FightTheSmears.com II, now playing at AttackWatch.com — How unpresidential, and how typical.

Related: Hot Air (“Obama’s Snitch Central”); Michelle Malkin (“Obama launches another snitch police squad”)

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To the list of heartless radical conservatives who have declared Social Security a Ponzi scheme in the past we can add the one, the only … Paul Krugman (HT to an emailer).

Update: Also add Chris Matthews and Tim Russert to that list.

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Retail sales were flat in August vs. expectations ranging from +0.2% (Bloomberg) +0.3% (WSJ), while July was revised down from +0.5% to +0.3%. “Unexpectedly,” of course.

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From Freedom Works (related AP story) — “Yet another federal judge — this one in Pennsylvania — has ruled that the individual mandate in President Obama’s health care overhaul is unconstitutional.” Of course it is.

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QE3 = “Operation Twist“:

Everyone is speculating that the Federal Reserve’s next move is “Operation Twist,” an effort to lower long-term interest rates by flattening the yield curve. The Fed would accomplish this by buying long-term Treasury securities and selling short-term bills.

I’m liking the name “Operation Twisted Misters” — as in Bernanke and Geithner.

We are in so much trouble.

Those of us who remember the epic OH-02 special election battle featuring Democrat Paul Hackett vs. Republican Jean Schmidt in the summer of 2005 saw a lot of parallels in the NY-09 special election between Republican Bob Turner and Democrat David Weprin conducted yesterday — but not in the final result.

In each case, it was supposed to be a safe district for the incumbent party. OH-02 has been Republican since 1964. NY-09 had been held by Democratic demagogues like Chuck Schumer, Anthony Weiner, and others since 1923.

OH-02 was supposed to be a referendum on the popularity of George W. Bush and the Iraq War, even though Democrat Hackett pretended to be an Iraq War supporter in his ads on the home front while cursing the commander in chief in front of out-of-town supporters and reporters. NY-09 was a referendum primarily on the performance of Barack Obama, especially on the economy.

Note how I’m using the past tense in NY-09. That’s because, unlike in OH-02, where Republican Schmidt held on to win by a 3-point margin, Bob Turner last night broke the Democrat stranglehold on NY-09 and won, by a convincing margin (54-46 with 86% of the district counted). (Update: The New York Daily News’s headline: “Turner Trounces Weprin In NY-9 Showdown”)

Democrats declared that Hackett’s close OH-02 loss obtained under obviously false pretenses supposedly meant that the Iraq War was unpopular and that “no Republican seat is safe.” Today they claim that Turner’s historic win achieved without equivocation on where he stands and what he believes doesn’t mean much.

The heck it doesn’t. It’s a direct rebuke to the President and his party, and a huge win refuting the claim that a candidate’s Tea Party sympathies represent a liability.

If Democrats can’t win in NY-09, they may not be guaranteed of congressional wins anywhere. One would expect that they will have to dedicate significant resources to holding districts they would normally be able to leave alone.

From Logan, Utah (“amazing video” at link):

September 13, 2011 7:45 AM

A fiery rescue in Utah was caught on tape Monday.

A car hit a motorcycle in Logan. The bike slid under the car, trapping the rider under the car as flames burst out.

Grad student Chris Garff, who shoots video of lectures and school events for Utah State University, happened to be there when it happened, and began getting the scene on video.

Half a dozen people tried the lift the blazing BMW.

“We were cheering them on, like ‘Get that car up! Get that guy outta there!” Garff says.

No luck.

Then, a flood of people swarmed the car and crane it managed to lift it into the air.

A construction worker dragged the limp body from under the 4,000 pounds of steel.

“It felt like he was motionless for a very, very long. It felt like forever,” Garff says. “I thought he was a goner.”

But then, as one witness described it, “He’s moving! No freakin’ way!”

The man, 21, was rushed to a hospital where, police say, he’s in stable condition with broken bones and minor burns. …

Go here for the full story and the video.

