Sunday's John Kass column, for your reading pleasure
The mighty winds blow across the Illinois prairie as taxpayers wince and prepare for Tuesday's vote.
A white guy born of the Democratic machine plays the race card trying to win black support. Consummate Republican insiders spend millions to convince voters they're really outsiders.
These people think we're chumbolones.
I loved it when Terrence J. O'Brien, a Democrat running for Cook County Board president, compared himself to a giant rodent who would crawl out of the sewers to victory on Tuesday.
But my new favorite comes from the bombastic state Sen. Rickey "Hollywood" Hendon, D-Chicago, campaigning for lieutenant governor with an instantly classic radio spot.
Hendon's ad features folks at a birthday party, listing Hendon's great deeds, some of which may even be true. Then he uses a cream-filled Hostess snack cake to remind voters that his ballot punch number is 19. The ad ends with one woman asking another to save her a piece of cake.
"Girl, you know I can't afford no cake," comes the response, " but I do have a Twinkie with 19 candles on it!"
Hendon's great illuminated Twinkie may capture the imagination of the voters and inch him closer to the lieutenant governorship. The job doesn't have any real duties -- except to sit alone in an office, watching Maury Povich and the daytime soaps, and wait for the governor to die or get indicted. Hendon may be the perfect man for the job....
Yum. Those last sentences are the most perfect example of damning with faint praise that I can remember.
Another grim milestone in the Bambi administration ...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House will predict a $1.6 trillion U.S. budget deficit in the 2010 fiscal year, a fresh record and the biggest since World War Two as a share of the economy, a congressional source told Reuters on Sunday. The grim forecast adds to the challenges facing President Barack Obama, who is emphasizing a message of fiscal discipline but is also seeking stimulus measures to boost the struggling economy in the near term.
Obama's budget proposal, which will be released at 10 a.m. EST on Monday, will predict a narrowing of the deficits to $700 billion by fiscal 2013 before they gradually rise back to $1 trillion by the end of the decade, the Capitol Hill source said.
That's before the health care 'reform' bill comes due.
He will submit his spending blueprint for the 2011 fiscal year that begins October 1 and runs through September 30 next year. Obama is trying to strike a balance between long-term deficit reduction and easing the pain of double-digit unemployment through proposals such as tax credits to encourage business hiring and tax breaks for middle class families.
Criticized by Republicans as a big spender, Obama used his State of the Union address last week to tell Americans he would dig the country out of a "massive fiscal hole."
That hole is even deeper than previously believed, according to the estimate by the White House's Office of Management and Budget.
Notice how 'unexpected' everything is in the Bambi economy?
The estimate for the current 2010 fiscal year that ends September 30 is significantly higher than the $1.35 trillion figure forecast by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office last week.
Despite the difference, both estimates indicate that the deficit will continue to hover near 10 percent of gross domestic product, a level not seen since World War Two, when measured as a percentage of the economy. Last year, the government posted a $1.4 trillion deficit, equivalent to 9.9 percent of GDP.
In his budget, Obama will propose a three-year freeze on some domestic programs to save $20 billion next year and $250 billion over the coming decade. But that will not be enough to get deficits down permanently to the 3 percent of GDP that most economists consider sustainable.
Deficits are projected to fall as the economy recovers, but they will still average roughly 4.5 percent of GDP over the coming decade, according to the estimate.
That's before we pay for the health care 'reform', cap and trade, and Son of Stimulus ...
Deficits are expected to rise again toward the end of the decade due to the increasing cost of retirement and healthcare programs as the "baby boom" generation retires.
Obama has warned that the burgeoning U.S. debt could unnerve U.S. financial markets, driving up borrowing costs and putting future economic growth at risk.
Should have thought of that last year ...
China, the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries, has urged the United States to get its fiscal house in order.
The bleak numbers could help build support for a bipartisan commission proposed by the White House that would recommend ways to address the budget problems.
We already have a 'bipartisan commission' to cut the budget: it's called, Congress ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/01/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
Wehell, iff CNBC + FOX this AM is any measure, POTUS BAMMER + ADMIN is going to have another struggling week agz the Econo-Perts, GOP + DEM + CENTER.
