Profiles In Gutlessness

The NY Times editors decry the Dem drift in DC:

Inside the Beltway: A Deficit of Purpose

A sense of resolve and a clear purpose should not be partisan commodities, yet, in Washington, only the Republicans seem to have them. They know exactly what they want and pursue it with ruthless efficiency: preserve all the Bush-era tax cuts, no matter the cost, and make sure President Obama gets nothing done.

Kevin Drum can't quite connect the dots of his own diagnosis:

Maybe a reluctance to play hardball is the issue here.  But there are at least two other things involved. The first is simply that Republicans believe their own PR more than Democrats do. When Republicans get hysterical about something, it's genuine. They really believe, way down in their self-righteous little hearts, that they're speaking God's own truth, no matter how ridiculous it is. And it shows.

The other, though, is the media itself: Democrats have long since learned that the media just flatly won't pay attention to ridiculous stuff from them, but they will from Republicans. Republican fervor is contagious, and conservative media has an agenda setting power that liberals just can't match. So why bother?

First, dare we suggest that some of the Dem rhetoric is opportunistic poturing?  Gitmo is still open and DADT remains unrepealed, despite the fierce moral urgency of hope and change.

Secondly, the media doesn't reliably get behind the phony liberal talking points because, being liberal themselves, they are well aware of their phoniness.  The NY Times editors don't actually know anyone who voted for Nixon, or Reagan, or Bush, or McCain.  Consequently, sorting the Reublican posturing from the convictions is beyond them.  But on the Dem side, these Big Media guys have heard every liberal argument ever made, and recycled most of them at one time or another.  As the 2012 elections approach the usual suspects will pick up their pom-poms and resume cheerleading for anything a Democrat says.  Right now, they are a bit discouraged.

Comments

[Gmax]

To be is to lie. Its the Democrat essence.

[Clarice]

Plus it's a relatively slow news cycle and there's space between Christmas ads to be filled. One day it's the civil war in the Republican camp; the next day it's this carp sandwich.

[LouP]

Or... It's really, really tough to sell credibility when you don't have any...

But never fear Libs ... it has to be the other guy's fault.

[centralcal]

Republican fervor is contagious, and conservative media has an agenda setting power that liberals just can't match.

Only about 20% of the population will even admit to being liberal, so perhaps that could be part of the problem?

[jag]

"They know exactly what they want and pursue it with ruthless efficiency"

This is funny. Couldn't exactly the same have been said of the Democrat effort to jam Obamacare down the nation's throat?

"the media just flatly won't pay attention to ridiculous stuff from them"

Doesn't the MSM cover nearly EVERY liberal idea respectfully, if not breathlessly endorsing them? Of course if you don't define anything from liberals/Democrats as "ridiculous" this isn't as much of a problem now is it?

[Rick Ballard]

C-C,

I believe the percentage of those admitting to being Stuck on Stupid has dropped slightly. You can always count on proglodytes to have the cowardice of their lack of conviction.

[Gmax]

Well after the Dems scream full throated liberal ash for two more years and the voters once again "shellack" them, they will return to the period post Mondale where they simply lie to the public about what they believe. And sadly, a certain squishy middle will fall for it again. Its a predictable as the tides.

[Neo]

Consider the alternative …

“Do you allow yourself to be held hostage and get something done for the sake of getting something done, when in fact it might be perverse in its ultimate results? It’s almost like the question of do you negotiate with terrorists.”

[Gmax]

First Senate vote fails, only get 53 votes so 5 Democrat defect. The Socialists are not going to be allowed to raise taxes on anyone in the middle of a recession. It will make the spittle fly at Huffpuff for sure!

[MikeS]

I agree with Drum that the media ends up participating in the political discourse rather than just reporting on it. The media is chiefly responsible for the acceptance of the liberal spin that any reduction in the rate of spending growth is a spending cut.

Though no honest person would insist that cutting the rate of growth is the same as cutting spending, the media routinely does that.

In the current discussion about tax cuts, the press repeatedly publishes the claim that extending the Bush tax cuts, for people making over $200 thousand, will increase the debt by $700 billion over ten years. That is a blatantly false claim.

