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It’s late August, so it’s more pop culture than politics on the podcast this week as we tackle Mad Men, vampires, South Pacific, the Drambuie mistake, and the definition of a bunco party. Then, columnist Virginia Postrel joins us for an boots-on-the-ground report of the LA Obama-Jam, why Michelle isn’t Jackie, the allegedly non-functioning U.S. Senate, and the Target controversy. So sit back and grab a martini: it’s a podcast best enjoyed shaken, not stirred.

Please visit Ricochet.com for links to stories in this podcast or to comment to us directly.

I hope the title of this post is an exaggeration, but it’s certainly a logical conclusion based on what is written in the Congressional Budget Office’s updated Economic and Budget Outlook. The Capitol Hill bureaucracy basically has a deficit-über-alles view of fiscal policy.

CBO’s long-run perspective, as shown by this excerpt, is that deficits reduce output by “crowding out” private capital and that anything that results in lower deficits (or larger surpluses) will improve economic performance – even if this means big increases in tax rates.

CBO has also examined an alternative fiscal scenario reflecting several changes to current law that are widely expected to occur or that would modify some provisions of law that might be difficult to sustain for a long period. That alternative scenario embodies small differences in outlays relative to those projected under current law but significant differences in revenues: Under that scenario, most of the cuts in individual income taxes enacted in 2001 and 2003 and now scheduled to expire at the end of this year (except the lower rates applying to high-income taxpayers) are extended through 2020; relief from the AMT, which expired after 2009, continues through 2020; and the 2009 estate tax rates and exemption amounts (adjusted for inflation) apply through 2020. …Under those alternative assumptions, real GDP would be…lower in subsequent years than under CBO’s baseline forecast. …Under that alternative fiscal scenario, real GDP would fall below the level in CBO’s baseline projections later in the coming decade because the larger budget deficits would reduce or “crowd out” investment in productive capital and result in a smaller capital stock.

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with CBO’s concern about deficits, but looking at fiscal policy through that prism is akin to deciding who wins a baseball game by looking at what happened during the 6th inning. Yes, government borrowing drains capital from the productive sector of the economy. And nations such as Greece are painful examples of what happens when governments go too far down this path. But taxes also undermine economic performance by reducing incentives to work, save, and invest. And nations such as France are gloomy reminders of what happens when punitive tax rates discourage productive behavior.

What’s missing for CBO’s analysis is any recognition or understanding that the real problem is excessive government spending.

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Melanie Morgan, founder of Move America Forward, the nation’s largest pro-troop organization, led about a dozen conservative activists who protested at the Venice home of Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans at a Saturday afternoon fundraiser for California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown.

Morgan reports the pro-American protesters, “blocked the entrance of hundreds of wealthy Democrat liberals, including Sally Kellerman and Cindy Asner, ex-wife of Ed Asner.” Protesters laid down on the sidewalk outside the entrance gate where guests had to step over them.

Event host Jodie Evans was visibly angry at getting a taste of her own medicine and had several confrontations, including one in which she denied, against the evidence, that she supports the terrorist organization Hamas. Several guests were none-too-pleased with being protested, while some had no idea they were attending an event associated with Code Pink.

Jerry Brown sneaked into the house from the back door while Melanie Morgan threw her body onto the sidewalk shouting, “Code Pink supports terrorists!” When not laying on the sidewalk, Morgan stood outside the back gate, “yelling through a screen at [Evans] while she sipped her white wine as Brown’s security guard watched from inside his SUV with the engine running for two hours.” Though the Dodge Durango burned needless fossil fuels, presumably waiting for Brown’s departure, he left in yet another vehicle. (more…)

Medea Benjamin “call(s) for help” before she is arrested for trespassing at the McLean, Va., home of Erik Prince, August 20, 2010. Photo by Code Pink.

