Surprise! Poll with ties to SEIU and Daily Kos says... Ron Paul getting close to leaders in Iowa

Before you put too much stock in the most recent PPP poll, you may want to review this April 2011 Hill article:

A top union and a top liberal blog announced Tuesday that they'll team up to sponsor polling through the 2012 elections. Daily Kos and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) said they will join forces to conduct issue and campaign polling in key states and races over the next two years...

...The SEIU/Daily Kos poll will use Public Policy Polling (PPP), a Democratic firm that uses automated polling rather than live, over-the-phone survey methods. Moulitsas contracted with PPP in June of 2010 after severing ties with Research 2000, which faced allegations of producing faulty poll results.

So when you read news like this, take it with a grain of salt.

Oh my: Ron Paul within one point of Gingrich in Iowa? ... "There has been some major movement in the Republican Presidential race in Iowa over the last week, with what was a 9 point lead for Newt Gingrich now all the way down to a single point. Gingrich is at 22% to 21% for Paul with Mitt Romney at 16%, Michele Bachmann at 11%, Rick Perry at 9%, Rick Santorum at 8%, Jon Huntsman at 5%, and Gary Johnson at 1%."

Really? Methinks that the PPP poll is patently bogus. The Intrade prediction market, probably the best indicator of reality, has Gingrich trading at a 47% chance of winning Iowa versus 29% for Paul.

And let's not forget who Ron Paul really is:

• A man who claims that bloodthirsty Islamist terrorists are morally equivalent to Americans?

• A man who vocally encourages the despicable 9/11 Truther movement?

• A man who embraces virulent anti-semites and is inspired by those who despise Jews?

• A man whose foreign policy prescriptions are so "far left" that they are outright dangerous?

• A man whose strongest supporters vilify Ronald Reagan, William F. Buckley, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Ed Meese, Sarah Palin, etc.?

• A man who despises Israel, a beacon of freedom in an otherwise barbaric Middle East?

• A man so power-hungry that he refuses to rule out a third-party run, which would very likely help reelect Barack Obama?

Jeffrey Lord offers the quintessential summary of Ron Paul for conservatives:

The Ron Paul campaign is really about re-educating America to what can only be called Neoliberalism. Which, based on the evidence and writings of its supporters, appears to be a thin gruel of free markets and non-interventionism seasoned heavily with anti-Semitism, morally obtuse Neo-Confederates, and an outspoken contempt for both conservatism and conservative leaders past and present.

I don't care how well-organized the Paulbots are in Iowa. I put as much stock in PPP polling as I do in lunar cheese. No thinking Republican would ever cast a vote for a man who advocates a George McGovern foreign policy. Ever.

Needle on Hypocrisy-Meter Breaks Off: Unions require photo IDs to vote in their elections

Gee, I guess the unions are raaacist.

[Via] John Romano at "Yes, But, However!" at the link. He asks the perplexing question of why do Democrats so fear voter ID? Apparently even unions don't see the requirement of a photo ID as too burdensome.

"A picture is worth a thousand words. According to OpenSecrets.org unions belonging to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) have donated over $26 million to Democratic candidates and causes since 1990. During that same period, the union gave a paltry $272,311 to the Republican Party.

As you’ll note in the photo below the union requires its own members to produce a photo ID in order to vote. The photo shows a union worker voting earlier today on whether to sanction a new four-year contract with Boeing, clearly the union understands the need for a picture ID in order to help guarantee a clean election:

In America, one needs an ID to vote in a union election, buy liquor, drive a car, board an airplane, use a credit card and a slew of other things in our society. Yet, the Democratic party refuses to back the idea of requiring an ID to vote in state and federal elections under any circumstances. A sensible voter ID law that respects the rights of the poor, elderly, and minorities is a great idea. What are Democrats afraid of? You connect the dots.

The most lawless attorney general in American history -- and I'm including the pathetic John Mitchell in the mix -- is visiting Austin, Texas tomorrow.

And guess what? He will be lobbying for vote fraud, supporting a United Nations resolution that is designed to erode the integrity of the ballot box and, ultimately, destroy the United States Constitution.

If you're in the area (Houston included), I'd strongly encourage you to join the counter-rally.

Like former DOJ official J. Christian Adams says, it's high time this national disgrace was impeached.


