California, Here We Come

This video helps to explain the likely consequences of the California tax revolt.  And here is footage depicting California within a few years time.

But seriously - here is a bit of real coverage.

Comments

[narciso]

Actuallt, Tom, the Cadres from Running Man, are a closer fit for your scenario, we haven't had the Big Quake which will create
the area of the arena; they're included in the stimulus bill, I think.

[MayBee]

I wish one of the reporters at the WH press briefing would have asked for Obama's opinion regarding the failure of the propositions.

The LA Times completely ignored a 15,000 person tax revolt party in April. Obama has been very denigrating. Yet here is California showing the US what tax + spend eventually leads to (both finacially and electorally), and one of Obama's favorite Governors losing a battle. Surely this scares Obama a bit. Americans do not have an endless reserve of goodwill toward these policies.

[clarice]

I'm hoping this is Bunker Hill. And the war is just beginning.

[verner]

Me too Clarice. And just imagine how bad it's going to be when Ca. And NY get the full brunt of Obama's new wealth redistribution scheme.

Truly an Irony. Look at the electoral map from last November. The states in Red are still in pretty good shape. Should tell you something right there.

My poor little state is the brunt of jokes for the coastal Obama loving elites, but at least we have a balanced budget and no state income tax.

And I just met another small business person yesterday who moved here from LA just a month ago.

[Neo]

First, I want to say that I hate news pieces about elections that don’t have vote tallies. People got to the polls to have the vote counted not summarized.

Frankly, California is just a microcosm of the nation … they want every possible service but don’t want to pay for them. Frankly, the taxes nation wide have been ratcheted up to the point that we will have to expand the tax base below “middle income” workers or lose some services. Taxing the rich isn’t going to do anything but drive them to another state.

This first manifestation of the Margaret Thatcher attributed quote .. “the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money” will point the way to the future.

“We all want a free lunch, but unfortunately that doesn’t exist,” said former Gov. Gray Davis. For decades, Davis said, Californians have been “papering over this fundamental reality that the state has been living beyond its means.”

I’m not optimistic. I expect more “smoke n mirrors.” Unfortunately, the state constitution doesn’t say that all seats of the state government should go back up for election when faced with a bankruptcy and all pensions for elective positions should be revoked.

Bottom line .. the price of failure isn't big enough.

[matt]

as a Californian, I'm with you Clarice. Viva la Revolucion!

[bad]

[[[State to No Longer Invest in Federal Bailout Recipients
By Eric Berman
5/20/2009

Indiana will no longer invest in bonds issued by banks and automakers who receive federal bailout money.

Bondholders are supposed to be at the head of the line for repayment if a company goes bankrupt. But State Treasurer Richard Mourdock says the government rewrote the rulebook for the Chrysler bankruptcy, leaving investors with 29 cents on the dollar. Mourdock says that cost state investment funds $5.6 million.

Mourdock has lodged an objection to Chrysler's restructuring with the bankruptcy judge hearing the case, making Indiana the only one of the automaker's creditors to do so.

Mourdock says the state won't sell bonds it already holds -- he says that would lock in losses. But he's ordering fund managers not to buy any more bonds from Chrysler, GM, or banks covered by the bailout.

Mourdock says the Obama Administration's handling of Chrysler's debt wiped out $896,000 in value from the state's investment of the proceeds from the 2006 lease of the Indiana Toll Road, and $147,400 from the Indiana State Police Pension Fund. Mourdock oversees both portfolios.

Mourdock says the Teachers Retirement Fund, which is administered separately, lost $4.6 million.]]]]

The JOM financial wizards predited this and it is so.

LUN

[bad]

***predicted***

[matt]

on another note, the Chrysler Follies are back on again. Three pension funds in Indiana are suing to disallow the bankruptcy plan and specifically the government's interventionism.

[bad]

More on Indiana and the Chrysler bankruptcy from Ace:

[[[Wow, that was fast and I'm sorry I missed this earlier. In less than 8 hours the Bankruptcy Judge rejected Indiana's filing by means of a judicial rule we've talked about quite a bit here at the HQ: standing. The judge holds that Indiana has not demonstrated that it is likely to succeed on the motion because they did not establish that they have standing. Let me emphasize: the judge is suggesting that the holders of Chryslers' secured debt do not have standing over Chrysler's bankruptcy proceedings.]]]]