It would appear that there is a reason beyond alleged “journalistic integrity” why the New York Times hasn’t pulled its error-riddled, only partially corrected mid-August story by Eric Lichtblau (“A Businessman in Congress Helps His District and Himself”) about California Republican Congressman Darrell Issa.

Issa has identified 13 serious errors in the Times story, the cumulative effect of which, in the words of Powerline’s John Hinderaker several weeks ago, show the story to be “nothing but lies and fabrications … (which) never should have been published.” The Times has corrected three. Though it appears to be dead wrong on the other ten, it hasn’t given any further quarter and won’t pull the story. Its Public Editor, as Clay Waters at NewsBusters noted, has found Issa’s request for a retraction “troubling.”

What’s really troubling is that it appears that the Times’s intransigence is from all appearances the result of a coordinated effort to neutralize Issa. That isn’t how an early Tuesday report at The Hill (“Rep. Issa hit with ethics allegations”) described it, but it’s impossible to escape the implications:

A liberal advocacy group is filing an ethics complaint against Rep. Darrell Issa, alleging that the California Republican has repeatedly used his public office for personal gain.

The group, American Family Voices, is planning to file the complaint with the House Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) on Tuesday.

The five-page complaint, which was obtained by The Hill, accuses Issa of using his position as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to add to his multimillion-dollar fortune.

An Issa spokesman on Monday said the allegations have absolutely no merit and are part of a smear campaign spearheaded by the White House.

The complaint alleges that Issa pressured the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to halt an investigation of Goldman Sachs shortly after he bought a huge stake in one of Goldman’s high-yield mutual funds.

It also claims Issa used his authority to improperly defend Merrill Lynch, a firm with “which he has a significant financial interest,” the document states.

“In fact and in appearance, Rep. Issa has repeatedly — and impermissibly — used his public position to promote his private financial interests,” Mike Lux, president of American Family Voices, wrote in a letter to former Reps. Porter Goss (R-Fla.) and David Skaggs (D-Colo.), co-chairmen of the OCE.

A spokesman for Issa said the complaint is part of an effort orchestrated by the White House to discredit its critics.

“This complaint is entirely without merit. The White House has used an assortment of outside progressive groups in an effort to attack Oversight and Chairman Issa directly. This is just their latest salvo in an ongoing effort to obstruct oversight,” said Frederick Hill, Issa’s spokesman.

So American Family Voices (AFV; press release here) is using a story which should never have been published to file an ethics complaint which should never have been brought so that the congressman who is hot on the trail of the Gunwallker and other Obama administration can have his credibility and integrity dragged through the mud.

Again, in case it’s not clear, the Times’s refusal to pull its story seems to be based on the need to provide a basis for AFV’s complaint than on dogged defense of the truth.

And who is AFV? No surprise here:

American Family Voices serves as an umbrella group that helps fund a broad network of organizations – including civil rights, environmental, women’s rights, consumer advocacy and health care organizations, and multi-issue think tanks – and build their infrastructure, both in the field and in communications.

We also fill gaps in the progressive movement by conducting research and providing strategic messaging and public relations work that nobody is doing, which helps to drive new media stories.

AFV’s somewhat dated Projects page indicates that it is the driving force behind Health Care for America Now (HCAN) and “the Progressive Donor Network.” And though I wouldn’t want to mistake by confusing people with the same names, AFV’s board is from all appearances “progressively” connected.

Powerline’s Hinderaker described the situation perfectly in a Tuesday post:

This is how the Left operates: they pay for lies to be published, and then demand investigations on the basis of those lies.

… The word “corruption” is often tossed around in connection with politics, generally wrongly. In my opinion, this story illustrates the real corruption that infects our public life.

Indeed.

Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org.

The August Monthly Treasury Statement released by the government today reveals that Uncle Sam ran a $134.2 billion deficit in August. That figure was $44.7 billion, or 48%, higher than the $90.5 billion deficit seen in August 2010. The year-over-year deficit increase occurred because outlays increased by 19% to over $303 billion, while receipts went up by 3% to $169 billion.

