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Selected News For Week Jan 10 – Jan 16

This thread is for the busy bees of S&L to post news items themselves.

In order to make the articles as readable as possible, please try to stick to the format described in the first of these weekly editions here. Please eschew articles from blogs or hugely popular sites like the Drudge Report, since most people will presumably see such material elsewhere.

Of course articles that fit under the topic of a recent thread should be posted there. As always, remember to excerpt heavily and to provide a link to the original source.

Related Articles:

 

This article was posted by Steve Gilbert on Saturday, January 10th, 2009 at 12:00 am. You can leave a response.

66 Responses to “Selected News For Week Jan 10 – Jan 16”

  1. proreason
    January 11, 2009 at 3:32 pm

    From the All Barack Cabal, in which Obamy announces that Everybody will have to sacrifice:

    Transcript: Obama Tackles the Economy

    …STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me press you on this, at the end of the day, are you really talking about over the course of your presidency some kind of a grand bargain? That you have tax reform, health care reform, entitlement reform, including Social Security and Medicare where everybody in the country is going to have to sacrifice something, accept change for the greater good?

    OBAMA: Yes.
    …

    http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek.....amp;page=1

    When will we learn the sacrifices that George Soros, Teddy Kennedy, John Kerry, bho, and George Stepnanopolous will be making.

    So far, Soros has made 2.4 Billion; Kenedy and Kerry haven’t lost a dime, Mr. Stephanopolous still has his lucrative job, and Obamy has taken two vacations in Hawaii while the country has lost 20% of it’s net worth and unemployment has shot up except for the millions of Obamy supporters who don’t have jobs anyway.

  2. DW
    January 11, 2009 at 9:01 pm

    A sad loss as reported by the New York Times:

    Harry W. O. Kinnard, Who Said One Word Would Do, Dies at 93
    By Richard Goldstein
    Published January 10, 2009

    Lt. Gen. Harry W. O. Kinnard, who inspired the storied retort “nuts” to a German surrender ultimatum during the Battle of the Bulge, died Monday in Arlington, Va. He was 93.

    His death was announced by his family.

    General Kinnard parachuted into Normandy in the first hours of D-Day. He received the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism during Operation Market Garden, the airborne attack in the German-occupied Netherlands. And he helped pioneer the airmobile concept, sending troops into combat aboard helicopters during the Vietnam War.

    But he was perhaps best remembered for what happened in December 1944 at the Belgian town of Bastogne, where the 101st Airborne Division, short on clothing and boots in a snowstorm and bitter cold, was surrounded by German troops.

    Bastogne, at the intersection of important roads, was a crucial objective for the Germans in their surprise attack in the Ardennes region of Belgium, an offensive that had created a “bulge” in Allied lines.

    On Dec. 22, two German officers approached the American lines in Bastogne carrying a demand that the American commander surrender his troops within two hours or face annihilation from an artillery barrage.

    The message was passed on to Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe, acting as division commander while Maj. Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor was in Washington.

    General Kinnard, a lieutenant colonel at the time and the division’s operations officer, would recall that General McAuliffe “laughed and said: ‘Us surrender? Aw, nuts.’ ”

    As General Kinnard related it long afterward in an interview with Patrick O’Donnell, a military historian: “He pondered for a few minutes and then told the staff, ‘Well, I don’t know what to tell them.’ He then asked the staff what they thought, and I spoke up, saying, ‘That first remark of yours would be hard to beat.’…

    Full article:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01......html?_r=1

    The full article is well worth the read -if only for the anecdote at the end of it.
    Either way, another of the greatest generation has gone from us.
    R.I.P. General Kinnard.

    • 12 Gauge Rage
      January 16, 2009 at 12:38 pm

      “Nuts” was basically telling the German commander to go to hell. From what I’ve read this suited General McAuliffe quite well as he was said to never use profanity. This is a classic example of the can-do American spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity.

  3. Helena
    January 11, 2009 at 9:49 pm

    “He then asked the staff what they thought, and I spoke up, saying, ‘That first remark of yours would be hard to beat.’…”

    Ditto that. My favorite WWII moment. RIP, General Kinnard. Thanks for posting this, DW.

  4. BillK
    January 12, 2009 at 9:21 am

    The Treason Times whine of the day:

    Few in U.S. See Jazeera’s Coverage of Gaza War

    By Noam Cohen

    Last June, Al Jazeera English produced a report from Gaza about a young couple who were preparing to marry during the relative calm of the cease-fire between Hamas and the Israeli government, a time when they could finally shop for furniture and, as the reporter put it, let themselves “dream that a happy life together is within reach.”

    Now that reporter, Ayman Mohyeldin, a former CNN producer, can be seen with a helmet and flak jacket answering questions from an anchor back in the studio in Doha, Qatar, describing the Israeli bombing and ground campaign in Gaza intended to stop Hamas missiles from being fired into Israel.

    In a conflict where the Western news media have been largely prevented from reporting from Gaza because of restrictions imposed by the Israeli military, Al Jazeera has had a distinct advantage. It was already there.

    There are six reporters in Gaza, two working for Al Jazeera English and four working for the much larger and more popular Arabic version of the network, which was created in 1996 with a $150 million grant from the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. Al Jazeera describes itself on the air as “the only international broadcaster with a presence there.”

    While getting to the story has not been an insurmountable problem for Al Jazeera English’s journalists — they are, in effect, surrounded by it — getting their reports to the English-speaking public has been a bit trickier. The network is largely unavailable in the United States, carried only by cable providers in Burlington, Vt.; Toledo, Ohio; and Washington, D.C. (In Burlington, the local government last summer rejected public calls for the city-owned cable provider, Burlington Telecom, to drop the channel.)

    By contrast, Al Jazeera’s English-language service can be seen in over 100 countries via cable and satellite, according to Molly Conroy, a spokeswoman for the network in Washington.

    Recognizing that its material from Gaza will have influence in the United States only if it is highly accessible online, Al Jazeera has aggressively experimented with using the Internet to distribute the information it has gathered.

    For example, Mohamed Nanabhay, the 29-year-old executive who established Al Jazeera’s new-media group, beginning in late 2006, said that Al Jazeera planned to announce this week that all its video material of the war in Gaza would become available under the most lenient Creative Commons license, which basically means it can be used by anyone — rival broadcaster, documentary maker or individual blogger, for example — as long as Al Jazeera is credited.

    Also, it currently streams its broadcasts in a variety of formats and has a dedicated channel on YouTube with more than 6,800 videos.

    Al Jazeera said that since the war started the number of people watching its broadcasts via the Livestation service has increased by over 500 percent, and the views of videos on its YouTube channel have increased by more than 150 percent.

    Also, Al Jazeera has created a Twitter feed on the “war on Gaza,” which provides frequent short messages that refer the public to new material that can be viewed online. During the weekend, there were more than 4,600 followers, not including the many more who view those short messages, called “tweets,” online. The Twitter feeds are also streamed onto Al Jazeera’s English Web site.

    And unlike purely commercial broadcasters, Al Jazeera does not have to accompany its new-media strategies with revised new-media business models.

    “Part of our mission, our mandate, is to get our news out,” Mr. Nanabhay said. “We don’t have the direct commercial pressures that others have. If we can make some money that is great.”

    The near-total blackout in the United States is no doubt related to the sharp criticism Al Jazeera received from the United States government during the initial stages of the war in Iraq for its coverage of the American invasion. Officials like Vice President Dick Cheney and the defense secretary at the time, Donald Rumsfeld, said the network’s reporting was inflammatory, irresponsible and frequently misleading.

    And in Israel, where news media commonly quote from material on Al Jazeera, the network is frequently criticized for inflaming the Arab public by running unfiltered and out-of-context videotape showing blood and gore in battle zones.

    Al Jazeera officials respond that they are being blamed for accurately reporting what is going on in the world from an Arab perspective. …

    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01.....f=business

    So Al Jazeera claims “part” of their mission is “to get our news out.”

    Not the news, our news.

    Why do they want to get “their” news out?

    Recognizing that its material from Gaza will have influence in the United States only if it is highly accessible online

    Ahhh… ”To have an influence.”

    Reporting?

    No, everyone knows news media has long since become blatant advocacy journalism; al Qaeda Al Jazeera is just brave enough to admit it.

  5. BillK
    January 12, 2009 at 9:44 am

    Coming as a shock to absolutely no one, news from AP:

    GM exec says automaker may need more gov’t money

    By Tom Krisher

    General Motors Corp.’s chief operating officer said Monday that the automaker has presented a worst-case scenario to Congress in which it would need more money than the $13.4 billion allocated by the Treasury Department.

    But Fritz Henderson would not speculate on whether GM will need all of the $18 billion in government loans it sought from Congress in December.

    Speaking to reporters at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Henderson said he is confident GM will work out concessions from the United Auto Workers. GM, Chrysler and the union have been talking about labor cost reductions and other concessions required under the government’s loan terms.

    The companies have until Feb. 17 to hammer out amendments to their current labor contracts that would bring worker costs in line with those of employees at foreign auto companies’ plants in the U.S.

    UAW President Ron Gettelfinger has said the union will approach President-elect Barack Obama’s administration to end what he called unfair requirements in the loan terms for concessions from the union.

    U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., has proposed getting rid of a requirement that GM and Chrysler negotiate labor cost parity with foreign-owned automakers that have U.S. factories.

    But Henderson said the uncertainty over what concessions are required doesn’t mean the company and union aren’t talking about labor cost gaps.

    “We know what those costs are just like they do,” he said.