Though most economist agree that income tax cuts don't pay for themselves by 100% (in the short term), by increasing revenue in an equal amount, none are claiming that tax cuts don't pay for themselves in part.

Secondly, that portion of the tax cuts will amount to only about $35 billion in 2011. The $700 billion estimate is premised on unrealistically high GDP growth rates over the next ten years.

[centralcal]

Yep - HuffPo's headline screams in giant red letters: NO RELIEF: SENATE REPUBLICANS KILL ECONOMIC AID FOR MIDDLE CLASS.

Just makes me giggle.

[Maguire crys like a girl]

"the media doesn't reliably get behind the phony liberal talking points because, being liberal themselves, they are well aware of their phoniness. The NY Times editors don't actually know anyone who voted for Nixon, or Reagan, or Bush, or McCain. Consequently, sorting the Reublican posturing from the convictions is beyond them.'

Waaaaaahhhhhh ! Sob ! Sniff.

They don't like us. They're mean.

[Gmax]

unrealistically high GDP growth rates

Any growth may be unrealistic if we dont get some sanity back in the WH. The cavalry arrives In January, will the fort be consumed in flames before then?

[An Army of Scrooges]

"SENATE REPUBLICANS KILL ECONOMIC AID FOR MIDDLE CLASS."

Working class types can suck on a rock.

And you unemployed, you don't even get a rock.

Christmas !

Bah ! Humbug.

[Gmax]

Looks like the crying like a schoolgirl is not confined to Huffpuff! Sucks that no one is listening to liberals lie isnt it, Cleo? Yes I am most definitely mocking you.

[An Army of Scrooges]

"Yes I am most definitely mocking you."

Sorry. Maybe it isn't apparent because of your poor linguistic skills. Maybe lower taxes will infuse you with some writing ability.

[Gmax]

Oh my feelings are so hurt. A liberal with both anger managment and passive aggressive tendency wants to ad hom me. I will surely be remorseful, once I stop laughing hysterically ( at you ). Why is Gitmo still open btw?

[An Army of Scrooges]

"I will surely be remorseful"

Sociopaths can pantomime genuine emotions and display a mock form of conscience.

[Gmax]

Grsnny used to say "IT TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE."

Yes I am still mocking you. Why is there no cap & trade bill?

[An Army of Scrooges]

"IT TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE."

" Maybe lower taxes will infuse you with some writing ability."

Even tax-free income is not going to help.

[Gmax]

Hey I just noticed we have 50K soldiers in Iraq! And we are not giving any terrorist access to the courts either! Did Bush sneak in and put his hand in the back of Zero to make him act just like a Republican?

Mock continues unabated!

[Republicans cornhole Nation while smoking cigars]

Non-insane conservative Dan Drezner points out that even if repeal of DADT has some modest and temporary negative effects on things like unit cohesion and combat readiness, the status quo is having way bigger negative effects:

I therefore really and truly don't give a s**t why John McCain's position has shifted. I just want to know why the ranking minority member of the Senate Armed Services committee is throwing national security, civilian control of the military, and the hierarchical chain of command under the f***ing bus. John McCain is weakening the institution he claims to love the most. I don't care why he's doing it — I just care that he's doing it.

[Deficit Hawks Morph into Deficit Ducks]

Mr. Schumer: I thank my colleague. And through the chair, I'd simply like to ask my colleague this. I understand we have a different point of view here. We both care about deficit reduction. Could he please explain to me why it is okay to take $300 billion of tax cuts for those at the highest income levels, above a million, and not pay for it and yet we have to pay for unemployment insurance ex extension?

Mr. Grassley: I thought I made that point very clear, because the taxpayers are smarter than we in Congress are. They know that they give another dollar to us to spend and it's a license to spend $1.15. So it just increases the national debt. And when it comes to paying for unemployment compensation, we can pay for unemployment compensation because the stimulus bill was supposed to stimulate the economy and it's not being spent. And if you put money from stimulus into unemployment, you don't increase the deficit and you'll also have the money spent right away.

