John Lott's Website

Why Obama's judicial appointments matter

2012-02-14T00:39:00.002-05:00

And anyone who wonders what this assault on the Second Amendment might look like need look no further than Illinois, where a judge that President Obama appointed has just ruled that we have the right to keep arms, but not to bear them.

That’s not a typo. Rather, it’s an unbelievable decision recently delivered by U.S. Judge Sue Myerscough, in a challenge which the Second Amendment Foundation filed against Illinois’s ongoing prohibition against carrying concealed weapons in that state. Said Myerscough, in rendering her decision: “[Although the] plaintiffs argue that the Second Amendment protects a general right to carry guns that include a right to carry operable guns in public … [the] Supreme Court has not recognized a right to bear firearms outside the home.” . . . .

Obama privately tells people the recovery 1 to 2 years off

2012-02-13T15:33:00.001-05:00

From the Washington Examiner:

A letter provided to Washington Secrets from Obama to a long-unemployed Portland, Maine carpenter pulls back the curtain of economic hope to reveal the truth about the stagnant economy. “I won’t lie to you,” Obama penned in hand to Charles Oliver in October. “It will probably take another year or two to fully dig our way out of this hole.” . . .

Is Media Matters again violating campaign finance laws?

2012-02-13T14:30:00.005-05:00

This isn't the first time that Media Matters has been seen violating campaign finance laws, but if these reports are correct that David Brock is coordinating his super PAC with the Obama White House, is such a violation. From Fox News:

The head of Media Matters for America -- now out coordinating a new super PAC to help President Obama get reelected -- is operating his nonprofit organization in close coordination with the Obama White House, a new investigative report out Monday says.
David Brock, according to the Daily Caller, has collected a $250,000 annual salary for his work at MMFA, which includes daily screeds against Fox News Channel and other media outlets that allow conservative perspectives in their reporting.
Brock's group, founded in 2004, is spending $20 million this year in a campaign to influence news coverage that sheds a positive image on the current administration as well as progressives and lawmakers in Congress.
And the campaign is going well, according to a former employee who told the DC that "virtually all the mainstream media" has used Media Matters' research.
"We were pretty much writing their prime time," the ex-employee was quoted saying of MSNBC.
Brock is also the head of American Bridge 21st Century, the political action committee that he has boasted would become a rival to Karl Rove's American Crossroads GPS. . . . .

Here is a related story: Liberal Harvard University Professor Alan Dershowitz warns Democrats to drop Media Matters

More from Hotair is available here.

Newt's financial backer calls it quit?

2012-02-12T16:47:00.002-05:00

This shows that his campaign is in real trouble. From Business Insider:

While billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson may have rescued Newt Gingrich’s campaign in its early days, today, he may have just buried it.
Bloomberg News reports that Adelson, who has donated $11 million to Gingrich’s Super PAC, does not plan to send any more money Gingrich’s way. Bloomberg is citing an anonymous source “familiar with their deliberations,” though an Adelson spokesman declined to comment.
The move seems to be weeks in the making. After poor showings by Gingrich in the last several races and the re-resurgence of Rick Santorum, the former House speaker has once again been pushed to the back of the Republican field. And Adelson may be shifting his focus. According to CNN, Adelson met with Mitt Romney in Nevada last week and “assured Romney that he will be behind him 100 percent should he become the nominee.” . . . .

Obama's dishonesty over requiring religious organizations to pay for abortion?

2012-02-11T10:57:00.008-05:00

Obama really thinks that Catholic organizations won't feel that they are being forced to pay for contraception and abortion services if Obama simply says that they are forced to buy insurance that is mandated to have these services included and that Obama mandates that the insurance companies have to provide this for free. How is mandating that the churches provide abortion services to their employees any different than the government mandating that you can only buy insurance that contains these services? Even Obama can't believe others think that this changes anything. From Fox Business:

The president, facing a growing controversy fueled by angry religious organizations, said religious employers will not be required to offer free birth control to their employees as part of their insurance coverage.
Instead, that responsibility has been diverted to insurers, according to the administration’s compromise. The new requirement mandates that insurers provide workers at religious entities such as Catholic universities or hospitals with "contraceptive care free of charge."
“There is no such thing as ‘free of charge.’ It’s a complete ruse,” said Dr. Merrill Matthews, resident scholar at the Institute for Policy Innovation, which advocates for free markets.
“He thinks this stuff actually comes free,” Matthews added. “It doesn’t come free. People actually pay for it and there’s an administrative cost added to it.” . . .

The Washington Post's Marcus praises Obama's "fig leaf":

. . . . Women who work for religiously affiliated institutions that morally object to contraception will nonetheless have access to contraceptive coverage free of charge, just as women who work for other employers. They won’t have to sign up for any different coverage or pay any additional money.

The employers, for their part, won’t have to pay for the coverage, say they offer it or even direct employees to places where they can obtain it. The extra cost, and here is where the fig leaf comes in, will be born by the insurance companies themselves.

This is, of course, a dodge — a quite clever and positive one. Everyone gets to say that the religious institutions aren’t “paying for” contraception. But if covering contraception ends up costing them money, you can be sure those costs will be passed along, as costs always are, to customers.

The beauty of this dodge is that it is entirely possible, even likely, that adding the coverage will not raise rates. Easier, cheaper access to contraception means fewer pregnancies. Pregnancies — and the resulting babies — cost insurers far more than birth control pills. For example, according to the Guttmacher Institute, the federal government reported no increase in costs after Congress required coverage of contraceptives for federal employees in 1998. Think of it as immaculate contraceptive coverage.

Of course, fig leaves can leave gaps. One big gap in the administration’s plan involves how to treat religiously affiliated institutions that are self-insured. In those situations, the employer pays an insurance company to administer the plan but bears the cost of medical care directly. The administration’s approach does not necessarily solve the problem for such entities. . . .

Here is the problem. If this approach really saved money, insurance companies wouldn't be trying to charge for the service to begin with.

From the Catholic Bishops Conference

. . . The change was initially met with a reserved response. While many Democrats praised it and Republicans dismissed it, nonpartisan groups like the Conference of Catholic Bishops said they were reserving judgment.

But the Conference, after earlier calling the change a "first step in the right direction," issued a lengthy statement overnight blasting the plan. And they joined others in calling for legislation in Congress to reverse the policy, something Republicans said they were not abandoning despite Friday's announcement.

"We think there needs to be a legislative fix to protect our religious liberties," Bishop William Lori, a member of the Conference, told Fox News on Saturday. "I think that our First Amendment religious rights are far too precious to be entrusted to regulatory rules."

Lori and the rest of the Conference said they want to see the "mandate" rescinded altogether. They pointed out several lingering concerns. They said the change appears to make no consideration for religious insurers or self-insuring religious employers -- or for religious for-profit employers and secular nonprofit employers. . . .

"And in the case where the employee and insurer agree to add the objectionable coverage, that coverage is still provided as a part of the objecting employer's plan, financed in the same way as the rest of the coverage offered by the objecting employer. . . .

Are women really this dumb to believe that they can get abortion coverage and contraception for free? Obama and the Democrats seem to think so (from The Hill newspaper):

"President Obama has set a standard that every woman has a right to contraception coverage at no additional cost," the DNC email says, "and he's done it in a way that respects religious freedoms."
An accompanying YouTube video, which includes excerpts from Obama's Friday press conference announcing the change, aims to highlight the sharp distinction between the president's compromise and a proposal – being drafted by Republicans – to repeal the birth-control mandate for employers.
"Who do you think should make decisions about contraception?" the ad asks. "You, or your employer?" . . .

Holy war over health care

Catholics mocked

Stock prices falling in EU despite (or because of) Greek Debt deal?

2012-02-10T11:53:00.002-05:00

Why does the EU and the US government think that their money will be spent any better this time? Last time the Greeks got a bailout they just kept spending as they had previously. From Market Watch:

“They don’t trust Greece. Agreeing is one thing, but implementing is another and they want assurance that Greece will live up to the agreement,” said Lenhoff. “If the parliament refuses to approve the measures, Greece will have to leave the euro zone, because they’ll default.”

Houston Mom Runs Burglars Off with Gun

2012-02-09T23:50:00.001-05:00

From the Fox TV affiliate in Houston:

A couple of burglars chose the wrong woman to pick on.
They came sneaking into her house, and she sent them running out. Perhaps they didn't count on the woman fighting back, but that's just what she did.
The mother of two was getting her 10-year-old son ready for school when the two bad guys broke in. She grabbed a gun and came face-to-face with not one but two intruders inside her Huffman home.
"It was scary," she said.
She's still shaken up, so she doesn't want her identity revealed. . . .

Mom Runs Burglars Off with Gun: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

NJ Public Teachers Union Chief makes embarrassing comment about vouchers for the poor

2012-02-09T09:33:00.004-05:00

The life's not fair comment surely implies that the poor would have been better off with vouchers. Possibly life shouldn't be fair for the well paid union members. From Fox News:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called Wednesday for a state teachers union chief to resign, after the union boss said in an interview that "life's not always fair" while arguing against vouchers to send poor students to private schools.
Christie, who has clashed repeatedly with the union over his education proposals, called the remark "outrageous" at a town hall meeting.
The call from the governor was the latest fallout for New Jersey Education Association Executive Director Vincent Giordano, whose own salary tops $300,000.
Giordano made the comment on the local "New Jersey Capitol Report" program over the weekend. During the interview, he was challenged by the host on why low-income families should not have the same options as other families when their child is in a failing school.
"Those parents should have exactly the same options and they do. We don't say that you can't take your kid out of the public school. We would argue not and we would say 'let's work more closely and more harmoniously,'" Giordano said.
When told some families cannot afford to finance the shift to private school without government help, Giordano said: "Well, you know, life's not always fair and I'm sorry about that."
The interview clip swiftly spread on the web, along with reminders about Giordano's healthy salary.
The Newark Star-Ledger reported in 2010 that his salary was nearly $422,000, and total compensation roughly $550,000 when deferred compensation and other benefits are counted. . . . .

Do conservative movies make more money?

2012-02-09T01:43:00.003-05:00

The Hollywood Reporter finds a study showing that the do (discussion available here).

President Obama is constantly attacking the do nothing congress, but doesn't care that the Democratic Senate won't pass a budget

2012-02-08T21:36:00.003-05:00

From Real Clear Politics showing Jay Carney and Jake Tapper at the White House Press Briefing.

Jake Tapper, ABC News: So, therefore, the Senate should pass a budget as well?

Jay Carney, White House: I don't have -- well, I don't have an opinion to express on how the Senate does its business with regards to this issue. The fact is, because of the negotiations over the debt ceiling, that resulted in the Budget Control Act, we have an unusual situation here in that the top lines for the budget going forward have already been set and agreed to by Republicans and Democrats alike.

Tapper: I'm not actually asking your opinion but the White House's opinion. The position the White House has?

Carney: Well, I don't have --

Tapper: The white house has no opinion about whether or not the Senate should pass a budget? The president is going to produce one? The Fed says not having one is bad for growth but the White House has no opinion about whether --

Carney: I have no opinion, and the White House has no opinion on Chairman Bernanke's assessment of how the Senate ought to do its business. . . .

Should food stamps be used to buy junk food?

2012-02-08T18:55:00.002-05:00

Florida seems to be joining the movement in other states to limit what food stamps can be used for. Why not limit it even further to really basic foods that aren't already? For example, not allowing the money to be spent on TV dinners.

