Codger on Politics

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

time for Kerry to go

Time for Kerry to Go

""Kerry's approach has ignited a firestorm in Israel, with commentators left and right accusing him of taking Hamas' side and betraying Israel. That criticism is unfair, and it prompted a complaint Sunday from Obama in a phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Kerry's mistake isn't any bias against Israel, but a bias in favor of an executable, short-term deal. A case can be made for this "kick the can down the road" approach, as I did last week in discussing Kerry's recent diplomatic negotiations over Iran's nuclear program and with rival political leaders in Afghanistan.""

Like hell it isn't about bias against Israel. Perhaps it is caused by his imperial "let them eat cake" atitude, but it is bias. Perhaps it is hatred for US therefor Israel.   In any case, Karry is damaged goods  and should recluse himself to allow a faster agreement to be achieved.  How about John Bolton as pinch hitter.

Now let's talk about the author's bias.
""Israel has undermined its own cause with statements that appear to be insensitive to Palestinian loss of life. One example is Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer's claim that "the Israeli Defense Forces should be given the Nobel Peace Prize" for showing "unimaginable restraint," at a time when photos and videos provide wrenching evidence of civilian casualties in the densely packed cities of Gaza.""

The author is straining to claim moral equilevance, rockets versis hurt feelings.

How about the two assistants (Turky and Qutar) committing to preventing any further rocket fire from gausa and failing that submit themselves to a token number of US rockets (or smart booms).  They can show the world the tolerance they have. ( only in the tens, not hundreds).  We would of couse only bome military targets.







Saturday, July 26, 2014

We the People Have Standing

We the People Have Standing
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2014/07/25/faithful-john-boehner-to-faithless-barack-obama-checkmate/

""Much more than Obamacare is at stake with John Boehner's lawsuit. The very legitimacy of the Obama administration is on the line. This is a much bigger deal than any policy squabble, however important the policy. Can a president really flout explicit provisions in the Constitution with impunity?

President Obama systematically refuses to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. The Supreme Court, to protect the Constitution, its own institutional integrity, and its reputation, well might rule on this. Obama's breaches of Constitutional faith have been blatant and repeated. Not content with having fulfilled his true electoral mandate to bring home the troops and restore America to a peacetime footing, which this columnist has praised, Obama, by being unfaithful to a clear Constitutional directive, has put his legitimacy at risk.

Comes now John Boehner to checkmate a renegade President. Simply by bringing this action Boehner deserves to go down in history as a great Speaker, a great defender of liberty, and a statesman. If he wins, as well he might: Checkmate, Obama.""

In a republic, the peoples representatives, make the laws at the direction of the constitution. If the executive branch fails to abide by those laws, the public is harmed. The risk is chaos. The danger to every citizen is real and life threatening. To say the house of representatives does not have standing, the people of the United States does not have standing.

To see chaos in action we have examples in the Mid East and Africa. Chaos leads to massive death. Chaos is a descent into barbarism. The latest example is the Crimea, which has experienced a loss of services with the separation from the UkraineIn the 1920s people in the United States were starving. Technology, and the stability of the system has eliminated that problem (some may say we still have hunger, but that is just saying we always want more).

Nazi Germany was the result of chaos.

It is the weak who are the first victims. you too will be a victim, though if the confidence in the rule of law is lost, the vast layers of government will be unconstrained. Separate jurisdictions will battle one another. We are now seeing the states against the federal government. Don't blame the states. We are allowing lawlessness to reign.

So we have jurisdiction. Lawlessness will definitely cause us harm. The founding fathers have directed us to use force if necessary, to defeat domestic enemies. Lets not let it get to that. Jefferson said the cause of liberty sometimes requires the blood of patriots. I feel I am a patriot, but I want my blood to stay where it is.




Dave Farnsworth

Friday, July 25, 2014

Republicans, the party of new ideas and new faces

Republicans, the party of new ideas and new faces

http://budget.house.gov/uploadedfiles/embargoed_expanding_opportunity_in_america___7232014.pdf

Ideas on making America more prosperous for everyone, but reducing dependance of some.

