Saturday Morning Reading

I started with a nice column by Melissa Clouthier, "Sarah Palin Strikes Back" - a worthwhile read.

I then chanced upon this article by Dan Riehl. (via the miracle of Google Reader - this link is the feed I call my Daily Briefing.

I have a number of problems with Dan's article, but I lack the knowledge of how things are done in New York; I will reference my own experiences in NW Louisiana as I respond to Dan.

Please read Dan's article,  "Scozzafava Candidacy: Not the Fault of DC GOP" first.

My summary.  DC is not to blame for the Scozzafava candidacy because the DC GOP doesn't or shouldn't pick candidates for them.  According to Dan,

"It is not the D.C. GOP’s job to stab a state or local organization in the back, no matter what you may think." 

Additionally, he posits a couple of very good questions. 

"Why is the state GOP chairman, at least potentially, an old Nader guy at heart? Why did the local county chairmen think that Scozzafava would be a better candidate than Doug Hoffman might be? "

He then summarizes what he believes to be the core issue,

"Obviously, New York conservatives simply didn’t show up when it mattered most, and over a long period of time at that. If they had, the state chairman would be a rock-solid conservative. The same is true for the county chairmen."

He ends with the injunction

"Show up and do the work if you really want to make a difference. Otherwise, you might just as well shut up for all the good effect you’ll have influencing the political future of this great land."

Stew's View - from my own experiences in NW Louisiana:

I have no idea how my local Republican Party operates.  I am registered as a Republican, but the local party makes no effort to contact me, either to solicit my help as a volunteer or to request financial support.  Nor am I invited when they hold a forum or debate.  Furthermore, they seem to engage in almost no activity whatsoever to recruit or promote the party's ideals. 
I am most familiar with the group "Republican Women of Bossier" who do make an effort to promote the party, but the elected officials - not so much.  I also have no clue how the state GOP officials are elected and it seems that the National GOP would love to keep it that way.
In the years that I have been a "member" of the Republican party, there has been no attempt to educate me on how I can help make the GOP better - just monthly solicitations and presenting me with plastic "platnium" cards as a way to help me ease my angst over the monthly request for donations.  In short the GOP makes no effort to communicate the "value" of my membership, neither the value to them nor the value I derive.  I am treated, by the Republican Party at the national level, as nothing more than a debit card.  So, while I have sent money to the GOP in the past, I will no longer do so.
Now, Dan tells me that the money I sent to GOP has no strings attached when it is used on behalf of a person who was chosen to represent the GOP in the NY-23 race.  In business, each franchisee derives value from the organization as a whole and the entirety suffers when a single franchisee doesn't conform to the values of the whole.  Obviously, the GOP isn't a franchise - but doesn't it need to act like one?
Dan doesn't tell me how Scozzafava was chosen (was it a primary election or a choice by committee?) Nor does he tell me the process by which a local GOP organization gets ratified by the National GOP establishment (is it first come, first served or is there some vetting process that actually occurs?)  How does the GOP know who represents them at the local level?  In short, Dan exhorts us to "show up" but he gives no insight where / when this should occur.

Contrast this with my local Tea Party. http://www.redriverteaparty.com/

They hold a membership meeting every other Tuesday.  Board meetings are twice monthly.  They hold rallys, picnics, and sign-waving protests.  They publish a weekly newsletter, maintain a twitter feed, and are active on Facebook. They endorse no candidate, just ideas and most importantly, they are accessible - something the GOP needs to fix if they want conservatives to, "Show up and do the work if you really want to make a difference."  Something tells me, however, that the GOP wants no part of that.

Disclosure:  I vote Republican, and I provide strategy and technical support to the Red River Tea Party.

Obama's Pay Czar and Slavery

The Obama Administration's "Pay Czar" compels Ken Lewis (Chairman of the Board for Bank of America) to work for free.  Sounds like government forced labor (e.g. slavery) to me.

Does Pres O. have a spine?

Opines Richard Cohen here.

The money quote, "This is the president we now have: He inspires lots of affection but not a lot of awe."

Sorry, Dude; I have no affection for Pres. O. I look in horror as he dismantles of U.S. power and prestige. 

Productive day

I spent a great deal of time yesterday on Twitter providing offsite support for the #912dc march and the #teaparty in general.  The goal was to support our local contingent who traveled to DC.

instugator Coverage from the Straits Times: http://bit.ly/rRmqX #912dc #teaparty

instugator RT @SEAL_Strong: RT @DontGoLeft: Wow...Good coverage of #912dc on MSNBC? I am spchlss! http://bit.ly/cQIb #teaparty #glennbeck <I'm amazed>

instugator RT @deteaparty: Just got off phn w/ daughter in UK. They have bn showin #912dc cov NON-STOP! Compare that 2 R MSM!!! #teaparty #tpp
instugator Another roundup by Reason's Matt Welch on the #912dc #teaparty http://bit.ly/7PDlE

instugator Here is @michellemalkin roundup of the #912dc #teaparty http://bit.ly/DIhE5

instugator Discussion of the impact of #912dc events. http://bit.ly/dcFoC

Cass Sunstein anyone?

