Moderate Moyer

What the Chrysler Superbowl Ad should have said

2012-02-08T09:06:00.001-08:00

Santorum Takes Victory in Minnesota and Colorado

2012-02-08T09:02:00.000-08:00

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2012/02/08/exp-point-santorum-trump-response.cnn

Newsbusted 2/7/12

2012-02-07T12:47:00.001-08:00

Santorum: 'Mr. President, We're Not That Stupid' | CNSnews.com

2012-02-07T12:43:00.000-08:00

Santorum: 'Mr. President, We're Not That Stupid' CNSnews.com

Gipper Quiz by the Heritage Foundation

2012-02-06T15:52:00.001-08:00

Take the Gipper Quiz by clicking on the image.

UCSF Believes Sugar should be Regulated - The Toxic Truth?!

2012-02-06T09:34:00.001-08:00

According to researchers at UCSF (San Francisco), sugar should be controlled to save people from their bad decisions to eat it (I added some liberties to the last part). Either way, the researchers found that a lot of ailments that plague people can be linked back to over doing it on sugar.

To me it looks like sugar is now being placed in the same "vice" category as alcohol and tobacco. The government wants can't change people's eating behavior, so they will force that change with "gentle guidance". I understand the need to push healthy eating but not at the expense of personal liberty. See video interview below.

Heritage Employment Report: January Jobs

2012-02-03T15:51:00.000-08:00

Heritage Employment Report: January Jobs

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in January, the economy added 243,000 jobs—108,000 more than the consensus forecast of 135,000. As a result, the unemployment rate fell from 8.5 percent to 8.3 percent, the lowest level since February 2009. For the last three months, job creation has averaged 201,000 a month, a sign that the labor market recovery may be truly underway.

Unfortunately, many fiscal policies enacted by Congress have generated little job growth. A two-month extension of the payroll tax cut does little to create employment, because the duration of the tax change is seen as temporary. Even worse, businesses have the added uncertainty of the expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, which will constrain hiring.

The January Report

The American labor market had a strong month in January. The unemployment rate fell from 8.5 percent to 8.3 percent as many Americans were able to find work. The unemployment rate for adult men fell to 7.7 percent, the first time it has been under 8 percent since January 2011. This matches the unemployment rate of women, which fell from 7.9 to 7.7 percent.

The establishment survey had very good news, with 243,000 new jobs being created and upwards revisions of 60,000 for the two previous months. The number of hours worked also increased from 33.7 to 33.8 hours, and wages increased by 2 cents an hour. This is solid evidence of a strengthening labor market as more workers were added and existing workers worked more.

Private-sector job growth was 257,000 and was widespread. Manufacturing (50,000) and construction (21,000) had solid growth for the second straight month. The service sector (176,000) was led by professional business services (70,000) and health care (29,700). Temporary services (20,100) had a solid month. Government (–14,000) shed jobs mostly at the local level (–11,000) and federal level (–6,000).

Dropping Out of the Labor Force

The jobs report does contain some disturbing news: The labor force participation rate shows no sign of improving. Revisions to the population estimates show that only 63.7 percent of adult Americans are active in the labor force (either employed or looking for a job). This is the lowest since 1983, a time when far fewer women worked.

This is a worrying trend. Demographic factors caused labor force participation to peak in 2000 and gradually decline—as the baby boomers aged and started to retire, their labor force participation fell. Since the recession began, however, participation rates plunged by 2.3 percentage points—a drop that demographic factors do not explain.[1]

This phenomenon reduces the measured unemployment rate, because individuals who are not looking for work do not count as unemployed. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the unemployment rate would be 1.25 points higher if labor force participation had not unexpectedly declined.[2] CBO estimates that while the participation rate will stabilize in the near future, it will continue to decline as boomers retire. The unemployment rate does not reflect this labor market weakness.

Impact of Uncertainty

The January report gives hope that the long-awaited labor market recovery is well underway. Unfortunately, many fiscal decisions in Washington have been made that have not helped the labor market. In December, Congress extended a reduction in the payroll tax for two months as a way to stimulate job growth. A one-year extension, much less a two-month extension, does nothing for job growth, as companies are forward-looking. There is evidence that companies are more concerned about the looming expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax bills instead of yet another short-term tax measure. Temporary tax cuts do little to increase economic growth instead of more permanent tax measures.

