April 5, 2010

Latest Pajamas Media Column (‘Garbage In, Garbage Out: Why Real Revenue Will Lag CBO Forecasts’) Is Up

Filed under: Economy,Health Care,Taxes & Government — TBlumer @ 9:10 am

It’s here.

It will go up here at BizzyBlog on Wednesday (link won’t work until then) after the blackout expires.

My title will be “ObamaCare: Predicted Tax Receipts Will Lag, Spending Will Spiral.”

The PJM subheadline today is:

ObamaCare’s tax revenue won’t be as much as predicted, and its costs will be greater. You can take that to the bank.

… and that’s even before considering the financial incentives against work and marriage discussed here and here last week.

Risen Christ opens for a us a completely new future says the Pope at Easter Mass

Filed under: Positivity — TBlumer @ 8:52 am

From Vatican City:

Apr 4, 2010 / 10:25 am

Presiding the Easter Sunday on a cloudy morning in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI shared the joy of the resurrection with hundreds of thousands of Christians, but warned that Easter does not work by “magic,” it has to be accepted to open a new future for the Church and humanity.

The full text of this morning Pope’s homily follows:
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April 4, 2010

The Four Gospels of the Resurrection (2010)

Filed under: Positivity — TBlumer @ 12:01 am

This post is a BizzyBlog Easter tradition.

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Matthew 28:1-20

1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. 8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. 9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.

11 Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. 12 And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, 13 Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. 14 And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. 15 So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:1-20 AV)

Luke 24:1-53

1 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. 3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: 5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. 8 And they remembered his words, 9 And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. 11 And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. 12 Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.

13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. 17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. 22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. 25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. 29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. 30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? 33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. 38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. 40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? 42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. 43 And he took it, and did eat before them. 44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things. 49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

50 And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. 51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: 53 And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen. (Luke 24:1-53 AV)

John 20:1-31

1 The first [day] of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. 2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. 3 Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. 4 So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. 5 And he stooping down, [and looking in], saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. 6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, 7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. 8 Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. 9 For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.

11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, [and looked] into the sepulchre, 12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. 17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and [to] my God, and your God. 18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and [that] he had spoken these things unto her.

19 Then the same day at evening, being the first [day] of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace [be] unto you. 20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them [his] hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace [be] unto you: as [my] Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on [them], and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; [and] whose soever [sins] ye retain, they are retained. 24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: [then] came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace [be] unto you. 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust [it] into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed [are] they that have not seen, and [yet] have believed. 30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20:1-31 AV)

Mark 16:1-20

1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. 3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. 8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.

9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. 10 And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11 And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. 12 After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. 13 And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.

14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. (Mark 16:1-20 AV)

April 3, 2010

Bigg Bad News: Five Bigg’s Stores Closing; NixGuy Called It in 2005; Leftist Econ Policies Hastened Demise

Filed under: Business Moves,Economy,Taxes & Government — TBlumer @ 10:48 am

I meant to get to this earlier in the week, and it deserves a few comments.

Here’s WCPO’s announcement of the news:

Remke To Buy 6 bigg’s Stores, Close 5 Others

There’s some big news Monday when it comes to where many people buy their groceries.

SUPERVALU and Remke Markets announced they are buying six Greater Cincinnati bigg’s stores and closing five others.

Remke will purchase the following locations:
- Highland Ridge, 3240 Highland Avenue, Cincinnati
- Western Hills, 5071 Glencrossing Way, Cincinnati
- Skytop, 5218 Beechmont Avenue, Cincinnati
- Hyde Park, 3872 Paxton Avenue, Hyde Park
- Mason Montgomery, 9600 South Mason-Montgomery Road, Mason
- Delhi, 5025 Delhi Road, Cincinnati

The Kentucky Post says that over 500 people will lose their jobs.

Here’s NixGuy in 2005, before you-know-who started building SuperCenters in Greater Cincinnati (bolds are mine):

Biggs: In big trouble. Already smarting from Meijer moving in a while back. Big strengths are friendly employees but the stores aren’t very nice and the prices aren’t that great eaither. Wal-mart’s going to steal a lot of their business.

