February 14th, 2014
Well, this is interesting.
Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton have built a sprawling network of powerful friends around the globe, one that could aid Mrs. Clinton’s chances were she to seek the presidency. But those relationships often come with intersecting interests and political complications; few people illustrate that more vividly than the Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk.
A steel magnate and major contributor to the former president’s foundation, Mr. Pinchuk was in frequent contact with Mrs. Clinton’s State Department, at meetings arranged by a Clinton political operative turned lobbyist, Douglas E. Schoen.
Is Mr. Pinchuk politically collected in Ukriane? And how.
Mr. Pinchuk’s image is not without blemish: His father-in-law is Leonid Kuchma, who was president of Ukraine from 1994 to 2005 and led a government criticized for corruption, nepotism and the murder of dissident journalists. As president, Mr. Kuchma privatized a huge state steel factory and sold it to Mr. Pinchuk’s consortium for about $800 million, which competitors said was a laughably low price.
And who did Mr. Pinchuk’s father-in-law appoint Prime Minister?
That’s right: Viktor Yanukovych, current President of Ukraine and Putin toady.
Do Pinchuk and Yanukovych know each other?
I think that’s a safe assumption.
Pinchuk backed Yanukovych in the 2004 election, but since then he appears to have broken away from Yanukovych and is a EuroMaidan backer. Maybe Pinchuk is on the side of the angels (even if only for business reasons). That Tablet piece also notes his Jewish roots and says he’s the second richest man in Ukraine.
But I thought it was a connection worth noting. Mr. Pinchuk is an interesting figure, and it’s interesting that he’s in Hillary’s circles of associates. And I’m not sure it’s a good thing for potential presidential candidates to pal around with foreign oligarchs…
Tags: Democrats, EuroMaidan, Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Leonid Kuchma, Ukraine, Victor Pinchuk, Viktor Yanukovych
Posted in Democrats, Foreign Policy | 2 Comments »
February 13th, 2014
Is there any better example of the steadfast political convictions of liberals than Unite Blue chief Becky Carrizales’s convictions on gun control?
Twitchy and @eriContrarian shed initial light on the subject, but a closer look at Carrizales’s Twitter account gives definitive evidence of her deep, principled gun control advocacy:
She also tweeted this, which gives an extra dose of irony:
She also seems to know all about setting a high-minded, respectful tone for debate:
And now? Naturally the Unite Blue director would be outraged at Wendy Davis standing with those “disgusting sick animals” at the NRA and pushing for open carry, right?
Eh, not so much.
But Carrizales does realize one important truth: Wendy Davis has always been at war with Eurasia.
Tags: 2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, Becky Carrizales, gun control, Guns, Texas, Twitter, Wendy Davis
Posted in Democrats, Guns, Texas | No Comments »
February 12th, 2014
Wendy Davis is trying to make my head hurt.
Wendy Davis said Tuesday that she would have supported a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, if the law adequately deferred to a woman and her doctor.
In other news, LeBron James announced he was “open” to banning basketball, and Michael Bay announced he was protesting “loud, brainless action movies.”
As Ace of Spades HQ puts it: “Wendy Davis apparently just realized that she’s running for Governor of Texas and not New York.”
Evidently Davis never heard the phrase “You’ve gotta dance with them that brung ya.” The only reason Davis is the overwhelming favorite to win the Democratic nomination for governor of Texas is her pro-abortion filibuster. Davis is essentially saying to her national pro-abortion donors: “Thanks for all that money. Now I’ll just set this bucket full of your water down here on the steps, and you can carry it your own damn self.”
The flip-flop is an obvious pander, but how on earth could Davis or her camp think it a remotely effective pander? It’s like PETA announcing they’re considering opening a steakhouse.
It’s a brazen, shameless, dishonest, and ineffective ploy. Of course, all of those are pretty good adjectives to describe Davis’ gubernatorial campaign, if not her entire political career.
