It’s “news” to the MSM. Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office released a report that confirmed what conservative labor analysts James Sherk and Jason Richwine have known (and written about) for some time: Federal government employees receive more in total compensation than their private-sector counterparts. Specifically, the CBO report found the following: Federal civilian employees with no more than a high Read this post
Archive for January, 2012
The Only Birthday Present I Wanted Was You
If this doesn’t make you misty eyed, you’re either 1. A Commie 2. An Islamist 3. A ginger with no soul.
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The Only Birthday Present I Wanted Was You
Allen West to run for reelection in different Florida district
Strategy. If he’s leaving Congress, he’s not leaving without a fight. Javier Manjarres had it first, now WaPo has details: Tea party firebrand Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) announced Tuesday that he will switch districts and run for reelection in Florida’s new 18th district… Rep. Tom Rooney’s (R-Fla.) decision earlier Tuesday to run in the open and Read this post
Wag the Finger: Media’s Selective Memory
After President Obama was caught playing tarmac theatrics with Gov. Jan Brewer, everyone accused Brewer of being a racist. (Though, if we’re playing identify politics, I’m not sure how a man storming off a plane with a thunderous expression, stomping over to a woman only to read her the riot act as she stands there with a handwritten note welcoming him to her state isn’t viewed as sexist .) The media would like for you to believe that Obama never thrust his finger in another’s face. Remember when Obama wagged his finger in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s face? Neither does the media. Apparently, the Brewer incident wasn’t the first time Obama attempted to create “Tarmac Theater” for the benefit of the watchful press corps. Jindal said the President’s outburst, pictured above, was “staged.” Remember when Obama wagged his finger in the face of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s face? Neither does the media. Did the media remember when Obama pointed his finger at Benjamin Netanyahu? No. I’ll wait for notorious finger-wagger himself, Brian Williams , or the others to swiftly condemn the President’s “racist” actions .
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Wag the Finger: Media’s Selective Memory
Santorum: I’m not calling for anyone to get out; we’ll beat them straight up
The sustainability of Santorum’s strategy. Ed touched on this earlier today, but I want to revisit it briefly because, while the rest of the country focuses on Florida, Rick Santorum is already hard at work campaigning in Missouri — and he won’t let anything, not even Newt Gingrich’s calls for him to exit the race, distract him from the issues: Read this post
For the Record
I have not been moonlighting as a bigtime Obama fundraiser. Just FYI.
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For the Record
Rules for Thee But Not for Me
Trifecta : What Warren Buffett doesn’t want you to know about the Buffett Rule.
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Rules for Thee But Not for Me
Good News: Iran May Plan More Attacks on US Soil
No word on whether or not those targets will be anti-Iranian activists, foreign diplomats, or just your run of the mill infidel shopping at Ikea. WaPo : U.S. intelligence agencies believe that Iran is prepared to launch terrorist attacks inside the United States in response to perceived threats from America and its allies, the U.S. spy chief said Tuesday. So, there’s that. On a related note, there’s also this: If the pressure on al-Qaeda can be maintained, “there is a better-than-even chance that decentralization will lead to fragmentation,” Clapper said. The terrorist group “will seek to execute smaller, simpler plots to demonstrate relevance to the global jihad.” Lone wolves, it’s where it’s at! Thanks to Ed .
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Good News: Iran May Plan More Attacks on US Soil
Obama Admits U.S. Drone Program Exists, But It’s Definitely Just for Special Terrorist Occasions
President Obama didn't just use the Google+ “hangout” to not answer questions about marijuana. (Okay, that might have been Youtube and Google's fault , but never underestimate the powers of not talking about the drug war which happen when media and politicians' powers combine.) He also used the opportunity to admit that the United States' program of targeted drone strikes and assassinations, used throughout the Middle East, most heavily in Pakistan, does in fact exist. With the incredibly low standards that the Obama administration and politics in general demands, that's pretty bold. After all, the program still doesn't officially exist and most U.S. officials who have spoken about it with any detail of knowledge have been anonymous. Officials from the Obama administration noted that this confirmation was not a mistake from the president (not sure how it could have been when he talked about the program for four minutes). The downside to Obama's declaration is that he also assured the Internet-viewing public that the strikes had “not caused a huge number of civilian casualties” and that it is “important for everybody to understand that this thing is kept on a very tight leash.” These strikes are “for the most part very precise — precision strikes against Al-Qaeda and their affiliates” most often in Pakistan's Federally Administrated Tribal Areas. Also, the way targets are chosen is apparently “not just a bunch of guys in a room somewhere making decisions.” No, according to a December Washington Post article it's actually a bunch of guys in two rooms making decisions; there's a CIA list and a military list, with some overlap between them , but enough bureaucracy and secrecy to make sure that nobody has a completely clear view of how strikes happen and who is being targeted and why. But yes, according to Obama the program exists but it has led to practically no civilian casualties, also everyone killed (which is in the the neighborhood of 2000 people since Obama took office) was a terrorist; also there's a lot of accountability and careful oversight. I guess it's supposed to be nice that the transparency-loathing president thinks his citizens are man enough to know that yes, that drone program the media talks about sometimes does exist. Here's the clip if you feel like suffering through the whole four minutes. Props to the citizen who asked the hilariously cautious follow-up question about whether using drone strikes might cause other countries to ”perceive” that we're “intervening in their affairs.” How might America fix that crazy perception? Well, the president says that drones are an alternative to intervening more heavily in other countries, they in fact help us “respect the sovereignty” of those places because a strike is better than an all-out war. Which is more or less true and we already knew that, but it's a pretty damned arrogant and unsatisfying answer all the same. And yes Obama addressed the recent controversy over drone flights in Iraq —he said they're surveillance, not strikes — but maybe someone should remind him that the Iraqis already had their all-out war. So it would be more than fair if any American aircraft, even those flying peacefully over that U.S. embassy of 16,000 personnel, gives an Iraqi pause. I would have preferred to hear him try to evade the pot question yet again. Reason on drones and the war on terror
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Obama Admits U.S. Drone Program Exists, But It’s Definitely Just for Special Terrorist Occasions