Mr. Schumer: I would just say that the answer doesn't deal with deficit reduction. If you care about deficit reduction, the two should be treated equally. A dollar of tax break for millionaire and a dollar of increased unemployment benefits increases the deficit the same amount. However, every economist -- I saw we had a chart up about economists before -- will tell you that a dollar into unemployment benefits stimulates the economy about four times as much as a dollar into tax decreases for millionaires. That's pretty universal. Mark Zandy, John McCain's economic advisor during his campaign, said that a dollar of tax breaks for millionaires stimulates the economy about 30 cents worth. A dollar of tax -- a dollar of unemployment benefits increases the economy by about $1.62

[glasater]

Liberals lost the debate when Schumer offered the bill of no taxes on the first million dollars of income.

[They almost have it right]

"Despite entering a robust economy that seemed to weather the financial crisis as if were it a middling squall, China’s college graduates on average make only 300 yuan, or roughly $44, more per month than the average Chinese migrant worker, according to statistics cited over the weekend by a top Chinese labor researcher and reported today by the Beijing Times (in Chinese).

“It’s the first time China has faced such a situation,” the paper quoted Cai Fang, head of the Chinese Academy of Social Science’s Institute of Population and Labor Economics, as saying Saturday at a conference on Chinese youth. “It’s hard to say how long this situation will last.”

By Mr. Cai’s calculations, college graduates have consistently earned around 1,500 yuan a month since 2003. Migrant workers, meanwhile, have seen their monthly wages rise from an average of 700 yuan to 1,200 yuan over roughly the same time period, MR. Cai said, according to the Beijing Times.

It's a free-market paradise, that China.

They got their economic act together, if only there weren't Communists, we could be friends

[Extraneus]

This "tax the rich to get more revenue" stuff is all b.s. I don't know if it was discussed here, but a recent WSJ piece on "Hauser's Law" shows that Tax Revenues = 19% of GDP, Regardless of Tax Rates.

Through all kinds of top marginal rates, look how flat the total revenue is as a percentage of GDP:

This gives the lie to all the talk of revenue and deficits. It's all just a matter of various doses of class envy and freedom.

[Extraneus]

Ooops, sorry that came out so wide. The full chart is at the link.

[Danube of Thought]

"...a dollar of tax breaks for millionaires stimulates the economy about 30 cents worth. A dollar of tax -- a dollar of unemployment benefits increases the economy by about $1.62."

Empty assertions that can neither be proved nor disproved. Two things that can be shown by decades of empirical evidence are that (a) the federal revenue from income tax remains nearly constant at 19% of GDP regardless of rates, and (2) GDP growth increases following rate reductions.

[Moral Expediency is no substitute for an argument]

"It's all just a matter of various doses of class envy and freedom."

Uh huh. You do know the expression, "lies, damned lies, and statistics"?

Whats 19 percent of a million bucks?

Now try 19% of a Billion.

Stuff your stats where the sun don't shine.

[Nixon would be Proud of your successful hypocrisy]

Just as in the Reagan/BushI 80's and the BushII years, the Republicans have forfeited any credibility on Deficit reduction for the foreseeable future.

Watch what they do, not what they say.

[hit and run]

Stuff your [Schumer-quoted] stats where the sun don't shine.

[Danube of Thought]

Extraneus beat me to it.

[Technical writers lack communication skills]

"Stuff your [Schumer-quoted] stats where the sun don't shine."

Gmax; See if you can match this bold attempt at wordcraft. It's a beginning.

[Danube of Thought]

"Whats 19 percent of a million bucks?
Now try 19% of a Billion."

Breathtaking self-exposure of a guy who doesn't understand what is being discussed.

You dumb shit.

[Gmax]

Right on cue, after bemoaning the failure of the Senate in engage in crass class warfare (ala Chavez), he announces he is confident that a compromise can be reached. Kabuki theater. Think the moonbats are stupid enough to swallow this "fighting for you" nonsense? He is going to fold like a leatherman pocket tool! Add that to the every growing list of campaign rhetoric discarded, like trash on the lawn after a SEIU rally around the reflecting pool!

[When did the Danube become the Hudson?]

"You dumb shit."

I understand attempts at manipulation, double-dumb shit.

[Danube of Thought]

Latest I've seen is that he'll agree to an across-the-board extension in return for another $150 Billion in failed stimulus spending.

