Government Creates Jobs? Michigan State Program Gives $1.65 Million Grant That Creates Zero Jobs And Then Goes Bankrupt

Please, o mighty Lucifer; give us four more years of Obama so we can collapse the Great Satan America even faster than anyone could have ever have possibly dreamed when the hated pro-Zionist Reagan was president and creating 10 percent economic growth!

State Gives Company $1.65 Million, Creates Zero Jobs and Goes Out of Business
Investment fund designed for ‘creation of new businesses or industries’
By Matthew Needham and Jarrett Skorup | July 27, 2012

The state of Michigan gave one company $1.65 million, with which zero jobs were created or retained after the business went bankrupt.

This is one of several instances where projections fell short for a state fund designed to support select businesses.

The money was given through the Michigan Strategic Fund, a state program that administers the 21^st Century Investments program “to strengthen and diversify Michigan’s economy by investing in venture capital, private equity, and mezzanine funds as a method to create jobs and provide financial assistance for the creation of new businesses or industries.”

To date, the direct investment category consists of a single direct investment worth $1.65 million made in Microposite Inc., which was supposed to produce “environmentally friendly” siding products. The state received $55,373 from the investment before Microposite terminated its entire staff on June 30, 2009, and went out of business. The company also received other state support.

The 21^st Century Jobs Fund progress report states that zero jobs were created or retained from the $1.65 million investment in Microposite.

“This is redistribution of wealth from the average taxpaying citizen to a privileged few,” said Arnold Kling, an adjunct scholar with the Cato Institute and an economist formerly on the staff of the Board of Governors with the Federal Reserve system.

Kling has written extensively on what he calls “expert failure.”

“The experience from the 50 states is that when government attempts to compete by picking winners and losers, it usually means the state is failing in terms of overall competitiveness,” said Jonathan Williams, director of tax and fiscal policy at the American Legislative Exchange Council. “Additionally, government officials open themselves to charges of cronyism and corruption when they engage in economic micromanagement.”

“The best approach is when states work to create a competitive environment for all.”

These investments were made as part of 21^st Century Investments, a program of the 21^st Century Jobs Trust Fund. In total, the state committed over $100 million toward investments that have yielded a little more than $1 million in proceeds and created or retained just 267 jobs.

According to the progress report from Sept. 30, 2011, the program had spent $47 million.

The program was created by the 21^st Century Fund Act of 2005, which was sponsored by former State Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland. Huizenga is now in Congress.

The 21^st Century Investments program is a joint collaboration between the Michigan Strategic Fund and Credit Suisse. The Credit Suisse Customized Fund Investment Group manages the investment funds.

The 21^st Century Investments program is comprised of four categories. The categories are venture capital investments, private equity investments, mezzanine investments, and direct investments.

The state has committed nearly $60 million toward venture capital investments. All investments made in venture capital are required by law to be focused on “competitive edge technologies.” This restriction does not apply to the other categories.

Despite zero reported spending on the private equity program, three jobs were reported to have been created or retained from the private equity program.

In 2010, an analysis of the program by the Detroit Free Press found that the 21st Century Jobs Fund returned only one-third of the projected jobs. At the time, Ned Staebler, a vice president at the Michigan Economic Development Corp., predicted that “the loans and investments will end up making money for the state in the long run.”

The Michigan legislature expanded the 21st Century Jobs Fund in 2011. The bill to do so was passed nearly unanimously — 36-0 in the Senate and 104-5 in the House.

