Right Mind

Greenspan Sees Growth Slowing as Stocks ‘Flatten Out’

From Bloomberg:

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said he sees the U.S. economy slowing next year as the surge in stocks comes to an end.

“The odds are that we flatten out, even though earnings are doing very well,” Greenspan said in an interview with Bloomberg Television, referring to the equity market. That flattening out will probably “put some sort of dull face” on the economy in 2010, he added.

Greenspan said he expects the economy to grow at a 3 percent to 4 percent annual pace in the next sixth months before slowing down. As a result, unemployment isn’t likely to decline much from last month’s 9.7 percent rate, he said. Even so, he doesn’t expect the economy to relapse into recession next year.

The world’s largest economy shrank at a 0.7 percent annual rate from April through June, the best performance in more than a year, the Commerce Department said today. An unexpected decline in a gauge of business activity released today, along with a private report showing employers cut more jobs than forecast, indicate a recovery may be slow to take hold.

Florida Rep. Alan Grayson Calls US Healthcare "Holocaust"

Florida Rep. Alan Grayson, under fire for conservatives for describing the gist of their health care plans as "die quickly," is not exactly backing down from claims he's crossed a line of civility.

Just now on the floor, he called on members of the House to pass health care reform in the most extreme terms possible:

"I apologize to the dead and Fltheir families athat we haven't voted sooner to end this holocaust in America," Grayson said.

Dem Senators: No need for Illegals to show I.D. for healthcare

From The Hill:

Senate Finance Committee Democrats rejected a proposed a requirement that immigrants prove their identity with photo identification when signing up for federal healthcare programs.

Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said that current law and the healthcare bill under consideration are too lax and leave the door open to illegal immigrants defrauding the government using false or stolen identities to obtain benefits.

Grassley's amendment was beaten back 10-13 on a party-line vote.

The bill, authored by committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), would require applicants to verify their names, places of birth and Social Security numbers. In addition, legal immigrants would have to wait five years, as under current law, after obtaining citizenship or legal residency to access federal healthcare benefits such as Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program or receive tax credits or purchase insurance through the exchange created by the legislation.

But the would not require them to show a photo ID, such as a drivers license. Without that requirement, the bill "remains dearly lacking when it comes to identification," Grassley said. "Frankly, I'm very perplexed as to why anyone would oppose this amendment," he said.

But Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman, who represents the border state of New Mexico, said that the type of fraud Grassley said he wants to prevent is highly uncommon. "The way I see the amendment, it's a solution without a problem," Bingaman said. 

Dem Senators Turn Back Antiabortion Provision in Health Bill

From the Wall Street Journal:

The Senate Finance Committee turned back Republican-led efforts to tighten abortion restrictions in health-overhaul legislation, and the Senate's top Democrat said he wants to bring a sweeping bill to the floor in two weeks.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said Wednesday he expected to begin Senate debate the week of Oct. 12, which would be the biggest step forward yet for legislation designed to accomplish President Barack Obama's goal of extending health-insurance coverage to tens of millions of Americans.

Many hurdles remain before the bill is ready for debate in the Senate. Mr. Reid must referee a blending of the Finance Committee package with a more liberal bill approved by the Senate health committee. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office must come up with a price tag for the bill. And Mr. Reid must solidify support among Democratic centrists worried about the cost of the bill, which is estimated at between $800 billion and $900 billion over a decade.

Mr. Reid, however, put the Senate on notice that he wants to move quickly, saying he is cancelling a planned recess the week of Columbus Day. "I think with health care, which is really beginning to ferment, it wouldn't be right for us to be gone," he said.

…

The sparring over abortion Wednesday underscored the sweep of the health legislation, which not only makes fundamental changes to a key segment of the U.S. economy, but also inflames passions on a range of social issues, from personal liberty to immigration.

Mr. Baucus said he didn't want to add abortion to the debate. "This is a health-care bill," he said. "This is not an abortion bill. We are not changing current law."

Many swine flu deaths linked with second infection

Via Reuters:

Many people who have died of H1N1 swine flu in the United States have also had bacterial infections, health officials reported on Wednesday.

A study of 77 patients who died of the new pandemic H1N1 virus showed 29 percent of them had so called bacterial co-infections, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

About half of these had Streptococcus pneumoniae, which can be prevented with a vaccine, the CDC said. It said doctors may be missing these infections in people severely ill with flu.

The CDC has already reported that H1N1, declared a pandemic in June, has become more active as weather cools and schools reopened after summer breaks. Cases are reported in all 50 states and it is still circulating globally.