Glenn Reynolds thinks it is unfair to spin Cass' "presumed consent" as "mandatory organ donation."  Ed Morrissey at Hotair seems to see things the way that Prof Reynolds does.

Presumed consent means that the government presumes that you have given your consent to be an organ donor unless you have specifically opted out of the program.  The practical upshot is that if you die and your driver's license doesn't happen to be stuck to your forehead "non-organ donor" side out - then you will be harvested for everything they can take.

Stew's view:
I really don't care what Europeans do.  Ed mentions that this system is the one they have in Spain.  The United States isn't Spain.  Presumed consent means that my government presumes a property claim on my body, before that of my heirs - how is this possible?
I am an organ donor now.  This will change if my government adopts a presumed consent policy.  My organs belong to me and my heirs; my government has no business in the transaction.  If this policy passes, I will opt out immediately until such time as my heirs can be compensated for the donation.  If we want to solve our organ shortage, permit people to sell them.

In any event - Devotees of Roe v. Wade better pay attention to this debate because it is another erosion of the right to privacy found in that Supreme Court decision.  Just like the public option or any form of nationalized healthcare.

Addl Van Jones Idiocy

Van Jones, President Obama's Green Jobs Czar, was compelled to retire because of the content of his character (h/t Ed Driscoll).

Pat at So It goes in Shreveport unearths the only excuse being given for Van Jones resignation by those on the left: The color of his skin.
From HuffPo's Carl Pope:

There are three possible reasons. They are connected, and it is their connection that is important.

1) Van Jones, unlike everyone else I have quoted on the topic of our oil addiction and George Bush's complicity with it, is African-American.

2) By specifying that Bush's addiction was "crack-head"-like, Jones linked Bush to a drug largely used in the black community.

3) Van Jones works for the first black man to be elected president.

Carl continues, "This is about politics, but it is empowered by race. If you doubt that, consider that Fox and Glenn Beck have been after Jones for a month -- but only since Beck began losing advertisers over his accusations that Obama was a racist."

Stew's View:

The epithet "racist" is already the worst thing that can be said of someone in the US. The left is now (and has always) used it as the argument of last resort. It is being overused - and will soon lose its power to persuade all but the truly radical. But it will remain the the worst thing you can say about someone, with predictable results - to whit, the first person to use it in an argument, absent any evidence in support of it, will be presumed to have lost.

As an aside, My home state of Louisiana once had the choice between a Racist and a Crook for Governor. The crook won overwhelmingly.

ElBaradei Says I.A.E.A. Is in ‘Stalemate’ With Iran - NYTimes.com

ElBaradei Says I.A.E.A. Is in ‘Stalemate’ With Iran - NYTimes.com

A stalemate occurs when the player whose turn it is to move is not in check and has no legal moves - Chess.
The analogy fails here, because:

1. There are no overriding rules that both the IAEA and Iran have agreed to 'play' under.
2. Iran has (or will shortly obtain) the material it needs to complete a bomb.
3. The IAEA lacks both the capability and the will to compel compliance.

A better analogy is that we are in the endgame portion, with Iran clearly in control of the board.
 

Amazon goes beyond apology.

This summer, Amazon found that one of its ebook retailers was selling 1984 and other books that it did not have the rights to.  Amazon responded by banning the seller and deleting the books from each purchaser's Kindle.

Furor erupts.

Jeff Bezos Apologized.

Now Amazon is offering to return the book, give a $30 gift certificate, or a $30 check.

How Kooky are you?

Tunku Varadarajan has an article in Forbes this morning where he dismisses those of us who are distrustful of President Obama's speech to our children as "Demented."

Ht Instapundit.

Consequences of (Not So) Smart Diplomacy

Convicted terrorist goes free.  Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was convicted on January 31, 2001 of 270 counts of murder for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 (21 December 1988).  The remains of the plane rained down on Lockerbie, Scotland.

On Aug 20, 2009 Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was released from Scottish custody and was repatriated to Libya.  The wikipedia article is here.

Since his repatriation, a number of facts have come to light.  Here is a Time Magazine article to shed some light on the different discussions.
A Timeline:

• British oil companies were negotiating for deals in Libya in 2007.
• British Justice Minister Jack Straw, wrote a letter to Scotland's 1st minister in Feb 2008 regarding "developing a strong relationship with Libya."
• A prisoner transfer agreement was finalized between Great Britain and Libya in November 2008
• There was a meeting in March 2009 where the position was advanced that al-Megrahi should not die in jail.
• PM Gordon Brown discussed the case with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi during the G8 Summit in July 2009.