Florida's poor can use food stamps to buy staples like milk, vegetables, fruits and meat. But they can also use them to buy sweets like cakes, cookies and Jell-O and snack foods like chips, something a state senator wants stopped.
Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, also wants to limit other welfare funds, known as Temporary Assistance For Needy Families, from being used at ATMs in casinos and strip clubs and anywhere out of state. The bill comes after reports that the debit cards welfare recipients now receive were used in those places, as well as locations in Las Vegas and the Virgin Islands in a small percentage of cases, but the state does not track what items were purchased.
The bill recently passed a committee. A companion bill in the state House companion is being considered by a subcommittee.
The bill would also require the state to launch a culturally sensitive campaign to educate people about the benefits of a nutritious diet. Supporters say it would help recipients follow healthy eating habits and prevent taxpayer funds from being used to purchase luxury foods like bakery cakes when they can whip up a cheaper box mix.
"Most individuals using public assistance dollars are using the funds to get by and to provide for their families. However, we should do what we can to prevent dollars intended to help Florida's poorest families from being spent in the wrong places," Storms said in a statement. . . .

Half a million in Stimulus spent upgrading a yacht

2012-02-08T18:29:00.001-05:00

This is pretty bizarre. From the Washington Examiner:

The Port of Los Angeles spent $489,000 of a $1.5 million grant from the Department of Energy to retrofit a city-owned yacht with "hydro-electric propulsion system," according to Issa's letter, rather than the diesel engines it already had in operation. The yacht is used to conduct tours of the port.

"This is the American people’s money that was borrowed in stimulus," said House Oversight and Government Reform Chair Darrell Issa in a local CBS broadcast. "It was supposed to create net new jobs. Could that half a million dollars have been used better? Was this really just show without substance?" . . .

Citizens in Detroit are turning to themselves to make sure that they are safe

2012-02-08T14:15:00.001-05:00

From the Daily.com:

Justifiable homicide in the city shot up 79 percent in 2011 from the previous year, as citizens in the long-suffering city armed themselves and took matters into their own hands. The local rate of self-defense killings now stands 2,200 percent above the national average. Residents, unable to rely on a dwindling police force to keep them safe, are fighting back against the criminal scourge on their own. And they’re offering no apologies.

“We got to have a little Old West up here in Detroit. That’s what it’s gonna take,” Detroit resident Julia Brown told The Daily.

The last time Brown, 73, called the Detroit police, they didn’t show up until the next day. So she applied for a permit to carry a handgun and says she’s prepared to use it against the young thugs who have taken over her neighborhood, burglarizing entire blocks, opening fire at will and terrorizing the elderly with impunity.

“I don’t intend to be one of their victims,” said Brown, who has lived in Detroit since the late 1950s. “I’m planning on taking one out.” . . . .

In this city of about 700,000 people, the number of cops has steadily fallen, from about 5,000 a decade ago to fewer than 3,000 today. Detroit homicides — the second-highest per capita in the country last year, according to the FBI — rose by 10 percent in 2011 to 344 people. . . .

Average police response time for priority calls in the city, according to the latest data available, is 24 minutes. In comparable cities across the country, it is well under 10 minutes.

Citizens like Brown feel they have been left with little choice but to take the law into their own hands.

The number of justifiable homicides, in which residents use deadly force in self-defense, jumped from 19 in 2010 to 34 last year — a 79 percent rise — according to newly released city data. . . .

Thanks to Eric Bragas for this link.

Maxim Lott's latest piece at Fox News: "Tech startups facing unexpected challenge: the government"

2012-02-08T14:12:00.001-05:00

My son's latest piece can be found here.

Surprisingly little opposition to Obamacare's mandate that religious organizations provide contraceptions and abortions

2012-02-08T12:08:00.003-05:00

Given that Obamacare will force the provision of morning after pills, this is more than contraception. In any case, I am surprised that not much more than 50 percent of voters oppose this use of government force. Rasmussen Reports finds:

Half of voters do not agree with the Obama administration’s action forcing Catholic institutions to pay for birth control measures that they morally oppose. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 39% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the government should require a church or religious organization to provide contraceptives for women even if it violates their deeply held beliefs. Fifty percent (50%) disagree and oppose such a requirement that runs contrary to strong beliefs, while 10% more are undecided. . . .

Meanwhile, Obama appears to be giving a different cover to their policies. From Fox News:

Obama's chief spokesman and his top campaign strategist both said the administration was searching for ways to allay the concern of Roman Catholics who say the birth control mandate would force them to violate their religious beliefs against contraception. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said the policy was a "huge mistake" that the administration should reconsider. "And if they don't, Congress will act," McConnell said. . . .
Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod made the same point. "The real question is how do we get together and resolve this in a way that respects the concerns that have been raised but also assures women across this country that they're going to have the preventive care that they need," Axelrod said on MSNBC.
The comments by Axelrod and Carney created a sense that the White House's public emphasis has clearly shifted and that further accommodation would be considered. But there was no sign the administration would move to completely withdraw the rule, and it was unclear that the White House could strike the balance of ensuring contraceptive coverage for all while defusing the fierce opposition of some religious groups when those two points are in conflict. . . .

Copy of the amazing Ninth Circuit decision on Prop 8

2012-02-08T11:44:00.003-05:00

As I expected, the very left wing and frequently overturned Judge Reinhardt argues that there is no rational reason to have marriage between a man and a woman. Whatever one thinks about homosexual marriage, this is not the way to get the political outcomes that one wants. A copy of the decision is available here.

The dissent points out that under the level of scrutiny involved for this case the government "has no obligation to provide evidence to sustain the rationality of statutory classification," that the measure at issue "is not subject to courtroom fact-finding and may be based on rational speculation unsupported by evidence or empirical data," and that states "may use their police power to regulate the 'morals' of their population" (pp. 11-12). If anything, the dissent doesn't go far enough in that it would seem to only allow states to withhold the word "marriage," not any of the rights that come with it, from homosexual marriage.

The majority here also doesn't explain why any type of a marriage between consenting adults shouldn't be allowed.

If judges can go this far in arbitrarily judging whether legislation is rational or not, there is nothing that judges can't redo in terms of their own political preferences.

John Fund explains the trouble that Romney is in

2012-02-08T11:37:00.001-05:00

John Fund summarizes the state of the race very well today.

But what Romney won’t be able to explain away is just how much more poorly he did tonight in those three states than in his 2008 showing — when he lost the GOP nomination for president. . . .

If Romney indeed loses all three states tonight, it will be in large part because he has failed to close the deal with conservatives, who dominate the Republican party more than they did in 2008. Romney drew the ire of conservative icons Steve Forbes and Dick Armey this week when he endorsed inflation-indexed minimum-wage increases — something every free-market economist worth his chops knows would make it harder for people to get entry-level jobs. Forbes told Yahoo News that “in the name of showing his compassion, he hurts the opportunities for those who need it the most.” Romney has also been quite muted in his opposition this week to President Obama’s proposed rule mandating that religiously affiliated hospitals provide birth control and morning-after-pill coverage. . . . .

Solid majority of Canadians support the death penalty

2012-02-08T05:02:00.003-05:00

The poll implies that Canadians support the death penalty in much the same way that it is done in the United States, which requires some type of special circumstances. Of course, despite what might be true in the movies, there has yet to be a case in the US where someone was incorrectly put to death. Even in the provinces with the most opposition, the opposition never rises above 45 percent and the next highest opposition is just 32 percent. From Angus Reid Public Opinion:

The survey conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion in partnership with the Toronto Star found that 63 per cent of the 1,002 Canadians surveyed across the country believe the death penalty is sometimes appropriate. Sixty-one per cent said capital punishment, which was abolished in Canada in 1976, is warranted for murder.

“I think people might be warming to the idea of having it as an option on the table, if anything just as a deterrent,” said Jaideep Mukerji of Angus Reid.

But Mukerji said the poll also reveals that it is “not a black and white” issue for many Canadians. Given the choice of supporting the death penalty or life imprisonment, 50 per cent chose the latter, the survey found. . . .

In British Columbia and Alberta, about seven in 10 support the return of the death penalty; six in 10 Ontarians, or 62 per cent, agree.

The most opposition was in Quebec, with about 45 per cent against the return of capital punishment. Some 32 per cent in Ontario and 24 per cent in British Columbia were also opposed.

“These respondents (about 75 per cent) are primarily concerned over the possibility of wrongful convictions leading to executions, but most (54 per cent) also feel that even if a convicted murderer has taken a life it is wrong to take the murderer’s own life as punishment,” the survey results stated. . . .

Thanks to Mario Canseco for this link to the full poll results.

Well, we can see who is benefiting from all those government subsidies for the Chevy Volt: The Wealthy

2012-02-07T23:48:00.001-05:00

From AOL Autos:

In order for the Chevy Volt to really be a success, the car needs to be affordable for the masses.

But for now, the car is mostly the province of the wealthy. General Motors, which makes the Volt, said Monday that the average income of Volt buyers is a whopping $175,000 a year. That rarefied space is usually reserved for buyers of German luxury cars.

"The Volt appeals to an affluent, progressive demographic," says Bill Visnic, senior editor for Edmunds.com "It's rare. It's hard to get one. ... It's the same reason that people buy the really rare exotic cars: Because other people can't have one."

GM hopes that the battery technology offered in the Chevy Volt catches on with the public so much that it can scale up production, making hundreds of thousands and driving down the cost of the expensive lithium-ion batteries. The batteries drive the Volt to be a $39,145 to $42,085 car before a $7,500 tax credit, so lower battery costs would make the car a bit more affordable. . . .

So does Clint Eastwood half time ad count as a donation to the Obama campaign?

2012-02-07T21:37:00.004-05:00

Chrysler got bailout by the Obama administration.

Two members of the creative team that produced the two-minute minute spot for ad agency Wieden+Kennedy donated their personal time in 2008 to make pro-Obama art.

From the Hollywood Reporter: "The Obama reelection campaign couldn’t buy a better endorsement."

Chrysler Dealers are supposedly not happy that people see the Chrysler ad payback to Obama. What I can say is that this reporter really ought to be on Obama's payroll.

"Super PAC" Failed Promise

2012-02-07T19:36:00.001-05:00

Some of the press have called Obama on this change in position. As president, Obama has raised large amounts of money and not have to spend it against challengers in his primary. This video at Real Clear Politics is worth watching:

"With the President reversing course on this, does he look hypocritical?" O'Donnell asked.

"The President firmly believes that the affects of the Citizens United decision were as he described or predicted. And were are seeing that play out in many ways, like the Republican primary process which you all have covered or many of your colleagues have covered," Carney said.

O'Donnell pressed Carney, again asking if the President's past statements on Super PACs raised the issue of hypocrisy.

"The President spent much of 2010 on the road ridiculing these groups. I mean, he joked about the name, they can call themselves anything like 'Moms For Motherhood.' He really decried their influence on the elections. Now, he has signaled to his campaign he would like his donors to contribute (to the PAC) as well. You indicated, when asked about when the President made his decision, you said you could 'divine' that and clearly since he made that in February 2012. Has the President been putting off this decision or are you indicating that he left it to so late in the game because he didn't want to do this but since he's watched the Republican primary he's finally relented and said, 'the Republicans have so much money, I'm willing to give up on my principles?'" O'Donnell asked. . . .