This too was predicted by the JOM legal wizards and now it is so.

LUN

[clarice]

Good for Indiana though--Refusal to buy those bonds should set a trend..

[bad]

I hope so, Clarice. Ya gotta luv em for having the balls to go public with their policy.

[verner]

I don't know if this is true, but if it is, it is soooo creepy. And I'm never going to call those people who believe in the Illuminati nutcases ever again. LUN

I only wish that Gates and Buffet had used Oprah as a human battering ram and shoved Soros out of the window of the 50th floor.

What do y'all think is up? Rats abandoning ship? Billionaire's survivalist compound on some remote private island?

[Fresh Air]

Neo--

California really isn't a microcosm of the rest of the country. It's a macrocosm of New York and New Jersey, maybe Chicago. Their zest for financing the next two generations of Democrats (i.e. illegal aliens from Mexico is a huge component of their budget problems. This really isn't the case anywhere else, and is a direct result of Democrats seeking power for its own sake. There are, however, some parallels in Illinois, as the black and Latino populations are also viewed as the Democrat plantation.

[Fresh Air]

Okay, TM. How much of a donation do you need to escape the fascist Typepad regime? I'm serious. It really sucks. This site is too good to be saddled with such an SEIU-like program.

[Fresh Air]

Verner--

I don't know how Oprah made the list. Must be an affirmative action thing for millionaires.

[bad]

Geez Verner!! That is a fascinating link. Smells like fear to me.

[verner]

Bad, do you think it might be buyer's/puppetmaster's remorse over the recent hire for the Oval office?

Remember what Buffet was saying.

Fresh, if she's on the list, Trump should be. She got the money, but she's not in the Buffet/Gates league.

Were there any international billionaires present? I though 2 of the top five were from India and Mexico.

[bad]

Maybe Verner, and ya gotta wonder if they're trying to figure out where to stash the wealth.

We may want to invest in secure compound construction companies and private army futures.

[Original MikeS]

California has really been screwing up. Obama has explained this issue very clearly. We should do what works. We are the ones we have been waiting for. All California has to do is institute universal health care for its citizens and illegal aliens, raise energy prices, and get community organizers to reform the education system there and viola, problem solved. Yes we can!

All this ridiculous talk about overspending is counter productive. Just borrow some more other people's money and spend our way to prosperity. Yes we can!

[peter]

Fiat workers in Italy not happy with the Chrysler plan either; The Italian communists have to get Obama's message, too. LUN

[Enlightened]

Nice. Y'all ready for OTV? As in, Obama-TV...

Check it out at Tapper's:LUN

"Read the TV pool report: "Your Pool was not allowed to go over and shoot POTUS with the team shooting hoops. We protested loudly."

Now we know why: Obama White House officials decided to do their own media report on the visit, complete with cuts, interviews, and chyrons identifying who's speaking.

Also, just like a network, they have their own little logo"

Oh happy day.

[matt]

Arlen Spectre just defended Nancy Pelosi and attacked the CIA....just when you thought it couldn't get any weirder.....

I'm telling you, it's going to make the Borgias and Colonnas look like Romper Room......

[Rick Ballard]

Finally. Some cheering news from the Fed. They fully anticipate that unemployment will have dropped back to 9.6% before the end of 2010. Not just that - they also only doubled their estimated decrease in 2009 GDP from the -.5-1.3% to -1.3-2%. I think they'll only have to double that estimate one more time before the end of the year. I really doubt that the contraction will exceed -4% or that unemployment will get much beyond 12%. Unless it does, of course.

LUN if penicillin hasn't cured Typhuspad's STD.

[bad]

matt, do ya suppose Spector volunteered to be the sacrificial lamb or someone twisted his arm?

[Danube of Thought]

Neo, last time I checked all five of the ballot measures were opposed by more than 60% of the voters. I will check and provide the final tallies. (Recall that Obama got 61% in November.)

[Extraneus]

Do Obama White House officials think their media coverage isn't flattering enough?

