theblogprof

The End

2011-09-28T21:00:00.077-04:00

UPDATE: Due to yet anther media inquiry by a lefty 'journalist' pretending to be middle-of-the-road, let me just be clear that I work for the best employer there is, and this will help me do my job better. I made this decision on my own. And that's all there is to it.
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I love my career and what I do, my time with students, and the mental challenges I face every day in my field of study. I truly love my job in the same way that a teenager loves video games. It is literally fun for me, and I leave work every evening with more energy than when I entered earlier in the day. It appears to be a rare thing.

This blog started in resistance to the bailouts, overspending, the subversion of the US Constitution by the ruling class, and then the march of radical liberalism after the election of Obama. To that end, many of us bloggers expanded our spheres of influence through writing and made a small difference. And the tea party formed. And liberalism is being beat back. That will not end.

However, this blog must. I like blogging, but I love my day job.

I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for reading, commenting and encouraging me to continue. Thank you all for your messages of support of my efforts, which will now be at the grass roots level only. I want to make it clear that in no way am I burned out (almost 3 years now I have kept a consistent pace). In fact, I am more energized than ever. I also do not blame my employer. Nor should anyone connect this action with them.

Incidentally, Glenn Reynolds had this link just the other day (thanks for all the Instalanches Glenn!): 5 Ways To Screw Up Your Life With The Internet. I didn't actually screw up my life. Quite the opposite. But with an expanding sphere of influence comes an increased level of visibility.
As for the struggle to right the ship (my last pun!), I will leave you with this regarding the resistance against the corrosive effects of liberalism:

Thank you, and God bless you all.

-theblogprof

Limousine Liberal: Actress Susan Sarandon Attends Wall Street Protest On Way To Airport For Italy Vacation

2011-09-28T19:00:00.011-04:00

Perhaps Sarandon is creating something new - the drive-by protest! From the NY Daily News: Wall Street protests get a boost of star power, Susan Sarandon shows up at demonstration

A week-old Wall St. protest got a little star power Tuesday in the form of activist actress Susan Sarandon.

This isn't a good sign for Sarandon:

"I'm just here to be educated," the "Bull Durham" star said as some of the young demonstrators in the crowd asked each other, "Who is she?"

But this is the part of the story that raised eyebrows:

Sarandon, 64, stopped by the Occupy Wall Street encampment in Zuccotti Park on her way to catch a flight to Italy.

The protesters peppered her with questions about climate change, consumerism and the economy.

What would a moonbat actress know about any of those outside of what she's been told? The video with the story:

More predictable behavior by the Hollywood elite: Alan Cumming Rails Against ‘Hatred’, ‘Homophobia’ And ‘Racism’ In Tea Party

Actor Alan Cumming appeared on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" to promote his new CBS Show "The Good Wife." Insulting such a huge part of the American public is a really interesting way to promote your show.

Video: Berkeley Students Condemn 'Diversity Bake Sale'

2011-09-28T18:00:00.000-04:00

Note that the liberal students don't have a single rational thought here as to why they oppose it:

From the SF Chronicle via memeorandum: UC Berkeley student senators respond to bake sale

UC Berkeley student senators voted Sunday to condemn discriminatory behavior on campus - even if done in satire - in response to a Republican student group's plans for an "Increase Diversity Bake Sale," with pastries labeled according to race and gender.

The vote was 19-0.Why don't they vote to condemn the same exact thing in college admissions and government hiring? The hypocrisy in voting against racial discrimination in cookie sales, but not in far more life-impacting areas hasn't dawned on them:

...another student, Devonte Jackson, said the bake sale was inappropriate and hurtful, "attacking underrepresented communities by reducing their communities to a cheaply priced good."

The bake sale - which the Berkeley College Republicans still plan to hold Tuesday - is an effort to denounce a bill now on Gov. Jerry Brown's desk that would allow the University of California and California State University to consider race, ethnicity and gender in student admissions.

...Hundreds of students opposed the bake sale on Facebook, and many sent letters of complaint to campus administrators. Alfredo Mireles, Jr., a UCSF nursing student who sits on UC's Board of Regents, issued a statement condemning "a common stunt performed by college Republican groups to protest affirmative action policies."

...Shawn Lewis, the president of the Republican group, said his members had been harassed and threatened online. The bake sale will go on, he said, "if we can do it safely."

