December 11th, 2013
Time for another roundup of Texas, Red State Champion, versus Blue State California:
Texas is the tenth best run state in the union, while California is the worst.
The vast gap between California’s haves and Have Nots.
The federal court Detroit bankruptcy ruling has made CalPERS nervous. As well it should.
Ditto public employee unions. “Government agencies should have the right to reduce future accruals, just as private-sector employers can — and they shouldn’t have to wait until they’re insolvent to do so…In California, prospective benefits are sacrosanct because of a series of poorly reasoned legal rulings…The system must be fixed before more municipalities reach bankruptcy. For state and local governments to climb out of their deep holes of pension debt, they must first stop digging.”
A succinct statement of the problem “California local governments cannot thrive if escalating retirement costs crowd out money for public service.” Plus: “Bargaining effectively occurs between unions and those elected largely because of money from unions.”
Today’s California city teetering on the edge of bankruptcy: Fresno. (“Fresno? No one goes to Fresno anymore!”)
18 LA County Sheriffs department deputies indicted for “beating jail inmates and visitors, trying to intimidate an FBI agent and other crimes.” (Hat tip: Dwight, who notes “They tried to intimidate an FBI agent? Does LACSD make it a practice to hire and promote deputies who are dumber than a bag of hair?”)
Speaking of police behaving badly, 28 Santa Monica cops took home more than $200,000 last year. For comparison, Austin’s chief of police earns $198,819 a year.
Even California isn’t wild about Obama anymore.
California lobbyist organizes a second junket to Cuba.
Charting the Texas oil bool.
Cognizant moves operations center from New Jersey to College Station.
Tags: bankruptcy, Budget, California, College Station, pension crisis, Texas, unions, waste, Welfare State
Posted in Budget, Texas, unions, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »
December 10th, 2013
Finally, John Cornyn has a real challenger. Steve Stockman has Tea Party support, impeccable conservative credentials, experience in high profile races (he knocked off Democratic fossil Jack Brooks for a U.S. congressional seat in the Gingrich wave of 1994), and a Southeast Texas base that might (might) let him tap into Houston’s rich Republican fundraising base. But he has gotten into the race very, very late, against a well-funded opponent whose deviations into RINO-Land have been far less severe those of Arlen Specter, DIck Luger or David Dewhurst (and that role-call of names is probably slightly unfair to Dewhurst). Ted Cruz had about fifteen months to knock off Dewhurst, while Stockman has three to take down Cornyn. Further, while Cruz’s race against Dewhurst was one of the top Tea Party vs. RINO races nationwide, I get the impression the Stockman/Cornyn fight will take a distinct backseat to Matt Bevin’s attempt to take down Mitch McConnell, and possibly several other races.
It’s certainly possible that Stockman can take out Cornyn, but it’s going to be very difficult, especially while still carrying out his congressional duties.
For the sake of completeness, here’s a look at the other candidates.
Republicans
Curt Cleaver: A retread longshot from the 2012 Senate Race.
Ken Cope: The Midlothian Enigma, about which The Google has precious little to say. This year’s Grady Yarbrough?
Chris Mapp: Boat dealership owner. Seems like a solid Tea Party Republican but the man desperately needs to learn how to use indenting and/or paragraph breaks.
Dwayne Stover: A bridge-builder. I don’t mean that metaphorically, I mean that his company actually builds bridges.
Read Reasor: Good: Former F-15 pilot. Bad: His platform (if you can call it such, being a Facebook post, since his website doesn’t currently work) is a strange mashup of WPA works program, workfare and local autarky. I would like to see his “let welfare recipients build their own home” idea run as a small pilot project somewhere, but his plan has more than a whiff of late-night college bull sessions to it.
Linda Vega: A Houston-area lawyer. She has a good resume…for someone running for a county judge position. U.S. Senate? Not so much.