Representatives from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and Credit Suisse did not respond to requests for comment about the status of the 21^st Century Investments program.

~~~~~

See also:

A Bipartisan Disaster: Michigan ‘Corporate Welfare’ Program Rolls On

The State as Venture Capitalist: Michigan Fund Loaned $7.7 Million, Creates Only 20 Percent of Promised Jobs

‘Green’ Company Awarded Up to $120 Million Promised 70 Jobs — Creates Just Three Jobs in Three Years

State Program Awards $67 Million, Creates One-Third of Projected Jobs

Corporate Subsidy Program Lives On Despite Lackluster Results

Select Tax Breaks for State ‘Renaissance Zones’ Program Returns One-Fifth of Predicted Jobs

Michigan Government Program Gives $30 Million to Seven Universities, Creates Less Than Half of Projected Jobs

This is the entire Obama economic policy in one failed microcosm.  Government takes money from the increasingly few taxpayers who are successful and redistributes it to crony capitalist boondoggles like Solyndra that piss it away and then go bankrupt.  And then the obvious answer is to just keep doing the same insane thing over and over until we implode.

Let’s just file that under yet another proof that “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that” is a complete load of crap.

Things You Can Thank Liberals For: Millionaire On Food Stamps, 30 Year-Old ‘Baby’ On Social Security And Total Fiscal Implosion

Exhibit 1:

$2M Michigan lottery winner defends use of food stamps
Detroit News detroit News – Wed May 18, 1:27 pm ET
Ron French, Detroit News staff writer

A Michigan man who won $2 million in a state lottery game continues to collect food stamps 11 months after striking it rich.

And there’s nothing the state can do about it, at least for now.

Leroy Fick, 59, of Auburn won $2 million in the state lottery TV show “Make Me Rich!” last June. But the state’s Department of Human Services determined he was still eligible for food stamps, Fick’s attorney, John Wilson of Midland, said Tuesday.

Eligibility for food stamps is based on gross income and follows federal guidelines; lottery winnings are considered liquid assets and don’t count as income. As long as Fick’s gross income stays below the eligibility requirement for food stamps, he can receive them, even if he has a million dollars in the bank.

Food stamps are paid for through tax dollars and are meant to help support low-income families.

“If you’re going to try to make me feel bad, you’re not going to do it,” Fick told WNEM-TV in Saginaw on Monday.

Wilson said Fick told the DHS officials he’d won $2 million but was told he could keep using the Bridge Card issued to him to buy groceries.

Fick could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

[…]

Exhibit 2:

Only in America: The ‘adult baby’ who collects Social Security
At age 30, Stanley Thornton Jr. sleeps in a crib and lives off the government — though some say he’s perfectly capable of holding down a job
posted on May 19, 2011, at 11:07 AM

Best Opinion:  Pajamas Media, Hot Air, New York

The story: Stanley Thornton Jr., 30, is a self-described “adult baby,” who sleeps in a huge crib, drinks from a bottle, wears diapers, lives with a former nurse who acts as his “mom”… and subsists on Social Security disability benefits. This last part caught the attention of Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who requested that the Social Security inspector general review Thornton’s disability classification — especially since Thornton appears to be running a design business specializing in “adult baby” furniture. Thornton, who was featured on the National Geographic TV show Taboo (see video below), says he has mental problems that prevent him from holding a job, and threatened to kill himself if his Social Security check is taken away.

The reaction: The only thing standing between Thornton and a job is his fantasies, so kick this 350-pound “diaper wearing freeloader” off the dole, says Christian Adams in Pajamas Media. Seriously, could there be “a better symbol of what a fiscal mess we are in”? Well, yes and no, says Allahpundit in Hot Air. I mean, watch the video. “If this guy’s not ‘disabled,’ who is?” And it’s not like he’s the only American putting his needs before our “crushing debt burden.” The saddest thing about this story, says Dan Amira in New York, is who would’ve thought “a fight between a United States Senator and a 30-year-old adult baby could be unfunny”?

Question: Did someone just make a doody in their diaper???

Conclusion: how DARE you question these noble liberal programs!?!?!?  You must be totally heartless!!!!!

Democrats have made it as impossible to stop fraud in these programs as they have made it impossible to deal with voter fraud or illegal immigration.

Republicans could try to investigate how these programs are godawfully abused, but of course liberals and Democrats would start running ads like this one.

All scaremongering and demonizing aside, let me tell you the truth.  Democrats don’t want to push “gramma” off the cliff.  They’re FAR too hateful and depraved for something so small in scale.  Rather, Democrats want to push the entire United States of America off a cliff.  They want every single American to perish in the horror of a Great Depression that will make the last one seem like a pleasant afternoon at the beach.  They want to attack everyone who proposes any kind of solution to our impending 100%-guaranteed-to-happen financial implosion so that our nation and every single person living in it has the choice between communism or death.

Company Takes On SEIU Anti-Business, Anti-Job Extortion

the Largest Food Service Company in the United States is suing SEIU for extortion under RICO (Racketerr Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act).

I have to admit, I prefer the Redstate article title to my own: “Sodexo Slaps SEIU Cockroaches With RICO Suit.”

Services Leader Seeks to End SEIU’s Campaign of Extortion