Good one from Tapper at the link.

[Danube of Thought]

Final "No" tallies on Props. 1A through 1E, respectively:

65.9%
62.6
64.8
65.8
66.4

The difference between CA and the feds is that CA can't print money. And that's a huge difference.

[Boatbuilder]

OriginalMikeS--"borrow some more other people's money. . . "

Who said anything about borrowing. You don't "borrow" money to return it to it's "rightful owners."

Hope and change. Get used to it. The beatings will continue until morale improves.

[verner]

Spector just want's to win the dem primary in PA. Disgusting old fart. Hell, he's eighty, why can't he just go home and sit on the porch.

[Extraneus]

I vote for volunteered, bad. He knows they hate him. What else could he do?

[Old Lurker]

Speaking of the Fed's revised and more pessimistic estimates of growth and employment, do you think anybody in the press will compare those estimates with the Obama estimates used in their make believe budget request? So you think that $1.6T (?) planned deficit is OK...now apply less growth and fewer taxpayers and get back to me.

[Old Lurker]

"why can't he just go home and sit on the porch?"

Yes, V, and take Bobbie Byrd with him.

[Jane]

Don't forget Ted Kennedy.

I say if you miss 10 consecutive votes in Congress they boot you.

Actually they should boot all of congress and replace it with unpaid volunteers.

[Old Lurker]

That was a good step by the Indiana Treasurer, Bad. We're predicting they will want to go farther and avoid investments in all secured bonds from any US company since the premiums paid for them are no longer justified under the Chrysler precedent.

[Old Lurker]

Could we boot them out and not replace them for awhile?

[Boatbuilder]

Is it too much to hope that OTV might generate some nostalgia among the MSM for the days--oh, 5 or 6 months ago--when one of the ideals of the press was to exercise a certain amount of critical skepticism towards the pronouncements of the administration? Now he's poaching directly on their prerogatives. Are they that craven?

[jimmyk]

"the judge is suggesting that the holders of Chryslers' secured debt do not have standing over Chrysler's bankruptcy proceedings.

"This too was predicted by the JOM legal wizards and now it is so."

Not being a legal wizard, I am befuddled by the notion that the secured debtholders do not have standing. Can someone explain, or is this just judicial activism run amok?

[verner]

OT but do any of you old India experts know of a good agent in Bangalore where one can rent a car and driver for two weeks for the South India circuit? Also, a decent reasonably priced tailor who can throw together a few Salwar Kameez in a day or so...

[bad]

Old Lurker, I might have missed the significance of that story had you and others not provided the necessary education.

[Old Lurker]

Thanks, Bad. We are all here because we all learn so much from each other. And we're nice to each other except when that is impossible!

[Fresh Air]

Not being a legal wizard, I am befuddled by the notion that the secured debtholders do not have standing. Can someone explain...

I think your party has to comprise 10 percent or more of the class to have standing.

[Old Lurker]

I think someone posted here that 2/3 of a class commits the entire class (maybe standing has a different requirement). As the TARP banks exceeded that from the get-go, the smaller secured lenders were screwed, and the judge held their coats while the gang did it.

[Rick Ballard]

OL,

I believe the (D)irty Fascist in the WH has already bumped his half-assed deficit estimate to $1.8T. In reality, it will be well north of $2T. The Q1 annualized GDP drop of 6.3% was accompanied by an actual YoY drop of 8.14% in withholding tax deposits. The drop in Q2 deposits through yesterday, YoY, was 9.65%. Consumer credit use has dropped substantially in Q2 and personal savings are up substantially.

I hope folks run through that last bit a couple of times - income is down sharply, borrowing is down sharply and saving is up sharply. Someone tell me where the "green shoot" is bursting through in that scenario.

[clarice]

verner, If you're serious I can give you the name of someone here who might help you arrange that. Email me.

[Ignatz]

-I think someone posted here that 2/3 of a class commits the entire class (maybe standing has a different requirement).-

Might have been me, OL.
Refers to the doctrine of "absolute priority" which can be overidden by 2/3 vote of the creditors and which would seem to make the doctrine rather poorly named.
Since HTML seems dead I've LUNed a good article on the subject.