Democrats:
David Alameel: Former dental chain owner, and worth a reported $50 million dollars. With that big money, he should be a shoe-in for the Democratic nomination, right? Not so fast. “This will be Alameel’s second run for office in as many cycles. Last cycle, he ran for Congress in the newly-drawn 33rd District and finished fourth out of 11 candidates in the Democratic primary. Alameel received 2,064 votes (10 percent)…[he] actually spent $4,485,086 million in the 2012 race, which comes out to $2,173 per vote.” That almost makes John Connally’s 1980 run for President look like a model of model of prudent campaign financing…
Michael Fjetland: Ran as a Republican in the primary against Tom Delay in 2006. Proclaims “I am the ‘Anti-Cruz'” in an all-capital letters font. (Pro-tip: When you use ALL CAPS more often than Time Cube Guy, you’re doing it wrong…)
HyeTae “Harry” Kim: Odessa physician. Sorry, that’s all I’ve got for you.
Lakesha Rogers: The LaRouche Candidate.
Maxey Scheer: El Paso attorney who’s also running as the anti-Cruz candidate, complete with towing a crashed-car prop behind her to protest Cornyn’s “Cruz Control.” (Get it? Get? Cruz control? It’s a concrete metaphor and a pun! Get it? Get it? Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more!) Given the Statesman‘s polite attention, I’m going to guess she’s the designated “Democratic faithful” candidate if Alameel’s wealth can’t get him across the finish line, though her gas costs may prove prohibitive. Also seems intensely race-conscious.
Tags: Chris Mapp, Curt Cleaver, David Alameel, Dwayne Stover, HyeTae "Harry" Kim, Jack Brooks, John Cornyn, Ken Cope, Lakesha Rogers, Linda Vega, Maxey Scheer, Michael Fjetland, Mitch McConnell, Read Reasor, Republicans, Steve Stockman, Ted Cruz, Texas
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Republicans, Texas | 1 Comment »
December 10th, 2013
Yet again.
We’ll see if I can fix it later in the day. Maybe I can get a reader to do a new graphic for my header…
Update: Defaulting back to the base header color because evidently Nothing Else Works with the version of PHP Bluehost has foisted on me, because it’s evidently too stupid to use standard HTML colors.
Tags: Administrative
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
December 9th, 2013
“Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) is challenging Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the No. 2-ranking GOP senator, in next year’s Republican primary.”
I’m about to go to sleep, you insightful analysis will have to wait until tomorrow. Cornyn is certainly vulnerable, and Stockman is a serious challenger, but he may have waited to long to overcome Cornyn’s fundraising advantage.
This should also put a chill through every sitting Republican thinking of straying into RINO-Land on illegal alien amnesty, ObamaCare, or shrinking the budget deficit. Stray too far, and the grass roots will coming gunning for you.
Tags: 2014 Senate Race, Elections, John Cornyn, Republicans, Steve Stockman, Texas
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 1 Comment »
December 9th, 2013
A LinKSwarm to start your Monday off, with a mix of old and new:
Obama’s popularity down among the Obama coalition:
Obama’s job approval rating among Hispanic Americans has plunged from 75 percent in December 2012 to 52 percent today — a drop of 23 percentage points, the sharpest decline among any voter group. Among Americans who make less than $24,000 a year, the president’s approval rating has fallen from 64 percent last December to 46 percent today. Among Americans 18 to 29 years of age, it has fallen from 61 percent to 46 percent. Among women, it has fallen from 57 percent to 43 percent.
Evidently free contraceptives don’t trump lost jobs and insurance. (Hat tip: Instapundit.)
First came the first wave of ObamaCare “cancellation shock” as policies were dropped left and right. Next comes the “Doc Shock,” as people lose physicians who won’t cut their rates for ObamaCare plans. (Hat tip: Instapundit and Ed Driscoll.)
Indeed, 7 out of 10 California doctors are boycotting California’s ObamaCare exchanges. When you’ve lost California…
So get ready to see a lot more signs like this. (Hat tip: Ace of Spades.)
“The GOP establishment is loath to admit it, but the government shutdown is turning out to be a brilliant political chess move on the part of Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee.”