No wonder, as Perry vs. World notes, her campaign logo looks like a sinking ship:
Tags: 2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, abortion, Democrats, Elections, Texas, Wendy Davis
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Texas | No Comments »
February 11th, 2014
Meant to put this up at lunch, but Stuff. And Things.
How California overprotects public employee union contracts. If the paper from Volokh the Younger is too heavy-sledding for non-lawyers, here’s a nice summary.
CalPERS is demographically doomed.
The people of San Bernardino vote all the bums out. “After Tuesday night, six of seven council members are now on record as saying they want to explore reducing San Bernardino’s pensions, along with [Carey] Davis, the new mayor, and a new city attorney, Gary Saenz.”
Another California city, Placentia, drifts toward bakruptcy. “Placentia has been papering over a structural $1.5 million deficit in its $30 million budget for at least five years, plugging the hole with lucky money (more soberly called ‘one-time revenues’).”
Stockton: Hey, we’re in bankruptcy! I guess that means we can just kill our shelter animals willy nilly. Federal judge: Not so fast.
Los Angeles firefighter compensation averages $218,000 an employee. (Hat tip: Pension Tsunami.).
Are even California’s Democratic legislators waking up to the problem?
California university workers plan a strike. See, no matter how broke you are, unions still want wage hikes…
Unions want to ensure that Bob Filner’s closest ally is elected Mayor of San Diego to keep their gravy train coming…
Union membership in California is down to 16.4% of the workforce.
Jerry Brown: Hey, Supreme Court, reverse that high speed rail decision! High Speed Rail Contractor: Thanks, Jer! Here’s $27,000.
Websense is relocating from San Diego to Austin. Dropbox is also moving additional jobs to Austin.
Charles Schuab is relocating jobs from San Francisco to Texas.
California industrial brush company relocates to Utah.
The Texas labor force keeps growing.
Tags: Austin, Bob Filner, California, fraud, Jerry Brown, Los Angeles, Placentia, San Bernardino, San Diego, Stockton, Texas, unions, waste, Welfare State
Posted in Austin, Regulation, Texas, unions, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »
February 10th, 2014
These LinkSwarms tend to get pushed back to days when there’s not a big story jumping up and requiring my attention. It seems like the Olympics have created a bit of a news lull
Democratic congressmen abandoning ObamaCare in droves.
Obama’s fake recovery sucks in comparison to Reagan’s real recovery. Why? ObamaCare.
People who overestimate their income, thus getting a subsidy rather than thrown into Medicaid, might be in for a nasty surprise come tax time.
Today’s Democratic representative retiring after getting caught with his hand in the till comes to you from Rep. Ron Andrews of New Jersey.
Today’s example of a Democratic member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns being convicted of a felony (in this case bribery) also comes to you from New Jersey, in the form of Trenton Mayor Tony Mack. But as you observe all this Democratic malfeasance in New Jersey, never lose sight of the truly important thing: Chris Christie might have closed a bridge!
Here’s a fascinating piece from Ace of Spades HQ on class identification among the gentry left.
And this piece on “Love in the Time of Obama” is well worth reading on its own.
Massachusetts state Democrat Rep. Carlos Henriquez’s schedule: 1. Smack my bitch up, 2. Mark my bills up. Yes, assaulting a woman is evidently no reason to keep him from working as a legislator…
More black Chicago residents question what the Democratic Party has done for the black community.
Heartening, but I can’t help but notice that some of the same people appear in this video as the one from that town hall meeting in December. Makes it hard to gauge just how widespread black America’s dissatisfaction with Obama is…
The Turncoat Diaries: “The conversions of Charlie Crist, from Republican to independent to Democrat, make up one of the least inspiring tales in modern politics. To take it seriously is to admit you’re the sort of person who takes Scientology stress tests and supplies credit card info to anyone who claims to need help from Nigeria.”
People move from high tax, high regulation states bleeding jobs to low-tax, low-regulation states gaining jobs. Gee, who knew?
How Russia is trying to keep control of Ukraine.