The release sparked outrage her in the US, rightly so, and until this morning I thought it a result of President Obama's "Smart Diplomacy" - the snubs of Great Britain that I detailed here, here, and here.
That is, I thought that the Brits were being petty - and that my own government, while being inept, did not have knowledge of the transfer until it was too late.  I was wrong in that assumption. 

It turns out that President Obama's administration did know about the transfer, having been, "kept informed at all stages of discussions concerning Megrahi’s return."

The Daily Mail continues,

The officials say the Americans spoke out because they were taken aback by the row over Megrahi’s release, not because they did not know it was about to happen.

In other words, our new administration is so completely out of touch with America that they could not gauge what the reaction would be to releasing a terrorist who murdered 270 people, 180 of them American. 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1211495/No-10-turns-Obama-Clinton-criticising-decision-release-Lockerbie-bomber.html#ixzz0QNKX8HxA

Here is another take, from Powerline Blog.

UPDATED:

Hotair picks up the thread from Astute Bloggers, but you read it here 1st :-)  I disagree with Astute Bloggers' conclusion - this action (on the part of BOTH 2008 Democratic Presidential candidates) is reprehensible and simply adds to the body of evidence that that this administration suffers from glaring incompetence (or hubris) I am unable to tell which.

Denver Obamacare tour

Marco's report on the Denver stop of the Obamacare Tour is here.

Japan Elects New Government

Indications are that the people of Japan have elected the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) to replace the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan.  Story here.  The score seems to be (300-326) DPJ to (97-106) LDP.

This is a huge shift because the LDP has been in charge for more than 50 years.  The Wall Street Journal reports that among the DPJ's goals are: "reevaluation (of) (sic) Japan's historically strong ties with the U.S. and explore greater regional alliances."

Stew's View:

This is a significant development - Japan has had a "self-defense force" as permitted by their constitution since the end of WW2.  The US has treaties that obligate us to provide defense for Japan - yet we seem powerless to defend them against the occasional  missile shot from North Korea.  This coupled with strong domestic difficulties (economic issues, aging population, and miniscule birthrate) means that the DPJ has a strong mandate for change.

BTW, the first offensive deployment of Japanese forces since the end of WW2 was to support the US in Iraq.

From Fox News Sunday 7/19/2009

Updated due to Math Error(s).

Chris Wallace and Peter Orszag (Director of the Office of Management and Budget) are discussing health Care reform. Here is the full transcript.

Chris mentions taxes:

WALLACE: Let's talk about taxes. The House would raise a half a trillion dollars to help pay for its health care program by imposing a surtax on top earners. As a result, combined with other Obama tax policy and local taxes, 39 of the 50 states would have tax rates over 50 percent.

I want you to take a look at this. The top rate in Denmark is 60 percent. It would be over 57 percent in Oregon, almost 57 percent in New York and California. That's higher than Sweden and Belgium.

Is the president prepared to say that it is unacceptable to raise taxes that high?

ORSZAG: Well, first, look. You were — you were adding in state and local taxes in those calculations.

WALLACE: Well, that's what people are going to have to pay.

ORSZAG: Secondly, that affects a very small percentage of the population, 1 or 2 percent.

The money line: "that affects a very small percentage of the population, 1 or 2 percent."

Stew's View:

A. As of 22 July, 2009, according to the Census bureau, the population of the United States is 306,975,184.
B. 10% of that is roughly 30.7 million. 
C. 47 Million uninsured account for 16% of the population.

Although 9.7 million of the uninsured are non-citizen immigrants (IBD Editorial quoting "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States," a census report), subtracting this number from the uninsured is poor categorization. (Remember the three rules for categorizing things. 1. Independent, 2. Mutually Exclusive, 3. Collectively Exhaustive.)

D. 17 Million live in households making more than $50K per year (same IBD editorial) - implication - they could probably afford some type of health insurance.
E. Leaving 30 million uninsured and probably unable to afford it.
F. That is roughly 10% of the population.

Back to the money line: "that affects a very small percentage of the population, 1 or 2 percent."
Orszag's implication seems clear to me, restated here "why should we care about being just to 1 or 2 percent of the population?" Indeed.


Stew's questions: 
1. Why are we redesigning 17% of our 2007 gdp to close a 10% gap in coverage?
2. How many of the uninsured poor qualify for Medicaid and have not signed up for it? SCHIP?
3. How is the health insurance market like the auto insurance market (e.g. State mandates, federal regulation) - resulting in increased costs?
4. Why isn't private health insurance tax deductible, the way it is to employers?
5. Why can't private citizens have Health Savings Accounts?
6. What hidden costs of healthcare are driven by ineffective Government practices / regulations?
7. Tort reform?

Update:  Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal had an editorial in the Wall Street Journal today.

How many key Geek thing can you do?

How many of the 100 essential skills for geeks do you know how to do?