    Hourly wages for UAW workers at GM factories already are about equal to the average of $30 per hour Toyota Motor Corp. pays at its older U.S. factories, according to the companies. But including benefits and the cost of providing health care to retirees, the Detroit automaker says its total labor cost is around $69 per hour, compared with an all-inclusive cost of $53 per hour at Toyota.

    GM’s total cost will drop to $62 per hour in 2010 when a UAW administered trust fund starts paying retiree health care costs, with the remaining difference due to the “legacy” costs of century-old GM paying its retiree pensions.
    Other items that are on the table include payments and benefits to laid-off workers. The union has agreed to end the “jobs bank” program under which laid-off workers can receive about 95 percent of their pay and benefits for years, but the government’s plan calls for the companies to eliminate other payments that supplement state unemployment benefits immediately after a layoff. …

    http://customwire.ap.org/dynam.....TO_SHOW_GM

    The most truthful line in the entire piece:

    UAW President Ron Gettelfinger has said the union will approach President-elect Barack Obama’s administration to end what he called unfair requirements in the loan terms for concessions from the union.

    The UAW’s goal of course being for the government to instead force foreign car makers’ costs to rise to those created by UAW contracts.

    As far as GM, the non-stop Cadillac ads shown on the Golden Globes last night to an audience that largely either can’t afford Cadillacs or would never consider buying one?

    There’s a wise investment.

  6. BillK
    January 12, 2009 at 9:48 am

    From the so far left they couldn’t stay in business as an ad-supported newspaper (Madison, WI) Capital Times:

    Peace activists head into federal court on a high note

    By Maisie Ramsay

    Though Sunday night’s music fundraiser for the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice at the east side Harmony Bar and Grill was festive, the crowd was assembled for a more somber purpose: to explain why 13 peace activists expect to be fined $500, with possible jail time for nonpayment, before a federal judge in Madison on Monday.

    The activists were participating in a 450-mile walk from Chicago to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., last August when the march took a turn past military training camp Fort McCoy, outside of Tomah.

    According to the group, 13 of the activists attempted to enter the base with the intention to deliver an open letter to the thousands of military trainees stationed there. They didn’t get past Fort McCoy’s front gates.

    “As soon as we entered the driveway, we were stopped and told we were subject to arrest if we didn’t leave,” said Jeff Leys, a Watertown native and one of the 13 who faces trespass charges in court tomorrow.

    After being confronted by military personnel, the group refused to leave and were promptly arrested on a charge of trespassing, he said.

    And tomorrow, they will be representing themselves before a federal judge. The group includes one Madison resident, Joy First.

    Leys, a longtime social justice activist, said he has been through situations like this many times before and approaches the impending trial nonchalantly. He expects to be fined $500 for trespassing and expects a possible 90-day prison sentence for refusing to pay that fine.

    His reasoning: Military officers are risking their lives; the least he can do is risk his freedom. “You need to at least risk your physical freedom as a minimal act of solidarity to those in the military trying to figure out how to react to the war,” he said.

    His sentiment was shared by other activists who will be on trial tomorrow.

    “It’s a small risk compared with the urgency of stopping this war, and it’s a really small risk compared with the enormity of the moment,” said Eileen Hanson, a Winona, Minn., resident who was arrested alongside Leys. She said she also is unlikely to pay the expected fine. …

    http://www.madison.com/tct/news/432067

    March onto a military base, refuse to leave, and then taxpayers can foot their room and board because they won’t pay their fines.

    Sounds about right.

    If only more military bases had “Use of deadly force is authorized” perimeters…

  7. JohnMG
    January 12, 2009 at 10:51 am

    In happier times they would have been shot!

    I just love how this asshat claims moral equivalence with commissioned military officers and the sacrifices such people make.

    If the federal judge he goes before has any stones, he’ll accept the refusal to pay the fine, then double the jail sentence for this idiot and force him to pay restitution to the state for his own incarceration. Every refusal to comply with the order will result in a double-down in the sentence.

    So far Leys has risked nothing in his quest of a headline and a bit of notoriety. I say its time to up the ante.

  8. proreason
    January 12, 2009 at 6:27 pm

    Pravda didn’t get the memo from AlToad:

    Earth on the Brink of an Ice Age

    The earth is now on the brink of entering another Ice Age, according to a large and compelling body of evidence from within the field of climate science. Many sources of data which provide our knowledge base of long-term climate change indicate that the warm, twelve thousand year-long Holocene period will rather soon be coming to an end, and then the earth will return to Ice Age conditions for the next 100,000 years.

    Ice cores, ocean sediment cores, the geologic record, and studies of ancient plant and animal populations all demonstrate a regular cyclic pattern of Ice Age glacial maximums which each last about 100,000 years, separated by intervening warm interglacials, each lasting about 12,000 years.

    Most of the long-term climate data collected from various sources also shows a strong correlation with the three astronomical cycles which are together known as the Milankovich cycles. The three Milankovich cycles include the tilt of the earth, which varies over a 41,000 year period; the shape of the earth’s orbit, which changes over a period of 100,000 years; and the Precession of the Equinoxes, also known as the earth’s ‘wobble’, which gradually rotates the direction of the earth’s axis over a period of 26,000 years. According to the Milankovich theory of Ice Age causation, these three astronomical cycles, each of which effects the amount of solar radiation which reaches the earth, act together to produce the cycle of cold Ice Age maximums and warm interglacials. …

    http://english.pravda.ru/scien....._ice_age-0

    Oops.

    Those pesky Ruskies never were good at getting on the overwhelming consensus bandwagon.

    On the other hand, it’s really about CLIMATE CHANGE, isn’t it. Yes, that’s the ticket. Climate Change.

  9. BillK
    January 13, 2009 at 9:45 am

    See? The WaPo cares. Or is it glee?

    For Senate GOP, 2010 Losses on Top Of the 2008 Losses

    Voinovich Is Latest to Say He’ll Resign

    By Chris Cillizza

    A spate of retirement announcements by Senate Republicans this year have further complicated attempts by GOP strategists to begin rebuilding a party devastated by across-the-board losses in recent elections.

    The latest departure news came yesterday, when Sen. George V. Voinovich of Ohio said he has decided not to seek a third term in 2010, citing a desire to “step back and spend the rest of our time with our children and grandchildren.” Voinovich joins Republican Sens. Sam Brownback (Kan.), Christopher S. Bond (Mo.) and Mel Martinez (Fla.) on the sidelines heading into the 2010 election. So far this year, no Democrats have announced plans to retire after the current Senate term.

    The rapid pace of Republican retirement announcements has dispirited many in the party who thought the 2008 election, in which the party

    Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), the No. 3 Republican leader, said the decisions by Voinovich, Martinez and Bond hurt the party both politically and legislatively. “We’re losing three of our best players,” said Alexander, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference.

    “It makes an already tough situation even worse,” added Fred Davis, a Republican consultant who spearheaded advertising strategy for Sen. John McCain of Arizona in the 2008 presidential race.

    Several factors have contributed to the large number of looming retirements. Age and length of service have played a role (Voinovich will be 74 on Election Day 2010, and Bond has spent the past three decades in public office), but the common element in each decision appears to be the difficult path facing Republicans if they hope to regain the majority.

    Republicans control only 41 Senate seats and have 20 incumbents up for reelection in 2010, compared with 17 for the Democrats.

    Former senator Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) likened his ex-colleagues’ situation to a car ride. “The chairman [of a committee] — especially with 58 to 59 in the voting caucus — drives the car and chooses the destination,” he said. “The ranking [minority member] rides shotgun on a good day. On a bad day, he or she is in a carpool with the chairman’s staff.”

    Regardless of the reasoning behind each senator’s decision, Republican operatives are now confronted with a series of open-seat races in swing states where Democrats have made strides in recent years. …

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....03010.html

    Can anyone recall the last time Democrat politicos were referred to as “operatives?”

    The article concludes, of course, on a cheery note:

    Jordan called the recent Republican retirements a “morale killer, a momentum killer, and a massive recruitment and fundraising problem,” adding that “I’ll bet 10 to 1 that Voinovich won’t be the last” GOP senator to announce plans to retire.

    Because, you know, Republicans can never be expected to hold those seats…

    • Steve
      January 13, 2009 at 9:56 am

      “Can anyone recall the last time Democrat politicos were referred to as “operatives?”

      Good point.

      Google searches (sorry Gaia):

      Results 1 – 100 of about 86,400 English pages for “Republican operative” OR “gop operative”.

      Results 1 – 100 of about 34,000 English pages for “democrat operative” OR “democratic operative”.

    • BannedbytheTaliban
      January 13, 2009 at 10:13 am

      Can anyone remember the last time a Democrat retired?

    • JohnMG
      January 13, 2009 at 10:20 am

      I’m not even sure that the word ‘operative’ carries the same connotation when it is used by the MSM in reference to a Republican, as it does when used in reference to a Democrat. It is most frequently used as a perjorative when applied to Republicans, however.

    • Gila Monster
      January 13, 2009 at 10:31 am

      Indeed JohnMG, the MSM usually refers to Dems as “strategists”, being the great thinkers of our time and all that, ahem…. ;o)

  10. JohnMG
    January 13, 2009 at 10:24 am

    BannedbytheTaliban; …..”Can anyone remember the last time a Democrat retired?…..”

    Looking at all the Clinton-era appointees in Obama’s administration, I wonder. Does ‘retired’ and ‘retread’ mean the same thing?

    • BannedbytheTaliban
      January 13, 2009 at 3:46 pm

      Maybe more like “retarded.” But then agian, I don’t want to put down people with dissablities. Linking them with Democrat fat cats is just ill spirited.