Terrorist supporter and Code Pink co-founder Susan “Medea” Benjamin was arrested Friday evening at the McLean, Virginia home of Xe Services founder (formerly Blackwater) Erik Prince, according to a press release posted by Code Pink.

Prince was not home, having left the United States for Abu Dhabi in the face of mounting legal problems. Inexplicably, Benjamin was let into the house, according to the press release. However, when Benjamin revealed the true nature of her visit, Mrs. Prince reportedly threw her out of the house. Fairfax County Police arrived and arrested Benjamin for trespassing, according to a caption at Code Pink’s Flickr album. (The Fairfax County Police public information office is closed for the weekend.)

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From The Hill:

ShoreBank, a Chicago-area community lender praised by Democrats, was taken over by the government Friday and its assets sold.

Chicago-area Democrats pushed hard for regulators to extend bailout money to the bank from the government’s $700 billion aid program. The bank was praised by President Clinton and numerous other lawmakers and industry players. The bank was started in the 1970s.

In a statement late Friday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said it had taken receivership of the failed bank. Urban Partnership Bank, also in Chicago, will take over the deposits and the 15 branches.

ShoreBank had roughly $2.2 billion in total assets and $1.5 billion in deposits, according to the FDIC.

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Can you teach an old dog new tricks? In politics, the answer is usually no. Most elected officials cling to their ideological biases, despite the real-world facts that disprove their theories time and again. Most have no common sense, and most never acknowledge that they were wrong.

But one huge exception to this rule is Democrat Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

For years, Frank was a staunch supporter of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant government housing agencies that played such an enormous role in the financial meltdown that thrust the economy into the Great Recession. But in a recent CNBC interview, Frank told me that he was ready to say goodbye to Fannie and Freddie.

“I hope by next year we’ll have abolished Fannie and Freddie,” he said. Remarkable. And he went on to say that “it was a great mistake to push lower-income people into housing they couldn’t afford and couldn’t really handle once they had it.” He then added, “I had been too sanguine about Fannie and Freddie.”

When I asked Frank about a long-term phase-out plan that would shrink Fannie and Freddie portfolios and mortgage-purchase limits, and merge the agencies into the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) for a separate low-income program that would get government out of middle-income housing subsidies, he replied: “Larry, that, I think, is exactly what we should be doing.”

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The Obama administration and the Democrat Party has yet again instituted new rules, rolling back requirements that forced unions to report their financial doings to their members and the public.

Obviously as far as Obama is concerned “transparency” is one of those things that only enemies should be forced to observe. If you are an Obama friend, no transparency is required.

It is interesting to note the language that Democrats used to excuse their newest roll back of transparency requirements, too (my bold).

“The [Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act’s] various reporting provisions are designed to empower labor organizations, their members, and the public by providing certain information about the finances of labor organizations and union officers and employees. A fair and transparent government regulatory regime must consider and balance the interests of labor organizations, their members, and the public, including the benefits served by disclosure, the burden placed on reporting entities, and preserving the independence of unions and their officials from unnecessary government regulation.”

Federal Register, Vol. 75, No. 153; Tuesday, August 10, 2010; Proposed Rules, P. 48416

So how does allowing unions to misuse, abuse, and hide expenditures from their own membership, the public and the government by skipping transparency requirements help anyone but the union chiefs that want to hide what they are doing from the prying eyes of reformers?

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Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran is expected to fuel-up a nuclear reactor at Bushehr. No matter what anyone says, Iran is now a nuclear power. This will not end well.

The only thing surprising in this report from The Hill is that two states actually have had positive job growth since early 2009:

House Ways and Means ranking member Dave Camp (R-Mich.) on Friday released data complied by his office that shows 48 out of 50 states have lost jobs since the February 2009 enactment of the economic stimulus bill.

“While Democrats promised their 2009 stimulus would create 3.7 million jobs, the reality is far different,” stated a release from Camp’s office. “To date, 2.6 million jobs, including 2.5 million private sector jobs, have been lost.”

