What The National Pamphleteers Don’t Report:
15 Web Sites for Finding Deals Online
And three smart-phone applications that also will help you save money when you shop.
By Cameron Huddleston, Contributing Editor,
Kiplinger.com
May 2012
We picked 15 Web sites and three apps that will save you money all year. Use them to comparison shop and make better choices, online and in stores. If your number-one goal is to score deals, start by checking out sites that do the bargain hunting for you. Deal sites scour the Web for discounted items — saving you both time and money. Deal sites do the bargain hunting for you by scouring the Web for discounted items — saving you both time and money. Our favorite is dealnews.com, which has a team of deal hunters who keep their eyes on a million products at more than 2,000 reputable online retailers and update the site with new deals at least 200 times a day. Plus, you can sign up for e-mail or RSS alerts for products or stores you’re interested in and get gift ideas from the site.
GottaDeal.com is another great source for deals. You may find some here that you won’t find at dealnews (we did recently). Slickdeals.net, a user-driven deal-sharing site, features a few deals a day on its home page, but its forums are where you’ll hundreds of deals posted daily. And Offers.com features deals from more than 4,000 companies and stores, updated daily and organized into 190 categories (including [....]
http://www.kiplinger.com/features/archives/web-sites-for-finding-deals-online.html
A Site That Tells You Whether to Buy Now or Wait
By Cameron Huddleston, Contributing Editor,
Kiplinger.com
May 8, 2012
If you’re going to spend big bucks on a TV, tech gadget or appliance, it pays to do research to find the best price. Deal and price-comparison sites can help you find the lowest price at the moment. But wouldn’t it be nice to know whether the price is going to drop in the coming weeks or months? In other words, should you buy now or wait?
Free online shopping service Decide.com aims to answer that question for consumers. The site was launched about a year ago by the founders of Farecast, a travel site that predicted when airfares would rise or drop (it was bought in 2008 by Microsoft and now is Bing Travel). Decide.com analyzes historical price movements on electronics and appliances and [....]
http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/kiptips/archives/decide.com-tells-you-whether-to-buy-now-or-wait.html?topic_id=42
How Far Will Obama Go To Get Re-Elected?
by ‘The Meister’
itmakessenseblog.com
May 16th, 2012
What does he know?
How can he think he’ll be re-elected running against the continually expressed views and will of the American people? Not just running against the white, non-Muslim people as he has been doing, but now running against blacks, Hispanics, and even Muslims! What about his support for wealth redistribution, which Americans reject; his support for union thugs overriding the most basic of American rights and values, the secret ballot,; his support for keeping American companies from putting Americans to work unless they allow his union thug handlers to extort forced payments to the corrupt unions ; his support for stripping the Catholic Church, and, in effect, any religious organization from conforming to the rules of their religion(s); his plea for patience from the Russians, until after he is re-elected, for him to gut our missile defense; his blatant attacks on other supposedly co-equal branches of our government, in his quest to destroy a Constitution he despises,; and his forcing of Obamacare on an unwilling American populace?
I can, and will, go on.
These are just some of the issues on which Obama diametrically opposes the American voter. What is his plan? What will help him overcome the obvious obstacles between him and freedom loving patriotic Americans? His campaign promise to cause energy rates to “necessarily skyrocket” has caused fuel prices to at least double, and his assault on the coal industry, which supplies most of our electricity, is completely out of line for someone looking out for American interests. His administration’s blatant lies and alterations to official documents led to an unwarranted moratorium on deep-water drilling in the Gulf . We can give Brazil billions to deep-water drill, but we Americans can’t drill for our own oil. As if that wasn’t enough to make anyone wonder [....]
http://itmakessenseblog.com/2012/05/16/how-far-will-obama-go-to-get-re-elected/
We’re at the End of History, and obama is the Last Man
This is the kind of thing the “Clown Prince’s” devotees do when they assume we aren’t looking.
The Heritage Foundation’s Rory Cooper tweeted that Obama had casually dropped his own name into Ronald Reagan’s official biography on www.whitehouse.gov, claiming credit for taking up the mantle of Reagan’s tax reform advocacy with his “Buffett Rule” gimmick. My first thought was, he must be joking. But he wasn’t—it turns out Obama has added bullet points bragging about his own accomplishments to the biographical sketches of every single U.S. president since Calvin Coolidge (except, for some reason, Gerald Ford).