Summary of Paul Ryan's plan:
http://www.nationalreview.com/agenda/383586/heres-whats-paul-ryans-anti-poverty-plan-callie-gable

Democrats are a collection of hate groups and those seeking to continue the flow of corporate cronyism and special favors. They are dispensers of bribes with an expectation of kickbacks, which they receive both now and after leaving office.

""Offer states the option of a big block grant to replace existing federal welfare programs
""

"" Expand the EITC and make it work better
""

"" Fix federal education funding, partly with block grants
""

""Acknowledge that mass incarceration is a huge impediment to mobility and progress, and start addressing it""

""Get rid of regressive regulations""

""Emphasize evidence-based policy-making

Throughout Ryan's plan, there's a premium placed on ending programs that we have no evidence to suggest they work (or evidence that they don't work, in fact), while expanding programs that do work and are proven to have important spillover effects (the EITC, for instance). But many federal programs are just never assessed, period, or the assessment information isn't disseminated, so Ryan proposes creating a Commission on Evidence Based Policy Making, which would look into the possibility of creating a National Clearinghouse for Program and Survey Data — in theory, such an institution should be able to consolidate data on federal programs and assess their effectiveness in a useful way that protects privacy.
""

It is up to the voter to support new ideas. Both by voting every election, and by doing something more. Voters can't treat politics as a spectator sport. You are not just responsible for evaluating the candidates who present themselves, but encouraging people not otherwise interested, to run for office.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Democrats are pro terrorist, Anti Israel

Democrats are pro terrorist, Anti Israel
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/07/21/israel-democrats-are-losing-their-moral-clarity/0Mx4k2WoZfyVhdCtEObP6O/story.html

"" The United States is not yet down to one pro-Israel party. But the seepage among Democrats continues. At the 2012 Democratic convention, a fight erupted over the deletion from the party's platform of standard language acknowledging Jerusalem as Israel's capital. It took an order from the White House to restore the pro-Israel clause, and even then it had to be gaveled through over the vocal opposition of half the convention delegates.""

Not the mainline Democrats, but the self appointed progressive elite. How can they be so blind. Some are truly Anti American, anti-constitution, and contemptuous of the american way. Some are conformists, deriving their feeling of worth from the supposed moral high ground.

Unfortunately, they are all self deceiving.

I Agree, Democrats should fall on their Swords

I Agree, Democrats should fall on their Swords

It is the right thing

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/07/the_child_migrant_crisis_is_not_just_a_border_issue_blue_states_need_to.html


""give (temporary, paid-for) shelter to these kids are the ones acting like public servants. As the writer Sonia Nazario has pointed out, we expect countries next to ravaged places like Syria to absorb millions, not thousands, of immigrant refugees. The parallel isn't exact: Gang violence, however bad, isn't the same as full-out war. But the demands being placed on the U.S. aren't the same, either. Spread among the 50 states, these children are surely manageable. If you live in a blue state and you've ever shaken your head over anti-immigrant sentiment in the red states at the border, this is your moment. Tell your local and state leaders to be brave.""

Except we know that the whole thing is a democrat inspired scheme to disrupt the order in this country, to help them accumulate more power in the federal government. It is a heartless ploy causing untold misery and death. The Democrats are condoning rape and murder to feather their own nests.

The useful idiots of the Democrat mainstream are being used to help Obama loot the treasury for the benefit of himself and corporate cronies.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Dem Are Against Religion, But They Don't Want You

Dem Are Against Religion, But They Don't Want You To Know
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/07/how-hobby-lobby-split-the-left-and-set-back-gay-rights/374721/

""The religious exemption debate has now been polarized to the point where people are saying, 'All or nothing,'" said Lanae Erickson Hatalsky, director of social policy for the center-left think tank Third Way, whose research and activism on gay marriage have been instrumental to that cause's mainstream acceptance. "The narrative that's now beginning to form is that Democrats are against religion. It's not true, and it's very dangerous."""

Dems are also against the constitution.

