Monday, September 16, 2013

The Dark Solipsism of Barack: Why a “Leadership” Vacuum May Not Bother Him at All

Obama has now been officially categorized as a failed president of foreign policy. Perhaps it’s now only a matter of time before his transparent ineptness is blamed for America’s domestic debacle of the last 5 years. But what if there were a different interpretation of Barack, his values and decision making?

Consider an entirely contrary scenario—that Obama is using his power and influence to repeatedly create confusion, chaos and decline—all the while playing himself off as progressively—either a stunningly astute political magi, an idealistic genius of a professor, or now a bumbling nincompoop of a leader approximating Barney Fife in the Oval Office. Yet, all the while underneath a glowering and highly committed Marxist revolutionary. Solipsism is, by the way, the sense that only one person’s opinion exists, that only one way of seeing things matters. It is malignant monomania—the default worldview of the tyrant.

Having now heard the universe of opinion on Barack—anywhere from being a messiah to a devil, what do his actions suggest? In a word, a Marxist Revolutionary. That is at least one informed guess with corresponding evidence. Deferring to the famous standard of science icon Thomas Kuhn—the events of Obama’s public life and past are much more easily explained by a Marxist worldview (paradigm) than any other, including sheer incompetence (see Structure of Scientific Revolutions).


Obamacare Is NOT Saving Americans Money

Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a report that claims to highlight how Obamacare is working for Americans—but in reality, it actually shows how the law has fallen short of candidate Obama’s promises.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then one chart in the report tells the tale. Figure 3 of the HHS report (below) highlights what happened when insurers requested to increase premiums by more than 10 percent—triggering a new rate review process established under Obamacare. While some of these premium increases were modified or withdrawn, nearly three in five (57.8 percent) were approved “unmodified” by regulators:
HHS_Fig3
However, if Obama’s campaign promises had come true, NONE of those proposed premium increases would have occurred—because candidate Obama promised premiums would go down under his plan:
For those who have insurance now, nothing will change under the Obama plan — except that you will pay less. Obama’s plan will save a typical family up to $2,500 on premiums.
Via: The Foundry
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What’s Next For Business In California?

mickey mouse politicsIt’s too early to assess all the bills of concern or hope for the business community given the last minute flurry of action as the legislature closed down for the year.
With bills whipping through the legislature in the closing day of session, small businesses are always on edge but there were minuses and some pluses for the business community.
The most high profile measure of concern to small business was the bill to raise the minimum wage. It’s out of the legislature and endorsed by the governor. John Kabateck, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business, thoroughly examined the position of small business on this bill in yesterday’s Fox & Hounds while beseeching the governor to veto it. Sorry, John, that’s not going to happen.
While the emphasis here is the concern the minimum wage bill will have on small businesses’ economic calculations as many struggle to sustain their enterprises, there is also a direct affect on entry level workers who may miss an opportunity to get into the work force or see their hours cut back.
On the plus side for small business, AB 227 flew through the legislature. The measure is intended to protect small businesses by reforming potential minor Proposition 65 violations against predatory lawsuits.
The 1986 environmental law intended to protect consumers from exposure to toxic chemicals by requiring advance warnings has often been abused. Lawsuits have been filed against small businesses if a posted sign is the wrong size or the list of products in question at a business establishment is not all-inclusive.
AB 227 takes a sensible approach allowing business owners a short period to fix any defects before the business is subject to legal action.
While more time is needed to assess the influence of this legislative session on business and small business in particular, it must be noted the disappointment in not getting real CEQA reform out of the legislature. Yes, Sen. Steinberg got his CEQA exemption for a Sacramento arena project but statewide CEQA reform is an important issue to improve the state’s economy. The governor was behind substantial reform and much time was spent over the last few months urging the legislature to act in a responsible way.

Congressional Babies

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Via California Political Review

Calif. district aims to stop bullying by watching kids' social media use; tactic stirs debate

A Southern California school district is trying to stop cyberbullying by watching what students post on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday (http://lat.ms/1dgGpBq ) that Glendale Unified School District hired the company Geo Listening last year to track postings by about 14,000 middle and high school students.

Chris Frydrych, the founder and CEO of the Hermosa Beach-based company, says he expects to be monitoring about 3,000 schools worldwide by the end of the year.

The Glendale district is paying $40,500 and in exchange, the company's computers scour public posts by students and alerts school administrators when they find something they think should spur an intervention.

So far, no students have been disciplined, but some say the program infringes on their privacy.




