From National Journal:

This is the worst-case scenario from Europe, and it just might come true: Italy defaults on its debts. Every major Italian bank collapses. Recession grips the eurozone. Sovereign defaults and bank failures ripple across the Continent. Saddled with bad loans to nations and lenders in Europe, American banks hemorrhage cash. Credit freezes in the United States. Multinational companies, unable to raise money, curb U.S. investment and hiring. Wall Street demands, but fails to get, new bailouts. The entire developed world plummets into recession and, quite possibly, depression.

This, in contrast, is the placid warning that President Obama gave Americans about the threat: “If Europe is contracting,” he said on Monday, “then it’s much more difficult for us to create good jobs here at home.” There’s still a chance that Europeans, through some combination of fiscal and monetary action, can stop the crisis before it shatters the feeble U.S. recovery. But the worst case is so much worse than Obama’s description, and Washington has failed to prepare voters for the possibility. “The [potential] shock we’re talking about is of very large magnitude,” says Viral Acharya, a New York University professor who studies financial risk extensively. “If you’re just having an Armageddon coming your way, [America’s] buffers may not be adequate.”

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Like the proponents of Ohio’s Issue 2 tried to point out before the November vote, keeping the status quo for Ohio public union salaries, benefits, and pensions was unsustainable.

A yes vote would’ve kept Ohio Senate Bill 5 as law, and tried to reign in the runaway spending and debt being heaped on the state. Unions spent over $50M to defeat Issue 2, as evidenced by the utter proliferation of “No on 2″ signs that sprouted all over the state.

As was warned, the budget realities must now be faced. Cities across the state are running out of money and are now being forced to lay off fire and police employees (e.g. Portsmouth, Lancaster, Middletown). Without SB5, the only options left to the cities are higher taxes or less employees.

The main scare tactic by the “No on 2″ crowd was that fire and police employees were going to lose their jobs and communities were going to be less safe. As it turns out, not ALL of the police and fireman are getting fired (as the dire warning went during the run up to the vote), just the ones on the bottom of the seniority totem pole.

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Republicans in the Senate, led by Sen. Dick Lugar,  have introduced a bill that would force President Obama to act on initiating construction of the-1,700 mile Keystone XL crude oil pipeline from Canada. The project is expected to create approximately 20,000 jobs and increase energy security for the United States.

Although President Obama has been openly mocking and denouncing Congress for failing to pass his jobs bill, his decision, through the State Department, to delay the Keystone XL project until after the November 2012 elections has led to criticism that the president is putting politics ahead of the best interests of the country.

37 Republican senators signed onto the bill that would require the administration to approve the pipeline project within 60 days, unless Mr. Obama declares the project is not in the national interest.

The Keystone project has been interesting in that it has marked a division between two groups that have been very supportive of the president: environmentalists and Big Labor. Environmental groups, fearing oil spills and other ecological disasters, as well as celebrity “green” fans, have opposed the pipeline plan, while labor groups have supported it in the hopes of obtaining high-paying union jobs. In addition, none of the states involved in the pipeline’s path- Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma or Texas- supported Mr. Obama in the presidential election of 2008.

While the Keystone project had already been found to be environmentally sound prior to the president’s delay of the pipeline’s construction, some rerouting of the pipeline was done in Nebraska, for example, and approved by that state’s legislature quickly so as not to prevent the project from moving forward. Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Nebraska) is supporting the bill to force implementation of the pipeline. “This bill respects the Nebraska process to protect the Sand Hills while providing a commonsense approach to bring friendly oil and jobs to the U.S. without unnecessary delay,” he said.

If the pipeline project is not implemented, Canada has said that it will sell its oil to China.

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Today, in 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French. More importantly, today, in 1805, he won the Battle of Austerlitz.

Let’s back up a little bit before we get to the list…

A few weeks ago in Denver I had the opportunity for some up close and personal time with the Occupy movement, and what I saw was about what you would expect. These are marginal and marginally intelligent people who have grown up conditioned by public educators and the welfare state to believe that they’re something special and entitled to the good life just because they’re special and entitled to the good life. And they’ve also been brainwashed to believe that if America doesn’t acknowledge their specialness and if, indeed, they’re not enjoying the good life, the problem must be a corrupt America.

Occupy is all about greed, self-actualization, and narcissism. The fastest and easiest way to feel superior is to assume the role of a victim … because a victim is always superior to his or her oppressors.

