Free Republic

Yesterday, I wrote that Rick Perry needs to stop worrying so much about his competitors in the Republican primary fight and start laying out his own plans for a Perry presidency in order to claim the mantle of a front-runner. Jill Lawrence at the Daily Beast decided to take a look at Perry’s website to see what kind of argument that might be, and discovered why Perry might be a little too focused on attacking Romney: In public at least, Rick Perry is among those writing off his stumbling debate performances as a verbal problem—as in, he’s not a slick,...

It’s a sound proposal, but you might not know that listening to some of the arguments against it. They may sound plausible, but they don’t stand up to scrutiny. WE NEED A HOUSING PLAN, NOT MORE FISCAL STIMULUS The premise of this argument is probably true: recent evidence suggests that high debt is holding back consumer demand. Recent research shows that government spending on infrastructure or other investments raises demand even in an economy beset by over-indebted consumers. THE COST PER JOB IS TOO HIGH Martin Feldstein, the Harvard economist...each job produced by the plan would cost about $200,000. This...

The projection of 1.9 million new jobs, a 1 percentage point drop in the unemployment rate and a 2 percentage point increase in the gross domestic product under Obama's plan came from Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics. "I assumed that it would be paid for," Zandi said. "I didn't know when I did that simulation how the president proposed to pay for it." Zandi said his job-creation figure only applies to 2012. "Beginning in 2013, and certainly into 2014, the plan is a drag on the economy because the stimulus starts fading away," he said. "So by 2015,...

"We didn’t need a rating agency to tell us that we need a balanced, long-term approach to deficit reduction. That was true last week. That was true last year. That was true the day I took office." --Barack Obama, Aug. 8, 2011. Barack Obama took office Jan. 20, 2009. That was 972 days ago this morning, almost to the hour when he finally offered his newest full-blown deficit reduction plan. (Snip) If it's Monday, the campaigning president must be issuing a new plan for something (before another $35,800 per ticket fundraiser in New York City). Last week it was his...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's not just millionaires who'd pay more under President Barack Obama's latest plan to combat the deficit. Air travelers, federal workers, military retirees, wealthier Medicare beneficiaries and people taking out new mortgages are among those who would pay more than $130 billion in government revenues raised through new or increased fees. Airline passengers would see their federal security fees double from $5 to $10 for a nonstop round-trip flight and triple to $15 by 2017, raising $25 billion over the coming decade. Federal workers would face an additional 1.2 percentage point deduction from their paychecks to contribute...

Friday morning the Schuykill Expressway was jammed again due to an overturned car at Belmont Avenue. My first thought was how anyone could turn their car over at the usual 25 mph speeds on the Schuykill Expressway. My second thought was that I was damned to having to take the route from 69th Street in Upper Darby down Chestnut Street (aka The 30 Blocks of Squalor) to work. I was still steamed by Obama’s $450 billion “JOBS” plan. His new plan was touted as an infrastructure plan when it is nothing but a “screw future generations” plan. Do these politicians...

Ok here is the list: 1 Drink if barry says: "let me be clear" "Make no mistake" "We need change" "Middle class" "American workers" "jobs" "Uh" "Bipartisanship" - or any derivative thereof "Republicans are blocking" "I" "my" or "my plan" "crisis" 2 Drinks if he says: "wall street instead of main street" 3 Drinks if he admits he was wrong on the economy, then sing your school fightsong backwards. 4 drinks of Bohner cries. (he won't, he has Bambi by filberts)

WASHINGTON (AP) — First, do no harm. Economists say the most important part of the jobs plan President Barack Obama will unveil Thursday night is the renewal of two measures already in place — a cut in Social Security taxes and emergency aid for the unemployed. His new proposals, like spending more for transportation projects and cutting taxes for companies that hire the unemployed, probably wouldn't add many jobs, they say. Not soon, anyway. "These are not bold, new, big programs," says Nariman Behravesh, chief economist with IHS Global Insight. "You put everything together, it's going to be pretty small."

It’s clear, Mr. President, you have no job plan. With a nation facing wild swings in the stock market, unacceptable employment figures that are now the new “norm”, rising public debt, and a discourse in Washington growing by the day, it’s clear by your actions you have no idea what to do. The nation needs a leader and not someone to just vote “present”. http://teachergop.blogspot.com/

The Plan In the beginning, there was a plan, And then came the assumptions, And the assumptions were without form, And the plan without substance, And the darkness was upon the face of the voters, And they spoke among themselves saying, "It is a crock of shit and it stinks." And the voters went unto their Representatives and said, "It is a pile of dung, and we cannot live with the smell." And the Representatives went unto the Senators saying, "It is a container of excrement, and it is very strong, Such that none may abide by it." And the...