H1N1 is not any more deadly than seasonal influenza so far but it attacks a younger age group than seasonal flu does and because virtually the entire population lacks immunity, it can infect far more people at once than seasonal flu usually does. 

Ban handguns? Supreme Court taking a new look

From the Associated Press:

The Supreme Court says it will take up a challenge to Chicago's ban on handguns, opening the way for a ruling that could set off a vigorous new campaign to roll back state and local gun controls across the nation.

Failure Is an Option--The Public Option

From the FRC:

For people on the sidelines of yesterday's health care showdown in the Senate Finance Committee, the biggest stunner wasn't the defeat of the public option--but the fact that it died in this Committee under friendly fire. With help from five key Democrats, the Republicans finally put liberals on the run in the first two major offensives in the fight over government-controlled health care. Senator Jay Rockefeller's (D-W.Va.) amendment, which would have added a strong public health insurance option to the exchange, fell first, beat back by his own Democratic colleagues Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Ben Nelson (D-Nebr.), and Thomas Carper (D-Del.). Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tried next with an amendment that was a watered down version of the public plan. His proposal also failed, but unlike Rockefeller's amendment, Schumer's measure did have the backing Senators Carper and Nelson.

Despite the victories yesterday, it would be premature to eulogize the public option just yet. While the plan may be dead in the Senate Finance Committee, it's still very much alive among the Democratic leadership. As plenty of people have pointed out, both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have promised to inject the public option in any final bill.

With the focus temporarily off of the public option, the Senate Finance Committee continued its final mark-up today with votes on FRC's key issues like health care rationing, conscience rights, and abortion. Unfortunately, all the pro-family amendments offered today failed, further guaranteeing taxpayer funding of abortion and health care rationing will be included in the final version.

As Congress deliberates, voters are getting increasingly anxious over another aspect of the President's plan--a mandate that threatens to throw Americans in jail who don't have a government-defined health care plan. (Of course, the irony is that everyone in prison gets free health care!) The Joint Committee on Taxation confirmed this last week when its Chief of Staff, Tom Barthold, sent Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) a hand-written note, which said, "Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and could face up to a year in jail or a $25,000 fine." Sen. Ensign was quick to argue that the Constitution doesn't give the government the power to mandate the purchase of insurance. Still, this President has given every indication that he will not be content until he not only regulates health care--but the lives of the patients too.  

GOP base still wild about Palin

From The Politico:

Despite a torrent of criticism from the media, Democrats and even some in her own party, Sarah Palin remains the hottest brand name in politics.

Her recent resignation was perplexing. It’s raised doubts about her viability as a potential presidential candidate. Still, she remains extremely popular with the GOP grass roots, and most Republican Party leaders would jump at the chance to have her headline one of their events.

That’s the picture that emerges from interviews with dozens of GOP state and local leaders from across the country.

As part of an effort to gauge Palin’s popularity with the rank and file beyond the Beltway, where the GOP establishment is lukewarm toward the charismatic former governor, POLITICO surveyed nearly 50 prominent Republican Party officials and politicians, representing every region of the country and ranging from statewide-elected officeholders to state legislators to state and county party chairs.

Some refused to talk about her at all. Others, mostly her critics, would do so only off the record. But taken as a whole, the body of interviews revealed that despite Palin’s high negative ratings in recent national polls, Republicans at the grass-roots level and their leaders still hold a very favorable impression of the former Alaska governor.

Westerners have a particular affinity for Palin, with many noting that she embodied the values of freedom and self-reliance.

Scott Sales, the minority leader of the Montana House, referred to her “curb appeal” among the party’s rank and file.

Socialismus Medicinus

HT: Paula N.

Two Dallas women suing neighbor for smoking in own home

Don’t anyone tell the Moscow City Council about this. It’ll give them ideas.

From the Dallas News:

In an age when smoking has been outlawed in most public places – government buildings, bars and pool halls – a person's home is one of the few places you can puff in peace.

Until now.

A Dallas woman has filed a lawsuit seeking six figures from a former neighbor and landlord for damage she says was caused by cigarette smoke wafting through adjoining walls of her high-end townhome.

"Smoking is not a right, it's a privilege," said Chris Daniel, a retired nurse. "I'm sorry that people smoke. I think it's foolish, but when it comes into my house and hurts my health and my daughter's health and our belongings, it's a different issue."

The case is being watched by townhouse industry groups across the area.