Researchers regularly ask small businesses what the single greatest problem they face is. In January, almost twice as many said the tax or regulatory burden (41 percent) as did poor sales (23 percent).[3] Congress can do little to improve business sales, but it directly controls taxes and regulations. Congress can encourage businesses to expand and hire by creating a favorable business climate. Congress should not raise taxes—especially not on entrepreneurs—and should streamline or eliminate unnecessary regulations.

A Steady but Weak Recovery

The January report is one of the strongest reports since last spring. Even better news is that there is now a three-month trend of job growth exceeding 150,000 jobs. It looks like the labor market recovery is strengthening. Unfortunately, the recovery is still too weak for where it should be in this business cycle. Congress should make permanent the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts as a way to bolster hiring and economic growth.

Court Ruling Throws a Wrench in US – China Trade Relations

2012-01-31T10:25:00.000-08:00

Court Ruling Throws a Wrench in US – China Trade Relations

Countdown without a budget

2012-01-29T01:10:00.000-08:00

Stuff LIberals Say - Comedy

2012-01-28T01:34:00.000-08:00

Newsbusted Comedy 1/27

2012-01-27T10:30:00.001-08:00

How is the economy Really Doing??

2012-01-27T09:49:00.001-08:00

After the State of the Union Address, there was a lot of hoopla about the economy, but how is it doing really????

According to the Business Insider, "1.7%" that's the final, pathetic growth number for 2011.

From the just-released GDP report:

Real GDP increased 1.7 percent in 2011 (that is, from the 2010 annual level to the 2011 annual level), compared with an increase of 3.0 percent in 2010.

The increase in real GDP in 2011 primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions from state and local government spending, private inventory investment, and federal government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

Not exactly a barnburner.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/2011-gdp-2012-1#ixzz1kgLkIXq4

According to Heritage Foundation:

Governor Mitch Daniels (R-IN), who delivered the response to the State of the Union address, shined a light on those titanic omissions — the state of America’s economic and fiscal crises, the President’s promise to fix them, and his failure to do anything but make matters worse, all amid a trillion dollars in stimulus spending and a rapidly expanding bureaucracy:

The percentage of Americans with a job is at the lowest in decades. One in five men of prime working age, and nearly half of all persons under 30, did not go to work today.

In three short years, an unprecedented explosion of spending, with borrowed money, has added trillions to an already unaffordable national debt. And yet, the President has put us on a course to make it radically worse in the years ahead. The federal government now spends one of every four dollars in the entire economy; it borrows one of every three dollars it spends.

Keystone Pipeline Blockage - Cartoon

2012-01-25T16:22:00.000-08:00

State of the Union Address Tonight

2012-01-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

Tonight at 9pm, President Obama will hold his annual State of the Union address. With Obama bidding for his reelection, this year will likely have the same kind of political banter that has plagued the State of the Union in recent history. With notable exceptions with the Post 9/11 address from George W. Bush.

The President will have Warren Buffet's secretary siting with the First Lady, in a stunt that will likely be the jumping off point for his tax plan. Obama will likely point to Buffet's secretary as someone who "has a higher tax rate than Warren". However, this statement is a bit misleading as most of Buffet's revenue comes in the form of capital gains (taxed lower) than his secretary who pays higher income tax.

Either way, it will likely be a showboating event but one I don't want to miss. I am pessimistic that any new ideas will be talked about, but hope to be wrong.

1000 Days Since Senate Dems Passed a Budget - VIdeo

2012-01-23T12:03:00.001-08:00

Courtesy of BigGovernment.com

Rosie O'Donnell and Michael Moore to Lobby for Government Bailout of Hostess‏

2012-01-20T12:53:00.000-08:00

Conservative Comedy

PIPA support collapses, with 13 new Senators opposed

2012-01-19T08:37:00.000-08:00

It looks like the Republicans in the Senate are pushing back on the PIPA (Protect IP Act), siding with the protests that many web properties participated in yesterday. I can't say the Republicans have received much "love" from the media, but as they are siding with this issue, it might change that.