Hat tip: @EyeOnPolitics

Bizarre Coincidence: Right-to-Work States Superior In Every Way for the 'Workers'

Why, this must be some sort of statistical -- how you say in English? -- anomaly. Turns out that states which force employees to join unions against their will are inferior to right-to-work states using about any economic measure you can think of.

The term 'Tax Freedom Day' was coined by the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan think thank. It translates to "the day when Americans... finally have earned enough money to pay off their total [federal, state and local] tax bill for the year."

Notice the eight-day difference between right-to-work and forced unionization states. For those of you who live in the latter, you spend eight days every year working for the unions.

Which is the way the self-professed Marxist union bosses like Andy Stern and Dick Trumka want it.

Weird: job growth consistently higher in right-to-work states

Why, this must be some sort of strange coincidence:

Currently, the U.S. has 22 right-to-work states. All of them are in the South, West, and Central Midwest. During the past 15 years, these states have collectively outperformed the rest of the nation to an almost embarrassing degree:

• “From 1995 to 2005, incomes of residents in right-to-work states grew by 142 percent more than the incomes of Ohioans,” and “private-sector job growth was 500% greater.”

• After passing right-to-work legislation in 1986 and 2001, respectively, Idaho and Oklahoma both experienced explosive growth in their economies and overall employment.

• An after-tax dollar earned in a right-to-work state has more real purchasing power than it does in other states, “because union labor tends to raise (the) costs of goods and services.”

I took a look at economic growth in the individual states during the past decade as measured by gross domestic product (GDP). What I found also shows that right-to-work states clearly outperformed the others [see table at right]...

...2001-2010 economic growth weighted by average population in all right-to-work states was 21.7%; in the rest of the states and the District of Columbia, it was only 13.6%. During the past thirty years, the tremendous leads in per-capita GDP industrial states like Ohio and Michigan once had over the right-to-work states have mostly and in a few cases entirely evaporated.

Wealthy union bosses like Dick Trumka proudly proclaim their hatred of capitalism and their desire to push America into a Soviet-style, socialistic economy.

Furthermore, union leadership has aligned itself with the environmental, flat-earth, no-growth "green" movement that has dedicated itself to the de-industrialization of America. Labor bosses support -- of all things -- the EPA, which is gutting energy exploration, pipeline construction, the drilling business, the mining industry, all power generation facilities, refinery construction, and the like.

Put simply, in their rapacious quest for power, union bosses have thrown their members to the wolves.

At some point in the very near future, union members are going to rise up against their bosses -- who have aligned with far Left Marxists -- to destroy the economy and all of their members' jobs. A good start will be voting to pink-slip the top union boss, one Barack H. Obama in 2012.

The 10 Worst Cars Detroit Ever Produced

All of these fine units were imported from Detroit:

10. Ford Pinto: Hey, only a couple of hundred fuel tanks exploded, so your odds were still pretty good of surviving a Sunday drive in one of these sweet rides.

9. Chevrolet Cavalier: Here's a plan: let's go a decade without upgrading any technology plus try to pawn off a high-end model (the Cadillac Cimarron) on an unsuspecting public. AKA the rubes. AKA us.

8. Chevrolet Astro: Hey, we need a minivan! Let's slap some sheet-metal on a truck -- no one'll know the difference!

7. Ford Taurus: Introduced in '86 to great acclaim, Ford went on to ignore the sedan for two decades, at which point only captive rental car companies and government agencies would buy it.

6. Jaguar X-Type: Speaking of the Taurus, may I introduce the Jag X-Type? When Ford bought Jaguar, its first "brainstorm" was to create this Jag-Taurus. Or, as some like to call it, The Brand-Killer.

5. Pontiac Aztek. What can I say about the Aztek that hasn't been said by others?
• "I had an Aztek as a rental car once. I asked the person at the Avis counter if they gave me a mask with it."
• "It reminds me of a Simpson's episode where Homer was allowed to design a car."

4. Chrysler Sebring: It's called the Sebring because the names Vapid and Inane were taken.

3. Chrysler K-Car: to quote some experts: "The K-Car represented badge-engineering at its most cynical. The K-series were cheaply built, poorly-engineered cars with legendary brand names slapped them. The K-Car was available as the Dodge Aries, the Plymouth Reliant and the Chrysler LeBaron, a name that evoked a Chrysler luxury brand that dated back to the 1950s. The K-Car version was a cheap imitation of that substantial vehicle – calling it a LeBaron was like putting a Hilton sign on a rent-by-the-hour motel."

