The Audacity of Socialism

Investor Business Daily with a series on Obamamania's socialist background and governing tendencies.

Today Part 7 on Reparations

Election '08: Barack Obama says Washington shouldn't just offer apologies for slavery, but also "deeds." Don't worry, he says, he's not talking about direct reparations. Relieved? Don't be.

'I consistently believe that when it comes to . . . reparations," Obama recently told a gathering of minority journalists, "the most important thing for the U.S. government to do is not just offer words, but offer deeds."

A few days later, he clarified his remarks, saying he's not calling for direct cash payments to descendents of slaves, but rather indirect aid in the form of government programs that will "close the gap" between what he sees as white America and black America.

He says government should offer "universal" programs — such as universal health care, universal mortgage credits, college tuition, job training and even universal 401(k)s — that "disproportionately affect people of color."

In other words, reparations by another name.

The Big "O"

If the cult of Obama hasn't nauseated you enough already... well, you're also probably having those same, bland, orgasms during sex.

From the Huffington Post

Barack Obama is inspiring us like a desert lover, a Washington Valentino. We who have felt apathetic, angry at two (likely) stolen elections, K-Street hegemony, the "pornography of the trivial"* in journalism and culture; we who are heartbroken over a war we knew was wrong, we who thought (especially after Baby Bush got in a 2nd time) that America got what it asked for; we who stopped wanting to participate 'cause it doesn't matter whether we do or don't; we have a crush. We're talking about it; we're getting involved, we're tuning in and turning out in numbers we haven't seen in ages. My musician friends and I are writing songs to inspire people and couples all over America are making love again and shouting "yes we can" as they climax!

The Obamanation need to get this in a campaign ad. Instead of a chicken in every pot, you get a big "O".

Maybe John Edwards can claimed it inspired him.

Oh really?

I always find it hilarious when liberals coming running in with information we conservatives already knew in the first place.

Apparently, liberals are now realizing that John Edwards is a scumbag.

From Kirsten Powers....

JOHN Edwards "shocked" the political world yesterday by admitting he'd cheated on his wife of 30 years with a campaign aide, Rielle Hunter.

If it looks like a phony, walks like a phony, quacks like a phony, it's a phony.

There's nothing particularly shocking about a politician cheating, and there's even less shock in learning that Edwards has been lying through his teeth about his own affair. In fact, we should assume that his detailed timeline about the affair is likely just another lie.

Has a conservative mentioned to Kirsten that The Billary are narcissists.

What's he talking about?

Betsy Newmark on the Obamas' sense of history.

Occasionally, Obama has indicated that he has a weak sense of American history. He didn’t seem to know that the Cold War was not a time when the world was standing as one. He didn’t know the history of presidential summits and seems to think that FDR and Truman met with our nation’s enemies. He didn’t know how the Nuremberg Trials worked. And I’m not even talking about his mistake that Americans liberated Auschwitz.

But I think his remark when the little girl asked him why he decided to run for president and he gave this response.

“America is …, uh, is no longer, uh … what it could be, what it once was. And I say to myself, I don’t want that future for my children.”

As you watch the video, it’s clear that he formed his words carefully and was thinking about how to answer the little girl.

I’m wondering when is the time that Obama thinks that we were what we could be. It couldn’t have been when we had slavery. So that takes us to 1865. It couldn’t be when we had states divided by terrible Jim Crow laws that segregated society and disenfranchised an entire race. So that takes us to the mid-1960s. It probably wasn’t when we were divided and torn apart by the Vietnam War and racial violence. So that takes us to the 1970s. I doubt that it was when we were suffering devastating stagflation and seeing our hostages being paraded in front of the cameras. So that takes us to 1980. We’re left with the Reagan-Bush years. Is Obama yearning for Morning in America? Many conservatives remember that period with nostalgia; does Obama share that feeling? No, certainly not the 1980s, that decade of greed.

Or is he talking about the Clinton years? Was that the time when we were what we could be? Why then run against Hillary Clinton? And that was a time when we were supposedly being divided by bitter partisanship. Is he yearning for the time when the Republicans controlled Congress? The days of impeachment? Or is he thinking about when we had our heads in the sand regarding the growing development of Al Qaeda terrorism? If that was the one period in our time when we were what we could be, then wouldn’t he have wanted to put that team back in the White House? And we know that he isn’t talking about the Bush years. So what was he talking about?

More....

Obamamania - Catch it

Another nice red-blue comparison

The Tax Foundation has come out with a list of state and local tax burdens by state.