Here are a few examples:
•On Feb. 22, 1924 Calvin Coolidge became the first president to make a public radio address to the American people. President Coolidge later helped create the Federal Radio Commission, which has now evolved to become the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). President Obama became the first president to hold virtual gatherings and town halls using Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, etc.
•In a 1946 letter to the National Urban League, President Truman wrote that the government has “an obligation to see that the civil rights of every citizen are fully and equally protected.” He ended racial segregation in civil service and the armed forces in 1948. Today the Obama administration continues to strive toward upholding the civil rights of its citizens, repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, allowing people of all sexual orientations to serve openly in our armed forces.
And the most ridiculous:
In a June 28, 1985 speech Reagan [....]
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/05/15/were-at-the-end-of-history-and-barack-obama-is-the-last-man/
Rush Limbaugh inducted into Hall of Famous Missourians
by Jason Hancock,
The Kansas City Star
May 15, 2012
Rush Limbaugh was officially inducted Monday into the Hall of Famous Missourians. But Democrats are still hopeful his bronze bust will never be on display alongside those of Harry Truman, Mark Twain and Walt Disney. The conservative radio talk show host was inducted in a state Capitol ceremony. But in a break from tradition, the public and Democratic lawmakers were not allowed into the chambers of the House of Representatives, which were locked and guarded by armed members of the Missouri Highway Patrol while the ceremony took place.
In fact, news of Limbaugh’s induction ceremony was not made public until 20 minutes before it began. The event was invitation-only and attended by a crowd of mostly Republican lawmakers and staff.
“This is something I never, ever thought would happen to me,” Limbaugh, 61, said in a speech from the House floor. The Missouri native later added: “I want to express my deep gratitude. I’m exceptionally proud to accept this honor, and really very humbled.”
Only last week Dred Scott — the African-American slave who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom in 1857 — was inducted [....]
http://midwestdemocracy.com/articles/limbaugh-inducted-into-hall-of-famous-missourians/
[Related] http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/05/15/every_little_kid_s_dream_the_hall_of_fame
Noam Chomsky: Sarah Palin Was Right About Obama
by Mytheos Hold,
theblaze.com
May 15, 2012
Probably the last person you’d expect to cite Sarah Palin favorably is Noam Chomsky. Yet in an interview with the Leftist news organization Democracy Now, Chomsky did precisely that, saying Palin was right to mock Obama for his lack of substance.
“I don’t usually admire Sarah Palin,” Chomsky said, “but when she was making fun of this ‘hopey changey stuff,’ she was right, there was nothing there.” [....]
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/noam-chomsky-sarah-palin-was-right-about-obama/
NY Times Position on Filibusters ‘Evolves’… Again
by Lyford Beverage,
newsbusters.org
May 15, 2012
In which the NY Times reveals itself, yet again, to be a simple, partisan rag…
In 2005, the Republicans in the United States Senate were frustrated by the Democrats’ use of the filibuster to thwart Presidential nominations to the Federal judiciary, and were particularly concerned with the threat of a filibuster on Supreme Court nominees, which had never previously happened. Because of this, they contemplated a rule change to eliminate, or significantly limit, the filibuster, a change that was termed the “nuclear option.” The mainstream press, as represented here by the New York Times, was appalled. This despite the fact that, with Democrats in the White House and control of the Senate, they had favored filibuster reform. No, they were just wrong earlier, and their new, more fully matured position, was the right one. Clearly, [....]
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/lyford-beverage/2012/05/15/ny-times-position-filibusters-evolves-again
Searching for Connections Amid Terrorist Threats
by Scott Stewart,
STRATfor.com
May 10, 2012
In past Security Weeklies we have often noted how analyzing terrorism is like assembling a puzzle. After an attack has transpired, it is easier to piece the disparate clues together because you have the luxury of knowing what the finished puzzle should look like. You know the target, the method of attack, the time, the place, etc. These factors frame your approach to the bits of evidence you gather and allow you to assemble them into a cohesive, logical framework. While there will certainly be missing pieces at times, having the reference point of the attack itself is helpful to investigators and analysts.
On the other hand, analyzing a potential threat before an attack takes place is far more difficult. It is like sifting through pieces of thousands of different puzzles, all jumbled together in one big pile, and attempting to create a complete picture without knowing what the end result — the attack — will look like. Sometimes pieces look like they could be related, but it is often difficult to determine if they really are without having the picture of the finished attack and the important framework for investigative reference: target, method of attack, time and place. It is often easy to look back after an attack and criticize authorities for not making a critical connection, but it is difficult to piece things together before the attack occurs without the assistance of hindsight.