At a quick glance I have about 45 out of 100.  You?

Drug Expands Life Span in Mammals

To quote the estimable Glen Reynolds, "Faster Please"

The Rule of Law

We have all heard the phrase "Rule of Law".  What does it mean, how does it work?  For a short lesson on the rule of law, look here.

Stew's View: Rawls' method is more comprehensive (as opposed to the formulation by A.V. Dicey), but the use of item 6 (added by Mr. Solum) ought not be necessary.  The better application of Rawls' framework is that it universally applies to all participants (including government).

Learn about TARP

Here is an article from Powerline about the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

The moneyline:

The Inspector General's report documents the stunning and at least partly illegal expansion of TARP from the $700 billion originally allocated by Congress to what is now a $3 trillion complex of programs.

Read the whole thing.  $3 Trillion will not be the end number of this program, it will be higher.

Stew's View:  It will not make a difference that TARP has been illegally expanded, since the US Supreme Court has been limiting the ability of taxpayers to bring suit against the government.  This leads to a harm without a remedy and the timeline difference between TARP disbursement and the glacial pace of lawsuits means the money will be long gone before any action is taken.  The only action that could have prevented this is to not do it in the first place.

From Twitter

RT @snowed_in: Tomorrow's headline: "Obama: We Inherited this swine flu"

My reply:

@michellemalkin RT Tommorrows Headline: already happened look here http://www.thenation.com/bl...

Michelle picked up on it here:
But of course: Lib blames GOP 4 swine flu 'cuz some opposed pandemic funding in porkulus. http://bit.ly/Kmky0 v(ia @instugator)

She has posted it here.

You go Michelle!

Speed the Teleprompter Up!

Apparently, Pres Obama's ability to read the teleprompter is increasing.

Look here.

Two Tales of Bows

Take a look at these two very different takes of the bow that President Obama (Mr. Gibbs protests notwithstanding) offered to the Saudi Monarch.

The Time Magazine article is here.

The Pajamas Media article is here.

My take:

Time loses.  Mr. Macleod violates topicality in the first paragraph, rendering everything he says after that point moot.  In the second sentence, Mr. MacLeod says, "Despite the continuing outrage of conservatives and Arab-bashers..."  This ad hominem lede attempts to shift the argument away from the propriety of the bow itself.

Read both articles and then judge for yourself the merits of their respective arguments.

More (Not So) Smart Diplomacy

Forget Pres. Obama's video message to Iran (We'll address that in a little while).

Pres. Obama sent a letter to Jaques Chirac saying, in part,

'I am certain that we will be able to work together, in the coming four years, in a spirit of peace and friendship to build a safer world.'

Unfortunately, Chirac is, today, a private citizen.  France elected Nicolas Sarkozy who assumed the office of President of France on 16 May, 2007.

I sincerely hope that President Obama did not mis-address his letter.

Hat tips to Instapundit, Gateway Pundit, and Neoneocon

Gaffe, tasteless, or funny?

President Obama was on Leno Thursday night.  Leno steers O toward his recreational activities and jokes that the bowling alley has probably been closed.  Pres. O comments that he has been practicing and actually rolled a 129.

Here is the video

Barack Obama "Special Olympics" Comment On Leno - 03/19/09

My personal favorite comment about this quote is from the American Thinker

Barack Obama uses retarded athletes as a throwaway line on a two-bit talk show

What do you think?

Another Obama Gaffe

Found at Hot Air.

President Obama compares AIG to a Homicide Bomber, with himself in the role of negotiator trying to talk them down.

You can't make this stuff up.

President Obama flubs basic math

Just saw this.

President Obama is at an electric car factory in California.  He exclaims that a Ford Model T gets better gas mileage than an SUV.

The Stats:

Model T: 20.2 BHP, top speed 40-45 MPH, 13-21 MPG

Ford Explorer: 292 BHP, top speed ~120 MPH, 15-21 MPG
Plus it has a climate enclosure (roof, doors and windows), climate control (AC and heat), AM/FM CD and cruise control!

How could the Teleprompter do this to him?

New Blog

Check out the new policy analyst blog.

Via Powerline

(Not So) Smart Diplomacy pt 2

The story so far.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown visits the White House.

President Obama doesn't even schedule lunch. Or the standard Podium to Podium press conference. The US media doesn't even report it.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown gifts President Obama with a pen holder handcrafted from the oak timbers of the Victorian-era anti-slave ship HMS Gannet (formerly commissioned as HMS President).  Additionally, PM Brown gave Pres. Obama the commission of the HMS Resolute - the sister ship of the Gannet and the ship from which the president's desk is carved.  Finally, Mr. Brown gave a first edition set of the seven-volume classic biography of Winston Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert.

President Obama gave Prime Minister Brown a set of 25 classic movies on DVD.