The equal protection clause of the 14th amendment guarantees against discrimination based on race. How do opponents of the bake sale reconcile their view on affirmative action? If the above student responses are any indication, they don't.

Video: Thousands Line Up In Philadelphia For Food Stamps

2011-09-28T17:00:00.016-04:00

Why the shock that when you throw other people's money on the street that thousands show up to stuff their pockets? From CBS Philly: Thousands Line Up In Philadelphia For Food Stamps

Thousands of Philadelphia residents gathered in long lines, citywide, waiting hours outside of 12 County Assistance Offices, hoping to apply for relief following Hurricane Irene.

The residents, many confused and lacking official information, hoped to receive a month of food stamps for food ruined by floods and power problems caused by the hurricane.

The program, called Disaster SNAP (supplemental nutrition assistance program), was created by the federal government and is administered by the State Department of Public Welfare.

Because of unexpectedly large turnouts, the application process was moved from Disaster Recovery Centers in Philadelphia to the 12 state offices in neighborhoods citywide.

The video report:

It's going in the direction of Greece, no? Speaking of, via Instapundit, a revolt:

AS WELFARE STATE COLLAPSES, GREEKS SUFFER AND FEAR FUTURE: “Sitting in the modest living room of the home she shares with her parents, husband and two teenage children, Stella Firigou fretted about how the family would cope with the uncertainties of an economy crashing all around them. But she was adamant about one thing: she would not pay a new property tax that was the centerpiece of a new austerity package announced this month by the Greek government. . . . Critics say the country has failed to adequately crack down on tax evasion among the wealthiest segments of society — and failed to carry out more focused cuts because it is reluctant to take on some public-sector unions that protect a small, powerful cadre of workers who have deep ties to the governing Socialist Party.”

Plus this:

“WE WON’T PAY:” Greek Middle Class Revolts Against Higher Taxes. “Small business owners in Greece have long been the backbone of the economy and reliable taxpayers in a country where tax evasion is rampant. That, though, is now changing. Self-employed workers like Angelos Belitsakos have had enough of rising taxes and have begun to revolt.”

And this:

DAN MITCHELL: The Tea Party Goes Global: Revolt Of The Greek Tax Slaves. “The fiscal turmoil in Greece is not about fiscal balance. It’s a fight between looters and moochers such as Olga Stefou, who think taxpayers should endlessly subsidize everything, and the shrinking group of productive people who are pulling the wagon and keeping Greece’s economy from total collapse. Not surprisingly, the Greek government has tried to prop up its uncompetitive welfare state by pillaging that group of productive people. But it appears that the kleptocrats may have gone too far and triggered a Tea Party-type revolt. . . . These two stories underscore the message that I’ve been repeating for years. Greece’s problem is not deficits and debt. Red ink and imminent default are bad, but they are symptoms of the real problem of a bloated public sector and the dependency culture created by too much government.”

UPDATE: Speaking of Philly, perhaps Sodom and Gomorrah is a better analogy than Greece: Flash Mob Home Break-In Edition: Philly Mob Busts into “White Mother-F**ker’s” House – Beats Him With Pipes

Video: Maddow gets it wrong on GOP debate audiences

2011-09-28T16:00:00.002-04:00

To liberals, audience reaction at the GOP debates is like a Rorschach test - they make of it whatever they want. In this case, they insist that tea party members for instance booed a gay service member, never imagining that they were really booing the repeal of DADT or the using of the gay soldier as a prop to try and make the GOP look bad. Maddow sees only bad in her view of course, which is wrong:

More Maddow moonbattery: Maddow sees Perry as Psycho Killer

Video: Megyn Kelly Responds to Joy Behar Attacks on Fox Debate Panel!

2011-09-28T15:00:00.016-04:00

Liberals have been coming out of the woodwork trashing Megyn Kelly's debate performance. For example: Barely Employed David Shuster Trashes Bret Baier And Megyn Kelly’s Debate Performances

"There are a lot of folks at Fox News who bring a certain level of sophistication to their understanding of politics. And I think when Fox News goes to the Megyn Kellys, the Bret Baiers, and people who don’t have much experience who haven’t covered campaigns, the result is sometimes you have these inane questions that come out and, frankly, waste everybody’s time."