2. Chevy Cobalt: What's it take to win the "Least Reliable Small Car" award from Consumer Reports? Or a two-star review from TAC? Or blogosphere reviews like "...the worst vehicle I have ever driven..."? Simple. It takes a Cobalt.

1. Chevy Vega: Some of the quotes from Car Talk's worst car list say it all.

"As near as I could tell, the car was built from compressed rust."

"My Chevy Vega actually broke in half going over railroad tracks. The whole rear end came around slightly to the front, sort of like a dog wagging its tail."

"Burned so much oil, it was single-handedly responsible for the formation of OPEC."

But, hey, let's expand unionization throughout the country, even if employees don't want it!

Ohio's pro-union election results: not quite as bad as they look

While the major networks are trumpeting the unions' big victory in Ohio, the news isn't quite as glum, nor the labor win as large, as it may first appear.

Ohio's Issue 2 was a referendum on repealing SB5, a bill that reduced certain public sector union benefits. The repeal effort passed by a wide margin -- 61-39.

Correspondent Amalaur describes the lay of the land:

Turnout in my conservative area of the city was very light. This wasn't an issue election for most voters I guess... unless they were members of a public sector union. To their credit (or at least to the taxpayers' credit, since they're funding the public sector), the unions swamped the airwaves with messages like "Vote no on 2 or you'll call 9-1-1 and no one will answer" and "if your house catches on fire, it'd be a shame if no one showed up."

Really sleazy and dishonest stuff. And the worst part is, many union members are going to pay for their mistake with their jobs. They were sold down the river by the union bosses. The layoffs are gonna come fast and furious (heh!), because the cities and towns have no way to pay their bills. SB5 would have helped the municipalities employ more cops and firefighters, not less.

What was SB5 all about? Oh, my, it was so onerous:

• Government employees would have to pay at least 15 percent of their health care costs

• Government employees would have to contribute at least something to their pension plans

• It preserved collective bargaining, but reduced the impact of tenure on schools' hiring decisions

But the loss wasn't nearly as bad as it looks. Turnout was relatively low, and the vote to crush Obamacare (Issue 3 - by dismantling the individual mandate) passed by a wider margin than Issue 2 -- 66% to 34%.

That tells me that even Democrats despise Obamacare.

And 2012 will be the ultimate referendum on that particular clusterf***.

Furthermore, unions from around the nation sent $30 million into Ohio to defeat SB5 -- against roughly $7 million to oppose the repeal effort, gathered from a hodgepodge of grassroots groups.

The executive summary: don't be disheartened. Ohio's labor victory was an anomaly, thanks to truly deceptive advertising, a huge spending disadvantage, and low turnout.

2012 will offer only the first of these tactics to Barack Obama. And the electorate will be anything but disinterested.

Middleton: Contraction Interruptus

Reggie Middleton of Boom Bust Blog:

I have always been of the contention that the 2008 market crash was cut short by the global machinations of a cadre of central bankers intent on somehow rewriting the rules of economics, investment physics and global finance. They became the buyers of last resort, then consequently the buyers of only resort while at the same time flooding the world with liquidity and guarantees. These central bankers and the countries they allegedly strive to serve took on the debt and nigh worthless assets of the private sector who threw prudence through the window during the “Peak” phase of the circle of economic life, and engaged in rampant speculation.

Central bankers worldwide have interrupted the cycle here under the apparently mistaken impression that they can override the business cycle and skip past the contraction phase. This is most apparent in equity markets where excess liquidity has pushed all equities straight up, as well as bond markets where yields have been suppressed to artificial (ZIRP) levels. The truth cannot be concealed in real asset markets where properties are still dropping. It was the real asset market that kicked off the bust to begin with, and it will probably be the real asset markets that bring us back to reality.

The extended contraction has only been exacerbated by the folly of central economic planners experimenting on a global basis and in concert to defeat the laws of economic mother nature.

Oh, and for those still under the mistaken impression that contagion has been contained, Barclays is here to disabuse you of that quaint notion: Italy Is Finished: "Mathematically Beyond Point Of No Return".