Making the Rounds

Must we choose the lesser of two evils?

HT: C-Pol

President Obama’s Trade War on the Poor

The unintended consequences of trade barriers: it hurts us more than it hurts them; and it hurts the most vulnerable among us the most.

From The Washington Times:

America’s highest remaining trade barriers are aimed at products mostly grown and made by poor people abroad and disproportionately consumed by poor people at home. While industrial goods and luxury products typically enter under low or zero tariffs, the U.S. government imposes duties of 30 percent or more on food and lower-end clothing and shoes – staple goods that loom large in the budgets of poor families.

To win favor with organized labor and other opponents of trade liberalization, Mr. Obama has either defended or actually raised barriers on precisely those products of most interest to poor households. …

The $25 billion in revenue raised each year from import duties represent by far the most regressive tax the federal government imposes. Yet the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress have refused to move forward with trade agreements that would lower trade taxes that fall most heavily on the poor. By supporting the farm bill, but not new trade agreements, the president has embraced the status quo rather than change.

State to mom: Stop baby-sitting neighbors' kids

Remember “it takes a village”? That only means a village of bureaucrats and government workers, not friendly neighbors helping each other out.

From the Associated Press:

IRVING TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Each day before the school bus comes to pick up the neighborhood's children, Lisa Snyder did a favor for three of her fellow moms, welcoming their children into her home for about an hour before they left for school.

Regulators who oversee child care, however, don't see it as charity. Days after the start of the new school year, Snyder received a letter from the Michigan Department of Human Services warning her that if she continued, she'd be violating a law aimed at the operators of unlicensed day care centers.

"I was freaked out. I was blown away," she said. "I got on the phone immediately, called my husband, then I called all the girls" — that is, the mothers whose kids she watches — "every one of them."

Snyder's predicament has led to a debate in Michigan about whether a law that says no one may care for unrelated children in their home for more than four weeks each calendar year unless they are licensed day-care providers needs to be changed. It also has irked parents who say they depend on such friendly offers to help them balance work and family.

Gore Vidal: "We’ll have a dictatorship soon in the US"

From the U.K. Times Online:

America has “no intellectual class” and is “rotting away at a funereal pace. We’ll have a military dictatorship fairly soon, on the basis that nobody else can hold everything together. Obama would have been better off focusing on educating the American people. His problem is being over-educated. He doesn’t realise how dim-witted and ignorant his audience is. Benjamin Franklin said that the system would fail because of the corruption of the people and that happened under Bush.”

Vidal adds menacingly: “Don’t ever make the mistake with people like me thinking we are looking for heroes. There aren’t any and if there were, they would be killed immediately. I’m never surprised by bad behaviour. I expect it.”

Health care reforms could put Idaho in a financial sling

The following article ran in the Lewiston Tribune.

The cost of health care reform remains a major uncertainty, but some Idaho officials worry a significant share of the financial burden could ultimately be borne by the states.

A primary goal of all three bills currently working their way through Congress is to reduce the number of Americans who lack health insurance. One way they accomplish that is by expanding access to the Medicaid program, which is jointly funded by states and the federal government.

Idaho, which has some of the more restrictive eligibility requirements, provides Medicaid services to low-income children, pregnant women and some people with disabilities. All three reform bills would expand eligibility to include any low-income individuals or families. Some estimates suggest that step alone would expand health insurance coverage by about 12 million people, or a quarter of the country's uninsured population.

In Idaho, the expanded eligibility could boost Medicaid enrollment by more than 30 percent, or about 60,000 people, according to the Department of Health and Welfare.

In a recent letter to Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter said the combined federal-state cost of that move could top $500 million. A proposed increase in Medicaid reimbursement rates could cost another $50 million.

It’s time for Idaho to invoke the 10th Amendment and tell the Federal Government to back off, and that we aren’t going to play their game.

This is Why We're Known as the "People's Republic of Moscow"

The following letter to the editor appeared in the Lewiston Tribune:

Obama needs help

Thanks to President Obama's persistent preaching, most Americans now realize that serious defects of our nation's health and wellness program must be wiped out right away.

Putting off needed reforms hurts our people and puts us behind people in nations with progressive health programs.

Obama is committed to progress on many fronts. To build peace, he is urging Arabs and Israelis to replace conflict with cooperation. The president is calling on Israel to stop building armed settlements in Palestine. The Israeli colonies are destroying the territorial unity of Palestine, fragmenting Arab areas and making it impossible to form a viable Palestinian nation.