New Jersey 11.8%
New York 11.7
Connecticut 11.1
Maryland 10.8
Hawaii 10.6
California 10.5
Ohio 10.4
Vermont 10.3
Wisconsin 10.2
Rhode Island 10.2

Now take a look at the lowest.

Arizona 8.5%
Louisiana 8.4
Texas 8.4
Tennessee 8.3
South Dakota 7.9
New Hampshire 7.6
Florida 7.4
Wyoming 7.0
Nevada 6.6
Alaska 6.4

Anyone want to challenge the growth rates between these two groups of states? I'm also seeing a tinge of blue shading on the top group with the bottom group more of a red hue.

What's so "progressive" about high tax rates?

HT to taxprof

The party of free speech

From the NY Times

Nearly 10,000 of the biggest donors to Republican candidates and causes across the country will probably receive a foreboding “warning” letter in the mail next week.

The letter is an opening shot across the bow from an unusual new outside political group on the left that is poised to engage in hardball tactics to prevent similar groups on the right from getting off the ground this fall.

Led by Tom Matzzie, a liberal political operative who has been involved with some prominent left-wing efforts in recent years, the newly formed nonprofit group, Accountable America, is planning to confront donors to conservative groups, hoping to create a chilling effect that will dry up contributions.

“We want to stop the Swift Boating before it gets off the ground,” said Mr. Matzzie, who described his effort as “going for the jugular.”

The warning letter is intended as a first step, alerting donors who might be considering giving to right-wing groups to a variety of potential dangers, including legal trouble, public exposure and watchdog groups digging through their lives.

Nothing like a little intimidation from the party of free speech.

No tailgating

Bad news for a Bears fan like me...

The Bears' first preseason game kicks off Thursday night at Soldier Field, and starting this season, some tailgaters are getting booted from the parking lot under new rules for fans.

Now the new policy will get its first test.

As CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports, grilling burgers and beers held high for a toast are a common sight on the parking lots near Soldier Field during game time. But starting Thursday, that's going to change.

The Bears sent out emails to ticket holders on Wednesday stating that, in a move to enhance the fan experience, tailgating during Bears home games will be prohibited.

You mean all those fans will actually be forced to watch Rex Grossman when they could be doing something more productive like getting drunk in the parking lot.

HT interested participant

8/8/08

The Olympics start tonight.

If you want a guide of what to look for follow these notes.

1) Prime Time NBC coverage will include women gymnastics, women gymnastics, women gymnastics, women gymnastics, women gymnastics, swimming, women gymnastics, women gymnastics, women gymnastics, diving, women gymnastics, women gymnastics, women gymnastics exhibition.

2) There will be at least 35 athletes kicked out for doping.

3) There will be at least five references to human rights issues or pollution every night.

4) The US will continue its fine streak in the Track and Field distance races with no medals.

5) Every gold medal winner will be draped in a flag. You know, that was kind of cool when Bruce Jenner did it in 1976; not so cool now.

6) You won't see any profiles of athletes who grew up in a great family, trained hard, and won gold. Makes for bad TV.

Don't waste your time, just watch NFL pre season games.

A gift for McCain

A nice piece in the Enquirer regarding a woman who has had John McCain's POW bracelet.

"I wore that bracelet for a long time and after he came home, I kept it in a box," Karl said.

"I always intended to return it to him but just never got around to it. Now I can."

Karl was one of millions of Americans in the early 1970s who obtained bracelets from a national POW/MIA organization. Each had the name of a prisoner of war or missing serviceman and the date he was captured or went missing.

Many of them have presented the returning POWs - or their surviving family - with the bracelets they wore to honor their sacrifice.

The bracelet Karl wore is etched with his name and rank - Lt. Cmdr. John McCain - and the date of his capture, Oct. 26, 1967.

McCain was a Navy aviator in October 1967 when his plane was shot down over North Vietnam.

McCain was badly injured in the crash and was held prisoner for the next 5½ years, during which time he was frequently tortured and beaten.

He was released in March 1973.

Karl said she remembers watching the television reports when McCain arrived back in the U.S.

Top 20 albums of all time

Here's a guy who's come up with the top 20 albums of all time. He's got a statistical measurement based on sales, grammy's, staying power.

His top 20....

Stevie Wonder	Songs in the Key of Life
Pink Floyd	Dark Side of The Moon
Michael Jackson	Thriller
Led Zeppelin	Physical Graffiti
The Beatles	Abbey Road
Led Zeppelin	IV
The Beatles	The White Album
Eagles	Hotel California
Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin
Metallica	Metallica
U2	The Joshua Tree
Pink Floyd	The Wall
Fleetwood Mac	Rumours
Van Halen	Van Halen
Nirvana	Nevermind
Bruce Springsteen	Born In The USA
Led Zeppelin	Houses of the Holy
Prince and the Revolution	Purple Rain
Guns N' Roses	Appetite For Destruction

A nice list for beer conversation.