Gee, that wasn’t difficult to express, was it? But it was apparently too difficult for the Associated Press’s Martin Crutsinger to communicate to his readers. Of the eight figures and percentages noted in the opening paragraph, only one — the August 2011 deficit — appears in his report.

Crutsinger’s defense may be that he wanted to concentrate on year-to-date figures. But that objection, if raised, rings hollow, given that he wasted several paragraphs falsely rehashing the past decade’s fiscal history while completely failing to explain why spending continues to increase even though the 2009-2010 stimulus program is supposedly over.

Here are excerpts from Crutsinger’s Tuesday afternoon report (bolds and numbered tags are mine):

Federal deficit totaled $1.23T through August

The federal budget deficit reached $1.23 trillion in August. The third straight $1 trillion-plus deficit adds pressure on Congress and the White House to reach agreement on a long-term plan to trim government spending. [1]

The Treasury Department said the deficit grew by $134.2 billion last month. At that rate, [2] the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects the deficit will total $1.28 trillion when the budget year ends in September. That would nearly match last year’s $1.29 trillion imbalance and come in below the record $1.41 trillion hit in fiscal 2009. [3]

… Interest on the debt is the fastest growing category of the budget, according to the Treasury report. Payments totaled $233 billion through August, up 15 percent from the same period a year ago.

Revenues totaled $2.06 trillion through August, up 7.6 percent from a year ago. Tax receipts have increased as more people have gone back to work. Government spending totaled $3.3 trillion through August, an increase of 3.8 percent from the same period in 2010. [4]

… Obama has also recommended a series of tax hikes to pay for his $447 billion job-creation proposal. [5] He wants Congress to limit itemized deductions for charitable contributions and other deductions taken by families making over $250,000 a year, close loopholes for oil and gas companies, [6] change the tax treatment of corporate jets and require investment fund managers to pay higher taxes on certain income.

… The government last recorded a budget surplus in 2001, when revenues were $127 billion greater than spending. The surpluses were expected to total $5.6 trillion over the next decade. [7]

But the deficits grew again after President George W. Bush won approval for broad tax cuts … [8]

Higher spending on unemployment insurance and food stamps, and a sharp contraction in tax revenues, widened the deficit. And it grew even more after the Obama administration backed a $787 billion stimulus program [4] to boost the economy.

Notes:

• [1] — Why this situation hasn’t put pressure on President Obama to refrain from new spending initiatives — especially of the type that did not work the first time around — is unexplained.
• [2] — “At that rate” of $134 billion per month, the deficit will be well over the number Crutsinger identified. The words weren’t needed.
• [3] — As explained previously (go here for the original methodology write-up), in fiscal 2009 the government recognized huge losses relating to TARP investments before they actually occurred or could reasonably be predicted. This was designed to dump all of the bad news into that year and to artificially create an impression of spending control in future years. In fiscal 2010, the government “discovered” that its losses wouldn’t be so large to the tune of $115 billion, and arbitrarily reduced outlays by that amount. A similar smaller such adjustment has also occurred in fiscal 2011. A graphic showing an adjusted rundown yearly receipts, spending and deficits is here. Unsurprisingly, it shows that spending has increased significantly in every fiscal year since 2007.
• [4] — If the stimulus spending is done, all other things being equal, spending should have decreased by $393 billion, or about half of the two-year, $787 billion cost of the stimulus plan. But spending has continued to climb. Crutsinger never explains why. The truth is, again as seen at this graphic, that spending increased by 30% from fiscal 2007 to 2010, and is on track to increase yet again this year.
• [5] — Only in AP Land could $447 in current spending be “paid for” with tax increases spread over 10 years. Someone who knows Crutsinger should ask to borrow money for lunch, tell him they’ll “pay him back” slowly over 10 years, and record his reaction. Let me know if he says “yes”; I’ll be right over.
• [6] — Unless I’m missing something, what I’ve learned about the so-called “oil company loopholes” is that they represent legitimate out-of-pocket business expenses that any business would expect to be able to deduct from revenue to arrive at taxable income. If anyone can demonstrate that this is not the case, I want to hear about it.
• [7] — The $5.6 trillion in “expected” surpluses was a CBO projection which failed to recognize the Internet bubble which was already well under way when the report was released. It was obviously bogus the day it was published, and remains so over a decade later.
• [8] — This is so tired. As shown numerous times, in the four years after the “Bush tax cuts” of 2003 were enacted, federal receipts increased by 44%. Blaming the tax cuts for “lost revenue” assumes economic behavior would have been the same during those years if the cuts hadn’t been enacted, which is ridiculous.