Meijer: Also in big trouble. Used to be you could get low prices if you wanted to deal with the rude and abusive employees. Now the prices aren’t that great and you still get rude employees. Their employees hate to work there and it shows. Not positioned well at all.

I’m not as convinced that Meijer is in serious trouble in Greater Cincinnati — yet. It seems that the rudeness factor Nix cited has mostly gone away in the past five years, and that it has done a decent imitation of you-know-who in price aggressiveness. But if the economy doesn’t turn around significantly, Meijer’s operations in this area will be very vulnerable.

As to Remke, I wish ‘em luck, because I like feisty underdogs, but I hope they’re not biting off more than they can chew. They did pick the right Bigg’s stores to acquire, but (as the author shows his age) this seems reminiscent of Liberal Stores’ attempt to get big enough to compete with Kroger back in the 1970s by taking over the “good” locations of Albers. That didn’t work; Liberal folded only a few years later. Northern Kentucky-based Remke can’t possibly match Wal-Mart’s prices or Kroger’s brand loyalty, and they may be overestimating their ability to make headway or even keep market share at the stores they bought north of the Ohio River.

I also shouldn’t let pass observing that what happened to Bigg’s is partly a result of the POR (Pelosi-Obama-Reid) economy. Even lots of bitter Wally-World haters have ended up shopping there as a result of the area’s lousy economy during the past 18 months or so to preserve cash. As Nix presciently noted, Bigg’s was the logical candidate to be hurt the most.

The irony that leftist economic policies have largely benefitted their most despised retail enemy is indeed, uh, rich.

Phil Hare (‘D’ for Dumb – IL) Doesn’t Care (Updates: Hare Stumped For Hartmarx, Which Then Closed Plant in His District; Lame Response; Busy Middle Finger)

Filed under: Economy,Health Care,Taxes & Government — TBlumer @ 8:39 am

Drop-dead obvious evidence (HT Hot Air) that the guy doesn’t care about the oath he swore to uphold:

Yeah, he really cited “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” as the constitutional basis for ObamaCare’s requirement that Americans buy health insurance.

Illinois residents, this is Phil Hare’s gerrymandered district.

_______________________________________________________

UPDATE: To illustrate what a tool this guy is, here’s an item about Phil Hare during the shakedown of Hartmarx last year by Illinois State Treasurer Alex “I Have Family Ties to the Mob” Giannoulias:

Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.), who spent 13 years cutting linings for men’s suits at the Rock Island Hartmarx plant, told the workers the suit he was wearing was made at Hartmarx and said he has four more just like it. He praised the workers for their hard work in making such wonderful American union-made products.

Wells Fargo will have a fight on its hands, Hare said.

“If Wells Fargo tries to liquidate this great company, I promise I will be their worst nightmare on the floor of House of Representatives,” he said, declaring that banks that got federal bailout money have a “moral obligation” to workers like those at Hartmarx.

The company was bought out of bankruptcy by Emerisque and its Indian partner S Kumars Nationwide Ltd.. Then look at  what happened on a Friday afternoon in August:

Barely a month after celebrating their rescue, the 300 workers at Seaford Clothing in Rock Island are losing their jobs, union officials and U.S. Rep. Phil Hare’s office said late Friday.

“We got blindsided by this,” Hare said. “I’m heartsick.”

The “and Phil Hare’s office” part indicates that the announcement was a deliberately timed event.

Rock Island was one of three Hartmarx plants the new owners closed.

Blindsided? Sure, Phil. You got your soundbites and did your “good soldier” duty for the Obama/Giannoulias intimidation campaign, and pretended that the Hartmarx workers in your district — some of whom probably worked on the line when you were there — would avoid what was going to happen to them in any event at a troubled company whose new owners had to decide which remnants were worth keeping.