Blue state - pink slips

Thanks to Tom @ Bizzyblog for the unemployment rates by metro ares.

Take at look at this bad boy.

Of the metro areas with a 9.0%, 10 of 14 are from California. 2 of the 14 are from Michganistan.

Just scan the list and you can see the trend from red-purple-blue as you work your way down to the highest unemployment rates.

What's so "progressive" about unemployment?

Democrats love the Maverick

Wow, maybe the democrats can nominate McCain and conservatives can get a mulligan.

Obamamania - Catch it

America not a model?

My guess is this will show up as a video montage with Rev. Wright, and William Ayers.

The BS One

This is a little old but the Pastor for the church of Global Warming, Al Gore, just bought this boat (Bio Solar One).

Supposedly, the electric on this boat will be generated from solar panels. Pastor Gore is also playing up the fact that the engine will run on bio diesel.

Question.

In what marina will you be able to purchase bio diesel? If you answer none, you can move to the head of the class. The bio diesel will have to be trucked in. How much fuel do you think it will take to haul in the pastor's bio diesel? Probably more than if he would just fill up with regular diesel at the marina.

I'm just guessing but I'm thinking if the world were coming to an end because of carbon emissions, I probably wouldn't own a big ass boat in the first place.

By the way, the updated score for the Global Warming Challenge.

Warm - 220
Cool - 224

Case closed

I watched some of the press conference yesterday about the anthrax mailings and, let me tell you, I'm not impressed.

The whole press conference consisted of not having specific evidence of anything yet the preponderance of the circumstantial evidence indicates that Ivins was the guy.

Yeah, I'm sure Stephen Hatfield and Richard Jewell have great confidence in that finding.

I'm not a conspiracy nut so I can believe in one perpetrator here. But this case would be weak if put in front of the jury. In addition, the WSJ (not exactly the National Enquirer) has a really good analysis of why Ivins couldn't have pulled this off. None of the questions raised in the piece were answered with the press conference.

None the less, case closed and here come the conspiracy nuts.

Red State - Blue State

As I was leaving the gym yesterday, I saw a guy wearing a T-shirt with the '04 red state - blue state map on it (above).

Below the map was the caption.

Blue - United States of America
Red - Dumbfuckistan

Questions for Mr. Liberal.

1) If all those blue states are so wonderful, why are people leaving them in droves?

2) What about the collective wisdom of 115,000 people who have left Cleveland, THIS DECADE. Are they all dumb fucks?

3) How is it that the red states are growing and prosperous in comparison to blue states? Is that the work of a bunch of dumb fucks?

4) Last night, I received a comment saying that the plight of urban America is a direct result of The Bush-Reagan governance. How is it that all these dumb fucks in the south have manage to make their states grow in the face of all things Bush and Reagan?

5) The last I checked, when New York filed bankruptcy, the country and the city were both run by democrats. How is it that the brain trust of liberals couldn't work their way out of it? How is it that Rudy (a republican), made that city work in the face of Bush - Reagan economics?

It's this special combination of ignorance and arrogance that makes your average "progressive" so wonderful to be around and makes our cities so wonderful to leave.

Obamamania - Catch it

Who will he vote for? #78

Meet Robert Huston. Why is Robert in the news?

On December 3, 2007, Robert Huston entered the Family Dollar Store in Ludlow while armed with a handgun and demanded cash from the register. On December 12, 2007 Huston did the same at the Elm Food Mart. On December 15, 2007 Huston then robbed the Country Corner Market, again while armed with a handgun.

In 96 days does Robert here cast his ballot for.....

The Hope and Change policies of one Barack Obama?

The status quo of John McCain?

I think his shirt may give it away.

Obama's crazy supporters

So you're undecided about who to vote for this fall. Watch this video and tell me... "yeah these are the guys I want to party with!"

The Billary still lives

As I've said many times before, The Billary, like Freddy Kreuger will never be over until they take simultaneous silver bullets to the heart.

From the American Thinker who believes they may try an end run on The Messiah at the convention.

Will Hillary outsmart Obama and take the nomination at the last minute?

Many of us familiar with Hillary Clinton's approach to achieving her goals refused to believe that she ever gave up all hope of winning the nomination and the presidency. Her words and actions on the subject of the convention itself always left the door open for a return, should Obama falter or suffer some calamity.