Why the hell is Paul Ryan trying to undo the sequester cuts?
New York City starts confiscating rifles and shotguns.
On Twitter, #LiesObamaToldUs trended for three straight days. Well, it’s a target-rich environment…
Photojournalist robbed twice in one day in Detroit. Funny how 50 years of Democratic rule mean that government is unable to enforce its most central function: keeping the populace safe by enforcing the rule of law.
Why you don’t stop shooting until the threat is neutralized:
(Hat tip: Ace of Spades.)
Is Hollywood turning the Biblical story of Noah into another tree-hugging Dances With Smurfs?
Tags: Budget, California, Detroit, gun control, Guns, Hollywood, Media Watch, Mike Lee, New York City, Noah, Obama Scandals, ObamaCare, Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, video
Posted in Budget, Guns, Media Watch, Obama Scandals, ObamaCare, Uncategorized, video | No Comments »
December 7th, 2013
Today is the 72nd anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After that sneak attack, America, roused to righteous fury, picked itself up, and managed to defeat both Hitler’s Germany and Tojo’s Japan in three and a half years. (We had a large measure of help in defeating Hitler from the British Empire and the Soviet Union, less in defeating Japan.)
More time has passed from the signing of ObamaCare to now than passed between the bombing of Pearl Harbor and VJ-Day:
Days from December 7, 1941 to August 14, 1945: 1346 days
Days from March 23, 2010 to December 7, 2013: 1355 days
Let me make it clear that I’m not pulling a Santorum: I’m not comparing the effects of World War II to the effects of ObamaCare (devastating to our economy thought the latter has been, and will continue to be). What I’m noting is how America’s very effective wartime government managed to accomplish a Herculean task, many of whose subtasks (D-Day, The Manhattan Project) probably exceeded in size and scope all of ObamaCare, in three and a half years, while in the same period of time, Obama’s bloated administration, armed with virtually infinite computing power compared to 1945, has been unable to get a single complex piece of software up and running properly.
We all know the Obama Administration felt that ObamaCare was (in Vice President Joe Biden’s own immortal words) “a big fucking deal,” his signature achievement. And with as much time as it took America to win World War II, Obama’s oversight of the project has been an unmitigated, miserable failure.
Tags: ObamaCare, World War II
Posted in ObamaCare | 4 Comments »
December 6th, 2013
It’s Friday, and I’m feeling to lazy to put up a real LinkSwarm, so here’s the Mini-Me version:
“Anger among Democrats over the rollout of ObamaCare is deep.” It’s nothing compared to the anger among voters…
An example of why Rick Santorum wasn’t the Republican Presidential nominee in 2012, and won’t be in 2016.
Once again, a super-secret military plane started under Republicans is revealed by a Democratic Administration.
Austin Attorney Marc Rosenthal, who helped bankroll the Williamson County Democratic Party, including gave $58,000 in donations to (now ex-) state rep Diana Maldonado, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for “racketeering, conspiracy, bribery, extortion, tampering, and mail fraud.”
Charles Barkley rides the New York City subway: “If they never see me again, tell my family I love them.”
You know that whole “I’ll never have to buy music ever again” thing? Yeah, not so much.
Texans fire head coach Gary Kubiak. It was time. Thy also fired Special Teams coach Joe Marciano, which was many, many years overdue…
Man survives two days in air pocket in overturned ship:
Tags: Austin, Charles Barkley, Democrats, Diana Maldonado, Marc Rosenthal, Military, New York City, Rick Santorum, RQ-180, Texas, Williamson County
Posted in Austin, Democrats, Military, ObamaCare | No Comments »
December 5th, 2013
Given conservatism’s understanding of flawed, immutable human nature, our outlook can tend toward the cynical. (Or, as we like to call it, the realistic.) But every now and then, event turn out somewhat better than we expected. The most peaceful dissolution of the Soviet Union was one example, and the reign of the post-Apartheid government of Nelson Mandela, who died today at age 95, was another.
