Lucid Links:

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From a Wall Street Journal editorial, on Freddie Mac’s latest loss (link may require subscription):

… Only yesterday, Freddie said it lost $8 billion in the first quarter, requested another $10.6 billion from Uncle Sam, and warned that it would need more in the future. This comes on top of the $126.9 billion that Fan and Fred had already lost through the end of 2009. The duo are by far the biggest losers of the entire financial panic—bigger than AIG, Citigroup and the rest.

From the 2008 meltdown through 2020, the toxic twins will cost taxpayers close to $380 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s cautious estimate. The Obama Administration won’t even put the companies on budget for fear of the deficit impact, but it realizes the problem because last Christmas Eve it raised the $400 billion cap on their potential taxpayer losses to . . . infinity.

Moreover, these taxpayer losses understate the financial destruction wrought by Fan and Fred. By concealing how much they were gambling on risky subprime and Alt-A mortgages, the companies sent bogus signals on the size of these markets and distorted decision-making throughout the system.

The last excerpted sentence can’t be emphasized enough, especially since establishment media reports seemingly won’t touch it. As I’ve noted several times (here, here, and here), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are 15-year scams perpetrated on the financial markets by Democratic cronies who ruined the housing and mortgage-lending markets and ultimately set the stage for the ignition of the POR Economy Recession by Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, and Harry Reid in the summer of 2008.

More is here in “The House That Uncle Sam Built.”

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Great moments in government:

Montgomery County has not billed Kettering for sewer costs at its popular Water Raves outdoor water park since the facility opened in 1990.

Kettering has agreed to pay the county nearly $200,000, but that’s a fraction of the estimated $500,000 cost because state law allows the county to collect only for the past six years since no bills were issued.

While checking accounts, county officials discovered Water Raves had been billed for water service, but not sewer, according to Greg Merrill, director of the county’s environmental services.

After months of talks, Kettering recently agreed to a sewer debt of $213,265 for the water park. An audit of other Kettering accounts showed $13,757 in credits to the city, making the final bill $199,508.

Doesn’t Montgomery County’s Democratic Auditor Karl Keith, who has been in office since 2001, deserve a little heat for this?

Update: A commenter more accurately points the finger at Montgomery County’s Democratic commissioners, which raises a reminder — I “forgot” (ha-ha) that county auditors have narrow duties that would not ordinarily include, uh, auditing things like sewer assessments. It’s a good thing Republicans have a real auditor and CPA on the ballot in Nov- … … oops.

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I would say “unbelievable,” but the better description is “so predictable”:

… the official residence of Ohio’s governor in recent years “functioned as a ‘mule station’ for the conveyance of tobacco and other contraband into a state prison,” according to an investigation released last week by Inspector General Thomas P. Charles.

Strickland’s reaction has been to give the Inspector General the Ken Starr treatment and to defend a Public Safety Director who pretty clearly lied under oath. That too, is so predictable.

It’s not exactly a secret that I’m not a fan of T-Shirt Ted, but that doesn’t mean I want something bad to happen to him or Frances. Strickland seems all too willing to risk that:

The inmate work program, used by governors going back to Michael DiSalle, (1959-1963), “veered off course” after Strickland took office in 2007, the inspector general found. Inmate oversight was “cavalier,” largely because of “a failure to integrate the prison security requirements.”

Why would you not do that?

Hey Ted, if you want to do dangerous things after you leave office, hopefully in January 2011, that’s fine. But while you’re Ohio’s chief executive, you’re not allowed to be cavalier about your safety. You owe it to your state’s residents to do everything reasonable to keep yourself safe and avoid exposing yourself to unnecessary risks. The IG says you’re not doing that. The IG is clearly correct.

Meanwhile, the gubernatorial incompetence machine marches on:

Although she was appointed Sept. 18, Strickland’s office mistakenly failed to submit her appointment and four others to the Senate for approval. Collins-Taylor’s confirmation hearing is expected later this month.

Why John Kasich isn’t making competence an issue in the gubernatorial campaign is a true mystery.