Long day. Off to eat, shower and sleep.

[Old Lurker]

Rick: "Consumer credit use has dropped substantially in Q2"

And that was when they still HAD access to credit. With today's passage of the credit card bill, that will evaporate shortly.

[Fresh Air]

Rick--

I think it could get a lot worse next year as state tax increases kick in. People are hunkering down, and an inflation-driven stock market is not going to lure many out of their bunkers. Ammunition, bottled water, food, gold and scotch are much better bets right now.

That credit card bill will sure help, won't it? I hope the young people borrowing to pay for their stereos, iPods, health clubs, etc. appreciate the anvil Democrats are hanging from their necklaces.

Dopes.

[Old Lurker]

Thanks, Ignatz, I thought it was your post but was not sure so didn't want to misquote you, if I misrememberd...

[Ignatz]

BTW, before I hit the sack;
I haven't had time to check the threads out lately but it seems the consensus is that cc companies will soak good lenders to make up for the moron cc bill just passed.
Perhaps they will to some extent, as they've claimed.
However when part of a business becomes unprofitable the usual behavior is to reduce that portion of the business. I suspect the major action will be to cut off more and more credit to high risk debtors, which seems rather counter to the idiots' intentions in congress.
Apologies if that point has already been made.

[Ignatz]

***will soak good debtors****

[Old Lurker]

That is exactly how the rest of us see it too, Ignatz. Go eat and get some sleep.

[Captain Hate]

Hell, he's eighty, why can't he just go home and sit on the porch.

No fool like an old fool

[Extraneus]

Damn good point, Captain. And I'd add that he apparently doesn't care about his kids, either. He'd have stayed "principled" at eighty, even though he isn't, if he cared about his heirs.

[Rick Ballard]

Ignatz,

Although it's been noted, your presentation is very clear. I'm trying to figure out how to stir resentment among the sans culottes and the new grads moving back into the folks basement (with payments for nice, non-dischargeable ed loans starting very soon). We need to see Imelda in more $500 gardening shoes while Idi babbles about "saving".

FA,

At least some hedge hogs (LUN) are showing some backbone - even PIMPCO (Fascist Friend First Class) is getting in on the "Just Say No to Union Companies" bandwagon.

Now that's a green shoot.

[matt]

so Obama mugs the TARP debtors and now everyone else gets screwed. If I was the Indiana pension fund or another minor debtholder, I would appeal the ruling as far as possible. There's fraud written all over this deal.

As to Spectre, he is simply the biggest whore in Pennsylvania. He simply has no ethics and no political principles worthy of the name. Now that he's the junior member of his committees, he's probably angling to be the next to junior member. He can be bought very cheap these days.

[verner]

Clarice, I sent it to c***c, is that the right one? Thanks for your help.

Ignatz, another example of the ants taking care of the big fat lazy grasshoppers.

[Jane]

Did you guys see this:

THE FIERCE MORAL URGENCY OF CHANGE: Obama: Plame Lawsuit Should Not Be Reconsidered By Supreme Court. “Agreeing with the Bush administration, the Obama Justice Department argues the Wilsons have no legitimate grounds to sue. It is surprising that the first time the Obama administration has been required to take a public position on this matter, the administration is so closely aligning itself with the Bush administration’s views.” Not so surprising. The shoe is on the other foot now, and that foot aims to . . . well, never mind.

Huffington Post Via Glenn

[verner]

Great find Jane. In a way, too bad. The discovery in that trial could be delicious. Though the last thing Scooter needs is more legal bills.

And of course Holder et al are completely right. She resigned. She was never going to be "covert" again, because they were moving her to State. No one did a thing to her.

[Rick Ballard]

On Topic,

Just for the record - a "centrist" suckup jerk of Northeastern Rockefeller no brain Republican got his ass handed to him in California yesterday. His lack of backbone in using the veto combined with his "just like them but we part our hair on the other side" politics have gained him nothing but deserved contempt.

[clarice]

Well, the question is really not the Plame case but the immunity from suit of public officials and I hardly think the govt's position is unanticipated or unwarranted.

