Barack Obama says he wants to create new jobs. Job creation is not necessarily a good thing.
From 2000 to 2007, says the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, the government added 54,800 jobs. To put that in proper perspective, that works out to 93% of all jobs created in New Jersey over those seven years. (LINK)
These jobs cost tax payers. When you consider that many government jobs have lavish benefits including retirment benefits, the cost to the tax payer will continue for years. New Jersey needs to cut taxes and expand the private sector. That is unlikely to happen with Democrats firmly in control.
Posted by: The Elephant Owner in Common Sense on December 30th, 2008
OK…we get it. Barack Obama is fit. He spends a lot of time in the gym. Most of the press is in love with him, but when he was finally faced with tough questions from reporters, Obama pleads to finish his waffles. I guess health, fitness and discipline only go so far.
I am already tired of the stories of Obama’s work outs. There was no interest in the fact the George Bush could run 7 minute miles when he entered the office. For those of you who don’t run…that’s pretty fast for an old guy. For those of you with treadmills…that’s 8.5 miles per hour. Before I had children, I used to go to the YMCA and run the treadmills into the ground. I am a pretty big guy who could run fast and far. Sometimes I would get one treadmill to quit. Once I blew a fuse and took out a whole wall of treadmills. I had my 200 lbs frame running 9.5 mph.
I could do 7 minute miles in my early 30′s….but not in my forties. I was impressed with George Bush’s fitness.
George Bush was not admired for his fitness. He was mocked by the same people fawning over Barack Obama. The double standard is staggering.
Posted by: The Elephant Owner in Liberal Bias on December 28th, 2008
Professor Frank Tipler’s observations of Barack Obama’s new science John Holdren (hat tip to Powerlineblog.com):
AGW supporters are also bringing back the Inquisition, where the power of the state is used to silence one’s scientific opponents. The case of Bjorn Lomborg is illustrative. Lomborg is a tenured professor of mathematics in Denmark. Shortly after his book, “The Skeptical Environmentalist,” was published by Cambridge University Press, Lomborg was charged and convicted (later reversed) of scientific fraud for being critical of the “consensus” view on AGW and other environmental questions. Had the conviction been upheld, Lomborg would have been fired. …
I find it very disturbing that part of the Danish Inquisition’s case against Lomborg was written by John Holdren, Obama’s new science advisor. Holdren has recently written that people like Lomborg are “dangerous.” I think it is people like Holdren who are dangerous, because they are willing to use state power to silence their scientific opponents.
John Stossel points to FDR’s innaugural address of 1937
To hold to progress today, however, is more difficult. Dulled conscience, irresponsibility, and ruthless self-interest already reappear. Such symptoms of prosperity may become portents of disaster! Prosperity already tests the persistence of our progressive purpose. (LINK)
I had to read the whole speech. FDR certainly did not believe in markets. He equated profits with evil. He must have believed economic exchange are part of a zero sum game…there is a winner and a loser in each purchase.
When you purchased a car to drive to work and make your life easier, did you feel like a loser? (more…)
The global warming warriors tell us that we are hotter than ever and that CO2 is rising to unprecedented levels. This is only true if you pick a convienant time frame. Over the long history of the Earth, CO2 is actually at extremely low levels and the temperature is low. If the globe is warming, it is because the Earth is returning to a more natural state.
Millions of years ago, vegetation was far more robust than today. The growth was facilitated by higher levels of CO2, an essential component of photosynthesis. Like the layers of sedimentary rock, plant life piled up on the ground and eventually was covered over. With time and pressure, the trapped carbon waste turned to oil and coal. (more…)
New York is set to raise taxes on everything from soda to iPods. This is what you can expect when you elect Democrats. No matter what they say during the campaigns, they just love taxes.
If high taxes passed by Democrats is a surprise to you, then you need to wake up and pay attention.
Posted by: The Elephant Owner in Common Sense on December 17th, 2008
Richard Nixon once said, “We are all Keynesians Now”. Thanks to Richard Nixon and Keynesian economics, we now have a term for the high unemploymnet and high inflation. It’s called stagflation. The 1970′s saw 3 recession in 10 years, Ronald Reagan and supply side policies led to a booming economy and Keynesian economics fell out of favor.
Most Americans are economically illiterate and our elected officials know even less than unelected citizens. (LINK). It time for a refresher on why Keynesian policies don’t work. hat tip to Michelle Malkin
Posted by: The Elephant Owner in Economics on December 16th, 2008
Barack Obama has nominated Arne Duncan to run the Department Of Education who is currently the head of Chicago’s public schools. As the head, Duncan has started a school for gay, lesbian and transgendered teens. The name of the school is right from the socialist playbook, Social Justice High School (LINK)
School choice?
