Saturday, November 19, 2011

Young Italian Gives Presage For U.S. Economy


ht-HotAir
"The most dangerous myth is the demagoguery that business can be made to pay a larger share, thus relieving the individual. Politicians preaching this are either deliberately dishonest, or economically illiterate, and either one should scare us...
Only people pay taxes, and people pay as consumers every tax that is assessed against a business."-Ronald Reagan

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Jimmy Fallon as Jim Morrison

Reading Rainbow

Attaboy (Live) - Goat Rodeo Sessions

Friday, November 18, 2011

Sarah Palin:"Reform must be relentless..."

"...because fighting corruption is like a game of whack-a-mole. You knock it down in one area only to see it pop up in another."
WSJ-Politicians who arrive in Washington as men and women of modest means leave as millionaires. Why?-By Sarah Palin

Mark Twain famously wrote, "There is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress." Peter Schweizer's new book, "Throw Them All Out," reveals this permanent political class in all its arrogant glory. (Full disclosure: Mr. Schweizer is employed by my political action committee as a foreign-policy adviser.)

Mr. Schweizer answers the questions so many of us have asked. I addressed this in a speech in Iowa last Labor Day weekend. How do politicians who arrive in Washington, D.C. as men and women of modest means leave as millionaires? How do they miraculously accumulate wealth at a rate faster than the rest of us? How do politicians' stock portfolios outperform even the best hedge-fund managers'? I answered the question in that speech: Politicians derive power from the authority of their office and their access to our tax dollars, and they use that power to enrich and shield themselves.

The money-making opportunities for politicians are myriad, and Mr. Schweizer details the most lucrative methods: accepting sweetheart gifts of IPO stock from companies seeking to influence legislation, practicing insider trading with nonpublic government information, earmarking projects that benefit personal real estate holdings, and even subtly extorting campaign donations through the threat of legislation unfavorable to an industry. The list goes on and on, and it's sickening.

Astonishingly, none of this is technically illegal, at least not for Congress. Members of Congress exempt themselves from the laws they apply to the rest of us. That includes laws that protect whistleblowers (nothing prevents members of Congress from retaliating against staffers who shine light on corruption) and Freedom of Information Act requests (it's easier to get classified documents from the CIA than from a congressional office).

The corruption isn't confined to one political party or just a few bad apples. It's an endemic problem encompassing leadership on both sides of the aisle. It's an entire system of public servants feathering their own nests.........Read more

Thursday, November 17, 2011

All Glass Steam Engine

Working model of Stephenson's steam engine made of glass.
This Model of Stephenson's Steam Engine was made in 2008 by master glassblower Michal ZahradnĂ­k.

Obama 2008: $9 Trillion Debt was "Irresponsible" & "Unpatriotic"

THEN AND NOW

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Meanwhile..."The lamps are going out all over Europe"

$15 TRILLION now... going for 16!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Transferring Wealth Is Not Creating Wealth

Yet still an elusive concept for many.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Native American - Amazing Grace (in Cherokee)