#6
Deficits are expected to rise again toward the end of the decade due to the increasing cost of retirement and healthcare programs as the "baby boom" generation retires.
Well we'll just have to move to a 'needs based' social security and healthcare scheme. If you already have a pension, IRA, or 401k.... you've NO NEED for social security or medicare. [sarc off]
#7
Besoeker - when I started paying social security in I was sure it'd be gone by 2015, but lately, I had been thinking I might actually see it.
House appreciation, social security, and 401k - a three-legged stool. Now, the first of those is gone, and the second certainly possible to go away, as you suggested. I sure hope the 401k comes back!
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/01/2010 6:00 Comments ||
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#8
"For the Love of Money" Yeah Nostalgia ----- It's the Carter years all over again! Hold on kids you ain't seen nothin yet.
Zero and his crowd had a year to "own the problem" did they do it ? NO! - Its Bush's fault. F-U ... The Dems have been in control of the finances since they won the Congress in 2006. They have F-d around for 4 years. No progress, just gets worse.
Zero, you were right, it is time for a change; dismiss as many Dems from the Congress as we can in 2010 and put the adults back in charge.
#13
From what I've heard this incredible growing deficit is being CONSTRAINED by revenue increase shown in the budget from a massive infusion of new tax money from cap-n-trade.
If that doesn't pass (and I don't think it will, thank God) then the deficit will be even bigger!!
At this rate this dspicable moron will have increased our debt in 2 years by 4 times over the amount the 'pubs did in the 12 years they ran congress.
#1
With 12 to 15 inches of Gerbil Worming sitting on my deck right now, I'm thinking 100% of ALL the people who live in the North are below average intelligence. Or maybe they're just crazy.
I can't believe they put up with this crap on purpose - all winter long! :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/01/2010 20:08 Comments ||
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#2
Well, if the dead have zero intelligence then it'll really skew the average on the voter rolls.
Former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio leads the former Senate frontrunner, Gov. Charlie Crist, in the competitive Republican primary race, according to a new Rasmussen poll. Support for Crist has fallen drastically in the past six months of Rasmussen primary polling, from 53% in August to 49% in October, 43% in December and now 37%.
Rubio 49 (+6 vs. last poll, Dec. 15)
Crist 37 (-6)
Und 11
Rubio leads by 1.6 points in the RCP Average.
Earlier today, Rasmussen released results from its general election polling, which found Rubio leading Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) by 17 points, and Crist leading Meek by 15 points.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The Republicans, emboldened by a recent Senate victory in Massachusetts, are preparing themselves to occupy yet another Democratic seat: This time in President Barack Obama's state, Illinois.
Illinois for long has been a Democratic domain, but Republicans think they can capitalize once more on the public dismay with Democrats that they think are responsible for Scott Brown's capturing of the late Edward Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts in January.
Opinion polls ahead of Tuesday's party primaries in Illinois suggested that Mark Kirk, a moderate five-term Republican House member, may snap up the Senate seat very easily.
Kirk is a near-RINO on social issues but is good on defense and terrorism.
Kirk's Democratic rival is Alexi Giannoulias, state Treasurer and once a senior lending officer at Broadway Bank.
Which his family owns, and needed a bailout, and is rumored to be 'connected'.
"The Democratic candidates are second-tier. They're not particularly exciting, not particularly experienced," Reuters quoted DePaul University political analyst Michael Mezey as saying.
Kirk, 50, is the likely GOP contender to emerge Tuesday. He is seen as a reputable, well-funded nominee, a Navy Reserve officer who has done two tours in Afghanistan and who can withstand the pressure from a Democratic White House.
Giannoulias, 32, has secured himself about a third of the vote, according to an independent survey. However, his party colleagues are concerned about his lack of experience and the fact that he has failed to acquire a commanding lead over his rivals.
"The Illinois seat is going to be top of the Republican priority list, not for symbolic reasons that it's Obama's home state, but because it's one of the most likely seats for them to win," said political analyst Dick Simpson of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
During the past 40 years, Illinois has sent seven Democrats and two Republicans to the Senate. Democrats govern all major statewide offices and sustain the majority in both houses of the Illinois legislature.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
my two sons are registered democrats. Their are voting in the primary but then voting for the pubs in the general. Obama and the Illinois Dems have just freaked them out too much.