Minus 19 at Raz today.

[Gmax]

double-dumb shit.

This must be the pinnacle of wordcraft!

Your golden boy just folded on raising taxes on national tv. And the Republicans are now days away from taking the reins from San Fran Nan. I am sure a double dose of your stelazyne will make all those visions of bad things and voices go away. / MOCK

[Ignatz]

--Republicans cornhole Nation--

Why are our leftist trolls so consistently homophobic?

--Mark Zandy, John McCain's economic advisor during his campaign, said that a dollar of tax breaks for millionaires stimulates the economy about 30 cents worth. A dollar of tax -- a dollar of unemployment benefits increases the economy by about $1.62--

We need look no further as to why McCain lost than having a simpleton like that as his econ advisor. Unfortunately even simpler simpletons won.

[Cecil Turner]

They really believe, way down in their self-righteous little hearts, that they're speaking God's own truth, no matter how ridiculous it is.

Heaven forbid we actually discuss the actual GOP position: raising taxes on 50% of the folks who create 50% of the jobs puts a damper on 25% of the job market when joblessness (and the most conservative measure, at that) just rose to 9.8%.

I suspect plenty of Dems are making the calculation that if they vote for those tax hikes, and unemployment rises to 10% (for whatever cause), they'll lose their phony-baloney jobs. I think they're on to something.

[Rick Ballard]

"The $700 billion estimate is premised on unrealistically high GDP growth rates over the next ten years."

True, but even worse, it's based upon personal income prior to the election of the Kendonesian commie (which has dropped rather precipitously among high earners since his inauguration) and it is based upon already disproven actuarial assumptions regarding the behavior of those reaching retirement age (the geezers were supposed to stay on the treadmill with a commie in the WH - fat chance).

Even though it is based upon lies (and what proglodyte policy initiative is not?), the President will probably stick with it. After all, it does adhere to progressive principles rooted in envy, jealousy, greed and sloth - how can he not uphold it?

[You must be Howdy Dooty]

"This must be the pinnacle of wordcraft!"

Relative to your skills. it is.

[Extraneus]

Yeah, but Zandy probably believes it, Ig. Does anyone think Dems honestly believe in Keynesianism? It's just a convenient excuse for what they want to do.

[Where are the jobs, Mr Boner?]

"50% of the folks who create 50% of the jobs puts a damper on 25% of the job market"

horsecrap. The Bush tax cuts have been in place for 9 years. Where are the jobs?

[Gmax]

Looks like a bipartisan rejection to me.

Republicans voted unanimously against the House-passed bill, and they were joined by four Democrats — Senators Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and Jim Webb of Virginia — as well as by Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut.

Whose turn is it to drag Cleo in off the ledge?

[These are supposed to be the Adults?]

Gmax;

A little sincere help. When you are mocking someone it is rank temerity to conclude your mock-mockery with the word "MOCK'

Let the story tell itself. So far you have failed to make your point clear without the addendum.

[Gmax]

There is a lot of jobs available on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Republicans staffing up their committee chairmen and the Speaker's staff, and Democrats emptying out their desks to make way for the sane.

Smirk.

[These are supposed to be the Adults?]

"Whose turn is it to drag Cleo in off the ledge?"

Again. Lacking clarity. What ledge? You really don't listen any better than you write.

[Gmax]

Here is the price that Zero seeks to extract for doing the only sensible thing and not raising taxes in a recession, courtesy of the WaPo:

In return, Obama is seeking Republican support for as much as $150 billion in new spending on the economy, including an additional 13 months of emergency jobless benefits and another year of his signature “Making Work Pay” tax cut for working families.

How much was the making work pay cut again, $50? Hey I will buy lunch, just not too many can accept!

[Lamestream Media]

Brad DeLong;

"Matt Duss reports:

Eight Years Later, Washington Post Still Defending The Saddam-Niger-Yellowcake Story: This... from the Washington Post’s editorial “review” of the film ["Fair Game"], is pretty clearly dishonest:

"The movie portrays Mr. Wilson as a whistle-blower who debunked a Bush administration claim that Iraq had tried to purchase uranium from the African country of Niger. In fact, an investigation by the Senate intelligence committee found that Mr. Wilson’s reporting did not affect the intelligence community’s view on the matter, and an official British investigation found that President George W. Bush’s statement in a State of the Union address that Britain believed that Iraq had sought uranium in Niger was well-founded."