      Yea for term limits.

  11. BillK
    January 13, 2009 at 12:25 pm

    The latest in newspeak from Madam Pelosi.

    From the Wall Street Journal:

    Obama Says Economic Recovery Will Take Time

    By Michael M. Phillips

    WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama, who takes office in just over a week, warned Americans not to expect any quick solutions to their economic woes.

    In a television interview on Sunday, Mr. Obama sought to dampen public expectations that his $775 billion stimulus plan, with its emphasis on infrastructure, alternative energy, health care and education, would jolt the economy out of recession.

    “Whether it’s retail sales, manufacturing — all of the indicators show that we are in the worst recession since the Great Depression,” Mr. Obama told ABC News’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” “And it’s going to take some time to fix it.”

    Even before he is sworn in, Mr. Obama’s economic-recovery plan is drawing flak from both sides of the aisle, with some fellow Democrats viewing his proposed business tax cuts as a sellout to Republicans.

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) told CNN’s “Late Edition” that she wants to take immediate steps to repeal President George W. Bush’s tax cuts for those earning more than $250,000 a year. “The sooner they are repealed, the less negative impact they’ll have on our deficit,” Ms. Pelosi said. She said the Democrats instead want to steer personal tax cuts to middle-class Americans.

    There have been suggestions that Mr. Obama prefers to wait until the cuts expire at the end of next year. “The Obama administration believes that increasing taxes on any Americans at this point may not be the right medicine,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), an Obama ally, told CBS’s “Face the Nation.” …

    http://online.wsj.com/article/.....71629.html

    Because of course in Pelosi and the lib’s fantasy world, raising tax rates increases tax revenue.

    The best part of Pelosi’s comment is not found in this article but in the “Late Edition” broadcast, where she said that raising the marginal rate from 35% to 39% for the $250,000 tax bracket is “not a tax increase. We’re repealing something they should never have had in the first place.”

    That’s just pure magic.

  12. BillK
    January 13, 2009 at 12:32 pm

    No shock whatsoever, also from the WSJ:

    Obama Plans to Keep Estate Tax

    Democrats Want to Freeze Levy at Current Levels Instead of Letting It Expire Next Year

    By Jonathan Weisman

    President-elect Barack Obama and congressional leaders plan to move soon to block the estate tax from disappearing in 2010, suggesting the levy might outlive the “Death Tax Repeal” movement that has tried mightily to kill it.

    The Democratic stance on the estate tax contrasts with Mr. Obama’s reluctance to press forward with his campaign pledge to raise income-tax rates on top earners, which he worries could have an adverse economic impact during a recession.

    But Democrats are determined to act quickly to prevent the estate tax’s scheduled repeal. Elimination of the levy on big inheritances was approved by Congress under President George W. Bush in 2001, with rollbacks phased in slowly and its full elimination slated to take effect next year.

    The Senate Finance Committee will move within weeks on legislation to reverse that law, and Mr. Obama is expected to detail his estate-tax preservation proposal in his budget next month, congressional tax writers said.

    Under the Obama plan detailed during the campaign, the estate tax would be locked in permanently at the rate and exemption levels that took effect this year. That would exempt estates of $3.5 million — $7 million for couples — from any taxation. The value of estates above that would be taxed at 45%. If the tax were returned to Clinton-era levels, it would exclude $1 million from taxation with the rest taxed at 55%.

    In making their case for the restoration, Democrats contend that such a large additional tax break for the rich shouldn’t go into force halfway through Mr. Obama’s proposed economic-recovery package. They argue that the deficit is already in record territory, while their plan wouldn’t have any impact on the economy since it would merely keep the estate-tax rate at its current level. Mr. Obama and his party also say that the affluent already have benefited handsomely from the Bush tax cuts.

    They also reason that if they don’t act now, it will be politically harder to go ahead with their plan to resurrect the estate tax once it has disappeared.

    For small-business groups, farmers’ associations and the affluent families that created and bankrolled the “Death Tax” repeal effort, the emerging Democratic plan marks a stark defeat.

    Advocates of killing off the tax say the emerging Obama policy is the wrong medicine for the recession, arguing the levy is economically burdensome like the income tax. Bill Rys, tax counsel for the National Federation of Independent Business, said small businesses struggling with falling sales and layoffs shouldn’t have to devote resources to estate planning.

    “With auto sales at a 16-year low, dealerships are already struggling. Freezing the 2009 levels would put an even greater burden on the future,” said Bailey Wood, chief lobbyist for the National Automobile Dealers Association.

    At the level proposed in the Obama policy, all but the largest estates — fewer than 2% of annual deaths — would escape taxation. Over 10 years, the Obama plan would cost the Treasury around $324 billion more than if the Clinton estate-tax levels were maintained, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. Full repeal would cost more than $500 billion over a decade.

    The estate tax was enacted in the early 20th century as a levy on wealth and inherited assets. It was later amended to allow a spouse to avoid the tax.

    Most such taxes are still collected from estates of the ultra-rich. But business and farm groups say small businesses and family farms struggle with it as well, at the very least devoting time and energy to planning ways to escape or minimize taxation as enterprises pass from generation to generation. …

    http://online.wsj.com/article/.....72279.html

    The key once again:

    They also reason that if they don’t act now, it will be politically harder to go ahead with their plan to resurrect the estate tax once it has disappeared.

    Besides, it would make all that work the Kennedys, Heinz-Kerrys and other longtime liberals have put into getting their money into untaxable off-shore trusts a colossal waste of time.

    • 12 Gauge Rage
      January 16, 2009 at 12:53 pm

      To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin: ‘If ten percent is good enough for God, why isn’t it good enough for Uncle Sam?’ Abolish the death tax and we’ll see a much bigger turnaround in our economy. Because as of now, why work your butt off to leave an inheritance to your children when the government is automatically going to skim off 45-55% of it before your survivors can have it? No wonder there’s no more incentive in this country to get ahead. People know the government will take away the fruits of their hard labor.

    • proreason
      January 16, 2009 at 1:01 pm

      “Besides, it would make all that work the Kennedys, Heinz-Kerrys and other longtime liberals have put into getting their money into untaxable off-shore trusts a colossal waste of time.”

      The death tax depends on the quality of lawyers one can afford to hire. The law really just applies to working people who through some miracle amass small estates. We can’t allow that. They might get uppity.

      Now the Kennedys, why they are our aristocracy! It wouldn’t be right to punish people better than ourselves. Besides, they have to pay the bribes that keep our criminal politicians in the splendor they deserve for ruling us so ably.

  13. JohnMG
    January 13, 2009 at 12:42 pm

    A little off-topic yet similar in scope, can anyone tell me how the “death tax” collected by our government is any different than the ransom money those Somali pirates extorted from the owners of that oil tanker?

  14. 1sttofight
    January 13, 2009 at 4:51 pm

    And another one bites the dust. This is going to be fun to watch the spin on this one.

    Source: Treasury nominee failed to pay taxes

    Jan 13, 4:26 PM (ET)

    By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE

    WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to run the Treasury Department and lead the economic rescue effort disclosed to senators Tuesday that he failed to pay $34,000 in taxes from 2001 to 2004, a last-minute complication in an otherwise smooth path to confirmation.

    Timothy Geithner paid most of the past-due taxes days before Obama announced his nomination in November, an Obama transition official said. The unpaid taxes were discovered by Obama’s transition team while investigating Geithner’s background, the official said.

    The transition official requested anonymity because the source was not authorized to discuss Geithner’s situation.

    Obama reiterated his support Tuesday for Geithner as senators who are considering the appointment quizzed Geithner behind closed doors.

    “He’s dedicated his career to our country and served with honor, intelligence and distinction,” incoming White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. “That service should not be tarnished by honest mistakes, which, upon learning of them, he quickly addressed.”

    Geithner failed to pay self-employment taxes for money he earned while working for the International Monetary Fund from 2001 to 2003, the transition official said. In 2006, the IRS notified him that he owed $14,847 in self-employment taxes and $2,383 in penalties from 2003 and 2004.

    Transition officials discovered last fall that Geithner also had not paid the taxes in 2001 or 2002. He paid $25,970 in taxes and interest for those years several days before Obama announced his nomination, the transition official said.

    Geithner also didn’t realize a housekeeper he paid in 2004 and 2005 did not have current employment documentation as an immigrant for the final three months she worked for him, the transition official said.

    Geithner is the second Obama nominee to face controversy. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson withdrew his name on Jan. 4 as Obama’s Commerce secretary after questions surfaced about an ongoing federal investigation.

    http://apnews.myway.com/articl.....GFTO1.html

  15. JohnMG
    January 13, 2009 at 5:07 pm

    …..“He’s dedicated his career to our country and served with honor, intelligence and distinction,” incoming White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. “That service should not be tarnished by honest mistakes, which, upon learning of them, he quickly addressed……”

    Translation:

    “He’s been getting away with tax evasion and milking the system for a long time. Now that he’s been caught, we’re passing this off as ‘an honest mistake’. C’mon, he’s a fellow democrat. Let ‘im pay the money (no interest or penalties, you know) and let’s let bygones be bygones. Just because he’s a tax-cheat doesn’t make him a crook. Look at Charlie Rangel–he’s not going to jail and he’s still in office. We’d like a do-over, please?”

    • 1sttofight
      January 13, 2009 at 5:22 pm

      So if I understand this right, if he had not been nominated, he would still be a tax cheat. Do I have that right?

  16. 1sttofight
    January 13, 2009 at 5:12 pm

    Lock and Load Boys and Girls. This bill has already been introduced into the house.