GAITHERSBURG, Md., March 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – Sodexo USA today filed a civil lawsuit against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and other defendants under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, to stop the illegal campaign of extortion that the SEIU has been waging in the U.S. for over a year.

“This is about protecting the Company’s business and the rights of our employees to vote freely about union representation,” said Robert Stern, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Sodexo USA.  “We work constructively with unions every day but the SEIU has crossed the line by breaking the law. We will not tolerate the SEIU’s tactics any longer. Their campaign jeopardizes our Company and our employees’ jobs, and ultimately would rob our employees of their right to vote.”

Sodexo USA has filed the lawsuit seeking to halt the SEIU’s extortionate threats and barrage of unlawful tactics. The complaint alleges acts of SEIU blackmail, vandalism, trespass, harassment, and lobbying law violations designed to steer business away from Sodexo USA and harm the company.

Sodexo USA recognizes the value of union activity and has built positive relationships with more than 30 different unions.  Over 15 percent of Sodexo USA’s workforce is unionized, which is more than twice the national average for the private sector, and the Company has more than 300 collective bargaining agreements.  Despite this positive record, the SEIU has engaged in a vicious campaign to force the Company into broadly recognizing the SEIU to the exclusion of other unions without allowing its employees in the U.S. to exercise their right to vote for or against the SEIU in a federally supervised secret ballot election.

The complaint alleges that the SEIU, in face to face meetings, threatened Sodexo USA’s executives that it would harm Sodexo USA’s business unless they gave in to the union, and then carried out its threats through egregious behavior, including:

• throwing plastic roaches onto food being served by Sodexo USA at a high profile event;
• scaring hospital patients by insinuating that Sodexo USA food contained bugs, rat droppings, mold and flies;
• lying to interfere with Sodexo USA business and sneaking into elementary schools to avoid security;
• violating lobbying laws to steer business away from Sodexo USA, even at the risk of costing Sodexo USA employees their jobs; and
• harassing Sodexo USA employees by threatening to accuse them of wrongdoing.

The complaint, filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia, seeks an injunction against the SEIU and its locals and executives, as well as monetary damages to be determined by the court.Sodexo, Inc. (www.sodexoUSA.com), leading Quality of Daily Life Solutions company in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, delivers On Site Service Solutions in Corporate, Education, Health Care, Government, and Remote Site segments, as well as Motivation Solutions such as Esteem Pass. Sodexo, Inc., headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., funds all administrative costs for the Sodexo Foundation (www.SodexoFoundation.org), an independent charitable organization that, since its founding in 1999, has made more than $15 million in grants to fight hunger in America. Visit the corporate blog at www.sodexoUSA.com/blog.

Unions invariably talk about standing up for the “little guy.”  But nobody tears down the little guy like unions today:

But workers at the Dana Corporation Auto Parts plant in Albion, Ind., say the card check process has nearly torn the 50-person plant apart after harassment and intimidation from the United Auto Workers union forced them to a secret-ballot vote.

A union organizer came to the plant two years ago to ask employees to join the UAW because the company had signed a neutrality agreement with the union.

The meeting, however, did not go well, according to plant employee Larry Guest.

“He was using real rough language — cursing. It didn’t go over well with the women at all. There were a couple that just got up and left,” Guest told FOX News.

Employees said union representatives approached them in the break room, at the plant doors and even followed them to their cars.

“He was just like an itch that you couldn’t scratch. He just wouldn’t go away,” said employee Rita Murphy.

“After a while we realized he was going to be here morning, noon and night until he got his numbers that he needed,” said Betty Pop.

Dana employee Jamie Oliver told FOX News that she was approached at her home.

“We’re here in a little town and we’re a plant of 50 some people — you know the last thing you need is to have the union coming to your door saying I want your name,” Oliver said.

The union’s relentless approach, she said, eventually wore her down.

“When they approach you every day — every day, every day,” she said, “after a while it’s like ‘Okay. Fine. I’ll sign the card.’”

Unions have become genuinely evil.  And in point of fact, they have been evil for a very long time.  And we have just witnessed this vile behavior in Wisconsin, as the same people who constantly demonized the Tea Parties are showing that THEY are the true demons – even as the Tea Parties try to clean up the massive damage the union rioters left behind.

Right now, public school teachers (i.e., government unionized schools) are threatening an illegal strike in Michigan.  Their claim is that what the state is doing to avoid financial catastrophe will hurt children, so these union thugs want to REALLY hurt children and families by violating the law to shut down the schools so they can force their agenda.

Detroit – where much of this battle is going on – is in ruins.  Some of it looks like a war-zone; other parts have been abandoned for decades.  And these labor unions that destroyed a thriving industrial city and the life that depended on the jobs created by those industries will not stop until they have sucked the life out of every city in America.  That is the legacy of unions today.