“Well founded,” I suppose, in the sense that (some in) Britain “believed” it. But as we now know, and as the Washington Post itself has reported, our own intelligence agencies, as well as those of other countries, were highly skeptical of the claim. Maybe the Washington Post’s editors should try reading their own paper. From April 2007:

Dozens of interviews with current and former intelligence officials and policymakers in the United States, Britain, France and Italy show that the Bush administration disregarded key information available at the time showing that the Iraq-Niger claim was highly questionable. In February 2002, the CIA received the verbatim text of one of the documents, filled with errors easily identifiable through a simple Internet search, the interviews show. Many low- and mid-level intelligence officials were already skeptical that Iraq was in pursuit of nuclear weapons. The interviews also showed that France, berated by the Bush administration for opposing the Iraq war, honored a U.S. intelligence request to investigate the uranium claim. It determined that its former colony had not sold uranium to Iraq.

It’s somewhat pathetic that now, years after the Niger uranium claim has been debunked, the Washington Post’s editors are still hiding behind the “Britain believed...” formulation. Just as in the U.S., Britain’s investigation found that leaders had relied on questionable intelligence and disregarded key intelligence caveats in making their case for war. Even so, the Butler report is generally regarded as a whitewash.... Hilariously, the editors write that “the film’s reception illustrates a more troubling trend of political debates in Washington in which established facts are willfully ignored.”

[Gmax]

Again.

Yes you and tedium are joined at the hip like Siamese twins.

[GOPer Surrender]

"Whose turn is it to drag Cleo in off the ledge?"

IOW; "Someone rescue me"

[Ignatz]

--Again. Lacking clarity. What ledge?--

Got to go with cleo on this one gmax.
When a lefty nutter is standing on a ledge it's actually called a precipice and it's a really good thing we all should follow him over.

[jorgxmckie]

Wow!! I hadn't really seen cleo in a full-blown snit for quite some time. I wonder what actually set him off this time? And who let him access the web?

I do sort of like the way he strings word together into pseudo-sentences that almost seem to make sense.

[Captain Hate]

The incomprehensible pinworm is hitting the controlled substances pretty early today. The flop sweat combined with the lack of personal hygiene is probably additional torture to the house pets it abuses. Somebody should call PETA; much hilarity would ensue.

[bgates]

Lacking clarity. What ledge?

He meant to say precipice.

[jorgxmckie]

That was so exciting I almost forgot to mention that Drum is seeming to be more and more losing his grasp on reality.

Hey!! You don't suppose Drum is cleo, do you? I mean, similarities in terms of economic incoherence and pretty much total disconnect from anything not in the Lefty echo chamber is striking.

[hit and run]

We interupt this latest installment of economic myopia from the left for episode 1,496 of http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40504360/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/>Smart Diplomacy:

SHANNON, Ireland — Hillary Clinton lost him at "hello."

The U.S. secretary of state had a rare chance to interact with Iran's foreign minister at a Bahrain security conference, which Clinton used to deliver a message to Tehran on the need to engage with the international community over its nuclear program at next week's talks in Geneva.
[...]
Clinton said she hoped her speech, which described a clear choice for Iran on whether or not to rejoin the international community, would help set the stage for the Geneva meeting and demonstrate that real dialogue was still possible.

Her aim, she said, was "to do it in a way that they couldn't claim was accusatory, condemnatory, everything that they always claim about us."

"We offer to engage, and still have an open door on engagement, but they've got to show up in Geneva and negotiate on the nuclear program because it is causing legitimate concern," Clinton said. "If they proceed it will be profoundly destabilizing."

Mottaki, for one, didn't seem destabilized in the least by Clinton's entreaties.

While the U.S. secretary of state laid out her case for broader Iranian engagement, Mottaki concentrated on his dinner, giving no sign that Washington's latest message to Tehran had been heard.

Maybe if Hillary had just had a reset button,it would have gone better than this:

"I said: 'Hello, minister.' He just turned away."