The president's greatest achievement may well be a world-saving campaign against global warming and reckless destruction of natural resources. We need leaders like Obama to preserve the environment and build a better world. And it's clear today this courageous president needs our help.

Clifton Anderson, Moscow 

Yup. This is why we’re known as “The People’s Republic of Moscow” — the butt of all Idaho jokes.

Election 2009: Moscow mayor race: Chaney to continue fight for set priorities: Incumbent says goals have not changed since taking position

As reported in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

-NAME: Nancy Chaney

-AGE: 54

-RUNNING FOR: mayor

-OCCUPATION: Incumbent mayor finishing first term

EDUCATION: Nursing and psychology degrees from Boise State University; master's degree in environmental science from the University of Idaho

FAMILY: Husband, Gary Bryan; five grown stepchildren; nine grandchildren.

Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney wants to continue what she started.

Wasn’t the reason all of her cohorts were kicked out at the last election was because she was continuing what she started?  

Rasmussen Poll: 61% of Arizona Republicans Say McCain Out of Touch With Party Base

So why did the Republicans run him?

From Rasmussen Reports:

Arizona Senator John McCain was the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in 2008, but he’s always had a challenging relationship with the GOP’s base voters.

A new Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey finds that 61% of Arizona Republicans think McCain has lost touch with those in his own party. That’s up eleven points from 50% in May. Only 33% of the Republican faithful in the state believe McCain has done a good job representing GOP values.

The good news for McCain is that his numbers aren’t as bad as some of his colleagues. Nationally, 74% of Republican voters say their representatives in Congress have lost touch with the GOP base.

Despite expected challenges to his reelection, 75% of Arizona Republicans say it’s likely McCain will win next year's GOP Primary. Among all voters, 71% believe he will win the nomination. The gap between the number who say McCain has lost touch with the party base and the number who say he’s likely to win the nomination is huge. But 50% of voters nationally think high reelection rates result from election rules that are “rigged to benefit members of Congress.”

HT: Rod D. Martin

World Record

Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

VIDEO: Doctor Admits Vaccine Is More Deadly Than Swine Flu & Will Not Give It To His Kids

This is the same thing I’ve been saying: the “cure” is worse than the disease.

‘NewsBusted’ 9/29/09 — Comedy News from the Right

Finally, right-minded comedy.

In this episode, “NewsBusted” covers: President Obama, United Nations, Muammar Gaddafi, Jimmy Carter, ACORN, Volkswagen Electric Car, Apple iPod, Steve Jobs, Victoria Rowell, Chris Matthews, and David Hasselhoff. 

N.Y. Health Care Workers Revolt Over H1N1 Vaccine

More medical workers up in arms about the H1N1 vaccine. They well remember the last time when the Ford Administration did this to us.  

From CBS News:

N.Y. Health Care Workers Revolt Over H1N1 Vaccine

Saying They Should Be Given A Choice, Employees Rally In Albany, Around State, Chant "No Forced Shots!"

Protesters Hold Signs That Read: "The State Doesn't Own My Body'"

They're upset over an ultimatum from the health department.

Workers are being told to either get the swine flu vaccine or lose their jobs.

New York is the first state in the country to mandate flu vaccinations for its health care workers. The first doses of swine flu vaccine will be available beginning next week. Much of it is reserved for state health care workers, but there is growing opposition to required innoculations.

Health care workers in Hauppauge screamed "No forced shots!" as they rallied Tuesday against the state regulation requiring them to roll up their sleeves.

Obama Youth Corps, part 2

This time at Sand Hill Elementary School in Asheville, NC . 

HT: C-Pol

Here comes the national sales tax

Progressives have been drooling for years at adding a European-style national sales tax on top of the federal income tax.

Here it comes. This from one of Obama’s main political allies.  

From Bloomberg:

“There’s going to have to be revenue in this budget,” said Podesta, Clinton’s former chief of staff and co-chairman of President Barack Obama’s transition team, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing today. A so-called consumption tax would “create a balance” with European and Japanese economies and “could potentially have a substantial effect on competitiveness,” said Podesta. Value-added taxes in Europe and Japan encourage savings by taxing consumption. Podesta said such a tax may be regressive, but can be balanced by exempting some products and using “the money to support low-wage workers.”