All I can say is that if you think the SEIU’s tactics of destroying a business so they can force their union in is good for jobs, you are a serious, serious fool.

Left Continues Violence; Media Continues To Demagogue Tea Parties

This is just another factual refutation of the mainline media’s ideological propaganda.

Republicans have had bullets shot through their windows and bricks smashed through their windows.  In fact, several bricks have been smashed through several Republican windows.  And here we are now, with an article detailing the arrest of a man who made a death threat against a Republican “bitch” politician.

April 19, 2010
Arrest made in threat against Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite

A 66-year-old Hernando County man has been arrested in connection with a threatening voice mail message left at the district office of U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville. According to the FBI, agents arrested Erik Lawrence Pidrman at his home in Spring Hill without incident Sunday.

On March 25, Brown-Waite reported that someone left the following message: “Just wanna let you know I have 27 people that are going to make sure that this b**** does not live to see her next term. Good-bye.”

The call came amid reports that a number of Congressional Democrats have gotten threats or had bricks thrown through their office windows following a contentious vote on health care legislation Sunday. It was not known Monday afternoon what allegedly caused Pidrman to make the call.

The integrity of the media has long-since been blown for all to see.  The above story is about a Republican who was threatened with death.  But the liberal bird cage liner otherwise known as the St. Petersburg Times just couldn’t help but make the story about Democrats being the “real” victims.

The paper makes no attempt to mention the repeated acts of violence against Republicans, but instead deliberately makes it appear as though it is merely one rather insignificant isolated incident against a sea of acts of violence against Democrats.  If anything, it is the other way around.

There’s no mention of the crowd of leftist thugs hunting down and beating a Republican Bobby Jindal official and her boyfriend.  There’s no mention made about a lot of things.

Not that the left gives a damn about integrity.  They are postmodernists who don’t even believe in truth; so all that remains is rhetoric and demagoguery.

Bill Clinton just came out and directly compared the anger of the tea party movement to the climate that surrounded the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City.  The media was all over that story, piling on to demonize the tea party movement, but only a tiny, tiny few have bothered to demand where the hell Bill Clinton was during the unhinged leftwing hatred during the Bush years.

Meanwhile, when Timothy McVeigh was asked why he did what he did, his answer wasn’t “Rush Limbaugh,” but rather something extremist and awful that the Clinton administration did: basically, massacre women and children during Clinton-era attacks on Waco and again at Ruby Ridge.

From Wikipedia:

Motivated by his hatred of the federal government and angered by what he perceived as its mishandling of the Waco Siege (1993) and the Ruby Ridge incident (1992), McVeigh timed his attack to coincide with the second anniversary of the deaths at Waco.^[9][10]

You mean he didn’t time his blowing up a building to honor Glenn Becks’s birthday?

Maybe you should have blamed YOURSELF for the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing rather than a group that didn’t even exist yet, you “it-depends-on-what-the-meaning-of-the-word-is-is” weasel.  Maybe the mainstream media shouldn’t trust a slimebag who forfeited his law license because of proven dishonesty.  I’m just saying.

Basically, it all depends on what the meaning of “political demagogue” is, doesn’t it, Slick Willy?

But don’t worry, Democrats.  Because the mainstream media is always there to tell big government Democrats, “Hi, I’m from the mainstream media, and I’m here to help.”

The media constantly refers to the tea party movement as “anti-government.”  It’s the heart of the Democrats’ case that we’re dangerous and could resort to violence.  The fact that that isn’t even remotely true is simply dismissed as entirely irrelevant.

The New York Times and the Associated Press just today used the identical same phrase: “This anti-government feeling has driven the tea party movement, reflected in fierce protests this past week.”  Without ever once reflecting on how biased that extremist label is.  I have never ONCE seen an “anti-government” tea party protester.  None of us want to abolish all government.  “Anti-government” IS an accurate label to apply to extreme leftwing anarchist groups; but tea party protesters are PRO-limited government – and are most certainly NOT “ANTI government.”  But the incorrect and charged label that the media deliberately use creates an extremist and disturbing image.  Which is exactly what these professional propagandists want.

Now, do you really want to see “anti-government” hate?  Why don’t you go to a liberal Democrat rally in which the crowd repeatedly chanted “FUCK THE USA!!!.”  Democrat Maxine Waters helped stoke the hate to furnace-levels that day.

Or how about Nancy Pelosi telling anti-Bush protesters, “I’m a fan of disruptors!” in 2006.

I might also point out that Barack Obama got his start in politics by benefiting from a fundraiser in William Ayers‘ – former terrorist bomber of the Weather Underground – living room.  Obama then served on several boards of directors with said anti-government terrorist.  And there’s darned good reason to believe that that same anti-government terrorist helped him write his first book.

