House Republicans Readying New Debt Proposal

Byron York reports that the House Republicans are preparing yet another solution to the debt ceiling crisis:

House Republicans are finishing work on a new proposal to resolve the standoff over the debt ceiling. The proposal, set to be finished Sunday, will be in two parts. The first will combine a short-term increase in the debt ceiling with spending cuts. The second will lay the groundwork for a longer-term increase in the debt ceiling coupled with far-reaching deficit reduction.

“Senator Reid said on Friday that he is going to wait for us to move,” says a well-informed GOP House aide. “So we’ll move.”

So let’s add this up. The Republican House passed a budget–a very good one, too–within the deadlines prescribed by the Congressional Budget Act. The Senate Democrats ignored the law and refused either to agree with the House’s proposal, or adopt a budget of their own.

Next, the Republican House passed cut, cap and balance, which would have resolved the debt ceiling issue. Harry Reid refused to allow the Senate to vote on the proposal, and once again refused to come up with a plan of his own. President Obama, likewise, has refused to submit a plan other than his official FY 2012 budget, which was a joke. Obama has abandoned that proposal, but refuses to replace it with a new one.

Now, Harry Reid says the House should jump, and the House is jumping. Republicans will come up with yet another plan to resolve the debt ceiling issue. Maybe this makes sense from a political perspective. I hope so. But it is absurd for the Republicans, time after time, to bear the burden of proposing solutions that the Democrats cavalierly refuse to consider.

Each life is worth 2.7 months.

Lawyer: Norwegian Terror Suspect Admits 'Responsibility' for Attacks

Norwegian man accused of killing at least 92 people in a deadly bombing followed by a shooting spree at a youth camp has reportedly 'admitted responsibility' for the attacks — which are punishable by up to 21 years in prison.

Federal Spending In Perspective.

They live in a government bubble

An Instapundit reader weighs in:

What has me worried is the idea that the Democrats ACTUALLY DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS IS THE END OF THE ROAD. What if they actually aren’t capable of recognizing when they’ve lost? Or when we’ve run out of other people’s money? None of these people work for a living. Their concept of where money comes from and how wealth is created (and destroyed) is completely divorced from reality because they live in a government bubble.

China's spectacular real estate bubble is about to go pop

So you thought that UK housing was unaffordable. Try Beijing and Shanghai, where as can be seen from the graphic below, prices are off the scale relative to income, the commonly used yardstick for measuring affordability. OK, so these are the boom cities of the Chinese economic miracle, but even on a nationwide basis, affordability is no lower than in the UK.

Little noticed amid the furore of the euro crisis, HSBC’S preliminary survey of China’s factories, published this week, indicated manufacturing activity in the world’s second-biggest economy actually declined in July from the month before, the first such contraction in a year.

OCare killed job growth.

Analysis: Job Growth Was 10-Fold Higher Before the Democrats Passed Obamacare

The Obama administration’s Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that, since the official end of the recession over two years ago (in June 2009), the percentage of Americans who are employed has actually dropped, while most Americans who are employed are now making less money (in inflation-adjusted dollars) than they were during the recession. Why is our economy plainly failing to match the historical pattern of strong growth following a recession? New analysis suggests that Obamacare (signed into law — “With the strokes of 22 pens” — on March 23, 2010) could be a principal cause.

The Heritage Foundation’s James Sherk writes, “Private-sector job creation initially recovered from the recession at a normal rate, leading to predictions last year of a “Recovery Summer.” Since April 2010, however, net private-sector job creation has stalled. Within two months of the passage of Obamacare, the job market stopped improving. This suggests that businesses are not exaggerating when they tell pollsters that the new health care law is holding back hiring.”

How good is a gov’t job?

How good is a government job? We all know that government workers get generous pensions, job security and health benefits.

Now a new USA Today analysis reports that it's almost impossible to lose a federal job.

Federal Employees who work at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Small Business Administration, or more than a dozen other government agencies "are more likely to die of natural causes than get laid off or fired...."

