Obama Less Popular at 100 Days than Jimmy Carter

Gallup

This Mornings Links

GM to remain worst run car company in the world



Just kidding Chrysler aims for title. Do the words fox and hen-house mean anything to you?


Lastly Arlin Specter to remain worthless, lying, communist sympathizing, doddering, poll watching, turncoat piece of dog-vomit. No news here.

My Old Boss

I won't try and dirty his reputation by saying he's responsible for any of my behavior. Nor will I dirty mine, based on some votes of his I don't agree with. I under-voted his assured win in the last election as a protest to his initial bailout vote (he has since been more prudent). But this is my guy today. Well done with Al.

I've Said it Before

GLOBAL WARMING IS A SCAM TO CONTROL PEOPLE.

Fat people cause global warming

Of course no one would ever try to regulate what people eat... Oh yeah they already do.

Green... It's the new Red

Invisible Hook

My old room mate discussing his new book and the economics of self regulation with Nick Gillespie over at Reason.com

Secede

I've discussed the idea of a secession movement at some length with friends and family and I'm not sure I took the idea seriously even while I was entertaining it. I have for a while now thought that moves towards secession might be a good way to illustrate the frustration that people have with both the course of our governance and the widening chasm between people who see themselves as Liberals and Conservatives in this country. It's a difficult thing to maintain unity in a country that both encourages the freedom of one's political ideas but is also mired in a virulent partisan divisions. I believe that there are still significantly common ideas and ideologies in this country to support all of us together but there are solid reasons to believe that an environment of forced division and competing extremist political movements may not. This is one of the reasons that I am such an advocate for liberty and for the liberty movement. The initial premise is, unlike other systems, devoted to the idea that each of us can and should choose the way in which we live our lives and the political theories we wish to adopt.

The fact that Texas is talking about secession is really not a huge surprise to me. They have threatened this repeatedly throughout our history as a nation. Perhaps it is important to note that the only time they have actually voted and declared secession was in 1861. I'm not sure if there are significant numbers in the Texas political architecture that actually intend to follow through with it but I wouldn't bet my paycheck against it.

What I see as the positives of Texas secession: for starters there is the immediate disconnection with the federal tax system and the ballooning national debt. That's significant, it's basically like you or I declaring bankruptcy without the credit problems. Second of course would be the hardest blow in favor of states rights since... well since 1861, and as a bonus there isn't an overreaching moral issue like slavery on which their opposition can hang a long and violent war. As such this might be the gambit that the state's rights movement has been waiting for. I doubt it about as much as I doubt the seriousness of the secession in the first place. Even as a simple act of protest this is a strong move for state's rights. One of the things they teach you in negotiation seminars is that you don't need to achieve your primary goal, you simply need to set a primary goal that makes meeting your actual needs seem attractive. A giant step forward in the quiet fight between the federalists and the state's rights crowd would be a very nice prize for remaining a state.

There are negatives in secession as well and not every state can do it easily. For Texas the large quantity of seaports, oil rigs and refineries makes for a pretty safe bet on a post secession small nation success. Landlocked states without significant commodities might suffer from what would assuredly be a bitter relationship with the remaining country. Many nations know that being on the outs with the United States Government isn't a great place to be.

So we shall see what comes from this and I'm not certain it will be much but the only real negatives I see are the ones that come with the independence of actually winning a secession fight. The other thing they teach you is that the key to any good negotiation is walk-away-power. And Texas is telling the world right now that they have tons of it.

Or maybe Rick Perry just announced his run for the White House.

Maddow is a Child

I'm all for dick and ass jokes. People that know me know that I can hardly resist the opportunity to insult someones mother or make a crude gesture with any found phallic object. That being said I have to wonder if Rachel Maddow thinks herself the new Walter Cronkite with this little gem.

CNN and MSNBC are all over the "tea bag" jokes this week and while I'm sure they think they are clever, I can't imagine how they expect to be taken seriously as journalists. I'm all for humor but can we really combine news coverage of economic crisis and jokes about balls without maybe losing some credibility. Which calls into question how much credibility these idiots had in the first place.

My advice: let Jon Stewart handle the jokes about dick and balls and maybe we can convince him to leave the shoddy journalism to the likes of Maddow and her ilk. Probably not though.



Bonus: if you don't know what 'tea bagging' is... You have to look it up, I'm not going to describe it for you.

Phil Spector Convicted of Second Most Heinous Crime

Music industry mogul Phil Spector was convicted finally this week for second-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of a crime. Spector shot actress and night club hostess Lana Clarkson in February of 2003. This was of course a heinous and unforgivable crime. Spector was of course no angel before this however and I think it goes without saying that he should be put to death for his worst crime which is turning

this:



into this:



"Wall of sound"? How about wall of crap I didn't need to hear.