Wisconsin "Republican Assembly leader carries concealed weapon while in session"

2012-02-07T18:37:00.002-05:00

It isn't just whether there is danger on the Assembly floor. If you can't carry a gun with you on the Assembly floor, you can't carry it with you going to or from the Assembly. If you can't keep it with you on Assembly grounds, you couldn't keep it with you when you leave home to go to the Assembly. From the Badger Herald:

A Republican leader in the state Assembly, in charge of maintaining order during legislative sessions, has carried a concealed gun during sessions in the Wisconsin Legislature.

Assembly Leader Pro Tempore Bill Kramer, R-Waukesha, told the Associated Press Friday he has carried a concealed Glock 26, a subcompact semi-automatic gun, on the Assembly floor.

Kramer said he received a concealed carry permit before Thanksgiving and needs it because of the atmosphere in the Capitol. He said he has received threatening emails, including one calling for Jesus to return and stab him with a flaming sword.

“Have you been in the Capitol lately?” Kramer asked the Associated Press. “The saying is you don’t need a gun until you need it. I hope to go to my grave having never fired it at anything but a paper target.”

He added he is not the only legislator who carries a concealed gun in the chamber. . . .

He pointed to the assault of Rep. Robin Vos, R-Burlington, who a protestor doused with beer. He also said Rep. Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc, has received insults from protesters, especially against his wife, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, even in front of their children. . . .

“I really can’t imagine why a member of the Assembly feels the need to have a gun on the floor, especially at a time when people are being taken out of the Assembly chambers for silently holding signs with pictures of the apple pie and copies of the Constitution silently,” Roys said. . . .

Obama is only returning part of the money raised by family of person who is linked to violence and corruption in Mexico and seeking pardon

2012-02-07T17:05:00.004-05:00

So if the family can convince others to give money to Obama's campaign, that money can be used by the campaign? Why not return it and let the individuals re-donate it if they want to give the money? From the Canadian National Post:

President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign is returning more than $200,000 in donations from the family of a fugitive casino magnate linked to violence and corruption in Mexico who has been seeking a pardon, Obama’s campaign confirmed on Tuesday. . . . .
The New York Times cited Obama campaign officials as saying that said most of the donations of about $200,000 came from the Cardonas brothers themselves and other relatives. The campaign was identifying other donations, believed to total less than $100,000, that was bundled from other people, the newspaper said. . . .

How easy is vote fraud in Minnesota or New Hampshire?

2012-02-07T16:10:00.002-05:00

A video about Minnesota is here.

How about live people voting for dead people in New Hampshire?

Romney's Solyndra?

2012-02-06T19:59:00.001-05:00

This is great. From Politico.

Republicans are pounding Barack Obama on Solyndra, but it may be a complicated argument for their front-runner to maintain: While Mitt Romney was governor, Massachusetts also picked some winners and losers with energy subsidies.
And like Obama, some of the companies Romney's state invested in came out on the losing end.
The scale is dramatically different: While the Obama administration dumped $535 million alone into Solyndra — the California solar panel company that subsequently filed for bankruptcy protection — the energy loans, grants and other financial help Romney distributed during four years as governor add up to just a fraction of that amount.
But Democrats — and even some Republicans — say the core issue is the same: If the federal government shouldn't be betting on one company rather than the other, then neither should the state of Massachusetts. . . .

Obama administration regulates what service chaplains can say

2012-02-06T19:54:00.003-05:00

The Obama administration regulates what Catholics are able to say at their religious services for military. From CNS news:

The message from the archbishop touched off a controversy both in and outside the military when the Army's Office of the Chief of Chaplains told the service's senior chaplains that Catholic priests serving as Army chaplains should be told not to read the archbishop's letter from the pulpit.

The Archdiocese for the Military Services has described that move as a violation of the archbishop's First Amendment rights as well as the First Amendment rights of the Catholic chaplains involved and their congregations.

The regulation the archbishop spoke about was finalized by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Jan. 20. It mandates that all health-care plans in the United States cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives, including those that cause abortions. A “religious” employer exemption included in the regulation only applies to organizations that primarily focus on inculcating the tenets of the church in question, primarily employ members of the church, primarily serve members of the church, and is organized under the section of the Internal Revenue Code used by actual parishes.

Catholic hospitals, universities and charitable institutions would not be exempt from the regulation, nor would Catholic individuals, business owners, or insurers. . . .

Peter Johnson, Jr. weighs in on whether White House violated Army chaplains' rights

Google and privacy

2012-02-06T13:06:00.002-05:00

This is actually a pretty effective ad.

Surprise: Journal editors ask scholars to cite relevant articles from their journals in their research

2012-02-06T12:25:00.000-05:00

This is a surprise? The fact that it is primarily younger authors who get the most suggestions slightly helps to differentiate it from the fact that editors might simply know the articles in their own journal best. The alternative might be the editors want to suggest articles that they know to everyone, but that they refrain from doing so to senior researchers who might react negatively. From USA Today:

Business, economics and related scholarly journal editors are coercing scholars into unnecessarily citing their own journals, a survey suggests, perverting the research record.

A system of "impact factors", tied to references listed in studies, pervades the scholarly enterprise, notes survey author Allen Wilhite and Eric Fong of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, who reports the survey of 6,672 researchers in economics, sociology, psychology, and business research in the current Science journal. The survey covered journal editor behavior from 832 publications.

Overall, about 20% of survey respondents say that a journal editor had coerced extra citations to their own journal from them. Broadly, journals with higher impact factors attract more prestige, advertising and power in hiring and firing decisions in scholarly circles, the authors note, giving journal editors an incentive to extort added citations to their publications in the studies they consider for publication. "(T)he message is clear: Add citations or risk rejection," write the authors.

In particular, younger professors with few co-authors who need publications to keep their jobs reported the most pressure. Business journal editors coerced the most often, followed by economics, and then psychology and other social sciences. . . .

Hoekstra's ad raises questions of racial sensitivity?

2012-02-06T11:59:00.000-05:00

I guess that I don't see how a beautiful Asian woman is a threatening visual image that will stir up racism and xenophobia." I would think that a gruff looking man fits that image much better. My own guess is that this just shows that how effective Hoekstra's campaign has been. From the Washington Post:

The portrayal of a young Asian woman speaking broken English in a Super Bowl ad being run by U.S. Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra against Michigan incumbent Debbie Stabenow is bringing charges of racial insensitivity.

GOP consultant Nick De Leeuw flat-out scolded the Holland Republican for the ad.

“Stabenow has got to go. But shame on Pete Hoekstra for that appalling new advertisement,” De Leeuw wrote on his Facebook page Sunday morning. “Racism and xenophobia aren’t any way to get things done.”

The nonpartisan Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote group’s Michigan chapter said it was “deeply disappointed” by the ad, noting that the Asian-American community is a major contributor to Michigan’s economy. In 2010, Michigan’s 236,490 Asian-Americans made up 2.4 percent of the state’s population, up 35 percent from 2000. . . . .

The Teacher's Unions and Congressional Democrats

2012-02-06T11:10:00.001-05:00

Here is how the NEA grades congressmen.

The partisan divide plaguing Washington is evident in the National Education Association’s recently released Legislative Report Card for the first session of the 112th Congress (2011). The annual report card measures members’ of Congress overall support for public education and educators, with each member receiving a letter grade of A, B, C, D or F.

In 2011, only 57 Congressional Republicans earned passing NEA grades, while 143 did so in 2005. “Unfortunately, these ratings confirm that Congress is increasingly divided. We all have a responsibility to help our students succeed—especially our elected leaders,” said NEA President Dennis Van Roekel.

The grades of more moderate Democrats and Republicans rebounded from 2009-2010 lows as a result of bipartisan opposition to attacks on worker’s rights and support for education programs such as Title 1 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee also worked in bipartisan fashion to adopt some needed improvements to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

“We have to work together to ensure adequate and equal funding for all public schools so that all students have the opportunity to succeed in school and in life,” said Van Roekel. “These men and women hold much of the future of our students in their hands and we need to know if our member of Congress supports public education and workers’ rights.”

NEA graded members of Congress based on selected votes in 2011. . . .

On another 1.2 million dropping out of the labor force

2012-02-05T23:20:00.000-05:00

The January BLS numbers show that 1.2 million have dropped out of the labor force. Over the last year we have seen a huge drop in the number of people in the labor force. The BLS numbers showed an additional 1.2 million drop in January, though more accurately this drop should have been spread out over the last year. In fact, the number of people dropping out of the labor force was larger than was being reported. Between January 2010 and December 2011, the official numbers had shown that 3 million had dropped out of the labor force. The correct number for the period from January 2010 to January 2012 is over 4.2 million. Some people have attacked those who pointed to the 1.2 million number for January without acknowledging that the numbers that they have been using previously understated the already large number of people who had dropped out of the labor market.

Of course, as ususal, both Santelli and Zero Hedge have a real reading comprehension problem and completely missed that this million+ people isn’t some new January phenomenon, but a result of the BLS using the 2010 census data to have more accurate data. In other words, the changes in the Household Survey to the various measures had taken place over the years prior to 2010, but for simplicity’s sake, the BLS incorporates these changes into one month . . .

The adjustment increased the estimated size of the civilian noninstitutional population in December by 1,510,000, the civilian labor force by 258,000, employment by 216,000, unemployment by 42,000, and persons not in the labor force by 1,252,000. Although the total unemployment rate was unaffected, the labor force participation rate and the employment-population ratio were each reduced by 0.3 percentage point. This was because the population increase was primarily among persons 55 and older and, to a lesser degree, persons 16 to 24 years of age. Both these age groups have lower levels of labor force participation than the general population.”

So Rick/Zero Hedge, unless you would like to argue that the population of the United States also grew by 1.5 million in one month (since that is from the exact same report/revision you quoted), I think both of you should retract your extremely misleading statements about those not in the labor force increasing by over a million in January and simply admit that you are either too stupid or too focused on selling a particular world view to read the data correctly. . . .

Drug testing for some welfare recipients in Pennsylvania

2012-02-05T21:13:00.002-05:00

I don't really understand the constitutional objections over privacy to drug testing. Someone doesn't have to take government money, but if they do there can easily be certain requirements, including a drug test. From Fox News:

After a federal judge blocked a much broader drug-test rule in Florida, Pennsylvania is taking a more careful approach. Instead of mandating drug tests for all welfare recipients, Pennsylvania plans to randomly test only those with a felony drug conviction within the past five years and those on probation for such offenses.
Officials are taking it slow. A pilot program has started in Pennsylvania's Schuylkill County, which could pave the way for a statewide program this summer if it proves cost effective.
State Sen. David Argall said in a statement last month that the program is "overdue," as officials try to cut costs in the state's most expensive division -- the Department of Public Welfare.
"This initiative seeks to stop the abuse within our welfare system," he said, adding that government benefits should only go to those "who genuinely deserve state assistance." . . . .

It turns out that liberal Democrats don't mind forcing states to adopt the laws that they like

2012-02-05T21:04:00.003-05:00

I can understand laws against texting while driving, but state governments can pass these as well as the federal government. It was amusing to see all Democrats attacking a national reciprocity law for concealed carry as impinging on state rights have no problem with regulating driving laws across states. The new Senate legislation is discussed here.