PIPA support collapses, with 13 new Senators opposed

Members of the Senate are rushing for the exits in the wake of the Internet's unprecedented protest of the Protect IP Act (PIPA). At least 13 members of the upper chamber announced their opposition on Wednesday. In a particularly severe blow for Hollywood, at least five of the newly-opposed Senators were previously co-sponsors of the Protect IP Act. (Update: since we ran this story, the tally is up to 18 Senators, of which seven are former co-sponsors. See below.)

The newly-opposed Senators are skewed strongly to the Republican side of the aisle. An Ars Technica survey of Senators' positions on PIPA turned up only two Democrats, Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who announced their opposition on Wednesday. The other 11 Senators who announced their opposition on Wednesday were all Republicans. These 13 join a handful of others, including Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR), who have already announced their opposition.

Courthouse News Service

2012-01-18T09:02:00.000-08:00

The popular research site Wikipedia went dark today and if you make a search on Google, will notice an auspicious black box over Google's logo. Why is this?

It looks like online privacy laws are hitting the headlines lately and all the stakeholders are flexing their muscles.

According to the Courthouse News Service

MANHATTAN (CN) - Wikipedia and other high-traffic websites are dark today to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act, which would allow the U.S. government to shut down websites suspected of copyright infringement.

Google, which did not shut down its search engine, joined the protest by censoring its logo with electronic black tape.

As explained by Popular Mechanics contributor Adam Savage, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)'s provisions "allow for the wholesale elimination of entire websites, domain names, and chunks of the DNS (the underlying structure of the whole Internet), based on nothing more than the 'good faith' assertion by a single party that the website is infringing on a copyright of the complainant. The accused doesn't even have to be aware that the complaint has been made."

The Electronic Frontier Foundation stated that the bill and its sister legislation, the Protect IP Act, could invite "blacklists" that threaten free speech on the Internet under the pretext of fighting piracy.

The White House on Saturday responded to two online petitions, and the explosion of outrage over the bill, with a statement that the Obama administration opposed SOPA in its current form.
"Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small," the White House said in its statement.

It added: "We must avoid creating new cybersecurity risks or disrupting the underlying architecture of the Internet."

The Motion Picture Association of American, Recording Industry Association of America, and major media companies which support the bill claim it is needed to protect their businesses from copyright infringement.

ABC, CBS, Comcast/NBCUniversal (which owns MSNBC and NBC News), Viacom (CBS), News Corporation (Fox News), Time Warner (CNN), and Disney Publishing Worldwide largely have blacked out discussion of SOPA from their television news cycles, according to the watchdog group Media Matters.

The White House statement left the door open for these companies to seek different legislation to address their concerns.

"Let us be clear - online piracy is a real problem that harms the American economy, threatens jobs for significant numbers of middle class workers and hurts some of our nation's most creative and innovative companies and entrepreneurs," the White House statement said. "That is why the administration calls on all sides to work together to pass sound legislation this year that provides prosecutors and rights holders new legal tools to combat online piracy originating beyond U.S. borders while staying true to the principles outlined above in this response."

Solyndra isn't the only "Green Tech" Scandal

2012-01-16T09:40:00.000-08:00

It looks like the Solyndra disaster wasn't the only scandal to rock the Obama administration. There were about 11 other instances where the President helped out his contributors in the "Green Tech" space. Check out the CBS News Report.

San Francisco Young Republicans Welcome Speaker Brian Sussman

2012-01-15T22:50:00.001-08:00

This Tuesday in San Francisco
First Happy Hour of 2012 with Speaker Brian Sussman
Location: Cigar Bar (850 Montgomery, San Francisco)
Time: 6:00PM - 9PM

Brian Sussman Bio:

For twenty years Brian Sussman was the Bay Area’s top television meteorologist and science reporter, and recognized by his peers as one of the best in the busines…s. His accolades include nearly two dozen state and regional awards for “Best Weathercast” from the Associated Press and Radio-TV News Directors Association, a handful of Emmys, and an award of merit from the National Education Association. During the 1990s Brian served as the fill-in weatherman on the nationally broadcast CBS Morning Show with Harry Smith.

