Links and Minifeatures 2009 02 02 Monday

Carnival of Personal Finance

Carnival of Real Estate

Before spending $1.2 trillion dollars on a stimulus, Maybe we should consider the effects "stimulus" packages have had in the past. Which is to say, they exacerbated the problem and delayed a recovery.

More here: How Government Prolonged the Depression

So what stopped a blockbuster recovery from ever starting? The New Deal. Some New Deal policies certainly benefited the economy by establishing a basic social safety net through Social Security and unemployment benefits, and by stabilizing the financial system through deposit insurance and the Securities Exchange Commission. But others violated the most basic economic principles by suppressing competition, and setting prices and wages in many sectors well above their normal levels. All told, these antimarket policies choked off powerful recovery forces that would have plausibly returned the economy back to trend by the mid-1930s.

What's that definition of insanity again?

Now consider that this "stimulus" package looks a lot more like all the Democratic pet projects tied up in one bill they're trying to politically cover by telling people it's to help the economy.

What was that our new President said about transparency and accountability again?

Does it sound like he's taking it seriously? Not to me either.

Related Trivia tidbit: Lobbying up 25% since Democrats retook Congress at the end of 2006

This is rich: Guantanamo Judge Denies Obama's Request for Delay

The administration, which expected military judges to agree to its motions seeking suspension, was taken aback by yesterday's decision. Judges in other cases, including one involving five Sept. 11 defendants, had quickly agreed to the government's request.

Guess the judiciary isn't all set to sing Kumbaya with the new administration either.

What did the Democrats learn from the HillaryCare debacle? That most folks don't want government to control health? Nope. The lesson they learned was to try not to get noticed.

The Return of One-Party Rule

Palestinian Myth Machine

The list of things the Palestinians lie about is extensive. Actually, it's about infinitely easier to compile the list of things they don't lie about. Here it is:

Would you like to see it again?

I just had what seems an awful lot like a phishing phone call. Supposedly from my health care provider, some information. Then they want me to enter my medical number with them and birthdate. Sorry, but you folks called me. I only do that when I initiate the call, so that I know who's on the other end of the line. Hung up and called the provider via the usual number. They do have such a system, but no message for me.

Watch yourself out there.

Transparency or not:

White House bars Google caching

The White House has silently tripled the number of Web pages that it forbids Google and other search engines from accessing.

Can't have our new president held responsible for what he said yesterday, can we?

Still more on the "most transparent administration ever":

Obama panders to unions by cutting off information to workers

President Obama plans Friday to reverse an executive order allowing unionized companies to post signs alerting employees that they are allowed to leave unions.

Can't have the workers knowing that they have the right not to be in a union, can we?

Are there any Democratic politicians that actually pay their taxes?

Daschle apologizes for failing to pay taxes

Or is actually paying taxes for the little chumps (like you and me) whose money they spend?

Rangel. Geithner. Dodd. Jefferson. The list goes on and on.

More at Scrappleface. Let's hope you can laugh at it, because these folks are our national jokes for the next couple of years.

Speaking of Dodd:

Sen. Dodd says he'll refinance Countrywide loans

Dodd has acknowledged receiving mortgages in 2003 through a VIP program at Countrywide, which was sold to Bank of America Corp. earlier this year and has been the focus of allegations that it gave favorable loan terms to lawmakers.

Chairman of Senate Finance Committee: You caught me selling my influence for cheap mortgage money, so I'll do it again with someone else, and that will make it all better!

Shameful

New York's Charles Rangel and five other Democratic members of the House enjoyed a trip to the Caribbean sponsored in part by Citigroup (see above) in November - after Congress had approved the $700 bailout for financial firms (including Citigroup).

The members no doubt will object to the terms "junket," but that shoe fits. The National Legal and Policy Center, a watchdog group, has asked Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to investigate the Nov. 6-9 excursion to the island of St. Maarten.

HT: Q and O

More: Government of Helmsleys

There are a lot more where Geithner, Rangel, and Daschle came from. While I have David Boaz to thank for a clever title for this article, I am sure that he joins me in wishing that it never had to be written. Alas, the Obama Administration and its allies seem to have a serious problem when it comes to paying taxes. Or, as House Republican Whip Eric Cantor puts it, "It's easy for the other side to advocate for higher taxes because you know what? They don't pay 'em."

Holder confirmed as AG

My and what sterling qualifications, too. Arrange a pardon for fugitives from justice, become Attorney General.

"Most ethical administration ever'? I do not think that means what Obama thinks it means.

