Things I’d Like to Post About Today ….. (101308, Morning)
….. But I Don’t Have Any Time For:
- First and foremost — Heartiest congrats to Maggie Thurber for her Americans For Prosperity “Blogger of the Year” award. This smackdown of the Toledo Blade for its clear belief that “Americans who want to work have a right to a job where they live” (otherwise it wouldn’t have asked the question and invoked FDR) exemplifies why the award is richly deserved. Side question: What’s the Blade going to have to say if it ever has to lay off employees?
- Grand Kenyan Story 1 — “The One” I refer to as “Mr. BOOHOO-OUCH, PUNK” (Barack O-bomba Overseas HusseinObambi” Obama – Objectively Unfit Coddler of Haters, Previously Unaccomplished Nonsupporter of Kin) sure seems to have an affinity for the Islamofascist ruler in his father’s home country.
- Grand Kenyan Story 2 — Vic Wulsin appears have her own Kenyan connections lined up in case, or more likely when, she loses the Second District congressional election in November. When was the last time “college chancellor” was a “ceremonial position”? I didn’t link to the underlying Cincinnati Enquirer story because the paper wouldn’t link to, or even mention their source, Weapons of Mass Discussion. It seems to me that the Enky’s editors have been more arrogantly dismissive of the right side of the blogosphere — going way, way back (second item at link) — than any other major Ohio newspaper.
- Now that Sarah Palin has been found to have supposedly committed an “abuse of power” for doing her job by a bunch of partisan hacks who promised “an October surprise” even before the investigation began, I eagerly await the prosecutorial referral. Oh, there’s no indication that one will occur? How quaint.
- Jen Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State, went into full 1992 Barbie Doll mode last week, and said “Matching Databases Is Harrrrrd!” — and a US Appeals court negligently let her get away with it. Zheesh — From here, it seems that few dozen appropriately supervised temps (at most) could easily get through the backlog in two weeks. Her spokespersons also seem to have “hangups” about talking to people who question their statements. One such example is here.
- While I’m on that topic, someone needs to explain to me why, assuming appropriate Board of Elections outreach initiatives, there is EVER any reason for anyone other than the person registering to vote to be the one who submits a voter registration card. I can’t come up with one. The whole idea is a pre-packaged recipe for fraud, as is open-season early voting.
- Right Michigan notes that those who are pushing an embryonic stem cell initiative are touting jobs it will create in the Wolverine State, while contracting for many of its campaign-related services elsewhere. That’s a relative tempest in a teapot compared to the real problems with the initiative, which are these — First, embryonic research kills embryos. Second, it’s becoming more obvious with virtually each passing day that anything embryonic research claims it can do, ethical baggage-free adult stem cell research is either already doing better, or on the verge of it.
- NY Times columnist and former advisor to a now-bankrupt company Paul Krugman has won the Nobel Prize for “his analysis of how economies of scale can affect trade patterns and the location of economic activity.” Given others under consideration who did not win, I’m starting to wonder if the Nobel Committee on Econ hasn’t succumbed to the Bush Derangement/Conservative Derangement Syndrome that has long since made the Peace Prize a sad parody of what was formerly, well, noble (e.g., Jimmy Carter, the man who gave Islamofascism a home). I can assure you that Krugman did not receive his prize for this public punditry from “The Ascent of E-Man” in 1999 — “The retreat of business bureaucracy in the face of the market was brought home to me recently when I joined the advisory board at Enron…. (which is an illustration of) “the end of the corporation as we knew it.” Nor is Krugman, who was a paid advisor to Enron at the time he wrote the related article and did not disclose the relationship to his editors, in line for any kind of ethics prize.
- “Awwwwwww, poor babies” story of the day — “No Internet access for 9/11 defendants at Gitmo.” Maybe Jimmy Carter can visit and bring his laptop.
“Americans who want to work have a right to a job where they live”
Actually, I believe there is an underlying insidious agenda that Thurber is missing, that being the operative phrase, “where they live”. Does it not occur to anyone that the one thing liberals have always feared most is the mobility of the populace? If the city or local jurisdiction gets over run with liberals micromanaging and over taxing the area, Americans vote with their feet. Or have we forgotten the phrase white flight? (as though people moving away from totalitarian control are racist) This is one freedom liberals have a difficultly with controlling. Notice in the old Communist controlled countries, the movement of the population was strictly controlled via the bureaucracy. No matter how stupid and PC a local government gets, they can’t stop you from leaving their area of control.
I submit, liberals realize their power is limited by the freedom of movement and therefore in order to keep people under their control, they must have something as an inducement to stay. The problem of non-uniform areas of unemployment is when the rate differential gets high enough people look elsewhere to be gainfully employed. In this light we see the role of extending unemployment benefits is not to help a person economically BUT to keep them in the geographic area. My proof of this is this BLS report: http://www.bls.gov/web/laummtrk.htm Notice the areas of low unemployment? At 2.6% in Sioux Falls, SD the only reason why a person is unemployed is because it is short term or because they aren’t looking. Being unemployed when the rates are less than 5% is a happy situation for anyone looking for a job because it is easy to get another one.
So I ask you, why wouldn’t a person living in El Centro, CA with an unemployment rate of 24.7% pack up and move especially when they need only move just across the State line to northern Arizona? Or a little further to New Mexico?
Also in this light, from a liberal prospective of keeping people tied to a geographic area and therefore under their control, the CRA has it’s hidden uses. A family in a margin economic position would normally be renting a place, the lack of jobs in the area would get them to relocate elsewhere. On the other hand, if they owned a house, they are tied to the area. Now isn’t it a coincidence that no one can buy or sell because banks are unwilling to loan money for fear of default or having the prinicipal written down on them? Coincidence or intended result????
Comment by dscott — October 13, 2008 @ 12:08 pm
#1, your points are well-taken, although I don’t it’s fair to say she missed it as much as chose not to emphasize it.
And yes, what they want out of lack of mobility is a plantation effect.
Comment by TBlumer — October 13, 2008 @ 12:14 pm
I decided to expand on this theme with some more detail and greatful thanks to Tom for exposing this story to the light of day carried innocuously by the Toledo Blade. Remember an assertion no matter how innocuous when not challenged becomes de facto truth. All truth is an assertion of fact, however, not all assertions are the truth. An assertion of selected facts is a lie.
http://conservablogs.com/publiusforum/2008/10/14/freedom-of-movement
Another shameless self promotion ;->
Comment by dscott — October 14, 2008 @ 10:52 am