Sussman has also been recognized by the State of California for assisting in the adoption of foster children. Through his organization, Brian’s Kids, Sussman utilized the airwaves of KPIX-TV in San Francisco to highlight children waiting for adoptive families. Between 1989 and 2001, four hundred foster children were placed into permanent families thanks to Brian’s Kids.

Brian left the TV airwaves in 2001, to venture into conservative talk radio. In 2003, he was hired by KSFO to host a two-hour evening talk show. By 2009, his program had become the highest-rated on the station. In February of the following year, Sussman was promoted to headline the KSFO morning show; the top morning talk show in the Bay Area, and one of the most successful conservative morning talk shows in the country.

Sussman is a regular substitute host on the nationally syndicated, Mark Levin Show.

Brian’s book, Climategate: A Veteran Meteorologist Exposes The Global Warming Scam, was released on Earth Day in 2010, in conjunction with an appearance on the Sean Hannity television show. The book became an overnight bestseller.

His second book, Eco-Tyranny, will be published in April 2011.

Brian and his teenage sweetheart, Jamie Sue, are enjoying their third decade of marriage. They have four children.

Visit Brian’s website, BrianSussman.com

Who really added the most debt? - Graphic

2012-01-14T01:03:00.000-08:00

Consolidating Government Dept - Finally a good idea from Obama

2012-01-13T09:53:00.000-08:00

Today, I came across an interesting article from the AP, that outlined President Obama's plan to consolidate a number of Government Departments that focus on trade/small business. All I can say, is "It's about time!".

The President will ask for special authority to do this from Congress and hope (if granted) that this power is limited to cutting wasteful overlapping departments. I think this is a perfect opportunity for bipartisanship and hope it work for not only these government departments but for many many many others!!!

Communist Party USA Endorses Obama and Democrats

2012-01-12T11:38:00.001-08:00

When a candidate, elected leader or any American is endorsed by a party that runs contrary to American principles and our Constitution, you should ask the question "WHY!!!"

It would appear that the current President is much closer to the ideals of Socialism/Communism than those of a champion of liberty. The US was (and is) a beacon of light fighting against the former USSR, Cuba, North Korea and Communist Control of Vietnam.

I believe in liberty, freedom, voting, achievement, and all other unalienable rights given to me. I am appalled that the leader of the free world would be endorsed by Communist.

Newsbusted Comedy 1/10

2012-01-12T10:48:00.001-08:00

Christie handles protesters Jersey-style (Reuters)

2012-01-09T14:16:00.000-08:00

As recorded on Reuters:

Mitt Romney might want to take a lesson from Chris Christie on how to handle protesters at his Republican presidential campaign events.

When a gaggle of protesters interrupted Romney's campaign rally speech at an Exeter high school, Romney declared politely that it was "really unfortunate" and urged his supporters to get loud and drown out his opponents' chants.

"I'm happy to have you guys express your views," Romney told them as he campaigned days before the New Hampshire primary. "Next time do it with more courtesy."

The protesters kept on shouting "Mitt kills jobs" and some were escorted out, but the shouts did not stop.

Then it was New Jersey Governor Christie's turn to address the overflow crowd jammed into the school gymnasium.

When a heckler yelled, "Christie kills jobs," Christie was ready with a response - New Jersey style.

"Really?" Christie replied. Something may go down tonight but it's not going to be jobs, sweetheart."

Christie, a potential vice presidential running mate should Romney win the Republican presidential nomination, has emerged as one of Romney's top surrogates on the campaign.

He deftly turned the protesters' complaints into criticism against Democratic President Barack Obama, who will face Romney or another Republican in next November's election.

Obama has "encouraged these people to be angry at Mitt and angry at me because we stand up for what we believe in," he said.

"Mr. President, you're up there in the family quarters of the White House, put your feet up and don't worry about it. Mitt Romney is going to bring people together," said Christie.

The crowd roared its approval.

"He handled them just the way I would expect him too, an intellectual beat-down," said Mike Gianino, 51, of Newton, New Hampshire. "I think Christie is just the right amount of punch."