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Lickety-Split Links:

You have to work really hard for things to get this bad:

… Although Ohio Democrats enjoy a registration advantage of more than 1 million voters over Republicans …

This is true even though the state’s residents are predominantly center-right in political outlook. 15-20 years of pathetic ORPINO (Ohio Republican Party In Name Only) leadership, awful candidates, and poor governance have brought us to this point.

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Andy McCarthy’s final paragraph in a read-the-whole-thing National Review column about the handling of the Time Square wannabe bomber:

Needlessly making the complaint public may harm the ongoing investigation, but it is savvy public relations. It gives the Justice Department and the administration a script with which to portray themselves as super-competent and the civilian justice system as so effective that Bush-era relics like military detention are unnecessary. I hope there’s a better explanation than that. If there’s not, then the administration has prioritized scoring political points over effective investigation and intelligence gathering.

This administration’s pattern of behavior leads me to believe that there isn’t a better explanation than that.

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Good Move: The Competitive Enterprise Institute (HT Michelle Malkin) has filed a false advertising claim against Government/General Motors over the company’s obviously false statement that it has fully repaid the government:

In the complaint, CEI urges the FTC to investigate the GM ad campaign entitled “GM Repaid Government Loan Ahead of Schedule.” The ad features GM’s Chairman and CEO, Ed Whitacre, who declares that “we have repaid our government loan in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule.”

That claim, CEI explains in the complaint, “gives the false impression that GM has used its own funds to pay back all the bailout money that it received from the federal government. In fact, GM has only repaid a fraction of those funds—barely ten percent. Moreover, GM apparently repaid its loan by using other federal funds.”

To add insult to injury, GM’s misleading ad could unfairly dupe consumers into a false, renewed confidence in the company, the complaint explains.

The last excerpted sentence makes a good point: GM seems to be a desperate company. GM’s sales in April were up 7% from a dismal, cash-hemorrhaging April 2009. Ford, Toyota, Chrysler, Honda, and Nissan were up 26%, 24%, 25%, 13%, and 35%, respectively.

One observer notes that Chrysler’s suddenly good month “strongly suggests a high level of (low-profit) fleet sales for the month.”

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Lightning Links:

• A true howler, from April 30 — “Fannie Mae tightens lending standards”
• Divided Dems — ACORN-connected, vote fraud-ignoring Jenny Brunner, who performed better than the late polls predicted but still lost, won’t campaign for Lee Fisher in the fall.
• It appears that we won’t have David “Cracked” Krikorian to kick around any more.
• Only a month after giving readers the impression that Tea Party groups are dominated by unemployed people living on government handouts, Kate Zernike of the New York Times has co-authored an article with this title: “Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated.” Zheesh.

From Madison, Wisconsin:

May 6, 2010 / 06:16 am

Reporting a “pro-life victory,” pro-life leaders in Wisconsin have praised the Madison Surgery Center’s (MSC) abandonment of its plans to perform late-term abortions.

The MSC is a joint partnership between Meriter Hospital, the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics and the University of Wisconsin Medical Foundation. At a February 2009 meeting its board voted to allow late-term abortions.

The Center was the target of pro-life petition drives and television commercials opposing the plan to provide late-term abortions.

“It is my understanding based on recent information from the UW (University of Wisconsin) that they have now abandoned plans to provide late-term abortion services at MSC,” Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General Kevin Potter said in a letter to an Eau Claire attorney who asked for an investigation of UW for violating the law by promoting and being involved in the late-term abortion plan.

Peggy Hamill, state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin, reacted to the news.

“We give credit first and foremost to God for this pro-life victory,” she commented. “Pro-life grassroots activism works.”

Hamill said in a press release that thousands of people attended “countless” prayer vigils, tens of thousands of people signed a pro-life petition, and hundreds of pro-life television commercials aired in the Madison area. Hundreds of people also boycotted the MSC. …

Go here for the rest of the story.

A belated happy 74th birthday to Walter Williams, the brilliant George Mason University econ professor and occasional “black by popular demand” guest host on Rush Limbaugh’s show.