Dem Congressmen use Class Warfare against Pelosi

2012-02-05T20:59:00.002-05:00

It is nice to see that the wealthy inside the Democratic party can't be trusted either. From Fox Nation:

Class warfare erupted in a House Democratic Caucus meeting Tuesday, as Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s personal fortune was thrown in her face by a junior colleague angry about a proposal to freeze the pay of members of Congress.

Rep. Laura Richardson attacked Pelosi for endorsing the GOP-written pay freeze during a Tuesday caucus discussion of a possible Democratic amendment to the payroll tax cut, according to several sources who were in the room at the time. Both women are California Democrats.

The sources disagreed on the exact wording of the unusually direct shot at the party leader, but Richardson’s sentiment was clear: Pelosi, who is worth at least $40 million, doesn’t need the money as much as some of her colleagues, and she should have consulted with them before deciding to protect the GOP-written pay freeze. . . .

One way to look at job growth

2012-02-05T12:09:00.000-05:00

This is from Investor's Business Daily.

Ginsburg tells Egyptians not to look to the US Constitution for guidance

2012-02-04T17:29:00.003-05:00

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg advising Egypt not to model its constitution after the US Constitution:

"You should certainly be aided by all the constitution-writing that has gone one since the end of World War II. I would not look to the US constitution, if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012. I might look at the constitution of South Africa. That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, had an independent judiciary... It really is, I think, a great piece of work that was done. Much more recent than the US constitution - Canada has a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It dates from 1982. You would almost certainly look at the European Convention on Human Rights. Yes, why not take advantage of what there is elsewhere in the world?"

See also this. Ginsburg's objection is that the US Constitution doesn't guarantee government services for people.

Newest Fox News piece: The bad news behind the January jobs report

2012-02-03T11:32:00.007-05:00

My newest pieces starts this way:

In January 2009, 11.6 million Americans were out of work and 23 percent of them had been unemployed for more than six months.

Today there are 12.8 million unemployed and 43 percent have been out of a job for more than six months. The average length of unemployment has increased dramatically since even the recovery started. Back in June 2009, “only” 29 percent of the unemployed had been unemployed longer than six months.

The number of unemployed Americans last month fell by 339,000, the fifth largest drop since January 2009. But there was an even much more shockingly large number -- almost 1.2 million additional Americans were classified in January as not being in the labor force (see figure here). Unfortunately, that has been the consistent story that has made this “recovery” unique as more and more Americans have just given up looking for work. . . .

Interview with Mark Levin

UPDATE: Romney's take is available here:

Mitt Romney said President Barack Obama doesn’t deserve credit for improvement in the economy, saying the man he’s seeking to replace in November has stymied U.S. growth.
“This president has not helped the process; he’s hurt it,” the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination told 14 local businessmen he met today with in Sparks, Nevada. “If I’m the president, I will see what you do as being a very good thing, a patriotic and good thing.” . . .

Is Obama's desire to subsidize manufacturing jobs related to the fact that is where the union jobs tend to be?

2012-02-03T10:36:00.003-05:00

The NY Times notes:

In his State of the Union address, President Obama called for a wide-ranging package of policies to help create American manufacturing jobs, including trade enforcement measures, business tax breaks and worker training programs. In many ways, the proposal is surprising, as few economists now consider manufacturing a potent engine for job growth in the United States. . . .

Economists would advocate treating all businesses the same, but the Obama administration doesn't think so. So this begs the question about why should the president single out manufacturing for special benefits? My guess is that it is unions.

The number of working age Americans "Not in Labor Force" soars by 1.2 million in January

2012-02-03T09:50:00.003-05:00

See the "not in labor force" category here.

Is Romney really in favor of raising the minimum wage?

2012-02-01T23:22:00.002-05:00

I had to read this piece in the WSJ twice to convince myself that it was true. Romney is a disaster if he really believes that this is good policy. Raising the minimum wage puts the poorest least trained people out of work. The rents created for even those that get the minimum wage jobs are also competed away. From the WSJ:

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Wednesday reiterated his position that the minimum wage should rise automatically with inflation. His top rival, Newt Gingrich, later criticized the idea.

Mr. Romney has said in past appearances that, dating to his time as Massachusetts governor, he believed in indexing the minimum wage to inflation, though his stance hasn’t drawn much attention. “I haven’t changed my thoughts on that,’’ he said Wednesday when asked by reporters aboard his chartered campaign plane, according to the Associated Press. He did not say whether, as president, he would urge Congress to make such a change, the news service noted.

Later on Wednesday, Mr. Gingrich took issue with the automated increase proposal, pointing to past periods of rapid price rises.

“Figure out what the Romney plan would have cost and how radically it would have raised the minimum wage in the late 1970s,” Mr. Gingrich said during an appearance in Reno, Nev. “Historically, that would be a dangerous idea.” . . .

Newt's comments on Romney's statement about the poor today

2012-02-01T17:37:00.000-05:00

Germany's unemployment rate continues to fall

2012-02-01T10:49:00.003-05:00

Remember Krugman's attacks on Germany over the last couple of years? Here is something from a piece that he wrote in June 2010:

And here in Germany, a few scholars see parallels to the policies of Heinrich Brüning, the chancellor from 1930 to 1932, whose devotion to financial orthodoxy ended up sealing the doom of the Weimar Republic.

But despite these warnings, the deficit hawks are prevailing in most places — and nowhere more than here, where the government has pledged 80 billion euros, almost $100 billion, in tax increases and spending cuts even though the economy continues to operate far below capacity.

What’s the economic logic behind the government’s moves? The answer, as far as I can tell, is that there isn’t any. Press German officials to explain why they need to impose austerity on a depressed economy, and you get rationales that don’t add up. Point this out, and they come up with different rationales, which also don’t add up. . . .

But German politicians seem determined to prove their strength by imposing suffering — and politicians around the world are following their lead.

How bad will it be? Will it really be 1937 all over again? I don’t know. What I do know is that economic policy around the world has taken a major wrong turn, and that the odds of a prolonged slump are rising by the day. . . .

Yet, Germany's unemployment rate keeps falling:

Spain and Italy creaked under record unemployment rates at the end of 2011, while the German jobless rate fell to historic lows — results that put the onus firmly on Germany, with Europe’s biggest economy, to take the lead in steering the euro zone back to recovery.

Joblessness in Italy rose to 8.9 percent, its highest level since current records began in 2004, the country’s statistics institute said Tuesday. Spain ended the year with unemployment at a 17-year high of 22.85 percent.

German unemployment, by contrast, fell to 6.7 percent in January, a decline of a tenth of a percentage point from December. . . .

Germany's manufacturing sector is pulling Europe's along.

Markets were buoyed by manufacturing data from Germany, the U.K. and the euro zone, released Wednesday morning. The German Purchasing Managers Index rose to 51.0 in January from 48.4 in December, slightly beating consensus expectations. The euro-zone PMI rose to 48.8 in January, which was above the earlier flash estimate of 48.7, also a little above consensus. In the U.K., PMI rose to an eight-month high of 52.1 in January, up from a revised reading of 49.7 in December. . . .

Well, there are also crazy drivers in other countries

2012-02-01T08:27:00.000-05:00

VIDEO: Melbourne's crazy drivers

The most open administration ever is again stonewalling documents

2012-02-01T07:03:00.001-05:00

From Politico:

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) threatened Tuesday to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress if the Justice Department did not provide certain documents in response to the committee’s subpoena.
In a letter to Holder, Issa wrote that “this committee will have no alternative but to move forward with proceedings to hold you in contempt of Congress” if Holder and the DOJ didn’t produce documents they demanded relating to the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal.
Holder has until Thursday, Feb. 9. to comply, according to Issa.
Issa accused the Justice Department of trying to “obstruct our investigation and deceive the public” by withholding documents.
“Your actions lead us to conclude that the department is actively engaged in a cover-up,” he said in a four-page letter.
The California Republican pointed to a document that the DOJ released last Friday, which indicated that Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer had promoted gun-walking to Mexico on the same day that Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich wrote to Congress denying that the DOJ had allowed guns to walk.
“It is inconceivable that the Department just became aware of this highly damaging document,” writes Issa, pointing out that the Oversight Committee had originally issued a subpoena on Oct. 12, 2011. . . .

Robbery foiled in Milwaukee by person with a gun

2012-02-01T06:21:00.004-05:00

This could be an interesting example of how Milwaukee is changing given the new concealed carry law. From the Chicago Tribune:

Milwaukee police say an armed robbery attempt at a grocery store ended when a customer opened fire.

A man armed with a shotgun entered an Aldi store in the north side of the city about 7 p.m. Monday and tried to rob the store, authorities say.

A customer pulled out a gun and fired at the suspect, who fled without any cash or merchandise. None of the employees or customers were injured. . . .

Thanks to MaryEllen Libraro for the link.

UPDATE: Apparently, the concealed handgun permit holder used his gun in a store that was posted as a gun-free zone. Law Professor Ann Althouse has the story here. I would like to give a talk on these issues at the University of Wisconsin.

Thanks to pakurilecz for this link.

Some amazing predictions from the CBO

2012-01-31T13:45:00.003-05:00

Who knows about predicting the economy a year from now, but the CBO has some depressing predictions.

Key facts from the CBO’s Budget and Economic Outlook:

Real economic growth is projected to be to 2.2 percent in 2012, falling to 1.0 percent in 2013;

The unemployment rate is expected to reach 8.8 percent in 2012, 9.1 percent in 2013, and 8.7 percent in 2014;

The FY2012 budget deficit is projected to equal $1.079 trillion, the fourth consecutive year with the budget deficit above $1 trillion;

Total debt is projected to reach $16 trillion in 2012, with debt held by the public to eclipse the $11 trillion mark in 2012 (72.5% of GDP);

Debt held by the public is projected to reach $15.3 trillion by 2022. . . .

How about this discussion of the report:

The unemployment rate would be even higher than it is now had participation in the labor force not declined as much as it has over the past few years. The rate of participation in the labor force fell from 66 percent in 2007 to an average of
64 percent in the second half of 2011, an unusually large decline over so short a time. About a third of that decline reflects factors other than the downturn, such as the aging of the baby-boom generation. But even with those factors removed, the estimated decline in that rate during the past four years is larger than has been typical of past downturns, even after accounting for the greater severity of this downturn. Had that portion of the decline in the labor force participation rate since 2007 that is attributable to neither the aging of the baby boomers nor the downturn in the business cycle (on the basis of the experience in previous downturns) not occurred, the unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of 2011 would have been about 11⁄4 percentage points higher than the actual rate of 8.7 percent. . . .

Meanwhile, it looks as if most Americans think that Obama is passing up some jobs with his dragging his feet over the Keystone pipeline. It is interesting to see when the Obama administration is willing to use multipliers in its predictions and when it claims that we need a short term stimulus versus a longer term one. They haven't exactly been consistent over time. From Politico:

Congressional Republicans and proponents of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline have successfully put the issue on the map, as 78 percent of Americans believe the pipeline would create a “significant amount of jobs,” according to a late December poll by GOP pollster David Winston.
TransCanada claims the pipeline would create 20,000 jobs - 13,000 in construction and 7,000 in manufacturing.
But the State Department — which was studying the proposal — said it would create " approximately 5,000 to 6,000 direct construction jobs" and downplayed any major long-term employment boost.
Further muddling the picture, TransCanada commissioned a Perryman Group study that predicted up to 119,000 spinoff jobs. . . .
Meanwhile, voters were divided over whether President Barack Obama was right in November when he attempted to punt a decision on the pipeline until 2013.
Forty-eight percent said they agreed more with the president and concerns about the environmental impact than with Republican claims the delay "is costing 20,000 jobs" and is due to political reasons. Forty-five percent sided with the GOP claim. Those figures are within the margin of error. . . .