Mrs. Brown gave Sasha and Malia Obama an outfit each from Topshop - a British clothing store, along with six books (yet to be published in the US) from top British authors.

Mrs. Obama gave the Brown's sons toy models of Marine 1 from the White House gift shop

Of course, the question is, were those DVDs playable in British machines?

Apparently not. (via Powerline)

Obama and His Teleprompter

It seems that Pres Obama had teleprompter problems at the White House yesterday.

The money line from Sky News:

...the US president ended up thanking himself for inviting everyone to the party.

Can anyone say Ron Burgundy?

Stimulus

Ok, the story so far.  President Obama believes that increased taxes and government spending will stimulate the economy. He eschews private sector spending in favor of the "targeted" approach that government provides.

The Chinese, however, believe that cutting taxes will stimulate their economy.  Looks like it is working.

Amazing when GM can increase market share in China, while losing it here.

GM, the biggest overseas automaker in China, raised its forecast for the nation’s market growth this year to a range of between 5 percent and 10 percent from an earlier prediction of less than 3 percent, GM Asia-Pacific President Nick Reilly, said last week.

So, cutting taxes in China leads to increased auto sales, which lead to increased jobs.  I wonder if this approach would work here?

Stew's Watchman Review

I have never read the graphic novel, but I did study the story line prior to going to see it at the theater.  I find that I enjoy a film more if I do a little research ahead of time, especially if the story line is complex.

I took my son, Thomas, and a few of his friends.  They sat in the eyesore, neck stretch section and I wanted a more enjoyable movie experience.  I sat, by myself, in the geographical center of the auditorium with my basic movie props.  Bottled Water, Twizzlers, Watch, Creative Zen Micro, Ebook reader.

The Scorebord

Watch Glances (my indicator of boredom) - 0
Zen Listens (dialogue drowner) - 0
Lines of ebook read (Visual distractor) - 0

In all, I give it an A.

It highlights all of the tension of the arms race of the 1980's, while the narrator (Rorschach) investigates the death of another superhero.  Will Collier's review highlights the following:

Not only does Snyder's film fail to even remotely acknowledge how thoroughly wrong Moore's by-the-numbers leftism turned out to be, he lards on additional political cheap shots to go with Moore's 80's-era Reagan Derangement Syndrome, to the point of lauding an American-Soviet alliance at the end of the movie.

The by-the-numbers leftism really is Reagan Derangement Syndrome - the arms buildup is caused by already having strength (in the form of the Dr Manhattan) and the Soviets respond by growing their nuclear arsenal to unheard of proportions.  Something has to be done.

Again, "I want to see it again" therefore A.

The real irony is, that the Soviets DID spend a phenomenal amount of money on an arms buildup (countering Star Wars) and then they collapsed.

In the light of the current US Government perchant to bailouts I would like to point out what happens when a Government spends money it doesn't have.  The Soviet Union is a perfect example of a superpower collapsing due to bankruptcy.

As Minnesota goes, so goes the nation

Minnesota is still attempting to decide the Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken.  Powerline Blog has the details.

The money line:

...as the system currently operates, a county's failure to follow the law is rewarded, not punished.

The same holds true for nearly all election law, especially McCain-Feingold.  President Obama was able to loosen the rules regarding the way his website collected money with the result as reported by the Washington Post on Oct 29, 2008 (A few days before the election).

Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is allowing donors to use largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that could potentially be used to evade limits on how much an individual is legally allowed to give or to mask a contributor's identity, campaign officials confirmed.

Faced with a huge influx of donations over the Internet, the campaign has also chosen not to use basic security measures to prevent potentially illegal or anonymous contributions from flowing into its accounts, aides acknowledged. Instead, the campaign is scrutinizing its books for improper donations after the money has been deposited.

The Obama organization said its extensive review has ensured that the campaign has refunded any improper contributions, and noted that Federal Election Commission rules do not require front-end screening of donations.

In recent weeks, questionable contributions have created headaches for Obama's accounting team as it has tried to explain why campaign finance filings have included itemized donations from individuals using fake names, such as Es Esh or Doodad Pro. Those revelations prompted conservative bloggers to further test Obama's finance vetting by giving money using the kind of prepaid cards that can be bought at a drugstore and cannot be traced to a donor.

The problem with such cards, campaign finance lawyers said, is that they make it impossible to tell whether foreign nationals, donors who have exceeded the limits, government contractors or others who are barred from giving to a federal campaign are making contributions.

In this event, following the law can only hurt the law abiding citizen.  (Doesn't this sound suspiciously like the principle critique of our nation's gun laws?)

I especially like this line

Instead, the campaign is scrutinizing its books for improper donations after the money has been deposited.

But given this truth

using the kind of prepaid cards that can be bought at a drugstore and cannot be traced to a donor.

The problem with such cards, campaign finance lawyers said, is that they make it impossible to tell whether foreign nationals, donors who have exceeded the limits, government contractors or others who are barred from giving to a federal campaign are making contributions.