NBC calls the end of the Soviet Union “bittersweet”. Much like Hitler’s suicide…
Tweets from Sochi: Missing floors, open manholes, yellow tap water, and “cakes in ass.”
More: “Three of the nine mountain hotels have not been completed.”
Title company executive dead in nailgun “suicide.” Patrick Bateman wanted for questioning.
Inside the Red Light Camera Bribe Machine. Redflex has done business with several cities, including “Austin, El Paso, Plano, Corpus Christi, Grand Prairie, North Richland Hills, Hurst, Port Lavaca, League City, Carrollton, Killeen, Mesquite, and Longview.” (Hat tip: Dwight.)
Even Howard YEAGGGGHHH Dean thinks the Iran deal sucks.
When principled lefty Alan Derschowitz says the Dinesh D’Souza case is “selective prosecution,” perhaps we should listen.
New York City schools Harrison Bergeron a gifted students course because of their unacceptable albedo index. (Hat tip: Indapundit.)
Michael Totten visits some of the least-crappy parts of Cuba.
When I think “high tech giants,” certainly the first name that comes to mind is Chelsea Clinton. Nepotism much, SXSW? (Hat tip: Jim Geraghty in NRO.
Slashdot users in open revolt over a redesign. Take one look at the Beta site and you know why: It is indeed a big, festering mound of suck.
Adobe to release new DRM scheme that’s annoying, useless, and screws older customers.
Ten scenes from Blazing Saddles too politically incorrect to be made today.
Did Bill Clinton add Elizabeth Hurley to his list of in-White House conquests?
Round Rock ISD committee chairman tries to bypass laws to make changes to sex ed.
On tour with the Sex Pistols in Texas.
Tags: Alan Dershowitz, Austin, Crime, Cuba, Democrats, Dinesh D'Souza, fraud, Guns, Holly Hansen, Howard Dean, LinkSwarm, Massachusetts, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Media Watch, Michael Totten, New Jersey, ObamaCare, Ron Andrews, Round Rock ISD, Russia, Sochi Olympics, Ukraine, video
Posted in Austin, Communism, Crime, Democrats, Foreign Policy, Guns, Media Watch, ObamaCare, Texas, video, Waste and Fraud | No Comments »
February 8th, 2014
Mainly linking to this story for the amazing photos. As if living in an Ex-Communist country wasn’t bad enough, a winter storm just dumped several feet of ice on them.
“Walking in a Winter Wonderland” takes on quite a different meaning when the weight of the ice brings forests worth of trees crashing to the ground.
Driving doesn’t look like much fun either, though the frozen landscape looks amazingly alien.
Another video (skip ahead a minute to omit getting out of the parking garage):
All this should make you feel better about your current weather….
Tags: Communism, Global Warming, ice storm, Slovenia, video, weather
Posted in Communism, Global Warming | No Comments »
February 7th, 2014
Another week, another week of bad ObamaCare news.
First off comes the National Small Business Association survey that shows that health care costs for small businesses have doubled since 2009. The “Affordable Care Act” turns out not to be affordable for anyone…
The new CBO report also paints a devastating picture of how ObamaCare will damage our economy through 2024, including:
Destroying 2.5 million jobs, by destroying incentives to work.
Leaving 31 million people in the U.S. without health insurance.
6-7 million additional people will lose the health insurance they already have (and I’m guessing that estimate is way too low).
It will reduce incentives for people to keep jobs (and The New York Times cheers).
Reduced paychecks for American workers.
Another bomb in the CBO report: ObamaCare subsidies are structured in such way that earning $1 more costs an extra $13,572 per year.
And the first CBO-based attack ad is already out (this one aimed at North Carolina’s Sen. Kay Hagan):
Another attack ad targets Florida Rep. Joe Garcia:
And here are some workers finding out that ObamaCare makes their insurance unaffordable:
“The ACA has been an unmitigated disaster since its passage.”
It doesn’t help that the ObamaCare enrollment numbers are grossly inflated.
Things aren’t much better in the state exchanges, either. Covered California 2013: “Sure your doctor is covered!” Covered California 2014: “Suckers!”