Her artful evasions were enough to lull journalists and (more importantly) Obama and his supporters into the presumption of inevitability. No further rumblings of a mass protest in Denver should the first black candidate be denied his rightful due were heard. After all, he received enough publicly expressed support from super delegates to put him over the top. And he won the popular vote in the primaries, we were assured, lending legitimacy to the super delegates who voiced their support.

Everyone presumed the presumptive nominee was a lock.

Now there are a few signs that Hillary may be making her move.

- Blogger Patterico alludes to the Hillary Clinton campaign burning up the phone lines to the super delegates.

- Bill Clinton told ABC News, "I am not a racist" and contended the race card was played against him. Even when prompted in the same interview to state that Obama was ready for the Presidency, he did not deliver.

- Hillary's PUMA ( short for "Party Unity My A--.") supporters in Denver and nationally plan a rally at a Denver park during the convention.

- ABC news reported yesterday that Hillary Clinton does not rule out putting her name in nomination,contradicting earlier press reports.

Maybe they can use Invesco field for a giant pay for view cage match between the two. It might make for a political convention worth watching.

Pelosi on Energy

Obamamania on energy

Above is Obama's energy plan. I don't see where new energy sources are coming from here. Maybe that's the point.

If you want something even more nebulous, watch a good interview with The Messiah on energy.

HT Brian Thomas

The most overrated postion in sports

If you are a big sports fan, you'll find this piece especially interesting.

From ESPN

We have hyped the closer into a ridiculously over-the-top role. They enter games to fanfare normally reserved for Oprah and pro wrestlers -- heavy metal entrance music is such a clichéd prerequisite that controversies arise over who has the more legitimate claim to a particular song (see Mariano Rivera v. Billy Wagner). When J.J. Putz still was regularly closing games for Seattle, the Mariners played AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" over the loudspeakers while the scoreboard flashed menacing lightning graphics and displayed the current time as "10:03 PDT, Putz Domination Time."

With the American League's worst record, sadly, the Mariners have been unfortunately stuck on stubborn old Pacific Daylight Time this season.

The save is the only situation in which a manager makes his decisions based on a statistic rather than what makes the most competitive sense for his team. The only comparable is when a manager stays with a struggling starter with a big lead so he can get through the fifth inning and qualify for a win, but this occurs rarely. Managers, however, routinely bring in their closers just because it is a "save situation" rather than a situation in which the opponent is truly threatening. It's ridiculous. Managers feel the need to please their closers -- and their closer's agents -- by getting them cheap saves to pad their stats and their bank accounts.

I asked Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon whether the definition for save situations could be improved, and he said no. "A save is what it is. You save the game. It's a situation in which the tying run is at the plate or on deck and the game is on the line."

Well, that's precisely the problem: the very name. "Save" is as misleading a term as "reality television." Closers don't really "save" many games these days, nor is the game really on the line most of the time. Closers merely conclude what is usually a foregone conclusion. By the time the music starts and they charge to the mound to protect a three-run lead, the victory is already all but assured.

Amen brother.

Pennsylvania's "Progressive" City

From the, "You Can't Make This Up" file...

If you are a regular reader, you know how I have fun with the word "progressive". You also know how I call out all of our American cities run by "progressives" for being falling down dumps.

As I was looking through various web sites related to our "Ten Fastest Dying Cities", I ran across the official site for Scranton, PA.

Right on the top of the page...

"Pennsylvania's Progressive City"

Someone please tell me what's so "progressive" about dying?

Fannie Mae and Andrew Cuomo

The conservative paper of record, The Village Voice, lays out the changes made to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by Andrew Cuomo back in the Clinton administration which led to the current meltdown of those companies.

Andrew Cuomo, the youngest Housing and Urban Development secretary in history, made a series of decisions between 1997 and 2001 that gave birth to the country's current crisis. He took actions that—in combination with many other factors—helped plunge Fannie and Freddie into the subprime markets without putting in place the means to monitor their increasingly risky investments. He turned the Federal Housing Administration mortgage program into a sweetheart lender with sky-high loan ceilings and no money down, and he legalized what a federal judge has branded "kickbacks" to brokers that have fueled the sale of overpriced and unsupportable loans. Three to four million families are now facing foreclosure, and Cuomo is one of the reasons why.

What he did is important—not just because of what it tells us about how we got in this hole, but because of what it says about New York's attorney general, who has been trying for months to don a white hat in the subprime scandal, pursuing cases against banks, appraisers, brokers, rating agencies, and multitrillion-dollar, quasi-public Fannie and Freddie.