[Captain Hate]

Troo dat Rick; Arnold has been such a major disappointment. Particularly following such a worthless piece of lint like Gray Davis, there was no need for him to go wobbly almost immediately when he had such an obvious mandate to shake things up.

[sbw]

Headline: 'John Frum' lives on in America

Dotting the hillsides of the island of Vanuatu, in the South Pacific are the remains of "John Frum Cult" relics created more than 60 years ago to appease gods in the hope they would deposit more wealth like that which American soldiers abandoned during World War II. John Frum, the cargo cult's name, probably originated as "John, from America."

Cargo cults were dedicated to obtaining material wealth through rituals and magical thinking. Leaders of cargo cults believed they were owed manufactured goods or wealth created by spiritual means. They believed that such objects were wrongly kept from cult followers. They believed they could get what ought to be theirs through prayer to the right gods, proper obeisance, and tribute. Follow the rituals and the gods would see the righteousness of cult claims and wealth would rain down. Where wealth comes from was not their concern and they saw no reason to learn.

Cargo cults usually appear amongst those lacking other means to attract cargo--who lust for material goods and who have not worked to learn how to obtain such things for themselves. Cargo cults tend to be short-lived. Eventually, cult members discover that those who originally created the cargo are not gods and that their power came from mastering the skills and knowledge to make cargo. They eventually learn cult leaders are misguided or have been leading them astray for their own ends.

Wikipedia says Nobel prize-winning scientist Richard Feynman coined the phrase "cargo cult science" to describe pseudoscience that had no legitimate foundation. The phrase "cargo cult capitalism," popular in New Zealand in the 1980s, described policy that sounded admirable but had no legitimate foundation.

Today, "cargo cult government" and its followers consume wealth faster than working Americans can create it. It will be a sobering but great relief when voters who put that government in office rediscover that power comes not from idol worship, but from mastering skills and knowledge to offer services and make things that other people decide to buy—things like food, energy, clothing, automobiles, health insurance, banking services, education, and shelter.

"John, from America" should never become "John, in American government." Magical cargo cult redistribution policies have no place in American economics. They do not produce wealth. They do not work.

[verner]

Agree Clarice, but to the loons it will be just another example of Obama acting like Bush. Their heads must be ready to explode.

Rick, Arnold proves the folly of trying to appease democrats. Can't be done without utter failure.

Well good people, I'm off to bed. I have a bevy of teenagers watching a movie in the basement, and I think I'll make one last surprise visit.

They will NEVER call me the "cool" mom! I know all their tricks.

[hit and run]

OK, this is getting ridiculous. 3rd time's the charm I hope, 2 posts bearing a striking resemblance to the one below have been eaten by typepad. So far!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

BIGGEST NEWS ITEM OF THE DAY: Happy Birthday to the Resident Lesbian*!!!

And it's a big one! She is one year older than me -- and I'm 13 x 3.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

-------------
*resident in Jane's office, of course.

[Rick Ballard]

Cap'n,

I wonder if the Reps will be bringing the renewal of the Bush tax cuts to the floor on a one per month basis in '10 or whether they'll present an omnibus package in the late spring? I know that the (D)irty Fascists didn't put a lot of effort into passage of the CA referenda (I don't believe that ACORN even put any thugs on the street). Still, a 63% opposition to status quo vote has got to get Botox and Dingy's attention.

I don't know about Bunker Hill but I believe that the Committees of Correspondence are forming.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

I think you're underestimating what Oprah is worth. Forbes, via Wikipedia, puts her at just south of $3 billion. Right close to Trump.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

"I know that the (D)irty Fascists didn't put a lot of effort into passage of the CA referenda (I don't believe that ACORN even put any thugs on the street)."

They're supposed to have outspent the "No" side 10-1.

[belle]

OT...Way OT: The wholesome guy, Chris Allen, just won American Idol over the vastly more flamboyant (talented?) Adam Lambert. Coupled with the election results in Ca., are we returning to traditional American values? Am I projecting here?