I believe in the literal interpretation of the constitution

Hillery Fading From View, So Should the Political

Hillery Fading From View, So Should the Political Establishment

""In the campaign year of 2016, the voters, angry and anxious, appear poised to grab power away from the establishment and invest it in candidates of the future.""

Read more: http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/18/merry-handicaps-in/#ixzz387NoV5ce 
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

It may be wishful thinking but this appears to be a possibility. It is up to the voters to take this opportunity to gain control of the local organizations. Be a good worker but don't let you time be waisted. Interconnect to form an overlaying organization, to focus on the reform of the parties.

Voting is not enough.  You should not a consumer of political views because what you want is not on the shelf. Make your views known, meet with others. Your precinct meetings are available to you

Call 520-360-6965 for information or go to  http://rld9pc187.blogspot.com

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Obama's Lawlessness reveled a larger problem?

Obama's Lawlessness reveled a larger problem?

http://www.amazon.com/Administrative-Law-Unlawful-Philip-Hamburger/dp/022611659X

""Is administrative law unlawful? This provocative question has become all the more significant with the expansion of the modern administrative state. While the federal government traditionally could constrain liberty only through acts of Congress and the courts, the executive branch has increasingly come to control Americans through its own administrative rules and adjudication, thus raising disturbing questions about the effect of this sort of state power on American government and society.""

The basis of administrative law is antagonistic to the democratic form of government and therefore the constitution. Progressive have been pushing this since before president Wilson. Is it time for a massive change?



Dave Farnsworth

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

A Krugman Ditto, of what has been said about him

A Krugman Ditto, of what has been said about him

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2014/07/14/is-paul-krugman-leaving-princeton-in-quiet-disgrace/

""Volcker's comment, in full context:

The responsibility of the government is to have a stable currency. This kind of stuff that you're being taught at Princeton disturbs me. Your teachers must be telling you that if you've got expected inflation, then everybody adjusts and then it's OK. Is that what they're telling you? Where did the question come from?

Is Krugman leaving in disgrace? Krugman really is a disgrace … both to Princeton and to the principle of monetary integrity. Eighteenth century Princeton (then called the College of New Jersey) president John Witherspoon, wrote, in his Essay on Money:

This was followed by a show-stopping statement: "This kind of stuff that you're being taught at Princeton disturbs me."

Taught at Princeton by … whom?

Paul Krugman, perhaps? Krugman, last year, wrote an op-ed for the New York Times entitled Not Enough Inflation. It betrayed an extremely louche, at best, attitude toward inflation's insidious dangers. Smoking gun?""

Paul, the peak if Liberal intellectualism is exposed for what we knew he was. Will the low information voter notice?


Dave Farnsworth

Monday, July 14, 2014

The Presidency too Hard - Whiners need not Apply

The Presidency too Hard - Whiners need not Apply

http://www.nationaljournal.com/political-connections/half-of-america-20140711

""Clinton pursued agreements across party lines more consistently than either Bush or Obama. But this persistent polarization likely owes less to the three men's specific choices than to structural forces that are increasingly preventing any leader, no matter how well-intentioned, from functioning as more than "the president of half of America.""" 

There are too many people in  the Federal Government for one man too control. There is a solution here " There are too many people in  the Federal Government".  Delegate, delegate, delegate - to the states, not just the work but the authority.

The states are uniquely able to innovate, with failure rewarded by the states residents leaving. The resulting financial hardship can then be tied to policies. At the Federal level, there is no competing organization (especial as the congress has evolved into the old boy/ old girl network of theft and corruption (which they make legal for themselves only).

Therefore, be happy, don't worry.  Take your perks and let the states do the hard  lifting. Maybe pass a law to keep the gravy train but throw your special interests under the bus(they are so demanding). (It is cheaper pay you directly than to make you survive on merely a 10% kickback)

Saturday, July 12, 2014

A useful course when blocked

A useful course when blocked
http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/bill-submitted-to-holdlois-lerner-in-contempt/

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&ei=FLXBU6DDLo6KyAS-koHACg&url=http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL34097.pdf&cd=2&ved=0CCMQFjAB&usg=AFQjCNEjyRmvbq5uIVQ_vn4ScNwssaeGEQ&sig2=2H_d3wpI9XLCcshPwWDptg

""It further states, "That the Speaker issue his warrant directed to the Sergeant-at-Arms, or his deputy, commanding him to arrest and take into custody forthwith, wherever to be found, the body of Lois G. Lerner and bring her to the bar of the House without delay to answer to the charge of contempt of its authority, breach of its privileges, and gross and wanton insult to the integrity of its proceedings, and in the meantime keep the body of Lerner in his custody in the common jail of the District of Columbia, subject to the further order of the House.""