Death is the "primary threat" to their job security.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/stossel/blog/2011/07/20/how-fire-government-worker-wait-death#ixzz1Sxybc0EB

Winehouse joins the 27 Club

Brian Jones
July 3, 1969
Drowned in a swimming pool.^[4] The coroner's report stated "death by misadventure."^[5]
Rolling Stones founder and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist.
27 years and 125 days

Jimi Hendrix
September 18, 1970
Autopsy showed he asphyxiated on vomit after combining sleeping pills with wine.^[6]
Pioneering electric guitarist, singer and songwriter for The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsys.
27 years and 295 days

Janis Joplin
October 4, 1970
Probable heroin overdose.^[7]
Lead vocalist and songwriter for Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Kozmic Blues Band and Full Tilt Boogie Band.
27 years and 258 days

Jim Morrison
July 3, 1971
Cause of death listed as "heart failure"; however, no autopsy was performed.^[8]
Lead singer, songwriter and video director for The Doors.
27 years and 207 days

Kurt Cobain
April 5, 1994
Ruled as suicide by shotgun.^[9]
Founding member, lead singer, guitarist and songwriter for Nirvana.
27 years and 44 days

Is the Oslo Gunman Really Right-Wing?

The Daily Mail opens its profile on Breivik with some information that would seem to shake up any simple explanation of who he is or what he believed:

The man responsible for the massacre in Norway was a member of a Swedish nazi forum which encourages attacks on government buildings.

It was also revealed by local police that he had extreme right wing views who hated Muslims.

According to Swedish website Expo Anders Behring Breivik is a member of ‘Nordisk’ which has 22,000 members and focuses on political terrorism.

[...]

[His Facebook profile] also listed interests such as body-building and freemasonry. [Emphasis added]

That’s certainly a mixed bag. And some of that information would seem to hint at a possible extreme leftist position, perhaps anarchism, would it not? It certainly doesn’t reflect the views of a conservative Christian, as he claimed to be.

Consistency

Perry loves states' rights so much, he doesn't care about gay marriage in NY 

'If you believe in the 10th Amendment, stay out of their business'

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/#ixzz1Sxw7KIjX

David Brooks turns on Obama: ‘There’s a little arrogance and self-superiority there’

After Friday night’s presidential press conference, even one of the left’s favorite  scratching his head at President Barack Obama’s demeanor.

New York Times columnist David Brooks, who once praised Obama for the crease in his pants, said he was upset with Obama for being angry in public in an appearance on PBS’s “NewsHour” on Friday night.

“Shambles, a complete meltdown, apparently,” Brooks said. “I’ve never seen a presidential press conference with the president so angry in public. And you know, I sort of think he’s maybe mostly right on substance.  But the president’s tone of being the only adult in Washington, everyone else is a child, that he’s going to summon people to the White House as if they are kindergarteners, even if you agree on the substance, it’s kind of hard to go along with someone who is insulting you all the time. And so I think the president took a big risk. Maybe we will see his tone as he is giving it to them. He’s angry. He’s treating them like children. But a lot of people will take a look at it and say there’s a little arrogance and self-superiority there.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/23/david-brooks-turns-on-obama-theres-a-little-arrogance-and-self-superiority-there/#ixzz1SxvdTOLm

The Democrat Downgrade: Reality and Repercussions.

Question: How many U.S. banks and insurance companies do you think will remain rated AAA if the U.S. government gets downgraded?

That is not a rhetorical question.

The direct consequences of a downgrade of Uncle Sam’s credit on U.S. public finances would be pretty bad. But, as with natural disasters, the aftershocks of this man-made catastrophe might prove more devastating than the main event. In this case, imagine a tsunami of rolling corporate downgrades following the earthquake of a Treasury downgrade, a run on the banks, a discredited FDIC, frozen money-market funds, and a plunging dollar.

It’s not Beijing that’s going to take it in the shorts — it’s our still-fragile financial system.