[Jane]

The republicans should only have one response to the whining democrats:

IT'S NOT YOUR MONEY!

And if the bill is not pass to extend all tax cuts before the IRS has to gear up for the change the cost of the IRS change should come directly out of Congress' pocketbook. They want to steal our money, it is time to steal theirs.

[Danube of Thought]

"The Bush tax cuts have been in place for 9 years. Where are the jobs?"

Until the Dems took control of congress, the unemployment rate was 4.6%. When Obama was elected it was 7.0%.

[Neo]

The US diplomatic cables reveal reveal how the US seeks dirt on nations opposed to its approach to tackling global warming; how financial and other aid is used by countries to gain political backing; how distrust, broken promises and creative accounting dog negotiations; and how the US mounted a secret global diplomatic offensive to overwhelm opposition to the controversial "Copenhagen accord", the unofficial document that emerged from the ruins of the Copenhagen climate change summit in 2009.

[Danube of Thought]

"the Bush administration disregarded key information available at the time showing that the Iraq-Niger claim was highly questionable. "

Every time you make a decision based on intelligence reports, you necessarily disregard other, conflicting reports. In any event, Joe Wilson did nothing whatsoever to "debunk" the information, and he himself later denied that he had done so.

But far more important is the fact that the Niger uranium information had virtually zero to do with the decision to go to war. Go look at the AUMF if you doubt it.

[MikeS]

"Until the Dems took control of congress, the unemployment rate was 4.6%. When Obama was elected it was 7.0%."

Yes, and the other 19 members of the G20, unanimously, insist that the Dems massive spending is what has been choking off our recovery.

[Neo]

But is assassination really a good (or bad) idea to stop (or start) more leaks ..

Supporters of WikiLeaks around the world are downloading a file the site calls an insurance policy. The files are encrypted with a code so strong it’s unbreakable, even by governments.

If anything happens to Assange or the website, a key will go out to unlock the files. There would then be no way to stop the information from spreading like wildfire because so many people already have copies.

.. or will it actually make matter worse (or better).

[Jim Ryan]

I think the nervous breakdown meme sticks to the Dems like cleo's tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth after a few too many downers and vodka.

Everywhere you look nowadays you see gruesome collisions of Dem dogma with the brick wall called "reality." They could pretend when the car was careening along toward the wall, but now that they have been given their chance at the wheel, the results are too obvious for even the most masterful sophist or the most delusional true believer to ignore.

It's over. The only question now is whether the mess created by the statists in the last 80 years can be cleaned up in time.

[MarkO]

After watching all this for a while, I've come to think that all the attention to Assange is a fantastic diversion from a discussion over just how the hell all this information was left essentially unguarded.

Return with me to olden times and assume someone left secret diplomatic cables on a desk. Of course, no one should take them, but could we be shocked that someone did? And, what of the breach of honor and duty involved in leaving the cables vulnerable?

Seppuku? Or, should we simply complain that the ordinary consequences of the reason they were secret are falling on us?

If Assange did not exist, the Times would have published the information anyway. Do you doubt that?

[Cecil Turner]

When Obama was elected it was 7.0%.

But hey, no worries, the "stimulus" is going to keep it below 8%.

It’s somewhat pathetic that now, years after the Niger uranium claim has been debunked . . .

What's truly pathetic is the lefty insistence that the "Niger" uranium claims were based on the 2001 documents . . . instead of the 1999 Iraqi trade delegation, and thus were subsequently "debunked" with the forgeries. Butler lays out the basis for the "Africa" claim clearly:

"The British Government had intelligence from several different sources indicating that this visit was for the purpose of acquiring uranium. Since uranium constitutes almost three-quarters of Niger’s exports, the intelligence was credible."

The claim first appears in the 2000 intel summary, clearly establishing its non-reliance on the forged documents. But the pithiest analysis is this (attributed to a Brit Foreign Officer):

“Niger has two main exports - chickens and uranium. The Iraqi delegation did not travel to Niger to buy chickens.”

[Neo]

On December 4, 2010, [Danny Bloom] married his longtime companion and love of his life — Earth!

Thus beggars the question … what will he be doing on his wedding night ?