[bad]

Bloomberg via Insty:

[[[Pacific Investment Management Co., Barclays Capital and Fridson Investment Advisors have joined Schultze Asset Management LLC in saying lenders may be unwilling to back unionized companies with underfunded pension and medical obligations, such as airlines and auto-industry suppliers, because Chrysler’s creditors failed to block Obama’s move. The reluctance may put additional pressure on borrowers seeking capital in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

“Lenders will have to figure out how to price this risk,” Schultze, 39, said in a telephone interview from his office in Purchase, New York. “The obvious one is: Don’t lend to a company with big legacy liabilities or demand a much higher rate of interest because you may be leapfrogged in a bankruptcy.”]]]

JOM called it. The avalanche begins.....

[narciso]

a real investigation into the Plame matter might have turned up the fact why Armitage
and Novak, no overt supporters of the Iraq
initiative, although Armitage had served on the board of CACI, one of the contractors involved in Abu Ghraib; decided to burn Valerie Plame, it could have been as simple
that her analysis and 'bigfooting' her husband into the Niger investigation, with the conflict of interest with COGEMA and Freeman's Middle East institute. But better let sleeping dogs lie.

[peter]

OT The New York Yankees have won their eighth straight game.

[clarice]

Chaco, per the WSJ 's account of his deposition Trump is worth--less much less and in fact much less than he probably let his creditors believe.

[Rick Ballard]

[i]They're supposed to have outspent the "No" side 10-1.[/i]

Statewide turnout was 23% and LA County only hit 17%. There was no walkin' around money on the street in LA and no ACORN thugs hustling at all. In one sense this is just typical California kabuki - the election is a fig leaf so that the Dem beggars (with Arnold in front) can rattle their cups for Ogabe.

The fight starts when Ogabe trys to federalize the CA debt. That might get the Blue Dogs off their bellies.

[Ann]

That Trump WSJ piece made him sound like a crazy uncle.. in his deposition. (Which I aways thought he was btw)

[bad]

Gibbs regarding Gitmo:

"I think he'll say this tomorrow, that we've made some hasty decisions that are now going to take some time to unwind, and closing Guantanamo Bay, obviously, is one of those decisions."

UPDATE from Jim Geraghty: Apparently some are claiming that when Gibbs said "closing Guantantamo Bay" he meant "opening Guantanamo Bay." Uh, okay.

video at LUN

Did Gibbs slip up? Or is he greasing the skids for the predicted walk-back?

[jimmyk]

"Refers to the doctrine of "absolute priority" which can be overidden by 2/3 vote of the creditors"

I'm guessing that doctrine did not anticipate a situation in which the government thugs could coerce 2/3 of the creditors to screw themselves (and the other third).

[clarice]

When are we getting the NYC flyover report?

[Ann]

I can't wait to contrast the two speeches tomorrow between Cheney and Obama on national security, bad. Obama, hearing that Cheney was giving a speech decided recently to give one at the same time. We will see how that works for the cowardly ONE.

[RichatUF]

sbw, nicely done.

Rick-

I'm pretty sure when they go shaking the tin cup, they'll point out that Mexico, South Korea, and Brazil have gotten bailouts. They'll have charts and graphs of various bank bailouts and AIG and the modest, picayune really, California bailout request.

[bad]

NYT via Hot Air:

"An unreleased Pentagon report concludes that about one in seven of the 534 prisoners already transferred abroad from the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has returned to terrorism or militant activity, according to administration officials."

snip

"Two administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said the report was being held up by Defense Department employees fearful of upsetting the White House, at a time when even Congressional Democrats have begun to show misgivings over Mr. Obama’s plan to close Guantánamo."
=============
Gee, is the Defense Department saying the WH is tempermental?

LUN

[bad]

The CIA lies and the Defense Department withholds reports from the WH. And Dick Cheney is mean.

I seeeee.........

[hit and run]

bad:
[[Gee, is the Defense Department saying the WH is tempermental?]]

What did Obama say of Hillary in the campaign?

"I understand that Sen. Clinton periodically, when she’s feeling down, launches attacks as a way of boosting her appeal,"

Don't look at me. I'm not going to punctuate the joke here.

[bad]

I forgot to mention that Fox News is mean too. And Rush and Hannity.

And banks and CEOs are baaaad...

[bad]

I'm sensing a pattern, Hit, but can't quite put my finger on it....