Megyn Kelly responds: Megyn Kelly Responds to Joy Behar Attacks on Fox Debate Panel!

Irony: Joy Behar To Morbidly Obese Michael Moore On Chris Christie: ‘Do You Think the Country Will Tolerate a Fat President?’

2011-09-28T14:00:00.008-04:00

Michael Moore is getting so big that he's going to have smaller big people in orbit around him any day now. Which makes this exchange ironic to say the least:

What exactly is Joy Behar's BMI by the way? Moore, by the way, is bailing on hopey changey: Moore Turns On Obama; Praises Huntsman

UPDATE: It’s Official: MSNBC Thinks Chris Christie’s Weight Is Funny

Serious journalist Martin Bashir spends quite a bit of time making jokes about Chris Christie's weight on Monday's mid-day news report.

UPDATE #2: Here She Is The Joyless Behar (aka) The Liberal Yenta Talking About Krispy Kreme Christie

Bad Visual: ‘Solar Decathlon’ Sign Powered by Gas Generator

2011-09-28T13:00:00.004-04:00

For the record I am a big fan of photovoltaics. There are no moving parts so if the system is installed properly you won't have to touch it for a couple of decades. It's simple. And it works. At least when the sun shines, which is why this just looks bad: ‘Solar Decathlon’ Sign Powered by Gas Generator

In the case of D.C. this weekend, we received a this picture from a PR event … where a pro-solar sign was literally powered by a gas generator.* How’s that for a metaphor?

A bit hard to tell in the pic, but if you want a sign to light up on demand, you need a controllable source.

Solyndra Scandal Becoming Killer Bunny For Democrats

2011-09-28T12:00:00.009-04:00

When Solyndra questions come up in interviews, Democrats run away:

Via BreitbartTV: OMB Director Runs From Questions On Solyndra

Wash Times: Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget Jack Lew refused to answer questions about Solyndra on Tuesday when he was asked by the Washington Times' affiliated radio show, America's Morning News, if he let Energy Secretary Steven Chu know that there were concerns from OMB about loaning more tax payer money to the now defunct solar panel maker company Solyndra.

Other Solyndra updates via Instapundit:

MEGAN MCARDLE: Solyndra Was Just a Bad Bet From the Beginning. Do tell.

And this:

L.A. Times: Obama advisors raised warning flags before Solyndra bankruptcy. “Long before the politically connected California solar firm Solyndra went bankrupt, President Obama was warned by his top economic advisors about the financial and political risks of the Energy Department loan guarantee program that boosted the company’s rapid ascent.”

Freedom of Speech: Sheila Jackson Lee Tells ‘Right-Wing Bloggers’ To ‘Shut Up’

2011-09-28T11:00:00.004-04:00

Democrats love the freedom of speech. Except when they don't.

Untitled from Naked Emperor News on Vimeo.

In reality, liberals only like their speech.

"If you liked Gov. Granholm's Michigan, you'll love President Obama's America"

2011-09-28T10:00:00.021-04:00

"Jennifer Granholm was Barack Obama before Barack Obama was Barack Obama." - former MI Senate Majority leader Mike Bishop

Via Henry Payne at The Michigan View: McGurn: Granholm's bad example

As we've been reporting here at The Michigan View (and I've been reporting at National Review since 2008), Michigan has been doomed to relive Jennifer Granholm's failed Democratic Socialist experiment in Michigan via her Washington twin, Barack Obama.

Wall Street Journal columnist Bill McGurn has taken notice. He picks up on the theme in his column this week, "Granholm's Perfect Bad Example: What Governor Jennifer Granholm's Michigan tells us about President Barack Obama's America." Excerpt:
In the end, Ms. Granholm's argument is simply a form of the same economic narcissism that animates people who never lose the charming faith that they know best how to spend other people's money. In some ways, she intimates, her leadership was the precursor to hope and change. "It's remarkable how in sync we are," she quotes her communications director saying of the governor and Barack Obama.

Yes, indeed. If you liked Gov. Granholm's Michigan, you'll love President Obama's America.