    SEC. 101. LICENSING REQUIREMENT.

    Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

    `(aa) Firearm Licensing Requirement-

    `(1) IN GENERAL- It shall be unlawful for any person other than a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to possess a qualifying firearm on or after the applicable date, unless that person has been issued a firearm license–

    [That means me and you boys and girls]

    `(A) under title I of Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009, which license has not been invalidated or revoked under that title; or

    `(B) pursuant to a State firearm licensing and record of sale system certified under section 602 of Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009, which license has not been invalidated or revoked under State law.

    `(2) APPLICABLE DATE- In this subsection, the term `applicable date’ means–

    `(A) with respect to a qualifying firearm that is acquired by the person before the date of the enactment of Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009, 2 years after such date of enactment; and

    `(B) with respect to a qualifying firearm that is acquired by the person on or after the date of the enactment of Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009, 1 year after such date of enactment.’.

    http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.45:

    • take_no_prisoners
      January 13, 2009 at 5:23 pm

      (36) The term `qualifying firearm’–

      (A) means–

      (i) any handgun; or

      (ii) any semiautomatic firearm that can accept any detachable ammunition feeding device; and

      (B) does not include any antique.’.

    • 1sttofight
      January 13, 2009 at 5:46 pm

      I consider my Glock 17, SKS, and other weapons all to be antiques. ;)

    • JohnMG
      January 13, 2009 at 5:52 pm

      Maybe jbharris will get the ACLU to argue against this bill. According to him, they have never tried to subvert the Constitution from within. (sarc off)

    • take_no_prisoners
      January 13, 2009 at 7:42 pm

      We better get our God fearing, clinging hands on as many as we can afford before the window is closed!

    • take_no_prisoners
      January 13, 2009 at 7:47 pm

      And don’t forget to stock up on as much ammunition as you can afford for your preferred handguns and semiautomatics while you still can. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the gun and ammunition purchases over the past 2 months are what is propping up the economy!

    • JohnMG
      January 13, 2009 at 7:51 pm

      Reloading equipment and supplies as well as scrap lead and bullet moulds.

    • take_no_prisoners
      January 13, 2009 at 8:01 pm

      Yes, I remember going to the junk yard when I was a kid. You could buy a pig of lead for spare change. I think they got it from the batteries from junk cars. I wonder if you can still buy a pig of lead at the junkyard?

    • JohnMG
      January 13, 2009 at 8:22 pm

      Probably. But not for spare change anymore. I have about 800 lbs, some of it already cast and lubed. That’s still not enough. At 437 grs/oz., a pound doesn’t go very far, especially if casting for a .45 ACP.

    • BannedbytheTaliban
      January 14, 2009 at 10:14 am

      It appears it will cost you $25. And will expire every five years. At which point you are eligible for search and seizure if you fail to renew you license. There is also up to 5 years in jail if you fail to adhere to the rules.

      SEC. 403. INSPECTIONS.

      In order to ascertain compliance with this Act, the amendments made by this Act, and the regulations and orders issued under this Act, the Attorney General may, during regular business hours, enter any place in which firearms or firearm products are manufactured, stored, or held, for distribution in commerce, and inspect those areas where the products are so manufactured, stored, or held.

      So much for warrants.

      But we shouldn’t worry about voting democrat. They wouldn’t take away our firearms. The man on the radio ad told me so.

      “From my cold dead hands”

    • wardmama4
      January 15, 2009 at 8:49 pm

      You really need to look into the guy who wrote this (as of yesterday – no co-sponsors) – from IL (big surprize on that one) and his son (I believe) was sent to prison for a firearms crime. . . Man is that the pot calling the kettle black. Oops my bad.

      You all need to go to :
      http://tinyurl.com/84tb2z

      And read up on some of the gems that Pelosi’s Posse has proposed for this session of Congress – and given the Immaculate Inauguration of The One ™ the Obamamedia won’t cover a single damn one of ‘em.

      Yes Indeed I just purchased my first firearm this month – Out of my cold dead hands

    • 12 Gauge Rage
      January 16, 2009 at 1:22 pm

      A government that gets too big and powerful, such as ours is becoming, greatly fears an armed citizenry. A good indicator on the general mood of the citizenry is determined by the amount of weapons and ammo they purchase in trying times. As Obama’s coronation looms closer, I’ve noticed that at the local Wal-Mart almost all the large caliber handgun ammunition has disappeared from the shelves. Rifle and shotgun ammo are not as plentiful either. Long live the Second Amendment.

      “I love the sound of a rifle bolt chambering a round.” An actual quote from my oldest daughter.

  17. pdsand
    January 13, 2009 at 5:12 pm

    A significant story that isn’t being reported in the MSM:
    President Bush has yet to pardon Campion and Ramos.

    • sheehanjihad
      January 14, 2009 at 10:40 am

      At the end of it all, regardless of anything George W Bush has done to cement his legacy in the archives of history, if he doesnt issue a pardon to Campion and Ramos he will be remembered only as the most uncaring individual to ever grace the office of the Presidency, and I will personally remind everyone for the rest of my life how he could have corrected one of the largest miscarriages of justice to ever poison our judicial system, and didnt. President Bush!!! I call on you to do the right thing, and free those men who were wrongly railroaded into prison for doing the job they were sworn to do. They were protecting the United States, and got imprisoned for it. FREE THEM!

  18. BillK
    January 13, 2009 at 5:34 pm

    Yet another “FoO.”

    From Television Week:

    Genachowski at FCC: Advocacy Groups Applaud

    By Ira Teinowitz

    President-elect Obama’s choice of Julius Genachowski to head the Federal Communications Commission is being greeted with rave reviews from advocacy groups and some people who have worked with him. Industry groups also are welcoming the selection.

    Some who know Mr. Genachowski predict he will bring a marked change in policy and style from current FCC chairman Kevin Martin.

    “We are going to see an overarching strategic agenda, clear goals and strategy for meeting those goals,” said Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge. Ms. Sohn worked with Mr. Genachowski on an advisory committee on the public interest obligations of digital TV broadcasters, and has known him for 15 years.

    While she predicted that Mr. Genachowski will bring major policy changes– especially in pushing media diversity and ownership issues and in seeing that Internet service providers don’t favor some content providers over others — she predicted the biggest change would be that FCC policy offices would have far greater authority to make decisions.

    “He’s not just a public servant. He was in business. He knows how to manage. I do see a more decentralized management style that leaves a lot of the details to [senior FCC officials],” she said. She contrasted that style with that of Mr. Martin, who has been accused of micromanaging agency decisions.

    Former FCC chairman Bill Kennard, now managing director of the Carlyle Group, called the choice of Mr. Genachowski, “brilliant.”

    “I think he will be an extraordinary chairman. No chairman in recent history will come to job with as relevant experience. He knows the FCC well. He knows the Internet. And he knows the president very well and will be able to carry out his policies. It’s an inspired choice. It’s wonderful.”

    Mr. Kennard predicted that Mr. Genachowski will move quickly to open up the FCC’s policy deliberations to greater public scrutiny, but pointed for other guidance to the Obama campaign’s technology and innovation plan, a plan mostly written by Mr. Genachowski.

    “Clearly there will be profound differences, reflecting the difference in this administration. This administration embraces technology and is looking to make technology a centerpiece of its governing and the economy,” said Mr. Kennard.

    The expected appointment—the Obama transition office still hasn’t confirmed or announced it—was praised by National Association of Broadcasters president-CEO David K. Rehr as a “superb choice.”

    “Julius Genachowski has a keen intellect, a passion for public service, and a deep understanding of the important role that free and local broadcasting plays in American life,” he said.

    Leslie Harris, president-CEO of the Center for Democracy & Technology, a group working for an open Internet, said she is confidant Mr. Genachowski will be a chairman who understands the importance of the open Internet and the need to encourage and support innovation.”

    She also cited Mr. Genachowski’s Internet and venture capital background, predicting it would bring a new sensitivity to the risk that FCC policies and regulations could harm upstart innovators that are central to the culture and development of the Internet. …

    http://www.tvweek.com/news/200.....acy_gr.php

    Of course, here’s the big payoff:

    Mr. Genachowski, a lawyer and friend of Mr. Obama since their Harvard University days, is a former FCC chief counsel and co-founder and managing director of Rock Creek Ventures, a venture capital firm. He was a key telecommunications and technology advisor to the Obama campaign, helping to craft the extensive technology and innovation plan on the campaign’s Web site. He has also been a member of the Obama transition team.

    Remember when the media was having fits because they claimed Palin appointed “friends and supporters” to key roles?

    Also, prepare for “anything goes” on the airwaves:

    Besides supporting rollout of higher speed Internet, that plan calls for more diversity in media ownership and for the government to step in to assure that Internet service providers don’t give favored sites a faster path to consumers’ doorstep—so called net neutrality. It suggested that concerns about children and the media be answered by giving parents more control, hinting that the FCC would be less active in indecency enforcement.

    It will be entertaining to see how this plays out, given two of the biggest “Net Neutrality” proponents, Microsoft and Google, now have deals with telecom providers and as such neither really wants it to happen any more.

    I’d also like to know how the FCC being less active in indecency enforcement gives parents “more control.”

  19. BillK
    January 14, 2009 at 1:40 am

    From the AP:

    Obama warns Democrats of veto over bailout funds

    By David Espo and Jim Kuhnhenn

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Tested before taking power, President-elect Barack Obama privately delivered a pre-inauguration veto threat to fellow Democrats on Tuesday, saying they would not deny him use of the remaining $350 billion in federal bailout funds.