The era of Europe's heavily unionized, social welfare states is drawing to a close. Misery, war and poverty will follow as certainly as night follows day. Pity that Democrats are too stupid to get the message here at home.

Urgent Action Alert for Ohio!

Labor Union Report:

Background:

On November 8th, Issue 2 will be on the ballot in Ohio.

Very simply, the decision Ohio voters will be making is as follows:

A YES vote allows Governor Kasich’s collective bargaining reform (SB 5) to go into effect

A NO vote essentially returns collective bargaining power to the unions and puts the state of Ohio into further economic uncertainty.

Unions are spending millions to defeat Issue 2 and right now, it appears (based on polls) they are winning.

Why it’s important:

Ohio is a big battleground state.

If the unions win, they will be emboldened going into 2012. A loss for them will be a huge setback.

Pre-market meltdown, Ohio had $46.5 billion in unfunded liabilities (retiree pension and healthcare). It is higher now.

What is needed:

For ye Twitter gods:

• Tweets to encourage people to GOTV
• Tweets on Issue 2 related posts (see below), with a push to GOTV
• Phone banking: Building for a Better Ohio has info here to help: http://betterohio.org/volunteercenters

Posts (as/if you have time)

Frankly, at this point, anything urging GOTV is crucial.

However, for background, Jason Hart has been doing a phenomenal job writing on the topic. Here is his twitter acct.  [Even RT'ing his posts would be good.]

Here are some posts Jason’s, et al) that you may find useful:

• ‘Yes’ to all three questions on Ohio’s statewide ballot | cleveland.com : http://goo.gl/Teo5H
• Ohio: Issue 2, Collective Bargaining and the Moral High Ground: http://goo.gl/0OB88
• OEA Employee: “OEA’s attitude is about power” : http://goo.gl/kvoVV
• Chart: We Are Ohio Funding : http://goo.gl/Jx1sM
• Union Bosses Use Soldiers as Props: http://goo.gl/2sq56
• NEA Attacks Ohio Union Reform: http://goo.gl/N13hC
• The Truth About Senate Bill 5 :  http://goo.gl/UtidG
• With Each Ohio Citizen Owing Government Workers $6150, Union Bosses Urge A Return To Cannibalism: http://goo.gl/iTtJa

This is a good resource (if you need background):

• Myths vs. Truth | Building a Better Ohio : http://goo.gl/nAWNk
• We Are Ohio Bus Tour: Facts & Figures | Building a Better Ohio : http://goo.gl/ycgOc

Again, since this will likely have an impact on 2012, the more you can do the better.
Remember, the election is on November 8th.

Time is running out.

Perfect: Overpaid, Unionized Federal Workers Join #OWS Movement

Based upon these developments, it would seem that the beleaguered private sector isn't doing enough to save public sector union jobs.

...at least four federal labor unions rallied in support of the Occupy movement in a Lafayette Square demonstration Thursday... On the day that a House committee approved legislation that would cut the federal workforce by 10 percent and during a time when federal employees are in a battle to protect their pay, benefits and jobs, federal union members gathered with other labor organizations to back the national Occupy movement’s call for economic justice.

...“Most federal employees consider themselves to be part of the 99 percent,” Saul Schniderman, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Library of Congress Guild, said after the rally. “And many of us believe in the principles of social justice, just like the protesters in Occupy D.C. Everyone needs to pay their fair share, and this includes Wall Street corporations with their record profits and their CEOs with their skyrocketing salaries. I rallied today with other federal workers and unions to protest the influence that today’s modern-day robber barons have on our economy.”

...AFSCME, whose Council 26 represents federal workers, has contributed rain tarps and more than 100 rain ponchos to Occupy D.C. campers in McPherson Square, said Carl Goldman, executive director of the council. IFPTE donated umbrellas on a rainy day last week when Junemann and his legislative director, Matthew Biggs, visited the McPherson occupiers...

...“We’re part of what they are fighting for,” said Lane Bodner, a staff member of the American Postal Workers Union. “We’re not trying to impose our agenda on them, but we do think they overlap.”

These leftist hacks are the poster-children for union abuse of taxpayers.

Consider: without even counting Solyndra, there are at least 100 criminal investigations Of Obama Stimulus Spending, according to the Department of Energy's Inspector General.

But I guess we're not paying enough in taxes. So we'll have to pony up 10% more, because we're deadbeats. The public sector unions deserve even more of our money. Our families don't need it as much as the unions do.