Congress has the power to imprison persons guilty of contempt of congress. This has been fairly rarely used due to excess time involved and a more efficient process of going through the justice department. With the house blocked from passing laws due to the senate's refusal to consider house passed legislation, the time issue is moot. With the justice department complicit in the IRS coverup, this now seems a useful way to spend the house's time.

With uncooperative witnesses jailed, liars may have second thoughts about falling on their swords.  They are sharp and poky.

In time left over, a lawsuit will focus the citizenry on the criminal activity of the federal government

Wednesday, July 09, 2014

The Letter of the Law

The Letter of the Law
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/will-the-supreme-court-get-another-shot-at-obamacare/
""The argument, he said, attempts to "exploit poorly-drafted statutory language and transform that into a radical re-conceptualization of what the Affordable Care Act was meant to do."""
As in " the letter of the law"?  Words matter.  I can believe there are poorly drafted sections of the law but ".  "  the federal government will give subsidies to eligible consumers who buy insurance from an exchange "established by the State." is very clear.

"". However, there's no need to guess congressional intent given the law was passed by Congress four years ago. In fact, seven high-ranking Democrats who helped craft Obamacare, as well as dozens of state lawmakers, filed abrief in the case to explain the true intent of the law.""

And these partisons can be believed? Their  intent may not be the intent of congress. The letter of the law trumps intentent, and the proper way to fix it is legislation. Prior to that, follow the law.

Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Science isn't ruled by a Majority

Science isn't ruled by a Majority

http://thefederalist.com/2014/07/07/the-mean-girls-of-global-warming/

""Someone sent me a clip from John Oliver—a nebbishy British version of Jon Stewart—arguing that global warming skeptics don't deserve a hearing because 97% of scientists supposedly back the claims of catastrophic man-made global warming.""

""But the biggest problem with this statistic is that it just doesn't matter. Before Copernicus and Galileo, there was a pretty strong consensus among scientific authorities that the Earth was at the center of the solar system. Up to the 1950s, the theory of plate tectonics, which is now the foundation of geology, was still widely considered a crackpot notion championed by a few lonely dissenters. The history of science is a long history of the consensus being proven wrong.""

""the idea that "just by watching a video like this and hearing an entire audience derisive[ly] ridicule climate-denialism," skeptics will be induced to go along with the consensus. ""

The idea of global warming is too complicated to have such a consensus. Most will acknowledge that the earth has warmed in the recent past. It is not as clear as to why. It has not warmed recently. It may not be a bad thing.

To have it be a bad thing, you need to believe he climate is unstable such that a small temperature rise will trigger the release of gasses which will trigger more increases causing disastrous results. Also you must believe the climate as been correctly modeled so the predictions the model makes are likely true.

Also you must disbelieve that some, due to funding pressures have tailored the data to produce the desired result. You must disbelieve all of the other possible sources of temperature rise including variation in the sun's output. You must ignore the lack of temperature rise in the last 15 years.

I find it all unlikely.

Monday, July 07, 2014

A Word Supporting Death Panels

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/07/death-panels-108553.html#.U7q25oXn8iG

"" A health-care system that promiscuously reimburses proton beam cancer therapies can finance a 45-minute conversation about your advanced-care directives. Some private insurers and state Medicaid programs already reimburse such consultations. So it's no surprise that the Illinois medical society, geriatricians, policymakers and advocacy groups are quietly pushing both private insurers and Medicare to reconsider the idea, this time through regulatory and administrative actions rather than new legislation. The American Medical Association—which plays an outsized role in determining how doctors are compensated—will also submit information to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services concerning the mechanics of reimbursing such services.
""

First the system can't support " promiscuously reimbursing" of any kind. A political system with the ability to impose a death sentence promiscuously, is too powerful to control. We have seen the abuse of the IRS, who is to say your death sentence isn't related to your protected speech.