William Ayers – now an esteemed liberal professor and member of the liberal community in good standing – bombed several U.S. government buildings, and was responsible for the murders of innocent human beings.  How the left must have cheered when he said, “I don’t regret setting bombs,” and added: “I feel we didn’t do enough.”

And do you want to know when he said those hateful words?  On 9/11, the day that nearly 3,000 Americans were murdered by al Qaeda.

Mind you, that sentiment was basically shared by Obama’s handpicked “reverend” of more than twenty years, as Jeremiah Wright said of 9/11: “America’s chickens have come home to roost” following an anti-American diatribe.

If you really want to deal with anti-government hate, you maggot-souled liberal cockroaches, how about if you expose yourselves for once in your worthless lives?!?!?!

Pew just released a poll that demonstrates that 80% of Americans are anti-government rightwing extremists.  Because 80% of Americans agree with the Tea Party and DISTRUST the Obama administration.  And oh, isn’t that exactly what the tea party has been saying for more than a year, now?

And this result is basically the lowest result in a half century.  Which is to say, hey, lefties, the American people trusted George W. Bush MORE than they trust your damn big government socialist messiah.

And for damn good reason.

Will Mainstream Media Attack Left Over Murder Of Pro-Life Activist?

“Pro-Choice Terrorist Murders Pro-Life Activist.”

That would be a genuinely incredible headline to see on CNN, MSNBC, or, heck, even Fox News, wouldn’t it?

Not going to happen.  It would mean that the mainstream media actually had the capacity for balance – and it doesn’t.

A Factiva search for mainstream media articles on the murder of Jim Pouillon returned a total of 19 hits; by contrast, the murder of abortionist Dr. George Tiller turned up 643 hits.  That’s “balance” for you.  The mainline media’s project is to tarnish the right with intolerance, hate, and murder.  And they simply aren’t willing to entertain any facts that conflict with their chosen narrative.

The fact that the murder occurred on the anniversary of 9/11 makes the “terrorist” angle even more obvious – but the mainstream media will avoid that angle like Superman avoids kryptonite.

We’re told of the murderer: “Mr. Drake did not believe children should view the graphic material on the signs Mr. Pouillon carried.”  But it was a “crime of hate, not a hate crime.”  What a ridiculous rationalization!  They’re trying to say that the murderer wasn’t ideological about abortion, but simply quibbled over Pouillon’s sign.

Jim Pouillon was murdered because he was a pro-life protester.  Pure and simple.  To his credit (in pointing out the obvious), even Barack Obama – who had a 100% lifetime NARAL support record – recognizes the fact.  The mainstream media, which fell all over itself to condemn the “climate of hate” of the right and the pro-life movement, refuses to turn its lens on the left and the pro-abortion movement.

We have known for years that the mainstream media have been ideological supporters of the pro-abortion movement, and ideological opponents of the pro-life movement.  And the dishonest mainstream media is revealing how corrupt they are yet again as they virtually ignore the murder of a pro-life activist, and utterly refuse to see the murder as an act of leftwing hate.

A prominent pro-life activist was shot repeatedly and murdered outside of a high school, and the media that came absolutely unglued over “rightwing extremists,” ” intolerance,” “hate,” “domestic terrorism,” etc. etc. etc. will very likely not even mention it.  They just don’t have the integrity.  And they certainly will not use the “leftwing” pejoratives to denounce the murder of a pro-life activist the same way they denounced the “rightwing” for the murder of abortionist Dr. George Tiller.

Anti-abortion activist shot in front of Owosso High School
by Elizabeth Shaw | Flint Journal
Friday September 11, 2009

OWOSSO, Michigan — State police at the Corunna post have confirmed a well-known anti-abortion activist was shot multiple times and killed this morning in front of Owosso High School.

The victim’s identity has not yet been released but the shooting occurred around 7:30 a.m., after most students were off the buses and safely inside the building, said Owosso schools transportation supervisor Jayne Campbell.

State police also confirmed that a suspect was taken into custody about 8:15 a.m. at the suspect’s home.

Owosso High School secretary Wendy Smith said the students remain in lockdown this morning and confirmed that no students were involved and all are safe with classes going on as normal. The shooting did not occur on school property, Smith said.

Meanwhile, police have completely ringed with police tape a section of North Street in front of the school.

A black car can be seen parked at the corner of North and Whitehaven streets, where a portable oxygen tank is lying in a front yard next to a large sign bearing the image of a baby and the word “Life.”

Again, the victim has since been revealed to be James Pullion.

Here is a link to MSNBC’s senior cockroach Keith Olbermann loudly demonizing conservatives, Bill O’Reilly, the pro-life movement, rightwing extremists, hate speech, and whatever else the demons whispered in his ear for him to repeat.  And he was hardly alone in the hatefest.

Mind you, even the media’s presentation of this activist is typical of the left: one who favors the killing of babies in the womb is “pro-choice,” standing for something.  But one who stands up for life is depicted as being “anti.”  It would be nice if the media that likes the term “anti abortion” would choose a similar term such as “anti life” to describe what they invariably call the “pro choice” movement.