Over the past few weeks we have been studying a number of interesting puzzle pieces pertaining to potential threats to U.S. interests by transnational jihadists. It is currently unclear if they all fit together to form a seamless narrative, but the implications of a potential convergence are too big to ignore. We feel [....]
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/searching-connections-amid-terrorist-threats?utm_source=freelist-f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20120510&utm_term=sweekly&utm_content=readmore&elq=0595d660943f459f9707a2baa82cc0bf
Why Is The Obama Administration Allowing The Chinese Government To Buy Up U.S. Oil & Gas Deposits Worth Billions Of Dollars?
by ‘The Meister,’
itmakessenseblog.com
May 16, 2012
If we are trying to become independent of foreign oil, then why is the Obama administration allowing the Chinese government to buy up U.S. oil and gas deposits worth billions of dollars? This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. The United States desperately needs to maintain control over its own domestic energy resources so that we can end our addiction to foreign oil. As I have written about previously, the United States actually has plenty of oil. If we would simply use the resources that we already have, we would never have to import a single drop of foreign oil. But instead, we continue to be the largest importer of oil on the planet and we are allowing China to rapidly buy up oil and gas deposits inside the United States. This is fundamentally wrong and it is a serious threat to our national security. But apparently everything is for sale in the United States today, and that includes our precious energy resources.
The Chinese government is using two giant corporations to buy up these energy resources.
The first is the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). According to Wikipedia, this corporation is 100 percent owned by the Chinese government….
CNOOC Group is a state-owned oil company, fully owned by the Government of the People’s Republic of China, and the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) performs the rights and obligations of shareholder on behalf of the government.
The second is Sinopec Corporation. Sinopec Group is the largest shareholder (about 75% of the shares) in Sinopec Corporation. And as the Sinopec website tells us, Sinopec Group is owned by the Chinese government….
Sinopec Group, the largest shareholder of Sinopec Corp., is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical group incorporated by the State in 1998 based on the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Funded by the State, it is a State authorized investment arm and State-owned controlling company. So wherever you see CNOOC or Sinopec you can replace those names with the Chinese government. The Chinese government essentially runs both of those companies.
And both companies have been very busy buying up U.S. oil and gas deposits.
For example, CNOOC recently completed a 570 million dollar deal that gives it a one-third interest in huge oil and gas deposits in Colorado and Wyoming. The following is from Wyoming Energy News….
Chinese energy company Cnooc Ltd. has agreed to pay $570 million for [....]
http://itmakessenseblog.com/2012/05/16/why-is-the-obama-administration-allowing-the-chinese-government-to-buy-up-u-s-oil-gas-deposits-worth-billions-of-dollars/
Obama Heads for John Edwards-type Hush Money Scandal?
by John Ransom
townhall.com
May 14, 2012
Staggering under an avalanche of bad news regarding the economy, Obama’s presidential campaign took another hit over the weekend as the New York Post detailed divisions amongst Democrats and radicals, including charges that Obama tried to buy the silence of his controversial Chicago pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Author Edward Klein in his new book The Amateur writes that Obama offered his long-time radical preacher and pastor $150,000 in hush money for staying out of the spotlight during Obama’s 2008 run for president. I might add that I have a feeling that radical association with Obama was a booming cottage industry in 2007 and 2008 for many known associates of Obama’s who drew down 150 large to stay silent. The web site The Blaze details [....]
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/johnransom/2012/05/14/obama_heads_for_john_edwardstype_hush_money_scandal/page/full/
GOP Bullied into a Tax Hike by President Obama and Senator Reid?
by Daniel J. Mitchell
townhall.com
May 13, 2012
Last year, as part of the fight over the debt limit, Congress created a “super-committee” that was designed to produce at least $1.2 trillion of “deficit reduction.” The statists saw this super-committee as a vehicle to seduce Republicans into a tax hike. They knew that some GOPers are perpetually gullible and would be susceptible to the siren song of a “balanced approach” – even though that inevitably means higher taxes and never-fulfilled promises of future spending restraint.
