Greece, the cradle of democracy, is experiencing chaotic violence at the hands of Socialists and anarchists. That country’s Socialist government has come to a moment in time – like most Socialist and Marxist enterprises – when the system has failed. The promises of the Nanny State and prefectorial centralized government have come up empty and “the people” are angry as a result. Of course, “the people,” the ones who, today, are refusing to realize that you can’t bleed a turnip, are exactly the ones who are to blame for the situation they are in. If the citizenry of the United States of America isn’t careful and willing to make some painful adjustments, economically, we may be starring this future directly in the eye.

Today, We the People – we Americans, stand at a moment in time when a very hard decision needs to be made; honestly, the fate of the nation rides upon it. We can either follow the path of the Socialist Greeks; the path that has led them to national bankruptcy, debt and that nation’s unenviable position as the fuse for a global economic chain reaction, or we can feel a good deal of pain in the form of sacrifice so that our country might continue to exist for future generations.

At this crossroads, We the People find ourselves confronted by some very uncomfortable questions. Are we willing to push ourselves back from the “feed trough” of government dependence? Are we willing to embrace self-imposed personal responsibility, charity and self-reliance? Or are we too uncaring of our nation’s well-being that greed is somehow justified; too narcissistic to abstain from the too easy to attain government entitlement; too self-absorbed and addicted to the “I’ve got mine, to Hell with you” machinations of the Progressive “Me Generation”?

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Earlier this week, President Obama repeated his claim that, while the current economy isn’t perfect, at least “we yanked an economy out of what could have been a second Great Depression.”  To date, no one has contested the validity of this claim.  They should, because that’s not what the Obama Administration said when they took office.

In January 2009 the new Obama Administration issued its now-infamous report titled “The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan,” more commonly known as the “Romer/Bernstein Report” after the President and Vice President’s economists who authored it.  This report included estimates of what would  happen if the Administration’s stimulus plan was enacted, and what would happen if it wasn’t – presumably casting the U.S. into “another Great Depression.”  This chart displays the unemployment rates the Administration forecast in that January 2009 report if their stimulus plan passed (the “with stimulus” line), if their stimulus plan didn’t pass (the “without stimulus” line), and what actually happened:

Notice something important?  The unemployment rate the Administration in January 2009 predicted the U.S. would have now without their “yank(ing) the economy out of another Great Depression” (about 8 percent in the “without stimulus” line) is less than the current official U.S. unemployment rate (9.1 percent in May 2011).  Clearly, this data doesn’t support the President’s claim that the Administration “yanked the economy out of another Great Depression.”

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the Barack Obama’s ATM comments this week, and his administration’s failed outreach to business.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Erick Erickson: Barack Obama Thinks an ATM Ate Your Job
White House’s Daley seeks balance in outreach meeting with manufacturers
GLOBAL MARKETS: European Stocks Slip; Banks Suffer On Greece Worries
Merkel, Sarkozy Agree Greek Aid Must Involve Investors
Why the Sign Must Say: No UBS in the USA

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Finally, Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) did the honorable thing: he folded up his towel and handed in his pass to the House Members Gym in the basement of the Rayburn House Office Building. Weiner must have “heed[ed] calls from President Barack Obama,” who said that if he found himself in a similar position, “he’d resign.”

Besides the president, calls for Weiner to capitulate came from both sides of the aisle: House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) as well as a woman who, under different circumstances, would normally celebrate such a colorful display of sexual expression, San Francisco liberal House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). This time, however, both John and Nancy agreed it would be in the country’s best interest if Weiner headed back to Queens and remained there permanently.

Anthony Weiner’s long overdue submission to pressure ended nearly “three weeks of tumultuous political controversy,” which included “sexting,” lying, and lewd pictures.  Besides “a photo of a man’s crotch posted publicly on his Twitter account…and a tear-filled press conference,” also trickling out into the public were racy photos “including one of his naked genitals and others of him posing in the House gym.”

In addition, the nationwas also subjected to an ongoing parade of women stepping forward and accusing Weiner of inappropriately communicating with them via the Internet.   Thus far the bevy of beauties included a black jack dealer, an aspiring nurse, a 21-year-old student, and a cheerleading coach, as well as a Pink Pony pole dancer/porn actress named Ginger Lee, who just so happens to be the very truthful client of feminist lawyer/opportunist Gloria Allred.

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According to National Journal, the House GOP was set Thursday to take a second shot at stopping the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from implementing net neutrality.

The House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee took up a fiscal 2012 spending bill today that included language barring the FCC from using any of its funding to put into effect the controversial rules.

The appropriations bill also would cut funding for the FCC by $17 million over the fiscal 2011 level and would provide $40 million less than what President Obama asked for in his budget request.

I, like many others, made light of the President’s recent shocking display of economic ignorance.  In an interview on NBC’s TODAY, the President claimed that productivity, the source of our prosperity, is really a “structural issue” holding back the job creating benefits of his policies.