    Obama coupled his threat with a promise to revise elements of the original bailout program that have drawn widespread criticism, pledging that billions will go toward helping homeowners facing foreclosure. Several Democrats said his commitments, to be made in writing, would be enough to prevent an embarrassing pre-inauguration drubbing for the president-elect when the Senate votes this week.

    “This will be the first vote that President-elect Obama is asking us for. I’ll be shocked and I’ll be really disappointed if he doesn’t get it,” said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent Democrat from Connecticut. “This is a new beginning.”

    Behind closed doors, Obama also urged lawmakers to act quickly on the massive economic stimulus measure that his aides have been negotiating with congressional officials. The legislation will blend federal spending with tax cuts, and could reach $1 trillion in size, a measure of the nation’s economic woes.

    Several Democratic officials described a bill very much in flux. They said lawmakers were discussing allocating as much as $80 billion over two years to help shield schools from the impact of state budget cuts and roughly $40 billion for traditional anti-recession transportation programs such as highway and bridge construction.

    Additionally, they added that there was money tentatively set aside to fund a $25-a-week increase in unemployment benefits as well as a 15 percent boost in food stamp benefits. There was support in the Senate for funds to upgrade military barracks, as well. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to disclose details.

    Democratic leaders in the House and Senate hope to have the legislation ready for Obama’s signature by mid-February, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., held a late-afternoon meeting on it.

    “We’ve made great progress, and we fully intend to meet our deadline,” Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters. She disclosed no details.

    For Obama, attendance at the Democrats’ weekly closed-door lunch was a homecoming of sorts, a return to the Capitol where he arrived as a newly elected senator only four years ago.

    Reid called it a “lovefest,” and said the president-elect was greeted with a five-minute ovation by Democrats happy to have the White House back after eight years of Republican rule.

    Sen. Carl Levin said the session had a sentimental tone at times, despite the magnitude of the nation’s economic woes and the challenge Obama and fellow Democrats confront.

    “It’s kind of hard not to call him, ‘Barack.’ So he said, `Call me Barack for the next couple of days,’” Levin said with a smile. …

    http://customwire.ap.org/dynam.....MA_ECONOMY

    Excuse me while I throw up.

    Meanwhile, federal spending of $1 trillion isn’t “a measure of the nation’s economic woes,” it’s a measure of Democrats’ cluelessness when it comes to any economic issue.

    Also nice to see Lieberman’s “independent” streak continues…

  20. BillK
    January 14, 2009 at 1:48 am

    If you’re wondering what Obama’s economic “recovery” plan is going to look like at the State level, look no further than the (Madison) Wisconsin State Journal:

    Coalition urges a green economic recovery plan

    By Ron Seely

    From retrofitting old homes for energy efficiency to linking Wisconsin cities with high speed rail, turning the federal economic recovery plan green can create as many as 30,000 jobs in the state, according to a new coalition of government, environment and labor leaders.

    The Coalition for Wisconsin’s Green Economy on Tuesday released a plan for targeting at least $2 billion of the anticipated federal recovery money to tackle projects that improve the state’s energy independence, boost public transportation, repair crumbling water and sewer systems and redevelop impoverished urban areas.

    “This is not a bailout or a handout,” said Melissa Scanlan, with Midwest Environmental Advocates. “This is about investing in a green economy.” She said the group will work with Wisconsin’s congressional delegation to emphasize the environmentally sound investments.

    Signing on to the plan are a number of high-profile Wisconsin politicians, including Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and state Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison. Among numerous environmental groups joining the coalition are the Sierra Club, Citizen Action of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters and 1000 Friends of Wisconsin.

    The coalition’s plan borrows several projects from a list already submitted to President-elect Barack Obama by Gov. Jim Doyle. That wish list seeks $13.8 billion for repairing and replacing infrastructure including roads, water plants and pipes and sewage treatment systems.

    The list released by the new coalition Tuesday focuses on projects that create jobs yet avoid the pitfalls that have come with having those jobs linked to increased energy consumption.

    Robert Kraig, with Citizen Action of Wisconsin, said the federal stimulus dollars present the kind of opportunity that comes only once a generation, the chance to not only create a new economy and new jobs but also to set the nation on a new course with respect to energy and the environment.

    “We’re looking at this as an opportunity,” Kraig said. “We can either do it this way or do it the way we’ve done it in the past, kind of like investing in a typewriter at the dawn of the PC era.”

    While money for roads is certainly going to be part of the recovery plan, the coalition’s report called for maintenance and repair of existing highways and bridges to avoid inefficient development and sprawl. Priority should be given to investment in public transit including bus systems, light rail and commuter rail. An example would be the planned Amtrak line between Madison and Milwaukee, according to Kraig. The green plan lists $755 million worth of such transit projects that could create an estimated 22,000 jobs in Wisconsin. …

    http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/432506

    Remember Soylent Green with its hugely overpopulated cities while the countryside was off-limits and home to farms guarded by Government troops?

    Rather than a horror story it’s apparently the liberal template for our future.

  21. BillK
    January 14, 2009 at 2:22 am

    Yep, given all that’s going on, rest assured the Senate is handling the important things.

    From the AP:

    U.S. Senate wants to make scalping inauguration tickets a federal crime

    WASHINGTON — The Senate has passed legislation that would make it a federal crime to scalp tickets to Barack Obama’s inauguration.

    The bill by Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California passed by voice vote Tuesday evening. Prospects for passage by the House before next week’s swearing-in are uncertain.

    Feinstein wrote the bill in response to overwhelming demand for the approximately 240,000 tickets to the historic Jan. 20 event — and reports that they were being offered online for sky-high prices.

    The measure would make it a crime punishable by a fine and/or a year in prison to resell or counterfeit inaugural tickets.

    The bill contains an exemption for the official presidential inauguration committee, which is selling ticket packages for fundraising.

    http://www.rockymountainnews.c.....n-tickets/

    “Sky high prices?” In a “severe recession”?

    How is that possible?!?!

    This shows how clueless the Democrats are; if they had a brain they would have set aside one seating area, charged $10,000 or more per ticket, and made a big show that the proceeds would be going to “foreclosure relief.”

    Instead they do the only thing they know how to do – pass more legislation.

  22. sheehanjihad
    January 14, 2009 at 7:14 am

    From the Washington Times…..why shouldnt this surprise anyone?

    Until last week, Carol M. Browner, President-elect Barack Obama’s pick as global warming czar, was listed as one of 14 leaders of a socialist group’s Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which calls for “global governance” and says rich countries must shrink their economies to address climate change.

    By Thursday, Mrs. Browner’s name and biography had been removed from Socialist International’s Web page, though a photo of her speaking June 30 to the group’s congress in Greece was still available.

    Socialist International, an umbrella group for many of the world’s social democratic political parties such as Britain’s Labor Party, says it supports socialism and is harshly critical of U.S. policies.

    The group’s Commission for a Sustainable World Society, the organization’s action arm on climate change, says the developed world must reduce consumption and commit to binding and punitive limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

    Mr. Obama, who has said action on climate change would be a priority in his administration, tapped Mrs. Browner last month to fill a new position as White House coordinator of climate and energy policies. The appointment does not need Senate confirmation.

    Mr. Obama’s transition team said Mrs. Browner’s membership in the organization is not a problem and that it brings experience in U.S. policymaking to her new role.

    “The Commission for a Sustainable World Society includes world leaders from a variety of political parties, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who succeeded Tony Blair, in serving as vice president of the convening organization,” Obama transition spokesman Nick Shapiro said.

    “Carol Browner was chosen to help the president-elect coordinate energy and climate policy because she understands that our efforts to create jobs, achieve energy security and combat climate change demand integration among different agencies; cooperation between federal, state and local governments; and partnership with the private sector,” Mr. Shapiro said in an e-mail.

    Mrs. Browner ran the Environmental Protection Agency under President Clinton. Until she was tapped for the Obama administration, she was on the board of directors for the National Audubon Society, the League of Conservation Voters, the Center for American Progress and former Vice President Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection.

    Her name has been removed from the Gore organization’s Web site list of directors, and the Audubon Society issued a press release about her departure from that organization.
    http://washingtontimes.com/new.....list-ties/

    Seems that the Obama administration thinks her socialistic bent is “really not an issure”. So now, we have a “world community” sheep bleating about the sky falling to save us all from ourselves? God help us. An Altoad diciple to boot.

  23. BannedbytheTaliban
    January 14, 2009 at 9:51 am

    An interesting juxtaposition on the Marine Corp Times page:

    The world as liberals see it:

    Obama preparing order to close Gitmo

    By Lara Jakes – The Associated Press
    Posted : Tuesday Jan 13, 2009 18:25:16 EST

    WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to issue an executive order his first week in office — and perhaps his first day — to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, according to two presidential transition team advisers.

    http://www.marinecorpstimes.co.....ma_011209/

    The World as we see it:

    Pentagon: Ex-Gitmo detainees now fighting U.S.

    By Lara Jakes – The Associated Press
    Posted : Tuesday Jan 13, 2009 18:50:09 EST

    Terror suspects who have been held but released from Guantanamo Bay are increasingly returning to the fight against the United States and its allies, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

    Sixty-one detainees released from the Navy base prison in Cuba are believed to have rejoined the fight, said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell, citing data from December. That’s up from 37 as of March 2008, Morrell said.

    http://www.marinecorpstimes.co.....s_011309w/

    The amazing thing is that the articles are by the same author.

    “Don’t you see Lonestar, evil will always prevail because good is dumb” – Spaceballs

  24. BillK
    January 14, 2009 at 1:09 pm

    But I thought things were worse than ever?!?!