But they also had a back-up plan. They got Republicans to agree that there would be automatic spending cuts – known as sequestration – if the super-committee failed to produce an agreement. And they convinced GOPers that half of these automatic cuts would come from the defense budget, even though military spending is only about one-fourth of total federal spending. The left figured that the threat of a military sequester would scare some pro-defense GOPers into supporting a tax hike. Maybe not as part of the super-committee deliberations, but perhaps as we got closer to January 1, 2013, which [....]
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/danieljmitchell/2012/05/13/gop_bullied_into_a_tax_hike_by_president_obama_and_senator_reid/page/full/
France’s Strategy
by George Friedman,
STRATfor.com
May 15, 2012
New political leaders do not invent new national strategies. Rather, they adapt enduring national strategies to the moment. On Tuesday, Francois Hollande will be inaugurated as France’s president, and soon after taking the oath of office, he will visit German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. At this moment, the talks are expected to be about austerity and the European Union, but the underlying issue remains constant: France’s struggle for a dominant role in European affairs at a time of German ascendance.
Two events shaped modern French strategy. The first, of course, was the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 and the emergence of Britain as the world’s dominant naval power and Europe’s leading imperial power. This did not eliminate [....]
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/frances-strategy?utm_source=freelist-f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20120515&utm_term=gweekly&utm_content=readmore&elq=d2c931bc10174cb3a360e822b8166e8d
A Censored Race War?
by Thomas Sowell
townhall.com
May 15, 2012
When two white newspaper reporters for the Virginian-Pilot were driving through Norfolk, and were set upon and beaten by a mob of young blacks — beaten so badly that they had to take a week off from work — that might seem to have been news that should have been reported, at least by their own newspaper. But it wasn’t. “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News Channel was the first major television program to report this incident. Yet this story is not just a Norfolk story, either in what happened or in how the media and the authorities have tried to sweep it under the rug.
Similar episodes of unprovoked violence by young black gangs against white people chosen at random on beaches, in shopping malls or in other public places have occurred in Philadelphia, New York, Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, Los Angeles and other places across the country. Both the authorities and the media tend to try to sweep these episodes under the rug as well. In Milwaukee, for example, an attack on whites at a [....]
http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2012/05/15/a_censored_race_war/page/full/
Obama Is the Extremist, Not Conservative Talkers
by David Limbaugh
townhall.com
May 15, 2012
Some conservatives believe that other conservatives, on talk radio and Fox News Channel, are damaging the cause of conservatism by dishonestly overstating their case against President Obama to increase their ratings and profits. More reasonable Republican politicians, they argue, would like to cooperate with Obama on bipartisan solutions but don’t have the power to resist these extremists with the megaphones and so have buckled in lock step to their demands and become the party of “no” and the purveyors of gridlock.
The problem is that the presuppositions underlying those allegations are wrong. There may be some exceptions, but the large majority of leading conservative voices are doing their very best to save this nation from Obama’s policies, which they believe are leading to the nation’s financial, cultural and national security ruin. Obama is a leftist, very extreme by historical standards. To compromise with [....]
http://townhall.com/columnists/davidlimbaugh/2012/05/15/obama_is_the_extremist_not_conservative_talkers/page/full/
Preferred Stock Investing:
The Income Alternative You Haven’t Considered
Staff Report,
seekingalpha.com
May 14, 2012
The benefits of preferred shares is that you get a good yield, a more secure position than common stock holders and, in these uncertain times, less risk. Perhaps the most pressing request I hear from investors these days is for an investment with a decent yield and not much risk. Unfortunately, it doesn’t exist. High-yield stocks can tank. High-yield bonds carry default risk. Even conservative utility stocks can get socked in the stomach by higher inflation or interest rates.
There are, however, several solutions. You can own individual bonds so your expenses are lower and you’re assured of getting your principal back at maturity (provided, of course, you don’t plunk for the really junky stuff). You can diversify among high-yield stocks, accepting that you’re going to experience higher volatility than a bond portfolio. But you should also consider something else: Preferred shares with their current 6% to 7% average yields.