"Obama the most polarizing president ever"

2012-01-31T13:35:00.002-05:00

So much for running to unit the country. Now the press concludes that if Obama couldn't get rid of the gap it is probably impossible to erase. From the Washington Post:

President Obama ran — and won — in 2008 on the idea of uniting the country. But each of his first three years in office has marked historic highs in political polarization, with Democrats largely approving of him and Republicans deeply disapproving.

For 2011, Obama’s third year in office, an average of 80 percent of Democrats approved of the job he was doing in Gallup tracking polls, as compared to 12 percent of Republicans who felt the same way. That’s a 68-point partisan gap, the highest for any president’s third year in office — ever. (The previous high was George W. Bush in 2007, when he had a 59 percent difference in job approval ratings.)

In 2010, the partisan gap between how Obama was viewed by Democrats versus Republicans stood at 68 percent; in 2009, it was 65 percent. Both were the highest marks ever for a president’s second and first years in office, respectively.

What do those numbers tell us? Put simply: that the country is hardening along more and more strict partisan lines. . . .

For fourth year the deficit will exceed $1 trillion

2012-01-31T12:51:00.003-05:00

So much for Obama's promise to cut government spending and the deficit. From the Washington Post:

The federal budget deficit will top $1 trillion for a fourth straight year, congressional budget analysts said Tuesday, the smallest since the Great Recession hit in 2009.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected that the gap between government spending and tax collections would continue to fall, dropping sharply in 2013 and through the decade if policymakers follow through with major changes in both tax policy and government spending now on the books.

The $1.1 trillion deficit is the smallest deficit figure — both in nominal terms and as a percentage of the economy — since the Great Recession. . . . .

Even mass murderers appear to fear the death penalty

2012-01-31T12:50:00.001-05:00

From the BBC:

The sole surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai (Bombay) attacks has launched an appeal against his death sentence in India's Supreme Court. . . .

A really surprisingly sympathetic piece on guns from NPR

2012-01-31T12:42:00.003-05:00

What do you do when you can't depend on the police for protection? NPR addresses this question in a piece on Mexico's gun control laws, though it does bring in some digs on gun ownership.

In Mexico, where criminals are armed to the teeth with high-powered weapons smuggled from the United States, it may come as a surprise that the country has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world.

Law-abiding Mexicans who want a gun to defend themselves have no good options. Either they fight government red tape to get a legal permit, or they buy one on the black market.

After an outbreak of violence, one embattled community in northern Mexico called Colonia LeBaron has begun to ask if it's time for the country to address its gun laws. . . .

The cold-blooded murders of Benjamin LeBaron and Luis Widmar galvanized the community, Julian LeBaron says. It prompted them to take a stance that is familiar to Second Amendment advocates in the U.S., but one that is taboo in Mexico.

"I think there would be less violence if there were more guns, in the sense that I could barge in here and do whatever I want, knowing that this guy doesn't have a gun," says Jose Widmar, the brother of slain Luis.

Today, if the gangsters return, the LeBaron colony is locked and loaded. . . .

Thanks to Ajit Pai for this link.

Victim turns tables on two gun toting robbers

2012-01-31T10:58:00.002-05:00

The victim, who was obviously a concealed carry permit holder, wounded one of the two men who attacked him. From Mobile, Alabama:

Spokeswoman Ashley Rains said the intended victim parked his car in his driveway in the 1300 block of Center Street about 4:25 a.m. when two men pointed guns at him, demanding property.
Rains said that the intended victim pulled his gun and fired at the two men, shooting one in the hand. The robbers fled toward Cottage Street, returning fire as they retreated, she said. The intended victim was not hit.
About an hour later, a man showed up at the University of South Alabama Medical center for treatment of a gunshot to the right hand, Rains said. . . .

Thanks to Joseph Rich for this link.

The economy is still a mess

2012-01-31T10:45:00.003-05:00

Home Prices drop again

. . . For November, the Case-Shiller index of 10 major metropolitan areas and the 20-city index both fell 1.3% from the previous month. David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Indices, also noted that 19 of the 20 major U.S. metropolitan markets covered by the indices in November saw prices decline from October.

"The only positive for the month was Phoenix" . . . .

The 10-city and 20-city composites posted annual returns of negative 3.6% and negative 3.7%, respectively, versus November 2010. At negative 11.8%, hard-hit Atlanta continued to post the lowest annual return. . . .

People can't get financing for new home purchases.

Falling homeownership — and prices — reflect the worst housing downturn since the Great Depression. And while there are signs that the housing industry's downturn may at least be nearing a bottom, the impact of the collapse will be evident for years to come, economists say.
As of November, average U.S. home prices were back to mid-2003 levels, S&P says.
"Americans are less keen on homeownership knowing now that prices can fall," says Paul Dales, economist with Capital Economics.
Even if people want to own a home, they may not be able to, given the difficulty in getting financing for a mortgage, Dales says. The National Association of Realtors says many purchase contracts appear to be falling through for that reason.
Many economists expect home prices to continue to fall this year and maybe into next year before stabilizing and then showing little or no appreciation for some time.
"The trend is down, and there are few, if any, signs in the numbers that a turning point is close at hand," says David Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index committee. . . .

Consumer Confidence Plummets

U.S. consumer confidence in January gave back some of the huge gains posted in the previous two months, according to a report released Tuesday. Views on labor markets darkened.

The Conference Board, a private research group, said its index of consumer confidence retreated to 61.1 this month from a revised 64.8 in December, first reported as 64.5. The January index was far less than the 68.0 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.

The fallback was concentrated in consumers’ view of the current economy. The present situation index, a gauge of consumers’ assessment of current economic conditions, dropped to 38.4 in January from a revised 46.5, originally reported as 46.7.

Consumer expectations for economic activity over the next six months slipped only slightly, to 76.2 in January from a revised 77.0, first reported as 76.4.

“Regarding the short-term outlook, consumers are more upbeat about employment, but less optimistic about business conditions and their income prospects." . . . .

Perceptions about the job markets worsened this month. The survey showed 43.5% think jobs are “hard to get” up from 41.6% saying that in December, while only 6.1% think jobs are “plentiful” down from 6.6% in December. . . .

Greek Private Bond Holders facing 70 Percent Cut in Value of Bonds

2012-01-31T06:18:00.001-05:00

From the Associated Press:

Investors participating in a deal to slash Greece's massive debt would face an overall loss on their bond holdings of more than 70 percent, a person involved in with the negotiations said early Tuesday.
European leaders at a summit in Brussels said a final debt deal could be signed off in the coming days . . .

Athens and representatives of investors holding Greek government bonds over the weekend came close to a final agreement designed to bring Greece's debt down to a more manageable level. Without a restructuring, those debts would swell to around double the country's economic output by the end of the year.

If the agreement works as planned, it will help Greece remain solvent and help Europe avoid a blow to its already weakened financial system, even though banks and other bond investors will have to accept big losses.

The person involved in the talks said Monday that the more-than 70 percent loss was the result of cutting the bonds' face value in half, reducing the average interest rate to between 3.5 per cent and 4 percent and pushing repayment of the bonds 30 years into the future. A second person briefed on the talks confirmed that the loss on the so-called net present value of the bonds would be around 70 percent. . . .

Double standards for John Kerry and Mitt Romney's tax records?

2012-01-30T21:29:00.002-05:00

John Kerry is wealthier than Mitt Romney, but he has paid a smaller percentage of his income in taxes. Yet, where was the media outrage over Kerry's tax returns?

Obama White House refuses to condemn Occupy Wall Street Rioters

2012-01-30T21:26:00.001-05:00

From Fox News:

QUESTION: Occupy Wall Street protesters are making headlines again as you know over the weekend 400 protesters were arrested in Oakland and now today the national park services is expected to clear out protesters potentially as we speak from a site here in DC.

What is your reaction, is the administration concerned that some of these protesters are taking things too far?

CARNEY: Well, with regards to Oakland that’s obviously a local law enforcement matter. Here in Washington I would refer you for specifics to the U.S. National Park Services and U.S. Park Police and our position has been and continues to be that we need to balance first Amendment concerns, the right to demonstrate, the right to speak freely with public safety concerns and public health concerns and we understand that local law enforcement as well as National Park Service and U.S. Park Police are weighing these considerations when making these decisions and that’s appropriate.

16 Climate Scientists say don't worry about Global Warming

2012-01-29T06:42:00.000-05:00

Where do Americans stand on Concealed Carry Laws?

2012-01-29T05:49:00.005-05:00

Angus-Reid Survey: 59% of Americans support either a right-to-carry law (51%) or a "Vermont" style rule (8%) that doesn't require a permit. Even 50% of Democrats and 50% of non-gun owners fall in this category.

There was also this question. The answer to it raises the question of what the reaction would have been if the 4 Justice minority on the court had their way with the Heller and McDonald decisions. These four justices don't even represent the views of Democrats.

Americans are already facing higher capital gains tax rates?: The question is actually how much higher are they going

2012-01-28T12:49:00.000-05:00

Start with the fact that Obamacare will be imposing a 3.8 percentage point increase in capital gains taxes next year. Next comes the question of whether the Bush tax cuts will expire. If they do expire, the base capital gains tax rate goes up to 20%. In addition, there will be another 1.2 percentage points added for high income earners. Altogether, if the Bush tax cuts expire, the total capital gains tax will rise to 25%.

Obama administration doesn't think that it is appropriate to have a parade in NYC to honor the troops that served in Iraq

2012-01-28T12:45:00.001-05:00

From the AP:

Bloomberg says Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin Dempsey and other Army officials "made it clear" to the city "they do not think a parade is appropriate now." . . .

Did Obama's union biased Stimulus slightly increase the number of workers in unionized firms?

2012-01-28T12:02:00.002-05:00

All those rules requiring that work be done by unionized workers only had a small (I assume temporary) impact on the percent of workers who are unionized. From the WSJ:

The percentage of workers who belong to a union inched down to 11.8% from 11.9% in 2010, a decline the Bureau of Labor Statistics said left the rate "essentially unchanged." . . .

In 2011, the private sector added about 110,000 union members, pushing the total there to 7.2 million. In the public sector, membership fell by 61,000 as budget-strapped federal, state and local governments cut jobs.

Still, public-sector union members continued to account for more than half of the nation's total union members, and their membership rate of 37% remained five times greater than the private sector's rate of 6.9%. . . .

Will Obama be helping public colleges at the expense of private ones?

2012-01-28T10:52:00.003-05:00

The key here is how the government defines colleges as being "too costly." Will it simply be tuition or the amount spent? Obviously public colleges cost much more than they charge. I also hate to think of how the federal government is going to determine quality. The article below also has a discussion about possible price controls. From Bloomberg Businessweek:

Saying “we just can’t keep on subsidizing skyrocketing tuition,” President Barack Obama proposed to have the government, for the first time, link federal aid to a college’s ability to control tuition costs and maintain education quality.