Democrat Coakley to run for Mass. governor in 2014

Martha Coakley, the popular Democratic state attorney general who lost the 2010 U.S. Senate special election to Republican Scott Brown, is joining the race for Massachusetts governor, her campaign announced Sunday.

Coakley planned a formal campaign announcement Monday morning in her hometown of Medford, followed by a three-day blitz of 18 cities and towns. She intended to listen to voters and discuss her vision for strengthening the state's economy and improving its education system, her campaign announced.

Coakley, 60, didn't immediately return a message seeking comment Sunday.

She's joining a field that has become crowded since Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick announced he wouldn't seek a third term next year.

The other Democrats already in the race include state Treasurer Steven Grossman, former Obama administration health care official Don Berwick, former federal and state homeland security official Juliette Kayyem and former Wellesley selectman Joseph Avellone.

The candidacy of another Democratic gubernatorial hopeful, state Sen. Dan Wolf, is pending the outcome of discussions with the state Ethics Commission over his ownership stake in Cape Air.

Via: Fox News
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Obama to warn GOP in economy speech ahead of debt ceiling, shutdown battles

Obama Economy_Cham.jpgPresident Barack Obama is marking the fifth anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse by trying to lay claim to an economic turnaround and warning Republicans against moves that he contends would risk a backslide.

His message to the GOP: Don't oppose raising the nation's debt limit, don't threaten to close down the government in a budget fight, and don't push to delay the health care law or starve it of federal money.

The economic emphasis, after weeks devoted to the Syrian crisis, begins coming into focus in a series of events kicked off by a Rose Garden speech Monday. It's a determined effort to confront public skepticism about his stewardship of the economy and to put down his marker for budget clashes with Congress in the weeks ahead.

The White House argues that a better capitalized and better regulated financial sector is extending more credit, fueling an economy now able to withstand headwinds such as spending cuts and tax increases.

"You can draw this straight line from the health of the financial system to the ways the financial system impacts the economy," said Jason Furman, the chairman of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers.

Obama can point to a growing economy, rising housing prices, 35 straight months of hiring, a rebounding stock market and other signs of recovery.

Five years after the federal government stepped in and infused banks with $245 billion in taxpayer money to avert a financial meltdown, the government has been paid back nearly in full.





Hillary! Because What Difference Does it Make?

Watching Hillary get a Liberty Medal on September 10, the day before the anniversary of the attack on the United States soil and the more recent murder of our ambassador and others in Benghazi, I think it's time to review the record of a woman whose life is marked by deceit and professional failure and ask about the sanity and judgment of her ardent supporters.
Hillary came to public attention with her graduation speech at Wellesley College.
She was chosen for this honor not because of grades or character or service to that community but because her influential roommate threatened a strike if she were not allowed to speak. Once the school caved to this demand, Hillary -- who just two years earlier supported Senator Edward Brooke, the first black American to be elected to the Senate -- hurled a vicious attack on him.. The charges were hurtful to him and without substance. As Christopher Andersen recounts:
Hillary offered nothing more than the muddled, sophomoric peace-and-love dogma that was so prevalent on campuses at the time. And, predictably, when it was over, Hillary's mesmerized classmates leaped up to their feet and cheered.
What difference does it make? Doesn't this reflect on the inconstancy of her political views and loyalties, her willingness to demagogue and slander and to use muscle to promote herself? What does it say about her empathy for Black community whom she professes to support?

Via: American Thinker


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The Long, Withdrawing Roar - Column: It’s Putin’s world now. America is just living in it.

AP“The Sea of Faith / Was once, too, at the full,” Matthew Arnold wrote in “Dover Beach“ (1867), “… But now I only hear / its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar / Retreating, to the breath / Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear / And naked shingles of the world.”
The roar Arnold had in mind was the sound of Christianity’s withdrawal from Western Europe. But his words describe equally well what is happening in the Greater Middle East. President Obama put it this way during his speech to the nation Tuesday evening: “For nearly seven decades, the United States has been the anchor of global security,” including in this geographically central, resource-rich, and conflict-ridden region. But now we are weary of the burden. “A veteran put it more bluntly,” the president said. “‘This nation is sick and tired of war.’”
America has left Iraq. America is leaving Afghanistan. America was so reluctant to participate in the NATO war that toppled Muammar Qaddafi in Libya, and so passive and hesitant in playing a role in Libyan reconstruction, development, and security, that our ambassador and three other Americans were killed in an assault on the U.S. diplomatic compound a year ago. The chief suspects in that attack remain at large. For over two years, America has watched confusedly as Egypt whipsaws between Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood, and General Sisi.

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