Though by no means absent from it, African-Americans are underrepresented in the Tea Party movement. In his syndicated column, Williams explains why African-Americans should be leading the charge:

… the unique history of black Americans should make us, above all other Americans, most suspicious of any encroachment on personal liberty and most distrustful of government.

… The heroic civil rights movement, culminating with the 1964 Civil Rights Act, put an end to the grossest abuses of personal liberties, but government evolved into a subtler enemy. Visit any major city and one would find the overwhelmingly law-abiding members of the black community living in constant fear of robbery, assault and murder.

In fact, 52% of U.S. homicides are committed by blacks, 49% of homicide victims are black, and 93% of them were murdered by fellow blacks. The level of crime in black communities is the result of government’s failure to perform its most basic function, namely the protection of its citizens.

The level of criminal activity not only puts residents in physical jeopardy but represents a heavy tax on the people least able to bear it.

… Then there’s the grossly fraudulent education delivered by the government schools that serve most black communities. The average black high school senior has a sixth- or seventh-grade achievement level, and most of those who manage to graduate have what’s no less than a fraudulent diploma, one that certifies a 12th-grade level of achievement when in fact the youngster might not have half that.

If the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan wanted to sabotage black academic excellence, he could not find a more effective means to do so than the government school system in most cities.

… Tragically, most Americans, including black people whose ancestors suffered from the gross injustices of slavery, think it quite proper for government to forcibly use one person to serve the purposes of another. That’s precisely what income redistribution is: the practice of forcibly taking the fruits of one person’s labor for the benefit of another. That’s also what theft is, and the practice differs from slavery only in degree but not kind.

What about blacks who cherish liberty and limited government and joined in the Tea Party movement, or blacks who are members of organizations such as the Lincoln Institute, Frederick Douglass Foundation and Project 21? They’ve been maligned as Oreos, Uncle Toms and traitors to their race. To make such a charge borders on stupidity, possibly racism.

I have to respectfully disagree with Dr. Williams’s last excerpted sentence.

To malign blacks “as Oreos, Uncle Toms and traitors to their race” isn’t just “possibly racism.” It is bigotry (“stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one’s own.”), and it is based on race. Therefore, it is racism.

From John Fund at the Wall Street Journal (bolds are mine):

The Obama Administration has tirelessly pushed the line that it has employed every available tool to fight the Gulf oil spill from “Day One.” Well, it’s certainly true that every media resource is being deployed to squelch comparisons with the slow-footed 2005 Bush administration response to Hurricane Katrina.

But as for having actual oil-spill fighting technology on hand before the crisis, as the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 requires, the administration was clearly caught unprepared.

After the Transocean rig blew up two weeks ago, it turns out the federal government didn’t have a single fire boom on hand in the Gulf to enable a controlled burn of the oil slick, according to The Press-Register of Mobile, Alabama. Instead, the government quickly purchased the only fire boom that an Illinois-based manufacturer had in stock, and then asked the company to call its customers around the world to see if the U.S. government could borrow their booms.

… Another factor may also have played a role in the failure to properly prepare. Certain environmental groups have long opposed the 1994 federal response plan for the Gulf region that called for burning any oil spill right away.

… I’d say there was a far bigger downside to both humans and animal life from allowing an oil slick that now measures some 130 miles by 70 miles to continue to grow.

That’s 9,100 square miles (70×130), or more than 20 times the size of Hamilton County, Ohio’s 413 square miles, and larger than all of New Jersey’s 8,729 square miles.

Note that it isn’t BP or Transocean that is required to have “actual oil-spill fighting technology on hand.” It’s the federal government.

Let’s be clear. There’s probably nothing unlawful about the unprecedented slate card handout campaign conducted by ORPINO (Ohio Republican Party In Name Only) apparatchiks at Ohio polling locations yesterday — even with what appears to have been substantial out-of-state help.

While it’s not illegal, it’s certainly revealing.

