Needlenose

…never was, never will be, as long as the Reactionaries in charge.  Although Needlenose graciously outlined over $2.4 trillion in first year budget cuts for completely unnecessary programs (that any non-hypocritical fiscal conservative could get behind), the Congressionals instead decide to go after family planning funds, a program that actually saves the U.S. an estimated $3.4 billion/year in medical fees.

What more proof do you need that this never was about the budget deficit, providing jobs or anything even remotely connected to the economy, and is just a continuation of the Culture Wars of the past 2 decades?

Hey Texas...feeling is mutual! Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out!

Shrubya II aka Gov Perry backs off his calls for secession.  Damn it!  What a wuss!!  Well to hell with him, we should host a plebiscite and just kick ‘em out!  And we can build the wall/fence/flashing lights border thingie between us and The Baptist Republic of Texas!

For the record, I don’t favor having the Government at any level act as a VC for technology companies.  If for one reason or another we have a strategic interest in having something happen – like decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels while increasing our usage of renewable energy – then I’d rather the Government take some specific steps around reducing demand through taxes on the undesirable and reduced taxes or mandates on usage to promote the desirable – with every intervention specifically time-bombed and diminished over time.

So I also look askance on Obama’s loan guarantees to Solyndra (and the socializing the failure thereof).

However, the real issue here is that the Chinese massively subsidize their solar industry and are dumping their panels below cost in the U.S. market.  How could Solyndra (or other non-Obama VC’d manufacturers) compete?  This is yet another industry that the heavy guns of the state-controlled Chinese companies have chosen  to wipe out (and are in the process of doing so).

The Reactionaries, of course, who would normally love to take an opportunity to criticize China, seem rather pleased to watch Solyndra fail as it makes their nemesis Obama look bad.  Same thinking that makes them delight in the still-crappy economy – they’d rather watch a failed America run by fellow Reactionaries than a successful one run by Liberals – positively Miltonian!

…but when Bachmann says “regulations were overburdening food producers” you gotta wonder if she ever gave concept of the relative ’overburden’ (consumer+ ecoli = death, versus business + regulations = lower profits) of the parties involved.  Worse, you gotta wonder about the brains or sanity of somebody who’d be stupid enough to vote for her (excepting the small percentage of voters who are executives in large food producing businesses).

Seems like the current batch of reactionary loons in the House just can’t seem to help themselves from dancing on the edge of the cliff.  A government shutdown seems inevitable.  Didn’t Gingrich warn them?

The tea-leaf readers infer that Rick Perry’s secret plan regarding the future of the program is to save Social Security by destroying it.  Similar to what the Reactionaries did so successfully with unions – create a multi-tiered benefit system.  The strategy is simple – scare the seniors and the soon-to-retire Baby Boomers by calling Social Security a ‘Ponzi Scheme,’ then buy them off by guaranteeing that their benefits remain sacrosanct in exchange for creating a new tier of lousy benefits for those dumb young workers who don’t bother to vote.  Quite the opposite of what Perry’s forked-tongue campaign manager claims:

“”I think he’s been clear that those who are on Social Security now, it’s not going to be scrapped,” said Perry’s campaign manager, Rob Johnson. “We’ve got to start the conversation for the younger generation so that there is a program for them.”

To decode Reactionary Speak here is the translation:

“We’re gonna buy off the seniors who vote and rely on the fact that young people don’t bother to vote, or even to read the news.   Hey kids!  I got your Social Security program right here [Grabbing crotch for visual effect]!”

Unless we Libs get off our asses and raise some consciousness among ‘the young’, the Rich will be able to chalk up another win in the Class War.

Rank and file UAW workers not feeling the love as US car companies return to profitability – and union leaders are aligned with Management.  No mystery here, business has been using a clever tool for the last 4 decades.  When times are tough, buy off the existing union members by keeping their salaries and benefits static, while getting them to agree to screwing future workers:

The sense of grievance among autoworkers in large part stems from concessions accepted by the UAW in recent years, as the industry has grappled with declining sales and the government has stepped in to rescue major automakers. The concessions in essence created two separate classes of autoworkers via a two-tier wage system — a term now underlined by many workers as the source of enduring unhappiness.

Under the two-tier system, workers with seniority have generally been able to preserve their pay scale, with basic wages of about $28 an hour. But new hires can now be paid half as much, at a wage officially referred to as “entry rate” because workers are theoretically able to move up through the wage levels as senior workers retire.

The future of labor in America lies in organizing labor abroad.

During their 8-year Reign of Error, you’d think there wasn’t a war the Republican’s didn’t like.   However, there was much gnashing of teeth when Obama decided to join with our NATO allies and blast Qaddafi’s planes and tanks from the skies.  Now that the Libyan Action is pretty much concluded, let’s do a compare and contrast of Regime Change that Republicans like versus  what they find unacceptable:

By any measure, the Libyan Regime Change seems more effective, but there’s not a peep of support from the Wrong Wing.  Conclusion?  Republicans only like the wars they start, Democratic wars be damned!

The recession has hit everybody really hard, that:

• My neighbour got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.
• Wives are having sex with their husbands because they can’t afford batteries.
• CEO’s are now playing miniature golf.
• Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen.
• A stripper was killed when her audience showered her with rolls of pennies while she danced.
• I saw a Mormon with only one wife.
• If the bank returns your check marked “Insufficient Funds,” you call them and ask if they meant you or them.
• McDonald’s is selling the 1/4 ouncer.
• Angelina Jolie adopted a child from America.
• Parents in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children’s names.
• My cousin had an exorcism but couldn’t afford to pay for it, and they re-possessed her!
• A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico.
• A picture is now only worth 200 words.
• When Bill and Hillary travel together, they now have to share a room.
• The Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas is now managed by Somali pirates.

I was so depressed last night thinking about the economy, wars, jobs, my savings, Social Security, retirement funds, etc., I called the Suicide Hotline. I got a call centre in Pakistan, and when I told them I was suicidal, they got all excited, and asked if I could drive a truck.

Tip o’ the ‘Nose to Spy Buddy!

Now that the Democrat’s 2nd Great Capitulation is complete, let’s identify $2.4 trillion in budget cuts that will actually make America a better place.  In my first attempt, I’ll try to do this without addressing tax breaks, just subsidies.

I’m going to do this over the next few days so bear with me!

*Update 8/15/11* I’m at just over a $314 billion dollars and I haven’t finished up with Pentagon boondoggles yet, much less gotten to the wars!  Note that the Super Congress is only looking to save $2 trillion over a period of 10 years –  extrapolated over ten years, we’re probably already past $3 trillion…