Hollywood Unites Behind Polanski

From Big Hollywood:

Pleading guilty to unlawful sex with an underage girl — the drugging, raping and sodomizing of a 13 year-old — isn’t stopping Hollywood from ginning up an indignation campaign over the possibility of fugitive director Roman Polanski being held accountable for his crimes. Yes, these are the values of those who control the most powerful propaganda device ever created.  Which begs a question: If his unspeakable deed doesn’t meet the standard, what exactly would Roman Polanski have to do in order to become a pariah in this town … I mean, besides vote for Sarah Palin?

A germ of good economic news for Idaho...

Details from Spokesman Review Betsy Russell's blog An Eye on Boise.

It's not huge, but state officials are pointing to a germ of good news in the latest economic data: Economic activity in four Idaho metro areas, Coeur d'Alene, Lewiston, Pocatello and Idaho Falls, rose in 2008 for the second straight year, according to the latest estimates from teh U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Overall, Idaho's gross state product was up 1.2 percent to $52.7 billion in 2008, from 2007; it had risen 7.3 percent from 2006 to 2007. Idaho Department of Labor Director Roger Madsen called the figures "good news for the stability of much of our economy." The state's largest metro area, the Boise-Nampa area, however, saw a decline in 2008 of nearly 1 percent. That was driven by a slowdown in construction and layoffs in manufacturing, especially in high-tech. 

Gallup Poll of Interest: Renewed Desire for U.S. Gov’t. to Promote Traditional Values

Recent polls of interest from the Gallup Organization:

Renewed Desire for U.S. Gov’t. to Promote Traditional Values: Americans have shifted back to thinking the government should promote traditional values in society (53%) rather than not favor any set of values (42%). Last year, Americans were evenly divided in their views. Political independents and moderates are largely driving the change. 

PATRIOT Act Provision Used for Drug Cases

This should disturb anyone who is pro-liberty.

From Cato-at Liberty:

The PATRIOT Act contained a number of tools that expanded the power of federal law enforcement officials. One of these, the “sneak and peak” warrant, allows investigators to break into the home or business of the warrant’s target and delay notification of the intrusion until 30 days after the warrant’s expiration. This capability was sold to the American people as a necessary tool to fight terrorism.

In Fiscal Year 2008, federal courts issued 763 “sneak and peak” warrants. Only three were for terrorism cases. Sixty-five percent were drug cases. The report is available here.

Ryan Grim has more on this, including video of Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) grilling Assistant Attorney General David Kris. 

Keeping Your Doctor Will Be as Easy as 1, 2, 3…

This simple little chart shows the steps needed to keep your doctor if the health care plan put forth by Senator Baucus becomes law.

(Click to enlarge)

Via: JEC.Senate.gov

Paul Krugman Flip-Flop

When Bush was running up the national debt, Krugmans was against it (so was I).

That may sound alarmist: right now the deficit, while huge in absolute terms, is only 2 — make that 3, O.K., maybe 4 — percent of G.D.P. But that misses the point. "Think of the federal government as a gigantic insurance company (with a sideline business in national defense and homeland security), which does its accounting on a cash basis, only counting premiums and payouts as they go in and out the door. An insurance company with cash accounting . . . is an accident waiting to happen." So says the Treasury under secretary Peter Fisher; his point is that because of the future liabilities of Social Security and Medicare, the true budget picture is much worse than the conventional deficit numbers suggest.
…
But we're looking at a fiscal crisis that will drive interest rates sky-high.

But now that Obama is in office, Krugman doesn’t think that running up the national debt is all that bad.

But what about all that debt we're incurring? That's a bad thing, but it's important to have some perspective. Economists normally assess the sustainability of debt by looking at the ratio of debt to G.D.P. And while $9 trillion is a huge sum, we also have a huge economy, which means that things aren't as scary as you might think.

Here's one way to look at it: We're looking at a rise in the debt/G.D.P. ratio of about 40 percentage points. The real interest on that additional debt (you want to subtract off inflation) will probably be around 1 percent of G.D.P., or 5 percent of federal revenue. That doesn't sound like an overwhelming burden.

Now, this assumes that the U.S. government's credit will remain good so that it's able to borrow at relatively low interest rates. So far, that's still true. Despite the prospect of big deficits, the government is able to borrow money long term at an interest rate of less than 3.5 percent, which is low by historical standards. People making bets with real money don't seem to be worried about U.S. solvency.

Why the flip-flop?

It couldn’t be his partisianship, could it? That driving his economics?

I wish the NY Times would find themselves an economist who isn’t wed to the Democratic Party (or to the Republican Party). They should get themselves an Independent and/or a Libertarian who can critique both parties.

HT: David R. Henderson