Standard & Poor currently gives AAA ratings to six major insurance companies: New York Life, Northwestern Mutual, etc. Those companies already are on the watch-list for a downgrade, simply because of their extensive holdings of U.S. Treasury securities — regardless of the fact that Treasuries themselves have not yet been downgraded. . . . The thing that has not been sufficiently understood, I think, is this: The United States is not on a downgrade watch because the markets fear we won’t raise the debt ceiling in time to avoid a default; the United States is on a downgrade watch because the markets believe the debt-ceiling debate presents the last real opportunity for the government to enact a meaningful fiscal-reform program before it is well and truly too late to avoid a national crisis. The credit agencies, wisely or not, aren’t worried about the short-term political fight leading to an immediate default, but about the near- to medium-term fiscal situation, which is plainly unsustainable.

Cadel Evans Set to Become 1st Aussie to Win Tour

Cadel overcame Schleck's lead today in the time trial.

Cadel Evans seized the Tour de France yellow jersey in the next-to-last stage Saturday, all but giving Australia its first victory in cycling's showpiece event and capping one of the most dramatic races in years.

The two-time runner-up took the overall lead by overcoming a 57-second deficit to Andy Schleck of Luxembourg in the time trial.

A red-eyed Evans choked up on the victory podium, holding back tears before hurling the winner's bouquet into the crowd.

"I really can't quite believe it right now," the 34-year-old Aussie said. "I have been concentrating on one event for so long."

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=14141363

George R R Martin: Tolkien for the 21st century

With his fantasy books selling by the million, he'll be first choice for many a beach-read this summer. But the power behind 'Game of Thrones' provides depth as well as furious entertainment

He says "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one."

In just over a week it has sold 30,000 copies in hardback. George R R Martin's novel, the fifth (of a planned seven) in his series A Song of Ice and Fire, has been garnering rave reviews as well as huge sales – just like its predecessors. Altogether they have sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. Roz Kaveney, in her admiring review in The Independent, noted that "it is hard to accept that something that enormous and that popular can be as good as people tell you it is". But it is. Jace Lacob observed in The Daily Beast that it was "Martin's finest work yet, a taut and relentless masterpiece that reaffirms the reader's obsession with the panoply of unforgettable characters that Martin has created, and the brutal, glittering, terrible world in which these novels are set".

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/george-r-r-martin-tolkien-for-the-21st-century-2319083.html

No Plan Obama. That one could stick.

‘No Plan’ Obama SLAMS GOP – Says GOP Is Not Serious About Cutting Debts & Deficit (Video)

Here is video of Barack Obama’s very partisan press conference from this afternoon.
Once again, Barack Obama, who still has not offered a plan, slammed Republicans after debt talks broke off.

Tax hawk okay with McConnell-Reid debt proposal

He doesn't care for it, but Grover Norquist said the plan hatched by Senate leaders Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Harry Reid (D-NV) is preferable to the nation going into default.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/07/grover-norquist-mcconnell-reid-better-than-default.php?ref=fpb

Thanks Barack…

S&P Credit Analyst David Beers Says Company May Downgrade US AAA Rating By End of July (Video)

Thanks Barack.
Standard and Poors credit analyst David Beers told Neil Cavuto that the S&P may downgrade their USA rating before the end of the month and as early as Monday. This would be the first time the US would lose their AAA rating. Another breakdown in talks could also lead to the downgrade.
Barack Obama still has no plan.

Inevitable… Far Left Links “Right-Wing” Oslo Killer to Palin and Tea Party

Heads I Win – Tails You Lose
When crazed Bush-hating leftist Jared Loughner went on a shooting spree in Arizona the left blamed Sarah Palin. When a crazed “right-wing” killer goes on a shooting spree in Oslo the the left blames Sarah Palin.

Killer Anders Behring Breivik

You just knew this was coming…
Disturbed Oslo mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik was known to be a fan of Winston Churchill so the media is having a heyday.

In their article on the massacre Reuters used the terms “right-wing” or “far-right” 25 times.

And the far left is already linking the killer to Sarah Palin and tea party.

Sea Monster

...Relax, this is a deep sea hydrothermal worm and it is only slightly bigger than bacteria.

http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/scitech/2011/07/23/microscope-monsters-mini-monsters-among-us/?test=faces#slide=1

You balance your budget, why do dems think they do not have to?