So give 'til it hurts.

Obama-Friendly GE Building Aircraft Factory in Right-to-Work Alabama; Curiously, Unlike Boeing, NLRB Utterly Silent

Do the math:

1. Alabama is a wonderfully free "right-to-work" state, which simply means it prevents unions from extracting dues from workers who do not wish to join.

2. General Electric's CEO Jeff Immelt is the poster-boy for crony capitalism, having backed Obama's rush to socialized medicine and green energy to benefit various of its business units.

3. It turns out that GE's Aviation division is breaking ground on a new factory in Alabama. And, unlike Boeing, which tried to build a factory in a right-to-work-state, the National Labor Relations Board hasn't uttered a peep. But I'm sure that's just a coincidence.

Remember the Boeing case?

[The NRLB] wants to stop the Boeing Corporation from using its new aircraft manufacturing plant in South Carolina. Construction began in November 2009 and is almost complete... [It] has charged that Boeing's decision to build a new plant in [right-to-work] South Carolina-to expand production of its Dreamliner 787-was made in retaliation for strikes at its Everett, Washington plant...

...If Boeing is penalized from locating where costs are lowest and production most reliable, then many other companies will be charged.

The NLRB wants Boeing to build all its Dreamliners in Washington State, which is not a right-to-work state.

If I were a more cynical man, I would think that this is yet another example of crony capitalism and big government at its very worst. Companies rewarded and punished by regulators based upon crass partisan hackery. Somewhere, Richard Nixon is smiling.

The fact that Obama-friendly GE is building a plant in Alabama without a whisper of a complaint from the NLRB while Boeing is challenged at every turn must be a coincidence. It simply must be.

#OWS "just like the Tea Party" (except for the riots, cop-killer worship, and battles with law enforcement)

Yes, it's exactly like the Tea Party.

That is, if the Tea Party routinely battled cops, destroyed private property, defecated and had sex in public, and falsely accused law enforcement of malfeasance.

Oh, and if the Tea Party staged riots and espoused antisemitism and hatred of certain segments of American society.

Oh, and if the Tea Party's leaders included a fat, thuggish, oaf-like Marxist who despises the police.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka responded to the recent mass arrests of Occupy Wall Street protestors Thursday, calling them a “tremendous dishonor to America.”

Protestors at an Occupy Oakland demonstration clashed with police Wednesday as did protestors in Atlanta. More than 100 people were arrested in Oakland and 53 in Atlanta.

“The Occupy Wall Street movement has elevated the national conversation by shining overdue attention on the struggles of the 99% for whom the economy is broken,” Trumka said in a statement. “When people can’t raise their voices around pervasive inequality, there is a fundamental problem with how we’re functioning as a nation.”

Trumka urged officials to follow in New York Mayor Bloomberg’s footsteps and refrain from disbanding peaceful protests...

Yes, these are "peaceful riots." Kinda like the "Moderate Islamists" that have quietly assumed control of the Obama Caliphate.

Terrifying Chart o' the Day: It Was the Plan All Along

...yesterday, in Denver, I signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which will create or save -- (applause.) The act will create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years -- including 70,000 right here in Arizona, right here -- (applause) -- doing the work America needs done. And we're also going to work to stabilize, repair and reform our financial system to get credit flowing again to families and businesses.

And we will pursue the housing plan I'm outlining today. And through this plan, we will help between 7 and 9 million families restructure or refinance their mortgages so they can afford -- avoid foreclosure. And we're not just helping homeowners at risk of falling over the edge; we're preventing their neighbors from being pulled over that edge, too -- as defaults and foreclosures contribute to sinking home values, and failing local businesses, and lost jobs. --President Barack Obama, 18 February 2009

Interesting how the media -- not to mention Democrats, but I repeat myself -- never go back and examine the results of their policy prescriptions. Perhaps that's because their consistent track record of failure is demoralizing, humiliating and revealing. In any event, here are the actual results of President Obama's two-and-a-half years of centrally managing the mortgage market.

One word: catastrophic. Despite all of the Soviet-style exercises in central planning, all of the endless tax credits, incentives, and authoritarian lever-pulling of the Left, they've actually made things worse, not better.