I say either you knew better, or you’re dumber than a box of rocks. While video above would indicate that it may be the latter, the fact that your office was involved in the announcement doesn’t exactly support the idea that you were “blindsided.” Regardless, you’ve proven at least twice that you’re unfit for office. 17th District residents need to reject Phil Hare. He’s at least twice shown that he doesn’t care.

_____________________________________________________

UPDATE 2, April 3, ~10:00 a.m.: Hare’s response, complete with body language and an “I guess I’ve got to do this” tone, defines “lame”

UPDATE 3: It looks like Phil Hare went to the Barack Obama School of Middle-Finger Utilization (first pic is at 1:04 of the aforementioned video; HT Gateway Pundit) –

HareFinger1 HareFinger2

April 2, 2010

Leave It To Clever…

Filed under: Activism,Health Care,Scams,Taxes & Government — Rose @ 6:44 pm

Brilliance from Jack Cashill, one of my favorite visionaries (direct YouTube link) …

The March 2009 Employment Situation Report (040210)

Filed under: Economy,Taxes & Government — TBlumer @ 8:24 am

The run-up:

ADP showed 23,000 seasonally adjusted private-sector jobs lost in its March report on Wednesday.

This link is predicting based on interviews with 20 economists that 200,000 seasonally adjusted jobs will be added, while the unemployment rate will be the same as February’s 9.7%.

Reuters has a similar riff:

A Reuters survey of economists forecast a gain of 190,000 jobs in March after February’s drop of 36,000. The median projection from the 20 economists who have forecast payrolls most accurately over the past year predicts 200,000 jobs were created last month.

The unemployment rate was seen holding steady at 9.7 percent for the third straight month. Given the distortions from the decennial census, analysts said the focus should be on private payrolls to get a clear picture of the labor market.

Private payrolls fell by 18,000 in February, but a gain is expected in March.

Those who visit here know that I tend to emphasize what actually happened, i.e., the not seasonally adjusted (NSA) results, as opposed to the seasonally adjusted (SA) figures almost everyone else focuses on. This is especially true currently because the SA calculation is distorted by last year’s free-fall.

Here are the SA and NSA situations as of February:

BLSpostRelease0210

Last month’s red-boxed result of 473,000 jobs added demonstrates how unreliable the SA calculation is. That number badly trailed 2004-2007, and was even less than February 2008, when the economy was in a muddle-through mode. Yet the SA calcs translated that to a 36,000-job loss — a better result than February 2008, when more jobs were added on the ground. That shows how much 2009′s disaster is distorting things.

Given what happened during the normal economic times of 2004-2008 (i.e., an average of about 870,000 jobs added), the economy will need to have added at least 800,000 jobs on the ground during to be seen as recovering — regardless of what the reported SA number ends up being. It seems reasonably likely that this will happen, given that federal collections from withholdings in March 2010 exceeded such collections in 2009 by a couple of percentage points.

If the economy generated fewer than the 588,000 jobs added in March 2008, when the National Bureau of Economic Research says we were in a recession (as normal people define it, we weren’t), it will be strong evidence that a meaningful recovery is not in progress.

The report will be here at 8:30 a.m.

The news:

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 162,000 in March, and the unemployment rate held at 9.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Temporary help services and health care continued to add jobs over the month. Employment in federal government also rose, reflecting the hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010. Employment continued to decline in financial activities and in information.

The NSA number for March was +843,000, so that “recovering” benchmark was met. Census workers were not that much of that, despite what BLS says. NSA private-sector jobs went up by 709,000. Given how lousy things have been since the POR economy began in earnest nearly two years ago, these results are acceptable, but need to be accompanied with a strong “faster, please” admonition, and an observation that tax cuts instead of stimulus would have caused what happened in March 2010 to have happened in March 2009 instead.

______________________________________

UPDATE: Once again, the March numbers demonstrate the folly of leaning on the SA numbers when 2009 is part of the equation. As you can see above, March 2008′s +588K NSA addition led to an SA-149K job loss. This month’s +843K led to a +162K gain. The difference between the two years’ SA calculations (+311K)  is more than the NSA March 2010 v. March 2008 improvement (+255K). C’mon, that’s ridiculous. I’m not saying the calcs aren’t done correctly; I’m saying that relying on the SA number as THE measure of the degree of improvement when 2009 so obviously distorted the SA calculations is just dumb.

