So I know whose @$$ to kick

By LARRY WILKE

A certain recipe for failure would be to blindly continue with that which has miserably failed. Welcome to the perverted world of today’s liberal political pogrom. As soon as the shampaign ended and all of the Bolshevik bunting was removed, the socialist singsong sophistry of “we inherited this mess” was all the rage. Nearly two years later, the song remains the same but the subject of the hilarious hymn has deteriorated at an alarming rate. It would seem that America’s Hussein is even more adept at destroying the nation that he leads than Iraq’s Hussein was.

The fascist finger pointer has decided to continue with the “I/we inherited this mess” mantra and it is easy to understand why, most recently at a staged “townhall” meeting in Wisconsin. If Obama and his band of collectivists Czars had managed to even slightly slow the effects of the years of delirious Democratic destructiveness, the socialist soliloquy would be different. Since the dystrophic Democrats have held majorities in both Houses since 2006 and now the “presidency” for what amounts to a totalitarian trifecta while things have gotten appreciably worse, the fault for everything obviously belongs to moderate George Bush.

(more…)

By STEVE Mac DONALD

Since the early days of the anti-Republican revolution (circa 2006) the third of New Hampshire residents who poll as independents have flirted with letting democrats run the state.  But they didn’t just flirt with them; they bought them dinner, took them to a movie, and invited them into the State House, where they’ve been entrenched for almost four miserable years.

With liberal majorities in both chambers and a Democrat in the governor’s office, the result has been predictable.  They increased spending 23%, then imagined revenue projections to cover that spending.  So when the tooth fairy failed to provide the extra few-hundred million under the State House pillow during the “worst recession in history” it was difficult to accept their surprise as genuine.

Those with the desire to look, saw the plan at work.  Spend the state into a broad based sales or income tax.  This would allow the “grow government party” to feed on their host without the political risk of dropping an ever larger tax bill in everyone’s mail box twice a year.  A broad based tax would attract more lobbyists and their check-books, and New Hampshire’s  citizen legislature would slowly go down the toilet in a swirl of left wing blue water.

(more…)

Editor’s Note: In this exclusive interview, Dr. Eamonn Butler of the Adam Smith Institute discusses his new book The Alternative Manifesto as well as economics and politics in the UK and the U.S.

ALL RIGHT MAGAZINE: Your new book is The Alternative Manifesto: A 12-Step Programme to Remake Britain.  An American who reads it would be quick to notice the similarities between the situation there and in the United States, both economically and politically, but the situation there does seem worse.  Do you agree?

DR. EAMONN BUTLER: In the UK, Parliament is sovereign. There are no formal, constitutional checks and balances as there are in the US. It’s like cricket – the system depends on people just ‘playing the game’ with its unwritten rules. Unfortunately, the 24-hour media demand and other changes have made our system more ‘presidential’, where most attention is focused on the prime minister, rather than on the government as a team. Charismatic leaders, like Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, have taken more and more control to the centre, and because our executive (around 120 ministers) also sits in the House of Commons, Parliament rarely votes against executive policy. So there has been nothing to stop this centralization. So our state-funded services – healthcare, education, welfare, police, the justice system and much more – have ended up being run from the centre, in top-down, Stalinist fashion. Not surprisingly the public services just consume more and more money without delivering results, while police and justice officials have become agents of the state rather than guardians of the people. Equally, though, with our system we can reverse things quickly too, as Margaret Thatcher reversed our social and economic decline in the 1980s. So an enlightened government can change all this. But it means giving up power and devolving it back to the people – which no politician is really very good at.

(more…)

By FAIRFIELD “PINPOINT” EDWARDS

Editor’s Note: Unconventional Wisdom is a new series designed to unravel the misleading “conventional wisdom” of our times.  In this edition, the Clinton Surplus Myth is examined by the numbers.