It all starts, as the headlines of recent weeks do, with these two giant banks. But in the hubbub about their bailout, few have noticed that the only federal agency with the power to regulate what Cuomo has called "the gods of Washington" was HUD. Congress granted that power in 1992, so there were only four pre-crisis secretaries at the notoriously political agency that had the ability to rein in Fannie and Freddie: ex–Texas mayor Henry Cisneros and Bush confidante Alfonso Jackson, who were driven from office by criminal investigations; Mel Martinez, who left to chase a U.S. Senate seat in Florida; and Cuomo, who used the agency as a launching pad for his disastrous 2002 gubernatorial candidacy.

You might be a racist if....

In follow up with the previous post, NRO has a list of ways guys like Bob Herbert can tell if you are a racist....

1.If you think Obama's the most liberal member of the senate you...may be a racist.

2.If you object to Obama raising your payroll, capital gains and estate taxes you...may be a racist.

3.If you'd prefer a president have at least some foreign policy experience you...may be a racist.

4. If you're in favor of drilling for oil and building nuclear power plants you...may be a racist.

5. If you think "Vero Possemus" is Latin for "Massive Ego" you... may be a racist.

6. If you wonder why Obama was hanging around William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn you...may be a racist.

7. If your pastor is nothing like Rev. Wright or Father Pfleger you... may be a racist.

8.If you don't want the majority of justices on the Supreme Court to be like Stephen Breyer you...may be a racist.

9. If you're not impressed with Obama's 100% NARAL rating you...may be a racist.

10. If you're not sure whether Obama opposed or supported FISA reauthorization you...may be a racist.

These guys are loony

You have to watch this exchange between Bob Herbert and Joe Scarborough...

10 fastest dying cities

Forbes magazine just released their 10 fastest dying cities in the US.

Congratulations Ohio, we have four of them; Dayton, Canton, Youngstown and Cleveland, who takes the numero uno spot.

Just out of curiosity, I thought I would would be a good exercise to look at what party actually runs these cities.

Cleveland - democrats
Youngstown - democrats
Canton - democrats
Dayton - democrats
Detroit - democrats
Flint - democrats
Buffalo - democrats
Springfield MA - democrats
Scranton - democrats
Charleston WV - democrats

WOW! Are you catching the trend here?

But don't you fear, once the state gets that 7 paid sick days law established, businesses will start flocking to Ohio cities like manna from heaven.

The Democrats..... Turning America into a shit hole.... one city at a time.

Let's tax Big Soap's windfall profits

P& G announced their quarterly earnings....

The Procter & Gamble Co. today reported profit increased by 33 percent in its fiscal fourth quarter on revenue that was up 10 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

Net income for the quarter was $3 billion, or 92 cents per share, up from $2 billion, or 67 cents per share a year ago. That was on net sales of $21.3 billion, compared with $19.3 billion a year prior. The company's quarter ended June 30,

The company met both its earnings and sales growth targets for the quarter, overcoming a turbulent U.S. economy and skyrocketing commodities costs.

Funny. How is it that Procter's earnings represent 14.1% of sales but ExxonMobil the democratic anti Christ only has a net profit percentage of 8.5%.

Don't tell Lollapelosi & Co., After they kill ExxonMobil they'll be out for "Big Coffee".

Don't vote for Barack

Michelle Obama on her husband's candidacy...

"Don't vote for Barack because you think he's cute or because you like his smile...

Why else would you vote for him?

What is windfall profit?

The WSJ on what exactly is a windfall profit....

The "windfall profits" tax is back, with Barack Obama stumping again to apply it to a handful of big oil companies. Which raises a few questions: What is a "windfall" profit anyway? How does it differ from your everyday, run of the mill profit? Is it some absolute number, a matter of return on equity or sales -- or does it merely depend on who earns it?

Enquiring entrepreneurs want to know. Unfortunately, Mr. Obama's "emergency" plan, announced on Friday, doesn't offer any clarity. To pay for "stimulus" checks of $1,000 for families and $500 for individuals, the Senator says government would take "a reasonable share" of oil company profits.

Mr. Obama didn't bother to define "reasonable," and neither did Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, when he recently declared that "The oil companies need to know that there is a limit on how much profit they can take in this economy." Really? This extraordinary redefinition of free-market success could use some parsing.

Take Exxon Mobil, which on Thursday reported the highest quarterly profit ever and is the main target of any "windfall" tax surcharge. Yet if its profits are at record highs, its tax bills are already at record highs too. Between 2003 and 2007, Exxon paid $64.7 billion in U.S. taxes, exceeding its after-tax U.S. earnings by more than $19 billion. That sounds like a government windfall to us, but perhaps we're missing some Obama-Durbin business subtlety.