The bottom line is that, as so many predicted when it happened, the Obama administration used the stimulus to increase the government’s spending baseline to the point where any suggestion that outlays should be reduced to below $300 billion a month is considered outrageous — even though the government was spending less than $230 a month just four years ago. You’ll never see Martin Crutsinger or anyone else at the AP acknowledge that basic truth.

Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org.

At Right Scoop: “Ron Paul blames US foreign policy for 9/11 attacks.”

He got booed. He deserved it.

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And here I thought Rick Perry said “I was wrong, I am sorry” about Gardasil. Michelle Malkin (here and here) disagrees. She makes several good points.

I get the concerns, especially since Perry and his peeps seem to be spinning instead of just saying flat-out that he was wrong, he’s sorry, and he wouldn’t do anything like it again.

The one thing on which I’m not going to give Gardasil opponents any quarter is the idea that it is “unproven” or “dangerous,” specifically Michelle’s contention that:

… Perry rushed to mandate the Merck-pushed order less than 8 months after it had received FDA approval. Clinical trial and safety data was extremely limited at the time.

What, now we have to wait until years AFTER the FDA approves a drug to have any confidence about its safety?

C’mon. Anyone following the FDA should know that it takes way too long to approve good drugs, and that many drugs deserving approval never get it. My late father as well as another family member have worked in the pharma industry, so I also have some indirect but solid knowledge of what a ridiculous process getting FDA approval really is. The contention that the FDA lets drugs go when “clinical trial and safety data” is “limited” just doesn’t wash.

If you don’t want your kid to receive Gardasil or any other drug based on higher principles, that’s fine — in fact, it’s your obligation as a parent to follow those principles — but please don’t hide behind the supposedly “unproven” safety of the drug. (I will concede the possibility of synergistic issues between multiple vaccines, but unless someone has info to the contrary, Gardasil hasn’t been shown to be any more vulnerable to that problem than any other vaccine.)

That said, Perry is weakening himself needlessly. He just needs to say “I was wrong, I am sorry, I won’t do it or anything like it again, period” — and mean it.

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“Poverty” as measured by the Census Bureau went way up in 2010 (from 14.3% of the population to 15.1%) after going way up in 2009 (from 13.2% to 14.3%), thanks to the POR (Pelosi-Obama-Reid) Economy, more recently characterized as the Fear-Based Economy.

“Poverty” is in quotes for a couple of reasons. First, the Census Bureau’s primary measurement doesn’t take most “noncash” government benefits, like traditional welfare, food stamps, and I believe Earned Income Credit, into account. Second, as Heritage has frequently pointed out (today’s example here), “poor” in America would be considered pretty impressive in most of the rest of the world, based on the household appliances, other conveniences, gadgets, and toys many poor families own.

Nonetheless, the Census Bureau’s “poverty” measurement and its median income data (2008 to 2009 drop, 3.4%; 2009 to 2010 drop, 2.3%) are meaningful year-to-year comparables which show just how badly the economic situation of millions of Americans deteriorated during the two years Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, and Harry Reid had exclusive control of the executive and legislative branches. The slide will probably continue as long as Reid’s Senate and Obama have effective veto control over anything resembling sensible fiscal policy.