According to the report, only Alaska and North Dakota have experienced positive job growth since early 2009. The District of Columbia also saw an increase in hiring during that period. (more…)

After seeing the U.S. economy start to dive during the summer of 2008, Teresa Pershall decided it was time to downsize her business and prepare for the long, tough economic road ahead. She had, after all, seen this type of thing before. In Vietnam. Decades earlier.

In 1980, Teresa — then known by her Vietnamese name, Thi Nquyen — found herself standing in a rice field holding two little babies and asking herself, “What do I do now?” Her only answer at the time was to work. And work hard. Twenty hours a day was not uncommon.

Only a few years earlier, the Viet Cong had taken over South Vietnam and seized her family’s property. Teresa’s husband and many of her family members were able to flee the country, but she remained behind to take care of her two elderly parents and her two babies by herself. Many others she had known simply disappeared after being taken away by armed men from the new regime. She did not want the same to happen to her children and her parents.

Asked to describe what it was like to live under communism, she said, “It’s a really wonderful life for people who work for the government and a really horrible life for those who work outside the government.”

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Before Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans in 2005, Orleans Parish public schools were failing miserably. After the storm shut down the public school system completely, there was little reason to be optimistic.

But then something amazing happened.

The state of Louisiana took control over most of the schools in the district and has been chartering those schools ever since. This fall, more than 70 percent of the students in New Orleans will attend charter schools. (Check out reason.tv’s Katrina’s Silver Lining to learn more about the New Orleans charter school revolution.)

And then in 2008, Louisiana enacted the Student Scholarship for Educational Excellence Program, a pilot voucher program designed to allow students in failing schools to attend private schools in the area.

The result: more competition and more choices for parents.

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Local governments in Minnesota have already spent at least $729,000 of taxpayer money this year to lobby policymakers in Washington, DC.

If federal lobbying records are any indication, Minnesota’s local governments are increasingly turning to our nation’s capital in search of funding for local programs. A Freedom Foundation of Minnesota analysis of Lobbying Disclosure Act filings finds that Minnesota’s local governments and their associations spent at least $5.217 million lobbying the federal government from 2006 through the first half of 2010.[i] Annual lobbying expenditures have risen each year and are on pace to set a new record in 2010, with at least $729,000 spent the first half of the year.

So far in 2010, the biggest spenders have been the City of Minneapolis ($90,000), the City of Moorhead ($80,000), and Scott County ($60,000).

Overall, the biggest spenders since 2006 have been Scott County ($815,000), the City of Moorhead ($620,000), Hennepin County ($405,000), the North Metro Mayors Coalition ($375,000), and the Anoka County Regional Railroad Authority ($369,000).

“I do believe that given the multitude of issues at the federal level that directly impact the cost of county government that it is important the county have a voice and be heard,” said Gary Shelton, Scott County Administrator. “I also believe it has been money well spent.”

The controversial practice of using taxpayer money to lobby for additional taxpayer money is nothing new in Minnesota. In fact, local governments and their associations are required to report lobbying expenditures to the Office of the State Auditor (OSA), which prepares an annual report on local government lobbying activities. However, the state law requiring local governments to report lobbying expenditures to the OSA does not apply to federal lobbying.

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In our new book, Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey and I discuss the fundamental problems with assuming that public officials have our best interests at heart.

Excerpt from Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto:

The Tea Party movement adds a welcome addition to the fundamental debate over the size and scope of government: grassroots activists armed with the intellectual arguments they need to make a difference in political debates, not just scholarly discussions. What is happening is a dramatic increase in the physical infrastructure and on-the-ground personal politicking that can turn ideas into action. The new generation of limited government scholars, and the internet, provides an even wider audience for good ideas. But unlike earlier generations, the new generation as the muscle to make things happen in the political arena.