The “revealing” part is that ORPINO can no longer pretend to claim to trust its own voters. No; Ohio GOP voters must be told, and told, and told, and told how to vote, through endorsements in contested races and an emptying of the Party’s treasury if necessary to ensure that its favored candidates drown out any opposition — especially principled opposition.

The Party has also set a precedent that the other major party may strive to imitate in the general election. ORPINO complaints about SEIU and Organizing For America thugs hanging out in Democrat-heavy and swing precincts, if that’s what comes to pass in November, will ring pretty hollow given the poll-sitting exercise witnessed yesterday.

ORPINO has proven that it deserves the acronym I gave it last fall. It is an organization that is all about its own power … and absolutely, nothing, else. As it currently conducts its operations, its claim to any belief in sensible conservative principles — or even ethics, given its dedication to the political career of Impostor Jon Husted — is a convenient pose, and nothing more.

It would be one thing if this authoritarian organization had something to show Ohio for the way it does business. It does not. It gave us Bob Taft. It gave us Tom Noe. It refused to lift a finger to remove Taft from office. It marginalized primary opposition to Mike DeWine in 2006, when anyone could see he was a sitting duck, and when DeWine would have benefitted from having to get out and defend himself in a contested primary. Also in 2006, it sat by and failed to adequately support primary winners who had beaten candidates they liked better. They’d rather lose than do that (John Kasich, note well).

Now it has declared and “successfully” carried out an all-out war against its center-right activist base, and, in Husted and Attorney General candidate Mike DeWine, given sensible conservative voters (actually, all voters) two completely unacceptable candidates in statewide races. It has sucked any semblance of enthusiasm out of the people it expects to show up for get-out-the-vote efforts in October and November.

Meanwhile, Ohio’s economy slouches towards Mississippi — and we’re not too far from the point where that’s perhaps being unfair to Mississippians. Anyone who thinks ORPINO as currently constituted really cares is kidding themselves.

The Party’s only hope this year is that what launched Mike DeWine’s Senate career in 1994 with Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America happens again — a national wave that is so strong that it drags Ohio Republicans across the finish line (DeWine got only 53% of the vote against pathetic opposition that year). Any success ORPINO has in November will be despite and not because of what it has done, assisted by what the Democratic establishment has done to alienate its own base.

Legitimate sensible conservatives John Kasich, Mary Taylor, and Josh Mandel had better be watching their backs.

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UPDATE: Apathy wins — This year by 77.7% not voting vs. a 22.3% turnout. Four years ago, it was 24.28%. In 1994, it was 33.0%. So much for early voting improving turnout. From here, it seems that the two major parties mostly don’t mind; a smaller electorate is easier to control.

From Australia:

April 28th, 2010

Ten year old Rachel Shardlow of Australia was attacked by a deadly box jellyfish in December. Box jellies are considered to be one of the most venomous creatures in the world. A single sting can be deadly, and Rachel wasn’t just stung. According to CNN, she was completely enveloped by the box jellyfish’s deadly tentacles until she lost consciousness.

Which is why doctors and scientists are shocked that several months later she’s relatively fine.

In and interview with Australia’s ABC news, zoology professor Jamie Seymour called Rachel’s injuries “horrific.” He continued to say, “usually when you see people who have been stung by box jellyfish with that number of tentacle contacts on their body, it’s usually in the morgue.”

According to Seymour, “[he doesn't] know of anybody in the entire literature where we’ve studied this where someone has had such an extensive sting that has survived.” In short, Rachel is a medical mystery, and more than a bit of a miracle.

Go here for the rest of the story. …

My unofficial count has Tea Party-sympathetic candidates (based on a cross-reference to the MCFAN list) winning 21 of 66 State Central Committee races, though a couple may be too close to call.

The legitimate conservatism and backbone of several of those 21 is questionable, either because of their own questionable pasts or their current actions. Nonetheless, Kevin DeWine et al will have to deal with a vocal minority they won’t be able to totally ignore — a minority that will also more than likely shed a little light on previously blacked-out deliberations.