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At The Hill (“Axelrod: ‘We’re not in a negotiation’ on Obama $447B jobs package”):

“Obama’s top political adviser David Axelrod said Tuesday that the administration was unwilling to break up the president’s $447 billion jobs plan if Republicans were only receptive to passing certain elements.”

… It’s not an a la carte menu. It’s a strategy to get this country moving,” Axelrod said Tuesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Fine, David. The whole thing is indigestible on arrival.

Remember this the next time anyone on the left suggests that they’re looking for bipartisanship.

President Obama is visiting Ohio today to “promote” his “jobs plan” (“promote” is the word in the Associated Press headline).

What he’s promoting is really a bill which is Stimulus II funded almost entirely with tax increases. Ron Bonjean at US News describes the “Jobs Plan” as a vehicle which “has turned into (a) cynical maneuver that is no longer focused on creating jobs, but on scoring campaign points.”

Though I don’t have the list of those Mr. Obama plans to meet, I suspect Buckeye State Governor John Kasich is not among them. That’s a shame.

Under Kasich, according to the government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, Ohio has added 79,000 seasonally adjusted jobs during the first seven months of this year, while the U.S. has gained 872,000. If the entire country was adding jobs at Ohio’s rate, that number would be over 2 million.

Instead of promoting a misnamed “jobs plan,” Kasich & Co. are promoting job creation and economic growth without tax increases while controlling state spending. Though it’s still far too early in the fiscal year to break out the party favors, as seen in the State’s August Budget Report (fairly large PDF obtainable here), Ohio’s tax receipts during the past two months are up by over 11% compared to the same two months a year ago (2% ahead of budget), while spending (including interagency transfers) is down by 6% (2.8% below budget).

Too bad for the rest of the U.S. that the President won’t consider doing at a federal level what Kasich & Co. are doing in Ohio — which is why Mr. Kasich’s pointed response several months ago to a presidential complaint remains on target today:

Kasich (internal link added by me):

… I was Chairman of the (U.S. House) Budget Committee and was the chief architect of the last time we balanced the budget.

And here in Ohio, we, we have balanced our budget here, under the budget that we have presented, along with preserving the tax cut.

The President of the United States has I think a $13 trillion debt. Why doesn’t he do his job? And when he does his job and gets our budget balanced and starts to prepare a future for our children, then maybe he can have an opinion on what’s going on in Ohio.

The President hasn’t done that, and has since shown himself to be the principal obstacle to doing that.

The national debt is now over $14.7 trillion.

From Christchurch, New Zealand:

Sep 2, 2011 / 01:50 am

Catholics in Christchurch, New Zealand drew inspiration from a recent Divine Mercy Congress as they work to rebuild from a series of devastating earthquakes that have hit the country in the last year.

“The blessings and graces which all received at the congress have and will continue to inspire all those who attended to greater acts and greater works of mercy in their homes, workplaces, and missionary endeavors,” Pat Barrett, national coordinator for the event, told CNA on Sept. 1.

“This is particularly important right here now in Christchurch,” he added, “which has suffered exceptional losses and destruction over the past 12 months.”

Since Sept. 2010, four major earthquakes and over 7,000 aftershocks have shaken the city and “reduced its center to a demolition site,” Barrett said.

Over 200 people have been killed in the series of quakes and 27,000 have left the city permanently. More than 5,000 damaged homes need to be razed to the ground, “to say nothing of the 900 plus city buildings that will have to be demolished,” he said.

The New Zealand Apostolic Congress, which was held at the local St. Bede’s College from Aug. 26-28, was launched under the title “Divine Mercy – God’s Gift for our Time.” The event began with a Votive Mass of Divine Mercy, celebrated by Bishop Barry Jones of the Christchurch diocese.