While standing for the right ideas and values is vitally important, it is naive to think that politicians will do the right thing simply because a proposed polict will benefit the general citizenry, creating the conditions for economic opportunity and individual prosperity for all. That’s simply not how things work.If there was doubt about the proposition before, today it is painfully obvious that politicians in power often act in their own self-interest at the expense of the “public interest”.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s controversial report on the Gulf oil spill was not finished when the White House chose to release it, a government scientist told congressional investigators.

The Obama administration hyped the estimates at an Aug. 4 press briefing with White House energy czar Carol Browner and NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco. The report immediately sparked controversy among scientists for the rosy projection that three-quarters of the oil in the Gulf of Mexico had disappeared.

Bill Lehr, a senior scientist at NOAA and an author of the report, told congressional investigators that data supporting the study is still unavailable and the peer review remains unfinished. Lehr also said the decision to release the report was made by the White House, not the government’s lead science agency for oil spills.

A spokesman for NOAA did not respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), ranking member on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, called it irresponsible for the administration to release the report before it was done.

This is yet another in a long line of examples where the White House’s preoccupation with the public relations of the oil spill has superseded the realities on the ground. It is deeply troubling that White House officials apparently preempted the completion and review of a scientific study on the oil spill by NOAA scientists in order to tout conclusions that many experts believe may be deeply flawed.

The government report instantly made headlines for the astonishing conclusion that approximately 75 percent of the oil had been collected, burned, skimmed or simply disappeared. Given the magnitude of the spill — the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history — some scientists concluded it was premature to draw such conclusions.

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During his presidential campaign, there were few subjects Barack Obama was more unequivocal about than transparency. He committed to bringing the sunlight, and bringing it hard — five days guaranteed for legislation posted online, debates held openly on C-SPAN, online access to all aspects of stimulus projects, and so on.

The news this week, of course, is an indication that these were all just words:

President Obama has abolished the position in his White House dedicated to transparency and shunted those duties into the portfolio of a partisan ex-lobbyist who is openly antagonistic to the notion of disclosure by government and politicians.

Handing Norm Eisen’s duties off to DNC lawyer and political hack Bob Bauer is just one of the more audacious aspects of this decision. So The New Ledger’s Brad Jackson and I sat down for a chat with Jim Lakely of the Heartland Institute about the nature of the transparency joke, the president’s technology policies, and the future of broadband and net neutrality.

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Listen and learn. You can subscribe to our podcast feed by following the links above, and if you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show (there’s a good bit of news at the end about jetpacks).

Former radio talk show host and political activist Melanie Morgan is planning a protest outside the glitzy Jerry Brown fundraiser hosted by Jodie Evans, the cofounder of the anti-American group Code Pink this Saturday night. In her announcement of the protest, Morgan asked if Brown is a terrorist sympathizer, “Or is he just whoring himself out to people who fund thugs and rapists, support killers and send aid to people who murder U.S. servicemen?“, a reference to Jodie Evans’ well-documented history of working with terrorists and state sponsors of terrorist against the United States.

Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for Jerry Brown’s campaign, was quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle, dismissing the concerns.

“Jerry has always surrounded himself with politically active people and some of them continue to be politically active.

But the rhetoric that Melanie Morgan is using is counter-productive and insulting to voters,” Clifford said.

While a law student, Jodie Krajewski (as she was then known) Evans worked as Brown’s deputy finance director during his 1978 gubernatorial campaign, and following his election signed on as his director of administration in the Governor’s Office.

The seemingly indispensable Jodie Evans later served as Brown’s treasurer on his 1980 Presidential Campaign, finance director for his 1982 failed Senate campaign, executive director of his post Senate PAC, managed his 1992 Presidential Campaign, and addressed the 1992 Democrat National Convention.

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Today, in 1968, 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops and more than 5,000 tanks invaded Czechoslovakia, to end what had been known as the “Prague Spring.” It would be more than two decades before freedom again broke out in Eastern Europe.