That's kind of funny, because Granholm admitted on tv that the nation is going through what Michigan went through under her:

To her credit though, she didn't take the chance to criticize the current Governor Snyder (who would she be to criticize any Governor of any state?):

Full Granholm interview here (if you can stomach 30 minutes of it):

Pic of the Day: Obama White House Geogrpahy FAIL! Mistake Wyoming for Colorado

2011-09-28T09:00:00.012-04:00

If Sarah Palin had done this, it would be front-page news for weeks and months, and endless fodder for those insisting she's a dumb bimbo unfit to hold any office altogether. But being this is the Obama White House, it's back page news. Nothing to see here, folks. Just move along. Via Instapundit: White House Fails Basic Geography Test. See anything wrong with this pic (states Obama is to visit in white)?

Yeah - that whited out one on the right isn't Colorado. It's Wyoming. Thus the appropriate analysis: "To be fair, both states are rectangular, nearly identical in size, and stacked next to each other. But we doubt our third grade teachers would buy that!" Not for a second. The media however, just might.

Coke CEO: China Friendlier To Business Than Obama’s America

2011-09-28T08:00:00.006-04:00

Sad, but darned right:

Coke CEO Muhtar Kent told the Financial Times that U.S. states don’t fight one another for investment opportunities, while Chinese provinces clamor to compete for foreign investments. “In the West, we’re forgetting what really worked 20 years ago. In China and other markets around the world, you see the kind of attention to detail about how business works and how business creates employment,” he said.

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Kent isn't the only CEO either: Ex-Amex CEO: My Grandson Knows More About Capitalism Than Obama

Harvey Golub: "His understanding of capitalism and free markets and how free people operate in free markets is less than my oldest grandson's. It is evident in almost everything he does."

And remember this recently:

TALK ABOUT YOUR JOB-KILLING REGULATORY POLICIES: CEO Tells Congress He Was Fined For Hiring Too Many People. “I incurred more than $500,000 in legal bills to mitigate a more severe regulatory outcome as a result of hiring too many workers. I have also been prohibited from opening up additional offices. I had a major expansion plan that would have resulted in my creating hundreds of additional jobs. Regulations have forced me to put those jobs on hold.”

Video: Agenda 21 Creeps Into California Land Use Policy

2011-09-27T20:00:00.005-04:00

The creep towards a one-world government via liberalism continues:

Video: 'Army Wives' star Kim Delaney goes full-bore Obama, gets yanked off stage

2011-09-27T19:00:00.000-04:00

Kim Delaney having a teleprompter malfunction:

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From The UK Mail Online:

'I've seen soldiers come home with painful life-altering injuries borne of their time and service,' she said, stuttering.

'I've attended numerous military funerals, including that of my best friend’s son. And my heart has been broken on numerous occasions.'

She then paused, saying, 'Ummm', before continuing: 'As I try to comfort wives, husbands, family members, fathers, children... loved ones made good, what I've learned is the Constitution Center.

'Knowing no words, no talk or anything can ever bring back their people.'

How come the media is making her out to be a space case, but say absolutely nothing about episodes that our own community organizer-in-chief has?:

Detroit Free Press: Fight childhood poverty by fully funding preschool programs that don't work with money we don't have

2011-09-27T18:00:00.000-04:00

From The Detroit Free Press: Fight childhood poverty by fully funding Great Start program

Rising poverty, coupled with the state's changing demographics, poses a daunting challenge for public policy and Michigan's future. Michigan's population is becoming more diverse, with whites expected to become the state's largest minority group in just over 30 years.

Of course, everything is due to racism, not on liberal Democratic hegemnic domination where there is poverty (read: Detroit):

Unless politicians and policymakers invest more in children's programs that alleviate racial inequities in education and health care, Michigan will become poorer, less educated and increasingly uncompetitive.

Michigan's poverty rate in 2010 -- 16.8% of state residents -- was the highest in at least four decades. The state's child poverty rate rose to 23.5%, including an unconscionable 53.6% in Detroit, according to the 2010 American Community Survey.

Uh - excuse me but just who has been running Detroit and its education system for the last 2 1/2 generations?

More than half of African-American children and 44% of Latino children under 5 live in poverty, compared to 19% for white children, according to a new report from Michigan's Children, "Michigan's Changing Demographics and the Future."

The #1 predictor of poverty isn't race of course. Rather, it's whether mom and dad are raising the kids. Around 80% of Detroit births are to single moms. It's kind of what happens when Democrats insisted on replacing the father with Big Government via welfare, with predictable results. The solution to the problem that they themselves created? More taxpayer money laundering (funneling taxpayer money to unionized teachers unions that always tithe back to the Democratic Party) via programs that are proven not to work:

...Early childhood and preschool programs are especially important, given that researchers can spot achievement gaps emerging in children as young as 9 months old. Children who don't read proficiently at the end of third grade are four times more likely to fail to graduate from high school on time.