Hogwash, obviously. But what came later in the interview was perhaps even more disturbing (the transcript at the link wasn’t completely accurate so I cleaned it up):

[T]here are some structural issues with our economy, where a lot of businesses have learned to become much more efficient with a lot fewer workers. You see it when you go to a bank and you use an ATM; You don’t go to a bank teller. Or you go to the airport and you’re using a kiosk instead of checking in at the gate. So all these things have created changes in the economy and what we have to do now, and that’s what this job counsel is all about, is identifying where the jobs of the future are going to be, how do we make sure that there’s a match between what people are getting trained for and the jobs that exist, how do we make sure that capital is flowing into those places with the greatest opportunity.

Obama’s fundamental problem – his fatal conceit, if you will – is that he thinks we need him and his jobs counsel to figure out what the jobs of the future are going to be. We no more need this today than it was necessary for past leaders to identify the jobs of today. This is a task for the private sector, and one which only its vast network of dispersed information and decentralized decision-making is capable of determining.

What does Barack Obama know about the technologies of today, much less the future? Why does he imagine he can direct capital and resources to the right place better than investors? When has history ever shown politicians capable of doing so?

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The Congress shall have Power….  To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions… Article One, Section Eight of the US Constitution.

Earlier this week Speaker Boehner sent a letter to the President warning Obama that he will clearly will be in violation of the 1973 War Powers Act as of this weekend as the POTUS did not seek congressional consent for the operation within 60 days of the March 19 U.S. air strikes against Moammar Gadhafi’s forces.

“Either you have concluded the War Powers Resolution does not apply to the mission in Libya or you have determined the War Powers Resolution is contrary to the Constitution,” Boehner wrote. “The House and the American people whom we represent deserve to know the determination you have made.”

Yesterday the President gave his response. He sent a 30+ page report (embedded below) justifying continued military involvement U.S. military involvement is “legitimated” by the UN Security Council – saying that therefore no congressional authorization is needed.

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This is one part of a running series entitled “Indoctrination Fridays,” a weekly review of leftist propaganda incorporated into public school curriculum and geared towards elementary students.  For more of the series, please visit PublicSchoolSpending.com.

The California Federation of Teachers thinks it’s important for kids to learn how to run a business.  I come from a small business family, so I’m cool with that.  The curriculum immediately starts off on the wrong foot, though, because it’s not from the perspective of an entrepreneur, but rather a disgruntled employee.

A “Labor Studies Curriculum for Elementary Schools,” entitled “The Yummy Pizza Company,” takes up to 20 classroom hours over a two-week period.  Important concepts in the 10 lessons, such as the value of work and money management, are critical components, but are quickly overshadowed by the fact that 40% of the curriculum is about forming Pizza Makers Union Local 18.  That’s right – the program is focused on teaching kids to unionize.

I don’t suppose this creative curriculum has anything do to with current issues, like collective bargaining privileges for public employees. Teachers wouldn’t be so blatant as to involve young children in their political issues, would they?

Art lessons are incorporated into the curriculum. Students are assigned the task of designing a union logo and membership cards.  Math is also a focus. Part of the lesson involves calculating “union dues as a percentage of wages.”

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Today, in 1971, President Richard Nixon inaugurated the disastrous “War on Drugs.” The following year, on this day, the Watergate burglars were arrested. The Watergate cover-up brought about the end of the Nixon Presidency, one of the worst of the 20 Century. Unfortunately, we’re still stuck with the “War on Drugs.”

The practice of infant male circumcision is under assault, and though a proposed bill to ban circumcision in Santa Monica, California was withdrawn, the battle is far from over.

Opponents of circumcision are relying on gross misstatements of scientific fact to launch, what is in effect, an attack on organized religion and the health of the American people.

The anti-circumcision movement has its origins in San Francisco, and in recent years has become national in scope.  MGMBill is one of the leading organizations in the movement, and is responsible for the anti-circumcision San Francisco and Santa Monica bills. According to MGMBill’s website, a few months ago “every member of Congress, state legislators in Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington,” received an anti-circumcision proposal.

Last year, Democrat Michael W. Morrissey proposed an anti-circumcision piece of legislation in Massachusetts: S1777, which was defeated.  The anti-circumcision movement recently collected enough signatures (7,168) to get the measure on the November 2012 ballot in San Francisco.

Matthew Hess of MGMBill is one of the leaders behind the proposed circumcision bans.  Hess is also the writer and editor of “Foreskin Man,” a comic book published by MGMBill.  Two of the illustrations here from his comic book show blatant anti-Semitism.   Anti-Semitism of this nature is unheard of in the U.S. and should be an alarming red flag to all.

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Welcome to Ask a Libertarian with Reason’s Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch. They are the authors of the new book The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong With America.

Go to http://declaration2011.com to purchase, read reviews, find event dates, and more.

On June 15, 2011 Gillespie and Welch used short, rapid-fire videos to answer dozens of reader questions submitted via email, Twitter, Facebook, and Reason.com. In this episode, they answer the question:
“What’s the libertarian position on abortion?”

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President Obama gave Bibi Netanyahu an ultimatum on renewing negotiations with the Palestinians, according to reports cited by Israel Radio Sunday morning. According to the ultimatum, Netanyahu has to decide within a month whether he agrees to accept President Barack Obama’s platform and resume talks based on 1967 lines.