No one in the Obama Administration was hanging a "Mission Accomplished" sign in front of the White House yesterday as it became obvious that the Libyan rebels had all but taken complete control of the country. But, this isn't a game of "capture the flag." The rebels now have control of nearly all the land area of Libya, but it is not at all clear they control the sewer systems, the electricity production facilities, or a police force. The man recognized by NATO forces as the opposition leader is named Mustafa Abdel Jalil, who is the chairman of the Transitional...

© 2011 By Anthony James Many months ago I began predicting that one of the most frequently repeated themes of the coming election season would be an all out assault on The Tea Party. This required no special insight or metaphysically gifted psychic powers. Whenever a group has become displaced of the power they recently enjoyed, power which they lost because either their goals (and methods of achieving them) were determined to be unpopular, or because, having tried everything else, they had simply run out of ideas, or in this case, both, their natural inclination is to lash out. Once...

(CNSNews.com) – Congressman Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) has claimed that "Tea Partiers" have enacted a "plan to dismantle the American government" and in the process, the country has lost its "moral compass." "These ‘Tea Partiers,’ as willing conspirators with their so-called leadership have enacted on a plan to dismantle the American government and in the process, we have lost our moral compass," said Johnson when speaking with the Congressional Out of Poverty Caucus last week.

These Democratic officials see three steps to a compromise and they stress that the White House believes the first two steps are not necessarily that difficult, while the third one -- the trigger mechanism -- will be the flashpoint. Part One of the emerging compromise involves the spending cuts in the Boehner and Reid plans, which the Democratic officials note have some overlap and can be bridged relatively easy. Part Two involves the fact that both Boehner and Reid want to set up a special committee of Congress to come back with a second round of spending cuts -- and...

■Provides two increases in the debt limit -- $900 billion and $1.6 trillion — totaling $2.5 trillion. It gives the President an immediate $900 billion increase given that Congress does not vote to disapprove it. It gives the President another $1.6 trillion increase next year if a bill written by a new Super Committee passes both houses and becomes law. ■Reduces spending by only $1.2 trillion over the next ten years. This amount won't even come close to balancing the budget, as the debt is expected to grow by as much as $10 trillion over the next decade. The plan...

Earlier this month, Moody's downgraded Irish government debt to junk. Which left the Irish somewhat peeved. The Department of Finance pointed out that it had met all the "quantitative fiscal targets" imposed by the European Union, and the National Treasury Management Agency said that Ireland was sufficiently flush "to cover all its financing requirements until the end of 2013." Which is more than the government of the United States can say. That's not the only difference between the auld sod and America. In Europe, austerity is in the air, and in the headlines:

Omar Barghouti is a Columbia University educated Palestinian commentator and “human rights activist”. He is a founding member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. The talk (below ) was presented on July 1, 2011, at the United States International Socialist Organization‘s Socialism 2011 conference, which was held in Chicago, July 1-4, 2011. This is the most comprehensive overview of the Marxist strategy to wreck Israel’s economy, and bring the country its knees you are ever likely to see. Barghouti outlines to the assembled...

Latest amphibious warship launched in Shanghai China Daily/Asia News Network Wed, Jul 20, 2011 The Jinggangshan dock landing ship, which is the largest warship in the Chinese Navy, was officially launched in Shanghai, Monday's Jiangxi Daily reported. The report did not give the exact date of the launch. With a displacement of 19,000 tons, the amphibious warship is 210 meters long and 28 meters wide and can carry helicopters, armored fighting vehicles, boats and landing craft as well as nearly 1,000 soldiers, Jiangxi Daily said. According to an earlier report on china.com, Jinggangshan is the second of the Type 071...

A BIPARTISAN PLAN TO REDUCE OUR NATION'S DEFICITS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This bipartisan, comprehensive, and balanced plan consistent with the recommendations of the Bowles-Simpson fiscal commission that will: • Slash our nation's deficits by $3.7 trillion/$3.6 trillion over ten years under CBO's March 2011 baseline, or $4.65 trillion/$4.5 trillion under the original fiscal commission baseline (which used the President's 2011 budget request as the starting point for discretionary spending). • Stabilize our publicly-held debt by 2014. • Reduce our publicly-held debt to roughly 70% of our economy by 2021. • Impose unprecedented budget enforcement. A COMPREHENSIVE AND BALANCED PROPOSAL The plan...