Here are some of the programs listed under the government's MakingHomeAffordable.com site (888-995-HOPE):

• Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP)
• Principal Reduction Alternative (PRA)
• Second Lien Modification Program (2MP)
• FHA Home Affordable Modification Program (FHA-HAMP)
• USDA's RHS Special Loan Servicing
• Veteran's Administration Home Affordable Modification (VA-HAMP)
• Home Affordable Unemployment Program (UP)
• Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets (HHF)
• Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP)
• FHA Refinance for Borrowers in Negative Equity (FHA Short Refi)
• Treasury/FHA Second Lien Program (FHA2LP)
• Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets (HHF)
• Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA)

Not to mention the billions wasted on housing in the "Stimulus" package including the Tax Credit Exchange Program (“TCEP”), the HUD Tax Credit Assistance Program (“TCAP”, and the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).

Tens of billions of dollars wasted on useless programs that are more payoffs and wealth transfers to political cronies than legitimate functions of a constitutional federal government.

And the President is now proposing yet another foreclosure fix -- opening up the HARP program to everyone. What could possibly go wrong?

Everything this president has touched appears to have turned to fecal matter. Which, if Professors Cloward and Piven can be believed, was the plan all along.

Odd: Democrats claim to be for the little people, yet "non-profits bear burden of Illinois' unpaid bills"

Society's weakest and most vulnerable hardest hit.

When the owner of a southern Illinois child care center didn't get the state funding he was promised on time and faced laying off employees and cutting service to low-income children, he borrowed money from family members to get by.

...And when an Elgin domestic abuse program was left stacks of unpaid bills and no sign of when the money would come from the state, workers took four weeks of unpaid furlough days, especially difficult for entry level employees earning $25,000 a year.

They are among the thousands of community groups and charities making up Illinois' system for providing human services: the state contracts out the work and agrees to make reimbursements. But as Illinois' budget crisis worsens and the state lags further behind in paying bills, those that serve the state's neediest are forced to make dire decisions and at-times heroic sacrifices to pick up the slack.

...Illinois ranks first nationwide when it comes to nonprofit groups reporting late payments from the government... More than 80 percent of Illinois groups say their money doesn't come on time.

The state's health services function alone has yet to pay 31,000 bills totaling $425 million.

Democrats in Illinois have prioritized payments, however: the top 100 public pensioners alone are estimated to pull in a guaranteed $887,925,790 over their retirements.

California Teachers' Pension System Gets Good News and Bad News. The Good: It's Not $50B In the Hole. The Bad: It's Actually $150B.

Looks like generally accepted accounting principles are anathema to Democrats. But we already knew that.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System already faces a funding gap of $56 billion – the difference between the money it expects to have on hand over the next 30 years and what it will need to pay out in benefits during the same period.

The [GASB or Governmental Accounting Standards Board] proposal would triple the gap – on paper – to around $150 billion...

Right now, funds base their calculation on a forecast of how their investments will do. CalSTRS, for instance, says it will earn an average 7.75 percent a year on stocks, bonds and other investments...

...But because public pensions are guaranteed by taxpayers, conservatives and some academics contend pension funds should use a rate comparable to a super-safe investment like Treasury bills – something on the order of 4 percent.

The state teachers' pension system is just one of several immense public pension liabilities facing California's taxpayers. A 2010 Stanford University study put the state's combined public pension liabilities at well over half a trillion dollars.

As you might expect in the battle between sensible fiscal policy and Democrats, Governor Moonbeam is backing -- that's right -- the unions, not the taxpayers:

The Los Angeles Times summarized the Brown signing and veto flurry with this headline: “Gov. Jerry Brown is giving unions most of what they seek.” As the news story reported, “When the dust settled on Gov. Jerry Brown’s first legislative session in nearly three decades, no group had won more than organized labor, which heralded its largest string of victories in nearly a decade.” Union leaders were crowing with delight.

For instance, the governor signed a bill that makes it nearly impossible for municipalities to declare bankruptcy, forcing them instead to go through a mediation process that is dominated by union supporters who would oppose bankruptcy at all costs. Salaries and benefits are consuming such a large portion of city budgets that officials have no choice but to shut down parks and lay off workers.

The unions won’t budge on benefits, so their goal is to make it impossible to abrogate those overly generous union contracts that are the source of the problem.

Isn't letting Democrats run wild in your state fun?