...Michigan's Great Start Readiness Program, a full- or half-day preschool program for more than 47,000 at-risk 4-year-olds, improves school readiness, raises reading scores and boosts high school graduation rates.

The problem is the freep's continued ignorance that full-day pre-school programs don't work. The evidence has been out, but the Free Press editorial board is so wrapped up in their liberal echo chamber that the message isn't getting through. From almost exactly a year ago:Detroit Free Press: Hey - let's get our kids into pre-kindergarten programs that are PROVEN FAILURES! Science has been co-opted by the liberal movement. Data is unnecessary any more either through experimentation or through observation. Any data that contradicts liberal orthodoxy is fudged to show something that is the opposite of what the raw data has said. None-existent global warming, anyone? Check. Early childhood indoctrination? Big check. Even though such programs are proven failures, and costly ones at that. And statists never call such things "spending." It's always an investment. From Pajama's Media via Instapundit: ‘Head Start’: The $166 Billion Fed Ed Failure.

“Head Start,” the flagship pre-kindergarten program introduced in 1965, has been a $166 billion failure. That’s the upshot of a sophisticated multi-year study just released by the Department of Health and Human Services.

An earlier iteration of the study, published in 2005, had found a few modest improvements in the language skills of participating students while they were enrolled in the program. But by the end of the first grade, even those few effects have disappeared, according to the follow-up released this month. Out of 44 separate cognitive tests given to former Head Start students at the end of the first grade, only two showed even marginally significant effects. The other 42 showed no statistically significant effect at all.

In short, it was an utter waste of taxpayer money. Yet not only did the MSM not report this, they instead reported just the opposite (US DHHS: Pre-K Program is a $165 Billion flop. Detroit News and liberals: We have a fever and the only prescription is more pre-K!!!). The entirety of public schools have been co-opted by the liberal movement and basic skills like math and reading have been replaced with environmental propaganda, cultural sensitivity, self-exploration exercises, deviant alternative lifestyle studies, and singing devotional songs to dear leader:

Indoctrinating children at an even younger age will worsen the problem, not make it better. The NMU provost also threw this bait out without any justification whatsoever: "From a long-term perspective, high-quality early learning programs can save as much as $16 for every $1 invested because children who participate in these programs grow up to become better-educated and more productive workers." Those theoretical numbers are utterly contradicted by the Head Start experimental data - 45 years worth! As usual, data doesn't matter. Only that pie in the sky does.

Previously:

Video: Rep John Sarbanes Advocates Brainwashing Children With Radical Green Agenda

Video of John Stossel: How was school for you?

Wellesley, MA Public School Apologizes To Parents For Teaching Students to Pray As Muslims In Mosque

Local MI elementary school launches War On Cupcakes, bans classroom tradition of bringing in cupcakes to celebrate a child's birthday

Video: Valedictorian Uses Graduation Speech To Rail Against Public Schooling, "Indoctrination"

Colorado High School Tells Student to Remove US Flag From Truck Because It Coul "Disrupt Diversity"

Granholm backs keeping children in failed public schools longer

Video: Teachers Protest Their Own Students Who Choose To Join Military At High School Assembly

High School test slams Christianity, lauds Islam

Missouri elementary school bans "Happy Birthday" song because some students might be "offended"

Video: Interview with Director of School Choice Documentary "The Lottery" Madeline Sackler

Great News: Pole Dancing Being Taught To Kids As Young As 5

Video: A Conversation with Former Assistant Secretary of Education Bill Evers On Obama's Education Initiatives

Video: California 6th grader denounces liberal bias in the classroom

Maine 'Human Rights' Commission Moves to Ban Gender Specific Bathrooms, Sports Teams in Schools

US DHHS: Pre-K Program is a $165 Billion flop. Detroit News and liberals: We have a fever and the only prescription is more pre-K!!!

Another symptom of the problem: Detroit school board President Otis Mathis can't write (seriously!)