Private Papers: Time to Beam Down to Earth

Lawyering The War on Terror

Above are two prime examples of how the policy switch advantages the enemy at the expense of the citizens. In the first, the folly of fighting terrorism through the courts could not be clearer. It is nearly impossible to build a public case based on state secrets. In the law enforcement model, the prosecution is not allowed to have secrets, and defendants are entitled to see the evidence against them as well as to confront all witnesses. That is because our nation is founded on the principle that the people, from whom the government derives its power, should enjoy the benefit of presumptions and the government should be required to make its case. When trying to confront our nation's enemies, however, we do not want to allow them the same benefit. By engaging them in courtroom battles rather than in military/intelligence ones, we do just that.

I can just see DOJ lawyers trying to arrest Al-Qaeda operatives.

So what's the over/under of civilian deaths before the Obama administration admits that Bush was right?

Cramer on Obama's Anti-Wall Street Comments: 'We Heard Lenin'

And you wonder why Wall Street is crashing and the economy is in the tank?

Indian Media: Doing the job American media won't do.

Change you can believe in: Dictatorship on the rise.

If you think they're not related, welcome to planet Earth and I hope we can be friends.

Rednecks Die, no one cries.

In the wake of the news slowly filtering out of Kentucky and the Appalachian/Ozark region of our nation that is suffering from the worst ice storm in memory, perhaps it's appropriate to ask the whereabouts of our own Savior. Turns out he's in Washington DC, basking in a toasty-warm Oval Office, serving the finest in gourmet food to the Democrat leadership, and preparing a deluxe Superbowl party for tonight.

A million people without power in killing cold. Over twice as many people as were in the City of New Orleans prior to Katrina. At least 42 dead. Why no outcry that Obama hates rednecks and wants them to die? Why no reporting in the media so that people will help on their own?

Kentucky freezes; Obama dines on $100 a pound steak

Kentucky: No Power, No FEMA - UPDATED

In fairness to President Obama, it is not really the job of the president to personally go in and rescue people after a natural disaster. The province in emergencies is still - as it was with Katrina - local, then state government, then federal intervention with funding and FEMA, etc. But the press and the Democrats didn't want to hear it with Katrina, where the staggering failures of the local and state governments were ignored so that the Bush-beating could commence. But it seems to me if Bush was crucified for "eating cake" with John McCain and not sending FEMA "fast enough" and not running down to NOLA to get in the way of rescuers for the photo-op, then there is certainly some room to criticize President Obama, who supposedly is having a black-tie dinner tonight with members of the press in the warm, cozy White House while hundreds of thousands have evacuated or are still not even being checked on.

Many pleading for faster response

Anchoress updates

That would also be a terrible thing to say, and I think playing the racism card is stupid, but the point is, when Katrina hit, the press pulled out every stop they possibly could - including the racism canard - to identify that disaster with a "Bush epic fail." They ignored his early pleadings to Ray Nagin and Kathleen Blanco to evacuate. They ignored his declaring NOLA and surrounding areas as Disaster Areas even before Katrina hit, so the fed could immediately get to work. They ignored the proper jurisdiction of emergencies (local, then state, then fed) and the extreme incompetence of the Louisiana leadership and made Katrina all about "what Bush did or didn't do." By contrast, the press seems to be going out of its way to insure that Obama is not associated with this week-long drama at all.

and

President Obama has not done that. 7 days into the mess, he has not asked Americans to donate to the Red Cross or other disaster-relief agencies. He has not flown over the area to see the extent of the disaster. He has not gotten onto the ground to meet with anyone. This is the first thing that Obama can rightly be criticized for - he should now, finally, make an appearance. The rest of it, the steak-eating, the cocktails, the ballgame - it is brought up only to illustrate the difference between what was unreasonably demanded of one president, and what is (reasonably) excused in another.

Who is the "They" now in California?

Anyone with capital who wants to start business X, knows that he can be put out of business by one supposed sexual harassment suit, a racial discrimination complaint, trying to fathom 500 pages of state EPA applications, a 10% income tax rate, and now a 9% sales tax to come. In California we hunt out the misdemeanor and ignore the felonies. Drive down my avenue, drop five trash bags of wet garbage on the side of the road, and the chances are great you will never be held accountable (even if your receipts are found in the trash and turned over to the sheriff), but please don't wire an outdoor light in the barnyard without a permit. You see, anyone who nods and obeys the law and pays, we hound; anyone who simply won't or can't, or causes too much trouble, we the state employee simply ignore.

Obama supporter? Then you are now officially pro-torture.