[Clarice]

I told you the first day the leaks were discovered that the anti-Zionist conspirators, faced with evidence that they were wrong in believing the Israelis were trying to force us into a war with Iran would fall back on the claim that the leaks itself were zionist plots to distort the truth and hide it from sight. Of course, there was no expectation they'd man up and admit error.

How ever did I know?

[Threadkiller]

Thus beggars the question … what will he be doing on his wedding night ?

Drilling.

[Ignatz]

--Thus beggars the question … what will he be doing on his wedding night ?--

--Drilling.--

In that case, it should be buggers the question.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Supporters of WikiLeaks around the world are downloading a file the site calls an insurance policy. The files are encrypted with a code so strong it’s unbreakable, even by governments.

If anything happens to Assange or the website, a key will go out to unlock the files. There would then be no way to stop the information from spreading like wildfire because so many people already have copies.

Hmmm. I read a novel this past Summer with the exact same plot.

[centralcal]

I got a real chuckle out of this:

“I don’t know how anyone can keep a straight face and say they are for deficit reduction while they insist on a permanent tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, completely unpaid for,” McCaskill said of the GOP stance. “If they think it’s OK to raise taxes for the embattled middle class because . . . (Democrats) don’t give more money to millionaires, it really is time for people in America to take up pitchforks.”

I guess she doesn't know the pitchforks and pikes and other sundry weapon's market has been cornered by Clarice and her JOM partners. Plus, said armaments are aimed at her and her cohorts, not in the opposite direction.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Whats 19 percent of a million bucks?

Now try 19% of a Billion.

I realize that arithmetic is one of those nasty things engineers like, but that's exactly the point. What's 19% of a million? $190,000. What's 19% of a billion? $190,000,000 .

You want money for government? Grow GDP. If you don't, you won't get your money, no matter how noble your intentions.

(Conversely, you want to kill programs? Budget more that 19 percent of GDP. Eventually the cash runs out.)

[Captain Hate]

Claire isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

horsecrap. The Bush tax cuts have been in place for 9 years. Where are the jobs?

You mean the ones that went away after the D's took over Congress?

Yes, you might well ask.

[Chubby]

((Hmmm. I read a novel this past Summer with the exact same plot.))

I remember watching him being interviewed a few weeks ago and when asked personal questions he walked off. So HIS privacy is sacred but no one else's is? Then today I saw where he was whinging that Oz wasn't protecting his rights as a citizen. It's just amazing how people like him react so badly to the same treatment they dish.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Watch what they do, not what they say.

Yes, let's:

Notice the stretch from 2003 -- when the Bush tax rates took full effect (remember these are fiscal years) -- to 2007, when the Democrats took Congress. If you were an engineer, you'd say "the first derivative of the deficit is positive" but for your convenience I'll just not "it goes up, and up is good."

Notice what happens when the Democrats take over? It goes down, and down is bad. Some of that is TARP, but then notice that happens in 2009, when the Democrats have full control and TARP has been spent?

It goes down dramatically, and remember, down is bad.

There's a reason you hate statistics, isn't there?

[narciso the harpoon]

Which novel was that Sara, it sounds like a certain Grisham one

[Charlie (Colorado)]

After watching all this for a while, I've come to think that all the attention to Assange is a fantastic diversion from a discussion over just how the hell all this information was left essentially unguarded.

Mark, we in the computer security community are very interested in that. Now, keep in mind that as embarrassing at this stuff turned out to be, most of it was classified either as merely SECRET -- not TS codeword, where intel information would go -- or CONFIDENTIAL NOFORN, or NOFORN FOUO, or even just FOUO. (NOFORN: "no distribution to foreign powers", FOUO: "for official use only.) So it wouldn't have been quite as protected as high-level intel would be.

With that said, It comes down to just a few possibilities:

(1) the whole "compartmentalization/need to know" structure has broken down. Since when did an E3 analyst in the field have need to know on diplomatic cables outside his theater of operations?

(2) Some officer in charge has been quietly transferred to counting socks in Thule. Since when did we let people take storage media INTO a SCIF and then take it back out?

(3) It wasn't PFC BooBoo the Bear at all.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Thus beggars the question … what will he be doing on his wedding night ?