Of course, it's not much fun if you're a beleaguered taxpayer in California. That breed of productive citizen is an endangered species, what with all of the easy access to welfare, open borders and millions of pages of regulations.

Unfortunately all-too-real photos: #OWS protesters defecate on, stomp on American flag [Updated]

Among the formal supporters of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement are the Democrat Congressional Committee, Communist Party USA, the American Nazi Party, George Soros, ACORN, the SEIU, and the Obama White House.

And this is "the movement" in action *:

Yes, this is an OWS supporter defecating on the American flag. *

Lest you think this is an aberration, please consider this:

And then there's this:

OWS is fully supported by the Democrat Party, which has been completely and utterly subsumed by the radical left.

Remember in 2012.


* Update and correction: The first photo appears to have been taken in 2007 during an anti-war march in Portland.

Update II: Obama-Endorsed Group Sings “F*** the USA”

Hat tip: JTT.

A.P. Coins New Slogan for Illinois

I can't wait for the new license plates:

Drowning in deficits, Illinois has turned to a deliberate policy of not paying billions of dollars in bills for months at a time, creating a cycle of hardship and sacrifice for residents and businesses helping the state carry out some of the most important government tasks.

Once intended as a stop-gap, the months-long delay in paying bills has now become a regular part of the state’s budget management, forcing businesses and charity groups to borrow money, cut jobs and services and take on personal debt. Getting paid can be such a confusing process that it requires begging the state for money and sometimes has more to do with knowing the right people than being next in line.

Isn't Democrat governance fun?

As of early last month, the state owed on 166,000 unpaid bills worth a breathtaking $5 billion, with nearly half of that amount more than a month overdue and hundreds of bills dating back to 2010... The true backlog is even higher because some bills have not yet been approved for payment and officially added to the tally. This includes the Illinois health care agency, which says it is sitting on about $1.9 billion in bills from Medicaid providers because there’s no money to pay it.

But at least Democrats are looking out for the little guy, right?

...Year after year, Illinois builds its budget on the assumption that it will pay its bills months late — essentially borrowing money from businesses and nonprofits that have little choice but to suffer the financial hardship.

The unpaid bills range from a few pennies to nearly $25 million. In early September, for example, Illinois owed $55,000 to a small-town farm supply business for gasoline, $1,000 to a charity that provides used clothing to the poor and $810,000 to a child-nutrition program... Funeral homes were waiting for $2.8 million in overdue reimbursement for burying indigent people.

Leigh Ann Stephens wrote a letter in August “asking, pleading” for $50,000 the state owed to the DuPage Center for Independent Living, where she is executive director... Like their clients, most of the employees are disabled, coping with blindness, loss of hearing, cerebral palsy and more.

...It also reflects resignation from some vendors who no longer expect the corruption-plagued Illinois government to function properly... Illinois leaders join in bemoaning the crisis but haven’t been able to find a solution.

Gee, it's so difficult. All of that Democrat brainpower in Springfield and they can't come up with the following list that would balance the budget in 30 days:

• Slash the state government's administrative costs by 50%

• Ban collective bargaining by state and local employees

• Reform all existing pension programs to comply with accepted accounting and audit principles

• Prosecute every corrupt politician in the state and work to see them sentenced to the maximum possible penalties

...Blagojevich’s replacement, Democrat Pat Quinn, raised income taxes and trimmed spending, but that money was gobbled up by other needs, primarily rising pension costs. Under budget agreements with legislative leaders, all Democrats, bills continued to go unpaid.

As recently as June 2008, Illinois paid its bills seven days after state agencies finished the paperwork. A year later the delay had reached 99 days. It stood at 118 days in June of this year, the comptroller’s office said.

Hold up... I've got an idea: maybe Illinois could borrow more money to cover these unpaid bills?

Oh. You say Democrats are already trying to do that?

Never mind. People of Illinois: please continue to elect corrupt Democrats, the same toadies of the unions, the Marxist left and the illegal immigration lobby. We'll gladly accept the successful people and businesses that have given up on Illinois and its Statist agenda.

Will Chaos in America Be Obama's October Surprise? [Dan from New York]

Dan from New York:

Watch the trajectory of “Occupy (name goes here)” protests carefully. It may tell us a lot about what the atmosphere in the country might be during the election campaign next year. I for one don’t think Obama will let a little thing like the polls stand in his way.