Is the word I'm searching for ... whiner?

yea, that's the ticket. Whiner

What about crybaby?

[RichatUF]

Obama is performing constituency service for his supporters at Gitmo. He'll spring 'um out, but Obama doesn't want the sort of messy strings Clinton left behind when he released all his terrorist supporters.

See LUN that the Soros plan is still in motion. Why is he giving these groups a forum on matters of national security?

And we're going to see another post-Gitmo fiasco in the near future with East Africa Embassy bomber and alleged blood diamond dealer Ahmed Ghailani. Sure the Justice Department could make a case against him based only on the Embassies Bombings, but it took them 3 times to get the cell in Miami, twice to get the HLF, and they were embarrassed in the al-Arian trial (he plead guilty to a minor charge and is either awaiting deportation or has been deported to the Gaza Strip).

[bad]

Prima ballerina? Maybe

Prima Donna? For SHURRRRR

[bad]

Thanks for the link Rich. If we've had no leadership for the past eight years, where the heck did he steal his policies for the war on Terror?

[AL]

“…upon the governor's return from Washington, where he spent election day after casting a last-minute absentee ballo..t.”

Arnold spent day in Washington to celebrate Obama decision to impose California legislation to reduce GHG emissions from cars (Pavley I) to whole US.

Kind of strange. Who will bailout California if same crazy policy will bankrupt feds?

[RichatUF]

AL-

Everyone not living in the state of California and everyone who does. Noticed that the Governator sent pick slips to just 5000 workers today-that'll save about $350 million in payroll-another $20 billion to go.

[Too bad, Melanie Sloan, so sad.]

OK, hot stuff here. The Obama Administration agrees with the Bush Administration on shutting down Joe and Val's civil suit appeal. tsK9 thinks it might be payback for Scary's ferocious PUMA act.

[Ann]

Thanks Rich:

I can't wait for tomorrow's speech because he still doesn't get it. From your link:

As for the criticism of Senate Republicans, who suggest that moving terrorism suspects to America would be tantamount to releasing them on the streets, Massimino recalled Obama's remarks as being relatively brief. He dismissed it, she said, "as really an unfounded fear that is being fanned by people who are seeking political advantage."

And I can't believe this is the first time I have heard that:

Ghailani will be the first detainee held at GItmo to be brought to the United States, and the first to face trial in a civilian criminal court.

Has anyone warned THE VIEW or New Yorkers that it might not be safe during this trial?

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Just got a note from Typepad that they're really really trying to fix the HTML issue.

[Topsecretk9]

Am I crazy or does this appear to be strangest response to this latest terror plot or what?

"Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said in a statement: “If there can be any good news from this terror scare it’s that this group was relatively unsophisticated, infiltrated early, and not connected to another terrorist group. This incident shows that we must always be vigilant against terrorism — foreign or domestic.”"

[Topsecretk9]

TBMSSS

" tsK9 thinks it might be payback for Scary's ferocious PUMA act."

well, I was being silly but I imagine Scary Larry's made up whitey tape didn't exactly endear them to him.

[Danube of Thought]

I noticed Arnold's announement of the 5,000 state employees. So what about the other 45,000 state jobs added to the rolls since he took over from Davis?

What happened with Arnold was pretty simple: he took office with a mandate, made an effort to carry it out with a slate of initiatives that he placed on the ballot to go around the legislature, lost on all those initiatives, and threw in the towel.

From that day forward he has reverted to movie star status, seeking to make as many people like him as possible. A sorry-assed failure, he deserves to be run out on a rail.

[MayBee]

The Wilsons also campaigned for Hillary, and Joe was against Obama. Of course, Joe being Joe, he actually praised all the work he had done in showing Hillary the world in an effort(?) to highlight her experience.

Also, Joe cut his hair. He's lost his MoJo.

[MayBee]

MoJoMoDo.

[MayBee]

You are so right, DoT.
Arnold's downfall happened fast. He was still beloved (here) when we moved here.

Beware, Obama. I hope someone is honest enough with you to tell you this is worrisome.

[Jane]

Thanks Hit - I'll pass it on. Clearly she will not be reading here past that - because someone has to actually get work done in this office.