We’re seeing it depicted in the health care debate.  Liberals are “pro,” and conservatives are “anti.”  The fact of the matter is I’m actually “pro” a lot of things regarding health care.  I’m “pro” for tort reform, for ending mandates and allowing competition among the 1300 private insurers, for dealing with the problems caused by illegal immigration relating to health care, for keeping government socialism from taking over more of the system than it already has, and a lot of other things.  And liberals are “anti” a lot of things, aren’t they?  But it’s more rhetorically effective for the mainline media to describe me as a “health care opponent” belonging to “the party of no.”

One lone nutjob shot Dr. Tiller, and Keith Olbermann made an entire movement responsible for the act.  What do you want to bet this dishonest purveyor of propaganda at a dishonest network will somehow find the murder of a well-known pro-life activist as nothing to become concerned about?

Every single mainstream media, every single liberal blogger, everyone period, that used the murder of Dr. Tiller to attack the right will now either similarly demonize themselves for their “leftwing terrorist murderer,” or else stand forever condemned of hypocrisy, demagoguery, and propaganda.

Let me provide as an example the partial-birth-loving abortionist who is replacing Dr. Tiller – Dr. Leroy Carhart:

Dr. Carhart calls the murderer of his beloved colleague a “terrorist” saying his friend’s death is  “a declaration of war” on the part of radical anti-abortion activists whom he calls “fundamentalist terrorists . . . no different from al-Qaida, the Taliban or any of them.”

Is this guy going to have the intellectual and moral decency to demonize radical pro-abortion activists as a bunch of “fundamentalist terrorists… no different from al-Qaida,” et al, or is he going to be the hypocritical, dishonest ideologue slimebag that I fully expect him to be?

Obviously, that amounts to a rhetorical question, doesn’t it?

Well, allow me to provide a newsflash.  It is not “the left’s” fault that this pro-life activist was murdered.  It was the fault of one deranged man.

The left was despicable beyond the pale for not recognizing that fact when Dr. Tiller was murdered.

I suppose that is one of the big things that differentiates the right from the left.  For the left, individual identity, individual responsibility, amounts to a social construct.  If an abortionist is murdered, well, the blame must extend to everyone who in any way believes abortion is wrong and speaks out.  You can’t just hold one man accountable for his actions, after all.  Rather, you are a soulless meat puppet driven entirely by DNA and social conditioning.  “O’Reilly made me do it.”

At least, you can’t if he comes from the political right – and his actions are a convenient target for liberal propaganda and demagoguery.

Conservatives, on the other hand, believe profoundly in individual identity and individual responsibility.  Does the left pump out hatred by the tonnage?  Sure it does.  But when some nut commits murder or performs some other hateful act, it is THAT person who bears the full weight of responsibility for his or her actions.  And that person alone.

So allow me to pat myself on the back for my moral superiority to Keith Olbermann and everyone like him as I refuse to attribute their “anti-choice” characterization of this martyr for the pro-life cause as being the reason for his murder.  Because whoever shot this pro-life activist HAD a choice – and chose to murder.

I’m the one who affirms choice, while demagogues like Olbermann and Dr. Carhart – who call me “anti-choice” for my pro-life stand – in all actuality believe that people don’t really have a “choice” at all, but are merely robots programmed by Bill O’Reilly or some other favored bogeyman.

The simple fact of the matter is that the left is “pro-choice” when it suits their agenda, and profoundly anti-choice the rest of the time.

So, go ahead, Keith Olbermann.  I’m waiting to hear your “balanced” coverage of the murder of a pro-life activist.

I leave you with a profound statement from the “terrorist” “anti-choice” position:

“But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child – a direct killing of the innocent child – murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?” — Mother Teresa

Obama’s Plunging Polls Correspond To America’s Plunging Economy

President Obama’s biggest calender item yesterday was his scheduled “having a beer” with his good friend Henry Louis Gates and the man that both Gates (directly) and Obama (indirectly) called a racist, Sgt. James Crowley.  By sitting down for a beer, Obama was attempting to turn the giant turd he laid at his fourth prime time news conference in six months (which is how many George Bush gave in 8 entire YEARS btw) into a gold-plated turd.

I hope the three men clink their glasses to Obama’s plummeting poll numbers and America’s plummeting economy while they pondered why ‘Skip’ Gates is such a bigot and why Barry Obama acted so stupidly by claiming the Cambridge police “acted stupidly.”

Rasmussen has Obama at a -12 approval rating measuring the difference between those who strongly approve and those who strongly disapprove of his presidency; and he is now at only 48% approval – a far cry from his halcyon days of being in the high 60s.  Only 34% of likely voters think the country is headed in the right direction.  And 49% believe America’s best days have come and gone, versus only 38% who think the country will improve.

The hope that once swelled the hearts of Obama voters is fading fast – especially in the swing states he needs to win to have any chance at either future re-election or even current relevance.  “Hope and change” now means, “I hope I still have some change left in my pocket at the end of the month.”

As U.S. recession bites, Ohio hopes fade for Obama
Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:12am EDT
By Nick Carey

TOLEDO, Ohio (Reuters) – Hope and jobs are in short supply in Ohio eight months after President Barack Obama won the recession-battered state in the 2008 election with promises of a better future.