“We are putting colleges on notice -- you can’t assume that you’ll just jack up tuition every single year,” Obama said today at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “If you can’t stop tuition from going up, then the funding you get from taxpayers every year will go down.”

For institutions that control costs, the administration is proposing to increase campus-based aid to about $10 billion a year, up from $1 billion. The bulk of the money, about $8 billion, would be devoted to Perkins loans for students, with other aid set aside for work-study grants and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants.

Obama said higher education today is “an economic imperative” instead of a luxury. “College is the single most important investment that you can make in your future,” he said.

The administration’s proposal calls for $1 billion to entice states to help keep costs down at public colleges while encouraging an overhaul of state programs that help finance education.

Obama is also proposing $55 million for individual colleges as an inducement to improve education quality. . . .

Apparently, the public colleges are pretty upset all on their own.

Fuzzy math, Illinois State University's president called it. "Political theater of the worst sort," said the University of Washington's head.
President Obama's new plan to force colleges and universities to contain tuition or face losing federal dollars is raising alarm among education leaders who worry about the threat of government overreach. Particularly sharp words came from the presidents of public universities; they're already frustrated by increasing state budget cuts.
The reality, said Illinois State's Al Bowman, is that simple changes cannot easily overcome deficits at many public schools. He said he was happy to hear Obama, in a speech Friday at the University of Michigan, urge state-level support of public universities. But, Bowman said, given the decreases in state aid, tying federal support to tuition prices is a product of fuzzy math.
Illinois has lowered public support for higher education by about one-third over the past decade when adjusted for inflation. Illinois State, with 21,000 students, has raised tuition almost 47 percent since 2007, from $6,150 a year for an in-state undergraduate student to $9,030.
"Most people, including the president, assume if universities were simply more efficient they would be able to operate with much smaller state subsidies, and I believe there are certainly efficiency gains that can be realized," Bowman said. "But they pale in comparison to the loss in state support." . . .

An amusing campaign ad about Obama's policies

2012-01-28T09:56:00.001-05:00

Racism in South African Politics

2012-01-28T06:09:00.000-05:00

This story is about Lindiwe Mazibuko, the leader of the Democratic Alliance. From the New York Times:

SHE has unmistakably African roots, from her birthplace (the kingdom of Swaziland) to one of her native tongues (isiZulu) to her mocha skin.

But for many people, Lindiwe Mazibuko is just not black enough.

During a parliamentary session this year, a government minister here called her a coconut (white on the inside, brown on the outside). One political opponent described Ms. Mazibuko as the tea girl, or servant, for the leader of the country’s chief opposition party. Twitter users have flung racial slurs at her, called her a token and said she was naïve. . . .

Looking at the previous recessions can you spot the slowest recovery?

2012-01-28T03:15:00.004-05:00

From the WSJ.
Remember Democrats coming to the defense of Obama's economic projections by saying that the worse the recession the stronger the recovery?

Also, only 28% of Americans think that the economy is getting better.

The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures the economic confidence of consumers on a daily basis, rose slightly on Thursday to 79.2. Consumer confidence is down two points from a week ago and shows little change from a month ago, but is up 13 points from three months ago. Consumer confidence is down 10 points from a year ago. Over the course of 2011, the Rasmussen Consumer Index ranged from a low of 58.1 to a high of 93.3. So far in 2012, consumer confidence has ranged from a low of 78.7 and a high of 89.4. . . .

The "Marriage Killer"?: Nagging?

2012-01-28T02:00:00.002-05:00

Is nagging the cause of the problem or is there something that causes the nagging? Do guys ignore requests because they don't care or do women nag because they want a certain level of control? From the WSJ:

Nagging can become a prime contributor to divorce when couples start fighting about the nagging rather than talking about the issue at the root of the nagging, says Howard Markman, professor of psychology at the University of Denver and co-director of the Center for Marital and Family Studies. For 30 years, Dr. Markman has researched conflict and communication in relationships and offered relationship counseling and marriage seminars. He says that while all couples deal with nagging at some point, those who learn to reduce this type of negative communication will substantially increase their odds of staying together and keeping love alive. Couples who don't learn often fall out of love and split up.

Research that Dr. Markman published in 2010 in the Journal of Family Psychology indicates that couples who became unhappy five years into their marriage had a roughly 20% increase in negative communication patterns consistent with nagging, and a 12% decrease in positive communication. "Nagging is an enemy of love, if allowed to persist," Dr. Markman says.

The good news: Couples can learn to stop nagging. Early in their marriage, Ms. Pfeiffer, now 62, repeatedly reminded her husband about household tasks and became more demanding when he ignored her. "If I was asking him to take care of something that mattered to me and he was blowing me off, that made me feel like I didn't matter," she says. . . .

65-year-old woman held criminal at gun point

2012-01-28T00:18:00.001-05:00

Larry Summers' December 15, 2008 Economic Memo

2012-01-27T07:41:00.003-05:00

Summers' memo that gives some insight into what the Obama administration was thinking on the economy is available here. Here is a list of important points in the memo.

The stimulus was about implementing the Obama agenda
Team Obama knows these deficits are dangerous
Obamanomics was pricier than advertised
Even Washington can only spend so much money so fast
Liberals can complain about the stimulus having too many tax cuts, but even Team Obama thought more spending was unrealistic
Team Obama wanted to use courts to force massive mortgage principal write downs
Team Obama thought a stimulus plan of more than $1 trillion would spook financial markets and send interest rates climbing

Pages 10 and 11 shows a list of what others have proposed for Stimulus amounts.
It provides another forecast about the unemployment rate would be over time with and without the Stimulus.

Sixteen prominent scientists say "no need to panic about Global Warming"

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

From the WSJ:

A candidate for public office in any contemporary democracy may have to consider what, if anything, to do about "global warming." Candidates should understand that the oft-repeated claim that nearly all scientists demand that something dramatic be done to stop global warming is not true. In fact, a large and growing number of distinguished scientists and engineers do not agree that drastic actions on global warming are needed. . . .

Newest Fox News piece: President Obama's strange definition of fairness

2012-01-26T22:54:00.002-05:00

My newest piece at Fox News starts this way:

During his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Obama pushed for higher tax rates on what he called “the wealthiest Americans.”

He declared: “Tax reform should follow the Buffett rule: If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes.” As usual, the president motivated the higher taxes with references to “fair play” and getting the wealthy to pay their “fair share” of taxes.

“Fairness” was the codeword of the State of the Union address, not the chronic problem of lingering high unemployment, something the president never even mentioned.

Of course, Obama emphasized “fairness,” but his newest attacks on the wealthy not paying their “fair share” very conveniently comes right after Mitt Romney revealed that he has averaged paying a 14 percent tax rate over the last two years.

Unfortunately, some Republicans come across as confused about capital gains taxes. Romney pushes a weak defense . . . .

Apparently Justice Kagan was actually involved in Obamacare discussions while at DOJ

2012-01-26T21:30:00.001-05:00

From Fox News:

With just weeks until the U.S. Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of President Obama's health care law, there are new calls for Justice Elena Kagan to recuse herself from the case.
Her critics point to a 2010 case regarding a San Francisco health measure, in which then-Solicitor General Kagan's office filed an amicus brief touting the newly passed health care law.
In May 2010, after Kagan had been nominated to the nation's highest court, Principal Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal sent her a memo outlining the cases in which she had "substantially participated." Kaytal specifically referenced the Golden Gate case, noting that it had been "discussed with Elena several times."
That's enough to convince Heritage Foundation Senior Legal Fellow Hans von Spakovsky that Kagan shouldn't take part in the current health care case before the high court.
"I don't see how any ethical lawyer adhering to professional codes of conduct could not consider that they need to recuse themselves from this case," he said. . . .

Another company getting Stimulus dollars goes bankrupt

2012-01-26T20:47:00.003-05:00

From CNS News:

Ener1--a company that manufactures batteries for electric cars, and that received $118.5 million in federal stimulus money, and that Vice President Joe Biden visited last year the day after President Obama’s State of the Union Address—announced today that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

In last year’s State of the Union Address, delivered Jan. 25, 2011, President Obama set a national goal of having a million electric vehicles on the road in the United States by 2015—a goal that would be achieved, Obama said, by taking money out of the oil industry and “investing” it in new technology.

“With more research and incentives, we can break our dependence on oil with biofuels and become the first country to have a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015,” said Obama.

“We need to get behind this innovation,” he said. “And to help pay for it, I'm asking Congress to eliminate the billions in taxpayer dollars we currently give to oil companies. I don't know if you've noticed, but they're doing just fine on their own. So instead of subsidizing yesterday's energy, let's invest in tomorrow's.”

The next day, Biden visited the Ener1 plant in Greenfield, Ind.—which the White House said at the time had received a $118.5 million grant from the Department of Energy and was the type of investment the president was talking about in his State of the Union. . . .

Obama helps get even more government wealth transfers to Soros?

2012-01-26T17:09:00.001-05:00

Even if Soros wasn't a leftwinger, he would undoubtedly be an Obama supporter simply because of how much money the Obama administration is sending his way. From the Heritage Foundation:

George Soros, a billionaire investor and major backer of President Obama, stands to reap a windfall from legislation promoting natural gas-powered vehicles. The White House unveiled a proposal on Thursday that would do just that.
The proposal would offer incentives for companies to buy and use trucks powered by natural gas. Obama announced the effort at a UPS facility in Las Vegas that received stimulus funding to buy natural gas vehicles and build a fueling station for them.
The proposal is remarkably similar to the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions (NAT GAS) Act.
One company that stands to benefit handsomely from the president’s proposal is Westport Innovations. The company converts diesel engines to be fueled by natural gas. Wall Street analysts predicted a boom for the company if the NAT GAS Act were passed. CNBC analyst Jim Cramer said he “expects shares to absolutely explode” in the event the legislation were to pass. . . .

Why carry concealed in national parks?

2012-01-26T10:40:00.006-05:00

Aren't parks safe? Why would anyone need to protect themselves? Surely this 65 year old man is glad that he had his permitted gun with him. I only wish that the news story explicitly stated that he had a concealed handgun permit. Story from WFMZ-TV about a Cumru Township, PA case:

A 16-year-old boy is dead, another teenager is wounded and another was arrested after a shooting on a popular trail in Cumru Township.

Wednesday night the Berks County District Attorney gave police the go ahead to release the man they say shot at the teens.

Wednesday morning police from multiple departments responded to the Thune Trail near the Bertolet Fishing Dock at S. First Avenue and Chestnut Street in West Reading after reports of shots fired. . . .

Police say four people were involved: three teenagers and a 65-year-old man.

"He was riding a bicycle," said Habecker.

Police said the teens knocked the man off his bicycle and onto the ground.

They said two of the teens were assaulting the man when he pulled out a gun and shot them. . . .

Thanks to Tony Troglio for this link.

UPDATE: Here is a follow up story.

A 65-year-old man was justified in shooting two of three teenagers who were attempting to rob him as he rode his bicycle along a popular river trail Wednesday morning, authorities announced Thursday.

The ordeal unfolded shortly before 11 a.m. on the Thun Trail in Cumru Twp., Berks Co.

The teens knocked the man off his bicycle and onto the ground in their third random robbery attempt in about an hour's time, said Berks County District Attorney John Adams.

Two of the teens were assaulting the man when he pulled out a gun and shot them, police said.

"While I don't condone violence, the bike rider had no choice," said Adams. "He was in danger of death and serious bodily injury. The bike rider did not provoke the situation."