Bishop Jones was accompanied by Archbishop Alapati L. Mataeliga of Samoa and Fr. Patrice Chocholski, Secretary General for the World Apostolic Congress on Mercy and parish priest in Lyon, France.

“Fr. Patrice Chocholski has traveled around the globe over the past three years, visiting every continent, and attending every national and regional congress and encouraging all to greater trust in Divne Mercy and greater works as servants for the Lord, ” Barrett said. “He spoke of the need for modern witnesses to Divine Mercy in a world infused by hate, revenge, and self.” …

Go here for the rest of the story.

Via Mark Tapscott at the Washington Examiner (HT Doug Ross), an explanation of how the government stops billions of dollars in economic growth while preventing hundreds of thousands of jobs from being created:

Now here is an example of a REAL multiplier effect which is being cut off by bureaucratic sloth which, if it isn’t deliberate, might as well be.

While waiting for Glenn Beck TV’s debut to come up on my computer, which is not going to happen …

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Michelle Malkin: “Fast and Furious update: More guns, more stonewall.” But “squeaky clean, scandal-free.” (/sarc)

Ed Driscoll at Pajamas Media: “The Beauty of Social Insurance Is that It Is Actuarially Unsound” — Wherein we learn that characterizing Social Security as a Ponzi scheme was once seen by liberal economists as a feature, not a bug.

Klavan on the Culture at Pajamas Media: “The ‘War on Terror’ Is All About God.” The PC police won’t like that.

At the Associated Press: “TechCrunch founder leaving AOL-owned blog.” He tried to start up a tech venture fund while retaining the ability to review tech products and services. Sensible people objected. That this was even considered is a bad reflection on AOL management and TechCrunch’s founder.

Eleanor Clift objects to our “obsessive focus” on terrorism since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. What an ingrate: Although a strong case can be made for controlling home security-related spending, 39 terror plots have been foiled since 9/11 because of this “obsessive focus.”

Max Boot at The Weekly Standard: “Losing Iraq?” If we do, it’s all on Obama. Every bit of it.

The question: Why did the White House turn down IBM’s offer of free assistance to the federal government whose objective would have been to rid or vastly reduce fraud in the government’s health care programs?

The offer, as shown in the video’s first three minutes, was indeed made (HT to an emailer):

Why wasn’t it accepted?

Related question: When the offer was made, why did the press not cover it (as demonstrated in the lack of relevant results obtained in this search and this search?

From Jonnelle Marte at SmartMoney.com (“Ten Things Social Security Won’t Tell You”; comments after quotes are mine):

1. “Long-term deficit? We can hardly afford our bills today.” Short-term deficits too: To the tune of $40 billion-plus during each of the past two years. Supposedly, after a brief hiatus of a few years at $20 billion or so, they’re going to increase over time to $100 billion or so per year. I’m not convinced that we’ll see the hiatus.
2. “The more you make, the less you get back. … ‘People act like the percentage of benefits of your salary you get is the same for everyone and it really isn’t,’ says Jo Anne Barnhart, former Social Security Commissioner.” That’s because you don’t want people to know, because if they did, support for the program would vanish. Some of us have been blogging this basic truth for, oh, six years or so. Bottom line: Social Security is already means-tested.
3. “This used to be a much better deal.” In their early stages, Ponzi schemes typically are.
4. “Want a bigger check? Go back to work.” All other things being equal, your monthly benefit if you wait until age 70 to begin taking benefits in the current system will over 60% higher than if begin taking benefits at age 62. Of course, that assumes the system as it currently is lasts, which is dicey to say the least.
5. “Good luck qualifying for disability. … Only 30% who applied in 2009 were awarded benefits, down from 44% in 1999, according to agency data.” That’s actually encouraging, given that a lot of new apps are likely from people who’d rather figure out how to get on disability than find new work.
6. “You can be unemployed and retired.” This means you can collect unemployment benefits and collect Social Security, based on rules in effect in your state.
7. “Your Social Security number is no state secret. … Researchers were able to accurately guess the first five digits of 44% of Social Security numbers issued after 1988 on the first try, just by using the date and the state the number was issued in; they were able to guess the complete numbers almost 9% of the time.”
8. “We think you’re dead. … Of the 2.8 million deaths the Social Security Administration reports each year, about 14,000 people added to the Death Master File are very much alive, according to agency statistics.” That’s a 0.5% error rate — too high, given what’s at stake.
9. “If you make too much, we’ll tax your benefits. … Some 42% of pre-retirees surveyed by the Financial Literacy Center did not know that benefits could be taxed if their income in retirement exceeded a certain amount.” Oh, yes they can. 50% or 85% of your benefits can be subject to taxation if your income under a special definition from other sources is greater $25,000 (single) or $32,000 (married filing jointly) — amounts that have been the same since the early 1990s. When this first went into effect in the mid-1980s (a bipartisan move), it broke a key promise of Social Security since its inception. This is another example of how Social Security is already means-tested.
10. “Your cost-of-living adjustments come up short.” Maybe over the long haul, but not during the most recent three years. The November 2008 adjustment based on earlier that year’s price level was artificially high because it was when we first say $4 a gallon gas. Even though the cost of living came down substantially in 2009 and 2010, benefit levels stayed put. They will probably get back to equilibrium when November’s adjustment is announced..