Such scrutiny cannot possibly happen.

So the Obama campaign was unable to "scrutiniz(e) its books for improper donations". 

Now, since the issue is OBE, anyone who believes that the Federal Election Commission will look into it at this late date needs to contact me regarding some shares of Citi that I will happily unload for the paltry sum of $100 per.  In the meantime, however, Minnesota needs to do 2 big things.

1. Hold a Do-Over

2. Ensure that the same uniform standards of absentee ballot scrutiny are applied throughout Minnesota with substantial penalties for those individuals who fail to do so.

Aside: the original saying was "As Maine goes, so goes the nation."  Here is the Wikipedia entry.
 

Administration Official Snubs Brit Allies

I saw this item via Power line blog.

My key takeaway was this line from the UK Telegraph quoting an anonymous State Department Official involved in the planning of Gordon Brown's visit.

"There's nothing special about Britain. You're just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn't expect special treatment."

You have got to be kidding me.  The US State Department under President Obama cannot tell the difference between Great Britain and, say, Burundi?

Wow, we are in bigger trouble than I thought.

(Not so) Smart Diplomacy

I have held off doing this for a while, but these serial diplomatic missteps by the Obama Administration can no longer be ignored.

The United States and Great Britain have enjoyed a "Special Relationship" since Winston Churchill first used the phrase in a speech given in 1946.  That is 63 years.

The Obama Administration has begun to unwind that history, first by returning a bust of Churchill that had been on loan since the September 11 attacks.

Katie Connolly of Newsweek writes.

But the British press, as is its wont, smells a snub. The Telegraph speculated that British diplomats' pulse rates would soar, while The Times of London wondered if a shadow had been cast over the special U.S.–U.K. relationship.

Following the latest visit by the UK Prime Minister, the Telegraph of London is reporting.

But on this side of the Atlantic the whole business looked pretty demeaning. The morning papers and TV last night featured plenty of comment focused on the White House's very odd and, frankly, exceptionally rude treatment of a British PM. Squeezing in a meeting, denying him a full press conference with flags etc. The British press corps, left outside for an hour in the cold, can take it and their privations are of limited concern to the public.

But Obama's merely warmish words (one of our closest allies, said with little sincerity or passion) left a bitter taste with this Atlanticist. Especially after his team had made Number 10 beg for a mini press conference and then not even offered the PM lunch.

Did not even offer him lunch?

This occurs after a secret letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin purported to place Poland and The Czech Republic on the bargaining table to secure help from Russia in dealing with Iran.

President Obama, the citizens of those countries were reduced to slavery for nearly 50 years and you want to offer them up to their former slave masters in exchange for help in dealing with a rogue regime?  This is your vaunted "Smart" Diplomacy?

Comforting those that wish us harm while shunning those that have been stalwart allies reminds me of another messianic President - you do not want to be another Jimmy Carter.

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In Search of: The Republican Party Part 1

I recently retired from the USAF after 20 years of service.  That was nearly 1 year ago.  I took a part-time job with a research company while starting my own consulting company and finishing a Master's degree in business.  The height of the summer's excitement - the Presidential race - convinced my wife and I that we needed to get involved.  We contributed money and I volunteered for local candidates.

We  are conservative.  We believe that government governs best which governs least.  However, we are also realistic.  That means that we stay away from third parties and gravitate toward the Republicans.  I am a registered Republican.  We donated money to the GOP.  That was a mistake.

They began to call.  They wanted money for this, that, the other.  Money, but no ideas.  We are not members of the pundit class.

I received, on 2 different occasions, faux ‘platinum’ RNC cards, with my name and a 12 digit number emblazoned on the front with the usual admonition that the bearer is to be accorded ‘all rights and privileges’.  I researched the number, thinking that maybe I held in my hand the key to Republican arcana - uh, no.  The number is meaningless (to me) and there is no place where I can be accorded ANY rights or privileges.

For the next month, while I am also seeking out ways to provide for my family, I am going in search of the GOP.   Here are the questions I intend to answer.

How does the Republican Party work?

What ‘rights and privileges’ do contributors have?

Are those of us who contribute truly members of the Republican Party?

What does it mean if you are a registered Republican, but don’t contribute?

How do they pick the chairman of the GOP?

I have chosen to start my research at the GOP website.

Pres Obama's Speech

President Obama gave a speech at Camp Lejeune on Feb 27, 2009, where he promised that

Let me say this as plainly as I can: by August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end.

Ralph Peters at the NY Post asks, in all seriousness,

What does that mean?

Will the 50,000 troops he intends to leave in Iraq, the trainers and maintainers, be forbidden to defend themselves? Are they just going to hang out? If terrorists or the Iranians skunk us, are we just going to ask for more?

