Climate Depot...

It would appear that a lot of delegates at the U.N. global warming gabfest presently taking place in Bonn don't know that there has been no global warming for the past decade and a half.  Of course, this won't stop them from recommending draconian polices to stop that which has stopped happening.

 A Case Study in Denial and Fanaticism

Liberals, The Laffer Curve, and Marijuana

Why is it that liberals can grasp the concept of the Laffer Curve when it comes to taxing marijuana, but not when it comes to taxing income?

Getting High with The Laffer Curve

Perilous Times

It isn't just the IRS that has engaged in systematic harassment of the administration's enemies. True the Vote also got unwarranted attention from the FBI, OSHA and the ATF.

Contrary to Obama's claim at Ohio State, it would seem that tyranny is indeed just around the corner.

 True Scandal: A tea-party group targeted by Democrats gets attention from the IRS—and the FBI, OSHA, and the ATF.

There once was a farmer named Pigford...

Suppose the government decided to settle a class action suit, making payments for alleged misdeeds to X number of claimants.

Then X became, say, X + Y, most of whom could not establish that they had suffered from the alleged misdeeds.

And suppose the number of claimants grew so large that it exceeded the number of people who could, by definition, have possibly suffered from the alleged misdeeds.

And then the group of claimants expanded again, to include sub-groups that were never involved in the original settlement.

This story of government corruption and incompetence defies belief. Our president plays a prominent role in Act II.

Pigford and Discrimination: Any connection gave way to fraud long ago

The Obama/Clinton Reparations: The enormous scam that is Pigford

Government, funny voices & party balloons

This is a classic example of Reagan's dictum that the nearest thing to eternal life on earth is a temporary government program. Something that started as an effort to keep up with the Germans on making blimps is still alive and kicking, despite attempts by Congress to kill it.

The video of Rep. Hank Johnson is worth a look if you're amused by the sheer inanity of public officials. This is the same Rep. Johnson who once expressed concern, publicly, that overpopulation might cause the island of Guam to capsize. I am not making that up.

If they can't kill the helium program this time, we all might as well just start drinking heavily.

Bad News: The Federal Helium Program is Not a Parody

Compassion

The article below asks some interesting questions. Is it true compassion when someone advocates that the government provide other people's money to a "needy" cause?

After almost 50 years since the War on Poverty began, and after spending many trillions of dollars on it, with the result that the poverty rate is higher now than in 1965, is it compassionate to insist that we keep doing more of the same?

What is Real Compassion?

Warming Fraud

You may recall that Michael Mann, one of the leaders of the global warming movement, produced something called the "Hockey Stick" graph many years ago (1999?).  It purported to show that, going back 1,000 years, temperatures were remarkably stable until the 20th century, at which point they rose drastically. 
Hence, it looked like a hockey stick and was widely considered at the time to be proof positive of man-made global warming.  It was featured prominently in the first U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report.

One problem:  it was BS and was so thoroughly debunked that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change abandoned it in later reports.  Mann, by the way, was one of the central players in the "Climategate" scandal a few years ago.

Now comes a guy named Marcott who has attempted to resurrect the Hockey Stick, and the major media has dutifully and unquestioningly reported his study as, yet again, proof of man-made warming.

One problem:  Marcott has since admitted that his data is essentially meaningless.  The media, oddly enough, has shown little interest in reporting this inconvenient fact.  As the author of the item below points out, this is tantamount to scientific fraud.

The End of an Illusion

The Best Environmental Policy: Economic Growth

According to Matt Ridley, British scientist and journalist (aka The Rational Optimist), economic growth and environmental progress are not incompatible, contrary to the gospel of environmentalists. In fact, Ridley argues, it is precisely because of economic growth, specifically due to our use of fossil fuels, that has led to a measurable "greening" of the planet.

This is worth a look:

Human Sacrifice

Another example of how environmentalism kills (or sometimes just allows children to go blind).

Progressive Green Movement Has Morphed into a Death Cult

Tailgunner Joe - A Real American Hero

Finally, a syndicated columnist has come forward with a defense of Joe McCarthy.

She mentions a book, Blacklisted by History, which I have read twice and would highly recommend. The historical treatment of McCarthy is one of the great frauds of all time.

It's Time to See Joe McCarthy as the Hero He Was

EPA Gone Rogue

Even by the standards of the federal government, the EPA is reaching new heights of absurdity...

Defying Courts and Congress, EPA Increases Mandate for Fuels that Don't Exist

Statistics

Did you know that the rates of violent crime and homicide in the U.S. have dropped by about 50% in the past twenty years?

Or that you are more than three times more likely to be a victim of violent crime in Great Britain than the U.S.?

In the ongoing debate over gun control, a lot of factual data gets ignored.

Choose Your Own Crime Stats

More on Harry

The article below explains nicely why Harry Reid has had no interest in passing a budget since April, 2009... baseline budgeting.

After the stimulus spending, which was supposed to be a one-time deal, all Harry had to do was break the law (by not passing a budget), and let baseline budgeting take over to keep spending at the newly elevated levels.  Far better to do that, from his point of view, than to formally announce to the public, through a budget, that the increased spending was here to stay. 

It's analogous to wiping one's prints off the murder weapon.

Congress, Baseline Budgeting, & Fraud

Harry Reid on the Budget: Not Interested

The article linked below is from February 2012. It is still applicable. It points out that Harry Reid (and Schumer, et al) claim that there is no need to pass a budget because of the Budget Control Act in August 2011, which was part of a debt ceiling deal.

But the Act was not an actual budget, which contains, inter alia, budget priorities and taxing proposals.  It simply set limits on overall spending. Moreover, the Act did not absolve the Senate of the legal requirement to pass an actual budget.

In other words, using the Act as an excuse for failing to pass a budget is pure nonsense.  It will be very interesting to see what unfolds if Republicans follow through on a 3-month debt ceiling increase while making a longer term increase conditional on the Senate obeying the law.  Obama, Reid, Pelosi, et al. will be forced to explain why the Senate's lawlessness is holding up another debt ceiling increase.

Senator Reid on the Budget: Not Interested


P.S. Using an Act passed in August 2011 as an excuse for not passing a budget fails to explain why Reid did not allow passage of a budget in April 2010 or April 2011, as required by law.  What does explain this failure is that Reid is an evil, evil man.

The Iceman Cometh

It seems like every year the global warming crowd tells us it was the warmest year on record, at least somewhere.

Other places, not so much...

China's Coldest Winter in Decades at New Low

Forget Global Warming: Alaska is Headed for an Ice Age

Russians Freeze to Death as Strongest-in-Decades Winter Hits