Indoctrination! 11 More Videos Show School Children Singing Praises to Dear Leader Obama

News: Old-school educational methods still work better in teaching our kids

Oakland Charter School Teaches Discipline, Basics, Hard Work. Test Scores Go Through The Roof!

Michigan Schools Dumbing Down The Math Curriculum To Eliminate Algebra 2
Dumbing Down The Curriculum: Michigan Lawmakers To Replace Algebra II With "Renewable Energy," Other "Technical Education" Courses
Michigan students behind in math. What to do? Why lower the standards of course!
Indoctrination In Action: One in Three Children Fear Earth Apocalypse
How to make young drivers better in MI? Why push global warming junk science in drivers ed of course!
Indoctrination: Students Being Scared With Mandatory Environmental Video

Detroit News: Homeschoolers are like child abusers or something

Statist Hell: Parents Lose Right To Opt Elementary Kids Out Of Gay Indoctrination Classes
Totalitarian Hell: Parents in the U.K. lose right to withdraw children from sex education lessons

Schools District To Employ Race-Based Discipline
African-American Student Suspended For Claiming To Be African-American
Cal School District Segregating Students By Race! Call it "Heritage Assemblies"
Proof: Public Schools Being Run For Benefit Of Unions, Not Students
Because Public Schools Need This: GAY DAY!

NC Gov Beverly Pudue (D) calls for suspending democracy

2011-09-27T17:00:00.001-04:00

I'm not kidding in the headline either. Nor was it implicit. From The Daily Caller: NC governor recommends suspending democracy to focus on jobs

As a way to solve the national debt crisis, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue recommends suspending Congressional elections for the next couple of years.

Told ya!

“I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover,” Perdue said at a rotary club event in Cary, North Carolina, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.”

Perdue said she thinks that temporarily halting elections would allow members of Congress to focus on the economy. “

Congress IS THE PROBLEM! Not the solution!

This follows exactly what another Democratic Governor - Deval Patrick of MA - said recently: Audio of MA Gov Deval Patrick: ‘It’s a Free Country. I Wish it Weren’t’

Democrats pay lip service to democracy when they win. When they don't get their way, though, they actively work to subvert it. If you doubt me, answer why the Democratic Senators in Wisconsin and Assembly Democrats in Indiana fled their respective states specifically to prevent a democratically-elected majority to pass bills.

UPDATE: Obama's former budget director Peter Orszag: "we need to counter the gridlock of our political institutions by making them a bit less democratic." All the statists in unison.

Reason #34,878 why pensions need to be eliminated; State lawmakers fleecing taxpayers to enrich themselves

2011-09-27T16:00:00.000-04:00

Promising employees, and themselves, taxpayer money to not work isa concept doomed from the beginning. It was made worse since the politicians didn't fund their promises knowing they would be long gone by the time the bill came due.In essence, they bought votes with IOUs. And to make matters even worse, they vote themselves money in the same sense that crooks simply steal it. Via Instapundut: HOW STATE LAWMAKERS pump up their pensions in ways that you can’t.

At age 55, South Carolina state Sen. David Thomas began collecting a pension for his legislative service without leaving office.

Most workers must retire from their jobs before getting retirement benefits. But Thomas used a one-sentence law that he and his colleagues passed in 2002 to let legislators receive a

taxpayer-funded pension instead of a salary after serving for 30 years.

Thomas' $32,390 annual retirement benefit — paid for the rest of his life — is more than triple the $10,400 salary he gave up. His pension exceeds the salary because of another perk: Lawmakers voted to count their expenses in the salary used to calculate their pensions.

No other South Carolina state workers get those perks.

Since January 2005, Thomas, a Republican, has made $148,435 more than a legislative salary would have paid, his financial-disclosure records show. At least four other South Carolina lawmakers are getting pensions instead of salaries, netting an extra $292,000 since 2005, records show.

Pension perks aren't unique to legislators in South Carolina.

More than 4,100 legislators in 33 states are positioned to benefit from special retirement laws that they and their predecessors have enacted to boost their pensions by up to $100,000 a year, a USA TODAY investigation found. Even as legislators cut basic state services and slash benefits for police, teachers and other workers, they have preserved pension laws that grant themselves perks unavailable to voters they serve or workers they direct.