Preferred shares are hybrid securities with the properties of both stocks and bonds. They generally carry no voting rights but have a dividend that has priority over the common stock. (Hence the “preferred” label.) And, like common stock dividends, [....]
http://seekingalpha.com/article/585961-preferred-stock-investing-the-income-alternative-you-haven-t-considered?source=email_investing_income&ifp=0
GOP leaders go slow on Eric Holder contempt vote
The move could infuriate conservatives who have been calling for Holder’s resignation.
by John Bresnahan, Jake Sherman
politico.com
May 10, 12
Hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt? Not so fast, says House Republican leadership. Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of California have decided to slow Rep. Darrell Issa’s drive to hold the attorney general in contempt over the controversial Fast and Furious program, a move that could infuriate conservatives who have been calling for Holder’s resignation. The delay could be a month or even longer, according to lawmakers and aides familiar with the issue.
Some within House GOP leadership circles would like Issa to abandon his plan for a committee and floor vote, which was sparked by a 64-page memo last week, which laid out the case for contempt. They fear negative political fallout from citing the U.S. attorney general with contempt of Congress in an election year.
House GOP leaders are [....]
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/76135.html
Clay Mahaffey:
Larger Dividends Are On The Horizon
by George Jarksey,
seekingalpha.com
May 14, 2012
As listeners to my show know, I love big dividends. Doesn’t everyone? What is really exciting about the company Horizon Technology Finance Corp. (HRZN) is that it is paying out dividends of a little over 10%, which almost sounds too good to be true in this economy. Additionally, it is providing the necessary capital to many entrepreneurial growth companies. Due to U.S. government regulations, there is a void in small business lending that Horizon Technology Finance Corp. is filling with its capital. This allows HRZN to distribute substantially higher dividends than most other companies. As a Business Development Corporation (BDC) the company are required to distribute ninety percent of their earnings to take advantage of the tax incentive. That savings on taxes will go directly to your pocket!
George Jarkesy: I have Clay Mahaffey, the Chief Analyst of the National Eagles and Angels Association joining us. Now if you would like get Clay Mahaffey’s research, I encourage you to go to the website, www.eagleandangel.com. Clay, welcome to The George Jarkesy Show. I’m seeing callers line up on the phones wanting to know what Clay’s pick of the day is, so why don’t you share it with our listeners.
Clay Mahaffey: Today I would like to talk about a very interesting company called Horizon Technology Finance Corp. It trades on the NASDAQ under the symbol HRZN; and has been trading around $16.50. I like this company because it [....]
http://justincase505.wordpress.com/wp-admin/edit-comments.php?comment_status=spam&paged=1&deleted=2
Scottrade Knowledge Center
Monthly Report,
Scottrade.com
May 2012: In The Know
Explore Investing Styles: Value vs. Growth
by Ross Brayton,
Scottrade Branch Manager,
Cape Coral, Fla.
At some point during your research, you have to determine whether the stock you’re interested in is trading at a reasonable price. This process can often be difficult because there are pitfalls with every investment style. Some investors choose value stocks, while others may gravitate toward growth stocks. However, it’s hard to always choose a successful strategy.
Value or Value trap?
Most define a value stock as a company’s shares trading at a low price relative to its earnings, book value or its peers. The reasons for the stock’s low price can vary. Some examples include a company that has recently fallen out of favor, an overleveraged business struggling to survive or earnings disappointments due to slowing growth. Value investors argue they can provide better than average returns because your investment results are a function of the current price relative to its true or intrinsic value. The larger the gap between the intrinsic value and the current price, it may result in greater odds of beating the major averages returns.
Let’s use real estate as a tangible example. Consider [....]
http://research.scottrade.com/public/knowledgecenter/knowhownews/intheknow.asp?nlid=9e4d9f22ede04be682c2e279bfc05112&ep_mid=20120515_KHN&ep_rid=
New Obama Book Shocker:
Kennedys and Obamas at War —
Caroline Considers Obama a ‘Liar’
by Jonathon M. Seidl,
theblaze.com
May 14, 2012
•Despite endorsing Obama in 2008, JFK’s daughter Caroline now considers Obama a “liar,” according to a family source in Edward Klein’s new book on Obama called “The Amateur.”
•Caroline’s past support for Obama, which was mirrored by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, caused a riff in the family. In fact, Klein writes of an incident where Bobby Kennedy Jr. got in his uncle Ted‘s face over Ted’s support for the president.
•Some of the Kennedys’ diminishing support for the president is due to the Obamas snubbing several members of the Kennedy family on multiple occasions — one that sent Ethel Kennedy on a furniture-turning rant.
•But despite the tension, both families know the Kennedys have no one else to support, and that “really pisses [Caroline] off.”
