Wednesday, 27 July 2011
Doomed: Even The Vaunted Boehner Plan Cuts Only One Billion in 2012 —(post by Ace)THAT: The Washington Times:
Over 10 years, it cuts, it is supposed, $1.1 trillion dollars.
But almost all of those cuts come in the tenth year.
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The CBO scores the ten year deficit reduction as $851 billion, not $1.1 trillion.
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Isn't that less than the $2 billion in 2012 that Biden and the Democrats proposed?
Looks like YA skirmish in the war between the Ruling Class and Everybody Else.House GOP revolts against Boehner plan
by Stephen Dynan and Sean Lengell
House Republicans do not have enough support to pass their debt-ceiling increase plan on their own, a top conservative said Tuesday as his party’s leaders tried to cobble together a coalition of Republicans and Democrats to put the bill over the top.
"There are not 218 Republicans in support of this plan,†Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who heads the powerful conservative caucus in the House, told reporters Tuesday morning.
If Mr. Jordan is right, that would mean Speaker John A. Boehner would have to rely on Democrats to pass [his] $1.2 trillion spending cuts plan — support Democrats’ top vote-counter said he’ll be hard-pressed to gain. Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer said "very few†Democrats will vote for the Boehner plan, though he acknowledged there could be some.
Related:
DrewM:
...What was truly awful was the projected $1 billion in deficit reduction from discretionary spending next year. Why's that important? Well, it's the only year that counts. The rest, the so called "out years" are promises and projects this Congress can't commit to delivering...
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How ridiculously small is that number? The Ryan Budget the House passed earlier this year would cut the deficit by $30 billion next year. So the Boehner Plan represents a surrender on what already got passed the House. Way to negotiate against yourself.
Mark Philip Alger: They just don’t get it
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Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Those on the right are Enlightenment thinkers, and assume that everyone shares certain assumptions about debate and logic. But the left denies the fundamental tenet of the Enlightenment – that there is an objective reality we can measure things against.Includes "four rules of post-modern rhetoric.†RTWT, it explains a lot.
Since the other side is debating by completely different rules and assumptions, it’s literally impossible to come to agreement with them. Even if you think you did, they reserve the right to redefine terms as necessary to further their objectives.
When they do these things, it’s important to understand that they don’t believe that they are lying. Since their concept of truth is different from those on the right, their concepts of dishonesty and deception are different too.
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Monday, 25 July 2011
"Mom! The turkey blew up†Dept
(I’ve never had to scrape scorch marks off the ceiling. So far.)
But big words are HARD! Dept
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Sunday, 24 July 2011
The BBC is planning to cut costs by broadcasting more repeats, possibly scrapping Formula 1 and bringing back the test card overnightFrom the Daily Mail (whose online image of test card F shows only the middle third)
Bosses will meet the corporation’s governing body today to explain how to save £1.3billion over four years.
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The cutbacks, drawn up after a six-year licence fee freeze, are likely to see BBC1 and BBC2 cease broadcasting at 1am. This has led to suggestions that it could see the return of the test card which for years was used when the BBC was off air.
Unnecessary in this era of automated broadcast operations, and probably yielding minimal actual savings (assuming they plan to keep their transmitters operating overnight, as they did in the past). But producing maximum complaints, which was the idea all along, wunnit?
Elsewhere:
Related:
BBC Test Card Gallery at meldrum.co.uk
I’ve done a bit about test cards here.
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Ever have a need to call out some idiot? Viscount Monckton of Brenchley demonstrates how it’s done:
Whereas one Malcolm Turnbull, Member of Parliament for Goldman Sachs, self-appointed leader of the Absolute Bankers’ Get-Rich-Quick, Gimme-the-Money, Subsidy-Junkies’, Profiteers’-of-Doom and Rent-Seekers’ Vested-Interest Coalition Against Hard-Working Taxpayers, has this day demonstrated wilful but indubitably profitable ignorance of elementary science by declaring that since all relevant matters of climatology are settled no one should pay any heed to a mere Peer of the Realm who dares to question the imagined (and imaginary) scientific "consensus†to the effect that unless the economies of the West are laid waste and destroyed we are all doomed;...and that’s just the first paragraph. Now, read on...
Related:
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If a school follows a quota, they don't have to prove they aren’t discriminating.Unsurprisingly, the federal government is involved.
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You gotta love the last half of this headline at The Hill:"Progress seen in debt talks, but outrage from Dems over lack of tax hikesâ€I swear, they’re like bandits who’ve successfully robbed trains for years and then get pissed off when the railroad goes bankrupt.
Related: Reader Michael McFatter writes to Instapundit:
Thus far the Democrats have proved intractable on these negotiations. But more than that, they seem to be living in denial...So, is it malevolence or stupidity? Ultimately, it may not make any difference.
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...
We’ve been negotiating with the President and The Democrats in Congress on the assumption that they’re sane. ... [But suppose] they’re not sane. [Suppose] they want five apples and there’s only two plus two but they CAN’T ACCEPT that two plus two equals four. ... I’m worried they’ll pull the trigger on default as just one more "political†step in the march towards freedom from want or whatever other principle they’re operating under.
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Saturday, 23 July 2011
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Wednesday, 20 July 2011
AS ELECTRICITY costs surge and the nation wrestles with the carbon tax, Australians are returning to the eternal fuel of winters past.So let’s see: The government, in the name of "saving the environment,†makes energy more expensive. So people to burn more wood, instead of gas (or coal, in a power station). Saving the environment... how? Right.
With electricity prices rising 15 per cent to 18 per cent this month, firewood suppliers already distributing up to 6 million tonnes a year are likely to face heavier demands.
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Matt Niland, of Four Seasons Nursery at Belrose, which supplies between 500 and 800 tonnes of firewood to householders a year, said the colder winter had brought a 30 per cent increase in the demand.
Via: Blair
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Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Newseum.org > Today’s Front Pages
Starting today, the Newseum is testing a watermarking system to prevent illegal downloads of the newspaper front pages.
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Anyone seeking permission to use a front page must credit the Newseum and contact the newspaper directly for permission. U.S. copyright laws apply.
(Didn’t see any watermarks, but they’ve shrunken their "gallery view†images so much that they’re just about worthless.)
Elsewhere (added 110722 17:25): Bill Quick comments.
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