    From the (Denver) Rocky Mountain News:

    Foreclosures in metro Denver decline 11.8 percent

    Denver area saw first year-over-year drop in at least 12 years

    By John Rebchook

    At a time when the country is mired in the worst foreclosure crisis since the Great Depression, the Denver area is bucking the trend by seeing the first year- over-year decline in foreclosures in more than a dozen years.

    There were 24,494 foreclosures filed with public trustee offices in the seven-county Denver area in 2008, an 11.8 percent drop from the record 27,785 filings in 2007.

    Although 2008 was the second-worst year on record, it is a far cry from the 41.5 percent increase in foreclosures posted in 2007 from 2006.

    Foreclosures had been rising each year since the mid-1990s, but when the economy was strong in the late 1990s, the increase was smaller than the housing and population growth.

    “It is possible that Colorado has gone through the worst of its foreclosure cycle,” said Rick Sharga of Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac.

    RealtyTrac will release its national foreclosure report Thursday, and the numbers will not be pretty.

    “Nationally, we’re seeing huge increases,” Sharga said.

    Mike Rinner of the Genesis Group, which tracks housing along the Front Range, said the Denver area, which suffered from rising foreclosures longer than the rest of the country, is coming out faster than most of the nation.

    “I think it is a sign of times,” Rinner said. “I think the market is ready to start on the upward track. But I think it is going to be a long slog.”

    Neither Sharga, Rinner nor anyone else is saying the foreclosure crisis in the Denver area is over.

    “I think the decline in foreclosure filings is attributed to a few things, not any one thing,” said Carol Snyder, public trustee for Adams County.

    She pointed to lenders “putting a hiatus” on new foreclosures at least temporarily. Lenders are more willing to work with borrowers to avoid foreclosures through things such as short sales, where the lender accepts less than the loan amount. And more affluent homeowners now are running into problems making mortgage payments, while in the past it was primarily low-income people who had few alternatives other than foreclosure.

    “I think the decrease in the number of filings has been somewhat of a blip to the extent that when the hiatus goes away, we could be dumped with a higher number of foreclosures again,” Snyder said. …

    http://www.rockymountainnews.c.....8-percent/

    But still, this really messes with the media’s normal “foreclosures are skyrocketing!” template.

    I’m sure if picked up nationally the headline will read “Foreclosure hiatus working.”

  25. BillK
    January 14, 2009 at 1:49 pm

    I know most House bills don’t go anywhere, but a look at Thomas, the Library of Congress’ web site shows the Dems are on a roll already.

    For example, this is legislation introduced by New York’s José E. Serrano (note the links may expire as Thomas seems to reorganize things quite often):

    H.J.RES.5 : Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President.

    H.R.178 : To authorize the appropriation of funds to be used to recruit, hire, and train 100,000 new classroom paraprofessionals in order to improve educational achievement for children.

    H.R.180 : To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to waive the requirement for proof of citizenship during first year of life for children born in the United States to a Medicaid-eligible mother.

    H.R.182 : To provide discretionary authority to an immigration judge to determine that an alien parent of a United States citizen child should not be ordered removed, deported, or excluded from the United States.

    H.R.188 : To lift the trade embargo on Cuba, and for other purposes.

    Of course most interesting of all is Illinois’ Bobby Rush’s legislation to require federal licensing to buy or posess a handgun:

    H.R.45: To provide for the implementation of a system of licensing for purchasers of certain firearms and for a record of sale system for those firearms, and for other purposes.

  26. BillK
    January 14, 2009 at 10:59 pm

    From a clearly unbiased Los Angeles Times:

    Bush appointee saw Justice lawyers as ‘commies,’ ‘crazy libs,’ report says

    Bradley Schlozman, who supervised civil rights and voting rights lawyers, broke the law by considering political affiliations in deciding who can serve, an inspector general’s report says.

    By David G. Savage

    Reporting from Washington — To Bradley Schlozman, they were “mold spores,” “commies” and “crazy libs.”

    He was referring to the career lawyers in the Justice Department’s civil rights and voting rights divisions. From 2003 to 2006, Schlozman was a Bush appointee who supervised them. Along with several others, he came to symbolize the midlevel political appointees who brought a hard-edged ideology to the day-to-day workings of the Justice Department.

    “My tentative plans are to gerrymander all of those crazy libs right out of the section,” he said in an e-mail in 2003. “I too get to work with mold spores, but here in Civil Rights, we call them Voting Section attorneys,” he confided to another friend.

    He hoped to get rid of the “Democrats” and “liberals” because they were “disloyal” and replace them with “real Americans” and “right-thinking Americans.”

    He appears to have succeeded by his standards, according to an inspector general’s report released Tuesday. Among the newly hired lawyers whose political or ideological views could be discerned, 63 of 65 lawyers hired under Schlozman had Republican or conservative credentials, the report said.

    Slapping down “a bunch of . . . attorneys really did get the blood pumping and was even enjoyable once in a while,” Schlozman wrote three years later when he left to become the U.S. attorney in Kansas City, Mo.

    Schlozman surrounded himself with like-minded officials at the Department of Justice. When he was due to meet in 2004 with John Tanner, then chief of the voting section, he asked how Tanner liked his coffee.

    “Mary Frances Berry style — black and bitter,” Tanner replied by e-mail, referring to the African American woman who chaired the U.S. Civil Rights Commission from 1993 to 2004. Schlozman circulated the e-mail. “Y’all will appreciate Tanner’s response,” he wrote.

    The inspector general concluded Schlozman violated the civil services laws while at the Justice Department. While the president’s appointees are entitled to run the department and set policy, they are prohibited from considering “political affiliations” in deciding on who serves in career positions in the federal government.

    “We found that Schlozman inappropriately considered political and ideological affiliations in hiring career attorneys,” said the report issued jointly by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine and H. Marshall Jarrett, who heads the Office of Professional Responsibility. The report cited the abusive language as evidence of the harsh political tone.

    Peter Carr, a Justice Department spokesman, said it “describes troubling conduct” from the recent past, but added, “We are confident that the institutional problems identified in today’s report no longer exist and will not occur.”

    Separately, the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington announced it will not seek to prosecute Schlozman for giving false testimony to Congress. Patricia Riley, a spokeswoman for that office, said acting U.S. Atty. Jeffrey A. Taylor stepped aside, and six career prosecutors looked into the case against Schlozman.

    Joseph D. Rich, the former chief of the voting rights section, said the report “confirms the disdain and vitriol they had for career civil rights attorneys. He called us ‘mold spores.’ That kind of epitomizes his view. He was probably the most miserable person I ever worked for,” said Rich, who retired in 2007 after a 37-year career at the Justice Department.

    http://www.latimes.com/news/po.....0621.story

    Because I’m sure the Clinton Justice Department and the forthcoming Obama regime will look kindly on any conservatives in their ranks.

    No, I couldn’t even say that with a straight face.

    Do you think the Inspector General will even dare to check the political beliefs of Obama hires?

    • Gila Monster
      January 15, 2009 at 2:02 am

      Absolutely hilarious!! BJ Bill fires all 93 then current US attorneys when he takes office in 1993. W fires 45 of the 95 US A’s when he takes office in 2001 and a further 8 when he is re-elected in 2005. W catches a holy sh*t storm from the media for firing 53 of 95 but the MSM ignores what Slick Willie and the Dyke did in “93″.

      O’bonobo will probably fire all 95 US A’s when he takes office yet the MSM will fawn over his actions as appropriate given the “dismal record” of the current US A’s.

      And libtards still insist that Republican appointee’s are political while Dhimmi nominee’s are totally secular in nature…….yeah, right, ….and Ted Bundy wasn’t really a psychotic murderer, he was just misunderstood..

  27. BillK
    January 15, 2009 at 3:34 am

    There’s no such thing as “too negative” for the AP:

    Down we go again: Faint hope vanishes on Wall St.

    By Dave Carpenter and Tim Paradis

    NEW YORK (AP) — So you thought Wall Street might be out of the woods? Think again.

    A surge of optimism that started a market rally late last year, mercifully quieting the stock market’s stomach-churning volatility, has vanished as economic recovery recedes further onto the horizon.

    On Wednesday, stocks took a dive reminiscent of the terrifying jumps and drops of last fall, with the Dow Jones industrials falling more than 300 points before closing down 248.

    It was the Dow’s biggest point drop since Dec. 1 and the first string of six straight down days since early October. The Dow is still 9 percent higher than its November low, but the bumpy decline feels all too familiar.

    “It’s a good instinct to start a New Year off with optimism,” said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. in Boston. “But unfortunately that tends to fade in the harsh light of reality.”

    So what happened?

    Holiday sales turned out to have been worse than expected, the jobless rate exceeds 7 percent for the first time in 16 years, the global economy is eroding faster and corporations from Alcoa to Intel to Wal-Mart have disappointed investors.

    Apple was the latest company out with bad news Wednesday, with CEO Steve Jobs saying he is taking a medical leave of absence.

    “Right now we just don’t have any evidence to show that that free fall is over,” said Robert Dye, senior economist at PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh.

    For a time, it seemed like the worst might be over for stocks. After hitting a trough on Nov. 20, the major stock averages all rose by more than 20 percent within six weeks – the kind of rally that usually takes years.

    The rally was driven in part by hopes for Washington’s aggressive fiscal policies and the upcoming change in the White House. But lately bears rule Wall Street again as one corporate report after another spreads gloom.