The President has been working on getting the leaders of major Jewish organizations on their side realizing that some of them, such as Abe Foxman of the ADL are more concerned about advancing their power in the progressive political world than their organization’s Jewish mission.

According to Eli Lake of the Washington Times the Obama White House appealed to Jewish leaders on Friday that the request of Israel was part of an effort to head off Palestinian plans to declare an independent state at the United Nations

Defenders of the President insist that the President’s “1967 borders with land swaps” is nothing new. But it certainly is.

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A $3.6 million Broadband Access Project that the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota first flagged in a 2009 investigative report has done nothing to close the digital divide in underserved Twin Cities neighborhoods, according to a recent report on KSTP-TV.

The University of Minnesota project, which received $2.8 million in federal stimulus funds and $800,000 in local matching funds, was highlighted by FFM in an October 2009 Accountability Alert. In their application for stimulus funding, the University of Minnesota made the bold claim that it will “close the Digital Divide in four Twin Cities poverty zones.” Eleven computer labs in Minneapolis and St. Paul intended for use by “underserved populations” were upgraded and expanded.

The project description states, “the University of Minnesota is uniquely qualified to carry out this project. The Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center, Office for Business and Community Development, and Extension Services have decades of combined experience in public engagement, broadband and Internet training, and development of computer curricula for public audiences.”

The KSTP-TV investigation, however, showed that the targeted underserved populations are more underserved than ever with fewer people using the computer labs after the infusion of millions of federal taxpayer dollars than before, according to reports filed with the federal government.

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Rep. King’s amendment failed – here’s the roll call vote. Every Democrat voted against it – but it lost because 78 Republicans also went against stopping over a billion dollars in money being paid out for fraud. Two votes jumped out at me.

Tea Party favorite Allen West (R-FL) voted with the Congressional Black Caucus to keep Pigford funding flowing to fraudsters.

But worse, Darrell Issa (R-CA), who would be the one to get investigations going.

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Before “Going Rogue” was written by Sarah Palin, a friend of mine, who is a GOP strategist that advised the McCain-Palin campaign, told me that he repeatedly suggested that the campaign run ads about Palin extolling her virtues as “the most popular Governor in America” – she had an 88% approval rating in Alaska – and highlighting her background and strong family. This, he said, would best introduce her to the American public.

Unfortunately, the campaign balked at this idea. My guess is that they didn’t want Palin overshadowing McCain anymore than she already had with the mammoth crowds she was attracting during the campaign.

After “Going Rogue” was published, I shared this information with Palin’s spokesman Meg Stapleton. We both agreed that “A View from Alaska” written by Alaskan Dewey Whetsell (that appears at the end of “Going Rogue”) was exactly the information the public needed in order to know the real Sarah Palin.

Whetsell, a retired firefighter, nailed it in describing Palin’s achievements. Even though he had never met Palin, he felt compelled to write about her accomplishments on his blog. He was angry about how she had been smeared by the media, so he wrote the truth as he knew it. It quickly went viral in the Alaskan blogosphere and ended up in Palin’s mega, best-selling book “Going Rogue.”

However, because there had been no TV ads about Palin during the Presidential campaign, the media had an unopposed opportunity to portray her as they saw fit. Thus, in the end, their perversions beat out the truth. But now, Stephen Bannon’s biographical documentary titled “The Undefeated” is set to reverse these lies and give the truth its rightful place once more by introducing the real Sarah Palin to Americans who may have bought into the media hype.

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Jeff Mapes in The Oregonian:

At the behest of Service Employees International Union, Oregon Senate budget chief Richard Devlin sought to stifle criticism of an organizing drive that added more than 7,700 workers to the union’s membership and turned it into the largest in the state.

During a drive to organize workers who help care for developmentally disabled Oregonians, Tualatin Democrat wrote a letter to officials who help employ the workers, warning them not to say anything even “mildly” critical of unionization. He also suggested that a successful union drive would help boost legislative support for services for Oregonians with developmental disabilities. .

Several officials who received the letter said it appeared Devlin tried to tip the scales in favor of the union’s expansion. Devlin said that wasn’t his intent.

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I’ve explained before that one of the most damning pieces of evidence against Obamanomics is that the economy is suffering from sub-par growth, something that is particularly damning since normally one expects to see faster-than-average growth following an economic downturn.

In a recent presentation, Robert Lucas of the University of Chicago included a couple of graphs that illustrate this phenomenon. This first chart shows the history of U.S. economic growth over the past 140 years. As you can see, the growth rate was remarkably constant over time, and there were always periods of rapid growth following economic downturns.

Lucas, who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1995, then looks at the data for the recent downturn and recovery. As you can see, we have been struggling to get back to average growth rates and we have not enjoyed any of the above-average growth that normally follows a recession.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Ben Boychuk to discuss how new regulations from Washington will make it harder for the next generation to go to college, the impact of for-profit colleges and the future of higher education.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Many With New College Degree Find the Job Market Humbling
Political pressure tainted error-ridden GAO report
City Journal California

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