And why do we need death panels? If our life was limited by our finances, wouldn't that be fair? You could always purchase a health insurance with a death panel (from a trusted firm). The federal government is not trusted or trustworthy. The progressive self appointed ruling class even less so.

A Novel Idea, Argue your position using the

A Novel Idea, Argue your position using the constitution
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/07/07/our_progressive_constitution_123213.html
These progressives have cleverly thought to base their argument on the constitution!  They expect to argue circles around Conservatives, but starting with  the consititution as the basis of all are laws is refreshingly traditional.
""
"Instead of treating the Constitution as the property of lawyers and judges," he notes, "it proposes that legislators, and even citizen-activists, have an independent duty to evaluate the constitutionality of legislation."
One plausible progressive response is to see Ponnuru's exercise as doomed from the start. The framers could not possibly have foreseen what the world would look like in 2014. In any event, they got some important things wrong, most glaringly their document's acceptance of slavery.
Moreover, because the Constitution was written primarily as a foundation for government, it can answer only so many questions. David Strauss of the University of Chicago Law School authored a book called "The Living Constitution" to make plain that there is a lot more to this concept than its detractors suggest. He notes that "a great part of the framers' genius lay exactly in their ability to leave provisions general when they should be left general, so as not to undermine the document's ability to serve as common ground."
The problem with "originalists," Strauss says, is that they "take general provisions and make them specific," even when they're not. One might add that the originalists' versions of specificity often seem to overlap with their political preferences.""
Is it possible that general principles, govern the specific?  What is confusing about "Shall make no law that ..."   or "all laws shall be created by the legislative branch"
Before we worry about that, however, can we agree some government actions are clearly in violation of the constitution?  There are federal laws against owning a machine gun.  Does this meet the "does not infringe" language? You may not agree that individuals should be able to have the tools to go to war, but the constitution clearly does.  Why is that? Maybe the weapons of war in the hands of individuals, makes their possession  by the government less dangerous overall? You might argue the government is more competent to handle  the responsibility, but not all will agree.
You might argue that the writers of the constitution can not anticipate the problems of a modern age, but the authors seem to have anticipated a person like President Obama.

""  The authors remind us of Franklin Roosevelt's warning that "the inevitable consequence" of placing "economic and financial control in the hands of the few" would be "the destruction of the base of our form of government." And writing during the Gilded Age, a time like ours in many ways, the journalist James F. Hudson argued that "imbedded" in the Constitution is "the principle" mandating "the widest distribution among the people, not only of political power, but of the advantages of wealth, education and social influence."

The idea of a Constitution of Opportunity is both refreshing and relevant. For too long, progressives have allowed conservatives to monopolize claims of fealty to our unifying national document. In fact, those who would battle rising economic inequalities to create a robust middle class should insist that it's they who are most loyal to the Constitution's core purpose. Broadly shared well-being is essential to the framers' promise that "We the people" will be the stewards of our government. ""

You can argue the complience to the central theme, but you must first conform to the actual words.  The more appropriate concern is the concentration of power in the fderal government unconstrained by the actual words. 









Sunday, July 06, 2014

Still the Shining City On the Hill

Still the Shining City On the Hill
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/opinion/sunday/maureen-dowd-who-do-we-think-we-are.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0&referrer=

""From Katrina to Fallujah, we're less the Shining City Upon a Hill than the House of Broken Toys.

For the first time perhaps, hope is not as much a characteristic of American feelings.

Are we winners who have been through a rough patch? Or losers who have soured our sturdy and spiritual DNA with too much food, too much greed, too much narcissism, too many lies, too many spies, too many fat-cat bonuses, too many cat videos on the evening news, too many Buzzfeed listicles like "33 Photos Of Corgi Butts," and too much mindless and malevolent online chatter?""