    Like others, Dye thinks the market could fall back toward the low point of November. That was when the Standard & Poor’s 500 index reached its lowest close in 11 years, at 752, and the Dow reached its lowest in more than five years, at 7,552.

    On Wednesday, the S&P closed at 843, the Dow at almost exactly 8,200.

    Stock market recoveries usually precede economic recoveries by about six months. Translation: Investors don’t expect the economy to turn around before the second half of this year.

    “Wall Street wants instant gratification, but economic cycles take years and an economic cycle like this is going to be deeper, longer and uglier than any one we’ve ever faced,” said Harry Rady, chief executive and portfolio manager for Rady Asset Management in San Diego.

    Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at S&P, puts it another way: Investors have put on their 3-D glasses, trying to figure out “the depth, the duration and the diffusion of this global economic slowdown.”

    And not having much luck. …

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s....._NO_RELIEF

    Note that last line; the story is not marked “commentary.”

    I’d also like to know how Apple’s Steve Jobs’ health issues are somehow the fault of a bad economy…

  28. artboyusa
    January 15, 2009 at 5:52 am

    “Who are you?”

    “The new Number Two”.

    “Who is Number One?”

    “You are Number Six”.

    “I am not a number – I am a free man!”

    Patrick McGoohan, ‘The Prisoner’, has died, aged 80. R.I.P.

  29. wardmama4
    January 15, 2009 at 7:56 am

    RE: For Senate GOP, 2010 Losses on Top Of the 2008 Losses

    Good points all – however here are a couple of thoughts that I’ve been having that make this all so much more scary:

    1) All of us have wondered where the GOP/RNC/Conservatives have gone. I’m not talking about the crazies that the DNC drags out when talking about conservatives, I’m talking about the Reagan Conservatives who can be summed up in one of President Reagan’s greatest quotes: The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’
    I voted twice for President Bush and can’t believe the amount of garbage that has passed through and gone on since 2000. I also can’t believe the amount of treason, sedition and outright libel that has not been criminally prosecuted at all. Sadly, I think that those two reasons alone – a cornered President and no accountability at all by anyone, has led us to this point.

    2) I wonder as to exactly why The One ™ is packing the house with Clintonistas – is this payback for the ’step-aside’ or is this a setup? Either one is scary in a sense. I do not believe that The One ™ is going to make it through an entire term. I am not talking assassination – there is no one, other than a radical muslim who is that insane and/or stupid. I am talking about a full fledged arrest – no pussyfooting around with ‘impeachment’ and attempting to push through a stacked Congress such a thing. This is a Nobody (who provided no records of his Constitutional right to be POTUS, no records of his college years, no records from his lawyer day(s), no records from his state Senate years and of course little (other than his most Liberal rating and his 97% voting Dem record) from his 143 days as a US Senator) from the most politically corrupt state in the US who has ties to some of the most radical (and anti-American) ‘citizens’ in history. While the Obamamedia and the (stacked) Congress may step aside and look askance and coverup all they want – I still believe that 51% of America is not stupid (ok, well not that stupid), willing to sell out core American values, willing to hand everything (liberty, freedom, earnings, possessions, control) to this Typical Political Hack. Ever.
    and finally

    3) This scares the he!! out of me:
    H.J.Res. 5 (ih) Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President. [Introduced in House] [as I said in another thread, my only surprize is that SanFranGranNan had the balls to do this]

    – did I not warn you that Her Royal Clinton would do this on the day after her ‘re-election’?!? Shows that The One ™ is either even more arrogant than HRC or this is an incidious plan that has been cooking for the past 8 years. Either way – America is in trouble.

    Wake up – before it is too late. The CrapWeasel King, his (Clintonista retread) Administration and the Crapweasels of Congress are going to destroy America from within. The One ™ and his minions are shoving through dangerous ‘legislation’ without debate, without transparency and without a single peep in the Obamamedia.

    I no longer will call myself Republican (unless Sarah Palin comes to the rescue) – I will only call myself American and I will fight them all and vote against anyone who votes for this mess.

    We must fight back or America is doomed.

  30. sheehanjihad
    January 15, 2009 at 9:37 am

    Here is a great article from the WSJ concerning the fraudulent tactics of Franken’s campaign, and the hubris of the democrat controlled canvassing board. For the first time in a long time, someone actually points out that franken is breaking the law, and accuses him of the obvious fraud that he is, and the unconstitutionality of the entire joke of a recount. The article is mondo long, so here’s the link. It’s good reading.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/.....inion_main

  31. BillK
    January 15, 2009 at 10:49 am

    It’s not even in the job description, but what the hell.

    From an adoring AP:

    Hearing: Salazar talks of ‘America’s department’ of Interior

    WASHINGTON — Sen. Ken Salazar faces a confirmation hearing today to become Interior Secretary in President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet.

    The grilling will be done by Salazar’s colleagues on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where Salazar has served during his four years in the U.S. Senate.

    Observers, including both Democrats and Republicans, say they’re expecting few fireworks, although Salazar is likely to face questions about his past stands on commercial oil shale leases, energy exploration, the endangered species act and a series of scandals that plagued the Interior Department over the past eight years. …

    http://www.rockymountainnews.c.....reign-oil/

    But here are the goodies:

    “If confirmed, I will remain committed to helping our nation reduce its dangerous dependence on foreign oil,” Salazar says in the prepared remarks. “President-elect Obama believes, as I do, that our foreign oil dependence is a grave threat to our national security, our planet and our economy.”

    Says the man who has dedicated his career to blocking energy exploration throughout Colorado and now the U.S.

    In setting out his priorities as Interior Secretary, Salazar began by saying that for too long the department has been viewed as something that oversees the lands of the West, even though it has jurisdiction over a vast portfolio of issues covering every corner of the nation.

    “I want this department to be America’s department,” Salazar said.

    Turning to issues, he cited an Inspector General’s report that cited the long list of scandals that have occurred within the department, and said it’s clear what he needs to tackle first: our first and foremost task is to restore the integrity of the Department of Interior.”

    Salazar also spoke of the department’s role in helping the new administration take “a moon shot,” on the scale of the Apollo missions, to launch the country on the way to energy independence.

    So in short, this will mean no new drilling anywhere (though I’m sure covering those “pristine lands” with solar panels or windmills will somehow be OK) and likely huge increases in wilderness designations and ever more animals gaining endangered species protecton.

    “America’s Department” indeed.

  32. sheehanjihad
    January 15, 2009 at 7:10 pm

    Here’s a great way to enjoy your after dinner time….Blago’s numero uno is now the official bluebird of the Feds! Dont cha love it?

    January 15, 2009
    BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter

    John Harris — the highest-ranking employee under Gov. Blagojevich to be hit with federal corruption charges — has been providing information to federal prosecutors, the Sun-Times has learned. Harris’ attorney, Terry Ekl, told the Sun-Times the governor’s former chief of staff has had “preliminary discussions” with the feds.
    Sources with knowledge of the investigation of the governor say federal authorities late last year won court authorization to tap the cell phones of Harris and Robert Blagojevich, the governor’s brother and campaign fund chairman. Harris was arrested along with the governor Dec. 9 on allegations that the governor conspired to sell the Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder.
    “There have been preliminary discussions with the U.S. Attorney’s office and John Harris,” Ekl said. “No decision has been made as to whether John Harris will be a witness for the government or will proceed to trial.” Ekl would not discuss details, but sources say that among the things Harris has discussed is how Blagojevich liked to talk big to his staff, but they didn’t always do what he asked them to. The Sun-Times has also learned that the government tapped cell phones belonging to Harris as well as Gov. Blagojevich’s brother. (cont)

    http://www.suntimes.com/news/m.....09.article

  33. BillK
    January 15, 2009 at 7:26 pm

    Nothing says “stimulus” like freebies!

    From Television Week:

    DTV Coupon Fund Would Grow With New House Plan

    By Ira Teinowitz

    In what may be a hint that the date for the digital TV conversion date will be postponed past Feb. 17, a House of Representatives panel is proposing that any new government stimulus plan include a 50% increase in funds available for analog-to-digital converter box coupons.

    The committee released its proposal today to add $650 million for coupons. The government originally provided $1.5 billion for the converter-box coupon program, of which about $1.34 billion was actually used for the $40-off certificates.

    Last week in asking the date for the conversion date to be postponed, the Obama transition office indicated that there would be additional money to aid the DTV conversion in the president-elect’s economic recovery package, but included no specifics. The House Appropriations Committee document is the first indication of the amount.

    Republicans have urged more money for coupons, but no change in the date.

    Today Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez wrote the chairmen of the House Energy & Commerce Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee suggesting a $250 million boost in the coupon program, but keeping the Feb. 17 changeover date.

    http://www.tvweek.com/news/200.....ow_wit.php

    When did TV become a government-sponsored right?

    More to the point, if you were too clueless to get a converter box in the past year despite the non-stop advertising by television stations and the Government pushing people to get their freebies, what difference is another $650 million and four months going to make?

    But yeah, Obambi, just keep printing that funny money.

    The Republicans’ response of course indicate they are absolutely no different from Democrats in any way any longer.

    So delay the transition. Force television stations to have to run two transmitters for another four months.

    I guess the workers at those stations who will have to be laid off to pay the power costs to do so (just think of the greenhouse gas emissions that could be saved by the earlier transiiton date!) don’t count among the numbers of jobs that the Chosen One is supposed to “save.”

  34. BillK
    January 15, 2009 at 11:49 pm

    From a horrified Treason Times, the ruling Rush had been mentioning earlier today:

    Court Affirms Wiretapping Without Warrants

    By James Risen and Eric Lichtblau

    WASHINGTON — In a rare public ruling, a secret federal appeals court has said telecommunications companies must cooperate with the government to intercept international phone calls and e-mail of American citizens suspected of being spies or terrorists.