All Senate Democrats Vote Against Balanced Budget

Obama Panics

JOHN PODHORETZ: The President Is Actually Trying to Talk the Markets Into a Panic. “Perhaps for the first time in American history, this president is literally using this press conference to create a financial panic over the weekend about the opening of the markets on Monday. He is warning of disaster on Monday. Clearly, he wants to use this as leverage to frighten the GOP into passing the plan proposed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, which will push the debt ceiling problem into 2013, but it’s still an entirely new and astonishingly reckless gambit.”

Related: Prof. Jacobson: “If nothing else, Obama does ‘panic’ well.” “Obama’s Friday afternoon press statement was not the first time and it will not be the last time. Crisis and panic are, in the words of Rahm Emanuel, just opportunities.”

Fast and Furious update

‘Fast and Furious’: Internal Emails Show ATF, Justice Dept. Evasive, Nervous Over Lawmaker Inquiry

"Whether or not they buy in, you are a man for supporting us like that."

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/fast-and-furious-internal-emails-show-atf-justice-dept-evasive-nervous-over-lawmaker-inquiry/

Good Question

Islam’s Public Enemy #1: Coptic Priest Converts Muslims to Christianity Through His TV Show

"Would God truly want you to kill your neighbor?"

World’s Biggest Dog

George the Great Dane is 7ft long, weighs 18st and is the world's biggest dog... but he's terrified of chihuahuas

Love articles pointing out the emperor has no clothes.

Op-Ed: Actually, MSM, China’s an Economic Mess

 

By Ying Ma

America’s movers and shakers can’t seem to stop ogling Chinese authoritarian chic. While few would defend China’s repressive political system, numerous politicians, business executives, and pundits bow before China’s state-directed capitalism, equating authoritarianism with efficiency and ruthlessness with enlightenment.

At the heart of this ogling lies an admiration for Beijing’s ability to undertake large projects far more quickly than America’s democratic gridlock would ever allow. In reality, Chinese central economic planning generates massive inefficiencies and imposes drastic human costs. Below is merely the short list.

Infrastructure

As a candidate in the 2008 presidential election, Senator Barack Obama bemoaned the crumbling infrastructure of the United States and noted that China’s state-directed infrastructure spending had produced ports, trains, and airports that were “vastly the superior.” Since then, Westerners have consistently pointed to the rapid construction of China’s high-speed rail system, now the most extensive in the world, as Exhibit A of China’s infrastructure prowess.

In fact, going high-speed in China has highlighted endemic corruption and created unhappy customers. In February, Liu Zhijun, China’s minister of railways and architect of the country’s $300 billion high-speed rail network, was fired and arrested amid accusations of wheeling and dealing in bribes of $155 million — and keeping 18 mistresses.

Since then, concerns about shoddy construction and safety have surfaced.

Read more: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/actually-msm-chinas-an-economic-mess/#ixzz1SwL7kYRM

This just in:  China Bullet Train Derails, Falls Off Bridge

White House shifts in debt debate

By JULIE PACE
Associated Press

House Speaker John Boehner says they were close to a deal when President Barack Obama tried to get additional revenues during their negotiations.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The roller-coaster debate over raising the nation's debt limit has forced the White House to explain away, brush aside or even ignore declarations by President Barack Obama and aides that no longer served much purpose in the unpredictable negotiations.

First, the White House wanted a congressional vote separated from spending cuts. Now the administration likes them linked.

Obama said he would reject any short-term deal to raise the borrowing limit. Now the White House says he could make an exception.

He pledged to meet with congressional leaders every day until a deal was reached. But the daily meetings stopped or at least disappeared from his schedule. He did summon lawmakers to the White House for talks Saturday after the top House Republican walked out Friday night.

ANOTHER SEX SCANDAL FOR DEMOCRATS...

Wu at center of sex allegation

• 

Calling the episode 'very serious,' Rep. David Wu did not specifically address allegations. | AP Photo Close

Rep. David Wu has been accused of an “unwanted sexual encounter” with the teenage daughter of a longtime friend, the latest scandal to engulf the troubled Oregon Democrat.

The Oregonian reported that the 56-year-old Wu “acknowledged a sexual encounter

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/59706.html#ixzz1SwIAX4f0

A distraught young woman called U.S. Rep. David Wu's Portland office this spring, accusing him of an unwanted sexual encounter, according to multiple sources.