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At the Washington Post, by Stephen F. Hayes (“Five myths about Dick Cheney”):

1. Dick Cheney ran the Bush administration.
2. Cheney is a neocon.
3. Cheney has never admitted a mistake regarding Iraq.
4. Cheney has never gotten along with the press.
5. Cheney favored a strong executive branch to expand his own power base.

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Via Jeff Dunetz at NewsRealBlog (“Six Violent Acts Committed by Unions”), reordered by me:

• The Haymarket Square Incident, May 1886 — “the initial deadly violence came from the unions.”
• 1905 The Assassination of former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg — By a professional hit man, SIX years after Steunenberg, a Democrat, supposedly “betrayed” labor by declaring martial law after “250 striking union miners seized a train in Burke, Idaho and drove it to the site of a mill for the Bunker Hill mine. There, the union miners set off three thousand pounds of dynamite, destroying the mill. Two men were killed, one of them a non-union miner, another a union man accidentally shot by other union miners.” A jury acquitted the assassins. President Theodore Roosevelt believed that it was a result of intimidation.
• Pittston Coal strike April 5, 1989 to February 20, 1990 — “This long strike was declared by none other than Richard Trumka, who back then was the president of the United Mine Workers. … (a judge declared that ‘the evidence shows beyond any shadow of a doubt that violent activities are being organized, orchestrated and encouraged by the leadership of this union.’”
• NY Daily News Strike, October 25th 1990 — “Delivery trucks have been bombed and torched, and their drivers have been beaten.”
• “The assault of Kenneth Gladney was the first act of violence at any tea party rally and there were others, none of which were initiated by the Tea Party itself. Unions spent much of the remainder of the Obamacare hearings showing up at rallies and intimidating people who disagreed with socialized medicine.”
• The Murder of Eddie York — “As head of the United Mine Workers, (current AFL-CIO head Richard) Trumka ordered a nationwide strike against Peabody Coal in 1993. On July 22, a non-union worker, Eddie York, was shot in the back of the head and killed as he attempted to pass striking coal workers. Picketers continued to throw rocks after York was shot, preventing his would-be rescuers from assisting.”

My impression is that this list is very incomplete. Trumka is responsible for a lot of it.

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Finally, a “list” of one, from Phyllis Chessler at Pajamas Media (“What to Say to the Totalitarian Left on 9/11/11″), specifically, the one feminist principle which rises above all others:

I have simply decided that Western democratic and secular ideals and (imperfect) practices must be extended universally, that the survival, dignity, and freedom of women and intellectuals depend upon this.