    The ruling came in a case involving an unidentified company’s challenge to 2007 legislation that expanded the president’s legal power to conduct wiretapping without warrants for intelligence purposes.

    But the ruling, handed down in August 2008 by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review and made public Thursday, did not directly address whether President Bush was within his constitutional powers in ordering domestic wiretapping without warrants, without first getting Congressional approval, after the terrorist attacks of 2001.

    Several legal experts cautioned that the ruling had limited application, since it dealt narrowly with the carrying out of a law that had been superseded by new legislation. But the ruling is still the first by an appeals court that says the Fourth Amendment’s requirement for warrants does not apply to the foreign collection of intelligence involving Americans. That finding could have broad implications for United States national security law.

    The court ruled that eavesdropping on Americans believed to be agents of a foreign power “possesses characteristics that qualify it for such an exception.”

    Bruce M. Selya, the chief judge of the review court, wrote in the opinion that “our decision recognizes that where the government has instituted several layers of serviceable safeguards to protect individuals against unwarranted harms and to minimize incidental intrusions, its efforts to protect national security should not be frustrated by the courts.”

    The three-judge court, which hears rare appeals from the full Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, addressed provisions of the Protect America Act, passed by Congress in 2007 amid the controversy over Mr. Bush’s program of wiretapping without warrants. It found that the administration had put in place sufficient privacy safeguards to meet the constitutional standards of the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches. Because of that, the company had to cooperate, the court said.

    That finding bolstered the Bush administration’s broader arguments on wiretapping without warrants, both critics and supporters said.

    William C. Banks, a law professor at Syracuse University who has criticized the administration’s legal position on eavesdropping, said that while the ruling did not address Mr. Bush’s surveillance without warrants directly, “it does bolster his case” by recognizing that eavesdropping for national security purposes did not always require warrants.

    “It provides a very good result; it reaffirms the president’s right to conduct warrantless searches,” said David Rivkin, a Washington lawyer who has served in Republican administrations.

    Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said the ruling “reinforces the significant, bipartisan political consensus” in favor of the president’s broad assertions of wiretapping powers.

    But others were cautious about the significance of the ruling.

    “I think this kind of maintains the status quo,” said Scott Silliman, an expert on national security law at Duke University. “I don’t think it is a surprise that the FISA court found that the legislation was constitutional. They are going to defer to Congress, especially since there was a lot of discussion when the law was passed about the ability of the government to compel providers.

    Coming in the final days of the Bush administration, the ruling was hailed by the administration and conservatives as a victory for an aggressive approach to counterterrorism. The Justice Department said in a statement that it was “pleased with this important ruling.” …

    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01.....r=1&hp

    Leave it to the Treason Times to declare that a ruling affirming the legality of warrantless wiretaps doesn’t mean Bush had the power to order them, and to repeat the lie that the wiretaps were domestic in nature.

    The calls were of course not between Aunt Rose and her sister, but when one end of the call was to a known terrorist located outside the United States.

    But why risk letting truth intrude on a long-told lie?

    The Times of course does admit the truth, but only near the end of the article that will likely get snipped out when it goes national or is summarized by the AP:

    The ruling is the latest legal chapter in a dispute dating back to the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, when Mr. Bush secretly ordered the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on the international communications of American citizens without the approval of Congress or the courts. After the agency’s program was publicly disclosed in December 2005, critics said it violated a 1978 law. The White House initially opposed any new legislation to regulate surveillance, arguing that it would be an infringement of the president’s powers.

    As a reminder to anyone not aware, domestic surveillance is explicitly against the charter of the National Security Agency.

  35. nuthingbettertodo
    January 16, 2009 at 10:21 am

    I haven’t been paying attention to much lately and you may have posted this already,but…..Is this a joke?

    Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual… (Introduced in House)

    HJ 5 IH

    111th CONGRESS

    1st Session

    H. J. RES. 5
    Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President.

    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

    January 6, 2009
    Mr. SERRANO introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

    ——————————————————————————–

    JOINT RESOLUTION
    Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President.

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:

    `Article–

    `The twenty-second article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.’.

    ——————————————————————————–

    THOMAS Home | Contact | Accessibility | Legal | USA.gov
    http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:hj5:

  36. BillK
    January 16, 2009 at 12:30 pm

    From the AP:

    Ex-WSU provost makes $245K teaching part-time

    By Shannon Dininny

    RICHLAND, Wash. — Philosopher and revolutionary Karl Marx touted sharing the wealth in class-divided Europe. So what would he think about $245,000 a year to teach one class on the Russian revolution?

    That’s what Washington State University is paying Steven Hoch. He was briefly hired as the school’s provost, but the arrangement fell apart after a hallway altercation with a colleague. A twist in Hoch’s contract turned him into an extremely expensive part-time history professor.

    The incident left some questioning the university’s hiring practices, while faculty members praise the addition of a respected scholar — despite the irony of the subject matter — for a department they say is short-staffed.

    Hoch, 57, is a well-regarded historian who has written books and articles on Russian history and socioeconomics.

    “We’re happy to have another colleague, and we badly need a Russian historian,” said Steve Kale, interim chair of WSU’s history department. “It’s just not rational to be upset about the salary situation.“

    Hoch was less than two months into the job as provost when he took a personal leave Sept. 23 following an altercation at a staff meeting, which ended in a shoving incident with another administrator.

    Hoch and WSU President Elson Floyd agreed he should not remain as provost, effective Oct. 31. But his contract allows him to continue as a tenured faculty member at an annual salary of $245,000, roughly 80 percent of his original salary.

    The average salary for WSU full professors of history was $74,770 last fall. Nationally, the average salary for full professors at large public universities was $109,569 in the 2007-08 school year, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

    University administrators assigned Hoch to the WSU branch campus in Richland, where one of two history professors and the university’s lone Russian specialist are on sabbatical. At the time, they said Hoch would assist with expanding course offerings at the branch campus that recently began offering four-year degrees.

    Whether Hoch will remain in the Tri-Cities or is reassigned to another campus beyond this semester remains to be seen. He is teaching History 469, a seminar required of all history majors to graduate. The subject matter is determined by the professor.

    Hoch also will be advising some students and is expected to eventually assume a full course load.

    While it’s true that Hoch will be making far more than any other history professor, Kale said, the focus should be on his credentials and not his salary.

    “He has a Ph.D. from Princeton, and he is a quite accomplished Russian historian, even though he has not been active for a time because he’s been an administrator,” Kale said.

    Before coming to WSU, Hoch served as dean of the University of Kentucky’s School of Arts and Sciences. He declined to be interviewed for this story.

    Retired Richland teacher Laurel Piippo signed up to become a citizen lobbyist in Olympia this session to demand that lawmakers hold the school’s president accountable for the situation.

    “I’m not just going to let it sit there and die,” Piippo told the Tri-City Herald. “I want this guy on the hot seat.”

    Hoch’s students, though, are generally unfazed by the situation. Students said they were happy with their new professor’s knowledge and experience, though one said he planned to drop the class because Hoch’s Boston accent drove him nuts.

    http://www.chron.com/disp/stor.....14025.html

    Which statement that better shows the arrogance of higher education?

    “We’re happy to have another colleague, and we badly need a Russian historian,” said Steve Kale, interim chair of WSU’s history department. “It’s just not rational to be upset about the salary situation.“

    or:

    While it’s true that Hoch will be making far more than any other history professor, Kale said, the focus should be on his credentials and not his salary.

    It’s great to be in education – you can charge whatever you want without any loss in “demand” because the Federal Government will eventually provide your funding anyway.

  37. BigOil
    January 16, 2009 at 6:57 pm

    From the bankrupt liberal fish wrapper the Star Tribune:

    Biodiesel fuel woes close Bloomington schools

    By LORA PABST, Star Tribune

    All schools in the Bloomington School District will be closed today after state-required biodiesel fuel clogged in school buses Thursday morning and left dozens of students stranded in frigid weather, the district said late Thursday.

    Rick Kaufman, the district’s spokesman, said elements in the biodiesel fuel that turn into a gel-like substance at temperatures below 10 degrees clogged about a dozen district buses Thursday morning. Some buses weren’t able to operate at all and others experienced problems while picking up students, he said.

    “We had students at bus stops longer than we think is acceptable, and that’s too dangerous in these types of temperatures,” Kaufman said.

    About 50 of the district’s 10,000 students were affected. Some waited at bus stops for up to 30 minutes; others were stuck on stalled buses.

    Backup buses were sent out, but four of the district’s 10 backup buses were also affected, Kaufman said.

    Several students had to go to the nurse’s office to warm up once they reached school and some returned home instead of waiting for buses that never came or were late, but there were no reports of students who required medical attention, he said. Transportation staffers were dispatched to make sure that there weren’t any students left at bus stops.

    http://www.startribune.com/loc.....89189.html

    No worries. As The One has proclaimed, alternative energy will deliver us from dependence on foreign oil.

    Not all is lost. At least the kids will have plenty of syrup for their pancakes.

  38. JohnMG
    January 16, 2009 at 7:17 pm

    Take it from someone who has used it, the stuff is worthless! It costs more to produce, requires additives in the tank, is unpredictable at low temperatures, and delivers less horsepower per unit than petro-diesel. Not to mention, that if it weren’t federally subsidized, it couldn’t be competitively priced at the pump. All hail the “greenies”! (in a pig’s ass!)

    People, we must take our country back from these idiots before it is too late.

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