#2
Fear not. Illinois Dems have a deep and experienced bench ... of dead people.
Posted by: ed ||
02/01/2010 1:29 Comments ||
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#3
What makes it tricky is that the dead are generally not called for polling purposes, so when they vote, it skews the polls.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/01/2010 5:53 Comments ||
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#4
The voting dead have historically been a low-cost mulitiplier in Cook County. Voting dead absentee ballots slightly more due to postage and handling.
#5
I met Kirk once. He seemed like a decent sort and he gets the WoT. However, he voted for cap-n-trade (I presume because his district is pretty liberal), so I'm conflicted. There's no way I would vote for any Dem, but sadly the Pubs in Illinois aren't much better.
#6
The Pubs in Illinois have been pretty awful this last decade. They're part of the 'combine' in Springfield that divides the spoils with the Dems. As long as the Pub power brokers get theirs, they don't complain.
Kirk is in a divided, center-left district, and he's a master at staying alive as a moderate Pub. He won in 2008 when Pubs on both sides of his district went down. He voted for cap-and-trade because his district favored it, but now says he regrets the vote.
I do know that a LOT of downstaters dislike him intensely. They may sit on their hands in November.
His major challenger, Patrick Hughes, is a Hinsdale real estate guy who has appealing convictions and positions, and no electoral experience whatsoever. He'd get eaten alive in the fall.
I just may have to hold my nose and vote for Kirk.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/01/2010 9:23 Comments ||
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#8
I live in the Kirk district and have no problem voting for him or supporting him. A couple of points.
1 - As even Rush noticed, his cap and trade vote is not because he's a liberal, or a RINO, but because of the "trade". This is the north shore, home of MERC and CBOE "traders". Yes, it's a comparatively liberal district, but there's plenty of money from the traders. For the state race, he's backed off. He's also probably the only vote (aye or nay) to vote on the trading aspect of this, rather than the capping aspect.
2 - N G F ski (that's how Andrzejewski is pronounced) is running for governor, not against Kirk.
3 - Downstaters will easily vote for Kirk. Aside from not having a choice, he's one of the few elected GOPer's left in the non-machine wing of the party. Many of his fellow congressmen have since retired or been defeated or LaHooded.
4 - His strengths far more than offset his RINO tendencies, which are just that, tendencies - not committed principles. I expect he'd be much more conservative a Senator than Scott Brown will be - more akin to Lugar or McConnell. A long long way from the Mainers, or even Graham and McCain..
#10
And he just picked up Rush and Becks' endorsements, to go with Lech's. It is very unlikely, but with a massively split vote, he could win with a 20-25% plurality. It would make the Brown victory look puny, and would make for a fascinating November race, particularly if Hynes (i.e. - machine) wins the Dem primary.
Former Cuban President Fidel Castro wants the United Nations to investigate why the United States and other nations sent thousands of troops to Haiti.
Last week, former Cuban President Fidel Castro denounced the United States for occupying' the nation of Haiti after it was devastated by a 7.0 earthquake, according to Russia Today. Castro wants the UN to investigate as to why the US and other countries are sending thousands of troops to the Caribbean nation.
In an opinion piece in the state-controlled media, reports AFP, Castro wrote amid the Haitian tragedy, with no one knowing how or why, thousands of (US Marines) and paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division and other military forces have occupied Haitian territory. Even worse, neither the United Nations nor the (US government) has offered an explanation ... of this movement of forces.'
Castro added that nations who decide to send more troops to Haiti will just contribute to more chaos and complicate international cooperation. The retired Cuban leader advises countries to discuss the matter and have the UN monitor the delicate situation.'
The Cuban government is not experiencing any problems sending aid or doctors to the Caribbean region, says Castro. He also said that many governments have complained that they are not able to deliver aid and supplies because troops have kept them from landing.
The Associated Press notes that Bolivian President Evo Morales wants the UN to condemn the US for what he calls an occupation of Haiti.