My question is the same as Mr. Peters, but more pointed.  What Rules of Engagement (ROE) will President Obama put in place to ensure the safety of the 50,000 US soldiers that will remain in Iraq?

It was a combination of poor ROE and a lack of support from the the Clinton administration that led us to the battle depicted in the movie "Blackhawk Down." 

It was poor coordination (US government to Saudi Government) and poor ROE that led to the Khobar towers bombing

Don't let this happen again, insist that President Obama take responsibility for the future of our soldiers in Iraq.

The Financial Crisis

I have had lots of discussions among my friends regarding the mortgage meltdown.  Wired has this article which hits many of the items my friends and I have discussed.

The concept is that a Mortgage servicer (think your local bank) originates your mortgage and at some time in the year, sells your mortgage to a mortgage owner (think Fannie May).  The mortgage owner, packages a number of mortgages in creative ways in order to create a Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO).  This CDO is treated like a bond, it has a face value and is placed on the market for investors to buy.  The price paid for it is discounted in order to quantify risk.

The the problem originates when the market is unable to accurately gauge the risk of the CDO.  When the market cannot gauge the risk, the market cannot set an accurate price for the CDO and the market collapses.  This is what happened in late September. 

The point that I like to make is that, in the information age, something like this should never happen.  You don't need elegant or simple models to predict results.  In the age where my phone company can tell me, to the minute, each call I make and to whom, the creators of each CDO ought to have sold the underlying data to each purchaser.  Armed with the knowledge of who and what is being valued in an individual CDO, the market could judge the underlying risk of each CDO.  Banks might have needed the TARP funds as a bridge measure, but the real way to solve this credit crisis is to expose the data underlying the so-called toxic assets and let the market begin to price them.

Just Read

Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the search for the American Dream.

I was interested in this book from the time I initially heard about it.  I was not disappointed.  The autobiographical portions are not something that one can agree or disagree with - those just are, although I do think Adam laid it on kind of thick with the dog poop story.

Synopsis: He was given the opportunity to work odd jobs for a guy on Sundays at $10 / hour cash.  The first job he had to do was clean up a place littered with dog poop.  I just couldn't buy the whole 'this is so degrading' thing.  Sorry.

The other issue that I have trouble with is among his conclusions following the termination of his experiment.

He reprints some steps obtained from his friend, Neil Cotiaux.  Step 2 recycles the old standby, "too much is spent on defense and not enough on domestic programs."  Sorry, domestic spending is already at an all time high of 69% of the $3 trillion federal budget.

However, I do agree with his thoughts regarding the minimum wage.  These minor issues aside, I recommend this book.

What if President Obama is Cheering the Stock Market Collapse?

If the Stock Market collapses, doesn't that mean more people will request help from the Government (and by proxy the Democrats)?

Here is an interesting article at Townhall.com.

Re-default rates are 55%

Wow.  The link leads to a .pdf published by the treasury department and based on data collected during 2008.  The data presented is based on 9 banks and 5 thrifts.  Page 5 has the key information. 

In the first quarter of 2008, 72,877 loans were modified, and payment plans for an additional 136,874 were accepted.  The kicker, after just 1 quarter 37% of the loans were again in default.  (Remember these were modified between Jan - March 2008 and were in default by April - Jun 08).  The default rate for the 6 month period of time following the modification is 55.14% (Remember - the big layoffs have not occured by September 08.  Those occur after November through the present)

In my post yesterday, I commented how the administration's plan relies on those who made poor borrowing decisions and poor lending decisions.  The WSJ points out, 

Sadly for those who deferred the gratification of homeownership, the 20% down payment has now become industry standard. But at least their taxes will allow other people to stay in homes they can't afford.

Then there is:

Given that mortgage fraud skyrocketed during the housing boom, and that the Obama Administration intends to assist up to nine million troubled borrowers, we can say with certainty that the unscrupulous will be among those rescued.

Remember, Instugator's Rescue is not a bailout - the Rescue relies on those who have made good decisions in the past in order to achieve broader economic results for the rest of us.

Related articles by Zemanta:

• Obama's Homeowner Assistance Plan
• Mortgages: Loan Fraud Seen on the Rise

Bailout Plan

<Update> I have change the name it is now Instugator's Rescue Plan

In light of the current 'Stimulus' plan and the protests against it, I have dusted off the plan I proposed on 27 August 2008.  The reason I am re-posting this is because I do not understand how the new government spending proposal is supposed to directly stimulate the economy.  I use the word, 'directly' for a reason. 

Direct Stimulation

I can comprehend how a direct rebate to the American taxpayer stimulates the economy.  The taxpayer takes the money and does 1 or 2 things with it that are easy to understand.  He either (1) spends it, (2) he saves it or (3) does some combination of the two.  The direct cost to the government is the price of the paper the check is written on, postage, and the costs associated with borrowing the money. 