NO to you who wish to escape poor performing school.
YES to you who wish to have a school based on sexual orientation.
What does this nomination mean? Prepare for political correctness run amok in our schools in the coming years.
Federal investigators in Alaska say an accelerant was poured around the exterior of Gov. Sarah Palin’s home church before it was heavily damaged by a fire. (LINK)
To make the matters worse, the accelerate was poured at the entrance and the fire was set while people where in the church. This was deliberate fire with intent to kill.
The response from the MSM…(cue the cricket chirping). A black church set on fire is apparently a big deal. But the church of a Presidential candidate is nothing to get all worked up about. One wonders what the response would be if a fire was set at the Trinty Church that Barack Obama once belonged to.
Posted by: The Elephant Owner in Liberal Bias on December 16th, 2008
What would you, as a responsible adult, do if you found a peanut on the floor of a school bus. EVACUATE, of course! (LINK)
We have 300,000,000 people in this country. About 150 people (adults and children) die in the United States from ALL food allergies. That is an extremely low percentage.
It is wise to reduce risk where it makes sense, but there are always costs. In this case, the freedom to eat a high protein vegetarian food is stripped for a 1 in 2 million chance.
Posted by: The Elephant Owner in Common Sense on December 15th, 2008
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute has released a test on civic knowledge. Americans did poorly. 71.4 percent failed with an average score of 49 percent. As bad as that is, elected officials did worse. They scored 5 points lower.
Take the test (LINK) and let me know what you scored.
I scored a 90% (30 correct, 3 wrong).
Click here for a comparison of citizens to elected politicians (LINK).
Posted by: The Elephant Owner in Common Sense on December 15th, 2008
You want freedom? You won’t find it in New York. They mayor of New York City eliminated foods fried in transfat and now the governor is proposing a tax on non-diet soda (LINK).
Why just soda…why not tax beer (except for light beer)? Why not tax milk (except for fat free milk)?
Are taxes a necessary evil needed to raise revenue for government services or are taxes a tool to control the population? Once you accept the principal that taxes can be levied in order to control you, how much freedom do you really have?
Posted by: The Elephant Owner in Free Markets on December 15th, 2008
Seth Borenstein at the AP has lost perspective. (LINK) I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the Republicans play the politics of fear….but this 100% liberal article is nothing but fear.
This ranks up there with the most liberally bias articles I have ever seen.
He starts off by giving Bill Clinton a pass
When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, global warming was a slow-moving environmental problem that was easy to ignore.
Then he misleads
The 10 hottest years on record have occurred since Clinton’s second inauguration.
The truth is that there has been a cooling trend since 1998. This is not according to me. This is according to the IPCC…the same experts that liberals toss out as the consensus. Is the IPCC trustworthy or not? The warmest year on record was 1998…10 years ago…during Clinton’s 2nd term.
Next, Borenstein uses a quote for Al Gore. When I see Al Gore’s name…I just skip the paragraph. He’s a clown.
When he is done giving Al Gore another platform, he brings in a scientist for some authority. He picks a biologist…but at least he is a scientist and not a politicians making money from carbon credits. Still, I find this unconvincing.
Borenstein than says that US CO2 emissions have increased 20% since 1992. Our GDP has grown by 120%. I think an increase of 20% in CO2 emissions is amazingly low.
Then…more Gore. SKIP
Borenstein then quotes a couple of Democrats and shows his optimism. He is hopeful that Democrats will be successful which, of course, scares the hell out of me.
He ends with some humor. He admits that 2008 is cooler then previous years. This of course is proof that their is global warming. It’s heads he wins, tails we lose.
Do your own investigation here of land based temperature measurements: (LINK). Keep in mind that the northern hemisphere has warmed more than the southern hemisphere.
I thought the American press had a bias. Today in Bahgdad, a journalist got up at a press conference and threw a shoe at George Bush. I would say that he had lost his objectivity.
provided AFP
Posted by: The Elephant Owner in Liberal Bias on December 14th, 2008
The US Military won a stunning victory over the Taliban in Afghanistan. It was stunning because of the way it was accomplished. We used a light footprint with the local people to quickly remove the Taliban.
The warnings going from the MSM was that Afghanistan was the graveyard of armies. We were told that a quagmire like Vietnam was likely. They were wrong and that is why it was stunning.
George Bush then translated the winning strategy to Iraq and it failed. It took overwhelming force and enough troops to control large areas to win in Iraq. The Afghanistan model did not apply to Iraq.
We will soon have a new commander in chief and he apparently has learned nothing. Obama now wants to apply the Iraq model to Afghanistan. I hope that he has a better plan than repeating the Iraq strategy in Afghanistan, but I fear that (like George Bush) he is unprepared for the job he is about to inherit.
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