Back in 2008, Caroline Kennedy — the only surviving child of former President John F. Kennedy — delivered a rousing endorsement of Barack Obama. “I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them,” she wrote in the New York Times back then. “But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.”
But if you believe the explosive new book on Obama by Edward Klein, “The Amateur,” that sentiment has given way to pure animosity. According to the book, the Kennedys used to be split about their support for Obama. The case for him was championed by the late Senator Ted Kennedy along with Caroline. Those opposed, and who supported Hillary Clinton, included Robert Kennedy Jr. (Bobby), son of the former Attorney General, and his sisters — Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Kerry Kennedy.
There had always been tensions at Kennedy family gatherings — fist fights and overturned tables were not unheard of — and this event was no exception,” Klein writes in an advanced copy obtained by The Blaze. That “event” was a meeting in 2009, which featured a who’s who in the Kennedy family, including Ted. The family figurehead, a family source tells Klein, tried to propose a toast to Obama twice, and Caroline joined in. But not everyone was happy about it: the night included a finger-pointing argument between Bobby and Ted, and Bobby even got so angry he broke his fluted glass after squeezing it too hard. That scene is significant if only [....]
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/new-obama-book-shocker-kennedys-and-obamas-at-war-caroline-considers-obama-a-liar/
A Little-Known Chapter in American History
by Max Geltman,
nationalreview.com
May 15, 2012
[This article first appeared in the October 5, 1965, issue of NATIONAL REVIEW.]
In America, the year 1856 was ushered in with very little pomp and few circumstances. Franklin Pierce, the “worst” President according to Emerson and the “best” according to Hawthorne, began rounding out the final year of a lackluster single term as President of the United States to be succeeded by another “moderate,” the bachelor politician James Buchanan. Perhaps their acts of “moderation” in pursuit of justice did help to bring on the Civil War, but about this the historians are not agreed.
Three days after the old year was rung out, the New York Tribune reported not a single crime of violence. Oh yes, there was a report on January 2 about the continuing troubles in Kansas, and the Tribune was quite piqued with the President’s State of the Union message, which it commented on with some acerbity, without once mentioning the President by name. But by January 4 there was almost nothing newsworthy to report except that the season of Italian opera in New York was coming to an end that night with a gala production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. In all, January 4, 1856, was not a red-letter day for American journalism. Nothing very exciting happened and nothing very significant was reported — except for a strange, unsigned article on page four titled “The Russian Loan.”
Even in those less hectic days it is doubtful if many people read through the three-thousand tightly packed words of the article. Most merely skimmed the surface of the piece catching a phrase here and there about Jews and loan-mongering and the Russian Czar and other such arcane and remote subjects. We can be reasonably certain, however, that New England’s intellectuals [....]
http://www.nationalreview.com/nroriginals/?q=ZGYyNmYwMzJiNzg1MWJiYmE4ODMxZTM3NjhjOTZjYWQ=
Do Men Really Earn More Than Women?
Monthly Report,
payscale.com
May, 2012
Yes, men do earn more than women on average, but not that much more when they work the same job and they have similar experience and abilities. Take a look at what PayScale has discovered about the gender pay gap. See the methodology for the infographic below. [....]
http://www.payscale.com/gender-lifetime-earnings-gap?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=2012-05-Salary+News&utm_term=Do+Men+Really+Earn+More+Than+Women%3f&cm_mmc=Email-_-2012-05-Salary+News-_-NA-_-Do+Men+Really+Earn+More+Than+Women%3f
Obama’s Campaign about Nothing
by John Ransom,
townhall.com
May 19, 2012
Obama may go down as the first president in the history of the U.S. to run a campaign based, like Jerry Seinfeld’s comedy, on nothing. It’s gotten so bad that the New York Times is appealing to people to “believe in” Obama, like he’s a children’s character or a Vegas magic act, rather than president of the United States. Talk about bitter clingers who cling to their religion. But I know what they mean. There is isn’t any good logical reason to vote for Obama even if you are a liberal.
Let’s take his tax policy.
He wants to raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires in an effort to do what? Nothing really. With the feeble “Buffett” tax effort Obama won’t pay down the deficit or launch the Great Society. Far from being revolutionary, Obama’s tax plan looks timid to progressives and stupid to conservatives. That’s because Obama knows, his economic team knows- and you and I all know- that the proposed Buffett tax won’t raise more money. In fact, while proponents say that the tax could generate between $30 and $40 billion per year, it’s far more likely to decrease tax revenues as people at the million dollar tax threshold change from investments that produce income to ones that produce capital gains. While named after Warren Buffett, and sold as something that will even up the tax score between a rich man like Buffett and his secretary- who by the way is also rich- guys like Buffett- or is secretary won’t pay increased taxes. But even if it [....]