The SA calc, if done using 2004-2008 instead of 2005-2009, would have come in at about +100K, which is still decent, and a better reflection of where we really are. For the first time in almost 2-1/2 years, the economy added just enough jobs to accommodate workforce growth.

UPDATE 2: More SA/NSA folly: February’s NSA number went down by 4K from +473 to +469, but the SA situation improved by 22K, going  from -36K to -14K. Huh?

January’s NSA barely improved by 8K, going from -2842K to -2834K, but January’s SA improved by 40K, going from -26K to +14K. Zheesh.

Positivity: Pope Benedict — Christians ‘conquer’ not through sword, but through the Cross

Filed under: Positivity — TBlumer @ 6:00 am

From Vatican City (additional paragraph breaks added by me):

Apr 1, 2010 / 10:06 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Presiding this morning in Rome the Mass of Chrism, Pope Benedict XVI reminded that Christians, like Christ, do not “conquer” through the sword, but through the Cross.

The full text of his homily follows:
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April 1, 2010

Toxic Mike DeWine Absent from ORPINO E-mail

Filed under: Activism,Taxes & Government — TBlumer @ 11:48 am

Wow, this e-mail I received last night from ORPINO (The Ohio Republican Party In Name Only) requires no further elaboration beyond this post’s title (but does require a reminder — see below), once you realize whose name isn’t there:

ORPINOwithoutDeWine040110

Memo to Kevin DeWine: Don’t even think about trying to tell us that the omission was an accident.

A reminder: Sandy O’Brien and Seth Morgan are vastly superior to the ORPINO-endorsed Jon “Hugs” Husted and Dave Yost, respectively.

Lightning LInks (040110, Morning)

Filed under: Lucid Links — TBlumer @ 7:04 am

Lightly-commented Lightning:

  • An interesting finding by Gallup (HT The Plumline via Instapundit)– 53% of adults polled nationally say that the methods Democratic leaders in Congress used to get enough votes to pass statist health care legislation were an abuse of power. It’s in neighborhood of 70% of non-Democrats.
  • The juvenile whining by the left about the supposedly violent undertones of saying and illustrating that you’re “targeting” someone for electoral defeat is also hypocritical (HT The Corner). It’s also a tactic for avoiding the need to defend the indefensible in ObamaCare.
  • ADP’s Employment Report yesterday showed a seasonally adjusted 23,000 private-sector jobs lost in March, “consistent with the pause in the decline of initial unemployment claims that occurred during the winter.”
  • Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, fresh off of an apparently orchestrated attempt with establishment media help to bring down Toyota — which will apparently be shown to be a dismal failure (“Toyota executive sees US March sales rising 40 pct”) when March vehicle sales results are released — now wants to “to coerce people out of their cars.” The folks in this administration are really comfortable with statist language, aren’t they?
  • Speaking of statists, here’s James Lovelock: “Humans are too stupid to prevent climate change.” No sir, the stupid ones are the people who believe we have any control over climate change, and desperately fake data and intimidate opponents to make their unsupportable points or (as Lovelock suggests), when all else fails, want to “put democracy on hold” to get their way.
  • May it be as David Harsanyl perceives it — “it has become evident that Romney’s is a hopeless quest for the presidency.”

Comment-free Lightning:

  • At Popular Mechanics“Fake Products and Companies Certified by Energy Star”
  • At a Goy and His Blog — “The horror of ‘the last 8 years has become it’s own self-perpetuating meme. The problem is that it’s a meme without meaning.”
  • Marvin Olasky at World Magazine — “Beck vs. Wallis: Understanding a high-profile fight about ‘social justice’”
  • At Real Clear Politics“OH Poll: Portman Leads Battle Of Unknowns”
  • At Hot Air“(CNN) has even declined at times to where their headline service draws more viewers.”