The man is licensed to carry a gun, said Adams. . . .

Thanks to John Kernkamp for the link.

Bizarre Claims that Newt Gingrich was anti-Reagan?

2012-01-26T04:33:00.005-05:00

Michael Reagan endorsed Newt.
Might there have been disagreements from time to time, sure. But to claim that Newt was rude to Reagan or anti-Reagan seems like a very strange claim. If this was believed, would Newt have been in the Republican House leadership in the early 1990s? Here is Newt on the subject on Hannity's show.
UPDATE: LIMBAUGH blasts coordinated attacks on Newt: "I first heard of Newt Gingrich when he was perhaps the premiere defender of Ronald Reagan. This was in the early 1980s of course, Reagan assumed office in 1981."
UPDATE: From Sarah Palin:

"Look at Newt Gingrich, what’s going on with him, via the establishment's attacks,” fmr. Gov. Sarah Palin said on FOX Business. They’re trying to crucify this man and rewrite history, and rewrite what it is that he has stood for all these years."

Apparently Obama turns his back on others that he talks to as well

2012-01-26T03:03:00.007-05:00

It looks as if Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is getting the type of treatment that I have experienced from Barack Obama (see links to interviews with Mark Levin here and here and Teri O'Brien here), though it appears as if they had a more aggressive discussion than Obama and I had.

A partial transcript is available here.

Apparently, Obama had a similar skirmish with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal:

I was expecting words of concern about the oil spill, worry about the pending ecological disaster, and words of confidence about how the federal government was here to help. Or perhaps he was going to vent about BP’s slow response. But no, the president was upset about something else. And he wanted to talk about, well, food stamps. Actually, he wanted to talk about a letter that my administration had sent to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack a day earlier.

The letter was rudimentary, bureaucratic, and ordinary. . . . We were simply asking the federal government to authorize food stamps for those who were now unemployed because of the oil spill. Governors regularly make these sorts of requests to the federal government when facing disaster.

But somehow, for some reason, President Obama had personalized this. And he was upset.

There was not a word about the oil spill. He was concerned about looking bad because of the letter. “Careful,” he said to me, “this is going to get bad for everyone.”

From the NY Times:

Mr. Obama stepped off the plane and was greeted by Ms. Brewer, who handed him a handwritten letter in an envelope that she later said was an invitation to discuss the “Arizona comeback.” The two had an intense exchange for several minutes; at one point Ms. Brewer pointed her finger at Mr. Obama.

Afterward, she told reporters that Mr. Obama “was a little disturbed about my book.”

“I said to him that I have all the respect in the world for the office of the president,” she said. “The book is what the book is. I asked him if he read the book. He said he read the excerpt. So.”

At one point, the two seemed to be talking at the same time, seemingly over each other. Mr. Obama appeared to walk away from Ms. Brewer while she was still talking.

Asked what aspect of the book disturbed him, Ms. Brewer said: “That he didn’t feel that I had treated him cordially. I said I was sorry he felt that way but I didn’t get my sentence finished. Anyway, we’re glad he’s here. I’ll regroup.” . . .

I will stick with Brewer's version of their discussion.

Yet, another example of Obama walking out on people is available here.

There is a controversy now developing over a dinner that was attended by President Obama, George H. W. Bush and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. President Obama and Jeb Bush were featured as speakers at the Alfalfa Dinner, which was attended by a number of Washington elite.

Jeb Bush’s speech was expected to follow the president’s, but before it even started, President Obama had already walked out. Now, Al Hunt wrote a Bloomberg News article labeling this action an example of the Obama administration’s “cockiness.”

Earlier, Michael Reagan shared his reaction to this article on America Live, saying, “[Al Hunt] is taken back by the arrogance of this president.” Reagan went on to say that there would have been a severe backlash in the media if George W. Bush had walked out on Hillary Clinton’s speech with Bill Clinton sitting in the audience. . . .

Remember how Chicago murder rate fell last year? Well, don't look to arrests for murder being the cause

2012-01-25T14:51:00.002-05:00

"Only 30 Percent Of Last Year’s Murders Have Been Solved"

Murders in Chicago were down last year, but it’s a different story when it comes to the number of murders actually solved.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports, the murder clearance rate – the number of homicides that were solved the same year – has slipped. . . .

Romney backed by party elites

2012-01-25T01:27:00.000-05:00

Romney just can't resist playing class warfare card against Newt

2012-01-25T00:59:00.003-05:00

Romney won't explain the difference between income earned from capital gains and income earned from work. Throwing away the chance to explain why his 14 percent tax rate is "fair" Romney would rather win what seems like a short run political gain against Newt. From Politico:

. . . The moment came after Newt Gingrich joked about Romney’s 15 percent tax rate, saying: “I’m prepared to describe my flat tax as the Mitt Romney flat tax.”

Romney jumped in to ask: Do you tax capital gains at 15 percent or zero percent?

Gingrich’s answer: Zero.

“Under that plan, I’d have paid no taxes in the last two years,” Romney said, alluding to the fact that all his income is from investments. . . .

“The real question is not so much my taxes, but the taxes of the American people,” Romney said. “That’s why I put forward a plan to eliminate the tax on savings for middle-income Americans.”

He continued: “But I paid all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more. … I don’t think you want someone as the candidate for president who pays more taxes than he owes.” . . .

Google moving to complete a comprehensive profile of people that includes searches, information in emails, purchases, basically everything

2012-01-24T23:29:00.005-05:00

Is there anything that Google won't know about people? Linking what is in your emails to what is in your internet searches and purchases leaves almost nothing that they don't know. From the Washington Post:

Google said Tuesday it will require users to allow the company to follow their activities across e-mail, search, YouTube and other services, a radical shift in strategy that is expected to invite greater scrutiny of its privacy and competitive practices.

The information will enable Google to develop a fuller picture of how people use its growing empire of Web sites. Consumers will have no choice but to accept the changes.

The policy will take effect March 1 and will also impact Android mobile phone users, who are required to log in to Google accounts when they activate their phones. . . .

A user of Gmail, for instance, may send messages about a private meeting with a colleague and may not want the location of that meeting to be thrown into Google’s massive cauldron of data or used for Google’s maps application. . . .

Google has also faced greater scrutiny that it is using its dominance in online search to favor its other applications. Google’s decision to blend Google+ data into search results has been included into a broad FTC antitrust investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is private.

Engineers from Twitter, Facebook and MySpace responded by launching a Web tool that they say shows Google is moving away from its stated mission to be a neutral Web directory.

On the Web site for the plug-in, the engineers wrote that searches for generic terms such as “movies” or “music” prioritize Google+ results over more relevant content.

Here is a nice summary of what Google knows about you. Not only does Google know about what movies you like and what you buy, it also knows this type of information:

You agreed to let Google know about your contacts and mails when you started using Gmail.
You agreed to let Google know about your photos when you started using Picasa.
You agreed to let Google know where you are when you started using Latitude.
You agreed to let Google know what people you interact with and what you are interested in when you started using Google+.
You agreed to let Google store your documents for you when you started using Docs. . . .

Newt would be just as strong against Obama as Romney, takes national lead in Republican race

2012-01-24T23:14:00.002-05:00

Gallup has this poll.

Gun control groups advocating boycotting Starbucks on Valentine's Day 2012

2012-01-24T10:51:00.001-05:00

Well, it will be interesting to see how successful the boycott is.

A nationwide boycott of Starbucks stores and its products will be launched on Valentine's Day 2012. Its goal is to eliminate the risk of guns in public places and ultimately to bring sane gun laws to the U.S.

This boycott is being called by the National Gun Victim's Action Council (NGAC), a network of 14 million gun victims, the faith community including the: Episcopal Peace Fellowship, United Church of Christ, Fellowship of Reconciliation (46 peace fellowships and 43 affiliate fellowships), secular groups working to reduce gun violence and many of the organizations that support passing sane gun laws.WHY STARBUCKS? Currently, Starbucks allows guns and assault weapons to be openly carried in its stores (in 43 states) and concealed and carried in its stores (in 49 states) (See Photos). Starbucks' compliance with the National Rifle Association's Pro-Gun Agenda was exposed in 2010 when members of the "open carry" movement began meeting in popular chains, such as California Pizza Kitchen, Peets, IKEA, Disney and Starbucks openly carrying their handguns and assault rifles. . . .

Gun permits almost double over last 5 years in New South Wales Australia

2012-01-24T09:28:00.002-05:00

Gun control groups in Australia aren't happy with this.

THE number of gun permits issued in NSW has almost doubled in the past five years, sparking calls for restrictions on how many guns people can acquire.
Figures from the NSW firearms registry show 111,792 permits to acquire a firearm were issued in 2009 and 2010. That was 29,427 more than for the previous two-year period. In 2005 and 2006, there were 65,997 permits issued.
The National Coalition for Gun Control, which obtained the latest figures under freedom-of-information laws, says that the increase is linked to the scrapping of a 28-day waiting period for a second or subsequent firearm. . . .

Public Employee Union Puts $1 million into Super PAC ads attacking Romney

2012-01-24T08:26:00.001-05:00

This should give Republicans some pause. Apparently public employee unions think that it is a good investment to put money into Super PAC attack ads against Romney. The obvious question is: why? Do they believe that Romney is the strongest candidate for the fall? Do they think that these attacks between Republicans are going to weaken the party for this fall? One thing seems pretty certain: this isn't good news. From the Washington Times (Public employees union heaps cash into GOP ad attacks on Romney, January 22, 2012):

An unlikely combatant has jumped into the big-money battle between independent groups running ads weighing in on the Republican presidential primary: a national union representing public employees. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) spent $1 million Friday on an ad accusing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney of greed, Federal Election Commission records show.

The liberal group’s intent is to sway the outcome of the Republican primary in Florida, with ads running there before the state’s party elections Jan. 31. The strategy seems to indicate that the union views Mr. Romney as the most realistic threat to President Obama and would much prefer to see Republicans field another candidate, such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, against Mr. Obama in the general election.

The piling-on of a liberal group on top of the Republican organizations attacking Mr. Romney highlights an irony to the 2010 Supreme Court decision that injected massive independent expenditures into politics with a ruling cheered by many conservatives: The majority of the spending thus far has been used to demonize Republicans. . . .

Obama's decision on Keystone pipeline means really big money for Obama backer

2012-01-23T22:59:00.002-05:00

From Bloomberg:

Warren Buffett’s Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC is among U.S. and Canadian railroads that stand to benefit from the Obama administration’s decision to reject TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s Keystone XL oil pipeline permit.
With modest expansion, railroads can handle all new oil produced in western Canada through 2030, according to an analysis of the Keystone proposal by the U.S. State Department.
“Whatever people bring to us, we’re ready to haul,” Krista York-Wooley, a spokeswoman for Burlington Northern, a unit of Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), said in an interview. If Keystone XL “doesn’t happen, we’re here to haul.”
The State Department denied TransCanada a permit on Jan. 18, saying there was not enough time to study the proposal by Feb. 21, a deadline Congress imposed on President Barack Obama. Calgary-based TransCanada has said it intends to re-apply with a route that avoids an environmentally sensitive region of Nebraska, something the Obama administration encouraged.
The rail option, though costlier, would lessen the environmental impact, such as a loss of wetlands and agricultural productivity, compared to the pipeline, according to the State Department analysis. Greenhouse gas emmissions, however, would be worse. . . .