Everyone is aware of the perception that the Clinton years were a golden age of fiscal management and economic genius.  First, let it be said that there was indeed an impressive period of surplus revenues during the Clinton years, especially in light of recent American history since the Great Depression and the New Deal.  However, the entire set of numbers show a more complete picture and put the surpluses in their proper perspective.

Without further ado, here are the statistics (in millions because the numbers are so outrageously large):

(more…)

By LARRY WILKE

On February 9^th, yet another liberal IED exploded in Washington. Surprisingly, I will wager that you haven’t heard a single word about it until now. The “revenue recidivist” himself said that he is “agnostic about raising taxes on households making less than $250,000 as part of a broad effort to rein in the budget deficit.” For those who are fond of brevity, this is known as a “Kerry” or a “flip flop.” For those more historically inclined, this is an “HW.”

When an Obama claims to be “agnostic” about something, it is a good idea to be absolutely firm on the definition of what it is that he is talking about because we know that he himself isn’t. “Agnostic: a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience.” This comes from the “Dictionary” in my telephone. (My how technology has changed our lives.) Let’s delve into this liberal looking glass of a word.

(more…)

By Dr. ROBERT OWENS

As the economy constricted from the latest bubble, what have we done?  On an individual basis, unless we have an economic death, wish we cut back spending, increase saving and pray we don’t get downsized, rightsized or thrown under the bus to free up capital for someone else’s bonus.   As a business owner we follow the same pattern.  People wonder why banks aren’t loaning money to small businesses.  Don’t mistake a symptom for the disease.  Banks aren’t loaning because businesses aren’t borrowing.

Businesses aren’t expanding; they’re trying to survive.  With the re-making of America still an enigma wrapped in a riddle on the horizon, no one knows how to make an educated guess as to what the future holds.  Without a clear vision of what will be required tomorrow, it’s impossible to plan today.  From Main Street to Wall Street people are keeping their heads down hoping if we click our heels enough times we’ll end up back in the America we know and love hoping we won’t have to admit this transparent collectivist shell game is the New Normal.

(more…)

By Dr. ROBERT OWENS

In the recent Massachusetts election Republican Scott Brown confounded the purveyors of conventional wisdom and caused a magnitude 10 earthquake in the political world by liberating the Kennedy Senate Fiefdom from the grip of the Democrat machine.  To the 24 hour talking-heads this changes everything since the Democrats can no longer cut-off debate in the Senate though they can still stifle debate in the House and hold the Executive Department in their iron fist.  But did the Party of Power really experience anything besides a bump in the road?

In President Obama’s estimation, “we lost some of that sense of speaking directly to the American people.”  In reality Mr. Obama has made 52 addresses or statements specifically on his health care proposals, holding 42 news conferences, participating in 158 interviews, hosting 23 town hall meetings, making 46 out-of-town trips to 58 cities and towns in 30 states.  If he hasn’t been speaking directly to the American people what has he been doing?  He’s on TV more than Vinny from Sham Wow.  Considering that after the seismic electoral event in Massachusetts Mr. Obama’s political Svengali David Axelrod said, “We’ll have to think through this next year from the standpoint of tactics but in substance the mission can’t change.”  It isn’t that the President hasn’t talked enough the problem is he isn’t listening.  Communication is a two-way exchange and what we have here is a failure to communicate.

(more…)

By JOHN DAVID EDEN

Ready or not here comes Baby New Year, and with  a “change” like this, there’s usually a diaper involved somehow…

(more…)

By NANCY MORGAN

Uncle Obama has gotten a hold of your credit card. And he’s amassing charges on it that – you – not he – are liable for. You can call the fraud line, you can call the police, you can call any politician or government agency, and they will all tell you the same thing. Shut up and pay up.

Since misery loves company, you might feel better knowing that you’re not the only one being extorted. Uncle Obama and his buddies have the credit and debit cards of every man woman and child in America. And they’re charging up a bundle. So far, each of us has a $38,000 tab that we are personally liable for. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, which by the way, isn’t melting.

(more…)