RIP Marilyn Chambers

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The Left Doesn't Like Obama Much Either

Motorhome Diaries

I know I have been conspicuously absent in the past week or so. As some of you may know this blog does not pay my rent so I have been out busting my ass on several different jobs of late. I promise more in depth blogging is around the corner. I certainly have a lot to examine. There's the failing nature of the Obama foreign policy (or lack of one), there's the constant attempts to turn tragedy into justification for enslaving the masses and of course there is the utter failure of the administration to simply operate and staff it's offices. So more to come I assure you.

In the mean time, check out what Jason Talley, Tom Pearson, and Pete Eyre formerly of Bureaucrash, currently of Fr33agents, and most specifically Motorhome Diaries are doing. They are embarking on a grand adventure to tour the country in a motor home visiting with people who share the cause of liberty.

Hope to see you guys when you get out to Los Angeles at the end of April.

Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs is looking at returning the $5b in TARP money that they received late last year. Street Insider has the news.

"Goldman also has the capital to pay back TARP, with a balance sheet with about $100 billion in available cash."

So tell me... If GS has $100b what is it that required our $5b so urgently. Why is it that just the threat of lost bonuses has sparked a hasty return? One wonders if it was necessary or wise to give away free money in a hurry.

Thoughts on Eminent Domain

What the State can do to the richest of us at considerable expense, the State can do to the poorest of us at no expense. Where the poorest among us cannot afford to fight the state the rest of us are obligated to do so.

The guys over at fr33agents have some things to say on the issue.

More Good News for the Half-Dozen or so Appointees that Actually Work for the Obama Admin.

Federal Agents raided the former office of Vivek Kundra (the President's appointee for Chief Information Officer) this week as part of an investigation into corruption. As of yet Kundra is not a target of the investigation.

And Another One Gone

Chas Freeman has withdrawn from his nomination as the Chairman of the National Intelligence Council when it came to light that he had significant ties to the Saudi and Chinese oil industries.

In related news we've acquired a document outlining the complex process by which the Obama admin. selects and vets candidates for presidential appointment.

Step 1. They divide up a 10 acre plot into one foot square parcels.

Step 2. Take a complete list of all current members of the Democratic party plus 50 wild card spots. Place one picture of one person on the list in each of the one foot squares.

Step 3. A herd of donkeys is released into the field and allowed to graze for the day

Step 4. Whoever the donkeys shit on, 'congratulations Mr./Ms. Political Appointee welcome to the team.'

Obama the Dow Killer

Michael Boskin from the Stanford University Econ. Dept. takes on the agenda from the Obama admin. for what it is. A giant lie.

More Losses for O on the Nomination Front

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta backed out of consideration for the post of Surgeon General this week. Though not yet formally nominated Gupta was widely understood to be the choice for the post within the Obama administration. Gupta sited family related priorities as his reason for withdrawing from consideration. I haven't heard yet if there are any rumors surfacing as to any deeper issues or anything relating to his vetting process. It may be that with a new baby on the way he simply doesn't want to uproot things with his family. The larger issue is that losing nominees is becoming the mark of the Obama presidency.

In related news Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's expected pick for his Deputy has withdrawn her name from consideration as well. Annette Nazareth a prominent former high level staffer at the SEC, has withdrawn for personal reasons as well. There's no indication that policy disputes or vetting related issues are involved in these 'personal reasons'.

With so many high level positions sitting vacant and a seemingly non-stop stream of legal and tax issues for those that have been chosen, its hard to imagine how things are getting done. There is a concern floating around that the Obama admin. is making sweeping policy decision in areas like the economy and health care in a time when it seems impossible for them to have the kind of advice structure in place to truly examine the potential risks in their strategy. The Bush admin. took heat repeatedly for a cowboy-like shoot-from-the-hip policy mentality but nothing they did comes close the wild swings in policy coming out of this admin. and it boggles the mind to think that there really aren't very many experts on board yet. And it's not just the blogosphere that notices. A great many people on Wall Street are sitting up and taking note of the fact that while the credit window is wide open there doesn't seem to be anybody minding the store.

Ron Paul Handling MSNBC Host

Cramer Turning on President Obama

Health Status

Ronald Bailey over at Reason takes a look at an innovative new idea for the free market to provide all the the things that people want from health insurance. Portability, affordability, universality and choice. All while supporting a market based structure to maintain the quality of health-care in America. I think as usual the market deserves this chance before we throw in the towel and settle for the kind of health care only the post office and the DMV could provide.