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/johnransom/2012/05/19/obamas_campaign_about_nothing/page/full/
Olga and Julia: Moochers of the World Unite!
by Dan Mitchell,
wordpress.com
May 4, 2012
Back in 2010, I declared that Olga Stefou was a symbol of everything that’s wrong with the Greek welfare state. She was one of the protesters and – if the story captured her thoughts accurately – she displayed an unlimited entitlement mentality. Sort of helps one understand why this cartoon is so accurate. Now we have an American version of Olga. Her name is Julia, and she is just as much of a moocher.
The good news, though, is that Julia is only a make-believe leech. She’s been created by the Obama campaign to show how big government can provide cradle-to-grave handouts. The full series [....]
http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/olga-and-julia-moochers-of-the-world-unite/
[Related Content]
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2012/05/julias-circle-of-life.html
[Related Content]
http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/more-mockery-of-julia-the-uber-moocher/
It’s the Economy, Stupid
by Scott Rasmussen,
rasmussenreports.com
Friday, May 18, 2012
Mitt Romney has pulled a point or two ahead of President Obama in polls of likely voters. In polls of registered voters, Obama has the advantage. The president’s job approval ratings are hovering in the upper 40 percent range, which suggests a close race. Looking at this information, partisan activists come to wildly different conclusions about what to expect on Election Day. Democrats tend to believe Obama will be re-elected, while Republicans are more likely to think he will be a one-term president. Some of this is just the nature of being a fan. Even when your favorite baseball team is down a run with two outs in the ninth, you still think there’s a chance.
But something else is at work, as well, and it gets right back to the key issue of the campaign — the economy. Forget same-sex marriage and the host of other buzz issues. If the economy improves, Obama will be re-elected. If it gets worse, he will lose. The stock market and economic data are giving mixed signals, but partisans on both sides of the aisle think they know what’s going to happen. Most Democrats (55 percent) believe the economy is getting better. Two out of three Republicans (66 percent) think the economy is getting worse. The attitudes extend to personal finances, as well. Just 20 percent of Republicans nationwide feel their own finances are getting better, while 53 percent believe the opposite. Democrats are evenly divided on this question. These wildly differing expectations make sense if you think about the underlying partisan perceptions.
Democrats generally believe a larger government role is needed to help get the economy moving. They support the president’s policies, including his health care plan. Some may be surprised that the benefits of his policies haven’t kicked in yet. Others may believe that he needed an even bigger plan of government involvement to really jumpstart the economy. But 74 percent of Democrats think the president has done a good or an excellent job handling the economy.
Republicans tend to see the government as [....]
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_scott_rasmussen/it_s_the_economy_stupid
The Vetting
Exclusive – Obama’s Literary Agent in 1991 Booklet: ‘Born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii’
by Ben Shapiro, Editor-at-Large,
Breitbart News
May 17, 2012
Note from Senior Management:
Andrew Breitbart was never a “Birther,” and Breitbart News is a site that has never advocated the narrative of “Birtherism.” In fact, Andrew believed, as we do, that President Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4, 1961. Yet Andrew also believed that the complicit mainstream media had refused to examine President Obama’s ideological past, or the carefully crafted persona he and his advisers had constructed for him. It is for that reason that we launched “The Vetting,” an ongoing series in which we explore the ideological background of President Obama (and other presidential candidates)–not to re-litigate 2008, but because ideas and actions have consequences. It is also in that spirit that we discovered, and now present, the booklet described below–one that includes a marketing pitch for a forthcoming book by a then-young, otherwise unknown former president of the Harvard Law Review. It is evidence–not of the President’s foreign origin, but that Barack Obama’s public persona has perhaps been presented differently at different times.
Breitbart News has obtained a promotional booklet produced in 1991 by Barack Obama’s then-literary agency, Acton & Dystel, which touts Obama as “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii.” The booklet, which was distributed to “business colleagues” in the publishing industry, includes a brief biography of Obama among the biographies of eighty-nine other authors represented by Acton & Dystel. It also promotes Obama’s anticipated first book, Journeys in Black and White–which Obama abandoned, later publishing Dreams from My Father instead.
“Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, was born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii. The son of [....]“
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/05/17/The-Vetting-Barack-Obama-Literary-Agent-1991-Born-in-Kenya-Raised-Indonesia-Hawaii
Terrorism and the Exceptional Individual
by Scott Stewart,
STRATfor.com
May 17, 2012
There has been a lot of chatter in intelligence and academic circles about al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) bombmaker Ibrahim al-Asiri and his value to AQAP. The disclosure last week of a thwarted AQAP plot to attack U.S. airliners using an improved version of an “underwear bomb” used in the December 2009 attempted attack aboard a commercial airplane and the disclosure of the U.S. government’s easing of the rules of engagement for unmanned aerial vehicle strikes in Yemen played into these discussions. People are debating how al-Asiri’s death would affect the organization. A similar debate undoubtedly will erupt if AQAP leader Nasir al-Wahayshi is captured or killed.
AQAP has claimed that al-Asiri trained others in bombmaking, and the claim makes sense. Furthermore, other AQAP members have received training in constructing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) while training and fighting in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan. This means that al-Asiri is not [....]
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/terrorism-and-exceptional-individual?utm_source=freelist-f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20120517&utm_term=sweekly&utm_content=readmore&elq=edc9f81573e041269833bdd155b6766d
Great Moments in Government Waste: Stimulus Spending on…um…Stimulus
by Daniel J. Mitchell
townhall.com
May 16, 2012
Two years ago, I posted a mildly inappropriate photo of an old guy protesting Obama’s faux stimulus. I should have realized that no amount of satire can match the real-world stupidity of government. Here are some details, courtesy of an NBC station, about some squalid waste.
The NBC Investigative Unit has raised questions about two grants totaling nearly $1.5 million dollars distributed to the University of California San Francisco. The money was part of the federal stimulus program and went to studies into the erectile dysfunction of overweight middle aged men and the accurate reporting of someone’s sexual history. …According to the grant, a good portion of the study will “Improve the accuracy of responses to questions,” specifically questions about a person’s sexual behavior. …The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit discovered that for $1.2 million dollars, taxpayers funded a study that included 200 videotaped interviews at $6000 per interview. …Kovaleski then asked about jobs. “How many jobs did this $1.26 million dollars create?” “Well I can’t really say,” Sheehy said. “There were eleven researchers hired on the job, two consultants. Well I can’t say. This has not been evaluated for job creation.” The number Sheehy quoted during an interview with NBC Bay Area did not match information on recovery.gov, the government’s website for stimulus funds. According to the site, the grant produced 0.85 jobs. “It does make you scratch your head and wonder,” Amey said, “Wait a second taxpayer dollars went to a sex study that barely funded less than one person.”
I realize government spending is inherently wasteful, but even I’m shocked. Does it really cost $6,000 to interview someone?!? Heck, I’ll [....]
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/danieljmitchell/2012/05/16/great_moments_in_government_waste_stimulus_spending_onumstimulus/page/full/
The Emancipation Proclamation: The Man Who Freed the Gays
by John Ransom
townhall.com
May 16, 2012
If you thought JP Morgan traders goofed when they made bad bets that resulted in $2 billion in losses for what Obama says is the best managed bank in America, well you obviously don’t hang out with the One-Percent-Occupy Wall Street group that met last night on Park Avenue in New York. 60 Wall Street-types, says Politico, paid close to $40,000 a pop to hear Obama, Man of the People, tell them whatever their guilt-ridden consciences wanted to hear.
Why guilt-ridden? Who knows?
Perhaps they weren’t held enough as a baby; perhaps they seek atonement in politics for the rapacity they practice in business life; perhaps they just don’t have much more left to blow money on than a sit down with the “First Gay President,” who according to the White House, doesn’t even know yet that he’s gay. Those are just some of the reasons why someone might blow $40k to hear Obama, The Great Defender of Free Markets:
“I believe the free market is the greatest wealth generator devised by man,” Obama said to the Wall Street suckers according to Politico. “Risk takers and innovators should be rewarded” because “we all benefit from free-enterprise.”
Yeah: We all benefit if [....]
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/johnransom/2012/05/16/the_emancipation_proclamation_the_man_who_freed_the_gays/page/full/
Until Next Sunday….
