Why “spreading the wealth around,” to use one infamous formulation, is generally a Bad Idea when the government’s in charge of it:
Monthly Archives: January 2015
Something completely predictable has happened
One of the hajjis cut loose from Club Gitmo in exchange for the deserter Bowe Bergdahl is back to his head-chopping ways:
The U.S. military and intelligence community now suspect that one of the five Taliban detainees released from Guantanamo Bay in return for Bowe Bergdahl in May of last year has attempted to return to militant activity from his current location in Qatar, CNN has learned exclusively. The development has led to an ongoing debate inside the administration about whether there is a new threat from this man, and potentially the other four.
This is the first known suggestion that any of the detainees involved in the exchange may be trying to engage again in militant activity. It comes at a politically sensitive time as the administration has quickened the pace of prisoner release in an effort to encourage the closure of the facility, and the Army must decide in the coming weeks whether and how to punish Bergdahl for leaving his post.
Thanks, 0bama! :-P
Add Demolition Man to the list of movies libs seek to emulate in real life
So far, they’ve managed to not replace all the restaurants with Taco Bells…but how much longer will that continue? At least toilet paper will never run out:
A Lifestyle So Good, It’s Mandatory
California has effectively decriminalized marijuana (possession of less than an ounce is a civil matter roughly equivalent to a speeding ticket — a rarely written speeding ticket), and the state has a medical (ahem) marijuana program that is, for the moment, largely unregulated. At the same time, the state is launching a progressive jihad against “vaping,” the use of so-called e-cigarettes that deliver nicotine in the form of vapor. The state public-health department says that this is justified by the presence of certain carcinogens — benzene, formaldehyde, nickel, and lead—in e-cigarette vapor. But by California’s own account, all of those chemicals are present in marijuana smoke, too, along with 29 other carcinogens.
If that seems inconsistent to you, you are thinking about it the wrong way: For all of its scientific pretensions and empirical posturing, progressivism is not about evidence, and at its heart it is not even about public policy at all: It is about aesthetics.
The goal of progressivism is not to make the world rational; it’s to make the world Portland.
[…]
Progressivism, especially in its well-heeled coastal expressions, is not a philosophy — it’s a lifestyle. Specifically, it is a brand of conspicuous consumption, which in a land of plenty such as ours as often as not takes the form of conspicuous non-consumption: no gluten, no bleached flour, no Budweiser, no Walmart, no SUVs, no Toby Keith, etc. The people who set the cultural tone in places such as Berkeley, Seattle, or Austin would no more be caught vaping than they would slurping down a Shamrock Shake at McDonald’s — and they conclude without thinking that, therefore, neither should anybody else. The wise man understands that there’s a reason that Baskin-Robbins has 31 flavors; the lifestyle progressive in Park Slope shudders in horror at the refined sugar in all of them, and seeks to have them restricted.
Whatever happened to insurance bills going down $2500?
Thanks Obamacare: This Is What Americans Spent The Most Money On In Q4
If readers need clarification on what was the primary source of spending-based “growth” for the US economy in the fourth quarter, the same source that bumped up final Q3 GDP from 3.9% to 5.0%, please ping us: we will gladly explain the chart [above]. And just in case it is still unclear what Americans are spending their “gas sasvings” on, here it is one more time.
Chris Christie, Party Rocker?
He’s spun up a PAC leading into the next election, and someone noticed something fishy about the name:
Acronym of Chris Christie’s PAC becomes a laughing matter
The PAC’s website is at leadershipmattersforamerica.org. What do the bolded letters spell out? Yup…wonder who spent the long hours to make that one fit?
…and they’re in charge of your kids’ education.
Abolish it and hand its job back to the states. By pretty much every measure, we were better off without them for our first 200 years:
Department of Education nearly fails ‘plain writing’ rules with ‘D’
The federal agency that suggests what American schools should teach and grades the performance of millions of students with ever-expanding federal standards barely passes Uncle Sam’s biggest demand: complying with rules to write in plain English.
A new study of how federal agencies write public documents gave the Department of Education an embarrassing grade of “D.” Even the Treasury Department, home to the Internal Revenue Service, got an “A.”
Education’s low grade was one of the highlights of the Center for Plain Language’s annual Federal Plain Language Report Card. It judges how well agencies are complying with the Plain Writing Act of 2010.
A top grade of “A” went to 19 of 22 agencies covered by the law. That puts Education’s “D” in the lowest percentile, so to speak. Only State and Interior did worse, with an “F.” However, they could actually be better, but they refused to work with the grading group.
This is what real change looks like
It’s no longer the place bills go to die:
GOP doubles 2014’s Senate votes in under 3 weeks
Acting on a promise to put the Senate back to work after a lazy 2014 when just 15 assorted amendments were debated in the grand body, the new GOP leadership has pushed through 38 amendment votes in less than three weeks.
The return to regular business is a success for the GOP leadership, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who promised an end to the chokehold that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid had on the body last year when he was the majority leader.
The shift has promised much more action in Congress, said Rep. Steve Scalise, the House Whip.
[…]
“One number that’s really interesting is the number 24,” said Scalise on Tuesday. “Yesterday marked 24 different amendments that have been voted on by the Senate. That is more amendment votes than the Senate took in the entire 2014 calendar year. On one bill over the course of three weeks, the Senate has already had more amendments on the floor that have been voted on than all of 2014.”
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
Missouri Governor Ordered National Guard To Stand Down
Since he’s a Democrat, he’ll never be held responsible for this stunning lack of judgment:
Missouri Governor Ordered National Guard To Stand Down
Missouri Democratic Governor Jay Nixon ordered the Missouri National Guard not to patrol Ferguson during the first night of destructive riots after police officer Darren Wilson’s grand jury exoneration in the Michael Brown shooting case.
Businesses were burned that November night and 20-year old DeAndre Joshua was shot to death in a burned car.
Among many other things, this is on him:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv6jhXQARz8]
The return of The X-Files?
Awesome, if it happens:
‘X-Files’ Return With David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson In Fox’s Future
Following the success of Fox’s 24 limited series, the network is looking to bring back another iconic drama series, The X-Files. Fox TV Group chairman Gary Newman today confirmed chatter that the network is in talks for a new installment of Chris Carter’s cult supernatural drama, which starred David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. Newman went on to say he was “hopeful” about the outcome.
Later, fellow Fox TV Group chairman Dana Walden said that the conversations so far have been only logistical, looking at windows when the key X-Files players, creator Carter and stars Duchovny and Anderson, are available. She confirmed that a potential X-Files followup will star the original leading duo of Duchovny and Anderson. There have been no creative discussions yet about what that new series might be.