#2
I am very concerned about having our quick reactionary force, 2nd. bgd. 82nd., stuck in Haiti doing humanitarian work when they are one of the worlds greatest combat units.
It sounds too good to be true: a non-toxic spray invisible to the human eye that protects almost any surface against dirt and bacteria, whether it is hospital equipment and medical bandages or ancient stone monuments and expensive fabrics.
But true it is. The spray is a form of "liquid glass" and is harmless to living things and the wider environment. It is being touted as one of the most important, environmentally-friendly products to emerge from the field of nanotechnology, which deals in objects at the molecular end of the size scale.
Tests have revealed an astonishing variety of potential uses for the liquid glass, from protecting vineyards against fungal attacks to coating medical implants with non-stick, antibacterial surfaces. Scientists have even used it to spray fabric with an invisible, dirt-resistant film emulating the fictional invention of unstainable clothing in the 1951 Ealing comedy The Man in the White Suit.
The secret of liquid glass is that it forms an ultra-thin film between 15 and 30 molecules thick about 500 times thinner than human hair. On this nanoscale a few millionths of a millimetre thick liquid glass turns into a highly flexible invisible barrier that repels water, dirt and bacteria, yet is resistant to heat, acids and UV radiation but remains "breathable".
A family-owned German company called Nanopool holds patent rights on the technology behind the liquid glass, which emerged from research at the Institute for New Materials in Saarbrücken. Nanopool is already talking to British firms and the NHS about using the product for a diverse range of applications, from coating designer handbags to spraying the nose cones of high-speed trains. All sorts of military applications.
Pelosi's Children and Grandchildren Used Military Jets As Private Cross-Country Shuttle Service So They Could Avoid Dealing With the Rabble.
Is it a legitimate use of military jets to transport the Speaker of the House and her favored Congressional coterie for routine travel? Even if you believe it is -- and, personally, I do not -- any rational taxpayer would admit that it is monumental waste of money. Military flights cost between $5,000 and $20,000 per hour to operate. The Speaker and her passengers routinely reimburse the Air Force $120 to $400 for each flight.
Since Nancy Pelosi took over as Speaker in 2006, she's rung up millions in military travel expenses to commute between San Francisco and Washington.
Worse still, she also appears to have requisitioned entire flights for the personal use of her children and grandchildren. That is, unaccompanied by any member of Congress, her kids, in-laws and grandchildren are utilizing entire military passenger jets for their routine travel needs.
Posted by: ed ||
02/01/2010 10:17 ||
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#4
The federal debt is so staggeringly huge, that our children will be paying for this debt Pelosi has rung up at the expense of the American people. She trully sees herself and her family as a "ruling class" seen in the Soviet Bloc during the former Sovuet Union.
#5
Too bad we don't have a Department of Justice; if we did we could have a prosecutor look into the obvious violation of law here.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/01/2010 12:58 Comments ||
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#6
Nancy needs to hang from a lamp-post in DC. She is totally corrupt, arrogant beyond belief, and a danger to children and other living things. The light on that lamp-post would be brighter than Nancy Peloosely.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/01/2010 13:14 Comments ||
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#7
Nothing new here. Only Goy's pay retail.
Say what, Besoeker? Pelosi's Italian by background.
#9
Say what, Besoeker? Pelosi's Italian by background. Posted by lotp
She's married to whom lotp? Her kids are all married to whom? Nancy's family are not Kibbutz organic veggie growers, they are leftest elitists of the first order!
#1
IIUC Asians bow to all. Barry's got his own weird custom going on. He refused to bow to Queen Liz but bowed to King Fahd and to Hirohito's spawn and to a latina mayor from Florida. Joker.
#7
What's the big deal? Bush also bowed to the mayor of Tampa. In fact, this is all Bush's fault anyway. Bammo has to bow to restore US credibility in this, uh, region. Bammo is also a tall man, and has to bend over to shake hands with the mayor. So you guys are just trying to make something out of nothing. Besides, you are all racists for even bringing it up.
#8
Geez, last time he bowed I was going to make a snarky comment along the lines of: "Stop me before I bow again!" - but I figured it was over and done. The guy's beyond parody.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