When confronted, the Oregon Democrat acknowledged a sexual encounter. 

The woman is the daughter of a longtime friend and campaign donor. She apparently did not contact police at the time.

One person who heard the voice mail described the woman as upset, breathing heavily and "distraught."

In the voice mail, the young woman accused Wu of aggressive and unwanted sexual behavior, according to sources with direct knowledge of the message and its contents.

http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/07/rep_david_wu_accused_of_aggres.html

Remember when Minnesota shut down? No, no one does. Like the FAA partial shut down shows. Gov’t is bloated and much of it is non essential.

FAA hits partial shutdown. Nobody notices.

But now they can’t collect taxes!

'Every time you cut a check to the IRS, an angel gets its wings'

Jonah Goldberg trying to explain the Libs love of higher taxes:

Ask almost any Democrat to explain why high taxes are bad, and you will get hit with the velvet fog, minus the velvet. First they’ll explain that while they do favor “increasing revenues,” they don’t favor higher taxes if by “high taxes” you mean taxes that are “too high.” They favor “smart” tax rates that are “targeted” (i.e., “higher”). Then they’ll explain that they don’t want to raise your taxes; they want to raise taxes on your boss, your employer, and the companies that sell you gas, cars, cigarettes, food, clothes, electricity, and various “unnecessary” surgical procedures. They leave out that those taxes get passed on to you.

Then, they’ll rush to safer territory: all of the wonderful things government does. Government, don’t you know, is just the word we use for all the things we do together. So every time you cut a check to the IRS, an angel gets its wings.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/272462/terminology-taxation-jonah-goldberg

Wowing the MSM with an extra-wide teleprompter

Mark Steyn:

As is the way in Washington, merely announcing that he had a plan absolved him of the need to have one. So the president’s staff got out the extra-wide teleprompter and wrote a really large number on it, and simply by reading out the really large number the president was deemed to have produced a serious blueprint for trillions of dollars in savings. For his next trick, he’ll walk out on to the stage of Carnegie Hall, announce that he’s going to play Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2, and, even though there’s no cello in sight and Obama immediately climbs back in his golf cart to head for the links, music critics will hail it as one of the most moving performances they’ve ever heard.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/272560/planless-dems-mark-steyn

'...merely announcing that he had a plan absolved him of the need to have one'. Joseph Heller would have loved this Catch 22 turn of a phrase.

With two stages to go, Andy Schleck leads the Tour

...his brother is in second.

Andy Schleck, the younger of the two brothers, made up the 15-second deficit to overtake French hopeful Thomas Voeckler during Friday’s brutal climb up Alpe d’Huez.

Frank Schleck moved into second place, 53 seconds behind his brother, and Australian Cadel Evans is third, 57 seconds back.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/post/tour-de-france-andy-schleck-takes-yellow-jersey-frank-schleck-in-second-after-19th-stage/2011/07/22/gIQA3dNiTI_blog.html

150th anniversary of the Battle of Bull Run

I admire these reenactors for attempting this while wearing all of the heavy gear with a heat index near 120.

from the WashPost:

Thousands of reenactors were assembling Saturday in parched fields north of Manassas to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Bull Run, the first major clash of the Civil War.

An estimated 8,700 reenactors from the U.S., Canada and Great Britain were scheduled to restage the battle, starting at 9:30 a.m., on a 177-acre site off Pageland lane, near Route 29, in Gainsville.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/bull-run-reenactors-prepare-to-do-battle/2011/07/22/gIQAT90xUI_story.html?hpid=z3

An update is in order about Norway.

I jumped the gun yesterday as initial reports poured in from the massacre in Norway. It was reported late Friday afternoon that a terror group, Ansar al-Jihad al-Alam had taken responsibility for the attack. It is now evident that a Norwegian man, Anders Behring Breivik, is the main suspect.

In this 24 hour instant breaking-action world we live in I realize now a pause to wait for all the facts is the prudent thing to do when contributing to a blog. If Mr. Breivik is the perpetrator of this heinous crime, than he deserves the maximum punishment Norway has to offer.

--Yossarian