A second silver lining may be the relatively high percentage of independent voters who turned out. That’s only anecdotal at the moment (e.g., precincts running out of independent ballots while still having plenty of Dem and GOP ballots), and will need further investigation.

Nobody said regaining a legitimate Republican Party, instead of the one we have in Ohio that is In Name Only, will be easy.

Line of the night, from an e-mail:

I’ve not seen Republicans work that hard against democrats.”

Nor have I.

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UPDATE, May 5: Given yesterday’s unprecedented financially wasteful authoritarian tactics, the State Central Committee’s Tea Party minority will not be in the best of moods going in.

UPDATE, May 5, Afternoon: I’ve gone over the SCC races again, and though a couple of races have switched, the Tea Party-sympathetic total is still at 21. I count 12 women and 9 men. You go, girls and guys.

In an e-mail from Seth Morgan:

None of us are happy with the end score, but our effort is no less worthy of praise.

I do my best to live by the rule of not judging success by the final outcome, but through our actions on the journey to get to the final outcome.

Our grade on effort and commitment, thanks to you, is an A+. I’m not one bit ashamed of what we’ve done, nor do I question the wisdom of what we’ve done.

We challenged the establishment in a way they’ve not been challenged for years. And our efforts have started a fire across Ohio. A fire of focus on the principles our Party has claimed to hold dear but has often showed they weren’t serious about.

We must now fan those flames, we must force our leaders to hear from us, time and again.

We will not fail in this endeavor because we cannot fail in this endeavor. The health of Ohio depends on our ability to articulate this vision of limited government, a strict interpretation of the Constitution, and state sovereignty.

Our movement is not about one person – it is about one Nation that needs our active participation in government.

I’m honored by the commitment you have shown to this cause and through that cause your commitment to me.

I thank you for the opportunity to labor beside you and I intend to continue to do so.

This is one battle lost, in a war that must be won – we must learn from our failures but be resolute in our effort for victory.

Yours in service,

Seth A. Morgan, CPA

I’ll support Dave Yost for Auditor in November, but I’ll never concede that he was the better candidate with the better November prospects. Morgan was. In this particular race, ORPINO (the Ohio Republican Party In Name Only) has made it that much harder on itself for the next six months. It has made defeating David Pepper more difficult than it could have been.

As contained in a longer column on Ohio politics by James Hohmann (bolds are mine):

The most fascinating primary is for one of the most obscure offices—state auditor. In that contest, a messy Republican battle has morphed into a proxy fight for the soul of the GOP and a window into the electoral strength of the tea party movement in Ohio.

In an effort to help former Sen. Mike DeWine get the nomination, the state GOP establishment maneuvered Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney David Yost out of the race for attorney general and into the auditor’s contest. But that deal didn’t sit well with tea party activists that had previously supported Yost; the movement largely bucked him after he got the state GOP’s official imprimatur for auditor.

Instead, grassroots conservatives switched sides and went to Seth Morgan, a CPA who is counting on huge turnout in Southwest Ohio, the reddest part of the state.

“It’s been kind of hard to get a read on what turnout will be like,” Morgan said. “If the tea parties do turn out in any sense, then I think we’ll be victorious.”

Yost, meanwhile, touts his endorsement from Kenneth Blackwell, the 2006 Republican gubernatorial nominee and a tea party and conservative favorite.

There are two big misses in Hohmann’s narrative.

His first is that he is vastly underestimating the influence Northeast Ohio will have in the “soul of the GOP” races races this time around. MCFAN in Medina County near Cleveland has been the go-to place for State Central Committee info. The Northeast has at least matched Southwestern Ohio in Tea Party fervor. My eyewitness reports from Tea Party and 9/12 events in NEO indicate that in some ways folks up there are more fired up about handing ORPINO (the Republican Party In Name Only) its hat than the folks in the Southwest. Given the economy Democrats and go-along RINOs have delivered to that part of the Buckeye State during the past 15-plus years, and especially the past two or three, it’s easy to see why.