Maybe they have in mind profit margins as a percentage of sales. Yet by that standard Exxon's profits don't seem so large. Exxon's profit margin stood at 10% for 2007, which is hardly out of line with the oil and gas industry average of 8.3%, or the 8.9% for U.S. manufacturing (excluding the sputtering auto makers).

If that's what constitutes windfall profits, most of corporate America would qualify. Take aerospace or machinery -- both 8.2% in 2007. Chemicals had an average margin of 12.7%. Computers: 13.7%. Electronics and appliances: 14.5%. Pharmaceuticals (18.4%) and beverages and tobacco (19.1%) round out the Census Bureau's industry rankings. The latter two double the returns of Big Oil, though of course government has already became a tacit shareholder in Big Tobacco through the various legal settlements that guarantee a revenue stream for years to come.

In a tax bill on oil earlier this summer, no fewer than 51 Senators voted to impose a 25% windfall tax on a U.S.-based oil company whose profits grew by more than 10% in a single year and wasn't investing enough in "renewable" energy. This suggests that a windfall is defined by profits growing too fast. No one knows where that 10% came from, besides political convenience. But if 10% is the new standard, the tech industry is going to have to rethink its growth arc. So will LG, the electronics company, which saw its profits grow by 505% in 2007. Abbott Laboratories hit 110%.

If Senator Obama is as exercised about "outrageous" profits as he says he is, he might also have to turn on a few liberal darlings. Oh, say, Berkshire Hathaway. Warren Buffett's outfit pulled in $11 billion last year, up 29% from 2006. Its profit margin -- if that's the relevant figure -- was 11.47%, which beats out the American oil majors.

As Ronald Reagan used to say, if it moves, regulate it; if it keeps moving, tax it; when it quits moving, subsidize it.

Obamamania - Catch it

Hat tip to Doug Ross

Who will he vote for? #57

Meet this handsome gentleman.

You may actually know him as Eddie Van Halen.

Eddie is a textbook example of what lots of drugs and booze do to you.

Now that we can clearly see that Eddie has totally fried his brain from years of drug abuse. I have to ask the question...

Come November, will Eddie vote for....

The man who transcends politics, Barack Obama?

The man who will bring us eight more years of George Bush, John McCain?

Nice job Eddie, you can go back to that cave you crawled out of.

Another reason Ohio employers leave

From the Blade...

Frank Viviano has been on both sides of Ohio's workers' compensation program that slashes premiums by up to 90 percent for some employers with good safety track records.
The owner of three Bartz Viviano Flowers and Gifts shops in the Toledo area was thrilled when he was a member of a small merchant group and was paying annual premiums of just $1,400 as of 1999 to insure 50 employees.
But he was in shock when a slip-and-fall claim involving a temporary driver led his business to be kicked out of the exclusive club and sent his premiums skyrocketing. Today, he pays about $33,000 a year.
Although he admits desperately trying to get back into the club, he said he now understands why other businesses on the outside looking in were frustrated by a system that even the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation acknowledges is actuarially unsound.

First off, there are no exclusive "clubs" that gets sweet heart deals. What there is is a group rating program that allows companies with an excellent history to group with other companies so they can reduce their premiums.

But a business can be kicked out of the group for something as small as a late premium payment.

I have several clients that are experiencing these same ridiculous premium hikes.

If we want to have a comprehensive reform of workers comp in this state, we can start with taking the state out of the business and allow employers to purchase workers comp through private insurance companies. Something that 47 other states in the union allows.

Dann's new job

While being a scumbag makes you unfit to hold public office, it doesn't preclude you for working for liberals.

Just ask Marc Dannimal House who's got a new job.

Look for a kick ass kegger at a union hall near you.

This explains a lot

If you ever wondered how Nancy Lollapelosi was able to lead the house to whopping 9% approval rating just watch this video....

Get over it sweetie

Apparently, some liberals are a little upset with what they see as The Messiah conceding some liberal principles to gain favor with the electorate.

From The Nation

We recognize that compromise is necessary in any democracy. We understand that the pressures brought to bear on those seeking the highest office are intense. But retreating from the stands that have been the signature of your campaign will weaken the movement whose vigorous backing you need in order to win and then deliver the change you have promised.

Here are key positions you have embraced that we believe are essential to sustaining this movement:

§ Withdrawal from Iraq on a fixed timetable.

