Thursday, April 15, 2010

Breyer: ObamaCare a Good Candidate for Supreme Ct. Review

Breyer: ObamaCare a Good Candidate for Supreme Ct. Review
"Justice Stephen Breyer says that the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to rule on ObamaCare at some point in the future, the Associated Press reports:
Breyer told a congressional panel Thursday that the massive health care law, like most major federal legislation, is a good candidate for high court review."

Markets could be derailed again, warns Soros

Markets could be derailed again, warns Soros
“Unless we learn the lessons, that markets are inherently unstable and that stability needs to the objective of public policy, we are facing a yet larger bubble."

Even Soros is on board!
Be afraid...very afraid......

NYC to stop paying teachers to do nothing

NYC to stop paying teachers to do nothing
"Officially known as teacher-reassignment centers, the so-called rubber rooms are off-campus spaces where hundreds of teachers are paid their full salaries to do nothing while they await disciplinary hearings."

N.C. Says Tea Party Flags Are Weapons?

N.C. Says Tea Party Flags Are Weapons?
"The ban on flagpoles and signs with posts that could be turned into weapons was added in September to the permit from the N.C. Department of Administration that groups need to hold demonstrations or events on state-operated grounds."

The Teacher Pension Nightmare

The Teacher Pension Nightmare
"Pension and retirement plans all over America have lost value.
Plans covering public school teachers, by their own admission, are underfunded by $332 billion.
However, the plans' real funding gap is far worse than their financial statements show, at nearly a trillion dollars--and you and I will bear the burden of covering their shortfall."

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

UNDERFUNDED TEACHER PENSION PLANS: It’s Worse Than You Think

UNDERFUNDED TEACHER PENSION PLANS: It’s Worse Than You Think
"The general picture is not a good one. According to the fifty-nine funds’ own financial statements:
Total unfunded liabilities to teachers—i.e., the gap between existing plan assets and the present value of benefits accrued by plan participants—are $332 billion.
According to our more conservative calculations:
These plans’ unfunded liabilities total about $933 billion.
In addition, we have found that:
Only $116 billion, or less than one quarter, of this $600 billion discrepancy is attributable to the stock market drop precipitated by the 2007 financial crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average would have to nearly double overnight to make up for the present underfunding of these plans."

Obama's disregard for media reaches new heights at nuclear summit

Obama's disregard for media reaches new heights at nuclear summit
"In the middle of it all was Obama -- occupant of an office once informally known as 'leader of the free world' -- putting on a clinic for some of the world's greatest dictators in how to circumvent a free press."

WaPos leftist Dana Milbank?!!!

Nation's soaring deficit calls for painful choices

Nation's soaring deficit calls for painful choices
"Under Obama's budget plan, the USA's debt in 2020 would be nearly the size of the entire economy then.
Interest costs would be $900 billion, five times today's level."

Local 'Tea Party' group plans rally at Heritage Landing on income tax day

Local 'Tea Party' group plans rally at Heritage Landing on income tax day
"The Muskegon Patriots, a local group that is part of the national “Tea Party” movement, is holding a rally at Heritage Landing on Thursday."

The Ninth Justice -- How Republican Justices Evolve Leftward

The Ninth Justice -- How Republican Justices Evolve Leftward
"their more liberal Republican-appointed colleagues have been moved neither by wisdom, nor by legal principle, nor by general public opinion, but by the leftward march of the intellectual elite, especially in the media and academia.......

.....The justices' reputations are determined in large part by mostly liberal news reporters, commentators and law professors and by liberal feminist, civil rights and professional interest groups such as the American Bar Association.
Newly appointed justices who vote conservative are often portrayed as uncompassionate right-wing ideologues. Those who move leftward win praise for enlightenment. ('I ain't evolving,' the aggressively conservative Thomas has reportedly told clerks.)
And the bright young law clerks -- the justices' closest professional collaborators -- tend to come from elite law schools where conservative professors are rare birds and general public opinion is widely seen as benighted."

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Is the U.S. Killing Green Jobs?

Is the U.S. Killing Green Jobs?

Incentives Not to Work

Incentives Not to Work - WSJ.com
"'The second way government assistance programs contribute to long-term unemployment is by providing an incentive, and the means, not to work.
Each unemployed person has a 'reservation wage'—the minimum wage he or she insists on getting before accepting a job.
Unemployment insurance and other social assistance programs increase [the] reservation wage, causing an unemployed person to remain unemployed longer.'"

Englers buy Mich. home, fueling talk of political run

Englers buy Mich. home, fueling talk of political run
"Former Michigan Gov. John Engler and his wife, Michelle, have bought a lakefront home in Shiawassee County, fueling speculation about a return to politics."

Please God nooooooooo....

States Skimp on Pension Payments

States Skimp on Pension Payments
"State governments from New Jersey to California that are struggling to close budget deficits are skipping or deferring payments to already underfunded public-employee pension plans.
The moves could help ease today's budget pressures, but will make tomorrow's worse.

New Jersey's governor, a fiscal conservative, has proposed not making the state's entire $3 billion contribution to its pension funds because of the state's $11 billion budget deficit."

The Municipal Market

Rick Bookstaber: The Municipal Market
"Once a few municipalities default, there is a risk of a widespread cascade in defaults because the opprobrium will be lessened, all the more so if the defaults are spurred along by a taxpayer revolt – democracy at work."

This is scary!

The Teaparty Movement, The Democrat Party, Racism and Incitement!

The Teaparty Movement, The Democrat Party, Racism and Incitement! • Looking at the Left
"Democrat leaders describe Teapartyers as Nazis, evil-mongers , racists, and un-American.
In an attempt to provoke an ugly incident Congressional Black Caucus members went fishing for racism on Capitol Hill.
They paraded in the midst of a Teaparty protest immediately before the final vote on the healthcare bill.

The MSM has endlessly reported that Teapartyers hurled the “n” word at congressmen.

There exists no photo or sound-bite evidence despite the sea of cameras present at the time and a $100,000 reward for proof."

What Gov't Can't Do

What Gov't Can't Do
"Federal Failure: Auditors say the Postal Service's business model isn't viable, and a magazine reports that GM leads the league in producing the worst-made cars on the road. Big government breeds big incompetence.
The post office, which has a government-protected monopoly on first-class mail delivery, could lose at least $238 billion over the next decade."

Late bill would ban most private gun sales in Wisconsin

Late bill would ban most private gun sales in Wisconsin
"A fast-tracked bill introduced in the state Legislature at the end of March would ban the private sale of most firearms in Wisconsin and would for the first time extend a prohibition on the possession of firearms to those convicted of certain misdemeanors."

Visualizing Obama's budget cuts

Visualizing Obama's budget cuts. [VIDEO]

This is GREAT!
(thanks JudgeO)

Government Employee Political Clout Obstructs Budget Reform

Analysis: Government Employee Political Clout Obstructs Budget Reform [Mackinac Center]
"The Legislature returns today after a two-week break to take up perhaps the greatest challenge facing state government since 1983: an estimated $1.5 billion budget shortfall.
Making this all the more difficult is the apparent inability of lawmakers to adopt what most struggling private sector workers and small business owners view as modest reductions in state employee pay and benefits.
That failure was highlighted in three separate events just before the break."