She’s not the only one. But it sucks when you have Stage Four cancer and suddenly your doctor is no longer covered:
There is one solution to this problem: Full repeal of ObamaCare.
Too bad there appears to be no limit to the damage (or deaths) Democrats are willing to let happen to avoid that…
Tags: Covered California, Democrats, Joe Garcia, Kay Hagan, ObamaCare, video
Posted in Democrats, ObamaCare, video | No Comments »
February 6th, 2014
“House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday joined the Senate’s top Republican in suggesting an immigration overhaul this year is unlikely, citing a lack of trust among the GOP toward President Obama.”
I’m sure the GOP doesn’t trust Obama, but that summary overlooks another glaring trust issue, namely that the constituents of House Republicans don’t trust GOP reps not to cave on illegal alien amnesty. And they especially don’t trust you, Speaker Boehner.
The Republican establishment and their big business donors have gotten it into their head that illegal alien amnesty is just a swell idea, and widespread and near universal rejection of amnesty by actual voting Americans doesn’t seem to be able to dislodge this idee fixe.
If you ask actual Americans how important immigration reform, it’s not the first, or fifth, or even tenth priority. People are much more concerned with the lack of jobs in the Obama Economy, and how ObamaCare is raising their premiums or ending their coverage entirely.
Want to earn voters trust? Stop trying to sneak in illegal alien amnesty by the backdoor or in smoke-filled rooms. There should be no immigration legislation until Obama is out of office and current laws are enforced. Period.
John Boehner is right. We don’t trust Obama. But we also don’t trust him, or the rest of the Republican establishment, not to sell out their constituents for a pocketful of promises.
Tags: amnesty, John Boehner, Obama, Republicans
Posted in Border Control, Republicans | No Comments »
February 6th, 2014
Normally I would applaud a member of the Democratic Party supporting Second Amendment rights. But Wendy Davis supporting open carry?
Right. Pull the other one.
After all, this is the same Wendy Davis who voted against concealed carry by authorized CHL holders on college campuses, keeping Texas campuses fictive “gun free zones.” She also tried to do what Austin is trying to do: force gun shows to impose additional background checks on private citizens.
The fact that Davis hasn’t been universally opposed to gun rights may be explained by the fact that she’s a state senator in Texas, one with significant suburban and rural constituents and who only won her last election with 51% of the vote and thus one for which a hard-left gun control position would be a career-ending exercise. It’s also possible that, like Arlen Specter, another former Republican, she may have no fixed political positions whatsoever beyond the belief she should hold political office (or perhaps none beyond support for unlimited abortion).
Davis’ open carry pander is the worst kind of pander for a politician: a ham-handed, ineffective and incompetent one. Since Davis is already running as a liberal darling, and Abbott has already embraced open carry, there’s no chance this move will win her real converts among single-issue Second Amendment supporters, but a very real chance it will alienate her national liberal fundraising base.
Wendy Davis is a credible leader on Second Amendment rights the way Danny DeVito is a credible NBA center.
Tags: 2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, Greg Abbott, Guns, open carry, Second Amendment, Texas, Wendy Davis
Posted in Elections, Guns, Texas | No Comments »
February 5th, 2014
The last few weeks have not been kind to Wendy Davis.
Since announcing very respectable fundraising totals in early January, it’s been all downhill since then.
First came the revelations of the many falsehoods in her biography, then doubling down on some falsehoods.
Even the lefty Texas Observer said “the Wendy Davis operation is about the worst at media relations that I’ve ever seen. Her team’s mismanagement of the press is damaging her candidacy.” (This will not be a surprise to those reading this blog.)
Also, her decent fundraising numbers appear to have evaporated:
Of course, it doesn’t help her campaign that Davis has expensive tastes.
Everything about her campaign suggests she was woefully unprepared to run a statewide race in Texas.
Tags: 2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, Elections, Greg Abbott, Texas, Texas Gubernatorial Race, Wendy Davis
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Texas | 1 Comment »