§ A response to the current economic crisis that reduces the gap between the rich and the rest of us through a more progressive financial and welfare system; public investment to create jobs and repair the country's collapsing infrastructure; fair trade policies; restoration of the freedom to organize unions; and meaningful government enforcement of labor laws and regulation of industry.

§ Universal healthcare.

§ An environmental policy that transforms the economy by shifting billions of dollars from the consumption of fossil fuels to alternative energy sources, creating millions of green jobs.

§ An end to the regime of torture, abuse of civil liberties and unchecked executive power that has flourished in the Bush era.

§ A commitment to the rights of women, including the right to choose abortion and improved access to abortion and reproductive health services.

§ A commitment to improving conditions in urban communities and ending racial inequality, including disparities in education through reform of the No Child Left Behind Act and other measures.

§ An immigration system that treats humanely those attempting to enter the country and provides a path to citizenship for those already here.

§ Reform of the drug laws that incarcerate hundreds of thousands who need help, not jail.

§ Reform of the political process that reduces the influence of money and corporate lobbyists and amplifies the voices of ordinary people.

These are the changes we can believe in. In other areas--such as the use of residual forces and mercenary troops in Iraq, the escalation of the US military presence in Afghanistan, the resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the death penalty--your stated positions have consistently varied from the positions held by many of us, the "friends on the left" you addressed in recent remarks. If you win in November, we will work to support your stands when we agree with you and to challenge them when we don't. We look forward to an ongoing and constructive dialogue with you when you are elected President.

Memo to liberals.

Get over it. What are you going to do? Vote for McCain? The fact is, Obama knows that you guys have a hatred for all things republican that transcends principle.

Are dems playing the racist card?

Ruth Ann Dailey has a nice analysis of the democrats being the ones who continually bring up race in this election.

We voters keep getting reminders that the Republicans are going to "play the race card." Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton regularly warned us of such nefarious GOP plans, often while helpfully providing an example of the ugly stereotypes or cultural references available for use.

And although Sen. Barack Obama's campaign chastised Mrs. Clinton last August for being obsessed "with what she calls the Republican attack machine," Mr. Obama himself has regularly invoked the soon-coming onslaught.

At a fund raiser in June, Mr. Obama predicted, "They're going to try to make you afraid of me: 'He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. ... Oh, and did I mention he's black?'"

Last week, Mr. Obama again warned of the GOP's impending insidious attack: "The only strategy they've got in this election is to try to scare you about me -- 'He doesn't look like all the presidents on the dollar bills.'" All those presidents, of course, being white.

But Sen. John McCain, his allies and the Republican Party as a whole -- despite its disarray and beleaguered mood -- have acted in unity thus far in refusing to utter the words that the Democrats keep trying to shove into their mouths.

So what's going on here? Something pretty despicable, actually. By constantly (and hopefully) claiming the Republicans will play "the race card," the Democrats are playing "the racist card."

I know I received plenty of attacks as a racist for my criticisms of an unnamed democratic candidate for president.

Nevermind I've made those same criticisms against The Billary, John French Kerry, and John "Hair Club for Men" Edwards.

But apparently, me calling Obama an elitist is a racial shot. No, he just buys arugula at Whole Foods and he's a socialist. That's all I need to know.

Republicans better get used to the shots because they're going to come hot and heavy.

Maybe it's because he's a liberal

Jennifer Rubin on the tanking of The Messiah aka Obamamania's campaign.

Democrats remain flummoxed and liberal pundits fret: what’s the matter with Barack Obama? He is supposed to be winning. By a lot. Well, a Democrat is supposed to be winning, but this particular one is having his share of problems. Charles Krauthammer on Friday explained:

I think the sheen from earlier this year, where he was seen as a streaking meteor and he was the candidate of hope–I think it was Brit Hume who said he started the year by selling hope, but now he’s selling audacity. And I think there’s a sourness setting in. And you see it even in mainstream press when you get a Dana Milbank of “The Washington Post” write a brilliant article in which he says said that Obama started out as the presumptive Democratic nominee, and now he’s the “presumptuous” Democratic nominee. So there is a sort of a turn in the zeitgeist. Where the energy issue is hitting is in congress. The Democrats have made a huge mistake here, the stubbornness of Pelosi and Reid in not allowing a vote. The Democrats know it is a losing issue. It’s manna from heaven because Republicans were running uphill on all the economic issues, and they are clearly on the side of public opinion on this.

It is really three factors at play: Obama has gotten worse, John McCain’s campaign has gotten more aggressive in pointing out that Obama has gotten worse and Obama is no longer talking about the issues which were underpinning that huge advantage Democrats were thought to enjoy.

Let me help out on this analysis.