Occupy is also an army the left and Alinksy-style community organizers like Barack Obama have been breeding for decades. The formula is simple: feed enough self-esteem to those who don’t deserve it and you create an entire generation of entitled crybabies desperate to direct the frustration of their unfulfilled lives at whomever.

The left thought they had found the right moment to launch their Army of the Frustrated. With Obama’s poll numbers in the tank and the crippled economy unable to leap on a white stallion to save him, the idea was to launch Occupy in the hopes it would change the 2012 election conversation and media narrative from Obama’s failed record to ground upon which he might be able to win reelection: income inequality and those evil one-percenters on Wall Street who destroyed the economy.

And so the filthy, frustrated, and brain-fried, under the direction of their Adbuster Masters (more about this below), took to the streets, and for a few weeks the plan went perfectly. High-profile Democrats, including President Obama, endorsed and encouraged them, while the corrupt MSM worked overtime to cover up the movement’s hundreds of subhuman misdeeds (literally) and held it up as an example of all that is pure and righteous in America.

But then something happened the left and their media allies didn’t expect. They had woefully underestimated the power of New Media to expose the truth, and expose the truth we did, until the Occupy dream all came crashing down in an overwhelming narrative (overwhelming because it was true) involving Occupy’s frightening tolerance for rape, violence, vandalism, and public masturbation and defecation. (more…)

From the Associated Press:

General Motors will buy Chevrolet Volts back from any owner who is afraid the electric cars will catch fire, the company’s CEO said Thursday.

In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, CEO Dan Akerson insisted that the cars are safe, but said the company will purchase the Volts because it wants to keep customers happy. Three fires have broken out in Volts after side-impact crash tests done by the federal government.

Akerson said that if necessary, GM will recall the more than 6,000 Volts now on the road in the U.S. and repair them once the company and federal safety regulators figure out what caused the fires.

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This month’s nannies include drug warriors who are hyping fears about “digital” drugs (i.e. not actual physical substances) and fat warriors who are using a talking plate (introducing Mandometer!) to pester chubby folks into eat properly.

But this month’s top dishonors go to the Wolverine State pol whose so-called “Hot for Teacher” bill could end up criminalizing sex between consenting adults of legal age.

Presenting Reason.tv’s Nanny of the Month for November 2011: Michigan State Sentator Roger Kahn!

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The blockbuster revelations in Big Peace editor Peter Schweizer’s Throw Them All Out about Congressional insider trading have prompted vigorous calls for reform from various lawmakers. First, Texas governor and presidential candidate Rick Perry spoke out against the now-legal practice in a campaign ad. In the House of Representatives, a bill by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) to ban Congressional insider trading currently has 118 co-sponsors.

Today, Sen.  Scott Brown (R-MA) writes an op-ed to promote the STOCK Act, a bill he has recently sponsored in the Senate to “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge.” He explains his support for the legislation is based on Schweizer’s reporting.

From the Boston Herald:

I’ve always thought legislators should live by the same laws that govern everyone else. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Recently a “60 Minutes” expose brought to light a glaring loophole allowing members of Congress to legally profit from trading stocks based on non-public information. It also revealed various ways that members may have used the powers of their office to benefit their personal financial and real estate portfolios. This is wrong.

For example, if a member of Congress on the Armed Services Committee were to learn through connections at the Pentagon that a major defense program was suddenly on the chopping block, then that member could sell his or her stock in the defense contractors affected and score a profit — or avoid losses — when the news breaks. Under current law, the congressman would likely walk away with a fatter investment account. For everyone else, it could mean you go to jail. (more…)

MILWAUKEE – The sky is falling. Hell’s freezing over.

Well, almost. The Milwaukee school board has decided to invoke Act 10 and cut labor costs, without permission from its large and influential teachers union.

Welcome to the real world of school finance, Milwaukee.

If you recall, Milwaukee was one of those districts that couldn’t accept the benefits of Act 10 this year.

That’s because the school board, despite its financial problems, retroactively entered into a four-year collective bargaining agreement with its teachers union, complete with salary increases, in 2010.

Apparently someone in Milwaukee woke up in recent months. The district announced last week that the school board took “bold action” Nov. 17 by approving a three-year wage freeze for all employees, which will be applicable as soon as current collective bargaining agreements expire.