I dunno, but I'll bet it's dirty.

[narciso the harpoon]

That story still doesn't make any sense, how does the equivalent of PFC William T. SAntiago, access all this information, without any safeguards, the lady Gaga CD withstanding

[MarkO]

Thanks, Charlie.
By the way, Duke beating Butler----again.

[Danube of Thought]

In my day the need-to-know requirement was observed with reasonable care, but not as rigorously as I would have expected. The higher the classification the more punctiliously the rules were followed--Top Secret and Secret stuff was treated pretty gingerly, but just about everything was classified Confidential and it was treated cavalierly.

That was military stuff. I have no idea what goes on within State, but nothing I have ever heard about them gives me confidence.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Narcisco: Dan Brown's DIGITAL FORTRESS.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I'm sorry, typo, should be Narciso.

[Elliott]

(1) the whole "compartmentalization/need to know" structure has broken down. Since when did an E3 analyst in the field have need to know on diplomatic cables outside his theater of operations?

Also, how does a British national have access to CONFIDENTIAL NOFORN material regarding the British government and politicians?

[Extraneus]

Seems to call for Congressional hearings. Maybe Hillary will need to answer some questions.

[Old Lurker]

"You want money for government? Grow GDP. If you don't, you won't get your money, no matter how noble your intentions.

(Conversely, you want to kill programs? Budget more that 19 percent of GDP. Eventually the cash runs out.)"

That pretty much sums it up Charlie. Funny how simple it all is.

[Captain Hate]

Yeah I agree OL; ChaCo distills it down to the bare essentials that get obfuscated by garbage like a static analysis on tax cuts' impact on the deficit.

[Old Lurker]

Thing is it used to be easy enough to compare Fed spending to GDP to make ChaCo's point. These days the spending of State and Local governments has become material enough to enter the equation too. Add them all together and then throw in health care spending since that is becoming, with Obmacare's micro management and mandates, either direct or indirect government spending and we are at about 50% of GDP. It's a steep climb to get back to a balance that will encourage the growth needed.

[Jim Ryan]

I'd like to apologize for misusing the word "meme" above, when I should have said "description." But I won't. Because that's how I roll.

[Ralph L]

"Niger has two main exports - chickens and uranium."

I believe it was chickpeas, infinitely more valuable than chickens. You can't make hummus without it (and ground-up leaves and dirt).

[Chubby]

(( I'm sorry, typo, should be Narciso))

I am ashamed to admit that in the several months I have been posting at JOM, I have always read Narciso's name as "Narcisco" --so I am very happy that you have brought this to my attention.

[Extraneus]

Don't ever change, Jim.

[Jim Ryan]

I believe it was chickpeas

How exactly do they mine them? Is it exciting when there's a find?

[Extraneus]

So, anyway, what good is growing GDP if the feds are just going to get a constant percentage if it? The more GDP grows, the more pie the feds get, and the more power the feds have?

This is a bad trend.

[Jim Ryan]

What is the fact that Democrats hate the most? No, it's not that Sarah is talented, happy and pretty. It's that revenue went up with the Reagan tax cuts and with the Bush tax cuts. Dems treat this inconvenient truth like Linda Blair treated the holy water in The Exorcist. Only the undeniable fact that people should get what they deserve, not what everyone else has, is greeted by Dems with equal depression and rage.

[Jim Ryan]

Right, Ext. The tax rate should be lower than the sweet spot on the Laffer curve (the spot where revenue is maximized.) We need lower taxes and much smaller government. That means there is no reason to aim at the sweet spot but rather try to go beyond it to where revenue decreases as rates decrease. Rates are probably higher than the sweet spot now. They need to be lower than the sweet spot.

[Extraneus]

Oh no. No.

Obama's Leadership Under Scrutiny Amid Negotiations With GOP

President Obama's failure to stand his ground in ongoing negotiations with Republicans on key issues from taxes to jobless benefits has stirred howls of protest from many of his supporters on the left who are beginning to question the president's leadership skills.

Imagine the feeling? You go all out and elect a proven leader - a man with such towering leadership skills that you just know he'll be able to steer the ship of state without even a glance at a compass, nevermind a sextant. And now this...