“People were looking for a savior to get us out of this mess and that’s why they voted for Obama,” said Jeff Fravor, 55, a retired train conductor on his way to breakfast on the outskirts of Toledo.

“I’ve nothing against Obama personally, but he’s new to the job and ‘hope’ won’t fix this mess.”

Candidate Obama delivered his message over and over again in Ohio, a politically diverse battleground state that often decides presidential elections. Obama went back to the state last week with an approval rating below 50 percent.

A Quinnipiac University opinion poll released on July 7 showed the Democratic president’s popularity in America’s seventh most populous state had fallen to 49 percent from 62 per cent in May. Even worse for Obama, 48 percent said they disapproved of his handling of the U.S. economy, with 46 percent approving.

The reason for the poll drop? Rising unemployment.

The downturn has pummeled Ohio’s manufacturing base.

“As jobs have gone away, that has created a true focus here on job creation,” said Andrew Doehrel, head of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. “People look at what’s been done on a federal level in terms of bailouts and stimulus and they see that this has not equated to anything more than lost jobs in Ohio.”

Ohio has not been the state hardest hit by the U.S. recession that began in December 2007, but it is not far off.

Unemployment in the state of 11.5 million people reached 11.1 percent in June, compared with the national rate of 9.5 percent, making it the seventh highest rate in the country. Michigan was first with a rate of 15.2 percent.

TWICE THE UNEMPLOYMENT

Ohio’s unemployment has nearly doubled from 5.7 percent in January 2008. That is not a good start for Obama in a state with 20 electoral votes that could be vital for his re-election effort in 2012.

“It’s not a surprise Obama’s numbers have fallen here and they’ll continue to go down as long as jobs keep being lost here,” said Jim Rokakis, treasurer for Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland where unemployment hit 10.1 percent in June. “Americans always want a quick fix to problems, but they are going to relearn patience this time round.”

Toledo in northwest Ohio has been especially hard hit by the recession, in particular because of the auto industry-related plants that dot the area.

“Obama set expectations too high here and six months later, things haven’t got better, so some people are losing hope,” said John Johnson, branch manager of the Southeastern Container Inc plant in nearby Bowling Green, which makes plastic bottles for Coca-Cola Co..

Johnson said he had to turn away qualified workers from auto-related plastic companies seeking work. “When people are out of work for a long time, they become very impatient.”

Unemployment hit 14.2 percent in June in Toledo, a city of about 315,000 people. Many of the roads in and out of the city are in a poor state of repair and many downtown stores have closed down. Manufacturing brought the city wealth, so plant closures have taken a heavy toll.

‘DEPRESSION’

“We’re not just in a recession here, it’s a depression,” said Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner. “This downturn has left Ohioans wondering if we’ve lost our place in the sun.”

According to a midyear survey from real estate service company CB Richard Ellis Reichle Klein, Toledo’s retail vacancy rate hit a record level of 14.6 percent.

“Everybody is having a hard time just existing right now,” said Bob Shelley, 72, who runs Shelley Rubber Stamp & Sign Inc for his father in downtown Toledo. “All businesses have been hit, so everybody’s giving everybody a break right now.”

Shelley said he felt Obama had an overcrowded agenda.

“He’s trying to satisfy everyone at once and he’s trying to rush everything through Congress,” he said. “But if you rush like that, you’re bound to make mistakes.”

Angie Carter, 32, a market research analyst in downtown Toledo, said she voted for Obama and he just needed time.

“This is a recession and we live in a manufacturing state,” she said on a cigarette break. “It’s going to take time to turn it around.”

When touting his $787 billion stimulus package earlier this year, Obama cautioned that a recovery would take time.

The president also has time to recover in Ohio if jobs come back. Aware of its importance, he was there last week to tout his healthcare plans. The last candidate who won Ohio but lost the election was Republican Richard Nixon in 1960.

Rokakis said Obama’s speech in Cleveland on July 23 was no accident.

“Obama is a smart man and he knows how important Ohio is,”

The article portrays Obama as having said that recovery would take time under his stimulus.  It fails to mention that the Obama administration – in pushing the failed stimulus package through Congress – predicted that unemployment would rise no higher than 8% if his stimulus passed.

As bad as things are now, there is no realistic reason to believe they will get better.  Meredith Whitney, the Wall Street analyst who gained much credibility in predicting the mortgage meltdown, is predicting unemployment will rise to 13% or higher.

The date for a housing market recovery stretches to 2015.

Obama’s deficits are soaring to stunning levels.  Back in March the Congressional Budget Office estimated that Obama’s “huge annual budget deficits that would force the nation to borrow nearly $9.3 trillion over the next decade — $2.3 trillion more than the president predicted when he unveiled his budget request just one month ago.” And that mindbogglingly ginormous figure doesn’t include the trillion plus hole we would dig passing Obama’s health care plan.

As the Wall Street Journal’s Michael Boskin puts it:

Mr. Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget blueprint, by his own admission, redefines the role of government in our economy and society. The budget more than doubles the national debt held by the public, adding more to the debt than all previous presidents — from George Washington to George W. Bush — combined.”