The teachers contract expires in June 2013, while pacts with the district’s other unions expire next year.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech discuss the departure of Don Berwick from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, his controversial views on government controlled healthcare, and how his legacy will be impacted by the fate of Obamacare.

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.

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From National Journal:

Here’s a telling sign of how much President Obama’s fortunes have changed since 2008 — a leading Democratic Congressional recruit is now attacking aRepublican congressman for supporting the president.

Former Ohio Democratic congressman Charlie Wilson, who was attacked relentlessly for being too close with President Obama in last year’s losing campaign, kicked off his comeback bid today by accusing his Republican rival of the same sin.

Wilson, who represented a rural, blue-collar district along the Ohio River, is seeking a rematch against freshman Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio.  In his successful 2010 campaign, Johnson effectively characterized Wilson as a lackey of national Democrats, blasting him for casting a critical vote for Obama’s health care law and the stimulus.

So it’s striking that Wilson is now trying to use that same tactic against Johnson, criticizing the congressman for supporting free trade agreements backed by President Obama.

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With the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee set to begin congressional insider trading hearings today, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, whose husband trades stock options, has proposed a bill that would legalize, not ban, insider trading by members of Congress.

“This is just nuts,” says UCLA Law Professor Stephen Bainbridge.

The controversy surrounding Sen. Gillibrand’s version of the STOCK (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) Act involves a curious omission of a conjunction that  CNBC.com editor John Carney calls “shocking” and a “scandal” because it would “gut the law” entirely.

In Sen. Scott Brown’s version of the bill, the law reads:

Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall, by rule, prohibit any person from buying or selling the securities or security-based swaps of any issuer while such person is in possession of material nonpublic information relating to any pending or prospective legislative action relating to such issuer, if–

(A) such information was obtained by reason of such person being a Member or employee of Congress; or

(B) such information was obtained from a Member or employee of Congress, and such person knows that the information was so obtained.

Sen. Gillibrand’s version, however, contains a critical difference:

Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall, by rule, prohibit any person from buying or selling the securities or security-based swaps of any issuer while such person is in possession of material nonpublic information relating to any pending or prospective legislative action relating to such issuer, if–

(A)(i) such information was obtained by reason of such person being a Member or employee of Congress; or

(ii) such information was obtained from a Member or employee of Congress, and such person knows that the information was so obtained;

(B) the person acted with the intent to assist another person, directly or indirectly, to use the information to enter into, or offer to buy or sell the securities of such publicly traded company based on such information.

As UCLA Law Professor Stephen Bainbridge notes, while the omission of the conjunction “And” between clause A and B appears to be a typo, Sen. Gillibrand’s insertion of clause B would mean that a member of Congress would be free to make stock trades using material, nonpublic information so long as they didn’t also help another person make a similar stock purchase.

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Back in September, I posted a flowchart showing how the current tax system is biased against saving and investment.

Simply stated, the federal government largely leaves you unmolested if you consume your after-tax income, but there are as many as four extra layers of tax on income that is saved and invested (a point I also discuss in this video on the capital gains tax).

But it’s not sufficient to point out that the internal revenue code is biased against saving and investment. Over the years, I’ve had many debates and discussions with leftists, and their reactions range from glee (“good, we’re taxing the rich who have lots of wealth”) to boredom (“big deal” and “so what’s your point?”).

To help people understand why double taxation is misguided, it’s also necessary to explain how such policies undermine economic performance. I had a chance to briefly address this issue in a “Room for Debate” column for the New York Times. The main topic of the piece was how rich people who win lotteries should use their extra cash, and I used the opportunity to explain why the rest of us should want them to do more saving and investment.

…being good entrepreneurs and investors is the best way for rich people to help the rest of us. All economic theories, even Marxism and socialism, are based on the premise that capital formation is a key to economic growth and rising living standards. In other words, we need saving and investing to create the conditions for more jobs and rising wages. And since the world has learned that it’s not a good idea for the government to be in charge of such things, that means we rely on the private sector – including (gasp!) rich people – to set aside some of today’s income to finance tomorrow’s prosperity.

Statists call this “trickle-down economics,” which is an admittedly clever term of derision, but it doesn’t change reality. As I note in the excerpt, every single economic theory agrees that capital formation is necessary if we want more prosperity.