Conservatives were deeply skeptical of Mandela’s African National Congress due to its close ties to the South African Communist Party at a time when brutal communist regimes were making life hell for the citizens of Ethiopia, Angola and Mozambique. SACP was fond of “necklacing” political enemies by placing tires filled with gasoline around their necks and setting them on fire. Conservatives wanted to end Apartheid, but didn’t think sanction or Mandela were the right way to do it.
Nelson defied our expectations by presiding over a mostly peaceful, mostly legitimate and mostly democratic (and, ineed, far more of any than the average state in Sub-Saharan Africa). South Africa did not descend into civil war like Mozambique, or become an economic basket case like Zimbabwe. For that all the world owes Mandela thanks.
Tags: Communism, Foreign Policy, Nelson Mandela, South Africa
Posted in Communism, Foreign Policy | No Comments »
December 4th, 2013
Even though this happened in my neck of the woods, I missed this call from a welfare recipient bragging about how much money she got from the government, and have no intention of working:
This is what the welfare state has wrought on the American underclass.
This is what the Democratic Party stands for.
Tags: fraud, welfare, Welfare State
Posted in Austin, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »
December 3rd, 2013
Some news from before Thanksgiving weekend, some after. Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.
Detroit is eligible for chapter 9 bankruptcy. “Judge Steven Rhodes turned down objections from unions, pension funds and retirees, which, like other creditors, could lose under any plan to solve $18 billion in long-term liabilities.”
Missed this earlier: The ObamaCare cancellation-to-enrollment ratio is 50-to-1.
Selling ObamaCare door-to-door is not exactly going swimmingly.
Colorado’s ObamaCare enrollment numbers are worse than the worst case scenario. Then again, Democratic losses in 2010 (and 2014) are probably worse than the worst-case scenario as well.
How the MSM is trying to cover for Obama’s ObamaCare lies and their own complicity in them.
How’s that “jobless recovery” coming along? “The number of people on payrolls in the U.S. is still 1.5 million below the number in 2008, even after a 5 year-old rally that has boosted the value of stocks by $14 trillion. A 167% advance of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index during the past 57 months has been driven by reduced costs and record-low borrowing costs boosting corporate profit, analysts say. Employee compensation relative to net corporate profit is at its lowest level since 1966.” To put it in lefty terms: Obama is obviously God’s gift to the 1%.
Paul Krugman, idiot. Though to be fair, long-term the Euro probably is doomed…
Ultra-liberal DailyKos accuses ultra-liberal cartoonist Ted Rall of being a racist. Rall is a nasty piece of work, and no liberal deserves a free “get out of charges of racism simply for being a liberal free” card, but he happens to be right in this respect. This has nothing to do with racism and everything to do with liberals circling the wagons to protect Obama in the wake of ObamaCare’s massive failure.
Non-poor preppy liberal campaign consultant whose mother bought her a house garners over $62,000 of donations by claiming to be poor.
The problem with linking to this Charles Davis article on liberal media exploiting intern labor is how the entire piece reeks of Special Snowflake Syndrome. It would be a far more compelling story if Davis didn’t come across as such a self-righteous, self-important douche-bag.
“It always cracks me up when I hear lefties like Matthews bemoaning “incivility”, as if their side didn’t invent it, didn’t expand it, and didn’t propagate it at every opportunity. They think all the disgustingly vile rhetoric they’ve hurled continuously at every conservative starting with Goldwater and continuing on through Nixon, then Reagan, Gingrich, Bush, Palin, etc. has been flushed down the memory hole. I think what they mean by “incivility” is really “conservatives talking back”.
A question for my readers: Can anyone tell me whether HR992 is good or bad for the taxpayer? On the surface it looks like more underwriting of crony capitalism, but the technicalities lie outside my sphere of expertise.
Tags: Democrats, Detroit, Media, ObamaCare, Ted Rall
Posted in Democrats, Media Watch, ObamaCare | No Comments »