We are still the best of the best.  The progressives have had the wheel and have run us into the ditch. "It is too hard", they say, "No one could do it". Why is that, 'Smartest people on earth'?

As Winston Churchill said, " Americans always get it right, after they try every other way.".  Letting the progressives be in charge, was one of those 'other ways'.

Can the Cronies

Can the Cronies

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/07/06/crony_capitalism_infects_washington_123219.html

""At the start of his political career, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was a man of modest means. After a lifetime in "public service," he has a net worth of up to $12 million.

Sen. Reid often sponsors legislation that benefits firms represented by lobbyist sons Rory and Key, according to Peter Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute.

Between 1998 and 2002, firms connected to the Reid family earned more than $2 million "from special interests that were represented by the kids and helped by the senator in Washington," the Los Angeles Times reported.

Corruption in Washington is driven more by extortion than bribery, Mr. Schweizer says. Bills have been introduced, "crises" manufactured primarily to extort contributions.""

Just leave us alone, and get you hand out my pocket.



Dave Farnsworth

Thursday, July 03, 2014

I am not a crook - Obama

http://rove.com/articles/537

""When Mr. Obama gets hit and his numbers fall, he becomes brittle and defensive. "So sue me," he said Tuesday, mocking Republicans who want to stop his (unconstitutional) executive actions. Criticizing the House for not acting on his highway-funding proposal, he said, "It's not crazy, it's not socialism. It's not the imperial presidency—no laws are broken." It's generally not a good idea for a president to issue playground taunts.""

This sounds very much like "I am not a crook", which didn't work out so well for president Nixon.

Tuesday, July 01, 2014

To claim scientific correctness without scientific

To claim scientific correctness without scientific method is foolish

http://thefederalist.com/2014/02/12/the-party-of-science-has-absolutely-no-clue-what-its-talking-about/

""The theoretical physicist Richard Feynman once quipped that "the first principle" of science is "that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool." If we take the genius at his word, "the party of science" starts to look like a paradox. To insist that only your ideology is empirical and enlightened is to conclusively prove that it is neither.""


Reading progressive opinion often includes wording that refute the argument they are attempting to make. More often they attempt no argument at all, with a series of assertions substituted for argument. Finally, he writing style is argumentative while free of argument.

The progressives who control our major universities need to be reeducated in debate, preferbily via an online course since the universities have declined so much, that their course is inferior and to costly.

I am guilty, of not preparing my case also, because the progressives have made it for me. Observations suffice.

How can self described intellectuals be so dumb

How can self described intellectuals be so dumb


""The greatest misinformation of the UC-Irvine ceremony, though, as well as at last week's League of Conservation Voters meeting, was that provided by the president himself — the propaganda that we know, or even can know, the future of a natural phenomenon as complex as climate change. Chris Essex, professor of applied mathematics at the University of Western Ontario, lays it out clearly: "Climate is one of the most challenging open problems in modern science. Some knowledgeable scientists believe that the climate problem can never be solved." ""


Read more: http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jun/30/harris-a-climate-of-fear/#ixzz36GzW7qFz
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

Absence of Intellect

Absence of Intellect
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-in-hobby-lobby-ruling-the-supreme-court-uses-a-fiction/2014/06/30/37663c72-009b-11e4-8572-4b1b969b6322_story.html

"There was a certain risk in having Alito deliver the 5-to-4 opinion defending corporate personhood, because his mannerisms are strikingly robotic for a human. Assigned both of Monday's opinions, Alito delivered a 33-minute monologue — his only departure from the text before him was to raise his head mechanically at intervals and glance at a table to his right — that seemed to have a soporific effect on his colleagues. Clarence Thomas rubbed his head, Anthony Kennedy rested his head in his right palm, Ruth Bader Ginsburg (who was to read her dissent in the Hobby Lobby case) drank a large quantity from her coffee mug, and the others stared ahead with unfocused gazes."


Typically progressive, appeal not to intellect but to emotion and hate. Granted a soft hate.

we don't like the successful, the corporation, robots, coffee mugs, and unfocused gazes