To provide a bit more elaboration, people generally get paid on the basis of what they produce. And workers are able to produce more when there is an increase in the quality and/or quantity of machinery, equipment, tools, and technology. These forms of capital are not the only things that matter, to be sure, but I’d be shocked to find an economist who disagreed with the premise that more saving and investment leads to higher productivity which leads to higher wages.

Yet our tax code probably treats saving and investment worse than it treats tobacco. As I noted in 2009, this doesn’t make sense.

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To date Barack Obama, the dispenser of hope and change and the presiding officer over the least transparent presidency in history, has claimed he only learned about Fast and Furious earlier this year. However, with each new document dump Obama’s timeframe seems to be as inaccurate (or as purposely misleading) as Attorney General Eric Holder’s.

For example, just months after he took office it was evident he was focused on a Fast and Furious-like operation, ostensibly aimed at cutting down on gun trafficking on the southern border.  Thus, on March 24, 2009, Deputy Attorney General David Ogden made the following announcement:

The President has directed us to take action to fight [Mexican] cartels…and Attorney General Holder and I are taking several new and aggressive steps as part of the administration’s comprehensive plan.

And the following month, April 2009, he stood beside Mexican President Felipe Calderón and uttered words we now recognize as hypocritical and duplicitous at best:

I continue to believe that we can respect and honor the Second Amendment right in our Constitution — the rights of sportsmen and hunters and homeowners that want to keep their families safe — to lawfully bear arms, while dealing with assault weapons that, as we know here in Mexico, are used to fuel violence.

Fast forward one year, and White House logs show that then-Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler met personally with Obama four times between May 7 and May 19, 2010.

Just in case Grindler’s name doesn’t set off sirens in your mind, he had received an in depth briefing on Fast and Furious on March 12, 2010. (This briefing came via an ATF slideshow which I covered in a post for Big Government earlier this year.) During this same briefing, Grindler was provided with details concerning the number of times that a straw purchaser named Uriel Patino had purchased guns during Fast and Furious. (Patino’s total weapon acquisition numbered approx. 720 guns.)

By the way, Grindler is no longer a Deputy Attorney General. Rather, he is Holder’s Chief of Staff.

So what do you figure he and Obama talked about when they met four times in May 2010?

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While addressing a gathering of the international communist front World Federation of Democratic Youth,  in Lisbon Portugal, November 10, 2011, Young Communist League USA organizer  Lisa Bergmann, boasted of communist leadership in the US “Occupy” movement and their desire to harness the movement  to the re-election campaign of President Barack Obama.

Lisa Bergmann

Addressing the assembled young comrades, Bergmann made no bones about communist participation in, and initiation of , “Occupy” encampments all over the United States. (Emphasis added)

My name is Lisa Bergmann from the Young Communist League USA.  On behalf of our organization I would like to thank WFDY and the Japaneses Communist Party for hosting this inspiring, well-organized event and for ensuring that the YCLUSA could be here with all of you today.  The Young Communist League USA stands firmly, as it always has, united with all of you against U.S. imperialism, greed, and war…

Youth in the United States are shouting at the top of their lungs that the U.S. capitalist economic system has failed them… thousands of youth in the United States are taking to the streets to demand a better world.

Inspired by the “Arab Spring” and other youth movements in Europe and Latin America, the Occupy Wall Street Movement began in the heart of the U.S. capitalist system, and has now spread to more than 300 cities in the United States. Occupy is predominantly a youth movement, calling attention to the unprecedented wealth inequalities that exist in our country…  While the participants in the Occupy movement are members of a wide variety of groups, they all identify as part of the “99” percent of people who do not have access to the country’s wealth.  The labor movement in the U.S. has been one of the strongest allies to the Occupy movement.  Other participants in the Occupy movement include peace activist groups, veterans, elected officials, immigrant rights groups, and of course the Communist Party and the Young Communist League! The Young Communist League, even though we are in a re-building phase, has participated in Occupy in every city where we exist, and has even initiated the Occupy chapters in some cities.  Leaders of the Young Communist League and leaders of the Communist party have been arrested in Chicago on two separate occasions during police raids on the Occupy movement.

Bergmann went on to highlight the role of the labor movement and the rallying cry of “job creation” to unite a the youth and labor movement behind socialist aligned Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and President Obama’s “job creation” bills.

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The OccupyLA camp left behind more than 30 tons of trash. Classy.