Hohmann’s second miss is not mentioning the Secretary of State race. The unprecedented ORPINO poll location slate-card handout operation is as much about protecting Jon Husted from an upset victory at the hands of Sandy O’Brien as it is about Yost v. Morgan.

So the question tonight is whether GOP primary voters will save ORPINO from itself, or at least get 5/6 of the way there, leaving unopposed Mike DeWine as the only incorrigible.

I’ve been voting in Ohio for 35 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this.

At the second of the two polling locations I have visited thus far today, an operative from ORPINO (that would be the Ohio Republican Party In Name Only) was there. “Joe,” who looked to be in his mid-20s, was so proud of what he was doing that he wouldn’t tell me his last name, though I told him mine. “Joe” was handing out shiny slate cards promoting ORPINO’s endorsed candidates, as well as the incumbent State Central Committee member they claim to have endorsed but didn’t, at least when such literature and mailings were first created a few weeks ago (they may have endorsed since).

My mission was to hand out literature promoting the candidacies of Thea Shoemake for State Central Committee and Seth Morgan, CPA for State Auditor. I dutifully promoted Morgan as the only CPA on the ballot to voters passing by on their way into the polling place. Apparently this got good ‘ol “Joe’s” goat, as at one point he responded with, “Well, let me tell you about the real Republicans.” ORPINO apparatchik “Joe” appeared to be continually reporting his take on whether a given voter or voters appeared likely to support the party’s candidates over a cell phone or similar data device. This would seem to indicate a heavy and highly coordinated effort involving lots and lots of ORPINO’s peeps (some of whom may have been imported from out of state).

I seriously doubt that “Joe” was working for free, or is taking a day of unpaid vacation.

This ORPINO presence at the polls during a primary is probably unprecedented. I certainly can’t recall anything like it in the 35 years I’ve been voting. The expenditure of financial resources continues to be breathtakingly irresponsible, and should further infuriate John Kasich, Mary Taylor, and Josh Mandel.

The group at this particular location also included Jennifer Black, twin sister of Jean Schmidt, who went on and on with arriving voters as to how wonderful Dave Yost is, and how he has put lots of criminals away. That would be nice if Yost were still running for Attorney General, Jen, but he’s not.

“Joe” figured out that yours truly is the proprietor of this humble little blog, and revealed such when there was a discussion in the group. As I left, I suggested that he avoid using the term “real Republican” in describing his candidates, thereby inferring that Morgan, O’Brien and Shoemake are not. I know ORPINO isn’t big on social conservative things, “Joe,” but there is a Commandment that has to do with telling the truth.

Related: Current reports are that turnout has been very light. My theory is that traditional Republicans might be a bit more likely to vote earlier in the day, and that Tea Party-sympathetic voters are a bit more likely to turn out in the afternoon and early evening after work. In other words, I think this is working to the advantage of Morgan and SOS candidate Sandy O’Brien.

… is socialism.

From Deerfield Beach, Florida:

Apr 27, 2010 8:56 pm US/Eastern

Three-year-old Carter Johnson dressed like his heroes Tuesday to say thank you to the firefighters who saved his life. “Thank you for being there for us,” Carter said, giving high-fives to them.

Last Saturday, Carter was playing on his quad, that’s a motorized toy car, and got too close to the pool.

“I ride my quad around the pool and I went in the pool,” Carter said. “And I was going under water. ”

“I saw the quad sitting in the pool,” recalled his father Phil Johnson. “And Carter was floating right about where that blue thing is right there,” he continued, pointing to the middle of the pool.

Phil was away for just a split second, answering the phone, when he saw his son under water. He dove in, began CPR and ran with his son to his neighbor for help.

“I heard a blood curdling scream of my name as Phil came down the street with Carter in his arms,” said Jason White. White happens to be a Palm Beach County Fire Fighter.

He got to work fast as Carter was not breathing and turning blue. “I knew we had a viable patient and I was going to get him back or die trying,” vowed White.

“I knew if I went running out of the house yelling,” said Phil, tearing up as he remembered, “somebody would respond and thank god Jason was home to save my son.” …

Go here for the rest of the story.