Oh, while we’re on the subject, Mayor Bloomberg has decided to handle these proles with kid gloves. Wouldn’t want to ruffle their feathers, would he? They might get angry and go on a tear. What’s more, while the lumpen marched uptown to picket the homes of some of NYC’s wealthiest residents earlier this week, they passed over hizzoner’s townhouse and George Soros’s pad... Meanwhile, over at the Washington Post two of their worthies, Krauthammer and Gerson, have weighed in.

Krauthammer: “Obama is too intelligent not to know what he started. But so long as it gives him a shot at reelection, he shows no sign of caring.”

Gerson: “We are being asked to reelect a political figure who no longer exists.”

That's a powerful, powerful line.

"We are being asked to reelect a political figure who no longer exists."

The Dumbest Sign From #OccupyWallStreet

Correspondent Amalaur sends us some photos from Manhattan's collection of kooks, anti-semites, 9/11 truthers, druggies, escapees from the loony bin, and parole violators. You may know them as "Occupy Wall Street".

Oh, there's also the bussed-in union hacks, who carry the professionally made signs like this one.

See, Republicans are apparently to blame for President Obama receiving more money from Wall Street than any other politician over the last 20 years. And shredding the economy over the last two years with his Democrat Congress.

But that's not the dumbest sign at #OWS. It's this one:

Yes, this really reads "STOP BUYING THINGS (ask me how)".

So unless this moonbat stole the cardboard and magic marker he used to make the sign, like, he's part of the system, dude! And even if he, like, ripped off the cardboard and the pen, he couldn't have even made the sign without the system, yo!

That sound you heard was me sighing. You know, if they weren't in power, these lunatic progressives would be useful only as comic relief. Or door stops.


Attention Moonbats: Please read The Progressive and the Pencil. It has pictures to keep your attention.

#NewTone: Occupy Wall Street Flea-baggers Now Issuing Public Death Threats

It's really quite helpful that President Obama, Vice President Biden and the entire Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee are solidly behind the collection of kooks, druggies, anti-semites, truthers, and union hacks that make up the point-nine-nine percenters.

Because now we know precisely where they stand: with punks like this.

If you had any doubt what we're up against with #OccupyWallStreet, this image, tweeted to me on Twitter (@snarky_basterd), should not only give you pause, it should send you to your local gun dealer to stock up.

This is a fight for freedom, my friends. It's a fight for your way of life, your property, your loved ones. If one of the "99 percent" thinks this way, you can bet your ass many more do.

Prepare yourself.

Linking themselves with the OWS miscreants will prove to be another strategic failure for the Axis of Axelrod.

Pass the popcorn, Nahanni: environmental, flat earth, no-growth Marxists battle union members who need jobs

I love the smell of political napalm in the morning.

As liberal protesters watched forlornly from across the street, a loud, rowdy crowd of about 300 in downtown Washington, D.C., demonstrated in favor of a major oil industry pipeline project... “There are those who oppose the pipeline. They say the oil is dirty,” said one of the speakers. “Let me be as kind and as gentle as I can be: F**k them!” ... Hoots and cheers followed.

Was this the Tea Party counter-protesting against the Occupy Wall Street crowd? Nope. The rally was held by the Laborers International Union of North America. The union was there to back TransCanada’s (TRP) Keystone XL pipeline, a $7 billion project that would bring oil from Alberta to Texas.

The speaker was identified to Capital Hill by union members as Mano Frey, vice president of LIUNA West, which represents Alaska, western Canada and the Northwestern U.S. For him and his members the issue was obvious: The pipeline will mean jobs for them.

The liberal protesters — in town to mark the 10th anniversary of the Afghanistan war — were mostly silent, but one shirtless dreadlocked fellow crashed the union rally. “These (oil business) people will poison you and steal your money!” he shouted.

He was quickly surrounded by union members who shouted “Jobs! Jobs!” drowning him out.

As author Sean Higgins points out, this kind of battle is being seen across the U.S. as the anti-civilization green movement fights to throw America back into some kind of pre-industrial abyss.

Pipeline worker Pete Bardison was interviewed at the rally and said, "If they stop that pipeline, then the government better get ready to dig deep with the unemployment insurance."

Which is the Obama plan, otherwise known as Cloward-Piven government.