New Fox News piece: Lessons to be learned from Europe's debt downgrades

2012-01-23T17:42:00.002-05:00

My newest Fox News piece starts this way:

As we watch the Eurozone struggle with its financial challenges Keynesians keep telling us the solution to our economic problems is to spend more money, to pile up bigger debts.

A week and a half ago, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the debt of more than half of the Eurozone's countries, and the failure of those policies should be very obvious by now.

Solving the Greek debt crisis hit yet another snag on Sunday afternoon. New aid for Greece from the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank would have relied on private bondholders “voluntarily” agreeing to a 50 percent cut in the value of the Greek bonds they hold as the Greek government claims it can't afford the interest rates demanded on the remaining debt. Unfortunately, for the Greek government, it lacks the power to abrogate the rights of foreign bondholders.

Greece can't simply apply the Obama administration's method of doing away with the rights of GM's and Chryslers' bondholders.

The European countries that have fared the best, such as Germany and Poland, rejected the Keynesian medicine. In contrast, countries following the Keynesian path with massive deficits to try to "stimulate" the economy -- such as Greece, Portugal, and Ireland -- have done poorly, with low growth and increased government debt. . . .

Talks this week

2012-01-23T10:33:00.001-05:00

January 24th
noon, Duquesne University School of Law, Pittsburgh, More Guns, Less Crime

January 25th
12-1 PM, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, guns
4-5pm, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Abortion and Crime

January 26th
noon, Akron Law School, Fed Soc, gun-free zones, especially college campuses

Newt Gingrich Favorability/Unfavorability Nationally

2012-01-23T07:12:00.005-05:00

Do I think that Newt would make a better president than Romney? Yes. Do I think that he would be a better debater against Obama? Yes. Do I worry that Newt may have huge negatives that will be hard to overcome? Yes. Can a strong campaign undo some of those negatives? Sure, but I am just not sure how much can be undone with these abilities.

UPDATE: So if the above is true, why are some Democrats so scared of Newt?

Pelosi: Let me just say this. That will never happen.

King: Why?

Pelosi: He's not going to be President of the United States. . .

King: Why are you so sure?

Pelosi: There is something that I know. . . .

The big questions about Republican Presidential Debates

2012-01-23T06:41:00.002-05:00

Newt's campaign depends a lot on presidential debates. Romney is reportedly ready to spend $10 million in advertising during the upcoming Republican Florida primary. The constant debates are very important in Newt getting his message out and also showing how well he debates. Here is the question: given how much the debates are changing the race, will the media keep up with having two debates a week? Will they expand or cut back on the number? The change may tell us a lot about what the media really think about Newt and Romney. From Politico:

Gingrich's campaign was saved in South Carolina "partly because of his commanding debate performances," Jim Rutenberg writes in today's New York Times. "[Gingrich's] candidacy has flourished in debate after debate," his colleague Jeff Zeleny notes. "And with two more debates in the next five days in Florida, the amount of media attention awaiting Mr. Gingrich is sure to be immense."

If you're in the Romney camp right now, you're not only fearing the fact that there are two debates next week, you're probably ruing the fact that there have already been so many. . . .

Castle Doctrine being used in Missouri

2012-01-23T06:35:00.001-05:00

So what happens to burglaries when states adopt the Castle Doctrine? Hint: see the third edition of More Guns, Less Crime.

William J. Whitfield came home early one January morning in 2010 to find his tiny brick bungalow just about emptied out by burglars.
They took his tools, his computer, his flat-screen televisions.
"They tried to get my washer and dryer too, but that was bolted to the floor," said Whitfield, 66, a retired Navy petty officer who lives in the city's College Hill neighborhood.
But the burglars left something else behind: bags stuffed with more of Whitfield's belongings, stacked near his basement stairwell.
He knew they would be back. So, he called police to report the burglary, but he also armed himself with his 9 mm pistol and slept in a chair in the front room that night. And when three people broke in about 3 a.m., Whitfield shot one of them, leaving the man dead on the kitchen floor.
Police investigated the shooting, but Whitfield never really faced the prospect of prosecution. Missouri's expanded self-defense law, passed in 2007 and known as the castle doctrine, not only protected him from being charged but meant he couldn't be sued over his actions that night.
Whitfield's case is just one example of homeowners taking action against intruders — and burglars dying at the hands of those homeowners. . . .

Robert Samuelson explains what venture capitalists do

2012-01-23T05:24:00.004-05:00

Samuelson's piece is available here. The question is what would have happened to the firms that Bain got involved with if they had never tried to turn the company around.

What’s instructive is that, in both cases, total job gains and losses dwarfed the net change. In the two years, private-equity-owned firms created new jobs equal to about a fifth of their workforces — and destroyed old jobs, often at closed locations, in similar numbers. For the non-private-equity controlled firms, the comparable proportion was about one-sixth. Job turnover is routinely high, but private-equity-controlled firms are quicker at “shrinking underperforming facilities and expanding productive and profitable facilities,” says University of Chicago economist Steven Davis, one of the study’s authors. These firms also had greater gains in efficiency, he says. . . .

Big news out of Europe today on debt crisis in Greece?

2012-01-23T04:49:00.000-05:00

From Reuters:

Private creditors said on Sunday they had come to the limits of what losses they could concede, putting the ball in the court of the European Union and the IMF.

Market players are looking to a euro zone finance ministers meeting on Monday where they will decide what terms of a Greek debt restructuring they are ready to accept in order to pave the way for a second bailout package for Athens. . . .

Predicting which countries' stock markets will be most sensitive to news about EU financial crisis

2012-01-23T04:30:00.001-05:00

While private sector debt gets under control, public sector debt explodes

2012-01-23T04:28:00.001-05:00

More after effects of Keystone

2012-01-23T04:18:00.002-05:00

The Obama administration subsidies energy production that costs more than the benefits it produces and prevents energy production where the reverse is true. From The Hill newspaper:

The White House is working to prevent President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline from becoming a political liability in an election year that will be dominated by jobs and the economy.

White House and campaign officials are emphasizing Obama's energy record in broad strokes -- highlighting steps the administration has taken to encourage oil and gas development and investments in clean energy. Those steps, the officials say, create far more jobs than approval of Keystone would have.

The decision Wednesday to deny TransCanada’s Keystone permit has further united Republicans around a common message: Obama is a job killer. And the GOP vowed last week to continue pummeling the president over Keystone both in Washington and on the campaign trail. . . .

Here is another story from The Hill:

The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) left the BlueGreen Alliance on Friday, citing a disagreement with the group’s members over the Keystone XL pipeline.

LIUNA, a vocal Keystone supporter, took aim at other unions for opposing the project.
“We’re repulsed by some of our supposed brothers and sisters lining up with job killers like the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council to destroy the lives of working men and women,” LIUNA General President Terry O’Sullivan said in a statement. . . .

The move underscores the intense political divide among unions over the pipeline, which would carry oil sands crude from Alberta, Canada, to refineries along the Gulf Coast. . . .

One woman who doesn't appreciate being protected by the Federal government

2012-01-23T04:15:00.001-05:00

Can't the government understand that its protection isn't desired some times? From the Associated Press:

The federal government now says a 101-year-old Detroit woman it promised could move back into her foreclosed home four months ago can't return because the building's unsanitary and unsafe.
Texana Hollis was evicted Sept. 12 and her belongings placed outside after her 65-year-old son failed to pay property taxes linked to a reverse mortgage, The Detroit News reported Sunday. Two days later, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said she could return.
But now, HUD said it won't let Hollis move back in because of the house's condition. She had lived there about 60 years.
"Here I am, 100 years old, and don't have a home," Hollis said, rounding off her age. "Oh Lord, help me." . . .

The Peltzman effect for junk food in school

2012-01-23T04:12:00.002-05:00

Limiting kids intake of junk food at school doesn't seem to change their weight since they just offset that reduction at home. From ABC News:

"whether or not junk food is available to them at school may not have much bearing on how much junk food they eat"

The original study is available here.

"Dems push Fannie, Freddie regulator on mortgage write-downs"

2012-01-22T22:07:00.002-05:00

Do Democrats have any idea what these types of policies will have on new loans being made? If you can have a loan you make marked down dramatically after you make it, why would you ever make that type of loan? From The Hill newspaper:

Congressional Democrats are expected to continue pushing a federal housing regulator to write down mortgage principal for government-backed loans if a settlement with banks doesn't help out enough homeowners.

The federal government is "very close" to an agreement with mortgage servicers that could help about a million homeowners, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said this week.

The deal, which also includes states' attorneys general, would require the nation's five largest banks — Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Ally Financial — to spend upward of $25 billion to help borrowers caught up in so-called robo-signing practices where servicers signed-off on foreclosure paperwork without properly reviewing documents. . . .

World Economic Forum calls for reforms of "outdated" capitalism

2012-01-22T18:53:00.002-05:00

I guess that I could go along with reforming the troublesome regulatory system, but this is something to remember when we hear about all the well-known people who attend the World Economic Forum each year.

Economic and political elites meeting this week at the Swiss resort of Davos will be asked to urgently find ways to reform a capitalist system that has been described as "outdated and crumbling."
"We have a general morality gap, we are over-leveraged, we have neglected to invest in the future, we have undermined social coherence, and we are in danger of completely losing the confidence of future generations," said Klaus Schwab, host and founder of the annual World Economic Forum.

"Solving problems in the context of outdated and crumbling models will only dig us deeper into the hole.

"We are in an era of profound change that urgently requires new ways of thinking instead of more business-as-usual," the 73-year-old said, adding that "capitalism in its current form, has no place in the world around us." . . .

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords resigning, recovery will take some time

2012-01-22T18:46:00.002-05:00

This is sad but not unexpected news. Giffords will surely get a massive ovation at the State of the Union this week when Obama announces her resignation.

Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords announced on her website Sunday that she will resign from Congress this week to continue her recuperation from the brain injury she suffered when shot just over a year ago.
"A lot has happened over the past year. We cannot change that," Giffords, 41, says in a video on her website, speaking in a halting manner. . . .
Giffords, a Democrat, will submit a letter of resignation during the week to House Speaker John Boehner and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. Brewer said Sunday in a statement that she will call a "special primary and general election" to fill the state's 8th congressional district seat for the rest of Giffords' term, which expires at the end of the year.
A statement from her office said Giffords will attend the State of the Union address Tuesday as one of her last acts before stepping down. . . .

The Washington Post's ombudsman talks about the papers' "liberal tilt"

2012-01-22T14:46:00.001-05:00

From the Washington Post:

When President Obama has a bad day, or more specifically, on days when the economic news has been bad, I get a slew of feedback from conservative readers that go like this:

“See, you liberal media nincompoops, this is all your fault, you treated Obama like a saint when he was running in 2007 and 2008 and you didn’t vet him, investigate him, report on him skeptically. You were so fawning (and adoring of his blackness), you missed that he was a (pick your adjective), radical, socialist, Muslim, inexperienced, dangerous, corrupt, weak Chicago politician with no track record of accomplishment, whose only talent is giving speeches.” . . . .

Deborah Howell, Post ombudsman from 2005 through 2008, said at the end of her tenure that “some of the conservatives’ complaints about a liberal tilt [at The Post] are valid.”

I won’t quibble with her conclusion. I think she was right. . . . .