Obama has blamed President Bush for the deficits, but not only has he racked up far more debt than did Bush, but as a Senator Obama actually voted for the very Bush-budget that Obama is now blaming on Bush – including the $700 billion TARP bailout.

It is also worth knowing that the federal government has exposed itself to $23.7 trillion in risks with its bailouts since TARP (which is turning out to be a thinly disguised anagram for “TRAP”).

Those massive deficits guarantee future economic pain, but recent developments are beginning to show that our future pain may already be here right now:

Weak Treasury Auctions Raise Worries About US Debt Burden
By: Reuters     Wednesday, 29 Jul 2009

The U.S. Treasury sold $39 billion in five-year debt Wednesday in an auction that drew poor demand, raising worries over the cost of financing the government’s burgeoning budget deficit.

It was the second lackluster showing in as many days,  convincing analysts that the stellar results of debt auctions just a few weeks ago were a fluke and that Thursday’s $28 billion seven-year offering could suffer a similar fate.

Under the weight of the ballooning deficit, the government has raised auction volumes and analysts now wonder whether the strain on the market is showing.

“Obviously everyone is inferring that tomorrow’s won’t be good either,” said James Combias, head of government bond trading at Mizuho Securities USA in New York. “Maybe you will see more interest tomorrow but I think the increase in the auctions and the size of them may be starting to have an effect. These are very large auctions.”

We are witnessing a terrifying unfolding scenario in which “Interest due on the debt could easily be $1 trillion toward the end of the next decade.”

Like the Texas Hold’em player who pushes every last dime into the center of a poker table, the federal government is now “all in” with its commitment to push the national debt to 50% of GDP. The Congressional Budget Office believes that the Treasury will have to borrow nearly $2 trillion this year. None of that is new news, but what is beginning to emerge is a picture of a government which has narrowed its options for improving the economy down to one. Either GDP turns sharply up next year or the deficit will become an unmanageable burden. The Treasury will have to default on interest payments if sharply raising taxes in 2010 and 2011 does not bring IRS receipts to historic highs. That would not appear to be likely with unemployment moving toward 10% and American corporate earnings badly crippled.

You may not know it, but your government under Obama has gambled this country’s future – and gambled poorly.  Obama believed his $787 billion stimulus – which was actually scored by the CBO to be $3.27 trillion – would stimulate big, but it has been a total dud.  And as we continue to pile on debt on top of debt on top of debt, and combine that with continuing high unemployment and low economic output, the result is insolvency and doom.  And it is already beginning to rush toward us like an enraged Kodiak bear.

Some are pointing at the seemingly recovering Dow Index to argue that the worst is behind us and that we are on the road to recovery.  As reported by Reuters:

No Economic Recovery in Sight, Only Inflation
Mon May 11, 2009 9:01am EDT

FORT LEE, N.J., May 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The National Inflation Association yesterday released the following statement to its http://inflation.us members:

“Wall Street would like you to believe that the Dow Jones’ recent 33% rally from March’s low is due to improving economic fundamentals, but it is our belief this rally is due to nothing but inflation.

“Jobs data released on Friday shows that U.S. employers cut 539,000 jobs in April, the fewest since October. However, these numbers were artificially strong due to the U.S. government increasing their payrolls by 72,000, which included the hiring of about 60,000 temporary workers in preparation for the 2010 census.

“Government jobs are non-productive jobs that normally get paid for by taxpayers. However, because the U.S. already has a huge budget deficit with tax revenues likely to decline substantially, these jobs will be paid for through inflation. An increase in government jobs is not a sign that the economy is improving, but only a sign that we are digging our economy into a deeper hole that will ultimately lead to the U.S. dollar collapsing.

“Even Warren Buffett, who is a huge supporter of Obama and has defended his economic policies, said last week that with political leaders showing little inclination to raise taxes, the only way to pay for excess spending will be by inflating the currency and shrinking the value of the dollar.

“The worst of the recession is not behind us. Nominally, anything can happen to the Dow Jones. If the Federal Reserve prints enough money, the Dow Jones could go back to 14,000, but it won’t mean anything if it costs $2,000 to fill your refrigerator with groceries.

Obama’s spending has put us into a genuine crisis: we are now in a situation where any recovery will be immediately followed by sharp increases in inflation, unless government either sharply raise taxes across the board (which will undermine the economy) or unless they sharply raise interest rates (which will also undermine the economy).  Both options are politically unacceptable.

You’d better be thinking about getting a wheelbarrow, because you’re eventually going to need to one to bring enough cash to the grocery store to buy your daily bread.

That was my long-winded way of saying that Obama’s polls are likely to drop to the point where angry villagers armed with pitchforks and torches start storming Castle Obamastein as the economy drops right along with his popularity by the end of his one-term presidency.