First, American's have routinely rejected liberals and liberal theology. As evidenced by the fact that a liberal has not won the presidency with 51% of the vote since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Bill Clinton needed a third party, a moderate message and a couple of deceased opposition candidates just to eke out a win.

Second, as voters start paying attention to the campaign they are starting to recognize that Obama is, in fact, a big time liberal. Wait until September/October when all these communist/socialist/marxist friends of Obama start making their way into a TV commercial near you.

What will liberals do once they get their ass kick in yet another presidential election? In the past, they've claimed that it wasn't a rejection of liberal theology as much as the messenger.

When The Messiah gets his ass kicked will they actually hear the clue phone and get that the public will always reject their liberalism?

No media bias here

I went through my normal newspaper onslaught this morning to see this headline....

McCain joins Obama on offshore drilling

Maybe McCain can join Obama on campaign finance soon.

How much is the arugula?

From the NY Times.....

Shawn Hebb may have one of America’s toughest jobs: convincing people that Whole Foods Market can be an economical place to shop.

This week, leading five customers through a store here, he breezed past the triple cream goat cheese, $39.99 a pound, and the fresh tuna, $19.99 a pound, to focus on the merits of beans, chicken thighs and frozen fish.

Then he held up a $1.50 package of tofu. “It looks gross but it’s delicious,” he said.

Whole Foods Market is on a mission to revise its gold-plated image as consumers pull back on discretionary spending in a troubled economy. The company was once a Wall Street darling, but its sales growth was cooling even before the economy turned. Since peaking at the beginning of 2006, its stock has dropped more than 70 percent.

Trust me, Obama's noticed those hefty price increases at Whole Foods.

A day late and a dollar short

Now that Obamamania has the democratic nomination lock up, he's decided he wants a full delegation for Florida.

Barack Obama has sent a letter to the co-chairs of the Democratic National Convention’s Credentials Committee urging them to pass a resolution allowing the Democratic delegations from Florida and Michigan to be fully represented at the Democratic National Convention.

The states were stripped of their delegates as punishment for moving their primaries before February 5th in violation of Democratic National Committee rules. They were awarded half-votes at a May meeting.

The Obama and Hillary Clinton campaigns sparred during the primaries over how the delegates from the two states would be allocated, with the debate centering on whether the allocation would be based on the popular vote or some other measure. Clinton won both states, though Obama was not on the ballot in Michigan, complicating efforts to award delegates.

More....

Boot the UN

A great piece on the "peace" the UN has brought to the world.

I've demanded it before, to no avail. Now, the U.S. should again consider getting out of the U.N., and the U.N. out of the U.S. What better timing than in a transitional election year? Nothing of lasting importance ever happens at the U.N. Why throw good money after bad?

The straw that broke this camel's back has been the U.N. refusal (or inability) to do anything about the brutal dictatorship in Zimbabwe where the annual inflation rate is now 2.2 billion percent, according to a credible financial newspaper I was reading recently.

The U.S., Europe and African countries neighboring Zimbabwe have been urging the U.N. to adopt arms, financial and travel sanctions against the regime of Robert Mugabe, whose hired thugs continue to kill off as many opponents as they can catch.

The U.N. prefers to stand aside in internal conflicts and just look at the bloody rampages in Zimbabwe. Or, wring its hands when Burma suffered through a devastating hurricane. Humanitarian aid? Obviously not the U.N.'s table.

Instead, the U.N. elected Zimbabwe to head its commission on finance and the environment. Can anyone name a more horrible financial role model than Zimbabwe?" As long as you're a dictatorship, you're qualified," the U.N. seems to be saying.

Excuse me if I sound cynical — "liked" the U.N.'s move to elect both Syria and Iran to its disarmament commission last year. Syria keeps Muslim terrorists well-armed and Iran promises to wipe out Israel and western civilization in general. And the U.N. has poured tens of millions of dollars into North Korea, another country illicitly developing and testing nukes.

More.....

Another city living amenity

Each and every day I get reminded of the city amenities I gave up when I moved out to Pleasantville.

From the Enquirer

Someone fired shots at the exterior of a funeral home Saturday while a funeral was going on inside for a homicide victim.

About 75 people were in the funeral home's parking lot when the shots rang out, according to Al Milton, a funeral home director. No one was injured, but a bullet struck the ceiling of a covered driveway connected to Thompson Hall & Jordan Funeral Home, 2625 Gilbert Ave., where the hearses are loaded.

You know, the city needs to start recruiting some of those gun and god clinging rednecks to move back into the city. They seem to shoot fewer people.... and funeral homes.