The consequences of the payment are profound - if the individual spends the money, he is spending it on goods and services that he personally enjoys - there is no bureaucrat in the middle making these decisions for him.  The money thus spent goes to those firms who make the things the individual enjoys - the market then works as advertised.

If the individual chooses to save the money he is still benefiting the economy.  The bank that he puts the money into now has assets that it may write loans against. 

If the individual repays debts, that still stimulates because the bank has reacquired assets and the individual can use those dollars that were previously devoted to interest in the pursuit of more consumer goods.  The benefit of this type of system is that it requires no bureaucrats in order to properly function.  All the beneficiaries of this system have to do is make good decisions in the aggregate and everyone benefits.

Issues with the current plan

The current plan, however requires bureaucrats in order to function properly.  Since so many dollars are filtering through the hands of so few bureaucrats, any mistake on the part of the administrators is magnified greatly.

The other issue I have with the current bailout plan is that it rewards bad behavior.  That is not quite accurate - it provides incentives to people to engage in bad behavior.  It doesn't just reward bad behavior, it encourages more bad behavior.  The government paying the loans of people who made bad borrowing decisions rewards 2 groups of people - those that made the bad borrowing decision and thos lendors that made poor lending decisions.  This is not the kind of twofer that we need.  Additionally, all this type of plan can achieve, at the most, is a return to status quo ante.  You cannot move forward, and you cannot improve the economy as a whole.  This is because the plan is based on 2 groups of people who have made bad decisions in the past.  Success of the Obama plan, therefore, relies on those who have been unreliable in the past.

By contrast, however, Instugator's plan relies only on those who have been reliable in the past.  All that has to happen for my plan to succeed is that those people who have been reliable continue to be so.

Here is Instugator’s bailout Rescue plan.

Principles:

1. Reward those who practice good behavior

A. Paying your mortgage on time is good behavior

2. Do Not reward those who practice bad behavior

A. Borrowing what you cannot afford is bad behavior.

B. Having an interest-only mortgage is bad behavior.

C. Having an ARM is questionable.

D. Investment Bankers who purchase CDO’s without understanding the underlying value of them are engaging in bad behavior.

E. Those who sold CDO’s without including the data necessary to understand the underlying value are engaging in bad behavior.

3. Do not let those most directly responsible for the current mess come within 100 miles of the bailout money.

A. Those whose W-2 forms show that they work for congress, Freddie, Fannie, or any investment bank in need of a bailout need not apply.

The Plan:

1. Take the $700B <or any figure currently in Vogue>

2. Find those people who-

A. Have a conventional mortgage.

B. Have always paid it on time.

C. Have never declared bankruptcy

3. Establish an agreement that the Gov’t will:

A. Pay off the mortgage of those who meet each condition in item 2.

(This allows banks to resume mortgage lending and permits those who engaged in good behavior to go bargain-hunting - thus rewarding good behavior)

B. Each person whose mortgage is paid off will agree to make monthly payments to a money-market account

(This increases short term liquidity - also allows those with good behavior to use their work ethic to the betterment of all)

C. Each person agrees to re-finance their house at the end of a 5-10 year period of time at market value to repay the Gov’t.

(This repays the bonds that the govt will have to put on the market to fund the plan)

4. The government will issue bonds to pay for this plan (up front).

5. Bonds are repaid prior to maturity by those bailed out.

(People with good behavior are people who are less risky - that is why they have good credit ratings)

6. In the event the number of bailoutees exceeds the dollars available, applicants from the acceptable pool will be chosen by lottery.

Instugator, as author of the plan, recuses himself from participating.

Wrestling

My son placed 5th in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association wrestling tournament.
The video of his last bout is here.

Thomas' 5th place finish.

The big story of the evening was the loss of the Division 2 title to Holy Cross by Archbishop Shaw.  Here is the story.

There are two lessons here.  The first is that the Shaw wrestler used an illegal move against his opponent.  Unlike the way it is portrayed in the story, the decision to award the bout to the Tuerling's wrestler was not quick or easy.  The Tuerlings wrestler was injured by the move; the injury clock (5 minutes) was started and ticked down through less than 2 minutes remaining.  At this point, the referee brought the injured wrestler to the center of the mat and awarded him the bout.

This loss hurt Shaw, but they would have ultimately still clenched the Division title, except for the second lesson.  The Shaw wrestler could not comprehend that he lost his bout to DQ.  He wigged out and put on a display of what can only be called 'unsportsman-like' conduct.  He was ejected from the tournament.  Not only did he have to leave, but his entire tournament results were erased from his team score.  Shaw went from being ahead by 4 points to being down by 16 points at the end.

The two lessons. 

1. If you perform an illegal move, you may lose the bout.  Accept it.
2. Unsportsman-like conduct can have tremendous consequences - don't engage in it.

Google Documents - Footnotes

Google Docs now does footnotes, will Instapundit now use it for his law articles?