Outside of government, people go to jail for doing any such thing. These lawmakers are thieves. Related: Rush Limbaugh - I Think What Is Called For Ladies And Gentleman Is A Brief History Of Pensions

Video: Chris Wallace Calls Out David Plouffe Over "Budget Gimmicks"

2011-09-27T15:00:00.018-04:00

Plouffe couldn't answer the 'pay your fair share' canard when Wallace pointed out that eth bottom 47% don't pay any federal income taxes at all:

Turbotax Timmy was out there spewing Democratic Party talking points as well:
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the Presidents effort to reform the tax system in order to reduce the deficit. Deficit reduction is not debt reduction. In fact, the so-called 'deficit reduction' will still add to the debt at unprecedented levels. Thanks, but no thanks.

Video of Maxine Waters: "Maxine Waters Does Not Complain"

2011-09-27T14:00:00.007-04:00

What is it with politicians referring to themselves in the third person? Click on pic for vid:

UPDATE: via memeorandum: Waters: Obama got ‘fired up’ and a little ‘carried away’ in Black Caucus speech

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said President Obama got carried away in an address to a Congressional Black Caucus dinner where he said supporters should "stop complaining" and start fighting.

"I think [Obama] got carried away. He got fired up," Waters said Monday in an interview with MSNBC. Obama "got off script and got a little bit beside himself, but I certainly don't believe that he thinks the Congressional Black Caucus is sitting around in house slippers and bed slippers and whatever those things are — I don't own them and I don't understand the image that was described there."

Waters added that Obama just went off his planned remarks in his speech.

"I think he just got a little bit off the teleprompter," Waters said.

Waters's comments were in reference to a speech Obama gave to the CBC on Saturday, where he told the crowd to "take off your bedroom slippers. Put on your marching shoes," and to "shake it off. Stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying."

Sarah Palin Threatens To Sue Random House Over ‘Literary Hoax’

2011-09-27T13:00:00.010-04:00

From just a few days ago, Breitbart broke the news: Email Shows Anti-Palin Author McGinniss, Random House Likely Published Literary Hoax. The email was from McGinniss himself, admitting that the juiciest charges he made are without basis. The aftermath of Random House still publishing the garbage may be quite expensive: Palin Threatens To Sue Random House Over ‘Literary Hoax’ Uncovered By Big Journalism

Andrew Breitbart and Joel Pollak appear on The Victory Sessions to discuss the latest news surrounding the Joe McGinniss book "The Rogue" and Sarah Palin's attorneys threatening a lawsuit over it.

UPDATE: Exclusive Interview: ABC News’ Sushannah Walshe Breaks Palin Lawsuit Threat Story

Stephen Bannon interviews Sushannah Walshe, the ABC News reporter who broke today's story about Sarah Palin's threatened lawsuit over Random House and Joe McGinniss' controversial book.

UPDATE #2: More over at memeorandum: Sarah Palin Threatens to Sue ‘Rogue’ Book Publisher. Additional commentary from The Other McCain, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications, Big Government, Conservatives4Palin, Don Surber and The Right Scoop

Solyndra's creditor: California Democratic Party!

2011-09-27T12:00:00.000-04:00

The money laundering operation continues. Democrats vote money to unions that tithe back to the Democratic Party that use that taxpayer money for political campaigning and crony capitalism. This is a story of the latter, via memeorandum: California Democratic Party among Solyndra's creditors

Out of the hundreds of out-of-work employees, vendors, investors and other creditors in the bankruptcy of government-backed solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC, one name stands out: the California Democratic Party.

Why California Democrats would be creditor to a company that received more than a half-billion dollars in federal loans to build a solar-panel plant isn’t clear. Even party officials say they’re not sure.

What do they mean they're 'not sure?' And then more laundering:

According to campaign-finance records, Solyndra donated $7,500 to the California Democratic Party in October 2010. It’s legal in California for corporations to make donations. But that doesn’t explain why the company would identify the Democratic Party as a creditor in its bankruptcy filing a year later.

Perhaps they can ask the Solyndra execs. Then again, they would only get one answer: Video: Solyndra Execs Take The Fifth

More from The Heritage Foundation and Sweetness & Light. More Solyndra news: So, Who's Heard of Scandal-Engulfed Solyndra?

MRCTV decided to conduct an experiment in Washington, D.C. and ask people on the street if they've heard about (what should be) a pretty big deal: Solyndra. We were also curious which news outlets they frequented to get a gist of how informed they were on the issue. Of the few people that have heard about it -except for one- Fox News informed them. The other person says he heard about it on The Colbert Report. Some people even thought it was medication, which is a good guess.

And via Instapundit:

SOLARGATE UPDATE: Waxman Says Energy and Commerce Dems Would Support GOP Subpoena of Solyndra Execs. “But Waxman drew a bright line between a potential subpoena of the company and a July edict that Republicans issued to the Office of Management and Budget for emails related to its review of the Solyndra loan guarantee.” Executives must testify, White House to keep silent? Hmm.

Related: Revealed: Intense lobbying, “alarming” negligence in loan approvals led to Solyndra loan.

Obama Forces Ford To Pull Anti-Bailout Ad

2011-09-27T11:00:00.026-04:00

The only place I can find the bailout ad (Ford Runs Anti-Bailout Commercial) anymore is within this news story via Mediaite:

From The Detroit News: Ford pulls its ad on bailouts

For the only Detroit automaker that "didn't take the money" of the federal auto bailouts, Ford Motor Co. keeps paying a price for its comparative success and self-reliant turnaround.

...As part of a campaign featuring "real people" explaining their decision to buy the Blue Oval, a guy named "Chris" says he "wasn't going to buy another car that was bailed out by our government," according the text of the ad, launched in early September.

...Ford pulled the ad after individuals inside the White House questioned whether the copy was publicly denigrating the controversial bailout policy CEO Alan Mulally repeatedly supported in the dark days of late 2008, in early '09 and again when the ad flap arose. And more.

With President Barack Obama tuning his re-election campaign amid dismal economic conditions and simmering antipathy toward his stimulus spending and associated bailouts, the Ford ad carried the makings of a political liability when Team Obama can least afford yet another one. Can't have that.

The ad, pulled in response to White House questions (and, presumably, carping from rival GM), threatened to rekindle the negative (if accurate) association just when the president wants credit for their positive results (GM and Chrysler are moving forward, making money and selling vehicles) and to distance himself from any public downside of his decision.

In other words, where presidential politics and automotive marketing collide — clean, green, politically correct vehicles not included — the president wins and the automaker loses because the benefit of the battle isn't worth the cost of waging it.

There's your hopey changey for you. Ford didn't take the bailout money but is still liable to Obama for it. Change you can't refuse...

Obama: "I,I,I, I Need You Guys To, To, To Decide Right Here And Now"

2011-09-27T10:00:00.000-04:00

The greatest speaker in the history of history speaks:

Reminds me of Eddie Murphy in The Golden Child:

Video: Heckler Calls Obama " The Antichrist". Pro-Infanticide Obama: "l, I, I, I, I agree Jesus Chris is the Lord. I believe in that"

2011-09-27T09:00:00.011-04:00

Obama's not the anti-Christ, but he is anti-Christian and certainly pro-Muslim. Those are his liberal biases. But that doesn't stop him from using his fake faith to push his failed agenda. The same guy that is purging God from America 'by design', has banned prayer at military funerals, leaves "By their Creator" Out of the Declaration of Independence, that Snubs ‘In God We Trust’ as the US Motto, that made sure to thank other people in his Thanksgiving proclamation in 2009, but not Almighty God, and dropped "Year of Our Lord" from another proclamation, the same one that by executive order disallowed faith-based organizations to conduct worship services while providing social programs funded with federal money, and the same guy that defended infanticide (not abortion but the murder of crying born babies left to die in soiled linen closets) as an Illinois Senator not once but 4 times claims once again to commune with God: Obama: ‘I Do A Lot Of Praying’

And he invoked the Bible to push for amnesty for illegal aliens:

"Immigration reform is a moral imperative, and so it's worth seeking greater understanding from our faith. As it is written in the Book of Deuteronomy [10:19], 'Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.' To me, that verse is a call to show empathy to our brothers and our sisters; to try and recognize ourselves in one another."And that has what to do with rewarding those that broke our laws? Since he mentioned empathy, he seems to have less than zero for unborn children, or even those that were born and left to die alone in soiled linen closets in Chicago. Since Obama used the Bible to push his radical agenda, let's not forget this: Flashback Video: Obama mocks the Bible in 2006. By his actions, Obama is a false prophet:

¹⁵"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ¹⁶By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. - Matthew 7 (NIV)